BATTLE OF KILL1CRANKIE. VISCOUNT DUNDEE. 35 



forward into the lines, slew or disarmed an enemy at every stroke. Thus beset 

 by a continued rush of undisciplined troops, the soldiers could make no effective 

 use of their fire-arms. The centre and left wing of Mackay's troops had been 

 completely broken ; but the right wing still maintained its ground, and, like 

 a stately column, stood erect amid the ruin of its fellows. This caught the eye 

 of Dundee : hastily rallying his horsemen for this important object, he made 

 a desperate charge upon the stubborn mass ; but at the very moment that he 

 had brought them to the assault and raised his arm to strike, a bullet whistled 

 through the thick mass of his attendants, and lodged in his body. A violent 

 " imprecation" escaped his lips, and the next minute the chief lay expiring in 

 the arms of his devoted followers.* 



On the bleak surface of the moors stretching along the frontiers of Perth 

 and Inverness, many pillars and cairns memorials of those who have perished 

 in the snow or fallen in battle give melancholy interest to the scene. At 

 Dalnaspidal, are the remains of an encampment occupied by Cromwell's troops. 

 Here, also, in the last rebellion, General Cope drew up his army in expectation 

 of an attack, but quitting his position to continue his march northward, threw 

 open the Pass to the Highlanders. This ground is still further remarkable as the 

 scene of certain exploits, in speaking of which, says General Stewart, of Garth, 

 " I know not if the whole of the Peninsular campaigns exhibited a more com- 

 plicated piece of military service." A battalion of the Athol brigade common 

 peasants, and a few country gentlemen, without military experience under Lord 

 George Murray's directions, " surprised and carried twenty detached, strong 

 and defensible posts, all within two hours of the night ; and the different parties 

 engaged in this daring enterprise, met punctually at the appointed place of 

 rendezvous, although their operations lay in a rugged and mountainous country. 

 Lord George had himself marched to the bridge of Bruar with only twenty-five 

 men, and a few elderly gentlemen, when he was informed that Sir Andrew 

 Agnew, who held the Castle of Blair, was advancing with a strong force to 



Thus fell the "gallant Dundee !" or, as he was designated by the Covenanters, the " bloody Clavers" 

 a man -whom historians have depicted under the most opposite colours ; one set representing him as a 

 Castro-Caro, or a Pianessa," the other as a second Bayard ; but both agreeing in ascribing to him that military 

 tact and fearless intrepidity, which made him the idol of one party, and the terror of the other. His death 

 completely neutralized the victory ; the Clans dispersed, and Mackay was suffered to retire with the wreck 

 ot his forces. An obelisk marks the scene of battle, and stands on the spot where Dundee received his 

 death wound. It may be superfluous to remind the reader of the celebrated novel, in which the character 

 of " Dundee" is so vividly portrayed. The songs, commemorative of this battle, have been long popular. 



See the History of the Waldenses, (the " Covenanters" of Piedmont,) in the persecution of whom 

 these individuals were so infamously distinguished. 



