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THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
• ■ IlllUi dVVII
SKETCHES
OF THE
CHARACTER, INSTITUTIONS,
AND CUSTOMS
OF THE
HIGHLANDERS OF SCOTLAND
BY
MAJOR-GENERAL DAVID STEWART
OF GARTH. '^
" 'Tis wonderful
That an invisible instinct should frame them
To loyalty unlearned ; honour untaught ;
Civility not seen from others ; valour
That wildly grows in them, but yields a crop
As if it had been sowed."
, SrH^il^E^PEARE.
NEW EDITION.
INVERNESS : A. & W. MACKENZIE.
LONDON : SIMPKIN. MARSHALL, & CO.
EDINBURGH : JOHN MENZIES & CO.
1885.
PRINTED RY ROBERT CARRUTHERS AND SONS,
INVERNESS.
DA ^^0
IHSn
IS"?"?
FREFACE
In i822,Major-General David Stewart of Garth, then
a Colonel in the army, first published his invaluable
"Sketches of the Character, Manners, and Present
State of the Highlands of Scotland, with Details of
the Military Service of the Highland Regiments."
It had a very extensive sale, two large editions hav-
ing been exhausted and a third called for in the
same year, though it was a high-priced work. In
recent years it became so scarce that a copy re-
alises now from a guinea to twenty-five shillings.
It is admitted by all whose opinion is worth listening
to on the subject, to be by far the best book in
every respect ever written on the Highlands; and it
has in fact become the foundation of nearly all that
has since been written on the character and annals
of the Highland people. The author has shown a
remarkable insight into the future, and has so accur-
ately predicted the ultimate results of the cold-
blooded exterminating policy of his time, that these
could not be more truly described even at the pre-
sent day, when all that he so correctly foretold
has been realised to the full in the existing social
and political state of the Highlands, as well as in
342
iv. PREFACE.
the altered relations of proprietors and people. For
this and other reasons the portion of the work which
the author himself designated "A Sketch of the
Moral and Physical Character, and of the Institu-
tions and Customs of the Inhabitants of the High-
lands of Scotland" will prove a valuable addition
to the literature of the present day, and we have
decided to republish that portion of the work
at a price which shall place it within the reach of
the extended circle who now take a keen and sym-
pathetic interest in the social position of the High-
land peasantry. It is intended, by and bye, to
follow this up with the publication of the portions
of the work which deal specially with "The Military
Services of the Highland Regiments," bringing down
the account of these to date.
In the Preface to the first edition, General Stewart
informs us that his statements are grounded on
authentic documents ; on communications from
people in whose intelligence and correctness he
places implicit confidence ; on his own personal
knowledge and observation ; and on the mass of
general information, of great credibility and con-
sistency, preserved among the Highlanders of the
last century ; and he assures us of his " honest and
perfect conviction of the truth of all he has advanced,
and of the vital importance attached to the several
points touched upon." Having explained how he
was induced to commence the work, and how he suc-
ceeded in obtaining so much valuable and authen-
tic information, first, concerning the Forty-Second,
PREFACE. V.
and afterwards respecting the other Highland Regi-
ments, he says — " In the course of this second inves-
tigation into the history of the Highland Regiments
I met, in all of them, with much of the same
character and principles. The coincidence was in-
deed striking, and proved that this similarity of
conduct and character must have had some common
origin, to discover the nature of which appeared an
object worthy of inquiry. The closest investigation
only confirmed the opinion I had before entertained,
that the strongly marked difference between the
manners and conduct of the mountain clans, and
those of the Lowlanders, and of every other known
country, originated in the patriarchal form of gov-
ernment which differed so widely from the feudal
system of other countries. I therefore attempted to
give a sketch of those manners and institutions by
which this distinct character was formed ; and hav-
ing delineated a hasty outline of the past state of the
manners and character, the transition to the changes
that had been produced and the present condition
of the same people was obvious and natural.
Hence I have been led on, step by step, from one
attempt to another, till the whole attained its pre-
sent form." A large edition was cleared off at once,
and another was issued within two months of the
first. In the Preface to the second edition the
author declares how gratified he was " by receiving
numerous communications confirming the general
correctness of the great multiplicity of facts and
circumstances " which he had occasion to detail in
VI. PREFACE.
the first. The second edition, numbering 1300
copies, was cleared off immediately. The demand
for the work still "continued in a great measure
unabated," and the author made preparations for a
third edition, the printing of which was forthwith
commenced.
In the Preface to the third edition, hitherto
the last, issued in 1825, and of which this volume
is, so far, a verbatim reprint, he informs us that,
" owing to the distance of Garth from the press,
and having no daily post, with other causes of
interruption, this [the printing] proceeded so slowly
that the publication of the present edition has,
in consequence, been delayed for more than a
year beyond the time at which, in justice to the
work, it ought to have appeared. The delay thus
occasioned has, however, been attended with one
important advantage ; it has afforded me time and
ample opportunities of re-examining my statements,
and of applying corrections, where such appeared
necessary. If I have seen cause to make but few
alterations, with hardly a qualification, even in those
economical views which are, of course, most liable
to be disputed, it is solely because the result of the
most minute inquiries, and of personal observation,
has strikingly confirmed the general accuracy of my
statements and reasonings, and affords mc addi-
tional confidence in the truth and justness of the
opinions which I was previously led to maintain. I
employed three months of 1823 in this personal in-
vestigation, and travelled upwards of one thousand
PREFACE. Vll.
miles through the Highlands, always communicating
with the most intelligent, and those best qualified
by their judgment, general intelligence, and local
knowledge to give the most correct information,
and unprejudiced opinions on the subject of my
inquiries. Receiving the fullest confirmation from
such men, I have now the more satisfaction in add-
ing, that, while I thus exerted myself to render the
present edition as correct as possible, the alterations
are so few and unimportant as not to diminish in
any degree, the value and general accuracy of the
former editions." Indeed, almost the entire change
consists of material and very valuable additions to
the text, notes, and appendices.
In "Notes Explanatory of the Map of the Clans,"
issued with the original work, the author thinks it
proper to state that the divisions in which the clans
were arranged were " not intended to indicate that
the chiefs, or heads of the principal branches of all
the clans, were the sole proprietors of the lands
classed under their respective names. In several
instances, they were only occupiers and tenants at
will of the lands on which their forefathers had lived
for ages. But while the clansmen obeyed and fol-
lowed the chiefs of their family and kindred, the
superiors and proprietors of their lands seldom held
any authority or feudal control, except in cases
where the superior and his people entertained simi-
lar political views and sentiments." In a foot-note
to this, our author adds that, "nothing can be more
erroneous than an opinion, often repeated, and
Vlll. PREFACE.
therefore sometimes believed, that whatever side the
feudal superior took in any great political question
or contest, he was invariably followed by his sub-
servient adherents. Many instances to the contrary
have been stated, and I could produce many more,
highly creditable to the spirit of independence which
long distinguished the clansmen." The lands " oc-
cupied by different clans and tribes, either as
proprietors or tenants are generally called their
* country' or territory ; Brae Lochaber, for example*
which was occupied for nearly five hundred years by
the Macdonalds of Keppoch, and their numerous
descendants, is called 'Keppoch's country,' although
the fee-simple of the property had been vested for
the greater part of the period in the families of
Gordon and Mackintosh. The Dukes of Gordon
and Argyll were feudal superiors of the whole of
the Camerons' country, the former nobleman being
also proprietor of part of the lands, as also of a con-
siderable portion of Badenoch, the * country of the
Macphersons,' many of whom arc his Grace's ten-
ants. Indeed, this clan is so numerous in that
extensive district that, except in the case of an
accidental emigration from the Duke's Lowland
estates, there is not a tenant of the name of Gordon
throughout its whole extent. The Duke of Atholl
possesses a very extensive property in Athole ; but
the district has, for centuries, been called the coun-
try of the Stewarts, Robertsons, Fergusons, etc.
With the exception of the Duke, there is not in the
whole district a proprietor or occupier of land of
PREFACE. IX.
the name of Murray; but many descendants, whose
forefathers sprung from the Atholl family prior to
the change of their name from Stewart to Murray,
are still resident in the glens of A thole. Part of two
large parishes on the estate of Sutherland, including
Strathnaver, from which the Earldom of Sutherland
derives its secondary title, is situated in Lord Reay's
country, or, as it is called in Gaelic, the territory of
the Mackays The ranks of the Sutherland Regi-
ment of 1793 bore evidence to the propriety of this
appellation, as one hundred and four William Mac-
kays, almost all of them from Strathnaver, were in
the corps, and seventeen in one company, Captain
Sackville Sutherland's. The small clans or tribes of
Maclarens of Balquhidder in Perthshire, Macintyres
of Argyle, Macraes of Ross, Gunns of Sutherland,
and several others, were not proprietors ; but from
the earliest history of the clans, till a very recent
period, occupied their lands in undisturbed succes-
sion." Where are they now ?
Professor Blackie has repeatedly described
General Stewart's book as the best existing work —
whose " excellence shines forth on every page " —
on the Scottish Highlands and Highlanders ; and
that true and patriotic Sutherland Highlander,
Mr John Mackay, C.E., Hereford, writing to a
northern newspaper a few years ago, refers to
the work in the following terms : — " Without any
doubt, Stewart's Sketches is one of the best, if not
the very best book, published on the subject. It has
formed the groundwork for all the subsequent pub-
X. PREFACE.
lications on the Highlands and Highland Clans.
It ought to be in the hands of every Highland lad ;
on the bookshelf of every Highland home, next to
the Bible. It is invaluable to every one who de-
sires to know all about the heroic past of the
Highland people. The author, born amongst the
hills of Perthshire, was reared amidst the people
he loved so well, respected so much, before
they became contaminated with Saxon ideas and
manners, before chiefs divorced themselves from
their retainers, before sheep became the golden
image to be worshipped, before the lust for gold
took the place of love for the people, and respect
and affection for the gallant defenders of their
country in danger ; when willing hands and brave
hearts, like himself, were pouring out, year after
year, from every hill and vale to sustain the hon-
our of the country, to preserve its freedom, to con-
quer or die for it in every battlefield from Fontenoy
to Waterloo. This was the heroic era of the High-
lands and Highlanders. Well did they deserve of
their country and chiefs. General Stewart sets all
this forth in his Sketches, in his own kindly langu-
age. Fortunate it was for the Highlanders to find
in their midst such a historian of their prowess and
heroic conduct as the gallant General, whose pen
was as ready to do them justice, and to record their
valour, as his sword was keen to lead them into
battle. Fortunate, too, it was to find such a
matchless defender of their character as Sir Walter
Scott. It was the incomparable heroism of the
PREFACE. XI.
Highland soldier, and the majestic scenery of
his country, that awakene d the genius of Scott
Sir Walter Scott and General Stewart have done to
the Highlanders the justice denied them by others.
The magic wand of the one, and the facile pen and
intimate knowledge of the other, painted their
character and heroism in letters of gold, inefface-
able, imperishable. ' Waverley,' ' The Lady of the
Lake,' ' The Lord of the Isles,' are well known
productions of Sir Walter Scott. Stewart's Sketches
of the Highlands and Highland Regiments are
worthy to rank beside them : even more worthy
of being read ; for facts are stronger than fiction.
Stewart Sketches ought to be found in every library,
in the hall or in the cottage. Every Highland
lad should have the book in his hands as soon as
he is able to read." It is, in fact, impossible for
any one to read it without being and feeling a better
man or woman after the performance. The Appen-
dix deserves special attention from the reader who
desires to be fully informed on the subject of the
book, as it is a perfect mine of invaluable facts and
sound reasoning — such as cannot be found together
anywhere else that we know of
A. M.
Inverness, 20th April 1885.
CONTENTS,
PART I.
Section Page.
I. — Geographical Situation and Extent of the High-
lands — Celtic Kingdom ... ... ... i
II. — System of Clanship — Patriarchal sway of the
Chiefs — Consequences of this System —
Effects of the want of Laws, and of constant
Agitation and Alarms on the Character of
the People ... ... ... ... ... 25
III. — Devoted Obedience of the Clans — Spirit of In-
dependence — Fidelity ... ... ... 57
IV. — Arms — Warlike Array 84
v.— Highland Garb 91
VI. — Bards — Pipers — Music ... ... ... ... 99
VII. — General Means of Subsistence — Checks on Popu-
lation — Salutary Influence of Custom in the
Absence of Laws ... ... ... ... 106
VIII. — Love of Country, Early Associations — Tradi-
tional Tales and Poetry ... ... ... 112
IX. — Disinterested, but Mistaken Loyalty and Fidelity
— Conduct in 1745 ... .. ... ... 119
X. — Abolition of Hereditary Jurisdictions — Disarming
Act — Suppression of the Highland Garb ... 139
PART II.
I. — Influence of Political and Economical Arrange-
ments — Change in the Character of the Clans
— Introduction of Fanaticism in Religion ... 147
II. — Causes and Consequences of these Changes —
State when placed on Small Lots of Land —
Poverty followed by Demoralisation ... 169
XIV. CONTENTS.
Section. Page.
III.— Beneficial Results of Judicious Arrangements,
and of allowing time to acquire a Knowledge
of Agricultural Improvements — Emigration
— Agricultural Pursuits promote Independ-
ence and prevent Pauperism 210
IV. — Illicit Distillation — Consequences of Reducing
the Highlanders from the Condition of Small
Tenantry — Policy of Retaining an Agricul-
tural Population 236
V. — Military Character — National Corps advantage-
ous, especially in the Case of the Highlanders
— Character of Officers fitted to command a
Highland Corps 287
A.PFENDIX.
A. Parallel Roads 297
B. Ancient League between France and Scotland ... 299
C. Territories, Military Force, and Patronymic Designa-
tions of the Chiefs ... ... ... ... ... 301
D. War Cries, Signals, and Distinguishing Marks of the
Clans ... ... ... ... ... ... 308
E. Feuds — Garth and Macivor ... ... ... ... 310
F. Characteristic Anecdotes 312
G. Sketch of the Life and Character of Rob Roy ... 318
H. John Dubh Cameron, or Sergeant Mor 328
I. Highland Armour ... ... ... ... ... 330
K. Bows and Arrows ... ... ... ... ... 331
L. Highland Garb ... ... ... ... ... ^^^
M. Highland Weddings 336
N. Highland Music ... ... ... ... ... 338
O. Highland Cianie ... ... ... ... ... 3^1
P. Honourable Manner of Contracting Bargains ... 342
Q. Patronymics ... 3^4
R. Spelling of the Name of Stewart 346
S. State of Education in the Highlamls in the Seven-
teenth and Eighteenth Cc-nturies 347
CONTENTS.
XV.
T. Second-Sight
* Prejudiced Views of Highland Character ...
U. Lord President Forbes
V. Supposed Ferocity of the Highlanders
W. Disinterested Attachment, and Liberal Pecuniary
Support Afforded to Chiefs and Landlords when
in Distress ...
X. Equality of Property, and Operation of the New
Systems
Y. Report of Highland Convicts
Z. Ancient Cultivation
AA. Respectability and Independence of Small Farmers
in Comparison with Day Labourers
BB. Comparative Produce from Cultivation, and from
Land in the State of Nature
CC. Poor and Poor's Fund
DD. Letting Lands by Auction, Advertisements, or
Private Offers
EE. Influence of Public Opinion ...
FF. Religious Education — Gaelic Schools
GG. The Best Soldiers Destroyed by inattention to their
Feelings and Dispositions ...
Index ...
352
355
357
360
363
365
366
369
372
374
376
380
381
385
389
SKETCHES OF THE
HIGHLANDERS.
P A K T I
SECTION I.
Geographical Situation and Extent of the Highlands of
Scotland — Inhahita?its — Character — Antiquities.
The tract of country known by the name of the High-
lands of Scotland, constitutes the northern portion of
Great Britain. Its maritime outline is bold, rocky, and
in many places deeply indented by bays and arms of the
sea. The northern and western coasts are fringed with
groups or clusters of islands, while the eastern and
southern boundaries are distinguished from that of Scot-
land denominated the Lowlands, by the strong and peculiar
features impressed on them by the hand of Nature. h.
range of mountains known in Roman history by the name
of Mons Grampius, at a later period called Gransbane,*
and now the Grampians, constitutes the line of demarca-
tion between these two distinct parts of the kingdom.
* Both derived from the Gaelic garu-bein, the rugged mountains.
B
2 GRAMPIANS.
Within this range', '^s dvfery 'classical reader knows, is the
scene of that no'bleistancJ fAr lilD^erty and independence,
made by the Caledonians" against the invasion of the
Romans. The physical structure of the Grampian bound-
ary is as remarkable as the general direction is striking,
regular, and continuous. It forms, as it v/ere, a lofty and
shattered rampart, commencing north of the river Don,
in the county of Aberdeen — extending across the kingdom
in a diagonal direction, till it terminates in the south-west,
at Ardmore, in the county of Dumbarton — and present-
ing to the Lowlands throughout, a front, bold, rocky, and
precipitous. The Grampian range consists of rocks of
primitive formation. The front towards the south and
east presents, in many places, a species of breccia. In
the centre, and following the line of the range, is a re-
markable bed of valuable limestone,* with many strata of
marble t and slate. In the districts of Fortingall, Glen-
lyon, and Strathfillan, are found quantities of lead and
silver ore; and over the whole extent are numerous
* This great bed of limestone is first seen in Aberdeenshire. It
sometimes rises to the surface for many miles, then sinks and dis-
appears, following, as it were, the undulated and irregular direction
of the surface of the mountainous country through which it passes.
It runs from Brae-Mar to Athole, through the great forest, crossing
the river Garry at Blair Castle, and the Tummel near the foot of
Shichallain ; and, taking a south-westerly direction, by Garth, Fort-
ingall, and Breadalbane, passes through the centre of Loch-Tay, and
the west end of Loch-Earn, and thence stretches through Monteith
and Dumbartonshire, till it is lost in the Atlantic, north of the
Clyde.
+ This marble takes a line polish. The prevailing colours are
blue, green, and brown, intermixed with streaks of pure white. In
Glcnlilt, within the forest of Athole, a quarry of green marble has
lately been opened, and wrought to advantage.
STRATHS AND PASSES. 3
detached masses of red and blue granite, garnets, ame-
thysts, rock crystals, and pebbles of great variety and
brilliancy.
The continuation of this great chain is broken by
straths and glens, formed originally by the rivers and
torrents to which they now afford a passage. The prin-
cipal straths are on the rivers Leven, Earn, Dee, and Don.
But besides these great straths, there are many other glens
and valleys, the lower entrances of which are so rugged
and contracted, as to have been almost impassable till
opened by art. These are known by the name of Passes,
and are situated both on the verge of the outward line,
and in the interior of the range. The most remarkable
are Bealmacha upon Loch-Lomond, iVberfoyle and Leny
in Alonteith, the Pass of Glenalmond above Crieff, the
entrance into Athole near Dunkeld, and those formed by
the rivers Ardle, Islay, and South and North Esk. By
the excellent roads now constructed along their sides,
these passes, formerly so difficult to penetrate, furnish the
easiest entrance for horses, and the only one for carriages.
Immediately within the external boundary, are also many
strong and defensible passes, such as Killicrankie, and
the entrance into Glenlyon, Glenlochy, Glenogle, etc.*
* An apology may be necessary for stating facts so generally
known. But these boundaries formed one of the principal causes
which preserved the Highlanders a distinct race from the inhabitants
of the plains. For seven centuries, Bimam Hill, and the rocks
westward of Dungarth Hill, at the entrance into Athole, formed the
boundary between the Lowlands and Highlands, and between the
Saxon and Gaelic languages. On the south and east of these
boundaries, breeches are worn, and the Scotch Lowland dialect
spoken, with as broad an accent as in Mid-Lothian. On the north
and west are found the Gaelic, the kilt, and the plaid, with all the
peculiarities of the Highland character. The Gaelic is the dialect
4 GENERAL ASPECT.
On the line of the Grampians, are many insulated
mountains of considerable altitude, such as Benlomond,
Benlawers, Shichallain, etc. The views of the Highlands
obtained on a clear day from the summits of these moun-
tains, are peculiarly imposing and magnificent. t But
when covered with clouds, or skirted with mists, their sum-
mits are often scarcely distinguishable from the vapours
which envelope them; while their bleak and barren aspect,
and the deep rocky channels with which they are furrowed,
testify to the violence of the tempests which have swept
over them. Towards their pointed summits there is little
vegetative mould ; but lower down we meet with a thin
covering of stunted heath, inhabited only by birds of
prey, and by the white hare and ptarmigan. Still farther
down is the region of the mountain deer and muirfowl,
producing more luxuriant heath, intermixed with nourish-
ing pasture, and supporting numerous flocks of sheep.
Towards the base are many romantic glens, watered by
mountain streams, or diversified by winding lakes, and in
some places beautifully wooded, and capable of producing
various kinds of grain. Many of these glens contain a
crowded population, and an unexpected number of
flocks and herds, the principal source of the riches of the
country.
The space which the Gaelic population occupied with-
in the mountains, includes the counties of Sutherland,
in common use among the people on the Highland side of the
boundary. This applies to the whole range of the Grampians ; for
example, at General Campbell's gate, at Monzie, nothing but Scotch
is spoken, while at less than a mile distant, on the hill to the north-
ward, we meet with the Gaelic.
t With a good glass Arthur's Seat and the higher grounds in the
neighbourhood of Edinburgh are clearly distinguishable.
GENERAL ASPECT. 5
Caithness, Ross, Inverness, Cromarty, Nairn, Argyle,
Bute, the Hebrides, and part of the counties of Moray,
Banff, StirUng, Perth, Dumbarton, Aberdeen, and Angus.
It may be defined by a Hne drawn from the western open-
ing of the Pentland Frith, sweeping round St Kilda, so as
to include the whole cluster of islands to the east and south,
as far as Arran ; then stretching to the Mull of Kintyre,
re-entering the main land at Ardmore in Dumbartonshire,
following the southern verge of the Grampians to Aber-
deenshire, cutting off the Lowland districts in that country,
and in Banff and Elgin, and ending on the north-east
point of Caithness.* Throughout its whole extent this
country displays nearly the same features.
*The names of places in this county denote a considerable
mixture of Gothic and Danish. The same observation apphes to
the Isle of Skye, although in that island the language and manners
of the people are as purely Celtic as any now in existence. In
Caithness, however, two-thirds of the inhabitants speak the dialect
of the Lowland Scots. Part of that country bordering on the sea
coast is an uninterrupted flat of great extent. In that portion the
Lowland garb is worn, and Scotch spoken ; but at the commence-
ment of the high and mountainous country, we meet with the
Gaelic ; and formerly the Highland dress was worn. It would
therefore appear, that this low and accessible district must at an
early period have been invaded and occupied by strangers, whose
progress into the interior was arrested when the natural conform-
ation of the country enabled the original inhabitants to defend them-
selves, and prevent farther intrusion ; otherwise it is not easy to
account for the singular circumstances of an insulated district,
situated 150 miles within the boundary of the Gaelic language, be-
ing inhabited by people differing in dress, habits, and dialect, from
all around them.
A small district in the county of Cromarty, of five miles in length,
and less than half a mile in breadth, presents the same singularity,
the inhabitants having for ages spoken a language of which few or
none of those around them understand a sentence. It is the same
6 CHARACTER.
The means of subsistence are necessarily limited to
the produce of mountain pasture, and to the grain that
can be raised in a precarious climate ; and that, too, only
on detached patches of land along the banks of rivers, in
the glens and plains, or on the sea coast. Though the
lakes and rivers in the interior, and the arms of the sea,
with which the coast is indented, abound with fish, the
distribution of this benefit among the general population
is necessarily limited by the difficulties peculiar to so
mountainous a region. The same cause precludes much
intercourse with the Lowlands, and the importation of
commodities so bulky as provisions. The inland parts
of the country must therefore, in a great degree, depend
on their own resources; and hence the number of
inhabitants must be small in proportion to the area of
territory.
From these circumstances, as well as from the seques-
tered situation in which the inhabitants were placed, a
peculiar character and distinctive manners naturally origin-
ated. The ideas and employment, which their seclusion
from the world rendered habitual, — the familiar con-
templation of the most sublime physical objects, — the
habit of concentrating their affections within the precincts
of their own glens, or the limited circle of their own kins-
men, — and the necessity of union and self-dependence
in all difficulties and dangers, combined to form a
peculiar and original character. A certain romantic
sentiment, the offspring of deep and cherished feeling, —
strong attachment to their country and kindred, — and a
consequent disdain of submission to strangers, formed
to this day, so remarkably has the distinction of languages been pre-
served, by people who, from close neighbourhood, must hold fre-
quent intercourse.
ORIGIN. 7
the character of independence ; while an habitual con-
tempt of dangers was nourished by their solitary musings,
of which the honour of their clan, and a long descent
from brave and warlike ancestors, formed the frequent
theme. Thus, their exercises, their amusements, their
modes of subsistence, their motives of action, their pre-
judices, and their superstitions, became characteristic,
permanent, and peculiar.
Promptitude in decision, fertility in resource, ardour
in friendship, and a generous enthusiasm, were qualities
which naturally resulted from such a situation, such
modes of life, and such habits of thought. FeeHng
themselves, in a manner, separated by Nature from the
rest of mankind, and distinguished by their language,
manners, and dress, they considered themselves the
original possessors of the country, and regarded the
Saxons of the Lowlands as strangers and intruders.
Whether the progenitors of this singular race of people
were the aborigines of the Highlands of Scotland, is a
question which is now impossible to decide. But the
earliest authentic records which history affords of the
transactions of different tribes and nations, contain de-
scriptions of the character, and accounts of the migrations
of the Celts. Among this widely diffused race, though
there were considerable varieties, arising from climate
and situation, still in the case of all to whom the denom-
ination was extended, there might be traced indelible
marks of affinity, as well as a striking difference from
other tribes. C^sar, in his Commentaries, informs us,
that, in his time, they formed the most considerable por-
tion of the population of Gaul. Indeed, many circum-
stances render it probable, that the Celtic tribes emigrated
originally from the eastern provinces of Europe, retaining,
8 DRUIDS.
in their progress westward, their rehgion, manners, and
language. Traces of this migration may be discovered
in the names of Albania, Iberia, Dahnatia, Caramania,*
etc., as well as in many appellations which we still recog-
nise in the western parts of Europe, all of which were
once, and some still are, in part, inhabited by Celts.
The most luminous and distinct account of the govern-
ment, manners, and institutions of this remarkable people,
as they existed in Gaul, as well as the most authentic his-
tory of some of their enterprises and transactions, is to be
found in Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War. The
separation of a distinct class of men called the Druids,
whom he describes t as the ministers of their religion, and
the depositaries of their sciences and laws — the retired
and contemplative modes of life to which this order de-
voted themselves, — the mystery which they affected, — the
reverence in which they were held, — the direction of their
studies to the natural sciences, particularly to astronomy,
— their opinions concerning a Providence, — and, above
all, their doctrine of transmigration, with their preten-
sions to prophetical knowledge, — all strongly remind us
of tlie character and institutions of the Magi.
The worship of Bel, or Baal, % some traces of which
* Albani, Dalmat, Corrimoni, etc., are names quite common in
the Highlands.
+ See Book vi. Chapters 13, 14, and 16, of his Comm. de Bello
Galileo.
J The anniversary of Bel (in Gaelic Bealdin) was celebrated by
shepherds and children with a feast of milk, eggs, butter, cheese,
&c. These remains of ancient superstitions were accompanied with
many ceremonies and offerings for the protection of their flocks
from the storms, eagles and foxes. This festival was held on May-
day. When all was ready, a boy stood up, holding in his left hand
a piece of bread, covered with a kind of hasty pudding, or custard
LANGUAGE. 9
Still remain in the Highlands, is unquestionably of East-
ern origin.* The Highland superstitions concerning the
enchantments of the Daoni-Si, or fairies, cannot fail to
brins: to the recollection of the classical reader the incan-
tations of Medea, Queen of Colchis. t
The language of the Scotch Highlanders affords strong
evidence of Oriental origin. It is well known, that, in
the languages of Asia, the Hebrew for example, the
of eggs, milk, and butter ; and turning his face towards the East,
he threw a piece over his left shoulder, and cried, " This to you, O
Mists and Storms, that ye be favourable to our corns and pasture :
This to thee, O Eagle, that thou mayest spare our lambs and kids :
This to thee, O Raven," etc. These superstitious rites were com-
mon thirty years ago, but they have now disappeared even among
children. Similar to this festival was the Samhuin, or fire of peace,
the origin of which tradition ascribes to the Druids, who assembled
the people in the open air for the purpose of administering justice.
In many parts of the country are still seen the small conical hills on
which these courts are said to have been held, and which are called
Tomvoid, i.e. the Court Hill. Three of these conical court hills
are near the Point of Lyon, where that river enters the Tay, three
miles above Castle Menzies. The anniversary of these meetings
was celebrated on the 1st of November, the Halloween of the Low-
lands. Immediately after dusk, large fires were kindled in con-
spicuous places in every hamlet. The inhabitants at the same time
assembled, and the night was passed in dancing, and the observance
of numberless ceremonies and superstitions, the principal object of
which was, to discover occult events, and to pry into futurity.
These superstitious rites are admirably described by Burns in his
*' Halloween," and are in every respect the same as those practised
in the Highlands.
* See Dr Graham's (of Aberfoyle) able and learned Essay on the
Authenticity of Ossian.
t See Ovid's Met. Lib. vii. fab. 2, and compare the description
of Medea's cauldron, and its effects, with the fairy tale related by Dr
Graham in his elegant and entertaining work, entitled, "Pictur-
esque Sketches of Perthshire."
10 MIGRATIONS.
present tense of the verb is wanting, and is supplied by
the inference or circumlocution. This is also the case in
the Irish, the Welsh, and the Gaelic, which, indeed, are
kindred dialects. The Gaelic presents in its construction
the most prominent features of a primitive language,
being for the most part monosyllabic, and, with few ex-
ceptions, having no word to express abstract ideas, or
such terms of art as were unknown to a primitive people.
But to whatever conclusion we may arrive concerning
the origin and early migration of the Celtic race, it is
certain that tribes described as Celtic, and exhibiting
every indication of their having sprung from a common
stock ; preserving themselves unmixed in blood and un-
connected in institutions with strangers, and retaining
their own manners and language, were extensively diffused
over the west of Europe. From the Straits of Gibraltar
to the northern extremity of Scotland, not merely on the
sea-coast, but to a considerable distance into the interior,
we find traces of their existence, and memorials of their
history, deducible not only from the testimony of ancient
writers, but from the names of mountains and rivers, the
most permanent vestiges of the original language of a
country. Thus, we have, in France, the Garonne, in
Gaelic Garu-avon, rough or rapid river ; the Seine, the
Sequana of Caesar, the Seuv-avon, or silent running
river ; in Lombardy, the Eridanus, the Ard-an-er-avon, or
east running river ; and in Scotland, lar-avon, or Irvine,
the west running river.* But it would be endless to fol-
low the derivations in Scotland, where a great majority of
ancient names of places, rivers, and mountains, is unques-
* In Gaelic, Er is east ; Jar west. Thus we have laiagael or
Argyle, that is Western Gael ; lar, ar, Ayr, the West country ; the
Err, Earn, &c. streams running eastward.
MIGRATIONS. 1 1
tionably Celtic. Thus, even in the Lothians and Berwick-
shire, we have Edinburgh, Dalkeith, the river Esk,
Inveresk, Inverleith, Balgone, Dunbar, Dunse, Dunglass,
Drumore, Mordun, Drumseugh, Dundas, * Dalmeny,
Abercorn, Garvald, Innerwick, Cramond, Corstorphine,
and Dunian, in Roxburgh, with many others as purely
Celtic as any names within the Grampians. In Galloway,
and the western districts, Celtic names are almost the
only ancient appellations of places, and of the common
people, the descendants of the earliest inhabitants of
whom we have authentic accounts.
Some may smile at derivations like these : but others,
again, will trace, in such affinities of language, if not the
only, at least the surest vestiges that still remain of the
vicissitudes and affiliations of nations whose annals extend
beyond the reach of authentic history. Unluckily for the
inquirer into Celtic antiquities, such vestiges form almost
the only basis on which his conclusions or conjectures can
rest. Amongst ancient authors, such subjects of research
excited little attention ; and long before the period at which
modern history commences, they had been almost annihi-
lated by the fierce and more numerous tribes, who occu-
pied great part of the country possessed by the ancient
Celts. When the Celts migrated to the westward, tribes
of a very different language and character advanced upon
their settlements, and spread farther to the northward.
These tribes, denominated Teutones t and Goths, had
* Dundas, Dun-dos, a hill with a tuft of wood. This et}Tnon
bears an analogy to the heraldic bearings of Dundas, (a tuft of wood
with a lion attempting to push through it), a family as ancient as
the period when the Gaelic was the language of Mid-Lothian. The
old Castle of Dundas has stood eight hundred years.
+ Mr Grant, of Corrimonie, in Tiis learned work, entitled,
12 MIGRATIONS.
probably their original seats in Scythia. They gradually
occupied Hungary, Germany, and Scandinavia, encroach-
ing everywhere upon the territories of the Celts, overturning
the Roman empire itself, and at length establishing them-
selves in Italy, Spain, Gaul, and the eastern districts of
Britain. By these invasions, the Celts were either driven
westward, or intermixed with their invaders. Their name
and national distinctions were lost, excepting in a few in-
accessible regions on the shores of the Atlantic, from
which they could not be dislodged. There they still remain
detached portions of an original race, preserving their
physical conformation, and their peculiar institutions,
nearly unchanged, until within the last fifty years ; and
are as easily distinguishable from the general mass of the
population with which they are combined in political
union, as they were from the Scythian and German tribes
in the days of Caesar.
In the provinces of Galiicia and Biscay in the west,
and in the valleys of the Pyrenees in the south of France,
and north of Spain, the inhabitants, differing, as they
evidently do, in manners and appearance, from the other
subjects of the respective kingdoms to which they belong,
exhibit a striking confirmation of this hypothesis. But it
is in Lower Bretagne, in Wales, in the Isle of M'lUj in
Ireland, and in the Highlands of Scotland, that the most
distinct traces of the Celtic manners and language are to
be found. In manners, indeed, the inhabitants of
"Thoughts on the Gael," gives an etymology of the appellation
Teutones, which he conjectures to have been the name given by the
Gaelic emigrants from the east to the hordes which advanced in the
same direction, upon their northern borders, peopling Russia and
Scandinavia. These were called Tuadaoine, that is, Afcn of the
North, or Teutones.
MIGRATIONS. 1 3
Bretagne bear but a faint resemblance to their Celtic
brethren of other countries ; but the similarity of their
language proves, that originally it was the same with that
now spoken in Ireland, the Highlands of Scotland, &c.
In language, however, the Gallicians differ less from their
fellow subjects of the Spanish monarchy, than they do in
physical formation, and peculiar customs. The Biscayans
are remarkable for their difference in both respects ; and
the Basques, or inhabitants of the vvestern Pyrenees, are
distinguishable from the subjects of the two kingdoms to
which they belong, by their bodily appearance and habits,
as well as by a high spirit of independence, and pride of
ancestry, — and, in many respects, they exhibit striking re-
marks of an original and unmixed race.*
Many points of resemblance between the Basques and
Scottish Highlanders may, no doubt, be attributed as
much to similarity of situation, as to a common origin.
Similarity of situation, however, will not account for the
remarkable traits of resemblance between the inhabitants
of La Vendee and those of the north of Scotland. Widely
as they differ in their external features, the manners and
customs of the people of both countries are so nearly
similar, that a Highlander, in reading the Memoirst of
the Wars in La Vende'e during the French Revolution,
would almost think he was perusing the history of the
events of the years 1745 and 1746 in Scotland. In the
* The Basques wear a blue bonnet of the same form, texture and
colour, as that worn by the Scottish Highlanders ; and in their erect
air, elastic step, and general appearance, bear a remarkable resem-
blance to the ancient race of Highlanders, whose manners and habits
remained unchanged till towards the cominencement of the late
reign, but of which scarcely a trace now remains.
+ Memoirs of Madame Larochejaquelin. Edinburgh, 1816.
14 CELTS.
picture which has been drawn of the zeal with which the
followers and adherents of the Seigneurs crowded round
the castles of their Lords ; in the cordial affection and
respectful similarity subsisting between them ; in their
pastoral modes of life, and love of the chase ; in the
courage with which they took the field, and the persever-
ance with which they maintained their ground against
discipHned armies ; in their invincible fidelity to the cause
they had espoused ; in their remarkable forbearance from
pillage or wanton destruction, in which they exhibited a
noble contrast to the ferocious rapacity of the republican
troops ; and in their kindness to their prisoners — we are
strikingly reminded of the chiefs, the clanships, and the
warfare of the Scotch mountaineers.
In tracing the remains of the Celtic race, we find that
in a great proportion of Wales, in the Isle of Man, and in
Ireland, the language is still preserved,* but, owing to a
greater admixture with strangers, at an earlier period, an-
cient manners are much changed, whereas, in the High-
lands of Scotland, which successfully resisted their in-
trusion, and were never subdued by either Roman or
Goth, and where the repeated attacks of Danes and Nor-
wegians were uniformly repulsed, the remains of the
language, manners, superstitions, and mythology of the
Celts, are found in greater purity and originality, than in
any other country.
The earliest historical records bear testimony to the
* It is observed by Mr Grant of Corrimonie, that, in Con-
naught, and the west of Ireland, to which sti-angers had least access,
the language still spoken differs very little from that of the Scotch
Highlanders. The correctness of this observation I have had an
opportunity of noticing in my intercourse with Irish soldiers, to
whom I have often acted as interpreter.
CELTIC KINGDOM. 1 5
warlike spirit of the people ; while the facts disclosed by
the Roman historians, prove that their commanders in
Britain found the Caledonians very formidable enemies ;
and it is not to be supposed that they would record de-
feats and disappointments which did not befall them.
According to Tacitus, the celebrated Caledonian general,
Galgacus, brought against Agricola an army of upwards of
30,000 men, of whom 10,000 were left dead on the field
of battle ; which sufficiently demonstrates their numbers,
their firmness, and their spirit of independence. Though
defeated, they were not subdued, and, after three years
of persevering warfare, the Roman general was forced to
relinquish the object of his expedition. Exasperated by
this obstinate resistance, the Emperor Severus determined
to extirpate a people who had thus prevented his country-
men from becoming the conquerors of Europe. Having
collected a large body of troops, he took the command in
person, and entered the mountains of the Caledonians.
Notwithstanding his immense preparations, however, he
was completely defeated, and driven back to the plains
with the loss of 50,000 men ; and subsequently, while one
legion was found sufficient to keep the southern parts of
the country in subjection, two were required to repel the
incursions of the Gael.
Some centuries posterior to this, we find the people
formmg a separate kingdom, confined within the Gram-
pian boundaries.* This has been always kno^^'n as the
kingdom of the Scots ; but to the Highlanders, only as
* This, according to the traditions of the Highlanders, is the era
of Ossian, when they had a kingly government within the moun-
tains, with all the consequent chivalry, heroism, and rivalry of
young men of family. See Appendix, A.
1 6 PICTS AND SCOTS.
that of the Gael, or Albanich."* The whole country im-
mediately beyond the Grampian range, (that is, the
Lowlands of Perth, Angus, and Mearns), was in possession
of the Picts. Abernethy, said to have been their capital,t
is only twenty miles distant from Birnam hill, the out-
ward boundary at that entrance to the Highlands ; and
Brechin, supposed to have been another of their towns, is
nearly the same distance from the eastern boundary.
These two nations of Picts and Scots, the one in-
habiting the lowland territory, and the other the mountain-
ous region, differing considerably in manners, but speaking
the same language,:}: were sometimes in alliance, but
* The epithets England and Scotland, or Scots and English, are
totally unknown in Gaelic. The English are Sassanachs, the Low-
land Scots are Gauls, the low country is Gauldach (the Country of
Strangers), the Highlanders are Gael and Albanich, and the High-
lands Gaeldach.
t There ai-e remarkable subterranean ruins in Abernethy. These
have only been partially examined ; but they seem of great extent.
The stones consist of the same red freestone which abounds in the
neighbourhood, and have been prepared and squared for building,
but not cut into an ornamental form ; at least as far as they have
been examined. The mortar, as in all old buildings, is so hardened
by time, that the stones give way to a blow, while the cement
resists. As a striking instance of the revolutions of time, even in a
country not subjected to violent convulsions of the earth, all these
buildings are completely covered, in some parts to a considerable
depth, with the soil, which consists of a dry loam, occasionally
intermixed with gravel. The surface is quite smooth, producing
crops of corn and hay, and showing no vestige of what is under-
neath, except where holes have been dug when the proprietor, Mr
Paterson of Carpow, a few years ago, made use of some of the
stones for building a new house. The whole deserves the notice of
the antiquary.
X That the Picts, inhabiting the low and fertile districts on the
east of Scotland, and to the north of the Roman province, were
SEAT OF GOVERNMENT REMOVED. 1 7
more frequently in a state of hostility, till the succession
of Kenneth MacAlpin, in right of his mother, to the
throne of the Picts, A.D. 843, when the Scots and Picts
were finally united under one sovereign. Gaelic con-
tinued to be the language of the Court and of the people
till the reign of Malcolm III., surnamed Ceannmor, who
had married the sister of Edgar Etheling, A. D, 1 066. From
that period the Gaelic language was gradually superseded
by the Saxon, until it entirely disappeared in the Low-
lands.
Towards the close of the eighth century, ambassadors,
it is said, were sent by Charlemagne to Achaius, King of
the Scots, or, according to the Highlanders, Righ nan
Gael, or Albanich, i.e.^ King of the Gael, or of Albany.
The result of this friendly communication is stated to
have been an alliance between France and Scotland.!
This is indeed involved in all the uncertainty of early
tradition : yet it is recorded by ancient chronicles ; and,
as far as it goes, confirms the belief of the number and
comparative civilization of the Caledonians ; for at what-
ever period the friendly connection between the two
countries commenced, it continued uninterrupted till
James VI. of Scotland succeeded to the throne of Eng-
land. The tradition that Charlemagne appointed two
Caledonian professors to preside over his academical
establishments at Padua and Paris, may, in like manner,
be regarded as a testimony in favour of the learning of
Gael, or Celts, and that they spoke the Gaelic language, seems to
be clearly proved by Mr Grant, in his "Thoughts on the Gael."
If the Picts spoke a language different from the Celtic, every trace
of it has disappeared ; the names of towns, rivers, mountains, valleys
etc., being either Celtic or Saxon.
t See Appendix, B.
C
1 8 ICOLMKILL.
the Celts at that period. Before the age of Charlemagne,
indeed, the college of Icolmkill had reached the height
of its celebrity.*
When the succession of the Alpine Kings to the
throne of the Picts caused the seat of royalty to be trans-
ferred from the mountains to the more fertile regions of
the Lowlands, and when the marble chair, the emblem of
sovereignty, was removed from Dunstaffnage to Scone,
the stores of learning and history, preserved in the College
of lona, were also carried to the South, and afterwards
destroyed by the barbarous policy of Edward I. De-
ficient and mutilated as the records in consequence are,
it is impossible to ascertain the degree of civilization which
this kingdom of glens and mountains had attained ; but,
judging from the establishment of the College of Icolm-
kill, at a period when darkness prevailed in other parts of
Europe, a considerable portion of learning must be ad-
* Martin, in his Description of the Western Islands, printed in
1703, says of Icohnkill, " This monastery furnished bishops to
several dioceses of England and Scotland. One of these was Bishop
of Lindisfern, now Holy Island." Bede states, in his third Book,
that Oswald, King of Northumberland, took refuge from domestic
treason in the island of lona, where he was instructed in the
doctrines of Christianity, and learned the Gaelic language. He
returned home in 634, and founded the monastery of Lindisfern ;
and, on applying to lona, obtained a bishop, named Aidan, to
whom, as he knew Gaelic only, the Saxon King acted as interpreter,
when preaching to his subjects. Caxton, who wrote in 14S2, says,
"King Oswald axed the Scottes, and had it granted, that Bishop
Aidanus schold come and teche his people : Thence the Kinge gave
him a place of a Bishope's See in the island of Lyndcsfern ; then
men mighte see wonders ; for the Bishop preached in Scottishe (i.e.
in Gaelic, as the word was then understood by the English), and
the Kinge told forth in Englishe, to the people, what it was he said
or meent." Fol. 226.
VESTIGES OF ARCHITECTURE. I9
mitted to have been diftused. Hence the feeUngs of even
Dr Johnson were powerfully awakened by the associations
naturally arising from the sight of this celebrated spot.
" We were now," says he, " treading that illustrious island,
which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions,
whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the
benefit of knowledge, and the blessings of religion. To
abstract the mind from all local emotion would be im-
possible, if it were endeavoured, and would be foolish, if
it were possible. Whatever withdraws us from the power
of our senses, whatever makes the past, the distant, or the
future, predominate over the present, advances us in the
dignity of thinking beings. Far from me, and from my
friends, be such frigid philosophy, as would conduct us,
indifferent and unmoved, over any ground which has been
dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. That man is
little to be envied, whose patriotism would not gain force
on the plains of Marathon, or whose piety would not
grow warm among the ruins of lona."
Such a seat of learning and piety could not fail to in-
fluence the manners of the people. Inverlochy, their
capital, maintained a considerable intercourse with France
and Spain.* Yet, of the progress made in the arts by the
Scots of that remote period, no specimens have descended
to our times except the remains of their edifices. The
Castle of Inverlochy, although it has been in ruins for
nearly five hundred years, is still so entire as to have fur-
nished a model for the present Castles of Inveraray and
Taymouth ; so far had our ancestors, at a ver}- early
period, advanced in the knowledge and practice of archi-
tecture, or rather so small has the advancement yet been,
* Hollineshed Chronicles.
20 VESTIGES OF ARCHITECTURE.
that models are still taken from the works of " savage
clans and roving barbarians."* The underground foun-
dations round that part of Inverlochy which is still
standing, show that it was originally of great extent.
Dunstaunage Castle, which has been also in ruins for
many centuries, exhibits equal strength of walls, but not
the same regularity of plan. This may have been owing
to its situation, as it is built on a rock, to the edges and
incurvations of which the walls have been adapted.
Urquhart Castle, which has likewise stood in ruins for
many centuries, is one of the finest specimens of castle
building in the country. But it must be confessed that
Scotland in general, and particularly the Highlands, pos-
sesses no castles that can bear comparison with the
splendid baronial residences of the more wealthy nobility
of England and Wales.
In many parts of the Highlands, however, ruins and
foundations of places of strength, and of castles, are so
frequent, as to exhibit proofs of the existence of a popu-
* Modern architects of the first celebrity have not disdained to
imitate the ornamental and magnificent designs of the " dark ages,"
when required to produce plans for public and private buildings of
more than usual elegance ; but seeing that the specimens they ex-
hibit in different parts of the country, are so inferior to the originals
they attempt to copy, perhaps the harsh epithets of ignorance and
barbarity, so often applied to those ages, might be somewhat soften-
ed. The men who designed and erected the cathedrals of Elgin
and Dunkeld, could not be so savagely ignorant as they have been
represented. They certainly were not ignorant of one elegant
branch of the fine arts, as is proved by the superb and magnificent
edifices they built and consecrated to Divine Worship ; an example
which might be imitated with advantage by their Presbyterian de-
scendants, of whom it has been said, that the *' Scotch build castles
and fine houses for themselves, and barns for the worship of God ! "
ANCIENT POPULATION. 21
ktion more numerous than that of latter ages. The
marks and traces of the plough also evidently demonstrate
that cultivation was, at one period, more extended than
at present. Fields on the mountains, now bleak and
desolate, and covered only with heath and fern, exhibit
as distinct ridges of the plough as are to be seen on the
plains of Moray.* Woods and cultivation gave a genial
warmth to the climate, which planting and other improve-
ments would probably yet restore. As an instance of
these marks of the ancient population, I shall confine
my observations to one district. In a small peninsula,
situated between the rivers Tummel and Garry, extending
from Strowan, four miles west from Blair- Athole, to the
Port of Loch-Tummel, about ten miles in length, and four
miles in breadth, ending at the point of Invergarry, below
the Pass of Killiecrankie, there are so many foundations
* It has been said, in accounting for the existence of these marks
of more extended cultivation, that, in ancient times, the valleys
were thickly wooded, and much infested with wolves and other wild
animals ; and that the inhabitants were, in some measure, compelled
to cultivate the high grounds, which were more clear of woods and
wild beasts. But as wolves could not be such objects of terror to an
armed population, and as it is not probable men were so void of
common sense, however savage they might be, as to cultivate the
more barren and exposed parts of a country, and leave the warm
and sheltered untouched ; it may, with some confidence, be supposed,
that a stronger necessity than the dread of savage animals compelled
the inhabitants to cultivate, as high as the soil and climate would
produce any return for their labour. Being shut up in their moun-
tains by the hostility of their neighbours on the plains, from whom
no supply could be obtained except by force of arms, the number of
inhabitants required that every spot capable of cultivation should be
rendered as productive as possible : hence the higher parts were
necessarily cleared and cultivated, when the low grounds were found
insufficient.
2 2 ANCIENT POPULATION.
of ancient habitations (and these of apparent note), as to
indicate a remarkably numerous population. They are
nineteen in number. One circular building, near the
house of Fincastle, is sixty-two feet in diameter ; the walls
are seven and a half feet thick, and a height of five feet is
still remaining. In the district of Foss there are four.
On the estate of Garth there are eight, some with walls
nine feet thick ; the stones in two of which are so weighty,
that they could scarcely have been raised to the walls
without the aid of machinery. In Glenlyon * there are
seven ; and, in a word, they are scattered all over the
country. Respecting these buildings, various opinions
are entertained ; but one thing is certain, that they must
have been erected at a great expense of labour, and that
a numerous people only would have required so many
buildings, either for shelter or defence. Tradition as-
signs them to the age of Ossian, and they are accordingly
denominated Chaistail na Fiann, "the Castles of the Fin-
gallians." The adjacent smaller buildings are pointed
out by names expressive of the purposes to which they
were appropriated. In Glenlyon, for instance, is shown
the kennel for Fingal's dogs, and the house for the
principal hunters. All this, to be sure, is tradition, and
will be received as such; but the traces of a numerous
population in former times, are nevertheless clear and
incontrovertible.
But, whatever might have been the population and
state of civilization of ancient Albion, the country was
destined to experience one of those revolutions which are
so frequent in human affairs. The extension of tlieir
* In ancient poetry, it is stated that the Fingallians had twelve
castles in Glenlyon, but the ruins of seven only are visible at this
iPi s/oi/ic, or
genealogical surname, is their usual appellation. To a stranger, the
accuracy with which these genealogical connections were preserved
may appear ridiculous, but the people filled up many idle hours very
innocently with matters of this kind, never failing to bring forward
the best traits in the character of their relations. Few men disclaim
a relationship to persons of honour, worth, or high station. No
claims of this nature were allowed by the Highlanders to sleep ; and
it is to be wished their conduct would continue, as formerly, to be
influenced by the dread of disgracing the honourable race whose
blood they believed filled their veins.
t There is a very ancient clan of this name, quite distinct from
the branch of the Campbells. The Chiefs estate lay on the side of
Loch-owe in Argyleshire.
* See Appendix, C.
MILITARY STRENGTH OF THE CLANS. 31
Upon the military sen-ices of the youthful, the most hard}-,
and the bravest of his followers, omitting those who were
infirm from age, those who, from tender years, or natural
inability, were unable to carry arms, and those whom it
was found necessar}^ to leave at home, for conducting the
business of the country. Besides the clans enumerated
in this curious document, there were a number of in-
dependent gentlemen, who had many followers, as also
several small clans, or " tribes " as they are commonly
called, which have been omitted in the Lord President's
report.
After treating of the general character of the High-
landers, the Memorial particularizes each clan, and sub-
joins statements of their respective forces, as under.'"
Duke of Argyll . . ... ... ... ... 3000
Breadalbane ... ... ... ... ... 1000
Lochnell and other cheftains of the Campbells ... loco
Macleans ... ... ... ... ... ... 500
Maclachlans ... ... ... ... ... 200
Stewart of Appin .. ... ... ... ... 300
Macdougals ... ... ... ... ... ... 200
Stewart of Grandtully ... ... ... ... 300
Clan Gregor ... ... ... ... ... 700
Duke of Athole 3000
Farquharsons .. ... ... ... ... 500
Grant of Gordon .. ... ... ... ... 300
Grant of Grant ... ... ... ... ... 850
Mackintosh 800
Macphersons ... .. .. ... ... 4CX)
Frasers ... ... ... ... ... ... 900
Grant of Glenmorriston ... ... ... ... 150
Chisholms ... ... ... ... ... ... 200
Duke of Perth 300
Seaforth looo
32 MILITARY STRENGTH OF THE CLANS.
In the enumeration below, the reader will find ex-
hibited in one view the power by which this mixture of
patriarchal and feudal government was supported. When
the kindred and followers of the chief saw him thus sur-
rounded by a body so numerous, faithful, and brave, they
Cromarty, Scatwell, Gairloch, and other chieftains
of the Mackenzies ... ... ... ... 1500
Menzies 300
Munros ... ... ... ... ... ... 300
Rosses ... ... .'. ... ... ... 500
Sutherlands 2000
Mackays 800
Sinclairs ... ... ... ... ... ... iioo
Macdonald of Sleat ... ... ... ... 700
Clanranald ... ... ... ... 700
Glengarry ... ... ... ... 500
Keppoch ... ... ... ... 300
Glencoe 130
Robertsons ... ... ... ... ... ... 200
Camerons ... ... ... ... ... ... Soo
Mackinnons ... ... ... ... ... ... 200
Macleods ... ... ... ... ... ... 700
The Duke of Montrose, Earls of Bute and Moray,
Macfarlanes, Colquhouns, Macneils of Barra,
Macnabs, Macnaughtans, Lamonts, etc., etc. 5600
11,930
In this statement the President has not included his own family
of Culloden, and his immediate neighbours Rose of Kilravock, and
Campbell of Calder ; nor has he noticed Bannatyne of Kaimes, the
Macallasters, Macquarries, and many other families and names.
As an instance of uninterrupted lineal descent, through a series of
turbulent ages, that of the family of Kilravock is remarkable.
Colonel Hugh Rose is the twenty-sixth Laird, and the nineteenth
of the name of Hugh in regular succession, since the estate came
into the possession of his family.
SUCCESSION OF THE CHIEFS. 35
could conceive no power superior to his ; * and how far
soever they looked back into the history of their tribe,
they found his progenitors at their head. Their tales,
traditions, and songs continually referred to the exploits
or transactions of the same line of kindred and friends,
living under the same line of chiefs; and the transmission
of command and obedience, from one generation to another,
thus became, in the eye of a Highlander, as natural as the
transmission of blood, or the regular laws of descent.
The long unbroken line of chiefs t is as great a proof of
* When the first Marquis of Huntly waited upon Kins; James
VI. in Edinburgh, on being created Marquis, in the year 1590, he
stood in the presence chamber with his head covered ; and on being
reminded of his seeming want of respect, he humbly asked pardon,
assigning as an excuse, that as he had just come from a countr}-
where all took off their bonnets to him, he had quite forgotten what
he owed to his present situation.
t Twenty-one Highland chiefs fought under Robert Bruce at
Bannockburn. The number of their direct descendants now in
existence, and in possession of their paternal estates, is remarkable.
The chiefs at Bannockburn were, Stewart, Macdonald, Mackay,
Mackintosh, Macpherson, Cameron, Sinclair, Drummond, Camp-
bell, Menzies, Maclean, Sutherland, Robertson, Grant, Fraser,
Macfarlane, Ross, Macgregor, Munro, Mackenzie, and Macqiiarrie.
Cumming, Macdougall of Lorn, Macnab, and a few others, were
also present, but unfortunately in opposition to Bruce. In conse-
quence of the distinguished conduct of the chief of the Drummonds
in this battle, the King added the calthropes to his armorial bear-
ings, and gave him an extensive grant of lands in Perthshire. It is
said to have been by Sir Malcolm Drummond's recommendation
that the calthropes, which proved so destructive to the English
cavaliy, were made use of on that day.
When we consider the state of turbulence and misrule which
prevailed in the Highlands, an unbroken succession, for five hundred
years, of so great a proportion of the chief agitators and leaders, is
the more remarkable, as there has been a greater change of property
D
34 SUCCESSION OF THE CHIEFS.
the general mildness of their sway, as of the fidelity of
their followers ; for the independent spirit displayed on
various occasions by the people, proves that they would
not have brooked oppression, where they looked for kind-
ness and protection. " This power of the chiefs is not
supported by interest, as they are landlords, but by con-
sanguinity, as Hneally descended from the old patriarchs
or fathers of their families ; for they hold the same author-
ity when they have lost their estates, as may appear from
several instances, and particularly that of one who com-
mands his clan, though at the same time they maintain
him, having nothing left of his own."*
This was the late Lord Lovat, who, with all his good
and bad quaUties, possessed, in a singular degree, the art
of securing the love and obedience of his clan. Though
attainted and outlawed, and though his estate was for-
feited, and given to Mackenzie of Fraserdale, as next
heir in the female line, his mother being eldest daughter
of a former Lord Lovat ; yet such was the fidelity of the
clan to their real chief, that they flocked to his standard
at the first summons, quitting his rich rival, who, being
possessed of the estate, had the power of rewarding his
friends and supporters. The individuals might change,
but the ties that bound together one, were drawn more
closely, though by insensible degrees, around the suc-
ceeding ; and thus each family, in all its various succes-
sions, retained something like the same sort of relation
to the parent stem, which the renewed leaves of a tree
within the last forty years of tranquillity, abundance, and wealth,
than in the preceding two hundred years of feuds, rapine, and com-
parative poverty.
* Letters from an Officer of Engineers to his friend in London.
CONSEQUENCES OF THIS SYSTEM. 35
in spring preserve, in point of relative position, to those
which dropped off in the preceding autumn.*
Many important consequences, regarding the char-
acter of the Highlanders, resulted from this division of
the people into small tribes, and from this establishment
of patriarchal government. The authority of the king
was rendered feeble and inefftcient. His mandates could
* The attachment and friendship of kindred, families, and clans,
were confirmed by many ties. It has been a uniform practice in
the families of the Campbells of Melford, Duntroon, and DmistafF-
nage, that, when the head of either family died, the chief mourners
should be the two other lairds, one of whom supporting the head to
the grave, while the other walked before the corpse. In this man-
ner friendship took the place of the nearest consanguinity ; for even
the eldest sons of the deceased were not permitted to interfere with
this arrangement. The first progenitors of these families were three
sons of the family of Argyll, who took this method of preserving the
friendship, and securing the support of their posterity to one another.
In a manner something similar the family of Breadalbane had
their bonds of union and friendship, simple in themselves, but
sufficient to secure the support of those whom they were intended to
unite. The motto of the armorial bearings of the family is " Follow
me." This significant call was assumed by Sir Colin Campbell,
Laird of Glenorchy, who was a Knight Templar of Rhodes, and is
still known in the Highlands by the designation of Cailean Dubh na
Roidh, "Black Colin of Rhodes." Several cadets of the family
assumed mottos analogous to that of this chivalrous knight, and
when the chief called " Follow me," he found a ready compliance
from Campbell of Glenfalloch, a son of Glenorchy, who says,
**Thus far," that is, to his heart's blood, the crest being a dagger
piercing a heart; — from Achlyne, who says, "With heart and
hand ;" — from Achallader, who says, " With courage ; " — and from
Barcaldine, who says, Paratus sum : Glenlyon, more cautious, says,
Qtue recta seqiior. A knight and baron, neighbours but not fol-
lowers, Menzies of Menzies, and Flemyng of Moness, in token of
friendship say, "Will God I shall," and "The deed will show."
An ancestor of mine, also a neighbour, says, " Beware."
36 CONSEQUENCES OF THIS SYSTEM.
neither arrest the depredations of one clan against an-
other, nor allay their mutual hostilities. Delinquents
could not, with impunity, be pursued into the bosom of
a clan which protected them, nor could his judges ad-
minister the laws, in opposition to their interests or their
will. Sometimes he strengthened his arm, by fomenting
animosities among them, and by entering occasionally
into the interest of one, in order to weaken another.*
Many instances of this species of policy occur in Scottish
history, which, for a long period, was unhappily a mere
record of internal violence. The consequence of this
absence of general laws was an almost perpetual system
of aggression, warfare, depiedation, and contention.
These Httle sovereignties touched at so many points,
yet were so independent of one another; they approached
so nearly, in many respects, yet were, in others, so dis-
tant; there were so many opportunities of encroach-
ment on the one hand, and so little of a disposition to
submit to it on the other ; and the quarrel of one indi-
vidual of the tribe so naturally involved tlie rest, that
there was scarcely ever a profound peace, or perfect
cordiality between them. Among their chiefs the most
deadly feuds frequently arose from opposing interests, or
from wounded pride. These feuds were warmly espoused
by the whole clan, and were often transmitted, with
aggravated animosity, from generation to generation.
It would be curious to trace all the negotiations,
treaties, and bonds of amity (or Manrent^ as they are
called), with which opposing clans strengthened them-
selves, and their coalitions with friendly neighbours, against
the attacks and encroachments of their enemies or rivals,
* This was acting on the old maxim, " Divide cl impcra"
FEUDS — ASSOCIATIONS. 37
or to preserve the balance of power.* By these bonds, t
they pledged themselves to assist each other ; but, however
general their internal insurrections and disputes might be,
however extended their cause of quarrelwith rivals or neigh-
bours, they invariably bound themselves to be loyal and
true to the king : "always, excepting my duty to our Lord
the King, and to our kindred and friends," w^as a special
* It is rather a humiliating consideration for the votaries of am-
bition, who have made war and politics their sole study, to find,
from the history of past ages, that no less art, sagacity, address, and
courage, have been displayed in the petty contest of illiterate moun-
taineers, than in their most refined schemes of policy and their most
brilliant feats of arms. That they should be able, by intrigue and
dexterity, to attach new allies, and detach hostile tribes from their
confederates, is a still more mortifying proof how nearly the un-
assisted powers of natural talent approach to the practices of the
most profound politicians.
+ As a curious document of this nature, I may mention a bond
of amity and mutual defence entered into by a number of gentlemen
of the name of Stewart in Athole, Monteith, and Appin, to which
each affixed his seal and signature, binding himself to support the
others against all attacks and encroachments, especially from the
Marquis of Argyll, who had sided with the Covenanters. This
bond is dated at Burn of Keltney, 24th June 1654. The long con-
, tinued feuds between the Argyle and Atholem.en, which were latterly
much embittered by political differences, were the cause of many
skirmishes and battles. The last of these was a kind of drawn
battle, in the reign of Charles II,, each party retiring different ways.
When the Atholemen heard that the Argylemen were on their march
to attack them, they immediately flew to arms, and, moving forward,
encountered their foes in Breadalbane, near the east end of Loch-Tay.
The conflict was most desperate. The dead were carried to a con-
siderable distance and buried in a small knoll, now included in the
parks of Taymouth, where their bones were found in great numbers
in 18 16, when Lord Breadalbane cut down a corner of this knoll in
the formation of a road.
38 FEUDS — ASSOCIATIONS.
clause.* In these treaties of mutual support and protec-
tion were included smaller clans, unable to defend them-
selves, and such families or clans as had lost their chiefs.
Those of the name of Stewart, for instance, whose estates
lay in the district of Athole, and whose chiefs by birth,
being at one period Kings of Scotland, and afterwards
of Great Britain, where latterly in exile, ranged themselves
under the family of Athole, though they were themselves
sufficiently numerous to raise 1000 fighting men. When
such unions took place, the smaller clans followed the
fortunes, engaged in the quarrels, and fought under the
chiefs of the greater,t but their ranks were separately
marshalled, and led by their own subordinate chieftains
and lairds, who owned submission only when necessary,
for the success of combined operations. From these,
and other causes, the Highlands were, for ages, as constant
a theatre of petty warfare, as Europe has been of im-
* Of these bonds of Manrent, the instances are too many to be
enumerated. One in possession of Lord Bannatyne, is a bond be-
tween his ancestor the Laird of Karnes, chief of the Bannatynes or
MacCamelyne, as they are called in Gaelic, and Sir John Stewart,
ancestor to the Marquis of Bute, dated 20th May 1547, in which
they engage to stand by and support each other, against all persons
except the King and the Earl of Argyll ; this latter reservation being
to enable the chief of the Bannatynes to fulfil a bond of Manrent, he
had previously come under to Argyll. This latter bond is dated
14th April 1538.
Nor were these engagements confined to chiefs and heads of
families : humbler individuals thus bound themselves ; but a par-
ticular exception never to be forgotten or infringed, was their fidelity
to the chief of their own blood and family.
t In this manner the Macraes followed the Earl of Seaforth, the
Gunns and Mathesons the Earls of Sutherland, the MacColls, the
Stewarts of Appin, and the Macgillivrays and Macbeans, the Laird
of Mackintosh, etc., etc.
FEUDS. 39
portant struggles. The smaller the society, and the more
closely connected together, the more keenly did it feel
an injury, or resent an insult offered by a rival tribe. A
haughty or contemptuous expression uttered against a
chief, was considered by all his followers, in the light of a
personal affront;* and the driving away the cattle of
one clansman, was looked upon as an act of aggression
against the whole. The rage for vengeance, and the
desire of reprisals, spread throughout the little community,
like the violence of an insult offered to an individual,
heightened by the sympathy of numbers. Submission to
insult would have been present disgrace, and would have
invited future aggression. Immediate hostility was there-
fore the result, and the gathering word of the clan found
an echo in every breast, t
If no immediate opportunity of obtaining complete
satisfaction occurred ; if the mjured party was too weak
to repel attack, and to vindicate their honour in the field,
or to demand compensation for their property, still the
hostile act was not forgotten, nor the resolution of aveng-
ing it abandoned. Every artifice by which cunning could
compensate the want of strength was practised ; alliances
were courted, and favourable opportunities watched.
* " When a quarrel begins in words between two Highlanders of
different clans, it is esteemed the very height of malice and rancour,
and the greatest of all provocations, to reproach one another with the
vices or personal defects of their chiefs, or that of the particular
branch whence they sprung ; and, in a third degree, to reproach the
whole clan or name, whom they will assist, right or wrong, against
those of any other tribe with which they are at variance, to whom
their enmity, like that of exasperated brothers, is most outrageous." —
Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland.
t See Appendix, D.
40 FEUDS.
Even an appearance of conciliation was assumed, to
cover the darkest purposes of hatred ; and as revenge is
embittered in all countries where the laws are ill executed,
and where the hand of the individual must vindicate
those rights which pubHc justice does not protect, so this
feeling was cherished and honoured when directed against
rival tribes.*
To such a pitch were those feelings carried, that there
are instances, both in tradition and on record, in which
these feuds led to the most sanguinary conflicts, and
ended in the extermination of one of the adverse parties, t
The spirit of opposition and rivalry between the clans
perpetuated a system of hostility, encouraged the cultiva-
tion of the military at the expense of the social virtues, and
perverted their ideas both of law and morality. Revenge
was accounted a duty, the destruction of a neighbour a
meritorious exploit, and rapine an honourable occupa-
tion. Their love of distinction, and a conscious reliance
on their own courage, when under the direction of these
perverted notions, only tended to make their feuds more
implacable, their condition more agitated, and their de-
predations more rapacious and desolating. Superstition
* In the present enlightened times, were the laws unable to
afford protection, and were individuals, or collective bodies, forced
to arm in order to redress their own wrongs, — would murder,
turbulance, and spoliation of property, be less prevalent than they
were in the Highlands when unprotected by the general laws of the
realm ? Were the return of such scenes of license and rapine a
])robable occurrence, I fear much the warmest advocate of modern
civilization would hardly venture to anticipate, that they would be
blended with those frequent and softening traits of honourable feel-
ing which distinguished the inroads of the wild mountaineers.
+ See Appendix, E.
MODE OF SUPPORTING WARFARE. 41
added its influence in exasperating animosities, by teach-
ing the clansmen, that, to revenge the death of a relation
or friend, was a sacrifice agreeable to his manes ; thus
engaging on the side of implacable hatred, and ven-
geance, the most amiable and domestic of all our feel-
ings, — reverence for the memory of the dead, and affec-
tion for the virtues of the living.*
As the general riches of the country consisted in
flocks and herds, the usual mode of commencing attacks,
or of making reprisals, was by an incursion to carry off the
cattle of the hostile clan. A predatory expedition was the
general declaration of enmity ; and a command given by
the chief to clear the pastures of the enemy, constituted
the usual letters of marque. Such inroads were frequently
directed to the Lowlands, where the booty was richest,
* Another custom contributed to perpetuate this spirit of lawless
revenge. Martin, who studied, and understood the character and
manners of the Highlanders, says, " Every heir or young chieftain
of a tribe was obliged in honour to give a specimen of his valour
before he was owned or declared governor or leader of his people,
who obeyed and followed him on all occasions. This chieftain was
usually attended with a retinue of young men, who had not before
given any proof of their valour, and were ambitious of such an
opportunity to signalize themselves. It was usual for the chief to
make a desperate incursion upon some neighbour or other, that they
were in feud with, and they were obliged to bring, by open force,
the cattle they found in the land they attacked, or to die in the
attempt. After the performance of this achievement, the young
chieftain was ever after reputed valiant, and worthy of government,
and such as were of his retinue acquired the like reputation. This
custom being reciprocally used among them, was not reputed rob-
bery ; for the damage which one tribe sustained by the inauguration
of the chieftain of another was repaired when their chieftain came in
his turn to make his specimen ; but I have not heard of an instance
of this practice for these sixty years since." — Martin's Description of
the Western Islatids. London, printed 1703.
42 MODE OF SUPPORTING WARFARE.
and where less vigilance was exercised in protecting it.
Regarding every Lowlander as an alien, and his cattle as
fair spoil of war, they considered no law for his protection
as binding. The Lowlanders, on the other hand, regarded
their neighbours of the mountains as a lawless banditti,
whom it was dangerous to pursue to their fastnesses, in
order to recover their property, or to punish aggressions.
Yet, except against the Lowlanders, or a hostile clan,
these freebooters maintained, in general, the strictest
honesty towards one another, and inspired confidence
in their integrity. In proof of this, it may be mentioned,
that instances of theft from dwelling-houses scarcely ever
occurred, and highway robbery was totally unknown,
except in one case so recent as the year 1770, when a
man of education, and of respectable family, but of
abandoned character, formed and headed a gang of
robbers.* In the interior of their own society, all prO-
* His name was Mackintosh. He was a man of education, and
knowledge of the world, who disgraced the respectable family from
which he was descended, and the community to which he belonged.
He was bred in a school such as the Highlands had rarely witnessed.
His father, who, by a base stratagem, had usurped possession of an
estate to which he had no right, lived, after the death of his wife, in
a kind of seraglio, despised and shunned by the neighbouring gentry,
though his abilities were good, and his manners prepossessing. He
was the Colonel Charteris of his district, with this honourable dis-
tinction in favour of the Highlanders, that he was shunned as much
as the other was countenanced. This example accounts too well for
the bold profligacy of his heir, who excelled in all personal accom-
plishments, possessed engaging and elegant manners, and was
remarkably handsome. The last exploit of this man was an attempt
to rob Sir Hector Munro on his journey to the North, after his return
from India in 1770. Mackintosh escaped to America, and afterwards
joined Washington's army. One of his accomplices was taken and
executed at Inverness in 1773.
MODE OF SUPPORTING WARFARE. 43
perty ^yas safe, without the usual security of bolts, bars,
and locks.* An open barn, or shed, was the common
summer receptacle of their clothes, cheese, and everything
that required air; and although iron bars and gates were
necessary to protect the houses and castle of the chiefs
and lairds from hostile inroads, when at feud, no security
*■ A late scientific tourist gives an unintentional testimony to the
probity and honesty of the people towards one another. Noticing
the wretched dwellings of the inhabitants of St Kilda, with an interior
dark and smoky, he adds, ' ' Each house has a door with a lock and
key, a luxury quite unkiiozun in other parts of the Highlands.'^ It
were well that this luxury should long continue unknown, and that
the people should remain ignorant of the necessity of securing their
houses. If the progress of civilization, as the change of manners is
called, compel the Highlanders to lock their doors against nightly
depredators, it may create a question, whether ignorance and integrity,
or knowledge and knavery, be preferable ; o\ whether people can
indeed be called ignorant, who are attentive to their religious duties, —
who exercise the moral virtues of integrity and filial reverence, — who
are loyal to their king, brave and honourable in the field, and equally
firm in opposing an enemy and in supporting a friend. If these
traits of character are exhibited by a people called ignorant and
uncivilized, the terms may have perhaps been misapplied. On this
subject Martin says of the Highlanders of the seventeenth century,
"I am not ignorant that foreigners have been tempted, from the
sight of so many wild hills, to imagine that the inhabitants, as well
as the places of their residence, are equally barbarous, and to this
opinion their habits as well as their language has contributed. The
like is supposed by many that live in the south of Scotland ; but the
lion is not so fierce as he is painted, neither are the people here so
barbarous as people imagine. The inhabitants have humanity, use
strangers hospitably and charitably. I could bring several instances
of barbarity and theft by stranger seamen in the Isles, hit there is -not
one instance of any injury offered by the islanders to any seaman or
stranger. For the humanity and hospitable temper of the islanders
to sailors I shall only give two instances. " +
+ See Appendix F.
44 CREACHS.
was required in time of peace, and while the castle gates
were open the dwellings of the people had no safeguard.*
But on the other hand, open depredations were carried on
with systematic order, and they saw no greater moral turpi-
tude in levying a creach^\ heading a foray, or in "lifting"
* My father, still adhering to old customs, does not lock his doors
to this day. I know not how long this custom may with safety be
continued : recent symptoms of a deplorable change in morals will
undoubtedly compel people to guard their property with more care.
It will then be no longer, as I have known it, that gentlemen have
been half their lives in the commission of the peace, without having
occasion to act against a criminal, unless in issuing warrants to recover
the fines of Excise Courts, or on account of assaults on Excise officers,
and accidental frays. Clothes and linens will no longer be seen dry-
ing and bleaching in all parts of the country, and at all hours, with-
out guard or protection ; nor open sheds hung round with all the
Sunday's apparel of tffe lads and lasses. The rude Highlanders are
undergoing a process of civilization by new manners, new morals, and
new religion, the progress of which is at once rapid and deplorable.
An inquiry into the cause of this loss of principle and morals in an
age when so much is done to enlighten and educate, would certainly
be extremely interesting.
+ Creach is a very appropriate term, and means, to impoverish.
If there was much resistance in these forays, and if lives were lost,
great destruction frequently ensued in revenge for the loss sustained;
but in common incursions, either against the Lowlanders, or rival
tribes, personal hostilities were avoided except in retaliation of some
previous death or insult. The creachs of the Highlanders, though
sufficiently calamitous, were trifling when compared with the raids
or forays on the borders of England and Scotland. The following
account of the devastation committed by the English upon the
Scotch, in the year 1544, will serve as a specimen of the miseries
to which the border countries were exposed. The sum-total of mis-
chief done in diffisrent forays, from the 2nd of July to the 17th of
November of that year, is thus computed: — "Towns, towers,
steads, parish churches, castle houses, cast down and burnt, 192 ;
Scots slain, 403; prisoners taken, 816; nolts (z,' is held in
the highest veneration by the Highlanders, who retain many tradi-
tional anecdotes of him.
t Bishop Wishart's Memoirs of Motitrose.
X General Mackay's Menioirs.
50 HOSTILE EXPEDITIONS.
next morning, instantly stormed and carried the town;
but he had scarcely taken possession, when he received
information that General Baillie and Colonel Hurry, two
veteran and experienced officers, with eight hundred
horse, and three thousand infantry, were on their march
towards him, and within little more than a mile of the
town. Montrose immediately recalled his men, and
marched off, pursued by the enemy, who, dividing their
force, sent one part to intercept, and the other to pursue
him. During the retreat he occasionally halted, and
opposed their successive attacks, and by a circuitous
route regained the Grampians through the pass of Glen
Esk, with a trifling loss. — "And this was that so much
talked-of expedition to Dundee, infamous indeed for the
mistakes of the scouts, but as renowned as any for the
valour, constancy, and undaunted resolution of the Gene-
ral; and admirable for the hardiness of the soldiers in
encountering all extremities with patience: for threescore
miles together (Scotch miles, equal to ninety English),
they had been often in fight, always upon their march,
without either meat or sleep, or intermission, or the
least refreshment; which, whether foreign nations or
aftertimes will believe, I cannot tell; but, I am sure, I
deliver nothing but what is most certain of my own know-
ledge: And truly, amongst expert soldiers, and those of
eminent note, both of England, Germany, and France, I
have not seldom heard this expedition of Montrose pre-
ferred to his greatest victory."*
The endless feuds between tlie Argyle and Atholemen
assisted in preserving the military spirit and the use of
* Dr IVishart, Bishop of Edinburgh's Memoirs of the Marquis
of Montrose.
HOSTILE EXPEDITIONS. 51
arms. In the charter-chest of Stewart of Ballechin there
is a commission to his ancestor, the Laird of Ballechin,
from the Marquis of Atholl, then Lord-Lieutenant of
Argyleshire, dated in 1685, authorising him to march
with a strong body of Atholemen into that county, and to
take possession of the property of the Marquis of Argyll,
and of several gentlemen then attainted for rebellion.
In what spirit these orders were carried into effect, will
appear from the circumstance that eighteen gentlemen,
of the name of Campbell, were executed at Inveraray.
The commission granted to Ballechin is highly curious,
and prescribes all the intended operations and proposed
plans with great accuracy and precision.*
* I am informed by my friend Mr Stewart of Ballechin, that, in
the preceding editions, I had misapprehended the nature of this
document ; and that it was a commission from the Marquis of Atholl
as Lord Lieutenant of Argyleshire to his ancestor, under the autho-
rity of which he marched into that county, and, taking possession o£
Inveraray, held courts there. Many were tried on a charge of rebel-
lion, and refusing to take the Test Oath ; and eighteen men were
executed. I find also that Ballechin got a charter from the Crown
in 16S5, containing a grant of a considerable portion of lands in
Argyleshire. Having only had a cursory glance of these documents
a number of years ago, it is probable I may not have had a proper
recollection of their real import. But in whatever view this trans-
action is considered, whether as a feudal inroad, or a proceeding
under authority, it equally proves the object for which I introduced
the subject ; — namely, to show, in a strong light, the fatal effects
which may be expected when a weak and inefficient government is
unable to execute an important measure, except by employing the
inhabitants of one district to coerce and punish those of another ;
thus adding fresh matter of irritation and hostility to former feuds,
and exciting a spirit of revenge and retaliation — a feeling which
would not have existed, at least in the same degree, had a sufficient
force, from a distant country, been employed. Were the weavers of
Glasgow sent to quell a riot or insurrection among the weavers of
52 EFFECTS OF THE WANT OF LAWS.
How little the Highlanders were accustomed to attach
any ideas of moral turpitude to such exploits, may be
learned from the conduct and sentiments of several of
those freebooters, who, at no very distant period, became
the victims of a more regular administration of the laws, and
who were unable to comprehend in what their criminality
consisted. After the troubles of 1745, many who had
been engaged in them, afraid to return to their own
country, over which the king's troops were dispersed, and
having no settled residence or means of support, formed
several associations of freebooters, which laid the borders
of the Highlands under contribution.
