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JOHN, EARL OF MAR—CHARLES, EARL—JOHN,
EARL—SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SCOTLAND— RISING OF 1715—ARRIVAL OF JAMES VIII
— HIS PROGRESS SOUTHWARD — RETREAT —FLIGHT.
THE Earl first married Mary Scott, a
daughter of Walter, first Earl of Buccleuch; and secondly, Mary Mackenzie,
a daughter of the Earl of Seaforth. He died in 1665, and was
succeeded by his son Charles, Twenty-third Earl of Mar and tenth Lord
Erskine. The Earl married Mary, a daughter of George, Earl of Panmure, and
had issue. This Earl was a Jacobite, and was almost ruined by his
attachment to the Stuart dynasty. He died in May 1689, and was succeeded by
his son John, Earl of Mar and eleventh Lord Erskine.
Earl John was an able politician. Although, like his
predecessors, he was at heart a Jacobite and distrusted by William of
Orange; yet, in the reign of
Queen Ann; in 1706, Mar was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland; and
he assisted the Government to carry the Treaty of Union through the
Scottish Parliament. Sir George Lockhart of Carnwath said:—"Mar gained the
favour of all the Tories, and was by many of them esteemed an honest man,
and well inclined to the Royal Family. Certain it is that he vowed and
protested so much many a time; but no sooner was the Marquis of Tweed-dale
and his party dispossessed than he returned as the dog to his vomit, and
promoted all the Court of England’s measures with the greatest zeal
imaginable.. . . His great talent
lay in the cunning management of his designs and projects, in which it was
hard to find him out." The Jacobites made the utmost efforts in Parliament
and the country to obstruct and defeat the passing of the Treaty of Union;
and they were extremely enraged at the Earl of Mar for assisting the
Government to pass it.
Mar continued Secretary of State for
Scotland; and in the latter years of the reign of Queen Ann; it appears
that the Jacobites had been very active, and were gaining ground. The
Queen died on the 1st of August,
1714. Thereupon the Elector of Hanover was
proclaimed King, under the title of George I. The Earl embraced the
earliest opportunity of offering his service to the new King, but somehow
he did not receive His Majesty’s commands. On the 24th of September, 1714,
he was dismissed from the office
of Secretary of State for Scotland, and the Duke of Montrose appointed to
it. Yet Mar remained for some time about the Court in London; no special
favour, however, was granted to him by the new King; and at last the Earl
resolved to be revenged.
He left London in the beginning of
August, 1715,
and landed in Fifeshire. Then he
proceeded to Braemar, issuing intimations, as he advanced northward, to
the Highland Chiefs and his friends to join him at a great hunting party
in the forest of Mar. He reached Invercauld Castle on the 19th of August,
and immediately commenced operations for the memorable gathering, which
met on the 26th of August, at Braemar. The party then assembled round the
Earl of Mar included the Marquis of Huntly, eldest son of the Duke of
Gordon; the Marquis of Tullibardine, eldest son of the Duke of Athole;
Earl Marischal, the Earls of Erroll, Seaforth, Southesk, Linlithgow,
Carnwath, Traquair, and Nithsdale; the Lords Duffus, Rollo, Drummond,
Stormont, Strathallan, Ogilvie, and Nairn; the Viscounts Kenmure, Kilsyth,
and Kingston; Gordon of Glenbucket, the lairds of Auldbar and Auchterhouse;
and about twenty men of note and influence in the Highlands. The number of
men assembled at Braemar was nearly eight hundred.
There were palpable indications of
the coming rising in other places. In Aberdeen, early on the morning of
the 11th August, 1714, even
before the accesion of George I. had been proclaimed in the city, two
fiddlers playing Jacobite tunes, and accompanied by a number of young men,
marched through the streets; and on reaching the Castlegate, they gathered
round a well and drank the health of James VllI. Tidings of this reached
the Government in London, and the Magistrates were commanded to give an
account of the incident to the Lord Justice Clerk. On the 21st
of August, the Earl of Mar, who was then
Secretary for Scotland, wrote to the magistrates asking for particulars of
the affair. Similar incidents occurred in other places.
On the 3rd of September,
1715, a special meeting was held at
Aboyne Castle to deliberate on the projected rising. At
this meeting there were present—the Marquis of Tullibardine, Earl
Marischal, the Earl of Southesk, and Lord Huntly; Glengarry from the
Clans, Glenderule from the Earl of Breadalbane and the gentlemen of
Argyleshire; Lieutenant-General Hamilton, Major Gordon, and a few others.
The final resolution having been taken at Aboyne, the
die was cast. On the 6th of September, the standard was raised in
Castletown of Braemar, on the spot where the Invercauld Arms Hotel now
stands. From this originated the spirited Jacobite song, adapted to the
reel tune called "The Braes o’ Mar." A stanza or two of the ballad may be
quoted :—
The standard on the Braes of Mar
Is up and streaming rarely;
The gathering pipe on Lochnagar
Is sounding lang an’ sairly.
The Highland men,
Frae hill and glen,
In martial hue,
Wi’ bonnets blue.
Wi’ belted plaids,
An’ burnished blades,
Are coming late and early.
Wha wadna’ join our noble chief,
The Drummond and Glengarry,
Macgregor, Murray, Rollo, Keith,
Panmure and gallant Harry?
