[384] Meaning ‘a verminous swarm of red-coats.’
[385] A very considerable list of houses burnt in Aberdeen and Banff shires is given in the Lyon in Mourning, ii. 334, 335.
[386] ‘By the Earl of Ancrum, Aid de Camp to His Majesty, and commanding the forces on the Eastern coast of North-Britain. Whereas arms have been found in several houses, contrary to his Royal Highness the Duke’s proclamation, this is therefore to give notice, That where-ever arms of any kind are found, that the house, and all houses belonging to the proprietor or his tenants, shall be immediately burnt to ashes; and that as some arms have been found under ground, that if any shall be discovered for the future, the adjacent houses and fields shall be immediately laid waste and destroyed.’
[Lord Loudoun’s orders]:—‘Whereas great part of the King’s arms belonging to the regiment commanded by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Loudon, were taken away by the rebels in Sutherland, and by them distributed to people of different parts of the country; who, notwithstanding the many orders published by his Royal Highness the Duke, still detain them in their possession: These are to advertise such as do not deliver them in to the storehouse at Inverness, or to the commanding officer of any part of his Majesty’s forces who happens to be in their neighbourhood, by the first day of August, that the possessors where-ever they are found, whether civil or military, and of what rank soever, shall be prosecuted with the utmost rigour, as the law in that case directs.’
[387] This was an incident that occasioned fierce indignation in Aberdeen. August 1st was the date of the accession of the Hanoverian dynasty. Lord Ancram ordered the bells to be rung and the houses to be illuminated. It had not been the custom to illuminate, and the magistrates only ordered the bells to be rung. The soldiers of Fleming’s regiment (36th, now the Worcestershire), egged on by their officers, broke the windows, stoned the inhabitants, and did damage to the extent of £130, a large sum in those days to a town of the size of Aberdeen. In spite of the pretensions of the military authorities, who maintained that they were not liable to the civil government, the magistrates arrested a Captain Morgan and other officers, who were ringleaders in the riot. Morgan had been very active in hunting fugitive Jacobites, and his commanding officer, who calls Aberdeen ‘this infamous town,’ attributes his arrest to this cause. Representations were made to the Lord Justice-Clerk and to Lord Albemarle, the Commander-in-chief in Scotland, who both took a serious view of the case, the former writing to the latter that ‘the officers in the army were trampling on those very laws that they so lately defended at the expence of their blood.’ Ancram was rebuked by Albemarle, and removed from Aberdeen; though the trouble still smouldered it was temporarily patched up. (Alb. Pap., p. 27 seq.; Scots Mag., viii. 393.) Six months later the regiment left Aberdeen, marching out (it is said) to the tune ‘We’ll gang nae mair to yon toun.’ Cf. post, p. 189.
[388] Hugh (Abercromby-Sempill), fifth son of Anne, Baroness Sempill, and Francis Abercromby of Fetterneir. Succeeded his brother as 11th Lord Sempill 1727; served at Malplaquet, 1709, as an ensign; succeeded Lord Crawford as colonel of the Highland Regiment (Black Watch), 1741; colonel of the 25th (K. O. Scottish Borderers) 1745; brigadier-general 1745; commanded the left wing at Culloden; superseded Lord Ancram at Aberdeen 12th August, 1746; and died there 25th November following.
[389] Should be 25th; Sunday 24th was spent at Kendal, and Lancaster was reached the following day. (L. in M., ii. 120, 193.)
[390] I have little doubt that this name is a mistake for Geohagan, an Irishman, captain in Lally’s regiment, to whom, Lord Elcho states, the Prince gave a commission to raise an English regiment. The officers of the army remonstrated, and the commission was withdrawn. (Elcho, Affairs of Scotland, p. 327.) Geohagan was one of the French officers taken prisoner at Carlisle.
[391] Not identified.
[392] David Morgan was a Welshman from Monmouthshire, a barrister-at-law. He joined the Prince at Preston on 27th November, along with William Vaughan and Francis Towneley, all being from Wales. When at Derby it was determined to return to Scotland Morgan refused to go, saying, ‘it were better to be hanged in England than starved in Scotland’ (Tales of a Grandfather). He left the army at Ashbourne, on 6th December, to go to London to procure intelligence, with the knowledge and consent of the Prince and of Sheridan (Murray’s Memorials, 434). At his trial he pled that he had escaped as soon as it was in his power, but this plea was repelled. He was executed at Kennington Common on 30th July, along with Towneley, and seven other English officers. Morgan is thus described in the Compleat History of the Trials of the Rebels (p. 170): ‘David Morgan was about 51 Years of Age, born in Wales, and bred to the Law, and had frequently (as a Barrister) attended the Courts at Westminster-Hall, and elsewhere. He was a Person of a very mean Look, and seldom kept Company with any Gentlemen of his Neighbourhood; and if it had not been for his Estate, he might have starv’d, for he was so very lofty, and of so bad a Temper, that no body but such as were beholden to him cared to employ him. This Morgan was possessed of a very good Estate in St. Leonard’s, Shoreditch, but he let it all run to Ruin, because he would not pay the Ground-Rent. The Rebels call’d Morgan the Pretender’s Counsellor, and his Advice was consulted on every Occasion. Even after he was condemn’d, he was haughty and insolent beyond expression; and the very Afternoon before his Execution, he grumbled to pay the Cook who dress’d his Dinner, and said she was very extravagant in her Demands. The Morning (about Six o’Clock) before he went to Execution, he order’d Coffee to be made, and bid them take Care to make it very good and strong, for he had never drank any since he had been in that Prison fit to come near a Gentleman; and because it was ready before he was unlock’d, he seem’d angry, and in a great Passion.’