An active leader among these banditti, Donald
Cameron, or Donald Bane Leane, was tried in Perth
for cattle stealing, and executed at Kinloch Rannoch
in 1752, in order to strike terror into his band in that
district. At his execution he dwelt with surprise and
indignation on his fate. He had never committed mur-
der, nor robbed man or house, or taken anything but
cattle off the grass of those with whom he was at feud ;
why therefore punish him for doing that which was a
common prey to all? Another freebooter, Alexander
Stewart, (commonly called Alister Breac, from his being
marked with the smallpox), was executed in 1753. He
was despised as a pitiful thief, who deserved his fate,
because he committed such acts as would have degraded
a genuine Kearnach.
But they were not the actors alone who attached no
criminality, or at least disgrace, to the " lifting of cattle,"
Paisley, and were they to hang a number of the rioters, the heart-
burnings, jealousies, and spirit of revenge, which such rencontres
would occasion, may easily be imagined.
COMPENSATION FOR INJURIES. 53
as we find from a letter of Field Marshal Wade to Mr
Forbes of CuUoden, then Lord Advocate, dated October
1729, describing an entertainment given him on a visit to
a party of Kearnachs. The Marshal says, " The Knight
and I travelled in my cartiage with great ease and pleasure
to the feast of oxen which the highwaymen had prepared
for us, opposite Lochgarry, where we found four oxen
roasting at the same time, in great order and solemnity.
We dined in a tent pitched for that purpose. The beef
was excellent ; and we had plenty of bumpers, not for-
getting your Lordship's and Culloden's health ; and, after
three hours' stay, took leave of our benefactors^ the high-
waymen* and arrived at the hut at Dalnachardoch before
it was dark."t
The constant state of warfare, aggression, and rapine,
in which the clans lived, certainly tended to improve
their ingenuit)', and inured them to hardships and priva-
tions, which, indeed, their abstemious mode of living, and
their constant exposure to all varieties of weather in
their loose and light dress, enabled them to bear without
inconvenience, i On the other hand, this incessant
* The Marshal had not at this period been long enough in the
Highlands to distinguish a kearnach, or " lifter of cattle," from a
highwayman. No such character as the latter then existed in the
country ; and it may be presumed he did not consider these men in
the light which the word would indicate ; — for certainly the Com-
mander-in-Chief would neither have associated with men whom he
supposed to be really highwaymen, nor partaken of their hospitality.
t CuUoden Papers.
X Habituated as the people were, from the nature of the country,
and their pastoral emplojTnent, to traverse extensive tracts exposed
to tempests and floods, and to cross rapid torrents, and dangerous
precipices, the young Highlander acquired a presence of mind which
54 EFFECTS OF THE WANT OF LAWS.
State of warfare gave a cast of savage ferocity to their
character, while their quarrels and hereditary feuds kept
them in a state of alarm and disquietude, and obliged
them to have recourse to stratagems and intrigues. These
naturally gave rise to habits of duplicity, which had a
baneful influence on their morals. Whilst a summary
and arbitrary course of proceeding was sanctioned by
ideas of honour, passion had no check from legal control,
and retaliation must have frequently been accompanied
by licentious cruelty, and a disregard of all moderation
prepared him for becoming an active and intelligent soldier, particu-
larly in that independent species of warfare practiced in the woods
of America, and lately so much in use with our light troops, in which
men must depend upon their own resources and personal exertions.
These habits are not so readily acquired in a level country, where
there are few natural obstructions or difficulties, and these few easily
surmountable by art.
In Mr Jamieson's excellent edition of Burt's Letters, the follow-
ing instance is given of presence of mind in a Highland lad, who,
with a Lowland farmer, was crossing a mountain stream, in a glen,
at the upper end of which a waterspout had fallen. The Highlander
had reached the opposite bank, but the farmer was looking about
and loitering on the stones over which he was stepping, wondering
at a sudden noise he heard, when the Highlander cried out, " Help,
help, or I am a dead man," and fell to the ground. The farmer
sprang to his assistance, and had hardly reached him when the
torrent came down, sweeping over the stones, with a fury which no
human force could have withstood. The lad had heard the roaring
of the stream behind the rocks, which intercepted its view from the
farmer, and fearing that he might be panic struck if he told him of
his danger, took this expedient of saving him. A young man like
this might have been trusted on an out-post in front of an enemy ;
and, possessing such presence of mind, would have been equally
capable of executing his own duties, and of observing the movements
and intentions of the enemy.
COMPENSATION FOR INJURIES. 55
and justice.* To avoid the disorders produced by per-
* An old historian has drawn the following picture of the state
of Scotland after the murder of James I., and during the minority of
his son, James II., under the administration of Livingston of Cal-
lander, the Governor, and the Lord Chancellor Crichton, the im-
becility of whose government was such as to leave the turbulence of
the nobility without control. The strong arm of the law had never
been felt in the Highlands, and hence arose the summary modes of
avenging private wrongs, to which the people had recourse in the
absence of judicial redress. Yet they may be said to have lived in a
state of peace and repose, compared with the distractions and turbul-
ence of the south, whenever the laws and the executive authority
were for a time suspended. "Through this manner," says the author,
" the whole youth of Scotland began to rage in mischief; for as long
as there was no man to punish, much herships and slaughter was in
the land and boroughs, great cruelty of nobles among themselves,
for slaughters, theft, and murder, were there patent ; and so continu-
ally, day by day, that he was esteemed the greatest man of renown
and fame that was the greatest brigand, thief, or murderer. But
they were the cause of this mischief that were the governors and
magistrates of the realm. And this oppression and mischief reigned
not only in the south-west parts, but also the men of the Isles in-
vaded sundry parts of Scotland at that time, both by fire and sword,
and especially the Lennox was wholly overthrown. Traitors be-
came so proud and insolent, that they burned and berried the
country wherever they came, and spared neither old nor young,
bairn or wife, but cruelly would burn their houses and them to-
gether if they made any obstacles. Thus they raged through the
country without any respect either to God or man."
Of the reign of James V. the same author writes, "the King
went to the south with 12,000 men, and after this hunting he hanged
Johnie Armstrong, Laird of Kilnocky, over the gate of his castle,
and his accomplices, to the number of thirty-six persons, for which
many Scotchmen heartily lamented, for he was the most redoubted
chieftain that had been for a long time on the borders of Scotland
or of England. It is said, that, from the borders to Newcastle,
every man of whatsoever estate paid him tribute to be free of his
trouble. This being done, the king passed to the Isles, and there
56 COMPENSATION FOR INJURIES.
petual strife, a plan was adopted for compensating injuries
by a composition in cattle. The amount of the reparation
to be made was generally determined by the principal men
of their tribes, according to the rank and wealth of the
parties, and the nature of the injury. Thus the aggres-
sions of the rich could not escape with impunity; and,
complete redress being the object of the arbiters, the com-
position was considered more honourable, as well as afford-
ing greater security against future encroachments, in pro-
portion to the largeness of its amount. These ransoms,
or compensations, were called Erig.
held justice courts, and then punished both thief and traitor, accord-
ing to their deserts ; syne brought many of the great men of the
Isles captive with him, such as Macdonnells, Macleod of the Lewis,
Macneil, Maclean, Mackintosh, John Muidart, Mackay, Mac-
kenzie, with many others that I cannot rehearse at this time, some
of them to be put in wards, and some had in courts, and some he
took in pledges for good rule in time coming ; so he brought the
Isles in good rule and peace both north and south, whereby he had
great profit, service, and obedience of people a long time thereafter ;
and as long as he had the heads of the country in subjection, they
lived in great peace and rest, and there was great riches and policy
by the king's justice." *
* Lindsay of Pitscottie's History of Scotland,
JURISDICTION OF THE CHIEFS. 57
SECTION III.
Drvoted obedience of the Claris — Spirit of Independence —
Fidelity.
The chief generally resided among his retainers. His
castle was the court where rewards were distributed, and
the most enviable distinctions conferred. All disputes
were settled by his decision ; * and the prosperity or
poverty of his tenants depended on his proper or im-
proper treatment of them. These tenants followed his
standard in war, attended him in his hunting excursions,
supphed his table with the produce of their farms, and
assembled to reap his corn, and to prepare and bring home
his fuel. They looked up to him as their adviser and
their protector. The cadets of his family, respected in
proportion to the proximity of the relation in which they
stood to him, became a species of sub-chiefs, scattered
over different parts of his domains, holding their lands
and properties of him, with a sort of subordinate juris-
diction over a portion of his people ; and were ever
* During fifty-five years, in which the late Mr Campbell of
Achallader had the charge of Lord Breadalbane's estate, no instance
occurred of tenants going to law. Their disputes were referred to
the amicable decision of the noble proprietor and his deputy ; and as
the confidence of the people in the honour and probity of both was
unlimited, no man ever dreamed of an appeal from their decision.
Admitting even that their judgment might occasionally be erroneous,
the advantages of these prompt and final decisions, to a very numer-
ous tenantry', among whom many causes of difference naturally arose
from their mixed and minute possessions, were incalculable.
58 JURISDICTION OF THE CHIEFS.
ready to afford him their counsel and assistance in all
emergencies.
Great part of the rent of land was paid in kind, and
generally consumed where it was produced. One chief
was distinguished from another, not by any additional
splendour of dress or equipage, but by having a greater
number of followers, * by entertaining a greater number
of guests, and by the exercise of general hospitality, kind-
ness, and condescension. What his retainers gave from
their individual property was spent amongst them in the
kindest and most liberal manner. At the castle every in-
dividual was made welcome, and was treated according to
his station, with a degree of courtesy and regard to his
feelings unknown in many other countries.! This con-
descension, whilst it raised the clansman in his own estima-
tion, and drew closer the ties between him and his superior,
seldom tempted him to use any improjjer familiarities.
* Macdonell of Keppoch being questioned as to the amount of his
income, " I can call out and command 500 men," was the answer.
t Dr Johnson, noticing this interchange of kindness and affection-
ate familiarity between the people and their landlords, thus describes
a meeting between the young Laird of Coll (elder brother of the pre-
sent), and some of his attached and dutiful retainers : — " Wherever
we moved," says the Doctor, " we were pleased to see the reverence
with which his subjects regarded him. He did not endeavour to
dazzle them by any magnificence of dress ; his only distinction was a
feather in his bonnet ; but as soon as he appeared, they forsook their
work and clustered round him ; he took them by the hand, and they
were mutually delighted. He has the proper disposition of a chief-
tain, and seems desirous to continue the custom of his house. The
bagpiper played regularly when dinner was served, whose person and
address made a good appearance, and brought no disgrace on the
family of Rankin, which has long supplied the Lairds of Coll with
hereditary music." — Doctor yohnsons Tour.
JUEISDICTION OF THE CHIEFS. 59
He believed himself well born, * and was taught to re-
spect himself in the respect which he showed to his chief;
* This pride of ancestr)-, when directed as it was among this
people, produced very beneficial effects on their character and con-
duct. It formed strong attachments, led to the performance of
laudable and heroic actions, and enabled the poorest Highlander
begging his bread to support his hardships without a murmur. Alex-
ander Stewart claimed a descent from one of the first families in the
kingdom, and through them from the Kings of Scotland ; but being
poor and destitute, he went about the country as a privileged beggar.
He took no money, nor anything but a dinner, supper, or night's
accommodation, such as a man of his descent might expect on the
principles of hospitality. He never complained of bad fare, lodging,
or any other privation. Seeing (he said) that one king of his family
and name had been assassinated, another had died in a wretched
cottage or mill, a queen and a king of the same blood had lost their
heads upon the scaffold, and the descendants of these kings, exiles
from the country of their fathers, had been supported by the benevol-
ence of strangers ; and seeing that eminent men of his blood had
endured misfortunes and want with firmness and resignation,— ought
not he to do the same? and would he discredit his honourable descent
by unavailing complaints against that Providence which suffered the
high as well as the low to be visited by misfortune ?
These may be called prejudices, but it were well if all prejudices
had a similar effect in making men contented under poverty and
destitution ; and when such are their effects, perhaps the term pre-
judice, as usually understood, does not apply.
Alexander Macleod, from the Isle of Skye, was some years ago
seized with a fatal illness in Glenorchy, where he died. When he
found his end approaching, he earnestly requested that he might be
buried in the burjnng-ground of the principal family of the district,
as he was descended from one as ancient, warlike, and honourable ;
and stated that he could not die in peace if he thought his family
would be dishonoured in his person, by his being buried in a mean
and improper manner. Although his request could not be complied
with, he was buried in a corner of the churchyard, where his grave
is preserved in its original state by Dr Macintyre, the venerable
pastor of Glenorchy.
60 JURISDICTION OF THE CHIEFS.
and thus, instead of complaining of the difference of
station and fortune, or considering a ready obedience to
his chieftain's call as a slavish oppression, he felt con-
vinced that he was supporting his own honour in showing
his gratitude and duty to the generous head of his family.
"Hence, the Highlanders, whom more savage nations
called savage, carried in the outward expression of their
manners the politeness of courts without their vices, and
in their bosoms the high point of honour without its
follies."*
" Nothing," says Mrs Grant, " can be more erroneous
than the prevalent idea that a Highland chief was an
ignorant and unprincipled tyrant, who rewarded the ab-
ject submission of his followers with relentless cruelty and
rigorous oppression. If ferocious in disposition, or weak
in understanding, he was curbed and directed by the
elders of his tribe, who, by inviolable custom, were his
standing counsellors, without whose advice no measure of
any kind was decided. "t
But though the sway of the chief was thus mild in
practice, it was in its nature arbitrary, and, on proper
occasions, was exercised with full severity. There is still
to be seen among the papers of the family of Perth, an
application from the town of Perth to Lord Drummond,
dated in 1707, requesting an occasional use of his Lord-
ship's executioner, who was considered an expert opera-
tor. The request was granted, his Lordship reserving to
himself the power of recalling him whenever he had occa-
sion for his services. Some time before the year 1745,
the Lord President Forbes, travelling from Edinburgh to
* Dalrymplc' 5 Memoirs,
+ Mrs Gi-ant's Superstitions of the Highlanders.
JURISDICTION OF THE CHIEFS. 6l
his seat at Culloden, dined on his way at the Castle of
Blair Athole, with the Duke of Atholl. In the course of
the evening a petition was delivered to his Grace, which
having read, he turned round to the President, and said
" My Lord, here is a petition from a poor man, whom
Commissary Bisset, my baron bailie,* has condemned to
be hanged ; and as he is a clever fellow, and is strongly
recommended to mercy, I am much inclined to pardon
him." "But your Grace knows," said the President,
"that, after condemnation, no man can pardon but his
Majesty." "As to that," rephed the Duke, "since I
have the power of punishing, it is but right that I should
have the power to pardon ;" and calling upon a servant
who was in waiting, " Go," said he, " send an express to
Logierait, and order Donald Stewart, presently under
sentence, to be instantly set at hberty."t
* A civil officer, to whom the Chiefs authority was occasionally
delegated.
+ The family of Atholl possessed many superiorities in Perth-
shire; and when they held their courts of regality at Logierait, their
followers, to the number of nearly a hundred gentlemen, many of
them of great landed property, assembled to assist in council, or as
jurymen on such trials as it was necessary to conduct on this
principle ; and, as these gentlemen were accompanied by many of
their own followers and dependants, this great chief appeared like a
sovereign, with his parliament and army. Indeed, the whole was
no bad emblem of a king and parliament, only substituting a chief
and his clan for a king with his peers and commoners. The hall in
which the feudal parliament assembled (a noble chamber of better
proportions than the British House of Commons), has lately been
pulled down ; and thus one of the most conspicuous vestiges of the
almost regal influence of this powerful family has been destroyed,
and many recollections of the power and dignity to which it owed
its foundation obliterated.
62 JURISDICTION OF THE CHIEFS.
Independently of that authority which the chiefs
acquired by ancient usage and the weakness of the
general government, the lords of regality, and great
barons and chiefs, possessed the rights of jurisdiction,
both in civil and criminal matters, and either sat in
judgment themselves, or appointed judges of their own
choice, and dependent upon their authority. Freemen
could be tried by none but their peers. The vassals
were bound to attend the courts of their chiefs, and,
among other things, to assist as jurymen in the trials of
delinquents. When they assembled on these occasions,
they established among themselves such regulations as,
in their opinion, tended to the welfare of the community;
and, whenever it became necessary, they voluntarily
granted such supplies as they thought the necessity of
their superiors required. Their generosity was particu-
larly shown on the marriage of the chief, and in the por-
tioning of his daughters and younger sons. These last,
when they settled in life, frequently found themselves
supplied with the essential necessaries of a family, and
particularly with a stock of cattle, which, in those patri-
archal days, constituted the principal riches of the country.*
* The above infornmtion I received from several old gentlemen
who remembered the practice. These were intelligent persons,
much habituated to conversation, faithful in recollection, and clear
in the communication of their knowledge, from having been chroni-
clers of what to them was of the greatest importance — the history, the
policy, the biography, and the character of their ancestors and con-
temporaries. To a common observer, no part of their communica-
tion would have appeared more extraordinary than the control
exercised by the Elders or Seniors of the clan or district, the ready
obedience yielded to their judgment and remonstrance, and the firm-
ness and independence of sagacious peasants, in setting effective
limits to arbitrary power.
OBEDIENCE OF THE CLANS. 63
The laws which the chief had to administer were ex-
tremely simple. Indeed, his sway was chiefly paternal.
Reverence for his authority, and gratitude for his protec-
tion, which was generally extended to shield the rights of
his clansmen against the aggression of strangers, were the
natural result of his patriarchal rule. This constituted an
efficient control, without many examples of severity. At
the same time, the mutual dependence of the clansmen on
one another, and their frequent meetings for consulting on
their common interests, or for repelling common danger,
tended to produce and cherish the social and domestic vir-
tues, together with that ease and familiarity which, when
well regulated, prove a source of much endearment, and
render it necessary for every individual to cultivate a cor-
responding spirit of civility and complaisance. These
manners and dispositions, both of the people and their
superiors, furnish a ready explanation of the zeal with
which the former followed their chiefs, protected their per-
sons, and supported the honour of their country and name.
In the battle of Inverkeithing, between the Royalists and
Oliver Cromwell's troops, five hundred of the followers of
the Laird of Maclean were left dead on the field. In the
heat of the conflict, seven brothers of the clan sacrificed
their lives in defence of their leader, Sir Hector Maclean.
Being hard pressed by the enemy, he was supported and
covered from their attacks by these intrepid men ; and as
one brother fell, another came up in succession to cover
him, crying " Another for Hector." This phrase has con-
tinued ever since as a proverb or watch-word when a man
encounters any sudden danger that requires instant suc-
cour.
The late James Menzies of Culdares, having engaged
in the rebellion of 17 15, and been taken at Preston in
64 FIDELITY.
Lancashire, was carried to London, where he was tried
and condemned, but afterwards reprieved.* Grateful for
this clemency, he remained at home in 1745, but, retain-
ing a predilection for the old cause, he sent a handsome
charger as a present to Prince Charles when advancing
through England. The servant who led and delivered the
horse was taken prisoner, and carried to Carlisle, where
he was tried and condemned. To extort a discovery of
the person who sent the horse, threats of immediate exe-
cution in case of refusal, and offers of pardon on his
giving information, were held out ineffectually to the faith-
ful messenger. He knew, he said, what the consequence
of a disclosure would be to his master, and his own life
was nothing in the comparison. When brought out for
* Two brothers of Culdares were taken prisoners at the same
time, and sent to Carlisle Castle. After a confinement of some
months they were released, in consideration of their youth and inex-
perience ; and immediately set off to London to visit their brother,
then under sentence of death. Being handsome young men, with
fresh complexions, they disguised themselves in women's clothes,
and pretending to be Mr Menzies' sisters, were admitted to visit
him in prison. They then proposed that one of them should ex-
change clothes with their brother, and that he should escape in this
disguise. But this he peremptorily refused, on the ground that,
after the lenity shown them, it would be most ungrateful to engage
in such an affair ; which, besides, might be productive of unpleasant
consequences to the young man who proposed to remain in prison,
particularly as he was so lately under a charge of treason and rebel-
lion. They were obliged to take, what they believed to be, their
last farewell of their brother, whose firmness of mind, and sense of
honour, the immediate prospect of death could not shake. However,
he soon met with his reward ; he received an unconditional pardon,
returned to Scotland along with his brothers, and lived sixty years
afterwards in his native glen, — an honourable specimen of an old
Highland Patriarch, beloved by his own people, and respected by all
within the range of his acquaintance. He died in 1776.
FIDELITY. 65
execution, he was again pressed to inform on his master.
He asked if they were serious in supposing him such a
villain. If he did what they desired, and forgot his
master and his trust, he could not return to his native
country, for Glenlyon would be no home or country for
him, as he would be despised and hunted out of the Glen.
Accordingly, he kept steady to his trust, and was executed.
This trusty servant's name was John Macnaughton, from
Glenlyon, in Perthshire ; he deserves to be mentioned, *
*A picture of Prince Charles, mounted on this horse, is in my
possession, being a legacy from the daughter of Mr Menzies. A
brother of Macnaughton Hved for many years on the estate of
Garth, and died in 179c. He always went about armed, at least so
far armed, that when debarred wearing a sword or dirk, he slung a
large knife in his belt. He was one of the last I recollect of the
ancient race, and gave a very favourable impression of their general
manner and appearance. By trade he was a smith ; and although
of the lowest order of the people, he walked about with an air and
manner that might have become a Field-Marshal. He spoke with
great force and fluency of language, and, although most respectful to
those to whom he thought respect due, he had an appearance of in-
dependence and ease, that strangers, ignorant of the language and
character of the people, might have supposed to proceed from im-
pudence. As he always carried arms when legally permitted, so he
showed on one occasion that he knew how to handle them. Wlien
the Black Watch was quartered on the banks of the rivers Tay and
Lyon in 1741, an affray arose between a few of the soldiers and
some of the people at a fair at Kenmore. Some of the Breadalbane
men took the part of the soldiers, and, as many were armed, swords
were quickly drawn, and one of the former killed ; when their
opponents, with whom was Macnaughton, and a smith, (to whom he
was then an apprentice), retreated and fled to the ferry-boat across
the Tay. There was no bridge, and the ferryman seeing the fray,
chained his boat. Macnaughton was the first at the river side, and
leaping into the boat, followed by his master the smith, with a single
stroke of his broadsword he cut the chain, and crossing the river,
fixed the boat on the opposite side, — and thus prevented an im-
F
-66 FIDELITY.
both on account of his incorruptible fidelity, and of his
testimony to the honourable principles of the people, and
to their detestation of a breach of trust to a kind and
honourable master, however great might be the risk, or
however fatal the consequences to the individual himself.
For the further exemplification of this attachment of
Highlanders to their superiors, I may refer to the celerity
with which regiments were raised by them, even in more
peaceable times, when the spirit of clanship had been
considerably broken, and the feudal tenures in a great
measure dissolved. Of this some remarkable instances
will be found in the history of the Highland regiments.
We have innumerable examples, too, of the force of that
disinterested fidelity which, till a very recent period,
mediate pursuit. Indeed, no further steps were taken. The Earl
of Breadalbane, who was then at Taymouth, was immediately sent
for. On inquiry, he found that the whole had originated from an
accidental reflection thrown out by a soldier of one of the Argyle
companies against the Atholemen, then supposed to be Jacobites,
and that it was difficult to ascertain who gave the fatal blow. The
man who was killed was an old warrior of nearly eighty years of age.
He had been with Lord Breadalbane's men, under Campbell of
Glenlyon, at the battle of Sheriffmuir ; and, as his side lost their
cause, he swore never to shave again. He kept his word, and as
his beard grew till it reached his girdle, he got the name of Padric
na Feusaig, " Peter with the Beard." Lachlan Maclean, presently
living near Taybridge, in his ninety-fifth year, and in perfect posses-
sion of all his faculties, was present at this affray.
This intelligent old man died since the publication of the former
editions, in his ninety-seventh year, and, as is very common with
men of his strength of constitution, preserved his faculties to his last
hour. I happened to call upon him a week previous to his death.
He was then in perfect health, and, besides repeating the above
story and some others with his usual accuracy, he recited several
portions of Ossian's poems with remarkable spirit and animation,
warming as he proceeded in his recitation.
FIDELITY. 67
spurred on the Highlanders to follow their chieftains to
the cannon's mouth, and produced displays of national
feeling and intrepidity, which have procured for them a
name and character not to be soon forgotten. The
promptitude and zeal with which they formerly adopted
the quarrels of their chiefs, and obeyed the slightest
signal for action, are described in the following verses
with an ardour and rapidity which present as lively and
graphical a picture as words can convey.
"He whistled shrill,
And he was answered from the hill ;
Wild as the scream of the curlew
From crag to crag the signal flew ;
Instant thro' copse and heath arose
Bonnets and spears and bended bows,
On right, on left, above, below,
Sprung up at once the lurking foe ;
From shingles green the lances start,
The bracken bush sends forth the dart,
The rushes and the willow wand
Are bristling into axe and brand,
And every tuft of broom gives life
To plaided warriors, armed for strife.
That whistle garrisoned the glen
With full four hundred fighting men.
As if the yawning hill to heaven
A subterranean host had given.
Watching their leaders' beck and will,
All silent then they stood, and still.
Like the loose crags, whose threatening mass.
Long tottering o'er the hollow pass,
As if an infant's touch could urge
Their headlong passage down the verge ;
With step and weapon forward flung.
Upon the mountains' sides they hung."*
* Lady of the Lake.
It may be thought absurd to quote a poetical description to
68 SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE.
Yet the strength of this attachment and zeal did not ex-
tinguish the proper sense of independence. In some in-
stances they even proceeded so far as to depose such
chiefs as had degraded their name and family, or were unfit
for their situations, transferring their allegiance to the
next in succession, if more deserving. This happened in
the case of the families of Macdonald of Clanranald and
Macdonell of Keppoch. Two chiefs were deposed and
set aside. The rejected chief of the former clan was
killed, without issue, in an attempt to preserve his estate
and authority ;* the descendants of the latter are still in
existence. But, even when they did not resort to such
severe measures, their chiefs were often successfully
opposed. t
authenticate a well-known fact. That, however, being established^
the poetical description is merely introduced, because the delineation
is perfect, and the ardour and rapidity of the diction present a livelier
picture of what actually existed, than any other words can convey.
The poet displays consummate judgment in seizing, for the purpose
of description, a circumstance in the highest degree picturesque and
poetical.
* The rejected chief of Clanranald was supported by his friend
and brother chief Lord Lovat, and the clan Fraser. As was usual in
those times, the question was decided by the sword. The strength
of both sides being mustered, a desperate conflict ensued, and the
Macdonalds confirmed their independence by victory. The heredi-
taiy chief was killed, together with his friend Lord Lovat, and a
great number of followers of each party. The next in succession con-
sidered as more deserving, was appointed to head the clan. In this
battle, which took place in July 1544, the combatants threw off their
jackets and vests, and fought in their shirts. From this circumstance
it has been called Blar na Lein, the " Battle of the Shirts."
t A son of a former Laird of Grant, known in tradition by the
name of Laird Humphry, presented, in his conduct and fate, a strik-
ing illustration of the power occasionally exerted by the Elders of a
IXDEPENDENXE. 69
About the year 1460, the head of the family of
Stewart of Garth was not only deprived of his authority
by his friends and kindred, but confined for life on
account of his ungovernable passions and ferocious dis-
position. The cell in the Castle of Garth in which he
was imprisoned, was till lately regarded by the people
with a kind of superstitious terror. This petty tyrant
was nicknamed the '^Fierce WolfT perhaps from his
being a character similar to that of his immediate pre-
decessor, Alaster Mor Mac in Rhi, the " Wolf of Bade-
noch," noticed in page 28; and if the traditionary stories
related of him have any claim to belief, the appellation
was both deserved and characteristic.
The clan Mackenzie possessed such influence over
their chief, the Earl of Seaforth, that they prevented him
from demolishing Brahan Castle, the principal seat of the
family. Some time previous to the year 1570 the Laird
of Glenorchy, ancestor of the Earl of Breadalbane, re-
clan. He was, in some respects, what the Highlanders admire, —
handsome, courageous, open-hearted, and open-handed. But, by
the indulgence of a weak and fond father, and the influence of violent
and unrestrained passions, he became licentious and depraved, lost
all respect for his father, and used to go about \A-ith a number of idle
young men trained up to unbounded licentiousness. These dissolute
youths visited in families, remained until ever\-thing was consumed,
and after every kind of riotous insult, removed to treat another in the
same manner, till they became the pest and annoyance of the whole
coimtr>'. Laird Humphry had, in the meantime, incurred many
heav>' debts. The Elders of the clan bought up these debts, which
gave them full power over him ; they then put him in prison in Elgin,
where they kept him during the remainder of his life, leaving the
management of the estate in the hands of his younger brother. The
debts were made a pretext for confining him, the Elders not choosing
to accuse him of various crimes of which he had been guilty, and the
consciousness of which made him submit more quietly to the restraint.
70
IISDEPENDENCE.
solved to build a castle on a small knoll, high upon the
side of Loch-Tay, and accordingly laid the foundation,
which is still to be seen.* This situation was not agree-
able to his advisers, who interfered, and induced him to
change his plan, and build the Castle of Balloch, or Tay-
mouth. It must be confessed that the clan showed more
taste than the Laird in fixing on a situation for the family
mansion.!
* At a short distance from the present hermitage at Taymouth.
t This fact vindicates the taste of the chief from the reflections
thrown out against it by all tourists, pretending to that faculty, who
have uniformly blamed his choice of so low a situation. His memory
would have escaped these reflections, had it been known that the
choice was made in due respect to the will of the " Sovereign people,"
who said, that if he built his castle on the edge of his estate, which
was the site they proposed, his successors must of necessity exert
themselves to extend their property eastward among the Menzies and
Stewarts of Athole. This extension, however, was slow, for it was
not till one hundred and seventy years afterwards, that the late Lord
Breadalbane got possession of the lands close to Taymouth. But the
present Earl has fulfilled the expectations of his ancient clan, by ex-
tending his estate eight miles to the eastward. Previous to this
extension, so circumscribed was Lord Breadalbane, that the pleasure
grounds on the north bank of the Tay, as well as those to the east-
ward of the castle, were the property of gentlemen of the name of
Menzies.
The son of Sir Cohn Campbell, who built the Castle of Tay-
mouth, possessed seven castles, viz., Balloch or Taymouth, Finlarig,
Edinample, Lochdochart, Culchurn, Achallader, and Barcaldine.
Except Lochdochart, these were handsome edifices, and gave the
name of Donach na Castail, or "Duncan of the Castles," to Sir
Duncan Campbell, the Laird of Glenorchy and first Baronet of the
family. He was also distinguished by the name of Duncan Dhu na
curie, from his dark complexion, and the cap or cowl he constantly
wore, instead of the bonnet, to which only the eyes of the people
were in those days accustomed. His picture, now in Taymouth,
painted by Jamieson, the Scottish \'andyke, represents him in this
INDEPENDENCE. 7 1
In this manner it required much kindness and con-
descension on the part of the chief to maintain his
influence with his clan, who all expected to be treated
with the affability and courtesy due to gendemen. "And
as the meanest among them," says the author of the
Letters before mentioned, " pretended to be his relations
by consanguinity, they insisted on the privilege of taking
him by the hand wherever they met him. Concerning
this last (he adds) I once saw a number of very discon-
tented countenances, when a certain Lord, one of the
chiefs, endeavoured to evade this ceremony. It was in
the presence of an English gentleman, of high station,
from whom he would willingly have concealed the know-
ledge of such seeming familiarity with slaves of ^\Tetched
appearance ; and thinking it, I suppose, a kind of contra-
diction to what he had often boasted at other times, viz.,
his despotic power in his clan."
This condescension on the part of the chief gave a
feeHng of self-respect to the people, and contributed to
produce that honourable principle of fidelity to superiors
and to their trust which I have already noticed, and
which was so generally and so forcibly imbibed, that the
man who betrayed his trust was considered unworthy of
the name which he bore, or of the kindred to which he
belonged. This interesting feature in the character of the
Scotch Mountaineers is well known ; but it may be grati-
fying to notice a few more examples of the exercise of such
black cap. He was a liberal patron of this artist, the most eminent
of his day in Scotland. There are several specimens of his art in
Taymouth. Sir Duncan Campbell also planted and laid out several
of these noble avenues at Taymouth and Finlarig, which are now so
ornamental, and show to how great a size trees grow even in those
elevated glens.
72 INCORRUPTIBLE FIDELITY.
an honourable principle amongst a race which has often
been considered as ferocious and uncivilized.
Honour and firmness sufficient to withstand tempta-
tion may in general be expected in the higher classes of
society ; but the voluntary sacrifice of life and fortune is
a species of self-devotion and heroism not often displayed
even in the best societies. All who are acquainted with
the events of the unhappy insurrection of 1745, must
have heard of a young gentleman of the name of Mac-
kenzie, who had so remarkable a resemblance to Prince
Charles Stuart, as to give rise to the mistake to which he
cheerfully sacrificed his life, continuing the heroic decep-
tion to the last, and exclaiming, with his expiring breath,
*' Villains, you have killed your Prince!" Such an in-
stance of heroic devotion would perhaps appear extrava-
gant even in poetry or romance.*
The late Macpherson of Cluny, father of Colonel Mac-
pherson, chief of that clan, was engaged in the rebellion
* The similarity of personal appearance was said to be quite re-
markable. The young gentleman was sensible of this, and at different
times endeavoured to divert the attention of the troops in pursuit of
the fugutive prince to an opposite quarter of the mountains to that
in which he knew Charles Edward was concealed after the battle of
Culloden. This he effected by showing his person in such a way as
that he could be seen, and then escaping by the passes or woods,
through which he could not be quickly followed. On one occasion,
he unexpectedly met with a party of troops, and immediately retired,
intimating by his manner as he fled, that he was the object of their
search ; but his usual good fortune forsook him. The soldiers pur-
sued with eagerness, anxious to secure the promised reward of ;i^ 30,000.
Mackenzie was overtaken and shot, exclaiming, as he fell, in the
words noticed above ; and it was not till the head was produced at
the next garrison, for the purpose of claiming the reward, that the
mistake was discovered.
INCORRUPTIBLE FIDELITY. 73
of 1745.* His life was, of course, forfeited to the laws,
and much diligence was exerted to bring him to justice.
But neither the hope of reward, nor the fear of danger,
could induce any one of his people to betray him, or to re-
mit their faithful services. He lived for nine years chiefly
in a cave, at a short distance from his house, which was
burnt to the ground by the king's troops. This cave was
in the front of a woody precipice, the trees and shelving
rocks completely concealing the entrance. It was dug
out by his own people, who worked by night, and con-
veyed the stones and rubbish into a lake in the neigh-
bourhood, in order that no vestige of their labour might
betray the retreat of their master. In this sanctuary he
lived secure, occasionally visiting his friends by night, or
when time had slackened the rigour of the search. Up-
wards of one hundred persons knew where he was con-
cealed, and a reward of ^looo was offered to any one
who should give information against him ; and, as it
was known that he was concealed on his estate, eighty
men were constantly stationed there, besides the parties
occasionally marching into the country, to intimid-
* It is honourable to the memory of a respectable lady to record
the circumstances of Cluny's defection, which exaggerated his faults
in the eyes of government, and furnished a motive for pursuing him
with more determined hostility. He was, in that year, appointed to
a company in Lord Loudon's Highlanders, and had taken the oaths
to Government. His clan were, however, impatient to join the
adventurous descendant of their ancient sovereigns, when he came to
claim what they supposed his right. While he hesitated between
duty and inclination, his wife, a daughter of Lord Lovat, and a
staunch Jacobite, earnestly dissuaded him from breaking his oath,
assuring him that nothing could end well that began with perjury.
His friends reproached her with interfering, and hurried on the hus-
band to his ruin.
74 INCORRUPTIBLE FIDELITY.
ate* his tenantry, and induce them to disclose the place
of his concealment. But though the soldiers were animated
with the hope of the reward, and though a step of promo-
tion to the officer who should apprehend him was super-
added, yet so true were his people, so strict to their pro-
mise of secrecy,! and so dexterous in conveymg to him
the necessaries he required in his long confinement, that
not a trace of him could be discovered, nor an individual
found base enough to give a hint to his detriment. At
length, wearied out with this dreary and hopeless state of
existence, and taught to despair of pardon, he escaped to
France in 1755, and died there the following year.
* The late Sir Hector Munro, then a lieutenant in the 34th
Regiment, and, from his zeal, and knowledge of the country and the
people, intrusted with the command of a large party, continued two
whole years in Badenoch, for the purpose of discovering the chiefs
retreat. The unwearied vigilance of the clan could alone have saved
him from the diligence of this party. At night, Cluny came from his
retreat, to vary the monotony of his existence by spending a few of
the dark hours convivially with his friends. On one occasion, he
had been suspected, and got out by a back window just as the
military were breaking open the door. At another time, seeing the
windows of a house kept close, and several persons going to visit the
family after dark, the commander broke in at the window of the sus-
pected chamber, with two loaded pistols, and thus endangered the
life of a lady newly delivered of a child, on account of whose confine-
ment these suspicious circumstances had taken place. This shows
that there was no want of diligence on the part of the pursuers.
Cluny himself liecame so cautious, while living the life of an outlaw,
that, on parting with his wife, or his most attached friends, he never
told them to which of his concealments he was going, or suffered any
one to accompany him ; — thus enabling them, when questioned, to
answer, that they knew not where he was.
t In a character of the Highlanders, drawn near 300 years ago,
the author says, "As to their faith and promise, they hold it with
great eonstancie."
INCORRUPTIBLE FIDELITY. 75
It would be endless to adduce particular examples of
fidelity often tried and never found to fail, in periods of
the greatest civil commotion, when the interests and feel-
ings of men were so often opposed to their duties, and
when the whole frame of society was shattered by the
contending factions. After the troubles of 17 15 and
1745, although many thousands were forced to flee from
their houses, and conceal themselves from the vengeance
of Government, very few instances of treachery occurred.
The only persons who, on these occasions, sacrificed their
honour to their interests, were some renegade Highlanders,
who, having abjured their country, had lost along with it
all its characteristic principles. This general feeling of
honour, and standard of public virtue in the country,
formed the surest pledge of the conduct of individuals.
Of the many who knew of Prince Charles's places of con-
cealment, was one poor man, who being asked why he did
not give information, and enrich himself by the reward of
^30,000, answered, "Of what use would the money be to
me? A gentleman might take it, and go to London or
Edinburgh, where he would find plenty of people to eat
the dinners, and drink the wine which it would purchase :
but, as for me, if I were such a villain as to commit a
crime like this, I could not remain in my own country,
where nobody would speak to me, but to curse me as I
passed along the road." No prohibitory law, no penal
enactment, or abstract rule of morality, could have oper-
ated so powerfully on the mind, as a feehng of this sort.*
* In those times of strife and trouble, instances that would fill a
volume might be given of fidelity and unbroken faith. The follow-
ing will show that this honourable feeling was common amongst the
lowest and most ignorant. In the years 1746 and 1747, some of the
gentlemen '■''who had been ouf^ in the rebellion, were occasionally
76 INCORRUPTIBLE FIDELITY.
This sensibility to dishonour among their kindred
and neighbours, guided and controlled the conduct of
many, whose principles in other respects were not unim-
peachable. In September 1746, Prince Charles Edward
lay two days without food in the mountains of Lochaber.
The inhabited parts of the country were full of troops,
and Charles having moved to some distance from the
place he had agreed on with his friends, they knew not
where to send him supplies. In this extremity, he pro-
posed to ask assistance from some men whom they had
observed in the morning going into a hut or cave a short
way from the place where he then was. He had only
two attendants, Macdonell of Lochgarry, and an Irish-
man. The latter urged him not to trust men of their
concealed in a deep woody den near my grandfather's house. A poor
half-witted creature, brought up about the house, was, along with
many others, intrusted with the secret of their concealment, and em-
ployed in supplying them with necessaries. It was supposed that
when the troops came round on their usual searches, they would not
imagine that he could be intrusted with so important a secret, and,
consequently, no questions would be asked. One day two ladies,
friends of the gentlemen, wished to visit them in their cave, and
asked Jamie Forbes to show them the way. Seeing that they came
from the house, and judging from their manner that they were friends,
he did not object to their request, and walked away before them.
When they had proceeded a short way, one of the ladies offered him
five shillings. The instant he saw the money, he put his hands be-
hind his back, and seemed to lose all recollection. "He did not
know what they wanted ; — he never saw the gentlemen, and knew
nothing of them," and turning away, walked in a quite contrary
direction. When questioned afterwards why he ran away from the
ladies, he answered, that when they had offered him such a sum
(five shillings were of some value eighty years ago, and would have
purchased two sheep in the Highlands), he suspected they had no
good intention, and that their fine clothes and fair words were meant
to entrap him into a disclosure of the gentlemen's retreat.
INCORRUPTIBLE FIDELITY. 77
suspicious appearance; but he answered, that he had
often reposed confidence in similar circumstances, and
never had cause to repent it, and that he would now put
these men to the proof. He then proceeded to the hut,
and, on entering, found six men sitting round a stone, on
which was placed a wooden plate with a piece of beef for
their dinner.
The men, struck by his tall figure and appearance,
vsath an old bonnet and a plaid flung across his shoulders,
started up at his entrance, when one of them, who at
once recognised him, cried out, "Oh Dougal Mahony,"
(pretending he knew him as one of the Prince's Irish
followers), "I am happy you are come so opportunely;
sit down and take a share of our beef; I wish your master
Prince Charles had as good." x-^fter they had dined, the
Highlander led the Prince out of sight of his companions,
and, throwing himself on his knees, begged pardon in
the humblest manner for the freedom he had taken in
addressing him as an Irishman: which, he stated, he
did, because he knew not whether the Prince might
desire to trust his companions. Charles answered, that
he had no desire to conceal himself from them; however,
the Highlander, more cautious, went and spoke to each
of the men separately, informing them who their guest
was, and that he expected they would be faithful to him.
The instant every man was informed, he flew A^ith eager-
ness to the Prince, and assured him that no reward, not
all the kingdom of Scotland could give, would induce
them to betray him, — a crime which would render them
infamous, banish them for ever from their native country,
and cause them to be disowned by their kindred and
friends.*
* He remained some time with these men, who supplied him
78 INCORRUPTIBLE FIDELITY.
The implied punishment of treachery was a kind of
outlawry or banishment from the beloved society, in
which affection and good opinion Avere of such vital im-
portance. Whilst the love of country and kindred, and
dread of the infamy which inevitably followed treachery,
acted thus powerfully, the superstitions of the people
confirmed the one and strengthened the other. A noted
freebooter, John Du Cameron,* or the Sergeant Mor, as
he was called, was apprehended by a party of Lieutenant
Hector Monro's detachment, which had been removed from
Badenoch to Rannoch in the year 1753. It was gene-
rally believed in the country, that this man was betrayed
by a false friend, to whose house he had resorted for
shelter in severe weather. The truth of this allegation,
however, was never fully established. But the supposed
treacherous friend was heartily despised ; and having lost
all his property by various misfortunes, he left the coun-
try in extreme poverty, although he rented from Govern-
ment a farm on advantageous terms, on the forfeited estate
of Strowan. The favour shown him by Government gave
a degree of confirmation to the suspicions raised against
him ; and the firm belief of the people to this day is,
that his misfortunes were a just judgment upon him for
his breach of trust towards a person who had, without
suspicion, reposed confidence in him.
Such were the principles which, without the restraints
of law, gave a kind of chivalrous tone to the feelings of
with all the comforts they could command, and, amonq; other things,
plundered an officer's baggage to procure him a change of linen, — a
luxury to which he had for some time been a stranger. This robbery
made a noise at the time, and was frequently mentioned as an in-
stance of the thievish disposition of the Highlanders.
* See Appendix, H.
DESERTION OF A CHIEF. 79
the people, and combined cordial affection and obedience
to superiors, with that spirit of independence which dis-
dained to yield submission to the unworthy. I have al-
ready noticed instances of the deposition of worthless
chiefs : — the following is a remarkable one of the desertion
of a chief by his people. Powerful in point of influence
and property, neither the one nor the other was able to act
on his followers in opposition to what they considered
their loyalty and duty to an unfortunate monarch. In the
reign of King William, immediately after the Revolution,
Lord Tullibardine, eldest son of the Marquis of Atholl,
collected a numerous body of Athole Highlanders, to-
gether with three hundred Frasers, under the command
of Hugh Lord Lovat, who had married a daughter of the
Marquis. These men believed that they were destined to
support the abdicated king, but were, in reality, assembled
to serve the Government of William. When in front of
Blair Castle, their real destination was disclosed to them
by Lord Tullibardine. Instantly they rushed from their
ranks, ran to the adjoining stream of Banovy, and, filling
their bonnets with water, drank to the health of King
James ; and then, with colours flying, and pipes playing,
" fifteen hundred of the men of Athole, as reputable for
armiS as any in the kingdom," * put themselves under the
command of the Laird of Ballechin, and marched off to
join Lord Dundee, whose chivalrous bravery, and heroic
and daring exploits, had excited their admiration more
than those of any other warrior since the days of Mon-
trose, t They knew him not as the "Bloody Clavers" of
* General Mackay's Memoirs.
t In this instance, the paramount principle of loyalty triumphed
over feudal influence.
8o BATTLE OF KILLIECRANKIE.
the southern and western districts ; on the contrary, to
the Highlanders, he was always kind and condescending.
Soon after this defection, the battle of Killiecrankie, or of
Renrorie, (as the Highlanders call it), was fought, when
one of those incidents occurred which were too frequent
in turbulent times. Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, with
his clan, had joined Lord Dundee in the service of the
abdicated king, while his second son, a captain in the
Scotch Fusiliers, was under General Mackay on the side
of Government. As the General was reconnoitring the
Highland army drawn up on the face of a hill, a little
above the house of Urrard, and to the westward of the
great Pass, he turned round to young Cameron, who stood
next to him, and, pointing to the Camerons, " There,"
said he, " is your father with his wild savages; how would
you like to be with him? "It signifies little," replied the
other, " what I would like ; but I recommend it to you
to be prepared, or perhaps my father and his wild savages
may be nearer to you before night than you would like."
And so it happened. Dundee delayed his attack " till,"
according to an eyewitness, " the sun's going down, when
the Highlandmen advanced on us like madmen, without
shoes or stockings, covering themselves from our fire with
their targets. At last they cast away their muskets, drew
their broadswords, and advanced furiously upon us, broke
us, and obliged us to retreat ; some fled to the water, some
another way."* In short, the charge was like a torrent,
* The author of the Memoirs of Lord Dundee, speaking of this
battle, says, "Then the Highlanders fired, threw down their fusils,
rushed in with sword, target, and pistol, upon the enemy, who did
not maintain their ground two minutes after the Highlanders were
amongst them ; and I dare be bold to say, there were scarce ever
such strokes given in Europe, as were given that day l)y the High-
KILLIECRANKIE. 8 1
and the rout complete ; but Dundee fell early in the
attack.* The consternation occasioned by the death of
landers. Many of General Mackay's officers and soldiers were cut
down through the skull and neck to the very breast ; others had
skulls cut off above their ears, like night-caps ; some soldiers had
both their bodies and cross-belts cut through at one blow ; pikes
and small swords were cut like willows ; and whoever doubts of
this, may consult the witnesses of the tragedy."
* It has generally been believed that Lord Dundee was killed at
the close of the action ; but the following extract of a letter from
James VII. to Stewart of Ballechin, who commanded the Atholemen
after their desertion from Lord TuUibardine, shows that he fell early.
" Frofii otir Court at Dublin Castle, the last day of
Nove?nher i68g, and the fifth year of our reign.
"James R.
"The news we have received of the brave Viscount Dundee's
death has most sincerely affected us. But we are resolved, by extra-
ordinary' marks of favour, to make his family conspicuous, when the
world may see lasting honours and happiness are to be acquired by
the brave and loyal. What he has so happily begun, and you so
successfully maintained, by a thorough defeat of your enemies, we
shall not doubt a generous prosecution of, when we consider that the
Highland loyalty is inseparably annexed to the persons of their kings:
Nor no ways fear the event, whilst the justice of our cause shall be
seconded by so many bold and daring assertors of our loyal right. If
their courage and yours, and the rest of the commanders under you,
were not steady, the loss you had in a General you loved and con-
fided in, at your entrance into action, with so great inequality of
numbers, were enough to baffle you ; but you have showed yourselves
above surprise, and given us proof that we are, in a great measure,
like to owe the re-establishment of our monarchy to yotir valour. We
are therefore resolved to send immediately our Right Trusty the Earl
of Seaforth, to head his friends and followers ; and as soon as the
season will permit the shipping of horse, our beloved natural son, the
Duke of Berwick, with considerable succours, will be sent to your
assistance." * * * *
Addressed " To our Trusty and well beloved
Cousin, Stewart of Ballechan."
G
82 ATTACHMENT TO A FOSTER-BROTHER.
the General prevented an immediate pursuit through the
great Pass. Had they been closely followed, and had a
few men been placed at the southern entrance, not a
man of the king's troops would have escaped. This un-
interrupted retreat caused General Mackay to conclude,
that some misfortune had befallen Lord Dundee. " Cer-
tainly," said he, " Dundee has been killed, or I should
not thus be permitted to retreat."
The 2 1 St, or Scotch Fusiliers, was on the left of
General Mackay's front line, Hastings' and Leslie's (now
the 13th and 15th) regiments in the centre, and Lord
Leven's (now the 25th) on the right ; the whole consisting
of two regiments of cavalry, and nine battalions or detach-
ments of infantry, the strength of which is not particularly
specified. After the right of the line had given way, the
regiments on the centre and left (the left being covered
by the River Garry, and the right by a woody precipice
below the House of Urrard) stood their ground, and for a
short time withstood the shock of the Highlanders' charge
with the broadsword ; but at length they gave way on all
sides. Hastings' fled through the pass on the north side.
The Fusiliers, dashing across the river, were followed by
the Highlanders, one party of whom pressed on their
rear, while the others climbed up the hills on the side of
the pass, and, having expended their ammunition, rolled
down stones, and killed several of the soldiers before they
recrosscd the river at Invergarry. This was the only at-
tempt to pursue.*
* In this battle Lochiel was attended by the son of his foster-
brother. This faithful adherent followed him like his shadow, ready
to assist him with his sword, or cover him from the shot of the
enemy. Soon after the battle began, the chief missed his friend from
his side, and, turning round to look what had become of him, saw
ATTACHMENT OF A FOSTER-BROTHER.
83
him lying on his back, with his breast pierced by an aiTow. He had
hardly breath before he expired to tell Lochiel, that seeing an enemy,
a Highlander in General Mackay's army, aiming at him with a bow
and arrow from the rear, he sprung behind him, and thus sheltered
him from instant death. This is a species of duty perhaps not often
practised by aids-de-camp.
84 ARMS.
SECTION IV.
A?'ms of the Clans.
In attempting to explain how a people living within their
mountains, in an uncultivated and sequestered corner of a
country, should, as warriors, prove a ready and efficient
support to their friends, and formidable to their enemies,
it may be proper, first of all, to describe their arms. These
consisted of a broadsword girded on the left side, and a
dirk, or short thick dagger, on the right, used only when
the combat was so close that the sword could be of no
service.* In ancient times they also carried a small
short-handled hatchet, or axe, to be used when they
closed upon the enemy. A gun, a pair of pistols, and a
target, completed their armour, t In absence of the mus-
ket, or when short of ammunition, they used the Lochaber
axe, a species of long lance, or pike, with a formidable
weapon at the end of it, adapted either for cutting or
stabbing. This lance had been almost laid aside since
the introduction of the musket ; but a ready substitute
* See Appendix, I.
t Rea, in the History of the Rebellion of 17 15, describing the
inarch of a party along the side of Lochlomond, says, "That night
they arrived at Luss, where they were joined by Sir Humphrey Col-
quhoun of Luss, and James Grant of Pluscarden, his son-in-law,
followed by forty or fifty stately fellows in their hose and belted
plaids, armed each of them with a well-fixed gun on their shoulders,
a strong handsome target, with a sharp pointed steel, of about half
an ell in length screwed into the navel of it, on his arm, a sturdy
claymore by his side, and a pistol or two, with a dirk and knife in
his belt."
WARLIKE ARRAY. 85
was found, by fixing a scythe at the end of a. pole, with
which the Highlanders resisted the charge of cavalry, to
them the most formidable kind of attack. In 1745
many of the rebels were armed in this manner, till they
supplied themselves with muskets after the battles of
Prestonpans and Falkirk. Thus, the Highlanders united
the offensive arms of the moderns with the defensive arms
of the ancients. Latterly, the bow and arrow* seems to
have been but rarely used. This is the more remarkable,
as these weapons are peculiarly adapted to that species of
hunting which was their favourite amusement ; I allude to
the hunting of deer, or what is commonly called " deer-
stalking," where the great art consists in approaching the
animal unobserved, and in wounding him without dis-
turbing the herd. It is evident that the use of the bow
and arrow must have ceased long before the Disarming
Act, as we find in it no mention made of them, nor do we
learn that the Highlanders ever availed themselves of the
omission.
In addition to the weapons already mentioned, gentle-
men frequently wore suits of annour, and coats of mail.
With these, however, the common men seldom encum-
bered themselves, both on account of the expense, and be-
cause they were ill adapted to the hills and steeps of
their country, and to their frequent, long, and expeditious
marches.
Thus armed, the Highlanders were arrayed for battle,
in that order which was best calculated to excite a spirit
of emulation. Every clan was drawn up as a regiment,
and the companies in every regiment were formed of the
tribes or families of the clan. The regiments, thus com-
posed, were under the control of the head or chief of the
* See Appendix, K.
86 COMMAND OF THE CLAN REGIMENTS.
whole, while the smaller divisions were under the im-
mediate command of the chieftains of whose families they
were descended, or of those who, from their property,
assumed the feudal rights of chieftainship. Thus, the
Athole Brigade, which was sometimes so numerous as
to form two, three, or more regiments, was always com-
manded by the head of the family of Atholl, in person, or
by a son or friend in his stead. At the beginning of the
last century, as we learn from the Lockhart Papers, " the
Duke of Atholl was of great importance to the party of the
Cavahers, being able to raise 6000 of the best men in the
kingdom, well armed, and ready to sacrifice their all for
the king's service."
In 1707, his Grace took the field, with 7000 men of
his own followers, and others whom he could influence,
to oppose the Union with England.* With this force he
marched to Perth, in the expectation of being joined by
the Duke of Hamilton, and other noblemen and gentle-
men of the South ; but as they did not move, he pro-
* A friend of mine, the late Mr Stewart of Crossmount, carried
arms on that occasion, of which he used to speak with great anima-
tion. He died in January 1791, at the age of 104, having been
previously in perfect possession of all his faculties, and in such full
habit of body, that his leg continued as well formed and compact as
at forty. He had a new tooth at the age of ninety-six. Mrs Stew-
art, to whom he had been married nearly seventy years, died on the
Tuesday preceding his death. He was then in perfect health, and
sent to request that my father, who lived some miles distant, would
come to him. When he arrived the old man desired that the funeral
should not take place for eight days, saying, that he had now out-
lived his oldest earthly friend, and prayed sincerely that he might be
laid in the same grave. He kept his bed the second morning after
her death, and died the following day, without pain or complaint.
They were buried in the same grave on the succeeding Tuesday,
according to his wish.
MODE OF ATTACK. 87
ceeded no farther, and, disbanding his men, returned
to the Highlands. In 17 15, the Atholemen were com-
manded by the Marquis of TuUibardine, and in 1745 by
his brother, Lord George Murray ; but the smaller divi-
sions and tribes were under the command of gentlemen,
who had the entire direction of their own followers, yield-
ing obedience to the superior only in general movements.
In consequence of this arrangement, each individual was
under the immediate eye of those he loved an feared.
His clansmen and kindred were the witnesses of his con-
duct, and ready either to applaud his bravery, reproach
his cowardice, or observe any failure of duty.
Before commencing the attack, they frequently put off
their jackets and shoes, that their movements might not
be impeded. Their advance to battle was a kind of trot,
such as is now, in our light infantry discipline, called
double-quick marching. When they had advanced with-
in a few yards of the enemy, they poured in a volley of
musketry, which, from the short distance, and their con-
stant practice as marksmen, was generally very effective ;
then dropping their muskets, they dashed forward sword
in hand, reserving their pistols and dirks for close action.
" To make an opening in regular troops, and to conquer,
they reckoned the same thing, because, in close engage-
ments, and in broken ranks, no regular troops would with-
stand them."* When they closed with the enemy, they
received the points of the bayonets on their targets ; and
thrusting them aside, resorted to their pistols and dirks,
to complete the impression made by the musket and
broadsword. It was in this manner that the Athole High-
landers and the Camerons, who were on the right of Prince
Charles Edward's followers at Culloden, charged the left
* Dalrymple's Memoirs.
88 EXAMPLE AT CULLODEN.
wing of the royal army. After breaking through Barrell's
and Munro's (the 4th and 37th Regiments), which formed
the left of the royal army, they pushed forward to charge
the second line, composed of Bligh's and Semple's (the
20th and 25th Regiments). Here their impetuosity met
an effectual check, by the fire of those corps, when they
came within a few yards, and still more by Wolfe's (the
8th Foot), and Cobham's and Lord Mark Kerr's (the loth
and lith Light Dragoons), who had formed en potence on
their right flank, and poured in a most destructive fire
along their whole line. At the same moment they were
taken in rear by the Argyle, and some companies of Lord
Loudon's Highlanders, who had advanced in that direc-
tion, and had broken down an old wall that covered the
right of the rebels. By this combination of attacks in
front, right flank, and rear, they were forced to give up
the contest, and to charge back again, sword in hand,
through those who had advanced and formed on the
ground they had passed over in charging to their front.
In this desperate conflict they left half their number dead
on the field. The same kind of charge was made by the
Stewarts of Appin; Erasers, and Mackintoshes upon the
regiments in their front. These were the Scotch Fusiliers
and Ligonier's (the 21st and 48th Regiments,) which they
drove back upon the second line, but, being unable to
penetrate, numbers were cut down at the mouths of the
cannon, before they gave up the contest.* The Reverend
* Home in his History of the Rebellion, says that the " Athole
brigade, in advancing, lost thirty-two officers, and was so shattered
that it stopped short, and never closed with the king's troops." The
Athole brigade had not so many officers in the field ; nineteen
officers were killed, and four wounded. Many gentlemen who
served in the ranks were killed, which might occasion the mistake.
I have conversed with several who were in the battle, and among
EXAMPLE AT CULLODEN. 89
Dr Shaw, in his manuscript History of the RebelHon,
says, " The enemy's attack on the left wing of the royal
others, with one gentleman still alive (1821) in my neighbourhood,
all of whom differed from Mr Home's account.
Mr Home, during some years, spent part of every summer in the
Highlands, ostensibly for the benefit of his health and for amusement,
but actually in collecting materials for his history. The respectability
of his character, and the sauvity of his manners, procured him every-
where a good reception. But his visits were principally made to
Jacobite families, to whom the secret history of those times was
familiar. They told him all they knew with the most unreserved
confidence ; and nothing could exceed their disappointment when
the history appeared, and proved to be a dry detail of facts univers-
ally known, while the rich store of authentic and interesting anec-
dotes, illustrative of the histoiy of the times, and of the peculiar
features of the Highland character, with which they had furnished
him, had been neglected or concealed, from an absurd dread of giv-
ing offence to the Royal Family by a disclosure of the cruelties
wantonly practised, or by relating circumstances creditable to the
feelings and character of the unfortunate sufferers. It is now very
well known with what generous sympathy the late king viewed the
sacrifice to mistaken .loyalty, and the countenance and protection
which he afforded to such individuals as lived to see him on the
throne, and which he extended to their descendants. It is equally
well known that there is not one individual in his family who would
not hsten with deep interest to the details of the chivalrous loyalty,
the honourable sacrifices, and the sufferings sustained with patience
and fortitude by those who are long since gone to their account, and
who are no more objects of dislike or hostility to them than Hector
or King Priam.
The only way in which the meagreness of this long meditated
history can possibly be accounted for, in reference to the high name
of the author, and the expectations entertained by the public, is the
circumstance of an accident which befel Mr Home a few years before
the publication of this work. In travelling through Ross-shire, his
carriage was overturned, and he received a severe contusion on the
head, which had such an effect upon his nerves, that both his
memory and judgment were very considerably affected ever after.
90 EXAMPLE AT CULLODEN.
army was made with a view to break that wing, to run it
into disorder, and then to communicate the disorder to
the whole army. This could not easily be effected, when
a second and third line were ready to sustain the first.
But it must be owned the attack was made with the
greatest courage, order, and bravery, amidst the hottest
fire of small arms, and continued fire of cannon with
grape-shot, on their flanks, front, and rear. They ran in
upon the points of the bayonets, hewed down the soldiers
with their broadswords, drove them back, put them into
disorder, and possessed themselves of two pieces of
cannon. The rebel's left wing did not sustain them in
the attack, and four fresh regiments coming up from the
Duke's second line under General Huske, they could not
stand under a continual fire both in front, in flank, and
rear, and therefore they retired. It was in this attack that
Lord Robert Kerr, having stood his ground, after Barrell's
regiment was broke and drove back, was killed." And
farther we learn from the Lockhart papers, that " Lord
George Murray attacked, at the head of the Atholemen,
who had the right of the army that day, with all the
bravery imaginable, as the whole army did, and broke
the Duke of Cumberland's line in several places, and
made themselves masters of two pieces of cannon, —
though they were both fronted and flanked by them, who
kept a close firing from right to left, — and marched up to
the points of their bayonets, which they could not see for
smoke till they were upon them." Such were the strength
and dexterity with which these people used their arms, if
not always to conquer, at least to amaze and confound
regular troops.
HIGHLAND GARB. 91
SECTION V.
The Highland Garb.
Among the circumstances that influenced the military-
character of the Highlanders, we must not omit their
peculiar garb, which, by its lightness and freedom, en-
abled them to use their hmbs, and handle their arms
with ease and dexterity, and to move with great speed
when employed with either cavalry or light infantr}\ In
the wars of Gustavus Adolphus, in the civil wars of
Charles I., and on various other occasions, they were
often mixed with the cavalry, affording to detached
squadrons the incalculable advantage of support from in-
fantry, even in their most rapid movements. The
author of " Memoirs of a Cavalier," speaking of the
Scottish army in 1640, says, "I observed that these
parties had always some foot with them, and yet if the
horses galloped or pushed on ever so forward, the foot
were as forward as they, which was an extraordinary
advantage. These were those they call Highlanders ;
they would run on foot \A\ki all their arms and all their
accoutrements, and keep very good order too, and kept
pace with the horses, let them go at what rate they
would." The almost incredible swiftness of these people,
o\\'ing, in a great measure, no doubt, to the lightness of
their dress, by which their movements were totally unen-
cumbered, constituted the military advantage of the garb ;
although, in the opinion of Lord President Forbes, it pos-
sessed others, which his Lordship stated in a letter ad-
dressed to the Laird of Brodie, at that time Lord Lyon
92 HIGHLAND GARB.
for Scotland. " The garb is certainly very loose, and fits
men enured to it to go through great marches, to bear out
against the inclemency of the loeather^ to wade through
rivers, to shelter in huts, woods, and rocks, on occasions
when men dressed in the Low country garb could not en-
dure. And it is to be considered, that, as the High-
landers are circumstanced at present, it is, at least it
seems to me to be, an utter impossibility, without the
advantage of this dress, for the inhabitants to tend their
cattle, and go through the other parts of their business,
without which they could not subsist, not to speak of pay-
ing rents to their landlords."
The following account of the dress is from an author
who wrote prior to the year 1597. "They," the High-
landers, " delight in marbled cloths, especially that have
long strips of sundrie colours ;* they love chiefly purple
and blue ; their predecessors used short mantles, or plaids,
of divers colours, sundrie ways divided, and among some
the same custom is observed to this day ; but for the
most part now, they are brown, most near to the colour
of the hadder, to the effect when they lye among the
hadders, the bright colour of their plaids shall not be-
wray them, with the which rather coloured than clad,
they suffer the most cruel tempests that blow in the open
* From Remarks on the Chartularies of Aberdeen, by John
Graham Dalyell, Esquire, we learn that these Chartularies contain
general Statutes and Canons of the Scottish Church for the years
1242 and 1249, as also private regulations and ordinances for the
See of Aberdeen from 1256 downwards. In these ordinances it is
enacted, that " Ecclesiastics are to be suitably apparelled, avoiding
red, green, and striped clothing, and their garments shall not be
shorter than to the middle of the leg,'" that is, they are not to wear
tartan plaids, and kilts.
HIGHLAND GARB. 95
fields, in such sort, that in a night of snow they sleep
sound." * The dress of the Highlanders was so peculi-
arly accommodated to the warrior, the hunter, and the
shepherd, that, to say nothing of the cruelty and im-
policy of opposing national predilections, much dis-
satisfaction was occasioned by its suppression, and the
rigour with which the change was enforced. People in a
state of imperfect civilization retain as much of their
ancient habits, as to distinguish them strongly from the
lower orders in more advanced society. The latter, more
laborious, less high-minded, and more studious of conveni-
ence and comfort, are less solicitous about personal ap-
pearance, and less ;villing to bear personal privations in re-
gard to food and accommodation. To such privations the
former readily submit, that they may be enabled to procure
arms and habiliments which may set off to advantage a per-
son unbent and unsubdued by conscious inferiority, with
limbs unshackled, and accustomed to move with ease and
grace. The point of personal decoration once secured,
it mattered not to the Highlander that his dwelling was
mean, his domestic utensils scanty, and of the simplest
construction, and his household furniture merely such as
could be prepared by his own hands. He was his own
cooper, carpenter, and shoemaker, while his wife improved
the value of his dress by her care and pride in preparing
the materials. To be his own tailor or weaver he thought
beneath him : these occupations were left to such as,
from deficiency in strength, courage, or natural ability,
were disquaHfied for the field or the chase. Gentlemen on
horseback, old men, and others, occasionally wore the
* Certayne Mattere conceiiiing Scotland. London, printed
1603.
^4 HIGHLAND GARB.
truis.* These were both breeches and stockings in one
piece, made to fit perfectly close to the limbs, and were
always of tartan, though the coat or jacket was sometimes
of green, blue, or black cloth. The waistcoat and short
coat were adorned with silver buttons, tassels, embroidery,
or lace, according to the fashion of the times, or the taste
of the wearer. But the arrangements of the belted plaid
were of the greatest importance in the toilet of a High-
landman of fashion. This was a piece of tartan two yards
in breadth, and four in length, which surrounded the
waist in large plaits, or folds, adjusted with great nicety,
and confined by a belt, buckled tight round the body,
and while the lower part came down to the knees, the
other was drawn up and adjusted to the left shoulder,
leaving the right arm uncovered, and at full liberty. In
wet weather, the plaid was thrown loose, and covered both
shoulders and body ; and when the use of both arms was
required, it was fastened across the breast by a large silver
bodkin, or circular brooch, often enriched with precious
stones, or imitations of them, having mottoes engraved,
consisting of allegorical sentences, or mottoes of armorial
bearings. These were also employed to fix the plaid on
the left shoulder. A large purse of goat's or badger's
skin, answering the purpose of a pocket, and ornamented
with a silver or brass mouthpiece, and many tassels, hung
before. t A dirk, with a knife and fork stuck in the side
* See Appendix, L, My grandfather always wore the Highland
garb except when in mourning ; that is, the truis on horseback, and
the kilt when at home.
t The ladies have recently adopted this purse, as a substitute for
the female pocket, which has disappeared. The form and mouth-
pieces of the Reticule are a perfect model of the Highlanders' purses.
In 1824, the ladies have farther followed the fashion of the ancient
HIGHLAND GARB. 95
of the sheath, and sometimes a spoon, together with a pair
of steel pistols, were essential accompaniments. The bon-
net, which gentlemen generally wore with one or more
feathers completed the national garb. The dress of the
common people differed only in the deficiency of finer or
brighter colours, and of silver ornaments, being otherwise
essentially the same ; a tuft of heather, pine, holly, oak,
etc., supplying the place of feathers in the bonnet. The
garters were broad and of rich colours, wrought in a small
primitive kind of loom, the use of which is now little
known, — and formed a close texture, which was not liable
to wrinkle, but which kept the pattern in full display.*
The silver buttonst were frequently found among the
better and more provident of the lower ranks, — an inherit-
ance often of long descent.^ The belted plaid, which
Highlanders, by adopting, as a new fashion, a bell with a square
Tjuckle, exactly of the same form and manufacture as that used in old
times, only that the modern belt is of course not so broad, and the
size of the buckle is less.
* These garters are still made on the estate of General Campbell
of Monzie, and on the banks of Lochow in Argyleshire.
t The officers of the Highland regiments of Mackay's and
Munro's, who served under Gustavus Adolphus, in the wars of 1626
and 1638, "in addition to rich buttons, wore a gold chain round the
neck to secure the owner, in case of being wounded or taken prisoner,
good treatment, or payment for future ransom." In the Highlands,
buttons of large size, and of solid silver, were worn, that, in the event
of falling in battle, or dying in a strange country, and at a distance
from their friends and their home, the value of the buttons might
defray the expenses of a decent funeral.
Il: "The women," says Martin, "wore sleeves of scarlet cloth,
closed at the end as men's vests, with gold lace round them, having
plate buttons set with fine stones. The head-dress was a fine ker-
96 HIGHLAND GARB.
was generally double, or in two folds, formed, when let
down so as to envelop the whole person, a shelter from
the storm, and a covering in which the wearer wrapt
himself up in full security, when he lay down fearlessly
among the heather. Thus, if benighted in his hunting ex-
cursions, or on a distant visit, he by no means considered
it a hardship ; nay, so little was he disturbed by the petty
miseries which many feel from inclement weather, that,
in storms of snow, frost, or wind, he would dip the plaid
in water, and, wrapping himself up in it when moistened,
lie down on the heath. The plaid thus swelled with
moisture was supposed to resist the wind, so that the ex-
halation from the body during sleep might surround the
wearer with an atmosphere of warm vapour. Thus their
garb contributed to form their constitutions in early life
for the duties of hardy soldiers, while their habits, their
mental recollections, and the fearless spirit they nourished,
rendered them equally intrepid in the attack, and firm in
resisting an enemy.
In dyeing and arranging the various colours of their
tartans, they displayed no small art and taste, preserving
at the same time the distinctive patterns (or sets, as they
were called) of the different clans, tribes, families, and
chief of linen strait about the head.* The plaid was tied before on
the breast, with a buckle of silver or brass, according to the quality
of the person. I have seen some of the former of one hundred
merles value, with the figures of various animals curiously engraved.
A lesser buckle was worn in the middle of the larger. It had in the
centre a large piece of cr}'Stal, or some finer stone, and this was set
round with several precious stones of a lesser size."
* This is still worn by old women in Breadalbane, Fortingal, and
other districts in Perthshire ; and the silver buckles or brooch, richly
ornamented with stones, are still preserved in families as relics of
ancient fashions.
OF THE COSTUME. 97
districts. Thus a Macdonald, a Campbell, a Mackenzie,
etc., was known by his plaid ; and in like manner the
Athole, Glenorchy, and other colours of different dis-
tricts, were easily distinguishable. Besides those general
divisions, industrious housewives had patterns, distin-
guished by the set, superior quality, and fineness of the
cloth, or brightness and variety of the colours. In those
times when mutual attachment and confidence subsisted
between the proprietors and occupiers of land in the
Highlands, the removal of tenants, except in remarkable
cases, rarely occurred, and consequently, it was easy to
preserve and perpetuate any particular set, or pattern,
even among the lower orders.*
I have dwelt the longer on the particulars of this cos-
tume, as much of the distinctive character of the people
was connected with it. In Eustace's Classical Tour, he
has some ingenious strictures on the European habit con-
trasted with the Asiatic costume. The former, he says, is
* At Inch Ewan, in Breadalbane, a family of the name of Mac-
nab occupied the same farm, for nearly four centuries, till within
these few years, the last occupier resigned. A race of the name of
Stewart, in Glenfinglas, in Menteith, has for several centuries pos-
sessed the same farms, and, from the character and disposition of the
present noble character (the Earl of Moray) it is probable that, with-
out some extraordinary cause, this respectable and prosperous com-
munity will not be disturbed. It would be endless to give instances
o the great number of years during which the same families possessed
their farms, in a succession as regular and unbroken as that of the
landlords. The family of Macintyre possessed the farm of Glenoe, in
Nether Lorn, from about the year 1300 down till 18 10. They were
originally foresters of Stewart, Lord Lorn, and were continued in
their possession and employments after the succession of the Glen-
orchy and Breadalbane families to this estate by a marriage with a
co-heiress of the last Lord Lorn of the Stewart family in the year
U3S.
H
98 OF THE COSTUME.
Stiff, formal, confined, full of right angles, and so unlike
the drapery which invests the imperishable forms of grace
and beauty left us by ancient sculptors, as to offer a re-
volting contrast to all that is flowing, easy, and pictur-
esque in costume. The Asiatic dress, he observes, is
only suited to the cumbrous pomp, and indolent effemin-
acy of Oriental customs ; it impedes motion, and encum-
bers the form which it envelops. In one corner of
Great Britain, he continues, a dress is worn by which
these two extremes are avoided ; it has the easy folds of
a drapery, which takes away from the constrained and
angular air of the ordinary habits, and is, at the same
time, sufficiently light and succinct to answer all the pur-
poses of activity and ready motion. With some obvious
and easy alterations, he thinks it might, in many cases,
be adopted with advantage.
BARDS — PIPERS. 99
SECTION VI.
Bards— Pipe7's — Music.
While the common people amused themselves, as I
will have occasion to notice afterwards, with recitals of
poetr}^ and imaginary or traditionary tales, every chief
had his bard, whose office it was to celebrate the warlike
deeds of the family and of individuals of the clan ; to
entertain the festive board with the songs of Ossian, of
Ullin, and of Oran ; and to raise the feelings and energies
of the hearers by songs and narratives, in which the ex-
ploits of their ancestors and kinsmen were recorded. The
bards were an important order of men in Highland society.
In the absence of books they constituted the library, and
concentrated the learning of the tribe. By retentive
memories, indispensable requisites in their vocation, they
became the living chronicles of past events, and the de-
positaries of popular poetry. They followed the clans to
the field, where they eulogized the fame resulting from a
glorious death, and held forth the honour of expiring in
the arms of victor}^ in defence of their beloved country,
as well as the disgrace attending dastardly conduct or
cowardly retreat. Before the battle they passed from
tribe to tribe, and from one party to another, gi\ing to all
exhortations and encouragement; and when the com-
mencement of the fight rendered it impossible for their
voice to be heard, they were succeeded by the pipers, who,
with their inspiring and warhke strains, kept alive the en-
thusiasm which the bard had inspired. When the con-
test was decided, the duties of these two public function-
lOO IMPORTANCE OF THEIR OFFICE.
aries again became important. The bard was employed
to honour the memory of the brave who had fallen, to
celebrate the actions of those who survived, and to excite
them to future deeds of valour. The piper, in his turn,
was called upon to sound mournful lamentations for the
slain, and to remind the survivors how honourably their
friends had died. By connecting the past with the present,
by showing that the warlike hero, the honoured chief, or
the respected parent, who, though no longer present to
his friends, could not die in their memory ; and that,
though dead, he still survived in fame, and might sympa-
thise with those whom he had left behind, a magnanimous
contempt of death was naturally produced, and sedulously
cherished. It has thus become a singular and character-
istic feature of Highland sentiment, to contemplate with
easy familiarity the prospect of death, which is con-
sidered as merely a passage from this to another state of
existence, enlivened with the assured hope of meeting
their friends and kindred who had gone before them, and
of being followed by those whom they should leave behind.
The effect of this sentiment is perceived in the anxious
care with which they provide the necessary articles for
a proper and becoming funeral. Of this they speak with
an ease and freedom, equally remote from affectation or
presumption, and proportioned solely to the inevitable cer-
tainty of the event itself. Even the poorest and most desti-
tute endeavour to lay up something for this last solemnity.
To be consigned to the grave among strangers, without
the attendance and sympathy of friends, and at a distance
from their family, was considered a heavy calamity ;* and
* This feeling still exists with considerable force, and may afford
an idea of the despair which must actuate people when they can
bring themselves to emigrate from a beloved country, hallowed by
IDEA OF DEATH FAMILIAR. TO I
even to this day, people make the greatest exertions to
carry home the bodies of sucH relations 'as ha'pp'en to
die far from the ground halldv/ed by the -ashes of their
forefathers. "A man well 'knovrh to th'e writer of -tJhese
pages," says Mrs Grant, " was remarkable for his filial
affection, even among the sons and daughters of the moun-
tains, so distinguished for that branch of piety. His
mother being a widow, and having a numerous family,
who had married very early, he continued to live single,
that he might the more sedulously attend to her comfort,
the remains of their forefathers, and where they so anxiously desired
that their own bones might be laid. Lately, a woman aged ninety-
one, but in perfect health, and in possession of all her faculties, went
to Perth from her house in Strathbraan, a few miles above Dunkeld.
A few days after her arrival in Perth, where she had gone to visit a
daughter, she had a slight attack of fever. One evening a consider-
able quantity of snow had fallen, and she expressed great anxiety,
particularly when told that a heavier fall was expected. Next morn-
ing her bed was found empty, and no trace of her could be discovered,
till the second day, when she sent word that she had slipt out of the
house at midnight, set off on foot through the snow, and never stopped
till she reached home, a distance of twenty miles. When questioned
some time afterwards why she went away so abruptly, she answered,
" If my sickness had increased, and if I had died, they could not
have sent my remains home through the deep snows. If I had told
my daughter, perhaps she would have locked the door upon me, to
prevent my going out in the storm, and God forbid that my bones
should lie at such a distance from home, and be buried among
Goill-na-machair^ ' the strangers of the plain.' "
Now, since this woman, who was born on the immediate borders
of the plains had such a dread of leaving her bones among strangers,
as she considered a people whom she was accustomed to meet fre-
quently, and among whom her daughter and family resided ; how
much stronger must this feeling be in the central and northern
Highlands, where the majority of the people never saw the plains or
their inhabitants !
