My dear Lord, No. CCCCLXXI. Letter from the Laird of Macleod to the Lord President. IT is easier for you to imagine (by supposing your dearest friend in your situation) than for me to express the different agitations of my mind on hearing of the villainous attempt on your life; I hope God will still preserve it from the treachery of pretended friends, or the open attacks of known enemies. I have a long letter from Lovat about it, protesting his innocence and vast concern, as Stratherick men were the actors. As the post assures me one of the villains was taken, I hope a proper and a full discovery will be made. The attempt, since it misgave, will have no bad effect on the minds of all ranks here, as they have an utter detestation to all such practices. I would gladly hope my letters and messages to Lovat and Mac Intosh were not too late for the first I am sure they were not, if they can have any effect, and that he was not absolutely determined aforehand; as to the latter, I always doubted, from his own weakness, & the disposition of my cousin and John Shaw. There never was such dismal weather seen as we have had constantly here; hardly a day that it's possible to stir in any sort of business. However, by the end of next week, Talisker, who has just got a son, will be ready to move, & I will by that time have a body of 300 men so disposed here, that they can move on a day's notice. Sir Alex' has sent to Uist for his captain; and I am very hopeful he will be ready as soon as Talisker, or very quickly after. The behaviour of my son's men vexes me to the soul; they were entertained in an outhouse of Lovat's, & sent to the master's rendevous. Sandy McLeod is still here, waiting to see his uncle from Harris;; he has made some attempts to raise rebellion against the knight & me here, but with very bad success. The post was stopped and searched by two of Barrisdale's men, but they found nothing, so he passed safe. Dunvegan, Oct 23d, 12 o'clock, I am, with unvariable friendship, NORMAND MACLEOD, No. CCCCLXXII. My dear Lord, Sir Andrew Mitchell to the Lord President.. Whitehall, 23d Oct 1745. THE freedom with which I wrote to your Lordship last night makes it unneces sary to desire that my letters may be read by yourself only. Your goodness will forgive any mistakes I may make at this time, for I am really in the deepest distress. The ruin of my country, and the disgrace and shame to which it is and will continue to be exposed, have affected me to that degree, that I am hardly master of myself. Already every man of our country is looked on as a traitor, as one secretly inclined to the Pretender, and waiting but an opportunity to declare. The guilty and the innocent are confounded together, and the crimes of a few imputed to the whole nation. But I hope your Lop will soon do something to assist your principles, to save your country, and to recover, if possible, it's honour. M' James Gordon, of St Christopher's, a very particular friend of mine, desires me to to mention his brother Harry to your Lop, in case there is still room to give him a commission in the indepent companies. He tells me he can get men. The young gentleman has a good character, and has made a campaign. If it does not interfere with your Lop's views, the serving this gentleman will much oblige Your most affectionate Mr Gordon proposes to send his brother to Scotland so soon as he arrives from Flanders. My dear Laird, No. CCCCLXXIII. The Lord President to the Laird of Mac Leod. 24th Oct 1745. I NEED hardly tell you, that the receipt of your letters & of the knight's were very comfortable to me; partly as they satisfy'd my mind about your health, for which I was under great apprehensions; & partly as the messenger, who came alongst with them, gave evidence to some of my neighbours, that the knight & you had not run stark mad, & that my guess was better than theirs; which, if they have not lost all discretion, may in some degree restore them to their senses. The effect of your message to L. Li I do not know, as the mess says he appear'd sullen and reserved to him; it is possible he may be more communicative to the young man as he returns. Msh seems to me rather to be pleased, & has dispatched expresses to some of his tribes that are gather'd & on wing, not to stir, for some days at least. How he will succeed I know not; he certainly would but for one person, whom I love much. Since the foolish attempt on this place, I have had two letters from my friend Lovat, on two different subjects; the one, that simple story which he disclaims in the strongest & most convinceing manner, expressing the highest detestation ; & in that I have agreed with him, & declared my opinion that it has given his Lop much more concern than it has me; the other, the present situation of his family, which gives him the greatest agony; & that is, the mad resolution of his eldest son, who, in spite of all that he has been able to say to him, & in spite of all the good advice which you & Gortuleg have zealously bestow'd upon him, has put himself at the head of the Clan, who are passionately fond of following him, & cannot possibly be restrained by my Lord's authority from following the fortunes of the adventureing Prince; which not only may destroy the master and the family, but bring his own gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. When my Lord wrote this letter, the master had made a sort of muster of the men of the Aird; he had by detachments from them