THE CHIEFS OF

BY MACPHERSON OF DALCHULLY W. CHEYNE-MACPHERSON F .S.A. SCOT. CAPTAIN OF CLAN MACPHERSON

AUTHOR OF '-' THE CHEYNES OF INVERUGm "

1947 OLIVER AND BOYD : COURT : 98 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, W.C. FIRST PUBLISHED • 1947

PRINTED AND PUBLISHKD IN GREAT BRITAIN BY OJ.IVER AND BOYD LTD.i EDINBURGH THE BRATACH DAINE OR GREEN BANNER OF CLUNY MACPHERSON

TO MY SONS Pride of birth and ancestry is a good thing onry if the lives of our ancestors have been such as their descendants •can use as an example for their own lives. There is no reason for pride otherwise. Equally there is no reason for us to point with pride to the lives of such ancestors unless we do use their virtues as our aim in life. A great ancestry imposes on us in its highest sense the dictum of O noblesse oblige."

"Lean gu Dluth ri cliu do shlnmir 'S na dibir bhi mar iadsan." " Cleave thou fast to thy fathers' fame And keep unsullied their honoured name."

EXTRACTS FROM THE MANUSCRIPT OF THIS BOOK APPEARED SOME YEARS AGO IN '' THE RECORD," UNDER THE TITLE OF " SKETCHES OF THE CHIEFS OF CLANN MHUIRICH "

DEDICATION

THESE " Sketches " are dedicated to the memory of the late WILLIAM CHARLEs MACPHERSON, C.S.I., of Blairgowrie, whose labours on a far more complete history of his clan than is shown in these few pages were unhappily cut short by the hand of death, and to the late IAN MACPHERSON, ISt Baron Strathcarron of Banchor, P.C., etc., whose unfailing sympathy and generous help in all matters pertaining to the clan, when called upon by the compiler in his endeavour to save the clan relics and to secure a piece of Macpherson land for the clan after the death of the last Laird of Cluny, Albert Cameron Macpherson, in 1932, was a great incentive; also to Major IAN FYFE MACPHERSON, M.C.,. of Double Bay, N.S.W.; Wm. McPherson of McPherson's Proptry. Ltd., Melbourne, Victoria, and Hugh and Gordon Munro of Keera, N.S.W., Australia; Chas. Ogilvie and Chas. S. Thomas of Christchurch, N-.z.; H. Mackenzie Douglas of Masterton, N~Z.; Jas. Begg of Dunedin, N.Z. ; the late Dr Kenneth Mackenzie and Mrs Mackenzie of Auckland, N .z., and to all those patriotic Scotsmen in New Zealand who gave their time and their money unstintingly to the i:ecent appeal to save Cluny Castle and the clan relics, and to the. late Brigadier-General ALEXANDER DuNCAN MACPHERSO:N, of the House ofBanchor, Deputy Lord-Lieutenant of the County of , C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., Legion d'Honneur, etc., the apotheosis of a gcntl~an, a very distinguished and gallant soldier, and the beau-ideal o( Clan Macpherson. FOREWORD

BY SIR FRANCIS J. GRANT, K.C.V.O., w.s., ~TC. ALB,f\NY HERALD, LATE LORD LYON KING-OF-ARMS THIS history of the Macpherson Clan will form . an important addition to the series of similar works. which have within recent years appeared in reference to families. Such works relating to the· Highlands before the last century hardly· existed, and the absence of records, national and parochial,. regarding the northern parts of has to a­ large extent unfortunately prevented the publication· of reliable and accurate accounts and pedigrees of these families. It i~ true that some of the ·most important families·. have still been able to preserve their charter ~hests and are therefore able to produce well vouched:· pedigrees, but many of the ·cadets and branches are· dependent largely on tradition regarding their origin, and much has been printed about them which is nonsense and even grotesque. The records of the regarding the Highlands in the early days are very meagre and few of the chiefs and others recorded their arms or genealogies in the Public Register of aH Arms and Bearings in Scotland before 1500 in terms of the act of 1672. It is therefore fortunate that Macpherson of Dalchully has gathered together from such records as now exist this history of his family and clan. The much debated chiefship of the is discussed in detail and the arguments on both sides examined with care. The loss of many papers from the Cluny Charter Chest which might have thrown some light on the question is to be regretted. vi .. FOREWORD Vll The fact that the. Cluny family were for sometime after 1290 landless, has deprived them of much ·evidence in the dispute. I do not intend, however, to enter here into the merits of the case but leave the reader to form his own conclusions from the facts presented by the author. The pedigrees of the various families of the clan _will be welcomed by. all genealogists, as well as by members of the clan, as an important contribution to the history of the Highlands. FRANCIS J. GRANT

FOREWORD Bv B. W. MACPHERSON Of Gray's Inn, Barrister-at-Law and Advocate of the Manx Bar, late Resident, Nigerian Administrative Service IT will be a great satisfaction to members of the Clan Macpherson that this book has been published, thereby recording, for the first time in one work, so much of interest in the history of our Clan. No better historian than Macpherson of Dalchully could have undertaken this work, for it is born out of love for his Clan and is the result of meticulous research and verification. It is fortunate that this self-imposed task has been undertaken by one who is a direct descendant of Lachlan Macpherson, brother of Ewan Macpherson of Cluny, Chief of the Clan and the loyal companion of Prince Charles Edward in the dark and perilous days of 1746. After the , when Ewan was in hiding from the Hanoverian troops, many of the valuable papers from Cluny Castle were placed with Macpherson of Dalchully's ancestor, Lachlan, for safe custody. ... Vlll FOREWORD Macpherson of Dalchully has therefore an intimate knowledge of the Clan history and traditions, members of his family having played so important a part in its affairs. He has never failed to keep in touch with the present day representatives of the various branches of the Clan and has, on his visit to Australia and New Zealand some years ago, aroused amongst Macphersons living there the greatest interest in Clan affairs. PREFACE

IT has been objected to by several clansmen that this book is really only an account of the Chiefs of Clan Macpherson. This I admit ; but it must be remembered that every clan history· is bound up in the lives of the Chiefs. The most important point, however, is this-up to date we are the only clan which has no published continuous record, .and with the death of Albert Cameron in 1932, records which were available are being scattered gradually. Indeed the process had unfortunately commenced before his death, as in the latter years of his life Albert Cameron had been giving away, selling and even destroying papers which were invaluable for the compilation of a clan history. In 1933 the late Lady Cluny asked me to write a history of the clan, offering to lend me for this purpose all papers she had. I had just then commenced what ·I hoped would be a permanent record of our clan; the world-wide appeal to save the clan relics, papers and, if possible, Cluny Castle, though this latter was contingent on the amount of subscriptions I could raise. Under the circumstances I was unable myself to devote the necessary time for the compiling of a clan history. I suggested that the late Mr Wm. Chas. Macpherson of Blairgowrie be asked, as he was a keen genealogist and better versed in the history of our clan than I. He willingly agreed: all the papers were sent to him and from then to his death in 1936, Blairgowrie was engaged in the task. Unfortunately death intervened, some _MSS. of his were lost and so there was no history completed. . ~ . · Realising that something must be done to. have a ~ . h X PREFACE completed record, however poor, I wrote up these " Sketches," largely from memory, and also from family papers in my own possession. I claim no literary merit-in numbers of cases I have quoted in extenso from authorities. But at least there is now a foundation for some patriotic clansman to build up a better and more complete record of the clan. I have also endeavoured to stick to facts, even when not always palatable, sifting out legendary matters as much as possible. Finally, there is one other excuse I may make f9r bringing forward into prominence the Cluny family, and that is that it was nothing but the stubborn determination of Cluny, century after century, (with the occasional lapses as recounted in these pages) not to allow himself to be a mere follower of Macintosh­ and this even in the face of the abject submission of his two chief cadets, Pitmean and Invereshie-that the clan was saved from being merely a of Macintosh, instead of an independent clan as it is to-day. I have endeavoured in these pages to include all those Macphersons who belong to the cadet branches. There may be some who have · inadvertently been omitted : to these I can only offer my apologies, a:nd hope that the publication of this book may be the means of bringing them forward for any future edition. In addition to the various authorities quoted by me, I wish to thank Sir John Murray for permission to use the block of the portrait of " Old Cluny " ; to the Editor of the S.M. T. Magazine for the use of the block of Andrew of Cluny generously loaned ; to Country Life and Mr Alasdair Alpin Macgregor for the use of the two blocks of the views near Dalchully; to the Editor of The Weekry Scotsman for permission to use the article on Upper ­ spey ; to the Pennsylvania Historical Society for the • PREFACE Xl article on the Macphersons of Philadelphia ; to Mr Alastair Macpherson-Grant, Editor of the Clan Chattan Journal, for the use of the print showing an aerial view of ; and to the Editor of Debretts for the print of the Arms of Lord Strathcarron and of Sir George Macpherson-Grant, Bart. And especially do I wish to express my very great thanks to my friend the Lord Lyon King-of-Arms for his most valuable assistance and advice-often given at times when the duties of his high office made it difficult for him to spare the time. W.- CHEYNE-MACPHERSON

INVERNESS, I 93~- I 939• ALNWICK, I 945-194 7. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION xv

PART I CLAN. MACPHERSON CHAPTER I. I TS EARLY BEGINNING I

II. THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 7

III. CLUNY AND THE '45 40

IV. THE PosT '45 CHIEFS 56

PART II THE CENTURIES OLD CONTROVERSY

V. THE CHIEFSHIP OF CLAN CI-IATTAN . 69

VI. ARMORIAL BEARING OF THE MAcPHERSONS 80

VII. THE ARMS OF CLUNY 86

APPENDICES I TO XVI . go

PART III

SOME CADET BRANCHES OF CLUNY MACPHERSON

VIII. THE MAcPHERSONS OF DALCHULLY . I 13

IX. THE MACPHERSONS OF BLAIRGOWRIE 125

X. THE MACPHERSONS OF GLENTRUIM 131 XI. THE MACPHERSONS OF BANCHOR 135 xii ... CONTENTS Xlll

XII. THE NlACPHERSONS OF BREAKACHIE • .- • 143 XIII. SOME y OUNGER DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM OF NUIDE

.XIV. THE MACPHERSONS OF PITMAIN • XV. THE MACPHERSONS OF INVERESHIE • • • 174 XVI. CATTANACH, AND THE FAMILIES OF IAN MAC• PHERSON, IST BARON STRATHCARRON OF BANCHOR, AND IAN FYFE MACPHERSON • 186

PART IV

CLAN MISCELLANY

XVII. THE OF THE CLAN MACPHERSON­ APPENDIX XVII-BADGE, WAR CRY, ETC., OF THE CLAN. 195 XVIII. OF CLAN MHUIRICH OR MACPHERSON- CLAN MACPHERSON AssocIATION . . 202 CLUNY's CoMMsss10N • • 206 ILLUSTRATIONS

THE BRATACH DAINE OR GREEN BANNER OF CLUNY MACPHERSON Frontispiece FACE PAGE. AERIAL VIEW OF KINGUSSIE XVI.. CLUNY CASTLE XVll. THE FACE OF CREAG DHUB OVERLOOKING LOCHAN Ovrn XIX ANDREW MACPHERSON OF CLUNY, 15TH CHIEF 17 DUNCAN " OF THE KILN " MACPHERSON OF CLUNY, 19TH CHIEF . 60 "OLD CLUNY "-EWEN MACPHERSON OF CLUNY, C.B., 20TH CHIEF . 61 ANGUS MACPHERSON 62 EWEN HENRY DAVIDSON MACPHERSON OF CLUNY, 22ND CHIEF . 64 EWEN GEORGE MACPHERSON OF CLUNY, AUSTRALIA, 24TH CmEF • • • • • 68 DALCHULLY HousE I 14 THE SPEY AT DALCHULLY I 15 WADE'S BRIDGE OVER THE MASHIE BURN I I 5 NEWTON CASTLE . I 29 GLENTRUIM HousE 132 ARMS OF LT.-COL. DUNCAN I VER MACPHERSON OF BANCHOR, O.B.E. . 140 ARMS OF DUNCAN PARK MACPHERSON OF BREAKACHIE 145 CATLODGE IN 1938 146 VIEW FROM CATLODGE 147 ARMS OF CoL. ALEX. KILGOUR MACPHERSON, M.v.o. 172 SIR T. STEWART MACPHERSON 188 MAJOR IAN FYFE-MACPHERSON, N.S. w., AUSTRALIA 192 ARMS OF IAN FYFE MACPHERSON, M.C. . 193

ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT

ARMS OF CLUNY MACPHERSON OF CLUNY ARMORIAL BEARING OF DAVID WM. ANTHONY BLYTH MACPHE~SON, 2ND BARON STRATHCARRON 89 ARMORIAL BEARING OF THE DALCHULLY-MACPHERSONS 122 THE ARMS OF CHEYNE-MACPHERSON 123 ARMS OF SIR GEORGE MACPHERSON-GRANT OF BALLIN- DALLOCH, AND OF INVERESHIE, 5TH BARONET . I 78 INTRODUCTION

UPPER STRATHSPEY

CHARMS OF BADENOCH .AND KINGUSSIE

A COUNTRY of wild legend and ancient tradition, of loyal clansmen and fighting chiefs, and of magnificent grandeur of scenery-such is Badenoch. It is that strip of land in Upper Strathspey guarded on the north by the grey and hoary Monadhliath Mountains and on the south by the solid, massive Grampians~ Both have shown their protection by affording the shelter of their dark recesses to fugitive Jacobites, many of ,vhom had a- price on their heads. West­ wards Badenoch extends to , which always seems to give such a generous welcome to any visitor, and to deep Loch Ericht. Eastwards the .boundary is fixed by Rothiemurchus Forest and the . The Cairngorms (or Blue Mountains) are perhaps the most beautiful mountains one could ever see. They have a fairy-like magical appearance on a summer evening when they seem to· be a most exquisite blue, faint at a distance, yet so alluring. It is in haunts such as these that the fairies and little folk of the Highlands dwell, and perhaps we should see them if we had but enougp. faith. Assuredly Ben Macdhui, Cairntoul, Cairngorm and Braeriach seem to be well guarded by such folk, so commanding are they. Indeed, it is believed that in the dusk any traveller passing through the scarred Lairig Ghru­ the mountain track which leads over to Braemat-is dogged persistently by footsteps. But the impressive, yet illusive something gives the idea- of some person iv . XVI INTRODUCTION of giant height, and not of the dainty, though ever­ mischievous fairy folk. So, if the traveller be at all imaginative, these peaks are best explored in bright s1D1shine and with a companion. Is it pos~ible that one glen can contain so many smaller glens ? Badenoch is broken up thus, and there is additional charm because each glen, river, and hill has its own traditional tale, whether to its credit or not. What a pageant of life they might portray if they could but speak ! The most important river of the region has the distinction of being the swiftest in Scotland. 'The Spey rises in the west near the famous Corryarrick road, built by General Wade about 1735, to connect with Fort Augustus. Road and river run side by side past Garvabeg and Loch Crunachan, on which a floating island is said to appear after very dry weather. Where the Spey is met by the River Mashie from the south there the Corryarrick joins the road, which, on turning right, leads to the glories of ~och Laggan and Lo~haber. On turning left the road leads to Laggan Bridge, now a very strongly built structure, and on to Cluny Castle, the ancestral home of the MacPhersons of Cluny. The present edifice was built after the former castle had been burnt by Cumberland's men after Culloden. In its time this castle has housed many ancient and valuable relics, the most important of these being the ~lack Chanter. According to legend, the chanter fell . from heaven and was caught by the piper of

AERIAL Vmw OF KINGUSSIB Af.i"D DISTRICT, LOOKING UP THE SPEY TOWARDS LAGGA..'l The central dominating hill is Creag Dhub. Glenbanchor runs up between it and the Monadhliath Hills to the right. Nuide is by the first patch of trees to the left of the picture. Pitmain is about the centre of the picture. Photo kv permission of Alastair 1Wacpherson Grant, from the Cl.an Chattan Journal CLUNY CASTLE

.. INTRODUCTION XVll Clan Chattan. Victory in battle was said to go to the side whose piper played this chanter. Certainly Clan Chattan were never defeated while it was present. Most unfortunately for the cause of Prince Charles Edward it was absent from the disastrous Battle of Culloden. Many of the relics which were in Cluny Castle have now changed hands. Past Cluny Castle the road and river wind on their way to and into the flat stretch lying between there and , some fifteen miles north-eastwards. The Spey itself is a most disappointing river. It swirls along and rushes on its way to the sea with never a thought to stay its course and "babble on the pebbles." It has no delightfully unexpected falls, but only deep, dark pools which have claimed many an unwary victim. Tradition has it that travellers by the side of the Spey after dusk often encountered a beautiful white horse which seemed such a boon to the weary that many were tempted to mount. Immediately the "White Horse" of Spey streaked off like the wind and galloped headlong into the river. The dark waters closed over it and whirled on triumphantly to the sea. At Newtonmore the main road from Badenoch and the north runs southwards through Glen Truim, a most bleak and cheerless glen which is often impassable in winter owing to deep snow. It forms a very effective barrier between romantic Badenoch and the more prosaic south. The only place of interest in this wild glen is . The village rejoices in a link with the Jacobites. Here in 1745 Sir John Cope held a council of war, and two days later Cluny MacPhersonjoined Prince Charles Edward there. Dalwhinnie was also honoured by Queen Victoria and Prince Consort. Some few hundred yards from Dalwhinnie, across the railway line, is Loch Ericht, the highest loch in Scotland. It is rather like a basin sunk between the ... XVlll INTRODUCTION hills which rise up steeply from its shores. It is flanked on the west by rugged Ben Alder, in the bosom of which is a cave known as the "cage," to which allusion is made in R. L. Stevenson's novel, Kidnappea'. Here Bonnie Prince Charlie spent some time in hiding with Cluny MacPherson and Lochiel after Culloden. It was here that he received the news that a boat was waiting to take him to France. Once he left, the hopes of the Stewarts were dashed for ever. The ancient and modern capital of Badenoch is Kingussie, which derives its name from the Gaelic Ceann Guithsaich, m~aning the head of the fir wood. It is situated about halfway between Laggan Bridge and Aviemore, and so makes a good centre for the visitor, whether motorist or walker. The itself, though at heart steeped in tradition and folklore, has all the more superficial attractions of modern civilisation, and caters for the tourists who visit it year after year, whether for the invigorating air of this "sanatorium of the north," or for the numerous hens which tempt even hypochondriacs to scale them, or for the glorious beauty of the surroundings. The town is also gaining favour as a centre for winter sports, which are rapidly becoming popular in the north. One of the most interesting places in Kingussie is St Columba's Churchyard, which marks the spot where formerly stood the chapel founded by the famous saint. The churchyard, being no longer in use for b\lrial, lives in the past, in quietness and in solitude. Here lies the " Black Officer," Captain John Macpherson, who perished so tragically in a storm while hunting in the Gaick Forest. One of the most delightful evening walks from Kingussie is to follow the road which leads down to the Spey. The river at this point is a_ favourite spot with anglers. On our left the landscape is dominated by a grassy mound topped by the ruins of Ruthven THE FACE OF CREAG DHUB OVERLOOKING LocHAN Ovrn Uaimh Cluaneid, the cave in which Cluny hid is approximately just below the X. Photo by W. C-M.

• INTRODUCTION XIX Barracks, now gaunt and lonely, with riven sides and protected only by nettles. The barracks stand on the site of an old castle of the Comyns. The castle was at one time occupied by the Wolf of Badenoch, son of Robert II. Ruthven was the meeting place of the Jacobites after Culloden, and they were responsible for burning it before they dispersed at the Prince's command. Nearby is the small village of Ruthven, famous as the birthplace ofJames Macpherson of Ossian fame. The Gynack stream which flows under the main road at the west end of Kingussie calls to the visitor to explore its pools and falls. It tumbles its way over rocks as it .rushes on from the hills to the Spey. As we follow its course we pass some very fine modern villas, and after going through a small wood we come to Kingussie's 18-hole golf course, very attractive on account of its excellent natural lay-out. . Farther on, when we crest the rise, there bursts into view on the left, Loch Gynack, sullen in its bareness, yet which has withal much of that rugged beauty of the Highlands. It gains in grandeur when the heather, fringing the hillsides around it is abloom. But the east end of the loch is a plantation of saplings, and farther over stands the solidly-built "Red Lodge," monarch of all it surveys. . Behind Craig Dhu is verdant Glen Banchor with its twisting road, bearded alder trees, and solitary shepherd's house. The river Calder flows gently through the glen, and a spirit ·of profound peace prevails over the scene. Craig Dhu itself has associa­ tions with the Macpherson Clan. It serves as its war-cry, and very appropriate it is. It is not far from Cluny Castle, and here Cluny of the '45 sheltered for some time in a cave dug out in the hillside by his followers during the night. The hill serves as a barometer for the whole district of Badenoch, as rain is indicated by clouds gathering round its summit. xx INTRODUCTION On the south side of. the Spey are two beautiful glens which well repay any visit paid to them. Leaving Kingussie by the Ruthven road, we keep along the highway and soon reach Tromie Bridge. The River Tromie comes from the heart of the great Gaick Forest, and rises in Loch ant' Seilich. It travels through much picturesque scenery, and as it nears the Spey it wends its way over falls and through pools in a wooded defile. · Perhaps even more lovely than Glen Tromie is Glen Feshie, which we reach a few miles farther on from Tromie Bridge. Only a slight rise separates the F eshie from the Geldie, one of the sources of the Dee. It was by way of the Geldie and the Feshie that Queen Victoria and Prince Consort first travelled from Deeside to Badenoch, and the Queen was immediately · charmed by the magnificent grandeur of the scenery. Its reputation for beauty was enhanced by the visits of Sir Edwin Landseer, the eminent artist, who found many scenes for his pictures. Probably the most interesting walk from Kingussie is, strange to say, along the main road towards Aviemore. Generally speaking, main roads are thoroughly uninteresting, · and are but a means of travelling from one place to another, but here we are tempted to linger all along. the way. As we leave Kingussie we see on our right a knoll on top of which is the beautiful war me!Jlorial of the town. Long ago this hillock was the scene of the activities of the '' witch of Kingussie." But it is pleasant open country now, and we fear her no more. Just before reaching the neat little village of , if we turn left across the fields and make for the green patch between the two clumps of trees, we will come upon a crescent-shaped cave, now so forlorn on the tops of the hill but once the secret hiding-place of robbers. This cave of Raitts is well built, the wal1s being faced with stones and the roof . INTRODUCTION XXl strong in its covering of slabs. To-day sheep browse· calmly at the entrance or take refuge inside, paying little heed to the insatiable curiosity of the· visitor. We come at length to , a straggling little village which seems to- be doing its· best to hide from view Loch lnsh, which is just behind it. Let us turn down the steep road on the right and pay tribute· to the loch. It seems to be rather temperamental. View· it on a sunny day when cotton-wool clouds are high in an azure-blue sky, then it is as Queen Victoria said, "lovely." It cannot fail to charm, with its waters gently lapping its shores. But see it when dark clouds are lowering ; then waves thrash the shores in anger. It is sinister, foreboding. Just by its side is a steep hillock, guarded by Scots pines which creak and groan in the winds, standing stiffly erect like sentinels but tossing their cushion-like tops in defiance. These pines guard the little church of and its churchyard. This has been the site of a place of worship from perhaps the sixth century, and many are the legends attached to it. Of these the most famous is that which has grown up round the notorious Bell of Insh. This bell is to be seen inside th~ church, chained to a window ledge. It was stolen and given up as lost until one night it flew back to its old resting place. A piece of the bell was missing, and some time later this was found on a rock in Glen F eshie. It is rumoured that bad luck comes to any who may be bold enough to ring the bell. But perhaps this only applies to strangers. At least the sexton had no fears of it, as he rang it lustily till the little church echoed and re--echoed. Past Kincraig on our right is Kinrara House, rich in its romantic associations with the beautiful Jane Maxwell, Duchess of Gordon, who did much to raise the 92nd Gordon Highlanders by offering a golden guinea and a kiss to all who joined the regiment. On top of Tor , about half-a-mile distant stands xxn•• INTRODUCTION t;he huge granite colum~ erec_ted by the Duchess to the memory of her son. The monument can be seen for miles around rising high out of the trees with which the hill is covered. Continuing on our way we pass peaceful Loch Alvie and come at length to Aviemore which opens up a new country for us. Aviemore invites us to come back again to explore the mystic Cairngorms, the swirling middle reaches of the Spey and the pine for est of Rothiemurchus with its nursling Loch and Eilan whose beauty and legends make a. vivid appeal to the imagination. ... INTRODUCTION XXlll

PIOBAIRE CHLUANAIDH Bha mi am Baideanach air feasgar an de, La Lunasdail gun neoil anns an speur, Gabhail cuairt learn fhein taobh Abhainn Spe, Is mi cur mo shean chairdean eolach fainear. Chunnaic mi larach tigh Chaluim Mhoir Cha robh piobaire na b' fhearr anns an duthaich, Ach nis tha 'n tigh briste 'na laigh' air an lar 'S tha Calum Mac Mhuirich e fhein anns an uaigh. Thainig Calum do'n Chaisteal 'na phiobaire do Chluanaidh, Togail aoibhneis bhinn do gach cridh anns an Dun. Le ceol-mor an t-sionnsair dol thar creige is beinne, Is mac-talla a' freagairt cur taic ris an fhonn. 'S iomadh oidhche shunndach bha'n Caisteal Chluanaidh, Daoine is mnathan uasal tighinn stigh a gach cearn, 'S ri piobaireachd Chaluim bhiodh an oigridh dannsadh, Is toileachas aillidh air na h-uile a bh' ann. Do Dhun-Eideann chaidh Calum surdaileach dan, Far an robh co-fharpuis piobaireachd cheol mhor. Is meuraich an t-sionnsair cha robh piobair air bharr 'S thog Calum airaidh am bonn-suaicheantas oir. Ach nis chan' eil Ceannard Clann Mhuirich an Cluanaidh, 'S dh' fhalbh a' mhuinntir eile bha cho surdaileach co1r,' . Is ged nach cluinn mi'n ceol 's nach fhaic mi iad tuilleadh, 'S miann learn bhi 'm Baideanach far 'n robh mi gle og. J. M. McPHERSON. Author of Gaelic and English Poems

PART I CLAN MACPHERSON

CHAPTER I ITS EARLY BEGINNING THE early history of the Macphersons is, like so many other ancient clans, veiled in obscurity, and has many different accounts. The one most generally accepted is that as contained in the Memorial of Cluny' s Golden Wedding, published in 1883, as follows:­ " Various origins have been assigned to Clan Chattan, some writers deriving them from a warlike German tribe called the Catti, mentioned by Tacitus ; others from Ireland, and others from the native tribes of . All that we know for certainty is that they occupied part of Locha.ber in the thirteenth century, and that in the succeeding century, on the displace­ ment of the Cummings (or Comyns) and their followers, the Macphersons were located in Badenoch. The earlier portions of the following abridged account have been handed down by the genealogists of the clan, and certainly from the time of Muiriach, the Parson, it can be fully corroborated. The first Gilli­ Chattan would appear to have been so named in honour of St Catan, to whom were several dedications in Scotland-notably the Priory of Ardchattan in Lorn-and as he was probably the name father of the Clan, we begin our account with him, although the Clan history has been carried much further back.'' Such is the most generally accepted account. The German origin of the Clan is probably as fabulous as is the story which usually accompanied it, which is to the effect that in their migratory progress they stayed some time in Egypt (where the 1 A 2 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Chief of the Clan is stated to have married Scota, a daughter of Pharoah) and, moving across Europe, settled some time in Germany. Here they are said to have proved so troublesome that the inhabitants implored the help of Tiberius Caesar, and they were driven out of Germany, first settling in Ireland, till eventually a wave of them landed in Scotland, circa A.D. 76-successive waves following, the last wave under Fergus, son of Ere, arriving on and , about 500 A.D. Now modern research has proved that the old inhabitants of our present-day Scotland - the Caledonians or -had a civilisation far greater than Ireland had ever attained, and it is certain that the Picts never came from Ireland. What is probable is that the three versions of the German, Irish and Moray origins have become mixed with a foundation of truth for each. Two years ago this theory was strengthened by a chance remark made to the compiler of these sketches by Father Macdonnell, O.B.E., formerly of the Benedictine Monastery of Fort Augustus and now in charge of a colony of Highlanders in Northern Alberta, Canada~ Mentioning that in his colony he had several Macphersons, Father MacDonnell added, " But they are not your Macphersons : they are all Macphersons from Skye who were a later wave of colonists from Ireland. Your Macphersons in Badenoch are descendants from the aboriginal tribes of Scotland-the Picts, who landed here centuries before." * * Clan Mhurich is often mistaken for the Irish MacVurrichs, who were bards to the Macdonalds of Clanranald, and whose descendants ·are to be found chiefly in Skye. Since writing the above chapter on the beginnings of Clan Chattan, Comyns Beaumont's book, The Riddle of Prehistoric Britain has been published, and on page 118 of that book the author writes : "The Chaldean-Phcenicians came from the North of Scotland and the -Orkneys, and were the original ruling race of Britons. Waddell calls them the People of the Cats." In a paper written by the late Professor William Watson, and read to the Gaelic Society of Inverness on 14th April 1921, that eminent ITS EARLY BEGINNING 3 And this is most probably the true account of the beginnings of Clan Chattan of which Clann Mhuirich is the head. They did probably come in the dim ages from Scythia, or from that direction, and, moving all the time, passed through Germany (but long before its Teuton inhabitants were there) and, still moving westward, crossed the sea from Germany and landed in the north of Scotland. Whether they were called the Gatti, and whether was named after them, or whether, as many writers state, it was so named after the hordes of wild cats which then overran that part of Scotland, is irrelevant. It is possible that here again the two accounts are intermingled and that these Picts, meeting with these hordes of wild cats in what became their permanent home, adopted the wild cat as their badge or crest, and so got to be known as the tribe of the cat. Still more probable is it that the cat was the totem of the very primitive Clann Chattan (or Clann Mhuirich, t authority stated that "If there was any racial difference between the old Picts and the Caledonians, we do not hear of it. The position, so far as can be judged, was that in Pictland the ruling people were Celts, tall, fair-haired, blue-eyed, big-limbed men, fierce, proud and warlike, who formed a military aristocracy. Under these Celts, and subject to tax and tribute and services of various forms, were the pre-Celtic people, consisting of the early settlers of Mediterranean stock and of the Alpine race, who found their way to the north later. The former (Mediterranean) were dark-haired, dark-eyed, short of stature, and long-headed. They were a fine, intelligent, artistic people, probably abler in some directions than their Celtic masters. Robert Burns is the most distinguished representative of that race. The Alpine stock were brown-haired, of sturdy and somewhat stocky build. Hence the fair-haired people of our population, descendants of the ruling aristocracy, and by no means to be set down as Scandinavian.'' . t Previous to the twelfth century the history of the Highlands is practically based entirely on traditions, and the Clans themselves only begin to be known after that date. Before that the inhabitants of Scotland were divided into a few great tribes (as for instance the Cat Tribe), and it was after the devastating wars fought against them by the Scottish kings up to the time of Alexander II that they became broken up into smaller divisions and that the real Clan (or family) system commenced, each acquiring a local habitation and name, and each dwelling in its own valleys under the rule of its Chief, the father of the Clan. 4 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON as it became later), as prehistoric tribes had beliefs that their original ancestor came from some animal. And the wild cat of Scotland being (like the lion of Africa) looked on as the bravest and most ferocious of all animals, it was perfectly natural that this animal should have been selected as the progenitor of the Clan, just as there were other animal tribes in Scotland, as the boar (Ore) tribe, for instance. Sir Aeneas Macpherson, in his book, The Loyall Dissuasive, adopts the theory of the German origin of the Clan, and in the introduction to the book, written many years after by the Rev. Alex. D. Murdoch, the migration from Ireland is put forward. " Clan Chattan," Murdoch writes, " though its name be accounted for otherwise, did come with the Aborigines of Scotland from Germany. They were a part of the great Gaelic or Celtic race which moved ... from somewhere, say, Ararat, the Alps, the sources of the Danube, or other centre. There was a settle­ ment of these people between the Rhine and the Elbe long ere the Teutons, following in their tracks, established themselves there. These restless Gaels migrated to these islands, and spread themselves over our Scotland and a great part of Ireland. In Scotland and Ireland they called themselves, and were called by other Celts, Cruthnigh ; by the Romans they were called in Scotland Caledonians and Picts. It should be realised that these Picts were spread over Scotland north of the Forth, over , and over a good part of Ireland. They were one people, and to them belonged the vitrified forts, and the storm circles of our antiquities." And here is where Murdoch errs. " There never were any Picts in Ireland, except as visitors," writes Donald Mackenzie, in his Ancient Man in Britain. The mistake about the Irish Picts arose by mis­ translating the racial -name " Cruithne " as " Picts." In his book on Celtic Place Na mes in Scotland, Professor ITS EARLY BEGINNING 5 W. J. Watson-probably the greatest authority on all Celtic history-states that, " while all Picts were Cruithne, all Cruithne were not Picts." Communities of Cruithne were settled in all the four provinces of Ireland, but Cruithne means Britons, not Picts. And N ennius says these Picts came first and occupied the Orkneys, or Orcades as they were then called, about 300 B.c. These Picts, originally a sea-faring tribe in (long before the Norse invasion), moved gradually south and have always been associated with the round buildings known as "brochs," out of 400 of which Orkney and Shetland haye 145, Caithness 150, and 67. In Ireland there is not a single broch. These Pictish sea-faring tribes have left their name in Caithness, lnchkeith, etc. Caithness, or Catanes, ,vas Cat-Cape. Sutherland was Cataibh. Machair Cat-Lowland of Cats-was the coast district between the Ord of Caithness and Dunrobin. The old name for the was lnscha Cat, "the Isle of Cats." And that the Norsemen regarded the mainland cat tribe as Picts is proved by the name they gave to the sea north of their territory-Pettaland-fjoror, or Pictland Firth, now Pentland Firth. So the most probable descent of Clan Chattan is from these ancient Picts. The common crest, the wild cat, points rather to this-a far older origin than that often attributed by most writers. Gille­ Chattan Mhor, one of the known ancestors of Cluny Macpherson, may have been-probably was-" the great servant of St Cathan," but he himself came of far older stock than the later colonists who came over from Ireland under Fergus, circa A.D. 498. Had the origin of the Clan been from such a holy source, a crest more appropriate than a wild cat would far more likely have been adopted. Anyhow, from such distant backgrounds we can at the best only theorise. 6 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Shaw in his History of Moray gives the ancient residence of the Clan to have been in Caithness and Sutherland, and that it was expelled from these northern districts by the disobedience of Gillichattan Mhor, their Chief, to the call of Malcolm II for his assistance against the Danes. The same writer places the Clan's settlement in to be about the year 1010. CHAPTER II THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON "Cluny ... descended from an ancient Royal Celtic line, compared with which the Stewarts are parvenus and interlopers. Gruoch (the Lady MacBeth of Shakespeare) had a son Lulach, and it is from this Lulach the Macphersons of Cluny are descended." So wrote Andrew Lang in his book,· Prince Charles Edward. And, in the same author's , i, 12 7, note 34 : " If we went on Celtic ideas of that age, the rightful King of Scotland is, apparently, · the respected Chief of Clan Vourich, Cluny Macpherson." And again, the more recent historian, Grant R. Francis, in his Scotland's Royal Line : '' Cluny Macpherson ... by right of the ancient hereditary laws of Scotland, would have been the legitimate King of the Northern Kingdom, had these laws still existed." These three extracts sum up the early descent of the Macphersons of Cluny-at least according to many historians, including Robertson. Kenneth III (A.D. 997-1005) had a son Boedhe (murdered by Malcolm II) who had a daughter Gruoch. Gruoch's first husband was Gilcomgain, Maormore of Moray, and they had a son Lulach, who reigned· only a few months. Lulach had a daughter who married Heth, who was the son of Neachtan, Maorn1ore of Moray, A.D. 1085, the son of Gille-Chattan Mhor. And, according to the 1450 MS. discovered by Skene, Gille-Chattan Mhor was the great-great grandfather of Muireach, "the Parson" of Kingussie, and the ancestor of the Macphersons of Cluny and name father of the Clan (see Appendix I). According to this 1450 MS., _Heth, who married the daughter of Lulach, had, besides MacHeth (Earl 7 8 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON

