QVI D ME LI VS BONITATE • ET 
 BE NEF IC ENT1A 
 
 THE 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS, 
 HISTORICAL S0GIET\1 
 
 FOUNDED AD. 179 1 
 — -h-h— — 
 FROM THE FUND 
 
 BEQUEATHED 
 
 By the Reverend 
 
 Robert Cassie Waters ton 
 
PUBLICATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY 
 
 • SECOND SERIES 
 
 VOL. 
 IX 
 
 LETTER-BOOK OF 
 BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 April 1915 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/letterbookofbailOOsteu 
 
COUNT MAIDA AND HIS SISTER MRS. FENWICK 
 
 By permission of the late Mrs. Henry Glassford Dell 
 from »iin:'titures in iter possession 
 
THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 OF INVERNESS 
 
 1715-1752 
 
 Edited by 
 WILLIAM MACKAY, LL.D. 
 
 EDINBURGH 
 
 Printed at the University Press by T. and A. Constable 
 for the Scottish History Society 
 
150 
 .S25 
 2yJL flM, 
 
 BOSTON COLLEGE LJBBARI 
 
 OCT 21. | 9? , 
 465063 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . vii 
 
 SELECTIONS FROM THE LETTER-BOOK . . 1 
 
 INDEX . . . . . .489 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 General Sir John Stuart (CWnt Maid a) and his 
 
 Sister Mrs. Fenwick .... Frontispiece 
 
 Bailie Steuart's Signature . . p. lx 
 
 Prospect of Inverness in 1725 . . at p. 1 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Inverness has from the earliest period of which we have 
 historical knowledge been the principal town in the terri- 
 tory which we now know as the Highlands. In the sixth 
 century it was the seat of Brude, the Pictish king, whose 
 sway extended from the Forth to the Orkneys, and at or 
 near it was the king's palace, to which St. Columba made 
 his memorable journey in 565. How long it had previously 
 been a royal residence it is hard to say. It is still more 
 difficult to conjecture at what time the community which 
 during the course of the ages developed into the burgh, 
 began to gather together. According to an ancient tradi- 
 tion, which is recorded in the histories of Boece and 
 Buchanan, the town was founded by King Ewin (Evenus), 
 who reigned before Julius Caesar landed in Britain. In a 
 petition presented in 1626 by the inhabitants to James 
 the Sixth, it is stated that the town's ' foundation was 
 long before the birth of Christ.' The tradition is, of 
 course, historically unreliable, but that a rude dun or 
 fort early crowned the summit of the naturally strong 
 Castle Hill (Tom a' Chaisteil), which rises abruptly from 
 the river Ness, and was isolated by the deep gulley now 
 occupied by Castle Street, and by the perhaps equally deep 
 pass (Am Beallach, the Balloch) which ran along the line 
 of the present View Place from the top of Castle Street 
 to the river, may be taken for granted ; and it may also 
 be assumed that, long before the time of Brude, a small 
 community gathered around this fort and gradually in- 
 creased, enjoying the fort's protection and the benefits of 
 its own more than ordinarily favourable geographical 
 
 vii 
 
viii LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 position at the crossing of the ancient trade routes from 
 the east to the west, and from the north to the south, and 
 in the immediate vicinity of the safe haven of Inverness 
 (Inbhir-Nis, the Mouth-of-the-Ness). Native traders — 
 Picts they were, speaking the Pictish branch of the Celtic 
 language, in the time of Brude and for centuries before 
 and after him — bought and sold within the narrow bounds 
 of the town which had thus gradually evolved itself, and 
 supplied the men of the Bens and the Glens with such wares 
 as were at their command, in exchange for the produce 
 of the country and the spoil of the chase. Gaels, or Scots 
 as they were then also called, came into the town from 
 Ireland, and from the Gaelic or Scotic kingdom of Dalriada 
 on the west coast of Scotland, between the sixth and 
 eighth centuries, as preachers and teachers of Christianity, 
 and at a later period as the result of the union of the 
 kingdoms of the Picts and the Scots ; and in the twelfth 
 century Flemings, Frisians, and Lowlanders joined the 
 community, much to the advantage of trade. These 
 strangers and their descendants, as well as settlers of later 
 periods, intermarried with the native race ; and the 
 population which thus arose was more Celtic than Saxon. 
 The first burgess on record — mentioned in a charter by 
 William the Lion to the town about 1200 — is a Saxon or 
 Norman bearing the name of Geoffrey Blund, and for 
 generations after his time the trade of the burgh was 
 mainly in the hands of merchants of alien origin. For a 
 long period the Saxon took more kindly to trade than the 
 Celt, whether Pict or Gael ; but the Celt's prejudice against 
 town life and commercial pursuits gradually wore away, 
 and the first burgess that appears in the records of the 
 Town Council is John M c Gillewe, a Celtic bailie whose 
 father was a burgess as early as 1521. 1 After M c Gillewe's 
 time Highlanders of position — small lairds and wadsetters, 
 
 1 See the Editor's Introduction to Records of Inverness (New Spalding Club, 
 1911). 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 IX 
 
 and sons of larger lairds — took to settling in the burgh 
 as merchants and lawyers, 1 and their numbers gradually 
 increased until in the beginning of the eighteenth century 
 almost every merchant was a Celt — even those of them 
 who bore southern names, such as Alves, Cuthbert, Inglis, 
 Hossack, and Chevis, being in blood largely Celtic. 
 
 Among the Highland gentlemen who thus settled in 
 Inverness was Alexander Steuart, of the family of Kin- 
 chardine in Strathspey, who began business there as a 
 merchant about 1670, and continued to trade until his 
 death on 22nd April 1720. To him was born, on 2nd 
 September 1676, a son John, the Bailie John Steuart 2 of 
 this volume. The barons of Kinchardine were of royal 
 descent, the first of them being Walter Stewart, son of 
 Alexander Stewart, the Wolf of Badenoch, who was a son 
 of King Robert the Second. Walter, who was knighted 
 for his valour at Harlaw, received from King Robert the 
 Third a charter of Kinchardine, which he and his descend- 
 ants continued to hold until 1661, when it was sold to the 
 Gordons. The eighth baron was also named Walter, and 
 from him was descended the Bailie, who was the son of 
 Alexander, son of Robert Og, son of Robert, son of Walter. 
 In his veins flowed not only royal blood, but also the 
 blood of the chiefs of Grant, Mackintosh, Macgregor, 
 Cameron, and Maclean. 
 
 The Bailie began business on his own account in Inver- 
 ness before 1700. His correspondence shows him to have 
 been a man of education and culture, well versed in 
 mercantile matters, and having a smattering of law. He 
 was married, first, to Marion, daughter of Bailie Robert 
 Rose of Merkinch, Inverness — of the family of Kilravock. 
 
 1 One of the Inverness lawyers in the Bailie's time was John Mackay, pro- 
 prietor of Achmonie in Glen Urquhart, the Editor's great-great-grandfather. 
 
 2 The Bailie always signs 'John Steuart ' ; and, although he is not so 
 consistent with others of the same name, the form 1 Steuart ' has in this 
 Introduction been adopted in the cases of his more immediate contemporary 
 kinsmen. 
 
x LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 She died early, and for his second wife he took Ann, 
 daughter of Norman Macleod of Drynoch in Skye, who 
 survived him. Through his own relatives and those of his 
 wives he could claim connection with many of the leading 
 families of Skye and the central Highlands ; and among 
 his customers were many ' cousins ' of position, including 
 Simon Lord Lovat, and the Chief of Macleod. For forty 
 years after 1700 he led a life of great activity : the present 
 volume does not give a tithe of the contents of his Letter- 
 Book, or rather, long series of letter-books. For years he 
 appeared to prosper, giving close attention to his mercantile 
 business and to his duties as factor on the Earl of Moray's 
 lordship of Petty. He served on the Town Council of 
 Inverness from 1703 to 1716. He was a magistrate of 
 the burgh from 1713 to 1715, and was ever afterwards 
 known as Bailie Steuart. He was of a speculative dis- 
 position and of a sanguine temperament, and he ventured 
 and trusted too much. The result was that, while other 
 Inverness merchants of his class made money and became 
 landed proprietors, he, who excelled them all in industry 
 and enterprise, died in poverty. 
 
 Bailie Steuart was a merchant in the larger sense of 
 the word, and not in the restricted Scottish sense of 
 shopkeeper. So far as the Letter-Book shows, he had no 
 shop, his business being mainly a counting-house one, 
 and such supplies as he from time to time kept in stock 
 being stored in his wine-cellars or in a building which he 
 calls his barn. Nothing came amiss to him, and for many 
 years he carried on a home and foreign trade of an exten- 
 sive and varied kind — as a rule by himself, but sometimes 
 in partnership with other merchants as joint adventurers. 
 Only a brief indication of the nature and scope of his 
 business can here be given. 
 
 He sometimes sends barley to the south of Scotland and 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xi 
 
 Holland, and oats to London, and on one occasion at 
 least to Italy ; but his great agricultural produce trade 
 was in oatmeal, which he purchased on the seaboard of 
 the Moray Firth and along the coast from Montrose on the 
 one hand to Thurso on the other, and shipped to the West 
 Coast and the Hebrides in large quantities. Among his 
 meal customers were the Hanoverian garrisons of Fort 
 William, Bernera in Glenelg, and Duart in Mull. He also 
 supplied the men who worked the lead-mines of Strontian 
 and Glenelg, as well as the proprietors of the Western High- 
 lands and Islands. To the West he as a rule sent the 
 meal by ship round the north of Scotland, but small 
 quantities for Fort William were sometimes forwarded 
 on horseback to the east end of Loch Ness, from where 
 it was taken by small boats or the Government frigate 
 which General Wade placed upon the loch to Kilchumein 
 (now Fort Augustus), whence it was conveyed on horse- 
 back to Inverlochy. In 1718 he sent 200 bolls from 
 Banffshire to Sir Robert Pollock, governor of Fort 
 William, 600 to Gairloch, and 700 to the Isle of Skye ; 
 and brought 500 to Inverness. For years thereafter he 
 continued to supply Fort William and the troops at 
 Bernera and Duart, and to meet the requirements of the 
 West Coast and the Isles. A few examples of his meal 
 transactions may be given. In 1718 he sells to 4 Lady 
 Kinlochmoidart ' — Margaret, daughter of John Cameron 
 of Lochiel, and wife of Ronald Macdonald of Kinloch- 
 moidart, who fought at Killicrankie and Sheriffmuir — 
 from 400 to 500 bolls ; and in 1729 he supplies her son, 
 Donald Macdonald of Kinlochmoidart, the hero of the 
 Forty-five who was executed at Carlisle, with 300 bolls. 
 In the same year he, in company with William Simpson, 
 merchant, Aberdeen, sends 2000 bolls to the West Coast, 
 and in 1729 1000 bolls to Stewart of Ardshiel, who some- 
 times acted as his agent and sometimes traded on his own 
 
xii LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 account, and, despite his Jacobitism, had many trans- 
 actions with the Fort William garrison and the Suinart 
 or Strontian 1 lead-mining company, in which General Wade 
 was a partner. In May 1726 he accepts an order from 
 the Laird of Macleod for 400 to 500 bolls ' to supply your 
 peoples ' in Skye : and in 1738 he sends 400 bolls by his 
 barque the Christian from Caithness to Portree and 
 Glenelg. His letter of instructions to Donald Mackenzie, 
 the master of the barque, is a fair specimen of the directions 
 which he usually gave to his skippers, or to the agents 
 whom he sent with the meal — ' You are to proceed with all 
 possible Diligence to Thursoe in Cathness, and, when you 
 arive there, you are to deliver my letter to Mr. Francis 
 Sinklair, and show him the other letter from Loduick 
 Brodie, writer in Eder., ordering to deliver me four hunder 
 bolls meall at eight and half ston pr. boll, which meall you 
 are to receive and is to be put free aboard in the River of 
 Thurso ; and my Cousin Mr. Alexr. Pope, Minister of Rea, 
 is to assist you to receive the same, so send my letter 
 howsoon you arive. And when you receive the Meall, 
 make the best of your way for Portree in the Isle of Sky, 
 and adress to Alexr. McDonald of Kingsborrow, and give 
 him what meall he calls for, and to Sr. Alexr. McDonald, 
 at eight ston pr. boll, 2 and the price at ten shilling, and sell 
 all you can for reddie Mony. And, after you have stayed 
 tuo days there, you are to proceed to the Kyle to Glainelg, 
 and sell there all you can for reddie Mony, and give to the 
 order of Drynach what meall he calls for, and take recept 
 for the same ; and give Sr. Alexr. McDonald and Kings- 
 borow, and take there recept s if you gett not Mony. And, 
 if you put in to Stornway, sell what you can for redie 
 Mony, but trust non there. So pray make all possible 
 
 1 The mineralogical names strontianite and strontium come from the place- 
 name Strontian. 
 
 2 It will be observed that the Bailie bought at 8| stones per boll, and sold 
 
 at 8 stones. 
 
INTRODUCTION xiii 
 
 dispatch, and I hope to meet you in Glainelg. You are to 
 receive from Mr. Francis Sinklair a barrell of tar and one 
 of pitch, the tar to be sold at 12 shillings, and the pitch 
 at 18 shillings. And, if can not gett that price, carie the 
 same to the Highlands. 1 I have sent with you ane iron 
 balk, with brod, barell and weights, to weigh out the 
 Meall, viz. two 52ths of lead, tuo iron ston weights, half 
 ston of iron, and a 4th and 2th of brass, which must be 
 carfully returned. And keep ane exact acct. of the 
 Meall, and take care that non be stoln nor imbasled. You 
 are to grant recepts for the meall, when shipped, to Mr. 
 Francis Sinklair ; and my Cousin, Mr. Alexr. Pope, will 
 supply you with anie Mony you want. The mens wages 
 as folios : — to Will: Munroe 25 sh. ster. pr. month, and to 
 David Miller 22 sh. pr. month, and to Alexr. McLeod 20 
 sh. pr. month, and your own wages as Master is six pounds 
 sterlin for the whole woyage ; and I have given you at this 
 Dait half a Guenie to account, and seven shilling ster. 
 more. I have shipt of provisions tuo bulks Mutton and a 
 syde of young beef salted, tuo lairge cheeses, and half ston 
 butter, and half boll meall baked, and tuo pocks groats, 
 and 12 lbs. candles ; and have ordered Mr. Francis Sinklair 
 to provid you with tuo barells beef. And I have shipped 
 a gallon of Whiskie, and given five shillings to David 
 Millar in pairt of his wages, and given Donald McKenzie 
 17 shil. sterlin to account to pay the Whiskie, etc' 
 
 With the meal he frequently sent other commodities. 
 In a letter to his agent, Donald Macintyre, dated 27th 
 April 1725, he, after giving instructions regarding the 
 disposal of the meal, in Skye, Harris, North Uist, and 
 Glenelg, writes : ' Notta, you have likeways on board, to 
 be dissposed for my accot., 100 half barrs Iron, containing 
 113 Ston 9 pound, old weight, which you are to sell at the 
 best rate you can, not under 3/ 6d. p. Ston. There is 
 
 1 By ' the Highlands' the Bailie usually means the West Highlands. 
 
xiv LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 like ways 17 doz. of botles claret, to be sold at 16 sh. pr. 
 doz., botles and all ; or the wine without the botle at 15 sh. 
 There is likeways a bag of hops, No. 14, containing 1 : 1 : 14 
 lib., which you '11 see to disspose off at Starnway at the 
 best price you can. I suppose may reach a shilling pr. 
 pound, but, failling of that, it must be sold at Glenelg, 
 or Do wart Castle in Mull. Notwithstanding the price of 
 the meall and bear I mentioned, I must leave it to your 
 self, with the assistance of my friends, to make the best 
 of it ; and you can, according as you find it in demand in 
 the severall countrys, but not under five pound Scots pr. 
 boll of 8 ston untill you hear furder from me ; that is, for 
 the meall. Howsoon the cargoe is fully dissposd, and that 
 you have gott payment of the same in money or bills as 
 above derected, you '11 give Alexr. Wood on recept twenty 
 five pounds Strl. to purchase his loading of scleat at Mull, 
 and twenty five pound more if he takes in part payment of 
 his freight, likeways on his receipt. And when you have 
 so cleared fully with all and sundry, you are to repair to 
 Glenelg, and make the best of your way home with such 
 convoy and directions as my Father in Law will give you. 1 
 And if you find it more adviseable, may deliver him the 
 whole money and bills on receipt. And for your trouble 
 I am to give you four pound Strl., and pay your necessary 
 charges. I wish you a good voyag.' 
 
 The necessity of being guarded by a convoy on Mac- 
 intyre's journey across country from Glenelg to Inverness 
 shows that the arm of the law was not strong among the 
 mountains. A similar instruction is given to John Macleod 
 in 1718, when he is requested to ' be seure of sufficient 
 companie with yow till Stragless ' on his journey with the 
 proceeds of a meal cargo from Glenelg to Inverness by 
 Kintail and Strathglass. 
 
 1 Norman Macleod, the Bailie's father-in-law, resided at Eileanreach in 
 Glenelg. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xv 
 
 The only serious opposition which the Bailie had in 
 the West Coast meal trade came from Ireland. In 1718 
 he is disappointed to learn that the Tutor of Macleod and 
 Sir Donald Macdonald of Sleat had bargained with Irish- 
 men for their requirements. In March 1730 he writes 
 his son Alexander, then in business in Leith, informing 
 him that Mr. Salmar, brother-in-law of General Siburg, 
 governor of Fort William, has bought from one Mackun, 
 a Kintyre man, 250 bolls of Irish meal at 8s. 6d. per boll, 
 which is less than the Banffshire gentlemen demand for 
 their meal at home ; and he adds : ' I think Sir John 
 Shaw, or his managers, that are paid for keeping off of 
 Irish meall, ought to be a prize to this [apprised of this], 
 and if you should take your own prudent way to aprise 
 the comssr. of Customs of the practice of porting Eirish 
 meall to the West cost and Inverlochie, so as they may 
 repremand the officers there for coniveing at such practices, 
 since its plain, what ever fals shame [sham] clearances 
 such meall may have, the same is certainly brought from 
 Ireland, since no place in the west of Scotland can affoard 
 meall near so shape [cheap]. Your endeavours to put a 
 stope to such meall trade will be good service done to 
 this country in Generall and to me in particular ; and, as 
 I design to go for Inverlochie nixt week, I am resolved 
 to enquire into ye clearances came wt. this meall lately 
 landed ther.' 
 
 The inflow of Irish meal continued, and in a letter which 
 the Bailie addressed in December 1733 to the Earl of 
 Findlater, who demanded a big price (£5 Scots per boll) 
 for his meal, he writes : ' Truly there is no prospect of 
 any advantage by meall bought at such a rate on any 
 part of the West Cost, where I dale that way, there being 
 a plentifull cropt in Ireland, and so the people of that 
 Country makes shift to be supplyed from thence, not- 
 withstanding the legall prohibition. And, tho there was 
 
xvi LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 litle or no Irish meall imported last year, yet I made verie 
 litle of about 2200 I shipped off from Banff shire for that 
 Countrey last year, tho I purchast the same at £4 Scots, 
 and 4:3:4 the highest pr. boll, payle. only at this Merti- 
 mass. So your Lop. may easily judge its not in my power 
 to give the price demanded ; but if your Lop. will Accept 
 £4 : 10 sh. Scots pr. boll, payle. at the term of Mertimass 
 nixt, 1734, I will take your Lops, parcell, provideing it be 
 good sweet meall : but He take no part of it that is sour 
 or old teasted.' 
 
 The fish trade of Inverness in Steuart's time was very 
 important. He and other Inverness merchants purchased 
 salmon in large quantities from proprietors on the East and 
 West Coasts, and sent it sometimes to London and Leith, 
 but more frequently to Continental seaports from Rotter- 
 dam to Venice — timing their ships as a rule to reach their 
 destinations before the beginning of Lent. For example, 
 in 1725 William Mackay, an Inverness merchant, and a 
 grandson of General Hugh Mackay who opposed Dundee 
 at Killicrankie, despatches four ships laden with salmon — 
 180 barrels for Alicante, 400 for Leghorn, 200 for other 
 ports in the Mediterranean, and 110 for Havre-de-grace. 
 The Bailie bought his salmon mainly from Lord Lovat, 
 the Earl of Moray, Sir Thomas Calder of Muirtown in 
 Morayshire, Mrs. Mackenzie of Assynt, the Laird of Sand 
 in Gairloch, and Lord Seaforth, proprietor of Kintail. Of 
 his numerous ventures the following may be mentioned. 
 
 He purchased 99 barrels of salmon, including grilse, 
 from Lord Moray in 1718, and was thereafter for many 
 years a regular purchaser of his Lordship's fish. In 1720 
 he sends 200 barrels to London. The confusion of trade 
 in the winter of 1720-1721 was such that a large quantity 
 of the salmon of 1720 remained on his hand, and in 1721 
 he writes his Bordeaux correspondent, Robert Gordon, 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xvii 
 
 inquiring whether the old fish, 4 if well cured and bright 
 coulored may not pass for new fish caught this spring.' 
 He sends salmon to Leghorn in 1721 ; a cargo from 
 Findhorn to Havre-de-grace in 1722 ; a cargo to Amster- 
 dam in 1725, which arrived too late for Lent, and in 
 reference to which he proposes to his agent, Alexander 
 Andrew, in April, that ' they should be laid up and keeped 
 under pickle till the moneth of Septr. nixt, and than, if 
 repackt and washd clean with pickle, I think might sell 
 at Bilboa or Havre for new salmon.' A cargo went from 
 Lochinver to Bordeaux in 1728, and one to Campvere in 
 1736, and another in 1737. Of twenty -two barrels sent 
 by him to London in 1734, one is ear-marked for his 
 daughter Marion ' to purchess her a gown.' 
 
 The Bailie dealt extensively in codfish and herring, 
 which were caught partly in the Moray Firth, with 
 Cromarty and Chanonry as the fishing centres, and partly 
 in Gairloch, Lochbroom, and the Lews, and sent to Danzig, 
 Konigsberg, Stockholm, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Rotter- 
 dam, Campvere, Dunkirk, Havre-de-grace, St. Martins, 
 Bordeaux, and the Mediterranean ports. In 1720 he buys 
 a cargo of herring at Stornoway, where Zachary Macaulay, 
 granduncle of Lord Macaulay, was his agent. Three 
 years later he purchases 40,000 cod in Gairloch and Storno- 
 way — the Gairloch fish being, he declares, better than that 
 of Newfoundland, where the Gairloch curer gained his 
 experience. In 1728 there was an excellent herring fishing 
 in the Inverness Firth, and he secured the bulk of the 
 catch. Herring and cod were from time to time cured 
 for him by ' Lady Assynt ' (Mrs. Mackenzie of Assynt) ; the 
 Earl of Cromartie, proprietor of Coigeach ; Sir Colin 
 Mackenzie of Coul, owner of extensive lands in Loch- 
 broom ; the Laird of Dundonald, Mackenzie of Gairloch, 
 and other proprietors. The old Highland chiefs and lairds 
 have been painted as far above traffic of this kind ; but 
 
 b 
 
xviii LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 the truth is that they had a keen eye to business, and 
 were experts at a bargain. The lady of Assynt conducted 
 her negotiations with a skill against which the Bailie 
 found it necessary to be on his guard. In connection 
 with herrings which he purchased from her in December 
 1733, he insists that they be good, sufficient, merchantable 
 ware, and adds : 4 1 think fltt to caution your ladyship 
 that to make them all good merchantable ware they need 
 to be all repact in shipeing.' For curing the herring he 
 undertakes to supply her with foreign salt ; and, to avoid 
 questions, he makes it a condition that she advises him 
 of the exact number of lasts of herring which she has, 
 and that she appoints a representative to see the salt 
 weighed and shipped at Inverness. He at the same time 
 (January 1734) writes the Earl of Cromartie as follows : 
 6 1 received your Lops, favour of 30th curt., and am willing 
 to take your Lops, eighteen lasts herrins at the rate of 
 seven pounds ster. pr. last, including ye bounty, to be 
 receved any time before ye midle of Aprile next, payable 
 in six moneths after delivery. But it is not in my power 
 to advance part of ye price just now, being extremly 
 stretned by many great disapointments from good men, 
 and obleged to goe south againest Tuesday next. So, if 
 you let me have the herrin, payble six moneths after 
 delivery, or at Lamas next, may send your obligation to 
 deliver the herins pr. Express, and mention that they 
 must be good, sufficient, well cured, well packed herins, 
 cured wt. foraing salt, and in good tight cask of ye legall 
 Gadge ; and He send my answer to such letter concluding 
 our bargain, which is all yt. can be done by, my Lord, etc. 
 P.S. Accquaint if your Lop. will want any cask to be 
 sent by ye ship goes for the Herrins.' 
 
 On 4th February his Lordship wrote accepting the 
 Bailie's terms, but asking that he be accommodated with 
 £30 some time in March — which was agreed to. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xix 
 
 Among his fish consignments may be mentioned a cargo 
 of herring to William Thomson, Cork, in 1722 ; a cargo 
 of cod to Barcelona and Leghorn in the same year ; and 
 a cargo of herring to Stockholm in 1725. He frequently 
 purchased herring and cod for John Coutts, Edinburgh, 
 the founder of Coutts' Bank, who sometimes acted as the 
 Bailie's agent in selling fish. The Bailie as a rule supplied 
 the salt for curing, and sent his coopers across country 
 to the west coast of Sutherland and Ross to see the fish 
 properly packed. 
 
 The bounty system which prevailed at the time in con- 
 nection with the export of fish and corn was complex and 
 unsatisfactory. The Bailie's custom was — probably he 
 had no choice — to give the seller the benefit of the bounty 
 in fixing the price, and to take the debentures in his own 
 favour. He almost always found it difficult to negotiate 
 them, and frequently years elapsed before they were 
 passed and paid by the Government officials. Bribery of 
 the custom-officers was not unknown. 4 1 send you like- 
 ways,' he writes to his cousin, Commissary Steuart, Edin- 
 burgh, in November 1716, 4 fish debenture certifyed on 
 the Board of Customes for 92£ 14 : 2 sterling. For pro- 
 cureing of speedie payment I am advised you apply on 
 Mr. Savage, and give him a guenie, which will effectualy 
 procure prompt payment. If you find Land Syrveyors 
 certifyeing necessar ther is one Mr. James about the 
 Custom office who was surveyor here when the hering 
 were shipped, who will supply that want upon payment 
 of 14 sh. ster.' 
 
 The following letters indicate Steuart's usual arrange- 
 ments in connection with the purchase, curing, and dis- 
 posal of fish : — 4 1 have,' he writes John Baillie, on 13th 
 September 1735, 4 shipt on board the sloop Christian, of 
 which you are master, fourteen Last herring cask, in 
 which is packed fiftie bolls Spanish salt, that is, in four 
 
xx LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 last, 2 barrells herring. You have likways one thousand 
 hoops. Three bolls meall backen in bread, three barrells 
 Beef, and a boll oat meall in a cask, 21 pounds Candles, 
 a half stone butter, four pecks peese, thirty six pound 
 Roll Tobacco, and five Gallon whisky ; with all which 
 you are to make the best of your way to Lochbroom in 
 order to make a full loadning of herring. And at your 
 arrivell you are to write me pr. Express that I may dispatch 
 Alexander Layon the Coupar, and to apply yourself to 
 Alexander Mackenzie, younger of Coull, and deliver him 
 my letter. And, if he will undertake to furnish me wt. 
 herring in the terms of my letter, in that case you are to 
 deliver him what salt and cask he calls for, and take his 
 receipt for the same. You will likways deliver him ane 
 anker of the whisky, the Tobacco and hoops. And in 
 case you be straitned for meall its fitt you buy a boll or 
 two more meall in the Orknies. In short, if Coule make 
 your herrings, you '11 give out of the stores what Alexr. 
 Layon will advise, on his receipt, and according as he 
 makes herrings and is customary in such cases. If you 
 return with the bark here you are to have six pounds 
 Sterling Wages. If you goe to the Sound, 1 you are to 
 have Nine pounds Sterling. And Duncan Mackenzie is 
 to have three pounds here, and Baine thirty shillings. I 
 give you two Guineas in hand to account, and what 
 further necessarys will be sent by Dougald and Alexander 
 Layon or either of them. So, wishing you a speedy 
 voyage, etc. 5 
 
 On the same date he writes Alexander Mackenzie, 
 younger of Coul, who was then on his estate in Lochbroom : 
 4 Since I had the pleasure of seeing you here I informed 
 my self by Andrew Munro of the terms that was promised 
 for makeing of herrings at Lochbroom for his Account ; 
 
 1 The Sound, between Denmark and Sweden. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xxi 
 
 and, after haveing considered seriously of that affair, I 
 agree to give you three pounds Sterling for every last of 
 herring you make for my account, and will furnish you 
 salt, cask, and hoops here for that purpose, likways any 
 other stores such as Bread, meall, Tobacco, Whisky, at 
 the same rate they cost me. And Likways you are to pay 
 the Couper, and to have the cask well packed, fitt for 
 shipping at a convenient fourland for that purpose, and 
 that with outmost dispatch. If you agree to this pro- 
 posall youll accquaint me how soon this comes to hand, 
 and deliver your letter to John Baillie by whom this goes, 
 and who is to send me ane Express. And, whether you 
 agree to this proposall or not, I hope youll order Boats 
 to Mr. Baillie, who pay them as well as any others doe. 
 Nota that I am to allow three boll salt to each last of 
 herring, being strong Spanish salt.' 
 
 Among the Bailie's other exports may be mentioned 
 several consignments of beef to Holland, pork to the 
 Baltic, and a cargo of lamb skins and furs — fox, otter, and 
 wild cat — to Danzig in 1720. Between 1737 and 1741 he 
 took an interest in the development of a lead-mine in 
 Glenelg, and sent small quantities of lead to London and 
 the Continent for sale. No success followed. He also in 
 1737 writes the Laird of Macleod, requesting him to advise 
 him ' annent the expence of working Sir Alexr. McDonald 
 Coall Mines ' — apparently in Skye ; but the coal is not 
 again mentioned. 
 
 In return for his exports the Bailie imported goods of 
 various kinds — barrel staves, knapwood, timber, iron, 
 window glass, copper, soap, flax, and rope from Danzig, 
 Stockholm, Norway, and Hamburg ; writing-paper, flint 
 stones, prunes, etc., from St. Martins ; sago and linen 
 from Hamburg ; linseed oil, madder, azure, white lead, 
 verdigris, indigo, linen, muslin, aniseed, cloves, nutmeg, 
 tea, sugar, and cork from Rotterdam ; raisins, lemons, 
 
xxii LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 oranges, coffee beans, rhubarb, ipecacuanha, olives, olive 
 oil for burning in lamps, eating oil, and rice from Leghorn 
 (Livorno) ; salt from Hamburg, Rotterdam, and Cadiz ; 
 and large quantities of brandy, claret, sherry, burgundy, 
 champagne, sack, and other wines from Bordeaux, St. 
 Martins, Rotterdam, and Hamburg. He almost invariably 
 instructs his skippers to bring home for the use of himself 
 and his family such articles as copper tea-kettles, lint 
 hankies, iron pots, metal trenchers, house lanterns, 
 warming-pans, pewter dishes, and silks and other articles 
 of raiment or ornament for his wife and daughters and 
 lady friends. 
 
 From London and other home ports the Bailie gets, 
 mainly for his own household, such things as pewter 
 vessels, iron spits, branders, skewers, flesh crooks, flamers, 
 leather, dressed calves' skins, clothes for himself, silk 
 plaids and other articles of raiment for his wife and 
 daughters, and tea and powdered sugar. He liked to see 
 his family well dressed and to have nice things about him. 
 He orders from London two iron grates — one for his 
 dining-room and another for a bedroom — and insists on 
 their being ' hansom.' His wife and daughters dress in 
 silks and striped linen, and in scarlet cloaks ; and the 
 daughters, when out riding, wear black velvet capes. 
 The walls of his rooms are covered with ' painted paper ' 
 from London. In London also he usually purchases his 
 books. So long as he is able to pay for it, Edinburgh 
 sends him his newspaper — the Caledonian Mercury. Direct 
 from the Mediterranean he gets lemons, oranges, olives, 
 almonds, raisins, anchovies, cloves, nutmegs, rice, and 
 ' best Florence eating oil.' London and Rotterdam furnish 
 his coffee beans, and the 6 best Bohea,' which his wife 
 carefully keeps for the refreshment of the county ladies 
 who do her the honour to call. With the leaf at from 
 14s. to 20s. per lb., and the shillings rare, the delectable 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xxiii 
 
 beverage has to be sipped sparingly. The time-honoured 
 deal cradle is not good enough for him, and in 1722 he 
 gets a 4 wand cradle ' from Rotterdam, and, later, a 4 watlin 
 cradle ' from Leghorn. In ordering from London blue 
 drab cloth for a 4 jockie big coat ' for himself, he directs 
 that the buttons sent for it be of the latest fashion. When 
 his sons become lads he gets hats for them from London 
 at 4s. or 5s. each, as he considers they are too big to 
 wear bonnets. For the large garden which stretches 
 from his house in Church Street to the river, he gets from 
 London the finest dwarf pear and apple trees, laurels, 
 yews, and variegated hollies ; and onion and other seeds 
 from Campvere. 
 
 One of the Bailie's acquaintances in Inverness was 
 Edmund Burt, author of Letters from the North of 
 Scotland. The Letters have been taken seriously, and 
 Lord Macaulay founded upon them his picturesque but 
 untrustworthy description of Inverness and the High- 
 lands at the time of the Revolution. But Burt, who 
 wrote for the amusement of a friend in England, and per- 
 haps also for his own, exaggerated greatly, and on many 
 points his picture is a caricature. The mountains and 
 glens are still with us, and we know that the mountains are 
 not so high nor the glens so deep and dark as he depicts 
 them. We know that a traveller from Inverness to the 
 barracks of Bernera in Glenelg had not to ride over the 
 stupendous perpendicular precipices or through the bottom- 
 less bogs which he encountered, and that there is no lake 
 in Strathglass so high and so shut in by top-joining moun- 
 tains that the sun's rays never reach it, and that it is 
 covered with ice all the year round. We also know that 
 Highland eagles do not fly away with colts and calves. 
 His pictures of the country are not more distorted than 
 his pictures of our town. According to him the burgh 
 was a collection of thatched and almost windowless hovels. 
 
xxiv LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Slated houses are, however, mentioned in the Inverness 
 records in the sixteenth century, and we learn from the 
 Letter-Book that large quantities of slate and window 
 glass were brought into the town before and during 
 the period of Burt's sojourn. Almost every ship that 
 the Bailie sends to the West Coast with meal returns 
 with a cargo of slate from Easdale or the Isle of Mull. 
 He considers the Easdale slate to be the finest in Britain. 
 His ships carry home from 20,000 to 30,000 at a time, 
 the price running about £10 Scots per 1000. Some of 
 these still cover buildings in Inverness, among which are 
 at least one prominent one which Burt saw. Slezer's 
 drawing, published in 1693, 1 and the prospect 2 drawn in 
 1725 by Government surveyors, are pretty pictures, show- 
 ing large and substantial buildings ; and it appears from 
 the ground-plan which Burt himself gives that the burgh 
 was a regularly built town of four main streets — Bridge 
 Street, East Street (now High Street), Castle Street, and 
 Church Street. In those streets the merchants and 
 lawyers had their residences and shops and offices — Bailie 
 Steuart's house being about the middle of Church Street. 
 It appears to have been a prominent building. In Sept- 
 ember 1721 the magistrates, in appointing constables for 
 the ensuing year, allocated the part of Church Street 
 above the Bailie's house to Alexander Fraser and William 
 Binnie, and the part of the street below it to John Gibson 
 and John Munro. 
 
 Hugh Miller informs us in his ' Scotch Merchant of the 
 Eighteenth Century,' that coal did not find its way into 
 the Cromarty Firth until 1750. That, however, is in- 
 correct, and the probability is that coal was introduced 
 into both Cromarty and Inverness in the seventeenth 
 
 1 In Slezer's Theatrum Scotia. 
 
 2 Given in this volume from Records of Inverness , edited by William Mackay 
 and H. C. Boyd (New Spalding Club, 191 1). 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XXV 
 
 century. In any case, the Letter-Book shows that the 
 Bailie was importing coal into Inverness as early as 
 1715. For example, in September of that year he gets 
 a cargo from the Firth of Forth ; a cargo from Newcastle 
 in December 1721 ; a cargo from the Firth of Forth in 
 January 1722 ; a cargo from Newcastle (together with 
 20 gross bottles) in June 1723 ; a cargo from the Forth 
 in December 1728 ; a cargo from John Coutts, Edinburgh, 
 in March 1729, partly for Inverness and partly for 
 Cromarty, and another cargo exclusively for Cromarty. 
 In 1728 he tells his correspondent, Strachan of Mon- 
 trose, that he may load a returning ship from the 
 Forth with ' great coals, which will sell pretty well here.' 
 Circumstances were different in April 1729, when he writes 
 John Coutts acknowledging receipt of 15 J dales of coal 
 in the Lamb of Kinghorn, ' for which could only reach 
 12/ per dale, 1 the town being stocked by a large cargo 
 came immediately before it.' From the twelfth century 
 the burgh of Inverness had by Royal charter the right 
 to cut peats on the moors of Caiplich and Daviot. By 
 the eighteenth century, however, the privilege was prac- 
 tically discontinued, and the inhabitants took to purchas- 
 ing peats from country folk who delivered them at their 
 doors. 
 
 The trade of shipbuilding was known in Inverness at a 
 very early period. Matthew Paris informs us that in 1249 
 the Earl of St. Pol and Blois, when preparing to accom- 
 pany the King of France to the Holy Land, had a wonder- 
 ful ship (navis miranda) built for him at Inverness, which 
 carried himself and his followers and their horses to 
 Palestine. Native timber, floated down the Ness and 
 
 1 According to Mr. Robert Scott-Moncrieff a dale was synonymous with a 
 ton. — The Household Book of Lady Grisell Baillie (Scot. Hist. Soc), p. 417. 
 
xxvi LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 the Beauly — oak from Loch Ness side and fir from Glen- 
 moriston and the Strathglass glens — was no doubt used, 
 as it was in the construction of the small vessels of the 
 town, the boats of Loch Ness, and the galleys of the 
 Hebrides and the West Coast ; and the native workmen 
 were assisted by artificers from Flanders, Marseilles, and 
 Genoa. Another ship which was even more famous was 
 the war frigate ' of a prodigious bigness ' built by Captain 
 George Scot at Inverness between the years 1643 and 1645, 
 the skilled carpenters being brought from the south, and 
 the timber from Glenmoriston. Scot took his frigate to 
 the Mediterranean, and, entering the service of Venice, 
 became vice-admiral of the Venetian fleet, and the terror 
 of Mahommedan navigators. c He oftentimes so cleared 
 the Archipelago of the Mussulmans that the Ottoman 
 famely and the very gates of Constantinople would quake 
 at the report of his victoryes ; and did so ferret them out 
 of all the creeks of the Hadrrattick 1 Gulfe and so shrudly 
 put them to it, that they hardly knew in what port of the 
 Mediterranean they might best shelter themselves from 
 the fury of his blowes.' 2 After his death the Venetians 
 erected a marble statue to his honour near the Rialto, 
 which was seen by the author of the Wardlaw MS. in 1659. 
 The sixteenth century records of the Town Council fre- 
 quently refer to ships, to trade with the Continent, and to 
 4 the Stane of Inverness where the ships lie,' and ' the 
 dock where the ships lie.' Boece describes the town as 
 a great resort of merchants, who came from Germany to 
 seek rich furs, itself being full of merchandise and goods ; 
 and in 1578 Leslie, Bishop of Ross, refers to it as ' a toune 
 nochd of smal reputatione ' — no mean city, as St. Paul 
 would have said. But in common with other Scottish 
 
 1 The Adriatic. 
 
 2 The Rev. James Fraser's Chronicles of the Frasers (the Wardlaw MS.), 
 edited by William Mackay (Scot. Hist. Society, 1905). 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xxvii 
 
 towns it suffered by the removal of the Scottish Court 
 to London in 1603, and by the wars and troubles of the 
 reign of Charles the First ; and Thomas Tucker, who in 
 1655 prepared a report for Oliver Cromwell on the Scottish 
 ports, gives it credit for only one merchant and only one 
 ship of ten tons. It soon, however, entered on a new 
 period of prosperity, and in the Bailie's time Tucker's 
 solitary merchant was represented by at least a score of 
 men of standing — Celts mainly, and all of good family. 
 Among them were the Bailie himself ; his father Alexander 
 Steuart ; Duff of Drummuir ; Fraser of Fairfield ; Mackin- 
 tosh of Termit ; Chevis of Muirtown ; John, Donald, and 
 William Mackay, sons of Mackay of Scourie, and grandsons 
 of General Hugh Mackay of Killicrankie ; Cuthbert of 
 Castlehill ; Dunbar of Aldourie ; and Angus Mackintosh, 
 James Mackintosh, Lachlan Mackintosh, William Mackin- 
 tosh, Kenneth Mackenzie, Simon Mackenzie, Alexander 
 Rose, Robert Rose, Duncan Grant, Donald Macpherson, 
 John Hossack, Ludovic Gordon, and Thomas Robertson. 
 A noted merchant who did business in Inverness was Duff 
 of Braco, ancestor of the late Duke of Fife, who dealt in 
 corn and meal, and whom we find in 1725 in partnership 
 with the Bailie in a timber and iron speculation. These « 
 merchants required ships for their operations, and Tucker's 
 single vessel was represented by a considerable number. 
 The Bailie himself owned wholly or in part about a dozen, 
 almost all named after members of his own family. The 
 John bore his own name, the Alexander that of his father, 
 and the Ann his wife's ; while the Mafgaret, the Marjorie, 
 the Helen, the Janet, the Agnes, and the Christian tell of 
 his daughters and other female relatives. The ships were 
 all commanded by gentlemen — the Alexander by his cousin 
 Alexander Steuart, brother of his correspondent John 
 Steuart, W.S., Edinburgh, and Commissary of Inverness ; 
 the Marjorie by John Mackay, and afterwards by Donald 
 
xxviii LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Fraser ; the Ann by Alexander Rose, brother of the 
 Bailie's first wife, who subsequently sailed the Helen, 
 and thereafter the Janet ; the Margaret successively by the 
 Bailie's brothers-in-law Donald and John Macleod, sons 
 of Macleod of Drynach ; the Agnes by his cousin Donald 
 Steuart ; and the Christian by John Baillie of the family 
 of Dunain — names which show that the Celt had taken to 
 the sea as he had to the counter. There were also con- 
 nected with Inverness the Good Success, the Janet Dunbar, 
 the Swallow, the Lark, the Adventure (owned and com- 
 manded by John Reid, the Bailie's son-in-law, and his 
 best friend in his old age), and the Pledger, owned and 
 commanded by Hugh Inglis of Kingsmills, which regularly 
 ran between Inverness and London, and in which it was 
 proposed to send home the headless body of Simon Lord 
 Lovat in 1747. Among vessels from other ports which 
 frequented our harbour were the Good Fortune of Montrose, 
 the Unicorn of Dundee, the Joseph of Pittenweem, the 
 Katherine of Leith, the William and James of Prestonpans, 
 and the Restoration of London. 
 
 The Inverness vessels were as a rule built of native 
 timber at the shore of Inverness, the iron and framework, 
 however, being sometimes brought ready made from the 
 Continent. The Marjorie is described by the Bailie in 1721 
 as a clever, well-managed vessel of twenty tons. Next 
 year he builds a new barque of forty tons, and, later, 
 there is reference to his intention to build one of thirty. 
 The probability is that none of the Inverness ships ex- 
 ceeded fifty tons. But small though they were they were 
 continually ploughing the stormiest seas — braving the 
 winds and currents of the Pentland Firth ; crossing the 
 Minch to Stornoway or the North Sea to Holland, Norway, 
 Denmark, and the Baltic ports ; to-day at Leith, London, 
 or Cork — to-morrow on their way across the Bay of Biscay 
 and round Gibraltar to the ports of the Mediterranean and 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xxix 
 
 the Adriatic. In 1743 we find John Reid in Jamaica. It 
 would be interesting to know that he had made his way 
 there in his own little Adventure. 
 
 The Bailie was as a rule careful to insure his ships 
 and cargoes, the insurances being effected sometimes in 
 Edinburgh and sometimes in London, but more frequently 
 in Rotterdam. Only a few instances can be given. In 
 1715 he insures through Andrew of Rotterdam the 
 Margaret and her cargo at 800 guilders Hollands from 
 Danzig to Inverness. Next year he insures the same ship 
 against risk from Swedish privateers, and effects an 
 insurance of 1800 guilders on the Margaret and the Success 
 for Hamburg, and the Alexander for Cork. In 1717 
 Andrew effects for him an insurance of 900 guilders on a 
 ship and cargo from 4 Poleu [Poolewe] on our West Coast 
 or ye Preades [the Hebrides] to the port of Campeer 
 [Campvere],' and on another ship ' from Hamburg to 
 Christiansand in Norway, and from there to Inverness, 
 and from Inverness to Cork.' In 1718 a cargo of salmon 
 from Inverness to Rotterdam is insured at 2500 guilders ; 
 and in 1723 the Ann, bound for Leghorn, is, with her cargo 
 of fish, insured for £225 sterling. The premiums range 
 from 2| per cent, in peace times to 10 per cent, in times 
 of war. The risks were sometimes heavy. During the 
 early years of George the First's reign British commerce 
 suffered greatly from the Swedes, whose privateers scoured 
 the Baltic and the North Sea. The wars with Spain 
 interfered with voyaging in more southern seas ; and for 
 many years Moorish pirates were the pest of the Mediter- 
 ranean and the Atlantic coasts of Morocco, Spain, and 
 Portugal, and even ventured into British waters, seizing 
 ships and taking their crews to Morocco or Algeria, 
 where they served as slaves until released by death or 
 ransom. 
 
 References to these troubles are found in the Letter- 
 
xxx LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Book. In March 1716 the Bailie instructs Alexander 
 Andrew, Rotterdam, to refrain from insuring the John 
 from Danzig homeward ' unless you find danger from the 
 Sweddish privateers ' ; and those privateers are subse- 
 quently repeatedly alluded to. He did not always escape 
 them, notwithstanding that his ships sailed under convoy 
 when available. In April 1716 the Margaret, returning 
 from Danzig, was boarded in the Cattegat by a Swedish 
 ship. 4 They, however, did no more than plunder a little.' 
 In October of next year the Alexander, laden with herring, 
 sailed from Inverness for Cork, with instructions to dis- 
 pose of her cargo there, and then to proceed to Rochelle 
 for wine and brandy. Her master, Alexander Steuart, 
 was ill at the time, and Thomas Greig took his place. She 
 sailed along the East Coast until she reached the North 
 Foreland, where she was met and captured by a Swedish 
 privateer, of which a traitorous Englishman named 
 Norcross was commander. Norcross started with his 
 prize for Gottenburg in Sweden, but, landing in France, 
 he was apprehended, and sent to England, to suffer, no 
 doubt, for his misdeeds. The privateer, however, with the 
 Alexander sailed on without him. But, when off the 
 coast of Norway, Greig and his Inverness lads suddenly 
 attacked and overcame the Swedes who were on board 
 their ship, and, sending them adrift, ran the vessel into a 
 Norwegian harbour. A Danish warship which witnessed 
 the deed took the Alexander under her protection, and, 
 claiming her as a prize, took her to a Norwegian port and 
 thence to Copenhagen. The claim was resisted by the 
 Bailie, who had as his agent Alexander Ross, merchant, 
 Copenhagen. The British ambassador was appealed to, 
 and he brought the matter before the Danish Court, with 
 the result that the ship and crew and cargo were released ; 
 and in 1718 Greig returned in triumph to Inverness, 
 having sold his herring, not at Cork, but in the Baltic. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xxxi 
 
 The Alexander, however, did not long survive. She was 
 lost at Sali, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, in December 
 1719. 
 
 In 1718 the Bailie's cousin Alexander Steuart sailed 
 from Inverness for the Mediterranean with a cargo in 
 which the Bailie and certain partners were interested. 
 The ship was taken by the Moors, and Steuart and his 
 crew were kept captives in Morocco until the end of 1721, 
 notwithstanding that an expedition under the command 
 of a certain Captain Stewart was, in September 1720, sent 
 from England to Morocco to procure their release. On 
 their return home the Bailie draws upon his London 
 correspondent, Joseph Faicknie, for £20, the money being 
 4 designed to supply my poor friends come out of captivity.' 
 
 The Bailie suffered much from the ordinary perils of 
 the sea. In November 1718 the Good Success was, with 
 her cargo, lost 6 on a blind rock of ye Isleland of Sandsor- 
 tone ' on the coast of Sweden, Captain Alexander Dunbar 
 and the crew narrowly saving themselves by taking to a 
 small boat three minutes before she sank in forty fathoms. 
 They made their way to Danzig, and returned to Inverness 
 in the Janet Dunbar on 4th January 1719. As we have 
 seen, the Alexander and her cargo were, in December 1719, 
 lost in going over the bar of Sali on the Atlantic coast of 
 Morocco — Alexander Steuart, the skipper, writing to the 
 Bailie from Mekinez in Morocco with the unpleasant 
 tidings. In connection with the loss a question arose 
 with the Moors, in which the British Privy Council, at the 
 instigation of Mr. William Steuart, M.P. for Inverness-shire, 
 interested itself. The result is not recorded. 
 
 In December 1720 the Marjorie, returning from Danzig, 
 was caught in a violent storm near Copenhagen, and, ' the 
 sea being full of ice,' the master, Donald Fraser, and the 
 crew, despairing of her safety, betook themselves to their 
 boat, which unfortunately upset. Fraser and two of the 
 
xxxii LETTER-BOOK OF BALIIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 crew were drowned, other two being saved. The barque 
 rode out the storm, and was taken possession of by John 
 Van Oste, who claimed salvage. After much trouble and 
 expense she was brought back to Inverness in May 1721. 
 Of the expense the Bailie finds that his agent, Ross of 
 Copenhagen, who is a 4 wery sharp man to say no worse,' 
 pocketed the bulk. 4 All I shall say is, God forgive him, 
 and keep me hereafter out of such hands.' 
 
 In December 1721 a barque, bringing meal, nuts, and 
 oak bark, etc., to the Bailie, was stranded on the coast of 
 Aberdeenshire. Immediately the vessel struck native 
 fishermen 4 fell on,' and carried the rigging and the cargo 
 to their houses. 'Bailie Forbes,' writes Steuart to 
 William Simpson, Aberdeen, on 19th December, 4 who 
 seems to be ane honest gentleman, and baillie in those 
 Bounds, was so convinced of there barbarity from there 
 own confession, that he fined them in ten pounds sterl. . . . 
 By a lait act of Parliament medling with wrecht good, 
 where all the crew come safe ashoare, is made Felonie, 
 and to be punished with death ; and if some rascall was 
 hanged for such a crime it would be a good service done 
 the nation, and probable deter from such proceedings again.' 
 
 The Ann, laden with wine from Bordeaux, sank thirty 
 miles off Ushant in October 1725, the crew being saved 
 by an Arbroath ship. In December following, the Mar- 
 garet was lost on the bar of Montrose, nothing being 
 saved but a barrel of pitch. In September 1728 the 
 Agnes, returning from a smuggling expedition to the 
 West Coast, was wrecked in the Orkneys. 4 I bless 
 Almighty God,' writes the Bailie to Donald Steuart, the 
 skipper, 4 for all his dispensations, and that he spar'd 
 you and your crew.' In a letter which he at the same time 
 addressed to his friend Hugh Baillie, collector at Kirkwall, 
 he, after referring to the fact that he had not a groat 
 insured, writes : 4 This misfortune lys heavey on me, 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xxxiii 
 
 but must patiently submit to divine Providence.' In his 
 latter years the Christian alone remained to him — ' my 
 poor Christian ' he tenderly calls her. She escaped the 
 perils of the sea, but met a worse fate. She was seized 
 and dismantled by sheriff officers at Leith, and, to his 
 undying sorrow, sold for his debts. 
 
 Smuggling — free trading or fair trading, as it was 
 popularly called — was universal in Scotland, especially 
 after the Union. 4 From Holland, and France, and 
 Spain,' says Mr. Henry Grey Graham, 1 4 luggers brought 
 their contraband cargoes of wine, tea, cambric, and 
 brandy. No crime was so respectable as 44 fair trading " ; 
 none was so widely spread. Along the quiet bays of the 
 Solway, into caves under the rocky cliffs of Forfarshire, 
 to remote lochs of Ross-shire, and even to the open shores 
 of Fife, boats came with fine impunity and perfect con- 
 fidence. . . . Gentlemen holding high position in the 
 country and offices of justices of the peace joined the 
 smugglers in their ventures of running in the cargoes, 
 while excisemen were hopelessly baffled. The signal of 
 a white sheet or shirt out to dry on thatched roofs or 
 corn-stacks was the reassuring sign by day, and bonfires 
 on cliffs were timely warnings at night.' 
 
 Bailie John Steuart and his contemporary merchants in 
 Inverness, as well as their correspondents abroad and in 
 southern towns, including, as Mr. Graham points out, the 
 eminently respectable firm of John Coutts & Co. of Edin- 
 burgh, participated in the traffic. The Highland gentle- 
 men and the Hanoverian officers who purchased their wines 
 from the Bailie did so in the knowledge that no duty had 
 been paid. Of the Bailie's wine customers one of the best 
 was John Forbes of Culloden — Bumper John ; and we may 
 
 1 The Social Life of Scotland in the Eighteenth Century, vol. ii. p. 261. 
 
 C 
 
xxxiv LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 take it as certain that his brother, Duncan Forbes, who was 
 fond of his wine, and was in early life 4 a prime ringleader 
 among jolly fellows,' 1 winked at the traffic, and, even 
 after he became Lord Advocate, enjoyed his brother's 
 famous claret none the less for the knowledge that the 
 king whom he served had not received his own. 
 
 The Letter-Book contains many references to the illicit 
 trade. ' There is,' writes the Bailie to Commissary 
 Steuart in June 1715, 6 a mighty seizure of about 25 tunns 
 brandy and some wine made by our Custom house oncers 
 here this week.' In 1717 he writes very indignantly 
 regarding a charge against himself and Bailie Robertson 
 and Mackintosh of Termit over the 4 running ' of salt. 
 He characterises the charge as 4 malicious willanus fals- 
 hood ' ; but, all the same, the probability is that it was 
 true. Brandy in which he was admittedly concerned was 
 seized by Cuthbert of Castlehill and rouped in Exchequer, 
 his partners in the venture being Bailie Barbour of Aldourie 
 and Mackintosh of Termit. 4 This brandy,' he writes 
 Commissary Steuart in June 1718, 4 hes been an unluckie 
 bargain all along.' In April 1722 he sends the Margaret 
 to Rotterdam, and instructs the master — 4 his loveing 
 friend ' and son-in-law, David Stevenson — to address 
 himself to Alexander Andrew and Alexander Carstairs, 
 merchants there, who will have orders to load the ship 
 with Lisbon salt and wine. 'From Rotterdam,' he writes 
 to Stevenson, 4 you are to proceed for this place, and 
 bring letters and bills of loading as from Lisbon. But 
 befor you come directly up here you are to make a signall 
 with your ensign off Helmsdeall, if the wind serve, where 
 my orders will waite you either there or at Tarbetness. 
 You are to take care that no goods be found in the ship 
 that may endanger her, especially that can be easily seen 
 
 1 Hill Burton, Life of Forbes, p. 295. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XXXV 
 
 or diserned. Such goods as may be seen are as follows, 
 vizt., salt, wine in hogsheads, chests with leamons and 
 oranges, barrels with reasins and feggs, or brandie in 
 hogsheads. Except these non other goods can be seen 
 without great danger. You are to be verry cautious that 
 if there be any other you stow it under the salt, or put it in 
 hogsheads and stow it among the wine.' At the same 
 time he writes Alexander Andrew with particulars of the 
 cargo required. 4 1 intreat,' says he, ' that in caise any of 
 cruizing sloops should meet the bark that you make up 
 invoyce and bill of loading for the salt and wine as from 
 London, borrowing some merchant's name liveing there, 
 since the ship is to report here as from Lisbon, and the 
 wine to be entered as Portugall wine ; and pray faill not 
 to caution Mr. Castairs to doe the same.' On 9th July 
 1725 he writes Andrew : 4 There will be now ane effectuall 
 stop put to trade to this Firth from you, for this morning 
 arrived two small cruizers from England in our road to 
 attend all shipps from you in this Firth herafter.' He 
 expresses the belief that the stoppage of the trade will be 
 good for the country ; but the trade continued for many 
 a year, and the Bailie continued to take part in it. In 
 June 1726, he and his son Alexander, his brother-in-law 
 John Macleod, and William Mackay, grandson of General 
 Hugh Mackay of Killicrankie fame, send the Katherine 
 of Leith to France for a cargo of salt from Alexander 
 Gordon, St. Martins, and liquor from Robert Gordon of 
 Bordeaux. Alexander Gordon, he writes the skipper, 4 is 
 to provide you in foreign clearances. Yule endeavour to 
 gett as much as possible, and notice yt. when, please God, 
 you return, in case you meet or is taken up by any coustome 
 house yatches [yachts], to declare yourself bound for 
 Riga in ye Baltic ; and be shure you be well furnished 
 with clearances accordingly. If you gett safe to ye firth 
 yule endeavour to calle off Causea [Covesea in Morayshire] 
 
xxxvi LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 where orders will attend you. We beg your outmost 
 care and diligence.' In July 1728 the Bailie's cousin 
 Donald Steuart is on the West Coast in the ship Agnes, 
 selling salt and brandy, and embarking salmon and 
 herring. ' Fail not,' the Bailie writes him, 4 to sell both 
 at Lochinver, or qrever else you hapen to touch, as much 
 brandy as you can for ready mony, particularly in the 
 Orkneys. . . . Only, before coming up here be sure you 
 stop in the night time in Conage Bey [in Petty], where 
 boats will wait you and get a shoar qt. brandy you 
 may have aboard, qch I hope will be but little by the 
 tyme you come yr. However, it is fit you advise me by 
 express from Lochinwer before you sale from thence, qt. 
 quantity you will have aboard. I am told, if you touched 
 at Kylskow in Strathnaver, you could sell all your brandy 
 for ready mony ; but this I leave entirely to yourself. . . . 
 I wish you Gods blessing.' The blessing did not come, 
 and, as has already been seen, the Agnes was lost in the 
 Orkneys. 
 
 In the spring of 1730, the barque Christian (Duncan 
 Baillie, master) returned from Bordeaux with a cargo of 
 brandy and wine and instructions to make for the West 
 Coast by the Irish Channel. Stewart of Ardshiel was to 
 take eighty ankers of the brandy at 25s. per anker, and 
 Captain Campbell, governor of Fort William, five hogsheads 
 of claret at £10 per hogshead. Baillie was to offer to Mac- 
 donald of Kinlochmoidart what brandy he might require, 
 and he was thereafter to proceed to South Uist, Dunvegan, 
 Portree, and Kyle of Lochalsh, and endeavour to sell 
 the remainder. The Christian arrived in the Sound of 
 Mull in the beginning of April 1730, and on the 18th the 
 Baillie wrote the skipper : 6 1 am aprehensive there may 
 be great danger in your laying any time in the Sound of 
 Mull, and therefore I hope my friends will order matters 
 so that no time be lost. Let all you are to unload there 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xxxvii 
 
 be put to shoar together, so as your lying make no great 
 noice. And I think fitt yourself and sloop take borrowed 
 names, and that it be not known the shipe belongs 
 to this place.' Notwithstanding these precautions the 
 ship's presence in the Sound became known to MacNeil, 
 the custom collector at Fort William, who hurried out 
 to seize her. The Christian escaped ; but the Bailie 
 was angry and expressed the hope to soon break an egg 
 in the collector's pocket. He, however, took another 
 tack, and on 26th May wrote to Ardshiel authorising him 
 to square the collector by making him a gift of five guineas. 
 On the same date he wrote his agent, Donald Macintyre, 
 Fort William, who was now on board the Christian, in- 
 structing him to land the brandy in the Kyle of Shuna 
 in order that whatever happened the barque might be 
 safe. To the skipper he wrote with instructions to go 
 to Easdale for a load of slate, and added : 1 1 earnest 
 request that when you come to Apin the barques name 
 and your own may be chainged, and that none know where 
 you belong to ; likewise that you enjoyne your men to 
 secrecie when they come home. Wishing you all happi- 
 ness.' Somerville, a merchant in Renfrew, was at the 
 time deluging the West Coast with Marseilles brandy at 
 10s. per gallon, which, no doubt, came 4 duty free,' and 
 which, remarks the Bailie, can be sold much cheaper than 
 that from Bordeaux. The Bailie professes to be sick of 
 the clandestine trade, and on 20th August writes his 
 brother-in-law, John Macleod : ' There is such strong 
 resolutions and endeavours to crush the importation of 
 br. . .y that it is disparaging to a mans caracter at this 
 juncture to be known to medle that way ; besides, the 
 Duke of Argyle and Marquis of Seaforth have engadged 
 in the strongest maner to allow no br. . .y to be bought 
 or drunk in ther severall countries. And, besides, Culloden 
 and the Advocate expect McLeod and Sr. Alexr. McDonald 
 
xxxviii LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 to come to the same resolution. So, if such ane project 
 be undertaken, it most be done in the most clandestin 
 manner possible, and the ship can only touch at one remott 
 port, and only ly while the goods can be unloaded, and 
 imediatly thereafter to come of without letting anybodie 
 know the ship or master name, or where she belongs to.' 
 
 The voyage of the Christian appears to have been the 
 Bailie's last serious smuggling venture. He was often 
 suspected, and on more than one occasion got Lord Lovat, 
 General Wade, Colonel Guest, and other men of weight 
 to use their influence with the authorities in his favour. 
 In 1729 a quantity of brandy, landed for him on the shore 
 of Petty, and concealed in the mansion house of Castle 
 Stuart belonging to Lord Moray, was seized by Mr. Hopson, 
 the general supervisor, who broke open the castle and did 
 damage to it to the amount of £13 13 s. The brandy was 
 rouped by the Excise. Hopson threatened to raise pro- 
 ceedings before the Exchequer in Edinburgh, and the 
 Bailie wrote his son with instructions to take the advice 
 of Commissary Steuart. He relied, he said, upon the 
 assistance of the Earl and Countess of Moray, but would 
 willingly stand an Exchequer prosecution, ' though I hope 
 no jury in Britain will find me guilty.' The good offices 
 of the Earl and Countess probably prevailed, for no 
 prosecution took place. 
 
 When the first of the Bailie's letter-books now existing 
 opens in 1715 we find him factor to the Earl of Moray on 
 the fair and fertile lordship of Petty, whose mansion — Castle 
 Stuart, about four miles from Inverness — has undergone 
 little change since his time. We gather from certain of his 
 epistles that before 1712 he was factor for Lord Bute on the 
 estate of Rosehaugh in Ross-shire, to which Bute suc- 
 ceeded through his descent from Sir George Mackenzie 
 of the Killing Time. He continued the Petty factorship 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xxxix 
 
 until 1734, acting also as baron bailie, and presiding over 
 the baron court. The name Petty means the place of 
 4 pets ' or townships or farms ; and, as it is Pictish and not 
 Gaelic, it must have been given to the district after it 
 became agricultural, and before the Pictish tongue was 
 superseded by the Gaelic, which was introduced into the 
 district of Inverness by St. Columba and his church. The 
 lands worth cultivating were reclaimed centuries before 
 the Bailie's time, and, as the farm buildings belonged to 
 and were maintained by the tenants, who were paid 
 4 melioration ' for them when they removed, his duties 
 were pretty much confined to collecting money rents and 
 feu-duties ; gathering in and realising the ferms or rents 
 payable in kind ; removing defaulting tenants, and letting 
 their holdings to others ; and giving judgment in the baron 
 court. The factor of the olden time had to perform the 
 unpleasant duties of his modern representative without 
 the pleasant ; and he consequently acquired an unenvi- 
 able reputation which in certain districts still lingers. 
 
 That the Bailie was in his own day looked upon as an 
 oppressor of poor tenants is very probable ; that he was 
 their friend and never lost a fair opportunity of pleading 
 their cause with the Earl is clearly shown by his Letter- 
 Book. The troubles connected with the Rising of the 
 Fifteen were followed by distress, which in some districts 
 developed into a famine. The people of Petty were among 
 the sufferers, and they found it difficult to pay the rent 
 for crop 1715, part of which was payable in 4 custom ' or 
 money, and part in grain, which was gathered into 
 the grange barn at Castle Stuart, and converted into 
 meal or sold to the maltsters and brewers of Inverness. 
 In April 1716, the Bailie writes his cousin, Commissary 
 Steuart, who was the Earl's 4 doer ' in Edinburgh : 4 1 
 entreat howsoon this comes to hand you pay the Earle of 
 Morray 50£ sterling more, and gett his Lordship's recept 
 
xl LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 to me for the same, and forward the inclosed to his Lord- 
 ship after reeding and sealling. I think the Earle should 
 give down to his tennants of Pettie a year's custom mony, 
 which is no great mater in consideration of ther losses, 
 which they will not recover on heast. And I wish you'l 
 advise this.' To begin with the Bailie's recommendation 
 was accepted ' in a measure ' : ultimately a full year's 
 custom was allowed the tenants as 6 discount.' A series 
 of bad years followed. 'I am sorry to tell your Lordship,' 
 the Bailie writes in January 1722, 6 that I find the tenents 
 of Pettey for the most part in verry bade circumstance, 
 and daily groweing worse. And if Providence doe not 
 order that the next cropt be better than these two or 
 three years past, there will be verry soon either ley lands 
 or insuperable debts in that country. And it is not in my 
 power to doe more for your Lordship's interest than what 
 I doe.' In July of the same year he writes the Earl : 
 4 1 am sorry to tell your Lordship that the accot. of rests 
 [arrears] in Pettie is this year rather larger than last, 
 and, if should please God that the present cropt should 
 prove bad, the one half of ye tennants of Pettie will be 
 bankrupt and oblidged to give up their labourings, for the 
 one half of the farms [ferms] was not payed of last cropt, 
 and the old accot. rests litle diminished. This a melan- 
 choly story, but I cannot help it.' He, however, finds no 
 excuse for the easy-circumstanced proprietor of Delnies 
 for not paying his rent for the farm of Brachley ; and he 
 recommends that proceedings be taken against him. • In 
 1722 several tenants were evicted, and in November 
 1725 so many summonses of removing were sent from 
 Edinburgh to be served on the tenants and feuars of 
 Strathearn (now Strathdearn), Strathnairn, and Petty, 
 that the Bailie writes the Commissary, mildly but faceti- 
 ously protesting : 6 Such a liberarry of prints was never 
 dispersed in these part before. In short you have put all 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xli 
 
 belonging to our Earle in these parts in a fever, andean 
 not be easy untill they know the meaning, of which I could 
 not tell them, unless it was a project to instruct them in 
 the law, or make them more reddy hereafter to their 
 supperriors in their payment.' Removals took place, but 
 the new men who came in were not more successful than 
 the old, and in November 1732, the Bailie writes to James 
 Maul, Lord Moray's agent or factor at Donibristle : ' I 
 am sory to tell you that most of the tenants under my 
 charge in the Lordship of Pety are quit ruined and broke, 
 having now the 3d cropt running that has proved extream 
 bad by shaking and oyr accedents I cannot account for. 
 Last year they did not pay one 3d of their farms [ferms], 
 and this year, for ought I can learn, they will not pay one 
 4th of it, and that by few of them, for most will pay none 
 at all this year. What makes the affair still the more 
 pitiable is that they will get no price for their kattel to 
 enable them to pay their bygone rents. I hope my Lord 
 will not impute these misfortunes to me, being the hand 
 of God, and what I cannot help nor prevent.' There was 
 in that year a famine in the land. 
 
 Although the Bailie was himself of gentle blood, or 
 rather, perhaps, because of that circumstance, he never, 
 if he could avoid it, sacrificed the common people for men 
 of family. In March 1717 he wrote the Earl protesting 
 against his instructions to turn out tenants in Petty to 
 make room for William Macgillivray, a brother of the 
 Laird of Dunmaglass. ' I think,' he states, 1 it will be a 
 hardship to remove such honest tennents on so short 
 advertisement. ... I must say I am already sick of too 
 many gentlemen tennents in Pettie.' The landed gentle- 
 men of Strathnairn and Strathdearn who were the Earl's 
 vassals gave much trouble. Not only were they con- 
 stantly in arrear with their feu-duties and casualties, but 
 they absented themselves from the baron courts which 
 
xlii LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 they were legally bound to attend, and so brought the 
 courts into contempt. 
 
 The Bailie's factorial duties were as unremunerative 
 as they were unpleasant. His salary was 200 merks 
 (£11, 2s. 2|d.) a year. In November 1716 he writes the 
 Commissary that he does a great deal for the Earl for 
 very small wages. In July following he again writes him 
 from Castle Stuart : 4 1 have been here the 8 days agoe 
 about the Earl's affairs, and Im soe tossed and diverted 
 by my ffactorie here, and I believe much looser too, that 
 I judge a new ffactor must uplift and sell this current 
 cropt, or I must have better conditions.' The conditions 
 did not improve, but the Bailie remained in office. In 
 February 1720 he writes the Commissary : 4 1 have taken 
 a positive resolution to give up my charge unless I have 
 better encouragement for my service, for I can declare 
 yt employment has been much money out of my way by 
 my loss of much valuable time I spent about, which, if 
 hade been employed in my own private affairs, I might 
 have been in much better circumstances than I am at 
 present, besides the advance often of my own money 
 to please my constituent. I am now growing old, and 
 my family encreseing, so that I must take ane oyr. course 
 of bussiness than for some years I have done, oyrwise I 
 know not in time may come of me and famly. And you 
 may judge if 200 merks a year be a suitable reward for 
 such a diversion as the charge of Pettie is and has been 
 for many years past to me. I leave it to you to insinuatt 
 this much to my Lord in yor own prudent way.' What 
 the result of the appeal was does not appear, but the 
 factorship was continued for other fourteen years. In 
 February 1734 the Bailie made his last journey to Doni- 
 bristle, settled his accounts, and terminated his factorial 
 career. He boasted that he had made the return journey 
 from Donibristle to Inverness in two days and a half. 
 
INTRODUCTION xliii 
 
 Perhaps the consciousness of having left a load of cares 
 and worries behind added to his speed homeward. When 
 he journeys to Donibristle he invariably visits Edinburgh. 
 In 1718 he records that he is allowed £100 Scots, equal 
 to £8, 6s. 8d. sterling, to meet his expenses there and 
 back, including no doubt those of a servant and two 
 horses. 
 
 Of the Bailie's customers and correspondents only a 
 few can here be referred to. During the period of thirty- 
 two years covered by the Letter-Book many Highland 
 lords and lairds, chiefs and chieftains, wadsetters and 
 tacksmen are seen crossing and recrossing the stage. His 
 relations with the Earl of Moray have already been referred 
 to. With the Duke of Gordon, Sir Henry Innes of Innes, 
 and Sir Thomas Calder of Muirtown in Morayshire, he 
 trafficks in salmon and meal. The Earl of Seaforth, who 
 was 4 out ' in the Fifteen, and led the subsequent Spanish 
 expedition which came to grief at the battle of Glenshiel, 
 sells his salmon to him and buys his slates ; and Sea- 
 forth' s soldier-factor, Donald Murchison, deals with him, 
 and grants bills which he finds it difficult to meet. The 
 Earl of Cromartie, who in the Forty-five fought for Prince 
 Charles, and was saved from the block through the devotion 
 of his wife, enters into herring and meal transactions 
 with him with a shrewdness which has no savour of 
 romance. Simon of Lovat, who was not so fortunate, 
 is his friend — ' my best friend Lord Lovat,' he calls him 
 — selling the Beauly salmon to him, buying his salt and 
 other commodities, and sometimes, although not always, 
 accommodating him when his purse is empty. The 
 Bailie's second wife is Lovat' s near relation, and the 
 nobleman addresses the merchant as 8 My Dear Cousin,' 
 and entertains him and his wife and daughters at Castle 
 Dounie (Beaufort). The Countess of Sutherland likewise 
 
xliv LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 invites the young ladies to Dunrobin ; while her son 
 Lord Strathnaver grants the Bailie bills which he takes 
 years to pay. In Caithness and Sutherland he has busi- 
 ness dealings with the Earl of Caithness and his brother 
 Francis, Sinclair of Ulbster, Sinclair of Barrack, Sinclair 
 of Freswick, and Lord Reay ; and in Orkney with Sir 
 James Stewart of Burray. He also corresponds with 
 his relative — 4 my cousin ' — the Rev. Alexander Pope, 
 minister of Reay in Caithness, who visited his relative 
 the poet Pope at Twickenham in 1732, riding his pony 
 all the way from Caithness. Nearer home his principal 
 customers are John Forbes of Culloden and his brother 
 the Lord President ; Mackintosh of Mackintosh, who 
 fought for King George, while his wife, Colonel Anne, did 
 her best for Prince Charles ; Mackintosh of Borlum, the 
 famous Brigadier of the Fifteen ; the renowned Alasdair 
 Dubh Macdonell of Glengarry, who fought at Killicrankie 
 and Sheriffmuir ; his grandson Alexander Macdonell, 
 4 Young Glengarry,' who after the Forty-five led a mys- 
 terious life in France, and whom Mr. Andrew Lang identi- 
 fies, but not conclusively, with Pickle the Spy ; Coll 
 Macdonell of Barisdale, a prominent Jacobite leader in 
 the Forty-five, and afterwards one of Mr. Lang's 4 Com- 
 panions of Pickle ' on the Continent ; Macdonell of Scotas, 
 who fell at Culloden ; Macdonald of Kinlochmoidart, who 
 did good service at Killicrankie and Sheriffmuir, and his 
 son, who fought through the Forty-five and was beheaded 
 at Carlisle ; Stewart of Appin, and Stewart of Ardshiel, 
 who both suffered for their loyalty to the Stewart line ; 
 Sir Alexander Macdonald of Sleat and Macleod of Macleod, 
 who were accused of encouraging Prince Charles, and of 
 deserting him when the time for action arrived ; Alexander 
 Macdonald of Kingsburgh, who suffered imprisonment for 
 sheltering and assisting the Prince after Culloden, and 
 whose son Allan married Flora Macdonald ; Colonel 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xlv 
 
 William Grant of Ballindalloch, who raised one of the 
 Independent Highland Companies which were incorpor- 
 ated into the Black Watch ; Brigadier Grant of Grant, 
 who had a distinguished career under Marlborough on 
 the Continent, and served King George in Scotland in 
 and after the Fifteen ; his brother and successor, Sir 
 James Grant, who during the Forty-five sat on the fence ; 
 and the Gentle Lochiel, who joined the Prince despite his 
 conviction that his cause was hopeless. 
 
 A noted Jacobite, whose name repeatedly appears in the 
 Letter-Book, is the Bailie's cousin, Colonel John Roy 
 Steuart. 1 So little is known of the personal history of 
 this brave soldier and excellent Gaelic poet that what the 
 Letter-Book tells of him may be of interest. In 1727 he 
 is an officer in the service of King George, and recruiting 
 in the Highlands. 6 He write fully,' writes the Bailie to 
 Commissary Steuart, Edinburgh, in May, 4 by our cousin 
 the Dragoon, who will be with you nixt week with the 
 best recruits goes to his Regiment [the Royal Dragoons] 
 this year, 20 handsom men.' Edmund Burt is in Inver- 
 ness at the time, and the two must have met. In 1736 
 John Roy is again in Inverness, and through Lord Lovat's 
 influence, and also, perhaps, through the good offices of 
 the Bailie, is allowed to escape from the burgh prison, 
 into which he had been thrown on a charge of treason. 2 
 Next year he is in London, and promising to pay his bill of 
 £17, 14s. to the Bailie. In 1739 he grants a renewal of 
 the bill. From that year till 1745 he is in France, the 
 Bailie's letters to him being addressed to the care of the 
 Jacobite Charles Smith, whose wife, nee Paterson of Ban- 
 nockburn, is an aunt of Clementina Walkinshaw, Prince 
 Charles's friend, and the mother of his daughter Charlotte. 
 
 1 John Roy — Iain Ruadh, Red-haired John. 
 
 2 Lord Lovafs Trial, pp. 23, 36. 
 
xlvi LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 John Roy's bill remains unpaid, and in November 1743 the 
 Bailie endeavours without success to get him to send home 
 brandy in settlement. In August 1745 news comes that 
 he is in Ghent, wearing the Highland dress, and in much 
 favour for having rescued Mrs. Menzies, a daughter of 
 Campbell of Monzie, from French soldiers and procured 
 for her letters of safe conduct to England. 4 1 believe,' 
 writes the Bailie to his son John, 4 the story we had of 
 his being killed with old Lochiel was designedly given 
 out.' In September John Roy is in the Highlands in the 
 interests of Prince Charles — 4 in very good credit and 
 esteem,' observes the Bailie. After Culloden, where he 
 commanded a regiment, he for a time wanders in his 
 native Strathspey, composing 4 psalms ' in English and 
 laments in Gaelic, and in the end finds his way back 
 to Boulogne, where he died — probably in 1749, for in 
 November of that year his widow is referred to. 1 
 
 1 See The Beauties of Gaelic Poetry for John Roy's effusions. His two 
 Gaelic songs on Culloden Day show that he believed in the groundless charge 
 of treachery against Lord George Murray. His English 'Psalm,' composed 
 during his fugitive days after Culloden, may be given : — 
 
 The Lord 's my targe, I will be stout 
 
 with dirk and trusty blade, 
 Though Campbells come in flocks about 
 
 I will not be afraid. 
 
 The Lord 's the same as heretofore, 
 
 he 's always good to me, 
 Though red-coats come a thousand more 
 
 afraid I will not be. 
 
 Though they the woods do cut and burn 
 
 and drain the waters dry ; 
 Nay, though the rocks they overturn 
 
 and change the course of Spey ; • 
 
 Though they mow down both corn and grass 
 
 and seek me under ground ; 
 Though hundreds guard each road and pass, 
 
 John Roy will not be found. 
 
 The Lord is just, lo ! here's a mark, 
 
 he 's gracious and kind, 
 While they like fools grop'd in the dark, 
 
 as moles he struck them blind. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xlvii 
 
 That the Bailie was a Jacobite is clear. The Jacobites 
 who suffered after the Fifteen have his practical sympathy. 
 In August 1716 he advances 20s. for the relief of Highland 
 prisoners in Edinburgh Castle. In November he assists 
 in getting up a fund for the 4 poor gentlemen at Carlisle,' 
 and on 5th December remits £20 to Mr. William Drummond, 
 Edinburgh, 4 for that charitable end.' 4 1 hope against 
 next post to send you a good deall more.' In 1717, he 
 remarks, with reference to the loss of the ship Alexander, 
 which was taken by a Swedish privateer, that his father, 
 who was interested in the vessel, prays 4 that God may 
 speedily remove the cause of such losses. You may guess 
 his meaning.' The old man's prayer was for the removal of 
 King George, which was one of the avowed objects of the 
 Swedish king. On 29th May 1729, the Bailie fails to meet 
 a friend, as he 4 could not omit the attending the excellent 
 prayers for that day ' — Royal Oak Day, the anniversary 
 of the Restoration. In the List of Persons Concerned 
 in the Rebellion, prepared by supervisors of excise for 
 the information of the Government, and printed by this 
 Society in 1890, the Bailie is included as 4 A Volunteer in 
 said Rebel Army and very active ; now at Newton.' In 
 1745 the Bailie was sixty-nine years of age, and although 
 his heart was with Charles, he saw no active service. He 
 himself subsequently wrote that he was 4 absent at that 
 
 Though lately straight before their face, 
 
 they saw not where I stood ; 
 The Lord 's my shade and hiding-place — 
 
 he 's to me always good. 
 
 Let me proclaim, both far and near, 
 
 o'er all the earth and sea, 
 That all with admiration hear 
 
 how kind the Lord 's to me. 
 
 Upon the pipe I '11 sound his praise, 
 
 and dance upon my stumps ; 
 A sweet new tune to it I '11 raise, 
 
 and play it on my trumps. 
 
xlviii LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 dismall period.' 1 In the Letter-Book he gives no in- 
 formation regarding the Rising : except once or twice, 
 incidentally and darkly, he never refers to it. He followed 
 the same policy of silence in the Fifteen, and in the trouble 
 of 1719 which ended at Glenshiel. 
 
 His Jacobitism indeed was not allowed to interfere with 
 his intercourse with the Hanoverians. Between 1715 and 
 1735 he was on intimate terms with General Wightman, the 
 victor at Glenshiel ; General Cadogan, who after Sheriff- 
 muir commanded King George's forces at Inverness ; 
 Captain David Kennedy, paymaster to Brigadier Grant's 
 regiment, which was stationed in Inverness in 1716 ; 
 Lieutenant Allardyce of the Fusiliers, who was beaten by 
 Donald Murchison in the skirmish of Ath-nam-Muileach 
 in Glenaffaric in September 1721 ; Sir Patrick Strachan 
 of Glenkindy, surveyor-general to the Forfeited Estates 
 Commissioners ; Sir Robert Pollock, General Siburg, 
 and Captain Campbell, governors of Fort William ; Lieu- 
 tenant Wainsbarow, governor of Duart Castle ; General 
 Wade, the pacifier of the Highlands and the maker of the 
 famous roads ; General Guest, governor of Inverness ; 
 Edmund Burt ; Colonel Lie, whose regiment was stationed 
 in Inverness in 1728 ; General Sabius, whose regiment 
 was there in 1734 ; Major Thomas Gordon, of the Bernera 
 Barracks ; and many other officers. With those Hanove- 
 rians he traded and drank healths, avoiding, we may be 
 sure, the toast of 4 the King over the Water.' Guest lived 
 for a time in his house, and continued to be his friend 
 after he left the north. In 1723 the Inverness magistrates 
 had a tide-waiter and two soldiers whipped by the common 
 hangman in connection with the death of an alleged 
 smuggler. The military were greatly incensed and threat- 
 ened vengeance. The Bailie got Guest to intervene, and 
 
 1 Letter, dated 16th November 1748, to Bishop Forbes, Lyon in Mourning 
 (Scot. Hist. Soc), vol. ii. p. 211. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xlix 
 
 violence was avoided ; but a long and interesting litigation 
 followed on the subject of the magistrates' jurisdiction. 1 
 In 1728 there was a somewhat similar quarrel between the 
 town and Colonel Lie, which was brought to an end by 
 Wade through the good offices of Guest. In 1729 Guest 
 and Burt assisted the Bailie in recovering the price of 
 meal supplied by him to the Suinart lead-mining company, 
 in which, as has already been said, Wade was a partner. 
 The Bailie in return obliged the Hanoverians. Among 
 many similar transactions he in 1725 discounted a bill by 
 his friend Captain Mungo Herdman on Richard Whitefall 
 for the cost of the frigate placed by Wade on Loch Ness, 
 and of which Whitefall was the builder. In 1728 he 
 conveyed in one of his ships military baggage and invalid 
 soldiers from Bernera to Fort William. 
 
 Some of the Bailie's business agents and correspondents 
 at home and abroad may be mentioned. For many years he 
 corresponded with John Coutts of Edinburgh, the founder 
 of Coutts's Bank. Coutts discounted bills, but his business, 
 so far as Inverness was concerned, mainly consisted of 
 ventures in herring, cod, salmon, corn and meal. Steuart 
 also had many dealings with such merchants as Alex- 
 ander and James Coutts, George Auchterlonie (or Ochter- 
 lonie), Joseph Faiknie, Donald Mackay, William Cumming, 
 John Maclean, David Ross, Patrick MacHattie, Charles 
 Mackintosh ( 4 who is every day on Change '), and Alex- 
 ander Mackintosh of Kyllachy (granduncle of Sir James 
 Mackintosh, the Historian of England), all of London ; 
 Nicholas & Ridley, Newcastle ; William Thomson, Cork ; 
 James Fall (or Fauld) & Bros., and Charles Fall, Dunbar ; 
 Alexander Arbuthnot, Alexander Cumming, James Cum- 
 ming, Hugh and Archibald Hamilton, John Innes, George 
 Falconer, Andrew Henderson, Alexander Tait, William 
 
 1 See Mr. Kenneth Macdonald on the case in his edition (1913) of Mr. 
 Fraser-Mackintosh's Antiquarian Notes, p. 390. 
 
 d 
 
1 LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Carmichael, and James Stewart, all of Edinburgh ; John 
 Strachan, Leith ; Macfarland & McCarrol, Roderick Mac- 
 leod, and Charles Miller, Glasgow ; William Somerville, 
 Renfrew; John Auchterlonie (or Ochterlonie), and Ramsay 
 & Strachan, Montrose ; William Simpson and John 
 Burnett, Aberdeen ; John Donaldson and William Gordon 
 of Farskane, Elgin ; William Dawson, Forres ; Walter 
 Pollock (son of Sir Robert Pollock), Maclean & Co., George 
 Douglas, William Park, and William Macdougall & Co., 
 all of Maryburgh, now Fort William ; George Urquhart 
 and William Ross, Cromarty ; Colin Mackenzie and Alex- 
 ander Mackenzie, Dingwall ; Zachary Macaulay, Storno- 
 way ; Magnus Meason, Kirkwall ; and Henry Graham, 
 Stromness. His principal foreign correspondents were 
 Marjoribanks & Coutts, and Francis Grant, in Danzig ; in 
 Stockholm, Nelleton & Campbell, Montgomery Mould & 
 Fenick, and Campbell Gerrard & Dobson ; Hugh Ross in 
 Gottenburg ; Alexander Ross in Copenhagen ; David 
 Barclay and Bartholomew Bludworth in Hamburg ; 
 Jackson & Bradley in Amsterdam ; Alexander Andrew, 
 Robert Gerrard, John Gordon, and Robert Mackay in 
 Rotterdam ; John Macdonald 4 in Holland ' ; Jacob 
 Ferray in Havre ; John Super and Alexander Gordon in 
 St. Martins ; Robert Gordon and John Macleod in Bord- 
 eaux ; Ivan van Duffel in Bilbao ; Shalet Vonder & 
 Ferrant, otherwise Winder and Ferrand, in Barcelona ; 
 Aickman & Winder, and Godfrey & Hudson in Leghorn or 
 Livorno ; in Barbados Mr. Mackay 4 on the wharfe ' ; 
 and in Jamaica Donald Macdonald — or rather Donald 
 Mackay, the writer's great-grandfather, 1 who was trans- 
 ported to Barbados for his part in the Forty-five, and, 
 escaping to Jamaica, changed his name. After many 
 years Donald returned to his native Glen Urquhart, where 
 
 1 Son of John Mackay of Achmonie, solicitor in Inverness. See p. ix. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 li 
 
 he now rests under a tombstone to the memory of 4 Donald 
 Mackay Macdonald, Esq., late Planter in Jamaica, and 
 Representative of the Ancient Family of Achmonie.' To 
 the foreign wine merchants the Bailie occasionally sends 
 as a rare gift a small quantity of whisky, which he some- 
 times calls 4 mountain wine,' and sometimes 4 Isle of 
 Skye champagne.' Whisky was coming into general use 
 in the Highlands and gradually displacing the old native 
 ale. In 1735 Steuart quotes its price at £12 per hogshead. 
 
 Many of the Bailie's home and foreign correspondents, 
 it will be observed, bear Celtic names. His periwig-maker 
 was a Celt — Maciver, London ; and so, with one or 
 two exceptions, were his lawyers — in Edinburgh, John 
 Macleod, Advocate, who was concerned in the abduc- 
 tion of Lady Grange ; Roderick Macleod, W.S. ; John 
 Steuart, the Commissary; and William Fraser, W.S., 
 proprietor of Balnain in Statherrick, and grandfather of 
 Patrick Fraser Tytler, the Historian of Scotland. In 
 Inverness Steuart 's legal advisers were Evan Baillie of 
 Abriachan, a successful 4 doer,' whose most prominent 
 client was Simon Lord Lovat, and John Taylor, who held 
 some land right in virtue of which he was one of the 
 few 4 barons ' or freeholders who were entitled to vote 
 for a member of Parliament for the county of Inverness, 
 and whose name still lives in Baron Taylor's Lane, Inver- 
 ness. Baron Taylor appears in the Letter-Book from 
 1720 to 1743. 
 
 In the Bailie's time money was very short and credit 
 very long. The ready money system was virtually 
 unknown, and sellers and buyers lived in an atmosphere 
 of bills and bonds which frequently floated unpaid for 
 many years. Some of these obligations have already 
 been referred to. A few more may be mentioned. In 
 1706 Mackintosh of Mackintosh granted the Bailie a bill 
 for £16. In 1716 it was protested for non-payment. It 
 
lii LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 was still due in 1736. In 1738 the balance of the principal 
 was paid, but the Bailie remarks on his simplicity in having 
 lost thirty-two years' interest. In 1717 he is dunning 
 Colonel Grant of Ballindalloch for the contents of a bill ; 
 in 1728 the dunning is still going on. A bill by the Chief 
 of Glengarry and Macdonell of Scotas, which was past 
 due in 1722, is in the same state in 1730. Lochiel's 
 obligation, granted prior to 1720, is 4 not yet paid ' in 
 1729. Brigadier Mackintosh of Borlum's bill, signed in 
 1724, is unpaid in 1737. Colonel Donald Murchison's 
 document for £6, 7s. is unpaid for years, and so is John 
 Roy Steuart's paper for £17, 14s. Some time before 
 
 1735 the Laird of Mackinnon granted a bill for the large 
 sum of £114, 19s. 2d. It is still due in 1742. William 
 MacCulloch, a Ross-shire laird, signed a bill in 1728. In 
 1743 it is recorded that he is in Virginia, and that payment 
 is expected when he returns. The bill is not paid in 1749, 
 when pressure is put upon MacCulloch, now barrack-master 
 of Fort Augustus. About 1710 the Bailie's father took 
 an acceptance from Angus Mackintosh of Kyllachy, who 
 was taken prisoner at the battle of Preston in 1715. In 
 
 1736 the Bailie is pressing Kyllachy's son Alexander, the 
 London merchant, for payment. In 1722 Steuart refers 
 to the difficulty he has in recovering from Bumper John 
 of Culloden a bill for £25, granted no doubt for a quantity 
 of Culloden's famous claret. He experiences the same 
 difficulty in 1740 in recovering the debt from John's 
 brother and successor, Lord President Forbes. In 1717 
 he is urging Lord Strathnaver and Lord Reay for payment 
 of obligations long past due. Young Gordon of Glen- 
 buchat gives the Bailie his bill for £5, 4 which he promised 
 upon honour to pay several times.' He failed to keep 
 the promise, and in October 1726 his father was written 
 to, and the bill was probably paid. In 1700 Robert 
 Cumming of Relugas granted to the Bailie's father an 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 liii 
 
 obligation for £10. In 1748 the Bailie is endeavouring 
 to recover the amount from the grantor's son, Mr. Patrick 
 Cumming, minister in Edinburgh. 
 
 The English officers from time to time stationed in the 
 Highlands, and whose paper the Bailie was always ready 
 to take, were also frequently in default — among them 
 being General Siburg, governor of Fort William, in 1725 ; 
 Colonel Long and Major Ormsby in 1726 ; Captain John 
 Trelawney in 1727 ; and our friend Edmund Burt, the 
 critic of Highland customs, in 1729. Among others whose 
 bills or bonds are referred to in the Letter-Book are William 
 Macleod of Hamar, the ' Theophilus Insulanus ' who 
 wrote a well-known treatise on second sight ; Donald 
 Macdonald of Kinlochmoidart ; Stewart of Ardshiel ; 
 Grant of Shewglie, who died in the Tower of London, 
 where he was imprisoned after Culloden ; Major James 
 Fraser of Castle Leather, author of Major Fraser's Manu- 
 script ; the Earl of Cromartie ; and Macleod of Macleod. 
 
 Although the Bailie found it difficult to turn his bills 
 into cash, they were not allowed to lie idle in his desk. 
 In a measure they served him the purpose of bank notes. 
 He continually sends them to his correspondents in satis- 
 faction of his own obligations ; and sometimes they 
 return to him after many days and after passing through 
 many hands. Highland bills were as a rule made payable 
 at Crieff, where a great cattle tryst took place every year 
 in September. The market was regularly attended by 
 Highland lairds, tacksmen, and drovers, and Steuart was 
 frequently represented at it, and did his best to exchange 
 his paper for the gold produced by the black cattle from 
 the glens. 
 
 There was in the Bailie's day no bank within the High- 
 land bounds, and no way of remitting money except in 
 specie, notes, or bills, transmitted by the ordinary posts 
 or by 4 expresses ' or special messengers. A post walked 
 
 d 2 
 
liv LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 from Inverness to Edinburgh with more or less regularity 
 every week, returning the following week. There were 
 posts also to Aberdeen, Montrose, and Caithness. These 
 officials were selected for their strength, courage, and 
 fidelity to trust, and during the Bailie's long period of 
 business only one complaint is recorded — the post of 1722 
 ' is a drunken carles fellow.' Their adventures were doubt- 
 lessly many, but they seldom failed to carry their mails, 
 money, and parcels to their destination. There were 
 periods, however, of special danger. During the troubles 
 of the Fifteen and the Forty-five the postal service was 
 suspended. In 1721 the Bailie is unable to risk a remit- 
 tance to Edinburgh ' for fear of robbing, which is verray 
 frequent of late in the Highlands.' He as a rule seals 
 the bag containing the money or what represents money, 
 and sends a separate letter specifying the bag's contents — 
 the individual coins, the bank notes and their numbers, 
 the amount, dates, drawers and acceptors of the bills. 
 The contents of the bag are sometimes mixed. In 1718 
 a remittance to Banff consists of a bank note, 67 golden 
 guineas, 5s. in silver, and 2f pennies in copper. In the 
 same year a special messenger is sent to the Earl of Moray 
 in Fife carrying 4 in Gold 157£ 0 : 6d. ster. all in guineas 
 and half guineas, except 5 Luidores.' In 1725 he sends 
 to John Duff, Elgin, by special messenger, £27 : 13 : 4d. 
 sterling, 4 being in Specie 10 guaneas, a quadruple or 
 4 pistole piece value £3 : 6/. Strl. and a £5 strl. bank 
 noat, and the rest in Silver ' ; and in 1734 the Bailie's 
 father-in-law, Norman Macleod, sends him from Glenelg 
 by an express, who takes eight days to do the journey, 
 4 37 moedores and a half, 30 guenes, and elven Banck 
 noats of 20 shillings each, and your Bill on Ebost for 
 ten guenies, payable att Creef, and a porteguise ps., and 
 seven shillings ster.' 
 
 Some idea of the rate at which those messengers were 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 iv 
 
 remunerated will be got from the following payments 
 made in 1735 : to an express from Inverness to Loch- 
 broom and back 8s. sterling ; to one from Inverness to 
 the west coast of Sutherland and back, 7s. 6d. The man 
 who brought the money from Glenelg in 1734 had evidently 
 access to it, for he used 6s. of it during his eight days' 
 tramp. 4 If you think fit to give him more may doe it, 
 and He allow of it,' writes the Bailie to the sender. Ex- 
 presses are sent from Inverness to Fort William, Ardshiel, 
 Dunvegan, Gairloch, Lochinver, Caithness, Cullen, Aber- 
 deen, Crieff, and Edinburgh ; but the payments made to 
 them are not stated. When the Agnes was lost the news 
 was brought to the Bailie by a special messenger who 
 boated from Ork'iey to Thurso or Scrabster, and walked 
 from there to Inverness. 
 
 The extent of the Bailie's business notwithstanding, it 
 cannot be gathered from the Letter-Book that he ever 
 made money. From the outset his capital was insufficient 
 for his business ; as has already been said, he ventured 
 and trusted too much ; and his losses were great. His 
 household and family expenses were heavy. He appears, 
 however, to have made ends meet until about the year 
 1735, when he began to be in serious financial straits. 
 Things went from bad to worse. He made strenuous 
 efforts to convert his bills and bonds into cash. His 
 creditors gave him trouble. The newsagent who sent 
 him his weekly paper from Edinburgh served a summons 
 on him in 1741, and so did Maciver, the periwig-maker. 
 In December of that year he was threatened with horning 
 and caption and the other legal processes which were the 
 terror of the impecunious. 4 I cannot pay these claims,' 
 he writes, 4 was I to be hangd as well as imprisoned. I 
 care not to go to a stinking gaol at this time of the year, 
 in my old age.' The Earl of Seaforth dealt him a bad 
 blow by arresting his salmon on the shores of Loch Duich. 
 
lvi LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 In 1743 he is 4 prodigiously straitned for pressing demands, 
 and for the sustenance of my family ' ; and is 4 perplexed 
 and dunned to death by poor people.' In 1749 4 swarms 
 of small creditors are on my back.' He frequently borrows 
 from friends and draws bills upon them for small sums, 
 and he writes to his son John from 1744 to the end of the 
 Letter-Book in terms which disclose a cruel and con- 
 tinuous state of impecuniosity. His long letter of 29th 
 November 1752 to John, then in Carolina, is interesting 
 for the account it gives of his family ; but the close is 
 pathetic : 4 This [thus] have I given you an Account of 
 all our family, so have only to add that your mother and 
 I have laboured under great troubles of late years, and 
 only subsisted by the bounty of our children, and few or 
 non other of late ; and our schemes have missgiven. 
 May God sanctify every dispensation of his providence 
 to us, and prepare us for death and eternity, which I may 
 dayly look for, as I am now very old, and of late feel 
 the effects of it. Your mother, Meg, and brothers give 
 you their blessing, and to your spouse and child, in which 
 I join.' It is the last of our friend's recorded epistles. 
 
 Steuart, although he did not allow his politics to inter- 
 fere with his friendships or his business interests, was, as 
 has been seen, a sincere and hopeful Jacobite. In October 
 1748 his son Francis hands Bishop Forbes a written 
 account of the cruelties that followed Culloden, 1 and in 
 November he himself writes the Bishop on the subject. 
 4 I doe not think,' he says, 4 there were ever greater in- 
 human barbaritys and cruelties of all kinds perpetrat in 
 anie countrie, either Cristian or Infidel, than was in this 
 at that period ; and all by order of the commander 
 [Cumberland], as some of the officers then in that service 
 
 The Lyon in Mourning (Scot. Hist. Soc), vol. ii. p. 189. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 lvii 
 
 have since told me. And those that comitted the greatest 
 barbaritys, whether by murder, rape, rapin, or fire, have 
 since been most liberally rewarded and prefered. But 
 God is the Lord to whom vengeance belongs, righteous 
 in all ways, and just in all his judgements, so shall say 
 no more on this subject at present.' 1 Soon after the 
 close of the war he is in correspondence with the Highland 
 exiles on the Continent ; and in March 1751 he makes a 
 journey to France, where he remains till November. In 
 a letter, dated 17th January 1752, to his son James, he 
 records his cordial reception by his friends there, through 
 whose hospitality he ' lived at little expence,' and who 
 made an effort to get for him a 4 share of the pention setled 
 by the Court of France for certain Gentlemen in distress.' 
 The effort was without success, 6 as I wanted certain 
 qualifications without which my project would not doe, 
 but at the same time I got assurance that at a proper time 
 I would be provided for.' The proper time did not come, 
 and, notwithstanding his son John's offer to allow him 
 £20 a year if he settled in Boulogne, the disappointed old 
 man returned to his own Highlands to resume for a few 
 years his struggle for existence. He died on 20th April 
 1759. 2 
 
 In church politics the Bailie was an Episcopalian. In 
 1717, when factor of Petty, he declares that he has ' no 
 stomach for planting [Presbyterian] kirks.' In 1734 the 
 Rev. Robert Jameson, ' minister of the Gospell to the 
 Episcopall Congregation of Inverness,' made over his 
 library in trust for the congregation — among the trustees 
 being Steuart and John Taylor, writer — Baron Taylor. 
 In his letter of November 1748 to Bishop Forbes, Steuart 
 states : ' Wee are here in a deprest confin'd condition as to 
 
 1 The Lyon in Mourning, vol. ii. p. 211. 
 MS. Mackintosh of Farr Book, in the possession of Miss F. Mackintosh of 
 Farr. 
 
lviii LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 the publick profession of our religion, tho' our good worthie 
 Pastor [Mr. James Hay] does all he can. But I dare say 
 matters will not long continue so. Meantime, God grant 
 us patience and resignation to his unering providence/ 
 When the Bishop visited Inverness in 1762, and again in 
 1770, the good Bailie's memory was still green in the 
 Highland Episcopal fold. 
 
 Steuart's family was a large one. The Letter-Book evi- 
 dences his care to have his children well educated. Among 
 the subjects which his boys were taught at the Inverness 
 grammar-school were Latin and Greek. The girls were 
 educated at the same institution, and,, as regards certain 
 subjects, at other schools. ' Wee have,' he writes in 
 1752, ' verie good schools of all kinds here, and vast many 
 young girles sent here to be educat.' 1 His daughter Ann 
 married Richard Hay-Newton of Newton, East Lothian, 
 and it is to her descendant, Mr. W. Hay-Newton, the 
 present proprietor of Newton, that the writer is indebted 
 for the Letter-Book. Another daughter married Captain 
 Reid, and another Captain Wedderburn. His son Alex- 
 ander was a wine merchant in Leith. James went to 
 India, where he prospered. John, after spending some 
 years at sea, and going round the world with Lord Anson 
 as purser of the Centurion, settled in Charleston, South 
 Carolina, where he was appointed British agent for the 
 Carolinas. He is said to have been the only officer who 
 escaped in the massacre at Fort Loudoun on the Tennessee 
 River in 1760. In the American War of Independence he 
 took the British side, and on the conclusion of the war left 
 
 1 The innkeeper's daughter whom Dr. Samuel Johnson met in Glenmoriston 
 in 1773 had, he tells us in his Tour, been educated at Inverness, and 'had the 
 English pronunciation,' and was 'not inelegant either in mien or dress/ 
 Among her father's few books were a volume or more of Prideaux's Connection 
 of the Old a,7id New Testaments — a book which we find the Bailie ordering from 
 London in 1723. The Doctor, when parting with the girl, presented her 
 with a copy of Cocker's Arithmetic, which he a few days previously purchased in 
 Inverness. — Johnson's Tour, and Boswell's Journal of the Tour. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 lix 
 
 America for good and settled in England, bringing home 
 with him the child whom the Bailie blessed in his last 
 recorded letter, and who was destined to become famous 
 as Sir John Stuart, Count Maida — the victor of Maida, 
 where, to the surprise of the world, 1 the veterans of 
 Napoleon fled before the British steel.' 1 
 
 The Bailie's sons Francis, Patrick, and Henry also 
 settled in South Carolina. Many Highlanders emigrated 
 to the same state in the early years of the eighteenth 
 century, 2 and for generations Gaelic was as much spoken 
 there as in the parish of Inverness — negroes speaking it, 
 to the amazement and horror of later Highland emigrants. 
 The Gaelic is now dead in the State, but in Charleston 
 the 4 Old Stuart House,' built by John and Francis, still 
 stands. 
 
 A pleasing trait in the Bailie's character may be 
 mentioned. He was fond of flowers, and was in the 
 habit of placing southernwood and other sweet-smelling 
 plants and herbs between the leaves of his letter- 
 books. These lay there undisturbed until the volumes 
 were read by the Editor after the lapse of nigh two 
 centuries. 
 
 The Editor's indebtedness to Mr. Hay-Newton for the 
 Letter-Book has already been acknowledged. In connec- 
 tion with the work of editing it he has received interesting 
 information from Mr. P. J. Anderson, Aberdeen ; Mr. John 
 Malcolm Bulloch, London ; Mr. James Grant, Banff ; Mr. 
 William Grant, Aberdeen ; Mr. Ranald Macdonald, 
 Portree ; Mr. A. Francis Steuart ; and Dr. Maitland 
 Thomson. The Society and Editor are indebted to the 
 late Mrs. Henry Glassford Bell, a descendant of Bailie 
 
 1 See Frontispiece. 
 
 2 On 25th March 1737, for example, the Hope sailed from Inverness with 
 seventy passengers and indented servants for Carolina (pp. 404-407.) 
 
lx LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Steuart, for the Frontispiece, and to the New Spalding 
 Club for the drawing of Inverness in 1725, which was 
 first printed in the Club's Inverness Records, vol. i. The 
 excellent Index is the work of Mr 0 Mill of the Signet 
 Library. 
 
 WILLIAM MACKAY. 
 
 Craigmonie, Inverness, 
 March 1915. 
 
 THE BAILIE'S SIGNATURE 
 
INVERNESS AND NEIGHBOURHOOD IN 1725 
 
 From a drawing in the B> itish Museum 
 
THE LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN 
 
 STEUART OF INVERNESS 
 
 Invernes, 23 May 1715. 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Bradley [Amsterdam]. 
 
 I wrot to you this dait in Compy with Messrs. Tho: 
 Robertson and Alexr. Mackintosh of this pleace, by 
 recommendation of Mr. Alexr. Coutts, of Dantzick, 1 annent 
 a small Cargoe of Barly In the shipp Margret of this 
 pleace, George Rodgers, master, Laitly consigned to Mr. 
 James Murison, who I am sorie to hear is dead. I say I 
 wrot in Compy. to you annent the disposall of sd. Cargoe 
 and reloading the shipp home, to Which referrs. Now 
 this serves to advise that I wrot to sd. Mr. Murison the 
 28 Aprile and 6 instant to shipp for my propper account 
 in sd. Margret a parcell of goods, which I computt to about 
 1000 Gilders in value, so that if this overtake the shipp, 
 and that you find my Commission is not to be complyed 
 with by Mr. Murisons freinds, I will entreat the favour of 
 you to Call for my Letters of 28 past and 6 instant at 
 the Defuncts Cantore, and buy and shipp for my acct. 
 all those Goods I have Commissioned for, except the 
 Mather, which please forbear ; and for what Goods you 
 buy and shipp thus for my proper acct. may send me 
 envoyce and bill of Loading, and shall order you payment 
 on the first Notice. I hope what Goods you buy you '11 
 take care they be bought frugally, as you may depend on 
 
 1 Alexander Coutts was probably a member of the family of Coutts of 
 Auchtercoul. A younger son of that family is said to have settled at Montrose 
 about the end of the sixteenth century. Several of his descendants were provosts 
 of that Burgh, and John Coutts, Provost of Montrose, registered arms 1672-78. 
 Members of the family also settled in London. One of them, Alexander Coutts 
 of Redfield, had a niece Concordia, who married, first, Thomas Marshall, 
 secondly, Gotlieb Gotz, both merchants in Dantzig. See Stodart's Scottish 
 ytrms, vol. ii. p. 298. 
 
 A 
 
2 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 punctuall payment for what Creditt I shall want. Please 
 to Inshure for my Acct. on Goods in sd. shipp 1200 Gilders, 
 and pleace the premium to Acct. off, Gentlemen, Your 
 most humble servant, John Steuart. 
 
 Pray forward the inclosed to Dantzick pr. first. 
 
 Inv ernes, 24 May 1715. 
 Mr. Andrew Majoribank [Dantzic]. 
 
