"Clanrannald nixt, a Chief of noted name,
To great Dundee from distant regions came;
And though his tender bloom just then began
To shew the sex, and enter into man,

When sprightly nature, ere the down appears,
To sportive passions warms the youthfull years;
Yet then, so much his country's love possesed,
Such thirst of fame inspyred his glowing breast,
That his great soule left lagging Time behind,
Where all the future hero early shin'd:
And to the dangerous fields of honour led.
All those his Isles, all those his Moydart bred.
A brave brigade, in which five hundred shine.
In all the valour of great Donald's line!"

I shall have hereafter occasion to mention some others of the principall gentlemen that were ingaged in that quarrell. And, in the meantime, to proceed.

Dundee, being thus strengthened by the accession of the Macdonalds, made a proposal to his councill of war of imploying the time that they waited the arivall of the rest of the Clans in disciplining their men. The young Chiefs and all the Lowland officers highly approved of the motion, but Locheill, now past the sixtyeth year of his age, was of a different opinion. He informed the councill, "That as from his youth he had been bred up among the Highlanders, so he had made many observations upon the naturall temper of the people and their method of fighting: That to pretend to alter any thing in their old customes, whereof they are exceedingly tenatious, would intirely ruin them, and make them no better than new-raised troops; whereas he was firmly of oppinion, that with their own Chiefs and natural Captains on their head, under the conduct of such a General as my Lord Dundee, they were equall to as many of the best disciplined veterane troops in the kingdome: That they had given repeated proofs of this dureing the whole course of Montrose his victoreys, and that in the skirmishes wherein he

himself had been engaged, he had still the good fortune to route the enemy, though allways much superior to him in numbers. Besides, in all his conflicts with the Cromelians, [Cromwellians,] he had still to doe with old souldiers, whose courage had been fatall to the King and kingdome: And that the M'Leans had given ane evidence, in their late skirmish att Knockbrecht, that they were capable not onely to defend themselves against, but even to defeat a greater body of the present enemey's best troops : That since his Lordship, and perhaps few of the Low-countrey gentlemen and officers in the councill, have ever had the opportunity of being present att a Highland engagement, it would not be amiss to give them a general hint of their method; that it was the same with the antient Gauls, their predecessors, who made so great a figure in the Roman History; and that he believed all the antients made use of the broad-sword and targe in the same manner that they did att present; though the Romans and Grecians taught their troops a certain kind of discipline, to inure them to obedience; and that the Scots, in general, have never made such a figure in the field since they gave over these weapons: That the Highlanders are the onely body of men that retain the old method, excepting in so far that they have of late taken the gun instead of the bow to introduce them into action: That so soone as they are led against the enemy, they come up within a few paces of them, and haveing discharged their peices in their very breasts they throw them down, and draw their swords: That the attack is so furious, that they commonly peirce their ranks, putt them into disorder, and determine the fate of the day in a few moments: That they love alwayes to be in action, and that they have such confidence in their leaders, that even the most dareing and desperat attempt will not intimidate them if they have courage enough to lead them on; so that all the miscarriages of the Highlanders are to be charged on some defect of conduct in their officers, and not either on want of resolution or discipline in them." And he further observed, "That, as a body of Highlanders conducted by their own Chiefs are commonly equall to any foot whatsoever, so, when they come to be disciplined in the modern way, and mixt with regular troops under stranger officers, they are not one straw better than their neightbours; and the reason he

assigned for this change was, that, being turned out of their ordinary method, and not haveing the honour of their Chief and Clan to fight for, they lose their naturall courage when the causes that inspired it are removed. Besides, when, by the harsh rules of discipline, and the savage severity of their officers in the execution of them, they come to be reduced to a state of servitude, their spirits sink, and they become meer formal machines, acted by the impulse of fear. He concluded, that, however necessary military discipline might be in standing armys, yet, since it was not proposed that theirs was to continue any longer than while the present posture of affairs rendered it necessary, they had not time to habituate it, so as to make it easy and usefull to them; and that, therefore, it was his oppinion that, in all events, it was better to allow them to follow the old habite wherein they were bred, than to begin to teach a new method which they had not time to acquire."

Locheil's oppinion determined the councill; and my Lord Dundee, upon recollecting all that he had said, declared that as he was certain of victorey from men of so much naturall courage and ferocity, so he would not have made the motion, had he been as well accquanted with them as Locheill had now made him; and that, as every thing he had advanced carryed conviction along with it, so, though it did not, yet, as there is no argument like matter of fact, he thought himself obliged to take them on the word of one who had so long and so happy ane experience.

