t in Drumbenan, under the second and third Dukes
of Gordon, had been '_out_' in the '45--or the _fufteen, or both_--and
was a great favourite of his respective landlords. One day, having
attended the young Lady Susan Gordon (afterwards Duchess of Manchester)
to the 'Chapel' at Huntly, David, perceiving that her ladyship had
neither hassock nor carpet to protect her garments from the earthen
floor, respectfully spread his plaid for the young lady to kneel upon,
and the service proceeded; but when the prayer for the King and Royal
Family was commenced, David, _sans ceremonie_, drew, or rather
'twitched,' the plaid from under the knees of the astonished young lady,
exclaiming, _not_ sotto voce, 'The deil a ane shall pray for _them_ on
_my_ plaid!'"

I have a still more pungent demonstration against praying for the king,
which a friend in Aberdeen assures me he received from the son of the
gentleman who _heard_ the protest. In the Episcopal Chapel in Aberdeen,
of which Primus _John_ Skinner was incumbent, they commenced praying in
the service for George III. immediately on the death of Prince Charles
Edward. On the first Sunday of the prayer being used, this gentleman's
father, walking home with a friend whom he knew to be an old and
determined Jacobite, said to him, "What do you think of that, Mr.----?"
The reply was, "Indeed, the less we say aboot that prayer the better."
But he was pushed for "further answer as to his own views and his own
ideas on the matter," so he came out with the declaration, "Weel, then,
I say this--they may pray the kenees[28] aff their breeks afore I join
in that prayer."

The following is a characteristic Jacobite story. It must have happened
shortly after 1745, when all manner of devices were fallen upon to
display Jacobitism, without committing the safety of the Jacobite, such
as having white knots on gowns; drinking, "The king, ye ken wha I mean;"
uttering the toast "The king," with much apparent loyalty, and passing
the glass over the water-jug, indicating the esoteric meaning of majesty
_beyond_ the sea,--etc. etc.; and various toasts, which were most
important matters in those times, and were often given as tests of
loyalty, or the reverse, according to the company in which they were
given. Miss Carnegy of Craigo, well known and still remembered amongst
the old Montrose ladies as an uncompromising Jacobite, had been vowing
that she would drink King James and his son in a company of staunc