I02 IDEA OF DEATH FAMILIAR.
and watch over her dedining years with the tenderest care.
On 'hef birth- day, he -always collected his brothers and
sisters, and all their families, to a sort of kindly feast, and
• m con-cliision, gave a toast^ not easily translated from the
.emphatic language, without circumlocution, — An easy and
decorous departure to my ?ndther, comes nearest to it.*
This toast, which would shake the nerves of fashionable
delicacy, was received with great applause, the old woman
remarking, that God had been always good to her, and
she hoped she would die as decently as she had lived; for
it is thought of the utmost consequence to die decently.
The ritual of decorous departure, and of behaviour to be
observed by the friends of the dying on that solemn occa-
sion, being fully established, nothing is more common than
to take a solemn leave of old people, as if they were going
on a journey, and pretty much in the same terms. People
frequently send conditional messages to the departed. If
you are permitted^ tell my dear brother, that I have merely
endured the world smce he left it, and that I have been very
kind to every creature he used to cherish, for his sake. I
have, indeed, heard a person of a very enlightened mind,
seriously give a message to an aged person, to deliver to a
child he had lost not long before, which she as seriously
promised to deliver, with the wonted salvo, if she was
permitted'' \ Speaking in this manner of death as a
common casualty, a Highlander will very gravely ask you
where you mean to be buried, or whether you would prefer
such a place of interment, as being near to that of your
ancestors.
* *' Crioch Onarach !" may you have an honourable exit or death,
' is a common expression to a friend, in return for a kindly word
or action.
t Mrs Grant's Superstitions of the Highlanders.
PECULIAR CHARACTER. IO3
With this freedom from the fear of death, they were,
and still are, enthusiastically fond of music and dancing,
and eagerly availed themselves of every opportunity of in-
dulging this propensity. * Possessing naturally a good ear
for music, they displayed great agility in dancing. Their
music was in unison with their character. They de-
hghted in the warlike high-toned notes of the bagpipes,
and were particularly charmed with solemn and melan-
choly airs, or Laments (as they call them) for their de-
ceased friends, — a feeling, of which their naturally sedate
and contemplative turn of mind rendered them pecuHarly
susceptible; while their sprightly reels and strathspeys
were calculated to excite the most exhilarating gaiety, and
to relieve the heart from the cares and inquietudes of life.t
Such were and still are some of the most striking and
peculiar traits in the character of this people. " Accus-
tomed to traverse tracts of country, which had never been
subjected to the hands of art, contemplating every day the
most diversified scenery, surrounded everywhere by wild
and magnificent objects, by mountains, lakes, and forests,
the mind of the Highlander is expanded, and partakes in
some measure of the wild sublimity of the objects with
* At harvest home, Hallowe'en, christenings, and every holiday,
the people assembled in the evenings to dance. At all weddings,
pipes and fiddles were indispensable. These weddings were some-
times a source of emolument to the young people, who supplied the
dinner and liquors, while the guests paid for the entertainment, more
agreeably to their circumstances and inclinations than in proportion
to the value of the entertainment itself. Next morning the relations
and most intimate friends of the parties re-assembled with offerings
of a cow, calf, an article of furniture, or whatever was thought
necessary for assisting the establishment of a young housekeeper.
See Appendix, M.
t See Appendix, N.
I04 SUPERSTITIONS.
which he is conversant. Pursuing the chase in regions
not peopled, according to their extent, he often finds him-
self alone, in a gloomy desert, or by the margin of the dark
frowning deep ; his imagination is tinged with pleasing
melancholy ; he finds society in tlie passing breeze, and
he beholds the airy forms of his fathers descending on the
skirts of the clouds. When the tempest howls over the
heath,* and the elements are mixed in dire uproar, he re-
cognises the airy spirit of the storm, and he retires to his
cave. Such is, at this day, the tone of mind which
characterises the Highlander, who has not lost the dis-
tinctive marks of his race by commerce with strangers ;
* Previous to a tempest, some mountains in the Highlands emit
a loud hollow noise like the roaring of distant thunder ; and the
louder the noise, the more furious will be the tempest, which it
generally precedes about twelve or twenty-four hours. From this
warning, when " the spirit of the mountain shrieks, "t the super-
stitious minds of the Highlanders presage many omens. Beinndouran
in Glenorchy, near the confines of Perth and Argyle, emits this
noise in a most striking manner. It is remarkable that it is emitted
only previous to storms of wind and rain. Before a fall of snow,
however furious the tempest, the mountain, which is of a conical
form, and 3500 feet in height, is silent. In the same manner several
of the great waterfalls in the Highland rivers and streams give
signals of approaching tempests and heavy falls of rain. Twenty-
four or thirty hours previous to a storm, the great falls on the River
Tummel, north of Shiehallain, emit a loud noise, which is heard at
the distance of several miles. The longer the course of the preced-
ing dry weather, the louder and the more similar to a continued roll
of distant thunder is the noise ; consequently, it is louder in summer
than in winter. When the rain commences the noise ceases. It
forms an unerring barometer to the neighbouring farmers. Why
mountains and waterfalls in serene mild weather emit such remark-
able sounds, and are silent in tempests and rains, might form an in-
teresting subject of physical inquiry.
+ Ossian.
SUPERSTITIONS. I05
and such, too, has been the picture which has been drawn
by Ossian."* Such scenes as these impressed the wami
imaginations of the Highlanders ^vith sentiments of awe
and sublimity; and without any moroseness or suUenness
of disposition, produced that serious turn of thinking so
remarkably associated with gaiety and cheerfulness.
* Dr Graham of Aberfoyle, on the Authenticity of Ossian.
I06 MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE.
SECTION VII.
General inea7is of Subsistence — Filial Affection — Influence
of Custom — Disgrace attached to Cowardice^ etc.
In former times the population, which, as already stated,
appears to have been greater than at a later period, would
seem at first sight to have greatly exceeded the means
of subsistence, in a country possessing so small an extent
of land fit for cultivation. Their small breed of cattle
throve upon the poorest herbage, and was, in every re-
spect, well calculated for the country. In summer, the
people subsisted chiefly on milk, prepared in various
forms; while in winter they lived, in a great measure, on
animal food : the spring was with them a season of
severe abstinence. Many were expert fishers and hunters.
In those primitive times, the forest, heaths, and waters,
abounding with game and fish, were alike free to all, and
contributed greatly to the support of the inhabitants.
Now, when mountains and rivers are guarded with severe
restrictions, fish and game are become so scarce, as to be
of little benefit to the people, and to form only a few
weeks' amusement to the privileged.*
The little glens, as well as the larger straths, were,
however, peopled with a race accustomed to bear priva-
tions with patience and fortitude. Cheered by the enjoy-
ment of a sort of wild freedom, cordial attachments
bound their little societies together. A great check to
population was, however, found in those institutions and
habits, which, except in not preventing revengeful retalia-
* See Appendix, O.
CHECKS ON POPULATION. IO7
tion and spoliations of cattle, served all the purposes for
which laws are commonly enforced.
While the country was portioned out amongst numer-
ous tenants, none of their sons were allowed to marry till
they had obtained a house, a farm, or some certain pro-
spect of settlement, unless, perhaps, in the case of a son,
who was expected to succeed his father. Cottagers and
tradesmen were also discouraged from marrying, till they
had a house, and the means of providing for a family.
These customs are now changed. The system of converting
whole tracts of country into one farm, and the practice of
letting lands to the highest bidder, without regard to the
former occupiers, and their future ruin or prosperity, occa-
sions gloomy prospects, and the most fearful and dis-
couraging uncertainty of tenure. Yet, as if in despite of
the theory of Malthus, these discouragements, instead of
checking population, have removed the restraint which the
prudent foresight of a sagacious peasantry had formerly im-
posed on early marriages. Having now no sure prospect
of a permanent settlement, by succeeding to the farms in-
herited by their fathers, nor a certainty of being per-
mitted to remain in their native country on any terftis, they
marry whenever inclination prompts them. The pro-
priety of marrying when young, they defend on this
principle, that their children might rise up around them,
while they are in the vigour of life, and able to provide for
their maintenance, and that they may thus ensure support
to their old age ; for no Highlander can ever forego the
hope, that, while he has children able to support him, he
will never be allowed to want. On the other hand, the
affection of children to their parents has led to the most
zealous exertions, and the greatest sacrifices in providing
for their support and comfort. Children are considered
Io8 SENSE OF DUTY.
less as a present incumbrance, than as a source of future
assistance, and as the prop of dechning age. Whatever
their misfortunes might be, they beheve that, while their
offspring could work, they would not be left destitute.
It is pleasing to observe, that, among many changes of
character, this laudable feeling still continues in consider-
able force. If a poor man's family are under the necessity
of going to service, they settle among themselves which of
their number shall in turn remain at home, to take charge of
their parents, and all consider themselves bound to share
with them whatever they are able to save from their wages.
The sense of duty is not extinguished by absence
from the mountains. It accompanies the Highland soldier
amid the dissipations of a mode of life to which he has not
been accustomed. It prompts him to save a portion of
his pay, to enable him to assist his parents, and also to
work when he has an opportunity, that he may increase
their allowance, — at once preserving himself from idle
habits, and contributing to the happiness and comfort of
those who gave him birth. I have been a frequent
channel through which these offerings of filial bounty were
communicated, and I have generally found, that a threat
of informing their parents of misconduct, has operated
as a sufficient check on young soldiers, who always re-
ceived the intimation with a sort of horror. They knew
that the report would not only grieve their relations, but
act as a sentence of banishment against themselves, as
they could not return home with a bad or a blemished
character. Generals Mackenzie-Fraser and Mackenzie of
Suddie, who successively commanded the 78th High-
landers, seldom had occasion to resort to any other
punishments than threats of this nature, for several years
after the embodying of that regiment.
PUNISHMENT BY A CHIEF. IO9
Honesty and fair dealing in their mutual transactions
were enforced by custom* as much as by established law,
and generally had a more powerful influence on their
character and conduct, than the legal enactments of later
periods. Insolvency was considered as disgraceful, and
prima facie a crime. " Bankrupts were forced to surren-
der their all, and were clad in a party coloured clouted
garment, with the hose of different sets, and had their
hips dashed against a stone in presence of the people,
by four men, each taking hold of an arm or a leg. This
punishment was called Ton cruaidh.'''' \
Where courage is considered honourable and indis-
pensable, cowardice is of course held infamous, and
punished as criminal. Of the ignominy that attached to
it, Mrs Grant relates the following anecdote : "There was
a clan, I must not say what clan it is,% who had been for
ages governed by a series of chiefs singularly estimable,
and highly beloved, and who, in one instance, provoked
their leader to the extreme of indignation. I should ob-
serve that the transgression was partial, the culprits being
the inhabitants of one single parish. These, in a hasty
skirmish with a neighbouring clan, thinking discretion the
best part of valour, sought safety in retreat. A cruel
chief would have inflicted the worst of punishments —
banishment from the bounds of his clan, — which, indeed,
fell little short of the curse of Kehama. This good laird,
however, set bounds to his wrath, yet made their punish-
■* See Appendix, P.
* The Reverend Dr McQueen'' s Dissertation.
X I may now mention, what the accomplished author suppressed,
that this chief was the Laird of Grant, grandfather of the late estim-
able representative of that honourable family.
no CHASTITY.
ment severe and exemplary. He appeared himself with
all the population of the three adjacent parishes, at the
parish-church of the offenders, where they were all by
order convened. After divine service they were all
marched three times round the church, in presence of
their offended leader and his assembled clan. Each in-
dividual, on coming out of the church-door, was obliged
to draw out his tongue with his fingers, and then cry audi-
bly, ^Sudam bleidire'theich^ i. e. 'This is the poltroon who
fled,' and to repeat it at every corner of the church.
After this procession of ignominy, no other punishment
was inflicted, except that of being left to guard the dis-
trict when the rest was called out to battle." Mrs Grant
adds — " It is credibly asserted, that no enemy has seen
the back of any of that name ever since. And it is cer-
tain, that, to this day, it is not safe for any person of an-
other name to mention this circumstance in presence of
one of the affronted clan."*
Under the protection of the same principle, were
placed the fidelity of domestic attachment, and the sacred
obligation of the marriage vow. " The guilty person,
whether male or female, was made to stand in a barrel of
cold water at the church door, after which the delinquent,
clad in a wet canvas shirt, was made to stand before the
congregation, and at close of service the minister explained
the nature of the offence."+
This punishment was, however, seldom necessary.
The crime was not frequent, and the separation of a married
couple among the common people almost unknown.
However disagreeable a wife might be to her husband, he
* Mrs Grant on the Superstitions of the Highlanders.
t Dr McQueen's Dissertation.
CHASTITY. Ill
rarely contemplated the possibility of getting rid of her.
As his wife he bore with her failings : as the mother of his
children, he supported her credit: a separation would
have disgraced his family, and have entailed reproach on
his posterity. For the illicit intercourse between the
sexes, in an unmarried state, there was no direct punish-
ment beyond those established by the church; but, as
usual among the people, custom supplied the defect, by
establishing some marks of reprehension and infamy.
These were often of a nature \vhich showed a delicacy of
feeling, not to be expected among an uneducated people,
were it not that these established habits so well suppHed
the want of education, and of what is usually term civili-
zation. Young unmarried women never wore any close
head dress, but only the hair tied with bandages or some
slight ornament. This continued till marriage, or till
they attained a certain age; but if a young woman lost
her virtue and character, then she was obliged to wear a
cap, and never afterwards to appear with her hair un-
covered, in the dress of virgin innocence. Sir John
Dalrymple has observed of the Highlanders, "That to be
modest as w^ell as brave, to be contented with a few things
which Nature requires, to act and to suffer without com-
plaining, to be as much ashamed of doing anything
insolent or ungenerous to others, as of bearing it when
done to ourselves, and to die with pleasure to revenge
affronts offered to their clan or their country; these they
accounted their highest accomplishments."
112 LOVE OF COUNTRY.
SECTION VIII.
Love of Country — Social Meetings — Traditional
Tales and Poetry.
It has often been remarked that the inhabitants of
mountainous and romantic regions are of all men the
most enthusiastically attached to their country. The
Swiss, when at a distance from home, are sometimes said
to die of the maladie du pays.'^ The Scotch High-
landers entertain similar feelings. The cause of this at-
tachment to their native land is the same in all. In a
rich and champaign country, with no marked or striking
features, no deep impression is made on the imagination
by external scenery. Its fertiHty is the only quality for
which the soil is valued ; and the only hope entertained
from it is realized by an abundant crop. In such a
country, the members of a community do not immedi-
ately depend for their happiness on mutual assistance or
friendly intercourse ; and thus an exclusive selfishness is
apt to supplant the social affections. Hence, too, in the
ordinary tenor of life, we seldom find amongst them any
thing calculated to catch the imagination, to excite the
feelings, or to give an interest to the records of memory ;
— no striking adventures — no daring or dangerous enter-
prises. Amongst them we seldom hear
* During last war a Swiss soldier, confined in the French prison
at Perth, was long in a lingering sickly state, from no other cause
that ths surgeon could discover but a constant longing and sighing
for his native country. I have frequently met with instances of the
same kind among Highland recruits.
LOCAL ATTACHMENTS. II3
" Of moving accidents by flood and field,
Of hair-breadth 'scapes i' th' imminent deadly breach."
To the Highlanders such scenes and subjects were
congenial and familiar. The kind of Hfe which they led
exposed them to vicissitudes and dangers, which they
shared in common. They had perchance joined in the
chase or in the foray together, and remembered the ad-
ventures in which they all had participated. Their tra-
ditions refer to a common ancestry ; and their songs of
love and valour found an echo in general sympathy. In
removing from their homes, such a people do not merely
change the spot of earth on which they and their ances-
tors have lived. Mercenary and selfish objects are for-
gotten in the endearing associations entwined round the
objects which they have abandoned. Among a people
who cannot appreciate his amusements, his associations,
and his tastes, the expatriated Highlander naturally sighs
for his own mountains. Even in removing from one part
of the Highlands to another, the sacrifice was regarded as
severe.*
The poetical propensity of the Highlanders, which in-
* A single anecdote, selected from hundreds with which every
Highlander is familiar, will show the force of this local attachment.
A tenant of my father's, at the foot of Shichallain, removed, a good
many years ago, and followed his son to a farm which he had taken
at some distance lower down the country. One morning the old
man disappeared for a considerable time, and being asked on his re-
turn where he had been, he replied, "As I was sitting by the side
of the river, a thought came across me, that, perhaps, some of the
waters from Shichallain, and the sweet fountains that watered the
farm of my forefathers, might now be passing by me, and that if I
bathed they might touch my skin. I immediately stripped, and,
from the pleasure I felt in being surrounded by the pure waters of
Leidnabreilag (the name of the farm), I could not tear myself away
sooner."
I
114 TRADITIONAL POETRY.
deed was the natural result of their situation, and their
peculiar institutions, is generally known. When adven-
tures abound they naturally give fervour to the poet's
song ; and the verse which celebrates them is listened to
with sympathetic eagerness by those who have similar
adventures to record or to repeat. Accordingly, the re-
citation of their traditional poetry was a favourite pas-
time with the Highlanders when collected round their
evening fire. The person who could rehearse the best
poem or song, and the longest and most entertaining
tale, whether stranger or friend, was the most acceptable
guest.* When a stranger appeared, after the usual in-
* When a boy, I took great pleasure in hearing these recitations,
and now reflect, with much surprise, on the ease and rapidity with
which a person could continue them for hours, without hesitation
and without stopping, except to give the argument or prelude to a
new chapter or subject. One of the most remarkable of these reciters
in my time was Duncan Macintyre, a native of Glenlyon, in Perth-
shire, who died in September i8i6, in his 93rd year. His memory
was most tenacious; and the poems, songs, and tales of which he
retained a perfect remembrance to the last, would fill a volume.
Several of the poems are in possession of the Highland Society of
London, who settled a small annual pension on INIacintyre a few
years before his death, as being one of the last who retained any re-
semblance to the ancient race of bards. When any surprise was ex-
pressed at his strength of memory, and his great store of ancient
poetry, he said, that in his early years, he knew numbers whose
superior stores of poetry would have made his own appear as nothing.
This talent was so general, that to multiply instances of it may appear
superfluous.
A few years ago the Highland Society of London sent the late
Mr Alexander Stewart f through the vSouthern Highlands to collect
a few remains of Gaelic poetry. When he came to my father's
house, a young woman in the immediate neighbourhood was sent
for, from whose recitations he wrote down upwards of 3000 lines ;
+ He was grandson to the man who bathed in his native waters.
POWERS OF MEMORY. II5
troductory compliments, the first question was, " Bheil
dad agad air na Fheinnf (Can you speak of the days
of Fingal ?) If the answer was in the affirmative, the
whole hamlet was convened, and midnight was usually
the hour of separation. At these meetings the women
regularly attended, and were, besides, in the habit of as-
sembling alternately in each other's houses, with their
distaffs, or spinning-wheels, when the best singer, or the
most amusing reciter, always bore away the palm.
The powers of memory and fancy thus acquired a
strength unexampled among the peasantry of any other
country, where recitation is not practised in a similar way,
and where, every thing being committed to paper, the
exercise of memory is less necessary. It is owing to this
ancient custom that we still meet with Highlanders who
can give a connected and minutely accurate detail of the
history, genealogy, feuds, and battles of all the tribes and
families in every district, or glen, for many miles round,
and for a period of several hundred years. They illus-
trated these details by a reference to any remarkable
stone, cairn,* tree, or stream, within the district ; con-
and, had she been desired, she could have given him as many more.
So correct was her memory, that, when the whole was read over to
her, the corrections were trifling. When she stopped to give the
transcriber time to write, she invariably took up the word immedi-
ately following that at which she stopped. This girl had pecuUar
advantages, as her father and mother possessed great stores of Celtic
poetry and traditions. Several specimens are in possession of the
Highland Society of London.
* A heap of stones was thrown over the spot where a person
happened to be killed or buried. Every passenger added a stone to
this heap, which was called a Cairn. Hence the Highlanders have a
saying, when one person serves another, or shows any civility, "I will
add a stone to your cairn;" in other words, I will respect your memory.
Il6 POWERS OF MEMORY.
necting with each some kindred story of a fairy or ghost,
or the death of some person who perished in the snow,
by any sudden disaster, or by some accidental rencontre,
and embelUshing each with some tradition or anecdote.
Such topics formed their ordinary subject of conversation.
In the Lowlands, on the other hand, it is difficult to find
a person, in the same station of life, who can repeat from
memory more than a few verses of a psalm or ballad,
and who, instead of giving an historical detail of several
ages, and changes of families, is generally dumb, or per-
haps answers with a vacant stare of surprise when such
questions are asked. The bare description, however, of
such rencontres and accidents, among a people merely
warlike, how impetuous and energetic soever in character,
would have proved exceedingly monotonous, or fit only
to amuse or interest persons possessed of a few ideas and
obtuse feelings; but in the graphic delineations of the
Celtic narrator, the representation of adventures, whether
romantic or domestic, was enlivened by dramatic sketches,
which introduced him occasionally as speaking or convers-
ing in an appropriate and characteristic manner. This,
among people accustomed to embody the expressions of
passion and deep feehng in a powerful and pathetic elo-
quence, gave life and vigour to the narratives, and was, in
fact, the spirit by which these narratives were at once
animated and preserved.*
* Martin, speaking of the Highlanders of his time, says, " Several
of both sexes have a quick vein of poesy; and in their language
(which is very emphatic) they compose rhymes and verse, both of
which powerfully affect the fancy, and, in my judgment (which is not
singular in this matter), with as great force as that of any ancient or
modern poet I ever yet read. They have generally very retentive
memories. "
LANGUAGE. II7
By this manner of passing their leisure time, and by
habitual intercourse with their superiors, they acquired
a great degree of natural good breeding, together with a
fluency of nervous, elegant, and grammatical expression,
niot easily to be conceived or understood by persons
whose dialect has been contaminated by an intermixture
of Greek, Latin, and French idioms. Their conversations
were carried on with a degree of ease, vivacity, and free-
dom from restraint, not usually to be met with in the
lower orders of society. The Gaelic language is singu-
larly adapted to this colloquial ease, frankness, and
courtesy. It contains expressions better calculated to
mark the various degrees of respect and deference due to
age, rank, or character, than are to be found in almost any
other language. These expressions are, indeed, peculiar
and untranslatable. A Highlander was accustomed to
stand before his superior with his bonnet in his hand, if
so permitted, (which was rarely the case, as few superiors
chose to be outdone in politeness by the people,) and his
plaid thrown over his left shoulder, with his right arm in
full action, adding strength to his expressions, while he
preserved a perfect command of his mind, his words, and
manners. He was accustomed, without showing the
least bashful timidity, to argue and pass his joke (for
which the language is also well adapted) with the greatest
freedom, naming the person whom he addressed by his
most familiar appellation.* Feeling thus unembarrassed
* If the individual was a man of landed property, or a tacksman of
an old family, he was addressed by the name of his estate or farm ;
if otherwise, by his christian name or patronymic. From these
patronymics many of our most ancient families, such as the Mac-
donalds, Macdougals, Macgregors, and others of the western and
southern clans, assumed their names, as well as the more modem
Il8 MANNERS.
before his superior, he never lost the air of conscious
independence and confidence in himself, which was ac-
quired by his habitual use of arms ; " a fashion," as is
observed by a celebrated writer, "which, by accustoming
them to the instruments of death, removed the fear of
death itself, and which, from the danger of provocation,
made the common people as polite and as guarded in
their behaviour as the gentry of other countries."*
clans of the southern Highlanders, the Robertsons and Farquharsons,
the latter changing the Celtic mac to the Scottish soii^ as the Fergu-
sons have done, although this last is supposed to be one of the most
ancient names of any, as pronounced in Gaelic, in which language
the modern name Ferguson is totally unknown. The last instance
I knew of a person assuming the patronymic as a surname, was the
late General Reid, who died Colonel of the 88th Regiment in 1806,
and whom I shall have occasion to mention as an officer of the 42nd
Regiment, and as one of the most scientific amateur musicians of his
time. He was son of Alexander Robertson of Straloch, whose fore-
fathers, for more than three centuries, wei-e always called Barons
Rua, Roy, or Red. The designation was originally assumed by the
first of the family having red hair, and having got a royal grant of a
barony. Although the representative of the family was in all com-
panies addressed as Baron Rua, and as I have said, was known by
no other name, yet his signature was always Robertson, all the
younger children bearing that name. General Reid never observed
this rule ; and being the heir of the family, was not only called
Reid, but kept the name and signature of Reid : why he added the
letter i to Red I know not. The celebrated Kcarnach, Robert Rua
Macgregor, sometimes signed Rob Roy, or Red Robert. t
* Sir John Dalrymple's Memohs of Great Britain.
t See Appendix, Q.
ATTACHMENT TO THE ANCIENT ROYAL RACE. II9
SECTION IX.
Attachment to the Exiled Fa??itly — Political differences
betveen the Loivlanders and the Highlanders — Disinte?--
ested but mistaken feeling of Loyalty — Military conduct.
Under the House of Stuart, * the Highlanders en-
joyed a degree of freedom suited to the ideas of a high-
spirited people, proud of having, for a series of ages,
maintained their independence. The occasional inter-
ference of the royal authority, and the policy frequently
pursued, of employing one chief to punish another, and
of rewarding the successful rival with a share of the lands
forfeited by the vanquished, had a greater tendency to
perpetuate than to allay the endless feuds between differ-
ent clans and districts. It had another effect ; it turned
the exasperation of the subdued clan against those who
attacked them, and directing it from the person of a dis-
tant sovereign, whose power was sometimes so weak that
he had no other means of estabhshing his authority than
that of setting the clans in opposition to each other. In
this state of hostility, their rage and irritation being ex-
pended against their neighbours and rivals, the part the
Sovereign had taken attracted little notice ; and thus
loyalty and attachment to his person continued unshaken.
Of this we have striking instances in the case of the
Macdonalds of Cantyre and Islay, and the Macleans of
Duart, whose lands were forfeited and granted to the
Earl of Argyll in consequence of some acts of violence
committed in the course of their mutual feuds ; and yet
* See Appendix, R.
I20 ATTACHMENT TO THE STUART FAMILY.
no people in the Highlands retained a stronger or more
lasting attachment and loyalty than these two clans. The
case was the same with the Macleods of the Lewis, whose
lands were granted to the Mackenzies ; and it is not a
little remarkable that the Macdonalds, Macleans, and
Macleods, with all their reverses and forfeitures, preserved
a kind of enthusiastic loyalty to their ancient sovereigns
and their descendants, — an attachment which was early
forgotten by those who were more favoured, and were
enriched by the grants of their estates. The actual inter-
ference of the Sovereign or any distant authority being
little felt by the Highlanders, it contributed to give them
an idea of independence, and fostered a kindly feeling
towards the King, whose severity was not immediately
felt, as few mandates came directly from him. Thus a
species of freedom and independence continued with
little interruption, and always accompanied with loyalty
and a high spirit, till after the reign of Charles I. and
during the Commonwealth, when Oliver Cromwell planted
garrisons in the heart of their country to punish them for
their loyalty during the civil wars. It was then that they
began to find their independence lowered, and their free-
dom restrained. This restraint, however, continued only
during the period of the Usurpation ; for soon after the
Restoration, the garrisons were withdrawn by Charles H.
in consideration of the eminent services rendered to his
father and himself in their adversity. The subsequent
measures adopted by King William helped greatly to
awaken and confirm the attachment of the Highlanders
to their ancient kings, while it increased their aversion to
the new monarch.
To these causes may in part be ascribed the eagerness
with which the Highlanders strove for the restoration of
JACOBITE SONGS. 121
their ancient line of sovereigns. Another source of this
attachment may be traced to the feudal system itself.
When we take into account the implicit devotion of the
clans to the interests and the honour of their chiefs, we
may cease to wonder at their respect for a family, between
which and many of their chiefs a connection by birth,
marriage, and hereditary descent, was known to subsist.
This connection was nearly similar to that between the
chief and many members of his clan. The doctrine of
hereditary succession, and indefeasible right, never, in its
abstract sense, formed any part of their system. Acute
and inteUigent in regard to all objects within their view,
they had but vague and indefinite ideas of the limits of
royal power and prerogative. Their loyalty, like their re-
ligion, was a strong habitual attachment; the object of
which was beyond the reach of their observation, but not
beyond that of their affections. The Stuarts were the
only kings their fathers had obeyed and served. Of the
errors of their Government in regard to the English and
Saxons of the Lowlands, they were either ignorant or un-
qualified to judge. Poetry was here a powerful auxiliary
to prejudice. Burns has said that the " Muses are all
Jacobites." " There are few Scotchmen, even of the
present day," says Laing in his History of Scotland,
" whose hearts are not warmed by the songs which cele-
brate their independence, under their ancient race of
kings." The sympathy which we naturally cherish, when
the mighty are laid low, — the generous indignation ex-
cited by the abuse of power, or by insulted feeling, — and
the tender anguish with which the victims of mistaken
principle looked back from a foreign shore, where they
wandered in hopeless exile, to the land of their forefathers •
— these and similar themes were more susceptible of
122 JACOBITE SONGS.
poetical embellishment than the support of a new and ill-
understood authority ; a subject not of feeling, but of that
cool and abstract reasoning which was the more un-
poetical for being sound and conclusive. Accordingly,
we find that the whole power of national song, during
that period, inclined towards the ancient dynasty; and
the whole force of the ludicrous, the popular, and the
pathetic, volunteered in the Jacobite service. It is be-
yond question, that the merit of these Jacobite songs
eclipsed, and still eclipses, every attempt at poetry on the
other side, which has produced little beyond a few scraps
of verses, in ridicule of the bare knees, the kilts, and bad
English of the Highlanders.*
The last great cause which I shall mention of the
attachment of the Highlanders to the House of Stuart,
was the difference of religious feelings and prejudices
that distinguished them from their brethren of the South.
This difference became sti iking at the Reformation, and
continued during the whole of the subsequent century.
While many Lowlanders were engaged in angry theo-
* Now, as the House of Hanover has not more loyal or devoted
subjects than the descendants of the honourable old Jacobites, it may
be permitted to notice a few of those popular songs which so power-
fully affected many of the last generation, and which continue to
aflford occasional amusement and pastime to the present : — " Hey
Johnnie Cope, are ye wauken yet?" " Hame, hame, it's hame I
would be, For I'm wearied of my life in this foreign countrie;" "A
health to them that I lo'e dear ;" " Kenmure's on and awa ;" *' The
King shall enjoy his ain ;" — all of which spoke to the heart in the
strong and simple language best suited to awaken its most powerful
emotions. When it is considered how many feel, and how few
reason, the power of popular poetry will be easily understood. Of
this the Government in 1746 seemed to be fully sensible; for great
numbers of the popular ballads and songs were bought up and
publicly burnt.
RELIGION. 125
logical controversies, or adopted a more sour and forbid-
ding demeanour, the Highlanders retained much of their
ancient superstitions, and from their cheerful and poetical
spirit, were averse to long faces and wordy disputes.
They were, therefore, more inclined to join the Cavaliers
than the Roundheads, and were, on one occasion, em-
ployed by the ministry of Charles 11. to keep down the
republican spirits in the West of Scotland. The same
cause, among others, had previously induced them to join
the standard of Montrose.
It has been said by a celebrated author,* that the
Highlands of Scotland is the only country in Europe that
has never been distracted by religious controversy, or
suffered from religious persecution.t This is easily
* Dalrymple^ s Memoirs.
t Although they never suffered from religious persecutions, they
sometimes resisted a change in the mode of worship. The last
Episcopal clergyman of the parish of Glenorchy, Mr David Lindsay,
was ordered to surrender his charge to a Presbyterian minister then
appointed by the Duke of Argyll. When the new clergyman reached
the parish to take possession of his living, not an individual would
speak to him, and every door was shut against him, except Mr
Lindsay's, who received him kindly. On Sunday the new clergyman
went to church, accompanied by his predecessor. The whole popu-
lation of the district were assembled, but they would not enter the
church. No person spoke to the new minister, nor was there the
least noise or violence, till he attempted to enter the church, when
he was surrounded by twelve men fully armed, who told him he must
accompany them ; and, disregarding all Mr Lindsay's prayers and
entreaties, they ordered the piper to play the march of death, and
marched away with the minister to the confines of the parish. Here
they made him swear on the Bible that he would never return, or
attempt to disturb Mr Lindsay. He kept his oath. The Synod of
Argyle were highly incensed at this violation of their authority ; but
seeing that the people were determined to resist, no farther attempt
124 RELIGION.
accounted for. The religion of the Highlanders was
founded on the simplest principles of Christianity, and
cherished by strong feehng. On this, also, was grounded
a moral education, without letters, (so far as regarded the
lower orders I mean; the middle* and higher classes
having, for many generations, been well educated,) and
transmitted to them from their forefathers, with which
was mixed a degree of honourable feeling t which never
forsook them in pubhc life, whether engaged in open
was made, and Mr Lindsay lived thirty years afterwards, and died
Episcopal minister of Glenorchy, loved and revered by his flock.
* See Appendix, S.
t One instance of the force of principle, founded on a sense of
honour, and its consequent influence, was exhibited in the year 1745,
when the rebel army lay at Kirkliston, near the seat of the Earl of
Stair, whose grandfather, when Secretary of State for Scotland in
1692, had transmitted to Campbell of Glenlyon, the orders of King
William for the massacre of Glencoe. Macdonald of Glencoe, the im-
mediate descendant of the unfortunate gentleman, who, with all his
family (except a child carried away by his nurse in the dark), fell a
sacrifice to this horrid massacre, had joined the rebels with all his
followers, and was then in West Lothian. Prince Charles, anxious
to save the house and property of Lord Stair, and to remove from
his followers all excitement to revenge, but at the same time not com-
prehending their true character, proposed that the Glencoe men should
be marched to a distance from Lord Stair's house and parks, lest the
remembrance of the share which his grandfather had had in the order
for extirpating the whole clan should now excite a spirit of revenge.
When the proposal was communicated to the Glencoe men, they
declared, that, if that was the case, they must return home. If they
were considered so dishonourable as to take revenge on an innocent
man, they were not fit to remain with honourable men, nor to sup-
port an honourable cause ; and it was not without much explanation,
and great persuasion, that they were prevented from marching away
the following morning. When education is founded on such principles,
the happiest effects are to be expected.
RELIGION. 125
rebellion, as in 1745, or as loyal subjects fighting the
battles of their country, in after periods.
" The two principal distinctions in the religion of
the Highlanders are the Presbyterian and the Roman
Catholic. The latter, with few exceptions, is confined
to the County of Inverness, particularly to the districts
of Lochaber, Moidart, Arasaig, Morar, Knoidart, and
Strathglass, and to the Islands of Canna, Eig, South
Uist, and Barra, where the adherents to the religion of
their ancestors are equal, if not superior in number, to
the disciples of the Reformation. There are likewise a
few Episcopalians, chiefly among the gentry.
" The religion of a Highlander is peaceable and un-
obtrusive. He never arms himself with quotations from
Scripture to carry on offensive operations. There is no
inducement for him to strut about in the garb of piety,
in order to attract respect, as his own conduct insures it.
Not being perplexed by doubt, he wants no one to cor-
roborate his faith. Upon such a subject, therefore, he
is silent, unless invited to conversation, and then he
entertains it with solemnity and reverence. The re-
lationship betweenJiim and his Creator is more in his
heart than on his tongue. I believe his religious feehngs
to be as sincere as they are simple and unassuming, and
that moral precepts are more congenial to his disposition
than mysteries.
"Another circumstance, still more astonishing, is,
that Protestants and Papists, so often pronounced to be
eternally inimical, live here in charity and brotherhood.
On neither side is humanity forgotten in their doctrine
of divinity. In Fort- William there is the Scotch church,
and the Episcopal and the Roman Catholic chapels. The
inhabitants of the town, and of the neighbourhood, know no
126 RELIGION.
division, except at the doors of their respective places of
worship.* On a Sunday morning they may be seen in
the street, and approaching by the several roads, convers-
ing together ' in unity of spirit and in the bond of peace,'
till the time arrives for their separation, when each man
bends his course according to the dictates of his own con-
science, without note or comment from the others ; and
when the assembhes are dismissed, they meet again as
cordially as they parted. The advocate for intolerance
will say, such a people must either be lukewarm and in-
different, or the thing is impossible. Not at all. They
are truly earnest in their devotion. The same spirit of
charity is diffused throughout families. A master does
not require his servants to think as he thinks ; he merely
requires them to do as they are bid. A husband is not
offended because his wife loves consubstantiation better
than transubstantiation, provided she loves him. As for
their children, they easily come to an agreement about
them, if they agree in every thing else. I visited a family,
where the master of the house and his sons are Roman
Catholics, his wife and daughter Episcopalians, and the
tutor a Presbyterian. What a mixture ! And does it not
lead to confusion and wrangling ? By no means ; quite
the contrary. It is a daily lesson of good-will and kind-
hearted forbearance, and every one in the house is bene-
fited by it."
This was the state of religion, liberality, and Christian
charity among different sects twenty years ago. In more
* Pennant, speaking of the Island of Canna, says, "The minister
and the Popish priest reside in Eig ; but, by reason of the turbulent
seas that divide these isles, are very seldom able to attend their flocks.
I admire the moderation of their congregations, who attend the
preaching of either indifferently as they happen to arrive."
RELIGION. 127
ancient times, the minds and principles of the High-
landers were influenced and guided by their institutions ;
by their notions, that honour, or disgrace, communicated
to a whole family or district ; by their chivalry, their
poetry, and traditionary- tales ; in later periods the labours
of the parish ministers have, by their religious and moral
instructions, reared an admirable structure on this found-
ation. No religious order in modern times, have been more
useful and exemplary, by their instructions and practice,
than the Scotch parochial clergy. Adding example to pre-
cept, they have taught the pure doctrines of Christianity in
a manner clear, simple, and easily comprehended by their
flock. Thus, the religious tenets of the Highlanders, guided
by their clergy, were blended with an impressive, captivat-
ing, and, if I may be allowed to call it so, a salutary super-
stition, inculcating on the minds of all, that an honour-
able and well-spent life entailed a blessing on descend-
ants, while a curse would descend on the successors of
the \\-icked, the oppressor, and ungodly.* These, with a
* The belief that the punishment of the cruelty, oppression, or
misconduct of an individual descended as a curse on his children, to
the third and fourth generation, was not confined to the common
people. All ranks were influenced by it ; and many believed, that
if the curse did not fall upon the first or second generation, it would
inevitably descend upon the succeeding. The late Colonel Campbell
of Glenlyon retained this belief through a course of thirty years' in-
tercourse with the world, as an officer of the 42nd Regiment, and of
Marines. He was grandson of the Laird of Glenlyon, who com-
manded the military at the massacre of Glencoe, and who lived in the
laird of Glencoe's house, where he and his men were hospitably enter-
tained during a fortnight prior to the execution of his orders.
Colonel Campbell was an additional Captain in the 42nd Regiment in
1748, and was put on half pay. He then entered the Marines, and
in 1762 was Major, with the brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and
commanded 8cx) of his corps at the Havannah. In 1771, he was
128 RELIGION.
belief in ghosts, dreams, and second-sighted visions,*
served to tame the turbulent and soothe the afflicted, and
differed widely from the gloomy inflexible Puritanism of
many parts of the south. The demure solemnity and
fanaticism of the plains, offered a ceaseless subject of
ordered to superintend the execution of the sentence of a court-
martial on a soldier of marines, condemned to be shot. A reprieve
was sent ; but the whole ceremony of the execution was ordered to
proceed until the criminal should be upon his knees, with a cap over
his eyes, prepared to receive the volley. It was then that he was to
be informed of his pardon. No person was to be told previously,
and Colonel Campbell was directed not to inform even the firing
party, who were warned that the signal to fire would be the waving
of a white handkerchief by the commanding officer. When all was
prepared, the clergyman having left the prisoner on his knees, in
momentary expectation of his fate, and the firing party looking with
intense attention for the signal, Colonel Campbell put his hand into
his pocket for the reprieve ; but in pulling out the packet, the white
handkerchief accompanied it, and catching the eyes of the party,
they fired, and the unfortunate prisoner was shot dead.
The paper dropped through Colonel Campbell's fingers, and,
clapping his hand to his forehead, he exclaimed, " The curse of God
and Glencoe is here; I am an unfortunate ruined man." He desired
the soldiers to be sent to the barracks, instantly quitted the parade,
and soon afterwards retired from the service. This retirement was
not the result of any reflection, or reprimand on account of this un-
fortunate affair, as it was known to be entirely accidental, but the
impression on his mind was never effaced. Nor is the niassacre, and
the judgment which the people believe has fallen on the descendants
of the principal actors in this tragedy, effaced from their recollection.
They carefully note, that, while the family of the unfortunate gentle
man who suffered is still entire, and his estate preserved in direct
male succession to his posterity ; the case is very different with the
family, posterity, and estates of the laird of Glenlyon, and of those
who were the principals, promoters, and actors in this infamous
affair.
* See Appendix, T.
POLITICAL FEELINGS. I 29
ridicule and satire to the poetical imaginations of the
mountaineers. The truth is, that no two classes of people
of the same country, and in such close neighbourhood,
could possibly present a greater contrast than " the wild
and brilliant picture of the devoted valour, incorruptible
fidelity, patriarchal brotherhood, and savage habits of the
Celtic clans on the one hand; and the dark, untractable,
domineering bigotry of the Covenanters, on the other."*
Differing so widely in their manners, they heartily de-
spised and hated each other. " The Lowlander con-
sidered the Highlander as a fierce and savage depredator,
speaking a barbarous language, inhabiting a gloomy and
barren region, which fear and prudence forbade all
strangers to explore. The attractions of his social habits,
strong attachment, and courteous manners, were confined
to his glens and kindred. All the pathetic and sublime
records were concealed in a language difficult to acquire,
and utterly despised as the jargon of barbarians by
their southern neighbours. If such was the light in
which the cultivators of the soil regarded the hunters,
graziers, and warriors of the mountains, their contempt
was amply repaid by their high-spirited neighbours.
The Highlanders, again, regarded the Lowlanders as
a very inferior mongrel race of intruders, sons of little
men, without heroism, 'v^'ithout ancestry, or genius;
mechanical drudges, etc., etc., who could neither sleep
upon the snow, compose extempore songs, recite long
tales of wonder or of woe, or live without bread and
without shelter for weeks together, following the chase.
Whatever was mean or effeminate, whatever was dull,
slow, mechanical, or torpid, was in the Highlands im-
puted to the Lowlanders, and exemplified by allusions to
* Edinburgh Reviexu.
130 POLITICAL PRINCIPLES.
them; while, in the Low country, everything ferocious
or unprincipled, every species of awkwardness or ignor-
ance, of pride, or of insolence, was imputed to the High-
landers."* These mutual animosities and jealousies, long
sustained, operated as a check to a more free communica-
tion, and cherished the affections of the Highlanders to
the exiled family. Their frequent contentions with the
peasantry of the plains adjacent to the mountains, and
the comparison of their own constancy and loyalty with
what they regarded as the time-serving disposition of the
Lowlanders, exalted them in their own estimation, and
contributed, by a feeling of personal pride, to confirm
them in their political predilections.
This attachment, too, will appear the less surprising if
we bear in mind that the Highlanders, far distant from
the seat of government, and not immediately affected by
the causes which produced the Revolution in England,
were imperfectly acquainted with the circumstances
which led to that event. Hence we may discover an
apology for their subsequent conduct, as proceeding more
from a mistaken loyalty, than from a turbulent, restless
spirit. Since this adherence to the House of Stuart pro-
duced most important consequences, as affecting the
Highlanders, and led to measures on the part of Govern-
ment which have conduced so materially to change the
character and habits of the people, we may shortly ex-
amine the cause and motives in which it originated, and
the manner in which it displayed itself
With few exceptions, the Highlanders were of high
monarchical notions. Opposed to these was the family of
Argyll, which took the lead in the interest of the Cove-
nanters and Puritans, and which, during two-thirds of the
* Mrs Grant'' s Superstitions of the Highlanders.
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES. 131
seventeenth century, was at feud with the families of
Atholl, Huntly, Montrose, and Airley. This opposition
of rehgious feeHng and poHtical principles, the warlike
habits of the Highlanders, and the natural conformation of
the country, suddenly rising from the plains into moun-
tains difficult of access, and of exterior communication,
combined to keep up that difference of character already
noticed, which, though so distinctly marked, was divided
by so slight a line, as the small stream or burn of Inch
Ewan below the bridge of Dunkeld, the inhabitants on
each side of which present perfect characteristics of the
Saxons and Celts.* One of the most remarkable of the
latter was the celebrated Neil Gow, whose genius has
added fresh spirit to the cheerful and exhilarating music
of Caledonia, and who, although he was bom, and, dur-
ing the period of a long life, lived within half-a-mile of
the Lowland border, exhibited a perfect specimen of
the genuine Highlander in person, garb, principles, and
character.
While both sides of this line differed so widely, the
language of the northern division, together with their
chivalry, their' garb, their arms, and their Jacobite princi-
ples, kept them too well prepared, and made them too
ready to join in the troubles that ensued. The Disarm-
ing Act of 1 7 16 and 1725, with various irritating causes,
contributed to keep alive these feelings, and to encourage
the hopes of the exiled family. These hopes led to
the Rebellion of 1745, when Charles Edward landed
* The author of Waverley has, with great spirit and humour,
given an admirable delineation of this difference of character, in the
account of Waverley's journey from Glenquaich, and his rencontre
with Gilfillan, the evangelical landlord of the Seven-branched
Golden Candlesticks at Crieff.
132 POLITICAL PRINCIPLES.
in the West Highlands without men or money, trust-
ing to that attachment which many were supposed to
cherish to his family; and committing to their charge
his honour, his life, and his hopes of a crown, he threw
himself among them, and called upon them to support
his claims. This confidence touched the true string,
and made a powerful appeal to that fidelity which had
descended to them, as it w^ere, in trust from their fore-
fathers."^ Seeing a descendant of their ancient kings
among them, confiding in their loyalty, and believing him
unfortunate, accomplished, and brave, " Charles soon
found himself at the head of some thousands of hardy
mountaineers, filled with hereditary attachment to his
* It was not without reason he relied on this loyal attachment
to his person and family. The numerous anecdotes in proof of this
attachment are so remarkable, as to appear almost incredible to
those unacquainted with the manners and feelings of the High-
landers.
When the late Mr Stewart of Balichulish returned home, after
having completed a course of general and classical education at
Glasgow and Edinburgh, he was a promising young man. A friend
of the family happening to visit his father, who had^ '■^ been out" in
1 715 and 1745, congratulated the old gentleman on the appearance
and accomplishments of his son. To this he answered, that the
youth was all he could wish for as a son ; and "next to the happi-
ness of seeing Charles restored to the throne of his forefathers, is the
promise my son affords of being an honour to his family. "
A song or ballad of that period, set to a melancholy and beautiful
air, was exceedingly popular among the Highlanders, and sung by
all classes. It is in Gaelic, and cannot be translated without injury
to the spirit and effect of the composition. One verse, alluding to
the conduct of the troops after the suppression of the rebellion, pro-
ceeds thus : " They ravaged and burnt my country ; they murdered
my father, and carried off my brothers ; they ruined my kindred, and
broke the heart of my mother ; — but all, all could I bear without
murmur, if I saw my king restored to his own."
REBELLION IN 1745- I 33
family, and ardently devoted to his person, in consequence
of his open and engaginj^ manners, as well as having as-
sumed the ancient military dress of their country, which
added new grace to his tall and handsome figure, at the
same time that it borrowed dignity from his princely air ;
and who, from all these motives, were ready to shed the
last drop of their blood in his cause; and descending
from the mountains with the rapidity of a torrent at the
head of his intrepid Highlanders, he took possession of
Dunkeld, Perth, etc., etc." *
So universal and ardent was this feeling, that had it
not been for the wisdom and influence of the Lord Pre-
sident Forbes,! a general rising of the Highlanders would
probably have ensued. This will appear the more remark-
able, if it be true, as is insinuated by that eminent person,
that there was no previous plan of operations, or con-
nected scheme of rebellion; although, had there really
been a preconcerted scheme of any kind, it will be al-
lowed, that the Lord President of the Court of Session
was not the person to whom treasonable plots would have
been disclosed, how intimate soever he might be with the
persons concerned. The whole, however, would seem to
have been a sudden ebulHtion of loyalty, long cherished
in secret, and cherished the more intensely, for the very
reasons that it was secret and persecuted. The Lord
President, in a letter to Sir Andrew Mitchell, dated Sep-
tember 1745, gives the following account of the spirit then
displayed in the North : "All the Jacobites, how prudent
soever, became mad, all doubtful people became Jaco-
bites, and all bankrupts became heroes, and talked of
nothing but hereditary right and victory. And what was
* Letters of a Nobleman to his Son.
+ See Appendix, U.
134 REBELLION IN 1 745-
more grievous to men of gallantry, and, if you believe
me, more mischievous to the public, all the fine ladies,* if
* Of all the fine ladies, few were more accomplished, more beauti-
ful, or more enthusiastic, than the Lady Mackintosh, a daughter of
Farquharson of Invercauld. Her husband, the Laird of Mackintosh,
had this year been appointed to a company in the then 43rd, now
42nd, Highland Regiment ; and, restrained by a sense of duty, he
kept back his people, who were urgent to be led to the field. These
restraints had no influence on his lady, who took the command of
the clan, and joined the rebels, by whom her husband was taken
prisoner, — when the Prince gave him in charge to his wife, saying,
*'that he could not be in better security, or more honourably
treated." One morning when Lord Loudon lay at Inverness with
the royal army, he received information that the Pretender was to
sleep that night at Moy Hall, the seat of Mackintosh, with a guard
of two hundred of Mackintosh's men. Expecting to put a speedy
end to the rebellion by the capture of the person who was the prime
mover of the whole, Lord Loudon assembled his troops, and
marched to Moy Hall. The commandress, however, was not to be
taken by surprise ; and she had no want of faithful scouts to give her
full information of all movements or intended attacks. Without
giving notice to her guest of his danger, she with great, and, as it
happened, successful temerity, sallied out with her men, and took
post on the high road, at a short distance from the house, placing
small parties two or three hundred yards asunder. When Lord
Loudon came within hearing, a command was passed from man to
man, in a loud voice, along a distance of half a mile : The Mack-
intoshes, Macgillivrays, and Macbeans, to form instantly on the
centre, — the Macdonalds on the right, — the Frasers on the left ; and
in this manner were arranged all the clans in order of battle, in full
hearing of the Commander-in-chief of the royal army, who, believ-
ing the whole rebel force ready to oppose him, instantly faced to the
right about, and retreated with great expedition to Inverness ; but
not thinking himself safe there, he continued his route across three
arms of the sea to Sutherland, a distance of seventy miles, where he
took up his quarters.
Such was the terror inspired by the Highlanders of that day,
even in military men of experience like Lord Loudon. It was not till
REBELLION IN 1 745. 135
you except one or two, became passionately fond of the
young Adventurer, and used all their arts and industry
for him, in the most intemperate manner. Under these
circumstances, I found myself almost alone, without
troops, without arms, without money or credit, provided
with no means to prevent extreme folly, except pen and
ink, a tongue, and some reputation ; and if you will
except Macleod (the Laird of Macleod), whom I sent
for from the Isle of Skye, supported by nobody of com-
mon sense or courage."
During the progress of this unfortunate rebellion, the
moral character of the great mass of the Highlanders en-
gaged in it was placed in a most favourable point of view.
The noblemen and gentlemen, too, who took a lead in the
cause, were generally actuated by pure, although mistaken
motives of loyalty and principle. Some of them might
be stung by the remembrance of real or supposed injuries,
by disappointed ambition, or excited by delusive hopes ;
yet the greatest proportion even of these staked their
lives and fortunes in the contest, from a disinterested
attachment to an unfortunate prince, for whose family
their fathers had suffered, and whose pretensions they
themselves were taught to consider as just. Into these
principles and feelings, the mass of the clansmen entered
the following morning that Lady Mackintosh informed her guest of
the risk he had run. One of the ladies noticed by the President,
finding she could not prevail upon her husband to join the rebels,
though his men were ready ; and perceiving, one morning, that he
intended to set off for Culloden with the offer of his services as a
loyal subject, contrived, while making tea for breakfast, to pour, as
if by accident, a quantity of scalding hot water on his knees and
legs, and thus effectually put an end to all active movements on his
part for that season, while she dispatched his men to join the rebels
under a commander more obedient to her wishes.
136 REBELLION IN 1 745-
with a warmth and zeal unmixed mth, or unsullied by,
motives of self-interest or aggrandizement ; for whatever
their superiors might expect, they could look for nothing
but that satisfaction and self-approbation which accompany
the consciousness of supporting the oppressed. They
were therefore misguided, rather than criminal, and to
their honour it ought to be remembered, that though en-
gaged in a formidable civil war, which roused the strongest
passions of human nature, and though unaccustomed to
regular discipline, or military control, though they were in
a manner let loose on their countr}^men, and frequently
flushed with victor)^ and elated with hopes of ultimate
success, they committed comparatively very few acts of
wanton plunder, or gratuitous violence. They withstood
temptations, which, to men in their situation, might have
appeared irresistible ; and when they marched into the
heart of England through fertile and rich districts, present-
ing numberless objects of desire, and also when in the
northern parts of the kingdom, often pinched with hunger,
and exposed throughout a whole winter to all the in-
clemencies of the weather, without tents, or any covering
save what chance afforded ; in these trying circumstances,
acts of personal violence and robbery were unheard of,
except among a few desperate followers, who joined more
for the sake of booty, than from other and better motives.
Private revenge, or unprovoked massacre,* wanton de-
predation, the burning of private houses, or destruction
of property, were entirely unknown. When the cravings
of hunger, or the want of regular supplies in the north of
Scotland, compelled them to go in quest of food, they
limited their demands by their necessities, and indulged
in no licentious excess. The requisitions and contribu-
* See Appendix, V.
REBELLION IN I 745- 1 37
tions exacted and levied by the rebel commanders, were
the unavoidable consequences of their situation, and did
not in any manner affect the character of the rebel army,
which conducted itself throughout with a moderation, for-
bearance, and humanity, almost unexampled in any civil
commotion. In a military point of view, they proved
themselves equally praiseworthy. Neither in the advance
into England, to within a hundred and fifty miles of Lon-
don, nor in the retreat, when pursued by a superior army
while another attempted to intercept them, did they leave
a man behind by desertion, and few or none by sickness.
They carried their cannon along with them, and the re-
treat "was conducted with a degree of intrepidity, re-
gularity, expedition and address, unparalleled in the
history of nations, by any body of men under circum-
stances equally adverse."*
When such were the character and conduct of the
rebel army, — irreproachable in every respect, except in
the act of rebellion, — it is to be lamented that their en-
lightened and disciphned conquerors did not condescend
to take a lesson of moderation from these uncultivated
savages (as they called them); and that they sullied their
triumphs by devastation and cruelty inflicted on a de-
fenceless enemy. As to the burning of the castles of
Lovat, Lochiel, Glengarry, Clunie, and others, some
apology may be found in the expediency of punishing
men, who, from the circle in which they moved, and
their general intelligence and knowledge of the world,
must have known the stake which they hazarded, and
the consequences of a failure. Not so with their fol-
lowers, who acted from a principle of fidelity and at-
tachment, which had withstood the lapse of so many
* Letters from a Nobleman to his Son.
138 REBELLION IN I 745.
years of absence and exile, and which, by gentle treat-
ment, might have been turned into the proper channel.
Instead of this, a line of conduct was pursued infinitely
more ferocious and barbarous than the worst acts of the
poor people to whom these epithets were so liberally
applied.
These cruelties compelled many of the followers of
the rebel army, afraid of punishment, and unwilling to
return to their homes, to form themselves into bands of
freebooters, who frequented the mountains of Athole,
Breadalbane, and Monteith, districts which form the
border country, and often laid the Lowlands under con-
tributions ; defying the exertions of their Lowland neigh-
bours, assisted by small garrisons, stationed in different
parts of the country, to check their depredations. The
harsh measures afterwards pursued were more calculated
to exasperate, than to allay the discontents which they
were intended to remove, and were perhaps less excus-
able as being more deliberate.
ABOLITION OF HEREDITARY JURISPRUDENCE. 1 39
SECTION X.
Abolition of Hereditary Jurisdiction — Suppression of the
Highland Garb.
The alarm occasioned by this insurrection, determined
Government to dissolve the patriarchal system in the
Highlands, the nature, as well as the danger of which,
had the power of the clans been properly directed, was
now exhibited to the country. It would appear that it
was considered impracticable to effect this dissolution of
clanship, fidelity, and mutual attachment, between the
Highlanders and their chiefs, by a different and improved
modification of the system and state of society; and, un-
fortunately, no course was pursued short of a complete
revolution. For this purpose, an Act was passed in 1747,
depri\Tng all chiefs and landholders of their jurisdictions
and judicial powers; and in August of the same year, it
was also enacted, that any person in the Highlands, pos-
sessing or concealing any kind of arms, should be liable
in the first instance to a severe fine, and be committed
to prison without bail till payment. If the delinquent
was a male, and unable to pay the fine, he was to be sent
to serve as a soldier in America, or, if unfit for service, to
be imprisoned for six months ; if a female, she was, be-
sides the fine and imprisonment till payment, to be
-detained six months in prison. Seven years' transporta-
tion was the punishment for a second offence.
The Highland garb was proscribed by still severer
penalties. It was enacted, that any person within Scot-
land, whether man or boy (excepting officers and soldiers
140 DISARMING ACT.
in his Majesty's service), who should wear the plaid,
philibeg, trews, shoulder belts, or any part of the High-
land garb ; or should use for greatcoats, tartans, or party
coloured plaid, or stuffs ; should, without the alternative
of a fine, be imprisoned, on the first conviction, for six
months without bail, and on the second conviction be
transported for seven years.*
The necessity of these measures is the best apology
for their severity; but, however proper it may have been
to dissolve a power which led to such results, and to de-
prive men of authority and their followers of arms, which
they so illegally used, the same necessity does not appear
to extend to the garb. " Even the loyal clans," says Dr
Johnson, -'murmured with an appearance of justice, that,
after having defended the king, they were forbidden to
defend themselves, and that the swords should be for-
feited which had been legally employed. It affords a
generous and manly pleasure, to conceive a little nation
gathering its fruits and tending its herds, with fearless
confidence, though it is open on every side to invasion ;
where, in contempt of walls and trenches, every man
sleeps securely with his sword beside him, and where all,
on the first approach of hostility, come together at the
call to battle, as the summons to a festival show, com-
mitting their cattle to the care of those, whom age or
* Considering the severity of the law against this garb, nothing
but the strong partiality of the people could have prevented its going
entirely into disuse. The prohibitory laws were so long in force,
that more than two-thirds of the generation who saw it enacted had
passed away before the repeal. The youth of the latter period knew
it only as an illegal garb, to be worn by stealth under the fear of im-
prisonment and transportation. Hreeches, by force of habit, had
become so common, that it is remarkable how the plaid and philibeg
were resumed at all.
HIGHLAND GARB. I4I
nature had disabled to engage the enemy; with that
competition for hazard and glory, which operate in men
that fight under the eye of those whose dislike or kind-
ness they have always considered as the greatest evil, or
the greatest good. This was in the beginning of the
present century : in the state of the Highlanders every
man was a soldier, who partook of the national con-
fidence, and interested himself in national honour. To
lose this spirit, is to lose what no small advantage will
compensate, when their pride has been crushed by the
heavy hand of a vindictive conqueror, whose severities
have been followed by laws, which, though they cannot
be called cruel, have produced much discontent, because
they operate on the surface of life, and make every eye
bear witness to subjection. If the pohcy of the Disarm-
ing Act appears somewhat problematical, what must we
think of the subsequent measure of 1747, to compel the
Highlanders to lay aside their national dress ? It is im-
possible to read this latter Act, without considering it
rather as an ignorant wantonness of power, than the pro-
ceeding of a wise and a beneficent legislature. To be
compelled to wear a new dress has always been found
painful."* So the Highlanders found; and it certainly
was not consistent with the boasted freedom of our
countr)^ (and in that instance, indeed, it was shown that
this freedom was only a name) to inflict, on a whole
people, the severest punishment short of death, for wear-
ing a particular dress. Had the whole race been de-
cimated, more violent grief, indignation and shame, could
not have been excited among them, than by being
deprived of this long inherited costume. This was an
encroachment on the feelings of a people, whose ancient
* Dr Johnson^ s Journey to the Highlands,
142 SUPPRESSION OF THE
and martial garb had been worn from a period reaching
back beyond all history or even tradition.*
The obstinacy with which the law was resisted, pro-
ceeded no less from their attachment to their proscribed
garb, than from the irksomeness of the dress forced upon
them. Habituated to the free use of their limbs, the
Highlanders could ill brook the confinement and restraint
of the Lowland dress, and many were the little devices
which they adopted to retain their ancient garb, without
incurring the penalties of the Act, devices which were cal-
culated rather to excite a smile, than to rouse the ven-
geance of prosecution. Instead of the prohibited tartan
kilt, some wore pieces of a blue, green, or red thin cloth,
or coarse camblet, wrapped round the waist, and hanging
down to the knees like the fea/dag.f The tight breeches
* vSome opinion may be formed of the importance which Govern-
ment attached to the garb by the tenor of the following oath, ad-
ministered in 1747 and 1748 in Fort-William and other places where
the people were assembled for the purpose; those who refused to
take it being treated as rebels : " I, A. B., do swear, and as I shall
answer to God at the great day of judgment, I have not, nor shall
have, in my possession any gun, sword, pistol, or arm whatsoever,
and never use tartan, plaid, or any part of the Highland garb ; and
if I do so, may I be cursed in my undertakings, family, and property,
— may I never see my wife and children, father, mother, or relations,
— may I be killed in battle as a coward, and lie without Christian
burial in a strange land, far from the graves of my forefathers and
kindred; may all this come across me if I break my oath.'' The
framers of this oath understood the character of the Highlanders. The
abolition of the feudal power of the chiefs, and the Disarming Act had
little influence on the character of the people in comparison of the
grief, indignation, and disaffection occasioned by the loss of their
garb.
t The fealdag was the same as the philibeg, only not plaited.
The mode of sewing the kilt, into plaits or folds, in the same manner
HIGHLAND GARB. 1 43
were particularly obnoxious. Some who were fearful of
offending, or wished to render obedience to the law,
which had not specified on what part of the body the
breeches were to be worn, satisfied themselves with having
in their possession this article of legal and royal dress,
which, either as the signal of their submission, or more
probably to suit their own convenience when on journeys,
they often suspended over their shoulders upon their
sticks ; others who were either more wary, or less sub-
as the plaid, is said to have been introduced by an Englishman of
the name of Parkinson, early in the last century, which has given
rise to an opinion entertained by many, that the kilt is modern, and
was never known till that period. This opinion is founded on a
memorandum left by a gentleman whose name is not mentioned, and
published in the Scots Magazine. To a statement totally unsup-
ported, little credit can of course be attached; and it may, surely
with as much reason, be supposed, that breeches were never worn
till the present cut and manner of wearing them came into fashion.
As the Highlanders had sufficient ingenuity to think of plaiting the
plaid, it is likely they would be equally ingenious in forming the
kilt ; and as it is improbable that an active light-footed people would
go about on all occasions, whether in the house or in the field, en-
cumbered with twelve yards of plaid, (to say nothing of the expense
of such a quantity), I am less wiUing to coincide in the modern
opinion, founded on such a slight unauthenticated notice, than in the
universal belief of the people, that the philibeg has been part of their
garb, as far back as tradition reaches.
Since the publication of the former editions, several friends have
represented to me, that a more decided contradiction ought to be
given to the story of Parkinson and his supposed invention of the
kilt, which, they say, is totally unfounded. The truth is, the thing
is not worth contradicting. If the story were true, which it is not,
the whole would amount to this, — that in the reign of George II.
the Highlanders began to wear four yards of tartan instead of twelve,
as was their practice in former reigns. This is one of the arguments
brought forward by some modern authors, to prove that the Highland
garb is of recent introduction.
144 SUPPRESSION OF THE
missive, sewed up the centre of the kilt, with a few
stitches between the thighs, which gave it something of
the form of the trowsers worn by Dutch skippers. At
first the evasions of the Act were visited with considerable
severity; but at length the officers of the law seem to
have acquiesced in the interpretation put by the High-
landers upon the prohibition of the Act. This appears
from the trial of a man of the name of Macalpin, or
Drummond Macgregor, from Breadalbane, who was ac-
quitted, on his proving that the kilt had been stitched up
in the middle.* This trial took place in 1757, and was
the first instance of relaxation in enforcing the law of
i747.t
The change produced in the Highlands, by the Dis-
arming and Proscribing Acts, was accelerated by the
measures of the Government for the abolition of heridi-
tary jurisdictions, and the consequent overthrow of the
* This very strong attachment to a habit which they thought
graceful and convenient, is not singular among an ancient race,
proud of their independence, manners, customs, and long unbroken
descent. It is in every one's memory, that a dangerous mutiny was
produced at Vellore, in the East Indies, by insisting on an alteration
in the dress of the native troops, in the adjustment of their turbans,
and in the cut of their whiskers. There was, perhaps, a religious
feeling mixed with this opposition ; yet whiskers and turbans seem
of less importance than a whole garb, such as that the use of which
the Highlanders were prohibited.
+ Although the severity of this " ignorant wantonness of power"
began to be relaxed in 1757, it was not till the year 1782 that an Act,
so ungenerous in itself, so unnecessary, and so galling, was repealed.
In the session of that year, the present Duke of Montrose, then a
member of the House of Commons, brought in a bill to repeal all
penalties and restrictions on the Celtic garb. The motion was
seconded by the Earl of Lauderdale, then Lord Maitland, and passed
without a dissenting voice.
HIGHLAND GARB. I45
authority of the chiefs. This was the last act of Govern-
ment which had any influence upon the Highland charac-
ter. Subsequent changes are to be traced to causes,
which owe their existence chiefly to the views and specula-
tions of private individuals. Into the order of these
causes, and their practical operations and effects, I shall
now shortly inquire.
P A E T T I.
PRESENT STATE, AND CHANGE OF CHARACTER AND
MANNERS.
SECTION I.
Influence of Political and Economical Arrangements —
Change in the Character of the Clans — Introduction
of Fanaticism in Religion.
It will be perceived that the preceding Sketch of the cus-
toms, manners, and character of the inhabitants of the
Highlands of Scotland refers rather to past than present
times. A great, and, in some respects, a lamentable
change has been produced ; and the original of the pic-
ture which I have attempted to draw is suffering daily
obliterations, and is, in fact, rapidly disappearing. Much
of the romance and chivalry of the Highland character is
gone. The voice of the bard has long been silent;
poetry, tradition, and song, are vanishing away. To
adopt the words of Mrs Grant, "The generous and
characteristic spirit, the warm affection to his family, the
fond attachment to his clan, the love of story and song,
the contempt of danger and luxury, the mystic super-
148 EFFECTS OF THE UNION.
stition, equally awful and tender, the inviolable fidelity to
every engagement, the ardent love of his native heaths
and mountains," will soon be no longer found to exist
among the Highlanders, unless the change of character
which is now in rapid progress be checked.
Of this change there was no symptom previous to the
year 1745, and scarcely a faint indication till towards the
year 1770. The Union, which has had the happiest
effect in contributing to the prosperity of both kingdoms,
seemed at first, and indeed for many years afterwards, to
paralyze the energies, and break the spirit of Scotchmen.
The people in general imagined, that, by the removal of
their court and parliament, they had lost their independ-
ence. The subsequent decrease of trade contributed to
exasperate and to increase their aversion to the measure ;
and from this period, the country seems to have remained
stationary, if not to have retrograded, till about the com-
mencement of the late reign, when a spirit of improve-
ment, both in agriculture and commerce, and a more
extensive intercourse with the world, infused new life and
vigour into the general mass of the population.
While this was the effect of the Union in the south-
ern and lowland parts of Scotland, its operation upon the
north was much slower and more imperceptible. There
the inhabitants retained their ancient pursuits, prejudices,
language, and dress; with all the peculiarities of their
original character. But a new era was soon to commence.
The primary cause, both in time and importance, which
contributed to produce a remarkable change in the High-
lands, was the legislative measures adopted subsequent
to the year 1745. This cause, however, had so little in-
fluence, that, as I have already noticed, its operation was
for many years imperceptible ; yet an impulse was given
CHANGE OF MANNERS. 1 49
which, in the progress of events, and through the co-
operation of many collateral and subordinate causes, has
effected a revolution, which could not have been fully
anticipated, or indeed thought possible in so short a
period of time. This change appears in the character
and condition of the H ighlanders, and is indicated, not
only in their manners and persons, but in the very aspect
of their country. It has reduced to a state of nature,
lands that had long been subjected to the plough, and
which had afforded the means of support to a moral,
happy, and contented population; it has converted whole
glens and districts, once the abode of a brave, vigorous,
and independent race of men, into scenes of desolation ;
it has torn up families which seemed rooted, like Alpine
plants, in the soil of their elevated region, and which,
from their habits and principles, appeared to be its
original possessors, as well as its natural occupiers, — and
forced them thence, penny less and unskilful, to seek a
refuge in manufacturing towns, or, in a state of helpless
despair, to betake themselves to the wilds of a far distant
land. The spirit of speculation has invaded those moun-
tains which no foreign enemy could penetrate, and ex-
pelled a brave people whom no warlike intruder could
subdue.
I shall now briefly advert to the circumstances which
have led to the system of managing Highland estates re-
cently adopted by many proprietors, adding a few ob-
servations on the manner in which it has been carried
into effect, and on its certain or probable consequences,
as these affect the permanent prosperity of the landlord,
improve or deteriorate the character and condition of the
people, and influence their loyalty to the king, respect for
the laws, and attachment to the higher orders.
150 CHANGE OF MANNERS.
A Striking feature in the revolutionized Highland
• character is, the comparative indifference of the people
towards chiefs and landlords. Formerly, their respect
and attachment to their chiefs formed one of the most
remarkable traits in their character; and such, indeed,
were their reverence and affection for their patriarchal
superiors, that, to swear by the hand of their chief, was a
confirmation of an averment ; and " May my chief have
the ascendant," was a common expression of surprise.*
It is remarkable how little this kindly disposition of the
people was, for many years after the abolition of the
hereditary jurisdictions, influenced or impaired by an
Act which deprived the chiefs of their power, and released
the clans from all compulsive obedience to these patri-
archal rulers. Notwithstanding this, they still performed
their services as before, and admitted the arbitration of their
chiefs, when they had no more power or authority over
them than gentlemen of landed property in England or
Ireland possess over their tenants.
When a chief, his son, or friends, wished to raise a
regiment, company, or smaller number of men, to entitle
him to the notice of Government, the appeal was seldom
made in vain. The same attachment was even displayed
towards those whose estates were confiscated to Govern-
ment, and who, as outlaws from their country, became the
objects of that mixture of compassion and respect which
* Martin says, ' ' The islanders have a great respect for their
chiefs and heads of tribes, and they conclude grace after every meal,
with a petition to God for their welfare and prosperity. Neither
will they, as far as in them lies, sufter them to sink under any mis-
fortune, but, in case of decay of estate, make a voluntary contribu-
tion in their behalf, as a common duty to support the credit of their
families."
CHANGE OF MANNERS. 151
generous minds accord to the victims of principle. The
rights of their chiefs and landlords, in these unhappy cir--
cumstances, they regarded as inalienable, unless forfeited
by some vice or folly. The victims of law were not
merely respected as chiefs, but revered as martyrs, and
those to whom self-denial was at all times familiar, be-
came more rigidly abstemious in their habits, that they
might, with one hand, pay the rent of the forfeited land
to the Crown,* and with the other supply the necessities
of their exiled chiefs ; while the young men, the sons of
their faithful and generous tenantry, were ready with their
personal services to fons-ard the welfare, and procure
military rank and commissions for the sons of the unfor-
tunate individuals who had lost their estates, t
* See Appendix, W.
t It will be seen in the Appendix, that, in many cases, the tenants
on the forfeited estates remitted to their attainted landlords, when in
exile, the rents which they formerly paid them, Government, at the
same time, receiving the full rents of the new leases. This generosity
was exhibited on many other occasions, when the objects of their
affection and respect required assistance. In the year 1757, Colonel
Fraser, the son of Lord Lovat, without an acre of land, found him-
self, in a few weeks, at the head of nearly 800 men from his father's
estate (then forfeited), and the estates of the gentlemen of the clan.
About the same period, and previously, numerous detachments of
young men were sent to the Scotch Brigade in Holland, to procure
commissions for the gentlemen who had lost their fortunes. In the
year 1777, Lord Macleod, eldest son of the Earl of Cromarty
(attainted in 1746), found his influence as effective as when his family
were in full possession of their estate and honours. By the support
of the Mackenzies, and other gentlemen of his clan, 900 Highlanders
were embodied under his command, although he was personally un-
known to the greater part of them, having been thirty years in exile.
Besides these 900, there were 870 Highlanders raised for his regiment
in difierent parts of the North. In the year 1776, the late Lochiel
152 CHANGE OF MANNERS.
It cannot be doubted that, by condescension and
kindness, this feeling might have been perpetuated, and
that the Highland proprietors, without sacrificing any real
advantage, would have found, in the voluntary attachment
of their tenants, a grateful substitute for the loyal obedi-
ence of their clans.* Amid the gradual changes and im-
was a lieutenant in the 30th Regiment, having returned from France
after his father's death, and obtained a commission. This lieuten-
ancy was his only fortune after the forfeiture of his estate. The
followers of his father's family raised 120 men to obtain for him a
company in the 71st Regiment. Macpherson of Cluny, also without
a shilling, raised 140 men, for which he was appointed major to the
71st, and thus secured an independency till his family estate was
restored in 1783. It is unnecessary to give more instances of this
disposition, which formed so distinguished a trait in the character of
the Highlanders of the last generation.
* The following is one of many existing proofs of permanent
respect and attachment, testified by the Highlanders to their land-
lords. A gentleman possessing a considerable Highland property,
and descended from a warlike and honourable line of ancestors, long
held in respect by the Highlanders, fell into difficulties some years
ago. In this state, he was the more sensible of his misfortune as his
estate was very improvable. In fact, he attempted some improve-
ments, but employed more labourers than he could easily afford to
pay. But, notwithstanding the prospect of irregular payments, such
was the attachment of the people to the representative of a respect-
able house, that they were ready at his call, and often left the
employment of others, who paid regularly, to carry on his operations.
To this may be added a circumstance, which will appear the more
marked, to such as understand the character of the Highlanders,
and know how deeply they feel any neglect in returning civility on
the part of their superiors. If a gentleman pass a countryman with-
out returning his salute, it furnishes matter of observation to a whole
district. The gentleman now in question, educated in the South,
and ignorant of the language and character of the people, and of
their peculiar way of thinking, paid so little regard to their feelings,
that although a countryman pulled off his bonnet almost as soon as
CHANGE OF MANNERS. 1 53
provements of the age, might not the recollections and
most approved virtues and traits of chivalrous times have
been retained, along with something of the poetry of the
Highland character in the country of Ossian? And if
unable to vie with their Southern neighbours in luxury
or splendour, might not gentlemen have possessed in their
mountains a more honourable distinction, — that of com-
manding respect without the aid of wealth, by making a
grateful people happy, and thus uniting true dignity with
humanity ? This many gentlemen have accomplished, and
in the full enjoyment of the confidence, fidelity, and grati-
tude of a happy and prosperous tenantry, are now support-
ing a manly and honourable independence, while others
have descended from their enviable eminence for an im-
mediate or prospective addition to their rent-rolls, — an
addition which the short respite or delay, so necessary in
all improvements and considerable changes, would have
enabled their ancient adherents to have contributed.* By
he appeared in sight, the respectful salute generally passed unnoticed:
yet this was overlooked in remembrance of his family, in the same
manner that generous minds extend to the children the gratitude due
to the parents.
* Most of the evils which press upon the present age, and which
lately desolated Europe, have arisen from the very cause, which has
produced such violent changes among the mountains of Scotland ;
namely, an impatience to obtain too soon, and without due prepara-
tion, the advantages that were contemplated, and, from an attempt
to accomplish at once, what no human power can effect without the
slow but certain aid of time. As an instance of the result of the
modem method of management, in hurrying on improvements, with-
out regard to the sacrifice of the happiness of others, contrasted with
the effects of improving with moderation and as time and circum-
stances admitted, I shall state the results of the opposite lines of con-
duct followed by two Highland proprietors.
One of these gentlemen obtained possession of his father's estate,
154 CHANGE OF MANNERS.
many proprietors, no more attention has been shown to
the feelings of the descendants of their fathers' clans-
and employed an agent to arrange the farms on a new plan. The
first principle was to consider his lands as an article of commerce, to
be disposed of to the highest bidder. The old tenants were accord-
ingly removed. New ones offered, and rents, great beyond all pre-
cedent, were promised. Two rents were paid ; the third was de-
ficient nearly one half, and the fourth failed entirely, or was paid by
the sale of the tenant's stock. Fresh tenants were then to be pro-
cured. This was not so easy, as no abatement was to be given ;
hence, a considerable proportion of the estate remained in the pro-
prietor's hands. After the second year, however, the whole farms
were again let, but another failure succeeded. The same process
was again gone through, and with similar results, to the great dis-
credit of the farms, as few would again attempt to settle, without a
great reduction of rent, where so many had failed. But, in all those
difficulties, there was no diminution in the landlord's expenses.
Indeed, they were greatly extended by fresh speculations and dreams
of increased income. Without detailing the whole process, I shall
only add, that his creditors have done with the estate what he did
with the farms — offered it to the highest bidder.
The other gentleman acted diff'erently. When he succeeded his
father, he raised his rents according to the increased value of produce.
This continuing to rise, he showed his people, that as a boll of grain,
a cow or sheep, obtained one or two hundred per cent, higher price
than formerly, it was but just that they should pay rent in proportion.
In this they cheerfully acquiesced, while they followed his directions
and example in improving their land. He has not removed a tenant.
In cases where he thought them too crowded, he, on the decease of
a tenant, made a division of his land amongst the others. This was
the only alteration as far as regarded the removal of the ancient
inhabitants, who are contented and prosperous, paying adequate
rents so regularly to their landlord, that he has now saved money
sufficient to purchase a lot of his neighbour's estate ; and he has also
the happiness of believing, that no emissary sovting the seeds of
sedition against the King and Government, or of disaffection to the
Established Church, will find countenance, or meet with hearers or
converts among his tenantry, whose easy circumstances render them
CHANGE OF ^MANNERS. 1 55
men, than if the connection between the families of the
superiors and the tenantry had commenced but yesterday.
