THE RISING OF 1715. 403 



him again to take up arms, and that sealed his fate with 

 the Government. Lord Lovat who had materially reduced 

 Mar's strength at Sheriffmuir, by detaching the Frasers 

 under Mackenzie of Fraserdale from the Jacobite standard 

 was, with General Wightman, commissioned to bring the 

 headstrong youth to his senses. The Earl fled to Lewis, 

 taking with him Brigadier Campbell of Ormidale, an 

 experienced soldier who had served in the Russian army, 

 and who had just returned to Scotland. Two detachments 

 of Government troops were got ready; one, under Colonel 

 Clayton, to invade Skye, where Sir Donald Macdonald, 

 with about 1,000 men, still held out ; and the other, under 

 Colonel Cholmondeley, to operate against Seaforth in 

 Lewis. Clayton had a short and successful campaign in 

 Skye, but failed to capture Macdonald, who fled to North 

 Uist for safety. About that time, three French ships 

 arrived off Uist with munitions of war for the Jacobites. 

 A consultation was held by Sir Donald Macdonald and his 

 colleagues, to decide whether to fight or to fly; and the latter 

 course was agreed upon. Accordingly, two of the French 

 ships, instead of discharging their cargoes, sailed for home 

 with about a hundred Jacobite officers on board, among 

 the number being George Keith, the Earl Marischal. The 

 third ship, while riding at anchor off Uist, was captured by 

 a Government man-of-war, the Lively ', with her cargo of 

 fifty chests of small arms and 1 50 barrels of gunpowder.* 



Meanwhile, Colonel Cholmondeley had sailed for Lewis 

 with a strong force. Seaforth, recognising his lack of 

 military experience, had placed his men under the 

 command of Brigadier Campbell, who was apparently 

 prepared to offer a stubborn resistance to Cholmondeley. 

 And now a strange thing happened. According to the 

 contemporary accounts,t the whole of the Lewismen 

 abandoned the Brigadier at the critical moment, and left 

 him to tackle the enemy alone. Disdaining to fly, 

 Campbell was taken prisoner where he stood " in a charging 



* Rae, p. 373. 



f Annals of George /., pp. 288-9. Confirmed by Rae. 



