The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-16 00:00:00

THE CELEBRATED LADY DRUM-
MLIJR—BATTLE OF CULLODEN.
Maclean,ii the I nh-
n his 00t
as ever •
year, still his memory is as vivid end powerful
etonhreertßahriejolseosl-fasrefiieni rnet.di
rnAjeotihV Cnil3 n w
a Ad l tnhontu ourt g
his furnishing this and the In-
verness chronicler
ofrf, yrao re; storeeo this which
seems for the last four yeare, with his say-
he
hich
rnsnpre:sand
not sienpteog': l'e:nee(br'ef(lti(lttdi Gays
dw
interesting anecdotes of the
illustrious Lady Duff of Druru'nuir of 1745, of whom
old Joh i'snys a more worthy and patriotic lady never ,
lived in the Highlands, and none who delighted more
in the performing of benevolent and charitable acts, of
which lasting momentoes are still to be seen in Inverness.
John continues by saying that her humane and Chris
memorable years of 1715-16 anti
Cumberland's unmerciful troopers, and not in a few
tGI i73a4nesl -ca4o6hn.adrucyt particularlyiannn thetwerlea
nlaterd years,through
kill
ai manyd
daleof thehy
nieces the silent but blooming heath stained with tie it
blood, Lady Drammuir's conduct in these trying times
was the theme of praise throughout Great Britain by
.Tecobites and rigid Presbyterians, and by Whigs and
Tories. Old .john adds, that this worthy lady kindly
entertained the Pretender in 1715, and it was with her
in 1745 filet Prince Charles resided, from whose drawing.
room window he several times exhibited himself by
bowing to the wishful and anxious multitude, who, on
every occasion, hailed his comely form with the greetest
enthusiasm and applause, especially the femal. s.
It was under this roof too he resided on the 15th
April, 1746, the night before his final defeat on
Culloden Moor. Little did he then think that ere the
next day's sun had set down to rest, his deadly
foe, the Duke of Cumberland, would be sumptuously
faring at the ever-hospitable table of Lidy Doff of
Drummuir—but fate destined it so. The Duke, how-
ever, suspecting that her ladyship did not much relish
the company of her Saxen lodg- rs, especially the
hilarity with which he and a few of his principal officers
indulged in respecting that day's victory on Culloden
Moor, made him somewhat rudely accost her thus :—" I
consider, madam, your conduct to be highly condemnable,
for giving countenance and shelter to that Pretender
who has so much disturbed the peace and happiness
of these kingdoms-" To this she indignantly and
fearlessly
inn
rdth
eo— -c
a"slt i c
Ei
,s
andtrue ,
not Duke,
later s I ht
he
al tne r el
ads
th
night,
o
too, where his bed was soft and warm, but ah I I fear
to night it will be hard and cold. However, since you
are under my roof, I will endeavour to sect mmodato
your Royal Highness to the best of my power. You
are now the third Prince who has been in my house, and
that, in times cf contention and blooc!shed, but I hope I
MEW not live to see the day of being %lite(' by a fourth on
such an occasion," On this Cumberland and his crew,
notwithstanding his deadly enmity to the unfortunate
Charles Stuart, could not help admiring the unflinching
and determined reply of this heroine. ()Id John often
thinks how visible the hand of Providence was to be seen
in the overthrow o? Prince Charles ; fur when he sent a
goodly number of spies to view and report the positing
of the Duke of Curnberl ind's army at Niirn on the night
previous to the battle, who, on their arrival there, found
that the English troops were mostly all drunk, and some
of whom were lying benumbed with the cold, outside
their camp—this was in consequence of that day being
the birth-day of his Royal Highness. At this time
less than one-half of the rebel army in the neighbour
hood could easily have massacred every one of them.