of Moray in 1 124 and killed in battle in I I 30), a younger son Suibne, who was the- father of Muireach, the Parson. Muireach had, in his turn, two sons, another Gille-Chattan and Ewan Ban. Gille-Chattan had a son, Dougal Dall, who had a daughter only, Eva, who in 1291 married Angus, 6th Laird of Macintosh, thus originating the dispute over the Chiefship between her husband and the descendants of Ewan Ban-the second son of Muireach-represent­ ing the agnatic succession and designated "Old Clan Chattan." To this dispute, over which for centuries various writers have taken one side or the other, we shall refer later. According to the Cluny MSS., Ewan Ban's eldest son was one Kenneth, and he is the chief who is said to have led the Clan at the Battle of Invernhavon (circa 1376-1386). Allowing Ewan Ban's birth to have been about A.D. 1210, this would have made Kenneth's period when leading the Clan at Invernhaven over 170 years after the birth of his father ! Now we know from Macintosh records that Kenneth's son, Duncan, married Isobel, daughter of Ferquhard, 9th Chief of Macintosh, in 1410. This therefore agrees with the Macpherson traditional account, so far as the date is concerned, of Kenneth being the leader at Invernhavon. There seemed, therefore, to be a hiatus between Muireach of the late twelfth century and his grandson (?) of the late fourteenth century. From Kenneth onwards, however, the line is quite clear.* Retracing our steps, according to Sir Aeneas Macpherson, the genealogist of the early Macphersons, * Although there appears to be (as stated above) a hiatus between the time of Muireach and Kenneth, there need not necessarily have been, as in a list of long-lived families there appeared the following in the Times of 15th July 1939 : " Mr Edmund Macnaghten was born in 1679. Sir Francis Macnaghten, first baronet, his son, died in 1843. The two lives thus covered 164 years. Sir Stewart Macnaghten, sixth son of Sir Francis, died in 1895, giving us 216 years for three lives." THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 9 let us commence with Gille-Chattan Mhor, " the great servant of (St) Cathan," as the name is said to signify, which he probably was. St Cathan was a saint most specially venerated by the early tribes of Lorne. A shrine to his memory w~s built at Ardchattan, where was said to be preserved a miraculous stone, so holy a relic that to be its custodian or servant was something to be proud of. Gille-Chattan was nearly related to the Maormore of Moray : his descendant, from his mother's side was, we have seen, of blood royal. Gille-Chattan Mhor was succeeded by his son Dormund, according to Sir Aeneas-Neachtan, accord­ ing to the 1450 MS. Dormund was succeeded in his turn by his son, another Gille-Chattan (or Heth, if we accept the MS), and he was succeeded by his eldest son Diarmid. According to the Highland MS. of I 467, Gille-Chattan had two other sons-Muireach, from whom are the Macphersons of Cluny, and Dhai Dhu, from whom are the Davidsons. The fact that at the Battle of Invernhavon the Davidsons claimed the right wing of Clan Chattan, as "the oldest cadet'' -Macpherson claiming it as the male representative of the Chiefs of the older Clan Chattan-seems rather to point to this descent of the Davidsons. Diarmid dying without issue, the Chiefship then devolved on his younger brother, Muireach, the " Parson of Kingussie." Alexander Macpherson, in his Church and Social Life, here makes the misleading statement (copied evidently from Sir Aeneas Macpherson) that Muireach obtained a Papal Dispensation to marry, and that he married the daughter of the Thane of Cawdor. Search throughout the Vatican Library fails utterly to support this claim. · The truth is that in Muireach's time the clergy were not bound to celibacy-even in the Roman Church, though it was general-while in the Culdee 10 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Church it had never been observed. In fact, one of the reasons for the introduction of the Roman usage was the abuse of their office by the Culdee clergy, who were accused of alienating Church lands in favour of their own families. Muireach is stated by Sir Aeneas Macpherson to have gone on a crusade to the Holy Land. The cross-crosslet fitchee in the Cluny arms may denote this, or again, it may indicate the Church descent, either from Gille-Chattan Mhor or from Muireach the Parson. Muireach had at least two sons (Aeneas Macpherson gives three more-Neill Cromb, from whom he states the Smiths are descended; Ferquhard Gilliriach, from whom the MacGillivrays, and David Dow, from whom he places the Davidsons) : ( 1) Gille­ chattan, and ( 2) Ewan Ban (i.e. the fair), who first gave the name " Son of the Parson " to the Clan. Gillechattan succeeded his father Muireach as Chief of Clan Chattan, and at his death he was succeeded by his only son, Dougal Dall, the 7th Chief of Clan Chattan, and it was he who, according to tradition, on his death left an only daughter on whom his lands devolved, and whose husband Angus, 6th Laird of Macintosh, claimed the Chiefship of Clan Chattan by virtue of his marriage to the heiress. Or rather, in later days, we hear of Macintosh as " Captain " of Clan Chattan-the title " Chief" being used at a much later date. The very first appearance on record of even the title "Captain" was on 4th October 1442, when Alexander de Seton, Lord of Gordon, granted a Charter in favour of "Malcolm MacKyntoschey, Captane of Clanchatane, of Meikle Geddes and Raitt." The late Dr MacBain (who was an ardent advocate of the Macintosh pretensions) gives " Captain" and " Chief'' as having the same meaning. But MacBain, while a very good Gaelic scholar, was only the initiator of Gaelic THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 11 philology, which has advanced greatly since his time. And while "Toiseach" means "leader," it never meant "chief," in the English sense of a clan chief, which is "ceann feadhna." But Muireach's second son, Ewan Ban, had a son Kenneth, the chief who led the Clan afterward) at the Battle of lnvernhavon, in A.D. 1376 or 1386. In one or the other of these years the Camerons, who . had held possession of the old Clan Chattan lands of Glenlui and Loch Arkaig, in spite of all Macintoshes, had made a raid on the Macintosh lands in Strath­ nairn. Returning home through Badenoch they were overtaken by Macintosh, who was accompanied by his relatives the Macphersons and the Davidsons. Macintosh partisans claim that the fact that Macintosh was in command proves that he was recognised by the Macphersons and the Davidsons as the Chief of Clan Chattan. But it must be remembered it was his personal quarrel, and it is at least significant that both the Macphersons and the Davidsons found occasion to assert the seniority of their descent on the spot. Macpherson claimed he should have the place of honour on the right flank as the representative of the Chief of the old Clan Chattan, Davidson claiming it as head of the senior cadet branch. Macintosh most unwisely assigned the post to the Davidsons, with the result that the Macphersons withdrew from the field of battle. In the fight which followed Macintosh was thoroughly defeated by the Camerons. Old blood ties, however, eventually proved too strong, and the Macphersons attacked the Camerons who, weakened probably from their first action, were in their turn thoroughly beaten. The result of this quarrel between the Macphersons and the Davidsons is said by some authorities to have been the cause of the Great Clan Fight on the North Inch of Perth a few years later (Appendix II). Kenneth, 8th Chief, had two brothers-]ohn, t2 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON from whom are descended the :Pitmean and Berkley Macphersons (of whom the present representative is Colonel Alexander Kilgour Macpherson of Pitmain, M.V.O.), and Gillies, or Gilliosa, of whom is the family of Invereshie, the present representative being Sir George Macpherson Grant of Ballindaloch and lnvereshie, Bart. Kenneth had three sons-Duncan, Lachlan and Donald. Duncan, who succeeded as 9th Chief on his father's death, married Isobel, daughter of Ferquhard Macintosh, 9th of that ilk, in 1410. Duncan was apparently also a parson, as in 1438 he is mentioned as '' Duncan Parsoun.'' Skene, the historian, writing to Cluny Macpherson on 15th January 1870, has the following: "According to the true pedigree Kenneth MacEwan came from Lochaber to Badenoch and was father of Duncan called Parson, having got possession of the Parsonage of Kingussie. Now we have an authentic mention of Duncan the Parson in the year 1438, when he appears with other Highland Chiefs as a man of note. This is only nine years after the Clan Chattan left the Lords of the Isles and joined the King, and rather points to Duncan Parson as their chief. He was the son of Kenneth, and Kenneth may have been the ' Kennethus more cum genera suo dux duorum milium ' whom James I took prisoner in 1427. Kenneth seems to have been closely connected, according to the McIntosh history, w1th the previous family of Macintosh who preceded Callumbeg McIntosh. Farchard McIntosh, the predecessor of Malcolm, is said to have had a son, Duncan, married to a daughter of ' Donald, son of Kenneth McEwen,' and a daughter married to ' Duncan, son of Kenneth McEwen, called the' Parson.'" Duncan was succeeded by his elder, Donald Mor, as I oth Chief. He had also a younger son Bean, who figures in several -contemporary records, from THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 13 1481 to 1508, in which latter year Bean McPherson is entered in the Exchequer Rolls as tenant of Inver­ mazeran and Badefin in Strathdearn, while in 1534 his son, " Donald Mak.fersone," obtained a wadset of Tullich and Elrig in Strathnairn (see Appendix III). The 1 1th Chief was Donald Dall, son of Donald Mor, and he married a daughter of William Macpherson of Rimore. He had a- younger brother, Gillecallum Beg, who married a daughter of Macdonald of Shion. The descendants of this younger son of Donald Mor continued in the Macphersons of Breakachie, and a younger branch continued in New Zealand till the death of Captain Aeneas Macpherson in 1875, leaving a daughter only, who married W. K. Macdonald of Orari, near Timaru, New Zealand, whose grandson, Ronald Alistair.Macpherson Macdonald, to-day is the representative of that line. The 12th Chief was Donald Og, who married a daughter of James Gordon of Ardbrylach. He was killed at the Battle of Corrichie, fighting for Queen Mary, in 1562. He had eight brothers-Thomas, Ewan, Malcolm, Duncan, Bean, Alexander, John (from whom were descended the Macphersons of Crathie Croy) and William Og. On Donald Og's death he was succeeded by his son Ewan as 13th Chie£ Ewan married a daughter of Donald Macintosh of Strone, and mention of him is made in many con­ temporary records-the Clan Ranald MS., Privy Council Records, and Sasine Registers. He had three sons : Andrew, who succeeded him as Chief ; William, who had a son, Ewan, who died s.p. (and who, in ·his time, was tutor to both of his cousins, Andrew and Duncan of Cluny), and John who married Ann, daughter of Farquharson of Monaltrie in 1613, and who was the first of Noid beg, whic~ he acquired by wadset in 1625. Andrew, the 14th Chief, married a daughter of 14 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Gordon of Achanachy (Avochy). He lived to a very great age, ou diving his son. In I 594 he success­ fully defended Ruthven Castle for Huntly against and Macintosh, and he led the Clan at the . In his time occurred the Wars of Montrose, and, too old himself to take part, his son Ewan led the "heill men of Badenoch" as one of Montrose's colonels. Having espoused the Royalist cause, Ewan, along with Alastair Macdonald, the Marquis of Huntly, and the great Montrose, was present at the Battle of Tibbermuir, in command of the whole men of Badenoch. It was during one of the daring dashes of this campaign that an incident occurred, so ably related by Sir Walter Scott. The Royalist forces, small in number, were about to engage with a superior force of Covenanting Horse, when it was noticed that a gentleman of Clann Mhuirich was apparently crouching in the rear. Macpherson of N oid, taking the act to be one of cowardice, ran up to the clansman and upbraided him in no uncertain tones. Where­ upon the clansman replied," I have only been fastening a spur to the heel of my brogues, as I intend in a few minutes to be mounted on one of those horses." Which boast he did carry out, and in a very short time. When, after the capture and execution of Montrose,. the Kirk demanded penance from those who had assisted him, Andrew was excused because of his great age. The names of the leading men of the Clan who had to appear before the Synod of Moray to express contrition for their devotion to King Charles arP. well known (see Appendix IV). Clann Mhuirich has ever been attached to the Stewart, or Royalist cause. Unlike so many other clans, never once has it altered its allegiance, at any rate so far as the Chief's family has been concerne4. THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 15 ·At this period, Dougall Macpherson' s name appears as Captain of Ruthven Castle. Ewan died about 1651, as we find his widow marry­ ing Alexander Macintosh of Gask on 2nd September 1652. She was Anna, daughter of Duncan Forbes of Culloden. In the contract of marriage, Ewan is described as "of Cluny," and as the "only son of Andrew Macpherson of Grange,'' more or less shewing that Andrew had retired to Grange and had left his son to carry on clan matters at Cluny. Fifty-seven years before the Synod of Moray above referred to, Andrew is described as " Andrew Makfersone in ' Cluny,' " in the Bond to Huntly of 16th May 1591 (Appendix V). Andrew was always styled " of Grange " from a feu which he held in· Strathisla, obtained from Thomas Innes of Pethnick, on 18th June 1618, described in the Charter as " the mains of Grange, tour and fortalice thereof, with houses and yards of the same, with woods commonly called Westwood and Craigwood, (i.e. farmsteads) of Muirfield, Thorntoun, Bogboggie, Haughs of Grange, Clerkseat, and ane oxgate of lands of Garrowood, with multures of said woods of Grange and Clerkseat, all lying in the barony of Strathisla, regality of Kinloss, Sherrifdom of Banff." In his lifetime Andrew tried unsuccessfully to exchange Grange with Huntly for Cluny, and in 1637 an agreement to that effect was actually drawn up. Huntly made frequent promises but always managed to evade the actual consummation of the exchange. The fact was that Huntly was in no wise anxious to allow Cluny to be the actual owner of property which he and his ancestors had held for centuries. It was always Huntly's policy to play off one clan against another-notably the Macphersons and the Macintoshes. While Cluny was merely his tenant Huntly could be certain . of his assistance, whereas, as the actual owner of the land, Cluny 16 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON would have been free to act as he pleased. And on the 16th of May 1591 Huntly persuaded Andrew, together with nine leading men of his clan, to sign a bond securing the support of the clan (see Appendix V). And so existed the curious anomaly of the Chief of a clan being merely a tenant of the land he and his forebears had lived in, while several of his cadets were already land owners. It was. not until the time of Andrew's grandson, Duncan, that the Chief of Clann Mhuirich actually became" of Cluny." Not long after this, however, Huntly's feud with Macintosh being temporarily settled, and fancying that the Macphersons were unlikely to be of further use to him, he did not scruple to throw them up alto­ gether ( vide Aeneas Macpherson's the Loyall Dissuasive), his former professions of friendship were forgotten and altogether his manner to Cluny turned to one of cold neglect. At this time the affairs of Clan Mackintosh were governed by William Macintosh of Benchor, '' tutor '' and uncle to the young Chief Lachlan. The healing of the breach between the Macintoshes and the Macphersons was his principal aim, and he persuaded the youthful Andrew of Cluny to join in with the other members of the confederacy to sign a Band of Union and -under which those signing bound themselves to live in friendship and to stand by each other, and at the same time to maintain and obey him in whose favour the bond was given. Probably actuated by resentment at Huntly's change of front, Cluny lent a ready ear, and the result was the Band signed on 10th April 1609. In this Band, William Macintosh is described as " principal Captain of the haill kin of Clan Chattan ... to serve Macintosh as their Captain and Chief . . . according to the King of Scotland's gift of Chieftainrie of the said Clan Chattan.'' In it " Andrew Macpherson of Cluny for himself and taking the full burden • . • of Ewin Macpherson ANDREW MACPHERSON OF CLUNY. 15TH CHIEF From a painting originally at Cluny Castle, now in the possession of the Clan Association

THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 17 of Brin, John Macpherson of Breakachy . . . Thomas MacAlister vie Comas in Pitmean ... taking full burden of his kin and friends descended of that house etc., etc." The signature of those who could write were as follows ( among the Macphersons) : " Andrew Macfersone of Clunie ; Evine M'fersone of Breene ; I ven Makfersone of Brachat ; Gillicallum Macfersone in Ovie." Those who could not write, and who signed with their hands at the pen . were " Thomas M'Alaster vie Thomas in Pitmean " and others of the other septs. As we have seen, Andrew's only son, Ewan, having predeceased him, the Chiefship devolved on his elder grandson, another Andrew, on the former's death, circa 1660, he therefore succeeding as 15th Chief. The character of Andrew, 15th Chief, is perhaps best summed up in the eulogy bestowed on him by i\lexander Brodie of Brodie, Lord of Session in I 649, in his diary The Lairds of Brodie : " He was an Absalom for beauty, a Joseph for continence, a Tully for eloquence, and a Jonathan for friendship. He had all the embellishments of both sexes, without the infirmities of either." Was ever such praise bestowed either before or since on any human being ? And it is all the more forceful when one pauses to remember that Brodie and Andrew Macpherson were in opposite camps. Brodie-a Covenanter of , while Andrew was the son of a Royalist of Royalists. Educated at ·Marischal College, , Andrew had as his fellow students his cousin, Duncan Forbes of Culloden, and his clansman, Aeneas Macpherson, as well as young Macintosh of Macintosh, while Sir Robert Farquharson was his associate. Records at Marischal College shew Andrew to have been admitted as a Bajend in ·1656 (when he would have been about 15 years of age) and to have B 18 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON graduated in July 1660. Sir. Aeneas Macpherson, in his book The Loyall Dissuasive, recounts how, at a dinner given by Sir Robert Forbes-to which were invited Andrew of Cluny (then aged about 19), among others-the Laird of W ardis, on being shewn his seat, refused to seat himself until young Cluny had done so, and, on the youthful heir to the Chiefship of Clann Mhuirich modestly demurring, the Laird of Wardis then told him that if he realised his descent as well as he (Wardis) did, there were few or none to whom Andrew should give preference. · Had. he lived to his grandfather's age, there is no saying to what heights this Andrew might have led his clan. Wise beyond his years, embellished with every grace, both of form and character, his early death was perhaps one of the most severe blows Clann Mhuirich had ever sustained since the loss of its lands in Lochaber. In 1661 the centuries-old dispute between the Macintoshes and ·the Camerons came to a head and, being in favour with the Government at the time, in 1663 Macintosh procured a Commission of fire and sword against the , and he called upon the various chiefs of the Clan Chattan to assist him in his undertaking. The first of those whom Macintosh called on was young Cluny. " But," as Murdoch in his introduction to The Loyall Dissuasive puts it, '' if Macintosh, from the teachings of Kinrara, had got somewhat exalted ideas of his own power, no less had young Cluny, under the early guidance of Sir Robert Farquharson, a just sense of his position. It was one thing for the Chief, in male line, of small possessions, to join with the Captain of the Clan, a great proprietor, in bonds for mutual safety, but quite another to act under orders." Macintosh spent the whole summer of 1665 trying to enlist the help of the various Clan Chattan Chiefs, and eventually in September of that year the dispute THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 19 was settled by Lochiel agreeing to pay a certain sum of money for the lands he had held for so many centuries in defiance of Macintosh. But young Andrew, this paragon of mental and physical beauty, before agreeing to assist Macintosh, compelled him to write first the following letter­ still preserved in the Cluny Charter Chest :- " I, Lauchlan M'Intosche of Torcastle doe declair that Andro. McPhersone . of Cluny, Lauchlan McPhersone of Pitmean, and John McPhersone of Inveressie, and thar friends and follo.wers have out of their meir guidwill and pleasure joyned with me at this tyme for recovering of my lands of Glenluy and Locharkag from the Clan Chameron and other violent possessers thereof (according to the King's Commission granted for that effect) and therefor I bind and oblish me and my Friends and followers to assist, fortify and joyne with the said Andro Lauchlan and John M'Phersones in all ther lauchfuls and necessare adoes being thereto required by thes sub­ scrivit at Kyltir the twelfth day of September ... sextie and fyve yeirs by me befor thir witness Alexander M'Intosche of Connadge and Alexai:ider M'Intosche of Connadge and Alexander M'Intosche notar publict in Inverness and William M'Intosche of Corribroch. L. M'Intosche of Torcastle." In plain modern English this document declared that the Macphersons followed Macintosh in this affair out of friendship and not out of any sense of duty. Not many years before this a very trifling incident had nearly brought the two clans of Mhuirich and Macintosh to a clash of arms. In 166 I, Macintosh had begun the erection of a mill which would have affected one belonging to Macpherson of lnvereshie lower. down the stream. The fiery cross was out and Clann · Mhuirich rushed to arms, and the two clans faced each other on the site of the new mill. Finding himself outnumbered, Macintosh sent appeals for 20 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON · help, first to the Chief of the Grants, and afterwards to the Chief of the Farquharsons-his relative by marriage-but both of them refused- to take arms against the Macphersons, with the final result that Macintosh had to leave the field, and the half-erected mill was pulled down by the Macphersons. The replies of both the Chief of the Grants and of the Farquharsons are worth repeating here, as showing the esteem in which the Macphersons were held by their neighbours. In the case of the Grants, their Chief, a young and impulsive man, was at first inclined to accede to Macintosh's appeal, but his clansmen were strongly opposed to it, and one of the oldest of them, Grant of Auchernich, put their objections in these words : "If the dispute were between the Macintoshes and Macdonnels, between them and the Frasers, or any other clan that lived at a distance, it would not n;iatter if we gave them assistance. But to assist McIntosh against Clunie and the Macphersons would be no other than to assist our professed enemies against our best and nearest friends. We have had several bloody quarrels with the Mclntoshes and with almost all the families in the Highlands, sometimes one, sometimes another, as the McPhersons likewise have. But (which is a wonder and not to be matched in the whole kingdom) for full 400 years that we have been their nearest neighbours there has not been so much as one slaughter between the McPhersons and us, a blessing that has been handed down to us by those that came before us, and should be transmitted by us with equal care to those who come after us. The McPhersons are a downright honest people, hate tricks and cheats, the best and firmest friends can be, bu_t where they have a just prejudice, fierce and implacable enemies. And if we but once exasperate them and engaged in blood with them, as God forbid we should, there may be a warr begun in our time, by our own folly and indiscretion that perchance THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 2t may only end with the end and utter extirpation for one of the two familys. For these reasons my opinion is that our Chieff send an Express to McIntosh to tell him, in plain language, that he has no freedom to join in any against Clunie and . his family : that they have been his kind and friendly neighbours for severall past ages, and not fitt or just that he should disoblige them ; that his advice is that McIntosh should accomrnodate the matter and not keep up a difference for a triffie." Farquharson's reply to Macintosh's request for assistance against Cluny was no less disconcerting, when it is remembered that the Laird of Invercauld, Alexander Farquharson of Wardess, was his own brother-in-law, having married Elizabeth, sister of Lachlan Macintosh the 19th Chief. "Tell McIntosh," he bade the messenger, "that if he thought he could be persuaded to fight against his own blood who was his own sister's son" (Macpherson of lnvereshie, on whose land the mill was), " he was very much mis­ taken." He" knew that McIntosh had several friends very capable to advise him, but that he himself was headstrong and ungovernable, else it was not to be supposed he would take such ridiculous means for so inconsiderable a matter." Andrew died on the eve of his wedding contract, to one of the Calder family, in 1666. An oil painting of him, by an unknown artist, is remarkable as an instance of the ~ype of dress of the period. The original hangs in the Inverness Museum, lent by the compiler of these sketches, and a replica hangs in the dining hall of Cluny Castle.* Andrew was succeeded by his younger brother, Duncan, as 16th Chief. Duncan, without the brilliancy of Andrew, was, * On 5th May 1943 this was purchased-together with other Cluny relics from Cluny Castle-at an auction in , for the Clan by public subscription. 22 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON nevertheless, endowed with more than the average sagacity required by _the Chief of a Clan so peculiarly situated as that of Clann Mhuirich. There is no period in that clan's history where there was greater progress towards its becoming one of the powerful clans of the Highlands than the period extending from the date of Andrew, the 14th Chief, to that of the closing days of his grandson Duncan, the 16th Chief. Nowhere in the history of any of our Highland clans has a clan-originally a force to be reckoned with in the days of its prosperity when Gille-Chattan Mor reigned as Chief and Maormore, later to be despoiled of all its lands in Lochaber, whether through the marriage of the daughter of its then Chief to the laird of one of its septs, or whether for some other reason, reduced thus for years among the "broken men "-shown a greater tenacity and courage than has Clann Mhuirich, a tenacity best described by Robertson in his Scotland Under Her Early Kings (i, 241 ), when he wrote : "When the clans, after the breaking up of the Confederacy of Donald Balloch, made its peace with the King, for some unknown reason the headship was conferred, not on the senior, but on the Toshach, and accordingly a constant state of hostility existed between the Captain of Clan Chattan, by royal grant-the 'Macin-Toshach-and the claimant of the Chiefship by right of blood. . . . . Nothing but the tenacity with which the ' old Clan Chattan' clung to their' Chiefe' could have prevented a family, representing, probably, the ancient line of MacHeth, from sinking to the position of Og-tiernach, under a junior branch." In 1668 Duncan succeeded to the estates of Brin. On the 17th March of that year, Alexander, Earl of Moray, issued precepts of Clare constat in favour of Duncan McPherson of Cluny as "lawful heir of tailzie of the late Evan McPherson of Brin, his cousin, in the lands of Meikle and Little Brin and of Inver- THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 23 nazeran and Badejin," in which sasine is given on 16th June 1675. In 1607 "Angus M'Fersane" (father of the above Evan Macpherson of Brin) was one of the eight leading men of Clan Chattan called on by the Privy Council to keep good rule in the Clan. Continuing his brother's policy, Duncan resolutely set out to increase his clan's prestige and power. He lived in troublesome times, and it was no easy task to steer a middle course. As usual the Gordons had been playing off one clan against the other, and for some time had been giving the light of their counten­ ance to Macintosh. But in 1672 Duncan decided once and for all to settle the long-standing dispute between Clann Mhuirich and Clan Macintosh, and he applied to the Lord Lyon to have his arms matriculated as '' Laird of Clunie Macphersone, and the only and true representer of the ancient and honourable familie of the Clan Chattane." This he obtained in March 1672. Unfortunately the jealousy of some of the leading men of his own clan, notably Alexander Macpherson of Pitmain and John Macpherson of Invereshie, caused them to act in a most contemptible light. Not only did they object to the Privy Council declaring Cluny to be held responsible for their behaviour, but they actually refused to acknowledge his Chiefship-'' the Charger nayther is not ever was Cheiffe nor did any of his predicessors claim right thairto : But upon the contrair it is notter and manyfest without the least doubt that the complainers are descendit of Macintosh, quhose predicessor maryed the heretrix of the Clan Chattan.'' Macintosh, too, seized this opportunity and Lyon withdrew Cluny's matriculation as Chief of Clan Chattan. Duncan, however, took little notice of the Privy Council's decision, and his clansmen very soon were heartily ashamed of themselves. This was 24 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON strengthened by a change of policy once more on-the part of Huntly, and the following letter, dated " Last of March, I 67 4," was addressed by Aboyne to " John McPherson of Invereshy, Lauchline M'Pherson of Pittmean, Donald M'Pherson of Nied and the rest of . the surname of M'Pherson " : " Gentlemen our very good Friends,-The Laird of M'Intoshe his arrogant demeanors in severall affairs wherein my Lord Huntly is concerned and particularly of the Ternids of Badenoch has brought us to a clear understanding of these differences been betwixt the Laird of Cluny and him anent the Chieftenry and what endeavours have been used be him to frustrate Cluny of the Benefi~e of the Counsell's just determination, and seeing we now understand that most sureptitiously M'Intosh did borrow our names not only in the prosecution of that action, but always since when occasion offered as a mean to rent yourselves and devyde you. We have therefore on consideration of the justness of Cluny's cause (whereof the emptiness of M'Intosh's arguments does sufficiently convince us) . . . we desire this to be communicat to all your friends of your severall families wishing hereby all the name of M'Pherson and all others called the old Clanchattan," etc., etc; The original of this letter is in the Cluny Charter Chest. The year before this Duncan Macpherson had entered into a Bond of Friendship with Aeneas, Lord Macdonnell. In it he takes " burden upon himself for the whole name of Macpherson, and of some others, all called Old Clan Chattan, as Chief and principal man thereof.'' It was during Duncan's lifetime that the chiefs of Macpherson became really" of Cluny" in 1680. In the Charter granted by Huntly, dated 8th June 1680, reference is made to the agreement of 1637 to exchange Grange for Cluny. The Charter comprised the three pleughs of land of Cluny, the davach town THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 25 of and lands of Gaskinloan, in Laggan parish, and the lands ·of Baillid beg in Kingussie parish. Sasine was given on 15th June 1680. Not long after this, Cluny was in the position of assisting Macintosh, and in a manner most humiliating to that Chief. Macintosh had obtained a commission of_ fire and sword against Macdonald of Keppoch. He had summoned the other chiefs to assist him, but Cluny and Grant of Grant refused obedience. So with a band of regular soldiers and his own clansmen, Macintosh marched to Glen Roy. Before this, how­ ever, not wishing to miss the chance of bringing the Macphersons into disfavour, Macintosh had written on the 3rd August 1688 to the Earl of Perth, com­ plaining that the Macphersons had taken no notice of his summons. "The Macphersons in Badenoch," he wrote, " after two citations disobeyed most con­ temptuously. I thought it my duty to acquaint you heirof, quharily · yr Lordship may take any course yr Lordship pleases by makeing it known to the Council." That night the MacDonalds assembled at Mulroy, just over the crest of the hill, and waiting for Macintosh to advance half-way up, at dawn they rushed upon him and obtained a complete victory, capturing Macintosh himself. Soon after, however, the Chanter of Clann Mhuirich was heard and Cluny's men poured down on the MacDonalds. MacDonald was in no condition to face fresh foes and parleyed with Cluny, who made it. a condition of peace that Macintosh should be surrendered to him. This was done, and Macintosh was conducted by Cluny with all courtesy to his own home. This was the last purely clan battle in the ·High­ lands, and is well narrated in Scott's Tales of a Grandfather. Soon after, Duncan had a much more difficult proposition to face. Claverhouse was in the Highlands. Cluny's position was most awkward. The King, James VII, had abdicated, the Convention 26 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON of Estates was on William's side, with Mackay, on the same side, marching on Ruthven and Inverness. Lord Dunfermline, the brother-in-law of the Duke of Gordon, Cluny's superior in Badenoch, was support­ ing the cause of Claverhouse. Cluny's neighbours, the Grants, were for King William ; the Macintoshes, hesitating at first, soon declared for Orange. And Clann Mhuirich with its lands right in the midst of all! Whatever his own private inclinations, whichever side Cluny took meant invasion and rape of the clan lands. And letters pouring in all the time, calling on him for his aid-from Dundee himself, from Cannon, , Livingstone, from General Mackay, from Sir John Hill. Probably the last letter Dundee ever wrote was to Cluny, dated from , 26th July 1689, which was as follows :- " Sir, My Lord Murray is retired down the countrey. All the men have left them save Strathererd, Achnitully, and Baron Reade Straloch and they will not byd my doun coming to morou. They will joyn us, and I suppose to morou you will have ane answer so if you have a mynd to preserve yourself and to serve the King, be in armes to morou that when the letter comes you may be here in a day. All the world will be with us blissed be God.-1 am, sir, Your most humble Servant DuNDIE." " My service to all the loyall gentry of baddnoch." There is no doubt that when this letter was written, Cluny had decided to throw in his lot with Dundee, for on the same date as the above letter is a bond signed by Dundee for 659 merks in favour of Duncan Macpherson of Clunie. But the Battle of took place the very next afternoon, on Saturday, 27th July 1689. Just previous to this, in June, 250 of Cluny's clan had joined Dundee in chasing General Mackay down the Spey-showing very plainly where the sympathy of the Clan lay. THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 27 That Cluny eventually came out of the fire in a position to hold his own with Macintosh, who had adhered to the winning side, was a marvel. His country lay on the line of march of both armies. In his heart loyal to King James, yet, like a. true Chief, thinking first of his clan, it took all his wonderful skill to keep out of the fray, although even as late as August 1690 we find Sir John Hill writing these words to him : "I am sorry to find you so young, or so conceited a man as to refuse the advise of those who are yer friends and love you." Duncan had married Isobell, daughter of Robert Ross, Provost of Inverness, by whom he had a daughter, Ann, and by a second marriage he had a son, George, who, however, died in infancy. Ann eventually married Sir Archibald Campbell, son of the Laird of Calder. Perhaps because of guilty consciences after trafficking with Macintosh over the Chiefship, or perhaps because · of the centuries-old horror of Eva, the Heiress of Clan Chattan, hanging over them, the impression gained ground among the clansmen that Cluny meant to convey the Chiefship with his daughter to Calder. Anyhow a document was drawn up on 14th March 1689, signed by William M'phersone of N oid, Alex. Macphersone of Noid, Alex. Macphersone, Pitmean; * Ja. M'Phersone, Balachroane; Alex. M'Pherson, Phones ; Murd. M'Phersone, Clun ; _J a. M'Phersone, lnverishan ; Jo. M'Phersone, Coranach; Jo. M'Phersone, Benchor, etc. etc., declaring 'that " Wee, underscribers, considering that Duncan M'phersone of Cluny, our present Chiefe is of full purpose and resolution to talyie not only his whole * The signatures in this declaration of 1689 are the first ever signed by a Macpherson of Pitmean or of Invereshie, in which any acknowledgement of Cluny as their Chief is shown. Even in a Covenant by the members of the Clan, dated 28th May 1628, in which " our Chief Cluny to be oversman " is referred to, the signatures of these two heads of Cadet branches are conspicuous by their absence .. 28 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON estate, but also the representatione of us and all others our kinsmen by (past) his righteous heirmale with his· daughter to a_ stranger, and that without all peradventure our ruine is thereby threatned (if God Almightie by ane entire unione among our selves doe not prevent the same) doe herby declear and swear upon our great oath, that we shall not own nor · countenance any persone as the said Duncan M'phersone his representative (failing heir males of his own body) excepting William M'phersonne of N oid, who is his true lineall successor, and the heirs male of his body, and that we shall to the utmost of our power asist and maintain the said William and his forsaids in attaining and possessing the said estate by all just means imaginable. And furder wee, the underscribers and in particular the said William M'phersone shall second, asist, and maintain one another in all our just and righteous interests against all mortall (his Majestie being excepted) and we bind us to perform the premisses under the pain of infamie. In witness quherof we have subscribit ther presents with our hands at Benchar, the 14 day of March 1689 years.'' This document was delivered to Duncan of Cluny on the morning of the wedding contract of his daughter Ann! Duncan died in 1722, a very old man, and the Chiefship then devolved on his second cousin, once removed, Lauchlan of N oid (or N uide, as it is now spelt). As has been shown earlier, Andrew, the 14th Chief, had a younger brother John, who had married Ann, daughter of Donald Farquharson of Monaltry, in 1613. John was the first of Noid, having acquired the feu of Noid Beg in 1623. John had four sons: ( 1) Donald, who married first, Isobell, daughter of Alexander Rose of Clava in 1635, and second, Beatrix, daughter of Gordon of Knockspect. Donald acquired THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 29 also the feu of Noid Mor in 1638; (2) William, who married first, Janet, daughter of William McIntosh of Stron, second, Ann, daughter of Samuel Macpherson of Nissintullich ; (3) Andrew, who married first, Mary, daughter of Mr Donald MacQueen of Clune, by which marriage were descended the Macphersons of Benchar, and second, Jean, daughter of Mr Donald Macpherson, Minister at Calder ; (4) Muriach, who married Christian, daughter of Mr Lachlan Grant, Minister of Kingusse, but left no male descendant. Donald, the eldest son of John of N oid, had also four sons : ( 1) Donald, who died s.p. ; (2) William, who became of Noid and who married in 1667 Isobell, daughter of Lachlan McIntosh of Kinrara ; (3) James, who married Marjorie, daughter of Alex. Robertson of Blarsettie ; and (4) John, who married Helen, daughter of Duncan Macpherson of Coronach, and from whom are descended the Macphei:sons of Glen­ truim, formerly of Ralia. William of Noid died in 1712, leaving also four sons : (1) Lauchlan, born 25th October 1674, who married on 2nd January 1704 Jean, daughter of Sir Ewan Cameron of Lochiel, and who became " of Cluny " on the death of Andrew, the 16th Chief; (2) James, who died unmarried ; (3) Andrew, who married Marjory, daughter of James Campbell of Inerdrich, and who was the progenitor of the Macphersons of Blairgowrie; (4) William, who became a Writer and was admitted a Burgess of Edinburgh, marrying in 1745 Jean, daughter ofJames Adamson, merchant, of Edinburgh. This William left five sons, one of whom, John, became Captain of a famous privateer, the Brittania, and eventually settled in 'Philadelphia, where he founded a family.* William's second son, Angus, is stated to have had a son David, who went to Jamaica and became a merchant there. * See Macphersons of Philadelphia, page 148. 30 THE CHlEFS OF CLAN MACPl-itR.SON

THE 1 7TH CHIEF Lauchlan of Nuide and later of Cluny, had ten sons and four daughters. The sons were : (1) Evan, born 11th February 1706. (2) Donald, who died young. (3) John, born 22nd December 1709. He became a major in the 78th Regiment, and was tutor to his nephew, Duncan of Cluny, during his minority. He never married, and died in I 770. (4) James, born 21st April 1712. He became a lieutenant in the army and fought in America, dying unmarried. (5) Allan, born 21st July 1713. He also entered the army and died in Jamaica, when a major. (6) Lachlan, born 15th July 1714. He married Catherine, daughter of Duncan Campbell of Auchlyne,* and had four sons and four daughters. He was the wadsetter of Dalchully, and so was the ancestor of the Macphersons of Dalchully. He too entered the army and attained the rank of captain, becoming Barrack Master of Ruthven Castle, dying in 1777. (7) Andrew, who died young. (8) Alexander, who also died young. (g) Andrew, born 7th October I 72 r, who became a lieutenant in the Royal High­ landers. He married and had descendants, whose whereabouts, if still surviving, are unknown. . (Io) Donald, born 12th March 1728, who died unmarried in the East Indies. Lauchlan, the r 7th Chief, is chiefly known in the * The marriage contract (held by the Macphersons of Dalchully) covers eight sheets of foolscap, and the following is an extract:­ " Contract of Marriage between Lieut. Lauchlan MacPherson of Dalwhily, Donald McPherson of Breacahy and Andrew Macpherson of Bancher on the one part and Catherine Campbell oldest lawfull daughter of the deceast Duncan Campbell of Achleyne with consent of Jas. Goodlall Campbell of Achleyne her brother" in which the former bound themselves for 18,000 merks Scots money in favour of Catherine Campbell for her yearly life-rent with an annuity of 750 merks Scots after the decease of the said Lauchlan, or in case of no children procreate and existing of the marriage the sum of £1000 Scots money. Signed at Cluny, 22nd March 1738. THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 31 Clan as having acknowledged Macintosh as Chief of Clan Chattan. Little excuse as it may be, it must be remembered that his mother was a daughter of Macintosh of Kinrara, and Lauchlan was apparently a man of no very great personality or will power, like many another very good looking man, which he is known to have been. Also there ,vas .,a monetary consideration-or rather an acquisition of territory in return, as Macintosh was to give Cluny certain lands about Loch Laggan, Cluny, on his part, renouncing all claim to the Chiefship of Clan Chattan. But again, Lauchla]} Macpherson, when signing this agreement, may have been referring to the more modern Clan Chattan Confederacy, and not to the " Old ,, Clan Chattan. Anyhow the agreement was signed in 1724, to be promptly repudiated by the Clan Council, who declared that no Chief had the right to acknowledge anyone as supreme Chief without the Council's consent. Still, the Macintoshes have every right to feel aggrieved as, although the agreement was repudiated by the Clan, the Loch Laggan lands were never returned to Macintosh ! There is a story told about the succession of Lauchlan to the Chiefship of Clann Mhuirich which is worth repeating and which will rather help to show the strong character of Lauchlan' s wife. On Duncan's death in 1722, all the heads of the leading families agreed to meet at Garvamore in order to show _their proofs of descent. Shortly after Lauchlan had left his home to attend the meeting, his wife, Jean Cameron of Lochiel, fearing there might be any dispute which might imperil her husband's position, had her horse saddled and, accompanied by a faithful old servant, arrived at the inn where they were all assembled. All, of course, rose to receive the Lady of Noid, who, going straight up to the table whereon lay all the documents of proof, and sweeping them into her apron, rushed out 32 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON of the room, locking the door upon its astonished occupants. Thereupon she galloped straight back to N oid, ordered her eldest son, Evan, to ride with her to Cluny, and there the determined lady spent the night. She certainly believed in the old adage, "Possession is nine-tenths of the law." And, as one old Highlander remarked, " Agus fiach co chuireadh a mach i ? "-" And who then could oust her ? "

THE 18TH CHIEF Ewan succeeded to the Chiefship in July 1746 on the death of his father Lauchlan, although he had long before been the real leader of the Clan. He had married on 2nd March 1742, Janet, a daughter of Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, and the marriage is a good indication of the position to which Clann Mhuirich had attained, as Simon Fraser," the fox," was most carefully at the time marrying off his daughters to those chiefs whom he considered most likely to be useful to him, and there are several letters of his still in existence showing what searching enquiries he made as to the probable standing of his sons-in-law to be. And he persuaded ·Lochiel and Cluny further to enter into a perpetual Bond of Friendship with the Frasers (Appendix V). At the time of his marriage, Ewan was engaged in enlarging his house ( the high-sounding term " castle " was never applied to Cluny till the time of Ewen, the 20th Chief, after his marriage) till, when finished, it was described as the finest residence in Speyside by Macpherson of Strathmashie in the following terms : "It was a most pretty, regular, well-contrived house as any benorth the · River of Tay; double built in the new way, pavilion roofed, with two pretty pavilions joined to it by colonades, and consisted of eighteen fire-rooms." Alas ! this "most pretty house" was burnt to THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 33 the ground after Culloden in June I 746, under the command of Captains George and , sons of Lord Reay, who took 300 men with them on the occasion. The burning was most thorough, even the outbuildings being completely destroyed. While the building operations were going on, Ewan left his wife with his father-in-law at Beaufort, which circumstance did not please Lord Lovat too much, as, in a letter dated "8th Aprile 1743," to his son-in-law Ewan, he complains that " Your Lady is in perfect good health and is daily increasing in her bulk, but she is now beginning to weary of a Widow's Life." Equally, too, when Ewan's building operations were completed, and he insisted on taking his wife and their young daughter home at once, Lord Lovat complains in a letter to Lochiel, dated October 1743 : " I was mightily desirous that Cluny should leave his young daughter with me ... but he caryed her off, which vexed me very much, notwithstanding that Dr Fraser of Achnagairn gave his positive advice to Cluny not to carry away his child in the winter time. But he acted the absolute Chief, and carried the poor infant away in a credill on horseback. Before 20 gentlemen I openly washed my hands from any harm that would happen to the child by carrying her away in this season. But I cannot think that a house whose walls was not finished two months ago can be very wholesome either for the child or for the mother. But it seems that Cluny is resolved to wear the Britches and the Petty Coots too, so I am afraid my child will not comb a grey hair in that country." Some time before this, shortly after his father, Lauchlan, · had succeeded to the Chiefship, cattle rustling had become so prevalent in the Highlands that property owners were in despair. They therefore subscribed together as a whole for the general protection of their stock, and the three persons considered most C 34 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON trustworthy or more .influential to take charge were Lord Lovat, the Marquis of Athol, and young Cluny. Accordingly these three held themselves responsible for the policing of certain districts, and in this manner were formed the first "vVatches." Their captains guaranteed to make good to the owners of stock any losses sustained by them, and so well were these guarantees fulfilled that very soon cattle stealing in those parts was banished. Among the most successful of those " Watches " was Cluny' s. A. M. Mackintosh, in his book, attempts to belittle the position Cluny the Younger had, and sets out to prove that Captains of those Watches were only inferior officers. Even if this was so, Ewan at the time was only a young man of about 20 years of age, and whether the position was one given only to inferior persons or not, the fact remains that it was honourably and fully carried out, sometimes even at a pecuniary loss to Cluny himsel£ So perhaps it would be not inappropriate to digress here and quote the opinions of others as to "Cluny's Watch." Scott, in his Tales of a Grandfather, writing of the I 745 Rising, wrote thus of Ewan : " The line of conduct to be adopted by MacPherson of Cluny, whose numerous and hardy clan is situated chiefly in the district of Badenoch, was, at the time, a matter of great importance. This Chief was a man of bold and intrepid disposition, who had shewn more respect for the laws of property, and more attention to prevent depradations, than any other Chief in the Highlands, Lochiel (his cousin) perhaps excepted. He entered into extensive contracts with the Duke of Gordon and many of the principal proprietors in countries exposed to the Highland caterans, agreeing to secure them against theft, for a moderate yearly sum. Cluny MacPherson pursued the plain and honourable system expressed in the letter of con tract, and by actually securing and bringing to justice the malefactors who THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 35 committed the depradations, he broke up the robbers in the shires of Inverness and Aberdeen. So much was this the case that when a clergyman began a sermon on the heinous crime of theft, an old High­ lander of the audience replied that he might forbear treating of the subject, since Cluny, with his broad­ sword, had done more to check it than all the ministers in the Highlands could do by their sermons.'' And in The Loyal Clans by A. Cunningham, this further tribute is paid : "The evil of cattle lifting was less adequately dealt with by the Government than by such Jacobite chiefs as Lochiel and Cluny Macpherson, whose organisation of the Watch earned him the recognition of the Government .•.• The most celebrated Highland Watch was that organised by Cluny: it embraced Badenoch, the Grant country, Banff, Luss and Stirling, and seems to have been an important and well organised undertaking. In this service Cluny was put to considerable expense and trouble," etc. These opinions of contemporary and present writers of history are in great variance with the author of " The Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan," in which that author states that " the title ' Captain of the Watch' applied to the person-usually a minor chieftain or proprietor-who, in consideration of certain annual payments by his neighbours undertook the watching of certain districts against cattle thieves," adding the disparaging remark, "The payments were known by the now somewhat infamous term of blackmail ! " (The italics are the compiler's.) These Watches were organised in 1725, and it is interesting to note that they were really the beginnings of one of our most famous of Highland regiments­ the Black Watch. For in 1729 General Wade was so impressed by the efficiency of these Watches that he persuaded the Government to embody them_ in the military organisation of the country. They were 36 . THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON first formed into six independent companies, com­ manded respectively by Lord Lovat, Grant of Ballindalloch, Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochnell, George Munro of Culcairn, Alex. Campbell of Finab, and John Campbell of Carrick, each company wearing the of its commanding officer. At first great care was taken to enlist privates and officers only from those who had Hanoverian leanings, though later this was confined to the officers only. Finally, in 1740, the Government raised four additional companies, the whole being formed into a regiment of the line with the Earl of Crawford as its first Colonel. To avoid clan jealousies, perhaps, or because Crawford, being a Lowlander, had no tartan, a new sett of tartan was designed, which owing to its dark hue gained for the regiment its present soubriquet " The Black Watch " or Freiceadan Dubh. So that the Macphersons of Cluny may claim the honour of being one of the originators of this famous regiment, although Ewan himself was never one of its officers, probably because of suspicion of his Jacobite tendencies. In 1743 an incident occurred in connection with this regiment which it will not be irrelevant to mention here, as it probably had a lot to do with the 17 45 Rising and must certainly have earned the hatred of Clan Mhuirich for the Hanoverian Government. In that year the regiment was informed that it was to march to London, the excuse given being that King George II wished to inspect them. From the first the men were suspicious, as they had been enlisted entirely for service in Scotland, and they had heard rumours that they were to be used for the war in Flanders. So that when they arrived in London and found that the King was not even in England, but away in Hanover at the time, they felt their suspicions to be justified. Saying nothing to their officers, about 30_0 · of the men started_ overnight to march back to Scotland. They were not overtaken till . . . THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 37 they had reached Oundle, · in Northamptonshire, where they were found strongly entrenched in a wood, resolved to fight to the last man rather than surrender.. General Blakeney, who was then in command of that district, after a long parley with the men through one -of their officers, promised that if they would surrender their arms and march back to London no further action would be taken. Trusting in these promises, the men marched out, whereupon they were all instantly disarmed; and on reaching London three of their number who were ringleaders were shot in the Tower. The three men were Corporals Samuel and M,i!}co!p 'Macpherson and Farquhar Shaw, all of the Clan Ohattan, Samuel Macpherson belonging to the Macphersons of Breakachie, near relatives of the Chief. The remainder of the men concerned were broken up into detachments and sent, some to Minorca and some to Georgia and elsewhere, where they soon perished in those miserable climates to which they were unaccustomed. In a pamphlet entitled The Behaviour and Character of the Three Highland Deserters who were shot at the Tower on the 18th July 1743, published in London in 17 43, the following description is given of the three men. " Samuel Macpherson, aged about 29, unmarried, was born in the Parish of Laggan in Badenoch ; his father, still living, is brother to M'Pherson of Breachie, a gentleman of. considerable estate in that country, and is himself a nian of unblemished reputation and a man of plentiful fortune. Samuel was the only son of a first marriage, and received a genteel education, having made some progress in the languages and studied for some time in Edinburgh with a writer, until about six years ago he enlisted as a volunteer in Major Grant's company, where he was much respected _both by the· officers and private men, and was in a short time made a corporal. - · 38. THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON· " Malcolm M'Pherson, aged about 30 years and unmarried, was born in the same parish of Laggan, was son of Angus M'Pherson of Driminard, a gentleman of credit and repute, who bestowed upon Malcolm such education as that part of the country could afford. He enlisted about seven years ago in my Lord Lovat's Company, and he was soon made a corporal. " Farquhar Shaw, aged about 35, was born in the Parish of Rothiemurcus in Strathspey. His father, Alexander Shaw, was an honest farmer, etc." About this incident there is an interesting letter written by Lord Lovat to his son-in-law, Cluny : " The fate of Semple's Regiment is not yet known by any person in this country. Some people write to me from Edinbr. that they are to be sent to.Jamaica. I am sorry for your losing such a number of pretty young fellows by that Regiment, for if once they go abroad I never expect they'll come home but in a newspaper, and there is no help for it.•.. We have various accounts here of the desertion of Semple's Regiment. I think the greatest number of deserts we heard of is 80 private men a Serjeant and a Corporall. They report here that instead of marching to FJanders They Are to Be Shipt. directly for Jamaica. But I believe that Country won't agree with people that have all their Lives been used to the Extremities of Cold, etc. If there is not an extraordiary mortality of Cattle in Scotland this year the Lochaber and Glengary Deserters wont Starve. Im realy sorry for the loss your Clan has Sustained by the March of that Regiment but the M'Phersons that are in it would have deserted with the rest were they not too much Gentlemen Either to Steale or Starve." When Prince Charles Edward landed and raised his standard at Glenfinnan, Ewan Macpherson, younger of Cluny (it must be remembered that his father, the Chief, was still alive, and that he did not die till three months after the Battle of Culloden), had THE GENEALOGY OF CLUNY MACPHERSON 39 only just been granted a commission in Lord Loudon's regiment. As we have seen, Miss Cunningham in her Loyal Clans states that " his organisation of the Watch earned him the recognition of the Government," and Grant R. Francis (who was a personal friend of the late Albert Cameron Macpherson of Cluny and had access to documents not before revealed to · the public), in his book, The Romance of the White Rose falls into the same error when he states that " In consequence of this success Cluny was offered and accepted a Captaincy of an independent Coy. in Lord Loudon's regiment." The real truth was that the Government had never trusted Ewan Macpherson, or was jealous · of his undoubted growing influence, and Ewan, with no outlet for his energy and chafing at inactivity, had had to solicit a commission. This is shown in a letter written by Norman Macleod of Macleod to Ewan, under date '' London, Decbr 8th I 744," as follows : " Dear Sir, I received your last Post and am vastly Glad to know that you and Lady Clunie are well. You may be sure my Dear Sir that I would Frankly do all in my power to serve you both on your own acct. (for my people have always lyen under great obligations to you and yours) and on acct. of your being Maryed to the Daughter of my Relation and dear Friend. It will be in vain to attempt getting one of the Two Companies they Propose to raise because the thing is filled I believe already the D~ of Argyle has gott one of them for some Friend of his own name and the other I believe is intended for Macintosh. I beg to know if you will accept of a Lieutenancy in one of them If it Can be procured, it is no bad thing as you would be sure of a Companie on the first Vacancie. I will expect ane 3nswer in Course. My kind Compliments to your Lady and I am, Dear Clunie, Most Faithfully Yours, Normand Macleod. I cant for my Life Re~d or Recollect your F,irst name." · CHAPTER III CLUNY AND THE '45 So it must have been with the greatest dismay that Ewan heard of the Prince's landing, followed soon after by a personal letter from the Prince himself, dated from " Borodel, August ye 9th 17 45," in which he writes that " Being fully perswaded of your Loyalty and zeal for the King's service, I think fit to inform you that I am come into this country to assert his right, at the head of such of his faithfull subjects as will engage in his quarrel. I intend therefore to set up the Royale Standard at Glenfi~nen on Munday, the x9th instant. Your appearance on that occasion would be very usefull, but if not practicable I expect you to joyn me as soon as possible, and you shall always find me ready to give you. marks of my friend- ship. Charles, P. R." . At the same time Ewan received a. letter from Lord President Forbes warning him of the danger of joining .the_ Prince, assuring him that very few of the clans would rise and that Ewan would only be the means of destroying his clan should he join. Events happened very quickly after this. Ewan, whatever his own private inclinations were, was too much a man of honour to turn his coat so easily. He -.had, as an officer in Lord Loudon's regiment-of his own seeking too-taken the oath of allegiance to King George II, and he intended to stick to that oath. There is no doubt whatever about this, as will be subsequently shown. We are told, too, that his wife encouraged him in his intention to stick to his oath. But circumstances in the end proved too strong for him. Lochiel persuaded the Prince that, if Ewan had only some excuse to "save h~s face,." there would CL UNY AND THE '45 41 be no further hesitation on his part. And so accordingly a party of Highlanders under Dr Archibald Cameron, I .. ochiel's brother, suddenly came in on Cluny Castle one night at the end of August, and Ewan was taken prisoner. Mr Grant Francis states this was " a blind." I think the events which actually took place immediately preceding Ewan's arrest. and after he had been taken to Dalwhinnie will prove otherwise. As soon as Ewan had heard of the Prince's landing, he at once, as an officer in the de facto King's army, reported to General Cope at Ruthven. Cope, like most Englishmen of the time, did not appreciate the difference between the Chief (or, as in this case, Chief apparent) of an old Highland clan and a mere junior officer in a line regiment. Also he did not like Highlanders-.on principle. So Ewan was spoken to most discourteously and ordered to retur~ to Cluny Castle and await orders, recruiting, meantime, any men he could. There is no doubt Ewan must have rankled sorely at that treatment, and it speaks worlds for his sense of honour that he did not then and there throw in his lot with the :erince. But he did not-nay, more, even after he was captured, when he might easily have used such capture as a ·saving of his face, he still acted as an officer in King George's service, and conveyed to Duncan Forbes information of the movements and strength of the Prince's army. And, of all the strange circumstances, this fact was neyer brought to light until I 933, after Mr Grant Francis had written his book, and after Cluny Castle had passed forever from the possession of Ewan's descendants. In September of that year the compiler of these notes received a letter from Mr Dobie, the Keeper of Manuscripts of the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, in which the writer asked if there was any record at Cluny Castle of a letter written by Ewan to Lord President Forbes, .~ated 30th August 42 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON 1745, after his capture by the Camerons. The letter had only just been found in the leaves of an old book! Where it had been for nearly 200 years no one can say. And this is what the letter contained: "My Lord, I make no question but you have heard of my misfortune. It happen'd thus. In terms of Generali Cope's orders, I waited of him Munday last on his march over Drimmochter, and Tuesday (27th Augt) near to Ruthven, where he and Lord Loudon allow'd me to return horn that night. . . . I had near my number ready to march as order's, tho' severalls of them were not my attested men, but upon Wednesday by 5 in the afternoon, gote private account and I thought certain that the Highlanders had alter' d their root of Correyarrack and design'd march down the side of Lochness and intercept the Generall before he crossed the water of Nairn, whereof (I) that moment inform' d the Generall per express. This account in a few hours rang thorrow the country and was thorrowly credited, and I am now persuaded they actually design'd it, if they had not been inform'd the troops were to continue some days at Ruthven, which according to themselves was the only thing hurried them over Correyarrack Wednesday morning to attack them in this country, and thereupon stopp' d all communication from that vairt to us. '' Nor were they inform' d of Generall Cope's march from Ruthven till they were near Garvamore late, and then finding the Armie had march' d and that I was yet at Clunie (which indeed was fact and no apprehention of their approach) immediately order' d off a partie of six score of men and seas' d me twixt g and 10 of the clock that night in my own house, dreading no danger.' Those that were con­ vened of my company at my own desire dispens'd and continued so, except those as were related to or had any connection wt our neighbourhood. These join'd the Highlanders and-I have still their attestations, CLUNY AND THE 945· 43 they would not be above g or 10 in number. They carrie me prisoner along and does not seem inclin'd on any terms I'll yield dispense wt me. They were partly determin' d pursue and attack Generall Cope wherever they could come up wt him, but at a councell of war it carried, they march south on all expedition, where (believe themselves) the'll be w'tout loss of time strongly assisted. And indeed they have need, for they scearsly come up to two_ thousand, and many of them but indifferently arm' d. Lochiel makes near 800, and Cappoch about 240. Of Apines' men commanded by Arshiel, 240. 400 and upwards of Glengarrie's men (including Glenmorrison) com­ manded by Glengarrie's second son. Young Clan­ ranald is here wt. "I would continue correspondence wt your I ... op tho it be now attended wt more difficulty because of distance and my situation, which I hope you'll intimate to Generall Cope and my Lord Loudoun, as your Lop shall see seasonable. It was not in my power to write sooner, as I was still kept hurried and in company. I am, wt great regard, My Lord, Your Lop's most obedient humble Sert Evan McPherson. Dalchunnie, 30th August, 17 45, 3 afternoon. The Highlanders are to be this night at Dalnakardack." Here is a complete vindication of Ewan Macpherson. He tried to be true to his oath, even against his- clan's wishes and his own natural inclination. Force of circumstances were too strong-and once he did decide to throw in his lot with the Prince, never once did he waver, nor did the Prince have a truer or less self-seeking friend. Ewan's commission as Colonel in the Prince's army is dated 7th September 1745. Meanwhile Macintosh, who as we have seen by Macleod's letter was also an officer in King George's 44 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON service, was evidently hesitating at this time, as we find him writing to Ewan, protesting against the latter being put in command of Clan Chattan by the Prince and saying it was his intention to lead his own men (Appendix VII). Apparently prudence overcame his objections to seeing his rival taking what he considered to be his rightful place, for he remained in the Hanoverian army, although his clan, under his wife -the celebrated " Colonel Anne "-came out for the Prince. ·

