on their arms all night, expecting to renew the combat next day."*

Next morning, Monday the fourteenth, Argyle went at break of day with the piquet guard to the field of battle, in order to view the enemy, and finding them gone, left the piquet on the place under colonel Kerr, and returned to Dunblane, whence he immediately marched the army to Stirling, with fourteen of the enemy's colours and standards, among which, was the royal standard, called the restoration, six pieces of cannon, four waggons, and a great number of prisoners. The number of the rebels slain in the action, has been variously reported from five to eight hundred. Amongst them were the earl of Strathmore, Clanronald, and several other persons of distinction. Panmure, and Drummond of Loggie, were among the wounded.

On the part of the royal army, there were slain two hundred and ninety; wounded, one hundred and eighty-seven; taken prisoners, one hundred and thirty-three, making a total of six hundred and ten. Among the wounded, was the lord Forfar, who was shot through the knee, and received sixteen other wounds, of which he died at Stirling, on the eighth of December following, the earl of Ilay, who received a ball in his side, general Evans, who received a sword cut in the head, general Hawley, who was shot through the body, and among the volunteers, Mr. Charles Cockburn, son to the lord justice clerk, who was shot through the arm. Colonel Hammers, and captain Armstrong, aid de camp to the duke of Argyle, were killed.†

Though this battle reflected no credit upon either of the commanders, and was in itself, to all appearance, as far from being decisive as any battle that history has recorded, yet it was followed by consequences, that do not always wait upon victories of the most splendid character. Indeed, with some collateral events, it may truly be said to have broken the heart of the rebellion; for from that day the rebels never dared to face the troops that were opposed to them, and, for any thing that was afterwards done, they might as well have separated

Rae's History of the Rebellion, p. 308. Life of John, Duke of Argyle, pp. 191, 192. Patten's History of the Rebellion, p. 186.

Rae's History of the Rebellion, pp. 309, 310.'

next day, and, each consulting his own safety, made the best of his way to the privacy of his own home, or, if a more conspicuous delinquent, to the more certain obscurity of a foreign land. It is, however, often the misfortune of weak minds, that, though unfit for action, they are unwilling to be at rest. Marr might now have been perfectly satisfied that he was incompetent to the task he had undertaken. Determined, however, still to keep up the delusion he had spread among his unhappy countrymen, and, if possible, to draw a few more of them into ruin, by espousing a cause that was never very promising, but was now desperate, he caused to be issued from the press of the pretender's printer, Mr. Freebairn, at Perth, the day after the battle, An account of the great and signal victory obtained over the duke of Argyle by his majesty's forces, commanded by the duke of Marr, wherein it was stated, that general Hamilton pursued the forces commanded by Argyle to Stirling, and had taken possession of the bridge leading into that town, with all their artillery, baggage, tents, and ammunition-That their own left retired regularly to the river Allan, where a corps de reserve had been stationed, in which was his majesty, [the pretender] his grace the duke of Ormond, and the duke of Marr, with most of our ancient nobility-That Argyle, with only two regiments, was surrounded in Dunblane with the dukes of Roxburgh and Douglas, the earls of Haddington, Loudon, Lauderdale, Belhaven, and Rothes, and that it was impossible they could escape being cut to pieces, Marr being on the one side, Gordon on the other, and Hamilton in possession of the bridge of Stirling, while almost all Argyle's regular troops were cut off; and, to complete this specimen of falsehood and folly, Marr himself being returned to Perth, on Wednesday the sixteenth-whence he had, under an almost necessity for so doing, marched only the week before, and where his difficulties were now certain to be greater than ever-caused thanksgiving sermons to be preached, and Te Deum sung in the great church there for his signal victory; while the evening was concluded with ringing of bells, and all the other usual demonstrations of public joy.*

Rae's History of the Rebellion, p. 310, 311.

Nothing could be less appropriate than this rejoicing on the part of the earl of Marr, for few persons ever met in one day so many disasters. At the very moment that he was losing himself, by the imbecility of his conduct, on the hill of Kippendavie, his friends in Preston were treating for an unconditional surrender, and Inverness, the capital and key of the Highlands, was wrested from his coadjutors by the friends of the government in that quarter, only the day preceding. M'Intosh, as we have seen, finding this town without a garrison, seized upon it, proclaimed the pretender, and left it to the care of Mackenzie of Coul, about the middle of September. Proceeding on his way south, he came to the house of Culloden, and demanded what arms and ammunition the family were possessed of. Culloden himself being then at London, his lady, a daughter of Gordon of Gordonstown, told him that her husband had left her the keys of the house, with the custody of all that was in it, and she would deliver them up to no one but himself. The house she immediately put into a posture of defence, but she was unable to prevent M'Intosh from plundering her tenants. Colonel Monro of Fowlis informed of her situation, instantly armed two hundred of his people, and advanced to her assistance as far as the water of Conon, where he found that Seaforth and an army of fifteen hundred men were ready to dispute the passage with him. Learning, at the same time, that Seaforth had forbidden M'Intosh to molest the house of Culloden, he returned home.

