Peremptorily  and  conclusively,  the  Anglicising
of  the  Clan  districts  was  pushed  forward,  with
what  results  Sir  Walter  Scott  (born  1771)  may  be
left  to  tell,  for  readers  interested,  through  the
pages  of  Waver  ley.
CHAPTER  VIII

RAISING  THE   STANDARD

"  Follow  thee  !    follow  thee  !    wha  wadna  follow  thee  ?

Lang  hast  thou  loved  us  and  trusted  us  fairly ;
Charlie,  Charlie,  wha  wadna  follow  thee,
King  o'  the  Highland  hearts,  bonnie  Prince  Charlie  ?  "

INTO  this  Scotland,  then,  came  Charles  Edward
Stuart,  in  the  summer  of  1745.  The  Highlanders
were  still  suffering  from  the  severe  measures
adopted  by  the  Government  after  the  '15.  At
that  time  an  Act  had  been  passed  depriving  them
of  their  arms.  Estates  and  leaders  in  the  rising
were  forfeited  and  proscribed  ;  garrisons  of  Eng-
lish soldiers  were  stationed  in  the  different  High-
land forts  ;  native  companies  of  men  favourable
to  the  established  Government  were  formed  ;  and
various  measures  for  weakening  the  power  of  the
chiefs  were  tried — measures  all  more  or  less
abortive.  Even  the  Disarming  Act  proved  practi-
cally a  dead  letter.  With  the  exception  of  the
Duke  of  Argyll's  clan,  not  a  single  tribe  had  been
effectually  stripped  of  their  weapons.  As  a  rule,
the  Government  got  the  worn-out,  old  arms,  while
those  that  were  serviceable  were  carefully  hidden
— kept  ready  for  future  use.
