The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

682 Ihe HighLand Monthly.
Dundee was last observed in the battle accompanied by
the Earl of Dunfermline as he entered the smoke of the
batteries. He turned half round and waved his hat as if
directing the advance ot Clanranaid against the two
unopposed regiments. It was then that he evidently
received a shot below the armpit of the right shoulder.
He tried to keep his horse, but fell, mortally wounded,
beside the old well still preserved in the garden in front of
Urrard House. When his friends returned from the pur-
suit, they found him lying there, and he died that night.
A little to the north-west of the well there is a green knoll
on which a few old fir trees are standing, traditionally
known in our time as Tomclavers. It is said that he was
lifted off the low, damp ground, and carried to this knoll.
It is the most conspicuous landmark that probably com-
memorates the scene of the hero's death. Sir Walter Scott
says "that to render his person less distinguishable, he
wore on this occasion a sad-coloured buff coat above the
scarlet cassock and bright cuirass, that his sword is in the
possession of Lord Woodhouselee, and that the buff coat,
having the fatal shot-hole under the armpit, is preserved in
Pennycuick House, the seat of Sir George Clark, Bart."
(Border Minstrelsy, vol. II., p. 245, year 1802). Traditional
accounts say that he also wore a green sash at the battle.
His cuirass is still preserved in Blair Castle, and also shows
the shot-hole under the right armpit, between the joints of
the armour. It was for a long time believed among the
Lowlanders that he was shot by a servant of his own, a
Covenanter, with a silver button from his livery coat, as it
was the common belief that Claverhouse had a charm
against leaden bullets. The Highlanders declared that the
fatal and mysterious shot was guided by elfin spite because
he went to battle wearing a green sash, the favourite colour
of the fairies (or the peacemakers). It is said that the
clans felt uneasy over this matter on the morning of the
battle. No doubt Sir Ewen Cameron observed and per-
haps shared this prejudice against the green when he tried