One of the most important of these was Tullibardine's brother, Lord
George Murray, an old soldier who had been 'out in the '15.' He had real
genius for generalship, and moreover understood the Highlanders and
their peculiar mode of warfare. He was no courtier, and unfortunately
his blunt, hot-tempered, plain speaking sometimes ruffled the Prince,
too much accustomed to the complacency of his Irish followers. But all
that was to come later. On the march south there were no signs of
divided counsels. The command of the army was gladly confided to Lord
George.
Another important adherent who joined at this time was the Duke of
Perth, a far less able man than Lord George, but endeared to all his
friends by his gentleness and courage and modesty. Brought up in France
by a Catholic mother, he was an ardent Jacobite, and the first man to be
suspected by the authorities. As soon as the news spread that the Prince
had landed in the West, the Government sent an officer to arrest the
young duke. There was a peculiar treachery in the way this was
attempted. The officer, a Mr. Campbell of Inverawe, invited himself to
dinner at Drummond Castle, and, after being hospitably entertained,
produced his warrant. The duke retained his presence of mind, appeared
to acquiesce, and, with habitual courtesy, bowed his guest first out of
the room; then suddenly shut the door, turned the key and made his
escape through an ante-room, a backstairs, and a window, out into the
grounds. Creeping from tree to tree he made his way to a paddock where
he found a horse, without a saddle but with a halter. He mounted, and
the animal galloped off. In this fashion he reached the house of a
friend, where he lay hid till the time he joined the Prince.
[Illustration: Escape of the Duke of Perth]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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