The History of Dundee,
1874 History by James Thomson

James Thomson's 1874 work

INTRODUCTION

This work has been transcribed - verbatim - from the 1874 edition. Much about the history of Dundee has been changed, revised and updated by Historians over the years - So please refer to those new histories of Dundee for a more modern understanding of the History of Dundee.
This exercise is to just to make available the original source material from the 1875 Book.

Iain D. McIntosh, Friends of Dundee City Archives

Chapter IX

the success which General Monk attained in the subtle arts of diplomacy was equal to that which he acquired in military affairs. The object of his campaign in Scotland was to overthrow the monarchical government of Charles II.; on effecting which he remained for several years with his army as the virtual ruler of the country. Crom­well, while satisfied of his military capacity, had misgivings as to his fidelity, and history justifies the Protector's suspicions in revealing the fact, that Monk was all along a royalist at heart, and had held secret correspondence with the exiled king. The death of the Protector, and the speedy dismissal of his son, Richard, left Monk, with an attached and well-disciplined army at his back, the most influential personage of the day, to whom all eyes were turned. After quietly temporising until the Parliament and opposing factions, in both countries, had become weakened by intestine quarrels. Monk, by a series of dissimu­lating and successful manoeuvres, again reared up the fabric of that kingly authority he had so recently subverted. After an inglorious and arbitrary reign, Charles II. died, and was succeeded by his brother, James II., of England and VII. of Scotland. He attempted to subvert at once the religion and the constitution of the country, and, like his immediate predecessor, manifested a peculiar prejudice against Presbyterianism, the popular religious establishment of Scotland. The sufferings to which the Presbyterians or Covenanters were subjected, during the successive reigns of the two Stuarts, Charles and James, were of the most dreadful kind, and of a piece with the cruel policy of Louis XIV. of France, their contemporary.

Driven to despair, arms were the only alternative, and these at length gave them the redress that otherwise they would never have obtained. Though there is no record known which relates any transactions of these dark and persecuting times in which Dundee was concerned, we cannot doubt but that it shared in the struggle for civil and religious freedom of which the Covenanters stood forth as the champions. Their enthu­siasm kept alive the sacred flame which in the end procured the esta­blishment of our liberty. The circumstances of those times were such as are always peculiarly dangerous to freedom. The country had been distracted by revolution, and wasted by civil war; and men, disgusted at the uncouth shape and unwieldy gait of the elephant, were ready to throw themselves into the mouth of the tiger. The bad and the selfish naturally clung to the restored monarch in hopes of favour and promotion; men of calmer temperament had become indifferent; and it required all the zeal, and even the wildness of the Covenanters, to give an impulse to the spirit of the country. Their faces may not have been such "as limners would love to paint, and ladies to look upon;" but what is of infinitely more importance, their actions were highly useful to man, and consequently approved of God. Their names and their memory must therefore be dear to their countrymen, so long as Scotland is the place of freedom, and the abode of religion and virtue; and if the time shall ever come when they shall be generally held up to ridicule or contempt, then the sad period will be fast approaching when their tombs shall be the only memorials of patriotism.

After an interval of many years, the prosecutions for witchcraft were revived in 1669, with a zeal which fortunately proved to be the expir­ing effort of a mania that too long disgraced our records, by the trials, and legal murders of decrepid and lunatic women. The laws against witchcraft disgraced the Statute-Book until the 24th of March, 1736, on which day George II. gave his consent to a bill for repealing the statute made 1st King James I., entituled "An act against conjuration, witchcraft, and dealing with evil and wicked spirits." Even before this formal repeal, these odious and absurd laws had fallen into disuse. The reason of this was as follows:—As the cases of witch­craft were at first numerous, the expense of prosecution was of course great. This was at first borne by the Crown, and, so long as that was the case, instances of witchcraft were rife. At length, the burden of prosecutions became so oppressive, that it was found absolutely neces­sary to throw it upon the towns and parishes where witches were actually detected; and from that hour informations fell off—the scent of the witch-finder became dull—and Satan was most effectually exorcised by Mammon.

[The case of Grizzel Jaffray .is the last in Dundee of which anything is certainly known. On the llth November, the Privy Council issued a commission for the trial of this woman, who is designed the spouse of James Butchard, maltman, and then prisoner in the Tolbooth of Dundee, on suspicion of "the horrid crime of witchcraft." Authority was given to put her to the knowledge of an assize, " and if by her own confession, without any sort of torture or other indirect means used, it shall be found she hath renounced her baptism, entered into paction with the devil, or otherwise that malefices be legally proven against her, that then and no otherwise they cause the sentence of of death to be executed upon her."The tenor of the instructions shows the loose and reckless procedure which had hitherto prevailed in witch cases, and might have, supported the doubts which have been expressed as to whether Grizzel actually suffered incremation. Willing, as we should be, to escape the stain which her conviction and execu­tion leaves upon the town, the evidence is too explicit for evasion of the fact. In 1815, when Mr Home, of the Register Office, was search­ing the town's records on behalf of the Guildry, he found the follow­ing minutes, which are quoted from his MS. report now in possession of the Maltmen Incorporation:—

"Dundie, the twentie-third day of Novr.1669 years.

