y of any country, as the succession of
the Highland chiefs, and the long and uninterrupted sway which they held
over their followers.[83] The system of clanship gives all the romantic
interest which the Rebellions of 1715 and 1745 inspire;--it perfects a
picture which would only otherwise be a factious contention for power;
it was annihilated only after the last of the Stuarts had fled for ever
from the mountains of Scotland.

It was at the head of the clans that the Earl of Mar frequently placed
himself, at the battle of Sherriff Muir: he now welcomed their
chieftains to the field. Among these were General Hamilton, General
Gordon, Glengary, Campbell of Glendarvel, and the lairds of Auchterhouse
and Aldebar.

So great an assembly of those whom the Chevalier afterwards not inaptly
termed "little kings," was by no means unusual at that period. It was
the custom among the lords and chieftains in the Highlands to invite
their neighbours and vassals to a general rendezvous to chase the deer
upon the mountains, and after the diversion was over, to entertain the
persons of note in the castle hall. This expedient would, therefore,
have excited but little attention, had it not been for several years
the practice of the Jacobites to hold these hunting-parties annually, in
order to maintain the spirit of the association, which had been carried
on since the peace of Utrecht.

The halls of Kildrummie received the noblemen and chieftains that day
beneath its roof, and the Earl of Mar addressed his guests in a long,
premeditated harangue. He is described as having little pretension to
eloquence; but his hearers were probably not very fastidious judges, and
from the influence which the Earl acquired over those whom he led on to
the contest, it may be inferred that he understood well how to address
himself to the passions of a Highland audience.

At first the Earl was heard with distrust,--at least if we may credit
the account of one on whom, perhaps, too great a reliance has been
placed.[84]

"It is true, that at first," says Mr. Patten, "he gained little or no
credit among them, they suspecting some piece of policy in him to
ensnare them; but some were weak enough to suck in the poison, and
particularly some of those who were with him at his house, called
Brae-Mar. These, listening to him, embraced his project, and, as is
reported, engaged by oath to stand by him and one another, and to bring
over their friends and dependants t