"Glenmoriston of the Past"

The "Forty Five" rebellion was near at hand. There are several books giving detailed books of Prince Charles's campaign, the reasons for his failure and the tragic end to this last attempt to restore the Stuarts to the throne. The writer will therefore confine this account, mainly drawn from Mackay's "Urquhart and Glenmoriston", to events in the two glens both during and after the rebellion.

In the year 1743 war had broken out again between Britain and France. With King George's troops engaged on the Continent, the Jacobites saw their opportunity to stage a rising at home but unfortunately for their cause, the French invasion plan was foiled by the British navy, the intention having been to land an army on the South coast of England. As a result of this setback, France would not offer any material support to Prince Charles for his venture. However at the age of 25 he wrote to his ageing father "I will go if only I have a single footman". One of the two ships that he had chartered was obliged to return to port after an engagement with a British man-of-war but the Prince with seven companions made a safe landing at a remote spot in Arisaig.

He had difficulty in persuading the Jacobite clan chiefs, upon whom he was relying, to take up arms. Lochiel first advised him to depart and others also felt apprehensive about the absence of support from France. Credit must always be given to them for their loyalty in taking up arms for the Prince, in some cases against their better judgement.

News of the Prince's arrival and activities soon reached Major George Grant, Governor of Inverness Castle who passed on the information to the Lord President Forbes of Culloden. Rumours had already reached Forbes to the effect that the Camerons and certain Macdonalds had not only taken up arms but were pressing others such as the Urquhart and Glenmoriston men to join them. A Government force under Sir John Cope was marching north bound for Fort Augustus via the Corriearrack but in the meantime Prince Charles, having raised his standard in Glenfinnan on the 19 th of August 1745 had, after a brief stop at Aberchalder, taken the same route as intended by Cope, and occupied Perth on the 4 th September. It seems that a contingent of men from our two Glens, probably Macdonalds, were ready with the Jacobite army at this stage but that a large body of about 350 men led by Alexander Grant of Shewglie and Patrick 8 th Laird of Glenmoriston did not catch up with the Prince until he reached Edinburgh. According to Sir Walter Scott, Charles made some comment on young Glenmoriston's unshaven appearance when presenting himself at Holyrood Palace. The latter is said to have replied "It is not beardless boys that are needed by your Royal Highness". It is interesting to note that it was Alexander of Shewglie's son, born during the rebellion, that was to become Director-General of the Hon. East India Company during the following century.

On the other side of the coin, Ludovic, the acting Chief of Grant, was a sincere Whig at heart and a shrewd advocate. His father Sir James Grant had held a seat in Parliament at Westminster since the 1722. Ludovic must have realized even more than some of the clan chiefs in the remote areas that Prince Charles had a very slim chance of regaining the throne. Just fifteen years earlier he had negotiated the deal whereby the Grants of Glenmoriston recovered their lands that had been forfeited as a result of their participation in the previous rebellion of 1715. His father's advice was "to stay at home and take care of his country and join no party", and as previously mentioned their family had received no thanks from the Hanoverians for their loyalty and considerable financial loss in 1715. In the circumstances it is not surprising that Ludovic "sat on the fence" until the defeat of Prince Charles was imminent. He did extract promises from some of his Urquhart tenants that they would join the Prince. He also sent a hundred men to re-enforce the Inverness Garrison commanded by his uncle George, who surrendered to the Jacobites without resistance. With the Macleods of Macleod he led six hundred Strathspey men on a brief expedition into Aberdeeenshire in support of the Whig Government but it seems pretty obvious that his support of the Hanoverians was at this time half hearted.

Prince Charles received a boost when his Highland army routed Sir John Cope's Government forces at Prestonpans. Sir John apparently left the field of battle in considerable haste – hence the old Scots song "Hey Johnnie Cope are ye Riding Yet". Some of the Glenmoriston men returned home after this engagement no doubt taking with them a certain amount of plunder. Presumably this loot was in the form of clothing taken off prisoners or the dead. Not so many years back a stiletto, believed to be of foreign origin was found during the re-thatching of an old cottage at Levishie. Apart from this consideration, a Highland family would have been faced with semi-starvation if the men folk were not at home to make provision for the coming winter.

