2nd Duke of Gordon and the part he played at the battle of Sheriffmuir

THE SECOND DUKE OF GORDON.
HIS BIRTH AND BEGINNINGS.
The policy of Alexander, 2nd Duke of Gordon,
was of the utmost importance to his house, for
it lay witih hiin to decide whether the Gordons
were to throw in their lot with the Stuarts or
with the line of Hanover. The territorial cfliief
of a large Highland host, which was strongly
pro-j acobite, and the son of a Roman Catholic
mother, he 'had many temptations to follow the
Stuarts. On the other hand, he had a rough
" horse sense" that disaster lay that way, and
that the line of progress for the country and foi
himself lay in supporting tih-e new regime. I
call it horse sense" rather than direct policy,
for he faltered now and then. TDiat may be at-
tributed less to policy than to a disinclination to
take any side whatever. He was, however,
forced to take a side, and in the circumstances
he temporised in a way which brqught him much
criticism, as everybody familiar with the ballads
of the period is aware. In the end, however, he
sfba/red the extraordinary luck of his house which
had weathered so many storms and which came
to an end in the direct line only because it failed
in niale heirs.
The second Duke of Gordon wiae the only' son
of the 1st Duke, who lhad married Lady Elizabeth
Howard in October 1676. G. E. C. says he was
born "about 1678" (''Complete 'Peerage," iv.,
51) ; but Colonel Hooke speaks of him in
1705 >as a young man of about three and twenty,"
adding that he g<ave " great hopes and is miglhtily
beloved in his country."
Very little is (known about his early years be-
yond the statement of this early travels. Weget
a due to the date of some of these peregrinations
firom Colonel Hooke, who met the Miarquis during
his own furtive visit to Gordon Castle about Sep-
tember 1705. He says: —
The Marquis of Huntly arrived next day on
his return from his travels. . . . There came
suc'h a number of gentlemen vassals of the Gor-
don family to welcome his return that I was
afraid of being detected. I passed among them
for a priest.