By others, again, the people have been preserved entire,
the consequence of which has been, that they have lost
nothing of their moral habits, retain much of the honour-
able feelings of former times, and are improving in in-
dustry and agricultural knowledge; these kind and con-
siderate landlords, having commenced with the improve-
ment of the people as the best and most permanent
foundation for the improvement of their lands, instead of
follo\^-ing the new system, which seems to consider the
population of a glen or district in the same light as the
flocks that range the hills, to be kept in their habitations
so long as they are thought profitable, and when it is be-
Heved that they have ceased to be so, to be ejected to
make room for strangers. * But those whose families and
predecessors had remained for ages, on a particular spot,
considered themselves entitled to be preferred to strangers,
when they offered equally high rents for their lands. Men
of supposed skill and capital were, however, invited to bid
against them ; and these, by flattering representations of
their own abiUty to improve the property, and by holding
out the prejudices, indolence, and poverty of the old
tenantr}', as rendering them incapable of carr}'ing on im-
provements, or paying adequate rents, frequently obtained
the preference. In many cases even secret offers have
been called for. and received, the highest constituting the
best claim ; t and notwithstanding the examples exhibited
loyal, and proof against all the arts of the turbulent and factious,
whether directed against the King, the Church, or their immediate
superiors.
* See Appendix, X.
t Nothing, in the poHcy pursued in the management of Highland
156 CHANGE OF MANNERS.
by those true patriots, who, by giving time and encourage-
ment, showed at once the capabiHty of their lands and of
their tenants, yet, to one of these strangers, or to one of
their own richer or more speculating countrymen, were
surrendered the lands of a whole valley, peopled, perhaps,
by a hundred famihes. An indifference, if not an aver-
sion, to the families of the landlords who acted in this
manner, has too frequently been the natural result ; and,
in many places, the Highland proprietors, from being the
objects of greater veneration with the people than those
of any other part of the kingdom, perhaps of Europe,
have entirely lost their affections and fidelity. But while
many have thus forfeited that honourable influence (and
estates, has been more productive of evil than this custom, introduced
along with the new improvements, of letting farms by secret offers.
It has generated jealousy, hatred, and distrust, setting brother against
brother, friend against friend ; and, wherever it has prevailed on
large estates, has raised such a ferment in the country as will require
years to allay. Sir George Mackenzie, in his Report of the County
of Ross, with reference to this manner of letting farms, thus feelingly
expresses himself : "No exaggerated picture of distress can be drawn
to convey to the feeling mind the horrible consequences of such con-
duct as has been mentioned, towards a numerous tenantry. What-
ever difference of opinion may exist respecting the necessity of
reducing the numbers of occupiers of land in the Highlands, there
can exist but one on conduct such as has been described, — that it is
cruelly unjust and dishonourable, especially if, as too often happens,
the old tenants are falsely informed of offet s having been made. Such
a deception is so mean, that its having been ever practised, is enough
to bring indelible disgrace on us all." Certainly such proceedings
must be repugnant to every honourable and enlightened mind. But
the disgrace attaches only to those who practise such infamous decep-
tions. There are many honourable men in the Highlands, who wish
for nothing but a fair and honest value for their lands, and would as
soon take the money out of their tenants' pockets as act in this
manner.
CHANGE OF MANNERS. I57
what influence can be more honourable than that which
springs from gratitude and a voluntary afifectionate obedi-
ence ?) which their predecessors enjoyed to such a degree,
that to this day the most affectionate blessings are poured
out on their memory, as often as their names are men-
tioned ; the system which has so materially contributed to
this change, has not been followed by advantages in any
way proportionate to the loss. On the contrary, the result
has, in too many cases, been bankruptcy among tenants,
diminution of honourable principles, and irregularity in
the payment of rents, which, instead of improving, have
embarrassed the condition of the landlord.
In some cases these proceedings have been met by
resistance on the part of the tenants, and occasioned
serious tumults.* In some instances, however, the latter
* The leading circumstances of one of these tumults will be seen in
the account of the military services of the 42nd Regiment. In the
year 1792, a numerous body of tenantry, in the County of Ross, were
removed on account of what was called an improved plan, in the
advantages of which the people were to have no share. Their
welfare, as in too many cases in the Highlands, formed no part of
this plan. They were all ejected from their farms. It was some
years before the result could be fully estimated, so far as regarded
the welfare of the landlords. The ruin of the old occupiers was
immediate. To the proprietor the same result, though more slowly
produced, seems equally certain. In one district, improved in this
merciless manner, the estates of five ancient families, who, for
several centuries, had supported an honourable and respected name,
are all in possession of one individual, who, early in the late war,
amassed a large fortune in a public department abroad. The
original tenants were first dispossessed, and the lairds soon followed.
May I not hazard a supposition, that, if these gentlemen had per-
mitted their people to remain, and if they had followed the example
of their ancestors, who preserved their estates for two, three, and
four hundred years, they too might have kept possession, and be-
queathed them to their posterity ? The new proprietor has made
158 CHANGE OF MANNERS.
have submitted with patient resignation to their lot ; and,
by their manner of bearing this treatment, showed how
Httle they deserved it. But their character has changed
with their situations. The evil is extending, and the ten-
ants of kind and patriotic landlords seem to be, in no small
degree, affected by the gloom and despondency of those
who complain of harsh treatment, and who, neglected and
repulsed by their natural protectors, while their feelings and
attachment were still strong, have, in too many instances,
sought consolation in the doctrines of ignorant and fana-
tical spiritual guides, capable of producing no solid or
beneficial impression on the ardent minds of those to
whom their harangues and exhortations are generally ad-
dressed. The natural enthusiasm of the Highland charac-
great and extensive improvements. It is said, that he has laid out
thirty thousand pounds on two of these estates. Some very judici-
ous men think, that if the numerous old hardy and vigorous oc-
cupiers had been retained, and encouraged by the application of
one-third of this sum, such effectual assistance, with their abstemious
habits and personal labour, would have enabled them to execute the
same improvements, and to pay as high rents as the present oc-
cupiers. To be sure their houses would have been small, and their
establishments mean in comparison to those of the present tenants ;
but, to balance the mean appearance of their houses, they would
have cost the landlord little beyond a small supply of wood. We
should then have seen these districts peopled by a high-spirited in-
dependent peasantry, instead of miserable day-labourers and cottars,
who are now dependent on the great farmer for their employment
and daily bread, and who, sensible of their dependence, must cringe
to those by offending whom they would deprive themselves of the
means of subsistence. When no tie of mutual attachment exists, as
in former days, the modern one is easily broken. A look that may
be construed into insolence is a sufficient cause of dismissal. Can
we expect high-spirited chivalrous soldiers, preferring death to
defeat and disgrace, from such a population, and such habits as
these ?
CHANGE OF MANNERS. 1 59
ter has, in many instances, been converted into a gloomy
and morose fanaticism. Traditional history and native
poetry, which reminded them of other times, are ne-
glected. Theological disputes, of interminable duration,
now occupy much of the time formerly devoted to poetical
recitals and social meetings, These circumstances have
blunted their romantic feelings, and lessened their taste
for the works of imagination. "Among the causes," says
Dr Smith, " which make our ancient poems vanish so
rapidly, poverty and the iron road should in most places
have a large share. From the baneful shades of these
murderers of the Muse, the light of the song must
fast retire. No other reason need be asked why the
present Highlanders neglect so much the songs of their
fathers. Once the humble but happy vassal sat at his
ease at the foot of his gray rock, or green tree. Few were
his wants, and fewer still his cares, for he beheld his herds
sporting round him on his then unmeasured mountains.
He hummed the careless song, and tuned the harp of joy,
while his soul in silence blessed his chieftain. Now, I
was going to draw the comparison, — Sed Cynthius aurem
vellit, et admonuit,"*
In the same manner, and from the same cause, their
taste for music, dancing, and all kinds of social amuse-
ment, has been chilled. Their evening meetings are now
seldom held, and when they do occur, instead of being en-
livened with the tale, the poem, or the song, they are too
frequently exasperated with political or religious discus-
sions, or with complaints against their superiors, and the
established clergy, which have altogether exerted a bane-
ful instead of a salutar)' influence on their general man-
* See Report of the County of Argyle, drawn up for the Board
of Agriculture.
l6o CHANGE OF MANNERS.
ners, as well as on that natural civility, which in the last
age, never permitted a Highlander to pass any person of
respectable appearance without a salute, or some civil ob-
servation, whereas at present, so great is the change of
manners, that instead of the cordial greetings of former
times, a Highlander will frequently pass his immediate
superior without the slightest notice. Even the aspect of
the Highlander, his air, and his carriage, have undergone
a marked change.* Formerly the bonnet was worn with
a gentle inclination over the left or right eye-brow, and
the plaid was thrown over the left shoulder (the right arm
being exposed, and at full liberty) with a careless air, giv-
ing an appearance of ease not distant from grace, while
the philibeg gave a freedom to the Hmbs, and showed
them to advantage. At present, as the Highland dress is
almost exclusively confined to the lower orders, a degree
* The difference in the personal appearance of the people is re-
markable, and forms an interesting subject for a philosophic inquiry.
The causes of the change in character and manners are evident, but
those which have affected personal appearance are not equally clear.
Persons who remember the remains of the chivalrous race, whose
character I have attempted to delineate, will not now discover any
of those martial patriarchal figures, remarkable for an erect inde-
pendent air, an ease of manners, and fluency of language and ex-
pression, rarely to be found among any peasantry. Even in my own
time I remember many, such as I now describe, who, with kindly
dispositions and warm attachment to my family and forefathers,
never failed, when I met them, to remind me of their honourable
character and name. In the districts where these persons lived, we
now see only plain homespun folks. To what can this change be
attributed? Not surely to the " progress of improvement" — seeing
that their personal appearance is as much deteriorated as their con-
dition. Many observe, and with great reason, that the tacksmen and
second order of gentry are more changed than the lower orders, and
are every way different from the gentlemen tacksmen of former times.
CHANGE OF MANNERS. l6l
-of vulgarity is attached to it, which makes it unfashion-
able in the eyes of young men, who awkwardly imitate
the gentry, and their Southern neighbours, and in their
slouched hats and mis-shapen pantaloons offer a most
unseemly contrast to the airy garb and martial appear-
ance of their forefathers.
Along the line of the Grampians, the Gaelic has
nearly kept its ground, and is, to this day, spoken in the
same districts to which it was limited, after it had ceased
to be the prevailing language of Scotland seven hundred
years ago. But, although it is universally spoken in com-
mon discourse, the Gaelic of the Counties of Dumbarton,
Stirling, and Perth, and, in short, of all the Highlands
bordering on the Low^lands, is corrupted by a consider-
able admixture of English words, ill chosen and ill ap-
plied. The chief causes of this corruption are the prac-
tice, universal in schools, of teaching children to read
English, the more general intercourse w^ith the South,
w^hich has lately prevailed, and the introduction of
many articles of refinement and luxury, unknown when
the Gaelic was in its original purity. Successful at-
tempts have recently been made to methodize the
structure of the language, to digest the rules of its
composition, and, along with the collection of ancient
works, to give the means of reading and understanding
them by a grammar and dictionary. But if the process
continues, which has for some time being going forward,
the Gaelic, it is to be feared, will gradually become a
dead language. In the remote glens and mountains it
might have been preserved for ages, as an interesting
monument of a most ancient and original language, re-
taining its peculiar modes and forms of expression un-
affected by the progress of time, the great innovator in
l62 CHANGE OF MANNERS.
Other spoken languages ; but the system of modern High-
land improvement, marked by an aversion^ inveterate as
it seems unaccountable and causeless, to the ancient inhabi-
tants, their customs, language, and garb, is now extending
to the most distant corry and glen, and will probably root
out the language of the country, together with a great
proportion of the people who speak it.*
I have already mentioned, that the Highlanders,
though Presbyterians, did not in former times, rigidly
adhere to the tenets of that church. For several ages
after the Reformation, they evinced a strong predilection
to the Episcopalian form of worship. In many parishes,
the Presbyterian clergy were not established till the reigns
of George I. and II.; but whether of the Church of
England or of Scotland, the people retained a portion of
their ancient superstitions. With these superstitions was
blended a stiong sentiment of piety, which made them
regular attendants on divine worship and the ordinances
of religion at the expense of much bodily fatigue and
* Many of the common people begin to despise their native
language, as they see gentlemen endeavouring to prevent their
children from acquiring the knovirledge of the Gaelic, v^^hich has
been spoken in their native country for a time beyond the reach of
record and even tradition. In order that their children may not hear
spoken the language of their forefathers, from a dread of their acquir-
ing the accent, they employ Lowland servants, forgetting that people
who know not a word of the Gaelic, invariably catch the accent,
merely from the ear being accustomed to the sound. Landlords are
thus deprived of the power of holding that free and confidential com-
munication with their tenants, which is necessary to acquire a know-
ledge of their character, dispositions, and talents ; and being com-
pelled to trust to interpreters, they are led into much misconception
in regard to their tenants, and these again into frequent misapprehen-
sion and prejudiced notions of the character and turn of thinking of
their landlord.
CHANGE OF MANNERS. 1 63
personal inconvenience.* Guided by the sublime and
simple truths of Christianity, they were strangers to the
very existence of the sects that have branched off from
the National Church. In this respect, their character and
habits have undergone a considerable alteration since
they began to be visited by itinerant missionaries, and
since the gloom spread over their minds has tended to de-
press their spirit. The missionaries, indeed, after having
ventured within the barrier of the Grampians, found
a harvest which they little expected, and amongst the
ignorant and unhappy, made numerous proselytes to
their opinions. These converts losing by their re-
cent civilization — as the changes which have taken
place in their opinions are called — a great portion of
their belief in fairies, ghosts, and second sight, though
retaining their appetite for strong impressions, have
readily supplied the void ^vith the visions and in-
spirations of the " new light," t and, in this mystic
* In the parish where I passed my early years, the people travelled
six, seven, and twelve miles to church, and returned the same even-
ing every Sunday in summer, and frequently in winter. A chapel of
ease and an assistant clergyman are now established, and the people
have not to travel so far. I do not give this as a singular instance ;
the case was the same in all extensive parishes, and continues to be
so where no chapel of ease is established.
t Thus have been extirpated the innocent, attractive, and often
sublime superstitions of the Highlanders — superstitions which in-
culcated no relentless intolerance, nor impiously dealt out perdition
and Divine wrath against rival sects — superstitions which taught men
to believe that a dishonourable act attached disgrace to a whole
kindred and district, and that murder, treachery, oppression, and all
kinds of wickedness, would not only be punished in the person of the
transgressor himself, but would be visited on future generations.
When the Highlander imagined that he saw the ghost of his father
frowning upon him from the skirts of the passing clouds, or that he
164 CHANGE OF MANNERS.
lore, have shown themselves such adepts, as even to
astonish their new instructors. Indeed, the latter have,
in many cases, been far outdone by the wild enthusiasm
and romantic fancy of those disciples whose minds they
had first agitated. The ardour of the Highland character
remains ; it has only taken another and more dangerous
direction, and, when driven from poetical recitals, super-
stitious traditions, and chivalrous adventures, has found
a vent in religious ravings, and in contests with rival sects.
These enthusiastic notions are observed to be most fervent
amongst young w^omen. A few years ago, an unfortunate
girl in Breadalbane became so bewildered in her imagina-
tion by the picture drawn of the punishment of unbeHevers,
that she destroyed herself in a fit of desperation, a 7'are, and,
till lately, the only instance of this crime in the Highlands.
The powerful and gloomy impressions which the doc-
heard his voice in the bowlings of the midnight tempest, or when he
found his imagination awed by the recital of fairy tales of ghosts, and
visions of the second sight, his heart was subdued ; and when he
believed that his misdeeds would be visited on his succeeding genera-
tions, who would also be rewarded and prosper in consequence of
his good actions, he would either be powerfully restrained or en-
couraged. When so much — perhaps too much — has been done to
destroy these feelings, it were well that some pains were taken to
substitute good principles in their room. But I fear that many of the
new teachers think more of implicit faith in their own particular
doctrines, than of good works in their disciples; and that morals are
in general left to the teaching and control of the laws. I trust I
shall not be thought too partial to the ancient and innocent supersti-
tions of my countrymen, if I wish that the restraints on vice were
more numerous than the laws afford ; and confess my belief, that the
fear of a ghost is as honourable and legitimate a check as the fear of
the gallows, and the thoughts of bringing dishonour on a man's
country, name, and kindred, fully as respectable as the fear of Bride-
well, Botany Bay, or the executioner's whip.
CHANGE OF MANNERS. 1 65
trines of some of these teachers have made, are evidently
owing to an aheration in the state of their proselytes,
whose strong feelings, irritated by many causes, seek re-
fuge and consolation in powerful emotions. It is well
known, that no itinerant preacher ever gained a footing
among the Highlanders, till recent changes in their situa-
tion and circumstances paved the way for fanaticism.
Some of these new teachers are, no doubt, zealous and
conscientious men, but others again are rash, illiterate,
ignorant of human nature, and vulgar ; very incapable of
filling the situation they have assumed, and peculiarly un-
qualified for the instruction of a people, sensitive and
imaginative, devout in their habits of thinking, and blame-
less in their general conduct. The same force of langu-
age and terrors of denunciation, which are barely adequate
to produce compunction in the mind of the reckless and
godless reprobate, are sufiicient to plunge in utter despond-
ency, a tender conscience, and a mind accustomed to re-
gard the doctrines of religion with deep and mysterious
awe. Some of these religious reformers, as they wish to
be considered, intermix their spiritual instructions with
reflections on the incapacity and negligence of the clergy-
men of the EstabHshed Church, and on the conduct of
landlords, whom they compare to the taskmasters of
Egypt : and it is an important fact, that, wherever the
people are rendered contented and happy in their ex-
ternal circumstances, by the judicious and humane treat-
ment of their landlords, and wherever they are satisfied
with the parish minister in the discharge of his pastoral
duties, no itinerant preacher has ever been able to obtain a
footing, and the people retain much of their original man-
ners, devoutly and regularly attending the parish church.*
* The inhabitants of a border strath (Strathbraan is the parish of
l66 CHANGE OF MANNERS.
While these seem to be the effects of rehgion and ex-
ternal circumstances combined, the differences and mutual
recriminations which have taken place between the Estab-
lished Church and the sects which have branched off from
it, are apparently tending to the most deplorable results
in the Highlands, where the Gospel, as explained by
their clergy, was formerly beHeved with the most implicit
faith ; but now, that they see new preachers come among
them, and hear the doctrines and lessons of the regular
clergy derided, and described as unchristian and unsound,
and that, as some times happens, the parish minister re-
torts on the intruders, they know not what or whom to
Little Dunkeld, the property of Sir George Stewart of Grandtully,
Bart. ), in the Highlands of Perthshire were, about thirty years ago,
considered the most degenerate and worst principled race in the
country. Less regular in their attendance on church, litigious,
almost the only smugglers in the country, horse-dealers (or horse-
coupers, as they are called in Scotland), and, as was said, giving
employment to more than one lawyer in the neighbouring town of
Dunkeld ; these people have, for many years, been blessed with
a humane and indulgent landlord, and a conscientious, able, and
zealous clergyman (the late Dr Irvine). The consequences have been
striking and instructive. While the population in many other parts
of the country are deteriorated in character, these are improving in
morals, industry, and prosperity. Regular in their attendance on
church, they have lost their litigious disposition, the minister having
ever been zealous and successful in deciding and composing their
differences. They are clearing and improving their lands, paying
their rents regularly, and are little addicted to smuggling. Itinerant
preachers have in vain attempted to show themselves in this populous
thriving district, which contains 875 inhabitants, who support them-
selves in this exemplary manner ; on farms, too, the smallness of
which might seem incredible to those statistical economists who
reason on theory, and are ignorant of the country, the capability of
the natives, or their exertions when thus kindly treated by a patriotic
landlord.
CHANGE OF MANNERS. 167
believe, and there are many instances of the doubt thus
thrown on rehgious doctrines, ending in loss of all respect
for, or belief in, any religion whatever.*
Yet, though many Highlanders are thus changed, and
have lost much of their taste for the poetry and romantic
amusements of their ancestors, though their attachment
to superiors has decayed, and the kindness, urbanity, and
respect with which all strangers were treated, have con-
siderably abated, — notwithstanding all these, and several
other changes for the worse, they still retain the inesti-
mable virtues of integrity and charity ; t their morality is
sufficiently proved by the records of the courts of justice ',%
their liberality to the poor, and the independent spirit of
the poor themselves, are likewise sufficiently evinced by
the trifling and almost nominal amount of the public
funds for their rehef ; and their conduct in the field, and
their general qualities of firmness, spirit, and courage,
will appear in the subsequent annals.
* Of these lamentable consequences of ignorant zeal, and un-
christian disputations, there are many instances ; and many persons
whom I knew to have been once of religious habits, regular and
exemplary in their attendance at church, were some years ago in-
duced to quit the established clergymen, and to follow the dissenters;
but soon leaving them also, and apparently dissatisfied with both
churches, they have given up all attendance on Divine Service, and
renounced even the semblance of religion.
t It is a principle among the Highlanders never to allow poor
and distressed persons to apply in vain, or to pass their door without
affording them some charitable assistance. This disposition is so
well known, that the country bordering on the Lowlands is over-
whelmed with shoals of beggars ; an evil which has increased since
the societies for the suppression of mendicity were established in the
South. This is a heavy charge on the benevolence of the people,
and calls for the prompt interference of the landlords. If they would
+ See Appendix.
l68 CHANGE OF MANNERS.
establish checks in the great passes and entrances into the country,
to stop those sturdy beggars and strangers, who are so numerous,
while the native beggars are so few, the people would easily support
their own poor without any assistance whatever.
Travelling some years ago through a high and distant glen, I
saw a poor man, with a wife and four children, resting themselves
by the road-side. Perceiving, by their appearance, that they were
not of the country, I inquired whence they came. The man an
swered, from West Lothian. I expressed my surprise how he would
leave so fine and fertile a country, and come to these wild glens.
"In that fine country," answered the man, "they give me the cheek
of the door, and hound the constables after me ; in this poor country,
as you, Sir, call it, they give me and my little ones the fire-side, with
a share of what they have."
CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THIS CHANGE. 1 69
SECTION II.
Causes afid Cofisequences of this Change — State when
placed on small Lots of Land — Poverty folloived
by De77ioralization.
Having thus hastily glanced at some of the changes
which Highland manners have undergone during the last
fifty years, it may be interesting to trace the causes by
which those changes have been produced. When High-
land proprietors, ceasing to confine themselves within
the limits of the Grampians, began to mingle with the
world and acquire its tastes and manners, they became
weary of a constant residence on their estates, and
wished for a more enlarged and varied society than a
scanty and montonous neighbourhood afforded, t Those
who could afford the expense removed to London or
t To those who live in the busy world, and are hurried round by
its agitations, it is difficult to form an idea of the means by which
time may be filled up, and interest excited in families, who, through
choice or necessity, dwell among their own people. The secret lies
in the excitement of strong attachment. To be in the centre of a
social circle, where one is beloved and useful, — to be able to mould
the characters and direct the passions by which one is surrounded,
creates, in those whom the world has not hardened, a powerful in-
terest in the most minute circumstance which gives pleasure or pain
to any individual in that circle, where so much affection and good
will are concentrated. The mind is stimulated by stronger excite-
ments, and a greater variety of enjoyments, than matters of even the
highest importance can produce in those who are rendered callous,
by living among the selfish and the frivolous. It is not the import-
ance of the objects, but the value at which they are estimated, that
renders their moral interest permanent and salutary.
lyo CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
Edinburgh, for at least the winter months; and their sons
who formerly remained at home till sent to the Univer-
sities to finish their education, now accompanied their
parents at so early an age, that they lost the advantages
of founding their classical attainments" on the generous
enthusiasm and the amor patricB ascribed to moun-
taineers. But the Highland youth were now, in many
cases alienated from their clans, and from those regions
in which warm affections and cordial intimacies subsisted
between the gentry and the people ; and the new tastes
which they acquired were little calculated to cherish
those sympathies and affections which indescribably en-
dear the home of our youth. Thus initiated into the
routine of general society, when they occassionally re-
turned to their native glens they felt the absence of the
variety of town amusements, and had also lost that home-
felt dignity and those social habits which formerly gave
a nameless charm to the paternal seat of a Highland
landlord, while he maintained an easy intercourse with
the neighbouring proprietors, with the old retainers of
the family, and with gentlemen farmers, or, as they are
styled in the expressive language of patriarchal brother-
hood, " friendly tenants."* These were no longer com-
* The extinction of the respectable race of tacksmen, or gentle-
men farmers, where it has taken place on extensive estates, is a
serious loss to the people. Dr Johnson, speaking of the removal of
the tacksmen, as it was supposed they could not pay equally high
rents with men who lived in an inferior style, and who required less
education for their children, thus expresses himself: "The com-
modiousness of money is indeed great, but there are some advantages
which money cannot buy, and which, therefore, no wise man will,
by the love of money, be tempted to forego." The soundness of
this opinion has been fully confirmed ; the rank and influence which
these respectable men held are now void, — there places being, in
OF THIS CHANGE. 171
panions suited to the newly acquired tastes and habits.
The minds of landlords were directed to the means
most cases, filled up by shepherds and graziers from the South, or
by such natives as had capital or credit enough to undertake their
farms. This new class being generally without birth, education, or
any of the qualifications requisite to secure the respect of the people
on those great estates, where there are no resident proprietors, the
inhabitants are left without men of talent, or of sufficient influence,
from rank or education, to settle the most ordinary disputes, or
capable of acting as justices of the peace, and of signing those certifi-
cates and affidavits, which the law in so many instances requires.
In extensive districts, containing two, three, and four thousand per-
sons each, not more than one, or two at the utmost, or perhaps
none, of the ancient rank of gentlemen tacksmen remain, although
once so numerous, that on the estates of Macdonald and Macleod,
there were upwards of sixty, who, as I am informed by my friend
Lord Bannatyne (and many of them were of his intimate acquaint-
ance,) "were in general liberally educated, possessing the manners
and spirit of gentlemen." It was the same in many other districts,
but the few of this description of gentlemen farmers who remain,
are the only individuals capable of acting as justices of the peace ;
and pensioners and others, who wish to make affidavits, must travel
thirty or forty miles for that purpose. Fortunately for the people of
many Highland districts, their original habits are still so strong and
so well preserved, that magistrates have hitherto been seldom neces-
sary for other purposes. The want of inagistrates, therefore, is a
trifling grievance in comparison of leaving a population so numerous
and virtuous, open to an inundation of political and religious tracts,
of ignorant and pretended teachers of the gospel, and of agents of
the WHITE SLAVE TRADE, the last of whom induce many unfortunate
creatures to emigrate to America, and to sell the reversion of their
persons and labour for the passage, which they cannot otherwise
obtain. Of the religious and political tracts industriously distributed
among these people, they cannot discriminate the truth from what
may be intended to deceive and inflame. The itinerant preachers
of the "New Light" disseminate hostility to the character and doc-
trines of the Established clergy ; while the agents of the emigrant
vessels are most active in contrasting the boasted happiness, ease.
172 AGRICULTURE.
of increasing their incomes, and of acquiring the funds
necessary to support their new and more expensive
mode of Hfe in a distant country, while their own was
impoverished by this constant drain of its produce.
The system of agriculture which formerly prevailed in
the Highlands was well adapted to the character and
habits of the people, and was directed to the cultivation
of grain, and the rearing of cattle and goats. The value
of sheep not being then well understood, they only formed
a secondary object. During the summer months the
herds were driven to the shealings, or patches of pasture
along the margins of the mountain streams. Temporary
huts were erected to shelter those who tended the herds
and flocks and managed the dairy, the produce of which,
and the cattle, the goats, and the few sheep which they
could dispose of, formed the only sources of their wealth,
the produce of the arable land being seldom sufficient to
supply the wants of a family. Latterly grazing appears to
have almost superseded agriculture. When a farmer
could afford to enlarge his possession, he usually did so,
by adding to the number of his live stock, and neglecting
cultivation, which at an early period was greatly more
extensive.*
While this continued to be the prevailing practice
among the farmers of the Highlands, the improvements
and freedom, to be enjoyed in America, with what they call the
oppression of their landlords. To all this delusion these unfortunate
people are exposed, while the new system of statistical economy,
with its cold unrelenting merciless spirit, has driven away those who
contributed ?o materially to maintain the moral and physical energies
of the state, by the influence they exerted over the minds and actions
of the people.
* .See Appendix, Z.
AGRICULTURE. 1 73
in agriculture in England, which had their origin in the
reign of Elizabeth and James I., were matured and re-
duced to system in the reign of his son Charles I. The
extension of these to the northward seems, however, to
have been gradual. From the reign of James I. of Eng-
land, so slow was the march of improvement, that it did
not extend to Scotland till 140 years thereafter. Potatoes,
which were known in England in the time of Sir Walter
Raleigh, were not introduced into Scotland, except as a
rare garden vegetable, till after the commencement of the
reign of George III.* In East Lothian, as late as the
year 1740, few carts were to be seen, and none adapted
for hea\T and distant conveyances. Fifty years ago field
turnips were in very limited use, and it is not many years
since they were generally cultivated ; yet field turnips,
potatoes, and sown grass, were quite common in England
a century before. In the year 1760, the Lothian farmers
were as prejudiced in favour of old customs, and as back-
ward in adopting modern improvements, as the most un-
cultivated of the Highlanders. One of the most opulent,
extensive, and enlightened farmers in the county of Perth,
was twenty years a cultivator before he could overcome
his prejudices so far as to enter upon the new system ;
and it was not till after the year 1 7 70 that Mr John White,
*In the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, it is
stated that Mr Prentice, in the neighbourhood of Kilsyth, was the
first person who planted potatoes in the open field in Scotland. He
died in 1792.
It was not till after the year 1770, that my father planted pota-
toes, which were the first raised in the field in this district; and it
required some time and persuasion to induce his servants to eat them.
This vegetable, which is now the principal food of the Highland
peasantry, was then considered as incapable of supporting a man
employed in active labour.
174
AGRICULTURE.
at Kirkton of Mailler, in Strathearn, first introduced the
green crop system into Perthshire.* The farmer who
first commenced the system of dry fallow in East Lothian
only died in the late reign. This new mode of agriculture
was considered so extraordinary, that for some time it
was looked upon as the result of a disordered intellect,
even in the now highly cultivated district of the Lothians.t
* So backward was agriculture in the Carse of Gowrie, in the
year 1756, that a gentleman who, by his abilities, had risen to the
highest dignity in the law, walking with a friend through his fields,
where his servants were weeding the corn, expressed great gratitude
to Providence for raising such a quantity of thistles; "as otherwise,"
said the Lord President, " how could we, in this district, where we
cannot allow our good corn land to be in pasture, find summer food
for our working horses?"
+ Had the Lothian gentleman of that period ejected the bulk of
the ancient inhabitants, as indolent, prejudiced, ignorant, and worth-
less, as the Highlanders are characterized by the supporters of the
depopulating system, placing those allowed to remain on barren and
detached patches of land ; — and had they invited strangers from Eng-
land, France, or Flanders, to supply the place of the extirpated in-
habitants, would there not have been the same senseless clamour (as
the expression of the indignant feelings, roused by various cruel and
unnecessary measures pursued in the Highlands, is called), although
in the fertile soil of the Lothians, near the consumption of great
cities, with the command of manure and water carriage, large estab-
lishments, and farms of one or two hundred arable acres, may be
suitable to the circumstances and situation of the country? But
what are the consequences even in that fertile country ? People are
so scarce, that, without assistance from other countries, their field
labour and harvest could not be accomplished. It may indeed be a
question, — if the whole kingdom were in similar circumstances, and
had as few inhabitants comparatively as the Lothians, where part of
the autumn labour is performed by Highlanders, (principally women,
who travel southward upwards of 100, and numbers 200 miles), —
whence could a supply be obtained? If then, large farms cause a
deficiency of necessary labourers, even in the fertile lands of the
AGRICULTURE. 1 75
Whilst agriculture in Scotland was thus slowly ad-
vancing, it was suddenly accelerated by the spirit of enter-
prise which burst forth after the Seven Years' War. In
the Lowlands, however, the people were allowed time to
overcome old habits, and to acquire a gradual knowledge
of the new improvements. But many Highland land-
lords, in their intercourse with the South, seeing the ad-
vantages of these improvements, and the consequent in-
crease of rents, commenced operations in the North with
a precipitation which has proved ruinous to their ancient
tenants, and not always productive of advantage to them-
selves ; — a consequence to be expected, when, as has been
remarked by Mr Pennant, in his Tour through the High-
lands, "they attempted to empty the bag before it was
filled."
The people, unwilling to change old institutions and
habits, as if by word of command; unable, or perhaps
averse, to pay the new rents, without being allowed time
to prepare for the demand; and seeing, as it often
happened, their offers of a rent equal to that of the
Lothians, how unsuitable and ruinous to the barren Highlands must
a system be, which leaves not a sufficiency of hands, in a countr}-
with such narrow stripes of arable land, that a farm of 300 acres
would stretch along the whole side of a district ? From the uncer-
tainty of the climate, the want of an immediate and efficient supply
of hands would be ruinous. The North having no towns or villages
whence assistance could be obtained, if the arable lands in the
Highlands contained as few inhabitants as the Lothians, the prin-
cipal parts must be kept in pasture, and one-half of what the soil
would produce lost ; for, even in the Highlands, where the cultiva-
tion of the valleys is well managed, and the supply of labourers
sufficient, it is beyond all proportion the most profitable, notwith-
standing the comparatively barren soil, and backward uncertain
climate.
176 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
Strangers rejected, were rendered desperate. Irritated by
the preference thus given, and by the threats of expulsion,
their despondency and discontent must cease to astonish.
The natural consequence is a check to exertion, or on any
attempt to improve. When this seeming indolence shows
itself, gentlemen, and those by whom they often allow
themselves to be influenced, and to whom they frequently
yield their better judgment and kindlier feelings, declare,
that so long as such a lazy incorrigible race remains, they
cannot enjoy the value of their lands. In this opinion
they are confirmed by persons who argue, that the
prosperity of the State calls for such measures, at the
same time that they acknowledged the harshness of these
measures in themselves, and profess their sympathy with
the people who are thus reduced to poverty, and its too
frequent consequences, immorality and crime ; forgetting
that it can never be for the well-being of any state
to deteriorate the character of, or to extirpate a brave,
loyal, and moral people, its best supporters in war, and
the most orderly, contented, and economical in peace.
These reasoners found their arguments on general prin-
ciples ; and, without taking into consideration, or per-
haps unacquainted with the peculiar circumstances of
the case, with the nature of the country, its uncertain
humid climate, or the hardihood and capability of the
inhabitants, if properly managed, — and keeping entirely
out of view, also, the reduced condition of the people,
an omission not to be expected in an enlightened age; —
they endeavour to prove that if one family can manage
a tract of country,* it is an useless waste of labour to
* If it were probable that machinery could be invented to carry
on manufactures of every description without the intervention of
human labour, and that corn could be imported for the consumption
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. I 77
allow it, as was formerly, and is still the case in many parts
of the Highlands, to be occupied by many families possess-
ing much economy and industry, though with little capital.
But whatever be the capital of farmers, or the size
of farms, rents must be according to the value of the
produce. While the staple and only article of export
from the Highlands was so low that the price of the best
ox did not exceed thirty shillings, and a sheep half-a-
crown, the rents were in proportion to, but not lower than,
those in the most fertile districts of Scotland* at the same
of the inhabitants of Great Britain, the soil turned to pasture, and
little manual, manufacturing, or agricultural labour left for the work-
ing population, which would thus be thrown idle ; would such a
sacrifice of productive labour be proper, and would the welfare of the
state be promoted by the diminution of the people, which must be
the necessar)- consequence of a want of employment ? for, if the
population is reduced, how is the produce of the soil and of manu-
factures to be consumed ? The question is as applicable to the
northern portion as to the whole empire ; and as it would be ruinous
to the lower orders to put an end to all agricultural labour in the
South, so it must be to the people of the North, if the whole coun-
try be converted into pasture and large farms. In this case, the
people must be sent to the colonies, as the Lowlands offer no
encouragement for extensive emigration from the Highlands. If
allowed to remain in their native country', without any support but
daily labour, in a country where, under such management, all, except
a few men of capital, must be day-labourers, and under a system
which pelds but little employment ; when even that little fails, as
from the natural course of events it must often do, poor-rates must
be established, and the lower orders in the Highlands become
paupers, as is the case with one-seventh of the population of Eng-
land ; a state of degradation unparalleled in the Christian world.
And yet this is the state to the completion of which, so much has
been said and written, to prevail upon the Highland proprietors to
reduce the ancient occupiers of their land.
* In the year 1785, some of the best lands on Lord Kinnaird's
N
178 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
period. But when a great demand and increased prices
led to the prosperity of the tenants, it was natural for
proprietors to raise their rents, and to attempt those im-
provements and changes which the progress of agricul-
tural knowledge and the wealth of the country suggested.
This was the just and natural progress of events, and
would of itself have been the cause of many changes
in the manners and condition of the Highlanders ; and,
judging from numerous examples, might have been
effected without injury to the original tenants, and to
the great and permanent advantage of the proprietors.
Rents might have been gradually increased with the
increasing value of produce, and improved modes of
cultivation introduced, without subverting the characteris-
tic dispositions of a race of men who inherited from their
ancestors an attachment seldom equalled, and still more
seldom exceeded, either in fidelity or disinterestedness.*
estate in the Carse of Gowrie were rented on old leases of fifty-nine
years, at four pounds Scots, or six shillings and eightpence the acre.
The present rent is £(> sterling per acre. The difference of the pre-
sent rents and of those paid seventy years ago, on the estates of
Lords Kinnoull, Gray, and others in the Lowlands, are similar. In
those days they were equally low with the rents in the Highlands,
which were of niore value to the proprietors than they would seem,
by merely looking to the money rent, as much was paid in kind, and
in personal services. It is said that Stewart of Appin received as
rent an ox or cow for every week, and a goat or wether for every
day in the year, with fowls and smaller articles innumerable. When
the money rent and personal service for warlike and domestic pur-
poses are added, the provisions gave the laird abundance, the money
independence, and the personal services, dignity and security in tur-
bulent ages, when the laws were too weak to afford protection.
* It may be considered unnecessary to multiply examples of dis-
interested attachment ; but the traits they disclose are of such a
nature, as must be gratifying to all who respect the best characteristics
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. 1 79
By taking advantage of this honourable disposition, (for
what can be more honourable than that disinterested
fidelity to which life and fortune were sacrificed?) the
tenants might have been induced to pay adequate rents
for their lands, without the necessity of depopulating
whole districts ; the farms, too, might have been gradu-
ally enlarged — the mode of husbandry altered- — sheep
stock introduced — the surplus population, if such there
was, employed in clearing and improving the land fit for
cultivation, or induced to change their residence from one
district to another, or to transfer their industry from the
land to the fisheries, or to trades or handicrafts, without
being driven at once from their usual means of subsist-
ence and from their native districts. " The forcible
establishment of manufactories and of fisheries," says a
learned author on the rural economy of the Highlands,
^' are projects only of inconsiderable benevolence ; it is
of human nature. A few years ago, a gentleman of an ancient and
honourable family got so much involved in debt, that he was obliged
to sell his estate. One-third of the debt consisted of money bor-
rowed in small sums from his tenants, and from the country people
in the neighbourhood. The interest of these sums was paid very
irregularly. Instead of complaining of this inconvenience, his credi-
tors among his people kept at a distance, lest their demands might add
to the difficulties of the man whose misfortunes they so much
lamented ; and many declared, that if their money could contribute
to save the estate of an honourable family they would never ask for
principal or interest. Speaking to several of these people on this
subject, the uniform answer which I received was nearly in the fol-
lowing words : " God forbid that I should distress the honourable
gentleman ; if my money could serve him, how could I bestow
it better? He and his family have ever been kind, — he will do
more good with the money than ever I can, — I can live without it, —
I can live on potatoes and milk, but he cannot ; — to see his family
obliged to quit the house of his forefathers, is cause of grief to us all."
l8o CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
only by the gradual change of opinions and practices, by
the presentation of new motives, and the creation of new
desires, that the state of society must be changed.
All that which ought to follow will proceed in its natural
order, without force, without loss, and without disappoint-
ment."* This would, no doubt, have been the case in
the Highlands, where a gradual, prudent, and proper
change would not have excited riots among a people dis-
tinguished by their hereditary obedience to their superiors,
nor rendered it necessary to eject them -from their posses-
sions by force, or as in some instances, by burning their
houses about their ears, and driving them out, home-
less and unsheltered, to the naked heath. It was a cold-
hearted spirit of calculation, from before which humanity,
and every better feeling, shrunk, that induced men to set
up for sale that loyalty, fidelity, and affection, which, as
they cannot be purchased, are above all price, t
* Dr Macadloch^ s Description of the Western Islands of Scotland.
t The same disposition is seen in the sale of woods which beauti-
fied the country; and gave an appearance of antiquity and pre-
eminence to gentlemen's seats. The destruction of the old timber
has. for some years past, been so great, that if continued, Dr John-
son's remark, " that no tree in vScotland is older than the Union,"
will have too much the air of truth. Noble trees, of the age and
growth of centuries, which gave dignity to the seats they ornamented,
have been levelled to the ground, and sold for a trifle, as the age
that made them so venerable diminished their value as timber. It
would be trifling with common sense, to dispute the propriety of cut-
ting and selling wood as an article produced from the soil, but that
cannot be applied to woods planted for ornament or shelter, more
particularly in Scotland, now bare and destitute of wood, although
once abounding with the noblest forests. There are few countries
where the woods have a more striking effect than in the Highlands
of Scotland, from the contrast they form to the bleak and barren
mountains which enclose them. Whether trees are found in natural
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. l8l
But, though the introduction of a few men of agri-
cultural experience and judgment into the Highlands,
might be a judicious measure, as their knowledge and ex-
ample would readily spread among the natives, this can-
not justify the entire removal or ejection of the ancient
inhabitants. In several cases, those who promoted these
improvements, by the costly sacrifice of turning adrift
from their lands a people who considered themselves
born to love and honour their superiors, reasoned so
speciously on the expected advantages of this course of
policy, as to extinguish in themselves and others those
feelings of remorse and compunction, which the price at
woods, covering the boldest and most precipitous rocks, or in those
ancient avenues and groves around gentlemen's seats in the glens,
they alike excite the surprise of the stranger, who does not expect to
see such strength of vegetation, and brightness of verdure, in the
centre of mountains, which, on the first approach, look so dreary and
forbidding. Every man of taste must deplore the loss of woods and
picturesque scenery which animated the poet, and delighted the
painter. In former ages, these trees were preserved and venerated ;
and by the recollections of the length of time they had sheltered and
thrown an air of dignity and importance over the castles and seats of
ancient families, the respect of the people for their owners was in-
creased and preserved. But such recollections now are out of fashion;
the trees are valued according to the money they bring, and, like
the fidelity of the clansmen, are sold to the highest bidder. And so is
disposed of much of the respect and esteem of the lower oi'ders for
their superiors, who thus for the sake of a small acquisition of money
easily spent and soon forgotten, destroy for ever the magnificent
ornaments reared by their forefathers, which no wealth can purchase
and which proved the antiquity and respectability of the families
who possessed them. No person of taste can view without a feeling
of reverence, an ancient mansion, embosomed in groups of tall trees
or avenues, the growth of centuries, with noisy rooks clustering and
cawing on the tops as if they were inhabitants of another and higher
region.
1 82 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
which they were to be purchased might have been cal-
culated to excite. Thus was identified with national ad-
vantages the system at which individual benevolence re-
volted, but which, it was pretended, was to support liberal
and enlightened principles, and to achieve a conquest
over all deep-rooted prejudices, and stubborn long-
descended customs; and many have been induced, more
from authority and fashion than from sordid motives, to
follow the example. In this manner the system has
spread with a fatal rapidity, allowing no time for the bet-
ter feelings of those who have been drawn into it, perhaps
unwarily, to operate ; and it is certain that there is no re-
cent instance in which so much unmerited suffering has
produced so little compassion, or reprobation for the
authors. The cruelty of removing the slaves on one
West India estate to another, perhaps scarcely five miles
distant, is frequently reprobated in the strongest terms,
and attempts are made to procure Acts of Parliament to
prevent the removal of a slave from his usual residence ;
yet the ejectment or emigration of the Highlanders, their
total ruin and banishment from their native land, is
viewed with apathy, and their feelings of despair deemed
unworthy of notice. The negroes, with little local at-
tachment, may be as happy on their new as on their
former plantations, as they are probably deprived of no
former comfort, and merely subjected to a change of resi-
dence. The Highlander, with the strongest local attach-
ment, confirmed by numberless anecdotes of former ages,
cherishes with reverence the memory of his ancestors.
With these attractions to his native country, he is de-
prived of his means of livelihood, driven from his house
and his ancient home, and forced to take shelter in a
foreign land, or in a situation so new to him, that all his
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. 1 83
habits must undergo a total change : and yet this appears
so just and proper, that strangers, ignorant of the national
character of this country, and witnessing the apathy with
which the misery of the unfortunate Highlanders is be-
held, might suppose that the inhabitants are void of all
humanity ; and, while the press is often employed in ex-
posing and reprehending political delinquencies, the op-
pressions, forcible ejectments, and burnings out of the
Highlanders, pass unnoticed, however rapidly such cruel
measures lead to poverty,* immorality, and crime. In-
deed, so little do such considerations affect some of our
modern philanthropists, that the conduct of those who
have made desolate wastes of many once happy communi-
ties in Inverness, and other counties, is applauded ; while
they violently declaim against a similar line of conduct,
when the inhabitants of the West Indies are in question.
A very honourable and humane friend of mine, who has
exerted himself powerfully in the cause of the poor negroes,
told me, not long ago — and was not well pleased because
I did not coincide in his opinion,— that Sutherland con-
tained 20,000 inhabitants too many, and that they ought
to be removed without delay, and sent to the colonies.*
* Mr Foster Alleyne, of Barbadoes, has a population of nearly
I2CX) negroes on his estate in that island, which has been in his family
since the reign of Charles I. By overcropping and mismanagement
during his absence, the soil, which was favourable for sugar, had be-
come totally unfit for producing that valuable article ; he therefore
turned his attention to the raising of provisions, the cultivation of
which is less laborious, and requires little more than half the number
of hands necessary for sugar ; consequently, he might have disposed
of the surplus population, to the amount of nearly 500 persons.
How did this honourable and humane gentleman act in these circum-
stances, while several Highland proprietors, in similar cases, found
no difficulty or hesitation ? "I cannot find in my heart," said he.
184 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
As two-thirds of these people are unable to pay for their
passage, they must bind themselves to serve for a term
of years the person who pays for them, and who again
disposes of them to the highest bidder ; * a species of
slavery not very agreeable to the dispositions of the
mountaineers, and which I did not expect that my phil-
anthropic friend, who has such an abhorrence of slavery
of every kind, would have proposed for them. Slavery
is already too common in America, where every sixth
individual is in that degraded condition. Although
the term of the emigrant's bondage is only temporary,
"to part with any of these poor faithful creatures, all of whom have
been born on my property, where their fathers have served mine for
generations (there has been no addition by purchase since the year
1744, when a few were added for some special purpose), and they
shall remain undisturbed while I remain." From a very extensive
and intimate knowledge of many colonies, acquired in the course of
military service in the West Indies, at different periods, I could cite
many pleasing instances of this kind regard to the feelings of negroes.
Were clansmen treated with the same fatherly kindness displayed by
this gentleman, landlords would ever be exempted from witnessing
such horrible excesses as have been exhibited by the Irish peasantry.
When attempts are made to establish very laudable regulations, in
order to prevent the removal of negroes from their original homes, why
is humanity so blind as not to see the cruelty of transporting 20,000
Highlanders from their native country to the plantations? Perhaps
the defenders of depopulation may say, as the defenders of the slave
trade did of that atrocious and inhuman traffic, that ti-ansportation
will improve their condition, and that they will be more comfortable
in the colonies than in their native country. This may be true as far
as regards some Highlanders, whose condition may easily be im-
proved (as in many cases it cannot well be worse) ; but does the
misery of the unfortunate outcasts, during the progress of this im-
provement and transportation to a foreign land, deserve no consider-
ation ?
* See Parkinson'' s Tour and oilier works on North America.
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. 185
yet slavery of any kind is not calculated to procure the
means, or foster the spirit of independence ; — it must,
therefore, be a matter of regret, that our countrymen are
compelled to become bondsmen in a foreign country,
even in a land of liberty such as America, — if that can
be called a land of liberty where slavery exists to such a
lamentable extent.
The late transfer of 3000 subjects between the
sovereigns of Baden and Bavaria has been arraigned in
the strongest language by some of our journalists. Yet
these people retain, as before, possession of their pro-
perty and their native homes, and have only to suffer in
their feelings by being transferred from the government
of one sovereign to that of another ; a matter that seems
to be of little consequence amongst the contiguous princi-
palities of Germany. The Highlanders are not only
forced to transfer their allegiance to another government,
but to transport themselves to distant regions: — and yet
no reprobation follows.
While the misery of a blameless and unoffending
people thus excites so little pity, and while the depopula-
tion of a glen is viewed with indifference, or hailed as an
advantage, like ridding pasture ground of foxes and other
vermin, it is no wonder that proprietors should be en-
couraged to proceed, not only without regret, but even with
self-gratulation.* A late author, describing the state of
* To afford an idea of the extent of the newly estabHshed farms,
and the consequent depopulation of the country, we may produce, as
an instance, an advertisement in the Inverness newspapers of a High-
land farm to be let, described as consisting of looo arable acres, near
the dwelling-house (the number of arable acres at a greater distance
is not stated) of the first quality, and with a full supply of drifted
sea-weed on the shore, and which may, as stated in the advertise-
1 86 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
the agricultural population in England in the reign of
Henry VIII., when the country was first arranged in
large farm, says. " Millions of independent peasantry were
thus at once degraded into beggars ; stripped of all their
proud feelings which hitherto characterized Englishmen,
they were too ignorant, too dispersed, too domestic, and
possessed too much reverence for their superiors, to com-
bine as mechanics and manufacturers in towns. Parish
relief was, therefore, established."* Lord Chancellor
More, one of the most virtuous men in England, an eye-
witness of what he describes, gives a view of the state
ment, "be laboured to the greatest advantage.*' "The hill pas-
tures," it is added, "stocked with Cheviot sheep, are of the first
quality in the country, and extend 30 miles along the sea coasts It
is impossible to read this advertisement without commiseration for
the fate of those who formerely occupied this extensive tract of coun-
try, which is " capable of being laboured to the greatest advantage,''
and, consequently, well calculated to support its ancient population.
Another farm is also advertised as capable of "maintaining 9000
Cheviot sheep, and as perhaps the safest in Britain ; and its pastures,
for richness and variety, inferior to none in the Highlands." This
fact furnishes a striking example of the force of that delusive patriot-
ism which benumbs the feelings of even good men, and blinds them
to the sufferings of the ejected tenantry. Part of the land which
gave birth to many brave men, who, as soldiers, have contributed to
make the name of Scotland honoured and respected over all Europe,
is now without an inhabitant, except five shepherds and their
families. But then it is " capable of maintaining gooo sheep /" So
it would be although all the ancient race had remained. The
quantity of grass required for sheep and cattle does not depend on
the land being occupied by one, or by a number of tenants.
*■ The suppression of the monasteries, no doubt, contributed to
this sudden creation of artificial misery; but it is a proper distinction,
that the monasteries only fed those who were poor and idle already,
whereas, the engrossing and grazing system made thousands idle
whose habits were formerly industrious.
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. 1 87
of the people at that period, which must strike home to
th^ heart of every humane person, who has seen or heard
of similar scenes in the Highlands. Speaking of engross-
ing farms, by which small tenants were compelled to be-
come day-labourers,* relying for their support on acci-
dental circumstances, a situation more dependent than
that which trusts to the more certain produce of nature,
the Lord Chancellor says, " These men turn all dwelling
and all the glebe land into desolation and wilderness ;:
therefore, that one covetous and unsatiatable cormorant,
and very plague of his native country, may compass
about and enclose many thousand acres of ground to-
gether with one pale, or hedge, the husbandmen be thrust
out of their own, or else, either by force, or fraud, or
by violent oppression, they be put aside, or by wrongs
and injuries they be so wearied, that they be compelled
to sell all; by one means, therefore, or another, either
by hook or crook, they must needs depart away, poor
wretched souls ! men, women, husbands, wives, fatherless
children, widows, woful mothers, with their young babes,
and their whole household, small in substance, but much
in numbers, as husbandry requireth many hands. Away
they trudge, I say, out of their known and accustomed
houses, finding no place to rest on. All their household
stuff, which is very little worth, though it may well abide
the sale, yet being suddenly thrust out, they be con-
strained to sell it for a thing of nought, and when they
have wandered till that be spent, what can they do but
steal, and then, justly perhaps, be hanged, or else go
about begging. And yet then, also, they may be cast
into prison as vagabonds, because they go about and
work not, when no man will set them to work, though
* See Appendix, AA.
1 88 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
they never so willingly offer themselves thereto. For one
shepherd, or herdsman, is enough to eat up that with
cattle which occupied numbers, whereas about husbandry
many hundreds were requisite. And this is also the
cause why victuals now in many places be dearer; be-
sides this, the price of wool is so risen, that poor folks,
which were wont to work it and make cloth thereof, be
now able to buy none at all, and by this means very many
be forced to forsake work, and give themselves to idle-
ness."*"
On the part of those who instituted similar improve-
ments, in which so few of the people were to have a share,
conciliatory measures and a degree of tenderness, beyond
what would have been shown to strangers, might have
been expected towards the hereditary supporters of their
families. It was, however, unfortunately the natural
consequences of the measures which were adopted, that
few men of liberal feelings could be induced to under-
take their execution. The respectable gentlemen,t who,
* This picture of misery, degradation, and vice, to which the
brave, the generous, the independent peasantry of England were re-
duced, was written more than two centuries ago, when no inter-
mediate station was left in the agricultural population between
wealthy yeomen and day-labourers. It bears too striking a resem-
blance to later scenes in some Highland glens ; and as it was the
origin of the English poor-rates, are not similar results to be dreaded
in the Highlands, by depriving the bulk of the people of all perman-
ent property or certain means of subsistence, more especially as there
is no manufacturing or regular employment for the labouring classes?
t Several years previous to the death of George Lord Littleton,
he visited Scotland, and passed some weeks at Taymouth with the
late Earl of Breadalbane. Being asked by a friend some time after
his return, what he had seen in the Highlands, and what he thought
of the people and country? After giving his opinion, at some length,
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. 1 89
in so many cases, had formerly consented to undertake
the management of Highland property, resigned their
employments, when they found the execution of the new
measures incompatible with their sense of humanity and
duty to a higher power than their employers. They
shrunk from the ungrateful task. Their places were
supphed by persons cast in a coarser mould, and gene-
rally strangers to the country ; who, detesting the people,
and ignorant of their character, capability, and language,
quickly surmounted every obstacle, and hurried on the
change, without reflecting on the distress of which it
might be productive, or allowing the kindlier feelings of
landlords to operate in favour of their ancient tenantry.
" Men of this cast," says a reverend author, " overturn
he concluded: "But of all I saw or heard, few things excited my
surprise more than the learning and talents of Mr Campbell of Ach-
allader, factor to Lord Breadalbane. Born and resident in the
Highlands, I have seldom seen a more accomplished gentleman,
with more general and classical learning." The late Achallader and
his father were upwards of ninety years factors to two successive
Earls of Breadalbane.
Such w'ere the gentlemen who formerly managed great Highland
estates. With their superior rank in society, (an important point in
the eyes of the Highlanders, whose feelings are hurt, when they see
men without birth or education placed over them,) their influence,
honourable principles, and intelligence, they kept the people under
such judicious rules, as produced great fidelity, contentment, and in-
dependence of spirit. The gentlemen who managed the estates of
Atholl, Argyll, Montrose, Perth, etc., were also of the first character
and families in the country. "Why has this system been changed,
and why do independent men refuse acting ? Formerly, and even
within my own remembrance, the tenants on great estates were en-
vied, and considered most fortunate, in the ease, happiness, and
comfort they enjoyed. How does it happen, that, in this respect,
there is a total change and revolution in the views and feelings of
the people ?
190 CHANGE OF TENAT^TRY.
everything." To attempt a new system, and to become
acceptable tenants, was considered impossible with men
so prejudiced, incurably indolent and ignorant, as the
old occupiers were described; they were therefore in two
many cases removed from the fertile and cultivated
farms ; some left the country, and others were offered
limited portions of land on uncultivated moors, on which
they were to form a settlement ; and thus, while particular
districts have been desolated, the gross numerical popu-
lation, has in some manner been preserved, and has
afforded a ready answer to those who have thus acted, " I
have not rooted out my people, I have only changed my
system ; they are as numerous as ever." Many judicious
men, however, doubt the policy of these measures, and
dread their consequences on the condition and habits of
the people. The following account of their situation is
from the respectable and intelligent clergyman of an ex-
tensive parish in the County of Ross. "When the valleys
and higher grounds were let to the shepherds, the
whole population was drawn down to the sea-shore, where
they were crowded on small lots of land, to earn their
subsistence by labour (idhere all are labourers atid
few employers) and by sea-fishing, the latter so little
congenial to their former habits. This cutting down
farms into lots* was found so profitable, that over
the whole of this district, the sea-coast, where the
* It will be observed, that these one or two acre lots are forming
iis an improved system, in a country where many loud complaints are
daily made of surplus population, and of the misery of the people on
their old farms of five, ten, fifteen, twenty, and more, arable acres,
with pasture in proportion ; and yet in a country without regular
employment, and without manufactures, a family is to be supported
on one or two acres ! !
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. I9I
shore is accessible, is thickly studded with wretched cot-
tages, crowded with starving inhabitants. Ancient re-
spectable tenants, who passed the greater part of life in
the enjoyment of abundance, and in the exercise of
hospitality and charity, possessing stocks of ten, twenty,
and thirty breeding cows, with the usual proportion of
other stock, are now pining on one or two acres of bad
land, with one or two starved cows; and, for this accomo-
dation, a calculation is made, that they must support
their families and pay the rent of their lots, not from the
produce, but from the sea; thus drawing a rent which
the land cannot afford. When the herring fishery (the
only fishery prosecuted on this coast) succeeds, they
generally satisfy the landlords, whatever privations they
may suffer; but when the fishing fails, they fall in arrears,
and are sequestrated, and their stock sold to pay the rents,
their lots given to others, and they and their families
turned adrift on the world. The herring fishery, always
precarious, has, for a succession of years, been very de-
fective, and this class of people are reduced to extreme
misery. At first, some of them possessed capital, from
converting their farm stock into cash, but this has been
long exhausted. It is distressing to view the general
poverty of this class of people, aggravated by their having
once enjoyed abundance and independence; and we
cannot sufficiently admire their meek and patient spirit,
supported by the powerful influence of religious and
moral principle. There are still a few small tenants on
the old system, occupying the same farm jointly, but
they are falling fast to decay, and sinking into the new
class of cottars.
" Except in Glenelg, emigration has been very limited
from this side of the island, owing to their powerful
192 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
attachment to the country of their fathers : although, at
the time of the violent changes, they had sufficient pro-
perty to transport and settle their families comfortably in
America, they could not tear themselves away; and now,
although eager for a change, they have not the power."'^
This mode of giving all the good and cultivated land
to a few rich individuals, and of subdividing small por-
tions of barren moor or of inferior soil among the previ-
ous occupiers, in a country without any permanent means
of subsistence beyond the scanty and precarious produce
of those unreclaimed patches, is a line of policy, which
could not fail to excite universal surprise, did we not
yearly witness so many theoretical schemes, often incon-
sistent with each other, and so little regard for the
happiness of the people. But leaving out of view the
consideration that, from the prevalence of turning corn
lands into pasture, the demand for labour is diminished
while the number of labourers is increased, it can scarcely
be expected that a man who had once been in the
condition of a farmer, possessed of land, and of consider-
able property in cattle, horses, sheep, and money ; often
employing servants himself, conscious of his independ-
ence, and proud of his ability to assist others ; should
without the most poignant feehngs, descend to the rank
of a hired labourer, even where labour and payment can
be obtained, more especially if he must serve on the
farms or in the country where he formerly commanded
as master. It is not easy for those who live in a country
like England, where so many of the lower orders have
nothing but what they acquire by the labour of the pass-
ing day, and possess no permanent property or share in
the agricultural produce of the soil, to appreciate the
* Letter from Dr Downic, minister of Lochalsh.
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. I93
nature of the spirit of independence, which is generated
in countries where the free cultivators of the soil con-
stitute the major part of the population. It can scarcely
be imagined how proudly a man feels, however small
his property may be, when he has a spot of arable
and pasture land, stocked with corn, horses, and cows;
a species of property which, more than any other, binds
him, by ties of interest and attachment, to the spot
with which he is connected. He considers himself
an independent person, placed in a station in society
far above the day-labourer, who has no stake in the
permanency of existing circumstances, beyond the pro-
spect of daily employment : his independence being
founded on permanent property, he has an interest in the
welfare of the state, by supporting which he renders his
own property more secure, and, although the value of the
property may not be great, it is every day in his view ;
his cattle and horses feed around him ; his grass and corn
he sees growing and ripening ; his property is visible to
all observers, which is calculated to raise the owner in
general consideration : and when a passing friend or
neighbour praises his thriving crops and his cattle, his
heart swells with pleasure, and he exerts himself to sup-
port and to preserve that Government and those laws
which render it secure. Such is the case in many parts
of the world : such was formerly the case in Scotland,
and is still in many parts of the Highlands. Those who
wish to see only the two castes of capitalists and day-
labourers, may smile at this union of independence and
comparative poverty. But, that the opposite system is
daily quenching the independent spirit of the Highlanders,
and laying a foundation for the establishment of poor-
rates, and the consequent degradation of the people, is
194 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
an undoubted fact, and gives additional strength to the
argument of those Avho object to the reduction of the agri-
cultural population, and regret their removal to the great
towns, and to those seats of misery and vice, the villages
in preparation in some parts of the country.
It is painful to dwell on this subject ; but as informa-
tion, communicated by men of honour, judgment, and
perfect veracity, descriptive of what they daily witness,
affords the best means of forming a correct judgment ;
and as these gentlemen, from their situations in life, have
no immediate interest in the determination of the ques-
tion beyond what is dictated by humanity and a love of
truth, their authority may be considered as undoubted.
The following extract of a letter from a friend, as well as
the extract already quoted, is of this description. Speak-
ing of the settlers on the new allotments, he says, " I
scarcely need tell you that these wretched people exhibit
every symptom of the most abject poverty, and the most
helpless distress. Their miserable lots in the moors, not-
withstanding their utmost labour and strictest economy,
have not yielded them a sufficient crop for the support of
their families, for three months. The little money they
were able to derive from the sale of their stock has, there-
fore, been expended in the purchase of necessaries.
and is now wholly exhausted.* Though they have now,
* When whole districts are depopulated at once, their pecuniary
losses, and the distress of those ejected, are increased by the circum-
stance of all selling off their stock and furniture at the same time, as
consequently there can be but few purchasers. Their movables will
not suit the establishments of the capitalists ; and, while the ejected
tenants must leave them unsold, or accept of a nominal price, they
are deprived of this small and last resource for transporting them-
selves to a foreign country, where a virtuous, high-spirited, brave
people, are not considered as a nuisance or a burthen on the soil.
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. 1 95
therefore, overcome all their scruples about leaving their
native land, and possess the most ardent desire to emi-
grate, in order to avoid the more intolerable evils of star-
vation, and have been much encouraged by the favour-
able accounts the\' have received from their countrymen
already in America, they cannot possibly pay the expenses
of transporting themselves and their families thither."*
Well might the old Highlander thus warn his country-
men — '' Take care of yourselves, for the law has reached
Ross-shire." He had more cause for alarm for his pos-
terity than he was aware of. Little could he calculate,
when his fears were excited by vague ideas of a change ;
little could he anticipate that the introduction of civil
order, and the extension of legal authority, which, in an
enlightened age, tend to advance the prosperity, as well
as promote the security of a nation, should have been to
his countrymen either the signals of banishment from
their native country, or the means of lowering the con-
dition of those who were permitted to remain. With
more reason it might have been expected that the prin-
ciples of an enlightened age would have gradually intro-
duced beneficial changes among the ancient race ; that
they would have softened down the harsher features of
their character, and prepared them for habits better suited
to the cultivation of the soil, than the indolent freedom
of a pastoral life. Instead of this, the new system, what-
ever may be its intrinsic merits or defects, has, in too
many cases, been carried into execution, m a manner
which has excited the strongest and most indignant sen-
sations in the breasts of those who do not overlook the
present inconvenience and distress of the many, in the
* Letter from a gentleman in the County of Ross.
196 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
eager pursuit of a prospective advantage to the few. The
consequences which have resulted, and the contrast be-
tween the present and past condition of the people, and
betw^een their present and past disposition and feelings
towards their superiors, show, in the most striking light,
the impolicy of attempting, with such unnatural rapidity,
innovations which it would require an age, instead of a
few years, to accomplish in a salutary manner ; and the
impossibihty of effecting them without inflicting great
misery, endangering good morals, and undermining loyaltv
to the king, and respect for constituted authority.
A love of change, proceeding from the actual posses-
sion of wealth, or from the desire of acquiring it, disturbs,
by an ill-directed influence, the gradual and effectual pro-
gress of those improvements which, instead of benefiting
the man of capital alone, should equally distribute their
advantages to all. In the prosecution of the great changes
which have taken place in different parts of the North, it
would appear that, in many instances, the original inhabi-
tants were never thought of, nor included in the system
which was to be productive of such wealth to the land-
lord, the man of capital, and the country at large.
Strangers were called in to assist as agents in the exe-
cution of the plans, while others were placed, as farmers,
on large establishments, to make room for which whole
glens were cleared of their inhabitants, who, in some in-
stances, resisted these mandates, (although legally exe-
cuted), in the hope of preserving to their families their
ancient homes, to which all were enthusiastically attached.*
* The strength of this attachment is not easily comprehended by
those who are unacquainted with the people. An instance of this feel-
ing has been already given, and I could add many more, all evinc-
ing an unconquerable attachment to the spot where they first drew
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. I97
These people, blameless in every respect, save their
poverty and ignorance of modern agriculture, could not
believe that such harsh measures proceeded from their
honoured superiors, whose conduct had hitherto been
kind and paternal, and to whom they themselves had
ever been attached and faithful. The whole was, there-
fore, attributed to the acting agents, and against them
their indignation was principally directed ; and, in some
instances, their resistance was so obstinate, that it became
necessary to enforce the orders " vi et armis" and to have
recourse to an obsolete mode of ejectment, by setting
their houses on fire. This last species of legal proceed-
ing was so conclusive, that even the stubborn High-
breath. I shall state two cases of men who seem to have died of
what is commonly called a broken heart, originating in grief for the
loss of their native homes. I knew them intimately. They were
respectable and judicious men, and occupied the farms on which
they were born till far advanced in life, when they were removed.
They afterwards got farms at no great distance, but were afflicted
with a deep despondency, gave up their usual habits, and seldom
spoke with any seeming satisfaction, except when the subject turned
on their former life, and the spot which they had left. They
appeared to be much relieved by walking to the tops of the neigh-
bouring hills, and gazing for hours in the direction of their late
homes ; but in a few months their strength totally failed, and with-
out any pain or complaint, except mental depression, one died in a
year, and the other in eighteen months. I have mentioned these
men together, as there was such a perfect similarity in their cases ;
but they were not acquainted with each other, nor of the same dis-
trict. When they suffered so much by removing from their ancient
homes only to another district, how much more severe must their
feelings have been had they been forced to emigrate, unless, perhaps,
distance and new objects would have diverted their attention from
the cause of their grief? But be that as it may, the cause is
undoubted.
198 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
landers, with all their attachment to the homes of their
fathers, were compelled to yield.*
Some of the ejected tenants were allowed small allot-
ments of land ; some half an acre, others two acres of
moor, which they were to cultivate into arable land ; and
the improvements which have succeeded those summary
ejectments have been highly eulogized, and references
made to their effects, in contrast to the former unculti-
vated state of the country. Many people are, however,
inclined to doubt the advantages of improvements which
call for such frequent apologies ; for if the advantages to
the people were so evident, and if more lenient measures
had been pursued, vindication could not have been
necessary.
It must, however, be matter of deep regret, that
such a line of proceeding was pursued Avith regard to
these brave, unfortunate, and well-principled people, as
excited so strong and general a sensation in the public
mind. It is no less to be deplored, that any conduct
sanctioned by authority, even althouojh productive of
ultimate advantage (and how it can produce any advan-
tage beyond w^hat might have been obtained by pursuing
a scheme of conciliation and encouragement, is a very
* The author of Guy Mannering has alluded to this " summary
and effectual mode of ejectment still practised in the North of Scot-
land when a tenant proves refractory," in his admirable description
of the ejectment of the colony of Derncleugh. When this picture
of fictitious distress, of which a lawless race were the supposed
objects, has created a powerful sensation wherever our language is
understood, what heart shall withhold its sympathy from real dis-
tress when faithful, blameless, and industrious beings are treated in
the same manner, without the same provocation, and without any
cause except the desire of increasing an income, and where, instead
of " thirty hearts that wad ha'e wanted bread before ye wanted
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. 199
-questionable point),* should have, in the first instance,
inflicted such general misery. This regret must be
greatly increased, by the belief that these proceedings ori-
ginated in mistaken notions, founded on malignant and
persevering misrepresentations, calculated to give the
proprietors a most unfavourable impression of the charac-
ter and capability of the native inhabitants ; who were
described as being in a state of misery, without religion
or morality, and totally unfit for any good purpose.
sunkets," more than twice thirty thousand have been turned adrift
in different parts of the North ?
* The following are instances of the capability of small tenants in
the Highlands, and of the improvement of lands and rents effected by
far other means than the burning decrees. The tenant of a friend of
mine, when he first took his farm, paid a rent of ;^8. los. This rent
has been gradually augmented, since the year 1781, to jQS^, and
this without lease or encouragement from the landlord, who, by the
industry and improvements of his tenant, has received an increase of
more than 1000 per cent, in less than forty years. On another estate,
nineteen small tenants paid, in the year 1784, a joint rent of £S7-
This has been raised by degrees, without a shilling given in assistance
for improvements, which have been considerable, to £371. The
number of acres is 145, which are situated in a high district, and
with no pasture for sheep. These are not insulated facts. I could
produce many to show that industry, with abstemious and contented
habits, more than compensates for the increased consumption of pro-
duce by so many occupants ; and that by judicious management, the
peasantry of the Highlands, although they may be numerous in pro-
portion to the quantity of fertile land, contribute to secure the
permanent welfare both of the landholder and of the country. What
men can pay better rents than those who live nine months in the
year on potatoes and milk, on bread only when potatoes fail, and on
butcher meat seldom or never? Who are better calculated to make
good soldiers, than men trained up to such habits, and contented
with such moderate comforts? And who are likely to make more
loyal and happy subjects, contented with their lot, and true to their
king, and to their immediate superiors?
200 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
These prejudiced and unfounded statements were fol-
lowed up by flattering views of the prosperity and happi-
ness to be expected from the proposed plans for their
future establishment. Those who thus vilified the poor
people, and who strongly advocated the adoption of these
new plans, were well aware of the partiality, patriarchal
kindness, and protection exercised by the proprietors;
and knew that no proposal for their entire ejectment and
expatriation, nor even for their removal to the situations
proposed to them, would be received unless the former
favourable opinion had been changed and obliterated.
To this point, therefore, the attention of the promoters of
these violent changes was particularly directed, till at
length they succeeded in procuring the removal of the
native farmers, and the introduction of a new order of
tenantry. This system of overlooking the original oc-
cupiers, and of giving every support to strangers, has
been much practised in different Highland counties ; and
on one great estate, the support which has been given to
farmers of capital, as well in the amount of the sums ex-
pended on improvements, as in the liberal abatement of
rents, is, I believe, unparalleled in the United Kingdom,
and affords additional matter of regret, that the delusions
practised on a generous and public-spirited landholder,
have been so perseveringly and successfully applied, that it
would appear as if all feeling of former kindness towards
the native tenantry had ceased to exist. To them any un-
cultivated barren spot of moor land, however small, was
considered sufficient for the support of a family; while
the most lavish encouragement was given to the new
tenants, on whom, and on the erection of buildings, the
improvement of lands, roads, bridges, etc., upwards of
;^2 10,000 have been expended since the year 1808.
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. 20I
With this proof of unprecedented liberality, it cannot be
sufficiently lamented that an estimate of the character ot
these poor people was taken from the misrepresentations
of interested persons, instead of judging from the con-
duct of the same men when brought out into the world,
where they obtained a name and character which has
secured the esteem and approbation of men high in hon-
our and rank, and, from their talents and experience, per-
fectly capable of judging with correctness. With such
proofs of capability, and with such materials for carrying
on the improvements, and maintaining the permanent
prosperity of the country, when occupied by a hardy,
abstemious race, easily led on to a full exertion of their
faculties by proper management, there cannot be a ques-
tion but that if, instead of placing them, as has been
done, in situations bearing too near a resemblance to the
potato-gardens of Ireland, — the origin and still existing
cause of the poverty, disaffection, and hostility towards
the higher orders, so prevalent in that country, — they had
been permitted to remain as cultivators of the soil, receiv-
ing a moderate share of the vast sums expended on their
richer but not more deserving successors, such a humane
and considerate regard to the prosperity of a whole
people, instead of confining it to a favoured few, would
undoubtedly have answered every good purpose. Al-
though the wealth expected from the improvements might
be delayed, it would have been no less certain, had the
progress been left to the ancient attached race ; and had
such a course been pursued, instead of depopulating glens,
and starving peasantry, alienated from their superiors, and
in their grief and despair too ready to imbibe opinions
hostile to the best interests of their countr)', we should
still have seen a high-spirited and loyal people, ready, at
202 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
the nod of their respected chiefs, to embody themselves
into regiments, with the same zeal as in former times ;
and when enrolled among the defenders of their country,
to exhibit a conduct honourable to that country and to
their professions.* Such is the acknowledged character of
the men of these districts as soldiers, when called forth in
the service of their country, although they have been
described as irregular in their habits, and a burden on the
lands which gave them birth, and on which their fore-
fathers maintained the honour, and promoted the wealth
and prosperity of their chiefs and superiors. t But is it
* See articles on the Sutherland regiments. In a memorial pre-
sented to Government by the Earl of Sutherland, claiming a com-
pensation for expense and loss sustained in 1745, it is stated, that
his Lordship had armed and ready to support the royal cause, 2337
men, from his own estate, who, it is added, received high approba-
tion from the Earl of Loudon, and the other generals who saw their
fine and warlike appearance. The power of bringing to the support
of the King so large a force, when the country required their ser-
vices, is worth some sacrifice of rent ; not that any sacrifice would
be necessary were time allowed to the tenants, and the same en-
couragement and support given to them as has been received by the
newly introduced tenants, who perhaps would hesitate to obey a
summons to attend their landlord's call, or, if they did, their small
number would render them of little use.
+ The late Lord Sutherland was the twenty-first Earl ; a length
of succession unparalleled in the peerage of this country. The estates
which supported this ancient unbroken descent have undergone less
change than almost any others. In all the numberless revolutions
of property, either in troublesome or peaceable times, these have not
only been preserved entire, but great additions made by the purchase
of neighbouring estates, from the produce of the labour and rents of
the ancient tenantry. With a boisterous, ungenial climate, and a
rugged barren soil, the estate supported 15,000 persons, who main-
tained the independence of their superiors, and enabled them to pre-
serve their title and property in a manner which no other family can
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. 203
conceivable that the people at home should be so de-
graded, while their brothers and sons who have become
soldiers maintain an honourable character? The people
ought not to be reproached with incapacity or immor-
ality without better evidence than that of their prejudiced
and unfeeling calumniators. If it be so, however, and if
this virtuous and honourable race, which has contributed
to raise and uphold the character of the British peasantry
in the eyes of all Europe, are thus fallen, and so suddenly
fallen ; how great and powerful must be the cause ! and
if at home they are thus low in character, how unparal-
leled must be the improvement which is produced by
difference of profession, as, for example, when they be-
come soldiers, and associate in barracks with troops of all
characters, or in quarters, or billets, with the lowest of the
people, instead of mingling with such society as they left
in their native homes 1 Why should these Highlanders
be at home so degenerate, as they are represented, and as
in recent instances they should actually appear to have be-
come ?* And wdiy, when they mount the cockade, are
boast ; and, with such evidence, it might have been expected that
some hesitation would have been observed in asserting that the coun-
try is totally incapable of maintaining the ancient population. When
it is recollected that this population has been maintained for so many
centuries, and that, by the rents they paid, they enabled the landlords
to purchase all the lands for sale which lay convenient for them,
these assertions will be received with caution.
* Of the fruits of the modern civilization of the Highlanders, and
of the system of improving their condition, as it is practised in the
North, we have an instance in a recent association for the suppres-
sion of felony, formed by those concerned in the stock and grazing
farms. The object of this measure is the protection of property from
the depredations of that people, amongst whom, in their uncivilized
and uneducated state, crimes were so few, that, according to the
204 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
they found to be so virtuous and regular, that one thou-
sand men have been embodied four and five years to-
gether at different and distant periods, from 1759 to 1763,
from 1779 to 1783, and from 1793 to 1798, without an
instance of military punishment 1 These men performed all
the duties of soldiers to the perfect satisfaction of their
commanders, and continued so unexceptionable in their
conduct down to the latest period, when embodied into
the 93rd Regiment, that, according to the words of a dis-
tinguished general officer, " although the youngest regi-
ment in the service, they might form an example to all : "
and on general parades for punishment, the Sutherland
Highlanders have been ordered to their quarters, as
" examples of this kind were not necessary for such hon-
ourable soldiers, who I.ad no crimes to punish."*
Can it be doubted, that had a moderate portion of
the encouragement given to the stock graziers possessed
records of the Court of Justiciary, from 1747 to iSio, there was only
one capital conviction for theft (horse steaUng, which happened in
the year 1791), and only two capital convictions for other crimes ;
namely, a woman for child murder in 1761, and a man for fire raising
in 1785. Such was the former state of the people in these districts,
where crimes have increased so rapidly of late, that protecting asso-
ciations are become necessary, and where it has been found that
nearly 600 sheep have been stolen in a season from one individual :
while those who left the country with the character and dispositions
acquired among their fathers and brothers (against whom those pro-
tecting societies are formed), are declared by the first authority " pic-
tures of perfect moral rectitude, military discipline, and soldierly
conduct ;" and, in the energetic language of an ingenious author, "a
mirror to the British army." The man convicted of horse stealing
was William Mackay, a discharged soldier, who had learned a lesson
in another country. The circumstance was so very extraordinary as
still to afford subject of conversation among the people.
