|
Among the nobility who
hastened to the hunting-field of Braemar, was William Marquis of
Tullibardine and eldest son of the first Duke of Athole.
The origin of the
powerful family of Murray commences with Sir William Dee Moraira, who
was Sheriff in Perth in 1222, in the beginning of the reign of King
Alexander the Second. The lands of Tullibardine were obtained by the
Knight in 1282, by his marriage with Adda, the daughter of Malise,
Seneschal of Stratherio. After the death of William De Moraira, the name
of this famous house merged into that of Murray, and its chieftains were
for several centuries known by the appellation of Murray of Tullibardine.
It was not until the seventeenth century that the family of Murray was
ennobled, when James the Sixth created Sir John Murray Earl of
Tullibardine.
The unfortunate subject
of this memoir was the son of one of the most zealous promoters of the
Revolution of 1688. His father, nearly connected in blood with William
the Third, was appointed to the command of" a regiment by that Monarch,
and entrusted with several posts of great importance, which he retained
in the time of Queen Anno, until a plot was formed to ruin him by Lord
Lovat, who endeavoured to implicate the Duke in the affair commonly
known by the name of the Queensbury plot. The Duke of Athole courted
inquiry upon that occasion; but the business having been dropped without
investigation, he resigned the office of Privy Seal, which he then held,
and became a warm opponent of the. Act of Union which was introduced
into Parliament in 1705.
After this event the Duke
of Athole retired to Perthshire, and there lived in great magnificence
until, upon the Tories coming into power, he was chosen one of the
representatives of the Scottish peerage in 1710, and afterwards a second
time constituted Lord Privy Seal.
It is singular that,
beholding his father thus cherished by Government, the Marquis of
Tullibardine should have adopted the cause of the Chevalier: and not, as
it appears, from a momentary caprice, but, if we take into consideration
the conduct of his whole life, from a fixed and unalienable conviction.
At the time of the first Rebellion, the Marquis was twenty-seven years
of age ; he may therefore be presumed to have been nature in judgment,
and to have passed over the age of wild enthusiasm. The impulses of
fanaticism had no influence in promoting the adoption of a party to
which an Episcopalian as well as a Roman Catholic might probably be
peculiarly disposed. Lord Tullibardine had been brought up a
Presbyterian; his father was so firm and zoalons in that faith, as to
excite the doubts of the Tory party, to whom he latterly attached
himself, of his sincerity in their cause. According to Lord Lovat, the
arch-enemy of the Athole family, the Duke had not any considerable
portion of that quality in his character, which Lord Lovat represents as
one compound of meanness, treachery, and revenge, and attributes the
hatred with which Athole persecuted the brave and unfortunate Duke of
Argyle, to the circumstance of his havng received a blow from that
nobleman before the whole Court at Edinburgh, without having the spirit
to return the insult.
It appears, from the same
authority, that the loyalty which the Duke of Athole professed towards
King "William was of a very questionable description. It becomes,
indeed, very difficult to ascertain what were really the Duke of
Athole's political tenets. Under these conflicting and unsettled
opinions the young Marquis of Tullibardine was reared.
There seems little reason
to doubt that his father, the Duke of Athole, continued to act a double
part in the troublous days which followed the accession of George the
First It was, of course, of infinite importance to Government to secure
the allegiance of so powerful a family as that of Murray, the head of
whom was able to bring a body of six thousand men into the field. It
nevertheless soon appeared that the young heir of the house of Athole
had imbibed very different sentiments to those with which it was
naturally supposed a. nobleman, actually in office at that time, would
suffer in his eldest son. The first act of the Marquis was to join the
Earl of Mar with two thousand men, clansmen from the Highlands, and with
fourteen hundred of the Duke of Athole's tenants; his next, to proclaim
the Chevalier King. Almost simultaneously, and whilst his tenantry were
following their young leader to the field, the Duke of Athole was
proclaiming King George at Perth. The Duke J was ordered, meantime, by
the authorities, to remain at his Castle of Blair to secure the peace of
the county, of which he was Lord-Lieutenant.
The Marquis of
Tullibardine's name appears henceforth in most of the events of the
Rebellion. There exists little to shew how he acquitted himself ;n the
engagement of Sherriff Muir. where he led several battalions to the
field; but he shewed his firmness and valour by remaining for some time
at the head of his vassals, after the unhappy contest of 1715 was closed
by the ignominious flight of the Chevalier. All hope of reviving the
Jacobite party being then extinct for a time, the Marquis escaped to
France, where he remained in tranquillity for a few years; but his
persevering endeavours to aid the Stuart cause were only laid aside, and
not abandoned.
