As Montrose saw no possibility of opposing the powerful and well-appointed army of Argyle, which was advancing upon him with slow and cautious steps, disappointed as he had been of the aid which he had calculated upon, he resolved to march into the Highlands, and there collect such of the clans as were favourably disposed to the royal cause. Leaving Aberdeen, therefore, on the 16th of September, with the remainder of his forces, he joined the camp at Kintore, whence he despatched Sir William Rollock to Oxford to inform the king of the events of the campaign, and of his present situation, and to solicit him to send supplies.
We must now advert to the progress of Argyle’s army, the slow movements of which form an unfavourable contrast with the rapid marches of Montrose’s army. On the 4th of September, four days after the battle of Tippermuir, Argyle, who had been pursuing the Irish forces under Macdonald, had arrived with his Highlanders at Stirling, where, on the following day, he was joined by the Earl of Lothian and his regiment, which had shortly before been brought over from Ireland. After raising some men in Stirlingshire, he marched to Perth upon the 10th, where he was joined by some Fife men, and Lord Bargenny’s and Sir Frederick Hamilton’s regiments of horse, which had been recalled from Newcastle for that purpose. With this increased force, which now consisted of about 3,000 foot and two regular cavalry regiments, besides ten troops of horse, Argyle left Perth on the 14th of September for the north, and in his route was joined by the Earl Marshal, Lords Gordon, Fraser, and Crichton, and other Covenanters. He arrived at Aberdeen upon the 19th of September, where he issued a proclamation, declaring the Marquis of Montrose and his followers traitors to religion and to their king and country, and offering a reward of 20,000 pounds Scots, to any person who should bring in Montrose dead or alive.[268] Spalding laments with great pathos and feeling the severe hardships to which the citizens of Aberdeen had been subjected by these frequent visitations of hostile armies, and alluding to the present occupancy of the town by Argyle, he observes that “this multitude of people lived upon free quarters, a new grief to both towns, whereof there was quartered on poor old Aberdeen Argyle’s own three regiments. The soldiers had their baggage carried, and craved nothing but house-room and fire. But ilk captain, with twelve gentlemen, had free quarters, (so long as the town had meat and drink,) for two ordinaries, but the third ordinary they furnished themselves out of their own baggage and provisions, having store of meal, molt and sheep, carried with them. But, the first night, they drank out all the stale ale in Aberdeen, and lived upon wort thereafter.”[269]
Argyle was now within half a day’s march of Montrose, but, strange to tell, he made no preparations to follow him, and spent two or three days in Aberdeen doing absolutely nothing. After spending this time in inglorious supineness, Argyle put his army in motion in the direction of Kintore. Montrose, on hearing of his approach, concealed his cannon in a bog, and leaving behind him some of his heavy baggage, made towards the Spey with the intention of crossing it. On arriving at the river, he encamped near the old castle of Rothiemurchus; but finding that the boats used in passing the river had been removed to the north side of the river, and that a large armed force from the country on the north of the Spey had assembled on the opposite bank to oppose his passage, Montrose marched his army into the forest of Abernethy. Argyle only proceeded at first as far as Strathbogie; but instead of pursuing Montrose, he allowed his troops to waste their time in plundering the properties and laying waste the lands of the Gordons in Strathbogie and the Enzie, under the very eyes of Lord Gordon and Lord Lewis Gordon, neither of whom appears to have endeavoured to avert such a calamity. Spalding says that it was “a wonderful unnaturalitie in the Lord Gordon to suffer his father’s lands and friends in his own sight to be thus wreckt and destroyed in his father’s absence;” but Lord Gordon likely had it not in his power to stay these proceedings, which, if not done at the instigation, may have received the approbation of his violent and headstrong younger brother, who had joined the Covenanters’ standard. On the 27th of September, Argyle mustered his forces at the Bog of Gicht, when they were found to amount to about 4,000 men; but although the army of Montrose did not amount to much more than a third of that number, and was within twenty miles’ distance, he did not venture to attack him. After remaining a few days in Abernethy forest, Montrose passed through the forest of Rothiemurchus, and following the course of the Spey, marched through Badenoch to Athole, which he reached on 1st October.
When Argyle heard of the departure of Montrose from the forest of Abernethy, he made a feint of following him. He accordingly set his army in motion along Spey-side, and crossing the river himself with a few horse, marched up some distance along the north bank, and recrossed, when he ordered his troops to halt. He then proceeded to Forres to attend a committee meeting of Covenanters to concert a plan of operations in the north, at which the Earl of Sutherland, Lord Lovat, the sheriff of Moray, the lairds of Balnagown, Innes and Pluscardine, and many others were present. From Forres Argyle went to Inverness, and after giving some instructions to Sir Mungo Campbell of Lawers, and the laird of Buchanan, the commanders of the regiments stationed there, he returned to his army, which he marched through Badenoch in pursuit of Montrose. From Athole Montrose sent Macdonald with a party of 500 men to the Western Highlands, to invite the laird of Maclean, the captain of clan Ranald, and others to join him. Marching down to Dunkeld, Montrose himself proceeded rapidly through Angus towards Brechin and Montrose.[270]
Although some delay had been occasioned in Montrose’s movements by his illness for a few days in Badenoch, this was fully compensated for by the tardy motions of Argyle, who, on entering Badenoch, found that his vigilant antagonist was several days’ march a-head of him. This intelligence, however, did not induce him in the least to accelerate his march. Hearing, when passing through Badenoch, that Montrose had been joined by some of the inhabitants of that country, Argyle, according to Spalding, “left nothing of that country undestroyed, no not one four footed beast;” and Athole shared a similar fate.
