morning. lochs and bays; and even among those who did the castle, where the troops halted at two in the come, there broke out the genuine Highland love for local warfare and feudal revenge on certain neighbours. Sir Evan Cameron, of Lochiel, for instance, following up the feud of ages, urged a descent with fire and sword on Argyle. But for his influence, however, many would have abandoned the task as hopeless. He had adhered, he said, to the cause of Charles II. when it was more desperate than that of his royal brother now was; and for his part, he would neither listen to terms with a foreign usurper, nor sheath his sword without the express orders of King James. The urgent remonstrances of this brave and faithful Cavalier so inflamed the assembled chiefs, that they resolved before the end of summer to muster their clans and renew the strife; and in the meantime, 1,200 men were placed at the disposal of Buchan, that he might hover on the Highland border, and keep the Lowlanders in a state of perpetual alarm. With this view he marched down Strathspey, and, with the most singular want of tact and judgment, encamped on the 30th of April on a haugh or level plain called Cromdale, on the right bank of the foaming Spey, a short distance below Granttown, a spot where troops like Highlanders were most open to attack and least capable of making a successful resistance, being, though accomplished swordsmen, quite destitute of discipline. Sir Thomas Livingstone was at that time lying with a body of the king's troops within eight miles of Strathspey, on the grounds of the Laird of Grant, when he received notice from a captain in the regiment of that chief that Buchan was marching down the Strath. The captain at the time, with a company, was keeping possession of Castle Grant for the Government. General Buchan's men were then reposing in fancied security near Lethendie, in the Haughs of Cromdale; and the fires of their camp, glowing redly through the gloom, were pointed out to Livingstone by the captain of Castle Grant, and he thus found himself nearer the enemy than he had the least idea of. General Mackay states in his "Memoirs" that had Livingstone been aware that the Highlanders were encamped so near that perilous pass of Auchincarrow, he would not have ventured through it in the night, as he had but little confidence in the people of Strathspey; nor would the Jacobites, had they suspected his march, have encamped on an open plain, distant from any secure position, "just as if they had been led thither by the hand, like an ox to the slaughter." As several gentlemen of the adjacent county, whose principles were whiggish, had sought shelter in Castle Grant, the commander there, to ensure that no knowledge of the coming foe should be communicated to Buchan, shut the gates to prohibit all egress; and after a half-hour's halt the march was resumed in silence towards the Spey, the roar of whose waters would suffice to conceal any casual sound. Finding that a ford below Dellachaple which he approached was guarded by 200 Highlanders, he left a detachment of infantry and a few dragoons to amuse them, while, led through the pine-woods by some gentlemen of the name of Grant, on horseback, his main body crossed the stream at another ford a mile distant. Livingstone rode at the head of three troops of horse, while another troop and a company of Highlanders formed his advanced guard. On reaching the opposite bank of this river, which is the most rapid in Scotland, he could perceive the insurgent Highlanders, who had received notice of his approach by the carbine and musketry firing at the upper ford, retiring in great confusion towards the hills. Calling in with all speed the troops he had left at the river, but without waiting for them, he at once dashed forward at full gallop, hoping to get between the fugitives-the greater part of whom were naked, having just started from bed-and the hills towards which they were flying. Desirous of attacking Buchan before he should be joined by the country-people, Livingstone, an able and experienced officer, at the head of 1,200 select men, including 400 of the clan and surname of Grant, and with several troops of cavalry and dragoons, immediately began his march at four o'clock in the evening of the same day, in search of the Jacobites. He continued his route through the fir forests which cover all that district, till he came within two miles of Castle Grant. It was then dark, and the night was far advanced, and as a difficult pass lay between him and the castle, Livingstone proposed to halt and bivouac; but A most singular combat now took place in the not finding a suitable place for that purpose, by grey misty dawn. The Highlanders could be seen persuasion of an officer named Grant, who under-running in all directions through the street of the took to guide him through it, he resumed his route, adjacent village and the level grounds in the neighand safely arrived at the Dairiade, or hill-top above bourhood. Some were quite panic-struck, and dis Bantry Bay.] FORT WILLIAM ERECTED. posed only to escape; but by far the greater part of them, shouting the cathghairm, or war-cry of their clan, fought sturdily with claymore and target as they retired. Livingstone's helmeted and buff-coated dragoons mingled fiercely with them, and did some terrible execution with their long straight swords, for there was now a bitter animosity between the adherents of the old and those of the new Government. In one little hamlet a party of Macdonalds defended themselves with the most resolute bravery," though not a man among them had the least particle of clothing on his body, except the target, which at once protected his shame and his life." The very commanders were taken as much by surprise as their men. General Buchan escaped in his shirt and nightcap, minus even his wig, and without sword, hat, or coat. As it frequently happens in the Highlands about dawn, a thick mist covered the summits of the mountains, while all was clear below. Thus, when on reaching the base of the heath-clad hill of Cromdale, after the fugitives faced about and made a resolute stand, they began to ascend with the nimbleness of their race; and man after man vanished into the dim bosom of