Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/335

 d S. NO 17., APRIL 26. '56.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

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Sir Robert Walpole. " Saturday, March 4, 173|-, S r Rob* owned his marriage with Miss Skerret, a person he kept long ; he brought her to his house at Whitehall, dined with his family, was carried to court, and received most graciously, and visited by all the ladies of quality, gentle and simple. S r Rob* had 2 daughters by Mrs. Skerret ; one now alive, and was at a boarding school, and now lives with S r Rob*, 1738."

Wentworth, Earl of Strafford. " Peter Went- worths [brother of Thomas, Earl of Strafford] wife died suddenly [1737], playing at picket with his daughter Arundel. Peter died Janu. 2, I73f ; he was a great sot. Peter's eldest son was in the Emperor's army, 1738 ; gave account of Gen. Dexau death ; wrote several good accounts."

The preceding memoranda are copied from the Har- leian MS. 7654., formerly MS. Add. 5005. /*

ILLUSTRATIONS OP MACAULAT.

The Clan Macdonald and the Burghers of Inver- ness. Mr. Macaulay describes Inverness in 1689 as " a Saxon colony among the Celts." This is correct, for the town was early p'eopled by the Flemish and other traders who settled on the east coast of Scotland. The municipal records, in broad Scotch, show the dread that was entertained by the quiet burghers of incursions from their wild marauding neighbours. Gradually, how- ever, Erasers and Mackintoshes took up their abode in the town, and became " merchants," a term which then bore, and still bears in most Scottish towns, the signification of the French marchands, or general dealers. Some of the neighbouring chiefs and lairds had town resi- dences in Inverness, and resorted to it as to a capital. Social reunions, balls, and sports re- lieved the gloom of a northern winter, and in 1662, as we read in a local chronicler, "the horse- race at Inverness, which had turned into desue- tude for many years before, was now restored, and brought to its pristine consistency .'" The Earl of Moray, the Earl of Seaforth, Lord Lovat, the Lairds of Grant, Mackintosh, Fowlis, Lord Moray, Lord Macdonell, and the English officers from Fort William, were present on this great occa- sion. The provost and magistrates walked in pro- cession to the race-course, and hung the silver cup with blue ribbons on the painted post, on the top of which were a saddle and sword, also run for. These were gay days ; and as wine was cheap (claret being then sold at about a shilling a bottle), and all provisions exceedingly low-priced, there was no hick of good cheer and liberal hospi- tality. Mr. Macaulay adds :

" It is not strange that the haughty and warlike Mac- donalds, despising peaceful industry, yet envying the

fruits of that industry, should have fastened a succession of quarrels on the people of Inverness. In. the reign of Charles the Second, it had been apprehended that the town would be stormed and plundered by those rude neighbours. The terms of peace which they offered showed how little they regarded the authority of the prince and the law. Their demand was that a heavy tribute should be paid to them, that the municipal ma- gistrates should bind themselves by an oath to deliver up to the vengeance of the clan every burgher who should shed the blood of a Macdonald, and that every burgher who should anywhere meet a person wearing the Macdonald tartan should ground arms in token of sub- mission."

The origin of this feud in the reign of Charles II. was so trivial as to be ludicrously dispropor- tiened to the result. It is traditionally known as the Battle of the Kebbock, or cheese. At a fair in Inverness, on August 18, 1665, one Finlay Dhu, or Black Finlay, while pricing a small cheese on the Dun Hill, or Market Brae, let it drop out of his hand, and the cheese ran down the hill into the river. The woman who kept the stall insisted on payment, Black Finlay resisted, and a scuffle ensued, till at length the whole market was in confusion, and a general melee ensued. The local chronicler already quoted the minister of Kirk- hill, whose very curious History of the Frasers, with all the "contingents" of the north country, still remains in manuscript describes the com- motion as if it were a Homeric battle :

" This alarms the whole town," he says ; " the guards are called, who come in arms, and Joe Reid, a pretty man, their captain, runs in betwixt the parties to sepa- rate them. Several other gentlemen present offer their mediation, but no hearing. Swords are drawn, guns pre- sented, and some wounds given. Provost Alexander Cuthbert is told that his guards are not regarded; he puts on a steel cap, sword, and targe, causes to ring the alarm-bell, and comes straight to the hill, and many pretty fellows with him. The people cry for justice ; the guards, being oppressed and abused, let off some shot, and two men are killed outright, and above ten wounded. The noise is hushed and matters examined ; the guard is blamed. The provost, in a fury, said he al- lowed and avowed what was done, for who durst disturb the king's free borough at a market time ? The High- landers keep a-brooding. Two Macdonells were killed: one Cameron and one Philan died of their wounds. The open rupture was closed on both sides with a punctilio of honour, but a revenge was promised and vowed."

The Macdonells (the Glengarry branch of the clan Colla, or Macdonald, spell the name in this way) would not be pacified, and the following are the terms proposed by them as the basis of a treaty of peace with the town authorities. They are certainly characterised, as Mr. Macaulay says, by " despotic insolence :"

" Imo. A Covenant or Bond to pass for entertaining Offensive and Defensive Leagues, by which, if the town be invaded, the Macdonals should come to assist, and, e contra, the town to send 100 men to assist them.

" '2do. The town to become liable presently in 100,000 merks Scots to them.

" Stio: The town to quit their superiority of Drakieg,