 Sir, — I wrot you the 23d Aprile last, as did my Father 1 
 the 6 instant, ordering to remitt all the mony in your 
 hands as proceeds of herins consigned to you, to the 
 hands of Mr. James Murison, of Amsterdam ; but being 
 advised this post of that Gentlemans death I hope this 
 comes time enouch to hinder anie remittance that way, 
 haveing reason to belive you have notice of that Gentle- 
 mans death befor my orders came to hand ; so now 
 I desire befor you make anie remittance for my acct. 
 or my fathers you wait my further orders, or, if have 
 made remittances, as I belive not, pray, if possible, stop 
 payments untill wee know some further of the deceast 
 Gentlemans affairs ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inv ernes, 28 May 1715. 
 Mr. Alexr. Ochterlounie [London]. 
 
 Sir, — I wrot you some time agoe in Company with Mr. 
 Alexr. Mackintosh of this pleace adviseing that § of the 
 180£ sterling remitted from Minorca by Capt. George 
 Person for Thomas Robertson and Comp. was for sd. Mr. 
 Mackintosh and me, and Mr. Robertson tells me he has 
 confirmed same by valueing only for J of sd. mony. Therf or 
 I have Drawn on you of this dait to Mr. George Mackilican, 
 apothecarie here, for 36£ sterling @ 6 days sight in pairt 
 of my 3d of sd. mony, which pleace accordingly. Pray how- 
 soon this comes to hand procur a Mediteranean pass 
 Conform to within certificatts, and send it me pr. first, and 
 pleace the value to my Acct. Capt. Dunbar, in the shipp 
 
 1 Alexander Steuart, merchant in Inverness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 3 
 
 Good Success of this pleace, is gone Laitly from Hamburg 
 for London on fraight. Wee have recomended him to 
 call at you for your assistance in procuring him fraight 
 for Scotland, and, if can gett non, bid him full the shipp 
 with hoopes for the owners accts., and value on us for 
 the price of sd. hoops ; but, if can gett fraight, it will doe 
 better, in which must entreat your favourable concurance, 
 and, I am, etc. 
 
 Comissar Steuart [Edinburgh]. 1 
 
 Invernes, 3d June 1715. 
 
 D. Cossn, — I am very much fashed with the Earl of 
 Murray s farms 2 of Pettie yt. are still on hand, and I am 
 sure it will be a loss to his Lop: that they were not sold 
 in the beginning of the year to the people of this place, 
 Since they ofered the same price as they are sold at, and 
 Considering that they the tennents would have made fuller 
 paymts, and been freed of a great deall of trouble ; and I 
 have by the Earles order protested agt. Mr. Cumming, 
 the buyer, so may tell him all the Inlake 3 and charges of 
 keeping will hereafter fall on him. George Urquhart, 
 Mr. Cummings doer here, told me the oyr day that he 
 knew not when the Earles bear would be received, and he 
 beleeved Mr. Cuming was not as yet determined how to 
 Dispose of the Same ; yrfore pray speak to him and tell 
 him yt, if he will give orders to his correspondent here to 
 dispose of the bear in this place, I will concurr wt. him for 
 yt end, and doe suppose he may still get 6£ Scots pr. boll ; 
 As to qch pray favour me wt. his ansuer pr. first. I send 
 you inclosed precepts of poinding att my Instance agst. 
 Hugh Rose, late tennant in Overcoull [in Petty]. I 
 desire you may raise horning yron, and send me first, but 
 first arrest in the hands of Wm. Rose, Wryter, his cousin, 
 
 . 1 John Steuart, Commissary of Inverness, and the Earl of Moray's legal 
 adviser in Edinburgh. The Bailie was factor on the Earl's estates in Inverness- 
 shire. The Commissary was the Bailie's cousin. 
 
 2 Farm, more commonly fer/ue, rent in grain or meal. 
 
 3 Loss, deficiency. 
 
4 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 who I am told hes of sd. Hughs effects in his hands. This 
 debt is really due the Earle of Murray, which makes me 
 anxious about it. There is a mighty seizure of about 
 25 tunns brandy and some wine made by our Custom 
 house oncers here this week. Its said to be landed wt. 
 Designe to be seized, and belongs to some gentlemen att 
 Edr. ; but Im afraid they '11 catch a tartar. — I am, Dear 
 Cousin, Yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, June Sd 1715. 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Broadlie [Amsterdam]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — My last was 23d ultimo, qrin I desired 
 you to call att Mr. James Murison his house for my letter 
 of 23d Apryle, in which I hade ordered him to ship some 
 goods for my accot. As alsoe that you would be pleased, 
 now that sd. Mr. Murison is Dead, to buy and ship sd. 
 goods for my acct. in the ship Margrt of this place, George 
 Rodgers, Mr., but being since apprehensive yt my said 
 order might not come to yor hand I send you note of the 
 said goods, and, if you please to buy and ship them as 
 above for my accot., shall on sight of yor bill of Loadning 
 and Invoise send you bills for the value on Dantzick, 
 London, or Rotterdam, as you shall advise me most in 
 yor favours. I have writt you of this date in Comp wt. 
 Messrs. Robertson and Mcintosh anent our cargoe of bear 
 in possession of Mr. Murisons Exors, and shall not doubt 
 of yor best endeavours that wee be not losers in that affair. 
 Youle please delyver the inclosed to Mr. Mcintosh, who 
 is along wh. Mr. Rodgers, and, if needfull, will give his 
 assistance in buying the few goods I have commissioned 
 for, so as they will be fitt for my purpose, I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 3d June 1715. 
 
 I wrot this dait to Mr. John Supper, Mercht. in St. 
 Martins [France] desire advise annent herrins and codfish, 
 how both might be most safly sent from hence to sd. port ; 
 as alsoe prices of sundrie goods in France. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 5 
 
 Inv ernes, 24 June 1715. 
 
 I wrot to above Mr. Supper for advice annent Mud 
 Codfish to France directly from GarLoch, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 10 June 1715. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Ochterlounie [London]. 
 
 Sir, — My Last was of 28 ultimo, adviseing of my 
 Drawght on you to the order of George Mackilican, of 
 this pleace, for £36 sterling, as also desiring a Mediteranean 
 pass for the shipp Alexr., of this pleace, bound fore Spain, 
 which I Look for pr. first. This serves to advise that have 
 valued on you of this dait to the order of Mr. James 
 Mackintosh, mercht here, £22 sterling @ 6 days sight, 
 which I hope will find due honour, being in further pay- 
 ment of my 3d of Cash remitted to you by George Person 
 from Minorca Island, in name of Thomas Robertson and 
 Company ; and so pleace it accordingly. I hope you 
 shall hear verie soon of further remittances from sd. 
 Captain Person for our accts., as alsoe from some other 
 parts for my accts. You may tell Capt. Dunbar, if with 
 you, that non of his owners have now occasion for hoops 
 as pr. my last advice. I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 21 June 1715. 
 
 Mr. Andrew Majoribanks [Dantzic], 
 
 Sir, — My Last was of 24 past, ordering to Make no 
 remittances for my Acct. to the hands of Mr. James 
 Murison, of Amsterdam, as have formarly advised, being 
 informed of that Gentleman's death, which I hope came 
 in due time to hand, since I have your favour of 28 ultimo 
 with acct. of seall [sale] of 30 barells herins pr. the Helen 
 of this pleace f 226 : 6 1 1 have likeways Acct. of 90 ps. knap - 
 wood shipped for my Acct. in sd. shipp amounting to 
 72 : 22 gr. [gross], and must beg Libertie to think that 
 
 1 226 florins or gilders and 6 gross (groschen ?). See letter of 8 August 17 15 
 to Marjoribanks and Coutts, and letter of same date to Alexander Indrew or 
 Andrew. 
 
6 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 f 26 : 2 gr [gross] is too much Charges on so small a subject. 
 I have your bill on Keneth Mackenzie for f. 116 : 14 gr for 
 which have Credited your Acct. This serves principallie 
 to advise you pay to Mr. Alexr. Coutts, your pairtner, 
 one thousand Gilders, and pleace the same to My Acct., I 
 say him 1000 f Polish, and what further Ballance you are 
 due me I will order verie soon by way of Holland. Notice 
 you are to bring What Ballance is due my Father, Alexr. 
 Steuart, on herins pr. George Rodgers, to my Credit, con- 
 form to his orders of 6 May Last, and I am, etc. 
 
 Inv ernes, 21 June 1715. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Robertson [Merchant, Inverness]. 
 
 Loveing Comrade, — I have yours of 17 instant advise- 
 ing your Brother [that] Mr. Coutts will Give mony at 
 Edinburgh for mony at Dantzick @ 14| d pr. Gilder, Which 
 I think too litle. However, doe send you here inclosed 
 my order to Andrew Majoribanks to pay him 1000 Gilders 
 Polish, so may negotiat the same accordingly, and if you 
 are not to come off verie soon may send me the mony in 
 Guenies [guineas] or bank noats by the post, being Mostly 
 for Acct. of my brother James Russell 1 who you know 
 Loves to be full in hand with the reddie, and uneasie with- 
 out it. Pray send me pr. first a blank debenture for beef 
 and pork, and I am, etc. 
 
 Invernes, 5 July 1715. 
 
 Mr. Robert Gerard, at Rotterdam. 
 
 Sir, — I have yours of 18th past, with envoyce of some 
 goods sent me, extending to f 8 : 9 : 8. I am sorie to find 
 my beef pr. the John Bark [barque] comes to slow a 
 Merket after the master of sd. bark told me pairt of sd. beef 
 was sold or he came from Rotterdam, which now I can 
 
 1 Russell was the Bailie's predecessor, and for a time his associate, in the 
 factorship, and he sometimes was a partner in his speculations. lie was tenant 
 of the farms of Tieeton and Wester Connage in Petty. Treeton is still possessed 
 by his family, the present representative being his great -great-grandson, Mr. 
 Donald Russell. According to tradition the Russells have been tenants in Petty 
 for six hundred years. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 7 
 
 not credit. However, I hope you '11 see to dispose of it 
 to best advantage as soon as possible. My freind Mr. 
 John Mackay of this pleace tells me he owes you some 
 mony, and was enquiring if wuld give him bill, — payabel 
 to your order, which could not doe ; but if anie of the pro- 
 duct of my beef be come to your hands so as to serve 
 Mr. Mackay shall be glad you apply it for his acct. and 
 value on him to my order for the same ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 7 July 1715. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Ochterlony, of London. 
 
 Sir, — I have your favours of 18 and 23d past, and I 
 thank you for your punctuall Complyance with my Draughts 
 in favours of George Mackilican and James Mackintosh. 
 In yours of 18 ultimo I gott the inclosed bill Gilbert 
 Robertson on his Father for 20 £ ster., which he would not 
 accept, and therfor have returned it as you desired. Doe 
 observe you have given orders to shipp some hoopes for 
 my Acct. in Capt. Calders shipp, which, if done, the value 
 shall be punctualy payed to your order By, Sir, Yours, 
 etc. 
 
 Inverness, 7 July 1715. 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Bradly [Amsterdam]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I am honoured with your favours of i and 
 2d Curt., and is glad to find a future corespondencewillbe so 
 acceptable to so good men. I am sorie my order of 3d 
 ultimo for some goods pr. Captain Rodgers came so Lait to 
 hand, and therfor I herby countermand anie goods for my 
 Acct. by anie other shipp till further orders. Mr. Rodgers 
 told us he gott our Letter went under your covert, and so 
 were surprized you suffered our shipp to come home 
 emptie after you hade our orders, but now doe suppose 
 it was Mr. Rodgers own fault in comeing away prhaps too 
 abruptly. Mean time I am hopefull youll doe the need- 
 full to gett us fairly rid of Mr. Murisons executors, and, 
 I am, with due respect, Your most humble servant. 
 
8 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Invernes, 6 August 1715. 
 
 Mr. Robert Gerard [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sir, — I am surprized with the melancolie accounts you 
 give of My beef consigned to you pr. the John Bark of this 
 pleace, and I think it verie strange that good beef should 
 prove so verie bad a Comodity with you. In the mean time 
 all I can advise is you take care the beef be preserved 
 from spoiling by fresh pickleing, and, if you can find anie 
 better Merket for it in anie of the Nighbouring provinces, 
 pray send it thither, or to anie other Countrie wher you 
 think most can be made of it. It has cost me a good Deall 
 of Mony, and its verie unlukie if all should be Lost after 
 comeing safe to the merket. I shall writ my freind Mr. 
 Alexr. Indrew to Concur with you, and I am, etc. 
 
 Invernes, 8 August 1715. 
 Messrs. Marjoribanks and Coutts [Dantzic]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — My Last was 21 June, wherin I have 
 advised Mr. Andrew Majoribanks to pay his pairtner, 
 Mr. Alexr. Coutts, one thousand Gilders Polish value 
 received to pleace the same to my acct. ; to which order 
 no Doubt Complyance is made. This serves principalie 
 to advise that I have of this dait wrot to Mr. Alexr. Indrew, 
 of Rotterdam, desiring he may value on you for what 
 Ballance you are due me, which, including the ballance 
 due my Father and formarly ordered to be placed to my 
 Credit, amounts to about 1717 Gilders 25 Gross Polish, 
 so if Mr. Indrew should value on you for sd. sum, or order 
 you remitt the same to his hands, I entreat your Comply- 
 ance pr. first, and I am, etc. 
 
 Please advise me when anie remittance to Mr. Indrew 
 is made for my Acct. 
 
 Inverness, 8 August 1715. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Indrew, Mercht, of Rotterdam. 
 
 Sir, — I have your acceptable favour of 26 July in 
 return to mine of 24 June Last, and I am sorie to find that 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 9 
 
 my designe of fraighting a Dutch Doggar to goe from 
 hence to France with herins will not doe, and yet I am 
 advised last post from Rochell it would doe, tho find your 
 advice so solid that can not doubt of it. I Return you 
 heartie thanks for your advice of merkets wch. you sent 
 me, and will entreat you '11 acquaint me pr. first of the 
 success of your Dutch herin fishing this year. This serves 
 principallie to bring you the inclosed which you '11 please 
 forward under your Covert to Messrs. Majoribanks and 
 Coutts at Dantzick. Youll see by it Ive ordered f 1717 
 Polish to be remitted to your hands from Dantzick for 
 my Acct., or you may draw for the same as you find most 
 convenient, and please to advise me when I shall value 
 on you for the same. I sent in spring last to the care of 
 Mr. Robert Gerard 73 barells of salt beef to be sold for 
 my Acct., and he writs me last post he has sold non as 
 yet of sd. beef, and can get non sold ; therfor must entreat 
 the favour of you to eandeavour to gett the same disposed 
 off either for mony or Barter of some vendible goods ; 
 and in the mean time spak to Mr. Gerard to fill the Cask 
 with fresh pickle, otherways all may spoill, which will be 
 a hard case. The beef was verie good, and its hard if it 
 dont sell somewhere in the Provinces ; to which pray 
 give your advice and Concurance, and I am, with much 
 respect, etc. 
 
 Invernes, 9 August 1715. 
 
 Messrs. Majoribanks and Coutts [Dantzic]. 
 
 Sirs, — I wrot to you yesterday under Covert of Mr. 
 Alexr. Indrew, Mercht. in Rotterdam, desireing you should 
 remitt to his hands, or pay to his order, f 1717 gilders 25 
 gr. Polish, but this day, finding mony here for my bill on 
 you, have valued on you of this dait to Mr. Alexr. Ar- 
 burthnot, senior, Mercht. in Edinburgh, for 1720 Gilders 
 Polish, to which I hope you '11 give due honour, so you 
 are to pay no mony to Mr. Andrew for my Acct. I am, 
 Gentlemen, etc. 
 
10 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Invernes, 16 August 1715. 
 
 I wrot to Commissar Steuart of this dait, and sent a 
 Letter inclosed for Mr. William Steuart, 1 Member of Parlia- 
 ment, of sd. dait, and Kimilies 2 recept to me for 40 £ 
 sterling payed him on sd. Commissars Acct. 
 
 Inv ernes, 2 7ber 1715. 
 Mr. Andrew Henderson [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I have yours of 25 past, and send you inclosed 
 Letter from Archibald Geddes to his Brother, in which 
 he orders to pay you £35 : 14 : 6d. sterling as value of 
 salt and sugar sent by John Mackays bark, which is safe 
 come to hand. You are to value on me for this mony, 
 which will be punctualy honoured, and, if this don't 
 answer, pray advise me, and your mony shall be sent you 
 verie nixt post. Deliver the inclosed to Mr. James 
 Cuming, who is sending a bark here to take in about 400 
 bolls bear. Therfor I desire, if can agree with sd. Mr. 
 Cuming, or the Master of sd. Bark, to bring hither for 
 my acct. 1200 bushels of home salt @ 6d. or 7d. pr. boll 
 of fraight. I desire you may Load the sd. quantity of salt, 
 with 4 or 5 dealls of Coalls, for my Acct. ; and this, with 
 the Masters bill of Loadning, will oblidge me to pay you 
 the value on Demand. If can Manadge the Custom office 
 as Last time forpairt of the excise of sd. salt, in that Case 
 may venture to give a litle more fraight rather then fail. 
 I depend on your Good Manadgement in this Matter, and 
 on your answer pr. first ; and I am, etc. 
 
 1 William Steuart of Weyland, Advocate, King's Remembrancer of the Court 
 of Exchequer, and Secretary to the Prince of Wales in Scotland, born 1686, 
 died 13 Sept. 1768. M.P. for Inverness Burghs, 1715-22, for Ayr Burghs, 
 1722-27, Elgin Burghs, 1734-41. [Information from the descendant of his 
 cousin, A. Francis Steuart, Esq.] 
 
 2 Poison of Kinmylies, near Inverness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 11 
 
 Inverness, 17 7ber 1715. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Indrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 I have your favour of 10 ultimo, which came to hand 
 but 2 days agoe. I heartly thank you for your kindness 
 in asisting to dispose of my beef, altho I may reckon it 
 a lost stok, after charges are deduced. This serves prmci- 
 pallie to advise you to insure for my account in the ship 
 Good Success of this pleace, Alexr. Dunbar, master, and 
 her cargoe of herins from this to Dunkirk, six hundred 
 Gilders ; as also on the Ship Helen, of this pleace, Thomas 
 Jamison, Master, and her cargoe of herins from this to 
 Dantzick, two thousand Gilders Hollands ; as alsoe on the 
 ship Margret, of this pleace, George Rodgers, Master, and 
 her cargoe of herins, eight hunder Gilders Hollands. I 
 say on the shipp Margret from this to Dantzik ; and how 1 
 soon have made those insurances for my account advise 
 me, and may value on me for the Premium. I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 21 Sepr. 1715. 
 
 Messrs. Majoribanks and Couts [Dantzic]. 
 
 I send you inclosed by the Shipp Margret, of this place, 
 George Rogers, Master, bill of Loading for fifeteen last, 
 eight barrels herings, which I hope will prove verie Good. 
 You ar to sell said herings on my Accompt, and to reload 
 with the neat proceeds free of Ship paind of Iron qreof 
 one third broad Shampelonis and the rest fine midline 
 Iron : Item, on hundred and tuentie prast [?] ston flax 
 in fair bales ; eight barrels Sope in fourths and eights 
 equaly ; Six hundred weight steel ; thre shook knap- 
 wood ; and as manie brake pipe staivs as will make up 
 the rest of my Lastadge. Pray give the shipp all possible 
 dispatch, and order Mr. Alexr. Andrew of Rotterdam to 
 Insure for my accompt fm. Dantsick to this place eight 
 hundred Guilders holands on said shipp and Cargoe, and 
 to value on me for the premium ; and I am, etc. 
 
12 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Invernes, 24 7ber 1715. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Indrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sir, — My Last was of 17 instant, in which I advised 
 you to insure for My Account on the shipp Good Success, 
 of this pleace, and her cargo of herins from this to Dun- 
 kirk, 600 Guilders hollands ; on the shipp Helen, of this 
 pleace, Thomas Jamieson, master, from this to Dantzick, 
 2000 Gilders — I say on the shipp and cargoe of herins ; 
 and on the shipp Margret, of this pleace, George Rodgers, 
 and her Cargo of herins, from this to Dantzick 800 Gilders. 
 Now this serves to advise you that if these insurances are 
 accordingly made befor this come to hand, you are to 
 alter the purpose mentioned, makeing that on the shipp 
 Good Success from this to Hamburg, my orders annent 
 Dunkirk being a mistake ; and on the shipp Helen you 
 are to make from this to St. Martins in France, which I 
 hope will be cheaper than to Dantzick, there being no 
 hazard of Swede privateers that way. I beg your care 
 in this, and that you '11 advise me accordingly pr. first ; 
 and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 21 7ber 1715. 
 
 Mr. John Super [St. Martins, France]. 
 
 Sir, — Inclosed you have bill of Loadning for 58 lasts 
 one barell white herings pr. the shipp Helen of Invernes, 
 Thomas Jamieson, Mr., which herins you are to dispose 
 of to the best account, and are to credit each of our Accts., 
 according to the bills of Loading, Viz. John Steuart and 
 Compy, 41 Last 5 barells ; ditto his particular acct. 4 
 last 8 barells ; James Cuthbert and Company 12 lasts ; 
 and with the net proceeds you are to reload the sd. shipp 
 for our Accts. with salt and five tuns and half best brandy 
 in half hhds., Fiftie rehms writing paper from 34 sous 
 to 9 livers, 30,000 flintstons, five tearces Pruins of best 
 sort, tuo tuns best white wine of the growth of St. 
 Martins Island; and you are to pleace the value of sd. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 13 
 
 Goods to our Accounts as follows, viz : |th to acct. of Jo. 
 Steuart and Compy., and ^ to James Cuthberts acct. and 
 Compy. Should the hering not answer our expectation, 
 and the proceeds not enouch to purchase the above men- 
 tioned goods, in that case you are to Load only 3 tuns 
 brandy, and the rest salt ; but we hope it will prove 
 otherways. Pray Let the brandie be Good, and the Casks 
 of ane equall Size. What further wee have to say wee 
 shall advise you separatly pr. post ; and wee remain, etc. 
 
 P. S. — Pray take care to shipp for us the whitest and 
 cleanest salt you can find. 
 
 Inverness, 1 8ber 1715. 
 
 This Day I wrot to Ditto Mr. Super, and ordered him 
 the shipp Helen and Cargoe horn ward from St. Martin 
 to Inverness, 200 £ Sterling, as also that he should advise 
 Mr. Robert Gordon of Bx. [Bordeaux] to inshure for my 
 acct. on the shipp Alexr., of this pleace, Alexr. Steuart, 
 Master, J of the value of his Cargo homward from Bx. 
 to this pleace, and, if Alexr. Dunbar, in the Good Success, 
 appeared at St. Martins, to load him with salt, and furnish 
 what other goods he called for. 
 
 29 Sber 1715. 
 
 This day I wrot to Mr. Alexr. Andrew, of Rotterdam, 
 and ordered him to insure for your account f 800 Gil. 
 hollands on the shipp Gd. Fortune, of Montrose, Thomas 
 Greig, master, from this to St. Martins with herin and 
 Cod fish. 
 
 10 March 1716. 
 
 For Commissar Steuart, at Edinburgh. 
 
 Just now I have yours of 5 Instant with the inclosed 
 for James Russell, which is surprizing, but will be immedi- 
 atly forwarded to him. I send you inclosed recept George 
 Urquhart for 283 bols bear delivered him on Mr. Cumings 
 
14 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 acct., as also sd. Mr. Cumings order and bill of Loading 
 for 375 bolls shipped for his acct., both which makes 658 
 bolls, for which you will please procure sd. Mr. James 
 Cumings recept, which give the Earle of Morray, and for 
 it gett his Lops, recept to me for 505 bolls, and to my 
 brother James Russell for 153 bolls, both which recepts 
 you '11 please forward here pr. first. I wrot you last post 
 and sent you inclosed bill Collonell William Grant 1 on 
 John Innes for 40 £ ster, which I ordered to pay Alexr. 
 Arbuthnot 20 £ ster., and gott his recept. As half the 
 last mony diserned to that fell Chalmers, Termit 2 haveing 
 remitted the other half, ther is in that mony 40 sh. ster. 
 for your own pains, besides your debursments, which 
 stop. I send you heirinclosed bill Alexr. Cuming on Mr. 
 James Caming for ten pound sterling, to which please 
 procure acceptance, or doe the needfull, and tell Mr. 
 Cuming that if our Collector were not from home I would 
 send Debenture for his bear shipped in Ralph Brown, but 
 I hope to send it next post. 
 
 Inverness, 18 March. 
 
 For ditto. 
 
 Dear Cousin, — I send you Provest Clerks bill for ten 
 pounds sterling. Whether it will answer or not I know 
 not. In the mean time I have told Paul Macphail that 
 He pay him ten pound sterling as you order, and will 
 pleace the same to your Acct. 
 
 For Mr. John Super, Merchant in St. Martins, France. 
 
 Inv ernes, 23 March 1716. 
 
 Mr. John Super, — I admire I nor anie concerned in 
 Capt. Jamieson's ship have no advice from you since 
 arrivall of sd. shipp att St. Martins, espescieally that, now 
 
 1 Colonel William Grant of Ballindalloch, who raised one of the independent 
 Highland companies which were incorporated into the Black Watch. 
 
 2 Mackintosh of Termit, in Petty, and merchant in Inverness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 15 
 
 our unhappy wars are over, and our posts go without 
 hindrance, or trouble. I saw lately a letter from sd. Capt. 
 Jamieson, giveing acct. of his departure from St. Martin's 
 about the 20th of last moneth, and that owr herins were 
 sold from ten to twelve stivers pr. barrell, free, which I 
 want to know from your self ; as also if you have ordered 
 anie Insurance on sd. shipp and cargoe for my acct. home- 
 ward, as I ordered. Not haveing anie thing from yourself 
 of the seall [sale] of the herins, nor of anie goods shipt for my 
 account and company, I can say little about that matter, 
 only you are to remitt no monie of what ballance may be 
 due on the cargoes pr. the shipp the Helen, of this place, 
 or the Fortune, of Montrose, to the hands of Mr. Robert 
 Gordon of Bx. [Bordeaux], if anie orders that way has 
 been sent you, which I doe not remember. Pray advise 
 of merkets for wine, Brandy, fish, etc. with you ; and I 
 am, etc. 
 
 Invernes, 23 March 1716. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sr., — I have yours of 17 instant, N.S., and I am verrie 
 glad to here the John Bark [barque] is arrived, and Insur- 
 ance prevented, and I doubt, tho the salmon is come 
 somewhat too late, yet you '11 see to do the best for my 
 Interest. I cannot imagine what has brought our Skipper 
 to Amsterdam, unless some blackish mistake of his course. 
 I know it will bring some needles charges, but, no help, 
 however. I hope you '11 see that the Bark find all 
 posible dispatch. I observe that Mss. Majoribanks and 
 Coutt have wrot you about some Insurance to be made 
 on the shipp Margaret, of this place, from Dantzick home- 
 ward for my acct. I desire, if this come to hand before 
 anie Insurance on sd. shipp be made, you forbear to make 
 anie, unless you find danger from the Sweddish privateers ; 
 in that case you are to comply with your orders from 
 Dantzick. I wish you would send me pr. first a price 
 currant and advice, particularly of the price of corns, and 
 I am, etc. 
 
16 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inv ernes, 24 March 1716. 
 
 For Comisar Steuart. 
 
 D. C, — In my Last of 18 Curt. I sent you Provest Clerks 
 bill for ten pound sterling. He is at present verie ill, and 
 not like to recover, being loaded with a complex of diseases. 
 I profered Paul Mackphail the ten pound sterling you 
 ordered him as ballance of his account, but he shifts take- 
 ing it. I think it is waiting Charles Farquharson's come- 
 ing here. I send you inclosed first bill Capt. David 
 Kenedie, paymaster to Br. Grants 1 regiment, for 50 £ 
 sterling on James Nimo, which I doubt not will ansuer 
 punctuly. Pleace the value when payed to my Credit, 
 and advise accordingly. I send likeways inclosed Corn 
 Debenture for Barly shipt for Mr. James Cumings account ; 
 you '11 please give it him, and bid him call for Mr. Haldon, 
 now Colltr. [collector] at Prestownpans, who was Surveyor 
 here when the corn was shipt, and let him certify the same 
 by signing his name above the Land-waiters name. Its 
 want of this has keept back this debenture from being 
 forwarded of a long time. When it certifyed by Mr. 
 Haldon Let it be returned here untill our Colletr. doe the 
 needfull. 
 
 Invernes, 21 Aprile 1716. 
 
 For Commissar Steuart. 
 
 Dear Cousin, — I send you inclosed your acct., and 
 Noat to Paul Mackphail, and have payed him 10 £ ster., 
 with which sum you are to credit my Account. I send 
 likeways a fish Debenture for 25 £ sterling inclosed blank 
 be Termit, and payable be the Commissioners of Excise. 
 I hope it will be speedily payed ; which Done, pleace to 
 my Credit. Last week some freinds here and I sent Genii. 
 Cadogan, 2 for the Kings service, 500 £ ster. for which wee 
 
 1 Brigadier Grant of Grant. 
 
 2 After Sheriffmuir, Cadogan commanded King George's forces in the High- 
 lands, and for a time had his headquarters at Inverness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 17 
 
 have sent good bills this post to Mr. Alexr. Arbuthnot, 
 Senior, mercht., in Edinburgh, payable at 3d sight, and 
 have ordered him to pay you on my account 132 £ 2sh. 
 4d. sterling on your recept, and pleace the same like ways 
 to my creditt, and call for sd. mony. In the mean time 
 I entreat howsoon this comes to hand you pay the Earle 
 of Morray 50 £ sterling more, and gett his Lops, recept to 
 me for the same, and forward the inclosed to his Lop., after 
 reeding and sealling. I think the Earle should give down 
 to his tennants of Pettie a years custom mony, which is 
 no great mater in consideration of ther losses, which they 
 will not recover on heast, and I wish you 'd advise this. 
 I long for the return of our express, to know further of 
 our Porteus roll 1 affair ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 27 Aprile 1716. 
 Mr. Alxr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favours of 10th and 12 curt., as 
 alsoe one since by sea pr. the John Bark with Invoyce 
 and bill of loadning, of which doe noat the contents. 
 I observe the 2 ps. muslin sent is too dear for this merket, 
 and I am aff rayed will scarce yield my mony. I find you 
 have shipt the fourth of the iron on boord for my acct. 
 which you ought [not], since a tenth of the homward 
 cargoe does no belong to me, but no help ; all is prettie 
 well. You may pay Mr. Gerard the ballance I am due him 
 on the beef, tho, besides his ill maners in aresting my 
 mony, I must claim his keeping my beef so long on hand 
 untill it spoiled, and selling some belonging to Mr. Alves 
 here at 5 f pr. barell which went in the same bark with 
 mine, and bid him not to let me know it ; however, I say, 
 pay him, and pleace the same to my Debit. I observe you 
 have insured 800 f on the shipp Margret for my acct. from 
 Dantzick, which shipp is arived here, and met with the 
 Sweds privateers in the Catagate that did no more then 
 
 1 Captain Porteus had drilled the City Guard to be ready for the defence of 
 the city in 1715. 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 plunder a litle ; so I regrate the loss of so much mony, 
 when no reall danger. You are to value on me pr. first 
 for 500 gilders payable at Edinburgh, and, in a moneth 
 therafter, for what Ballance I will be due you if I prevent 
 you not by remittance or then. Advise of merkets ; and 
 I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 12 May 1716. 
 
 Mr. Ivan Van Duffle, at Bilboa. 
 
 Sir, — Your last, directed to Mr. Alexr. Duff in company, 
 was of thirteenth Febry, wherein you advise of the seal [sale] 
 of a pairt of the Cargo of fish, consigned to you last harvest 
 p. the ship Alexander, of this place, and that from the pro- 
 ceeds of the same, you had remitted six hunderd piece of 
 Eight to Mr. Robert Gordon, of Burdeaux, for Company 
 accunt. Since Receipt of said Letter I wrote you in 
 Company, desireing you should make the best you could 
 of what fish, and of the above-named Cargo remained in 
 hand, and that without loss of time, which I hope is done 
 Long or Now, and shall be glad to be advised accordinglie. 
 This serves chiefly to advise you that, since our Last, 
 Mr. Archibald Dunbar, in the ship Alexander, arived here, 
 who informes me, that Mr. Archer, who I suppose is 
 your Co-pairtner, told him he hade in his hands some 
 litle money ariseing from a small parcell of Refuge Cod- 
 fish sent you by the said ship Alexander, the voyage to 
 Bilboa before Last, and wanted my orders about the Dis- 
 posal of said money. Therefore I desire, how soon this 
 comes to hand, you remitt the same to the hands of Mr. 
 Alexr. Andrew, Mercht. in Roterdam, and pray advise me 
 pr. first of your complyance, as also of what Prospect may 
 be for the sale of fish with you this ensueing season, the 
 fishing being pretty large in this country this year. If 
 you have sold all our fish, last year pr. the Alexander, I am 
 persuaded it will be very acceptable to all concerned that 
 you remitt what ballance may be due the Company, by 
 Bills payable either at Roterdam or London, Since in our 
 last we advised you should make noe farther Remittance 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 19 
 
 for our Accounts to the hands of Mr. Robert Gordon, of 
 Burdeaux, to which I hope you will advert ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 12th May 1716. 
 
 To Comissar Steuart [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Dear Cousen, — I received yours, third Instant, and 
 I am well Satisfied the Earle of Murray does in some 
 measure comply with my Proposals. I send you Inclosed 
 Corn Debenture and Letter for Mr. James Cuming, both 
 which, after perusall, you are to Deliver him on paying 
 you two pounds one shilling one penny half penny Sterling, 
 I deburse for his acount, with which you '1 please Credit 
 mine. 
 
 I drew on you the Second Instant to the order of James 
 Russell for thirty four pounds Six shillings fourpence 
 Sterling, to qch. I desire your Complyance, and debit my 
 Acount accordinglie. I am due by accepted Bill to Cap* 
 George Pearson, of Mont-Rose, payable at White-sunday, 
 Sixty eight pound Sterling ; and, now that I understand the 
 Same is indorsed to Alex 1 Arbuthnot, Senior, Mercht. in 
 Ed r , I desire you may retire s d Bill first, and place the 
 Same to my Debit. You '1 advert that I accepted first 
 and Second Bills to Mr. Pearson of the Same Sume ; So 
 you '1 notice to get both Discharged on the back of the 
 Bill you retire. Your bruyr [brother] Alexr. Sails for 
 Lille in a Day or two, by whom you '1 hear from me ; and 
 I am; Dear Coosen, Your, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 30 May 1716. 
 
 To Commissar Steuart, Edr. 
 
 Aff. Cousin, — My Last was the 26th instant wherin I 
 advised that hade accepted your bill of fiftie pounds ster- 
 ling, in favours of Duncan Mackintosh in Elrig [in Dores, 
 near Inverness], and that hade valued on back for £20 
 15s. ster. to sd. Duncan Mackintosh. Now this serves 
 to advise you that, since writing that bill, sd. Duncan 
 
20 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Mackintosh acquaints me that he will not want sd. mony, 
 and is to give me back My bill. I have valued on you the 
 29 instant to Gilbert Gordon, Mercht. here, for £25 sterling, 
 and dait to William Mackintosh, Junior, here, for £10 
 sterling, to both which please give Complyance, and pleace 
 the same to My Acct. I Long to know if have retired My 
 Accepted bill for £60 sterling to George Person, of Montrose, 
 in the hands of Alexr. Arbuthnot, senior, mercht. in Eder, 
 as I formarly advised ; if not done pray advert to it. 
 Termit informs me that a freind of his at the Custom 
 office writs him that there was a Debenture in his name 
 for £25 sterling, with a blank indorsation, Lying neglected 
 in that office, that anie bodie might fill up the blank and 
 gett payment. What sd. Termit says is the same Deben- 
 ture he gave me, and I forwarded to you some time agoe, 
 he haveing non other for that sum ; therfor pray enquire 
 unto this, and procure payment, if not done. You see I 
 give you a Deall of truble with my Affairs, but will take 
 care you be no Looser by, Dear Cousin, Your verie Affec- 
 tionat Cousin and servant. 
 
 Invernes, 7 June 1716. 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew, of Rotterdam. 
 
 Sir, — I have your acceptable favour of 26 past, which 
 brought advice of your Draught on me to the order of 
 Mr. John Philp in Edr., for £46 : 17s. 6d. sterling, value 
 of 500 Gilders. The same day your bill came to hand, and 
 was duely honoured by acceptance, and the payment is 
 ordered against fall due. I ordered two posts agoe Messrs. 
 Vandufle and Archer, my Correspondents at Bilboa, to 
 remitt you a small Ballance due me on acct. of fish, 
 to which I doubt not they will punctually Comply, so 
 that I think you need not Draw for the Ballance of My 
 Acct. so soon as I ordered. 
 
 Some freinds and I have a Cod fishing on our West Cost 
 at Loch Garloch. Last summar wee put a parcell to 
 Bilboa, which found a verie Low Merket, and now are 
 about to send a small bark from thence with a Loadning 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 21 
 
 of Dry fish to Hamburg for a tryall, as also about 14 
 barell of old salmon. Pray advise how you think this 
 may doe, as also how Cod fish would sell at Brudge in 
 Flanders, and whither wet or Dry, and what season would 
 doe best. The Breach is Like to be betwixt Brittan and 
 Swedland makes us fear May int erupt our Sound trade 
 of herins this inshueing season ; pray let me have your 
 oppinion of this pr. first for my Government [guidance] with 
 a price Currant. There is a small wassail [vessel] gone from 
 this your way ; there is one William Mackintosh that is a 
 freind of Mine gone Mercht. in sd. shipp ; if he has anie 
 occasion to give you anie truble I must recomend him to 
 your freindship, being a verie responsall person. My wife 
 is verie desirous to have 50 lb. flanders lint, undresst, 
 which please send by sd. shipp, the Margret of Inverness, 
 George Rogers, Master. Recomend to the Master in my 
 name, and he '11 take care of it. I am, etc. 
 
 Let me have advice of the price and salmon with you 
 Earlie. 
 
 I nv ernes, 7 July 1716. 
 
 For Commissar Steuart [Edinburgh]. 
 
 D: C:, — I have yours 28 ultimo with the inclosed relait- 
 ing to Mr. B. . . . r, which shall pr. first mak the proper 
 use. I drew on you the 26 past for 20£ ster. to the order 
 of Mr. Alexr. Erskin, which no doubt is come to your 
 hands or now, and accepted, and will draw no more for 
 some posts, if can help it. I send you inclosed your bill 
 of 15£ ster. on the Laird of Mackintosh sent me Last year, 
 duely protest and registrated for not payment, as also two 
 Decreets horning and Discharge by Mrs. Cristian McCulloch 
 relaiting to me and Company. Wee have been and are 
 under diligence for exhibiting these papers at the instance 
 of John Mackintosh, tutor of Piltown, in some Debat twixt 
 him and sd. Mrs. Cristan ; so pray Make the proper use 
 of them, that wee be not further trubled. William Ross, 
 who is now at Edr., will inform more fully in this Matter 
 or anie of tutor of Piltown his doers. Our Provest goes 
 south this day or Moanday, and I did communicat to 
 
22 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 him the Project annent the Clerkshipp, which I think will 
 doe if he is heartie in it, as I doubt not he will. I sounded 
 our Clerk by a freind who seems to be willing to goe in to 
 a resignation, but would expect 40 or 50£ sterling of 
 equivalent, but I think less may doe ; so I wish the de- 
 signed Pole election May not prevent the execution of 
 this Project or the Pro vest return. In the Meantime its 
 fitt yourself discourse him on the subject, and I think no 
 time is to be Lost in it. Forward the inclosed to your 
 Brother, so as it may Come to hand and I am, etc. 
 
 Invernes, ii July 1716. 
 
 For Commissar Steuart. 
 
 Aff. Cousin, — I was not designed to have Drawn on 
 you for some time, but that our freind Duncan Mackintosh 
 in Elrig was stratned to gett some mony sent our freind 
 Alexander to London, and Could gett no bill in town at 
 present, so I hope you '11 not takit amiss, but honour my 
 Draught of twentie guenies, and pleace it to Account. 
 I hope next week to remitt £50 sterling, and in the mean 
 time I am, etc. 
 
 Invernes, 28 July 1716. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 D: C:, — 111 be well pleased to be advised as soon as 
 possible that the £100 ster. to be Given by a Certain Lady 
 for the use of Mr. B. is in your hands, that Gentlemant 
 being at present in Great pain about shipping of some 
 goods' of value to a proper forainge merket, and I Judge 
 he '11 find occasion verie soon, and I wish that a disappoint- 
 ment in this mony may be no stop to his project. Duncan 
 Mackintosh in Elrig is gone south laitly and promised to 
 Lodge some mony in your hands for my Acct.; so may 
 take thirtie pound sterling, and value on me for the same, 
 which will find acceptance. In the mean time I think 
 fitt to advise you that I have wrot of this dait to Alexr. 
 Cuming, our Surveyar, who is my good freind, and now 
 at Edr., allowing him Credit on you for nine or ten pounds 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 23 
 
 sterling, if he wants it ; therfor pray endeavour to 
 accomodat him if he calls, and take his receipt in my 
 name. Pray assist Alan Grange 1 to the Manadgment of 
 the E. of Butt's 2 Esteat, and tell him I wrot you so. 
 
 Invernes, 17 August 1716. 
 
 For Commissar Steuart. 
 
 D: C:, — I have yours of 9th Curt., and will endeavour 
 to observe the Contents, and I earnestly entreat that, if 
 the 100£ ster. designed for Mr. B . . .r be come to hand, 
 that you send me by the post the half in Guenies, and the 
 other in 1 2d Bills Drawn by Patrick Steuart, mercht., on 
 his Corespondent at Paris, payable to My order ; for I doe 
 assure you this Mony is presently wanted. I am Desired 
 by the relations of the Miserable prisoners 3 in the Castle 
 of Edr. to advance them 20 shillings sterling which I 
 entreat you may doe pr. first, and pleace to my acct., and 
 if can send some receptt from them for the mony it will 
 be the better. Ther is, I think, four of them. Duncan 
 Mackintosh presented this day your Draught on me for 
 thirtie pound sterling, and I am to pay it tomorrow. I 
 wish you 'd explain a litle the paragraph annent My 
 Land Lord and Landladie pr. next. I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 18th Agust. 1716. 
 
 Messrs. Vandufle and Compy. [Bilbao]. 
 
 My Last of 12 May desiring to remitt the Net proceeds 
 of 17| [ ?] fish left with you pr. the shipp Alexr. 
 in Xber, 1714, to the hands of Mr. Alexr. Andrew, Mercht. 
 in Rotterdam, since which I have yours to Alexr. Duffe 
 and Compy. desiring orders annent sd. proceeds, which 
 you say is 807§ Rs. pt. I thought that in Complyanceto 
 my sd. orders of 12 May this small summ hade been ordered 
 or now to sd. Mr. Andrew, but he writs me he has no notice 
 
 1 Mackenzie, of Allangrange, Ross-shire. 
 3 Highland Jacobites taken in the Fifteen. 
 
 2 Earl of Bute. 
 
24 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 about it, therfor I desire this comes to hand you order 
 the same either to sd. Mr. Andrew, or to Mr. George Ochter- 
 lonie, Mercht. in London, as is Most convenient for you, 
 and advise me Accordingly. It will be very agreeable 
 to My freinds and me that you likeway remitt to either 
 of the abovementioned Gentlement the Ballance Due me 
 and Compy. on the Last Cargoe of fish sent you pr. the 
 shipp Alexr., and that pr. first, and I am, etc. 
 
 Inv ernes, i. 7ber 1716. 
 
 Mr. James Cuming, Mercht. in Edr. 
 
 Sir, — I have Yours of 6th Ultimo advising of Your 
 haveing bill Alexr. Steuart to the order of Mr. George 
 Ochterlounie on me for £45 14s. 7d. sterling, payable 30 
 days after dait, which is the 5 instant. I hereby accept 
 sd. bill, but can not promise it will be payed precisly when 
 it falls Due, my Corrspondent, Comissar Steuart, being, 
 as I suppose, Come from Edr. on his way hither ; therfor 
 must beg your patience for som litle time, which will 
 Oblidge, Sir, Your most humble servt. 
 
 Inverness, i 7ber 1716. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew of Rotterdam. ' 
 
 Sir, — I am indebted to your of 25th July, 14 and 18 
 August, Last. In the first I have William Mackintosh 
 his bill on me of sd, dait for 1756 Gilders, 6 stiver, for 
 Acceptance payable in 5 Months. Ther is a great pairt 
 of that Mony for Mr. Mackintosh his proper Acct. ; and, 
 since be reason of hurrie with hering fishing etc., he could 
 not take time to adjust the same with me, I was oblidged 
 to Delay returning you sd. bill accepted, but now receive 
 it inclosed, as also a small Spainish bill Joseph De Mar- 
 quwan on Mr. Richards, of London, for 80 J ps. of 8 @ 
 49 Jd ster. pr. ps, and you may send the same to your Core- 
 spondent at London, and I doubt not it will answer punc- 
 tualy, and when payed Credit my Acct. Accordingly. I 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 25 
 
 have ordered a further remittance of 300 ps. of 8 to your 
 hand from Bilboa, which I hope youll hear of verie soon, 
 and, should that fail, I hope to Ballance what I am Due 
 you by the proceeds of hering I am Just shepping for 
 Hamburg, as also of salmon some freinds and I design 
 for your merket and is bought up. Pray advise pr. first 
 if a small Cargo of hering would sell at Camphere or 
 Brudges pr. first ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 8 Iber 1716. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew, of Rotterdam. 
 
 Sir, — I wrot you the 1st instant, and sent you inclosed 
 William Mackintosh his bill on me for f 1756 : 6, accepted, 
 as also a small Spanish bill on me for for 80| ps. of 8 on 
 London, and told you I could not serve you with Leu- 
 tenant Urquhart, that Gentleman being Gone from hence 
 with his Regiment about 2 months agoe ; since I have 
 your favours of 25 past and 3 instant N: S., which I think 
 is answered by my Last, except as to your on me to Mr. 
 Philp for 46£ sterling, which was punctualy payed, and I 
 admire that he has not advised you accordingly. Please 
 insure for my Acct. on the shipp and Cargoe of hering, 
 Margret of Inver., George Rodgers, Master, 800 Gilders 
 hollands from this to Hamburg, as also on the shipp 
 Success, Alexr. Dunbar, Master, Cargo ditto 500 Gilders, 
 Likeways for Hamburg ; and advise accordingly ; these 
 shipp will sail in 4 or 5 days. Howsoon this Comes to 
 hand you are to writ to Alexr. Steuart, Mr. of the shipp 
 Alexr., to Cork in Ireland, advysing of the Most Proper 
 good from that port for your Merket, and insure Likeway 
 on sd. shipp 500 Gilders, I say on Cargoe of hering in sd. 
 shipp from this to Cork. 
 
 Inverness, 19 7b er 1716. 
 
 Mr. Bartholimew Bloodworth, at Hamburg. 
 
 Sir, — By recomendation of My Mr. Alex. Mackintosh 
 of this pleace I send you inclosed bill of Loadning for one 
 
26 
 
 TIJE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 hundered and seventie eight barells White hering, which 
 you are to dispose of to the best avail for My Account ; 
 and from the Nett proceeds You are to shipp for My Acct. 
 1500 brack pipe staves, the best of there kind, and 6000 
 barell staves fitt for herin Cask, like those come Comonly 
 from Norway. Norway staves are Como ly bought at 
 5 to 6 R. Dollars 1 pr. Mill, but if not Gett them about that 
 price, that is for a Dollar or two More pr. Mill, you are not 
 to buy, but in there pleace shipp 1500 best pipe staves 
 or Crown Ware, to be keept seperat from the brack in the 
 barks hold. Buy Likeway and shipp 12 shipp Ife best 
 Midlin iron, if can be hade, not exceeding 8 R. Dollars pr. 
 shipp ife best Midlin iron, if can be hade not exceeding 
 8 R. Dollars pr. shipp fb : Item. 3 barells black sope in 
 firkins ; that is, 12 firkins ; and pleace the value of sd. 
 goods to My Acct., and lett the value be insured. And 
 What Ballance remains on the proceeds of the herins you 
 are to Remitt to the hands of Mr. Alexr. Andrew, Mercht. 
 in Rotterdam, and advise me Accordingly. I am to writ 
 you further in two or three days pr. Capt. Dunbar, and 
 make you some further Consignation of herins and Cod- 
 fish, and I hope will be encouradged to Continue our 
 Corespondence, and I am, etc. 
 
 P.S. — Give David Rose, sailer with Mr. Rodgers, 12 
 Dollars, and take is noat payable to my order, and send 
 me by the masters Care 20 yards English of Hamburg 
 Lining [linen] for shirting. 
 
 Invernes, 29 7ber 1716. 
 
 Messrs. Nicholas and Richard Ridleys, at Neucastle. 
 
 I have your favours of 14 Curt., adviseing that the flax 
 sent you pr. Capt. Jamison does not suit your Merket, 
 being Coarse, that are not profered for it but 26s. pr. 
 Ct., which is a verie small price considering the interuption 
 now in the Baltick trade. If it was here would sell it for 
 
 Rex dollars. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 27 
 
 a great deall more, and therfor, if anie occasion of a shipp 
 offers immediatly for this pleace, doe rather inclyn you 
 send it back here than sell at that price ; but if that can 
 not be gott then must make the best of it, but hope it will 
 yeeld more than 26 sh. There is, I think, about 19 Ct. 
 of it I mean @ 112 lb English. When sold may send me 
 a bill on Edr. for the ballance will be due me. Your bill 
 of £69 : 2d : 4d, payable to Tho. Alves on Keneth Mac- 
 kenzie, John Mackay, and me is Complyed with. Please 
 advise of the price of Barlie, oats, and oat meall with 
 you ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Invernes, 29 7ber 1716. 
 
 Mr. Bartholimew Blud worth [Hamburg]. 
 
 Sr., — My last was p. the ship Margaret, of this place, 
 George Rogers, Master, in which I sent you bill of loadning 
 for one hundred and seventy eight barrels white herrings. 
 Now I send bill of Loadning for one hundred and eleven 
 and half barrels white herrings p. the ship Success, Mr. 
 Alexr. Dunbar, commander. Which you are to dispose 
 of for my accompt to the best avail. And from the pro- 
 ceeds you are to pay the Capt. 30 shill. ster. p. last as 
 fraight, with 2 shill. p. last Caplakan ; 1 as also you are to 
 pay sd. Mr. Dunbar besides his fraight sixteen pound 
 sterlin, for which you are to take his recept, And send it 
 me p. first. I am not to be concerned in his homward 
 lastage, haveing givn of the same to some freinds here, 
 so doe desire that, after the Mr. is cleard as above, You 
 remitt the ballance due to me to the hands of Mr. Alexr. 
 Andrew, mercht. in Rotterdam, and advise me accordingly. 
 Some freinds and I consigned about two years agoe to 
 Bartarin Vanhesshysen wt. you a Cargo of Barlie p. sd. 
 
 1 Caplakan or Capleagen is derived from the German word Kapplaken. The 
 latter originally meant cap cloth, but was used in the sense of 'hat money' or 
 ' primage,' a 'small sum of money paid along with the freight to the master of 
 ship for his care of the goods.' 
 
28 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Capt. Dunbar, which measurd out at Hamburg 35 Last, 
 of which he hes not made the least Account ; Therfor we 
 intreat you '1 pleas concurr wt. Mr. Dunbar to gett us 
 Justice done, and, if any money is recovered, retain a 
 third of it for my accompt, which money likeAvays remitt 
 to the hands of sd. Mr. Andrew. I send inclosed Mr. 
 Bartarin's letter to me on recept of the barlie for your 
 government, and I intreat your care that we be not quite 
 bafled by this fellow, and much oblige, Sr., etc. 
 
 Invernes, 26th Sber 1716. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Ochterlonie [London]. 
 
 Sr., — Wee have yours of the 29th past, adviseing that 
 you could find no mercat for our herings with you, and 
 therfor was, accordeing to our order, in tearms with a Ship 
 to come here and Load 800 barrells for Marcelles or Leag- 
 horn, and that the master asked twelve Dollars per last 
 to be free at either of thes ports, and that you had offered 
 ten Dollars, to which you was to have the Masters Ansuer 
 in two dayes. Wee have Impatiently looked for your 
 advice whether sd. Ship be freaghted or not for our Acct. ; 
 and, now that wee have not heard from you for Some 
 posts ago, doe Conclud you have made no bargan for Sd. 
 Ship ; And, If you have not, we desire you forbear f reaught 
 any, Judgeing it now too leat to prosecute that designe, 
 so that, if that Ship Ingadged, wee Incline, if possible, 
 you Indeavour to Dischairge her ; but if that cannot be 
 done conveniently, pray See She proced here with out lose 
 of time, And advise us per first Accordeingly. If this 
 overtakes sd. Shipe, John Steuart desires you Ship ten 
 thousand Barrell hupes. for his acct., and value on him 
 for the same. It was a lose to us that we have not heard 
 from you for Some posts Ago Whither that Shipe you 
 mentioned was freaughted or not ; therfor wee Intreat 
 that hereafter you be mor punctuall ; And wee are, etc. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 29 
 
 Invernes, 27 th Sber 1716. 
 
 Mrs. Marjoribancks and Coutts [Dantzic]. 
 
 Inclosed you have bill of loadeing for 8 lasts herings 
 per the Ship Helen, of this place, Thomas Jameson, master, 
 by whom this goes. I desire you will dispose of sd. herings 
 to the best aveall for my acct., and from the neat proceeds 
 you are to Ship for my risque and acct. one shouck beast 
 and leargest clapboards, 3000 barrell Steaves, and 2000 
 brack pipe staves, and, if good Midlen Iron can be head 
 at or under 24 gilders per Ship pound, In that cease 
 and not otherwayes you are to Shipe ten Ship pound for 
 my Acct., if the hazard of Sweds prevatiers be over befor 
 the Ship arives. In that cease you are to paye the master 
 but fourtie Shillings Ster: per last, and, if otherwayes, 
 he is to be payed conform to charter partie, but in any 
 event he is to have Winter monie and Capleagen, as per 
 charter partie. What Ballance may Remaine after the 
 above goods are bought, and the freaught pd: you are to 
 remit to the hands of Mr. Alexr. Andrew, at Roterdam, 
 And advise me accordeingly. I shall be glad to hear mor 
 frequently from you with advice of Mercats. Please 
 notise to compute the Lastadge of what goods is shiped 
 in the bill of Loadeing as much in my favours as posable, 
 Since the freaught is dear ; and be sure that the full eight 
 last homeward be made up by adeing of the Staves what 
 will doe it if mor be requested then what is above desired ; 
 And I am, with much respect, Gentelmen, your most 
 humble Sert, 
 
 Invernes, 27 th Sber 1716. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 I have your favour of the 6th Current, adviseing you 
 had gott Wm. Mcintosh his bill of 1756 gilders accepted, 
 and I hope the Same will be payed when due. As also 
 that you have my Small Spanish bill of 80 J pice of eight 
 on Lundon, for which would credit my Acct. 182 gilders 
 
30 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 19 Stivers when payed. I have no return of the remit- 
 tance of 300 pice of eight I wrot you to be Sent me 
 from Bilboa and admyre have not heard of it or now ; 
 however, I will not negleck, Whither that does or not, to 
 putt you in cash for me verie Soon. And in the mean 
 time I have ordered Mr. Bartholemew Blodsworth at 
 Hamborow to remit you Some monie from the proceeds 
 of herings I leatly Sent ther, as I have Mrs. Marjoribancks 
 and Couts of Danzick the proceds of Some herings goes 
 ther per the Ship Helen of this place, Thomas Jameson, 
 Master, with Convoy from the South firth, 1 and sails in 
 two dayes from this. So I desire you may Insure on sd. 
 Ship and Cargo, with or without convoy, from the South 
 firth for Danzick, 800 hollands gilders, and advise me 
 accordingly. I have ground to hope the fear of Sueds 
 prevatiers is or now over, and therfor that the premium 
 of Insurance will be cheap. I observe you have corn- 
 ployed with my orders of Insurance for 1800 gilders on the 
 Shipes Margaret and Succes for Hamborow, and Alexr. 
 for Corck. And I note the premium 57 gilders, which is 
 well ; and I thanck you for your care in writeing to Mr. 
 Steuart to Corck for his government. The Inclosed is 
 from your freind, Liftenant James Urquhart, who hes 
 ordered to pay me for your Acct. 22£ 8s. 9d. sterling. 
 This monie is not come yett to my hands, but will, I 
 hope, in a few dayes, of which will advise you per nixt. 
 The few Salmond I wrott you I designed for Holand 
 being too few to make a cargo by themselves, and most 
 pairt grilses, I am oblidged to take the lastadge in a 
 Ship for them goes to Haverdegras, but the proceds to 
 be ordered your way. I am, etc. 
 
 Invernes, 27th Sber 1716. 
 
 Comissar Steuart [Edinburgh]. 
 
 I received yours last post without deate, and will doe 
 all I can anent the Contribution you recomend, tho can 
 
 1 The Firth of Forth. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 31 
 
 not promise Sums but with verie fewe. I notice that the 
 Earle of Murray is to value on me agst. mertemas for 
 100£ Ster. I cannot promise that his Lops, effecks will 
 ansuer So much so Soon. How ever, if his Lop. draw, 
 will Indevour to Honour his bill ; but would have it 
 maide payable only Agst. the 20th of next Moneth. I 
 send you Inclosed Bill Wm. Wimes [Weems] on his 
 Brother at the post office for 39 £ Scots, with which credit 
 my Acct., And I earnestly Intreat that how Soon this 
 comes to hand you call for Charles Gordon, Mercht. in 
 Edinburgh, And Brother to Mr. Robert Gordon of 
 Burdeous, And paye him on my Acct. 8 £ 8 sh. Ster. And 
 take his recept for the Same as my fifth of the Ballance 
 due to me and Companie on the bills drewen be Mr. 
 Archibald Dunbar to the order of sd. Mr. Robert Gordon, 
 on Drummure 1 and Companie in Febrevary or March 
 last. I am ashamed this monie Should have been So long 
 resteing, but it was not my Fait. Baillie Robertson and 
 Termet are goeing South nest week, who no doubt will 
 take course with ther own Shears of this monie, if not 
 done alreadie. I send you like way es Inclosed Decret 
 agst. James Wiseman in Elgin for 131 £ Ster. on which 
 send me ane Horning per first, as also Send me ane Blanck 
 Sumond before the Lords at my Instance, being much 
 opresed at present by Sel. [several] Debitors, boath in town 
 And cuntrie. James Russell and I have atended thes Several 
 dayes on My Lords Act and Comission agst. Mr. Michael, 2 
 and Send you the Same with the Comissioners report 
 Inclosed. Non of the comissioners on the Earles pairt 
 Accept Kinmyles 3 attended, who was verie kind and 
 franck in My Lords Interest, and, tho James Russell was 
 at paines and vent to Strathnairn to gett proper witnesses, 
 Yett I am afraid what is proven will not Signefye much 
 for my Lord. Kinmyles and wee found that Mr. Michaels 
 possession of the Land would be gott proven for the full 
 number of years lybelled, And therfor it was that in 
 
 1 Duff of Drummuir, merchant in Inverness. 
 
 2 Mr. Michael Fraser, minister of Daviot. 
 
 3 Poison of Kinmylies. 
 
32 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 consequence of your advise he aduced but on witnes on 
 that point, Since Mr. Michael will be oblidged to give his 
 oath in Suplement ; but you understand this better then 
 I doe. Receve Cragie Mcphersons 1 his letter Inclosed, 
 which Kinmyles desired might be sent you. Some of my 
 Lords warsells [vassals] in that cuntrie vere not So franck 
 And fair for my Lord in this matter as might be Expechted ; 
 but of this mor here after. James Russell hes been out 
 upwards of Fiftie Shillings in this affair. 
 
 Invernes, 3 9ber 1716. 
 
 Commissar Steuart. 
 
 D. C, — I have yours of 26 past, and will take care of 
 Your Draught in favours of Duncan Mackintosh, which 
 has not yet appeared, for 50 £ ster., and will depend on you 
 for like sum to the E. of Morray who has writ me pressingly 
 for Mony. I wrot you last post to pay 8£ 8s. ster. to 
 Mr. Charles Gordon, mercht. in Edr., which I hope is Done. 
 I send inclosed acct. and bill on Lieutenant David Brymar 
 of the foosaliers for 3£. 18s. sterling, of which pray pro- 
 cure payment. I send you Likeways fish Debenture 
 certifyed on the board of Customes for 92£ 14s. 2d. sterling. 
 For procureing of speedie payment I am advised you apply 
 on Mr. Savage, and give him a guenie, which will effectualy 
 procure prompt payment. If you find Land-syrveyors 
 certifyeing necessar ther is one Mr. James about the 
 Custom office who was surveyor here when the hering were 
 shipped, who will supply that want upon payment of 
 14 sh. ster. I entreat your Care in this, since will want 
 the Mony about Mertimass. Mr. Br. is shipped the 23 
 ultimon, which he desired signify. 
 
 Invernes, 8 9ber 1716. 
 
 Mr. Robert Arburtlmot, Mercht. in Rouan. 
 
 Sir, — This goes by Janet Dunbar Sloop, David Stevenson, 
 Master, and adresses you with the inclosed bill of Load- 
 
 1 Macpherson of Craggie, Daviot. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 33 
 
 ning for twentie nine barells salmon and Grilses, which 
 I [desire] you Dispose of to the best avail howsoon it 
 arives, and Credit my Account with the net proceeds, 
 and pr. post shall advise you annent the Disposeall of the 
 same. In the mean time I desire to be punctualy advised 
 of the Shipps arivall, seall of the fish, and Course of 
 Exchange twixt you and London and Rotterdam. I am 
 hopefull you '11 take such care of My interest in this small 
 consignment as that I shall be encouradged to Continue 
 and incress our corespondence ; and I am with Much 
 Respect, etc. 
 
 Inv ernes, 9 Nover. 1716. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 My Last was of 27 past, and I am favoured with non of 
 yours. I told you in it that Lieutenant Urquhart was to 
 pay me some mony on your acct. Since I have gott £22. 
 4s. 9d. sterling from sd. Lieutenant Urquhart, but have 
 passed my recept wherin I oblidge myself to procure Your 
 recpt. for the same or repet the mony ; so may Debit my 
 Acct. for this mony, and send me your recept for the same 
 pr. first ; I mean to Mr. Urquhart. I send you inclosed 
 two bills on Amsterdam, Alexr. Ross on Messrs. Desobry 
 and Brothers for twelve hundred and eightie seven Gilders ; 
 one payable to William Mackintosh, mercht. of this pleace, 
 your acquaintance, for f 787, and the other payable to my 
 order for f 500, both indorsed to you. When those bills 
 are payed Credit my Act. with there value, and advise me 
 accordingly ; and I hope you '11 have verie soon remit- 
 tances will ballance your acct. In the mean time you are 
 to insure for my acct. on the shippe William and James 
 of Prestownpans, John Gillies, master, I say on the Cargoe 
 of hering in sd. shipp from this to Hamburg, 500 Gilders : 
 the shipp is Just reddie to sail. May pleace the premium 
 to my acct., and advise me accordingly, which, with due 
 respect, is the needful from Yours, etc. 
 
 c 
 
34 
 
 THE LETTER BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 13 9ber 1716. 
 
 Mr. Bartholemew Blud worth, at Hamburgh. 
 
 Sir, — I have your favour of 20th 8ber Last, adviseing of 
 the arivall of George Rodgers, and that My bill of Load- 
 ning pr. Ditto was Come to your hands for 178 barells 
 herins, but' don't advise of Currt. price ; however doe 
 not doubt you have done the best for My interest in sd. 
 shipp and Capt. Dunbar. This adresses you pr. the 
 William and James of Prestownpans, John Gillies, Master, 
 and brings you the inclosed bill of Loadning for 161 J 
 barells white herins, what I wish May Come safe to hand, 
 I desire you may dispose of sd. herins to best avail, and 
 howsoon possible. Pray fail not to remitt the nett pro- 
 ceeds to the hands of Mr. Alexr. Andrew, mercht. in 
 Rotterdam, and advise me accordingly. As I advised, 
 you should likeways doe with the preceeds of herins pr. 
 Capt. Dunbar, and What Ballance would be due on ditto 
 pr. Rodgers, to which no doubt youll advert. I Long to 
 hear what you 've done with Mr. Barterin Vanheshysen 
 annent the Corns sent 2 years agoe ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Invernes, 17th 9ber 1716. 
 
 Commissar Steuart. 
 
 Dear Cousin, — I have yours of 9th instant with the 
 inclosed bill accepted be Duncan Mackintosh, in Elrig, 
 for 1000 merks, which I heirwith return you, sd. Duncan 
 being gone south, and I understand your bill to him for 
 like value on Alexr. Grant was not Complyed with. I 
 send you inclosed bill William Weems on Bailie James 
 Gordon, for £49. lOsh. sterling, payable 2d of Febry nixt, 
 but haveing writ to Mr. Gordon that I am willing you 
 discount 3 months interest, I hope it will yeeld reddie 
 payment, of which pray advise me pr. first, and pray push 
 the payment of this and of my Debentur of £92. 14s. 2d. 
 sterling, tho should make a Discount of the Last, likways 
 of some Months interest, since the Earle of Morrays mony 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 35 
 
 does not answer so soon as I expected. However I hope 
 next post to send you fiftie pound ster. for his Lops use, 
 which, with what may answer of the funds sent, I hope 
 will Make him Easie. I have not yet Considered the 
 Factorie you sent me, nor seen Dunmaglass, 1 nor John 
 McGilvray ; but will sett about affair. But if I am to 
 gett nothing in this affair, it is hard, since I doe a great 
 Deall for his Lop. otherways for verie small Wadges. 
 Understand my Mackintosh May be at Edr. by this time. 
 I think fitt to send you heirwith his protested bill of 15£ 
 ster. with the assignation you desired. I entreat you 
 pay Mr. Charles Gordon the small sum I formarly ordered, 
 since still Complains for want of it ; and send me by the 
 post a greek Gramar for my son Sandie, which is all from 
 Yours, etc. 
 
 I payed your bill of £50 ster. to Duncan Mcintosh in 
 Elrig on sight. 
 
 Inverness, 24 9b er 1716. 
 
 Commissar Steuart. 
 
 D. C, — I have yours annent the Contributions for the 
 poor Gentlemen at Carlile, 2 which 111 observe to the out- 
 most I can ; but, if Culloden 3 will appoint with the 
 Consent of his Counsill one of there own number for that 
 purpose, it will doe much better then by me. I thought 
 to have remitted you fiftie pound sterling for the Earle 
 of Morrays acct. this post, but Could gett no bill ; but 
 I understand Bailie Robertson, who is at Edr., has mony 
 there, so may apply him for that sume, and Draw on me 
 for the same. Duncan Mackintosh is back here, and 
 desires you May send back his accepted bill, tho he may 
 give yours on Alexr. Grant up to me. If My bill on 
 Bailie Gordon or the Debenture answer, pray apply all 
 for the Earle of Morrays payment, and gett recept in my 
 name ; and I am, etc. 
 
 1 MacGillivray of Dunmaglass. 2 Jacobite prisoners taken in the Fifteen. 
 3 Forbes of Culloden. 
 
36 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 1 lOber 1716. 
 
 Mr. Bartholemew Bludsworth. 
 
 Sr., — My Last was to you of the 13th past pr. the Ship 
 William and James of Prestonpans, John Gillies, Master, 
 by which I sent bill of Loadeing 167 J barrells hering 
 Shiped in sd. Ship, what I hope is come to hand or now. 
 Last post I gott yours of the 17th past, with the Invoyes 
 of goods per George Rodgers, as also adviseing of the 
 Seall of herings, per Alexr. Dunbar. Neith of thes Masters 
 are arived, So I wish they may be Safe. I formerly 
 advised and doe now entreat that as soon as posable you 
 remitt the proceeds of all my herings to the hand of 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrews, merchant in Roterdam, and advise 
 accordeingly, which will much oblidge, Sr., your most 
 humble Sert. 
 
 P. S. — Mr. Gilies is the last you are to Expect this year 
 with herings. 
 
 Inv ernes, 1 lOber 1716. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 My Last of 9 9ber last, wherin I sent you two bills on 
 Messrs. Desobry Brothers and Compy. of Amsterdam, for 
 f 1287 gilders, which I hope will find punctuall payment. 
 Since I have yours of 10th past, and find the price of 
 sallmon is prettie well with you. All I bought was about 
 40 barells, which, for want of Present occasion your 
 way, have shipt for Haver De Grace, where I hope they 
 may Likeways doe well ; but there a few Lasts here on 
 hand to goe for your Merket. Please and forward the 
 inclosed for Hamburg, by which You see I have writ 
 pressing to have you in Cash for My Acct. Have sent to 
 that Port this year about 40 Lasts herins, Most of 
 which I am advised are sold from 40 to 43 Dollars pr. 
 Last, a poor price ; but, should remittances from theme 
 fail to Answer again the first of January next, may value 
 on me for f 500 Gilders, payable at Edinbrugh, Which will 
 find punctuall Complyance from Yours, etc. 
 
 Advise the prices of Corns with you. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 37 
 
 Inv ernes, 15 Decer. 1716. 
 
 Mr. William Drumond. 
 
 Sir, — I wrot you last post adviseing how I thought the 
 Contribution at this pleace for our distressed Countriemen 
 at Carlile would goe. I have since endeavoured to Gett 
 something done for that Charitable end, and send you 
 inclosed bill on Mr. James Mcpherson for 20£ sterling, 
 which I hope that Gentleman will pay ere it falls due, 
 being for a Charitable use. I hope again next post to 
 send you a good deall more, and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 15 Debr. 1716. 
 
 Mr. Robert Arbuthnot, Merchant in Rouan. 
 
 Sr., — I have write to you the 8th of November last by 
 ship bound for Haverdegres, to which I have got noe 
 return. I and friends have a ship with about sixty Last 
 of Herrins load and bound for Danzick, but missed the 
 Convoy went lately from the South Firth 1 to the Baltick, 
 soe that most proablely remain here untill the Spring ; 
 therfore I desire youll please advice me pr. first If their 
 is anie proabilitie that there will be alowence given or 
 then to Inport our herrins to anie of the ports of France, 
 and, in that cace, where they will sell best ; or, if ther is 
 noe proabilitie that way, if you could procure me Such 
 Clerence for said ship either Frence or Sweedish passes 
 as might Secure passage for the sd. ship and Cargo from 
 this to Danzick ; also please advice if could get a Frenge 
 ship to fraught in anie of the ports near you, that would 
 come hear in the Moneth of March or Apryle next, to 
 load herring to goe from this for Danzick or Stockholme ; 
 or, if you think such a ship would be safe from Capture 
 by Sweedish privateers, If you advice me she would, 
 then would send Commission to fraught for my account 
 a ship of anie burden from 20 to 50 last, providing the 
 fraught be reasonable ; of which please advice me. I 
 beg pardone for the trouble, and I am, etc. 
 
 1 Firth of Forth. 
 
38 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 28 December 1716. 
 
 For the Earl of Morray. 
 
 May it please your Lop., — Severall considerations re- 
 lating to your Lop.'s interess oblidged me to run this by 
 express which accompanys the inclosed papers came some 
 time agoe to my hands from Commissar Steuart. I hade 
 returned them Much sooner but that I could not prevail 
 with Dunmagless and John Mackgilvray to Signe them 
 till verie laitly, they making Demur annent Alexr. Mack- 
 pherson of Craygie, who, they say, is much in arear and 
 quit broke. They insinuat they are to recall ther Cau- 
 tionre in the factorie again Whitsunday ; in which case 
 I think your Lop. must think of a new Manadger on sd. 
 Est eat again that time. In the mean time I return your 
 Lop. a Coppie of my interim Factorie, subscrivetd, as 
 also a Duble of the rentall, with a bill on Mr. James 
 Muchelson, Jowellers in Edinburgh, for fiftie pound 
 sterling on four days sight, which, I understand, will 
 answer punctualy, and is what I have received of these 
 few Duetys [feu duties] as yett, and I shall send what 
 more mony comes to my hand as I gett it. I have in- 
 dorsed the bill to your Lop., so that your Lop. May indorse 
 it blank, and send it over for payment to your doer at 
 Edr. I sent a good time agoe some funds for answering 
 your Lop., about one hundred pound sterling, which I 
 hope has answered your Lop. or now, and is much more 
 than could make good as yet of last years farms of Pettie. 
 However doe hope again Candlemass shall pay your Lop. 
 one hundred pound sterling more, all by the hands of 
 Commissar Steuart. As to the £ sterling sent by yr. 
 bearer, I expect a recept in return of this, mentioning it 
 is a pairt of the few dutys of Strathern 1 and Strathnern 
 in Consequence of my Factorie. 
 
 Now, My Lord, I come to writ to your Lop. annent Currt. 
 farms of Pettie. Your Lop. wrot me some time agoe to 
 dispose of the same the best I could, which certainly I 
 
 Strathern, now written Strathdearn. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 39 
 
 inclyne to doe ; but, laitly hapening to meet with old 
 James Russell, he insinuat that bear this year would be 
 worth six lbs. Scots pr. boll, and I doe not know but he 
 may have writ your Lop. soe. My Lord, I have done what 
 I could hear to gett your Lop. a price, but I find it will be 
 dificult reach eight Marks ; therfor, without your Lops, 
 express orders, would not sell. I confess the Cropt in 
 Morray this is much less then last, but I belive likeways 
 that the Demand from Abroad will be alsoe less, con- 
 sidering what of old victuall is yet on hand here. The 
 price of Corns can not rise much however. Will be glad 
 your Lop. employ the old Chamberlan 1 to try what can 
 be don here with the bear of Pettie, and He heartily 
 concurr with him. Your Lops, further orders in this head 
 will necessarie without loss of time, Seing the tenants are 
 begun to thrash there farms, and the sooner they pay it, 
 I am sure the better for your Lop. I wrot to Commissar 
 Steuart severall Months a goe Shewing that the people 
 of Pettie had suffered verie much dureing the time of the 
 Lait unhappie civil wars, 2 and that therfor they expected 
 some Compassion from your Lop. on that head. I humblie 
 proposed to give down to such as were really suffarers 
 discount of a years Customs, which he told me your Lop. 
 Complyed with. Now I want some orders on this head 
 under your Lops, own hand, and shall observe them. 
 
 Inv ernes, 20 Decer. 1716. 
 
 Commissar Steuart. 
 
 D. C, — By this express I wrot to the Earle of Morray, 
 and sent him Dunmagless and John McGilvray there bond 
 of Coroberation, which, with much adoe, they were per- 
 suaded to signe, and say they'll recall there Cautionrie 
 again Whitsunday next, in which case I am told the E. 
 will be at no great Loss ; this inter nos. I have likeways 
 sent the Earle the Duble of My interim factorie, and 
 
 1 James Russell. 
 
 2 The Rising of the Fifteen. 
 
40 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 rentall and 50£ ster., Which is all I gott yet of the few 
 dueties. Dunmi [glass] has promised to be your Debtor 
 for a guenie, but had no reddie ; which I believe. I wrot 
 the Earle I hade sent you funds to answer you 200£ ster- 
 ling which I hope is not amiss. I payed your bill 50£ 
 ster. to Bailie Robertson, but the 10£ ster. bill you mention 
 Don't yet appear. Pray acquaint me if my fish Debenture 
 for 92£ 14s. 2d. ster., and bill of 44£ 10s., sent on Bailie 
 Gordon, are yet payed. I have some more Debentures to 
 send you, but, being ill and Confined to my house, can not 
 gett them exped here, so as to goe this post. I wish a 
 good new year. 
 
 I nv ernes, 29 Decer. 1716. 
 
 Messrs. Vandufle and Compy [Bilboa]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — Wee see yours of 31 July last to our 
 freind John Steuart, informing you was to remitt us the 
 balance due on Last years Codfish pr. the shipp Alexr. of 
 this pleace, by good bill on London, howsoon our mony 
 Came to your hands. Wee Doubt not you have gott in 
 the same Long or now, and, if have not remitted the same 
 as above, pray fail not pr. first to remitt the one half of 
 sd. Ballance for our accts., to the hands of Mr. Robert 
 Gordon, Mercht. in Burdaux, and advise us of the same 
 pr. post. Wee have been informed yt Dry fish has been 
 no good Comodity with you this year, which made us 
 forbear medleing for this season ; but wee hope the Merkat 
 will prove better, when you may expect our Commands ; 
 and we are, Messrs., Your most humble Servants, 
 
 Alexr. Duffe [of Drummuir] 
 John Steuart. 
 
 Invernes, Ditto. 
 
 Mr. Robert Gordon, of Burdiaux. 
 
 Sir, — The Inclosed for Mr. Vandufne, of Bilboa, and 
 Compy., Your 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 41 
 
 Inverness, 31st May 1717. 
 
 To Commissar Steuart. 
 
 I reed, yours 23d Instant relateing to poor unfortunate 
 Mr. Denoon, 1 and I could wish My Lord were not So 
 Complysant with our Teachers in that Affair As I find he 
 is. For ought I could learn anent ye orders given by ye 
 Justice Clerk, when here, there were not So much in them 
 as is represented ; And our friend Kinmylies 2 was not 
 inclined to be overheasty in Complying with that Verball 
 order. Besides that Expedience were fallen on qch might 
 probably have Softened the Justice Clerk on that head ; 
 but now no remedy, for he most fall, and to be plain with 
 you I have no great Stomach to medle at any rate about 
 planting Kirks, Especially with teachers of a Certain Sort 
 Since I allways found the whole gang of that Side much of 
 apiece. 3 Tell the Lady Innerneity, if with you, that her 
 letter Came here when I was lately in Bamph shyre, oyrwise 
 had been answered or now, but have delivered her Com- 
 mission, and ye Linnings etc. will be forwarded next post. 
 Pray give her my humble duty, and I '11 write fully to ye 
 Earle of Murray anent ye Kirk Affair pr. next, and will 
 take care of your bill of 5 pound to Mr. Alexr. McKenzie, 
 and I am etc. 
 
 Inverness, 1st June 1717. 
 
 To Mr. James Clark, Mert. at Banfe. 
 
 Sir, — I send you this by ye Agnes of Aloway, James 
 Jarvie, Master, who is gone to Portsoy to Load My Lord 
 Banfs meall and 250 bolls ditto. Father has bought from 
 the Earle of Finlater for my Acct. @ eight stone pr. boll, 
 which, with the 200 bolls Mr. Hunter has sold, makes 
 
 1 The Rev. Alex. Denune, minister of Petty. Admitted during Episcopacy; 
 continued after the Revolution, deposed in 1706 for swearing, drunkenness, 
 etc. ; appealed, and litigation continued virtually till his death in 17 19. 
 
 2 John Poison of Kinmylies, near Inverness, advocate. 
 
 6 These 'teachers' were the Presbyterian clergy. The Bailie was an 
 Episcopalian. 
 
42 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 650 bolls, so that He want still 50 bolls to Load the bark, 
 which I desire you may buy for My Account at the Cheapest 
 rate you can, and He give my Accepted bill at anie rate 
 you agree, and, if you Can not gett it, May writ to My 
 freind Mr. William Gordon of Farskin, who will see to 
 Furnish it. I must desire the favour of you to see this 
 bark Load of for my Acct. in order to which I send you 
 inclosed My Lord Banfs accepted bill for 200 bolls meall, 
 and I have Writ to Farskin to Cause deliver the Earle 
 of Finlaters to your order, and since it may unconvenient 
 to you to be at Portsoy while the meall is a Loading, I 
 think David Cuthbert, to whom I have wrot, will see the 
 meall proofed as to the weight, and give recepts for what 
 is shipped in your absence, and I hope tuo Days time will 
 doe all thats to be done at Portsoy, and your Pains and all 
 necessar charges will be thankfully payed you. As for 
 Mr. Hunters meall I wish you Could prevail to send it to 
 Portsoy, but if that Can not doe the skippar has agreed to 
 goe to Down to Load it, but then I promised that all 
 should be reddie in caskes on the shoar when he came there, 
 and he would not be keept above one tyd or tuo at most 
 there, to which pray advert since it will be dangerous for 
 me, as well as the skippar, that the Shipp should be ob- 
 lidged to stay in that harbour. You must observe that 
 Mr. Hunters 200 boll is to goe last aboard, since it is to be 
 unload at Garloch, and 500 bolls at Inverlochie to Sir 
 Robert Polock, Governour of Fortwilliam ; and notice 
 to take the bills of Loadning for the tuo ports, that is, one 
 bill of Loadning for 200 bolls to be delivered at Garloch 
 to My order, and another for 500 bolls deliverable at Fort- 
 william to sd. Sir Robert Polock or order, and for this 
 purpose I send stamped bills that will doe inclosed. The 
 fraight is to be conform to Charterpartie. When the bark 
 arives Cause Urqhart the Waiter at Portsoy writ for a 
 Cocquet to Aberdeen, and mention yourself as Mercht. 
 May let it be for Inverness, and no more then 500 bolls in 
 the sufferance and Coquet. This is lest you should be 
 trubled to give Cost bond, but, if better can not bee, there 
 is no hazard in giveing it will be unload at Inverlochie, 
 
BAILIE JOHN S TIC U ART OF INVERNESS 43 
 
 for He return you Certificat to Gett up your bond. My 
 Father and I give you our service, and Desire if can buy 
 for our Account one hundered bolls good boyn bear, not 
 exceeding 4£ 10s. Scots pr. boll, Martimass payment, doe 
 it, and advise uss by this bearer accordingly. I believe 
 you may gett so much of My Lord Finlater or Lord Des- 
 ford's Farm to buy, and will give our Joynt bill for the 
 price at the term you Agree. Pray excuse this work, and 
 wherin I can serve here or elswhere Command freely. Sir, 
 Your etc. 
 
 Inverness, 14 June 1717. 
 
 Mr. Robert Gordon [Bordeaux]. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour of 15 May last, and doe 
 observe you have Credited Drummure and me for 200 piece 
 of Eight remitted you for our Accounts by Mr. Van Duffle, 
 of Bilboa, £636, 15 and 6. I thought it would have been 
 more, because the sd. Van Duffle writes of 69 Soles p. 
 piece of Eight, and you reckon but at 64. My ffriend 
 Alexr. Stuart only arived about a week agoe, and I hope 
 his Cargo of Wine will prove very good, and you will be 
 thanked for it. Sir, please advise me what goods from 
 Hambourgh, in one of this Country Ships, would sell 
 best with you, and the dutys such goods doe pay with you. 
 The Reason why I want to know this is because we send 
 from hence a Vast many Herings to sd. Port, and would 
 be glad to make return your way if thought it would doe. 
 I desire, how Soon this comes to hand, you Remitt to the 
 Gentleman wanted 50 pd. Stg. due by Keneth McKenzie, 
 500 Livers, and Debit me for the Same, and, how Soon I 
 have got in Some Small accounts yt. Gentleman ordered 
 me to pay for him to Some friends here, I shall give you 
 advice accont., paying the ballance yt. will be Due him. 
 Pray give him my most hearty Service, and get me his 
 recept for this money, and shall order you p. next to value 
 on me for Drumure's part of this Small Summ ; and I am 
 etc. 
 
44 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 18 June 1717. 
 
 For Mr. John Mackenzie, Uncle to the Laird of Garloch. 
 
 Sir, — I send you inclosed Letter to Mr. Jervie, order- 
 ing him to deliver you tuo hundered bolls oat meall, con- 
 form to Agreement, as also his bill of Loadning to me for 
 sd. meall, indorsed to your order. Therfor I desire you 
 may accept the tuo inclosed bills for seventeen Hundered 
 merks, in terms of our agreement, and return them by the 
 bearer. You need not make anie scruple in doeing this, 
 since should anie missfortune befall the shipp, as God 
 forbid, my indorsed bill of Loadning, and order to the 
 skippar, will be good to prevent anie payment of your 
 bills ; besides I hope wee are both honest men. Dear 
 Sir, I beseech you, howsoon this comes to hand, that you 
 goe or send imediatly to Garloch, for the shipp sailed 
 Wedsunday Last, and I am sure is at her port Long or now, 
 the Winds being since constantly fair. Pray Lett the 
 skippar have all possible Dispatch. May Writ me that 
 you accepted my bills, and the Dait ; and I am etc. 
 
 P.S. — I had almost forgott to bid you pay either in 
 oatmeall or mony what may be resting the Fishers of 
 Garloch of the fish on hand, and William McKenzie of 
 Shillack his recept for the same will oblidge me to allow 
 the same in pairt of your Accepted bills. 
 
 Inverness, 22 June 1717. 
 
 Mr. Bertram Vanheihuysen [Hamburg]. 
 
 Sir, — I have your favour of 30 Aprile last, with the 
 inclosed bill on Thomas Robertson of this place, for 
 21 £ 13s. 5d. Sterling, which sd. Mr. Robertson would not 
 accept, and therefor have returned the same protested, 
 and Indorsed your bill to Mr. David Berkly, mercht. in 
 Hamburg, and hope you '1 pay him the walue, with expence 
 and postage ; and if you order to purshue Mr. Robertson 
 by some frend at Edinburgh, he will certainly be obliged 
 to pay you what he rests ; but I can not oblidge him. I 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 45 
 
 hope you have or now gott in what further ballance is due 
 in Cargoe of bear pr. the Success, and desire you pay my 
 third of the Same to Mr. Berkly, and his recept will be 
 good for the Same : and I am etc. 
 
 Inverness, 22 June 1717. 
 
 Mr. David Berklay [Hamburg]. 
 
 Sir, — I have your favour of 25 may last with the in- 
 closed Acct. of Sealls of herrins pr. Georg Rogerts, and 
 Envoyce of goods pr. Ditto. Mr, Rodgers is arived ; and 
 observe the mistake in Computing the fraight, of your 
 prejudice, and find the ballance of one hundered and sixtie 
 eight Merks Loops due you is right, and Shall pay you 
 accordingly. Please reed, Seall, and deliver the inclosed 
 to Mr. Bartram Vanheshusen, mercht. with you, as also 
 see to gett payment of the enclosed bill of 21 £ 13sh. 5|d. 
 ster. which is draun on Mr. Thomas Roberson of this 
 pleace, and now I send you inclosed, indorsed, and the 
 protest thereon for not acceptance. And pleace look in 
 to My Acctt. of Seals of 36 Last barlie sent him in Aprile 
 1715 per the Success, Alexander Dunbar, Master, and send 
 me your thoughts of it. Gett my third of what is due, as 
 I have ordered. It is a hard Case that of So much Corn 
 Sold be him he has never payed a farthing to this day. 
 Pray see to gett justice done me, and it will be a favour 
 done me which He study to repay in Course ; and I am 
 waiting your ansuer with advice of Merkats with you. 
 Yor etc. 
 
 Inverness, 26 June 1717. 
 
 Mr. Isack Delamar. 1 
 
 When you Come to InverLochie you are to Deliver my 
 Letter to the Governour, Sir Robert Pollock, and, in his 
 absence, to his Son, Mr. Walter Pollock, as also my letter 
 to James Jarvie, Mr. of the Ship Agnes of Aloway, in which 
 
 1 Delamar went from Inverness to Fort William by Loch Ness and 
 Invergarry. 
 
4G 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Shipp I have five hundered bolls meall, which you are to 
 See Carefully Delivered to sd. Mr. Pollock at eight Ston 
 Scots weight pr. Boll ; and, since or most of the meall 
 Shipped there was tow or three pc. pr. Boll more than eight 
 Ston, I doubt not their may be Some Considerable out- 
 come ; for all which you are to gett me Sir Robert Pollock 
 his Accepted bills payable the eleventh day of nouember 
 nixt, at 10 Shilling Sterling per each boll of eight Ston, 
 at the house of John Steuart, Commissar of Inverness, at 
 Edinburgh. Only you are to notice that Sir Robert is 
 oblidged by Agreement to pay the Skippar his fraight, 
 which is five hundred and thirtie merks Scots fraight and 
 Caplaken, or twentie nine pound eight Shillings 10§d. 
 Sterling. But I have writt to Mr. Pollock or Sir Robert 
 to Give you five pounds Sterling more, for which you are 
 to hold Count with me at your return ; and you are to 
 notice that Sir Robert is to receive the meill on his own 
 Charges from Ship board, and I am no further Conserned 
 then to put it over the Side, ther may Some avaridge Due 
 the Skippar besides the fraight, which can be but very 
 litle ; but I pay fds. of it. I herewith give you the 
 Charter partie and bill of Loadning for the Meall, So when 
 all is Cleared you are to call for the Double of the Charter 
 partie, which the Skippar has, and See both Cancelled, and 
 give the bill of Loadning, which Sir Robert will discharge, 
 or his Son. I lickways give you heirwith a Guinea towards 
 your Charges, for which you are to hold Count. Give 
 my Service to Glengarrie and his Lady ; and I am, Sir, etc. 
 
 p^_If Sir Robert Pollock is not at Fort William, 
 you '1 tak his Son, Mr. Walter Polock, his bills on his 
 Father, payable in the terms above written for the walue 
 of the meal, whch bring here along with you, and notice 
 that the bills be payable to me or my order. 
 
 Inverness, 1 July 1717. 
 
 For Dunbar of Burmadan in Cathness. 
 
 $ IR> — I make bold to trouble you with the inclosed bill 
 of 5£ sterling accepted be Mr. Henry Grahame, Mercht. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 47 
 
 in Stromness, indorsed to me be one Edward Kerr, who was 
 recomended to me by Mr. Grahame, and I ordered to 
 supply him to the value of this bill, tho not yet due. I 
 desire youll please accquaint sd. Mr. Grahame that you 
 have such a bill indorsed by me, and, when you gett the 
 value, please transmitt the same to me pr. post ; and 
 excuse this truble from, Sir, etc. 
 
 Please forward the inclosed letter to Mr. Grahame. 
 
 Inverness, 5 July 1717. 
 
 Mr. George Auchterlony [London]. 
 
 Sir, — I 'm favoured with yours 23 May Last, adviseing 
 your receipt of my first and Second Bills 2000 Livres on 
 Mr. Robert Arbuthnot, of Rouen, which you had Negotiat 
 at 47 p. Crown, and Credite my Acct. accordingly. As 
 also that ye would retire my accepted Bill of 60 pds. to 
 Mr. George Strahan, and Send me the Same discharged, 
 but is not as yet Come to my hands. This Serves to 
 advise you that I have Valued on you, the 22 past, to the 
 order of Jonathan Thomson, Mert. of this place, 20 pds. 
 Str., to which I hope you '1 give due honour, and desire 
 that first you '1 remitt the full balance of the 2000 Liver 
 in your hands to Mr. Thomas Brown, Mert. in Edr., and 
 advise him that I have ordered the Same acct. of Alexr. 
 Duff of Drumure, Esqr. ; and pray fail not to Send me Mr. 
 Strahans Bill Discharged p. first, with advice of the 
 remittance. 
 
 You are not to Ship any hoops for my acct., being 
 Instantly provided from Holand and elsewhere. You '1 
 See by the inclosed to Mr. Robert Arbouthnot that I have 
 ordered Some further Remittance to your hand. So 
 you '1 Please Seal and forward the Samen. Let me know 
 how good old ffrench brandy will sell with you, with the 
 price of Tobacco for Exportation, and if you can Sell for 
 my Acct. about 40 Lasts of good well cured and well 
 packed herings of Ensueing fishing, to be delivered here, 
 and at what rate. As also, Let me know how a Galley 
 
48 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 of ane 100 tuns Could Come here, and be fraighted for 
 Leghorn with Salmon and herings to be free at the port of 
 Delivery. I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 5 Jully 1717. 
 
 Mr Robert Arbuthnot [Rouen]. 
 
 Sir, — My Last was of May Last, qhn. I advised that I 
 had valued on you of ye Date for F. 2000 Livres, payll to 
 ye order of Mr. George Auchterlonie, Mert. of London, as 
 also yt. you should remit any neat proceeds of 6 barrell 
 Salmon and 3 grilses sent you by ye Jean of Aloway, 
 Thomas Arthur, Master. Since I 'm favoured with non 
 of yors. and yrfor doe send you this to advise you yt. I 
 Long very much for acct. of Sales of ye sd. 9 bar. Salmon 
 and grilses, qch. I Entreat may be sent pr. first, and doe 
 hereby confirm my former order to remit yt. proceeds to 
 Mr. Auchterlony, qch. I hope you '11 fail not to Comply 
 with. Ime Inform that yor. Regent has renewed old 
 Edicts qch. Debarrs ye Importation of Salmon and oyr. 
 Comoditye of this Cuntry to France ; of this you '1 please 
 Inform your etc. 
 
 Inverness, 26 July 1717. 
 
 For Sir Robert Pollock, Governour of Fort William. 
 
 Much Honoured, — I have performed puntually my 
 Bargaine with you for 500 bolls good oat meal, the same 
 being now Delivered to your Son at Fortwilliam. There- 
 fore I have forwarded this to advise you that I have put 
 his first Bill on you for £214, 10 sh. Sterling, payable at 
 Mertimass nixt, in Edinburgh, for acceptance, which I 
 hope you will comply with ; and please mention in your 
 acceptance that the payt. be at the House of John Steuart, 
 Commissar of Inverness, in Edinburgh, or the Exchange 
 Coffee house there, as you please. You know this is agree- 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 49 
 
 able to our first Correspondence, and therefore cannot 
 doubt of Complyance. I am, with much Respect, etc. 
 
 Meal delivered 499 bolls @ 10s. 
 
 p. boll, £249 : 10 : 0 . . . £249 : 10 : 0 
 
 Pay'd the Skippar p. my order 
 
 £35 : 0 . \ £35 : 0 : 0 
 
 By Bills on you payable at Mer- 
 
 timass . . 214 : 10 : 0 
 
 — 249 : 10 : 0 
 
 Castle Steuart, 26 July 1717. 
 
 For Commissar Steuart. 
 
 Dear Cousin, — According to my promise I send you 
 an extract of Termitts account, which I have left open in 
 case he may have any Articles to be put to his Credit I 
 can not think off, and if he has I am sure there will be a 
 good deal due me. However, I hope he and I will adjust 
 all at meeting, but in the meantyme, lest I should be 
 thought to alledge what was false in fact, I thought fit to 
 send you this account, which may return after you have 
 let Termitt see it if you please. I have instructions for 
 most of all the Articles under his own hand, which I 
 thought needless to send at this tyme, tho I am sorrie 
 ther should arise soe much mistake on this head. I 
 trouble you with the Inclosed Letter to Sir Robert Pollock, 
 Governour of ffortwilliam, qch. please Seall and fforward 
 with his Son's Bill, payable to my Order at Mertimass 
 nixt at Edr., for £214: 10. sh. sterling. I think this will 
 be got best done by a Correspondent in Glasgow, I mean 
 to get Sir Robert's Acceptance payable at your House or 
 Some Coffe house in Edr. Soe I hope youll advert to 
 it, and, qhn. you procure Acceptance, return the Bill to 
 me, or, if Acceptance is refused, lett it be protested against 
 the Drawer, which I hope will be needless. Place the 
 Charges to my Account. I have been here the 8 days 
 agoe about the Earl's affairs, and Im Soe tossed and 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Diverted by my ffactorie here, and I believe much Looser 
 too, that I judge a New ff actor must uplift and sell this 
 Current Cropt, or I must have better Conditions ; but, 
 without that, it will be no strait to find one can doe better 
 service than I can. I thought to have seen the Earle in 
 this month, but, my wife being about to trip over in Child 
 bed, and the hering fishing approaching, must I forbear 
 for some little tyme ; but qn. I come South ther will be a 
 Considerable account of arrears on this Estate, which, 
 with many oyr. disapointments I have met with of Lait, 
 gives me much uneasiness ; but must doe the best, and 
 submitt to Divine Providence. I am etc. 
 
 I am glad Ferchquard's [Farquhar Macgillivray's] Bill 
 of 60 pd. Sterling on Peter Crafurd hase answered, for I 
 payd him the value. 
 
 Inverness, 9 August 1717. 
 
 Mr. Charles Gordon [Merchant, Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I have your favours of last post and first Instant, 
 in your last I have Sundrie bills, vizt. 
 
 On My Lord Stranever 1 and Newmore 2 . £286 : 10 : 10 
 
 On Hugh Munroe, mercht. . . 77 : 14 : 2 
 
 On Lord Reay . . . 21 : 13 : 4 
 
 John Macklish on Robert Gordon 3 . 48:12: 2j 
 
 Ditto on Lord Stranever and Newmore . 16 : 14 : 6 
 
 These bills Shall be returned you nixt post protested or 
 accepted, but these gentlemen Living at so great a distance 
 
 1 William, Lord Strathnaver, eldest son of the Earl of Sutherland. He 
 fought on the Whig side in the Fifteen, and on the same side at Glenshiel in 
 1719. 
 
 2 George Munro of Newmore, Ross-shire. 
 
 3 Robert Gordon, merchant, Bordeaux, brother of Charles Gordon, Edin- 
 burgh. Another brother, Alexander, was a merchant at St. Martins, France. 
 They were sons of Patrick Gordon of Hallhead, Aberdeenshire. Robert 
 succeeded to Hallhead. He was the father of George Gordon, whose house was 
 plundered by General Hawley in 1746 {Lyon in Mourning, vol. iii. pp. 167 et seq.), 
 and great-great-grandfather of Adam Lindsay Gordon, the Australian poet. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 51 
 
 could not be done by this [post] and My Lord Stranaver 
 cannot be returned p. nixt ather, who Lives at 60 miles 
 distance. I am oblidged to send a friend of mine to the 
 Country with the bills, since I knew non I could trust to 
 protest them in Case of non accepptance ; so that the 
 Negotiating of them will be expensive, and I think your 
 brother, Mr. Gordon, has little to do with giving such 
 Credit to there qualitie, since I cannot promise theyl be 
 punctuall in there payments. I think Newmore is obliged 
 to you, and to be shure He cannot now feal to gett it 
 punctualy, which I shall be glad to hear. 
 
 28th Agt. 1717. 
 
 To Mr. Charles Gordon [Edinburgh]. 
 
 My last to you was of 9 Instant, by qch. I promised to 
 Return you your bills Either protested or Accepted. But 
 could not get ye same effectuated so soon By reason those 
 concerned were not at home. But now I send you inclosed 
 4 of yor. bills accepted : 
 
 The Lord Stranaver and Newmore . £286 : 10 : 10 
 
 Do. . . . . 16 : 14 : 6 
 
 Robert Gordon . . . . 48 : 12 : 2| 
 
 Hugh Munro . . . 77 : 14 : 2 
 
 As for yor. oyr. bill I hope to have it returned you within 9 
 or 10 days, being forwarded to my Ld. Rea's Country Jor 
 Acceptance, who lives about 70 or 80 miles from here, and 
 when I Send sd. bill I shall advise you what Charges I have 
 been at, qch. is more than ordinary, Because I was 
 obliged to send a trusty friend to ye Country to get ye 
 bill protested in case of non Acceptance. I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 6 7ber 1717. 
 
 Mr. Robert Barklay, Hamburg. 
 
 Sir, — I am favoured with yours of 3d August last 
 in which I find your care of My consern with Bartram 
 Vanderhusen, for which I thnk you. His aledgeing that 
 
52 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Mr. Robertson was the only man that addressed our 
 Cargoe of Corn to him is false, for it was consigned by 
 Mrs. [Messrs.] Thomas Robertson, Alexr. Mackintosh, and 
 me Joyntly, and, if he has remitted the whole proceeds 
 to Mr. Robertson without our orders, its nothing to us ; 
 Let him Look to it, and redress himself the best he can. 
 But I think all the Law in the world will oblidge him to 
 make good his draughts to us on Mr. Robertson, and 
 therfor I hope you will push that afair. This Adresses 
 you pr. the shipp Margret of this pleace, George Rodgers, 
 Master, and brings you the inclosed bill of Loadning for 
 210 barells white herins, which I assure you are verie well 
 Cured and packt ; and I hope you will take all possible 
 care in the disposall of them, that they be particularly 
 noticed as to the quality, for I am persuaded if anie Scots 
 herins yeeld Mony Mine must ; but I intirely depend on 
 your prudent Management. From the nett proceeds you 
 are to shipp for My Acct. and risque 25 shipp pound best 
 midlin [iron], and Lett the most of the barrs be of the 
 broadest sort. And I desire you Give the Skippar, Mr. 
 Rodgers, as much mony as will purchase 25,000 barells 
 staves in Norway, since he proceeds thither from Hamburg, 
 or fth of his Cargoe of do., and pleace the same to my 
 Acct. And what Ballance may remain in your hands 
 affter the iron is shipt, and the mony be payd. the Master 
 to buy the staves, you are to remitt to the hands of Mr. 
 Alexr. Andrew, Mercht. in Rotterdam, and advise me 
 Accordingly. You are to pay the Master 30 sh. ster. pr. 
 last fraight and Caplaken as pr. Charterparty, and send 
 his recept per post for the same. I am to send you ten 
 last more herins pr. the shipp Success of this pleace, that 
 will sail to Morrow, by which shall writ you fully ; and 
 I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 17 7b er 1717. 
 
 Commissar Steuart. 
 
 D. C, — I Received yesternight a Letter of 12th Instant 
 from Thomas Fairholme, servant to Alexr. Arbuthnot 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 53 
 
 Knox, complaining he wanted payment of My Accepted 
 bill of £42 : 8 : 4d. sterling was due 20 th ultimo and hade 
 protested the same. I depended on Farquhar McGilvray 
 to Enable you to pay sd. bill, but it seems he did not see 
 you, notwithstanding his promise, and his being due me 
 more then I ordered for you, and he has used me unkindly. 
 I send inclosed bill Lieutenant William Ross, paymaster 
 of the fusaliers, for 13£ sterling, on Mr. Mitchelson, 
 Jeweler in Eder., @ 3 days sight, And I must beg the 
 favour of you to apply this, with the 30£ sterling 
 formarly remitted and ordered to Castlehill, to pay this 
 bill in Knox's hands ; Otherways My Credit May suffer 
 abroad. I expect to see you verie soon, and then what 
 Ballance is due you in Acct. Currant will be thankfully 
 payed. I want vouchers from the Earle of Morray for 
 what remittances I made his Lop. the tuo Last years, 
 which I Doubt not you '11 advert to gett me. 
 
 Inverness, 20 7ber 1717. 
 
 Mr. Charles Gordon, Eder. 
 
 Sir, — My Last was of 13th instant, in Which I sent 
 you My Lord Reas bill, accepted for £21 : 13s. 4d. sterling. 
 Now I return you the last tuo bills sent me for £16 : 14s. 
 and £34 : 14 : 2d. sterling, both accepted by my Lord 
 Strathnaver, but not by Newmore. I suppose Lord 
 Strathnavers acceptances for that Drawn on him and 
 Newmore will fix the whole on him, but, if you think that 
 won't doe, may return it, and shall protest it against 
 Newmore for non acceptance. I have a Corn Debenture 
 for £70 : 9 : f . sterling in the hands of Alexr. Arburthnot 
 Knox since the Moneth of May Last. He wrot me he 
 could not pass it under 20 pr. Ct. Discount. It will be a 
 favour done me if you can pass the same at a more moderat 
 Discount, and howsoon I have your answer shall order 
 the same to your hands ; and your Complyance will 
 oblidge. 
 
54 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 2 October 1717. 
 Mr. Alexander Arburthnott [Edinburgh]. 
 
 I truble you with the inclosed bill to gett payment of 
 the Same. Its Drawen by the Tutor of McLeod, but I 
 know not the gentleman accepts it. However, you '11 
 please call at Mr. John McLeod, or Mr. Alex. McLeod, 
 Advocate, and either of them will direct you where you are 
 to gett payment of the Same ; and, when payment is 
 recovered, you '11 Credit my Acct. five hundered and fiftie 
 five merks Scots, and advise me accordingly. I hear I 
 am informed againest by James Cowie as being Concerned 
 in running of Salt, in which Mr. Cowie is highly injurious 
 to me, for I believe he canot say that ever I gave once 
 orders to that purpose, or ever received the walue of one 
 Shilling on that head, but on the conterar make it appear 
 that my Share all the Cargoes I was ever concerned in 
 with his Mr. was bonded duely, and exsise paid ; for the 
 trouth of which I have good Wouchers. I have yours 
 Last post, and I hope my Cousin, Commissar Steuart, has 
 paid you or now sum. 
 
 Please advise me what you have gott done with my corn 
 Debenture of £70 odd, money Sterling, on the Shipp 
 Fortoune of Montross in March Last ; also when you think 
 it will be paid. I hear their is Leatly orders about paying 
 Debenture, So if you could procure payment of it for me 
 it would be a great favour, tho at 10 p. Ct. Discount ; 
 so must entreat your care in it p. first. 
 
 Inverness, Sber 1717. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrews [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sr., — This adresses you by the barck Morjory of 
 Invernes, John Mackay, Master, and brings you the 
 inclosed bill of Loadeing for two and twentie barells 
 Grilsses, and thirtie barrells Salmon marked jp [J. S.] 
 shipt for our joynt Acct., And which wee asure you are 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 55 
 
 in ther qualaty inferier to noli in Scotland, and hope they 
 will Prove so. Wee desire you may Dispose of Sd. Salmon 
 And grilsses to the best aveall, And credit our Acct. equally 
 with the nett proceds, And advise us of the Acct. of 
 Sealls as soon as possible. You are to buy and Shipe for 
 Acct. of James Russell 5 matts best hards and four hogs- 
 heads Lineseed, of the freshest and best, And debit his 
 Acct. with the proceeds Accordingly. Mr. Thomas Alvas 
 hes the return of the barck homward ; however, what is 
 farder wanted Shall be advised per post, which, with due 
 respeckes, is all from, etc. 
 
 Inverness, Nover. 11, 1717. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Andrew. 
 
 I send you at last your Certificats for the salt you 
 Demanded, which I hope will prove right fine. Your 
 accquaintances Cumming and Cowe arrived in this 
 Country. They have made great discoveries againest 
 Severall people, which is lick to draw deep ; and they 
 have told some truths, they have told a great many 
 notorius Lyes and Falshoods. I have the misfortone to 
 be a litle spoke of by them, as being Concerned with 
 Balie Robertson and Termitt in the runing of the Salt, 
 which, I asure you, is malicius, willanus falshood. But 
 I am advised by wery good frends that what they say 
 in that matter will mount to nothing. I hope you Shall 
 be no loser by Termit. I am etc. 
 
 Inver:, Noveber 1st, 1717. 
 
 Mr. John Innes [Writer, Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I did communicat to Mr. John Laing what you 
 said anent your salt that Lys att this pleace, and I suppost 
 he has Sold it for read money ; and, notwithstanding the 
 Considerable demands on me at present, I have promised 
 him in a feu days what money I can send to make him 
 and you easie, for which will take his bills as you desire. 
 
56 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 The bills you send me inclosed payable to Mr. Fawlcner 
 could not be returned Last post, there being none of the 
 persons on whome they were drawn at home. Nor as 
 yet Could I find of them but accepted. I return inclosed 
 the other three bills on Pro vest Clerk and Compa., and 
 Drumuir is at present in Bamfeshire, and Provest Clerk 
 is with my Lord Stranaver at Dunrobin ; so that I hope 
 youl not blame me that all the bills are nott returned 
 this post ; and you may depend that I will most cheer- 
 fully doe you or Mr. Fawlcner your frend the best service 
 I am Capable of in this Country. And I must tell you, 
 without Compliment, I may justly Charge myself with 
 ingratitude if I omitted any opportunity by whch I 
 might Indeavour myself to be your wery affectionate etc. 
 
 Inverness, 8 Nover. 1717. 
 