"Anent such as were delated for witchcraft.—The minirs having also reprfced to the Counsell, that Grissel Jaffray, witch, at her execution, did delate seall psons as being guiltie of witchcraft to ye, and there­fore desyred yt for yr exoneraon some course might be taken wt those delated: The Counsell, in order thervnto, therefore noiats the provost, the.pnt baillzies, the old baillzies, deane of gild, .t ther, to meet wt the minirs .t to eomon wt ym on the sd matter, and to considder of ye best wayes may be takin wt the delated."

"At Dundy, the eight day of Februar, I m. vi c. sevintie [1670] years.
"The Counsel cosents tiie minirs send for a pruver.—The ministers having reported to the magistrates that they intindt to send for one that can, in some measure, discover witches be the mark, And yr for cravit the Counsells cosent theranent, wherof the Counsill approves, and cosents the minirs send for the partie when they please."

It thus appears that, between the 11th and 23nd, poor Grizzel had been tried and executed; that counsel was taken upon her dying accusations against other persons; and that, sad to say, the ministers were the prominent instigators of these discreditable proceedings.(There were three ministers in the town at that period, viz. : Revds. Henry Scrymsour, John Guthrie, and William Rait, the last named being described as a man "of known repute both for learning and piety."—Fasti Eccles. Scot. vi.. pl 695.) Tradition connects an affecting anecdote with the burning of Grizzel Jaffray. It is said that her only son, after a long absence at sea, returned in command of his vessel, and entered the port at the very time that the execution of his mother was proceeding in the Seagate. On enquiring the cause of the unusual bustle in the town, he set sail again, and was never more seen in Dundee.]

The researches of Mr Home, among the burgh records, also threw light on the institution of the Town Guard, which took its origin in the troublous time when Sharpe was assassinated on Magus Muir, and, Claverhouse was pursuing the Covenanters in the south and west, and as we shall see, was about to make himself a troublesome neighbour to Dundee. The minutes relative to the Guard are as follows:—

"Dundie, the 3 June, 1679.
"Act anent the keeping of niglitlie gairds within this brugh.—The Counsel, considering the troubles tyms that now is lyk to come on this Kingdom, that it is necessar for this brugh to have ane nightlie guard keiped, for defending of this brugh from invasione of enemies, Thairfore they are the next Councell day to nominat Captains, Livtenents, Ensignes, and Serjants, in avrie quarter, and to Condischend what number sail be on the sd niglitlie gaird"

"Dundie, 9 June, 1679.
"Act ordeining the haill Inhabitants to meit evrie night at the Croce to receive their orders.—Since it is appoynted be the provost, balzies, and Counceli of this brugh, that yr shall be ane nightly watch keiped within this brugh, Thairfoir they order all the Inhabitants within this brugh To conveine evrie night at the Croce, and receive orders from yr severall Capitans, after the beating of the drum, each night, at or befor eight o'clock in the night, under the paine of ffourtie shil­lings, Scots money, for ilk persone contravinand, toties quoties."

Dundie, 16 Junni, 1679.
"Annent the keeping ginerall Randivois at the Magdalen Yeard.— The Councell appoynts ane generall randevouze to be keiped at the Magdalen Yeard, of all the fencable men within this brugh, betwixt sextie and sexteine, to be holden on thursday nixt, the nynteine of this moneth, at eight o'clock in the morning. These are cmanding all fencable men to kep that tyrne with suficiet armes; and ordeins the drums to goe to advertise all for that effect, wnder the paine of Tuentie pounds, to be payed be ilk persone absent and contraveins this pnt act."

The Town Guard existed, in a state of various efficiency, till not very many years before the commencement of the 19th century, when its place was supplied by a watch similar to what was organised previous to the passing of the first regular police act in 1824. This supplementary watch or guard was dispensed with for the reason that the individuals composing it were suspected of assisting in the smuggling transactions of the period; but there was a remnant of the original Town Guard till a comparatively recent time, in the persons of a drummer and piper, who perambulated the town, announcing to the citizens the advent of the curfew hour, and proclaiming the time of going to bed.

