tish affairs, with becoming indignation. He says BOOK. I. that not only lord Dundee was dissatisfied, but many others of king James's friends; and so much Crown of

1699.

Scotland declared forfeited by

was lord Melfort the object of their dislike, that a remonstrance, in which the lords Balcarras and K. James, Dundee concurred, was transmitted to king James, desiring him "to lay aside that lord, be cause he was universally obnoxious to both king, doms*".

At the instance of the president of the conven→ tion, a committee of twenty-four persons was forthwith appointed, consisting of eight members selected out of each of the three estates, of lords, knights, and burgesses, to prepare and digest the plan of a new settlement-who in a few days came to the following spirited and memorable resolution: "The estates of the kingdom of Scotland find and declare that king James VII., being a professed papist, did assume the royal power, and acted as a king, without ever taking the oath required by law; and had, by the advice of evil and wicked counsellors, invaded the fundamental constitution of this kingdom, and altered it from a legal and limited monarchy to an arbitrary despotic power; and had governed the same to the subversion of the protestant religion, and violation of the laws and liberties of the nation, inverting all the ends of government; where

* Lord Balcarras's Account of Scottish Affairs, VOL. I. L

BOOK I.

1689.

and con

ferred on

liam.

by he had FORFAULTED the RIGHT of the crown, and the throne was become vacant." This resolution, being reported to the convention, was adopted and confirmed, with the exception of five dissentient voices only-the partisans of the late king James having previously seceded from the assembly. The lord president then moved, "that the vacant throne might be filled with the king King Wil- and queen of England;" which was unanimously approved-the marquis of Athol himself, who had opposed with vehemence the vote of vacancy, declaring his acquiescence in the proceedings of the convention, and acknowledging, that, upon the presumption of a vacancy, none were so worthy to fill the throne as king William and queen Mary. The new sovereigns were on the same day proclaimed at the market-cross of Edinburgh, by the lord president in person, assisted by the members of the convention and the magistrates of the city. The earl of Argyle (who had been permitted to take his seat, notwithstanding the attainder of his father), sir James Montgomery, and sir John Dalrymple, were then nominated commissioners to invest their majesties with the royal dignity; and on the 11th of May 1689, attended by almost all the Scottish nobility and gentry resident in or near the metropolis, they were solemnly introduced to the king and queen at Whitehall, and delivered to them, together with a letter from the estates, 1. The instrument

of government; 2. A paper containing a cata- BOOKĻ logue of the national grievances; and 3. An ad- 1689. dress to the king for turning the convention into a parliament-to all which the king replied very graciously. The coronation oath was then ten dered, conceived and expressed in a high strain of liberty, but miserably and strangely tainted with fanaticism-amongst other absurd things, declaring,

that they would abolish and gainstand all false religion-that they would procure to the kirk of God and all Christian people true and perfect peace to the utmost of their power in all time coming-and that they would be careful to root out all heretics and enemies to the true worship of God, &c." Here the king, much moved, interrupted the earl, and protested that he did not mean to bind himself by these words to become a persecutor. And the commissioners replying that neither the meaning of the oath nor the law of Scotland did import it, his majesty rejoined, "that he took the oath in that sense, and called upon the commissioners themselves and others present to witness that he did so."

The convention of Scotland having at their first meeting declared so decidedly against the late king James, the whole kingdom seemed to submit to their authority without hesitation or difficulty; the castle of Edinburgh excepted, of which the duke of Gordon, a papist, was governor; and

BOOK I. who, upon being summoned by the convention, 1689. peremptorily refused to deliver up the fortress; upon which he was, at the high cross by the heralds

Viscount

Dundee.

at arms, proclaimed a traitor and rebel. But a Exploits of formidable opposition to the new government was soon excited by the celebrated viscount Dundee, who had formed himself upon the model of the heroic Montrose, and was possessed of the same commanding talents and graceful accomplishments. Having left the convention with the rest of the seceders, he quitted Edinburgh at the head of about fifty horse. Being asked whither he was going, he replied, "Wherever the spirit of Montrose shall direct me." Repairing to the interior parts of the country, he soon collected a very considerable force. Dundee had inflamed his mind with the perusal of the ancient poets and historians, and yet more by listening to the heroic achievements celebrated in the popular and tradiHighlan- tionary songs of his countrymen. His army was cribed. entirely composed of HIGHLANDERS-a singular

ders des

people, of whom it is not sufficient barely to mention the name. Amidst the clouds and darkness which envelop the high and remote periods of historic antiquity, it appears from strong presumptive evidence, that at this æra the Highland nation exhibited the unmixed remains of that vast Celtic empire which once stretched from the Pillars of Hercules to the Sea of Archangel. The

1689.

Highlanders were composed of a number of tribes BOOK I. or clans, each of which bore a different name, and lived upon the lands of a different chieftain. The members of every clan were connected with each other not only by the feudal but the patriarchal bond; and each of them could recount with pride the degree of his affinity to the common head. The castle of the chieftain was open and easy of access to every individual of the tribe there, all were hospitably entertained in times of peace, and thither all resorted at the sound of war. They lived in villages built in glens or deep valleys, and for the most part by the sides of rivers. At the end of spring they sowed their grain, and at the commencement of winter they reaped their scanty harvest. The rest of the year was all their own, for amusement or for war. During the short interval of summer they indulged themselves in the enjoyment of a bright and lengthened sun, and in ranging over a wild and romantic country; frequently passing whole nights in the open air among the mountains and the forests. They spent the winter in the chace while the sun was up; and in the evening, assembling round a blazing hearth, they entertained themselves with the song, the tale, and the dance. Their vocal music was plaintive even to melancholy, but their instrumental was bold, martial, and animating. In order to cherish high sentiments in the minds of