& 160 Mac Kenzies, seduced by the E. of Cromarty, march'd the beginning of this week up the north side of Lochness, & depended upon being follow'd by 5 or 600 Frasers, under the conduct of the Master of Lovat; but these MacKenzies have not as yet pass'd the mountains; neither have the Frasers yet march'd out of their own country; we have some hopes they will not, as we have now 700 highlanders in pay at Inverness, & look hourly for some hundreds more, with which we shall endeavour to perswade them to stay at home; that we hope immediately to open the communication with Fort Augustus & Fort William, & thereafter to march some indepen' companys into Banf & Aberdeen shires, to obstruct effectually the recruiting of Lord Lewis Gordon for the Pretender's service, which goes on but heavily at present; and that, when this is done, we shall be ready to do what further shall appear necessary, & be within our power, for putting ane end to the present rebellion. We wish We wish you heartily good success, & are, Sir, Your most obt & most humble servts, &c. Postscript. Last Fryday, Mac Leod, with 400 of his kindred, join'd us; which gives up hopes that we shall prevent the march of the Frasers, who are not yet gone. There is a great fall of snow on the ground. 17 Nov1. No. DVI. Dear Tom, The Lord President [perhaps to M' Tho' Fraser, of Gortuleg.] 鹦 I RECEIVED with very smart concern yours of the 27th. What grieved me cruelly was, that I see my unhappy and much-loved friend on the brink of destruction; and that you should be so unkind as to hint, as the only remedy, an expedient which to the end of time would dishonour me: I mean, my counteracting my publick professions to the Government; which I am determined, at all hazards, to support. Ther is something so dishonourable in that thought, that I must reject it with indignation; and may be induced to act a part more forward than otherways I should choose, to avoid imputations from others of what you seem to wish. But no consideration to which my honour leads me, which I am determined absolutely to pursue, will ever make me relinquish my wishes for my Lord's safety, or any honourable mean of contributing to it. All that is left me at present is, by remonstrance and advice to you, who love his family & person as well as I do, and I need say no more: what I would signify to you is, that La Ln was yesterday about to have wrote another letter, proposing the termes he expected from my Lord; but upon hearing of some of the company's march, he stopped short, and expressed his fears that he had gone too far in the way of treating. What provoked him was, that tho' my Lord had said all the men were at home, and promised to do what he could to keep them so, yet he heard that three companys had marched, & two more were to follow; and he had received inform ation that my Lord was accessary to this; which supersedes all protection. And he re *This does not appear in the collection. solved, solved, whilst Lord Seafort was advancing on the one hand, to march 6 or 700 men from hence. What the precise of his intention is, I do not know; but I am sure, in certain cases, he has authority to burn and destroy. God forbid that this should be the fate of your poor unhappy country. I shall try to stop him, and to perswade him yet to send his letter, which will be the last; and from my heart I wish that repentance may not come too late. My Lord, No. DVII. The Lord President to the Duke of Gordon. Culloden, 9 Dec 1745. THE Earl of Loudon is return'd from relieving Fort Augustus from a sort of blockade with which it was straiten'd; & as he is very busy just now, in prepareing every thing for a short expedition to the westward, to bring some people, whose conduct he is not pleased with, to order, he has charged me to acquaint your Grace that, mindful of your desire, he has order'd a body of between 5 & 600 men to march tomorrow towards Elgin, where they will arrive the third day; & that he is very quickly to follow with the like number, & to order more troops to march the same way, if circumstances make it necessary. This he thought it was highly fitting to acquaint your Grace with, that your people might know they are no longer to be oppress'd; & that your Grace may have time to consider & advise him, when he arrives, what is fittest to be done for his Majestie's service, which he knows you have so much at heart. I very readily comply with my Lord's desire, because it gives me ane oppor tunity of assureing your Grace that I am, with perfect respect, My Lord, My Lord Duke, Your Grace's most ob' & most hu. serv'. No. DVIII. The Lord President to the Earl of Findlater.. ro Dec' 1745 you a THIS afternoon your Lop's letter of the 9th was, pursueant to your directions, delivered to me, in the absence of E. Loudon, who is this day marched with a considerable body of men to the westward, to obtain the best security he can, that L.. Lovat's kindred, who have been long in ane uncertain state, notwithstanding the many endeavours that his Lordship assures us he has used to keep them dutifull, will remain quiet, & give no disturbance to the Govt. I observe with concern the method used by the rebells in Banfshire, which are the same that are made use of in Aberdeenshire, to induce his Majestie's subjects to raise money & men toward the subversion of the Govt. Your Lordship has surely return'd to those who have consulted with very solid advice; & have, no