In the reign of Charles II., the Hon. Charles Maitland of Hatton, Depute Lord Treasurer, who had purchased the liferent of the Coun­tess of Dundee, and thereupon assumed the office of Constable, revived all the pretensions of the former Constables; but, being opposed by the magistrates, he cited them before the Privy Council, and obtained a judgment in his favour, affirming all his arrogant claims. This judgment declared the whole criminal jurisdiction within the liberties of the town to be vested in him alone, and the civil in conjunction with the magistrates, which, as Fountainhall remarks on the case, "insignificates their privileges as a burgh." That Hatton was success­ful in this and kindred cases, will surprise no one who considers the constitution of the courts at that time, as every tribunal in the king­dom was under the control of his brother, the able, but certainly infamous Duke of Lauderdale. In the year 1684, the estates of Dudhope and Constabulary of Dundee were taken from Hatton by James VII., who granted them to John Graham of Claverhouse, for the con­sideration of the sum of £2000, paid to Lauderdale. The king at the same time made Claverhouse a Privy Councillor: afterwards raised him to the rank of major-general, and by patent, dated November 12, 1688, created him Viscount of Dundee, and Lord Graham of Claverhouse. These honours, the last conferred by the king before his flight from London, were Graham's reward for years of cruel and dishonourable service against his countrymen, as the tool and minister of arbitrary power. Claverhouse's implacable hatred and opposition to Presbyterianism, and his savage cruelty to the supporters of it, rendered him peculiarly obnoxious to James Fletcher, Provost of Dundee, who was a zealous and conspicuous adherent of the Covenant­ing cause. That he might indulge his fierce passions to the prejudice of the Presbyterians and the inhabitants of Dundee, Claverhouse, as Constable, in virtue of his newly acquired, but illegal right, attempted to preside in a magisterial capacity over the town. He went so far, in his presumption and devotion to arbitrary power, as to insist upon privileges which had been solemnly relinquished.

He next proceeded to nominate a provost by his own authority; but this imprudent overstretch of power was resented with so much spirit, that he was compelled to seek for safety in a precipitate retreat, which he effected with difficulty, hurrying from the Town Hall with his head uncovered. Determined to take vengeance on the town for this disappointment, and to retaliate with interest the insults with which it was accom­panied, he flew to Dudhope in a transport of vindictive rage, and commanded his dependents, with a body of his Highland retainers, to assemble in arms in the Glen of Ogilvy. His orders were promptly obeyed. At the head of his vassals, he returned towards Dundee, anticipating the opportunity of wreaking his fury on its inhabitants. The humanity of Mrs Maxwell of Tealing, however, interposed to pre­vent the threatened catastrophe. She saw Claverhouse descending the southern slope of the Sidlaws with his forces; and, conjecturing his ferocious intentions, from her knowledge of his enmity to the town, was lamenting her inability to convey intelligence of the ap­proach of danger to Provost Fletcher, for whom she entertained the greatest respect, when one of her servants, called More, overhearing her anxious expressions of sorrow and regret, offered to proceed to Dundee and communicate her apprehensions.

Mrs Maxwell, with the liveliest pleasure, accepted his tender of service, and instantly despatched him on the errand. By this time, Claverhouse was past Tealing, and More, taking the same direction, walked on unmolested. and overshot the hostile band; but Claverhouse, remarking the speed of his pace, and suspecting his design, ordered a party to follow him without delay. In the meantime, More, pursuing his journey, deserted the highway, and, turning down a hollow near the burn of Clepington, eluded his pursuers. When arrived at the same place, the pursuing party found a man stretched upon the ground fast asleep; and concluding him to be the object of their pursuit, and that he had resorted to this device to elude them, they instantly seized and awoke him. Claverhouse coming up, in his usual style of overbearing insolence, threatened to punish him with the utmost severity for his conduct. The man stood astonished; protested his innocence of any design to offend; requested him to look upon his once well-known features, and reminded him of several actions he had performed in his own presence, which merited a better reward. Claverhouse was now sensible of his error, and, chafing with rage at having lost so much time, redoubled his speed to overtake the fugitive, but in vain.

More meanwhile had reached the town, and, by running through the streets, uttering warning cries, and making expressive gesticulations, had ap­prised the inhabitants of the imminent danger which was approaching them. Before Claverhouse had arrived, they had assembled in num­bers, and made preparations for repelling his attack. Enraged at this second disappointment, he commanded his vassals to fire the Rotten How, or Hilltown, and in a short time the whole suburb was in flames. The owners of the blazing dwellings, unable to make any exertion to save their property, stood 'mournful spectators of their own ruin, while their neighbours of Dundee could give them no assistance, as the town itself was in danger.

