Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745 | Page 2

and for an original
letter of his Lordship; and she must also beg to express her obligations
to William Constable Maxwell, Esq., and to Mrs. Constable Maxwell,
of Terregles, the descendants of the Earl of Nithisdale, for their
courteous and prompt assistance. To James Craik, Esq., of Arbigland,
Dumfriesshire, she is indebted for a correspondence which continues,
as it were, an account of that family during the later part of the year
1745. To Sir Fitzroy Grafton Maclean, Bart., she owes the account of
his clan and family, which has been printed for private circulation. She
is also grateful to a descendant of the family of Lochiel, Miss Mary
Anne Cameron, for some interesting particulars of the burning of
Achnacarry, the seat of her ancestors.
In some of these instances the information derived has not been
considerable, owing to the total wreck of fortune, the destruction of
houses, and the loss of papers, which followed the ruthless steps of the
conquering army of the Duke of Cumberland. Most of the hereditary
memorials of those Highland families who engaged in both rebellions,
perished; and their representatives are strangely destitute of letters,
papers, and memorials of every kind. The practice of burying family
archives and deeds which prevailed during the troubles, was adopted
but with partial advantage, by those who anticipated the worst result of
the contest.
In recalling with pleasure the number of those to whom the Author
owes sincere gratitude for kindness and aid in her undertaking, the
name of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Esq. renews the remembrance of
that store of antiquarian information from which others, far more
worthy to enjoy it than herself, have owed obligations. The Author has
also most gratefully to acknowledge the very kind and valuable

assistance of Archibald Macdonald, Esq., of the Register Office,
Edinburgh, to whom she is indebted for several original letters; and of
Robert Chambers, Esq., to whose liberality she is indebted for several
of her manuscript sources, as well as some valuable advice on the
subject of her work. To Dr. Irvine, Librarian of the Advocate's Library,
Edinburgh, the Author offers, with the most lively pleasure, her sincere
acknowledgments for a ready and persevering assistance in aid of her
undertaking. Again, she begs to repeat her sense of deep obligation to
Mr. Keats, of the British Museum, the literary pilot of many years'
historical research.
LONDON, October 27, 1845.

INTRODUCTION.
The history of the Jacobites properly begins with the brave and
conscientious men who followed James the Second to France, or fought
and bled for him in the United Kingdom. Of the few nobles whom that
Monarch had distinguished by his friendship when Duke of York, or
graced with his favours when King, three only in Scotland remained
attached openly to his interests: these were the Duke of Gordon, the
Lord Balcarras, and Claverhouse of Dundee, who may be regarded as
the parents of the Jacobite party in Scotland. "The other nobles of the
late King's party," remarks a great historian,[1] "waited for events, in
hopes and in fears, from the Old Government and the New, intriguing
with both, and depended upon by neither."
Upon the death of Dundee, a troop of officers who had fought under the
standard of that great General, and who had imbibed his lofty opinions
and learned to imitate his dauntless valour, capitulated, and were
suffered to leave the country and retire to France. Their number
amounted to a hundred and fifty: they were all of honourable birth, and
glorying in their political principles. At first these exiles were
pensioned by the French Government, but, upon the close of the civil
war, those pensions ceased. Finding themselves a burden upon King
James, they formed themselves into a body-guard, which was

afterwards incorporated with the French army. It may fairly be
presumed that this remnant of Dundee's army, four of whom only
returned to Scotland, were instrumental during their abode in France in
maintaining a communication between the Court of St. Germains and
their disheartened countrymen who had remained in their Highland
homes. Abroad, they supported their military character as soldiers who
had fought under Dundee: they were always the foremost in the battle
and the last to retreat, and were distinguished by a superiority in order
and discipline, no less than by their energy and courage.
There can be no doubt but that the majority of the great landholders in
England, as well as the Highland chiefs, continued, through the reign of
William and Mary, disposed to high Tory views; and that had not the
popular cry of the Church being in danger aided the designs of the
Whigs, the Highflyers, or rigid Tories, would not have remained in
quiescence during that critical period, which resembled the settling of a
rushing current of waters into a frothing