Unknown (63 page)

The
Covenant force was some
3000
infantry
and over
600
horse
- much of the latter Gordon.

This
was significant news. Balfour of Burleigh was the man who had acted
President of the parliament which had sought to try Montrose, in King
Charles's presence, a creature of Argyll's. The Graham had no high
opinion of him as a soldier or anything else. Fraser and Frendraught
had not proved themselves masters of the military art at Turiff or
thereafter - and they were at permanent feud with the Gordons. Any
army, with such leadership, was unlikely to be at its best -
especially with the man who controlled most of the cavalry already
harbouring doubts and resentment.

The
Master of Maddertys tidings clinched the matter. He brought word that
Argyll himself, with
2500
foot
and over
1500
cavalry,
plus a number of large cannon, was only three or four days' march
behind, at the western end of Strathmore and thought to be going to
advance up Glen Shee from Blairgowrie and into Deeside from the west.
Fie added that Stewart of Ardvorlich had fled to join Argyll, and now
was being feted as a hero for his slaying of one of Montrose's
principal lieutenants. Indeed, Argyll was offering
£12,000
Scots
to anyone who would do the same for Montrose, payment to be made
on production of the Graham's head at the Mercat Cross of Edinburgh.

Montrose,
forcing himself to swallow meantime his anger and revulsion at this
second part of the report, concentrated on the more important item -
Argyll's
1500
cavalry
and large cannon. Here was menace indeed. He must not allow these to
get within striking distance of his own force, or all would be lost
Nor, if he could help it, must he allow Argyll's army to join up with
Balfour of Burleigh's, or to sandwich his own between them. Aberdeen
city, unlike Dundee, had been on the side of the King, and
anti-Covenant, formerly. Argyll would change all that

So
James Graham altered his plans there and then. Instead of going
recruiting in the Gordon lands of Central Aberdeenshire, he
would seek to strike an immediate blow at Burleigh, the weakest link
in the chain threatening to encircle him - even though it seemed to
be considerably stronger than his own force. Aberdeen must be shown,
at all costs, that the King's cause was far from lost. After a word
with Alastair, he ordered a change of direction in the march, to the
east

They
crossed the Dee, near Durris, where there was a midstream island
which permitted fording. There was no sign of opposition. They camped
for the night at Crathes, to whose hospitable castle Sir Thomas
Burnett of Leys made Montrose welcome. He was that rare character for
Scotland, a quiet inoffensive man, who took no sides; and although he
was a good Protestant and Presbyterian, he acknowledged his duty to
his monarch. He had no armed men, but he offered the King's
Lieutenant a sum of money - which Montrose courteously refused.
He said that Aberdeen, fifteen miles away, was in a great stir,
having heard that Argyll was coming, and was tending to believe that
the Covenant must win.

By
sunrise they were on their way down Deeside, on the north bank.
Montrose, held back by the infantry and slow-moving cannon, sent his
few cavalry ahead now, with orders not only to scout and clear the
way, but to secure the vital Bridge of Dee. He had vivid memories of
its military significance heretofore. Riders presently came back
to declare that they were not meeting with resistance, but that their
arrival was expected. Not that they could have hoped for surprise,
with such slow-moving force. Balfour of Burleigh had moved out from
the city and taken up a strong defensive situation on the slopes of a
gentle hill, between the How Bum and the Craibstone, just two miles
south-west of the centre of Aberdeen, the Covenant forces flanking a
climbing lane, with houses and walled gardens and orchards on either
side. These were being held by parties of forward troops, so that the
entire position resembled a quite extensive and elaborate
strong-point. Balfour was known to have some heavy cannon from the
citadel, and had high ground on which to site them. This could be no
easy contest. He had made no move to hold the Bridge of Dee, however,
which had fallen without trouble.

Montrose's
instinct was to start his attack with the least possible delay,
giving Balfour no time to lay plans and perhaps call up
reinforcements from the city. The man was no firebrand, deliberate,
stolid, the sort to be put off by his stride by sudden, swift,
unexpected moves. Also, there was Argyll pressing up behind from the
south-west. But James Graham, despite the black mood which had
gripped him since the terrible revelation of his enemies' attitude in
the 'Jesus and no quarter' slogan, deepened by the murder of Kilpont
and the murderer's welcome from the other side, would not abandon his
principles. Aberdeen must be given the opportunity to declare for the
monarch. He was in Scotland not merely as the King's General but
as Viceroy. His first duty was to win over his fellow citizens to
their due allegiance rather than to make war on them. Therefore he
disappointed Alastair MacDonald, Black Pate and other impatient
warriors - including the Lord Graham, aide-decamp - by ordering
camp to be set up on the other side of the shallow valley, in view of
the enemy but just out of cannon range, between the Lower Justice
Mills and the Ferry Hill Mills. It was late in the day, anyway, with
thirteen miles covered since Grathes.

Now
that hostilities were imminent, he rather wished that he did not have
Johnnie with him, hero-worshipping, itching for splendid action.

In
the morning, he sent Sir William Rollo, under a white flag and with
an Irish drummer-boy of Colkitto's to beat a rat-tatting way for him,
through the enemy lines and into the city, to proclaim the King's
greetings to his royal burgh of Aberdeen, to require its due
allegiance and support for the King's forces, and to expel any
obdurate enemies of His Grace and minions of the rebellious Marquis
of Argyll. If, however, the magistrates and townsfolk refused loyally
so to do, Rollo was to inform them to send out of the city to a place
of safety all old and infirm, all women and children -for the Marquis
of Montrose, the King's Lieutenant, would surely put such rebellious
and disloyal town to the sack, and those who remained could expect no
quarter, as the Covenant leaders were proclaiming no quarter to the
royal forces. He hoped that this would have the desired effect of
avoiding bloodshed and preventing the citizens from aiding
Balfour.

