Part 22

The papers, letters, documents and writings, a favourite diamond ring, and a ducal patent of nobility, were, however, "all lost in the great flood of the river Wear in 1771;" and the Duke is said to have deeply lamented this misfortune. It is not, however, very likely that he would have carried his ducal patent with him in his flight; and had he afterwards sent for it from Drummond Castle, some of his family must have been apprised of his existence.

It is stated, however, but only on hearsay, that thirteen years after the year 1745, the Duke visited his forfeited Castle of Drummond, disguised as an old beggar, and dressed up in a light coloured wig. This rumour rests chiefly upon the evidence of the Rev. Dr. Malcolm, LLD., who, in 1808, published a Genealogical Memoir of the ancient and noble House of Drummond; and who declared, on being applied to by the family of Thomas Drummond, that he had been told by Mrs. Sommers, the daughter-in-law of Patrick Drummond, Esq., of Drummondernock, the intimate friend of the Duke of Perth, that the Duke survived the events of the battle of Culloden a long time, and years afterwards, visited his estates, and was recognised by many of his "trusty tenants."[267] A similar report was, at the same time, very prevalent at Strathearn; and it has been positively affirmed, that a visit was received by Mr. Graeme, at Garnock, from the Duke of Perth, long after he was believed to be dead. At this time, it is indeed wholly impossible to verify, or even satisfactorily to refute such statements; but the existence of a report in Scotland, that the Duke did not perish at sea, may be received as an undoubted fact.[268] In 1831, when the case of Thomas Drummond was first agitated, Mrs. Atkinson and Mrs. Elizabeth Peters, the supposed daughters of James Duke of Perth, were both alive, and on their evidence much of the stability of the case depended. The claimant, Thomas Drummond, who is stated to have been the eldest son of James, son of James Duke of Perth, was born in 1792, and was living in 1831 at Houghton-le-Spring, in the occupation of a pitman. Much doubt is thrown upon the whole of the case, which was not followed up, by the length of time which elapsed before any claim was made on the part of this supposed descendant of the Duke of Perth. The act for the restoration of the forfeited estates was not passed, indeed, until two years after the death (as it is stated) of the Duke of Perth, that is, in 1784; yet one would suppose that he would have carefully instructed his son in the proper manner to assert his rights in case of such an event. That son lived to a mature age, married and died, yet made no effort to recover what were said to be his just rights.[269]

Such is the statement of those who seek to establish the belief that the Duke of Perth lived to a good old age, married, had children, and left heirs to his title and estates. On the other hand, it is certain that it was generally considered certain, at the time of the insurrection, that the Duke died on his voyage to France; and it was even alluded to by one of the counsel at the trials of Lord Kilmarnock and Lord Balmerino in August 1746, when the name of the Duke of Perth being mentioned, "who," said the Speaker, "I see by the papers, is dead." But it _is_ certainly _remarkable_, that neither Maxwell of Kirkconnel, nor Lord Elcho, the one in his narrative which has been printed, the other in his manuscript memoir, mention the death of the Duke of Perth on the voyage, which, as they both state, they shared with him. So important and interesting a circumstance would not, one may suppose, have occurred without their alluding to it. "All the gentlemen," Lord Elcho relates, "who crossed to Nantes, proceeded to Paris after their disembarkation;"[270] but he enters into no further particulars of their destination. His silence, and that of Maxwell of Kirkconnel, regarding the Duke of Perth's death, seems, if it really took place, to have been inexplicable.

All doubt, but that the story of the unfortunate Duke's death was really true, appears however to be set at rest by the epitaph which some friendly or kindred hand has inscribed on a tomb in the chapel of the English Nuns at Antwerp, commemorating the virtues and the fate of the Duke, and of his brother Lord John Drummond. This monumental tribute would hardly have been inscribed without some degree of certainty that the remains of the Duke were indeed interred there.

