Lairds of Glenlyon

THE LAIRDS OF GLENLYON. 277
caraid a dhaoine e's b'e'n /aoc/i's an iomairt e." " He was the
friend of his men and the hero in the strife," said a man
whose grandfather had long served under him, and who no
doubt faithfully repeated that grandfather's opinion of his
commander.
He put the affairs of his estate in the best order he could,
and constituted his mother his factrix before leaving for
Flanders in 1747. From that year till 1769, he was always
on active service in different parts of the world. He was
with Admiral Rodney's expedition, and commanded eight
hundred Marines at the capture of Havannah in 1762. On
that occasion he earned not only a great deal of praise, but
of prize money also. His estate meanwhile had been
cleared of debt. His mother — advised in difficult cases by
'' John Campbell of the Bank," — proved herself to be the
best of managers. She and her daughters lived quietly,
plainly, but hospitably and happily, at Glenlyon House.
For some time after his rehabilitation, Archie Roy, the
young ex-rebel, lived with his family, and no one could, if
we may trust the reports handed down, go nearer extract-
ing sunshine from cucumbers than he. His sister Molly
was also full of merriment, while Kitty was sarcastic, and
Jennie, the youngest, was quaint and credulous. In 1749,
the Rev. Fergus Ferguson, minister of Fortingall, died, and
the Jacobites of the parish were far from sorry. They had
done their best to ostracise him ; but he was not the man
to stand that sort of thing. It was whispered, however,
that his death resulted from being tumbled into the river,
as if by an accident, out of the ferry boat at Laggan, on a
dark night, by a vengeful Jacobite. The plunge into the
wintry water gave him a cold, which he neglected, and the