order to
draw off the attention of the Duke of Argyle from the expedition to
Brunt Island.

The insurgents were now masters of the eastern coasts of Scotland from
Brunt Island to the Murray Frith, an extent of above one hundred and
sixty miles along the shore. On the western side, the Isle of Skye,
Lewis, and all the Hebrides were their own, besides the estates of the
Earl of Seaforth, Donald Mac Donald, and others of the clans. So that
from the mouth of the river Lochie to Faro-Head, all the coast of
Lochaber and Ross, even to the north-west point of Scotland, was theirs:
theirs, in short, was all the kingdom of Scotland north of the Forth,
except the remote counties of Caithness, Strathnaver and Sutherland
beyond Inverness, and that part of Argyleshire which runs north-west
into Lorn, and up to Lochaber, where Fort William continued in
possession of the Government.

The Earl of Mar had resolved to impose an assessment upon the large
extent of country under his sway, to raise money for the use of his
army. It was of course an unpopular, though doubtless a necessary
measure. The sum of twenty shillings sterling was to be paid by each
landholder upon every hundred pounds Scots of valued rent; and, if not
paid by a certain day, the tax was to be doubled. In levying this
assessment, the friends of the Government were far more severely treated
than those of the Chevalier; and the Presbyterian Ministers, who had
dared to raise their voices in their churches against the Pretender, as
they called the Chevalier, were commanded to be silent on that subject;
their houses were plundered, and many of them were driven by tyranny
from their homes.[103]

The northern clans were now on their march to join the camp at Perth.
First came the famous Laird of Mackintosh, better known as Brigadier
Mackintosh, chief of that numerous clan in Invernesshire. His regiment,
composed of five hundred men, whom he had persuaded to join in the
insurrection, was considered the best that the Earl of Mar could boast.
The Marquis of Huntley, with five hundred horse and two thousand foot,
next arrived; and the Earl Marischal shortly afterwards brought a
thousand men to the camp. But Lord Seaforth, afraid lest in his absence
the Earl of Sutherland should invade his country, was still absent; and
the anxiety of the Earl of Mar for his arrival is expressed in more than
one of his letters. The whole strength of the army amounted to sixteen
thousand seven h