the vapour, like men received up into the clouds, while the baffled troopers remained in perplexity below. According to Mackay, 400 Highlanders were here killed or taken, while Livingstone did not lose a man, and had only seven horses shot. But Lord Balcarris records his loss at 100 killed and many prisoners, and the author of Dundee's Memoirs, says that many of the cavalry fell. A party of mingled Camerons and Macleans, who in the fight had separated from their companions in misfortune, crossed the Spey on the following day; but being pursued by some of 393 Livingstone's Scots cavalry, were overtaken on a moor near Aviemore, in the Grants' country, where many of them were killed. According to the "Records of the 4th Hussars," there fell here 100 Macleans, but only one captain and six men of that regiment, then called Berkeley's. The rest took shelter among the rocks of Craigellachie, and made an attempt to storm the castle of Lochinclan, in Rothiemuchus, but were repulsed by the proprietor and his men. The air, "Coll a Dhollaidh," known in the Lowlands as "The Haughs of Cromdale," and much used as a quickstep by the Scottish regiments, commemorates this combat, and is the only one associated with the victories of the Whigs. The result of this affair satisfied the Jacobite chiefs that the war could no longer be maintained against their Lowland fellow-subjects. Buchan fled to Glengarry, and Cannon to the Western Isles; and Mackay carried out his plan by the erection of a fortress at Inverlochy, to command the chain of lakes which now form the peaceful Caledonian Canal. Accordingly, some ships were sent thither from Greenock, under a Major Fergusson, while Mackay marched into Lochaber at the head of 3,000 men, to oversee the works, which were armed with demi-culverins from a Scottish ship of In honour of the new king, it was named Fort William. Mackay then took his departure for service in Ireland, leaving a garrison of 1,000 men in the new and, to the Highlanders, most obnoxious stronghold, under the command of an old officer named Sir John Hill, who must have been a man of some ability, as Captain Carleton, in his Memoirs, states that he had been placed there by Oliver Cromwell over his garrison of Inverlochy, and had retained his government amid all the changes that had taken place in the intervening period. war. CHAPTER LXX. BANTRY BAY, 1689. THE events which were occurring collaterally at this time in Ireland were of greater importance than those in the Highlands of Scotland. King James, surrounded by the loyal and gallant Celtic Irish, was looked upon as a distinguished martyr to that faith to which, in all their viscissitudes, they had ever been staunch and true, and at their head he resolved to make a last bold struggle for the crown which had fallen from his brow. Louis of France encouraged him; and Tyrconnell, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, raised a Catholic army, 40,000 strong; while Lord Mountjoy, the leader of the Irish Protestants, on being enticed to Paris, was placed in the Bastille. The first shots in this new scene of strife were those fired in Bantry Bay. King William being aware of the importance of having a strong fleet at sea this year, and more particularly to prevent the French king from sending James a body of his own troops into Ireland, made every preparation to accomplish this end. On the 14th of March, Admiral Herbert was appointed to command the fleet, in which bombvessels now made their appearance for the first time. In 1681, Renaud, a Frenchman, was the first who constructed ketches for throwing shells, and the experiment was first used by the French against Algiers, which they destroyed; but it was not until 1686 that King James ordered the first bomb-vessel to be built at Chatham. The 20th of March saw the admiral at Portsmouth, where he found that certain ships which were ordered to join him from the east lay windbound in the Downs. He had some time before learned that King James-that royal master against whom he had now orders to turn his cannon at the behest of a foreigner-had on the 12th of the same month landed at Kinsale, in Ireland. With all the ships he could collect, he therefore sailed for that coast, in hopes to intercept King James's convoy on its return; ordering the rest of his fleet to follow, and to sail singly without waiting for each other, that no time might be lost. guns, and some larger, with five fire-ships, under the command of Monsieur Chateau-Renaud." The other admirals were Messieurs Gabaret and Forent. The transports, which had recently brought 5,000 men to Ireland, were at some distance, plying to windward. As the dawn of the 1st of May came in, the French weighed anchor, set their canvas, and stood out to meet Herbert, who had, with some difficulty, worked to within two miles of them. They bore down in a very orderly line, with their ensigns flying. One of their ships which led the van got within musket-shot of the Defiance, on which Chateau-Renaud hoisted the signal for battle. These two ships at once engaged with their great guns and small-arms, and in quick succession flashes and smoke spouted from the port-holes of the others. As they came up in line, Admiral Herbert, whose flagship was the Elizabeth, finding his fleet was sustaining considerable damage from the superior numbers, and consequently heavier fire of the enemy, tacked several times, in hope to gain the weather-gage; but the Count de Chateau-Renaud handled his ships with consummate skill, and kept his wind securely. A ship commanded by the Chevalier de Coetlogon was set on fire by a cannon-ball which fell among some hand-grenades; a powder-barrel then exploded, and part of her stem was blown away. After fighting bravely for some time, Admiral Her On the 17th of April he was off Cork, with only twelve ships of war, one fire-ship, and four other small vessels, when the tidings of the king's land-bert, finding that the contest was very unequal, ing were confirmed. This led him to haul up for Brest, and then to cruise in the soundings, in the hope of finding some vessels which were to convey military stores from France for the gathering Irish army. Disappointed in this, he once more returned to the coast of Ireland; and