New Spalding Club > Records of Invercauld MDXLVII - MDCCCXXVIII [1547- 1828]

FAMILY LETTERS of LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
The character of Lord George Murraj', as drawn by our leading
liistorians, does not present him in a ver)- amiable aspect. While fully
acknowledging his great abilities as a soldier and commander of an
army, they are somewhat prone to dwell upon a few supposed defects
of his natural disposition. Burton characterises him as " a proud, honest,
outspoken, and self-sacrificing man," but "arrogant and self-willed, not
only to his colleagues of social rank approaching his own, but to the
Prince himself" ; but pleads that " men of ability like Murray, unless the)'
preserve a rigid restraint, are apt to let the contempt they feel for the
silly people they are embarked with become unseasonably apparent,
especially when they are interrupted in their plans by those who do not
understand them." Sir Henrj' Craik, the latest and perhaps the most
acute discerner of the characters and motives of the principal actors in
the rebellion, thus refers to him : " He brought to its support the ability
of an accomplished strategist. But his temper was harsh and over-
bearing. He patronised rather than followed the Prince. He flouted the
Highland chiefs, and was at little pains to disguise his contempt either
for their manners or their notions of conducting a campaign. He refused
to court the little cliques that had followed the fortunes of the exiled
house, and acquired from them the hatred which weaker men can cherish
for one who thwarts their designs and despises their methods." While all
this may be quite true, these letters show another side of his character
which came but little, if at all, under public recognition— his home and
family life. In the bosom of his family he was a very different man from
what he seemed to be at the head of a heterogeneous and unruly army.
They show him to be of a gentle and affectionate disposition, playfully
entering with almost boyish sympathy into the cares and amusements of
his children while guiding their thoughts in a pious direction.
The following are family papers, with occasional references, however,
to the events of the Rising of 1745. They have never been published,
and are interesting as showing what manner of man the Commander of
the Highland Army was, both in private and public life.
LLL