Following the victory at Prestonpans, Charles dispatched recruiting parties some might have called them press-gangs, to various Highland areas. Presumably the Prince's intention was to increase his army before heading for London. Colonel Angus Macdonell, aged nineteen, a son of Glengarry was chosen for this mission.                         This young officer wrote from Dalwhinnie to Ludovic's factor in Glenmoriston demanding the he produce one hundred men, at least, within five days on receipt of his letter otherwise on "the Prince's orders" he would "burn and harrass". Having issued these dire threats, Macdonell went on to say that "your readie Complyance to this favour will much oblige him who is sincerely dear Sir your most humble servant Macdonell, P.S. Let me have your answer by bearer which will determine me how to behave". It could be said that those whose H.P. payments are overdue receive rather similar letters nowadays.

Macdonell with his recruiting force in due course turned up in Glen Urquhart but had in the meantime decided on peaceful persuasion with glowing accounts of the Prince's triumphs rather than threats of violence. Ludovic, on the other side, had written a very carefully worded letter to "the gentlemen of Urquhart" pointing out that he was their feudal superior, and that no person had any title to issue, other than himself, commands to his vassals. be was careful to make no mention of his own superior i.e. King George. Ludovic had previously instructed his unfortunate factor to congregate his Glen Urquhart tenants, in the event of pressure from the Jacobites and bring them to Strathspey for his protection. It is hard to see how such a plan could have worked but in accordance with orders, the factor started out for Strathspey with some sixty, apparently willing tenants.

The party had hardly left the glen when they were overtaken by Macdonell, Grant of Shewglie and others who made it quite clear to them that unless they retraced their steps immediately "all their corn would be burnt and their cattle carried away". It is obvious what the poor folk did in such a situation. In writing his report to Ludovic, the factor asks "how to behave for I am in a very bade situation". In his letter he mentions "Lord Lovat has not appointed a day for his marching as yet for I am told he has the meall to make for his mens' subsistance". No doubt his Lordship was also hesitant, the crucial stage of the rebellion being close at hand; there was a groundless rumour that 2,000 French troops had landed at Cromarty but this was overshadowed by the arrival in Inverness on the 11th of October 1745 of Lord Loudan with his regiment of Whig Highlanders. Furthermore there were reliable reports of big troop movements in the south to suppress the Rebellion. It then became apparent to Ludovic that he must soon show his hand, but having indicated a leaning towards the Hanoverians, he was immediately faced with further threats of retaliation, this time from the Master of Lovat and Macdonald of Barrisdale, who turned up in Glen Urquahart . On the one side these two gentlemen were urging the locals to join up with the Prince and on the other the factor who must surely have been a courageous man, was advising his people to let the Macdonalds drive away their cattle rather than yield to threats. It seems that Barrisdale's belligerent attitude did not pay off and that on this occasion the factor was successful in his efforts, thereby causing much offence to the young Lovat.     

Eventually some forty Urquhart tenants joined up with the Frasers but as Lovat was not prepared to send his clan to the Prince they were sent home awaiting the final decision. Ludovic had for some days been pressed to send his own Independent Company from Strathspey to join up with Loudoun' s force in Inverness, but he decided instead to march his 500 men to Glen Urquhart to prevent "Any more of the unfortunate people of the country being forced out upon the other side". This decision on his own initiative caused eyebrows to be raised in Government circles, including those of the Lord President Forbes. However just before his departure date, Ludovic received news that the Frasers and other pro-Jacobites had left Urquhart so that is was no longer necessary to go to the aid of his tenants there "who had been most scandalously used”. He then gave the Lord President his assurance that his Strathspey Independent Company would proceed to Inverness in a few days but he continued to dally. Eventually he dispatched a contingent of a hundred men under Rothiemurchus to the Inverness Garrison but when in February 1746 it surrendered some of their number went over to the Jacobites.                         In fact it seems probable that doubts as to the loyalty of his rank and file was one of the reasons for Ludovic's reluctance to involve his company in actual combat.

In due course Barisdale returned from Ross-shire where along with the Earl of Cromarty he had made successful attempts to secure recruits for the Prince. Accompanied by the Master of Lovat with some six hundred Frasers he attended a great gathering of the local populace at Pitkerrald in Glen Urquhart. The two of them fell out over the question of command and as a result of their quarrel nothing was achieved. A severe snowstorm did not help matters. While the Frasers went home in a disconsolate mood Barisdale went over to Glenmoriston where he issued his usual threats, this time to Grant of Dundreggan but without result.

