History Of The Mackenzies [149]
standard of rebellion and that the Jacobites were let into the secret is evident from the fact that as early as the 6th of August those of them in Edinburgh and its neighbourhood were aware of his intentions to come to Scotland. Under pretence of attending this grand match, a considerable number of noblemen and gentlemen arrived at Aboyne at the appointed time. Among them were the Marquis of Huntly, eldest son of the Duke of Gordon the Marquis of Tullibardine, eldest son of the Duke of Athole; the Earls of Nithsdale, Marischal, Traquair, Errol, Southesk, Carnwarth, Seaforth, and Linlithgow; the Viscounts Kilsyth, Kenmure, Kingston, and Stormont Lords Rollo, Duffus, Drummond, Strathallan, Ogilvie, and Nairne; and about twenty-six other gentlemen of influence in the Highlands, among whom were Generals Hamilton and Gordon, Glengarry, Campbell of Glendaruel, and the lairds of Aucterhouse and Auldbar. [Rae, p 189; Annals of King George, pp. 15-16.] Mar delivered a stirring address, in which he expressed regret for his past conduct in favouring the Union, and, now that his eyes were opened, promising to do all in his power to retrieve the past and help to make his countrymen again a free people. He produced a commission from James appointing him Lieutenant-General and Commander of all the Jacobite forces in Scotland, and at the same time informed the meeting that he was supplied with money, and that an arrangement had been made by which he would be able to pay regularly any forces that might be raised, so that no gentleman who with his followers should join his standard would be put to any expense, and that the country would be entirely relieved of the cost of conducting the war; after which the meeting unanimously resolved to take up arms for the purpose of establishing the Chevalier on the Scottish throne. They then took the oath of fidelity to Mar as the representative of James VIII. and to each other, and separated, each going home after promising to raise his vassals and to be in readiness to join the Earl whenever summoned to do so. They had scarcely arrived at their respective destinations when they were called upon to meet him at Aboyne on the 3d of September following, where, with only sixty followers, Mar proclaimed the Chevalier at Castletown in Braemar, after which he proceeded to Kirkmichael, and on the 6th of September, raised his standard in presence of a force of 2000, mostly consisting of cavalry.
When in course of erection, the ball on the top of the flag-staff fell off.
This was regarded by the Highlanders as a bad omen, and it cast a gloom over the proceedings of the day.
Meanwhile Colonel Sir Hector Munro, who bad served as Captain in the Earl of Orkney's Regiment with reputation in the wars of Queen Anne, raised his followers, who, along with a body of Rosses, numbered about 600 men. With these, in November, 1715, he encamped at Alness and on the 6th of October following he was joined by the Earl of Sutherland, accompanied by his son, Lord Strathnaver, and by Lord Reay, with an additional force of 600, in the interest of the Whig Government, and to cover their own districts and check the movements of the Western clans in effecting a junction with the Earl of Mar, whom Earl William and Sir Donald Macdonald had publicly espoused, as already stated, at the pretended hunting match in Braemar. The meeting at Alness was instrumental in keeping Seaforth in the North. If the Earl and his mother's clans had advanced a month earlier the Duke of Argyll would not have dared to advance against Mar's united forces, who might have pushed an army across the Forth sufficient to have paralyzed any exertion that might have been made to preserve a shadow of the Government. It may be said that if Dundee had lived to hold the commission of Mar, such a junction would not have been necessary, which amounts to no more than saying that the life of Dundee would have been tantamount to a restoration of the Stuarts Mar was not trained in camp, nor did he possess the military
When in course of erection, the ball on the top of the flag-staff fell off.
This was regarded by the Highlanders as a bad omen, and it cast a gloom over the proceedings of the day.
Meanwhile Colonel Sir Hector Munro, who bad served as Captain in the Earl of Orkney's Regiment with reputation in the wars of Queen Anne, raised his followers, who, along with a body of Rosses, numbered about 600 men. With these, in November, 1715, he encamped at Alness and on the 6th of October following he was joined by the Earl of Sutherland, accompanied by his son, Lord Strathnaver, and by Lord Reay, with an additional force of 600, in the interest of the Whig Government, and to cover their own districts and check the movements of the Western clans in effecting a junction with the Earl of Mar, whom Earl William and Sir Donald Macdonald had publicly espoused, as already stated, at the pretended hunting match in Braemar. The meeting at Alness was instrumental in keeping Seaforth in the North. If the Earl and his mother's clans had advanced a month earlier the Duke of Argyll would not have dared to advance against Mar's united forces, who might have pushed an army across the Forth sufficient to have paralyzed any exertion that might have been made to preserve a shadow of the Government. It may be said that if Dundee had lived to hold the commission of Mar, such a junction would not have been necessary, which amounts to no more than saying that the life of Dundee would have been tantamount to a restoration of the Stuarts Mar was not trained in camp, nor did he possess the military