 I wrot to Mr. John Innes, writer, this dait and sent 
 him bill Mrs. Majoribanks and Coutts, of Dantzick, on 
 Provest Clerk, Doctor Alexr. McKenzie, and Andrew Bain, 
 payable to George Falconer, mercht. in Eder., for £243 : 
 7s. ster., accepted by sd. Gentlemen. 
 
 Inverness, 18 November 1717. 
 
 To Gordon of Farskan. 1 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 23 7ber, and I acknowledge 
 it too Long unanswered. I spocke to my pairtners in the 
 Alexander (which Ship is not yet reached Cork in Ireland, 
 her Port of Deliverie, by reason of Contrary winds). 
 They are willing to accommidat you in Lastadge, but 
 think 40 quarter Cask too much, seeing it will pinch 
 themselves ; however, I have prevailed, and by the nixt 
 post Shall give Commission to Mr. Gordon, of Burdeux, 
 
 1 William Gordon, of Farskane, near Cullen, and merchant in Elgin. He was 
 a Jacobite in the Fifteen. — Annals of Banff (New Spalding Club), vol. i. p. 114. 
 He was ancestor of George Huntly Gordon, Sir Walter Scott's amanuensis, of 
 Pryce Lockhart Gordon, the diarist, and of Harry Panmure Gordon, the famous 
 London stockbroker. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 57 
 
 as you have ordered ; only, if you please, that if be a 
 third Concerned in this adventure of Brandy it will be a 
 favour, since otherways I can have no Seperat Concern 
 from the Cargoe ; as to which send me your answer by 
 the bearer. If you Inclyne, I will order 45 quarter Cask, 
 so there will be 30 for your accot. and 15 for mine. He 
 lickways take care of the wine for your own use. I send 
 you Inclosed in Bank notes and Cash eightie one pound 
 fourtene Shillings l^d. ster., which, with eight pound 
 Eighteen 1 shill. 5|d. ster. you are due for hards, as p. 
 under written account, please pay the Earle of Finlater, 
 and retire my accepted bill for £1093 : 6s. 8d. Scots, 
 £90-5-6| sterling, walue of 250 bolls oat meall bought of 
 his Lop. Last summers, and accquant me how I can 
 buy his Lops, meal of the Curt. Cropt, payable at Mairtemas 
 next. If he '11 take £4-3s-4d. He buy a thousand bolls, 
 and receive the same in March or Aprile next, at Portsoy. 
 If the Earle embrace not this advice, I can be so served 
 in your Country, or cheaper, that I may regulat myself 
 accordingly. Mr. George, who is Master of the Alex. 
 for this voyage, has orders to Call at you when he returns 
 from France. The Signall is his mainsale hurled up 
 and his ensigne out ; so I Judge you '11 gett more goods 
 to truble you then your own. I Know not if James 
 Bussed payed your Dibursements on [George] Person or 
 not. If he has not, accquent me how much he and I 
 rests, and it will be sent p. first return. My bill from the 
 Earle of Finlater, with a recept mentioning it is for 250 
 bolls meall due to your Lady and Daughters and I am 
 with much respects. 
 
 Farskan Dr. 
 
 To 6 matts ...[?] hard at £19 
 Scotts p. hundred is 
 
 To Cash payed Geo. Parson, re- 
 cept p. . 
 
 £13 : 10 : 0 
 
 £9 : 10 : 0 ster. 
 4 : 0:0 
 
 Should be eleven shillings. 
 
58 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Cr. 
 
 By 59 2 pd. Scots Sal- 
 vege on the Ship 
 Alex. . £4 : 18 : 6f 
 
 By bill payed the E. 
 
 of Fin . 8 : 11 : 5J 
 
 £13 : 10 : 0 
 
 Cash sent . . £81 : 14 : lj 
 
 Farsken pays . 8 : 11 : 5J 
 
 £90 : 5 : 6? 
 
 Inverness, 18 9br. 1717. 
 
 Mr. James Clerk. 
 
 Sir, — I send you by the bearer, William Lagon, sealled 
 in a bagg, one hundred and four guineas in gold, and 
 eight shillings 5 J Ster. Silver, which makes in all one 
 thousand three hunder and fortie six pounds Scots 13s. 
 4d., or £112 : 4 : 5 J Sterling, with which you are to retire 
 my accepted bills as foloweth 
 
 My accepted bill to my Lord Banfe, payable 
 
 the 20th instant * £416 : 13 : 4 
 
 My accepted bill to Mr. Hounter payable . 416 : 13 : 4 
 
 My accepted bill to James Duff in Banfe . 480 : 0:0 
 To Cash to yourself in part profit of 50 bolls 
 
 meall . . . . 33 : 6 : 8 
 
 1346 : 13 : 4 
 
 I hope youll take care immediately to pay and retire 
 the above mentioned bills, and return them by the bearer, 
 and aquent me how my Lord Banf would sell his meall of 
 present Crop, and how you think meall rule this year 
 with you. If could be hade about Last year's price I 
 would buy a thousand bolls in your Country tho we have 
 a good Crop here : as to which acquant me. The reason 
 why I make no a full Clearance for your 50 bolls meall is 
 becass I want 50 merks of the prize as yet due. When 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 59 
 
 that Comes you shall have what further will he due you, 
 which will be but Litle. I desire you advise how Dantzick 
 flax would sell there at present, for some frends expect 
 a quantity shortly here, which I suppose will sell Cheap ; 
 and I can serve you in that or any thing els. Command. 
 
 Tell James Duff there is Some money come from the 
 Highlands waits him. 
 
 Inverness, 20 Decer. 
 
 To Farskan Gordon. 
 
 Sir, — I have your favour of 17th instant adviseing non 
 of your heretors will conclud anie bargain as yet, nor 
 befor the first day of February nixt. I have made bargain 
 for some meall which I am obliged to Deliver again the 
 first of Aprile nixt ; Therfor I must presently buy the 
 same. So if you can not buy for me in ten days a thousand 
 bolls good oat meall, I must order to buy the same at 
 Muntrose, for I goe from home verie soon, and I can not 
 be at ane uncertaintie for what I am oblidged to Deliver 
 at InverLochie again the first Aprile nixt, which is from 
 800 to 1000 bolls meall. So, as I have said, if you will 
 presently be at a point with the Earle of Finlater, or anie 
 other has good oat meall, at the Cheapest rate you can, 
 not exceeding six merkes and ane half, Scots mony, pr. 
 boll, deliverable at Portsoy again the tenth of March 
 nixt, under the failie of tuo merks for each undelivered 
 boll, payable at Mertemass nixt. But if can get 800 
 bolls more at 4£, 3s. 4d. or 4£, 4sh. Scots, may Likeway 
 buy ; and I promise to relive your Engadgement for me, 
 and wait your answer to tenth of January nixt. 
 
 Inver:, 12 Decern. 1717. 
 
 Mr. Hugh Munro. 
 
 Dear Cousin, — I ought to have writ you Last post, 
 but canot tell how I was deverted, and told you that the 
 post before Last we had the most disagreeable news we 
 had of the taking of the Alex., Thomas Greig, Master, of 
 the 14th ulto., of the North Forland, by a Swedish privateer, 
 
CO 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 of which one Norcross, ane English man, was Commander. 
 The Master writtes the Ship was to be caried to Gotten- 
 bourg, so that in all probability the Ship and Cargoe is 
 Lost, or at Least the woyage is ruined, and its therefor I 
 return you inclosed your orders to Mr. Robert [ ?] Our 
 generall commission to him was Countermanded Last post. 
 This is a Considerable Loss and Disapointment, But we 
 must Reverence and Submitt to Divine providence. I 
 hope you have made some insureance on your intrest. My 
 Father and I will be Loosers by Ship and Cargoe about 
 £150 ster. at Least ; yet I insured in Holland 400 gilders. 
 But no help, tho I assure you I much regret your Loss, 
 being the first of your dealing in Compy. together. I 
 Send inclosed a letter to my Lord Stranever, with his 
 Lops, bill and accot., which pray use the best you can for 
 my payment. Seal my Letter before Delivery. You 
 see by it I bleam you for want of my money ; therefore 
 I intreat you push my payment, and, if canot obtain 
 before nixt post, return my Bill and accot. ; and I assure 
 you nextime I ask my money it will be in more harshness, 
 And I think no without just ground. Pray forward the 
 inclosed for Lord Rea. It is from France, and coast me 
 20d. postadge. Remember me kindly to your Father, 
 Mo., Bros, [mother and brothers]. 
 
 Inver:, 13 Deem: 1717. 
 
 Comissar Steuart. 
 
 D. C, — I received yours of 29 past, and, having writt 
 the Earle of Moray the 22 past that in a post or tow I 
 would remitt his Lop. a good deal of money, I am forced 
 this post, to preserve my Credit, to writ him that I had 
 sent you good bills for above tow hundred pound sterling, 
 but, not being advised that they were paid, could not 
 Draw peremtorly on you ; however Did order you, how- 
 soon my money answered, to pay his Lop. 200 lib. Ster. 
 which not doubt you will doe, and take recept in my name 
 for the same. This is surly the best method I could take 
 to make you and my self easie, and I am hopefull you '1 not 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 61 
 
 give his Lop. ground to Complain of me. As to the 90£ 
 Debenture, if that should not answer accquent me, and 
 He presently make you Easie, for many of this years herin 
 Debentures are payed at 5 p. ct. discount ; so that I 
 think Last years most fall due in Course. Tell Mr. Donald 
 Taylar that when I come to Edn. again Candelmas He 
 pay his money or give further Security. 
 
 I thought to have remitted you a good Deal of money 
 this post, but, the paymaster of the Regiment lays here 
 being out of town, Could not get it Done ; But may 
 expect the Same p. next. I send you inclosed bill Mr. 
 John Laing, in Cromarty, on my frend John Innes, for 
 thirtie pound Sterling, which bill you are to give up upon 
 payment of ten pound Ster:, and getting Mr. Innes his 
 oblidgment to retire my bill of 20£ Ster. on him, payable 
 again the first of January nixt to Mr. Thomas Jameson, 
 Ship Master in Boristouness. I observe Balie Gordon 
 has Complyed with Doctor Mackenzies bill of £49: 17s. 4d. 
 ster. ; therefore I entreat that you call at Mr. Alex. 
 Falconer, Mercht. in Edr., and pay him and ofer him [?] 
 under form of Instrument eightie one pounds 2s : 4d. 
 ster: as the Doctor 3d. of a bill Drawen from Danzick on 
 Provest Clerks and Compa. for £243: 7s. Ster. And if 
 that same is accepted, Debit my accot. accordingly, Mind- 
 ing to Credit me for the bill of £49 : 17s : 7d. Ster : on 
 Balie Gordon, and the £10 p. bill on John Innes. When 
 paid, you are to Charge Commission as usuall. For this 
 mony to be paid Mr. Faulconer I expect your return in 
 Course. The Ship Alex:, that your brother was master 
 of, is taken by a Swedish preevateer on the Coast of 
 England, by which my father is Considerable looser, but 
 is werie easy, only prays that God may Speedily remove 
 the Cause of such Losses. You guess his meaning. 1 
 
 1 The Czar of Russia undertook, in 17 17, to assist the King of Sweden in the 
 conquest of Norway. According to Hume {History of England) 1 they promised 
 to unite all their forces against the King of Great Britain [George I.], should he 
 presume to interpose : both were incensed against that prince ; and one part of 
 their design was to raise the pretender to the throne of England.' The Bailie 
 and his father were Jacobites, and the latter's prayer was no doubt for the 
 removal of King George. 
 
62 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 27 Decer. 1717. 
 
 I wrot this post to my Cousin Commissar Steuart at 
 Eder., and Sent him inclosed bill My Lord Strathnaver 
 on George Urquhart of Cromarty, who is now at Eder., 
 for eighteen pound 2s. 6d. Sterling payable to my orders, 
 and have indorsed the same, and desired the value to be 
 pleaced to my acct. of Credit, if payed. 
 
 Inverness, 3 January 1718. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Arburthnot, Mercht. in Eder. 
 
 Sir, — My Last to you was of 6th Nover. Last, adviseing 
 I hade valued on you of that Dait for £25 Sterling to the 
 order of Mr. Keneth Mackenzie, Mercht. of this pleace ; 
 since I am favoured with non of yours. This serves to 
 bring the tuo inclosed salmon Debentures for fourtie 
 three pound, 6sh. 8d. sterling, viz. No 714, £15 ster. ; 
 No. 715, £28 : 6s. 8d. ster. ; which pray see to negotiat 
 for me as soon as possible, and pleace the [money] 
 to My Account. I accepted bill Laitly Drawn by Mr. 
 Berkley, of Hamburg, payable to you. I Judge it falls 
 due the 19th instant. Therefore I wish you would be so 
 Kind as to see and make mony of these Debentures, and 
 the Corn Debenture send you last summer for 70£ ster., 
 which last I hope will fall in to be payed verie soon now. 
 You may advise me pr. first what I am to Depend on 
 from these Debentures to Answer my Credit, that, if 
 this should fail, I may order your Mony oyrways. 
 
 Inverness, 3 Ditto 1718 
 
 I wrot to Mr. George OchterLounie, mercht. in London, 
 ordering to Inshure 100£ sterling on the shipp Margret, 
 of Inverness, and Cargoe from Cristiansandt, in Norway, 
 to this pleace, if Could be done not exceeding 10 pr. Ct. 
 Also desired to be advised what most proper to be Done 
 to Recover Thomas Greig shipp and Cargoe, taken by a 
 Swedish privateer. Norcross Master. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 63 
 
 Inverness, 11th January 1718. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew of Rotterdam. 
 
 Sir, — My Last to you was by way of Postcript to a letter 
 wiitten of 5th December Last from Mrs. Alex. Duff, 
 Alex. Steuart, and William Fraser, Merchts. in this pleace, 
 in which these sd. Gentlemen desired you to Firnish 
 Credit to Mr. Thomas Greig, Mr. of the Alex., taken by 
 the Swedish privateer, and, as they supposed, sent to 
 Gottenborough, in order to buy back sd. Ship. I doubt 
 not you have punctualy Complyed with there demand, 
 and I must further entreat that you writ again to Mr. 
 Greig with your best advice how to gett sd. Ship Liberated, 
 for we suppose that now Mr. Norcross, commander of the 
 privateer that took him, is seized in France, and sent over 
 to England, our ship cannot Lawfully be Condemned ; 
 but as this is no more than Conjecture, pray fail not to 
 give Mr. Greig your best advice p. first, which will be 
 werie oblidging to all concerned. I desired in my Last 
 that you should advise me of what instructions was 
 proper for me to send you for recovering the 400 Guilders 
 you have insured for my accot. in the Cargoe of Herins 
 p. sd. ship, which I doe expect p. first. I am favoured 
 with yours of 21st ultimo, advising' of John M c Kays 
 arrivall at Amsterdam, which is werie well, Considering 
 what tempests we have had in that moneth. I doubt 
 not you will do the needful for my Interest as to the Sale 
 of the Salmon, and advise me of the same. All I have 
 to advise you at present that you ship for Alex. Steuart, 
 my father, in John M c Cay's bark, half a hhd. of good 
 fresh hard Cherry wine, and pleace the walue to my 
 accot., and Draw on him to me for the same. You are 
 also to send me p. sd. Barque a handsome tea Copper 
 Kettle, to hold about 3 Scots points, and mine to send 
 the fine Lint hackle 1 my wife has been seeking this Long 
 time. I desired you along time agoe to send me tow piece 
 of stamped Caligoes of a blieu [?] ground, with a [two 
 
 A comb for dressing flax. 
 
64 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 words illegible], but take notice that I doe not mean you 
 should goe to the expense of bying Indian chints. Lett 
 the tow pieces be of different figures. In the next pray 
 let me be advised of the price of our Cuntry Barly with 
 you. 
 
 Inverness, Jan: 17th, 1718. 
 Mr. Thomas Greig [master of the Alexander]. 
 
 Sir, — We have seen your wery acceptable Letter of 
 29th November Last from Porter in Norway, wherein 
 you advise that you have brought the Ship into sd. 
 harbour, and, after you have turned the Sweds who 
 Commanded the Ship ashore, and taken possession of 
 her yourself, that a Danish man, lay in harbour near you, 
 had sent a part of his men and taken possession of your 
 Ship to Lerwick [in Norway] and from thence to Copen- 
 hagen, which we wish they may doe, haveing reson to 
 believ by our advices from Mr. Ross, of Copenhagen, the 
 pretentions of the Danish man of war are wery groundles, 
 and will very Soon be determined to your advantage. 
 But however matters may happen we are very Sencible 
 of your good Conduct in the affair, and therfor do hereby 
 advise you, since now it will be too Late to prosecute 
 your intended woyage for Cork, you how soon possible 
 fill and man your ship, and imbrace the first oportunity 
 of a Convoy to proceed to Danzick, where you are to 
 adress yourself to Majoribanks and Couts, to whome you 
 are to Deliver the Cargoe of herings, and who will have 
 the needfull instructions annent Disposing your Cargoe, 
 and Reloding your Ship ; and you shall be paid accord- 
 ing to the ordinary fraughts have been paid to others 
 that have gone from this to that pleace this year, and 
 Caplagen conform. And we have of this date sent our 
 instructions to owr good frend, Mr. Alex: Ross, of Copen- 
 hagen, to furnish you with the needfull Credite for enabling 
 you to proceed your Voyage. And we doubt not before 
 this Comes to hand you will get Clear of any truble from 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 65 
 
 the Danes. In the meantime, if a Convoy does not ofer 
 to Danzick, and that your ship is not carried to Copen- 
 hagen, in that Case you Can make a markett the pleace 
 where you Are, and the pleaces adjacent, and from the 
 nett proced of the herings you are to reload the Ship with 
 barell staves from Arrundell for this pleace, or from any 
 other perts there about where they can be gott. And 
 'should itt happen that you can not sell your herins wher 
 you are, but to Loss, and Cannot find Convoy in the 
 Spring but for Danzick, then, and in that Case only, you 
 must proceed the herings first for Hamburgh, where you 
 are to adress your self to Mr. Robert Barclay, but Reload 
 the Ship with Spainish salt, and return Directly here ; 
 for which you will be Lickways paid the Curt, freight. 
 You may Depend we shall have all Dew regaird to what 
 good service you have done or may happen to doe us, 
 but we think fitt to Caution you that if you can get 
 forward safly to Danzick it will be most in your favours. 
 We recomend you to the Divine Direction and Protection, 
 and we remain your wery affectionat, humble servants, 
 
 Accquent us how soon this comes John Steuart. 
 to hand how you determin your- Alex: Duff. 
 self. Alex: Steuart. 
 
 Alex: Clerk. 
 
 Will: Fraser. 
 
 James Dunbar. 
 
 James Thomson. 
 
 Inverness, Jan: 17th, 1718. 
 
 Mr. Alex: Ross of Coppenhagen. 
 
 Sir, — We find your wery kind and acceptable favour 
 of 21st ultimo, N: S., with the inclosed Coppy for our 
 neighbour, Mr. Alex. Steuart, of this pleace, and Cargoe 
 of Herins at Porter of Norway, and that the sd. ship, after 
 gott rid of the masters good manadgement from the 
 prevaters crew, was sizied by a Danish manawar. Sir, 
 
66 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 we are wery much oblidged to you, and render you many 
 thanks for the kind Concern you have taken for owr 
 intrest by making a seasonable presentation to the British 
 Envoy, and by him to the Court of Denmark, which we 
 hope will werie speedily with your assistance rescew Mr. 
 Grieg from his trubles and Difficulties. In the meantime 
 we desire you forward the inclosed to him p. post, and 
 alow him Credite for what money he shall want and Call 
 for refitting and manning his ship, and tak his recept for 
 the same, and your bills on us, payabl ether at Rotterdam], 
 London, or Edn., for what you so advance shall be punc- 
 tualy answered. We depend on your assistance. 
 
 In:, J arm: 17 th, 1718. 
 
 Mr. Georg Aught erlony [London]. 
 
 Sir, — My Last to you was of 3d instant, which I have 
 none of yours. I then advised you to insur on the Ship 
 Margrett of this place, George Ross, Mr., and Cargoe, from 
 Christian Sand, in Norway, to this pleace, Load with 
 barell staves, deals, and iron, one hundred pound sterling, 
 if it could be done under 10 p. Cent., or not exceeding it. 
 Now this serves chiefly to advise you that Last post I 
 have advice of the arrivall of sd. ship in the South Furth 1 
 and that yr. fore you are to make no Insureance on sd. 
 Ship, if not already done. 
 
 Inver:, Janu: 2Uh, 1718. 
 
 To Mr. Alex: Arburthnott, Mert. in Edr. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 13th Currt. advising that my 
 tow Salmond debentures for £43 pound 6s: 8d. came to 
 your hands, and are marked in the custom house, but 
 cannot obtain payment for the same under twelve pr. 
 Cent, of discount, which is wery great, So that I doe not 
 inclyne to pay Such a high intrest for advance of money. 
 
 1 Firth of Forth. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 67 
 
 You Lickways that you gott nott my letter of advice of 
 16th November, and therfor that you alowed my bill of 
 25 lib Ster: to whih it relaited, payable to the order of 
 Mr. Keneth McKenzie of this pleace, to be protested, whih 
 indeed surprises me, because by yours of 10th October 
 Last you advise me you had receved a bill for 655 merks 
 Scots, drawn by the tutor of McLeod, and accepted by 
 Donald McLeod of Epost, who was then at Edr., payable 
 to my order, and I admire, if sd. bill was not paid, you 
 have not returned it me Long or now. However, if you 
 are in any mistake in that matter, and that the Same is 
 paid my accot., the Same in part of my acceptance to the 
 order of Mr. Rob. Barely, of Hambourgh, for £69 Ster., 
 and I have ordered my cousin, Commissar Steuart, to pay 
 yuw the ballance and retire my bill. But if my sd. bill 
 of 655 merks be not paid, pray return it me pr. first, and 
 in that case Comissar Steuart will pay you the whole 
 walue of Barcly's bill, and you '1 pleaze give him up my 
 debentures in your hands ; which is all from, etc. 
 
 To Mr. Alex: Andrew of Rotterdam. 
 
 Inver:, 24>th Jan: 1718. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 7th and 11th Instant. In 
 the first I observe you have sold the 52 barlls Salmond p. 
 John McKay at nett f52: 15s. p. barell, which is well. In 
 the mean time, if this overtakes McKay, send me a whole 
 sett of coupers tools except a great plain which is used for 
 souming the staves : I have not the proper naim of it ; 
 as also half ps. Holland Linen, at 24 Stivers p. ell, for my 
 own house. In answer to your Last of the 11th Instant, 
 I, in neam of the Concerned, give you and Mr. Couts 
 heartie thanks for the care you have taken about our Ship 
 the Alex:, taken by the Sweds. Let this inform that 
 last post and post before we have gott Letters from Thomas 
 Greig, Master of the sd. ship, from Lerwick in Norway, 
 With the agreable neuse that he the sd. Thomas Greig, 
 by his good management, has brought the ship in thither, 
 
68 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 seized all the goods were on board, and is now in full 
 possession of his own Ship and Cargoe intire ; and orders 
 are sent him to proceed for Danzick with his herings with 
 Convoy, so that there will be no occasion for the Credit 
 you have been ordered to give him at Gottenbergh for 
 £250 Ster., and the insurer who Insured so much, I mean 
 400 fl., on sd. ship Saves his money. Forward the inclosed 
 to Mr. Robert Gordon, of Burdeaux, and please writ him 
 to walue on you for 1000 Livers for my accot., if there 
 be occasion for it, to my use ; and if My haf of the Salmond 
 fall short of paying this after what is due you in accot. 
 is delivered, then walue on me for the ballance to my 
 brother James Russell. 
 
 Inverness, January 29th, 1718. 
 To Mr. John Steuart, Commissar of Invss. 
 Dear Cousin, 
 
 I thought to have been ready to take jurny South in 
 8 days hence, but my honest father is fallen so seekly and 
 tender of Late that I can not think of Leaving him untill 
 I see how God pleases to Dispose of him. He has been 
 ill all this winter of a cough and Sore ays, but for this 8 
 days past he is mostly confined in his bed with a Lous- 
 ness ; but I thank God this day he is somewhat better. 
 But I fear he would not hold out Long, and itt was the 
 apprehension of this that made me so earnestly wish for 
 your comming to this country of a long time past, that 
 you might se his affairs put in a Clear and Just fotting. 
 But I hope god will spair him till you se him. 
 
 [P.S.] I understand there is one Mr. Lewes at the Custom 
 Office who pays debentures for fish of a reasonable dis- 
 count, so may try him, and I doubt not my frend John 
 Innes, to whom give my service, will assist you in this 
 matter. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 69 
 
 Inverness, 31 Janry. 1718. 
 
 My Father wrott to Thomas Greig, Master of the shipp 
 Alexr., and to Mr. Alexr. Ross, of Copenhagen, a Con- 
 firmation of former orders of 17th instant from the Owners 
 and fraighters. 
 
 Inverness, 8 Febry. 1718. 
 
 To the Earle of Morray. 
 
 My Lord, — Your Lops. Last favour Came verie season- 
 able, and I hop will have the Good effect of Causing the 
 farms be payed prettie fully this year. I thought to 
 have waited on Your Lop. at Dunibrisle or now, but, my 
 honest father falling Laitly verie ill, and some other 
 accidents hindered ; but I hope to be with your Lop. verie 
 soon. In the mean time I send inclosed bill Will. Ross, 
 paymaster to the fusaliers, on James Mitchelson, Jeweler 
 in Eder., for £146, ster., payable at Eight days sight, 
 which I have indorsed to your Lop., and I doubt not will 
 find due honor. I think it will not be amiss your Lop. 
 writ me you have received this bill, and if Commissar 
 Steuart payed the 200£ sterling formarly remitted. I 
 Remitted Last year by the hand of the Commissar £350 
 ster., of which I want to be advised, since yett I have no 
 voucher for the Same. I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 11 Febry. 1718. 
 
 Mr. William Simson of Aberdeen. 
 
 Sir, — I Received yours of 3i Ultimo, adviseing you 
 hade given orders to buy up 2000 bolls Meall for our Joynt 
 accts., and that you hoped to gett it at the Conversion 
 price, which I take to be a hundred merks pr. Chalder or 
 4£ 40 ds. pr. boll, which if could doe would make the 
 bargain the better ; but you must not undertake to pay 
 anie of it till Lambas att soonest — or rather Mertimass, 
 if possible. Since my Last I hade a Letter from the West 
 
70 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Highlands, adviseing that the Tutor of Mackleod 1 and 
 Sir Donald MackDonald 2 hade bargoned with Irishmen 
 for Meall from that Country to serve them. If this be 
 true they '11 want Litle from this Country ; yet my Father 
 in Law 3 advises me to send a bark in March with 5 or 600 
 bolls, which he says the main land will want, tho the Isle 
 of Sky take non of it. Houever, I am clear to risque 800 
 or 900 bolls that way, and the sooner the better ; and 
 howsoon you have advised me you have concluded, 
 He fraight a shipp here to take it in as you '11 direct, but 
 I wish all may be deliverable at Portsoy. In the mean 
 time, if you have bargoned, you may buy only at present 
 fifteen hundred bolls meall, that 800 to be sent to the 
 Highlands, and the rest for this pleace, which I wish 
 howsoon it Come here, for, if the storie of the Irish meall 
 comeing to the Highlands hold true, it will be no great 
 peniworth, and now it gives from 8 to 9 merks pr. measur 
 boll of 9 ston. I expect your answer pr. first. 
 
 Inverness, 15 February 1718. 
 
 I wrot Mr. Andrew of Rotterdam annent the tuo 
 firkins indigoe of 50 lb. wght. sent per John Mackay, to 
 exchange the same, and send the like quantity of good 
 float indigoe. 
 
 Inver:, 11 march 1718. 
 
 Mr. William Simson [Aberdeen]. 
 
 Sir, — My Last to you was of 6 instant, wherin I sent 
 you 6 guineas to be given to Alex, and Donald McLeod, 
 
 1 The tutor of Norman Macleod of Dunvegan, who 'was born in 1706. The 
 estates were managed by his guardians until he came of age, when in addition to 
 his family heritage, he succeeded to a fortune, accumulated during his minority, 
 of about ,£60,000.' — Alexander Mackenzie's History of the Macleods, p. 122. 
 
 2 Sir Donald Macdonald of Sleat, whose estates were forfeited for the part he 
 took on the Jacobite side in the Fifteen. He remained, however, in practical 
 possession. He died in March 17 18. 
 
 3 Norman Macleod of Drynoch in Skye, whose daughter Ann was the Bailie's 
 second wife. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 71 
 
 students in Abd., on their recepts in my neam, wh. I hope 
 is come to hand. I told you then of tow bargains I was 
 about to Conclude, one for about 6 to 700 bolls to be sent 
 to the Isle of Sky, and the other for tuixt 5 and 600 dito. 
 to be sent to Garloch. Now let this Serve to advise you 
 that I have concluded these bargains, and have obliged 
 myself under a falzie to deliver these tow Cargoes, wind 
 and water serving, and sea hazard excepted, by the fifteenth 
 of Aprile next. For that goes to the Isle of Sky I have 
 good mens letters promising there bills at Deliverie, at 
 6 lib. Scots p. boll of 8 ston., payable at Whitsonday and 
 Mertimas market (which is the 15th of August) [sic — ■ 
 November ?] next in this town. And for that that goes to 
 Garloch I have tow Rasponsall [responsible] landed men 
 bound by contract to pay me 6 lib. 4s. Scots at Martimas 
 next in this pleace for each boll of 500 at [8] Ston. p. boll, 
 and are oblidged to take 50 bolls more or less as the Ship 
 can hold. This is the safest and best bargain I could make. 
 Tho the profit be not great we have to doe with good, 
 sure, honest men. Now the next great point is to get 
 ships to cary this meal, and that without loss of time ; 
 therefor, if the meal is not alreadie bought, . . . imme- 
 diatly howsoon this comes to hand you secure the 
 meal and the Cheaper the better, and longer term of 
 payment. But pray let martimas be the soonest, but 
 the price I refer to yourself. As to the Ships needfull I 
 could find non here, so must see to engadge low barks on 
 to cary from 6 to 800 bolls meal as you best can find here 
 to go as soon as posible to Lochscalpay within the Isle of 
 Sky, and from thence to Calichstoan in Kyleakin, and 
 within 6 miles of the other harbour, at both which the 
 sd. ship must remain at least 20 Days for unloading her 
 Cargoe, and there after to be free ; for which yow mus 
 agre the easiest rait yow can agree, not exceeding a merk 
 Scots p. boll. And the fraight will be payed on Deliverie 
 of the meall there or at return of the ship, as the master 
 pleases. And the Master may, if he goe a half days 
 sailing farther south, that is for the Isle of Mull, get good 
 sleat at 20 Sh. ster. p. thousand. As to the bark goes to 
 
72 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Garloch, let her be from 5 to 600 bolls burden, and not 
 exceed in the same fraight as to the Isle of Sky, but may 
 be cheapest, there being no ports to be shifted, but the 
 ly days must be 20 or 25 at least. Now, if yow can load 
 the meal at Banf for Portsoy, I am perswaded you can 
 get barks to cary it there lickways, or at Fraserburgh. 
 If the Masters be not aquant they may gett pylots at 
 Kerstown or Orkney. For Gods sake lose no time in 
 this, and if can not find ships with yow, or wher I men- 
 tioned, must writ south, and get barks from thence 
 immediatly, which will take I fear tow much time, for 
 the success of all Depends on Dispach ; there ar no better 
 than these barks ar Designed for. And with that bark 
 goes to the Isle of Sky I will send a frend of mine alongs 
 with it that was born at that Country, to see the meal 
 Delivered. So its fit you acquant me everie post what 
 yow Doe, and when yow get the barks fraighted, and at 
 what pleace. If yow are straitned for meal to make up 
 these Cargoes, I have 200 bolls in the byn to spare, which 
 was bought at Christmas last at 4£, 10s. p. boll, which I 
 hope is much dearer than yours will be ; but doe the best 
 you can, and I leave all to your prudent Manadgement. 
 
 Inverness, lMh march 1718. 
 
 Messrs. Majoribanks and Couts [Dantzic]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I have your favour of 8st January last, 
 with my accot. Curt., and I am Just now ordering pay- 
 ment of your bill of £7 : 3s. Id. Ster. on me to the order 
 of Mr. Georg Fayhoner [Falconer], as ballance of my 
 accot., and, had your bill appeared sooner, it had been 
 honoured and sooner. This serves chiefly to advise you 
 that the ship Alex, of this pleace, Thomas Grieg, comander, 
 having loaden her in the month of Otob: last 446 barells 
 herings for accot. of Mr. Duff of Drumure, William Fraser, 
 Hugh Munro, and Myself, equaly, for Cork in Irland, had 
 'die misfortoun to be taken by a Swedish pravateer, and 
 was manned in order to be sent to Gottenburgh ; but, by 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 73 
 
 the good conduck of the Skipper of Sd. Ship, to Lerwick 
 in Norway, and so got free of the Sweds. And the Master 
 having wrot to us sundry time for advice what to Doe, 
 wee have ordered him to proceed for Danzick, and adress 
 himself to your good Selves, so that I hope he will be with 
 you before this comes to hand. How soon he apears youll 
 no Dubt Dispose of the herins to the best avail, and 
 particularly take care of that marked |, which, I asure 
 you, is perfectly well cured. I dare not positively give 
 orders anent reloading this Ship my Self, only Im of opinion 
 that the concerned with me will order to Ship for our joint 
 accots Sixtie ship pound of Iron, six slock of Knepwood, 
 and as many barell Staves and pipe Staves as the Ship can 
 hold, if the sale of herine allow of it, and that the price 
 of the Iron exceed not what you mention to me in your 
 last, in that case may Ship 100 Ship pound iron. I hope, 
 besides the Iron and kneipwood, the ship may take in 
 above 2400 barell and pipe staves fit for this pleace, but 
 p. next shall study to have this order confirmed to you by 
 Drumure and William Fraser ; and, whatever they may 
 order, I desire you may Ship for Mr. Munro and me the 
 half of the Cargoe conform to this Comission. 
 
 P. S. — Give my Service to Thomas Gregory, and tell 
 him that Alex. Steuart, my Father, Desirs him, if can 
 spare so much time, to Girdle the ship wt. oaken planck 
 at Danzick, that is, one strock above, the one strock betwixt 
 the bands, and a third under the bands ; and not to stir 
 without Convoy. 
 
 Mr. William Gordon, of Faskin. 
 
 Invert, March 28, 1718. 
 
 This accompanies Georg Rogers, in the ship Margreit of 
 this pleace, who goes to Portsoy, and, I supose, will take 
 about 900 bolles of the Earle of Findlaters meal ; therefor 
 I send yow inclosed the sd.Earles bill of 1000 bolls, accepted 
 by Mr. Lorimer, indorsed to your order ; so I hope youl 
 see sd. Ship gett utmost Dispach, and the Master, who is 
 
74 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 a sober, carfull man, will assist you to receiving the Cargoe 
 exacktly. However, its fitt that some specall body from 
 you be present, that there be no Dislay in filling up the 
 bills of Loadning, which I send here inclosed. The bills 
 must mention that the Cargoe is Deliverable to me or my 
 order at Fortwilliam. And again I intreat that the Ship 
 be dispached without Loss of time, for I am tow Leat 
 already, the Cargoe being Deliverable again the 8st of 
 Aprile, and the Gaurison is in great streats at present. 
 For what quantity of meal the ship will not take in of the 
 thousand bolls meal may take a new bill in my name from 
 the Chamberland, I mean Mr. Lorimer, to whom give my 
 service, and tell I expect the best of there meal, and good 
 waight, and that My Lord will not burden me with the 
 Shoare Dues of Portsoy, the meal being already too Dear. 
 
 1 have Ship for you in this Ship 7 Duzan birk Rails, and 
 
 2 Duzan for spars, the accot of which is under written, 
 and promised in your neam youll give the men a Crown 
 to drink. I would not get big Rails under 8d. p. ps., 
 which I thought extravagant, so forber to send them. 
 When the Ship is Load send me the Bills of Loadning p. 
 express, with your accot of Charges, and the sam will be 
 payed you. 
 
 Inverness, 21 March 1718. 
 
 Shipped in the Margrett of Inverness For Will Gordon 
 of Fa skin 
 
 To 7 Duzan birk Rails at 3s. 4d. Ster p. D. . £l 3 4 
 To 2 Duz. foi spars single at 6s. p. Duz. . 0 12 0 
 
 1 15 4 
 
 To Charges on Shipping and Cargoe and Shore 
 
 dues 0 2 0 
 
 1 17 4 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 75 
 
 Mr. Robert Barclay, Mercht. in Hamburgh. 
 
 Inverness, 28 Mar. 1718. 
 
 Sir, — Upon examining your accot. at Clearing with 
 Mr. Georg Rogers, on his Voyag from Hamburgh and 
 Norway, we find according to Mr. Rogers accot. that you 
 overcharge us in 300 merks according to owr proportions 
 of § for bying his Cargoe in Norway, for he says he received 
 but 1200 merks for f- from Messrs. Hopfer and Bachmer 
 and yow, so that, when you examine, youl think your self 
 oblidged to Credit us f and ^ of 300 merks. We expect 
 your answer p. first, and we are your humble servants, 
 
 William Fraser. 
 John Steuart. 
 
 Mr. William Simson [Aberdeen]. 
 
 Inverness, 28 March 1718. 
 
 Sir, — Your favour of 18th and 22d. Curt are before me. 
 In the first I have the Recepts of my tow frends, Donald 
 and Alexr. MackLeods, for the 6 guineas sent you and 
 5s. 6d. ster: more, which is well. I observe yow have 
 concluded for from twelve to 1300 bolls oat meal for the 
 Highlands at 4£ 6s. 8d. Scots p. boll, pairt payable at Lamas, 
 and most at Martimas. I wish it were all at Martimas. 
 However, we must Doe the best. I am surprised that 
 one of the Banf Shire Gentlemen should pretend to make 
 a precedant of the Earl Findlaters price, there being little 
 or non of there meal so good in quality by half a mark 
 p. boll, it being generaly Clean White oat meal, I observe 
 by your last yow was in terms with one, skipper Clerk, 
 to goe to the Isle of Sky, but hade not Concluded, and 
 that yow have actualy fraighted the Union of Dundee, 
 John Clyton, Master, to Cary 567 bolls meal to Gairloch 
 for 500 merks fraight, 2 bolls meal, 2 barells, which is all 
 well ; but, if you have not got Clerk or any other ship 
 yet ingadged for the Isle of Sky, must see to prevail with 
 
76 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 John Clyton to Goe there, tho should give him a guinea 
 more fraight, for I am Duned [dunned] from that Country, 
 the people being in want, and much Irish meal, with 
 Scots Clearnace, being expected. But, if yow have gott 
 Clerk or any other for the Isle of Sky, that need not alter 
 your agreement ; but, for Gods sake, lett both be dis- 
 pached as soon as posible, and may take the bills of 
 Loadnings for the Cargoes Deliverable to me or order, 
 and Despach them here p. first, that I may order trusties 
 to wait the barks and see ye meal Delivered. And mind 
 to send barrells, balks, and waights in each bark to weigh 
 out the meal, for that canot be hade that is exact in those 
 Cuntrys. Mind the weight be Amsterdams or old Scots 
 weight ; ane hundred bolls of meall on either of the Cargoes, 
 up or down, is no matter, so may take the first ships 
 yow can find ; but, if yow could send 20 bolls good bear by 
 the barque goes to the Isle of Sky, tho at 8 marks p. boll, 
 it would be a favour, for it is for my father in Law, and I 
 have promised to send it, and He pay it again the 1st of 
 June. But I am afraid it will not Doe if Clyton goes, 
 being too Little ; but I leave all to your own prudent 
 manadgment. Take as many Ly days as yow can on 
 little barks for Delivering the meal. I canot advise yow 
 to wenture sending to this pleace above 500 bolls meal, 
 there being a good coming here. Lett what yow send 
 be good Banfe Shire meal, and therefore would advise 
 yow to Conclude with My Ladie Banfe for her meal, 
 Deliverable at Porsoy, as I formerly wish you, for Cours 
 meal will not Doe at this market ; besides the fraight s 
 will be gott Cheaper than from the ports near yow. I 
 think it not amiss yow order Insurance on the tow barks 
 goes to the Highlands, in Holland, where youle get it 
 Done, I supose, for \\ p. cent., as I did Last year. 
 
 Inverness, ii. April 1718. 
 
 To Mr. William Simpson, Mert. of Abdn. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 5th Instant, with the inclosd 
 for 3033£ 6s. 8d., Scots money, payable to the order of 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 77 
 
 Mr. Thomas Arbuthnot, Mert. in Peterhead, at the 
 Exchange Coffee house in Edr., against the Second of 
 August next, qch. is too short a term, and much Sooner 
 than I can expect the full payt. of the meal, qn. it pleazes 
 God it arive Safe at the designed port. However, we 
 must doe the best. Meantime, you may tell Mr. Arbuthnott 
 yt. he cannot expect payt. of our bill befor the 20th of 
 August at Soonest ; but, pleaze God, in that Moneth this 
 money will be payd. I hope you'l not take it amiss that 
 I return your Draught upon me not accepted, and, in 
 place thereof, Send you the above bill for the Like Summ, 
 accepted by me, and to be accepted by you, payable to 
 sd. Mr. Arbuthnot ; and this I doe upon noe other reason 
 but that this way of doeing, I think, expresseth the true 
 matter of Fact more clearly, in caice of Mortality ; and, 
 tho the bills of Loadning be in my name yet you may 
 depend that the produce of the Meall shall be fairly 
 accounted for, and the first and readyest apply 'd for payt. 
 of our Joynt bill, and what is over, deducing Charges, 
 equally divided. But, if the Meall should fail to answer 
 all at the term of payt, then we must advance equally 
 towards dischargeing our bill, tho I hope ther will be no 
 need that way. If our bark, I mean Clark, who goes to 
 the Isle of Sky, be not too Late therfor, pray dispatch 
 him, for my friends there expect him impatiently ; and, 
 should any meal come there from other places befor ours, 
 it may be of ill Consequence. I told you formerly that 
 the Meal goes to Garloch is deliverable there 20th instant 
 under a falezie ; so its fitt, Since the condition of delivery 
 then is Wind and Weather Serving, you take a Notoriall 
 instrument that the Ship is detained by Contrar Winds, 
 for our Security ; but pray let all possible dispatch be 
 used. I have discharged Bailie Clark to buy any more 
 than 300 bolls meal for us, for this Mercat will be gluted, 
 and probably fall ; and I have a bark to carry that 
 quantity from Portsoy, with 100 bolls more I already 
 bought yr. of Finlaters. Since insurances can be made 
 cheap in Holand, v\ If p. cent, as I hade Last year by 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew, of Roterdam, I think it realy advise- 
 
78 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 able you order to Insure 3 or 4000 Gilders on both the 
 barks ; qch. is all from Yours, etc. 
 
 Peterhead, 31 March 1718. 
 Gentlemen, — Upon the Second of August next pay to 
 me, Thomas Arbuthnott, Mert in Peterhead, or order 
 within the Exchange Coffee house in Edr., the Sum of 
 three thousand thirty three pds., Six sh:, eight penny s, 
 Scots money, value in oat meal delivered for your joynt 
 accunt by, Your humble Sert. 
 
 To Mr. William Simpson, Mert. in Abn., and John Stuart, 
 Mert. in Inverness. 
 Accepts, John Stuart. 
 
 Inverness, 16 Aprile 1718. 
 
 Mr. James Clerk. 
 
 Sir, — I gott yours of 7th Aprile this day Under Covert of 
 Mr. William Simson, of Aberdeen, with Dunlugas his bill 
 on sd. Mr. Simson and me for 1300 Merks Scots, payable at 
 Mertimas nixt at Banfe, value of 200 bolls oat meall 
 Deliverable on Demand at Portsoy ; which bill I send 
 you here inclosed, with my acceptance, and Mr. Simsons. 
 Tho I now wish, for Certain reasons, sd. meall were not 
 bought ; however, now no help. Take Dunlugas his 
 obligation for the meall, Deliverable at Portsoy on Demand. 
 I advised in my Last only to buy my Ladie Banfs meall 
 @ £4, 6s. 8d. Scot p. boll, Mertimass payment. I am 
 glad my offer was not agreed to ; so now I Desire you buy 
 no more meall for my Acct., being, I am aff rayed, too 
 much Conserned that way alreaddie. Forward the 
 inclosed pr. verie first to Mr. Simson to Aberdeen, and 
 send me Dunlugass his oblidgement for the meall, or 
 keept it by you, as you please, till I call or send orders. 
 
 Inverness, 28 Aprile 1718. 
 I wrot to the Ladie Kain LochMuidart, 1 in answer to 
 
 1 Lady Kinlochmoidart. Margaret, daughter of John Cameron of Lochiel, 
 and wife of Ranald Macdonald of Kinlochmoidart, who fought at Killiecrankie, 
 and also at Sheriffmuir, on the Jacobite side. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 79 
 
 her's of 21 instant, offering to sell her 400 or 500 bolls 
 meall at 9 merks pr. 8 ston weight, deliverable at Loch- 
 muidart again the tenth of June next, or @ 8 merks pr. 
 8 ston here again the 20th of May nixt, the one half redie 
 mony, and the other half again Merimass merket in this 
 pleace ; and that she is to find me security for payment 
 of the mony to my Contentment. 
 
 A memorandum Given to John McLeod. 1 
 
 Inverness, 5 May 1718. 
 
 I have given herwith Letters to your father, McDonald, 2 
 and Ulnish, 3 which you are to Deliver and forward imme- 
 diatly ; and you are, upon advice that the ship is arrived 
 at Scalpy, to repair thither immediatly, and to Deliver 
 the meall at 8 ston p. boll to anie persons Ulnesh and 
 your father will Derect, and without there advice you are 
 to Deliver no meal, having bargened wt. them for the 
 whole Cargoe ; only Leutenant Charles McKinon 4 is to 
 be supplyed in what he wants, at the same rait your father 
 and Ulenesh, that is, half redie mony, and half at Marti - 
 mas market, or 15th of August next, at 9 merks for each 8 
 ston wt. For what is taken on trust you are to take 
 bills pyable here, or at Alex. Arburthnots house at Edn., 
 to me or order, again the sd. 15th of August next. 
 
 2nd. Out of what redie mony you gett you are to pay 
 the Skiper his fraight, being 500 merks and 20 shilling, 
 wh. is continued in the Charter party Delivered to you, 
 both which Dubles, yours and Skippars, you are to cancell 
 when the fraight is pd., but notice that before you pay the 
 fraight. 
 
 3rd. You are to Deduce of the fraight what inlake 
 may be on the meal of 576 bolls shipped, and 20s. p. the 
 skipers noat given yow herwith, and 5 shill. given for 
 
 1 Son of Norman Macleod of Drynoch, and brother of the Bailie's wife. 
 
 2 Sir Donald Macdonald of Sleat, who had succeeded his father, Sir Donald, 
 in March 1718. 
 
 3 Roderick Macleod of Ulinish in Skye. 4 Mackinnon of Scalpay. 
 
80 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 reporting the ship at Aberdeen, wh. comes in avaradge, 
 and not yow are to alow no pylatadge from Orkney to 
 come in avaradge. 
 
 4th. Howsoon the meal is all Delivered at Scalpay and 
 Kalaichston [the Cailleach Stone at Kyleakin] as your 
 frends Derect, you are then to fill up Discharge on the bill 
 of Loadning for what is Delivered, and no other ways. 
 
 5th. If you cannot get as much redie mony for the 
 meal as would pay the fraight, etc., you are in that Case 
 to Draw a bill on me to the Skippar or his order, payable 
 here or at Abd., which will be payd. 
 
 6th. What mony yow receive for me you are to bring 
 safly here, and be seure of sufficient Companie with yow 
 till Stragless, 1 and kept exact accot. of all your Deburs- 
 ments ; and, if can Dispose of the balks, weights, and 
 bugdelen 2 at the rait they coast, doe it, as youl see by 
 Mr. Simsons accot. Given you. If canot sell, Deliver all 
 to your father till further orders. 
 
 7th. You are to show these orders to no person but to 
 yr. father, whose Derections you are fully to folow not- 
 withstanding of what I have written. 
 
 8th. I have shipt 6 botles brandy and a Duzen botles 
 Claret with Skipper Clerk, with which you are to Entertean 
 your frends, that is, Ulnesh, McDon., Leutenant McKinon, 
 a board of the ship ; and give what remains to any frend 
 you please. 
 
 9th. Lett me here frequently from you, and lett the 
 ship be Dispached as soon as posible ; and give my Service 
 to Mr. Clerk and baxter in the ship, and to all frends a 
 Shoar. Heast back, and bring one of the Indentors sent 
 
 1 John Macleod was to walk with the money across the mountains to Strath- 
 glass, and from there to Inverness. 
 
 2 The word ' Bugdalin ' is found in the Shetland dialect — 'a stopping up or 
 rilling ; something wound round or rolled together. ''— Jakob sen" s Dictionary of 
 the Old Norse Speech of Shetland. Mr. W. Grant, Aberdeen, sn authority on 
 old words, writes : ' In the old days meal was emptied into the holds of the 
 smacks, and sold round the islands. Balks and weights, of course, were sent 
 along with it, and the meal was weighed out to purchasers. The sides of the 
 hold were lined with bags, or sheeting, or canvas. This lining must be the 
 "bugdelen" of the text, and the meaning corresponds not badly with what is 
 given to it in Shetland.' 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 81 
 
 with signed by your father, 
 your aunt. 
 
 I have given you lick- 
 ways 10 shillings ster. for 
 your Expenses. 
 
 Giving humble service to 
 
 I have sent a suit of 
 Ribans and a Napkin to 
 Marie. 
 
 Inverness , 6 May 1718. 
 
 For Mr. John Mackenzie, Uncle to the Laird of Garloch. 1 
 
 Sir, — This brings you, pr. express, Charter partie and 
 bill of Loadning for five hundred and fourtie eight bolls 
 one firlot oat meall, on boord the Unicorn of Dundee, 
 John Cleaton, master, who I hope is with you before this 
 time, having sailed from Newburgh the 14 instant, and 
 the winds have been Since constantly fair. I have writte 
 to ye Skippar to take your recept for what meal he delivers, 
 and to forward ye Same to me, and told him you art pay 
 his fraight according to the charterpartie, which I hope 
 you will not scruple to doe ; but you are to give him the 
 inclosed bill of twenty Shillings Sterling Sent inclosed in 
 first end of the same ; and take notice, that you are to 
 stop of his fraight, which is five hundred merks, the 
 fraight of 30 bolls qt. he wants of his loadning which he 
 was obliged to take in, which amounts to S event en pound 
 fifteen Shillings Scots unless there be outcome on ye cargoe, 
 which I hope there wille be, the wight (as I am told) 
 Shipped being werie lairge. Ye Skippar will likwise have 
 twentie Shillings Sterling Caplackin payed him, and Some 
 Small averadge of which I give hime the two 3ds when you 
 pay the fraight, etc. You are to See the two dubls. of 
 charter pairtie cancelled, and Grant recept for what 
 meall you receive at eight ston pr. boll as wee agreed, 
 which is to be sent me. I have a great deall of Confidence 
 in your kindness and Cander, and its therfor I send no 
 trustie to see this meall Delivered, but refers all to your- 
 
 1 John Mackenzie was tutor to his nephew, Sir Alexander Mackenzie of 
 Gairloch, who was at this time a minor. John was proprietor of Lochend, now 
 Inverewe. 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 self. And in Consideration of your advance of the fraight, 
 and that the meall is not come so soon as you or I could 
 wish, I yeeld you the boll to the hundred you pleaded 
 for ; so pray give the shipp Dispatch, tho she be oblidged 
 to Ly 25 Ly Days for unloading, which I hope will be 
 time enouch. Ther is a barell, balk, and weights aboord 
 for weighing the meall, which Cost me 18£ 16 shilling 
 Scots, which please to Dispose of, if possible, for me at sd. 
 price, or keep it for yourself, and He give it you some 
 what cheaper. The Skippars recept on one of the Dubles 
 of the Charter-partie for what fraight, etc., you pay him 
 will oblidge me to allow the Same in pairt of the meall 
 as pr. Contract, but observe to take upp the Skippars 
 Duble when you pay the fraight, or, if you please to take 
 a separate recept for what you pay, it will be the same. 
 In that case send both Dubles of the Charterpartie to me 
 Cancelled. I told you in my Last that Fraser in Loggie 1 
 would want some, therfor I am Willing to furnish him 
 what you please to spare, not exceeding threscore bolls, 
 and take his own bill payable at Mertimass for the same, 
 I am, etc., etc. 
 
 You'll find by the Charterpartie it was not mine or 
 doers fault that the meall so Lait a Coming to you. 
 
 Inverness, 7 May 1718. 
 
 For John Cleatton, Master of the Shipp Unicorn of 
 Dundee at Garloch. 
 
 Sir, — I have sent this express with your Charter partie 
 and bill of Loadning indorsed to Mr. John Mackenzie, 
 Uncle to the Laird of Garloch, to whom you are to Deliver 
 Your Cargoe of meall at Eight Ston pr. boll, being 548 J 
 bolls meall, but, since Mr. Simson writs me that the 
 weight shipped was lairge, I hope there will be outcome ; 
 and take notice that you be Carefull in Delivering this 
 
 1 Logie Wester, now Conan, the Laird of Gairloch's property in the parish 
 of Urquhart, Ross-shire. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 83 
 
 meall that there be no mistake ; or for what you Deliver 
 pr. Mr. McKenzie or his order you are to take, when all 
 is out, his recept in my name for the whole, and forward 
 the same to me by this express ; and after all is out Mr. 
 Mackenzie will pay your fraight, for which youll give 
 recept, and then both Dubles of the Charterpartie is to 
 be cancelled ; but if Mr. Mackenzie should faill to pay 
 the whole fraight due, then may take his on me payable at 
 Aberdeen or Edenburg, and the same will be Complyed 
 with ; but I hope he will Clear you fully. I again entreat 
 your Care in Delivering out this meall, and Deliver non 
 without Mr. Mackenzies mandat for each parcell, and send 
 (when all is out) a Distinct recept to me for the whole. 
 Deliver the balk, broad barell and weight to Mr. Mackenzie. 
 
 For Commissar Steuart. 
 
 Inverness, 10 May 1718. 
 
 Dear Cousin, — I have non of your favour for severall 
 posts past. Now this serves to advise that howsoon 
 this comes to hand you see to dispose of the tuo fish 
 Debenturs James Russell and I ordered you to take up 
 from Alexr. Arburthnot, walue 40£ ster., being advised 
 that the Discount on such Debenturs is fallen prettie 
 Low, that is, if payment can not presently be otherways 
 obtaind ; and pray advise of this pr. first. I have seen 
 your advice to pay thirtie Guenies on Munroes bill on 
 Jollie for Like sum, and will this Day Comply with the 
 same and send you bill on Mr. Jollie for that Mony pr. 
 nixt. In the mean time, now that Whitsunday is at hand, 
 I wish you would retire Termitts Joynt bond me to 
 Mr. Donald Taylar for 800£ Scots, with 1| years interest 
 due. Take assignation in my name to the same, I mean 
 principall and 18 months interest ; and to Clear matters 
 I Send you inclosed his Last Discharge, Daited 25 January 
 1715. Whither the Debenturs answer or not I wish you 
 would retire this bond, and on first notice He remitt you 
 what Ballance be Due. 
 
84 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 24 May 1718. 
 
 Mr. Robert Gordon, Burdeaux. 
 
 Sir, — My Last to you was of 10th Instant, desireing you 
 should cause messrs. Simson and Sandilands advise that 
 you hade payed them my 5th of the Goods shipt be them 
 for me and Compy on the Shipp Joseph of Petinweem, 
 you haveing formarly advised me you was to order soe. 
 But since my Last these Gentlemen have valued on Mr. 
 Alves and Compy for the full Ballance due them of What 
 Goods they shipped in the Joseph, and so must pay my 
 5th of there bills : therfor, since now you see by the above 
 Leter that my freind Alexr. Steuart goes in the bark 
 
 Marjorie of this pleace to Load B y [brandy] I desire 
 
 you make good to your Brother, Mr. Alexr. Gordon, at 
 St. Martins [France], What Ballance is due me in your 
 hands. I can not tell exactly howmuch it will be, but I 
 hope, if Mr. Arbuthnot of Rouan has done me Justice 
 by remitting you as I Ordered some mony of mine remained 
 in his hands, it will exceed £1000. Pray advise me pr. 
 first of Your Complyance in this, and I am sincerely, 
 Your most humble Servant. 
 
 Pray send my Act. Curt, and that in Compy for 
 vintager 1715. 
 
 Inverness, 14 June 1718. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Arbuthnot, mercht. in Eder. 
 
 Sir, — The Last of your favours of 26th March last brought 
 me my Acct. Curt, by which you was due me a balance of 
 £33 : 15 : 6^ sterling, since which I valued on you of 8 
 Aprile last for ten pound sterling to the order of William 
 Mackay, mercht. of this pleace, without advice ; so that 
 only remains due me £23 : 15 : 6f sterling. Now serves 
 Cheefly to entreat that imediatly howsoon this comes to 
 hand you remitt to the hands of Mr. Joseph Faiknie, 
 mercht. in London, £32 : 16s : 8d. sterling, as my 5th of 
 £146 : 3 : 2 sterling due pr. accepted bill to Messrs. Baynton 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 85 
 
 and Shawe, of London, of which advise him accordingly. 
 And for enableing you to pay the same with exchange I 
 send you nine Guenies inclosed ; so may Creditt My accot. 
 Accordingly ; and if More will be Due shall be punctually 
 payed. I entreat your Care of this pr. first post, and I am, 
 etc. 
 
 Inverness, June lQth, 1718. 
 
 Mr. John Steuart, Commissar. 
 
 Dear Cousin, — I wrote you last by Baillie Barbour, 1 
 when I told you if Mr. Donald Tayler would Superceed 
 the payt. of his bond till Mertimes, it would be convenient 
 for me. Now this comes to tell you yt. I am unhappily 
 concerned in a bargain of brandy was Seized here last year 
 by Castlehill, 2 which he hes rouped in Excheqr., and, now 
 haveing paid him his Share, I am oblidged to remit the 
 Kings Share to Wm. McCay of this place, who hes an order 
 from Castlehill for the whole. Alexr. Mcintosh, Homes 
 son, 3 receives the half of the whole for his Cousins Wm. 
 Termit, the Baillie, and me ; and I have valued on you 
 for £36 : 4sh. ster payble at 3 days Sight. But, if you 
 Should happen not to be in Cash to ansuer this bill, I 
 send the inclosed open letter to Wm. McCay, qch. please 
 deliver and inforce it to take yor bill on me for this mony 
 when he comes here, and in that case let my bill to Alexr. 
 Mcintosh be returned pr. first, but, if Wm. McCay should 
 refuse this favour, I hope you will not let my interest 
 Suffer for want of this £36 : 4s. ster., even tho my bond 
 to Mr. Tayler Should be paid, and He reimburse you very 
 soon. This brandy hes been an unluckie bargain all 
 along. But Should I get my Share of this roup He I 
 hope Save about 30£ of my loss. I have Sent the E. of 
 Morray by this express the value of his Salmon in Guineas 
 to very little, qch. Straitens me much at present. I Send 
 
 1 John Barbour, merchant in and a bailie of Inverness. He purchased the 
 estate of Aldourie on Loch Ness. 
 
 2 Cuthbert of Castlehill, near Inverness. 
 
 3 Son of Mackintosh of Holme, near Inverness. 
 
86 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 you inclosed the tuo coppies of Summonds past agt. me. 
 As for yt. at Grangehills instance I ow him nothing, but I 
 Suppose hee'l see these accots. filled very Soon, and as 
 to the oyr at the instance of John Hendersons relicts 
 exors. I believe it can do no harm ; for its hard if a bill 
 I drew 20 years agoe, or 18 at least, will recur now tho 
 never protested agt. me, nor the men on whom drawen, 
 and now Some are dead and oyrs broke. This bill was 
 for about 6£ sterl. for value of goods bought in Comp. 
 of which He Swear I paid my Share to Baillie Barbour, 
 who is yet alive, and ought in justice to retire the bill. 
 I am, etc. 
 
 You '11 take care of me as to these Summonds. 
 
 Inverness, June 16th, 1718. 
 
 To the E. of Murray. 
 
 May it please yor Lop, — I desired John Steuart, 
 Commr., Sometime agoe to acquaint yor. Lop. yt. agt. the 
 10th Inst. I would remit the contents of my bill for yor 
 Lops. Salmond being 2184£ Scots, but I could not hitherto 
 find any bill or opportunity to remit the Same, and yrfore 
 have been oblidged to send by ys. express in Gold 157£ 6d. 
 Ster., all in guineas and half guineas, except 5 Luidores ; 
 So yt. yr. will remain yet of the ful contents of my bill 
 due 24£ 19s. 6d. Ster., for wch. I Send yor. Lop: inclosed 
 my promissory note payable first of August next. So 
 yt. I hope yor. Lop: will Send me by this bearer my bill 
 wt. yor. Lops, receipt yron. I had Sent mony in lieu of 
 this note, but the bearer going express for Edr. would 
 not undertake to carry it. I cannot omit to acquaint 
 yor Lop: that haveing taken my venture of the Drawback 
 on yor Lops. Salmond last year, qch. amounts to near 
 £50 Ster., I have not as yet recovered one farthing of the 
 Same, tho I have often desired it. And when it Shall be 
 recovered I believe it will not be under a considerable 
 Discompt, to qch. I expect yor Lop: will have a con- 
 sideraon in the price of next years fishing, wch. I hope 
 will be much better yn. the last, to wch. I expect to be 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 87 
 
 preferred as to the first offer. I am just now Setting 
 people to work to repair whats amiss at Castle Steuart. — 
 I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, Augt. 22d, 1718. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Fakney [merchant, London]. 
 
 Sir, — In my absence my Servant Thomas Kurcholm 
 writt you the 9t past, and remitted you Jno Hays bill 
 upon Alexander Gordon, for £32 : 16 : 8 Stg. for accot. 
 of Mr. John Steuart of Inverness, to be payed on to Mr. 
 Byntoun and Shaw for returning his \ of an accepted bill 
 Drawen upon him and compa. of £164 : 3 : 2 Ster., which 
 bill being payd here you are to mak good the walue of the 
 above remittance of £32 : 18 : 8 St. to Mr. John Shaw as 
 he Shall derect. 
 
 Mr. John Steuart, Comissar of Inver. 
 
 Inverness, Augt. 22d, 1718. 
 
 Youl pleas deliver the inclosed to one Alexander Hay. 
 I know not whither the gentelmen be a lawyer or a mercht., 
 but I supose youll find him out. He wrot me Last that 
 he had gott a bill accepted by me and Wm. Simson, 
 Mercht. of Aberdeen, to the order of Thomas Arburthnott 
 of Paterhead for about £200 Ster. as the price of the 
 cargoe of meal we bought from sd. Arburthnott. This 
 gentleman writts me he expects his mony paremterly 
 agt. the 15th of next month, in order to which I design 
 to remitt p. next poast £100, and I expect Mr. Polocks 
 bill will answer before then. However, should you hapen 
 to come from Edr. before the mony be payd to Mr. Hay, 
 pray Lodg my bill and what mony I Send you with 
 my frend Wm. Cumming in Parliment Close, who hath 
 promised to take care of me in this matter in case Mr. 
 Polocks bill does not answer. And, please God, how ever 
 it happen, he will not be long in advance for me, since 
 I will have a good deal of mony payd me at Edr. at 
 
88 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Michelmass by my frends in the Isle of Sky. I entreat 
 your care of me in this affair. 
 
 Mr. Norman McLeod [of Drynoch, the Bailie's father-in- 
 law]. 
 
 Inverness, Augt. 23d., 1718. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I received of mony for your accot. from your 
 neece and others sixteen pound ten shillings 10 and f ster., 
 as pr. the under written accot., and which shal be alowed 
 of the meal received from your nefew John for my accot. ; 
 but you are to take notice that I gave recepts to Euan 
 and John McLenans for fourscore and 5 merks they gave 
 me which is included in this accot., so that these tow 
 recepts are only in part of the 16 pound 10s. Ster. here 
 mentioned. This mony you Sent me now came wery 
 Seasonable, for which I thank you, and I hope again 
 Michelmas you will order the ballance of what meal is 
 conteaned in your letter, which I think comes to eight 
 pound fourteen shill. and 8d. sterling. Mrs. Rose and I 
 has presumed to Keep Marion half a year Longer since 
 it will be much for her adwantadge, and will coast Normand 
 no more mony for her boord. I cam Leatly from Edr., 
 where I saw honest Mr. Alex. 1 and John 2 McLeods who 
 drank your health ; and above all I saw the dear Little 
 laird of McLeod, 3 who is a charming sprightly boy. No 
 news at present, but all things goe fair befor the win for 
 the goverment, and the unfortunate still Learn patiance. 
 I thank you for your present to my wife, and I am, Sir, etc. 
 
 Accot. received for accot. of Mr. Donald McLeod. 
 Dr. To 40 ston butter Sold by your servants 
 
 5m. p. Ston . . . £11 : 2 : 2| 
 
 To 36 Ston cheas sold at 2s. p. ston . 3 : 12 : 0 
 
 1 Alexander Macleod, Advocate. 
 
 2 John Macleod of Muiravonside, Advocate. He was implicated in the 
 abduction of Lady Grange in 1730. 
 
 3 Norman Macleod, born 1706. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 89 
 
 To cash per my recept from Eyn 
 
 McLeanan in Kintale . . 3:6:0 
 
 To ditto from John McLeanan in Glenelg 
 
 p. recep . . . .1:7:9 
 
 19 : 8 : 8 
 
 Cr. By Cash given your ser- 
 vants by my wife . £1 : 13 : 4 
 
 By 2 bolls 3 firlats meal 
 
 at 6m. p. boll . 1 : 4 : 5j 
 
 By ballance remaining 
 
 in my hands . 16 : 10 : 10 
 
 
 19 : 
 
 8 : 
 
 8 
 
 45 bolls and J p. Mr. Donalds [?] 45 merks 
 
 
 
 
 to 45 merk Scots is Ster. mony . 
 
 25 : 
 
 5 : 
 
 6f 
 
 By cash payed by above ballance of 
 
 
 
 
 accot. .... 
 
 16 : 
 
 10 : 
 
 10 
 
 Ball, resting 
 
 8 : 
 
 14 : 
 
 8 
 
 Inverness, Sept. 
 
 2d, 
 
 1718. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Simson of Abd. 
 
 Sir, — I wrot you the 2 2d. ultimo to what reffers since I 
 received yours 26d. Ditto. As I told you in my Last, I 
 have secured 700 birk Rails, conform to your order to my 
 father ; but that order came too Late for owr highland 
 deals ; besids that it seems fitt that you mention they 
 are not above eight foot Long and wery thin. As for the 
 birk bark I have Secured 40 bolls of it, and for you most 
 of it, at 4 merks p. boll ; and I can gett the full quantity of 
 100 or 150 yow Desire, but not one boll under 3£ Scots, 
 which I think soe extravagantly Dear that I could not 
 Conclude a bargain without your positive advise ; so may 
 accquant me pr. first if youl go to this price, and how 
 much youle positively have me buy, and He endeavoure to 
 accomodate you. I have pairtly bespoke deals that are 
 
90 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 ten foot Long, but they are 5 merks p. Duzan, so you 
 accquaint me if you be for them at that price. I received 
 your Letter inclosed for Mr. Thomson super cargoe in 
 the J ohn of Arth, who has not yet appeared here ; but 
 how soon he does shall Deliver him your Letter, and doe 
 him all the service Lys in my power. But I most tell yo 
 befor hand that I am affeard his staves will not sell here 
 by reason of thee Disapointment of our hering fishing ; 
 besids that there are tow ships just now unloading Iron, 
 knap wood, and birk staves. I canot as yett Send yow 
 the accot. of our two cargoes, Cleaton and Clerk, by reason 
 that Mr. McKenzie gave me no other recept except what 
 he gave on the bill of Loadning to Cleaton ; so its fitt 
 you gett up that bill of Loadning Immediatly, and forward 
 it to me. Owr accepted bill to Thomas Arburthnott, I 
 find, is indorsed to one Alex. Hay at Edr., who has writt 
 me that he has the sam, and will have paremtor use for 
 the mony agt. the 15th instant. I wrott him that he may 
 expect his mony agt. that time, and shall doe my utmost 
 endeavour to remitt him ye contents, being 208£ ster., 
 this week, tho I have not gott yett of Cleatons cargoe 
 but 100£ Ster., and does not expect that the whole of it 
 will be payd till Martimass. And for John Cleatons 
 cargoe, which is sold to Mr. McKenzie and his uncle, its 
 non payable till martimas, and I wish it may all answer 
 then. However, we have this satisfaction, that our 
 security is wery good. 
 
 Inverness, 5t 7ber 1718. 
 
 Mr. William Simson of Abd. 
 
 Sir, — I wrot you fully the 2d instant, which refers. 
 This serves only to bring you the inclosed ten pound Ster. 
 bank not, and to Desire that from it yow may pay to Mr. 
 John Burnet, Junior, mercht. of Abd., nine pound fourteen 
 Shill. and 3d. Ster., walue of ane accepted bill Drawn on 
 me by Mr. John Gordon of Rotterdam, which please 
 retire, and send me pr. first Discharged, and Credit my 
 accot. with the ballance of the £10 noat. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 91 
 
 This night I send orders to pay owr acceptance of 208£ 
 ster: to Thomas Arburthnott, now in the hands of Messrs 
 Alex. Hay at Edr., which I hope will come in good time. 
 Your ship from Norway has not appeard. I wait your 
 answer as to the bark, and I remain, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 6 7ber 1718. 
 
 I wrot this post to William Bain, shippmaster in Leath, 
 and returned him inclosed his bill to me on Colin Mac- 
 kenzie, Junior, mercht. in Dingwall, accepted for £30 
 sterling. 
 
 Messrs. Gerard, Campbell and Dobson in Stockholm. 
 
 Inverness, 7ber 20th, 1718. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I send you inclosed bill of Loadning for 
 28 Last and 2 barrells Herins for the joynt accot. of me 
 and Mr. John Inness, mercht. in Edr., not Doubting but 
 you will dispose of Sd. Herings to the best avail how soon 
 it please God the Ship arrives, and reload her with the 
 uttmost Dilligence, conform to the inclosed order and 
 Derection from the sd. Mr. John Innes. You take notice 
 that there being 4 Last 3 barell for accot. of Mr. John 
 McCay of this pleace, and 6 Last 2 barell for accot. of Mr. 
 Wm. [sic — Fraser ?] of this pleace, which they no Doubt 
 Send you there bills of Loadning. They are to pay fraight 
 in proportion to what I and Mr. Innes Doe, which is 
 5£ : 10s. ster. pr. Last out and home, of which J vizt. 
 £1 : 16 : 8 ster: is to be payd by you pr. Last, at the curent 
 exchange to Britaine ; and youl notice to insert the other 
 tow thirds in the bills of Loadning homward, conform to 
 Charter party. Mr. John Innes and the other Gentleman 
 Concerned and I only mean that you should invest the 
 proceeds of owr Herins in Iron and deals for fulling up 
 the Ship ; and notice that Messrs. McCay and Frasures 
 are to have separat accots., and may as from what is for 
 Mr. Innes joynt accot. and myne. And I hope with Mr. 
 Innes that youl give Master Captain Alex: Dunbar full 
 
92 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 and Clear instructions as to the method of proceeding 
 horn ward, and give him all posible Dispatch, by wh. we 
 will be much incuraged to continue a further correspon- 
 dence. 
 
 If the Captn. be straitned for 5£ more than what is 
 above mentioned, Give him the Same, and take his recept 
 for it. 
 
 Inverness, 22d 7ber 1718. 
 
 Mr. William Cumming. 
 
 Sir, — I wrott you the 5th instant, since which I have 
 non of yours. Then I sent your inclosed bill Major 
 William Johnes for £108 ster., also an order on Comissar 
 Steuart to pay you 100£ ster. or give you up Mr. Walter 
 Polocks his acceptance to me for that same. I have reason 
 to hope that mony is payd or now, so that I ordered then. 
 I hope you have retired my acceptance to Mr. Alex. Hay 
 for £2496 Scots, of which I expect advice by this days 
 post since I understand when last came of you was not in 
 town. I Sent you then inclosed 3 bills accepted by 
 Normand McLeod of Drynoch, My Father in Law, 
 Roderick McLeod of Ullenish and Charles McKinon of 
 Scalpay, for 2450 merks Scots. Now I am to advise you 
 that my Father in Law, Drynoch, is goen South with a 
 Larg Drove about 8 days agoe, and writts that he will 
 retire his own and Ulunish bills for 2050 merks, but could 
 not that for Charles McKinon, so when he appears in 
 town Deliver him the inclosed, and Drink a pynt of wine 
 with him on my charge. If he canot pay the bill of 400 
 merks return it to me without doing any thing on it which 
 at presen is the need full from, Sir, etc. 
 
 P. S. — Receive also bill Drynoch on me for £4: 4s. ster. 
 which he is to pay yow for my accot. 
 
 Inverness, 27 7ber 1718. 
 
 Affecctonat Cousin [Commissar Steuart], — I have 
 yours of 9th instant, wherin yow advise me that had 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 93 
 
 taken care of my acceptance on your brothers 1 accot. 
 to Mr. Alexander Arburthnot, of £12 : 10 ster., so that 
 I was much surprised Last post with the inclosed from 
 sd. Arburthnott. I care not to have my credit at his 
 mercy, So must intreat the bill be immediatly retired, if 
 not Done ; and send it here pr. first, with a noat of how 
 much of the Same you will advance for your Brother, and 
 He Credit your accot. accordingly, and send his recept 
 for what is pay for him. I have ordered to pack the 
 Earle of Murray Salmon, but I am affraid He be no gainer 
 by them this year. I have gott allowance of 100 lib. 
 Scots for my Expences of Journy South by a letter under 
 the hand of my kind frend the Contess of Murray, and her 
 honour ingadged that He be no Looser by bargain for my 
 Lord salmon, which I securly Depend on. My father in 
 Law will be at Edr. next week, and I hope youl see him 
 and give him advice whow he shall settle his eldest son 
 Alexander, who is with him ; and youl tell him my Wife 
 is Delivered of a Son tow days agoe, to whom you are a 
 god father, and owr frend Mr. Buttler another. 
 
 Inverness, Septr. 30th, 1718. 
 
 To the Laird of Cadbol. 2 
 
 Sir, — The pinching want of mony I am at present trysted 
 with oblidges me to give you this trouble pr. express to 
 desire that if possible you send me in return the price of 
 45 Dozen and 2 deals Sent you last Summer, as pr. receipt, 
 which amounts as pr. inclosed accot to £22 : 18 Sh. ster. ; 
 and this is £3 short of the accot. I showd you first, which 
 is so much loss to me, being Stoln on the Shoar ; but no 
 help. If you Send the mony, let it be seald in a bag, and 
 take up yor obligatorie letters and receipt from the 
 bearer, I am, etc. 
 
 Alexander Steuart, master of the ship Alexander of Inverness. 
 Roderick Macleod. 
 
94 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 3d Sber 1718. 
 Mr. John Mackenzie [the Laird of Gairloch's Uncle]. 
 
 Sir, — I Received yours of 26 past, and it is true that 
 Mr. Rock payed me sixtie pound sterling, for which I have 
 given recept in your name. And this day I have Gott 
 from Murdoch Mackenzie in Garloch bill of this Dait 
 accepted be Donald Malue and Alexr. Skair, Drovers in 
 Cupper of Angus, for fiftie pound sterling, payable at 
 Edinburgh, for which have Likeways Granted recept of 
 this Dait, promiseing to Count for the same when payed. 
 
 I am Glad to find you Gott the full Contents of the bill 
 of Loadning for me all by Cleaton, who is a Notorious 
 Villan ; and I much regrait and am blaimed that you 
 and My [brother-in-law] John Mackleod pairted so slackly 
 with him as to lett him have the mony I sent by John, 
 and lett him pass with the Charterpartie. I am surprised 
 you once mention failies on the Contract or Make anie 
 maner of reserve about our Clearing. That way of Dealling 
 is not My way ; but as I told you formarly, if you be 
 punctuall in Clearing with me again Mertimass, He be 
 verie frank and kind in Considering your Loss by the 
 shipps Lait arivall, and will inclyn to end so as wee may 
 deal again, being Yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 3d 8br. 1718. 
 To Mr. Wm. Simpson, Mercht. in Abd. 
 
 Sir, — I reced. yors of 22d. past wt. inclosed for Wm. 
 Reid, qch. I delivered him here, where he hes been about 
 8 days past ; but as yet his Salt bark hes not appeared, 
 being put down this firth back wt. a hard gale of wind 
 on Sunday last, I suppose to Fraserburgh or the Orkneys. 
 I wish her Safe here and Soon. I have given Mr. Reid, 
 conform to yor orders, £6 Ster. and taken his bill on you 
 for the same. And I have engaged as formerly advised 
 yor accot. 70 Dozen Corks at 2J merks pr. Dozen, and 
 about 40 bolls birk bark at 4 merks pr. boll, for qch. I have 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 95 
 
 paid 2 guineas in earnest, and must pay the full price on 
 demand. This morning I had a letter from John Mckenzie, 
 uncle to the Laird of Garloch, acknowledgeing the receipt 
 of the mail [meal] contd. in the bill of loadning pr. John 
 Clayton, wt. a bill payable at Edr. the 15th inst. for £50 
 Ster., for qch. I have granted receipt as for £40 mor I got 
 in mony in pairt. of our meal and I hope all will ansuer 
 at Mertimes. But Im afraid yr. will be a Struggle in 
 clearing, for he writes me he will insist on the failzie in 
 the contract in respect the villain Clayton hes given him 
 a declaration yt. it was yor fault the bark arrived no 
 Sooner by reason you Sent him wt. a freight to Muntrose 
 after he was freighted for Garloch, to qch. he imputs his 
 hindrance So long. I Send you inclosed his charter 
 pairtie, wt. his recepts of £21 Ster., in qch. yor tuenty 
 Shillg. given him before Sailing is included. So may 
 write me acknowledgeing receipt of his Sd. receipt, and 
 Im of opinion you Should end wt. yt. rogue immediatlie 
 by Submission or reference, and get up our bill of loadning, 
 which forward to me ; and if reference will not doe, I 
 would give him a charge of horning on his charter pairtie. 
 And in the mean time See to cause Some friend at Dundee 
 to get an attested note of the receipt on the bill of loadning, 
 which I think may do here ; for I take Mr. Mckenzie to be 
 an honest enough man. I Send you like ways inclosed 
 yor charter pairtie wt. Mr. Clerk, that both may be 
 cancelled ; and I have his receipt for what freight and 
 averidge was paid in the Highlands, So yt. yrs. nothing 
 due him after you have retired my Serts. bill for £25 Ster. 
 I hope in 15 days to be able to draw on Edr. for £150 Ster. 
 in pairt of Mr. Achindaice his meal pr. Clayton ; So may 
 advise pr. first if Shall Send you bills payable for yt. 
 Soume to yrself, or to whom He order it. I got 100 bolls 
 meal from Mr. Cuthbert, for which I gave receipt in yor 
 name ; and Shall take care to order payt. to Mr. Hunter 
 when due ; and as our mony ansuers clearance will be 
 punctually made by, Sir, etc. 
 
 Our accepted bill to Thomas Arbuthnot for £208 Ster. 
 value of Clerks loadning of meal I have paid and retired. 
 
96 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 3 Octer. 1718. 
 
 May it please your Lop. [Earl of Moray], — I have, in 
 obedience to your Lop. order of 11 7ber last, retired your 
 Lops, bond of 6000£ Scots from Drumuir, and Doe send 
 the same inclosed. I payd the Intrest from Whitsunday 
 1714 to 26th August Last, extending to 1293£ 15 sh. Scots, 
 for which I have his recept for the Same, which Shall be 
 given your Lop. at Counting. I have in Some measur 
 cancelled your Lop. name for fear of Miscariadge of the 
 bond. 
 
 Your Lops. Salmon is packed, and extends to 99 barrells, 
 of which a great pairt Grilses. I receive them next week, 
 tho, in faith, I fear I shall be no gainer by this bargain, 
 and I hope your Lop. will not See me too much Looser, 
 for I have such bad incuradgement from abroad that I 
 would not midle if I did not depend on your generosity. 
 The Deduction of Coustomes of Drawbacks of Salmond 
 made by the Comissioners is about 2s. Ster. p. barrell, 
 which I hope your Lop. will order James Russell in return 
 of this to expect from my bill, it being but Just, Since 
 when I bargained with yr. Lop. the Drawback was then 
 estemed at 10£ Scots p. barrell, and now its so much Less 
 as I mentioned. I offered to sell your Lops. Grilses Laitly 
 to one who hade a Commission from London, but could 
 not reach above 43 Sh. Ster. p. barrell. This your Lop. 
 may Depend on as truth. I gott non of your Lops, mony 
 for Last years rent as yet, and I fear, considering what 
 Drumuir has gott, It will be toward Christ imas before I 
 make any Remittance South ; but will do my best for 
 your Lops. Intrest. 
 
 Inverness, 17th 8b er 1718. 
 
 Mr. Robert Gordon [Bordeaux]. 
 
 Sir, — This serves to advise yow that your frend Alex. 
 Steuart and ye Ship Alexander of this pleace were designed 
 to have gone your way for a Loadning of wine, etc., but 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 97 
 
 the Surprising news of the war with Spain has diverted 
 that project, and now he proceeds for Rotterdam in 
 Holland with a Loadning of Salmon ; therefor we Desire 
 that how Soon this comes to hand youl enquire if can find 
 any occasion of any Ship on fraight to Holand, bound 
 for Rotterdam ; and, in Case such an occasion Should 
 immediately offer at a reasonable, easy Fraight, then 
 yow are to Ship for owr accots. ten tunns of Excellent 
 good Strong Claret wine, 2 tunns white wine, which is 
 to be marked A.S. And you are to take bill of Loadning 
 for the same for to be consigned to Mr. Alexander Andrew, 
 Mercht. in Rotterdam, a Duble of which yow are to 
 transmitt him p. post, and at the same time advise him 
 to Insure the walue of Sd. wines for owr. accots. We desire 
 that yow may walue on us for -|d of Cost of Sd. wines, 
 payable at Edr., and for on Third on Mr. Alexander 
 Andrew, of Rotterdam, for the proper accot. of John 
 Steuart, who is to give orders that your bills Shal find 
 Due honour, as shall your oyr Drawght payable at Edr. 
 We hope youl take the most proper method to Secure 
 this wine from Dammadge in the passage to Holland ; 
 but if no occasion doe immediatly offer to Ship ym. as 
 above, in that case yow are to advise Mr. Andrews yt. he 
 is to Expect no wine for owr. accots. We intreat yow 
 take care to Ship good Strong wine for us, Since Small 
 does not doe with us ; and we remain your most humble 
 Servants, Thom: Alves. 
 
 John Steuart. 
 
 Inverness, 25 Sber 1718. 
 
 I wrot of this Dait to Mr. Alexr. Andrew, of Rotterdam, 
 and advised him to Insure on the Alexr., of this pleace, 
 Alexr. Steuart, Master, I say on the Cargoe of Salmon 
 pr. sd. Shipp from this to Rotterdam f. 2500 Gilders : 
 also I advised him that I ordered Robert Gordon, of 
 Burdeaux, to send him for my acct., and Thomas Alvas 
 his acct., to be returned here by the Alexr. 15 tuns wine, 
 
 G 
 
98 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 viz. 3 tun white wine, and 12 tuns Claret, and to value 
 on him for half of the value of sd. Goods. 
 
 25 Sber 1718. 
 
 I wrot likeways of this Dait to Mr. Robert Gordon, of 
 Burdiaux, to add to the Commission sent him last post 
 by Tho. Alvas and me 2 tuns Claret and one tun more 
 White wine, and to value on Mr. Alexr. Andrew, of Rotter- 
 dam, for half of the value of 15 tuns wine to be shipt from 
 Burdiaux to Rotterdam for our acct., and to value, 
 p yable at Eder. for ye other half. 
 
 Inverness, 1 9ber 1718. 
 
 Mr. William Cuming, Mercht. in Eder. 
 
 Sir, — I Received yours of 23 ultimo, and inclosed my 
 Fathers Acceptance to Robert Wightman 1 for £72 sterling 
 and My own to Mr. George Falconer for £23 : 4 : 5 sterling, 
 both which have pleaced to your Credit. I am vexed 
 MackDonald the Messr. [messenger's] Letter was neglected 
 to be sent you in my Last, but it was my servants fault 
 to gott my Letter to Coppie ; but now you have it inclosed, 
 as to which writ me your mind. In the mean time, when 
 he corns to town He be pressing with him in What you 
 Desire. I send you inclosed bill Lemuel Rock on Patrick 
 Crafourd, mercht in Eder., for 60£ sterling at ten days 
 sight. If its not accepted protest it against the Drawer 
 and Indorser, who is John Mackenzie, Uncle to the Laird 
 of Garloch. Mr. Rock will be in Eder. in ten days, so, if 
 his bill is not honoured, may acquaint him you have 
 returned the same protested, which fail not to Doe. I 
 Likeways send inclosed Accepted Mr. Walter Pollock, 
 mercht. in Fortwilliam, for £300 sterling, payable 5 Decer. 
 next ; but you '11 see by his Letter to me of 20th past 
 inclosed he promised to pay £200 sterling precisly at 
 
 1 Was Robert a brother or other relative of General Wightman, who was at 
 this time stationed in Inverness, and who in 17 19 commanded King George's 
 forces at the battle of Glenshiel ? 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 99 
 
 Mertimass, and £100 again the i Decer. next, again which 
 time, if I could value on you for about 200£ sterling, it 
 would make me verie Easie, for I have aboundance of 
 mony to pay in this month. Acquaint me of the success 
 of Mr. Rocks bill pr. first, and I send you inclosed his 
 Letter of Credit from Mr. Crafourd. I have Drawn on 
 you to Mr. John Poison Six pound sterling, which please 
 honour and pleace to my Acct. I am pr. first to send you 
 some Debenturs, and I am etc. 
 
 Inverness, 7th Nov: 1718. 
 
 Mr. William Cuming of Edr. 
 
 Sir, — My Last to you was of first Curt, by Mr. John 
 Polsone, in which I sent you inclosed accepted bill Mr. 
 Walter Pollock for 300£ sterling, and Bill Mr. Lemuell 
 Rock on Patrick Crafurd for £600 Sterling. I Long to 
 hear of ye Success of ye Last, and I hope ye first will be 
 Soon payd. I Send you here inclosed a corne Debenture 
 of pretty Old Dait, for £32 : 6 : 8J ster., and I Entreat 
 howsoon it Comes to hand you See to Chap it of at ye 
 best Rate you cane for Doing, of which I think owr frend 
 Mr. Lewes at ye Coustome office will be ye proporest hand, 
 to whome give my Service. I have valued on you of this 
 Date to Mr. Charles Gordone of Edr. at 8 days Sight for 
 £20 : 15 : 5 J ster., being a ballance I am Due his broyr, 
 Mr. Robert of Bordiaux, to which pray Give Complyance, 
 and Place it my accot. Pray let me hear from you in 
 Returne to this, and Send me by ys. post tow blanck 
 Debentures for Generall goods ; and I am, Sir, your 
 werye Aff. 
 
 Inverness, 13 9ber 1718. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew of Rotterdam. 
 
 Sir, — This adresses you by my Cousin, Alexr. Steuart, 
 master of the ship Alexr. of this pleace, and brings you 
 inclosed bill of Loadning for nintie nine barells salmon 
 and Grilses on boord his sd. shipp ; that is, for 67 barells 
 
100 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 salmon and 32 do. Grilses, all Markd. $!, which you are 
 immediatly to Dispose off at the best avail, and Credit 
 my Acct. with the one half of the net Proceeds, and my 
 brother, James Russell, with the other ; and, nota, the one 
 half of value of wines from Burdx. ordered to be Drawn on 
 you by Robert Gordon is to be pleaced to his Debit. You 
 are to pay the Master 34 stivers fraight and Caplaken, and 
 no Doubt youll Contribut your endeavours he be Dis- 
 patched. What is further needfull Shall be advised pr. 
 first post By Yours etc. 
 
 Nota, this salmon I sen you is of the best quality, and 
 best Cured of anie in this firth. 
 
 Inverness, 14 9ber 1718. 
 
 Mr. William Simson [Merchant, Aberdeen]. 
 
 Sir, — I wrot to you the 7th instant adviseing that I 
 hade ended with John Mackenzie, and gott his bills for 
 the ballance of the Cargoe, payable here and at Eder., 
 after giveing him lOd. ster. pr. boll Discount, and that 
 therfor I thought you needed be on great heast to Clear 
 with Mr. Cleaton. Now this serves to advise you that I 
 have no mony this week, as I expected, either from Mr. 
 Mackenzies bills or the Isle of Sky, but I hope all may doe 
 once this Month. In the mean time, lest you should be 
 straitned, I send you inclosed twentie pound sterling pr. 
 bank noat No. ^f-g, and May advise of the recept of pr. 
 first ; and how soon anie payment is made you may 
 expect punctual remittance from, Sir, Yours etc. 
 
 Inverness, lUh 9ber 1718. 
 
 Mr. William Cuming [Merchant, Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sm, — My Last was of 7th Currt, in which I sent you 
 inclosed a Corn Debenture for £32 : 6 : 8j Sterling, as also 
 advised yt. had drawen on yow to ye order of Mr. Charles 
 Gordon, Mercht. in Edr., for £20 : 15 : 5J Ster. ; all which 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 101 
 
 I hope is Come to hand, Since I have your favour of 3d. 
 and 6th Currt. In ye Last yow advised that £200 of Mr. 
 Polocks acceptance for £300 Sterling was payd., as also 
 that Mr. Rocks Bill of £60 on Mr. Patrick Crafurd was 
 accepted, which is wery well. And now, as you Desire, 
 I have walued on you of this dait to Mr. John Cuthbert, 
 younger of Castlehill, at 3 days sight, for £120 Ster:, which 
 I doubt not will find Due honour. And, Since I can not 
 find mony here for bills to Clear my debt about this term, 
 please Send me by this post, in Return of this, in ye Bag, 
 one hundred and thirtie pound Sterling in Large Bank 
 Noats, Securly Sealed under your Covert. Send me also 
 as much of your Best Blew Drab Cloath as well make a 
 Jockie Big Coat, with as many Laitest fashioned bath 
 Matell [Metal ?] Buttones as will mount it. Pray take 
 care ye Cloth be of a deep Dy and well milned, and give it 
 to ye post, and pleace the walue to my accot. I send you 
 inclosed a fish debenture Certifyed on the boord of Excise 
 for £66 : 7 : 2 J Sterling, and I am told it will find prompt 
 payment, of which Shal be Glad to hear. However, you 
 are to make mony of this and ye Corn debenture sent you 
 formerly pr. first, Since He want it Soon. Waiting your 
 answer in Course, I am etc. 
 
 Inverness, 22 9ber 1718. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to Mr. Alexr. Andrew of Rotterdam, 
 and ordered him to insure on hold of shipp Alexr. of this 
 pleace, Alexr. Steuart, master, six hundred Gilders, and 
 that from this to Rotterdam, and to pleace the premium 
 to my acct., and to value on my Father, Alexr. Steuart, 
 for the same payable to My order. 
 
 Inverness, 29 9ber 1718. 
 
 Mr. William Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I Received your favours of 2i Currt., with £130 
 sterling in bank noats inclosed, as also 3f yds. blew Cloath 
 
102 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 from the bearer. I am pleased with what is done with 
 the Debenturs, and that yon are in Cash for them, and doe 
 by these advise you that I have drawn on you the 26 Currt. 
 for £41 : 13 : 4 ster. to the order of Mr. Francis Steuart 1 
 his Ladie, value received of Chamberlan Russell, payable 
 in 8 days sight ; which, with best respects, is all on heast 
 from etc. 
 
 Inv ernes, 6 Decer. 1718. 
 
 I ordered Mr. Alexr. Andrew, if in case he could not find 
 a Merket at Rotterdam for the salmon sent by the shipp 
 Alexr., that in that case he should shipp off a great pairt 
 of it for some pleace where it would better ; that is, for 
 Brudges, Dunkirk, and Haver de Grace. 
 
 Inv ernes, ISth Decer. 1718. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sr, — My Last to you was of the Sixth Instant, and Since 
 which Have yours of 6th dto N:S: [New Style] I observed 
 you Inshured on Alexr. Dunbars Cargo 660 Gu. at 6 p.c. ; 
 but I winder I was not advised of it befor now, and it is 
 a Singular cease that your letter Miscaried. I 'm Sorie 
 to find that your Salmon mercat continous So lo. Not- 
 withstanding what I wrott you last post of Shipeing of a 
 great pairt of them to Some other ports, where they will 
 Sell better, yett I leve you to Doe in that as you think fitt, 
 Since boath James Russell and I doe intearly depend on 
 your Selfe to Act for us in that affaire As if our Selves were 
 present. It 's well that you have advised Mr. Robert 
 Gordon to value on you for the Halfe 15 tuns of wine which 
 he writts me was a Shipeing of for Roterdam. Now that 
 what monie is pd. for sd. wine is to be pleaced in equall 
 halfes to James Russells acct. and mine, he signs this letter 
 with me ; And wee desire that, beside the Said wine, you 
 
 1 Brother of the Earl of Moray (Charles), whom he succeeded as sixth Earl 
 in 1735- 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 103 
 
 will Shipe in the Alexr. for our Joynt Accts. 60 Anchors 
 best Br: [brandy], and four Ho. [hogsheads] of Tobaco in 
 matts, provideing it be hade of a good, learge, fresh, strong 
 leafe, and not exceeding four or four and ane Halfe Stivers. 
 Wee must earnestly Intreat that the tobaco be right chosen 
 and good, or that you Send non, for Some came leatly 
 from your pairts hither proves verie naught. You will 
 likewayes observe to pleace the value of sd. Br: and Tobaco 
 to our Accts. equally, and at Shipeing recomend the Same 
 particularly to the Master as our concern. Wee hope the 
 Shipe will be with you befor this comes to hand. And wee 
 must intreat that you Imediatly bespeak the Small cascks 
 for the Br:, So as that they may prove good and Tight. 
 What will befurder need full Shall be advised per next post. 
 And wee remaine, Your most humble Serts. 
 
 Inverness, Decern. 15th, 1718. 
 
 To Normand M'Leod of Drynoch. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I Received yours of 7th Instant and with it, 
 from the Bearer full payment of four hundred merks Due 
 be Charles M'Kinons accepted Bill, which I return you 
 here inclosed ; and of this mony I have gott my Recept 
 to John McLeanan in Glenelg, 23d August Last, for £2 : 2s. 
 Sterling, which Remember at next Clearing. I hope yt. 
 befor Candlemass youl remitt more mony, for I am con- 
 siderable in advance for your Childeren, I mean ye tow 
 Lassies, Besides for John, Befor what you was to pay by 
 in Debenture was promised. I observe that Mr. Donald 
 [Macleod] writts to John yt. I am to count to him in part 
 of his meat, Reasting me Some mony he advanced for you 
 Last year ; but I doe not understand this, for I mind no 
 mony he gave me last year more than what payd his own 
 meal and oyr accots. So I have Sent this accot to him, 
 which Just amounts to £11 : 7sh : 9| Sterling, of which I 
 have Received non from any person for his accot. ; and 
 I am, etc. 
 
104 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 15th Decern. 1718. 
 
 [To Donald Macleod.] 
 
 Dear Sir, — I take yis oportunity to wish you a good 
 Crismass and a good new year ; and I Send ye under 
 written accot., Extending to £10 : 7 : 9d. Sterling, of which 
 I never Received a farthing on your accot from any Person 
 whatsomever ; So I hope youl transmitt it all here again 
 Candlesmass at farthest, having pressing use for it again 
 then. John Fraser or you wrott of to John, Should pay me 
 Some mony for a hors Sold him by one of your Country- 
 men. He is a Roague, and I fear he poor man will Loose 
 his horse by it, for I have not gott a farthing of that nor 
 of oat meal he Reasted myself, tho I preferred yis Day to 
 take penny wourth for both from him. 
 
 Mr. Donald M'Leod— Dr. 
 
 1718 
 
 August To 3 Ston Iron at 4 Sh. p. Ston 
 Do. To 16 lib. Cords at 5d. per lib. 
 Do. To Custome pd. for butter and Chees 
 July To one boll he is to count for more 
 than he Charges pr. his obligatory 
 Letter .... 
 To Ballance of ane accot. Sent 23 
 August 1718 for meal 
 
 £0 
 0 
 0 
 
 12 : 0 
 16 : 8 
 03 : 4 
 
 0 : 14 : lj 
 
 8 : 14 : 8 0 
 
 £10 : 7:90 
 
 Received August 1719 tuo quad- 
 ruples 
 
 in Cash from John Ross 
 5 J Ston butter from Do. 
 
 £10 : 7:9 
 
 6 : 12 
 2 : 19 
 1: 2:2f 
 
 Deduce above ballance 
 
 10 : 13 : 2 
 10 : 7:9 
 
 Ballance payed to J. McLeod . 0:5:3 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 105 
 
 Inverness, 3d January 1719. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew of Rottm. 
 
 Sir, — My Last was of 13 ultimo in Compy. with my 
 Broyer James Russell, wherin we desired you Should 
 Ship for owr Joynt accots. in ye Ship Alexr. 60 ankers 
 brandy and 4 hhds. tubacco in matts, and to pleace the 
 walue of ye wine Mr. Robert Gordon was to Ship for owr 
 accots to owr accot Equaly. I ordered Sd. Mr. Gordon 
 to Ship ye wine in a Dutch Ship, and advise you to Insure 
 ye walue. If he has not obeyed these orders accordingly 
 it is a fault, but I hope he has. Now this Comes Cheefly 
 to Desire yt. if the Alexr. doe not arive in time to overtake 
 ye Seasone for Selling his Salmon, yow Ship no brandy 
 or tobacco for my accot. ; So yt. there is only 30 anquers 
 and tow hhds. tobaco to be Shipt for James Russells accot. 
 properly. Pray fail not to Ship the 40 flasks best Bur- 
 gundy wine I formerly advised, and pleace the walue to 
 my accot. ; half ps. Holands Lining [linen] at 25 Stivers ; 
 a pound Best Bohea tea ; and tow Iron potts, one of 6 
 Scots poynts, anoyr of 12 ; ane Elm pomp [pump] from 
 13 to 14 foot in Lenth, with ye nesesar greath, being for 
 a new bark abulding here ; one ps. plain muslin from 36 
 to 40 Guilders ; and a ps. Strip Ditto of ye finest ; I 
 inclosed patern, but of a Diferent Strip. And pray 
 notice yt. the Holland and Musline be well Chosen and 
 Bought, for ye Last I got about 2 years agoe was too Dear 
 bought, and I made nothing of it. Pray mind ye tow Cask 
 Indigoe Returned by John McKay in ye Marjory being 
 good for nothing. So please Send now ye lick quantity 
 of better Seg[?] Indigoe, or Credit Mr. Russell and me with 
 ye walye of what yt. Cost thats Returned. It Came pr. 
 the Fortune of Muntross, George Parson, Master, in June 
 1717. The Ship Alex., with owr Salmon, was at Burnt- 
 island the 20 past, but whither She is Sayled as yet or not 
 I canot tell ; but now I am affraid your Rivers will be So 
 Frosen upp yt She canot get to Rotterdam ; So yt. I have 
 but a wery melancholly prospect of a market for ye Salmon, 
 
106 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 tho I depend on your best Endeavours. I wish you a 
 good new year, and Desier to be advised of ye price of 
 Corns with you pr. first. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew of Rottm. 
 
 Inverness, 9 January 1719. 
 
 Sir, — I have yours of 20th past, with your bill on my 
 Father for £2 : 17 Sterling, for walue of 21 guilders as 
 premium of f. 600 Insured on ye ship Alexr. for his accot. 
 Yt Ship was Last week at Burntisland, but if be as yet 
 Sailed I canot tell, tho I hope will be with you or this 
 comes to hand. This Serves Cheefly to bring you the 
 inclosed attestations of the Loss of the Ship Success of 
 this Pleace, Alexr. Dunbar, Master, with the bill of Load- 
 ning of Herings Shipt in the Sd. ship, being for Mr. John 
 Inness and me 28 Lasts, 2 barells. I am Advised by yours 
 of xber Last that you have Insured for my accot. on Sd. 
 Hering, pr. Everad Vn Hussen, conform to my orders, 
 f . 660 Guilders, for premium of which my Accot is Debited 
 f. 45 : 18 ; So that now I have no reasone to Doubt but ye 
 Sum Insured will be Recovered. Mr. Dunbar tells me that 
 he has given Afidavids to Messrs. Dobsone and Campbell 
 at Stockholm of this Loss, which was to be forwarded to 
 you to Recover the Insurance and Indempify Mr. Innes 
 bond and mine for the pass, and that he gave up the pass 
 to Sd. Dopson. So yt I hope matters will be so ordered 
 that no Disapointment will happen. As to ye pass or 
 Recovering Dameages I will be considerable Looser by 
 this misfortone, being pairt owner of the Ship, as will as 
 this Cargoe. But no help ; must Reverence Providence. 
 I wrot to yow the 3d Instant, and I hope the Alexr. will 
 arive in Such time yet as to enable you to Ship for me 
 the brandy and Tobaco I Desird the 13th Decembr. in 
 Company with Mr. Russell. Alex. Dunbar arrived here 
 4th Instant pr. ye Janett Dumbar ; was wery Surprising 
 to me. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 107 
 
 Inverness, 9th J amy. 1719. 
 
 Mr. John Inness [Merchant, Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I am Sory to advise yow that owr frend Alexr. 
 Dunbar, Mr. of the Ship Good Success of this pleace, arrived 
 here the 4th Instant in ye Janat Sloop of this pleace from 
 Dantzig, having Lost his own Ship by Stricking her on 
 a blind Rock of ye Isleland of Sandsortone, ye Coast of 
 Swedland, ye 12 of 9ber Last, in thee night time. He and 
 Crew narowly Saved there Lives, and Says that there was 
 9 foot water on the Rock he struck ; and, after the Ship 
 sunck half ane howr, Came of. He Keeped till ye water 
 came up above the Loer Deck, and yn. [then] was oblidged 
 to take his boat, and saw the ship in 3 minutes yreafter 
 Sink in 40 fathom water. I was Owner of the Ship as well 
 as Cargoe, but I regrait your Loss as much as my own. I 
 have Insured 600 Guilders on sd. ship, and I hope you have 
 Done Something that way. This night I have forwarded 
 Afidavits from the Master, Captine Dunbar, and one of 
 his men arived here, and the bill of Loadning, and my 
 own Afidavid befor tuo Justicess of peace, to Mr. Alexr. 
 Andrew, of Rotterdam ; I say my Afidavid in ye Quantity 
 of Herines Shipt for your accot. and mine, in order to 
 Recover what Insurance Is made, and I heartily wish it 
 may serve you that way. Alexr. Dunbar asures he gave 
 the Pass to Mr. Dopson at Stockholm, and made Afidavits 
 yre., which was to be transmitted to Rotterdam to Mr. 
 Andrews to Recover our bond. 
 
 8 Febry 1720. 
 
 To ye Earle of Murray. 
 
 I wrote to yor. Lop. twice in Six weeks pastanent Sundry 
 affairs of Pettie, to which I 'm favoured with no return. 
 So that I begin to Suspect that My letters have miscarried. 
 However my Broyr., James Russell (by whom this goes) 
 knows ye Substance of ye Seall. [several] points I wrote 
 of, and will get your Lops, thoughts and derections anent 
 
108 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 them. I send you by the bearer my bill on Wilm. Cuming, 
 Mercht. in Edinr., for 300 £ Ster., payll. at ten days sight, 
 which I doubt not will answer punctually, and for which 
 I expect by ye Bearer yor. Lops, recept for So much of my 
 Intromission with the Rents of Pettie, Cropt 1718. I 
 thought to have remitted a good deall more money, but 
 ye Bearer Shall inform your Lop. of ye reason of ye Dis- 
 appointment. I told your Lop. in my two former letters 
 that I had sold the fearms of Pettie of last Cropt @ 9sh. 
 and 6d. Str. p. boll, which I thought then a good price, 
 tho, Hade I not Sold till now, might reach some more ; 
 but could not promise from Such good debtors ; but Wee 
 can not always See what may happen. I will endeavour 
 As Soon As possible to remit your Lop. more money, and 
 in ye mean time yor. Lop. may write me a letter, which I 
 am to expect, ordering me to use legall dilligence agt. all 
 and Sundry in Pettie are in arear, and to remove them at 
 Whity. if they prevent not by payment. 
 
 Ill expect a precept of warning by ye Bearer. 
 
 Sth Febry. 1720. 
 
 To Comr. Steuart [Edinburgh]. 
 
 This goes by James Russell, with whom I have remitted 
 to the E. of Murray £300 Ster., which is more than I have 
 got in of his Effects. I have taken a positive resolution 
 to give up my Charge [the Petty factorship] unless I have 
 better encouragement for my Service, for I can declare 
 yt. that employment has been much money out of my 
 way by my loss of much Valuable time I spent about, 
 which, if hade been employed in my own private affairs, 
 I might have been in much better Circumstance than I am 
 at prest., besides the advance often of my own money to 
 please my Constituent. I am now growing old, and my 
 family encreseing, So that I must take ane oyr Course of 
 bussiness than for Some years I have done, oyrwise I know 
 not in time may come of me and famly. And you may 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 109 
 
 Judge if 200 Merks 1 A year be A Suitable reward for Such 
 a diversion as the Charge of Pettie is and has been for 
 many years past to me. I leave it to you to insinuatt 
 this much to my Ld. in yor. own prudent way ; and if his 
 Lop. come not North 111, God willing, go South in May to 
 tell from my own mouth to this purpose. Yor etc. 
 
 ZOffebry 1720. 
 
 To Messrs. Champbell Gerard and Dobson [Stockholm]. 
 
 The last time I hade occasion to write to you was pr. 
 the shipp Success of this pleace, Alexr. Dunbar Mr., that 
 was unhappily lost on the Swedish coaste near your pleace 
 wt. ane loadning herins. I say, when I wrote you pr. the 
 Sd. Shipp, it was in Compy. and by recomendation of 
 Mr. John Innes, Mercht. of Edr. ; Since [which] I have not 
 been favoured wt. any letter from you. However, doe 
 presume to give you this truble to advise you that in this 
 Country I can at present buy a good quantity of wet 
 Cod fish muded [mudded] 2 so as to carry in barrls with- 
 out pickle. Therfor, doe intreat that, how soon this comes 
 to hand, you '11 pleas advise me if Such fish would be a 
 Commodity wt. you, or what might yeald pr. barell of 32 
 English gallons, being good fish and well cured, and what 
 payt. Could be gott, whether Barter and of what kind, and 
 if in Specie, how the same will now ansuer in Exchange 
 with Sterl: money ; as also prices of herins, Iron, Coper, 
 panbress, 3 etc. with you. I will expect a Speedy returne, 
 Since, if the coad fish doe, you may expect to hear 
 further from, etc. 
 
 1 A mark=i3s. 4d. Scots, or, in the seventeenth century, is. ijd. sterling. 
 The Bailie's salary for the Petty factorship was thus only ^n, 2s. 2§d. sterling 
 per annum. 
 
