on the occasion I have mentioned, conceived a deadly enmity against the Prior for accepting it without his consent, and endeavured, by all the wayes of detraction and other courses familiar enough in the Courts of Princes, to ruine his intrest with the Queen. But all these faileing, he made other attemps to destroy him, which otherwaise proved abortive. The Queen was often at a loss how to beheave with respect to him; for being head of the Popish faction, he was powerfully protected by the Pope, the Cardinel of Lorain, and the Queen's uncles, the great Duke of Guise and his brother, who not only interceeded for him, but proposed a match between her Majesty and John Gordon, the Earl's second sone, the elder having been already marryed in the House of Hamiltoun. How her Majesty relished this proposall, is no where said; but the young man being then in disgrace for wounding the Lord Ogilvy in the great street of Edinburgh, had made his escape out of prison, and the Countess his mother, a crafty and ambitious lady, having interceeded for him with the Queen, her Majesty would hear of nothing in his behalf till he again entered his person into waird. But Mr Gordon, instead of giveing obedience, hasted to the North, and gathering about 1000 horse, marched towards Aberdeen, where the Queen then was, with a view of making himself master of her person, imagining that it would not be dissagreeable to her Majesty to be forced into the match, nor are there wanting some that alleage, that Huntly and his sone had private incouragement to proceed as they did in order to free her Majesty from the government of her naturall brother the Earl of Murray, whom, as those authours give out, she already began to hate.

But, be this as it will, it is certain that the Queen appeared much offended att their insolence, but dissembling her resentment, she proceeded to Inverness, where, designeing to lodge in the Castle, was denyed access by Alexander Gordon the Governour. The next morning her Majesty was joyned by many of the neightbouring clans, who flocked to her relief from all quarters, upon a rumour that she was in danger, and even Huntly was deserted by his followers as soon as they had any suspition of his designs; with these the Castle being quickly reduced, the Governour was hanged for his insolence and rebellion.

A.D. 1562.

Sept. 1562.

Dec. 20,

Dec. 28, 1562.

March 6, 1563.

Locheill, who was at a great distance, could not come up so soon as the rest, but arrived before the battle of Corrichy, which happned a few days thereafter. For the Queen being now sufficiently strong, returned to Aberdeen, and Huntly, blinded by his ambition and his extream hatred to the Earl of Murray, was mad enough to prosecute his designs, though only 300 of his followers stuck by him. In a word, he was defeated, his party cutt to peices, himself being old and corpulent, taken and stiffled to death by the weight of his armour, and the crowd that pressed about him. His sone, John Gordon, being likewayes made prisoner, was condemned and beheaded next day att Aberdeen, to the great grief of many of the spectators, for he was a very hansome youth of a gracefull deportment, and had given several proofs of his conduct and courage.

In Januwary following, George, now Earl of Huntly, was convicted and forfeited in parliament. By the laws of Scotland, the vassalls forfeited with the supperiors, which gave Locheill some uneasieness on account of the estate which his father had obtained from the late Earl, lying eastward of the lake and river of Lochey before mentioned. But the Queen upon application was pleased to restore that estate as a reward due to his loyalty, and to his faithfull services on that and other occasions. The charter, however, differed in this from the former, that the tenour, which was blench few before, was now chainged into a waird; but enobled with all the immunitys and priviledges that the Earl and his predecessors formerly enjoyed.

His lady was daughter to the Laird of Maclean, by whom he had a sone named Allan, who was born after his death, and succeeded in his estate and command.

XIII. ALLAN M'CONELL DUIE.

He was, from his cradle to his grave, involved in a continued laberynth of troubles, which proceeded origionaly from the ill conduct and ambition of his tutors, whose views were suspected to extend furder than the simple administration of his affairs, which was all they could pretend to

by their office.

These were Donald and John Camerons, two of the younger sones of the famous Ewen M'Allan, grand-uncles to the minor, and the predecessors of the Familys of Errocht and Kenlochiell, now considerable tribes of that clan. In a word, the conduct of these gentlemen were such, that Locheil's nurse, for the safety of his person, conveyed him privatly to Mull, where he remained during his infancey under the tutelage of Lachlan Maclean of Doward his uncle, who thereafter made choise of M'Gilvraw of Glencanner to be his fosterfather. With this gentleman he, according to custome, continued till he was fitt for schoole, and the care of his education was intrusted to Mr John Cameron, Minister of Dunune, his kinsman, and a person of great probity and learning, by whom he was trained up in the Protestant Religion, which then began to gett footing in the Highlands. He was father to the great Cameron, who was then the most famous Protestant divine then living.

