The chiefs of Grant - Electric Scotland

312 LUDOVICK CUANT, KIGIITJI OF FRICrCHIE AND OF fUIANT. [1GG3-
iiiarclied froin Iiivenicss to meet Ilamsay, Itut finding tliat the latter liad
retired, and that Dundee liad made a descent on T^adenoeli, proceeded
towards Strathspey, tlie Laird being with him in liis various movements.
Cut off for a time from his reiid'ircements, Geno'd Macka}" made a
f'.reed march (part ".' a day :'';d a mIioIc niglit) to 1.1 ' between
Dundee
and his ntarest help, the coui.rvy of tlie Gordons, for ('.e special purpose of
securing "the Laird of Graii'.'.> interest," which was threatened, "it being
a necessary maxim in the A\'ar for such as would gain and keep friends
never to abandon them without necessity." This brought him to the
"plains of Strathspey," and the General, finding his forces on level gi'ound,
made an unsuccessful attempt with his dragoons to surprise the enemy.
Provisions and forage becoming scarce, by the Laird's advice the General
encamped four miles further down the country. P'rom this place he
despatched orders to Forfar and Coupar-Angus for reinforcements, and
gave directions how they would best reach his head-quarters, " by the
road of Cairnmonth." Besides other messengers, he employed, as a special
envoy for the sake of despatch, a trusty Highlander, one of Grant's
tenants, who, as he was Avont to trade in Strathdee and Braemar,
coidd pass rapidly through these districts AN-ithout suspicion by the
disaffected there.
The General then tm-ned his attention to the safety and comfort of
his troops, and amid his somewhat prosaic narrative there is a gleam of the
picturesque as he describes the spot selected for the time as his quarters,
with due regard to security, food, and forage :
" A summer-dwelling of
Grant's," he writes, "where there were some meadows and fields of
corn,^ proper for the nature of the party whose strength was most in
horse." The situation, too, was well fortified by nature, for as the
General's position faced towards the Gordon country, the Spey defended
his rear, the stony Xethy guarded his right, and woods and marshes secured
his camp in front, while within these limits lay a comparatively spacious
plain suitable for the evolutions of his cavalry. But the season was in
May and tha weather cold, and, notwithstanding the oatmeal and shee]i
for the men, and forage for the horses, supplied from the Laird of Freuchie's
' Tliis "summer dwelling '' waa Ciiltiakyk-, in .\beriKthy.