THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 373 



Vandalism which the circumstances of the case, unfortu- 

 nately, rendered necessary. A flagstaff now marks the 

 site of the historic building. 



There seems reason to believe that soon after his sub- 

 mission, Seaforth's fidelity to the Commonwealth became 

 suspected ; or that the Royalist insurrection in England 

 in March 1655, which was easily suppressed, may have 

 induced Monck to adopt extraordinary measures of pre- 

 caution to prevent trouble in the Highlands. Whatever 

 the cause, Seaforth was, in that year, lodged in prison in 

 Inverness. He was obviously not regarded as a dangerous 

 captive, for he obtained leave, under bail to Governor 

 Miles Man, to visit Kintail ; and on his way there, organised 

 a great deer hunt in the forest of Monar, and a programme 

 of athletic sports for the delectation, apparently, of the 

 Englishmen who accompanied him.* 



In 1656, intelligence reached Cromwell that the King 

 was preparing for a descent upon Scotland. Monck at 

 once seized a number of Scottish Royalists, including Lord 

 Seaforth, who had been actively engaged in the recent 

 rising. When, owing to the energy of the Protector, or 

 from other causes, the projected invasion was abandoned, 

 the King's partisans were set at liberty. But in 1659, after 

 the resignation and retirement of the gentle Richard 

 Cromwell, and the restoration of the Rump Parliament, the 

 Royalists, both in England and Scotland, again bestirred 

 themselves. The conspiracy in England was dissolved in 

 July, by means of the treachery of Sir Richard Willis ; and 

 in the following month, Monck, fearing that the King 

 might land in Scotland during the commotion in England, 

 once more seized the Royalist leaders and imprisoned 

 them, Seaforth being again among the number. There is 

 nothing to show the nature or extent of the Earl's con- 

 nexion with these plots for the restoration of the King. 

 Whether he was actually engaged in any or all of the con- 

 spiracies, or arrested on suspicion of complicity, or what 



* Anderson's Guide to the Highlands^ p. 435. 



