Although the county of Caithness is within the
Highland boundary, yet, in its natural appearance, being in general low,
and destitute of mountains, it has more of a Lowland than a Highland
character; and, as if the Highland garb were to be worn, and the Gaelic
language to be spoken only by mountaineers, there has always been more
of the Lowland costume, and of the Saxon or Scotch language, in that
than in any other Highland county. It is rather remarkable that,
apparently for the same reason, the Highland dress has been always
little worn (even when it was not illegal) in the low and flat peninsula
of Kintyre, in Argyleshire.
But, though Caithness differed so much in dress and
language from more mountainous districts, there was little or
none in the general principles which guided the Highland
ers; and as fidelity and attachment to their chiefs and lairds were
preserved, it was to be expected, that, when the country had occasion
for the services of the men of Caithness, they would be found ready;
and, having a chief-tain so patriotic as Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster,
the head of an ancient and respectable family, to lead them, there could
be no difficulty in raising a sufficient number of men to constitute a
regiment. Nor was there any, as was shown in the year 1794, when Sir
John Sinclair received Letters of Service to raise a regiment of
Fencible Highlanders, whose duty should extend to England. As both
officers and men were principally natives of Caithness, no name could be
more appropriate than the "Caithness Fencibles." But the counties of
Bute and Caithness being united in sending alternately a Member to
represent them in Parliament, and the Prince of Wales having been
pleased to grant permission that Rothsay, his chief title in Scotland,
should be added, the battalion was called the Rothsay and Caithness
Fencibles.
Though this regiment was not completed with the same
expedition that the ranks of the Breadalbane, Sutherland, and other
regiments had been filled up, an excellent efficient battalion was
assembled at Inverness in October 1794, and embodied by
Lieutenant-General Sir Hector Munro. Among the circumstances connected
with this corps which attracted notice, was the appearance of the
officers, nineteen of whom averaged six feet in height.
The uniform of this regiment was different from that
worn by other Highland corps. It was a bonnet and feathers, with a plaid
thrown across the shoulders, and tartan pantaloons, in imitation of the
truis,
[The following anecdote
tends to show that the truis or breeches were worn in Caithness in the
reign of Charles II. at a time when the kilt
and plaid were the universal garb of the rest of the Highlands;
consequently, there is the greater reason for the Caithness regiment
having assumed the truis for their uniform.
About the period of the Restoration, the Karl of
Caithness had been reduc-d to great straits and pecuniary difficulties.
His debts were so heavy, that he was obliged to execute a disposition of
his estate in favour of Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy, who purchased
the greatest part of his debts, and thus became the principal creditor;
and in consequence of the disposition, a charter was passed in 1673
investing Glenorchy with the estate of Caithness. The Earl died in 1676,
and in 1678 his widow, a daughter of the Marquis of Argyll, married Sir
John Campbell, who took possession of the estate, and assumed the title
of the Earl of Caithness, as being territorial, and attached to, and
unalienable from, the possession of the land. He accordingly got a
patent of the earldom from the Crown, and was created Earl of Caithness.
This, however, was an assumption of right to which the Sinclairs would
not submit, and, in the true spirit of clansmen, determined to support
the distressed, to preserve the sinking family of their Chief, and to
assert the claims of his legitimate heir. These were not mere words; and
the arm of the law being neither so long nor so strong in those days as
in latter times (when, according to the old Highlanders, it has reached
Ross-shire), the new Earl of Caithness was obliged to to take to the
sword to gain possession of his acquisitions; and, instead of repairing
to Edinburgh to employ lawyers (mercenary and hired troops, as they, no
doubt, would he called by our modern revolutionists), to fight for and
maintain his claims, he followed the Highland fashion; and collecting
1100 Breadalbane men, including the followers of the immediate
descendants of his family, Glenlyon, Glenfalloch, Lochdochart,
Achallader, &c, and those of his neighbour and brother-in-law, the Laird
of Macnab, marched with this array to Caithness, and, in a
pitched battle with the Sinclairs (who rose to oppose him),
fought for his title, and, having gained the victory, quartered his men
in the country for three years, levying rents and taxes, as if in a
conquered country. But though the Sinclairs were forced to yield in the
first instance, they so harrassed the invaders, and showed such
hostility and determined resolution in opposition to the claims of
Glenorchy, that he at last yielded; and, after a long negotiation, and a
reference to the King in Council, by whom it was found that the title
was unalienable from the male-heirs, the Sinclairs got possession of
their Chief's estate. The King created Sir John Campbell, Earl of
Breadalbane on a new patent, and the ancient earldom of Caithness went
to the legitimate heir, George Sinclair of Keiss.
I have now come to the reason for telling this long
story, namely, to show that in the reign of Charles
II. breeches were worn in Caithness.—In the heat of the battle,
and when the Caithness men were beginning to give way, Glen-erthy's
piper struck up a voluntary, the inspiration
of the moment, when the sounds of the instrument seemed
to express in a very remarkable manner the words, "bodach na brigan,"&c;
(Although Bodach literally means an Old Man, it conveys to a Highlander
a great deal more. It is quite an untranslatable word. A Lowland vulgar
clown comes nearest to the Highlander's meaning of the word. When the
Breadalbane men saw men with breeches, they were in their eyes
Lowlanders or Goths—Bodach Gauld—the Goth or Stranger. Bodach is a term
expressive of great contempt,) "the breeches men are retreating—the men
with the breeches are flying. " The tune has ever since been called Lord
Breadalbane's March to Battle, and, when well played, appears, to a
person conversant with the Gaelic language and pipe music, to articulate
the words just mentioned. There is another reason for believing that the
Saxon, the breeches, and the truis, have been long the language and
dress of Caithness. The Highlanders call the country Gaullu,—the country
of the strangers, or of the Saxons or Goths. Lord Caithness is called
Morar Gaullu—Caithness being a word unknown in the Gaelic. Morar is the
Gaelic for Lord; but Morar, or Lord, is not, as in English, applied to
Almighty God: the Great Lord of All is Teorn.]