While
they awaited the return of this embassage, Montrose deployed his
force. As at Tippermuir, he gave the centre to Colkitto's Irish and
Islesmen. The right wing, of Perthshire men, he placed under a
veteran of the foreign wars, Colonel James Hay, with Rollo to aid him
if he returned empty-handed. And the left, taking a chance, he
allotted to Nathaniel Gordon who, coming from the country, knew the
area like the palm of his hand, having conducted nefarious private
ploys of his own hereabouts. The few cavalry he split into two
groups, stiffened with Kilpont's bowmen and some lightly armed
Highlanders, who could race with the horses, clutching a stirrup, an
employment only for the boldest and most agile, but which could yield
notable dividends.

Montrose
was returning from making these dispositions, almost at noon, when he
heard uproar in the main camp, the Irish in particular yelling in
anger. Rollo was back - but alone. The magistrates and leaders of
Aberdeen had received him warily, coolly, and returned an equivocal
answer to the Lieutenant-General's summons, committing themselves to
nothing and most evidently playing for time. They sought elucidation
of the Lord Marquis's terms, particularly his threats of no quarter.

They
gave the drummer-boy a silver piece and sent Rollo away. And as they
had come back, fire had been opened upon them, flag of truce or none,
and the boy had been killed.

The
news touched off a highly unusual outburst of sheer fury in Montrose.
He was not a man of violent passions, and though he could be roused,
was able to keep his temper under stem control. But now he was
suddenly and excessively enraged. Or, perhaps, it was no so
sudden, in fact, and the anger had been boiling up in him for days -
at the savage hatred of his opponents, the price on his head, the
shocking slaying of his friend, the reluctance of those who should be
aiding him to rise in support of their King. Also, there is no doubt
that the fact of the drummer-boy being of a like age and size to
Johnnie affected him strongly. He burst out in a storm of cursing -
and when an outraged and red-faced Colkitto came demanding vengeance
for the lad and declaring that he could not promise to control
his Irish if any order was given to spare Aberdeen, as Perth had been
spared, the Graham grimly assured him that no such order would be
forthcoming. If they won this battle, Aberdeen should pay the price.
He sent Alastair back to his post, and commanded the trumpets to
sound for action.

Although
very much the weaker force, it was the royalists who now set the
pace. Colkitto was ordered to move individual parties forward,
to clear the houses and gardens flanking the lane, which must
inevitably be the main axis of advance - fairly certain that Balfour
would not train his cannon on this area where his own people were
hiding. Also, because of the slope of hill, it would be difficult to
depress the gun-barrels sufficiently; this must be a central point in
Montrose's strategy.

The
clearing of the orchards and houses was achieved without too much
difficulty, although it took time, place by place. Prisoners sent
back informed that the Gordon cavalry on the enemy left was under the
command of young Lord Lewis, his elder brother having apparently
returned to Strathbogie in disgust with die ministers who dominated
the Covenant host. Frascr and Frendraught were on the same left wing,
with the infantry; while the right was commanded by Sir William
Forbes of Craigievar, a man of some stature. The main body, in the
centre, was under Balfour of Burleigh himself, with the cannon.

Presently,
there was a counter-attack on the enemy left A sudden wild charge
down the hill by Gordon cavalry led by Lord Lewis took everybody by
surprise, since it was unsupported by any other, infantry or
artillery, and was not in great force. More surprising still, this
attack was not pressed home against Hay's and Rollo's Perth men, the
Gordons dashing only to within range, discharging their pistols, and
then wheeling round in fine style and galloping back. When this odd
performance was followed by a tentative advance of left-wing infantry
which sent forward relays of ranks, each to fire muskets and then
hastily retire out of range again, Montrose recognised that it could
only mean one thing - a distraction. The enemy centre was strongly
dug-in, and therefore unlikely to move out at this stage; so it must
be on the right. Hastily he sent word to Nathaniel Gordon to be ready
for surprises, and also to Rollo to be prepared to switch to their
aid.

It
was only just in time. Down a sunken and hidden lane between the
Upper and Lower Justice Mills, well to the west, some
400
Covenant
foot and
100
horse
suddenly erupted upon the royalist left flank. Nathaniel Gordon, who
had been raring to make some spectacular advance in typical dashing
fashion was hardly in a posture or frame of mind for dogged and
effective defence. Recognising the danger, Montrose sent in half of
his cavalry in support, and called Rollo's foot to make swift
transfer behind the centre lines.

It
was then that Sir William Forbes charged, with the main body of
Covenant horse on the now cavalry-denuded royalist centre, a
full-scale and determined attack and no mere demonstration like Lewis
Gordon's. It was as well that Colkitto's men were veterans, the
survivors of long and bloody campaigning; other infantry might well
have panicked. But they had experienced cavalry charges before this.
They stood their ground, waiting to fire their muskets until the
horsemen were almost upon them - and then shooting at the mounts
rather than the riders. Hastily darting aside, to open ranks and let
the horsemen through, dodging swinging sabres, they closed in again
behind, and turned to attack the cavalry's rear. It took strong
nerves - but whatever else these kerns and Islesmen lacked, they had
these. Forbes's horse, disorganised, suffering heavy casualties, and
now detached from their own forces, were then faced with a furious
charge by the other half of Montrose's scanty cavalry, under
Madderty, Black Pate and Dupplin. They broke and scattered.