clung to their belief that the Throne of the country would once more have "its rightful occupant" could have no better illustration than that afforded by the subsequent career of Lord Kilsyth. After the burial of his wife he was elected to occupy his old seat as one of the members for Stirlingshire, and that position he held till the 3rd October, 1706, when, on the death of his brother, he was raised to the Peerage. At that time the country lost its head over the Darien enterprise. The majority of the Scottish nobility and merchants were severely bitten. The bubble burst, and Lord Kilsyth lost the sum of £1000 sterling, which the books of the company show he subscribed on the afternoon of the 31st March, 1696. In 1707 Colonel Hooke, a secret agent from the Court of Versailles and St. Germains, visited Scotland for the purpose of engaging the disaffected nobility in the interests of the King of France, and stirring up if possible a Jacobite rising. Hooke was the very man for this delicate mission, being wily and wary, and full of deceit and diplomacy. He looked to the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Kilsyth as two men whom he was certain to enlist in the plot. He had an interview with Kilsyth, who was also a commissioner of Hamilton's, at the house of Lord Stormont. Kilsyth insisted that they must be provided with a force of 8ooo men and a large sum of money before they could think of entertaining the French proposals. Hooke, upon their agreeing to the scheme, proposed to submit their proposals to the King of France. The other nobles who were present consented to this. Lord Kilsyth, however, stood firm, and would have nothing to do with the conspiracy until he saw both the men and the money. The nobles took Hooke's side, and the meeting grew warm. Finding his counsel set aside by his own countrymen, Lord Kilsyth, "nettled to

Afterwards Kilsyth
Kilsyth was con-

The

the quick, got up, and went away."
and Hooke had a private interview.
siderably affected at the prospect of the restoration of his
King and the deliverance of his country, but he refused
to sign the memorial to the French King until he had
seen the Duke of Hamilton and disengaged himself of
his promise. The two men parted on this understanding,
agreeing to meet again at the house of the Countess of
Errol. The meeting never took place. The news of an
impending French invasion, and the rumour of a Jacobite
rising, flew through the country like wildfire.
Government at once arrested the Marquis of Huntly, the
Earls of Seaforth and Nithsdale, and the Viscounts Stor-
mont and Kilsyth. They were thrown into Edinburgh
Castle, and in April, 1708, they were conducted to
London under an escort of dragoons. The French ex-
pedition failed, the prisoners were admitted to bail, and
the proceedings were allowed to quietly drop. Kilsyth
was hated by the Government, but he was greatly popular
in Scotland, and he held his seat and voted steadily
against the measures for the Parliamentary Union of
England and Scotland. When the Act did pass, he was
elected to sit in the English House of Lords as one of
the sixteen representative Scottish Peers. That was in
1713. Two years later he took those steps and committed
those acts of rebellion which brought about his utter ruin
and exile. Being a well-known Jacobite, the Earl of
Mar invited him to attend the celebrated hunting meet-
ing at Braemar in August, 1715. The ruse was success-
ful, the nobles met, and were able to confer.

"There ye might see the noble Mar,
Wi' Athol, Huntly, and Traquair,
Seaforth, Kilsyth, and Auldubair,

And mony mae what reck again,

"Then what are a' their Westland crews?
We'll gar the tailors tack again;

Can they forestan' the tartan trews

And Auld Stuart's back again?

The standard of the Pretender was immediately raised. Mar sped the fiery cross through the Highlands, and 10,000 men gathered about him in a wonderfully short space of time. Had this army, full as it was of zeal and energy, been properly handled, there can be little doubt it would have scored for the Jacobites a number of successes, and prolonged the Rebellion for a considerable period. But Mar wanted the qualifications of Dundee and Montrose. He was a

man of good parts and soldier-like presence, but as a commander, he was irresolute, tentative, vacillating. The moment the clansmen gathered, he should have acted with boldness and determination. Instead, the slowness of his movements damped the ardour of his followers, and gave Argyll time to rally the Government forces. When the impetuosity of the Highlanders could no longer be restrained, at the head of 12,000 men he marched from Perth to meet Argyll, who was stationed at Dunblane. The forces of Argyll were much smaller, but in point of discipline and equipment they were much superior to those of Mar. Sheriffmuir is of the shape of an inverted saucer. It is a waste, boggy, uncultivated tract, near the ancient cathedral seat of Dunblane. There the two armies met. They found themselves in battle order against each other on the morning of Sunday, the 13th November. Rob Roy was present, but performed the part of an onlooker. Through the nature of the ground the armies were within pistol shot of each other before they came fully into each others' view. The Highlanders pursued their wonted tactics. Throwing aside their

plaids they discharged their muskets with steady aim. Having fired their pieces, they then flung them down, and drawing their claymores, with a fierce yell of defiance dashed on the foe. The right wing of the army was led by Mar in person, and by sheer courage, and the resolute use of dirk and broadsword, he overpowered the Government troops with great slaughter and drove them before him. From the pursuit Mar was called by the news of the disaster which had befallen his left wing. That portion of his army had been outflanked and reduced to confusion by a skilful manœuvre of Argyll's horse. The clansmen retreated, fighting every inch of the ground, till Argyll, afraid of being attacked in his rear, drew off his forces and formed them in battle order. Much weakened and broken, Argyll never imagined but Mar would be immediately upon him like a lion. Mar, however, acted like himself; he failed to take advantage of his position, and drew off his Highlanders. juncture an aged clansman, seeing his irresolution, cried in the bitterness of his soul, "Oh for an hour of Dundee." Mar lost 800, and Argyll 610 men, and thus unsatisfactorily terminated the battle of Sheriffmuir. It was a drawn game.

At this

"Some say that we wan, and some say that they wan,

And some say that nane wan ava' man."

Mar had missed his chance, and the clansmen soon melted away.

Political vengeance quickly followed. The Scottish gentlemen who were taken were tried and executed. Many saved themselves by flight. Amongst these was Lord Kilsyth. He fought at Sheriffmuir, and, having witnessed the uncertain assault, he saw clearly that the

the disasters of the '15, and "in an adva perfect judgment, and showing a Chris emplary resignation," he died at Rome January, 1733. His second wife was a Macdougall of Mackerston. Thus peris

and misery, the last of the Lords of Kilsy a family than whom the House of Stuart staunch supporters, a family who had rise rule to influence and honour, and who in misfortune and disaster had been brought