M. S.[271]

Fratrum Illustriss, Jac. et Joan. Ducum de Perth, Antiquiss. Nobiliss. Familiae de Drummond apud Scotos, Principum. Jacobus, ad studia humaniora proclivior, Literis excultus, Artium bonarum et liberalium fautor eximius; In commune consulens, Semper in otio civis dignissimus. Mira morum suavitate, et animi fortitudine ornatus, Intaminata fide splendebat humani generis amicus. In pace clarus, in bello clarior; Appulso enim Carolo P. in Scotiam, Gladio in causa gentis Stuartorum rearrepto, Veterorum cura posthabita, Gloriae et virtuti unice prospiciens, Alacri vultu labores belli spectabat; Pericula omnia minima ducebat: In praelio strenuus, in victoria clemens, heros egregius. Copiis Caroli tandem dissipatis, Patria, amicis, re domi amplissima, Cunctis praeter mentem recti consciam, fortiter desertis, In Galliam tendens, solum natale fugit. Verum assiduis laboribus et patriae malis gravibus oppressus, In mari magno, Die natale revertente, ob. 13 Maii, 1746; aet. 33. Et reliquiae, ventis adversis, terra sacrata interclusae, In undis sepultae. Joannes, ingenio felici martiali imbutus, A prima adolescentia, militiae artibus operam dedit. Fortis, intrepidus, propositi tenax, Mansuetudine generosa, et facilitate morum, militis asperitate lenita. Legioni Scoticae regali, ab ipsomet conscriptae, A Rege Christianiss. Lud. XV. praepositus. Flagrante bello civili in Britannia, Auxilis Gallorum duxit; Et post conflictum infaustum Cullodinensem, In eadem navi cum fratre profugus. In Flandria, sub Imperatore Com. de Saxe, multum meruit: Subjectis semper praesidium, Belli calamitatum (agnoscite Britanni!) insigne levamen. Ad summos Martis dignitates gradatim assurgens, Gloriae nobilis metae appetens, In medio cursu, improvisa lethi vi raptus, 28 Septemb. A.D. 1747, AEt. 33. In Angl. monach. Sacello Antwerpiae jacet.

The preceding narrative is given to the reader without any further comment, except upon the general improbability of the story. It might not appear impossible that the Duke may have taken refuge in the then wild county of Durham for a time, but that two credible historians, Maxwell of Kirkconnel, and Lord Elcho, assert positively that he sailed for Nantes in a vessel which went by the north-west coast of Ireland; Lord Elcho and Maxwell being themselves on board, seems decisive of the entire failure of the case before quoted. It seems also wholly incredible, that the Duke of Perth, whose rank was still acknowledged in France, and whose early education in that country must have familiarised him with its habits, should have remained contentedly during the whole of his life, associating with persons of the lowest grade, in an obscure village in Durham.

At the time of the Duke of Perth's death in 1747, one brother, Lord John Drummond, was living. This brave man, whose virtues and whose fate are recorded in the epitaph, survived his amiable and accomplished brother only one year, and died suddenly of a fever, after serving under Marshal Saxe at the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom. His services in the insurrection of 1745 were considerable; like his brother, he escaped to France after the contest was concluded. He died unmarried; and two sisters, the Lady Mary, and the Lady Henrietta Drummond, died also unmarried. The mother of James Duke of Perth long survived him, living until 1773. It is said in the case of Thomas Drummond, that she never forgave her son for what she considered his lukewarmness in the cause of the Stuarts, and refused to have any intercourse with him after the failure of the rebellion; but those who thus write, must have formed a very erroneous conception of the Duke's conduct: if he might not escape such a charge, who could deserve the praise of zeal, sincerity, and disinterestedness?

The duchess was one of the most strenuous supporters of the Stuarts, and suffered for her loyalty to them by an imprisonment in Edinburgh Castle. She was committed to prison on the eleventh of February, 1746, and liberated on bail on the seventeenth.

On the forfeiture of the Drummond estates she retired to Stobhall, where she remained until her death, at the advanced age of ninety. She was considered a woman of great spirit, energy, and ability, and is supposed to have influenced her son in his political opinions and actions.