Apparently satisfied with this achievement, Claverhouse retired; and, being called soon after to act elsewhere, he ceased to disturb the counsels and to overawe the administration of magistrates, whom he found too powerful for him. (Claverhouse made his attack on the town at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 13th. May, 1689; and on the next day the Privy Council ordered the collector of customs at Bo'ness to enter six "firekings" of powder, belonging to Dundee, free of duty; and at the same time authorised the Magistrates to apprehend all persons seeking a passage across Tay that could not give a good account of them­selves; and also to seize all boats of every kind upon the river from Perth to the sea. A month previous to this attack, an act of Parliament passed, dated 12th April, 1689, depriving the nominees of the exiled James VII, who had long mis­governed the town, of all concern in the Magistracy, and authorising a poll-elec­tion of Magistrates, to continue till Michaelmas, when the usual form was directed to be again adopted and continue, which accordingly took place.)

The battle of Killicrankie, fought 17th June, 1689, finished his cruel and inglorious career. This was the last hostile attack made on Dundee, though not the last time a hostile force possessed it.

The slaughter of the inhabitants, and the pillaging of the town by Monk, were evidently the co-operating causes of the decline of Dundee from its former consequence. Its wealth was removed, its population reduced, and its commercial and manufacturing prospects ruined. A famine of seven years' continuance, which occurred toward the end of the same century, increased the gloom by swallowing up the produce of the little means acquired between its commencement and termina­tion of hostilities. The ruin of the grey woollen manufacture or plaid-ing succeeded, which, besides supplying the demand at home, had been exported in large quantities to the Continent, where it was used in many parts of Germany for clothing the soldiery. The demand was increasing, and prospects were encouraging, till the Union which took place between Scotland and England came on them like a withering blight. The exportation of woollen cloth from the former was expressly prohibited, while that of wool, the raw material, was encouraged with the greatest earnestness. The manufacture, thus ruined beyond recovery, was engrossed by the English, while the commerce of the Scots was sacrificed to the interests of her powerful rival. At this time there was not, as there could not be, any idea of the great extent to which trade and manufactures have been carried since ; and we cannot help thinking that a spirit of commercial enterprise had begun to manifest itself in Scotland, and to be prosecuted with much vigour and success before the jealousy of England could have been awakened. That such was the case, and that affairs were proceeding prosperously, the indefensible conduct of the English to the Scots colony of Darien, settled in 1698 and ruined in 1700, amply proves; which, together with the whole foreign trade of Scotland, was to be sacrificed to protect that of England—a proceeding which condemned the former to remain much longer than otherwise she would have done in a state of comparative poverty and barbarism.

Seven years previous to the settlement of the colony of Darien, or New Caledonia, the miserable condition of the individual burghs was made the subject of complaint to the Convention of Royal Burghs, as each was on the brink of irretrievable ruin. In the Convention which met at Edinburgh, 9th July, 1691, the state of the burghs was brought forward and considered. The entire number, sixty-seven we believe, was divided into two parts,—those on the north and those on the south of the Tay. Four visitors were appointed to repair to the burghs, and examine" on the spot into the particular state and circum­stances of each, and to report upon its income and expenditure, debts and resources, its foreign and home traffic, and, generally, everything connected with it, and to swear the parties examined. James Fletcher, provost of Dundee, and Alexander Walker, one of the bailies of Aberdeen, were appointed visitors of the burghs south of Tay; and John Moor, provost of Ayr, and James Smollet, provost of Dumbar­ton, were nominated to the same office to the burghs north of the same boundary.

The following is the state of the town in 1691, as sworn to before the visitors :—- (From the Appendix to the General Report of the Commissioners on Municipal Corporations in Scotland, presented to Parliament in 1835, by command of his Majesty William IV.)

This above accompt, being the chairge of the comon good of the said town, and the other padge being ther discharge, is the just and trew account of the condi­tion of the said burgh, given up by the magistrats and town clerk upon oath, to the Visitors appointed by the Royall Borrows for that effect, and is subscribed by the said magistrats and clerk; and the magistrats doo declaire that the brewars having considered the low condition of the burgh, and the encreasing of their debts by reasone of the extraordinarie emergents, the brewars have, in October last, granted a voluntarie coutributione and impositione to be payed  be them to the town, of ten shillings Scots upon each boll of malt, for support of the burgh, which is only to continew dureing the brewars pleasure. Sic subscributur, ja. fletcher, provost; john scot, bailie ; patrick zeaman bailie ; william watsone, bailie ; ja. wedderburne (clerk.)

Ane Accompt of the Masters of Ships Names, and the Burden of their Veshells, belonging to the Burgh off Dundie.