A large number of the Braemar men, and men from other
quarters of the country, joined the rising. There is evidence, however,
that a considerable number of those who joined the rising had no choice,
but were forced to follow their feudal superiors. Even John Farquharson of
Invercauld entirely disapproved of Mar’s movement, and was extremely
unwilling to join it; but he had no alternative, as the Earl was his
feudal superior.
Mar himself assumed the rank of commander-in-chief of
the insurgent force; and his followers, and those of the barons and
chiefs, immediately commenced to move southward by the Spital of Glenshee.
They marched through Moulin and Logierait to Dunkeld, receiving
reinforcements as they proceeded; and at Dunkeld the army numbered 5000
men. On the 16th of September, a detachment took possession of Perth; and
to this centre the whole army marched, and Mar made it his headquarters.
Meanwhile the accession of James VIII. was being
proclaimed in the cities and burghs of the north. On the 20th of
September, Earl Marischal entered Aberdeen with a party of men and
proceeded to the Cross on the Castlegate, where Patrick Sandilands, the
depute sheriff, read the document which proclaimed the accession of James
VIII. to the throne of his ancestors. At night the city was illuminated,
and the bells of St Nicholas Church were rung in honour of the memorable
occasion. The following day Earl Marischal and his company were hospitably
entertained by the members of the Incorporated Trades; and on the
departure of the Marischal in the evening they accompanied him to
Inverugie House. The trades and the professors of the Colleges were
thorough Jacobites; but the magistrates were inclined to continue loyal to
the Government. They were, however, suddenly assailed by a mob,
overpowered and forced to yield; and the Jacobite party obtained command
of the town. On the 28th of September Earl Marischal returned to Aberdeen;
and a few days later a head court of the burgh was held in St. Nicholas
Church; and a Jacobite Council was elected, with Patrick Bannerman as
Provost. Thus the city was placed under the reign of James VIII.
The Earl of Mar ordered the new Council of Aberdeen to
supply three hundred Lochaber axes for the army; and imposed a tax of
upwards of two hundred pounds for supplies, and conveying the press and
types of James Nicol, the town’s printer, to Perth; and also imposed on
the citizens a requisition for £2000 sterling—the first instalment of £500
to be immediately paid, under the penalty of rebellion.
As the rising spread, some of the leading Jacobites in
the North of England joined it. By the month of November, there were
fourteen thousand men in arms for the Stuart cause. Mar himself, however,
had little military skill or energy, and remained too long inactive in
Perth. The body of the insurgents, mainly consisting of Scots and some
Englishmen, who were operating in England, under the command of Forster,
were overtaken by the royal troops at Preston. On the 12th of November, a
severe battle was fought, in which the insurgents were completely
defeated, and many of the Scots and their leaders taken prisoners. Among
others, John Farquharson of Invercauld was taken and imprisoned. He was
confined till 1717, when by the efforts of the Rev. Mr. Ferguson, minister
of Logierait, who had once been minister of Crathie, Invercauld was
liberated. Mr. Ferguson was the father of Dr. Adam Ferguson, the
philosopher and historian.
Mar at last made a movement from Perth southward; and
on the 13th November, his force and the royal army, under the Duke of
Argyle, met and fought the Battle of Sheriffmuir, near Dunblane, which was
indecisive. As the loss of men on each side was nearly equal, both claimed
the victory. The actual result, however, was that Mar retired with his
army to Perth, where his force began to melt away.
James VIII. landed at Peterhead on the 22nd of
December, 1715. On the following day he passed through Aberdeen, only
staying to take some refreshments in Skipper Scott’s house in the
Castlegate. Thence he proceeded to Fetteresso, where the professors of the
Colleges of Aberdeen presented him with loyal addresses; and Provost
Banner-man received from His Majesty the honour of knighthood. James was
suffering from attacks of ague in his progress southward, and he reached
Perth on the 6th of January, 1716. His presence inspired no new hope, as
this representative of the Stuart line had not the mien of a man likely to
lead an army to victory and glory. Preparations were made, however, for
his coronation at the historic burgh of Scone, on the 23rd of January. But
ere that day came the Stuart King was seriously thinking of retiring from
the advance of his enemies.
The Duke of Argyle was lying at Stirling Castle with
the royal army. On the 23rd of January he commenced his march upon Perth,
but his progress was very slow, owing to the depth of snow upon the
ground.
At midnight on the 30th of January the insurgent army
commenced to retreat, crossed the Tay on the ice and marched to Dundee,
and thence by Arbroath to Montrose. There, on the 3rd of February, the
Pretender, the Earl of Mar, and a few other persons went aboard a small
vessel and sailed for France. This incident caused a stir and much
indignation in the army, and a number of the men left for their homes.
General Gordon was left in command, and marched the fast diminishing army
northward. On reaching Aberdeen, on the 7th of February, the remainder of
the army dispersed. But a large number of those who joined the rising
never returned to their homes, being either slain or taken prisoners.
Comparatively lenient feelings towards the insurgents
prevailed in Scotland. But the English Government took the punishment of
the prisoners and those implicated in the rising, into their own hands.
Many of the prisoners were executed at Carlisle and other places, and
hundreds were sent to the plantations to drag out a wretched life in
slavery. Several persons of rank made their escape from prison and fled
for their lives, amongst whom were Forster, Lord Nithsdale, and Mackintosh
of Borlum. The estates of over 40 families in Scotland were forfeited to
the Crown. |
