to do what, according to circumstances, shall appear to be best for His Majestie's service. I ask your Lop pardon for the great freedom I use, & am hopefull you will excuse it, because you know my zeal for His Majtie's service; & you know that I am perfectly your Lop's faithfull & most obt Ins, 3 Sept 1745. Servt. No. CCCCXXXI. The Lord President to Lord Reay. My Lord, Ins, 3 Sept 1745. I AM glad to see, by your Lop's letter of the 30th August (what I never doubted), that your zeall for the support of His Majtie's Govt is as warm at this stage of life, as it was 30 years ago, when it did singular service to the Crown. It is extremely commendable in your Lop & the E. of Sutherland to have your men in readiness to act upon the first proper occasion; and it were to be wish'd that we had arms in numbers sufficient to put in their hands: but as the arms that remain here to be disposed of are few, and as more are expected, untill these arrive I cannot advise your Lop to send hither for any. What I write is after speaking with Sir John Cope, who is perfectly apprised of your duty & attatchment to the Royall Family, & will leave the proper orders for giveing out arms when they arrive, & for accquainting your Lop when it will be proper to make use of them for the King's service. I have heard of no motion yet made for arming your Lop's neighbours, whom you mention: when any such is made, I dare say it will not meet with a favourable reception. The Gen" & every one trusted by the Crown are acquainted with your Lop's zeall, & will easily distinguish between the fitness of trusting arms in your hands, & that of putting them in the hands of gentlemen who have not hitherto given any proof of their affection to His Majtie. It is because I would not detain the bearer, that I add no more, but that I am with great respect, my Lord, your Lordship's most ob' & most humble Serv', &c. No. CCCCXXXII. The Lord President to the Provost of Aberdeen. Culloden, 4th Sept 1745. 4 Afternoon. My Lord Provost, YOUR Lop's letter dated the 24, at 2 a clock in the morning, was deliver'd me this morning. Your townsman's intelligence from Montrose, of the rebells being to be at Perth on Saturday, was, I believe, true enough; as it was also, that the Magistrates of Perth sent ane express the low way, to acquaint Sir John Cope with that circumstance; but it is not true, that that express was seised at Brechin; for the fellow made his way to Inverness with his packet," where I saw him yesterday; neither do I incline to believe that the number of the Highlanders was such as he heard. Rumors of the terrible kind grow strangely by travelling. I doubt not, indeed, that they have pick'd up, in their journey from the south side of the hills, severall individualls who may have been well wishers to their cause; but wee do not look upon those troops as formidable, tho' they they be call'd Highlanders. Sir John Cope has, with the troops under his command, march'd this morning from Inverness for your town. I should hope this march will cool the zeal of a good many unthinking people in your neighbourhood, who might be mad enough, from false reports agreeing with their inclinations, to run over a precipice. It was the necessity I was under to ride out, to talk a little with Sir John on his march, that prevented my giveing ane answer some hours sooner. In this country, tho' the troops have left us, we are under no apprehensions; as the chieftains round us are disposed to serve the Gov'; & the unarm'd have prevented the junction of any other freinds or followers with the unlucky men who have taken up arms. men who have taken up arms. I am, my Lord Provost, your most ob' & most humble Serv1. My Lord, No. CCCCXXXIII. The Lord President to the E. of Findlater. Same date. THIS morning the letter your Lordship did me the honour to write me the 2, was deliver'd to me. I never had any doubt that your Lop would exert yourself, so far as circumstances put it in your power, in defence of the Gov'; which, tho' threaten'd, is, I hope, in no danger. Nothing is more naturall than for the gentlemen, who are in arms against it, to magnify their force & multiply their numbers; but such as are desirous not to be deceived will receive such reports with great caution, & must make considerable allowances. I believe what the Pro. of Aberdeen writes is true, that the Highlanders may have been at Perth last Saturday or Sunday; & I doubt not that severall in their way of thinking, from the south side of the mountains, may have join'd them; but as those, tho' under the name of Highlanders, are not, nor have been for some time very warlike, I do not consider them as terrible to deal with. The person who landed near Cullen, & posted southward, was ane officer sent by Sir John Cope, with letters to Edin', who, finding that the small boat, in which he hoped to have coasted it, could not bear up against the easterly gale, quited it, & pursued his journey on horseback. Sir J. Cope has march'd this morning from Ins, with the troops under his command in his way to Abd", & so round the coast. His presence will, I should hope, cool the inconsiderate zeall of some rash people; & we, whom he leaves in this country, are in no apprehension from the Highlanders, who have left very few adherents in this neighbourhood; most of the Chiefs