tion to see the Earl of Argyle, (the ancient feudal enemy of his house,) was preferred to him by the heads of the party, and chiefly by the clergy. There was something in the fiery ambition, and unyielding purpose of Montrose, which startled inferior minds; while Argyle, dark, close, and crafty,-a man well qualified to affect a complete devotion to the ends of others, when he was, in fact, bent on forwarding his own,-stooped lower to court popularity, and was more successful in gaining it. The King had long observed that Montrose was dissatisfied with the party to which he had hitherto adhered, and found no difficulty in engaging his services for the future in the royal cause. The noble convert set so actively about inducing others to follow his example, that even during the course of the treaty at Rippon, he had procured the subscription of nineteen noblemen to a bond, engaging themselves to unite in support of Charles. This act of defection being discovered by the Covenanters, Montrose was imprisoned; and the King, on coming to Scotland, had the mortification to find himself deprived of the assistance of this invaluable adherent. Montrose contrived, however, to communicate with the King from his prison in the Castle of Edinburgh, and disclosed so many circumstances respecting the purposes of the Marquis of Hamilton and the Earl of Argyle, that Charles had resolved to arrest them both at one moment, and had assembled soldiers for that purpose. They escaped, however, and retired to their houses, where they could not have been seized, but by open violence, at the risk of a civil war. These noblemen were recalled to Court; and to show that the King's confidence in them was unchanged, Argyle was raised to the rank of Marquis. This obscure affair was called the Incident; it was never well explained; it excited much suspicion of the King's purposes both in England and Scotland, and aggravated the disinclination of the English Parliament to leave his royal power on the present unreduced footing. There can be little doubt that Montrose's disclosures to the King concerned the private correspondence which passed between the Scottish Covenanters and the opposition party in the Parliament of England, and which Charles might hope to convert into an accusation of high treason against both. But as he did not feel that he possessed a party in Scotland strong enough to contend with the great majority of the nobles of that country, he judged it best to pass over all further notice of the Incident for the time, and to leave Scotland at least under the outward appearance of mutual concord. He was formally congratulated on departing a contented King from a contented people-a state of things which did not last long. It was, indeed, impossible that Scotland should remain long tranquil, while England, with whom she was now so closely connected, was in such dreadful disorder. The King had no sooner returned from Scotland, than the quarrel betwixt him and his Parliament was renewed with more violence than ever. If either party could have reposed confidence in the other's sincerity, the concessions made by the King were such as ought to have gratified the Parliament. But the strongest suspicions were entertained by the prevailing party, that the King considered the grants which he had made, as having been extorted from him by violence, and that he retained the steady purpose of reassuming the obnoxious and arbitrary power of which he had been deprived for a season, but which he still considered as part of his royal right. They therefore resolved not to quit the ascendency which they had attained, until they had deprived the King of a large portion of his remaining power, although bestowed on him by the constitution, that they might thus prevent his employing it for the recovery of those arbitrary privileges which had been usurped by the throne during the reign of the Tudors. While the Parliamentary leaders argued thus, the King, on his side, complained that no concession, however large, was able to satisfy the demands of his discontented subjects. "He had already," he urged, "resigned all the points which had been disputed between them," and his partisans were alarmed with the idea that it was the purpose of Parliament altogether to abrogate the royal authority, and, probably, to depose the reigning King. On the return of Charles to London, the Parliament greeted him with a remonstrance, in which he was upbraided with all the real and supposed errors of his reign. At the same time, a general disposition to tumult showed itself throughout the city. Great mobs of apprentices and citizens, not always of the lowest rank, came in tumult to Winchester, under the pretence of petitioning the Houses of Parliament; and as they passed Whitehall, they insulted, with loud shouts, the guards and servants of the King. The parties soon came to blows, and blood was spilt between them. Party names, too, were assumed, to distinguish the