known to you; and I do sincerely assure your Lop, that while I have a minute to live, I will have a most grateful remembrance of your Lop's goodness and your family's friendship towards me; and I'm still in great hopes, that in the present most cruel situation that I am in, your Lop's friendship will appear more essentially for me than ever it did; since I have now more need of it than ever I had. As to my condition, the sincere matter of fact is, that whenever it was known in the Highlands, that the Venturer Prince, the Son of the Pretender, landed, a sort of Madness seized all the West Highlanders with ane eager desire of joining him. The contagion soon spread; it came at length to my Country; and many of my people, on both sides of Lochness, were infected w' it, and fully resolved to go off then, if my precise authority had not stopped them; which cost me a vast deal of trouble and pains, and to my chief doer Gortuleg; which I did communicate to your Lop at that time. Foyers and Kilbokie, whose familys always used to be the leading familys of the Clan on both sides, were the madest and the keenest to go off; and when they saw that I absolutely forbid them to move or go out of the Country, they drew up with my Son, and they easily got him to condescend to go at their head. The whole Gentlemen followed their example, and the Commons run the same way that the Gentlemen did; so that I was left a contemptible old infirm fellow in my House, and no more notice taken of me than if I was a Child; so that if I had been able to travel, I had not stay'd a Night in my House after the beginning of my Son's operation with his Clan; and this I told your Lop in one of my letters. If that does not exoner me, I know not what can. Ane other strong argument your Lop may make use of for me is, that I spoke and sent Emissaries to those that I thought had loved me most of my Clan; and in spite of my Son's endeavours, and his Captains, I have got a Regiment of good men to stay at home, and most of them pretty fellows, tho' some of them is betwixt 60 & 70 years of Age. So that, tho' I had ten thousand lives to save, I could do no more in this affair to save myself than I have done; and if the Government would punish me for the insolent behaviour of my Son to myself, and his mad behaviour towards the Government, it would be a greater severity than ever was used to any Subject. Since I have not strength to mount a Horseback and leave the Country, I am resolved to live quietly and peaceably in my own House, and be a faithful subject to the King, and observe & obey the laws of my Country. And to let your Lop farther see my sincere Resolutions of encouraging no disturbance, but on the contrary to keep the Country peaceable and legall, I intend to list 200 of my Men that stays at home, and put pretty Gentlemen at their Head, that they may watch & guard the Country from all Robbers and Thieves, and loose men that come from the Highland Army; and to seize them, and to send them to Inverness. By this project I hope to contribute to the preservation and peace of the Country, as much as any two Independent Companies that are at Inverness. I hope this will not be disagreeable to your Lop that wishes me and my country well. I know your Lop has and will have more power than what would save me, and ten families like mine; otherwise the King and Government will be most ungrateful to you; for your Lop has done more service to King George, and to his family and Government, than if he had ane Army of 5,000 men in the North. For if it was not for your Lop's great Zeal, extraordinary and unheard of activity and fatigue, the Venturer Prince would have 10,000 before he went South, instead of Two; and with that number would have marched straight to London without any opposition. So that the King owes more to your Lop on this occasion than to any subject in Britain; and I do assure your Lop that the King's Enemies are very sensible of it; and that you are more obnoxious to their hatred and revenge, than Man on Earth. I wish with all my Soul that you may always escape the fury of their resentment, till you are happily and gloriously out of their reach; for my good wishes

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wishes will attend your Lop wherever you are; and I have firm hopes, that your Lop, who has saved the Government in the North, by bringing in so many brave families to serve the King, that you would be so good as to save one family that was always friends to yours, and an old infirm Man whom your Lop saw behave well enough in the King's Service against the Rebells. I will truly expect this great mark of your Lop's friendship; and I ever am, in all conditions of Life, with unalterable attachment, gratitude, & respect,

Nov. 6th, 1745.

My dear Lord,

Your Lop's most affectionat Cousin,

and obedient and most faithful humble Serv',

LOVAT

P. S. Your Lop must be informed, that my House and Green has been like a Market-place for sometime past; and my Son was such a fool, that he entertained and does entertain every man that he thinks favours his part, and he is ten times more master of this House than I am; but I have resolved from the beginning, and still continue firm in my resolution, let them do or say what they will, I will never black paper with them; and as soon as ever I am able to travel out of this house, I'll stay no longer in it; for I am downright killed with vexation of heart and spirit, to see my health much hurt, my family in danger, and any Money and Rent I have, foolishly spent and squandered away. There is no help for it; I must submit to Divine Providence. My Cousin Baillie James acquaints me, in a letter, that he has a young James. I give your Lop and my Cousin Achnagairn joy. I love my Cousin Baillie James much, and I have a vaft regard for his Lady, who I think has a great deal of Merit. Mr Donald Fraser & other two Gentlemen heard me say the strongest things this Day to my Son that ever a Father could say to a Child; but got no other satisfaction but insolent contradiction. The Earl of Cromarty & Lord M'Leod came here this Night, and a Battalion of the M'Kenzies crossed the Ferry of Bewly this Night, that he is to take South with him; and as many more of the Mackenzies will go South in a day or two; so your Lop sees that the wise & worldly people of the M'Kenzies are infected; so that it's no wonder that the Frasers, that were never thought worldly or wise, should be infected with a Contagion, tho' never so foolish and dangerous. I pray God, that their Madness may not overturn my family; & I shall be very easy about the rest, either as to myself, or to my unnatural Son & Kindred.