(which is said by some to be the garb of the ancient
Gael and Celts), surmounted with a tripe of yellow along the seams, a
fringe of tartan on the outside of the thigh, and the same round the
ankle.
This battalion was in the usual manner stationed in
different quarters, and reduced in the year 1799.
In the year 1795 Sir John Sinclair again received
Letters of Service for raising a second battalion of Rothsay and
Caithness Fencibles, which was inspected and embodied by
Lieutenant-General Hamilton at Forfar in May. The establishment was the
same as that of the first battalion, but the service was extended to
Ireland. In this battalion there were only about 350 men from Caithness
and Sutherland; and, consequently, a greater proportion from the
southern counties than in the other battalion. The uniform of both was
the same. Immediately after the inspection they were marched to the
south of Scotland, and from thence crossed over to Ireland, where the
regiment did duty in camp and barracks throughout all the troubles; and
in the year 1799, Sir John Sinclair obtained a warrant to augment the
regiment to 1000 effective men, under the designation of Caithness
Highlanders, with field officers, captains, and subalterns in
proportion. Captain Benjamin Williamson was appointed second
Lieutenant-Colonel.
Lieutenant Colonel Williamson was ordered to Scotland
to conduct the recruiting of this new force, and, in the month of
December 1799, he joined the regiment in the county of Cork, with 526
recruits. They had been previously inspected in Dublin by Major-General
Sir James Henry Craig, and, having received marked approbation from that
strict disciplinarian, and accurate judge of the physical capability
necessary for a soldier, it may be believed that these recruits formed
very good subjects for the necessary duties of the profession.
I have had frequent occasion to mention, that want of
space, and the nature of my plan, oblige me to suppress many
circumstances and anecdotes which tend to illustrate character, and show
the spirit, turn of mind, and principles of action of the people of the
North, both in their military and civil capacity. I am, therefore, in
each article, under the necessity of confining myself to one or two
instances out of a very great number which various circumstances enable
me to give. In the present case, I take the following extract from an
address presented to Lieutenant-Colonel Fra-ser of Culduthill, who
commanded the regiment for several years in Ireland, by a meeting of the
magistrates of the county of Armagh, in the year 1798, the Lord Viscount
Gosford the Governor in the Chair: "We beg leave to testify our highest
approbation of the conduct of the Rothsay and Caithness Fencibles during
a period of fourteen months, and under circumstances of peculiar
difficulty. Divided, from the unfortunate necessity of the times, into
various cantonments, and many of them stationed in a manner most
unfavourable to military discipline, they yet preserved the fidelity of
soldiers, and the manly rectitude of their national character. It is
with pleasure and satisfaction we declare, that the tranquillity which
this county is now happily beginning to enjoy must, in many respects, be
ascribed to the ready obedience and proper deportment of the officers
and men under your command.
"For reasons thus honourable to them, and grateful to
ourselves, we return you our most sincere thanks, and request you will
communicate to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers,
this testimony of our esteem and acknowledgment of their exemplary
conduct."
The regiment continued to maintain the character and
conduct which called forth this tribute of approbation; and although,
"from the nature of the service, and state of the country, they were
much detached, often removed from the control of their officers, and
thus left in a manner to themselves, yet there was no difference,
nothing that could be called a crime ever occurred." This was the
opinion (founded on a knowledge of facts) of a respectable officer who
commanded the corps for several years. The soldiers were fortunate in
being placed under the charge of Colonel Williamson, whose judgment and
knowledge of the habits and dispositions of his men, enabled him to make
the necessary distinction between unintentional or slight breaches of
discipline, and those proceeding from depraved habits, or hardened
guilt. Of the latter, indeed, he had none, consequently courts-martial
were not frequent, and punishments slight. For neglects, trifling
offences, &c. he generally called on the soldiers of their respective
companies to bring the offenders to account; to award some slight
punishment, and to keep a sharp eye over them afterwards. This mode has
prevailed in many Highland regiments, and with the happiest effects, but
no small caution is required in the selection of proper men for this
moral superintendence. They must be correct in their own conduct, for
punishments or advice from men who require both themselves, and show an
example of the very conduct they reprobate, cannot be expected to be
received even with common patience, far less with respect, and a
resolution to benefit by them. Precaution is also required in another
point of view, namely, in what manner the men exercise their authority,
and that they do not punish too severely, to which, remarkable as the
circumstance may appear, they often show no small propensity.
This regiment enjoyed a remarkably good state of
health. During seven years, part of which time they were 900 and 1000
strong, the number of deaths were only 2 officers and 37
non-commissioned officers and soldiers, not being three-fourths of a man
out of every hundred in each year.
In 1797, the regiment, with the exception of about SO
men, (all the 50 were from the North,) volunteered their services to any
part of Europe. The offer being accepted, it entitled the soldiers to
pensions when disabled, in the same manner as if in regiments of the
line. Neither at that period, nor for many years afterwards, were there
any pensions to officers, however severe their wounds, or however much
disabled.
In the summer of 1800, Government directed that a
proportion of men from the Scotch Fencible regiments should be allowed
to volunteer into regiments of the line, an ensign to be appointed to
every fifty men who volunteered. In consequence of this order, the 79th
and 92d regiments got 200 men and 4 officers from the Caithness
Highlanders.
In 1809, the regiment returned to Scotland, and was
reduced in that year.
