My Lord, No. CCCCLVII. The Lord President to the Marquis of Tweeddale. 3 Oct 1745. ALL communication by land between this & England having been cut off by the rebells getting possession of Ed', & by the unfortunate action that happened on the 21st Sept near it; I find myself under ane undispensible necessity of trying to convey this by sea, in ane open boat to Berwick, in hopes, that from thence it may reach your Lop; & in this attempt, my Lord Lyon's zeal has been very assisting to me. Upon receipt of the commissions, which his Majestie was pleased to trust me with the disposition of, I wrote to your Lop the 13th Sept', acquainting you with my hopes, that under the favour of these, a considerable body of troops might quickly be got together, which at least must have the effect of preventing any considerable accession to the strength of the Highlanders from this country. But I then told your Lop that towards effecting this, besides arms, which were then expected from Ed Castle, money and credite to feed & pay the men were necessary, & therefor suggested the necessity of sending down some money by a clever arm'd vessel; whereby our force might be put in motion, & credite might be revived, by opening the correspondence; & upon receiving your Lop's letters of the 10th & 12th Sept', which were the latest I had from you, I on the 20th in a letter to your Lop, & ane other to the E. of Stair, renew'd the same suggestion, & explain'd the reasons why the power which your Lop signify'd to me I had of drawing on Mr. Pelham, & on the Paymaster Gen", could be of no service towards furnishing money, unless the communication was keep'd open by such ane arm'd vessel as I have mentioned. But, it would seem, neither of these dispatches have found their way to Lond"; as I have heard nothing of the vessel I wrote for, & thereby his Majesties service is in danger of suffering extremely in these parts; which forces me to attempt to put this in your Lop's hand in the manner I have mentioned. At the date of my last, which was the 20th of Sept', tho' there was no money to bring or keep any number of men together, yet such was the authority of the Gentlemen who were disposed to support the Government, that nobody of any consequence pretended to stir or join the Highlanders who had pass'd the mountains in their way southward; & if those adventurers had not met with some unlook'd for successes the same tranquility would still have prevail'd. But so soon as the rebells had got possession of Ed', & that event was follow'd by the more unexpected success in the action near it, it is not to be conceived with what celerity those incidents blew up the hopes of the unthinking who wish'd for a revolution. The game seem'd to be altogether in their hands; & from caballing, they proceeded to assembling men for the Invader's service. And tho' nobody of consequence is, so far as I know, yet march'd from this side of the mountains, yet severall clusters of people are, so to speak, on wing; &, I am under great apprehensions, may soon fly to the assistance of their successfull brethren, or attempt by force to compell others in this neighbourhood to join them, unless we are speedily enabled to resist, by the means I have so often mentioned. It may, my Lord, unless you have got my former letters, be surprising to you, that under the favour of the credite which your Lop acquaints me I have upon Mr. Pelham & the Paymaster Gen", no money can be raised; but that surprise will cease when you are told, that bank notes are not, by reason of the present commotion, current; that the little coin that is, is lock'd up; so that the man of best credit in this country cannot command a shilling; that bills on Ed' or London are of no value; partly, as no pay ments ments are made at Ed'; & partly, as there is no secure method of correspondence with either of the places; & this matter is now gone so far, that the bills which the Major of L Loudon's Reg' has drawn on Ed' for the subsistence of some of the new comp" of that reg' now at Ins, have return'd protested; so that these comp" are in imminent danger of being obliged to disband for want of pay, which they have at present on the private credit of their officers; & how many days that resource may last I cannot say, tho' I have offer'd to support the private credit of these officers with the additional security of mine. And now, my Lord, give me leave to express my very great concern, that so fine a game as has been in our hands should be in danger of being lost, for lack of the supply I have so often mention'd, which might have been very easily sent, & which may still be of very great service, if it come befor it is too late. To me, it seem'd to be of vast consequence, to keep out of the rebellion a greater body of men than those who are hitherto engaged in it; & that I think would certainly have happened, had the supply expected come in due time. It is at present doubtfull whether numbers may not play the fool; but I am still confident, that if this arrives quickly to your Lop's hands, & the necessary orders are without loss of time given upon it, we shall be able still to do good, by preventing a great deal of the mischief that is to be apprehended. It is almost unnecessary to mention to your Lop, what will naturally occurr to yourself, that we can now have no supply of arms from the castle of Ed', so long as the town is in the possession of the Highlanders; & that arms therefor, if we have any quickly, must come from the Tower. The necessity of sending us arms I have mentioned often, because without them the well-affected, who have none, can