Long before the raising of the standard at Braemar, the Government had fully appreciated the coming danger, and active measures of precaution were being taken. Parliament voted a reward of £100,000 for the capture of the Pretender. On July 16, the House of Commons voted an Address to the King, urging the necessity of active measures against those concerned in rebellious riots and disorders, and the King in his turn called upon the Parliament to make provision for the defence of the country. The Riot Act, still in force, was passed.

The whole available military force in the country amounted to some 8ooo men. Parliament voted a large increase to the army, and the Government proceeded to raise thirteen regiments of dragoons and eight of foot. An Act was also passed empowering the King "to secure and detain such persons as His Majesty shall suspect of conspiring against his person and Government," which had the effect of suspending for six months the Habeas Corpus Act in England, and the corresponding "Act of 1701" in Scotland. It was also enacted that, should any Crown vassal in Scotland become guilty of high treason, any sub-vassal holding of him should take his place as holding direct from the Crown, and that, on the other hand, should any sub-vassal be implicated in the rebellion, his estate should pass to his immediate superior. Legislative provision was made for circumventing the well-known plan by which a landowner, who considered it likely that he might himself soon fall within the scope of the law of treason, could provide against a possible forfeiture by conveying his estate to a member of his family; and the Crown lawyers in Scotland were empowered to call upon any suspected persons to appear and find security for their good conduct. This power was extensively exercised, apparently with the result of forcing a good many waverers to join the standard of rebellion.

In Scotland, active measures were taken spontaneously by the friends of the Hanover succession. A body, called " The Association of Men of Quality and Substance," was formed at Edinburgh on August 1. Their Bond of Association sets forth that the subscribers "do, conform to the laudable practice in former times of imminent danger, hereby mutually promise and solemnly engage and oblidge ourselves to stand by and assist one another to the utmost of our power in the support and defence of His Majesty King George, our only rightful sovereign, and of the Protestant succession, now happily established, against all open arid secret enemies for the preservation and security of our holy religion, civil liberties, and most excellent constitution both in Church and State." The signatories then undertake to subscribe certain sums of money "for supporting and maintaining of such a number of men to receive orders from His Majesty’s Commander-in-Chief for the time for so many days as the commissioners or managers aftermentioned shall find the money subscribed for sufficient to maintain;" and provision is made for the election by the subscribers of "a competent number of managers.... for expending of the money according to the intent of these presents, and for giving such necessary directions and orders as shall be proper."

At the same time was formed an Association of "those who were willing and capable to fight in so good a cause, but not able to take the field at their own charge." Its members bound themselves "that upon the first notice of the Pretender’s landing in any part of Britain, or upon the advice of any insurrection or appearance of his friends and abettors at home in a hostile manner for the support and assistance of the said Pretender, they shall assemble and meet together with their best horses and furniture, whether for foot or horse service according to their abilities; and to the best of their power to comply with and obey such orders as they should receive from the government for the supporting of His Majesty King George, his person and government, etc."

Both these Associations received zealous support. In Edinburgh a body named "The Associate Volunteers of Edinburgh" was formed, amounting to some 400 men, and similar volunteer forces were raised at Glasgow, Dumfries, and in other parts of the country. The Government, however, was somewhat doubtful as to the advisability of encouraging the, of armed bodies not subject to military law, and all this volunteer zeal was somewhat coldly received. It was intimated that "His Majesty, supposing that the measures the Government had taken for the security and defence of this part of the nation would prove effectual for that end, was not willing to put his loving subjects to any further trouble and expense."

The regular forces in Scotland at this time consisted of four reduced regiments of foot and four regiments of dragoons, in all some 1800 men. These were concentrated at Stirling under the command of Major-General Wightman, an officer who was to give proof of his capacities for Highland warfare in the affair of Glenshiel four years later. Then, as always, Stirling was the key of the Highlands, and so long as it remained in the hands of Government, the Jacobites in the north were effectually separated from their friends in the south. The force under Wightman was reinforced by two regiments from England, and the States of Holland were called upon to send over the contingent of 6000 men with which they had undertaken to support the British Government in the event of invasion or rebellion. The whole of the forces in Scotland were placed under the command of the Duke of Argyll, who was not only a distinguished soldier and statesman, but himself a great Highland chief and the hereditary leader of the Whig cause in the Highlands. He left London on September 9, reached Edinburgh on the 14th, and on the 17th arrived at Stirling and took over the command of the army. In response to his request, a battalion of the volunteers, which had been raised in Glasgow, marched to Stirling, and was attached to his command; and measures were taken for protecting the Western Lowlands against the contingency of a Highland raid.