During his absence, the
fortunes of the house of Athole sustained no important change. The
officio of Privy Seal was. it is true, taken from the Duke and given to
the Marquis of Annandale; but by the favour of Government the estates
escaped forfeiture, and during the very year in which the Rebellion
occurred, the honours and lands which belonged to the unfortunate
Tullibardine were vested, by the intercession of his father, in a
younger son, Lord James Murray. The effect of this may have been to
render the Marquis still more determined in his adherence to the Stuart
line. He was not, however, the only member of the house of Murray who
participated in the Jacobite cause.
Xo less consistent in his
opinions than the Marquis of Tullibardine, William, the second Lord
Nairn. came forward to espouse the cause of the Stuarts. This nobleman
was the uncle of Lord Tullibardine, and bore, before his marriage with
Margaret, only daughter of the first Lord Nairn, the appellation of Lord
William Murray. The title was, however, settled by patent upon him and
his heirs; and this obligation, conferred by Charles the Second, was
bestowed upon one whose gratitude and devotion to the line of Stuart
ceased only with his life. Lord Nairn had been educated to the naval
service, and had distinguished himself for bravery. He refused the oaths
at the Revolution, and consequently did not take his seat in Parliament.
His wife, Margaret, appears to have shared in her husband's enthusiasm,
and to have resembled him in courage. In the Earl of Mar's
correspondence frequent allusion is made to her under the name of Mrs.
Mellor. "I wish," says the Earl on one occasion, "our men had her
spirit." And the remembrances which he sends her, and his recurrence to
her, show how important a personage Lady Nairn must have been. Aided by
these two influential relations, the Marquis of Tullibardine had engaged
in the dangerous game which cost Scotland so dear. Upon the close of the
Rebellion, Lord Nairn was not so fortunate as to escape to France with
his relation. lie was taken prisoner, tried, and condemned to be
executed. At his trial he pleaded guilty; but he was respited, and
afterwards pardoned. His wife and children were eventually provided for
out of the forfeited estate; but neither punishment nor favour prevented
his sons from sharing in the Rebellion of 1745.
Another individual who
participated in the Rebellion of 1715 was Lord Charles Murray, the
fourth surviving son of the Duke of Athole, and one of those gallant,
fine-tempered soldiers, whose graceful bearing and good qualities win
upon the esteem even of their enemies. At the beginning of the
Rebellion, Lord Charles was an officer on half-pay in the British
service; he quickly joined the insurgent army, and obtained the command
of a regiment. Such was his determination to share all dangers and
difficulties with his troops, that he never could be prevailed upon to
ride at the head of his regiment, but went in his Highland dress, on
foot, throughout the marches. This young officer crossed the Forth with
General Mackintosh, and joined the Northumbrian insurgents in the march
to Preston. At the siege of that town Lord Charles defended one of the
harriers, and repelled Colonel Dormer's brigade from the attack, lie was
afterwards made prisoner at the surrender, tried by a court-martial, and
sentenced to be shot as a deserter from the British army. He was,
however, subsequently reprieved, but died only five years afterwards.
The Marquis of
Tullibardine was not, however, the - only Jacobite member of the family
who hail been spared after the Rebellion of 1715, to renew his efforts
in the cause. His brother, the celebrated Lord George Murray, was also
deeply engaged in the same interests. In 1715), the hopes of the party
were revived by the war with Spain, and their invasion of Great Britain
was quietly planned by the Duke of Ormond, who hastened to Madrid to
hold conferences with Alberoni. Shortly afterwards the Chevalier was
received in that capital, and treated as King of England. In March,
1710, the ill-fated expedition under the Duke of Ormond was formed, and
a fleet, destined never to reach its appointed place of rendezvous,
sailed from Cadiz.
The enterprise met v Ith
the usual fate of all the attempts formed in favour of the Stuarts. With
the exception of two frigates, none of the ships proceeded farther than
Cape Finisterre, where they were disabled by a storm. These two vessels
reached the coast of Scotland, having on board of them the Earl of
Seaforth, the Earl Marischal, the Marquis of Tullibardine, three hundred
Spaniards, and arms for two thousand men They landed at the island of
Lewes, hut found the body of the Jacobite party resolved not to move
until all the forces under Cramond should be assembled. Boring this
interval of suspense, disputes between the Marquis of Tullibardine and
the Lord Marischal. which should have the command, produced the usual
effects among a divided and factious party, of checking exertion by
diminishing confidence.
