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There are grounds for believing that, when these men were regimented, the measure was represented to them merely a change of name and officers, with the additional benefit of more regular pay and duty, under which arrangement they were to continue, as usual, the Watch of the country. Surprised at the orders to march to England, they were told it was only to show themselves to the King, who had never seen a Highland regiment. This explanation satisfied them, and they proceeded on their route to London.

Their departure was thus announced in the Caledonian Mercury :—“On Wednesday last Lord Sempill's regiment of Highlanders began their march for England in order to be reviewed by his Majesty. They are certainly the finest regiment in the service, being tall, well made men, and very stout."

The King, having never seen a Highland soldier, expressed a desire to see one. Three privates, remarkable for their figure and good looks, were fixed upon and sent to London a short time before the regiment marched. These were Gregor M'Gregor, commonly called Gregor the Beautiful, John Campbell, son of Duncan Campbell of the family of Duncaves, Perthshire, and John Grant from Strathspey, of the family of Ballindalloch. Grant fell sick and died at Aberfeldy. The others 66 were presented by their Lieutenant-Colonel, Sir Robert Munro, to the King, and performed the broadsword exercise, and that of the Lochaber axe, or lance, before his Majesty, the Duke of Cumberland, Marshal Wade, and a number of general officers assembled for the purpose, in the Great Gallery at St James's. They displayed so much dexterity and skill in the management of their weapons, as to give perfect satisfaction to his Majesty. Each got a gratuity of one guinea, which they gave to the porter at the palace gate as they passed out. They thought

that the King had mistaken their character and condition in their own country. Such was, in general, the character of the men who originally composed the Black Watch. This feeling of self-estimation inspired a high spirit and sense of honour in the regiment, which continued to form its character and conduct, long after the description of men who originally composed it was totally changed. These men afterwards rose to rank in the army. Mr Campbell got an ensigncy for his conduct at Fontenoy, and was captain-lieutenant of the regiment when

*Westminster Journal.

During the march great good humour prevailed, heightened, no doubt, by the friendly and unbounded hospitality which they experienced in the country and towns on their route through England. A Highlander, in his full garb, was an extraordinary object to Englishmen. Of his character they had received unfavourable impressions from the current stories of the ferocious and savage wildness, and the frightful conflicts of the clans. Their astonishment was, therefore, great upon witnessing the orderly conduct and appearance of this regiment.

*

In the present times, it is not easy to imagine the absurd tales and notions which were circulated and believed at that period, when many of the good people of England knew as little of their neighbours of the Scottish mountains as they did of the inhabitants of the most remote quarter of the globe.

On the 29th and 30th of April the regiment, in two divisions, reached the neighbourhood of London, and on the 14th of May following was reviewed on Finchley Common by Marshal Wade, who was intimately acquainted with many of them, and knew well the nature of the corps, from having been so many years commander-in-chief in Scotland, and especially from having spent much of the time in the

he was killed at Ticonderago, where he also distinguished himself. Mr M'Gregor was promoted in another regiment, and afterwards purchased the lands of Inverardine in Breadalbane. He was grandfather of Sir Gregor M'Gregor, a commander in South America.

* In Marchant's History of the Rebellion, London, published in 1746, we find a gentleman in Derby expressing his astonishment, "to see these savages, from the officer to the commonest man, at their several meals, first stand up and pull off their bonnets, and then lift up their eyes in a most solemn and devout manner, and mutter something in their own gibberish, by way, I suppose, of saying grace, as if they had been so many pure primitive Christians." When Gordon of Glenbucket, described by the Lord President, who knew him intimately, as a "good natured, humane man," marched up his followers to join the rebel army in England, it was gravely questioned, whether they killed their prisoners and sucked their blood, to whet their appetite for war, after the manner of other savages.

Highlands, when planning and superintending the new line of roads.

In the interval between their arrival and their review immense crowds of people, from London and all the country round, flocked to see the strangers whose dress and language were equally objects of wonder. A greater degree of interest was excited by the favourable reports which had been spread of their appearance and behaviour on the march. Amongst the numbers who resorted to the quarters of the Highlanders some had other objects beyond the gratification of their curiosity. Insidious and malicious falsehoods were industriously circulated among the men. They were told that Government meant to transport them to the American plantations, (the Botany Bay of that day,) there to remain for life; that the pretext assigned for bringing them from Scotland, to be reviewed by the King and the Prince of Wales, was a shameful deception, as they might easily perceive, since his Majesty had embarked for Hanover, previously to their arrival; and that the real object and intent of the measure was to get so many disaffected and rebellious Jacobites out of the kingdom.