Next morning the sun shette brilliantly with a fine
westerly wind, which was looked upon by many of the
rebels as no bad omen. However, such hopes proved to be
but fleeting ; for shortly after commencing their march to
meet the foe, the fitnamenc became dark and cloudy, and
totally eclipsed the sun and its effulgent rays, and when
almost in sight of the Saxon troops, the wind veered
round to the north-east, accompanied by a heavy shower
of sleet. All these untoward forebodings tended much to
damp the spirits of the poor Highlanders ; yet, at the
eleventh hour, they did nct despair, but, after firing the
first volley, in consequence of' the strong wind blowing
in their faces, the smoke from their muskets and sleet
together, almost deprived them of their sight, so that
they could not see but dimly the position of the enemy,
thus giving a doub'e advantage to the English of seeing
their confused position. It was at this critical moment that
many of the Highlanders threw down their muskets and
rushed forward with claymore. At this time it was told
many more were immediately to fellow, and were it not
that the order for retreat was prematurely given,
there is not a doubt, says John, as far as men could
sse, bat the English would be put to the route
It was most remarkable, too, that had Prince
Charles stood his ground for one minute longer he would
have witnessed the English rapidly retreat, some of
whom had their muskets actually in rnsrehing order,
for never did they meet an enemy with less spirits to
fight than on this occasion. However, when they saw
the Highlanders retreat first, their spirits speedily
enlivened—but in the pursuit the troopers were those
who did most havoc amor gst the rebels; still many of
the troopers, in their eagerness for slaughter, who
strayed too far in the fastnet.ses of our hills, never re-
turned to tell the tale—the peasantry who were fortunate
enough to have a musket or other deadly weave-, think-
ing it no sin to take the life of a trooper. Old John
says there were none more keenly pursued by the
merciless troopers than the brave Mr. Macgillivrayi of
Dalcrombie. This gentleman was a captain in the
rebel army, and no single arm committed such slaughter
amongst the Sasanachs as he did that day on Cullolisn
floor—it was he who led the pa.rty of Highlanders tis•tt
first rushed with their claymores in the face of their
opponents ; consequently, his heroic achievements
were specially noticed by the leaders of the royal
army. After the retreat, he therefore was eagerly
pruer stuh end
fi,
raant dt wasro
np
earc tot:,
overtook
his
ic
came
feethin sight ;
hiub him, whom
p,notl ot
ahf
e his o
him,
fheh ewaauet.i
hhn minutes h own house
wmta
honue
i tchis
instantly
a'
alsol ts ra,t tc hh
quicklyre ed e witho
stht
stretched
ci sh troopersclaymoreed a
was dyed with their blood. At this cri ical moment nine
more came up to him, and, notwithstanding the bran-
dishing of their sabres, two of them he likewise laid low,
and were it not that his hand now got swollen in the
hilt of his sword, it is said he would to a certainty have
killed the whole; but being unable any longer to wield
his broadsword, his antagonists now found it no difficult
matter in taking the like of this brave " Wallace " of
1746. Not being satisfied with his death, they took
sway all the silver buttons out of his coat—truly no
honourable prize-money. Dalcrombie was the prettiest,
handsomest, and strongest man of his day in the High-
lands, and might wed be termed a second Wallace. Two
days thereafter the Prince heard of his bravery and death
and said—" If all had stood my cause as Dalcrombie had
done, I would not have been a forlorn wanderer to-day.".'
In old John's young days, a favourite song in the
mouths of almost every one in the Highlands was " Dal-
crombie's Lament," which must have had a peculiar
effect upon the feelings, as it was never recited without
bringing tears from the eyes of the anxious listeners.
How unlike was the character of Lady Drummuir to
that of Lady Borlum of old, which we lately, from old
John's budget, presented our readers with ; but like
that lady, she would now and then parade the streets of
Inverness in a gorgeous long silk robe, held up by a
train-bearer, and her presence would be held with de-
light wherever she went—but that of Lady Borlum with
her train-bearers, struck terror and dismay in the coun-
tenances of all. Lady Duff sent her train-bearer,
honest John Grant, to London (afterwards better
known by the soubriquet of " London Jock "), to
learn the necessary politeness one in his important
station would require. John made good his time in the
great metropolis by attending balls and masquerades, also
witnessing the towings and scrapings in and about St.