It appears, however, that
the Marquis had a commission from the Chevalier to invade Scotland ; in
virtue of which he left the island of Lewes, whence he had for some time
been carrying on a correspondence with the Highland chieftains, and
landed with the three hundred Spaniards on the main land. The Ministers
of George the First lost no time in repelling this attempt by a foreign
power, and it is singular that they employed Dutch troops for the
purpose; and that Scotland, for the first time, beheld her rights
contested by soldiers speaking different languages, and natives of
different continental regions. The Government had brought over two
thousand Dutch soldiers, and six battalions of Imperial troops from the
Austrian Netherlands, and these were now sent down to Inverness, where
General Wightman was stationed. As soon as he was informed of the
landing of the Spanish forces, that commander marched his troops to
Glenshiel, a place between Fort Augustus and Penera. lie attacked the
invaders: the Highlanders were quickly" repulsed and fled to their
hills; the Spaniards were taken prisoners ; hut the Marquis of
Tuilibardine and the Earl of Seaforth escaped, and, retreating to the
island of Lewes, again escaped to France.
During twenty-six years
the Marquis of Tullibardine, against whom an act of attainder was
passed, remained in exile. He appears to have avoided taking any active
part in political affairs. "These seven or eight years," he says in a
letter addressed to the Chevalier, "have sufficiently shewn me how until
I am for meddling with the deep concerns of state." He resided at
Puteaux, a small town near Paris, until called imperatively from his
retreat.
During the period of
inaction, no measures were taken to reconcile those whom he had left,
the more gallant portion of the Highlanders, to the English Government.
"The state of arras," says Mr. Home, "was allowed to remain the same;
the Highlanders liived under their chiefs, in arms; the people of
England and the Lowlanders of Scotland lived, without arms, under their
sheriffs and magistrates; so that every rebellion was a war carried on
by the Highlanders against the standing army; and a declaration of war
with France or Spain, which required the sen ice of the troops abroad,
was a signal for a rebellion at home. Strange as it may seem, it was
actually so."
During the interval
between the two Rebellions of 1715 and 1745, the arts of peace were
cultivated m England, and the national wealth augmented ; but no portion
of that wealth altered the habits of the Highland chieftains, who,
looking continually for another rebellion, estimated their property by
the number of men whom they could bring into the field. An anecdote,
illustrative of this peculiarity, is told of Macdonald of Keppoch, who
was killed at the battle of Culloden. Some low-country gentlemen were
visiting him in 1740, and were entertained with the lavish hospitality
of a Highland home. One of these guests ventured to ask of the landlord,
what was the rent of his estate. "I can bring five hundred men into the
field," was the reply. It was estimated, about this time, that the whole
force which could be raised by the Highlanders amounted to no more than
twelve thousand men ; yet, with this inconsiderable number, the
Jacobites could shake the British throne.
The danger which might
arise to the Government, in case of a foreign war, from the Highlanders,
was foreseen by Duncan Forbes of Culloden. and a scheme was formed by
that good and great man, and communicated to Lord Hay, adapted to
reconcile the chieftains to the sovereignty of the house of Hanover, and
at the same time to preserve the peace of the country. This was, to
raise four or five Highland regiments, appointing an English or Scotch
officer of undoubted loyalty to King George, to be colonel of each
regiment, and naming all the inferior officers from a list drawn up bv
President Forbes, and comprising all the chiefs and chieftains of the
disaffected clans. Most unhappily this plan was rejected. Had it been
adopted, the melancholy events of the last Rebellion might not have left
an indelible stain upon our national character The Highlanders, once
enlisted 'n the cause of Government, would have been true to their
engagements ; and the fidelity of the officers, when serving abroad,
would have been a guarantee for the good conduct of their relations at
home. It was not, however, deemed practicable; and the energies of a
determined and unemployed people were again brought into active force.
It is said to have met with the decided approbation of Sir Robert
Walpole, but it was negatived by the Cabinet.
The year 1739 witnessed
the rev ival of the Jacobite Association, which had been annihilated by
the attainders and exiles of its members after tho last Rebellion. The
declaration of war between Spain and England, induced a belief that
hostilities with France would follow ; and accordingly, in 1740, seven
persons of distinction met at Edinburgh, and signed an association,
which was to be carried to the Chevalier St. George at Rome, together
with a list of those chiefs and chieftains who were ready to join the
association, if a body of French troops should land in Scotland. This
was the commencement of the second Rebellion ; and it was seconded with
as pure a spirit of devotion to the cause, as exalted an enthusiasm, as
if none had bled on the scaffold in the previous reign, or attainders
and forfeitures had never visited "with poverty and ruin the adherents
of James Stuart.
