CLAVERHOUSE.*
Tux modern method of historical research will repatch many a broken reputation. History and fiction alike have been built up rather upon superstitions than upon facts. Most eminent men have stood in the eye of posterity rather for some abstract quality than for themselves, and in order to give verisimilitude to this quality, the old-fashioned historians have never scrupled to suppress, or even to invent. John Graham of Claverhouse, for instance, has for two hundred years been taken as a model of ferocity. His nickname- Bluidy Clavers—was enough to condemn him; and as the other side were more eloquent in print than his own supporters, it was easy for them to send him down the ages in the guise of a monster. The exaggerations of Peden lost nothing when they were handled by Lord Macaulay ; and the guilt of Clavers seemed so certain that even Sir Walter Scott, who was con- scious of his heroism, and who would have gladly put the best construction on his exploits, admitted his cruelty, and charged him " with the disregard of the rights of his fellow-subjects." Facts, however, are worth more than opinions, and while Mr. Terry never writes as a partisan, he has no difficulty in defending Claverhouse from the worst of tilt charges made against him.
Wodrow, Defoe, and the reckless writers who have taken / their facts ready-made from these masters of prejudice have charged Claverhouse with wholesale and superfluous murders. He has been pictured as a handsome, insolent Nero, most
• John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee. By Marks Sanford Term M.A. London i A. Constable and Co. [12s. 6d. net.)
energetic when he was spilling the blood of innocent men, and putting to death the simple heroes whose only crime it was to worship God in their own way. Mr. Terry has put an end for ever to this legend. "Every charge against Clever- house," says he, "culled from every source of authority, has been examined, and the result is as follows : In the exercise of the plenary power of life and death vested in him he took two lives and no more. In regard to one of them—John Brown of Priesthill—the evidence is positive to the fact that his victim was lawfully, though summarily, executed. In regard to the second—Matthew Meikleworth—the evidence, though less clear, weighs to the conclusion that Claverhouse took a he legally forfeit for refusal to accept the test of loyalty, which the Government, in the interest of public order and safety, thought fit to require."
For ourselves, our sympathies are with the Whigs and Covenanters, for, in spite of their narrowness and fanaticism, we hold that theirs was the cause of civil and religious freedom, and that their opponents stood for principles of government which, if victorious, would have ruined these islands, and have subjected their inhabitants to a system of oppression which would have rendered them for generations incapable of just, free, and popular government. But because we hate and despise the sullen tyranny of Charles and James we must not fail to be just to men like Dundee, and to recognise that in the heat of party strife they have been subjected to unfair and exaggerated charges. We are not able to accept all Mr. Terry's apologies for Claverhouse, but we think that on the whole he has vindicated the character of a gallant and high-minded soldier.
It is not a pleasant duty for a soldier to suppress rebellion, and Claverhouse's campaign in the South-West of Scotland was not the best opportunity that a brave man could have found for distinction. But it was not for him to question the wisdom of those from whom he received his orders. At that time he was a soldier, and not a politician. Whatever their private virtues may have been, and however much we may sympathise with the political and religious aims of the Covenanters—and such sympathy we feel most strongly —they were in law undoubtedly rebels. Had they been successful, they would not have spared their opponents. At Drumclog, it is true, the Covenanters put their opponents to the rout; but at Bothwell Bridge the fortune of war favoured the other side ; and since both rebel and Royalist were intent to win the victory, we should probably have heard no word of Claverhouse's supposed cruelty had not Wodrow and Peden been more zealous for their cause than careful of the truth. However, Claverhouse had other thoughts in his head than how best to punish the Covenanters. In 1680 he desired above all things to marry Helen Graham, and to succeed at last to the earldom of Menteith. There were many rivals for the lady's hand, among them the young Marquis of Montrose ; but Claverhouse did not easily accept defeat, and he pressed his suit so bard that Lady Graham declared her- self willing to waive the propositions of two other suitors and to accept him. The marriage, however, did not come off, and aaverhouse was no doubt easily consoled. Though before his wooing was over he had vowed that he was ready to take Helen Graham "in her smock," it was prudence rather than Jove which drew him to her at first, and in his second wooing he must have been inspired by affection alone. For there were many reasons why he should not have married Jean Cochrane, who came of a Whig family, and whose uncle had found safety in flight after the Rye House plot. As Mr. Terry points out, Claverhouse was officially sifting the• evidence against the uncle on the eve of his marriage to the niece. In this alliance, then, there is no suspicion either of self-interest or of intolerance, and it is to the credit of both Claverhouse and his wife that a marriage which for the moment wrecked his fortunes and excluded him from the Privy Council was nevertheless a happy one.
But it was at the end of his life that Claverhouse scaled the height of glory. Created Viscount of Dundee by James II. shortly before the King's flight, he espoused the losing cause with characteristic energy and candour. He made no attempt to conceal from William III. what were his true sympathies. He employed Burnet "to carry messages from him to the King, to know what security he might expect, if he should go and live in Scotland without owning his government. The King said, if he would live peaceably and at home, he would protect him. To this he answered, that, unless he were forced to it, he would live quietly:" And
doubtless, if he had not been forced, he would have kept his
word, and left the new dynasty undisturbed. But the Con- vention, by declaring him "fugitive and a ,rebel," drove him
prematurely into revolt, and henceforth he fought for James II., whom he believed to be his rightful King, with a bravery and disinterestedness worthy a better master. .His
march through the Highlands in the track of . Montrose is an adventure which has the true smack of romance. He roused the clans to enthusiasm, and assembled an army, whose fidelity should have ensured its triumph. "On the 25th of May," writes Mr. Terry, "Dundee reviewed his host on the plain of Mucamir. Glengarry, beading three hundred of his Clan, led the van. His brother followed with one hundred more. Red striped plaids, a sword, spear, and embossed shields were the Clan's accoutrements. Then came one hundred Macdonalds of Glencoe, Titanic of mould, giant- like in strength. Their fated chief, Alastair Macdonald, led them, fierce of mien, his beard parting to the breeze, towering above the line." Then came Clanranald with his whole clan, Keppoch and his twin brothers, Sir Ewen Camerctn, leading a thousand of his name, with many cadets of his house. The list, indeed, is a long one, and has about it the true epic ring. Thus, wherever Dundee went, there followed in his train the bravest of the Highlanders, and had their leader but survived the victory of Killiecrankie, the course of history might have been changed. Mackay, who was utterly defeated, led what was left of his army across the Garry in full flight. Meanwhile, Dundee had received a fatal wound. "He had charged at the head of his handful of horse," writes Mr. Terry. "Dunfermline saw him as they galloped into the battle smoke, waving on his men, exultant of victory. Down- ward past Urrard the breathless gallop continued, but Dundee no longer headed it. The last desperate volley of Mackay's own regiment before it fled, brought him reeling from the saddle. They found him dying when the night had settled down over the gory field. He asked how the day went. Well for the King ; but I am sorry for your lord- ship,' was the answer. "Tie the less matter for me,' he replied, seeing the day goes well for my master.'" Properly enough, Highland plaids were his winding-sheet, and they buried him at Blair. He freely gave his life for the cause in which he believed, and he should be remembered rather as the upholder of impossible ideals than as a monster of cruelty. Tradition has given him two nicknames, and of these it is "Bonnie Dundee," not " Bluidy Clavers," which his heroism earned, and which his handsome face and courtly character deserved. His was not the right side, and he was the instru- ment of a ruthless and tyrannical Sovereign, but we must remember, while condemning the Stuarts, that their opponents had not a monopoly of virtues, and that their adherents were often worthy and high-minded men.
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