friends of the King from those who favoured the The former were chiefly gay young Parliament. men, who, according to the fashion of the times, wore showy dresses, and cultivated the growth of long hair, which, arranged in ringlets, fell over their shoulders. They were called Cavaliers. In distinction, those who adhered to the Parliament, assumed in their garb and deportment, a seriousness and gravity which rejected all ornament; they wore their hair, in particular, cropped short around the head, and thence gained the name of Roundheads. But it was the difference in their ideas of religion, or rather of church government, which chiefly widened the division betwixt the two parties. The King had been bred up to consider the preservation of the Church of England and her hierarchy, as a sacred point of duty. The Presbyterian system, on the contrary, was espoused by a large proportion of the Parliament; and they were, for the time, seconded by the other numerous classes of Dissenters, all of whom desired to see the destruction of the Church of England, however unwilling they might be that a Presbyterian Church government should be set up in its stead. The enemies of the Church of England greatly predominating within the Houses of Parliament, the lords spiritual, or bishops, were finally expelled from their seats in the House of Lords, and their removal was celebrated as a triumph by the London citizens. While matters were in this state, the King committed a great imprudence. Having conceived that he had acquired from Montrose's discovery, or otherwise, certain information that five of the leading members of the House of Commons had been guilty of communicating with the Scots when in arms, which might authorize a charge of high treason, he formed the highly rash and culpable intention of going to the House of Commons in person, with an armed train of attendants, and causing the accused members to be arrested. By this ill-advised measure, Charles doubtless expected to strike terror into the opposite party; but it proved altogether ineffectual. The five members had received private information of the blow to be aimed at them, and had fled into the city, where they found numbers willing to conceal and defend them. The King, by his visit to the House of Commons, only showed that he could stoop to act almost in the capacity of a common constable, or catchpoll; and that he disregarded the respect due to the representatives of the British people, in meditating such an arrest in the presence of that body. After this step on the part of the King, every chance of reconciliation seemed at an end. The Commons rejected all amicable proposals, unless the King would surrender to them the command of the militia; and that would have been equivalent to laying his crown at their feet. The King refused to surrender the command of the militia, even for an instant; and both parties prepared to take up arms. Charles left London, where the power of the Parliament was predominant, assembled what friends he could gather at Nottingham, and hoisted the royal standard there, as the signal of civil war, on the 25th August, 1642. The hostilities which ensued, over almost all Eng land, were of a singular character. Long accustomed to peace, the English had but little knowledge of the art of war. The friends of the contending parties assembled their followers, and marched against each other, without much idea of taking strong positions, or availing themselves of able manœuvres, but with the simple and downright purpose of meeting, fighting with, and defeating those who were in arms on the other side. peace between England and Scotland provided, that neither country should declare war against the other without due provocation, and the consent of Parliament. But the Scottish Convention of Estates were sensible, that if they should assist the King to conquer the English Parliament, for imitating their example of insurrection, it would be naturally followed by their undergoing punishment themselves for the example which they had set. They feared for the Presbyterian system,-some of them, no doubt, feared for themselves,-and all turned a deaf ear to the King's proposals. These battles were contested with great manhood and gallantry, but with little military skill or discipline. It was no uncommon thing, for one wing or division of the contending armies, when they found On the other hand a deputation from Parliament themselves victorious over the body opposed to them, pressed upon the Scottish Convention another clause to amuse themselves with chasing the vanquished in the treaty of peace made in 1641, namely, that the party for leagues off the field of battle, where the vic- Parliament of either country should send aid to each tory was in the mean while lost for want of their other to repel invasion or suppress internal disturbsupport. This repeatedly happened through the pre- ances. In compliance with these articles, the Engcipitation of