On the twenty-sixth, Seaforth sent Alexander M'Kenzie of Davachmaluach with a message to Sir Robert Monro of Fowlis, importing that he was now about to execute what he had so long determined, viz. to set king James upon the throne, matters being now so ripe that it would be executed without stroke of sword! He, therefore, required Sir Robert to deliver up what arms and ammunition he had by him, as he tendered his own safety. An answer of defiance was returned, and the house of Fowlis strongly garrisoned. Next day, his followers, to the number of four hundred, under the command of his son, colonel Robert Monro, marched to the bridge of Alness, where they pitched a camp, and were joined the day following by Hugh Ross of Brealangwell, chamberlain

to lady Anne Ross of Ballinagouan, with one hundred and eighty of her tenants. The earl of Sutherland arrived at Dunrobin on the twenty-eighth, and, on the sixth of October, along with the lords Strathnaver and Rae, joined the camp at Alness, where there was now an effective force of twelve hundred men, which they considered perfectly competent to defend their country from the attacks of Seaforth, and even to prevent him from joining the earl of Marr at Perth. But Seaforth was, at the same time, joined by Sir Donald M'Donald, with about seven hundred of his own clan, and a great many other clans whom he had picked up on his way from the Isle of Skye, viz. the Mackinnons, the M‘Craws, and the Chisholms of Strathglass, by which his camp was swelled to nearly three thousand men. This accession of strength enabled Seaforth to possess himself of the camp at Alness, from which the earl of Sutherland found it necessary to retreat on the ninth, though Duncan Forbes, afterward lord president, had despatched captain Grant with a considerable re-enforcement to his assistance.*

poor

During their stay at Alness, Seaforth and Sir Donald Macdonald most miserably harassed the country, robbing the people without mercy of all their cattle and moveables, they even went the length of stripping the women of their body clothes. His stay, however, was but short, Marr having sent message upon message, pressing his immediate attendance at Perth, for which city he, with his followers, took the route by Inverness, where they quartered two days, and were joined by three hundred of the Frazers, under Alexander M'Kenzie of Frazerdale, who, in the absence of lord Lovat, presumed to be the head of the Frazers, as we have already seen. Here, however, several of those brought from Alness deserted. Taking leave of Sir John M'Kenzie of Coul with the garrison of Inverness on the twenty-fourth of October, they took their route for Perth through Strathspey, where the Grants, apprized of their coming, assembled for the defence of their own territory, and, though Seaforth and M'Donald's forces nearly tripled the Grants, they did not

• Rae's History of the Rebellion, pp. 328, 338.

venture to attack them, only they demanded one hundred cows, and one hundred bolls of oatmeal, for which they prof fered ready money, which was refused, and they passed on without offering them any injury. They afterward changed their course, and marched to Badenoch, where they quartered themselves for several days upon their friends, and levied provisions, which they were greatly in want of, from the country. They then proceeded to Perth, as already noticed.

Seaforth was no sooner gone, than the earl of Sutherland, finding the communication between him and his friends open, called a meeting of all the deputy lieutenants of Ross and Moray, by whom it was agreed to send Alexander Gordon of Ardoch to London by the Queensborough man of war, to represent the state of the country, and request a supply of arms. This mission Ardoch successfully accomplished, and in a short time returned, bringing along with him one thousand stand of arms.*

Simon Frazer, lord Lovat, returning at this time from a long exile to claim his estates, and the chieftainship of the Frazers, began his new career by leaguing with the Grants for the recovery of Inverness from the rebels. Culloden and his brother, Duncan Forbes, with Rose of Kilravock, were also consulted by him on this occasion, after which he went home, and was waited upon by a number of the Frazers, with whom, in a few days, he marched for Stratherrick, and by the way compelled the clan Chattan, then in arms on the water of Nairn, and going to support the garrison of Inverness, to disperse, and lay down their arms. M'Donald of Keppoch, too, who, for the same purpose, had three hundred men assembled in the braes of Abertarf, dispersed them the moment he was apprized of Lovat's approach. In Stratherrick, he was waited upon by Frazer of Foyers, and Frazer of Culduthill, with their followers, and, to prevent any of the M'Donalds reaching the other side of Lochness, he crossed over at Bonah with two hundred chosen men, and, according to agreement, marched towards Inverness by Kinmayles. In the meantime, colonel

• Rae's History of the Rebellion, p. 333.