make no figure. I am hopefull they will be speedily sent us; but the vessel with money & credit, any such is to be sent, ought not to wait ane hour for that which may carry the arms, because if we had the money we could bring our troops together to receive arms, which might arrive some days later. Besides that, we have seven or eight hundred stand of arms at Fort George, which might be put in the hands of our comp" as they might successively arrive. Your Lop will, I hope, overlook any oversight that may be in this long tho' hastily writt letter. You will observe in it a strong concern for his Maj. service. The detail of what I have been doing, or rather endeavouring to do, would be rather troublesome than usefull. All I shall say is, to assure you, in generall, I have left nothing undone that in my judgement might contribute to it; & that I am with perfect respect, my Lord, your Lop's most obt & most humble serv, &c. if No. CCCCLVIII. The Lord President to the Commanding Officer at Berwick. 3d Oct 1745 Sir, THE enclosed letter, for the Secretary of State, is of great consequence to his Majestie's service. As there is no possibility of conveying any thing of this kind with safety by the usuall method, I have ventured it from hence in ane open boat to Berwick; & have presumed to direct it to you, in hopes you will take care it be transmitted in the safest & most expeditious manner to London. By the direction, you will perceive I know not the person to whom I am writeing; & it's very possible you may not, by the writeing, subscription, or seal, know the person that writes to you. I find myself, therefore, obliged to let you know who I am, by telling you that I have the honour to serve his Majestie as President of his Court of Session in Scotland; & that, tho' I am at 3 H present present acting not properly in that character, I am doing the best I can, and with some success, the duty of a faithfull subject. I am, Sir, Your most humble serv', &c. P. S. Be so good, if this come safe to your hand, to give a signification of it in writeing to the bearer; & if you will, by him, let me know what is doing to the southward, from the knowledge of which I am at present lock'd out, it will be very obligeing. No. CCCCLIX. -M' George Ross to the Laird of Macleod. ca Dear Sir, London, 3rd Oct 1745. The last letter I had from you was of the 3 September from Dunvegan. The progress the rebells have since made accounts for the interruption of our correspondence. This goes by a sloop, which carrys a quantity of arms, & for the troops which I hope in God you and the other well-affected chieftains have enabled our worthy friend Lord President to bring together. By the last intelligence from Berwick, the rebells were about marching southwards, when they must meet with a force of the King's troops that must conquer and destroy them. And the discredit this affair has brought on our unhappy and much deluded country can only be retrieved by the appearance your Highlanders shall make in support of the Government. It is not, I do assure you, to be express'd, the encomiums made on Lord President and all of you for your conduct on this occasion; nor can I help telling you, people make no scruple to reflect on such of our countrymen as have come to this place. Here, it's said, they can be of no use; in their own country they might be of some, were it only to countenance such as show their attachment to the present establishment by remaining quiet. I am satisfied such measures have of late been taken, that must in a little time quiet these disturbers of the peace; nor will their taking Edinburgh, and their defeat of Cope, have any other end, than that of deluding such as are so blind as not to see that in the end they and their familys will be ruined, and an eternal infamy attend the country. Tho' the parliament be to meet the 17th of this month, I should, with great submission, think that it would give more satisfaction to the friends of the Government if you stayed with Lord President, and helpt the completing of the 20 companies, and even marching with them southwards, perhaps to the relief of Edin', than coming up here. Besides, a few weeks must in all human probability make an end of this affair; and then indeed there will be occasion for you in parliament; when there will be a very strict inquiry into the whole of this unhappy affair. I suppose you know that all our troops are ordered home. Advice is arrived from Admiral Martin, that he had look'd into Brest, but found no force there; and all the coast is so well guarded, that there can be no danger from a foreign landing. I am, dear Sir, yours, GEO. ROSS. My Lord, No. CCCCLX. The Lord President to the Marquis of Tweeddale. 8th Oct 1745. THE 3rd ins' I hazarded a letter to your Lop by sea; the substance whereof was, to acquaint you, that till then we were quiet; that the success at Ed & in the action near it, had so warm'd the fancys of the Jacobites of this country, that there was the greatest danger of their playing the fool; that the totall stop to the communication betwixt this country & London put ane end absolutely to all credite; so that it was impossible to find money, to bring the gentlemen who are determined to support the Govt to act, without some clever arm'd vessell is sent down with some money & credite, which may be enlarged by means of such a vessell, because by her the bills that may be given for money here, may be sent to London; that the credite which your Lop acquainted me I had on Mr. Pelham, & on the paymaster gen" was of no sort of use without such a vessell; & that as the arms