on the 29th of April he discovered off Kinsale a fleet of forty-four vessels, "keeping their wind, which made him keep his likewise, to hinder their getting in." Next day they had disappeared, and he heard that they had gone into Baltimore, on which he stood towards that place, only to be disappointed; so, supposing that they must be to the westward of him, he bore away for Cape Clear, and in the evening, to his joy, he saw them standing into Bantry Bay, a spacious inlet in the county of Cork, overlooked by the Berehaven mountains, and surrounded by beautiful scenery. He lay off the bay till morning, and then stood in towards them. By this time he had increased his strength to eighteen sail, with the Dartmouth frigate and some tenders. "The French were at anchor, being," says Lediard, "twenty-eight menof-war, most of them from sixty to upwards of eighty stretched off to sea, not only to get his ships into line, but, if possible, to get the weather-gage; but the French were so cautious of bearing down that he found no opportunity for gaining that end. The count continued, however, to follow him, and thus a running fight was maintained by the cannon chiefly till five in the afternoon, when Chateau-Renaud tacked, put about, and returned into Bantry Bay, content with the honour he had won. The Elizabeth and several other British ships had suffered severely in their masts and rigging, "so that not one-half of them were in a condition for further action ;" and, on the other hand, the enemy had received a considerable mauling. "The loss of men was inconsiderable on both sides," says Smollett, "and where the odds were so great, the victor could not reap much glory." There were 94 killed and about 300 wounded. Captain George Aylmer, of the Portland, and one lieutenant were the only officers killed. The damage done to the ships was chiefly aloft. Herbert, leaving the French thus fully in possession of the bay, sailed for his rendezvous, ten leagues westward of Scilly, in hope to meet some additional force that might enable him to have revenge; but failing in this he returned to Spithead, where orders were issued for the immediate refitting of the fleet. All his officers and men were very much discontented. They could not but remember how gallantly in times past the king against whom they were now fighting had led them in battle, for James had ever been a favourite with the navy. They complained bitterly that they had been sent upon service with a force far inferior to that of the enemy; yet the British, like the French, claimed the victory, and the English House of Commons passed a vote of thanks to Herbert. To appease the discontent, King William made a 395 special journey to Portsmouth, where he dined with the admiral on board his ship the Elizabeth. He did more, as he created him Earl of Torrington, and knighted Captains John Ashley and Cloudesley Shovel. On the day after a Te Deum had been sung in all the churches of Dublin for this repulse of Herbert's fleet, the Irish Parliament convoked by James assembled; but only fourteen temporal peers (out of some 200) attended, and of these, ten were Catholics. In the House of Commons 250 members took their seats, and of these only six were Protestants. The first great operation of the king was the siege of Londonderry, the stronghold of the Ulster Protestants. CHAPTER LXXI. SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY, 1689. SAVE Derry and Enniskillen, all Ireland declared for King James, and Ireland was now destined to be the ground on which he was to contend for the crown of his ancestors. Londonderry had closed its gates against Lord Antrim, and many Protestants had taken refuge there. The governor, Lundy, was in reality a partisan of James, and was ready to admit him, to betray the garrison, and sacrifice the new cause; hence the king expected to obtain quiet possession of the seaport town, before which he appeared with his Irish and French troops, on the 20th of April. The French generals who had come with him from Brest were in his train; and two of them, Rosen and Maumont, he placed over the head of Richard Hamilton, sprung from a noble Scottish stock, which had long been settled in Ireland, and professed the Catholic religion. Conrad de Rosen, Comte de Bolvieller, a Marshal of France in 1703, was at this time a lieutenant-general; he was a native of Livonia, and a fierce and resolute soldier. Of Maumont little is known, but that little is to his honour. The fortifications of Londonderry, which were erected during several years, commencing in 1609, consisted of a simple wall overgrown with grass and weeds; there was not even a ditch before the gates, the drawbridges had long been neglected, the counterpoises were rusty: and these feeble defences were commanded by heights on every side, and had never been meant for more than the exclusion of the turbulent Celtic peasantry. Avaux, the French ambassador, had assured Louvois, the French Minister of War, that a single battalion of France could take such a wretched place with ease. Within it the stock of provisions at this present crisis was small, and the population had been swollen to eight times its ordinary number, by the multitude of colonists who had fled thither for shelter; and Robert Lundy from the moment the king's army entered Ulster, seems to have given up all intention of a serious resistance. This city, which was to become the scene of so many horrors, is beautifully situated on an oval hill called the Island of Derry, and is nearly insulated by a majestic sweep of the broad and voluminous Foyle. One new suburb, called the Waterside, extends to the opposite bank of the river; but the ancient part of the city rises tier above tier, till it culminates in the spire of the cathedral. The river Foyle, rolling amid urban beauty, expands immediately below it, and terminates in the broad waters of Lough Foyle. On the arrival of two regiments from Britain to reinforce the garrison, Robert Lundy persuaded the colonels of them to re-embark, as a defence was impossible, and more prisoners would fall into the hands of the enemy, to whom he sent assurances that the city would surrender in peace on the first formal summons; and long after dusk on the even |