doubt, given the proper directions to those that take your affairs, on the subject of the letter that was written to yourself; and if these advices & directions can prevent men's subjecting themselves to the penalties of high treason for a very few days, they will be deliver'd from all apprehensions of such usage; for before any notice came from your Lop, a body of between 5 & 600 men was this day march'd from Inverness for Aberdeen by Elgin, to be follow'd by my Lord Loudon very quickly, with as many more if needfull; & by a further force from hence, if it shall be wanted. Thus your Lop's tennants & neighbours will be speedily relieved from the oppression under which they groan; & I should hope they care of will have the fortitude to resist the threats that are employ'd to induce them to become parties to high treason for a very few days, when relief is so very near at hand; as, on the other hand, I immagine the rebells will be cautious how they execute those threats, when reprisealls can be so speedily made on those who may be so wicked as to put them in execution. And, as E. Loudon is absolutely a stranger in Banfshire, it would surely contribute very much to the service, if your Lop, who can give so perfect information of the practices as well as the characters of men, could meet him in his march through that country; or if that may not be, because of the severity of the season, or on any other account, that your Lop would give directions to any person in whose fidelity you have confidence, & of whose sagacity, & acquaintance with the late transactions in the country, you are satisfy'd, to attend him, that he may receive the proper information; and that you would also direct your deputy shirref to be in the way, that he may issue the proper orders for what concerns the accommodation of the troops in their march. I beg your Lop may be so good as to make my compliments to Lady Findlater, Lady Margt Grant, & the rest of your good company; & believe me to be, with perfect respect, My Lord, Your Lop's most ob' & most humble serv', &c. P. S. Your serv' haveing gone into town last night about some bye business he had to do, & not haveing as yet return'd, I have struck up the seal of my letter, to let your Lop know, that E. Loudon has prevail'd with Lord Lovat to come in with him. to toun, to reside at liberty there till the present confusions are over; to deliver up what arms he has, & to sign all proper orders to his clan to remain quiet. Loudon brings him in with him to-day. Wed. 11th, 9 in y morning. No. DIX. Mr. Robert Dundas, Solicitor General, to the Lord President. My Lord, Edin', Dec. 11th 1745TWO posts ago I had a Letter from the Marquis of Tweedale; wherein he tells me, that a few days before he had had Letters from your Lordship, & L. Loudoun ; and desires me by some way or other to correspond with you, lest you should have any Commands for this place [part] of the country. As, at present, all communication by Land is uncertain, or rather cut off, I proposed to the Justice Clerk, & General Guest, that a Boat should be sent, that your Lordship might have an opportunity of writing to the King's friends here, if you thought it necessary, or had any directions for us. They agreed to my proposal; & I imagined they were to have writ to you an Account of our situation; but it seems I was mistaken; for Mr. Guest told me this Morning, that he was not to write. I hope the Justice Clerk will, who knows our Situation better than me. However, I shall inform your Lordship of some of the particulars regarding it. First, as to the News of the Rebells in England, I refer you to the Courant, which contains what we know; the latest Intelligence being a letter from General Huske, dated at Ferrybridge, Saturday last, when McLeod's Troops were that day stopped by an Express, & probably a considerable part of them may return to this Country. Mr. Huske says, that they then heard the Duke had got before the rebells, & stopp'd them at Loughborough. What may be the effect of so strange a March, is not easy to conjecture; as they certainly have very few men to oppose the King's Armies, & scarce a Creature has hitherto joined them in England. As As to our Home Affairs, the two Battalions of Foot which came from Berwick are marched to Stirling, and the Dragoons are marching to Linlithgow & Falkirk. About 600 of the Regiment levied at Glasgow, by His Majesty's warrant, are this day marching to Stirling, to assist the Regular Forces ; & I believe some hundreds, hired bv private Subscription in different Counties, will soon follow, and dispute the passage of the Forth if the rebels attempt it. The situation of the Rebels your Lordship will probably know. Their head quarters are at Perth, where they compute 12 or 1400 Highlanders, & about 500 at Dundee. The Landing of the Irish in the French Service at Montrose has given them Spirits; & I hear these Troops are beginning to move towards Perth, & endeavouring to carry some heavy Cannon along with them, which they give out to be 18 or 24 pounders; but I am told, that they have only 2, or 3, 12 pounders. The French Troops are under the Command of Lo. Jo. Drummond, who on Monday sent a Drum to Gen. Blackney to Stirling with a Letter, desiring him to be forwarded with letters which he had to Gen. Guest & Marshall Wade. The purport of the first letter was, that he Lo. Jo. was come over at the head of some French Troops, with instructions