THE MACPHERSONS DURING THE '45 RISING Immediately after Ewan had decided to join the he was sent back to Badenoch to enrol his clan and to get any further recruits he could -(Appendix VIII). It is interesting here to note that, while Ewan soon collected 300 of his clan, the largest and wealthiest cadet branch, the Macphersons of Invereshie, would not follow their Chief, and remained out of the conflict the whole time. After Culloden, when Cumberland was pursuing his butcheries­ butcheries probably unparalleled in the history of any civilised country-and when "suspects'' were being " smelt out," George McPherson of lnvereshie was specially" recommended for protection" by Mr Blair, the minister of the parish. Perhaps this can be accounted for, as also was the shameful and contemptible disloyalty and treachery to their Chief in I 672, when with the Macphersons of Pitmean they repudiated Duncan as their Chief to the Privy Council-" he nayther is nor ever was Chieffe ... but are descendit of Macintosh "-by the curious anomaly of having a Chief who was territorially much poorer than they were. This was certainly so in the lnvereshie case, who had· the happy propensity of marrying into money. And so this wealthy cadet probably chafed at having to obey - CLUNY AND THE ,-45 45 the orders of a Chief who-in 1672 at any rate-was not even owner of the land he lived on. Ewan must have apparently stayed too long in Badenoch-possibly because of this defection on the part of his clan, and probably hoping to be able to win them over-for he received an " express " from John Murray of Broughton, dated " Edinburgh, Oct ye 24th, 1745" as follows : " To Coll. McPherson of Cluny. Sir,-It's now a long time since you have been expected to join the Army either with or without the but to our great Surprise we are informed you returned to the Country to bring up more men. The 300 we are told are with you are now of more use than double their number can be of some time hence for which reason the Prince has ordered me to write you by express to march up with all dilligence to join him without waiting for the Duke. Should he make any further delay, which at the same time there is no reason to believe as the Prince has sent him_ express orders to march immediately upon Perth, I must again repeat to you that upon recept of this you may not delay an half hour and make as long marches as possible. There. are arms in plenty at Perth and Dunk~ld of which I suppose you have already had your share. I am with the. utmost impatience to see you. Your most Obedt and Most humble Servt.-· Jno. Murray." We next hear of the Clan at Preston pans, with 600 men, but until the retreat from Derby we know little. of the movements of the Macphersons, except that we know they were with the Prince's army in Edinburgh, through the Regimental Orders of the day. But at Clifton, on the retreat from Derby, the Macphersons were very much in evidence. They, with the Stewarts of and Glengarry, were in the rearguard under Lord George Murray when an 46 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON officer and footman of Cumberland's army were captured, and, from information gathered from these captives, Lord George decided to halt his rearguard and give battle, notwithstanding that Cumberland's force outnumbered his by four to one. We can do no better here than to quote the words of Captain John Macpherson of Strathmashie, as related to Bishop Forbes, when the latter was collecting his material for The Lyon in Mourning: "There came express orders to us," wrote Strathmashie, "from Lord George to return to Clifton immediately. But the position we were then in, in marching back towards Clifton, our regiment had the front, the Stewarts, commanded by Ardsheal, the centre; as formerly, and Glengarry the rear, and then we marched till we joined his Lordship at Clifton. Upon which he, on foot, together with our Colonel ( Cluny) at the head of our Regiment, marched from Clifton towards the enemy a little to the left, untill he planted us at the back of ane hedge not quite a gunshot, I think, from Clifton, the Appin battalion in the centre betwixt us and Glengarrie's, who lined a stone dyke to the right of Appin's. In this posture we continued for some minutes, prepared to receive the enemy, and by this time it was quite night upon us ; and the Generall, finding it proper that we should break our then situation by penetrating through our hedge, and advancing therefrom to another that was situate in a hollow halfway betwixt us and the enemy, we being both on eminences, and this hollow inter­ jected through the hedge we made our way with the help of our durks, the prictes being very uneasy, I assure you, to our loose tail'd lads. But before we brake through his lordship, suspecting that we might be met with on our way to the other hedge, said to our Colonel, ' Cluny, if such will happen, I'll attack on the right of your Regiment, and doe you the same on the left of it, and we'll advance soe, CLUNY AND THE '45 47 if you approve of it.' To which Cluny readily answered he was very well satisfied to attack when his lordship pleased. " The disposition thus made, when with great rapidity we were makeing our way towards the other hedge. The advanced parties of the enemy, being dismounted dragoons, met us full in the teeth, who fire upon us, which they scarcely did when they were answered with the little we had without ever as much as stoping to doe it, but goeing on in our rapid way ; by which it soe happened they soon turned their backs to us. The General, how soon we had given our little fire, ordered us to dr~w our broad swords, which was readily done, and then we indeed fell to pell-mell with them. But the poor swords suffered much, as there were no less of 14 of them broke on the dragoons' skull caps (which they all had) before it seems. the better way of doing their business was found out. Among those swords there was one given by the K-g in 1715 to a gentleman of this country with this inscription : With this good sword thy cause I will maintain, And for thy sake, 0 James, I'll breathe each vein. The gentleman's son, who got it, left it at Clifton, excepting the hilt and less than a foot of the blade, which I believe he takes care still to keep for the sake of the giver. However, as for broadswords, we got plenty, as, in place of 14, the broken ones, our men took noe less than 50 from the dead dragoons in their return, which, it seems, was all the plunder they regarded. What the number of their slain might have been, I cannot really say but . . . I can assure you there lay heaps of them in a ditch ... and as for the field it was pretty well covered. . . On our side . . . haveing lqst but one sergeant and 2 private men. It is true . ~ . 1 o or I 1 of our people were taken and delivered to the enemy, who sent them to 48 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON York Castle, where they remained prisoners for many months, and were in the end sent to the Planta- t1ons.. . . . ''

In a MS. written by Cluny himself,• he states that they were opposed to 600 dragoons. In his account he states that he had twelve men and a serjeant killed on the spot .and three private men wounded. And he goes on to state that the country people stated that Cumberland lost 150 of his men killed and a great number wounded. In this battle, in accordance with their usual custom, the Hanoverian horsemen wore iron skull caps, which some of the Macphersons had not realised, as they afterwards declared that, '' although they wielded their swords with all their might, the skulls ·of the Englishmen were so thick that they could scarcely cut through them ! " The sword given by King James VIII, referred to in Strathmashie's narrative, was presented to Robert Macpherson of Dalraddy for distinguished services in the '15. That sword was carried at Clifton by his son, Lewis Macpherson, who was married to a sister of Ewan, younger of Cluny. The family, an off-shoot of Invereshie, had acquired Dalraddy some generations before, and are styled " of Dalraddy " in the valuation rolls for 1644 and 1691. Sir George l\,facpherson-Grant, Bart., the present ·representative of the Dalraddy family, possesses the hilt of the sword, with the small portion of the blade remaining after the sword was broken on the skull cap of one of Cumberland's dragoons. The next action in which Ewan and his men took part was the , where they fought side by side with the Macintoshes. After Falkirk, young Cluny was sent in advance of the army with a commission of fire and sword (Appendix IX), to beat up for recruits. In January 1746 a series of attacks were made on several posts CLUNY AND THE '45 , 49 in the Atholl country garrisoned by Cumberland's troops.- The attacking parties were composed entirely of Atholl men led by Lord George Murray and a body of the Macphersons under Cluny's command. So well were the plans of attack concerted that, although the operations lay in a rugged country, full of mountains, the different detachments met punctually at the places of rendezvous at the times appointed. Within two hours of one night no less than twenty detached, strong and defensible posts, held by the enemy, were successfully surprised and captured.. _ In his Sketches of the Highlanders, General Stewart of Garth says of this feat : " I know not if the whole of the Peninsular campaigns exhibited a more perfect execution of a complicated piece of military service." In another account given by Strathmashie, the special purpose for which Cluny's regiment was detailed after the Battle of Falkirk is explained. "When the rest of the Army marched to Inverness," he wrote, "we were left in Badenoch to intercept or prevent any incursions of the enemy the Highland way, which, if not taken care of, might be of bad consequences. Sometime after the Army lay at Inverness, Lord George Murray wrote from thence to Cluny, shewing that he intended to surprize the Athole garrisons, and in order thereto would march to Badenoch with the Athole men, from which, joined by Cluny's regiment, he was resolved to make his attacks. Upon receipt of this letter, Cluny found a very principal obstacle likely to obstruct the success of the enterprize, which was the communication betwixt Athole and Badenoch,\ and which, if not secured so as to stop the least notice from going to Athole, the whole design must prove abortive ; and, to secure that communication for noe less than a fortnight, that must have been taken before the design could be ripe for execution, seemed no less than impracticable, considering the long, wide, D 50 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON and open tract of hill that lay interjected betwixt both countries .... Towards Athole on- the second day after Lord George with the Athole men arrived in Badenoch, he with them and us marched : and that same night after travelling, most of us, 30 miles through hill and storm, being regularly divided and detached, the Athole men and we mixed in every party at one and the same time, if I well remember, between 12 at night and 2 in the morning, making our attacks at 5- different places, namely, Bunrannoch, Kynachan, Blairphettie, Lood, and Mr M'Glashan in Blair, his house, betwixt which and Bunrannoch there is no less than Io miles. In all of which attacks we had the good fortune to succeed to our minds, excepting Mr M'Glashan's house, those therein having deserted it before our party ordered there had come up. We killed and wounded many ... and made about 300 prisoners, without loseing one man, tho' briskly fired upon at the first three mentioned places. In short, they were all, to a man, taken dead or alive, tho' well covered and fortified. This was, indeed, a cheap and not to be expected success, considering their advantageous situation besides ours, and was no doubt principally owing to the extraordinary care taken in securing the communications I have been speaking of befdre, by which means we took them, indeed, much at unawares. All the prisoners were of the Campbell Militia and Loudoun's Regiment, excepting a few of the regulars that were taken at Lood." After the capture of these posts Cluny was sent back to the task of guarding the passes near Ruthven. It was not until the night of the I 4th April I 746 that word reached the Macphersons in Badenoch that they were to join the Prince immediately, as a battle was pending-the fateful Culloden. At the time Cluny was himself in Inverness, and he sent an· express messenger to his clan, telling them to repair with the utmost speed· to Inverness. The clan, scattered all CL UNY AND THE ~ 45 over Badenoch, was hurriedly gathered together, and although they could not have left Badenoch till the forenoon of the 15th April, they were actually only six miles from Culloden by noon of the 16th.* Here they were met by Cluny himself who, realising that the men would be unfit for a fight after marching all the previous day and night and half that day, had refreshments prepared for them while they made a brief halt. They had scarcely resumed their march, headed by the celebrated " Bratach U aine "-about which an old witch is said to have warned Cumberland that if it reached the field of battle before the fight he would lose, as it was a notorious fact that never yet had the Macphersons fought a losing fight with it at their head-when the first lot of fugitives were encountered fleeing from Culloden (see Appendix X). Hence the poignant regret expressed in the lines by Colonel John Roy Stewart, the warrior poet of the' 45 : Clann-Mhuirich nam buadh ! Iad-san uile bhi bhuainn, Gur he-e m'iomadan truagh ra leughadh; a rather poor translation of which would be : Clann Mhuirich of might ! When dire was our plight, Would you'd been there to aid us. * In a letter from Strathmashie to Forbes (" Lyon in Mourning") he writes : " In the end we were called to Inverness with the Army on which we left it (Blair) and travelled back to Badenoch, where our regiment was left for the reasons formerly given till the Monday next before the fatall Wednesday, on the evening of which· Munday we receaved orders by express from our Colonel, who was at Inverness, to repair with utmost expedition to the Army, as an engagement with D-e of C-d was hourly expected. Tho the express arrived only on Munday, and the men were quite scattered, we got together, and marched with such expedition as to arrive at DuLMAGERRY be 12 o'clock, the 16th April, with 2 or 300 more of a force than we brought (into) the field since the commencement of that affair, this Dulmagerry being noe more than twixt 5 or 6 miles from the fatall Culloden. There we met. our Colonel who had prepared a refresh­ ment for the men, after taking of which, and beginning to march forward, the dismal news of the fate of that day met us." 52· THE Cl-IIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON For nine long years after this Cluny (his father had died in July 1746) led the life of a hunted fugitive in his own country. The Government was especially eager that he should be captured, and a reward of £1000 was placed on his head. For two whole years a force of Government troops camped in the neigh­ bourhood of Cluny Castle (long gone up in flames) under the command of young Hector Munro who, added to the incentive of the reward and promotion, was anxious to avenge the death of his two kinsmen who were killed at Falkirk. At first Cluny had intended to take refuge in France with the other Jacobite leaders, but he was specially asked to remain in Scotland by the Prince,* chiefly so as to be custodian of the famous Loch Arkaig treasure, which Cluny disbursed from time to time to aid distressed High­ landers. His reward for this was· that he, together with Dr Archibald Cameron, was suspected of having used it to his own account. Even as recently as 1937 an article appeared in an old and reputable monthly magazine, in which Cluny was named as being suspect of this. The actual truth, and the complete vindication of Cluny and Dr Cameron was revealed by Mr Grant R. Francis in his book, The Romance of the White Rose (Appendix XI). To narrate Cluny's numerous adventures in those nine years would occupy a book in itself. At first he hid in a cave on the side of the precipitous Creag Dhub­ the hill from which the war cry of the clan is taken-· overlooking Lochan Ovie. The cave is still there and can still be entered.t Later he moved to Ben Alder by Loch Ericht. It was here he sheltered Prince Charlie for several weeks before he set sail for France, after his return from his wanderings in the Isles.

* Charles asked Cluny to remain in Scotland " as the only person in whom he could repose the greatest confidence." t In September 1946 it was entered by Ewan, youngest son of the compiler, who found it to be about 26 ft. long, and very dry. . CLUNY AND THE ~45 53 The hiding place has been immortalised by Robert Louis Stevenson in his book Kidnapped. The descrip­ tion Stevenson gives there of Cluny is the only one we have of him. It is worth repeating: "He was mightily plainly habited . . . and smoked a foul cutty pipe. For all that he had the manners of a King, and it was quite a sight to see him rise out of his place to welcome us. . . . Stripped by the late Act of Parliament of legal powers, he still exercised a patriarchal justice in his clan. Disputes were brought to him in his hiding-hole to be decided ; and the men of his country, who would have snapped their fingers at the Court of Session, laid aside revenge and paid down money at the bare word of this forfeited and hunted outlaw. When he was angered, which was often enough, he gave his commands and breathed threats of punishment like any king; and his gillies trembled and crouched like children before a hasty father. With each of them, as he entered, he ceremoniously shook hands, -~ both parties touching their bonnets at the same time in a military manner. Altogether, I had a fair chance to see the inner workings of a Highland clan, and this with a proscribed fugitive Chief; his country conquered-; the troops riding upon all sides in quest of him, and when the least of the ragged fellows whom he rated and threatened could have made a fortune by betraying him." Beyond this we have no other description of Cluny-no portrait or painting of him.* We are told that when Prince Charlie first met Cluny at Ben Alder, when he would have kneeled,

* Murray of Broughton, the Prince's Secretary, described Cluny as " a · man of low stature, very square, of extreme good sense and inferior to none in the north of Scotland for capacity, greatly beloved by his clan, who are by all their neighbours allowed to be a sober, regular, sedate people. A man not only brave in the general acceptation of the word, but upon reflection and forethought determined and resolute with uncommon calmness." 54 Tf.tE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON the Prince prevented him, kissing him and saying, "I am sorry, Cluny, you and your regiment were not at Culloden. I did not hear till of very late that _you was so near to have come up with us that day." That was the only allusion Prince Charlie ever made (o Cluny's absence on that fatal day. It was a Macpherson who eventually guided the Prince to where the French ship lay that was to take him away-one Alexander,-son ofBenjamin Macpherson in Gallovie. And we know who were in Cluny's " Cage " on Ben Alder with the Prince-Lochiel, Loch­ garry, Dr Cameron (Lochiel' s brother), Macpherson of Breakachie, one Allan Cameron (Lochiel's servant), and four of Cluny's servants: , his pip.er ; Paul Macpherson, his horse-keeper ; Murdoch Macpherson (whom the Prince called Murik, and who with Paul could speak no English) and Duncan Macpherson, and Cluny's youngest brother, Donald. It was not until 1754 that the Prince sent orders to Cluny to repair to France. By this time the French King had become lukewarm in the Prince's cause, and there was no commission to be had in the French Army for that latecomer as there had been for the other Jacobite leaders. His wife and his two children having joined Cluny at Dunkirk in May 1757, he died there on 31stJanuary 1764. At the express wish of his wife he was buried in the Garden of the Carmelites quietly, in preference to a funeral with full military honours. Just before sailing for France, while on board the ship which conveyed him there, the Prince wrote the following letter to Cluny :

" Macpherson of Clunie. As we are sensible of your clan's fidelity and integrity to us during our adventures in Scotland and England in the year 1745 and 1746, in recovering our just rights from the CLUNY AND THE '45 55 Elector of Hanover, by which you have sustained very great losses, both in your interest and person, I therefore promise when it shall please God to put it in my power to make a gratefull return sutable to your sufferings. " Diralagich in Glencamyier of Locharkag, 8th Sept. 1746. Charles, P. R." During all the years in which Cluny was a fugitive and his lands forfeited, his loyal clansmen paid double rents-one to the Government Commissioners and one to their Chief. Very often, though, a clansman was late in paying his rent to the Government, and so in this manner many a Macpherson became dispossessed of his land and one of another name put in his place. CHAPTER IV THE POST '45 CHIEFS

THE 19TH CHIEF Duncan, the only son of Ewan of the '45, was born after Culloden, when his father- was moving about from one hiding place to another. He was born in a corn-kiln, where his mother was sheltering, in 1748, and was in consequence ever after described as " Duncan of the Kiln." The part of the estate where Duncan was born lies just below the hill on which Cluny Castle is situated, and where the present gardens are-a little to the left of th.em. The buildings are no longer in use, having been condemned some years ago as unfit for human habitation. Duncan's early youth must have been passed in great poverty, as his mother had only a small farm on which she eked a frugal sustenance for herself and Duncan and his elder sister, Margaret, assisted by an annuity from her mother's people, the Frasers. One of the earliest records we have of Duncan is a letter written when he was about 12 years of age to his uncle, Simon Fraser (of" Catriona " fame), elder son of Lord Lovat of the '45, who was beheaded. The letter is worth copying as an example of composition. The handwriting too is exqusite, and is as follows : " Honoured Uncle. Your . thinking of such a little fellow as I, in procuring me so distinguished an appointment, is a thing which must impress my mind, and the minds of all my friends, with such esteem, regard, and affection for you, as can never be cancelled. I shall endeavour to qualify myself for this station; but must beg of you to obtain for me a considerable furlough, that in process of time I may be able to appear with some advantage at the head of a Company. And give me leave to 56 .THE POST· '45 CHIEFS 57 assure you that I shall never be wanting in duty, attachments, and affection, to our good and gracious King, from ·whose hands I have early received this favour, nor to you by whose interest I got it. I am, honoured Uncle, Your affectionate Nephew, Duncan Macpherson. Inverness, 27th Oct. 1761. To the Honourable Colonel Fraser, at London." Simon Fraser, Duncan's uncle, had managed to escape the fate of his father, Lord Lovat, though he had been at first imprisoned and his estates forfeited. He first became famous in Portugal, where he had distinguished himself as a Brigadier in the King of Portugal's Army. After the first flush of resentment against the Jacobite leaders had died down, Simon Fraser offered to raise a regiment from amongst his clan for the Government, and so raised the famous 71st Fraser Highlanders. It was this regiment in which Simon. Fraser had offered his nephew, Duncan Macpherson, an Ensignship, and the above letter was Duncan's reply. Later on, the 71 st was dis banded, and Simon Fraser, having his estates restored to him in 177 5, raised the second regiment of Fraser High­ landers, which was then numbered the 78th. Duncan Macpherson served as a captain with the 71st in the American War of Independence, and was taken prisoner for some time. In a letter written by Duncan Macpherson to Colonel Stewart of Garth, dated 9th June 18 I 7, barely two months before his death, he gave a most interesting account of the 71st. "They were raised in 1775," he wrote, "in the short space· of three months, and consisted of 2 battalions of 1000 rank and file each. The men were all from Scotland, and chiefly from the Highlands-not surprising when I inform you there were no less than 7 Chiefs in. the regiment: Lovat, Lochiel, Macleod, Mackintosh, Chisolm, Lamont, and your humble servant, all of 58 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON whom brought 100 men to the regiment. They got no drilling before they embarked ... they had only one fortnight's drilling at Staten Island before they were engaged with the enemy, and upon all occasions . . . that part of the enemy opposed to us always gave way.... Out of 2200 men, only 175 men came home alive, and I got the out-pension for most of them, being at that time a Colonel in the 3rd Regiment of Guards." In his History of the Highlands, Browne mentions when in 1779 the 71 st was employed in an enterprise against Boston Creek, a strong position defended by 3000 men, protected by a deep swamp in front, with only a narrow causeway as an approach, each flank having nearly impenetrable thick woods, Lt.-Colonel Duncan Macpherson was directed to march the 71st upon the front of this position to dislodge the enemy • . . and after a short resistance the enemy was over­ powered. When still only a Captain, Duncan Macpherson, his estates still forfeited to the country, must have been in dire straits, as there is a letter extant of his, written to the Commissioners of the forfeited estates, as follows : " The Petition of Captn. Duncan McPherson of the 63rd Regiment of Foot, only son of Evan McPherson, late of Clunie, Humbly Sheweth "That at the time of the late unhappy Rebellion, for his accession to which the Petitioner's Father had the misfortune to be attainted, The petitioner was a Child, and he, his Mother, and Sister were left in a destitute Situation, and had nothing to support them but his Mother's small Jointure which was not exigible till the death of her husband, and which happened many years after the fforfeiture. But the Barons of Exchequer in Compassion with their misfortune was pleased to continue the petitioner's Mother in possession of the Mains of Clunie and Pendicle of K ylarchill, for payment of a rent of £20 Sterling besides the .THE l>OS't '45 CHIEFS 59 Stipend payable to the Minister of the parish. The Tennents of the Estate of Clunie were bound to perform Certain Services to the possessor of the Mains ; for which the petitioner's Mother paid a yearly rent of £5, 11s. 1d. sterling over and above the Rent payable for the Mains. "Upon the death of the petitioner's Mother they were deprived of her J ointure, and he and his sister had nothing to support them but the small profites arising from the ffarm. It was on that account his Majesty was graciously pleased to give the Petitioner a Captain's Commission in the Army, and for the same reason the Barons of Exchequer were pleased to Continue the petitioner in possession of the ffarm, which he has enjoyed since his Mother's Death. . . . May it therefore please the Honourable Board to Grant to the petitioner a Lease for fforty one years of the mains of -Clunie and pendicle of K ylarchill for a Rent of £20 yea.rly Sterling, and in the Lease to Discharge the Servitude which the possessors of the aird and Miltown of Clunie pretend to have upon the low part of the mains of Clunie." This petition was made out in December 1772. In 1 784, owing chiefly to the unremitting efforts and loyalty of James Macpherson, the translator of Ossian, and ancestor of the late Chas. Brewster Macpherson of Balavil, the estates were restored to Duncan Macpherson. They had actually been offered by the Government to James Macpherson, an offer he most loyally and generously refused, and not only did he refuse but he never ceased to use all his influence to have the estates restored to his Chief, which they eventually were. An account of the rejoicing in Badenoch and of the bonfires lighted throughout the district was given in Thornton's Sporting Tour. Colonel Thornton was an Englishman who was doing a tour of Britain at the time-on sport bent. 60 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON After the restoration of the estates to Cluny, they were administered by Lachlan Macpherson of Ralia, and it was very largely owing to his loyalty and perspicacity that the estates reached the dimensions they had attained on the succession of Ewen, Duncan of Cluny's eldest son. In a great adjustment of marches in 1790, Lachlan showed himself superior to the astute William Tod, the Gordon Factor, and managed to get nearly 20,000 acres in the heart of Benalder forest in exchange for a plough of K ylarchill and some grazing rights in the Braes of Spey. Duncan Macpherson of Cluny married in I 798, * Catherine, daughter of Sir Ewen Cameron of Fassifern, father of the famous Colonel John Cameron of .Fassifern, who was killed at Quatre Bras. He had four sons: ( 1) Ewen, born 24th April 1804, who succeeded as Chief; (2) Ewen Cameron, born 1806, who became a Lieutenant in the 48th Regiment Bengal Native Infantry, and d. s.p. 1832 ; (3) Archibald Fraser, born 13th December 1807, a Lieut.-Colonel in the Madras Army who died unmarried 25th May 1877 ; (4) John Cameron, Lieut.-Colonel the Black Watch, born 24th June 1809 who married, in 1852, Mary Popham, eldest daughter of the Rev. Richard Walton White, Rector of Wotton, Isle of Wight, and had a son, Duncan, born 29th May 1853. Duncan became a Captain in the Royal Navy, married 21st September 1899, Edith, daughter of Captain Arthur de Capell Brooke of Luddington Hall, and died 19th February 1923, leaving with other issue a son, Francis Cameron, who is married and has two daughters.· * He was married before, when, as a prisoner of war in America, he met and married the daughter of a Jamaican planter, who had interests in America, and who was also fighting there. His young wife died at the birth of a daughter, and the child was taken to her mother's relations in Jamaica and brought up there, marrying herself in later years and begetting a family. DUNCAN "OF THE KILN" l\1ACPHERSON OF CLUNY, 19TH CHIEF From a miniature in the possession of the compiler

" OLD CLUNY "-EWEN MACPHEifmN OF CtUNY, C.B. 20TH CHIEF

THE POST ~ 45 CHlEFS 61 Duncan Macpherson of Cluny died on 1st August 1817, and was buried in the private burial ground at Cluny Castle.

THE 20TH CHIEF Ewen, who succeeded his father, "Duncan of the Kiln,'' as Chief, was married on the 20th December 1832, to Sa.rah Justina, the youngest daughter of Henry Davidson of Tulloch. He had four sons-Duncan, born 9th October 1833 ; Ewen. Henry Davidson, born 1836; George Gordon, born 1842 ; and Albert Cameron, . born 1854. Of these sons all succeeded in turn as Chief, except the third son, George Gordon who, attaining the rank of Captain in the Coldstream Guards, was disinherited by his father, after having got into heavy debt, which debts his father paid for him by breaking the entail and selling a large part of the estates extending from Ardverikie to Dalchully and the forest land of Benalder.. George Gordon Macpherson had married, first in 1869, Bertha, daughter of M. H. Marsh, M.P., by whom he had an only daughter, Georgina, who married in 1897 Sir George Miller­ Cunningham of Innerleithen and had one son and one daughter. By a second marriage to Beatrice Kerr, Captain George Gordon Macpherson had a son, Ewen George, born 5th July 1891, his father having died before his birth on 30th June of that year. On succeeding to the Chiefship, Ewen resigned a captaincy in the Black Watch in order to attend to the many duties. In his time was revived all the prestige and pageantry of the Chief of an old and powerful Highland clan, so much so that at his death he was described as " the last of the Highland Chiefs," and looking back now, over fifty years after his death, the words seem even more true than they may have appeared to be at the time. For never since then has any Highland Chief been looked up to so universally 62 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACl>F.t:ERSON as a great Chief as " Old Cluny "-as he was always called-was in his time. A contemporary has told the author of these "Sketches" that, on the occasion when " Old Cluny " visited Edinburgh, his progress down the streets was always heralded by curtsies from the women and doffed hats from the men-so well was he known and respected. He always lived on his estates ; in his time there were no evictions of any tenant ; he was the father of his " family " in truth, remembering that the word "clan" literally means "family." He spoke the Gaelic as his mother. tongue-alas ! how many chiefs of this day can make this boast? In fact, to quote the words of the great painter, Sir Noel Paton, on the occasion of Old .Cluny's golden wedding in 1882, " this splendid old man, who, born to a position higher than any mere titled or landed position could bestow, had the merit of recognising and, through a long life, nobly fulfilling the duties imposed upon him by that position." As a boy, Sir Walter Scott described him as "a fine spirited boy, fond of his people and kind to them, and the best dancer of a Highland reel now living" (Appendix XII). When the Volunteer Force was first formed Cluny became Lieut.-Colonel of the Inverness-shire Highland Rifle Volunteers. As such, although at the time in his seventy-eighth year, he attended the famous " Wet Review" in Edinburgh in 1881, and, despite the frightful weather, kept the head of his regiment, disdaining even the use of his plaid as protection. Riding down Princes Street the sturdy old Chief was specially singled out for rounds of cheering. Professor Blackie wrote thus of him : " He is the genuine type of the old Scottish Chief: the Chief who loves his people and speaks the language of the people, and lives on his property and delights in old traditions, in old servants, in old services, and old kindly usages of all kinds." ANGUS MACPHERSON, playing a McCrimmon Lament on board the yacht from Dunvegan Castle, , on the way to take part in the McCrimmon Memorial Service on 2nd August 1933. Angus Macpherson was one of Cluny's pipers, as were his father­ in-law (Ross), brother, father and grandfather. He is considered one of the greatest exponents of piping, and recently was one of the judges at the Royal Gathering in September 1946. He owns Inveran Hotel, Invershin.

THE POST '45 CHIEFS In his Highland dress, wearing, as he always did, his bonnet surmounted by the three eagle feathers of a chief, with his erect, athletic figure, Cluny carried with him a flavour of the olden times, a mingled homeliness and courtesy and dignity. When Queen Victoria paid her first visit to the Highlands in August 184 7, she and the Prince Consort, with the Prince of Wales and Princess Royal, stayed at Ardverikie, and, accompanied by Cluny, she visited Cluny Castle and inspected the many Jacobite relics there (Appendix XIII). In her diary the Queen mentions her first meeting Cluny Macpherson and his " three dear little boys." The youngest of those boys, George Gordon, she afterwards made one of her Pages of Honour. Queen Victoria was charmed with Badenoch and wished to purchase Ardverikie from Cluny, but unfortunately (for some years later, as we have seen, Cluny was compelled to sell) he would not sell it. What a difference to the Western Highlands (and to the present condition of affairs of Cluny estate) had Ardverikie, instead ofBalmoral, been a Royal residence to-day! Forty years after this meeting Queen Victoria bestowed on Cluny the Order of the Bath. He died at Cluny Castle on I I th January 1885 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Duncan.

THE 21ST CHIEF Duncan, who married Emmeline, daughter of Major-General Harris of the Bengal Army, was Chief. for barely one year. He had a most distinguished career. Joining the Black Watch as Ensign, eventually rising to be a Lieut.-Colonel in the regiment, Duncan, like his father, had the distinction of the Order of the Bath being conferred on him. As a captain he took part in the Indian Mutiny and was at Cawnpore and Lucknow. It was at the latter engagement 64 THE CHIEFS . OF CLAN . MACPHERSON that an incident took place which is related in Cromb's Highland Regiments, and which is worth repeating here. "Just before the action commenced an incident occurred which is worth remembering, chiefly because of the persons concerned. Serving, the one in the 42nd and the other in the 93rd, were two brothers, both young men, and the· sons of Cluny Macpherson, a Highland Chieftain, than whom no man in Scotland bore a more justly honoured name. These were Capt. Duncan Macpherson of the Black Watch and Lieutenant Ewen Macpherson of the 93rd. Duncan was going first into action with the 42nd, and turning to his brother, he took off his finger rings, watch, and other trinkets he wore, and handing them over, he said: 'Here, Ewen, take these. If I come out of this all right I'll get them back from you ; if I don't, they are yours.' Both came safely out of the engagement and out of the war ; and, zealously pursuing their military career, singularly each lived to command. the regiment in which he then served -the former being the distinguished officer who led the Black Watch over the trenches at Tel-el-Kebir, while at the same date the latter was Lieut.-Colonel of the 93rd. "Duncan, in this engagement, led his company with such dash against the Martiniere that Sir David Baird, watching from the rear with his fie]d glasses, called out 'Well done, Cluny.' The next day, after the capture of the Martiniere, a private who kept notes of his recollections of the campaign wrote that the following night, as he approached a big bungalow, the hearts of himself and his comrades were cheered by the sound of the bagpipes playing a foursome reel. They went up to the building and looked in and saw 'four or five sets dancing with all their might, Captain l\1acpherson and Sir David Baird footing it amongst the rest.' " Duncan was with the 42nd throughout the EWEN HENRY DAVIDSON MACPHERSON OF CLUNY, 22ND CHIEF This photo was taken specially for those of the Clan who assembled at Cluny Castle on 25th May 1895 to tender their allegiance.

THE POST '45 CHIEFS · Rohilcund campaign, taking part in the severe engage­ ments of Fort Rooyah, .Allygunge, and Bareilly. In June 1865, he became Major and commanded his regiment, with that rank, in the advance on Amoaful and Coomassie. He was hit twice, one shot passing through his leg, but he refused to go to the rear, and, supported by a stick, he led his men into Amoaful. "Nothing," said Sir Garnet Wolseley in his official report, " could have exceeded the admirable conduct of the 42nd, on whom fell the hardest share of the work. As Colonel McLeod was in command of the left column, this regiment was led by Major Macpherson, who was twice wounded." For this, Duncan was promoted to the rank of Brevet-Colonel and received the Companionship of the Bath. . In the Egyptian campaign of 1882, Duncan Macpherson commanded the 42nd, which culminated in the magnificent attack on Tel-el-Kebir, in which he actually led his regiment across the trenches . . His period of active service over, Duncan, on retirement, was appointed to the command of the 42nd Regimental District at .Perth, which he re­ linquished on the death of his father. Worn out by his long years of service, however, Duncan did not long survive his father, and he died at Cluny Castle on 3rd October 1886, and was buried there. He had served for upwards of thirty years in the Black Watch. Leaving no issue, he was succeeded by his brother, Ewen.

THE 22ND CHIEF Colonel Ewen Henry Davidson Macpherson of Cluny had as distinguished a military career as his elder brother. The following is his record, as shown in The Historical Records of the 93rd : " Ensign, 3rd November 1854 ; Lieutenant, 9th February 1855_; · served with the .fegjment in the E 66 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Crimea from 14th July 1855, including the siege and fall of Sebastapol ; also in the Indian Mutiny, including the Relief of Lucknow, operations at Cawnpore and battle of the 6th Dec. 1857; pursuit to Serai Ghat; action of the Kala, N uddee ; siege and fall of Lucknow, campaign in Oude, and attack on Fort Mittowlie. Became Captain 13th May 1859; was aide-de-camp to the Lieut.-Governor of Bengal from 1st June 1859 to 31st May 1862. Served in the Eusofzai campaign of 1863, under Sir John Garvock. Brevet-Major 5th July 1872 ; Major, 29th Oct. 1873 ; and Lieut.­ Colonel commanding 1st Batt., January 1879. Lieut .... Col. E. H. D. Macpherson has the Crimea Medal and Clasp, Turkish Medal, Indian Medal, with two Clasps, and· the Frontier Medal with Clasp for Umbeyla." After relinquishing his command of the 93rd, Ewen commanded the 1st· Regimental District, "The Royal Scots," and was Brigadier-General of the Highland Volunteer Brigade. The following is an extract from a letter to him from Field-Marshal H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge:- " Horse Guards, War Office, 24th Aug. 1892. Sir, I have the satisfaction to acquaint you that Her Majesty the Queen has been pleased to approve of your receiving from the grant for Distinguished and Meritorious Service an allowance of £100 per annum, from the 20th July, 1892, inclusive.-! am, Sir, yours, George." In Ewen's time occurred the last occasion in which a Highland clan has gathered to swear allegiance to its Chief. (Since writing this, the Camerons have gathered at Achnacharry-in 1938-to tender their allegiance to Lochiel.) On this occasion the clan gathered at Cluny Castle to swear· their allegiance. To commemorate. this event a medal was. struck, · TH·E POST -'-45 CHIEFS with the following inscription: "To commemorate the visit of Clan Chattan to Cluny Castle, to tender their allegiance and loyalty to Cluny Macpherson, as the Chief and the Head of their Clan. 25th May 1895." * Ewen married on 10th June 1897, Mary, eldest daughter of the Rev.John Cyril Stacey, of Cheltenham. His wife died in April I goo and, stricken with grief, she was followed on 18th August of the same year by her husband. On the death of Ewen, the 22nd Chief, without any children, his youngest brother Albert Cameron, succeeded him as L·aird of Cluny, and was always looked upon as Chief by the Clan. He never, however, called himself Chief, and never wore the three eagle feathers in his bonnet, as had his father and brothers before him. Neither did he ever sign himself" Cluny," but merely with his territorial title " of Cluny." Nevertheless, Albert Cameron was Chief de facto, his nephew, Ewen George, being in Australia and having no rights to the estate of Cluny, his. father having been disinherited. Trained as a stockbroker, Albert Cameron never practised his profession, and was actually about to leave for Ceylon to take up tea planting when his brother Ewen died. Educated at Harrow School, he married, on 15th April 1882, Frances Eliza Rainsford, eldest daughter of the Rev. Henry Addington, of Bedford.