the King's cavalry, a fine body of men, lish Commissioners desired the assistance of a body consisting of the flower of the English nobility and of Scottish auxiliaries. The country being at this gentry; but as ungovernable as they were brave, and time filled with disbanded officers and soldiers who usually commanded by Prince Rupert, the King's were eager for employment, the opportunity and the nephew, a young man of fiery courage, not gifted with invitation were extremely tempting to them, for they prudence corresponding to his bravery and activity. remembered the free-quarters and good pay which In these unhappy civil contentions, the ancient they had enjoyed while in England. Nevertheless, nobility and gentry of England were chiefly disposed the leading members of the Convention of Estates to the service of the King; and the farmers and cul- were aware, that to embrace the party of the Parliativators of the soil followed them as the natural lead- ment of England, and despatch to their assistance a ers. The cause of the Parliament was supported by large body of auxiliary forces, selected, as they must London, with all its wealth and its numbers, and by be, from their best levies, would necessarily expose the other large towns, seaports, and manufacturing their authority in Scotland to considerable danger districts, throughout the country. At the commence- for the King's friends who had joined in the bond ment of the war, the Parliament, being in possession with Montrose, were men of power and influence, of most of the fortified places in England, with the and having the will, only waited for the opportunity, magazines of arms and ammunition which they con- to act in his behalf; and might raise, perhaps, a fortained, having also numbers of men prepared to obey midable insurrection in Scotland itself, when relieved their summons, and with power to raise large sums from the superiority of force which at present was so of money to pay them, seemed to possess great great on the side of the Convention. But the Engadvantages over the party of Charles. But the gal-lish Commissioners held out a bait which the Conlantry of the King's followers was able to restore the vention found it impossible to resist. balance, and proposals were made for peace on equal From the success which the ruling party had exterms, which, had all parties been as sincere in seek-perienced in establishing the Church of Scotland on ing it, as the good and wise of each side certainly a Presbyterian model, and from the great influence were, might then have been satisfactorily concluded. which the clergy of that persuasion had acquired in A treaty was set on foot at Oxford in the winter the councils of the nation by the late course of events, and spring of 1643, and the Scottish Parliament sent they were induced to form the ambitious desire of to England a committee of the persons employed as totally destroying the hierarchy of the Church of conservators of the peace between the kingdoms, to England, and of introducing into that kingdom a negotiate, if possible, a pacification between the King form of church government on the Presbyterian and his Parliament, honourable for the crown, satis-model. To accomplish this favourite object, the factory for the liberty of the subject, and secure for leading Presbyterians in Scotland were willing to both. But the King listened to the warmer and run every risk, and to make every exertion. more passionate counsellors, who pointed out to him that the Scots would, to a certainty, do their utmost to root out Prelacy in a system of accommodation which they might assist in framing; and that having, in fact, been the first who had set the example of a successful resistance to the Crown, they could not now be expected to act sincerely in any negotiation in which its interests were concerned. The result was, that the Scottish Commissioners, finding themselves treated with coldness by the King, and with menace and scorn by the more vehement of his followers, left Oxford, still more displeased with the Royal cause than when they had come thither. The Commissioners of England were most ready to join with this idea of destroying Prelacy; but they knew that the English Parliament party were greatly divided among themselves on the subject of substítuting the Presbyterian system in its place. The whole body of Sectarians, or independents, were totally opposed to the introduction of any national church government whatever, and were averse to that of Presbytery in particular, the Scottish clergy having, in their opinion, shown themselves disposed to be as absolute as the bishops had been while in power. But, with a crafty policy, the Commissioners conducted the negotiation in such a manner as to give the Scottish Convention reason to believe, that they would accomplish their favourite desire of seeing the system which they so much admired, acknowA Scottish Army sent to assist that of the English Parliament-ledged