from the King of France to meet and give Battle to the Troops of the King of England, Elector of Hanover; & that he proposed the Generals should agree to the Cartel fixed in Flanders last year, which may be of advantage to both sides. Copies of the Letter to Guest were dispatch'd to London, and the Drum is sent forward to Mr. Wade. By the best Accounts, the Number of the French landed is between 5 & 600; and your Lordship will have heard, that one Transport was taken by the Milford Man of War, with 162 private Men, 9 Scots, 14 English, 1 German, 33 French, & all the rest, with 17 Officers, Irish, who are now in the Castle. This, my Lord, is a fhort sketch of our situation in this country; & you may well believe we are in Confufion by these troublesome Times, and should be glad we were delivered from them. However, we all keep up our hearts; & I must say, the Commonality in the Country are well affected, & ready to support the Government as far as they can. The good accounts we have of the peaceable dispositions of several of your Friends & Neighbours gives great Joy, & nothing has more contributed to the keeping up a true Spirit here. Tho' I send this letter by the Marquis's directions, yet I expect no other answer than your Lordship may think proper; for I should be in the wrong not fairly to tell you, that we ought to know nothing but what you think necessary on account of the Service. Your Lordship knows some of us, better than we know ourselves; & we still continue the same you took us to be, & we never communicate any thing of Importance to above 10 or 12 of our intimate friends. However, if you let me know that it is any ways agreeable to you & Lord Loudoun to hear from us, I'll send frequently by Sea, and fhall likewise forward any paquet comes from London. You would greatly blame me in these times, when all good Men ought only to be concerned for their Country, & to be using their endeavours for the support of our Constitution, if I writ about any other Matters; nor will I do it'; only when you have time to pity a Poor Mortal, pity me in my unlucky situation; as I am here placed in far too conspicuous a light, left entirely to my own guiding, without any person in the Earth to give the least assistance or Counsels. In obedience, however, to several good Lessons I have got from your Lordship, I will so far try to imitate you, as that I am resolved to do my Duty as far as in me lies; & nothing private that can be done fhall make me surly, or neglect the Duty of my Office, till we can say that this Rebellion is over. I am sorry to tell you, that Lord Arniston, who was forced to leave his House when he was taking severe remedies, turned so bad again, that his Physicians insisted he should should be confined for some time; & as that could not be ventured here, lest of a new alarm at this season of the Year, he is gone to England; but to what place I do not yet know; I am in greater fear for him than ever I was before. I spoke to Willie Forbes, who has sent all the Newspapers & Pamphlets he could get. It gives me great satisfaction to hear from him that you are well. I heartily pray God it may continue, both for your Country and friends' sake; & when I shall have the pleasure of meeting again with you, many and various Anecdotes will we talk of. In the mean time, I beg leave to affure you, that I am with the greatest Sincerity, My Dear Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient humble Servant, P. S. Allow me to offer my most humble respects to Lord Loudoun. No. DX. My Lord, The Duke of Gordon to the Lord President. I THIS moment received your Lop's Letter, & think myself much bound to your Lop for acquainting me of the motion of my Lord Loudon's troops. I beg you will be so good as make my Com' to Lord Loudon; & to assure him, that I shall think it my duty to meet his Lop at Elgin, & to do my utmost to inform his Lordship of every step, to my knowledge, most conducive to his Majesty's interest; & shall have the hon' to accompany him wherever he may judge it most proper to go. I take this as a most particular favour both from the E. of Loudon & y Lop; & such a one as I shall never forget to either. The bearer seems to be in a great hurry, & therefore wou'd detain him no longer. Part of a Letter from the Lord President to Mac Leod, at Elgin. Dated 13th Dec'. 1745. MY last inform'd you, that L. Lovat is come into Town, after abundance of shillie shallie stuff. He has at last agreed, that all the Arms belonging to his people shall be carry'd into Iñs by Sunday's night; & the expectation of this, whether the undertakeing be jest or ernest, necessarly detains Loudon here untill he see the issue; however, as expectation is raised, by your march, of relief beyond Spey, which must not be disappointed, he is to march from Iñs to morrow Eastwards 2 comp", Culcairns & W Macintoshe's. Culcairn's I beg'd for & obtain'd, because he knows somewhat of the manoeuver, & will be of use to you; they will certainly be at Elgin at furthest Monday's night, but it's possible they may be with you Sunday's night; & Loudon with more Troops will follow, when my Lord Lovat shall have fulfilled articles, or, on failure of performance, shall be disposed of. Whilest the negociation necessarily detains Loudon, you see the absolute necessity of performing our engagements to the Duke of Gordon, & to Banfshire, if practicable; for which end these two additional Comp |