Note of Burghs of Barronie and Regalitie to the Burgh of Dundee

The liberties of Dundee, in feudal times, extended over and comprehended an extensive tract of country; but we cannot perceive how some of the places here mentioned, such as Glammiss. Kirriemuir, Coupar-in-Angus, could affect the town, as they were independent jurisdictions and regalities, en­joying particular privileges of their own,—Glammites, for example, depending on its own feudal lord, the Earl of Strathmore; Kirriemuir, on the Earl of Angus; and Cupar, on the successors of the Commendators who came in the place of the old Catholic Abbots, in whose favour the regality was erected; besides, if we mis­take not, the liberties of Dundee were limited to Forfarshire, and Alyth (Alicht), Forgon (Longforgan) and Ballegerno (Baledgarno), Meigle, and Errol, are in Perthshire. We may remark, that the authorities of Forfar reported to the Visitors, that Kirriemuir traded to the value of £6000, and. Glammiss to the value of £1000; and that Perth reported Errol at £2000, Coupar-in-Angus at £8000, Alyth at £4000, Meigle at £1000, and Longforgan at £1000.

Note of the Town’s Losses

Accompt of Expenses be the Town in Fortifying the same. (In the year 1689.)

The discontents excited by the unfortunate Darien Scheme, and swelled by the Union and other circumstances, ended in the rebellion of 1715, which, however, was speedily crushed by the battle of Sheriffmuir, fought on Sunday, 13th November, of that year.

The magistrates of Dundee at this time were chiefly in the interest of the Pretender; and in order to evince their zeal for his service, they, by tuck of drum and public proclamation, on the 27th of May, prohibited the appearance of the inhabitants with arms in the streets on the next day, which was the anniversary of the birth of George I..under the penalty of forty pounds, to be exacted from everyone who should offend, the proceeds of which penalties they probably hoarded as a fund for the service of him whom they accounted their lawful sovereign. The loyal inhabitants of the town paid no attention to the proclamation issued by the magistrates; but, assembling in a body, proceeded to Dudhope Castle, where, drawing themselves up in arms. they drank his majesty's health, with several other loyal and patriotic toasts, accompanying each with a volley; and having thus expressed their loyalty and affection to his majesty's person and government, they returned quietly to their homes, to the great mortification of the authorities of the town, who durst not interrupt this demonstration of popular attachment to the House of Hanover and its royal head. The following day being the 29th, and the anniversary of the Restoration of Charles II., was, in perfect consistency with their principles, celebrated by the magistrates with the usual ceremonies.

The Earl of Mar having hoisted the standard of rebellion, and pro­claimed the Pretender, King of Scotland, England, France, and Ireland, &c., at Braemar, on the 6th September, 1715, Graham of Duntrune, styling himself Lord Viscount Dundee, renewed the proclamation at Dundee soon after. During the same month, Mar, having taken possession of Perth, proceeded to fortify it, and for this purpose he carried four pieces of large and three of small cannon from Dundee, and other seven from Dunottar, intending to mount them on his new fortifications; but the battle of Sheriffmuir having deranged the plans, and disconcerted the measures of the rebel leaders, several of them made their peace with their lawful sovereign.

Induced by the flattering accounts transmitted by his friends, and strongly solicited to appear among them previous to their submissions being made, the Pretender left France and arrived at Peterhead on the 22d December, 1715. He was followed by some vessels, having his equipage and attendants on board, one of which got safe to Dundee, but the others stranded near St Andrews, and went to pieces, imme­diately after the passengers, crews, and cargoes, had got safe to land. From St Andrews the crews proceeded to Dundee, where they were joined by a detachment of a hundred of the rebels, and, by their assist­ance, conveyed to the north all the property which they had saved from the wrecks.

From Peterhead, the Pretender passed incognito through Aberdeen to Fetteresso, in the Mearns, where the Earl of Mar, the Earl Marischall, and others, joined him on the 27th, being five days after his landing. Here he was proclaimed king, and tarried a few days, being prevented by sickness from proceeding farther; and, while here, his manifesto was issued; an address from the Episcopal clergy of the diocese of Aberdeen, and another from the magistrates of that city, were presented, and gracious answers returned. As the finishing act of this display of mock royalty, several titles were conferred, (Among others, the Earl of Perth was created Duke of Perth, or, as Andrew Brice of Exeter, in his Universal Geographical Dictionary, published in 1759, quaintly phrases it, he "was dubbed a queer Duke.") and a batch of knights made, and among others so distinguished was Provost Bannerman of Aberdeen. Recovering from his sickness, the Pretender left Fetteresso on Monday, 2nd January, 1716, proceeded to Brechin, thence to Kinnaird, the seat of his adherent, the Earl of Southesk, and thence to Glammiss, the seat of the Earl of Strathmore, who, with his brother, Patrick Lyon of Auchterhouse, was in his interest. Leav­ing Glammiss, on Friday the 6th, he arrived at Dundee about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and made his public entry on horseback, the Earl of Mar supporting him on the right, and the Earl Marischall on the left, with a train of about three hundred gentlemen attending him. Upon reaching the High Street, or market-place, he continued nearly an hour on horseback, at the desire of his friends, to show him­self to the people, who crowded around him in great numbers.

