During his absence Major-general Buchan and Colonel Cannon, each at the head of a select body of cavalier horse, had been scouring the low country. The latter, in particular, with 200 horse, had attacked Lord Cardross’s dragoons who were stationed in Menteith, and had pursued them down as far as the park of Stirling. On his arrival at Perth, Mackay being informed of the proceedings of Cannon’s party, sent orders to the troops at Stirling to march out in quest of them, while he himself, after receiving a supply of biscuit from Dundee, resolved to march from Perth with a detachment for the purpose of intercepting them; but Cannon had passed through the heights of Athole towards Braemar before the troops at Stirling left that town. Mackay followed after them for two days with a force of 1,000 men, but was unable to overtake them. Being unprovided for a longer march, he returned on the third day to Stirling, whence he despatched three troops of Cardross’s dragoons, and one of horse, to support the Master of Forbes who was guarding Aberdeenshire.
Buchan and Cannon having united their forces, and being joined by Farquharson of Inverey, at the head of 500 or 600 of the Braemar Highlanders, descended into the adjoining low parts of Aberdeenshire, Mearns, and Banff, to unite themselves to some of the country Jacobite gentlemen, leaving behind them a body of 160 men, to block up Abergeldie, in which Mackay still kept a garrison. They were at first opposed on their descent into the low country, by the Master of Forbes, and Colonel Jackson, with eight troops of cavalry, which was fully more than sufficient to have repulsed in a level country, any body the Highlanders could then bring into the field. Buchan, however, having purposely magnified the appearance of his forces, by ranging his foot over a large extent of ground, and interspersing his baggage and baggage horses among them, inspired the Master of Forbes and Jackson with such dread, that they considered it prudent to retire before a foe apparently so formidable in appearance, and their fears increasing after they had begun their retreat, they set off towards Aberdeen at full gallop, and never looked behind, till they had entered the town, after a race of upwards of 20 miles.[630] Buchan, who had no immediate design upon Aberdeen, followed the alarmed cavalry, and such was the effect of the retreat upon some of the neighbouring noblemen and gentlemen, that they joined Buchan in the pursuit. The inhabitants were thrown into a state of the greatest alarm at this occurrence, and the necessary means of defence were adopted, but Buchan made no attempt to enter the town.
When Mackay received intelligence of this “disorder,” as he terms the flight of Forbes and Jackson, he instantly despatched Colonel Cunningham with 300 men, and two troops of cavalry, to the north to join Jackson; but Cunningham was unable to effect a junction, as Cannon lay encamped between him and Jackson. As the fears of a French invasion had subsided, Mackay, on hearing of Cunningham’s failure, marched north himself in such haste that he carried neither baggage nor provisions along with him; but on his way north, he learned that Buchan had left the neighbourhood of Aberdeen, and was marching southward. On hearing of Mackay’s advance, Buchan drew off his men to the right, and crossed the hills. On arriving at the Dee, he left Cunningham with a detachment at the castle of Aboyne, and proceeded with his own division to raise the siege of Abergeldie. In the course of this march, a party of 60 dragoons, under Major Mackay, fell in among the hills, with a body of 200 Highlanders, under Inverey, all of whom were either killed or made prisoners. The chief himself made a very narrow escape, having been trampled under the horses’ feet, and left for dead on the field. Mackay also laid waste the fertile country about Abergeldie, to the extent of twelve miles round, and burnt from 1,200 to 1,400 houses, by way of reprisal, for having blocked up the garrison.[631]
Having united all his forces in the north, with the exception of those which lay at Inverness, Mackay marched as far north as Strathdon, where he was told that the greater part of the north was hostile to the government, and was ready to rise in arms, which information made him at once resolve to proceed north with all possible haste in order to get Buchan’s force dispersed, before any general rising should take place. Leaving therefore his foot behind, he proceeded north with his cavalry in great haste, and in the course of his march was informed that Buchan was not only on his way north, but that he expected to be joined by several thousand Highlanders. He, therefore, continued his march with great celerity, allowing his men no more time than was absolutely necessary for refreshing their horses, and arrived within four hours’ march of the enemy, before they received any notice of his approach. Buchan had reached Inverness, and was only waiting for the Earl of Seaforth’s and other Highlanders, whom he expected to join him in attacking the town; but on hearing of Mackay’s advance, he crossed the river Ness, and retired along the north side of the Loch.
The Earl of Seaforth, afraid of the consequences which might result to him personally, for the part he had acted, sent his mother, the Countess Dowager of Seaforth, and Mackenzie of Coul, to Mackay, to inform him that he would accede to such conditions as might be agreed upon between them and Mackay. An agreement was accordingly entered into, by which it was stipulated, that the earl should deliver himself into Mackay’s hands, to be kept as a prisoner at Inverness, till the privy council should decide as to his future disposal; and to conceal this arrangement from the Jacobite party, it was farther agreed that the earl should allow himself to be seized as if by surprise, by a party of horse under Major Mackay, at one of his seats during the night. The earl, however, disappointed the party sent out to apprehend him, in excuse for which, both he and his mother, in letters to Mackay, pleaded the state of his health, which they alleged would suffer from imprisonment. The earl cannot certainly be blamed for having demurred placing himself at the unconditional disposal of such a body as the privy council of Scotland, some of whom would not have hesitated to sacrifice him, if by doing so they could have obtained a share of his estates.