* The compiler's love for all pertaining to his clan was first aroused when, as a very small boy, he accompanied his father on a visit to this Chief. To this day he can remember the thrill he experienced when, waking his first morning to the sound of the pipes, he rushed to his bedroom window, and saw the Chief's three pipers marching to and fro in front of the Castle. To-day, a son of one of those pipers, Angus Macpherson of Invershin, son-in-law also to Ross, Cluny's chief piper, and piper himself to the last resident Chief of Cluny, is always in request to judge at piping contests, and was one of the judges at the recent Royal Braemar Gathering in September 1946. 68 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON By this marriage there was only a daughter, Frances Eva Marjorie, who married, first, on 8th July 1908, Donald Ninian Nicol, of the Scots Guards, by. which marriage she had two children: Millicent Frances, who married Captain Dundas, of the Black Watch, and Donald Ninian, who is a Major in the same regiment. On the death of her first husband Mrs Nicol married Maclachlan of Maclahlan, 23rd Chief of that clan. Albert Cameron, though trained as a stockbroker, was a most unbusinesslike man, and the estates, which his elder brother Ewen had most carefully nurtured, soon became heavily involved. In 1928, in an attempt to ease matters, he sold most of the Jacobite relics in Cluny Cast]e, including the targe Prince Charlie used in Edinburgh.* Living a good deal of his time as well in London helped to hasten the crash which came at his death. He died in January 1932 and was followed shortly after (22nd October 1934) by his widow. The estates then passed into. the hands of a judicial factor-who administered them for the bond holders-and are for sale.t Albert Cameron is succeeded in the Chiefship by his nephew, Ewen George, son of Captain George Gordon Macpherson. He is the 24th Chief, and lives at Adelaide in South Australia. He was educated at Rossal School. During the Great War he returned home from Australia and served in the Scots Greys. He married in 1933, Rhoda, daughter of Charles Scrutton, of Port Darwin, and has a daughter, Ana Rose, born 7th August 1934. In this Second Great World War he served in Australia with the Royal Australian Artillery. * The purchaser paid £4000 for it, and later presented it to the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries in Edinburgh. t Cluny Castle was sold to Capt. Lindsay of Buckinghamshire, in 1943. EWEN GEORGE MACPHERSON OF CLUNY, 24TH CHIEF OF CLAN MACPHERSON As A Y ouNG Boy Educated at Rossal School, he was intended for the Army, but on failing to qualify for Sandhurst, and the estates of Cluny having been disentailed by his grandfather, " Old Cluny" he emigrated to Australia. Of an adventurous spirit, he went to the wildest parts of that country-the Northern Territory-where he was engaged in buffalo shooting, and in horse breaking and cattle work on the big cattle stations. He was also a good amateur boxer. Serving in the First \Vor1d War as a trooper in the Scots Greys, he was offered a Commission, but refused it. In World War No. 2, Cluny offered his services at once to go overseas with the Australian Imperial Forces, but disability owing to severe wounds received in the first war prevented his acceptance, and he was finally posted for duty with the 4th Garrison Battalion.

PART II THE CENTURIES OLD CON­ TROVERSY

CHAPTER V THE CHIEFSHIP OF CLAN CHATTAN THIS subject is so controversial that, had it been at all possible, it would have been omitted from these " Sketches of Clann Mhuirich '' ; but it has been found impossible to do so without leaving the impression that the Macpherson claim is so unfounded that the writer had decided not to introduce it. Also (regret­ fully this statement is made), Macintosh writers have waxed so eloquent on the subject, even to the point of personal invective, that -- no true clansman could let it pass unheeded. Perhaps, too, one very pertinent argument (which appears at the end of this chapter) in favour of Cluny's claim-an argument which, had it been advanced in 1672 to Lord Lyon Erskine, would probably have tipped the scale in Cluny's favour-may cause even unbiassed Macintoshes (if there can be such a person as an unbiassed Highland clansman) to consider if, after all, there has not been a great injustice inflicted on Cluny Macpherson by their writers. Originally Clan Chattan was composed of the Macphersons, Macintoshes and Davidsons as its three senior members, with the Clan Vean (or MacBean) and the Clan Maclllivray in addition. Later on the Clan Chattan became a much larger confederacy, in which were included the Farquharsons, MacQueens, Macphails, and Macleans (of Loch Ness), forming 69 70 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON the historical Clan Chattan of the fifteenth and succeeding centuries, all subsequent to 1386, the date of the Great Clan Fight. Skene says the Camerons were also a branch of Clan Chattan, but if so, they must have belonged to it in the very dim ages. The Clan Chattan originally followed the Lords of the Isles, till they broke away and fought on the side of the Regent Albany at the on 24th July 1411. As has been shown before in these pages, Gille­ chattan Mor was . the first authentic Chief of Clan Chattan, and in 1292 (circa) Dougall Dall (i.e. the blind), his descendant, and 6th in succession after, had an only child Eva who is said to have married Angus, 6th Laird of Macintosh. Dougall Dall's lands having devolved on Eva, her husband thereupon became Captain of Clan Chattan, there being, however, an heir male to the Chiefship, Kenneth, alive at the time. . From this " captaincy " the Macintoshes have ever since built up the Chiefship of Clan Chattan. Of this, Alexander Mackenzie, author of The Scottish Highlander, writing in the Celtic Magazine, says : '' There has been a warm and long controversy between the Chiefs of Macintosh and Macpherson, and others interested in them, regarding the Chiefship of the Great Clan Chattan, with the result that it is allowed by all disinterested parties that Cluny is undoubtedly the Chief and male-heir of that powerful clan, while the Macintoshes were for centuries its actual leaders, or ' captains,' in virtue of the marriage of Angus, 6th Chief of that ilk, with Eva, the daughter of Dougall Dall, the undoubted and acknowledged Chief of Clan Chattan in his day. There are various instances in Highland history where the husband of the heiress of the Chief became the leader or ' captain ' of the clan, but we are not acquainted with a single instance where the Chiefship descended through a female." THE· CHIEFSHIP OF· CLAN CHATTAN 71 Skene, in his Highlanders of Scotland, brings the descent of Macpherson and Macintosh from the same source. " The MS. of 1450," he says, " puts it beyond all doubt that the Macphersons and Macintoshes are descended from N eachtan and Neill, the two sons of Gille Chattan Mor, the founder of the race ; while the title of ' captain,' the assertion of a foreign origin, and with a marriage \vith the heiress of a former Chief, as certainly point out that the Macintoshes were a usurping branch, and that the Macphersons, whose descent from the old Chiefs is never denied, alone possessed the right of blood to that hereditary dignity. The history of the Earls of Moray is equally conclusive that the descendants of Neachtan, from whom the Macphersons deduce their origin, were the eldest branch and Chiefs of the clan. ,The son of N eachtan is Head, or Heth, and although he married the sister of the last Maormore of Moray, yet that in his own person he possessed a right to the Earldom, independently of his marriage, appears from the fact that he must have succeeded in 1085, before the title of Earl was introduced. His grandson, by his eldest son Angus, was Malcolm MacHeth, whose title to the Earldom, and consequently to Chiefship of his clan, was acknowledged by all the Gaelic part of the population of Scotland, and even by the Norwegian Earl of Orkney, while his grandson, by his younger son, Suibne, was Muireach, from whom the Macphersons take the name Clan Mhuirich. This is singularly corroborated by the fact that the oldest traditions styled Gillechattan (the grandfather of Eva) Mac Gillespie. While he must have lived at that very time, Gillespie was certainly not a descendant of Angus, Earl of Moray, but his claim to the Earldom proves he must have been a descendant of Heth. The identity of the MacHeth family with the Chiefs of Clan Chattan is thus clearly established, and at the same time the descent of the 72 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Macphersons from these Chiefs is proved by the MS. of I 450, and by documentary evidences of an antiquity far greater than any which the Macintoshes can produce, at once establishes the hereditary right of the Macphersons of Cluny to the Chiefship of Clan Chattan." A. M. Mackintosh, in his The Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan, ridicules this, stating that Skene, in his later book, Celtic Scotland, had overthrown his earlier arguments-" apparently," he writes in that book, " his mature consideration showed him that the matter was not beyond all doubt." But when A. M. Mackintosh wrote this he did not know that in the Charter Chest at Cluny Castle there reposed a lengthy letter from Skene to Colonel Ewen Henry Davidson Macpherson of Cluny, dated 4th March 1889 (long after the publication of Celtic Scotland) in which occurs this sentence : "I never had any doubt as to the Macphersons of Cluny being the true Chiefs of Clan Chattan." This does not look as if Skene's "mature consideration" had caused him to alter his opinions. However, let us see what other writers of clan histories have to say on this subject. Smibert, in his book on The Clans of Scotland, dealing with Clan Macintosh, writes thus : " On the whole, we incline to view both the Macintoshes and the Macphersons as of pure Gaelic origin, and as having sprung directly from the ancient chiefs of 'Clan Chattan. At the same time it is to be observed that the common account of the Macintosh Chieftains runs differently.. The whole story may be here condensed from the pages of Nisbet, who, besides that he wrote before clanship had become fanciful and fantastic, was also candid and honest, as well as diligent and inquisitive. "In the reign of Malcolm IV, one Muriach, who was parson of the Kirk of Kingussie in Badenoch, became by the death of an elder brother, _the head THE CHIEFSHIP OF CLAN CHATTAN 73 of the clan, and was so acknowledged by all. He had at least two sons, Gillechattan and Ewan Bane, the former of whom became Chief, as the eldest in succession ; but his line terminated in a grand• daughter, usually named Eva. 'She was married,' according to Nisbet, whose story is now resumed, ' to Macintosh, head of his clan, who got with her several lands in Lochaber, and a command of part of the people, for which he was called Captain of Clan Chattan. But Ewan Bane, second son of Muriach, after the death of his elder brother (Gillechattan) and the son of the latter, was owned as Chief of the family by the who]e clan. He had three sons, Kenneth, John, and Gillies. From Kenneth, the eldest, is come the family of Macphersons of Cluny, which was then and since known by the name Macewan.' It is true the clan might, in part, take the name of Macewan from · Ewan Bane, and probably some of the Macewans of this day may be Macphersons; but Muriach also gave them a name in Gaelic, in the shape of-as pronounced-Clan Vuirich. The permanent and general name, however, came from the Parson of Kingussie, Macpherson being the Highland edition of MacParson. So at least we are told ; and no better account has really as yet been supplied in the case. It will be recollected that the clergy of those days were not constrained to live in celibacy. " In the chief points of this statement, Nisbet has been followed .... While claiming the Chiefship of Clan Chattan, as having wedded the sole heiress, the Macintoshes have been wont to describe their own origin to the MacDuffs of , and the statement has been widely accepted. The MS. of I 450 strikes a heavy blow at this view of the case. It does not concur with Nisbet, as representing the Macintoshes as strangers or heads of a distinct sept, but deduces them from a younger son of Gillechattan, the Macphersons being traced to an elder scion, Whether 74 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON or not descended from a junior son of Gillechattan the Great, it seems from all the best accounts that the founder of the Macintosh line of Captains of Clan Chattan, either by accident, by merit, by usurpation, or by a marriage, did really step into the place of the direct male heir of the chiefs of the family. The title of' Captain' has been mentioned before as generally suspicious when used among the Gael, being insinuative of the assumption of a substitute name for Chief, simply because no fair claim could be laid to the latter title .... In short, as we shall show, though the captaincy of Clan Chattan, by a series of accidental circumstances, has been assigned to the Macintosh line, and though they have abundance even of written evidence to prove that their pretensions to that title were admitted by successive Kings of Scotland, it is yet much to be doubted if any parties could so extinguish the just hereditary claims of the male heirs to the Chiefship. The documentary evidence about the Clan Chattan captaincy is indeed more extensive. The 6th Laird of Macintosh was the party who is said to have wedded Eva, heiress of her house and line. The son of the said Eva was consequently designated, we are told, the ' Captain of Clan Chattan,' in Charters granted by the Lords of the Isles, and confirmed by King David Bruce in the 14th century~ Duncan, 11th head of the Macintoshes, was also similarly described in a Charter of John of the Isles, of date 1466, and, under the same title, he was mentioned in a subsequent Deed of Confirmation by James• III. Queen Mary likewise styles the Laird of Macintosh Captain of Clan Chattan. These are the oldest deeds extant on the subject. Who can fail to be struck by the fact, however, that not one of them ever gives to the head of the Macintoshes the real and current title of Chief, at a time when the truth must have been well kno,vn? They all stick closely to. the uncommon style of ' Captain.' But the one THE CHlEFSHIP OF CLAN CHATTAN 75 grand point, on which the Macintoshes have ever mainly dwelt, is the admission of the superiority of their sept by the Macphersons themselves in times bypast. True it is that, in the 14th century, the Macphersons acknowledged the Laird of Macintosh as-not Chief-but (still only) 'Captain of the Kin of Clan Chattan. Even in 1609 the Macphersons did not accord the grand item in debate; seeing that, although their unprosperous condition compelled them so far to bow before their rivals a second time, they only conceded to Macintosh the title of' Principal Captain of the haill Kin of C1an Chattan, * according to the King's Gift of Chieftaincy of the whole Clan Chattan.' This language, pertinaciously used for centuries, seems to us to decide the case, and to render more modern evidence of no avail. As the Sovereign could make Peers and Knights, so might he be able to create a Clan Captain; but the nomination of a Clan Chief, to the detriment of the true claimant by birth and blood, appears to us to be a feat not in the power of either princes or parliaments. This is the view which we take of the case. · If it was legal for the Crown to give or sanction the title of Captain, the honour certainly lies in the Macintosh line ; but the representation of the ancient Chiefs of Clan Chattan by male descent must -be held clearly to rest with the Macphersons of Cluny. The admission of the Macintosh Chiefs that they were MacDuffs is in truth decisive, unless they added the averment that the Clan· Chattan were also wholly and originally MacDuffs.'' · So much for the opinion of two well-known clan historians. Let us now deal with the name Macintosh. If one looks up Burke's Landed Gentry, it will be seen that the Macintosh genealogy commences by declaring that the name · Mac-an-Toisich means ~~ son of the Thane," an attempt to assist in the Macintosh assertion * Appendix XIV, p. 110. 76 THE .CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON that they are descended from the old Earls of Fife. Later on this assertion was watered down somewhat, the descent being now said to be from the Thane of Petty. Now any Gaelic speaker-that is, one who has the Gaelic as his mother tongue ( and the writer has consulted such well-known Gaelic speakers as the late Rev. Dr Neil Ross of Laggan, and Sir Stewart Macpherson of Newtonmore)-will know that the most literal meaning of the Gaelic word Toiseach (the nominative and genitive differ) is that most akin to the Latin word Seneschallis-a seneschal, and the nearest English translation to be the word" beginner," or "leader." And with reference to the Latin word, with its English translation of seneschal, it is significant that Ferquhard, 5th Chief of Macintosh (and the first of whom there is any authentic mention) is described in an agreement between the Chapter of Moray and Alexander de Stryveline in 1234 as " seneschalle de Badenach." And by no stretch of any imagination did the word Toiseach ever convey the meaning of the Saxon " Thane," and still less so " Chief." Leader or " Captain " of the clan, Macintosh Chiefs certainly have been, the first one so designated-as we have seen-being the son of Angus, the 6th Laird, and Eva. However, setting aside altogether the meaning of the name Macintosh, there is one point which apparently has always been overlooked by Macintosh advocates-and Macpherson too, for that matter­ which is this. History tells us that the defeat of the Lord of the Isles at the Battle of Harlaw was owing chiefly to the defection of Clan Chattan, which fought on the King's side. And it is well known that Macintosh was one of the leaders on the side of· the Lords of the Isles, while at the same time Macpherson tradition has always had it that they fought on the King's side. So undoubtedly the Clan Chattan referred to on that occasion in history must have been represented by the Macphersons. THE CHIEFSHIP OF CLAN CHATTAN 17 Macintosh is probably Chief of the modern Clan. Chattan (after all, Duncan's patent of arms on 12th March 1672 was as "representer of the ancient and honourable familie of the Clan Chattane," i.e. the Old Clan Chattan), but he has become so by usurpation. The case of the Stuarts and the House of Hanover was very analogous to that of Cluny Macpherson and Macintosh. A. M. Mackintosh, referring to a complaint to the Privy Council in 161 1 that the MacGregors had been sheltered in Badenoch by " the whole Clan Chattan and the Clan Fersane," would try to make out that Clan Mhuirich was not even part of Clan Chattan. Rather does it not point to the fact that Macphersons were looked upon as independent of Macintosh ? Just as in 1640 Ewan Macpherson led the" haill men of Badenoch" for Montrose without any reference to Macintosh. Finally, one point which has apparently missed the advocates for both the Macphersons and the Macintoshes is this. Sir Thomas Innes of Learney (then Albany Herald, now Lord Lyon King-of-Arms), whose views result in his advocating the Macintosh claim-says on page 49 of his Tartans of the Clans and Families of Scotland: "The dignity of a clan Chief duly passes in the old Pictish order of the directest succession, provided (and the stressed words are Learney' s) the heiress, at least, and her husband, retain, or take, the name and title of the clan-a sine qua non." But-as has been pointed out since to the writer by Innes of Learney himself in the course of a con­ versation over this very point-while neither the Macpherson nor the Macintosh Chiefs have ever taken the old clan names, at least the Macpherson Chiefs had been bearing the name of MacPhearsain (the modern Macpherson) ever since the time of Mhuireach, the Parson, who was acknowledged Chief 78 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON of Clan Chattan over one hundred years before the marriage of Eva. Accordingly, upon the principles laid down by Sir Aeneas, the weightiest legal argument of the Macphersons would have been that this name '' Macpherson '' was the proper name of the Clan Chattan Chiefs, and that Macintosh, not having assumed that name on marrying the heiress of Clan Chattan, had failed to implement the " law and custome " to which Sir Aeneas alludes. Had that been pressed home before Lord Lyon Erskine, there is little or no doubt that the Declaration of 10th September 1672 would never have been pronounced. A further point is alluded to in the article on "Cattanach" on page 187 where it is pointed out that in the old Gaelic poems in the Book of the Dean of Lismore-compiled in the first quarter of the sixteenth century-the Macintoshes and Clann Chattan are mentioned in juxtaposition.* * Since the above was written, an article appeared in the Badenoch Record of 21st April 1945, written by the compiler, as follows :- THE CHIEFSHIP OF CLAN CHATTAN FRESH LIGHT ON MACPHERSON CLAIM Some years ago (in 1939 to be exact) there appeared in the columns of the Badenoch Record a series of articles on Clan Mhuirich. Among them was one dealing with the dispute between Cluny Macpherson and Macintosh of Macintosh as to the Chiefship of Clan Chattan. In it I endeavoured .to bring forward the arguments of both sides, adding one for the Macpherson claim which I consider sufficiently convincing. Since the appearance of the articles above mentioned my attention was called by a celebrated authority on heraldry to a most_ astounding argument in favour of the Macpherson claim-the very one on which Macintosh based his claim to the Chiefship, viz. : inheritance through marriage to the heiress. Lachlan Macintosh, 20th Chief, died without an heir in 1734, and the Chiefship then passed to his cousin, Macintosh of Daviot. But Lachlan Macintosh's grandfather (William) had a brother, Lachlan Macintosh of Kinrara, whose daughter married William Macpherson of Nuide. As we all know, William of Nuide's son Lachlan, ·became "of Cluny," and as we have seen above, his mother was a· daughter THE CHIEFSHIP OF CLAN CHATTAN 79 of Macintosh of Kinrara. To quote my authority: "If then the Chiefship of Clan Chattan passed down with the ' heretrix,' Eva, to Macintosh in 1292, then WHY should it do something quite different in I 734, and pass to Macintosh's heir male, in the person of Macintosh of Daviot ? " The Macintosh claimants cannot have it both ways. And if in I 292 the succession passed to Macintosh through a heretrix, while there was still an heir male alive, why did it not pass back to Cluny through the Macintosh heretrix ? Sir G. Mackenzie, I may say from his unpublished Genealogical MSS. makes no doubt that the right, in his view, passed like a Scots peerage to an heiress, and that her husband was in her right the Chief of a Clan. Macphersons do not hold this view, the· Clan Chiefship having always been through the male side. But as Macintosh bases his claim on the ' heretrix ' assumption, how can he calmly ignore it in 1734? W. CHEYNE-MACPHERSON. KtNGUSSIE, I 4.4.1945. CHAPTER VI ARMORIAL BEARING OF THE MACPHERSONS In 1672 Duncan Macpherson of Cluny, 16th Chief, applied to the Lord Lyon to have his arms registered, in conformance with the law. The registration was duly recorded on 12th March 1672, and Cluny must have. travelled himself to Edinburgh for the occasion, as we find Logan writing that " Cluny received the hearty congratulations of many friends on his return from Edinburgh, Keith, Earl Marischal, and others entertaining him by the way, and freely accepting him as their Chief." In this registration Cluny was described as the " only and true representer of the ancient and honour­ able familie of Clan Chatane." Then occurred the order of the Privy Council calling upon the various Chiefs to bind themselves for the good behaviour of their respective clans (Cluny taking upon himself the bond for his clan), and the despicable repudiation of his authority by the Pitmean and Invereshie branches, as described in page 23. Macintosh also had added his objection, and the final result was that Cluny's designation as " representer of the familie of Clan Chatane " was withdrawn, and he was declared to be responsible only for those of his own name, and not even for those who happened to be Macintosh's tenants. Further still the Lyon, Sir Charles Erskine, did what is incomprehensible-he actually cancelled Cluny's supporters, to which, as head of the Macphersons, he was at least entitled. The Macintosh faction make much of this, but let us pause to consider what did actually happen, 89 ARMORIAL BEARING OF THE MACPHERSONS 81 and what. did not. Macintosh adherents point out that when Lyon withdrew Cluny's arms and Cluny's designation as the representer of Clan Chattan, he went even further and declared Macintosh to be Chief· of Clan Chattan, '· comprehending the Macphersons." This statement is correct, and was so registered in the Declaration of 16th September 1672. First of all, however, let us remember that Cluny's first matriculation was granted by the Lord Lyon and that the new matriculation was not issued until the pronouncement (in November 1672) of the Privy Council, a body which cared nothing about the rightful claims of a Highland Chief, but was only concerned in putting in authority the most powerful. And undoubtedly Clan Macintosh was a more powerful body than. Clan Mhuirich, of whose lands it had got possession. Secondly-and of a significance entirely overlooked by all hitherto with the exception of Lord Lyon Burnett and the late J. H. Stevenson, Marchmont Herald­ the supporters which Cluny Macpherson had in the first matriculation of 12th March 1672, were those allowed to him as Chief of Clan Chattan, viz. the two Highlanders ; and yet, when Macintosh * had his supporters given to him, nearly eight years later, he was not allowed to have those which had been granted to Cluny Macpherson as representer of Clan Chattan, but was given two totally different supporters, mere replicas of his crest. Also, although in the document of September 1672, when Cluny's arms were repealed and Macintosh declared to be Chief, yet in Macintosh's matriculation -a matriculation without any Privy Council inter­ vention and entirely a Lyon Court one, under a different Lord Lyon-Macintosh was not specifically designated as Chief of Clan Chattan, which Cluny had been in his original matriculation. * Appendix XV, p. uo. F 82 .. THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON .. Stevenson,- in his exce~lent. volumes ori Heraldry .in Scotland, .alludes. thus · to this curious point : " The singular case of the withdrawal of the . supporters of Macpherson of Cluny may have its explanation in the Letter of the King " (in which Lyon was instructed that in future he should give supporters to none under the rank of Peer). "On 12th March 1672, immediately before the. institution of the 'Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland,' a patent of arms with supporters-two Highlanders-was • issued by Sir Chas. Erskin•e, Lyon at the tirne, in favour of Duncan Macpherson of Cluny as ' the true and only representer of the ancient and honourable familie of the Clan Chattan.' Close upon this came a decision of the Privy ·Council, _which was then engaged in binding over the Chiefs for the peaceable conduct of their clans, that Macintosh and not Cluny Macpherson wa·s to be treated as Chief of Clan Chattan, and that Cl~ny was only head of the Macphersons. · .·" To be head of the ·Macphersons" (Stevenson says later on. in his book-quoting -Mackenzie-that supporters· were granted to. Chiefs and heads of families) "seems title enough to supporters ; but Sir Charles Erskine divested Cluny of them when he entered· his arms on the Register in 1672. There was, however, no transference of these to Mackintosh, who does not appear in the Register till about 1680 ... when he was then granted by the next Lyon, Sir Alexander Erskine, two wild cats for supporters, but without any direct acknowledgment of his Chiefship as there had been previously to Cluny, says Dr Burnett, whose MS account we follow here in part.'' 'In 1873 Lord Lyon Burnett restored the supporters to "Old Cluny "-the same as had been registered in March 1672 for Duncan Macpherson of Cluny, as Chief of Clan Chattan. Such is the strange story of the vicissitudes of the Cluny bearings .. At a recent meeting of a Clan ARMORiAt BEARlNG 01r THE MACPHERSONS 83 Association the writer heard a· curious idea expressed about the positions of the cats as appearing .on Macpherson and Macintosh arms. A clans_woman of the latter was heard to . gravely assert that the "salient (she. termed it "erect") cat of Macintosh proved he was the greatest of all the persons who had the cat as their crest. Now the crest shown on the famous . H. Bratach U aine,'' or .Green Banner, of Cluny Macpherson, is a · cat sejant erect guardant, and this banner, depicting the arms of the Chief, was most certainly carried at the head of the. clan during the wars of. Montrose-·thirty years or· more before the institution of "all Arms and .Bearings" ; which proves that Cluny' s correct crest was as depicted on that banner. When Duncan of Cluny registered his arms, through some mistake his crest was wrongly described merely as a cat sejant proper, although depicted as shown on the banner. As Cluny was not at all likely to have understood heraldic ter~s, this wrong blazon was allowed to pass unchallenged. On " Old Cluny's " rematriculation in 1873, the correct cat was depicted, but again the description was incorrect, and we have still to-day the Cluny crest showing a cat sejant erect guardant proper, while blazoned as a cat sejant proper. (Incidentally, the cat is really a cat-a-mountain.) So we see that Cluny's cat is really erect, or partly so. And if the position of the cat has anything to do with the greater or lesser person, why was one of .Cluny's cadets­ Macpherson of lnvereshie-given the cat " erect " ? Was lnvereshie's Chief "lesser" than Invereshie the cadet? . And it is as well to bear in mind that none deny. that Cluny Macpherson's ancestor was Gillechattan Mor, the original Chief of Clan Chattan, and this being so, he must therefore have been at the time the " greatest of all," and so, if the positions of the cat were determined by such degree of importance; his 84 THE CHl~FS OF CLAN MACPHERSON cat must have been shown in the position considered most exalted. And it is not at all likely that Cluny Macpherson, having lost his ancestral lands owing to those lands having devolved on an heiress, would have tamely adopted another crest for himself, while at the same time holding out that he was de Jure Chief of Old Clan Chattan and by male descent. And Macintosh, does not claim his descent. from Gillechattan Mor, the undoubted Chief of Old Clan Chattan. Finally (and this should quell for ever .any absurd statements as to the relative positions of the cats and their significance), Cluny had the cat as his crest at least eight years before Macintosh-even if we dispense with the Green Banner-as Macintosh had no crest till 1680. No arms of any Macintosh prior to that date show any crest, and C. Fraser-Mackintosh, the great champion of the Macintosh claim, admits this. For, in 1893, we find him writing, '' The arms" (referring to the 1680 patent) "are an exact copy of those contained in Sir David Lindsay's Armorial Collection, who, as contemporary, may have assigned them to William, 15th Mackintosh, with the exception that there are no supporters, motto or crest. Therefore (he continues), it is doubtful whether the crest, etc., is to be authoritatively placed earlier than 1680. The old Sutherland crest is a cat, and, following heraldic conceits, the selecting of the cat by Mackintosh was probably a mere play on the name Chattan." * _

* Extract from Records at the Lyon Office : "At Edinburgh the 19th day of Feb. in the year 1787 the which day the Deed after inserted being presented by Mr Robert Dundas, W.S. for Col. Duncan Macpherson of Clunie is registered as follows : Viz. This is the Coat Armour appertaining to the Laird .of Clunie McPherson the only true Representer of the antient and honourable familie of the Clanchatane extracted and confirmed at infra. The Antient Baron above named his achievment is thus blazoned he bears parte per fesse Or & Azure ane Lymfad or Gallie of the first her Oars Mast and Tackling proper flaged and in the Cheiff dexter a hand holding a Dagger and in the Sinister Canter a Cross Croslet fitchee ARMORIAL BEARING OF THE MACPHERSONS 85

Gules above the Shield and Helmet mantled Gules doubled Argent which is placed on ane Torse or Wreath of his colours ane Cattsejant proper and for his motto in ane Escrole above Tutch not the Catt but a Glove. Approved of and Confirmed unto the said bearing by Sir Chas. Erskine of Cambo, Knight Baronet Lyon King at Armes. "Witness our hands and seal of office appended hereto at Edin­ burgh 12th Day of March, 1672. "Signed Chas. Erskine, Lyon. Joseph Stacey, Herauld and Herauld Painter. ~, And on a compartment below the Shield are placed for Supporters Two Highlanders in short tartan jackets and Hose with Helmets on their heads, dirks _at their left sides and targets on their exterior arms their thighs bare and shirts tied between them.'' CHAPTER VII THE ARMS Q.F CL UNY . The. A;rms are : Parted per fesse Or and Azure, a lymphad of the first, with her sails furled, oars in action, mast ·and . tackling· ·all proper, flags_ flying, Gule~. In dexter chief point a hand couped grasping a dagger point upwards, Gules; in the sinister chief a cross--crosslet fitchee of the last. Crest (as blazoned) : A cat sejant proper. Motto: Touch not the cat bot a glove. Supporters : Two Highlandmen, with steel helmets on their heads, thighs bare, their shirt tied between them, and round targets on their arms. The meaning of the motto, often misunderstood, is " Touch not the cat (when it is) without a glove," not " when you have no glove on your hand." Such are the arms of Cluny, and Cluny alone. Although in these days when so many books and articles are written on the use of arms, there should not be any misunderstanding as to those who have the right to display arms and those who have not, it is extraordinary how often one finds arms, or crests, displayed on cigarette boxes, silver salvers, etc., in the houses of Macphersons who have no more right to display them than has John Brown. There are no such things as family arms, and the mere possession of the family name no more entitles a person to his namesake's-or brother's even-crest or arms than to his family plate or pictures. This is especially the case in Scotland, for by the law the original arms of a family can belong to only one person at a time­ the grantee first, and then the heir, at the time, of that original grantee. No other descendant of an original grantee, however near the relationship, has

86 THE ARMS OF CLUNY

' A.RMS OF CLUNY MACPHERSON OF CLUNY Shewing the " supporters " · granted to Duncan, 16th Chief, as "representer · of the ancient and honourable family of Clan Chatane," in 1672, taken from. him. by Sir Chas. Erskine, Lord Lyon of the time,· and restored to ··" Old Cluny" in 1873, by Lord Lyon Burnett. 88 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON any right whatever to use or display the arms, or any part of the arms. A crest, for instance, is only a part-the upper part, as the name signifies-of some one person's arms, and cannot be displayed by any other person. And by the present law of Scotland, the report of the use of such arms, or portion of arms, to the Lord Lyon, would certainly entail a fine, and the confiscation of all moveables-books, plate, etc.-on which such arms are displayed. A list of any persons entitled to bear arms can always be seen at the office of the Lord Lyon, Register House, Edinburgh, and the following is the complete list, as at·the date of the publication of these sketches : CLuNY . MACPHERSON AND CADETS.-( 1) Cluny Macpherson ; . ( 2) Colonel Alexander Kilgour Macpherson, M.V.O., of Pitmean; (3) Sir George Macpherson-Grant, Bt., representing the lnvereshie branch; (4) Francis Cameron Macpherson, Esq.,· a cadet of the House of Cluny ; (5) William George Douglas Lachlan Macpherson of Dalchully, a cadet of the House of Cluny; (6) Colonel Ernest Ronald Rivers-Macpherson, O.B.E., etc. ; ( 7} Lt.-Colonel Duncan Iver Macpherson, O.B.E., of Banchor; (8) the present representative of Alexander Macpherson of Garbity, M.D. ; (9) E:wan Lachlan Cheyne-Macpherson of the House of Dalchully ; (10) Michael de laval Macpherson of the Pitmean Branch ; ( I l) Duncan Park Macpherson of the House of Breakachie. · ALL OTHER MAcPHERSONs.-( 1) The present heir of Sir George Arthur Macpherson, who received a grant of arms on 6th March 1900; crest-a cat guardant rampant ppr. (2) Captain Donald Waller Macpherson (or his heir), of the Calcutta Scottish Rifles (son of Major-General Roderick Donald Macpherson), who matriculated arms from Sir George Arthur Macpherson, above, on 20th October 1915. (3) James Grant Macpherson, Esq., of the 4th Batt. THE ARMS OF CLUNY 89 Hampshire Regiment, who received a grant of arms on· 6th· April 1929 ; crest-a cat sejant affrontee proper· gorged with an antique crown. (4) Lord Strathcarron of Banchor, whose father, the first Baron, as Sir Ian Macpherson, Bart., P.C., K.C., etc., received

ARMORIAL BEARING OF DAVID WM. ANTHONY BLYTH MACPHERSON' 2ND BARON STRATHCARRON The supporters represent a Cameron Highlander of the 1914-18 War and a clansman of 1745. a grant of arms on 1st October 1935 (with supporters on 5th January 1937) ; crest-a cat-a-mountain sejant guardant having its dexter paw raised proper; motto -Lec'ridhe 's le cliu. (5) Major Ian Fyfe Macpherson, M.C., of Double Bay, N.S.W. (whose Patent of Arms was granted in December 1944), a descendant of Evan Macpherson, junior, farmer in Dalwhinny, Ewan of the '45's second-in-command. go THE CHlEFS .OF ,CLAN MACPHERSON . _. ·.The .above is. the complete list, and no />ther Macpherson,- ~ither in Great Britain ·or -in any other part of the world, whose name is not included, has any right whatever to the use, or display, in any way -on books, plate or signet ring-of arms or crest.*

APPENDIX I According to the 1450 MS. the descent of Cluny was as follows : Feredach I Ferchar Fada I Dlait I Ere - I Diarmed ( the F erliagen) Kenneth III I I Galbrait (the Lecturer) Bodhe . I I Gillechattan l\!Ior Gruoch t I . I Neachtan (Maormore of Moray) Lulach I I Heth or Head married a daughter I I . . I I MacHeth or Angus Suibne (Maormore of Moray and later I · Earl according to a Charter Muireach of David I, in I I 24. Killed '' the Parson '' in battle I I 30. I Cluny

*Appendix XVI, p. 1 Io. · . t Gruoch, granddaughter of Kenneth III, Pictish King of Scotland, married Gilcomgan, Maorm:ore of Moray, who died A.n. 1032. Had Gruoch's father, Bodhe, outlived Malcolm III, he would have succeeded him as King of Scotland. · · gt In a book of Scottish Songs, published in Edinburgh in 1791, there is a ballad entitled "Hardyknute" which contains the following : Syne he has gane far hynd attowre · Lord Chattan's land sae wyde That Lord a worthy wight was ay Quhen faes his courage seyd : Of Pictish race by mother's syde, Quhen Picts ruled Caledon, Lord Chattan claim'd the princely maid, Quhen he saift Pictish crown.

APPENDIX II The Clan Fight on the North Inch of Perth in Septem~er 1396 is so_ historic as to make its recital here redundant. It has been immortalised by Scott, in his Fair Maid of Perth. . Briefly it was the culmination of a series of raids and fights-of which that of Invernahavon was one-between different septs- of Clann Chattan and Clann Cameron. These feuds became so frequent that (probably wit~ the ·hope of one of the parties totally exterminating the other ~nd so giving a measure of rest to the Highlands) it was suggested that thirty picked champions of each · of the contending clans should fight a tournament to the death­ without armour-in the presence of King Robert II and his Court. The contending clans are named by writers as Clan Kay and Clan Quhele; and while Clan Chattan has been accepted as Clan Quhele) the Clan Kay has been a matter . of discussion up to this day-ranging between the Mackays, the Camerons, and the Davidsons. We can eliminate the Mackays · altogether, as the only clans who have traditions of the fight are the Camerons, Macphersons, Macintoshes and the·Davidsons. Mr A. Mackintosh Shaw in 187 4 published a small booklet entitled The Clan Battle at Perth, and his deduction is probably the most accurate. Of course the Macintoshes claim that they were Clan Quhele, but one point is certain, namely that the Macphersons certainly took part in it, whether as part of Clan Chattan or as a single unit.. And the possession 92 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON of the "feadhan dhu "-the famous Black Chanter-and of the broadsword carried by the Smith at the fight, seems rather to point to their being the leaders in the famous fight. A Macpherson tradition has it that their opponents were the Cummings (or Comyns) who were originally lords of Badenoch. APPENDIX III THE MACPHERSONS IN STRATHNAIRN I think that there is very little doubt that these are the very earliest of the Macphersons, before the main body of the clan moved into Badenoch. And it is probable that these Macphersons acknowledged Mackintosh as their Chief. My principal reason for thinking this to be so is that the Seal of Donald Macpherson, son of Bean, on his letters of Reversion of part of Tullich and Elrig in Strathnairn in · favour of Thomas Ewinsone, dated at Inverness 20th February 1534, shews the lion rampant, part of the arms of the Chiefs of Macintosh. , . A. M. Macintosh in his book The Macintoshes and Clan Chattan (published 1903) writes thus of this branch of the Macphersons : "The Macphersons in Strathnairn were in all probability of a strain, possibly akin to the Clan Gillivary, with whom they were always in close relations and in, common with whom they had such names as Bean, Gillicallum or Malcolm, and Farquhar. The idea that the Macphersons of Cluny really sprung from those in Strathnairn has been noticed, and some colour is lent to it by the fact that the latter appeared in record in good positions a full century before the first mention of the Cluny line, while the Cluny family-as Breakachie, Ovie, Ballachroan and Ardbrylach are actually brought by Sir .£neas Macpherson from the Essich stem. It is worthy of note too, that in 1607 the only Macpherson called upon by Privy Council to answer, with other leading clansrnen, for good rule· in Clan Chattan during _the minority of the r 7th Chief of Macintosh is not a Badenoch Macpherson, but Angus in Brin. Whatever the relative positions of the Strathnairn and Cluny fa~ilies 'tHE ARMS OF CLUNY 93 originally, it would appear that in 1609 they_ regarded themselves as connected, as in the Band of Union, Andrew in Cluny takes the burden of " Ewin in Brin (who must have been a minor at the time) John in Breakachie (of the Essich line) . . . and remanent of that name descended of that race '-such 'remanent ... of that race' apparently not including the other Macphersons in Badenoch, who answer separately for themselves, Pitmean for his ' kin and friends descended of his house;' and Phoyness for young lnvereshie and ' remanent his kin of that race and house.'" And to continue, the same writer says: " The Brin Family was probably settled at and about Brin-on the Nairn between Aberarder and Tordarroch -from its first appearance in records in the 15th century. 'About this time (i.e. the time of the 8th Mackintosh, who died 1407) lived Kenneth Makewn, father of the Parson from whom the Clan Phersons are named,' says Kinrara; and later he says that a daughter of the 9th Mackintosh married 'Duncan macKynich vie Ewen, commonly designed Parson, and bore to him Bean Macpherson, from whom the family of Brin took rise.' This would place Bean in the latter part of the 15th century, when he is actually found in record. Thus in 1481 and 1490 Beane Makfarson witnesses bands between the baron of Kilravock and Duncan and Ferquhard Mackintosh, and in 1490 the band of 20 Aug. in connection with the marriage of Hucheon Mackintosh to Calder's daughter; also in 1502-8 Bean M'Pherson is entered in the Exchequer Rolls as tenant of Invermazeran and Badefin in Strathdearn. On 20 Feb. 1534-5 Donald Makfersone, son of the deceased Bean M'Fersone, and Margaret M'Fersone Strathauchin his spouse obtain a wadset of part of Tullich and Elrig in Strathnairn, Donald appending his seal to the letters of reversion and causing his wife to obtain the seal of William Cuthbert, burgess of Inverness, son of -John Cuthbert of the old Castlehill. Donald signs Clan Chattan's Band in 1543, as does another Bean M'Ferson and in deeds relating to Tullich and Elrig in 1546-7 the names of Bean, Angus, and John appear. In 1595 the chief of Mackintosh obtained the superiority of the lands, of Tullich and Elrig, and granted a charter of half of 94 THE CHiEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Elrig to John M'-Farson in Bryn (perhaps the John just named) and Katherine Stewart his spouse. Angus seems to have been head of the family, for in 1607, as already observed, Angus M'Fersane in Brin is one of the eight leading men of Clan Chattan (and the only Macpherson) called on by the Privy Council to keep good rule in the clan. Ewan in Brin, who from entries of 6 Feb. and 28 March 1609 in P. C. Reg. would appear to have been son of Angus, signs the Band of 1609. Subsequently he -became tenant of· Dalcrombie, and as Ewen ' in Dalcrombie ' he obtained on 6 March 161 g a charter of Little Brin from Malcolm Mackintosh of Brin, and on 1 May 1623 a charter of Tullich and Elrig from 'John Macpherson younger,' who had apparently obtained a right from Mackintosh.* As Ewen ' of Elrig ' he is frequently mentioned in Sas. Reg. and Mack. Writs from 1624, when he obtained sasine in Elrig, to 1634, when in all probability he aquired the feu of both Meikle and Little Brin on the death of Malcolm Mackintosh of Brin. t No record of his infeftment in Brin appears, but in 1637 he is found dealing with the lands, and in and after that year is invariably styled ' of Brin.' On 4th July 1632 he was -infeft in a ploughgate and a half of Invermazeran and Badenfin in Strathdearn on charter by Lord Moray, -with limitation to his heirs-male and assignees ' of the surname and clan of Macpherson and Clan Chattan whatsoever.' In all these several grants his wife is named with him-Margaret nein Gillicallum M'Bean otherwise Macgillivary, dau. of Ewen's predecessor in Dalcrombie, who was a leading man among -the Macgillivarys and of Clan Chattan. Ewen is cautioner, with Alexander of Essich-, in the marriage-contract of Ewen younger of Cluny and Anna Forbes in 1641, and in 1644 the valuatioD: of his lands in Daviot and Danlichity parishes amounts to £364. His last appearance in the Mack. Writs is in 1653, and his testament-dative is given up by' John M'Pherson * "John Macpherson senior of Elrig with consent of Lachlan Mack~tosh of Dunachton as superior," had granted a charter of his half-lands of Elrig to John Macpherson younger, his lawful son, on 27th February 1613. - _ -· _ _ _ __. _t The lands of Brin, Tullich and Elrig, and Dalcrombie adjoined each other, and are now all included in the estate of Brin. THE ARMS OF CLUNY now of Brin' (probably his brother) and confirmed 18 Jan. 1656, the value of his estate being £925. · John of Brin ·and· Beatrix Mackintosh his wife are mentioned in a document of 1667, but they presumably left no issue, as on. 17 Mar. 1668 Alexander Earl of Moray issues precepts of clare constat in favour of Duncan M'Pherson of Cluny as ' lawful heir of tailzie. (entail) of the l~te Ewen .M' Pherson of Brin his cousin ' in .the lands of Meikle· and Little Brin and of Invermazeran and Badefin, in which seasine is given 16 Jan. 1675."