Those of the inhabitants who espoused his interest, including the Jacobite magistrates and non-conforming clergy, received him with acclamations of welcome, and in return enjoyed the honour of kissing his hand. That night he lodged in the town-house of Stewart of Grandtully, at the head of the Seagate, which afterwards acquired new interest as being the house within which the gallant Admiral Lord Viscount Duncan drew his first breath. Leaving Dundee on the day after his arrival, the Chevalier de St George proceeded on his route towards Perth, dining at Castle Lyon, now Castle Huntly, a seat of the Earl of Strathmore, and sleeping that night at Fingask, the seat of Sir David Threipland, situated on the Braes of the Carse, where, as he approached, the country people flocked to see him; and, as he rode slowly, they pressed forward to touch him, his horse, or any part of its furniture which they could reach.

On Sunday the 8th January, he arrived at Scone, and next day made his public entry into Perth. His manifesto was now renewed, and his council nominated; procla­mations were issued for a public thanksgiving for his safe arrival—for praying for him as king in all churches—for a convention of the Estates of the Kingdom—for all fencible men, from sixteen to sixty, repairing to his standard—and for his coronation, which he fixed for the 23rd of the same month. In the meantime, though he had no objection to Protestants supporting him with their arms, he carefully avoided en­tering their churches or hearing their doctrines; and, with the infa­tuated bigotry of his race, issued no declaration which might induce the Protestant population of the kingdom to rally round his banner. On the day appointed by himself, the vain formality of his coronation took place. By this time, however, the spirits of the rebel leaders were very much depressed, and the affections of the people in the sur­rounding country cooled, owing to an order, issued six days before his coronation, for burning the towns, villages, and houses, and for destroying the corn and forage between Dunblane and Perth; and his coronation was hurried on for the sake of conciliating and soothing the offended minds of the people, and exciting them to arm in his cause.

But, alas! a pageant was found a poor substitute for property in flames. Instead of support, or an acquisition of strength, they found their numbers greatly reduced, their money, ammunition, and provisions exhausted; and to add to their distress, the royal army, reinforced by six thousand Dutch auxiliaries, was now in readiness to attack them. Everything militated against the Pretender; and, not­withstanding all his persuasions to the contrary, it was resolved in a council, held on the 19th January, four days previous to that appointed for his coronation, to abandon an enterprise which had become entirely hopeless. On the 29th of the same month, they received intelligence that the Duke of Argyle intended to march from Stirling against them. To avoid him, they left Perth, and proceeded through the Carse of Gowrie (stopping to refresh at Fingask) to Dundee, thence to Arbroath, and finally to Montrose; where, on arriving, they learned that. the royal army was within two days' march of them. With much entreaty, the Pretender was reluctantly persuaded to embark on board a small French vessel, at that time in the harbour of Montrose, and quitted Scotland forever.

Closely following the fugitives, the Duke of Argyle, with the royal army, reached Dundee very soon after the insurgents had left it, and found the town totally void of a magistracy. The provost, bailies, and a majority of the Council, were in the interests of the exiled family, and did not find it convenient to await the arrival of the Duke, but wisely kept themselves at a respectful distance from his presence and from danger. Careful of the interests of the town, as well as of the general welfare of the State, his Grace appointed a magistracy pro tempore by his warrant to that effect, which ran as follows:—

John, Duke of Argyll, General and Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's forces in North Britain, &c.
Whereas there are no Magistrates at present in this city, who can act or take care of the affairs of the city, whereby His Majesty's service, as well as the city, may suffer, you are therefore hereby required and authorised to take upon you the care of this city, and the affairs thereof, till such time as the proper Magistrates can be appointed by lawful authority. Given at Dundee, the 3rd of February, 1716.
(Signed) argyll

To Mr john scrymsour,
james alison,
david maxwell,
alexander preston,
james fairweather, and
mungo murray.

(David Maxwell's name occurs as one of the pursuers in the action be­fore the Court of Session in 1715, to reduce the election of the magistrates at Michaelmas 1714. We remember to have seen somewhere a statement that care was taken to have as many friends  of the  Pretender as possible elected at Michaelmas, 1714. Contemplating the insurrection of 1715, the in­surgents were aware of the advantage Dundee would be to their attempts, as by possessing it, they would be enabled to throw their expected succours from France into the very heart  of the kingdom at once; and, consequently, the best way to secure the town was to secure a majority of the Council, if they could not secure the whole. Whether this be true is of little consequence now, but we have seen that a part of the Council were pronounced Jacobites)

(Mungo Murray was a younger son of Sir William Murray, first Baronet of Ouchtertyre, so created in 1673. Mr Murray married Martha, only daughter of Bailie Andrew Forrester, of the family of Millnill, and died in 1718, leaving two sons, John Murray of Lintrose, Esq., and Alexander, who was bred a merchant.)

