THE RISING OF 1715. 399 



" a few men of disreputable character did damage wantonly, 

 and their proceedings are said by Seafort's enemies to 

 have been countenanced by him."* The fact of the Earl 

 having sent a party in pursuit of the marauders, is sufficient 

 to show that his hands were clean in connexion with these 

 deplorable excesses. 



At Cromarty, where Seaforth intended to proclaim the 

 Chevalier, he was resisted by Captain Stewart of the 

 Royal Ann, who threatened to lay the town in ashes if 

 a single rebel entered. Stewart made good his threat by 

 opening fire on the Highlanders, whom he prevented from 

 obtaining possession of the cannon which lay on the Point 

 of Cromarty. Seaforth thereupon withdrew his men, and 

 proceeded on his march to join Mar at Perth. On 1st 

 November, he passed Blair Castle with 2,000 men, having 

 previously left 500 with Sir John Mackenzie of Coul to 

 hold Inverness. That town was invested by Hugh Rose of 

 Kilravock (Sir John's father-in-law), Duncan Forbes of 

 Culloden,t and Simon Fraser of Lovat, the latter of whom 

 had by this time apparently made up his mind that the 

 Jacobites were likely to prove unsuccessful and trimmed 

 his sails accordingly. Sir John Mackenzie sought the 

 i assistance of Macdonald of Keppoch and the Mackintoshes, 

 but the activity of his assailants frustrated the attempt, 

 and Mackenzie was compelled to surrender on terms which 

 included permission for him to return home. 



The Earl of Sutherland, by retarding Seaforth's advance, 

 rendered an important service to the Government. For, 

 had the Mackenzies come up sooner, the Earl of Mar 

 would, without doubt, have taken the offensive earlier, and 

 the Duke of Argyll, the Government Commander-in-Chief, 

 would have been overwhelmed by the disproportionate 

 strength of the Jacobites. A bolder or more energetic 

 commander would have struck a decisive blow, without 



* Murray Rose's Historical Notes, p. 32. 



t When at Inverness, Seaforth sent George Mackenzie of Gruinard and, 

 after him, Lord Duffus, to summon Duncan Forbes to surrender, but that 

 staunch loyalist defied them ; and the Jacobites deemed it prudent to leave 

 alone. 



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