intended for this part of the country were now lock'd up in the castle of Ed', if the Goverm1 expect any service from the numbers who are disposed to stand by it in this country, arms for that end must be now sent from the Tower; but that the sloop with the money & credite must not wait for the arms, because we have about 800 stand in Ft George to begin with, if we had cash; & that, when that sloop arrives, we shall call the men together to meet the arms that are expected. Whether that dispatch will reach your Lop I cannot tell; but as Sir John Gordon, whọ will deliver you this, is takeing the occasion of a Dutch ship from Cromerty, to transport himself to some part of England, I have thought it necessary to send by him this notice to your Lop; & to say, that it would be very melancholy if such a force as has been ready in this country for some time should be render'd useless for want of such a vessell as I have so often mention'd, & some money & credite by her; & if to the same accident it should be oweing, that, notwithstanding of all care possible taken, the Highlanders should be able to force numbers from this part of the world to serve them. Hitherto they have had no accession of any consequence from the north since their boasted victory. If we continue neglected, I do not know what may happen. The obstruction of the correspondence, & consequently of credite, is such, that the comp of L Loudon's new reg now at lñs must have disbanded for lack of pay, had I not subsisted some of them out of my pocket, which is at present very light; & the regular troops in garison at Fort George & Fort Augustus will in two weeks be in the like condition; but for a few weeks I will try to subsist them also, in hopes of a speedy relief. The importance of the matter will excuse my importunity; & the bearer's heast will excuse my abruptness, when I add only, that I am, with perfect respect, &c. No. CCCCLXI. From Mr. Morison jun. late Provost of Aberdeen, to the Lord President. My Lord, THE place you hold under his present Majestie, & the so faithfull pairt your Lop has acted in your high station for the interest of his sacred person, & all that's dear & valuable to Great Brittain at this juncture, makes me presume to trouble you with what follows. 3H 2 I am I am just now at some distance from Aberd" & from my famiely, not thinking myself safe to be in the way of those who had used me in so unreasonable odd a manner, as was my fate the 25th past; when, being seized upon by an armed party of Highland-men, was violently forced down to the Cross; and there, with some broad-swords over my head, was obliged to stand till their Proclamation was read; & because I refused to drink a health they proposed, I had a glass of wine spilt down my breast; which was, I acknowledge, making me suffer in a way, next to taking my life, that non could have affected me more. In so farr they gott what they aim'd at; but sure it was no advantage to their cause. It is my great support, that what I underwent on this occasion was for endeavouring to be faithfull in the discharge of my duty in my station, under the present happy establishment, and wh I hope I shall ever esteem it my greatest honour to doe, as Providence shall give me opportunitie. I will take a more convenient time to inform your Lop of a message being sent them, to qualifie otherways then we had done. In the forenoon they thought fitt to disperse; for my part, I had gone out of town, & almost ever scence have scarce seen my own house. ch Your Lop observes our new councell is chose, but no office-bearers; & we want much to know if that councell will stand; and if it & the old councell can at a convenient time choose the office-bearers, without any new powers from the Crown. I hope your Lop will give me your thoughts of this matter. There is no news but that it's said the castle of Ed' are now allow'd to get what provisions they want; weh, no doubt, you'll have sooner acco" of then we. Depending on an answer from your Lop, I remain, with the greatest truth, Near Aberd", 10th Octobr 1745. My Lord, Your Lop's most obed' hu. serv", JAMES MORISON Jun'. No. CCCCLXII. The Lord President to the Marquis of Tweeddale. My Lord, 10th Oct 1745. WHEN the letter which is herewith enclosed was written, I rely'd upon it that it would have been convey'd to Berwick by the master of ane open boat, with whom I had contracted; but the weather haveing all of a sudden become boisterous, neither he, nor any other master of such a vessell, would undertake the voyage, which obliged me to hire a ship from Inverness, whereof one Hugh Inglis, a very honest man & dutyfull subject, is master, to carry this packet to Berwick or Newcastle, whichever of those parts he can most conveniently reach; there to be delivered to the commanding officer, to be forwarded to your Lop by land. Since the date of the enclosed, nothing remarkable has happen'd in this neighbourhood; a thousand rumours are flying abroad, & many giddy people are busy endeavouring to raise men, & to perswade them to march & join the rebells; but hitherto nobody of any consequence has moved; nor will they, in all probability, if the arm'd vessell with money and credite come in time. One thing indeed has hapen'd, wch shows the absolute necessity of a speedy supply in the manner propos'd. Bills drawn on Ed' for the subsistence of the officers & the small number of soldiers of Ld Loudon's new levied reg' now at Ins, have returned protested; so that the men are in immediate danger of being obliged to disband for lack of pay; & the regular troops in garrison at Fort George & Fort Augustus |