 2 ' Mud fish ' and ' mudded fish ' are terms still in use among Aberdeen fish- 
 curers to denote cod fish salted wet, so as to make them keep without pickle. — 
 Letter from Mr. W. Grant, Aberdeen, to the Editor. 
 
 3 Brass for pans. 
 
110 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inv ernes, 10 March 1720. 
 
 My Lord Strathnaver. 
 
 Your Lop. may remember that when Mr. Innes, 1 Termit, 2 
 and I sent you the signed Contracts for the bear we bought, 
 there was at the same time a Letter wrot your Lop. signify- 
 ing that Termits recept or mine would be sufficient to Your 
 Lop. for sd. bear. Now I have oppertunity to Dispose of 
 it so as to have it presently caried away ; therfor I Desire 
 that, seing Mr. Innes nor Termit are [here], nor doe I 
 know when I can hear from them, Your Lop. will please 
 signify in return to this that the bear will be Delivered to 
 My order on Demand, conform to Contract, that is four 
 hundred bolls, at the port of Feriovens ; 3 and by this I 
 will be enabled to end fully with the Gentleman I am in 
 terms with, and Your Lop. will be secured in all respects 
 and events. And I think fitt to signify that, notwithstand- 
 ing the terms of payment for this bear is Lambas and 
 Mertimas, Yet I am Content to pay Most or all at Whit- 
 sunday, on Discount of the Common interest till it Fall 
 Due. And as to the Malt I shall take Speedie Course 
 with the receiving of it, not Doubting it will be sufficient 
 mercht. Ware. He take the 200 bolls more bear your Lop. 
 has @ 5 £ Scots pr. boll, Whitsunday payment, and the 
 200 [bolls] meall and 150 bolls malt 7 merks, Mertimass 
 payment being sufficient. 
 
 Inv ernes, 11th March 1720. 
 
 To Mr. Alexr. Mcintosh, Termite. 
 
 A. C [ousin], — Since you wrote me last I could find no 
 oportunity of a Ship to export the Bear wee bought of 
 My L. Strathnaver, and yrfore, rather than hazard our 
 Interest at uncertanties, I have Sold ye 400 bolls Bear 
 to Baillie Robertson at twentie pence pr. boll profite, qch. 
 
 1 John Innes, Merchant, Edinburgh. 2 Mackintosh of Termit. 
 
 :{ Feriovens is the little ferry across the mouth of Loch Fleet in Sutherland. 
 It is sometimes called ' Unis,' and is the ' Unes fl ' of Blaeu's Map. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 111 
 
 I think is much surer gaine than to export it, and the 
 Baillie promises to pay ye money very Soon. This I have 
 thought fit to Signify for yor. government, so as you might 
 make any bargain, or freight any Ship, for sd. Bear. 
 
 11th March 1720. 
 
 To Mr. Alexr. Andrews, Rotterdam. 
 
 I have yor. favours of 23d and 28 ultimo, qch. principally 
 advises of Mr. Turpins arrivall, that you ordered ye 
 Salmon pr. Scout from Amsterdam to Rotterdam Since 
 he drew too much water to come through Land. All I 
 can Say on ye matter is that I hope ye have taken Care of 
 our Interest in paying D. Turpins freight, and that you 
 Sold the Salmond, for I doe not fancie they should ly over 
 year. I reed. p. Andw. Watson half piece of Linnen and 
 a piece Musline and noe more ; But have no advice from 
 you about ye Same. You '11 mind to send me by ye 
 Margaret of this pleace, John McKenzie Mr., ye Burgundy 
 wine and Seven Ells Lace qch. I formerly Commissioned 
 for ; and, if good tobaco can be bought not exceeding 
 4 stivers pr. pd., may Send me pr. sd. Ship Margt. four 
 hogsheads in Turses ; but be sure it be really good fresh 
 goods, or don't send any. You may recommend my 
 Interest particularly to Mr. McKenzie, who will take 
 Speciall Care of it ; and I am, etc. 
 
 1/ Aprile 1720. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 This Serves to put you in mind to inquire after the 
 money insured on the Ship the Alexr. of this pleace by your 
 friend Mr. Sawden as you advised, which I think is 70 £ 
 Ster. I think the Story is so notour and Confirmed that 
 the Insurer will make no difficulty to pay on the common 
 discount ; but, to Satisfie him, May Show him My C[ousin] 
 Alexr. Steuarts own letter, dated the 29 Decemr. last, 
 from Miquinize, 1 wherein he tells the ship and Cargoe was 
 
 Mequinez or Mekinez in Morocco. 
 
112 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 lost going in over ye bar of Sallie. 1 This letter my friend 
 Culloden, 2 or Mr. Wm. Steuart, Our parlt. man, 3 will pro- 
 cure being Sent to London by the Comr., to be laid befor 
 the privy Councill ; So pray notice it, and if any affidavit 
 from my fayr. or me be requisite it shall be Sent you or 
 yor. Correspondent whenever you please. Pray enquire 
 if the Venetian Gellie be yet arrivd from the Mediterranean, 
 in which Ship my 2d Son Rot. is. If Arrived, Call for the 
 boy, know how he is, and give him yor best advice ; and 
 if you and Gilbert Gordon, who has gon from here for 
 London this day, would doe me the kindness to wait off 
 Capt. Jess, Comr. of sd. Ship, and spend ane guinea with 
 him, and thank him upon my account, It would be a 
 great favour, and I would repay you heartily. 
 
 Invernes, 6 May 1720. 
 
 Mr. John McLeod, advocat. 
 
 Andrew Scott, Meason, builds the Laird of McLeod's 
 tomb, 4 has Gott a great pairt of the stons Designed for 
 that Use here, and assures me that nixt week all will be 
 on the spott, soe that I have given him some Mony, and 
 the full of the 1000 merks due him by Contract Must be 
 payed nixt week. Therfor, according to Your Desire, I 
 have valued on You for one thousand merks scots at 
 15 days sight, payable to the Commissioners of excise ; 
 but shall take care that the same be applyed to the proper 
 use by Mr. Scott ; And I am etc. 
 
 Inverness, 20 May 1720. 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew, Sr., at Rotterdam. 
 
 I received your favour of 16th ultimo wh. brought the 
 
 1 Sali, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. 
 
 2 John Forbes of Culloden (' Bumper John '), who, on his death in 1734, was 
 succeeded by his brother Duncan, Lord Advocate, and afterwards Lord 
 President. 
 
 3 See p. 10, n. 
 
 4 The laird's tomb still stands in the Chapel Yard, Inverness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 113 
 
 Invoice of goods pr. Andrew Watson and John McKenzie 
 Barques, wh. goods came safe to hand, except that one 
 of the chids of burgundy had wanted one flask and had 
 ane other old broken flask, wh. Looks as if put in not full ; 
 and the half pc. of holland pr. sd. Watson measurs but 
 17| yds., wheras it shoud measure 19 yds. or thereby, being 
 charged at 25 Dutch yds. ; so youll inquire into these 
 mistakes and let them be redressd. The tubacco you 
 sent me is pretty good, but it and all hollands goods are a 
 drug here at present. I observe ye amount of my Invoice 
 is about 400 glds. ; so, when you can make ye accompt 
 of Sales of Salmond sent you by the Alexr. in anno 1718, 
 may make out my accompt Currt. and send it me. Being 
 informed yt. David Stivenson in ye Janet of this pleace 
 goes from London to Load wt. you for this frith, please 
 send me by the sd. ship two chids more of burgundy, but 
 take care that it be not quite so shweetish in the teast as 
 the last you sent me, for it is not thought quet so good as 
 the chid I had last year. And notice to transferr the price 
 of the chid of burgundy you charg'd to James Russell 
 accompt to myne. I got severall posts agoe the miserable 
 accompt of Sales of Salmond in Compt pr. Capt. Turpine, 
 by wc. we will be considerably Loosers. I find your porte 
 is a very poor precarious mercat for Salmond, having 
 seldom found profites on ye Commodity wt. you. Send 
 me wt. David Stivenson one pound of good tea for my own 
 use, and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 20 May 1720. 
 
 Aff. Son, 1 — I got last post yours with the three shirts 
 you returned. I observe your reason for not sending me 
 or now the Erie Murrays receipt for £40 Ster: sent you for 
 his Lordships accompt. You failed only in that you did 
 not write his Lordship that you had sd. money and only 
 wanted his receipt for the same ; but I expect or now it 's 
 call'd for, and yt. I will have a voucher for the same from 
 
 Alexander Steuart, apprentice to William Cumming, Edinburgh. 
 
 H 
 
114 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 you pr. first. I send you inclosed first bill Richd. Peddly 
 on Alexr. Innes at the Land tax office for £100 Ster:, wc. 
 you are to pay to the E. of Murrays order, and getting his 
 Lops, receipt in my name for sd. sume in parte payt. of my 
 accepted bill of £155 ster :, price of his Lops. Salmond I 
 bought Last year. May write to his Lops when ye bill is 
 payd, as I have done by this post. Deliver ye incloseds 
 as directed and get Sixteen pence from Mr. Steuart and 
 two shillings and four pence from Mr. James Cumming ; 
 and I am your afft. ffather. 
 
 [In a letter to William Lorimer, Chamberlain to the Earl 
 of Findlater, date 7th June 1720, the Bailie states 4 My 
 honest dear father has departed this life the 22nd Aprile.'] 
 
 17th June 1720. 
 
 John McKenzie, Mr. of ye Margret of Inverness. 
 
 This servs to advise you that G. Gordon, being lately 
 arrived here from London, does assure me that if ye pro- 
 ceed from Yarmouth to London you can't miss yor full 
 cargoe of goods for this pleace. Therefor I desire how Soon 
 you are discharged at Yarmouth you proceed accordingly 
 thither, and address yor Self to Mr. Joseph Fakney, and 
 cause ship for my Accot., which shall Serve you for ballast, 
 4000 well fired bricks, provideing you get them free aboard 
 at 11 or 12 sh. Str. pr. 1000. And after you have got in 
 what Merchandise you can expect, please full up all yor 
 empty room with fresh barrell hoops for my accot. And 
 if you have not money to pay for the Same, address your 
 Self to Mr. George Auchterlony, my Correspondent, and 
 draw on me for any litle money you '11 want. Take Care 
 in buying the hoops that ye medle with few or no pints or 
 half barrell ware, Since they are Scarce vendable here. 
 Buy for me the following particulars, Vizt., a Doz. hard 
 mettall trenchers for broath, two English quart botles of 
 the best eating florence oyl, a house lantern to hold two 
 Candles, and a garden Spade. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 115 
 
 June 30, 1720. 
 
 To Mr. Wm. Cuming, Edinr. 
 
 Wee herewith remitt you fifty two pounds four shillings 
 and four pence half pennie Str., as also two bills, Each 
 for the like value of £52 : 4 : 4 J Str., payll. to Messrs. Hugh 
 and Archd. Hamilton, Merchts. in Edinr., upon the first 
 days of August and Octor. next respective. Wee send you 
 likeways inclosed the Scroll of a Contract past betwixt 
 John Innes, Mert. in Edinr., and James Russell and part- 
 ners on the oyr. part, by which youll See the whole affair, 
 and what wee are obliged to perform. It seems Mr. Innes 
 has some time past assigned this Contract to Messrs. 
 Archd. and Hugh Hamiltons, Upon which James Russell 
 to his great surprise is lately charged with horning, Not- 
 withstanding, as you '11 See by the Contract, he 's only 
 obliged to accept bills for his own fourth share of ye 
 Cargoe, and was expecting ever Since the goods were 
 Delivered to have Seen Some person in Mr. Hamiltons 
 name who would have cancelled the Contract and taken 
 bills in terms yrof ; but to this hour he had no oyr. demand 
 made on him but this horning. Now what Wee are to 
 desire of you, that you immediatly call for sd. Messrs. 
 Hamiltons and make offer to them of the above Sum of 
 £52 : 4 : 4| Ster., As also of the two bills Containing each 
 the like Sum, Upon their granting to the sd. James Russell 
 a full discharge of ye Contract, qch. wee hope will not be 
 refused. Wee think fit to advise you that James Russell 
 has got a Summonds befor the Admirall Court upon this 
 Same head again ye 19 day of Jully next ; but for what all 
 this work and bussell with a man that inclines to doe just 
 things I can't understand. Wee desire you may communi- 
 cate this letter to John Innes, who was bargan master, and 
 tell him that he knows very well that Mr. Russell was to 
 be noe farther concerned than for his own fourth share of 
 that bargain, and that wee hope he '11 see that he getts noe 
 needless trouble Since he offers to pay his Share honestly. 
 But, in case Messrs. Hamiltons does not agree to this 
 
116 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 proposall, Wee desire that you by ye advice of Comissar 
 Steuart See to make the best defence in law possible by 
 Suspending or makeing the oyr. necessary defences ; and 
 wee hereby promise to pay all needfull charges on this 
 head. Wee send you for your direction the Charge of 
 horning, and ye Charge befor the Admirall inclosed, also 
 the £166 : 13 : 1 \ Ster. included in the two bills and money 
 Sent you. Wee Suppose will fall a litle short of the full 
 price of Liquors Contained in the Contract ; but least that 
 should be any obstacle in the affair we desire you may pay 
 in for us what it wants, and it shall be thankfully payed 
 you ; and we are Yours James Russell. 
 
 John Steuart. 
 
 1st Jully 1720. 
 
 To Ditto. 
 
 I wrote to you of yesterday's date in Company with 
 James Russell, to which referrs. Notwithstanding I 
 mentioned ye £52. ster. you are to pay Messrs. Hamiltons 
 to be in the former letter, yet you shall receive it here 
 inclosed in bank noats, Vizt. 8 £5 noats one 10£ noat, and 
 2 twenty shillings Ditto ; and please advance ye four 
 shill. and 4 pence half pennie and pleace the Same to my 
 Accot. . . . 
 
 Accot. of bank noats sent to Wm. Cuming pr. ye bag 
 ye 1st Jully 1720. 
 
 Ten pound Nr. f x 
 Five pound Nr. -g-ff^- 
 5 pound No. x f J x 
 5 pound No. 
 5 pound T| fil w 
 5 pd. Nr. T ^__ 
 
 5 pd. sU (T 
 5 pd. Yti*5TG 
 
 5 P d - tttjW 
 
 1 pd. ^SlIS 
 
 1 Pd- Mr- 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 117 
 
 29 July 1720. 
 
 Mr. James Cuming, Edr. 
 
 I have sold about half of your butt of Cherie to the Laird 
 of Grant 1 and Strathnavers 2 funeralls @ 30d pr. pynt. 
 Doe expect no money for it untill Mertimass. I most 
 sell the rest of it considerable cheaper, to be rid of it, 
 which is the best I can doe. I 'm told there is a good 
 prospect of a herin fishing here. 
 
 5 August 1720. 
 
 To the Earle of Morray. 
 My Lord 
 
 I received your Lops, favour of 15th last moneth, wt. the 
 deceast Mr. Denoon 3 his bonds to your Lops., wc. shall take 
 care to apply towards payt. of your Lops, share of the 
 comprizing of the manse of Petty. I observe what your 
 Lops, writs anent my buying your Salmond this year. I 
 wrote some time agoe to Sundry merkats for advice, and 
 as yet have got few answers, but such as I have gott are 
 not realy encourageing ; so that, if your Lop. find a mer- 
 chant that will take them at a higher price then I gave last 
 year, I dare not adwise to forbear dissposeing of them, 
 since I belive when I have got all the adwices I expect I 
 will not be able to come up to Last years price, and the 
 rather that the quantity will be much greater then formerly; 
 and for the two last years I bought them I declare I lost 
 above one hundred guineas by them. In the mean time 
 the ballance I owe for last years fish will certainly remitted 
 nixt post. 
 
 1 Brigadier Alexander Grant of Grant, died at Leith on his way home from 
 London, on 19th August 1719, and was buried in the Chapel Royal, Holyrcod* 
 
 2 Lord Strathnaver died 19th July 1720. 
 
 3 The Rev. Alex. Denune, minister of Petty. See p. 41, n. 
 
118 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Mr. Will: Cuming, Ednr. 
 
 Inverness, 12 Augt. 1720. 
 
 I have your favour of 4th Curt. wt. James Russells 
 acceptance of £52 : 14 : 4 J Ster: to Messrs. hamiltoun Dis- 
 charged. I wish you would write to Mr. Soden of London 
 and desire him remitt you the ballance due on the insurance 
 made on the Aleccr. for my account. Since I received your 
 last I have not seen James Russell, but how soon I doe shall 
 order him to apply Termitt on the Subject you write off ; 
 but for my own pairt I care not to medle into it for certain 
 reasons. I have spok to Mr. Geddes to deliver me accord- 
 ing to your orders Mr. Zacharie McAulas 1 bill for the value 
 of it, but he refuses to give me the bill to be transmitted 
 you this post since nixt week he expected payt. of it. Im 
 glade to find you have got upsides wt. McDonald. I 
 observe what you write anent the fishery now setting up 
 with you. Im litle acquent with that project, as it 's Laid 
 doun. However, if you and the Generality of Merchts. at 
 Edr. be reconsiled wt. the reasonableness of it, Im content 
 to take a concerne for what sume you '11 bid me not exceed- 
 ing £1000 Ster. So shall expect your Sentiments about it 
 and your advice nixt post, which shall determine. 
 
 Mr. James Cuming, Eder. 
 
 Inverness, 12 August 1720. 
 
 Sir, — I have your favour of 4th Curt., with the inclosed 
 to William Tolmie, which have perused, and am sorie he 
 has given you ground of Complaint. He has not yet 
 payed the bill you sent me Accepted by him, tho I doubt 
 not he will upon Demand, as he has promised. The herin 
 fishing has hitherto failed, but some fishermen Came in 
 this morning assure that nothing hinders a good fishing 
 but the Easterly winds that now blow. In the mean time 
 
 1 Zachary Macaulay, Stornoway, brother of the Rev. John Macaulay, grand- 
 father of Lord Macaulay. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 119 
 
 all Your Cask ordered for William and Hugh Ross are, as 
 I suppose, now at Cromarty, ther being Last week 30 Last 
 caried thither from Chanorie by Mr. Cumings sloop. How- 
 soon I find the fishing begins He goe Down to Chanonre and 
 Cromarty to see that your affairs goe on right, tho I can 
 promise but Litle attendance that Way. I Return your 
 bill of f500 hollands on Robert Gordon, Accepted, and 
 14d. pence Charges in getting it negotiat. I am, etc. 
 
 [The Earl of Moray.] 
 
 Inverness, 19 August 1720. 
 
 May it please Your Lop., — I wrot to your Lop. the 
 12th Instant, when I sent your Lop. bill inclosed for £55 
 Sterling (which I doubt not will answer punctualy) towards 
 compleat payment of my bills of last years Salmond, 
 except 5 Shillings and lOd. which will liekways make 
 good. I told your lop. in my last that if your lop. found a 
 mercht. for the salmon this year to dispose of them, 
 reserving fifty Barlls for me at the price the rest was 
 disposed of. Now this Serves cheifly to advise your 
 lodship that if the Salmond is not disposed of I will now 
 take the whole at last years, which is fifty Shillings Sterline 
 p. barll, with a fifth pairt rebait for grilses, of which there 
 are wery few in your lordsp. fishing this year. I expect your 
 Lop. will comply to this, and advise James Russell Accord- 
 ingly, and He give him my bill for the price, payable at 
 Whitsunday ; and I can pay them sooner He be sure to 
 doe it. Farquar Mcgilivray is gone South with a drove of 
 catle, and promised to pay your lop. fifty pound str. on 
 my accot., in which I hope he will not faill. I am waiting 
 your Lop. answer. My Lord, Your Lop. most oblidged. 
 
 Inverness, 19 Augst. 1720. 
 
 Mr. George Auchterlony, Edr. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour of 12 July, in which I have 
 no positive advice anent the price of Salmon with you, 
 which mad me hitherto undetermined what orders to Send 
 
120 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 you, Since, without knowing the price at London, I could 
 not well determin my Self in a price with my f rends the 
 Sellers here ; but last night Georg Urquhart of Cromarty 
 wrot me that you had advised him that you had Sold a 
 parcell for him at 55 shilling pr. barll., without telling me 
 any other particular anent the bargain. However, I 
 hereby impower you to Sell two hundred barlls. for me at 
 the Same price and on the Same terms you have Sold for 
 George Urquhart, or better, if you can ; for I can assure 
 you my Salmon is of better quality then his, being all of 
 the fishing of the rivers Spey and Findhorn. I expect 
 your answer with a full accot. of what you doe in this 
 matter without loss of time ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Messrs. Marjoribanks and Coutts, Dantzick. 
 
 Inverness, 22 Augt. 1720. 
 
 Gentlemen, — This goes by the barque Marjorie of 
 Inverness, Daniel Fraser, master, and brings you inclosed 
 bill of loadning for 13 small packs of lambsckins, which 
 contean, as per inclosed bill of parcells, on Thousand and 
 ninetie on duzans mort lambskins, three hundred and 
 sixty larger lambskins commonly called Small Slaughter 
 Skins, one hundred and thirtie five fox skins, 60 \ otter 
 skins ; which skins I desire you may dispose of pr. wery 
 first to the best avail ; and after my pairt of the owtward 
 fraight is payed, being as per Charterparty, £22 Ster. 
 fraight, and 20s. Caplaken in all, to be payed at the Currt. 
 Exchange, which is to be equaly proportioned on all the 
 Skines aboord. I say when the fraight and my proportion 
 of all other charges be payed you are to Credit Mr. David 
 Lonie of this pleace with the net proceeds of 217 mort, 
 and 130 Dz. Slaughter Do., 89 Fox Skins, 42 otters do., 
 Six Catts. These furrs are conteaned in the packe N ii 
 and 12, and you are to folow his own orders Sent you by 
 the master as to the Goods he calls for. Notice that 
 besides the above things you are to Credit me with 20 dz. 
 morts of Lachlan Mackintosh his parcell ; from the net pro- 
 ceeds of all which you are to Ship for my risque and accot. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 121 
 
 16 Ship pd. iron, J Champaleon, § midlin Iron, one lentren 
 Steel, four half Chests of Brimar window glass of the best 
 kind, 150 Spruce Ston Flax in Six packs of the best, Six 
 barells washing Soap in 4 and 8 parts equalie, about 
 500 lib. Sheet coper conform to the within noat to be 
 done up in two Sheeted bundles, the coils white rope from 
 6 to 12 threads ; and, if there is any wast room after all 
 the Commissions are obeyed, please Ship a great hundred 
 barell staves for Salmond Cask, about 32 inches long each, 
 for my accot. You are to pleace the walue of the goods 
 to my accot., and walue on me payable in this pleace, if 
 posible, for for what ballance I may hapen to be due 
 you ; and be sure you order Mr. Alexr. Andrew of Rotter- 
 dam to Insure for my accot. the full value of these goods, 
 as also six hundred gilders hollands on the Hold of the 
 barque. ... I told you befor that according to Charter 
 pairty each fox and other skin pays fraight equal to a dz. 
 of lambskins ; so you '11 take care that there be no con- 
 cealment of the quantity shipped here, so as all may pay 
 fraight Equalie. . . . 
 
 Directions to Daniel Fraser on his Voyage to Dantzick. 
 
 Inverness, 22d Augt. 1720. 
 
 So, frend, you are to proceed derectly for Dantzick, 
 where you are to adress your Self to Mr. Alexr. Coutts, and 
 deliver him my letter, who is to receive your cargoe and 
 pay you outward freight, and to ship your homward 
 loadning. When you receive your fraight at Dantzig, 
 and payed own and mens half wages, you are to buy for 
 my accot. above 300 ccwts. tarred ropes, well sorted, for 
 running riging for a Ship, from 9 threed to three inch or 
 three and \ inch ropes. It. 30 fathoms Shrud rops, four 
 inches thick, for to be four Shruds for the Margat, and 
 20 fathoms ditto, 4 \ inches round, to be as par of main 
 Shruds for Sd. ship. It. buy from 20 to 30 firr plank, from 
 16 to 20 foot long, and 1| to 2 inch thick, to ly under the 
 Iron in the hold, and take care they be good heart plank, or 
 red firr. It. Shoat or 60 Dantzik ells Silesia lining [linen] 
 
122 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 of the broadest Sort, the one half at 20 gross pr. ell, and the 
 other about 30. Buy liekways two small caves with best 
 double Strong Dantzig waters, each cave to contean about 
 4 Dantzig Stoaps or 4 Scots pts. Buy liekways a barell 
 full of the best white peese for the barkes use and mine ; 
 a shufle of Carline peese for present eating. Mind to sell 
 James Russells two barells pork, and buy for his use the 
 walue in Soap ; and mind to Stoap the fraight of the pork, 
 and the barell Soap Shipt by Angus Mackintosh, Junior. 
 Be sure to writt wher ever you happen to touch ; and if 
 Should, as God forbid, your barque Should meet with any 
 misfortune by storm or other ways, you and your Crew are 
 to make Efidavit before the first Majistrat you can find, 
 wh. you are to forward to me pr. first. 
 
 Mind to Sloat your Barque with Barell Staves of 32 inch 
 long for Salmond Cask, and let all Soap and Selable goods 
 be Stored out of the way ; and be sure you alow no brandy 
 to be Shiped by any of your crew. I pray be carefull of 
 all goods Shipt, that there be no damage imbaselment ; 
 and let my goods be first Shipt at Dantzick, and my Soap 
 Keeped at hand for running ; and take notice that you 
 come not above Chanry Ness or Chery Road till all your 
 soap be out ; and I am, Your 
 
 If William Binie Desires two barell bulk home, let him 
 have it ; as also Hugh Robertson, William Mackintosh, 
 and Bailie Fraser, a barell bulk Each. 
 
 Mr. Georg Auchterlony, Lond. 
 
 Inverness, 9 7ber 1720. 
 
 Sir, — My last to you was the 26 ulto, which, with my 
 former of 19 do., was advising you to insure for my accot. 
 on the barque Marjorie of this place, from this to Dantzig, 
 £130 St. ; and I hope to be advised of your Complyance in 
 course. Now this comes Cheefly to give you the trouble 
 of reading, Sealing, and delivering the inclosed and Sub- 
 joined letter to Cap tine Jessy, of the Venetian Gelly. 
 Youl see it retails to a young lad, a son of myne, that took 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 123 
 
 a fancy about two years agoe to try a Voyage or tuo at 
 Sea with Sd. Capt. Jessy, who is leatly arrived at London, 
 from whence my Sd. Son, Robert Steuart, writts me a 
 letter compleaning that this last Voyage he has been wery 
 much neglected by the Capt., and maltreated by the under 
 officers of the Ship, and Seems inclyned to be rid of Sd. 
 Ship. It is true I am not wery apt to listin much to 
 Compleants of this kind, fearing the boy may be in the 
 wrong on way or other, disobliged the Capt. ; and there- 
 fore I must beg leave to truble you to call for the boy, 
 and to discourse him about the grounds of his compleant, 
 and, if Just, please advise me, but whither So or oyrways 
 please take the truble to discourse the Capt., and give him 
 a hearty botle of wine on my Charges, and gett his Car- 
 acter of the boy, and pay him the Contents of the inclosed 
 Accot., being £8:1:6 Sterline, And what further he has 
 debursed on the boys accot. Since first of Augt. 1719. 
 And after you have discoursed the Capt. and the boy, 
 youle then be able to Judge if Sd. Capt. has been in the 
 wrong or not. If he has, I doe not incline to have my Son 
 undergoe needless hardships ; and So youl pleace derect 
 the boy to boord himself in Some house in the Citty at as 
 frougall a rate as posible untill he can aquire a litle of what 
 he begun to learn last year in navigation, and writting, 
 Arithmetick, and in which I supose a month or two may 
 doe pretty much ; and then he may take passage to Leith 
 or hither homeward. The Expence of this manteanance 
 at London, and what may bring him home, please to pay, 
 as also his Capts. accot. for which you are to value on me, 
 and your bill Shall find due honour ; and I am Your, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 16 7ber 1720. 
 
 Comisser Steuart, Edr. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 25t Ultimo with the Copy of 
 your Broyrs letter of 2d June last, which wery melting and 
 deplorable. In the meantime its comfortable that he, 
 his Broyr, and Crew are Still alive, and in health ; and I 
 hope Capt. Steuart Expedition from England to the Court 
 
124 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 of Moroca will have the wished for Success towards their 
 relif, which I pray God grant. I should have answered 
 your last much Sooner, but, being almost perswaded that 
 you was on your Jurny north, I forbore writting. Thomas 
 Alves did Communicat to me your letter to him of 8th 
 Currt., and, least owr poor f rinds in Captivity should want, 
 or you too much Streatned on their accot., I have, by 
 advice of the managers Concerned in the Contributions 
 for their accots., Sent to my Son Bill Major Sly on Alex- 
 ander Inneys, payable on Sight, for £56 Ster., which Bill 
 is indorsed to you ; and for it yow are to give my Son 
 your Recept, promising to apply the Same for the use of 
 your Broyr Alex: and Donald and Crew, which fealing, to 
 return the Same to Thomas Alves and me being Countable 
 to the Contributors for what wee have received, and for 
 yt reason only it is that we demand a recept of This 
 kind of you. 
 
 To the Earle of Morray, Danibirsle. 
 
 Inverness, 2Srd 7ber 1720. 
 
 May it Please your Lop., — I have your lop.'s favour 
 of 14th Currt wherin I observe your lop. is anxious to 
 have your bond for £313 Sterline, with interest since 
 18th August 1719, retired from the Lady Kinminity 
 [Kinmundy] by Your Lops, rents for Cropt 1719. I 
 thought my Self obliged to Inform your Lop. without loss 
 of time (and I am sorie to tell it) that it will not be in my 
 power to retire that bond at the term of Mertimass, either 
 by your Lops. Efects or my own, for Declaire Since ever I 
 was concerned in Petty I could never get comand one 
 hundred pound Sterline of your Lops, rents at preciesly 
 at Martimass ; and your Lop. must know that of last 
 Crop the tenants of Pettie did not deliver 500 bolls bear, 
 the Cropt being Exceeding bad and Scarce ; and this 
 year there bear Cropt is nothing better, but oats and ry 
 wery good. Besides, our brewers in this pleace think it 
 wery good payment if they pay there Martimass any time 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 125 
 
 before the first of January, and Some not before Candle - 
 mass. So, as I said, I dare not promise this year that 
 £100 will answer precisly at Mertimass, doe I what I 
 please. How ever, Since I find your Lop. so pressing as 
 to the payment of this Ladies Bond, He endeavour, tho 
 should put 20 Irons in the fire, to make good about Marti- 
 mass, that is, again the first of December nixt, about 
 200£ Ster. ; and therafter your Lop. will writt to James 
 Russell to Concur with me in getting the rest of the mony 
 mad up. And, failing of that, I know Dawson, that buys 
 your Lop. Salmond, can Easily do it, for he sells all to 
 Londoners for ready mony. . . . 
 
 To Rob: Steuart, my Son. 
 
 30 Septr. 1720. 
 
 Afft. Son, — I wrote to you lately under cover to your 
 brother, to wc. I have no returne as yet. And since I 
 wrote to my friend Mr. George Auchterlony, mercht., 
 London, anent you, and sent him, towards clearing Capt. 
 Jesse, what is due him on your acct. a bill of Sixteen pds. 
 ster:, wt. orders to advance what furder wou'd be needfull 
 to clear you off from London, and bring you home by the 
 first occasion of a Ship for this place or Leith. And now 
 I positively desire you repair home hither without loss of 
 time by first occasion offers. Your brother writs me you 
 had a notion of undertaking a farr woyage, but I forbide 
 you to harbour any Such thoughts ; and you know, I 
 hope, if you disobey my commands you cannot prosper 
 the better ; but I hope you will not. So, referring what I 
 wrote Mr. Ochterlony about you, I am, etc. 
 
 30 Sept. 1720. 
 
 To Alexr. my Son, Edr. 
 
 Aft. Son, — I received yours pr. last post, and wt. it 
 Comissr. Steuarts receipt of £50 Ster: value of Major 
 Sleighs bill, wc. is very well. I send you inclosed a letter 
 to your Brother Robert, wc. read, and forward pr. first. 
 
126 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 You most write him pressingly to come home, for I think 
 I am best Judge what is best for him ; and, if he dissobey 
 my commands, he may smart for it when too late ; but 
 I hope he knows more of his duty, and will not play the 
 fool. Give my Service to your Mr., and tell him that 
 James Russell intreats of him to speak to Mr. Hamilton 
 to forbear payt. of his accepted bill, payable the first of 
 October, untill the first of Novr., and that he will pay his 
 bill wt. interest thankfully at that time, being at present 
 scarce of money, as to wc. advise me what Mr. Hamilton 
 Says. Your Grandfathers drab coat, wt. all his other 
 cloath, are dissposed off, being but of very litle value. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Gumming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Inverness, 7th October 1720. 
 
 Sir, — I send you inclosed John Forbes, Writter at Edr., 
 his note, I mean Mr. Duncan Forbes 1 Nefew, for nine 
 quadruples of Spanish Gold, and two Guineas, which is 
 all I recevd from Balie Barbour, Except 3 sh. an 6d. of 
 mony, which I would not truble him to carry you. So 
 you may pleace the Same to my accot. Balie Barbour 
 only received on Mr. Youngs accot. nine quadrouples and 
 3 pistoles, of wh. he payd in to the Gentleman that de- 
 livered him the Gold 3s. ; and one Sh. more he stoped for 
 portage of letters. So that I think he has Exactly balanced 
 that accot. I think I have answered your orders by 
 Sending your Gold. 
 
 To Mr. John McLeod [Advocate] Edr. 2 
 
 Inverness, 21st 8ber 1720. 
 
 Sir, — I drew on you fourteen days agoe for £5:1:6 
 Ster. for like value payd to Andrew Scott, Meason, in part 
 payment of what you are due him pr. Contract for build- 
 ing McLeods Monument. Now I have drawn on you of 
 
 1 See p. U2, n. 2. 
 
 2 See p. 112. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 127 
 
 this deat for the Sd. Andrew Scotts accot., conform to 
 your orders, £24 pou: 18s : 6d. Ster:, payable at 3 days 
 Sight to my Son, Alexr. Steuart, to which I doubt not 
 youle give punctuall Comply ance. I understand that 
 towards Martimass the thousand merks resting be bond 
 by James Thomson and his f rind Matheson to your deceast 
 broyr Contiluch will be pd. ; So, if you please to Send the 
 bond to me, He receive your mony, and dispose of it as 
 youle advise and I am, Your Most Hum. 
 
 Mr. Georg Achterlony, London, 
 
 Inverness, 28t Sber 1720. 
 
 Sir, — I have your favour of 15th Instant, and I return 
 yow hearty thanks for your care in inquiring into my Son 
 Roberts compleants of his treatment with Capt. Gesse 
 and I am pleased he is over them his resentment, and 
 resolves to proceed another voyage with sd. Capt. Since 
 he inclynes not to come home as I ordered. Give my 
 humble Service to Capt. Gesse, and asure him from me 
 that what kindness and good offices he does my Son will 
 be gratefully remembered. I observe my bill of £15 : 17 : 8 
 Sterline on Leut. Ritherfourd is paid, and that you was to 
 pay Capt. Gesse on my Son accot. from sd. bill £10 : 18 : 6 
 Sterline, and have given my Son a litle mony and was to 
 give Some more, which is all well ; but will have yow 
 take notice that, if my Son make any Extravagant demand 
 on you, you are not to comply, nor doe I mean to alow you 
 to Judge. Please take his recept for what mony you give 
 him, which please forward to me, and the ballance due you 
 will be thankfully pd. I saw Mr. Dawson the other day, 
 and he is now wery sencible that his sending Comissions 
 this year to London without Concerting Measures with 
 Georg Urquhart and me has been a considerable loss to 
 himself and oyrs, and I supose youle send that matter 
 nixt year upon a better fitting, and I hope to your advan- 
 tage and owrs. The barque Magory of this pleace, for 
 which you insured leatly 130 £ Ster. on my accot. in the 
 hands of Mr. Richard Cambridge, Sailed from this port 
 
128 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 for Dantzig 23d Augt. last, Since which I have no accot. 
 of her ; So that now I begin to fear all is not well with sd. 
 barque, and I pray God send good news of her. Please 
 deliver the inclosed to my Son, and I wish it may prewent 
 my orders in my last ; and I am, etc. 
 
 To the Lady Kilmundy. 
 
 Inverness, 5t Nov. 1720. 
 
 Madam, — The Earle of Morray writt to me Some time 
 agoe advising that he was due you by bond £313 Ster., 
 with some interest, and his Lop. was peremter to pay 
 that mony at this tearme. I have therefor Sent this 
 Express to accquent you that again the tenth of next month 
 your mony will be ready, and therefor in return to this 
 please accquent me where you will have this mony payd, 
 for it will be equall to me whither here or at Edr. ; but 
 Either Case its fitt that Some trustie be Sent here that 
 will Clear with me and give up the Earle of Murrays ; and 
 if your Lap. thinks this payment will be a little too late 
 after the tearme, your intrest Shall be payd to a day. 
 Your positive answer is Expected by, Madam, Your etc. 
 
 Mr. John McLeod, Edr. 
 
 Inverness, 18 Nov. 1720. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Sir Keneth Mackenzie of Scatuall sent me 
 this day twelve hundered Merks which he desir'd to be 
 remitted you pr. first, and accordingly I Send you inclos'd 
 bill Major Samuel Sliegh on Alexr. Innes, payable to your- 
 self, for £66 : 13 : 4d. Sterling, which is Equivolent to the 
 Sume I received from Scatwall ; So youl advise pr. first 
 that the bill is come to your hands and of its Success. 
 Andrew Scott is pressing to have the last payment in his 
 contract for the tomb. I think there will be no hazard 
 to give it Since the outer wall is built to the Capston or 
 tableing ; and I am, etc. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 129 
 
 Mr. George Faulconer. 
 
 Inverness, 31 Decbr. 1720. 
 
 Sir, — I got your favour of 20th Curt., wt. ten small 
 bills on Sundrys in this pleace, drawn by Mr. Alexr. Couts 
 of Danzig, payll on moneth after Sight, accepted, and the 
 tenth on Mr. Lachlen Mcintosh. He wou'd not accept 
 this post, but or nixt you may expect it. Since Mr. 
 Mcintosh chiefly means by delaying acceptance to gain a 
 litle time I thought it wou'd be more in the drawers 
 favour to delay on post than returne the bill protested ; 
 and I hope youll not think whats done amiss, for I belive 
 your money will be very good. I have promised to the 
 acceptors of the inclosed bills that, tho their money doeth 
 not come to your hands precisely as their bills falls due, 
 that you '11 spare them a few days befor you protest their 
 bills, considering the present scarcity of money every 
 where. Some friends and I have at present a good ship 
 on our West Cost load wt. about 56 lasts fine Lewis herrings. 
 The Mr. is by Charterparty obliged, when the Season 
 alows, to procede to the Baltick or Hamburg in our obtion. 
 If to Hamburg gets three pouds ten shill. pr. last freight 
 out and home. If to Danzig or Stockholme gets £4 : 10s. 
 pr. last ; but is obliged to return to London, Leith, or New 
 Castel in our obtion, or to this place. The Ship is ordered 
 hither that all the Cargoe may be unload and packed 
 before the Ship procede to the Sound in the Spring. Now 
 if your self or any of your good acquaintances would in- 
 cline to buy this Cargo at a reasonabl price, and take 
 assignation of our Charter party, you may write me pr. 
 first wt. the terms on wc. wou'd purchass Such a Cargo. 
 I am, Sir, etc. 
 
 Bills returned accepted : — 
 
 John Steuart for £50 Da: Hoom . £12 : 0 : 0 
 
 Do. for . 3 Alexr. Mcln- 
 
 B[ailie] William Fraser 32 tosh, Termit 8:5:4 
 
 Hugh Roberston . 19 John Fraser . 2 : 15 : 9 
 
 Wills Binny . £18:1:4 Tho: Alves . 2 : 2 : 10J 
 
 I 
 
130 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Mr. John Gesse [London]. 
 
 Inverness, 30 9ber 1720. 
 Sir, — At the desire of your brother, Capt. Willm. Jesse, 
 I presume to give you the trouble of sealing and forwarding 
 the inclosed under your covert for Venice : it is for a young 
 lad is along with your Brother, who is my Son. I wrote 
 to your Brother Some time agoe informing him I had a 
 mind to send him a hhd. of good ffrench Clarett when I 
 could find a proper opportunity. He returned me answer 
 if I sent him any wine to adress it to you. Now I must 
 informe you thatt all our ffrench wine in this Country is 
 gone quit wrong, being all prickt this year ; but in March 
 or Aprile nixt I expect a parcell of good new strong wine, 
 and then you may expect to hear from me, that is, if proper 
 clearances can be gott to keep it from seasure when it 
 comes to London ; or if you '11 write me a direction how 
 to gett it Safe wtout a proper clearance, I 'le folow your 
 Direction. I am, Sir, etc. 
 
 Messrs. Andrews and Gerard [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Inverness, 13 J amy 1721. 
 Last post we have a letter of the 31st Ultimo N: S: 
 which brought us the following melancholy particulars 
 from Alexr. Ross, Mercht. in Copenhagen, anent owr 
 barque the Majorie of Inverness, Daniel Fraser, Master, 
 bound homward from Dantzig, Vizt. that about the 20th 
 December N: S: the Sd. Barque, in her way homward from 
 Dantzig, was forced by a violent Storm to anker 3 Danish 
 miles southward from Copenhagen, in which pleace, the 
 Storm increasing wery violently, and See being full of ice, 
 the Master and the crew, it seems, dispairing of Safty for 
 their lives in the barque, betook themselves to their boat 
 in order to get ashoar, being five in number ; but, misfor- 
 tunately, falling in among ice and broken water, the boat 
 was overturned, by which the master and two of the crew 
 were drowned, and only the remaining tuo narowly escaped. 
 But the barque being left at an anker hapned to rid out the 
 Storm (as we judge by owr information) ; and Som days 
 thereafter, the Storm being over, one John Wan Oste, a 
 Danish Sea Captain, went on boord the barque, having 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 131 
 
 owr tuo Surviving men and Some Danish Sailers alongs 
 with him, who on the 25th of that month N: S:, brought 
 the barque Safe into Copenhagen harbour, where, for 
 ought wee know, the barque and the Cargoe remain still 
 safe. But sd. John Van Ost writes us yt. he expects, con- 
 form to the coustome of Denmark, full salvage and Charges 
 for saving of sd. Barque and Cargoe, as taken up at sea in 
 the most desperate Case, which Mr. Rose, in his letter to 
 us explains to be a third of Ship and Cargoe, besides 
 charges, which we think is a wery exorbitant demand. 
 However, as it apears by your severall advices to us of 
 22d Novr. last, that William Mackay had got insured on 
 sd. Barque Cargoe F830. Hoi. and John Steuarts F1950 
 Hoi. upon the Barque and Cargoe, both policies being signed 
 be your Companie, we think, as the Compa. will be lyable 
 for owr damages, it will be their interest to adjust their 
 salvadge and Charges that falls on the Ship and owr pro- 
 portions of the Cargoe with sd. Van Ost, who writs us he 
 was to unload the Cargoe for his own security. Therefor, 
 wee hope you will use the needfull means for owr interest, 
 and advise Mr. Alexr. Ross of Copenhagen what it will be 
 necessary for him to doe in the mean time for our interests, 
 who writts that he will Send the necessary documents to 
 any wee ordered, in the case of insurance being made ; 
 and we have writt him of this date to Send the Same to 
 you, which orders please confirm to Mr. Ross, if nedfull. 
 And for your further goverment we Send you dubles of 
 our Invoyces from Dantzig, atested, and owr bills of 
 Loadning, as also John Steuart declaration anent his 
 property on the Ship, which is all that occurs us to doe at 
 present ; only that we think to tell you that the mony 
 we insured upon the barque and Cargoe comes So near the 
 full value of owr interests that, Should the Insurance 
 masters demurr in paying of our damage in Copenhagen, 
 we are willing to asign them to owr interests in Ship and 
 Cargoe upon payment of owr mony insured ; but we 
 leave it to you to doe for owr interests as Seems you best. 
 
 [John Steuart.] 
 [William Mackay.] 
 [Lachlan Mackintosh.] 
 
132 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, ISth J amy. 1721. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Ross, Copenhagen. 
 
 Sir, — Wee see yours to John Stcuart of 31st ultimo 
 N. S. in wh. we have the disagreeable news of the death of 
 Honest Donald Fraser and tuo of his crew, as also that 
 our barque the Majorie of this pleace was brought safe 
 of the 23rd ditto into your harbour of Copenhagen, and 
 that a Danish Captain, who, with the assistance of our 
 tuo surviving men, did so secure the barque and cargoe, 
 demand a third part of the full value of both hyr and 
 cargoe as salvadge, besides chareges. Wee think fitt to 
 advise you that we have a letter of same date with yours 
 from one John Vanoste, who appears to be the same 
 Danish Capt. you mention, who wrett a full accot. of 
 what has hapned much in substance as you doe, but does 
 not condescend on what proportion off value of ship and 
 cargoe he would have, but asks yt. he expects to be payd 
 for salvadge and charges according to the coustome of the 
 country, which indeed we doe not undertsand. In the 
 meantime, he tells us he is to unload the cargoe for his 
 security, which wee think is more than he can be answer- 
 able to doe. However, after returning you our most 
 hearty thanks for your kind and good officis for owr 
 interests, this service only to advise you, and, notwith- 
 sanding of what wee writt in a seperat letter of this date 
 anent the whole Cargoe, you are to take notice that our 
 particular Interests are fully Insured. We have of this 
 date advised Messrs. Robert Gerard and Alexander 
 Andrews, Merchts. of Rotterdam, to corispond with you 
 in this affair, and to give you the needfull derections for 
 sending them the needfull atestations and documents for 
 recovering owr damage of the Insure Masters, so that youl 
 take care that in the documents to be sent to Holland 
 non of the Charges that may fall to owr shares either as 
 to salvadge or otherways be omitted. And before you 
 make any bargain with Capt. Van Oste for the barque or 
 owr interests in the Cargoe its necessary you be advised 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 133 
 
 by owr frinds at Rotterdam what is proper for you to doe 
 for owr actts. Only upon the whole wee think Mr. Van 
 Oste's Demands are unreasonable, and that no law will 
 oblidge us to shuch exorbitant salvadge as he demands. 
 Therefor wee earnestly entreat that you use your best 
 Interest and endeavours that, as our effects has fallen 
 in the Hands of Strangers, wee be not imposed upon nor 
 oppressed ; and in this no doubt My Lord Glenurchy, owr 
 British Envoy, will assist you. So that, referring to what 
 we say further in our Genii. Letter of this date, we remain 
 Your Most Humll. J. S. [John Steuart]. 
 
 W. McK. [William Mackay]. 
 
 N.B. — That the Insurance made for us in Holland is 
 against all Hazards. 
 
 Inverness, 13th J amy. 1721. 
 Mr. Alexr. Ross, Copenhagen. 
 
 Sir, — -Your favours of the 28th and 31st ulto N. S. to 
 Lachlan Mackintosh and John Steuart are before us, by 
 which we have the wery deplorable news of the death of 
 Honest Daniel Fraser and tuo of their Crew, by the over- 
 turning of their boat in endeavouring to come ashoar out 
 of the barque the Majorie of this pleace, after sd. barque 
 had been forced to anckor by a violent Storm three Danish 
 miles southward of Copenhagen ; and thereafter the storm 
 was abated, the sd. Barque was brought by the tuo sur- 
 viving men of the crew, with the assistance of a Danish 
 Captain and tuo or three others, to the Harbour of Copen- 
 hagen where we supose she remains safe. You Likways 
 accquent us that the sd. Danish Capt. demands J of the 
 value of ship and Cargo, besides Charges, for bringing of 
 Sd. Barque to Copenhagen, Tho' wee must own that we 
 canot think of being ungrait or ungenerous to any that 
 has given assistance in preserving owr Interests on such 
 an occasion, but on the conterary that they shall be Hand- 
 somly rewarded, we are mightily surprized that any man 
 pretending to Charity or Honesty Should make such an 
 
134 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Extravagant demand as the third of shyp and Cargoe, 
 besides charges, for shuch a pice of service, when, according 
 to your information, which we belive is very genuin, that 
 shyp can in no sence be obleand as an or a ship 
 
 abandoned in the open seas, but on the conterary riding- 
 safe in a Road, with living men belonging to hir to acclain 
 the property in hir ; and why, forsooth, a ship in such a 
 case should, for being carried 3 Danish miles to Copen- 
 hagen, be exposed to all this Cleam of Slavadge and 
 Charges, is what we canot understand. But wee hope 
 there is both law and justice to be found in Denmark, 
 that the Interest of the British Envoy, My Lord Glenurchy, 
 joined with your own, will protect us from opression in 
 shuch a pinching case. And, in the mean time, wee hearby 
 empower yow so to notice and secure owr interests in sd. 
 Barque and hir Cargoe to all intents and purposes as if 
 wee were personaly present, that is, by securing the 
 Cargoe that none of it be embazled or damnified, paying 
 reasonable reward to the Danish Capt. and others who 
 concurred to bring the Barque to Copenhagen, and, by 
 inventoring and securing the Papers and efects of the 
 defunct Daniel Fraser, who was master, and lastly by 
 encouradhing the tuo surviving men, Alexr. Clerk and 
 John Grant, to remain wh. the barque, and notice hir and 
 Cargoe untill a master arrive with them, with our further 
 orders wh. I hope will be wery soon. You are to take 
 notice that, as William McKay and John Steuart have yr. 
 interests in the Barque and Cargoe insured against all 
 Hazards, you are to be advised and Derected by Messrs. 
 Alexr. Andrews and Robert Gerard, Mercht. in Rotterdam, 
 as to any composition may be due for salvadge, etc., least, 
 by doeing otherways, owr claim against the Insure Masters 
 be weakened. And youle take care to send these Gentle- 
 men such atestations in owr behalf as they requere. Wee 
 herby send you atest duble of the Invoices of the whole 
 Cargoe in case it be needfull to acertain the value of the 
 same with yow ; and what mony you deburse in this 
 affair please value on us for the same, as also for your 
 own truble and pains, payed at Edr., and your draugh 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 135 
 
 shall be punctualy Honoured. Wee have a letter of the 
 same dait with your last from one Jan Vanost, who appears 
 to be the same Danish Capt. that you mention brought 
 the barque to Copenhagen. He wretts a relation of the 
 affair much to the same purpose as you doe, but says he 
 was to unload the cargoe for securing his salvadge and 
 Charges, tho does not mention how much salvadge he was 
 to expect ; but wee hope you have prevented shuch a rash 
 way of medling, since we inclyne to pay that Gentleman 
 wery hansomly for his pains. In the mean time pleas 
 advise us fully, when this comes to hand, what is done in 
 our afair. You may Expect to hear furder from us wery 
 soon ; so we Remain Your Humble Servants, 
 
 J. S. [John Steuart]. 
 
 L. M'L [Lachlan Mackintosh]. 
 
 W. McK. [William Mackay]. 
 
 Inverness, ISth J amy. 1721. 
 
 Mr. Jean Vanoste, Copenha. 
 
 Sir, — I have your favour of 31st Ultimo, which brings 
 wery melancolly news of the death of Daniel Fraser and 
 tuo of his crew, belonging to the barque Majorie of Inver- 
 ness, which Barque, being left at an anker three Danish 
 miles eastward of Copenhagen, you, with tuo of the crew 
 remained alive of sd. Barque, secured hir and Cargoe in 
 Copenhagen. Sir, I must own this to have been a charit- 
 table, kind action, and I have writt to My frend, Mr. Alexr. 
 Ross of Copenhagen, Mercht., to reward thankfully your 
 pains, truble, and Charges. But I am surprized to find 
 you mention in your letter as if you was in design to unload 
 the barque. I doe not know but your doing so may be 
 found to rash an action, Since I supose your Cleam of 
 salvadge will not arise so High as that you need midle 
 with the Cargoe. However, the whole care of barque 
 and Cargoe being left to Mr. Ross, I hope he will adjust 
 matters with you for the interest of the concerned and 
 your satisfaction ; and if in any think I can serve you 
 here you may Command, Sir, Your etc. 
 
 [John Steuart.] 
 
136 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Ross, Copen. 
 
 Inverness, 13th Janry. 1721. 
 
 Sir, — All I have to add is that the barque is wholly 
 min. I desire you supply the tuo men who have survived, 
 and I hope doe attend the barque, with what necessary 
 manteanance they may want, which comes in with the rest 
 of accot. of Charges ; and I desire, if you can dispose to 
 profite the Shock Selesia lining [linen], the packs flax, thre 
 barells soap, of what I have aboard, pray fail not to doe 
 it. What these goods coast me youl see by the Invoyce ; 
 so youl know best what to doe. When you draw on me 
 and above gentlemen for your debusments, fail not to draw 
 on your Corispondent for the proceeds of what goods you 
 dispose of mine. There will be a skypar sent for the 
 Barque as soon as possible ; and I am Your etc. 
 
 [John Steuart.] 
 
 Inver., 13th J any. 1721. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrews [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour last post of 27th ulto, and 
 I am heartily sory for the loss of your childerin, as I am 
 for David Steenson, ship Master, his misfortune. You are 
 not to ship any goods for me for this pleace till further 
 orders ; so that this principaly is to desire how soon this 
 comes to hand youl call for sd. David Steenson, or, if com 
 of, for his mait, Charles Pape, and try if can prevail with 
 either of them, particularly David, to goe to Copenhagen 
 without loss of time to take charge of my barque the 
 Majorie, and to bring home hither. And, in case he 
 condecend to goe, you are to agree for his wagis, not ex- 
 ceeding Seven pound Sterline, with the needfull allowance 
 of mony for charges to Copenhagen, where pleas recomend 
 him to Mr. Ross for the necessary instructions, and to 
 suply what he wants for suplying his voyage. Of this 
 accqent me by very first what you are to doe. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 1^7 
 
 Mr. William Cumming, Edr., Mcrclit. 
 
 Inverness, 22d Janry., 1721. 
 
 Sir, — How soon this comes to your hand we desire the 
 favour of you to call for owr townsman, Georg Rogers, 
 Master of the Anna Gaily of this pleace, and, if he is not 
 engaged under fraight, youl endeavour to fraight him for 
 owr accots. to goe from the firth derectly with a loadning 
 of coals for Rotterdam, and from thence with a loadning 
 of shuch goods as we shall order to be shipt derectly back 
 to this frith ; for which we hearby empower you to contract 
 with him in owr names, and to give him any fraight, not 
 exceeding £60 ster. and 5 £ Caplaken, the one half payable 
 at Rotterdam, and the oyr half after unloading here. We 
 doubt not doe your endeavour to make the fraight as cheap 
 as posible. And we likways desire youl please order 
 Credit for Mr. Rodger for his loadning of colls of the most 
 propor for the Hollands Market ; and, how soon we know 
 the value, it shall be sent you by one of owr number that 
 goes wery soon South. Pray, Sir, Sett about this without 
 loss of time, and keep the express till yow have ended with 
 Mr. Roger, so that you may be the better enabled to advise 
 us fully what you doe. If Mr. Rogers be engadged so as 
 that he canot undertake this voyadge youle pleas enquer 
 if any other good ship can be had fitt for owr purpose 
 much about the burdine of his, and advise accordinly : 
 and we remain, Sir, Your Most Humble Servts. 
 
 J. S. [John Steuart]. 
 
 W. McK. [William Mackay]. 
 
 W. Mcsh. [Mackintosh]. 
 
 Affectionet Son, Edr. 
 
 Inverness, Sd Febry. 1721. 
 
 I would wery willingly comply to your Masters pro- 
 posall that you should goe in March with him to London, 
 but in faith I am just now so much on the pinch with my 
 own affairs that I scarce know where to find mony to pay 
 
138 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 my pressing Debts. However, I hope it will not be long 
 before you find as promising ane opertunity of improving 
 your self. I see you have enclosed bill Major Sliegh on 
 Alexr. Inness for £53 ster., with the value of which you 
 are to retire my tuo bills on of 50 £, and the other of 3 £ 
 ster. from Dantzig from Mr. Georg Flaconer, Mercht. in 
 Edr., and return them pr. first. Notce Major Sleighs bill 
 is made payable to you for value received of me. I am, 
 Your etc. 
 
 To the Earle of Morray. 
 
 Inverness, 3rd Feb. 1721. 
 
 I have your Lops, favours of 12th last Month, and 
 should have been much pleased if could have told you 
 that your Lops, bear of Petty were sold at 6£ Scots pr. 
 boll ; but this is what I could not reach, nor any oyr. 
 in this country, and considering matters I think not amiss 
 that I gett 9 sh. and 6d. ster. pr. boll, as last year ; of 
 which I hope your Lop. will aprove. 
 
 Inverness, 25h Febry. 1721. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew, Rottrm. 
 
 Sir, — I have yours of 14th curt N. S., and doe observe 
 you have agreed with David Steenson to goe to Copen- 
 hagen and bring home my Barque for 10£ ster. wages, and 
 his travelling charges, and that the Insure masters will be 
 Lyable for my proportion of sd. expence, as also for my 
 whole damnage at Copenhagen. There are severalls con- 
 cerned in the Cargoe of the sd. Barque besides William 
 McKay and me, a particular acct. of which is sent to Mr. 
 Alexr. Ross in Copen: ; and no doubt the acct. will be trans- 
 mitted you by Mr. Coutts of Dantzick. Mr. Ross has wrett 
 me Last post that he has paid the salvadge and charges 
 for saving Barque and Cargoe for 320 R. d. [Rix dollars] 
 and its well that your insuring Company have ordered you 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 139 
 
 and Mr. Gerrard to make up William McKays proportion 
 and mine of the damadge. And, as to what you writt 
 about my proper intres in the Barque, I send the above 
 declaration, which I hope will fully adjust yt affair, which 
 is all I can say at present except that I render you my 
 hearty thanks for your care in this matter. There is a 
 ship going in 8 or 10 days from Cromerty with salmond 
 for your port for accot. of some Edr. people, and its lick 
 I may have a concern in the return of sd. ship, being free 
 at Rotterdam ; therefor you may proveid for me the 
 Burgundy and cherie I ordered in my letter of 25t Nov. 
 Last, but pray take care that both be true and good, 
 that is, four chists Burgundy of 40 flasks each, and a Butt 
 of Cherie to be bought of the Keys and Drawn of in 4 hhds. 
 What further commands I am to send you may expect 
 by the ship, and I am, etc. 
 
 To Mr. John McLeod, Edr. 
 
 Inverness, 25 Febyr. 1721. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Andrew Scot, meason, has so importuned me 
 for the payment of the Ballance due him pr. Contract for 
 building McLeod' s monument that I have been oblidged 
 to pay him £25 : 11 : 1 ster. for which I have taken his 
 bill on you at six days sight, which have indorsed to my 
 son Alexr. Steuart. Its true the coat of arms and some 
 other small apendadges remain to be done one sd. monu- 
 ment, but for that he is quet built the utter wall except 
 the cope stone, for which I agree to pay him by your 
 Concent 600 merks, and he is positive that all will be 
 finished again May nixt, the stons being all bought and 
 raidy for putting up ; so yt. I hope there will be no dis- 
 apointment by him. As to the Iron gate there is a smith 
 here under takes to doe it ; but Iron is so scarce and dear 
 at present that I wait the arrival of some that is shortly 
 needed, and then it will be cheaper ; and I hope all will 
 be done to contentment. 
 
14.0 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inver., 25 Febry. 1721. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Ross, Copenhagen. 
 
 Sir, — Since my last of 13th Janry. old stile I have your 
 favour of 28h do. in which doe observe that you have 
 compounded for the salvadge of the Barque Majorie of 
 sd. Cargoe at 240 R. D. [Rix Dollars], as also have payd 
 70 R. D. as charges for burying the dead, and that the 
 Barque was now in your possession, and the Cargoe un- 
 loaded intire and in safe custody, which is all well ; and I 
 thank you for your care, tho canot help to think the 
 salvadge and charges wery High, yet no doubt you have 
 done the best for owr interests. Last post I had a letter 
 of 17 Febry N. S. from my frend Mr. Alexr. Andrews of 
 Rotterdam, in which he advise me that he had hired David 
 Sevinson, Ship master of this place, to goe from thence 
 to Copengn to receive and Bring home the Barque and 
 Cargoe, of which I approve, as do all concerned ; and I 
 desire that the Barque and Cargoe may be accordingly 
 delivered to him, and his recept or bill of loadning taken 
 for all the goods when reshypt, and yt. lickways you 
 furnish him what will be needful to fitt out the Barque 
 homward, which youle take notice to bring in to the acct. 
 of salvadge and charges, and for reimburse of all after you 
 have proportioned the whole upon the Barque and Cargoe, 
 according to our respective interests that are concernd, 
 one copy of which must be sent to Messrs. Andrews and 
 Gerard at Rotterdam, and the other hither. You are 
 then to value on Mr. Andrews for my proportion, and on 
 Mr. Gerard for William McKays, and on sd. McKay, 
 Lachlan Mcintosh, and me jointly for the Ballance, which 
 will be punctualy honoured. — I am, Sir, Your Humble 
 Sert. 
 
 PS. — Note, for your goverment, I value the Barque at 
 G5£ sterline. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 141 
 
 Inver., 25t Febry. 1721. 
 
 Affectionet Son, Edr. 
 
 I received yours of 11th curt, and I am pleased to find 
 you have laid aside thoughts of goeing to London at this 
 time. Not but I would willingly comply to any reasonable 
 demand might forward your interest or advance your 
 education, but, to be plain with you, I never was so much 
 pinched for mony to suport my credit since I was a trader. 
 However, I hop anor. time may be better for you yn now. 
 The last post, William Fraser, is not arrived here yet. 
 By him I expect My acceptd Bills to Mr. Falconer, retired 
 in return of Major Slys Draught on Alexr. Fraser for 
 £53 ster. I find you inclosed Bill to William McKay, 
 Junior, of this place, on Mr. John Davidson for £40 ster. 
 pay at six days sight, as also Bill Andrew Scott on Mr. 
 John McLeod, advocate, for £25 : 11 : l£ ster. at six days 
 sight, both which I hope will find due honour, and will 
 make in all 65£ 11 : 1\ ster., which I design to be payd 
 the Earl of Morray when James Russell arives with you, 
 which will in 10 days ; so pray fail not to take speaceall 
 care of this mony untill he come. 
 
 To Mr. George Urqhuart [Cromarty]. 
 
 Inverness, 17 March 1721. 
 
 Aff. Broyr, — I have according to your desire delivered 
 my cable to your servant John Poison, which weights 
 300 lib. great binders [?] tacking 4 pd. wt., which is a 
 favour I would not grant anoyr, since my bark will wery 
 soon want such a cable. I canot sell it under 40 shillings 
 pr. hundred. I have sent you a quarter pound bohea tea 
 which cost me 5sh., and 7d. of charges for carying the 
 cable up and down to and from the weigh house, and 
 weighing ; but I must pay the weighing, so yule only rest 
 ]. I have been thinking since I saw you last that 
 in month of May you might ship of a pairt of your cod 
 fish and sallmond for Bilboa, where I supose the salmond 
 
142 
 
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 will pickle [?] in the cask well ; I mean duble hooped with 
 fresh hoops, might pass for new fish ; so I am persuaded 
 better than at home ; and in that case could get the ship 
 taken of your hands for the return at a good rate ; or, if 
 the salmond be cheap, I doubt not would get partners 
 here to take a share of the fish. May send me your 
 thoughts of this pr. next, and I am, etc. 
 
 Mr. William Simson, Abdn. 
 
 Inverness, 21 March 1721. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 11th Curt., and do observe 
 your orders anent 300 bolls bear, but doe find I canot 
 well serve you untill you acquaint me what lenth in price 
 youl allow me to goe, for Provest Dawson has, I find, 
 disposed of his bear in London, and has shipps coming 
 down presently to load it upon your former order. I was 
 communing with sd. Mr. Lawson for 300 bolls bear of the 
 farms of the Daroch of Nig in Ross, which is no worce 
 nor Morray bear, and had, I thought, agreed at £4 : 10s. pr. 
 boll, Martinmas payment. But the Provest has reciled, 
 so that I dare not be positive how you can be served, but 
 if you advise me of a positive price He endeavour to serve 
 you. I supose the salt you mention will sell at Finhorn 
 at abot 2/ ster. pr. bushell. I shall be glad to see you 
 here when in Morray ; and till then I fear Mr. Barbour 
 and I will gett litle done for your new Church, which He 
 willingly contribute my mite ; and I am, with much 
 affection, Sir, etc. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew, Rotterdam. 
 
 Inverness, 2M March 1721. 
 
 I wrott you the 11th Instant pr. the ship Christian of 
 Leith, George Cockburn Mr., which I hope will be with 
 you or this comes hand. In it I advised you to shipt 
 for my accot. in sd. ship 4 Chests best Burgundy wine, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 143 
 
 each Chest to contean 50 flasks ; It. one Chest of best 
 Champaign wine of 50 flasks and four half hhds. of best 
 Spanish Sake to be bought new of the Keys if posible ; 
 8 rehms writting wheat paper of shuch as is commonly 
 shipt for this place from 50 to 60 Stivers pr. rehm ; 120 
 single and ten duble ankers best French Brandy ; and one 
 chest of Burgundy and one Chest of 40 flasks for James 
 Russell and me in Compa. ; it. for my proper accot. 50 lib. 
 best Cork fee [?] Indigoe, and a tun of best strong 
 
 French Claret to be bought of the Keys ; a warming pan 
 and a wafle ditto ; and a Large black bears skin dressed 
 on the inside being for a deck to Led Horse. This is the 
 extent of my letter. I mean Commission, by the Ship, 
 which I hope will be carefully bought and shipt ; and As 
 I told you in my last the price of these goods will be made 
 good to you once in the moneth of May nixt. All that I 
 have to add now is to buy for me by advice of Mr. Cockburn 
 a new main top sail for my ship the Margret of this place, 
 50 tuns Burdin. Shuch as will serve Mr. Cockburns own 
 ship I think will doe exactly for me, if not somwhat tuo 
 Large. Let this sail be packed up in a dry ware cask, the 
 value placed to my accot. Some frinds and I have a 
 Cargoe Herings going to Dantzick or Coningsberg. We 
 have thought of returning sd. ship to you with a Cargoe 
 of wheat and Ry ; therefor write to Mr. Coutts of Dantzick 
 of ye prices of grains with you when this comes to hand, 
 for his government, and what advice you think needfull. 
 Mr. Alexr. Ross of Copenhagen has drawn on me last post 
 for £100 Sterline, payable at London, without telling for 
 what. His bill, however, will be honoured ; and I hope 
 ere now you will or now have the needfull documents for 
 recovering my damage of the insure masters. I am, with 
 much Respect, etc. 
 
 Messrs. Majoribanks and Coutts, Dantzick. 
 
 Inverness, 27 March 1721. 
 
 Gentle, — I have your favour of 8th Instant N: S:, which 
 brings my accot. of seall of Skins pr. the Majorie, with my 
 
144 
 
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 accot. Currt., by which I find I am yet due to you a 
 ballance £17 : 10s. Ster., and that you are to value on me 
 for the same at 2/ in sight. When your bill appears it 
 will find due honour, as your former did. I have not yet 
 examined your accot., but does hope they are right, tho 
 that adventure will prove wery much to my Loss, which 
 is not your fault. This comes by the ship Helen of this 
 place, and serves to advise you that if sd. ship doeth 
 return hither derectly, and I hope she will not, you ship 
 for my proper accot. 16 Ship lbs. Iron, of which J shampo- 
 loon, f midlin, and tuo ship lib. Stenchion or Square Iron, 
 30 spruce ston flax, 6 Barell soap, and 30 ps. Clapboord 
 or | Shock ; and what may remain after this and my pro- 
 portion of staves are bought, you are to Invest in Cordage, 
 I mean tared, from three inch to [?] threed ropes ; and 
 besides my 6th of Herings in Compa. I give here inclosed 
 ane order from Keneth McKenzie to Credit me with the 
 proceeds of 20 Barells more Herings, which please advert 
 to accordingly. I heartily wis you may not return the 
 ship here, but folow owr derection in the Generall letter 
 to which I referr, and that the Hering may come to a good 
 accot. ; and I am, with due Respect, etc. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Ross, Copenhagen. 
 
 Inverness, 27 March 1721. 
 
 Sir, — I have yours of 25t Febry. N: S:, and doe not that 
 my Bark is frozen up, and all the Cargoe unload and 
 entire, and that Clerk and Grant, the tuo surviving Sailors 
 of the crew, are going to Law for their wages, and to Leave 
 the Barque. I hope David Steenson, the Master, is with 
 you or now, and that these Lads will come to better 
 temper. But if they doe leave the Barque or give you 
 truble about their wages, they need not think of returning 
 to yis Country again, for they were Certainly payed of 
 their half wages at Dantzick, and I know not what Claim 
 they can have by any Law to the other half untill the 
 voyage is ended. Your bill of £100 Sterling has apeared 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 145 
 
 here from London which indeed is much more than was 
 expected. Lachlan Mcintosh is at Edr., and William 
 McKay, who was the other that wrott with me, will not 
 accept because no accot. is come for what this mony is. 
 Yet in Honour to you I will accept for all, not doubting 
 your integrity, and that you will doe no injustice. Pray 
 faill not pr. first to send me accot. of all the Charges, with 
 how much falls to each mans share, valuing the barque 
 at 50 or 60 Lib. ster., and send lickways a copy of your 
 accot. to Mr. Alexr. Andrews of Rotterdam, as I formarly 
 advised. This goes by the Ship Helen of this place, John 
 Robertson, Master, Load with Herings. I beg youle give 
 him your best advice anent a proper, Whither he should 
 goe to Dantzig or Stockholm ; but I think yt. last will doe 
 best ; but leave this to your advice. And I am, Sir, etc. 
 
 Messrs. Nelletoun and Campbell, Stockholm. 
 
 I nver:, 27 March 1721. 
 
 Gentlemen, — Referring to what have writt you in the 
 General 1 letter of this dait from me and Compa., this comes 
 particularly to inform you that I was Honoured with your 
 favour, 9th Aprile 1720, with the Advices of Markets then 
 with you. Its now by my recomendation that this Cargoe 
 comes consigned to you, and I will Hope yt. any frinds 
 will have no reason to Complain, but that youll treat 
 them wery Honourable, and give them reason to continue 
 their Corispondence, which may be much in your favour. 
 The plain meaning of owr Generall letter is that you sell 
 our herings to the best avail, and Invest the proceeds and 
 no more in 3 J ship lib. Coper in Sheets, and the rest in 
 Iron, sorted as pr. owr Generall Letter, and as many of 
 best and Cleanest firr Dealls as will fill up the ship. The 
 Master will Give you ane order from Keneth [Mackenzie] 
 to credit my accot. with ye proceeds of tuenty baralls 
 Herings besides what I have in Compa. from Zhich you 
 are to buy and ship for my accot. Iron wear [wire] accord- 
 ing to the inclosed patron, and the rest in best sort of 
 
 K 
 
140 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 pan for [?] and six tea ketles of Coper to contean each 
 from tuo English quarts to ane English Gallon. May 
 advise by the ship of the prices of Corn with you, and 
 I am, Gentlemen, etc. 
 
 Mr. Robert Gordon, Burdx. 
 
 Inverness, 7t Aprile 1721. 
 
 Sir, — It is a long time since I had occasion to writ to you 
 or received any of your favours, tho I heartily wish our 
 Corispondence were more frequent. This serves cheifly 
 to advise you that some frinds and I have a design very 
 soon to send a ship your way to load some strong wine, 
 etc. Therefor I desire how soon this comes to hand you 
 have me advised how good wine, Salt, and Brandy can be 
 purchased with you, as also the course of Exchange 
 betwixt you and London and Edr., and if can draw on us 
 now, payable at Edr. to the Value of any goods we send 
 for, or if must Lodge mony in London for that purpose. 
 The confusion in trade last winter has occasioned a good 
 deall of last years Salmond to remain yet on hand here, 
 and in the fatts unpacked, which I believe might be 
 purchased at a reasonable rate ; therefor I desire you 
 may lickways advise me Immediately if might venter a 
 parcell of such Salmond by the ship goes your way, and 
 in that case how much you would advise to send, and 
 what price might Expect to get ; or if such Salmond, being 
 well cured and bright coulored, might not pass for new fish 
 Caught this Spring. As to which particulars I expect your 
 speedy return ; and forward the inclosed to Messrs. John 
 Vanduffel at Bilboa. 
 
 Messrs. John Vanduffell and Compy., Bilboa. 
 
 Inverness, 7t Aprile 1721. 
 
 Gentlemen,— The last of your favours I received was 
 of 9th August last, in which found no encouradgment for 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 117 
 
 sending any salmond or Dry cod fish your way last season. 
 Having a design to send a ship wery soon to the bay of 
 Biscay, I presume to ask the favour of you to advise me 
 how soon this comes to hand how a small parcell of Sal- 
 mond and Dry fish ariving with you in the month of June 
 next would sell ; as also the following goods from the 
 Baltick, vizt. Hemp, flax, pitch and tarr, fir planck or 
 Spruce dealls, bees wax, etc., as also the Course of Exchange 
 betwixt you, London, and Bordeaux. I Expect vour 
 answer with these particulars pr. first ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Mr. James Russell [at Edinburgh]. 
 
 Inverness, It Aprile 1721. 
 
 I writt you last poast, and sent you inclosed a hering 
 Debenture for 96 £ ster. Certifyed on the board of Excise, 
 from which I ordered you to clear William Cumming what 
 ballance I am due him, and to pay Mr. James Cumming 
 £15 Ster. on recept in my name. And now, Since Mr. 
 William Cumming is gone for London, pay to James 
 Cumming, that is, if the Debenture answer, 5£ sterline 
 more ; so gett his recept for £20 lickways. I desire you 
 pay the Earle of Morray 10 £ ster. of this mony, and so get 
 his Lordships recept for £100, the 58 £ formerly remitted 
 being made good to him by Comissar Steuart. I lickways 
 give Thorn: Alves an order on you for 12 £ ster., which you 
 are to answer out of the debenture, and bring the ballanc 
 hither backward. I wrott to Mr. James Cuming this 
 post to assist you, if needfull, to gett payment of the 
 debenture. And I intreat that the Comissar and you look 
 out for some settlement for that unlucky boy Sandy, who 
 writes me he wants mony to buy meat ; So may give him 
 20 sh. on my accot. Your wife and childerin are well, and 
 lie see them to-morow. 100 bolls of the Morray bear is 
 come up here, which proved very good, and Good Measure. 
 I payd the Fraight and the boat. Alex. McLeans barque 
 goes down tomorow to Findhorn to carry up 300 bolls, 
 since despatch is necessary now in the Malting Season. 
 
148 
 
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 Recepts will be regularly returned your father, as the bear 
 come there ; so you may be easy and not hurry yourself 
 too soon home. I am, Your aff. Brother. 1 
 
 Mr. George Ochterlony [London] 
 
 Inverness, 5t May 1721. 
 
 Sir, — It is long since I received any of your favours. 
 However doe now truble you with the inclosed for Mr. 
 John Turner, which please deliver. He there has orders 
 to pay you about 80 £ Ster. for my accot., and for which 
 Same you are to value on me to Sd. Mr. Turner or order in 
 this country, which will be duely honoured. This mony, 
 if it answer, is designed towards the paying of my accept- 
 ance of £100 Sterlg. to the order of Mr. Alexr. Ross, 
 Mercht., Copenhagen, payable at your house the first of 
 June. You can hear of Sd. bill by Mr. William Perkin at 
 the Wheat [White] Lyon at Foster Lane, Ironmonger. If 
 this mony answer pray doe the favour to pay tuenty pound 
 more, and retire and send me the bill, and value on me for 
 the 20 £ payable at Edr., which will find due honour. But 
 if this Credit on Turner Should not answer, pray fail not 
 to advise me pr. first that I may otherways order my 
 acceptance to be honoured ; and in the mean time pray 
 see to prevent any protestation on my bill till you have 
 my return which will be exactly in course ; or, If canot 
 be done, Must intreat you retire my bill, and value on me 
 for the whole contents. If any of our parliament men have 
 mony to send down, I mean Colloden or Capt. Urquhart, 
 Newhall, either of them will take your bill on me for this 
 sum. I expect your punctuall return. When you sent 
 my accot. Curt of mony payd for my son you forgott to 
 send me his recepts as being payd ; please look out for 
 them, and send them. 
 
 1 Russell was the Bailie's brother-in-law. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 149 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrews, Rottm. 
 
 Inverness, 22nd May 1721. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favours of 29t past and 6t Curt., 
 the first brought me Invoyce of goods pr. the Ship Christian 
 of Leith, George cockburn, Mr. ; which goods are safe come 
 to hand, and I believe good of there kind. I doe observe 
 the value of the goods you sent twixt James Russell and 
 me amounts to £150 : 15 : 9. And I writt of this date 
 to my frind Mr. George Ouchterlony, of London, to wrett 
 you to value on him for 80£ Ster., which pray take care 
 to doe at tuo that I may have him in cash for me before 
 your bills fall due. And when you have made up my 
 accot. of damadge on the barque Majorie from Dantzig, 
 with the Insure Masters value on me for the ballance due 
 you, or, if you please, draw on me how soon this comes to 
 hand for the Same payable at Edr. at as easy Exchange 
 as you can. The barque Majorie is arrived hear, and Mr. 
 Ross of Copenhagen writts me he was to send you the 
 needfull documents for recovering my damadge. In the 
 mean time I find I am first in advance for all, and that the 
 others concerned and I are not so easily to adjust matters 
 as I expected. David Stevenson tells me he has drawen 
 on you 128 Rex dollrs, so that I find the whole damadge 
 will amount to near £140 Ster. I find lickways that Mr. 
 Ross is a wery sharp man, to say no worse, for he charges 
 120 Dollars comission, and I find a good deal of the rest 
 goes to his own pocket. All I shall say is God forgive him, 
 and keep me hearafter out of Shuch hands. If you think I 
 would not doe you all the service in my power to gett you 
 Justice of Tfermit] you wrong me enuch, but really he 
 is much embarassed at present. He Swears Sollemnly he 
 has payd to Mr. Arburthnot all he could ask or crave any 
 maner of way to 70£ Ster., and promise me to Shoe me Sd. 
 Arburthnot accot. Curt. ; says not he gave him mony but 
 undoubted Security, and that he gives him assignation 
 to some Lews herings he has now goeing to the Sound for 
 the ballance. I wonder Mr. Arburthnot has never cori- 
 
150 
 
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 sponded with me in the least anent that affair, for all you 
 writt me you ordered him soe to doe. I wish all your 
 Corispondence may be just to you, and I am, etc. 
 
 Mr. William Gumming, Edr. 
 
 Jne: do. 1721. 
 
 Sir, — I am glad to hear of your safe return from London, 
 but much trubled at the breach betwixt my unhappy son 
 and you is not yet made up. I belive by this time he is 
 pretty sensible of his folly, but, as I hope he is not past 
 recovery, I could heartily wish he were readmitted to your 
 service untill his time be out, but I dare not press this too 
 much, only I hope you will deall by me in this matter as 
 on frind and commerad ought to doe with anoyr. When 
 James Russell was leatly at Edr. I sent with him your 
 accott. and documents in order to have cleared and payd 
 what Ballance I was due, but, missing of you at Edr., 
 returned me all again. I own I am too long in your Debt, 
 but, as what I am due bears Interest, and Sundry large 
 Demands are on me at present, I must ask your patience 
 for some short time, and I expect your answer in course. 
 Please forward the Inclosed pr. first post for London ; and 
 I am, etc. 
 
 Mr. George Oucterlony [London]. 
 
 Inverness, 2 June 1721. 
 
 Since I have your favour of 20th last Month, with my 
 son Robert his recept for the mony you gave him, which 
 are wery right. Pray, Sir, be so kind as to enquire after 
 the Lads behavior, and how he used yt Mony he got ; and 
 while he is ashoar let him be closs at Scooll, particularly 
 at the writting Scooll, for he writs barbarously ; and 
 please counsell him not to stay at Waping, where I know 
 he will readily be Seduced by bad profligat Company ; 
 and I am, etc. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 151 
 
 Mr. Andrew Henderson, Edr. 
 
 Inverness, 2d June 1721. 
 
 Sir, — I send you inclosed bill Laird of McLeod on Mr. 
 McLcod, advocate, for £20 Stcr. . . . . £20 
 Bill Captain James Ogilvy on Mr. Skeen . . 20 
 Accepted bill William Shaw, Marcht. in Edr. . 70 
 
 £110 
 
 These bills amounting to 110 £ Ster. and Indorsed to you, 
 and I hope will find due honour. If other ways pray doe 
 the needfull, and return them. I most earnestly caution 
 you to take no notice to my frind William Cumming 
 that I have given you this truble, for reasons He leat you 
 know very soon. From the proceeds of these bills I desire 
 that you retire my acceptance to Mr. George Falconer 
 for £17 ster., and pay to George Cockburn, writer to the 
 Signet, at the sight of Comissar Steuart, 30 £ ster., and for 
 which you are to get shuch a recept as the Comissar shall 
 Derect, which, with Mr. Falconers bill, you are to return 
 me pr. first. The rest of this I shall advise you pr. first 
 how it shall be disposed of. 
 
 Mr. George Ouchterlonie [London]. 
 
 Inverness, 24 June 1721. 
 
 Sir, — - ... I have the Mellancholly news of the loss of 
 my Dear son ; so Capt. Jess has not written me on that 
 subject as he told you. Pray, Sir, take the trouble to call 
 at him for the defuncts effects, and advise me what they 
 are, etc., till all be secured by you untill you hear firder 
 from me. I am much afflicted with the manner of my sons 
 death, but do desire to take it as from the hand of God, 
 and so shall overlook second causes, tho' cannot help to 
 think from what the lad wrote me last time he was at 
 London that he was not cared for nor regarded as he ought 
 and as I expected. But, as I said, I desire to have no 
 
152 
 
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 bade thoughts or resentments that way, but to Looke 
 on this smashing stroke as the dispensation of a wise 
 providence, and therfor be easy and patient as far as I 
 am able. I am about freighting a ship of mine to carry 
 skins, etc. for London ; shall doe my endeavour to bring 
 the consignation of the cargo your way, or any other 
 service I can. 
 
 Mr. Andrew Henderson [Edinburgh]. 
 
 7th July 1721. 
 
 Sir, — I have reed, yours of 29 past, and with it two fish 
 debentures and duplicates, with a memorandum from Mr. 
 Crookshanks, wh. I forwarded pr. express to the Colector 
 of Stornway in Lewes, as you desired, under my covert, 
 and have agreed to pay the sd. express seven pounds 
 Scots wh. is no dear here, the journey and voyage he is to 
 make. I am much asheamed that I have made you no 
 remittance this post as I promised. Since you write me 
 that my herrin debenture had not answered, and that you 
 was to remitt fifty pounds str. for my acct. to Mr. Joseph 
 Faickme of London, and to retire my bill for fifty pound 
 str. more from the order of John Gordon of Rotterdam. 
 The main reason why I made no remittance is because I 
 could not find a bill, and was loath to risque specie ; but 
 I hope pr. next to make you easy, tho' should be verry 
 glad to hear that the debenture sent you was payed, tho' 
 at some discount. I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 7 July 1721. 
 
 Comissar Steuart, Edr. 
 
 I send you inclosed a certificate from our Collector and 
 Comptroller, and I hope will contribute to stop any prose- 
 cution on my two salt bonds of fowrty pounds strl. I find 
 James Dunbar and Will. Fraser, Merchts. of this place, in 
 the same caise with me as to such Bonds, to be prosecuted 
 befor the Exchequer, and they have my write to Alexr. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 153 
 
 Baillie, Clark, to employ for them before that court, and 
 I think the same man may serve for me likeways, and I 
 hop my caise is so plain and just that I cannot suffer. 
 However, doe intreat your care and notice of it. I long 
 to hear how you have adjusted matters with Mr. Cumming 
 annent my sons indenture. Pray deliver the inclosed to 
 Alexr. Baillie, and I am, etc. 
 
 Mr. Robt. Malcom [Merchant, Edinburgh]. 
 
 7 July 1721. 
 
 Sm, — I was orderd some time agoe by the Countess of 
 Morray to pay you ane acct. resting for wine by that 
 Noble Lady for the family use, extending to about £19 
 ster. The Earle of Morray complains your white wine was 
 to dare, and so will have me stop shillings of the price you 
 charge ; about q cl1 you may take your own prudent 
 measures ; but for what I am empowered to pay you may 
 expect the same pr. the first of August next, and indeed 
 I cannot pay it sooner, but again that time you may 
 depend on it, so that I hope you will give my Lord or My 
 Lady na furder trouble about it except you please to 
 write of the twenty shills. I am ordered to stop of you ; 
 and am, etc. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Balie [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Inv: 15th July 1721. 
 
 Sir, — According to what I promised in my letter of 
 7th inst. and pr. last I send you by the bearer £16 : 13s. 
 ster., being the ballance you promised George Cockburn 
 on my accot., for which I received his discharge. I send 
 you inclosed protested and Registrat bill Gillis McBain 
 and others, and I am advised that because the bill was 
 not protested and registrat Exactly on the 15th of May 
 last, or within tuo days therafter, that I can only have 
 access against Angus Mcintosh and not against Gillis 
 or any of the Indorsers, and therefor that you can easily 
 
154 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 help that by making the date of the registrat protest 
 16th or 17th of May, which pray faill not to doe, and cause 
 my cousine the Comissar get out a horning on the same 
 againest the indorsers, as well as the accepter, and place 
 the Expense of it to my accot. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Anderew, Rotterdam. 
 
 Inv:, loth July 1721. 
 
 Sir, — This goes by the barque Majorie of this place, 
 Daniel Simpson, Master. She brings a Lodning of bear of 
 Messeurs Hugh and Anderew Monros, but to whom they 
 consign I doe not know. As the barque is wholly mine 
 I have ordered the Skipar to pay what remains of the 
 fraight after paying charges and wages unto you, and take 
 your recept for the same. I have sent by the bearer all 
 the papers and documents relating to the damadge on this 
 barque and cargoe last winter at Copenhagen, as they were 
 sent me by Mr. Ross, and they would have been with you 
 much sooner had not the Barque they were designed first 
 with been detained by conterary winds ; but I hope they 
 will doe the busenis wery well. I beg of you to talk to 
 all your accquentance in toun to put on board my barque 
 what goods they design for this place, since I am afraid 
 she will come hoam emty ; and I desire if Lisbon Salt 
 be cheap that you ship as much for my accot. as will balast 
 the barque, as also 13 ankers good brandy, four chests of 
 brymer window glass shuch as ordinarly come hear, six 
 hundered weight of best Cropt Mader in tuo cask, Eight 
 Hundered weights of anaze seed in malted bags, in each 
 bag on hundered wt. Nota, if canot purchase salt so as 
 that I can have it hear for 15d. ster. pr. bushell of eighty 
 four pound English, then in that case you are to ship non 
 for me. I am sory the want of proper documents on the 
 damadge of the Majorie at Copenhagen makes you too long 
 in advance for me, but for the value of the goods now sent 
 for He take care to remitt it wery soon by the way of 
 London ; and I am, etc. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 155 
 
 Inverness, 15th July 1721. 
 
 Mr. John Gordon, Rotterdam. 
 
 Sir, — I lately received yours under covert of Thomas 
 Alves with my accot. Curt, which is all right ; but I am 
 sory to tell you that the wine sent pr. the Christian of 
 Leith does not prove right, being generally wery small, 
 and now some of it begins to Spoil ; but no help, we must 
 make the best of it. However, if you can find a tun of 
 good strong wine I mean Claret drawen of the Gross lead [?], 
 may ship a tun for my accot. in the Majorie of Inverness, 
 Dan Simpson, master, by whom this goes. I mean that 
 this wine be much better and stronger than the last, tho 
 should cost from 60 to 70 Guilders pr. hhd. ; and take bill 
 of Lodning in name of John McLeod, Junior, Mercht of 
 this place. May draw on me for the value at as long 
 sight as possible, money being prodigious scarce hear at 
 present ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 20th July 1721. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew, Rott. 
 
 Sir, — My last to you was of the 15 Inst. pr. the bark the 
 Marjory of this place, Daniell Simson, Master, by whom 
 I sent you all the papers and documents relating to the 
 damage on the sd. Marjory last vinter at Copenhagen ; so 
 I hope will be with you long before this and will be effectuall 
 for recovering My share and Wm. Mackays of sd. damage 
 of the insure Masters. I desired to send me by the sd. 
 bark thirteen ankers brandy, 600 wt. crop mader 800 wt. 
 anaze seed, and four chests window glass, wh. order I 
 hereby confirme, and only add fowr stoup of lintseed 
 oile in a ston botle, ten pound white lead, and two pound 
 verdigrass, and one pound azure, wh. is to be carefully 
 delivered to the skipper. I dare not comission for more 
 goods because money is so scarce that we cannot depend 
 on a farthing when due us. The laws are now so severe 
 
15G 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 agt. brandy running that it will be needfull you caution 
 the Skipper to stow that sort of goods under all the rest, 
 and by all means to endeavour to keep clear of all the ports 
 on the cost of Brittain untill he come here ; and in cais 
 the bark should not be full of goods I desire you should 
 ship for my use 4000 barll hoops to full up room. I know 
 this post there are comissions goeing to you for goods. 
 Yowll take care to full up the bills of Loading with the 
 bulk @ 3/ pr. barll bulk freight. 
 
 Mr. James Cuming, [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Inverness, 4 Augt. 1721. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 20th ultimo and 22d, and had 
 made answer to both but that I was not at home. I have 
 considered both it and the former, and, tho I have much 
 bussness on hand to look after at present, I shall doe all 
 that lys in my power to obey your commands, and doe you 
 the best service I can ; and for that end I goe this day for 
 Chanorie and Cromarty, ther being (thanks to God) the 
 beginng of a good herring fishing. Should I get any under- 
 takers to make herring for you there woud be a necesity 
 that you remitt me at lest £30 ster., for ther is not a shil: 
 of money to be had in this Country, and I am much 
 streatned at present for money ; otherwise wou'd not 
 make this demand ; but of this shall write you more fully 
 pr. nixt. As to the disposing of your Salt and Cork, I 
 doubt not, if the fishing hold but, will be able to dispose of 
 the same at a tollerable good rate ; and as I judge that 
 bartering the same for herrings, if can be had, will be of 
 no dissadvantage to you, I propose to encourage people 
 to take herring at the Currt. rate, as to wh. I desire your 
 aprobation. I shall call at Will : Ross at Cromarty, and 
 See to adjust your acct. wt. him the best I can ; but I 
 cannot say your affair was in the best of hands by being 
 in his. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 157 
 
 Mr. George Oucterlony, London. 
 
 Inverness, 4 Agust 1721. 
 
 Sir, — My last to you was of 24th June last, since which 
 I have non of your favours, tho I long to know what you 
 have with Capt. Gess anent my dear sons effects, whose 
 deplorable death afflicted me wery much. Pray, Sir, get 
 what things belongs to him, and ship them by Robert 
 Ranken or the first occasion offers for this place, for the 
 may be of use to some body ; besides that I suspect from 
 what you writt me when my dear boy went from England 
 that He had some goods besides his necessars. I honoured 
 your bill of 70 £ ster. to Mr. Alex. Ross and send you the 
 enclosed letter for £10 : 10 sh. str. more, which I am assured 
 will answer to pay Mr. Andrews draught of 80 £ ster. on 
 you for my accot. As Mr. Dawson and I are in concert 
 this year anent the seall of salmond, I shall not truble 
 you on that subject, but to advise what bargain you make 
 for him. 
 
 Invs. llth Augt. 1721. 
 
 To Mr. James Cuming, Mercht. in Edinr. 
 
 My last to you was of ye 4th Inst., since which received 
 yor favr. of 3d Ditto with 50 £ ster. in bank Notes inclosed, 
 to be laid out on yor accot. in makeing of herring, qch. 
 shall endeavour to doe accordingly. Since my last I was 
 twice at Chanonry and Cromarty about yor affairs, and 
 have Sold some of yor Salt and Casks, but cant tell you 
 exactly at present how much ; and I found Undertakers 
 to make 30 casks of herring upon yor accot. vizt: Andw. 
 Ross, broyr to the Unfortunate Hugh Ross, and George 
 Munroe of Newmore Surety for him, for 20 casks at 40 sh. 
 pr. cask ready for shipping ; besides I furnish Salt and 
 Casks, and Wilm. Ross in Parkhill for ten casks, qch. is all 
 he would Undertake to make for you this year, haveing no 
 boats engagd ; and am affraid must give him 2 sh. Pr. 
 more than ye others. I 'm under promise to sd. Andw. 
 
158 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Ross that, if he can make twenty casks more than the 
 20 stipulate by contract, he takeing yor salt and Cask 
 to make ye same, to buy them at ye Current rates. Of all 
 this I hope you '11 approve. I return to Cromarty to- 
 morrow about yor affairs, and I find that they '11 require 
 my presence ther most of all this fishing, qch. really slackens 
 my own fishing, and is very troublesome to me at this 
 juncture. But as I have adoe with Men of honr. I shall 
 not doubt of A Suitable reward ; and, as I think it may be 
 of good use to you, I doe it with pleasure. The fishing 
 is not so brisk as I have seen it, but hopes it may turn 
 better. I reckon there may be since Monday last about 
 200 last salted ; and if I can't find more Undertakers than 
 what I have already agreed with yet I hope to get yor 
 Cask and salt disposed of to a good accot*, and shall take 
 herrings for the same at the Currt. price rather than not 
 sell. In the mean time I think you may be looking out 
 for a mercht. that will buy 40 to 50 casks ; and advise me 
 pr. next what price you may Expect. I have a vessell 
 of which I 'm sole owner, about 30 lasts burthen, which I 
 design to dispatch off immediatly to the Sound for my 
 own accot. Please give me yor oppinion to what Part 
 I shall direct her, and if to Dantzick or Queens berg 1 what 
 sort of goods will be fittest for Newcastle or London, 
 Since I design to return her to either of these ports. 
 
 Inverness, 25th August 1721. 
 
 Mr. James Cuming, Mercht. in Edr. 
 
 Sr., — My last to you was 11th instant since which I 
 have your favours of 10 and 17th Do. Let this inform 
 that since my last I bargoned with Alexr. Berkley and 
 Alxr. Elphinston at Cromarty to make for your acct. 
 fourtie Lasts herins at two pounds 3 sh. sterling pr. last, 
 I furnishing sufficient cask and salt conform, with this 
 proviso that if the herins did not sweem, in that case they 
 are obliged to pay me thirtie shillings sterling pr. last 
 cask, and half a Crown pr. bushell salt proportionable to 
 
 1 Konigsberg. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 159 
 
 sd. fourtie last cask again Martinmass nixt, which is I 
 think no bad bargone. But the fishing being much inter- 
 rupted last week by bad weather, and intirly off since 
 munday last, I went tuesday to Cromarty (from whence 
 I came only this day) to see what was done, and now am 
 to inform you that Andrew Ross has made from 8 to 9 
 lasts, which he refuses to be on your Acct. notwithstanding 
 a signed Contract, as I formerly advised, and that he has 
 used your Cask and salt. May I speak to his brother 
 William to write to the Lad not to expose himself ; and in 
 the mean time send pr. first a blank admirall precept, 
 since I design to seiz the fifth if Andrew persist. Its true 
 I sold him eleven last of your Cask, which I judge is what 
 perplexes him ; but for that I offred to take his bill on his 
 brother, as you ordred, and take his herins on the same 
 conditions as the Cantor Compy made theirs, that is, 
 40 sh. pr. last for one half, and 5 £ ster., payable in 6 
 months ; but I hope he will come to himself. I am bound 
 to take back what salt and cask he has not used, except 
 the ii last sold him. As to Alxr. Berkley and Elphinston, 
 they have only made for you about two lasts, but about 
 18 lasts for themselves. However, as the used some of 
 your salt, I hope to make them say better. They have 
 offered their herins at Half a Crown pr. last under the 
 current price, which, as I judge, will be under the value 
 of your salt and cask, or near about it. . . . If incline 
 send ane adventure to the Sound must freight a bark in 
 the south firth of about 30 lasts, and in that case must 
 keep Berkly's herins, for there is no ships to be had for the 
 4th of our herins, there being 8 or 900 lasts caught, as I 
 judge. I have about 30 lasts only for my self, which will 
 be shipped beginning of nixt week. I wrote to Andrew 
 Hendersone to see if can sell 20 last of them for me not 
 under £6 : 10 ster: pr. last, and my ship shall carrie them to 
 Stockholm, and return to Leith, London, or New Castle 
 at four Libs, sterling pr. last freight, or to Dantzick at £3.10 
 sterling pr. last, out and home. Pray giv him your ad wise 
 anent a proper merchant. When I mak up your Acct. 
 shall remitt the bill and of your money in my hands. 
 
IGO 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 25 Augt. 1721 . 
 
 Mr. George Ochterlony [London]. 
 
 Sir, — My last was of the 4th Currt. since which I have 
 non of your favours. This chiefly advises that my bark 
 the Marjory of this place, Daniel Simson, Master, bound 
 home from Rotterdam to this port, I say please insure 
 on sd. bark and Cargoe for my Acct. £70 Stl. against sea 
 hazard. I am advized the third Inst, said bark would 
 be readdie to saile about the 15 or 16. Do advise of your 
 complyance pr. first, and pay the premium to my Accot., 
 likeways advise what have done with Captain Jess anent 
 my sons effects, and if have made any bargin for Provest 
 Dawson, with course of Exchange on holland. 
 
 Mr. David Anderson, Edr. 
 
 Inverness, 8 Septr. 1721. 
 
 At the desire of John McLeod, Factor to Capt. 
 Mudie of Melsester, 1 I send you inclosed first bill Georg 
 Skeen, pay master of the Foosiliers at this place, payable 
 to your order, for Seventy pound sterline, of the recept 
 of which please have me advised pr. first ; and I am, 
 Sir, etc. 
 
 Messrs. Majoribanks and Coutts [Dantzic]. 
 
 Inverness, 12 Septr. 1721. 
 
 Gentlemen, — This will adress you by my frind and 
 broyr, 2 John McLeod, in the Margret of Inverness, David 
 Stevenson, Mr., who will consign you twenty seven lasts 
 one barell herings, well packed and cured, which you are 
 to dispose of to the best avail, and Credit the proceeds as 
 
 1 Captain James Moodie of Melsester, R.N., was considered the leader of the 
 Hanoverian party in Orkney. He was murdered at Kirkwall, 26th Oct. 1725, 
 by the Jacobite, Sir James Stewart of Burray. 
 
 2 Brother-in-law. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 1G1 
 
 folowes, vizt., twenty two lasts one barell to my proper 
 accot., and five last to the accot of sd. John McLeod. I 
 must own I am at a loss what to advise to return by the 
 ship, and therfor must depend chiefly on your own good 
 Conduct and frindship in yt. matter. I wrott to my 
 corispondent at London to try if could get a fraight for 
 the ship for that port, and to advise you accordingly, and, 
 if that could not doe, to advise you what sorting of goods 
 from Dantzig would sell best there, which goods you are 
 accordingly to ship to the value of the proceeds of the 
 outward Cargoe and no more. According to the best 
 advisis I have, I understand best hemp, long plank, and 
 potashes and flax are the most proper Commodity for that 
 market. Or if you can think of a better market for shuch 
 goods on any part of the East side of England, or the 
 Chanell, may advise Mr. McLeod to proceed accordingly 
 and to whom he shall adress at any shuch port he may 
 happen to goe to. And, in case of reloading the ship on 
 my accot. as is sd., you are to order Mr. Alexr. Andrew of 
 Rotterdam, or Mr. George Ouchterlony of London, to 
 insure three hundred pound sterling on ship and Cargoe 
 for my proper accot., and desire either of them to value 
 on me for the premium, and derect that the insurance be 
 made againes all hazards, and let the same be ordered 
 timely before the ship sail from your Port. And noat 
 the proceeds of Mr. McLeods five Last, and noat the 
 proceed goes to make up an equall proportion of the horn- 
 ward Cargoe ; and you are to advance what mony he calls 
 for to fitt the ship and victuall it, and to pay mens wages. 
 I depend wery much on your own frindship in ordering 
 this affair, and have only to add that there is fourty 
 shd. [?] of best Iron for an English market to be shipt for 
 ballast. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 27 Octr. 1721. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour of 7th currt, adviseing of 
 your draught on me to the order of Rochell McLeod for 
 
 L 
 
162 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 £12 : 15 : 2 str., and on Alexr. Ross to ditto for £17 : 4 : 10 
 stl., both which will find due honour, but Alexr. Ross says 
 you have his acceptance already for the same sum, which 
 he wants to be returned him since he has accepted this 
 bill. I observe the prices of goods from france rise with 
 you, and I doe not wonder of it. You are to expect no 
 salmon from this firth this year, all being shipped for the 
 Mediteranean, so I hope again next year Salmon may be 
 in demand with you. The two Hhds. mader you sent me 
 by the Marjory is not of a right quality for this country ; 
 will not sell here at any price, and must be returned pr. 
 first occasion, being Crust mader instead of best cropt 
 which I called for. In a post or two shall order most of 
 the money I am due you via London. 
 
 Inverness, 28 Octobr 1721. 
 
 Mr. And. Henderson [Merchant, Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I wrote you yesternight, to wh. refers ; and now 
 I send you inclosed accepted bill Charles Fall, of Dunbar, 
 payable to my order at the chamber of Mr. Robert Hep- 
 burn, vryter for £1400 pounds Scots, wh. I doubt not will 
 be punctualy paid. And since I am bound to pay this 
 to a peremptor demand at Martinmass next, and I find 
 I cannot possibly get money here, I desire you transmitt 
 me a hunder and ten pounds stl. in eleven bank notes. 
 You are to inclose these noats in your letter in presence 
 of the Postmaster, and see the same marked accordingly ; 
 and its fitt you take ane accot. of the numbers of the noats 
 you send. 
 
 Inverness, 17 Novr. 1721. 
 
 Mr. William Dawson. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 6th Inst, informing me of a 
 loading of herrin salmon and cod fish you was to ship for 
 Venice by Comission from London, and desired to know 
 if I should be concerned or not. This being the first time 
 you ever comunicated any thing of this nature to me, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 103 
 
 and so late to concert a project of this importance, and 
 never hearing of it befor, but a little transiently from 
 George Urquhart, and such terms were intimated to me 
 as I think hardly you could ever goe into, so that really 
 untill be more clearly informed of the nature of this affair 
 I cannot tell if I hold a share or not. I sold Baillie Roy, 
 junr. of Forress, for the last herrin fishing two hundred 
 bushells salt, wh. he told was for your use ; wherefor I 
 desire yow or him order the payt. of it immediatly, being 
 half a crown pr. bushell. 
 
 Inverness, 17 Nover. 1721. 
 
 Meseurs. Richd. and Nicolas Rydlies, Newcastle. 
 
 Gentlemen, — It is a long time since I hade any of your 
 favours, and now send this to advise you that the ship 
 Margt. of this place, David Stevenson, Master, of 50 tuns 
 burden or thereby, I have ordered from Dantzick to call 
 at your port with her loading of shampelonn iron, long fir 
 plank, etc., pype staves, in order to try if can make a 
 tollerable market with you, and have ordered my friend 
 John McLeod, who is along, to call at you for your advice 
 what to doe as to the sale of sd. Cargoe. Mean time please 
 advise me pr. first post whow such a small cargoe of Iron, 
 plank, and pype staves would sale at your Port ; and your 
 complyance will much oblidge. 
 
 Date above. 
 
 Mr. John Aickman, Mercht. in Leghorn. 
 
 Sir, — My last to you was pr. the J ames of Leith, Capt. 
 Patrick Hay, Commander, to which I have your answer 
 in course pr. post, and I thank you for it. I am almost 
 ashamed to give you the trouble of the inclosed receipt 
 for five barrll salmon shipt for my accot. in the Midleton 
 Gelly of Aberdeen, Robt. Midleton Commander, Marked B, 
 which please call for and dispose of for my Accot. ; and 
 from the neat proceeds, that is, in caise Mr. Middleton 
 return directly for Scotland, please buy for my use as much 
 
164 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 best mantua black silk as will make two full suits of 
 womens clothes, that is, being about yrd. wide, thirty 
 english yrds. ; also about fowrty flask of best florence 
 eating oyle in a chest, and the rest of the proceeds to be 
 invested in best florence Chiante wine in chests, fowrty 
 flasks to a chest ; and take the masters bill of Loading 
 for the same in my name, mentioning the fraight I am 
 to pay, wh. please forward pr. post. But, if the ship be 
 not to return Directly for Scotland, may remitt the pro- 
 ceeds of the Salmon to the hands of Mr. George Ouchter- 
 lonie, Mercht. in London, and advise me accordingly. I 
 was to have shipped fyfteen barll. more Salmon pr. the 
 Midleton Gelly, but, being necessarly called from home, 
 said ship sailed ere I could return, so that I am asheamed to 
 trouble you with so small a trifle, but that I presume on 
 your friendship for old acquaintance sake, and shll. hope 
 to have occasion to doe one aneother better service. I 
 intreat advice of markets with you for Fishes. 
 
 Inverness, 17 Nover. 1721. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Faicknie [London]. 
 
 Sir, — Some time agoe Thos. Alves of this place advised 
 you that he hade shipped aboard Robert Rankin of Dundee 
 his ship eighteen tuns fine iron, wh. was consigned to your 
 self, and to be sold at the best availe for sd. Mr. Alves and 
 partners, the proceeds to be credited the following persons 
 in the following proportions, that is, To Thos. alves accot. 
 5 tuns and to John Fraser 5 tuns, and to Jonothan Thom- 
 son two tuns, and to my Accot. six tuns ; and no doubt 
 yowll advert to credit us accordingly, and doe the best for 
 our interests. Now this serves chiefly to advise you that, 
 if Capt. Rankin be not arrived at London befor this come 
 to hand, you insure for my accot. agt. all hazards from 
 Newcastle to London on the Cargoe on board the ship 
 sixty pounds strl., and place the premium to my accot., 
 and advise in course of your complyance. Pray forward 
 the inclosed pr. first post for Italy, and place the postage 
 to Your, etc. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 165 
 
 Inverness, 28 Novr. 1721. 
 
 To John Macleod. 
 
