language and looks, the stern hopes of the revenge which they had long panted

for.

While these things were passing, Dundee, in full view of friends and enemies, rode at leisure out of the city, by the lane called Leith Wynd, and proceeded along the northern bank of the north loch, upon which the New Town of Edinburgh is now situated. From thence, turning under the western side of the castle, he summoned the duke of Gordon to a conference at the foot of the walls, and for that purpose scrambled up the precipitous bank and rock on which the fortress is situated. So far as is known of this singular interview, Dundee's advice to the duke was, to maintain the castle at all risks, promising him speedy relief.

The people of Edinburgh, who witnessed from a distance this extraordinary conference, concluded that the castle was about to fire upon the city, and the spectators of Dundee's exploit were mistaken for his adherents: while the Jacobite members of the convention on their part, unarmed and enclosed among their political enemies, were afraid of being massacred by the armed whigs. The convention, when their alarm subsided, sent major Bunting with a party of horse to pursue Dundee and make him prisoner. That officer soon overtook the viscount, and announced his commission; to which Dundee only deigned to answer, that if he dared attempt to execute such a purpose, he would send him back to the convention in a pair of blankets. Bunting took the hint, and suffering the dreaded commander and his party to pass unmolested, returned in peace to the city. Dundee marched towards Stirling, and in consequence of his departure, the other friends of king James left Edinburgh, and hastened to their own homes.

So soon as this extraordinary scene had passed over, the convention, now relieved from the presence of the Jacobite members, resolved upon levying troops to defend themselves, and to reduce the castle. The Cameronians were the readiest force of whose principles they could be assured, and it was proposed to them to raise a regiment of two battalions, under the earl of Angus, eldest son of the marquis of Douglas, a nobleman of military talents, as colonel, and William Cleland, as lieutenant-colonel. This last had been one of the commanders at Drumclog, and, besides being a brave gentleman, was a poet, though an indifferent one, and more a man of the world than most of the sect to which he belonged.

Some of the more rigid Covenanters were of opinion, that those who possessed their principles had no freedom (to use their own phraseology) to join together for the defence of a convention, in which so many persons were in the possession both of places and power, who had been deeply engaged in the violent measures of the last reign; and they doubted this the more, as no steps had been taken to resume the obligations of the covenant. But the singular and most unexpected train of events, which had occasioned their being called to arms to defend a city, where they had never before been seen openly save when dragged to execution, seemed so directly the operation of Providence in their favour, that, giving way for once to the dictates of common sense, the Cameronians agreed to consider the military association now proposed as a necessary and prudential measure, protesting only that the intended regiment should not be employed either under or along with such officers as had given proofs of attachment to popery, prelacy, or malignancy. They also stipulated for regular opportunities of public worship, and for strict punishment of unchristian conversation, swearing, and profligacy of every sort; and their discipline having been arranged as much to their mind as possible, eighteen hundred men were raised, and, immediately marching to Edinburgh, assumed the duty of defending the convention, and blockading the garrison in the castle.

The Cameronians were soon, however, relieved by troops more competent to such a task, being a part of the regular army sent down to Scotland by king William, in

Batteries were

order to give his party the decided superiority in that kingdom. raised against the castle, and trenches opened. The duke of Gordon made an honourable defence, while, at the same time, he avoided doing any damage to the town, and confined his fire to returning that of the batteries, by which he was annoyed. But the smallness of his garrison, the scarcity of provisions, the want of surgical assistance and medicines for the wounded, above all, the frequency of desertion, induced the duke finally to surrender upon honourable terms; and in June he evacuated the fortress.

The convention, in the meantime, almost entirely freed from opposition within their own assembly, proceeded to determine the great national question arising out of the change of government. Two letters being presented to them, one from king James, the other on the part of the prince of Orange, they opened and read the latter with much reverence, while they passed over with little notice that of his father-in-law, intimating by this that they no longer regarded him as a sovereign.

This was made still more manifest by their vote respecting the state of the nation, which was much more decisive than that of the English convention. The Scots whigs had no tories to consult with and satisfy by a scrupulous choice of expressions, and of course gave themselves no trouble in choosing between the terms abdication or forfeiture. They openly declared that James had assumed the throne without taking the oaths appointed by law; that he had proceeded to innovate upon the constitution of the kingdom, with the purpose of converting a limited monarchy into one of despotic authority; they added, that he had employed the power thus illegally assumed, for violating the laws and liberties, and altering the religion of Scotland; and in doing so, had FORFEITED the right to the crown, and the throne had thereby become vacant.