* See Article Sutherland Highlanders [3rd Edition, vol. ii.]
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. 205
of capital, been bestowed on these valuable men, we
should probably have seen no difference of character,
except that, in those who remained at home, we might
have expected to meet with more of native simplicity and
integrity, part of which might have been lost by those
who had mixed more with the world? If those who
remain at home have shown contrary dispositions, these
must have been produced by some powerful cause ; and,
with the loss of that independence and disinterested
fidelity which hardly knew any bounds, the best parts of
their character must have been destroyed. Is not their
altered conduct rather a subject of pity than of blame ?
When they see their children starving, and crying for
that food which they have not to give; and when we
reflect that, according to the Gaelic pioverb, "Hunger
has a long arm," — some cause may, perhaps, be dis-
covered why the hand which ought to have been em-
ployed in profitable industry at home, or against an
enemy abroad, has been sometimes extended to endanger
a neighbour's property. Have they shown ingratitude
for kind treatment? Are they unreasonable, because
they are not satisfied when suddenly deprived of their
usual means of subsistence, and placed upon the black
moors? Some are, indeed, told that the ocean is open
to them, and that they may hve by fishing, though their
former habits render them unfit for that line of life.*
* Till lately, very few flat fish were caught by the fishers on the
east coast of Scotland, although the sea abounds with turbot, soles,
etc. Every encouragement in the way of premiums had failed to
induce these men to alter their usual mode of fishing. When such
are the difficulties in the way of overcoming the prejudices of men
who have been fishers from their youth, can it be matter of surprise
that the shepherds and graziers of the mountains do not, as if by
206 CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
It is probable that the notoriety which these facts
have obtained, is the cause which has given birth to the
statements which I have already noticed. In these pub-
lications the people are vilified, and described as dis-
honest, void of religion, irregular in their habits,* and
incapable of managing farms, or of paying adequate
rents ; although, on a reference to the poor's funds, taken
on an average of many years previous to 1800, it will be
instinct, become fishers, without the least knowledge or experience
of the new element from which they are desired to extract their
subsistence ?
* Detachments of the Sutherland Fencible Regiment of 1762
were stationed in different parts of the Perthshire Highlands. The
excellent and orderly conduct of these men, their regular attendance
at church, and their general deportment, were so marked, even
among a people who were themselves distinguished for similar
habits, that the memory of the Sutherland soldiers is, to this day,
held in respect. In the years 1797 and 1798, large detachments of
the Sutherland Regiment of that period were stationed in the same
districts. The character and conduct of these soldiers, every man
of whom was from Sutherland, were in all respects the same. So
strong was the impression made on the minds of the people of
Athole and Breadalbane by the behaviour of the Sutherland men,
that it materially changed their previous opinion of the character of
soldiers in general, whom they considered as reprobates, with whom
no person of quiet domestic habits could with safety associate ; and
hence, when a young man enlisted in any regiment except the
National Corps, his family were loo ready to believe that he was a
lost man, an outcast from them and his native country. I now
speak from personal experience, as I found, in the course of my
recruiting in those districts, a great and gratifying change in the
sentiments of the people. After the Sutherland detachments were
stationed in Perthshire, young men engaged more readily, and their
parents showed less dread at their enlistment as recruits, "as they
now found that soldiers were quiet sober people, with whom they
need not be afraid to trust their sons."
CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
207
found, that, however ignorant they were of farming, they
were so independent of parochial aid, that, in those days,
when the population of that country was so great as to
form one of the alleged causes of removal, the sums paid
to the poor of this supposed surplus population, in the
parish of Rogart, containing 2023 persons, were under
^13 annually; in the parish of Farr, containing 2408
persons, under ;£"i2; in Assynt, containing 2395 inhabi-
tants, under £11; in Kildonan, containing 1443 persons,
under £^ annually; other parishes were nearly in the
same proportion ; and at this moderate expense were all
the poor of those districts supplied ! Few districts, how-
ever fertile, can produce such instances of independence
as were exhibited by these uncultivated parishes, which
gave birth to the religious, the virtuous, and honourable
soldiers of the Reay and Sutherland Regiments, whose
character, as appreciated by the best judges, and proved
by their own conduct, will be seen in the Notice of the
Mihtary Services of these Corps.*
* The great changes which have taken place in the aboye
parishes, and some others, have excited a warm and general interest.
While the liberal expenditure of capital was applauded by all, many
intelligent persons lamented that its application was so much in one
direction ; that the ancient tenantry were to have no share in this
expenditure ; and that so small a portion was allotted for the future
settlement of the numerous population who had been removed from
their farms, and were placed in situations so new, and in many
respects so unsuitable, — certain that, in the first instance, great dis-
tress, disaffection, and hostility towards the landlords and govern-
ment, with a diminution of that spirit of independence and those
proper principles which had hitherto distinguished them, would be
the inevitable result. So sudden and universal a change of station,
habits, and circumstances, and their being reduced from the state of
independent tenants to that of cottagers and day-labourers, could
not fail of arresting the notice of the public.
20S CHANGE OF TENANTRY.
Anxious to obtain the best information on this interesting subject,
I early made the most minute inquiry, careful, at the same time, to
form no opinion on intelligence communicated by the people of the
district, or by persons connected with them, and who would
naturally be interested in, and prejudiced against, or in favour of
those changes. I was the more desirous for the best information, as
the statements published with regard to the character, capability,
and principles of the people, exhibited a perfect contrast to my own
personal experience and knowledge of the admirable character and
exemplary conduct of that portion of them which had left their
native country ; and I believed it improbable, nay impossible, that
the sons of worthless parents, without religious or moral principle —
as they have been described — could conduct themselves in such an
honourable manner as to be held up as an example to the British
army. But, indeed, as to information, so much publicity had been
given, by various statements explanatory of, and in vindication of
these proceedings, that little more was necessary, beyond what
these publications afforded, to show the nature of the plans, and the
manner in which they were carried into execution.
Forming my opinions, therefore, from those statements, and from
information communicated by persons not immediately connected
with that part of the country, I drew the conclusions which appeared
in the former editions of these Sketches. But, with a strong desire
to be correct and well informed in all I state, and with an intention
of correcting myself in this edition, should I find that I had been
misinformed, or had taken up mistaken views of the subject, in the
different statements I had produced, I embraced the first spare time
I could command ; and in autumn 1823, I travelled over the improved
districts, and a large portion of those parts which had been depopu-
lated and laid out in extensive pastoral farms, as well as the stations
in which the people are placed. After as strict an examination as
circumstances permitted, and a careful inquiry among those who,
from their knowledge and judgment, were enabled to form the best
opinions, I do not find that I have one statement to alter, or one
opinion to correct; though I am fully aware that many hold very
different opinions. But however much I may differ in some points,
there is one in which I warmly and cordially join; and that is, in
expressing my high satisfaction and admiration at the liberality dis-
played in the immense sums expended on buildings, in enclosing,
CHANGE OF TENANTRY. 209
clearing, and draining land, in forming roads and communications,
and introducing the most approved agricultural implements. In all
these, the generous distribution of such exemplary encouragement
stands unparalleled and alone. Equally remarkable is the great
abatement of rents given to the tenants of capital — abatements which
it was not to be expected they would ask, considering the preference
and encouragement given them, and the promises they had held out
of great and unprecedented revenue, from their skill and exertions.
But these promises seem to have been early forgotten ; the tenants of
capital were the Jirst to call for relief: and so great and generous has
this relief been, that the rents are reduced so low as to be almost on
a level with what they were when the great changes commenced. Thus
while upwards of ;^ 2 10,000 have been expended on improvements,
no return is to be looked for from this vast expenditure ; and in the
failure of their promised rents, the tenants have sufficiently proved
the unstable and fallacious nature of the system which they, with so
much plausibility and perseverance, got established by delusions
practised on a high-minded, honourable individual, not aware of
the evils produced by so universal a movement of a whole
people. Ever}' friend to a brave and valuable race, must rejoice
that these evils are in progress of alleviation, by a return of that
kindness and protection which had formerly been so conspicuous
towards that race of tenantry, and which could never have been
interrupted, had it not been for those delusions to which I have
more than once alluded, and which have been prosecuted, within the
last twenty years, in many parts of the Highlands, with a degree of
assiduity and antipathy to the unfortunate inhabitants altogether
remarkable. But in the county in question, no antipathy to the
people is now to be dreaded ; a return of ancient kindness will be
met with ancient fidelity and attachment; and if the people are
rendered comfortable and contented, they will be loyal, warlike, and
brave. Then regiments may again send recruiting parties, which
had been recalled from the county, as not a young man would enlist
while the minds of the people were soured and disaffected ; but now,
Sutherland will again be what it has been, a nursery of soldiers,
"Mirrors," as they have been called, "to the British army."
210 RESULTS OF JUDICIOUS ARRANGEMENTS.
SECTION III.
Beneficial Results of Judicious Arrangements, andof allou>-
ing Time to acquire a Knoivledge of Agricultural
Improvements — Emigratio?i — Agricultural Pursuits
promote Independefice, and prevent Pauperism.
Happily for the prosperity of the Highlands, for the
welfare of the state, and for the preservation of the ori-
ginal inhabitants of the mountains, there are many popu-
lous districts, in which the inhabitants have been per-
mitted to remain, and are contented and independent,
and in which the beneficial effects of judgment, com-
bined with a proper appreciation of the best interests of
Highland landlords, are successfully displayed, and the
character and capability of Highland tenants practically
proved. The former, avaiHng themselves of the natural
benefit of a hardy athletic race of men, easily induced by
kindness to make a full exertion of their powers, have
realized the most beneficial effects on their general
character, and, by a gradual and gentle diffusion of
agricultural knowledge, have both improved their own
incomes, and increased the wealth and comfort of their
tenants. The aversion of the latter to any change of
ancient habits, has been, in a great measure, overcome ;
and they are found to enter very keenly into the im-
proved system, when encouraged by example, and once
fairly convinced of its advantages.* The gentlemen to
* This is no new trait of character. Dr Walker, an eminent Pro-
fessor of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh, commenced,
in the year 1760, an extensive and enlarged system of inquiry relative
RESULTS OF JUDICIOUS ARRANGEMENTS. 2 I I
whom I allude commenced with the improvement of
the condition of their tenants, as the best foundation for
the improvement of their estates, the permanency of
their incomes, and the pleasure of seeing themselves
surrounded by a prosperous, grateful, and contented
tenantry.* "On every estate," says Dr Robertson,
to the Highlands. From that year till 1780, he was employed by
the General Assembly to examine and report on the religious and
moral condition of the inhabitants, to which he added their economi-
cal history. Of the people he says, "It is only from a superficial
view that they are represented as unconquerably averse to industry
and every kind of innovation. Besides other good qualities, their
laborious assiduity in various occupations is well known, wherever
they happen to settle in the low country." He adds, "The un-
restrained progress of inoculation abundantly shows, that the High-
landers are as candid in their judgment, are as ready to embrace, and
can as vigorously pursue, any innovation that is advantageous or salu-
tory, as any other people whatever. " — Economical History of the
Highlands of Scotland.
* A very worthy Baronet in the Highlands (Sir George Stewart
of Grandtully), who has made the necessary allowances for the pre-
judices and frailties of men, has allowed his tenants the time neces-
sary to learn the improved mode of culture, and to increase the value
and size of their breed of cattle and sheep. This has been done
without separating the arable land from the pasture, or diminishing
the farms of any, but rather enlarging them, if too small, when it
could be done without prejudice to others. At the same time the
rents have been gradually rising. The consequence is, that he re-
ceives the undiminished rental of his estate ; and while considerable
distress has been experienced in his neighbourhood, his people are in
so different circumstances, that, when lately, he had occasion for a
supply of money to assist him in the purchase of some adjoining
lands, they came forward with a spontaneous offer to advance ;^ 18,000,
with a declaration that they were ready with £6000 more if required.
This is a pleasing instance of the attachment of the olden times.
The manner in which these people pay their rents, and support their
families, will appear the more remarkable to the advocates for large
212 POLICY OF THE CHANGES.
speaking of the new system, " this complete change has
not taken place : the ancient connection between the
heads of tribes and their clan is not in every in-
stance dissolved. In these cases, the affability and
kindness of the landlord is the frequent subject of
their conversation, and the prosperity of his family is
the object of their warmest wishes and devout prayers.
At their little parties and convivial meetings, his health
is always the first toast. They feel an interest in the
fortunes and destiny of his children. Upon his return
home, after a long absence, or his promotion to a place
of honour or profit, or the birth of an heir, the glad
tidings spread with the velocity of lightning, and bon-
fires illuminate the whole estate. In the county of
Inverness there are such landlords ; as the almoners of
of heaven, they take the divine pleasure of making their
dependents happy. There are also, in the same county,
landlords, who are left to the execration of their people,
to the contempt of every benevolent man, and to the re-
proach of their own condemning consciences."*
The policy of the innovations may be considered in
three points of view ; ist, As affecting the interests of the
proprietors ; 2ndly\ The welfare of the people ; and, jrJly^
That of the state.
1st, The interest of the proprietors. Whether these
farms, as this estate, with a rental of less than ;i^9000 supports a
population of 2835 souls, all maintained on the produce ; while only
17 disaliled paupers, and some poor old women, require parochial
relief; and the tenants are so independent, and so grateful to their
humane and generous landlord, that they enable him to purchase the
estates for sale in his neighbourhood.
* Dr Robertson^ s General Vieiv of the Agnculture of the County
of Inverness^ drawn up by order of the l^oard of Agriculture.
POLICY OF THE CHANGES. 213
innovations be conducive to the advantage of tlie pro-
prietor is a point which, in the conflict of adverse
opinions, is not easily decided ; yet it would seem to be
very clear, that a system, which has so great a tendency
to break the spirit and lower the natural and moral con-
dition of the bulk of the people engaged in the agricul-
ture of the Highlands, cannot, in any just sense of the
word, be very advantageous to the landlords, since, by
throwing the produce of the country into the hands of a
few men of capital, it gives them a monopoly of the farms,
and often the option of fixing whatever rents they choose
to pay; for few men can enter into competition on the
enlarged scale of the new system, — an evil which seems
to have been overlooked when it was adopted. But,
admitting that landlords are not bound to wait for the in-
struction and improvement of their tenants in agricultural
knowledge ; admitting, to its fullest extent, their legal
right of managing their lands in the manner apparently
most profitable ; and allowing the most unqualified power
to exercise the right of removing the ancient occupiers,*
* In answer to the question of the propriety of dismissing the
ancient occupiers of land, the conduct of manufacturers and trades-
men is quoted as an example of the exercise of such a right, and of
the practice of turning away the people without regard to their
future comfort. While it is admitted that this is certainly the
practice in the instance alluded to, it may still be a question
whether, if more kindness were shown, if the legal right of dismissal
were less rigorously exerted, and if working tradesmen and artisans
were encouraged, by ties of kindness and association, to believe
their situations and employments permanent, we would not see so
many combinations against master tradesmen and manufacturers, and
their houses and property so often in danger of conflagration. But,
whatever may be the cause, there is no doubt of the appearance of
a spirit of revenge and despair on the part of the working classes,
and of a want of confidence and a distrust on the part of their em-
214 POLICY OF THE CHANGES.
it may still be doubted whether plans so hastily adopted,
so productive of immediate distress, and which occasion
such permanent discontent, are likely to be ultimately
successful.
But, at the same time that this legal and admitted
right of removing the original tenantry from their farms
has been very freely exercised, it must appear somewhat
extraordinary, nor is it easy to account for it in a satis-
factory manner, that so many attempts have been made
to restrain emigration, the best and only remaining relief
for those who had been deprived of their farms. This
course must undoubtedly have been pursued under the
persuasion that some benefit would have been lost to the
community by the consequent depopulation. But, the
truth is, the value of the people was well known ; and to
constrain them to remain in the country, after they
have been deprived of their usual resources, is equally
inconsistent with every principle of sound policy and
of justice. Nor is it a weak objection to the expedi-
ency of these measures, that an interference to pre-
vent Government from giving encouragement to emi-
grants was found necessary;* for this furnishes a practical
ployers ; and certainly such a state of society, in which the em-
ployed are kept down by the bayonet and the strong arm of the
law, and the lives and properties of the employers protected by
military force, and a strict police, does not form a very desirable
example for the imitation of Highland proprietors, in the case of
the once chivalrous, and still valuable occupiers of their land.
* Government having listened to representations made a few years
ago in name and behalf of those Highlanders who had already been
ejected from their possessions; and in behalf of others who dreaded
the same fate, it was resolved to encourage emigration to Canada,
under certain stipulations. Several landholders became alarmed,
and made counter representations, on the plea that their country
AGRICULTURE. 215
refutation of the principles on which many have acted,
and of the assertion made, that the Highlands were only
calculated for pasture and a thin population. If the
position was correct, why, in opposition to this maxim,
attempt to retain the people, and place them on such
paltry lots of land as have been mentioned, perhaps not
one-tenth of the extent of the farms from which they
were removed, on the ground that they were too small,
and this in a country without regular employment, or, in-
deed, any means of subsistence except such as are drawn
Irom the soil? Hence, it would appear, that the value
of the old tenantry was well understood ; otherwise why
encourage or compel them to remain ? Many consider-
ations might be expected to operate to prevent the adop-
tion of a system which called for such indefensible ex-
pedients, and which could only be supported by arguments
so inconsistent.
When the proprietor is anxious to obtain the utmost
rent for his land, it is, in general, his interest not to
divide his farms upon too minute a scale, such sub-
division of land, among those of the ancient tenantry,
who, after their removal from their original farms, are
permitted to remain, being found to be fruitful in misery
and discontent : but, however proper and applicable ex-
tensive establishments may be to fertile districts, easily
would be depopulated. In consequence of this, the execution of the
plan was suspended, and it was at length entirely withdrawn, to the
great distress of numbers who were anxious to avail themselves of
this opportunity of removal to a country more favourable to their
views, but who were destitute of the means of attaining their object,
as much of their small capital had been expended in waiting the final
decision of the proposed offers. This line of conduct must appear
very inconsistent.
2l6 AGRICULTURE.
cultivated, situated in a favourable climate, and posses-
sing the advantages of being near market, water carriage,
and manure ; and also of being within reach of towns and
villages, where a supply of labourers, in the busy period
of autumn, may be readily procured ; yet, in peculiar
situations, great advantage may be derived from a division
of the soil into moderately small farms ; and, with regard
to the Highlands, many, who have had opportunities of
judging accurately, have been inclined to believe that, at
a distance from market, with much rugged but improv-
able land, an active abstemious population, and a com-
paratively barren soil, improvements, which could not be
executed by capital alone, unassisted by the manual
labour of the occupiers,* may be carried on to the mutual
advantage both of landlord and tenant. To this we may
add what has occurred in many instances in times of
difficulty, that the economical habits of the small tenantry
will enable them to fulfil their engagements to their land-
lords, when the large farmers, embarrassed by extensive
speculations and expensive establishments, must often
fail in the fulfilment of theirs. That this is not merely a
fanciful hypothesis, unsupported by facts, may be seen by
reference to those countries in which the lands are more
generally distributed, as in France, where the labours of
the agricultural population are at once productive of a
great public revenue, and of comfort and independence
to the body of the people. England, in the days of the
Edwards and Henries, although her foreign commerce
was then extremely circumscribed, was prosperous and
powerful from the produce of the soil alone, as was
France during the late war, in which, though general
communication and commerce were almost entirely in-
*See Appendix, BB.
AGRICULTURE. 21 7
"terrupted, great revenues were derived from internal re-
sources. In the same manner, in Flanders, Holland, etc.,
the profits of agricultural produce are more generally
diffused, and few countries display a finer agricultural
prospect; especially Austrian Flanders, where the farms
do not, in many instances, exceed lo, 20, and 30 acres
each, and only, in a few cases, extend to 100 or 200;
and yet it has been maintained that, in Britain, where,
in many counties, the farms average from 300 to 3000
acres, the country could not pay the taxes and other
public burdens,* unless formed into such extensive es-
tablishments, and unless the rural population were dis-
persed. It is a striking fact, however, that poor-rates
are as high, and in some cases higher, and that, con-
sequently, greater poverty prevails in the thinly-peopled
agricultural districts, than in the more populous counties.
In Norfolk, Sussex, and other counties, where the
largest capitals are invested t in agriculture, and where
public meetings are held to celebrate the prosperity and
* The great increase in the value of animal produce has been
ascribed to an extensive commerce, and particularly to the great con-
sumption in manufacturing towns. Yet, in no period in the history
of this country, were the manufacturers in greater distress, and less
able to purchase animal food, than in 1 8 16 and the four succeeding
years, while at no time were sheep and cattle higher priced, or in
greater demand. In 1822, when manufacturers were in full employ-
ment, the price of beef and mutton fell fifty per cent, below former
prices in the butcher-market. In 1824, again, cattle have risen forty
per cent, in price above that of 1822, while there is no change in the
condition of the manufacturers. The high price of Highland pro-
duce must, therefore, depend on other causes than the demands of
manufacturing districts.
+ It was stated by Mr Burrell, in the House of Commons, that,
in the parish of West Grinstead, in Sussex, 5000 acres pay poor-rates
to the amount of ;^40(X).
2 1 8 AGRICULTURE.
successful enterprise of the men of capital and skill, land-
lords must pay back 20, 30, and 40 per cent, of the pro-
duce of their land to support the paupers, who are so
numerous in the midst of this prosperity. No part of
the crowded manufacturing districts of Lancashire is
more heavily taxed with poor-rates than several of these
great agricultural districts. In like manner, we find,
that parochial rates are, by no means, so heavy in the
populous manufacturing counties of Lanark and Renfrew,
as in the large farming counties in the South of Scotland,
particularly in Roxburgh and Berwick shires, where the
English system of pauperism has begun to find its way, —
not, as I heard stated by some reverend members of the
General Assembly in the year 18 18, on account of the
vicinity of these counties to England, but, partly at least,
from the similarity of system adopted and pursued.
Pauperism is not geographically contagious, and poverty
and poor-rates have not increased in Roxburgh and Ber-
wick shires, because they happen to be contiguous to
England, but because the same evil will spread in Scot-
land as well as in other countries, by the action of the
same cause. But it is evident, as has been already stated»
that it is advantageous to have a considerable portion of
a country laid out in large farms, that men of capital and
education may be encouraged to engage in agricultural
pursuits ; and this has always been the case in the High-
lands, where large tracts have been held in lease by men
of education and respectability, — as, for instance, the
estates of Macdonald and Macleod, on which there were
sixty gentlemen farmers : it is the too general adoption of
such a system which is to be dreaded ; nor, indeed, can
it be generally established, even in one district, without
■causing great distress, in the first instance, and ultimately
AGRICULTURE. 219
expelling a valuable and industrious race of people.*
Nor does the adoption of such a system appear so con-
ducive to the interest of the proprietor as it might, on a
first view, seem. Late experience has, in many cases,
shown, that improvements may be effected, and good
rents obtained, by judicious changes and modifications
of the old system, without the expatriation of inhabitants
or great expense to the landlords. Jn illustration of this
point, I could produce many instances, but shall content
* The evils resulting from the non-residence of proprietors are
generally acknowledged. In no country is the absence of country
gentlemen more felt than in the Highlands, where many proprietors
seldom see their estates or tenants : and when they do, it is too often
either for the sake of a few weeks' pastime, or perhaps to collect
arrears of rent, or to make arrangements for an increase ; and hence
their visits are more a subject of dread than of satisfaction to their
tenants. Now, if the absence of proprietors be an evil, would it not
be subversive of the best interests of the Highlands to suppress or
remove the whole class of country gentlemen and proprietors of small
estates from ;[^ioo to ;^3000 a-year, and concentrate their lands in
possession of a few individuals, leaving no intermediate class between
the great landholder and the occupiers of his farms .'' By the same
analogy, would it not be destructive of the independence of the lower
classes in the North, if entire districts were given to one great farmer,
leaving the whole population to support themselves on accidental
labour, or on such employment as the man of capital chose to give
them? As country gentlemen, of small or moderate properties, re-
sident on their estates, have ever been an honourable, independent,
and useful class in the chain of society, and as they have eminently
contributed to the support of the country, does not the same thing
apply to a lower link in society in the Highlands, where the gradation
in the division of land among the tacksmen, smaller tenantry', and
cottagers, has preserved their race moral and independent, without
the degradation of poor-rates or pauperism ? And should not these
facts and considerations operate in preserving a share of the profits
of the soil for a more general distribution of its benefits in producing
independence and comfort to the bulk of the people ?
220 AGRICULTURE.
myself with the following brief account of a great High-
land estate.
Previous to 1797, this estate was occupied by a num-
erous small tenantry, interspersed with large farms, rented
by men of education and respectable rank in society. The
latter began to improve their lands and stock, after the
examples they saw in the Lowlands. The small tenants
also evinced symptoms of increasing industry, but they
held their lands in common, and by what is known in
Scotland by the name of " Rim?'igf that is, each man
having a ridge of the arable land alternately with his
neighbour, the higher pastures being held in common.
While this interlacing system continued, it was not easy
to carry on any improvement ; but, soon after the period
just mentioned, the arable lands were measured, and each
man received a portion equal to what he formerly held,
but contiguous, and, in general, enclosed, so that the
benefit of his improvements was entirely his own. The
people were so numerous, that from eight to thirty arable
acres, with a portion of pasture, were all that could be
allotted to each tenant ; but none were removed. The
pastures remained in common, as, from their nature and
extent, they must always be, the expense of enclosures
and subdivisions being more than such unproductive
lands can sustain. But the number of horses, cattle, and
sheep to be kept on the pastures was limited in propor-
tion to the quantity and quality of the arable land occu-
pied by each tenant, at the same time allowing a small
portion for each cottager. By taking advantage of the
great inequahty of soil and climate, and diversifying the
stock and produce accordingly, the tenants were fre-
quently able to pay their rents in cases in which they
must have failed, had they had only one article for sale.
AGRICULTURE. 221
When these changes took place, the farms of the tacks-
men on a larger scale remained without any alteration as
to extent ; but they henceforth commenced considerable
improvements, and gave an example to the common
people, who readily followed it, and who, at the same
time, received considerable encouragement from their
landlord.
The consequence of this wise and equitable plan was
a progressive and regular improvement of the soil, and
an advancement of the wealth and comfort of the tenants,
while rents at once adequate and well paid were secured
to the proprietor. But in an evil hour, and unfortunately
for both landlord and tenant, the management of this
estate was transferred to an agent of the new school, who
immediately commenced operations according to the most
approved modern system. He divided and subdivided
farms that were already sufficiently small, while he made
others again by far too large. Secret and rival offers were
called for, and while he raised a spirit of rivalry, revenge,
and irritation, which has not yet been subdued, he quickly
succeeded in increasing the rent-roll to an unprecedented
nominal amount ; but the actual returns have fallen much
below the original rent, much of the stock and capital of
the tenants having been expended :— a deficiency of pay-
ment hitherto unknown among a people remarkable for
their punctuality, and respect to their pecuniary engage-
ments with their landlords.
Others by separating the high pasture lands from the
low arable grounds, and letting them apart, have lost the
advantages which joint possessions of arable and pasture
grounds afforded for counteracting the evils of precarious
seasons, and the difficulty of disposing of produce when
distant from market ; and have also lost the benefit to
222 AGRICULTURE.
the arable ground of the winter manure of the cattle fed
upon the pastures in summer. It frequently happens,
that, when corn is at a low price, the produce of the
pastures is high ; and, again, when sheep, wool, and cattle,
are low, there is sometimes a great demand for grain.
Judicious distribution of these natural advantages of the
country have long secured an equality to, if not, in some
cases a superiority over situations more favoured in point
of climate and soil. Of this superiority, however, many
have deprived themselves by the separation of the arable
from the pasture lands, in expectation that, by this separa-
tion, better rents would be received — an expectation which
experience has proved to have been ill founded. To de-
prive people of their pasture lands, in a country naturally
pastoral, appears a very questionable measure, when it is
considered that in the Highlands manure cannot be
purchased, and that the scarcity of fuel renders lime
expensive.* Another mconvenience arising from this
* By the loss of their sheep, the small tenants suftered exceedingly.
All the clothes in common use were formerly manufactured at home
from their own wool, and they were thus able to clothe their families
with comfort and at small expense. Now, much money goes out of
the country for clothing, which formerly went to pay the rents, or to
portion their children. This also accounts for the almost total dis-
appearance of tartan, which was formerly made in every family ; for
so many want wool that they cannot manufacture any, and the flimsy
thin dry tartan made in the Lowlands is too expensive, and ijuite
different from what was in use in the Highlands, and is unfit for the
common purposes of life. Thus almost every new measure temls to
change the habits as well as the character of the people. How much
dress affects the manners is well known; and certainly the clumsy,
vulgar, ill -made clothes, now so much worn by the young men of the
Highlands, give them a clownish appearance, altogether ditTerent
from, and forming a marked contrast to the light airy garb, gay with
many colours, and the erect martial air and clastic step of the former
AGRICULTURE. 225
separation is, that their hay cannot be consumed unless
the farmers become dealers in cattle, which often renders
them losers by the uncertainty and sudden variations of this
precarious traffic ; whereas, if they had cattle of their own,
reared and fed on the produce of their lands, they could
only occasionally suffer by the falHng of markets, and
not be subject to the heavier loss of purchasing high and
selling low.
These reflections will receive further confirmation, if
we look to the state of the inhabitants in the two most
populous and extensive districts of • the Highlands of
Perthshire, namely, Athole and Breadalbane. These
districts are divided into eleven parishes, there being nine
in the former, and two in the latter, and contain a popu-
lation of 26,480 persons, of which number not more
than 364 (taking the average of five years previous to
181 7) require relief from the pubHc funds. The extent of
this reHef cannot be great, as the funds for the support of
the poor are suppHed by voluntary donations, and the
interest of a few trifling legacies. Accordingly, the
annual sum allotted for the above number is, on the
same average of five years, ^£^522. os. lo^d. * t or
£^\. 8s. 8d. to each individual.
race of Highlanders. I have already noticed the manner in which
particular patterns or sets of tartan were preserved in families, as also
Mr West's opinion of the beauty of the colours, and the taste with
which they were arranged. Indeed, the beauty and clearness of the
dye were quite remarkable. There are plaids preserved in families,
manufactured in the Highlands in the seventeenth century, with as
brilliant a tint as can well be given to worsted. These were the
manufactures of the tenants in their families.
* This is a very difFerent condition from what we find in a large
t See Appendix, CC.
224 AGRICULTURE.
When the poor in these districts are so few, and when
these few are so easily supported, how does it happen
that such frightful misery and poverty have existed in the
more northern counties, and that, in other parts of the
country, such heavy demands are made on the benevo-
lence of landlords ? This difference between the poverty
of some districts and the comparative comfort of others
may be ascribed to local situation, and to different modes
of management. In those parts of the North where the
greatest distress prevails, the people have been removed
from their lands; and in the Southern counties, where
poor-rates are establishing, the people have no support
parish in Sussex, stated by Mr Burrell in the House of Commons to
contain a population of 18,000 souls, and to pay ;i^i6,ooo of poor-
rates; so that the proportion paid for the maintenance of the poor by
the Highland population of these two districts is to the proportion
paid by an equal number of the English population in the same con-
dition with the parish in Sussex, referred to by Mr Burrell, as I to
5*5 nearly. And yet the Highlanders, among whom there is only
one pauper for every fifty-one, in one of the most fertile counties in
England, are called a slothful, beggarly, poor people. They are
poor; but as they manifest so proper a spirit of independence, such
appellations might sometimes be spared. When the Highlanders are
so often branded as poor and ignorant, might not some observations
be made on the line of conduct pursued by those who are the cause
of their poverty and ignorance ? If the people had the power, they
would soon remove the stain of poverty, and having the means would
provide teachers to enlighten their ignorance. Gentlemen would be
more honourably employed, in individually removing the cause of the
distress of their people — which they have themselves the power to do
— than in calling public meetings in Edinburgh and other towns, to
proclaim to the world the destitute and deplorable state of their
dependants and tenants ; and begging for charity from the benevolent
to relieve them. There are many gentlemen in the Highlands who
would hesitate to acknowledge that their tenants are poor and
depressed, and would ])lush if forced to ask for charitable aid.
AGRICULTURE. 22*5
but from accidental daily labour : but in Athole and in
Breadalbane the removal of the ancient tenantry, and the
increase of unemployed labourers, has not, by any means,
been adopted to the same extent, and, consequently, the
continuance of small farms allows to a very great propor-
tion of the people a share in the produce of the earth.
Hence, they feel no want of food, no abject poverty,
although subjected, of course, like other parts of the
kingdom, to the difficulties arising from bad crops, depre-
ciated produce, and other causes. So great a proportion
of the people having a permanent support, they are able
to assist the destitute without the smallest call upon land-
lords. But, while the people are in a great measure
independent of charitable aid, it must nevertheless be
admitted, that, in some recent instances, lamentable
symptoms of a relaxation of principle are visible, especi-
ally in the want of punctuality in the payment of rents.
This is not now, as formerly, a heavy reproach ; for the
frequency of defalcation has obliterated the shame which
attached to it, and thus the best security of punctual pay-
ment and correct general conduct is destroyed.*
The great influx of money occasioned by the late war,
a circumstance which, in general, has had an effect directly
contrary, introduced into the Highlands the same specu-
lative spirit which was, more or less, in operation over
the whole kingdom. Agriculturists and graziers received
* This ev41 is extending to more transactions than payment of rents.
When so much of the sense of shame is lost, when a breach of engage-
ment with a landlord, which was considered as a heavy misfortune,
begins to be contemplated with indifference, other claims will soon
come to be viewed in the same light. Such answers as the following
are already becoming frequent, "Don't speak of your debt; why
should I pay you, when I have not paid my rent?"
Q
226 AGRICULTURE.
unprecedented prices for their grain and for their cattle.
Intoxicated with this gleam of prosperity, tenants, forsak-
ing their wonted integrity and union of interests, were
induced to overbid each other, and succeeded in mislead-
ing such landlords as were inclined to be moderate in
their calculations, till thus tempted, as it were, by such
extravagant offers ; for who, it was said, could know the
value of land so well as the cultivators ? and how could
landlords be expected to refuse rents, however high, that
were thus urged upon them? * If the moderate and well-
meaning were thus misled, the speculations of the san-
guine or thoughtless may be supposed to have exceeded
the bounds of moderation. This progress of late events
and of new opinions may, in some manner, account for
the more painful process now in operation, which has a
marked tendency to deprive proprietors of the genuine
comfort that attends living honoured and beloved in a
safe and happy home, surrounded by an attached and
contented people.
The point of view in which the system of agriculture,
now pursued in many parts of the Highlands, may be
considered as affecting the general interests of the State,
is the loss of a valuable body of men by too general emi-
gration, or the much greater evil that may be produced
by forcing the inhabitants to remain without affording
them any certain means of subsistence, and by breaking
down their native spirit, and extinguishing the shame,
which, happily, for themselves and their country, has
hitherto attached to mendicity.
An attempt has been made to account for the pe-
culiar character of the Highlanders on the principle of
feudal subordination and hereditary attachment to their
* See Appendix, I)D.
AGRICULTURE. 227
leaders ; and those who impute the character attained by
Highland troops solely to such causes, aifect to ascribe
the change which, they say, they discover in the con-
duct of later corps, to the absence of this excitement.
Whether these corps have actually degenerated from the
example shown by their predecessors, will be best de-
cided by those who, either as friends or enemies, have
witnessed their conduct ; and, on the testimony of such
persons, though strangers to their country and their Ian-
guage, the proof may safely be allowed to rest. Still,
however, it may with truth be said, that, in those regi-
ments which, as national corps, have been preserved
more unmixed than any other, their moral and military
character stands pre-eminent to this day. Of this the
Seaforth and Sutherland Highlanders afford incontestable
proof.
To those who object to the policy of the late changes
in the Highlands, on account of their effect in expelling
or in lowering the condition of so many able defenders of
their country, it has been replied, that, with the abolition
of the patriarchal system, the military spirit of the High-
landers has been extinguished; that the recruits, who
have been obtained from the Highlands of late years, did
not come forward, as their fathers were wont to do, at the
call of their chief, but were procured by a species of
crimping, or offered as the premium of a renewed lease,
or some other petty gain. But those who urge this
argument ought to remember, that the great drafts from
the Highlands were made at a time long subsequent to
the dissolution of the patriarchal brotherhood and feudal
government, and were completed with as much expe-
dition, and to as great an extent, as in times when the
authority of the chieftain was most absolute; and that
2 28 INFLUENCE OF THE
numerous bands of recruits followed Highland gentlemen^
and young men, who had neither lands nor leases to
grant, nor money with which to tempt or reward the
young soldiers. To those who know the facts, it will ap-
pear absurd to state what must be so familiar to their
knowledge, that the great numbers of independent men
who have, from time to time, enlisted from the High-
lands, could not have been influenced by the trifling
temptations which most of the individuals to whose for-
tunes they attached themselves were able to offer.* It is
the value of such recruits, and the danger of their being
lost to this country by too extensive an emigration, and
more especially by the disaff'ection of those who remain
* It is well known that the bounty-money had no influence in the
Highlands, when men were raised for the 42nd and other Highland
corps in the Seven Years' War, as well as in that which ended in
1783. In 1776, upwards of 800 men were recruited for the 42nd in
a few weeks, on a bounty of one guinea, while officers who offered
ten and twelve guineas for recruits, which they were raising for their
commissions, could not get a man till the national corps were com-
pleted. I have also had frequent experience of this in my own
person while serving in the 42nd and 78th regiments. On many
occasions, as I shall have to notice afterwards, numbers of young
Highlanders enlisted for foreign service (and this sometimes in bands
together), on receiving less than one-half of the bounty-money given
at the same time by officers for their commissions in the regular and
fencible regiments for home-service, as likewise by others for militia
substitutes. When I was recruiting for the 78th, the regiment was
in the East Indies, and the prospect held out to the men of embark-
ing for that country in a few months ; yet they engaged with me, and
other officers, for ten guineas, to embark immediately on a dangerous
but honourable duty, when they could have got twenty guineas as
militia sulxstitutes, and to remain in their native country. This is
very different from what some late authors have pretended to dis-
cover, that the youth of the Highlands have a notorious aversion to
a n\ilitary life.
CHANGE OF SYSTEM. 229
at home, that constitute the great consideration of pubHc
importance. If the proprietors of many estates, once full
of men able and willing to serve in defence of their coun-
try, were now to muster their military strength, it is to be
feared, that, even in cases where the ancient race is still
retained, neither the influence of the name, nor the wealth
of their superiors, w^ould be able to counteract the effects
of the disregard which has been shown to the feelings of
their ancient retainers, nor recall that power over the
mind and heart which their forefathers so fully possessed.
Many seem to apprehend that the military spirit of the
Highlanders is not only connected with the existence of
the feudal system, but that it is, in some measure, de-
pendent upon their continuing to lead a pastoral or agri-
cultural life, and that a sedentary or mechanical employ-
ment must of necessity assimilate them to other artisans.
Although there may be some reason for this conclusion,
perhaps it assumes too much. " Nature," says Mrs Grant,
•'Never meant Donald for a manufacturer. Fixing a
mountaineer to a loom too much resembles yoking a
deer to a plough, and will not in the end succeed better."
And it is presumed that, even supposing he should be-
come a manufacturer, there is still something left to dis-
tinguish him from either the Glasgow or the Perth weaver.
It is not, however, so much the actual removal of the
inhabitants to another country, which the State has reason
to deprecate, as the manner in which it has, in so many
instances, been effected, and the impression which it has
made upon the character and the spirit of those who re-
main in their native country. Under proper limitations,
emigration is desirable, and ought to be encouraged, in as
much as, it affords vent for a redundant population which
might otherwise prove injurious to a country without
230 EMIGRATION.
commerce, and without extensive tracts of new and un-
cultivated land.* Surplus population, where it exists in
the Highlands, must be disposed of as in all other coun-
tries. But admitting that moderate emigration would
provide for a useful people, if too numerous for their
native country, this cannot apply to measures which do
not aim at lessening the number of people, but either at
the complete expatriation of the whole, or such a depres-
sion of the condition of those who are permitted to re-
main, as will endanger their independence by creating
both the necessity and inclination for receivinor charitable
aid, and by increasing in a tenfold ratio the evil of a re-
dundant population, — an evil which is by no means
general in the Highlands, t and which exists only in those
places where small lots of an acre, or more, have recently
been assigned to each of those families whose former
farms had been dismantled. Emigration is, in every
view, preferable to this system of retaining the peasantry
* It was sending forth colonies from a redundant population,
which originally peopled the different regions of the earth. This
was the policy of Greece and Rome, and, in later ages, of the
northern nations, who, in their migrations southward, overcame and
ultimately subdued the Roman empire.
t While the evil of a crowded population is so much dreaded in
the Highlands, it must be irreconcileable with every principle of
sound policy or humanity, to attempt to check emigration, its best
antidote. Yet, notwithstanding the many complaints of a superabund-
ant population, grain, in all average seasons, is so plentiful, even in
the most populous glens, in which the i)eo{)le have been retained in
their original possessions, that the greater part is unsaleable. Now,
as provisions are unsaleable from their abundance, can there be any
serious danger of over-population.'* Or, if the number of consumers
was lessened, would it not increase the evil of superabundant preduce
(if it can be called an evil) ; and can there be a surplus population,
when the value of land is diminished, by the cheapness of the produce.'*
EMIGRATION. 231.
after they have lost their lands, and of confining them
within bounds too narrow to afford them subsistence.
Voluntary emigration would benefit the state by strength-
ening the colonies, and transfusing into their general
mass able and intrepid defenders : but it is much to be
feared that the provocations and oppressions which have
already induced many to fight in the ranks of an enemy,
may, at some future day, set those who have sought an
asylum in another region in open array against their
mother country, whence they have, in effect, been ban-
ished, — the highest punishment, next to death, which the
law inflicts.* The intercourse between Highland land-
* Although the sentences of judges condemning criminals to
temporary banishment have been questioned as being too severe, and
the miseries of the convicts on their passage to New South Wales
have been brought under the view of Parliament, little notice has
been taken of the banishment for life of thousands driven from,
the Highlands; of whom so many must sell the reversion of a
portion of their lives for the expense of the passage, the miseries
of which, and of the after slavery, will be seen in Parkinson's
Tour in America, and other works. Emigrants paying, in this
manner, for their passage, are said to be bought and sold, and trans'
ferred like cattle from hand to hand. When felons, who, with all
their crimes, are certainly objects of compassion, meet with such
commendable attention, why do not the virtuous and innocent, who
are sent to perpetual exile, meet with equal commiseration ? While
Government is arraigned for supposed inattention to the comforts of
those whose crimes are disgraceful to the countr}' for whose safety
they are transported, the misery of the unoffending Highlanders does
not seem to attract the same attention as the supposed harsh usage
of felons, who, in reality are rendered so comfortable on the passage,
that in a voyage of ten months, vessels have not lost an individual
by sickness. How different is the condition of unfortunate emigrants
in their wretched and crowded vessels ! In fact, the subject is too.
melancholy to contemplate without the deepest commiseration ; and
yet the usual professors of philanthropy and religion are silent.
232 EMIGRATION.
lords and their people resembled that of a family, and,
when a breach of confidence occurs, their quarrels and
animosities, like those of long-tried friends, are the more
bitter and painful ; * and, consequently, those who emi-
grate from compulsion, carry with them a lasting remem-
brance of the cause. I have been told by intelligent
officers, who served in Canada during the last war, that
they found the Highland emigrants more fierce in their
animosity against the mother country than even the
* Perhaps it may be thought that I give too many instances of
the attachment and fidelity of the Highlanders to their superiors. I
shall only give one more from a number of facts of the same descrip-
tion. While the estates forfeited after the rebellion of 1745 were
vested in the Crown, the rents were moderate, and the leases long,
the latter being generally forty-one or fifty-nine years. In the year
1783, these estates were restored to those who had been attainted, or
to their heirs. This event caused general joy in the Highlands, and,
among many other acts of kindness of his late Majesty towards the
Highlanders, has so operated on their ardent minds, long affection-
ately attached to their kings and superiors, that he is often called the
•'King of the People." The heir of one of the persons attainted
succeeded to an estate of considerable extent. Government, with a
kindness that might have been imitated to advantage, removed few
of the tacksmen, " kindly tenants," and followers of the old families.
When the tenants of this gentleman found the descendent of their
venerated chiefs in possession of the inheritance of his ancestors, they
immediately surrendered their leases, doubled the rents upon them-
selves, and took new ones for a term shorter by ten years than that
which was yet to run of the King's leases ; in order, as they said,
that the man whose presence among them had diftused so much
happiness, might sooner be enabled to avail himself of the price of
produce, which they saw annually increasing, and raise his rents ac-
cordingly. This was in 1783, nearly forty years after the whole
power of the chiefs, except over the minds and affections of thcpeople,
had ceased. This is one of the many instances that show how long
those honourable traits of character continued, and the importance
of such disinterested and fjenerous attachment.
EMIGRATION. 233
native Americans. By weakening the principle of loyalty
and love of country among a people hitherto distin-
guished for both, but who now impute part of their griev-
ances to the Government which does not (perhaps
cannot) protect them, the interests of the State are
affected, and a fund of hostility created, if I may so ex-
press myself, against the occurrence of some season of
difficulty and trial, when Government will in vain look
for aid from those men whose minds are rankling with
the remembrance of recent injuries, and whose spirits are
broken by an accumulation of actual and irritating evils. *
* How different the feelings of those are who emigrate voluntarily,
may be seen by the following instance. My father had long been an
indulgent landlord to a numerous tenantry. By his kind treatment
several became rich, at least they believed themselves rich, and
wished to get their farms enlarged. Their landlord explained to
them that he could not do this without injustice to others, by remov-
ing them without cause from their farms. They saw the force of this
reasoning ; but, still anxious to enlarge their possessions, resolved to
emigrate to a country where they could, without injustice or injury
to their neighbours, accomplish their wishes ; and they accordingly
gave up their farms and embarked for America. Having the com-
mand of money, one detachment purchased a tract of land on the
banks of the Hudson river, equal in fertility to any in the United
States ; others purchased in different parts of the Union. By their
labour they cleared a considerable portion of land. It is now upwards
of thirty years since the first detachment emigrated ; but, so far are
they from entertaining a spirit of hostility towards this country, that
they cherish the kindest feelings towards their ancient homes, and the
families of their ancient laird ; their new possessions are named
after their former farms, and their children and grandchildren are
named after the sons and daughters of their laird ; and so loyal were
they to the King and Government of this country, that, to avoid
serving against them in the late war, several emigrated from the
States to Canada, where the young men entered the Royal Militia
and Fencibles. Such are the consequences of considerate treatment,
and of voluntary emigration.
234 EMIGRATION.
These emigrants, with all their endearing recollec-
tions of the past, have excited the sympathy of the Muse,
and poetry has been called in to interest us in their fate ;
but, in this case, truth is better than fiction.* Dr
* In the Emigrant, by the late Honourable Henr) Erskine, he
describes the feelings of an old Highlander on quitting his native
country for America.
" Farewell, farewell, dear Caledonia's strand,
Rough though thou be, yet still my native land.
Exiled from thee, I seek a foreign shore,
Friends, kindred, country, to behold no more :
By hard oppression driven —
Thou dear companion of my happier life,
Now to the grave gone down, my virtuous wife,
Twas here you reared, with fond maternal pride.
Five comely sons ; three for their country died,
Two still remain, sad remnant of the wars.
Without one mark of honour but their scars :
They live to see their sire denied a grave
In lands his much-loved children died to save.
My two remaining boys, with sturdy hands.
Reared the scant produce of our niggard lands ;
Scant as it was, no more our hearts desired.
No more from us our generous lord required.
" But, ah ! sad change ! those blessed days are o'er,
And peace, content, and safety charm no more :
Another lord now rules those wide domains,
The avaricious tyrant of the j^lains.
" For thee, insatiate chief! whose ruthless hand
For ever drives me from my native land ;
For thee I leave no greater curse behind.
Than the fell bodings of a guilty mind ;
Or what were harder to a soul like thine.
To find from avarice thy wealth decline.
*' Feed on, my flocks -my harmless people, feed.
The worst that ye can suffer is to bleed.
EMIGRATION. 235
Robertson, in his Report for the County of Inverness
says, " Some of the chieftains themselves have given the
death-blow to chieftainship ; they have cut the cords of
affection which tied their followers and their tribes, and
yet they complain of the defection of their tribes, which,
with their eyes open, they have driven from them."*
Those who respect the feelings of a whole people, may
mourn over the breaking of those cords which bound
together in affectionate duty and esteem the different
orders of Highland society : and, while a change of
management and improved cultivation were not only
necessary, but indispensable, may regret that, to attain
them, it has been found necessary to occasion such a
revolution as has, in many cases, taken place, by the
abrupt and unanticipated adoption of such measures as,
without time or opportunity afforded for guarding against
the convulsive shock, have been productive of the most
violent changes, and proved subversive of all former
habits and modes of living.
O ! that the murderer's steel were all my fear.
How fondly would I stay to perish here;
But hark, my sons loud call me from the vale,
And, lo ! the vessel spreads her swelling sail.
Farewell, farewell
Then casting many a lingering look behind,
Down the steep mountain's brow began to wind."
* See Report to the Board of Agriculture.
.236 ILLICIT DISTILLATION.
SECTION IV. .
Smuggling — Consequences of reducing the Highlanders from
the Condition of small Tenantry — Policy of retaining
Agricultural Populatioti.
I MUST now advert to a cause which contributes to de-
moralise the Highlanders in a manner equally rapid and
lamentable. Smuggling has grown to an alarming extent,
and, if not checked, will undermine the best principles of
the people. When they become habituated to falsehood,
fraud, and perjury, in one line of life, they will soon learn
to extend these vices to all their actions. This traffic
operates like a secret poison on all their moral feelings.
They are the more readily betrayed into it, as, though
acute and ingenious in regard to all that comes within the
scope of their observation, they do not comprehend the
nature or purpose of imposts levied on the produce of
the soil, nor have they any distinct idea that the practice
of smuggling is attended with disgrace or turpitude.
Their excuse for engaging in such a traffic, is, that its aid
is necessary to enable them to pay their rents and taxes ;
— an allegation which supposes that these demands re-
quire the open violation of the law, by practices at once
destructive of health and good morals, and affords a
lamentable instance of the state to which they find them-
selves reduced. As a contrast to the discontents against
Government which prevail in the South on political sub-
jects, and on Reform, it deserves to be mentioned, that
in the North, annual parliaments, universal suffrage, and
the whole catalogue of political grievances, are never
ILLICIT DISTILLATION. 237
thought of. There the severity and intricacy of the
Excise laws, which render them equally difficult to be
understood or obeyed, conjoined with the conduct of in-
dividual proprietors, form the theme of their complaints.
The delicate situation in which landlords are placed, when
sitting as magistrates in Excise courts, and inflicting pen-
alties for smuggling, has a strong influence on the minds
of their tenants, who complain that they cannot dispose
of their produce, or pay their rents, without the aid of
this forbidden traffic ; and it is difficult to persuade them
that gentlemen are sincere in their attempts to suppress a
practice without which, as it is asserted, their incomes
could not be paid, in a country where legal distillation is
in a manner prohibited. How powerfully this appearance
of inconsistency contributes to affect the esteem and respect
of tenants for their landlords must be sufficiently evident.
It was not till after the year 1786, when the introduc-
tion of foreign spirits was checked by Mr Pitt's celebrated
bill, that the distillation of whisky was carried on, to any
extent, in the Highlands.* Brandy and rum were landed
* So little was it practised in the Perthshire Highlands, that a
tenant of my grandfather's was distinguished by the appellation of
"Donald Whisky," from his being a distiller and smuggler of that
spirit. If all existing smugglers were to be named from this traffic,
five of the most numerous clans in the country conjoined, could not
produce so many of one name. In the year 1778, there was only
one officer of Excise in that part of Perthshire above Dunkeld, and
he had little employment. In the same district, there are now eleven
resident officers in full activity, besides Rangers (as they are called)
and extra officers sent to see that the resident excisemen do their
duty; yet, so rapidly did illicit distillation increase, that it would
seem as if the greater the number of officers appointed, the more
employment they found for themselves ; and it is a common, and, I
believe, a just remark, that whenever an Excise officer is placed in a
glen, he is not long without business.
238 ILLICIT DISTILLATION.
on the West Coast, from which they were conveyed to all
parts of the country, and composed the principal spiritu-
ous drink of the inhabitants. But when foreign spirits
were prohibited, the contraband distillation of whisky
commenced, and was prosecuted to an extent, and with
an open defiance of the laws, hitherto unknown ; and
yielding large profits, — particularly since the improve-
ments in agriculture increased the produce of barley, —
the traffic spread rapidly, and, in many districts, became
the principal source from which the rents were paid.
Whisky became fashionable, and superseded the con-
sumption of other liquors ; one effect of which has been,
the nominal price to which rum has been reduced. The
Lowland distillers complained that the smugglers under-
sold them, and lessened the demand for their manufac-
ture. These complaints were not without cause, at the
same time that the preference given to the contraband
spirits was owing to its superior quality; — a remarkable
difference, considering that the legal distiller has full
time for conducting his operations in safety, while the
smuggler is in constant hurry and dread of detection,
and, when ferreted out from one rock or hiding-place, is
obliged to commence in another. With all this, a pure
and wholesome spirit is distilled in the hills, while the
legal still throws out an unsaleable liquor, at least not
saleable, unless at a lower price, or until after it is re-
distilled and rectified.
Several Acts of Parliament were passed for the sup-
pression of smuggling. By a special Act, the Highland
district was marked out by a definite line, extending
along the southern base of the Grampians, within which
all distillation of spirits was prohibited from stills of less
than 500 gallons. It is evident that this law was a com-
ILLICIT DISTILLATION. 239
plete interdict, as a still of this magnitude would consume
more than the disposable grain in the most extensive
county within this newly drawn and imaginary boundary;
nor could fuel be obtained for such an establishment,
without an expense which the commodity could not
possibly bear. The sale, too, of the spirits pioduced was
circumscribed within the same line, and thus the market
which alone could have supported the manufacture of
such quantities was entirely cut off. The quantity of
grain raised in many districts, in consequence of recent
agricultural improvements, greatly exceeds the consump-
tion ; but the inferior quaUty of this grain, and the great
expense of carrying it to the Lowland distillers, who, by a
ready market, and the command of fuel, can more easily
accommodate themselves to this law, renders it impracti-
cable for the Highland farmers to dispose of their grain
in any manner adequate to pay rents equal to the real
value of their farms, subject as they are to the many
drawbacks of uncertain climate, uneven surface, distance
from market, and scarcity of fuel. Thus, no alternative
remained but that of having recourse to illicit distillation,
or absolute ruin, by the breach of their engagements with
their landlords.* These are difficulties of which the
* Since the formation of roads to the hill-mosses, and the intro-
duction of carts, the consumption of peat for fuel has greatly increased,
and is quickly diminishing the supply. Peat has now become an
expensive fuel ; the raising and carrying home the quantity necessary
for even family purposes consume much valuable time, in the season
best calculated for agricultural labour and improvements. Coals are
brought from thirty to fifty miles by land carriage, in preference to
the expense and loss of time in preparing a species of fuel which is
not w^ell calculated for strong fires. The nature and expense of this
fuel afford additional arguments against the propriety or justice of
equalizing the Highland duties with those of the Lowland distilleries.
24<> ILLICIT DISTILLATION.
Highlanders complain heavily, asserting that nature and
the distillery-laws present insurmountable obstacles to the
carrying on of a legal traffic. The surplus produce of
their agricultural labour will, therefore, remain on their
hands, unless they incur an expense beyond what the
article will bear, in conveying to the Lowland market so
bulky a commodity as the raw material, and by the draw-
backs of price on their inferior grain. In this manner,
their produce must be disposed of at a great loss, as it
cannot be legally manufactured in the country. Hence
they resort to smuggling as their only resource, — a state
to which it might have been expected that neither an
enlightened Government nor liberal landlords would
have reduced a well-principled race, and thereby com-
pelled them to have recourse to practices subversive of
the feelings of honour and rectitude, and made them re-
gardless to their character in this world, and their happi-
ness in the next. And if it be indeed true, that this
illegal traffic has made such deplorable breaches in the
honesty and right feeling of the people, the revenue
drawn from the large distilleries, to which the Highlanders
have been made the sacrifice, has been procured at too
high a price to the country.
By the late alterations in the distillery-laws, the size
of the still has been reduced, with the view of meeting
the scarcity of fuel, and the limited means of the High-
independently of the great dififeience in the quality of the grain and
of the distance from market. The price of forty stones of coal sold
in this neighbourhood is thirteen or fourteen shillings; the same
quantity is sold in Perth for four shillings; how then, with an inferior
grain, and such a difference in the expense of fuel, and a farther
expense of sending the spirits to market, can the Highland distiller
pay the same duty as the Lowland distiller?
ILLICIT DISTILLATION. 24I
landers. Government had, unfortunately, shut their eyes
to the representations of the evil consequences resulting
from those prohibitory measures, and had turned a ready
ear to the offers of revenue by the large distillers. This
conflict between temporary revenue and lasting injury to
the morals of a virtuous people, was so long continued,
that the evil has become too general, but not beyond
remedy. If the Excise-laws were so framed as to enable
the Highland distiller to overcome the difficulties which
nature has thrown in his way, and with his light and in-
ferior grain, to pay the duties which are calculated for
the more productive grain of the southern counties, it
might safely be predicted that smuggling to any extent
would speedily disappear.* It is well known that smug-
gling was little practised, and produced no deterioration
in the morals of the people, (who, in the last age, were
not, in any manner, addicted to strong liquors, t) till the
*■ When the duty on malt was lowered a few years ago, all grain
malted in the Highlands of Perthshire was entered for the Excise-
duty, and a great increase of revenue drawn ; but when it was again
augmented, smuggling of malt recommenced, and the revenue pro-
duced has not been worth the expense of collection.
Since the publication of the former editions, circumstances have
occurred which, if persevered in, will confirm the above prediction.
An act was passed in 1823, lowering the duty, and allowing stills of
forty gallons. The consequence has been, that smuggling is dis-
appearing; and when the people have time to comprehend the
provisions of the act (no easy matter, considering the power the
Board of Excise assume, of construing the different clauses at their
own discretion), smuggling will be as little practised in the Highlands
as it was sixty years ago ; that is, before the people were prohibited
from manufacturing their grain, by enactments so unsuitable to the
state of the country as to be a complete interdict.
+ The salaries of Excise- ofi&cers are so small, as to be inadequate
to the support of their families, and the expense to which the exercise
R
242 ILLICIT DISTILLATION.
change in the Excise-laws,* and in the manner of letting
land ; and there is little doubt, that, if the laws were ac-
of their duty lays them open, viz., being daily on horseback, and
living much in taverns. The deficiency is supplied by their being
allowed a share of all fines and seizures ; but it is evident that, if
there were no smuggling, there could be neither fines nor seizures,
and, while the suppression of the traffic would destroy a source of
great emolument to those whose duty it is to suppress it, they must
live on their small and inadequate salaries — an alternative to which
it were prudent not to expose them. Without attributing any im-
proper conduct, or neglect of duty, to men placed in this delicate
situation, it is well known, that fines and seizures have failed in sup-
pressing smuggling. On the contrary, smugglers proceed with more
eagerness than usual, immediately after a seizure or conviction, as,
otherwise, how could the consequent fine be paid? How could the
Excise-officer be paid his share?
* Till within the last thirty years, whisky, as I have just noticed,
was less used in the Highlands than rum and brandy, which were
landed on the West coast, and thence conveyed all over the country.
Indeed, it was not till the beginning, or rather towards the middle of
the last century, that spirits of any kind were so much drank as ale,
which was formerly the universal beverage. Every account and
tradition go to prove that ale was the principal drink among the
country people, and French wines and brandy among the gentry. In
confirmation of the general traditions, I may state, that Mr Stewart
of Crossmount, whom I have already mentioned, and who lived till
his 104th year, informed me, that, in his youth, strong frothing ale
from the cask was the common beverage. It was drank from a
circular shallow cup with two handles. Those of the gentry were of
silver (which are still to be seen in ancient families), and those used
by the common people were of variegated woods. Small cups were
used for spirits. Whisky-house is a term unknown in the Gaelic.
Public-houses are called Tigh-Leanna, that is. Ale-houses. Had
whisky been the favourite beverage of the Highlanders, as many
people believe, would not their songs, their tales, and names of
houses allotted for convivial meetings, bear some allusion to this
propensity, which has no reality in fact, and is one of those numer-
ous instances of the remarkable ignorance of the true character of the
ILLICIT DISTILLATION. 243
<:ommodated to the peculiar circumstances of the High-
lands, the prediction which I have now ventured to make
would be fully verified. In this opinion I am supported
by that of many men of judgment and knowledge of the
character and disposition of the people, whom I have
consulted, and who have uniformly stated that smuggling
was little practised till within the last thirty years. The
open defiance of the laws, the progress of chicanery, per-
jury, hatred, and mutual recrimination, with a constant
dread and suspicion of informers, — men not being sure
of, nor confident in, their next neighbours, a state which
results from smuggling, and the habits which it engenders,
— are subjects highly important, and regarded with the
most serious consideration, and the deepest regret, by all
who value the permanent welfare of their country, which
depends so materially upon the preservation of the virtu-
ous habits of the people. No people can be more sen-
Highlanders on the part of their Lowland friends and neighbours?
In addition to the authority of Mr Stewart (who was a man of sound
judgment and accurate memory to his last hour), I have that of men
of perfect veracity, and great intelligence regarding every thing con-
nected with their native country. In the early part of their recollec-
tion, and in the time of their fathers, the whisky drank in the
Highlands of Perthshire was brought principally from the Lowlands.
The men to whom I allude died within the last thirty years, at
a great age, and consequently the time they allude to was the end of
the seventeenth century, and up to the years 1730 and 1740. A
ballad full of humour and satire, composed on an ancestor of mine,
in the reign of Charles L, and which is sung to the tune of Logie o'
Buchan, or rather, as the Highland traditions have it, the words of
Logie o' Buchan were set to the air of this more ancient ballad,
describes the Laird's jovial and hospitable manner, and, along with
other feats, his drinking a brewing of ale at one sitting, or convivial
meeting. In this song whisky is never mentioned ; nor is it in any
case except in the modern ballads and songs.
244 ILLICIT DISTILLATION.
sible than the Highlanders themselves are of this melan-
choly change from their former habits of mutual confidence
and good neighbourhood, when no man dreaded an
informer, or suspected that his neighbour would betray
him, or secretly offer for his farm. And they still recollect
that the time has been when the man who had betrayed
or undermined the character or interests of his friend and
neighbour, would have been viewed as an outcast from
the society to which he belonged. But, while they
bitterly lament this change, they ascribe much of it to the
seeming determination of Government to prevent distil-
lation on a small scale, by enforcing laws and regulations
unsuitable to their country or its means, and equally diffi-
cult to be comprehended or obeyed ; and when landlords
cannot draw the full value of their lands, nor tenants pay
their rents without a vent for their produce, the com-
plaints of the Highlanders, both proprietors and tenants,
seem to be well founded.
There is another circumstance which I cannot avoid
noticing ; that is, a practice lately introduced of ordering
parties of cavalry to the Highlands as a terror to smug-
glers. Dragoons are necessary to oppose an enemy; but
they are instruments that ought not to be used at the in-
stigation, or under the direction, of an irritated, and
perhaps ignorant, exciseman. Parading cavalry through
glens and rocks, where they can be of no use, is an
ignorant display of power, and would be matter of
derision, were it not for the feeling which the exhibition
occasions among the people, who ought not to be sus-
pected of resisting the laws without good grounds ; nor
should they be permitted to believe that they are so for-
midable as to require military force. So different is it in
the Highlands, that, with a tolerable knowledge of circum-
ILLICIT DISTILLATION. 245
Stances, I know not of one case where it was necessary to
call in the military. On the contrary, the excise-officers
are so far from meeting with resistance, that when they
make a seizure, they are often assisted by the people to
destroy their own utensils with their contents ; and when
the duty is finished, the officers are offered refreshment,
and invited into the houses of those whose property had
been destroyed. Are these a people requiring dragoons to
keep them down. Government and the Board of Excise
ought to look into this matter. Military force is not yet
required in the Highlands, except in the northern eject-
ments by fire, and military execution ; but unnecessary
harshness, and accustoming men to believe that they are
turbulent, may make cavalry and infantry necessary. Let
a warning be taken from Ireland. The deforcements and
resistance to excise-officers, so frequent in the neighbour-
hood of Glasgow, Stirling, and Perth, are by bands of men
of desperate character, many of them Irish, and from the
western counties, who are the purchasers and carriers of
smuggled spirits, but not the manufacturers, who carefully
avoid such encounters and skirmishes, and, except in
cases of unnecessary severity on the part of excise-officers,
and the consequent irritation, quietly surrender their pro-
perty when discovered.
The recent change of disposition and character forms
an additional argument with those who urge the propriety
of removing the ancient inhabitants, on pleas derived from
their supposed incapacity and indolence, or from the
climate and soil. This character has been depicted in
strong colours. Pinkerton describes the Celts as " mere
radical savages, not advanced even to a state of barbarism;
and if any foreigner," adds he, " doubts this, he has only
to step into the Celtic part of Wales, Ireland, or Scotland,
246 ILLICIT DISTILLATION.
and look at them, for they are just as they were, incap-
able of industry or cultivation, even after half their blood
is Gothic, and remain, as marked by the ancients, fond
of Hes, and enemies to truth." Without being influenced
by the opinions of this author, the well-known fact should
be recollected, that much of the land in the Highlands is
barren, rugged, and from the numerous heights and de-
clivities difficult to cultivate ; that the climate is cold, wet,
and boisterous ; and that the winter is long and severe,
and the country fitted only for the maintenance of a hardy
abstemious population. No doubt, the population is
numerous in many districts, in proportion to the extent
of fertile land, but nevertheless the people have supported
themselves, with an independence, and a freedom from
parochial aid, which a richer, more favoured, and more
fertile country, might envy.
The indolence of the Highlander is a common topic
of remark : at the same time it is admitted, that, out of
their own country, they show no want of exertion, and
that, in executing any work by the piece, and in all situa-
tions where they clearly see their interest concerned, they
are persevering, active, and trustworthy.* But still it is
* The integrity and capability of the numerous bands of High-
landers which supplied Edinburgh with Cadd'ies is proverbial. These
Caddies were, during the last century, a species of porters and
messengers plying in the open street, always ready to execute any
commission, and to act as messengers to the most distant corners of
the kingdom, and were often employed in business requiring secrecy
and dispatch, and frequently had large sums of money intrusted to
their care. Instances of a breach of trust were most rare, indeed
almost unknown. These men carried to the South the same fidelity
and trustworthiness which formed a marked trait in the character of
the Highlanders of that period, and formed themselves into a society,
under regulations of their own. Dr Smollet, in his Humphry
Clinker, gives an account of an anniversary dinner of this fraternity,
TRAITS OF CHARACTER. 247
maintained, that, if placed on small farms in their native
country, they are worse than useless. If this opinion be
well-founded, it might furnish a subject of inquiry, why
men should be persevering as labourers in one situation,
and in another useless, and that too, though labouring for
their own immediate comfort, and for the support of their
families ? It might also furnish a surmise, that as they
seldom show any deficiency of intellect in comprehending
their own interests, so there is something wrong in the
system under which they are frequently managed ; other-
wise what could occasion an inconsistency so difficult to
reconcile with any known principle, as that a man should
be indolent and careless about his own fields, and yet
active and vigilant about those of others. *
of which nine-tenths were Highlanders, though httle now remains of
the original order of Caddies. These employments were thrown into
other channels, the number of stage-coaches rendering communica-
tion so cheap and safe, that special messengers are unnecessary.
There are, however, many Highlanders in Edinburgh employed as
chairmen, and in other occupations ; and it might furnish no unin-
teresting inquiry, whether the Highlanders formerly employed in
Edinburgh were not trustworthy, and more remarkable for their
zeal, activity, and regard to their word, than those of the present
day? If such an inquiry should prove that they have not greatly
degenerated from the virtues of their predecessors, perhaps there is
little foundation for the reports of the deplorable want of religion and
morality in the North. It would, on the contrary, show that their
moral feelings, and the sense of shame which they attached to a
breach of trust, were the best safeguard of that integrity which made
them valuable servants to the public. On the other hand, were
such an inquirj- to show a change of character, it would afford a
melancholy contradiction to the reports of the improved religious
knowledge of the Highlanders, and show that the blessings resulting
from religious and moral education were not so defective in the last
age as many have been made to believe.
* The small tenantry often complain of the want of encourage-
248 CAPABILITY.
Another circumstance has prejudiced the character of
the Highlanders in the opinion of strangers ; I mean, the
reluctance they showed to avail themselves of the em-
ployment offered them on the Caledonian Canal, al-
though furnishing employment to the ejected tenantry
was one of the reasons assigned for undertaking that
work. At the same time, it may be observed, that this
expensive rehef, the formation of the Canal, was only
ment to improve. But the want of encouragement to themselves
they w^ould not perhaps feel so much, did they not see great en-
couragement given to the large farmers, while they are abandoned to
their own exertions. Thus, when glens and districts in the Highlands
are depopulated, and the lands given to a man of capital, estimates
are taken for building a proper establishment, large sums are ex-
pended on inclosures, and stipulations are made to recompense the
tenant at the end of the lease for improvements made by him. When
such are the very commendable encouragements given to farmers on
a large scale, why are the small tenants so often refused any kind of
support ? Before large houses are built for tenants, it might, how-
ever, be matter of consideration to apportion the rent and taxes in
such a manner as to leave a clear income suitable to the accommoda-
tion provided for them ; otherwise it must appear absurd to place a
man in a house proper for an income of six or seven hundred a year,
as is often seen, when perhaps the clear profits of the farm are not
fifty. There are farms of two and three hundred pounds' rent, where
the interest of money sunk in building houses is from fifty to sixty,
and in some cases more than one hundred pounds. Had these men
the fee-simple of their farms, it might be a question how far it would
be prudent to pay such rents for a dwelling-house and its appendages.
Several farms within my knowledge are rented at two pound the
acre, but the landlords have erected such expensive buildings, that
the interest of the money expended is e(}ual to one pound per acre,
leaving only the same sum of clear rent, while the tenant is subjected
to an unsuitable expense in furnishing and keeping in repair such an
establishment, A process which is so hurtful to the tenant, and
which reduces the landlord's rent one half, is called by our statistical
€Conomists, improving his property.
CAPABILITY. 249
temporary, while the want of employment is permanent
The small number of Highlanders who have been em-
ployed on the Canal has afforded ground for an opinion,
that they have a disinclination to labour, and are not
calculated for any exertion beyond the habits of a pastoral
life. To those who are strangers to their habits and way
of thinking, this of itself might appear a sufficient proof
of their aversion to any stationary or laborious employ-
ment ; but not so to those who know that land and
cattle, with their usual appendages, form, as I have
already noticed, the principal aim of a Highlander's ambi-
tion. Deprived of these, he is lowered and broken in
spirit ; and to become a labourer in his own country, and
to be forced to beg for his daily hire and daily bread, in
sight of his native mountains, and of those who witnessed
his former independence, he cannot bear without extreme
impatience. Hence, while so few resorted to the con-
stant and well-paid labour on the Canal, in the heart of
iheir country, thousands crowded dowTi for employment
to the most distant Lowlands. Indeed, the greater the
distance the better, as at a distance from home they
were unknown, and their change of station remained
concealed, or unnoticed. For the same reason, they
overcome their attachment to their native country,
and emigrate to the woods of America, in the hope of
obtaining a portion of land, the possession of which they
consider as the surest and most respectable source of
independence. " Wherever the Highlanders are defective
in industry," says the late Professor Walker, "it will be
found upon fair inquiry, to be rather their misfortune
than their fault, and owing to their want of knowledge
and opportunity, rather than to any want of spirit for
labour. Their disposition to industry is greater than is
250 CAPABILITY.
usually imagined, and, if judiciously directed, is capable
of being highly advantageous both to themselves and to
their country."
Their spirit and industry may be seen by looking to
the nature of the country, and the length of time during
which the Highlands formed a separate and indepen-
dent kingdom, repelling all invasions, and at length
establishing their king and government in more fertile
regions. It must therefore have been capable of support-
ing a greater population than it is commonly supposed
adequate to maintain : for, surrounded as the people
were by the sea, and by neighbours often hostile, pre-
venting any excursions beyond their mountains, except
by force of arms, their sole dependence must have been
on their own resources. But these must have been
sufficient to maintain the whole inhabitants, or they
could not have so long existed in independence. In-
deed, it is not easy to form an opinion of the extent to
which population might be carried by spirited and liberal
encouragement to the industry and energy of the people.
Unfortunately, however, this is not the opinion of many,
who hold that the country cannot prosper while the
original inhabitants remain, and that, to improve the
soil, where the people are without capital or skill, would
be a vain attempt. This opinion is probably the cause
why, in so many cases, the liberal encouragement of
Highland landlords has been directed to other channels
than that of raising the condition of the original occupiers
of their estates. If the Highlanders arc deprived of their
lands, where is the benefit to them, that great sums are
expended in building large and commodious establish-
ments for the stranger of cajHtal? Is it of any advantage
to the ancient race, that the landlord liberally sacrifices
CAPABILITY. 251:
part of his expected rents to encourage the present skilful
possessors, to make room for whom they were removed?
Nor does it seem clear that the natives of the country-
can profitably avail themselves of the admirable roads,
for the formation of which gentlemen advanced large
sums ; or that they can frequent the inns built, and the
piers and shores formed, since by their removal to their
new stations, as cottagers, they are left without a horse to
travel on the roads, without produce to embark at the
shores, and deprived of the means of acquiring property
or independence.
It was not by depopulation, or by lowering the condi-
tion of the inhabitants ; it was not by depriving the coun-
try of its best capital and strength, " a sensible, virtuous,
hardy, and laborious race of people,"* and, by checking
all further increase of wealth, except what might arise
from the increased value of the produce of pasture lands,
that the Dutch reclaimed fertile meadows from the ocean,
that the Swiss turned their mountains into vineyards, and
that the natives of Majorca and Minorca, scraping the
rocky surface of their respective islands (as hard as the
most barren within the Grampians), caused them to
produce corn and wine in abundance. What industry
has accomplished on the rocks of Malta is proverbial.
But, in the North, " the climate is a common-place
objection against every improvement. It is certain that
improvements, which, for this reason, are resisted in the
Highlands, have taken place successfully in districts of Scot-
land, which are more unfavourable in point of climate."!
If such is the case in other districts, the difficulty
should be more easily overcome in the Highlands,
from the abstemious and hardy habits of the people, who
* Professor Walker's Economical History. + Ibid.
252 CAPABILITY.
are contented and happy with the plainest and cheapest
food. Wherever time has been allowed, and proper
encouragement afforded, the industry of the tenants has
overcome the difficulties of climate, and of unproductive
soil.* Although their labours are unremitting, their time
and attention are divided among so many objects, that
the aggregate produce of their labour is less visible than
* No encouragement to a Highlander is equal to the prospect of
a permanent residence, and of an immediate return for his labour.
The rent should be fully as high as the produce will admit, with a
promise of reduction in proportion to the extent of improvements
made. Hence, when men rent small farms of fifteen, twenty, and
thirty acres, they will, by their personal labour, and that of their
families and servants, be able to drain, clear, and enclose the land.
The improvements should be annually valued, and one-fourth or one-
third of the amount allowed to the tenant as a deduction from his rent.
In this manner an industrious tenant will work equal to twenty or thirty
per cent, of the rent. This will make the farm cheap during the pro-
gress of improvement, and, as these operations can be completed in
a few years, the landlord will afterwards have his full rent, which the
tenant will be enabled to pay easily by the improved state of his land,
and, at the end of the lease, can afford a considerable augmentation
from his increased produce, the consequence of his own industry, and
of the encouragement given him, — which may be said to have cost
the landlord nothing, as the money remitted out of the rent could
not perhaps have been paid without the personal labour and im-
provement of the tenant. It is evident that this process could not
be accomplished by mere capital alone, without the personal labour
of the occupier ; and that the farm must consequently be small, be-
cause, if the work were done by hired labour, the payment by the
landlord would be no relief to the tenant in the way of abatement
of rent, as he must pay it away to those he hired ; whereas, if he
labours himself with the assistance of his family, he retains the money
for his immediate use. Such a mode as this might be advisable in
barren land, which will not always reimburse any considerable out-
lay of money, without the assistance of the personal labour of the
cultivator.
CAPABILITY. 253
where the same time is employed in the single endeavour
to extract the utmost produce from the soil. The tend-
ing of cattle wandering over mountains, or constantly
watched in pastures not enclosed, and the preparing and
carrying home their fuel, with numerous interruptions,
divide and increase their toil, in a manner of which the
people of the plains can form no idea. These, indeed,
are not monotonous labours that chain down the body to
a certain spot, and limit the mind to a narrow range of
ideas ; but still they are toils incessant and exhausting.
A different kind of labour may seem more advantageous
to those economists, who would reduce the labouring
class to mere machines, and produce, in this free coun-
try, a division of the people into castes, like the popula-
tion of India. But such a change is nowhere desirable,
and is impossible, in regions divided from each other
by almost insurmountable barriers. A general plan of
making all persons, however different their circumstances,
conduct the agriculture of their respective districts in the
same manner, — like the iron bed of Procrustes, which all
were made to fit, by being either stretched to the proper
length, or shortened by mutilation, — must not only be
inexpedient, but cruel and oppressive to the tenant, and
subversive of the best interests of the landlord.*
* The sagacity and facility of accommodation to novel situations
that mark the Highland character, may be ascribed to the versatility
arising from such varied occupations. As emigrants settling in a
wilderness, the exemption from dependence on tradesmen must be
peculiarly useful. If the Highland, like the English peasant, could
not subsist without animal food, and bread made of the best of flour,
together with ale and beer, it would give some strength to the
opinion of those who think that the barren lands of the North ought
to be left in a state of nature, and that an attempt to improve them
to advantage would be hopeless, as the produce of so sterile a soil
254 DECAY OF AGRICULTURE.
But it is unnecessary to talk of economy, industry,
and good morals, in regard to a country without people,
as is the state of many Highland districts. These dis-
tricts, once well-peopled with a race who looked back for
ages to a long line of ancestors, will now only be known
like the ancient Pictish nation : that is, by name, by his-
torical tradition, and by the remains of the houses and
the traces of the agricultural labours of the ancient in-
habitants. In these there can be no increase of the
general produce, by any amelioration of the soil, and con-
sequently the rents can advance only by a rise in the
value of the animals fed on the pastures ; and as this in-
crease of price may proceed from a previous loss by
severe winters, diseases, and other causes, it is rather a
precarious contingency. The increased value of animal
produce has enabled those interested to put forth state-
ments of the unprecedented riches of the country, and of
the expected prosperity of those placed in the new vil-
lages.* But no hint is given of this important truth, that
could not support a people requiring such expensive food. But,
when we have men of vigorous bodies, capable of subsisting on
potatoes and milk for nine months in the year, using animal food,
beer, or spirits, only on great occasions, and wheaten bread never ;
it may be allowed that a Highland proprietor, having lands fit for
cultivation, and a hardy race, might preserve the one and improve
the other, and thus secure a better and more certain income on his
improved soil, than that which depends entirely on the price of sheep
or cattle.
