Series 1 > Loyall dissuasive

INTRODUCTION
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The following document is of special domestic interest:—
‘ Whereas Duncan MTherson, Laird of Clunny, was ordered by
me to be kept in restrainte at this Garrison, and yt upon notice
and sumons given to him by me to render himselfe and cause here
and Did render his person accordingle and hath continued here
a prisoner for the space of one moneth. And now being ascer¬
tained yt his wife is extreame ill and at ye Poynt of Death, I have
given him Liberty to goe and see her, and I have taken bond of
five thousand pounds Scots for his returne to imprisnmt how soone
his wife mends or Expires, or sooner if I call him. This I have
presumed to Doe out of Comon charity.
‘Given at ffort Wm. the 6th Day of May 1696.
‘(Signed) Jo. Hill.’
The lady whose illness is here referred to, and whose death
is noted in the next letter, was Isobell Ross, daughter of
Robert Ross, Provost of Inverness. She bore to Cluny one
child, Anne, who married Sir Archibald Campbell, as noted
above. The lady of Cluny died in May or June 1696.
Sir John Hill, out of a friendly spirit, wrote to the Lord
Advocate, Sir James Stuart, for the expediting of the business
connected with some case for which Cluny had been summoned
to Edinburgh. The following is the letter:—
‘Fort William, IIth July 1696.
‘ Right Honble,—The Laird of Cluny, beinge to goe south in
obedience to ye charge hee got at your instance hath desired me
to certifie you wt his circumstances have been viz., yt in Aprill
when I sent to him by vertue of the order I had to seize his
person, hee did voluntaryly come in and surendered himself
prisoner and continued soe a considerable tyme till his wife fallinge
sick (of which sickness she dyed) I did give him liberty upon a
bond of 500 lbs. sterl. to goe and see her ere she dyed, by wch
bond hee was obliged to come here whenever I called him. I doe
alsoe certifie yt hee tooke the oathes required vizt., the oath of
allegeance, and signed the assureance, and yt hee hath been (since
his first submitting to ye Goverment) very obedient to orders from
the Goverment and allwayes Ready to render himselfe and hath
set cation for his peaceable Demeanor (as himselfe will more
particularly informe) and now comeing south in obedience to ye
charge he got I pray on his behalfe (in respect of his circumstances