Part 4
Argile landed in the Isle of Bute with his adherents. “He had left his arms in a castle, with such a guard as he could spare; but they were routed by a party of the king’s forces. And with this he lost both heart and hope. And then, apprehending that all was gone, he put himself in a disguise, and had almost escaped; but he was taken. A body of gentlemen that had followed him stood better to it, and forced their way through, so that the greater part of them escaped. Some of these were taken; the chief of them were Sir John Cochran, Ailoffe, and Rumbold. These last two were Englishmen; but I knew not upon what motive it was that they chose rather to run fortunes with Argile than with the Duke of Monmouth. Thus was this rebellion brought to a speedy end, with the effusion of very little blood.”—Vol. i. fol. p. 629.
“Cochran had a rich father, the Earl of Dundonald, and he offered the priests 5000_l._ to save his son. They wanted a stock of money for managing their designs, so they interposed so effectually that the bargain was made. But to cover it, Cochran petitioned the council that he might be sent to the king; for he had some secrets of great importance which were not fit to be communicated to any but to the king himself. He was upon that brought up to London; and after he had been for some time in private with the king, the matters he had discovered were said to be of such importance, that in consideration of that the king pardoned him. It was said he had discovered all their negotiations with the Elector of Brandenburg and the Prince of Orange. But this was a pretence only, given out to conceal the bargain; for the prince told me he had never once seen him. The secret of this came to be known soon after.”—Vol. i. fol. 634.
Lord Macaulay’s account of the same event as regarded my ancestor, for it is from this Sir John Cochrane that the present branch of our family is descended, will complete all which is necessary to be alluded to in this place.
“With Hume (Sir Patrick) was connected another Scottish exile of great note, Sir John Cochrane, second son of the Earl of Dundonald. The great question was, whether the Highlands or the Lowlands should be the seat of war. The Earl (Argyle) wished to establish his authority over his own domains, and to take possession of the ancient seat of his family, at Inverary. But Hume and Cochrane were impracticable, seeing that amongst his own mountains and lakes, and at the head of an army of his own tribe, he would be able to bear down their opposition, and to exercise the full authority of a general. They said that the Campbells took up arms neither for liberty nor for the Church of God, but for Mac Callum More alone. Cochrane declared he would go to Ayrshire, if he went by himself, and with nothing but a pitch-fork in his hand. Argyle, after long resistance, consented, and Cochrane and Hume were at the head of a force to invade the Lowlands.
“Ayrshire was Cochrane’s object, and the coast was guarded by English frigates. A party of militia lay at Greenock, but Cochrane, who wanted provisions, was determined to land. Hume objected, but Cochrane was peremptory. Cochrane entered Greenock, and procured a supply of meal, but found no disposition to insurrection.
“Cochrane having found it impossible to raise the population on the south of the Clyde, rejoined Argyle in Bute. The Earl again proposed to make an attempt on Inverary, and again encountered pertinacious opposition. The seamen sided with Hume and Cochrane. The Highlanders were absolutely at the command of their chieftain.
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“Cochrane was taken and sent to London.... He held amongst the Scotch rebels the same rank which had been held by Grey in the West of England. That Cochrane should be forgiven by a prince vindictive beyond all example seemed incredible. But Cochrane was the younger son of a rich family; it was, therefore, only by sparing him _that money could be made out of him_. His father, Lord Dundonald, offered a bribe to the priests of the royal household, and a pardon was granted.”
The history of the succeeding Earls of Dundonald, down to the failure of issue in the first branch, is thus detailed by Crawfurd.
“William, first Earl of Dundonald, married Euphemie, daughter of Sir William Scot of Ardross, _in comitatu de Fife_, by whom he had two sons and a daughter.
“1. William Lord Cochran, who dyed in the flower of his Age, Anno 1680, leaving Issue by the Lady Catherine his Wife, Daughter of John Earl of Cassils, John who succeeded his Grand-father in the Honour, William Cochran, of Kilmaronock, a Member of Parliament for the Burgh of Wigtoun, and the other towns in that District and one of the Commissioners for keeping her Majesty’s Signet, Sir Alexander Erskin, Lord Lyon, and John Pringle, of Haining, being joined in Commission with him. He married Grisel, Daughter of James, second Marquis of Montrose, and has issue; Thomas Cochran of Polkely, third Son, dyed without children; Alexander Cochran, of Bonshaw, the youngest; also three Daughters; 1st. Margaret, married to Alexander Earl of Eglintoun. 2nd. Helen, to John Earl of Sutherland. 3rd. Jean, to John Viscount of Dundee, and afterward to William Viscount of Kilsyth.