 Aff. Brother, — Hopeing this will find you safe arrived. 
 Serves to advise you that yesterday I reed, your favour of 
 25th ultimo from dantzick, with Accot. of sales of the 
 herrins, and invoyce of goods shipped on board the Margaret 
 extending to 2841 : 7 : as also advice that you have drawen 
 on to the order of Mr. Couts fo. 56 : 11 : 3 stl., which will 
 be duly honoured, I have likeways observed you have 
 insured for my Accot. on ship and Cargoe f4400, wh. I 
 approve of. I observe your cargoe chiefly consists of 
 plank and iron, and there will be ane absolute necessity 
 for disposeing the plank and pype staves in the firth or 
 some port on the Coast of England, since here there will 
 be no market for either. But I suppose Newcastle or some 
 port there about will be the most proper for disposeing 
 of the plank, and I observe is none of the best for that 
 market, being generally to short. However, as you are 
 acquainted with the walue of the cargoe I leave it in your 
 seff entirely to doe the best for me you can in disposeing 
 of the same ; only take notice, if you cannot sell the iron 
 so as to save the price, cost, and duety, I incline that the 
 greatest part come home with the ship hither rather than 
 it should be sold at too great a loss ; and it was certainly 
 a great mistake to ship so much iron at Dantzick at so dear 
 a rate, and it would be much more in my favour to load 
 stons for ballast ; but I bleam David Shuson [?] and not 
 you for that pice of mismanagement, and I have reason to 
 doe so from what Mr. Couts writes me ; and if you happen 
 to sell the cargoe at Newcastle you are to address Mesrs. 
 Richd. and Nicolas Ridless for there advice, and when 
 the Cargoe is sold please reload the ship with Coals for this 
 place, and remitt the ballance of the proceeds to the hands 
 of Mr. And. Henderson, Mercht. in Edr. If this should 
 find you in the south firth [Firth of Forth] you are to 
 adress And. henderson, by whose asisstance yowll endavour 
 to dispose of the cargoe there ; and if it can be done to 
 any advantage you need not proceed to England, and in 
 
166 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 that event He send you orders to reload the ship home with 
 salt ; and take notice that whatever you sell the cargoe you 
 endeavour it be for ready money, or at least a good part 
 of it, in order to pay mens wage and duetys, and reload 
 the ship. For your government I think fitt to tell you 
 that Iron sells there at 28 pr. ston ready money. I am 
 advised that Iron is worth at London from £15 to £17 pr. 
 tun of 2000 weight, wh. is above half a Crown, and that 
 this is your best market ; but if can find near that price 
 at Newcastle need not proceed. 
 
 Inverness, 1 Dec. 1721. 
 
 Comissar Steuart. 
 
 Afft. Cous., — I have your favours of 24 and 25 currt. 
 As to the first I am much refreshed to know of the arrivale 
 of your Brothers at London, and would willingly comply 
 to your demand for there present supply ; but, as the 
 managers with me of the charity colected for behalf of 
 your Brothers and Crew are now from home, I must waite 
 till Thos. Alves return to town and take his advice about 
 what is to be done in that matter ; and whether he goe in 
 to your proposall or not He not faill pr. next post to send 
 you something out my own pocket for my Cousins. James 
 Russell tells me he collected some money in Morray about 
 a year agoe for there relief, which is now recalled by the 
 contributors, but James says heell keep it untill he see your 
 Brother Alex. I observe your orders anent James Macky 
 ship master in Elphiston, and after enquiry doe learn he 
 is not in Lochbroom, but is gone to Stornway to load 
 beef. However, shall write him to morow to send me his 
 bill as directed for £20 stl., and He send him that sum, for 
 without his orders I dare not risque money that way at 
 present for fear of robbing, wh. is verray frequent of late 
 in Highlands. He take care of your orders as to Mr. 
 Malcom, and advise you pr. next. I wish he and others 
 that employ me to serve them here will pay the postagde 
 of there own letters and save me the trouble of keeping 
 accot. on that head. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 107 
 
 Inverness, 1st Deer. 1721. 
 
 Mr. And. Henderson [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — Since my last of 25 have I reed, yours of yt. date, 
 and I am glade to understand that the long depending 
 debenture is like at last to find success, as I hope the two 
 herrin debentures for £44 : 14 : 4 StL, and Angus Mcintosh 
 his bill on Alexr. Mcintosh for £30 stl., have or now ; and 
 I hope to be advised accordingly in course. Pray, if 
 David Stenson in the Margaret of this place be arrived in 
 your firth from Dantzick, yowll please deliver the enclosed 
 letter to my friend John McLeod who is alongs, and give 
 him your best advice how to proceed, and, if he wants a 
 little money, lett him have it on my accot. I think New- 
 castle or London will prove his best market. I understand 
 iron sells at the last named place at from £15 to £17 stl. 
 pr. tun, and what he has is of the finest kind. Deliver the 
 enclosed to Mr. James McKcnzie, Minr., and when you are 
 in cash for me pay him £15 stl., and retire my acceptance 
 in his hands for like sum. 
 
 15/ Deer. 1721. 
 
 Mesrs. Richd. and Nicolas Ridleys [Newcastle]. 
 
 My last to you of 17th ultmo anent my ship the Margaret 
 of this place bound to your Port from Dantzick. If the 
 said ship has arrived please deliver the inclosed to Mr. 
 McLeod who is along, and pray give him your best advice 
 what to doe anent the disposeall of the cargoe. If the 
 prices be near as good with you as at London doe rather 
 incline to sell than proceed forward, in wh. caise I depend 
 on your favour for my interest, since the young Gentleman 
 that is with the wesshell is a stranger. I understand iron 
 now sells at Londn at from £15 to £17 pr. tun, but should 
 be contented with some less at your port, being inclined to 
 Load the bark with Coales for this place. I waite your 
 answer in course. 
 
168 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 8 Deer. 1721. 
 
 For the Earle of Morray. 
 
 I am honoured with your Lops, favours of 23d, in answer 
 to which please know that some days agoe I was with 
 Alex: McPherson, who told me positively it was not in 
 his power to pay your Lop. his by gone rents, nor find 
 security in time comeing ; and therefor I thought fitt to 
 make him sign the inclosed renunciation of his fue right 
 to the Lands of Craggie, as also the inclosed letter directed 
 to your Lop., which I think will make red work as to the 
 decreet of Reduction to be exped against him. No body 
 has yet appeared for said lands of Craggie. However, 
 its fitt your Lop. advise me pr. first of the Lowest premium 
 you will accept for a fue right, the purchaser paying 250 
 Mks. of fue yearly ; and its fitt your Lop. be advised pr. 
 first and acquaint me how far John McBain in Alnaskiach 
 his wadset right of 500 Mks. on Wester Craggie will affect 
 your Lops, right to the new purchaser, since the not clearing 
 that point may be a stop. I have not got one shilling of 
 your Lops, fue duetys as yet, but have writt a circulat letter 
 to all and Sundrie concerned that if I am not paid befor 
 Candlesmass He use personall as weell as reall dilligence 
 agt. them, and put them from keeping kirk and market. 
 Mr. McKenzie of Pettie presses me much about colecting 
 his stipen, wh. have refused, and told him that, since your 
 Lop. made so many generous concessions to him, he ought 
 not to push that point, especially since payt. was difficult 
 of your own rents, besides his stipen, and that, if he forced 
 your Lop: to that complyance, he was not to expect a furr 
 of land. So he has taken the matter to consideration. 
 Money comes in verry slowly for your Lop. rents ; how- 
 ever, I send inclosed my bill on Andrew Henderson, 
 Mercht. in Edr., for £50 strl, which I hope will find punctual 1 
 complyance, and I hope again next post to remitt your 
 Lop. as much more. The Tenants of Petty complain 
 verry much of their bear cropt this year, and yet I judge 
 I cannot reach for it here above 8 mks. pr. boll, of which 
 I desire your Lops, thoughts pr. post. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 169 
 
 Date above. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Faicknie [London]. 
 
 Sir, — Being informed that Mr. Ranken is safe arrived 
 with you, and hopeing my iron shipt with him in Compt. 
 may be sold or now. I doe at this date value on you for 
 twenty pounds strl. to the order of John Steuart, vryter 
 to the Signet at Edr. This money is designed to supply 
 my poor friends come out of captivity, 1 and therefor I hope 
 will be punctually paid and placed to accot. of Your 
 etc. 
 
 Inverness, 19 Beer. 1721. 
 
 Mr. William Simson [Aberdeen]. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favours of 27 past, and I own I 
 am too long in makeing a return to it, for which I beg 
 pardon. I received in yours Meses. Forbes and Ogilvie 
 letters, who appear to be managers for the Countess of 
 Eroll, and I am verry sensible of your concern about my 
 bussiness, and that you have acted the part of a kind 
 friend for me. But I cannot fullie credit the report of 
 Mr. Ogilvie, since poor James Cuming, who is ane honest 
 man, and wittness to the misfortune, tells me that the 
 other seamen found his goods, vizt. oat meall, nuts, and 
 oak bark, in the fishermens howses, with some of the barks 
 rigging, wh. he [they ?] immediatly fell on how soon the 
 bark stranded, and that Baillie Forbes, who seems to be 
 ane honest Gentleman and Baillie in those Bounds, was so 
 convinced of there barbarity from there own confession, 
 that he fined them in ten pounds strl. to be instantly paid 
 Cuming for his damages, and direct Mr. Ogilvie would 
 not allow to be extracted, so that the whole affair was 
 knockt in the head. I can not say but his conduct might 
 have been as good to lett the poor man get some small 
 satifaction, since I find he is advised to porteus roll a 
 great many of these plunderers, and, by a lait act of 
 
 1 Captured by the Moors. 
 
170 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Parliament, medling with wrecht good where all the crew 
 come safe ashoare is made Felonie, and to be punished 
 with death ; and if some rascall was hanged for such a 
 crime it woud be a good service done the nation, and pro- 
 bable deter from such proceedings again. But, for my part, 
 as I have the honour to be Mr. Hays relation, and he has 
 dispensed wh. his claim of Salvager, I design not to medle 
 in it. A towns boat of this place goes soon with timber 
 to Newburgh, by which I will order to transport what 
 riging, ankers, and sailes are saved ; but, for the masts 
 and boat, etc., may dispose of them the best you can. The 
 masts are both new, and would be worth 40 shill. stl. 
 there ; but make the best of them. Give my hearty 
 thanks to Baillie Forbes, and assure him He pay his charges 
 on my goods thankfully, and that I hope heell take care of 
 the goods in his custody, only please cause bring the Earle 
 of Morrays knock [clock] to Aberdeen, and cause some 
 skillfull tradesman oyle and dress it on my charges, and 
 then ship pr. first for Leith, to the care of Andrew Hender- 
 son, Mercht., in Edr., adviseing its for the Earle of Morray 
 at Dunibirsle. I reed. Mr. Donald McLeods receipt for 
 the £40 nots sent him, for wh. I thank you, and I send you 
 inclosed five guineas, out of which you are to pay Hugh 
 McDonald, student in the old town colledge, fowr guineas, 
 and retire my noat from him for the like value, and out 
 of the other pay Alex. Scot for his charges, and whatever 
 you Deburse for me shall be thankfully paid by Your, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 5 J amy. 1722. 
 
 John McLeod. 
 
 I wrote to you the 23d ultimo, to which have no return, 
 but wrote of the same date to Andrew Henderson, Mercht. 
 in Edr., to which I have his answer of 29th ultmo, in wh. 
 he advises me that the Pyne staves will not sell in the 
 south firth except in barter for herring cask which I have 
 no occasion for, and the plank cannot be sold untill they 
 be livered and seen. The reall meaning of which I take 
 to be that when they are unload I must sell them at any 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 171 
 
 rate. And for iron, he writes me it cannot sell at all ; so 
 upon the whole I find there is ane absolute necessity the 
 ship proceed for Newcastle, or some port to the southwards 
 of it in England, which I leave to your own good manage- 
 ment, for I find by Mr. Hendersons letter that my cargoe, 
 should it be unload in the south firth, will neither furnish 
 me ready money nor credite to purchase me a loadning 
 of salt for this place. Newcastle, I find, will be your 
 proper market, where at least you will find redy money 
 for the plank and pyne staves, and perhaps for the iron . 
 too ; and it is my oppinion that you sell the iron five or 
 ten shillings pr. Under the Currt., so as you get ready money 
 for it. And when your cargoe is disposed you are to reload 
 the ship with coalls and 20 gross of chopin botles for my 
 accot. ; and if you please to ship 20 gross more for your 
 accot. you can have no loss by them ; and if can find good 
 barrll hops [hoops] from 16 to 18/ pr. thousand may fill up all 
 the waste room in the ship with them. You are likeways 
 to buy for my accot. a hyde of ben leather, and half a doz. 
 drest calfes skins, with a pair of boots fitt for me, as also 
 the walue of ten shillings of wine glases, mugs, tea pots. 
 I told you formerly that you are to address yourself to 
 Messrs. Ridleys at Newcastle, and besure befor you part 
 that you make up accots. with them, and remitt what 
 ballance is due to the hands of Andrew Henderson at Edr., 
 and pleascc order Mr. George Ouchterlonie at London to 
 insure a hundred and fifty pounds strl. on ship and cargoe 
 from Newcastle homeward, and place the premium to my 
 accot. 
 
 Inverness, 5 J amy 1722. 
 
 Mr. David Stenson [Master of the Margaret]. 
 
 Sir, — I hope this will find you and crew in good 
 health at Bruntisland, and serves to acquaint you that I 
 have sent positive orders to John McLeod to proceed to 
 Newcastle, since I find it impossble to dispose the carge 
 in the south firth without great loss. I shall not doubt 
 but you will doe what you can will contribute to my 
 
172 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 interest, and you may depend I will have a due regard to 
 your interest and pains, while I find you have so to mine. 
 Your wife and daughter are weell ; and you may tell 
 Alexr. Gibson that his wife is brought to bed of a daughter, 
 and you may tell him that I advanced her money she 
 called for. The ship is to load coals and botles at New- 
 castle and come directly home here ; and, please Good she 
 arrives, I have a handsom voyage projected for her. 
 
 Inverness, 5 J amy. 1722. 
 
 Mr. Robert Gordon [Bordeaux]. 
 
 Sir, — It is a long time since I hade any of your favours, 
 and the dismall and deplorable Accots. of the contagion 
 that rages in the South of france has in a manner put a 
 stop to all correspondence betwixt this place and you, 
 Tho' I hope God will preserve you from the great evill 
 that now prevails in that country, which I heartily wish. 
 This serves to advise you that how soon this come to hand 
 you ship for my accot. in the first ship you can find bound 
 for Rotterdam fowrteen or sixteen hhds. of the best strong 
 claret, better than that is ordinarly sent to this country, 
 wh. you are to consign to the hands of Mr. Alex. Andrew, 
 Mercht. in Rotterdam, and advise him pr. post to insure 
 the value of the same, as also of the ship in Masters name, 
 but yowll take notice that, if you find any difficulty such 
 as makes this commission impracticable, you are to let 
 it drop. I again intreat as a great favour the same be good 
 strong weell colored and tasted wine ; and how soon I 
 know the value of the same shall order your money at 
 London, 
 
 Inverness, 12 Janry. 1722. 
 
 For the Earle of Morray. 
 
 I am honoured with your Lops, favour of 21st last month, 
 with Alexr. McPhersons renunciation returned, and I 
 have called for him and told him it was not sufficient ; to 
 which he answers that that was not his fault but the clerks 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 173 
 
 that wrote it, being always willing to sign any renunciation 
 can be contrived to divest him of his fue right to that 
 estate, but swears he is no more able to relive John 
 McBeans wadsett than he is able to fly in the air, being 
 not worth one shilling. He promises again the begining 
 of the week to bring now a full account of the rent of 
 Ester and Midd Cragie, so that the same with the walued 
 rent shall be sent pr. next. John McBean never offered 
 for the fue right of the whole as Alex. McPherson hade it, 
 but 200 mks., pr. year, and I told your Lop. so at Darnway, 
 and your Lop. asked 250 Mks., and I am afraid a good man 
 will be hardly got for those lands while McBeans wadsett 
 subsists, since he has the marrow of them ; and hear he 
 is to dispute his right before the Lords. I hade a fuer 
 court at Petty this week, and have taken a decreet again 
 all and sundry except such as have paid, and those are a 
 verry few ; but I am promised a good deall of those few 
 duetys again Candlesmass, wh. will be transmitted to your 
 Lop. by James Russell, who finds difficulty, as I doe, to 
 get any of your Lops, last years farms disposed here at 
 eight mark pr. boll. I wrote to you of the 15th of the last 
 month, in wh. I sent inclosed first bill George Skeen on 
 John Gordon at the bank Edr. for fifty pound stl., payable 
 ten days after sight, wh. bill was indorsed to your Lop. ; 
 and, seeing I have no return from your Lop., I send you 
 inclosed the second bill indorsed ; but if the first is come to 
 hand and answered, your Lop. may return this to me pr. 
 first, and in any event let me be advised in return of this 
 being effectuall, and shall transmitt all the money I can 
 get by James Ross. But am sorry to tell your Lop. that 
 I find the tenents of Pettey for the most Part in verry 
 bade circumstance, and daily groweing worse. And if 
 Providence doe not order that the next cropt be better 
 than these two or three years past, there will be verry soon 
 either ley lands or insuperable debts in that country. And 
 its not in my power to doe more for your Lops, interest 
 than what I doe. Mr. McKenzie is upon me for his money 
 stipen, anent wh. Intreat your Lop. orders pr. first, for he 
 is positive not to collect himself ane farthing from the 
 Tenents. 
 
174 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 13 Janry. 1722. 
 
 John McLeod. 
 
 I received yours of 15th inst. in compa. with And. 
 Henderson, and I observe you brought the ship to Lieth 
 in order to be unload, which I must own does surprize 
 me, since in the orders I gave you to dispose of the cargoe 
 in the south firth I cautioned you was not to doe it unless 
 you could sell the plank and pync staves at a tollerable 
 good price, and could get as much ready money at least 
 as could pay the duety and mens wages, so that to unload 
 this goods and put them in a yard at Lieth, by wh. plank 
 particularly must be exposed to rain, and so great deal 
 the worse, so that I cannot see but the whole bargin will 
 prove verry ruinous ; and I wish Mr. Henderson hade not 
 himself too much in view in adviseing the livering it at 
 Leith. But, since it is unload, pray doe all you can to 
 dispose of it befor you come away, and likeways of the 
 iron, provide, vizt., you can reach 28 pence pr. ston, wh. 
 failling, you are to dispose of it as I formerly advised. 
 And if you find occasion to send it for London you are to 
 consign it to Mr. George Ouchterlonie, Mercht there, and 
 order him to insure the walue. And to the return of the 
 of ship here, I find salt wont doe, so you '11 cause ship ten [?] 
 coalls for ballast, and take all the goods you can get upon 
 freight, and may fill up the waste room with as many new 
 herin bariles as the ship can hold, wh. you will gett in 
 barter for some of the Pyne staves. And as I have for- 
 merly hinted, pray faill not to dispose of the plank and 
 staves before you come away if possible, for I care not to 
 leave my goods exposed the open air in Lieth. Cause 
 And. Henderson ship for me a 100 shelled barley, and a 
 barll. full of white biskets. 
 
 19 Janry, 1722. 
 
 To the Earle of Morray. 
 
 My last was of ye 12 Currt, Since which I 'm honoured 
 with yor Lops, favour of the 4th do. and in it promisses to 
 allow at compting my bill of £50 stl. on John Gordon at ye 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 175 
 
 Bank, So that the Second bill sent yr. Lop. last post for 
 ye same sum will no doubt be returned me in course. I 
 send yor Lop. a letter inclosed from Alexr. McPherson of 
 Craggie, qch I believe shall convince yor Lop. the poor 
 man had no bad design in the last paper he sent yor Lop. 
 I send likeways inclosed an Accot. of ye reall rent of Craggie 
 which Extends in all to 218£ Scots. As for ye Value Rent 
 I could not send it this time, the Collector of the Supply 
 being from home ; But Craggie tells me he believs it is 
 100£ Scots, and that he pays 3 merks pr. month of Cess. 
 He says likeways that befor he gave the Wadset Right of 
 Wester Craggie to John McBean that the Lands of Wester 
 Craggie were resting yor Lop. £25 str. of feu duty, which 
 I think by the by ought to affect ye Wadsett. I can't 
 find anybody in this country that will give 250 merks 
 of feu duty for these Lands Unless the feu right were given 
 gratis, but very sufficient man has desired me offer yor 
 Lop. 1000 Merks for ye feu Right providing yor Lop. will 
 restrict ye feu duty to 10£ str. pr. year, and I believe the 
 man may be brought to give 200 merks yearly as feu duty, 
 in which I dar not advise yor Lop., tho' I belive that when 
 Craggie removes from the Land at Whitsunday we will 
 get the feu duty made good by the tenants that labour the 
 Land. Delnies has given up his land of Brackly, and pro- 
 mises faithfully payt. of his arreare at Candlesmass, in 
 which, if he faill, I design to pursue him without loss of 
 time. Its very fit yor Lop. send immeadiatly A process 
 of warning, for its not a feu that must be warnd of the 
 tenents to remove. I long for yor Lops. Answer anent ye 
 Parson, who makes me frequent visits ; As also that I be 
 empowered to provide tenents to the land out of which 
 the present possessors are to be removed at Whitsunday. 
 
 Inverness, 26 J amy. 1722. 
 
 For John McLeod. 
 
 I received yours pr. last post adviseing that the ship 
 Margaret was unload, and that you hade safed \ of the 
 duety of the iron and pyne staves and \ of the plank, wh. 
 
17(3 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 is verey weell, and if you can gett the iron sold, as I advised 
 in my last, vizt., at 27d pr. ston. ready money, or one half 
 reddy money, and the other in three months ; but by all 
 means I intreat that you and Mr. Henderson endavour to 
 get the plank and pyne staves disposed of, to wh. my friend 
 Mr. James Cuming, Mercht. in Edr., will give his concur- 
 rence ; and by all means let the ship be dispatched with- 
 out loss of time least she eat up all, for I hear some of 
 Sanders Steuarts crew are comeing passengers with her, 
 wh. I cannot refuse, but see no reason for continueing 
 longer Mr. Gemble the Irish man in my service, unless you 
 find him a verry usefull man. Pleas buy for my wife ane 
 iron spit and brander, with ane doz. sgoors, and flesh- 
 crook and a flamer, and fifty pound weight of single 
 refenade [refined] Suggar. As to the ballasting of the 
 ship with coalls, I leave it to your self to put in as much 
 as you think proper. 
 
 Inverness, 20 Febry. 1722. 
 Mr. John McLeod, Ad[vocate]. 
 
 I hade a letter lately from my Brother, John McLeod, 
 in which he advises me that you desired that I should 
 value on you for fowr hundred pounds scots due Andrew 
 Scot, Meason, for building the outward wall of McLeods 
 tomb, and I have accordingly valued on you of this date 
 to Mr. George Falconer, Mercht. in Edinbr., or order, for 
 sd. sum, payable eight days after sight, which no doubt 
 will be comply ed with. Its true that there remains some 
 things to be finished about the tomb by Mr. Scot, but then 
 I am resolved to keep a good deall of this money in my 
 hands untill be compleatly done. 
 
 Inverness, 16th March 1722. 
 Mr. George Oucterlony [London], 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour of 22 ulto, advising that 
 you had got bill of loadning for 548 barrs Iron Shipt for 
 my accot. in Hopewell of Lieth, David Renny, Mr., and 
 that you had insured upon my accot. on sd. iron from 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 177 
 
 Lieth to London £150 ster. at 1| pr. Ct., which is well. 
 I hope before this come to hand the sd. ship will be arrived 
 with you, and therefor doe intreat that on recept of this 
 you wrett to Mr. Robert Gordon of Bourdeaux, and order 
 to value on you for my acct. Z2028 french, I say two 
 thousand and 28 french livers, at the Current Exchange. 
 And in case you should not be in cash from the proceeds of 
 my Iron to answer Mr. Gordons draught for sd. sume, 
 may value on me for the same payable at Edr., and 
 your bill will find due honour ; or, if you find it more in 
 my favours to remitt Mr. Gordon his mony by the way 
 of Paris, pray feall not to doe it. I observed Captain 
 Gess in the Venetian Gelly is arrived with you, and that 
 you design to call him to an accot. for my sons efects. He 
 take it as a favour you doe soe, and I leave that affair 
 intearly to your own prudent manadgment. I have writt 
 of this date to Mr. Robert Gordon advising him that you 
 was to order him payment of the above mentioned sume 
 for my accot. ; therfor I advise that you may advise him 
 without loss of time whether you comply with thir orders 
 or not, that that honest Gentleman may not want his 
 mony too long ; and I am Your, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 16th Mr. 1722. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Faikny [London]. 
 
 I received yours of the 17 ulto, and doe observe 
 that you have payd to Mr. Alexr. Andrews of Rotterdam 
 on my accot £63. 8 ster., being the ballance due me by 
 you, for which I thank you. I observe Robert Rankin is 
 coming for this place, once this month, but I will have no 
 occasion for any of these goods you mention ; only please 
 by for my use, and deliver to Robert Rankins own hands, 
 26 yeards striped lute strong silk, green and whyt, and 
 26 yeards ditto blew and wheat, making in all 52 yeards. 
 It is for making tuo swits of Cloaths for tuo young lasses, 
 and the price is comonly from 3s. to 3 : 6d. pr. yeard. 
 Please take Mr. Rankin recept for the same, and accquent 
 of the price, and the same will be remitted you pr. first ; 
 and I am, etc. 
 
 M 
 
178 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 24 March 1722. 
 
 For the Earle of Morray. 
 
 Being apprehensive that your Lop. would be anxtious 
 to hear from me anent your last years rents, and finding 
 James Russell, who is not idle in your Lops, service, could 
 not get south so verry soon as I expected by reason of 
 the slow payments he finds of your Lops, rents in those 
 bade times, I have ventured to send by the Post to the 
 care of honourable Mr. Francis Stuart, your Brother, 
 £180 : str., that is, your Lop. has inclosed £110 strl. in 
 bank noats, and the remainder in bank noats. If could 
 find any bills, more bank noats or guineas, would had 
 sent some more, but did not think fitt to risque specie in 
 silver ; but again James Russell goe off, wh. I hope will 
 be in ten days, your Lop. may expect to hear furder from 
 me. I must acquaint your Lop. that your tenants of 
 Pettie haveing for three years past a verry bade cropt, 
 particularly of barly, I find a vast difficulty in getting your 
 rents made good, for in spite of all I can doe thir rests 
 are not diminished, Tho I hope at long run your Lop. will 
 not be much looser. I have warned severall tennants to 
 remove again Whitesunday, and yet am affraid some must 
 still continue for want of good tennants to take there 
 rooms ; for I care not that any of your Lops. Lands 
 should lay waste. The fue duety of Strathearn 1 and 
 Strathnairn come in verry slowly — 
 
 10 No. T: 'VW 
 10 No. xffa 
 10 No. 
 
 10 No. Ylh$5~5 
 
 1 Now Strathdearn. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 179 
 
 Inverness, 5 Aprile 1722. 
 Mr. David Stenson [Stevenson]. 
 
 Loveing Friend,— You are to proceed with the ship 
 Margaret of this place for Rotterdam, where you are to 
 adress to Mr. Alexr. Andrews and Mr. Alexr. Castares, 
 Mercht. there, who will have orders to load the ship with 
 Lisbon Salt and wine ; and from thence you are to proceed 
 for this place, and bring letters and bills of loading as 
 from Lisbon. But befor you come directly up here you 
 are to make a signall with your ensign off Helmsdeall, if 
 the wind serve, where my orders will waite you either 
 there or at Tarbetness. You are to take care that no 
 goods be found in the ship that may endanger her, especially 
 that can be easily seen or diserned. Such goods as may 
 be seen are as follows, vizt., salt, wine in hogsheads, chests 
 with leamons and oranges, barrells with reasins and feggs, 
 or brandie in hogsheads. Except these non other goods 
 can be seen without great danger. You are to be verry 
 cautious that if there be any other you stow it under the 
 salt, or put in it hogsheads and stow it among the wine. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sir, — This goes by David Stevenson in the ship Margaret 
 of this place, who is to load Lisbon salt and about ten tuns 
 of french wine, haveing § of the hold of freight. Mr. 
 Castairs is to ship two hundred salt, dutch measure, which 
 I am told will about 880 bushells of our measure, and five 
 tunns of wine ; so that you will only ship for my Accot. 
 about a dutch hundred Lisbon Salt, or 1200 bushll, for 
 my accot., more or less, as Mr. Stenson will advise, and 
 my four tun from Burdeux, with two good white wine, 
 bought of the Keys, and 100 flasks best Burgundy, to be 
 stowed among the wine in two chests. This is all the 
 goods He want at present, for, to be plain with you, goods 
 from you are a drugg here, and no money stirring, and 
 no wonder, considering the wast number of deallers from 
 hence your way. But I suppose it will not be long, so 
 I intreat that, in caise any of cruizing sloops should meet 
 
180 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 the bark, that you make up Invoyce and bill of Loading 
 for the Salt and wine as from London, borrowing some 
 Merchts. name liveing there, since the ship is to report 
 here as from Lisbon, and the wine to be entered as Portugall 
 wine ; and pray faill not to caution Mr. Castairs to doe 
 the same. My son [in-law] Alexr. Stem is gone along, 
 and will deliver you this. He is gone more to see a little 
 of the world than to trade ; and please furnish him about 
 £150 credit, and take his recept in my name. Beside and 
 am afraid you must pay port charges for the bark. 
 
 Inverness, 17 Aprile 1722. 
 
 Mr. George Falconer. 
 
 Sir, — I Recived your favour of 5 Curt, with enclosed to 
 be execute against George Urquhart in Cromarty. You '11 
 please know that he was Maried to my sister, so that it 
 will look ill in me to medle in this affair. I send you by 
 the post ten Gunies, and must beg the Favour that you '11 
 please retire my accepted bill to the order of John Duglass, 
 Mercht. in Aberdeen, payble at the Royall Coffee house 
 the 19 Curt., for £9 : 13s. sterlin, and the rest will pay the 
 ballance I am due you on the 3 Dantzick bills. 
 
 Inverness, 16 Aprile 1722. 
 Mr. George Urquhart [Cromarty]. 
 
 Afft. Br., — Att my Mothers desire I have sent the bearer 
 express to acquaint you that haveing agreed with a Gentle- 
 man in our neighbourhood to pay him a Considerable sum of 
 Mony again Whitsinday nixt upon ane heritable Security 
 on his Lands, in which my Mother is to have a Lyfrent 
 right, I will lay stress on the 3000 Merks for which you 
 and Glastilich are bound by bond to my Deaseased Father, 
 without which I will not be able to make good my project. 
 Therfor I will expect your punctuall Complyance. You 
 may remember it is above a year since I called for this 
 mony, and now I hope to find no Dissapointment. I think 
 it needless to writ to Glastulich, since you may acquaint 
 him of this intimation, or, if you Desire me, He doe it. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 181 
 
 My Mother sends you a noat of what mony and goods she 
 has Gott in payment of the Anual rent of the 3000 merks, 
 and untill I clear with you I can not tell positively how 
 much she wants ; therfor pray send by the bearer a steat 
 of that affair, for my mother is uneasie about it. I spoke 
 to Capt. Donald Mackleod laitly annent a Clearance of 
 the anual rents due be Cadboll etc., and he tells me its 
 your consern to clear all ; and you may remember you 
 told me the contrar. So that I find I will (if my interest 
 is not better payed) be oblidged to Demand all my Mony 
 again Marts next. 
 
 Inverness, 11 May 1722. 
 
 Mr. John McRath. 1 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I recived your favour of 25th last month, 
 with McLeods recept to Drynoch and Ulinish for £50 ster, 
 which I had sent you last post but that the post went is 
 a drunken, carles fellow and I could find no bill. But now 
 I send you inclosed £50 lib. ster., vizt. 8 notes of 5£ ster. 
 
 each is £40 : 0:0 
 
 Bill David Aikenhed on Richard Savoyge 
 
 at sight 6 : 13 : 0 
 
 3 guineas^in gold . . . . . 3:3:0 
 Silver 0:4:0 
 
 £50 : 0:0 
 
 I hope this mony will come safe to your hands, and doe 
 intreat pr. first you advise me that you have got it. 
 Banknoats sent to the Laird of McLeod. 
 
 iy 13 9^8 * J 
 
 98 
 
 ra"4 5 3 
 
 10 3 
 TO 5 0 3 
 _ 8 0 
 I 5 8 3 5 
 
 4. 7_ 
 9 2 5 7 
 
 £5 
 5 
 5 
 5 
 
 _47_ K 
 
 9202 J 
 
 69 S 
 
 T3T 2~2 ° 
 
 _ 7 6 K 
 
 15060* 
 
 1 The Gaelic spelling of Macrae. 
 
182 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 11th May 1722. 
 
 Mr. James Cuming, Edr. 
 
 I have sold a good part of the newest wine to Lovat and 
 Coloden, but have got no mony as yet, and 30 botles to 
 General Ross for ready mony. How soon I get all sold 
 shall send you particular accot. 
 
 Inverness, 11 May 1722. 
 
 Comm. Steuart, Edr. 
 
 Affect. Cus., — I received yours of 23d last month by 
 James Russell which contained wery perumter orders 
 anent Oberarder. 1 He was hear last week, and I told of 
 the Earles commands, and he swears that once in this 
 month the mony demanded will be lodged in my hands, 
 which failing he would willingly goe to gaol. But I know 
 he has the mony to a triffle, and I think he will not feall. 
 I return you inclosed the letters you sent me relating to 
 Craggy, with the tuo tacks you demanded, and I always 
 thought that laird's promises to My Lord would amount 
 to this. I send inclosed decreet against Donald McQueen 
 of Coribrough for £125 : 15 Scots, and protested bill 
 Lachlan Mcintosh in Termit for £61 : 8 : 8 Scots ; on both 
 which I desire you send me a horning pr. first, and charge 
 the Expence to my accot. 
 
 Inverness, 19th May 1722. 
 
 Mr. John McLeod, Edr. 
 
 I send you inclosed a letter from My Lord Lovat, with 
 a bill on John Gordon of the bank, payable to his Lop. and 
 indorsed to you for four hundered fifty five pounds eleven 
 shillings sterling. I hope youle advise by this post that 
 this bill is accepted, since lie not draw on you till I hear 
 it is so, tho My Lord wants much his mony at this nice 
 juncture. I give my humble service to Mr. Alexr. McLeod, 
 and to all Frinds, and I am, with much Esteem and 
 affection. 
 
 J William Mackintosh of Aberarder in Strathnairn. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 183 
 
 Inverness, 5 June 1722. 
 
 [George Urquhart, Cromarty]. 
 
 Afft. Br., 1 — I have yours of 4th currt., and I am sur- 
 prized at your proposall of sending bond in my name 
 for the £1000 Scots and anual rents I want. I think the 
 bond I have is fully as good as you propose, and I expected 
 that you had my mony to send me and not a bond, for 
 mony I must have ; otherways my Credit must suffer, 
 which He endeavour to guard against. What I told you 
 was that if Scourie failed to let you have the mony I would 
 try if my Lord Lovat would lend it ; as to which his Lop. 
 was not positive till he returned from Stratherick, Which 
 will be this day, and then He acquent you if you are to 
 expect mony that way or not. Its true John Tayler is 
 to get some mony, but its to be payd to drymuer, 2 who I 
 spoke to and refuses to give it. My Mother desires to 
 know if you can spare her ten bolls of bear, and a gross 
 of chapin botles, and the price of both. Pray secure 
 acceptance of the inclosed bill of £34 : 3 : 5 ster., or return 
 it protested. George McLeods bond is dated the 19th of 
 June 1719. 
 
 Inverness, 20 June 1722. 
 Mr. John McKenzie, Uncle to Garloch. 
 
 Sir, — I wrote you yesterday in answer to yours of 
 18 currt., appointing you to come over to the Green of 
 Muirtown to spake to me about the meall ; and now to 
 prevent that trouble I have sent this express to tell you 
 that since receipt of yours I have been dealling for some 
 meall to you, and after much to doe I have agreed for 
 100 bolls good Caithness meall at eight merks and one 
 half pr. boll of eight ston, readdie money ; so, if youll 
 the sd. meall at this price, acquaint me, and He ship it 
 for you on your own risque, and you shall have it freight 
 free to Garloch. Or, if youll give me £6 Scots pr. boll 
 of 8 ston, He deliver the meall on my risque at Garloch ; 
 
 1 Brother-in-law. 
 
 2 Duff of Drummuir. 
 
184 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 but mind its readdy money and in lieu of the £50 stl. 
 was to be payd on delivery of your fish. You may like- 
 ways have the iron at 22 pr. ston deliverable at Garloch 
 or 30 here, but in either of the caises must send a trustee 
 to see it weighed here. Acquaint me what great salt 
 youll need, for now is the time. 
 
 Inverness, 30 June 1722. 
 
 To Comissar Stuart. 
 
 Dear Cusin, — I Give you the truble to Deliver the 
 inclosed bill to the Laird of Mackleod, and gett his recept 
 for a hundred pounds sterlin received by my hands from 
 Rodrick McLeod of Ulanish and Norman McLeod of 
 Drynach, in pairt of there intromissions with the rents 
 of his Esteat ; and no Doubt youll take care this voucher 
 be sufficient, and transmitt it to me pr. next post, haveing 
 passed my receipt for this money. 
 
 Invernes, 30 June 1722. 
 Mr. George Urquhart [Cromarty]. 
 
 Afft. Brother, — I Received yours, with your bond 
 of £2000 Scots, in which Sir Keneth Mackenzie of Cromarty 
 is Cautioner ; but your Letter came so Leat last night 
 that it was not possible for me to gett anie mony remitted 
 this post, but have wrot to Charles Gordon that a Good 
 pairt of his Mony is in my hands, and that you would 
 certainly send him all next post. But its not in my power 
 to Draw for anie more Mony on your acct. then the net 
 Ballance Due you after Deducting the sum and Interest 
 due me on George McLeods bond, which is £104 : 3 : 4 
 sterlin, as youll see pr. inclosed Account, Which bond, 
 with my assignation, shall be sent you next occasion, or 
 on Demand ; but thought it not proper to keep your 
 servant till the assignation was Done now. On second 
 thoughts I thought proper to send you enclosed my 
 promissarie noat for the £62 : 3 : 4d. sterling, which trans- 
 mitt me anie time befor the next post goe off, and He 
 send you the paymaster of this regiments bills for all, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 185 
 
 or bills will be equaly good. I say my promisarie noat 
 enclosed is for the balance due you on your bond of 2000£ 
 Scots, payable at Martinmas next, which I expect and 
 hope will punctualy answer to pay my bill to Balenain. 1 
 
 Inverness, 6 July 1722. 
 
 Mr. John McLeod [Advocate, Edinburgh]. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I walued on you the 4th Inst, to the order 
 of Charles Gordon, Mercht. of Edr., at three days sight, 
 fyftie two pounds stl., and of this date fyftie six pounds 
 stl. to the order of the Earle of Morray, at three days 
 sight ; both which bills are in full of- the Lord Lovats 
 money in your hands — 
 
 Bill on John Gordon, payable^ 
 
 to Lord Lovat, indorsed to £^ r ^ -q q 
 
 Mr. John McLeod, drawen 
 
 on sd. Mr. McLeod 
 19 May. To Robert Rose, 
 
 Mercht., of Inverness . £22 : 10 : 7 
 2 June. To James Cuming, 
 
 Mercht. of Edr. . . 25 : 0 : 0 
 Do. To Will: McKay, Junr., 
 
 Mercht. of Inverness . 300 : 0 : 0 
 4 July. To Charles Gordon, 
 
 Mercht. of Edr. . . 52 : 0:0 
 6 July. To the Earle of Morray 56 : 0:0 
 
 £455 : 10 : 7 
 
 Inverness, 6 July 1722. 
 
 To the Earle of Morray. 
 
 My Lord, — I natered myself of a long time with haveing 
 the pleasure of waiteing on your Lop. at Dunibirsle or 
 now, but my trifleing affairs is so crowded on me that it 
 was scarce possible for me to have that satisfaction ; and, 
 now that the season of our herrin fishing drawes near, 
 I begin to despair of seeing your Lop. so soon as I ex- 
 
 1 Fraser of Balnain in Stratherrick. 
 
186 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 pected, and therefor thought fitt to send you the inclosed 
 bill on Mr. John McLeod, Advocat at Edinburgh, for 
 £56 : 0 strl., payable at three days sight, which I hope 
 will find punctuall payment, and I doubt not your Lop. 
 will signify your receipt of it by a letter to me pr. first. 
 I am sorry to tell your Lop. that the Accot. of rests [arrears] 
 in Pettie is this year rather Larger than last, and, if 
 should please God that the present cropt should prove 
 bad, the one half of ye tennants of Pettie will be Bankrupt, 
 and oblidged to give up their labourings, for the one half 
 of the Farms [rents] was not payed of last cropt, and the 
 old Accot. rests litle diminished. This a melancholly story 
 but I cannot help it. I must complain of Delnys who, 
 notwithstanding of repeated promises, has not as yet payed 
 on farthing of the large Accot. resting by him, wh. your 
 Lop. saw at Darniway, and therefor its fitt that without 
 loss of time Comissar Steuart be ordered to send me blank 
 Summonds, so as he may be prosecute befor the Lords of 
 Session, and his present cropt in Brachlie arrested ; for, 
 as he lives now off your Lops, ground, I suppose he will 
 not be layable to answer your Barron court at Pettie. 
 I hope to have occasion to buy your Lops. Salmon this 
 year, and therefor that they will not be disposed till I 
 be acquainted, and I hope, should I chance to buy them, 
 my payment will be found as punctuall as my neighbours. 
 
 6 July 1722. 
 
 Mr. John McKenzie [Gairloch]. 
 
 Sir, — This goes by the ship Margt. of this place, Daniell 
 Steuart, Mr., who has for your Accot. sixtie salmon barrlls 
 containing 103 bolls oat meall at 8 ston pr. boll good 
 weight. I say the said meall is for your accot., as in like- 
 ways, wh. you are to receive, 39 barrs of iron contg. 113 
 ston 12 pound English . . . There is likeways ane anker 
 brandy for your Accot. for your care and dispatch in 
 shipping the fish ; and I intreat, as you regard my Credit 
 and Keneths, you dispatch the ship, and therefor let your 
 meall be emptied out of the barrlls without loss of time 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 187 
 
 that ye salmon may be packed. And I again intreat the 
 outmost dispatch, that you grant receipt for the meall and 
 salt in terms of your comission to, and take the said masters 
 receipt for what fish you deliver, and the same shall be 
 sufficient to your, etc. 
 
 7 July 1722. 
 
 Daniell Steuart. 
 
 These serves to order you to proceed to Cromarty to 
 Receive aboard my ship the Margt. of this place five last 
 herring cask with salt, and from thence you are to proceed 
 whout loss of time to Garloch, where you are to address 
 your self to John McKenzie, Uncle to the Laird of Garloch, 
 to whom you are to deliver the sixtie salmon barrlls wh. 
 oat meall, 39 barrs iron, 150 rolls of tobacco, and ane anker 
 brandy, with a timber balk and broads. You are likeways 
 to deliver to the Laird of Garlochs order five last of herrin 
 cask, contg. 200 Bushlls forraign salt, for wh. salt and 
 cask you are to gett the Lairds receipt. And you are like- 
 ways to get Jon McKenzie' s for ye meall, iron balk broad 
 and two weights, . . . wh. receipts you are to transmitt 
 to me by the Cupar, John Gibson, who goes to pack the 
 salmon, for wh. purpose see that John McKenzie takes his 
 meall immediatly out of the barrll that ye salmon be 
 immediatly packed and shiped. And then you are to 
 take on board the cod fish, from 24,000 to 25,000, and see 
 you receive only good Merchant ware ; and, if any be bade, 
 you are not to receive it as good cod fish, but two for one ; 
 and if any be under 14 inches in lenth you are likeways to 
 receive two for one, in terms of the contract. If you 
 touch at Orkney its fitt you take a pilot, or if doe not, must 
 call at S torn way, and in yt. event its fitt you get a coast 
 coquet for 25000 cod fish, cuered with forraign salt, and 
 60 barrlls salmon, and cause his land waiter indorse the 
 same. And from Garloch you are to proceed to this road, 
 and waite my furder orders. Mind you are to grant 
 receipt for what fish you are to receive, and nota there are 
 300 barell hoops aboard for packing the salmon. 
 
188 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 16 July 1722. 
 
 Donald Steuart. 
 
 I hope this will find you safe arrived at Garloch, and 
 accompany s John McGibson, Coupar, who is gone to pack 
 the salmon, wh. I wish be no hinder to you. As 1 told 
 you in my instructions from this, you are to take receipt 
 for all the goods you have on board, that is, for the iron, 
 meall, balk, broads, and weights, from John McKenzie, 
 Uncle to the Laird of Garloch, and for the last herrin cask 
 containing 200 bushles forraign salt you are to take receipt 
 from the Laird of Garloch or his doer in the country, wh. 
 receipts you are to transmitt to me by John McGibson. 
 And you are like ways to Grant recepts for wh. number of 
 dry cod fish and barrlls of salmon you recive aboard the 
 ship, wh. is to be the rule of my counting for the same. 
 And take notice that whatever salmon cask is left more 
 than what is requisite to pack the salmon you will dispose 
 them to Garloch, or any other in Country will buy them, 
 at three marks pr. barrll, and take recipt or obligation for 
 the same in my name accordingly if you get not money. 
 If you fin that you have any spare room in the ship after 
 the Garloch salmon and cod fish is stowed aboard, in that 
 caise you are to goe to Stornway in Lews, where you are 
 to address yourself to Mr. Zacharie McAulay, and deliver 
 him the inclosed letter, being informed that he has a con- 
 siderable quantity of dry cod fish, which, if you find to be 
 sufficiently weell cuered and Merchanable goods, I desire 
 you buy of the same at the cheapest rate you can, not ex- 
 ceeding 9/ stl. pr. qll. [quintal] of 112 ston english, for wh. 
 you are to pass your bill on me, payable again the 1 of 
 lObr next at this place, wh. will be answered. And if 
 you can agree at rate you are to buy of sd. fish at said 
 rate as many dry cod fish as the ship can take in and 
 no more. And take notice to get proper affadavits annent 
 there being Royally cuered, since they are to be relanded 
 here in order they be shiped for forraign Country s. 
 
 Inverness, 27 July 1722. 
 
 To the Earle of Murray. 
 
 I recd. your Lops, favour by my brother James Russell, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 180 
 
 by which your Lop. is pleased to prefer me to the first 
 offer of your Salmon this year, for which I humbly thank 
 your Lop: and if I give not as much as any other He lay 
 no claim to preference. . . . When Comissar Steuart 
 was here he lodged a Caption against Mr. Michaell Frazer 1 
 for £20 : 0 : strl., and desired I might execute the same if 
 I got not Security for the money. I pushed Mr. Michaell 
 as much as I could, and he has now brought me four ac- 
 cepted bills payable at Whitsunday next for £5:0: each 
 by Failly, Phlichatie, Dunmaglass, and Farquhar McGilli- 
 vray, and in the mean time the dilligence to stand in full 
 force in my coustody untill these bills be [met] and the 
 interest etc. is paid up. This is the best I could make 
 of it, as to wh. I waite your Lops, orders on this head, 
 and to know if this be agreeable or not. I hade seen your 
 Lop: at Dunibirsle about the midle of this month if I hade 
 not been laitely seized with a severe touch of the goutt, 
 so must delay untill I know the event of our herrin fishing, 
 and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 7 Sept. 1722. 
 
 Mr. Andrew Henderson [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I have yours of 23rd past, adviseing that you 
 have disposed of my fir plank lay at Lieth, being 276, 
 and the same amounts to £55 : 5 : 8 strl., of which on third 
 payable reddie money, and two thirds in 6 mos. ; and that 
 you are about to sell my two hhds. mather, and to ship 
 the 6000 pyne staves for this firth pr. first occasion, wh. 
 I hope you have accordingly done since I will want now 
 the staves here. Likeways I hope you will mind my 
 coalls. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 14 Sepr. 1722. 
 
 Mr. Charles Miller [Glasgow]. 
 
 Sir, — This serves to advise you that we have this day 
 walued on you to the order of Mr. John Davidson, Writter 
 
 Minister of Daviot. 
 
190 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 in Edr., for £51 : 19 : 6 stl, at 20 days sight, and that by 
 order of Mr. Will: Thomson, Mercht. in Cork, for whom 
 we have shipped herrins here, and who falls Dr. to us in 
 that ballance by our accot. Curt. We doubt not your 
 giveing due honour to our draught, since Mr. Thomson 
 has timeously advised us. 
 
 Inverness, 22 Septr. 1722. 
 
 Mr. Andrew Henderson, Edr. 
 
 Sir, — My last to you was the 7th instant, since when 
 I have none from you, and doe admire that the pyne 
 staves are not shipt for this firth by any of the many ships 
 are come here leatly from Leith. Pray, if they are not 
 shipt, embrass the first opertunity, since they will now 
 yeld me hear £6 : 10 pr. thousand, and send me pr. first 
 Mr. Taylers recept for the 100 £ Scots I ordered him. 
 This serves cheifly to advise that how soon this comes 
 to hand you look out in Leith or elsewhere for a sufficient 
 capable man to take charge as meat of my ship, the 
 Margret of this place, to goe from hence to Haverdegrace, 
 and from thence to Bourdeaux, and back here, who is to 
 come north immediatly on my charge and with whom 
 you are to agree for wages, any sume not exceeding ten 
 pound sterling. I hope seven or eight may doe, which I 
 leave absolutly to your own good conduct : only I 
 entreat the man you engadge be dispatched hear without 
 loss of time, as you can oblidge Your. 
 
 Inverness, 25 Septbr. 1722. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Steuart. 
 
 When, please God, you arive at Dantzig you are to 
 deliver our letter to Mr. Alexander Coutts, and also 
 thirteen lasts, five barells, herings for owr accot. ; that is, 
 for Alexander Balie five Lasts, for John Steuart four lasts 
 and six barells, and for Robert Rose three last and eleven ; 
 and Nota there are six parcles for Jon Steuart proper accot., 
 four of which you are to dispose of as his wife shall derect, 
 and tuo as his mother shall derect. From the proceeds of 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 191 
 
 the 13 Last 5 barells herings to be consigned to Mr. Coutts 
 above mentioned, you are to buy and ship the value in 
 oak, and fir plank, cordage, and Iron, and that of the best 
 kinds fitt for building a ship of about fourty lasts burdin 
 or thirby. Since wee incline not to exceed the value of 
 our herings in purchasing these goods youle take notice 
 to cause Mr. Coutts fill up as much of as will 
 
 be wanting with best knapwood, that is, twenty peice to 
 each of us, and the rest in barell staves. We wish a good 
 voyage ; and we are your Servts., J: S:, A: B: 
 
 Inverness, 25 Septr. 1722. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Coutts, Danzig. 
 
 Sir, — This goes along by the ship Helen of this place, 
 and will be delivered you by Alexr. Steuart, Master of sd. 
 ship, who has aboard for our accots. thirteen lasts herins, 
 which is lickways to be delivered you, and to be desposed 
 of to the best avail, and I hope will sell to a good accot., 
 being well cured and packed fish. You are to pay the 
 Master tuo and thirty shill. and six pence sterling pr. last 
 of freight, and half a crown and tuo shillings and six pence 
 sterling Caplaken, at the curent Exchange ; and you are 
 to Invest the net proceeds in shuch goods as the Master 
 shall advise, crediting cash of us with a share according 
 to our interests in the Herins, which is as folows, vizt., 
 Alexr. Balie five lasts marked A B ; Robert Rose three 
 lasts eleven barells marked R ; and John Steuart three 
 lasts 6 barells marked ^ ; and send us bill of Loadning 
 for such goods as you ship as above derected, and insure 
 the value, debiting each with a proportion of the premium. 
 But youle take notice that what is this to be shiped doe 
 not exceed the value of our herings ; and All are your, 
 
 J. S:, A: B: 
 
 Inverness, 28 7ber 1722. 
 
 At 15 days sight pay to the honorable the Comissioners 
 of Excise order, at there ofice in Edr., the sume of twenty 
 pound sterling, value received of Mr. David Steuart, 
 
192 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Colector of Excise, being his majesty s mony on return, 
 and lick value pd. for your accot, for charges on Patrick 
 Steuart's Stores, as formerly advised by, Sir, Your 
 
 J: S: 
 
 To Mr. Patrick McDowall, 
 Writer to the Signett in Edr. 
 
 Inverness, 5t Sber 1722. 
 
 Mr. James Gumming, Edr. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 27t past, to which I canot 
 make a full and particular answer at present and so canot 
 accot. for my failings in your affair. In the mean time 
 I send you inclosed bill of 50 £ sterling drawen on Messrs. 
 McFarlan and McCawll, Merchts. in Glescow, payable in 
 three ms. after date, which I hope will find due honour ; 
 and plase advise you have received this bill. Your 
 Draught on Coloden is not pd., but at parting this place 
 he assured me he had given orders which be payd at 
 martimas nixt. In a post or two shall endeavour to send 
 you a full accot. of my trust for you. 
 
 Inverness, 26 Sber 1722. 
 
 [Norman Macleod of Drynach, the Bailie's father-in-law.] 
 
 Dear Sir, — My wife and I are Desperatly angery you 
 came not this way from the south, to see at least your 
 god son Normand, who is a fine promesing boy. Its realy 
 fitt you come this lenth wery soon, since I want much to 
 see you ; and your frind Lovat told me the other day 
 at his own house that he no jealoused your kindness in 
 respect you have not seen him for 5 years past. Glengarie 1 
 wrott me tuo days agoe that Scotos 2 has payd you the 
 bill and accot. Due me, the amount of which is fifty nine 
 pound eighteen shillings ster., and the accot. is above 
 written, and Glengaries accepted bill indorsed to you 
 
 1 Alexander Macdonell of Glengarry, the famous Alastair Dubh (Black 
 Alexander) of Gaelic song and story. He fought for the Stewarts at Killiecrankie 
 and Sheriffmuir, and died in 1724. 
 
 ' z Macdonell ofScotus. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 193 
 
 inclosed ; so, if you have not got this mony, its fitt you 
 call for it pr. first, since I have Scotos wourd of honour 
 and letter to pay me. If you get this mony give Major 
 Gordon [Bernera Barracks, Glenelg] 1 on recept or bill 
 to me as much of it as he will take, and transmitt the rest 
 by a sure hand to Halumus [Hallowmas] or Martimas 
 market. And if you get no mony return me the bill, that 
 I may persue, which I will be loath to doe. 
 
 Inverness, 26 Octr. 1722. 
 
 Major Thos. Gordon [Bernera Barracks]. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I reed, your kind favour of 20 inst. with 
 the inclosed letters for Londn., and your bill of £64 : 14 : 0 
 strl. on Mrs. Kathrin Bourn, payable to my order six days 
 after sight. Your letters shall be forwarded by to morrows 
 post, as well your bill, to my corrispondent at Londn. if 
 cannot gett the same negtiat here, wh. I belive I cannot. 
 I am pleased my Father in Law has afoorded you the 
 £10 : 0 stl. you wanted. I wrote him by this Post and sent 
 him inclosed a bill and accot. wh. I hope will afford him 
 a good deall more money ; so that I have advised him to 
 give you what money you call for. 
 
 Inv. 27 Sber 1722. 
 
 Mr. George Ouchterlony, Londn. 
 
 Sir, — Since my last I received your favour of 11th currt., 
 in which you advise yt. you had got insured in the ship 
 Helen of this place for Dantzick, £30 ster. at three pr. 
 Cent. ... I send you inclosed an indorsed bill Major 
 Thomas Gordon on Mrs. Katherin Burn in Cragg court 
 near charing Cross, for £64 : 14s. ster., payable to my order 
 at 6 days sight, which when pd. place to my Credit and 
 advise me accordingly. And in the mean time please 
 insure for my accot. on the ship Margret of this place, 
 Daniel Steuart Master, burdin 50 tuns or therby, I say 
 on sd. ship and hir Cargoe of Salmond from Findhorn to 
 
 1 Macleod of Drynach resided in Glenelg. 
 
 N 
 
194 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Haverdegracc againest all hazards, £200 sterling, and I 
 hope youle study to make the premium as cheap as posible, 
 and get undoubted men to be insurers, and advise me of 
 their names in Course. The ship will be ready to sail next 
 week. 
 
 Inverness, 27 8ber 1722. 
 
 Mr. William Thomson, Cork. 
 
 Sir, — When ye ship Margret parted from this place 
 with 30 Lasts of Herins to your accot., which I hope is safe 
 arived with you long or now and proves to your Content- 
 ment, I had not opertunity to wrett you then fully with 
 Mr. McKay, being then extreamly hurry ed. I doe observe 
 in your letter of 7th June yt. you have me indebted to you 
 for £5 ster., which I must acknowledge has intirly escaped 
 my memory, and therefor I desire that pr. first you advise 
 me how this hapens, that so being satisfyed in it may order 
 your mony to your frind Mr. Rober Miller of Glescow, 
 being inclyned to doe you justice how soon my memory is 
 refreshed in the matter. I supose you will think your 
 salt was sold at a low rate, but as oyr quantitys the sam 
 kind with yours at 20d. pr. bushell we did not think it 
 advisable to referr the seall of your salt to thee uncertain 
 event of a fishing. But as the Fishing hapned I must own 
 it would have given more mony ; and yet since the Fishing 
 Great Quantitys of Lisbon Salt has arived hear which has 
 been sold at 20d., payable only in ; so if you hapen 
 to send here next year for herin I canot promise youl find 
 any tolerable market for salt unless it should happen that 
 we should have the misfortune to be engadged in a foreign 
 war before then. 
 
 Inverness, 30 Octr. 1722. 
 
 Mr. Henry Graham. 
 
 Sir, — At the desire of my friend Mr. Will Sommervill, 
 Mercht. in Renfrew, I send you the inclosed Debentures 
 and letter from him, not doubting youle negotiat his de- 
 benture pr. first as he desires, and return i: to his Uncle, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 195 
 
 and your care in this affair which will be verry oblidging 
 to those Gentlemen. 
 
 Inver., Sd. Novem. 1722. 
 
 Mr. George Ouchterlony, Londn. 
 
 Sir, — I have yours of 18 8ber last advising yt. the ship 
 Ann, James Cuthbert, Master, is sailed for this frith, as 
 also bill of loadning for 5 baggs hopes shiped for your 
 proper accot., which shall take care to dispose of to the 
 best advantage how soon it comes to hand. Doe also note 
 that you have shiped 56 lib. duble refined sugar, and 39 lib. 
 solle leather for my proper accot., value £6 : 5s. ster., which 
 is well. The ship Ann is not yet arived at Findhorn that 
 I hear of, but doe supose she may be at Fraserbrugh, a 
 harbour 60 miles from thence, where are severall oyr 
 shipes at present bound up this frith, where they are de- 
 teaned by hard gales of westerly winds which have blowen 
 for 8 days past, but when she arives will not be detained 
 in loading six days, the Cargoe being all in Findhorn 
 ready to be shipped. I observe your proposall to take 
 the half of my cod fish to be shiped for your accot. in sd. 
 Ann of London. James Cuthbert, Master, at 12 sh. 6d. 
 sterling pr. qlle. [quintal]. I hearby accept of your pro- 
 posall, and shall accordingly ship the half of the sd. Fish 
 for your accot., ye whole being about 550 qtles., which will 
 consign as you derect to Messrs. Shalet and Vonder and 
 Ferant at Barselona, and order the whole proseeds to be 
 remitted to you ; but, being oblidged to pay up what I am 
 due for sd. Fish again the 20th Currt., have valued on you 
 of this date to the order of Andrew henderson, Mercht. in 
 Edr., for £100 st. payable ten days after sight ; to which 
 I hope youle give due honour since I am not to value 
 on you on this accot. for any more mony till about the end 
 of January next. 
 
 Inverness, 3 Novr. 1722. 
 
 Mr. Robt. Gordon [Bordeaux]. 
 
 Sir, — I own my self to blame that I wrote not to you 
 
196 
 
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 or now. As to the first I have been verry pressing with 
 George Urquhart and James Glass to doe you justice, and 
 I hope both will pay up verry soon all they owe of yor bills, 
 tho I own they ought to be much ashamed your payment 
 is so long postponed. This accompany s my son, Alexr. 
 Steuart, in the ship Margaret of this place, Donald Steuart, 
 Master, who goe from hence with a loading of salmon for 
 Haverdegrace, and I hope the concerned, as well as I, 
 who are good responsall men, and I doubt not yowll take 
 care to send them such newes as will please them, since 
 the ship proceeds immediatly from Haver to Burdeaux, 
 and I am hopefull that the salmon will come to such ane 
 acco. as that there will be litle occasion to draw any bill. 
 As my son is a young lad, and intirely a stranger with 
 your bussiness in France, I hope you '11 keep ane eye over 
 him, and asist him with your best advice. He is to ship 
 for my Accot. and his own about 8 tuns of wine and brandy, 
 wh. I hope he will be able to pay up from the proceeds of 
 the salmon sent along, and what will remain of the half 
 freight payable to me ; but should he want a litle credit 
 let him not be straitned. In the mean time I must ear- 
 nestly intreat that what wine you ship for me be good 
 and strong and all rack of the lees ; and the brandy to be 
 shipt be put in quarter Casks or ankers to contain 5 vertes. 
 My wife and I return hearty thanks for the present of the 
 hhd. of wine sent by Alex. Wood two years agoe, and send 
 you now two dozen of Isle of Sky champaign. 1 This only 
 for a least, and, if it please, you shall have some more pr. 
 next occasion. 
 
 Mr. John Somerwill, Renfrew. 
 
 Inverness, 10th Nov. 1722. 
 
 Sir, — I hope this will find you safe at home, and serve 
 to advise you that your nefew, John Somerwill, sailed on 
 Wednesday last, the 7t inst. with a fair wind from Chanry 
 road for Beuntisland, having taken aboard about 50 last 
 of herins, for value of which he has drawen four Seperat 
 
 1 Whisky. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 197 
 
 bills on you and Mr. John Blacburn, mercht. in Glescow, 
 which I hope will find due honour. This serves principally 
 to advise that in the month of 8ber last, when I was 
 delivering to you and your nefew your herings at Chanry, 
 you told me you was going next day to Cromerty, and 
 you may remember I gave you then the trouble of a letter 
 to one Thomas Linsay, Mercht. there, who since tels me 
 that the same did not come to hand. Therfor I earnestly 
 entreat you look your letter case and among what oyr 
 papers you had yrabout you, and try if can find sd. letter, 
 and send it me pr. first, since, if it is miscaryed, I will 
 loose about nine pound ster., there being ane obligation 
 inclosed for salt to ye value, the granter of which is now 
 dead, so that with out I can find this paper I must loose 
 the mony. May enquere your nefew John if know any 
 thing of this letter, and advise pr. first. 
 
 Inverness, 12th Deer. 1722. 
 
 Messrs. Windar and Ferrand, Barcelona. 
 
 Gentlemen, — This will adress you by Capt. James 
 Cuthbert, in the Ann of London, and brings you bill of 
 Loading for 520 Qutles of Dry Cod fish of the best kind 
 this country affoords, to be sold immediatly after arrivall 
 to the best avail by the advice of my frind, Mr. Alexr. 
 Rose, who is going along, and will wait of you. The net 
 proceeds, after paying the Master a dollar pr. Quntle of 
 Fraight, is to be immediatly remitted Mr. George Ouchter- 
 lony, Mercht. in London, for whose accot. the half of the 
 fish is, and by whose recomendation I adress you. If 
 this small adventure finds a good market it will be ane 
 inlet to a further corispondance and much greater Con- 
 signations of this kind hearafter, but will intirly depend 
 on the encouradgment we find from you at present, and 
 particularly your making speedy remittances of the pro- 
 ceeds of the Cargoe as above. I presume to your favour 
 and best care My frend, Mr. Alexr. Rose, and entreat you 
 give the ship the outmost dispatch, being to proceed with 
 the rest of hir Cargoe to Leghorn, and the Lent season 
 
198 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 being now aproching. And please have me advised of 
 the ships arrivall with you, and departure from your 
 Port, of the Success of this consignation ; as also in the 
 month of May, June, and July next how markets for Dry 
 fish are lick to rule with you. And, notwithstanding of 
 this consignation, I hope, if your market Happen to be 
 over stocked, and That this fish will not sell to accot. wt. 
 you, and that you find it will doe better at Leghorn, in 
 that case I hope youle be so kind as to order the ship with 
 my cod fish to proceed to that port, to be adressed to my 
 Frinds Ackman and Windar or to any oyr Mr. George 
 Ouchterlony will advise you from London pr. post. There 
 is lickways aboard the ship, which will be consigned lick- 
 ways to your care, 300 Quntle Cod fish, shiped by Mr. 
 Dawson, of Foress, which I supose youle find to differ 
 in Quality with mine, and is Keept apart in the ship, as 
 there is about 32 Qutles of the worst Fish I hade keept 
 lickways apart, which I Reccomend to my frend Alexr. 
 Rose, who no doubt will ask your advice for disposing the 
 same. I wish all may find a good market, so that a 
 further corispondance may be continued ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 12 Deer. 1722. 
 
 Messrs. Ackman and Windar, Leghorn. 
 
 Gentlemen, — The last of your favours was adviseing 
 that 5 barells salmond I had consigned you pr. Capt. 
 Midletown of Aberdeen were lost at sea pr. sd. Capts. ship, 
 of which I had been aprized before yours came to hand ; 
 for which no help but patience. Now this will adress you 
 by my frind Alexr. Rose of this place in ye Ann of London, 
 James Cuthbert Master, and who will consign you for my 
 accot. 56 barells fine salmond, and fourtie barells Herins, 
 which I hope youle see to dispose of to the best avail 
 without Loss of time, and how soon the ship arrives, 
 which I am affraid may be pretty leatt. However, as 
 this is the beginning of our dealling, I hope youle doe 
 for my interest as much as posible, and particularly make 
 speedy remittances of the proceeds of sd. salmon and 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 199 
 
 Herins with Mr. Roses advise. And if Mr. Cuthbert 
 returns with salt for Mr. Dawson and me heare, in that 
 case I supose will have occasion to imploy a good deall 
 the proceds in goods, and to purchase my half of the salt 
 in Spain or Portugall ; but, if oyr ways, all is to be as 
 soon as posible remitted for my accot. to the hands of Mr. 
 George Ouchterlony, Mercht. in London, and I am to be 
 at same time advised by post ; I say as much of the pro- 
 ceeds as Mr. Rose shall think fit. The ship has now on 
 board, besids Mr. Dawsons Salmon, 850 Quintles Cod fish, 
 which last part of the cargoe is ordered to be sold at 
 Barcellona if a market offer. Mean time, if canot sell 
 there, have order Messrs. Shallet, Windar and Ferrand 
 there to derect my share of sd. Fish, being 552 Quintles, 
 to your house at Leghorn. And if the whole salmond 
 aboard comes not your way you have not me to blaim, 
 haveing endeavoured the same all I could. I expect 
 youle assist My frind Mr. Rose with your best advice in 
 what he may have to doe, and after this have me frequently 
 advised annually of merkets for fish of all Kinds, and wine 
 with you at least thrice yearly, and will give such incour- 
 adgment as will mak a Currt. trade yearly from this 
 Country to your port, which shall Heartily wish, being, 
 with much esteem, Gentlemen, Your, etc. 
 
 Your advices will come allways seasonably in the 
 months of June, July, and August. 
 
 Inverness, lUh Decembr. 1722. 
 
 To Comissar Steuart. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 13th last month with the 
 letters ejection againest McPherson of Craggy, which shall 
 execute wery soon, tho I think its much about one whether 
 he remove now or towards Whitsunday, since I find no 
 body that inclynes to take his lands make any scrouple 
 about his removell. However, He see to get him out 
 presently, tho I hear he is at present under a course of 
 mercury for ane ulser in his throat, so, if he is exposed to 
 the cold, I would not give a sixpence for his life ; and 
 
200 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 shall lickways seize his effects, that is, where I can catch 
 any. Last time I saw him He gave me the inclosed 
 order to Mr. David Ross to be sent you anent giving up 
 his rights on the Lands of Cragy to you, which I would 
 have sent you long or now, but that I was expecting 
 yourself here. I am glad to hear my cousine, your spose, 
 got safe to Edr., and also to inform you that your broyr. 
 Donald were in Harbour in the Orenys (?) during the stormy 
 wather we had in Novem., so I hope has got to his port 
 with the last north winds. I honoured your drawght 
 of Eighty pounds scots in favours of Mr. James McKenzie, 
 but must soon value on you again for the same ; and I 
 am, Sir, Your afft. Cousn. and servt. 
 
 Inverness, lUh Deer. 1722. 
 
 To the Earl of Murray. 
 
 I wrot some posts agoe to your Lop. anent the seall 
 of the present farms 1 of Petty, of which I wait an answer ; 
 and, since I have your Lops, favour of 15t past, and doe 
 observe what is done as to the submission of the Dook 
 of Gordon and his vasalls anent the contraverted marches 
 of Flichaty and Gask, and shall take care in due time 
 to see the same carfully execute. I now have your Lops, 
 orders anent Alexr. McPherson of Craggy, with letters 
 of ejection from Comissar. Steuart againest him, which 
 had been execut or now were I not from home for ten 
 days past, but shall lose no time in ye affair, tho I hear 
 sd. McPherson is now wery ill under a course of mercury 
 for ane ulcer in his throat, so I am affraid it will be danger- 
 ous to put him at present out of his dwelling house till 
 that is over one way or other, besides that those who 
 inclyne to take that land will make no odds whether he is 
 removed now or any time again Whitsunday. On twesday 
 next I am to hold a fewer court at Castle Steuart, when 
 I shall endeavour to make the best bargain I can with 
 [the proprietors of] Faily or Culchaskie for these lands, 
 either of them who most bids not under the tuo hundred 
 
 Rents paid in grain. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 201 
 
 and fifty merks your Lop. mentions of yearly few, and 
 get what entry mony I can ; and in the mean time sail 
 seize what of Craggys effects can be found, of which your 
 Lop. will hear more fully pr. next post. As to the geo- 
 graphicall map your Lop. wants of the contraverted lands 
 of Breamurray I know no body in this country fitt to 
 undertake that affair, but shall conferr James Russell, and 
 try what cane be done. 
 
 Inverness, 22d Decemr. 1722. 
 
 To The Earle of Murray. 
 
 Since my last of 15th instant I have been discoursing 
 Culchaskie and Donald McBain of Falie anent the lands 
 of Craggy. The first would take these lands at the present 
 few rent, providing your Lop. take mony and give him 
 a wadset right of sd. Few rent, as to which I could give 
 no answer, having no instruction on that head, and Falie 
 is content to take the few right at 250 merks yearly, and 
 is willing to pay at the term of Whitsunday next £50 
 sterline of entry mony providing your Lop. will allow 
 him down the first years few rent of sd. lands in con- 
 saderation of the west [vast] wretched condition of the 
 same at present — that is, that the first years rent is 
 to comence at Martimass 1724. This is the furthest lenth 
 I could drive him, as to wh. I desire your Lop. answer pr. 
 first ; and for your Lops, encouradgment shall only add 
 that this Falie is a responsall man, and a good payer. 
 As to McPherson of Craggy he offer, providing your Lop. 
 allow him to sitt in his house till towards Whitsunday, 
 to find undoubted security for his removall again that 
 term under the penalty of £50 ster ; and, indeed, as I 
 hinted in my last, he and his family are in so distressed 
 a condition that its impracticable to midle with them 
 at present, at least till the snow is of the ground. In the 
 mean time I have decreeted his tenants for what of the 
 Martinmass rent is due, And when the competent days 
 in the decreet are out shall pind what of his efects can be 
 found. He writt your Lop. what passes in this affair. 
 He look for your Lops, answer as to Falie in course by the 
 post. 
 
202 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 12 January 1723. 
 
 To the Earle of Murray. 
 
 In consequence of your Lop. last letter of ii ulto, James 
 Russell and I have for severall days past been endeavouring 
 to sell ye bear of Petty and Conadge at this place, but, 
 after all we could doe, canot reach £6 Scots pr. boll, the 
 most that is offered being nine shillings and 6d. ster., 
 payable at Martinmass next ; to which we could not agree, 
 your Lop. orders being perumter not to take under 
 ten shillings. I dare not presume to offer my advice in 
 this matter, tho I must say, were the affair absolutly at 
 my disposall, I would rather take the price offered pre- 
 sently than have the prospect of 10s. pr. boll after the 
 victuall is housed at Castlesteuart, which will be attended 
 with some loss and a good deall of unconveniency. But 
 He expect your Lops, answer to this pr. very first post, 
 and regulat myself strictly accordingly. Your Lop. may 
 expect a remittance of mony about Candlemass ; so, 
 wishing your Lop. a happy year, I am, etc. 
 
 10 J awry 1723, O.S. 
 To Alexr. Rose, Mercht. of Inverness, at Livorno. 
 
 I hope this will find you safe at Livorno, tho' I 'm 
 affraid pretty late, and serves chiefly to advise you that 
 all friends are here much as you left us. I have wrote at 
 full to Messrs. Aikman and Winter annent freighting 
 Capt. Cuthbert with salt, if he agrees to my purpose, and 
 notice, if he comes to Cadix to load, to ship six half butts 
 best Cherrie Seek, I say hard Cherrie, for my accot., with 
 2000 wt. reasins in 20 barrll, and 6 chests lemons, and two 
 of bitter Orringes, besides what I ordered from Livorno 
 formerly. But, if he load salt at Lisbone, in that case 
 youll ship 4 half hogsheads white Lisbone wine, and 8 
 chests lemons, and orranges as above. If you fall short 
 of money for this purpose, in that case may venture, after 
 the wholl proceeds of the salmond is wared as above, to 
 value for 20 or 30 £ on me, if needfull to purchase yt 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 203 
 
 Cargoe. But if Salmond does not sell to answer this home- 
 ward Cargoe, must not freight Capt. Cuthbert at all. 
 Wm. Fraser is to be half concernd in the salt ; so pray 
 advise frequently and from every port what 's a doeing. 
 
 26 Janry. 1723. 
 
 To Mr. George Ouchterlouny [London]. 
 
 I have yours of 29 Decemr. and 3d Int. In the first 
 I observe you got insured for my accot. on the Ann of 
 London, from Findhorn to Livorno £225 ster., vizt. 100 £ 
 by Capt. Samuell Bonnum at 2J pr. ct., and 125 £ by the 
 London insurence at 3 guineas pr. ct. ; for which my 
 accot. is debited £7. 15. 9. ... I write to you in my last 
 to send me a bushell of Ackorns [acorns] ; now if any 
 occasion offers to this place pray send me three bush ells 
 of last Cropt in a barell. . . . 
 
 2d Febry. 1723. 
 
 To the Earle of Murray. 
 
 I wrote to yor Lop. ye 26 past, aquenting of Failies 
 answer to ye proposall anent ye Lands of Craggie, to which 
 I wait an answer in Course. I wrote your Lop. like ways 
 ye 12 past adviseing that James Russell and I could not 
 prevaill with ye Brewers and Malsters here to offer for 
 yor Lops, bear above 9 : 6d. stl. pr. boll, but have since, 
 with abundance of Struggle, sold about 300 bolls of the 
 Fearms of Pettie at 6pd. Scots pr. boll, payll. at Mar. 
 next, and I doubt not what further can be delivered will 
 be got sold at same price, tho' I 'm sorie to tell yor Lop. 
 that the tenants will not this year, for as good as the crop 
 appeared to be, deliver litle more than 500 bolls ; but my 
 Endeavours will not be wanting to push them as much as 
 possible. I send yor Lop. inclosed, as I promised, two 
 bills for £200 str., One drawn by Leut. George Skeen for 
 £100 on Jon Gordon at ye bank, payll. 14 days after sight, 
 and the oyr by Capt. Wm. Franks, Paymr. to Coll. Kirks 
 Regiment, for £100 str. on sd. John Gordon, payll. 10 days 
 after sight ; both which I doubt not will find punctuall 
 
204 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 payt. Yor Lop. will please acknowledge the recept of 
 this money ; and I am, etc. 
 
 2 Febry. 1723. 
 
 To Mr. Andrew Henderson [Edinburgh]. 
 
 I send you inclosed bill Comr. Steuart on me to the 
 order of Mr. James McKenzie, for 80 £ Scots, the value of 
 which I have order' d him to pay you pr. inclosed draught. 
 As also you are to call at Mr. George Falconer, Mert., for 
 £23 Scots I have deburs'd on. his accot. ; from which 
 money you are to retire from B[ailie] John Coutts my 
 accepted bill for £102 lOsh. Scots ; and I entreat how 
 soon this come to hand you call for said B. Coutts and tell 
 him you are to retire the bill. I expect yor Care in this, 
 and I am, etc. 
 
 9 Febry. 1723. 
 
 Mr. John Sommerveill [Renfrew]. 
 
 Sir, — I have yor favor of 29 past adviseing to buy for 
 yor accot. and mine 1200 bolls oat meall, and 200 bolls 
 of bear. Since my last the prices of victuall all over 
 this country has Hasted very much, that is bear is now 
 at 6 £ Scots pr. boll and meall at 8 merks in Bamf shire, 
 and I have no return as agt. from the Earle of Findlater, 
 by which I judge his Lops, meall is sold ; but I will without 
 loss of time see if I can purchase for your accot. and mine 
 any quantitie about 5 £ Scots pr. boll And advise you 
 accordingly. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 8th March 1723. 
 
 Mr. George Ouchterlony [London]. 
 
 Sir, — My last was of 1st Currt., since which I have non 
 of yours, nor no return from your broyr., Mr. John Ouchter- 
 lony at Montrose, in answer to what I wrott him the 26th 
 ulto anent the Cargoe of salt you designed to dispose of 
 in this frith, and so knows not if it is to come or not. . . . 
 Please seall and deliver the inclosed letter to Sir Patrick 
 Strachan of Glenkindy, and, least you should think me 
 to much a politician in Corisponding with such a top [?] 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 205 
 
 on Sr. Patrick, 1 I leave my Letter open for your perusall, 
 which entreat may be carfully delivered. 
 
 Inverness, 8th March 1723. 
 
 [To Alexander Steuart.] 
 
 Afft. Son, — I received yours of 22d past, new stile, 
 from Haver, in wh. you advise me that 150 barells of your 
 Cargoe of salmond was sold at 125 Livers pr. barell, but 
 could not promise yt. the rest would sell this season. I 
 hope this will find you safe at Bourdeaux, where youle 
 have severall letters from me, particularly my Last of 
 9t Febry., in which I cautiond you not to lench deep in 
 Credit, since this firth was lick to be overstocked with 
 liquors, and that I would not be in ease to answer bills, 
 having aboundance of mony to pay at Whitsunday. How- 
 ever, now that I find the gross of yr. salmond Cargoe is 
 sold, may ship four tuns good Claret for my accot., with 
 the oyr goods formerly ordered, but pray take care that 
 the Claret be prime good and rackt of the lees ; and, 
 if any of the outward fraight can be served on my accot., 
 please invest the same in brandy, as formerly ordered. 
 And I entreat again you doe not draw any bills on me, 
 if possible, for, if you doe, beshure you get three or four 
 months time to pay them after date. I approve of your 
 shiping the Burgundy at Haver provoiding it be strong 
 and good. All of this famely are, thanks to God, well as 
 you left them, and give you there service ; and Alexr. 
 Steuart, my Cousin, is just now about to saill for St. 
 Martines to Load salt in the ship the Helen. Nothing 
 extrordiner has hapned since you went from this Except 
 the death of honest Angus McPhail, and of Mr. Donald 
 McLeod, my wifes granduncle. The last dyed here about 
 ten days agoe. I recommend you to ye divine protection, 
 and I am, etc. 
 
 1 Sir Patrick was surveyor-general to the Forfeited Estates Commissioners, 
 and of course a Whig. See the editor's Urquhart and Glenmoriston, p. 233, 
 for an account of his proceedings in Inverness in 17 18. 
 
206 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inver:, 9 March 1723. 
 
 To the Earle of Murray. 
 
 I received your Lops, favour of 1st inst. with the 
 inclosed precept of warning which shall be duly execute, 
 as your Lop. advises, tho I hope there will be no occasion 
 to remove John McGilvray from Daligill [Dalziel in Petty] 
 again Whitsunday. I observe your Lop. imbrasses John 
 Shaws offer for the Lands of Craggy, and will advise him 
 of the same accordingly ; but I find there will be no 
 necessity for removing Alex. McPherson before Whitsunday, 
 since John Shaw is willing he continue till then ; and 
 assures me he has taken a possesion from Mr. Welocks 1 
 in Strathern [Strathdearn], and probably he will lay down 
 some cropt in Craggy which will be arested for by gones ; 
 but ile inform myself better in this matter and take my 
 measures accordingly. Mean time I send your Lop. in- 
 closed my bill on Andrew Henderson, Mercht. in Edr., 
 for £175 ster. and 14s. 6d. ster., payable at 6 days sight, 
 which will find due Honour ; and since James Russell goes 
 not south so soon as I expected I think this mony safer 
 in your Lops, hands than any where els, and what further 
 mony I can get in shall be remitted by sd. James Russell. 
 Your Lop. will please acknowledge the receipt of this bill 
 in course by ye post, and so shall only ad at present that, 
 I am, etc. 
 
 Inver, 16* March 1723. 
 
 Mr. John McLeod, Edr. 
 
 I received your favour of 8t inst. and had advised you 
 or now of Mr. Donald McLeods death did I not belive yt. 
 My Lord Lovat or somebody els had done it. He dyed in 
 this place the 25t last month, and was Honorably buried 
 the 28. Three days before his death he was at his own 
 desire caried in a Chair to this town from Castledunie, 2 
 where he had been ill the most of all winter, being desirous 
 to be buried by McLeod. 2 My Lord Lovat, who went from 
 
 1 Willox, a name adopted by a family of MacGregors in Strathspey. 
 
 2 Lord Lovat's seat, now Beaufort Castle. 
 
 3 That is, near Norman Macleod of Macleod, in the Chapel Yard, Inverness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 207 
 
 this yesterday for London, will accquent you of all oyr. 
 Circumstances relating to his death,, sho shall not insist 
 further on this subject. I have been enquiring about the 
 act of this town Councell relating to the piece of ground 
 appointed for bulding McLeods buriall place, and doe find 
 that Charly McLean, who was then toun Clerk, has, in 
 his great wisdom, omitted to insert the same in the Councell 
 books, and the minute canot be found ; but that can be 
 easily suplyed if you think it needfull, and all I can tell 
 of the matter is that Macleod dyed heare in Septr. 1706, 
 and that the Councell apointed 30 feet square ground for 
 his Buriall place, which is accordingly inclosed ; and I 
 sopose William Martin can tell the precise day of his death, 
 so that You may send the inscription you design without 
 loss of time, since Mr. Scot goes wery soon to Strathnaver 
 to build a House to My Lord Rea. In the mean time, 
 receive inclosed an exact draught of the gate, so as the 
 Iron gates may be presently made. I am inpatient to 
 hear of the success of my process, and fear it has got leatly 
 a wrong cast ; but, as you know more particularly, I 
 entreat to be advised in this matter ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 12t April 1723. 
 Mr. George Ouchterlony [London]. 
 
 Sir, — I have your favour of 28 past, with copy of what 
 Messrs. Shallat, Windar, and Ferrat have writt you of 
 Capt. Cuthberts arrivall at Barcellona, as to which I canot 
 say much at present ; only youle please advert to inform 
 these Gentlemen that, as the value of the cod fish was 
 insured againest all Hazards, it will be proper for you that 
 what damage is susteaned by stress of weather on sd. Fish 
 be so attested for the same ; and I hope youle advert to 
 this without loss of time. On Saturday last your ship the 
 Restoration, James Ouchterlony Master, arrived at Chenry 
 [Chanonry] a litle too late, there being 2 or 3 large Cargoes 
 come to that port before, which has brought down the price 
 [of salt] to 20d. pr. bushell, but Have got yours sold at sd. 
 price, payable in November nixt, and the ship will be 
 
208 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 queit unload tomorrow. There lickways come by hir 
 8 quarter pipes of cherry wine which will sell at 2s. pr. 
 [ ? ] ; and there is also a large quantedy of cork, 
 too much by the \ for this Country, but must wait your 
 broyr. Johns advice anent the price to be sold at. Your 
 hops are all sold, 200 weight of which I was oblidged to 
 give off at £3 15s. pr. Cent., which was all I could reach. 
 You may expect the accot. of sale pr. next. The barque 
 Margret of this place, John Reid Master, I supose will be 
 with you before this comes to hand. Please ship for my 
 accot. a tinn watering pott, and 2 spads for a gardend, 
 \ hundred wt. double refined suggar, one Duz of comon 
 prayer books without gilding in 8vo, Doctor Predo 1 his 
 Conection of the old and new tastament, and some of the 
 leatest and best pamphlets, particularly the story of the 
 Plott, a leat one called News from Pernassus ; and place 
 ye value of all to my accot. When Mr. James Blair sends 
 me proper instructions for recovering the debts due you 
 by Angus Mcintosh shall doe what I can for your intrest. 
 I have a project of purchasing a good quantity of dry cod 
 and ling on owr west coast wery soon, so may please advise 
 me if will hold any share, and how I could Fraight a good 
 cliver ship with you, to come down Hear in the month of 
 June next to load sd. Fish, and to proced to Barcelona, 
 and there to be free. But note sd. ship not to exceed 
 200 tuns burdin. And most goe to the port of Starnua 
 [Stornoway] in Lews Island to load a good part of sd. 
 fish, and from thence to proceed derectly. Pray push 
 your doers at Barcelona to make speedy remittance of owr 
 fish, as you can oblidge. 
 
 19 Apryle 1723. 
 
 To the Earle of Moray. 
 
 John Shaw is impatient to have ye Extended tack 
 with his Amendments return' d, otherways says he will 
 quit his bargain ; so I wish that affair was ended. I 
 charged twice the Tenants of Daviot to yor. Lops. Baron 
 
 1 Prideaux's Connection. In 1773 Dr. Samuel Johnston found 'a volume or 
 more' of the work in the little inn at Aonach in Glenmoriston. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 209 
 
 Court, but the first time non compeared, and on twesday 
 last severalls of said tenants came here in place of Castle 
 Steuart, and were willing to give thir oaths befor the 
 Sheriff here ; qch I would not accept befor any judge 
 but yor Lops. Baillie, on the ground I find they are made 
 to believe they are not lyable to yor. Lops. Courts, and 
 were not charged to any of them befor for 50 years past. 
 However, Mackintosh 1 has write me on this head a very 
 kind letter, which has made me forbear to insist agt. 
 these tenants for contumacie untill I hear further from 
 yor Lop., judgeing still the smooth, friendly way the best. 
 Keillachy 2 and Duncan Mcintosh in Elrig were with me 
 here yesterday, and I find the first willing to perform his 
 promise to yor. Lop., but flatters himself your Lop. will 
 quite him the nonentry ; so would have me make this 
 proposall to yor. Lop., that is, to pay presently a thousand 
 merks, provideing in consideratione of the straits of his 
 family your Lop. would give the rest down. I have not 
 the Arrogance to offer an advice to yor Lop. in such a 
 case, only I must say I find Keillachy a very honest lad, 
 strugling very much through his difficulties, and has 
 pay'd me punctually his feu duty Since my intromission. 
 If yor. Lop. think not fitt to grant him any abatement 
 in this matter I find he '11 still perform his promise. As 
 to Duncan Mcintosh's security, I suppose James Russell 
 will get off for Dunibristell next week, and has now got 
 near all the money. Bear sold at a good price considereing 
 as matters goe here, the merkat being much fallen. Being 
 to write by Mr. Russell shall only add that I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 27 Aprile 1723. 
 
 I wrot of this Dait to the Earle of Morray and sent 
 him inclosed one of the Dubles of the feu tack of Cragie 
 in favours of John Shawe in Urlarust, signed be sd. John 
 Shawe ; as alsoe his accepted bill for 600 merks Scots as 
 
 1 Lachlan Mackintosh of Mackintosh. 
 
 2 Mackintosh of Kyllachy in Strathdearn. 
 
 o 
 
210 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 pairt of the Entrie mony agreed for sd. tack, payable at 
 Mertinmas next. 
 
 Inverness, 30 Apryle 1723. 
 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachan, at Muntrose. 
 
 I received your favour of 20 Curt., with the inclosed 
 from Mr. George Falconer recomending your orders to my 
 care, which shall be verie fond to observe to your con- 
 tentment. It will be a long time befor there will be 
 talkeing of the prices of salmon and herins in this country, 
 but last year salmon was generaly sold at 50 merks pr. 
 barell, -l- discount for Grilzes ; and herins were generaly at 
 £5 ster. pr. last, and some at £5: 5: and £5: 10 sh. pr. last. 
 Cod fish, which is much sooner redie then the two formar, 
 was last year sold at 12 [?] pr. qtle [quintal] free aboord. 
 I have just in my offer about 10,000 cod and ling on the 
 west coast, at Garloch and Storway, that will be reddie 
 for shipping in the moneth of June, about the end of that 
 month ; but as I have made a proposeall for the seall of 
 that fish at London I can make no offer to you off them 
 till I have a return from thence, which will be in ten days. 
 However, may advise if would inclyn that way and what 
 price would allow. Youll notice the cod fish on that Coast 
 are a short thick fish and better split than anie in this 
 frith ; and the harbours where they are to be shipt are 
 as good as anie in Britan, and the ship will be dospatched 
 by the Customhouse of Stornway. The finess of the cullar 
 of these fishes depends much on the Dryness or Wettness 
 of the weather they have just now on that Coast, which is 
 the time they Dry them, The Coadfish being now quet 
 over there ; but you know what fish a man buys must 
 be Merchanable. I can purchass as Manie in the Orknies 
 as would make up with what I have Mentioned a Cargoe 
 of from 1000 to 1200 qtles, and last year I hade the Garloch 
 and Stornway which I caried about here for reshipping, 
 and were as fine as ever was seen, but, being unluckily 
 pyled on the shoar of Findhorn, where they lay under 
 the watter till the month of December, gott a good deall 
 of Damnage and lost the merkett. But after this I 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 211 
 
 Designe they should be always in the month of June or 
 July from the beech where they are cured, by which means 
 hope may have the start of the Newfoundlands fish or 
 anie other. I Received your bill on the Deceast James 
 Dunbar of this pleace for 363f Dollars at 7 sh. pr. Dr. ; 
 as alsoe his acct. Currt. and Letter of Advice from Lyder 
 Fasten. I have given the letter to his son George, who 
 says ther is nothing done yet in his Fathers affairs, but 
 when matter are setled, which will be verie soon, this bill 
 will be classed among the other Debts being justly due. 
 Meantime shall, as you advise, keep the bill and Account, 
 and doe the needfull for secureing your Mony ; and I am, 
 Gentlemen, Yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 17 May 1723. 
 Messieurs Ramsay and Strachen [Montrose]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I reed, your favour of 10th Curt., in 
 answer to which please know that the fish of Garloch 
 consist altogether of Cod, and are of a short, thick kind, 
 and doe generally run in lenth from 20 to 14 inches. As 
 to the Orkney fish, I never bought any of them, but I 
 understand they are full as good as the other, and gene- 
 rally larger. Since my last of 30th past I find the cod and 
 ling of Stornway in Lews Island are bought up by Merchts. 
 of Dublin for reddie money at 12/ pr. qtle. of cod 
 and ling over head and most, or § part, consist of ling. 
 But befor concludeing the bargin one of the proprietors 
 of the sd. fish was so kind as to come here to offer them 
 to me, but [I] would not take them at 12/ pr. qtle., con- 
 sidring they are mostly ling. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 24 May 1723. 
 
 My Lord Murray. 
 
 In my last I sent double of John Shaws tack of Craggie, 
 and now I send your Lop. inclosed, by your servt. Mr. 
 Maull, bond Lachlan Mcintosh of Keillachie, Dun: 
 Mcintosh in Elrick, and Robert Mcintosh in Cullblair, 
 for 1800 mrks., wh. I hope will be agreeable to your Lop. 
 
212 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 in satisfaction of said Keillachies bargain with your Lop. 
 for his non Entrie and bygane fue duety. There is likeways 
 a letter inclosed from the said persons, wh. suplys the 
 formality of a delivered evidence. I have been verry 
 pressing with [Mackintosh of] Aberairder anent your Lops, 
 money due at this term ; to wh. he says that, as he is 
 peremptorly bound to pay Collonell Farquhar the last 
 part of the date [debt] due him at this term, he can doe 
 nothing for your Lop. at present, but swears he will doe 
 great maters again Martimass. But how farr this promise 
 is to be determined upon I will not determine. 
 
 Inverss., 1st June 1723. 
 
 Mr. George Gordon, Writer to the Signet. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 23d past, accquenting me with 
 the Countess of boots [Bute's] orders anent the outstanding 
 debts upon that part of the Earle of boots estate in the 
 Shire of Ross, to which I was factor five years. My Noble 
 and dear patron, The leat Earle, 1 writ to me about three 
 years agoe from London on this subject, to which I made 
 answer yt. the great part of the oustanding debts given up 
 by me at counting, I mean of the Eight hundred and 70£ 
 Scots remaining after Inchcoulter 2 was taken of, was due 
 by John McKenzie of Auch [Avoch] which intermeted 
 with before my factory commenced, he being then apointed 
 Factor bytheLadyPrestonhall immediatlyafterRoshaich's 3 
 death, and his intermissions then more then fell to the 
 Lady Prestonhall. 4 I have Extend to 476 £ Scots 6s. 8d., 
 which Indeed I designed not to be any way concerned 
 with, but that Mr. Ranald Campbell persuaded me at 
 Clearing my accots. with Leat Earl in Anno 1712, to 
 bring in sd. John McKenzies intermissions as the most 
 
 1 James, first Earl of Bute, who married Agnes, daughter of the famous Sir 
 George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh. 
 
 2 The laird of Inchcoulter. in the parish of Kiltearn, Ross-shire, 
 
 3 George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, son of Sir George Mackenzie. 
 
 4 Sir Roderick Mackenzie, Lord Prestonhall, married as his second wife 
 Margaret, daughter of Haliburton of Pitcur, widow of Sir George Mackenzie of 
 Rosehaugh. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 213 
 
 regular way of Counting ; which I did accordingly, tho 
 to this day I never recovered a farthing of it ; and he, 
 having gone abroad after the rebellion 1715, had no mean 
 Left of recovering sd. debt. And Mr. Ranald Campbell, 
 if yet alive, knows wery well I oft proposed that he should 
 be persued at Edr. that his sd. intermission might be 
 Constitute against him. And yet, tho it had, it would 
 have amounted to litle, being even at his intermission 
 but in bad circumstances ; so that, in reason or justice, 
 I see not how I can be Lyable for sd. John McKenzies 
 debt. But, as to what remains, I would willingly count 
 for what have recovered of the same, and demonstrate 
 I have done my duty for what is wanting. I have ane 
 accot. of disbursements to give in which was laid out by 
 the Earls order and Mr. Campbells For reparations and 
 negotiating Sever all Law affairs in this Country, which 
 will amount to about £15 ster. ; and the ballance I will 
 pay in mony. But then desire to know if My Lady, the 
 Countess of bote, will discharge me in this affair ; as to 
 which I shall wait your answer. 
 
 Inverness, 5 June 1723. 
 
 Mr. Andrew Henderson, Edr. 
 
 I re cd. yours of 30 past adviseing that you hade sold 
 the Cargoe of meall belonging to William Frazer, James 
 Kinaird, and me to James Club and Company, of Borst'- 
 ness, at £6 Scots pr. boll, as to wh. I wrote you in Compay 
 with William Frazer some days agoe pr. Express, to wh. 
 refers. 
 
 Inverness, 8th June 1723. 
 Mr. Robert Paterson, of Glasgow. 
 
 Sir, — I reed, your favour of the 22d past, and observe 
 the pryce of meall is not high with you, and therefor have 
 forwarded a cargoe I had in hand to the South Firth. I 
 have been enquireing anent the quantity of Murray bear 
 you want, and, had I now a positive comision to buy, doe 
 belive could gett you served to your contentment and a 
 
214 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 ship freight to carry it at a reasonable rate to the South 
 Firth ; but, as I have not that, I fear your orders will 
 come too late, since all will be presently disposed off. 
 Best Murray bear is generally sold this year from Eight 
 to 8 1 Mrks. whole, but now there is vcrry litle to be sold. 
 Our herrin fishing comonly begins at about the beginning 
 of August, and we are makeing great preparations for it 
 here. As to tallow and bees wax, of the last there is non 
 to be gott here, and the first is only to be purchased in 
 the months of Octr., Nov., and Deer., and was sold last 
 year and 5/ pr. ston of 21 pound Amstrdame weight, wh. 
 noat for your government. 
 
 Inverness, 11 June 1723. 
 
 Messrs. Strachan and Ramsay at Montrose. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I have your favour of 25 past anent the 
 Garloch cod fish, but could not make answer befor now. 
 Last week I bought the Garloch fish, being 26,000, deliver- 
 able free aboard at the port of Garloch, at 11 /6d. strl. 
 and have freighted a ship of 50 tuns to carry said fish, 
 and what I can purchase in the Orkneys at £30 strl. 
 freight. Will saill next week, and I hope will be back 
 again 20th July. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 15 June 1723. 
 
 Messrs. Richd. and Nicolas Ridley s [Newcastle]. 
 
 Mr. William Fraser of this place and I have ordered 
 a small bark to proceed to your Port to load coall and 
 botles to be returned hither. Should said bark appear 
 may order what coalls she can take in, and about 20 gross 
 botles, and pr. next you shall be advised how to value for 
 the same. The bark is called the Ann of Carron, John 
 Willison Master. I honoured your bill of ten pound for 
 the ballance due on the coalls pr. the Helen for st. Martins ; 
 and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 22 June 1723. 
 
 To the Earle of Murray. 
 
 My Lord, — I am now to advise your Lop. that James 
 Russell sett of yesterday for Dunibirsell, and will be with 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 215 
 
 your Lop. soon after this. Since I had not leasure to 
 wrett fully with him, I send your Lop. inclosed my bill 
 on Andrew Henderson, Mercht. in Edr., for £50 ster. at 
 six days sight, which James Russell will negotiat when 
 he goes over to get paymt. of his own bills. I writt your 
 Lop. fully last post anent the unlucky Death of one of 
 the Petty fishermen, and have only to add at present on 
 that subject that Mill the Waiter and one of the shouldiers 
 were wheept yesterday by the Hangman for the first time, 
 which is wery disagreeable to the Military here. 1 . . . 
 
 Inverness, 28 June 1723. 
 
 Mr. Robert Patterson [Glasgow]. 
 
 Sir, — I reed, your favour of 12th inst. with the inclosd 
 schem of debenture for your candles, exported in the 
 Margt. of Leven, James Black Master, and did make 
 application accordingly at our coustom house to have 
 the same expedd, but could not get it effected because the 
 comptrollist happens to be now from home upon a circuit 
 in the Orkneys and Schetland with Mr. Leynand [or 
 Legrand ?] the inspector, and its uncertain when he will 
 return ; and you know that without him no regular debr. 
 can be made out ; but our Collr. is of oppinion, if you apply 
 the commissioners, they will order some body here to sign 
 as comptlr. ; wh. is all I can say on this subject. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 29 June 1723. 
 
 Mr. Will. Somerville [Renfrew]. 
 
 Sir, — I reed, yours of 11 currt., and doe according to 
 your desire send you inclosed the two Certificats you 
 wanted, wh. cost five shillings strl. I am sorry you came 
 to such a bade market for your herrin at Stockholm, and 
 shall be glade to see you here this fishing season, wh. I 
 hope may give you more profite than last. If you are to 
 bring a shyp about here soon I know nothing will doe 
 better than scleate from the Isle of Mull. 
 
 1 See the story of Miln the Tidewaiter in Mr. Kenneth Macdonald's edition 
 of Mr. Fraser Mackintosh's Atitiquarian Notes, Stirling, 1913. 
 
216 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 292 June 1723. 
 
 To John McLeod, in the Island of Ways, 1 Orkney [Factor 
 for Captain Mudie]. 
 
 This goes with your Cousin John McLeod in the ship 
 Margret of this place, Daniel Steuart Master, proceeds to 
 Garloch to load the dry fish of that place as last year. And, 
 since I have not ys. year bought the Lews fish, I have 
 given Comission to the bearer, the sd. Jo: McLeod, to try 
 if he can bargain with you for your dry fish at Ways, 
 providing you have Comission to sell ym. at a reasonable 
 price, and will be found sufficient Mercht. ware, so that, 
 in case you agree, I hearby promise that his or Donald 
 Steuart the Masters bills on me for the value will be good, 
 payable either here or at Edr., and, if you happen to agree 
 in shuch terms as the bounty mony shall be for your 
 accot., the debenture for the same shall be made good 
 to your order how soon the sd. Fish is reshipt in this frith. 
 If John agree with you its probable your fish will not be 
 shipt untill ye ship return from Garloch ; so when she 
 returns youle take care to give good dispatch and send a 
 Coast Cocket for what you ship, conteaning the tale of 
 the fish and number of qutles, and mentioning that the 
 same is cured with foreign salt for exportation ; which is 
 all I need say on this subject. Give hearty service to 
 C: T: and tell him there is no news stirring Except that 
 My Lord Bulinbrook's remission is passed the seals and 
 he is to be wery soon in England. The Bishop of Ro- 
 chester is gone from England as ane exile 2 
 
 Inverness, 29t June 1723. 
 
 Donald Steuart. 
 
 Afft. Cus:, — You are to proceed immediatly for the 
 Island of Wales 1 in Orkney, and, after Jo: McLeod has 
 delivered my Letter to Capt. Mudie' s factor there, you 
 are to proceed to Garloch, where you are to deliver the 
 
 1 Walls. 
 
 2 The Bishop, accused of conspiracy in favour of the Stuarts, was deprived of 
 his office, and banished in May 1723. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 217 
 
 280 bushells Spanish salt you have on board to the Laird 
 of Garloch or his doer, and take his reccpt for the same. 
 Note each bushell is 84 lb. English, so each boll is 300 lb. 
 After the salt is out you are immediatly to load the dry 
 fish at Garloch and concurr with John McLeod to see the 
 same sorted, who is to grant recept to Garloch for the 
 same, as you are to him. And after you are clear at 
 Garloch you are to proced to Wales in Orkney, and adress 
 yourself to John McLeod, Factor there, that is, if my 
 broyr. John McLeod agree with him for Capt. Mudies fish. 
 If oyr. ways you are to come derectly to this road ; but, 
 if you are to receive sd. fish in the Island of Wales, you 
 are to see them carfully weighed and sorted and shipped, 
 and draw on me for the value, as my Broyr. shall derect 
 you, and according to his agreement, that is, if he come 
 hoam overland from Garloch, and return not with the 
 ship, the mens wage shall be payd as you have agreed, 
 that is, twenty three shillings ster. pr. month to the fore- 
 most men, and therty pr. month to David Robertson ; 
 and your own wages shall be payd as last year. And 
 when, please God, you return, all accots. for last woyage 
 shall be Cleared. I pray God Derect you ; and I am, 
 Your afft. Cousin. 
 
 I have sent three Dozen botles Claret for the Laird of 
 Gairloch, and ten pynts brandy and a loaf of sugar for 
 ships use. 
 
 Inverness, 22 July 1723. 
 
 Mr. John Coutts, Mercht. in Eder. [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — Haveing leatly sold a parcell of Cod fish to Messrs. 
 Ramsay and Strachen at Muntrose, they advised me the 
 10th and 11th curt, to value on you for £150 sterlin, so 
 that I have of this dait valued on you for fourtie pounds 
 sterlin of that sum to the order of James Morison, in- 
 dweller in Lewes, payable again the tenth of August next ; 
 so I hope you '11 honour My bill, and pleace the same to 
 acct. of sd. Gentlemen. And must beg the favour of you 
 that if Mr. Morison has occasion sooner for his mony you 
 may accomodat him, since its probable he may not have 
 
218 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 occasion to pay at Eder. untill the bill fall due ; and your 
 complyance will much oblidge, Sir, Your, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 2d Aprile 1725. 
 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachen [Montrose]. 
 
 Gentillmen, — I received yours favours of 23 and 24 
 instant. The first I got on twesday last by our Edr. post, 
 we. brought me inclosed 2 accepted bills falling due the 
 13 instant for £219, 1622 Ster., wc. shall be placed to your 
 Credit when paid. I observe what you write anent the 
 sale, and I know the same will do from Cadiz equaly as 
 from Lisbon. If could prevail wt. the ship to come 
 directly here may order 8 quarter pips of best Cerry wine 
 for my use ; but, if most inload at Montrose, will not do. 
 However may still order the first I mentioned in my last 
 for my acct. ; and take notice that your Sale must be here 
 again the first of August. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 2d Aprile 1725. 
 
 Mr. James Cumming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I writt to you yesterday by one of our touns 
 runners, to which I referr as to Captain Woods arivall, 
 for whose Cargoe of Iron I doe not propose to raise 4d., 
 but may depend He doe the best that I can for you. I 
 doe not think proper to return you yet Colodens bill, Since 
 his Chamberlan promises punctuall payt. of it at Whit- 
 sunday, till which He have patience rather than trouble 
 you with a drawght ; besides that about that time He be 
 at Edr. But, if your Iron does not Sale in part for ready 
 mony, I must draw on you for the freight and duty of 
 Woods Cargoe, which must pay all tomorrow Except ane 
 accot. of Gross averadge that Mr. Wood has, which He 
 leave you to adjust. I have Sold your pipe staves at 40£, 
 payable the 1st of August next by the coopers of Findhorn, 
 good men ; but I am sory to tell you that the project I 
 formed for rescuing your wine is misgiven, So that now 
 I find it will be your best to Correspond with David forbes, 
 which I belive will be gott done very Cheap rate, if I can 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 219 
 
 trust his oath, and its that Even, you must pass a Con- 
 demnation in Exchange next term. The wine is good 
 and will Sell here, and you can get good new wine here 
 to be sent to London in place of it. But there is but 
 5 Hogsheads Extant, the other is gone to lackadge. Send 
 me your thoughts of this pr. next. Our Collector has no 
 mony to pay for your recept, and So He send it you Certi- 
 fy'd pr. next post ; and next week I ship your deales for 
 Newcastle. 
 
 Mr. James Cumming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Inverness, 5th Aprile 1725. 
 
 Sir, — I writt you ye 2d inst., in which I advised of 
 Alexander Woods arivall, and that the Cargoe was unload. 
 I am to morow to make publick offer to our Guildery of 
 your Iron at 38d. pr. ston, and \ ready mony and the other 
 in 4 months, and under yt. I will not Sell. But am of 
 opinion that If this price canot be reached it will be proper 
 to Ship the most of what is entered for Newcastle or Leith, 
 rather yn. give it under this price, and Especially Consider- 
 ing tuo vesells here at present bound in 8 days or so the 
 first named port, that I supose will cary it wery Cheap, 
 and Since I have not heard yet from any of Duff of Braco's 
 doers anent your deales I resolve to Ship them lickways 
 for Newcastle, Since they will not sell here, where I supose 
 both Iron and deales will afford you ready mony, but as 
 to the Iron He wait your answer. I have pd. Capt. Wood 
 his freight and port Charges, being £27, Is. 6d. Sterling ; 
 but he has got a claim of Gross Averadge of £5, which I 
 am afraid you must pay. 
 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachan, Montrose. 
 
 Inverness, 16£ Aprile 1725. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I writt you ye 2d inst., Since which I 
 have not heard from you. This comes chiefly to advise 
 you that I find there will be Severall more buyers of 
 Salmond ys. year in ys. frith then there was last year. 
 
220 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Particularly lialie Gordon of Elon has imployed his Son 
 in law, Drumuirs Son, Mr. Duff ; by which means I must 
 not Expect to purchase Drumuirs own Salmond, nor a 
 parcell or tuo more I expected. I have lickways Some 
 diffidence about My Lord Lovats Salmond, So that, to 
 be plain with you, I doe not propose to Secure above \ 
 the Quantity I got last year, Except by bidding upon 
 them more than last years price, which I leave to your 
 own better judgment. Sir Thomas Calder, whose Salmond 
 I got last year, is Still at Edr. He will probably have 
 from 80 to about 100 barell. While he is at Edr. its wery 
 fitt you employ Some frend there to See if can Secure yee 
 first offer of them to me without loss of time ; but I jelous 
 Balie Gordon will Secure them. I find our Salmond is 
 at last arived in Holland, but as the lent is now over I 
 wish you would give proper orders anent ym. and He goe 
 in to your measure. I think it were best to lay them up 
 and not Sell ym. at present. I am, etc. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Inverness, 17 Aprile 1725. 
 