and adopted in England, while, in fact, they Montrose takes advantage of their absence, and, being joined by a body of Irishmen, raises the Royal Standard in Scotland -Battle of Tippermuir, and Surrender of Perth-Affair at the Bridge of Dee, and Sack of Perth-Close of the Campaign. CHAPTER IX. IN 1643, when the advance of spring permitted the resumption of hostilities, it was found that the state of the King's party was decidedly superior to that of the Parliament, and it was believed that the event of the war would be decided in the Royal favour, could the co-operation of the Scots be obtained. The King privately made great offers to the Scottish nation, to induce them to declare in his favour, or at least remain neuter in the struggle. He called upon them to remember that he had gratified all their wishes, without exception, and reminded them that the late VOL. VI.-Q bound their constituents, the English Parliament, to nothing specific on the subject. The Commissioners proposed to join with the Scottish nation in a new edition of the Covenant, which had before proved such a happy bond of union among the Scots themselves. In this new bond of religious association, which was called the Solemn League and Covenant, it was provided, that the church government of Scotland should be supported and maintained on its present footing; but with regard to England, the agreement was expressed with studied ambiguity-the religious system of England, it was provided, should be reformed "according to the word of God, and the example of the best reformed churches." The Scots, usually more cautious in their transac-, tions, never allowed themselves to doubt for a moment, that the rule and example to be adopted under this clause must necessarily be that of Presbytery, and under this conviction, both the nobles and the clergy hastened with raptures, and even with tears of joy, to subscribe the proposed League. But several of the English Commissioners enjoyed in secret the reserved power of interpreting the clause otherwise, and of explaining the phrase in a sense applicable to their own ideas of emancipation from church government of every kind. The Solemn League and Covenant was sworn to in Scotland with general acclamation, and was received and adopted by the English Parliament with the same applause, all discussion of the dubious article being cautiously avoided. The Scots proceeded, with eager haste, to send to the assistance of the Parliament of England a well-disciplined army of upwards of twenty thousand men, under the command of Alexander Lesley, Earl of Leven. An officer of character, named Baillie, was Leven's Lieutenant, and David Lesley, a man of greater military talents than either, was his Major-General. Their presence contributed greatly to a decisive victory which the Parliament forces gained at Marston Moor; and indeed, as was to be expected from their numbers and discipline, quickly served to give that party the preponderance in the field. But while the Scottish auxiliaries were actively serving the common cause of the Parliament in England, the courageous and romantic enterprise of the Earl of Montrose broke out in a strain of success, which threatened to throw Scotland itself into the hands of the King and his friends. This nobleman's bold genius, when the royalist party in Scotland seemed totally crushed and dispersed, devised the means of assembling them together, and of menacing the Convention of Estates with the destruction of their power at home, even at the moment when they hoped to establish the Presbyterian Church in both kingdoms, by the success of the army which they had despatched into England. After obtaining his liberation from imprisonment, Montrose had repaired to England, and suggested to the King a plan of operations to be executed by a body of Irish, to be despatched by the Earl of Antrim from the county of Ulster, and landed in the West Highlands. With these he proposed to unite a force collected from the Highland clans, who were disinclined to the Presbyterian government, great enemies to the Earl of Argyle, and attached to the Royal cause, because they regarded the King as a chieftain whose clan was in rebellion against him, and who, therefore, deserved the support of every faithful mountaineer. The promise of pay, to which they had never been accustomed, and the certainty of booty, would, as Montrose judiciously calculated, readily bring many chieftains and clans to the Royal standard. and therefore willing to join in any enterprise, how- These recollections might lead the governors of Scotland, during the civil war, to hold a Highland army in low estimation. But it was without considering that half a century of uninterrupted peace had rendered the Lowlanders much more unwarlike, while the Highlander, who always went armed, was familiar with the use of weapons which he constantly wore, and far superior in that particular, as well as in the alacrity and love of fight, to