After Lochiel had joined General Middleton, he heard that the governor of Inverlochy, taking advantage of his absence, was cutting down the woods and collecting all the provisions he could lay hold of. Middleton allowed him to return to Lochaber, but with only 150 men. He soon found that the information was quite correct, and in order to obtain revenge, on the day after his arrival, he posted his men in different parts of a wood, about a mile from the garrison, to which the soldiers resorted every day, to cut down and bring in wood. Lochiel soon observed upwards of 400 approaching the wood, and at the most favourable moment gave his men the signal of attack. A terrible slaughter ensued among the governor’s men; 100 fell on the spot, and the pursuit was carried on to the very walls of the garrison. The officers were the only persons who resisted, and not one of them escaped.
Lochiel, in this manner, continued for a long time to harass the garrison, frequently cutting off small detachments, partly by stratagem and partly by force, until the garrison became so wary that they ultimately gave him few opportunities of pouncing upon them. Even after Middleton and the other chiefs had capitulated and come to terms, Lochiel refused to give in. At last, however, after long cajoling, the obstinate chief was induced to come to terms, the Marquis of Argyle becoming his surety. He was asked simply to give his word of honour to live in peace, on which condition, he and his clan were allowed to keep their arms as before the war broke out. Reparation was to be made to Lochiel and his tenants, for whatever losses they had sustained from the garrison, and an indemnity was granted for all past offences. In fact, the treaty was a very liberal bribe to Lochiel to be quiet. All that was demanded of Lochiel was, that he and his clan should lay down their arms in the name of Charles II., before the governor of Inverlochy, and take them up in the name of the Commonwealth, no mention being made of the Protector; promising at the same time to do his best to make his clan behave themselves.[460]
It would be out of place in a History of the Highlands to enter into a detailed account of the general history of Scotland during the Commonwealth, and of the various intrigues for the restoration of Charles II. There appears to have been no events of any importance during this period in the Highlands, which at that time were so remote and inaccessible as to be almost beyond the influence of the many wise measures introduced by Cromwell for the government of Scotland, as well as the by no means beneficial strictness of the presbyterian clergy. Baillie[461] thus sadly describes the state of some of the noble families of Scotland about this time: “The country lies very quiet; it is exceeding poor; trade is nought; the English has all the moneys. Our noble families are almost gone: Lennox has little in Scotland unsold; Hamilton’s estate, except Arran and the Baronrie of Hamilton, is sold; Argyle can pay little annual rent for seven or eight hundred thousand merks; and he is no more drowned in debt than public hatred, almost of all, both Scottish and English; the Gordons are gone; the Douglasses little better; Eglintoun and Glencairn on the brink of breaking; many of our chief families estates are cracking; nor is there any appearance of any human relief for the time. What is become of the king and his family we do not know.” Nicoll[462] writes in the same strain: “The condition of this nation of Scotland yet remains sad, by reason of poverty and heavy burdens.” “At the same time,” says Dr. Chambers,[463] “that so great poverty prevailed, there was such a protection to life and property as had never before been known. It was not we believe without cause, that the famous Colonel Desborough, in a speech in the House of Commons (March 17th, 1659), made it a boast for his party, that a man may ride over all Scotland, with a switch in his hand and a hundred pounds in his pocket, which he could not have done these five hundred years.” In some of the letters sent home by the English soldiery, we get a slight glimpse into the condition of the Highlands at this time, which shows that the people generally had made but little advance in civilization. Their houses, we are told, were built of earth and turf, and were so low that the horsemen sometimes rode over them; the people generally, both men and women, wore plaids about their middles; they were “simple and ignorant in the things of God,” and some of them as brutish as heathens; nevertheless “some did hear the English preachers with great attention and groaning.”[464]
By the tact and management of General Monk, who gradually detached himself from the cause of the parliament, and espoused that of the exiled king, and a few other royalists, the Long Parliament, now reduced to a “Rump,” after having sat nineteen years and a half, dissolved itself by its own act, on the 16th of March, 1660. A new parliament, in which the cavaliers and moderate presbyterians had the majority, met on the 25th of April, and carried out the wishes of the nation, by inviting his majesty to come and take possession of his inheritance. The king was not long in obeying the invitation. He was received at Dover by Monk, at the head of the nobility, whence he proceeded to London, which he entered on the 29th of May, 1660, amidst the acclamations of the citizens.
FOOTNOTES:
[424] Balfour, vol. iv. p. 42.
[425] Idem, p. 77.
[426] Whitelock, p. 465.
[427] Balfour, vol. iv. p. 86.
[428] Idem, p. 88.