APPENDIX IV The· following extracts from the Synod of ~Ioray, citing the principal men in Badenoch who were engaged " in. the rebellion" are of interest : "At Forres, 12th January 1648. After reading a roll of those of Badenoch given in by Dugal MacPherson, Captain of the Castle of Ruthven, who were cited to this dyat, compeared Evan MacPherson of Clunie and confessed he did join with Alister Macdonald, James Graham, ·and the late Marquis of Huntly in rebelling. That he was at the fight of Typermuir and Aberdeen, in which he did command the haill of the men of Badenoch. At the direction of the Lord Gordon he raised fire at Dacus, and was at the siege of Lethen . . . Donald Macphersop., son to the guidman of N oid confessed ... Lachlan MacPherson of Dellifour ... William MacPherson in Pitchyren .•. Hutcheon Macpherson in Breacachie .•. Malcolm Macpherson of Phoiness .... " And later, "At Forres, 13th Jan. 1648. Collonel Evan Macpherson &c ... for part of their censure were ordained to take on sackcloth, which they did, acknowledging their hearty sorrow upon their knees ... and solemnly promised in time coming to amend their former miscarriage.'' Some others, such as the Macphersons in Pitmean, Bealidmore and Crubenbeg " being found to have joined in bloody fights, were ordained Sunday next to make their repentance in sackcloth in the Kirk of Calder.'' · These confessions and penances were inflicted on the great nobles as well-such as the Earls of Lindsay and Dunfermline. 96- THE CHIEFS OF CLAN· MACPHERSON The Dugal Macpherson whose name appears as Captain of Ruthven Castle (on the side of Argyle and · the Covenanters, against the rest of his clan) was " Dougall of Powrie," of the Essick branch, who had obtained in 1638, from the second Marquis of Huntly, the feu of Bailachroan, following on a wadset of I 626 in favour of his parents. Having, however, married Jean Lyell, owner ef Powrie in Angus, he demised ·Bailachroan ·to his brother John. This John (Ruadh) of Bailachroan, in 1658 endowed the stipend of the schoolmaster for the old Badenoch Gra~mar School, in Kingussie, a school which probably dated_ to a much earlier time under the Priory of Kingussie, and even earlier still under William the Lion, who in 1203, confirmed a previous Charter of" the Church of K yngusey with the Chapel of Benchor (Bencher) to the Bishop of Moray." APPENDIX V THE BOND OF 16TH MAY 1591 TO HUNTLY " Be it known to all men by these presents, that we whose names are hereunder ,vritten have most voluntarily bound and sworn, and by the tenor thereof bind and swear themselves upon the sacred angel, in presence of the witnesses here underwritten, lealy, faithfully and truly to serve in all action and cause against whatsoever the noble and potent lord George, Earl of Huntly, Lord Gordon and Badenoch &c. &c." The first signature is · · "Androw Makfersone in Cluny."

APPENDIX VI Bond of Friendship between the Frasers, the Camerons and the Macphersons, embracing a Revocation by the Macphersons of the Minute of Agreement between them and the Macintoshes in I 724.

Dated I 9th April, 17th June, and 7th July I 744. " We, Simon Lord Fraser of Lovat, and Simon Master of Lovat, with the special advice and Consent of the said Simon Lord Fraser of Lovat my father, Donald Cameron THE ARMS OF CLUNY 97 of Locheil, and Lauchlan McPherson Elder and Evan M'Pherson Younger of Cluny, Taking into serious con­ sideration that faithfull friendship and amity which did of old subsist betwixt our respective families, confirm and perpetuate the same reciprocall friendship and connection with each other, not only during our own Lifetimes But even to the latest posterity, Have resolved for the further Corroboration thereof To become and engag' d for ourselves, our respective successors and Kindreds in manner underwritten, That is to say, we have entered and hereby enter, engage ourselves and our foresaids In a most strict and solemn friendship and alliance with one another, and mutually bind and tye down ourselves, our respective successors, kindreds and followings by all the Tyes of honour, conscience and friendship, Truely and faithfully from this time forward To stand by and support each other and our foresaids in all and every honourable Controversie, undertaking and Dispute which may at any time hereafter fall out or arise betwixt either of us the Convenanting Partys and any of the neighbouring Cllans or any other party or person Whatsomever, except our naturall and lawfull King and Superior, and shall forever henceforward look upon ourselves and our severall Tribes and followings to be all so strictly Unite and Cemented, That the honour and Interest of any on~ shall be the Common Cause of the whole, and which we hereby engage for us and our fore­ saids faithfully and strenuously to support and defend with all our might and skill ; "And further, we, the said Lachlan and Evan M'Pherson, Elder and Younger of Cluny, with the speciall advice, consent and approbation of our Clann, and particularly of the severall Cadents of our family afternamed, seriously considering that we were sometime ago insiduously induced to own and declare by a Writing under our Hands that our family of Cluny and the Clann M'Pherson are Cadents of the family of M'lntosh, and on that account to bind and engage ourselves and our following and Clann for ever after to recognise and acknowledge the Lairds of M'lntosh to be our Chief, and to act the part of dutiful kinsmen to them and their family, as the said writing more fully bears, But as we, the said Lauchlan and G 98 THE CHIEFS OF CL.Ai~ MACPHERSON Evan M'Pherson, Elder and Younger of Cluny, do now see and perceive how dishonourable and injurious this Deed and Transaction is and must be to us, our family and kindred, Who never descended from the family of M'Intosh and have no manner of dependence on it, But, on the Contrary, are the true and Lineall Male descendants of. the Head of Clann Chattan, and consequently their real Chief, Therefore, and in support and maintenance of our just and natural! rights, We, the said Lauchlan and Evan M'Pherson, with the special advice, consent and approbation of George M'Pherson of Invereshie, James M'Pherson of Killyhuntly, John and Donald M'Phersons, Elder and Younger of Crubin,John McPherson of Strathmashie, Malcolm M'Pherson of Phoyniss, John and Andrew M' Pherson, Elder and Younger of Benchar, Donald M'Pherson of Culline, John McPherson of Garvamore, James M'Pherson of lnvernahaven, James M'Pherson of Crathie Croy, and. William M'Pherson in Killarchile, Have resolved and be the Tenor hereof Revoke, rescind and Annull the Deed and Writing above mentioned Elicite from us by the family of M'Intosh In manner foresaid,, and hereby renounce and. abjure all manner of dependence on or Cadency from the said family .... And we hereby promise and solemnly engage ~hat we will have no connection with them hereafter, Nor look upon them in any other view than as kindly neighbours upon an equal footing with ourselves. And we consent to the Registration hereof In the Books of Councill and Session, Or in any other Competent Register within this Kingdom, therein to remain for preservation. " In witness whereof, written upon stamped paper by Hugh Fraser, Secretary to the said Simon Lord Fraser of Lovat, we have subscribed this presents ... vizt., We, the said Simon Lord Fraser of Lovat, Donald Cameron of Lochiel, and Evan M'Pherson,· Youngr. of Cluny, at Beaufort, this nyneteenth day of April, one thousand seven hundred and forty two years. La. M'Pherson. Donald Cameron. Lovat. Don. M'Pherson, Breakachie. Don. M'Pherson of Culline. James McPherson of Crathie And. M'Pherson of Benchar. Croy. Will. M'Pherson of Kylerchil. John M'Pherson of Garvamore. Simon Fraser, Master ofLovat." THE ARMS OF CLUNY 99 APPENDIX VII The .letter from Macintosh to Evan Macpherson, younger of Cluny, was as follows : " Dear Sir, As I am now fully determined to command My own people and run the same fate with them, having yesterday received a letter from the Prince and another from the Duke of Atholl, I hope, notwithstanding of the order you have obtained from the Prince, you will not offer to meddle with any of my men, as we are booth designed on the same errand. I am resolved to maintain the rank due to my family, and if you think proper to accipt the next rank to me you will be very wellcome. If you think otherwise, act as you have a mind. · But do not put me to the necessity of requiring my men of you in a more publick manner, the consequence of which may be disagreeable to both. My kind compliments to Lady Cluny and Miss Fraser, and I am, Dear Sir, Your most Servt and affectionate cousin, Inverness, 1st October 1Eneas Macintosh.'' To which letter Evan Macpherson replied: "Dear Sir, It is my intention to undertake the command of the Clan in terms of the order received from the · Prince, and as the custom has been heretofore. I know nought of the respect due to your family beyond that which has been customary among the Chattans, and I know that it is not my duty to accept the rank second to you, notwithstanding the commands of Athole. The 0lu:hies have ever held the foremost position, and l, as the head of the family, cannot see my way to withdraw from the customary privileges. I wish all respect to yourself privately and also to your family, and the public manner to which you refer in the letter, now under. answer, of resorting to the choice in public of the clan is not outwith my own ideas. I therefore send you this protest that you may not pleade ignorance when the time has arrived for a settle­ ment. . I send this letter by your own kinsman, the bearer of the letter to me. 1Eneas Macintosh Esq. Evan Macphersqn." Inverness. 100 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON It is interesting to note that the letter of Prince Charlie to Cluny was but history repeating itself, for, during the Dundee rising, Duncan Macpherson of Cluny received a letter couched in very similar terms from Lord Dunfermline, in which, under date of 3rd May 1689, from Inverness, he wrote: " I send these desiring ye may imediatlie convein the haill Badenoch men and keep them on foot togidder and ye shall be advertised when And where to March " ; adding the postscript "List the Macintosh Men and gett them out as formelie in the same etent wt yours." In a recent biography of Duncan Forbes of Culloden by George Menary, referring to the letter from Macintosh to Cluny, of 1st October 1745, the author writes : "The truth, however, appears to be that the letter was actually dictated by the President himself with the object of retarding some of the likely rebels, at a juncture when the going of time was vital." And in page 223 of the same book Menary writes : '' Among those whom the President was successful in keeping loyal to the King at the time was the easily persuaded Macintosh of Macintosh. His motive was, first, to delude Cluny with thinking that Macintosh was to join the rebels, and so render his clan im1nune from the ravages of the rebellious Macphersons, who were seeking to press them into the Pretender's Service, and, secondly, to gain time.'' If Menary's account is correct, it places £neas Macintosh in an even more contemptuous light, and renders doubly ridiculous a recent article in the Clan Chattan Journal for 1940, in which a Macintosh writer would try to prove that .£neas Macintosh had come out for the Prince at first, and had left his cause only after Falkirk. APPENDIX VIII The list of Officers in Cluny's Regiment was : Colonel : Evan Macpherson, Yr. of Cluny. Lt. Colonel: Macpherson, junior, in Dalwhinnie (farmer).* * SPECIMEN OF COMMISSION TO ONE OF Cumv's OFFICERS Commission to Evan McPherson, junior, farmer in Dalwhinnie as Lieut.-Colonel in the Prince's Army. Charles Prince of Wales, Regent of Scotland, England and France · THE ARMS OF CLUNY IOI Major: Lewis Macpherson of Dalraddy (farmer). Captains: John Macpherson of Strathmashie. Malcolm Macpherson of Phoness. Donald Macpherson of Breakachie (farmer). John Macpherson, Garvamore (farmer). Kenneth Macpherson, Ruthven (mer- chant). Andrew Macpherson, Yr. of Banchor. Lieutenant : John Macpherson, Etteridge. Officers: Duncan Macpherson, Yr. ofBreakachie. Lachlan Macpherson, Yr. of Strathmashie. Malcolm Macpherson, son of Phoness. Ewen Macpherson, Laggan of Noide. Hugh Macpherson, Coraldie. John Macpherson, Pitchurn. Volunteer : Donald l\1acpherson, Ruthven (merchant). Quartermaster: Alex. Macqueen, Brae of Ruthven (smith).

APPENDIX IX COMMISSION OF FIRE AND SWORD " Charles Prince of Wales &c., Regent of Scotland, . Engl«:1,nd, France and Ireland and the Dominions There­ unto Belonging .. "To our Trusty and well beloved Evan M'Pherson of Cluny Esq. These are empowering you to Enlist in and Ireland and the Dominions thereunto belonging-To out Trusty and well beloved. Evan McPherson, junior, in Dalwhinnie. Greeting. We reposing especiall Trust and Confidence in your courage Loyalty and good conduct Do h~reby Constitute and Appoint you to be a Lieutenant Collonel of his Majesty's forces in the regiment commanded by Evan McPherson of Clunie and to take your rank in the Army as such from the date hereof, You are therefore carefully And dilligently to discharge the duty and Trust of Lieut. Collonel aforsaid by doing and performing every thing which belongs thereto And We hereby require all and every the officers and Soldiers to observe & obey you as Lieut. Collonel and yourself to observe and follow all such orders directions and commands as you shall from time receive from us our Commander in Chief for the time being or any other your Superior Officer according to the rules and Discipline of War in pursuance of the Trust hereby reposed in you. Given at Perth this Seventh September 1745. Charles. P.R. 102 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Arms for our Service all the men you Possibly can Whom you are to Bring with all Despatch to our Army where we Shall happen to be at the time, and they shall Receive all manner of Encouragement from us, But if any of the Said Persons shall Refuse or Delay to Rise with you as aforesaid, we hereby authorise you to use all manner of Military Execution against their persons and Effects, by Burning their Houses, and further by these presents Empower and Require you to Judge (or appoint a Court Martial for that purpose) all Deserters from the Regiment ,vhom you are to punish by Death or Otherwise as to you or the said Court Martial shall appear Just or Reasonable, and Lastly we hereby Declare that these Presents are without Prejudice to an Order issued by us at Carlisle the I 9th November last namely that no Colonel of a Regiment Receive or Take any Men from another Corps. "Given at Fairtoun the 3rd day ofFebruary 1746. Charles. P.R."

APPENDIX X Perhaps the best description of the Battle of Culloden has been given by Chambers : " The action and event of the onset ·were throughout quite as dreadful as the mental emotion which urged it. Notwithstanding that the three files (ranks) of the front line of English poured forth their incessant fire of musketry-notwithstanding that the cannon, now loaded with grapeshot, swept the field as with a hailstorm-notwithstanding the flank fire of Wolfe's regiment-onward, onward went the headlong Highlanders, flinging themselves into, rather than rushing upon, the lines of the enemy, which they did not see for the smoke till involved among their weapons. All the courage, all that despair could do, was done. It was a moment of dreadful and agonising suspense but only a moment-for the whirlwind does not reap the forest with greater rapidity than the Highlanders cleared the line. Nevertheless almost every man in their front rank, chief and gentleman, fell before the deadly weapons which they had braved; and although the enemy gave way, it was not until every bayonet was bent and bloody with the strife. THE ARMS OF CLUNY 103 "When the first line (of the English) had been- th~s swept aside, the assailants . continued their impetuous advance till they came near the second, when being almost annihilated by the profuse and well-directed fire, the shattered remains of what had been but an hour ago a numerous and confident force began to give way. Still a few rushed on, resolved rather to die than forfeit their well acquired and dearly estimated honour. They rushed on, but not a man ever came in contact with the enemy. The last survivor perished as he reached the points of the bayonets. "The persevering and desperate valour displayed by the Highlanders is proved by the circumstances that at one part of the plain . . . their bodies were afterwards found in layers three and four deep, so many, it would appear, having in succession mounted over a prostrate friend to share in the same certain fate. The slaughter was particularly great among the brave Mackintoshes; insomuch that the heroic lady who sent them to the field afterwards told the party by whom she was taken prisoner that only three of her officers had escaped." "The battle of Culloden," says Chambers, "is said to have lasted little more than forty minutes, most of which was spent in distant firing, and very little in the active struggle. It was as complete a victory as possible on the part of the royal army, and any other result would surely have been very discreditable to the . Their numbers and condition of fighting were so superior, their artillery did so much for them, and the plan of .the battle was so much in their favour, that to have lost the day would have argued a degree of misbehaviour for which even Preston and Falkirk had not prepared us. Great credit was awarded afterwards to Barrel's, Munro's, and some other regiments, for their fortitude in bearing the attack of the Highlanders, and for their killing so many ; but these battalions were in reality completely beaten aside, and the whole front line shaken so much that had the Macdonald regiments made a simultaneous charge along with the other clans, the day might have had a different issue." Prince Charlie's army numbered at the time only about 5000 men, and these were exhausted by hunger 104 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON and the fatigue of the previous night in an attempt to surprize Cumberland's army. Had the Prince managed to stave off the English attack a day longer, many absentees, among whom were the Macphersons, Frasers and Mackenzies, would have been present. To quote A. M. Mackintosh: "When it is remembered that the starving Highlanders had been standing on the bleak moor for some hours, with latterly a storm of sleet from the north-east beating furiously in their faces, and the shots from the English guns making gaps in their ranks -also that such tactics as those at Culloden were totally opposed to their system of fighting-their steadiness and discipline during the first terrible half hour of the battle must be allowed to have been beyond all praise."

CULLODEN 1946 " So many moons have passed, and, as tonight Flood lit the moor with pale soft luminous light Once crimsoned with the heart's blood of the Highland race. Two hundred years ago There lie the little lonely mounds, dug in such haste, Set in no for:,;n or order, yet, each separate Clan Clings to its Clanship, even in death. One rugged cairn does homage to them all, Locks fast the memory of their courage and their fall, And earthly eyes still gaze with vain regret, But still the moonlight silvers all the mounds, And in the cool night air there broods A sense of timelessness and space, A stillness of the soul that speaks of other things, Which seems to draw their spirits to the place And bids the haunting sadness cease, Leaving the atmosphere transfused With a triumphant Peace." By " N. G. M. with H. C. M."

APPENDIX XI The Prince himself instructed Cluny to pay out the following sums : £ 150 to Glengarry, £ 300 to Lochiel, £100 to Keppoch's widow, £100 each to the MacGregors and Stewarts, and £100 to Cluny himsel£ Then, in Lord George's letter to Prince Charles, dated 17th April 1746, from Ruthven in Badenoch, he writes : THE ARMS OF CLUNY 105 " I have desir'd Mr Sheridan to leave £500 of the money he has with him with Clunie, for the use of many who are in want." Later on Cluny paid out 6000 Louis d' or to Dr Archibald Cameron, Lochiel's brother. Further payments were made as enumerated by Grant R. Francis in his chapter on the " Loch Arkaig Treasure,'' in his book, The Romance of the White Rose. It is certain too that Cluny died in Dunkirk in the utmost poverty, so much so that the Frasers had to send over money to pay Lady Cluny's expenses back to Scotland.* The total amount of the treasure was 36,000 Louis d'or.t

* LETTER FROM ANDREW MACPHERSON OF BANCHOR TO LADY CLUNY's BROTHER S1R, I was sorry we had not the pleasure See you at our departure from London. The Lady Cluny, as you know has such an Aversion to Coming by Sea, And our Selves dreaded the bad Consequence it might have that we would not bear the thoughts of putting her to that tryall. We were Suplyed upon Breachachie's and my Credit from Mr John McIntosh in money Sufficient to bring us by land, That deliverance from the Situation you saw us in, was equally agreable as unexpected from that quarter. Mr McIntosh's deferation · and Genteel behaviour Shou'd be gratfully Acknowledged by every person concerned in the Lady or her Misfortunated family. She held out the journey tho very fatigueing with Surprising Spirite. After our arrivall at Edinb'". Not only her own numerous relations in that place, But severall ·others exprest ye greatest assiduity to comfort here, Earl Mareshall, Lady Fife, & Several ors of the first rank, !mediately waited upon her Both the Willie Frasers shewed the greatest Affection, Little Willie told her privatly that she neede have no fears on account of her Circumstances, that if William Balnaine Shou'd refuse to suply her with Money, He wou'd not see her Father's Daughter goe destitute to Badenoch, till some plane was Established for her being genteely suported there. But Balnaine did not put him to the tryall, he all at once agreed to suport herself and family there, till the first of June. At the same time we received the Letter from the Gentelmen at Cluny expressing the warmest Sentiments of friendship & Affection, & declaring that nothing in their power shou'd be wanting to render her Life as Comfortable & Agreeable as possible. In Consequence of which, the Capt0 with great Cheerfulness leaves the Mains of Cluny which she enters too against Whitsunday first, and as it is to be fully Stocked with corn, Cattle & Household furniture, & the Major to reside as Land Lord with her, I have not the smallest doubt, bu~ she will live as comfortable & genteely upon five and twenty pound, as a Woman in England could upon five··hundred. I am positive her friends here will endeavour· to Make every thing as 106 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON

APPENDIX XII Extract from the Dundee Advertiser of 20th December 1882: "In Badenoch today, under the shadow of 'Craig Dhu ~-the war-cry of the Macphersons-there will be held one of the most interesting demonstrations that has taken place in the north of Scotland for many years. Cluny Macpherson, C.B., celebrates the 50th anniversary of his wedding day, and advantage is to be taken of the occasion to testify to the esteem in which the venerable chief is held throughout the Kingdom. For more than half a century Cluny has been the most conspicuous figure in the Highlands. Born to the inheritance of a name that is enshrined in the hearts of all Highlanders, and which occupies no mean position in Highland history, Cluny has throughout his long and active life made it his aim to maintain the honour of his ancient house, and bequeath to his descendants a record pure and undefiled. agreeable as possible to her, And I do not doubt but you & the General will employ your Interest, to continue her & Son, undisturbed in possession of the Mains & any benifits they presently enjoy of this Estate, In short every Attempt towards her suport have since we arrived in Scotland succeeded beyond expectation, So that I hope fortune is at lengh weared of tormenting this poor woman, And that the Misfortunes of her family are buried in the Carnelit's garden at Dunquerke wth her husband. . Your Nephew is still in Inverness, I beleive they have determined remove him from there some time this summer, But where or upon What footing his Affairs are to be put, I cannot yet say. However you may depend upon it, nothing will be determined in regard to him, without your advice. This journall ~as drawn my letter to a great lengh, wch I beg you'll excuse and beleive me with Sincerity to be My Dr. Sir Your most Affect. & humble Sert. Andr M'Pherson Benchar, May gt 1 764. To the Honble Archd Fraser of Lovat. t Since writing the above the Scottish History Society has published in 1941 an article. on the " Locharkaig Treasure," which gives a full account. of thi$_ cont.roversi~l mMter., - THE ARMS OF CLUNY 107 Alike as a man, a country gentleman, .and chief of a clan, he is esteemed by all classes of society.... Leaving the Army on coming into possession of his estate, Cluny settled down in his Castle, which is surrounded by so many interesting historical associations, and has since devoted himself with increasing ardour to the discharge of those manifold duties incumbent on the Highland chief who rightly appreciates the responsibility of his position. " During the happy period of her li(e, the Queen, accompanied by Prince Albert, visited Cluny, and for a time occupied his charming residence of Ardverikie, overlooking the waters of Loch Laggan. Her Majesty was most favourably impressed with the polished manners and chivalric courtesy of the descendant of that valiant Cluny who had so gallantly fought and·suffered for' Bonnie Prince Charlie,' and has ever since been one of his wannest friends. After leaving Laggan, she commanded one of his sons to enter the Royal Service, and only last year her Majesty shewed her regard for the venerable Highland Chief by conferring on him the distinction of Commander of the Bath. Three of his sons Cluny has devoted to her·Majesty's service. Cluny himself has been connected with the Volunteer movement from its commencement, arid, until this year, was the Chief Commanding Officer of the Inverness-shire Rifles. " In that capacity he attended the Royal Review in Edinburgh, and notwithstanding the weight of 78 years, went through all the movements with the briskness of a youth. He is a Director of the Highland Railway, Governor of the Caledonian Bank, Deputy-Lieutenant and Magistrate of the County, Permanent Steward of the Northern Meetings &c. &c. " Cluny is the beau-ideal of a Highland Chief. Winter or summer, wet weather or dry, finds Cluny dressed in the garb of Old Gaul. A proficient Gaelic scholar, Cluny never speaks English when conversing with his friends in Badenoch. Of him it can be said that he speaks English as if he knew no Gaelic, and Gaelic as if he were not familiar with the English tongue. Polished as any courtier in the society of the great, Cluny is equally affable and tender to, and at home among the lowly and poor. 1o8 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON "Gu ma fada bhios iad beo gu dol a mach's stigh am me_asg an cair dean !

Cluanidh's Clann a'-Phearsain, Air 'm bu shuarach beachd nach b'fhiu ; Bha buadhar anns na feachdanna, 'S gach aite riamh 'n du sheasmh iad, Bu chruadalach na gleachdairean, 'S ro dheas a dheanamh iuil, Dheadh Mic Mhuirich Mhoir na brataich, Cha bu tais do ghnuis. Na Fineachan Gaelach.

"On Wednesday last the whole North hastened to do honour to the. deservedly popular Chief of the Clan on the occasion of his Golden Wedding. Cluny's personal characteristics, and his loyalty to the old feudal-clannish customs, which of old bound all classes together into communities, has long made him a typical and repre­ sentative man. The Highland people honour-in truth, almost worship-him because he has always been proud to be one of themselves, a Chief who spoke Gaelic, lived among his people like his sires before him, and tried to be more than a landlord-even a patron, counsellor and friend. " Professor Blackie, in Altavona, makes his alter ego tell a .stranger visiting the Highlands, that in having seen Cluny he had enjoyed the great privilege of having seen a genuine Celtic Chief who loved old tenants, old servants, old customs, spoke the old ancestral tongue, and sent his sons into, the Army. Exaggerated as Professor Blackie's words may sound, they only give expression to the sentiments he found prevailing far and wide among humble Highlanders. The great merit of Cluny, and a few other Highland proprietors, his contemporaries, was that th~y were faithful in a faithless age. When other Chiefs and Lairds were becoming Anglicised, they had the courage to remain Highland to the core. "The Macphersons may well be proud of their venerable Chief, but in truth he is honoured and claimed as a sort of great common Chief by all Highlanders at home and abroad." THE ARMS OF CLUNY

APPENDIX XIII Quoting from an old number of the Celtic Magazine of 1883, the Clan relics in "Old Cluny's" time were chiefly Jacobite. "Here," the writer states, "is the targe made of wood in France by Prince Charlie, and worn by him at the Battle of Culloden, covered with leather, studded with silver ornaments and richly chased. It is surrounded in the hall by seven basket hilted swords used by the Frasers in 1745. There is the shirt-frill of lace left by the Prince at Fassifern the morning after raising his Standard at Glenfinnan.... Here is the old MS. 1 in the Charter Chest with Prince Charlie's autograp}i, and yonder, carefully treasured, the Prince's autograph letter to Cluny, dated 18th Sept. 1746, and the bronze plate for engraving notes-made by Sir Robert Strange-which were never issued, found by a shepherd a few years ago at the West end of Loch Laggan, where it was lost by one of the Prince's followers on the way to the cave at Loch Ericht. "The Black Chanter, or 'Feadan Dubh' of Clan Chattan is exhibited and handled with great care, for the prosperity of the House of Cluny is supposed to depend upon its possession. . . . There are no less than 24 very fine claymores and swords, among which are not a few Ferraras. Here is the ' Charmed Sword,' worn by the present Colonel of the Black Watch (Duncan of Cluny) during the Indian Mutiny. There are two, taken respectively by Cluny and an ancestor of Macpherson of Baillid from their adversaries at Penrith. . . . Here is a piece of the Colours of the Black Watch, carried at Waterloo ; of another carried in the Crimea and Indian Mutiny. " Here is the brass candlestick used by Cluny of the '45, and carried by him to his various places of conceal­ ment ; also the snuff-mull, bound with an iron hoop, made and fixed on by himself, his constant companion during those eventful years. Last, and not least, still hanging in the hall, the famous 'Bratach Daine,' carried at the head of the Clan, and about which an old witch told the Duke of Cumberland that if he waited till the ' Bratach U aine ' came up, he would be defeated." 110 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON

APPENDIX XIV On 4th April 1609, Andrew of Grange and in Cluny was one of the signatories to a Bond which ever since has b~en held up by the Macintoshes against the Macphersons. It is a very long document, but the purport of it was, in fact, mutual defence,- and even while acknowledging Macintosh as Captain and Chief, Andrew, with the knowledge that the real chiefship lay in descent by birth, used the following words-." according to the King of Scotland's gift of Chieftainrie of the said Clan Chattan,'' and continues, " Therefore the said haill persones and Chief and kin of Clan Chattan bind and oblige them, ilk ane to other, the said William Macintosh and the said kin of Clan Chattan, to concur, assist, maintain, and defend either others, or to take plain art and part with other against all and whatsoever persons in all actions of arms, deeds, and occasions whatsoever that shall happen to be done in their contrair, or that shall happen to fall furth thereafter." The Macphersons' signatures which appear in this document are "Andrew ·Macfersone of Clunie ; Evine M'fersone of Brenne ; I ven Makfersone in Brachacht, and Gillicallum Makfersone in Ovie." APPENDIX XV The fact that Macintosh was not given the supporters which had been granted to Cluny as' representer of Clan Chattan,' is a most important point. The original supporters shewn on the arms matriculated by Duncan Macpherson in 1672 were the two Highlanders which were afterwards returned to Ewen (Old Cluny). APPENDIX XVI CORRESPONDENCE RE THE USE OF ARMS The following letters appeared in the Badenoch Record for the 8th and 15th July 1939 respectively : Harringway, N. W. 4th July 1939. "Sir, In your issue of 1st July, under the heading 'Arms of Cluny,' it is stated that anyone using a Crest without authority is liable to a . fine by the Lord Lyon. THE ARMS OF CLUNY III This official is going to have a busy time ! As a matter of fact the whole idea of Heraldry is alien to Highlanders, and was recently described as an attempt to obtain fees from those whose blue-blood pressure is too high. I am only one of the 'other ranks,' or, as your correspondent kindly puts it, I am an ' other Macpherson,' and have no connection with the aristocratic Cluny fa1nily, but my humble spirit is not intimidated and the old Cat is not going to be erased from my trinkets ! If trouble comes, the Cat shall be engraved on my coffin, and then the Lord Lyon and his blue-bloods may sue me in h-1 ! (Sgd.) " To which the following reply was elicited: " Sir, Mr . . . . letter is, I noted, written safely from Harringway, N.W. (i.e. London), which is outside the Lord Lyon's jurisdiction, and the penalties of the Statute 1672, Cap. 47 and 30 & 31 Victoria, Cap. 17. In these circumstances he will no doubt be able to retain his armorial trinkets (liable to confiscation in Scotland) and his cat on the coffin-but he had better not be buried in Scotland or he may find the powers of the Procurator Fiscal of Lyon Court will pursue the decoration and oust his remains as they did the arms above the grave of Sir Colin Macrae ( 1926), when the Court of Sessions held that use of arms without payment of the statutory fees (payable to Lyon Office on behalf of H.M. Treasury) on matriculation in Lyon Register, is simply evasion of Inland Revenue. Your correspondent would be a tax dodger, and if he has no title to the insigna, and spurns heraldry, what on earth is he parading it here for ? We all note he realises where he is heading for in the hereafter ! Far from heraldry being ' alien to Highlanders.,' we find Highland Chiefs using heraldry on seals and banners from virtually as early a period as any other magnates. If your correspondent despises heraldry, his only proper course is not to use heraldry. W. C.-M."

PART III SOME CADET BRANCHES OF CLUNY MACPHERSON

CHAPTER VIII THE MACPHERSONS OF DALCHULLY THIS is the nearest cadet branch to the House of Cluny, and, though for clarity and convenience so described, is really only a younger stem of the present House of Cluny. It is descended from Captain Lachlan Macpherson, born 15th July 1714, the fifth, but second son ·with issue, of Lauchlan Macpherson of Cluny, 17th Chief. He married Catherine, daughter-­ of Duncan Campbell of Auchlyne, by whoni he had four sons and five daughters. He was the wadsetter of Dalchully, which he acquired by wadset from his father. Lachlan never took part in the Rising of 1745, apparently a family arrangement at the instigation of his eldest brother, Ewan, afterwards 18th Chief of his clan and one of Prince Charlie's greatest supporters. It was at Dalchully House that Ewan had the nearest escape from capture. He had been in the habit of visiting his wife and brother at night time, stealing out from his cave on Craig Dhub. The officer in charge of the troops in the vicinity was Hector Munro-afterwards Sir Hector Munro-and, apart from the reward of £1000 offered for Cluny's capture, Munro was actuated by the spirit of retaliation as his two kinsmen had been killed at the Battle of Falkirk. He had a suspicion that Cluny might be resorting to Dalchully, but kept this suspicion to himsel£ On this particular night he suddenly aroused his troop and started off with- the greatest celerity for n3 H 114 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Dalchully. Fortunately for Cluny, a clansman asleep in the heather was awakened by the passing troop, and, taking a short cut, he arrived at Dalchully House, but only just in advance of Munro and his men. There was no time for Cluny to hide, so divesting himself of shoes and doublet and any ornaments which might have denoted his rank, he ran outside the house, clad only in shirt and , just as Munro was dismounting from his horse, and offered to hold the bridle of his horse while the officer dismounted. After a futile search of the house, Munro remounted his horse, handing the· supposed clansman a shilling for his services. This incident is com­ memorated in a massive piece of silver plate presented to Ewen Macpherson of Cluny-the 20th Chief-·on his silver wedding day. It depicts Sir Hector Munro handing the coin to Cluny from his horse. After the Battle of Culloden most of the valuables and papers from Cluny Castle were given to Lachlan Macpherson for safe keeping ; a wise precaution, for in less than two months after that fateful 16th April 17 45, Cluny Castle was only a smoking ruin. Although only the fifth son, for some reason or the other Lachlan Macpherson appeared to be the representer of the Cluny family during the time when Cluny was in hiding. And even after-for· we Jind that Major. John Macpherson, the second s.on of Lauchlan of Cluny, in his will had named Captain Lachlan Macpherson as his heir should young Duncan (their nephew and chief of the clan after the death of Ewan of the '45) die before reaching manhood. This was all the more significant when we remember that Captain Lachlan ·Macpherson had two other brothers older than himself still living-James and Allan, both officers in the Army. Equally significant, so far as the status of the Dalchully family is concerned, is the fact that in the '' Resolution taken by the Gentlemen in Baden~ch, 24-thJune 1752," in_an address . DALCHULLY HOUSE AS IT IS TO-DAY The old type of L-shaped building common in the Highlands. The " Hidey Hole " in which Cluny of the '45 was hidden many a time is just inside the small door on the right. It was dug after his narrow escape described on page 113. Photo by W. C-M.

THE SPEY AT DALCHULLY, ON THE CORRTEYARRICK ROAD Photo by Alasdair Alpin MacGregor

WADE'S BRIDGE OVER THE MASHIE BURN Dalchully House can be seen among the trees. To the left is the Dun on which is the Pictish fort described in these pages. Photo by Alasdair Alpin MacGregor

·Tat MACPHERS0NS OF ·oALCHULLY 115 to General Churchill, C. in C. in Scotland, for the protection of their properties, we find Lachlan Macpherson among the signatories as "of Cluny." And in an old Bible, published in Edinburgh in 17 43 and originally belonging to Lachlan's elder ·brother, James, we also find his wife's signature as "Oath. Macpherson of Cluny," 1759. As Cluny himself was alive and actually in hiding in Scotland in 17 52, the fact of Lachlan signing himself "of Cluny" seems to point- to the fact that he was more or less looked upon as the custodian (or tanister, in the old Celtic ideas) of the House of Cluny during the period of the Chief's inability to administer the affairs·· of his house. _ Lachlan Macpherson was for some time Barrack Master at Ruthven Castle, and died in 1777, having had issue four sons and six daughters. Of the four ·sons, only one, John, married. Duncan, the eldest, became a: Captain in the Honourable East India Company's Army, and died in India. Some most interesting narrative letters of his concerning events in the Rohilla campaign are in the possession of the writer of these sketches-the present representer of the family ofDalchully. The second and third sons, Evan and John, both went to Jamaica. James, the youngest son, was evidently of a delicate constitution, for we find a letter written by Colin Campbell, of his· mother's family, to Lachlan Macpherson of Ralia, from Annat, and dated 12th September 1791, in which the writer says : "I _was always of opinion that our ward, Jamie Macpherson, had not constitution for the West Indies, and having two of his brothers there, not hitherto very successful in that line, is very discouraging to him, and to us, to send him, as in appearance not too fit for that climate, as they were, etc., etc." James was eventually started in .a manufacturing business by his cousin, "Hrigh-Auchlyne's son "-as the writer 116 THt CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON of the same letter goes on to state-in which he was assisted by Colonel Allan Macpherson of Blairgowrie and Cluny himself. What became of him no records show. Apparently he never married, or, if he did, he left no descendants. Of the daughters of Captain Lachlan Macpherson, two of them, Louisa and Jean, married respectively the Rev. Alexander Stewart, D.D ., of Moulin, Dingwall, and the Rev. Alan Stewart, of Kirkmichael. Louisa and Jean both died in Scotland, but in 1852 all the grand-children of Jean went to Australia, and there are to-day in Melbourne two great-grand... daughters of Jean-the Misses Annie and Jane Day, of Elstern... wick, Melbourne, and three great-great-grandsons, Frank Milne, and Athol and John Collier-the last named a planter in Mackay, Queensland. Evan and John, the second and third son~ of Captain Lachlan Macpherson, emigrated, as we have seen, to Jamaica. We hear very little more about them for some time. Apparently they became merchants, " not hitherto very successful," according to Colin Campbell in 1791, though by 3rd February 1 796 we hear a better account, as in another letter of that date, written by Evan Macpherson (a first cousin of Colonel Allan Macpherson of Blairgowrie) to Mrs John Macpherson, wife of the Governor General of India, we read : " Two of Captain Lachlan's sons, Evan and John, are in Jamaica doing, we hear, very well," etc., etc. So well had John prospered that he eventually purchased an estate in St Thomas ... in-the­ East, Jamaica, which he named Cluny Estate, and he possessed many slaves. This prosperity was not, however, the result of his business dealings, but came about in this manner. There was settled in Jamaica an old Hugenot family named Bernard. The first Bernard who settled there was Daniel, the son of Samuel Bernard, Colbert's financier. Daniel had married into another wealthy French banking family THE MACPHERSONS OF bALCHULLY 117 -a Miss Viollete de Paris. After the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Daniel settled in Jamaica in 1688. His grandson, another Daniel, a wealthy planter, had an attractive daughter, Mary, who, meeting John Macpherson and falling in love with him, eloped with him. The writer. of these sketches has seen letters from the irate father, Daniel Bernard, in which he describes in no uncertain terms "this beggarly Scotch trader " who had eloped with his daughter. Later on, however, Daniel Bernard relented, and it was very largely through his generosity that John Macpherson was able to purchase Cluny Estate. His brother Evan having died unmarried, John accordingly became at one time heir presumptive to the Chiefship of his Clan, a fact alluded to in his obituary notice. Quite recently, in the Glasgow Herald of I oth October 1933, under the heading " 100 Years Ago," appeared this interesting extract (culled from a contemporary journal) : " Died lately at Cluny Estate, St Thomas-in-the-East, Jamaica,. John McPherson, Esquire, at one time the heir presumptive to_ the Chiefship of that Clan. The old gentleman, in defiance of mosquitoes and everything else, · continued to wear the philabeg, composed of the tartan of his clan ; and at the skirl of his pibroch every negro within reach of its sound was always heard to exclaim, ' God bless my ole massa, he make plenty noise for we ! ' " The article goes on to 6 mention that at his graveside the ' McPherson's Lament'' was played by an old Highlander. Apparently at the death of his father Lachlan, many of the Cluny effects which had come into Lachlan's possession after Culloden were sent on to John, as his descendants have many miniatures and letters and family portraits which were passed from eldest. son to .eldest son for four generations in Jamaica. Among the heirlooms of the Macphersons of Dalchully are some most interesting letters from " Duncan of 118 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON the Kiln," written during his captivity in America and handed down through the Sharpes of Cooper's Hill Estate, Jamaica. John Macpherson died in September 1833, leaving one son, Robert, who sold Cluny Estate and who married Margaret Carolina, daughter of David Blaik, of Kingston, Jamaica. Robert died in 1839, leaving four sons and two daughters, all of whom died s.p., except the eldest, David. From David the compiler is descended, through his second wife (who was a second cousin), Elizabeth Stennett, daughter of Daniel Bernard Sharpe. David died a few years after this marriage-his medals showing him to have served in the Crimean War with the rank of Lieut.-Colonel-leaving by his second wife an only son, John (Euan) Douglas Macpherson, born 7th August 1856~ Always of a religious temperament, John Douglas M3:cpherson took Holy Orders shortly· after his marriage in June 1880 to his. second cousin, Rosetta Fanny, daughter of the Rev. George Cheyne, the. eldest son of Captain George Cheyne, R.N., * one of Nelson's officers and