*

These incendiaries thus availed themselves of the accidental circumstance of the King's departure for the Continent to give plausibility to their insinuations. Strangers to the country, and possessing the feelings which accorded with the rank of gentlemen, which so many held at home, and which was so much the character of all at that period, the mere surmise of being entrapped filled the Highlanders with indignation.

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In those whom he knows a Highlander will repose perfect confidence, and, if they are his superiors, will be obe-`

"The King and the Duke of Cumberland sailed from Greenwich 30th April, and were driven back to Sheerness the same night, where they remained wind bound until 1st May, when they again set sail, and arrived at Helvoetsluys on the 2d, in the evening, from whence his Majesty proceeded next morning to Hanover."Westminster Journal, 1743.

dient and respectful. But ere a stranger can obtain his confidence he must show that he merits it. When once given it is constant and unreserved, but, if confidence be lost, no man is more suspicious. Every officer of a Highland regiment, on his first joining the corps, must have observed, in his little transactions and settlement of accounts with the men, how minute and strict they are in every item, but, when once confidence is established, scrutiny ceases, and his word or nod of assent is as good as his bond. *

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In the case in question, notwithstanding the arts, which were practised to mislead the men, they proceeded to no violence, but, believing themselves deceived and betrayed, the only remedy that occurred to them was to get back to

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Major Grose, in his Military Antiquities, treating of the formation of the Highland regiment, and subsequent enlisting and desertion, while detailing the previous circumstances which led to it, observes, Among other inducements to enlist, thus improperly held forth, it is said the men were assured that they should not go out of their own country. Under the faith of this promise, many respectable farmers' and tacksmens' sons entered themselves as privates in the corps, who would not otherwise have thought of enlisting." After narrating various circumstances of this unhappy affair, he concludes, "This transaction, likewise, shows the danger and even cruelty of making promises. to recruits under any thing less than the greatest certainty they will be faithfully observed; the contrary has more than once produced the most dangerous mutinies, and that even among the Highland regiments, whose education tends to make them more regular and subordi nate than either the English or Irish; and if the causes of almost every mutiny that has happened were diligently and dispassionately inquired into and weighed, it will be found that nine times out of ten the soldiers, however wrong and unjustifiable in that mode of seeking redress, have had great reason of complaint, generally of the breach of some positive promise made them at enlisting."

Of the justness and truth of the preceding observations we have had too many proofs. They are peculiarly applicable to the case of Highland corps, which were raised and embodied as it were in mass. Being thus kept in immediate contact with each other, the individuals aggrieved by any violation of faith, who sometimes were nearly the whole regiment, had an opportunity of recounting their injuries; "and" " their resentments became thus more exasperated by communication.

their own country. It does not appear that they imputed any blame to their officers, whom they considered, equally with themselves, the dupes of the deception; and, indeed, the sole motive of those who endeavoured to stir up the men was hostility to Government, and their aim, in accusing it of a breach of faith, to create a spirit of disaffection and disThe means which they employed could scarcely

content.

fail of success.

That the unfortunate act which threw such a dark shade over the character of a body of brave men was the result of their simplicity, in allowing themselves to be deceived, rather than of any want of principle, was sufficiently proved by their subsequent conduct. Such an occurrence happening among men, of whose loyalty many were suspicious, produced, as may well be imagined, no inconsiderable sensation in the country.

The affair was the subject of much discussion both in conversation and in the publications of the day. Of the many accounts published in the journals and in detached pamphlets, there was one that appeared immediately after the mutiny, which shows considerable knowledge of the subject, and contains a fair statement of the facts of the case. The author having alluded to the purpose for which these independent companies had been at first embodied, and having described their figure and dress, and the effect produced in England by the novelty of both, proceeds to state the cause and circumstances of the mutiny: "From their first formation they had always considered themselves as destined to serve exclusively in Scotland, or rather in the Highlands, and a special compact was made, allowing the men to retain their ancient national garb. From their origin and their local attachments they seemed destined for this special service. Besides, in the discipline to which they were at first subjected under their natural chiefs and superiors, there was much affinity with their ancient usages, so that their service seemed merely that of a clan sanctioned by legal authority. These and other considerations strength