of any consequence being desirous to support the Govt. I have left the inclosed, for the Pro. of Aberdeen, open for your Lop's perusall: I presume your Lop will forward it. I am, with perfect respect, My Lord, Your Lop's most ob' & most humble serv'. No. CCCCXXXIV. The Lord President to Sir John Cope. D' Sir, Culloden, 5 Sept' 1745, 12 o'clock. THIS morning the Ins foot post, that ought to have come on last Monday at noon, arrived. He was seised by the rebells at Blair; his packet, which he used great industry to conceal, taken & rifled, & he detained till Tuesday afternoon. I have sent him forward ward to you, that you may examine him; & I give you now the heads of what I could make out of him, to save you as much trouble as possible. He says, that what they call their army march'd from Blair Tuesday morning, & no sooner, in their way to Dunkeld; that they had not at that time been join'd by any body of men from Athol, Badenoch, or Breamar, or any other place; but that they gave it out, that they expected to have considerable reinforcements from those parts by the end of this, or the beginning of next week; & yet it would seem this was not believed by those in the D. of Athol's interest; for the post says, that when he was dismiss'd, Comissary Bisset, & Peter Macglash, who keeps the inn at Blair, told him, they durst not then write, but desired him by word of mouth acquaint me, immediately on his arrivall, that their numbers were inconsiderable; that they did not exceed 1800; that they were but in indifferent order; & that a sudden march of the troops southward would much discourage them. If this be true, severall that pass'd the Corryarig with them must have left them; & indeed if they did not meet with such a ready concurrence as they were made to expect, I do not much wonder that there should be desertion amongst such troops. He further says, that Glenbucket was not with them; but that he had gone down to the low country, to try to raise men; & that he had placed small guards in all the passes of the mountains to intercept intelligence. He says, he is sure Bleakney has not faln into their hands; for that he met with a Stirling hyrer at Blair, who told him that Bleakney had stopt at Stirling upon the reports of the rebells advanceing. He says, what I am very glad to hear, that almost all the men that were surprised in going to Fort WTM have stood out, & refused absolutely to list with the enemy; & the cause of his knowledge is, that he saw three or four score of them, barefooted for the most part, & tatter'd, under a guard of the Highlanders. He says, he saw a few of the soldiers (some of them he knew, that deserted from you in your march) doing duty. with the Highlanders; but I think he does not make them exceed half a dozen, if so many. He saw Lochgarry acting alongst with them, & many of the recruits he had rais'd for Loudon's Reg. He saw John Roy Steuart, who had just come from France, & had landed on the east coast; & it was to him, whom he was acquainted with, that' he ow'd his deliverance; & he further says, that no troops had landed at Leith last Thursday night when he left it. This, Sir, is the substance of what he said to me: if any further question recurr to you, I have sent him, that you may interrogate him, I have this morning dispatch'd a courier to Blair, to be further satisfy'd as to the state of things there. He was dispatch'd befor the Ins post came to me; if he brings any thing worth your knowing, it shall follow you. I am, without ceremony, D' Sir, Yours, &c. No. CCCCXXXV. My Lord, The Marquis of Tweeddale to the Lord President. Whitehall, 10th Septem' 1745. I HAVE received your Lordship's of the 1" instant, which I have laid before the King. You may believe we have not been a little surprised at the several accounts we have received from Sir John Cope and others of His Majesty's servants at Edinburgh; and tho' military men here are of opinion, that it might not have been fit for His Majesty's service for Sir John Cope to attack the rebells when they were posted on the Carryarick, or that it was even practicable for him to have marched that way to Fort Augustus after they were possessed of that pass; yet they think that he ought to have staid somewhere about Dalwhinny; and in that case, it would not have been easy for the rebells to have made such a progress into the south before him. But as this matter is now over, it is needless to enter into a discussion on the point. By his last letter of the 31" of August, he acquaints us, that in conformity to your Lordship's, and Lord Loudon's opinion, he had sent orders to His Majesty's servants at Edinburgh for providing shipping at Leith to transport the troops round by sea, in case he should find it impracticable to force his way after the rebells; and this idea is approved of by His Majesty's servants here. I am glad to find your Lordship gives us some hopes of the Government's receiving, at this critical juncture, a real assistance from the well-affected Clans; and I am much of opinion, that it is greatly owing to your Lordship's presence and countenance there, that so great a body of the northern Highlanders has hitherto remained quiet. Your Lordship will find by my letter of the 4th, that His Majesty had sent down some blank Commissions for forming the Highlanders, who