The forfeiture, in strict law, would have extended to all James's immediate issue, as in the case of treason in a subject; but as this would have injured the right of the princess of Orange the effects of the declaration were limited to king James's infant son, and to his future children. In imitation of England, the crown of Scotland was settled upon the prince and princess of Orange, and the survivor of them, after whose decease, and failing heirs of their body, the princess Anne and her heirs were called to the succession.

Besides his immediate and official counsellors, king William gave, in private, much of his confidence to a clergyman, named Carstairs, who was one of his chaplains. This gentleman had given strong proof of his fidelity and fortitude; for, being arrested in Charles II.'s time, on account of his connexion with the conspiracy called Jerviswood's Plot, he underwent the cruel torture of the thumbikins, which, as I before told you, were screws, that almost crushed the thumbs to pieces. After the success of the Revolution, the magistrates of Edinburgh complimented Carstairs, then a man of importance, with a present of the instrument of torture by which he had suffered. The king, it is said, heard of this, and desired to see the thumbikins. They were produced. He placed his thumbs in the engine, and desired Carstairs to turn the screw. "I should wish to judge of your fortitude," said the king, "by experiencing the pain which you endured." Carstairs obeyed, but turned the screws with a polite degree of attention not to injure the royal thumbs. "This is unpleasant," said the king, "yet it might be endured. But you are trifling with me. Turn the engine so that I may really feel a share of the pain inflicted on you." Carstairs, on this reiterated command, and jealous of his own reputation, turned the screws so sharply, that William cried for mercy, and owned he must have confessed any thing, true or false, rather than have endured the pain an instant longer. This gentleman became a particular confidant of the king, and

He

more trusted than many who filled high and ostensible situations in the state. was generally allowed to be a man of sagacity and political talent, but his countrymen accused him of duplicity and dissimulation; and from that character he was generally distinguished by the nickname of cardinal Carstairs.

But while king William was thus considering the mode and selecting the council by which he proposed to govern Scotland, an insurrection took place, by means of which the sceptre of that kingdom was wellnigh wrested from his gripe. This was brought about by the exertions of the viscount Dundee, one of those extraordinary persons, by whose energies great national revolutions are sometimes wrought with the assistance of very small means.

BONNY DUNDEE.

SIR WALTER SCOTT.

To the Lords of Convention 'twas Claver'se who spoke,
"Ere the king's crown shall fall there are crowns to be broke;
So let each cavalier who loves honour and me,

Come follow the bonnet of Bonny Dundee.

"Come fill up my cup, come fill up my can,
Come saddle your horses, and call up your men ;
Come open the West Port, and let me gang free,
And it's room for the bonnets of Bonny Dundee !"
Dundee he is mounted, he rides up the street,
The bells are rung backward, the drums they are beat;
But the provost, douce man, said, "Just e'en let him be,
The Gude Town is weel quit of that Deil of Dundee."
Come fill up my cup, &c.

As he rode down the sanctified bends of the Bow,
Ilk carline was flyting and shaking her pow;

But the young plants of grace they look'd couthie and slee,
Thinking, luck to thy bonnet, thou Bonny Dundee !

Come fill up my cup, &c.

66 Away to the hills, to the caves, to the rocks-
Ere I own an usurper, I'll couch with the fox;
And tremble, false Whigs, in the midst of your glee,
You have not seen the last of my bonnet and me!"
Come fill up my cup, &c.

He waved his proud hand, and the trumpets were blown,
The kettle-drums clash'd, and the horsemen rode on,
Till on Ravelston's cliffs and on Clermiston's lea,
Died away the wild war-notes of Bonny Dundee !

Come fill up my cup, come fill up my can,
Come saddle the horses and call up the men,
Come open your gates, and let me gae free,
For it's up with the bonnets of Bonny Dundee !

THE FATE OF DUNDEE.

SIR WALTER SCOTT.

When the viscount of Dundee retired from the city of Edinburgh, the convention, in consequence of the intercourse which he had held, contrary to their order, with the duke of Gordon, an intercommuned catholic, sent him a summons to appear before them, and answer to an accusation to that effect. But Dundee excused himself on account of his lady's dangerous illness, and his own personal danger from the Cameronians.