My Lord,

No. CCXC.

The Lord President to Lord Lovat.

Culloden, 8 Nov′ 1745.

I HAVE just received the Letter which your Lop did me the honour to write to me yesterday, after conversing with Mr. Donald [Fraser]. The representation which your Lop makes, I shall fairly transmitt, if your Lop insist on it; tho' with very great concern for the unhappy young man. But I should not act the part of that reall friend I have always profess'd to be, if I did not freely express to your Lop my apprehensions that the account given will not answer the end proposed, & which I so earnestly wish, the preservation of your Lop's family. The affection of your Clan, & their attachment to you, in the year 1715 & downward, will be remembered; it will not be easily believed, that your Lop's Authority is less with them now, than it was at that time; it will not be credited, that their engagements or inclinations were stronger against the Gov', when

the

your

the present commotions began, than they were thirty years ago when the Clan was at Perth. It will be alledged, that the people were not universally forward to enter upon the present spot of work; that many of them were reluctant, & some actually threatened & others forced into the service; & I do not know whether, if jealousy were to pro mote ane inquiry, many Circumstances might not come out which I choose not to think of, & hope never to hear of. These considerations, I must confess, fill me with great uneasiness, which I must ever feel when any danger threatens your Lop or your family, which my abilitys or interest cannot avert. My errand to this Country was, to preserve, if possible, the peace, & to exert the little credite I had with my friends & Countrymen to prevent their ruining their familys. I am vain enough to think, with your Lop, that my endeavours ought to give me some weight with the Gov', tho' far short of what you imagine. I doubt not at all but I should have interest to prevail with them to overlook the indiscretions already committed by the young Man; but should he actually carry away the Clan into the Rebellion, that very event would lessen the credite of my endeavours in this Country, & prevent the effect of any intercession on my part for Lop, for whom my partiality is so well known to his present Majestie, from the days that he was Prince, & to such of his Ministers as were men of business in his Father's reign, when your Lop's interest stood in need of the small assistance I could give. I say not these things as declining to do your Lop every Service that a sincere friend & ane honest man, consistent with his alledgance, can perform; but to prevent your Lop's laying stress on my ability to serve you further than it truely can bear; & I do it the rather, that it appears to me your Lop does not at present see the necessary & naturall consequences of things with the same clearness of sight as heretofore; for example, to obviate all jealousy of your Lop's conduct, you propose to keep a guard of 200 Men, to watch & preserve the peace of the Country. Now tho' this (were the Clan to remain quiet at home) would be a very commendable purpose, and what the Gov would very readily bear the expence of, yet I submit it to your Lop, whether, if the rest of the Clan go into Rebellion, that guard can be looked on with a favourable Eye by the Commanders of His Majefty's Troops in this Country; & whether I should not draw even myself under suspicion, if I pretended to justify the keeping them afoot, For God's sake, my Lord, think of these things; & believe that what I express are the genuine sentiments of a considering man, & of a reall friend, who wishes nothing more earnestly than to pull you out of all your Difficulties. If your Lop understand what I now write as it is meant, I need no argument to persuade you, that I am your faithful friend, & most ob' humble Serv', &c.

My dear Lord,

No. CCXCI.

Lord Lovat to the Lord President.

I RECEIVED with the utmost gratitude and sincerest thanks the letter that your Lop did me the honor to write to me by the Bearer; and I beg your Lordship a thousand pardons for keeping him so long. But my House was so throng, by the Earl of Cromarty's being in it these three or four days past, and the Officers of his Reg', that are going South, and several other Gentlemen, that I had not a minute to myself till the Earl of Cromarty went away.

It's impossible for me ever to forget the singular marks of friendship your Lop has given me in these dangerous and troublesome times; and your most generous and kind friendship in your endeavours to serve my family, and to keep back that unhappy and

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obstinate

obstinate youth from going South, and engaging in ane Affair so very dangerous for his person and family. I have still hopes, when his eyes are opened, that he will have a true sense and acknowledgement of your Lop's kind and generous friendship towards him; and for my part, my dear Lord, I do frankly assure you, that my gratitude for your Lop's repeated acts of Goodness towards me shall last as long as my Life.