In the meantime, Mar had collected a considerable force and had begun his march to the south by Moulinearn and Logierait. Some 500 of the Atholl men joined him, under the Marquis of Tullibardine, and by the time he reached Dunkeld his army numbered about 2000. His first object was to seize Perth before it could be occupied by the Hanoverians. He accordingly sent forward Colonel John Hay, brother of Lord Kinnoul, with a detachment of 200 horse. Hay entered Perth on September 14, and there proclaimed King James. Mar himself, with the main body of the army reached Perth on the 28th. In a few days his force amounted to upwards of 5000 men.

The possession of Perth was all-important to the Jacobites. The town itself was a rich source of supply. It commanded some of the most fertile districts in Scotland; it isolated the Hanoverians in the north; it enabled the Jacobites to overawe a great part of the Lowlands, and it afforded excellent quarters to the men. There Mar settled down and applied himself to recruiting and raising money. A circular letter was issued requesting, or rather demanding, "loans" from all from whom it seemed likely that they could be extracted. Orders were issued for the collection of the land tax. Loans were demanded from Montrose and other burghs, and a series of proclamations and manifestoes were printed and distributed. Plenty of recruits kept coming in from the north—MacIntoshes, Mackenzies, and Gordons. By the middle of October the force amounted to some 12,000 men.

Mar remained at Perth for more than six weeks. At the end of September James Murray, who had been nominated by the Chevalier his Secretary of State for Scotland, arrived with assurances of speedy assistance from France, and of James’s intention shortly to come in person to place himself at the head of his followers. A serious calamity, however, had just befallen the Jacobite cause abroad. Louis XIV. died on September 1, 1715. He had been a faithful and powerful friend to the Stuarts. The Regent Orleans did not continue his policy, but from the beginning cultivated the friendship of the British Government, which meant, of course, the discontinuance of all countenance to the claims of the exiled family. Their adherents could no longer look to France as a base of operations. It appears that they had succeeded in fitting out a considerable fleet at Havre, St. Malo, and other French ports, on board of which were a large quantity of military stores and over 1800 men. These preparations were frustrated by the vigilance of Lord Stair, then British Ambassador at Paris, who represented to the Regent that to permit the sailing of these vessels would be a breach of the Treaty of Utrecht, and would be regarded by the British Government as an unfriendly act. Orders were accordingly given to the French naval authorities to seize the vessels if they attempted to sail.

The period of inactivity at Perth had the worst effect upon the Highland army. As had been so clearly shown in the campaigns of Montrose and Dundee, a force of Highlanders was only really formidable when kept constantly marching and fighting. Kept idle in camp or quarters, and occupied only in recruiting, raising money, and digging entrenchments, the clansmen soon became discontented and dispirited. The Master of Sinclair in his Memoirs tells us how the time passed. "Mar," he says, "after coming into Perth did nothing all this while but write; and as if all had depended on his writing, nobody moved in any one thing; there was not a word spoke of fortifying the town, nor the least care taken for sending of powder to any place; we did not want gunsmiths, and yet none of them was employed in mending our old arms. Whoever spoke of those things, which I did often, was giving himself airs, for we lived very well, and as long as meat, drink, and monie was not wanting what was the need of anie more; most of us were going home everie day for our diversion, and to get a fresh supplie of the readie. In that we followed strictly the rule of the gospel, for we never thought of to-morrow. If it escaped any extravagant fellow to say that more troops were coming to join the Duke of Argyle from England or Ireland, he was lookt on as a visionare; or if any seemed to think that these few troops he had would fight, there was no doubt he was a coward, and despaired of our success, which I’m sure they could not have been so positive of in their circumstances but by believing no one would fight against them, which they said confidently; but so soon as men have nothing reasonable to trust to they seldom fail to please themselves with phantoms, and a drowning man catches hold of every straw."

In the meantime the Jacobites in the south of Scotland and in the north of England had risen. Before we proceed to give an account of their operations, there are a few minor events of the war in Scotland which fall to be narrated.

So early as the 8th of September an attempt was made to capture Edinburgh Castle. The enterprise was designed by Lord Drummond, son of the so-called Duke of Perth, and, says Patten, "there were no less than ninety choice men picked out for the enterprise, all gentlemen. They had corrupted one Ainesly, a sergeant, who was afterwards hanged for it, a corporal, and two centinels within the Castle. These were to be ready to assist at a certain place upon the wall near the Sallyport, where, having contrived a scaling-ladder made of ropes, and with pulleys, which being fastened to the top of the wall by the conspirators, the centinel was to draw

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up with a small rope provided on purpose." A certain Mr Arthur, formerly an officer of the Scots Guards, was concerned in this conspiracy. He communicated the matter to his brother, Dr Arthur, a physician in Edinburgh. "This gentleman," says Rae, "having appeared very melancholy all that day before the attempt was to be made on the thought of the sudden revolution that was at hand, his lady importuned him till she got into the secret, and that evening about 10 o’clock sent a servant with an unsigned letter to My Lord Justice Clerk." The Lord Justice Clerk, Sir Adam Cockburn of Ormiston, at once communicated his intelligence to Colonel Stuart, the Commandant of the Castle. In consequence of this warning the sentries were visited at an earlier hour than usual on the night of the 8th. The treacherous sentinel, finding himself discovered, threw the ladder over the wall and fired upon the conspirators, who fled; the plot was frustrated and the Castle was saved.

