In connection with these movements, Launcelot Errington, a Newcastle shipmaster, undertook to surprise Holy Island, which was guarded by a few soldiers, exchanged weekly from the garrison of Berwick. In a military point of view, the possession of such an insignificant post was of little importance, but it was considered by the Jacobites as useful for making signals to such French vessels as might appear off the Northumberland coast with supplies for the insurgents. Errington, it appears, was known to the garrison, as he had been in the habit of visiting the island on business; and having arrived off the island on the 10th of October, he was allowed to enter the port, no suspicions being entertained of his design. Pursuant to the plan he had formed for surprising the castle, he invited the greater part of the garrison to visit his vessel, and having got them on board, he and the party which accompanied him left the vessel, and took possession of the castle without opposition. Errington endeavoured to apprise his friends at Warkworth of his success by signals, but these were not observed, and the place was retaken the following day by a detachment of 30 men from the garrison of Berwick, and a party of 50 of the inhabitants of the town, who, crossing the sands at low water, entered the island, and carried the fort sword in hand. Errington, in attempting to escape, received a shot in the thigh, and being captured, was carried prisoner to Berwick; whence he had the good fortune to make his escape in disguise.[700]
The possession of Newcastle, where the Jacobite interest was very powerful, was the first object of the Northumberland insurgents; but they were frustrated in their design by the vigilance of the magistrates. Having first secured all suspected persons, the magistrates walled up all the gates with stone and lime, except the Brampton gate, on which they placed two pieces of cannon. An association of the well-affected inhabitants was formed for the defence of the town, and the churchmen and dissenters, laying aside their antipathies for a time, enrolled themselves as volunteers. 700 of these were immediately armed by the magistrates. The keelmen also, who were chiefly dissenters, offered to furnish a similar number of men to defend that town; but their services were not required, as two successive reinforcements of regular troops from Yorkshire arrived on the 9th and 12th of October. When the insurgents received intelligence of the state of affairs at Newcastle, they retired to Hexham, having a few days before sent an express to the Earl of Mar for a reinforcement of foot.
The news of the rising under Mr. Forster having been communicated to the Marquis of Tweeddale, Lord Lieutenant of Haddingtonshire, his lordship called a meeting of his deputy lieutenants at Haddington early in October, and at the same time issued instructions to them to put the laws in execution against “papists” and other suspected persons, by binding them over to keep the peace, and by seizing their arms and horses in terms of a late act of parliament. In pursuance of this order, Mr. Hepburn of Humbie, and Dr. Sinclair of Hermandston, two of the deputy lieutenants, resolved to go the morning after the instructions were issued, to the house of Mr. Hepburn of Keith, a zealous Jacobite, against whom they appear to have entertained hostile feelings. Dr. Sinclair accordingly appeared next morning with a party of armed men at the place where Hepburn of Humbie had agreed to meet him; but as the latter did not appear at the appointed hour, the doctor proceeded towards Keith with his attendants. On their way to Keith, Hepburn enjoined his party, in case of resistance, not to fire till they should be first fired at by Mr. Hepburn of Keith or his party; and on arriving near the house he reiterated these instructions. When the arrival of Sinclair and his party was announced to Mr. Hepburn of Keith, the latter at once suspecting the cause, immediately demanded inspection of the doctor’s orders. Sinclair, thereupon, sent forward a servant with the Marquis of Tweeddale’s commission, who, finding the gates shut, offered to show the commission to Hepburn at the dining-room window. On being informed of the nature of the commission, Hepburn signified the utmost contempt at it, and furiously exclaiming “God damn the doctor and the marquis both,” disappeared. The servant thinking that Mr. Hepburn had retired for a time to consult with his friends before inspecting the commission, remained before the inner gate waiting for his return. But instead of coming back to