the Lowland peasant, called from the peaceful occupations of the farm, and only prepared, by a few days' drilling, to encounter the unwonted dangers of a field of battle. The burghers, who made a formidable part of the array of the Scottish army in former times, were now still more unwarlike than the peasant, being not only without skill in arms and familiarity with danger, but also the personal habits of exercise which the rustic might have preserved. This great and essential difference between the Highlander and Lowlander of modern days, could scarcely be estimated in the middle of the seventeenth century, the causes by which it was brought about being recent, and attracting little attention. Montrose's first plan was to collect a body of Royalist horse on the frontiers of England, to burst at once into the centre of Scotland at their head, and force his way to Stirling, where a body of cavaliers had promised to assemble and join him. The expedition was disconcerted by a sort of mutiny The powerful family of the Gordons, in Aberdeen- among the English horse who had joined him; in shire, who, besides enjoying almost princely authority consequence of which, Montrose disbanded his handover the numerous gentlemen of their family, had ful of followers, and exhorted them to make their extensive influence among the mountain tribes in way to the King, or to join the nearest body of men their neighbourhood, or, in the Scottish phrase, could in arms for the Royal cause, while he himself adopted command a great Highland following, might also be a new and more desperate plan. He took with him reckoned upon with certainty; as they had been only two friends, and disguised himself as the repeatedly in arms for the King, had not been put groom of one of them, whom he followed, ill mountdown without a stout resistance, and were stilled and worse dressed, and leading a spare horse. warmly disposed towards the Royal cause. The support of many of the nobility and gentry in the north, might also be regarded as probable, should Montrose be able to collect a considerable force. The Episcopal establishment, so odious to the lords and barons of the southern and western parts of Scotland, was popular in the north. The northern barons were displeased with the extreme strictness of the Presbyterian clergy, and dissatisfied with the power they had often assumed of interfering with the domestic arrangements of families, under pretext of maintaining moral discipline. Finally, there were in ail parts of Scotland active and daring men disappointed of obtaining employment or preferment under the existing government, They called themselves gentlemen belonging to Leven's army; for, of course, if Montrose had been discovered by the Covenanting party, a rigorous captivity was the least he might expect. At one time he seemed on the point of being detected; a straggling soldier passed his two companions, and coming up to the Earl of Montrose, saluted him respectfully by his name and title. Montrose tried to persuade him that he was mistaken; but the man persisted, though with the utmost respect and humility of deportment. "Do I not know my noble Lord of Montrose ?" he said; "But go your way, and God be with you." The circumstance alarmed Montrose and his companions; but the poor fellow was faithful, and never betrayed his old leader. In this disguise he reached the verge of the High-covered on the hill of Buchanty a body of about four lands, and lay concealed in the house of his relation, hundred men, who, he had the satisfaction to learn Graham of Inchbraco, and afterwards, for still by his scouts, were commanded by two of his own greater safety, in an obscure hut on the Highland particular friends, Lord Kilpont and Sir John Drumfrontier, while he despatched spies in every direction, mond. They had taken arms, on hearing that a to bring him intelligence of the state of the Royalist body of Irish were traversing the country; and learnparty. Bad news came from all quarters. The Mar- ing that they were there under Montrose's command, quis of Huntly had taken arms hastily and impru- for the King's service, they immediately placed themdently, and had been defeated and compelled to fly; selves and their followers under his orders. while Gordon of Haddow, one of the most active and gallant of the name, became prisoner to the Covenanters, and, to strike terror into the rest of the clan, was publicly executed by order of the Scottish Parliament. Montrose's spirit was not to be broken even by this disappointment; and, while anxiously waiting further intelligence, an indistinct rumour reached him that a body of soldiers from Ireland had landed in the West Highlands, and were wandering in the mountains, followed and watched by Argyle with a strong party of his clan. Shortly after, he learned, by a messenger despatched on purpose, that this was the body of auxiliaries sent to him from Ulster by the Earl of Antrim. Their commander was Alaster of