A more successful enterprise was carried out by the Master of Sinclair, already mentioned as one of the chroniclers of the insurrection. A large quantity of arms, destined for the forces which were being embodied by the Earl of Sutherland in the north for King George, had been put on board ship at Leith. After sailing, the vessel was compelled by contrary winds to enter the harbour of Burntisland. News of this reached Perth, and it was resolved to make an attempt to seize the prize. Sinclair started for Burntisland at the head of 400 horse, each trooper having a foot soldier mounted behind him. The party reached Burntisland at midnight, took possession of the town, seized the boats in the harbour, and easily captured the vessel. The result of this raid was the capture of over 420 stand of arms.

The Jacobite clans in the West Highlands also showed some activity. On September 17 a body of Macleans, Macdonalds, and Camerons made an ineffectual attempt to seize Fort William. In September the M’Gregors seized the boats on Loch Lomond and proceeded to plunder the lowland shores of the Loch. An expedition was organised against them, consisting of about 100 seamen from the ships of war then lying in the Clyde, supported by volunteers from Paisley, Dumbarton, and the neighbouring towns. Several man-of-war’s boats were towed up the Leven by horses, and it was determined to attack the M’Gregors in their stronghold at Inversnaid. Rae gives a somewhat amusing account of how the expedition fared.

"At Night they arriv’d at Luss, where they were join’d by Sir Humphray Colquhoun of Luss, and James Grant of Pluscarden, his Son in Law, followed by 40 or 50 stately Fellows in their short Hose and belted Plaids, arm’d each of ‘em with a well fix’d Gun on his Shoulder, a strong handsome Target, with a sharp pointed Steel of above half an Ell in length, screw’d into the Navel of it, on his Left Arm; a sturdy Claymore by his Side, and a Pistol or two, with a Durk and Knife on his Belt. Here the whole Company rested all Night; and on the Morrow, being Thursday the 13th, they went on in their Expedition, and about Noon came to Innersnaat, the Place of Danger, where the Pasley Men and those of Dumbarton, and several of the other Companies, to the Number of 100 Men, with the greatest Intrepedity leapt on Shore, got up to the top of the Mountains and stood a considerable Time, beating their Drums all the while, but no Enemy appearing, they went in quest of their Boats, which the Rebels had seiz’d, and having casually lighted on some Ropes, Anchors, and Oars, hid among the Shrubs; at length they found the Boats drawn up a good way on the Land, which they hurled down to the Loch. Such of them as were not damag’d they carry’d off with them, and such as were they sunk or hewed in Pieces. That same Night they returned to Luss, and thence next Day to Dumbarton, from whence they had first set out, bringing along with them the whole Boats they found in their Way, on either side of the Loch, and in the Creeks of the Isles, and moor’d them under the Cannon of the Castle. During this Expedition, the Pinnaces discharging their Pateraroes, and the Men their small Arms, made such a Thundering Noise thro’ the multiply’d rebounding Echoes of the vast Mountains on both sides of the Loch, that the M’Gregiours were cow’d and frighted away to the rest of the Rebels, who were encamp’d at Strathphillen, about 16 Miles from the Head of the Loch, where, being all join’d as above, they continued till the 18th of October; about which Time they were also joined by Stuart of Appin with 250 Men, Sir John M’Lean with 400, M’Dougal of Lorn with about 50, and a Part of Broadalbine’s Men, in all making up, by the modestest Computation, 2400 Men."

This force marched to Inverary and threatened the Campbell stronghold, but, finding it strongly garrisoned under the Earl of Ilay, the Duke’s brother, they withdrew without having effected anything, and ultimately dispersed.

We have now to glance briefly at the rising in the south. On October 11 a party of Jacobites under Lords Kenmure and Carnwath assembled near Lochmaben. On the following day they seized a quantity of arms intended for the use of the militia, which had been deposited in the house of Henderson of Bradeholm. They then marched to Moffat, and on Thursday, October 13, they entered Lochmaben and proclaimed James VIII. On the 14th they marched to Ecclefechan, on the 15th to Langholm, and on the 16th they reached Hawick. On Monday the 17th the party, which only numbered some 180, reached Jedburgh. Next day they marched into England, to Rothbury, where they were joined by the insurgent Jacobites from Northumberland under Lord Derwentwater and Mr Forster—a force amounting to some 300 horsemen. The conjoined forces then marched to and occupied Kelso.

