some stuck in the roof, they fell out before the house took fire, and were lifted off the floors by an iron ladle, which was found in the Duke’s kitchen, and deposited in the cellars in tubs of wine, as water could not be spared. The King’s troops, in dread of being starved, endeavoured to apprise the Earl of Craufurd at Dunkeld of the state in which they were placed, but they were so closely hemmed in, that, with great difficulty, the Duke’s gardener, a loyal man, stole out during the ninth night of the blockade and rode off through the enemy, fired at from several places by the Highlanders, from whom he escaped, having fallen from his horse, and gone on foot to Dunkeld and apprised the Earl, which was not known for some time; in the meantime, the garrison had great faith in the good luck of Sir Andrew, concerning whom many strange stories were told—such as, that he never was wounded nor sick, nor in any battle wherein the English were not victorious; therefore, they were the less surprised when, at break of day on the 1st of April, not a single Highlander could be seen—Lord George having taken the alarm and decamped, to avoid encountering the Earl of Craufurd from Dunkeld. On the morning of the 2d, an officer arrived and announced that the Earl was within an hour’s march of the castle with a force of cavalry, when Sir Andrew drew up his men to receive his Lordship, and after the usual compliments, thus addressed him—‘My Lord, I am glad to see you; but, by all that is good, you have been very dilatory, and we can give you nothing to eat.’ To which his Lordship jocosely replied, with his usual good humour, ‘I assure you, Sir Andrew, I made all the haste I could, and I hope you and your officers will dine with me to-day;’ which they accordingly did, in the summer-house of the Duke’s garden, where they had a plentiful meal and good wines. The Earl made so favourable a report of the conduct of Sir Andrew and the garrison of Blair Castle, that the Duke of Cumberland thanked them, in public orders, for their _steady and gallant_ _defence_, and the gallant commandant was promoted to the command of a regiment of marines (late Jeffries’). A Highland pony, belonging to Captain Wentworth of the Fourth foot, which had been seventeen days (without food) in a dungeon of the castle, being still alive, was recovered by care and proper treatment, and became in excellent condition.”