In early December 1745, Prince Charles with his invading army had reached Derby without resistance but with very little encouragement or support from his Jacobite friends across the Border. The English country folk were in fact horrified by the wild appearance of the Highlanders, the like of which they had never seen before. However at this point the Prince's military command insisted that the Duke of Cumberland and other Hanoverian troops closing in upon them, they should turn back to Scotland. Prince Charles was furious at this decision, which no doubt was prudent, but dashed his hopes of regaining the crown. Morale in his army reached a low ebb during the retreat to Scotland but made a quick recovery after crossing the Border and decisively routing a pursuing Government force under General Hawley at Falkirk. Robert Grant, son of Shewglie, was killed in this engagement. Moreover during the Prince's absence in England a force of about 4,000 men from all over the Highlands had been recruited, in one way and another, for the Jacobite cause.

Looking back today on these past events it seems rather strange and very sad that when the Stuart cause was obviously on the wane so many people had flocked to his standard. The Highland chiefs involved reckoned that they stood a good chance of defeating the Government forces on their home ground and no doubt if they had resorted to what is now known as guerrilla warfare the conflict could have been prolonged for some years, though with little object. In fact Lochiel and five other chiefs did present a joint letter to the Prince advising immediate retirement to the Highlands, He was infuriated by this proposal.

The Jacobite army reached Inverness on the 18 th of February 1746 the end of its long march from the south and as previously mentioned the Castle there surrendered without putting up much resistance. Lord Loudon with his Whig Highlanders retreated for the time being into Ross-shire. Many of Charles's army including the Glenmoriston men returned to their homes, their services not being required for the time being, but task forces were dispatched to take Fort Augustus and Fort William held by Government troops.

Meanwhile William, Duke of Cumberland, the King's son had taken over the command of the Hanoverian army from General Hawley, who had, rather unfairly perhaps, been blamed for the Government defeat at Falkirk. The Duke, aged 25, had already considerable military experience on the Continent and had in fact had Highlander fighting under him at Fontenay so knew something of their battle tactics. He marched North with 1,000 men in no great haste to Aberdeen where he awaited the Spring before moving into the Highlands proper. On the 14 th of April Charles was informed that Cumberland's men had crossed the river Spey and were approaching Nairn. Messengers were immediately summoned to call back his Highlanders but too late, The Glenmoriston men and a large contingent of Frasers, Macphersons and others were still on their way to Culloden when the depleted Jacobite army was routed. All sorts of excuses are always produced by the defeated but it is true to say that the Lord George Murray the able commander was all against a pitched battle on Culloden Moor where he considered the terrain to be all in favour of the well trained Government troops with considerable artillery support. The Glenmoriston men had reached Caiplich when they met the remnants of the Urquhart contingent in flight. Thirty of their number lay dead on the battlefield. James of the Shewglie Grants managed to escape, terribly wounded, to his aunt's house near Cradlehall where he died in a few hours and was buried in the garden. His brother, Alexander, wounded in the head, escaped across the river Ness, above the Islands with other local men, killing several of the Government cavalry who had caught up with them. Grant of Corriemony, severely wounded, was carried off the field while James Chisholm of Upper Balmacaan, lying wounded on the moor was lucky enough to have his life spared by an English officer who was moved to pity by his sufferings.

Culloden like all battles was a bloody affair, more than a thousand Highlanders having been killed in the fighting or slaughtered while lying wounded but this was not the end of the misfortunes of those who had supported the Stuart cause either willingly or otherwise.

Some weeks before Culloden, Ludovic Grant of Strathspey presented himself before the Duke of Cumberland in Aberdeen and was ordered thereupon to join up at Speymouth with the Hanoverian army on its march to Inverness, bringing with him six hundred men. Ludovic failed to make the date excusing himself on the grounds that his clansmen could not leave their homes in Strathspey while there were Jacobite forces in the vicinity. However after the Duke's decisive victory at Culloden, Ludovic hastened to show his loyalty to the Crown with an energetic campaign of rebel hunting. After laying waste Jacobite country of Strathdearn and capturing Lord Balmerino, later executed, he moved with eight hundred men into his own lands in Glen Urquhart with a view to apprehending those who had ignored his warning about joining up with Prince Charles. His men scoured the Glen from end to end but only succeeded in arresting three Corriemony men, who were found to be innocent.