The occupation of Stirling by the troops of the Government, and the vigilance of the naval force which now patrolled the Firth of Forth, effectually separated the Jacobites in the south from the main body of the army encamped at Perth. Mar, however, determined to reinforce them with as large a force as possible. Preparations were quietly made for embarking 2500 men under Brigadier MacIntosh of Borlum in boats at Pittenweem, Crail, Elie, and the other small ports along the Fifeshire coast.

At the same time preparations were made at Burntisland as if for some expedition, in order to induce the Government vessels lying in the Firth to concentrate there. On the nights of the 12th and 13th of October the enterprise was carried out. The King’s ships succeeded in capturing one boat of the flotilla and in turning back some others, but about 1600 men effected a landing at North Berwick, Aberlady, Gullane, and other places on the coast of East Lothian. As quickly as possible they concentrated at Haddington. Their object was to march southwards in order to join Kenmure’s force, but the temptation of a raid on Edinburgh was too great. They were only seventeen miles from the capital, Argyll was at Stirling, thirty-six miles away, and they knew that they could count on many friends among the inhabitants. However, John Campbell, the Lord Provost, acted with the utmost promptitude and decision. He at once called out the City Guards, the trained bands, and the volunteers, told them off to their respective posts for the defence of the city, and sent an urgent express to Argyll at Stirling for a reinforcement of regular troops. Argyll instantly started with 300 dragoons, and 200 foot mounted on country horses, and reached Edinburgh just in time. The Jacobites were at Jock’s Lodge when he entered the city. On finding that he was just too late, Brigadier MacIntosh gave up the project of attacking Edinburgh and marched to Leith, where he took possession of the citadel built by Cromwell, blocked the gates, planted the ramparts with cannon from the ships in the harbour, and awaited events.

On the morning of Saturday, October 15, the Duke of Argyll, with a force of regulars, militia, and volunteers, amounting in all to about 1100 men, marched down to Leith and summoned MacIntosh to surrender, declaring that if he were obliged to attack the citadel he would give no quarter. "He received," says Rae, "a resolute answer from a Highland laird called Kinackin, who told the Duke that as to surrendering they laughed at it, and as to bringing cannon and assaulting them, they were ready for him; that they would neither take nor give any quarter with him, and if he thought he was able to force them he might try his hand." Argyll had no guns, the Jacobites were well and strongly posted, and an attempt to carry the citadel by assault must have been attended with tremendous loss. He accordingly retired to Edinburgh to make preparations for a serious attack on the following day. It was obvious that the citadel could not be permanently held by the Jacobites. Accordingly that night about nine o’clock they abandoned it, and taking advantage of the low ebb of the tide, they marched off along the sands eastward in the direction of Musselburgh. About two in the morning they reached Seton House. Before departing they had reported their movements to Mar. The boat which carried their messenger across the Firth had a shot fired after her by the citadel, and so was taken by the Government cruisers for a friend, and allowed to pass untouched.

MacIntosh remained at Seton House for three days, and while there succeeded in obtaining large supplies of cattle, meal, and other provisions. On the 18th letters came from Mar with orders to continue the march towards England. Accordingly, on the morning of the 19th, the Highlanders left Seton. That night they arrived at Longformacus. Immediately after their departure Seton was occupied by a force of dragoons and militia under General Wightman. On the 20th MacIntosh and his men reached Duns. There they remained till the 22nd, when they resumed their march towards Kelso, which they reached on the same evening.

As we have seen, Kelso was by this time occupied by the Jacobite forces under Kenmure, Derwentwater, and Forster. On the approach of the Highlanders. a party of horse marched out to meet them at Ednam Bridge "in Compliment to their Conduct and Bravery," and escorted them in triumph into the town.

The total Jacobite force at Kelso now amounted to 1400 foot and 600 horse. On the following day, Sunday October 23, the army attended Divine Service, and a sermon on the text "The right of the first-born is his" (Deuteronomy xxi. 17), was preached by the notorious Robert Patten, who acted as chaplain to the English insurgents, and afterwards turned king’s evidence to save his own neck. On Monday King James was proclaimed in the market-place with great ceremony.

The Scottish division of the insurgent army was divided into five troops of horse and six regiments of foot; the English insurgents forming five troops of horse. So long as they remained in Scotland the whole force was commanded by Lord Kenmure. They remained in Kelso to the 27th of October, a fatal delay, as it gave the Government troops in the north of England ample time to make their dispositions.