bully'd the Urquhart men, who were on their way marching by the Laird's orders to Strathspey, & forced them to return home. He had pass'd over to Stratherrick, where he was reviewing the posse, & he has since cross'd the Lock to Urquhart, where, in conjunction w Coll" Angus M'Donell & Barisdale, he is said to have persuaded the Urq' men to do what ****** & some other of these Gentlemen wish'd. On this subject, I wrote to my Lord a very serious & at the same time a very friendly letter; laying open the unavoidable consequences of the suspition which the M" inconsiderate conduct might create, not only to my Lord's family, but to his person, & hopeing that if what I suggested were properly represented to the young man, naturall affection to so indulgent a parent, & filiall reverence, would get the better of his politicall zeal. My Lord has return'd me many 312 thanks thanks for my good advice; says, he sent my letter to his son to Stratherrick, to be inform'd by Gortuleg; but doubts it will not answer his & my wish: &, indeed, after the master should have received it, he made his trip to cross the Lock to Urq'; but then this happened, in point of time, before my Lord received your message, & when his common answer to the difficulty suggested, from the danger of his person if the clan march'd, was, that he would be carried to Dunvegan, & be shelter'd where his father dy'd. Whether your message may make any alteration in the Master's measures, I cannot take upon me to say. Barisdale was the day before yesterday with him, & I believe may not be far from him still. He made but ane unprosperous recruiteing in Assint & Lochbroom, tho' they say some men have followed him from Cogach. I had last Saturday a letter from the E. of Cromerty, contradicting the many lies made of him, & assureing me that all the steps taken by him were only to provide men for the service of the Gov', pursuant to his declaration made to me at Culloden severall weeks ago; which, I told him, I was very glad to hear; & yet I am assured, the Ld Mac Leod was the day before yesterday at Castledownie. Fairburn came straight to Culloden from Carlile Tuesday at noon, without touching at Iñs, in the same disposition in which he parted with us. I sent him that night to Brahan, w'out stoping by the way, & hinted to him what I had the day before heard from Sky. Caber stood in great need of him; his Kintail men will soon be down. The Saltash sloop with some arms [arrived] three days ago in Cromertie; but for lack of wind has not as yet reach'd our road. We have not yet so many as we shall have occasion for, but I shall write for more. Upon Martin's shewing me a note from you, I have advanced Santy 20 guineas, to be apply'd as you hinted. If the carriage to Sky were safe, which it is not, you might have what you want. The independant comp must immediately be put in march, as the rest are assembling & drawing to Iñs. Culcairne's is already there; one of you two must necessarily come with them, and manage them, whilest the other, remains to take care of the island; but of that more in my note of the same size to the Knight, for whom this is intended, as that is for you. I am heartyly the Kt's & yours, &c. No. CCCCLXXIV. The Lord President to Sir Alex' Mac Donald. My D' Knight, 24th Oct 1745. QUALE sopor fessis in gramine was the effect of your's & the Laird's on me. I had given up the Laird for drown'd, & many fools in this country for lost; because your message did not come sooner; but, for ought I know, the delay has rather had a good than a bad effect; as it may have postponed the execution of rash resolutions in my neighbourhood, untill even their own reports from the South gave them some reason to doubt of that success, which their indiscreet zeal had made them for some time past look upon as certain. The desertion from the Highland army at Ed' they know to be great, & such as they can hardly repair, notw'standing the most dilligent endeavours; which probably is the reason why the camp at Dudiston is broke up, & the people lodged in the suburbs, & the neighbouring villages, to prevent observations on the thinness of their numbers. They see that sort of zeal & unanimity in defence of the Gov' prevail in England, which, I confess, exceeds my expectation, & shuts out all expectation of any insurrection there in favours of their undertakeing; & unless they are resolved absolutely to shut their eyes, they must be con vinced that a very great body of troops is by this time on the border; not composed of such troops as wheel'd without hardly fireing a shot, but of veterans from Flanders, whereof the 2a imbarkation of 8 batt" is arrived at Newcastle, as all the rest of the British troops are ordered home, the French having gone into winter quarters in Flanders: & they may easyly guess, by the temper of the English part of this island, that lenity is not to be expected at this time. I pray God it may, & I hope it will be, in the power of such of us, as have upon this occasion shown a favourable disposition to the Gov, to prevent angry resolutions, that might, if the flame were universall, bear hard on the whole of this unhappy country. Fairburne, who left Stirline last Friday, assures me, that Gen" Bleakney told him that day he had advice that Mar. Wade had reach'd Berwick; & he also told me, that even upon the road, as he came North, there was desertion from the deserters that they were carrying back to Ed'; & particularly that Cluny, who had