The Marquis of
Tullibardine was selected as one of the attendants of Charles Edward, in
tho perilous enterprise of the invasion. He was the person of the
highest rank among those who accompanied the gallant and unfortunate
adventurer in his voyage from the mouth of the Loire to Scotland, in a
little vessel, La Doutelle, with its escort of a ship of seven hundred
tons, the Elizabeth. During this voyage the strictest incognito was
preserved by the Prince, who was dressed in the habit of the Scotch
College, at Paris, and who suffered his beard to grow, in order still
better to disguise himself. At night the ship sailed without a light,
except that which proceeded from the compass, and which was closely
covered, the more effectually to defy pursuit. As it tracked the ocean,
with its guardian, the Elizabeth, the sight of a British man-of-war off
Lizard Point excited the ardour of the youthful hero on board of La
Doutelle. Captain D'Eau, the commander of the Elizabeth, determined to
attack the English ship, and requested the aid of Mr. Walsh, who
commanded the Doutelle. His request was denied, probably from the
responsibility which would have been incurred by Walsh, if he had
endangered the safety of the vessel in which the Prince sailed. The
attack was therefore made by the brave D'Eau alone. It was succeeded by
a fight of two hours, during which the Doutelle looked on, while tlio
Prince vainly solicited Walsh to engage in the action. The commander
refused, and threatened the royal youth to send him to his cabin if he
persisted. Both ships were severely damaged in the encounter, and La
Doutelle was obliged to proceed on her way alone, the Elizabeth
returning to Prance to relit.
On the twenty-first of
July, La Doutelle approached the remote range of the Hebrides,
comprehending Lewes, List, and Barra, often called, from being seen
together, the Long Island. As the vessel neared the shore, a large
Hebridean eagle hovered over the masts. The Marquis of Tullibardine
observed it, and attributed to its appearance that importance to which
the imagination of his countrymen gives to such incidents; yet, not
wishing to appear superstitious, or to show what is called a "Highland
freit," it was not until the bird had followed the ship's course for
some time, that he drew the attention of the Prince to the circumstance.
As they returned on deck after dinner, he pointed out the bird to
Charles Edward, observing at the same time, "Sir, I hope this is a happy
omen, and promises good things to us ; the king of birds is come to
welcome your Royal Highness, on your arrival in Scotland."
The Prince and his
followers landed, on the twenty-third of July, at the island of Eriska,
belonging to Clanranald, and situated between the Isles of Barra and of
South Uist, their voyage having been accomplished in eighteen days. Here
all the party landed, with the exception of the Marquis, who was laid up
with the gout, and unable to move. His condition was supposed to be one
of peril, for two ships had been espied, and the Prince and his
associates hurried off, with all the expedition they could, to shore.
The long boat was got out, and sent to procure a pilot, who was
discovered in the person of the hereditary piper of Clanranald, who
piloted the precious freight safely to shore. The two vessels which had
produced so much alarm, proved afterwards to be only merchant-vessels.
In these "malignant
regions," as Dr. Johnson describes them, referring to the severity of
the climate and the poverty of the soil, Prince Charles and his
adherents were lodged in a small country house, with a hole in the roof
for a chimney, and a fire in the middle of the room. The young
adventurer, reared among the delicacies of the palace at Albano, was
often obliged to go to the door for fresh air. "What a plague is the
matter with that fellow," exclaimed Angus Macdonald, the landlord, "that
he can neither sit nor stand still, nor keep within nor without doors!"
The night, it must be observed, was unusually wet and stormy, so that
the Prince had no alternative between smoke and ram. The pride of the
Scotch, in this remote region, was exemplified in another trifling
occurrence : The Prince, who was less fatigued than the rest of the
party, with that consideration for others, and disregard of his own
personal comfort, which formed at this period so beautiful a part of his
character, insisted that his attendants should retire to rest, he took a
particular care of Sir Thomas Sheridan, his tutor, and examined closely
the bed appropriated to him. in order to see that it was well aired. The
landlord, indignant at this investigation, called out to him, "That the
bed was so good, and the sheets were so good, that a prince might sleep
in them".
The farm-house in which
this little incident took place, and which first received the Prince,
who was destined to occupy so great a variety of dwellings in Scotland,
was situated in Borrodale, a wild, mountainous tract of country, which
forms a tongue of land between two bays. Borrodale, being difficult of
access, was well-chosen as the landing-place of Charles ; whilst around,
inmost directions, were the well-wishers to his cause.
The Marquis of
Tullibardine accompanied Charles in his progress until the Prince landed
at Glenfinnin, which is situated about twenty miles from Fort "William,
and forms the outlet from Moidart to Lochaber ; here the standard of
Charles Edward was unfurled. The scene in which this ill-omened
ceremonial took place is a deep and narrow valley, in which the river
Finnin runs between high and craggy mountains, which are inaccessible to
every species of carriage, and only to be surmounted by travellers on
foot. At each end of the vale is a lake of about twelve miles in length,
and behind the stern mountains which enclose the glen, are salt-water
lakes, one of them an arm of the sea. The river Finnin empties itself
into the Lake of Glenshicl, at the extremity of the glen. On the
eighteenth of August Prince Charles crossed this lake, slept at
Glensiarick, and on the nineteenth proceeded to Glenfinnin.
