urgent motive for entering on this duty. I have already merr tioned, that, in the Highlands, men were accustomed to go continually armed,—a custom which they were most anxious to retain. At the period now under consideration, the carrying of arms was prohibited by penalties; less severe, indeed, than those which were afterwards enacted, but suffi, ciently galling to a high-spirited and warlike people. Young men, therefore, gladly availed themselves of the privilege of engaging in a profession which relieved them from the sense of degradation and dishonour attached to the idea of being disarmed. Hence it became an object of ambition with all the young men of spirit to be admitted, even as privates, into a service which procured them the privilege of wearing arms.* This accounts for the great number of men of respectable families who were to be found in the ranks of the Black Watch, -a circumstance which has often excited the surprise of those who were ignorant of the extent to which the motives above mentioned operated. When this regiment was first embodied, it was no uncommon thing to see private soldiers riding to the exercising ground followed by servants carrying their firelocks and uniforms.+ Such were the materials of which the 42d regiment was originally composed. An old gentleman in Athole, a friend of mine, Mr Robertson of Auchleeks, carried this spirit so far, that, disobeying all restrictions against carrying arms, he never laid them aside, and wore his dirk even when sitting in his dining-room, until his death, in his 87th year. They were thus described by an English officer of engineers, who was stationed in the Highlands when the independent companies were on foot, and who was not a little surprised at a practice certainly not common in the South. "I cannot forbear to tell you, before I conclude, that many of those private gentlemen-soldiers have gillys, or servants to attend them in quarters, and upon a march to carry their provisions, baggage, and firelocks." The day before the regiment was embodied at Taybridge, five of the soldiers dined and slept in my grandfather's house at Garth. The following morning they rode off in their usual dress, a tartan jacket and truis, ornamented with gold lace embroidery, or twisted gold cords, as was the fashion of the time, while their servants carried their military clothing and arms. The independent companies being stationed in different parts of the country, had no general head-quarters, and, although the service was open to all Highlanders, as soldiers, the commandants and officers were taken from what were called the loyal, or Whig clans, the Campbells, Grants, Munros, &c. &c. For this reason, probably, although a great number of the privates were from Athole, and the Highlands of Perthshire, there were no officers from that district except Colonel Campbell of Finab. This selection of men for the various commands was rendered necessary by the nature of the duties imposed upon them. These duties were, to enforce the disarming act, to overawe the disaffected, to prevent any convocations or meetings, or give information of them, and to check the plunder and reprisals of cattle between rival clans, and more particularly the depredations committed on those of their more peaceable neighbours of the plains. For such duties these companies were peculiarly well qualified, from their own habits and knowledge of the people, language, and country; and, under the control of leaders devoted to the service of the government, they could not fail to answer the expectations of those who had suggested and established this mode of internal defence; although their obedience to orders, their sense of duty, and their private feelings, must have been sometimes at variance when enforcing the laws against their own families and friends. In allotting to them the stations in which they were to act, it was found advisable that the companies should generally take charge of the district in which they were raised. They were thus spread over an extensive tract of country, many of the detachments being very small. Lord Lovat and the Frasers were stationed in Fort Augustus, and the neighbouring parts of Inverness-shire; Culcairn and the Munros in Ross and Sutherland; Ballindalloch and the Grants in Strathspey and Badenoch: Athole and Breadalbane being border counties, and of suspicious loyalty, two companies, Lochnell's and Carrick's, were stationed there. The company of Campbell of Finab, who was then abroad, was quar tered in Lochaber, and the northern parts of Argyleshire, among the Camerons and Stewarts of Appin. In this manner, the several companies continued until the year 1739, when it was determined to form them into a regiment of the line, and to augment their numbers by four additional companies, as will be seen by the letters of service. LETTERS OF SERVICE, for forming the HIGHLAND REGIMENT from the Independent Companies of the BLACK WATCH. GEORGE R.-Whereas we have thought fit, that a regiment of foot be forthwith formed under your command, and to consist of ten companies, each to contain one captain, one lieutenant, one ensign, three serjeants, three corporals, two drummers, and one hundred effective private men; which said regiment shall be partly formed out of six Independent Companies of Foot in the Highlands of North Britain, three of which are now commanded by captains, and three by captain-lieutenants. Our will and pleasure therefore is, that one serjeant, one corporal, and fifty private men, be forthwith taken out of the three companies commanded by captains, and ten private men from the three commanded by captain-lieutenants, making one hundred and eighty men, who are to be equally distributed into the four companies hereby to be raised; and the three serjeants and three corporals, draughted as aforesaid, to be placed to such of the four companies as you shall judge proper; and the remainder of the non-commissioned officers and private men, wanting to complete them to the above number, to be raised in the Highlands with all possible speed; the men to be natives of that country, and none other to be taken. This regiment shall commence and take place according to the establishment thereof. And of these our orders and commands, you, and the said three captains, and the three captain-lieutenants commanding at present the six Independent Highland Companies, and all others concerned, are to take notice, and to yield obedience thereupto accordingly. Given at our Court at St James's, this 25th day of October 1739, and in the 18th year of our reign. By his Majesty's command, (Signed) To our Right Trusty and Right Well- Craufurd and Lindsay. * WM. YONGE. The following list will shew the original officers of the regiment: 1739, Col. John Earl of Craufurd and Lindsay, 25th Oct. Died in 1748. Lt. Col. Sir Robert Munro of Fowlis, Bart. Maj. Geo. Grant, brother of the Laird? Captain George Munro of Culcairn, John Munro, Capt.-Lieut. Duncan Macfarlane, Lieut. Paul Macpherson, do. Killed at Falkirk, 1716. Removed from the service by sentence of a court-martial, 1746. ,, Killed in 1746. Retired, 1745. S Promoted to be Ma"jor, retired in 1748. Arch. Macnab, son of the Laird of} » Died Lt.-Gen. 1790. Macnab, Colin Campbell, Dugal Stewart, SDied of wounds at Chaplain. Hon. Gideon Murray. Surgeon. George Munro. Adjutant. Gilbert Stewart. Quarter-Master. John Forbes." Although the commissions of the officers were dated in October, and the following months of 1739, the men were not assembled until the month of May 1740. The whole were then mustered, and embodied into a regiment in a field between Taybridge and Aberfeldy, in the county of Perth, under the number of the 43d regiment, but they still retained the country name of the Black Watch. The uniform was a scarlet jacket and waistcoat, with buff facings and white lace, tartan plaid of twelve yards plaited round the middle of the body, the upper part being fixed on the left shoulder, ready to be thrown loose and wrapped over both In a country where so many are of the same name, some distinguishing mark besides the common appellation was absolutely necessary. I have already noticed the manner in which the people managed this in the Highlands. But, in the south, as well as the north of Scotland, districts contain many of the same name; and gentlemen are distinguished by that of their estate. In this manner, the officers in the foregoing list are distinguished. This method I must continue, so far as I know the families of different officers, as, from the number of gentlemen of the same name whom I shall have occasion to mention, it will, in many cases, be quite impossible otherwise to know what officer is meant. In all old lists of the names of Highland officers, whether regimental, or merely stating their deaths or wounds, the name of the family of each, if known, was added. By this means, the relations of these officers are now, at this distant period, able to distinguish them. |