Auld Dubrach
His Majesty The King's Oldest Enemy
(by Eric Wm. Walker)
This is a story of part of the lifetime of Peter Grant, a Highlander born in the small farm croft of Duhbrach, near the village of Braemar at the western end of Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Deeside is well known as being the area where our Royal Family have had their holiday home at Balmoral Castle since the days of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. It is a beautiful valley with mountains and forests on either side of the River Dee, set amongst the mountains of the Cairngorms, travelling West.from Aberdeen you pass through many small towns and villages. Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil, Aboyne, Ballater, the small hamlet of Crathie where the Royal Family worship when they are staying at their favourite highland home amidst wild scenic beauty on Balmoral Estate, overlooked by the famous mountain Lochnagar with natural beauty for miles around. Fifteen miles farther west is the popular village of Braemar, set in lovely highland scenery and here the road leaves the Deeside and continues south through beautiful mountains via the Devil's Elbow with it's popular ski centre and onwards south through beautiful mountainous countryside and many interesting Highland towns and villages.
However, we must return to Braemar on Deeside. Braemar is a lovely place famous, not only for it's annual Royal Highland Games but also for it's association with Robert Louis Stephenson who wrote part of his famous tale "Treasure Island" there. The house in the village still stands. Other interests are it's connections with military history and it's connections with the Jacobite Rebellions. Braemar Castle stands only a short distance from the village and it is near here, in the old cemetery where Peter Grant was laid to rest having attained the great age of one hundred and ten years. We shall return to Braemar later, but first the story of his part in "Jacobite Uprising" and his time spent living beside Glen Lethnot, in Angus.
Peter Grant was born as a crofters son in the highland home of Dubbrach near Braemar and was only in his first year at the time of the 1715 Jacobite Rising which ended in failure, as had other attempts to put the Stuart Kings back on the throne after the removal of James the Second in 1688. Various attempts were made by Jacobite (Latin for James) supporters and all had ended in failure.
The Stuart Kings believed themselves omnipotent and answerable only to God. Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the grandson of the exiled King James landed on Scottish shores at Glen Finnan, Loch Shiel. He, along with his supporters, raised an army of Jacobite sympathisers, mainly, at first, from the Catholic families and Highland Clans and set out on a mission to replace the Hanoverian monarch George the 2nd who sat on the throne of Great Britain with his his own father, "The King Over The Water". The mission was doomed to fail from the start and after various battles with the Jacobites advancing south into England they eventually turned back at Derby. The issue was settled by the great Battle of Culloden near Inverness on Wednesday 16th of April 1746. The Clans were defeated and many died or were taken prisoner. Many were executed or transported to the New World. Others went into hiding and a price was put on their heads. Peter Grant was one of those who had escaped and this his story.
Peter Grant ,whom we shall now refer to as Dubrach (the place on a hillock of wild ferns), joined The Monaltrie's and Balmoral regiment of the Jacobite Army whose Commanders were Lieutenants Francis Farquharson of Monaltrie and James Farquharson of Balmoral. This regiment was composed of 2 Colonels; 8 Captains; 8 Lieutenants and Sub. Lieutenants; 13 Ensigns; 1Chaplain; 1 Sergeant Major, Grant,Peter of Dubrach of Braemar (last survivor of the Jacobite troops who fought at Culloden Moor); 30 Other Ranks.
Dubrach's service record gives him as having taken part in various engagements with the English and Hanoverians and English Troops and having been decorated for bravery at the battle of Prestonpans. He was taken prisoner at Culloden after the battle and transported to the military prison in Carlisle in England from where he escaped. Dubrach made his way back to Scotland and there is no record of him ever having been recaptured, although there was a price on his head. He married a Mary Cummings, many years his junior, and they had one son, a hill crofter, and one daughter, Anne. The family eventually lived on a small hill croft at Westside, Near Braco, Glen Lethnot, by Brechin. His daughter later moved a few miles down the glen to the hamlet of Lethnot.
No doubt Dubrach had to lie low for many years after the Uprising (otherwise known as the Jacobite Rebellion) as there were many English and Hanoverian and Scottish Highland Regimental troops scouring the towns and countryside for adherents to the Stuart cause. Many were taken from the Monaltrie's and Balmoral regiments and mostly transported to the Americas.
There were not just supporters of the Jacobite cause in this or other parts of Scotland. In Glen Lethnot there is a memorial stone praising the English/Hanoverian rulers.
For a long cime Dubrach lived with his son and family in the small croft of Westside near the hill farm of Braco in the fastness of Glen Lethnot while the troops of "Butcher" Cumberland scoured the mountains and glens. Many were taken prisoner, especially from the Forfashire (now Angus) Regiment or, Lord Ogilvy's Regiment, the local regiment, led by Lord David Ogilvy of Airlie, Kirriemuir, who escaped to France. Many of the men who served in this regiment came from Brechin and District and I shall list their names and.also their sentences as an addendum, as many were transported to the Americas and it may be of interest to ancestors having the same names.
One such person was Peter Logie of Tigerton of Menmuir near Brechin. Peter was a tailor by trade and was unfortunate to have a deformed, or club foot. This did not prevent him volunteering to support the cause of the Stuart's. On being arrested and taken to prison in Brechin, one of the questions he was asked was "What was your position and duties while serving the Rebel cause?". Peter smiled and after glancing down at his deformed foot which had caused him difficulty in walking all his life, said, "I had the honour and pleasure of being His Royal Highness' Dancing Teacher". This humorous reply greatly amused his interrogators so much that Peter Logie was released and returned to his home in Menmuir.
