Mackay did not attempt to follow him. At such a game of
hide-and-seek he saw that his men were no match for the active
light-marching Highlanders. He accordingly put garrisons into certain
fortified parts of Invernessshire and Perthshire, sent the rest into
quarters, and himself repaired to Edinburgh.
From the middle of June to the end of July the war therefore languished.
But Dundee was not idle. The arts of diplomacy were as familiar to him
as the arts of war. He still maintained an active correspondence with
the neutral chiefs, and kept Melfort well informed of all he had done
and proposed to do for his master's service. I shall conclude this
chapter with an extract from the last despatch he sent to Ireland. It is
long; but it gives so graphic an account of his proceedings since the
muster at Lochaber, of the state of the country, and the relative
positions and prospects of the two parties, that its length may be
excused. It also shows, what one would not perhaps have otherwise
surmised, that the writer had some little touch of humour. The letter is
dated from Moy, in Lochaber, June 27th, 1689. I omit the first part,
which seems to refer to some complaints Melfort had made of his having
been ill-spoken of by Dundee.
"My Lord, I have given the King, in general, account of
things here; but to you I will be more particular.
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