When Boradale’s Son did
me the Favour of a Visit, he was in such a
Haste, that I had scarce Time to acknow-
ledge the Receipt of your obliging &and satis-
fying✝ Letter of NovrNovember 10th. I now gladly em-
brace the Opportunity of Milton’s Return
to the Long Isle, in order to do my Selfmyself
the Pleasure of writing to you at some
Length; for truly it is a pleasure of
the highest Relish to me to correspond
with You &and such as you are.

I would not have you rash in trans-
mitting any Account to Dr Burton, even
though he has desired it as a Favour
of you. The Dr is indeed an honest
worthy Gentleman; but then he is too ready
to go to the Press with the Narratives he
receives, and (in my humble Opinion)
this is far from being a proper Season for
publishing some certain Truths to the World.
Before the Dr made his Appearance in
Print, he informed me of his Design, to
which I writwrote him an answer without
Loss of Time, &and intreatedentreated him not to en-
tertain any such Thoughts, till a more
safe &and seasonable Opportunity should
offer; but he &and his Friends in England
were so keen to inform the World, that
(not withstanding my Remonstrance upon the Point) his 1494 (1494)
his pamphlet soon appeared, a Copy of
which he sent to me directly from the
press, &and desired me to amend &and to make
some material Additions; but I absolutely
refused to have any Hand in the Affair,
✝for Reasons obvious enough to Scotsmen
whatever Englishmen may might happen
to think, &and I writwrote a Letter to the honest
Doctor, wherein I used him with great
Plainness &and Freedom X.

Since Boradale’s Son was with me, I
have had Leisure to consider your kind
&and long Letter (the longer the better) with
Attention; &and to compare it with your Jour-
nal, &and I find a small Difference [] between
them, which indeed is only a mere Circum-
stance; but then I make it my Study to be
as exact as possible, not only as to Facts,
but likewise as to the Circumstances attend-
ing them. The Difference is as follows. In
your Journal you have these Words ☂ “They
“stayed in the same place till 8 o’ Clock
“at Night, when setting out, the Pr_Prince trav-
“elled stoutly till it became dark, and
“climbing a steep Hill, called Drymchos-
“sey, to the Top, they observed the Fires of
“a Camp directly in their Front, which
“they could scarcely shun at GlenChossey.
“However, being resolved to pass at any
“Rate, they came so near without being ob-
“served, as to hear them talk distinctly, &andc”
– In your Letter you have these Words,*
“it was in climbing up that Hill, called Drym
“chossey, immediately after passing by a small Camp 1495 (1495)
“Camp pitched in the Bottom of the Valley,
“or Glen of that Name, viz, GlenChossey, &andc.”
– Now (Dear Sir) whether did you first
climb up the Hill Drymchossey (according
to the Words in the Journal) &and then pass
near the Camp in GlenChossey; Or, did
you first pass near the Camp in Glenchossey
(according to the Words in your Letter) &and
then climb up the Hill Drymchossey? Though
this Difference be but very small &and inconsi-
derable, yet, I would gladly have it recti-
fied, &and it is in your power to do it.

I thank you kindly for ascertaining to
me the Truth of the Fall upon the Preci-
pice, &and of the Danger of tumbling head-
long from it. You oblige me particularly
in giving me so exactly the Names of the
faithful Glenmoriston - Men, &and in favouring
me with your Animadversions upon that
Subject; for I was not a little anxious to
have their Names upon Record. I hope,
they are all still alive. May God bless
&and preserve them, &and reward them for their
strict Fidelity, which was proof of the gild-
ed Dust &and all its glittering Charms!
I earnestly beg, you’ll continue your lau-
dable Endeavours to find out (if possible)
the true Account of Rhoderick Mackenzie’s
Death, &and to collect for me all the well-vouch-
ed Accounts you can have of Plunderings,
Pillagings, Burnings &and Murders; in doing
of which, pray, have a particular Attention
to the Names both of the Perpetrators &and of
the Sufferers, where they can possibly be had; for, 1496 (1496)
for, in the Event of a History, the Re-
cording of proper Names &and SirnamesSurnames will
prove mighty useful, in order to strength-
en &and fix the Facts in Opposition to all
Contradiction &and Cavilling, as in a Point
of Fact one can never be too Strict and
nice, especially in an Age when even
glaring Facts are most impudently de-
nied &and contradicted with the greatest
Boldness.

Pray, Dear Sir, will you be so good as
to call to Mind what passed in Conver-
sation betwixt the Pr–Prince &and You, &and his o-
ther Attendants, during the Time you hap-
pened to be his Guardian, &and to take it
down in writing. This you have omitted
to do in your Excellent Journal, which
indeed is one of the most valuable pa-
pers I have ever yet received. In tak-
ing down some Journals from Persons
own Mouths I was particularly careful
to ask them Questions about what passed
in Conversation, &and have thereby discover-
ed some excellent Sayings expressed
by the Pr–Prince, &and likewise how chearfullycheerfully
he bore up under all his Sufferings.
I have heard, that Clanranald, during
his Confinement on Board a Ship, kept an
exact Journal of the Sufferings he him-
Self &and his Fellow-prisoners underwent.
If this be so, may I expect to be favoured
with an exact Copy of Clanranald’s Jour-
nal? which I would take as a singular Favour.

I had almost forgot to mention one Thing, which 1497 (1497)
which is as follows. In your Journal you
mention a✝ Glengary-Man, who was
chased by the Troops very providentially
to the Place where you was with the
Pr–Prince, &and whose Father had been killed
by the Military the Day before. Pray,
can you give me the Name of the
Said [] Glengary-Man? for in that
part of your Journal there is Some-
thing very remarkable &and interesting.

Thus, Sir, have I assumed the Freedom,
oftener than once, of cutting out Work in
Plenty for you; but I hope, your honest
zeal to have important Truths fairly &and
exactly represented to the Public, when a
proper &and seasonable Opportunity offers, will
be sufficient to apologize for me at your
Hands for any Trouble of this Kind.

My best Wishes ever attend You, your
Lady, &and Family, &and all your Concerns.
With much Sincerity &and Esteem I am,