Much time was lost through the dissension and lack of discipline which throughout were the curse of all the Jacobite enterprises. There was much dissension as to whether the army should cross the Border. The Highlanders were exceedingly unwilling to do so; ultimately the majority yielded to the promise of sixpence a day of regular pay. Some 500 deserted and found their way home as best they could.

Lord Winton proposed that the army should march into the west of Scotland. It was also suggested that an attack should be made on General Carpenter, who was now in the immediate vicinity with a force not exceeding 1000 in number, fatigued by long marches, and consisting, to a large extent, of raw recruits. "But," as Patten says, "there was a fate attended all their councils, for they could never agree to any one thing that tended to their advantage." On October 27 they marched to Jedburgh; there they remained till the 29th, when it was at last definitely resolved to march into England. From Jedburgh they marched to Hawick, and from Hawick to Langholm. At Langholm a party was detached to attack Dumfries. Dumfries could have been easily captured, and its possession, as being the principal town in the south-west of Scotland, would have been of the greatest importance to the cause. However, the leaders of the English Jacobites strongly urged that the whole available force should be sent into England, and the party which was marching against Dumfries was recalled when it had reached Ecclefechan. On October 31 the army crossed the Border and encamped for the night at Brampton, having marched 100 miles in five days. As soon as they entered England Forster took over the command, holding a commission to that effect from Mar.

The troops entered the town in two bodies, meeting in the market-place. The Jacobite gentlemen and officers were placed under a guard in the inns, and the other prisoners were confined in the church. The Government troops had lost 146 men killed and wounded. Of the insurgents, who, during the attack, had been well under cover, there were seventeen killed and twenty-five wounded. As great numbers of the insurgents had succeeded in making their escape, the prisoners only amounted to 1497, including Foster. and Lords Derwentwater, Widdrington, Nithsdale, Winton, Kenmure and Nairn. Among the prisoners were several officers who had held cornmissi:ns in the army. These were tried by court-martial at Preston, and on December 2 four of them were shot. Most of the ordinary prisoners were confined in the castles of Lancaster, Chester. and Liverpool. The noblemen and most of the gentlemen were taken up to London. Their treatment on their arrival there reflects little credit on the authorities. At Highgate they were received by a detachment of the Guards under General Tatton. Here, says Rae, "everyone of ‘em had his arms ty’d with a cord coming cross his Back ; and being thus pinion’d, they were not allow’d to hold the reins of the Bridle; but each of ‘em had a foot Soldier leading his Horse: And being rang’d into four Divisions, according to the four different Prisons to which they were allotted, and each Division placed between a Party of the Horse Grenadiers and a Platoon of the Foot ; In this Manner General Tatton set out from Highgate about Noon, and proceeded to London thro’ innumerable Crowds of Spectators, who all of ‘em express’d the utmost Detestation of their rebellious Attempt, by upbraiding them with their Crime, shouting them along in this disgraceful Triumph; and incessantly crying out, King George for ever; no Warming-Pan Bastard: the Mobs in the meantime marched before them beating on a Warming Pan, while the General’s Drums beat a Triumphant March. After this the Noblemen and three or four others were sent to the Tower; Mr Forster, MacIntosh, and about Seventy more, to Newgate, Sixty to the Marshalsea, and Seventy Two to the Fleet."

The 13th of November was a fatal day for the Jacobite cause. The notorious Simon Fraser, afterwards Lord Lovat, who had fled from justice after the atrocious crimes of his youth, had returned to the Highlands and was making a bid for the favour of the Government. He put himself at the head of 300 Frasers, and recalled from the Jacobite army the remainder of his clan, who had joined Mar at Perth. In conjunction with Duncan Forbes of Culloden and Hugh Rose of Kilravock, he planned an attack on Inverness. The available force amounted to about 1300 men. The small Jacobite garrison, however, did not wait to be attacked, but on the night of November 13 evacuated the town and escaped across the Moray Firth. The key of the northern Highlands was again in the hands of the Government.

On the same day the battle of Sheriffmuir was fought.

Mar had remained at Perth since September awaiting events. Recruits had been coming in from the north, Lord Seaforth with his Mackenzies, also Macraes, Chisholms and others. By the beginning of November the force amounted to some 12,000 men, and a movement to the south was determined on.’ On the 9th a council of war was held. It was decided that the camp should be struck, and that the army should march to Dunblane. There 3000 men were to be detached "to amuse the King’s army at Stirling" by attacking Stirling Bridge and the neighbouring fords. While Argyll thus had his hands full, the main body of the Jacobites was to cross the Forth further up, descend on the Lowlands, and follow MacIntosh into England.

