A history of the Highlands and of the Highland clans : with an ...

zUD AMONG THE GKAKTS. 295
These freebooters made no distinction between friends and foes, but
attacked all persons of whatever deseription, and wasted and despoiled
their property. James Grant of Dalnebo, one of the family of Balin-
dalloch, fell a victim to their fury, and many of the kinsmen of that
family, sutlered greatly from the depredations committed by Grant and
his associates. The earl of Moray, under the renewed and extended
commission which he had obtained from King Charles, made various
attempts to put an end to these lawless proceedings, but to no purpose ;
tlie failure of these attempts served only to harden James Grant and his
party, who continued their depredations. As John Grant of Carron,
nephew of James Grant, was supposed to maintain and assist his uncle
secretly, a suspicion for which there seems to have been no foundation,
John Grant of Balindalloch sought for an ojjportunity of revenging
himself upon Carron, who was a promising young man. Carron having
one day left his liouse along with one Alexander Grant and seven or eight
other persons to cut down some timber in the woods of Abernethie
Balindalloch, thinking the occasion favourable for putting his design
into execution, collected sixteen of his friends, and having armed them,
went to the forest where Carron was, and, under the pretence of search-
ing for James Grant and some of his associates against whom he had a
commission, attacked Carron, w!io fought manfully in defence of his life,
but being overpowered, he was killed by Balindalloch. Before Carron
fell, however, he and Alexander Grant had slain several of Balindal-
loeh's friends, among whom were Thomas Grant of Davey and Lauchlan
Mackintosh of Rockinoyr. Alexander Grant afterwards annoyed
Balindalloch and killed several of his men, and assisted James Grant to
lay waste Balindalloch's lands. " Give me leave heir (says Sir R. Gor-
don), to remark the providence and seerait judgement of the Almightie
God, who now hath mott Carron with the same measure that his fore-
father, John Roy Grant of Carron, did serve the ancestour of Ballcn-
dallogh ; for upon the same day of the moueth that John Roy Grant
did kill the great grandfather of Ballendalloch (being the eleventh day
of September), the verie same day of this month wes Carron slain by
this John Grant of Ballendallogh many yeirs thereafter. And, besides,
as that John Roy Grant of Carron was left-handed, so is this John
Grant of Ballendallogh left-handed also ; and moreover, it is to be observed
that Ballendallogh, at the killing of this Carron, had upon him
the same coat-of-armour, or maillie-coat, v.'hich John Roy Grant had
upon him at the slaughter of the great-grandfather of this Ballendal-
logh, which maillie-coat Ballendallogh had, a little befor this tyrae,
taken from James Grant, in a skirmish that passed betwixt them. Thus
wee doe sie that the judgements of God are inscrutable, and that, in
his own tj-me, he punisheth blood by blood." *
The carl of Moray when he heard of this occurrence, instead of
• Jlist. J). 4IG.
I. 2 p
;