 Sr., — I received your favour of 27 and 30 past, in the 
 first of which you advise me of your draught on me of 
 that daite to the order of Alexr. Arbuthnot and Compy., 
 £77 : 15 : 4 Ster. ; which I accepted and will be punctu- 
 ally paid when due, being value of F807 : 12 due your 
 accot. In your last you advise of Insurance of £1000 
 made on the Margt. of this place with herrins from this 
 to Stockholm, at 3 and \ pr. ct., which is pretty high at 
 this time of the year, being in all £41 : 10, which have 
 noated accordingly. I find Willisons barq is at last arrived 
 with you, when no doubt our Salmon will come to a fine 
 market. I am off oppinion ye cannot reach near our 
 money for them. They Should be laid up and keeped 
 under pickle till the moneth of Septr. nixt, and than, if 
 repackt and washd clean with pickle, I think might Sell at 
 Bilboa or Havre for new Salmon. But the question is 
 if can be Shipped off again for your Country, for France 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 221. 
 
 or Spain ; off which pray advise me. As to the character 
 of Lodwick Poison, he is a verry young mercht., and I know 
 litle of his affairs, and I doubt not but our young men will 
 generall give over the Hollands bread verry soon, except 
 our Shop keepers who make most by it. For my part 
 I never found my accot. in it. 
 
 Mr. John McKenzie [Tutor to Gairloch]. 1 
 
 Inverness, 21 Aprile 1725. 
 
 I received yours of 18th inst., and I am Surprised Charles 
 Paig is arrived with you contrair to my last orders sent 
 him to Portsoy ; otherways you may be Sure I hade not 
 bargained with your Brother Keneth by your order for 
 200 bolls meall at 8 merks p. boll, to be sent you in May 
 next by a Ship just a loading. But now that Charles Paig 
 is with you, I doubt not but you '11 unload the full 200 
 bolls conform to my agreement with Keneth, and send me 
 your accepted bill for the same in terms of my letter to 
 you of 12th inst. But as to your proposeall of giving 
 5 lib. Scots pr. boll, payable again Reidcastle 2 market, I 
 cannot goe into it ; but if youll take Charles Paigs whol 
 Cargoe of meall, which is only 330 bolls, I am willing to 
 let you have it at 5 lib. Scots pr. boll of eight ston, J pay- 
 able at Whitsunday nixt in this place and the other half 
 again the first of Deer, nixt ; only that you advance the 
 Skipper £20 Ster. just now for purchassing his loadning 
 of scleat at Mull and paying his mens wages. . . . 
 
 Mr. Donald Mclntire. 
 
 Inverness, 27 Aprile 1725. 
 
 You are immediatly to repair to Portsoy, where you 
 are to deliver my letter to Alexr. Wood, Mr. of the Ship 
 Thistle of Bamff, who has loaded a full loadning of meall 
 and bear for my accot., which is shipped by Arthur Gordon 
 of Carnuice, to whom I wrote last week countermanding 
 
 See footnote, p. 81. 
 
 2 Redcastle, Ross-shire. 
 
222 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 the bear I formerly ordered, or at most to ship only 50 
 bolls, with 700 bolls meall ; so that, if you find there is 
 no bear to be shipt, you must forward my letter herewith 
 given you to said Carnuice per express, by which I have 
 advised him to ship 100 bolls more meall, makeing in 
 all 800 bolls meall, for which Alexr. Wood is to pass his 
 receipt or bill of Loading how soon the said cargoe is fully 
 shipt. You are to advise me by the Elgin post, and 
 Immediatly without loss of anny time you are to make 
 the best of your way for Starnaway in Lews, where may 
 disspose of a part of your Cargoe, if can doe it at 8 mrks. 
 pr. boll of 8 Ston, reddy money, but does suppose you '11 
 sell non there, and therefore, how soon you arrive, you are 
 to bespeak a skillfull pyllot to bring you from thence to 
 Loch Fallord, 1 in the Isle of Sky, where you are to address 
 yourself to Roderick McLeod of Contlieck, 2 who will assist 
 you in the dissposeall of a part of your cargoe ther,andwhos 
 directions you are to follow in shifting of ports and giveing 
 out of the Cargoe untill all is dissposed. How soon you 
 arrive in the Isle of Sky you are to acquaint my Father 
 in Law, Norman McLeod of Drynach [at Eileanreach in 
 Glenelg] pr. express, who will likeways assist you with 
 his best advice. I doe not incline to sell the meall under 
 8 mrk. pr. boll of eight ston, and if can get reddy money for 
 the whole its the better, but, if not, you may trust to the 
 following Gentlemen what quantity of the Cargoe they 
 will order you to deliver them by their letters, vizt. : 
 Willm. McDonald, Tutor of McDonald, Roderick McLeod 
 of Contlieck, Roderick McLeod of Ulunish, Donald McLeod 
 of Ballamenach, William McLeod of Uibust [Ebost], who is 
 married to my wifes Sister, or anny other that these Gentle- 
 men will dessire to trust, or my Father in Law Drynach. 
 And what payment you cannot gett in reddy money take 
 their accepted bills payable here or at William Cummings 
 shop in Edinburgh again the 10th day of Octr. nixt. 
 And how soon you have dissposed of all or as much as 
 
 1 Loch Fallord or Fallort, the old name of Loch Dunvegan. 
 
 2 Son of John Macleod, second of Bernera and first of Contullich. Roderick 
 was a brother of John Macleod, Advocate. See p. £8, note 2. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 223 
 
 possible of the Cargoe in the Isle of Sky, Hemes, and South 
 Uist, if anny remain after these Countrys are served, 
 you are to repair to the Keyle near Glenelg, and there you 
 are to address yourself to my Father in Law, who will 
 dispose of what may remaine of the Cargoe, or will give 
 proper directions anent the same. You '11 take notice 
 that, if anny bear is shipt at Portsoy, you cannot disspose 
 of the same under 9 mrks. pr. boll ; and for that end its 
 fitt the Skipper or you borrow a firlat at Portsoy to carry 
 allongs with you. Notta, you have likeways on board, to 
 be dissposed for my accot., 100 half barrs Iron, containing 
 113 Ston 9 pound, old weight, which you are to sell at the 
 best rate you can, not under 3/ 6d. p. Ston. There is 
 likeways 17 doz. of botles claret, to be sold at 16 sh. pr. 
 doz., botles and all ; or the wine without the botle at 15sh. 
 There is likeways a bag of hops, No. 14, containing 1:1:14 
 lib., which you '11 see to disspose off at Starnway at the 
 best price you can. I suppose may reach a shilling pr. 
 pound, but, failling of that, it must be sold at Glenelg, 
 or Dowart Castle in Mull. Notwithstanding the price 
 of the meall and bear I mentioned, I must leave it to 
 your self, with the assistance of my friends, to make the 
 best of it ; and you can, according as you find it in demand 
 in the severall countrys, but not under five pound Scots 
 pr. boll of 8 ston untill you hear furder from me ; that is, 
 for the meall. Howsoon the cargoe is fully dissposd, 
 and that you have gott payment of the same in money or 
 bills as above derected, you '11 give Alexr. Wood on recept 
 twenty five pounds Strl. to purchase his loading of scleat 
 at Mull, and twenty five pound more if he takes in part 
 payment of his freight, likeways on his receipt. And when 
 you have so cleared fully with all and sundry, you are to 
 repair to Glenelg, and make the best of your way home 
 with such convoy and directions as my Father in Law will 
 give you. And if you find it more adviseable, may deliver 
 him the whole money and bills on receipt. And for your 
 trouble I am to give you four pound Strl., and pay your 
 necessary charges. I wish you a good voyag. 
 
224 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 27 Aprile 1725. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Wood [Master of the Thistle of Banff]. 
 
 This will be delivered by Donald Mclntire of this place, 
 who I have thought fitt to send allongs with you, as being 
 ane honest sensible lade, and has the Irish language, which 
 will be absolutely necessarie where you are bound, since I 
 cannot promise seall for your cargoe without shifting a great 
 many Ports and the assistance of the Gentlemen of the 
 Country. I am now advised that you should goe first to 
 Lochfallord in the Isle of Sky, and from thence as you will 
 be directed by Roderick McLeod of Contlieck. I suppose it 
 will be to the Long Island, either to Herries or Uist, and what 
 will not be dissposed there my Father in Law will see to 
 disspose in Glenelg. Upon the whole have given my full 
 directions to the bearer, who is to sell the Cargoe and 
 receive the payment either in money or good bills ; and 
 I doubt not your care to be assisting to him and make- 
 ing all possible disspatch. I am not apprized whether 
 Carnuice will ship bear on board you or not. If he send 
 no bear, than it will be necessar that ship about 850 bolls 
 meall, for which purpose I have wrote to him, to be 
 forwarded pr. express. I am of oppinion after you are 
 load you proceed straight to S torn way in Lews, and there 
 take in a pylot who will carry you thence to Lochfallord 
 in the Isle of Sky, and from thence to the severall ports 
 whither you may be directed by my friends. And after 
 your cargoe is out, you '11 proceed to the Isle of Mull, 
 where you will deliver my letter to John Stevenson, 
 scleat quarrier, who will furnish you your cargoe, which 
 will be about 30,000 I suppose ; and Don: Mclntire will 
 furnish you money to pay for them at £10 lib. Scots pr. 
 1000; and as much cheapper as you can, with as much 
 of your freight as you '11 think needfull to take. Shall 
 advise you before you goe to Mull whither you return 
 here with the scleat or to Lieth. Mind to gett certificatt 
 from Stornway anent unloading your cargoe, or, failling 
 that, from Liut. McKenzie, who is Surveyor on that 
 coast, and lives near Glenelg. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 225 
 
 Inverness, 8 May 1725. 
 
 Mr. John Coutts [Edinburgh]. 
 
 I send you inclosed bill accepted by your friends 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachen of Montrose, payable to 
 my order at your house the 15 inst. for £650: Ster., 
 which Bill I have indorsed to you for the ballance due 
 on it, being £430 : 3 : 9 J Strl., and have valued on you 
 of 7 currt. to the order of Alexr. Duff of Drummuir £89 
 strl., payable the eighteent inst., which place to my 
 Debit in accot. ; and again nixt post its probable I may 
 value on you for £300 lib. more, which I doubt not will 
 find due honour, being laitely advised by your friends 
 at Montrose to value on you for this money ; so you '11 
 Credit my accot. accordingly. Wherein I can serve you, 
 Comand. 
 
 Inverness, 15 May 1725. 
 
 Mr. James Blair [Edinburgh]. 
 
 I reced. your favour of 6th currt. with two packets 
 for John McLeod in Orkney inclosed, which will be care- 
 fully forwarded Munday nixt, I being out of town when 
 the last Edr. post arrived, and Caithness post disspatched. 
 There will be probably presented to you my accepted 
 bill for £122 Strl., payable to Mr. Robert Gordon of this 
 place, and indorsed to Alexr. Gordon of Ardoch. Its 
 due this term for value in Salmon. If said bill appear 
 pray pay it, and the ballance I will be due then may call 
 for from your friend John Coutts, who has of my effects 
 in his hands. 
 
 Inverness, 18t May 1725. 
 Mr. William Cumming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 I hope youle not be displased that I send you the in- 
 closed bill on Mr. John Coutts at sight for £11 Ster., and 
 that I have valued on you of this date to the Earle of 
 Morray at 10 days sight for £200 Ster. ; to which I entreat 
 punctuall Complyance. I know I have overdrawen a 
 little, but I hope to see you shortly and make all odds 
 
226 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 even. Pray pay Mr. Rolland, Author of the Calidonian 
 Mercurry, Six Shillings Sterline for me, and Give him my 
 service, and desires not his newspapers hereafter, being 
 too dear. 
 
 Inverness, 31 May 1725. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Wood [Master of the Thistle]. 
 
 Your letters for Bamff are forwarded. I was last week 
 at Fort William, and was assured your loading of scleat 
 is redy at Esdale, and have agreed for twenty thousand 
 of you loading for Collonell Urquhart of Newhalls house, 1 
 so that you are to return to Cromarty road and waite my 
 orders there ; so that its not my power to send the Ship 
 for Lieth, as you propose. When you pass throw the 
 Sound of Mull call for Leut. Wainsburrow who will write 
 with you to the quarrier and heasten your disspatch. 
 
 Inverness, U June 1725. 
 
 To Captain Urquhart of Burcharge [Burdyards]. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour of 24t last month, and 
 had made answer to it ere now but that I hapned to be 
 at Inverlochy when it came here. I observe your pro- 
 posall of offering 50 merks pr. barell of Salmond and 
 Grilses this year over head, to which I am sory I canot 
 comply, for tho I have Comission to bespeak some Salmond, 
 yt. have no orders to make any price as yet, and doe 
 find my frinds in the South are of opinion, because the 
 fishings are good and plentifull ys. year, that the price of 
 Salmond will rather be lower yn. higher as last year. 
 However, He wenture to offer you 50 merks pr. barell 
 Salmond and 40 for Grilses, payable \ before Christmas 
 nixt, and ye oyr half again Whitsunday next ; or 50 sh. 
 for Salmond and Grilses overhead, payable as above. 
 And I supose ys. will be ye Highest price yule reach ys. 
 year, and for my part I resolved not to Exceed it and 
 indeed I must say its a good price. Please seall and 
 forward the inclosed to Sr. Henry Innes. 
 
 Newhall in the Black Isle, Ross-shire. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 227 
 
 To Sr. Henry Innes. 
 
 Inverness, 4Z June 1725. 
 
 I had returned answer to your favour of 2 2d past ere 
 now but that I hapned to be in ye Highlands when it came 
 here, from whence I only returned a few days past. I 
 return hearty thanks for the offer you make of your 
 Salmond conform to your promise, and would embrass 
 your offer if I had either Comission or prospect by which 
 I could be safe, as, indeed, I have not. [Steuart makes the 
 same offer for salmon and grilse as made to Captain 
 Urquhart in the foregoing letter.] 
 
 Monsieur Jacob Ferray, Havre. 
 
 Inverness, 12 June 1725. 
 
 Sir, — I reed, your favour of 24th past, and is sorry to 
 find that the payment of the Salmon per the Margt. and 
 sold in Novr. last, is not yett pay'd. This proves a con- 
 siderable disscouragement, but hops hereafter it may 
 prove better. I observe your proposeall to pay Mr. 
 Robert Gordon of Bourdx. his full account for me and 
 Company, as I take it, being f7882 : 4 : 4 : french money, 
 which I agree to, and intreat you may doe pr. first, sending 
 like ways at the same time ane account of what is due 
 to each, I mean Alexr. Steuart, John McLeod, Andrew 
 Monroe, and Willm. Frazer from the proceeds of their 
 Salmond, with orders to draw on them for ballance to 
 my order at the currt. exchange. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 18 June 1725. 
 
 Mr. James Blair [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sr., — My last to you was of 12 currt., since non from 
 you. Conform to what I wrote you in my last I send 
 you inclosed bill Leut. John Preston, paymaster of Briga- 
 dier Groves Regment, for Seventie pounds Strl., payable 
 eight days after daite, which place to the Credit of Mr. 
 George Ouchterlony, and advise him of the same, and 
 me of your receipt hereof. He send you some more or 
 bring it up to Edr. with myself verry soon. 
 
228 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 For Normand McLeod of Drynach [atEileanreach, Glenelg]. 
 
 Inverness, 21 June 1725. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I Received your favour of 16th Curt, with 
 Mr. Chaplains noat to Mr. Watt for £14 Sterlin, which I 
 presented to sd. Chaplain with Mr. Watts Letter to him ; 
 and he promises that howsoon his Regiment arrives here, 
 which will be in ten days, that he will make good the Noat 
 to Me. And, indeed, being intimatly acquaint with the 
 paymaster of that Regiment, I hope to recover payment, 
 which when done shall advise you, and Credit your 
 Account Conform. 
 
 Inverness, 24 June 1725. 
 
 Mr. George Ochterlonie [London]. 
 
 Sir, — I Received your favours of 25 March and 10th 
 Curant, and thought I hade made answer to the first in 
 course, and I beg pardon I did not. I have yet 5 bags 
 of your hopps on hand, which I have offered at the prime 
 cost with you, but can not gett it, this pleace being over- 
 stocked, and is loath to sell it at loss. And as yet I have 
 not gott a farthing for the rum. The tar is sold, and I have 
 gott Ardloch's 1 mony, £60 : 2 : 4 sterlin, and I remitted 
 last post £70 Sterlin for your Acct., and will in a post 
 or tuo send him the proceeds of which is sold of your 
 goods. And, as we are to have verie soon a lairge encamp- 
 ment of Forces here, I hope your rum will goe off, and 
 then shall make acct. of all and send it you. I am glad 
 the uglie debate with our freinds at Barcelona is ended, 
 tho at loss. I observe your recomendation of Capt. 
 Herdman, and when he comes here shall doe him all the 
 service in my power ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 9 July 1725. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sr., — I reed, your favours of 14 past, and delivered 
 the inclosed letter for Brigadier Groves to his own hand, 
 
 1 Alexander Mackenzie of Ardloch, son of Sir John Mackenzie of Tarbat. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 229 
 
 and I suppos he has gott the two hams directed for him. 
 I have long agoe pay'd your bill to Mr. Arbuthnot, and 
 have since gott f.180 [?] from Mr. Coutts as the Nett 
 proceeds of my ten barrell of Salmon sent you pr. John 
 Willison, a verry poor affair. You may remember I sent 
 you by said Wilison two packets to be forwarded to 
 Italy. I expected the returns pr. James Grant as I ad- 
 vised, but he sayd you gave him no packett of letter 
 for me but these wherein the Brigds. letter was inclosed, 
 about which I am in great pain. So pray write me pr. 
 first if you gott anny return by these letters sent you 
 pr. Willisons Barq, and advise of the price of corns with 
 you, and how your herrin and Salmon markets is like to 
 prove. I observe what you write about Lewis Poison, 
 and shall obey your orders. I opened his box with China. 
 I find the 12 cups is wanting, but the rest is in it, which is 
 certainly a mistake with you. I find you have forgo tt to 
 send me the two pound tea as I ordered. The Clow [cloves] 
 and Nutmeag James Grant has. There will be now ane 
 effectuall stop put to trade to this firth from you, for this 
 morning arrived two small Cruizers from England in our 
 road to attend all shipps from you in this firth herafter, 1 
 which I belive in the event will be good for this Country. 
 I expect your answer in course ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 31 July 1725. 
 
 Mr. William Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 I recd. your favour of 2nd currt., acknowledgeing 
 recept of £30 Strl. from Alexr. Monroe for my accot. as of 
 Duncan Mcintosh, Drover, his accepted bill for £4 : 16 : 6 
 Strl. and £30 Strl., and Joseph Faickines for £50 Strl. I 
 now send inclosed the Laird of McLeods bill on Andrew 
 McFarlin for £50 Strl., payable the first of 7br. Said 
 Mr. Mcfarlin was laitely here and promised that this bill 
 would be punctually paid when due ; so you may reckon 
 on it as good money. I ordered, two post since, Alexr. 
 Forbes, Junr., of London, to remitt you about £90 Strl. 
 
 1 That is, to stop smugglings 
 
230 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 for my accot. I must value on you in two posts to the 
 Earle of Morray for £200 Strl., but I desire your allow- 
 ance per nixt. I return you inclosed Angus Shaws bill, 
 which I hade returned much sooner, but that I was 
 promised payment daylie. I expected to hade been with 
 you or now, but happens to be so crowded with bussiness, 
 and by the herrin fishings approach, that I am oblidged 
 to postpone journey till 7br nixt, if God permitt. 
 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachan [Montrose]. 
 
 Inverness, 13 August 1725. 
 
 1 received your favours of 31 past and 6 Currt., by first 
 of we. I find that your barque wt. salt is not sailed, and 
 that many of my Lemons are spoiled. Both salt and 
 Lemons will come too late, for two or three bigg ships are 
 arrived here wt. Salt, of wc. is Bailie McKays pink, in 
 wc. is 20 Chists of fruit ; and cannot sell your Salt befor 
 arrival except upon uncertant conditions, as I told you 
 formerly. 200 Ston Rakets flax will sell here as formerly, 
 but no hemp, so send non. When the Salt comes shall 
 send you the Certificate you mention ; and as to the 
 Salmond the cace stands much about what I told you 
 in my last from Nairn. I have concluded for non in 
 Murray except 3 lasts from Burgyeards and two lasts from 
 young Clava, wc. I carried over McKays and Bettys head 
 at 3£ pr. bar : I discount for Grilses, reddy money, and 
 gave him already £12 Ster. in parte payt. and both thatt 
 and Burgyeards are packed, and will expect here to 
 morrow. My Lord Lovats are likwise apacking this day ; 
 but, to my sirprise, Will: Fraser told yeasterday he was 
 to draw 70 barrlls to be exported for his own acct. but I 
 expect yett to [get] 100 barrells at least, and 12 more in 
 this place. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 20 Augt. 1725. 
 
 Comissar Steuart. 
 
 Aff. Cousin, — I thought to have seen you long ere this 
 time, but was necessarly detained, tho verry unwillingly ; 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 231 
 
 yett hopes to be with you sooner than you expect. I saw 
 your Servt. David Monroe the other day, who spoke to me 
 anent the Debt due by Mr. Michall Frazer. I have re- 
 covered the half of it by Phallie [Faillie] and Aberchalder, 
 and Dunmaglass is charged with horning, which paper 
 happening now to be at Castle Steuart will be sent you 
 nixt post ; and the 4th bill resting by Flichitie 1 is pro- 
 mised to be retired at Mertimass, for he was dead before 
 the bill fell due, so could not be protested mean time. 
 Besides the bill sent you on Mr. James Mckenzie for £125 
 mrks., I send you inclosed a £5: Strl. bank noat Numr. 
 irMlF' wn i cn wn l P a Y niore than I gott, and enable you 
 to send me in return of this post two hornings on the 
 inclosed two protested bills, vizt. bill, John Finlay for 55 sh. 
 Strl., and bill Wm. Frazer £52: 5: Strl. ; but Notice that 
 the horning be for no more than what is due, as you '11 
 find by the receipt on the back thereof. Mr. Binnet, one 
 of the Comissioners of the Excise, was laitely here. I 
 waited of him and entertained him handsomly, and he 
 was serriously spoke too on our affair by Lord Lovat 
 and others, and he has promised to doe us all the service 
 in his power in our monetry affair. Mean time please 
 advise me what is doeing, or if application to anny of 
 the top people here could doe us anny service. 
 
 Inverness, 21 August 1725. 
 
 Mr. William Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I Received yours of 12 Curt, and may be assured 
 He studie all in my power to serve my good freind Collonell 
 Clayton, but ther are so manie want mony here that it will 
 difficult to provid him ; but He doe my best, and take 
 bills as you advise. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 28 Augt. 1725. 
 
 Mr. James Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sr., — . . . I send you the accot. of Sales and Invoyce 
 at Stockholm for your perusall, but the Invoyce of the 
 
 1 Faillie, Easter Aberchalder, Dunmaglass, and Flichity are estates in the 
 parish of Daviot, held of Lord Moray as superior. 
 
232 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Staves and Clapboards shipt at Dantzig coud not be 
 sent this post haveing falln by hand ; only, for your 
 government, know there is twixt Mr. David Monroe and 
 me equally 4 J great hunderd barrll. Staves and two chock 
 clapboards, which all remains unsold, as does the iron. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 28 Aug. 1725. 
 
 Mr. William Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I wrote you the 21 Augt., and desired you might 
 pay the Earle of Morray £200 Strl. for my accot. in part of 
 my bill for Salmon in his Lops. hand. Now I confirm my 
 Said order, and have wrot to his Lop. of this daite to Call 
 for said money, which I hope you '11 pay on a receipt from 
 his Lop., inclueding what payment you have allreddy 
 made. I send you inclosed bill Genrall Siburg, Governour 
 of Fortwilliam, on Peter Crawford, Mercht. in Edr., at 
 sight for £40: Strl., and deliver said Crawfoord the inclosed 
 letter of advice. I like ways send you inclosed £50: Strl. 
 on 5 bank noats Numr. ^Mfu : No ; 2 966 4 : No - drH 3 : 
 No. ^YlHrs : No. yr§TT> which I wish may come safe to 
 your hands. I have valued on you of this daite £30 
 Strl. to the order of my Friend, Mr. James Cuming, Mercht. 
 in Edr., which no doubt will find due honour. Advise if 
 yett you have anny remittance from Alexr. Forbes, junr., 
 of Lond. for my accot. 
 
 Invern:, 31 August 1725. 
 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachen, Montrose. 
 
 This day I wrote you by the John of Arbroth, John 
 English Master, with whom I shiped for your accot. 103 J 
 barrells Salmon and 16| barrels grillses, making in all 
 120 barll., wc. is all the Master could take in. In my Letter 
 the 26 Instant I wrote you that some discord had hap- 
 pened twixt me and Bailie Fraser about his half of Lord 
 Lovat Salmon, wc. stoped the loading your barque a day. 
 The mater was that sd. Bailie, tho had agreed to disspence 
 all yt fish in my favours, except 40 barrels Salmon he was 
 to risque himself, yet, when I came to Load sd. fish, he 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 233 
 
 would not consent I should draw any more than my half 
 unless I gave him profit for what I was to get of his half, 
 which, considering the high price of sd. fish and the 
 very few grills among them, I would not goe in to this 
 proposall, but drew my own half ; so I want 40 barel of 
 what I formerly mentioned I thought I was sure of. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 10 Septr. 1725. 
 Mr. George Ouchterlony [London]. 
 
 I received yours of 8 Instant, which I acknowledge is 
 too long unanswered. I with it hade the Inclosed from 
 [for ?] Collonell McKenzie and Capt. Herdman. The first 
 I did not deliver because in it you made mention of my 
 name, and because I was than about causeing arrest of 
 sum of money due him by Merchts. in this place, which 
 would doe much more than pay your debt. Accordingly 
 these arrestments are led on, and I dessign to cause doe 
 so a second time ; and mean time may write a letter pr. 
 first to the Collonell, but pray take no notice of me in it, 
 for I care not to appear in that matter, tho I would 
 willingly doe you all the service I can. I sold lately 3 baggs 
 of your hops, so only now two [to ?] hand, for which I 
 expect £4 : 10 : sh. Strl. ; but of the first was sold there is 
 yett two baggs resting. I belive your rum will not sell 
 here, so I think you should order me to return to London 
 whats unsold of it. The officers of the army here dont 
 medle with it, being weell stored with wine and Sack [?]. 
 Capt. Herdman was here tother day, and he and I drank 
 your Health. I send you inclosed bill and letter of 
 advice Capt. George Monroe on Mr. Perrigreen Fuerry for 
 £37 : 19 : 5 Strl., payable at sight, which I have indorsed 
 to your order. I doubt not will find due honour, so place 
 it to my Credit in accot. and advise me in course ; as also 
 of the prices of corns, brandy, etc., with you; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 11 7br., 1725. 
 Mr. William Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — -I received yours came pr. last post without daite, 
 adviseing your receipt of Generall Siburgs bill on one 
 
234 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 John Crawfoord is pay'd, and that you received £50 Strl. 
 in bank noats, and would comply with my Orders to the 
 Earle of Morray and James Cuming, which is weell. I 
 likeways gott a draught of my accot. currt., which differ 
 in some articles from mine, particularly that you must 
 Creditt me for £6 Strl. sent you in bank noats inclosed 
 in my letter of 6 March, when I ordered to pay Alexr. 
 Arbuthnot in part of Alexr. Roses bill. As also you for- 
 gott Duncan Mcintosh, Vintner, his accepted bill of 
 £4 : 16 Strl. which [with] some other litle mistakes will 
 make the ballance I am due you less. Now I send you in- 
 closed seven accepted bills from severall Gentlemen of the 
 McLeods for £197 : 16 : 8 Sterlin, and bill John Hosack 
 and Company on Capt. Rutherford at London pr. £9: Strl., 
 which makes all £206 : 16 : 8 Strl., all which will be 
 punctually pay'd again the first Octr. that they fall due ; 
 the receipt of which please signify, and advise pr. first 
 how you have a particular noat of these bill under written. 
 The accot. of the inclosed bills is, vizt. 
 
 20 Augt. 1725. 
 
 Bill John Hosack and Compy. on Capt. 
 
 Rutherfoord 20: days after date 
 Do. Roderick McLeod of Contlieck 
 Do. Said Roderick McLeod 
 Do. Donald McLeod, Balmenach 
 Do. Roderick McLeod of Ullanish . 
 Do. William McLeod of Hammart 1 
 Do. William McLeod of Ebost 
 Do. Ladie Clanranald on Mr. Alexr. Mc-1 
 
 kenzie ; all payable again the first J- 
 
 October .... 
 
 To Contlieck promissarrie noat 
 
 £9: 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 16 : 
 
 13 
 
 5 
 
 26 : 
 
 10 
 
 4l 
 ^4 
 
 37 : 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 75 : 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 10 : 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 21 : 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 8 : 
 
 17 
 
 9 
 
 £206 : 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 4 
 
 0 : 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 £206 : 
 
 16 
 
 y 3 
 
 1 Hamar or Hamara in Glendale, Skye. William Macleod of Hamar was a 
 well-known character in the early part of the eighteenth century. Under the 
 name of ' Theophilus Insulanus ' he wrote a curious treatise on second sight, 
 published in 1763. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 35 
 
 Inverness, 14 Sept, 1725. 
 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachan, Montrose. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I received your favour of 31 past and hade 
 returned you answer pr. last post but that last week I was 
 from home in the Highlands. ... I hope John Inglis is 
 with you long ere now, but James Orkney only sailed from 
 Findhorn. What kept him so long I know not, but you 
 need be no great anxiety, since I hope your Ship may be 
 at the market befor anny other from Scotland, since one 
 James Grant, who takes in the Inverlochy fish, is not yett 
 arrived there, nor Joseph Mcintosh yett at Garloch. He 
 unloads his cod fish at Barcelona, and I suppose goe with 
 his Salmon to Marseilles or Leghorn, and Baillie McKay's 
 pink will not be disspatched before the first of Octr., and 
 is not determined where to send her, but doe think it will 
 be to Venice ; and Baillie Gordon Salmon lays here and 
 no appearance of a Ship to take it in, and I am verry much 
 of the mind, being but about 200 barel., it may goe for 
 Havre or Bilboa. I '1 notice what you write annent 
 Sir Thos. Calder, 1 and will improve your cash to the best 
 advantage. Lodwick Gordon is verry angry, and swears 
 he never meant to give his bounty money ; but that will 
 depend on Binhalls oath, or his. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 18 Sept. 1725. 
 
 Mr. William Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 My last was of 11 inst., when I sent you inclosed 8 bills 
 and ane obligatorry letter, all indorsed to you, value 
 £206 : 16 : 9^ Strl., which I hope will find punctuall payt. 
 The Gentlemen acceptors being now gone south with their 
 catle, and promiseing to retire the same, I send you now 
 inclosed three bills more, vizt., Aneas McDonald of Scotis, 
 payable the twentieth October . . £32 : 7:0 
 
 Roderick McLeod of Contlieck, payable 1 ditto 6 : 9:5^ 
 Norman McLeod of Drynoch, 1 Novr. . 50 : 14 : 2 
 
 89 : 10 : 7\ 
 
 1 Sir Thomas Calder of Muirtoune, Morayshire, father of the noted Admiral 
 Sir Robert Calder. 
 
236 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Being in all eighty nine pounds ten shills. seven pence one 
 third Strl. Drynach my Father in Laws bill, tho' pay- 
 able here, is sent South at his own desire, and will ye paid 
 equally with those sent you last post. You '11 give my 
 service to Ulanish and Donald McLeod, Ballamenach, and 
 tell them I depend on them for payment of Hammer's 1 bill 
 according to promises to Don: Mclntire, and that their 
 complyance will be esteemed a favour ; and meantime I 
 intreat you be at pains in it, since I have no doubt anny 
 of the bills but that of Hammers ; and, when all is paid, 
 credit me in accot. 
 
 Inverness, 18 Sepr. 1725. 
 
 Mr. Alex. Forbes [London]. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour 2d currt. and doe observe 
 that Mr. John has paid you for my accot. 
 
 £89 : 2 : 8 Strl., value of fl700 french, due me by Mr. 
 Jacob Ferray of Havre, and that you have advised my 
 friend William Cuming to value on you for £83 : 14 : Strl. ; 
 but I wish you hade rather remitted the money, since I 
 am affraid drawing from Edr. will be a loss to me, Ex- 
 change being under parr there, as they pretend. The 
 Ship prosperous Margt. of this place is just now reddy to 
 sail for London, by which please send me two doz. fine 
 poutter [pewter] pleats, half doz. thereof deep for Supe ; 
 a large Ditto Supe dish ; and two large flat dishes for roast 
 or boiled meat, and few ashetts ditto ; and you '11 notice 
 the same be good hard mettall, and the pleats and dishes 
 marked thus J. g C. Send me likeways a doz. of the fineest 
 dwarf pear and apple trees for a border of a garden, and 
 two doz. plants of evergreens ews, varrigated hollies, and 
 some Lawrells, all which to be carefully done up to prevent 
 spoiling ; and you '11 observe to find ane honest gardener, 
 that you may not be imposed on in the fruit trees. Send 
 likeways four bottles of the Florence eating oyle ; and place 
 the value of all to my accot., or draw on me for the same* 
 
 1 William Macleod of Hamar, See p. 234. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 237 
 
 Inverness, 8 8ber 1725. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to William Cuming, and sent a small 
 Account due be Charles Gordon to me, and ane order to 
 pay the same to sd. Cuming, being £2 : 14 : 5J Sterlin. As 
 alsoe sent him iEneas Mackdonell of Scotus his accepted 
 bill for £34 Ster., which is to be returned me iff not payed. 
 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachan [Montrose]. 
 
 Inverness, 12 Sber 1725. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I received your favours of 24 past and 
 4t Currt., ye last by Mr. Alexr. Coutts of Dantzig. I am 
 sory I canot Comply with ym. ys. post, being wery much 
 Hurried and from home since your Salmond was dis- 
 patched ; but by friday nexts post all yt. you desire 
 shall be regularly sent you. As to what you mention 
 about ye debt due you by the Laird of Brody, I dont 
 belive any Creditor for Salmond will take any transaction 
 yt. way. I think the best and Quickest way to ballance 
 ye affair is to buy all or a part of his farm [victual rents] ys. 
 year if you find your accot. in it. As I am Countable to all 
 the sellers of Salmond for their bounty, I entreat you 
 negotiat ye debentures as soon as possible, and send ym. 
 to William Cumming, Mercht. in Edr., placeing ye fees to 
 my accot. 
 
 Inverness, 15 Octr. 1725. 
 
 Messrs. Winder and Aikman, Livorno. 
 
 I received your acceptable favours of 24 agust and 
 22 7ber last, and do returne my most hearty thanks for 
 your kind rememberance of me. The prices of Salmon 
 run very high for 2 years past, so I did not care to deal 
 much that way, particularly this year, for our Salmon 
 has sold at 3 lib. pr. barrel, so that any I could purchase 
 was upon Comission for the Montross men. However, 
 I 'm glade to advise you that Will: McKay and Copa. [Com- 
 pany] of this place have shiped off 400 barrll. for your porte 
 in the ship Larke of this port, George Rodger Master, wc. 
 ship saild 8 days past ; and your acquantance Alexr. Rose 
 
238 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 and I have prevailed with Mr. McKay to make the Con- 
 signation to your house ; assuring them of honorabl 
 tratemen by you. If you find that sd. Mr. Rodger s 
 returnes not directly to England, but is freighted for 
 Holland or Hamburgh, send by him for my accot. the 
 following goods, 100 pd. of the longest Cotton Wool ; 
 20 pd. Course Cotton yearn ; 20 pd. do. midlen Sorte, 
 and 20 pd. do. finde, for a tryal ; 40 lib. Coffee beens : 
 a Chist of finest Cucca oil ; Doz. small yarrs Olives ; 2 
 hhds. Corako wine ; 1 doz. small cask anchoves. Mind 
 to take bill of loadning for these goods deliverable to me 
 or order in this place. There is one James Grant, of this 
 place, gone likwise to your seas wt. Salmond and Cod-fish, 
 but cannot tell if will proceed as far up as your porte. 
 If he does pray ship these goods I call for on board of him, 
 and tell him they are for my accot. You are to draw on 
 me for these goods to the order of Mr. Will: McKay, and 
 your bill will find due honour. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 13 Novr. 1725. 
 
 Mr. John Coutts [Edinburgh]. 
 
 YouRfriends atMuntrose advise me vizt., Messrs. Ramsay 
 and Strachan, that they have ordered you to answer my 
 draughts for £220 Strl. for paying my engadgements 
 here for there accot s. I therefor have valued on you of 
 this daite for £50 strl. to order of the Earle of Murray, 
 at 3 days sight, which I hope will be punctually answered ; 
 and per nixt I will probably draw for all the rest. 
 
 13 Nov. 1725. 
 
 To the Earle of Murray. 
 
 I expected to have seen your Lop. ere now at Duni- 
 birsle, but, my old Mother falling ill and like to dye, T could 
 not in duety think of going so farr from home untill I 
 seed how it pleased God to dispose of her. She is still in a 
 languishing condition, confined to her bed ; and now being 
 about our Mertimass term, when your Lops, affairs, as 
 weill as my own, require my attendance, I cannot possi- 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 239 
 
 tively tell how soon I can wait of your Lop. at Dunibirsle. 
 Mean time I send your Lop. inclosed my bill on John 
 Coutts, mercht. in Edr., for £50 Stg., payable at 3 days 
 sight, which, with the former £200 Strl. paied by William 
 Cuming, makes up payment of my accepted bill for last 
 years Salmon, which your lop. will please return me or 
 receipt for this money. 
 
 13 Nov. 1725. 
 
 Mr. William Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 I wrot you the 6th currt. when I drew on you two large 
 bills, both value £327 : 13 : 4 Strl., which I hope will find 
 due honour, tho I find my funds in your hands have not 
 answered so quickly as I expected; but still I hope you '11 
 be in cash for me before my draught fall due. I return 
 you the debentures and our accot. currt. signed, so may 
 make out a coppie of it and return it signed to me per 
 first. I draw on you for 13 sh. which I am due my cousin 
 the Comissars Lady ; so please pay her on sight. My 
 debentures on the Salmon exported 1719 are made out, 
 but our Collector cannot pass them without orders from 
 the Exchequer. But what I want to know is what sort 
 of wouchers I must give in order to procure the Exchequer 
 orders to pass my debentures as the Law directs ; therefor 
 pray concert with my cousin the Comissar in this affair, 
 that, if possible, such order may be obtained befor this 
 court of Exchequer is up, so that we may be no longer 
 keep out of our money. 
 
 Inverness, 13 Novr. 1725. 
 
 Comissar. Steuart. 
 
 I gott your letter with Jon. Monroe the Messenger, 
 who gott punctuall attendance from Farquhar both in 
 Strathearn, Strathnairn, and Pettie, where all his coppies 
 were passed, and such a large liberarry of prints was never 
 dispersed in these part before. In short you have put all 
 belonging to our Earle in these parts in a fever, and can 
 not be easy untill they know the meaning, of which I 
 could not tell them, unless it was a project to instruct 
 
240 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 them in the Law, or make them more reddy hereafter 
 to their Supperriors in their payment. Munroe went to 
 Murray [Moray] on Monday last with James Russell, and 
 I gave him £40 Scots, for which took his bill on the Earle, 
 which I send you inclosed, and I think should have a 
 receipt for it. 
 
 Inverness, 17 Novr. 1725. 
 
 Mr. James Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I send you herewith extract of our accot. currt. 
 and accot. of disbursements for you, as also accot. of 
 sale of your Iron per the Thistle ; all which I hope you '11 
 find right. I am due you by this accot. curi\. about £30 
 Strl., but as I want yett about £40 of your Iron, and 18 lib. 
 of Cullodens bill, I cannot remitt you the ballance not 
 in a fortnight, being straitned at present. I hope in a 
 litle time to be able to make out the accot. of sale of 
 your last Iron from Stockholm in Compa[ny], as also of 
 the two hhds. cherry from Hamburg ; and then our accot. 
 currt. can be fully filled and finished, and not before 
 which. 
 
 Inverness, 2Uh Nover. 1725. 
 
 For Sir Thomas Calder, of Muirtown. 
 
 Sir, — I gott both your Letters and hade made a return 
 or now but that I was Disapointed of some mony due 
 me and that I depended on last week. Mean time I send 
 you inclosed my first and 2d bills, as you desire, on Mr. 
 John Coutts of Eder. for £170 Sterlin, and Collonell 
 Clayton's bill on Alexr. Tait for £50 sterlin, indorsed to 
 you, both makeing £220 sterlin, for which please send me 
 your recept in pairt payment of your salmon. And when 
 I am advised that the bounty mony of your salmon is 
 payed at Eder. shall remitt you what ballance is Due you ; 
 so that I hope you will have no reason to Complain of 
 Bad payment. I have your recept for the £100 sterlin 
 sent you from Muntrose, so that you have now in all 
 £320 sterlin, which at present is all from your, etc. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 241 
 
 Inverness, 26Z 9ber 1725. 
 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachan [Montrose]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I received your favours of 5t and 6t Currt. 
 In ye first I observe ye severall Articles put to my Debit 
 in Accot. Currt., which I belive are right enoch, only I 
 think that the 30 barells and J of salmond ye bounty 
 mony wherof is charged on me ought to bear a proportion 
 of ye Coustome house pd. at Montrose. I observe you do 
 not liek ye proposall made you about your flax, So have 
 only but yet sold of it 43 Ston of it to John Frigg at 
 Findhorn, payable 6 months hence. I have payed Sr. 
 Thomas Calder all his Salmond to a wery litle, and I have 
 drawen on John Coutts, as you ordered, for £220 Ster. 
 and Binhall has payed me, for which I have granted 
 receipt in your name, 40£, which please Dt. me in accot. 
 Currt. in part of ye Salmon shipped for your accot. I 
 received ye three Certificats for retiring ye cost bonds. 
 I received Kilravack's Accot. , due ye Lady Balnain, but 
 have since have heard no wourd about it from Mr. McKay 
 or any oyr. I doubt not but I writt you what you mention 
 of 13 or 14t Augt. last, but Grangehill disapointed me of 
 his Salmond after he promised, and gave ym. to John 
 Duff for accot. of Balie Gordon. It is wery true yt. Mr. 
 McKay has load of Salmond in 4 severall Ships, vizt. 
 200 barl. by Jos: Mcintosh for the Mediteranian ; 400 do. 
 by his own pink for Leghorn ; 180 do. p. the James and 
 Ann of ys. place, which last Ship sailed from the Orkneys 
 . . . and was loaded at Lochaber and Lochinver. This ship 
 is bound, as I hear, for Alicant ; and, in ye begining of 
 ys. month, in ye Fair Trader of ys. place, betwixt him 
 and Balie Fraser, 110 barells for Haverdegrace. As to ye 
 affair of Codfish for next year, I find it so inhansed in ys. 
 frith yt. there is no bying of any except at a wery high rate, 
 and some yt. was sent to Bilboa by Lodfovick] and Robert 
 Gordons is come to a wery good market ; and ye price of ye 
 Salmond ye insueing year will depend much on ye success of 
 ys. years at ye foreign markets. So yt. in ys. affair I can 
 as yet promise nothing Certain ; which is all from your, etc. 
 
242 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 27 Novr. 1725. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I send you inclosed bill Richard Whitehall p. £20 
 Strl. on Capt. Mungoe Herdman, or, in his absence, on his 
 Brother Patrick Herdman, vintnor in your City, being for 
 Cash for building a frigat on Lochness for his Majesties 
 Servis, and by the Capt. Speciall order. So I doubt not 
 it will be punctually payed, which you '11 place to my 
 Credit. And you '11 pleas retire my bill from Alexr. 
 Tait for £10 : 12: Strl., and place £14 due you by my 
 Son Alexr. to my Debit, and Credit him accordingly. 
 My friend George Ouchterlony of London writes me he 
 has remitted you Alexr. Taits bill £99 Strl. on my accot., 
 which money belongs to our friend James Cuming. So I 
 desire you make good the Same to him howsoon its payd. 
 
 Sd Deer. 1725. 
 
 Mr. Patrick Herdman [Vinter, Edinburgh]. 
 
 I wrot you the 27 past, when I advised of Robt. White- 
 halls draught on you for £20 Strl. in my favour, and 
 which was to be paid out by your Brother Capt. Herdmans 
 order for the Kings Service. Now I am to advise you by 
 order of Coll. Clayton that he reed, your last, with Mr. 
 Alexr. Taits bill on John Duff for £50 Strl., which he has 
 indorsed to me, since he will not take the trouble of 
 deburseing said money, as he has ordered and keep accot. 
 of it. So, if you have answered Whitehalls bill to William 
 Cuming, I shall remitt you £20 Strl. value of said bill as 
 you shall advise, since its probable £50 is all the fund left 
 with you for finishing the weshell [vessel] on Lochness. 
 So, expecting your answer, I am, etc. 
 
 Donald Steuart [Master of the Margaret of Inverness]. 
 
 8th Deer. 1725. 
 
 Wee wrote you of this date under Cover of Coll[onel] 
 Alexr. McKenzie, from whom wee have bought eleven last 
 seven and a half barrel herrings at 8£ lOsh. ster. pr. Last, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 243 
 
 the bounty being ours. So that wee hope this will come 
 in time to prevent your offering him any more mony. As 
 wee have had no advice from you since our last, wee doe 
 suppose there hes been no fishing for our accot. ; and, 
 if there hes, you are to blame did not advise us. However, 
 wee have made it a conditional bargain with Coll. McKenzie 
 that, if Gruinziord 1 made a bargain for us, you are not 
 oblidged to take his herrings ; but, as wee suppose that 
 hes not happened, wee have likeways agreed to let Mr. 
 Peter Forbes Ship, on his own risque and accot., eleven 
 last seven barrel and a half more, which will make the 
 greatest part of your Loadning. You '11 take notice that 
 what herrings you receive for us be well cured and packed, 
 and the cask very tight and full hooped at one end. 
 You are to follow your former instructions as to the Dis- 
 poseal of your Salt and cask ; and, since Peter Forbes is 
 come to this country, wee are to Concert with him about 
 the proper method of getting Custome house officers to 
 see the Shipping of these herrings so as the Drawback 
 may be secured to us. And for this purpose wee think it 
 fitt you goe to Cairstoun harbour after you have load 
 your herrings, and when there apply yourself to our 
 friend Hugh Baillie, Collr. of the Customs of Orkney, who 
 will certainly Expede the Debentures. So you '11 notice 
 to enter the herrings in name of Magnus Meason, Mert. 
 in Kirkwal, who will Expede the Debenture and forward 
 them to us. But wee are not yet positive if this is the 
 method wee will prosecute, but shall fully advise you in 
 our next. 
 
 Inverness, 13£ xber 1725. 
 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachan [Montrose]. 
 
 Gentlemen,— My last was of 26 past, to which I reffer. 
 This serves only to advise you that some f rinds and I had 
 in ye month of 8ber last a barque 2 belonging to this 
 place load with wine from Bourdeaux, which had the 
 
 Mackenzie of Gruinard, Lochbroom. 
 
 2 The Ann, 
 
244 
 
 THE LETTER BOOK OF 
 
 misfortune to give way at sea 3 days after She parted 
 from ye river of Bourdeaux, and 30 Leagues westward of 
 Usseant ; and yere ye Crew of sd. barque were saved by 
 ane David Spink of Arbroath, being yn in Company with 
 them. We had insurance made in Bourdeaux for 6000 
 Livers on ye Cargoe of sd. Barque, and since ye master 
 and Crews arivall here have taken ye needfull atestations, 
 and did forward ye same to our Corespondent, Mr. Robert 
 Gordon of Bourdeaux, in order to recover our damage, 
 of which you have a Coppy inclosed. And now what I 
 am to desire of you is that how soon ys. comes to hand 
 yule be pleased to me ye favour to call for sd. David 
 Spink and one or two of his men, and get ym. to make 
 oath before a majistrat or Justice of peace, and declare 
 what they know about the loss of sd. barque and ye 
 saving of its Crew. And be pleased pr. wery first to 
 forward such declaration in my name to Mr. Robert 
 Gordon at Bourdeaux, and no Doubt you '1 take care yt 
 the declaration doe not disagree with ye Copy here sent 
 you inclosed. What ever Charg you deburse on ys. affair 
 place it to my accot., and ye same will thankfully pd. Let 
 me entreat your care of ys. p. first. Your Dr. [debtor], the 
 Laird of Brody, goes of for London in 8 or 10 days, So yt 
 I belive I shall not have your orders to bargain with him 
 about his bear before he goes of. So its my opinion you 
 wrett to your Corespondent at Edr. to watch him, and 
 strick bargain with him there. Shall be Glad to here of 
 ye arivall of your Ship in ye Mediteranian, and your 
 success in Salmond project. 
 
 Inverness, 14 Beer, 1725. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sir, — This will be Delivered you by David Stevenson, 
 who goes by John Willison of this pleace. He is a freind 
 of Mine, and, if he wants a litle Credit, may furnish him 
 to the extent of six pounds sterlin, and take his bill on his 
 spouse. May likeways send me by his care three pounds 
 best bohea tea, and pleace the value to my Accot. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 245 
 
 Inverness, 16 Deer. 1725. 
 
 [Commissar Steuart.] 
 
 D. Cousin, — I am too long indebted to your last letter, 
 and doe observe your complaint that your debursements 
 in manageing our unlucky affair lay heavy and inequally 
 on you. William Cuming charges me like ways in accot. 
 about Seven pounds six on that head he laid out, besides 
 some money I debursd in this Country my self; but, 
 whatever happen, shall, God willing, doe you justice, and 
 hopes verry soon to reimburse you what you may be 
 in advance more than your share. I write this night to 
 our good friend Mr. Steuart at London, to keep him in 
 mind of our affair and pray God grant us a safe deliver- 
 ance after all our expences. My verry good friend Collin 
 McKenzie, Laird of Killdin, has of a long time recomended 
 to me the manadgement of his litle affair he hapned to have 
 in James Thomson exquitory [executry], and I intreat your 
 care in it conform to his direction to me in his leter to me 
 of 10 Augt. last ; and Mrs. Wyllie, to whom you '11 deliver 
 the inclosed sealed letter, will advance anny needfull 
 Charges you '11 cal for. So I hope you '11 take care of 
 my worthy Friend, especially the deceas'd Thomsons two 
 receipts of payt. sent you here inclosed. I must likeways 
 mind you of the Bond resting me by James Thomson 
 since I find Drumuir, 1 Scatwell, 2 and Baillie Fraser are 
 now goeing heartily to pass their Interest that way, and 
 to Stop Alexr. Monroes [ ? ] and preferring himself to the 
 other Creditors. Evan Baillie 3 sent you last Summer 
 the extract of Thomsons bond for £40, and I am willing, 
 if you think fitt, to Concurr with other Crs. mentioned, 
 that I may be at least on ane equall footing with them. I 
 send you inclosed horning agt. Wm. Frazer, Brother to 
 Dumballoch 4 and Chamberlain to Lovat, and intreats 
 that Caption may be sent me on it pr. first, since I find 
 the man not inclined to doe me justice otherways. 
 
 1 Duff of Drummuir. 2 Sir Roderick Mackenzie of Scatwell 
 
 8 Evan Baillie of Abriachan, Solicitor in Inverness. 
 4 Dunballoch near Beauly. 
 
246 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Mr. John Duff, Elgin. 
 
 Inverness, 24 Beer. 1725. 
 
 Being advised that my acceptance to your Brother 
 Wm. is in your hands for £127 : 13 : 4 Strl., of which I 
 paid £100, I send you by the bearer your Said Brothers 
 letter and receipt for the same £27 : 13 : 4 Strl., being in 
 Specie 10 guaneas, a quadruple or 4 pistole piece, value 
 £3 : 6 Strl., and a £5 Strl. bank noat, and the rest in Silver ; 
 so you '11 please return my bill by the bearer, and acquaint 
 if John Donaldson has retired my other bill for £20 Strl. 
 indorsed you by young Clava. 
 
 Inverness, 30 Deer. 1725. 
 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachan [Montrose]. 
 
 [In this letter Stuart orders 4 a box with powther, 4 
 barrells pitch, a box with suggar, and some trees and 
 evergreens for my garden.'] 
 
 Inverness, 1 January xfl^. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Tait [Edinburgh ?]. 
 
 Sir. — I send you inclosed Alexr. Gordons bill on Alexr. 
 McKenzie protested at said McKenzies common place of 
 Residence, he haveing not appeared in this country since 
 he was in France, and I am told the master of his Ship has 
 dropt him in Norway and gone to the Orkneys with his 
 cargoe for the security of his freight ; so that our friend, 
 Mr. Gordon, has but ane indifferent chance for his money. 
 I paid 5 sh. for protesting this bill, which have passed to 
 Mr. Gordons accot. I hade a letter last post from Mr. 
 Robert Gordon of Bourdaux, wherein he advised that our 
 insurance on the bark Ann that was lost will be made 
 good. I therefor advised you not to insist on the payt. 
 of our bills ; which at present is all from your, etc. 
 
 1 January T y|-^. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Forbes [London], 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour of 30th Novr. last, with 
 Invoyce and bill of loading for goods shiped in the un- 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 247 
 
 prosperous Margt., John Reid master, which Ship was 
 soon after lost on the Ban* of Montrose water, and of my 
 litle cargoe there is nothing saved but a barrell of pitch. 
 I wish you hade insured it as others did what they shipped 
 without orders ; but now no help. I observe the value of 
 these goods extends to £10 : 14 : 1 Strl., which shall verry 
 soon order you at London, being just now shipping off 
 about 500 qrtrs. oats for your Port. I hear there is a 
 pink bound from the Thems to this place immediatly. If 
 so, please send me a doz. of dwarf pear and apple trees 
 in place of what was lost, and only one handsom varricated 
 holly, for I find I can be provided in the rest at home. 
 Send likeways half hundred Suggar, such as you sent last. 
 
 Inverness, 13 January 1725. 
 
 Mr. Alex. Forbes [London]. 
 
 Sir, — I wrote you the first inst. adviseing you of the 
 missfortune of Capt. Reid, since which I have your favour 
 of 30th past, mostly on that subject. I am surprized to 
 find the great fall of oats at your market. The cargoe 
 that I have purchased, and will sail begining of next 
 week, haveing cost us here more money than 9/ pr. quarter, 
 I have resolved to try what can be don on the way twixt 
 this and London, rather than trust to such a low market. 
 Mean time I intreat howsoon this comes to hand you cause 
 insure on the cargoe of oats, etc., on board the Kathrin of 
 Lieth, Alexr. Tod master, £250 Strl. against all hazards, 
 from this to London, with liberty to said ship to call at 
 Lieth, Newcastle, and Yarmouth, by the way and advise 
 me of your comply ance pr. first, as you will Wm. Cuming 
 at Edr., who will remitt you the premium. Advise like- 
 ways how the market rules with you. 
 
 Inverness, 22 d Jan. 1726. 
 Mr. Alexr. Forbes, junr. [London]. 
 
 Sir, — My last was of 13t Currt., when I advised you to 
 insure for me and Compa. my Cargoe of oats, etc., on board 
 the Ship Kathrin of Leith, Alexr. Tod master, from vs. 
 
248 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 to London, with priviledge to call at Leith, Newcastle, and 
 Yarmouth, £250 Ster., which I hope is accordingly done 
 before ys. comes to hand. Sd. ship sailed on Wednesday 
 last, with a fair wind. This comes chiefly to cover ye 
 inclosed, which I intreat may be carefully and speedaly 
 delivered, as they are of importance to me. And I desire 
 that lickways how soon ys. comes to hand you pay to 
 Thomas Kerr, Seedsman in Church Laine, in Great Chelsy, 
 £6, 10s. Ster., and take his receipt for the same in name 
 of James Pitkaithly, Gardner in ys. place, which please 
 send me p. first, and mean time value on me for sd. sume 
 to your Corespondent at Edr., and your draught will be 
 duely Honoured. 
 
 Inv:, 12th Feby. 1726. 
 
 To Donald Steuart [Master of the Margaret of Inverness], 
 
 Aff. Cous., — I have yours of 5th currt. from Lochinver, 
 and I am wery heartily glad of your safe arivall yre, being 
 affraid you was come by some misfortune, having been 
 so long unheard of you. It was not possible to dispatch 
 your Express till ys. morning, and now all your dispatches 
 are sent you. So you are to proceed derectly to the 
 Orkenes to enter your Herins, and negotiat your debentures, 
 and what provisions you want must be purchased there, 
 which I hope yule have mony to buy out for it. If not, 
 may value on me. And, if you find the Ship any way 
 Creasie, Its fitt you putt Carpenters on her in Orkney. I 
 aprove of your Conduct in discharging ye Villain Clooness 
 who yule find always a mutinous fellow. As for your 
 Wife, you may depend she will not want while I can help 
 her. I am to lett her have tuo bolls meall tomorow. She 
 says she wants nothing els. I need not insist on derec- 
 tions to you, only invest what can be spared in good broad 
 Iron and 4 barells pitch. I doubt not but yule have a 
 tender Regard to my interest, and there is much need you 
 doe, for there will be litle got by ys. voyage. And I am 
 yet like to suffer for our unluckie Cousin David Steuart, 
 your Broyr., and I am affraid will be oblidged to pay 
 500 guineas, which will demolish me if God in his provi- 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 249 
 
 dence doe not prevent. We are lick to have warr over 
 all Europe. So mind to cause ye Gentlemen at Stockholm 
 to whom you are consigned notice my Orders anent insur- 
 ance by Robert McKay at Rotterdam on ye Ship and 
 Cargoe homeward. I pray God derect you, and send you 
 a safe and prosperous voyage. 
 
 Inverness, 15th Febry. 1726. 
 
 To John Stevenson at Isdell [Easdale]. 
 
 Sir, — I recived yours of 15th and 30th xber last, and I 
 doe by these assure you I will take 30,000 of Esdale Slate 
 at ye same rate Donald Mclntire payd. for ym last year, 
 pro voiding, in return of ys., you signify by a letter yt. yule 
 have sd. slaite ready again ye midle of May next or the 
 20th at furthest ; and in ys. case ye price shall be payd 
 you at Fortwilliam ye begining of June therafter, whither 
 ye Ship come to receive ym. or not. I say ye price will be 
 payd not exceeding ten pound Scots p. thousand. So 
 faile not to have ym. ready as above. . . . 
 
 Mr. James Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Inverness, 26th Febry. 1726. 
 
 Non of your pruins [prunes] are sold, so will ship ym. 
 to Leith p. first occasion if canot gett any of ym. disposed 
 as you desire. . . . 
 
 Inv:, 26th Feb. 1726. 
 
 Mr. George Ouchterlony. 
 
 Sir, — Howsoon ys. comes to hand please insure for my 
 accot. on ye Ship Margaret of ys. place and her Cargoe of 
 Herins on board, £150 Sterline, from Lochinver on our 
 west Coast to Stockholm. . . . 
 
 To Comissar. Steuart [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Inverness, 26th Fy. 1726. 
 
 I received yours of 19th Currt., and I am Glad to find 
 yt. our debentures are in shuch forwardness. Send me p. 
 
250 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 first ane accot. of all your Charges in ye affair that I may 
 see to gett Justice done you before ye debentures are 
 expedd here. I have written fully and pressingly to 
 Colonell Guest by ys. post in our unlucky affair, and I 
 doubt not he will make use of General Wades interest in 
 it, and if you can think of any oyr. application I can make 
 that may serve us He doe it. He certainly notice what 
 you recomend to remitt £3 sterline to your moyr. [mother] 
 and take bill as you desire. Having missed ye post, doe 
 send ys. p. Express after him. 
 
 Inverness, 4 March 1726. 
 
 Messrs. Mountgomrie, Mould, and Fenick [Stockholm]. 
 
 Wee refer you to our Letter by Donald Steuart, master 
 of the shipp Margret of this pleace, only with this differ 
 that now wee desire the whole proceeds of our herins be 
 invested in Iron, and as many of the best dealls as will be 
 sufficient for Dunage. Wee desire our iron be of the same 
 quality as mentioned in our sd. Letter. If Donald Steuart 
 call at Dantzick, as wee have ordered, shipp no Dealls 
 but what will be necessar for Dunage ; but, if doe not 
 goe, then shipp the 20 Dozen formarly ordered, and to 
 the value of fiftie pounds sterlin of iron more than the 
 proceeds of our herins ; for which you are to value on us 
 payable in Eder., which will find Due honour. 
 
 Inverness, 4 March 1726. 
 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachan [Montrose]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I Received your favour of 8 Febry., with 
 your bill on John Coutts for £1253 : 3 : 6 scots as full 
 ballance of our last Acct. Curant, which have to [told ?] 
 Lovat he may gett on Demand. As for the Salmon I have 
 secured for the inshueing season, I designe to risque a Deall 
 of it Myself, and I was offered by Bailie Mackay 1 and his 
 
 William Mackay, merchant in Inverness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 251 
 
 brother Scourie 1 3 pr. Ct. of Commission for all the Salmon 
 I can purchass and other advantages I wont name, but 
 have Made them no promise, tho I am realy obraided that 
 I preferr anie to My townsmen. Yet, as I found you still 
 men of honour, I enclyn not to break off, and so will not 
 engaige with McKay nor anie other untill I see you, which 
 I propose to be sometime in Aprile nixt, God willing, at 
 Muntross. He mind your salt affair, and hade done it ere 
 now but that 300 bushells of it was sent Coastwise to our 
 west Highlands to last herin Fishing, and must Ly there 
 to nixt fishing, so Must gett a certificat from the [ ? ] 
 of Lewes. A Loadning of salt in July nixt will Doe. If 
 from Cadiz, may order 3 or 4 tuns of Cherie in half and 
 quarter pyps, 20 barells rasins, and some Leamon : it 
 will doe well. 
 
 Mr. William Cumming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Inverness, teh March 1726. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours with McLeods bill on Ulinish 2 
 for £300 Ster., which, according to your desire, I have 
 forwarded p. Express for acceptance, for which have 
 agreed to pay lOsh. . . . 
 
 Inv, 9 4 March 1726. 
 
 Mr. James Blair [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — This brings you inclosed bill John Preston, Leut. 
 and paymaster to Brigadier Groves Regiment, on the 
 Honble. Sir Spenser Compton for £300, payable ye 10th 
 Aprile next, which I doubt not will find due Honour. I 
 must entreat you negotiat the same p. first and place ye 
 value of ye Exchange to my accot., which, I am formed, 
 is at present at 2 p. Ct. I sopose I must draw on you to- 
 morrow for about £140 sterline to ye order of John 
 
 1 Hugh Mackay of Scourie. William and Hugh were grandsons of the famous 
 General Hugh Mackay of Scourie. 
 
 2 Macleod of Ulinish in Skye. 
 
252 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Thomson, Mercht. in Glasgow, which I hope will find due 
 honour. 
 
 Inverness, 18th March 1726. 
 
 To Comissar. Steuart [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favours of 4th and 10th Currt. 
 Ye 1st I got at Cromerty, and ye last y ester night at my 
 Return here from Ross, where I have been for 8 days 
 past. ... I wish Mr. Bowls may be a good Agent for us 
 at London, and may answer what has been bestowed on 
 him first and last. Poor Wretched David 1 came to me 
 ys. day asking if any post or pension is provided for him 
 
 from ye Goverment ; he is wery d . I writt a Second 
 
 Serious Letter to Collonell Guest, and Captain Herdman 
 wrett me yt. ye Collonell has promised to serve us and next 
 post our Governour Collonell Clayton, in our affair to 
 Generall Wedd [Wade] and oyrs, which I hope will doe 
 us no harm. He forwarded your letter to Dalrachnie 2 
 younger, tho I learn by Collonell Grant 3 that ye mony 
 you ordered for me is remitted you, and £28 Ster. more p. 
 bill ys. post. I thank you for your kindness to my son, 
 and am in pain to know if he received my last letter, or 
 if he left my watch at Edr., which I sent to be mended, 
 or Caried it alongst. I send you my fathers assignation 
 to me of his Effects, with a bond resting be ye Deceast 
 McLeod of Cadboll, David McCulloch of Glestulich [in 
 Ross-shire] and George Urquhart, Mercht. in Cromerty, for 
 4000 merks. I have been advised to send ye assignation 
 with ye bond in order to raise Horning on ye last, and 
 inhibition against sd. David McCulloch of Glestulich ; 
 only the reasbn is because I can gett no anuall rent on 
 ys., nor has any been payd for 7 years past : and George 
 Urquhart has agreed to pay me provoiding I rase dilligence 
 against Glestulich, which Ive agreed to doe ; so faile not 
 to Find me Horning and Inhibition p. next post, and 
 return me my fathers disposition. 
 
 1 Brother of Commissary Steuart. 2 Grant of Dalrachnie in Strathspey. 
 
 3 Colonel Lewis Grant, brother of Sir James Grant of Grant. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 253 
 
 To Mr. Adam Gordon of Carnusy. 1 
 
 In:, 22d March 1726. 
 
 I saw leatly your letter to your broyr. in law Culbin 2 
 advising that ye farm meale 3 of your Country of last Cropt 
 could not be bought under 7 merks p. boll of 8 ston, pay- 
 able at Whitsunday next, or at 5 lib. Scots pr. boll at 
 Martinmass next, but yt. you belived yt. ye black oat 
 meale of Buchan ought to be bought at 6 merks, and J 
 payable at Martimass next, and deliverable at Frasers- 
 brough. I supose be ys. time ye price of meajl will fall 
 with you, as it has done much in ye South. Mean time I 
 send you ys. to advise yt. if you find you Can purchase 
 for my accot. from 8 to 900 bolls of the black oatmeall of 
 Buchan, deliverable at Frasersbrough or Peterhead, @ 
 6 J merks Scots p. boll of 8 Ston, and | payable at Marti- 
 mass next in Edr. or ys. toun, yule please accquent me p. 
 express, and He send you Comission by ye same bearer 
 to conclude bargain for me. But take notice yt. I only 
 mean ye meall of last Cropt, for if it is not sweett it will 
 not doe. I expect your answer p. first. 
 
 Mr. Robert Barckley, Hambg. 
 
 Inverness, 8th Aprile 1726. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour ye 22d past with 6 bills 
 inclosed on Sundry s here for £120 Is. 6d. sterline, which 
 I have presented to ym. on whom drawen, and have given 
 ym. there letters of advice came lickways under my cover ; 
 but I am sory to tell you that, Except ye Small bill on 
 Alexr. Rose, none of your bills are accepted, and so are 
 protested, for ys. reason that they aledge you refused 
 a pretty good offer for their Herins at Hamborough 
 and Sent ym. for Petersbrough without their orders. 
 But John McKay tells me yt. William Mcintosh, Ken: 
 
 1 Carnousie in Banffshire. 
 
 2 John Duff of Culbin, son of Alexander Duff of Drummuir, Provost of 
 Inverness. 
 
 3 Meal which had been received by proprietors as ferme or rent. 
 
254 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 McKenzie, and he are Content to refer ye matter to tuo 
 merchts. in Edr., on to be Chosen by you and anyor by 
 ym. ; as to which doe as you think fitt. Mean time I 
 thought fitt to keep the bills till I heard further from you ; 
 and its my opinion you send your orders from yse. Gentle- 
 men to Mr. Alexr. Arburthnot, our frind at Edr., with 
 orders to proseceute your payt. by Law if the affair will 
 bear it, which I Question not it will. Pray, Sir, advise 
 me how much Hering you mean to be purchased at 
 Petersbourgh as p. ys. accot. for 9 Rubells, and what 
 each rubell is wourth Ster. mony. . . . 
 
 Mr. Patrick Herdman, Vintner, Edinburgh. 
 
 Inverness, 15th Aprile 1726. 
 Sir, — I had last post a letter from your broyr., Captain 
 Mungoe Herdman, Ordering me to draw on you for what 
 mony I debursed by his order on ye Highland Gallie, 1 and 
 yt. he advised you to Honour my drawght by ye Same 
 post. I am out about £50 Ster., but have only drawen 
 on you of ys. date £30 Ster. to the order of James Huiston, 
 Mercht. in ys. place, at 8 days sight, which I hope will 
 find due Honour, and shall p. next post send you a Coppy 
 of my accot. of Debursments ; which at present is all from 
 yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 6 May 1726. 
 
 To Mr. Will: Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sr., — Return you MackLeod's bill and Ulanish, accepted 
 for £300 Ster., as also two fish debentures certifyed on 
 the Commissioners of Excise, Number 6 for £39 : 6d Ster. ; 
 and Numb. 16 for £36 : 13 : 4 ster., being both £76 : 1 : 4 
 ster:, and I entreat howsoon they com to hand that you 
 apply for paymt., ther being a great many gone up this 
 post, and place the proceeds to my accot. I send you 
 likwise inclosed three small fish debentures being in all 
 £37 : 16 : 4 ster., which are not certifyed, only indorsed 
 by me for receipt. With these Last I desire you '11 please 
 
 The boat placed on Loch Ness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 255 
 
 call at ye Custome office for two salt bonds of mine of 
 £40 Ster. value, resting since ye year 1719, and retire 
 these bonds, paying me ye ballance in money, being two 
 pounds one Shill: and eight pence Ster. ; and please send 
 me these bonds pr. first. Ther is no intrest due on ym., 
 being Compensate with fish debentures due since sd. year. 
 Pray Let this be done asoon as possible. I have valued 
 on you of this date for £60 ster: at 8 days sight to ye order 
 of ye Earle of Morray, to which pray give punctuall 
 complyance. I hop to see you very soon, and I am, Sr., yr. 
 most huml. servt. 
 
 6 May 1726. 
 
 To the Earle of Morray. 
 
 I had ye honour of yr. Losps of ye 25 past, and yr. 
 Losp. may depend I woud not fail to Contribute my best 
 Endeavours to get yr. Losp.'s farmes 1 of Morray dis- 
 posed here, tho yr. Losp. had desired it. James Russell 
 tells me all is now disposed of, I suppose @ 8 merks pr. 
 boll. Since I can not have ye pleasure of seing yr. Losp. 
 so very soon as I proposed, I send yr. Losp: inclosed three 
 good bills for three hund: pds. ster:, which will be punc- 
 tualie payed. The receipt of which I hope yr. Losp: 
 will signifye pr. first, and I am, my Ld. 
 
 p: s: accot. of bills sent Major Ormsbie and Collonel 
 
 Long £100 
 
 my bill on Jas: Blair @ 10 days sight . 140 
 my do. on Will. Cuming @ 8 days sight . 60 
 
 Inverness, 7 May 1726. 
 
 Mr. James Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Lett me entreat, howsoon this comes to hand, you try 
 if can fraight a shipp for me, about 800 bolls meall burden, 
 that will Come and Load at Portsoy, Fraserbrugh, or 
 Peterhead in My Option, to goe from thence to the West 
 Coast and deliver her Cargoe at 2 severalls ports, the one 
 
 Rent in grain or meal. 
 
256 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 half at Glainelg, and the other in the Isle of Sky ; 14 Ly 
 days at Each port ; and therafter to Load slait at Mull 
 for this firth or Lieth, and then free ; for which I am 
 willing to pay £50 pounds sterlin fraight, and pay the 
 Pylot from the Orknies. You need [not] absolutely 
 conclude till you have my return. A shipp from 8 to 900 
 bolls burden will doe. 
 
 Inverness, 17 May 1726. 
 
 Mr. Jno. Donaldson [Elgin]. 
 
 Sr, — I received yours of 9 May and one formarly annent 
 your barrell of mather seized and in this warhouse. Ther 
 is no such thing here as rouping of seized goods. They are 
 only appretiat here, and rouped in Exchequer, and if no 
 bider for ye whole parcell, then they fall in ye seizer 
 maker's hands, in which Event I Can promise to save 
 your barrell of mather, and no other wayes. The Exchequer 
 will not sitt till June, and probablie yours and all that is 
 in ye sellar will be in one write. Please read and forward 
 ye inclosed pr. Express to Alexr. Simson, shipmaster at 
 Portsoy, and, if come your Length, may ffreight him to 
 take in a Loadning of meall at Portsoy, and to goe from 
 thence to Glenelg, and from thence to Loch Fallord in ye 
 Isle of Sky. The one half of the Loading to be unload 
 at ye first port, and ye oyr at ye Last, and 14 Ly days at 
 each port ; and therafter to goe to ye Isle of Isdeal near 
 Mull to Load Sclait ; and from thence to return to 
 Scrabster road in Cathness, Cromartie, this place, or 
 South, in my option ; and in either of these places to be 
 free. For which may agree for any price you can, not 
 Exceeding a merk Scots pr. boll of meall, but I suppose a 
 shilling may doe, and may make ye Charter partie in my 
 Name, and send them up here and He signe and return 
 one of ye doubles. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 23 May 1726. 
 
 [No name.] 
 
 Honorable Sr., — John McLeod, late factor in Walls, 
 writes me that your Broyr. the Earle of Cathness waints a 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 257 
 
 parcell of Isdalle scalie sclate, which are certainly ye 
 finest in Brittain. I have sent this therfor to acquaint 
 you that I have a barque just now goeing to that Coast 
 that will carie about 20,000 ; so if his Ldship. ye Earle 
 will waint such a parcell, and pay me on deliverie fourtie 
 shill. Ster. pr. thousand, He, upon receipt of your answer 
 to this, order my ship to call at Scrabster road in her 
 return, and deliver the sd. sclate at six score to ye hundred. 
 Your answer to this will determin. — I am, Sr. 
 
 26 May 1726. 
 
 For the Laird of McLeod. 
 
 Honble Sir, — I received your favour of 20th Instant, 
 and will Comply with your orders in sending from four to 
 five hundred bolls meall to your Countrie to supply your 
 peoples, and shall buy it as cheap as I can, and take but 
 Moderat profit. But you will be pleased to writ me to 
 whom the meall is to be delivered, since its necessar my 
 trustie gett your Doers recepts in order to clear for the 
 same. The meal is bought, and the shipp is fraighted, 
 so I hope it will be reddie to saill in eight days. 
 
 I will endeavour of the first Mony Comes to my hands 
 to pay the £15 ster. you order towards clearing your cess ; 
 and payed 36 sh. sterlin to clear the fraight of your 9 
 hhds. wine from Leith ; and have keept a Duzan botles 
 of your claret ; and I am, Sir, Your most humble Servant, 
 
 John Steuart. 
 
 Inverness, 17 June 1726. 
 
 Messrs. Ramsay and Strachan [Montrose]. 
 
 Sirs, — Since you was not positive about sending the 
 salt heir I have told severals were spakeing to me that they 
 could not Depend, so I can't advise you to anie heir, there 
 being a great deall of Spanish salt and French expected 
 other ways. I have gott no promise of Preference from 
 anie as to there salmon, but from the Earle of Morray, 
 
 R 
 
258 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Lovat, and Sir Thomas Calder. Cubin 1 and Bailie Mackay 
 gett the gross of the rest in this country, having joyned 
 in Compy., but the fishing proves verie backward everie- 
 wher; yet I belive the price must be lower then last 
 year. . . . 
 
 Instructions 
 
 Inverness, 22d June 1726. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Todd [Master of the Catherine of Leith]. 
 
 Sir, — You are to proceed without loss of time to St. 
 Martins [in France], and you are yr. to adress yourself to 
 Mr. Alexr. Gordon, Mercht. there, and deliver him ye letter 
 herewith given you, who will furnish you in what quantity of 
 salt your ship can take in, with ye Liquor which Mr. Robert 
 Gordon of Bourdeaux is to ship for our 2 accot., which will 
 be about 12 tunns. And sd. Mr. Gordon is to provoide you 
 in foreign Clearances. Yule endeavour to gett as much 
 as possible, and notice yt. when, please God, you return, 
 in case you meet or is taken up by any Coustome house 
 yatches, to declare yourself bound for Riga in ye Baltick ; 
 and be shure you be well furnished with Clearances accord- 
 ingly. If you gett safe to ye firth yule endeavour to calle 
 off Causea 3 where orders will attend you. We beg your 
 outmost care and Dilligence. 
 
 Inverness, 27 Augt. 1726. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Strachan [Montrose]. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour of 20 inst. from Aberdeen 
 pr. Express, and for answer please know that besides the 
 Earle of Murray s salmond, which will amount to 150 
 barells ys. year, I have secured 150 barells more, of which 
 yr. is about 80 Barells from Sr. Thomas Calder, to whom 
 I was oblidged to promise about £90 of mony for reliving 
 
 1 See footnote, p. 253. 
 
 2 The persons interested in the venture were, Bailie Steuart, his son 
 Alexander, Bailie William Mackay, and John Macleod, the Bailie's brother-in- 
 law. 8 Covesea in Morayshire. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 259 
 
 tuo bills of his in ye hands of John Coutts, Mercht. in 
 Edr., and the rest payable ye first of Xbr. next. I made 
 no positive price Except ye Currt. price of ys. frith, which I 
 hope will not exceed 50 shillings pr. barell. But yn. I am 
 to have three months interest discount for ys. ready payt., 
 so yt. I hope yule aprove of ys. bargain. There are some 
 small parcells lickways I am to gett, but those, I am 
 affraid, will be payble about Martinmas, but those I gett 
 from My Lord Lovat and ye Earle of Morray will be only 
 payble at Candlemass and Whitsunday next. I have 
 secured in all above 300 barells, but of ys. quantity your 
 frind Mr. John Burnet wretts me to ship about 4 Last 
 of ye Earle of Morrays fish at Garmouth, to goe costways 
 with the Dutchess of Gordons fish, which shall accordingly 
 be done ye begining of ye week, being already packed. 
 All ye rest of ye fish I design to cary to ys. place howsoon 
 packed, which will be sett about nixt week, so yt. you may 
 as soon as you please freight a ship for to take in at 
 ys. place 300 barells of salmond and grilses, either to be 
 caried costways, or goe derectly for a foreign market, 
 which quantity I doubt not to have ready be ye time your 
 ship comes here. Mean time it will be proper you order 
 me Credit at Edr. for about £150 besides what to be given 
 presently to Sr. Thomas Calder, which I hope will procure 
 ye sd. small parcells of fish a litle under ye Currt., I canot 
 tell ye precise number of grilse and salmond at present, 
 but howsoon they are packed shall advise you, so yt. you 
 may now order the shipping of ym. as soon as you think 
 fitt ; which is all occurrs at present. 
 
 Inverness, 30 Augt. 1726. 
 
 Mr. James Maul [the Earl of Moray's factor at Donibristle]. 
 
 Sir, — The wouchers I wanted at clearing with My Lord 
 I found in a bundle togither at my arrivall at Castle Stuart, 
 which was only the 24: inst., having mett My Lord Lovat 
 at Ballindalloch on Sunday the 21st currt., who seem'd 
 extream angry I did not waite a day longer for him at 
 Dunnibrisle ; but our peace was soon made up. Receive 
 
260 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 inclosed the following wouchers contained in my obligation 
 to my Lord vizt. [vouchers for stipend, repairs on manse 
 of Petty, work by the blacksmith at Petty, etc.]. 
 
 Inverness, 9 Septr. 1726. 
 
 My Lord Murray, — How soon I arrived in Murray 
 your Lops, letters annent Mr. Gilchrist were delivered. 
 Blervie appeared verry obstinate and would by no means 
 agree to the call of that minister, being, as he pretended, 
 contrair to his conscience to be directed by anny boddy in 
 such a great spirituall concern. I found the Patron, 
 Lethen, 1 much on the same strain and under the influence 
 of some Anthusiastick [enthusiastic] Ministers who oppose 
 your Lops, proposall, But Alter 2 and Mr. Primrose 
 seem'd verry forward to comply with your Lops, proposall. 
 I am told Burgyeards can be of good use in this affair, 
 as haveing much the manadgement of the Presbetry of 
 Forress ; so its fitt your Lop. write him pr. first to act in 
 it, as also to James Russell who goes now abroad about 
 Bussiness, and I will still joyn my best endeavours. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 23d Spt. 1726. 
 
 Mr. William Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I recived yours of 15 currt., advising that my 
 Capt. Simson is deverted a litle wh. his suspension, which 
 I aproof of ; that you have sold the remening part of 
 my slait to James Sandy lans, payble in one munth. I 
 wish he may prof a good Deter, for the prise is prety well ; 
 and I am pleased my Father in Law and severall other 
 McLeods are gone south to Crif [Crieff] markt. with a large 
 Drove of catle. I suppos will be week after nixt at Edr. 
 I do therfor send you the inclosed accptd. bills, which I 
 hope will all answer, being payable the 6 of the nixt 
 month, amounting in all to £232: 15: 2d str., vizt. 
 
 1 Brodie of Lethen in the parish of Auldearn. 
 
 2 Cumming of Altyre. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 261 
 
 Donald McLeod of Ballnallnach . 
 
 £48 
 
 - 
 
 : - 
 
 Donald McLeod of Tallscar 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 in oi iiiaiiti lvicj-icou. ui j_/iiiiaL/ii 
 
 Oft 
 
 ■ i ft 
 
 . lo 
 
 o 
 
 McDonald of Scotos .... 
 
 9 
 
 : G 
 
 : 8 
 
 Alexr. McLeod and Andrew McPharlin 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 
 Rod McLeod of Oishnish 
 
 39 : 
 
 
 
 Mallcome McLeod of Rasae 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 £232 
 
 15 
 
 2 
 
 Pray be very sieries with my Father in Law to push the 
 payment of these bills as soone as posoble. Since I have 
 a good dell of money to pay at the term, depends on this 
 fond [fund], so I hope they will all answer. Youll tell 
 Comisar. Steuart that Novar 1 apears publickly her, and 
 says he was at Edr. letly, and Discourst sume of the 
 Comsrs. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 3d Octr. 1726. 
 
 For the Laird of McLeod [in Edinburgh]. 
 
 My Brother, Alexr. McLeod, drew on me the other day 
 for £5 strl. to the order of Mr. William Harper at Foch- 
 aburss, which he wrote me was for your accot. I instantly 
 remitted that sum to said Gentleman, and likeways give 
 a Smith, one Ross, by your order 30 and J ston iron at 
 40/ pr. ston, which in all makes £10 : 1 : 8 strl. ; and, 
 being straitned for money now at Edr., I intrat you pay my 
 friend William Cuming, how soon this comes to hand, 
 £20 : strl. for my accot. on his receipt. I will pay you the 
 ballance how soon you return to this country ; and I am, 
 etc. 
 
 7 Ober. 1726. 
 
 Mr. John Burnet, Senior. 
 
 Sir, — I give the truble of the inclosed bill due me by 
 young Glainbuckat, 2 value £5 sterlin, which he promised 
 upon honour to pay severall times, but has failed. If can 
 
 1 Munro of Novar. 2 Gordon, younger of Glenbucket. 
 
262 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 gett the protest registrat may send for a horning, and lett 
 him be instantly charged. If that can not be gott done he 
 must be Decreeted before your Shirive Court, mean time 
 please dispatch the inclosed to his Father, and youll see 
 what answer comes, which will determin what is to be 
 done. If you gett the monie remitt it to William Cuming, 
 mercht. in Edr., or to John Donaldson, mercht. in Elgin, 
 pr. post. 
 
 Inverness, 10 Octr. 1726. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Strachan [Montrose]. 
 
 Sir,- — I received your favour of 24 past, which I think 
 bears hard on me, but anny such challenge never gives 
 me much pain when I cannot accuse myself of being guilty 
 of anny fault or injustice to my friend, and I think this 
 is my caise with you ; and If yowll please notice your own 
 letters and my answers from time to time as to what 
 relates to this years salmon, I hope you will be of my 
 mind. . . . And now that I find you have by your last 
 of 24 past allowed me to doe so, youle please be advised 
 that this day I shipped in the Hellen of this place, Alexr 
 Steuart master, for Livorno, twelve barrells salmon and 
 six barrells grilzes, which was all remained of what was 
 bot on your accot. They are marked thus A.S., and will 
 take bill of loading in your name, consigning them to your 
 friends, Godfrey and Hudson at said port. And the sd. 
 bill will be sent you per nixt ; so may order your Insurance 
 when you please, tho' its uncertain when this ship will 
 saill, a good part of her loading being yett in boats at Spey, 
 and cannot gett up with this stormy weather. This fish 
 ship't here for you is as weell cuered and pack't as any in 
 Brittain, and I wish they may come in time to the market ; 
 but I could do no better for you was it my dearest interest. 
 I am glade the Agnes is safely arrived with you, but pr. 
 nixt please signify the receipt of the flax sent by her. 
 I wrote to John Gordon of Braes to send your 14 barrll 
 salmon overland to Findhorn, but have not yett heard 
 from him where [whether ?] if they arive in time, by a 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 263 
 
 bark goes for Havre-de-grace, or per Alexr. Steuart with 
 the rest. 
 
 Inverness, U Oct. 1726. 
 
 Mr. John Coutts [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I reed your favour of 29 past and inclosed Sir 
 Thos. Calders two receipted bills for £96 : 9 : 3d sterlin 
 with Interest, and doe likeways observe your complyance 
 to my sundry draughts on you. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 28 Octr. 1726. 
 
 Mr. Daniell Mackay. 
 
 Sir, — Be pleased how soon this comes to hand to Insure 
 for my Acot. and Company one hundred pounds str. one 
 the Cargoe of sallmone one board of the ship Hellen of this 
 place, Alexr. Steuart master, from this to the Port of 
 Livorno in Italie, against all hasards ; the ship not yett 
 sailed. Advise of your Complyance, and value on me for 
 the Premium, which will be duly honoured by, Yours, etc. 
 
 Novr. 7, 1726. 
 
 Messrs. Windor and Aikman [Livorno]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I received your obliging favours of 19 
 Janry. and 11 May last, which brings advice of Success 
 of your mercat for fish of last year, which was not very 
 incouraging. However, I return you thanks for them. 
 I 'm sory to find that Bailie and Compa. have not continued 
 their comission to your house this year. What they 
 chiefly complain of is that, notwithstanding their salmon 
 was sold for ready money, your remittances of the pro- 
 ceeds was very slow, which occasioned a good deal of 
 trouble. I hope in time you can vindicat your selves. 
 Mean time, as I am loath to pairte with my old friends 
 untill I can assign a good reason for it, and having an 
 entire dependence on your ffriendship and Candor, this 
 will adress you by the ship Helen of this place, Alexr. 
 
264 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Steuart Master, who brings you the inclosed bill of loading 
 for 38 barrells salmond, weel cured and packed fish, which 
 I intreat you may see to dispose of howsoon it comes 
 to hand, and remitt the proceeds without loss of time by 
 bills of London, payll to myself, noticing to send first and 
 second bills by diferent posts in caice of miscarrage. As 
 this is a trifning consignation, I cannot doubt but you 
 will very easily get it disposed of how soon it arrives, and 
 remitt the proceeds howsoon as possible ; so I hope I 
 will be in condition to tell my neighbours here that Im 
 as weell served by you as by any. You '11 see by the bill 
 of loading that I 'm obliged to pay 40 shill. sterl. pr. tun 
 of six tearies, free of any charges, at the current exchange 
 to London. ^ 
 
 Coppy of a Memorandum to Alexr. Steuart 
 
 When, pleas God, you arrive at Livorno, you '11 deliver 
 my letters as adressed there to the severall houses, and my 
 salmon conforme to the severall bills of loadning, that is, 
 to Mr. Godffry and Hutson twenty barrells, marked A.S. 
 and to Messrs Aikman and Windor thirty eight barlls 
 marked ^, who are to pay ffreight conforme to the 
 bill of Loadning. As for the two half barrells, there not 
 to be disposed of with the rest of the Cargoe, but probably 
 will be called for by Monsieur Bellonie, Banquer at Rome. 
 If not, deliver it to be disposed off with the rest of the 
 Cargoe. My wife intreats you buy for her acct. ane anker 
 of Course Olive oil for burning in lamps, or for wool. 
 Pray be carefull to deliver what letters you received here. 
 
 Commission to Livorno 
 
 To 100 pd. Coffee beens at 38 pr. 100— is 
 
 in Italian 
 
 Doll 
 
 . £38 
 
 To 10 pd. Coffee beens at 1 dollar J 
 
 12 
 
 To 2 pd. Ruburbe at 5 or 6 dollars pr. pd. 
 
 12 
 
 To 5 pd. Hypococoano at \ dollar pr. lib. 
 
 • 21 
 
 To 50 pd. Cotton wool at 9j dollars pr. 100 
 
 • 4f 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 265 
 
 To 25 pd. Candied Citron .... £7 
 
 To 200 pd. anise of Malta at 3 dollars pr. 100 . 6 
 
 To 100 pd. almons 4 
 
 To 100 rice of Lombardy . . . . lj 
 
 To 50 pd. white wanston oritrgol ... 2 
 
 To 20 pd. prime sorte cotton yearn ... 5 
 
 To 20 pd. fine do 4| 
 
 To 20 pd. 2d sorte 4 
 
 To 20 pd. third sorte 3 
 
 To 20 pd. ordinary sorte .... 2 
 
 To \ Chest Luca oil ..... 4 
 
 To 1 doz. red Smirna skins To \ doz. blew To 3 
 
 skins yellow ...... 9 
 
 To 14 pd. Course brocken Correll for pounding 10 
 
 30th Decer. 1726. 
 
 Mr. William Cumming, mercht. in Edr. 
 
 Sir, — . . . . This comes chiefly to advise you that on 
 Tuesday last, ye 26 inst., in ye morning, your mother 
 departed this life, and was decently buried ye 27 Currt 
 in ye evening. I took upon me to bestow every thing thats 
 usuall for ye decent interment of honest gentlewomen in 
 this place, and your ffriends Termett 1 and others went 
 about in mourning to invite all ye gentlmen of this place 
 to ye buriall. And after ye interment I invited ye 
 majstrats and all ye gentlmen to as much wine and sugar 
 bisket as they pleasd to take at my house, which no dubt 
 youl approve of ; and, after all, ye expence will not be 
 great. Your mother, at her own desire, was buried in ye 
 same grave wh. your ffather, and had her corps dressed 
 in good fflanings, and a handsome coffin, and best pall 
 in town. And next post will send you an acct. of what 
 expences will amount to. I supose any little furniture in 
 her room was but very trifling, a note of which I send you 
 as I got it from our ffriend John McHendrik, which he says 
 his mother lays claim to, and has taken it to her posession, 
 
 Mackintosh of Termit. 
 
266 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 tho' an other ffriend of yours here lays strong claim to it, 
 one that calls you her ffather, which I really believe is 
 true, if I can judge by resemblance. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 10 January 1727. 
 
 To General Sibourg [Governor of Fort William]. 
 
 Honble. Sir, — I have delivered to your servant Thomas 
 Ruftown, conform to your orders, fiftie bolls oat meall, 
 and bought 24 lairge Sacks to hold the same, which will 
 be usefull if you '11 want anie meall or malt from this 
 afterwards, so pray fail not to send Sackes hither, for it 
 often hapen that non can be bought here, which may 
 prove a considerable Disapountment. Within you have 
 the Account of all, amounting to £26 : 14 : 7J sterlin, for 
 which please send mony or bill on Eder if not Done or now ; 
 and be sure to send bags for the other fiftie bolls you '11 
 want, which I will have reddie at a call. This meall falls 
 dear, but no help. I have not a penie by it but my 
 commission. The nixt 50 bolls, if sacks are sent down, 
 will fall cheaper, and new sweet meall. 
 
 Inverness, 13 Janry. 1727. 
 Mr. Wm. Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 My last was of 30 past, adviseing of your mothers daith, 
 since which I received yours of no daite, with Robt. 
 Tullochs bill on Cubin 1 for £21: strl., which said Cubin 
 promises to pay verry soon. I wrote pr. express last week 
 to Scatwell 2 annent your money, who sent me an angry 
 answer, so that I cannot determine when that money will 
 answer you. Nor has Charles Steuart yet paid me his 
 accepted bill. Pray write me whats come of the laird of 
 McLeod, if still with you. I saw a letter from him lately 
 promising to pay you £10 strl. for my accot. May remind 
 him of it Gently, if with you. 
 
 1 DuffofCulbin. 
 
 2 Sir Kenneth Mackenzie of Scatwell. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 267 
 
 17 January 1727. 
 
 To General Sibourg [Governor of Fort William]. 
 
 I had your favour of 9th Curt pr. Express, and I hope 
 the fiftie bolls meall sent by the Sergant will be with you 
 befor this come to hand, of which I sent the Acct. of cost 
 and charges, being £26 : 14 : 7 J sterlin. And now, by 
 order of Captain Burt, I have sent you by this bearer 
 six pounds Coffee beans @ 9 sh. pr. pound. And since 
 its like you will not want the other 50 bolls I bespoke for 
 you near this pleace, please send your bill on Eder as soon 
 as you please for the meall sent and the coffee, being in all 
 £27 : 18 : 7 J sterlin. If it be on Coll: Long I like non 
 better. I suppose I may be able to lay down meall 
 with you @ 9 sh. 2d. sterlin pr. boll of 8 ston, and not 
 under. 
 
 17 Janry. 1727. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Strachan [Montrose]. 
 
 Sir, — Above is your acct. of Sales of fflax and salt in 
 Compa. I wrote you the third Currt, and advised you 
 that I had drawn on you for £27 : 15 : 3 ster. to the order 
 of Sir Thomas Calder, but Sir Thomas refuseth to take 
 under fifty merks pr. barrll ; in short I am much fashed 
 about his clearance, and to goe in to his proposals would 
 be a bad precedent ; so that the bill I have drawen is still 
 here. I have not yet drawen to My Lord Lovats order 
 £50 or 60 ster., as I advised in my last, but I hope you '11 
 order Mr. Couts at Edr. to pay sd. bill when it apears, since 
 it will be drawen on your self, payable at his house. I hope 
 my salmon sent you coastways will make you easie about 
 so much salt, as I advised in my last. I 'le send you 
 certificate for the remainder pr. nixt. The herring fishing 
 I had on the West coast has proven very indifferent. 
 However, I belive you will not medle with the few that 
 are, being only 18 lasts, at the price. My partners expect 
 no less than 10 pds. ster. pr. last, and the bounty to us, 
 to be received at Barnera in Glenelge. Our Murray bear 
 
268 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 sells at 8 merks, and its Mostly all sold. Advise of the 
 price of oat meal with you. I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 27 J any. 1727. 
 
 To The Earle of Murray. 
 
 I received your Lops, favour of 22d Xber. last, with a 
 noat of such fewers as I was to demand payt. of yr. few 
 dutys, which I did accordingly intimate, but have not as 
 yet got one shilling of last years few duty, for which have 
 decreeted ym. in your Lops. Baron Court. I observe your 
 Lops, orders to sell the bear of Petty at 5 lib. 10s. Scots pr. 
 boll, which I attemted to obey, but could not find good 
 Merchants in ys. place to buy the same at 8 Merks, there 
 being a good part of it yet unsold even at the last named 
 price. But, yet, I belive it may in a little time goe all 
 of at that price. Your Lop. may belive if could done 
 better for your interest I would not have failed, but the 
 truth is that the selling of victuall here to brewers is wery 
 precarious they being Much depupard [?] by the malt tax 
 and towns duty on Eall [ale]. I have a project of building 
 a small ship, and made offer to James Russell of 550 lib. 
 Scots for the few oaks your Lop. has at Darn way, which 
 I am assured by people of skill is the sume of what they are 
 wourth, and this price will be payd at Martimas next, as 
 the timber canot be cut before May or June. However, 
 if your Lop. think this offer too litle I am willing to subject 
 myself to the domination of Burgage [Burdyards] and the 
 sd. James Russell, and therfor will look for your Lops, 
 answer in ys. point pr. first. Last week I had occasion 
 to see Dunmackglass, 1 who told me with aboundance of 
 regrait that he was lek to be ruined by the process your 
 Lop. is now intending against same deficient washals 
 [vassals] as not having presented his rights in judgment. 
 But he told me plainly that his case was such that he had 
 no right to present, all his papers, with the rest of the 
 plounder of his house, being caried away by the Earle of 
 
 Farquhar Macgillivray of Dunmaglass. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 269 
 
 Sutherlands men when he was prisoner in London ; 1 
 and therefor that he throws himself intirely at your Lops, 
 feet, declaring that if your Lop. in your goodness, will 
 show him Cleamencie, granting him new rights, he will pay 
 the outmost farthing of his bygone few dutys Imediatly, 
 and give Security for what Entry mony may be due to a 
 short term. This Dunmackglass ye son of a very honest 
 woman, and I always found him a sensible man ; and 
 therefor, durst I plead with your Lop. for favour to any 
 of your washells, it would for this man, with all submission 
 to your Lops, pleasure. James Russell goes soon south, 
 and your Lop. will have all ye mony I can send. 
 
 Inverness, 1 Febry 1727. 
 
 Messrs McLean and Compy. [Maryburgh or Fort William]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I received your favour of 21 Janury by 
 Mr. Archd. Smith, one of your Number, wherein you offer 
 to by from me Six hundred Bolls Meall at Eight Mark 
 pr. Boll of eight ston, deliverable at Marrybrough, and 
 payable three Month after delivering. I have considered 
 this proposeall and find it not posible for me to serve you 
 at that price without Considerable Loss. I have full 
 Convinced your friend Mr. Smith, so that he hass agreed 
 by his letter of the date given to me to take the above 
 quantity of meall Deliverable at Mairy Brought some time 
 in March next, wind and weather serving, at eight Mark 
 fourty pennys Scots pr. boll of [eight] ston, payable as 
 above, with this difference that A Mark pr. boll is to be 
 paid at delivery for clearing the freight, and as much more 
 money as will load the ship with Sleat in caise there be 
 occasion for anny, to which agreement I hope you '11 
 send me your letter of approbation, which at present is all 
 from, Yours, etc., 
 
 1 Macgillivray was a Jacobite, and appears to have been sent prisoner to 
 London after Killiecrankie. After that battle Lord Strathnaver and his regiment 
 scoured the district of Inverness. See Urquhart and Glenmoriston, p. 204. 
 Macgillivray died about the end of 1727. 
 
270 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 16 Feb. 1727. 
 
 To Ardsheall. 1 
 
 Dear Sir, — I Received your favour of 9th Curt in return 
 to mine, pr. express, in which I observe you agree to the 
 price of Nine shillings and tow pence sterline pr. boll of 
 eight stone, but not to the terms of payment ; that is, 
 no reddie money to pay the fraight, and all only payable 
 at Martimass nixt ; to which I can not agree, being 
 obledge to purchass all the meall I want payable at 
 Lambas nixt, and General Sibourg gives me reddie money, 
 and the Marib rough Merchts. in 3 month after Deliverance. 
 And after all I will be no gainer, since meall is laitly gott 
 up here and dayly rising. When I wrote you in my last 
 that I would easie as to the Difference betwixt 3 months 
 time and your own proposall, I asure you I red your letter 
 to mention Mariemass, which is the fifteenth of August, 
 and not Mertramass ; but I would not stand much on that 
 difference for a less quantity as you proposed ; but, to 
 speak out plainly, meall is risen here much laitly and Dayly 
 rising, so that I must be looser by such bargain, which I 
 belive you would not Desire. Untill I see in a few weeks 
 what turn matters will take, I dare not bid you depend 
 on my sending anie meall your way ; but youll hear 
 further from in eight or ten days after this ; and I am, 
 with sincere affection, Honble. Sr., etc. 
 
 Inverness, 5 Febry. 1727. 
 
 To Generall Sibourg [Fort William]. 
 
 Sir, — As to your proposall for Malt, I could not deliver 
 such good Malt as you want in my barn here under 11 sh. 
 8d. ster. pr. boll, and it will cost 2 sh. more of fraight to 
 Deliver it at Fort William ; in all 13 sh. 8d. sterlin. And 
 it would not be gott reddie for shipping till about the end 
 
 1 Stewart of Ardshiel. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 271 
 
 of May, and under this price I will not medle, being ane 
 affair attended with a good deall of truble and expence. 
 And could not promise near so good as the Dunbar Malt, 
 but your brewer can inform of its quality. Befor I 
 received your last letter I was engadged to send a parcell 
 of Meall to your Nighbourhood, and now I have gott a 
 shipp fraighted will load it Immediatly, and from 3 to 
 350 bolls More for your ac, 9 sh. 2d. sterlin pr. boll of 
 eight ston as you propose, payable after Delivery. And, 
 as I have a prospect to send another bark with meall to a 
 Gentleman 1 in Appin, shall endeavour to send what will 
 be wanting of the 500 bolls by sd. bark, the last of which I 
 hope will be with you in Aprile nixt, wind and wather 
 serving. I give this day your 50 bolls meall to Mr. Wheat- 
 halls care at Lochend. 2 It is good meall and Lairge 
 weight, about 4 pound or half a peck on each boll, the acct. 
 of which will send pr. express on Moanday nixt, and shall 
 always endeavour to serve you faithfully. 
 
 Inverness, 25 Febry. 1727. 
 
 Mr. Daniel McKay [Merchant, London]. 
 
 Sir, — Yule please, on recept hereof, to insure for our 
 joint accot. on the Cargoe of Barley on board ye Katherin 
 of Leith, Alexr. Tod master, from this to the port of 
 Gotenburg in Swedland, with Liberty to call at Christian 
 Sand and Arundale in Norway, £200 againest all Hazards, 
 and value on us for the premium when you please, which 
 will be duely honoured and it shall be duely pd. And nota 
 that the ship lyes load in our Road ready to sail with the 
 first fair wind, and please accquent us of your Complyance. 
 Advise as how Iron, dealls, from Gottenborgh would doe 
 with you, as also pleas wrett to Alexr. Tod at Gottenbourgh, 
 advising of the same, to the care of Mr. Hugh Ross, Mercht. 
 there, that he may take his derections accordingly, and we 
 are, Sir. 
 
 Stewart of Ardshiel. 
 
 2 East end of Loch Ness. 
 
272 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 25 Febry. 1727. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Todd [Master of the Katherin of Leith]. 
 
 Sir, — Having shiped aboard your ship the Katherin of 
 Leith, 413 bolls barley, we herby desire you proceed with 
 the first fair wind to Gottenbourg in Swedland, and before 
 you go up to the town yule call for Mr. Hugh Ross, Mercht. 
 there, with whom you are to advise about the sale of your 
 Cargoe, bringing a patern of the same alongst with you. 
 And if you find the market tolerable, that is, not under 5 
 silver minted dollars, you are to dispose of the Cargoe and 
 invest the proceeds in Iron fitt for the London Market, 
 reserving always as much mony as will fill your ship with 
 dealls, with which you are to return to London, Newcastle, 
 or Leith, in your option, or Prestonpans, as you think best 
 for our Interests and as you are advised by Mr. Ross. 
 But, should you find it Convenient for you to goe to London, 
 in yt. case you are to invest all in Iron, and as much as you 
 can on freight. But if should happen that you canot 
 make market at Gotenbourgh but at Considerable loss, 
 and that you are advised you can doe better in any of the 
 parts of Norway to the eastard of the Naize, we desire you 
 proceed to any of the ports where you heare the market is 
 good, and there dispose of the Cargoe and invest the 
 proceeds in good dealls for Leith or any oyr. good port 
 you think fitt, and the ballance you are to remit by good 
 bills payble to the order of Mr. Daniel McKay, Mercht. in 
 Lond:, or William Cumming at Eder., or Robert Mackay 
 in Rotterdam, advising us of the same by post. And, in 
 case you are tristed with Conterary winds in your outward 
 passage, we impower you to call to the Eastard of the 
 Naize, and in case you gett a reasonable market dispose of 
 the Cargoe and invest the proceeds as above derected. And, 
 if you find before you can be clear in Norway and Sweden 
 to Return home, that a War comences, in that case you 
 are to give orders to Robert Mackay in Roterdam to insure 
 the value of the Cargoe. And in Consideration of the 
 above mentioned voyage we herby promise to pay you 
 fifty pound freight and five pound Caplagen, the one half 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 273 
 
 payable at the port of delivery, and the oyr. payable at 
 your Return to the Firth. And if you happen to return for 
 want of Market from Gottenbourg to Norway, we herby 
 oblidge ourselves to pay all port charges. I wish you a 
 happy and safe Voyage, and we are, Sir, Your Humble 
 Servts., J: S: [John Steuart]. 
 
 A: S: [Alex. Steuart]. 
 J: MLd: [John Macleod]. 
 
 If you are tristed with any port where you canot gett 
 good bills of Exchange for your Cargoe, in that Event 
 you are to see if you can gett sterline mony or guineas for 
 the same ; and, failing of that, you are to gett good silver 
 specie of Holland, Hambourg, or Germany, and failing of 
 all, the best silver specie of the Country. 
 
 Inverness, 28 March 1727. 
 
 To Steuart of Ardseall. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour of 8 Inst, only last week. 
 I was from home 50 miles hence when it came to this 
 place so that it lay eight days at my house before I seed 
 it. I observe you are now willing to goe in to the price last 
 proposed for meall, that is, 9sh. 6d. pr. boll, payable 
 Mertimas next. Now I am sory to tell you that the Con- 
 clusion of our bargain finds daily new and unexpected 
 hinderances, so that I am affraid I shall be still unable to 
 doe what I so much wish, that is, to accomodat you in the 
 meall you want ; for, Canterary wery much to my Expecta- 
 tion, meall is gott up in Banf and Aberdeen Shires, which 
 are the only Countrys in ye North, to 5 lib. and 8 merks 
 pr. boll of 8 ston ; and I was forced to buy above 200 
 bolls at the above named price for Fort William, by which 
 I will be a looser ; so that, as you are my friend, and doe 
 kindly insinuate in your last, I hope you will not desire me 
 prosecute a project which will prove so much to my dis- 
 advantage. In the mean time He writt to Kaitness to try 
 what I can doe there, and have made a wery frank offer 
 for a Cargoe. But I must tell you that it is not so agree- 
 
 s 
 
274 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 able to the sight as Banfshire, as being of a round grain 
 much lick your Irish, and of black oats ; but of this He be 
 able to accquent you more at large in Eight days. Mean 
 time may please advise how far ye Kaitness meall may be 
 agreeable to you. If I happen to send any barque with 
 meall your way, I supose it will be about the begining of 
 May before you can expect it. 
 
 8 April 1727. 
 
 Mr. Patrick Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I drew on your Father last week for seventeen 
 pounds sterlin, seven to my son, and ten to William 
 Mackenzie of Bellmaduthie. ... I wrot to your Father 
 for 1 6 1 yeards stript linen to be gouns to my tuo Daughters 
 about 26d. pr. yeard. Pray mind to send it and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 8 Apr He 1727. 
 
 Mr. Francis Grant, Dantzick. 
 