Thirty years after this abortive attempt, another rebellion took place, at the head of which appeared Charles Edward Stuart, eldest son of the Pretender. As the events of this insurrection have been a favourite theme with novelist and historian, it is unnecessary to dilate on them. Suffice it to say, that the adherents of the Pretender, in number about six hundred, under the command of Sir James Kinloch, took and held possession of Dundee from the 7th of September, 1745, until the 14th of January, 1746—a period of twenty weeks; but so soon as the rebellion subsided, the town returned again to the obedience of its lawful sovereign.

(In the histories of this eventful period, the number of rebels who took possession of Dundee is stated at three hundred. The number stated in the text is confirmed by another part of this Note; but, perhaps, three hundred had arrived first, who were afterwards joined 'by an additional six hundred, aggregating nine hundred in all, and this the sequel seems to authorise, as two separate arrivals of the rebels are mentioned. The additional six hundred appear to have been overlooked by writers on this subject. The remainder of this Note consists of an extract from the parish records, made by a member of Session for our use. At the rebellion, Mr Charles Jobson was Kirk-Treasurer, and from his books the extract was made.)

Immediately after taking possession of the town, Sir James Kinloch published the Pretender's declaration, manifesto, and commission of regency; appointed one David Fotheringhame, governor; searched the town for horses, arms, and ammunition; and levied the public money, for which receipts were given. On the following Sabbath, being the 8th September, the ministers of the Established Church preached, and as usual, we are told, prayed for the reigning family, and earnestly exhorted their respective congregations to remain firm in their loyalty, and stedfast in their duty to their country and their king. We are also informed, that many of the rebels resorted to the churches, where they conducted themselves with becoming propriety, manifest­ing no inclination to interrupt the quiet and decorum of the congrega­tions, or to molest the preachers. That the clergymen would preach and perform the other parts of their duty, there is no reason to doubt, and that many of the rebels would go to church from the mere excite­ment of curiosity is very likely; but that those who went on the first Sunday continued to go on the next and succeeding Sundays, would argue something beyond the mere gratification of an idle curiosity.

That no interruption to public divine service was given by the rebels for a time is possible; but that interruption was ultimately given is undeniable; for the preceding note from the parish records tells ex­pressly that public worship was stopped by them, and proves that the ordinary supplies for the poor had to be collected from house to house, instead of in the usual manner at the doors of the churches. About this time, a vessel, belonging to one William Grahame of Perth, when in the harbour, was seized by a party of the rebel garrison, who conveyed her to Perth, under the impression that she was laden with gunpowder and other military stores.

At this eventful period, the various histories of the times inform us that the most alarming reports were industriously circulated, in order to embitter and exasperate the public mind as much as possible against the "parcel of rabble, the parcel of brutes, being a small number of Scotch Highlanders," as Cope is said to have called the rebels, in addressing his troops before the action at Prestonpans, so destructive to his fame. It was reported that, in the shire of Forfar, the gentry, clergy, and inhabitants at large, were assessed in considerable sums of money, of which Sir John Wedderburne of Blackness was the col­lector, for which he afterwards suffered at Kennington Common. The whole of the parishes, it is said, were much depopulated by pressing the male inhabitants to fill the rebel ranks, and all round Dundee and Perth the country was one extended scene of robbery and confusion. That robbery and confusion did occur, there cannot be any doubt, yet common justice, even to rebels, requires it to be stated that the country was not depopulated to swell the rebel armies, otherwise their ranks at Culloden would have far more than doubled the numbers which the muster rolls bore; and if their ranks had been thinned by the defection of the pressed men, the royal army would have been numerous in the same ratio that they had fallen off; for, in returning home, the deserters would generally have to take the routes by which the various corps of the royal army advanced; but there was no pressing, save in the case of some individuals who were taken for the purpose of being waggoners or sumpter men, and these were almost entirely the tenants and dependents of gentlemen engaged openly or covertly in the interest of the Pretender. Stories were also circulated that the rebels entered houses and carried off the stores of provisions which they contained ; but what is there extraordinary or uncommon in this 1 Necessity observes no ceremonies; and, besides, they were only preying on those they were taught to consider their enemies; and when such practices take, place among the most regularly organised armies, some allowance ought to be made for the conduct of those who were igno­rant of what constituted military discipline. After all, such petty offences formed a stain trivial when compared to the indefensible and cruel conduct of the Duke of Cumberland after the battle of Culloden.