On November 10 Mar marched out of Perth, leaving a garrison, under the command of Colonel Balfour, to hold the town. He reached Auchterarder, nine miles distant, on the same night, and there was joined by General Gordon. On the 11th he "rested . . . to settle the order of battle as well as the order of marching." The Master of Sinclair gives a very vivid picture of the incapacity of the leaders and the lack of discipline of the army. "We marched," he says, "the blind leading the blind, not knowing whither we were going or what we were going to do." Of Mar, he says that "a name and noise was all he sought." On the moor of Auchterarder the army was reviewed. In this review, says Sinclair, "there were squabbles about the posts of our squadrons, and we were never so constant in anything as our being disorderly."

On the morning of Saturday the 12th, General Gordon and Brigadier Ogilvie were ordered to advance and occupy Dunblane. The main body of the army was to follow under General Hamilton, Mar himself, in the meantime, having gone to Drummond Castle to meet Lord Breadalbane. Hamilton had reached Ardoch, when an orderly arrived from Gordon with the news that his advanced guard had come into touch with the enemy. An express was sent off to Mar, who returned with all speed. Gordon was ordered to halt till the main body came up to him. They joined him at Kinbuck, and there the army lay under arms all night. The Master of Sinclair comments with characteristic vigour on the singular lack of military knowledge with which the ground of their bivouac was selected. "I can take it upon me to defy the most ingenious engineer after a month’s thinking to contrive a place. so fit for the destruction of men, without being in the least capable to help themselves. God knows, had we been attacked by any three regiments of foot posted in the high grounds about they had cut us to pieces."

Argyll had good spies in Perth, and received immediate information of his enemy’s intentions. He determined not to wait to be attacked. He ordered the troops at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Kilsyth and Falkirk to join him at Stirling with all possible speed, and to be in readiness to march on the night of the i ith. On the morning of the 12th he crossed the Forth at the head of some 3000 regular troops, consisting of five regiments of dragoons (Portmore’s, Evans’s, Stair’s, Kerr’s, and Carpenter’s, each 180 strong), and eight regiments of foot (Forfar’s, Winton’s, Shannon’s, Morison’s, Montague’s, Clayton’s, Orrery’s, and Edgerton’s).

The Glasgow volunteer battalion, 500 strong, were still at Stirling, and were eager to march with the regulars ; but, much to their disgust, were left to garrison Stirling, along with the Stirling militia, which, says Rae, "they did with great care and exactness."

On the evening of the 12th, Argyll reached Dunblane, and encamped that night on a rising ground to the east of the town. Next morning he arid a party of his officers reconnoitred the Jacobites’ position. Mar, as usual, was undecided, and fell back upon his favourite expedient of a council of war. Some of his followers wished to avoid a battle and return to Perth till the spring: but the clansmen at last saw their enemy before them, and were eager to fight. So it was determined to attack Argyll. Argyll drew up his force on the Sheriffmuir in two lines, with three squadrons of dragoons on the right and left of the front line, and six battalions of foot in the centre. The second line was composed of two battalions of foot in the centre, with one squadron of dragoons on either flank, and one squadron was held in reserve behind each wing. The Duke himself commanded on the right, Wightman in the centre, and General Witham on the left. Owing to the nature of the ground, it was impossible for either army to see the whole of the other; the result was that, when the opposing forces came into contact, they were not opposite to each other. Each was out-flanked on the left. It was intended that the Jacobite force should attack in four regularly-formed columns; but when the attack was made, it was just the old disorderly Highland charge. Mar’s right wing was composed of the Macdonalds, Macleans, and the Breadalbane men. When the order to attack was received, it is recorded that Sir John Maclean placed himself at the head of his clan and addressed them in these words : Gentlemen, this is the day we have long wished to see; yonder stands MacCallum More for King George, here stands Maclean for King James. God bless Maclean and King James! Charge, gentlemen."

The rush of the clansmen was scarcely checked by the heavy fire with which they were received, and which mortally wounded the young chief of Clanranald. Witham’s line was broken to pieces, and forced back on Dunblane, with great slaughter. He did not check his retreat until he had nearly reached Stirling Bridge.

On Argvll’s right the fortune of war went otherwise. The left wing of the Jacobites, composed chiefly of Camerons and Stewarts, advanced with great determination. But the regular troops held their ground, and the assailants were, as they advanced, charged in flank by a body of cavalry, under Colonel Cathcart, and were put to flight. Argvll gave them no time to rally, but at once advanced in pursuit. The fugitives immensely outnumbered their pursuers, but Argyll succeeded in keeping them on the run for over two miles, until the river Allan was reached. Mar’s right wing did not pursue their beaten opponents very far, but re-formed on an eminence called the Stony Hill of Kippendavie, where, says Rae, "they stood without attempting anything with their swords drawn for near four hours’ space." Here they were found by Argyll when he returned from the pursuit. Argyll expected to be attacked by them, and formed his men accordingly. But "after a while they drew off their rear ranks towards the right, and began to disperse." The Duke, whose troops were by this time dead beat, had no desire to attack them, and accordingly retired into Dunblane. The fugitives of the left wing were, so far as possible, collected there, and there the army lay on their arms all night. The insurgents in the meantime had drawn off towards Auchterarder.

