from himself at a fixed rent in money or kind, which makes them, he remarks, much more comfortable and independent. This seems to be the beginning of "crofter holdings" in the west; but the word "crofter" is not mentioned, and appears to be unknown till introduced from the south at a later period. He also praises MacDonald of Boisdale as an honourable gentleman and a great agricultural improver, who distributes justice and preserves peace and order among his people, like a prudent. and kind master of a family, and is loved and esteemed accordingly.*

In describing the people generally he says, "They have a fine vein of poetry and music, vocal and instrumental; had the language been more generally understood, the Gaelic music would have been introduced on every stage on which taste and elegance prevailed." They are also spirited dancers, using the violin for dancing in the house, the pipe for weddings, funerals, etc., and in great houses the piper plays before the door at meal-times. He mentions that the Highland Society of London gives prizes for pipe-music. The men were handy at making implements of husbandry, etc. They wear, he says, the short coat, the philabeg and short hose, bonnets sewn with black ribbon around the brim and a slit behind, with the same ribbon in a knot. Their coats are commonly tartan, striped with black, red, and other colours, after a pattern made by themselves or other ingenious contriver; waistcoats commonly of the same, but the "feilabegs "+ are often of fine Stirling plaid, if their money can afford them. When going herring fishing they dress something like sailors. They tan their brogues with the root of the tormentilla, which they dig from the hillocks by the sea; the poorer sort often go barefoot even in winter. The people, he continues, retain a certain dignity of manner, constantly addressing each other as "duineuasal" and "bheanuasal" (gentleman and gentlewoman), raising their bonnets on meeting.

He complains of the scarcity of church services, mentioning one parish church where there was only occasional worship of any sort, and where the Communion had not been dispensed

A son of Boisdale raised many men in Uist for the Gordon Highlanders, of which he was major. + Kilts.

for several years. A hundred years ago there was only one Established Church in a parish perhaps thirty miles long, so that attendance could not be very regular. The Roman Catholic Church was then, as it still is, strong in certain districts of Inverness, Banff, and Aberdeen, as was the Episcopal Church in some parts of the Highlands where it has now few adherents.* But though imbued with a strong religious sentiment, I doubt if the Highlanders of that time could be called "kirk-greedy."

Mr Buchanan's remarks refer to the West Highlands and Islands, but the above description applies more or less to the whole Highlands, where the life was one of hardship, tempered by intelligent and even intellectual amusementsmusic, poetry, dancing, and, in the long winter evenings, storytelling by the dim light of the peat fire, tales of warlike deeds handed down from generation to generation. I have heard them told in the present day, in probably the self-same words as were used in the "Fifteen," the "Forty-five," round the bivouac fires in the Peninsula, or in the herring boats off Barra Head.

The Highlanders were distinguished from their Lowland neighbours by a natural courtesy of manner, which is remarked upon by a French traveller who visited the Highlands in 1786. He describes the people as "poor but honest ”; he had never seen "such civility without the shadow of servility, such plain frankness without the least rudeness, such a poverty and such contentment." He also mentions their pride in being an old and unconquered race. They were not, however, without the love of gain common to mountaineers, and were perhaps deficient in that strong sense of fairplay which is an attribute of the Saxon.

In summer the young men and women went to the "aris" in the higher grazings to make cheese and butter for winter use, practising feats of strength and agility in the evening, or playing the fiddle, the pipe, or the trump; rather despising,

* After the "Forty-five," the military were employed not only in putting down the Highland dress, but in arresting Episcopal and Roman Catholic clergy if found holding divine service. This was not on account of their religious tenets, but because they were adherents of the house of Stewart. + Leisure Hour--August 1899.

perhaps, than respecting the "dignity of labour," "* but obedient to parents and to those whose authority they recognised and respected. A people, in short, whose feelings, traditions, and present circumstances rendered them ready to join the army as a profession at once honourable, profitable, and suited to their inclinations.

Encouraged, no doubt, by the gallant service rendered by the first regiment of Highlanders, the 42nd, Mr Pitt, when Prime Minister, about 1757, had recommended the King to attach the Highlanders to his Government by employing them in his service, and in his celebrated speech in Parliament nine years later, he says -later, he says "I sought for merit wherever it was to be found; it is my boast that I was the first Minister who looked for it and found it in the mountains of the North. called it forth, and drew into your service a hardy and intrepid race of men, who, when left by your jealousy, became a prey to the artifice of your enemies, and had gone nigh to have overturned the State in the war before the last. These men in the last war were brought to combat on your side; they served with fidelity, as they fought with valour, and conquered for you in every part of the world."