“2nd. son, Sir John Cochran of Ochiltree, in Air-shire, Likewise a Daughter Grisel, married to George Lord Ross.
“This Earl gave way to Nature in the spring of the Year 1686, and was by his own Direction interr’d in the Paroch Church of Dundonald, without any Funeral Monument, but upon his Escutcheon I find the Arms of these noble and ancient Families.
“PATERNAL SIDE.
“Cochran of that Ilk. “Lord Semple. “Cunningham of Glengarnock. “Lord Cairlyle of Torthorald.
“MATERNAL SIDE.
“Cochran of that Ilk. “Montgomery of Skelmurly. “Lindsay of Dunrod. “Lord Semple.
“To William Earl of Dundonald succeeded John his Grandson and Heir, a nobleman of great Goodness and excellent Parts; he dyed in the prime of his Years, Anno 1691, regrated by all those who knew him, leaving Issue by the Lady Susanna his Wife, Daughter of William Duke of Hamilton, two Sons, William who succeeded in the Honours, but dyed unmarried the 19th of November 1705. And
“John married Anne Daughter of Charles Earl of Dunmore, a Lady who wanted no Vertue to make her an acceptable Wife; she dyed in 1711, universally lamented, whose Conduct in all Conditions of Life render’d her Loss a lasting Grief to her Relations, he had by her a Son and three Daughters.
“William Lord Cochran, “Lady Anne, “Lady Catherine, “Lady Susanne.
“ARMS.
“Argent, a chiveron; Gules, betwixt three Boars Heads, Azure, supported by two Ratch Hounds of the first; Crest, a Horse, Argent, Motto, Virtute et Labore.”
CHAPTER I.
MY BOYHOOD, AND ENTRANCE INTO THE NAVY.
YOUNGER BRANCH SUCCEEDS TO EARLDOM.—ALIENATION OF FAMILY ESTATES.—MY FATHER’S SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS.—HIS RUINOUS MANUFACTURING PROJECTS.—A NEGLECTED DISCOVERY.—COMMUNICATED TO JAMES WATT.—LORD DUNDONALD’S AGRICULTURAL WORKS STILL HELD IN ESTIMATION.—EARLY REMINISCENCES.—MY FIRST VISIT TO LONDON.—MY FATHER DESTINES ME FOR THE ARMY.—A COMMISSION PROCURED.—MY AVERSION TO THE MILITARY PROFESSION.—OUR RETURN TO SCOTLAND.—I AM PERMITTED TO ENTER THE NAVY.
My birth is recorded as having taken place on the 14th of December, 1775, at Annsfield in Lanarkshire. My father was Archibald, ninth Earl of Dundonald; my mother, Anna Gilchrist, daughter of Captain Gilchrist, a distinguished officer of the Royal Navy.[16]
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Footnote 16:
One action of my maternal grandfather is worthy of record. On March 28th, 1758, upwards of a century ago, he commanded the _Southampton_, 32, and when in company with the _Melampe_, 24, Captain Hotham, fell in with two French frigates off Yarmouth. The _Melampe_, being the faster sailer, came up first, and was so disabled that she fell astern before the _Southampton_ got within range. On the _Melampe_ falling off, one of the frigates made sail, and got away. The _Southampton_ then engaged the other, and after a six hours’ contest, carried on with equal bravery on both sides, she boarded and captured the _Danaë_, of 40 guns and 340 men, commanded by one of the bravest officers in the French navy.
The loss of the _Danaë_ was her first and second captains, and eighty men killed. The _Southampton_ had only one killed and ten wounded; amongst whom was my grandfather, whose shoulder was shattered by a grape-shot.