Some idea may be formed of the painful circumstances which follow the forfeiture of estates from the following passage, extracted from the introduction to the letters of James Earl of Perth, Chancellor of Scotland in the time of James the Second, and lately printed for the Camden Society.[272]

"When a considerable portion of the Drummond estates were restored to the heir (no poor boon, though dilapidated, lopped, and impoverished,) he found upon them four settlements of cottages, in which the soldiery had been located after the battle of Culloden, to keep down the _rebels_. There were thirty near Drummond Castle, another division at Cullander, a third at Balibeg, and a fourth at Stobhall. Demolition might satisfy the abhorrence of the latter three, but what could reconcile him to the outrage under his very eyes, as he looked from his chamber or castle terrace? It was intolerable, and that every trace might be obliterated, he caused an embankment to be made, and carried a lake-like sheet of water over the very chimney tops of the military dwellings. There is now the beautiful lake, gleaming with fish, and haunted by the wild birds of the Highlands; and we believe the deepest diver of them all, could not observe one stone upon another of the cabins which held the ruthless military oppressors left by the Duke of Cumberland a century ago."

The usual accounts of the Duke's movements after the battle of Culloden, state, however, that about a month subsequent to that event, when the fugitive Charles Stuart, in the commencement of his wanderings, landed by accident upon the little isle of Errifort, on the east side of Lewis, he saw, from the summit of a hill which he had climbed, two frigates sailing northwards. The Chevalier in vain endeavoured to persuade the boatmen who had brought him from Lewis, to go out and reconnoitre these ships. His companions judged these vessels to be English; the Prince alone guessed them to be French. He was right. They were two frigates from Nantes, which had been sent with money, arms, and ammunition to succour Charles, and were now returning to France. On board one of them was the Duke of Perth, Lord Elcho, Lord John Drummond, old Lochiel, Sir Thomas Sheridan and his nephew Mr. Hay, Maxwell of Kirkconnel, and Mr. Lockhart of Carnwath, and several Low-country gentlemen, who had been wandering about in these remote parts when the frigates were setting out on their return,[273] and finding that the Prince was gone, and that nothing was to be done for his service, had determined to escape. On the tenth of June these frigates reached Nantes: Lord Elcho affirms that "all arrived safe at Nantes;" one only is said never to have gained that shore. Worn out by fatigues too severe, and, perhaps, the progress of disease being aided by sorrow, the Duke of Perth is generally stated to have died on ship-board on his passage. His malady is understood to have been consumption.

Another celebrated member of this distinguished family, Lord Strathallan, was not spared to witness the total ruin of all his hopes. He fell at the battle of Culloden. The impression among his descendants is, that, seeing the defeat certain, he rushed into the thick of the battle, determined to perish. In 1746 Lord Strathallan's name was included in the Bill of Attainder then passed; but, in 1824, one of the most graceful acts of George the Fourth, whose sentiments of compassion for the Stuarts and their adherents do credit to his memory, was the restoration of the present Viscount Strathallan to the peerage by the title of the sixth Viscount.

It is with regret that we take leave, amid the discordant scenes of an historical narrative, of one whose high purposes and blameless career are the best tribute to virtue, the noblest ornament of the party which he espoused. Modest, yet courageous; moderate, though in the ardour of youth; devout, without bigotry; and capable of every self-sacrifice for the good of others, on the memory of the young Duke of Perth not a shadow rests to attract the attention of the harsh to defects of intention, unjustly attributed to the leader of the Jacobite insurrection.

FOOTNOTES:

[207] Genealogy of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Drummond. By a Freind to Vertue and the Family.--Unpublished.

[208] The office of Thane or Seneschal was, to be the _Giusticiare_ or guardian of that country; to lead the men up to the war, according to the roll or list made out; and to be collector for the Athbane of the kingdom for the King's rents in that district. The Athbane was the highest officer in the kingdom--Chief Minister, Treasurer, Steward. The Thanes were next to the Athbanes, and were the first that King Malcolm advanced to the new title of Earls.--See Lord Strathallan's Genealogy of the House of Drummond.

[209] Genealogy of the House of Drummond, 139.

[210] Amongst his other literary efforts, Drummond of Hawthornden left a MS "Historie of the Family of Perth."

[211] Lady Willoughby D'Eresby is heiress to the estate of Perth, and representative in the female line of the Earldom of Perth in Scotland and of the Dukedom in France. At the same time that the Dukedom of Perth was created, the last Earl's brother was created Duke de Melfort. His descendants are, therefore, the male representatives of the Earldom of Perth, and George Drummond Perth de Melfort in France is now claiming the title. (Letter from Viscount Strathallan, to whose courtesy I am indebted for this information.)