got no further than Atholl, had lost 50 or 60 men out of his body. I have said to the Laird, in the counterpart of this, that it was necessary the comp's should forthwith be put in march for this country; & that one of you should come alongst the reason is, that we are now bringing the rest of them to Iñs, to be a cogent motive with the neighbours to be quiet, & not to ruin themselves. I am at present almost resolv❜d to have 2 other comp" from Sky; one from you, & ane other from the Laird ; & therefor I beg that alongst with the 2 comp" who have already got their com" you will, without loseing ane hour more than is necessary, send down 100 men each, together with such officers as you shall think proper to command them, as caps, lieut, & ensigns, in case it shall be resolved to give the commissions, which I at present think will happen ; & in all events, tho' the commissions should not be given them, they shall have arms from the Saltash, which is arrived, to carry back for the defence of the island, which upon the return of the Highlanders may be liable to insults; & the expence of fetching them hither shall be made good, as they shall be subsisted whilest here. Mac Leod complains of want of money, which would be supply'd from hence if the conveyance was safe; but then he spoke of finding cows to support the men on their march, which is ane honest shift, provided they are not taken, according to the practice of this neighbourhood, from other people without value; & the expence shall be made good when the men come hither, should what I now desire be comply'd with. You see, my dear Knight, the absolute necessity there is for one of you to come hither, with so large a body of men, to preserve them from the infection of the villanous lyes & fictions by which our zealots are dayly tempting our people to desert; whilst the other stays in Sky, to give the people directions, & to keep the proper countenance in that country. Since writeing, Loudon has come in to me; & as he approves of what I told you I had almost resolved on, I now tell you, that commissions shall be given to these two additionall independent comp when they come to Ins; so that you & the Laird may appoint the officers, & give them their titles, as if their commissions were in their pockets. When I write next, I shall say somewhat about the men of war on your coast. I shall then direct for you, supposeing the Laird to be come off. My hearty good wishes to L' Marg'. I am intirely your's, &c. No. CCCCLXXV. Dear Sir, No. CCCCLXXV. The Lord President to the Laird of Pitcalnie. 25th Oct 1745: I NEVER was more astonish'd, & but seldom more afflicted, in my life, than I was when I heard of the madness of your son. I cannot conceive by what magick he has been prevail'd on to forfeit utterly his own honour; in a signall manner to affront & dishonour me, whom you made answerable for him; to risk a halter, which, if he do not succeed, must be his doom, without any other tryall than that of a court martial; & to break the heart of an indulgent father, as you are; which, I am perswaded, must be the case, unless he is reclaim'd: the villains who seduced him, profiting of his tender years, & want of experience, tho' I hope I am a Christian, I never will forgive; tho' him I will, if he return quickly to his duty, without committing further folly. But if, trusting to indulgence on account of our relation, he persist in the course in which I am told he is at present engaged, I think it is but fair to declare to you, in the most solemn manner, that the very relation & connection, to which he may trust, will determine me to pursue him with the utmost rigour to that end which his conduct will most undoubtedly deserve; & when I have said this, I can take God to witness, that he is the only person concern'd in the present unhappy commotions, for whom my heart would not lead me to be a solicitor, when things have the issue which I believe they will soon have. In justice & friendship to you, & in hopes he may repent before it is too late, I give you the trouble of this letter; and have desired your friend M' Baillie to deliver it to you; not doubting that, to save a son, & to prevent my dishonour, you will do all that is in your power. I am, dear Sir, My Lord, No. CCCCLXXVI. Lord Deskfoord to the Lord President. M' GRANT having been informed, that the Frasers were to set out upon their march on Wednesday last, & to take this road south, had assembled on Thursday a good number of his clan near Inverleyden, in order to guard the passes through this country. When he was there, he received your Lordship's letter, desireing him to send down the company to Inverness; but tho' he had been at a good deal of pains in speaking to severals of his men in this country before, the company was by no means compleat; they being unwilling to engage in that manner for fear of being retained afterwards, contrary to their inclinations; and likewise inclining not to be out of their country, except with their Chief, at this time, when they apprehended there might be use for them for the defence of their familys and effects. To-day I went up to Auchterblair, to see the men that Mr Grant had brought together; when he begged me, as soon as I should return to Castle Grant this night, to write to your Lordship to offer his most humble respects to you and my Lord Loudon ; & to inform you, that as he had not been able to compleat his company intirely of volunteers, as he proposed, & that |