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My father was descended from John, the younger son of the first earl—noticed in the introductory chapter as the compatriot of Argyll. On default of issue in the elder branch of the family the title devolved on my grandfather, Thomas, who married the daughter of Archibald Stuart, Esq., of Torrence, in Lanarkshire, and had issue one daughter and twelve sons, the most distinguished amongst whom, in a public capacity, was Admiral the Honourable Sir Alexander, father of the present Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane.[17]
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Footnote 17:
Thomas Cochrane, eighth Earl of Dundonald, was a major in the army, and M.P. for Renfrewshire. He died in 1778, at the age of eighty-seven, and was married, first, to Elizabeth, daughter of James Kerr, Esq. of Moris Town, Berwickshire, by whom he had two children, Thomas, who died young, and a daughter, Grizel, who died unmarried.
By his second countess, he had issue—1. Argyle, died in infancy; 2. Archibald, my father, died in 1823; 3. Charles, a colonel in the army, killed in 1781, at York Town, in Virginia, during the American war of Independence; 4. John, died in 1802; 5. James Athol, rector of Mansfield in Yorkshire; 6. Basil, in the civil service of the East India Company; 7. and 8. Thomas and George, died young; 9. Alexander Forrester, Knight of the Bath, and rear-admiral in the navy; 10. ——, died young; 11. George Augustus Frederick, M.P. for Grampound; 12. Andrew, also M.P. for Grampound, who, on his marriage, assumed the surname of Johnstone, and was the father of the present dowager Lady Napier, relict of the late Lord Napier; 13. Elizabeth, married to Patrick Heron, Esq. of Heron.
The issue of my father, Archibald, ninth Earl of Dundonald, was as follows: 1. myself; 2. a daughter, died young; 3. James, died young; 4. Basil, lieutenant-colonel of the 36th Regiment; 5. William Erskine, major in the 15th Light Dragoons, my only surviving brother; 6. Archibald, captain in the Royal Navy; 7. Charles, died young.
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Some of my father’s earlier years were spent in the Navy, in which he became acting lieutenant. A cruise on the coast of Guinea gave him a distaste for the naval profession, which, in after years, postponed my entrance therein far beyond the usual period. On his return home he quitted the navy for a commission in the army, which was, after a time, also relinquished.
Of our once extensive ancestral domains I never inherited a foot. In the course of a century, and before the title descended to our branch, nearly the whole of the family estates had been alienated by losses incurred in support of one generation of the Stuarts, rebellion against another, and mortgages, or other equally destructive process,—the consequence of both. A remnant may latterly have fallen into other hands from my father’s negligence in not looking after it, and his unentailed estates were absorbed by expensive scientific pursuits presently to be noticed. So that my outset in life was that of heir to a peerage, without other expectations than those arising from my own exertions.
My father’s day was that of Cavendish, Black, Priestley, Watt, and others, now become historical as the forerunners of modern practical science. Imbued with like spirit, and in intimate communication with these distinguished men, he emulated their example with no mean success, as the philosophical records of that period testify. But whilst they prudently confined their attention to their laboratories, my father’s sanguine expectations of retrieving the family estates by his discoveries led him to embark in a multitude of manufacturing projects. The motive was excellent; but his pecuniary means being incommensurate with the magnitude of his transactions, its object was frustrated, and our remaining patrimony melted like the flux in his crucibles; his scientific knowledge, as often happens, being unaccompanied by the self-knowledge which would have taught him that he was not, either by habit or inclination, a “man of business.” Many who were so, knew how to profit by his inventions without the trouble of discovery, whilst their originator was occupied in developing new practical facts to be turned to their advantage, and his consequent loss.