While Dundee thus awaited the arrivall of these men whom he had allowed to goe home for want of provision, and of many others who had sent him assurances that they would be with him again [st] the time he had appointed for the general rendezvouze of the whole, a party of the Camerons entered into a resolution of revengeing themselves on the Grants, who, as is formerly mentioned, had hanged two or three of that name without any further provocation than that of a party quarrell, reserving their vengeance against Gordon of Edinglassy to a more proper opportunity. They were encouraged in their designe by the anger that they observed their Chief had conceived for the loss of his men, and they presumed that the General (as they alwayes called my Lord Dundee, whom they loved nixt to their Chief) would not be displeased, if

they, in the circumstances he was in, could supply him with a drove of cattle from the enemy's country. However, they resolved not to run the risk of demanding liberty, least they should be refused, but marched privatly in a considerable body to the country of Urquhart, where they found the Grants in arms ready to oppose them. There happned to be among them one Macdonald, of Glengary's family, though living in that country, who imagined that the simple merite of his name, and the Clan to which he belonged, was enough to protect himself and the whole name of Grant from the revenge of the Camerons. Confident of this, he came boldly up to them, and acquainting them with his name and genealogy, he desired, that, on his account, they would peaceably depart the country, without injureing the inhabitants, his neightbours and friends. To this it was answered, that if he was a true Macdonald, he ought to be with his Chief in Dundee's armey in the service of his King and countrey: That they were att a loss to understand why they should, on his account, extend their friendship to a people who had but a few dayes before seized on several of their men, and hanged them without any other provocation than that they served King James, which was contrarey to the laws of war, as well as of common humanity: That as they had indeed ane esteem for him, both for the name he bore, and the gentleman to whom he belonged, so they desired that he would instantly seperate himself and his cattle from the rest of his companey, whom they were resolved to chastize for their insolence. But the Macdonald replyed, that he would run the same fate with his neightbours; and, daring them to doe their worst, departed in a huff.

The Camerons, without further parly, attacked the Grants, and haveing killed some and dispersed the rest, they made themselves masters of their cattle and goods, and carried them in triumph to Lochaber. The General and their Chief connived att the action, both on account of the provocation they had, and of the supply of provisions which they had brought, and generously distributed among the army. But the forementioned Macdonald haveing had the ill-fate to be killed in the skirmish, Glengary resented his death so highly, that in a great rage he went to the Lord Dundee, and demanded satisfaction on Locheill and

the Camerons. Surprised att the oddness of the thing, his Lordship asked, What manner of satisfaction he wanted? "For," said he, "I believe it would puzzle the ablest judges to fix upon it, even upon the supposition that they were in the wrong;" and added, that, "if there was any injury done, it was to him, as Generall of the King's troops, in so far as they had acted without commission." Glengary answered, that they had equally injured and affronted both; and that, therefore, they ought to be punished, in order to deter others from following their example. Dundee replyed, that had they been troops regularly payed and disciplined, undoubtedly they would have been lyable to such a punishment as the council of war should have inflicted on them; but as they lived upon themselves, and were unacquainted with military laws, all that he can pretend to doe was to save the country, in general, from ravages and depredations of that nature. But, in the present case, the provocation they had was great, they resented a common quarrell, and had distributed the booty, which came seasonably enough to supply their urgent necessitys. Besides, they had troubled non but the King's open and declared enemys, and though it was irregularly done, yet he thought it good policy to connive att it. But, on the other hand, he could not conceive the offence they had done Glengarry! They had, it was true, killed a fellow of his Clan, who was of the enemy's party, and would not seperate from them. "If such ane accident," continued his Lordship, "is a just ground for raising disturbance in our small army, we shall not dare to engage the King's enemys, least there may chance to be some of your name and following among them who may happen to be killed."

This affair made a great noise in the camp. Such as were not acquainted with Glengary's temper and policy, began to be apprehensive of the event; for he threatned highly, that since he could not have it from the General, he would take revenge att his oun hand. And, when it was objected, that he would not be able to make it good, since his followers were not near equall to Locheil's in numbers, he answered, that the courage of his men would make up that defect. But Locheill laught att the storey, and said merrily, that he hoped that a few dayes would give him ane opportunity of exerting that superiority of valour