On the following day Argyll returned to Stirling, and two days later Mar re-entered Perth. The losses of the Government troops amounted to 290 officers and men killed, 187 wounded, and 133 taken prisoners—6io in all. Those of the insurgents are estimated at about 8oo killed and wounded, and some eighty or ninety prisoners, including Viscount Strathallan and a number of other gentlemen of rank.’

Both sides claimed the victory. The day after the battle Colonel Balfour distributed at Perth "An Account of the great and signal Victory obtained over the Duke of Argyll by His Majesty’s forces commanded by the Duke of Mar;" and Mar on his return to Perth caused thanksgiving sermons to be preached and a Te Deum to be sung. The substantial fruits of victory, however, remained with Argyll. He remained in possession of the field of battle, and had captured fourteen of the Jacobites’ colours, six of their guns, and part of their baggage. What was much more important, he had effectively put a stop to Mar’s project of marching to the. south. For all practical purposes, the back of the rebellion was broken when Mar returned to Perth.

The doubtful issue of the contest is celebrated in one of the most familiar of Scots ballads—

"There’s some say that we wan,
Some say that they wan,
Some say that tiane wan at a’, man;
But ae thing I’m sure,
That at Sheriffmuir
A battle there was which I saw, man
And we ran, and they ran,
And they ran, and we ran,
And we ran, and they ran awa’, man."

Towards the end of November it appears that Mar approached Argyll with the object of obtaining terms of surrender, but the negotiations came to nothing. Every day now strengthened the hands of the Government and weakened those of the insurgents. Early in November the Dutch auxiliaries had landed in England, and had at once been ordered north. Two of the regiments which had been engaged at Preston were sent to Glasgow, and a train of artillery was shipped at the Tower under orders for Scotland. On the other hand, many of the Highlanders were quietly dispersing, and no news came of the supplies or~ reinforcements from abroad which the Jacobites hoped for.

The prospects of the Stuart cause were thus darkening down, when news came that James himself had landed in Scotland. He arrived at Peterhead in a French ship on December 22, attended by a retinue of six gentlemen only. News of his landing reached Perth on the 2 6th, and Mar, accompanied by the Earl Marischal and a number of the Jacobite leaders, set out to meet him. James reached Aberdeen on the 24th and lodged that night at Fetteresso. There he stayed till the 27th, when he was joined by Mar and his companions.

The Prince was detained at Fetteresso for a few days by an attack of ague. There he received the homage of various adherents, and loyal addresses of welcome from the Episcopal clergy of the diocese of Aberdeen and the Jacobite magistrates of Aberdeen. On Monday, January 2, 1716, he resumed his journey by Brechin, Kinnaird, and Glamis. On the 6th he entered Dundee; on Monday the 9th he made his public entry into Perth and reviewed the troops. On the same night he took up his quarters at Scone.

Whatever James’s virtues were, they were not those of the successful leader of a desperate insurrection. Sinclair speaks of him as "entirely a stranger to his own affairs, as much as if he had dropt out of another world or from the clouds." Lethargic in mind and body, reserved and melancholy in temperament, he had none of the cheery courage and infectious good-humour which endeared Prince Charlie to his followers. "If he was disappointed in us," says one of them, "we were tenfold more so in him. We saw nothing in him that looked like spirit. He never appeared with cheerfulness and vigour to animate us. Our men began to despise him; some asked if he could speak. His countenance looked extremely heavy. He cared not to come abroad among us soldiers, or to see us handle our arms or do our exercise. Some said the circumstances he found us in dejected him; I am sure the figure he made dejected us; and had he sent us but 5000 men of good troops, and never himself come among us, we had done other things than we have now done." While James remained at Scone he was surrounded by royal state; all the etiquette of a Court was maintained, and various proclamations were solemnly issued in his name. All able-bodied men were called to his standard. A meeting of the Estates was summoned. His coronation was appointed to take place on January 23. However, when that date arrived he was otherwise occupied.