An enumeration of some of my father’s manufacturing transactions, extensively and simultaneously carried on, will leave no doubt as to their failure in a pecuniary sense. First, the preparation of soda from common salt, as a substitute for _barilla_,—till then the only alkali available for soap and glass making. Secondly, a manufactory for improvement in the production of _alumina_, as a mordant for silk and calico printers. Thirdly, an establishment for preparing British gum as a substitute for _gum Senegal_, these products being in use amongst calico-printers to the present day; the latter especially being at that distant period of great utility, as the foreign gum was scarce and expensive. A fourth manufactory had for its object the preparation of _sal ammoniac_. At a fifth was carried on the manufacture of _white lead_, by a process then new to productive science. A sixth establishment, on a ruinous scale as compared with his resources, was for a new process of extracting tar and other products from pit-coal; the former as an effective agent in protecting timber from decay, whilst the refuse coke was in request amongst ironfounders, whose previous operations for its manufacture were wasteful and unsatisfactory.[18]
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Footnote 18:
Whilst serving on the west coast of Africa, my father remarked the destructive ravages made on ships’ bottoms by worms, and, from his chemical knowledge, it occurred to him that an extract from pit-coal, in the form of tar, might be employed as a preventive of the evil. On his return home, the experiment was tried, and found to answer perfectly. Notwithstanding the subsequent refusal of the Admiralty to make use of his preservative, it was at once adopted by the Dutch and elsewhere in the North, and in the case of small coasting vessels is to this day used in our own country, as less expensive than coppering. Had not the coppering of vessels become common shortly afterwards, the discovery must have proved of incalculable value.
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After this enumeration, it is unnecessary to dilate on its ruinous results. It is simply the old adage of “too many irons in the fire.” One by one his inventions fell into other hands, some by fair sale, but most of them by piracy, when it became known that he had nothing left wherewith to maintain his rights. In short, with seven children to provide for, he found himself a ruined man.
In the present state of manufacturing science, by which the above objects are accomplished through improved means, the mention of such matters may, at first sight, appear unnecessary. Yet, seventy years ago they bore the same relation to the manufacturing processes of our time as at that period did the crude attempts at the steam engine to its modern perfection. In this point of view—which is the true one—reference to my father’s patents, though now superseded by improvements, will fairly entitle him to no mean place amongst other inventors of his day, who deservedly rank as benefactors to their country.
One of my father’s scientific achievements must not be passed over. Cavendish had some time previously ascertained the existence of hydrogen. Priestley had become acquainted with its inflammable character; but the Earl of Dundonald may fairly lay claim to the practical application of its illuminating power in a carburetted form.
In prosecution of his coal-tar patent, my father went to reside at the family estate of Culross Abbey, the better to superintend the works on his own collieries, as well as others on the adjoining estates of Valleyfield and Kincardine. In addition to these works, an experimental tar-kiln was erected near the Abbey, and here coal-gas became accidentally employed in illumination. Having noticed the inflammable nature of a vapour arising during the distillation of tar, the Earl, by way of experiment, fitted a gun-barrel to the eduction pipe leading from the condenser. On applying fire to the muzzle, a vivid light blazed forth across the waters of the Frith, becoming, as was afterwards ascertained, distinctly visible on the opposite shore.
Strangely enough, though quick in appreciating a new fact, Lord Dundonald lightly passed over the only practical product which might have realised his expectations of retrieving the dilapidated fortunes of our house; considering tar and coke to constitute the legitimate objects of his experiments, and regarding the illuminating property of gas merely as a curious natural phenomenon. Like Columbus, he had the egg before him, but, unlike Columbus, he did not hit upon the right method of setting it on end.
The incident just narrated took place about the year 1782 and the circumstances attending it are the more vividly impressed on my memory from an event which occurred during a subsequent journey with my father to London. On our way we paid a visit to James Watt, then residing at Handsworth, near Birmingham, and amongst other scientific subjects discussed during our stay were the various products of coal, including the gas-light phenomenon of the Culross Abbey tar-kiln. This gave rise to some interesting conversation, which, however, ended without further result.
Many years afterwards, Mr. Murdoch, then one of Watt’s assistants at Soho, applied coal-gas to the illumination of that establishment, though even with this practical demonstration its adoption for purposes of general public utility did not keep pace with the importance of the fact thus successfully developed, until, by the persevering endeavours of Mr. Winsor, its advantages overcame prejudice.[19]
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Footnote 19:
A paper on the “Utility and Advantages of Gas-lights,” written by Mr. Murdoch, and transmitted by him to Sir Joseph Banks, was read before the Royal Society on the 25th of February 1808, detailing the lighting of Messrs. Phillips and Lee’s manufactory at Manchester, and describing the process of gas-manufacture. In this paper Mr. Murdoch alludes to a memorial presented by Mr. Winsor to George III., pointing out the utility of gas for lighting the public streets, &c.