* Captain George Cheyne took part in 150 engagements during the Napoleonic Wars, and was the leader in two forlorn hopes, one of which is specially mentioned in Marshall's Royal Naval Biography (Supplement, Part II, page 282). The compiler has a miniature of Lord. Nelson given to him by that famous Admiral. Capt. George Cheyne's second son, Commander John Cheyne, R.N., was one of those chosen by the Admiralty to accompany Sir Jas. Ross in H.M.S. Enterprise on the expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, the Arctic explorer, and an account of this expedition, written and illustrated by Commander Cheyne himself appeared in the Boys' Own Paper for 1881. A great grandson of this Captain George Cheyne was the late Charles Anthony, Lord Lyell of Kinnordy, who was the first peer in the late war to be awarded the Victoria Cross (posthumously) when serving as a Captain in the Scots Guards in April 1943, in Tunisia, and described in the Illustrated London News of 21-8-1943, as "One of the greatest V.C. feats of the War." _ It is interesting to note that Reginald Cheyne, Lord Chamberlain of Scotland in 1267, was a cousin of John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, who was married to a sister of King .John Baliol. T~e present Macphersons of Dalchully can thus claim descent from the earliest Lords of Badenoch. THE MACPHERSONS OF D-t.\LCHULLY 119 the eldeS.t male descendant of thc:1,t Sir Ranalc:l Cheyne who was Lord Chamberla_in of Scotland in A.D._ 1267. For a time the Rev. John Macpherson did slum work in England, and was one of the first curates of St Michael's and All Angels, Croydon, Surrey. Feeling, however, a call for mission work, he returned to Jamaica and was Rector of St David's, Yallahs, St Thomas-in-the-East. During his term there his zeal and ·energy made him go farther afield, and he started a Mission Church at a place called The Abbey. Here he built a beautiful stone church-after an early beginning of a mud and wattle building, with an empty packing case covered with red cloth as an altar-which was named All Saints. In his zeal he spared himself not even manual toil. Toiling at an open river course with the sand-sifting gang of workers from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., carrying stones on his shoulders -anything to keep down the cost and encourage the labour-work .so strenuous in a tropical climate soon killed him, at the early age of 50. At the Synod held after his death, his Bishop's words were: "He was a good man, and it was due t9 his earnestness and over-zeal for his work-zeal often not tempered with wisdom-that his death at so early an age has taken place." He possessed the extraordinary gift of being able to preach most eloquent and moving sermons, with no notes, and often with no preparation. He was also noted for his fine horsemanship. John Douglas Macpherson left three sons and three daughters, of whom William George Douglas Lachlan, Hilda Theodora and Nina survive. One other son, Cecil, married in the United States and left one daughter. Hilda trained as a nurse and served with distinction in the Great War with both the British and French Red Cross, gaining, with the three Service medals, the Croix de Guerre, the Medaille d'Honneur ~t ~es les Epedemies., and the Order of the Ladies of 120- THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON France, with Palms. The latter was awarded for special acts of bravery, and in a letter addressed to "-Mademoiselle Hylda I. MacPherson, Nurse Major de 7 A.D.F.," dated 21st May 1919 and signed by Henri Nourer, the French Under-Secretary of State for War, these words occur : " In consideration ... of the devotion you have given proof of during the War, and of your several acts of bravery under fire, I have decided to award you the Special Bronze A,fedal instituted by me (and duly inserted in the Official Gazette of 28th July 191 7) in favour of those ... who have most distinguished themselves by their outstanding merit and bravery," etc. etc. Shortly after finishing her training as a nurse in I 9 Io Miss MacPherson had distinguished herself by saving the life of a German· sailor, during a fracas on board one of the Hamburg-American liners travelling from Southampton to Jamaica. The events leading up to this incident were as follows : It was a rough day and Miss Macpherson was the only passenger on deck at the time, the ship being then on the last lap of her journey, between Haiti and Jamaica. She heard a yell and saw a native of Haiti grappling with one of the German sailors. The former pulled out a machete and slashed the sailor across the stomach. Before he could do any further damage, Miss MacPherson rushed to the sailor's assistance, and seizing the native by the arm, she held him long enough until some others came to her assistance, and overpowered the crazed man. The following account appeared in The Dai~ Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) shortly after the arrival of the liner in Jamaica. " The wounded seaman who was admitted to hospital on the arrival of the Prt1Jsident three weeks ago, was discharged on Saturday. It will be remembered that Miss MacPherson, who was a passenger on the vessel, rendered first aid. Had it THE MACPHERSONS OF DALCHULLY 121 not been for her clever attention, and bravery in tackling his assailant, the man would have died. Miss MacPherson had to inject strychnine, the man being in such a precarious state, before she could get to stitch up the abdomen wound, which was over 12 inches in length. This was no easy job with the rolling of the ship. The doctors at both ports, including Port-au-Prince, expressed themselves as thoroughly satisfied, and declared there was nothing left for them to do. The Captain presented •Miss Macpherson with a souvenir (a beautiful turquoise and pearl set of earring, brooch and pendant) in the name of the Hamburg-American Line;" etc. etc.* The Rev. John Douglas Macpherson's surviving son, William, by his last marriage in 1926 to Marjorie, eldest daughter of Joseph Travers Jones, Esq., J.P., grazier, of Lucerne Vale Station, Yass, N.S.W., has two sons, Robert John, born on a voyage between New Guinea and Sydney, N.S.W., on the 14th April 1927, and Ewan David Joseph Lachlan, born in London on 7th April 1932. t In 1928, in conformance with the request of his mother, the name Cheyne was added to the paternal name (which was later duly registered at the Lyon Office) as the representer of the Cheynes of Essilmont, the family being therefore now known as Cheyne-Macpherson, and in December of 1933 he founded the Clan Chattan Association and organised a world appeal for funds to purchase Cluny Castle and the clan relics, or, if funds were insufficient, to acquire a small plot of land on which . to erect a small building. The Macphersons of

* It is interesting to note that Miss Macpherson served right through this present war. Throwing up a sheltered position in a hospital in Scotland, on the urgent call of the Government for volunteers, she took a position as Sister-in-Charge of one of London's Rest Centres. She served all through the Battle of Britain (losing everything she possessed in one of the air raids) and endured to the very last the still more terrifying" Doodle Bugs" and V-bombs of 1944-45. t By a former marriage he had two other sons, Cluny arid Robert, 122 THE CHIEFS OF CLJ\N MA,CPHERSON Dalchully are among those who have the right to us.e arms, such having been matriculated at the Lyon Ofijce in March 1923. Dalchully has long passed out of the possession of the Macphersons, having been sold by " Old Cluny "

ARMORIAL BEARINGS OF THE DALCHULLY-MACPHERSONS Illustrating the difference of a Cadet from the Chief's Arms by the addition of a bordure. to Sir Hugh Ramsden. It is a fine old stone house, at present divided into two, in which live two families of shepherds. In it can still be seen the '' hidey hole " of Cluny of the '45. Behind it, on top of a hill -the Dun-600 feet high, is one of the finest examples of an old hill fort, and it is said to have been one of Ewan of the '45's hiding places. Its Gaelic name ·is Dun-da-lamh, meaning " the fort looking in two .· THE MACPHERSONS OF DALCHULLY 123 directions," · as it faces the Spey Valley on the north and the Mashie Valley on the south. On the north- -east-the most accessible side-its walls are 13 feet

THE ARMS OF CHEYNE-MACPHERSON

high and 2 5 feet thick, and it has a circumference of 400 yards. There is another interpretation to the name "Dun-da-lamh," Professor Watson giving as its meaning "The Fort of Two Hands," from the local tradition that the masters of the fort used to levy 124 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON tribute of handstones (dornagan) from the people of the district, which they used as weapons. These hill forts are not vitrified (as the one at Craig Phadrick in Inverness), consisting entirely of loose stones with no mortar.* * In August 1945 the author's youngest son, Ewan, climbed to the top of Dun-da-lamh, and found that the stones of the walls had been very much destroyed and levelled by vandals. While resting from his climb, he saw no less than six golden eagles circling overhead and a peregrine falcon swooped down on its prey. CHAPTER IX THE MACPHERSONS OF BLAIRGOWRIE This branch is descended from Andrew, the third son of William of Nuide, whose eldest· son Lauchlan succeeded to the Chiefship of the clan on the death of his second cousin-once removed-Duncan, the 16th Chief. William ofNuide married in 1667, Isobell, daughter of Lachlan McIntosh of Kinrara, and his third son, Andrew, married ·Marjorie, daughter of James Campbell of Inerdrichard. Andrew left four sons, John, James, William and Andrew. The two elder sons apparently died unmarried, or left no descendants, but the two younger sons, William and Andrew, both married and left descendants, the elder of the two, William, marrying in 1735 Anna, relict of Grant of Laggan, and became the founder of the Macphersons of Blairgowrie, while the youngest son, Andrew, married, also in 1 735, Helen M~cpherson and became the father of the famous James, of Ossian fame, the founder of the Macphersons of Balavil. William was known as '' the Purser '' of the clan, and was killed at the Battle of Falkirk in I 746,. fighting for Prince Charlie. He left two sons, Allan and John, both of whom became Lieut.-Colonels in the service of the Honourable East India Company, the latter earning the soubriquet of " Honest John " because of , his punctilious integrity. John was born in 1742 and married in 1783 a Miss Grace Hay, but died without descendants, his health having ,been completely under­ mined by twenty-two years of arduous service in India. ·Allan, the elder son, was born in 1740 and married Eliza, daughter of Alexander Fraser of Fairfield, 125 126 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Inverness. An early memory of Allan's, handed down by word of mouth, was of throwing stones, from behind a bush, at the soldiers engaged in burning down Cluny Castle, the residence of his chie£ In the early part of his life Allan was brought up with his cousin James, the translator of Ossian. In 1758 young Allan enlisted in '' The Black Watch," and was with _it in North America that year, taking part in the successful ·attack on Ticonderoga, under General Abercromby. He took part in the capture of Montreal in 1760, and in 1762 he was with the force which captured Havannah, · in Cuba, from the Spanish, after the storming of El Moro. . He then took his discharge and returned to Scotland, but obtaining a military cadetship with the Honourable East India Company he went to India in 1763, his younger brother John having already gone there as an Ensign in the Gordons (89th Regiment). From 1782 to 1787, Allan Macpherson--now Lieut.-Colonel -held the post of Quartermaster-General in Bengal, and he lived with his wife partly at Barrackpore, and partly in his town house in Calcutta, opposite St John's Church. As Q.M.G. he was first under Warren Hastings, and then under Sir John Macpherson, · to whom he was also Private Secretary and Persian interpreter. In 1788 · he purchased Blairgowrie House from Lord Lyndoch, and for the rest of his life he lived there, taking much interest in County affairs, giving special attention to the construction of the Highland Road to the Bridge of Cally. When the Volunte~r Forces were formed to meet Napoleon's threatened invasion, Colonel Allan raised and commanded the 1st Strathmore Volunteers-from 1798 to 1805. He died in 1816 and there is a M_emorial drinking fountain to his memory erected in the town of Blair­ . He left two sons, William, born 1784, ·and THE MACPHERSONS OF. BLAIRGOWRIE 127 Allan, born .1787. Alla~, the younger, became Chaplain to the Honourable East India Oompa~y's Forc.es, and marrying three times he left issue, dying in 1864. · The elder son William (2nd of Blairgowrie) was born in Calcutta and educated at Winchester, marrying Jessie, daughter of William Chalmers of Glenericht. In I 826 he went to Australia as Secretary to the Governor, remaining afterwards in New South Wales. He became Collector of Internal Revenue till 1836, holding subsequently the posts of Clerk of the Legis­ lative and Executive Councils from 1837 to 1842. Registrar of the Supreme Court till 1843, and then Clerk of the Legislative Council again till 1862. He died at his country house, Bernera, near Liverpool (about twenty miles from Sydney) in 1866, and a stained glass window to his memory is in St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, N.S.W. A portrait of him, in oils, in his robes of office, and presented to him by the Legislative Council, hangs at Newton Castle, the present seat of the Macphersons of Blairgowrie . .Allan, his eldest son and · 3rd of Blairgowrie, was also born in Calcutta, in 1815. He was educated, first at Mr Cape's School in Sydney, and afterwards at Winchester. In 1853 he married Emma, daughter of Chas. Blake, Esq. In 1838 Allan Macpherson wenf out to Australia to take up sheep and cattle farming, his father having acquired a Crown grant of about 200 square miles of land in the Gwydir district of New South Wales, which he named Keera. Later on young Allan, fired by the accounts of Thomas (afterwards " Sir") Mitchell, the explorer, journeyed into Queensland, taking with him several thousand head of sheep and cattle . and some white men and, after a most exciting series of experiences with the ~boriginals (an account of which was written by him in a diary and reproduced in the Sydney Mail of l 1th April to 16th May 1934) he eventually too~ up 128 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON

600 square· miles .of land at Mt. Abundance, Queens• land, on part of which now stands the flourishing town of Roma. Here, however, Allan encountered so much opposition from the blacks that, in disgust, he sold out Mt. Abundance to a pastoral company, and returned to Scotland, when he married. Return­ ing to Australia in 18 56, with his wife and one child, he lived at Keera till 18 59, when he sold the place to the Munros, whose descendants still own it. Later Allan took up politics under Sir William Foster and became M.P. for Central Cumberland, N.S.W. During this period of his life he became rather famous in a case connected with the thrashing of a Member who had used insulting words in the House. As the chastisement had taken place within the precincts of the House ( though outside) the Speaker had to take action. Macpherson was convicted of assault and fined. He appealed, and kept on appealing till eventually the case was dropped, and the Sydney Punch of that date had a famous cartoon on it, depicting Macpherson as a jockey riding a horse past the winning post and entitled " Macpherson wins on Demurrah." He was a contemporary and strong opponent of Sir Henry Parkes, the renowned Australian politician, his dislike of Parkes' policy often overcoming his innate sense of courtesy to such an extent that the following tale is told of him. · Leaving Parliament House one day rather early, Macpherson encountered Parkes who was hurrying in, as he was late. Parkes, whose aitches were often conspicuous by their absence, greeted Allan Macpherson with " Good morning, Mr Macpherson, what is before the 'Ouse to-day?" to which Macpherson replied " H, you b--y fool, H ! " He finally returned to his ancestral home, Blair­ gowrie House in Perthshire, dying there in I go I. His wife was a most gifted woman and wrote one NEWTON CASTLE, THE SEAT OF THE MACPHERSONS OF BLAIRGOWRIE

(Seated in the front are the late Wm. Chas. Macpherson, C.S.I. and his wife) Photo by W. C-M.

THE MACPHERSONS OF BLAIRGOWRIE 129 of the earliest books on Australian pioneer life, entitled My Experiences in Australia, 1856 to 1857, by a Lady, which she profusely· illustrated herself. A copy of this book is in the Mitchell Library, Sydney. Allan Macpherson left five sons and two daughters, all of whom, except the younger daughter, Frances, married and left issue. The elder daughter, Harriet, married a Mr Bernard Wise and has a son, Major James Wise, now in Vancouver, British Columbia. Of the five sons, William Charles, 4th of Blairgowrie, was born in 18 55. The second son, Allan, was born at Keera, N.S.W. in 1857 and became a judge. He married and left one son and one daughter, dying in 1930. The third son, Charles, born in 1858, left three sons and three daughters. The fourth son, George, born in 1861 at Bernera, N.S.W., never married, and was killed as a Major in the Royal Scots at the Battle of Loos. The fifth and youngest son, Ewen, held, among other important posts, the position of Chairman of the Board of Health for Scotland and was awarded the C.B. He left one son and one daughter, dying in 1941. William Charles, 4th of Blairgowrie, was, like his father and grandfather before him, educated at Winchester. He married in 1886, Isabella, daughter of Colonel David Kinloch, Royal Artillery, of Gourdie. He entered the India Civil Service and held the positions of Director of the Departments of Land Records and Agriculture in Bengal, Chairman to the Port Commissioners, Calcutta, and Member of the Board of Revenue. From 1902 to 1911 he was a Member of the Bengal Legislative Council, and at one time he was Commissioner for Bengal and Patna, with a population of 92,000,000 people to administer. He was decorated with the C.S.I. and retired in 1911. Owing to the heavy taxation of those days, he was compelled to sell Blairgowrie House in 1930, and retired to his other Blairgowrie residence, Newton I 130 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON ·castle. He was the. author of Soldiering in India, I764 to 1787, and was engaged in the task of writing a complete history of his clan when death came. He died at Newton Castle in July l936, the epitome of all that went to make up the o]d school of courtesy and. true gentility. A great genealogist and fervid clansman, he continued work commenced by his grandfather-the great " Tree· " of the Macphersons-. He was also largely instrumental in launching the world-wide appe~l to raise funds to save Cluny Castle and ·the relics for the clan,. and was o~e of the founders of the present Clan Chattan Association. William Charles Macpherson, C.S.I., left two sons and three daughters. · ( 1) Brigadier Alan David Macpherson, D.S.O., M.C., of the Royal Field Artillery and- now the 5th of Blairgowrie. (2) ·David William Kinloch Macpherson, formerly a Lieutenant in the Highland . Light Infantry, but now a planter in Tanganyika, and an authority on birds, who married in I 935 Miss Frances McGuire. · ( 1) Sheila, M.B.,. Ch.B., practising medicine in Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh. (2) Isla, a trained nurse, and (3) Jean, married to Sir James Anderson, of the I.C.S. and has issue. Brigadier Alan David . Macpherson was born in 1887. -He married in 1922 Catherine, daughter of Robert Hill of Coupar-Angus, Perthshire. Serving in the Great War, he gained the D.S.O., and M.C. He was Instructor of Gunnery in Malta, 1928-1932, gazetted Brevet Lieut.-Colonel on 1st July 1934 and Brigadier, Scottish Command, in 1938. He has one son, William, educated at Wellington and Sandhurst (at present at Sandhurst R.M.C.) born 1926, and two daughters, Catriona and Sheila. CHAPTER X THE MACPHERSONS OF GLENTRUIM This branch of the Macphersons is sprung from John, the. youngest son of Donald of Nuide, being thus really cadets of N uide, though N uide was originally sprung from Cluny, and later itself (in the eldest branch) became " of Cluny," when Lauchlan, eldest son of William of N uide ( and theref ore nephew ofJohn) succeeded his second cousin-once removed­ Duncan of Cluny, as 17th Chief. However, as it is the only cadet branch which still owns the lands of its forebears in Badenoch, it probably conforms closer to old family tradition and sentiment than other cadets nearer in blood to the present House of Cluny, who have through misfortune wandered away from the lands of their ancestors. Perhaps too there is no cadet branch which has more truly observed the noblesse oblige traditions of an old family than has this family of soldiers. . John married Helen, the daughter of Duncan Macpherson of Coronach and had three sons, Donald, Andrew and Ewan, the 'last named being .the 1st of · Ralia. Ewan married a daughter of Grant of Strath­ spey, and his second son, Lachlan, succeeded him in Ralia. This Lachlan, born in 1723, married Grace, the daughter of Andrew Macpherson of Benchar in 1777, he then being in his fifty-third year while she was only sixteen years of age. The following tale about this marriage is related by Alex. Macpherson in his Church and Social Life : . "Of this Lachlan it is said that on one occasion, when paying a casual visit to his neighbours, the Macphersons of Banchor, a child was lying in its cradle. The attention of the good

131 132 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON wife of Banchor having in course of Ralia's caidlidh being taken up with some other household duties, she exclaimed, ' Rock the cradle for me, Lachlan, the little girlie may yet be your wife,' to which he replied ' I'll certainly rock the cradle for you, but I fear I'm already too old-if I ever get married at all- to wait so long for a wife'." The infant was Grace, who became his wife. Lachlan became a J.P. and Deputy-Lieutenant for Inverness-shire. He died on 10th June 18r"3, having had eleven children of whom, however, on]y two married-Ewan, who succeeded him, and Duncan. The latter rose to the rank of Major in "The Black Watch," and was severely wounded at Correlina, in Batavia. He married Miss Sherriff of Inverness, and on retiring from the Army he became Collector of Customs in that Burgh. Lachlan's youngest son, James, never married, but at a very early age he became distinguished by his feats of supreme daring and utmost gallantry in the Army. In the Peninsular War, under Wellington, he led the " forlorn hope " at the storming of Badajoz, and with his own hands tore down the French colours and, having no British flag with him, planted a soldier's red tunic on the top of the citadel. Later, he commanded the Ceylon Rifle Corps, attaining the rank of Lieut.-Colonel. Lachlan's eldest son, Ewan, who succeeded him in Ralia, was born in 1782. He became a Major in the 42nd Madras Infantry, and married Miss Helen Birrell, niece of Sir James Ramsay of Balmain. Having purchased Glentruim, he was the I st of Glentruim, his father La:chlan being thus the last of Ralia. He had three sons and three daughters, one of whom, Maria Isabella, married Captain Norman A. MacLeod of Orbost, and among the children of this marriage one daughter, Louisa Barbara, is married to the much ·beloved and respected Provost of .\

GLENTRUIM HousE. Vrnw FROM THE BACK

THE MACPHERSONS OF GLENTRUIM 133 St Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral, Inverness-the Very Reverend Alexander A. D. MacKenzie. Dying on 22nd January 1847, Ewan was succeeded by his eldest son Robert, a Lieutenant in the 91st Highlanders, ~ho, dying unmarried, was succeeded by his brother Lachlan. Lachlan Macpherson (born 29th June 1835) 3rd of Glentruim, entered the Army as Ensign in the 30th Regiment, and went with that regiment to the Crimea. He took part in all three battles of the Alma, Inkerman and Sebastapol, and was invalided home in August 1855, receiving the Crimean War Medal with three clasps, the 5th Class of the Order of the Medjidia and the Turkish Medal, and attained the rank of Lieut.-Colonel. Colonel Lachlan Macpherson married Catherine Louisa, daughter of 0. G. Miller, Esq. of Ratho. He died in 1914, leaving four sons and two daughters, the younger of whom, Miss Eva Helen Louisa Macpherson, resides in Kingussie. Of his sons, the eldest, Evan Gordon, had predeceased his father in 1898, and Duncan James, the second son, succeeded as the 3rd of Glentruim. Colonel Lachlan's third son, Lachlan Oliver Norman (born in 1872) married on 11th April 1923, Dorothy, daughter of the Rev. John Birch Jones, Vicar of Woodborough. He died on 25th August 1929 leaving one son, Euan Lachlan Robert, born 17th May 1926, and one daughter, Marie Lucy, born in 1924. Robert Ian, the youngest son, born in 1877, married on 24th November 1914 Eleanor Wayne, daughter of Richard Wayne Parker, Member of Congress for Essex County, New Jersey, U.S.A. He had two sons, Evan Gordon (born 19th December 1915) and Ian Lachlan (born 29th January 1918) but both died young. Duncan James Macpherson, the 4th and present Laird of Glentruim, was born in 1869 and married 1_34 'TIHE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON on- i2th October 1921 Anne Katherine, only daughter of William Dunlop of Doonside. Although not a Regular soldier, the present Macpherson of Glentruim has followed the splendid tradition of his race and family, and has always been ready when his country needed him. He served in the South African War with the Scottish Imperial Yeomanry, and in the Great War of 1914-1918 he attained the rank of Captain in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He holds the unique, and sad, distinction of being the last Macpherson of the Chief's blood to hold heritable land in the country of the l\llacphersons .. Glentruim is situated at the junction of the · with. the Truim. From the house one looks straight across to the Cairngorm Mountains, while to the left ·towers Craig Dhu with its memories of Cluny of the '45 and the Clan War Cry which will linger long after every clansman has gone to. his fathers-Creag Dhubh Chlann Chatain ! · CHAPTER XI THE MACPHERSONS OF BANCHOR The genealogy of this old family of Macphersons is as follows. Andrew, third son of John who was the 1st of Nuide (or Noid, in the old.spelling), he having acquired Nuide Beg in 1623, married first, Mary, daughter of Mr Donald MacQueen of Clune, with whom he was conjointly seised in the lands of Raitts v. Achacha on 30th August 1661. _ He married, second, Jean, daughter of Mr Donald Mcpherson, Minister at Calder, by which marriage he had one son, William. By his first marriage Andrew had two sons, John and Alexander, who " went to the wars with_ William McIntosh of Borlum," and on his death .Alexander was succeeded by his eldest son John, ,who married in 1678, Elizabeth, daughter of John Macpherson_ of Dalraddie. He acquired the lands ofBenchar by contract ofwadset, dated 22nd May 1678, from McIntosh of Borlum, " redeemable . for 8000 merks." He was styled " of Achacha,'·' and was served heir to .his father 21st August 167 5, and had three sisters, one of whom, Margaret, married. Paul Mcpherson of Crathie Croy. John (1st of Banchor)- had four sons ·and two daughters, one of whom, Mary, married . John Macpherson of Breakachie. Of the four sons, John, the eldest, succeeded his father. Angus died unmarried ; Ewan (of Cullenline) married Elspeth Macpherson and had two sons, Ewan and Charles ; and Donald, the youngest, married on 2nd November 1712 Isobell, daughter of James Maclean, Baillie of Inverness, having six sons an~. six .daughters, ias 136 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON John ( 2nd of Banchor) married twice. By his first wife, Anna Forbes, he had two sons, Andrew and Alexander, the latter of whom died unmarried. Andrew (3rd of Banchor) born 1720, married in 1754 Isabel, daughter of George McPherson of Invereshie, and had five sons and five daughters. This Andrew was one of Ewan Macpherson of Cluny's Captains during the '45 Rising, and afterwards, "Yith Macpherson of Breakachie, he· was joint . manager of the Cluny estates during the period of their confiscation. . Of Andrew's five sons all died without issue. One of them, Ewan, Captain in the 33rd Regiment, succeeded his father as 4th of Banchor and sold the estate in July 1795 to James Macpherson of Belleville. One of Andrew's daughters was the Grace niention~d in the chapter on the Macpherso~s of Glentruim who married Lachlan Macpherson ofRalia. The line ofJohn (2nd of Banchor) by his first marriage having thus died out, the descent devolved on the issue of his second marriage to Christian, sister of Lewis Macphe"rson of Dalr~ddie, by whom he had four sons and a daughter Margaret, who married Hugh Macpherson of Ovie. John's eldest son by this•second marriage was Robert (Caipal Mor), born 19th December 1731. Known throughout Badenoch as " Parson Robert," this Chaplain of the famous Fraser Highlanders, became the Royal Bounty Missionary of Brae-Badenoch and Brae-Lochaber. General Stewart of Garth refers to him in his Sketches as the "Caipal Mor," because of his huge stature. The Rev. Ratcliffe Barnett writes of him, "He was the beau-ideal of what a regimental Chaplain ought to be, caring above all things for his men, and sometimes actually leading an attack himself to encourage young officers who were apprentice hands at advancing under fire. No wonder that Jupiter Carlyle of Inveresk in his memoirs spoke of Parson Robert in the highest praise.'' '' Parson Robert'' married in I 775 Louisa, youngest THE MACPHERSONS OF BANCHOR 137 daughter of Duncan Campbell of Auchlyne (whose eldest daughter, Catherine, married Captain Lachlan Macpherson of Dalchully), and had seven sons and two daughters, the third son, Duncan (born ·18th November 1778) marrying Alexa, daughter of General John Maclean of the Indian Army, and of whose descendants anon. Robert, dying in May 1791, was succeeded by his eldest son John (born 31st August 1776) of Ness Bank, Inverness, who married Christian,· daughter of Allan Macdonald of Gallovie, and died in 1845 leaving five sons. ( 1) Robert Alexander Wentworth (born 20th August 181 o) who succeeded his father as representer of the family of Banchor. ( 2) Duncan, M.D.·, who became Inspector-General of Hospitals, Madras Residency. He wrote a book entitled The War in China ; From April 1840 to the Treaty of Peace, August 1842. Marrying Mitchell, daughter of Archibald Iver of Edinburgh, he had three sons, Iver John Archibald (born 1847) who became a coffee planter in India. Iver John Archibald married, in 1881, Emma Henrietta, daughter of Colonel Charles Pearse of the Mysore Command, and had three sons, of whom the eldest, Duncan Iver, O.B.E~ (born 1883) is a retired Lieut.-Colonel of the Indian Army, and marrying in April 1919 Marjorie, daughter of Edwin Selby Stainton, has a son, Colin Archibald Iver, born 29th May 1927. A younger son of Iver John Archibald Macpherson, Allan Iver (born 1891) is a retired Captain of the Suffolk Regiment and has two daughters. John Macpherson of Ness Bank, had also three daughters of whom one, Louisa, married Surgeon­ General William Campbell Maclean, C.B. and another, Mary Grant, married Major-General G. C. H. le Fleming of Rydal Hall, and has descendants. Robert Alexander Wentworth Macpherson married Wilhelmina, daughter of the Rev. Alexander Rose 138 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON (second son of Hugh Rose· of.·Kilravock) Minister of the double Charge, Inverness. Dying in 1841 he left two sons, the younger .of whom, Alexander (born 1842) becoming Commissioner of the Imperial Chinese Customs and died unmarried in 1872. As joint Commissioner with one A. Huber, Alexander was sent to Cuba to enquire into conditions there of Chinese immigrants, and he published a Jengthy and extraordinarily cleverly illustrated report on the subject on 15th November 1873. His elder brother John (born 14th January 1841) became a Barrister-at-Law and married in December 1874 his cousin, Emily Christian, daughter of Surgeon-General W. C. Maclean, C.B., and had issue ( 1) William Robert (born 13th September 1875). (2) Alexander Duncan (born 10th December 1877). (3) Duncan Gordon (born 12th August 1879); and two daughters, the elder of whom, Rose Louisa, married in 1907 Colonel John Ross White, D.S.O., of the Royal Engineers, and the younger, Aileen Mary married in 1913 Sir Lancelot Aubrey-Fletcher, Bart, of Chilton Hall, Bucks. Of the three sons, William Robert, the eldest and present head and representative of the old family of Banchor, is unmarried as also is the youngest son, the Rev. Duncan Gordon Macpherson, O.B.E. Never very robust, William Robert Macphe_rson, educated at Rugby, was unable to enter the Regular Army, like his second brother. He has, however, served his country in every war -·first in the South African War as a mounted trooper, and afterwards, in the 1914-1918 War as a private in the London Scottish. In this latter war the hattalion of the London Scottish in which he was serving eventually went to Salonica, and while there he met his brother, then commanding a Brigade. He has outlived both his brothers and is now living quietly in Shadyhariger, near Godalming, Surrey. The second son~ · Alexander Duncan, late .. of the ·THE MACPHERSONS OF BANCHOR. 139 Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, is a retired Brigadier-General, residing at present at Holme, Inverness. He is a fit descendant of this famous off­ shoot of the Macphersons of Cluny, being a Companion of the Bath, a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, and of the Distinguished Service Order, and was also decorated by the French with the Legion d'Honneur ( Officer Class) and by Servia with the Order of the Kara-George with Swords. He fought in the South African and Great Wars, being given command of his Brigade in Salonica in August 1916. Brigadier-General Macpherson * married, on 20th November 1918, Kathleen Stewart, daughter of John Stevvart Oxley, C.B.E., (Major Territorial Army) of Monks, Balcombe, Sussex, and they have one daughter, Helen Christian, born 3rd February 1920, who married on 8th July 1940 Denis Campbell, and has two sons and a daughter. Of the descendants of Duncan, third son of'' Parson Robert," only one son, \Villiam, who married in 1836 Louisa, daughter of Colonel Luard, H.E.I.C.S., had any issue. He became a Judge of the High Court, Calcutta, was Knighted, and had five sons and two daughters, of whom one son, Archibald Duncan, became Resident in Rajputana, marrying Miss Viva Duke and leaving three sons ( 1) Ian William, born 1913 ; (2) Colin Jesse, born 1914, and (3) Archibald Norman, born 1918. The second son of Sir William Macpherson is Arthur G_eorge, born 1873, famous for his collection of old prints and paintings featuring every phase of sea history of the English-speaking race; which he sold and which was presented by the purchaser to the National Maritime Museum in Green­ wich. Arthur George Macpherson is Commodore of * During the I 939- I 945 War Brigadier-General Macpherson, as soon as the Home Guard was formed, became a Zone Commander, until his health caused him to retire. He died on I 6th May 1944 in Inverness. He was a Deputy-Lieutenant of the County of Inverness. His youngest brother, Duncan, died the previous year. 140 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON the Portsmouth Sailing Club and in his tiny 8-ton cutter Driac II he has sailed over 35,000 miles in the last five years to every part of the globe. Two younger sons, William Roderick (born 1881) and Colin (born 1884) live respectively in New Zealand and in Turriff, .* This cadet family is one of those entitled to bear arms, Lieut.-Colonel Duncan Iver Macpherson, O.B.E. late Indian Army, having matriculated arms at the Lyon Court, and, by permission of the elder branch of the family, registered himself at Lyon Court as representative of the family of Banchor. Glen Banchor lies behind Craig Dhu, about two miles west from Newtonmore. Sir 'f. S. Macpherson, brother of the 1st Lord Strathcarron, who speaks Gaelic as his mother tongue and to whom the compiler is always ready to defer in all Gaelic meanings, when he·was written to on the meaning of the name Banchor, replied : "Derivation of place-names is always notoriously difficult-but one thing indisputable is that Beannchor is not beanna 'chro (bean, touch or wife). Possibilities are . beann-a char : mountain­ arable land, or beannach, horned, or peaked. The latter is Professor Watson's view, based on the physical features of many other beannachars. In the pro­ nunciation, the rolling ea nearly equals ja." t * Colin Francis l\1acpherson serving in Mesopotamia in the 1914-18 ·war was "mentioned in despatches" and retired with the rank of Major. He is a C.I.E. t Of the three sons of Archibald Duncan Macpherson, late Resident Rajputana, the eldest, Ian William, served as a Captain in the Royal Artillery and married (5th July 1946) Catherine Ann, eldest daughter of W. H. B. Hatton, of Broome House, Worcestershire. Colin Jesse was killed in action in December 1943 when a Flt.-Lieut. in the R.A.F., and Archibald Norman is a serving Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. He married, in 1944, Miss Joan Backhouse. Arthur George Holdworth Macpherson, their uncle, died in Scotland in December 1942, and a book of his voyages, entitled Macpherson'.s Voyages, was published by Methuen in 1944. Only two years before his death he distinguished himself as one of those bands of heroes who sailed to and from Dunkirk in his small boat, helping to evacuate the Britis~ Army•. ARMS OF LT.-COL. DUNCAN IVER MACPHERSON OF BANCHOR, O.B.E.

THE MACPHERSONS OF BANCHOR 141

LATE Bruo.-GENERAL A. D. MACPHERSON (An Appreciation)

Brigadier-General Alex. Duncan Macpherson, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. of the British Army ; Legion of Honour of France ; the Order of Kara-George, 4th Class, with Swords, of Servia ; a Deputy-Lieutenant of the County of Inverness-all outward tokens of gallantry as a soldier and greatness as a citizen of his country. But it .is only the officers and men who served under him, and those who were fortunate enough to come into personal touch with him in his civilian life who really can know the sterling worth of this truly great son of Scotland. In Badenoch specially should there be pride in the remembrance of him. Descended from another gallant Highlander­ " Parson Robert," Chaplain to the Fraser Highlanders -both of them giants in stature as in soul-General Macpherson belonged to the House of Banchor, a cadet branch of Cluny Macpherson. Like all truly great souls hating ostentation, his passing was marked by no ceremonial. Just a few of his immediate family, a brother officer to represent his old regiment, and a piper from that regiment to play "The Flowers of the Forest "-so passed all that goes to make up a true gentleman, a very distinguished and gallant soldier, and the beau ideal of Clann Mhuirich. And so a loss to this world below, but withal a gain to those left behind who knew him, with the riches of the memory of his greatness and a striving to be such as he, and a thankfulness for having known him. 142 THE .CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON And so, to quote in part the soldier poet, Rupert Brooke: Blow out, you bugles, over the rich Dead ! Who, dying, hath made us rarer gifts than gold...... He leaves a white Unbroken glory, a gathered radiance, A width, a shining peace, under the night. W. C.-M. From Badenoch Record, 3rd June 1944 CHAPTER XII THE MACPHERSONS OF BREAKACHIE This cadet family, so often mentioned in clan matters, and frequently intermarried with the Chief's family, was until 1945 considered to have died out with the decease of Major-General Robert Barclay Macpherson, C.B. in 1858. Careful and exhaustive search, however, has disclosed that the line still exists in the United States of America-the descent of this family being as follows :

Donald Mhor, 1 oth Chief, had a second son, Gilliecallum beag, who was the progenitor of the Macphersons of Essick, Breakachie, etc. He married a daughter of Macdonald of Shion and had, with two other sons, Gilliecallum Mhor, who married a daughter of Robertson of Aulich in Rannoch, and had (with five other sons and seven daughters) John, ·who married a daughter of Macpherson of Phoness. John had two sons, the elder of whom, _Donald, married a daughter of Stewart of Druchan, in Athol, by whom he had two sons. The elder son-also Donald-married a daughter of Macpherson of Pitowrie and had five sons. Malcolm, the eldest son, married ( 1) a daughter of Macpherson of Phoness, and (2) Marjorie, a daughter of John Macpherson of Dalraddie, having respectively four and two sons. The eldest of these sons, John, married ( 1) Mary, daughter ofJohn Macpherson ofBenchar, (2) Marjorie; daughter of Angus Macpherson of Killihuntly. By this second marriage he had four sons, the eldest, Donald, marrying Christian, daughter of Lauchlan Macpherson of Cluriy, 17th Chief of the clan, by whom 143 144 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON he had four sons, Duncan, who became a Colonel in the Army and of Breakachie and Bleaton ; Lauchlan, who betame a surgeon and went to Senegal and died there ;'-tJohn, who went to North America and became a merchant there ; and Evan, who died s.p. in Kingussie in 1769. Colonel Duncan Macpherson of Breakachie and Bleaton (in Perthshire) married Margaret, the only daughter of Evan Macpherson of Cluny (Cluny of the '45) and had four sons, John, Simon (who was an officer in the Navy and died s.p.), Evan, died s.p., and Robert B?trclay who entered the Army and became a Major-General. John, the eldest son of Colonel Duncan Macpherson, at first a Writer at Fort William, later entered the Army and became a Captain in the Bengal Army. He married Margaret Macpherson of Phoness and had five sons and two daughters; Kenneth, James, Duncan, Donald, and Robert Barclay. The whole of this family emigrated to· Canada, John following in 1824. AH the three elder sons married and have descendants in Canada and the United States of America ; the third, Duncan (who was born in Kingussie on 12th June 1810) becoming a Lieut.-Colonel of the 6th Battn. Norfolk (Ontario) Militia, and his com­ mission as such, dated 15th July 1850 and signed by the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, Governor-General of British North America, is in the possession of his grandse>n, Mr Duncan Park Macpherson of Philadelphia. This Colonel Duncan Macpherson married on 7th December 1836 Caroline Gertrude Park, and the marriage licence, issue~ by command of Sir Francis Bond Head, the Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, and signed by Francis Evans, Rector of Woodhouse, Ontario, is also in his possession. Colonel Duncan Macpherson died in 1892, leaving ARMS OF DUNCAN p ARK MACPHERSON' CADET OF THE HOUSE OF BREAKACHIE

THE MACPHERSONS OF BREAKACHIE 145 two sons and . four daughters.. The elder son,'. James Park Macpherson, married Elizabeth Rebecca Waters at Simcoe, Ontario and, dying on 19th October 1901, left one son and three daughters. The son, Duncan Park Macpherson, married Miss Volita Helen Sipple, and lives at Wyncote, Mont­ gomery, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. and has a son, Duncan Kenneth, born 26th May 1921, who is married to Miss Jean Bird. Mr Duncan Park Macpher~on volunteered and served with the Canadian Black Watch in the I g I 4- I 8 War, and his son served with the United States Army in the recent War. Application having been made to the Lord Lyon King-of... Arms in Edinburgh, Duncan Park Macpherson had his Arms matriculated as a Cadet of the House of Breakachie on 5th May 1946. Corporal Samuel Macpherson, one of the three leaders who was shot at the Tower of London for the Black Watch Mutiny in 1743, was of this family, and a younger brother, Kenneth, became a General in the East India Company, dying in 1815. The "Breakachie" so often mentioned in Prince Charlie's wanderings was Donald, Colonel Duncan's father, who had married Cluny' s sister, Christian. He was the most trusted of all Cluny's clansmen, and often the only one to know of Cluny's hiding places, and he was a passionate admirer of Prince Charlie. In the Lyon in Mourning, Bishop Forbes writes of having dined in Edinburgh on 23rd February 1750 with " Donald, younger ofBreakachie andJohn Macpherson of Bert char.'' The family is mentioned in the Valuation Roll of 1644 as " of Breakachie," and in the Band of 1591, John signs " of Breakachie " also. It was from Breakachie that Cluny of the '45 watched the burning of his Castle across the Spey in June 1746_.· Breakachie is now part. of Glentruim estate, and is leased by Major Neil Usher. . K 146 THE.· CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON .. Within· a railed enclosure, in. the old churchyard of St Colomba's, Kingussie, are. four flat stones, two of them with the following inscriptions : . •. (I) " 1769. Here lys Evan McPherson, son to Donald McPherson 9fBreakachy, who died March the 25th, aged 21 years." .( 4) " Col. Dunn McPherson, departed this life, Dec. I 2th Ano Domini 181 o, aged 74." On a marble tablet in the monument, with the coat of arms of the Chief surmounting, is. the inscription : '' Sacred to the memory of Colonel Duncan Macpherson of Bleaton, who died at Kingussie, the 12th day of December 1810, aged 75 years ; and his wife, Margaret Macpherson, who died 6th November 1808, aged 66, and daughter of the late Ewan Macpherson Esq., of Cluny, and Chief of Clan Chattan. This monument was erected by their youngest and only surviving son, Colonel Robert Barclay Macpherson, c~·B.· & K. H." · · TJJ.e estate of Bleaton ·which Colonel Duncan Macph~rson possessed in I 786 is a small property in Perthshire at the foot of Glenshee. He was also the. proprietor of Flichity and Gask, both in Strath- nairn. General Robert Barclay Macpherson, C.B. (the son of Colonel Duncan Macpherson of Breakachie), by whom the monument was erected, and whose remains are also interred here, was born at Bre~kachie in 1774, and died at Stirling on 30th December 1858, aged 83. He entered the Army as ensign in the 88th Regt,; · Connaught Rangers, 3rd June 1795, saw much service in .the West ·and East Indies and South America, and commanding the 1st. Battn. of his regiment at Vittoria and Pyrenees, Orthes and CATLODGE IN 1938 The old name for Catlodge was Callag Etterish, and in a reversion writ on 6th October 1486, it is referred to as Cattolich. In 1640 it belonged to Malcolm Macpherson of Breakachie, and it belonged to that cadet branch until the lease ran out in the lifetime of General Robert Barclay Macpherson, C.B., after which it became a shooting lodge of Cluny. It was·sold in 1933 to Captain Grenvill A. Miller, R.N. (retd.) to whom it still belongs. The group depicts one of his shooting parties.

Vrnw FROM CATLODGE In the centre middle distance can be seen the West Lodge of Cluny Castle and on the extreme right is Creag Dhub. Photo by Capt. G. A. Miller, R.N.

THE MACPI-IERSONS OF BREAKACHIE 147 Toulouse, received the gold clasps for Vittoria and Orthes, with the silver medal and clasps for the Pyrenees, Niville and Nive. In June 1854 he attained the rank of Lieut.-General. In 1814 he went to Canada. In 181 g he went to reside near Stirling, where he remained till his death, his remains being taken to, the burial place of the Breakachie family in St Colomba's Churchyard, Kingussie. Within the same enclosure the remains of Marjorie, the sister of Colonel Duncan Macpherson, are also interred. General Robert Barclay Macpherson kept up a close correspondence with his eldest brother John, who went to Canada in 1824, and was god- father to one of his sons. CHAPTER XIII SOME YOUNGER DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM OF NUIDE Of William, the youngest son of William of Nuide, who ·became "of Cluny," there is little or no record, beyond that he became a Writer and a Burgess of Edinburgh, marrying Jean, a daughter of one James Anderson, a merchant of that city. Of this marriage there were five sons, James, Angus, John, Robert and William, all of whom, except John, became engaged in mercantile pursuits in Edinburgh. This John was a remarkable character. Possessing the genuine love of adventure of his ancestors, but with a preference for the sea rather than for the Highlands, he became a sailor, and in time, the commander of a vessel. After a variety of experiences, the details of which would doubtless read like a tale of romance, if we were familiar with them, he found his way, when still a young man, to Philadelphia, where in 1757 he assumed command of the privateer Britannia. At this time the war with France on land and sea was in full operation and was continued for several years. During 175 7 and the early part of 1758 Captain Macpherson had numerous engagements with the enemy, and captured not a few prizes. But in May I 758 he had a desperate encounter in which he nearly lost his life and which ended disastrously for ship and crew. In the month indicated the Britannia fell in with a French vessel carrying thirty-six guns. Her equip­ ment was much larger than that of the Scotsman's craft, and seems, upon this occasion, to have been 148 DESCENDANTS OF WlLLtAM OF NUlDt 149 manreuvred to better advantage. In the heat of the action Macpherson's right arm was blown off by a cannon ball. Command then devolved upon the first lieutenant, but he too was soon disabled. The second lieutenant continued the fight until he likewise was placed hors de combat. The surgeon then assumed charge, and he •surrendered the ship. When the French .officers boarded the privateer, it was ascertained that .seventy of the crew had been killed or wounded. The deck was strewn with the dead and dying. The captors carried the first and second officers on board their own ship ; cut down the mast and rigging ; threw the cannon and ammunition over~ board, and then set the vessel adrift, with a disabled crew, to the mercy of the waves. The men succeeded in getting up jury-masts ~nd were able to navigate the Britannia into Jamaica, and after repairs succeeded in reaching Philadelphia. It transpired that 270 shot had passed into the larboard side of the British ship, some of them below the water line. Captain Macpherson having been liberated, and having reached Philadelphia, he again assumed command of the Britannia. During the year 17 59 he took eighteen prizes. Two of them were French .sloops laden with plate and valuable effects, besides £18,000. He. was so gratified with his success that he surrendered command of the Britannia, turning her over to Captain Taylor, and determined to remain upon land thereafter. But Captain Taylor seems to have met with meagre success during the spring and summer of 1 760, and in the fall of that year Macpherson ·consented to assume command again. In his call for volunteers he set forth :

"Seven hundred sail. of ships lately· employed· as transports in the service of the French king · are now 150 ·THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON converted into merchantmen, and these, with many more, encouraged by the ·great decrease in English privateers, are making voyages almost unmolested ; which is a great encouragement for adventurers."

