THE NINETY-SECOND FOOT;
OR,
GORDON HIGHLANDERS.
CHAPTER XLI.
The foe weel kenn’d the tartan front,
Which never shunn’d the battle’s brunt—
The chieftain of our Highland men,
That led them on to vict’ry then,
As aye he cried, “For Scotland.”
THE GORDON—CORSICA—HOLLAND—EGYPT—COPENHAGEN—SWEDEN—CORUNNA—1794–1809.
The Duke of Gordon, rather as the proprietor of a vast domain than the chief of a clan, enjoyed an almost kingly power in the Highlands. Amongst his tenants were the Camerons of Lochiel and the Macphersons of Clunie, whilst his few immediate retainers were chiefly horsemen—almost the only cavalry known in Highland warfare. The Gordons have ever been distinguished for devotion to their king and country. The friends of the Bruce, they were ranged on the side of liberty at Bannockburn. Adherents of the Stuarts, we cannot but regret the mistaken zeal which so nigh involved in a like ruin so estimable a family. Happily, a better knowledge of the failings of the dethroned dynasty showed the worthlessness of the object of their attachment, and so estranged them from their cause, that, in 1745, the representative of the Gordons was found combating on the side of the Government, whilst the clans upon their estates followed Lochiel and other chieftains, and fought on behalf of Prince Charles.
