Copy of a long Letter to the Reverend Mr James Hay in Inverness, containing 26 Queries. August 28. 1749.

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1425 (1425)
┍
Copy of a Letter to the RevdReverend
Mr James Hay
(Vol: 6 pag:
1314 — 1346)
in Inverness, by
the Hands of the RevdReverend Mr Geo:George
Innes
(Vol: 6th, pag: 1278)
return-
ing from Leith to Forres.

R:Reverend D:Dear B:Brother

To your extraordinary Fa-
vours I made a✝ Return upon the 13th of
May last by Post, which, I hope, you receiv-
ed in due Course. I now gladly em-
brace the Opportunity of a Gentleman
travelling North, who lives within twen-
ty Miles of you, &and who promises to
have this Letter carefully delivered
into your Hands. In my former Let-
ter I used cautious &and general Ex-
pressions, such as I hoped you would
easily understand; but now, being sure
of my Bearer, I am to write plainly
&and openly without any Manner of Re-
serve. I return you my most hearty
Thanks for the several Sheets you
transmitted to me by the Hands of
honest Mr Baillie, who observed great
Care in delivering them to me. I
earnestly beg, you’ll be mindful of yethe
Promise you are so good as to make of
sending me more of the same Kind; for
I am exceedingly anxious to make my
Collection as full &and compleatcomplete as possi-
ble. As I highly value your Narratives, they

✝
Vol: 6 pag: 1347.
1426 (1426)
they being the most important &and of a very
extraordinary Nature, so I could wish they
were most minute &and circumstantial.
In the Sheets I have already receiv-
ed, you have omitted giving the Names
of some Persons, which, in the Event
of a History, are necessary to be had, in
order to strengthen &and fix the Facts a-
gainst all Contradiction &and Cavilling;
for, in a point of Fact, one can never
be too strict &and nice. Suffer me then,
Dear Sir, to point out your several
Omissions under separate Heads, in
the Way of Questions, to which I beg
plain &and distinct Answers, if in your
Power to give them. To make you
easy where giving of Names may
be a point of Delicacy &and Danger, I
do assure you of the utmost Secrecy,
&and that they shall not be mention-
ed by me in any Shape, till a safe
&and proper Opportunity appears of pub-
lishing dangerous Truths, &and when that
may happen God only knows. I hope,
you’ll take my Meaning well enough.
— I keep my Collection in a Con-
cealment always, so that I am not
afraid of it’sits being seized by Enemies,
&and it is not every Friend I allow to see
only the Bulk &and Outside of my fa-
vourite Papers. I wish, I had the Hap-
piness of conversing with you face to
face, &and then indeed I could fully sa-tisfie1427(1427)
tisfie my selfsatisfy as to every single Cir-
cumstance &and Ace of the never to be
forgotten Transactions in &and about your
place; but I must even content my
selfmyself with a Conversation now &and then
in the epistolary Way. — To come
to the purpose in hand.

1.
Can you give me the Name of
that Servant-maid, that held a Dra-
goon’s Horse in a Close in Inverness,
till the said Dragoon murdered two
Low Countrymen? Can you procure
me the Name of the said Dragoon,
&and the Names of the said two Low
Countrymen thus murdered?

2.
Can you give me the Name of
that Gentleman, who, confined to Bed
in a high Fever, had his Throat
[
cut
by some Dragoons, &and who the said
Dragoons were? This happened in
Inverness.

3.
✝Ewan Mckay (as you write the Name)
has been, written to me by another thus,
“Mackvee,X alias Cameron”. Which of
these is right, or, are both in the right, as
Highlanders use frequently to have diffe-
rent Names? If he was really a Cameron,
of what Tribe of the Camerons was he?
And, what is his Father’s Name, who now
(you say) is reduced to be a common Beg-
gar? I am the more particular about this
Ewan, because it plainly appears, he has
been one of the greatest of Heroes.

4.
What is the Name of that One of a
considerable character, who gave Provost Hossack

[✝]
Vol: 6. pag: 1318.

X
Vol: 6. pag 1122.
1428 (1428)
Hossack such a severe Kick or Toss at
the Head of the Stair?

5.
When your Meeting-house was
burntburned, were any Bibles &and Prayer-books
burned with it?
[
This I have had affirm-
ed by✝ some; but how true, you must best
know.

6.
In one Paragraph you write thus, “I was
“told by a Person of Credit, that a Woman
“in great Want saw them burying Bread,
“&cetc.”— Pray, good Sir, what is the Name
of that Person of Credit, your Informer
in this particular Point? — In the same
Paragraph you say, “that both one of
“C—[umberland]’s Sogers, &and a Gentleman belong-
“ing to his Army, did tell, there were
“some WaggonsWagons of poysonedpoisoned Bread.”
Now, can you find out the Names of yethe
said Soger &and of the said Gentleman,
&and to whom they made any such De-
claration &and Acknowledgement? A Dis-
covery of these Particulars would prove
of no small Use.

