Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 4, 1896

112
THE OELTIO MONTHLY-
Bake of him whom he considered his lawful
King, form, next to those of the Prince himself,
the most thrilling incidents in the history of
the ill-fated enterprise which terminated so
disastrously on the bloody moor of CuUoden.
" Through all the glens, from shore to shore.
What wailing went ! but that is o'er —
Hearts now are cold, that once were sore
For the loved ones lost on CuUoden."
In a long and interesting re\'iew of Glimpses vf
Church ami Social Life in the IIi<//i/ands in Olden
Times, which recently appeared in the Times,
the reviewer says : —
" There was a jjrice set upon Cluny's head, which
would have enriched even one of the richer clans-
men, beyond the dreams of his avarice. The
haunts of the Chief were well known ; he was
always attended by a bodyguard, and surrounded
by a swarm of outlying spies. Yet he lived safely
among them for nine years, when he escaped to
France to die in exile. He was always changing
Ms quarters and accommodation, sometimes, like
David, he had his habitation in caves, and some-
times he burrowed in cairns with the wild cats he
bore as a crest. One of his common haunts was a
dry but utterly dark cellar, entered by a trap door
and beneath the floor of a kitchen. But his
favourite summer residence was the famous cave in
Ben Alder, immortalised by Louis Stevenson in
"Kidnapped." . . . The family was fortunate
in having its lands restored. They were given
back in the next generation, thanks to the interest
and generous self-denial of a Hanoverian neighbour,
who might have had them for himself. We have
no wish to disparage either the fidelity of the poor
clansmen or the generosity of that gentleman.
But it must be remembered that any Macpherson
who had turned Judas must have made up his
mind to execration and expatriation. His name
would have been consigned to eternal infamy, and,
had he dared to stay in his native glens and brazen
it out, his life would not have been worth a week's
purchase."
In the remarkable manuscript preserved in
the Cluny Charter Chest, written in France
about the year 1760, to which reference was
made in the December number of this maga-
zine, there is the following graphic description
of the cave in Ben Alder, alluded to by
Stevenson, in which the Piince with Lochiel
and Chmy for a time found refuge: —
" About five miles to the south-westward of his
(Cluny's) chateau commenc'd his forrest of Ben
Alder, plentifully stock'd with dear — red-hares,
moorfoul, and other game of all kinds, beside
which it affords fine pasture for his nnmberous
flocks and beards. There also he keeps a harras of
some hundred mares, all which after the fatal day
of Culoden became the pray of his enemies. It
contains an extent of many mountains and small
valleys, in all computed about 12 miles long east
and west, and from 8 to 10 miles in breadth,
without a single house in the whole excepting the
necessary lodges for the shepherds who were
charg'd with his flocks. It was in this forrest
where the Prince found Cluny with Locheill in his
wounds and other friends under his care. Cluny
observed on this occasion an instance of the Prince's
never-failing prudent caution and presence of mind.
Lord Locheill, he, and the others advanced to
receive him in the respectfull manner justly due
his Royal Highness ; ' My dear Locheill ' says he
immediately, ' no ill-plac'd ceremony at present I
beg of you, for it is hard to say who may at this
moment eye \is from these surrounding mountains.'
How soon the joy conceived on seeing the Prince
in safety and in health gave room for cooler reflec-
tions. Cluny became anxious about his future
health and safety. He was afraid that bis constitu-
tion might not suit vvith lying on the ground or in
caves, so was solicitous to contrive a more comfort-
able habitation for him iipon the south front of one
of these mountains, overlooking a beautiful! lake of
12 miles long. He observed a thicket of holly-
wood ; he went, viewed, and found it fit for his
purpose ; he caused immediately wave the thicket
round with boughs, made a first and second floor
in it, and covered it with moss to defend the rain.
The uper room serv'd for salle a manijer and bed-
chamber, while the lower serv'd for a cave to
contain liquors and other necessaries ; at the back
part was a proper hearth for cook and baiker, and
the face of the mountain had so much the colour
and resemblance of smock, no person cou'd ever
discover that there was either fire or habitation in
the place. Round this lodge were placed their
sentinels at proper stations, some nearer and some
at greater distances, who dayly brought them
notice of what happened in the countiy, and even
in the enemie's camps, bringing them likewise the
necessar)' provisions, while a neighbouring fountain
supplied the society with the rural refreshment of
pure rock water. As, therefore, an oak tree is to
this day rever'd in Brittain for having happily
sav'd the grand uncle, Charles the Second, from
the pursuits of Cromwell, so this holly thicket will
probablie in future times be likeways rever'd for
having saved Prince Charles, the nephew, from the
still more dangerous pursuits of Cumberland, who
show'd himself on all occasions a much more inveter-
ate enemy. In this romantick humble habitation the
Prince dwelt. When news of the ships being
arrived reached him, Cluny convoyed him to them
with joy, happy in having so safely plac'd so
valuable a charge ; then retum'd with contentment,
alone to commence his pilgrimage, which continued
for nine years more. And now notwithstanding the
very great ditt'erence of his present situation and
circumstances to what they once were, he is always
gay and chearfull ; consious of having done his
duty, he defys fortune to make him express his
mind unhappy, or so much as make him think of
any action below his honour."
"And dear to my heart are the chivalrous ways,
And the kindly regards of the old Highland days,
When the worth of the Chief and the strength of
the clan,
Brought glory and fame to the brave Highlandman."
According to the narrative of Donald
Macpherson of Breakachy given in The Lyon in
Monming, aO about Prince Charlie " during his