MacDonald, a Scoto-Irishman, I believe, of the Antrim family. He was called Col Kittoch, or Colkitto, from his being left-handed; a very brave and daring man, but vain and opinionative, and not understanding any thing of regular warfare. Montrose received these succours in good time, for while Argyle pursued him with a large body of his adherents, who had followed the track of the Irish, Lord Elcho, the Earl of Tullibardin, and Lord Drummond, had collected an army of Lowlanders to protect the city of Perth, and to fight Montrose, in case he should descend from the hills. Montrose was aware, that such an enterprise as he had undertaker, could only be supported by an excess of activity and decision. He therefore advanced upon the Lowland forces of Elcho, whom he found, on 1st September, 1644, drawn up in good order in a large plain called Tippermuir, within three miles of Perth. They were nearly double Montrose's army in number, and much encouraged by numerous ministers, who exhorted them to fight valiantly, and promised them certain victory. They had cannon also, and cavalry, whereas Montrose had no artillery, and only three horses in his army. After a skirmish with the Covenanters' cavalry, in which they were beaten off, Montrose charged with the Highlanders, under a heavy fire from his Irish musketeers. They burst into the ranks of the enemy with irresistible fury, and compelled them to fly. Once broken, the superiority of numbers became useless, as the means of supporting a main body by reserves was not then known or practised. The Covenanters fled in the utmost terror and confusion, but the light-footed Highlanders did great execution in the pursuit. Many honest burghers, distressed by the extraordinary speed which they were compelled to exert, broke their wind, and died in consequence. Montrose sustained little or no loss. Montrose sent orders to him to march with all speed into the district of Athole, and despatched emissaries to raise the gentlemen of that country in arms, as they were generally well affected to the King's cause. He himself set out to join this little band, attired in an ordinary Highland garb, and accompanied only by Inchbraco as his guide. The Irish were surprised and disappointed to see their expected General appear so poorly dressed and attended; nor had Montrose greater reason to congratulate himself on the appearance of his army. The force which was assembled did not exceed fifteen hundred Irish, instead of the thousands promised, and these were but indifferently armed and appointed, while only a few Highlanders from Bade-long string of reasons were given, which are rather noch were yet come to the appointed rendezvous. These active mountain warriors, however, had, a day or two before, been at blows with the Covenanters. Macpherson of Cluny, chief of his name, had sent out a party of men to look out for Montrose, who was looked for every minute. They be held the approach of a detached body of horse, which they concluded was the escort of their expected General. But when they approached nearer, the Mac-in vain endeavours to recover the breath which they Phersons found it to be several troops of the Covenanters' cavalry, commanded by Colonel Herries, and quartered in Glencairn, for the sake of bridling the Highlanders. The town of Perth surrendered, and for this act a amusingly stated in a letter from the ministers of that town; but we have only space to mention a few of them. First, it is alleged, that out of Elcho's defeated army, only about twelve of the Fifeshire men offered themselves to the magistrates in defence of the town, and most of them were pot-valiant from liquor. Secondly, the citizens had concealed themselves in cellars and vaults, where they lay panting had wasted in their retreat, scarcely finding words enough to tell the Provost, "that their hearts were away, and that they would fight no more though they should be killed." Thirdly, the letter states, that if the citizens had had the inclination to stand out, they had no means, most of them having flung away their weapons in their flight. Fourthly, the enemy were, it is said, drawn up like so many hellhounds before the gates of the town, their hands deeply dyed in the blood recently shed, and demanding, with hideous cries, to be led to further slaughter. While the troops were coming on in formidable superiority of numbers, MacPherson of Invereshie, who was drawing up his Highlanders for action, observed one of them in the act of stooping; and as he lifted his stick to strike him for such conduct in the face of the enemy, the Highlander arose, and showed him the countenance of MacPherson of Dalifour, one of the boldest men of the clan. Highly surprised, Invereshie demanded how he, of all men, could think of stooping before an enemy. "I was only fastening a spur on the heel of my brogue," said Dalifour, with perfect composure. A spur! and for what purpose, at such a time and place as this?" asked