Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/31

Rh was with us, he stood against our enemies, and fought valiantly. The military men that were under his command he regulated and disciplined, and himself led them to battle; and he did and performed every thing faithfully, as a noble commander. And for his trusty services we were pleased to order the said lieutenant-general to be a general. And now having petitioned us to give him leave to return to his own country, we, the great sovereign and czarian majesty, were pleased to order, that the said noble general, who is worthy of all honour, Thomas, the son of Thomas Dalyell, should have leave to go into his own country. And by this patent of our czarian majesty, we do testify of him, that he is a man of virtue and honour, and of great experience in military affairs. And in case he should be willing again to serve our czarian majesty, he is to let us know of it beforehand, and he shall come into the dominions of our czarian majesty with our safe passports, &c. Given at our court, in the metropolitan city of Muscow, in the year from the creation of the world, 7173, January 6." On his return to Scotland, Charles II. manifested a better sense of his promises towards him than was customary with that monarch. "Tom Dalyell" was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces, and a privy councillor, in 1666; subsequently, he represented the county of Linlithgow in parliament, his estates being now restored. In the year just mentioned, general Dalyell suppressed the ill-starred insurrection of the covenanters. By a bold march across the Pentland hills, he came upon the insurgents by surprise, and, on the evening of the 28th of November, gained a complete victory over them. In this year, also, he raised a regiment of foot; but its place in the military lists is not now known. It is known, however, with historic certainty, that some years afterwards, he raised the distinguished horse regiment called the Scots Greys, which was at first composed exclusively of the sons of the cavalier gentry, and was intended to keep down the sturdy children of the covenant. The letters of service for raising the Greys are dated the 25th of November, 1681. The commission of general Dalyell was intermitted for a fortnight in June, 1679, when the duke of Monmouth was entrusted with his office, in order to put down the Bothwell Bridge insurrection. It was generally believed, that, if he had commanded at Bothwell instead of Monmouth, there would have been sharper execution upon the insurgents. Being offended at the promotion of Monmouth, the old man resigned all his employments, but was quickly restored to them, and an ample pension besides. Some years before this period, he had received a gift of the forfeited estate of Muir of Caldwell, who was concerned in the insurrection suppressed by him in 1666; but his family complain that they were deprived of this by the reversal of Muir's attainder after the Revolution, and that they never received any other compensation for an immense sum expended by their ancestor in the public service. An individual who rode in Dalyell's army, has left the following graphic account of him:—

"He was bred up very hardy from his youth, both in diet and clothing. He never wore boots, nor above one coat, which was close to his body, with close sleeves, like those we call jocky coats. He never wore a peruke, nor did he shave his beard since the murder of king Charles the first. In my time his head was bald, which he covered only with a beaver hat, the brim of which was not above three inches broad. His beard was white and bushy, and yet reached down almost to his girdle. He usually went to London once or twice in a