7.
In another Paragraph you write thus,
“A Gentleman, who was long Prisoner
“in Inverness, told me, that he saw an
“Officer, winter 46 when it was ex-
“cessively cold, &c.etc. give half a Crown to
“the Sogers to go in a very cold Night &and
“extinguish the PrisonersPrisoners' Fire, &cetc.” What
is the Name of the said Gentleman, who
told you this, &and the Name of the Officer,1
who hired the Sogers to do such a Hardship?

8.
You inform me, “that all the Officers of
"Blakeney’s Regiment, except three, were extremely

✝
Vol: 2. pag: 380. In this Vol: pag: 1456, 1576.
1429 (1429)
“extremely cruel, &c.etc.”— Pray, let me
have the Names of the three,2 that
were so singular &and couragiouscourageous in be-
ing good.

9.
You write, “that an Officer was heard
“more than once say, that he saw that
“Day (Friday) 72 killed, or, as he term’dtermed
“it, knocked in the Head. He was a
“young Captain.”— Pray, can this young
Captain’s Name be given, &and what Regi-
ment he belonged to?

10.
I suppose the ✝ beautyfulbeautiful young Man,
quite naked &and mortally wounded, —
who received the Dram from the Offi-
cer, — &and who at last was carried
to Anna Mckay’s House; to be X Ranald
MacDonald of Bellfinlay, Fellow-pri-
soner with Mr Nairn. Am I right in
my Supposition or not?

11.
What is the Name of that wounded
Man, who crawled in the Night, on his
fours (as you word it) an incredible Dis-
tance, by which means he escaped?

12.
You blank one’s Name, whom
you mention to have been disabled
in both Legs, &and sadly wounded, that So-
ger struck him on the Face with the
Butt of his Gun, &c.etc. that he still lives,
&and is now going on Crutches. This Person
so disabled &and wounded I take to be one
[☂]John ^ÂlexrAlexander Fraser, whose particularly History
was lately printed at EdrEdinburgh. Am I right
or not? The said John Fraser was taken out

[✝]X
Vol: 6. pag: 1324, 1325.

☂
Vol: 6. pag: 1239, 1326. Vol:
[7] pag: 1372. Vol: 8 p. 1603, &cetc.
1430 (1430)
out of Culloden-House with eighteen
or nineteen more, &and were all set up
at a Park-Dyke, &and shot at by a Party
of Sogers, &cetc, and none survived the
Massacre but the said John Fraser
only.

N: B:
Can the said John Fraser
give the Names of all or of any of
the 18 or 19, that were set up with
him at the Park-Dyke, &cetc? Can he
give any Account of the Party, that
performed the execrable Deed, as
to the Regiment they belonged to, &and
the Names of the Officers who com-
manded the Party?

13.
Can you give me the Name of ytthat
Man, whose Body was taken up twenty
Days after being covered, &and the Name
of that Man, whose Body was taken up
twenty eight Days after being covered,
both which Bodies were without any
Corruption or Smell in the least?

14.
Can you give me the Name of that
Man, who, at his own Door, two Miles from
the Field, was shot dead, though he had
no Concern with the Pr—[ince] , &and whose Body
was buried at the said Door, &and was
taken up fresh ^^âboutat Christmas at the Im-
portunity of his Wife? I hope, you will
have no Difficulty to find out the Name
of this Man &and likewise the Name of
his Wife, both which I am very desir-
ous to have, as also the Name of the
Place of their Abode, at the Door of qchwhich
the poor Man was shot.

15.
Can you give me the Name of that young 1431 (1431)
young Gentleman of Distinction, who,
being mortally wounded lying on the
Ground, was inquired at by C—[umberlan]d,
to whom he belonged, &and upon his an-
swering, “to the prince,” Cu—[mberlan]d or-
dered yethe said young Gentleman
to be shot, which accordingly was
done by a common Soger?

16. Can you name the Place, where
the Woman was in Labour, nine or
ten Women attending Her, who were
all burntburned alive in the House
by Orders? Can you give the Name
of the said Woman in Labour, &and
the Name of her Husband? Can
you find out the Party, &and the Name
of their Commander, who perpetra-
ted the execrable Deed?

17.
Can you name the two old Men
&and the young Man (a Son of one of the
said old Men)3 in Glenmoriston, who,
six or seven Weeks after the Bat-
tle, were (when harrowing) shot by
Major Lockheart’s party? As Grant of
Daldrigan was forced, in a naked Con-
dition, to witness the hanging up the
Corpses of the said three Men by the
Feet on a Gallows, so, no doubt, he can
give their Names.

18.
Can you give me the Name of that
Gentlewoman in the Braes of Glenmoris-
ton, who, being big with Child, was ra-vished1432(1432)
vished by a Party? You likewise mention
TenantsTenants' Wives, ravished at the same
Time with the said Gentlewoman by
all the Party. Can you find out the
namesôf any of the ^said TenantsTenants' Wives, &and the
Party who did the monstrous shock-
ing Facts, &and the Names of the Offi-
cers who headed the Party?

