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pass. Had they been closely followed, and had a few men been placed at the southern entrance, not a man of the king's troops would have escaped. This uninterrupted retreat caused General Mackay to conclude, that some misfortune had befallen Lord Dundee. "Certainly," said he, "Dundee has been killed, or I should not thus be permitted to retreat."

The 21st, or Scotch Fusileers, was on the left of General Mackay's front line, Hastings' and Leslie's (now the 13th and 15th) regiments in the centre, and Lord Leven's (now the 25th) on the right; the whole consisting of two regiments of cavalry, and nine battalions of infantry. After the right of the line had given way, the regiments on the centre and left (the left being covered by the river Garry, and the right by a woody precipice below the House of Urrard) stood their ground, and for a short time withstood the shock of the Highlanders' charge with the broadsword; but at length they gave way on all sides. Hastings' fled through the pass on the north side. The Fusileers, dashing across the river, were followed by the Highlanders, one party of whom pressed on their rear, while the others climbed up the hills

"James R.

"From our Court at Dublin Castle, the last day of November 1689, and the fifth year of our reign. "The news we have received of the brave Viscount Dundee's death has most sincerely affected us. But we are resolved, by extraordinary marks of favour, to make his family conspicuous, when the world may see lasting honours and happiness are to be acquired by the brave and loyal. What he has so happily begun, and you so successfully maintained, by a thorough defeat of your enemies, we shall not doubt a generous prosecution of, when we consider that the Highland loyalty is inseparably annexed to the persons of their kings: Nor no ways fear the event, whilst the justice of our cause shall be seconded by so many bold and daring assertors of our royal right. If their courage and yours, and the rest of the commanders under you, were not steady, the loss you had in a General you loved and confided in, at your entrance into action, with so great inequality of numbers, were enough to baffle you; but you have showed yourselves above surprise, and given us proof that we are, in a great measure, like to owe the re-establishment of our monarchy to your valour."

Addressed "To Our Trusty Cousin the Laird of Ballechin."

on the south side of the pass, and, having no ammunition, rolled down stones, and killed several of the soldiers before they recrossed the river at Invergarry. This was the only attempt to pursue.

• In this battle Lochiel was attended by the son of his foster-brother. This faithful adherent followed him like his shadow, ready to assist him with his sword, or cover him from the shot of the enemy. Soon after the battle began, the chief missed his friend from his side, and turning round to look what had become of him, saw him lying on his back, with his breast pierced by an arrow. He had hardly breath before he expired to tell Lochiel, that, seeing an enemy, a Highlander in General Mackay's army, aiming at him with a bow and arrow from the rear, he sprung behind him, and thus sheltered him from instant death. This is a species of duty not often practised by our aid-de-camps of the present day.

SECTION IV.

Arms of the Clans.

In attempting to explain how a people living within their mountains, in an uncultivated and sequestered corner of a country, should, as warriors, prove a ready and efficient support to their friends, and terrible to their enemies, it may be proper, first of all, to describe their arms. These consisted of a broadsword girded on the left side, and a dirk, or short thick dagger, on the right, used only when the combat was so close that the sword could be of no service. In ancient times they also carried a small short-handled hatchet, or axe, to be used when they closed upon the enemy. A gun, a pair of pistols, and a target, completed their armour. + In absence of the musket, or when short of ammunition, they used the Lochaber axe, a species of long lance, or pike, with a formidable weapon at the end of it, adapted either for cutting or stabbing. This lance had been almost laid aside since the introduction of the musket; but a ready substitute was found, by fixing a scythe at the end of a pole, with which the Highlanders resisted the charge of cavalry, to them the most formidable kind of attack. In 1745 many of the rebels were armed in this manner, till they supplied themselves with muskets after the battles of Prestonpans and Falkirk. Thus, the Highlanders united the offensive arms of the moderns with

• See Appendix, I.