Though the safety of the young Chief was thus secured, the conduct of the tutors keept all in confusion att home, for they acted more like proprietors than administrators. The rents and revenues of the estate, which was very large, they applyed to their own use, and having formed a faction among the Camerons, whom they corrupted by bribs and offices to an absolute dependence on their intrest, they lorded it over the rest of the Clan with intolerable insolence and cruelty. To make head against them, the opposite faction called home Donald M'Ewan, the bastard sone of him that was killed in the Isle of Lochow. He then lived with the Laird of Grant, a daughter of that house having been his grandmother, and had the reputation of a youth of good sense and spirit. His arrivall in Lochaber occasioned a kind of civil war, whereof Lachlan, then Laird of Macintosh, taking advantage, marched into the country at the head of such a body of men, as the tutors, in their present situation, were unable to resist, and obliged them to submitt to a treaty whereby the estate in dispute was sett to them on lase for a certain number of years, for the yearly payment of 80 merks Scots, an inconsiderable rent. But such, however, as gave Macintosh all the right and title to the estate that they could bestow, or be demanded during the minority of the Chief.

The tutors were sensible enough of the false step they had made, but as necessity had forced them into it, so they resolved to repudiat the contract, by a new invasion into the enemy's countrey, and in order to unite the Clan, they agreed to submitt all differances to the mediation of friends; this brought about a meeting of the partys att the old Castle of Inverlochy, where Donald the elder brother was barbarously murdered, by which their mutuall resentment and hatred was kindled into greater fury than before. To suppress the other tutor, Donald the bastard had recourse to his grandfather, the Laird of M'Dougall, who prevailed with the Earl of Argyle, Justice-General, to espouse the quarrell. In short, the tutor was seized and beheaded at Dunstaffnage, a very old building, and one of the seats of the antient Scots Kings, before the destruction of the Picts.

In the meantime Locheill, then a youth of about 17 years, being solicited by the heads of the opposite faction, returned to Lochaber, where he was so mannaged and imposed upon by their artifice and cunning, that he gave way to the death of the bastard, whom they accused not only as author of the murder of the tutors, but as guilty of more criminal designs of depriving himself of his life and fortune, upon pretence that he was no bastard, but the sone of a lawfull marriage.

Whatever trewth was in these suggestions, his death was generally resented. Locheill leaving the management of his affairs to some of his nearest relations, gave out that he was to return to his Governour att Dunune, but stopt by the way att Appine,* where he was in love with one of his landlord's daughters, whom he soone thereafter marryed. She was a hansome young lady, and so absolutely gained upon his affections by an excess of beauty, witt, and good nature, that he continued fond of her while she lived.

Choiseing to reside att Appine till matters were fully settled at home, he fell into a missfortune that very near coast him his life.

The Laird of Glenurchy, predecessor to the Earl of Breadalbane,

Appine is head of a tribe of the Stewarts in that neightbourhood. His predecessor was a natural sone of Stewart, Lord Lorn, a Prince of the Blood Royall, but begott on a lady of distinction. He is head of all the Stewarts of that countrey, who are one way or other descended of his family.

chanceing to hold a Barron Court in that neightbourhood, Locheill went thither to divert himself, and there accidentally meeting with one M'Dougall of Fairlochine, a near relation of the bastard's, he challanged him upon some unmannerly expressions which he had formerly droped against him with relation to that gentleman's death. But M'Dougall, instead of excuseing himself, gave such a rude answer as provocked Locheill to make a blow at him with his sword, and some of the bystanders, willing to prevent the consequences, seized and held him fast, while he made a most violent struggle to get loose, one of his servants happening to come up at the same time, and seeing his master in the hands of so many people, fancyed that he was apprehended by Glenurchy's orders, whom he foolishly suspected to have designs upon his life. This putt the fellow into such a rage, that he had not patience to examine into the matter. But encountering with Archbald, Glenurchy's eldest sone, whom the noise of the bustle had drawn thither in that unlucky juncture, he barbarously plunged his durk into his heart. The multitude upon this turned their swords against the unhappy fellow. But he, with his durk in the one hand, and his sword in the other, defended himself with that incredible valour, that it is likely he would have escaped by the favour of the approaching night, if he had not, as he retreated backward, stumbled upon a pleugh, that tooke him behind, and brought him to the ground, where he was cutt to pices.

No sooner had the inraged multitude dispatched the servant, than they run furiously upon the master, who, though he received several wounds, had the good fortune, after a vigorous and gallant defence, to make his escape, wherein he was much assisted by the darkness of the night, which covered his retreat.

The newes of this and several other adventures made his Clan impatient to have him among them. All their divisions were now at an end, and their Chief was of sufficient age and capacity to mannage his own affairs, so that he was welcomed to Lochaber with universall joy.

In the year 1590, there brock out a dreedfull enmity and fewd between the Earls of Huntly and Murray; the last was sone to the Regent, whom we have formerly mentioned.