The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

678 The Highland Monthly
THE BATTLEFIELD OF KILLIE-
CRANKIE
By DAVID CAMERON, F.G.S.E, Daviot.
" XT THAT great, dignified clergyman distinguished him-
VV self at Killiecrankie?" asked "The Ettrick
Shepherd" of Sir Walter Scott on one occasion, when the
" Shepherd " was publishing his famous Jacobite Relics.
Sir Walter observed that this was net the scene where one
would expect a churchman to shine, and so concluded that
there really was no clergyman in the case, and that the
" Shepherd " had ignorantly mistaken Major-General
Canon for the canon of a cathedral ! Fuller details of this
matter are given in the " Works of the Ettrick Shepherd,"
vol. ii., page 45 ; published by Blackie & Son. It is
evident, however, that James Hogg had good grounds for
asking this singular question ; although Scott induced him
to drop it. In the wild charge of the right wing of the
Highlanders at Killiecrankie, one of the most conspicuous
men was the chaplain of Ballechin, whose voice rose above
the din of battle, with such words in their equivalent
Gaelic, as— " Forward, my children, in the name of God !
Fight for your king and country !" The work became
particularly warm when they reached the hollow of Lag-
marnaig, where a strong party of the Royalists stood at bay,
and where the redoubtable chaplain threw off his coat, and
shouted to his attendant— " Here, hold my coat, and hand
me your sword, and I will show you what I will do !"
The chaplain then and there performed such prodigies of
valour, that, like many a good soldier that night, he found
it much easier to grasp the sword than to part with it, for
his hand got swollen within the basket-hilt, and was
with much pain and difficulty extracted. The clergyman