The Shewglie and Corriemony Grants, whom Ludovic seems to have hated, could not be found. No doubt those days in Glen Urquhart low ground was more densely wooded so that the fugitive could evade any search parties who had not the local knowledge. Having failed in this first attempt to round up the rebels, Ludovic then sent messengers to both Urquhart and Glenmoriston urging all Jacobite fugutives to surrender and cast themselves on the Royal Clemency. To this day it is not clear what assurance, if any, he gave to those whom he hoped would surrender. Both the Lairds of Glenmoriston and Corriemony took warning with a few others and did not respond but sixty eight Glenmoriston men and sixteen from Urquhart laid down their arms at Balmacaan. They were marched to Inverness where they were confined in a church for some days before being shipped to Tilbury fort and then, without trial, exiled to the Barbados. Many died on the voyages and by the year 1749, only eighteen of the exiles were still alive, only three are recorded as having found their way home to Glenmoriston. William Grant, the Missionary Minister in Glenmoriston submitted a testimony on the characters of the sixty-eight local men shortly after their surrender but the military obviously took little notice of his observations. Twenty-one out of the sixty eight were Grants, the others of various names, but strange to say no Macdonalds. According to the minister, forty eight of them had in one way or another been pressed into the service of the Prince and some of these had deserted from his army, A few he described as 'a volunteer and a noted thief' but it seems that all sixty eight men were treated alike by Cumberland's army.

This tale of woe does not end here. As previously mentioned the Earl of Loudon with his pro-Hanoverian force, retreated into Ross-shire while the Prince's army closed in on Inverness. As soon as the Earl received news of Culloden he returned to harry the rebel fugitives and laid waste their lands as he thought fit. He was accompanied by Sir Alexander Macdonald of Sleat with the Skye Militia and the Macleod of Macleod who was now eager to demonstrate his loyalty to Cumberland, many of his clan had fought with the Prince. This rather strange consortium proceeded to burn down Invermoriston House, for a start, but as the building was largely timber built not having been properly reconstructed since its previous destruction after the 1715 Rebellion, the loss may not have caused much grief to the Laird who was presumably in hiding.

The Skye-men then proceeded to destroy every implement or piece of furniture throughout Glenmoriston not excepting the stone querns for the grinding of the corn. It goes without saying that they took possession of the livestock. Cumberland himself came down to Fort Augustus about five weeks after the battle of Culloden and stayed there for nearly two months. His patrols were frequently in Glenmoriston. On one occasion they shot dead two old men and a boy who were working in a field and stripped naked Grant of Dundreggan whom they bound hand and foot because he had not given over all his cattle to them. It was he who had resolutely refused to join the Prince despite the threats of Macdonald of Barisdale. His life was spared at the request of a Captain Grant in Loudan's regiment. The women of the Glen were molested and the aged Lady of Glenmoriston, whose own house and possessions had been burnt, was forcibly deprived of her plaid and napkin.

The full account of the numerous atrocities including murder and rape is contained in chapter 15 of Urquhart and Glenmoriston but perhaps one of the most significant orders issued by Cumberland while at Fort Augustus was that no meal was to be sold or given by his soldiers or their wives to any Highlander, under penalty of whipping. His obvious intention, therefore, was to exterminate the natives whom he and his officers regarded as a bunch of savages. All the cattle that could be found in Fort Augustus were to be driven over to Fort Augustus and either slaughtered to feed the garrison or sold off to dealers in the south, the proceeds of such sales being pocketed by the army as prize money. As a result of all this the winter of 1746 brought famine and many deaths among the Glenmoriston folk. In fact the awful effects of the Rebellion were to be felt for several years, the birth rate of Glenmoriston falling from 32 in 1744 to 12 in 1747.

Needless to say a number of men took to the hill having heard about the fate of their friends and relatives who had surrendered at Balmacaan. This hard core had several skirmishes with the military patrol in which they amply demonstrated the superiority of the Highlander when fighting on his rough home ground, and the folly of Culloden. Strathspey men were understandably now regarded as enemies of Glenmoriston folk who caught and executed one Robert Grant, his head stuck on a tree near Bhlairaid where it remained till well into the last century.

Prince Charles was dragged away from Culloden when his officers saw that the battle was lost. It was hoped to regroup the Highland force, that is the remnants of it, at Ruthven or Fort Augustus; nothing came of this. Charles with his small entourage made their way down Stratherrick to Fort Augustus from where they went down the Great Glen to Loch Arkaig, carrying on to Arisaig from where they took boat to the outer isles. His enemies were always close to his tracks both on land and sea, so much so that after several narrow escapes he moved to Skye and then back to the mainland. With three of his Macdonald officers as guides, traveling only by night, they made their way to Glenshiel where they chanced upon a Glengarry man who served with the Prince. He guided them up Strath Cluanie, where, alarmed by the sound of firearms, they took to the high ground and spent the night on Sgurr-nan-Conbhairean in pouring rain. The Prince's only warmth was from his pipe, sleep being impossible.