Stephen's walls. He then, imagining himself to be well
formed in all the grades of good breeding and politeness
of the day, consequently lost no time in returning home
to the Highlands, to resume his service of henchman or
train-bearer to her Ladyship of Brummuir, and truly
Jock made no mean appearance as such, as he trudged
behind her ladyship with his fine broad-skirted gree n
coat, richly embroidered with gold lace, fine yellow vest
and breeches, large polished brass buckles in his shoes,
cocked hat edged with gold lace, under which was sus-
pended over his shoulders, a long powered queue. But,
after all, Jock at times was not to be envied, on account
of his having to stand so often to the gaze of the won-
dering " Clechnacudins," for her ladyship would never
pass a pin or bodle without lifting it, which she would fix
in her sleeve, at the same time saying to her trusty servant,
" Weel, John, ye ken a pin a day is just a groat a-year."
But this by no means arose from any narrow-mindedness
on her part, but merely that she would suffer no waste
of anything that might be of use. And on her going to
the House of Prayer, a place from which no consider-
ation whatever would keep her back, dressed in the same
costume, and Jock at his post behind, she regularly car-
ried a bag hung from her arm, containing from 2s. to
3s. in copper, which she would distribute amongst the
poor who then, and for years after, sat upon crepit stools
upon the street, near the gateway to the High Church,
anxiously waiting the pittance of the benevolent passers.
by. The memory or the good Lady Duff of Drum-
muir will ever live in the capital of the Highlands, and
it is worthy of remark that the gallant gentleman who
now represents the ancient family of Drummuir, is
largely imbued with the spirit of his illustrious ancestor,
as it is only a few years since he gave the princely dona-
tion of 1,0001. to the Society for Propagating Christian
Knowledge in connexion with the Church of England.
Among the several charities Lady Drummuir left in
commemoration of her goodness, was a substantial
house to her faithful and trusty servant, London Jock.

RAILWAY TELEGRAPH FROM MANCHESTER AND LI-
VERPOOL TO LONDON.—It is now etermined to fix the rail-
way telegraph from both Liverpool and Manchester to
London, by which information may be tran.,mitted from
London to Manchester or Liverpool, and vice versa, in three
minutes or les, ! The great importance of such a rapid mode
of conveying information cannot be over estimated, and we
hope that nothing may interfere to prevent the project from
being carried to completion without delay. We further hope
that an extension of the telegraphic wires will be made to
Preston, where they can be connected with those fixed on the
Preston andWyre line. Important information from London
will be then received at Preston and Fleetwood in abcut
fimr minutes ! By these means, in connextion with the pow-
erful steamers which ply from the latter port, the north of
Ireland may be in possession of the earliest pos,ible, intel
ligence from the metropolis of England. There is little
doubt but ultimately the telegraph will be fixed in all the
important lines in England and Scotland.--Lancaster
Guardian.

FREE-TRADE ORGANIZATION IN MARYLEBONE.—A
public meeting of the electors of the borough of Marylebone, resident
In St. Pancras, took place on Thursday evening, in the Bedford
Saloon, Bedford Arms, High-street, Camden-town, for the purpose of
forming an organization in favour of free trade, and securing the
return of two free-trade candidates at the ensuing election, by
establishing a new and united Borough form Association. Joseph
Ivimey, Esq., of Ampthill-square, presided, and was supported by
Messrs. Douglas, Dyke, J. Wells, Clarke, Vince, Aildis, and other
well-known reformers of the district. Delegates also attended from
Marylebone and Paddington ; amongst them were observed Messrs.
J. Williams, H. ('. Wilson, . Kennett, John Loveridge, Charles
Nixon, J. Savage (Titchfleld-street), Thorne, Swaine, &c.
Dous IN PAms.---According to a recent census, there
are 48,981 dogs to Paris,