"Glenmoriston of the Past"

In the year 1638, the National Covenant, in opposition to King Charles I's attempt to impose the Catholic liturgy on the Scottish Church, was signed in Inverness, amongst other towns. The Laird of Grant and young Patrick of Glenmoriston were in favour of this Covenant but the former's mother Dame Mary Ogilvie was a sincere opponent of the cause. This situation arose in many families during the tragic civil war that followed. In the year 1643 the extreme section of the Covenanters in England and Scotland signed a Solemn League and Covenant which split the movement. The Marquis of Montrose who with others regarded this pact as rebellious, raised a Royal army re-inforced by Irish levies commanded by Alexander Macdonald. As might be expected his fellow clansmen in Urquhart and Glenmoriston answered his call to rise for the King regardless of any religious consideration. However the Laird of Grant followed by Grant of Coinechan, guardian of the young John Grant fifth of Glenmoriston, whose father Patrick had died in 1643 " sat on the fence ".

Alexander with his force of Highlanders etc. joined forces with Montrose, at Blair Atholl, under whose command the Covenanters were defeated in several battles culminating with their slaughter of the Marquis of Argyle's force at Inverlochy. At this stage the Laird of Grant thought it prudent to send three hundred men to swell the ranks of the Royalists but it seems that Montrose was not impressed with this contingent, a number of whom deserted. A few months later Robert Grant, son of Sheuglie, with other Urquhart men, joined their ranks. He was killed with some of their number at the battle of Auldearn, fighting for their King. As soon as the Laird of Grant went over to the Royalists, the Covenanters of Inverness carried out reprisals plundering his residence at Elchies, and with the connivance of Glenmoriston’s Tutor, chased his mother, Dame Mary Ogilvie, out of Glen Urquhart, robbing her of all her personal possessions.

Unfortunately for Montrose, his Highlanders left him to carry out their usual preparations for the winter including "re-thatching" of their homes, and shortly afterwards he was in consequence defeated at Philliphaugh. He then retreated to the Highlands, tried without success to take Inverness from the Covenanters, laid waste large areas of Fraser territory and had an encounter with his adversaries somewhere in Glenmoriston. However King Charles was now virtually a prisoner and ordered Montrose to disband his army and betake himself to the Continent where he remained in exile until the year 1650.

The Marquis of Huntly who was on the King's side but very jealous of Montrose now raised another army in the North but did not have the same appeal to the Highlanders as his predecessor. He was chased by the experienced General David Leslie into Lochaber and having disbanded his main force was surprised in Glenmoriston near Ceannacroc by General Middleton. Huntly and his son Lord Lewis Gordon escaped thanks to the loyal bodyguard most of whom were killed or later executed in Edinburgh. However the Marquis himself was captured soon afterwards and put to death, his son escaping to Holland. The unfortunate Dame Mary Ogilvy despite all her sufferings and hardships stuck to the Royal cause. At that time a feud existed between the Macdougalls, the tenants of Glenmoriston's lands in Glen Urquhart, and Dame Ogilvy's tenants in the same neighbourhood. A fight took place between the two parties during a funeral at Kirkhill, following which one of the Dame's tenants was assassinated in revenge. She immediately placed a daughter of one of the culprits in the lowest vault of Urquhart Castle as hostage but at this point Patrick Grant of Bealla-Do in Glenmoriston stepped in, threatening to burn down the Dames' houses if her captive was not immediately released. The stubborn lady took no heed of the threat as the result of which a party of Glenmoriston men set fire to her farm buildings. She immediately ordered a punitive expedition in reprisal, but her own tenants not only refused to take part but insisted on the release of her hostage.

Dame Mary Ogilvy, forced to give in to their demands, left Glen Urquhart never to return. Before, she had written to her son, the Laird of Grant, saying that "I always knew the men of Urquhart to be knaves and I hope ere long to make them suffer for it". Although unpopular in the district she was no doubt of strong character. While the whole of Scotland was engulfed in civil war over supposedly religious issues, the people of the Highlands continued to fight amongst themselves, their local feuds being of much greater interest to them than any "Solemn League and Covenant".