are determined to support the Government at this juncture, into companies, and the purposes for which they are to be employed. I have likewise wrote of this to Sir John Cope, that it will be necessary he should appoint some officer to have the command and direction of these Independent Companies when formed; and this measure answers one objection which your Lordship has also pointed at formerly; the want of a proper authority to call them out; tho' it is thought here, that no authority is necessary to empower His Majesty's faithful subjects to arm, attack, and disperse their enemies, in time of actual rebellion. Sir John Cope has informed me some time ago, that 1000 stand of arms were at Inverness; and I hope more will be sent from Edinburgh in case it is thought they can be safely disposed of. ; In relation to money, as all correspondence is now stopt betwixt Inverness and Edinburgh, I know no other way your Lordship can be supply'd but by taking up what money you can get in your parts, and drawing on M Pelham for the value which, he assured me this day, he would duly honour. There are more Dutch battalions ordered to Scotland. In the present difficulty of correspondence, and uncertainty of the situation of affairs, we here cannot form any certain judgment how to direct; but His Majesty, and all his servants here, have the greatest confidence in your Lordship's acting and ordering every thing for the best at this juncture. I am, with very great regard and esteem, My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant, No. CCCCXXXVI. My Lord, Sir John Cope to the Lord President. Terra, 10th Sep 1745: BY letter from Gen' Guest, of the 6th, I am inform'd that Captain Rogers arrived at Edin' on Wednesday last. The things I writ for will be ready under convoy in 3 or 4 days from that time. I sent Colonel Whitefoord to Aberdeen, who wrote me that he has got the same things there in readiness. I hope to be in Aberdeen tomorrow night with the troops, and then shall take my resolution, according as things cast up. All All the boats in the Firth are on the south side. It is reported, the rebels are gone towards Stirling; but many are the reports, and few to be relied upon; Glenbucket has not above 300 men out of these parts. The King is landed. Dutch troops are at sea; some for England, some for Leith. I have no letters from London since I saw your Lordship. I hope we shall get the enemy between two fires; by what I hear, they are disappointed in the numbers they expected. The troops with me are in good heart. I waited on the Duke of Gordon at Banff, where his Grace came to meet me; he was not very well in his health, so that I had little more than common discourse with him; but what he did say was expressing himself zealously for His Majesty's service. I have this minute rec a packet from London, in answer to letters I writ from Dalwhinny. They are in great pain lest I should have attempted the Coriarick. I find 5 Dutch battalions are embarked from Holland, and more are to follow. I did design to march this morning between 5 and 6. It is now past 6, and not a horse yet come in to carry our provisions, tho' promised to be here at 3 in the morning. I wish this is not contrived purposely to distress the King's troops, which I have been apprehensive of before now; so that I fear I shall have difficulty in getting to Aberdeen tomorrow, they being two very long days marches. I am, My Lord, Your most ob' humble servt, JN° COPE. The bearer is the man that M' Grant the Barrack Master sent out: his information is so little worth, that I question whether he was where he pretended to have been: however, be pleased to tell M' Grant to pay the man, and place it to my account. My Lord, No, CCCCXXXVII. Sir John Cope to the Lord President. Aberdeen, 13th Sept 1745. WE arrived here on Wednesday; the transports arrived here the same day: putting in water & provisions takes up a great deal of time, tho' all hands have been employ'd since the arrival of the transports. The artillery is on board. I hope to embark the troops this day, tho' the tides to serve us fall out very cross. The 11th inst. the Highland army marched into Perth 10 o'clock forenoon: they gave out that they designed for Edin'; but by all my informations they intend to take the way of Monteith. I send your Lordship an information I had from two sensible persons, most part of which has been confirmed by other hands I have employ'd, but cannot learn any certainty of their numbers. I have just now had an account from Faulkland, that the rebells are about 3000, & are not yet joined by the Marquis of Tellibarden, Lord Early, Glenbucket, & some others which they expect. Strouen Robinson join'd them with 300. This letter from Faulkland (which was writ yesterday) says, that the Dutch are in the road of Leith. I am extremely uneasy at my present situation. I have but one satisfaction; that is, that I cannot reproach myself with having delay'd a minute, since I left Stirling, in doing for the best; which all those with me seem sensible of, tho' those at a distance, not used to march with armys, nor at all knowing of the countrys we have march'd thro', will certainly blame me; but I flatter myself that will not be the case in your Lordship's opinion. I am Your Lordship's most obed' serv', JN° COPE. |