receive the commission, Hepburn and his friends immediately mounted their horses and sallied out, Hepburn discharging a pistol at the servant, which wounded him in two places. Old Keith then rode up to the doctor, who was standing near the outer gate, and after firing another pistol at him, attacked him sword in hand and wounded him in the head. Sinclair’s party, in terms of their instructions, immediately returned the fire, and Mr. Hepburn’s younger son was unfortunately killed on the spot. Hepburn and his party, disconcerted by this event, instantly galloped off towards the Borders and joined the Jacobite standard. The death of young Hepburn, who was the first person that fell in the insurrection of 1715, highly incensed the Jacobites, who longed for an opportunity, which was soon afforded them, of punishing its author, Dr. Sinclair.[701]
Whilst Mr. Forster was thus employed in Northumberland, the Earl of Kenmure, who had received a commission from the Earl of Mar to raise the Jacobites in the south of Scotland, was assembling his friends on the Scottish border. Early in October he had held private meetings with some of them, at which it had been resolved to make an attempt upon Dumfries, expecting to surprise it before the friends of the government there should be aware of their design; but the magistrates got timely warning. Lord Kenmure first appeared in arms, at the head of 150 horse, on the 11th of October at Moffat, where he proclaimed the Chevalier, on the evening of which day he was joined by the Earl of Wintoun and 14 attendants. Next day he proceeded to Lochmaben, where he also proclaimed “the Pretender.” Alarmed at his approach, the magistrates of Dumfries ordered the drums to beat to arms, and for several days the town exhibited a scene of activity and military bustle perfectly ludicrous, when the trifling force with which it was threatened is considered. Kenmure advanced within two miles of the town, but being informed of the preparations which had been made to receive him, he returned to Lochmaben. He thereupon marched to Ecclefechan, where he was joined by Sir Patrick Maxwell of Springkell, with 14 horsemen, and thence to Langholm, and afterwards to Hawick, where he proclaimed the Chevalier. On the 17th of October, Kenmure marched to Jedburgh, with the intention of proceeding to Kelso, and there also proclaimed the prince; but learning that Kelso was protected by a party under the command of Sir William Bennet of Grubbet, he crossed the Border with the design of forming a junction with Forster.[702]
We must now direct attention to the measures taken by the Earl of Mar in compliance with the request of Mr. Forster and his friends to send them a body of foot. As Mar had not resolution to attempt the passage of the Forth, which, with the forces under his command, he could have easily effected, he had no other way of reinforcing the English Jacobites, than by attempting to transport a part of his army across the Frith. As there were several English men-of-war in the Frith, the idea of sending a body of 2,000 men across such an extensive arm of the sea appeared chimerical; yet, nevertheless, Mar resolved upon this bold and hazardous attempt.
To command this adventurous expedition, the Jacobite general pitched upon Old Borlum, as Brigadier Mackintosh was familiarly called, who readily undertook, with the assistance of the Earl of Panmure, and other able officers, to perform a task which few men, even of experience, would have undertaken without a grudge. For this hazardous service, a picked body of 2,500 men was selected, consisting of the whole of the Mackintoshes, and the greater part of Mar’s own regiment, and of the regiments of the Earl of Strathmore, Lord Nairne, Lord Charles Murray, and Drummond of Logie-Drummond. To escape the men-of-war, which were stationed between Leith and Burntisland, it was arranged that the expedition should embark at Crail, Pittenweem, and Elie, three small towns near the mouth of the Frith, whither the troops were to proceed with the utmost secrecy and expedition by the most unfrequented ways through the interior of Fife. At the same time, to amuse the ships of war, it was concerted that another small and select body should openly march across the country to Burntisland, seize upon the boats in the harbour, and make preparations as if they intended to cross the Frith. With remarkable foresight, Mar gave orders that the expedition should embark with the flowing of the tide, that in case of detection, the ships of war should be obstructed by it in their pursuit down the Frith.