The execution of King Charles I in the year 1649 horrified the Scots of all creeds and opinions. His eldest son was immediately proclaimed King Charles II of Great Britain and Ireland at the Market Cross Edinburgh, "Himself" had fled to Holland and as the chief party in England, under Cromwell did not want him or any other King, he sent his loyal Marquis of Montrose back to win the crown for him. Montrose's small force was nipped in the bud in the Kyle of Sutherland and he was shortly afterwards executed in Edinburgh. After this sad event, Charles had no option but to accept the Covenants, but Cromwell along with his Independents would have none of this, declaring among other things that they had been betrayed by their Scottish Covenant associates.

Charles had landed at Speymouth in 1650 and was enthusiastically received, but his army was crushed by Cromwell a few months later at the battle of Dunbar. The veteran General David Leslie who had been responsible for Montrose's first defeat, at Philiphaugh, on this occasion made a great tactical error which cost him the battle and resulted in the destruction of his army of Scottish Covenantors. Following his victory Cromwell occupied the whole of Scotland south of the Forth and there were further splits amongst the Covenanters but there is no object here in getting involved in the Protesters, Resolutioners and the Royalists, called the Malignants who were detested by the other two parties. Charles II was not actually crowned until the 1 st January 1651 at Scone by the Marquis of Argyle; not a very joyful occasion in the circumstances.

Cromwell now marched further North, reaching Perth after defeating a combined army of Highlanders and Lowlanders at Inverkeithing in which the Maclean contingent under their chief were decimated. General Leslie now decided that his only course in this desperate situation was to lure Cromwell away from the North by making a diversionary invasion of England, hoping at the same time to recruit there some of Cromwell's numerous enemies. However that invincible warrior turned back and caught up with Leslie's Scottish army in September 1651 at Worcester inflicting frightful slaughter and taking the General himself prisoner. A contingent of 1400 men under the command of Patrick Grant of Clunemore, brother of the Laird, was part of Leslie's army. Many of them were killed and a number of them who were taken prisoner were sent to the American plantations. Cromwell' s forces now had complete control of Scotland. He established a garrison at Inverness and other strategic points.

King Charles II had, in the meantime, escaped to the Continent where he lived in exile for some nine years. As usual the more remote clans held out for a time against -the invaders from the South. In September 1653, the Earl of Glencairn raised the Royal Standard, Angus Macdonald of Glengarry having travelled through Lochaber, Urquhart and Strathglass stirring the people up against ‘the Usurper’. This Royalist army of Highlanders was now placed under the command of the same General Middleton who had, in the year 1647, fought with success on the other side, as previously recorded. It seems that this Highland force was illusive rather than aggressive and were pursued by several contingents under Cromwell's officers.

Eventually General Miiddleton was surprised and defeated by Colonel Morgan in the pass of Drumnuachdar. Middleton escaped with a small force and later turned up in Glenmoriston afterwards proceeding to Strathglass where he was hospitably entertained by the Chisholm. For this offence against the Commonwealth that chief was tried by court-martial and imprisoned in Edinburgh. He was later released on payment of a fine.

It seems that the populace of the neighbouring glens came to accept the presence of Cromwell's garrison of English troops in Inverness. In fact they could now sleep in peace knowing that the wild men from further west would no longer dare to swoop down and plunder as had so often happened in the past. The Laird of Grant was, in view of the fact that his tenants were behaving themselves, given permission in 1658 for them to carry arms provided that they did nothing prejudicial to his Highness, Cromwell, and the Commonwealth. The Rev. James Fraser, minister of Kirkhill, although a Royalist, wrote with enthusiasm about the benefit accrued from the garrison, including the reduction in price of cloth and claret in addition to which an apothecary shop had been set up in Inverness with a surgeon and Physician attached.

The most impressive innovation was, however, the launching of frigate with a compliment of sixty men on Loch Ness, the hull of the craft having been transported on rollers from Inverness to Loch End.

Chapter 4