Sir,
I have now before me your letters of the 30th past and the 6th and 10th inst. I hope the Major is with you before now. I'm glad to hear his Company is in such forwardness. I wrote long ago to Achalader to help him what he could, and I wrote the same two posts ago to Carwhin. I have heard (and also believ it is true) that the D. of Ar. had insisted that no men should be raised in his countrey. I was also told that I had declared the same as to Breadalbane: I did indeed say that I believed few men would be got in Breadalbane because I had discouraged idle people, and most men there are employed; and indeed I would not chuse to have the country stript of men, so as to be defenceless in case of any future troubles, which I hope will never happen, but I cannot forget the year 1745.
I have now before me your letters of the 30th past and the 6th and 10th inst. I hope the Major is with you before now. I'm glad to hear his Company is in such forwardness. I wrote long ago to Achalader to help him what he could, and I wrote the same two posts ago to Carwhin. I have heard (and also believ it is true) that the D. of Ar. had insisted that no men should be raised in his countrey. I was also told that I had declared the same as to Breadalbane: I did indeed say that I believed few men would be got in Breadalbane because I had discouraged idle people, and most men there are employed; and indeed I would not chuse to have the country stript of men, so as to be defenceless in case of any future troubles, which I hope will never happen, but I cannot forget the year 1745.
I heard it said a fortnight ago that Major Clephane had raised 70 men in four days: and that Capt. Campbell (brother of Capt. Dougal) had got 70 men in Glasgow. I am curious to know if it is true.
The significance of this [extract] letter cannot be overstated; this is the first instance where we've identified the possibility of recruiting efforts taking place in the Glasgow area. The possibility of local surrounding townsmen being sent to Glasgow waiting for the remaining companies of the regiment to arrive from the north must also be considered.
Major James Clephane was appointed senior Major in Fraser's Highlanders, commission dated 5th January 1757: he was probably recruiting in anticipation of that regiment being raised 1400 strong. The Hon. Simon Fraser of Lovat raised 800 men in a few weeks; and others, including the officers of the regiment, added more than 700, so that they actually landed at Halifax in America in August 1757.
The Capt. Campbell, brother of Capt. Dougal, mentioned may be Capt. John C. of Ballimore, appointed to the same regiment on the same date. Archibald Campbell, son of Glenlyon, was one of the Lieutenants. He was wounded at The Battle on the Plains of Abraham, 1759.
Source:
Source:
Gaelic Society. Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, 1898-99, Vol. XXIII [Inverness, 1902].
© Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017.
© Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017.
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