When Charles landed in
the glen, he gazed around anxiously for Cameron of Lochiel, the younger,
whom he expected to have joined him. lie looked for some time in vain;
that faithful adherent was riot then in sight, nor was the glen, as the
Prince had expected, peopled by any of the clansmen whose gathering he
had expected. A few poor people from the little knot of hovels, which
was called the village, alone greeted the ill-starred adventurer.
Disconcerted, Prince Charles entered one of the hovels, which are still
standing, and waited there for about two hours. At the end of that time,
the notes of the pibroch were heard, and presently, descending from the
summit of a hill, appeared the Camerons. advancing in two lines, each of
them three men deep. Between the lines walked the prisoners of war, who
had been taken some days previously near Loch Lochiel.
The Prince, exhilarated
by the sight of six or seven hundred brave Highlanders, immediately gave
orders for the standard to be unfurled.
The office of honour was
entrusted to the Marquis of Tullibardine, on account of his high rank
and importance to the cause. The spot chosen for the ceremony was a
knoll in the centre of the vale. Upon this little eminence the Marquis
stood, supported on either hide by men, for his health was infirm, and
what we should now call a premature old age was fast approaching. The
banner which it was his lot to unfurl displayed no motto, nor was there
inscribed upon it the coffin and the crown which the vulgar notion in
England assigned to it. It was simply a large banner of red silk, with a
white space in the middle. The Marquis held the staff until the
Manifesto of the Chevalier and the Commission of Regency had been read.
In a few hours the glen in which this solemnity had been performed, was
filled not only with Highlanders, but with ladies and gentlemen to
admire the spectacle. Among them was the celebrated Miss, or, more
properly, Mrs. Jeanie Cameron, whose passionate attachment for the
Prince rendered her so conspicuous "In the troublous period of 1745. The
description given of her in Bishop Forbes's Jacobite Memoirs destroys
much of the romance of the story commonly related of her. " She is a
widow," he declares, " nearer fifty than forty years of age. She is a
genteel, well-looking, handsome woman, with a pair of pretty eyes, and
hair black as jet. She is of a very sprightly genius, and is very
agreeable in conversation. She was so far from accompanying the Prince's
army, that she went off with the rest of the spectators as soon as the
army marched ; neither did she ever follow the camp, nor ever was with
the Prince in private, except when he was in Edinburgh."
Soon after the unfurling
of the standard, we find the Marquis of Tullibardine writing to Mrs.
Robertson of Lude, a daughter of Lord Nairn, and desiring her to put the
Castle of Blair into some order, and to do the honours of the place when
the Prince should come there. The Marquis, it is here proper to mention,
was regarded by all the Jacobites as still the head of his house, and
uniformly styled by that party the "Duke of Athole," yet he seldom
adopted the title himself; and in only one or two instances in his
correspondence does the signature of Athole occur.
On the thirty-first of
August the Prince visited the famous Blair Athole, or Field of Athole,
the word Blair signifying a pleasant land, and being descriptive of that
beautiful vale situated in the midst of wild and mountainous scenery.
After riding along a
black moor, in sight of vast mountains, the castle, a plain massive
white house, appears in view. It is seated on an eminence above a plain
watered by the Gary, called, by Pennant, an outrageous stream, which
laves and rushes along-vast beds of gravel on the valley below.
The approach to Blair
Castle winds up a very steep and high hill, and through a great birch
wood, forming a most picturesque scene, from the pendent form of the
boughs waving with the wind from the bottom to the utmost summits of the
mountains. On attaining the top, a view of the beautiful little Straith,
fertile and wooded, with the river inn the middle, delights the
beholder. The stream, after meandering in various circles, suddenly
swells into a lake that fills the vale from side to side; this lake is
about three miles long, and retains the name of the river.
When Prince Charles
visited Blair, it was a fortified house, and capable of holding out a
siege afterwards against his adherents. Its height was consequently
lowered, but the inside has been finished with care by the ducal owner.
The environs of this beautiful place are thus described by the graphic
pen of Pennant, whose description of them, having been written in 176D,
is more likely to apply to the state in which it was when Prince Charles
beheld it, than that of any more modern traveller.
"The Duke of Athole's
estate is very extensive, and the country populous; while vassalage
existed, the chieftain could raise two or three thousand fighting-men,
and leave sufficient at home to take care of the ground. The forests, or
rather chases, (for they are quite naked,) are very extensive, and feed
vast numbers of stags, which range at certain times of the year 1 tt
herds of five hundred. Some grow to a great size. The hunting of these
animals was formerly after the manner of an Eastern monarch. Thousands
of vassals surrounded a great tract of country, and drove the deer to
the spot where the chieftains were stationed, who shot them at their
leisure.
"Near the house is a line
walk surrounding a very deep glen, finely wooded, but in dry weather
deficient in water at the bottom; but on the side of the walk on the
rock is a small crystalline fountain, inhabited at that time by a pair
of Naiads, in the form of golden fish.