In the meantime, king James, with forces furnished him by the French king, had arrived in Ireland, and, welcomed by the numerous catholics, had made himself master of that fine kingdom, excepting only the province of Ulster, where the protestants of English and Scottish descent offered a gallant and desperate resistance. But in spite of such partial opposition as the north of Ireland could make, James felt so confident, that, by his secretary Melfort, he wrote letters to the viscount Dundee, and to the earl of Balcarras, Dundee's intimate friend, and a steady adherent of the exiled monarch, encouraging them to gather together his faithful subjects, and make a stand for his interest, and promising them the support of a considerable body of forces from Ireland, with a supply of arms and ammunition. So high were the hopes entertained by lord Melfort, that, in letters addressed to some of his friends, he expressed, in the most imprudent manner, his purpose of improving to the uttermost the triumph which he did not doubt to obtain. "We dealt too leniently with our enemies," he said, "when we were in power, and possessed means of crushing them. But now, when they shall be once more conquered by us, and subjected once more to our authority, we will reduce them to hewers of wood and drawers of water."

These letters falling into the hands of the convention, excited the utmost indignation. The duke of Hamilton and others, who conceived themselves particularly aimed at, became more decided than ever to support king William's government, since they had no mercy to expect from king James and his vindictive counsellors. A military force was dispatched to arrest Balcarras and Dundee. They succeeded in seizing the first of these noblemen; but Dundee being surrounded by a strong body-guard, and residing in a country where many of the gentlemen were Jacobites, the party sent to arrest him were afraid to attempt the execution of their commission. He remained, therefore, at his own castle of Dudhope, near Dundee, where he had an opportunity of corresponding with the Highland chiefs, and with the northern gentlemen, who were generally disposed to episcopacy, and favourable to the cause of king James.

Of the same name with the great marquis of Montrose, boasting the same devoted loyalty, and a character as enterprising, with judgment superior to that of his illustrious prototype, Dundee is said to have replied to those who, on the day of his memorable retreat, asked him whither he went,-"That he was going wherever the spirit of Montrose should conduct him." His whole mind was now bent upon realising this chivalrous boast.* His habits were naturally prudent and economical; but while others kept their wealth as far as possible out of the reach of the revolutionary storm, Dundee liberally expended for the cause of his old master the treasures which he had amassed in his service. His arguments, his largesses, the high influence of his character among the Highland chiefs, whose admiration of Ian Dhu Cean, or Black John the Warrior, was no way diminished by the merciless exploits which had procured him in the Low country the name of the bloody Clavers, united with their own predilection in favour of James, and their habitual love of war, to dispose them to a general insurrection. Some of the clans, however, had, as usual, existing feuds amongst themselves, which Dundee was obliged to assist in composing, before he could unite them all in the cause of the dethroned monarch.

Dundee in spring, 1689, received intelligence that general MacKay, an officer intrusted by king William, with the command of the forces in Scotland, was marching against him at the head of an army of regular troops. MacKay was a man of courage, sense, and experience, but rather entitled to the praise of a good officer than an able general, and better qualified to obey the orders of an intelligent commander, than penetrate into, encounter, and defeat, the schemes of such an active spirit as Dundee.

Of this there was an instance in the very beginning of the conflict, when MacKay advanced towards Dudhope castle, with the hope of coming upon his antagonist unawares; but Dundee was not to be taken by surprise. Marching with a hundred and fifty horse to the town of Inverness, he found MacDonald of Keppoch at the head of several hundred Highlanders, blockading the place, on account of the citizens having taken part with MacIntosh against his clan. Dundee offered his mediation and persuaded the magistrates to gratify Keppoch with the sum of two thousand dollars, for payment of which he granted his own bond in security. He manifested his influence over the minds of the mountain chiefs still more, by prevailing on Keppoch, though smarting under the injuries he had sustained, by the letters of fire and sword issued against him by king James's government, to join him with his clan, for the purpose of restoring that monarch to the throne.

Thus reinforced, but still far inferior in numbers to his opponent MacKay,

* "Lord Dundee," says sir John Dalrymple, "had for ever before his eyes ideas of glory, the duty of a soldier, and the example of the great Montrose, from whose family he was descended." Vol. i., p. 283.