At the time Montrose entered Angus, a committee of the estates, consisting of the Earl Marshal and other barons, was sitting in Aberdeen, who, on hearing of his approach, issued on the 10th of October a printed order, to which the Earl Marshal’s name was attached, ordaining, under pain of being severely fined, all persons, of whatever age, sex, or condition, having horses of the value of forty pounds Scots or upwards, to send them to the bridge of Dee, which was appointed as the place of rendezvous, on the 14th of October, by ten o’clock, A.M., with riders fully equipped and armed. With the exception of Lord Gordon, who brought three troops of horse, and Captain Alexander Keith, brother of the Earl Marshal, who appeared with one troop at the appointed place, no attention was paid to the order of the committee by the people, who had not yet recovered from their fears, and their recent sufferings were still too fresh in their minds to induce them again to expose themselves to the vengeance of Montrose and his Irish troops.
After refreshing his army for a few days in Angus, Montrose prepared to cross the Grampians, and march to Strathbogie to make another attempt to raise the Gordons; but, before setting out on his march, he released Forbes of Craigievar and Forbes of Boyndlie, on their parole, upon condition that Craigievar should procure the liberation of the young laird of Drum and his brother from the jail of Edinburgh, failing which, Craigievar and Boyndlie were both to deliver themselves up to him as prisoners before the 1st of November. This act of generosity on the part of Montrose was greatly admired, more particularly as Craigievar was one of the heads of the Covenanters, and had great influence among them. In pursuance of his design, Montrose marched through the Mearns, and upon Thursday, the 17th of October, crossed the Dee at the Mills of Drum, with his whole army. In his progress north, contrary to his former forbearing policy, he laid waste the lands of some of the leading Covenanters, burnt their houses, and plundered their effects. He arrived at Strathbogie on the 19th of October, where he remained till the 27th, without being able to induce any considerable number of the Gordons to join him. It was not from want of inclination that they refused to do so, but they were unwilling to incur the displeasure of their chief, who they knew was personally opposed to Montrose, and who felt indignant at seeing a man who had formerly espoused the cause of the Covenanters preferred before him. Had Montrose been accompanied by any of the Marquis of Huntly’s sons, they might have had influence enough to have induced some of the Gordons to declare for him; but the situation of the marquis’s three sons was at this time very peculiar. The eldest son, Lord Gordon, a young man “of singular worth and accomplishments,” was with Argyle, his uncle by the mother’s side; the Earl of Aboyne, the second son, was shut up in the castle of Carlisle, then in a state of siege; and Lord Lewis Gordon, the third son, had, as we have seen, joined the Covenanters, and fought in their ranks.
In this situation of matters, Montrose left Strathbogie on the day last mentioned, and took up a position in the forest of Fyvie, where he despatched some of his troops, who took possession of the castles of Fyvie and Tollie Barclay, in which he found a good supply of provisions, which was of great service to his army. During his stay at Strathbogie, Montrose kept a strict outlook for the enemy, and scarcely passed a night without scouring the neighbouring country to the distance of several miles with parties of light foot, who attacked straggling parties of the Covenanters, and brought in prisoners from time to time, without sustaining any loss. These petty enterprises, while they alarmed their enemies, gave an extraordinary degree of confidence to Montrose’s men, who were ready to undertake any service, however difficult or dangerous, if he only commanded them to perform it.
When Montrose crossed the Dee, Argyle was several days’ march behind him. The latter, however, reached Aberdeen on the 24th of October, and proceeded the following morning towards Kintore, which he reached the same night. Next morning he marched forward to Inverury, where he halted at night. Here he was joined by the Earl of Lothian’s regiment, which increased his force to about 2,500 foot, and 1,200 horse. In his progress through the counties of Angus, Kincardine, Aberdeen, and Banff, he received no accession of strength, from the dread which the name and actions of Montrose had infused into the minds of the inhabitants of these counties.
The sudden movements of Argyle from Aberdeen to Kintore, and from Kintore to Inverury, form a remarkable contrast with the slowness of his former motions. He had followed Montrose through a long and circuitous route, the greater part of which still bore recent traces of his footsteps, and instead of showing any disposition to overtake his flying foe, seemed rather inclined to keep that respectful distance from him so congenial to the mind of one who, “willing to wound,” is “yet still afraid to strike.” But although this questionable policy of Argyle was by no means calculated to raise his military fame, it had the effect of throwing Montrose, in the present case, off his guard, and had well-nigh proved fatal to him. The rapid march of Argyle on Kintore and Inverury, in fact, was effected without Montrose’s knowledge, for the spies he had employed concealed the matter from him, and while he imagined that Argyle was still on the other side of the Grampians, he suddenly appeared within a very few miles of Montrose’s camp, on the 28th of October.