第 69 节
作者:西门在线      更新:2021-09-29 13:02      字数:9322
  g the Royal troops in the rear and it is  said of him that having more zeal than prudence he attacked the rear of  the enemy's column before they had become engaged in front  his small  party was routed; and the intention of placing the King's troops between  two fires was thus defeated。 'A Statistical Account of Glenshiel; by the  Rev。 John Macrae; who gives a minute description of the scenes of the  battle; and informs us that in constructing the parliamentary road which runs through the Glen a few years before he wrote; several bullets and  pieces of musket barrels were found and the green mounds which covered  the graves of the slain; and the ruins of a rude breast…work which the  Highlanders constructed on the crest of the hill to cover their position still  marked the scene of the conflict。'  General Wightman sent a detachment  to Ellandonnan Castle; which he ordered to be blown up and demolished。  General Wightman advanced from the Highland Capital by Loch…Ness and a recent writer pertinently asks; 〃Why he was allowed to pass by such a route without opposition?  It is alleged that Marischal and Tullibardine had interrupted the movements of the invaders by ill timed  altercations about command; but we are provoked to observe that some  extraordinary interposition seems evident to frustrate every scheme  towards forwarding the cause of the ill…fated house of Stuart。  Had the  Chevalier St George arrived earlier; as he might have done; had William  Earl of Seaforth joined the Earl of Mar some time before; as he ought to  have done; and strengthened as Mar would then have been; had he boldly  advanced on Stirling; as it appears he would have done; Argyll's force  would have been annihilated; and James VIII。 proclaimed at the Cross of  Edinburgh。 Well did the brave Highlanders indignantly demand; ‘What  did you call us to arms for?  Was it to run away?  What did our own King come for?  Was it to see us butchered by hangmen?'  There was a fatuity  that accompanied all their undertakings which neutralised intrepidity;  devotedness; and bravery  which the annals of no other people can exhibit;  and paltry jealousies which stultified exertions; which; independently of political results; astonished Europe at large。〃 'Bennetsfield MS。'
  An Act of Parliament for disarming the Highlanders was passed in 1716; but in some cases to very little purpose for some of the most disaffected clans were better armed than ever; although by the Act the  collectors of taxes were allowed to pay for the arms given in; in no case were any delivered except those which were broken; old; and unfit for use;  and these were valued at prices far above what they were really worth。   Not only so; but a lively trade in old arms was carried on with Holland and  other Continental countries; and these arms were sold to the  commissioners as Highland weapons; at exorbitant prices。  General Wade  afterwards found in the possession of the Highlanders a large quantity of arms which they obtained from the Spaniards who took part in the battle  of Glenshiel; and he computed that the Highlanders opposed to the Government possessed at this time no less than five or six thousand arms  of various kinds。
  Wade arrived in Inverness on the 10th of August; 1723; and in  virtue of another Act passed the same year; he was empowered to proceed to the Highlands and to summon the clans to deliver up their arms; and to carry several other recommendations of his own into effect。 On his arrival  he immediately proceeded to business; went to Brahan Castle; and called  on the Mackenzies to deliver up their weapons。 He took those presented  to him on the word of Murchison; factor on the estate and by the  representation of Sir John Mackenzie Lord Tarbat; Sir Kenneth Mackenzie  of Cromarty; and Sir Colin Mackenzie of Coul; at the head of a large  deputation of the clan; he compromised his more rigid instructions and  accepted a selection of worn…out and worthless arms; and at the same time promised that if the clan exhibited a willing disposition to comply with the orders of the Government he would use his influence in the next Parliament to procure a remission for their chief and his followers; and we  find; that 〃through his means; and the action of other minions of Court  (Tarbat was then in power); Seaforth received a simple pardon  by letters patent in 1726; for himself and his clan; whose submission was recognised in the sham form of delivering their arms; a matter of the less consequence  as few of that generation were to have an opportunity of wielding them  again in the same cause。〃
  General Wade made a report to the Government; from which we  take the following extract:〃The Laird of the Mackenzies; and other chiefs of the clans and tribes; tenants to the late Earl of Seaforth; came to  me in a body; to the number of about fifty; and assured me that both they and their followers were ready to pay a dutiful obedience to your  Majesty's commands; by a peaceable surrender of their arms; and if your  Majesty would be graciously pleased to procure them an indemnity for the  rents that had been misplaced for the time past; they would for the future  become faithful subjects to your Majesty; and pay them to your Majesty's  receiver for the use of the public。  I assured them of your Majesty's  gracious intentions towards them; and that they might rely on your  Majesty's bounty and clemency; provided they would merit it by their  future good conduct and peaceable behaviour; that I had your Majesty's commands to send the first summons to the country they inhabited; which  would soon give them an opportunity of showing the sincerity of their  promises; and of having the merit to set the example to the rest of the  Highlands; who in their turns were to be summoned to deliver up their  arms; pursuant to the Disarming Act; that they might choose the place they  themselves thought most convenient to surrender their arms; and that I  would answer that neither their persons nor their property should be  molested by your Majesty's troops。  They desired they might be permitted  to deliver up their arms at the Castle of Brahan; the principal seat of their  late superior。 who; they said; had promoted and encouraged them to this their submission; but begged that none of the Highland companies might  be present; for; as they had always been reputed the bravest; as well as the  most numerous of the northern clans; they thought it more consistent with their honour to resign their arms to your Majesty's veteran troops; to  which I readily consented。  Summonses were accordingly sent to the  several clans and tribes; the inhabitants of 18 parishes; who were vassals  or tenants of the late Earl of Seaforth; to bring or send in all their arms and  warlike weapons to the Castle of Brahan; on or before the 28th of August。    On the 25th of August I went to the Castle of Brahan with a detachment of 200 of the regular troops; and was met there by the chiefs of the several clans and tribes; who assured me they had used their utmost diligence in  collecting all the arms they were possessed of; which should be brought  thither on the Saturday following; pursuant to the summons they had  received; and telling me they were apprehensive of insults or depredations  from the neighbouring clans of the Camerons and others; who still  continued in possession of their arms。  Parties of the Highland companies were ordered to guard the passes leading to their country; which parties  continued there for their protection; till the clans in that neighbourhood  were summoned and had surrendered their arms。  On the day appointed the several clans and tribes assembled in the adjacent villages; and  marched in good order through the great avenue that leads to the Castle;  and one after the other laid down their arms in the court…yard in great  quiet and decency; amounting to 784 of the several species mentioned in  the Act of Parliament。 The solemnity with which this was performed had  undoubtedly a great influence over the rest of the Highland clans; and  disposed them to pay that obedience to your Majesty's commands; by a  peaceable surrender of their arms; which they had never done to any of  your Royal predecessors; or in compliance with any law either before or  since the Union。〃
  The  following account of Donald Murchison's proceedings and of Seaforth's vassals during his exile in France is abridged from an  interesting and valuable work。 'Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland。'
  It brings out in a prominent light the state of the  Highlands and the  futility  of the  power of the Government during that period in the North。
  As regards several of the forfeited estates which lay in inaccessible situations in the Highlands; the commissioners had up to this time been  entirely baffled; never having been able even to get them surveyed。
  This  was so in a very special manner in the case of the immense territory of the  Earl of Seaforth; extending from Brahan Castle; near Dingwall in the east;  across to Kintail in the west; as well as in the large island of the Lewis。   The districts of Lochalsh and Kintail; on the west coast; the scene of the  Spanish invasion of 1719; were peculiarly difficult of access; there being  no approa