Accordingly, on the 9th or 10th of October, both detachments left Perth escorted by a body of horse under the command of Sir John Erskine of Alva, the Master of Sinclair, and Sir James Sharp, grandson of Archbishop Sharp of St. Andrews; and whilst the main body proceeded in a south-easterly direction, through the district of Fife bordering upon the Tay, so as to pass unobserved by the men-of-war, the other division marched directly across the country to Burntisland, where they made a feint as if preparing to embark in presence of the ships of war which then lay at anchor in Leith Roads. When the commanders of these vessels observed the motions of the insurgents, they manned their boats and despatched them across to attack them should they venture out to sea, and slipping their cables they stood over with their vessels to the Fife shore to support their boats. As the boats and ships approached, the insurgents, who had already partly embarked, returned on shore; and those on land proceeded to erect a battery, as if for the purpose of covering the embarkation. An interchange of shots then took place without damage on either side, till night put an end to hostilities. In the meantime, Brigadier Mackintosh had arrived at the different stations fixed for his embarkation, at the distance of nearly 20 miles from the ships of war, and was actively engaged in shipping his men in boats which had been previously secured for their reception by his friends in these quarters. The first division crossed the same night, being Wednesday the 12th of October, and the second followed next morning. When almost half across the channel, which, between the place of embarkation and the opposite coast, is about 16 or 17 miles broad, the fleet of boats was descried from the topmasts of the men-of-war, and the commanders then perceived, for the first time, the deception which had been so successfully practised upon them by the detachment at Burntisland. Unfortunately, at the time they made this discovery, both wind and tide were against them; but they sent out their boats fully manned, which succeeded in capturing only two boats with 40 men, who were carried into Leith, and committed to jail. As soon as the tide changed, the men-of-war proceeded down the Frith, in pursuit, but they came too late, and the whole of the boats, with the exception of eight, (which being far behind, took refuge in the Isle of May, to avoid capture,) reached the opposite coast in perfect safety, and disembarked their men at Gullane, North Berwick, Aberlady, and places adjacent. The number carried over amounted to about 1,600. Those who were driven into the Isle of May, amounting to 200, after remaining therein a day or two, regained the Fife coast, and returned to the camp at Perth.[703]
The news of Mackintosh’s landing occasioned a dreadful consternation at Edinburgh, where the friends of the government, astonished at the boldness of the enterprise, and the extraordinary success which had attended it, at once conjectured that the brigadier would march directly upon the capital, where he had many friends, and from which he was only 16 miles distant. As the city was at this time wholly unprovided with the means of defence, Campbell, the provost, a warm partisan of the government, adopted the most active measures for putting it in a defensive state. The well affected among the citizens formed themselves into a body for its defence, under the name of the Associate Volunteers, and these, with the city guards and trained bands, had different posts assigned them, which they guarded with great care and vigilance. Even the ministers of the city, to show an example to the lay citizens, joined the ranks of the armed volunteers. The provost, at the same time, sent an express to the Duke of Argyle, requesting him to send, without delay, a detachment of regular troops to support the citizens.
After the brigadier had mustered his men, he marched to Haddington, in which he took up his quarters for the night to refresh his troops, and wait for the remainder of his detachment, which he expected would follow. According to Mackintosh’s instructions, he should have marched directly for England, to join the insurgents in Northumberland, but having received intelligence of the consternation which prevailed at Edinburgh, and urged, it is believed, by pressing solicitations from some of the Jacobite inhabitants to advance upon the capital, as well as lured by the eclat which its capture would confer upon his arms, and the obvious advantages which would thence ensue, he marched rapidly towards Edinburgh the following morning. He arrived in the evening of the same day, Friday 14th October, at Jock’s Lodge, about a mile from the city, where, being informed of the measures which had been taken to defend it, and that the Duke of Argyle was hourly expected from Stirling with a reinforcement, he immediately halted, and called a council of war. After a short consultation, they resolved, in the meantime, to take possession of Leith. Mackintosh, accordingly, turning off his men to the right, marched into the town without opposition. He immediately released from jail the 40 men who had been taken prisoners by the boats of the men-of-war, and seized a considerable quantity of brandy and provisions, which he found in the custom-house. He then took possession of and quartered his men in the citadel which had been built by Oliver Cromwell. This fort, which was of a square form, with four demi-bastions, and surrounded by a large dry ditch, was now in a very dismantled state, though all the outworks, with the exception of the gates, were entire. Within the walls were several houses, built for the convenience of sea-bathing, and which served the new occupants in lieu of barracks. To supply the want of gates, Mackintosh formed barricades of beams, planks, and of carts filled with earth, stone, and other materials, and seizing six or eight pieces of cannon which he found in some vessels in the harbour, he planted two of them at the north end of the drawbridge, and the remainder upon the ramparts of the citadel. Within a few hours, therefore, after he had entered Leith, Mackintosh was fully prepared to withstand a siege, should the Duke of Argyle venture to attack him.