Having thus briefly touched upon the state of the Highlands in the latter part of the last century, we will now consider the connection of the ducal house of Gordon with these districts. Soon after the reign of Robert Bruce, the Gordons obtained, in addition to their property in the Lowlands, the great possessions in Badenoch and Strathspey which had formerly belonged to the Cummings. They also secured, by purchase or royal grants, estates and superiorities in Lochaber formerly possessed by the once powerful Lords of the Isles, so that the Gordon lands and lordships extended from the shores of Loch Eil on the west coast of Scotland, ·

* A woman whom I met in Sutherland in 1859, who was then 105 years old, and still active and in full possession of her sens, told me that when she was a young woman the only trades thought worthy of a man were soldiering and droving. Another at Acharacle, Ardnamurchan, who was grown up before Waterloo, said as there was little work, numbers went to the army; that the kilt was commonly worn, and young men turned out very smart on Sunday in tartan coats and often red waistcoats.

+ Stewart's "Highlanders of Scotland."

*

to Speymouth on the east. Consequently, the political power of the family was enormous, and its influence among the neighbouring Highland gentry very great. In the case of the fourth Duke, who raised the Gordon Highlanders, his personal popularity among all classes, added to his territorial influence, ensured the success of the efforts by which three regiments were raised by him between 1759 and 1793.

The first of these was the 89th Highland Regiment, raised by the family influence of the young Duke, who was a captain in it, while his two brothers, Lord William and Lord George, were respectively lieutenant and ensign. The regiment was commanded by his step-father, Major Morris.

Upwards of 900 men were assembled at Gordon Castle in December 1759, and marched to Aberdeen. They went from there to Portsmouth and embarked for the East Indies, December 1760. The Duke wished to accompany them as his brothers did, but King George II. objected to his doing so, saying that a Scottish Duke had more important duties at home than the command of a company in India.

A detachment of this regiment, under Major Hector Munro, took an active part in suppressing the mutiny at Patna. The 89th distinguished itself at the battle of Buxar in 1764, where the enemy lost 6000 killed and wounded and 130 pieces of cannon. Soon after the regiment was ordered home, and it was reduced in 1765. The men of this corps were remarkable for their fidelity and good conduct.

At this time, though the Militia had long existed in England, there was none in Scotland; but what were called Fencible Regiments were raised at various times, some for service in Scotland only, others for the defence of the three kingdoms while the regular army was engaged abroad, and in 1799 some were even raised for service in Europe and America. They were disciplined and armed in the same manner as troops of the line; Fencible officers ranked junior to those of the line, but took precedence of the Militia.

66

*The Duke of Gordon was called by the Highlanders "Coileach an taobh tuath," i.e., The Cock of the North." He was also hereditary Constable of the Castle of Inverness.

+ Military Journal, Nov. 1800. Vol. II., p. 659.

Militia was introduced in Scotland by Act of Parliament in 1797, and

In 1778 the Duke of Gordon raised a Fencible Regiment in the counties of Inverness, Moray, Banff, and Aberdeena very efficient corps, which was reduced in 1783.*

The country being again in danger in 1793, the Duke raised another regiment of Gordon Fencibles, and his commission as colonel was dated March 3rd. The uniform was the full Highland garb. Upwards of 300 men were raised on the Gordon estates in Lochaber, Badenoch, and Strathspey, an equal number on other estates in these neighbourhoods, and 150 men from the Lowland parts of Aberdeenshire, Banff, and Elgin.t

The following account is taken from the personal reminiscences of an officer of the Royal Marines, who acted as quartermaster to this regiment, and who set out to Aberdeen to join, after making arrangements for accoutrements, etc. for the regiment in London. "I found LieutenantColonel Woodford, formerly of the Guards, an active clever officer and a great disciplinarian, in command. Recruits daily arriving, the clans of Cameron, M'Pherson, M'Intosh, and Frazer had joined their standards to the Gordons. In a month we were ready for inspection, 600 strong, and formed a fine body of young men. We went to Edinburgh, where the forming of flank companies excited no little jealousy among several of the Highland officers, especially one young chief, who had no conception, when he brought fourscore of his clan as volunteers, that they were to be disunited, and said in the mess-room,If the commanding officer dared to draft any of his men to other companies, he would order his piper to sound his gathering, and march them back to Lochaber;' that his men were gentlemen, and he would not have them associate with Botich nam brikis.'"+ It had to be explained that his men were now soldiers and must go to the company they suited, and that a court-martial might prove a disagreeable commencement to his own military career.

when put in operation later was opposed by riotous proceedings in the Highlands, under the erroneous impression that the ballot was used to enable the Crown to remove the people from Scotland.—“Military Forces of the Crown" (C. M. Clode).

*

Stewart's "Highlanders of Scotland."

+Ibid. This regiment was also called the "North Fencibles."

"Churls with breeches."