"In a spruce-fir was a
hang-nest of some unknown bird, suspended at the four corners to the
boughs; it was open at top an inch and a half in diameter, and two deep
; the sides and bottom thick, the materials moss, worsted, and
birch-bark, lined with hair and feathers. The stream affords the part a
small species of trout seldom exceeding eight niches in length, marked
on the sides with nine large bluish spots, and on the lateral line with
small red ones. No traveller should omit visiting Yorke Cascade, a
magnificent cataract, amidst most suitable scenery, about a mile distant
from the house. This country is very mountainous, has no natural woods,
except of birch; but the vast plantations that begin to cloath the hills
will amply supply these defects."
With what sensations must
the Marquis of Tullibardine have approached this beautiful and princely
territory, from which he had been excluded, hi« vassals becoming the
vassals of a younger brother, and he a proscribed and aged man, visiting
as an alien the home of his youth!
Sanguine hopes, however,
perhaps mitigated the bitterness of the reflections with which the
faithful and disinterested Marquis of Tullibardine once more found
himself within the precincts of his proud domain.
Several anecdotes are
told of Prince Charles at Blair; among others, "that when the Prince was
at the Castle, he went into the garden, and taking a walk upon the
bowling-green, he said he had never seen a bowling-green before; upon
which Mrs. Robertson of Lude called for some bowls that he might see
them, but he told her that he had had a present of bowls sent him, as a
curiosity, to Rome from England.''
On the second of
September, the Prince left Blair and went to the house of Lude, where he
was very cheerful, and took his share in several dances, such as minuets
and Highland reels; the first reel the Prince called for was, "This is
no' mine ain House he afterwards commanded a Strathspey minuet to be
danced."
On the following day,
while doing at Dunkeld, some of the company happened to observe what a
thoughtful state his father would now be in from the consideration of
those dangers and difficulties which he had to encounter, and remarked
that upon this account he was much to be pitied, because his mind must
be much upon the rack. The Prince replied, that he did not half so much
pity his father as his brother; "for," (he said) "the King has been
inured to disappointments and distresses, and has learnt to bear up
easily under the misfortunes of life; but, poor Harry—his young and
tender years make him much to be pitied, for few brothers liye as we
do."
On the fourth of
September, Prince Charles entered Perth; the Marquis of Tullibardine, as
it appears from several letters addressed to him by Lord George Murray,
who wrote from Perth, remained at Blair, but only, as it is evident from
the following extract from a letter by Lord George Murray, whilst
awaiting the arrangement of active operations. On the twenty-second of
September he received a commission from the Prince, constituting and
appointing him Commander-in-Chief of the forces north of the Forth; the
active duties of tho post were, however, fullilled by Lord George
Murray, who writes in the character of a general:
"Dear Brother,
"Things vary so much from
time to time, that I can say nothing certain as yet, but refer you to
the enclosed letter; but depend upon having another express from me with
you before Monday night. But in the meantime you must resolve to be
ready to march on Tuesday morning, by Keinacan and Tay Bridge, so as to
be at Crieff on "Wednesday, and even that way, if you do your best, you
will be half a mark behind; but you will be able to make that up on
Thursday, when I reckon we may meet at Dumblane, or Doun; but of this
more fully in my next. It is believed for certain, that Cope will embark
at Aberdeen.
"I hope the meal was with
you this day, thirty-five bolls,—for it was at Invar last night. It
shall be my study to have more meal with you on Monday night, for you
must distribute a peck a man; and cost what it will, there must be
frocks made to each man to contain a peck or two for the men to have
always with them.
"Buy linen, yarn, or
anything, for these frocks are of absolute necessity—nothing can be done
without them. His Royal Highness desires you to acquaint Glenmoriston
and Glencoe, if they come your way of this intended inarch, so that they
may go by Tay-bridgc (if you please, with you), and what meal you can
spare let them have. You may please tell your own people that there is a
project to get arms for them. Yours. Adieu. "Georoe Murray."
From his age and
infirmities, the Marquis was precluded from taking an active part in the
long course of events which succeeded the unfurling of the standard at
Glenfinnin. He appears to have exercised a gentle, but certain sway over
the conduct of others, and especially to have possessed a control over
the high-spirited Lord George Murray, whose conduct he did not always
approve.
Whilst at Blair, the
Marquis was saluted as Duke of Athole by all who entered his house; but
the honour was accompanied by some mortifications. His younger brother,
the Duke of Athole, had taken care to carry away everything that could
be conveyed, and to drive off every animal that could be driven from his
territory. The Marquis had therefore great difficulty in providing even
a moderate entertainment for the Prince; whilst the army, now grown
numerous, were almost starving. "The priests," writes a contemptuous
opponent, "never had a litter opportunity to proclaim a general fast
than the present. No bull of the Pope's would ever have been more
certain of finding a most exact and punctual obedience."