Next morning they found themselves looking down on Corrie-dho in Glenmoriston, where they had reason to believe they might find guides to take the Prince in the direction of Poolewe. They had heard that French vessels were there. In fact the guide from Glengarry knew that seven Glenmoriston men were hiding in the vicinity so that it was not by chance that they came across three of their number, two Macdonalds and a Chisholm. Before long the Prince was sheltering in their cave and enjoying his first meal for forty-eight hours. Next morning the other Glenmoriston men returned with a deer carcass and an ox. There were three Chisholms, two Macdonalds,

a Macgregor, a Macmillan and Patrick Grant of Crasky, in all eight men in this league who had sworn never to surrender. Charles rested in their cave for three days, during which one of them procured some bread for him from Fort Augustus also a penny-worth of gingerbread. Government forces continued to search the whole area knowing that the prince was somewhere around and it was deemed prudent to move to another cave in the next Corrie before taking the Prince over to Cannich on his way to Poolewe. However information was received that the French ships had come and gone, leaving behind two French officers who were said to have started in the direction of Lochiel's country. Eventually the Prince with the guidance of the Glenmoriston men was put in the safe hands of Cameron of Clunes in a cave at the east end of Loch Arkaig. By this time they were near starvation and it was lucky that Patrick Grant of Craskie was able to shoot a fine stag.

After further wanderings as far as Ben Alder where he was accommodated by the Macpherson of Cluny in his "cage" in a big holly bush, the Prince was taken care of by Lochiel with other Camerons also Clanranald and other Macdonalds. On the 19 th of September 1746 the Prince boarded on of the French ships in Loch-nan-Uamh on the same beach where he had landed on the 25th of July 1745. With him went Lochiel and several others.

On hearing the news of the Prince's escape, the Duke of Newcastle in command of the Government -troops in Scotland wrote to his superiors "Nothing is to me a more convincing proof of the disaffection of that part of the country than that of his lying so long concealed amongst those people and that he should be able to delude our narrowest and most exact searches and at last make his escape notwithstanding the great reward offered to apprehend him.

Near Ceannacroc bridge by the county road stands the cairn in memory of Roderick Mackenzie, shot there by a party of the King's soldiers when he resisted arrest. They believed that they had bagged the Prince and the reward of £30,000. Roderick's head was carried in triumph to Fort Augustus but, as there were some doubts about identification, Cumberland took it down to London. The Prince's valet who was under sentence of death at Carlisle was summoned but the head was beyond recognition by the time it was put before him.

Note: As already mentioned this brief account of -the Forty-Five has been to a large extent extracted from William Mackay's "Urquhart & Glenmoriston". His family the Mackays of Achmony were ardent Jacobites, his great grandfather having been one of those who surrendered to Ludovic Grant after Culloden and was shipped off to the Barbadoes. He escaped from there and eventually returned home so was luckier than others. I mention these circumstances as it is possible that William Mackay' s account of the Forty-Five may have been somewhat biased.

While I have no wish or intention of trying to whitewash on behalf of Sir Ludovic Grant, I think it is only fair to take account the background and broader issues. His family properties in Strathspey were and still are of far greater value that those in Glen Urquhart where the Chiefs of Grant might well have been regarded as "absentee landlords". It seems likely in fact in the days of clan warfare the Seafields would have found Glen Urquhart of more trouble than it was worth to them. They had also to contend with troublesome and powerful neighbours on their own doorstep in Strathspey. Turning to the Forty-Five Ludovic like some others was no doubt wise to have "sat on the fence" even though by doing so he was regarded with suspicion by both sides. He got little thanks for his rather belated efforts on behalf of the Hanoverians and it seems that they, with some justification, did not trust the loyalty of any Highland Chief except perhaps the Duke of Argyle.

In those days many of the Highland gentry were ‘soldiers of fortune' with the result that members of the same family would find themselves fighting on opposite sides. While Padruig Puie, Laird of Glenmoriston joined up with Prince Charles, his Grant relations at Dundreggan refused to do so despite threats. His brother-in-law Patrick Grant of Crasky was one of those who sheltered the Prince in Corrie-Dho, but his uncle Allan served in the Black Watch under Cumberland. Furthermore his eldest son, also in the Black Watch, was killed in the Flanders Campaign in 1747 fighting with the King's troops. There were in fact considerable numbers of Highlanders fighting on opposite sides in the Continental wars of the eighteenth century.

Macdonald of Barrisdale, that fervent supporter of the Prince was captured in 1747 and given a nine years sentence in Edinburgh Castle but on his release was granted a commission in the "Queen's Highlanders". His brother in Fraser's Highlanders was killed in the storming of the Heights of Abraham in 1759 serving under General Wolfe.

Chapter 8