Argyll’s reinforcements were arriving from the south, and it was evident that he would soon advance against Perth. It was now the depth of an unusually hard winter; the ground was deeply covered with snow, and the roads were almost impassable. It was decided to throw a further obstacle in the way of Argyll’s advance by destroying the villages between Stirling and Perth, so as to deprive the advancing troops of shelter and supplies. An order to this effect under James’s. sign manual was issued at Scone on January 17. It was carried out by parties of Highlanders. Between the 24th and the 29th Auchterarder, Blackford, Dunning, Muthill, Crieff, and Dalreoch were burnt. An account of the burning of the villages was written at the time by an inhabitant of Auchterarder.’ He gives a terrible description of the sufferings of the unfortunate people, who were turned out into the bitter winter weather without food or shelter. "It would have pierced a heart in which there remained the very least spark of humanity," he says, "to have heard the mournfull screeches and frightfull cryes of poor women while rocking their infants in cradles upon the snow in the open fields, and looking on their houses, the sanctuaries appointed by God for their protection from the injury of such a season, and their corns, the provision and means of their subsistence, crumbling in a moment into ashes." James, to do him justice, seems to have deeply regretted the necessity of this step. On January 26 he issued a declaration inviting those whose property had been destroyed to lodge claims with a view to compensation, and when he embarked at Montrose he left behind him a letter to the Duke of Argyll with a sum of money for the benefit of the sufferers. Neither letter nor money seemed to have reached their destination.

Argyll’s Dutch and English reinforcements reached him before the end of the year, and increased his force to some 9000 men. The artillery, which was expected by sea, was detained at the mouth of the Thames by bad weather. Argyll did not wait for it, but collected from Berwick and from Edinburgh Castle guns enough to make an efficient siege train.

On January 21 Colonel Guest with 200 dragoons was detached from Stirling to reconnoitre the roads leading to Perth, which were deeply covered with snow. On the 24th Argyll himself examined the country as far as Auchterarder. By the 26th the guns from Berwick and most of those from Edinburgh had arrived. Two days were spent in making and repairing- gun carriages, and completing other details of equipment. The artillery sent from London reached Leith on the 2 8th, but Colonel Borgard, the officer in command, hearing that Argyll was already provided with a sufficient train for his expedition, left his guns and stores on board, and with his men marched with all speed to Stirling just in time to join the expedition. All was now ready for the advance. A day’s thaw followed by a heavy fall of fresh snow had rendered the roads more difficult than ever. But Argyll was determined to proceed at all costs. and accordingly, on Sunday, January 29, he marched out of Stirling and reached Dunbiane. Parties were detached to dislodge the Jacobites from Braco Castle. Tulilbardine, and the other positions occupied by them. On the 3oth the army advanced to Auchterarder, where they bivouacked for the night in the snow.

News of Argyll’s imminent advance had reached Perth on the 28th. The general feeling in the Jacobite camp was that Perth should be defended. Preparations were made to resist an attack; the Highlanders to a man were eager for battle. But the leaders had determined that the cause was lost, and that the only thing now to be done was to effect a retreat with the least possible loss. On January 31, about 10 o’clock in the forenoon, the insurgent army marched out of Perth, leaving their guns behind them, crossed the Tay upon the ice, and took the road towards Dundee. On the same day they were followed by James and Mar, the former, Rae tells us, "followed his flying adherents with tears in his eyes, complaining that instead of bringing him to a crown they had brought him to his grave."

On the same day Argyll reached Tullibardine. There he heard of the evacuation of Perth. He at once ordered a detachment of 400 horse and iooo foot to press on and occupy the town. He himself and General Cadogan rode on with the cavalry and entered Perth about one in the morning of February 1. The foot reached Perth about ten in the following forenoon, and the remainder of the army arrived that evening.

The retreating Jacobites reached Montrose on February 3. On the following day orders were issued to such of the clans as remained together to be ready to march in the evening towards Aberdeen. As the hour appointed for the march approached, James’s horses were brought round and his guard was mounted as usual, but he did not appear. He had slipped out on foot and gone to Mar’s lodgings. He and Mar reached the shore by a side street. There a boat awaited them, and they went on board a French ship, the Maria Theresa of St. Malo, which was ready for them in the harbour. A quarter of an hour afterwards they were joined by about a dozen more of the leaders. The ship hoisted sail and put to sea, and a week later landed them on the French coast near Calais.

The army, thus left to itself, melted rapidly away. The Highlanders scattered in all directions towards their native glens. When the army, now commanded by General Gordon, reached Aberdeen two days later, it amounted to only about 1000 men. Most of the leaders succeeded in effecting their escape by sea either to France or Sweden; the remainder of the men dispersed. Few prisoners were taken; indeed, Argyll does not seem to have been very anxious to make prisoners. He occupied Aberdeen on the 8th. Parties were detached to occupy various houses throughout the Highlands. A few sparks of rebellion smouldered on in the Hebrides, but they were stamped out without difficulty. Argyll’s army was distributed among the various Scottish garrisons. The Duke himself returned to Edinburgh on February 27, and a few days later set out for London. The insurrection was over.