[212] "Reducing."--Editor

[213] Memoirs of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiell.

[214] The title of Duke was afterwards assumed by the young chief of the House of Drummond, and was given to him by the Jacobites generally; but, in consequence of his father's attainder, and the forfeiture of his title, he was, in the eye of the law, simply a commoner. Hence he is described by Home as "James Drummond, commonly called Duke of Perth, his father having been so created by James the Second at St. Germains." The right of the Duke to this dignity was at that time, and it still is, recognised in France. Without entering into the merits of the question of right, and to prevent confusion, it is therefore expedient to designate this Jacobite nobleman by the name usually assigned to him in his own time.

[215] Forbes's Jacobite Memoirs, p. 296.

[216] Wood's Peerage.

[217] Curious Collection of Scottish Songs; Aberdeen, 1821.

[218] Henderson, History of the Rebellion of '45, p. 19. 1753

[219] Memoirs of Lochiell, p. 30.

[220] History of the Rebellion, p. 35.

[221] Lord Elcho's Narrative, MS.

[222] See the History of the Rebellion, by Rae; and the Cochrane Correspondence.

[223] Maculloch's Highlands.

[224] Forbes's Jacobite Memoirs, p. 17.

[225] Henderson, p. 30.

[226] Henderson, p. 30.

[227] Chambers' History of the Rebellion; Edit. for the People; p. 19.

[228] "History of the Present Rebellion in Scotland, 1745. From the relation of Mr. James Macpherson, who was first in the service of the Rebels."

In contradiction to this statement, to which Macpherson adds, that the Chevalier attended Mass daily, the testimony of one of the daily papers (the Caledonian Mercury) may be given, as inserted by Mr. Chambers in his very interesting History of the Rebellion of 1745. The Prince visited an Episcopal chapel; the name of the clergyman, Armstrong, and the text, Isaiah xiv. 12, are specified. It was the first Protestant place of worship that the Prince had ever attended. Hist. of the Rebellion, p. 21.

[229] History of the Present Rebellion, p. 19.--It is remarkable that two Histories of the two rebellions were composed by men who had changed sides. That of 1715 by Patten, who was rewarded for his disclosures, as King's evidence, by a pension. What reward was bestowed on Mr. James Macpherson does not yet appear.

[230] History of the Present Rebellion, p. 26.

[231] Notes and Observations taken from MSS. in the possession of A. Macdonald, Esq., Register Office, Edinburgh.

[232] Lord Elcho's MS.

[233] In Exeter House, Derby, there is a portrait of Prince Charles, painted by Wright of Derby, in which the eyes are hazel. That in the Earl of Newburgh's possession, at Hassop, has blue eyes.

[234] Henderson, p. 51. Home, p. 100.

[235] Home, 101. Alexander Henderson.

[236] Lord Elcho's Narrative, MS.

[237] Henderson, p. 84.

[238] Henderson, p. 88.

[239] Henderson differs in this account from Home. "Charles," says the latter, "remained on the field of battle till mid-day, giving orders for the relief of the wounded of both armies, for the disposal of his prisoners, and preserving, both from temper and from judgment, every appearance of moderation and humanity," p. 122.

[240] Lord Elcho's MS.

[241] Maxwell of Kirkconnel's Narrative, p. 55.

[242] Maxwell of Kirkconnel's Narrative, p. 57.

[243] Maxwell's Narrative, p. 59.

[244] Maxwell's Narrative, p. 46.

[245] Maxwell of Kirkconnel's Narrative, p. 48.

[246] Maxwell, p. 65.

[247] History of the Rebellion of 1745 and 1746. Extracted from the Scots' Magazine, p. 99.

[248] Maxwell's Narrative, p. 74.

[249] Maxwell, p. 76.

[250] Jacobite Memoirs.

[251] Lord Mahon is decidedly of this opinion. See Vol. iv. Hist. of England, respecting the Jacobites.

[252] Lord Elcho's MS.

[253] Maxwell, p. 80.

[254] Maxwell, p. 112.

[255] P. 129.

[256] Maxwell, p. 140.

[257] P. 147.

[258] Chambers.

[259] Lord Elcho's Narrative.