19.
You say “Lockheart, in his Way to
“Strathglass, shot a Man wading a
“Water with the Whig Teacher’s Pro-
“tection in his Hand to shewshow him”.—
Now, what was the Name of the said
Man thus shot? — You said this Para-
graph thus, “and the whole Party ra-
“vished there a Woman big with Child,
“&and left her on the Ground almost dead,
“All these are certain Facts which may
“be depended upon, being known by
“a Person of good Credit.”— Now,
Dear Sir, can you procure me the
Name of the said Woman, who was
ravished when big with Child?— What
is the Name of the said Person of
good Credit, to whom the said cer-
tain Facts, which may be depended
upon, are known?

20.
What is the Name of that Woman,
who, being brought to Bed on Sunday
before the Battle, fled on the Day of
Battle with her Infant, &and was attacked
by four Dragoons, who gave her seven
Wounds in the Head, &cetc? You mention
that one of the Dragoons took the In-fant1433(1433)
fant by the Thigh, &and threw it about
his Head, &c.etc. that the Husband of
the said Woman was chased into a
Moss, &cetc. — Now, what is the Name
of the said Husband, &and what is the
Name of the place of his Abode?

21.
You mention, that three Days
after the Battle, at four Miles Distance,
the Sogers most barbarously cut a Wo-
man in many Places of her Body,
particularly in the Face. — What
is the Name of the said Woman,
to what Regiment did the Sogers
belong, &and by what Officer or Officers
commanded, when they so cut said
Woman? — I have now done with
the Paper in your own Hand-writing,
which inîs in 4toquarto, &and I come to the
other Paper in Folio, which is in
the Hand-writing of some other X Person.

22.
What is the Name of the✝ Per-
son, who writ the said paper in
Folio? This I want to know, be-
cause the said Writer (from his
own Words) appears to have been
an Eye-witness of some Facts.

23.
The said Writer says, he might
remember the Name of the Dragoon,
as it is Scottish, who saved the Life of
the poor lame Man (Mackenzie) by
causing the poor Man take hold of
one End of a Belt, &and he (the Dragoon)
taking Hold of the other End of the Belt,

[X]✝
In this Vol: pag: 1463.
1434 (1434)
Belt, &and so leading the poor man on, &cetc.
— Now, I wish, I had the Name of the
said Dragoon; for ‘tis Pity, the few good
should not be recorded.

24.
The said Writer of the folio Pa-
per mentions one Shaw, Quartermaster
to Sempil’s Regiment, who appears to
have been a generous, human Gen-
tleman. — I could wish to have
the said Shaw’s Christian Name.

25.
The said Writer tells, ~~then~~^^^that, when
at the King’s Milns, the third Day af-
ter the Battle, discoursing the People
there, in one of their Houses they
had a wounded Woman. Can you
give me the Name of the said woun-
ded Woman? — At the same Time
the People of King’s Milns told
the said Writer, that they had
likewise [] in one of their Houses
an Infant, whom they found at
his Mother’s Breast (horresco refe-
rens!) when she was dead, &c.etc. —Pray,
is it possible to get the Names of the
said murdered Mother &and of her poor
Infant, which Infant, it seems, is
still alive? I heartily wish, I had
their Names.

26.
The said Writer mentions a Wi-
dow Gentlewoman, a young Lady (Board-
er with the said Widow) &and a Servant-
Maid, all three lying in the common
Guard-Room for twelve or fourteen Days, exposed 1435 (1435)
exposed to all the Rudeness, &c.etc. — Now,
can you give me the Names of the said
three Women? for their Treatment
was an Offence to Nature, &and a Vio-
lation of common Decency.

Thus, Dear Sir, have I, with the
utmost Freedom, cut out Work in Plenty
for you, &and I hope, you will not grudge
your Labour in giving me full &and satis-
fying Answers, where you can possibly
make them out. I keep a Copy of this
Letter, that I may compare it with
your Return, which you may write
(for the greater Exactness) in the same
Order of Heads as you find herein
observed. — You will be heartily tired
in reading this Scribble, which I have
been obliged to write in some Hurry,
rather than to miss so good an Oppor-
tunity of Conveyance. Fail not to gra-
tifiegratify me in all my Requests; for in so
doing you’ll do remarkable Services to
the Cause of Truth, &and lay me under
particular Obligations to you. — With
best Wishes to you &and yours I ever am
with the utmost Sincerity &and Esteem,

My dear Sir,
Your most affectionate BroyrBrother,
&and very humble Servant,
Robert Forbes.
[L]eith, AugtAugust 28th,
1749.

See in this Vol: pag: 1442, 1456, 1463, 1482, 1573,
1574, 1575.

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