During the time the rebels held Dundee, illuminations were ordered to celebrate the arrival of some aid from France, which was sent to keep alive their hopes. As is usual on occasions of that kind, the windows of those who did not illuminate, particularly of the Established clergy, were wholly demolished. One report goes so far as to say that a shot was fired and stones thrown into the windows of one of the ministers; that the soldiers and crowd attempted to enter the house by force, while the family escaped by a back door; and that the minister himself, being unable by the infirmities of age to escape, only insured his safety and that of his family by engaging the good offices of one of the rebel officers with whom he had some slight acquaintance. On the 2nd April, six weeks after the rebels left the town, the Magistrates and Town Council voted a loyal and dutiful address to the king, in which, among other things, they laud the Duke of Cumberland, bepraise themselves for their loyalty and zeal, and take credit for the release of some prisoners left by the rebels in the Castle of Glammiss, in the course of their retreat to the north. The address was signed by Provost Alexander Duncan of Lundie, and presented by Thomas Leslie, Esq., member for the district. (The address is too long for transcription, but the curious reader will find it in the Scots Magazine for 1746.)

After the battle of Culloden had given the death-blow to their hopes, a number of the rebels, skulking from place to place, reached Dundee in May, about three weeks after the battle. Among these were James Graham of Duntrune, who, accounting himself heir to Graham of Claverhouse, assumed the title of Viscount Dundee; David, Lord Ogilvy, eldest son and heir of the Earl of Airlie; Fletcher of Ballinshoe; Hunter of Burnside; David Grahame, and Alexander, his son, merchants in Dundee; Henry Patullo; Sandilands of Bourdeaux; Thomas Blair, merchant in Dundee; Alexander Blair, writer in Edinburgh; and Fotheringhame, the former Governor.

These adventurers, with a design to make their escape, seized a sloop which was lying at anchor off Monifieth, belonging to James Wemyss of Broughty Ferry, and, putting to sea, arrived in Bergen in Norway on the 13th of the same month. Immediately upon landing, they were apprehended and committed to prison, in consequence of orders from the Danish Government to confine all British subjects that should enter the dominions of his Danish Majesty without having proper passports.

From some original papers with which we were favoured, we find that the freedom of the town was presented to the Duke of Cumberland in a gold box. The box was made in Edinburgh, sent over to Dundee to be shown to the Magistrates and their friends, and returned again to Edinburgh, in charge »f a deputation, to be presented, which was done about the 9th or 10th of March. The document which mentions this, is a letter to Alexander Duncan, at that time town-clerk, from his agent in Edinburgh, but which gives no further infor­mation on the subject.

At this time, Dundee seems to have sunk under the complicated misfortunes which affected the whole nation. The depression of trade rapidly reduced the population, while those who remained languished in hopeless inaction. The principal street of the town could not boast of six houses completely built of stone, all the rest were of wood and partly stone, and exceedingly incommodious. The shops did not rent at above three pounds sterling per annum, and some that, before 1790, sold at four hundred and fifty pounds, were entirely shut.

Soon after the suppression of the rebellion, Government began to bestow some attention on the affairs and condition of Scotland, which had hitherto been prevented by the intervention of national jealousy. The period was now arrived when the arbitrary system of hereditary jurisdictions, and all the oppressive enactments of the feudal regime, which had not hitherto yielded to the operation of good sense and the diffusion of knowledge, were to give way to a more enlightened and better order of things. These jurisdictions and rights, which were wrested from ancient sovereigns by circumstances, or given in many cases by caprice, were now bought up, and vested in the crown. Under the act of 1747, the Duke of Douglas, as Constable of Dundee, received the sum of £1800 sterling, being the sum at which the Lords of Council and Session valued the constabulary rights and privileges. From this time, the acknowledged and tyrannical powers of the Con­stable merged into the mild and regular government of the Provost and Magistrates; and thus peace, harmony, and good order obtained the ascendancy. Meanwhile, the liberality of Parliament, by granting a bounty on brown linens made for exportation,—manufactures which, from the weight of fabric and lowness of price, could not be carried on without loss,—again revived trade, and stimulated the industry of the inhabitants. Manufactures were established and prosecuted with a success that operated in a most beneficial manner on the domestic habits and comforts of the people. Since this happy period, Dundee has continued to flourish. Melds which not many years since " displayed their yellow treasures in the sun," have been transformed into spacious suburbs, seats of manufacturing activity, and the homes of thousands, whose peaceful industry has raised our town to a high posi­tion in wealth and importance.

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