The Scottish Cavalier: An Historical Romance, Volume 3 (of 3)Grant, James
History
The Scottish Cavalier: An Historical Romance, Volume 3 (of 3)
Grant, James
Scotland -- History -- 1649-1660 -- Fiction
With his troop of faithful cavaliers Dundee continued to wander from
place to place in the Highlands until the beginning of May, 1689,
when he appeared at the head of about two thousand clansmen led by
Sir Donald Macdonald, the chiefs of Glengarry, Maclean, Locheil, and
Clanronald--all names which shall ever be associated with the purest
ideas of chivalry, generosity, and valour. He had only about 120
horse, but they were composed entirely of gentlemen, and were
commanded by a Sir William Wallace, a brave cavalier; Walter Fenton
was his cornet, and carried the standard.
Lieutenant-General Hugh Mackay, of Scoury, now commander-in-chief of
the Scottish forces, Colonel-Commandant of the Scottish Brigade, and
Privy Councillor of Scotland, marched against him at the head of
nearly five thousand foot, and with two regiments of cavalry.
Neither the fall of Edinburgh Castle (which Sir John Lanier
demolished), nor the disappointment of assistance from Ireland which
James had promised him, could damp the ardour of the brave Dundee.
Deficiency of provisions had compelled him to shift his quarters
frequently, and his devoted followers had endured the most severe
privations; but under these they disdained to complain, when they
knew that Dundee shared them all. Like Montrose, he was eminently
calculated for a Highland leader. In his buff coat and headpiece he
marched on foot, now by the side of one clan, and anon by the ranks
of another, addressing the soldiers in their native Gaelic,
flattering their long genealogies, and animating the fierce rivalry
of clanship by reciting the deeds of their forefathers, and the
sonorous verses of their ancient bards.
"It has ever been my maxim, Mr. Fenton," said he to our friend on one
occasion, "that no general should command an irregular army in the
field without becoming acquainted with every man under his baton."
On the 17th June, 1689, he marched to the Pass of Killycrankie, where
one of the most decisive battles in Scottish history was bravely
fought and fruitlessly won. Dawn was brightening on the hills of
Athole; and Walter, who, quite exhausted by a long series of
hardships, cold, starvation, and a pistol-shot wound, was sleeping
under his horse's legs, was aroused by the sonorous and guttural cry
of a sentinel, who screamed out in Gaelic--
"Hoigh, Mhic Alastair Mhor! Hark to the war-drum of the Saxon!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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