* In the same manner, reports are published of the unprecedented
increase of the fisheries on the coast of the Highlands, proceeding, as
it is said, from the late improvements ; whereas, it is well known,
that the increase is almost entirely occasioned by the resort of fishers
from the South. To form an idea of the estimation in which High-
land fishermen are held, and the little share they have in those
SHEEP-FARMING. 255
the same high prices would have equally affected the
small occupiers as the great stock graziers, and that the
high prices are the causes of the increased value of land,
and not the cold-hearted, merciless system pursued, and
the change of inhabitants. Wherever there is ^ space and
soil covered with a well-disposed population, experience,
example, and encouragement, will teach them to better
their situation.
I shall only notice one other argument adduced in
support of the depopulation of the Highlands; and that
is, that sheep are the stock best calculated for the moun-
tains. On this subject there can be but one opinion ;
but why not allow the small farmer to possess sheep as
well as the great stock grazier ? It is indeed said that it
is only in extensive establishments that stock-farming can
be profitable to the landlord. This hypothesis has not
yet been proved by sufficient experience, or proper com-
parison. But allowing that it were, and allowing a land-
lord the full gratification of seeing every tenant possessing
a large capital, with all comforts corresponding to the
opinion of a great proprietor, who wishes to have no tenant
but who can afford a bottle of wine at dinner ; there is
another important consideration, not to be overlooked in
improvements of the fisheries noticed in the newspapers, we may
turn to an advertisement in the Inverness newspapers, describing
sixty lots of land to be let in that county for fishing stations. To this
notice is added a declaration, that a ^'' decided preference %vill be
given to strangers.'' Thus, while, on the one hand, the unfortunate
natives are driven from their farms in the interior, a "decided pre-
ference" is given to strangers to settle on the coast, and little hope
left for them, save that those invited from a distance will not accept
the offer. When they see themselves thus rejected, both as cultiva-
tors, shepherds, and fishermen, what can be expected but despond-
ency, indolence, and a total neglect of all improvement or exertion?
256 CONSEQUENCES.
introducing this system into the Highlands — that, in
allotting a large portion of land to one individual, per-
haps two, or three, or even five hundred persons will be
deprived of their usual means of subsistence, compelled
to remove from their native land, and to yield up their
ancient possessions to the man of capital,* to enable him
to drink wine, to drive to church in a gig, to teach his
daughters music and quadrille-dancing, and to mount his
sons upon hunters, while the ancient tenants are forced to
become bondsmen or day-labourers, with the recollection
of their former honourable independence still warm. Yet
this is a system strongly recommended, and practised with
great inconsistency, by men who have the words liberty and
independence in their mouths, and are loud in their com-
plaints of the slavish and oppressed state of the people.
It is impossible to contemplate, without anxiety and
pain, the probable effects of these operations in producing
that demoralization, pauperism, and frequency of crime,
which endanger the public tranquillity, and threaten to im-
pose no small burden on landlords, in contributing to the
maintenance of those who cannot or will not maintain them-
selves. Will the Highlanders, as cottagers, without em-
ployment, refrain from immorality and crime? Can we ex-
* We have lately seen 31 families, containing 115 persons, dis-
possessed of their lands, which were given to a neighbouring stock-
grazier, to whom these people's possessions lay contiguous. Thus,
as a matter of convenience to a man who had already a farm of
nine miles in length, 115 persons, who had never been a farthing in
arrears of rent, were deprived of house and shelter, and sent penny-
less on the world. The number of similar instances of disregard of
the happiness or misery of human beings in an age which boasts of
enlightened humanity, patriotism, and friendship for the people, are
almost incredible, and do unspeakable injury to their best principles,
by generating a spirit of malice, envy, and revenge.
IRISH AND HIGHLANDERS. 257
pect from such men the same regularity of conduct as
when they were independent, both in mind and in circum-
stances ?* When collected together in towns and villages,
will they be able to maintain the same character that
was their pride on their paternal farms? Losing re-
spect for the opinion of the world, + will they not also
lose that respect for themselves, which, in its influence, is
much more powerful than laws on morality and public
manners ; and attempt to procure a livelihood by dis-
creditable expedients, by petty depredations, or by parish
aid ? We have the example of Ireland, where the people
are poor and discontented. In the tumults and out-
rages of that country, we see how fertile poverty and
misery are in crimes. The Irish and Highlanders were
originally one people, the same in lineage, character, and
language, till the oppression of a foreign government, and
the system of middlemen, as they are called, with other
* When the engrossing system commenced in the North, and
the people were removed from their farms, a spirit of revenge was
strongly evinced among those who were permitted to remain in the
country. They saw themselves reduced to poverty, and, believing
that those who got possession of their lands were the advisers of
their landlords, hatred and revenge, heightened by poverty, led to
the commission of those thefts from the pastures noticed in the
criminal convictions in the Appendix, BB. As cattle-stealing dis-
appeared when the people were convinced of the immorality of the
practice, and as the crime now noticed commenced only when they
were reduced to poverty, and instigated by vindictive feelings for
the loss of their ancient habitations, may it not be believed that, if
these irritating causes had not occurred, neither would the crimes
which seem to have resulted from them? And if circumstances
confirm the justness of this supposition, may we not ask what degree
of responsibility to God and to their country attaches to those whose
plans led to the commission of these crimes !
t See Appendix, EE.
S
258 IRISH PEASANTRY.
irritating causes, have reduced the lower orders in the
former country to a state of poverty which, while it has
debased their principles, has generated hatred and envy
against their superiors. This has been the principal cause of
those outrages which throw such a shade over the character
of a brave and generous people ; who, if they had been
cherished and treated as the clansmen of the Highlands
once were, would, no doubt, have been equally faithful to
their superiors in turbulent times, and equally moral and
industrious in their general conduct.* But, instead of
exhibiting such a character as has been depicted, we
have the following view from an intelligent author on the
*' Education of the Peasantry in Ireland." In allusion to
the absence of proprietors, their ignorance of the charac-
ter, dispositions, and capability of the native population,
and their harsh measures towards them, he says, "The
gentry, for the most part, seldom find time for such in-
quiries : the peasantry who live around them are some-
times the object of fear, but more usually of contempt ;
* The misery of the lower orders in Ireland is frequently produced
as an instance of the misery resulting from the continuance of small
tenants in the Highlands. This, however, must originate in gross
ignorance of the relative state of the two countries, which will not
bear a comparison. The small tenants in the Highlands generally
possessed from two to ten or twenty milch cows, with the usual pro-
portion of young cattle, from two to five horses, and from twenty to
one or two hundred sheep ; the quantity of arable land being suffi-
cient to produce winter provender for the stock, and to supply every
necessary for the family. To each of these farms a cottager was
usually attached, who also had his share of land ; so that every
family consumed their own produce, and, e.xcept in bad seasons were
independent of all foreign supplies. This was, and still is, in many
cases the small farming system in the Highlands, to which the system
prevalent in Ireland bears so little resemblance, that it is impossible
to reason analogically from the one to the other.
IRISH PEASANTRY. 259
there may be enemies to guard against, creatures to be
despised, but never subjects of research or examination.
The peasantry saw that the real hardships of their con-
dition were never inquired into. Their complaints were
met by an appeal to force : the impatience of severe
oppression was extinguished in blood. This served to
harden their hearts; it alienated them from the estab-
lished order of things ; it threw them back on their own
devices, and made them place their confidence in their
wild schemes of future retaliation.
"■ " The gentry, of a lofty and disdainful spirit, intrepid
and tyrannical, divided from the people by old animosi-
ties, by religion, by party, and by blood ; divided, also,
frequently by the necessities of an improvident expendi-
ture, which made them greedy for high rents, easily to be
obtained in the competition of an overcrowded popula-
tion, but not paid without grudging and bitterness of
heart ; the extravagance of the landlord had but one re-
source — high rents; the peasant had but one means of
living — the land ; he must give what is demanded, or
starve ; and, at best, he did no more than barely escape
starving. His life is a struggle against high rents, by
secret combination and open violence : that of the land-
lord, a struggle to be paid, and to preserve a right of
changing his tenantry when and as often as he pleased.
In this conflict, the landlord was not always wrong, nor
the peasantry always right. The indulgent landlord was
sometimes not better treated than the harsh one, nor low
rents better paid than high. The habits of the people
were depraved ; and the gentry, without attending to this,
and surprised that no indulgence on their part produced
an immediately corresponding return of gratitude and
punctuality, impatiently gave up the matter as beyond
26o ENGLISH PEASANTRY.
their comprehension, and the people as incapable of im-
provement/'
This being given as the state of the Irish, we have
the following view of the EngHsh peasantry from an able
author, who, as I have already stated, in p. i8i, describes
the degradation consequent on the expulsion of the
agricultural population from their lands. "Millions of
independent peasantry were thus at once degraded into
beggars. Stripped of all their proud feelings, which
hitherto had characterized Englishmen, they were too
ignorant, too dispersed, too domestic, and possessed too
much reverence for their superiors, to combine as me-
chanics or manufacturers in towns. Parish relief was,
therefore, established as a matter of necessity." En-
deavouring to show the impossibility of preserving inde-
pendence and morality in the precarious state of existence
to which many are subject in England, he proceeds :
" In England, the poor quarrel about, and call for,
charity as a right, without being either grateful or satisfied.
The question of property should be but of secondary
consideration on this subject with the State. Whether
the rents of the parish go to one great lord, or to one
hundred great paupers, is a point of less importance than
moral character. It has been already shown, that the
poor rates of England tend to make the peasantry base
and vicious. Men having no encouragement will idle if
they can, but the parish officers will not let them if they
can. The peasantry will not find work, but the parish
officers will. The peasantry are put upon the rounds, as
it is called ; that is, they are sent round the parish, from
door to door, not to beg, indeed, but to work a certain
number of days, according to the extent of the property
on which they are billeted, whether there be any work
ENGLISH PEASANTRY. 26 1
for them to do or not. The roundsmen are paid eight or
tenpence a-day, and so much is saved apparently to the
parish funds. But the roundsmen knowing this, and
having no mercy on the parish fund, thinking they are
used ill in being thrust about, and being treated probably
with ill humour by those they are thrust upon : under
these circumstances, the roundsmen do just as Httle work
as they can, and perhaps do more harm than good.
Thus pushed about, as a nuisance, are the peasantry of
this great, wealthy, and enlightened nation, without house
or living, kindred, or protecting superiors ; and yet we
shall be told, these are free-born EngUshmen, and that
the slaves in the West Indies are hardly off, though they
possess those enjoyments of which the English peasant is
deprived, except personal liberty ; that is, the enjoyment
of being disregarded by every one, except as a nuisance.
This is the state of the lower orders : and yet we are told,
that teaching them to read will remove the evil — will
correct the vices which such a horrible system neces-
sarily generates. Give them not a looking-glass; gin and
drugged beer will do better.*
We have here a short but impressive view of the state
of the peasantry in the two sister kingdoms ; what the
peasantry have been in the northern part of Scotland,
and what they are now, I have attempted to show. But
if the Highlanders are forced to renounce their former
habits of life : if the same system is applied to them as to
the peasantry of the two sister kingdoms, infinitely more
favoured by climate, soil, and every natural advantage
for promoting the comfort, independence, and content-
ment of the people; are we not to expect that the results
will be much more fatal in a country comparatively poor,
* Serious Considerations on the State of the English Peasant.
262 MORAL CHARACTER.
and destitute of such adventitious aids, as might counter-
balance, or fix a limit to, the evils of systems which have
produced so much wretchedness? Should the High-
landers be placed in similar circumstances, may we not
dread least they realize in the North of Scotland the law-
less turbulence of the sister island of Celts, and the de-
graded pauperism of a large part of England ?
After the year 1 745, when many of the Highlanders were
driven from their homes, and forced to lead a wandering
life, we know that many depredations were committed,
although the great body of the people remained sound.
Judging from recent symptoms, we may safely hazard the
assertion, that the irritatmg causes in 1746, 1747, and in
1748, did not affect the morals of the people to the same
extent as the events which have lately taken place. At
no period of the history of the country, indeed, were the
people more exemplary than for many years posterior to
the RebelHon, when the moral principles peculiar to, and
carefully inculcated at that period, combined with the
chivalry, high feeling and romance of preceding times,
strengthened by the religious and reverential turn of
thinking peculiar to both, gave force and warmth to
their piety, and produced that composition of character,
which made them respected by the enemy in the field,
and religious, peaceable, and contented in quarters, as
well as in private life. * What they have formerly been,
will they not still continue to be, if they were only made
to experience the same kindness as their forefathers ? The
cordial and condescending kindness of the higher orders,
as I have already oftener than once said, contributed
materially to produce that character which the people
seem anxious to perpetuate. This is particularly exempli-
* See Appendix, VV.
TEMPORAL COMFORT. 263
fied by the exertions which they make to give their
children an education suitable to their station in life, and
often far above it. The value of education is well under-
stood ; and whenever they have the power, and their cir-
cumstances are comfortable, they seldom fail to give it to
their children.*
But unless their temporal, as well as their intellectual
and spiritual concerns are attended to, it may be a ques-
tion whether any degree of learning will make them con-
tented and moral. If men live in the dread of being
ejected at every term, or contemplate the probability of
being obliged to emigrate to a distant country, the best
education, unless supported by a strong sense of religion
and morality, will hardly be sufficient to produce content,
respect for the laws, and a love of the country and its
government.
* One of the many instances of this is exhibited in a small High-
land valley, the length of which is less than six miles, and the breadth
from half a mile to one mile and a quarter. This glen is, with one
exception, managed in the old manner, the original people being
allowed to remain on their small possessions. How small these are
may be judged from the population, which is 985 souls. They are
consequently poor, but not paupers. Several aged women, and two
men, who are lame, receive ten or fifteen shillings annually from the
parish fund. The whole are supported on their lands, for which
they pay full value. There are not manufactures, except for home
consumption. In this state of comparative poverty, independent,
however, of parochial aid, such is their proper spirit, and sense of the
value of education, that as the parish school is near one end of the
glen, the people of the farther extremity have established three
separate schools for their children, paying small salaries, with school
fees, to the teachers, who, if unmarried (as is generally the case), live
without expense among the more wealthy of the tenants. Thus, these
industrious people give an education, suitable to their situation in life,
to 240 children (the number when I last saw them), including those at
the parish school, without any assistance whatever from the landlords.
264 EDUCATION.
Scotland has indeed reaped the greatest benefits from
education ; but perhaps it is rating these advantages too
high to ascribe the acknowledged moral character of the
people solely to this source. The Scotch were a trust-
worthy people before there was any established system of
education in the country. Of this we have sufficient evi-
dence in the confidence placed in Scotchmen in France
and Holland, where for ages they were held in such
esteem as to be preferred to situations requiring the
greatest trust, honour, and firmness. Had these men
been void of good principles at home, they could not
well have acquired them in a superior degree in countries
where they were preferred to the natives. In a report of
the southern counties of Scotland by William Elliot of
Stobbs, and Walter Scott of Arkleton, in the year 1649,
we find that, after seven years of rebellion and intestine
commotion, theft, lying, and swearing (except among a
few outcasts), were totally unknown; the people were
strong and active, sober, and abstemious in their diet;
ingenious, and hating deceit*
When the tyrannical restrictions on religion and con-
science, in the reign of Charles II., drove the people in
the western counties to desperation, and when forced to
fly to the mountains, woods, and mosses, and to exist on
such accidental supplies as an exhausted country could
afford, we meet with no firing of houses, nor murders
of magistrates, prosecutors and witnesses, as we daily see
in the present enlightened age : all was borne with
Christian patience, except in cases where fanaticism and
bigotry deprived men of their reason ; and it ought to be
observed, that the principal actors in these instances
were generally of the higher and educated orders, as in
* Report of Selkirk, etc., Advocates' Library, 1 649.
EDUCATION. 265
that of the murderers of Archbishop Sharpe. In the
Highlands we find, from many authors, that, with the ex-
ception of their forays and cattle depredations, the High-
landers were early considered a valuable, trustworthy
race. In the year 1678, when the Duke of Lauderdale
and the Ministers of Charles II., ordered the " Highland
Host " to the south-western districts of Scotland to put
down the Covenanters, their forbearance, considering the
nature of their duty, was a topic of remark. In like
manner, in 1745, when many thousands were in arms,
and let loose from all restraint, with littk education among
the common men, it may be a problem whether, if they had
all been graduates of St Andrews or Aberdeen, they
could have conducted themselves with more urbanity and
moderation. Such were the characteristic principles of
the Scotch, both Lowland and Highland, when education
was far from being general. There are upwards of 8000
schools in Ireland, but these apparently exert little influ-
ence on the morals of the peasantr}', because they are
oppressed, despised, and neglected; nourishing a spirit of
hatred and revenge, and in a state of poverty and despair
which no education can remove.
The truth seems to be, that in a country where a uni-
versal system of education has been established as in
Scotland, there must have been an early and well-founded
principle, of which the schools may be considered as the
effect, and not the cause, and which must have produced
those estimable habits, long a distinguished feature in the
national character. The foundation of those valuable
habits may in part have been owing to the cordiality,
mutual confidence, and support, which subsisted between
the higher and lower orders in Scotland.
Fletcher of Saltoun, a strenuous supporter of the inde-
266 SOUTH OF SCOTLAND.
pendence of his country, gives indeed a deplorable view
of the state to which thousands of the people were
reduced at the end of the seventeenth century. His
statement seems to refer only to Fife and the counties
southward and westward, which at that period did not
contain beyond 900,000 inhabitants. Of this population,
he states that 200,000 went about in bands of sturdy
beggars, or sorners, as they were called, without house or
habitation, living on the public by begging, open plunder,
and private stealing. This frightful number of beggars
and outcasts of society, in so small a population, is almost
incredible, particularly when compared with the report
of the same counties by the Lairds of Arkleton and
Stobbs, fifty years preceding. There was, indeed, suffi-
cient cause for poverty, distress, and crimes in Saltoun's
time. It was at that period that the stock-grazing system
of large farms began in the South, when the higher orders
lost all regard for their followers, and forgot all ancient
kindness and friendship (of which we have seen too many
instances in our times in the North), and thousands of
the brave Borderers, whose forefathers defended their
country, were sent adrift without house or shelter, in that
country for which their ancestors had fought and bled.
Then the people naturally lost all confidence and
respect for those from whom they received this treat-
ment ; and there being no manufacturing towns to receive
them, no emigration to America, and no employment in
a country all turned to pasture, they had no alternative but
beg or steal.* Were it not for America and the towns in
* I happened to read Fletcher of Saltoun's Statement of the Scotch
Poor early in life, and was much struck with it. I mentioned the
subject to Mr Stewart of Crossmount, who, as I have already noticed,
died in 1791, in his 104th year, consec[uently was born before the
SOUTH OF SCOTLAND. 267
the Lowlands, would not the late ejectments and de-
populations in the North produce a host of sturdy beg-
gars, sorners, and thieves? A reference to the state of
England by Sir Thomas Moore, of Scotland by Fletcher
of Saltoun, and to the recent associations for the suppres-
sion of felony in different parts of the Northern High-
lands, exhibits a striking coincidence, and shows that the
want of education is not the principle cause of crimes
and poverty. Now that schools are generally established
in Scotland, it behoves the higher orders to endeavour, by
protection, by kindness, and by example, to preserve
those principles which have been so honourable to this
country, which form the best basis for good education
reign of King William, and was 15 years of age at the death of that
monarch in 1702. He had a perfect recollection of the period to
which Fletcher's Statement refers. I have already said that he was
a man of sound judgment and accurate memory, but from his extreme
youth at the period in question, he could not speak from personal
observation beyond the glen in which he lived ; yet he remembered
that King William's seven years of famine, as they were called by the
Jacobites, were the subject of all conversations, and that his father
made a considerable sum of money by a speculation in grain which
he brought from Dundee and Perth. In the Highlands the grain
never ripened for many harvests. It would not grind into meal from
its softness. The people dried or roasted the best and ripest grains,
and, pounding it between two stones, ate it in that state. He knew
little more of the South, than that he always heard that the people
there suffered more than the Highlanders, because they had not so
many cattle and deer to kill for their food. The number of cattle
killed in those years, and afterwards sent to England, when the trade
opened after the Union, raised the price to a height formerly un-
known ; that is, to twenty shillings or a guinea for a fat ox or cow.
He added, that he went South with the rebels in 1715, and was
wounded and taken at Sheriffinuir. When he recovered he came
back through the south-east of Scotland. He saw many wandering
beggars.
268 INFLUENCE OF THE CONDUCT
among a people, and without which, indeed, education
may be a curse instead of a blessing. But, unfortunately,
many Highlanders have begun (as I have too often had
occasion to mention), to lose all confidence in the views
and line of conduct of their superiors, of whom they say,
-'When I see a man subscribing for schools and Bible
societies, while he reduces his tenants to poverty by ex-
orbitant rents ; while he has school books and Bibles in
one hand, and in the other a warrant of ejectment, or an
order for roiiping out for the rent ; and when he makes
speeches at public meetings lamenting the loss of morals,
and in private lectures against drunkenness and the vices
it produces, while at the same time the rents are such that
they cannot be paid without smuggling, cheating, perjury,
.and lying; — when all this is daily seen and practised, who
.can doubt but that there is much hypocrisy at the bottom?"
Such are the sentiments I often hear expressed by
the people, and which may be ascribed to the operation
of that grasping selfish system, which looks only to what
is supposed to bring the most immediate advantages,
careless of the loss to others, — tempting men to cheat
and deceive by calling for the cheapest contracts, —
raising a spirit of rivalry and by over-reaching by auc-
tioning, and receiving secret offers for farms, and which
have occasioned great distress and discontent in the
Highlands, with much less permanent advantage to
the promoters than might have been obtained by a
more open and a milder line of conduct. If the people
see that their welfare is attended to, they will return the
favour. Gratitude, kindness, and friendship, are natural
to man ; but harshness and oppression will quickly de-
stroy all. In the Highlands, the contrast between the
past and present manners are the more striking, from the
OF THE HIGHER ORDERS. 269
recollection of those times when the poorest clansman re-
ceived a kind shake of the hand from the laird, and was
otherwise treated like an independent man, and a proper
regard shown to his feelings. Modern customs allow
of no such intimacy with the lower orders, and strangers,
with no recommendation but money, are preferred to all
ancient claimants. "If a Lowlander," said an old ac-
quaintance to me, with tears in his eyes, "comes among
us with a good horse, a pair of spurs, and a whip, he is
immediately received by the laird, who takes him to his
house; he has the choice of a farm, and a whole tribe of
us are sent to cot-houses on the moors, or ejected en-
tirely; and while the Lowlander gets a fine house at the
landlord's expense, I must build my own hut, get no
allowance for the house I have left, although I built it
myself, and while the stranger is supplied with Norway
wood for his house, if I take a birch-tree not worth five
shillings from the hill-side, the constable is sent after me
with a warrant ; I am threatened with a removal and the
terrors of the law by the laird on whose lands I built the
house, and whose property it will be when I leave it,
which I would do to-morrow if I knew where to go."
Will education cure this poor man's grief and indigna-
tion? Will reading make him contented with his lot,
loyal to his King and government, and attached to his
landlord? Reading will more clearly show him his misery.
To make a man comfortable in his circumstances, and
easy in his mind, and thus to remove all temptation or
necessity for resorting to improper practices, are better
and more certain preservatives of morals than reading
or writing, particularly if the educated reader is in poverty
and destitution, and that destitution occasioned by the
oppressive conduct of others.
270 IMPROVEMENTS.
As a man blind from his infancy may be virtuous,
and well instructed in all useful knowledge, without ever
having read a line in his life, so are the bulk of the un-
educated Highlanders well instructed in a knowledge of
the Gospel and of the Scriptures, and possessed of great
intelligence in all that immediately concerns themselves,
and comes within the range of their knowledge, confined,
as it must necessarily often be, to the narrow bounds of a
Highland strath or glen.
I have already mentioned that many Highland
gentlemen, though possessed of honourable and humane
dispositions, have, with the best intentions, allowed them-
selves to be seduced into hasty measures, and the adop-
tion of plans unsuitable to their lands and their tenants ;
and have thus unhinged the social virtues, and the
mutual confidence between them and their formerly
attached dependants, whose sentiments and feelings are
deplorably changed in many respects. May we not
therefore hope, that when prejudicial effects are produced
on the minds of the tenants, an abatement of hasty
changes will ensue ; and that we shall not see advertise-
ments inviting strangers to offer for their lands, while
they are themselves willing and able to pay equally high
rents; with other measures calculated to raise their indig-
nation, and check the inclination to improve their farms
and modes of cultivation? May we not hope, that
gentlemen will take into consideration the well-known
fact, that the agricultural system now carried on with
such spirit it Scotland, was 140 years* in progress in
* A respectable Highland clergyman, of talents and learning,
who occupied a farm of some extent contiguous to his glebe, was so
wedded to old customs, that it was not till the year 1815 that he
commenced green crops, liming, and fallow ; although two gentle-
IMPROVEMENTS. 27 1
England before the prejudices of the southern Scotch
farmers were so far overcome as to embrace and practise
it? And if gentlemen will also recollect that their own
fathers and grandfathers, men of education and know-
ledge of the world, saw these improved changes, in their
frequent intercourse with the South, long before they
introduced them into their own practice, many never
having done so at all; will they not then make some
indulgent allowance for the prejudices of the poor and
ignorant Highlander, who never travelled beyond the
bounds of his own or the neighbouring districts, and
afford him time to comprehend the advantages of changes
so recent, and so opposite to his usual habits ? Should
landlords arraign their people as incorrigible, because
they do not change with every variation of every political
or economical opinion, or according to the direction in
which newly-adopted theories would turn them, and em-
brace systems of which they have never been made to
comprehend the advantages, and without any encourage-
ment or spur for exertion but an aug?nenfation of rent?
In what manner the people comprehend and act on
the new system of agriculture, when the knowledge of
it is attainable, is clearly seen in those districts whose
vicinity to the South has enabled the inhabitants to follow
the example shown them.* Any person travelling through
men (the honourable Baron Norton and Mr Macdonald of Glencoe)
in his immediate neighbourhood, had carried on the system for some
years with great success. Xow, when such a person rejected all in-
novations, is it surprising than an ignorant Highlander, with his deep-
rooted predilection to ancient habits, should not commence a system
(by order, perhaps, of a harsh and authoritative agent) which would
overturn all notions of respect and reverence for the customs of his
fathers ?
* The inveteracy and the difficulty of overcoming ancient habits,
272 CHECKS TO
Athole, Breadalbane, and other districts of the Highlands
of Perthshire, will observe in the altered appearance of
the country, how readily the people have availed them-
selves of useful and practical knowledge, and to what ex-
tent improvements have been carried, both in respect to the
quantity and the quality of the produce. These districts
furnish decisive proof of this progressive improvement.
In glens where a few years ago, turnips and the green
crop system were totally unknown, they are now as re-
gularly cultivated as in Mid-Lothian ; on a small scale, ta
be sure, as it must necessarily be, from the size of the
farms and the narrow limits of cultivation, but in a manner
calculated to produce good rents to the proprietors, and
great comparative comfort to the tenants. This spirit of
improvement is extending northwards, and has every ap-
pearance of spreading over the whole country, although it
has, in various instances, been checked by attempts to
force it on too rapidly, and by theories founded on the
customs of countries totally different, both in soil, in
climate, and in the habits of the people. One obvious
evil is, the too frequent practice of giving leases for only
seven years. This the people dislike more than none at all,f
in countries hicjlily favoured by many opportunities of improvement,
is shown in several parts of England, where ploughing is still per-
formed, even on light soils, with four and five horses ; whereas that
custom has long been laid aside in Scotland, where two horses are
found sufficient for the deepest soils : yet, with this example before
them, English farmers continue such a waste of labour, at great ad-
ditional expense to themselves and consequent loss to the landlord.
But it would be endless to state instances of prejudices as deep-rooted
and prejudicial as any entertained in the Highlands, where the people
have suffered so much from mischievous experiments, founded on
their supposed incapacity and incurable prejudices.
t On several estates, tenants neither ask for leases, nor are any
IMPROVEMENTS. 273
as, according to their opinion, the expiration of these
short terms serves to remind the landlords of an increase
of rent on the improvements made, without allowing
given, yet improvements are carried on with the same spirit as on
estates where leases are granted. In the former case, much of the
confidence of old times remains, the landlord's promise being as good
as his bond ; and the tenants trust to this in preference to a docu-
mentary term of years, and are safe from a removal while they con-
duct themselves with propriety, and are willing at the same time to
augment their rents according to the times. In the latter they would
be in anxious suspense, and in dread of removal at the end of each
lease. Such is the manner of acting and thinking peculiar to land-
lords and tenants on the estates of honourable and judicious men,
some of whom I have the happiness to call my friends ; and such also
is the custom in many parts of England. A highly enlightened and
respectable friend, a native of Yorkshire, has favoured me with the
following communication: — "The practice of letting farms to the
highest bidder is unknown. It would be utterly destructive of that
good faith that subsists between landlord and tenant. In Yorkshire,
few gentlemen grant leases. It may be supposed that the want of
leases impedes improvement, inasmuch as tenants are unwilling to
lay out their capital upon an uncertain tenure. This may be true to
a certain extent, but the good faith that subsists between landlord and
tenant is a sort of relationship in which they stand to each other.
They are not bound to observe each other's interest by leases or
bonds of parchment ; but they are bound by obligations of honour,
of mutual interest, and reciprocal advantage. The right of voting at
county elections gives the freeholder of forty shillings a high degree
of importance and respectability in his own opinion, and in that of
his landlord. He confers a favour on his superiors, and he has at
least once in seven years the power of showing his independence, and
of chastising the insolence or oppression of the rich. At a late
county election, the popular candidate of a northern county waited on
a shoemaker to solicit his vote. ' Get out of my house. Sir,' said the
shoemaker : the gentleman walked out accordingly. ' You turned
me out of your estate,' continued the shoemaker, 'and I was deter-
mined to turn you out of my house ; but, for all that, I will give you
my vote.' "
T
2 74 IMPROVEMENTS.
time to the tenants to reap the benefit of their previous
■exertions.
Much of the want of that spirit for improvement, so
much complained of, is owing to the practice of augment-
ing the rent on any successful exertion or change made
by the tenant. On several estates within my knowledge,
the rents were augmented every third and fourth year after
the improve7nt?its coinmenced ; but the consequence of the
last augmentation was a complete bar to further exertions
on the part of the tenants, who then saw no prospect of
being allowed any benefit from their labours. Another
practice equally incredible is gaining ground, and cal-
culated to excite surprise, in an enlightened age, with the
•example of Ireland as a warning, were we not accustomed
to see many extraordinary things in the management of
the poor Highlanders. Landlords and their agents have
employed middlemen, to whom they let a tract of coun-
try, with power to subset, on a rent of their own fixing,
to the small tenants, — a system pregnant with misery and
discontent, without one apparent advantage to the land-
lord, except the saving of trouble by collecting rent from
one great middle man instead of thirty or forty small
tenants.
But notwithstanding these insulated cases, when we
find, that in the southern Highland districts, the natural
course of improvements has led to the best results, the
same might be expected in piore northern counties, if the
inhabitants were allowed the additional time rendered
necessary by their greater distance from example^ and
suffered to reap the advantage of the new communica-
tions opened by the admirable roads, the construction of
which does so much credit to the spirit and liberality
both of the proprietors and of Government, at whose joint
PAYMENT OF RENTS. 275
expense they have been formed.* It is hoped, therefore,
that gentlemen will believe that Highlanders may acquire
skill by experience, and a capital by their exertions and
industry; and that they will also believe, that although
a numerous tenantry may consume more produce than
one large establishment, humanity, and the poverty,
misery, and perhaps crimes, resulting from their removal,
ought not to be totally forgotten ; nor a plausible theory
of feeding a surplus population, at the landlord's expense,
be allowed to make tliem lose sight of the important fact,
that their income is never so secure as when their farms
are occupied by an economical, industrious, and well-
principled people ;t — a people who always attach so much
* The amount of this joint expenditure exceeds ;/^46o,ooo. Up-
wards of 1200 miles of new roads have been made, and about 540
miles of the old military roads completely repaired, with 1436 bridges,
of one or more arches, and 11,460 water-courses and covered drains.
— See Reports of Parliamentary Commissioners.
+ The late Mr Campbell of Achallader, who, as I have already
mentioned, was fifty-five years agent or factor to the late Earl of
Breadalbane, often stated, that during this long period, a failure of
payment was so rare, and so much shame was attached to it, that
when, by misfortune or accident, a person happened to be deficient,
his friends or neighbours generally assisted him by a loan, or other-
wise. The deficiency was never officially known to the chamberlain,
except in cases of total bankruptcy, or roguery on the part of the
tenant. I have the same good authority for stating, that of these the
instances were ver}'^ rare ; and such was the mutual confidence, and
such the honourable manner in which business was conducted, that
no receipt for rent was ever asked. An account was opened for
every tenant, and when the rent was paid, Achallader put the
initials of his name below the sum credited. This was sufficient
receipt for upwards of eleven hundred sums paid by that number of
tenants under his charge. I know not whether this is more honour-
able to the noble proprietor, to the judicious management of his ex-
cellent chamberlain, or to the integrity and industry of the numer-
276 PAYMENT OF RENTS.
disgrace to a failure in the payment of rent, that, on a
reverse of fortune having befallen a man, he comforted
himself with this reflection, " I have one happiness I have
paid my rent, and have not lost credit with my landlord."*'
ous tenantry. During that period there were several years of severe
pressure, and particularly the autumns, from 1770 to 1774, were
cold and wet, and very unproductive in the higher grounds, where
the corn did not ripen for three successive harvests. I am informed
by my friend Mr Stewart of Ardvorlich, a gentleman of the first re-
spectability and intelligence, who succeeded Mr Campbell, that he
experienced equal fidelity to their engagements on the part of the
tenants, and that he never had a shilling of arrears while he had the
management, which he resigned many years ago.
* A young artist, who has raised himself in the first eminence by
his talents, painted, a few years ago, two pieces on a subject highly
interesting to agriculturists, but, as Mr Wilkie found, not a popular
piece of art. These he called Rent-Day, and Distraining for Rent.
The latter was little known in the Highlands till introduced with the
improvements ; and Rent-Day, as it was held in former times, is no
longer seen in what are called the improved districts. In former
times, the collection of rents was a kind of jubilee, when the tenants
on great estates attended, and spent several days in feasting and
rejoicing at fulfilling their engagements with their landlords, and in
offering grateful libations to their honour and prosperity. Perhaps
things are differently managed now, and the irregularity of payment
renders general meetings impossible. But in Yorkshire, as I am
informed by a friend to whom I owe very interesting communications,
" The good custom of Rent-Day Dinners still continues to be
observed, when all the tenantry on the estate assemble in the hall of
the landlord's mansion, and are regaled with roast beef, plum-
pudding, and home-brewed ale, and the Squire's health is drank
with affectionate enthusiasm. In ancient families it is still customary
for the landlord to preside in person, but in more refined modern
establishments, the steward takes the head of the table. The annual
appearance at this table is a subject of honest pride. The absence
of a tenant is considered ominous of his declining credit. Not
to appear at the rent-day is disgraceful. The conversations at
HIGHLAND SOCIETY. 277
This is a principle worth preserving, and a more honour-
able security for good payments than distraining for rents,
and other modes much too frequent ; for it is no uncom-
mon thing to see a tenant's whole stock under sequestra-
tion, without liberty to dispose of an article, unless by
consent of the landlord, who orders an examination of
the stock and produce at certain periods, and what is
marketable to be disposed of for the rent. Will it be
credited, that such a system can be pursued, and that
men, who thus act towards their tenants, complain of their
indolence and want of spirit to improve — under sequestra-
tion^ and an annual warning to remove ?
After so long a disquisition on a most painful subject,
I now turn to one of a more agreeable nature, — the exer-
tions made of late years to remedy, or rather to restrain
the progress of those evils which press so heavily on the
natives of the Highlands. These efforts, and the examples
shown by individuals, have done much; but having
avoided the mention of names, either in approbation or
the reverse, I shall now follow the same rule, and merely
these dinners is on the best breed of cattle, and the best modes of
husbandry. They have given rise to agricultural societies. Thus
emulation, good neighbourhood, respectful attachment to landlords,
and friendly feelings towards each other, are promoted. The man
who would offer a higher price for his neighbour's farm, or endeavour
to supplant him, could not show his face at the Rent-Day Dinner ;
and the landlord who would accept such an offer at the expense of
an old and respectable tenant, would be held in contempt by many
of his own rank, and in abhorrence by his tenantry. Such, I believe,
are the implied conditions between landlord and tenant ; and how
soon the increasing progress of luxury and extravagance may produce
rapacity and extortion, it is impossible to say ; but hitherto the re-
spect paid to good faith, and the value attached to good character,
have prevented those melancholy and cruel effects which have been
so severely felt in many of the northern parts of the island."
278 HIGHLAND SOCIETY.
notice public bodies. Among these, the high respect-
abihty of the members of the Highland Society of Scot-
land — the judicious discrimination and spirit with which
the objects of this institution are carried into effect — the
benefits it has conferred — and the hberal and impartial
manner in which its premiums are distributed — justly
entitle this patriotic body to high estimation, and render
it the most eminently useful of any public association ever
connected with the Highlands.
" The Highland Society of Scotland derives its origin
from a number of gentlemen, natives of, or connected
with the Highlands, assembled at Edinburgh in the year
1784. That meeting 'conceiving (as the words of their
own resolutions express) that the institution of a Highland
Society at Edinburgh would be attended with many good
consequences to the country, as well as to individuals,'
determined to take the sense of their countrymen on the
propriety of such an institution. A numerous meeting of
such gentlemen as a residence in or near Edinburgh
allowed of being called together, was assembled. They
warmly approved of the measure; agreed to become
members of such a society; proceeded to the nomination
of a President, Vice-Presidents, and Committee; and
having thus far embodied themselves, wrote circular letters
to such noblemen and gentlemen as birth, property, or
connexion qualified, and, as they supposed, might incline,
to join in the formation of such an establishment, invit-
ing them to become members of the proposed society." *
The original objects of the Society were, an inquiry
into the present state of the Highlands and adjacent Isles,
* Introduction to the first volume of Transactions and Essays
of the Highland Society by Henry Mackenzie, Esq., one of the
Directors.
HIGHLAND SOCIETY. 279
with the condition of their inhabitants; the means of
their improvement by estabHshing towns and villages,
roads and bridges, advancing agriculture and extending
fisheries, introducing useful trades and manufactures, and
by an exertion to unite the efforts of the landlords, and to
call the attention of Government towards the encourage-
ment and promotion of these useful purposes. The
Society also proposed to pay attention to the preservation
of the language, poetry, and music of the Highlands.
These were the original objects of the institution ; but
they are now extended so as to embrace a great variety
of branches, both of agriculture and the arts. The pre-
miums annually distributed by the Society have raised a
spirit of emulation, exertion, and a desire to improve,
productive of the greatest advantages. Premiums have
been given in every district of the countr}' for improving
the breed of horses, cattle, and sheep, — for draining,
trenching, clearing, and planting, — for the cultivation of
green crops in all their varieties, as well as for many other
improvements, more especially applicable to the High-
lands. In support of national literature, the Society has
been equally liberal; and the amount of the sums ex-
pended in preparing and publishing a Gaelic Dictionary
is, I believe, almost unexampled in the history of litera-
ture. Premiums are also given for various agricultural
improvements, etc., in the Lowlands. Much labour, and
a considerable portion of the Society's funds, have been
expended on the subject of establishing an uniformity of
weights and measures, with many other important objects
intimately connected with the welfare of the country.
Faithful to the purposes of its institution, the Society
has taken every opportunity of encouraging whatever
tends to improve the cultivation of the country in general,
28o HIGHLAND SOCIETY.
and particularly of the remote and mountainous region
from which it assumed its name. The premiums, there-
fore, are not confined to the Highlands, or to such kinds
of agriculture or manufactures as are exclusively adapted
to that country ; they have extended, and continue still
farther to extend, to draw forth information, and to stimu-
late ingenuity in every branch of those departments which
may be useful, whether in the Highlands or other parts
of the country: and in the eloquent language of one of its
first members, who has ever been a constant, zealous, and
able conductor of its duties, — "The Highland Society
has been, not unaptly, compared to one of our native
rivers, which has its rise indeed in the Highlands, but
which, increasing as it flows, fertilises and improves Low-
land districts, at a distance from those less cultivated
regions whence it originally springs."* In prosecution of
these views, the Society has, within the last twelve years,
distributed about ^1400 annually in premiums.
The subject of emigration did not escape the attention
of the Society ; but the Directors were too intelligent to
attempt to prevent emigration, among a people who, in the
language of the Report on the subject, have been "thrown,
as it were, loose from their native land," and left without
the means of subsistence. With more humanity they en-
deavoured to show the cruelty of such measures, and, at
the same time, suggested the necessity of establishing regu-
* Introduction to the third volume of the Transactions of the
Highland Society, by Henry Mackenzie, Esquire. Lord Bannatyne
and Mr Mackenzie are now the only surviving members of the
Lounger and Mirror Club. For a period of thirty-nine years they
have never been absent from a General or Committee Meeting of the
Highland Society, except in instances of indisposition, or some in-
dispensable engagement.
HIGHLAND SOCIETY. 281
lations to preserve the health and lives of the emigrants on
their voyage, by preventing vessels *from taking more than
a certain number of passengers, that there might be proper
accommodation and a sufficient supply of provisions, so
that emigrants may in future be treated with humanity,
"instead of being delivered over, by numberless priva-
tions, and the want of comfort and care, to diseases and
destruction."* In conformity to these views on this im-
portant subject, the Society got a bill brought into Parlia-
ment, founded on their suggestions : it passed with little
opposition,t so that an emigrant has now the chance of
reaching his destination without danger of being doomed
to " diseases and destruction." With this humane act, I
conclude this short notice of the patriotic Highland
Society of Scotland, which has rendered such essential
service to that part of the country whose name it bears.
It consists of nearly 1500 members.
A few years previous to the institution of the High-
land Society of Scotland, a Society was estabhshed in
London in somewhat similar circumstances. General
* Report of the Highland Society.
+ Emigration, properly regulated, ought to be encouraged from
those districts where the new improvements have sent the people to
patches of land, and laid the foundation for realizing the cottage and
potato-garden system, and the wretchedness of the Irish peasantry.
It is surely better for the mother country that they should emigrate
than remain with such deplorable prospects in view. Two years ago
some Highland gentlemen, resident in India, lamenting the state to
which so many of their countrymen were reduced, subscribed about
;^I250, and sent home the money to pay for the passage of a certain
number of emigrants. About 200 received the benefit of this donation,
and have gone to Canada. The humane act of these gentlemen is
called the "Demon of Reform" by those who write in praise of the
new order of things in the North.
252 HIGHLAND SOCIETY.
Fraser of Lovat, and several Highland gentlemen, met at
the Spring-Garden Coffee-House in the year 1778, and,
after a few arrangements, formed themselves into a So-
ciety with the same views, and for somewhat similar
purposes as those I have detailed of the meeting in
Edinburgh. The Society soon increased in numbers^
and in the rank and respectability of its members, among
whom were not only many of the first nobility and men
of talent and property in the kingdom, but several mem-
bers of the Royal Family; and in 181 7, his Majesty,
then Prince Regent, was graciously pleased to become
'' Chief of the Highland Society of London."
The Highland Society of Scotland taking the lead in
promoting the agricultural, and indeed the general im-
provement of the country, that of London confines itself
chiefly to the language, music, poetry, and garb of the
Highlands, and, along with these, to preserve, perhaps,
some of the best traits of the ancient character of the
people : and while in Edinburgh, rewards and premiums
are given for agricultural improvements, ingenious inven-
tions, and other objects applicable to civil life; in London
it was intended to give rewards and honorary marks of
distinction for particular instances of courage, distin-
guished talent, and chivalrous deeds in war, as they might
be displayed by Scotchmen and Scotch corps. But in
this respect the intentions of the Society have been in-
terrupted by an unfortunate misunderstanding, which
will be noticed afterwards. In the encouragement of
national music and other objects, it has been most
liberal ; as is seen at the annual exhibition in Edinburgh
of the ancient war and field music of the mountains, and
of the Highland garb, which was instituted, and the ex-
pense defrayed, by the London Society. But the greatest
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 283
and most important benefit which it has conferred, was
the institution of the Caledonian Asylum in London,
for educating, supporting, and clothing the children of
soldiers and sailors of Scotland killed or disabled, or of
other destitute Scotchmen resident in London. This
institution originated with the Highland Society of Lon-
don ; and having concluded the notice of the Society of
Scotland by the act for the protection of the unfortunate
emigrants, I finish now this notice of the sister Society,
by stating its connexion with the Caledonian Asylum.
Two such dissertations as the foregoing, on the past
and present state of the Highlands, may be considered as
out of the line of my profession, and not a very suitable
preliminary to a military memoir. But as the same
people form the subject of both, and as their personal
hardihood and moral qualities were such as peculiarly
fitted them for the toils and privations of a military life,,
as will more fully appear in the military narrative ; it may
not, perhaps, be foreign to the principal subject, to show
of what materials the Highland regiments were originally
composed, and what were the habits of thinking and act-
ing which, formed and matured within their native moun-
tains, accompanied them in their military progress. And,
as much of the happiness of the Highlanders, and no
small share of the prosperity of the country, depends
on the manner in which they are treated by their natural
protectors, in whose hands Providence and the laws have
placed so much power to raise or depress their condition ;
it is surely of importance to remember that this race of
people, although poor in circumstances, has been both
moral and independent; and as symptoms of a retrograde
tendency have recently begun to show themselves, I trust
I shall not be thought presumptions in making this
284 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
feeble attempt, founded on long intimacy with the people,
both as inhabitants of their native glens, and as soldiers
in barracks and in the field, and on some knowledge of the
state of the country, — to show what they were, what they
now are, and what, under a proper management, they
may yet become. The revolution to which I have so
often alluded^ considering the short space of time in
which it has been in operation, has been great. Had it
been accomplished in a more gentle manner, its influence
on the general disposition and character of the people
would have been less evident and more beneficial, and
they might have been taught to become more industrious,
without any loss of attachment or of moral principle.
In the central Highlands, industry can be employed
only in the cultivation of the land. Fuel is too scarce,
and all materials, except wool and flax, are too distant for
manufactories. This is not to be regretted ; there is
sufficient space for manufactories in the Low country,
and the towns are abundantly populous. Let the High-
landers, therefore, remain a pastoral and agricultural
people ; the superabundant population filling our military
ranks with good recruits, sending out an annual supply of
labourers to the Low country when required, and coloniz-
ing our distant possessions with a loyal and well-princi-
pled race. Although there may be some waste of labour,
and some parts of that produce consumed on the spot,
which might otherwise be sent to distant markets, still it
may be admitted, that the general value of produce does
not depend on the difference between a distant and
home consumption. It matters little to the general wel-
fare of the State, whether the consumption be on the
spot, or at the distance of forty or one hundred miles ;
and, although on a first view, it may appear a waste of
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 285
labour to employ more persons in agriculture than are
absolutely necessary to cultivate the soil, yet the morality
and the independence of the agricultural population is
surely of some, if not of the highest, consideration. It
ought not, moreover, to be forgotton, that, if small farmers
raise the same quantity of produce as large farmers,
the greater consumption on the spot, in the former case,
cannot possibly affect the question, or form any solid
objection that can be brought into comparison with the
advantage the bulk of the people derive from having
a share in the cultivation of the soil : seeing that, while
these people remain in the country, they are to be fed
from its produce, it matters not in what particular place
they consume it. It may be further remarked, that the
frequent distress of the working classes, is mainly to be
ascribed to the too general adoption of the present agri-
cultural system, which forces people from the country to
the towns, increases in an inordinate degree the number
of competitors for employment, and entails misery on
themselves and all who are in similar circumstances.
These observations will receive additional force, when it is
considered that this agricultural independency is the best
security against poor's rates. It is evident that these rates
originated in England when the people were driven from
the cultivation of the land, and left without any share in the
profits of the soil, except as labourers hired by others. It is
equally well known, that, in Scotland, people occupying
land never apply for charity, except in extreme cases.
Numerous examples show, likewise, that the consumption
of a few additional mouths will not diminish the rent :
therefore, as the population in the Lowlands is already
fully adequate for the present state of manufactures in that
part of the country, is it prudent or patriotic to overstock
286 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
them by depopulating the glens of the Highlands ? There,
experience has proved, that a man may be poor, yet inde-
pendent, and innocent, although idle: but how idleness
and poverty generate vice in populous towns, the records
of the criminal courts sufficiently evince. These show,
likewise, how numerous the crimes committed by High-
landers, or, at least, persons with Highland names, and of
Highland descent, have become in cities. In their native
country, on the contrary, the convicted criminals in
seventy years, during periods the most turbulent and
lawless, and taken from a population of 394,000 souls,
did not exceed 91:* while the number of criminals con-
victed in one year (181 7), at the spring and summer
assizes at Lancaster, was 86 ; and yet the agricultural
parts of the neighbouring County of Westmoreland, and
some counties in Wales, equal any part of the kingdom in
morality and exemption from crime. It may be said,
that, to compare the habits, temptations, debauchery, and
crimes of cities, with the innocence of an agricultural or
pastoral life, cannot be fair and just. Certainly it is not;
but is it then consistent with our duty to God, or to
humanity, with our love of country, or our patriotism, to
drive the people away from the innocent walks of life, and
force them into the resorts of immorality and crime?
* Records of the Court of Justiciary.
MILITARY CHARACTER. 287
SECTION V.
Military Character — National Corps advantageous^ especi-
ally in the Case of Highlanders — Character of Officers
fitted to command a Highland Corps,
In the preceding pages, I have attempted to deUneate a
sketch of the general character of the Scottish Highland-
ers, and to assign some of the causes which may have
contributed to its formation.
It was a saying of Marshal Turenne, that " Providence
for the most part declares in favour of the most numerous
battalions." The success of the British arms has often
refuted this observation, and proved that moral force, un-
yielding fortitude, and regular discipline, frequently make
up for inferiority of numbers.
Mihtary character depends both on moral and on
physical causes, arising from the various circumstances
and situations in which men are placed. Every change
in these circumstances tends either to improve or deterior-
ate that character ; and hence we find, that nations which
were once distinguished as the bravest in Europe, have
sunk into weakness and insignificance, while others have
been advancing to power and pre-eminence. The im-
portance of preserving this character is evident. Unless a
people be brave, high-spirited, and independent in mind
and in principles, they must, in time, yield to their more
powerful neighbours. To show how the Highlanders
supported their character, both in their native country and
when acting abroad, is the principal object which I have
now in view.
288 MILITARY CHARACTER.
In forming his military character, the Highlander was
not more favoured by nature than by the social system
under which he lived. Nursed in poverty, he acquired a
hardihood which enabled him to sustain severe privations.
As the simplicity of his life gave vigour to his body, so it
fortified his mind. Possessing a frame and constitution
thus hardened, he was taught to consider courage as the
most honourable virtue, cowardice the most disgraceful
failing; to venerate and obey his chief, and to devote
himself for his native country and clan ; and thus pre-
pared to be a soldier, he was ready to follow wherever
honour and duty called him. With such principles, and
regarding any disgrace he might bring on his clan and
district as the most cruel misfortune, the Highland private
soldier had a peculiar motive to exertion. The common
soldier of many other countries has scarcely any other
stimulus to the performance of his duty than the fear of
chastisement, or the habit of mechanical obedience to
command, produced by the discipline in which he has
been trained. With a Highland soldier it is otherwise.
When in a national or district corps, he is surrounded by
the companions of his youth, and the rivals of his early
achievements ; he feels the impulse of emulation strength-
ened by the consciousness that every proof which he dis-
plays, either of bravery or cowardice, will find its way to
his native home. He thus learns to appreciate the value
of a good name ; and it is thus, that in a Highland Regi-
ment, consisting of men from the same country, whose
kindred and connexions are mutually known, every in-
dividual feels that his conduct is the subject of observa-
tion, and that, independently of his duty, as a member of
a systematic whole, he has to sustain a separate and in-
dividual reputation, which will be reflected on his family
MILITARY CHARACTER. 289
and district or glen. Hence he requires no artificial ex-
citements. He acts from motives within himself; his
point is fixed, and his aim must terminate either in
victory or death. The German soldier considers him-
self as a part of the military machine and duty marked
out in the orders of the day. He moves onward to his
destination with a well-trained pace, and with as phleg-
matic indifference to the result, as a labourer who works
for his daily hire. The courage of the French soldier is
supported in the hour of trial, by his high notions of the
point of honour ; but this display of spirit is not always
steady : neither French nor German is confident in him-
self, if an enemy gain his flank or rear. A Highland
soldier faces his enemy, whether in front, rear, or flank ;
and if he has confidence in his commander, it may be
predicted with certainty that he will be victorious, or die
on the ground which he maintains. He goes into the
field resolved not to disgrace his name. A striking
characteristic of the Highlander is, that ail his actions
seem to flow from sentiment. His endurance of priva-
tion and fatigue, his resistance of hostile opposition, his
soUcitude for the good opinion of his superiors, all
originate in this source, whence also proceeds his obedi-
ence, which is always most conspicuous when exhibited
under kind treatment. Hence arises the difference observ-
able between the conduct of one regiment of Highlanders
and that of another, and frequently even of the same
regiment at different times, and under different manage-
ment. A Highland regiment, to be orderly and well-
disciplined, ought to be commanded by men who are
capable of appreciating their character, directing their
passions and prejudices, and acquiring their entire con-
fidence and affection. The officer to whom the command
u
290 MILITARY CHARACTER.
of Highlanders is entrusted, must endeavour to acquire
their confidence and good opinion. With this view, he
must watch over the propriety of his own conduct.* He
must observe the strictest justice and fidehty in his
promises to his men, conciHate them by an attention to
their dispositions and prejudices, and, at the same time,
by preserving a firm and steady authority, without which
he will not be respected.
Officers who are accustomed to command Highland
soldiers, find it easy to guide and control them when
their full confidence has been obtained; but when dis-
trust prevails, severity ensues, with a consequent neglect of
duty, and, by a continuance of this unhappy misunder-
standing, the men become stubborn, disobedient, and, in
the end, mutinous, f The spirit of a Highland soldier
revolts at any unnecessary severity; though he may be
led to the mouth of a cannon if properly directed, and
will rather die than be unfaithful to his trust. But if,
instead of leading, his officers attempt to drive him, he
may fail in the discharge of the most common duties.
A learned and ingenious author, who, though himself a
* In some instances, when the misconduct of officers, particularly
in the field, was not publicly censured, the soldiers who served under
them made regular representations that they could not and would
not remain longer under their command, and that, if they were not
relieved from the disgrace of being so commanded, they would lay
their complaints before the highest authority. In like manner, when
any of the soldiers showed a backwardness in facing an enemy, their
comrades brought them forward, calling for punishment on the pol-
troons, who were a disgrace to their country, their name, and their
kindred. With such checks to disgraceful, and such incitements to
an honourable line of conduct, the best results might be anticipated,
as indeed experience has proved.
+ See Appendix, GG.
MILITARY CHARACTER. 29!
Lowlander, had ample opportunity, while serving in many
campaigns with Highland regiments, of becoming inti-
mately acquainted with their character, thus develops
their conduct in the field: "The character of ardour
belongs to the Highlander; he acts from an internal
sentiment, and possesses a pride of honour, which does
not permit him to retire from danger with a confession of
inferiority. This is a property of his nature, and as it is
so, it becomes the business of officers who command
Highland troops to estimate the national character cor-
rectly, that they may not, through ignorance, misapply
their means, and thereby concert their own ruin.
" If ardour be the characteristic of Highlanders, it is
evident that they are not calculated for mechanical
manoeuvres, nor for demonstrations or encounters with a
view to diversion; for unless the purpose be previously
explained and understood in its full extent, the High-
lander darts on the enemy with impetuosity, rushing into
close action, where it was only intended to amuse. He
does not brook disappointment, sustain a gaUing distant
fire with coolness, or retire from an enterprise with
temper. He may be trusted to cover the most danger-
ous retreat assigned to him as a duty ; a retreat in
consequence of his own failure is Hkely to degenerate
into a rout. In action, the Highlander requires to see
his object fully: he then feels the impression of his duty,
and acts animately and consistently, more from impres-
sion and sentiment than from external impulse of com-
mand ; for, when an enemy is before the Highlander, the
authority of the officer may be said to cease. Different
nations have different excellencies or defects in war.
Some excel in the use of missile weapons : the power of
the Highlander lies in close combat. Close charge was
292 MILITARY CHARACTER.
his ancient mode of attack ; and it is probably from im-
pression, ingrafted in his nature in consequence of the
national mode of war, that he still sustains the approach-
ing point of a naked weapon with a steadier eye than any
other man in Europe. Some nations turn with fear from
the countenance of an enraged enemy: the Highlander
rushes towards it with ardour; and if he can grasp his
foe, as man with man, his courage is secure."
I shall subjoin one other quotation from the same
author. After describing their social meetings, at which
the enterprises of war were the frequent and usual themes
of conversation, he proceeds: — "The Highlanders, in this
manner, looking daily on war, and the enterprise of war,
with interest and animation, acquire radical ideas of the
military art. Without design, or formal intention, this germ
of military education, planted in the first years of life, as-
sumes a fair growth among these northern Scots ; for, as
objects of war, and warlike enterprise, command more
than other objects the exertions of the thinking faculty,
the Highlanders, formed with sound minds, and sus-
ceptible of good impressions, discover more natural saga-
city than any other class of people in the kingdom, per-
haps than any other people in Europe. The Highlanders,
in relation with their southern neighbours, were con-
sidered as freebooters, barbarians, given to spoil and
plunder. In former times, the charge had some appearance
of truth ; for the Lowlanders were considered as a hostile
or strange people. But though they drove the cattle of
a hostile tribe, or ravaged a Lowland district, with which
they had no connexion or bond of amity, their conduct
in the year 1745 proves that they are neither a ferocious
nor a cruel people ; for no troops probably ever traversed
a country which might be esteemed hostile with fewer
MILITARY CHARACTER. 293
traces of outrage. They are now better known : their
character is conspicuous for honesty and fideUty. They
possess the most exalted notions of honour, the warmest
friendships, and the highest portion of mental pride, of
any people perhaps in Europe. Their ideas are few
but their sentiments are strong ; their virtues, principles
in their nature."*
* Jackson's Systematic View of the Formation, Discipline, and
Economy of European Armies.
APPENDIX,
APPENDIX.
A, Page 15.
The country traditions are filled with anecdotes of the
hunting expeditions of the Alpine kings. From these
traditional authorities, the names of many remarkable ob-
jects in the neighbourhood of their ancient residence, par-
ticularly in Glenroy and Glenspean, are derived. Ossian,
and the heroes celebrated in song, seem in a manner over-
looked in the recollection of the later warriors and Nim-
rods. Since strangers and men of science have traversed
these long-deserted regions, an irreconcilable feud oi
opinions has arisen between the Geologists and the High-
lan'ders, regarding an uncommon conformation in Glenroy,
a glen in Lochaber, remarkable for the height and per-
pendicularity of its sides, particularly of one of them. On
the north side, at a considerable elevation above the
stream, which flows along the bottom of the glen, there is
a flat, or terrace, about seventy feet broad, having the
appearance of a road formed on the side of the mountain,
and running along, on a perfect level, to the extremity of
the glen. Five hundred feet above this, there is another
of these terraces, and still higher a third, all parallel, and
of similar form. In English they are called Parallel
Roads : the inhabitants know them by the name of the
King's Hunting Roads. Geologists say that the glen was
once full of water, up to the level of the highest parallel,
which must have been formed by the action of the waters
of this lake on the side of the hill. By some violence,
however, an opening was made in the lower end of the
glen that confined the water, in consequence of which it
290 APPENDIX.
immediately fell as low as the second parallel, and formed
it in the same manner as the first. Another opening of
the same kind brought down the surface of the water to
the third parallel, when, at length, that which confined
the water giving way entirely, it subsided to the bottom of
the glen, where it now runs, in a rapid stream, without
obstruction. To this opinion the Highlanders object, that
it is not probable that water, after the first declension,
would remain so perfectly stationary as to form a second
parallel of the same dimensions as the first, or that the
second declension would be so regular in time, and the
water so equal in its action, as to form a third terrace in
every respect perfectly similar to the two others ; that the
glen is too narrow to allow the waves to act with sufficient
force to form these broad levels ; that, in the centre of
the glen, which is narrow, the levels are the broadest and
.most perfect, whereas, on the upper end, which opens to
a wide extent, allowing a large space for the wind and
waves to act with superior force, the levels are contracted
*and less perfect ; that on one side of the glen these ter-
races are broad, and of perfectly regular formation, while,
on the other, they are narrow, and not so well formed ;
and that, unless the wind blew always from the same
quarter, waves would not roll with more force to one side
of a piece of water than to another. In Glenspean, which
is in the immediate neighbourhood, and in which similar
appearances present themselves, the hills recede several
miles from each other, leaving a wide expanse, on the
sides of which, if the valley or strath had been filled with
water, the waves would have acted with considerable force,
and yet these roads, or terraces, are by no means so dis-
tinctly formed, and continuous, as in Glenroy. The
Highlanders also urge the impossibility of water having
ever been confined in Glenspean, without an improbable
convulsion of nature, the lower end being of great width,
and open to the ocean. After stating these reasons, they
triumphantly conclude by a query, Why do not other
glens and straths in the Highlands exhibit natural appear-
ances similar to those in the vicinity of the ancient resid-
APPENDIX. 299
ence of the Alpine kings? Their own account, which
they beheve as firmly as they do their creed, is, that these
roads were made for the hunting of the kings when at In-
verlochay ; that they were palisadoed on each side ; and
that the game was driven through, affording the Royal
Hunters time to destroy numbers before they could get
to the end. As a confirmation of this account, they quote
the names of the circumjacent places, which all bear an
analogy to these huntings.
To these opinions, so opposite and difficult to recon-
cile, it is probable that each party will adhere.
B, Page 17.
Tradition states, that, in honour of this ancient alliance,-
and in compliment to the Lilies of France, one of the
succeeding Kings of Scotland surmounted the lion on his
arms with the double tressure, which has, ever since, con-
tinued to be the arms of Scotland. In consequence of a
requisition from Charles VII. of France, founded, as it is
said, on this treaty, the Duke of Albany, Regent of Scot-
land, in the year 141 9, sent his son, John Stewart, Earl of
Buchan, with 7000 men, to assist him in his wars against
the EngHsh. The Earl of Buchan, as a reward for the
eminent service rendered by his army, w^as made Constable
of France, which is the only instance of a foreigner receiv-
ing this distinction.
The late Lord Hailes was so remarkable for his accu-
racy and precision, that, on one occasion, it is said, he pro-
posed to reject a law-paper, because the ^xord Justice was
improperly spelt, the last letter having been omitted.
The severity of criticism he carried through all his labours.
In his remarks on the Histor}' of Scotland, he doubts
the reality of this alliance, because it has been variously
related by authors, and particularly by Hector Boece, a
Scotch historian (of a character very different from that
of the accurate, honourable, and learned judge,) who in-
dulges himself in detaihng many improbable and fabulous
events. Though doubts may reasonably be entertained
300 APPENDIX.
concerning the authenticity of this alliance, it is evident
that our ancient historians and chroniclers, when they
thought it probable that such a treaty had really existed,
must have believed that the Alpine kings had numerous
and warlike subjects ; and hence we may conjecture, that
the country was able to support a numerous population,
which has been denied by modern economists. With re-
gard to the credit due to traditions, it may be observed,
that, in the absence of written documents, they may be so
unvarying in their tenor, and so confirmed by colateral
circumstances, as to be entitled to a considerable degree
of importance. Traditions, thus preserved and confirmed,
are certainly preferable to the mere conjectures and hypo-
thesis of modern authors, which are not so much founded
on any authentic documents, as on the absence of them,
and which often vary with the peculiar opinions and pre-
conceived notions of each individual speculatist. The
want of written proof may, in many cases, be a good legal
objection ; but are we warranted, merely from the absence
of proof to the contrary, in refusing all credit to what has,
for ages, been handed down as the firm belief of our
ancestors? These observations I have thought it necessary
to offer, as I shall have occasion to refer to many tradi-
tions, for which I have neither written nor printed proofs,
but which I have every reason to believe are founded on
facts, although there may be some little difference in the
relation,— not more, perhaps, than we have met with in
the accounts given of the same work by the Edinburgh
and Quarterly Reviews.
There is hardly any point of history, far less tradition,
in which all men are agreed. Recent as the events are,
we have contradictory accounts of the Peninsular cam-
paigns, and of the battle of Waterloo. When, therefore,
we every day hear discordant reports and versions of
events that occurred within our own memory, can it be
matter of surprise that the affairs of remote ages should
be variously related, and can it furnish good grounds for
rejecting the whole as fabulous ? Many parts of our own
national history, which we receive with implicit credence,
APPENDIX.
301
(
will not perhaps bear that strictness of criticism which
calls for present and written proofs. In the same manner,
therefore, as I believe that there was a great and over-
whelming victory gained at Waterloo, notwithstanding
the discrepancy of minute details, so I am likewise will-
ing to give credit to many parts of our traditional story,
when these are not opposed to the principles of reason
and well-authenticated facts.
Whatever may be thought of the treaty with Charle-
magne, the connexion between France and Scotland must
be allowed to be of high antiquity, since it is noticed as
the "Ancient League," as far back as the reigns of Baliol,
Bruce, and Robert, the first of the Stewarts, upwards of
five hundred years ago. Now, as it is not disputed that
an amicable communication subsisted thus early, those
who disbelieve the alliance between Charlemagne and
Achaius ought to fix the period of the commencement of
that friendly intercourse, which continued uninterrupted
till the kings of Scotland removed to England, and
united the rival kingdoms under one Crown. It should
also be stated how far back the League must have ex-
tended, to have entitled it to the term of "Ancient"
bestowed on it in the days of John Baliol, who was de-
clared King of Scotland in the year 1292.
C, Page 30.
The Memorial begins with Argyleshire, "the countr}-
of the Campbells."
" Campbells. — In Gaelic they are called Clan Guin,
or O Duine. The Duke of Argyle is their Chief He
is called in the Highlands MacCailean Mor. On his own
property, and on his kinsmen's lands, he can raise above
3000 men; the Earl of Breadalbane, more than 1000;
and the Barons of the names of Campbell, Ardkinglass,
Auchinbreck, Lochnell, Inveraw, and others, 1000; so
that this clan could bring into the field above 5000 men,
besides those barons and gentlemen of the name in Dum-
barton, Stirling, and Perthshire, and the Laird of Calder
302 APPENDIX.
in Nairn. They are at present the richest and most
numerous clan in Scotland ; their countries and bounds
most extensive; their superiorities, jurisdictions, and other
dependencies, by far the greatest in the kingdom, which
makes the family of the greatest importance in North
Britain, and has been so since the decline of the Doug-
lasses, the total fall of the Cummins, the extinction of
the Earl of Ross's family, and of the Macdonalds of the
Isles.
" Macleafi. — In Gaelic called Clan Lein. Sir Hector
Maclean of Dowart is their Chief. He is called in the
Highlands Mac-il-Lein. This was a very potent clan
200 years ago, and could have raised 800 men ; but now
that the Campbells are possessed of their Chiefs estate,
they will hardly make 500, and even many of that num-
ber must be brought out of the Duke of Argyle's estate.
^'' Maclachian. — In Gaelic called Clan Lachlin. The
Laird of Maclachlan is their Chief He can raise 300 men.
Stewart of Appin. — The Laird of Appin is their
Chieftain. He holds his lands of the Crown, and can
raise 300 followers.
^^ Macdougall of Lorn. — In Gaelic called Clanvickuil.
Their Chief is the Laird of Macdougall. He is called in
the Highlands Mackuil Laurin. This was a more potent
family of old, but is now much diminished by the Camp-
bells ; they can still (I believe) bring out 200 men.
" Macdonalds of Sleat. — Proceeding northward by
the coast and Isles, we come to the Macdonalds. Sir
Alexander Macdonald is their Chieftain. In Gaelic he
is called Mac Connel nan Eilean, simply by way of pre-
eminence ; he has a very large estate which he holds of
the Crown. It lies in the isles of Skye and Uist. He
can bring out 700 men.
^^ Macdonald of Clanranald. — In Gaelic this Chieftain
is called Mack vie Allian, and in English Captain of
Clanranald. He has a very handsome estate, holding
most of it from the Crown. It lies in Moidart and
Arisaig on the Continent, and in the Isles of Uist, Ben-
becula, and Rum. He can bring out 700 men.
APPENDIX. 303
" Macdonell of Glengarry. — The Laird of Glengarry is
their Chieftain. In GaeHc he is called Mac-vic-Allistair.
He has a good estate, which he holds of the Crown. It
lies in Glengarry and Knoidart. He can bring out 500
men.
^'^ Macdondl of Keppoch. — Keppoch is iheir Chieftain.
In Gaelic he is called Mac-vic-Raonuil. He is not pro-
prietor of one ridge of land, but himself, kindred, and
followers, are only tacksman and tenants, holding the
most of their possessions from the Laird of Mackintosh,
and the rest from the Duke of Gordon, all being in Loch-
.aber. He can raise and bring out 300 followers.
'''' Macdojiald of Glenco. — The Laird of Glenco is their
Chieftain: In Gaelic he is called Mac-vicTan. He holds
his lands of Stewart of Appin, and can raise 150 men.
"These five Chieftains of the Macdonalds all claim a
lineal descent from Alexander Macdonald Earl of Ross,
successor and representative of the Macdonalds of the
Isles; but none of them have any clear document to
vouch the same, so that that great and aspiring family,
who waged frequent wars with our Scotch Kings, and
who acted as sovereigns themselves, and obliged most of
the clans to swear fealty to them, is now utterly extinct.
The last Earl of Ross had no sons, nor any near male
relation to succeed him.
" Cameron. — A very potent clan in Lochaber. The
Laird of Lochiel, called in the Gaelic Maconnel Dui, is
their Chief. He has a good estate, but none of it holds
of the Crown; the most of it holds of the Duke of Argyle,
and the rest of the Duke of Gordon. He can bring out
800 men. Of old there were several tribes in that coun-
try, viz., Macmartin of Letterfinlay, and others, branches
of the Camerons, who faithfully followed their chief.
^'' Macleods — Were two distinct and very potent fami-
lies of old, viz., Macleod of Lewis, and Macleod of Harris,
but they are both utterly extinct, and their lands possessed
by the Mackenzies. The present Laird of Macleod is
Chief of the name. He is called in Gaelic, Macleoid.
He has a very considerable estate, all holden of the Cro^^^l,
304 APPENDIX.
lying in Glenelg, on the Continent, and in the Isle of
Skye. He can bring out 700 men.
'■^ Mackift?2ons. — The Laird of Mackinnon is their
Chief; he holds his lands of the Crown, both in the Isles
of Skye and Mull, and can raise 200 men.
" I again pass to the south to give an account of the
inland Chiefs, beginning again in Argyleshire, and pro-
ceeding from thence northward. There are several per-
sons of rank, as well as gentlemen, who are chieftains,
and who have the command of many Highlanders in
Argyle, Monteith, Dumbarton, Stirling, and Perth shires;
such as the Duke of Montrose, the Earls of Moray and
Bute, also the Macfarlanes, Macneil of Barra, Macnab of
Macnab, Buchanans and Colquhouns of Luss, Macnaugh-
tons, Lamont of Lamont, etc. They can raise among
them 5400 men. Besides these there are several border
famines, those of Kilravock, Brodie of Brodie, Innes of
Innes, Irvine of Drum, Lord Forbes, and the Earl of
Airley, all of whom are loyal, except the Ogilvies. Few
or none of them have any followers, except Lord Airley,
from his Highland estate.
^^ Duke of Perth — Is no clan family, although the
Duke is Chief of a considerable number of barons and
gentlemen of the name of Drummond in the Low coun-
try. He is brought in here allenarly on account of his
command of about 300 Highlanders in Glenartnie and
other glens in the County of Perth.
'■'• Robe7'tso7is. — The Laird of Strowan is their Chief
They are called in Gaehc, Clan Donachie. His lands
hold of the Crown, and lie in Rannoch, and in the Braes
of Athole in Perthshire. On his own estate he can raise
about 200 men. There are 500 men more of the Robert-
sons in Athole who never follow their chief, being part of
the followers of the Duke of Athole.
" Menzies. — -Sir Robert Menzies of Weem is the Chief
In Gaelic he is called Menairich. He has a very hand-
some estate, all holding of the Crown, lying in Rannoch,
and Appin Dull in Athole, and can raise 300 men.
'•''Stewart of Grandtully. — Has a handsome estate in
APPENDIX. 305
Strathbrane and Strathtay in Athole, all holding of the
Crown, out of which he can raise 300 followers.
" Clan Gregor. — This name was called down by Act of
Parliament. They are now dispersed under the different
names of Drummond, Murray, Graham, and Campbell,
and live in the counties of Perth, Stirling, Dumbarton,
etc., etc. They have no present Chief, that being elective,
and continuing no longer than the current expedition.
He is chosen on the principle of dctur digniou. They can
raise among them 700 men.
^'Duke of Atholl. — The Murray s is no clan family,
though the Duke of Atholl is Chief, and head of a num-
ber of barons and gentlemen of the name of Murray in
the Lowlands; but he is deser%-edly placed here on account
of his extensive following of about 3000 Highlanders, a
good many of them out of his own property, but most of
them from the estates of the barons and gentlemen who
hold their land of him on account of his great superiorities
in Athole, Glenalmond, and Balquidder. The most
numerous of these, and the readiest to turn out on all
occasions, are the Stewarts of Athole, in number more
than 1000 men, as also 500 Robertsons, who do not
follow their chief; likewise the Fergussons, Smalls, Spald-
ings, Rattrays, Mackintoshes in Athole, and Maclarens in
Balquidder, with other broken names in Athole, are all
followers of the Duke of Atholl.
" Crossing the Grampian mountains to Braemar.
'''' Farquharsons. — The only clan family in i\.berdeen-
shire. In Gaelic called Clan lanla. They can bring
out about 500 men. The Laird of Invercauld is their
Chief. He has a ver}' handsome estate holden of the
Crown, both in Perthshire and Braemar. There are
several other barons of the same name that have com-
petent fortunes, such as Monaltrie, Inverey, Finzean, etc.
Duke of Gordon. — The Gordons is no clan family,
although the Duke is Chief of a very powerful name in
the Lowlands. He has a great posse of cavalry and
gentlemen on horseback in Enzie and Strathbogie, but he
is only placed here on account of his Highland followings
-X
3o6 APPENDIX.
in Strathavon and Glenlivet, which are about 300 men ;
his extensive jurisdictions and superiorities in the centre
Highlands, viz., Badenoch, Lochaber, and Strathspey, do
not yield him any followers. The tenants on his own
property, as well as those who hold their lands of him in
feu, follow their natural-born Chief, of whom they are
descended, and pay no regard either to the master
or superior of their lands. Thus the Camerons follow
Lochiel, the Macphersons follow Cluny, and other chiefs
followed and obeyed in the same manner from respect,
family attachment, and consanguinity.
" Grant. — A considerable name and family in Strath-
spey. The Laird of Grant is their Chief. He has a
handsome and large estate both in Strathspey and Urqu-
hart, in the County of Inverness, all holden of the Crown,
except Abernethy, which he holds of the Earl of Moray.
He can raise out of Strathspey 700 men, and out of
Urquhart 150. He has several barons of his name
both in Inverness, Moray, Banff, and Aberdeen shires,
such as Dalvey, Ballindalloch, Rothiemurchus, Cullen,
etc.
" Mackintoshes. — This was one of the most potent
clans in Scotland when their residence was at Tor Castle
in Lochaber, the ancient seat of their family (of which
country they are still heritable stewards), but the Came-
rons having purchased the said estate, their power is
much diminished. The Laird of Mackintosh is their
Chief; in Gaelic he is called Mackintoshach, and in
English Captain of Clan Chattan. He can bring out
800 men, including the small neighbouring clans of Mac-
gillivray, Macqueen, Macbean, etc., who all own them-
selves his kinsmen. His countries are Brae Lochaber,
Badenoch, and Strathnairn, in Inverness-shire. He still
retains a very competent estate. He holds Brae Loch-
aber, Moy, and Largs, of the Crown, Badenoch of the
Duke of Gordon, and most of his kinsmen hold Strath-
nairn of the Earl of Moray.
" Macpherso?is. — Called in Gaelic Clan Vurrich. Their
Chief is the Laird of Cluny. He can raise 400 men.
APPENDIX. 307
His whole lands, and all his kinsmen's lands, hold of the
Duke of Gordon, and lie in Badenoch.
^^ Erasers — Are a considerable clan in the countries
of Aird and Stratherrick, in Inverness-shire. Their Chief
is Lord Lovat : in Gaelic he is called Macimmie. He
has a large estate held of the Crown, and can raise 900
men. He has a good number of barons of his name in
Inverness and Aberdeen shires.
" Gra?it of Glenmoriston — Is Chieftain of a branch of
the Grants, but does not follow his Chief He brings out
150 men. In Gaelic he is called Macphadrick. His
lands hold of the Crown. In armaments he frequently
joins with the Laird of Glengarry.
" Chishoh7ts.~T\i€ix Chief is Chisholm of Strathglass,
in Gaelic called Chisallich. His lands are held of the
Crown, and he can bring out 200 men.
'■^ Macke?iz{es. — One of the most considerable clans of
one name next to the Campbells in the nation. The
Earl of Seaforth is their Chief In GaeHc he is called
Mac Coinnich. Out of his countries of Kintail, Loch-
broom, Lochcarron, on the Continent, and in the Isles
of Lewis, all in Ross-shire, he can raise 1000 men. The
Earl of Cromartie, with the Lairds of Gairloch, Scatwell,
Killcowie, Redcastle, Comric, etc., etc., can raise among
them 1500 men more.
" Monroes. — Sir Henry Monro of Fowlis is their Chief.
His lands hold of the Crown. He can raise 300 men.
