CHAPTER VI. VI. 1715. AFTER the battle of Sheriffmuir, the Duke of CHAP. Argyle returned to his former camp at Stirling, satisfied at having arrested the progress of the insurgents, and maintained the passage of the Forth. It was still in the power of Lord Mar to have renewed the conflict, and such was the wish of many of his officers. "If we have not yet gained "a victory," said General Hamilton, "we ought "to fight Argyle once a week till we make it "one." But more timid counsels prevailed, and Mar, leading back his troops to Perth, relapsed into his former inactivity. The time when he might have acted with effect was, indeed, already flown. It was observed at the time, by even the detractors of Argyle's military reputation, that whether or not Sheriffmuir were a victory for the Duke, it was at least a victory for the King. The clans speedily began to forsake the standards of Mar, and to go home; some in order to secure their plunder, others from shame at their late misconduct; some from having quarrelled with their Lowland allies, others because VI. CHAP. disheartened at the General's temporising policy. News also reached head-quarters that Lord Suther1715. land was advancing at the head of the Monroes, the Mackays, and other Whig clans, and that Inverness had been retaken from the insurgent garrison by Forbes of Culloden and Simon Fraser of Lovat.* This intelligence afforded to Lords Huntly and Seaforth a plausible pretext, which they had for some time desired, of withdrawing from the enterprise. "It was their duty," they said, "to cover their own country;" and they marched with all their retainers from the camp; not, however, without many promises of a speedy return. Through these and similar causes, Lord Mar's army dwindled to half its original numbers: nor was the remnant firm and compact. There were not a few, who, hopeless of success- -apprised of the surrender at Preston - having no tidings whatever of the Chevalier - and believing him, therefore, to be a prisoner in England - were inclined to lay down their arms if they could obtain honourable terms. Mar endeavoured, on the contrary, to persuade them to sign a declaration, which should engage them to stand by the cause This was the famous may we not say the infamous ? Lord Lovat, executed in 1745. His deceit and treachery are still proverbial in the Highlands. He had originally joined the insurgents of 1715, but now turned against them with the view of establishing his pretensions as head of the family against the claims of a Jacobite heiress. Chambers's History, p. 283. VI. 1715. and by each other. At length, however, to pre- CHAP. vent private and separate treaties, he was compelled to promise that he would ascertain how far Argyle might be inclined to treat, or what terms he might be prepared to offer. For this overture Mar employed two channels of communication : first, the Countess of Murray, the Duke's aunt; and secondly, Colonel Lawrence, one of the prisoners at Sheriffmuir, who was now released on parole. The Duke sent a very courteous answer, declaring that his instructions only enabled him to treat with individuals, and not with the whole body, but that he would immediately apply for more extended powers. According to this promise, he sent his commission to London for enlargement. The ministers, however, were by no means inclined to come into his views. They had averted Ormond's insurrection; they had crushed Forster's; they had, therefore, the best part of their troops at their disposal, and were determined I have compared Sinclair's Memoirs, p. 1086., with Lord Mar's Journal from France; but neither of these is much to be trusted on this point- the former being a philippic against Mar, and the latter his apology. In the collection of original papers (p. 114.) is given a most minute report to Lord Mar from a trumpet John Maclean sent to Stirling on a previous message. He especially dwells on the good cheer he received, which to him was probably not the least interesting part of the business: -"A sentry brought me my dinner, viz. pies, roast beef, and hens, and a bottle of wine; and in the afternoon another bottle "of wine, and at night a third. . . . . . . Mr. Kinears showed me "his embroidered vest, and asked me if I saw any gentlemen at "Perth with a vest such as he wore? I said a thousand," &c. ...... CHAP. not to treat on a footing of equality with the VI. rebels who still remained in arms, wishing not 1715. merely to lop the growth, but to pluck out the roots, of the rebellion. Some reports had already reached them as to Argyle's doubtful and temporising views; and so far from enlarging his commission, they would not even return his old one. Moreover, the 6000 Dutch troops for whom they had applied, had landed about the middle of November, and were already in full march to Scot land. On the arrival of these powerful reinforcements, Argyle's army was increased in a still greater proportion than Mar's had fallen off, and he might now consider the rebels as completely in his grasp. A great fall of snow at this season, and a long continued frost, alone, he said, prevented him from marching against them. Mar remained at Perth only as it were by sufferance, and had secretly determined, whenever Argyle should advance, to yield the town without a blow.* It was at the time that the affairs of the Chevalier bore this lowering and gloomy aspect, that he himself arrived in Scotland. I have elsewhere explained the reasons of his long delay, and shown that it was in no degree attributable to any want of zeal or spirit on his part. He landed at Peterhead on the 22d of December, attended by only * Lord Mar's account from France. Tindal's Hist. vol. vi. p. 492. * VI. 1715, six persons, one of whom was the Marquis of Tyne- CHAP. mouth, son of the Duke of Berwick, and the vessel that brought him was immediately sent back to France with the news of his safe arrival. He passed through Aberdeen without disclosing the secret of his rank, and proceeded to Fetteresso, the principal seat of his young partisan the Earl Marischal, where he was detained for several days by his doubts as to the movements of Argyle. Meanwhile, Lord Mar, at Perth, had no sooner been apprised of his arrival, than he took horse with the Earl Marischal, General Hamilton, and about thirty other gentlemen, and hastened forward to meet their long expected Prince. Fully convinced as I am of the justice and wisdom of the Hanover succession, and of the national miseries that must have resulted from its overthrow, I yet cannot divest myself of a feeling of reverencealmost of partiality—when I behold the unhappy grandson of Charles the First striving for the throne of his fathers, and trace his footsteps on the soil of his ancient dominion. The reception of Mar at Fetteresso was, as might be expected, highly cordial; the Chevalier warmly acknowledged his past services, and created him a Duke. On the 30th, James set off from Fetteresso, and on the 4th of January he slept at Glammis Castle, the residence of the Earls of Strathmore, which he declared to be the * The Pretender to Lord Bolingbroke, Jan. 2. 1716. Stuart Papers. See Appendix. The cause publicly assigned was an ague. |