NEIL MACLEOD AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 251 



served a double purpose, in providing him with ready 

 cash, and in offering the means of reconciliation with the 

 Government.* 



Having secured his prize, Neil sent a messenger to 



inform the Privy Council of his feat, which, he doubted 



not, would be highly commended at head-quarters, as 



indeed it was. His emissary made out as favourable a 



case as possible for his master, asserting that the latter 



had merely forestalled the pirate in a plot which Love had 



formed to seize Macleod. It was a matter of small concern 



to the Council for what reason, or by what means, the 



capture was accomplished, but at the first blush, it is 



curious to find both Neil and his messenger disclaiming 



the credit of a premeditated attack upon the pirates. 



Instead of asserting that he had seized the Priam in order 



to serve the State, as in the circumstances might have 



been expected, Neil strove to excuse himself for the act, 



and sought to acquit himself of responsibility. In a letter 



to the Council dated i6th October, 1610, he protested that 



he was not personally present at the capture, which was 



effected by his men. The cause of this excessive modesty 



on Neil's part is not too obscure. His letter plainly hints 



that in the interval between the seizure of the Priam 



and her delivery to himself, his men might have helped 



themselves, for which, he suggests, he cannot be held respon- 



sible.f Evidently he feared the disclosures of Captain 



Love, and not without good reason. It may be taken for 



granted, that any articles of the Priam's cargo which 



were of use to Neil and his men, were not found on board 



when the ship was handed over to the representatives of 



the Crown. The Council sent one Patrick Grieve to take 



possession of the Priam, and Neil, according to his letter, 



delivered the ship with all her appurtenances exactly as 



he had received them. Love and nine of his men were 



* Analecta Scotica, Vol. II., pp. 282-3 5 Miscellanea Scotica (both MSS.) ; 

 Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, Vol. III., pp. 99-101. 



t Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, Vol. III., p. 102. Neil's letter is superscribed 

 "Jesus." 