Invere- Perth consequently opened its gates to the victor. shie. "I intend to have a good horse before the day But Argyle, whose northern army had been augmented is over," answered the clansman, with the same by a considerable body of cavalry, was now approachcoolness. Dalifour kept his word; for the Lowlanding with a force, against which Montrose could not horse being worsted in the first onset, he got pos-pretend to defend an open town. He abandoned session of a charger, on which he followed the pursuit, and brought in two prisoners. The report of this skirmish gave a good specimen to Montrose of the mettle of the mountaineers, while the subsequent appearance of the Athole men, eight hundred strong, and the enthusiastic shouts with which they received their General, soon gave confidence to the light-hearted Irishmen. He instantly commenced his march upon Strathern, and crossed the Tay. He had scarce done so, when he dis The magistrates perhaps deserve no blame, if they capitulated in such circumstances, to avoid the horrors of a storm. But their conduct shows, at the same time, how much the people of the Lowlands had degenerated in point of military courage. Perth, therefore, and marched into Angus-shire, hoping he might find adherents in that county. Accordingly, he was there joined by the old Earl of Airlie and two of his sons, who never forsook him in success or disaster. This accession of strength was counterbalanced by a shocking event. There was a Highland gentleman in Montrose's camp, named James Stewart of Ardvoirlich, whose birth had been attended with some peculiar circumstances, which though they lead me from my present subject, I cannot refrain from | speed, could keep up with the movements of such noticing. While his mother was pregnant, there came to the house of Ardvoirlich, a band of outlaws, called Children of the Mist, MacGregors, some say, others call them MacDonalds of Ardnamurchan. They demanded food, and the lady caused bread and cheese to be placed on the table, and went into the kitchen to order a better meal to be made ready, such being the unvarying process of Highland hospitality. When the poor lady returned, she saw upon the table, with its mouth stuffed full of food, the bloody head of her brother, Drummond of Drummondernoch, whom the outlaws had met and murdered in the wood. The poor woman shrieked, ran wildly into the forest, where, notwithstanding strict search, she could not be found for many weeks. At length she was secured, but in a state of insanity, which doubtless was partly communicated to the infant of whom she was shortly after delivered. The lad, however, grew up. He was an uncertain and dangerous character, but distinguished for his muscular strength, which was so great, that he could, in grasping the hand of another person, force the blood from under the nails. This man was much favoured by the Lord Kilpont, whose accession to the King's party we lately mentioned; indeed, he was admitted to share that young nobleman's tent and bed. It appears that Ardvoirlich had disapproved of the step which his friend had taken in joining Montrose, and that he had solicited the young lord to join him in deserting from the Royal army, and, it is even said, in murdering the General. Lord Kilpont rejected these proposals with disdain, when, either offended at his expressions, or fearful of his exposing his treacherous purpose, Ardvoirlich stabbed Kilpont mortally with his dagger. He then killed the sentinel, and escaped to the camp of Argyle, where he received preferment. Montrose was awakened by the tumult which this melancholy event excited in the camp, and rushing into the crowd of soldiers, had the mortification to see the bleeding corpse of his noble friend, thus basely and treacherously murdered. The death of this young nobleman was a great loss to the Royal cause. Montrose, so much inferior in numbers to his enemies, could not well form any fixed plan of operations. He resolved to make up for this, by moving with the most extraordinary celerity from one part of the country to another, so as to strike severe blows where they were least expected, and take the chance of awakening the drooping spirit of the Royalists. He therefore marched suddenly to Aberdeen, to endeavour to arouse the Gordons to arms, and defeat any body of Covenanters which might overawe the King's friends in that country. His army was now, however, greatly reduced in numbers; for the Highlanders, who had no idea of serving for a whole campaign, had gone home to their own districts, to lodge their booty in safety, and get in their harvest. It was, on all occasions, the greatest inconvenience attending a Highland army, that after a battle, whether they won the day or lost it, they were certain to leave their standard in great numbers, and held it their undoubted right to do so; insomuch, that a victory thinned their ranks as much as a defeat is apt to do those of other armies. It is true, that they