Mackay was so irritated at the deception which had been practised upon him, that he resolved to treat the earl’s vassals “with all the rigour of military execution.” Having, however, a warm feeling for the earl’s friends, on account of their being “all Protestants, and none of the most dangerous enemies,” as he says, and being more desirous to obtain possession of the earl’s person than to ruin his friends, he caused information of his intentions upon the earl’s lands to be sent to Seaforth’s camp, by some of his own party, as if from a feeling of friendship to him. Contrary to Mackay’s anticipations, Seaforth surrendered himself, and was committed prisoner to the castle of Inverness.[632] About this time the Earl of Argyle—who had fled to Holland in 1685, on his father’s execution, but returned with the Prince of Orange, and was reinstated by the Convention in his father’s estates and title—with a force of 1,900 foot, and 60 dragoons, invaded Mull, the inhabitants of which took the oaths of allegiance to the government, and delivered up their arms. He was, however, from the state of the weather, obliged to leave the island, before effecting the reduction of Duart castle, and left 300 men behind him to keep it in check. Maclean himself, with a few of his friends, took refuge on Carnburrow, an inaccessible rock near Mull.
King James’s affairs had now become utterly desperate in Scotland, and his defeat at the battle of the Boyne, on the 1st of July, 1690, almost annihilated his hopes in Ireland. Unable to collect any considerable body of men together, Buchan, after wandering through Lochaber, dismissed the few that still remained with him, and along with Sir George Barclay, Lieutenant-colonel Graham, and other officers, took up his abode with Macdonell of Glengary, Cannon and his officers retiring to the isles, under the protection of Sir Donald Macdonald. In their retreats, these officers who had displayed the most heroic attachment to the cause of the unfortunate king, under the most trying circumstances, still continued to cherish some distant hopes of his restoration, and were prepared to enter upon any service, however hazardous, which might lead to such a consummation.
At length, seeing no chance of making a successful effort in favour of James, they, in connexion with the chiefs, sent over the Earl of Dunfermline to France in the spring of 1691, to represent to him the state of matters, and to receive his commands. Having received instructions from his majesty to enter into a negotiation with the government, a meeting of the principal officers and the Jacobite chiefs was held at Achallader in Glenorchy on the 30th of June, which was attended by the Earl of Breadalbane on the part of the government, at which a cessation of hostilities was agreed upon till the 1st of October. To get the chiefs to submit to the government, money and other inducements were held out to them by Breadalbane, at whose disposal a sum of about £15,000 or £20,000 had been placed by King William. They, however, declined to come to any definite arrangement at this time, and requested liberty to send Sir George Barclay and Major Menzies to France, to obtain the sanction of King James, to enter into a treaty with the government, a request which was reluctantly granted. After learning from these officers the miseries to which the clans were reduced, and the utter hopelessness of attempting another campaign under existing circumstances, James allowed them to make the best terms they could with the government. Accordingly, and in terms of a proclamation issued by the government on the 27th of August, 1691, promising an indemnity to all persons who had been in arms, and who should take an oath of allegiance to the government before the 1st of January 1692; all the chiefs, with one unfortunate exception, which will be afterwards noticed, gave in their adherence, and took the oath within the prescribed time. Buchan and Cannon with their officers, in terms of an agreement with the government, were transported to France, to which country they had asked and obtained permission from their royal master to retire, as they could no longer be serviceable to him in their native land.
We are sorry that it is beyond the province of the present work, even did space permit, to give a detailed account of the heroic and almost quixotically chivalrous conduct of Dundee’s officers, after their emigration to France. In order that they might not be a burden on their royal master King James, they entered the French service, forming themselves into a company of “private sentinels” or common soldiers, four of their number being appointed officers, whose conduct gives “no opportunity of speaking well of them.”[633] They numbered only about 150, and so effectively performed their duty in the service of France, that, unsuited as they were for the hard life of common soldiers, and cheated by their heartless officers of the few comforts provided for them, in a very short time “the earth closed over the last remains of the gentlemen-adventurers who followed the banner of Dundee.”[634] They bore all their hardships with cheerfulness and even gaiety, winning the tears and love of the women wherever they passed, and the respect of their French comrades. The following incident must suffice as an example of their fearless hardihood.
“The Germans had made a lodgement in an island in the Rhine (near Strasburg). The French, from an opinion that the river was impassable without boats, had ordered a number for the passage. Among other troops intended for the service, this company was ordered to keep a station opposite to the island until the boats should arrive; but finding, upon examination, the ford, though difficult, not impassable, they, according to the custom of the Highlanders in wading through rivers, joining their hands together, and entering the river in a line with its current, the strongest men in the upper part, and the weaker in the under, so that those who were highest up the stream broke all its force, and tying their arms and clothes on their shoulders, passed to the island in sight of both armies on the opposite bank, and drove ten times their number from the lodgement. The French cried out in admiration, ‘A gentleman, in whatever station, is still a gentleman.’ ‘Le gentilhomme est toujours gentilhomme.’ The place is called l’Isle d’Ecosse to this day.”[635]