LOCHABER.-THE PRINCE AND LOCHIEL. 69 to him the necessity of at least deferring, if he did not utterly abandon, his expedition; for that, at present, he had neither men, money, nor arms at his command; and until his adherents could meet and deliberate on the measures to be adopted, any public manifestation of his arrival would not only derange his plans, but ensure imminent danger to his person. This prudent counsel was lost upon the prince. His inexperience, enthusiasm, and extravagant notions of the nation's attachment to his cause, rendered him too confident of success to reflect with calmness on the slender means at his disposal; and he was too impetuous in natural temperament to take a dispassionate survey of his actual position. His suspicions were roused, and his pride piqued, by the tone of moderation and diffidence in which Lochiel addressed him. "No," said he, "it would ill become Charles Stuart to temporize or retreat, when the voice of the nation has called upon him to assert his claims. I will not listen to counsel that would betray my claims and faithful adherents. I will erect the standard of my family on these very shores; I will proclaim to the nation that the son of their king has arrived to vindicate his rights, to reinstate himself on the throne of his ancestors, or perish in the attempt. Then it will be seen whether the nation will respond to the call, and whether the exiled Stuart' has yet a place in the hearts of his people. Lochiel, the descendant of a race who have never shrunk back in the hour of danger-never adopted counsel' when they should have drawn the sword-Lochiel, the representative of Ewen Cameron,'* may withhold his assistance, and withdraw to his castle. There, in inglorious retirement, he may learn from the public bulletins who are in the front of the battle, and then, if he may, enjoy the satisfaction of having abandoned his prince." "Never!" exclaimed Lochiel, with impassioned voice and manner—“ never! If I cannot save my prince, I will share his fate! and so shall every man over whom nature or fortune have given me command!" The die was cast! Lochiel, under the dread of being impeached with cowardice, or disaffection to the cause, but with a strong conviction on his mind that it was hopeless, drew the sword, and by his example surrounded the prince's standard with those gallant chiefs and their adherents who had hitherto stood aloof. The issue, as predicted, involved them in universal ruin. 6 Sir Ewen Cameron, of Lochiel, was the last man in Scotland who maintained the royal cause during the great civil war. His constant incursions rendered him a very unpleasant neighbour to the republican garrison at Inverlochy. The governor of the fort detached a party of 300 men to lay waste Lochiel's possessions, and cut down his trees; but in a sudden and desperate attack made upon them by this chieftain, with very inferior numbers, they were nearly all cut to pieces. The skirmish is detailed in a curious memoir of Sir Ewen's life, for which see the Appendix to "Pennant's Scottish Tour." + The clan Cameron, headed by Lochiel himself, and 300 men commanded by Mac Donald of Keppoch, VOL. II. T The other chieftains who followed the prince embraced his cause with similar presentiments of this we have an example in his interview with Clanronald "the dauntless." Charles, says Home, almost reduced to despair, in his discourse with Boisdale, addressed the two Highlanders with great emotion; and summing up his arguments for taking arms, conjured them to assist their prince, their countryman, in his utmost need. Clanronald and his friend, who were well inclined to the cause, positively refused, and told him, that to take up arms without concert or support, was to pull down certain ruin upon their own heads. Charles persisted, argued, and implored. During this conversation they were on shipboard, walking backwards and forwards on deck, with a Highlander armed at all points, as was the fashion of the country, standing near them. He was a younger brother of Kinloch-Moidart, and had come off to the ship to inquire for news, without knowing who was on board. When he gathered from their discourse that the stranger was the prince of Wales-when he heard his chief and his brother refuse to take arms with their prince, his colour went and came-his eyes sparkled-he shifted his place, and grasped his sword. Charles observed his demeanour, and turning briskly to him, called out, "Will you assist me?" "I will, I will!" said Ronald;" though no other man in the Highlands should draw a sword, I am ready to die for you." Charles, with a profusion of thanks to his champion, said he wished all the Highlanders were like him. This incident closed the deliberations; the two Macdonalds declared that they would also join, and use their utmost endeavours to engage their countrymen to take arms.* Lochiel had the good fortune to get safe to France, with the prince, and was there made colonel of a regiment, but did not enjoy his commission more than two years, when he died.+ composed the majority of the little band who commenced this hazardous enterprise. Their standard, which was made "of white, blue, and red silk, and twice the size of a modern stand of colours, was unfurled by the Marquess of Tullibardine, titular Duke of Athol." * In reference to this subject, it must never be forgotten that the Rebellion of 1745 was only a partial insurrection of a few Highland chiefs, and their followers. Neither were those gentlemen the heads of the most powerful clans—nor did the whole of their respective tribes attend them to the field; only nine parishes in the Highlands contributed a part of their inhabitants towards furnishing the rebel army... That the insurgents met with little encouragement in Scotland, is evident. Their whole number amounted hardly to seven thousand, and of these about two thousand were English. It must not be supposed, therefore, that near two millions of people who were innocent, were to be involved in the guilt of a few thousands. Such, however, Dr. Johnson seems to have implied, when he states, "that the law which followed the victory of Culloden, found the whole nation dejected and intimidated." The truth is, that, without the assistance of the loyal clans, the victory of Culloden had never been heard of. It was the division among the chiefs and their followers-" when Greek met Greek"-the unnatural conflict between members of the same family, that invested the duke of Cumberland with the ensigns of a triumph.