Preston Fight; or, The Insurrection of 1715Ainsworth, William Harrison
General
Preston Fight; or, The Insurrection of 1715
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Jacobite Rebellion, 1715 -- Fiction
In an address to his majesty by the Lord Mayor, James the Third was
denounced as an impostor, who proposed to govern the kingdom by
Popish maxims, while the High Church Tories, who were regarded as the
Pretender's main supporters in England, and more dangerous than the
Roman Catholics themselves, were stigmatised as “Nonresisting rebels,
passive-obedience rioters, abjuring Jacobites, and Frenchified
Englishmen; monsters, whom no age or country ever produced till now.”
The first movements of the Jacobites were checked by the death of Louis
the Fourteenth, and the appointment of the Duke of Orleans as Regent;
thus precluding any hope of immediate assistance from France, as had
been previously calculated upon, since the Regent, on assuming the
government, had at once entered into friendly relations with George the
First.
Notwithstanding this unpropitious circumstance, the Chevalier de Saint
George, who felt that his position had become critical, sent orders to
the Earl of Mar and some others of his adherents that a general rising
should take place without delay.
The prince's command was promptly obeyed by the Earl of Mar, who
embarked in disguise in a coal-sloop at Gravesend, accompanied by
Major-General Hamilton and Colonel John Hay, brother of the Earl of
Kinnoul. Eventually the earl and his companions reached Braemar Castle
in Aberdeenshire in safety.
The forests of Braemar were celebrated for red deer, and under the
pretext of a grand hunting-match, the earl invited all the principal
Scottish nobles, and chiefs of clans, whom he knew to be opposed to the
Union, and attached to the Stewarts. His list of guests included the
Marquis of Huntly, eldest son of the Duke of Gordon, the Marquis of
Tullibardine, eldest son of the Duke of Athole; the Earls of Nithsdale,
Marischal, Traquaire, Errol, Southesk, Carnwath, Seaforth, Linlithgow,
and Panmure, with nearly a dozen others. Among the chiefs of clans were
Glengarry, Campbell of Glendarule, and Mackintosh. They well knew why
they were invited, and came attended by numerous followers.
It was a grand sight to see all these nobles and chiefs in full Highland
costume, and attended by their vassals and retainers, likewise in
Highland dress, and all carrying guns upon the shoulder, assembled in
front of the castle, preparatory to setting out on the hunt. With them
were several couples of large deer-hounds held in leash by the huntsmen.
No one was better pleased with the sight than the Earl of Mar. Such a
goodly attendance augured well for the cause.
Full of glee, and expecting famous sport, the hunting party set out for
a defile in the forest into which they knew the deer would be driven.
Here the terrified animals were found, and great slaughter was made
among them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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