+ Rea, in the History of the Rebellion of 1715, describing the march of a party along the side of Lochlomond, says, “That night they arrived at Luss, where they were joined by Sir Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss, and James Grant of Pluscarden, his son-in-law, followed by forty or fifty stately fellows in their hose and belted plaids, armed each of them with a well-fixed gun on their shoulders, a strong handsome target, with a sharp pointed steel, of about half an ell in length screwed into the navel of it, on his arm, a sturdy claymore by his side, and a pistol or two, with a dirk and knife, in his belt."

the defensive arms of the ancients. Latterly, the bow and arrow seem to have been but rarely used. This is the more remarkable, as these weapons are peculiarly adapted to that species of hunting which was their favourite amusement; I allude to the hunting of deer, or what is commonly called deer-stalking, where the great art consists in approaching the animal unobserved, and in wounding him without disturbing the herd. It is evident that the use of the bow and arrow must have ceased long previous to the disarming act, as we find in it no mention made of them, nor do we learn that the Highlanders ever availed themselves of the omission.

In addition to the weapons already mentioned, gentlemen frequently wore suits of armour, and coats of mail. With these, however, the common men seldom encumbered themselves, both on account of the expence, and as they were ill adapted to the hills and steeps of their country, and to their frequently long and expeditious marches.

Thus armed, the Highlanders were arrayed for battle, in that order which was best calculated to excite a spirit of emulation. Every clan was drawn up as a regiment, and the companies in every regiment were formed of the tribes or families of the clan. The regiments, thus composed, were under the control of the head or chief of the whole, while the smaller divisions were under the immediate command of the chieftains of whose families they were descended, or of those who, from their property, assumed the feudal rights of chieftainship. Thus, the Athole Brigade, which was sometimes so numerous as to form two, three, or more regiments, was always commanded by the head of the family of Atholl, in person, or by a son or friend in his stead. At the beginning of the last century, as we learn from the Lockhart Papers, "the Duke of Atholl was of great importance to the party of the Cavaliers, being able to raise 6000 of the best men in the kingdom, well armed, and ready to sacrifice their all for the king's service."

• See Appendix, K.

In 1707, his Grace took the field, with 7000 men of his own followers, and others whom he could influence, to oppose the Union with England. * With this force he marched to Perth, in the expectation of being joined by the Duke of Hamilton, and other noblemen and gentlemen of the south; but as they did not move, he proceeded no farther, and, disbanding his men, returned to the Highlands. In 1715, the Atholemen were commanded by the Marquis of Tullibardine, and in 1745, by his brother, Lord George Murray; but the smaller divisions and tribes were under the command of gentlemen, who had the entire direction of their own followers, yielding obedience to the superior only in general movements. In consequence of this arrangement, each individual was under the immediate eye of those he loved and feared. His clansmen and kindred were the witnesses of his conduct, and ready either to applaud his bravery, reproach his cowardice, or observe any failure of duty.

Before commencing the attack, they frequently put off their jackets and shoes, that their movements might not be impeded. Their advance to battle was a kind of trot, such as is now, in our light infantry discipline, called doublequick marching. When they had advanced within a few yards of the enemy, they poured in a volley of musketry,

• A friend of mine, the late Mr Stewart of Crossmount, carried arms on that occasion, of which he used to speak with great animation. He died in January 1791, at the age of 104, having been previously in perfect possession of all his faculties, and in such full habit of body, that his leg continued as well formed and compact as at forty. He had a new tooth at the age of ninety-six. Mrs Stewart, to whom he had been married nearly seventy years, died on the Tuesday preceding his death. He was then in perfect health, and sent to request that my father, who lived some miles distant, would come to him. When he arrived the old man desired that the funeral should not take place for eight days, saying, that he had now out-lived his oldest earthly friend, and prayed sincerely that he might be laid in the same grave. He kept his bed the second morning after her death, and died the following day, without pain or complaint. They were buried in the same grave on the succeeding Tuesday, according to his wish.

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