Returning to Dubrach, still in hiding in Glen Lethnot, it appears that he,was safe from the searching parties of the troops of George II, and, although the area for miles around the local people were a mixture of suppoters of the Jacobite cause and those who were loyal to the ruling Monarch, not one person betrayed him although most were poor and the rewards offered for information were high.
Dubrach lived at the small sheiling (highland cottage) of Westside by the hill farm of Braco along with his wife Mary Cummings, his son, and his daughter Anne. His wife Mary also hailed from the Braemar district and was many years his junior. Dubrach, having been a tailor to trade is said to have made his future wife's christening bonnet after her birth in Braemar. In the Old Churchyard of Navar near Lethnot lie the remains of Dubrach's wife Mary and his daughter who never married. The old church is ruinous and few memorial stones are still standing.
In the summer of 1820, two rich gentlemen were walking in Glen Lethnot hills near Braco and met with Dubrach by chance and were astonished to see and talk to a man who had survived five score winters, as a Jacobite survivor of the 1745 Uprising and still strong and in good health. They were invited to enter his highland cottage, where he recalled the events of his youth and his experiences and his battle experiences as a soldier in the army of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie", son of the claimant to the British Throne, James III. Old Dubrach even instructed the gentlemen in the use of the broadsword. Their delight in meeting the partriarch was so great that they decided to do something to add to his comfort in his great age. A petition was laid before the King via Lord Panmure of Brechin Castle and George II was greatly pleased to award Dubrach an annual pension of fifty Guineas per year. This was a large sum of money in 1820 as many of the people worked for only a roof over their head and a diet of mainly meal and milk with, possibly a wild rabbit for the pot. The standard wage around 1820 was only around the equivelant of forty to fifty pence per week for a worker on a farm. It is written that Peter Grant (Dubrach) was actually driven to Edinburgh to be presented to His Majesty as "The King's Oldest Enemy" and, asked if he still felt loyal to the Stuart Cause, replied, "Yes Sir and I would be ready to give my support again, if needs be".
N.B. The father of Charles Edward Stuart was James Francis Edward 1688-1766. Prince Of Wales and Chevalier de St. George, also known as "The Old Pretender": His wedding to16 year old Clementina Sobieski, granddaughter of the King of Poland in 1719, resulted in the birth of Charles Edward 'The Young Pretender" in 1720. Pretender, comes from the French word pritendea, meaning claimant.
There is a carved stone in the churchyard of Lethnot and Navar, commemorating Peter Grant, the Old Rebel Dubrach and the lives of his wife Margaret and their daughter Anne.
Peter Grant returned to his native Braemar where he lived for only a short time. He died there on February 12th 1824 having acheived the great age of one hundred and ten years. Over three hundred people attended his funeral. Three highland pipers played the Jacobite tune "Wha Widna Fecht Fer Charlie" (Who Would Not Fight For Charlie) and his funeral proceeded to the cemetery of Invercauld beside the ancient Braemar Castle. A stone tablet was erected over his resting place and is suitably inscribed. The old, loyal Jacobite was at peace. He had kept faith with those whom he thought were his rightful Monarchs all of his life, a hero and man of honour to the last.
After Dubrach's death, intercession was made on behalf of his unmarried daughter Annie who was then above sixty years and dwelt in Navar, and she was succesful in getting her father's pension continued to herself for the rest of her life. Lord Panmure, then the Honourable William Maule, had a cottage built for her near the Bridge of Lethnot, where she died in 1860. Many curious stories are told of her "Hieland Pride". Having lived on the charity of the local parishioners previous to the above change in circumstances, she now termed herself "Lady Anne" and said she was now at a loss to find companions suitable to her station. "There's Naebody", she said on her arrival at the new cottage, but the Minister's Folks near me, that's worth mindin', and also, it is sair against my will. I doubt I will have tae mak them a' kind o' cronies" (nodding acquaintances).
The copy of the drawing of Old Dubrach was done before Colvin Smith completed the painting of the old warrior in oils, complete with tartan plaid, trews (trousers) and highland broadsword. Dubrach lived for five days in the house of Mr. John Chalmers, a joiner near the Artist's large home in Pearse Street, Brechin. Colvin Smith worked for quite some time to complete the colour. portrait and Dubrach had returned before this to his home in Glen Lethnot. The artist spent most of his time in Edinburgh and painted many famous portraits and pictures, amongst them being three portraits of the famous writer and poet Sir Walter Scott. His home in Brechin was mainly used as a holiday home where he could enjoy his favourite pastime of running his hunting hounds.
Another portrait was painted of Dubrach and hung for many years along with with others of eminent Brechiner's and views of the surroundings. They were last heard of in St Drostan's House in 1870 but there is now no knowledge of their whereabouts or if they even still exist.
This being near the year 2000 and the Millenium celebrations are soon to be held, I thought that a mention of the local men who served in the Forfarshire (Lord Ogilvy's) Regiment would be a fitting tribute to those who followed "Bonnie Prince Charlie" even although it was a lost cause.
The Forfarhire (Angus) Regiment, Lord Ogilvy's, had 749 Officers and men on it's Muster Roll. Some were killed in action at Culloden and elsewhere. Some were taken prisoner and transported and sent to the Americas and others were pardoned. They fought in different engagements and many of the men were from Brechin. My intention is to record the names and other details of those men in a future article. Many who were transported for life must have descendants overseas who would be interested in the history of their forefathers. Anyone with further information please contact me. Their service to their country in what they believed was a rightful cause should be known.
I am now about to journey up into the glens and Grampian mountains and photograph the remains of the homes and the areas where Dubrach and his family lived for many years. Today is sunny and cold and the Glens should be looking their best. Hopefully the red deer herds will be down in Glen Lethnot.