After the battle of
Culloden had sealed the fate of the Jacobites, the Marquis of
Tullibardine was forced, a second time, to seek a place of refuge. He
threw hint-self, unhappily, upon the mercy of one who little deserved
the confidence which was reposed in his honour, or merited the privilege
of succouring the unfortunate. The following are the particulars of his
fate :—
About three weeks after
the battle of Culloden the Marquis of Tullibardine traversed the moors
and mountains through Strathane in search of a place of safety and
repose : he had become a very infirm old man, and so unfit for
travelling on horseback, that he had a saddle made on purpose, somewhat
like a chair, in which he rode in the manner ladies usually do.
On arriving in the
vicinity of Loch Lomond he was quite worn out, and recollecting that a
(laughter of the family of Polmain (who were connected with his own) was
married to Buchanan of Drumakiln, who lived in a detached peninsula,
running out into the lake, the fainting fugitive thought, on these
accounts, that the place might be suitable for a temporary refuge. The
Marquis was attended by a French secretary, two servants of that nation,
and two or three Highlanders, who had guided him through the solitary
passes of the mountains. Against the judgment of these faithful
attendants, he bent his course to the Ross, for so the house of Drama
kiln is called, where the Laird of Drumakiln was living with his son.
The Marquis, after alighting, begged to have a private interview with
his cousin, the wife of Drumakiln; he told this lady he was come to put
his life into her hands, and what, :n some sense, he valued more than
life, a small casket,* which he delivered to her, intreating her,
whatever became of him, that she would keep that carefully till demanded
in his name, as it contained papers of consequence to the honour and
safety of many other persons. Whilst he was thus talking, the younger
Drumakiln rudely broke in upon him, and snatching away the casket, he
said he would secure it in a safe place, and went out. Meantime the
French secretary and the servants were watchful and alarmed at seeing
the father and son walking in earnest consultation, and observing horses
saddled and dispatched with an air of mystery, whilst every one appeared
to regard them with compassion. All this time the Marquis was treated
with seeming kindness; hut his attendants suspected some snare. They
burst into loud lamentations, and were described by some children, who
observed them, to be 'greeting and roaring like women.' This incident
the lady of Drumakiln (who was a person of some capacity) afterwards
told her neighbours as a strange instance of effeminacy in these
faithful adherents.
At night the secretary
went secretly to his master's bedside, and assured him there was
treachery. The Marquis answered he could believe no gentleman capable of
such baseness, and at any rate he was incapable of escaping through such
defiles as they had passed; he told him in that case it could only
aggravate his sorrow to see him also betrayed; and advised him to go off
immediately, which he did. Early in the morning a party from Dumbarton,
summoned for that purpose, arrived to carry the Marquis away prisoner.
He bore his fate with calm magnanimity. The fine horses which he brought
with him were detained, and he and one attendant who remained were
mounted en some horses belonging to Drumakiln, Such was the general
sentiment of disgust with Drumakiln, that the officer who commanded the
party taunted that gentleman in the bitterest manner, and the commander
of Dumbarton Castle, who treated his noble prisoner with the utmost
respect and compassion, regarded Drumakim with the coldest disdain. The
following anecdotes of the odium which Drumakiln incurred, are related
by Mrs. Grant.
"Very soon after the
Marquis had departed, young Drumakiln mounted the Marquis's horse, (the
servant riding another which had belonged to that nobleman,) and set out
to a visit to his father-in-law Polmaise.
''"When he alighted, he
gave his horse to a groom, who. knowing the Marquis well, recognised
him—'Come in poor beast (said he) ; times are changed with you since you
carried a noble Marquis, but you shall always be treated well here for
his sake.' Drumakiln ran in to his father-in-law, complaining that his
servant insulted him. Polmaise made no answer, but turning on his heel,
rang the bell for the servant, saying, ' That gentleman's horses.'
''After this and several
other rebuffs the father and son began to shrink from the infamy
attached to this proceeding. There was at that time only one newspaper
published at Edinburgh, conducted by the well-known Ruddiman: to this
person the elder Drumakiln addressed a letter or paragraph to be
inserted in his paper, bearing that on such a (lay the Marquis
surrendered to him at his house. This was regularly dated at Ross: very
soon after the father and son went together to Edinburgh, and waiting on
the person appointed to make payments for affairs of this nature,
demanded their reward. It should have been before observed, that the
Government were at this time not at all desirous to apprehend the
Marquis, though his name was the first inserted in the proclamation.