; . He had no difficulty in securing a full complement .of ·men, · and toward the close of 1760 he set sail. The scene of his operations was in the main in the West Indies, between Martinique and St Eustatius. During his first cruise he captured nine prizes, worth £15,000. He carried into the ports of the island of Antigua two French privateers of ten guns, having on board fifty negroes, worth £4000. He also captured a letter-of-marque of four guns, loaded with coffee and cotton.

SwoRD FOR BRAVERY The achievements of the Britannia in 1762 were scarcely as notable as those of the preceding year, though Captain Macpherson took a number of prizes. In May of that year he attacked a large French ship off La Guayra, and in the engagement the Philadelphia vessel was beaten off with a loss of three men killed. War with Spain having also been declared during the year in question-.1762-he captured, in the month of July, two Spanish ships laden with indigo and sugar, which he brought to Philadelphia. This was his last voyage during those wars, as the preliminary treaty of peace between France, Spain and England was signed 3rd November 1762, followed by the formal treaty at Paris, 10th February 1763. Captain Macpherson was looked upon as the protector of the commerce of the West Indies, so far as concerned those islands under British dominion. So highly were his services appreciated and applauded that the Council and Assembly of the island of Antigua -voted him a sword of honour. Upon the occasion DESCENDANTS OF- WILLIAM ..OF NUIDE 151 of .a. visit. to his ·. native city he w.as, 6th July. ~ 1 764, made a burgess of Edinburgh for his-services as '.'Jate commander ofHis .Majesty's sµip _of war,. the. Britannia, in the West Indies." . The 1798 edition of the Baronage of Scotland contains mention of Captain Macpherson, _written about· 1765, in which he is referred to as " having been bred to the sea, w~s commander of the Britannia,: privateer of Philadelphia, during the ~ate war, _when by his conduct arid bravery he did· honour to himself and his country. He made a handsome fortune and _is now settled near Philadelphia.'' Having acquired considerable wealth in his numerous adventures, Captain Macpherson concluded to settle down and enjoy himself during the remaining years of his life. With this object in view he h~d purchased, in September 1761 from Benjamin Mifflin, a tract of over thirty-one acres of land on the. east bank of the Schuylkill, within the present limits. of Fairmount Park, nearly opposite Fairmount. Sub­ sequently he bought other. tracts adjoining his origi~al purchase. _ . . . Here he erected a fine stone mansion, equal to any of the best country seats of the day. The situation was admirable, the house being erected upon an eminence which commanded a fine view of the Schuylkill river. The surroundings were of the highest order of natural beauty, the landscape being one of great attractiveness because of the wonderful growth of trees and shrubbery which enveloped the place. Captain Macpherson at first called his estate " Clunie," after the seat of his Chief in Scotland. Later the name was changed to Mount Pleasant, by which it has ever since been known. Here he had his home for a dozen ·or· more years, living .in quiet elegance the greater part of the time, though, at one period., in I 77 r, after the death. of his first wife, he 152 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON r~sumed his seafaring life and sailed the -seas for .a time. John Adams,. writing .in his diary; Monday; 25th September 1775, while in. Philadelphia in attendance upon Congress, says : " Rode out of town, and dined with Mr McPherson. He has the most elegant seat in Pennsylvania, a clever Scotch wife, and two pretty daughters. ·His seat is on the banks of the Schuylkill. He has been nine times ·wounded in battle; an old_ sea commander; made a fortune by privateering; an arm twice shot off, shot through the leg, etc." The advent of the Revolution found Captain Macpherson full of fire and zeal in behalf of the colonial cause. Though old enough to have two adult sons, both engaged in military service, the father was anxious to be an active participant in the pending struggle. As early as 28th July 1775 he offered his services "for the defence of this Country" to the Council of Safety, and received their formal thanks. He then applied to Congress for a commission as commodore, which, however, he did not receive, though he persisted in his requests for a command. Congress, through the influence of the New England members, gave the commission to Captain Esek Hopkins, of Rhode Island. Macpherson protested to Congress claiming that he had been promised the appointment, but this was denied. The week before his visit to Mount Pleasant, referred to above, John Adams writes, Monday, 18th September 1776, in his diary, as follows : "This morning, John McPherson, Esq., came to my lodgings and requested to speak with me in private. He is the owner of a very handsome country­ seat, about five miles out of this city ; is the father of Mr McPherson, an aid-de-camp to General Schuyler. He has been a captain of a privateer, and· made ~ DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM OF NUIDE 153 fortune in that way the last war ; is reputed to be well skilled in naval affairs. "He proposed great things ; is sanguine,:.confident, positive, that he can take or burn every man-of-war in America. . It is a secret, he says, but · he will communicate it to any one member of _Congress, upon condition that it be not divulged during his life at all, nor after his death, but for ·the service of this country. He says he is as certain as that· he shall die, that he can burn any ship." General Washington, then the commander-in-chief of the Continental armies, thus wrot~- from Cambridge, Mass., a few weeks thereafter, 8th November 1775, his letter being addressed "To the President of Congress " : " The immediate occasion of my ·giving the Congress the trouble of a letter at this time is to inform them, that, in consequence of their order signified in your letter of the 20th ultimo, I laid myself under a solemn tie of secrecy to Captain Macpherson and proceeded to examine his plan for the destruction of the fleet in the Harbor of Boston with all care and attention, which the importance of it deserved, and my judgment could lead to. '' But not being happy enough to coincide in opinion with that gentleman, and finding that his scheme would involve greater expense than (under doubts of success) I thought myself justified in giving into, I prevailed upon him to communicate his plan to three gentlemen of the artillery (in this Army), well versed in the knowledge and practice of gunnery. By them he has been convinced, that, inasmuch as he set out upon wrong principles, the scheme would prove abortive. "Unwilling, however, to relinquish his favorite project, of reducing the naval force of Great Britain, he is very desirous of building a number of row-galleys 154 THE CHIEFS. OF. CLAN MACPHERSON; for this ·p~rpose. But as. the Congress alone .. are competent to the adoption. of· this measure, I. have advised _him ( although he offered to .go on with the building of them at his own expense, till the Congress should decide) to repair immediately to Philadelphia :with his proposals;.· where, if they should be agreed to, or, vessels of superior force agreeable to the wishes of most others, should be resolved. on, he ·may set instantly about them, with all .the materials · upon the spot, here, they are to collect. To him, therefore, I refer for further information on this head." Captain Macpherson's ·project, whatever it was, was never affirmatively acted upon. The secret died with him, and with those officials to whom he confided it. It may have been of no consequence whatever : a scheme. purely chimerical. And thus, in spite of the very practical, utilitarian character of his achieve­ ments in the wars with France and Spain, some of his contemporaries, and certain more modern writers, have seen fit to _make sport of his .pretensions. Thus one author says : · " Macpherson was probably superannuated and tiresome. . . . Capt. MacPherson was· an oddity. He invented curious machines, lectured on astronomy, ·was a shipbroker, editor of a price current, and publisher of the first directory of Philadelphia, probably the most literal book ever published, for ·whatever answer the captain's canvassers got at the houses where they called, that answer the captain put down, arid thus recorded no end of members of the ' I won't tell you ' family among his I's and the ' What ycru please' among his W's, to say nothing of 'Cross Woman ' under C, and ' empty houses ' where no answer could be got." ·- · · ·· . In 1785 the captain advertised himself as the il)ventor of " an elegant cot which .bids de~ance to DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM OF NUIDE 155 .everything but Omnipotence.. No bedbug, mosquito, or fly can possibly molest persons who sleep in it." In March 1792 he notified Congress that he had discovered an infallible method of ascertaining the longitude, and wished to be sent out as envoy to the king of France, "our _good ally," to announce the fact. Whatever the merits or demerits of Captain Macpherson's project to destroy the British navy­ and who shall say that he did not have in view some­ thing akin to the modem torpedo, or some other equally practical and equally destructive contrivance ? -none can gainsay that he was a valiant sea soldier in the pre-Revolutionary wars, that he possessed· to the full the highest degree of patriotic fervour during the war with England, and that he was an enterprising, progressive citizen at all times. During the early years of the Revolution he leased Mount Pleasant to Don Juan de Merailles, the Spanish agent or ambassador. In the spring of 1799 he sold the estate to General Benedict Arnold, who then commanded the Continental forces at Philadelphia, and who presented the property, as a marriage gift, to Margaret Shippen, to whom he was wedded, 8th April of the year mentioned. Arnold's luxurious life as the host of Mount Pleasant, resulting in expenditures far beyond his official salary, is familiar to all students of American history : who are also aware that, in all probability, it was because of his impecuniosity, resulting from his extravagant habits, that he was led to commit the nefarious deed which stands unparalleled in the annals of the nation. The old mansion, Mount Pleasant, is still standing in Fairmount Park, the property of the city of Philadelphia. Captain Macpherson was twice married. His first wife, nee Margaret .Rodgers, was a daughter of Thomas Rodgers, by. his wife, Elizabeth Baxter, who 156 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON had _emigrated from .Londonde!ry, Ireland, in I 72 I, to Boston, Mass. · · _ Just when Captain Macpherson married · again we do not know, but he had a second wife, whose maiden. name is not known to the writer, upon the occasion of the visit· of John Adams to Mount Pleasant, referred to above, in September 1775. Adams speaks of her as the " clever Scotch wife," and it is possible that she and Captain Macpherson were married in Edinburgh ab.out 1771 or 1772, when Macpherson, for a time, resumed his sea voyages. . The death of Captain John Macpherson occurred 6th, September 1792, he being then 66 years of age. He was buried in the yard adjoining St Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church, Third Street,. below Walnut, a little to the eastward of the church. John Macpherson was the father of at least four .children, two of them daughters, but concerning whom the present writer has no details. The other two children, sons, John and William, were both soldiers and historical characters. The elder of the two, John Macpherson, was born about 17 50. He graduated from Princeton College in 1766, and received the degree of A.M. in due course. · His father having determined that the son should follow the legal profession, he was placed as a student with the noted John Dickins<:>n, afterward the author of the famous Farmer's Letters. _ : · During the years which followed he maintained a correspondence with a friend and schoolmate in the person of William Paterson of New Jersey, sub­ sequently a man of great distinction, a framer of the federal constitution, United States senator, Governor of New Jersey, justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, etc. These letters which are still preserved in the possession of one of Paterson's descendants are quite interesting.· bESCENDANTS OF_ WILLIAM OF NUIDE 157 The conclusion of his legal studies in Philadelphia is thus noted in a letter of 13th January 1771: "I was admitted in the Common Pleas here the 1st Inst. so have no expectation of seeing England soon.'' In this, however, he was happily disappointed as, 26th June 1771, he writes : " I ~m just setting sail for England. Pray write and direct to me at Pennsa Coffee House London."

FELL BEFORE QUEBEC Here, at the Temple, he resumed his legal studies, as we learn from the next letter to Paterson, dated 30th September 1771 : " I shall attempt no description of London, as you 1nust have seen better accounts of it than I am able to give ; but will give you a little Idea of the Temple, which is a fine collection of houses owned by different men. Every student· hires his chambers at the best rate he can, & is under no control at all, either as to study or behaviour. The gate is always open & we carry our keys in our pockets. Those who are admitted in any of the Societies of ~he Inns of Court are obliged to dine so many times every term, for 3 years, in the h_all, if they mean to be called to the bar, & this is the only restraint the Templars are laid under." · Macpherson gave promise of a brilliant career at the bar, but fate had decreed for his name glory of another kind. At the very beginning of hostilities with Great Britain, in the spring. of 177 5, he offered his services in defence of the liberties of America. He was commissioned, in July 177 5, -captain in the Contirienta1·· Army, and became aide-de-camp to 158 -THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON General Richard Montgomery, and accompanied that brilliant commander in the expedition into Canada. In the_ desperate battle before Quebec Montgomery was killed, and by his side fell his gallant young aide -31st December 1775: the first Pennsylvanian of note to lose his life in the great struggle for independence. · The night before the battle the young man thus wrote to his father, leaving instructions that the letter should be forwarded in the event of his death : " My Dear Father : If you receive this it will be the last this hand shall ever write you. Orders are given for a general storm on Quebec this night, and Heaven only knows what will. be my fate. But, whatever it may be, I cannot resist the inclination to assure you that I experience no reluctance in this cause to venture a life which I consider as only lent to be used when my country demands it. · In moments like these such an assertion will not be thought a boast by any one, by my father I am sure it cannot. It is needless to tell you that my prayers are for the happiness of the family and for its preservation in this general confusion. Should Providence in its wisdom call me from rendering the little assistance I might to my country, I could wish my brother did not continue in the service of her enemies. That the all-gracious Disposer of human events may shower on you, my brothers and sisters, every blessing our nature can receive is, and will be to the last moment of my life, the sincere prayer of your dutiful and affectionate son. JOHN MACPHERSON. Head-quarters before Quebec, 30th Dec. 1775." Nearly six months ·afterward the above-mentioned letter reached the father, Captain John Macpherson, DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM OF' NUIDE 159 Sr., the same having been sent by General Philip Schuyler, who wrote as follows : "Permit me, si,r, to· mingle my tears with yours for the loss we have sustained-you as a father, I as a friend. My dear young friend fell by the side of his general, as much lamented as he was beloved ; and that I assure you, sir, was in an eminent degree. This, and his falling like a hero, will console in some measure a father who gave him the example of bravery, which the son in a short military career improved to advantage. General Montgomery and his corpse were both interred by General Carleton with military honors. Your most obedient and humble servant, PH•.. SCHUYLER. Albany,, 14th June 1776."

. . Hugh Henry Brackenridge, author and ·jurist, in his The Death of General Montgomery, at the Siege ·ef Q,uehec, makes - _men~ion _ of Macpherson. · . '' Of Macpherson the general is ·particularly· fond," ·says Taylor, " and it is to him, in that deep stillness before the crash and agony of battle, that the elder man now reveals his own prescience of the near fate which then awaited them both." Thus the poet writes, putting these words in the mouth of Montgomery : " But yet methinks, Macpherson, that I feel, Within this hour some knowledge of my end.,­ Some sure presentiment, that you and I, This day, shall be with them, shall leave Our breathless bodies on this mortal soil. But this allotment, should it be our case, Fear not, young soldier, for our cause is just :

Say not, young soldier, that thy life was short­ In the first bloom of manhood swift cut off. All things are mortal-but the warrior's fame: This lives eternal in the mouths of men," 1-60 T-HE . CHIEFS -OF CLAN MACPHERSON The. young- aide is. thus-made to reply: " The light is sweet,· and death is terrible ; But when I left my father and my friends, I thought of tliis, arid counted it but gain, If fighting bravely in my country's cause, I tasted death, and met an equal fame With those at Lexington and Bunker's Hill." Bancroft, the historian, thus refers to young Macpherson, vol. iv, page 308 : " In the pathway lay Macpherson, the pure­ minded, youthful enthusiast for liberty, as spotless as the new-fallen snow which was his winding-sheet ; full of promise for war, lovely in temper, dear to the army, ho~ored by the affection and confidence of his chief. . . . The governor, lieutenant-governor, and council of Quebec, and all the principal officers of the garrison, buried him, Montgomery, and his aide-de-camp, Macpherson, with the honors of war." John.Macpherson died unmarried. His younger brother, William Macpherson, was born in 1755 or 1756. He was commissioned, 4th March 1769, when a lad of 14, an ensign in the Sixteenth Regiment of Foot, British Army, then in service in America; promoted lieutenant and adjutant, 26th July 1773. Thus, at the outbreak of the Revolution, when the elder brother promptly entered the service of the confederated colonies, the younger brother was an officer in the Army of King George. His emotions at this time can easily be understood and appreciated. The pathetic request made by the elder brother just before the fateful battle of Quebec, as set forth above, must have made a remarkable impression upot?- the mind and heart of . William Macpherson. The calls to duty were discordant calls, and jangled, and the proper course to pursue DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM OF NUIDE 161 was by no means clear. According to a local writer, who dwells upon the incident, Macpherson remained in the British Army until after the battle of Monmouth, when he withdrew and came over to the American side. In a letter, written by the Marquis de Lafayette, from his home in France, over half a century afterward, to Niacpherson's son-in-law, the story of the mental struggle is briefly told, as follows :

"La Grange, 7th November 1832. -My Dear Sir, It is to me a matter of patriotic duty and personal gratification to do justice to the memory of my accomplished companion in arms, the late William Macpherson. I knew him from the time when after numerous. and fruitless applications to retire from the British service, he executed his declared determination to withdraw and at any loss or hazard to join his fellow citizens in their contest for independence and freedom. His situation at the Battle of Monmouth had been very particular, wearing still a British uniform, but forbearing to act against his countrymen, a sense of honor kept him a witness, altho not an agent on the field where he received a slight wound from the friends he had openly avowed, and was determined not to fight. Major Macpherson has since for the greater part of the War been placed under my command where he distinguished himself on several occasions, namely at the head of a detachment during the Virginia Campaign. He was an excellent patriotic officer and friend. I am happy in the opportunity to give this testimony of my high esteem and cordial affection for a beloved brother soldier, who being placed at first under uncommon circumstances, and afterwards entrusted with remarkable commands, has nobly L 162 . THE CHIEFS oF··cLAN MACPHERSON supported the character of an American Citizen and Warrior. Receive, my dear Sir, the best wishes and regards from Your sincere friend, LAFAYETTE. P. G. Washington, Esq.''

According to the recital, as told by the local writer already referred to, Macpherson had offered his resignation many times to Sir Henry Clinton, com­ mander of the British forces, which was finally accepted, but he was prohibited from leaving New York. Determined to reach the American forces, he seized the first favourable opportunity. Being allowed to shoot ducks from a small boat near the British lines, he one day ordered his servant to row out, and, putting a pistol in his hand, compelled him to proceed, amid a shower of bullets, until they had reached and passed the Continental lines. The official records, however, seem to demonstrate that the Marquis de Lafayette's memory was at fault, and that young Macpherson had not remained deaf for a period .of nearly three years to the pathetic appeal, of his heroic brother, penned a few hours before he gave up his life on the heights of Quebec. · The fact is William Macpherson was commissioned, 15th March 1776 second lieutenant of the first battalion of Colonel Samuel Miles' Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment ; was taken prisoner at Long Island, 27th August I 776 ; was exchanged 20th April I 778 ; was commissioned brevet major in the Continental Army, I 6th September I 779, and major and aide-de-camp to General Lincoln, June 1i81 to June 1783. His commission in the Continental service ·was granted, we are informed, " in regard to the memory of his• brother, Major John Macpherson, who fell before the Walls of Quebec, as well as in consideration DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM OF NUIDE 163 of his own merit." The journals of Congress show the following : Thursday, 16th September 1779. " A memorial from Captain Wm. Macpherson was read; whereupon RESOLVED That a brevet of Major in the Army of the United States be granted to William Macpherson. " ORDERED that Major Macpherson repair to the Southern Army and receive the orders of Major General Lincoln.'' Major Macpherson's services were of a high order of efficiency, particularly in the Virginia campaign, to which General Lafayette made special reference .. For a time he was aide to General Arthur St Clair. In 1780 he was given an important cavalry command. Writing some years ago, his grand-daughter, Mrs Julia Maria Washington Hornor, said : " At the affair at Spencer's Ordinary, Virginia, he was thrown from his horse by the rush of a British trooper and severely injured. He soon recovered, and on the 6th ofJuly· 1781 led the cavalry of Armand and Mercer's troops in a spirited encounter with the flower of Cornwallis's army." · His services after _the Revolution were as follows : He was_ chosen a· delegate to and sat in the. state convention which ratified the federal constitution of 1787. In 1788-89 he served as a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly. He was appointed, 19th September I 789, surveyor of customs for the port of Philadelphia ; 8th March I 792, inspector of revenue for the city of Philadelphia, and 28th November 1793, naval officer for the port of Philadelphia. This latter post he held for a period of twenty years, or until his death. At the outbreak of the so-called "Whisky In­ surrection " in western Pennsylvania in I 794, 164 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Macpherson organised and commanded a battalion of militia, thereafter known as the " Macpherson· Blues/'· · Four years lateF, in i 798, upon the prospect of war with France, the " Blues " were reorganised. In the following year, I 1th March 1799, Macpherson was· appointed, by President Adams, a brigadier­ general of the Provisional Army which was sent int9 Northampton county to crush the insurrection known as the "Fries Rebellion." Upon the organisation of the Society of the Cincinnati, at the close of the Revolution in I 783, William Macpherson participated and continued in active membership throughout his life. He was assistant-secretary of the general society in 1790, and treasurer in 1799, and vice-president of the state society from 1807 until his death. General Macpherson's country seat was " Stouton," on Poor Island, acquired some years ago by the city of Philadelphia, under the title of Macpherson Park. He was twice married. His first wife was Margaret Stout, daughter of Joseph Stout of the British Navy, by his wife, Mary Kenn, the latter a member of an old Swedish family. General Macpherson married, secondly, 9th March 1803, Elizabeth White, daughter of William White, the eminent bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, by his wife, Mary Harrison. ~frs Macpherson was born 28th January 1776, and died 7th November 1831. The death· of General Macpherson occurred 5th November 1813, he being at that time 58 years of age. He was buried in St Paul's churchyard, near his father. · General Macpherson was the father· of five children by his first wife, nee Margaret Stout, to wit : Maria, Julia, Margaret~ Gates and Joseph Stone. Maria died unmarried. Gates died in infancy in September 1787 .. Joseph Stone was commissioned a midshipman, United States ·Navy, 20th June 1806 ; lieutenant, DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM OF NUIDE 165 26th May 1812 ; commander, 28th March 1820. He died, unmarried, 28th April 1824. By his second wife, nee Elizabeth White, General Macpherson had two more children, both daughters, Esther White and Elizabeth. By the death of Joseph Stone Macpherson, the male line became extinct. The second daughter, Margaret Macpherson, born 20th July 1786, married Peter Grayson Washington, a kinsman of President Washington, who was born in 1796 and died in 1872. Their daughter, Julia Maria Washington, married 1st June 1859, Caleb Wright Hornor, M.D., a prominent physician, who was born 26th March 1828. CHAPTER XIV THE MACPHERSONS OF PITMAIN OR SLIOCHD IAIN This is the oldest cadet of Cluny-the arms being identical with those of Cluny, with the slight difference of the " parting per fess " being invected. The descent is from Alexander, the second son of John, who was the second of the .three. sons of Ewan Ban, son of Mhuireach, '' the Parson.'' There is singularly little record of this branch; apart from various signatures at different periods to documents with other clansman, there is no record even of marriages. According to Sir lEneas Macpherson, the repre­ senter of the family in his time was Alexander, whose father was Lachlan, whose father was Alexander, whose father was Thomas, whose father was Alex­ ander whose father was Thomas, whose father was John, whose father was Alexander. Sir lEneas was living at the time of Andrew Macpherson of Grange and in Cluny, Chief, and his grandson Andrew, the son of Montrose's leader. The second Thomas is shown in the Gordon Rental Roll of Badenoch as tenant for three years from I 603 of two ploughs of Pitmean, and is signatory to the Bond of 1609 as " Thomas MacAlister vie Homas in Pitmean." There is no actual trace of the family having a heritable right to Pitmean, but they at any rate were in occupation in 1592 and I 603, and Alexander, the son of Thomas No. 2, is styled "of Pitmean" in a document of I 682. Alexander, the last in Sir lEneas' pedigree, had at least two sons, Lachlan and John. Owing to the 166 THE. MACPHERSONS OF PITMAIN - - 167 loss of all registers about that time it is impossible to be absolutely certain which .of the two was the elder but as a John Macpherson ·" of Pitmean " was one of the signatories of the " Vindication by the Macphersons " to the Duke of Gordon in 1699 against '' the malicious lies '' of the latter's factor, the pre­ sumption is -that he was the elder. Anyhow, whether he was or was not, his descendants are to-day the representatives of Sliochad Iain, as Lachlan's line on the male side has died out, and was as follows : Lachlan married in 1745 Jean, daughter of the Rev.John Mackenzie, Laggan, and had by his marriage three daughters and one son, Charles, a Major in the Army. Charles had three sons and a daughter, Eliza, who married Major· D' Arey Wentworth, of New South Wales, Australia. The three sons were: (1) John of the 21st Regt. and Brigade Major on the Staff at Waterloo, who married Marianne, daughter of Robert Addison, having issue one daughter and a son, Berkeley Augustus Macdonald, Captain in the South Devon Militia, who married Charlotte, daughter of Sir George Stracey, Bart., of Thorpe, Norfolk. · He left no issue. (2) Duncan, Colonel 27th Regt., wounded at Orthes,· who married Jessie, daughter of Major M'Lean of the 27th Regt. and had two daughters only. (3) George. Gordon, M.D., married first Maria Dawney, by whom he had two daughters, and second Charlotte A. F. Leycester, by whom he had two sons: ( 1) Charles Gordon Welland, who entered the Bombay Civil Service and married a Miss Chapman, by whom he had three daughters and one son· George Gordon D'Arcy, who died unmarried. According to all authorities, including Douglas' Baronage, this second branch of the clan was reported to have completely died _out on the death of this George Gordon; but, owing· to the.long and continued 168 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON researches of the compiler of. these. " Sketches," this was found to be incorrect. :I: · Alexander of Pitmean's other son, John, had gone to Ireland, before the '45, taking with him his son, Isaac, born in 1739. They settled in Londonderry, a town largely founded by Scots' settlers a century before. But, from the time of their settling in Ireland, until a very few years ago, when the present repre­ sentative of this branch lodged his claim with the Lord Lyon to be allowed the undifferenced arms of Pitmean, nothing more had ever been heard of them. It was not until the compiler had been able to convince the Lord Lyon that, through his researches when in Australia, the elder branch had completely died out on the male side, that Lieut.-Colonel Alexander Kilgour Macpherson was officially recognised as Macpherson of Pitmean, head of the Pitmean branch, and his arms matriculated as such on 27th February 1940. All previous claims had been rejected by the Lord Lyon on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Isaac, son of John who had settled in Ireland, was bred to the · sea, and eventually became a famous instructor of navigation in his day. Pupils came to him from the three kingdoms. Isaac had two sons and one daughter by his wife Elizabeth. The· elder son, Alexander, was born in 1773 and, like his father, followed. the sea as his profession. The younger son was accidentally drowned in the river F oyle and buried in Londonderry Cathedral. The only daughter, * Since the above was written the author is indebted to Mrs Violet Fitzmaurice, wife of Brig.-Gen. R. Fitzmaurice, C.B.E., D.S.O., R.A., for the following additional information : Chas. Gordon Welland's son, George Gordon D'Arcy, was a Lieutenant in the lndia;n Army (afterwards Yorks and Lanes) and died at sea on his way home, on 23rd May 1908, aged 29. His three daughters are still surviving, the eldest being May Frances, widow of the late Major Alan Rickards, Royal Scots ; the second, Mrs Fitzmaurice, and the youngest, Edith, the wife of Capt. E. Owen Tudor, R.N,, Naval Commandant at Trinidad, B.W,I, THE MACPHERSONS OF PITMAIN 169 Annie, . married a MacMullan and had two sons, both of whom died without issue. Alexander had many and varied adventures during his years at sea, it being the time of the Napoleonic Wars. On one particular dark and foggy night when cruising in the North Sea he became aware that his ship was in close company with a number of other ships. It was impossible to tell their nationality, and there was nothing for it but to wait till daylight and the lifting of the fog to reveal whether he was surrounded by friends or by foes. When day came and the fog cleared he saw to his consternation that he was in the midst of a French squadron of eleven men-of-war. An attempt was made to disguise their nationality, but without success. He fought in the face of overwhelming odds, was defeated and captured and taken to Dunkirk. For two years and nine months Alexander was held a prisoner of war and confined in a nunnery at Dunkirk, till eventually he was liberated by exchange. He married, 3rd January I 800, at Londonderry Cathedral, Elizabeth, daughter of Francis McCaine by Sarah his wife, a great grand­ daughter of Captain Francis Wilson, who was an officer engaged in the defence of Londonderry at its siege in I 688-89. Alexander died aged 83, and was buried at Londonderry Cathedral 10th February 1857, his wife Elizabeth having predeceased him by one week. They had four sons and one daughter. The eldest, Alexander, born 4th August 1802, died an infant a few days old. The second son, Francis Alexander, was born at Londonderry 27th February 1811-ofwhom presently. The third son,John Wilson, born 12th September 1818, died 6th June 1845 and was buried in Londonderry Cathedral unmarried. The youngest was the Rev. Samuel McCaine Macpherson, born 18th August 1820, a Hebrew prizeman and B.A. of Trinity College, Dublin. He became Curate in.charge of Leckpatrick, Co. Tyrone, .170 THE CHIEFS ·OF CLAN- MACPHERSON and died unmarried at Kingstown, Co. Dublin, 29th October, buried at Londonderry Cathedral I st November 1865. There is a memorial tablet to his memory in Leckpatrick Church and a biography by the Very Rev. Charles Seymour, D.D., Dean of Derry. The only daughter, Elizabeth, was born 18th October 1815, married James Wilson, and died at Buffalo, New Jersey, U.S.A. The second, but eldest surviving son, Francis Alexander, married 19th September 1844 at Articlave, Downhill, Co. Derry, Mary Kilgour, born 28th July 1818, daughter of Wm. Whyte of Fingask, Perthshire, by Margaret, his wife, daughter of James Bruce of Kinclaven, Perthshire, and by her had three sons and three daughters. She died at Londonderry, 7th January 1873, and he died 25th March 1900, both being buried in Londonderry Cemetery. The eldest son, William John, born at Londonderry, 3rd August 1846, of Trinity College, Dublin, followed in his Uncle Samuel's footsteps, being Hebrew Exhibitioner at the age of 19, taking also a second­ class in Classics and a first-class in Catechetics. In the midst of a brilliant career he died unmarried at Londonderry, 1st January I 867, aged 21. The second, but eldest surviving son, Francis Alexander Macpherson, was born at Londonderry, 1st June 1850-of whom presently. The youngest son, James Bruce Macpherson, was born 3rd January 1853, took his L.R.C.P. and S. (Edinburgh), and became House Surgeon of a Liverpool Hospital. He later practised in Prescot, Lanes., where he died unmarried I I th February I 889. He inherited Bruce's Lodge, Perthshire, from his maternal great-uncle, James Bruce. Of the three daughters, only one, Eliza Rachel, left issue. She was born 3rd December 1847 -and marri~d James Moore of .Clones, _Co. -Cavan, .7th April :THE MACPHERSONS OF PITMAIN · 17-1 1873. She had three sons and two daughters, and died 7th August 1882. Francis Alexander Macpherson, the second but eldest surviving son, took his L.R.C.P. and S. (Edin­ burgh) and became senior House Surgeon of the Liverpool North Dispensary. During his University curriculum in Dublin he studied music under highly qualified masters, and became a member of St Patrick's Cathedral choir. He composed and set to music some songs and Cathedral chants and services. A fine singer himself, he made a special study of the throat and its diseases, for this purpose visiting the hospitals of Paris and Berlin. He was the first to advocate, through the columns of the Liverpool Courier, the demolition of insanitary dwellings of the poor, and the reconstruction of such dwellings on a satisfactory basis-a work which has since spread to all our great cities. In 1883 he contributed a remarkable paper to the British Medical Journal, giving from personal observation " some unrecorded effects of arsenic." In the same year he was appointed a member of the Local Prize Committee of Trinity College, London. On 20th April 1887 he married Florence, elder daughter of the Ven. William F. Taylor, D~D., D.C.L., LL.D., etc., Archdeacon of Warrington, and later Archdeacon of Liverpool. Of this marriage there were two sons, Alexander Kilgour Macpherson, born at Liverpool, 6th March 1888, and Bruce Whyte Macpherson, born at Liverpool, 18th January 1891. Doctor Francis Alexander Macpherson died at Liverpool, 12th August I goo and was buried. at Anfield Cemetery, Liverpool. His wife, Florence, died 8th June 1927, aged 67 years, and was buried in the same grave as her husband. The elder son, Alexander Kilgour Macpherson, is now the senior surviving representative of the family of Pitmain, and is therefore the senior Chieftain of the Clan Macpherson, and successfully. applied to r72 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON the Lyon Court to have the undifferenced arms of Pitn1ain confirmed and ratified to him. He- was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, commissioned into the Indian Army, 9th September 1908,- and was posted to the 12th Pioneers. He served through the Great War, was severely wounded at Festubert in November 1914, and later served on the N.W. Frontier of India, taking part in the campaigns in Waziristan and with the Marri Field Force. He was Officer i/c the King's Indian Orderly Officers in 1928. He was created M.V.O. 4th Class. On 16th February 1932 he was promoted Lieut.­ Colonel and appointed Commandant 1st Batt. The Bombay Pioneers. He married, first, on 26th February 1919, Margaret Gertrude Moore, his cousin-being younger daughter of James Moore ~ng Eliza Rachel Macpherson. Of this marriage there was one daughter, Margaret Gertrude Bruce Kilgour, born 3rd October I 920 at Murree, Punjab, India. Her mother, having died in childbirth, was buried 4th October in the Old Cemetery, Murree. Alexander Kilgour married, second, on 25th April 1924, Margaret Macdonald Ramsay Crowley, second daughter of Thomas Crichton Crowley and Elizabeth Lyall Ramsay, daughter of James Dempster Ramsay of Menzies Hill, Angus. Of this marriage there is one daughter, Elizabeth Jean Ramsay Whyte, born 6th September 1925. Colonel Macpherson was recommissioned in World War No. 2 in 1940 and served until 1943, when he returned with the rank of full colonel. At one time he was in command of the native Princes' armies and he also served in Eritrea and Abyssinia. On his return he purchased a small house in Kingussie which is situated on part of the old Pitmain property and so, after an absence of 300 years, this branch is now back in its ancestral county. · · The younger son, Bruce Whyte Macpherson, born AR.Ms OF CoL. ALEX. KILGOUR MACPHERSON, 1-1.V.O., HEAD OF THE PITMAIN BRANCH

THE MACPHERSONS OF PITMAIN 173 in 1891, was commissioned in the 4th Batt. The King's Regiment in 1909. In 19 I 4 he was appointed to the Political and Administrative Service of Nigeria. During the last war he served with the Royal West African Frontier Force in the Cameroons Campaign, subsequently reverting to the Political Service. In I 930, after serving in the Secretariat, he was appointed Resident of Absokuta Province, and in I 933 Acting Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He retired from the Political Service of Nigeria in 1934, and on retirement from the 4th Batt. The King's Regiment in 1935 he was granted the honorary rank of Major. - Major Bruce Macpherson was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 1931. In 1936 he was admitted an Advocate of the Bar of the Isle of Man. In 1926 he went to the South-Eastern Circuit as Marshal to the Lord ChiefJustice of England. He married in 1917 Dorothy Clare Gwladys, only child of the Rev. Henry Thomas Devall (Vicar of Kirkmichael, Isle of Man, and subsequently Rector of Moffat and later Rector of Huggate, York, where he died in 1929). There are two children of the marriage : ( 1) Michael Bruce de la Valle, born in 1920, educated at St Ninian's Moffat, and King William's College, Isle of Man; (2) Vivienne Francis Bruce, born in 1922. * · * Michael Bruce Macpherson served right throughout the recent war from El Alamein with the Eighth Army, and with the in­ vading armies in Normandy. At the conclusion of hostilities he held the rank of Captain in the Royal ArtilJery, having received a mention in Despatches. · He entered the Mame Regiment straight from King William's College, seeing service in Abyssinia, Eritrea, Karen, the Western Desert (where he was attached to the 7th Armoured Division), Italy, Normandy, Belgium and Germany. He was the guide to the Times editor during his tour in Germany. · He ~arried on 14th December 1946, Pamela Dorothea, only daughter of Lieut.-Commander J. R. Strange, O.B.E., · R.N~R., of Corley, .Worth Matravers, Dorset. · CHAPTER XV THE MACPHERSONS OF INVERESHIE The Macphersons of Invereshie are the second senior-or second oldest-cadet branch of the Macphersons of Cluny, the oldest being the Macphersons of Pitmean. They are descended from Gillies, the third son of Ewan Ban, who, according to Sir 1.Eneas Macpherson, lived in Letterfinlay, Lochaber. Gillies had a son Donald "Brounich," who had seven sons, six of whom were killed at Inverlochy in 1431.. The youngest of these seven sons was one - John, who gave up Letterfinlay to the progenitor of the Camerons of Letterfinlay (who had married the sister of Donald '' Brounich '') and moved to Rimore. John had two sons, William and Alexander, and they are the first of the line to appear in records, in the Band of 1609, where Donald MacAlister Roy in Phones takes burden for William Maclan vie William in Invereshie. . Alexander the elder had a son John, who had· a son William. This William was one of those who was declared an outlaw for an attack, with William Macintosh, on Colin Campbell at Dunachton, early in the seventeenth century. In connection with this, on 21st March 1616, in consideration of a composition of £40, a grant of the escheat of" William Maclan vie William in Inneressie " was made under the Privy Seal to " Andrew Makfersone " of Cluny. Here the genealogy becomes a bit confused. Alexander Macpherson, in his Church and Social Life, gives John next as succeeding William, and marrying a daughter of Sha,v of Dalivert, whereas 1.Eneas's I74 THE MACPHERSONS OF INVERESHIE 175 genealogy shows William's son to have been Angus (whom Alex. Macpherson shows as his grandson). Anyhow, Angus Macpherson, whether son or grandson of William, is the first of the line to possess the lands he occupied, as on 19th October 1626 he and his wife, Margaret Farquharson of ·Brouchdearg, obtained from Lord Enzie the wadset of Corriearnstil Cantellaid and Inneressie, and, later ~n-on 27th October 1637-a Charter of Invereshie, Cantalleit, etc., etc., sasine being given on 7th May 1638. Angus had three sons : ( 1) William, his heir ; (2) John, who married a daughter of Grant of Garviemore, and -was the ancestor of the Dalraddie Macphersons ; and (3) Thomas, ancestor of the Killihuntly Macphersons. William, who died before his father Angus (being killed in 1648), married in 1640 Margaret, daughter of Robert Farquharson of Invercauld. He was the owner of the mill over which the Macintoshes and Macphersons nearly came to blows. He was killed at the . He had three sons : ( 1) John who succeeded ; (2) lEneas, the author of The Loyall Dissuasive. This lEneas was made Sheriff of Aberdeen by a charter under the Great Seal by Charles II in 1684. He was educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and was a fellow student with his Chief, Andrew of Cluny. He had been appointed Governor of the Island of Nevis, in the West Indies, by King James II, but never took up that appointment owing to the King's abdication, and the arrival of William of Orange. He had one son who died when a Colonel in Spain, without issue. William's third son was William Dubh who married Janet, daughter of Alexander Macintosh of Kinrara and had a son, Thomas, who married Elizabeth, daughter of John Grant of Colquhoich, by whom he had a son, John, barrack--master at Ruthven in 1893. John married Anne, daughter of Hugh Macpherson of Ovie, and .had two sons~ lErieas and· John. 17~ THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON John, . the . eldest son of William of lnvereshie, succeeded his grandfather Angus, his •uncle John acting • as tutor during his minority. He and his tutor signed the engagement of 19th November 1664 to follow "our Chieffe," Lachlan Macintosh, against the Camerons, which his real Chief, Andrew of Cluny, had agreed to do only "out of meir guid will." It was he also who, with Macpherson of Pitmean, repudiated Cluny as his Chief to the Privy Council at the time of Duncan Macpherson of Cluny's matriculation of his arms in 1672. He married Marjorie, daughter of Ewan Macpherson of Cluny (Montrose's leader). A. M. Mackintosh in his book refers here to the fact that the Macphersons of lnvereshie were, as a rule, good clansmen of Macintosh's up to the time of this marriage into the C]uny family. John oflnvereshie died some time before November 1676, as in that month and year Marjorie Macpherson is _described as his relict. He left a son, Gillies, sometimes written Elias (pronounced Eleeas), who succeeded him and who afterwards sold the lands of Inneressie to John Macpherson, the I st of Dalraddie and his grand-uncle's son. This John's father had acquired the feu of Dalraddie in 1668 and had in 1662 been fined £600 for his adherence to Cromwell's government. Elias became an officer in the service of Holland and died unmarried in 1697, the representation of the family then passing to John, 2nd of Dalraddie. This John married Isobell, daughter of Provost John Cuthbert of Inverness, on 9th November 1687 and had two sons : ( 1) John, who died unmarried, and (2) George, who succeeded him and who married in 1731 Grace, daughter of Colonel William Grant of Ballindalloch and his wife Annie, daughter of Ludovic Grant of Grant. Georg~ Macpherson of Invereshie had two sons .: THE MACPHERSONS OF INVERESHIE 177 ( 1) William who succeeded,. and ( 2) John, a captain in the 17th Regiment, who married .on 10th October I 778, Isabelle, daughter of Thos. Wilson of Witton Gilbert, Co. Durham, and had a son, George, born 25th February 1781, who eventually succeeded his uncle, William, who died unmarried on 12th April I 812. Having inherited on 13th April I 806 the estate of Ballindalloch, in Elginshire, as heir of provision to his father's maternal uncle, General James Grant of Ballindalloch, George Macpherson of Invereshie assumed the surname of Grant. He was made a Baronet on 25thJuly 1838-and was_M.P. for Sutherland from 1830 to 1846. He had married, on 26th August 1803, Mary, eldest daughter of Thos. Carnegy of Craigo, county of Forfar, by whom he had a son, John, who succeeded him. John Macpherson Grant, the 2nd Baronet (born 3rd August 1804), married on 7th September 1836, Marion Helen, eldest daughter of Mungo Nutter Campbell of Ballinore, Argyll. For some time he was Secretary of the Legation at Lisbon. Dying on 2nd December 1850, he was succe.eded by his son, George (3rd Baronet), who became M.P. for Elgin and Nairn from 1879 to 1886. He married, on 3rd July 1861, Frances Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Roger Pocklington, Vicar of Walesby, and died on 5th July 1907, leaving three sons : ( 1) John, who succeeded him as 4th Baronet, and (2) George Bertram, a member of the Royal Company of Archers and a captain in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. He was also, at one time, Naval Ordnance Inspection Officer, and a J.P. for Forfar. Born on 26th January 1868, he married Dorothy Eleanor, eldest daughter of James Dalgleish Ke1lie-MacCallum, C.B.E. He died on 31st October 1932, leaving a son, Ewan George, born 29th September 1917. M 178 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN- MACPHERSON - Alastair,. the third son of Sir George, the-- 3rd Baronet, .. was. born on 29th September 1874 and married on 27th April 1904, Hester Charlotte, younger daughter of Arthur C. Kennard. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and is hon. secretary of the Clan Chattan Association. He has three daughters, the eldest, Nina Marion, being married to the Honourable Stephen Nicholas de Y arburgh Bateson, eldest son of the 4th Baron Delamore. Of Sir George's (3rd Baronet) daughters, only one,

