Montrose might now have marched directly upon, and seized the capital, where many of his friends were confined as prisoners; but he considered it of more importance to march to the west and disperse some levies which were there raising. Accordingly, after refreshing his troops two days at Kilsyth, he dispatched a strong body under the command of Macdonald, his major-general, into Ayrshire to suppress a rising under the Earls of Cassilis and Glencairn; and with the remainder of his army he proceeded towards Glasgow, which he entered amidst the general acclamations of the citizens. Here Montrose immediately commenced an inquiry into the conduct of the leading Covenanters of the city, some of whom he put to death as a terror to others. Montrose remained only a day in Glasgow, and encamped the following day on Bothwell moor, about twelve miles from the city. His object in doing so, was to put an end to some excesses on the part of his Irish and Highland troops, whom, from the precarious tenure of their services, and his inability to pay them, he could not venture to control by the severities of martial law.[326] And as he was apprehensive that some of his men might lurk behind, or visit the city for the purpose of plunder, he allowed the inhabitants to form a guard among themselves to protect it. The citizens, in gratitude for the favour and clemency thus shown them, presented Montrose with the sum of 10,000 merks.
In the meantime, Major-general Macdonald arrived in Ayrshire, where he was received with open arms. The levies, which had been raised in the west quietly dispersed; and, as above mentioned, the Earls of Cassilis and Glencairn fled to Ireland. The Countess of Loudon, whose husband had acted a conspicuous part against the king, received Macdonald with great kindness at Loudon castle, embracing him in her arms, and entertaining him with great splendour and hospitality; she even sent a servant to Montrose to offer her respects to him.[327]
During Montrose’s stay at Bothwell, where he remained till the 4th of September, he was waited upon by many of the nobility in person, to congratulate him upon his recent victory, and to tender their services. Others sent similar communications by their friends. The Marquis of Douglas, the Earls of Linlithgow and Annandale, Lords Seton, Drummond, Fleming, Maderty, Carnegie and Johnston, were among the first who came forward. Deputations also arrived from the counties of Linlithgow, Lanark, Renfrew, and Ayr, and also from the towns of Greenock, Ayr, and Irvine, to implore forgiveness for past offences, and to give pledges for their future loyalty. Montrose received them all very graciously, and relying upon their assurances, granted them an amnesty.
Montrose expected that the city of Edinburgh, which had been the focus of rebellion, would have followed the example of Glasgow and the other towns; but whether from obstinacy or from the dread of a refusal of pardon, the authorities did not send commissioners to Montrose, and it was not until a body of the royalist horse appeared within four miles of the city, that they resolved to proffer their submission, and to throw themselves on the mercy of the conqueror.
After the battle of Kilsyth, Montrose dispatched his nephew, Archibald, Master of Napier, and Nathaniel Gordon, with a select body of horse, to summon Edinburgh to surrender, to secure its obedience and fidelity, and to set at liberty the royalist prisoners, many of whom were confined in the Tolbooth. Should the city refuse to submit, it was to be subjected to fire and sword. On his way to Edinburgh, Napier set at liberty his father and wife, Stirling of Keir, his brother-in-law, and sisters, from the prison of Linlithgow. When four miles from Edinburgh they came to a halt, and waited to see how the citizens would conduct themselves. The inhabitants, so far from having any intention of resisting the royal army, were in a state of consternation and despair lest their submission should not be accepted by Montrose, “accusing themselves as sacrilegious, perjured and ungrateful traitors, unworthy of that clemency and forgiveness for which they so ardently prayed.” In the most grovelling and humble manner they besought the prisoners, whom not long before they had treated with harshness and contempt, to intercede with Montrose on their behalf, promising to submit to any conditions.
The citizens, having chosen deputies, selected from the prisoners two of the most eminent and stanch royalists, Ludovic Earl of Crawford and James Lord Ogilvie, the Earl of Airly’s son, to wait upon Montrose and introduce the deputation, implore his pardon, and tender the city’s humble submission. These two noblemen and the deputies having joined Napier, the latter returned directly to his uncle Montrose, who was unfeignedly delighted at the sight of his dear friends Crawford and Ogilvie.
The city delegates, on being admitted to audience, “made a free surrender to him of the town, and humbly deprecated his vengeance and implored his pardon and forgiveness, promising, in name of the whole inhabitants, an inviolable fidelity and obedience for the future, and committing themselves and all their concerns to his patronage and protection, which they humbly entreated he would grant them. They promised also, immediately to release all the prisoners in their custody, and desired him to assure himself that any thing else he should desire of them should be instantly complied with. The town, they said, had been almost depopulated by a dreadful plague, so that no supplies of men could be expected from it; but they were ready to contribute all they could to defray the expense of what troops he might raise in other places. Above all, they most earnestly implored him to intercede for them with their most gracious and merciful king, to obtain his pity and pardon, and that he would not condemn the whole city for the crime of rebellion, in which they had been involved by the craft and example of a few seditious men, armed with power and authority. Montrose gave them reason to hope for the royal forgiveness; and the only conditions he required of them, were, sacredly to observe their loyalty and allegiance to his majesty for the future; to renounce all correspondence with the rebels, whether within or without the kingdom: the castle of Edinburgh, which he well knew was then in their power, he required they should surrender to the king’s officers; and that, as soon as the delegates returned to the city, all the prisoners should be immediately set at liberty, and sent to his camp.”[328]
Although the commissioners agreed to these conditions, and promised to perform them, the only one they ever fulfilled was that which stipulated the release of the prisoners, who were immediately on the return of the commissioners sent to Montrose’s camp. Indeed, it was scarcely to be expected, from the character of the times, that the citizens of Edinburgh, who had all along been warm partisans of the covenanting interest, would show a readiness to comply with stipulations which had been extorted from their commissioners under the circumstances we have mentioned.
While at Bothwell, Montrose received various communications from the king, who was then at Oxford. The most important of these were two commissions under the great seal, one appointing Montrose Captain-general and Lieutenant-governor of Scotland, and conferring on him full powers to raise forces, punish state offenders, and make knights, &c.; and the other authorising him to summon a parliament to meet at Glasgow, to settle the affairs of the kingdom. The bearer of these important documents was Sir Robert Spottiswood, formerly president of the Court of Session, and who now acted as secretary of state for Scotland. As a person so well known as Sir Robert could not travel by any of the ordinary roads without risk of apprehension, he took a circuitous route from Oxford, passing through Wales, and thence crossing over to the Isle of Man, took shipping and landed in the West Highlands. From Lochaber he proceeded down into Athole, whence he was conducted by a party of Athole-men to Montrose, at Bothwell Moor.
The instructions brought by Sir Robert Spottiswood, regarding the holding of a parliament and the matters connected therewith, were in the meantime superseded by orders from the king of a later date, brought by a more direct route. By these he was directed to march immediately to the borders, where he would, it was said, be joined by the Earls of Roxburgh, Traquair, and Home, and the other royalist nobility of the southern counties, at the head of their numerous vassals and tenants, as well as by a body of horse which his majesty would send from England; that, with these united forces, he should watch the motions of General David Leslie, who was advancing to the north with a body of 6,000 cavalry. In fact, Leslie, who had acquired great celebrity by his conduct in the battle of Marston Moor, had reached Berwick in the beginning of September, having been called thither on his road to Hereford by the covenanting nobility, who had taken refuge there after the battle of Kilsyth.