 Sir, — My last was of 3d March last, in which I advised 
 to wrett Mr. Hans Peterson, at Elsinoor, advising of your 
 market for Herins, to be comunicated to John Willison on 
 his arival there, to which I doubt not you have Complyed. 
 Now this goes by the sd. Willison, Mr. of the Ann of this 
 place, and brings you the inclosed bill of Loadning for 18 
 Lasts of Herins, of which there is 5 Lasts nine barells for 
 accot. of John Stuart, and the remainder for accot. of 
 John McLeod ; and you are to dispose of sd. Herins to the 
 best availe and credit our accot. accordingly with the 
 proceeds. We have given orders to lett out our barque 
 at Aberdeen on freight, and have writt Mr. Willison to that 
 purpose by post. But if in case no freight can be gott for 
 Aberdeen or any oyr. port in the East of Scotland, of which 
 yule be probably advised befor this comes to hand, in that 
 case yule please ship for our accot., that is 1/3 for John 
 Steuart, and fds. for John McLeod, 12 ship lib. of Sham- 
 peloon Iron, 3 [ ] of square Iron, 60 sprush ston of best 
 bareband flax in three bealls, 12 barrells soap in firkins, one 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 275 
 
 shock best Crown Claboord, 2 dozen oak plank for accot. 
 of John Steuart 2 inches thick and from 20 to 27 feet long ; 
 and the rest of the Hold you are to fill up with best oak 
 staves fitt for salmond Casks. Alexr. Tod, who went with 
 you last winter, informs us that he could have bought 
 with you wery good bohea tea at 4 guilders the pound. It 
 shuch can be gott that you know is truly good at that 
 price, we herby desire that you ship for our accot. in 3ds 
 one hundred pounds in pound cansters all in a cask tuo ; 
 but we entreat, if you are not sure that its very good, 
 not to buy it. May lickways buy 30 lib. wt. of green tea 
 if can be had proportionally cheaper. . . . We doubt not 
 of your good endeavours for our interst, which will en- 
 couradge a further corspondence. We expect your answer 
 in Course, and we are Your etc. J. S. 
 
 J. McLeod. 
 
 10 Aprile 1727. 
 
 Mr. John Sinklar of Barack [Caithness]. 
 
 [Purchasing 600 to 700 bolls of meal, at £4 and half a 
 merk per boll of 8 lbs. delivered at Scrabster or Thurso 
 Burn.] 
 
 Inverness, 27 May 1727. 
 
 Comissar. Steuart [Edinburgh]. 
 
 I gott yours of 15th when you was impatiently expected 
 here. He write fully by our cousin the Dragoon, 1 who 
 will be with you nixt week with the best recruits goes to 
 his Regiment this year, 20 handsom men. I entrait how 
 soon this comes to hand you see to recover the money due 
 me on the ship Helen laying in the admiralitys clerks hands, 
 since I believe there as no stop further than deduceing my 
 proportion of charges, and let the same be paid to my 
 worthy frient, Mr. Alexr. Tait, who will deliver this ; and 
 
 1 John Roy Stewart, Prince Charles's famous officer in the 'Forty-five, and a 
 noted Gaelic bard. In 1727 he was in the service of King George. 
 
276 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 gett his receipt for the same in Name of Alexr. Gordon, 
 Mercht. in St. Martins. 
 
 Inverness, 27 June 1727. 
 
 For Sir James Sinklar of Dunbeth. 
 
 Honble. Sir, — I received yours of 28 curt pr. express, 
 and I take your Meall in terms of your letter providing it 
 be good and sweet and of last 1726, with this Difference 
 that I can not promise you anie Mony in hand or again 
 Lambas, for that was in case you hade furnished me at 
 £5 Scots pr. boll. However, if I have anie Mony to spare 
 about Lambas He give you some, tho I can not bid you 
 Depend on it. I have fraighted a shipp will sail on Fryday 
 for Dunbeath Watter, so pray lett all be reddie for loading 
 immediately, and He either come or send to receive your 
 meall, and be sure to order good weight for now its lait 
 in the year, and I may run risque if the ship is not dis- 
 patched, and I gett good weight. The shipp I fraighted 
 will hold about 600 bolls meall, and I could wish were 
 fully load ; of which have wrot to Barack ; andl am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 30 June 1727. 
 
 For Sinklar of Barack. 
 
 Sir, — I wrote you the 27 instant by Sir James Sinklar s 
 express, and now this goes by the ship I have sent to 
 Dunbeth to receive his meall, by which shipp I have accord 
 to your order shipped, betuixt you and Sir James equally, 
 90 duzans birk rails and 19 cuple Legs, which was all the 
 timber I could gett att present. The rails cost half a 
 crown pr. duzan, and the cuples 40d pr. pair, w T hich, with 
 some charges, comes in all to £6 : 7 : 4 ster., your half of 
 which youll please to make good to Sir James Sinklar since 
 I have ordered to take his recept for the whole. And I 
 hope Sir James and you will betuixt you make the barks 
 loading to six hunder bolls meall, and I hope to gett what 
 is above Sir James's quantity cheaper then his. . . . 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 277 
 
 Inverness, 30 June 1727. 
 
 Mr. James Steuart at Mariburgh. 
 
 Sir, — Since you went from hence the twentie first instant, 
 I had a return from Sir James Sinklar of Dunbeth, and 
 have bought his meall, tuixt 5 and 600 bolls, and have 
 fraighted the Agnes of Borowstowness, Robert Waker 
 Master, that does sail this night for Dunbeath, and I hope 
 may be with you, God willing, befor the 20 of July, wind 
 and weather serveing. But I find the fraight so dear and 
 the other charges so manie and great that I am affrayd 
 I can not serve at the rate you propose, and not under 
 ten shillings and eight pence pr. [boll], of which ther must 
 be £50 or £60 payed in hand, and the rest against the first 
 of November in this pleace. So, dear Cousin, you '11 call 
 your pairtners and consider of this proposall, and send me 
 immediatly your full and pointed answer by the bearer. 
 I could sell 1000 bolls here befor Lambas at 10sh., reddie 
 mony ; and I can in the Isle of Sky and the west High- 
 lands gett 10 merk pr. boll and thanks. So, if you inclyne 
 not to accept my proposeall, acquaint me, that I may take 
 my measures accordingly. Mean time may send immediat 
 Notice to John Stevenson, the slait quarier, to provid about 
 20,000, I say tuentie thousand slait, or 22000, for loading 
 back at Esdale. In case the shipp goe to Fortwilliam I 
 have ordered Mr. Delamare to writ you from Cathness 
 that you may acquaint me of the shipp arivall pr. express, 
 and I am, etc. 
 
 14 July 1727. 
 
 I wrot to McLeod of Ulanesh in answer to his of 10 do 
 and returned his Discharge to Lord Reay for 100 Scots to 
 be payed by John Mackay, mercht., and sent him old 
 Mackinons acct. value £3:8:1 sterlin. 
 
 Inverness, 11 August 1727. 
 
 Mr. John Frig [Forres]. 
 
 John Willison, contrar to My expectation, has arived 
 and unloaded here, when I was from home at Inverlochie. 
 
278 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 But, as you did advise in answer to My last, that you 
 would take a good quantity of the Iron I expected by sd. 
 Willison, I have sent pr. express to acquaint you that I 
 have by sd. bark about 400 ston of iron, and if you or 
 anie other good Men in your nighbourhood would take 
 the same att thirtie five pence sterlin. pr. half, payable 
 reddie mony, and the other in three months, you shall 
 have the same when you please, as to which I expect your 
 answer by the bearer. Give My service to John Mackie, 
 Cupper, and tell him I have 14,000 of the best salmon 
 barell staves I ever saw ; so if he has a Mind for them He 
 expect him here at our market nixt. I have 60 ps. of 
 excellent crown clapboard, so if he and pairtner will take 
 all off will give a verie reasonable peniworth. If he is not 
 for all may acquaint anie other Cuppars of your Acquaint- 
 ance that are good Debtors. If you think this quantity 
 of iron too much for yourself, I Doubt not youll find 
 pairtners enouch at Foress ; which (expecting your 
 answer) is all from yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 11 August 1727. 
 
 Mr. William Cuming. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour of 20th last month with 
 the inclosed of Account Currt which I belive 
 
 is right. However to keep all maters plain lett me entreat 
 you send me a copie of our formar Acct. such as I sent 
 you with the same Docat on it. Mean time I hope the bills 
 and debenture mentioned on the end of last acct. and value 
 of £182 sterlin is all payed or now and Meantime I send you 
 inclosed promissorie noat Peter Murdoch, Junior, payable 
 the 25 curt at James Blairs house for £132 sterlin, which I 
 hope will be punctualy payed and is indorsed to your order, 
 of which fail not to advise me. I have gott your four 
 hundred merks from Scatuall and pairtners, so pleace the 
 same to My Debit in Acct., as alsoe the value of Comisar 
 Steuarts bill on Bailie John Fraser for the Guenies, he 
 promiseing to pay the same in a few days and Mr. William 
 McKenzie promises the same for Donald Murchisons bill 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 279 
 
 being £6 : 7sh. sterlin, but pleace not the same to my Acct. 
 untill I advise you. I promised James Lesslie My Lord 
 Newhalls Clerk again the 15 instant for 420 £ Scots and 
 desired him call at your shop so I hope you '11 retire My 
 sd. bill. Mr. Carse the skippar in Lieth that has My 
 plank has not yet appeared which at present is all from 
 Sir, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 11 August 1727. 
 
 Mr. William Cuming [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Since writing of this dait I received payment of Donald 
 Murchisons 1 bill [for £6, 7/], and now I send you recept 
 Robert Walker in the Agnes of Borowstowness for 20,000 
 Esdale slait, which pray sell as soon as possible. I send you 
 sd. Masters recept for 20 £ sterlin in paymt. of his fraight, 
 and ther is yet due 17 £ sterlin. Gett Drynachs recept 
 for 23 bolls meall. 
 
 Inverness, July 1, 1728. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Arthur. 
 
 Sir, — I hope this will find you at Glenelg after unloading 
 200 bolls meal of your Cargoe at Garloch, Conform to your 
 Instructions. Now this serves Chiefly to advise you that 
 I have recomended what remains of your Cargoe to the 
 disposal of Norman McLeod of Drenach, or his Son, Mr. 
 John McLeod, and have advised them that In Case the Seal 
 of the Meal proves slow at Glenelg, that in that case you 
 imediately forward to Inverlocy, and adress yourself to 
 Donald Mclntire My Agent yr., Who will unload you 
 immediately and pay your freight. And this being in 
 your way to the Slait quarries, I hope youll not scruple it 
 and oblidge, Sir, your Most humble Sert. 
 
 He stand to any agreement that the sd. Norman McLeod 
 or his son John will make with you about any alteration 
 in your voyage. 
 
 1 Donald Murchison, Seaforth's famous factor in Kintail, who defeated King 
 George's soldiers in the skirmish of Ath-nam-Muileach in Glen Affaric, in 1721. 
 
280 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, July ISth 1728. 
 
 For Alexr. Stuart, My Son. 
 
 I received yours of 7th Instant at Inverlochy, from 
 whence I arrived here late last night. Before I reached 
 that place the Salmon of yt. Countrey was Sold to Messrs. 
 Cuningham and Alus [?], Merchants in Glasgow, at 43Sh. 
 stl. p. barral, Salmon and grilses over head, to be received 
 at Inverlochy, and the bounty Mony to the sellers, all 
 prompt payt. You know this was a bargain I sould no 
 go into, tho I had it in my offer. So must now depend 
 on purchasing Salmon on this Firth, except a few I expect 
 from Garloch's broyr., which I design to Carry about by 
 Donald, and qch. will fall much Cheaper. I have sent a 
 Cupper already to pack them. I have done all I could 
 to Sell our brandy in the west Coast, but I find there is 
 no Mony to be had there, tho I am of opinion all will sell, 
 if we trust the greatest part Six month, at 20 pence p. 
 pint or thirty Shil. p. anker, wt. a discount of 3 p. Cent 
 for lackage. So that we are like to make little of this 
 bargain, as I find the brandy will stand us very dear. No 
 less, if I am not mistaken, then one pound 5 shil. 8 pence 
 happenie ane anker prime coast. How ever I am of 
 opinion it will be better to make the best of it yr. then to 
 be at the great trouble and expense of running it here, 
 considering that we can sell it to very good responsal men 
 on whom we may depend for punctual payt. And if 
 Alexr. Rose has shiped but a little brandy a good part of 
 ours will go of about the Isle of Skie, but may send me 
 p. first your thoughts of this affair. The Countrey s about 
 Lochaber and Apin was glutted with wine and brandy 
 by little Summerwale of Runfrugh [Renfrew] in the 
 month of April last, and has more still of coming. But 
 if we sell as cheap as any other, I find we will be prefered 
 to any. If the Laird of Apin 1 be at Ednr., as I hear he 
 is, pray wait on him, and tell him I saw his children at 
 
 Stewart. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 281 
 
 his own house on Munday last. Try if ye can deal wt. 
 him for brandy, for he is a ready mony Mercht., and 
 ane honest good man. Give him my humble service. I 
 received your wife's letter, and will write her next post. 
 
 Mr. George McKenzie [the Laird of Gairloch's brother]. 
 
 Inverness, 18 July 1728. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favors of second curt and another 
 wtout date from Assint. As to the first annent Drynach's 
 accepted Bill, I have yet no accounts of the payt., nor 
 no orders about, so its fit you writt him. As to your last, 
 I am glad to find that the Salmon purchased from Sand 
 [in Gairloch] is come safe to Lochinwar, and I observe 
 what you writ of this years Salmon, and doe think Mr. 
 Wood is officious in interfering wt. you ; and it will be 
 your fault if he or any stranger get hereafter footing on 
 that coast, since we may easily manage the fishings wtout 
 them ; I mean of all kinds. I intreat you fail not to 
 conclude wt. Ladie Assint 1 for this years Salmon, for in all 
 apearance the ship I designe will come in time to carry 
 both. And may likeway pick all you can elsqr., particu- 
 larly Sands fishing of this year. I have wrot to the Ladie 
 Assint of this dait, offering her some hering Cask and Salt 
 I have at Glenelg, and, since I find there is no brandy 
 shipt for you in the same ship wt. Alexr. Rose, I must 
 entreat you try what you can doe for me on your coast ; 
 or, if could barter for Salmon @ 28 p. pynt, I will order 
 four or five tuns, that is, about 500 ankers by the ship I 
 design to take away the Salmon as I will the Salt and Cask. 
 I have wrot off to Lady Assint, under whose cover this 
 goes. I beg your answer pr. first and am 
 
 The Emperor Moroca has broke wt. Britain and sent out 
 his sale privateers ; so no small ship will wenture to go 
 to the Mediteranian, which will make the salmon sell low 
 at home. But He get ours sold here. 
 
 1 Mrs. MacKenzie of Assynt. 
 
282 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Donald Mclntire, Fort William. 
 
 Inverness, July 23d, 1728. 
 
 I am much surprised wt. the conduct of the late com- 
 manding officer at ffortwiliam anent the freighting of 
 Thomas Arthur. I wish the sd. Masters uneasie, pivish 
 humour be not prin[cip]ally the cause of it ; but no help. 
 What remains now is to make the best of a bad bargain I 
 can, and therefore I intreat you extend the protestation 
 taken agst. Captain West, the comanding officer, mention- 
 ing yt. when the ship arived at ffortwilliam that the master 
 received part of the bagage at Benerra, and sailed wt. 
 the first fair wind for Fortwilliam acording to agreement ; 
 and that the sd. Arthur was not only willing to receive the 
 bagage but such invalid pessangers as they were pleased 
 to put aboard of them. And, if you can get the protesta- 
 tion extended in this shape, I doubt not but the same, 
 wt. Colonell [Lee's] obligation to me, will make him lyable 
 for the freight. ... As to the tun of claret and half 
 tun of white wine desired for General Seaburg, pray see 
 to get that delivered to the General. I told him I could 
 not sell the claret under £ 14 St. p. hogshead, but rather 
 than carry it about let him have it at £ 90 stl. the tun, and 
 the two hogsheads of white wine at eighteen pound stl. ; 
 but this sub rosa betwixt you and me. John Willison is 
 arived in Cromarty but Bog and Adam are gone to Leith, 
 for the crew of the last named would not consent to come 
 up here. Give my humble service to my dear friend 
 Ardsheall, on whose good advise and assistance I very 
 much depend on the affair of Donald Stuart. . . . 
 
 Inverness, July 29, 1728. 
 
 Mr. Donald Stuart. 
 
 Affectionate Cousin, — If this hapen to be delivered 
 you by my father in law, Norman McLeod of Drenach, I 
 desire ye may ship two lasts Salmon Cask and as many of 
 the best Herring Cask as your ship will hold. Go with 
 the same to Lochinver in Assint, from whence you are 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 283 
 
 immediately to advise George McKenzie, broyr. to Garloch, 
 who will wait upon you and receive sd. Casks wt. all the 
 salt you have on board to be packed in the Casks yr. ; and 
 yrfore, if ye have any hoopes on board, pray dont dispose 
 of them till you come to Assint, where they will be certainly 
 much wanted. And, if sd. Mr. Mackenzie, or the Laird or 
 Lady Assint, will call for any Brandy, let them have it 
 on recept or rather their Bills payable at the curt, price 
 in three months, or as much shorter time as you can. And 
 fail not to sell both at Lochinver, or qr. ever else you hapen 
 to touch, as much Brandy as you can for ready mony, 
 particularly in the Orkneys. And, when you have un- 
 load your Cask and Salt at Lochinver, you will then take 
 aboard all the Salmon there, qch. I reckon may be about 
 100 barrells, wt. qch. you are to make the best of your 
 way for this place ; only, before coming up here, be sure 
 you stop in the night time in Conage Bey, 1 where boats 
 will wait you to get a shoar qt. Brandy you may have 
 aboard, qch. I hope will be but little by the tyme you come 
 yr. However, it is fit you advise me by express from 
 Lochinwer before you sale from thence, qt. quantity you 
 will have aboard. I am told, if you touched at Kylskow 
 in Strathnaver, you could sell all your Brandy for ready 
 mony ; but this I leave intirely to your self. Your wife 
 is very well and big with Child ; so you spoiled poor 
 Angus milk, who dyed soon after you went from Scotland. 
 Your son and daughter are very well. I received yours of 
 20th from the Horse Shoe. I wish you Gods blessing ; 
 and am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, July 30th, 1728. 
 
 Donald Stuart. 
 
 Notwtstand. qt. I wrote you yesterday I now desire 
 you may sell the Salt you have on board except one third 
 part qch. you are to deliver to Mr. Peter fforbes now at 
 Loch Invar, and take his recept for the same. And be 
 sure to take aboard my two last Salmon Cask lying at 
 
 1 Near Ardersier. 
 
284 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Glainelg, and, if cannot get the Salt disposed of, may fill 
 sd. two lasts of Cask wt. salt and carrie them about to 
 this place wt the Salmon. Give my service to the comand- 
 ing oficer at the Barrack of Bernera. May tell him you 
 are my friend. If he wants any you have let him have it 
 and no doubt he '11 pay you for it. You are to return to 
 ff ranee how soon you arive here, and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, August 3d, 1728. 
 
 Roderick McLeod, Writer in Ednr. 
 
 I received yours of 20th July wt. the silk plaid for my 
 wife, and I send you inclosed thirty four shillings stl. as 
 the price you paid for it. Wt. hearty thanks for your 
 care, my wife and I are, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 10 August 1728. 
 
 For my Son. 
 
 The inclosed should have gone forward last post but 
 old Ross disapointed me after promising to come and 
 receive some mony I was to send you. Now this is to 
 inform you that your Broyr. Patrick 1 arived here on 
 thursday at three afternoon. He lodges at my house, and 
 you often observed of him he is a very judicious, sensible 
 young man and challenges all the civilitys we can show 
 him. I observe your order to pay him thirty pound stl., 
 qch. will endeavour to comply with, so have sent no mony 
 wt. the post. . . . We had last post the very mealacholy 
 news of our dear Cousin Alexr. Stuarts death in Virgine 
 [Virginia], the 25th of May last, qch. is very affecting to 
 his wife and all his poor friends. I am under acceptance to 
 ffrancis Rusell French Bills to the value of £275 Stl., £70 
 stl. of qch is due, and the rest falls due again the first of 
 October next. Our friend Captain Robison is lately gone 
 to Ednr., and promised to lodge this money on you, and 
 take your Bill on me for the same, which will pay by a 
 good Bill of Generall Seaburgh. So pray speak to him 
 
 1 Brother-in-law, Patrick Cuming. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 285 
 
 and retire my Bills from Mr. Rusell ; qch. at prt. is all 
 from, etc. 
 
 Mr. Avory has consined some oak bark to you by one 
 Mr. Mether of Leith, and their is likways 5 hogsheads good 
 wine by Andrew Monro in return of yt. came from Leith, 
 but I find by your Broyr. Peter we have mistaken your 
 intention. . . . 
 
 Inverness, August 16, 1728. 
 
 For the Laird of McLeod. 
 
 I heartily wish this may find you in good health, and 
 comes chiefly to inform you that your Cousin, Lord Simon 
 of Lovit, informed me lately that he had concluded 
 bargain with your doers at Ednr. and these of your Uncle 
 in Law, Auchtertyre, etc., for your respective claims on 
 the lands of Strahericke, 1 and was oblidged to pay the 
 money peremtorly at Martimass. He depends on me for 
 payt. of about two hundred and fifty pound sterling of 
 this money as price of the Salmon this year, qch. I am 
 afraid I cannot pay at that term, tho it will be necessary 
 for me to have the Salmon. Therefore, Dear Sir, if such 
 bargain be concluded, I must ask it as a favor of you to 
 take my accepted Bill for £200 Stl. in part of your propor- 
 tion of this mony, payable again Candlemass next, tho 
 perhaps may pay it sooner ; as to qch. I intreat your 
 answer in course of this post ; and your complyance will 
 singularly oblidge, etc. 
 
 Mr. John Couts [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Inverness, August 16th, 1728. 
 
 Sir, — My last was of 10th Inst., in qch. I returned you 
 George Rosses accepted Bill for £43 Stl. Now I am to 
 advise you that about two moneths past your friend and 
 mine, Alexr. Strachan of Monrose, ordered me to furnish 
 one David Wood, his trustie on the West Coast, credit for 
 qt. dry fish he could purchase on his account, and to 
 
 1 Stratherrick, 
 
286 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 accept his Drf. for the same, and told me he would order 
 you to make good the same to me. And accordingly in 
 this week I have accepted sundry Bills drawn by David 
 Wood for about £360 Stl., payable all about twenty days 
 hence. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 22 August 1728. 
 
 For the Ladie Assint. 
 
 Madam, — This accompanys our couper who we send in 
 order to pack your Ladyships Salmon, which we expect 
 will be readie to be shipped with the last years, otherwise 
 you could think to get them off till next year if you miss 
 this opportunity. Howsoon the Salmon is shipped may 
 draw on us for the value at 18 pds. Scots pr. barrell, wee 
 allowing cask, salt, and couperage, payable in 6: moneths 
 after deliverie. . . . 
 
 Inverness, August Slth, 1728. 
 
 To my Son [Alexander Steuart]. 
 
 I received yours of 22d curt wt. the accepted Bill to 
 James Duff for £50 Stl. and Bills to ffrancis Rusal £70 Stl. 
 ... As to Colonel Lie, I return your friends letter anent 
 him, qch. I think does not agree wt. the strain of his own, 
 that he sent me. But, as I think as the pretensions he 
 has for not standing to his bargain are but wheebeles 
 [quibbles], If he will not compound the matter imediatly 
 about wc. I formerly hinted to you, no doubt there must 
 be a prosecution wtout. loss of time, since I hear the 
 Colonel goes very soon to England. My good friend 
 Colonel Guest, who lodged wt. me here, is gone South the 
 other day wt. Generall Wed [Wade]. I desire ye give him 
 my service, and speak to him on this subject, and I doubt 
 not but he '11 procure you Generall Weds letter to Colonel 
 Lie to do me justice. Our herring fishing has been much 
 interupted al along wt. bad weather. I don't believe 
 there is yet 300 last caught, and we may now reasonably 
 expect they will faill ; so for my own part I will not sell 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 287 
 
 my herrings under £8 stl. untill I here further, tho I 
 doubt not I could purchase a good deall cheaper. James 
 Rusal, who married on thursday to broad Cyel [?] Daughter, 
 sayes you shall be preferred to his herring, but has but a 
 few ; but he is none of the cheapest sellers, so send me your 
 full orders pr. first about wt. ye would have done. Donald 
 Stuart is in Lochinver, taking in Salmon, and when he 
 arives you shall have the parcell you want, for I can 
 purchase none else here except at ane extravagant rate. 
 And, if Donald goe to Burdeax, I see not any reason 
 for your earring your Salmon boath ways to Lieth. He 
 has not yet got his salt sold, nor will Will: Mcintosh take 
 what he wants on that coast for all he promised. I hope 
 my dear friend your Broyr. Patrick has come safe to you 
 before now. Pray give him my service. 
 
 Inverness, Sepir. 2, 1728. 
 
 ffor Norman McLeod, Drenach. 
 
 I received yours of 27th Inst. I observe Donald has 
 been with you and taken in two last Salmon and ten last 
 herring Cask, and also ten stone of butter for my account, 
 of which I am to pay eight, which will do most cheerfully, 
 and place the same to your credit and account, as I will 
 do 13 shs: you have made out for my account for shiping 
 the cask, etc. 
 
 I received your accepted Bill for £505: 9 Stl., and, if 
 the money is paid here or to Will: Cuming in Ednr., it will 
 be equal acceptable to me. I observe my Broyr. Alexr. 
 has gone South to see Marion, of whose recovery I long to 
 hear. As to my Bill of £42: Stl. on Scotas, 1 I leave it 
 to your self to get the best terms you can. But be sure 
 to transact it wtout. loss of time lest there come any new 
 hindrance in the affair, for last year Scotas offered to 
 transact it payable at this Martimass, so must make ane 
 end of it as soon as you can, and I will see to cause Glen- 
 gerie pay the interest due on it. I drunk your health 
 wt. Lieutenant Messon, who insists on the price of the 
 
 Macdonald of Scotus. 
 
288 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 two hogsheads of wine because of great lakeage ; but of 
 this acquant me what ye know. John is wt. Alexr. Ross 
 in the Sound of Mull, but as there project was but in- 
 sufficiently conserted, I am affraid they will make little 
 of it. 
 
 Inverness, 6 7ber 1728. 
 
 Mr. John Coutts [Edinburgh]. 
 
 I have valued on you of this dait £72: 14 sterlin to Mr. 
 John Hossack and Compy., and to sd. Mr. John Hossack 
 thirtie five pounds sterlin. Both the sd. bills are payable 3 
 days after sight and are to be pleaced to acct. of our freind 
 Mr. Alexr. Strachan and amount both to £107: 14 sterling. 
 Our fishing is over ; has been only good this last week 
 at Cromarty. I am, Sir, Yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 12 7ber 1728. 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 . . . This is only to desire that you will send me pr. 
 John Wilison of this pleace, who is goeing to your port, 
 four pound good bohea tea, and my wifes Lining [linen], 
 which I hope is now reddie, and draw on me for the value. 
 Please advise me in course of the success of your herin 
 fishing this year, for here we have a plentifull one, being 
 alredie 1000 last caught. Advise what merket for salmon 
 and corn with you, and if anie letters for me in your 
 custodie send them by sd. Willison ; and I am, etc. 
 
 [Fragment of letter to Donald Stuart in reference to the 
 wreck, in Orkney, on 2nd Sept. 1728, of the ship 
 Agnes of which he was master.] 
 
 . . . Meantime I bless Almightie God for all his dispensa- 
 tions and that he has spar'd you and your crew. Your 
 Spouse and all friends are well, but my old Mother departed 
 this life about fourteen days past. Give my humble service 
 to all the worthie Gentlemen who have been so kind to 
 you, particularly Mr. Hay and the Collr. I wish you well 
 home ; and I remain, etc. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 289 
 
 Inverness, 20th Septr. 1728. 
 
 Mr. Hugh Baillie [Orkney]. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I Received your favour of 12th instant with 
 the inclosed attestations relateing to the shipwrack of the 
 Ship Agnes, Donald Steuart master. The loss falls heavie 
 on me, as being mostly concern'd, and it appears by your 
 letter that there are little hopes of recovering any thing 
 of what may be saved. Meantime I am deeply sensible 
 of the very friendly part you have in this as on all other 
 occasions acted for me, and return you my heartie thanks. 
 I have not a groat inshur'd, and therefore I hope you '11 
 doe your best to see to recover as much as possible of what 
 might have been come safe ashoar, particularly of my [ ? ] 
 last of Casks was aboard. There was likewise a tun of 
 wine belonging to me, but that probably has perished. 
 This misfortune lys heavey on me, but must patiently 
 submit to Divine providence. I '11 take care to forward 
 your inclosed letter, and have pay'd the express what 
 was order 'd for him here. We have noe news, and but 
 languishing hopes of a peace with Spain. We have hade 
 a plentifull herring fishing, there being above 1200 last 
 caught. So my Cousen poor Donald has been unluckie 
 wt. a wittness. I give my humble service and best wishes 
 to Mr. Hay 1 who has been so kind on this occasion, as 
 allso to your Lady, and my Cousen Charles Steuart ; and 
 I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 21 Septr. 1728. 
 
 To Alexr. Steuart. 
 
 . . . Now I come to tell you a melandholly story. Donald 
 Steuart sent me Thursday last an express from Orknie, 
 adviseing that on the 2d instant he lost his Ship on a 
 blind rock among the North Isles of Orkney, being, three 
 days before, forced by [i.e. past] Lochinver, where he was 
 to load Salmond for my account ; for the particulars of 
 all which I referr you to the inclosed letter and attesta- 
 tions. . . . 
 
 1 Of Bablithan, Orkney. 
 
 T 
 
290 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, Septr. 23rd, 1728. 
 ffor Ardsheal [John Stewart]. 
 
 I herewt. give you the trouble of the Inclosed caption 
 agst. James Glass, and summonds of forthcoming agst 
 Archibald Smith ; so that upon receipt of this you will 
 please call for McDonald the Messenger in Glainko, 1 and 
 order him to execute the summonds of forthcoming, and 
 return it here as soon as possible wt. execution, as also 
 that he endeavour to execute the caption agst. sd. Glass 
 and bring him to this place as soon as possible, or get a 
 good man bond for the debt, or a presentation at this place 
 in my house again a competent day ; the charges of all 
 qch. you '11 please give out and place the same to my 
 account. I send you likways inclosed accepted Bill 
 Kenloch Muidert 2 for £159 Stl., payable at Ednr. the 11th 
 of November nixt, which I find a very unperfect Bill, 
 having the full soume interlined ; so will not protest in 
 case of need. Yrfore, Dr. Sir, how soon this comes to 
 hand you '11 please return this Bill, and send the other 
 new one to him for acceptance, qch. you '11 please get 
 done by a sensible bearer, being ane affair of importance, 
 tho I have no manner of doubt but, as Kenloch Muidert 
 is a man of honour, he would do me justice wtout. this ; 
 but we be all mortall. . . . 
 
 ffor John Sinclair of Barrock. 
 
 Inverness, 23d Septr. 1728. 
 Sir, — I wrote you the 2d inst. and I sent you inclosed 
 my accepted Bills of that date for 2500 lib: Scots value of 
 the 500 bolls meal shiped for me in Staxigo in the moneth 
 of June last, and then desired that Alexr. Richie my agent 
 his receipts for the same meal and missive letters relating 
 thereto should be returned me in course ; and I am sur- 
 prised I hitherto received no return anent sd. Bills or my 
 letters and receipts ; yrfore must beg your answer pr. first. 
 
 1 Glencoe. 
 
 2 Donald Macdonald of Kinloch Moidart who fought at Sheriffmuir, and in 
 the 'Forty-five was aide-de-camp to Prince Charles. He was beheaded at 
 Carlisle in October 1746. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 291 
 
 Inverness, 30 7bter. 1728. 
 
 Norman McLeod of Drenach [at Eileanreach, Glenelg]. 
 
 I received yours of 25th curt, and finding no ship to 
 be had wt. you to transport my Salmon from Lochinver, 
 I have freighted one here goes imediately to take them in 
 and from thence directly to France at a high freight ; but 
 no help. Captain John Robertson, paymaster to the 
 troops, lyes now with you [at Bernera Barracks], was verie 
 pressing with me to pay in about £180 Stl. to Captain 
 Englintown, governour at your Barrock, and to take his 
 Bills on him, payable again the 20th of Nombr. next at 
 Ednr. Now, If you please, I am willing that Alexr. Watt 
 and you give in what is due me to sd. Captain, who will 
 not straiten you as to the payt., but take it as it is wanted ; 
 and, if you please to get me the sd. Captain Elningtowns 
 Bills on sd. Captain for £180 Stl., it will be the better. 
 Send them to me as soon as you can on sd. Captain 
 Robertson, payable at Ednr. against the 20th of Nombr. 
 next, and He send you McLeods Bill on your self for qt. 
 youll want of the money over and above your own and 
 Alexr. Watts Bills. And I know the Captain will not 
 straiten you tho a part be resting till Candlesmass, since 
 it is for the pay of the two company s till Spring next. 
 So I hope this will suit your conveniency and do me a 
 favour, as to which I entreat your answer pr. first ; and 
 this will be a great favour done the officers wt. you ; which 
 at present is all from. 
 
 Mr. John Grant, Chamberlain of Urquhard [Lochness]. 
 
 Inverness, 14 Otbr. 1728. 
 
 Your last was of 1st August last, in qch. you promised 
 the £7 stl. due me in full of Grants 1 wine ordered by 
 young Delrachnie. 2 Now in case you may have forgot 
 the same I have sent the bearer express to beg the favor 
 of you to send me this seven pounds, and I send you 
 Delrachnies order on you inclosed, qch. please return in 
 
 1 The Laird of Grant. 
 
 2 Grant of Dalrachnie in Strathspey. 
 
292 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 case you send not the money. And mind I gave receipt 
 formerly for the £20 Stl. I gott not wtstanding the tenor 
 of Dalrachnies order. I expect your complyance, and you 
 will oblidge, Sir, Yours, etc. 
 
 I Return your Bill on Sheuglie 1 for ten pounds qch. was 
 paid in part of the twentie pounds I gott. 
 
 Inverness, 15th Octbr. 1728. 
 A list of Accepted Bills sent at this date to Ardsheall 
 inclosed. 
 
 Accepted Bill Lieu: Crosbe, Governour of 
 
 Douert Castle ..... 
 
 £30 : 
 
 - 
 
 Ditto John Minro In Lesmore 
 
 7 : 
 
 10 
 
 Ditto Duncan Stuart In Morwine 
 
 31 : 
 
 8 
 
 Ditto James Stuart, Innernahile 
 
 15 : 
 
 15 
 
 Ditto Colin Campbell In Lesmore 
 
 9 : 
 
 
 Ditto Mr. Duel of Cregness in Lesmore 
 
 15 : 
 
 
 Ditto Lackland McLean of Kingerloch 
 
 45 : 
 
 
 Ditto Donald Campbell younger of Erds . 
 
 90 : 
 
 
 Ditto James Campbell broyr. to Barkaldine 
 
 
 
 and Compy. ..... 
 
 30 : 
 
 
 Ditto Ardsheall for Baillie James Stuart . 
 
 30 : 
 
 
 Ditto Colme Campbell of Inveresprachen . 
 
 45 : 
 
 15 
 
 Ditto Ewen Cameron, Bailie of Morvin 
 
 60 : 
 
 
 Ditto Duncan Stuart In Mengrie 
 
 30: 
 
 
 
 £439 : 
 
 8 
 
 Do Donald Mclean in Mull In your hands 
 
 
 
 already ...... 
 
 15 : 
 
 15 
 
 Dr. Sir, — Advise me pr. first that you have received the 
 above mentioned Bills all payable the first of Nombr. 
 next, and amounting in all to £455 : 3 : 6 Stl. 
 
 Inverness, 15 Stbr. 1728. 
 
 Colonell Grant, Ballindaloch. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — Haveing expected you here every week for 
 two months past Ive for born to give any trouble about 
 
 1 Alex. Grant of Shewglie in Glen Urquhart. Supporter of Prince Charles. 
 Imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1746, where he died. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 293 
 
 the payt. of your account due me, but that I am very much 
 pressed for money. I send you the coppie of your accompt 
 underwrit, qch. amounts too £34 : 20 : 10 Stl., which I 
 entreat youll either send me in specie by the bearer, or 
 your Bill on your agent in London or Edr. for the same. 
 And youll observe I charge no more for the hhd. of wine 
 sent you last but £12 Stl., tho I told you it would cost 
 £14 Stl. As for John Mcleods accompt. you have it as 
 he left it with me when he went last from this Countrey 
 and I payd him mony for it. Dr. Sir, I would not trouble 
 you in this manner, but that I am really much straitened 
 at present, so that your complyance will be ane new 
 favor done. I owe you a dozen bottles claret, qch. He 
 either give to your order or you may discount it of the 
 mony or Bill @ £14 stl. ; and I ever am, etc. 
 
 Your Acct. Dr. 
 1726 Given to Auchterblair for my Lads 
 Decer. [Lady's ?] ffunerall : — 
 
 To ane hhd. Claret Bottled in 19 
 
 Duzen 7 Bottles . . .11 
 To 4 Duzen Bottles white wine @ 14 
 
 sh. pr. Duz. .... 2 
 To 3 Emptie hhds. wt. packing 
 Straw and hoops - 
 1728 To Ballance of a hhd. due since June 
 
 1726 ..... 1 
 3 March To a hhd. of Strong wine sent you 
 there by Sween McDonald your 
 Souldier . . . . .12 
 
 16 
 
 £27: 5: 6 
 
 To Acct. John Mcleod Dr. 
 To 18f yeards fine Holland @ 5 sh. 
 
 10 pr. yrd. .... 
 To 2 pound best Bohea tea @ 14 sh. 
 
 pr. pd. ..... 
 
 8: - 
 
 Totall £34 : 2 : 10 
 Sterline 
 
294 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Iness., 15th Stbr. 1728. 
 
 Mr. John Coutts [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I Received this morning your favor of 10th Inst, 
 wt. 8 Bills inclosed, qch. will be returned pr. next post 
 accepted or protested. I observe your orders about 
 herring, and I go just now down the firth, and will inquire 
 about the 50 last herrings you write of, but do not see 
 you can be served under £6 Stl. And yr. are two or three 
 resolved to keep till Spring rather than sell at that price ; 
 so that I am of opinion you can not be served unless 
 yourself take the keeping of them all winter. Even at 
 £6 stl. pr. last I have bought a good deall for Mr. Alexr. 
 Tait, payable at Martimass next, but must take them in 
 keeping after this day, which for your goverment is all 
 from, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 26 Octbr. 1728. 
 
 Mr. Robert Gordon [Bordeaux]. 
 
 Sir, — My last was of 16 August, since qch. Ime favored 
 wt. only one of yours advising of Captain Woods arrival 
 wt. you, and that you receivd my letter by him. If you 
 have got any return to sd. letter, send it under cover to 
 my ffriend, Allexr. Andrews at Rotterdame, who will 
 forward it pr. any coming here, or may send it by any 
 other sure occasion under cover to your Son in law, wt. 
 orders to forward it as it must contain bills and accts. 
 of value qch. will be too expensive to send by post. A 
 friend and I have lately been oblidged to buy about 120 
 tierces of Salmon, about the disposall of qch. we are not 
 yet ripely advis'd, but are proposing to send them to 
 Haverdegrass, the ship being first to call at Haleford to be 
 advised of the mercate at Roterdame. There fore this is 
 chiefly to advise the favore of you that how soon this 
 comes to hand you will please write to Robert McKay, 
 Mercht. in Roterdame, adviseing him of the best meracte 
 you know for sd. Salmon on the cost of ff ranee, and to qm. 
 the master will adress in your name, since the consignation 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 295 
 
 will be to yourself. Probably the ship will proceed from 
 thence to the Bay to load wine and salt, and therefore 
 I earnestly intreat you write immediately to sd. Mr. 
 McKay how soon this comes to hand, that, in case there 
 be no prospect of a mercate in ffrance, he may make the 
 best of them at Roterdame, whither no Scots Salmon has 
 come this year. I have a bark just now one the west Cost 
 loading about 120 barrells Salmon, which I have ordered 
 directly for Burdeaux to your friends there, so that I hope 
 they may find a tolerable mercate. And sd. Bark is 
 like ways to load all wine qch. I wish may prove better 
 then the last I got, a part of it having quite spoiled, tho 
 keept in a good seller, being small and sweet. So must 
 advise your friends to mend this in time coming, or I must 
 quite that trade. I give my humble service to your Lady 
 and to all friends ; and, wishing to hear good accts. from 
 you of my affairs, rests, yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 29th 8tbr. 1728. 
 
 Mr. John Sinclair [of Barrack, Caithness]. 
 
 Sir, — I Received your favor of 21st curt., but, being 
 out of town qn. your post went off, was oblidged to send 
 ane answer pr. express. I received Bills and other papers 
 sent me by Colector Mollison, but he wrote me that your 
 servant was going wt. him to Ednr., and was to call for 
 ane answer at his return, and I was still expecting him 
 untill I gott your letter of 21st curt, and since I have 
 unhappily misst your post. I send this after him pr. 
 express, and, in case of missing the post, to go forward 
 to Cateness and brings you inclosed my Bill of this date 
 on Mr. Allexr. Tait, Mert. in Ednr., for £208 : 6 : 8 StL, 
 payable the 15th of next moneth, qch. is good Martimass 
 payt. I assure you my Bill will answer punctually, and I 
 thought it was better draw all in this, I hope, then be 
 makeing different Bills. So ye may order ffresicks 1 share 
 to be paid at Ednr. as you think fit, and the little ballance 
 that will be yet due you for shore dues or other charges 
 
 1 Sinclair of Freswick in Caithness. 
 
296 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 He send you by the post from this ; and I am, Dear Sir, 
 yours, etc. 
 
 Coppie of Bill drawn upon Mr. Allexr. Tait to Sinclair of 
 Barrock. 
 
 £208 : 6 : 8 Stl. Inverness, 29th Octbr. 1728. 
 
 Again the 15th day of Nombr. next pay to John Sinclair 
 of Barrock or order 208 : 6 : 8 Stl. for value received of 
 him, and place the same to acct. as pr. advise from John 
 Steuart ffor Mr. Allexr. Tait, Mert. in Ednr. 
 
 Inss., 7th Nobr. 1728. 
 
 To Drynach. 
 
 Sir, — I Received yours of 1st Inst, and inclosd Capt. 
 Elringtowns Bill and Captain Robisons for ane £142 : 19 : 6 
 stl. which I find is rectified ; and I send you inclosed your 
 own receipted Bill for £101 : 19 : 4 stl. and Allexr. Wats 
 Bill for £34 : 10 : Stl., amounting both to £136 : 9 : 4 
 stl., qch. is in so much for Capt. Elringtowns Bill ; and 
 the ballance I will remitt you or allow it in J>st end of 
 McLeods 1 Bills on you, qch. I expect to morrow. I saw 
 the Laird of Lochcheal 2 here yesterday, and I spoke to 
 him of your Bill of 240 Merks, and he promises to pay the 
 same in a fortnight. Contilligh 3 has been here constituting 
 his title as executor to your Uncle, Mr. Donald McLeod, 
 but I opposed that as much as I decently could ; but I 
 here he is to be in town to morrow, and like to get his 
 affair done ; so it is fit to you be in equall dilligence wt. 
 him, that you be not wronged. I got a letter from John 4 
 last post from Ednr. I find he and Allexr. [Macleod] 
 are there and John has freighted a ship from Clide for 
 Burdeaux. We have no news here but of war, wch. 
 now seems unavoidable. 
 
 1 Macleod of Macleod. 
 
 1 Donald Cameron, the famous ' Gentle Lochiel ' of the 'Forty-five. 
 
 3 Macleod of Contullich. 
 
 4 John Macleod, Drynach's son. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 297 
 
 Inverness, 9th Nobr. 1728. 
 
 Mr. Allexr. Stuart [Cousin of the Bailie]. 
 
 I received yours of 1st Inst., and have considered the 
 contents apart of qch. requires consideradon to answer. 
 I am sorry for the mistake about Henry Rose's 1 Bill. 
 That affair makes a noise here. Meantime I wish Henry 
 may take care to pay up your father in law that Bill 
 speedily ; but I have not concern in that affair. I sent 
 you in my last accepted Bill Allexr. and Donald Campbells 
 to Ardsheall for £236 : 13 : 4 Stl., qch. I told you was 
 to be immediately paid by Mr. Will Nilson, manager of 
 the moins at Swenard, 2 qch. I hope has had success and 
 that the same is apply ed as I desired for payt. of my 
 accepted Bill in hands of Rothemay 3 for £3200 Scotch. 
 I send you now inclosed Bill Captain Elringtown on Capt. 
 John Robertson, payable the 22d Inst, for £142 : 19 : 6 
 Stl., qch. I hope will find due honour, and have valued 
 on you this date to the order of Baillie Will ffraser £17 : 3 : 8 J 
 Stl., qch. place to my Acct. Allexr. Tod is loading, but 
 Donald Mclntire wonders you sent him no written 
 Instructions. . . . 
 
 Mr. Allexr. Couts and Compy. [Danzic]. 
 
 Inverness, 9th Novr. 1728. 
 
 I received your favour of 17th Past, and do observe 
 what ye write anent the Hollands Herring fishing. The 
 advices from that Countrey to this place say it was all over 
 very Indifferent, and they expected the price of herrings 
 would Rise. All the herrings Caught in this firth are 
 bought except a very few, and are mostly exported, the 
 greatest part to Stockholm ; only one Bark from this place 
 to Danzick, I suppose to your house ; but, as the price 
 seems to be pritty Good there, I supose there will go more 
 in the Spring. Herrings have been sold here at £6 Stl. 
 since the fishing, and those that have any on hand expect 
 
 1 Henry Rose, a brother of the Bailie's first wife. 
 
 2 Lead mines at Suinard in Argyll. 3 Ogilvie of Rothiemay, advocate. 
 
298 
 
 THE BETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 that price and better in the spring. He order the payt. of 
 the Sword to the hands of your Cousine, John Couts 1 at 
 Ednr. Your frequent advices about mercats of herrings 
 and Corns with you will much oblidge yours, etc. 
 
 For the Earle of Murray. 
 
 Inss., 15th Novr. 1728. 
 
 The 13th Curt. I Received your Lops, letter of 7th Inst., 
 since which I have been enquiring about the highest 
 prices of Barlie in this Countrey, and find some of the 
 Murray Gentles have sold @ 10 Sh. 6d Sterling pr. Boll, 
 and I can reach that at least for the Petie Bear here, and 
 I hope a little more. As to the quantity can be delivered 
 or the tyme, I cannot advise by this post, but shall en- 
 deavour to do it pr. next, so as your Lop. may take wt. 
 measures will be found best anent the disposalle of sd 
 Bear. Duncan Mcintosh, Drover, goes soon South for 
 Mony, when He remitt Some mony of the rests of Cropt 
 1726. I will be sure to obey your Lops, orders anent 
 the trees Lord advocate 2 wants ; and when his lops, 
 spoke to me I ffrankly forwarded all I Could be spard, 
 being well assured your Lop. would approve of my Comply- 
 ance that way. I am, wt. much esteem and affect., yours, 
 etc. 
 
 Inverness, 15th Novr. 1728. 
 
 Mr. John Couts [Edinburgh], 
 
 Sir, — I Received yours of 8 Curt, and return you Inclosed 
 Bill Donald McKay on his Broyr. for £80 stl. accepted. I 
 return you thanks for your Care about the wines I sold my 
 son, etc. I intreat you forward your determination in 
 that affair as soon as possible. I have secured now all 
 the herrings you want, and one parcell of 28 lasts I have 
 gott the seller to keep till the first of febry. at £6 stl. pr. 
 last, J in hand and two thirds the first of febry. nixt. What 
 
 1 John Coutts, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, head of the firm of John Coutts 
 and Co. 2 Forbes of Culloden. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 299 
 
 remains I hope to get some under six pounds but in that 
 must be prompt payt., which, wt. due respect, is all at 
 prt. from, yours, etc. 
 
 Norman Mcleod, Drynack. 
 
 Inverness, 25 Novr. 1728. 
 
 I received yours of 16th curt, but before it came to 
 hand Contilick had done his affair here, wt. full assurance 
 to Comissar Murray he designed to doe you no wrong, but 
 that you should be preferred for the funerall charges. 
 However I will speak to Mcleod [of Macleod] as you desire, 
 and so will John. I hope your son Allexr. will be with 
 you or now, and so will soon see his Sister Janet, for whose 
 recovery I heartily wish. I send you inclosed Mcleods 
 Bill on yourself for £136 : 18 : 2 StL, wch. I have placed to 
 your Acct., and will Credit you with Locheals accepted Bill 
 of 12 score merks when the same is payed ; as also another 
 Bill of three score Merks left wt. me at prt. by John 
 Mcleod, when it is payed, wch. will not be before Candle- 
 mass. I find there is a suit of stuff for your Daughter 
 Ann resting in a shop in this place, about 37sh. Stl. I am 
 craved for it, but really Cannot till whither you remitted 
 Mony for it, or If I charged it formerly to your Acct., off 
 qch. advise me. As to meall there is the greatest run on 
 all sorts of wictuall here that ever I know. Bear gives ten 
 Merks, and Meall nine. I am of opinion I cannot deliver 
 Meall at Bernera this year under Seven pounds Scots pr. 
 Boll of Eight stone, and you must naturally expect a 
 Merk more of this. Send me your opinion pr. first, wt. 
 the price of the Butter was lost, that may charge it to your 
 Acct. If Could find me any ready Mony wt. you for Meall 
 in the Spring, It would encourage me to seek but little by 
 it ; so will depend much on your opinion of it. And I am, 
 etc. 
 
 Inverness, 21 Novr. 1728. 
 
 Mr. William Thomson of Cork. 
 
 Sir, — This will be delivered you by My freind Captain 
 Alexr. Tod, and serves to inform you that the reason of 
 
300 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 My long silence as to the Cargoe of Salt consigned to me 
 by your Captain Edwards in Nover. 1724, was, that, there 
 being no herin fishing since that time to this year, I was 
 oblidged to take up with anie tollerable price and Debtor 
 I could find for it. And till of Lait it was mostly out- 
 standing Debt ; but now, haveing gott Clearance for all 
 of it to a little, I Designe to Make out the Account of seall 
 verie soon, and give you orders to Draw on Me for the 
 ballance ; which at present is the needful from, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 29th Novr. 1728. 
 
 Msrs. Allexr. and James Coutts [Danzic]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — My last was of 9th Inst., since qch. Im 
 favoured wt. non of yours. Now this comes chiefly to 
 advise that how soon this comes to hand you will insure 
 for my acct. on ye Cargoe of salmon on board ye ship 
 Margret of Banff, James Hay master, from Lochinver on 
 our N.W. Coast to Bourdx. in ffrance, wt. ye liberty to 
 call in ye Orknies, £250 Ster. against all hazards. The 
 ships burden is about 40 tuns, and was ready to sail from 
 sd. Loch Inver ye 18th Inst. I intreat your care of this 
 how soon this comes to hand and advise me pr. first wt. 
 your Complyance, and ye Insurance masters names, and 
 value on me for ye premium payble. to any you please, 
 which will find due honour. And let me be advised of ye 
 price of corns wt. you, and what you hear of ye Dantzick 
 mercat. for Corns and Herrings ; and I am, Gentlemen, 
 your most humble sert. 
 
 Inverness, 10th Deer. 1728. 
 
 ffor the Laird of M'leod. 
 
 I received your favore of 9th Curt, wt. a Carolus from 
 your servant, of qch. I send you ane Acct. subjoined. I 
 Could not well distinguish by your letter whither it was 
 2 or 7 pound of Amons ye wanted, but I adventured to 
 send you the last number of pounds, wt. two pounds 
 rasins. Baillie McKay has disapointed me Basely of the 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 301 
 
 Cherry [sherry] I bespoke for you, by selling it all off ; so 
 that there is none to be had here but in a tavern, and there- 
 fore ye must only take a dozen of Bottles or two, and He 
 write by the next post to Leth to send me a whole pipe pr. 
 next occasion as I have already for 20 dale of Coalls to 
 be sent you which is all I can do. There is a Boll of floor 
 [flour] bought for my lady Cromarty, which Cost four and 
 twenty Shi., so may be sent for when her ladyship pleases. 
 I send you the Acct. of your Amons and Rasins, and return 
 you 12 Shs. and 8d. Stl. by the Bearer. 
 
 To Mr. Harper. 
 
 Inverness, 10th Deer. 1728. 
 
 I had no return to the letter I wrote under your cover 
 some time ago to George Stuart, Tanachie, from qch. in 
 some Conversation I had wt. his broyr, the Doctor, lately 
 here on that subject, I Conclude he inclines not to meddle 
 in that affair you proposed I should employ him. If so, 
 his jealousie is Groundless, for I am as thin shipped as any 
 ever he dealt with in the affair of credit, and I bless God 
 that, for all I have been disapointed at this term in above 
 £500 Stl. I expected from the Returns of Meall alone, I 
 have made a shift to pay up 3500 Bolls I bought this year 
 in Banff shire and all to £100 Stl. due yet by consent to 
 J. S. which I hope will be wery soon payd, and, as I incline 
 to deall a little in meall this year, tho not near so deep as 
 last. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 10th Deer. 1728. 
 
 For the Laird of Buckie. 
 
 When I had the honour and pleasure of seeing you last 
 Aprill at your own house, you may remember you was so 
 kind as to make me ane offer of your service in purchasing 
 for me what quantity of Oat meall I should want for the 
 ensuing year or any other hereafter when I should have 
 occasion to deall that way. I find the prices of Victuall runs 
 high beyont my expectation, and therefore i do not Incline 
 to dip half so deep as last year ; but as I have engaged to 
 
302 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 furnish a Gentleman of honour and a man according to 
 your own heart a thousand Bolls of Meall early in Spring, 
 and have made a pritty secure Bargain in any event, I 
 desire that one receipt of this ye secure for my Acct. the 
 sd. quantity of Meall, providing it can be done of the 
 groweth of Banff shire, and of last cropt, not exceeding 
 8 and J Merks pr. Boll of 8 Stone, payable at the term of 
 Martimass next, and deliverable in harbour of Portsoy 
 again the first day of March next, or sooner if posible. 
 And, as you proposed some more then the curt price for 
 your own growth, I agree to give a half merk more then 
 qt. ye pay for the rest in consideration of your trouble and 
 Comission. Your friend the bearer will tell you what 
 manner I have hither too performed all my engagements 
 for meall in your Countrey. . . . 
 
 To James Steuart, Camilla. 
 
 Inss., 12th Deer. 1728. 
 
 At my Son Allexr. Stuarts desire I send you by the 
 bearer John McDonald, post, two large parcells of Tea 
 Nr. 2 and 3, and [in ?] ten pound canasters, each sealed 
 thrice, as this letter is, of qch. please advise my son, and 
 dispose of the same as he shall direct. You give my humble 
 service to Mr. Ffrancis 1 and to my Lady, and to all the 
 young Gentlemen, and Sincerely am. 
 
 Messrs Alexr. Gordon and Copy [Bordeaux]. 
 
 Inverness, 21st Deer. 1728. 
 
 Gentlemen, — My last was of 6th Curt., of qch. we sent 
 you Bills of Loading for 112 Barrells and one half Salmon 
 pr. the Margarat of Banff, James Hay master, qch. we hope 
 is arrived before this comes to hand. You are to ship 
 for our Acct. in the sd. ship four Tun of the best and 
 strongest new Claret, and two Tun of good old Claret. 
 If can be had, two Tun Brandy in greater Casks, and a 
 Tun of Barasack white wine in hogsheads. Youll notice 
 
 1 Francis Stuart, who became Earl of Moray in 1735. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 303 
 
 that we desire the Claret be better then ordinary sort that 
 comes to this Country ; and, if it is not good and such as 
 you think will keep, we incline you send none. You are 
 to place half the walue to each our Acct., and let the goods 
 be marked J: S:, and be sure ye ensure the whole walue, 
 which, if cannot be done at Burdeaux, youll order the same 
 to be done by Messrs. Alexr. and James Couts at London. 
 Whatever is further needfull youll shall be advised of pr. 
 next. John Steuart desires ye ship for his proper Acct. 
 three yards and ane half of strong, thick Scarlet-cloath, and 
 three bottles of best eating provincia Oyl, and half dozen 
 small bottles of hungry [Hungary ?] water. We earnestly 
 intreat that you take care our wine be good. 
 
 Inverness, 28 Decer. 1728. 
 
 Mr. James Hay, Shipmaster. 
 
 I Received your favor of 4th Inst, from Kerstone, and 
 I hope this will find you safe in Burdeaux, as we have had 
 since a Constant Tract of North East winds and frosts. 
 Orders in shiping your Cargo were dispatched . last post 
 and this, of qch. doubt not ye will take speciall care that 
 there be no abuse or embaslement. There is 16 Tuns for 
 your friends at Banff and Portsoy, and 14 for this place; 
 so youll notice that the goods for Banff be kept upermost 
 for unloading below, from qch. run ane express upon your 
 arrivall to me, and then make the best of your way for 
 Tarbit ness, where youll find my orders at Wilkheaven. 
 Be sure to insert each mans freight in his Bill of Loadning, 
 and to take receipts for all as unload. . . . 
 
 To Ardsheall. 
 
 Inss., 30th Deer. 1728. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I am sorry to tell you that meall has got up 
 over all Scotland to ten merks pr. Boll, but supose it will 
 fall towards May, qch. is but uncertain. Pray advise 
 imediately if you will still take the whole quantity, or if 
 less will doe. I wrote just after you left this Countrey 
 to a friend to buy your meall, qch. he neglected then, 
 
304 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 expecting a fall, but now he finds his mistake. I hear Duff 
 of Braco has sold his meall and oats overhead at ten Merks. 
 
 I am much surprised you have not wrote me since you 
 was here, qch. makes me uneasie. What I feared of Mr. 
 Tait at Eder has come to pass. He has stoped payts., 
 and owes me about £300 sterlin, a heavie disapointment ; 
 but I am told He not loose much at long run. But now I 
 am wery much straitned, and, if the Money due by you 
 does not answer again the end of ffebry, I must Indorse 
 your Bills to satisfie my Creditors, which will be loath to 
 doe ; but necesity has no law. I give my best wishes to 
 your Lady and family, and to Apin and all frends. I hope 
 the Brandy Bills are payd or now. I wish you a happie 
 new year, and I am, etc. 
 
 Mr. Allexr. Strachen [Montrose]. 
 
 Inverness, 31 Decer. 1728. 
 
 Sir, — I Received on Saturday last your favor of 18th 
 curt, and I can advise you wt. certainty that I have secured 
 for your Acct. from 400 to 450 bolls Barly, of the growth 
 of the Lop of Petie, at ten Merks pr. Boll, deliverable at 
 this place, payable at Whitsunday next except fifty 
 guineas at Delivery, if called for. So you may freight and 
 dispatch a ship to this place to take that quantity as soon 
 as possible, and, if the ship be to come from the South 
 firth, may cause load her wt. great Coals, which will sell 
 pretty well here. . . . 
 
 Mr. John Burnet and Copy. [Aberdeen]. 
 
 Inss., Slst Decer. 1728. 
 
 I Received your favor last week advising of the price of 
 Corn and Meall wt. you, and that the Bear was become 
 excessive dear, and that the Gentlemen of your shire 
 demanded all six pounds pr. Boll of there meall, and that 
 ye knew of none went into that price. I have occasioned 
 for some meall to furnish the Garrisson of Inverlochy, so 
 if you can purchase for my Acct. howsoon this comes to 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 305 
 
 hand 1000 Bolls of good sweet oat Meall of last cropt, 
 deliverable at Aberdeen, Stonehive, or Peterhead, any time 
 before the middle of March next, at Six pounds Scotch pr. 
 Boll of 8 stone, payable at Martimass next, I hereby im- 
 power you to purchase the same for my Acct., and would 
 grant my Bills for the walue and pay you Comission for 
 your trouble ; but must intreat your answer to this imedia- 
 ately in course, that I may know if can depend on the same 
 or not. 
 
 3rd J amy. 1729. 
 
 Son, — ... I observe what you write of Mr. Taite. 
 Im affraid he has done me great misschief, for, not wtstand- 
 ing of what you write me, I find by a letter of the 30 from 
 Mr. Russell that my bill in his hands recurs ; therfor I 
 earnestly intreat you see to get me some relief in this 
 affair, otherwise I know not well what to do. Im likwise 
 much troubled wt. a charge I got at the Instance of the 
 Comisrs. of Excise as a wittness in the affair of John Monro 
 of Novar, and as I hope for Mercy I know nothing of that 
 affair but by hearsay ; so I earnestly intreat that the 
 Comissr. and you see to get me clear of this, for should I be 
 obliged to go South in my present Suituation it would do 
 me much misschef. Besides, there is scarce any traveling ; 
 there is such Storme on the ground. Deliver the inclosed 
 to My Lord Lovat, who has made me a kind offer ; so I 
 write his Lop. to pay £100 Ster. on my acct., for wc. will 
 grant accepted bill payable in 2 months. . . . 
 
 Sd Janry. 1729. 
 
 For Drynach. 
 
 I heartyly wish you and family a happy new year, and 
 do herwith send you a coppy of your acct., by which there 
 is a ballance due me of £45 : 1 : 8 Ster. You have likewise 
 inclosed bill on Leut. Messon in parte of this ballance, and 
 a letter to him, with the papers, and a bill I paid for him 
 at Aberdeen. . . . Locheil has not yet pd. your bill, but 
 when the payt. comes to my hand will send it you, as I 
 will payt. of the litle bill John McLeod left with you. 
 
 u 
 
306 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Generall Sibourgh [Fort William]. 8 
 
 Inverness, 16th Jary. 1729. 
 
 I Received the honour of your letter of 11th curt, 
 anent Meall. It is true Patrick Campbell told me by a 
 letter sometime past that you would want about 1000 
 bolls of Meall again the first of May next, but wanted to 
 know the price. I wrote him directly that the demand 
 from Ireland and the west cost was so great this year 
 that meall was gott up over all to above 11 sh. pr. boll of 
 8 stone, and that I could not undertake to lay it down at 
 Maryburgh under thirteen sh. pr. boll, one half readdie 
 monie, and the other in three months. But till I gott 
 your letter I had no return to sd. letter ; so if you incline 
 I should furnish Meall, must imediately on receipt of this 
 letter write me if you agree to this proposall, and the 
 quantity you will want, and then He imediately set about 
 to get you furnished without loss of time. There are no 
 Lemons here to be had for anie mony, but howsoon anie ■ 
 arive, which will be werie soon, shall send as manie as a 
 horse can carie. 1 
 
 To my Son. 8 
 
 Inverness, 2Uh Jary. 1729. 
 
 I Received yours of 20th Inst, acknowledging receipt 
 of mine of 4th and 10th curt, and bringing me the Laird 
 of Grants Bill on his Chamberlain, John Grant [Factor, 
 Glen Urquhart] for £45 Stl., qch. is accepted. It is not 
 three days since I spoke to sd. John Grant about this Bill, 
 but he did not tell me positively when he would pay it, 
 but he was going to Strathspey wt. mony to his master for 
 his London journey, and promised to call at me at his 
 return, and will press him as much as I can. ... I wish 
 you could get my Lord Lovat to advance the £100 stl. he 
 promised untill I can recover my mony from Ardsheall, 
 which I hope will happen in a short time. In that case 
 
 1 That is, in two creels fastened to what was known as the Highland saddle. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 307 
 
 pay the walue of Lord Reays bill on Blair, sent you in 
 my last, to the Earl of Morray. . . . 
 
 To Capt. John Robertson [Bernera Barracks, Glenelg]. 
 
 Inverness, 25th Jary. 1729. 
 
 I Received your acceptable favor of 20th Inst, and shall 
 take care to provide the Barrell of Pork you want and to 
 have it such as will please you. And for the two Bolls of 
 white oats, that you always will find ready at a call. And 
 there is some mony due me by my father in law at Glenelg, 
 and by Lieutenant Merson that I have advanced here for 
 him, and will according to your desire send orders by my 
 broyr Allexr., 1 who goes from this on Monday next for 
 that Country. . . . 
 
 ffor the Laird of Kenloch Mudert. 
 
 Inss., 27 Jary. 1729. 
 
 I Received your acceptable favor of 22d. curt., and doe 
 observe your orders to send you three hunder Bolls Oat 
 Meall to be unload in Sound of Mull or @ Kenloch Mudert. 
 I cant possibly promise the Ship will call at both these 
 ports wtout putting you to a great charges, since thk 
 quantity will not be the half of a cargoe; but He doe my 
 outmost endeavour to get you served if you take meall in 
 the Sound of Mull, and the price shall not exceed what I 
 get from Ardsheall or Generall Sibourgh. But then the 
 Generall pays the half in hand, and the rest in three months, 
 but if you could give the 3d. in hand would trust the rest 
 to Michalemass Mercat. Meantime shall give orders to 
 secure the Meall and advise you ; and expect your answer 
 to this in course ; and I am, Sir, yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 7thffebry. 1729. 
 
 Son, — I Received yours of 1st inst., wt. the two accepted 
 Bills and protests relating to the two Camells [Campbells] 
 inclosed. I have wrote to Ardsheall and told him in plain 
 
 1 Alexander Macleod, brother-in-law. 
 
308 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 terms I cannot want my Mony longer. And this post I 
 wrote to my friend Colonell Guest at London to speak to 
 Generall Wed [Wade] that the Gentlemen on whose 
 credit my meall was furnished do incline to poind the Lead 
 Oar belonging to the Compy. of which the Generall is a 
 partner, if that Mony is not imediately paid. . . . 
 
 You need not trouble My Lord Lovat, on whom I had 
 no great dependance, but that he Bambusled me wt. ane 
 offer of five 100£ ; so I thought fit to try him wt. one 
 hundred first. I hope again next post to be able to remitt 
 you some Mony, and meantime shall do qt. I can wt. 
 Grantts Chamberlain about your Bill. . . . 
 
 ffor Colonell Guest. 
 
 Inverness, Sthffebry. 1729. 
 
 I presume to give you the trouble of this letter to in- 
 form you that in month of June last I sold to a Gentleman 
 in Argile Shire 1000 Bolls Oat Meall of qch. he sold about 
 one half to Mr. Nilson, agent for the lead Moin [Mine] Copy, 
 at Swenard [Suinart], which was to be paid in Octbr. last, 
 the sum due for the same being £266 : 14 : 4 stl., for qch. 
 my frend has the accepted Bills of Mr. Campbell, younger 
 of Airds, and of Donald Campbell, factor to Mr. Murray 
 of Stanope ; but so it is that Mr. Nilson went off abruptly 
 for London wtout paying the mony, by qch. my friend is 
 disapointed, and I through him, qch., with other dis- 
 apointments, does at present straiten me pritty much. 
 Therefore I must ask the favor of you to acquaint Generall 
 Wed, for whom I have all possible honour and respect, that 
 as the Gentlemen who granted Bills for the same Meall are 
 now under prosecution* for J thel Mony,^ they threaten to 
 attach the Effectts of Swenard Copy., unless the Mony be 
 paid imediately wt. Interest since it fell due. And, seeing 
 I would not wish that any Compy. in qch. the Generall is 
 concerned had any affront done to their credit, I thought 
 fit to aprise you of this in order to inform the Generall of 
 what is designed unless the mony is instantly paid. . . . 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 309 
 
 To the Baillie of Morvin. 1 
 
 Inss., ISthffebry 1729. 
 
 I Received your acceptable letter of 3d Inst, by your 
 nephew Duncan Stuart, and, according to your recomenda- 
 tion, have undertaken to doe all lyes in my power to 
 serve him from three to five hundred Bolls Oat Meall, to 
 be delivered again the first day of May nixt in the Sound of 
 Mull ; and I assure you it will not be my fault if he be not 
 as soon and as reasonably served as any of his neighbour- 
 head, since I depend much on his own Good Inclinations 
 and your Credit for him ; and I am, wt. much Esteem, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 17 Febry. 1729. 
 For General Sibourg [Fort William]. 
 
 Honble. Sir, — I Received your favour of 10 Curt., 
 which came in good time to prevent my concluding anie 
 Bargain for bear or Malt to be caried over land, and by 
 Lochness, which must have cost you verie [much]. The 
 sending all Meall and 200 bolls bear in one shipp would 
 requir one too lairge for our dry harbour, so, since you 
 leave that point to my manadgement, I am just now 
 trying if can find tuo barks, one to carie a pairt of your 
 bear with the Meall on top of it, which will keep the bear 
 cooll from heating ; and you may depend He have all 
 possible regaird to your interest, and doe all lys in my 
 power to gett you well and soon served ; and I am, with 
 verie much Esteem, etc. The bear will cost reddie Mony. 
 
 No Lemons to be hade. 
 
 For Collonell William Grant, Ballindalloch. 2 
 
 Inverness, 24 Febry. 1729. 
 
 Sir, — My last to you was by Baillie Gilbert Gordon, 
 when he went to Duke Gordons Burriall, to qch. he brought 
 me no return in write, but told me you assured him you 
 would send me a Bill on London for the following months 
 pay, and allow me a reasonable time to pay the ballance. 
 
 1 Duncan Stewart. 
 
 2 See footnote, p. 14. 
 
310 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 I am not to prescrive rules to you in this matter, but, if 
 you remitt me the mony either in specie or Bill on London, 
 I assure you it will be a great favor done me, being never 
 so much straitned in my life as at prt., as I could convince 
 you if pleased, but think it needless to trouble you wt. 
 these things in write. If you please to send a Bill on 
 London for a half or whole months pay I judge the war- 
 house and I will soon make out the Ballance in a short 
 time ; but pray faill not to send either mony or Bill by 
 the bearer, as you would oblidge yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, March 1st, 1729. 
 Mr. John Coutts [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sr, — I received late last night your favor of 24th past, and 
 your orders therein shall be obeyed ; and now send you 
 inclosed Mr. Weems receipt for three last herins I have 
 shipped for your Acct., and by your order he had gott 
 four, as you desired, if the herins I had at Findorn had 
 come up in time ; but shall have them at Cromarty again 
 your ship arived to load the rest, if I can. Chalmers of 
 Leith is just now a loding, and David Weems will be 
 cleared in the Customhouse this day. I have walued on 
 you of this date to the order of Mr. James Cuming, senior, 
 in Ednr., for £16 : 13 : 10J at Eight dayes sight, qch. I 
 intreatt may find me honour ; and when Chalmers is load 
 will send a schem of your Acct., and I am, Sir, etc. 
 
 The Shipp you are to send for the rest of the herins will 
 be load fully at Cromarty, and mind to send the 20 dalle 
 of Coals I formentioned, either for your own Acct. or mine. 
 
 To Norman McLeod of Drynach. 
 
 Inverness, 1st March 1729. 
 
 Sir, — I Received your favour of 24th Last Febry. with 
 your bill of same date on Andrew McPharlan and Malcolm 
 Mclaran, Drovers, payable at 10 days sight, for £50 Ster., 
 and I heartily wish it may answer punctually, being 
 oblidged to endorse it to a stranger does not know them, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 311 
 
 one Archibald Wightman, Mercht. in Edr. And now, 
 since you could not accomodat this affair with Captain 
 Edringtown, I wish you would doe your endeavour to 
 persuade sd. Captain to send down some man next week 
 with his bill on Captain Robertson for £50 Ster., and He 
 return by the same person ye same in gold or silver, as the 
 Captain pleases. I 've only gott nine score and ten merks 
 of Locheils bill, which shall be sent by John Forbes when 
 he comes down, as will the ballance due of the small bill 
 be John McLeod. As to the accot. of Cloaths sent your 
 daughter, my wife is positive it was not payd., that it 
 was sent a year after Mrs. Kenisons Cloath. James Innes 
 is loading meall for your garison and Fortwilliam, and He 
 order 50 bolls for you, and wery soon. If can gett a barque 
 will send from 5 to 600 bolls meall to be sold in the Kyle, 
 for which will expect a good deall of ready mony, as must 
 pay ane excessive price for it now, and a great part ready 
 mony. I wish you would perswade Scottos to doe me 
 justice as to Glengaries bill, which I returned by broyr 
 Alexr., who is to pay you a guinea on my acct., besides the 
 5£ Sterline included in your £50 Sterline bill. 
 
 To John Stewart of Ardsheall. 
 
 Inss., 7th March 1729. 
 
 I advised you in my last that I bought your Thousand 
 Bolls Meall above a month agoe, and wrote to my son 
 about that time to freight a ship to carry sd. meall. He 
 writtes me he cannot get any shipp that will shift portts 
 of delivery but on months pay. I have wrote him back 
 that my credit and honour is so much engaged to have 
 this Meall dispatched that he must freight a shipp at anie 
 rate the best he can, so that I hope pr. nixt post to be 
 advised the shipp is engaged and readdie to saill for the 
 loadning port. Your friend Mr. Campbell of Inerush- 
 lachan spurned at my proposall for Meall and went off for 
 Banffshire, where he has been travelling for 20 days past, 
 and I hear returns wtout makeing any Bargain, for there 
 is none to be made there now but at ten Mrks., payable 
 
312 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 at Whitsunday ; and the Gentlemen who bought the Meall 
 for you presses hard to have 3000 Mrks. at Whitsunday, 
 of qch. I wrote you before and would wish this demand 
 could be comply' d wt., as it might bring some little abate- 
 ment of the price. Of this He want your answer pr. first. 
 I told you in my last I had wrote to Generall Wade about 
 your Meall Bargain at Sweenard. I have a letter last post 
 from my good friend Conll. Guest in answer, who informs 
 me that Mr. Burt 1 was to set off for Scotland the 25th 
 last Month, and had positive orders to pay me preferable 
 to any ; and therefore the Collonell advises that howsoon 
 this letter comes to hand I should have ane order from 
 the Gentlemen who have Mr. Neillsons security to pay the 
 Mony to my order at Ednr. Therefore it is fitt how soon 
 you gett this you cause these Gentlemen send up Mr. 
 Neillsons Bill to Ednr. to my son, wt. ane Indorsation, or 
 ane order to Mr. Burt to pay the mony to him for my Acct. ; 
 and I will write to my Son and Mr. Burt by the post, and 
 send up your Bill to be given up on payt. to Mr. Campbells 
 order. . . . 
 
 To my Son. 
 
 Inverness, 8th March 1729. 
 
 ... I had a letter last post from my good friend Colonel 
 Guest at London, in which he advises that Mr. Edmond 
 Burt, who resided here wt. Generall Wade, and factor on 
 my Lord Syforths Estate, 2 is coming down as manager 
 and overseer of the Lead moins at Swenard in place of 
 Mr. Neillson, wt. orders to pay all the just debt of the 
 Compy., and particularly and preferably that due to me 
 by Ardsheall for meall sold by him for behalf of the sd. 
 Compy., so I send you inclosed Ardshealls accepted Bill 
 to me for £266 : 13 : 4 Stl., and desire howsoon this may 
 come to hand you call for Mr. Cambell, younger of Airds, 
 and wait on Mr. Burt, who is certainly wt. you before this, 
 and lodges at Mr. Collans at the foot of the Canigate, and 
 
 1 Edmund Burt who wrote the Letters from the North of Scotland. 
 
 2 The Seaforth forfeited estates. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 313 
 
 deliver Mr. Burt my letter, who no doubt will adjust 
 matters so wt. Mr. Cambell as that the mony will be paid 
 you on receipt. On second thoughts I have not sent you 
 Ardshealls Bill, being payable here at my house, and a 
 good deall of Interest and charges on it I cannot copute 
 [compute] at prt. Meantime, if the mony is payd., let 
 £250 stl. of it be instantly given the Earl of Morray, to qm. 
 I am deeply in arear. I sent your meall wt. James Chal- 
 mers, who promised he would freight wt. me to the West 
 Coast, and will come north here imediately wt. lyme. 
 
 Inverness, 8th March 1729. 
 
 Mr. Edmond Burt. 
 
 Sr., — I had last post a letter from my worthie friend 
 Collonell Guest, in qch. he gives me the agreeable acct. of 
 your coming down to manage and oversee the Lead moins 
 belonging to the Compy. at Swenard, and that you was 
 instructed by the Compy. to pay the Debts contracted by 
 Mr. Nelson, of particularly that resting by Mr. Campbell 
 of Ottomore to John Stewart of Ardsheall, and by him 
 to me, for a certain quantity of oatmeall sold for sd. 
 Compys. behoof last summer, and amounting in value to 
 266 : 13 : 4 stl., besides interest and charges. Now, Sr., 
 I hope if Mr. Campbell of Airds is at Ednr. I hope matters 
 will be so conserted to your satisfaction as that my mony 
 will be presently paid to my son, who delivers you this, 
 on his receipt, which will be good for the same, and will 
 be a favor done. 
 
 Inverness, ISth March 1729. 
 
 For Drynach. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I Received yours of 8th instant, and have 
 delivered to your servant, John Forbes, ten Guenies I gott 
 from Locheil on your Acct., and promised to send me the 
 rest in 10 days, but its not yet come. However, I have 
 drawn on him for the ballance, to Alexr. Rose, as if he 
 hade payed me the same, so that I have credited you in 
 my book for the whole twelve score Merks, and the thre 
 
314 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 score Merks in the litle book, but could send you no more 
 mony at present but the ten Guenies ; and you will gett a 
 guenie from Br. Alexr. I sent him when he left this 
 pleace. . . . 
 
 Mr. James Duff [Banff]. 
 
 Inverness, lUh March 1729. 
 
 Sr., — 1 received yours pr. last express, and have, accord- 
 ing to your desire, given orders to shipp two tuns liquor 
 for you on board Allexr. Keith, who I suppose is due now 
 at Burdeaux, where James Hay arrived the 12th of last 
 month, and 1 suppose is readdie to saill. Now his being 
 bound here makes such a prodigious noise that I believe 
 we shall find difficulty enough to get clear of ; therefore, 
 pray give me your opinion if could lodge safely in your 
 countrey for some little time about ten tuns of liquor a 
 friend and I have aboard that shipp. Meantime, I most 
 earnestly intreat you run ane express to me how soon 
 James Hay appears, and stop him from coming up untill 
 you can judge your letter is wt. me. And if the wind 
 should blow hard down that he cannot get up he must 
 run over to the Orknie rather then goe to anie harbour 
 on your coast. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 22 March 1729. 
 
 Mr. John Coutts [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I Received yours of 14th curt., as alsoe yours by 
 John Lightin, of Kingorn, who has unload 25 Deall of 
 Coalls, pairt here and the rest at Cromarty, and I oblidged 
 to give 20 sh. ster. to his crew befor they would come in 
 to liver the Coalls, which are all sold from 13 to 15 sh. pr. 
 deall, but the half not yet payed. The sd. boat has loaded 
 22 lasts of herins, and I am just now goeing to gett out the 
 coast clearance from our customhouse. When the other 
 boat appears shall give her all possible dispatch ; but her 
 coales will not sell here, so must be unload at Cromarty. . . 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 315 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Strachan [Montrose]. 
 
 Inverness, Uh Aprile 1729. 
 
 Sr, — My last was advising of the sloop Hopewell [of 
 Ipswich, Benjamin Higens master] to receave your 
 Barley, about the freighting of qch. your friend Mr. 
 Fenick was mightyly mistaken as to her burden, for in 
 place of 450 Bolls purchased for your Acct. has only 
 taken in 355 Bolls, for qch. I send you a Bill of loadning 
 inclosed in the terms you desired. Meantime, advise pr. 
 first how I shall dispose of the 95 Bolls remains. I doubt 
 not to reach your price for it, and the same terms of payt., 
 and yt. is all. I asked the master of the sloop how he 
 came to give out his wessell for so much more then she 
 carried, which he sd. was owing to his mistake about the 
 quality of our Barley, whose being heavier then that of 
 Suffolk, of qch. he usually Loads 800 qrs. And wt. his 
 loadning here he is extream deep, so I hope, if he arives 
 soon and safe, youll make the highest price, qch I wish. 
 And it is a loss to you that all was not shiped. The master 
 acknowledges at parting that the reason he gave his ship 
 for so much burden more then she carried was that he was 
 told in England that our Barley was not heavier then 
 English oats, but that he now found he was much mis- 
 informed and mightyly bit. . . . 
 
 Mr. John Coutts [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Inverness, 5th Aprile 1729. 
 
 Sr., — Since my last of 22 past I received your favor of 
 3d Inst, by John Summerwell in the Lamb of Kingorn, who 
 delivered here 15 J dales of Coalles, for qch. could only 
 reach 12 sh. pr. dale, the town being stocked by a large 
 cargo came imediately before it. The sd. Lamb is gone to 
 Cromarty, wt. proper clearances, to load 14 last herins 
 qch. is all the sd. would agree to take, so there remains yet 
 at Cromarty five last for your acct., about the disposall of 
 qch. pray advise me pr. first post, that I may know exactly 
 how to make up your acompt. I was oblidged to repack 
 
316 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 all your heirins from top to bottom, and furnish fresb 
 hoops and salt, qch. has occasioned some expence, and 
 inlake of qt. was bought, but I am perswaded the herins 
 will be found wery good. I wish the Jean of Kingorn 
 James Lighton master, may be safe wt. you, having sailed 
 Sunday the 23d past, the day before the great storm. I 
 send you inclosed Bill of Loadning for 22 lasts shipped in 
 the sd. Jean, the receipt of qch. please acknowledge, as 
 also that for 16 last pr. James Chalmers, whose mis- 
 fortune I wery much regrate, but I hope your Interest 
 was secured by Insurance. 1 
 
 To my Son. 
 
 Inverness, 5th Aprile 1729. 
 
 Yours of 25 and 27 last past are before me. As to qt. 
 relates to Burt, I saw him here, and he told he had payd 
 you or Mr. Lumsdale £200 stl. in part of the money due to 
 Ardsheall by Mr. Neilson, and will pay the ballance wery 
 soon in the Highlands, so I send you inclosed my receipt 
 for £200 stl. in part payt. of Ardshealls accepted Bill to 
 me, qch. sum I intreat may be paid wtout delay to the 
 Eroll of Morray. ... I received Colloden accepted Bill 
 for £44 stl., and will do my outmost for you, and advise 
 of the success pr. nixt. 
 
 To Generall Sybourgh. 
 
 Inss., 9th Aprile 1729. 
 
 Sr., — I Received your favor of 4th Inst, and have accord- 
 ing to your desire dispatched 20 Bolls Meall to the Lochend, 2 
 and given the meall in Charge to one Malcome Mcintosh, 
 nephew to Cullduthell, 3 to see it safe delivered at Killi- 
 whimen [Fort Augustus], for qt. I gave him half a crown, 
 but the boatt freight up the loch is to be paid besides, and 
 I have likeways pay'd the carryage from this to the Lochend 
 at Six pence pr. horse. I have given sd. Malcome Mcintosh 
 
 1 Chalmers' ship was wrecked off Peterhead. 2 East end of Loch Ness. 
 
 3 Fraser of Culduthell, near Inverness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 317 
 
 two dozen Lemons, there being no bitter orangers in 
 town. I suppose the young man will goe along wt. your 
 Meall, and see it delivered at Fortwilliam. I hope to hear 
 in your next that James Innes is arrived wt. you, and I 
 am, etc. 
 
 Inss., 9th Aprile 1729. 
 
 Generall Sybourgh Dr. 
 
 For 20 Bolls Meall from B: William fraser @ 
 
 10 sh. lid. pr. Boll 
 
 . £10 : 18 
 
 4 
 
 To Cord to Bind the pocks . 
 
 
 6 
 
 To Carryage to the Loch End 
 
 -: 8 
 
 
 To Malcome Mcintosh for his trouble . 
 
 - : 2 
 
 6 
 
 To Two Duzen Lemons 
 
 - : 4 
 
 
 11 : 13 : 4 
 
 Send this mony per first sure occasion. 
 
 Inss., 19 Aprile 1729. 
 
 Messrs. Allexr. and James Couts [London]. 
 
 I received your favor of 27th last post, advising of the 
 insurance made for my Acct. on the ship Issobella of Bernera 
 [Glenelg] amounting to five pd. 2 sh. 6d. St. for £280 pd. 
 stl. on the cargo of meall from Portsoy to Fort William, 
 pr. sd. shipp. This comes now to advise you that how 
 soon this comes to hand you insure for my acct. five hun- 
 dred pd. Stl. on the cargo of oat meall pr. the shipp Jean of 
 Lieth, James Bennie master, agst. all hazards from the 
 harbour of Peterhead to the port of Fort William. . . . 
 
 Generall Sybourgh [Fort William]. 
 
 19th Aprile 1729. 
 
 I have your favor of 12th curt., and, conform to your 
 orders, have given the bearer, Malcome Mcintosh, twenty 
 bolls more meall, qch. cost 8d. pr. boll more than the 
 former sent you, and it was wt. reluctantcy I sent you any, 
 hopeing the 1st part of your meall pr. shipp before it, but 
 
318 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 I thought it for your Interest to act the surest part. I can 
 find no bear to purchase in Banffshire, where I have load 
 the meall under 13sh 4d. pr. boll, so that it could not be 
 laid down wt. you under 17sh., which is much above your 
 Comission ; so if you cannot take Kateness Bear, as I 
 advised in my last, cannot serve you in Bear, qch. I am 
 sorry for ; but you shall have near the quantity of meall 
 you wanted. I desire the bearer be payed for the trouble 
 of coming down these two tymes, having only given him 
 half a Crown ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Generall Sybourgh Dr. 
 
 To 20 Bolls Meall @ llsh. 2d. ster. pr. Boll . £11 : 3 : 4 
 To Cairiage to the Lochend . . . . - : 4 : 0 
 
 11 : 7 : 4 
 
 Inverness, 29 Aprile 1729. 
 
 Generall Sybourg. 
 
 I have your favor of 22d curt., advising that the last 
 20 Bolls meall went over land, and I have at same time 
 advise pr. express that James Innes was arrived, but 
 that you would not receave the meall at the In [?] the 
 same manner that I and all mortalls receave these goods 
 in such a case, but that I must carry it to your storehouse. 
 I hope youll inform yourself better, and put no new and 
 unprecedented hardship on me. Now that I understand 
 the shipp is arrived and put under guard, I inclyne to 
 deall wt. everie body in same manner as I would be dealt 
 wt., and as you are a Gentleman of honour I doe expect 
 that He find no reason to complain of any innovation or 
 unprecedented hardship. George Douglass writes me you 
 are informed I gave Partik Campbell 5 Bolls of Meall for 
 receaving the meall last year at the shipp, qch. indeed is 
 not true, for I declare I never to my knowledge allowed 
 him a peck on that head. So I hope before this is arrived 
 the shipp will be unload, and not detained beyont her 
 ly dayes, after qch. I am oblided to pay sh. 15 ster. pr. 
 diem. Mr. Innes is to get £25 stl. as half of his freight, for 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 319 
 
 qch. take his receipt. I returned last night from Banff- 
 shire, where the rest of your meall is loaded, and 100 Bolls 
 Barley, qch. coast a werie high price ; but I hope youll 
 not see me looser by it, since the freight will be double that 
 of the meall, and I shipped it only to serve you, and prevent 
 your being straitned that way. He expect that on receipt 
 youll please send the payt. of the last 40 Bolls Meall pr. 
 James Innes, or £150 stl., because I am straitned at prt. ; 
 and let it come by a trustie man or two of them, and pay 
 them for their truble. 
 
 Inss., 1st May 1729. 
 
 Generall Sybourgh. 
 
 I received your favor of 26 past in answer to mine 
 from Earlsmiln, which, as it was wrote in a hurrie, seems 
 to have been blunder all over. It seems ground of ridicule 
 that I went of purpose to see and remove your uneasiness 
 for want of Barlie, and, yet, I still say it was soe. And 
 I would not goe twenty miles for all I expect to get by the 
 hunder Bolls of Barlie I shipped, as I advised in my last. 
 I observe your poscript about what Mr. Scott of Greenock 
 says of the freight of Barlie from this burgh round by the 
 Orkneys @ 10|d. pr. Boll. That gentleman has forgot, 
 or does not seem to say, what has any probability of trueth, 
 for if you will consider that a shipp of 45 tuns burden will 
 only carrie 400 Bolls Barlie, and duble that number Bolls 
 of meall, now 400 Bolls Barlie @ lOjd. pr. Boll is about 
 £17 sterlin., and 5 or six men necessary to navigate such 
 a shipp in 2 months the shortest time can be alowed to 
 exped such a voyage need £17 ster. to buy them victuals 
 and small Beer, so that there must be not a groatt allowed 
 for the shipp or mens wages. So I leave it to yourself to 
 consider the probability of Mr. Scotts asertion. And I 
 solemly declare the cheepest freight I ever had was lOd. 
 pr. Boll of oat meall, which is equal in weight and bulk 
 to half a Boll of Bear. And this year the werie freight, 
 besides other charges and insurances, will cost 12d. pr. 
 Boll meall, and James Innes, who is now wt. you, has no 
 
320 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 less. I have insisted on this the longer to clear you of 
 anie suspicition about my designing in the least to impose 
 on you. So far from that are my Intentions in dealling 
 wt. you that I can make it appear, if you please, as clear 
 as noonday that, as I dont deall wt. you in view to be a 
 losser, I have but a werie small profit not equall to the 
 trouble and risque I incur in the prosecution of your orders. 
 And all to labour under the suspicition of thiefting or sharp- 
 ing is the Devil, and what goes werie ill down wt. me. I 
 hope before this comes to hand youll be over your scruple 
 about the method of receaving the Meall aboard James 
 Innes, since I propose nothing but the common practise 
 over all Europe, and what I always used to doe even at 
 Mary burgh. As to the quantity of meall pr. the present 
 shipp, you may be wery easy, since the whole quantity 
 you want will be made good to you, sea hazards and other 
 unforseen accidents excepted, before you consume a 100 
 Bolls of this, the shipp for Ardsheall being sailed ; and the 
 other in qch. is the last of your meall and the Bear will 
 probablie saill this day or to morrow. I look for answer 
 to my last of 29th past ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 2d May 1729. 
 
 Mr. William Simson [Aberdeen]. 
 
 Sir, — I Received your favour of 26th Curt, adviseing of 
 William Thomson arriving in your road to take in our 
 Meall at Frasers brugh, of which loadning I always reckoned 
 on a half for my share, so is to be charged accordingly. 
 But if you can provide five or six hundred bolls more, 
 and some Barq to carrie it, I belive I could find you good 
 chaps for it, and content my self wt. one third of the ad- 
 venture. He write this night to Mr. Alexr. and Jeams 
 Coutts, Merchts. in London, to insure £230 sterlin as my 
 half of ye meall from Frasers brugh to ye sound of Mull, 
 wt. priviledge to call at Loch Brackadale in the He of Sky, 
 being advised from Glainelg that that will be still our best 
 port after the first pairt of the Cargoe is unload at Scalpay 
 and Glainelg. At the first place will not be detained three 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 321 
 
 days, and is in her way to Glainelg. And Nota, if you 
 incline to make insureance by my friends Messrs. Coutts 
 at London, He write them this night to obey your orders 
 and make the whole insureance of your joint account ; so 
 may order your friend to pay your part Premium to the 
 sd. Mr. Coutts. I was assured yesterday by some Gentle- 
 men of the name of McKenzie yt. there is nixt to famine 
 at Stornway and Lews island, ye people have sown non 
 this year, but have eaten all their seed ; so if there was 
 some carfull lad to goe along wt. the shipp and to call at 
 Stornway, I doubt not might sell a good dale of meall for 
 raidy money at any price. But this would be the ships 
 nearest way to Loch Brakadale in ye Isle of Sky, from 
 which might goe next to Glainelg, and so drop goeing to 
 Scalpay. But this I leave intirly to your self. He look 
 over our last account of Meal in Compy., and send you my 
 opinion of your account ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Invernes, 5 May 1729. 
 
 To Kinloch Moidart. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 1 Curt, yesternight pr. express, 
 and I am mightie sorie to find that my writing to Duncan 
 Steuart that I was dissapointed of the Meall I designed for 
 you and him gave you such uneasiness. And I was dis- 
 apointed of that meale is as true as that I writ this letter, 
 altho I hade a shipp fraighted and come to the port where 
 it ought to be load ; but as no man can guard against 
 tripps and Accidents and Disasters of this kind, I beg you 
 may belive that I hade [not] of designe to Disapoint you, 
 and William Stuart can acquaint you of the quit contrar, 
 haveing showen the person's letter to me who was to 
 furnish the meall, adviseing he hade sold the same at 
 Eder. When William set from this I told him as I was 
 then goeing to Banfeshire I would try what I could still 
 doe for your accomodation in meall which he dissuaded 
 me from, assureing me it would be too lait to send anie to 
 that Coast. Which made me make no positive bargain 
 untill I heard from Dun. Steuart and your self. However, 
 
 x 
 
322 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 last week, on my return home, I wrot to Ardsheall, telling 
 him to acquaint his cousin Duncan that in case he would 
 be satisfyed if a parcell of meall about 700 bolls were with 
 you and him again the tenth day of June next, I would 
 immediatly doe my endeavour to provid you again that 
 time, but that it was necessary I should have your return, 
 so as not to be exposed to anie uncertainty. However, 
 tho I have got no return, yet, finding your extream anxiety 
 to have still the meall, I will writ tomorrow to Banfeshire 
 to secure a shipp and meall ; and I entreat howsoon this 
 comes to hand Duncan and you writ me immediatly, 
 promiseing to accept the meall anie time it arives befor 
 the midle or tenth of June next, tho I flatter myself you 
 may expect it much sooner. But I must tell you that all 
 my Letter befor now or this is only binding on me barring 
 unforseen events and Accidents, tho you may depend my 
 best endeavour will not be wanting on all occasions to 
 approve myself, Sir, Your most faith, humble Servant. 
 
 6 May 1729. 
 
 For Generall Sibourg [Fort William]. 
 
 Honble. Sir, — I received your favour of 2d instant by 
 way of postscript to George Dowglass his letter of that 
 dait, and if in my Letter of 29 ultimo I have said any thing 
 gave offence I beg pardon, and doe protest I did not mean 
 it in the least. I have trubled my freind Captain Wheat 
 to deliver you my recept for £150 sterlin in pairt of meall 
 pr. James Innes, and also another recept for £23 : - : 8d. 
 ster. in payment of the tuo last parcells of meall, being 
 40 bolls, with charges, sent by Lochness as pr. my Accts. 
 If you please to send me the extent of these tuo recepts 
 it will be a favour at present ; but I leave that point to 
 yourself, only I will consider of the reddie mony payed now 
 at clearing for the next cargoe pr. Robert Gray, who, I 
 hope, is far advanced on his voyage or now, and has a 
 parcell of excellent meall and bear, which I hope will give 
 you satisfaction, and I suppose sailed about the end of 
 last week, since which the wind continues fair. . . . 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 323 
 
 6 May 1729. 
 
 For Captain Wheat at Fortwilliam. 
 
 I presume to give you the tmble of the tuo enclosed 
 recepts value £173 : - : -d. sterlin, and desire that on 
 recept of this you will wait on the Generall and receive 
 the value of said tuo recepts ; but, if he will only pay the 
 one of £150 ster: at present, may return me the other of 
 £23 : - : -d. sterlin, inclosed in your letter, and with the 
 mony you gett, which I hope will be in Guenies or Bank- 
 noats. I must entreat the favour of you to pick out ane 
 honest, trustie man, either of your own men, or of the 
 independant Company (in which my freind ensign John 
 McPherson will direct you) and send him hither immediatly 
 with this mony sealled up carefully, and He pay the bearer 
 what you order me for this truble. I give my humble 
 service to all your Gentlemen of my acquaintance, and, 
 beging pardon for this truble, I remain, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 8 May 1729. 
 
 Mr. James Hay [master of the Margaret]. 
 
 Since my last pr. express I have ane ansuer to my 
 letter sent to ye Highlands, and my friends there are still 
 willing to take your cargo of Meall ; so, provideing David 
 Bremner furnish the cargo of Meall, you may sett about 
 to load the same as fast as you can ; for the sooner it 
 arives it will be much the better for me. The ship goes 
 first to Loch Moidart, and from thence to the Castle of 
 Mingrie in the entrie of Loch Gruinard, or Fort William, 
 in my option, and thereafter to load slait and return to 
 this place or the firth of Cromartie, as I will derect ; for 
 qch. I pay you fortie pounds sterlin if you load not under 
 700 bolls meall, and if you please to take the return to 
 yourself you shall have thirtie pounds sterlin in the High- 
 lands, and be free. Donald Stewart has gott a ship, so 
 you can not depend on him. Therefor, if your brother 
 be not come home, I hope yourself will be in case to goe 
 the voyage, which I wish you may take a Pylot at Orkenie. 
 
324 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 And, since Loch Moidart is not a much frequented Loach, 
 you may caus my father in law, Drynoch, run ane express 
 from Glenalge to the laird of Kinloch Moidart to know a 
 skilfull man at Topr Morae [Tobermory] in Mull, to carie 
 you in to Loch Moidart to unload ye half of your meall. 
 And, if you are detained above tuentie days in all in the 
 Highlands twixt livering and loading, you shall have five 
 shillings sterling ; so I expect your complyance, and that 
 you will make all possible despatch. Write me when 
 Patrick Gray and William Adam saild ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 10 May 1729. 
 
 To Ardsheall. 
 
 I received yesterday your favor 6th curt wh. the 
 inclosed Bank Bill drawn by Mr. Burt for seventy nine 
 pounds, fifteen shillings sterline, for qch. I will acct. to 
 you in part payt. of your accepted Bill. . . . 
 
 Inss., 20 May 1729. 
 Mr. John McLeod [Glenelg, son of Drynoch]. 
 
 I received yours of 16th curt, and am wt. you sur- 
 prised the shipp wt. the meall is not yet arived, having 
 been loaded the 6th inst at Frasersburgh. I suppose has 
 been put to Starnway wt. the last sutherly winds, and will 
 probably call first at Loch Bracadale, and from thence 
 come to Glainelg. 
 
 I think my aly Scotus uses me werie ill, for I have his 
 letters two years past desireing but one years delay to 
 pay the mony, and now three is untollerable. Therefore, 
 I desire you may bring me the Bill, that I may see what I 
 can make of Glengerie himself when I goe to Lochabor, 
 which I hope will be werie soon. ... I return my heartie 
 thanks to lieutenant Meason for the fine present of 
 spectackles he has made. I payed his acct. to Bailie 
 Campbell, and send inclosed wt. receipt walue £1:2:9 ster., 
 which bring me when you come. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 325 
 
 Inverness, 27th May 1729. 
 
 Mr. John Mcleod [Glenelg]. 
 
 I wrote you fully yesterday, and I have werie little 
 more to add at prt., haveing only detained the express 
 to wait the arrivall of the post in case there should be 
 anie extraordinary news ; but, as there happens to be 
 none, I refer you to the inclosed packet of newes for 
 Mcleod, which I think you may venture to unseall ; and 
 pray forward it with the other letter. I gott only yester- 
 night the inclosed Bill of loadning for Mr. Thomsons 
 Cargoe of meall being 840 Bolls input, which I hope will 
 come out at least one pr. ct. I have indorsed it to your 
 father, as I feared you would not stay untill all the cargoe 
 was disposed off, and shall only earnestly recomend to 
 you to give what readdie mony can be gott to Capt. 
 Elringtown for his bill on Capt. Robertson ; or, if that 
 cannot doe, that youll bring it here wt. yourself, and 
 howsoon all that can goe off in Glainelg is gone off, that 
 youll dispatch the shipp to loch Brackadale. I wrote you 
 fully what I thought proper anent the return of Slait, to 
 qch. I refer, and now, since there is little hopes of getting 
 slait, I wish could be rid of the shipp on payt. of the full 
 freight at lOd. pr. Boll ; but, if that cannot doe, since I 
 understand Mr. Thomson understands timber werie well, 
 I desire you may consult him how Coigach dealls would 
 sell at Lieth at the folowing prices sent me by Lord Tarbat 
 that in case any thing could be saved by ym. I may procure 
 his lops, order to deliver to my order as many as the shipp 
 could hold, viz., dealls of 12 foot long, inch and half thick, 
 not under 8 inches broad, £5 sterline pr. hunder of six 
 score ; Do. of 10 foot long, like breadth and thickness, 
 at £4:5 sterline pr. hunder ; Do. of 9 foot long, like 
 breadth and thickness, at £3:15 sterline pr. 100 ; to be 
 put free aboard at Ulaboll [Ullapool] in Coigach. Perhaps 
 all these dealls may be had something under. If so all 
 the better. Meantime may consult the skipper William 
 Thomson, and, if you find that we can save a good part 
 of the freight by buying them, run immediately ane ex- 
 
326 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 press, and He return my lord Tarbat's orders to deliver 
 the dealls and ane order to the master to receive them ; 
 which will be much better then to goe to the southward 
 on ane uncertainty. . . . 
 
 Inss., 31 May 1729. 
 
 Roderick Mcleod, writer in Eder. 
 
 Sr., — I was sorrie I missed you the day you went from 
 this, which was occasioned by my judging you was not to 
 goe off so soon, and could not omitt the attending the 
 excellent prayers for that day, being the 29 May. 1 . . . 
 
 Inss., Slst May 1729. 
 
 To my Son. 
 
 Since I had no answer to my last of 19th Curt, by the 
 post I have little to say except that two dayis ago the 
 Brandy fcated [confiscated] at Castle Stuart was rouped in 
 the Excise Office, and was carried at 4sh. and 2d. pr. 
 Gallon by Andrew Munro for behalf of those concerned 
 in it, and comes to two hund. and fiftie pd. stl. Since that 
 seall I have been in the [?] manner imaginable been treat- 
 ing wt. Mr. Hopson, the Generall Supervisor, about my 
 damages at Castle Stuart, who broke open that house, all 
 the doors in it ; but he agrees to pay me little or nothing. 
 And because I sent him notice I was to pursue him in a 
 legall way for sd. damages, of qch. you have the enclosed 
 acct., amounting to £13 : 13 sh. stl. by the modesttest com- 
 putation, besides the wine, I understand he has write this 
 post to the Comissioners to raise a supena before the 
 Exchecqer for having sd. Brandy, as he alledges, in my 
 custody. I dont much fear he '11 fix that, as I did not 
 posses the house at that time, nor gave orders to put any 
 Brandy there. However, I have not thought fit to comense 
 any process for damages here untill I know the Comis- 
 sioners opinion about the same, being unwilling to accur 
 there displeasure ; and therefore I entreat howsoon this 
 
 Royal Oak Day, the anniversary of the Restoration of Charles II, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 327 
 
 comes to hand you will communicate this letter to the 
 Comissar, and take his advise qt. is proper to be done. 
 And in the meantime see to guard against this intended 
 supena ; and, if the Comissar thinks fitt I dropt my cleam, 
 I am willing to do it, but, if otherways, I think I may gett 
 ishu of him at Ednr., whither the sd. Mr. Hopson is to set 
 out on Monday nixt, and is to be at Ednr. again the 20th 
 of nixt month, or sooner. So I recomend this affair ear- 
 nestly to your care, and that you use the best interest you 
 can to put the [case ?] in most favourable likeness. I depend 
 upon the Eroll and Countess 1 assistance in, and would will- 
 ing [stand ?] any Exchaker prosecution, tho I hope no Jure 
 in Brittain will find me Guilty. I assure you Mr. Lums- 
 deall has repeated orders to pay you that £200 stl. for the 
 Eroll of Morrays acct., which keeps me in extream pain, 
 especially that I have not heard pr. last post. 
 
 Inss., Slst May 1729. 
 
 Ardsheall. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I had ane express just now from Inverlochy 
 adviseing that Robert Gray, master of the shipp has brought 
 the Generalls Meall and Bear to Inverlochy, is arrived the 
 29th inst., and, seeing it is impossible for me to hear from 
 this before Tuesday next, I must intreat the favor of you 
 that either you or your son come on receipt of this to Marry - 
 burgh, and wait on Generall Sybourgh, who, I understand, 
 goes of wery soon for England, and know in qt. manner I 
 am to be secured for qt. part of this Cargoe of Meall is sold 
 on time, that is, the half of the meall, and what remains 
 of James Innes Cargoe unpaid, having only received £150 
 stl. ; and the price of the meall is 13 sh. pr. st. The bear 
 I have ordered to be delivered, since it is to be for readie 
 mony ; and the half of the meall is to be trusted three 
 months. Now, Sir, as the Generall is to goe for England, 
 I would chuse to take Capt. Camell the deputy governors 
 Bill for the same, or the Generalls Bills on some good man 
 in Edr. or London, payable in three months. I wrote to 
 
 1 Earl and Countess of Moray. Castle Stuart was one of the Earl's seats. 
 
328 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Capt. Campbell on this subject, who is my good friend, and 
 it is fit you advise wt. him qt. is proper to be done in the 
 matter, since would not willingly incurr the Generalls dis- 
 pleasure, who, I find, insists I should deliver the meall in his 
 girnall, which I never did before otherways then in the 
 shipp, for by yielding that point to James Cargoe I am 
 assured I lost five Ss. of meall. I have wrote to the skipper 
 to unload no meall wtout your orders, so pray lose no time 
 in goeing to Marryburg, where I hope to see you before 
 Wedsendays night. The skipper is to get his full freight 
 at Marryburgh, being £37 stl. I hope James Binnie is 
 unload wt. you or now, and I am wery desirous you make 
 a full end wt. him about the freight, and gett up the 
 Charter party, since I love not law Debts. I have no word 
 as yett about payt. of the two hund: pd. stl., which is a 
 great truble to me. This, on heast, is all from, etc. 
 
 Inss. 9 31 May 1729. 
 
 Mr. Robert Gray. 
 
 I am glad you have safe arrived, and desire how soon 
 this come to hand you may deliver the Barly carefully wt. 
 the Generalls own firlott, but need not deliver any of the 
 meall untill you have orders from my friend John Stewart 
 of Ardsheall or his son ; and I will see you myself, plase 
 God, again Wednesday next, and will be in your will for 
 any dayes I keep you over your ly dayes ; but some points 
 must be onsorted before your meall can be delivered ; qch. 
 at prt. is all from, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 6 June 1729. 
 
 My Lord, — Being laitly advised by Mr. Maule that your 
 Lop. hade laid aside thought of comeing north this year 
 (which I wery much regrate), I have thought fit to send 
 your Lop. the tuo inclosed bills p. £200 sterlin, which I 
 doubt not will be puncutually payed. . . . 
 
 The disasture of the seizer laitly made at Castle Steuart 
 gave me a vast dale of pain, tho I declare I was in a great 
 mesaure inocent in it, haveing trusted the key of the house 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 329 
 
 to a folish servant who was imposed on in that afair. The 
 supervisor of exise, Mr. Hopson, who most barberously 
 broke in on that house, and allowed ye militarie guard 
 was wt. him to plunder and rufle all that was in that house 
 to a conciderable value of things belonging to me, is now 
 pushing ane exchequer prossess against me because I asked 
 payment of ye damage in modest terms ; but I hope his 
 masters, the Comissioners, will not think fitt to counte- 
 nance him in such proceedings, and lie take care hearafter 
 that no such misfortune happen at that house. And in 
 the mean time humble beg your Lops, pardon for what is 
 past ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 16 June 1729. 
 
 Mr. William Thomson. 
 
 Sir, — I sent you a letter pr. express from Inverlochie, 
 the 8 current, ordering you to proceed to Esdale to load 
 sclate, but by ye return of that express I was much sur- 
 prised to find that before my letter came to Drinachs hands 
 [in Glenelg], you was sailed for Ulubole [Ullapool] since 
 Ime sure I gave no orders for your proceeding derectly yt. 
 way, haveing only wrote to John McLeod to know your 
 opinion of prices of deals at that place as given in to me 
 by Lord Tarbat, and which I mentioned in my Letter to 
 John McLeod. And this morning I was extreamly sur- 
 prised to find that the price of these deals as given by 
 Normand McLeod and mentioned in your Last, ye 14th 
 current, differs werv much from what my Lord Tarbat 
 wrote me upon ye whole mater. Wtout recapitulating any 
 more, I find the prices will at no marcat ansuer Normand 
 McLeods Demands for ye Deals, but that realy the botome 
 of ye story is that you are not to have them, and that they 
 are sold oyerways ; so that, as this is ane ugly pusiling 
 afair, I know not weel what to say, but that I wish you hade 
 not been so rash in proceeding northward ; or, had you 
 gon for Esdale, you hade certainly gott your loading of 
 sclate or now. And I gave no orders for your goeing to 
 Eulobole until I had your Judgment of wher [whether ?] 
 