could be gathered again with equal celerity; but this humour, of deserting at their pleasure, was a principal reason why the brilliant victories of Montrose were productive of few decided results. On reaching Aberdeen, Montrose hastened to take possession of the Bridge of Dee, the principal approach to that town, and having made good this important point, he found himself in front of an army commanded by Lord Burleigh. He had the mortification also to find, that part of a large body of horse in the Covenanting army were Gordons, who had been compelled to take arms in that cause by Lord Lewis Gordon, the second son of the Marquis of Huntly, a wild and wilful young man, whose politics differed from those of his father and family. Finding himself greatly inferior in horse, of which he had not fifty, Montrose intermingled with his cavalry some of his musketeers, who, for breath and horse as he possessed. The Gordons, not perhaps very favourable to the side on which they ranked, made an ineffectual attack upon the horse of Montrose, which was repelled. When the mingled musketeers and cavalry advanced on them, Lord Lewis's men fled, in spite of his own personal exertions; and Montrose, we are informed, found it possible to move his handful of cavalry to the other wing of his army, and to encounter and defeat the horse of the Covenanters on both flanks successively with the same wearied party of riders. The terror struck into his opponents by the novelty of mixing musketeers with cavalry, contributed not a little to this extraordinary success. While this was passing, the two bodies of infantry cannonaded each other, for Montrose had the guns which he took at Tippermuir. The Covenanters had the superiority in this part of the action, but it did not daunt the Royalists. The gayety of an Irishman, whose leg was shot off, gave spirit to all around him. -"Go on," he cried, "this bodes me promotion; for now the General will make me a trooper." Montrose left the courage of his men no time to subsidehe led them daringly up to the enemy's teeth, and succeeded in a desperate charge, routing the Covenanters, and pursuing them into the town and through the streets. Stormed as it was by such a tumultuary army, Aberdeen and its inhabitants suffered greatly. Many were killed in the streets; and the cruelty of the Irish in particular was so great, that they compelled the wretched citizens to strip themselves of their clothes before they killed them, to prevent their being spoiled with blood. Montrose necessarily gave way to acts of pillage and cruelty, which he could not prevent, because he was unprovided with money to pay his half-barbarous soldiery. Yet the town of Aberdeen had two reasons for expecting better treatment:-First, that it had always inclined to the King's party; and, secondly, that Montrose himself had, when acting for the Covenanters, been the agent in oppressing for its loyalty the very city which his troops were now plundering on the opposite score. Argyle always continued following Montrose with a superior army, but, it would appear, not with a very anxious desire to overtake him. With a degree of activity that seemed incredible, Montrose marched up the Spey, hoping still to raise the Gordons. But these gentlemen too strongly resented his former conduct towards them, as General for the Covenant, besides being sore with recollections of their recent check at the Bridge of Dee, and would not join him. On the other hand, the men of Murray, who were very zealous against Montrose, appeared on the northern bank of the Spey to oppose his passage. Thus hemmed in on all sides, and headed back like an animal of chase from the course he intended to pursue, Montrose and his little army showed an extremity of courage. They hid their cannon in a bog, destroyed what they had of heavy baggage, entered Badenoch, where the Clan Chattan had shown themselves uniformly friendly, and descended from thence upon Athole, and so on to Angus-shire. After several long and rapid marches, Montrose returned again into Strathbogie, recrossing the great chain of the Grampians, and, clinging still to the hope of being able to raise the gentlemen of the name of Gordon, again repaired to Aberdeenshire. Here this bold leader narrowly escaped a great danger. His army was considerably dispersed, and he himself lying at the Castle of Fyvie, when he found himself at once threatened, and nearly surrounded, by Argyle and Lothian, at the head of very superior forces. A part of the enemy had already occupied the approach to his position by means of ditches and enclosures, through which they had insinuated themselves, and his own men were beginning to look out of countenance, when Montrose, diguising his apprehensions, called to a gay and gallant young Irish officer, as if he had been imposing a trifling piece of duty,-" What are you doing, O'Kean? Can you not chase these troublesome rascals out of the ditches and enclosures?" O'Kean obeyed the |