Glen Collection of printed music > Printed music > Jacobite relics of Scotland > [First series]

192 NOTES.
order that he might not lose hold of such a band of brave fellows,
he resolved on accompanying them himself to the braes of Loch-
aber. On the 8th of May, having gone as far as Badenoch, from
thence he wrote letters to all the chiefs of the clans, appointing
them to meet him at a general rendezvous in Lochaber, on the
18th of the same month ; and turning round from thence, he
passed suddenly through Athol, endeavouring all that he could to
raise the country as he proceeded, and found many of the country
gentlemen in those parts inclined to support him. Then, pushing
onward, he surprised the town of Perth, where he raised a consi-
derable contribution for the service of his master ; and in hopes
of gaining over to his party the two troops of Scots dragoons that
lay at Dundee, he marched suddenly to that place ; but the fide-
lity of Captain Balfour, who commanded them, disappointed his
views. He, however, raised the land-tax all the way as he
advanced ; and having thereby realised a good sum of money, of
which he stood greatly in need, he returned by Athol, and across
the pathless wilds of Rannoch, to hold his diet of rendezvous in
Lochaber, where he arrived on the 17th. If the nature of the
roads of Scotland in those days is taken into account, this is an
instance of activity and intrepidity scarcely to be found on record.
At the meeting in Lochaber he was reinforced by a number of
brave Highland chiefs, so that he again found himself at the head
of 1500 men; and impatient to do something for the cause in
which he was engaged, so long as his scanty resources lasted, he
crossed the mountains like lightning against Mackay, who, having
advanced as far as Inverness, fled at his approach, and Clavers
pursued him for four days as far as Strathbogie, and had now the
whole Highlands behind him, clear of any opposing force. On
reaching this place, he received letters from the officers of the
Scots dragoons, who held a secret correspondence with him. The
information contained in these letters was manifestly false, and
was framed as an excuse for their own fears, and their backward-
ness in joining him. This intelligence, together with the impa-
tience of the clans, induced him to retreat back into the moun-
tains ; and by the time he had again reached Badenoch, the low-
country men, disliking the Highlanders and their country, had