" Rosses. — Lord Ross is their Chief His lands hold
of the Crown, and he can raise 500 men.
" Sutherlands. — The Earl of Sutherland is their Chief
In Gaelic he is called Morar Chatto. He can raise 2000
men.
'■^ Mackays. — The Lord Reay is their Chief He is
called in Gaehc, Macaoi. His estate holds of the Crown^
and brings out 800 men.
" Sinclairs. — The Earl of Caithness is their Chief
He is called in Gaelic, Morar Gallu. He could raise 1000
men, but many of his followers are now under May,.
Dunbeath, Ulbster, Freswick, etc., etc.
3o8 APPENDIX.
D, Page 39.
Of the expedients generally adopted by the Chiefs for
summoning their friends and followers, it may not be un-
acceptable to afford the reader some idea. The warlike
disposition of the Celtic clans, their jealousy of wrongs,
the numerous concurrent causes of irritation and quarrel,
and the nature of the country, over a large extent of
which they lived scattered and distant from one another,
Tendered some signal necessary to give the alarm, and
assemble the warriors. The principal signal was the
Cross Tarie, or Fiery Cross, a piece of wood burnt or
burning at one end, with a piece of linen or \vhite cloth
stained with blood hanging from the other. This symbol
served two purposes. It was sent round the country to
call the men to arms, and it was meant also to show what
were the intentions of the enemy (that is, to burn and
desolate the country), and what would be their own fate
if they did not defend their honour, their lives, and their
properties. The cross was sent round the country from
hand to hand, each person who bore it running at full
speed, shouting as he w-ent along the war-cry of the tribe,
and naming the place of rendezvous. At each hamlet a
fresh man took it up, so that an alarm was given, and the
people assembled with a celerity almost incredible. One
■of the latest instances of the Fiery Cross being used
happened in 1745, w^hen, by the orders of Lord Breadal-
bane, it was sent round Loch-Tay (a distance of thirty-
two miles in three hours), to raise the people, and prevent
their joining the rebels, — but with less effect than in 17 15,
when it went the same round, and when five hundred
men assembled the same evening under the command of
the Laird of Glenlyon, acting under the orders of the
Earl of Breadalbane, to join the Earl of Mar.
The war-cry served as a watchword to individuals in
the confusion of the combat, in the darkness of the night,
or on any sudden alarm, when assistance was necessary.
Each tribe had its own war-cry (or slogan^ as it is called
APPENDIX.
309
in Scotch), to which every clansman answered. The
war-cry of the Grants was Craig Eilachie, from a large
rock in the centre of the country of the Grants ; that of
the Mackenzie, Tidloch-ard ; of the Macdonalds, Craig-
na-fioch : of the Macphersons, Craig-dui ; of the Mac-
gregor, Ard-Choile ; of the Macfarlanes, Loch Sloy ; of the
Buchanans, Clairimsh ; and of the Farquharsons, Carn-
na-cuin. Some families in the border Lowlands em-
ployed their names as slogans and watchwords. In the
case of the Gordons, whenever assistance was necessary,
the cry of "A Gordon! a Gordon I" was sure to be
effectual. The cry of " A Forbes ! a Forbes !" was equally
availing with regard to the Forbeses; and as these two war-
Hke families were at feud for more than 200 years, they
had frequent occasion for their respective slogans, in their
countless strifes and rencounters. Besides these cries,
they had other marks by which it could be known to what
clan, tribe, or district, individuals belonged. One of
these was the particular disposition or set of the different
colours of the tartan, in the plaid, kilt, hose, and trews.
Another mark of distinction was a tuft of heath, pine, or
such plant, stuck in the bonnet, as would not fade or cast
the leaf. Thus the Macdonalds wore in their bonnets
tufts of heath ; the Macgregors and Grants a bunch of
pine ; the Drummonds and Mackenzie wore the holly,
the former the plain, and the latter the variegated ; * the
Mackintoshes the boxwood, and so on; always taking
care, whatever the bad^e or mark was, that it should be
* The Mackenzies occasionally assumed the deer's grass, in
allusion to the armorial bearings of the chief, viz., deer's head and
horns. In connexion with these bearings, and with the origin of
the clan, is an anecdote which will be found in the account of the
Seaforth Regiments. This distribution of the distinguishing badges
must have been well understood, otherwise interferences would
occur, as our evergreen trees and shrubs, are not numerous. The
Macgregors and Grants carried the same badge, as being of the same
descent. Clans inhabiting countries distant from each other, had
sometimes badges somewhat similar, although sufficiently marked ta
distinguish them, as in the instance of the plain and variegated holly
of the Drummonds and Mackenzies.
3IO APPENDIX.
permanent, and not affected by the change of the season,
and thus be equally conspicuous in winter as in summer.
This was the practice of all except the Stewarts, who
generally wore the oak ; which, from losing the leaf and
decaying, many regarded as ominous of the decline of
the family and name, who also considered the oak em-
blematical, as the leaves, though withered and decayed,
still hang by the branches till forced off by the new leaves
in spring.
E, Page 40.
Of such feuds, many instances might be adduced. I
shall select only one, which may serve to exemplify the
apparently trival causes from which they sometime arose,
in periods when men could not resort to the laws for pro-
tection, and the deadly and often fatal animosity with
which they were maintained. After the middle of the
fifteenth century, a quarrel occurred between Stewart of
Garth and a clan named Macivor, who then possessed
the greater part of Glenlyon. The Laird of Garth had
been nursed by a woman of the clan Macdiarmid, which
was then, and is still, pretty numerous in Glenlyon
and Breadalbane. This woman had two sons, one of
whom, foster-brother to the laird, having been much
injured by Macivor in a dispute, threatened to apply
for redress to his foster-brother. Accordingly, the two
brothers set out for that purpose to the Castle of Garth,
twelve or fourteen miles distant. In those days, a foster-
brother was regarded as one of the family ; and Macivor,
well aware that the quarrel of the Macdiarmids would be
espoused by his neighbour, ordered a pursuit. The
young men being hard pressed, threw themselves into a
deep pool of the River Lyon, where they hoped that their
pursuers would not venture to follow them. The foster-
brother was, however, desperately wounded with an arrow,
and drowned in the pool, which still retains the name of
Linne Donnel, or Donald's Pool. The other succeeded
in reaching Garth. Resolved to avenge his friend's death.
APPENDIX. 311
the laird collected his followers, and marched to Glenlyon.
Macivor mustered his men, and met the invaders about
the middle of the glen. The chieftains stepped forward
between the two bands, in the hope of settling the affair
amicably. Garth wore a plaid the one side of which was
red, and the other dark-coloured tartan, and, on pro-
ceeding to the conference, he told his men, that, if
the result was amicable, the darker side of the plaid
should remain outward as it was ; if otherwise, he would
give the signal of attack by turning out the red side.
They were still engaged in the conference, when Mac-
ivor whistled loud, and a number of armed men started
up from the adjoining rocks and bushes, where they
had been concealed, while the main body were drawn
up in front. " Who are these," said Stewart, " and
for what purpose are they there?" "They are only a
herd of my roes that are frisking about the rocks," replied
Macivor. "In that case," said the other, "it is time for
me to call my hounds." Then turning his plaid he re-
joined his men, who were watching his motions, and in-
stantly advanced. Both parties rushed forward to the
combat ; the Macivors gave way, and were pursued eight
miles farther up the glen. Here they turned to make a
last effort, but were again driven back with great loss.
The survivors fled across the mountains to another part
of the country, and were for some time not permitted to
return. Macivor's land was, in the mean time, seized by
the victors, and law confirmed what the sword had won.*
The names of the river and glen still continue memo-
rials of this sanguinary fray. Dhui and Glen Dhui were
their former names. When the Stewarts were returning
from the last pursuit, they washed their swords in the
river, which was discoloured a considerable way down on
* Charters under the Great Seal were passed by James III.,
dated at Edinburgh, 24th January 1477, and addressed " To John
Stewart of Garth and Fothergill, and Neil Stewart, his son and heir,
of the lands of Fothergill (now Fortingal), Apnadull, Temper, and
others in Rannoch ; Glenquaich, Wester Strathbrane, and Glenlioun,
in theCounty of Perth," — Records^ General Register House.
312
APPENDIX.
one side by the blood. " This stream," exclaimed the
chieftain, "shall no longer be called Dhui, but Leiven
(feiven is to wipe or lave), and the glen shall be called
Glenleiven." Before the combat commenced, Stewart's
men pulled off a kind of sandals, bound round the ancles
with thongs, and called in Gaelic cuaran. These they
laid aside, close to a small rock, which to this day is
called Lech-na-cuaran, the stone or slab of the sandals.
The spot where they drew their swords is called Ruskich,
to uncover or unsheath ; the field where the rencounter
commenced Laggan-na-cath^ the field of battle, and the
spot where the last stand was made, Carnus-na-car?i, from
the cairns or mounds of stones which cover the graves,
and which, from their quantity, show the considerable
number slain, which, tradition says, amounted to 140 on
the part of the Macivors.
In t8i6, a sword and battle-axe, now in my possession,
were dug up at Laggan-na-cath. The first is in the form
of a small sword, and remarkable for its elegance and
proportions, being equal to any model of the present day.
The blade is long, but, as may be supposed, much de-
stroyed by rust. The axe, more decayed than the sword,
is the same as was anciently used by the Highlanders when
they closed in the fight. The sword is so far curious, as
it shows that the Highlanders of that age had small
swords.
F, Page 43.
The following are the instances given by Martin :
" Captain Jackson of Whitehaven, about sixteen years
ago, was obliged to leave his ship, being leaky, in the bay
within Island Glass, alias Scalpa, in the Isle of Harris,
with two men only to take care of her, though loaded
with goods. The ship was not within three miles of a
house, and separated from the dwelling-houses by moun-
tains. Yet when the captain returned, twelve months
afterwards, he found the vessel and his men quite safe.
Captain Lotch lost the Dromedary of London, of 600
APPENDIX. 313
tons burthen, with all her rich cargo from the Indies, of
which he might have saved a great deal, had he embraced
the assistance the natives offered him. The captain and
his men were kindly entertained in the Isle of Skye, by
Sir Norman Macleod ; and though, among other valuable
goods, they had six boxes of gold dust, there was not the
least thing taken from them by the inhabitants."*
The protection afforded to the lives and property of
their fellow-creatures in the calamity of shipwreck, is
honourable to a people among whom the restraints of poli-
tical institutions were few and feeble. To persons who
understand the character of the Highlanders, it would be
unnecessary to state facts, to prove how generally feelings
of humanity, charity, and probity prevail ; but it is by re-
lating a succession of characteristic traits and circum-
stances of different ages and periods, connected with, and
illustrating each other, that prejudices, long entertained,
can be subdued, and that a proposition, however true in
itself, which militates against general opinion, can be fully
established. To deny the truth of a general statement,
to which, in all cases, exception may be made, is a mat-
ter of no difficulty ; by it is not so easy to resist a coin-
cident and connected view of the manners and habits of
successive generations. I do not mean to apply those
observ^ations to the statements which follow, but to the
general scope of the whole, as I have had occasion to
state facts in opposition to the opinion of many, with
regard to the character and dispositions of the High-
landers, as well as with regard to their intelligence and
religious and moral principles.
Without referring to Roman authors, Ossian's Poems,
or the traditional history of the ancient Caledonians, for
the firmness and spirit of independence with which they
maintained their freedom from a foreign yoke ; I shall
only notice a few extracts from authors, whose works
were printed soon after they were composed. Amongst
the earliest of these is Hollingshed, who wrote previous
* Martin's Description of the Western Isles. London, printed 1703.
314 APPENDIX.
to 1560, and who thus speaks of the Highlanders:
" Hereby, in Hke sort, it cometh to pass, that they are
more hard of constitution and bodie, to beare off the
cold blasts, to watch better, and abstaine longer ; where-
into also it appeareth, that they are ki7id^ bold, nimble^
and thereto more skillfull in the warres. As for their
faith and promise, they hold it with great constancies
The author of " Certayne Matters Concerning Scot-
land," printed in 1597, describes the Highlanders of his
day in the following manner: "Their drink is the broth
of sodden flesh * ; they love very well the drinks made of
whey and certayne yerbs, drinking the same at feasts ;
but the most part of them only drink water ; their custom
is to make their bread of oats and barley, which are the
only kinds of grain that grow in those parts ; experience
with tyme hath taught them to make it of such sort that
it is not unpleasant to eat ; they take a little of it in the
morning, and passing to the hunting or any other busynis,
content themselves without any other kind of meat till
even." The following extract is from an author of great
learning and research, who wrote upwards of a century
after the preceding : " But what contributes above all
things to their health and longevity, is constant temperance.
They rather satisfy than oppress nature. Their meals are
two a-day, water being their ordinary drink; they are
strangers to many of the distempers, as they are to most
of the vices, of other nations, for some of which they have
not so much as a name. They owe everything to nature.
They cure all disorders of the body by simples of their
own growth, and by proper diet or labour. Hence, they
are stout and active, dexterous in all their exercises, as
they are withal remarkably sagacious, choleric, but easily
appeased, sociable, good natured, ever cheerful, and having
a strong inclination to poetry and music. They are hospit-
able beyond expression, entertaining all strangers of what-
* This beef-soup has gone out of fashion, as many cannot now
indulge in animal food. It was called iucrich, and considered so
nourishing, that, even in my own time, it was given to delicate per-
sons who rcfjuired strengthening food.
APPENDIX. 315
ever condition gratis. They have no lawyers or attorneys.
The men and women plead their own causes, and every
decision is made by the proprietor, who is perpetual pre-
sident in their courts ; or by his bailiff as his substitute.
In a w^ord, they are equally void of the two chief curses
of mankind, luxury and ambition. They are not o?ily
rigid observers of justice, but show less propensity than
any people to tumult, except what they may be led into by
the extraordinary deference they pay to their chiefs and
leaders, w-ho are accountable for the mischiefs they some-
times bring on these well-meaning men, by their feuds and
quarrels wdth their neighbours."t
The next quotation is from a valuable work lately
published. The author, although born in the Lowlands,
and at a distance from the people he describes, was latterly
much among them, and had every opportunity of ascer-
taining the truth of what he states. " The natives of the
Highlands and Isles possess a degree of civilisation,
that, by those who had never been amongst them, would
hardly be believed. Attention to the great laws of moraUty,
as confirmed and supported by religion, is nowhere more
complete; in no part of the world is property more secure.
A stranger in these regions, behaving inoffensively, will
not only travel in perfect safety, but be kindly received,
and welcomed with affectionate hospitaUty. On these
unknown coasts, shipwTecks must sometimes happen; and,
in all cases of that nature, the mariners are not only saved,
where it possibly can be done, and kindly entertained, but
their property is secured and preserved, w^ith a degree of
care that reflects the highest honour on the natives. Dur-
ing the winter of 1784-5, a vessel, navigated by Danish
seamen, having struck on a rock west of Icolmkill, the
men, afraid of sinking, took to their boat, and made for
that island, leaving the vessel, with the sails set, to drive
with the wind and tide. Some of the natives, seeing the
vessel rolling, without being under proper management,
put off to the ship, and, finding nobody on board, took
t Tolamfs History of the Druids. London, printed 1709.
3l6 APPENDIX.
possession of her, and carried her into Loch Scridan in
Mull. The mariners, seeing their vessel safely moored,
went and claimed her, and, without hesitation or dispute,
obtained full possession, without any salvage or other
charge being made, save a few shillings to the men who
brought her in. The ship and cargo were then entrusted
to the farmer of the land adjoining the port in which she
lay, who, for a very trifling consideration, insured the
whole cargo to the owners, and delivered it over to them
som^ months afterwards, complete, and in good order.
Another vessel was put ashore about the same time in the
Island of Coll, the cargo of which was, in like manner,
saved by Mr Maclean, the respectable chief and laird of
the island.
" About the same time, two large vessels, belonging to
Clyde, went ashore in the Island of Islay ; one of them
contained on board ten thousand pounds in specie. As
these vessels were not under management merely because
of the sickness and lassitude of the crew, as often happens
from a long voyage, although the weather was not tempestu-
ous, the cargoes were taken out, and placed along the
shores in the best way they could. The vessels were then
got off, and when the articles of the two cargoes were col-
lected together, there was not one thing missing, save one
barrel of tar, which had probably been hove overboard, or
lost through carelessness. But the most singular instance
of the kind I met with was the following. A vessel from
Ireland, laden with linen yarn, was stranded in Islay.
The weather happened to become easy, and the cargo was
got out ; but as it was drenched in salt water, it became
necessary to have the whole washed in fresh water. This
was done in a river that was near, and the yarn spread
about along some extensive fields near the shore. Several
hundred persons were employed in this vvork for several
weeks. Yarn is the staple manufacture of the island, so
that the temptation for embezzlement was very great, as a
discovery in these circumstances would have been ex-
tremely difficult. Yet when the whole was collected to-
gether, to the utter astonishment of the parties concerned,
APPENDIX. 317
only a very few hanks of the yarn, (about five or six to the
best of my recollection), value about two or three shillings,
were wanting.
"I gladly record these instances of honesty and friendly
care of the unfortunate. How different from what I have
been witness to on the coast of England and Ireland!"*
In a recent scientific work, the author speaks of the
hospitality of the Highlanders, as forming a striking con-
trast to their exorbitant demands, when payment is ex-
pected. These demands (as stated by Dr Alacculloch)
are much at variance with Mr Fraser's statement. Both
are substantially correct. *' This habitual extortion,"
says the Doctor, " presents an amusing, but not an inex-
plicable contrast to the hospitality, which every one who
has travelled in this country must also have experienced.
The milk is given with the utmost generosity, but if
purchased, even from the same individual, ten times the
value is required. '"t This inconsistency, as the Geologist
justly observes, is not inexplicable. Hospitality and
kindness to strangers proceed from the natural disposi-
tion ; the exorbitant demand for that which, under other
circumstances, would be presented with cheerfulness, pro-
ceeds from the trafficking spirit which has now^ reached
the Highlands, and is gradually superseding all gratuitous
kindness and disinterested hospitality. Men who are not
in the habit of demanding payment for hospitality or for
accidental personal services, know not what to ask. The
man who would ask tw^o shillings for a quart of milk,
would work a whole day for a shilling, or run ten
miles with a letter or message without any payment. A
Highland lad will enlist to serve for life, along with a
friend, for a trifling or nominal bounty ; but if an attempt
be made to bargain with the same lad, no sum, perhaps,
will tempt him to enhst ; or if he do listen to proposals,
* See Letter to the Right Honourable Charles Abbot, Speaker
of the House of Commons, on the best Means of Improvement of
the Coasts and Western Isles of Scotland, and the extension of the
White Fisheries, by Robert Fraser, Esq.
t Dr MaccuUoch'' s Descriptioti of the Western Isles,
3l8 APPENDIX.
he will demand a sum out of all reason. I have seen
Highland soldiers spring forward to cover their officers
from the shot of the enemy ; I have seen them endeavour-
ing to restrain their officers, and to keep them under
cover, while they fully exposed themselves, in the expecta-
tion of diverting the attention of the enemy from their
commanders ; I have seen the same soldiers disputing a
penny in their accounts with the same officers, and, this
perhaps, only a few days after this voluntary hazard of
their Uves to shelter them.
G, Page 47.
The most noted of these was the celebrated Robert
Macgregor Campbell, or Rob Roy, well known in his
own and after times, as the most daring freebooter of his
day, and latterly celebrated by the great and faithful
delineator of the character and manners of our country-
men, who has recalled to the recollection of the aged,
scenes and circumstances which they had almost for-
gotten, — showed to the young what their forefathers saw
in their days, — aijd taught all to appreciate the blessing
of living under the laws which protect their persons and
property, and which forbid the injured or the turbulent
to redress their grievances by the sword. Much, perhaps
too much, has already been said about this man; but as his
actions have formed the subject of one of the most popu-
lar works of the age, it may be desirable to state a few
particulars explanatory of his birth, character, and con-
duct, and also of the primary cause of his adopting the
lawless course of life which he led for many years. The
few notices which follow may be considered as perfectly
authentic, being communicated by men who were either
sharers in his different exploits, or were perfectly ac-
quainted with the leader and many of liis followers.
The father of the present Mr Stewart of Ardvorlich
knew Rob Roy intimately, and attended his funeral in
1736, the last at which a piper officiated in the Highlands
APPENDIX. 319
of Perthshire.* The late Mr Stewart of Bohalhe, Mr
Macnab of Inchewan, and several gentlemen of my
acquaintance, also knew Rob Roy and his family. Alex-
ander Stewart, one of his followers, afterwards enlisted in
the Black Watch. He was wounded at Fontenoy, and
discharged with a pension in 1748. Some time after this
period, he was engaged by my grandmother, then a
widow, as 2i grieve or overseer to direct and take charge of
the farm-servants. In this situation he proved a faith-
ful trustworthy servant, and was by my father continued
in his situation till his death. He told many anecdotes
of Rob Roy and his party, among whom he was distin-
guished by the name of the Baihe, a title which he ever
after retained. It was before him that people were sworn,
when it was necessary to bind them to secrecy.
Robert Macgregor Campbell + was a younger son of
Donald Macgregor of Glengyle, in Perthshire, by a daughter
of Campbell of Glenlyon, sister of the individual who com-
manded at Glencoe.i He was born some time between
* The pipers on these occasions played a solemn dirge, which
ser\'ed the same purpose as bells in towns, organs in churches, and
bands of music at military funerals or executions. The difference
was only in the instruments used : the principle and effect were the
same in all. This ancient custom was revived three years ago at
the funeral of a most exemplar}', patriarchal, and honourable Chief-
tain, the late Sir John Murray Macgregor of Lanrick, Baronet.
+ After the name of Macgregor was suppressed by Act of Parlia-
ment in 1622, individuals of the clan assumed the names of the
chiefs or landlords on whose estates they lived, or adopted the
names of such men of rank and power as could afford them protec-
tion. Thus, Rob Roy, took the name of his friend and protector
the Duke of Arg)'ll, while his son James, putting himself under the
protection of the family of Perth, took the name of Drummond.
This cruel and degrading Act was repealed in 1775. Now the clan
Macgregor may assume and sign their own names to bonds and
deeds (formerly no document signed by a Macgregor was legal), but
numbers do not avail themselves of this indulgence. Many Mac-
gregors have not assumed their original name.
t In a contract of amity and manrnit between this Donald Mac-
gregor and John Buchanan of Arnprior, he is called Colonel. In
this contract, which is dated 24th May 1693, Colonel Macgregor be-
comes bound for himself, and for all those descended of his family,
320 APPENDIX.
1657 and 1660, and married Helen Campbell of the family
of Glenfalloch. As cattle was at that period the principal
marketable produce of the hills, the younger sons of gen-
tlemen had few other means of procuring an independent
subsistence, than by engaging in this sort of traffic. At
an early period Rob Roy was one of the most respectable
and successful drovers in his district. Before the year
1707 he had purchased of the family of Montrose the
lands of Craigrostane, on the banks of Lochlomond, and
had reheved some heavy debts on his nephew's estate of
Glengyle. While in this prosperous state, he continued
respected for his honourable dealings both in the Low-
lands and Highlands. Previous to the Union no cattle
had been permitted to pass the English border. As a
boon or encouragement, however, to conciliate the people
to that measure, a free intercourse was allowed. The
Marquis of Montrose, created Duke the same year, and
one of the most zealous partisans of the Union, was the
first to take advantage of this privilege, and immediately
entered into partnership with Rob Roy, who was to pur-
chase the cattle and drive them to England for sale ; the
Duke and he advancing an equal sum, (10,000 merks
each, a sum which would have purchased 500 head of
catde in those days, when the price of the best ox or
cow was seldom twenty shillings), all transactions be-
yond this amount to be on credit. The purchases hav-
ing been completed, Macgregor drove them to England ;
but so many people had entered into a similar specu-
lation, that the market was completely overstocked,
and the cattle sold for much less than prime cost.
Macgregor returned home, and went to the Duke to
settle the account of their partnership, and to pay
the money advanced with the deduction of the loss.
The Duke, who had taken Macgregor's bond for the
money, it is said, would consent to no deduction, but in-
or "Clan Duil Cheire," to support Arnprior in all difficulties and
ngainst all aggressors. This "Clan Duil Cheire" have lately been
brought to notice, as the " Children of the Mist" of a celebrated
and jwpular work.
APPENDIX. 321
sisted on principal and interest. "In that case, my
Lord," said Macgregor, "if these be your principles, I
shall not make it my principle to pay the interest, nor my
interest to pay the principal ; so if your Grace do not
stand your share of the loss, you shall have no money
from me." On this they separated. No settlement of
accounts followed, the one insisting on retaining the
money unless the other would consent to bear his share of
the loss. Nothing decisive was done till the Rebellion of
171 5, when Rob Roy "was out," his nephew Glengyle
commanding a numerous body of the Macgregors, but
under the control of his uncle's superior judgment and
experience. On this occasion the Duke of Montrose's
share of the cattle speculation was expended. The next
year his Grace took legal means to recover his money, and
got possession of the lands of Craigrostane on account of
his bond. This rendered Macgregor desperate. Deter-
mined that his Grace should not enjoy his lands with
impunity, he collected a band of about twenty followers,
declared open war against him, and gave up his old course
of regular droving, declaring that the estate of Montrose
should, in future, supply him with cattle, and that he
would make the Duke rue the day on which he had
quarrelled with him. He kept his word ; and for nearly
thirty years, that is, till the day of his death, levied regular
contributions on the Duke and his tenants, not by nightly
depredations and robberies, but in broad day, and in a
systematic manner ; at an appointed time making a com-
plete sw^eep of all the cattle of a district ; always passing
over those not belonging to the Duke's estate, as w^ell as
the estates of his friends and adherents : and having pre-
viously given notice where he was to be by a certain day
with his cattle, he w^as met there by people from all parts
of the country, to whom he sold them publicly. These
meetings, or trysts, as they were called, were held in
different parts of the country; sometimes the cattle were
driven south, but oftener to the north and west, where the
influence of his friend the Duke of Argyll protected him.
When the cattle were in this manner driven away, the
3^2 APPENDIX.
tenants paid no rent, so that the Duke was the ultimate
sufferer. But he was made to suffer in every way. The
rents of the lower or cultivated farms were partly paid in
grain and meal, which was generally lodged in a store-
house or granary called a girnal, near the Loch of Mon-
teith. When Macgregor required a supply of meal, he
sent notice to a certain number of the Duke's tenants to
meet him at the girnal, on a certain day, with their horses
to carry home his meal. They met accordingly, when he
ordered the horses to be loaded, and, giving a regular
receipt to his Grace's storekeeper for the quantity taken,
he marched away, always entertaining the people very
handsomely, and careful never to take the meal till it had
been lodged in the Duke's store-house, in payment of rent.
When the money rents were paid, Macgregor frequently
attended. On one occasion, when Mr Graham of Killearn
(the factor) had collected the tenants to receive their rents,
all Rob Roy's men happened to be absent except Alex-
ander Stewart, "the Bailie," whom I have already men-
tioned. With this single attendant, he descended to
Chapellairoch, where the factor and the tenants were
assembled. He reached the house after it was dark, and,
looking in at a window, saw Killearn, surrounded by a
number of the tenants, with a bag full of mioney, which he
had received, and was in the act of depositing in a press
or cupboard; at the same time saying, that he would
cheerfully give all in the bag for Rob Roy's head. This
notification was not lost on the outside visitor, who
instantly gave orders in a loud voice to place two men at
each window, two at each corner, and four at each of two
doors, thus appearing to have twenty men. Immediately
the door opened, and he walked in with his attendant
close behind, each armed with a sword in his right and a
pistol in his left hand, and with dirks and pistols slung in
their belts. The company started up, but he requested
them to sit down, as his business was only with Killearn,
whom he ordered to hand down the bag and put it on
the table. When this was done, he desired the money to
be counted and proper receipts to be drawn out, certifying
APPENDIX. 323
that he had received the money from the Duke of Mon-
trose's agent, as the Duke's property, the tenants having
paid their rents, so that no after demand could be made
against them, on account of this transaction ; and finding
that some of the people had not obtained receipts, he de-
sired the factor to grant them immediately, " to show his
Grace," said he, " that it is from him I take the money,
and not from these honest men who have paid him." After
the whole was concluded, he ordered supper, saying, that
as he had got the purse, it was proper he should pay the
bill ; and after they had drank heartily together for
several hours, he called his baiHe to produce his dirk and
lay it naked on the table. Killearn was then sworn that
he would not move from that spot for an hour after the
departure of Macgregor, who thus cautioned him : " If
you break your oath, you know what you are to ex-
pect in the next world and in this," pointing to his dirk.
He then walked away, and was beyond pursuit before the
hour expired.
At another collection of rents by the same gentleman,
Macgregor made his appearance, and carried him away
with his servants, to a small island in Loch-Katrine ; and
having kept him there for several days, entertaining him
in the best manner, as a Duke's representative ought to
be, he dismissed him, with the usual receipts and compli-
ments to his Grace. In this manner did this extraordi-
nary man live, in open violation and defiance of the laws,
and died peaceably in his bed when nearly eighty years
of age. His funeral was attended by all the country
round, high and low, the Duke of Montrose and his
immediate friends only excepted. How such things could
happen at so late a period must appear incredible ; and
this, too, within thirty miles of the garrisons of Stirling
and Dumbarton, and the populous city of Glasgow ; and,
indeed, with a small garrison stationed at Inversnaid, in
the heart of the country, and on the estate which had
belonged to Macgregor, for the express purpose of check-
ing his depredations. The truth is, the thing could not
have happened, had it not been for the peculiarity of the
324 APPENDIX.
man's character ; for, with all his lawless spoliations and
unremitting acts of vengeance and robbery against the
Montrose family, he had not an enemy in the country,
beyond the sphere of their influence. He never hurt or
meddled with the property of a poor man, and, as I have
stated, was always careful that his great enemy should be
the principal, if not the only sufferer. Had it been other-
wise, it was quite impossible that, notwithstanding all his
enterprise, address, intrepidity, and vigilance, he could
have long escaped in a populous country, with a warlike
people well qualified to execute any daring exploit, such
as the seizure of this man, had they been his enemies,
and willing to undertake it. Instead of which, he lived
socially among them, that is, as socially as an outlaw,
always under a certain degree of alarm, could do, — giving
the education of gentlemen to his sons,* frequenting the
most populous towns, and whether in Edinburgh, Perth,
or Glasgow, equally safe ; at the same time that he dis-
played great and masterly address in avoiding, or calling
for public notice.
* One of his sons, who died not many years ago, was very young
at his father's death, and did not receive so good an education as his
brothers. Another son, James Drummond Macgregor, was impli-
cated with his brother Robert in carrying off by force a rich widow,
whom he afterwards married. For this crime they v/ere tried and
condemned. Robert was executed in 1753. His execution is thus
noticed in the Caledonian Mercury of 7th February 1752: " Yester-
day Robert Macgregor Campbell, alias Rob Roy Ogg, was executed
in the Grass Market, for the forcibly carrying away of the deceased
Mrs Jean Keay, heiress of Edenbelly ; he was genteely dressed, and
read on a volume of Gother's Works from the prison to the place of
execution." James escaped from prison, and fled to France, where
he lived in great poverty ; but, being a man of considerable talent
and address, he was offered a sum of money for communicating in-
telligence — in short, to be employed as a spy for the French Govern-
ment. An idea of his education, and of his principles, may be
formed from some letters published in " Blackwood's 5lagazine " in
1818, and from his rejection of an employment which he considered
dishonourable in itself, and detrimental to the good of his country,
although banished from it, and having little prospect of being ever
permitted to return. He died in France in great poverty, being
chiefly supported by some benevolent countrymen.
APPENDIX. 325
These instances of his address struck terror into the
minds of the troops, whom he often defeated and out-
generalled. One of these instances occurred in Breadal-
bane, in the case of an officer and forty chosen men sent
out after him. The party crossed through Glenfalloch to
Tyndrum, and Macgregor, who had correct information
of all their movements, was with a party in the immediate
neighbourhood. He put himself in the disguise of a
beggar, with a bag of meal hung on his back (in those
days, alms were always bestowed in produce), went to the
inn at Tyndrum where the party were quartered, walked
into the kitchen with great seeming indifference, and sat
down among the soldiers. They soon found the beggar a
lively, sarcastic fellow, and began to attempt some practi-
cal jokes upon him. He pretended to be very angry,
and threatened to inform Rob Roy, who would quickly
show them they were not to give, with impunity, such
usage to a poor and harmless person. He was immedi-
ately asked what he knew of Rob Roy, and if he could
tell where he was. On his answering that he knew him
well, and where he was, the sergeant informed the officer,
who immediately sent for him.
After some conversation, the beggar consented to
accompany them to Crianlarich, a few miles distant,
w^here he said Rob Roy and his men were, and that he
believed their arms were lodged in one house, while they
were sitting in another. He added, that Rob Roy was
friendly and sometimes joked with him, and put him at
the head of his table ; " and when it is dark," said he, "I
will go forward, you will follow in half-an-hour, and,
when near the house, rush on, place your men at the back
of the house, ready to seize on the arms of the Highlanders,
while you shall go round to the front with the sergeant
and two men, walk in, and call out that the whole are your
prisoners ; and don't be surprised although you see me at
the head of the company." As they marched on, they
had to pass a rapid stream at Dalrie, a spot celebrated on
account of the defeat of Robert Bruce, by Macdougal of
Lorn, in the year 1306. Here the soldiers asked their
326 APPENDIX.
merry friend the beggar to carry them through on his
back. This he did, sometimes taking two at a time till he
took the whole over, demanding a penny from each for his
trouble. When it was dark they pushed on (the beggar
having gone before), the officer following the directions of
his guide, and darting into the house with the sergeant
and three soldiers. They had hardly time to look to the
end of the table where they saw the beggar standing, when
the door was shut behind them, and they were instantly
pinioned, two men standing on each side, holding pistols
to their ears, and declaring that they were dead men if
they uttered a word. The beggar then went out and
called in two more men, who were instantly secured, and
in the same manner with the whole party. Having been
disarmed, they were placed under a strong guard till morn-
ing, when he gave them a plentiful breakfast, and released
them on parole (the Bailie attending with his dirk, over
which the officer gave his parole), to return immediately
to their garrison, without attempting anything more at this
time. This promise Rob Roy made secure, by keeping
their arms and ammunition as lawful prize of war.
Some time after this, the same officer was again sent
in pursuit of this noted character, probably to retrieve his
former mishap. In this expedition he was more fortunate,
for he took two of the freebooters prisoners in the higher
parts of Breadalbane, near the scene of the former exploit,
but the conclusion was nearly similar. He lost no time
in proceeding in the direction of Perth, for the purpose of
putting his prisoners in jail ; but Rob Roy was equally
alert in pursuit. His men marched in a parallel line with
the soldiers, who kept along the bottom of the valley on
the south side of Loch Tay, while the others kept close
up the side of the hill, anxiously looking for an opportunity
to dash down and rescue their comrades, if they saw any
remissness or want of attention on the part of the soldiers.
Nothing of this kind offered, and the parly had passed
Tay Bridge, near which they halted and slept. Mac-
gregor now saw that something must soon be done or
never, as they would speedily gain the Low country and
APPENDIX. 327
be out of his reach. In the course of the night he pro-
cured a number of goat-skins and cords, with which he
dressed himseh" and his party in the wildest manner pos-
sible, and, pushing forward before daylight, took post near
the road side, in a thick wood below Grandtully Castle.
When the soldiers came in a line with the party in am-
bush, the Highlanders, with one leap, darted down upon
them, uttering such yells and shouts, as, along with their
frightful appearance, so confounded the soldiers, that they
were overpowered and disarmed without a man being hurt
on either side. Rob Roy kept the arms and ammunition,
released the soldiers, and marched away m triumph with
his rescued men.
The terror of his name was much increased by ex-
ploits like these, which, perhaps, lost nothing by the tell-
ing, as the soldiers would not probably be inclined to
diminish the danger and fatigues of a duty in which they
were so often defeated. But it is necessary to repeat the
stories preserved and related of this man and his actions,
which were always daring and well contrived, often suc-
cessful, but never directed against the poor, nor prompted
by revenge, except against the Duke of Montrose, and
without an instance of bloodshed committed by any of his
party, except in their own defence.* In his war against
the Montrose family he was supported and abetted by the
Duke of Arg)'ll, from whom he always received shelter
when hard pressed, or, to use a hunting term, when he was
in danger of being earthed by the troops, t These two
* It is said that the last rencontre Macgregor had was a duel
with Mr Stewart of Ardshiel. They fought with the broadsword.
Macgregor being then far advanced in years, and ver>- corpulent,
gave up the contest, after receiving a cut in the chin.
t A cave under Craigrostane, and close to Lochlomond, is
pointed out as one of his hiding places. If, contrary to the general
opinion of the people, he ever Hved in caves, it is probable that he
would not make choice of such an one as that at Craigrostane, whence
an escape would be impossible if an enemy discovered the hiding
place, and guarded the entrance. Rob Roy was not a man likely to
trust himself in such a place on any emergency, or danger from an
enemy.
328 APPENDIX.
powerful families were still rivals, although Montrose had
left the Tories and joined Argyll and the Whig interest.
It is said that Montrose reproached Argyll in the House
of Peers with protecting the robber Rob Roy, when the
latter, with his usual eloquence and address, parried off
the accusation, (which he could not deny), by jocularly
answering, that, if he protected a robber, the other sup-
ported and fed him.
H, Page 78.
This man had been a sergeant in the French service,
and came over to Scotland in the year 1745. From his
large size he was called Sergeant Mor. Having no settled
abode, and dreading the consequence of having served in
the army of France, and of being afterwards engaged in
the Rebellion, he formed a party of outlaws, and took up
his residence among the mountains between the counties
of Perth, Inverness, and Argyle. While he plundered the
cattle of those whom he called his enemies, he protected
the property of his friends, and frequently made people on
the borders of the Lowlands purchase his forbearance by
the payment of Black Mail. Many stories are told of this
man. On one occasion he met with an officer of the
garrison of Fort-William on the mountains of Lochaber.
The officer told him that he suspected he had lost his
way, and, having a large sum of money for the garrison,
was afraid of meeting the Sergeant Mor; he, therefore,
requested that the stranger would accompany him on his
road. The other agreed ; and, while they walked on, they
talked much of the Sergeant and his feats, the officer using
much freedom with his name, calling him robber, mur-
derer. — " Stop there," interrupted his companion, *' he
does indeed take the cattle of the Whigs and Sassanachs,
but neither he nor his kearnachs ever shed innocent
blood ; except once," added he, " that I was unfortunate
at Braemar, when a man was killed, but I immediately
ordered the creach (the spoil) to be abandoned, and left
to the owners, retreating as fast as we could after such a
APPENDIX. 329
misfortune." " You," says the officer, " what had you to
do with the affair?" "I am John Dhu Cameron — I am
the Sergeant Mor ; there is the road to Inverlochy — you
cannot now mistake it. You and your money are safe.
Tell your governor to send in future a more wary messen-
ger for his gold. Tell him also, that, although an out-
law, and forced to live on the public, I am a soldier as
well as himself, and would despise taking his gold from
a defenceless man who confided in me." The officer
lost no time in reaching the garrison, and never forgot the
adventure, which he frequently related.
Some time after this, the Sergeant Mor was betrayed
by a treacherous friend, and taken by a party under the
command of Lieutenant (afterwards Sir Hector) Munro.
This happened at the farm of Dunan, in Rannoch, where
he was in the habit of sleeping in safety, till that night,
when it is said that his landlord sent notice to Lieutenant
Munro, who was stationed two miles distant. Cameron
slept in a barn, his arms having, as was supposed, been
secretly removed, by his false friend. He was found
asleep, and the soldiers rushed in and seized him ; but,
being a powerful man, he shook them all off, and made
his way to the door, where he was overpowered by those
on the outside. He threw one of the soldiers with such
force against the wall of the barn, that he was long dis-
abled by his bruises. Cameron was carried to Perth,
and tried before the Court of Justiciary for the murder in
Braemar, and various acts of theft and cattle stealing.
One of these acts of theft was stealing from the Duke of
Athole's parks at Blair two wedders, which the party
killed for food, on their retreat from Braemar. Cameron
was executed at Perth on the 23rd of November 1753,
and hung in chains.
It was then the practice, in the Court of Justiciary, to
call the Doomster (an officer so called) into Court after
sentence of death was passed, to place his hand on the
head of the criminal, as a token that he was in future to
be under his care. A friend of mine, who was present
at this trial, informed me, that when the Doomster
330 APPENDIX.
approached the Sergeant Mor, he exclaimed, " Keep the
caitiff off, let him not touch me ;" and stretching his arms
as if to strike, the Doomster was so terrified by his look,
action, and voice, that he shrunk back, and retired from
the Court, without going through the usual ceremony.
I, Page 84.
Beague, in his History of the Scotch Campaigns of
1548 and 1549, describing the Battle of Pinkie, in which
the Scots were defeated, says, " The Highlanders, who
show their courage on all occasions, gave proof of their
conduct at this time, for they kept together in one body,
and made a very handsome and orderly retreat. They
are armed with broadswords, large bows, and targets."
"The armour," says the author of "Certayne Matters,"
in 1597, "with which they covered their bodies in times
of war, is an iron bonnet, and halberzion side almost
even with their heels ; the weapons against their enemies
are bows and arrows ; they fight with broadswords and
axes ; in place of a drum they use a bagpipe ; they
delight much in music, but chiefly in harps and clairs-
shoes {clairsach is the Gaelic for harp) of their own
fashion." The author of '' Memoirs of a Cavalier,"
speaking of the Highlanders in the Scotch army under
General Leslie in 1640, says, "I confess the soldiers
made a very uncouth figure, especially the Highlanders ;
the oddness and barbarity of their garb and arms seemed
to have something in it remarkable. They were generally
tall swinging-looking fellows ; their swords are extrava-
gantly broad, and they carried large wooden targets, large
enough to cover the upper part of their bodies. Their dress
was antique as the rest ; a flat cap on their head, called
by them a bonnet, long hanging sleeves behind, and their
doublets, breeches, and stockings, of a stuff they called
plaid, stripped across red and yellow, with short cloaks of
the same. These fellows looked, when drawn out, like
a regiment of Merry Andrews, ready for Bartholomew
Fair. They are in companies all of a name, and therefore
APPENDIX. 331
call one another by his Christian name, as James, John,
Rob, and AUister, that is Alexander, and the like ; and
they scorn to be commanded but by one of their own
clan or family. They are all gentlemen, and proud
enough to be kings. The meanest fellow among them is
as tenacious of his honour as the best nobleman in the
country, and they will fight and cut one another's throats
for every trifling aff'ront ; but to their own chiefs or lairds
they are the wilhngest and most obedient fellows in
nature. To give them their due, were their skill and
exercise and discipline proportioned to their courage,
they would make the best soldiers in the world. They
have large bodies, and prodigious strong, and two qualities
above all other nations, viz., hardy to endure fatigue,
hunger, cold, and hardships, and wonderfully swift of
foot. The latter is such an advantage in the field, that
I know none like it, for if they conquer, no enemy can
escape them, and if they run, even the horse can hardly
overtake them. There were some of them, as I observed
before, went out in parties with their horse. There were
3000 or 4000 of these in the Scotch army, armed only
with swords and targets, and in their belts some of them
had a pistol, but no musquets at that time among them.
But there were also a great many Scotch regiments of
disciplined men, who, by their carrying their arms, looked
as if they understood their business, and by their faces,
that they durst see an enemy."
K, Page Ss.
Two which occurred in the reign of Charles II. were
among the last instances of bowmen being employed in
the Highlands. After a long and protracted feud between
the Lairds of Mackintosh and Lochiel commencing in a
claim of the former to lands held by the latter, Mackintosh,
to enforce his claim, raised his clan, and assisted by the
Macphersons, marched to Lochaber with 1500 men. He
was met by Lochiel ^yiih 1200 men, of whom 300 were
Macgregors. About 300 were armed with bows. When
332 APPENDIX.
preparing to engage, the Earl of Breadalbane, who was
nearly related to both chiefs, came in sight, \vith 500 men,
and sent them notice, that if either of them refused to
agree to the terms which he had to propose, he would
throw his force into the opposite scale. This was a strong
argument, and not easily refuted. After some hesitation,
his offer of mediation was accepted, and the feud amicably
and finally settled.
The other instance happened about the same time, in
a contest between the Macdonalds of Glencoe and the
Breadalbane men. The former being on their return
from a foray in the low country, attempted to pass through
Breadalbane without giving due notice, or paying the
accustomed compHment to the Earl, who, a short time
previous, had been raised to that rank. A number of his
Lordship's followers, and a great many others, w^ho were
assembled at the castle of Finlarig to celebrate the
marriage of a daughter of the family, enraged at this
insult, instantly rushed to arms, and following the Mac-
donalds, with more ardour than prudence, attacked them
on the top of a hill north from the village of Killin, where
they had taken post to defend their cattle. The assailants
were driven back with great loss, principally caused by
the arrows of the Lochaber men. It is said that nineteen
young gentlemen of the name of Campbell, immediate
descendants of the family, fell on that day. Colonel
Menzies of Culdares, who had been an active partisan
under the Marquis of Argyll and the Covenanters in the
civil wars, and whose prudent advice of attacking in flank
the hot-headed youth despised, had nine arrow wounds
in his legs and thighs. These vvounds he received in
retreating across the River Lochy, and when ascending
the hill on the opposite side of the valley. Though the
arrows were well aimed, they lost much of their force by
the distance ; consequently the wounds were slight.
The yew was the common material of the bows of the
Highlanders,
" who drew,
And almost joined the horns of the tough yew."
APPENDIX.
333
Within the church-yard of Fortingal, Perthshire, the ruins
of an enormous yew-tree still remain. The stem is now
separated into two parts ; the principal, although only a
mere shell, the centre being entirely decayed, measures
thirty-two feet in circumference. Colonel Campbell of
Glenlyon, and my grandfather, used to say that when they
were boys (about the year 1725) the parts now separated
were united, when the whole stem measured fifty-six feet
in circumference. This venerable relic, which appears so
respectable in its decay, has suffered much from delapi-
dations. Tradition says, that warriors, at one time, cut
their bows from it ; latterly dirk-makers, shoemakers, and
others, made handles from it for their dirks, awls, and
other instruments; and it has suffered greatly from the
curiosity of modern tourists.
In the original charter for building the church of
Perone, in Piccardy, dated in the year 684, a clause was
inserted, directing the proper preservation of a yew-tree,
which was in existence in the year 1790, nearly iioo
years after this notice of it in the charter — a remarkable
instance of the durability of this species of wood.
L, Page 94.
Within these few years, an opinion has prevailed that
the truis is the ancient garb of the Highlanders, and that
the plaid, kilt, and bonnet are of modem invention. This
opinion, adopted by many, is supported by a wTiter in the
"Scots Magazine" of 1798. This author endeavours to
prove that the plaid and philibeg must be modern, and
assigns, as a reason, that they are not mentioned by
ancient authors ; and that, in all monumental figures and
statues of the ancient kings of Ireland, the kilt never
appears as part of their garb. But as those authors
generally wrote in Latin, the words plaid and kilt could
not probably be expressed in appropriate terms: and
as the Irish kings were not Highlanders, there appears
no good reason for supposing that they should be
represented in kilts. The author of "Memoirs of
334 APPENDIX.
a Cavalier" says, that a body of 4000 Highlanders,
whom he saw with the Scotch army in 1640, wore
flat caps on their heads, called by them bonnets, long
hanging sleeves behind, and their doublets, breeches^ and
stockings, of a kind of stuff they called plaids, striped
across, red, green, and yellow, with short cloaks of the
same." Now, as this author mentions neither truis nor
kilt, it might be supposed that those articles of dress were
not in use so late as the reign of Charles I., that breeches
only were worn, and that truis and kilt were adopted since
that period ; although it is well known that the truis is a
very ancient, but not the only ancient, dress of the Cale-
donians. Beague, in his History of the Campaigns in
Scotland in 1548 and 1549, printed in Paris, in 1556, states,
that at the siege of Haddington, in 1549, "they (the
Scotch army) were followed by the Highlanders, and these
last go ahnost naked ; they have painted waistcoats, and a
sort of wollen covering, variously coloured." As the
author wrote in French, perhaps he did not understand
the terms tartan, plaid, and kilt, and as the people wore
painted waistcoats and coloured coverifigs, it is probable,
that, if they had had the addition of truis, they would not
have been described as " almost naked." The author of
"Certayne Matters" says, that in his days (previous to
1597), they (the Highlanders) delighted much in mar-
bled clothes, specially that has long stripes of sundrie
colours ; their predecessors used short mantles of divers
colours, sundrie ways divided." The author first men-
tioned states, that plaids and tartan came from Flanders
to the Lowlands of Scotland, in the sixteenth century,
and thence passed to the Highlands ; but is it certain that
tartan was known in Flanders, and that tartan and the
kilt were worn in the Lowlands, before their supposed
passage to the mountains? But allowing, what is very
improbable, that the fashion of striped and variegated
clothes, or tartan, came from Flanders, it must have been
much earlier than the sixteenth century ; for we find by
the chartularies of the Episcopal See of Aberdeen, lately
edited by John Graham Dalyel, Esq., that the statutes or
APPENDIX.
335
canons of the Scottish Church, in the year 1242 and 1249,
and the ordinances and regulations of the See of Aber-
deen, 1256, directs that all ecclesiastics be suitably
apparelled, avoiding red, green, stripped clothing, and
their garments not to be shorter than to the middle of the
leg. Now, this red, green, stripped clothing must have
been tartan, and the forbidden garment worn shorter than
to the middle of the leg, the kilt.
But to return to the article in the "Scots Magazine,"
it is stated that the garb is called "beggarly, effe?ninate
(this, I apprehend, is rather an unexpected characteristic),
grossly indecent and absurd," to say nothing of the taste-
less regularity and ^^ vulgar glare of tartan''^ The
colours of the tartan do nor appear so red and glaring as
the peers' robes, the military uniforms, or the royal livery,
which therefore cannot with propriety be called vulgar,
considering those who wear them. But this author's
remarks deserve no attention ; and as on the whole it is
not probable that a people, at so late a period, would
assume a garb totally unknown in the world, and in their
cold climate put away the warm breeches, and expose
half their body to the blast, there are the better grounds
for the undivided opinion of the people themselves, that
as far back as they have any tradition, the truis, breachan-
nafeal (the kilted plaid), and philibeg, have ever been
the dress of the Highlanders. The truis were used by
gentlemen on horseback, and by others as they were in-
clined, but the common garb of the people was the plaid
and kilt. This was the usual dress down till the Act
passed for the suppression of the garb. When gentlemen
travelled southwards, it was generally on horseback, con-
* One of the most distinguished artists of the age, Mr West, late
President of the Royal Academy, differs from this opinion. He has
expressed his surprise at the blending and arrangement of the colours,
and considers, "that great art (that is to say, much knowledge of
the principles of colouring with pleasing effect) has been displayed
in the composition of the tartans of several clans, regarding them in
general as specimens of natural taste, something analogous to the
affecting but artless strains of the native music of Scotland."
336 APPENDIX.
sequently they wore the truis, and were often in armour ;
of course the Lowlanders would the more readily notice
the former as a prominent part of the mountain garb, and
describe it accordingly, t
M, Page 103.
The weddings were the delight of all ages. Persons from
ten years of age to four score attended them. Some weeks
previous to the marriage-day, the bride and bridegroom
went round their respective friends, to the distance of
many miles, for the purpose of inviting them to the wed-
ding. To repay this courtesy, the matrons of the invited
families returned the visit within a few days, always well
supplied with presents of beef, hams, butter, cheese, spirits,
malt, and- whatever they thought necessary for the ensuing
feast. These, with what the guests paid for their enter-
tainment, and the gifts presented the day after the mar-
riage, were often so considerable, as to contribute much to
the future settlement of the young couple. On the wed-
ding-morning, the bridegroom, escorted by a party of
friends, and preceded by a piper, commenced a round
of morning calls, to remind their invited friends of their
engagements. This circuit sometimes occupied several
hours, and as many joined the party, it might perhaps be
increased to some hundreds, when they returned to the
bridegroom's house. The bride went a similar round
among her friends. The bridegroom gave a dinner to his
friends, and the bride to hers. During the whole day, the
fiddlers and pipers were in constant employment. The
fiddlers played to the dancers in the house, and the pipers
t My great-grandfather's portrait is in complete armour, with a
full-bottomed wig reaching down nearly to his waist, according to
the fashion of King William's and Queen Anne's reigns. This
portrait was painted in London, where he never wore the Highland
garb. Yet this is given as an instance of the garb not being in use
among gentlemen. Had his picture been painted in the Highlands,
it would probably have been done in his usual dress, which was the
tartan, etc.
APPENDIX. 337
to those in the field.* The ceremony was generally per-
formed after dinner. Sometimes the clergyman attended,
sometimes they waited on him : the latter was preferred,
as the walk to his house with such a numerous attendance
added to the eclat of the day. On these occasions the
young men supplied themselves with guns and pistols,
with which they kept up a constant firing. This was
answered from every hamlet as they passed along, so
that, with streamers flying, pipers playing, the constant
firing from all sides, and the shouts of the young men,
the whole had the appearance of a military array passing,
with all the noise of warfare, through a hostile country.
The young couple never met on the wedding-day till
they came before the clergyman, when the marriage
rites were performed, with a number of ceremonies
too minute to particularize. One of these was to untie
all the strings and bindings on the person of the bride-
groom ; nothing to be bound on that occasion, but the
one indissoluble knot, which death only could dissolve.
The bride was not included in this injunction. She was
supposed to be so pure and true, that infidelity on her part
was not contemplated. Such were the pecuhar notions and
delicacy of thinking among a people esteemed rude and
uncultivated. As all these ceremonies, which were very
* Playing the bagpipes within doors is a Lowland and English
custom. In the Highlands the piper is always in the open air ; and
when people wish to dance to his music, it is on the green, if the
weather permits ; nothing but necessity makes them attempt a pipe
dance in the house. The bagpipe was a field instrument intended
to call the clans to arms, and animate them in battle, and was no
more intended for a house, than a round of six-pounders. A broad-
side from a first rate, or a round from a battery, has a sublime and
impressive effect at a proper distance. In the same manner, the
sound of the bagpipe, softened by distance, had an indescribable
effect on the minds and actions of the Highlanders. But as few
would choose to be under the muzzle of the guns of a ship of the line
or of a battery when in full play, so I have seldom seen a Highlander,
whose ears were not grated when close to pipes, however much his
breast might be warmed, and his feelings roused, by the sounds to
which he had been accustomed in his youth, when proceeding from
the proper distance.
338 APPENDIX.
numerous and very innocent, added much to the cheerful-
ness and happiness of the young people, I cannot avoid
regretting their partial disuse. Nor can I help preferring
a Highland wedding, where I have myself been so happy,
and seen so many blithe countenances and eyes sparkling
with delight, to such weddings as that of the Laird of
Drum, ancestor of the Lord Sommerville, when he married
a daughter of Sir James Bannatyne of Corhouse. On
that occasion, sanctified by the puritanical cant of the
times, there was " one marquis, three earls, two lords, six-
teen barons, and eight ministers present at the solemnity,
but not one musician ; they liked yet better the bleating
of the calves of Dan and Bethel, the ministers' long-
winded, and sometimes nonsensical graces, little to pur-
pose, than all musical instruments of the sanctuaries, at
so solemn an occasion, which, if it be lawful at all to have
them, certainly it ought to be upon a wedding-day, for
divertisement to the guests, that innocent recreation of
music and dancing being much more warrantable, and far
better exercise than drinking and smoking of tobacco,
wherein the holy brethren of the Presbyterian (persuasion)
for the most part employed themselves, without any formal
health, or remembrance of their friends, a nod with the
head, or a sign with the turning up of the white of the eye,
served for the ceremony."* Such was a Scotch wedding
towards the end of the seventeenth century, and such, I
hope, will not be Highland weddings of the nineteenth
century, although now seldom countenanced by the pre-
sence of chiefs and landlords, as modern manners preserve
a greater distance than in former days, when a more cordial
communication subsisted between the higher and lower
orders.
N, Page 103.
It has often been said that the music of Scotland was
borrowed from Italy, and that David Rizzio first gave it the
stamp and character which it now bears. If this opinion
* Memoirs 0/ the Sommerville Family.
APPENDIX. 339
be well founded, it would be desirable to show what part
of the Scottish music has been borrowed, what is original,
and whether this particular kind of music was ever known
in Italy. Bagpipes are common in Italy, particularly
among the Tyrolese in the north, and the Calabrese in the
south ; yet, is it probable that the Highland pibrochs came
either from Italy or the Tyrol ? The Reel of Tulloch,
Rothiemurchus Rant, and Jenny Dang the Weaver, can-
not well claim any near connexion with Italian music.
Mackintosh's Lament, and Craguana in the north, the
Birks of Invermay, in the centre, and the Flowers of the
Forest in the south of Scotland, from their melody, bear
some resemblance to the Italian ; but as there must be a
similarity in all melodious sounds, it is probable that the
connexion between the softer music of Scotland and of
Italy is only to be found in their beauty, and that the
Pibroch, Reel, Strathspey, Lament, and Songs are
peculiar to the country. The opinion which attributes
the melody of the Scotch songs to Rizzio, and the sublime
and elevated sentiments of Ossian to ^lacpherson, seem
to be founded more on the ideas entertained of the rude
and uncultivated state of Scotland, at an early period, as
being perfectly incompatible with the delicacy of taste and
feeling which both the poetry and music display, than on
any authentic information. But where there is a deficiency
of authentic information, there is more room for a diver-
sity of opinion, especially as, on one side, all is tradition,
supported by many facts ; and on the other, all is assertion,
without one fact, except some surmises originating in the
vanity of Rizzio and Macpherson. The latter had too
much honour to assert that he was the author of the poems,
although, as the MSS. of which he got possession have dis-
appeared, perhaps he would not have been sorry if the world
had given him credit for talents equal to such compositions.
The MSS. would have been clear evidence that he was not the
author: but he has himself furnished complete evidence, by
his poetical works, and other translations, which unfortun-
ately for his literary reputation he published, as if it were
to show how inferior they are to his Gaelic translations.
340 APPENDIX.
However, a fine field of disquisition is opened, and national
vanity interposes to darken the question. In the South,
it cannot be endured, that a people who have always been
considered as rude and savage, should compose, preserve
for ages, and enjoy with enthusiasm, the beauties of a
body of poetry, equal to what the most refined civilization
has produced. In the North, again, the people are im-
patient and irritated at the attempts to accuse them of fraud
and falsehood ; and of endeavours to palm on the public
the patched-up works of a modern author, as the genuine
productions of their ancestors. Had the question, when
first agitated, been properly managed, it might have been
easily decided, when there were such a cloud of witnesses,
and so many people were living who had the poems be-
fore Macpherson was born, and who knew that the re-
hearsal and learning of them formed one of the principal
winter pastimes of the people. But, even at that period, who
were to be the judges ? The southern unbelievers could
not have understood one word of the poems in dispute,
although all the bards in the North had been assembled,
and each had recited Macpherson's publication verbatim
in the original. The Highlanders, the only people
who understood the language, and could judge properly,
would not have been beheved, although they had
asserted, that the recitals of the bards and the trans-
lation coincided perfectly. In such a determined difference
of opinion, how is the point to be settled ? All, there-
fore, who believe that Rizzio did not, in any manner
whatever, originate the national music of Scotland, and
that the poems ascribed to Ossian are very ancient, and
so authentic as to have been handed down from fatlier to
son for ages beyond the reach of record, will continue of
this belief ; while those who are of the contrary opinion
must remain so, as there are no proofs such as they
require, that is, books or manuscripts. The manuscripts
on which so much stress was laid were not many cen-
turies old, and did in no manner prove who was the
author. Had they been preserved, they would only have
established this point, — certainly of some importance in
APPENDIX. 341
the controversy, — that the poems were not the composi-
tion of a modern author; but as I believe it has not yet
been ascertained in what MSS. the works of Homer were
found and transmitted to posterity, Ossian's poems, who-
ever may have been the author or authors of them, are in
good company when in a similar predicament.
O, Page 106.
While game was in such abundance as to form part
of the subsistence of the people, at a time when many
had the means of destruction ready, and much liberty
was given, it appears remarkable that now, when pre-
served with such jealous care, it is in many places
become so scarce as only to furnish a short pastime to a
comparatively few privileged individuals ; a fact which
might lead to a belief that too great care defeats its own
object, and ensures the evil against which it seeks to
guard. It is certain, that in moors which annually afford
an apparently inexhaustible supply, and where good
marksmen have been known to shoot more than one
hundred birds in a forenoon, the game seems to increase
instead of diminishing by this periodical destruction, per-
severed in, as it has been, for weeks, each successive
season ; whereas, in other moors strictly preserved, the
birds are fewer in number, and becoming very scarce ; at
the same time, that I have been assured by men well
acquainted with the state of these grounds in past times^
that game was as abundant as on those which now furnish
the greatest numbers. The mountains of Breadalbane,
Athole, Badenoch, and other districts, furnish marked
instances of this scarcity of game w^hen protected, and of
abundance where the greatest annual destruction prevails.
For the singular fact that the periodical killing of game
does not diminish the annual increase, various reasons
are assigned. It is said, that when the old birds are left,
they chase away in spring all the young brood of the pre-
ceding season, and that these take shelter on grounds
where the old birds had been killed. It is also said.
345» APPENDIX.
that in preserved moors, poachers are more frequent,
bold, and destructive, in the expectation, as few frequent
them, that they will not be discovered. A third assigned
cause, and, in appearance, the most destructive of game,
is, that the farmers and shepherds who occupy these
moors, irritated by severe restrictions, tormented by
threats of punishment, and insulted by the arrogance of
insolent gamekeepers, instead of being encouraged to
preserve the game, and, instead of being allowed to derive
from it either benefit or amusement, make a practice, in
many cases, of feeding their dogs with the eggs, and
when these escape their notice, accustom them to search
for and destroy the young brood before they are fledged.
Whether any or all of these causes affect the decrease of
game, there appears little doubt, that judging from the
character of the Highlanders, a kind and liberal indulg-
ence to tenants in a moderate use of the gun on their
own grounds, with strict injunction to their shepherds to
be careful of the nests and of the young, and not to burn
the heather in improper seasons, or in those places most
frequented by the game (although burning the heath in
moderation is advisable, as the young sprouts furnish
their principal food), and along with this indulgence, the
offer of small premiums to the shepherds for each covey
of eight or more birds they can produce in their pasture,
would make it their interest to preserve the game ; no
person could escape notice ; and thus, they would form a
better protection against poachers, than prosecutions,
fines, and imprisonment.
P, Page 109.
In the common transactions of the people, written
obligations were seldom required, and although the bar-
gains were frequently concladed in the most private
manner,* there were few instances of a failure in, or
* When their money agreements or other negotiations were to be
concluded and confirmed, the contracting parties went out by them-
selves to the open air, and looking upwards, called Heaven to witness
APPENDIX. 343
denial of, their engagements. A gentleman of the name
of Stewart agreed to lend a considerable sum of money
to a neighbour. When they had met, and the money
was already counted down on the table, the borrower
offered a receipt. As soon as the lender (grandfather of
the late Mr Stewart of Ballachulish) heard this, he im-
mediately took up his money, saying, that a man who
could not trust his own word without a bond, should not
be trusted by him, and would have none of his money,
which he put up in his purse and returned home. An in-
habitant of the same district, father of the late Dr Smith,
of Campbelton, and of Donald Smith, M.D., eminent for
antiquarian learning and research, kept a retail shop for
nearly fifty years, and supplied the whole district, then
full of people, with all their little merchandise. He
neither gave nor asked any receipts. At Martinmas
of each year, he collected the amount of his sales,
which were always paid to a day. In one of his
annual rounds, a customer happened to be from home,
consequently, he returned unpaid ; but before he was
out of bed the following morning, he was awakened by a
call from his customer, who came to pay his account.
After the business was settled, his neighbour said, " You
are now paid ; I would not for my best cow* that I should
sleep while you wanted your money after your term of
payment, and that I should be the last in the country in
your debt." Unforunately, new regulations, new views of
Highland statistics, and the novel practice of letting land
to the highest bidder, regardless of the fidehty and punctual
payment of old occupiers, have occasioned a melancholy
their engagements, at the same time each party repeating the pro-
mise of payment, and, by way of seal, putting a mark on some re-
markable stone, or other natural object, which had been noticed by
those ancestors whose memory they so much respected and loved, and
whom from the superstitious notions of the times they believed were
permitted to look down upon them and their actions and conduct.
* My longest horned cow, was the literal Gaelic expression.
Long and well-shaped horns are considered as marks of health and
strength.
344 APPENDIX.
change. Few of the late moral population now remain,
and that few are mostly reduced to the condition of cottars
and day-labourers. The person who now occupies the
shop, a son of the former possessor, must not only keep
strict accounts, but give short credits, and calculate on an
annual reduction of his profits by bad payments ; and he
is in little danger of being deprived of his morning slum-
bers by debtors anxious to pay, and ashamed of being in
debt. This is now too common to be a reproach, and is
one of the many concomitants of modern improvements
and civilization, as they have been forced on and practised
in the Highlands.
Q, Page 1 1 8.
In the Highlands, where so many of the same name
live in the same district or glen, some denomination for
distinguishing individuals beyond that of the generic name
is indispensable. In the late Sutherland Fencible Regi-
ment there were 17 William Mackays in Captain Sack-
ville Sutherland's company, and 104 in the regiment.
When the 2nd battalion of the 78th Highlanders was raised
in 1804, an eneign from Ross-shire brought 18 men of his
own name, of Macrae, as part of his complement of 20,
for an ensigncy. On the estates of many noblemen and
gentlemen, the number of their own surnames is often be-
yond all proportion greater than any others. On a part
of the estate of Menzies, running four miles along one side
of the valley, on the banks of the Tay, there are 502 of
the Chiefs name, descendants of his family. Many
similar instances are still to be met with where gentlemen
have retained their ancient tenantry. In Athole, an ex-
tensive district of Perthshire, there were, fifty years ago,
36 landholders of the name of Stewart : there are still 23;
and in Athole, Strathearn, and Monteith, there are 5000
people of tliat name, of whom upwards of 1800 are de-
scendants of Neil Stewart of Garth, who died in 1433.
In such communities, the want of some distinguishing
appellation would lead to confusion. These distinctions
APPENDIX. 345
were generally made as follows : — In the case of a chief
by using singly, and by way of distinction, the denomina-
tion of son of the first founder, or most renowned man of
the family ; as, for example, the Duke of Argyll, who is
styled Mac Cailean Mor* the son of the great Colin ;
Mac Co7inel Dubh, the son of Donald the Black, the name
of the chiefs of the Camerons. Under this head there
was another distinction. Chieftains, Ceann-Tays, or great
branches of a clan or family, were distinguished as the
sons of the first founder. Such as Breadalbane, a great
branch of the clan Campbell; Mac Cailean MacConachie,
the son of Colin the son of Duncan. + Lairds or land-
holders were often named from their estates, as Stewart of
Grandtully, Stewart of Garth, and so on ; all others being
distinguished by some personal mark which might be
either an accidental defect, any natural advantage, or any
singularity of colour, figure, or features. The second
Marquis of Atholl was known by the name of lati a Bheul
Mhoi'^ John with the large mouth; John the first Duke of
Atholl being blind of an eye, Ian Cam ; the first Earl of
Breadalbane having a pale countenance, Ian Glas; the
second Earl, Ian Bacach, from his being lame. If a man
had no personal mark, or patrimonial distinction, he was
known by adding the name of his father, as the son of
John. This perhaps ran back for three or four generations.
However absurd a long string of names may appear in
English, it is not so in Gaelic, from the facility of com-
pounding words in that language.
* Although Mo7' is great, the word does not always mean great
power, or superior talent. It was more frequently given to men of
large size, or portly persons.
t The people seldom call Lord Breadalbane by his patronymic^
but not so the Duke of Argyll, Lord Seafield, Lord Macdonald, and
many others. Riding a few years ago through the Duke of Argyll's
parks at Inveraray, I observed some young blood horses grazing. A
woman happening to pass at that time, I asked her in Gaelic to whom
the horses belonged. " To whom should they belong," she answered
sharply, " To whom should they belong but to Mac Cailean?" seem-
ingly quite indignant that I should suppose that any man could possess
anything there but Mac Cailean Mor.
346 APPENDIX.
R, Page T19.
There are four different spellings of this name ; Stew-
art, Steuart, Stuart, and Steward. The ancient and
original name, as spelt by the royal family, is Stewart,
taken from the office of Lord High Steward of Scotland,
which was hereditary in the family nearly two centuries
before the succession of Robert II. to the throne. The
original spelling of Stewart continued for several reigns after
this succession, till the increased communication between
France and Scotland induced so many noblemen, gentle-
men, and soldiers, to enter the French army. James
Stewart, Earl of Buchan, Constable of France, carried
with him on one occasion 7000 men, as auxiliaries in the
war with England. The Lords of Darnley and Aubigny
were frequent visitors in France, and held extensive mili-
tary commands and possessions there, and following the
idiom of the French language, the W being unknown,
several began to use the U, and spelt the name Stuard
or Stuart. Mary Queen of Scots being educated in
France, likewise adopted that mode of spelling, on her
subsequent marriage with the Dauphin, and out of com-
pliment to her husband's language ; as did her brother
the Earl of Murray, and the families of Traquair, Bute,
Castlemilk, and several others, which from whim or acci-
dent changed their names. How much accident influenced
this change of name is evident from the circumstance, that
Lord Galloway retains the old spelling of Stewart, while
Lord Blantyre and other families of the same descent, as
Castlemilk, spell Stuart ; Allanton, Steuart ; Allanbank, a
branch of Allanton, Steuart ; Coltness, also a branch
of Allanton, Stewart ; and while Traquair is Stuart,
Grandtully, of the same descent and family, is Stewart.
The Earl of Murray, before his promotion to that title,
when Prior of St Andrews, and previous to the return of
Queen Mary from France, spelt his name Stewart, as we
find by the following document, signed by him and the
Earl of Argyle, and Ruthven Earl of Cowrie, authorizing
APPENDIX. 347
the Lairds of Airntully and Kinvaid to destroy all images
and relics of the Catholic religion in the Cathedral of
Dunkeld.
" To our traist friends the Lairds of Airntully and
Kinvaid.
" Traist friends, after most hearty commendation, we
pray you fail not to pass incontinent to the Kirk of
Dunkeilden, and tak doon the hail images thereof, and
bring them forth to the kirk yaird and burn them openly.
And sicklyke cast doon the alters and purge the kirk of all
kind of idolatyry. And this ze fail not to do, as ze will do
us singular impleasure, and so committeth you to the pro-
tection of God.
"From Edinburgh the XII of August 1560.
" Argyle.
'''•James Stewart.
" William Ruthven.
" Fail not, but ze tak guid heyd that neither the desks,
windocks, nor duires, be any way hurt or broken, eyther
glassin wark or iron wark."
S, Page 124.
It is a generally received opinion, that the Highlanders
are ignorant and uneducated. It is no doubt true, that
previous to the present reign, many could not read, or
understand what they read in English, and there were few
books in their own language ; but they had their Bards
and Senachies, who taught them in the manner already
mentioned. The middle and higher orders of society
were as well educated as the youth of any part of the
United Kingdom. The gentlemen farmers and tacksmen
were certainly better classical scholars than men holding
the same occupation and rank in society, in the South.
These observations must be confined to the period which
has elapsed since the reign of Charles XL, as the prior
notices are not in a connected series. But, to judge from
34^ APPENDIX.
insulated circumstances, the education of the gentry, and
the better order of farmers of an earHer period, was not
deficient. Of this, the celebrated George Buchanan, the
son of a small Highland farmer, was a remarkable instance.
On reference to old family charters and papers, it will be
found, that the signatures to the former, from and after
the year 1500, show a correctness of writing not to be
seen in modern times, and not to be acquired without
much time and experience. Aware that it might be said
that these signatures were written by the notaries and
others who drew out these charters, I have compared the
signatures of the same persons to different instruments at
considerable intervals, and signed in different places,
sometimes as principals, at others as witnesses, and I
have found them always similar, or in the same hand.
Of this I have seen many instances in my own family, as
well as in several others. A fair hand is certainly no
proof of a classical education ; but it is a proof of care
having been bestowed on a branch of education which
was not then so necessary as it is now, when epistolary
communication is so much more frequent. In those
days, when there was no public conveyance, and when
distant events did not occupy so much of the attention of
men, there was not the same inducement to correspond.
It may therefore be concluded that they to whose instruc-
tion in writing so much attention had been paid, would
not be neglected in other branches of education. The
fragments of manuscripts and private correspondence
which have been preserved in families give evidence of
classical attainments, and prove also, that this was not
confined to one sex. The following is an instance.
There is a manuscript volume preserved in the family of
Stewart of Urrard, of 260 pages, consisting of poems,
songs, and short tracts, in the Scotch language, written,
as is stated on the first page, by Margaret Robertson
(daughter of John Robertson of Lude) and wife of Alex-
ander Stewart of Bonskeid, dated 1643. It is written in a
beautiful hand, and with such correctness, that it might
be sent to the press.
APPENDIX. 349
There were eminent grammar schools in Inverness,
Fortrose or Chanonry, Dunkeld, etc. The grammar
school of Perth was celebrated for ages. From these
different seminaries, young men were sent to Aberdeen
and St Andrews, and many to Leyden and Douay. The
armies of Sweden, Holland, and France, gave employ-
ment to the younger sons of the gentry, who were educated
abroad ; many of these returned with a competent know-
ledge of modern languages, added to their classical educa-
tion, often speaking Latin with more purity than Scotch,
which these Highlanders sometimes learned after leaving
their native homes, where nothing but Gaelic was spoken.
The race of Bradw^ardine is not long extinct. In my own
time, several veterans might have sat for the picture, so
admirably drawn in Waverley, of that most honourable,
brave, learned, and kind-hearted personage, the Baron of
Bradwardine. These gentlemen returned from the
Continent full of warlike Latin, French phrases, and
inveterate broad Scotch (learned, as I have said, by
the Highlanders abroad.) One, I believe, of the
last of these, Colonel Alexander Robertson, of the
Scotch Brigade, uncle of the present Strowan, I well
remember.* I also knew several tacksmen of good learn-
* Another of the Bradwardine character is still remembered by
the Highlanders, with a degree of admiration bordering on enthu-
siasm. This was John Stewart of the family of Kincardine, in Strath-
spey, known in the country by the name of John Roy Stewart, an
accomphshed gentleman, an elegant scholar, a good poet, a brave
soldier, and an able officer. He composed with equal facility in
English, Latin, and Gaelic; but it was by his songs, epigrams, and
descriptive pieces in the latter language, that he attracted the admir-
ation of his countrymen. He was an active leader in the Rebellion
of 1745, and during "his hiding" of many months, he had more
leisure to indulge his taste for poetry and song. The country tradi-
tions are full of his descriptive pieces, eulogies, and laments on
friends, or in allusion to the events of that unfortunate period. He
had been long in the service of France and Portugal. He was in
Scotland in 1745, and commanded a regiment composed of the
tenants of his family, and a considerable number of the followers of
Sir George Stewart of Grandtully, who had been placed under him.
With these, amounting in all to 400 men, he joined the rebel army,
and proved one of its ablest partisans. Had the rebel commanders
350 APPENDIX.
ing, who could quote and scan the classics with much
ease and rapidity ; while the sons of these men are now
little better than clowns, knowing nothing beyond Eng-
lish reading and the common rules of arithmetic. When
the Hessian troops were quartered in Athole in 1745, the
commanding officers, who were accomplished gentle-
men, found Latin a ready means of communication at
every inn. At Dunkeld, Inver, Blair-Athole, Taybridge,
etc., every landlord spoke that language, and I have
been informed, by eye-witnesses, of the pleasure ex-
pressed by a colonel of the Hessian cavalry, when he
halted at the inn in Dunkeld, the landlord of which
addressed and welcomed him in Latin, the only lan-
guage they mutually understood. I knew four of these
respectable innkeepers, who, like many other valuable
classes in the Highlands, have disappeared. Perhaps the
landlords of Dunkeld, Blair-Athole, or indeed any other
Highland inn, will not, even in this educated age, agree-
ably surprise, or make themselves more acceptable to
their customers, by addressing them in Latin.
benefited by his judgment and military talents, that deplorable con-
test would probably have been lengthened, and much additional
misery inflicted on the country. Colonel Stewart recommended op-
posing the passage of the Duke of Cumberland's army across the
Spey. Had this advice been acted upon, allowing for the expe-
ditious movements of the rebels, many men must have been lost in
forcing the passage of the rapid river. He also opposed fighting on
Culloden Moor, which, with a level and hard surface, was well cal-
culated for the cavalry and artillery of the royal army. When this
advice was rejected, he proposed to attack before the army was
formed in order of battle ; this also was disregarded, and the attack
delayed till the royal army was formed in two lines. It is said that
the Irish officers attached to the rebel army, dreading a lengthened
campaign in the mountains, opposed retiring farther north, seeing
that, in such a field as Culloden, one-third of the Highlanders being
absent, and those present, two days without food, and after a long
and harrassing night-march to Nairn and back, with an intention of
surprising the Duke's army (as at Preston), the contest would soon
be decided, and their lives safe from the laws, whatever was the re-
sult. The point was fortunately brought to an issue, and much
calamity, the consequence of a lengthened civil war, saved to the
country.
APPENDIX.
351
But it was in the remotest district of the kingdom, the
Isle of Skye, and other islands, that classical education
was most general. There the learning of the gentry was
quite singular. Few of them went abroad, and except
the three lairds, Macdonald, Macleod, and Mackinnon,
few of them were proprietors. I believe it is rather
unique for the gentry of a remote corner to learn Latin
merely to talk to each other; yet so it was in Skye. It was
remarked that, for a considerable period, the clerg}-men
of the sixteen parishes of Skye, Harris, Lews, etc., were
men of good families, great learning, and consequent in-
fluence ; their example, therefore, might diffuse and pre-
serve this classical taste. Owing to the same cause, the
Isle of Skye songs are sometimes filled with allusions to
the heathen deities. While the younger sons of the
Highland gentlemen were educated for the church, law,
or physic, the elder could not be neglected. The elder
brothers of Sir George Mackenzie, Lord Advocate to
Charles II. and of Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Advocate
to George II., could not have been uneducated.