This capture indeed greatly embarrassed them, as it would be cruel to
punish, and partial to pardon him. The special officer desired Drumakiln
to return the next day for the money. Meanwhile he sent privately to
Ruddiman and examined him about the paragraph already mentioned. They
found it on his file, in the old Laird's handwriting, and delivered it
to the commissioner. The commissioner delivered the paragraph, in his
own handwriting, up to the elder, saying, 'There is an order to the
Treasury, which ought to satisfy you,' and turned away from him with
marked contempt."
Soon after the younger
laird was found dead in his bed, to which he had retired in usual
health. Of five children which he left, it would shock humanity to
relate the wretched lives, and singular, and untimely deaths, of whom,
indeed, it might be said,
"On all the line a sudden
vengeance waits,
And frequent hearses shall besiege their gates."
And they were literally
considered by all the neighbourhood as caitiffs,
"Whose breasts the furies
steel'd
And curst with hearts unknowing how to yield."—Hope.
The blasting influence of
more than dramatic justice, or of corroding infamy, seemed to reach
every branch of this devoted family. After the extinction of the direct
male heirs, a brother, who was a captain in the army, came home to take
possession of the property. He was a person well-respected in life, and
possessed some talent, and much amenity of manners. The country
gentlemen, however, shunned and disliked him, on account of the existing
prejudice. This person, thus shunned and slighted, seemed to grow
desperate, and plunged into the lowest and most abandoned profligacy. It
is needless to enter into a detail of crimes which are hastening to
desired oblivion. It is enough to observe that the signal miseries of
this family have done more to impress the people of that district with a
horror of treachery, and a sense of retributive justice, than volumes of
the most eloquent instruction could effect. On the dark question
relative to temporal judgments it becomes us not to decide. Yet it is of
some consequence, in a moral view, to remark how much all generous
emulation, all hope of future excellence, is quenched in the human mind
by the dreadful blot of imputed infamy"
This account of the
retributive justice of public opinion which was visited upon Drumakiln,
is confirmed by other authority. It is consolatory to reflect that the
Marquis of Tullibardine, after a life spent in an honest devotion to the
cause which he believed to be just, was spared, by a merciful release,
from the horrors of a public trial, and of a condemnation to the
scaffold, which age and ill-health were not sufficient pleas to avert.
After remaining some weeks in confinement at Dumbarton, he was carried
to Edinburgh, where he remained until the thirteenth of May, 1746. lie
was then put on board the Eltham man-of-war, lying in the Leith Roads,
bound for London. His health all this time was declining, yet he had the
inconvenience of a long sea voyage to sustain, for the Eltham went north
for other prisoners before it sailed for London. But at length the
Marquis reached his last home, the Tower, where he arrived on the
twenty-first of June. He survived only until the ninth of July.
Little is known of this
unfortunate nobleman, except what is honourable, consistent, and
amiable. He had almost ceased to be Scotch, except in his attachments,
and could scarcely write his own language. He seems to have been
generally respected ; and he bore his reverses of fortune with calmness
and fortitude. In his last moments he is said to have declared, that
although he had been as much attached to the cause of James Stuart as
any of his adherents, if he might now advise his countrymen, it should
be never more to enter into rebellious measures, for, having failed -n
the last attempt, every future one would be hopeless.
The Marquis died in the
fifty-eighth year of his age, and was buried in the chapel in the Tower,
which has received few more honest men, or public characters more true
to the principles which they have professed.
The following letter,
written in March. 1745, during the siege of Blair Castle, when it was
commanded by a garrison under Sir Andrew Agnew, and addressed to Lord
George Murray, shows the strong sense which the Marquis entertained of
what was due to his country and his cause.
"Brother Georoe,
"Since, contrary to the
rules of right reason, you was pleased to tell me a sham story about the
expedition to Blair, without further ceremony for me, you may now do
what the gentlemen of the country think fit with the castle: I am in no
concern about it. Our great-great-grandfather, grandfather, and father's
pictures will be an irreparable loss on blowing up the house; but there
is no comparison to be made with these faint images of our forefathers
and the more necessary publick sendee, which requires we should
sacrifice everything that can valuably contribute towards the country's
safety, as well as materially advancing the royal cause. Pray give my
kind sendee to all valuable friends, to which I can add nothing but
that, in all events, you may be assured I shall ever be found with just
regard, dear brother, your most affectionate brother and humble
servant."
"Inverness, " March 26,
1746."
"PS. At the upper end of
the door of the old stable, there was formerly a gate which had a
portcullis into the castle; it is half built up and boarded over on the
stable side, large enough to hold a horse at hack and manger. People
that don't know the place imagine it may be much easier dug through than
any other part of the wall, so as to make a convenient passage into the
vaulted room, which is called the servants' hall."
Of the fate of this
princely territory, and upon the fortunes of the family of which the
Marquis of Tullibardine was so respectable a member, much remains to be
related; but it appertains more properly to the life of the warlike and
ambitious brother of the Marquis, the celebrated Lord George Murray. |
