Case of Mr Francis Buchanan of Arnprior particularly insisted upon

The Case of Mr Francis Buchanan
of Arnprior is so very singular, &and
attended with such odd unaccoun-
table Circumstances, that an ex-
act Narrative of it ought to be
preserved, qchwhich is as follows.

Arnprior was taken Prisoner at
his own House, ^ ^ ^some time before[] the Battle
of Culloden, by Mr James Dun-
bar, CapnCaptain of Militia &and eldest
Son of SrSir George Dunbar of Dun-
bar-house or Wood^side, &and committed to Stir-
ling-Castle. As Mr Buchanan had
never been in Arms, nor had made
any publickpublic Appearance what-
somever in the whole Affair, fmfrom
first to last, so the Ground of his
Commitment was only Suspi-
cion. The commanding Officer1 look-
ing upon this to be very thin, &and not
imagining, Arnprior to be in any Haz-
ard at all, allow’dallowed him the full
Liberty of the Castle, to walk
up &and down as he pleased, with-
out keeping a strict Eye over him. When 101 (101)
When several Prisoners were or-
dered from Stirling-Castle to Car-
lisle, Arnprior was appointed to
be amongst the Number. CapnCaptain JasJames
Thomson, Brother to Charlton, and
Lieutenant Archibald Campbell
(commonly call’dcalled Tobie) had the
Command of the Party, that guard-
ed the Prisoners in their Jour-
ney. These Officers, knowing well
the Case of Mr Buchanan, &and hav-
ing witness'dwitnessed the Usage he had
met with in Stirling-Castle,
treated him in a quite different
Manner from the other Prisoners.
In the Forenoon, as if he had been
only a Fellow-traveller, they would
have desir’ddesired him to ride forwards,
to bespeak Dinner for them at
a proper Place, &and to have it
ready for them against the Time
they should come up. In the Af-
ternoon they also desir’ddesired him to
ride on, to take up right Quarters, &and 102 (102)
&and to order Supper, for them; &and all
this without any Command at-
tending him; so that he had se-
veral Opportunities, every Day,
of making his Escape, had he
dream’ddreamed that he ran any RisqueRisk
of his Life in the Issue of a
Trial. Besides, the Officers wou’dwould
not have indulg’dindulged him such Liber-
ties, had they imagin’dimagined any Danger
in his Case. When the Prisoners
came to Carlisle, Arnprior, much
to his own SurprizeSurprise &and that of yethe
foresaid Officers, was immediate-
ly ordered into a Dungeon &and to
have Irons claptclapped upon him. Find-
ing himself in a Situation he had
entertain’dentertained no Apprehension of,
&and dreading the worst from this
harsh Usage, ^he sent for CapnCaptain Thom-
son, who very readily came to him,
and, after some Conversation u-
pon the unexpected Change of Treat-
ment, desir’ddesired to know what he
could do for him. Mr Buchanan beg’d 103 (103)
beg’dbegged, he would wait upon the com-
manding Officer2, &and let him know
his whole Case &and the Usage he had
met with both in Stirling-Castle
&and in the Way to Carlisle, which,
he did not doubt, would have a
good Effect for making a Change
to the better in his State of Con-
finement. CapnCaptain Thomson frankly
undertook to do as he desir’ddesired, and,
without Loss of Time, honestly re-
presented the whole Affair to the
Commanding Officer, who said,
he was heartily sorry for the Gen-
tleman, but that it was not in
his Power to do him any Service,
because the Solicitor-General
was come to Carlisle, &and that (now
he was in the Place) his Pro-
vince it was to determine
in these Matters. CapnCaptain Thomson
did not stop here, but, like One
of Generosity &and Compassion, went
directly to the Solicitor-General, and 104 (104)
and laid before him the Case of Mr
Buchanan, requesting him to consi-
der it, &and to allow the Gentleman
a more easy &and comfortable Con-
finement. The Solicitor General
told him, he knew there were
more Buchanans than one among
the Prisoners, &and therefore he de-
sired to know what Mr Buchan-
an he meant; &and then asked if
he knew his Christian Name, &and
whether or not he had a Designa-
tion. CapnCaptain Thomson answer’danswered, ytthat
he did not know Mr Buchanan's
Christian Name, that, though he
was sure he had a Designation,
he had forgot it. Upon this yethe
Solicitor General pull’dpulled a List
of Names out of his Pocket, and,
after looking it over, asked the
Captain if Mr Francis Bucharian
of Arnprior was the Person, whose
Case he had been representing.
“That same is the Gentleman,” re-
plied the Captain. “Then, says yethe
“Solicitor General, pray, Sir, give your 105 (105)
“your selfyourself no more trouble about
“that Gentleman. I shall take
“Care of him. I have particular
“Orders about him; for He must
“suffer!”— This unaccountable
Speech from such a Mouth about
One neither convicted nor tried
surpriz’dsurprised the Captain not a little,
&and made him walk off, without in-
sisting any more, to tell Arnprior
the Result of what had pass’dpassed, in
the softest Manner he could.

When Arnprior was brought to a Trial,
not a single Overt Act was prov’dproved
against him. An unsubscrib’dunsubscribed Letter
was produced in the Court, which
had been intercepted in going to
the Highland Army, &and several
Persons, particularly Commissary Finlayson 106 (106)
Finlayson in Stirling, gave their
Affidavits, that it was the Hand-
writ of Mr Francis Buchanan of
Arnprior. Upon this the Jury, with-
out any Hesitation or Scruple,
brought him in guilty. After Sen-
tence of Death was pronounced a-
gainst him, so little did People
imagine that he would suffer, ytthat
he was prevail’dprevailed upon to send
off an Express to London in order
to give a true &and exact Represen-
tation of his Case, not doubting,
but that this would be sufficient
to obtain a Reprieve pronounced
from a Verdict &and Sentence pro-
nounced upon such slight Grounds;
but all to no Purpose. To Destruc-
tion was he destin’ddestined by his Enemies,
&and accordingly suffer’dsuffered Death at Car-
lisle in Company with the RevdReverend
Mr Thomas Coppoch, Macdonald
of Kinlochmoidart, Major Donald
MacDonell, &cetc, &cetc, &cetc.

Arnprior left no Speech behind him;
but took an Opportunity of declar-ing,107(107)
ing, that, as he was persuaded in
his Conscience, King James the 8th
had the sole undoubted Right to
sit in the Throne of these Realms,3
so the only Action that stared him
most in the Face, was, that he had
acted the prudent &and over-cautious
Part in not joining the Prince
immediately upon his Arrival, &and
drawing his Sword in so glorious
a Cause, &and in not exerting all his
Endeavours upon those, with whom
he had any Interest, to rise in
Arms for their King &and Country.