shoulders and firelock in rainy weather. At night, the plaid served the purpose of a blanket, and was a sufficient covering for the Highlander. These were called belted plaids, from being kept tight to the body by a belt,* and were worn on guards, reviews, and on all occasions when the men were in full dress. On this belt hung the pistols and dirk when worn. In the barracks, and when not on duty, the little kilt or philibeg † was worn, a blue bonnet with a border of white, red, and green, arranged in small squares to resemble, as is said, the fess cheque in the arms of the different branches of the Stewart family, ‡ and a tuft of feathers, or sometimes, from economy or necessity, a small piece of black bear skin. The arms were a musquet, a bayonet, and a large basket-hilted broadsword. These were furnished by Government: such of the men as chose to supply themselves with pistols and dirks were al

This belt was the same as that anciently used by the people, and was of strong thick ox leather, and three or four inches in breadth, fixed by a brass or silver buckle in front. When the Highlanders had an expeditious journey to perform, or to run up or down a hill, they tightened the belt, which they said strengthened their loins. They also used the belt for another purpose. When pinched with hunger on their expeditions, they experienced great relief from tightening the belt. This belt was worn by old men within my remembrance, but is now entirely disused in the Highlands; latterly it has been resumed by young gentlemen of fashion, who wear it tight round the waist. In several cavalry regiments a belt or sash somewhat similar is worn.

While the companies acted independently, each commander assumed the tartan of his own Clan. When embodied, no clan having a superior claim to offer an uniform plaid to the whole, and Lord Craufurd, the colonel, being a Lowlander, a new pattern was assumed, and which has ever since been known as the 42d, or Black Watch tartan, being distinct from all others. Lord John Murray gave the Athole tartan for the philibeg. The difference was only a stripe of scarlet, to distinguish it from that of the belted plaid. The pipers wore a red tartan of very bright colours, (of the pattern known by the name of the Stewart or Royal Tartan,) so that they could be more clearly seen at a distance. When a band of music was added, plaids of the pipers' pattern were given to them.

Tradition says, that this fashion commenced in Montrose's army in the civil wars as a token of loyalty to the king, and in distinction to the large and flat blue bonnets of the Covenanters and Puritans.

lowed to carry them, and some had targets after the fashion of the country. The sword-belt was of black leather, and the cartouch-box was carried in front, supported by a narrow belt round the middle.

In a corps which numbered in its ranks many men of birth and respectability, from character and education, those were esteemed fortunate who obtained commissions; indeed, a company at present is less prized than an ensigncy in the Black Watch was in those days.

The regiment remained about fifteen months on the banks of the Tay and Lyon; Tay Bridge and the Point of Lyon, a mile below Taymouth Castle, being their places of rendezvous for exercise. There they were trained and exercised by the Lieutenant-Colonel, Sir Robert Munro, a veteran of much judgment and experience.

In the year 1740 the Earl of Craufurd was removed to the Life Guards, and Brigadier-General Lord Sempill was appointed colonel of the Highlanders.

In the winter 1741-2, the regiment was marched to the northward, and quartered in their old station, until the month of March 1743, when they were assembled at Perth, preparatory to a march for England. The order was unexpected on the part of the men, who expressed no small surprise on the occasion. The measure raised the indignation of many, and was in an especial manner disapproved of, and opposed, by the Lord President Forbes, than whom no one knew better the character of the corps, the nature of the duty on which they were employed, and their capability of performing it. The following extract of a letter from his Lordship to General Clayton, who had succeeded Marshal Wade in the chief command in Scotland, sufficiently explains the sentiments of that eminent man on the subject:-"When I first heard," says he, "of the orders given

Grose, in his Military Antiquities, speaking of the Black Watch, says, "I doubt whether the dirk is part of their regimental arms; but I remember, in the year 1747, most of the private men had them, and many were also permitted to carry targets. The regiment was then on service in Flanders."

to the Highland regiment to march southwards, it gave me no sort of concern. I supposed the intention was only to see them; but as I have been lately assured that they are destined for foreign service, I cannot dissemble my uneasiness at a resolution that may, in my apprehension, be attended with very bad consequences; nor can I prevail with myself not to communicate to you my thoughts on this subject, however late they may come." His Lordship then goes on to state the consequences to be expected by removing this regiment. "I must, in the next place, put you in mind that the present system for securing the peace of the Highlands, which is the best I ever heard of, is by regular troops stationed from Inverness to Fort William, along the chain of lakes which, in a manner, divides the Highlands, to command the obedience of the inhabitants of both sides, and, by a body of disciplined Highlanders, wearing the dress, and speaking the language of the country, to execute such orders as require expedition, and for which neither the dress nor the manners of other troops are proper. These Highlanders now regimented were at first independent companies, and though their dress, language, and manners, qua lified them for securing the low country from depredations, yet that was not the sole use of them; the same qualities fitted them for every expedition that required secrecy and dispatch; they served for all purposes of hussars or light horse, in a country whose mountains and bogs render cavalry useless, and if properly disposed over the Highlands, nothing that was commonly reported and believed by the Highlanders could be a secret to their commanders, because of their intimacy with the people and the sameness of language."

There are grounds for believing that, when these men were regimented, the measure was represented to them as merely a change of name and officers, with the additional benefit of more regular pay and duty, under which arrange

• Culloden Papers.

ment 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." *

During the march great good humour prevailed, height

* 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 Duneaves, Perthshire, and John Grant from Strathspey, of the family of Ballindalloch. Grant fell sick and died at Aberfeldy. The others" 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 captainlieutenant of the regiment when 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.

* Westminster Journal.

ened 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 martial 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 the officers and soldiers, and knew well the nature of the corps, from having been so many years commanderin-chief in Scotland, and especially from having spent much of the time in the 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

• In Merchant'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 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."