But various causes have contributed to a change of
manners, and to remove numbers of the ancient race,
and have put an end to all university education, except
in a few cases, where young men are intended for the
learned professions : consequently the last generation did
not give their children the same education which they
themselves had received.* Thus we see young men sent
* The average annual salary of the parish schoolmaster was
£"]. 105. that is, ;!^5 the lowest and /, 10 the highest, with school
fees, which were equally low, Latin being taught for half a crown
the quarter, English and writing for one shilling. When the Lord
President Hope was Lord Advocate, he brought a bill into Parlia-
ment to increase the salaries of this useful body of men. The bill
was passed, and no schoolmaster can now have less than ;^io salary,
the maximum being £2^. The opposition Mr Hope met with
showed, that however much people may talk about the value of
education, the estimate of its advantages does not appear to stand
high in the opinion of those who pay the schoolmasters, or perhaps
the value is better understood and more appreciated when cheaply
obtained ; otherwise why meet so important a measure by an oppo-
352 APPENDIX.
into the army and other professions with an education
not extending beyond reading and arithmetic, and with
manners unformed and as unUke the former race of
gentlemen farmers in their general appearance and cha-
racter, as in their education. Hence, many have been
led to observe, that the youth of the second order of
Highland gentry have more degenerated, and are more
changed in every respect than the Highland peasantry.
Many causes have tended to accelerate this change ; one
of which is, that three-fourths of the old respectable race
of gentlemen tacksmen have disappeared, and been sup-
planted by men totally different in manners, birth, and
education. Persons travelling through the Highlands
will observe what description of persons the present tacks-
men are. The character upheld by the officers of the
Highland regiments in the Seven Years' War, and in that
with America, show what sort of men the ancient race
were. One half of the officers of those corps were the
sons of tacksmen. Of these respectable officers I could
give many names, but shall mention only a few : —
Generals Simon Fraser, killed at Saratoga in 1777, and
Thomas M. Fraser, killed at Dieg in 1804 ; Lieutenant-
General Simon Fraser, commanding the British troops in
Lisbon ; Sir Archibald Campbell, Governor-General of
India; Sir Hector Munro; Sir Alexander Munro ; Major-
Generals John Small, Thomas Fraser, Francis Maclean,
J. Stewart, P. Mackenzie, and a numerous list of brave
soldiers and officers of talent and acquirements ; as well
as many accomplished civilians. Sir John Macpherson,
Governor-General of India, the translator of Ossian, and
many others.
T, Page 128.
There are many traits of the character, manners, and
dispositions of the people, which I have not noticed. The
sition which has reduced the scale so low, that even with the in-
creased emoluments, no man of talents will remain a parish school-
master except from necessity.
1
APPENDIX. 353
most remarkable of these is that imaginary talent of seeing
into futurity, commonly called the "Second Sight." The
subject has been frequently discussed ; and I shall, there-
fore, say little of these ideal flights of a warm and vivid
imagination. But however ridiculous the beUef of the
second sight may now appear, it certainly had no small
influence on the manners and actions of the people.
The predictions of the seers impressed their minds with
awe, and as they were generally such as brought to the
remembrance death, a future state, retributive justice, the
reward of honourable and virtuous conduct, and the
punishment of the wicked, they certainly controlled the
passions, and, as I have often had occasion to observe,
supplied the defect of those laws which now extend to the
most distant recesses of the mountains.
The impressions of a warm imagination appear so like
realities, and their confirmation is so readily found in
subsequent events, that we can scarcely wonder if popular
superstitions have long maintained their ground, even
against the advances of reason and science. Allowing
the possibility of coming events being shadowed forth by
supernatural agency to some favoured seers, the question
naturally occurs. Why should those revelations be con-
fined to the Highlanders of Scotland ? Yet it must be
owned, that the coincidences between events and their
foreboding have, in many instances, been so curious and
remarkable, that credulous minds may be excused for
yielding to the impression of their prophetic character. It
may not be improper to produce an instance or two for
the amusement of the reader.
Late in an autumnal evening in the year 1773, the
son of a neighbouring gentleman came to my father's
house. He and my mother were from home, but several
friends were in the house. The young gentleman spoke
little, and seemed absorbed in deep thought. Soon after
he arrived he inquired for a boy of the family, then about
three years of age. When shown into the nursery, the
nurse was trying on a pair of new shoes, and complaining
that they did not fit." "They will fit him before he will
2 A
354 APPENDIX.
have occasion for them," said the young gentleman.
This called forth the chidings of the nurse for predicting
evil to the child, who was stout and healthy. When he
returned to the party he had left in the sitting-room, who
had heard his observations on the shoes, they cautioned
him to take care that the nurse did not derange his new
talent of the second sight, with some ironical congratula-
tions on his pretended acquirement. This brought on an
explanation, when he told them, that, as he approached
the end of a wooden bridge thrown across a stream at a
short distance from the house, he was astonished to see a
crowd of people passing the bridge. Coming nearer he
observed a person carrying a small coffin, followed by about
twenty gentlemen, all of his acquaintance, his own father
and mine being of the number, with a concourse of the
country people. He did not attempt to join, but saw
them turn off to the right in the direction of the church-
yard, which they entered. He then proceeded on his in-
tended visit, much impressed from what he had seen with a
feeling of awe, and believing it to have been a representation
of the death and funeral of a child of the family. In this
apprehension he was the more confirmed, as he knew my
father was at Blair- Athole, and that he had left his own
father at home an hour before. The whole received per-
fect confirmation in his mind by the sudden death of the
boy the following night, and the consequent funeral,
which was exactly similar to that before represented to his
imagination.
This gentleman was not a professed seer; this was his
first and his last vision ; and, as he told me, it was sufti-
cient. No reasoning or argument could convince him
that the appearance was an illusion. Now when a man
of education and of general knowledge of the world, as
this gentleman was, became so bewildered in his imagina-
tion, and that even so late as the year 1773, it cannot be
matter of surprise that the poetical enthusiasm of the
Highlanders, in their days of chivalry and romance, should
have predisposed them to credit wonders which so deeply
interested them.
APPENDIX.
355
The other instance occurred in the year 1775, when a
tenant of the late Lord Breadalbane called upon him,
bitterly lamenting the loss of his son, who, he said, had
been killed in battle on a day he mentioned. His Lord-
ship told him that was impossible, as no accounts had
been received of any battle, or even of hostilities having
commenced. But the man would not be comforted,
saying, that he saw his son lying dead, and many officers
and soldiers also dead, around him. Lord Breadalbane,
perceiving that the poor man would not be consoled, left
him; but when the account of the battle of Bunker's
Hill arrived some weeks afterwards, he learnt, with no
small surprise, that the young man had been killed at the
time and in the manner described by his father.
T*, Page 129.
The notions entertained by the inhabitants of the
Low Country in this respect are very excusable, when it
is considered that they formed their opinions regarding
the natives of the mountains on information received
from those who lived nearest the boundary, and who
were supposed to be best acquainted with them. This,
however, was a very doubtful source of intelligence ;
because, in the first place, the borderers lived in a
state of perpetual contention with, their Lowland neigh-
bours, and had thus the worst propensities of their
nature" called forth and exasperated; and, secondly,
because their more powerful neighbours had been, for
ages, in the habit of taking deep revenge for petty injuries.
No one who knows anything of human nature need be
told, that there exists a strong propensity in the minds of
those who oppress others by an undue exercise of power,
to justify that proceeding to themselves, by exaggerating
every provocation given by the objects of their hostility.
Prejudice and party hatred are like streams, always
enlarging in their progress by petty additions. A man
incapable of direct falsehood, willingly and confidently
repeats the tales of wonder told by others ; and these
356 APPENDIX.
seldom lose in the recital. That " oppression," which,
we are told from the highest authority, " makes a wise
man mad,"* must have produced a similar effect on a
proud high-spirited people, who had not even language
in which to complain, and who would not have been
listened to if they had. " Lions are not painters," as the
fable says, and Highlanders are not writers of their own
traditions ; but if the tales of wrong and injustice pre-
served in traditions were unfolded, they might then
"make justice and indignation start," etc.; but this blazon
must not be. It would be visiting the sins of the fathers
on the children, who may, perhaps, even on this score,
have enough of their own to answer for, when they
appear on their last account.
Since the above was written, a new edition of " Letters
from a Gentleman in the North" has been published by
Mr Jamieson of Edinburgh. This edition has been
enlarged, by several tracts and articles on the Highland-
ers, and the former state of the people. One of these is
a kind of statistical report of the state of the Highlands
about the year 1747. This paper is a perfect specimen of
the spirit of the times, and of the jaundiced eye with which
the Highlanders were viewed by their Lowland neighbours,
who held them in the greatest contempt for their Jacobite
principles, their heathenish belief in ghosts and fairies,
their slothful habits, fabulous traditions, poetry and songs.
The author was educated beyond the mountains, quite in
opposition to the habits and principles of the Highlanders;
and at a period when the stream of ribaldry ran strongly
against them, and their true character was ill understood,
it was difficult to state it in proper colours ; the commonly
received opinions of the times were, that their fidelity and
ready obedience proceeded from a base and servile dis-
position, and their idle habits from an aversion to industry,
when, in fact, they proceeded from want of employment or
payment for labour. Had the author given in to the grave
* Of this we have too many instances among the peasantry in
Ireland.
APPENDIX.
357
discussions which were not infrequent at that period, on
the propriety of exterminating the whole race, it might
have excited less surprise, than that this mode of improv-
ing a people by extirpation and banishment should not
only be discussed in more enlightened times, but actually
acted upon and enforced, if not with the fury and violence
with which those who call themselves the friends of
liberty in America treat their free, independent, but un-
fortunate neighbours the Indians, the original possessors
of their country, at least by means sufficiently effectual.
U, Page 133.
Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Lord President of the
Court of Session, was one of the most enlightened men of
his time. Born in the Highlands, he lived much among
his countrymen, gained an intimate knowledge of their
habits, and, by his virtue, wisdom, and probity, obtained
an influence over them almost incredible. His " pen and
ink, and tongue, and some reputation," as he himself
expressed it, contributed more than any other means to
the suppression of the Rebellion — breaking the union of
the clans, overawing some, crossing and checking the
intentions of others, and retarding and preventing their
rising en jnasse, to which they had every inclination. That
such services were neglected and slighted by Government
must remain an indelible stain on the memory of the men
in power at that period. It is said that when this great
and good man was recommending clemency and modera-
tion in the punishment of the misguided men about to
suffer for their infatuation, and stating his services as a
claim to be heard, he was contemptuously asked, " What
were his services, and what they were worth ?" " Some
think them worth three Crowns," was the answer.
An idea of the importance of his services and of his
influence may be formed by looking over his Memorial,
already given in the Appendix, of the State and Number
of the Clans, whose rising he prevented, or whose exer-
tions he paralyzed. It has been thought by some, parti-
358 APPENDIX.
cularly by Jacobites, that those Chiefs who were per-
suaded by Culloden to relinquish, on the day of trial, the
cause to which they were secretly attached, showed
duplicity, if not cowardice, in so doing. This was not at
all the case. The President knew too well the character
of the persons he addressed, to endeavour to change
their opinion, or induce them to dissemble. The argu-
ments by which he prevailed on so many to remain
neutral, while others risked all in a desperate cause, were
drawn from his knowledge of the world, and of the
resources and views of the opposite parties. He at-
tempted no sudden conversions, but merely represented
the folly of sacrificing their lives, and what was dearer to
them, their clans, in a rash and unsupported enterprise,
in which they were deceived by their French allies,
deserted by many whose courage evaporated in drinking
healths, and more particularly by the English Jacobites,
who promised everything and performed nothing. It was
by a statement of obvious facts, and not by an attack
on established principles, that he succeeded in rescuing,
by persuasion, so many families from the destruction
in which the inconsiderate and rashly brave were so
suddenly involved. The sound arguments that pre-
vailed with the Chiefs, who could comprehend them, had
no influence on their followers, who were, in this instance,
more inclined to follow their feelings than listen to reason.
Of this, the behaviour of the clan Grant was an instance.
Eleven hundred men pressed forward to offer their
services, on condition that their Chief would lead them,
to support, what they styled, the cause of their ancient
Kings. Afterwards, when it was found necessary to pay
a compliment to the Royal General, by meeting him at
Aberdeen, all the Chiefs influence could only procure
ninety-five followers to attend him; a Chief, too, much
beloved by his people.
In the Isle of Skye, likewise. Sir Alexander Mac-
donald (father of Chief Baron Macdonald), and the Lairds
of Macleod, Raasay, and others, had 2400 men ready,
when expresses arrived from Culloden. Macdonald re-
APPENDIX. 359
mained at home with his men; Macleod obeyed the
summons of the President, but Raasay indulged the
incHnation of his people to join the rebels, contrary to
the views and injunction of the Chief. Though ]Macleod
is described by this great law officer as the only man of
sense and courage he had about him, his influence over
his followers failed so completely, when they discovered
that his opinion was opposite to their own, that he could
not command the obedience of more than 200 men,
although upwards of 1500 men, consisting of his own
people, the Laird of Raasay's, and other gentlemen, were
ready at Dunvegan Castle. These, and many circum-
stances which occurred at that period, are of themselves
sufficient to prove, that the Highlanders were not those
slaves to the caprice and power of their Chiefs they have
been supposed ; and that, on the contrary, as I have
already noticed, the latter were obliged to pay court,
and yield to the will and independent spirit of their clans.
These facts also refute a general opinion, that those
who engaged in the Rebellion were forced out by their
Chiefs and Lairds, and that indeed on all occasions
the principles or caprice of their Chief guided those of
the clan, and that, whatever side he took, they followed.
In Lord Lovat's correspondence with Culloden, he is full
of complaints against his clan, whose eagerness to fly to
arms he could not restrain. Although his is not the best
authority, I have had sufficient evidence of his correct-
ness in this instance from eye-witnesses. We learn also
from the President, that Lord Lovat's eldest son (after-
wards General Fraser) " put himself at the head of his
clan, who are passionately fond of following him, and w'ho
cannot be restrained by my Lord's authority from follow-
ing the fortunes of the Adventurous Prince, which not
only may destroy the Master* and the family, but bring
his owm grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. "t
* In Scotland, the eldest son of a Lord or Baron of the House of
Peers was styled Master. Thus, the Master of Gray, the Master of
Rollo, the Master of Blantyre, etc.
t Culloden Papers.
360 APPENDIX.
To this same independent spirit we may ascribe the
preference which the people now manifest for emigration
to a foreign land to remaining in the degraded state of
cottars and day labourers, to which the late changes have
reduced such numbers of the once independent tenantry.
When they have once resolved to remove to a foreign
country, a set of " illiterate peasants," says Mrs Grant,
"have gone about it in a systematical manner. They
have themselves chartered a ship, and engaged it to
come for them to one of their Highland ports, and a
whole cluster of kindred of all ages, from four weeks to
fourscore years, have gone in mournful procession to the
shores ; the bagpipes meanwhile playing before them a
sad funeral air."
V, Page 136.
A Highlander would fight to the last drop of his
blood at the command of his Chief; and if he thought
his own honour, or that of his district or clan, insulted,
he was equally ready to call for redress, and to seek
revenge : yet, with this disposition, and though generally
armed, few lives were lost, except in general engagements
and skirmishes. This is particularly to be remarked in
their personal encounters, duels, and trials of swordsman-
ship.* The stories detailed of private assassinations,
* A relation of mine, the late Mr Stewart of Bohallie, exhibited
an instance of this. He was one of the gentlemen soldiers in the
Black Watch (but left them before the march to England), and one
of the best swordsmen of his time. Latterly he was of a mild dis-
position, but in his youth he had been hot and impetuous ; and as
in those days the country was full of young men equally ready to take
fire, persons of this description had ample opportunity of proving
the temper of their swords, and their dexterity in the use of them.
Bohallie often spoke of many contests and trials of skill, but they
always avoided, he said, coming to extremities, and were in general
satisfied when blood was drawn, and " I had the good fortune never
to kill my man." His swords and targets gave evidence of the ser-
vice they had seen. On one occasion he was passing from Breadal-
bane to Lochlomond through Glenfalloch, in company with James
Macgregor, one of Rob Roy's sons. As they came to a certain spot,
APPENDIX. 361
murders, and conflagration, deserve no credit, as is well
known to every man of intelligence in the country, at
least when reported to have occurred within the last
century-and-a-half. In earlier times, there were murders
in the Highlands, as there were in the streets of Edin-
burgh in mid-day, but much of these may be attributed
to the weakness of the laws, and a high spirited
turbulence. The character of the Highlanders will be
better understood by their actions than by collect-
ing anecdotes two and three hundred years old, and
giving them as specimens of what was supposed to have
occurred within the fifty years preceding the Rebellion of
1745. In this Rebellion did they display any blood-
thirsty atrocity ? It were as just to take the character of
the people of Scotland from the period and scenes de-
scribed by Pitscottie in the extract I have quoted, as thus
to collect all the revolting anecdotes and repetitions of
centuries, and give them as specimens of the Highland
character in the days of Rob Roy Macgregor. Even in
the seventeenth century, when turbulence was at its
height, less atrocity was shown by the Highlanders than
has been exhibited by enlightened nations of modern
times when living at free quarters in an enemy's country.
Spain, Portugal, Germany. Russia, Italy, and Egypt, have
ample reason to remember the murders, conflagrations, and
spoliation of the armies of France. The following state-
ment shows the manner in which the Highlanders com-
ported themselves, when ordered from their mountains,
Macgregor said, " It was here I tried the mettle of one of your kins-
men." Some miles further on, he continued, " Here I made another
of your blood feel the superiority of my sword ; and here," said he,
when in sight of Benlomond, in the country of the Macgregors, " I
made a third of your royal clan yield to Clan Gregor." My old
friend's blood was set in motion by the first remark : the second, as
he said, made it boil; however, he restrained himself till the third,
when he exclaimed, " You have said and done enough ; now stand,
defend yourself, and see if the fourth defeat of a Stewart will give
victor)' to a Gregarach." As they were both good swordsmen, it
was some time before Macgregor received a cut in the sword arm,
when, dropping his target, he gave up the contest.
362 APPENDIX.
for the special purpose of keeping down the Republican
spirit in the south-west of Scotland, and of living at free
quarters on the Covenanters, and others inimical to the
measures of Government. This was in 1678, when the
*' Highland Host" (as they were called), of 8000 men,
were ordered south, to "eat up" the Covenanters. In
what manner they obeyed these instructions we learn from
an eye-witness, whose account is preserved in Wodrow's
MS. in the Advocates' Library. This writer, who evinces
no friendship for this "Heathen and Unholy Host,"
describes their parties sent out for provisions, and
the sufferings of the inhabitants, who were beaten
and driven out of their houses if they refused to
give what they demanded. After a detail of out-
rages, which, indeed, were to be expected, as it was for
this very purpose that they were sent on the duty, he
concludes, in a manner hardly to be expected, and
certainly very different from the accounts we read of the
proceedings of the modern Vandals when overrunning
the Continent, and who, if they had forced their way
into this country, and had, like the Highlanders, been
ordered to live at free quarters, " to eat up," harass, and
keep down the people, would not perhaps have left the
country with such a report of the proceedings as the
following, "Yet I hear not," says the writer in Wodrow's
MS., " of any having been killed^ though many were hurt;
but I would not have you think that all the Highlanders
behave after the same manner " (going about in parties to
collect provision and plunder.) " No, there is a differ-
ence both among the men and leaders. The Marquis of
Atholl's men are generally commended, both as the best
appointed and the best behaved. Neither do I hear of
any hurt done by the Earl of Moray's men, but all of them
take free quarters, and at their own discretion." Living
in this manner, and sent for such a special purpose, none
were killed even by the most turbulent. 'I'hat numbers
were hurt in defending their property was to be expected,
and it is matter of surprise, that, in such circumstances,
lives were not lost.
APPENDIX. 363
W, Page 151.
The tenants of Lochiel and Ardsheal supplied these
gentlemen with money, after the year 1745, when their
estates were forfeited, and they themselves in exile in
France. When the Earl of Seaforth was in similar circum-
stances, after his attainder in 17 16, he experienced the
same generous and disinterested fidelity;* and Macpher-
son of Clunie, though an outlaw, and compelled to live
for nine years in caves and woods, was in no want of
money or anything that could be contributed by his
people, who, after his death, continued the same assistance
to his widow and family. But it is needless to multiply
examples of this attachment, which existed till a late period,
without the least prospect of reward or remuneration, all
being the free gift of men poor in substance, but of warm
affections and liberal minds. Moreover, this generous
disposition was not indulged without risk ; for while they
paid the full rents demanded by Government after the
forfeitures, they were threatened with higher rents, and
persecuted by the agents for sending the money out
of the country. The disputes between the people
and the Crown factors, on this subject, ran very
high. A respectable gentleman, Mr Campbell of Glen-
ure, factor on the estate of Ardsheal, was shot from
behind a rock when riding on the high road. This
happened in 1752, and was the second instance of a
murder in these troublesome times. The first was that
* When the rents were collected, for the purpose of being sent to
Lord Seaforth in France, 400 of his old followers and tenants escorted
the money to Edinburgh to see it safely lodged in the bank. Their
first appearance there on this errand caused no small surprise, and
strong animadversions on Government for allowing such proceedings.
The same people, so generous to their chief in his adversity, preserved
such control over him when in full power and prosperity, that they
interfered and prevented his pulling down his Castle of Brahan, the
destruction of which they considered derogatory to the respectability
of the family and clan. In the year 1737, the tenants sent Lord
Seaforth ;^8oo in one sum, equal to ;!^8ooo in the present day, cal
culating the rents, and the value of the estate.
364 APPENDIX.
of Captain Munro of Culcairn in 1746, noticed in the
Annals of the 42nd Regiment. He was shot in the same
manner as Glenure, while riding at the head of a party of
men marching through Lochaber. But this blow was in-
tended for an officer whose party had, some time previously,
burned the assassin's house, turned his family out in a
storm of snow, and taken away his cattle ; while his son,
who had resisted, was killed. Considering the state of
men's minds, and the disturbed condition of the country
for so many years, it may be considered remarkable, that
these were the only two instances of premeditated murder.
The man who shot Culcairn was known; but, through some
unexplained cause, he was not apprehended. It has
never been fully ascertained who shot Mr Campbell.
Suspicion fell upon a man of the name of Allan Stewart
or Allan Breac (as he was called, from the marks of
the small-pox), who had been a sergeant in the French
service, had come over in the year of the RebeUion, and
lived afterwards as an outlaw. He was never seen after
the murder, and was supposed to have gone to France.
A gentleman of the name of Stewart, a relation of the
family of Ardsheal, was taken up, indicted, and tried
at Inveraray, on suspicion of being art and part (as the
Scotch law terms it), or in the fore-knowledge of the
murder. The Duke of Argyll, then Justice-General, sat
on the bench, and the Lord-Advocate attended as prose-
cutor, the only instance of this officer presiding on any
criminal trial, or of the Lord-Advocate prosecuting at an
assize. Mr Stewart was found guilty, and executed near
the spot where the murder was committed, and his body
hung in chains. The whole transaction caused a great
sensation, and the justice of the verdict and execution was
much canvassed. It is now believed that the result
would have been different had the trial taken place at a
later period. But whether or not Mr Stewart deserved
his fate, it were well that all executions made such an
impression on the minds of the people as this did, and
still continues to make to this day. The talents and re-
spectable character of the person executed, the public
APPENDIX. 365
exhibition of his body, a thing hitherto unknown in that
country, and the doubtful circumstance of his guilt, are
still matters of deep reflection among the people. On
Sundays, and at times when they pass in more than ordi-
nary numbers, they assemble on or near the spot where
the gibbet stood, and talk with solemn and impressive
awe of the whole circumstances.
Turbulent and accustomed to blood as the High-
landers were supposed to be, the terror and avve inspired
by public executions is very remarkable. This awe is
not confined within the mountains. I have seen soldiers,
fearless of death when before an enemy, for days previ-
ous to an execution become grave, thoughtful, and seem-
ingly powerfully impressed with a kind of dread, which
they could not shake off.
X, Page 155.
It may be curious to notice the similarity of action
among men with very different principles in all things,
except what concerns their interests. After the new
system of managing lands and laying out farms had com-
menced in the Highlands, the ancient occupiers and
cultivators were often overlooked by those who undertook
to new-model gentlemen's estates. Their future happi-
ness or misery formed no part of the new plans, and
seemed as much disregarded as the fate of the an-
cient breed of horses and sheep. The old Highlanders
were considered unfit for the new improvements; the
length of time they held their lands gave them no claim ;
they had possessed them too long already; they must
now give place to others. This was the language of
many agents employed in these arrangements, and the
language also of too many of those who employed them.
— At the beginning of the French Revolution, when
Dundee, Perth, and other towns, planted the tree of
liberty, and the doctrine of equality of property was held
out to encourage the partisans of Revolutionary Prin-
ciples, the late Mr Dempster of Dunichen observed, in
366 APPENDIX.
the spring of 1791, that his farm-grieve, or overseer, had
paid particular attention to a large field, ploughing and
harrowing it twice, and laying down a double allowance
of manure. He w^as preparing a third dressing, when
Mr Dempster asked the cause of all this care bestowed
upon one field more than the others. After some hesita-
tion, the man answered, that every person had a right to
attend to his own interest. Mr Dempster observed, that
however true that might be, it could have no concern
with that field. To this the grieve replied, that, as he
had been a kind and generous master to him, he would
explain the whole matter. He then told him that, at a
late meeting of Delegates of the Friends of the People,
they had discussed much business, and, among other
matter, had made a division of all the lands in the dis-
trict, when this field, and some acres of pasture, fell to
his share. His master told him he was happy to find him
well provided, and asked what part of the estate they had
allotted to him. " Oh, as to you. Sir, and the other
Lairds," rephed the man, "it was resolved that you
should have nothing to do with the land, and that none
of the old Lairds or Proprietors were to have any. They
and their families had had these lands long enough ;
their old notions were not fit for the new times ; there-
fore they must all quit, and make way for the new system
and new order of things ; but as you have been always so
good to me, I will propose, at the next meeting, that a
portion be left for you."
y. Page, 167.
On reference to the proceedings of the Court of Justi-
ciary in the northern counties, it will be found that the
capital convictions at Inverness, from the year 1747 to
181 7, have been fifty-nine. Of these there were —
10 men for murder.
9 women for child-murder.*
* This crime is less frequent since the strictness of church disci-
APPENDIX. 367
2 men for rape ; one of them rape and murder
near Elgin.
I man for fire-raising.
12 men for cattle-stealing.*
1 man for sheep-stealing. +
2 men for house-breaking and theft.
9 men for theft.
3 men for robbing.
Of these criminals eight were strangers, soldiers quar-
tered in the different garrisons, and others, who committed
crimes as they passed through the country, and were ap-
prehended and tried there. This Circuit includes the low-
land part of the counties of Moray and Orkney (in the
latter crimes of magnitude are very rare), containing a
population of 238,681 souls, out of which there were 59
persons (51 natives) convicted in the course of seventy
years, making the proportion of one criminal to 283,180
souls. From 1756 to 1761, and from 1767 to 1773, there
were no convictions. From 1773 to 1783, there was only
pline has been softened. Only one woman has been condemned
since 1763.
* This was at the earlier period, before the nature and danger of
^^ lifting cattle " as it was called, was properly understood by the
Highlanders. None have been convicted of cattle-stealing since the
year 1765. When it was known to be a crime, the practice ceased.
Two of the above offenders were in the knowledge of all the Pre-
tender's movements after the battle of Culloden. They gave him in-
formation, supplied him with provisions, were taken up on suspicion,
threatened with instant execution, if they did not confess what they
knew of him, and, at the same time, offered the tempting reward of
;/^30,ooo. But all in vain. Neither the prospect of immediate
death, or the offer of immediate wealth, had any influence over the
minds of these poor men, in a case where they thought their honour
was concerned. They were afterwards hanged for stealing a cow !
+ This was at a later period, when the stock graziers got posses-
sion of the pasture grounds. Many sheep were stolen at that period.
Four men were banished for this crime : one of them from Glengarry
is in possession of considerable property in Botany Bay. He was
taken up near Perth, where I saw him a prisoner. His appearance
was remarkable ; six feet three inches, stout, well formed, and with
a florid handsome countenance.
368 APPENDIX.
one man convicted; his crime was murder. From 1794
to 1817, there were three convictions for murder, but none
for robbery, housebreaking, or any other crime. In May
1817, a woman was condemned for theft.
The feudal powers and jurisdiction of the Duke of
Argyll were abolished in the year 1748, and the first assize
court was held at Inveraray in May 1749. From that
period till 181 7, the number of convictions has been eight.
The crimes were —
3 for murder.
I for cattle-stealing.
3 for theft (two women, and one man).
I man for forgery.
This last case happened in the year 1782. The
offender's name was Macaffie. The forgery was com-
mitted in Dublin, but, attempting to pass his notes in
Inveraray, he was apprehended, tried and condemned.
On some certified question of law, however, he was taken
to Edinburgh, when the point was decided against him,
and he was executed there. If we except this conviction
of a stranger, and that of James FuUarton for theft in
1783, there were none condemned at Inveraray, for a
period of fifty-one years, from 1753 to 1804. There
have been two convictions for murder since. One in
1805,* another in 181 7. The Inveraray Circuit includes
the counties of Argyle and Bute, containing a population
of 82,261 persons.
The population of that part of the Aberdeen Circuit,
which may be properly called Highland, and which includes
portions of the counties of Kincardine and Banff, amounts
to 14,596 persons. From 1747 to 181 7, there were two
men condemned from that part of the country ; one for
murder in the year 1770, and another for fire-raising in
1785. From 1770 to 1784, there was no capital convic-
tion in Aberdeen.
* This was a travelling linker from Athole. He was executed
for throwing his wife into a river, where she was found drowned,
near the King's House Inn, Glcnorchy.
APPENDIX. 369
As the Highland parts of Perthshire constitute but a
small part of that Circuit, which comprehends Perth, Fife,
and Angus, I shall only notice the native Highlanders
tried and condemned at Perth, from 1747 to 181 7. The
number was sixteen, of whom
5 men were convicted for murder.
4 men for cattle-stealing.
4 for theft.
2 women for cliild-murder.
I man for rape.
The population of the Highlands of Perthshire is about
40,130. giving a greater proportion of criminals than either
of the other circuits.
Proportion of Convicted Criminals to the Population in
the different Districts in the Highlands from 1747 to 181 7.
Population.
Convictions.
Proportions.
Inverness Circuit - - - 238,681
59 in 70 years.
I to 283,180
Inveraray 82,261
8 in 69
I to 709,501
Perthshire Highlands - 40,130
16 in 70
I to 175,569
Aberdeen, Banff, etc. - 14,596
2 in 70
I to 510,860
Highlands of Stirling and
Dumbarton - - - - 13,259
5 in 70
I to 185,626
All the Highlands - - 388,982 90 i to 301,677
Proportion of England and
Wales, for 7 years pre-
vious to 181 7 - - 10,204,280 4226 in 7 years, or i to 16,898
Z, Page 172.
Of this there are numberless proofs in all parts of the
Highlands. I remember many old people, who, in their
youth, saw corn growing on fields now covered with
heather. Among many traditions on this subject, there
is one of a wager between my great grandfather, and
four Lowland gentlemen. These were the then Mr
Smythe of Methven, Sir David Threipland, Mr Moray of
Abercairney, and Sir Thomas Moncrieff. The object of
the wager was, who could produce a boll of barley of
the best quality, my ancestor to take his specimen
2 B
37© APPENDIX.
from his highest farm, and Sir David Threipland not
to take his specimen from his low farms on the plains
of the Carse of Gowrie, but from a farm on the heights.
Marshall Wade who was then Commander in Chief,
and superintending the formation of the Highland roads,
was to be the umpire. Methven produced the best barley,
Sir Thomas Moncrieff the second, my relation the third,
Abercairney the fourth, and Sir David Threipland the
fifth and most inferior quality. This happened in the
year 1726 or 1727. It is said that the season was
uncommonly favourable for high grounds, being hot
and dry. The spot which produced the Highland speci-
men is at the foot of the mountain Shichallain, and is
now totally uncultivated, but of a deep rich soil, only
requiring climate and shelter with planting to produce the
best crops. Some hundred yards farther up the side of
the mountain, and more than 1400 feet above the level
of the sea, the traces of the plough are clear and dis-
tinct ; also the remains of enclosures and mounds of
stones, which had been cleared away from the lands,
when prepared for cultivation in more ancient times.
In the present state of the climate and the country,
bare and unsheltered from the mountain blast, those
fields, once smiling with verdure, woods (the under-
ground roots of which still exist in vast quantities),
and cultivation, now present the aspect of a black de-
solate waste. This extension of early cultivation was the
more necessary from the numerous population, of which
there are so many evident traces. Although the more re-
mote ages are called pastoral, the value and importance of
cultivation seem to have been well appreciated. Forest
trees of large size have flourished on those high moun-
tains, as is fully proved by their remains, which are still
found in mosses more than 1500 feet above the sea.
Recent experience, in several instances, has shown, that
Scotch fir and Alpine larch will prosper in those high
regions.* An experiment to try how far their shelter
* The larch is now spreading over the whole kingdom, and has
proved a valuable acquisition to the produce of many barren moors
APPENDIX. 371
would improve the climate, so as to make the soil pro-
ductive and cultivable, as in former times, would, in the
in the opinion of many intelligent men, be preferable to
the modern system of improving our mountains and
glens, by removing the ancient hardy race that have
peopled, for so many ages, extensive tracts which are
now to be left in the state of nature, never to experience
the influence of human industry. These regions might
be improved into arable productive soil by humane and
considerate proprietors, who retain their people, which
are the wealth and capital of the country, and, in the
opinion of Sir Humphry Davie, on the Improvement of
Moss and Moorland, there is " strong ground to believe
that the capital expended (in the Highlands the manual
labour of the people is their capital) would, in a very few
years, afford a great and increasing interest, and would
contribute to the wealth, prosperity, and populaation of
this island."
in the Highlands, where the climate is found more favourable for
this species of pine than in the plains. The wood is of an excellent
quality. The Athole frigate, built entirely of Athole larch, is ex-
pected to show that it will prove a good substitute for oak in ship-
building.
The larch was accidentally brought to Scotland by a gentleman
whom I have had occasion to mention more than once. Mr Menzies
of Culdares was in London in 1737, and hearing of a beautiful pine
shrub recently imported from the Alps, procured four plants; he gave
two to the Duke of Atholl, which are now in full vigour at Dunkeld,
and maybe called the parents of all the larch in the kingdom ; he gave
a third to Mr Campbell of Monzie, and kept the fourth for himself,
which unfortunately was cut down forty years ago. It had then been
planted 45 years, and had grown to seven feet nine inches in circum-
ference. The Duke of AthoU's plants were placed in a green-house
at Dunkeld, where they did not thrive, and were thrown out, when
they immediately began to grow, and quickly showed the consequence
of being placed in a proper climate.
The Duke of Atholl sold one thousand larch trees of seventy years
growth for ;^5ooo. If they had been planted and grown regularly,
they would not have covered more than nine Scotch acres of the
light soil on which they thrive best, allowing 22 feet square for each
tree, more than ample space for the larch.
372 APPENDIX.
A A, Page 187.
It is said that a man is more comfortable as a day-
labourer than as a small farmer. Experience is in opposi-
tion to this opinion, in so far as, where we see many
thousand labourers become paupers, such is never the
case with the occupiers of land. These may be poor and
involved in difficulties, but they are never in want of
food, or dependent on charitable aid. Ireland is stated
as an instance of the misery of small farmers. This is no
more a fair example, than that of the people placed on
small allotments of moorland in the new mode introduced
into the Highlands.
That part of Lord Breadalbane's estate, which is on
both sides of Loch Tay, contains nearly 1 1,000 acres of
arable woodland and pasture, in sight of the lake, besides
the mountain grazing ; the whole supporting a population
of about 3120 souls. Were he to divide the 11,000
acres into eight or ten farms, agreeably to the practice
now in progress in the Highlands, placing the present
population on small lots as day-labourers, would they be
so independent as they now are, paying for the lands on
the banks of Loch Tay, high as they are, and notwithstand-
ing a backward climate, as good a rent as is paid by many
farmers in Kent or Sussex ? Lord Breadalbane is sensible
of this, and preserves the loyal race of men who occupy
his land, without having occasion to establish associa-
tions for the suppression of felony, as in the improved
districts in the North,* or establishing rates for the poor,
* When protecting associations are found necessary in the North
Highlands, under the new mode of management, I may notice the
state of morals in this great property, maintaining a population of
more than 8000 persons in Perthshire, besides 5000 in Argyleshire.
From the year 1750 to 1813, there have been only two persons
accused of capital crimes in Lord Breadalbane's estate in Perthshire,
and both were acquitted. The first was a farmer tried on suspicion
of murder.t The second was Ewan Campbell (or Laidir), noticed
t He was a married man, who lived at the foot of Ben Lavrres.
APPENDIX. 373
as has been done in the fertile and wealthy counties of
Roxburgh, Berwick, etc. Should his Sovereign visit
Scotland, and pass through the Earl of Breadalbane's
territory, his Lordship might assemble, on a few hours'
warning, 2000 men, in the prime of life, ready to receive
his Prince at any of the great passes or entrances into his
property, at Taybridge, Glenorchy, or Glenogle. At the
head of this loyal and hardy race of men, Lord Bread-
albane may welcome his Sovereign, and, pointing to his
followers, may say, such men as these are good supporters
of the country and the throne, and, while their loyalty,
principles, and ancient spirit are preserved pure and
undaunted, they will always be ready to "Follow me"*
at the call of their King and Country. t
in Appendix EE. Macalpine, also mentioned in the text, was
tried for an illegal act, which would have subjected him to the
punishment of felony, namely, for wearing the Highland garb. Some
aberrations from the general rule of morality have lately occurred, —
the concomitants, as a certain class of political economists say, of the
progress of civilization. — Swindling^ fraudulent bankruptcy, and for-
gery, the consequences of civilization 1 ! I
* See page 31, Vol. I.
t Since the above was written, a meeting of this kind happened
in September 1819, when 1238 men of Lord Breadalbane's tenants,
in the prime of life, and in the garb of their ancestors, assembled on
the lawn in front of Taymouth Castle, when Prince Leopold honoured
his Lordship with a visit. The number could have been doubled.
In autumn 1765, a servant girl in his family suddenly disappeared,
and no trace of her could be discovered till the following spring,
when the shepherds found her body floating in a small lake, nearly
half way up the mountain. Owing to the length of time the body
lay in the water, no close examination could be made, and no marks
of violence were observed: but after the body was found, a report
was spread that an improper intimacy between the deceased and her
master had been observed. On this suspicion he was apprehended
and tried at the Perth Circuit Court, and acquitted, as there was no
evidence beyond this suspicious report. While he lay in jail, it was
broke, and several prisoners made their escape, and as he refused to
accompany them, saying he was conscious of his innocence, the cir-
cumstance acted powerfully in his favour ; he, however, never re-
turned to the country. His family followed him to the Low country,
where he settled and died.
374 APPENDIX.
BB, Page 216.
To oifer an agricultural comparison, taken from a
Highland glen, may occasion a smile ; but I may be per-
mitted to mention the relative state of two glens high up
in the Highlands, both of nearly the same extent and
quality of pasture and arable land, with no difference of
climate. The one is full of people, all of whom are sup-
ported by the produce. The other glen was once as
populous, but is now laid out in extensive grazings, and
the arable land turned into pasture. The population of
the latter, compared with the former, is as one to fifteen,
and the difference of rent supposed to be about four per
cent, in favour of the stock-farming glen. But in the
populous district, the surface is cleared, the soil improved,
and the produce increased, merely by the strength of many
hands, without expense to the landlord either in building
houses or otherwise. In the grazing glen the soil remains
in a state of nature, and large sums have been expended
in building houses for the men of capital. The income-
tax being removed, few direct taxes reach them, horses or
carts being scarcely at ail employed ; whereas, in the
populous districts, taxes are paid for horses, hearths, dogs,
and for the manufactures which the people consume. The
stock-farmer ought to send more produce to market
than can be spared, where there are so many people to
support, but does this additional marketable produce go
to the landlord? Perhaps as much of this produce is laid
out on the extended mode of living in the family and per-
sonal expense of the man of capital, as is consumed by
the more numerous but more economical occupiers ; but
that even they can spare a full proportion, is evident from
the rent and taxes they pay, and the money required for
their necessary supplies; the land, at the same time, sup-
porting a numerous population who improve the soil, and
give nearly as good rents to the landlord, and pay more
taxes; consuming manufactures in the same proportion,
and adding to the employment of those who prepare
J
APPENDIX. 375
them ; and producing from their small spots of land a
sufficiency to answer all demands; and, above all, to
maintain a robust, active body of men, ready to turn out
in defence of the liberty and honour of their country.
With all this the earth is cultivated and grain produced,
and industry, and the improvements of men, are allowed
full play. In the grazing districts, again, with less than
one-fifteenth part of this population, few taxes are paid,
few manufactures consumed, the soil is left in the state of
nature, and the country apparently waste.
Conversing on this point at different times with judici-
ous stock-farmers and graziers of capital, I asked if they
could pay a rent equal to that of the small tenants in the
populous glens. They answered, " Yes, certainly." Fol-
lowing up this question, I asked if they could pay the rent,
still keeping the people, having no cultivation, and turning
all the land to pasturage. The answer always was. Cer-
tainly not more than half the rent. When further ques-
tioned, why then did they turn their own farms to
pasturage, when they saw and acknowledged the superior
advantage of cultivation ? To this the only answer was,
That pasturage was more easily managed ; that, with ten
men and twenty dogs, they would take care of all the
sheep and cattle in the glen, which, under cultivation,
supported 643 persons. In short, they fully acknow-
ledged, that cultivating the land made this immense
difference ; but then they could not cultivate the farms
without restoring the people, or employing a great many
servants. They insisted, at the same time, that pasture
is better adapted to wet climates, and more easily man-
aged than cultivated fields, overlooking the strong and
acknowledged fact before them, as well as many others
of the same tendency. Their concluding argument was,
that to improve the soil was the business of the proprie-
tor, not theirs. If gentlemen allowed their lands to remain
in a state of nature, without an attempt to improve or
continue the cultivation, the loss was the proprietor's,
and so long as they got their farms for the rents they
376 APPENDIX.
could afford to pay in pasture, they asked for no improve-
ment.*
CC, Page, 223.
The funds for the reHef of the poor have been
stationary in those districts where the inhabitants hold
their lands. In the Highlands of Perthshire, even in
1816 and 181 7, years of unprecedented pressure on the
poor, when great sums were subscribed for their support
in the South, there was no increased demand beyond what
private benevolence supplied. The clergymen, who have
the management and distribution of the funds for the poor
find no clamorous call for charitable aid ; on the con-
trary, they are obliged to search for proper objects, who
conceal their wants, suffering every i)rivation, rather than
humble themselves to ask for public charity, at the same
time that they will gratefully receive private aid from any
benevolent or more opulent neighbours. In a letter
from a respectable clergyman in Athole on this subject,
he says, " I have witnessed many singular instances, and
have been astonished and gratified, to see how long poor
creatures will struggle with their fate before they submit
to that painful degradation. How eminently useful it is
to step forward to their aid before the virtuous pride is
altogether destroyed, and they are reduced to that last
resource which they so justly and greatly dread ! " t
Another able and zealous clergyman writes : " I must
always search for the objects of charity in my parish.
When questioning individuals on their state, I have seen
* It may not be irrelevant to state, that, notwithstanding the
recent depopulation of the higher glens, their inhabitants have
always been more athletic, better limbed, and more independent in
their minds, than the inhabitants of the lower glens ; the soil in
many of the higher glens is deep and rich, and when properly culti-
vated with lime, manure, and green crops, the corn is strong and
productive, failing only in cold and wet autumns. The upper glens
on Lord Breadalbane's, as well as those on many other estates, prove
the superior appearance of the people and capability of the soil.
+ Letter from the Reverend Mr Duff, Minister of Mouline.
APPENDIX. 377
a blush of shame and confusion spread over their coun-
tenances ; and while they endeavoured to conceal their
wants, and pointed out to me others more needful, I
knew that they were in great necessity."*
In the parish of MouUn, containing a population of
1947 souls, there are thirteen poor receiving permanent
relief, and eleven occasional assistance, but no itinerant
beggars in the parish. Indeed, the fund could not afford
much, as the amount has not exceeded ;£"2 2. los. on the
average of the last five years. To this may be added the
interest of small sums bequeathed by benevolent indivi-
duals some years ago. In the parish of Dull, with a
population of 4236 persons, the number of poor is sixty-
one, assisted by a fund of £,^2. 15s. annually. Weem
parish has no itinerant beggars out of a population of
1484 souls. The amount of the funds is £^2Af. los. on an
average of five years, and the number of poor on the same
average fifteen persons. In the parish of Logierait, the
poor have lessened in late years, when there was a great in-
crease of them in the Northern Highlands. The number
of inhabitants is 3015, with little variation for several
years. In 18 12, the paupers were forty-one, and in
181 7, the number was thirty-two persons. Dr Smith, in
his " General Survey of the County of Argyle, drawn up
for the Board of Agriculture," in speaking of the poor of
Argyleshire, says, " The number supported by private or
public contributions or otherwise is, in general, very
inconsiderable, as they have a modesty and spirit that
makes them endure absolute want before they can bring
themselves to the mortification of receiving any public
aid. This innate disposition keeps them from being any-
where a burden. In the Island of Tyree, in Argyleshire,
there are 2446 persons, with fifty paupers. In the Island
of Coll, the number is 1193, and thirty-four poor receive
aid. The annual distribution to each individual from the
poor's fund is 3s." With such a fund, it is absurd to
speak of the allowance to a pauper as a support.
* Letter from the Reverend Dr Irvine, Little Dunkeld.
378 APPENDIX.
DD, Page 226.
The excuse for this manner of letting lands by auc-
tion, is, that landlords cannot otherwise ascertain the
value of their property. But are those who are thus
called upon to offer the proper value the best judges ?
They are, in general, either the tenant in possession, dis-
tracted with the dread of being turned out, and, there-
fore, ready to give any rent rather than move from the
scene of his past happiness ; or it may be a speculator,
supported by credit, without property to lose, who will
risk any rent, in the expectation that fortune and favour-
able seasons will enable him to work his way ; if he fails,
he is no worse off than before, nay, perhaps, richer, as
pan of his creditors' money may remain in his hands ; or,
lastly, it may be a stranger from a distant country, ignorant
of the quality of the soil and of its proper management
in an elevated country, and a boisterous uncertain climate.
It is said that while people are ready to take farms, the
rent cannot be too high, and the landlord is justifiable
in taking the best offer. In the same manner, it has
been said, that w^hile there are numberless candidates
for army commissions, the pay of subalterns is not too
small. That the pay of a subaltern is too small, I well
know by years of hard experience, and I believe the
numberless candidates are rather urged by a predilec-
tion for the profession, and by their want of other em-
ployment, than temjDted by the sufficiency of military
emoluments. From the same cause, and from the same
desire of obtaining a settlement, candidates are induced
to bid for land at whatever rent. Were it the practice to
set up commissions to public sale to the highest bidder,
or by secret and rival offers, the money to be paid in
annual instalments, like the rents, instead of the whole
down, thus affording some hope, that the delay would
enable them to pay all, there is no doubt that the
price of commissions would quickly augment ; but what
would be the consequence? Certain ruin to the unfor-
APPENDIX. 379
tunate purchasers, their spirit broken down by poverty,
their morals unhinged, and in the hope of retriev-
ing their difficulties, gambling and other practices,
discreditable to themselves and their profession resorted
to. But, happily for the honour of the army, the destruc-
tion of principle consequent on such proceedings was
foreseen and guarded against, and all officers are strictly
prohibited from giving more than the price established by
regulations for their commissions. A different system
would quickly ruin the army; and it is no less destructive
and subversive of the best principles of the cultivators of
the land, who have hitherto been conspicuous for their
primitive manners and integrity.
Although all my observations apply to the Highlands
only, I may take examples from the Lowlands, and give
that of a nobleman whose character adds lustre to his high
rank, and who, after having proved himself one of the most
illustrious and able commanders of his country, when
fighting her battles, has now, when his services in the field
are no longer necessary, shown himself equally great,
judicious, and generous, in the management of his almost
princely estate, to which he succeeded a few years ago."^
The former leases were let by public advertisement and
acceptance of the highest offer ; accordingly, great rents
were promised, but irregularly paid, and sometimes by
sequestrations. Tormented and disgusted with these pro-
ceedings, and shocked at the distress and deteriorated
character and principles of the tenants, who were resorting
to discreditable shifts to meet demands they could not
fairly answer, he determined to act agreeably to the dic-
tates of his honourable mind. As the term of the leases
expired, he called for no secret offer, he employed no
land valuator or agent, he did not offer his farms by pub-
lic advertisements ; he examined every farm himself, and
calculated the produce, and thus was personally able to
ascertain how^ far the former rents were the cause of the
failures and defalcations ; he fixed the new rents at a
* This was General the late Earl of Hopetoun.
380 APPENDIX.
reduction of the old, on an average of thirty per cent.,
although some were raised. So injudicious were the
former rents, that while some were far beyond their value,
others were too low. Every tenant obtained his own
farm, except two, who, by their offers, were partly the
cause of the former injudicious augmentations. The
tenants can now bear up under low prices and taxes, as
their moderate rents enable them to meet unfortunate
contingencies, and their generous landlord is secured in
a regular income, thus making him as independent as he
made his tenants.
EE, Page 257.
Instances are common in the Highlands, even to this
day, of the influence of pubhc opinion operating as a
powerful restraint on crimes, nay, even as a punishment,
to the extent of forcing individuals into exile. Of these,
two have occurred within my own remembrance. Several
years ago, two men, one old and the other young, stepped
into a small boat to cross Loch Tay. In the middle of
the lake they were seen to stand up, as if struggling, and
then quickly to sit or fall down, the people from the dis-
tance could not distinguish which. When the boat arrived
at the shore, the young man was missing. The account
which his aged companion gave was, that the youth was in
hquor, and wished to quarrel with him, and got up in the
boat to strike him, but his foot slipped and he fell over-
board. This story was not believed. The man was sent
to Perth jail, tried at the ensuing assizes, and acquitted for
want of evidence. The impression of his guilt, however,
was not to be effaced from the minds of the people.
This belief was farther confirmed by the character of the
man, who was quarrelsome and passionate. On his return
to Breadalbane no person would speak to him. He was
not upbraided for his supposed guilt, nor was any attempt
made to insult or maltreat him ; but he found every back
turned upon him, and every house he entered instantly
emptied of its inhabitants. He withstood this for a short
APPENDIX. 381
time, when he left the country, and never returned, or was
seen afterwards. I was present at this man's trial. His
name was Ewan Campbell, or Ewen Laidir, or the Strongs
from his great strength. The other instance happened
some years afterwards in Strathbrane, the most southern
valley in the Perthshire Highlands. The circumstances
were in part similar to those which occasioned the late
proposed trial by wager of battle in the case of Thornton,
accused of the murder of Mary Ashford. A young woman
was found drowned in a small pool of water used for
steeping flax, having considerable marks of violence on
the body, and traces of struggling being discovered on
the grass round the pool. There was not a doubt but
she had been murdered and forced into the water. Sus-
picions fell upon a young man supposed to have been her
sweetheart. He was sent to Perth jail, tried, and ac-
quitted for want of proof In the minds of the people,
however, there was proof sufficient. He happened to
reach home late on a Saturday night, and next morning
went to hear Divine service, and took his seat in one end
of the church ; but in a moment he had it wholly to him-
self. Every person moved away to a distance, and left
the whole range of seats empty. When he came out after
service, and stood in the church-yard, all shunned him,
and when he walked homewards, those that were in his
front hurried on, and those behind walked slow, leaving
the road to himself This was too much to bear, and his
resolution not holding out so long as the old man's, he
disappeared that night, and, like him, has never since
been heard of
The laws are now sufficiently strong to punish all
crimes in the Highlands, ^^^len such was not the case,
these were the institutions and habits of thinking which
these illiterate people established for themselves, to pun-
ish and prevent transgressions.
FF, Page 262.
To extend the means of education, a knowledge of
382 APPENDIX.
the Scriptures, and a consequent regard to religion and
moral duties, great improvements have been lately made
by the humane beneficence of individuals, who have
raised a fund for the support of Gaelic schools, and have
thus enabled the natives to read the Scriptures in a lan-
guage which they understand. As the best books only
are published in that language, the principles of the people
will be protected from the contamination of seditious and
improper tracts, and the advantages of education will be
unmixed with the danger that threatens their best prin-
ciples, by the abuse of those blessings which ought to be
the result. The means of educating the Highlanders in
the early part of the last century, and of instructing them
in religious knowledge, do not seem to have been well
understood or well conducted. The established clergy
were directed to preach and exhort in English, and
schoolmasters to teach in the same language. Thus,
while the parishioners were compelled to listen to dis-
courses and prayers of which they did not comprehend
one sentence, their children were taught to pronounce and
run over their letters with as little instruction. In con-
formity to this precious system, patrons of Highland
parishes have, in many cases, appointed ministers from
the Lowlands, totally ignorant of the only language under-
stood by the parishioners.* In the year 1791, the case
* If it were proper to be otherwise than serious on such a subject,
the appearance the Lowland clergy make in attempting to preach in
Gaelic might occasion more than a smile. The mistakes they con-
stantly commit, their perversion of the language and confounding of
the meaning of words, which may be understood in two or more
senses, occasion ridiculous scenes, which put the gravity of the aged
to the proof, and throw the youthful into fits of laughter not easily
controlled. When these are the means by which religious instruction
is in so many cases conveyed to the Highlanders, their ignorance
may cease to excite wonder; and, instead of seeing men expressing
their grief and horror at the want of religion, knowledge of Christi-
anity, and the vices which, they pretend, exist in the Highlands, it
were well if a share of their horror and indignation were raised
against those who deprive the inhabitants of the means of instruction,
and some share of merit and approbation might be shown towards a
people who, although under such disadvantages, are not altogether
so ignorant as they are called.
APPENDIX. 383
of the appointment of a clergyman, ignorant of the Gaelic
language, to a Highland parish in Aberdeenshire, came,
by appeal, before the General Assembly. But the Assem-
bly, from the members of which, as the fathers of the
church and supporters of religion, a different decision
might have been expected, sustained the appointment ; and
thus, by giving countenance to an unprincipled practice,
by which the very source of Christian instruction is dried
up, patrons of parishes are encouraged to persevere in a
flagitious system which deprives a whole population of the
means of hearing Divine worship performed in an intel-
ligible language. Yet, while religious knowledge was, in
these cases, placed beyond the reach of the Highlanders,
by those whose bounden duty it was to afford them every
facility to acquire it, the state of religion, and the clear
notions the people entertain of their religious duties, are
very remarkable, particularly when those disadvantages,
the scarcity of clergymen, and the general great extent of
the parishes, are taken into consideration. The indiffer-
ence shown to their religious instruction at the Reforma-
tion is well known, and looked more like a total extinction,
than a reform of religion ; for, at that period, two, three,
and in some cases four parishes, were united into one;
numberless chapels were destroyed,* and tracts of forty or
fifty miles in extent were left without a church, or minister
of the gospel.
Although there are many thousand unable to read, and
many more unable to understand what they read (in
Enghsh), the advantages of education,, when combined
with temporal comforts, are well understood, and when
* The churches of the adjoining parishes of Fortingall in Perth-
shire, and of Lismore in Argyleshire, are 78 miles distant. The parish
of Appin was suppressed and annexed to Lismore, and Kilchonnan
annexed to Fortingall. Nine chapels in these four parishes were
totally suppressed; and thus, where thirteen clergymen were estab-
lished formerly, the economy of the Reformers allowed only two;
and this they called teaching the true gospel, where no teachers were
left, no provision for clerg^'men, nor churches for Divine worship
allowed. Four parishes were united under one clergyman at Blair-
Athole. Similar instances are frequent in the Highlands and Isles.
384
APPENDIX.
allowed to go hand in hand, they have answered the most
sanguine expectations. In this manner, we see men, in
the lowest situations as cottagers, giving an education to
their children, which fits them for any profession. Many
men of my intimate acquaintance, educated in this manner,
have been, and now are, eminent in different learned pro-
fessions. Others give equal promise. These men acquire
the religious and moral habits, which paved the way to
their present eminence, from the poor but well-principled
parents. The number of persons thus educated from the
poorest class of the people is, I believe, unparalleled.
This commendable trait of character may be considered
as part of that chivalrous independent spirit which ani-
mated the clans, and which, amidst poverty and frequent
violations of law and regular government, developed many
honourable points of character.
But to return to the subject of rehgious knowledge.
They who suppose that knowledge is only acquired from
books, will find some difficulty in believing that in the
Highlands, men without any education, or any language
but their own, can give a clear account of their faith.
With a memory rendered tenacious and accurate, by their
inabihty to read, and the consequent necessity of retain-
ing in their recollection what they hear, they acquire a
competent knowledge of the Scriptures, and on reference
to any important passage, will readily point out the chap-
ter and verse. Not only can they repeat whole chapters
from recollection, but even recollect the greater part of a
sermon. Men of this kind were not to be found in every
family, but they were frequent ; and by free communica-
tion of their acquirements, have greatly contributed to
considerable intelligence, both civil and religious. But,
as education extends, this faculty of a tenacious memory
must diminish. When a man can find what he wishes to
know by turning up a book, he is apt to ttiink that he
need not be at the trouble of retaining it in his memory.
As education is becoming so general, it is to be hoped,
that moral principles will be presei-ved and combined
with increase of knowledge, and that the people will read
APPENDIX. 355
and comprehend the Scriptures with at least the same
advantage and instruction as when they were taught and
explained by zealous and able clergymen, and by such in-
telligent persons as I have just noticed.
GG, Page 290.
That Highlanders may be rendered useless, and their
best military qualities destroyed, by want of attention to
their peculiar habits, was exemplified in the reign of
Charles I., when two potent rivals, the Marquis of
Montrose and the Marquis of Argyll, taking opposite
sides in the RebelHon, each commanded an army of
Highlanders. Montrose, whose numbers were on every
occasion very inferior, never lost a battle. Argyll, with
Highlanders equally brave, was constantly worsted.
Haughty and overbearing, although a Republican in
principle and a Puritan in religion, he kept aloof from
his people (who honoured him as their Chief, but could
not love him as a man), and disregarded those courtesies
by which a Highlander can be so easily managed. Mon-
trose, on the contrary, knew every soldier in his army,
and, while he flattered them by his attention to their
songs, genealogies, and traditions, and by sharing in
all their fatigues and privations, he roused them to
exertions almost incredible. So extraordinary were the
marches which he performed, that on many occa-
sions, the appearance of his army was the first notice
the enemy had of his approach: and of his retreats,
the first intelhgence was, that he was beyond their
reach. Before the battle of Inverlochy in February
1645, when the Marquis of Argyll had 3000 men, and
Montrose only 1600, the latter marched thirty miles by
an unfrequented route across the mountains of Lochaber,
during a heavy fall of snow, and came at night in front of
the enemy, when they believed him in another part of
the country. " The moon shone so clear that it was
almost as light as day ; they lay upon their arms the
whole night, and, with the assistance of the light, they so
2 c
386 APPENDIX.
harassed each other with sHght alarms and skirmishes,
that neither gave the other time to repose. They all
earnestly wished for day, only Argyll, more intent on his
own safety, conveyed himself away about the middle of
the night, and having very opportunely got a boat,
escaped the hazard of a battle, choosing rather to be a
spectator of the prowess of his men, than share in the
danger himself Nevertheless the chiefs of the Camp-
bells, who were indeed a set of very brave men, and
worthy of a better chief, and a better cause, began the
battle with great courage. But their first ranks discharg-
ing their muskets only once, Montrose's men fell in upon
them furiously sword in hand, with a great shout, and ad-
vanced with such great impetuosity, that they routed the
whole army, and put them to flight, and pursued them
for about nine miles, making dreadful slaughter all the
way. There were fifteen hundred of the enemy slain,
among whom were several gentlemen of distinction of the
name of Campbell, who led on the clan, and fell on the
field of battle too gallantly for their dastardly chief.
Montrose, though an enemy, pitied their fate, and used
his authority to save and give quarter to as many as he
could. In this battle Montrose had several wounded,
but he had none killed but three privates, and Sir Thomas
Ogilvie, son of the Earl of Airlie, while Argyll lost the
Lairds of Auchenbreck, Glensaddell, and Lochnell, with
his son and brother, and Barbreck, Inveraw, Lamont,
Silvercraigs, and many others taken prisoners."*
Spalding, in his " History of the Troubles," states,
that "there came direct from the Committee of Edin-
burgh certain men to see Argyll's forwardness in follow-
ing Montrose, but they saw his flight in manner foresaid.
It is to be considered that few of this army had esca])ed
if Montrose had not marched the day before the fight
twenty-three miles (Scotch miles), on little food, and
crossed sundry waters, wet and weary, and standing in
wet and cold the hail night before the fight." Similar
* Bishop WisharCs Memoirs.
A
APPENDIX. 387
to this were six successive battles fought by Montrose,
the loss on his side being equally small, and that on the
side of the Covenanters proportionably great.* In those
instances we find a body of men very inferior in numbers,
of whom the Highlanders constituted the main strength,
carry all before it, when commanded by a man of great
miHtary genius, to which he united, in a very eminent
degree, the useful talent for properly understanding the
character of those he commanded, and accommodating
himself to their peculiar habits.
At the battle of Auldearn, a few weeks after that of
Inverlochy, Campbell, Laird of Lawers, although up-
wards of seventy years of age, fought on the side of the
Covenanters with a two-handed broadsword, till himself,
and four out of six sons who were with him in the field,
fell on the ground on which they stood. Such was the
enemy which the genius and talents of Montrose over-
came.
On that occasion the left wing of Montrose's army
was commanded by his able auxiliary Macdonell, or Mac-
coull (as he is called in Gaelic), still celebrated in
Highland tradition and song for his chivalry and courage.
An elevation of the ground separated the wings. Mon-
trose received a report that Macdonell's wing had given
way, and was retreating. He instantly ran along the
ranks, and called out to his men that Macdonell was
driving the enemy before him, and unless they did the
same, the other wing would carry away all the glory of
the day. His men instantly rushed forward, and charged
the enemy off the field, while he hastened with his
reserve to the relief of his friend, and recovered the
fortune of the day.
* These battles were those of Auldearn, Alford, Tippermuir,
Killsyth, etc.
INDEX.
Aberfoyle, pass of, 3.
Abernethy, supposed the capital of the Picts, 16 — subterranean ruins
at, ib. , note.
Achaius, King of the Scots, 17.
Agricola the Roman General, 15.
Airley, family of, their feud with the Argyll, 131.
AUeyne, Mr Foster, how he treats his negroes, 183, note.
Argyle, county of, 5.
family of, their feud with the Atholl, etc., 130.
■ Marquis of, bond against, 37, note.
Arms, description of those of the clans, 84.
Arran, island of, 5.
Array, warlike, of the clans, 85.
Asylum, Caledonian, its institution, 283.
Athole, district of. 2, note, 3, note.
Duke of, his reason for exercising the power of pardon, 60
— number of men he formerly brought into the field, 86.
family of, their feud with the Argyll, 131.
Marquis of, collects a body of men to assist King William,
79.
Athole-raen, bond of, 37, note — encounter the Argyle-men, ib., note
— take Dundee, 49 — take Inverary, 51 — refuse to serve King
William, 79.
Attachment, local, striking instances of, 100, note, 112, note, 196.
Attack, mode of, used by the clans, %"].
Baden and Bavaria, transfer of their subjects between the sovereigns
of, 185.
Bane, Robert, 46, note.
Bannockburn, clans who fought at the battle of, under King Robert
Bruce, 33.
Bards, their duties, 99 — effects produced by, 100.
Bealmacha, pass of, 3.
Bel, or Baal, traces in the Highlands of the worship of, 8 — aniii-
versaiy of, ib., 7iote.
Bisset, Commissary, the Duke of Atholl's baron bailie, 61.
390
INDEX.
Bonnet, Highland, how worn, 95,
Brae-Mar, crossed by a great bed of limestone, 2, note.
Breadalbane, district of, 2, note.
Brodie, Laird of, a letter from President Forbes to, 91.
Burns, the poet, quoted, 121.
Burrel, his statement in the House of Commons respecting the poor-
rates, 217, note, 223, note.
Caddies of Edinburgh, their integrity and capability, 246, note.
Ceann-mor, Malcolm, GaeHc used at Court till his reign, 17— he
removes the Court south, 23.
Cairn, how raised, 115, note.
Caledonians, scene of their stand for liberty, 2— early civilization, 17.
Cameron, clan, 32— at the battle of Killicrankie, 80— their charge at
Culloden, 87.
John Dhu, a noted freebooter, 78.
of Lochiel, at the battle of Bannockburn, 33, w^/^— joins
Lord Dundee, 80.
second son of Lochiel, warns General Mackay of his danger,
80.
Campbell, Colonel, of Glenlyon, an opinion entertained by, 127,
note.
of Glenlyon, the commander at the massacre of Glencoe, 124,
note.
Laird of Glenorchy, the influence of the Elders of his clan
over him, 70 — distinctive names of, ib., note.
General, of Monzie, Scotch spoken to his gate, 4, note.
of Achallader ; he and Lord Breadalbane's tenants place
great confidence in each other, 57, note, 275, note — Lord George
Littleton's opinion of, 188, note.
Campbells of Dunstaffnage, Duntroon and Melford, the practice of,
35-
Canal, Caledonian, the reluctance of the Highlanders to work at it
accounted for, 249.
Celtic names of places, 10— where spoken at present, 14,
Celts, migrations of, 8 — traces of them over a considerable part of
Europe, 10 — the warlike spirit of the Caledonian, 14.
Charles L, King, civil wars of, 120.
n.. King, his gratitude to the Highlanders, 120.
Prince. — See Stuart, Prince Charles.
Chiefs, their sway, 28 — their sway mild, 34 — concluded treaties, 36
— young chief obliged to give a specimen of his valour, 41, note
— ^jurisdiction of, 60, 62— had power of life and death, 60— their
power not uncontrolled, 60, 63 — occasionally deposed, 68 —
their generosity, 58.
Clans, cause of the separation into, 25 — community of customs, 28
— their government patriarchal, ib., 29, 34, 57, 71— conse-
quences arising from the system, 35 — feuds of, 35, 53, 130 —
tendency of their warfare, 53 — black-mail levied l)y, 47 —
INDEX. 391
creachs, 44— hostile expeditions, 48 — their spoliations not
thought immoral, 46, 52 - compensation for injuries, how
awarded by, 56 — effects of their pride of ancestry, 59, note—
compensation for juries, 60, 62 — attached to their chiefs, 63,
150 — instances, 72, 82, note, 150, notc—\}ci€\x generosity to their
chiefs, 62 — description of their arms, 84 — warlike array, 85 —
mode of attack, 87 — example at Culloden, %"] — distinguished by
their tartans, 97 — their bards, 99— pipers, ib. — effects produced
on them by their poetry and music, icx) — disgrace attached to
cowardice by, 109. See Highlanders.
Clergy, Scotch, their character, 125.
Clyde, river, 2, note.
Coat, Highland, 92.
Cowardice, note — disgrace attached to, by the Clans, 109.
Creachs of the Clans, 44.
Cromwell, usurpation of, 120.
Culloden, battle of, exemplifies the mode of attack practised by the
Clans, 87.
Cultivation of the soil, more extensive formerly than now, 21.
Dalrymple, Sir John, quoted, iii, 118, 123.
Daoni-si, or fairies, 9.
Dee, river, 3.
Deer-stalking, the bow and arrow best fitted for, 85.
Disarming Act, 139 — oath ordered to be administered in the High-
lands in consequence of, 142, note.
Dissertations, preliminary, the object of the prefixed, 283.
Distillation, illicit, 236 — cause of, 239.
Don, river, 3.
Druids, 8.
Dry fallow, its introduction into East-Lothian, 174.
Dumbarton, county of, 2, 5, 48.
Dundee, Lord, joined by a large party of Highlanders, 79 —
killed at ICilliecrankie, 81.
Dunkeld, district of, 3, 28, note, 133.
Dunstaffnage, castle of, 20.
Edinbtirgh Review quoted, 129.
Elgin, county of, 5.
Erig, or ransom, how awarded, 56.
Erskine, Honourable Henry, his Emigrant quoted, 234.
Eustace's Classical Tour quoted, 97.
Excise-laws, in reference to the Highlands, 236 — -245.
Excise, officers of, 241, note.
Falkirk, arms of the Clans at the battle of, 85.
Farms, bad effect of secret offers for, 157.
Fletcher of Saltoun, his statement about the poor, 265.
•92
INDEX.
Forbes, Jamie, his feigned loss of recollection, 75, note
Lord President, his memorial about the Clans, 30 —descrip-
tion of a visit to Kearnachs, 53 — his visit to the Duke of
Athole, 60 — his opinion of the Highland garb, 91 — influence
during the rebellion, 133.
Fortingall, district of, ores found in, 2.
Erasers, a body of, refuse to comply with their chiefs wishes, 79 —
their charge at Culloden, 88,
Eraser, Lord Lovat, his influence over his Clan, 34.
Gaelic language, 3, note — the counties in which it is spoken, 4, i6i
— very like the Hebrew, 9 — when discontinued at Court, 17.
Galagacus, Caledonian, army of, 15.
Garb, Highland, 91— ornamental parts of, 94 — ordinances regard-
ing that of Ecclesiastics, 92, )iotc - suppression of, 141.
Garth, 2, note — ancient buildings on the estate of, 22.
Garters, Highland, 95.
Glencoe, an anecdcrte connected with, 124, note, 127, note.
Glenlochy, district of, 3.
Glenogle, district of, 3.
Glenlyon, ores in, 2— ancient buildings in, 22.
Glentilt, a marble quarry in, 2, note.
Gow, Neil, musician, 131.
Graham Dalyell, John, his remarks on the chartullaries of Aberdeen,
92, note.
Grampians, i direction of, 2 -composition of, ib. — names of the
principal mountains, 4.
Grant, Laird Humphrey, conflned by the Elders of his Clan, 68, note.
I^aird of, his mode of punishing cowardice, 109.
of Laggan, Mrs, quoted, 60, 101, 109, 130, 229.
Gustavus Adolphus, wars of, 91 -dress of the Scotch ofticers serving
under, 95, note.
Highlanders, their means of subsistence, 6, 106— an ancient people, 8
—of Oriental origin, 9— like the Bascjues, 13— names by which
they were known, 15— their honesty, 43, note, 109, 275, note,
262, 275 — eff"ects of their position on those of the border coun-
ties, 48 -their fidelity and honourable feeling, with instances,
63, 72, 124, note, 178, note, 206, note, 246, note — presence of
mind and address, 53— spirit of independence, 68, 117— familiar
with the idea of death, 100 wish to be interred where their
friendsare, 100 — their filial affection, 107 — chastity, no — fond of
poetry, 1 13- their memory formerly retentive, 115- attachment to
the House of Stuart, 1 19— state under the Stuarts, 119— dislike
of Cromwell's usurpation, I20 -the cause of their attachment to
the Stuarts, 119— their religious sentiments, 122— charitable dis-
position, 167, note -the opinions they and the Lowlanders enter-
tained of each other, 129— cftects of fanaticism on, 163, 165 —
probable eff"ects of the present system on, 256— influence of the
INDEX. 393
conduct of the higher ranks on, 266— their conduct after the
rebellion of, 1745, and during the reign of Charles II., 262, 264
— respect for the landlord on the decline, 150 — capability of,
207, 246— instances, 199, note, 207, note, 267- military char-
acter, 287.
Highlanders, Loudon's, engaged at Culloden, 88.
Highlands, outline of, i — boundaries of, 4 — passes into, 3 — when
united to the Lowlands, 18 — ancient population greater than
now, 20 — tumults in, 157 — change of manners in, 148— agricul-
ture of, 172, 214 — checks to improvement in, 268— cultivation
of the soil the only object to which industry can be applied in
the central, 284 — education in, 265 — change of tenantry in,
176 — emigration from, 229 — cause of illicit distillation in, 236.
Home's History of the Rebellion quoted and characterized, 88, note.
Huntly, family of, their feud with the Argyll, 131.
Jackson's Systematic View quoted, 291.
Jacobite songs, their merit and influence, 121.
James, the abdicated King, his letter to Stewart of Ballechin, 81,
note.
Icolm-kill, college of, 18 — furnishes England with bishops, 18, note.
Inch Ewan, stream of the boundary between the Celts and Saxons,
131-
Inverkeithing, battle of, 63.
Inverlochy, castle of, 19.
Johnson, Dr Samuel, remarks by, 19, 58, note — his opinion of the
Disarming Act, 140 — his Journey quoted, 170, «^^^ — his sarcasm
respecting the want of old trees likely to prove true, 180, note.
Katrine, Loch, supposed origin of the name, 46.
Kenmore, an affray at, 65, note.
Killicrankie, pass of, 3, 21 — battle of, 78.
Kingdom, Celtic, 15.
Landlords, instances of the attachment of the Highlanders to, 151,
7iote — 152, 7iote.
Language, Gaelic, 4 — of Oriental origin, 9 — when discontinued at
Court, 17— adapted for social intercourse, 1 1 7 -whisky-house a
term unknown in, 242, note.
Leane, Donald Bane, freebooter, 52.
Leny, pass of, 3.
Letters of a Nobleman to his Son, quoted, 133.
Lindsay, Rev. D., minister of Glenorchy, 123, note.
Lockhart, papers, quoted, 86.
Loudon, Earl of, 134, note, 202, note.
Lovat, Lord, his influence over his clan, 34.
Lowlanders, 122 — the opinion they and the Highlanders entertained
of each other, 129.
Lowlands, i, 5, 16, 46, 116, 121.
2 D
394 INDEX.
Macalpin, King Kenneth, unites the Scots and Picts, 17.
Macculloch, Dr, his Description of the Western Islands, quoted, 179.
Macdonald of Clanronald rejected by his clan, 68.
Macdonell of Keppoch, 32 -rejected by his tribe, 68.
Mackintosh, clan of, their mode of attack at the battle of Culloden,
88.
Lady, embarks in the Rebellion, 134, note.
leader of a band of robbers, 42,
Macintyre, a family of, possessors of the farm of Glencoe, 97, note.
Mackay, General, commands the King's troops at the battle of Killi-
crankie, 80.
Mackenzie, clan of, their influence over their chief, 69.
— a young gentleman of that name personates Prince Charles,
72.
Maclean, Sir Hector, supported by his clan, 5.
Lachlan, concerned in an affray at Loch Tay, 65, note.
Macnab, a family of that name long in the same farm, 97, note.
Macnaughton, John, his fidelity, 65.
Macpherson of Cluny, the tried fidelity of his clan, 72— the circum-
stances of his defection, ']'>,, note.
Manners, Highland, change of, 144 — effects of the Union on, 148.
Martin, his Description of the Western Islands, quoted 18, note — 41,
note — 95, note — 116, note — 150, note.
Memoirs of an English Cavalier, quoted, 91.
Menzies of Culdares, makes a present of a charger to Prince Charles,
64.
Military character, what it depends on, 287 — importance of, 288 — of
the Highlanders, ib.
Munro, Sir Hector, commands a detachment in the Highlands, 78.
Names of places, Celtic, Gothic, and Danish, 5, 7tote — 10.
Negroes, their treatment compared with that of the Highlanders, 182.
Parish relief established in England, 186.
Peasantry of England, cause of their degradation, 186.
of Ireland, cause of their discontent, 257.
Pennant the Tourist, quoted, 126, 175.
Pentland F'irth, 5.
Perth, the town of, petition Lord Drummond, 60.
Picts, 16, 17.
Pinkerton, his misrepresentation of the Highland character, 245.
Plaid, belted, 94.
Poetry, traditional, recitations of, 115.
Presence of mind, instances of, 52.
Prestonpans, battle of, arms of the clans at, 85.
Proprietors, their absence much felt in the Highlands, 219, note.
Proverbs, the origin of one, 63.
Purse, Highland, used by the ladies as their reticule, 94, note.
INDEX. 395
Recce's History quoted by, 84.
Rebellion, strength of the clans at, 30 — Home's History of, 88 — feel-
ings which led the clans to engage in, 130 — influence of the
ladies in inciting to, 134.
Reid, General, assumes the patronymic as his surname, 118, note.
Religion, of the Highlanders, on what founded, 124 — cordiality of
the adherents to the National, Episcopal, and Roman Catholic,
125.
Rent-day dinners, 276, note.
Reticule, like the Highland purse, 94, note.
Robertson, Dr, his view of Agriculture in Inverness quoted, 211.
Scone, emblems of royalty removed to, 18.
Scotch, moral character and education of, 262.
Scotland, picture of, after the death of James I., 55, note.
Severus, Emperor, 15.
Rev. Dr, his MS., History of the Rebellion, quoted, 89.
Shichallian, 2, note, 4, 104, 7iote, 113, note.
Skye, Island of, 5, tiote.
Smuggling, its consequences, 236.
Society, Highland, of London, when formed, 278 — its objects, 278
— the Caledonian Asylum instituted by, 283.
— of Scotland, origin of, 282— objects of, 282 — liberality of,
282 — its attention to the comfort of emigrants, 283.
Society, Royal, their Transactions quoted, 173, note.
Stair, Earl of, his property saved, 124.
Stewart, a freebooter, 52.
Donald, pardoned by the Duke of Atholl, 61.
of Ballechen, his proceedings at Inveraray, 51 — Athole-men
place themselves under his command, 79 — letter of the abdicated
King to, 81, note.
of Crossmount, his great age, 86, note.
of Garth, 28.
Stewarts of Appin, their charge at CuUoden, 88.
their distinctive appellations, 29, note.
Stewart, a race of the name long possessed of the same farms, 97,
note.
St Kilda, Island of, 5.
Stuart, the exiled royal family of, causes of the attachment of the
clans to, 120.
Stuart, Prince Charles, personated by one Mackenzie, 72 — his treat-
ment from some men in Lochaber, 76.
Strathfillan, ores found in, 2.
Surnames of clans changed, 27, note, 29, note — derived from patrony-
mics, 117, 7tote.
Sutherland, Lord, the late twenty-first Earl in succession, 107.
Tacitus, his account of the Caledonians, 15.
Tartan, each clan had its distinctive pattern, 96.
396 INDEX.
Theft, rare among the Highlanders, 42.
Truis, Highland, by whom worn, 93.
Tullibardine, Marquis, deserted by the Athole-men, 79.
Tumults in the Highlands, 157.
Turenne, Marshal, a saying of his controverted, 287.
Union, the effects of, 148.
Wade, Field-Marshal, his letter regarding a feast given by Kearnachs^
53.
Walker, Dr, quoted, 211, 249, 251.
Waverley, the author of, quoted, 131.
White, Mr John, his introduction of the green crop system into
Perthshire, 173.
Whisky, when brought into general use in the Highlands, 237 — ale
formerly the universal beverage, 241.
William HI., King, confirmed the attachment of the Highlanders to
their former kings, 120.
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