proclaimed at the Cross of Edinburgh.
Well did the brave Highlanders indignantly demand, 'What did you
call us to arms for? Was it to run away? What did our own King
come for? Was it to see us butchered by hangmen?' There was a
fatuity that accompanied all their undertakings which neutralised
intrepidity, devotedness, and bravery which the annals of no
other people can exhibit, and paltry jealousies which stultified
exertions, which, independently of political results, astonished
Europe at large." [Bennetsfield MS.]
An Act of Parliament for disarming the Highlanders was passed in
1716, but in some cases to very little purpose for some of the most
disaffected clans were better armed than ever, although by the Act
the collectors of taxes were allowed to pay for the arms given
in, in no case were any delivered except those which were broken,
old, and unfit for use, and these were valued at prices far above
what they were really worth. Not only so, but a lively trade
in old arms was carried on with Holland and other Continental
countries, and these arms were sold to the commissioners as Highland
weapons, at exorbitant prices. General Wade afterwards found in
the possession of the Highlanders a large quantity of arms which
they obtained from the Spaniards who took part in the battle of
Glenshiel, and he computed that the Highlanders opposed to the
Government possessed at this time no less than five or six thousand
arms of various kinds.
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