[260] The estate of Comrie is now in the possession of Sir David Dundas, and the descendant of its former owner, and the Duke's standard-bearer is reduced to be the landlord of the village inn. See Letters of James Duke of Perth, Chancellor of Scotland. Printed for the Camden Society, and edited by Wm. Jerdan, Esq.

[261] The battle, according to the newspapers of the day, lasted about half an hour.

[262] Maxwell, p. 154.

[263] See Lord Elcho's MS. Narrative; which, however, since it is written in a bitter spirit, and varies in many details and in most opinions from Maxwell's, I am not disposed wholly to trust.

[264] The traditionary accounts have been collected, in the case of Thos. Drummond, a claimant of the honours and estates of the Earldom of Perth. Newcastle upon Tyne, 1831. I do not vouch for the truth of these anecdotes, but they have an air of probability.

[265] Case of Thomas Drummond, p. 18.

[266] See case of Thomas Drummond, p. 26.

[267] Case, p. 34. Dr. Malcolm had in his book made a different statement; but had contemplated re-publishing his work, with corrections, among which the existence (after 1747) of James Drummond, was to be asserted.

[268] For this information, and also for a copy of the case of Thomas Drummond, I am indebted to the kindness of W. E. Aytoun, Esq.

[269] In 1816, another appeal, and a fresh claim to the Drummond estates, and to the Earldom of Perth, were brought forward by the descendant of John Drummond, the great-uncle of James, Duke of Perth. The said John Drummond was raised to the dignity of the English peerage in 1685, by James the Second, by the title of Viscount Melfort; in 1686 he was raised to the dignity of Earl of Melfort; and afterwards, following the monarch to St. Germains, was created Duke of Melfort.

The great-grandson of the Duke of Melfort was a Roman Catholic priest, who officiated some years back at the chapel in Moorfields; he was living in 1831 in France, at a very advanced age.

The pamphlet in which, in 1816, he asserted his claim, and which was laid before the House of Lords, was professedly written "by an unfortunate nobleman;" with the appeal of Charles Edward (Drummond), Duke of Melfort, heir male, and chief representative of the House of Drummond of Perth, submitted to the United Kingdom of Great Britain, &c., 8vo., London, 1816.

[270] Lord Elcho's MS.

[271] For the copies of these epitaphs I am indebted to Robert Chambers, Esq. This is that gentleman's account of the inscriptions:--

"The within is a correct copy of the inscription, as entered in Bishop Forbes's MS., vol. 9, dated on title page, 1761. The entry of inscriptions is immediately subsequent to a copied letter or memorandum of May, 1764, and antecedent to one of November, 1765.

"Fama perennis, lauru porrecta, vetat mori Principes immaculatis Proavum honoribus dignos. Hoc Elogium, D.D.D. T.D. L.L.D.

"N.B.--The above is engraven, all in capitals, on the tomb at Antwerp, with the coat armorial of the family on the top of the inscription."

The following is the English translation of the originals in Latin, copied from the papers of Bishop Forbes:--

Sacred to the Memory of the most illustrious brothers, James and John, Dukes of Perth, Chiefs of the House of Drummond, a very ancient and noble family in Scotland. James, the more disposed of the two to the study of Belles Lettres, excelled in Literature; was eminent as a favourer of the Fine and Liberal arts. Providing for the common good, he was always a most worthy citizen in peace. Characterized by the sweetness of his manners, and distinguished by the strength of his mind, He ever shone with unstained faith as a friend of mankind. Great in peace, he was still greater in war, For when Prince Charles landed in Scotland, He drew his sword in the cause of the House of Stuart, Put all other cares aside, And uniformly looking forward to glory and worth, He ever gazed with a cheerful countenance on the toils of war: He was utterly regardless of all danger, Without want of energy in battle, he was merciful in victory, Indeed a man of rare occurrence; At length when the forces of Charles were wasted away, His native land, his friends, and a very ample estate, Were all, when weighed in estimation with a mind conscious of right, Bravely deserted: Turning his steps towards France, he fled his Native country. Oppressed by the troubles of his lot, and the Heavy misfortunes of his country, He died on the great ocean, On the 13th of May, in the thirty-third year of his age; And his remains, precluded from consecrated ground by adverse winds, Were given to the deep.