THE MILITARY HISTORY OF PERTHSHIRE.* WE wish that every county
in the British Isles could be treated in the manner of this work ; for the best way to interest people in modern questions of defence is to show them the record of the peat. Perthshire is peculiarly fortunate, for it was an old cockpit of wars, it has given many famous soldiers to the nation, and the history of many regiments is intertwined with its own. The beginnings of Lady Tullibardine's book were modest. At first only a muster-roll of Perthshire men who served in the South African War was contemplated. Then chapters were added on events prior to 1899, and by and by there grew up the conception of a complete military history of the shire. The editor has performed a heavy task with com- plete success. She has secured many able contributors for special chapters, but, apart from her editorial work, she has herself written some of the most laborious chapters. The book is one of the most valuable modern contributions to local, and in some respects to national, military history. It is filled with admirable portraits, and besides its technical purpose, which appeals mainly to the military historian, the chapters on the great Perthshire battles and Perthshire soldiers and sailors may well attract the ordinary reader. To take the soil before the men, Perthshire was bound by
• The Military Historiof Perthahirs,1860-1902. Edited by 'the Marehionese of Tutlibardine. 2 vela Perth : E. A. and J. Hay. its situation to be a battleground. Almost in the centre of Scotland, it is both Highland and Lowland; it guards the chief pass to the North ; and it contains a city which has been in its time the Scottish capital. Small wonder if from the time of Agricola invader and invaded settled their quarrels in its broad straths. We do not venture to decide where the Romans fought the much-disputed battle of Mona Graupius, but all authorities agree that it was somewhere within the shire. Robert Bruce, crowned three months before, was beaten by de Valence at Methven ; thirty years later, Edward Balliol beat the Scots at Dupplin, and slew the Regent. It was on the North Inch of Perth that the famous Battle of the Clans took place in 1396. After that Perthshire had a rest of two centuries, till we reach Tibbermnir and the annul mirabilis of Montrose. The most decisive of Perthshire battles was Killiecrankie in 1689, when Dundee's death saved Scotland for King William. Lady Tullibardine has written a narrative of this short and brilliant fight which is one of the best things yet published on the subject. With a full knowledge of the authorities, as well as of local tradition and the features of the countryside, she accounts for almost every minute of that July day. She differs from Mr. Terry in several important points, and her arguments seem to us convincing. In particular, she seems to be right in rejecting Mr. Terry's theory that Dundee's wound was in the left eye, and accepting the old version of a wound below the left arm. The last pitched battle in Perthshire was the inconsequent fight of Sheriffmnir in "the Fifteen," of which Lady Tulli- bardine gives us also a careful and learned study. But Perthshire men figured largely in both " the Fifteen " and "the Forty-five," and Mr. W. B. Blaikie's narrative of these rebellions is a real contribution to Jacobite history. The great Perthshire Jacobite was Lord George Murray, a younger brother of Atholl, and the only efficient commander whom the Prince had at his disposal. He was angular, contentions, and unsympathetic, but loyal and capable far beyond his colleagues, and we are in full agreement with all that Mr. Blaikie says in his favour. Perthshire contributed leaders to the forlorn cause, and troopers as noble as their masters. The story of John Macnaughton, the servant of Menzies of Culdares, is well worth reprinting. He was hanged at Carlisle, refusing to utter one word which might incriminate his employers. " Even on the way to the scaffold he was offered his life and an ample pension if he would give evidence ; Macnaughton replied that Government had done him enough honour in ranking him with gentlemen, and he hoped they would leave him in quiet to suffer like a gentleman."
The story of the various armed forces raised in the county is of great interest at the present moment, when we are trying to arrange for a levy on the territorial principle. Troops were raised soon after the Restoration and employed in putting down the Whig Rising. According to Mr. Andrew Ross, we can trace the origin of the famous Black Watch to the force which the second Earl of Atholl was commissioned to raise under the Great Seal in 1667 "to watch upon the braes" and generally look after the peace of the Highlands. To these soldiers the name of Black Watch came to be applied by the country people to distinguish them from the Guardsmen, or "Red Soldiers." The Second Battalion, the old 73rd, in which Wellington was an Ensign, was originally known as the Perthshire Regiment. It was a portion of the 73rd which went down with the 'Birkenhead.' We have no space to discuss the lengthy history of the Militia, Fencibles, and Yeomanry in the shim; but the Royal Clan Alpin Fencibles are worth a note. They were raised in 1799 as a sign of the gratitude of the Macgregor Clan to the King for removing the proscription under which they had suffered for one hundred and fifty years. The second volume gives a complete muster-roll of the Perthshire officers and men who fought in the South African War. It also tells of the doings of the two Black Watch battalions at Magersfontein, Paardeberg, and elsewhere, and of the raising of the Scottish Horse and the work of that distinguished regiment at Bakenlaagte and MoedwiL It is a record which many soldiers will be glad to possess. The last aim of the work is to provide biographies of the chief soldiers and sailors whom Perthshire has produced. Of -them all, Montrose is by far the greatest. The man who impressed Cardinal Betz as the nearest among the moderns
to one of Plutarch's heroes has found a sympathetic biographer in Miss Hope, who contributes this chapter. He is certainly the greatest Scottish soldier who ever fought in his own country, and perhaps of all his countrymen came closest to the highest order of military talent. It is strange that a warlike race which has produced so many soldiers has produced no one who stands indisputably in the front rank. We confess to having found the short biographies in the volume of great interest,—an interest increased by the admirable portraits which accompany them. After Montrose, the best soldier is Lord George Murray, who spent his talents in a thankless service. Lord Lynedoch, the husband of the beautiful lady whom Gaineborough painted, and famous for his exploits at Barossa, is one of the few instances of a man who entered the Service late in life—he was forty-five—and yet reached high command. Sir David Baird and Sir George Murray were both of Strathearn ; and Sir James Hope Grant, of Mutiny fame, came from Perthshire. Two famous Admirals, Duncan and Keith, were also of Perthshire stock, so that the senior Service is well represented. Lady Tullibardine has laid her county under a deep obligation. The book is a compilation, but, unlike most compilations, it is scholarly, interesting, and inspired with a single purpose. As we have said, we would gladly see its precedent followed.
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