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It is no detraction from Mr. Murdoch’s merit of having been the first to turn coal-gas to useful account, to infer that Watt might, at some period during the interval, have narrated to him the incident just mentioned, and that the fact accidentally developed by my father had thus become the subject of long and careful experiment; for this must have been the case before the complete achievement shone forth in perfection. Mr. Murdoch, so far as I am aware, never laid claim to a discovery of the illuminating property of coal-gas, but to its useful application only, to which his right is indisputable. As it is not generally known to whom an earlier practical appreciation of gas-light was in reality due, I have placed these facts on record.
One notice more of my father’s investigations may be permissible. To Sir Humphry Davy is usually ascribed the honour of first pointing out the relation between Agriculture and Chemistry. Reference to a work published in 1795, entitled “_A Treatise showing the intimate connection between Agriculture and Chemistry, by the_ EARL OF DUNDONALD,” will decide the priority. Davy’s work may in a theoretical point of view surpass that of my father, inasmuch as the analytical chemical science of a more modern date is more minute than that of the last century; but in point of patient investigation from countless practical experiments, my father’s work is more than equal to that of his distinguished successor in the same field, and is, indeed, held in no small estimation at the present time.[20]
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Footnote 20:
I may mention three points contained in this work, to the discovery of which claim has been laid by modern writers, viz. the malting of grain for the purpose of feeding cattle, the converting of peat moss into good soil, and the benefit of a judicious use of salt refuse as a manure; the latter suggestion being made by my father in a treatise published in 1785, nearly seventy-five years ago. Other discoveries might be enumerated, but from those adduced it will be seen that most of my father’s experiments were far in advance of the age in which he lived. With slight modifications only not a few rank as modern discoveries, though little more than plagiarisms without acknowledgment.
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The reader will readily pardon me for thus devoting a few pages by way of a tribute to a parent, whose memory still exists amongst my most cherished recollections; even though his discoveries, now of national utility, ruined him, and deprived his posterity of their remaining paternal inheritance.
During boyhood we had the misfortune to lose our mother[21], and as our domestic fortunes were even then at a low ebb, great difficulty was experienced in providing us with the means of education—four of us being then at an age to profit by more ample opportunities. In this emergency, temporary assistance was volunteered by Mr. Rolland, the minister of Culross, who thus evinced his gratitude for favours received in the more auspicious days of the family. Highly as was the offer appreciated, family pride prevented our reaping from it the advantage contemplated by a learned and truly excellent man.
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Footnote 21:
Anna, Countess of Dundonald, died at Brompton on the 13th of November 1784.
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Perceiving our education imperilled, the devotedness of my maternal grandmother, Mrs. Gilchrist, prompted her to apply her small income to the exigencies of her grandchildren. By the aid thus opportunely afforded, a tutor was provided, of whom my most vivid recollection is a stinging box on the ear, in reply to a query as to the difference between an interjection and a conjunction; this solution of the difficulty effectually repressing further philological inquiry on my part.
We were, after a time, temporarily provided with a French tutor, a Monsieur Durand, who, being a Papist, was regarded with no complacent eye by our not very tolerant Presbyterian neighbours. I recollect this gentleman getting into a scrape, which, but for my father’s countenance, might have ended in a Kirk Session.
As a matter of course, Monsieur Durand did not attend church. On one side of the churchyard was the Culross Abbey cherry-garden, full of fine fruit, of which he was very fond, as were also the magpies, which swarmed in the district. One Sunday, whilst the people were at church, the magpies, aware no doubt of their advantage, made a vigorous onslaught on the cherries—provoking the Frenchman, who was on the watch, to open fire on the intruders from a fowling-piece. The effect of this reached farther than the magpies. To fire a gun on the Sabbath was an abomination which could only have emanated from a disciple of the Scarlet Lady, and neither before nor after did I witness such a hubbub in the parish. Whatever pains and penalties were to be found in Scottish church law were eagerly demanded for Monsieur Durand’s benefit, and it was only by my father’s influence that he was permitted to escape the threatened martyrdom. Annoyed at the ill-feeling thus created, he relinquished his engagement before we had acquired the rudiments of the French language.