. As soon as I received your Lop's Express, I called for my Son and Gortuleg to speak to me; and after having made the strongest remonstrances, the returns I got put me into such a passion, that I had almost done ane unnatural thing that certainly I would repent of all the days of my life. In short, there is no retrieving of that mad young Man: he will go with all those of his Clan that he can get ; but I am sure he will leave a great number of the best of my Clan behind, and all the Gentlemen past fifty; so that there is a very good Battalion left at home, as they pretend, to live and die with me. I can make no judgment of the Armys in the South, nor of their situation, for I never went the Carlisle Road to London; but if the troublesome Prince have near so good ane Army as his friends give out, it will be a very difficult thing for Marshall Wade to force them to fight in those hilly Countrys; for they are positive that he marched from Edin' with Eight thousand good Highlanders, besides those that are upon the Road to join him. He had several thousands of low Country Gentlemen, and Commons, that marched with him; and as their Game is desperate, they will certainly fight, especially the Highlanders, and beat double their Number of English Militia, even tho' mix'd by regular troops. So that the Fate of the next Battle is very doubious. Those of the Highland Party that were here are ridiculously uppish; they say, that if the Prince had stay'd eight days longer at Edin', he was to send two thousand Highlanders, with a Train of Artillery, to demolish the Castles of Inverness and Culloden, &c. That he told those who were soliciting him on that affair, that as soon as he was anyways settled in England, he would send 3,000 men to chastize his Enemies. in the North. They say, that the only thing brought him from Edin' was, the pressing Invitations he got from his friends in England; who begg'd of him to march up towards London, and that they would declare for him. So that he is in great hopes of success, tho' he should get no succours from France or Spain; which he says he is sure to receive, and expects them every day. They say, that there is another great Ship within these few days landed at Montrose with Money, Arms, and Ammunition, and twenty French Officers; and that they carried over a Man of great consequence, that wears a Star on his Breast. They say, that it is the Duke of Berwick, or his Brother, My Lord Fitz James. They are both Lieutenant Generals of the King of France's Army, and both of great reputation. Those Gentlemen likewise told me, that the Earl of Moray and the Earl of Lauderdale have gone into their Prince's Service. This is all the News and accounts that I could hear from them. I was both surprised and mortified, that in the letter your Lop did me the honour to write to me before the last, you seemed not pleased that I should propose to list 200 good men of my Clan, that I have stayed at home, to preserve my Country or my person, if I was attack'd, and to take up all Thieves, Rogues, and Villains, and to send them into Inverness. I flattered myself, that this little project would have pleased your Lop; but since it has not, if your Lop and the Earl of Loudon will give me your words of honour that I will not be molested, or my Country, but that my person, and those of my Clan that have stay'd at home in spite of the Endeavours of my Son and his partisans, shall be safe in their persons and effects; then I will give, not only my word of honcur, which is dearer to me than my Life, but any other engagement your Lop pleases that is in my power, that six men shall not appear in Arms in my Country, except a very few that will be in the Hills to guard their Cattle. I humbly beg your Lop may let

me

me know if this proposition be agreeable to your Lop and to the Earl of Loudon whom I offer my most humble duty; for I would most heartily do any thing in my power to please your Lop; since I always am, in spite of all the troubles that hap pened or can happen, with a sincere attachment and respect,

My dear Lord,

Your Lordship's most affec' Cousin,

And most obedient faithful humble Servant,

Beaufort, Nov' 10th 1745.

No. CCXCII.

LOVAT.

My Lord,

The Lord President to Lord Lovat, dated 11th Nov. 1745.

THIS morning I received your Lop's letter of the 10th, and observe with very great concern that you have not been able to prevail with the Master or his Advisers to relinquish their desperate course. If such ridiculous intelligence as the Highland Gentlemen entertain them with can be credited, it is vain for those, who sincerely wish they may recover their senses, to attempt giveing any information that should disabuse them; and therefore I shall not trouble your Lop with what I further hear and believe. Nor should I now write, but that it is just, to give your Lop all the satisfaction I can with respect to your proposition for the security of your person, and of your people who remain, and their effects; concerning which I could say nothing w'out the consent of the E. of Loudon, who commands his Majestie's forces in this Country. And as to the first, I easily prevail'd with his Lordship to agree, that neither your perfon or family shall in any degree be molested, unless express orders come from the Gov' for that purpose, which I hope and pray may not be the cafe; but as to your people, I have not succeeded so well. He says, he is certainly inform'd, that violence has been used to drag men out of their Beds into the Rebellion; & that by the terror of destroying their cattle & effects, others have been prevail'd on to list: in those circumstances, he insists he cannot be answerable to suffer such as have been guilty of those practices to remain quiet, neither can he abstain from attempting to fetch those, who left the Country, back again by the same means which prevail'd with them to march; but he promises to give no disturbance to any Gentleman, or Commoner, who in 8 days shall return; nor to the effects or family of any man who has not by himself, or some of his Sons, join'd in the present Rebellion. I wish I could give your Lop a more satisfactory answer, because I have the strongest desire to show that I am to yourself & your family a reall friend & Serv', &c.

My Lord,

"The Lord President to the Marquis of Tweeddale.

12th Nov 1745.

THE last letter I had the honour to write to your Lop was of the 10th of Oct by the Glasgow Man of War that carried E. Loudon to this Country. As his Lop brought some Money, & as we had some Arms at Fort George, orders were imme diately issued for bringing such of the Independent Comp" as were nearest, & as we could immediately arm, together: accordingly, a Comp of 100 came to Iñs of the Munro's the 23d of Oct'; one of the like number from the E. of Sutherland the 25th;

one