AR.Ms OF S1R GEORGE MAcPHERSON-GRANT OF BALLINDALLOCH, AND OF lNVERESHIE, 5TH BARONET ,

Mabel Lucy, has any issue. She married in 1901 Lieut.-Colonel Gerald Madden, of the Irish Guards. - Sir John Macpherson Grant, 4th Baronet, was also a member of the Royal Company of Archers. He was born on 22nd March 1863 _and married, on 26th June 1889, Mary, daughter of Alexander Dennistoun of Golfhill. He died on 25th November 1914 and was succeeded by Sir George Macpherson­ Grant, the -5th and present Ba.ronet. This branch matriculated arms in 1672 and are quartered with those of Grant, · THE MACPltERSONS OF lNVERESHIE 179 The families of Phoiness, Dellifour and Killihuntly are all sprung from the Macphersons of Invereshie. Among the tunes of the Macphersons is one entitled " Macpherson's Farewell," and as it is connected with the Invereshie branch, the story of its origin and composition is appropriate here. The events narrated here took place in the seventeenth century, and the story is as follows : There was a certain James Macpherson, a natural son of Macpherson of Invereshie by a beautiful gipsy girl who had attracted his notice at a wedding. Invereshie acknowledged the child and reared him in his own house until he met with his death while chasing some marauders who had stolen some cattle from Badenoch. James, who had grown in stature, beauty _and strength rarely equalled, then had to ta.ke his place in the clan, with the chieftain's· blood flowing_ in his veins. He became a young Highland freebooter who, in raiding from the mountains with his_ followers; believed he was only asserting his tribe, and when they harried the Lowlands was only taking a lawful prey. These acts were . not-in the opinion of the " pretty men " of those times-to be coJ;).fused with petty thieving or stealing, but were looked on as deeds of spirit and boldness calculated to make a man famous in his countryside and amongst his fellows. The best fiddle player and the best swordsman of his naine and time, James excelled equally in love as in war. Although a freebooter, it is asserted that no acts of cruelty, no robbery of the widow, the fatherless or the distressed was ever perpetrated under his command, nor was any murder ever committed with his knowledge. His sword was one that none but a man of extraordinary strength could wield, and his shield was of wood, covered with bull's hide and studded with brass nails. Both were hacked and perforated in many places, telling a tale of many a 180 1'HE CHIEFS ·oF CLAN MACPHERSON hard-won fight. For a long time both sword and shield were preserved at Duff House, the residence of the Earl of Fife. It is also said that James Macpherson often gave the spoils of the rich to relieve the poor, and that his followers were often restrained from acts of violence through awe of his mighty arm. In the end it was a dispute with a foiled and savage member of his band which was the cause of his first betrayal to the law. From this, however, he escaped, to the extreme chagrin of the magistrates of Aberdeen. They thereupon bribed a girl of that city, of whom Macpherson was very fond, to act the part of a Delilah and deliver him again into their hands. Again he escaped, through the assistance of the head of the gypsies, one Peter Brown, and his cousin, Donald Macpherson. Eventually he was captured, this time in a rioting expedition to Keith market-chiefly through the watchfulness of one Duff of · Braco-together with Peter Brown and two other companions, Donald Brown and James Gordon. Grant of Grant, who was always well disposed to any of the name of Macpherson, attempted to rescue them by asserting his right to try them, as being dwellers within the regality of Grant, over which he had the power of pit and gallows. The Sheriff, Nicholas Dunbar of Castlefield, overruled the claim however, and, finding all three guilty, condemned them to be hung-eventually releasing the two Browns. A reprieve was on its way for Macpherson, but the Sheriff, knowing of this, had the messenger delayed on the way, at the same time hurrying on the execution of the sentence by several hours. In consequence of this the town of Banff was afterwards deprived of the power of trying and executing malefactors. Macpherson, knowing his end was near, composed the words accompanying this narrative, at the same THE MACPHERSONS OF INVERESHIE 181 time setting a tune to it. When he had finished he asked if there was anyone in the crowd who would care to have his beloved fiddle. :For fear of being associated with him, no one accepted the gift, where­ upon Macpherson, in a rage, smashed the fiddle to pieces, scattering them amongst the crowd. The shaft of the fiddle intact, set into a new body, has been preserved at Cluny Castle for many years amongst the other relics, until I 936 when it, with the more famous Black Chanter, or Feadan Dhubh, was removed to Edinburgh, where it now reposes in the office of the Judicial Factor of the bankrupt estates, the excuse being that the damp of Badenoch might affect them. The words of "Macpherson's Farewell" are as follows : ,, My father was a gentleman Of fame and lineage high ; Oh! mother, would you ne'er had born A wretch so doomed to die ! But dantonly and wantonly And rantonly I'll gae, I'll play a tune and dance it roun' Below the gallows tree. The Laird-o-Grant with power aboon The royal majesty, He pled fu' well for Peter Brown But let Macpherson die. But dantonly, etc. But Braco Duff in rage enough He first laid hands on me ; If death did not arrest my course Avenged I should be. But dantonly, etc. I've led a life of meikle strife, Sweet peace ne'er smiled on me ; It grieves me sair that I maun gae, An' na avenged be. But dantonly, etc. J.82 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON

How THE lNVERESHIE EsTATE wAs ACQ,UIRED_ * On the shelves of the British Museum Library there lie two thin paper pamphlets containing the pleadings and replies in_ an action heard before the House of Lords , more than 200 years ago. These papers-·which are indexed in the General Catalogue under the heading '"' Macpherson of Killiehuntly "­ relate to a Badenoch law-suit, and incidentally tell the story of how the estate of Invereshie passed into the hands of its present owners. · -The story begins in 1693, four -years after. the Battle of Killicrankie. Invereshie was then in the possession of that branch of the Macphersons known as Sliochd Gilliosa, who had received their -charter and the estate from _Hu_ntly in _1637. Their next neighbours were their. kjnsmen, the .Macphersons of Dalraddy, whose charter dated frem 1638. The two families had developed on somewhat ·different lines financially ; for while_ the Invereshies fell heavily into debt the Dalraddies had steadily· increased in credit and means. In I 693 the representative of the old Invereshie family was a young man, Sir Elias (or Gillies) Macpherson. Sir Elias, who had just attained his majority, had succeeded to a very encumbered estate-so encumbered in fact that his free income in it amounted to no more than £15, 14s. 5d. sterling. Even in those olden days, when money was worth so much more than it is to-day, this was not a revenue

* The above article was obtained from the British Museum by Mr Donald T. Mackintosh who has kindly given permission for it to be included here. Mr Mackintosh adds that one of the names appended to the document was Forbes of Culloden who must have been a very young advocate at the time. He continues :- " You will observe that the present Macpherson-Grants are the descendants of the Macphersons of Dalraddy and not of the original Invereshie tribe. They have therefore no title to call themselves the Sio Iosa. That description belonged to the original family, the last of whom was the young man who died somewhere in Flanders about the year 1715." THE-- MACPHERSONS OF INVERESHIE 183 on which. a .Highland gentleman could .maintain. his dignity. Sir Elias too~ the only possible course in the· circumstances. ·He determined to· obtain a. Com­ mission in the Army and volunteer for foreign service. But money had to be raised, and to procure the necessary cash he found himself compelled to dispose of Invereshie. . The purchaser was his neighbour and "cousin," James Macpherson of Dalraddy, who took over· all Elias's · numerous debts a~d paid down in money £250-i.e. sixteen years' purchase. of the £15, 14s. 5d. The transaction proved somewhat complicated : for the superior, the Duke of Gordon, took ·objection to the sale and for some time refused to accept Dalraddy as his vassal. The Gordons appear to have wanted to get the land back into their own hands again. A further difficulty arose from the fact that part of the estate had been wadset, or pledged in security ·for. a loan~· to another neighbour, Angus Macpherson·· of K.illiehuntly. The property involved was apparently the Dell of Killiehuntly. Angus Macpherson· .had been in the habit of regarding the ·wadset :as equivalent to ·permanent· possession~ because it was certain that the impecunious Invereshie family could never redeem the land. Dalraddy, however, had the money. to do ·so and at once gave notice of his intention to ·pay off the loan. But here another complication· cropped up. By some means or· other-probably as security for other loans-Killiehuntly had obtained possession of the title deeds of the Invereshie estate, and now refused· to part with them. It was essential ·for Dalraddy to get these papers, for obviously without them he could not complete his purchase or prosecute his dispute with the superior. Ultimately, after a year's negotiations, an agreement was reached. Dalraddy consented to postpone the redemption of the ·wadset for nineteen. years, ·and thereafter to grant two ·consecutive leases of nineteen years, an~ Killie~ 184 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON huntly surrendered. the.documents. Thereupon James Macpherson :took peaceable possession of .Invereshie and everything appeared settled. But three years later Sir. Elias turned up in Badenoch, home from foreign service, and more sorely in need of money than ever.. Killiehuntly, with a dishonest eye to the future, now approached the young man and· .. offered to find the funds provided that Sir Elias executed two documents-( 1) a declaration on soul and conscience that the I 693 disposition of· Invereshie had not been a bona-fide sale but a temporary and secret trust to Dalraddy on behoof of Sir Elias, to protect the latter against his creditors ; and (2) a permanent conveyance of the wadset lands at Killiehuntly to James Macpherson in Strone, in trust for Killiehuntly's son. At the same time Sir Elias made out a power of attorney to William Macpherson, writer in Edin­ burgh, authorising him to come into account with Dalraddy and take all necessary measures. This last proceeding came to the notice of Dalraddy, who paid certain sums to· the Edinburgh writer a year later and had the letter of attorney cancelled. He does not seem to have known anything of the other two documents, and no use was made of them for a long time. In March 1696 Sir Elias went back to his foreign service, and was killed in _action. The heir to his claims was now his uncle, Sir JEneas Macpherson -author of The Loyall Dissuasive. Sir JEneas in turn died, leaving a son James who, with his mother, a daughter of Maclean of Duart, lived in Badenoch. The boy came of age in 1714. It will be remembered that the new proprietors of Invereshie had agreed not to redeem the Killiehuntly wadset for nineteen years. This period expired about 1715, and in that year John, the second of the new lnvereshies, took steps to exercise his right. To the Killiehuntlies the move was as unwelcome as ever, and in response they stirred up James, son of Sir 1Eneas, to institute an THE MACPHERSONS OF INVERESHIE 185 action seeking to invalidate the sale of 1693. The secret documents signed by Sir Elias were appealed to, but this lawsuit did not go very far. A commission in the Army was found for lEneas's son-no doubt the Dalraddies paid for it to get rid of him-who was also killed in battle. With him died the last direct male descendant of the original Macphersons of Invereshie-the Sliochd Gilliosa. The Killiehuntlies, however, continued their efforts to retain unrestricted possession of the wadset lands. In 1718 they brought an action through the heir of James Macpherson in Strone to have the trust of 1696 validated. The Court of Session rejected their claim and refused permission to appeal to the House of Lords. In 1721, however, they returned to the charge, and this time managed to carry their case to the Supreme Court. It is from the statements and counter-statements prepared for that appeal that the foregoing facts have been gathered. These papers contain no indication of the outcome of the appeal, but it is pretty clear that the Court of Session findings were sustained, as the Invereshie estate remained in the hands of the Dalraddies, and is still in the possession of their descendants, the Macphersons-Grant of lnvereshie and Ballindalloch. CHAPTER XVI CATTANACH No book on the Macphersons ·. could be complete without mention of the Cattanachs, and Sir· T. Stewart Macpherson (whose grandmother was a· Cattanach) has kindly consented to the use of an article which he wrote for the Badenoch Record, which was as follows· :

Among the surnames of the various septs of Clan Chattan, Cattanach is obviously the most distinctive. It is simply the Catan-one, as Domhnallach · (Macdonald) is the Donald-one. Catanach was the original description of a member of the important tribe occupying territory in the Lochaber and Badenoch districts of Moray, which the Latin writers called Catana tribus, and Catanei, and whose traditional eponym is Gillecatain Mor. The name Gillicatain signifies servant or votary of Catan, a saint of Bute who lived in the sixth century and whose day was May 17th or 18th. Whether derived from Catan-or from an earlier totem, the mountain cat has always been the emblem of Clann Chatain. Gillecatain Mor flourished in the twelfth cen t~ry and is to be dis­ tinguished from subsequent Gillecatains. As to the spelling in modern days, the doubling of the letter t in Cattanach and Chattan is the result of an effort to reproduce in ·English phonetics the strong stress on the letter in Gaelic Catanach and Clann Chatain. The surname appertains mainly to Badenoch and to and Strathdee in Aberdeenshire. In Badenoch it was strong in the old estates of Clune and Strone, upon the Sliabh or Muir of which Newtonmore was established in the nineteenth century. No fewer i86 CATTANACH than forty-one Cattanachs appear on the electoral roll of Newtonmore, and most representatives of the name elsewhere in Badenoch and beyond its confines trace their lineage to Strone or Clune. The Cattanachs on both sides of the Monadh Ruadh always maintained that they were related by blood, but even a century ago representative clansmen in Badenoch and Braemar had only tradition to rely on. In Aberdeenshire the name has in some cases altered to Catto. Cattanachs have always been most resolute supporters of Seana Chlann Chatain-Old -Clan Chattan (as distinguished from the more :modern confederacy of Clan Chattan)-wear the Macpherson tartans and acknowledge Cluny as their Chief. Their standpoint is that they are Clann Chatain and, as they put it," He is ofus and always was." " Catan<\ic.h agus Toisich "-Cattanachs (Clann Chatai11) .. _and Macintoshes-are mentioned in juxtaposition in pne of the old Gaelic poems in the Book of the Dean of Lismore, compiled in the first quarter of the sixteenth century. , Another point of historical in­ terest is that when Mackintosh was negotiating with Cluny in I 682 for the assistance of the Macphersons against Lochiel, one of the stipulations made by Cluny was that Mackintosh should call himself Cattanach and that his clansmen also should adopt the name. It is noteworthy that in Gaelic, if you speak of Cattanach you will say An Catanach, but Alexander or (Finlay) Cattanach will be Alasdair (Fionnla) Catan and Ellen (Jean) Cattanach will be Eilidh (Seana) Chatan. T. S. M.

Later on, in a letter to the compiler, he wrote : " One point I omitted to make-my grandmother u·sed to relate with mirth how in the Macintosh estates Cattanachs ·were forced to call themselves Mackintosh (i.e. Mackintosh formerly Cattanach)." 188 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON

THE FAMILY OF IAN MACPHERSON, 1ST BARON STRATHCARRON OF BANCHOR It is not possible to give sketches of all the families of the name Macpherson and, as the title of this book denotes, these " Sketches " are accounts only of the Chiefs and their cadet branches. But so illustrious has this family become, thus shedding lustre on the clan by its deeds in almost every branch of life, that it is not considered out of place to make a brief mention of it. Perhaps the copy of an article which appeared . in the Sydne:, Morning Herald (Australia), where the announcement of the elevation of Sir Ian Macpherson was made, will best ,epitomize the deeds of this famous family in the clan. Dated 10th January 1936, and under the heading "An Appreciation-A Brilliant Scot" appeared the following: '' Among the names in the British New Year's Honours List just published is ·that of Sir Ian Macpherson, Bart, P.C., K.C., M.P., etc. who has received a barony. If ever a Scot typified that famous Burnsian adage, 'A man's a man for a' that,' it is Sir Ian Macpherson. Born in more or less humble circumstances, handicapped by feeble health, with no assistance other than his innate grit and tenacity, he has risen by sheer toil and his native talent to an enviable position of eminence among his countrymen. His family lived almost in the shadow of Cluny Castle, the ancestral seat of the Chiefs of his clan. Commencing his education inauspiciously in the local school, his scholastic ability bore him successively to George Watson's College and Edinburgh University, where he graduated M.A., LL.B. with honours, being also Forensic Medallist and Prizeman, and Celtic Scholar and Medallist. S1R T. STEWART MACPHERSON, C.I.E., LL.D. (Edin.) Chief of the Inverness Gaelic Society at the Cairn on Culloden Moor receiving a wreath of white heather from Ewan Cheyne­ Macphersori as the youngest representative of the Cluny Macphersons in Scotland on 16th April 1938.

THE FAMILY OF LORD STRATHCARRON 189 " Member of Parliament for Ross and Cromarty since 191 1, he was Recorder of Scotland in 192 I, and has also filled the positions of U nder--Secretary of State for War, Chief Secretary for Ireland, Vice-­ President of the Army Council, etc., etc., and is a Bencher of the Inner Temple, London. " He has written several books, chief among them, perhaps, are. his Life at a Scottish Universiry, and his Satire in Celtic History. " Sir Ian Macpherson is not the only member of his family to achieve fame. An elder brother-Sir Thomas Stewart Macpherson-after a distinguished career at the Bar, became a brilliant judge in India. " In Sir Ian Macpherson the true Scottish patriotism is exemplified.. Throughout his life he has exhibited an ardent love for his native Highlands, an intense passion for things Scottish. This was recognised by his election to the presidency to the Gaelic Society in London, an office which he still holds. Among his other recent activities is the presidency of the Clan Chattan Association, one of whose objects is to preserve for the Clan the now vacant seat. of Cluny, an alternative plan, if this is not possible, being to secure a part of Craigdhu, the hill above Cluny, from which the Macphersons took their rallying . cry, and to establish there a small building with a library or record-room to house the relics, which the clan might visit in memory of stirring bygone days. " The Committee of the Australian branch of the Association, in urging him to choose for his new title that of 'Lord Clanchattan,' the title which Prince Charlie is said to have intended to confer on Cluny of the '45, has pointed out how particularly appropriate it would be if the title could become one de facto in the person of this worthy clansman. Thus, as the old order changeth, out of its ashes would arise a igo THE CHiEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON vigorous outshoot, to be the· titular successor of a Chief whom Sir Walter Scott describes in his Tales of a Grandfather as 'a man of bold and intrepid disposition, who has shewn more respect for the laws of property, and more attention to prevent depreda­ tions than any_ other chief in the Highlands, except perhaps Lochiel.' And so-' Le roi est mort, vive le roi.' "

Lord Strathcarron did-not long survive his elevation to the peerage, dying suddenly in London in 1938. He was succeeded by a son, educated at Eton, and who has served in the R.A.F. during the Second World War, finishing with the rank of Squadron­ Leader. Sir Stewart Macpherson., C.I.E., the first Lord S.trathcarron's younger brother, has retired _and lives at ·N ewtonmore, Inverness-shire~ He has five so.ns, all ·of whom have · bestowed further lustre on the name Macpherson. His eldest son is a clever doctor, practising in Evie in the Orkneys. His second son, known affectionately to all as " G. P. S.," educated at Fettes, has played for Scotland as an international rugger player. In the war he served throughout, and has finished up with the rank of.Brigadier. A third son, Niall, served with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, joining the 5th Battalion as a Second Lieutenant and finishing with .the rank of Major. In the recent elections he won the seat for Dumfries­ shire as a Liberal. The youngest son, Thomas, served with the Intelligence Corps, and was a prisoner of war in Italy. Each in turn has honourably upheld the high traditions of the clan, whether as clansmen or of the stock of Gilli Chattan Mhor, Maormore of Moray and father-in-law to the daughter of Lulach, the last of a line of Scottish kings. MAJOR IAN F. MACPHERSON OF N.S.W. 191

JAN .FYFE MACPHERSON . ·This family has been chosen as a representative of the clan in Australia, partly because, as stated in the dedicatory page of this book, the greatest possible assistance was rendered to the compiler by Major Macpherson in the Cluny Appeal, and because it is the only family of the clan in Australia which is entitled to bear arms, the patent for such having been granted by Sir Francis J. Grant, Lord Lyon King-of-Arms, on the 10th November 1944. The citation is as follows : " To all and sundry to Whon1 These Presents Do or May Concern, We, Sir Francis Grant, K.C.V.O., LL.D., W.S., , Send Greetings:· Whereas IAN FYFE MACPHERSON, Military Cross, of DuNBLANE, DouBLE BAY, SYDNEY, AusTRALIA, Grazier, now Major 18th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, at present servi~g as Brigade Major, hath presented a· Petition unto Us of date the Sixteenth day of July last, wherein it is shewn that he served with the Australian Imperial Forces in the Great War from 1915 in the 5th Field Brigade of Artillery, 2nd Australian Division and was awarded the Military Cross in France in 1918 and has served in the present war since August 1939 : That he married on 16th April 1935 Milicent L. t{aomi, younger daughter of W. H. Wharton, Pastoralist in Queensland, and has a son, Ian Stuart Macpherson, born at Sydney 25th April 1936: That the Petitioner, who was born on 25th July 1891 and attended Sydney Grammar School, is the eldest son of John Macpherson (now deceased), Merchant in Sydney, and his wife (married 6th April 1889) Helen Fyfe, younger daughter of the late John Love, Merchant in Ayrshire, Scotland: That the Petitioner's said father was the eldest son of John Macpherson, born 7th February 1829 at Dalwhinnie, ;192 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Inverness-shire, Scotland, and his wife, Elizabeth Macdonald, which John Macpherson, who went to Australia in 1851, and became a Merchant in Sydney, was of a family for many generations settled in Dalwhinnie and that the Official ' List of Rebels ' concerned in the I 745 Rising contains the following entry-' • . . Macpherson Jr, Farmer, Delwhiny was Lieut.-Collonel of the Rebels and very active' : And the Petitioner having Prayed that We would Grant Our Licence and Authority unto him and unto his descendants, and unto the other descendants of his grandfather to bear and use such Ensigns Armorial as might be found suitable and according to the Laws of Arms: KNOW YE, therefore, that We have Devised, and Do by These Presents, Assign, Ratify and Confirm unto the Petitioner, and unto his descendants and unto the other descendants of his said paternal grand­ father with such congruent differences as shall here­ after be matriculated for them, the following Ensigns Armorial as depicted upon the margin hereof and matriculated of even date with These Presents on the Eighteenth folio of the Thirty-Fifth Volume of Our Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland : Videlicet :-Parted per fess Or and Azure, a lymphad of the first with her sails furled, oars in action, mast, oars and tackling proper, flagged Gules, in the dexter chief point a hand couped fessways holding a dagger paleways and in the sinister a cross­ crosslet fitchee of the last, in base a highland bull's head affrontee proper. Above the shield is placed an helmet befitting his Degree with a Mantling Azure doubled Or and on a Wreath of his Liveries is set for Crest a cat-a-mountain sejant erect guardant having the dexter paw raised and tail aloft proper, in an Escrol over the same this Motto: ToucH NOT THE CAT BOT A GLOVE."

Major Ian Fyfe Macpherson has one brother, MAJOR IAN FYFE MACPHERSON, N.S.W., AUSTRALIA

ARMS OF IAN FYFE MACPHERSON, M.C., OF DOUBLE BAY, NEW SOUTH WALES

MAJOR IAN F. MACPHERSON OF N.S.W. 193 Allan, who also in the 1914-1g18 War won the Military Cross, and was very severely wounded. He married Miss Helen Onslow and had two sons, John (born in 1927) who was killed as a Sergeant-Pilot in the R.A.A.F. over Germany in 1943, and Graeme, whose godfather was the late Albert Cameron Macpherson of Cluny, 23rd Chief. Alan Macpherson is, like his brother, a Grazier, of Lindisfarne, near Muswellbtook, New South Wales, Australia.

N

PART IV CLAN MISCELLANY

CHAPTER XVII THE TARTANS OF THE CLAN MACPHERSON AMoNG ·some people of recent years it has become the fashion to belittle the antiquity of tartan wear­ chiefly, possibly, because of the numerous displays of modern Lowland tartans invented by enterprising merchants for the benefit of those who wish to be "gulled." The subject, of course, is too large to discuss at any length here, but this can be said with certainty, that tartan was worn at least as early as I 538, as we have mention in contemporary literature of that date of" Heland Tartans.". There are three sets of tartan worn by the Macphersons-the Red or Clan Tartan, the Hunting, and the Chief's Dress Tartan. Of these the Red tartan is generally accepted as the Clan tartan, though in very recent times the Hunting sett has become more popular, to the extent that the Red sett has more or less fallen into disrepute, one publisher of a book on the tartans even going so far as to insinuate that it was one " given " by the Sobieski brothers to " Old Cluny " (?) As the Red tartan is neither illus­ trated nor mentioned in the Vestiarium, there is no warrant for such assumption. Furthermore, there is proof extant that the Red sett was worn at least 200 years ago, as, in a book of samples of old tartans collected by the late Provost MacBain and presented to the Inverness Museum, there is one of this very tartan, vouched for as having been worn at the Battle 196 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON of Culloden. The Clan, as a unit, was not present at the battle, but individuals were. And Mr Alastair Macpherson-Grant, in a series of articles which he wrote for the Inverness Courier in July 1938, when mentioning Catlodge, one of the shooting lodges of Cluny, says : " Mention of Catlodge refers to a little story composed by one who saw eighteen married men start for the '45, accompanied for a few miles by their wives, who bid them a final adieu on the heathery waste above Dalwhinnie, and a lilt, written by a clever youth of sixteen, refers to the 'red and green chequered plaids they wore.' " Also the writer had in his possession, not so long ago, a piece of this very sett, which was worn by his great-great-grandfather who emigrated to Jamaica in 1 765. In an oil painting of Andrew_ Macpherson of Cluny, 15th Chief, painted circa I 660, the tartan depicted there is distinctly red and green-with the red predominating-with slashings of red in the, undergarments. Of the other two tartans-the Hunting and the so-called "Dress" of to-day, there is no doubt that they were both based, although· at different periods, . on . the old tartan of the Chiefs of Clan Muirich. Among the papers originally in the Cluny Charter Chest was a letter from Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, to his son-in-law designate, Ewan, younger of Cluny, in which Lovat states that he is having made up as a wedding gift, a tartan based '' on your Handsome White tartan." In the Inverness Museum, among the old tartans shown, a piece of this tartan may be seen, rightly described as the " Cluny " tartan. There is very little doubt that this tartan is based on the oldest tartan of the Macpherson Chiefs. In the Cluny Charter Chest, among the documents there, is an account rendered to Duncan Macpherson of ·Cluny (brother to Andrew, the· 15th Chief) under date. of January 1669 for " Item, ane white tartane CLAN MISCELLANY r97 plaid," plainly showing that at that date a tar.tan with a white ground was worn. The white ground,. probably because of its less serviceable shade, has become the grey of the Hunting tartan of to-day. We now come to the light coloured sett, wrongly­ described in modern tartan books as the "dress" tartan. Emphatically, this is the Chief's own personal tartan and should not be worn by any Macpherson clansman not of the Chief's family. There is no law to prevent it, of course, any more than there is a law to prevent a Winchester boy from wearing_ an Eton tie. But ever since the time of " Old Cluny " (who was the first to wear it after the raising of the ban on. the wearing of the tartan), it has been worn by each successive chief as his own personal "dress" tartan. It was as stated above, first worn after the raising of the proscription, by Ewen Macpherson of Cluny, the 20th Chief, and has therefore been described as a modern sett. " Old Cluny " wore it on the first occasion at a ball, and Sir Thomas Dick Lauder wrote: "Cluny Macpherson appeared at a fancy ball in Edinburgh in his beautiful and genuine tartan, as taken from the MS." Logan, in his book, also states: '' The Chief has recently dressed in a different pattern which is said to have been formerly worn by his fa~ily." , In the Inverness Mu·seurri a piece of this light sett-_ the " breachan glas "r-is shown as the " Cluny Dress," in Provost MacBain's book of tartan samples. Thus, strictly speaking, the only one of the above setts which should be worn by clansmen, not members of the Chief's family, is the Red tartan. Also, by the continued use of the Hunting tartan, members of the Clan Mhuirich are paying· only a left-handed compliment to their real clan tartan. The Red tartan should at all times be 'Y'orn, except when the Hunting sett is worn for the occasion which its name signifies. 198 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON As the Hunting tartan of to-day, though designed in its present setting as the Chief's dress (on the marriage of Lord Lovat's daughter) was worn for such a short time by Cluny-as it is not at all likely that after Culloden he was ever in "dress" attire­ and as during most of the lifetime of his son," Duncan of the Kiln" the tartan was proscribed, by common usage it has become clan wear. But as long as a Chief of the Macphersons exists, so long does the " Cluny Dress " not belong to anyone else but that Chief and his family.· Finally there was never such a thing as a " dress " tartan for the Clan. This is quite a modern invention, brought in about the time of George IV's visit to Scotland.

APPENDIX XVII Since the chapter on the above was written, a letter has appeared in the current issue (December 1946) of the Clan Chattan Journal in which the writer has, more or less, disputed the authenticity of each of the three tartans. I shall try to reply as briefly as possible to the contentions of the writer. To begin with, the question of tartan and its antiquity is rather involved and one cannot indulge in any corres­ pondence regarding such a broad subject where only personal opinion-rather than hard facts-can be put forward in support of any side. The opening paragraph of my chapter is quite clear : there does exist a school of thought which casts doubts upon the antiquity of tartans on account of the large number of modern setts which have found their way on the market. Nobody who has studied this subject will deny the truth of this statement. The main criticism, however, is directed against the three MacPherson tartans mentioned in my article. So far as the so-called'' Dress'' MacPherson is concerned, one may safely take what Cluny wrote to Messrs D. & A. Smith of Mauchline, whose book on tartans was pub­ lished in 1850. CLAN MISCELLANY 199 _ _They. approached Oluny :regarding_ this Sett _and _he replied as follows : '' . . . the Ught _one· enclosed by you and now returned. by me, was known as the ' Bre.acan glas' long before John Sobieski was heard of in this collntry, although I rather think the addition of _the yellow stripe was taken from his MS., but at all events the tartan is an old_ MacPh~rson.'' _ Regarding the Hunting tartan, Smith's notes .(in the work _above mentioned) read as follows: "The pattern, which upon _the Chief's authority we give as the' Hunting MacPhetson ' was made by Messrs Meyer and Mortimer for the grandmother* of the present representative of the family, from an old shawl or plaid, which had been preserved in Cluny Castle for some generations.'' As the writer of the article contends that it has yet to be proved that_ the " Hunting MacPherson " was based upon an older sett, I would point out that-apart from Cluny's statement above to Smith-I have examined the letter written by Lovat of the '45 regarding this tartan, and other writers have also done so. So far as the Red (or , Clan) MacPherson sett is concerned, I would· point out that Logan, in his Scottish Gael, gives this sett, and any student of Scottish history is well aware of the trouble Logan took to verify his notes on tartan. My argument is that there was a Red MacPherson tartan, and this I believe is clearly proved by

1. Logan. 2. The tartan shown in the painting of Andrew MacPherson of Cluny (c. 1660). This is a seventeenth­ century painting despite the correspondent's attempts to place it in the eighteenth century, as has been proved by the age of the fabric on which it is painted. 3. The Red MacPherson tartan now shown in the Naval and Military Museum at Edinburgh, even though a woman's sett. It is possible-nay, certain-that all tartans now vary slightly from the original setts, but this is easily accounted for by the passage of time, type of dye used, and other

* The " grandmother " here referred to would have been -the daughter of Lord Lovat of the '45. 200 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON factors. However, the main point is that the Red tartan was known and worn as a MacPherson tartan long before the tartan revival of the early nineteenth century. Andrew and Wm. Smith, Mauchline, in- their- book, Authenticated Tartans of the Clans and- Families of Scotland, writing of the tartan of the " Chief Macintosh," state : '' Our reason for giving it, as well as some others which have similar claims to a place in our work, is to show that the Chief did, in some instances, wear a tartan different from his clan-which setts were also considered hereditary.'' The sett illustrated by them as MacPherson Clan shows the following scale :

inches inches inches .l White 4 Azure 2 Yellow ½ .l 1 Red 3 Black 2 Red 2 1 1 Black 4 Red 2 Blue t 1 1 White 4 Yellow ½ Red 2 1 Green 2½ Azure ! Yellow 2 1 White ¾ Yellow ½ White 4 .l 21. Yellow 2 Red ½ Green 2 .l 1 Red ½ Black 2 White 4 Yellow i Azure 2 Black ¼ 1 White i White 4 Red 3

BADGE, WAR CRY, ETC. OF THE CLAN The Badge of Clan Macpherson is white heather, formerly boxwood or red whortleberry. War Cry-Creag Dhubh Chlann Chatain ! i.e. the Black Rock of Clan Chattan. Craig Dhu is the hill on one of the slopes of which is Cluny Castle, and on its face overlooking Lochan Ovie is a cave in which Ewan of the '45 hid. Designation of Chief-Ciuny Macpherson of Cluny. ( Gaelic-MacMhuirich Cluanaigh.) Clan Music :-Failte Loch Duthaich-Macphersons' Salute ; Cr~ag Dhubh Chlann Chatain-Macpherson's Gathering; 'S fheudar dhomh fhinn a bhi falbh dhach aidh direach-Macpherson's March; Cumha Chluanaigh-Cluny Macpherson's Lament. CHAPTER XVIII SEPTS OF CLAN MHUIRICH OR MACPHERSON Cattanach, Clark, Clarke, Clarkson, Clerk, Currie, Fersen, * Gillespie, Gillies, , Keith, Lees, Mac­ Chlerich, MacChlery, MacCurrach, MacGowan, . MacKeith, MacLeish, MacLerie, MacLise, MacMurdo, MacMurdoch, MacMurrich, MacVurrich, Murdoch, Murdoson, 1vlac William. t

,, THE POSTERITY OF THE THREE BROTHERS'' The above designation has been often used of the descendants of Ewan Ban, son of the Parson of Kingussie, respectively Kenneth (Cluny, the Chief), ' * The Fersens of Sweden are a noble house whose progenitor is said to have been a Macpherson who settled in Sweden during the Thirty Years' War. A Count Fersen was an attache of the Swedish Embassy at Paris at the outbreak of the French Revolution. Owing to his intrepid exertions on behalf of the French Royal family they all but succeeded in effecting their escape from France. Quite recently, too, a young Swede named Fersen visited the Inverness Museum, and, during the course of conversation with one of the officials, related a long story about his family who, he stated, had gone to Sweden from Scotland about 300 years ago and whose original name was Macpherson, gradually changing to Fersen. t From about A.D. I 600, there were tenants of Huntly in Glenlivet () who had traditions of their belonging to Clan Mhuirich -one tradition being that during the '45 Rising a MacWilliam had been sent to Prince Charlie's army dressed in the Macpherson tartan, and another that when Macpherson of Invereshie succeeded to the Ballindalloch estates, he expressed a desire that the MacWilliams should change their name to Macpherson. Anyhow it is quite certain that an ancestor of the family appears in a Bond of 21st February 1685, as "William M'Pherson alias MacKullie in Coreis," and as " Macvillie," and again on 22nd October 1662, a "Patrick m'Pherson alias m'Villie '' received s·asine in Wester Correis on charter of wadset by Murray of Blairfindy. v It must be remembered, too, that Andrew, the 14th Chief of the Macphersons, was "of Grange'' in Banffshire, and it is more than probable that many of his clansmen had settled round their Chief's residence.

20I 202 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Ian (Pitmain), and Gillies (Invereshie). The three families consisted, in addition to clansmen scattered here and there, of the following cadets :- The Chief's Family, in the order of seniority, Noid (with Dalchully and Blairgowrie in order of pre­ cedence), Glentruim or Ralia, Banchor, Breakachie, Crathiecroy, Ovie, Culanlinn, Pittowrie, Delfour, Essick, Bailachroan, Ardbrylach, Lagan of Kingussie, Brin. Pitmean' s Family.-Pitmean, Strathmashie, Inver­ tromie, Balchurn, Invernahaven, Biallid, Garvamore. lnvereshie's Family.-Invereshie, Dalraddy, K.illi­ huntly, Kincraig, Phones, Ettridge. The Cluny family had the largest following, followed by Invereshie and Pitmean respectively.

CLAN MACPHERSON ASSOCIATION

From the Inverness Courier, June I 939 " On Friday 8th inst, a meeting was held at the Duke of Gordon Arms, Kingussie, with the object of forming a Clan Macpherson Association. The con­ venor was a Mr Thomas Macpherson of Macpherson, Train & Co., London, and among those present were: Sir T. Stewart Macpherson, Newtonmore; Mr Macpherson of Balavil, Mr Duncan Macpherson of Glentruim, W. Cheyne-Macpherson of Dalchully, Inverness, Mr John Macpherson of the Sports Stores, Inverness, Provost D. Cattanach of Kingussie, and Messrs John and Robert Macpherson, Kingussie. '' Some years ago-in 1933-William Cheyne­ Macpherson formed the present Clan Chattan Associa­ tion in London with the primary .. object of having an official body behind him in his self-imposed task of collecting funds to purchase Cluny Castle-the Seat of the Macphersons-and the Clan relics, or, if funds SEPTS OF CLAN MHUIRICH 203 were insufficient, to purchase a small piece of land on the Cluny estates on which a small building could be erected for the purpose of housing the relics and as a meeting place for the Clan. For this purpose he travelled to Australia and New Zealand, and altogether over ·£11,000 was collected towards this object. Unfortunately there was only a limited time in which to raise a sum of £15,000, and a cash purchaser appearing on the scene, the appeal fell through and the funds were returned to the subscribers with the exception of a couple of hundred pounds which are still in New Zealand.* The would-be purchaser died and so the position was in statu quo. The idea is now resurrected in the present movement, and already a piece of land at Biallid has been donated to the above-to-be-newly-formed Association. " A big inaugural meeting is to be held at Kingussie on Saturday, 16th September of this year, and­ meantime a provisional local committee has been formed consisting, among others, of Mr John Macpherson of the Sporting Stores, Inverness,· and Cheyne-Macpherson of Dalchully."

VALE ! 3RD MAY 1943 In Glasgow, on the 3rd May 1943, at a -saleroom in Sauchiehall Street, there was gathered a large collection of would-be purchasers of the Cluny paintings and relics. Money had been subscribed by members of the Clan, largely through the instrumentality of Mr Thomas Macpherson, M.P., then Regional Port Director for Scotland (and head of Macpherson Train & Co., London), and of the compiler, and thus most of the family paintings and relics were saved for the Clan.

* Of this a sum of £100 was eventually sent over from Dunedin towards the purchase of the Cluny relics. 204 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON Among these were included the "Bratach Daine" the Green Banner of the Chiefs of the Macphersons (for £105), the Black Chanter (for £55), and the violin used by James Macpherson of the seventeenth century at his execution ; while among the more modern relics were Landseer's painting, "The Young Chief's First Ride " (for £33), and the massive candelabrum of 700 ounces of silver (for 140 guineas) presented to Ewen Macpherson of Cluny (" Old Cluny ") on his Golden Wedding Day.

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS From Mr Donald Graham, _Gaelic teacher at the Royal Academy School, Inverness, dated 5th December 1939 " In regard -to your chapter on Picts, Cruithne, etc. and your theories about the earliest. origin of your clan, I am quite in accord with your views .... l think your arguments in favour of the Chiefship of Clan Chattan are stated with cogency and, what is rare in Clan disputes, great restraint." ·

From the late Rev. Dr Neil Ross, C.B.E., D.Litt., Minister of Laggan " I do not see how any reply can be made to any of your arguments throughout the book, as you have quoted so extensively from both sides. Clann Mhurich has certainly found an able and fighting descendant of its old Chiefs in the author."

From Captain Wni. lvlackay, F.S.A.(Scot.), Inverness " You make out a good case for the Macphersons, and I am inclined to think your deductions are correct.'' 29.5.1939. SEPTS OF CLAN MHUIRICH 205-

RESURGAM Clan Macpherson Association.-On 25th November 1946, a meeting was held at the Charing. Cross Hotel, London, at which about 25 persons were present. It was there agreed to proceed with the formation of the London Branch of the Association, Mr Thomas Macpherson, M.P. being appointed- as Chairman; and Mrs D. F .. Macpherson-as Secretary. Major Niall Macpherson, M.P ., .Hon. Secretary of the Promotional Committee, reported that, so far, there were- 184: members .. CLUNY's CoMM1ss10N In organising the widespread Macpherson Clan in the proud world of to-day, and in view of his own present engagement in business in Australia, Ewen George Macpherson, as 24th Chief of the Clan Macpherson and in exercise of his patriarchal pre­ rogative according to the constitutional practice of Scotland, has been pleased to issue the following Commissions of Commandery (to use the eighteenth century terminology) in order that the Chief may be personally represented by his Commissioner alike in lands overseas and in the Scottish homeland. To Wm. Cheyne-Macpherson of Dalchully :- I hereby appoint you my Tanastair and give you all power and authority to act on my behalf, and to hold my place, and display my Banner, and in this my Commission during my pleasure as Captain of the Clan. Ewen George Macpherson of Cluny. Cluny also appointed Mr Duncan Park Macpherson of Wyncote, Montgomery County, Pa., U.S.A. (see page 145) and Mr Robert McPherson of the Caledonian Society, Christchurch, N.Z., to be his representatives and captains of the Clan Macpherson for respectively the United States of America and Canada, and for New Zealand. 2o6 THE CHIEFS OF CLAN MACPHERSON With these Commissions Cluny also sent the follow- 1ng• message :- " I send greetings to all my Clan overseas, and perhaps some day in the near future, God willing, I may be able to visit them in my own homeland.'' With this greeting from the present chief, the descendant of that Ewan of the '45, whose deeds are ever alive to all loyal clansmen and all true High­ landers, this book ends. May his posterity live for ever, and may the day never come when Clan Macpherson is without its hereditary chief in the person of one of the descendants of Ewan of the '45. THE '45 ASSOCIATION

The idea of forming an Association to be ealled \ "The Forty-five Association" was born in the mind of The Founder during the Bi-Century Commemoration Gathering held under the auspices- of The National Trust for Scotland, held at Glenfinnan on 18th August, 1945-200 years after the Raising of The Standard by Prince . Looking at the thousands gathered there from every part of Britain and the Empire it was obv:ous that there existed a very live "SPIRIT or THE FORTY-FIVE" in the world, and that it only needed organising to become a vast force. The Asscciation was therefore formed in October, 1946, and from that time has gone fron1 strength to strength, gatherings have been held on appropriate dates, and an Advisory Council has been formed. The objects of the Association are:- 1. To keep green the memory of The Prince and of his devoted Supporters in the Rising. 2. To organise and assist at Commemoration Gatherings. 3. To raise a Fund to place the Association on a firm financial footing and to ,erect a Statue of The Prince at Inverness. 4. To establish H·eadquarter.s for the Assoc~ation at Glenfinnan. 5. To form strong links ,vith all Scots residing overseas, and to maintain touch ,vith the 1,600 Scottish Associations all over the world, and to fo~ill a Library of Books on The Rising. Widespread interest has been aroused in many quarters and there have been favcurable notices in many papers, notably in The Weekly Scotsman. It is the firm belief of the F-0under that thousands will join the Association as it becomes known and as publicity grows, and that wherever the gallant deeds of The '45 are held in honour there will be found men and women who still have the "Spirit Of The '45" which flamed so high when the Pipes of The Clans screamed out their Challenge en that neve:r-to­ be:..forgotten day at Glenfinnan-the 19th August, 1745. The Founder, Captain C. L. D. Tully, ·O.B.E., "Craiglea," Fort William, Inverness-shire, will be delighted to hear fron1 all in sympathy. The Minimum Annual Subscription is 5/-, payable in October each year. ADDENDA

Pages 100 and 101 : To the list of Officers in · · Cluny's Regiment:- Captaip.: Aeneas Macpherson of Flichity (at home). Officers : Malcolm Dow Macpherson of Balla- chroan (at home). James Macpherson of Crathie Croy (surrendered before fighting). Lachlan Macpherson of Pi tmain (surrendered before fighting). Assist.-Quartermaster : John Clark of Ruthven (at home). Piper : James Macpherson.

N.B.-Each company in a regiment was under the co1nmand of a captain and a lieutenant (termed "officer"), while the regiment had in addition a colonel (commanding), lieut.-colonel,. major, adjutant (termed "lieutenant"), and quartermaster.