-See M'Nicol's Notes. + Lochiel's brother, Dr. Cameron, who fought also at Culloden, was wounded severely in the arm, but * HIGHLAND CHARACTER.-LOCHABER. "To his blue hills that rose in view, As o'er the deep his galley bore, He often looked and sighed adieu! 71 The feelings of those exiles, who for years lingered in foreign lands with the vague expectation of being restored to their native mountains, are the subject of many sympathizing lays. The severe measures which were put in force by government for the suppression of the insurrection, compelled great numbers of the Highlanders to seek for refuge on the continent. Those who escaped to France, were chiefly of the upper class, and were consoled for the loss of property and the ruin of their families, by escaping a tragical death on the scaffold, while, at the same time, they were protected, and in many instances pensioned, by the humane and liberal government of France. A sum was set apart for their subsistence, and thus les braves Écossais were supplied with every means of support, and cheered by daily proofs of sympathy. The Dutch alone, on a demand of the British minister, consented to deliver up twenty of the unhappy emigrants. But of these one only was arrested; the others escaped to countries of greater security.† It is worthy of record, that, during their exile, Cameron of Lochiel, Stewart of Ardsheal, and others, whose estates had been confiscated, were still supported by spontaneous contributions from their former tenantry, who, besides paying one rent to government, reserved another for their chiefs, whose misfortunes seemed only to add to the strength of their claims as landlords, and to the affectionate attachment due to them as the hereditary leaders of their race. Instances of this attachment are numerous, and reflect the highest honour on the warm-hearted and faithful Highlanders. When the earl of Seaforth was in similar circumstances, after his attainder in 1716, he experienced the same generous and disinterested fidelity. When the rents were collected for the purpose of being sent to him in France, four was reserved for a more melancholy fate. "I remember," says the late Dr. Spence, "while a school-boy at Linlithgow, Dr. Cameron being brought into the town under an escort of dragoons. He wore a French light-coloured great coat, and rode a grey pony, with his feet lashed to its sides; but, considering his situation and prospects, looked remarkably cheerful. As the party were to rest for the night, the prisoner was placed for security in the common jail; and well do I remember," continues Spence, as I remained with the crowd at the prison door, over-hearing the doctor within singing to himself his native song'Farewell to Lochaber,' we'll maybe return to Lochaber no more!' He was afterwards conveyed to London, and suffered an ignominious death on Tower-hill. • Sens, in Burgundy, was one of the principal cities in which the Scottish émigrès found a sanctuary, and where their names still survive in their descendants. ↑ Nothing proves more strongly the persevering vengeance of the British cabinet against those unhappy fugitives, than the fact, that, after the lapse of thirteen years, the chevalier Johnston did not think himself safe in Canada, and had serious apprehensions of being sent home for trial. hundred of his old followers and dependants escorted the money to Edinburgh, to see it safely lodged in the bank. Their first appearance there, says General Stewart, caused no small surprise; and strong animadversions were made on government for allowing such proceedings. When Macpherson of Clunie was outlawed, and compelled to live for nine years in caves and woods, his people contributed every thing that money could procure for his comfort, and after his death continued the same noble proofs of sympathy and attachment to his widow and family.* In addition to these instances of fidelity and attachment, the following example of heroic devotion awakens the mingled sentiments of regret and admiration. A young gentleman, of the name of Mackenzie, was so remarkable for the resemblance he bore to Prince Charles, that he often succeeded in diverting to the opposite side of the mountains the troops sent in pursuit of the royal fugitive. This he effected by showing his person in such a way as to be seen by the pursuers, and then escaping by the passes or woods through which he could not be quickly followed. On one occasion, having unexpectedly fallen in with a party of troops, he immediately retired, but intimated by his address and manner that he was the grand object of their search. The soldiers eagerly pursued him, stimulated by the near prospect of thirty thousand pounds—the reward offered for the prince, dead or alive. Here, however, Mackenzie's usual good fortune forsook him; he was overtaken and shot, exclaiming as he fell, "Villains, you have killed your prince!" Thus personating the character with his last breath, the pursuit was suspended, the prince extricated from immediate danger, and it was not till the head was produced at the next garrison, for the purpose of claiming the reward, that the mistake was discovered. Of the many individuals to whom the secret of Prince Charles's concealment was entrusted, was one poor mountaineer, who, on being asked "why he did not give information and enrich himself by the reward of thirty thousand pounds,” thus replied:—“ Of what use would the money be to me? A gentleman might take it and go to Edinburgh or London, where he would find plenty of people to eat the dinners and drink the wine which it would purchase; but as for me, if I were such a villain as to commit that crime, I could not remain in my own country, where nobody would speak to me, unless it were to curse me as I passed along the road!" A similar instance has been already recorded of M'Ian. Neither the prospect of immediate death, nor the offer of immediate wealth, had any influence over the minds of these poor men in a case where they thought Stewart, vol. i. 62. |