330 
 
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 the Deals at the price might yeald to what Lord Tarbat 
 proposed, that so, if I found them a reasonable penieworth, 
 might in that event have ordered you to sail where they were, 
 and have apointed barganmade to avoid any disapointment. 
 Now all that I can say is, if youl still proced to Esdale 
 and load sclate, He make good to you five pound sterlin 
 of extrordinary fraught for your extrordinar trouble, and 
 my friend, John Stewart of Ardsheal, who lives in the 
 nighbourhead of the quarrie, will pay for ye said sclate on 
 first notice ; so youl adress your self to Robert Stincen 
 [Stevenson] ye quarrier, who has the sclate raidy, and 
 send ane express emediat at your arrival to my friend 
 John Stewart of Ardsheal. Or, if you think fitt still to goe 
 load these sclate, and return wt. them to this place, where 
 youl not be stopd three days, He give you 10 pound sterlin 
 of fraught, since hear the sclate is at present in demand. 
 But, if neither of these proposals doe, you most doe what 
 seams you best, and I most leave it to your fraughturss 
 to adjust matters wt. you. I have not gott the cokat for ye 
 loadning of meall, and doe think ye certificat for the un- 
 loadning ought to be hade at ye Costome house of Starna- 
 way ; but, if I hade the cokat, I think I could gett it done 
 at the costome hous of Marrybrugh. I have given your 
 express five shillings, as you ordred ; and I am, Sir, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 4 Jully 1729. 
 
 Mr. John Coutts [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour of 5 past and Id returned 
 ansuer or now but that I was mostly since in the High- 
 lands. I observe wt. wery much surprise what you write 
 about the inlake of the herins I bought for you, which I 
 cant understand ; and Ime shure it will be now too late to 
 look for redress from those who sold them. I have never 
 been advised yet from the Earel of Morray of my draught 
 on you for £150 sterlin to the sd. Earel of Morray on 
 account of our friend, Alexr. Strachin, be payed, of which 
 please advise me in return of this. I trouble you wt. the 
 inclosed from Leus Poison to John McBain, Messenger, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 331 
 
 who is wt. you, who, it seems, has payed £20 sterlin 
 to sd. Bain in pairt of the debts due Alex. Andrew, for he 
 got no recept but promised to procur you. Pray speak 
 to Mr. McBain, and advise me what is in this matter ; and 
 I am, Sir, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 12 Jully 1729. 
 
 For Drynauch. 
 
 I received yours of 4 instant, wt. the inclosed accot. 
 and bills for the walue of the cargoe of meall pr. William 
 Thomson. I think the accout is right, and I own the 
 recept of the £20 pound Baunk note last sent me, and 
 £65 16 8d. formerly sent me by John McLeod, your son. I 
 return you inclosed the five bills accepted, to witt, your 
 own and sons, and that accepted by Ullinish, Ballimenach, 
 and Ebost, that you may cause John McLeod, your nevoie, 
 who delivered the meall, sign them, wtout qch. they will 
 not be so formall as I could wish ; and I obledge my self 
 they will not recurr on him on any event. And, if you 
 pleas to allter your own bill and make it payable at Edr., 
 it will sute my convenience much better then to have it 
 payable at this toun, since most of all this money most be 
 payed at Abr. again Mertimess. And, if you pleass, may 
 add too the one and thirtie bolls you receved from Jeames 
 Innes, or send a seperat accepted bill for it, as you pleas, 
 but I rather the last. Youll likewise cause John McLeod 
 draw a bill on brother John for the tenn bolls given out 
 by his order, so that all matters may be clear. And please 
 give sd. John McLeod 40 sh. sterlin for his trouble, which 
 either pleace to my account or deduce from on of the bills. 
 I have dropt my design of sending meall to your cost, and 
 doe now send it south where there is better encouragement. 
 My wife is, thanks to God, in good health, and gives you 
 her duty, and bids me accquent you she depends on you 
 for butter again Merrimass mercat. 1 For God sake be 
 serrious wt. Scotas, and try if can persuad him to pay the 
 bills due me by Glengarry again Michalmass, being abut 
 £50 pound walue, and ile discount him a years interest of 
 
 1 Marymas market (September), still known in Gaelic as Feill Mhoire. 
 
332 
 
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 it ; for when I saw the Laird latly he swor upon honour 
 he had sattled a bond wt. Scotas for my payment again 
 Michalmass ; and I will have a great dale of money to pay 
 again nixt term. Give my service to brother Alexr., and 
 tell him I gott his letter and the guinie, and I will satisfie 
 the berar for his trouble. Return the inclosed bills as 
 soon as possible ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Pray advise me what orders you gave William Thomson 
 when he went for Coughach [Coigach], for he is returnd 
 home unballased, for which I am much blamed, and a 
 looser by it. 
 
 Inverness, 14 Jully 1729. 
 
 Son, — I have your favours of 3d, 8th, and 11th instant. 
 By the first I observed you have stopped £50 pound of 
 Mr. Lumsdales money design for the Earell of Morray, 
 I supose upon the credit of Collodens accepted bill, £45 
 sterlin, which is not payed me, tho have craved it tuentie 
 times ; but I care not to doe any thing thats offensive to 
 Collodens bill. I could heartaly wish you had made good 
 the £200 sterlin to ye E: of Morray, being too much and 
 too long in his debt, and I am affraid not in his good graces, 
 as I hav not yet any return of a Letter I wrote him the 
 first of June last, wt. the two bills I formerly mentioned. 
 However, I am glade they are payed, tho I have got no 
 recept for the money. Major Derurs bill was on John 
 Atkins, Esq., Secretary at war for N. Britain. I have not 
 hade yet time to consider your account current, but in 
 compareing of it wt. my book I find some diferance, of 
 which more per nixt. I am much surprised wt. the articele 
 of £5 sterlin charged for a Buckdealling to Wm. Beany, 
 which I sold in the Highlands for tenn shillings, the Dealls 
 being werry naughtie, and scarce good for nothing except 
 Lath for plaster. Pray send me the acount pr. first, for we 
 commonly pay in this Country for a Buckdealling much 
 better then Binies £20 Scots. And I wonder you agreed 
 to pay him for a pilot from Orkenie, since I know the one 
 he hade was hired at Leith, and tho he hade not such a 
 pillot was none of my concern. . . . 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 333 
 
 Invernes, 16th July 1729. 
 
 For the Earl of Murray. 
 
 My last to your Lops, was of 5th June last in which I 
 sent inclosed two bills payable to your Lops, for £200 st., 
 viz., by one bill on John Cutes [Coutts] for £l50,and 
 Major Daniel and John Aitkins, Secretary att Warr, for 
 £50 st: ; but to this hour I have no advice that thir bills 
 came to your Lops, hands, or were payd ; which creates 
 me some pain. I told your Lops, in my last I proposed 
 to wait on your Lops, att Dunibirstell early in July, but 
 I wrot to Mr. Maul the 14th Instant informing him of the 
 reasons made me lay aside that design for some weeks, 
 which I hope will be accepted as a good appology from 
 your Lops. And in the mean time I send your Lops, by 
 my freind Kellachie, 1 who will deliver this letter, £190 stl: 
 for which your Lops, will please to send me by him a receit 
 in part of my intromissions ; and I am, with much esteem, 
 etc. A note of the bills and money sent by Kellachie. 
 
 In small notes of the new Bank 2 . . . £68 : - : - 
 
 In two old Bank notes . . . . 40 : - : - 
 Petter Murdochs promissary notes payable be 
 
 Mr. James Blair in Edr. . . . . 30 : - : - 
 
 Edmund Burts bill on Alexr. Whitfoord . . 36 : - : - 
 Nine broad pices, 5 guineas, and six shillings 
 
 white money 3 . . . . . 16 : - : - 
 
 Inverness, 26 Jully 1729. 
 
 Mr. John Coutts. 
 
 Sir, — I receved your favour of 17th Current wt. the 
 following bill inclosed, Cubin 4 and Hugh Cambell, for 
 £10 : 12 sh. lOd. ster., Simon McKenzie and Collin McKenzie 
 of Coull for £1 9sh. 9d. ster, and Do. on Keneth McKenzie 
 of Assin £5 13sh. 9d. ster. How soon the two last bills are 
 
 1 Mackintosh of Kyllachy. 
 
 2 The New Bank — the Royal Bank of Scotland, founded in 1727. 
 
 3 White moneys silver. Same in French and in Gaelic. 
 
 4 See footnote 2, p. 253. 
 
334 
 
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 payed shall credit and advise you, and when Hugh Cambell 
 comes to town shall endeavour to procure acceptance on 
 the bill on him, and return it you. I ask pardon that I 
 have not sent you your Accout Current, which was occa- 
 siond by my being much from home of late, but you may 
 expect it pr. next post. The Bots who are looking for 
 the Herrins this week report that there are great shoals 
 in the furth, but continues still in depth water ; so cannot 
 yet be fished, so that again nixt nip tide, if the winds prove 
 westerley, we expect to have a fishing. I return you wt. 
 the inclosed obligation from Mr. Poison of Kinmillies for 
 £400 Scots in behalf of his brother Lodovick, Mr. Andrews 
 Debitor. Youl pleas deliver that Gentleman the inclosed 
 letter from me sealled, and see to get his accepted bill 
 for the money again Mertimass, in lew of the inclosed 
 obligation. 
 
 Inverness, 4 Agust 1729. 
 
 To Lord Lovat. 
 
 My Loud, — I had only ye pleasure to hear once from 
 your Lop. since you went from home, to which I made a 
 punctuall return by post. I most heartaly regrate what 
 you have since sustained in ye death of your most worthy 
 Lady and my good friend, but I shall not pretend to ofer 
 your Lop. any advice as to your conduck under such a 
 despensation of Divine providence, but only heartaly to 
 wish the same providence may provide a sutable remaidy 
 for your loss, and that of your hopefull childerin. My 
 Lord, I was concerned that your Lop, by your severall 
 letters to Baillie Frasar, seemed to take it amiss that I 
 endosd your accepted bill of £3 pound ster. to John Coutts, 
 which, indeed I hade not done if I hade known yt. your 
 Lop. did not propose to pay it when it fell due, notwt- 
 standing I payd your bill to provist Druman [Drummond] 
 puncutually. I am at a great loss not to know your Lop. 
 resolution about ye salmon, since any yt. I am to be 
 concrnd in this year most be exported emediatly, and so 
 should be sorry if any mistake hapend that way. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 335 
 
 Inverness, 9 Agust 1729. 
 
 Mr. Duncan Baillie [master of the Christian], 
 
 Aff: Cousin, — I hope this will find you safe arived at 
 Leith, and this to advise you that I have not yet concerted 
 about ye Desposall of the Bark after ye meall is unload, 
 but may surely expect my full orders by nixt post. I 
 desire you may advise what the Carpenders anchor is worth, 
 and caus weight it, for I design to keep it ; so you are only 
 to buy one new anchor to the Bark, and a new pert line, 
 and I hope you will doe all that lays in your powar to 
 manage so carefully and frugally and to make all possible 
 despatche, that so we may be mutually contented and 
 pleased wt. one and other. You may tell John Pape I 
 depend he will carefully notice my intrest aboard ye Bark, 
 that nothing be embazeled or lavishd. And I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, August 19, 1729. 
 
 Mr. Duncan Baillie [master of the Christian], 
 
 Sir, — I have yours of 14th instant adviseing of your 
 arrivall at Leeth ye 10th Int. and that you hoped to be 
 unloaden ye day of the date. I cannot understand how 
 my son has neglected to advise me about the meall, or 
 how its desposd off. Pray mind him to write me of it. 
 I am glade to find your Bark behaves weell, and in time 
 I hope to gett the fault mended you complain of. I observe 
 you are offered a fraught for London, but does not advise 
 of the terms ; so can say litle about it. However, I 
 would leave that affair wholly to your self ; but now, 
 thanks to God, we have the beginning of a fine herin fish- 
 ing, so that if you could gett any reasonable fraught north 
 I rather incline to it then that you should goe any where 
 els ; for, to be plain wt. you, I belive I could gett a werry 
 good fraught for the bark to goe wt. ye first of the Herins 
 to Gotinburg or Danswick. But, if you can not get some 
 reasonable fraught, you may embrace that offer for London, 
 makeing all posible despatch out and home. It is true 
 that I could gett a fraught from Holland, and would near 
 
336 
 
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 £40 ster: of it ; but, if can get near that for goeing to 
 London, I much rather it then run the rusk of ane ugly 
 smugling affair. I wish you could spare as much money 
 as would pay for the cable came north here, and a new 
 anchor. I earnestly entreat your outmost care and 
 despatch ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, Sepr. ye 9th, 1729. 
 
 For Kenneth Mackenzie of Dundonell. 
 
 I have your letter of ye 3d. Instant to Ken. Mackenzie 
 and nottice you have [want ?] verry much a Coupper to 
 packt the Laird of Assint Salmond, and for that end you 
 desire to send hoopps, which we think will be impracticable 
 over land, as it will be a vast Expense, more the subject 
 can bear, to send a Barque about of purpose to cary sd. 
 salmon. However, that we may ovide giving you any 
 just ground of complant agt. us, we have resolved to send 
 an Barque immediatly for sd. salmon, and therefor have 
 sent this per Express, that in ansuer to it you may advise 
 us pointedly how manny salmon cask youle have us send 
 for packing of Assint and Sands 1 fish and what quantity 
 of forregn salt ; and how manny last of herring Casks, and 
 salt conforme, youle have us lickways send by sd. Barque ; 
 which we are willing to furnish uppon our own risque pro- 
 viding you pay a resonable parte of the Barques fraight. 
 Pray be as particular as possible as to ye quantity of Sand 
 Salmon and the number of Cask to be sent him, and when 
 he will delyver the sd. salmon, and wher you would have 
 the herring Cask delyverd. And as this Bargan of salmon 
 is lick to tourn but to a verry small account, considering 
 the great charges we most be at, we cannot promise to pay 
 them befor Whitsunday nixt, which is the comon term 
 of paying salmon in this country. Pray despatch the 
 bearer with your full answer, since the Barque can nott 
 be despached itill it come ; and we are, with much esteem, 
 your most humble Servt. 
 
 Sand in Gairloch. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 337 
 
 Inverness, Sepr. 11th, 1729. 
 
 Messrs. Alexr. and James Coutts [London]. 
 
 My last was 28 Agust, since qch. I am favoured wt. none 
 of yours. I sent you in it Samuell Chaplains on Mr. Adair of 
 £6 ster., and now I send you inclosed bill Generall Charles 
 Syburg on Capt. John Rutherfoord, his agent, £173 ster., 
 which, tho not wery formerly drawn, I am persuaded will 
 be duly payed. If not, return it to me wt. protest. Mean 
 time I have drawn on you of this date for £150 ster. to the 
 order of John Coutts in Compy, payable 20 days after date, 
 which I hope will find due honour. Deliver the inclosed 
 letter advice to Capt. Rutherfoord, and, if he should refuse 
 the bill, may acquent Generall Syburg, who will be then in 
 London, wt. the fate of it. And, as the bill is not drawn 
 for value receved, I could wish when the bill is payed it 
 were cansaled. I long for the accot. of sealls for the 
 brandie. Our Herrin fishing is over, and not a hundred 
 and fiftie lasts caught in this furth ; and I am, Gentlemen, 
 etc. 
 
 Inverness, 19 Sepr. 1729. 
 
 Mr. John Strachin [Leith]. 
 
 Sir, — I receved your favour of 4th curt, and I hope you 
 will have or now diffrence adjusted wt. Mr. Thomson the 
 skippar, of which would be glade to be advised as soon as 
 possible, that when I know the amount of all charges I 
 may make out a stated accot. Mean time I send you in- 
 closed three wery good bills, amounting to six thousand 
 and sixty sixt merks, which makes £337 ster., viz: Rodrick 
 McLeod of Ulinish, payable 8th Octer. nixt, 2015 merks : 
 Norman McLeod of Drynach, payble first Nover., 2466 
 merks ; Donald McLeod of Ballimenach, payble 5 Octer., 
 1485 merks. How soon this comes to hand may write to 
 these gentlemen, who will be at Creef marcat wt. their 
 cattle, and accquent them you have there bills indossd by 
 me. They are responsall honest men, and I dout not the 
 bills will be honestly payed, so may advise me pr. first that 
 
 Y 
 
338 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 there bill wil come to your hand ; and, when payed, you 
 are to credit Wm. Simson wt. the same, being in part pay- 
 ment of oat meall sent for our accot. to the lie of Sky by 
 Wm. Thomson, of which one half for my accot. And 
 Nota I have remitted Mr. Wm. Simson £100 ster. on this 
 acot in May last. I observe Thomsons buckdalling is 
 desposd of to himself, and that you incline to keep the 
 Beam and weight for ane other occation rather then sell 
 it at too great a loss ; of which I approve. I entreat to 
 hear from you in course. 
 
 Inverness, 19 Sepr. 1729. 
 
 Son, — I wrote to you the 16th curt, by Donald Dingwall, 
 in qch. I requested to send me the accot of sealls of the 
 508 bolls meall sent you pr. the Christian of Inverness and 
 Scots Tarbats [Scotstarvet ?] acceptance for the same, as 
 you promised, as also the Earell of Murays recept for the 
 £150 ster. you charge payed him. And I likewise again 
 entreat you send me wtout loss of time the acot. of sealls 
 of the six hogsheads of wine, and 9000 sclate, for I have a 
 wast sume to clear again first Nover., so that I will require 
 to use all the bonds I am master off to support my credet ; 
 therefor pray you dont neglect what I recommend. When 
 my worthy friend Collinell Gest was here the other day, I 
 spoke to him about my affair wt. Collinell Lee, and he is 
 positive he will preveall wt. the Generall [Wade] to order 
 the Redgemet [Regiment] to pay me, and therefor desires 
 that you have a fair and destinct memoriall of the case 
 drawn up again the Generall comes to Edr., which will 
 be in eight days, which you are to give the sd. Collinell 
 Gest. And take notice in the memoriall that Collinell 
 Lee offred to compond this affair wt. me at this place in 
 his way south, but that I refused any abaitment of the 
 agreed for fraught, the ship being then come to Fort Wm. 
 to receve the bagage. I payed your bill of £10 ster. to 
 Barran Taylor, and he payed yours to Duncan Mcintosh 
 to about 30sh. Advise me frequently about Corn marcats 
 wt. you and in Ingland. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 339 
 
 Inverness, 19th Sepr. 1729. 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sir, — 1 receved your acceptable favour of 30th August 
 last, wt. the inclosed from Robert Gordon, of qch. will 
 take notice. I observe your Herrin fishing proves wery 
 bad, as our has done ; not a 150 last caught in this furth. 
 I entreat that how soon this comes to hand you advise me 
 if you think a barks loadning of salmon and Herrins would 
 not sell weel at Ostend or Bridges [Bruges], and, if you 
 think it would doe, to whome I should address at ether of 
 these ports ; or if such a cargo would doe at Camphier ; 
 as to which I bege your advice pr. first. 
 
 As to your affair wt. Lewes Poison, I wrote you formerly 
 what I got done, and I have sent his brothers obligation 
 to your frend John Coutts at Edr., in order to get ane 
 accepted bill payable in a few moneths in place of it ; and 
 Lewes promises to pay the ballance wery soon, but that he 
 will perform his promise I cannot say. Lachlan Mcintosh 
 promises to pay the Dutchmans money next moneth, and 
 I have told him if he fail he will be heartily prosecuted. 
 Robert McKays 1 ellopment makes a great noise here, and 
 is like to bring a hurrykain on some of his near friends. 
 I dont find he's looser by any in this place. I fancy youll 
 gett his costomars, and He advise you in due time wt. 
 whome you can deall safely and wt. whome not. I am, 
 wt. much esteem, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 19 Sepr. 1729. 
 
 Messrs. John Coutts and Compy. [Edinburgh]. 
 
 I wrote to you the 17 pr. Express anent the herrins, to 
 which have little to add at present, except that I have given 
 comission to a friend to buey all the small parcells he can 
 gett at £8 : 10 ster., bounty and all, for raidy money, which 
 I belive will doe wt. some better then £7 : 5 at Mertimass, 
 and the bounty to the sellar, but as yet know not the Sucess 
 of this Comission. I give you the trouble of the inclosed bill 
 
 Robert Mackay, merchant, Rotterdam. 
 
340 
 
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 for 1299 merks Scots payable first of October nixt at Alexr. 
 Bars hous in Creef. It is accepted by Wm. McLeod, a wery 
 honest Gentleman. If can find any sure hand goeing to 
 sd. marcat send the bill, and the money will be punctu- 
 ally payed. If not, you may write a Letter to the 
 Gentleman adviseing him to send it along wt. his brother 
 Ballimenachs money, which is payable to John Strachan 
 in Leeth 5 Octor nixt. When the same is payed place to 
 my credet pr. accot. £72 : 3 : 4 ster. ; which at present is 
 all from, etc. 
 
 I likeways send you inclosed bill Joseph Averie, accepted 
 be William and James Morisons, for £6 sterlin, payble the 
 29 curt. ; which, if not payed, let it be protested. 
 
 Inverness, the 27th Sepr. 1729. 
 
 Messrs. John Coutts and Compy. [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I receved your favours of 10 and 20 curt., 
 the first of qch. 5 Dansuick bills for acceptance, which are 
 returned inclosed accepted. I got likewise the letters of 
 arestment at the instance of our Dutch merchants, and 
 have cased execute the same by aresting in the hands of 
 Wm. McKay and Compy., and all others I judged Credetors 
 of Robert McKay, late of Roterdame ; but doe fear these 
 letters, wt. ye executions, canot be returned this post. . . . 
 I sent you last post bill Wm. McLeod of Ebost for £72 : 3 : 4 
 ster. and bill Joseph Averie acceptd by Wm. and James 
 Morisons for £6 ster., which I hope are both payed, and I 
 wallued in you the 26 currt. for £10 ster. to the order of 
 Duncan Grant 1 of this place at three days sight to which 
 I desire your Complyance ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, Mh October 1729. 
 
 Son, — I receved yours of 29 Seper., and doe note its 
 Contents ; but I am just now so tormented wt. a violent 
 foot of the Gout that I know not what to say. Only let 
 me eranestly request you to send me by return this Scots 
 
 Merchant, Inverness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 341 
 
 Tarbats excepted bill for 508 bolls meall, and the Earell of 
 Morrays recept for the £150 ster. charged payed him by 
 you for my acot. ; for I cannot stir from this south till I 
 have got these voutchers, since the first I design to make 
 up a part of my Mertimass debts, and wtout the other I 
 cannot make up my accots. wt. the Earell of Morray. 
 Wm. Ross in Chenorie has got the quantity of salmon you 
 want to dispose of, and has promised to write you this 
 post of them. 
 
 Inverness, 4 October 1729. 
 Messrs. Alexr. and James Coutts [London]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I receved your favour of 20th past, wt. the 
 inclosed bill on Andrew Monro for £22 : 0 : lid. ster., 
 which I herewt. return you accepted. I observe wt. re- 
 grate the poor price you mention for the Brandie in Com- 
 pany. I hope and expect it will sell much better then 
 what you mention, tho there is ane acot. of seals sent hre 
 leatly by Mr. Crafart of some Dutch Brandie that he sold 
 for 6sh. pr. gallon, and its hard that ours, which is of 
 much better quality, doe not sell at much better price. I 
 thank you for the kind offer you make of advancing some 
 money on the Brandie rather then sell it at ane under 
 price ; and I most acept of your offer, since I have a great 
 dale of money to pay again nixt term. 
 
 This comes chiefly to advise that how soon this comes 
 to hand you insure for my acot. on the Bark Christian of 
 this place, Duncan Baillie, Master, from this to Loch 
 Broom upon the West Cost ; I say on the hold of sd., and 
 the Cargoe, salt and Cask of fishing stors aboard, £150 
 ster., at as cheap a premium as you can. Advise me of 
 your Complyance pr. first. Nota, the sd. Bark sailed the 
 Day before yesterday wt. a fair wind to the Orknies, and 
 is a slender new bark of 34 tuns burden. 
 
 Inverness, Sber ye 4>th, 1729. 
 
 Ladie Asint. 
 
 Madam, — This will be delyvered you by our Coupper, 
 John McPherson, who is sent to pack your salmond Dun- 
 
342 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 donald sold us ; and we have sent by the Barke Christian 
 of this place, Duncan Baillie, master, three last of salmon 
 Cask, or as manny as will be necessary for packing your 
 last salmond. Ther is lickways sent salt, in order to pay 
 what salt has been wasted out on salmon, at the raite of 
 half boll pr. barell as is usuall. And after the sd. salmon 
 is packed and shipped, youle please take sd. Duncan 
 Bailies, the shipmaster, his recept for the number of 
 barells shipped, which will oblidge us accept bill for the 
 vallue conform to Argeement wt. Dundonell. We heartily 
 regrait the vesell we have sent for ye salmon happen be 
 so small that she could carry no herring cask. If happened 
 be otherways would have willing sent what salt and Cask 
 your Laps, wanted, being, with much esteem, Mad., Your 
 Laps, most humble Sert. 
 
 Inverness, Sber ye Uh, 1729. 
 
 To Mackenzie of Sand [Gairloch]. 
 
 Sir, — This will be delyvered you by our Coupper, John 
 McPherson, who is going to pack the six last Salmond 
 you engadged to delyver us, and we have sent by ye bark 
 Christian of this place, Duncan Baillie, master, six last 
 salmond Cask and thirtie six boll foreign salt for packing 
 the salmond and paying what salt was expended on them 
 as is usuall. Howsoon the Bark is despached at Loch 
 Inver she is to proceed to little Loch Broom or Loch Ew ; 
 but we are ashured that ye last named place will be most 
 Comodious for Gairloch and you, and safer for ye shipp. 
 We hopp youle order her to go there. We have advised 
 ye master, if possible, to delyver at ye He of Gruinard 
 what salt and Cask wil pack your salmond ; but, as this 
 is ane unsafe place, we begg it of you not to detain the 
 Bark there, but let the salmon be despached to a con- 
 venient harbour after packed, and for what salmond is 
 shipped you are to take Duncan Baillie shippmaster his 
 recept in our name, which will oblidge us to grant bills 
 for the ballance conform to agreement. I again entreat the 
 Bark gett all possible despach ; and we are, Sir, Your 
 humble Sert. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 343 
 
 To Duncan Bailie, Master of the Christian. 
 
 Inverness, 8ber ye 4>th, 1729. 
 
 This will be delyvered you by John McPherson and 
 Allexr. Lyon our Couppers, who goes to pack your sal- 
 mond. We entreat you enjoine them nott to receve anny 
 but such as are well cured, cleain fish ; and, when you are 
 despached at Loch Inver, you are to grant recept to ye 
 Ladie Assint for what you gett on board there, and then 
 yow are to proceed to Little Lochbroom or Loch Ew, as 
 McKenzie of Sand will derect you. Butt, if possible, we 
 desire you delyver at ye lie of Gruinard what will be re- 
 quired for packing what fish he has there ; but we leave 
 this to your own prudent conduct. When yow have re- 
 ceived at little Lochbroom or Loch Ew, as is sd., what 
 salmond Sand is to delyver, which we suppose will be six 
 last, we desire you grant recept in our name to sd. Sand ; 
 and, when all is on board, full upp the two inclosed stamped 
 bills of loadening in name of John Steuart and Comp., 
 mentioning the number of barrells you have gott in the 
 same, to be consigned to Allexr. Gordon and Comp. at 
 Burdu, and the fraught to be as per Charter partie. And 
 you are to send us this two bills of Loadning wt. ye couppers 
 and keep the 3d. unstamped to yourself. When you are 
 thus disspached you are to proceed to Starnway in ye Lews, 
 wher you are to delyver Kenneth McKenzies letter to 
 Mr. Johnston, ye Collecter, and wher you are to cause 
 Mr. Zachary McAulay or anny other responsible enter the 
 cargo outward as Agent for Mr. Jo: Steuart, and, if possible, 
 gett a debentour exped while you are there, to be for- 
 warded to Kenneth Mackenzie or John Stewart pr. first 
 ocasion, and let the debenter be certified on ye board 
 of Custome ; and mind who ever enters the salmon as 
 agent is to indorse the debenter to John Steuart, or as 
 he pleases. And for what Custome house fees you agree 
 to pay to Mr. Johnstown and ye oyr oficers, you are to 
 draw on us for the same, which shall be punctually payed. 
 But in case the wind blow so easterly that you can nott 
 fech the Lews, you are in that case to go to the Orkanes 
 
344 
 
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 and clear and Exeped debenters there by the Advise of 
 Hugh Baillie, Collector ther ; but we much rather you go 
 to the Lews for despach sake. And when you are quite 
 cleared at either of those ports, you are to make the best 
 of your way for Burdeux, adviseing us without faile from 
 every port you touch at. And when you arive at Burdeux, 
 you are to Adress yourself to Mr. Allexr. Gordon, who will 
 have the necessary orders about reloading of your shipp. 
 And if anny missfortown should befall your shipp in ye 
 outward woadge (which we pray God forbid), you are to 
 be shure to make the proper declairations and affidavits 
 before a proper Magistratt, which you are to forward us, or 
 to Mr. Allexr. Couts and Comp. at London, by post. Ac- 
 quent us soon as possible from the last port you sail from 
 the Highlands, that we may order our insurance conform ; 
 and be shure of that port in your deposition, in case of a 
 missforton. We have sent you three pounds sterling by 
 the coopers, for which send us your recept, promiseing to 
 compt for the same. We pray God send you a prosperous 
 safe voadge, and we remain, etc., Your aft. humble servts. 1 
 
 Inverness, 15 Nover. 1729. 
 
 For Mr. Wm. Stivens, at Cullinokyle 2 [in Strathspey], 
 
 Sir, — I receved your favour of 10 curt, wt. the inclosed 
 for Mr. Linn, which I fear doeth return, haveing sett off 
 from this a few hours before your letter cam to my hand. 
 I observe your orders about sending down a hogshead of 
 wine to be bottled off here, and the same will be raidy for 
 bottling again the end of next week, as will the half hogs- 
 head which Mr. Linn wanted. The remainder of your 
 Candles, much about the quantitie sent you, has been raidy 
 by me for some days past. I was telling Mr. Linn at part- 
 
 1 The parties to the joint adventure were Duncan Grant, Kenneth Mackenzie, 
 junior, and John Steuart, all merchants in Inverness. Each was interested to 
 the extent of one-third. 
 
 2 William Stephens, manager of the York Buildings Company, which in 1728 
 took a lease from Sir James Grant of the pine woods of Abernethy. See Sir 
 William Fraser's Chiefs of Grant, vol. i. p. xcix. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 345 
 
 ing that after the wine you want is sent for, it will doe me a 
 favour if you drew on bill on Edr. for all the wine and 
 candles sent you and ye other Gentlemen, of which I will 
 send you ane accot. when the wine goes off ; or, if you 
 pleas to pay it in the shape you propose yourself, its equall 
 to me ; what you pleas will be agreeable. What clean 
 bottles you send shal be descounted of the Accot. There 
 is 240 Candles sent and to be sent, which at 6d. per pound 
 is £6 ster. ; which, wt. my humble service to Mr. Linn, is 
 all at present from etc. 
 
 Inverness, March 27, 1730. 
 
 Son, — I receved yours of 13 Current wt. the inclosed 
 charter partie contracted with John Watson, Shipmaster in 
 Leith, and now I wish that bargan hade not been concluded, 
 for last night I was advised from several hands that the 
 project I designt wt. the loadning of Meall to be put wt. yt. 
 Barque will not doe, there being great quantities of Eirish 
 meall sold on the West Coast, some of it ©sixpence pr. peck ; 
 and Mr. Salmar, Generall Syburgs broyr in law, has bought 
 lately from on Mackun, a Kintire man, 250 bolls of Irish 
 meall @ 8sh. 6d. pr. boll which is less then the Gentlemen 
 in Banfsheir demand for yr. meall ; so I entreat you ad- 
 vise me pr. first if I could sell a small cargo of meall wt. 
 you, and the outmost I could expect, and when payll, for 
 I belive I am engaged wt. 600 bolls in Banfsheir and would 
 rather be much send it to Leith or any place in the furth 
 [of Forth] so as I could avoid loss rather then rusque it to 
 ye west coast to a certain prospicable loss. Mean time I 
 think Sr. John Shaw, or his managers, that are paid for 
 keeping off of Irish meall, ought to be a prize to this [ap- 
 prised of this], and if you should take your own prudent 
 way to aprise the comssr. of Costoms of the practice of 
 porting Eirish meall to the West cost and Inverlochie, so 
 as they may repremand the officers there for coniveing 
 at such practices, since its plain, what ever fals shame 
 clearances such meall may have, the same is certainly 
 brought from Ireland, since no place in the west of Scot- 
 land can affoard meall near so shape. Your endeavours to 
 
346 
 
 the letter-book OF 
 
 put a stope to such meall trade will be good service done 
 to this country in Generall and to me in particular ; and, 
 as I design to go for Inverlochie nixt week, I am resolved 
 to enquire into ye clearances came wt. this meall lately 
 landed ther. . . . Pleas send me wt. sd. Chalmers, as I 
 formerly advised, 4 Chest oranges, 20 of Seville and 20 of 
 Chena, provideing they be fresh and good and not too dear. 
 Send me likewise 4 bolls of Ry Grass seed, of which Mr. 
 Teitler will inform you. 
 
 Inverness, 28 March 1730. 
 
 Messrs. Alexr. and James Coutts [London]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — This comes chiefly to advise you that the 
 Barque Christan of this place, Duncan Baillie, master, on 
 which you made £240 insurance on my Accott., is safely 
 arived at Burdo, and, as I supose will be very soon clear to 
 part from thence Homeward, I desire that how soon this 
 comes to hand you will insure for my Accott. on sd. Barque 
 and her cargoe of Wine, etc., £150 ster. againest all hazards, 
 wt. priveledge to sd, Barque to Return hither by the Eirish 
 Chanell, and to call in the sound of Mull near Fort William, 
 and from thence to this place by ye Orknies ; and may 
 place the premium to my Accott., and advise me of your 
 complyance pr. first. I long much to have the Accott. 
 of Sales of Brandy, wt. my Accott Current. Deliver the 
 enclosed to Mr. Win. dimming wt. you ; if not, return it 
 to Edr. pr. post ; and advise of the prices of Barly and oats 
 of this country, and what ffrench Brandy gives wt. you ; 
 and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, Aprile 17, 1730. 
 
 Mr. Donald Mackinteere [Fort William]. 
 
 We 1 desire imediatly you make the best of your way to 
 Ardsheall, to whome you will deliver my Letter, and after 
 concerting wt. him the needfull anent the desposale of 
 Duncan Baillies Cargo, you are to repair on board sd. 
 
 Duncan Grant, Kenneth Mackenzie, junior, and John Steuart. See p. 344, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 347 
 
 Duncan Baillie's Barke, deliver him my Letter, by which 
 he is derected to proceed wt. his Bark and Cargo as you 
 advise. And you have here with a bill of Loadning in- 
 dossed to you for 240 Ankers Brandy, 118 Quarter Casks 
 Do., and 9 hhds. Claret, and 6 half hhds. white wine. The 
 Brandy you are to despose of to the best aveall, but if 
 possible not under 25 sh. pr. Anker ; and the same in pro- 
 portion for the qr. Casks. And since a quarter cask is 
 not reckonened equal to two Ankers, you are to descount 
 about half a crown of the price of 2 Ankers for each qr. 
 Cask. And be sure you gett the qr. Casks first deposed 
 off, being generally not so vendable as ankers. And you 
 are likewise, incase that the buyers doe not think fitt to 
 full up there casks on board, to allow five pr. ct. for the 
 Lakage, that is ane anker or qr. Cask to the Score. And 
 you are to trust no liquor but by the advise of Ardsheall 
 or his son Mr. Charles ; and you are to take bills for the 
 same payll here or at Ardshealls dwelling house, at as 
 short time as you can, not exceeding six moneths after the 
 delivery of the goods. And Nota that Ardsheall is to take 
 80 Ankers brandy @ 25 sh. pr. Anker, payll in six moneths ; 
 and Capt. Cambell is to take a Tunn or five hhds. wine, 
 the Claret, @ £10 pr. hhd. ; and what remains you are to 
 sell it to Ardsheall @ £8 pr. hhd., Claret and white wine, 
 provideing after you have teasted the same and descoursed 
 Duncan Baillie, you find it is not high prist strong wine 
 and has not lost above 400 Livers pr. tunn, in which case 
 it cannot be sold under £10 pr. hhd. ; for all which you are 
 to take Acepted bills. And if you find the Cargo cannot 
 sell theire but wery sloly where the veshell now lays, it is 
 fitt that you make the outmost despatch to go from thence, 
 since it may be hazardous to lay any considerable time in 
 the sound of Mull. And if you find that the Cargo Cannot 
 sell there you are to proceed to Kainloch moudart to the 
 North ward, and give him what Brandy he '11 take at the 
 same rate as to Ardsheall, takeing his bills for the same 
 payll in six moneths at furthest ; and what remains after- 
 wards of the Cargoe you are to proceed to South Uist, and 
 sell what you can there for ready money, for as we are not 
 
348 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 accquented in that country we cannot advise to give any 
 trust there, unless it be to Clan ranald, to whome deliver 
 my letter. And from Uist you are to proceed to Dum- 
 vegan loach in the lie of Sky, from whence youll derect 
 my letters to Donald McLeod, the tutors son, and Wm. 
 McLeod of Ebost, who will assist you about the desposale 
 of what may remain of the Cargo ; and if it cannot sell there 
 you are to proceed to Portree, where you will address your 
 self to Donald Mackdonald the Tutors son and Alexr. 
 McDonald of Knockow, to whome you may trust what 
 they Call for as above derccted ; but if possible gett there 
 bills pay 11 again Michallmass att Edr. Upon the whole 
 matter I leave all to your own prudent management, but 
 would encline if possible that the whole cargo were de- 
 sposed off on that Cost, since in that event you are to order 
 Duncan Baillie to proceed to Esdale to load Sclate for this 
 place, or for Leith for Accot. of James Simm Sclater att 
 Edr. If the liquor cannot sell in the He of Sky there will 
 be a necessity that you proceed wt. the Bark to the Kyle, 
 where my father in law and his son Alexr. McLeod will 
 assist you to despose of a part. And Nota that you have 
 on board besides the Companies, 2 Tunns Brandy and one 
 Tunn of wine which you are to deliver to any haveing thre 
 order, I say the order of John and Alexr. Mackeods or 
 Alexr. Rose. 
 
 Inverness, 18 Apr He 1730. 
 
 Ffor Duncan Baillie. 
 
 I hade yours yesternight of 13 Currt. to Ardsheall, which 
 was sooner then I expected. However, this will now be 
 delivered you by Donald Mackinteere, whose orders you are 
 to follow about the desposale of your Cargo. And 1 en- 
 treat that no pains or time be spared to gett the whole of 
 it sold, since I doe not encline that any part of it should 
 come about here, there being great quantities of the like 
 already landed here, and very little encouragement besides 
 a great dale of risque and charges. I am aprehensive 
 there may be great danger in your laying any time in the 
 sound of Mull, and therefore I hope my friends will order 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 349 
 
 matters so that no time be lost. Let all you are to unload 
 there be put to shoar together, so as your lying make no 
 great noice. And I think fitt your self and sloop take 
 borrowed names, and that it be not known the shipe belongs 
 to this place. If the whole Cargo be sold I encline you load 
 the Bark with sclate for this place, or Leith, as you can 
 best agree wt. your Crew. And I hope and depend youll 
 doe every thing most for my intrest. And take speciall 
 notice that none of the goods be embasled. I give this 
 last caution because I am told there is a person on board 
 who has a costome of useing freedome that way. 
 
 Inverness, 25 Apr He 1730. 
 
 ffor Collinell Guest. 
 
 Dr. Sr., — Since I wrote you in ffebruary last from Leith, 
 I have not been favoured with any letter from you. I wrote 
 you then fully, and sent you severall dockaments about 
 a Clame I hade on Collinell Lee in My Lord Cardogans 
 Regement, and I long to hear of the sucess of the same. 
 I likewise told you that how soon I gott home I would 
 shipe off for the Barracks of Bernera, conform to your 
 orders, 200 bolls meall and 100 bolls Barly. Now this 
 serves chiefly to advise you that I have freighted for your 
 Accot. and my own the shipe Margat of Leith, John 
 Wattson, Master, to carrie sd. Meall and bear, which is 
 just now a loading, and which falls payable the meddle of 
 nixt moneth, and therefor have valued on you of this date 
 to the order of Messrs. Alexr. and James Coutts, Merctts. 
 in London, pay 11 eight days after sight, for £63 ster., which 
 I doubt not will be punctually honoured ; and pr. nixt 
 post I hope to send you envies and bill of Loadning for the 
 sd. Meall and bear, which I hope will be to your content- 
 ment, and will then value on you for the ballance ; which 
 at present is all from, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 25 Aprile 1730. 
 ffor Major James Abercrombie. 
 
 I receved your Acceptable favour of 10th Current by 
 Mr. Bell, and I am much ashamed I did not write you 
 
350 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 before now of what I gott done in your affairs. Your friend 
 Cheves has payed none of his bill, and seems to be angrie 
 with your letter, and is not positive when he will pay. 
 James ffraser^the major, has given me £7 : 8 sh. ster. in part 
 of the bill due by him, and promises daly the rest, but has 
 often failed. Meantime value on me for what is paid. As 
 for John Cambell I hear he is quartering for Cess in Cath- 
 ness, so cannot reach him, so must wait till his return. 
 
 I send you enclosed recept Wm. Bachop, shipmaster in 
 Leith, for 7 Chests arms, 3 halberts ; and there is a serjant 
 and four men gone with the Bark. I suppose each Chest 
 will cost about 4sh. freight, and the men pay 5sh. each for 
 their passage as is useuall. I heartaly wish you joy and 
 prosperity in your new post, and I sencerly am with esteem, 
 Dr. Sr. 
 
 Inverness, 2 May 1730. 
 
 For Donald Mclntere. 
 
 I receved yours of 26 past from Loach Brackadale, 
 and am exceedingly well pleased that you gott cleare of 
 Colector McKneele, in whose pockat I hope to breack an 
 egge very soon, being persuaded his expedition to Loach 
 alien [Lochaline in Morven] was only against you. My 
 brother Allexr. and John McLeods, who are boath here, 
 doe send you orders to deliver the wine and Brandy to there 
 brother in Law Wm. McLeod, and are very glade it was 
 not receved by the Baillie of Morvin, tho I know they sent 
 orders to you pr. ane express to that Countrie, which it 
 seems did not oertake you. As to what concerns Keneth 
 McKenzie, as I wrote to you formerly to doe, I now that 
 you may despose of his wine and Brandy as you doe mine. 
 I know of no new orders to give you about the desposale of 
 the Cargoe, only that I am told that is great penurie just 
 now over all the Highlands belonging to Seaforth and that 
 Ardleach, Achterdonald, 2 and John McKenzie, Garlochs 
 
 1 Major Fraser of Castle Leather, near Inverness, author of Major Eraser's 
 Manuscript. 
 
 2 Lady Assint's manager. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 351 
 
 Uncle, will buy a good quantity. But I must leave it to 
 your own managment entirely to despose of matters as 
 you think proper, only that John and Alexr. think it very 
 hazardous that the Barke carie any of her Cargo back 
 thro' the Sound of Mull, but that rather a large boat be 
 hired, and a Trustie agent along with what Ardsheall is 
 to gett. And John and Alexr. McLeods makes mention of 
 one Normand McLeod, who was lately here, to be sent 
 along with it, and the liquor to be covred with packs of 
 strea, as if the boat hade in victuall, or feathers, or woole ; 
 but how far it will be proper to try this expedement your- 
 self will be able best to judge. Only I am of oppinion 
 whatever you doe with the Brandy that the wine will spoill 
 this time of year. Give my service to Duncan Baillie, who 
 I hope will not be backward any thing concerning my 
 intrest, and I shall have a due regard to his time and pains. 
 But if you find that the Cargo cannot sell on that Coast, 
 most try all round with it to the Orknies ; and what re- 
 mains most be run here, where it is a very poor comodity 
 at present. So refferring you to my former instructions, 
 I remain, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 4 May 1730. 
 
 To Donald Macintyre. 
 
 Dr. Don:, — I have litle to add to what you receved pr. 
 the express, but that Simon McKenzie, Gruinards son, is 
 to take seven or eight tunns of Brandy at Garloch ; but, if 
 with what Ardsheall is to gett, the whole go off in the He 
 of Sky, I think you need not go to Garloch. I am advised 
 that McKneele came on porpose from Marieburgh to seize 
 the Barke, and missed you only by two hours. And now 
 I know not how safe it may be for you to go Back throu' 
 the Sound of Mull ; so I leave it to your self to manage 
 and despose of all as you think best. And if all can 
 be sold in the North, I am easy about sending any 
 Cargo South, altho the wine came about with the Bark 
 hither ; that is, if you send it good, and in no hazard of 
 spoiling. 
 
352 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 4 May 1730. 
 
 Mr. George Duglass [Merchant. Fort William]. 
 
 I receved your favour of 2d. Instant, and doe observe 
 the progress Colector McKneele made in the Sound of Mull. 
 I observed the design of that expedition was wholly in- 
 tended against Duncan Bailie, to which He say nothing at 
 present, but I aprehend he could not be toutched if he had 
 been overtaken. . . . 
 
 Messrs. Alexr. and James Coutts [London]. 
 
 Inverness, 8 May 1730. 
 
 My last to you was of 25 Aprile, since which I have 
 none from you. I then advised you that I drew on you of 
 that date for £63 ster., £50 of which pr. first and second 
 bill to the order of Wm. Mcintosh, senior of this place, 
 and £13 to the order of Dun: Monroe, chrurgon here, and 
 for your reimburse. I sent you inclosed my bill of same 
 date on Collinell Joseph Guest, Barack master for Scotland, 
 for the like sume of £63 ster: payll at eight days sight ; and 
 I hope these severall bills are duly honoured. I send you 
 now inclosed my bill of this date at 4 days sight for 
 £63 : 10 : 4 ster., on sd. Collinell Guest, which I doubt not 
 will likewise find due Honour. I have been obledged to 
 draw on you of this date to the order of the above men- 
 tioned Wm. Mcintosh, £63 : 10 ster. by first and second 
 bills, payll 10 days after sight, which I hope will find due 
 honour. 
 
 Inverness, 9 May 1730. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Carmichall [Merchant, Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sr., — I receved your favours of 9th, 11th, 13th Aprile 
 last. In the first I observed you have been at some pains 
 enquering about the desposale of meall I proposed then 
 to send to your furth ; for qch. I thank you, but now I 
 have dropt that design, finding no encouragement wt. you. 
 As to salmond I can easily furnish you what will make 
 up with Lord Lovatt Salmond 200 Barrells, and have 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 353 
 
 actualy secured about 60 already again the propr. season 
 of shipeing, but doe belive more will be wanted to make 
 up your number, since I understand my Lord Lovat fishes 
 but sloly this year. His Lop. receved the 40 Barells salt 
 came by James Chalmers, and since I receved 34 Barells 
 consigned by Ezra Thomson on Capt. Edmans of Londons 
 shipe, for which I paid 34sh. ster: of freight as Mr. Thomson 
 ordred ; and I send you inclosed my Lord Lovats doers 
 recept for the same, so that now I suppose they will have 
 salt enough. Your Walnutts go verie sloly off, there being 
 yet 15 Bushells on hand, there being another parcle came 
 lately here, which were sold at 18 sh. pr. Bushell. 
 
 Inverness, 9th May 1730. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sr., — I receved your favour of 2d. Instant desireing the 
 Character of Donald McPherson, Merct. of this place. 
 He is imputed a man of verie good substance and credet, 
 and one you are verie safe to deall wt., but at present 
 happens to be verie ill of a Decay, and in case of his death, 
 which is much feared, it may take some time for your 
 bills answer, tho I am persuaded there will be no hazard 
 of loss. I am to write you fully by a shipe goeing from 
 hence with recruts for the Scots Redgements in Holland, 
 so shall only trouble you to give my most humble service 
 to Mrs. Andrewes, and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 18 May 1730. 
 
 Mr. John McLeod [Glenelg, Drynach's son]. 
 
 Sir, — Being advised of the 14th Curtt. that those I de- 
 pended on in Argile Shire for takeing a large quantity of 
 the Brandy pr. D: B: [Duncan Baillie] are supplyd by 
 Somervile 1 at 10/ pr. Gallon, and nine months for pay- 
 ment, which are terms I cannot goe in to, therefore I 
 entreat howsoon this comes to hand you forward the 
 
 1 Merchant in Renfrew. 
 
 Z 
 
354 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 inclos'd to Donald Mclntier, wherever you hear of him, and, 
 if as yet in the Isle of Sky, I would earnestly entreat that 
 you and your Broyr give all the concurrance you can to 
 get what of the Cargoe is not dispos'd of at Garloch sold 
 wt. you to good hands, which can doe noe harm to your 
 intrest, as it will be but a small parcell to the whole Island, 
 only Seven Tons ; for I am now not inclin'd that the 
 barque return to the Sound of Mull at this time, there being 
 little good to be expected that way, besides a great deall 
 of risque and charges, for you see Somervile has knocked 
 that trade in the head by his Marseills Brandy, which can 
 be sold much cheaper than that from Bordeaux. So, as I 
 have said, if it be possible to sell any where about the 
 Isle of Sky I doe not incline to send the Barque or any part 
 of the cargoe southward. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 18th May 1730. 
 
 Mr. Donald Mclntier, 
 
 Sir, — I hade a letter of the 14th Currt. from Ardsheall 
 in which he advises me that, tho' the Barque goe his 
 length, he is not able to doe us any service, in respect, as 
 he says, that Capt. Campbell has resil'd from his bargain 
 wt. me, as allso that the whole Country is overstock' d with 
 Brandy by Somervile, who sells at 10/ pr. Galln, and trust 
 from six to nine months. So 1 reckon there 's noe good to 
 be done that way equall to the risque and expence it will 
 be to goe Southward ; but yet I am at a loss what to 
 advise, except to tell you that I have written of this date 
 to Jno. McLeod, my Broyr in Law, to give you all the 
 assistance he can to see to get of the half of the Cargoe in 
 
 Sky and about it. And the other half of the B dy you 
 
 are to deliver to Simon McKenzie at Garloch, as I formerly 
 advis'd, who has my orders to that purpose to be deliver'd 
 you. I am persuaded that, if the Barque goe not South- 
 ward, the wine must come about here, and should it so 
 happen there is noe help must see to make the best of it. 
 But then you are to acquaint us timeously where we are 
 to look for you in this Firth, as allso how much Brandy 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 355 
 
 you arc obliged to carry about here. And, if it so happen 
 that any part of the cargoe, particularly the Brandy, 
 come this way, I could wish you came along, since by 
 Application to my good freind the Lady Burray, 1 who 
 was here lately, you may come to get what wine and 
 Brandy you have sold in that Country to good responsall 
 men ; but, should that faill, you must run express, advise- 
 ing of what you have on board, and you shall meet the 
 proper directions at Tarbatness. I wrote to Montrose to 
 try if Mr. Betty will employ the Barque to carry his cod 
 fish from Garloch to Cromartie. If that happen it will be 
 easie to save what may be on board at Cromartie ; and, 
 should you put in there, you are for certain reasons to tell 
 Jno. Haldane that I only am concern'd. But will write 
 you more fullie of this when we hear from you from the 
 Orkneys ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 20 May 1730. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Andrews [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sir, — I wrote you the 9th Current pr. post in answer to 
 yours of 2d. Current anent Donald McPherson, who I hear 
 is on the way of recoverie as to his health, being gon to 
 the Highlands to drink Goats milk. I trouble you with 
 the inclosed for which may forward under your cover as 
 derected how soon it arives, and when any answer comes 
 to your hand, forward it by sea with some shure hand 
 comeing to this furth. I want for my famelys use a pice 
 of Cotton muslin from 20 to 24 f, and half pice cambrick 
 muslen, and a pound best cork indigoe, and will look for 
 the four pounds Bohea Tea I called for in my letter in 
 favours of Keneth Mackenzie Junior ; so may send the 
 muslin and Indigo pr. David Nisbat, by whome this goes. 
 Receve inclosed ane obligatory letter from Mr. John 
 Coutts and Company for Mr Poison of Kinmilies his Bond 
 of 400£ Scots, payll to them on your Accott in part of what 
 Lewies Poison owes you ; and I am, Sir, etc. 
 
 1 Wife of Sir James Stuart of Burray in Orkney. 
 
356 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 26 May 1730. 
 
 [Ardsheall]. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — My last was of 18th Inst, in answer to yours 
 of 12th and 14th Currt., which I sent under cover to George 
 Dowglass, desireing him forward the same pr. express on 
 my charges, which I hope he has accordingly done. This 
 comes to advise you that Just now I have a letter from 
 Donald Mclntier, in which he tells me that, haveing dis- 
 posed of the Gross of the Cargoe to the Northward, he 
 designs to goe directly for you with as much of the Cargoe 
 
 as you and I agreed for, to wit 80 Ankers b dy and two 
 
 Tons wine for yourself, and a Ton Claret for Capt. Camp- 
 bell, so that I entreat when he comes the goods may be 
 immediatly unload and the Barque dispatched to Isedale 
 to load slate, for which purpose you '11 deliver the inclosed 
 to Duncan Baillie. Now, as to secureing Collr. McNeill, I 
 leave that point entirely to yourself, and, if you think it 
 necessary it be done, 1 am willing you give him five Guinneas ; 
 but, in case Duncan Baillie has any more goods on board 
 than what you agreed for, it must be likewise unload for 
 our accot. and Risque that are concern'd, unless Merchts. 
 can be secured for it, which I hope youll endeavour ; but 
 in any event all must be taken out of the barque so as we 
 incurr noe furder risque that way, so must leave matters 
 to your own prudent manadgement entirely, and Donald 
 Mclntiers, whom I advise not to be seen at Maryburgh in 
 his comeing home for reasons you may easily guess. I like- 
 wise desire that the Barque and the Master goe under other 
 names than what they appear'd in when at Lochalin. 1 
 have noe furder to add, but to give my most humble ser- 
 vice to your Lady and son, and all your familie ; and I am. 
 
 P:S: In my letter under George Dowglass' s cover I 
 desired you might send down your Nephew Dowgall, fur- 
 nished with cloaths and linnen, and will take a tryall of 
 him till Martinmass ; so may send him when you please, 
 and by all means enquire what came of the above 
 mentioned letter. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 357 
 
 Inverness, 26 May 1730. 
 
 Mr. Duncan Baillie. 
 
 Afft. Cousen, — I hope this will find you safe, and 
 serves to advise you, howsoon you get all out, you are to 
 goe wtout loss of time to Eisdale, and deliver the Inclosed 
 to John Stinson, Slate quarrier there, or his Son, who will 
 deliver you a full Load of Slait, with which you are to 
 proceed to this place or Leith in your own option. If you 
 goe to Leith you and crew noe doubt must be pay'd con- 
 form. I earnest request that when you come to Apin the 
 Barques name and your own may be chainged, and that 
 none know where you belong to ; likewise that you 
 enjoyne your men to secrecie when they come home. 
 Wishing you all happiness, I remain 
 
 Inverness, 26 May 1730. 
 
 Mr. Don: Mclnteere. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favours of 21 Instant from Gar- 
 loch, and 24 Do. from Glenelge. First, I observe what you 
 have given to Simon McKenzie, and by the last what you 
 have still on board, which I ashure you is a great dale too 
 much for the countrie you are going to, and therefor its 
 my positive oppinion that you endeavour to sell as much 
 as you can at Glenelge ; and, whether you can sell or not, 
 that you unload in that countrie at least 50 Akrs. to the 
 care of my father in law, but in his absence to Alexr. Watt 
 till my father in Law returns from Sky, since I'me positive 
 that youll find whats behind rather too much to carrie to 
 the southward, as Ardsheall seems by a Letter I receved 
 lately to decline his Bargan with me, so that I realy think 
 fiftie Akrs. too little rather then too much to leave. And 
 threfor, on second thoughts, I am of opinion you leave at 
 least 60 Akrs. ; but if possibly you can sell that number 
 or more its the better. Imediatly as I receved your letter 
 this day I sent ane express to Ardsheall accquenting him 
 of your design, and adviseing him to secure Mackneile ye 
 Collr., since its certain he went out from Fortwilliam, when 
 you was at the Sound of Mull, with a design to seize your 
 
358 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 cargo only, and I know not but he may be still on the catch 
 for you. So its fitt, when you come to your livering port, 
 which I reckon will be the Kyle of Shuna, lett all the 
 Brandy be imediately put ashore, whatever happen, in 
 order to secure the Barke in the worst event. And, when 
 all is out, may despatch Duncan Baillie to load the Sclait, 
 who will receve a letter from John Stivenson, the Sclait 
 Quarier, from Ardsheall with instrictions what he is to 
 doe. And I think it most convenient, if possible, that you 
 stay some time in that countrie after the Barke is livered, 
 to gett good chanses for what may be unsold of our Cargoe 
 before you come home, since you may be asured that none 
 of what is left with Ardsheall on our risq. willbe sold 
 while any of his own lasts, besides the great desapointment 
 charges and leakage that would be upon it if you should 
 leave any of unsold, which I begg you doe not if possible. 
 But would advise you not to goe near Marriburgh in 
 your return on severall reasons. We are designt to 
 have a due regard to your trouble, and pray God to 
 derect you. J. S. 
 
 Inclosed I send you a coppie of mine of 18 Current in 
 case it has not come to your hand, which compare this and 
 your former orders ; and for God sake doe what you think 
 best for our intrest ; either by proceeding to the South- 
 ward or not at all, being reffered to your own prudent 
 management. 
 
 Inverness, 20 June 1730. 
 
 Messrs. Jno. Coutts. and Compy. [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I receved your favour of 11 Current with 
 4 bills inclosed for acceptance. The two on Keneth 
 McKenzie for £60 : 6 : 6 ster. I return you herewith ac- 
 cepted ; but the other two on Donald McPherson I most 
 send to Badinoch, where the sd. Mr. McPherson has 
 bean for some time past for the recoverie of his health ; 
 and I hear he is a deying, but I judge the money will be 
 good. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 359 
 
 Inverness, June 28th, 1730. 
 
 Son, — My last to you on 25 Current by my daughter 
 Marron, who, I hope, will be safe with you before this 
 comes to hand ; and I earnestly entreat that if her comeing 
 South should creat uneasiness to any of your friends, that 
 she may be returned pr. first, since it can be no affrount to 
 her nor any body that she should go South, were it but to 
 see you and her sister in law in sickly condition. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 28 June 1730. 
 
 Mr. James Maule [Donibristle]. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I receved your favour of 18 instant, and I 
 was much troubled to find that my Good Lord is offended at 
 the slowness of my remittances. At the same time I 
 think my self extreamly obledged to you for your kind 
 representation in my behalf, but I hope my Lord needs not 
 be in the least uneasy, since I hope verie soon to remitt a 
 £100 ster. more, and before the middle of Agust nixt 1 
 hope there will be no ground of any complaint that way ; 
 which is all I can doe. Meantime I depend on your 
 good office for me, and that I encure not too much in 
 my Lords despleasure, which shall always esteem great 
 misfortune. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 28 June 1730. 
 
 Mr. Patrick Cumming [merchant, Edinburgh]. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I receved your favour of 18 instant and was 
 verie much troubled at reading of it, for severall reasons, 
 but 1 hope my son will be more wairie hereafter, and avoid 
 as much as possible giveing trouble to his friends by 
 runing himself into streats and undertakeing too much. 
 
 Inverness, 28 June 1730. 
 
 Sr. Alexr. Morray [of Stanhope]. 
 
 Sir, — I have sent my son, Alexr. Stewart, mercht. in 
 Leith, your Servant Robert Blackburns recept for 198 
 boalls meall. I have delivered him conform to your order, 
 
360 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 which as to the quality I am certain must give satisfaction, 
 and att 10 : 4 ster. pr. boll extends to £102 > 6 str. I have 
 valued on you as we conserted of this date two bills, on 
 for £10 str. at sight to my son, which is to pay the freight 
 of the meall, and the remainder being £92 : 6 str. in my 
 bill of this date to my own order, payll. the first of Agust 
 nixt at William Cummings shope in Edr., both which I hope 
 will find punctuall complyance ; and wherin I can here- 
 after serve in any thing may freely command. 
 
 Inverness, 4 Jully 1730. 
 
 Mr. James Stewart [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I receved your favour of 25th past with the en- 
 closed letter for Glengary, and I observe your situation 
 with him, and will doe all lays in my powar to serve you ; 
 but, to tell you the truth, that Gentleman has so plunged 
 himself into difficulties that I find he has verie litle now 
 in his powar to doe. But you may depend He both write 
 and speak to Glengerie about your affair, and he is cer- 
 tainly much in the wrong to him self if he doe not speedaly 
 take care to sattle matters with you. . . . 
 
 Jully 4, 1730. 
 
 Ffor Rodrick McLeod, Writter [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Dr. Sr., — I send you inclosed a right made to me on 
 Duncan Grant, Junior, of this place, of the shipe Swallow 
 by Alexr. Baillie, our toun Clerk, who is now with you at 
 Edinburgh, which I desire you may lay before my worthey 
 friend, Mr. John McLeod, or your Uncle, and gett the 
 opinion of either of them how farr they think this right is 
 good and valid to us, since Mr. Baillie has promised to 
 make out the same in any shape thell desire in case they 
 think not this sufficient. The shipe costs us £125 ster., and 
 is a good pennie worth if the right be good, as to which I 
 entreat your answer pr. first ; and, if you please to give a 
 Guinie of consultation to Mr. McLeod, He remitt the same 
 to you how soon I have your Answer. As I happen to be 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 361 
 
 at present strcatned for money I most entreat the favour 
 of you to speak to Alexr. Tait and try if can perswade him 
 to pay the Ballance due me or the half of it. I wrote him 
 two letters lately but had no answer, so pleas acquent me 
 what he says. Pray give my humble service to the old 
 Gentleman, and to Mrs. McLeod. 
 
 Inverness, 11th Jully 1730. 
 
 [Alexr. Steuart, Merchant, Leith.] 
 
 Son, — I observe what you write about your affairs, and 
 I am verie well pleased with the Accott. of your Circum- 
 stance, tho I Doubt not, as you observe, that the expence- 
 ing Liveing and Desapointment to which you are exposed 
 at Leith ly verie heavie on you. Mean time its my most 
 serious advice that hereafter, rather then run your self 
 unto Straits, and so put your self on Necessity to be 
 troublesom to your friends for their aid, I would Circum- 
 serve my Trade, and shun spending, especialy in the 
 Taveran, as much as possible ; and, rather then be a slave 
 to the Taverans, I would be much rather renounce the Wine 
 trade for ever, and take another that providence should 
 put in my way. And, if you happen to come north again 
 the beginning of nixt week as you promised, we shall think 
 of matters seriously. I am so engaged with Alexr. Strachin 
 and Baillie Carmichall for a lairg quantity of Salmond 
 that I cannot positively ashure you of my Ashureing. 
 
 Mr. Angus McDonald of Scotas. 
 
 Inverness, 31 Jully 1730. 
 
 Dr. Sr., — I saw your verie kind obledgeing letter to my 
 wife when she was in the Highlands, and according to your 
 advice I went last week to Glengarrie, and mett at the 
 laird, and has drawn two bills on you, as you advised, the 
 one for £30 ster. at Mertimass, and the oyr for £24 : 17 : 10 
 ster. again Mertimass 1731 ; both which have sent to my 
 ffayr in law to gett accepted. But if could pay both bills 
 again nixt Mertimass it would be great favour done me, 
 
362 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 and lie descount a years intrest for that payll att Mertimas 
 1731 ; and if could suit wt. your convenience to pay this 
 money at Edr. after the Michalmass drove, He send the 
 bill or bills to him as youll advise me in return of this. I 
 give my most humble respects to your Lady and Son, and 
 all friends ; and I am, wt. much esteem, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 31 Jully 1730. 
 
 For My ffayr in Law, Drynach. 
 
 I send you inclosed two bills drawn by Glengarrie on his 
 Uncle Scotas in ye shape that Scotas advised in his letter 
 to my wife, with a letter for Scotas, qch. read and seall, 
 and ye letter under your own cover to Scotas, and press 
 as much as possible to pay all at Mertimass nixt, since in 
 faith He want money much at Mertimass. And youll 
 desire him return the bills accepted to you, being both for 
 £54 : 17 : 10 ster. There is likewise inclosed a bill drawn 
 on your self by McLeod, payll the 29th of 7ber nixt, which 
 pleas return accepted wt. Scotas as his bills again our 
 Martimass. And, if could send me again then the value 
 of McKinnons bill on your self, it will be convenient for 
 me being £3 : 5sh. sterling, which is £4 ster. less than 
 McKinnon rested me. J: S: 
 
 John desired to send two Grass Syths, which cost 6 
 shillings str. 
 
 J:S: 
 
 Inverness, 1st Agust 1730. 
 
 Son, — I am mighty Glade to hear that your spouse is 
 safely delivered of a Male Child, of whom I wish you joy, 
 tho I expected to have heard this from yourself ; as also 
 to be advised of the success of my bills on Sr. Alexr. 
 Morray of Stanope. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 11 August 1730. 
 
 Lieutent Philip Dunbar [of Montague's Regiment]. 
 
 Sir, — I receved yours of no dait in answer to mine of 
 2d. curt, which brought Capt. Delaunes accepted bill for 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 363 
 
 £21 : 6 sterlin, and 15sh. in Cash, pr. bearer, which does 
 not answer my purpose, nor ballance my acct. which I 
 sent you discharged, being £28 : 15 sterlin, including 
 Mr. Dubeese his bill for £4 : 10 sterlin., for which I payed 
 value to the indorsee. I would not have trubled you by 
 this 2d. express, but you wrot me you would be in town 
 after return of the post and came not, and I can not delay 
 setleing the affair. Now I send you a coppie of the Account, 
 by which is due me £28 sterlin, including, as sd. is, Mr. 
 Dubeeses bill, for which, if you have not mony to send 
 by the bearer, may accept the bill of this dait I have sent 
 pr. bearer, payble 14 days after dait, for sd. sum of £28. 
 And I return you Captain Delaunes bill and your promis- 
 ary noat, for Mr. Dubeese his bill being torn in the sum 
 by the sealling, for Capt. Delaune is at Fort Augustus and 
 his bill is only payable 24 7ber nixt, which will not doe for 
 me, for you may remember our bargain was for reddie 
 mony, and it was that consideration only made me sell 
 my goods at such a poor low price, and be at the truble 
 and expence I was at of carieing a great pairt of it for you 
 "a great distance ; and not one word was ever mentioned 
 of one to the score till you letter last sent me, and is what I 
 never meant to give, nor expected you would now demand, 
 nor ever heard of the like except in the case of delivering 
 goods out of a ship on the buyers own risque, wher the 
 cask could not be conveniently filled up. But that is not 
 at all the case now, but your casks were all fairly filled up, 
 and caried on my risque and charges a considerable dis- 
 tance ; so I see no room now for anie such demand, and I 
 assure you if I hade these goods now on hand would reach 
 a crown more pr. anker on my sellar floor. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 18th August 1730. 
 
 Mr. George Dowglass [Merchant, Fort William]. 
 
 I receved your favour of 10 Currt., and I observe the 
 contents. 1 have my bill on you to Ardsheall for 5 Guenies, 
 and I return your acceptance to me for £9 : 8 strl. I also 
 reced. Ardshealls letter and his son's bill on Duncan 
 
364 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Steuart for £34 : 13 strl. I have sent you by the bearer, 
 conform to your desire, four dozen botts. Superfine Arack 
 at 3 shl. strl. pr. botle, which is the lowest could be fur- 
 nished ; and for the Lisbon wine, I hade non of my own, 
 but would have gott it from another, but the bearer had 
 no way to carie it. As to Claret, you will get non to buy 
 here of good wine under 12 £ strl. pr. hhd., which is lsh. 
 strl. pr. botle or thereby ; so, if you think it a penie worth 
 that way, tho' I have no wine of my own this year yett, 
 I can gett you served. I have sent you six doz. Leamons 
 @ 2sh. stg, pr. doz., and payed 10 pence for the two creells 
 to hold the botles of Arack, which in all amounts to 
 £7 : 16 : 10 strl., for wh. I have drawn on you three months 
 after dait, wh. bill I expect you will return accepted by 
 first Occasion. . . . 
 
 August 18th. 
 
 Mr. Gcor: Dowglass of Marybrugh, Merchtt. Dr., to John 
 Steuart, Merchtt. in Inverness. 
 
 To 4 Doz. botles Arack @ 3sh. pr. Doz. £7 : 4 : - 
 
 To 2 Creells to Carie the same . . . - : - : 10 
 To 6 doz. Leamons @ 2sh. pr. Doz . . - : 12 : - 
 
 £7 : 16 : 10 
 
 To your servant came with the Letter - : 1 : - 
 
 £7 : 17 : 10 
 
 Inverness, 20 August 1730. 
 
 Mr. John McLeod [Glenelg]. 
 
 Dr. Brother, — I reced. yours of 8 Currt. from Ebost, 
 and observe your orders about fraighting a ship, and I am 
 straitned what resolution to form about it, since I find your 
 brother and you are to hold but one third of 20 Tuns, and 
 for my part I am not able to hold another third. And 
 besides this, there is such strong resolutions and endeavours 
 to crush the importation of Br y that it is disparaging 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 365 
 
 to a mans caracter at this juncture to be known to meclle 
 that way ; besides the Duke of Argyle and Marquis of 
 Seaforth have engadged in the strongest maner to allow 
 no Br y to be bought or drunk in there severall coun- 
 tries. And, besides Culloden and the Advocate 1 except 
 [expect] McLeod and Sr. Alexr. McDonald to come to the 
 same resolution. So, if such ane project be undertaken, it 
 most be done in the most clandestin manner possible, and 
 the ship can only touch at one remott port, and only ly while 
 the goods can be unloaded, and imediatly thereafter to 
 come of without letting any bodie know the ship or master 
 name, or where she belongs to. And of this send me your 
 thoughts, and if doe think it can be manadge in the maner 
 I have said, He certainly gett yett a friend with my self 
 to take two thirds of the cargoe ; so may send your orders. 
 And, yett, now I begin to fear itt will be lait to overtake 
 the four winter market in the Highlands ; but may like- 
 ways think of this. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 15th October 1730. 
 
 Mr. John Aikman [Livorno]. 
 
 Sir, — By Recommendation of our freind Mr. John 
 Stuart, we recommend to your favours Mr. Donald 
 Mclntier of this place, who is gone from hence on our 
 account in the ship Swallow, David Nevoy, master, and 
 has consigned to him on our joynt accots. one hundred and 
 sixteen Tierces Salmond ; and, as we suppose he will 
 address himself to you for your advice and assistance 
 in the sale of said Salmond, therefore we hope you will 
 doe him all the good service in your power, and assist 
 him with your best advice in procureing freight for the 
 ship ; and in that event we begg you will make speedy 
 remittance from the proceeds of our Salmond according 
 to our directions to him, which will encouradge a future 
 correspondence, and much oblige Yours, etc. 
 
 1 Forbes of Culloden and his brother Duncan, Lord Advocate. 
 
366 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 7th Nov. 1730. 
 
 I wrot to Drynach acknowledgeing recept of his bill 
 of £62 : 7 : 8 sterlin on Malcom McLaren and Andrew 
 McPharlan in payment of McLeods bill on him of 
 £32 : 7sh. : 8 sterlin, and Glengeries bill on Scotas for 
 £30 sterlin. I sent him Like ways William McLeod of 
 Ebosts tuo accepted bill discharged for £63 sterlin, and 
 desired to retire my obligatorie receipt for the walue. 
 
 Inverness, 29 Decer. 1730. 
 
 Mr. John Donaldson [Elgin]. 
 
 Sr., — I am much alarmed that to this hour I never 
 hade anie return from James Mackie at Portsoy relaiting 
 to that Letter I sent him recommended to your care the 
 27 8ber last, in which was inclosed my bill on William 
 Cuming in Eder for £25 sterlin and the 20 sh. bank noats. 
 I entreat the favour of you to spake to that post who gott 
 the sd. Letter, and gett acct. to whom he delivered it, 
 since, if it is miscaried, he must certainly be lyable for it ; 
 and forward the inclosed pr. first to James Mackie. My 
 son has sent here laitly from Lieth some chests of Lemons 
 and sweet Oranges, for some of which there is 3£ ster. pr. 
 chest gott ; but for love to gett them soon off He lett you 
 or anie freind in Elgin have them at 50 sh. ster. pr. chest. 
 They are fine fruit and in good order, verie few spoiled. 
 I sawe one reckoned the other day, which ran 68 Duzen ; 
 and they are retailed at 2 sh. per Duzen, by which you 
 see ther is a good deall to be gott by them. If you or 
 anie freind wants anie at the rate above mentiond may 
 send a cart for them, which will contain tuo chests ; 
 and the sooner the better. But nota He have nothing to 
 doe with them after they are delivered here. May sell 
 six chest Lemons if you can ; and lett me have your 
 answer in course, which will be a favour done. — Sir, Your 
 most humble servant. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 367 
 
 Inverness, 22d Octr. 1733. 
 
 For Ardsheall. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I wrote by your Servt. to yours of 15 Currt., 
 and, lest he should be longer by the way in returning home 
 than I would wish, I most tell you ingenuously that, if the 
 full payt. of your bills doe not answer in the first week of 
 Decembr., I most run the risq of haveing my credit ruind ; 
 for, as I must answer, I have no fond at present to supply 
 such a desapointment. Therfor, Dr. Sir, as you regarde 
 my standing, let me not be desapointed, since I realy 
 depend on yr. payt. as a shure fond for paying my credit. 
 If you remitt here the payt. of the £50 due by your two 
 bills against our Mertimass Market it will be verie obliging 
 to, Dr. Sr., etc. 
 
 Inverness, 23d Octr. 1733. 
 
 For Drynoch. 
 
 Dr. Sr., — I am Sorry I hade not the pleasure to see you 
 as you passed homeward. My wife and I flattered our 
 selves wt. the hopes of seeing you, haveing sundry affairs 
 to talk of wt. you. I hade a letter lately from Hugh 
 Stamfield, Shipemaster, in which he tells me he has a 
 bill of yours on me for £4 Str. for goeing to Fortwilliam. 
 I thought you wrote me you paid that money. So may 
 accquaint me how the matter stands, that Stamfield may 
 be cleared off. If I am to pay that bill then the ballance 
 of your Accot. due me will be about £14 str. as youll see 
 by the Accot. I sent you by John Bain McLeod to 
 Creeff. So, Dr. Sr., the sooner you remitt me the ballance 
 the better, for there was never more need of it. My wife 
 entreats you send to Mertimass markett about Eight 
 Stone of your best butter, since she took too litle at 
 Merrimass of what you sent out then. 
 
 Novmr. ye 3d, 1733. 
 
 Mr. Ja: Stuart [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — . . . Please inquire how I could purchase a 
 Cargoe of 5 or 600 bolls of Bear in Lauthian or in fief 
 
368 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 [Fife], payable in six moneths after delivery ; for I am 
 of oppinion it will be a wery scarce commodity in this 
 Countrey this year, and that ther may be a good deal of 
 money gott that way if it could be purchased wt. you as 
 chape as last year. And when I know the prises with 
 you I shall write you more fully on this subject. 
 
 Ins., Sd Novem. 1733. 
 
 Mr. James Maul [Lord Moray's Agent at Donibristle]. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — My last to you was of 20 past in answer to 
 yours of 11th Ditto. Ever since I have been in the country, 
 making up my accts. with my Lords tenents and vassalls, 
 but found it unpracticable to get the same so compleatly 
 done as I expected, but I hope against next post you may 
 expect them. Mean time I long mightly to hear how my 
 Lord relishes my proposal anent going south, of which 
 please advise me in course if not done already. And like- 
 wise acquaint me if the Falls of Dunbar are to have My 
 Lords curt, crop of bear in Murry, or if their take be all- 
 ready out. I am sory to tell you that most of the tenants 
 under my charge in the Lordship of Pety are quit ruined and 
 broke, having now the 3d cropt running that has proved 
 extream bad by shaking and oyr. accedents I cannot 
 account for. Last year they did not pay one 3d of their 
 farms [ferms], and this year, for ought I can learn, they 
 will not pay one 4th of it, and that but by few of them, 
 for most will pay none at all this year. What makes the 
 affair still the more pitiable is that they will get no price 
 for their Kattel to enable them to pay their by gone rents. 
 I hope my Lord will not impute these misfortunes to me, 
 being the hand of God, and what I cannot help nor 
 prevent. 
 
 Inverness, 19th Nover. 1733. 
 
 For Drynoch, Senr. 
 
 Dr Sr., — I Wrote you the 23 Last moneth accquainting 
 you that Hugh Stamfield writes me he has your bill for 
 £4 stl. on me. If it so, then the ballance of your Accot. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 369 
 
 to me will be £14 : 11 : 6d, which I entreat you send me 
 how soon this comes to hand, since I never knew my self 
 so much streatn'd by reason of many desapointments. I 
 w r as wt. the Laird of McLeod last week at Castle Leod, 
 and I spoke to him about that bond he has of Johns and 
 mine for £100 str., to which he told me I needed be in no 
 pain about that afair, but at the same time insinuat that 
 he would have ane Assignation to your back bond, so that, 
 as he is to be at Glen Elge in a week or two, its fit you talk 
 to him upon that Subject, so as that affair may be gott 
 adjusted. I have last week a bill from the Laird of 
 McLeod on Andrew McFarline for £63 str., payle. the 
 10th Febry., which does not at all answer the pressing 
 demands are on me just now. So if you would write to 
 him desireing that he would pay the money again the 
 latter end of Deer, you would doe me a great favour, and, 
 that you would send such a letter to me, and He send it 
 under my cover to him. My wife was desapointed of her 
 butter, so if you would send me 3 or 4 stone it would be 
 verie acceptable, and He thankfully pay the price of it. 
 
 Inverness, 23d Novembr. 1733. 
 
 Mr. James Maule [Donibristle]. 
 
 Dr. Sib, — The inclosed Accots. ought to have been sent 
 last post, as I promised, but being obleged to be from 
 home most of last week could not gett it done. I now 
 send you for my Lords perusale the Accots. relateing to 
 my intromissions in Pettie since Cropt 1727, for which 
 the last clearance was made ; in which, if any mistakes are 
 found, the same will be adjusted when I come south. And 
 youll take notice that in the Generall Accot. Currt. I have 
 not charged my self wt. the Accots. of Rests given in 
 at my last clearance, because could not get the Accot. 
 of Rests resting for the sd. cropt now clear'd, and pre- 
 ceeding made up not constitute by our Baillies Decreet at 
 this time ; but hope to doe it in a few days, and I belive 
 it will near ballance the former Accot. of rests I gave in ; 
 which I ashure you is not my fault. I will likewise wtout 
 
 2 A 
 
370 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 loss of time gett readie my intromissions wt. the few duty 
 of Stratheirn [Strathdearn] and Strathnairn, on which 
 there will be a considerable ballance due by me to my 
 Lord, after the ballance of £109 : 4 : 2d sterling due me 
 by the inclosed Generall Accot. for Pettie, and four Years 
 sallery, is taken off ; but I am hopefull again nixt post a 
 part of the same will be remitted. There is a doubt 
 remains wt. me which I entreat you may solve me in p. 
 first ; that is, I have a verie strong suspicion, and not 
 wtout good grounds, that I paid my Lord £100 Sterling 
 last year that I have not credited my self wt., and have 
 no voucher but the bill I drew for the same descharged. 
 The story is, you may remember, I drew in May or June 
 1732 on Patrick Cuming @ Edr. to my Lord for £100 
 sterling, which Mr. Cuming was pleased to refuse ; and 
 when came South thereafter I paid the money my self, and 
 sent it over by James Russell to Dunibirsle, who brought 
 me back my bill on Patrick Cuming, deschargd ; and the 
 voucher I have preceeding that payt., I find, is dated at 
 Dunibirsle, the 6th of May 1732, which is for the sum of 
 £282 : 5 : 3 Str., and I find by my book that the same was 
 remitted by bill on Allan Whitefoord. Therefore, I 
 entreat you think serriously of this, and send me your 
 answer in course ; for, as I dont desire to wrong my 
 Lord, so I dont care to lose such a considerable sum, which 
 God knows is too much to be lost by me. I likewise 
 remember that when I came to Dunibirsle the first of 
 Septr. 1732, from Edr., I paid in specie 70 Guenies, and 
 gott for the same, and cash I paid by order to Comissary 
 Steuart, which amounted in all to £115 :1 :8 Str., for which 
 I have my Lords Recept of that date. So upon the whole 
 matter I realy apprehend I want a voucher for the above 
 mentiond £100 sterling, as to which pray put me right. 
 Youll observe in my Accot. of debursements about £2 : 6 Str. 
 charged as given by order of the Commisar to Mr. Angus 
 Morrisons Wife ; and for some charges that way I am not 
 shure but the Commisar has counted wt. me for the 
 same ; which He know when I goe in to toun. So if it 
 be a mistake it will be adjusted ; and therfor my Lord 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 371 
 
 needs not be despleased about it. I entreat you show my 
 inclosed Accot. laid out for Mr. James Steuart of Camilla 
 to Mr. Robison, who attended him last year at Darnaway, 
 and tell him I hope he will attest the same to be realy 
 furnished, since I have charged it to my Lords Accot. 
 Dr. Sir, sub rosa, Mr. John Steuart, Son to Mr. ffrancis, 1 
 owes at the most modest and lowest computation, twixt 
 what I lent him in money, or paid for him, and my 
 expenses and wifes for three moneths last summer at 
 Edinbr., £70 sterling ; too great a sum, after many 
 desapointments and demands for money I lately met wt., 
 for me to ly out of. So, Dr. Sir, if, wt. the assistance of 
 my good friend my Lady, my Lord could be prevealed on 
 to give me allowance of said sum, it would be a verie 
 seasonable help, and what in gratitude I most acknow- 
 ledge as a great favour. I have some more to say on 
 this subject, which will reserve till meeting, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 6th Deer. 1733. 
 
 Mr. Wm. McDougall and Co. [Fort William]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I Reed, yours of 1 Inst., and will, accord- 
 ing to your promise, expect remittance of the ballance 
 of your bill in a few days ; and, if Ardsheall call at 
 Marryburgh on his way hither, he may give Capt. Carrie 
 £100 ster., and take his bill on Allan Whitefoord for the 
 same at short sight. I send you inclosed Capt. Campell 
 the Governours Recept for 300 bolls meall sold him last 
 summer pr. Hugh Stamfield, which I desire you may 
 deliver him on his giveing you up my accepted bill in his 
 hands, discharged, for £30 str., and Rodk. Steuarts recept 
 in my name for £10 str., which I gott in part of said meall, 
 and send me the same pr. first shure hand ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 13th Deer. 1733. 
 
 For Ardsheall. 
 
 Dr. Sr., — I reed, this morning your favour of 10th 
 curt, from the bearer, your cousine Alexr. Steuart, and 
 
 See footnote, p. 102. 
 
372 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 wt. it your accepted bill for £200 str., payle. at 3 days 
 sight in Edr., and £114: 2 sh. sterling in cash ; and I 
 have given up your three accepted bills for £314: 5 sh. 
 ster. to yr. cousine, receptd. I will only observe that 
 your bill of £200 str. accepted at Ardsheall, and payle. at 
 Edr. at 3 days sight, is not done in the regular way, since 
 I am obleged to indorse your bill to Landrick, which 
 makes it in some measure obligatory upon me. But I 
 think you ought rather to have sent your own accepted 
 bill for the money to your father in Law [Harden of 
 Lendrick] inclosed in your letter of advice to Mr. William 
 Wilson [Writer, Edinburgh], and at the same time have 
 drawen on him, payle. to me. However, as I have to doe 
 wt. a man of honour and a friend, I hope it will doe in 
 the shape you have put it ; and so I will forward your 
 bill and letter of advice pr. post to Edr., and draw for the 
 value on Mr. Wilson. Cause the first person goes to 
 fferintosh 1 from your country call here for your sadle, 
 and it will be delivered you well mended ; which it 
 wanted. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 15th Decembr. 1733. 
 
 For the Earle of Finlater. 
 
 My Lord, — I have the honour of your Lops, verie kind 
 obleging letter of 22d last moneth, and doe observe your 
 Lops, proposale anent the sale of 400 bolls oat meall, you 
 have on hand of last cropt. And, if I could possible see 
 that I could make any advantage of it at the rate your 
 Lop. proposes, that is, £5 scots p. boll, payle. at White- 
 sunday and Lambas nixt, I would most chearfully goe 
 into your proposale, but truly there is no prospect of any 
 advantage by meall bought at such a rate on any part 
 of the West Cost, where I dale that way, there being a 
 plentifull cropt in Ireland, and so the people of that 
 Country makes shift to be supplyed from thence, not- 
 withstanding the legall prohibition. And, tho there was 
 litle or no Irish meall imported last year, yet I made 
 
 Forbes of Culloden's famous whisky distillery in Ross-shire. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 373 
 
 verie litle of about 2200 I shipped off from Banff shire 
 for that Countrey last year, tho I purchast the same at 
 £4 Scots, and 4: 3: 4 the higest pr. boll, payle. only at this 
 Mertimass. So your Lop. may easily judge its not in my 
 power to give the price demanded ; but if your Lop. will 
 Accept £4: 10 sh. Scots pr. boll, payle. at the term of 
 Mertimass nixt, 1734, I will take your Lops, parcell, 
 provideing it be good sweet meall ; but He take no part 
 of it that is sour or old teasted. So, if your Lop. will 
 agree to this proposale, I will receive the meall all betwixt 
 this and the first of May nixt at Portsoy, and grant my 
 accepted bill for the value of each cargoe, as I received it. 
 And I think fitt to accquaint your Lop. that I have new 
 meall in my offer for 7 Merks pr. boll, but will not take 
 it ; so if your Lop. will accept this offer may write me in 
 course, and your answer will determine, my Lord, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 15 Beer. 1733. 
 
 Mr. Rodrk. McLeod, Mercht. in Glascow. 
 
 Sir, — I reed, your favour of 10th inst. and one formerly 
 by John Bayne McLeod 1 of this place, in which there was 
 a bill accepted be John Beck McLeod. 2 I spoke to him 
 earnestly about the payt. of it, but to no purpose. And 
 now he has the misfortune to be throun into prison by one 
 or oyr. of his creditors ; so that I realy fear your money 
 is in danger, tho he says the contrair himself, and ashures 
 me he is worth much more money then will pay all his 
 debt. But it happens mostly to be debts resting in the 
 Highlands, and when that will answr is a great question. 
 But He doe all lays in my power to serve you, and, if 
 cannot gett payt., will send you a new bill or a Decree 
 verie soon. Please advise in course of the prices of meall 
 and bear wt. you, and what you hear of the price of meall 
 in Ireland this year. Pray inform your self from the best 
 hands, and advise, etc. 
 
 Fair-haired John Macleod. 
 
 2 Little John Macleod. 
 
374 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 15th Deer. 1733. 
 
 I wrote of this Date to Mr. John Coutts and Co. [Edin- 
 burgh] impowaring them to sell for my Accot. from 24 to 
 26 Last Lews Herrings, deliverable at Lochew and Loch 
 Inver early in the Spring, at any price not under £6: 10 
 or £7 pr. last, the bounty to my self ; and that I would 
 bear the half of the expence of a coupar to goe and receive 
 them, and see them shipt in good order, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 16th Deer. 1733. 
 
 For My Lady Assint. 
 
 Madam, — I Reed, your acceptable favour of 23 Novr. 
 last, and I find you have accepted of my offer for your 
 herrings ; so I hereby oblege my self to receive them, 
 being good sufficient merchantable ware, in the term of 
 my last letter to yr. Lap. and your last to me, twixt this 
 and the first day of May nixt. But I think fitt to caution 
 your Lap. that to make them all good merchantable ware 
 they need to be all repact in shipeing, which will cost you 
 no great expences. 
 
 Invss., 22d Dec. 1733. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Cuming, of London. 
 
 This comes to advise that the 24 yards of silk stuff 
 bought for my Daughter Margreat came safe to hand p. 
 David Ross in the moneth of Augst. last ; but I am sory 
 to tell you it does not please the Woomen, being judged 
 too dear of its kind. Besides, it seems the figure of it is 
 not so agreeable to them ; so that its still on hand waiting 
 a Chap 1 will buey it. Pray advise me in course if you 
 reed, from William Poison or Mrs. McKenzie, his sister, 
 a pice of white worstet Camlett belonging to my Wife, 
 was sent up by James ffinlay of Portsoy last summer to 
 be dyed green and watered. It measured 38 yards, and 
 if it came to hand, and be dyed as ordered, please send it 
 doun by first shipe comeing to this place,; and advise if 
 you have gott any thing done wt. Mr. Morrison anent the 
 
 1 A small merchant, a pedlar. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 375 
 
 money he reed, on Accot. of Ross, Chelsea pensioner, 
 
 haveing right to the same by his last will, and laid it out 
 for paying the mans funrall expences and his house rent. 
 Advise of the price of corns wt. you in course ; and I am, 
 etc. 
 
 Inverness, 29th Decembr. 1733. 
 
 Messrs. Jno. Coutts and Co. [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I reed, your favour of 20th Inst. wt. four 
 bills inclosed for acceptance, three of which I herewith 
 return you ; that on John Hosack and Co. not accepted, 
 haveing remitted the value of it to London about the 
 beginning of this moneth, and the oyr. two on Lachlen 
 and Angus Mclntoshes you have Inclosed ; that on David 
 Ross of Inver Chasslie most be sent to the Countrey where 
 he resides, so cannot be returnd you this post. I am sorry 
 you have no incouragement to buey my Herrings at the 
 rate I offred them ; but, since your selves cannot accept 
 of them, you need not look for any oyr. Mercht. till I see 
 you, haveing some vew of getting them disposed off here. 
 
 Inverness, 21st J amy. 1734. 
 
 For My Lady Assint. 
 
 Madam, — My last was of 16 Decembr. by Simon 
 McKenzie, in which I advised your Lap. that I accepted 
 of your parcele of Herrings in terms of your last letter of 
 23d November. And now I have sent this pr. express to 
 advise you that I am just now about freighting a shipp 
 to load your parcell and ane oyr. I have a litle to the 
 southward of you. So youle please advise me in return 
 of this where your Herrings lay. If at Lochbroom or 
 Loch Kinard it will be the more convenient for me, as I 
 have the best of the cargoe thereabouts, So will prevent 
 shifting of ports. And likewise entreat that, conform to 
 your promise in your last, youle please name some person 
 here to see your salt weyed and shipped ; and, to prevent 
 mistakes, advise of the exact number of lasts you have, 
 that your salt and cask may be accordingly shipped here ; 
 and I am, etc. 
 
376 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 21st J amy. 1734. 
 
 Mr. Zachrie McAula [Stornoway]. 
 
 Sir, — I presume to give you the trouble of this letter to 
 accquaint you that I am engaged in a parcell of Herrings 
 on the West Cost, but not sufficient to make a tolerable 
 good cargoe ; and, being informed that some of your 
 Nibours at Starnaway have a considerable parcell on hand 
 to sell, cured wt. foreigne salt for exportation, I entreat 
 that, how soon you arrive home, youle please advise me 
 what number of lasts they may have, and the lowest price 
 they will sell them att, payll. in three or four moneths 
 after delivery, being all repact at shipeing. Likewise 
 please advise if the sellars of the herrings will take any 
 stons of salt and cask in part payt. of their herrings, to be 
 sent about wt. the shipe receves them. And I think fitt 
 to tell you for your government that I am offred herrings 
 on that Cost at £7 4s. p. last, includng the bounty ; and 
 if theyll make ane offer at that price its probable He take 
 the Herrings, being sufficient merchant ware ; and if the 
 sellars chafe He let them have the bounty and give them 
 £5 : 10/ p. last, and receive them at Starnaway. I entreat 
 your answer to this as soon as possible ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Ins. , ye 31 Janry. 1734, 
 
 To The Earle of Cromerty. 
 
 I received your Lops, favour of 30th curt., and am 
 willing to take your Lops, eighteen lasts herrins at the 
 rate of seven pounds ster. pr. last, including ye bounty, 
 to be receved any time before ye midle of Aprile next, 
 payable in six moneths after delivery. But it is not in 
 my power to advance part of ye price just now, being 
 extreamly stretned by many great disapointments from 
 good men, and obleged to goe south againest Tuesday 
 next. So, if you let me have the herrin, payble six 
 moneths after delivery, or at Lamas next, may send your 
 obligation to deliver the herins pr. Express, and mention 
 that they must be good, sufficient, well cured, well packed 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 377 
 
 herins, cured wt. foraing salt, and in good tight cask of 
 ye legall Gadge ; and He send my answer to such letter 
 concluding our bargain, which is all yt. can be done by, 
 my Lord, etc. 
 
 P:S: — Accquaint if your Lop. will want any cask to be 
 sent by ye ship goes for the Herrins. 
 
 Inverness, Uh Febery. 1734. 
 
 For My Lord Cromertie. 
 
 My Lord, — I reed, your Lops, favour of 4th inst. with 
 your Lops, obligation anent the 18 last three barells 
 herrings cured to be delivered me well packt, 
 
 and in good cask, and in good order, free aboard my 
 shipe, or to any haveing my order, betwixt this and the 
 15th day of Aprile next, for which I am to pay your Lop. 
 £7 sterling the last, the bounty to be mine, payll against 
 the first day of August nixt at this place, and will grant 
 my bills accordingly upon delivery of the said herrings at 
 Lochkinard ; and, if possible, I will try to accomodate 
 your Lop. wt. £30 str. sometime in March nixt, in part 
 payt. of the price of the herrings. So this letter con- 
 cludes the Bargone on my part, only that the Herrings 
 are to be all repact at shipeing, which your Lops, obliga- 
 tion does not mention, but is absolutely necessar to be 
 done. So He endeavour to despatch a shipe to load these 
 Herrings as soon as possible ; and if your Lop. will want 
 any salt or cask to be sent about for nixt years fishing it 
 shall be done as your Lop. will advise, My Lord, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 7th Febry. 1734. 
 
 For Capt. Campbell [Governor of Fort William]. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I reed, yours of 4 instant this forenoon, and 
 I observe your proposall to buy 600 Bolls good Oat Meall 
 of last years cropt, and I am verry willing to dale with 
 you ; in Testimony which I hereby promise to send you 
 betwixt this and the first of June nixt, barring accidence 
 and wather serving, 600 bolls of good and sufficient 
 
378 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Oat Meall, deliverable at the shore of Fort William, at 
 Nine shilling sterling p. boll of eight stone, and will 
 referr the sixpence which I demand to your self, not 
 doubting, when I lay the plain case before you, but youll 
 at least allow me the one half. But I declare to you 
 upon my honest word I cannot serve you at nine shilling 
 sterling. But I am loath to pairt with you, so will send 
 you the 600 bolls meall again the time I promised ; and 
 therefore, I hope, do expect yt. youll remitt me for the 
 fifty pound sterling you promise, derected to the care 
 of Mr. Jas. Steuart, Mercht. in Edr., and He send you my 
 acceptance for the same ; and I will expect the other 
 fifty pounds again the first of Aprile, in terms of your 
 letter, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 3 May 1734. 
 
 Mr. Charle Greig, Shipmaster [at Fort William]. 
 
 Sir, — I have yours of [4th] currt. just now, and I desire 
 how soon this comes to hand you fall to work and unload 
 the meall by delivering the one half to the Governour 
 [Campbell] and the other half to W T illm McDougall and 
 Compa., and take there recepts for the same, which you 
 are to depositat in the hands of Mr. Alexr. Muir, Surveyar 
 there, in case you should hapen to be despatched to 
 Eisdale to load slait befor I see you. I have wrot to 
 Baillie McDougall to give you creditt for the loadning of 
 slait to John Stevenson, the slait quariers, which I desire 
 you may deliver to the order of Mr. James Steuart, 
 Mercht. in Edinburgh. And, how soon the meall is out, I 
 have ordered the Governour and Baillie McDouall to pay 
 you Tenn pounds sterling each in pairt of your freight 
 on your receipt ; soe hopeing to see you, etc. 
 
 P:S: — Your meall to be weighted with the common 
 standard weights of Mariebrugh, as to which I entreat 
 your care. George Douglass will assist you in anie 
 thing you want. To avoid desputes may deliver to the 
 Governour and Baillie McDouall 50 bolls meall to each 
 alternatively. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 379 
 
 Inverness, 6 May 1734. 
 
 Mr. John Sinclar of Barruck. 
 
 Sm, — I Reed, yours of 30 past advising of the ariveall 
 of John Baillie and David Greig at Staxgoe, and that you 
 found deficulty to ffurnish the six hundred Bolls of Meall 
 wanted to be shiped in David Greigs at Staxgoe. Its true 
 you sold only by contract ffour hundred Bolls Meall, but 
 when I fraighted I could not find a shipe to my mind to 
 load so small a quantity, and soe choose to take one of 
 some larger sise, not doubting there would be any deficulty 
 in getting what quantity of meall I plased at the price 
 I had yours. Therefore, Dr. Sir, lett me entreat that bark 
 be loaded ; for to pay vast freight will be considerable loss 
 to me, and He grant my accepted Bill for the value of the 
 same on demand. It was not possible to send you the 
 30 or 40 £ sterling you wanted, but, in case you get not 
 the Bark load at Staxigoe, which I sincerely wish, I wrot 
 in the strongest terms to David Greig, the shipmaster, to 
 go to Scrabster road untill he be loaded. But I know his 
 shifting ports will be attended with some considerable 
 expence to me, besids loss of time. However, if better 
 cannot be he must goe. Dr. Sir, I begg the outmost 
 Despatch to both my Barks, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 14 May 1734. 
 
 For Donald McDonald, of Scotas. 
 
 Sir, — The Bark Agnus of Dundie, David Greig master, 
 was freighted at Leith the 3d day of Aprile last, and only 
 arived at weeke [Wick] in Cathness the end of said month, 
 being detained by contrary winds ; was loaded the 9th 
 inst. and reddy to sail ; so I am hopefull will be with you 
 before this comes to hand. This bark has on board about 
 six hundred bolls of meal, of which Drynach takes 150 
 bolls, so ye rest will reman for you and partner. And I 
 have wrote to the shipmaster to goe and deliver it as you 
 shall derect ; so pray send him your orders how soon this 
 comes to hand, to whom he will deliver the meal, and 
 whose recept to take for it. I have ordred my father in 
 
380 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 law to send a trusty alongs with the Bark with Balks 
 [beams], barrel, and weights, for weighing all out ; so I 
 desire you may paye ye twentie five pounds ster. you and 
 partner are obleged to pay at delivery to the person 
 Drynoch sends along wt. the bark, and his recept will be 
 good to me. I give service to your lady and to all freinds* 
 I am vexed your meal was not with you or now, but ther 
 is no answering for cros winds and events. I am told the 
 meal you got is exceeding sweet and good. 
 
 Inv., 15 May 1734. 
 
 For John Sinclair of Ulbster. 
 
 This goes and will be delivered you by John Baillie, 
 Master of the Bark Christian of this place, whom I have 
 sent to receive ye 400 boll I boght of your meal from 
 Lodvick Brody, writer of Edr., as youll see by his letter 
 inclosed. But Mr. Brody was much in the wrong to me 
 to impose on me by asuring that there was a convenient 
 harbour in the river thirso [Thurso], whereas I am asured 
 there is none fit for a veshal of any burthen. . . . 
 
 Inv., 15 May 1734. 
 
 Commission and instructions John Stuart, merchtt. of 
 Inverness, to John Baillie, Master of the Bark 
 Christian in Inverness. 
 
 How soon you have livered your cargoe of Bear you are 
 immediatly to proceed for thirso in Cathness, and for- 
 ward the letter herewt. given you to John Sinclair of 
 ulbster, Esqr., who will caus deliver you a full loadning 
 of oat meal of eight and an half stones pr. Boll. And, in 
 case you can not convenienly and wt. safty to the Bark 
 and cargoe load in the river of thirso, I have wrot to 
 Ulbster to send of ye meal in boats to Scrabster Road. 
 And how soon you have got in your full loadning you are 
 to proceed with the same derectly to Loch Broom, and to 
 acquaint Alexr. McKenzie, younger of Cooll, of your 
 arival ; to whom you are to deliver 30 bolls at eight stone 
 pr. boll, and take his accepted bill for ye same at 10 sh. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 381 
 
 ster. pr. boll, payable ye 1st of Novr. next to me or order 
 at my house in this place. And I desire you may sell out 
 as much meal as you can in yt. country at sd. price, for 
 ready mony, of which I am told there is a good deal to be 
 had there. And after you have sold what you can at Loch 
 Broom, laying about eight day there, you are to proceed 
 with the rest of the cargoe to Glenelg, where you '11 adress 
 self to Normand McLeod of Drynoch, my father in law, and 
 deliver the rest of ye [meal] to him, Alexr. Watt, Barrack 
 mr., or as my father in law will desire you, and take his 
 recept and Alexr. Watts for what meal you deliver, 
 mentioning the price of each boll of 8 stones 10 8 \ marks, 
 and payable at Michelmas next. You are to transmitt 
 here pr. Express these recepts, with the Laird of Cool's 
 accepted bill, and what money you receive for meal either 
 at Loch Broom or Glenelg, wt. the advise and concurrence 
 of my sd. father in law. And when the meal is all out 
 you are to proceed for Eisdeal, and adress to John Steven- 
 son, Slait quarer there, who will furnish you with a full 
 loadning of slait, with which you are to proceed derectly 
 to this place. And I hereby declare that the fraught of 
 ye sd. cargoe of meal for the whole voyage out and home 
 is to be sh. str. pr. boll, \ whereof for your own and 
 crew's wages, I being to victual the bark for ye whole 
 voyage. And likwise I am to give you for your own 
 trouble a gueny of Caplaken, and from the money you 
 receive for meal in ye Highlands you are to keep in part 
 of the fraught in your own hands £6 or 7 ster. And advise 
 me per express when you arive at Loch Broom, and how 
 matters are like to goe there, yt. I may send you what 
 further orders will be needfull. I have given you two 
 barells beef, one boll baken bread, £10 [lib.] candles ; 
 and you are to provide yourself at Thirso with what 
 Beer youl want, and two bolls Baken Bread, and a stone 
 of butter. You have likeways aboard Balk, Broad and 
 Barrel, and eight stone of oldweights for weighing out the 
 meal @ eight stone pr. boll. So wishing you an happy 
 and prosperous voyag, I am, etc., 
 
 Accepts [signed] John Baillie. 
 
382 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 27th May 1734. 
 
 Mr. James Steuart [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Being detaind longer at Ffortwilliam then I expected 
 I did not overtake our last post. However, in conse- 
 quence of my last from said place, I send you this pr. 
 Express, with two Bills inclosed, vizt. Capt. Alexr. John- 
 ston, pay master of the Welsh fuizuliers, on Capt. Bolton, 
 Agent for said Regiment, for £52 : 2 sterling, and Alexr. 
 Muire, Storemaster at ffortwillm, on James Cockburn, 
 Esqr., for £77 : 2 sterling, of which bills I have indorsed 
 to your order, and are very good. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 10 Jully 1734. 
 
 Mr. Robtt. Bigar [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — When I had the pleasure of seeing you at your 
 hous at Edinburgh, I was talkeing to you of sending you 
 a tun of wine which cost me 500 Livers prime cost at 
 Borx. [Bordeaux], and was so kind as to promise to take 
 it @ £60 sterling if it pleasd. It is now sent to the care 
 of my freind James Steuart, and I hope it will please ; 
 and I leave to him to settle with as you can best agree. 
 But I think the wine is a fine cullerd deep good wine, 
 clean racked of the lees ; and I hope you will give content- 
 ment for it. 
 
 Inverness, 6 August 1734. 
 
 The Earle of Cromerty. 
 
 My Lord, — I reed, your Lops, letter of 27 past, which 
 had been answered or now but that I was from home. 
 I observe your Lops, orders with regard to the bearer 
 Andrew Monro, Coupar, and will chearfully comply in 
 paying him £7 sterling as your Lops, orders. But I doe 
 not find there is any of it chargable to my accott., haveing 
 done no work to the Hering by my orders, but what was 
 necessar to be don in consequence of our bargain. But, 
 as for the ships ariving to load them a litle too leat, that 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 383 
 
 was cheifly the effect of contrary winds, which can not be 
 garded against in such cases, and I hope no damage is 
 arisen to your Lops, in that small diference of time betwixt 
 the term in which they ought to be reed, and were delivered. 
 Soe if your Lops, pleases to draw a plain order to pay the 
 bearer £7 ster. it will be complyed with, and any deference 
 were anent the receiveing the Herings I hope will be easily 
 ajusted. I got laitly a bill of your Lops, to Mrs. Poison 
 at Edinburgh for about £35 sterling, ordorsed to me for 
 value, which was pay 11. the first of ffebr. last, and have 
 place the same to your Lops, accot., which I will make 
 out some time this month, when I have money to pay the 
 ballance due on the Hering, and advise your Lops, acord- 
 ingly ; and I am with much respect, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 9th August 1734. 
 
 Mr. Willm. Carmichaell, Edr. 
 
 Sir, — I reed, yours of 25 last moneth, and I was much 
 surprised to find that any complaint had been made to you 
 anent the non delivery of the 250 busheells of salt for which 
 you have my noat to the Lord Lovatts fishing, when indeed 
 all was delivered at that time except a very litle which 
 was awantting by my being from home and forgetting to 
 writt or leave orders with my servant about it. But now 
 they have all but 24 Bussheells, which will be delivered 
 how soon they send for it. I find you are sending a shipe 
 about immediately to load Lord Lovatts salmon, which I 
 judge may be about the quantity you gott last year from 
 his Lops. ; so, if you incline I should provide any more 
 to make a cargo, must write pr. first post advising what 
 number of Tearces youll want and the greatest lenth youll 
 allow me give for them, for there is no price made here as 
 yett. So, if you please, may make the curtt. price the 
 rule, which will not I suppose be high, but know not how 
 much it will be. So pray faill not to write fully, haveing 
 no letter from you on this subject since I saw you, and I 
 will serve you the best I can ; and I am, etc. 
 
384 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 9th Aug. 1734. 
 
 Mr. James Blair, Edinr. 
 
 I have your favour of first currtt. adviseing you hade 
 gott my accepted bill of £40 sterling to Andrew Munro, 
 drawen by the Earle of Cromerty, indorsed to you for 
 value. I own Andrew acquainted me that he was to 
 send you that bill, but I then told him I could not pay 
 it till the begining of nixt month, and he asured me you 
 would not demand it till then. But whether hase wrot on 
 this subject or not I cannot tell. Mean time I entreat 
 you delay this payment till the end of this moneth, and 
 then I dout not but you may depend on your payment ; 
 and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 10th August 1734. 
 
 Mr. David Ross [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I have sent alongs with you six dozen very good 
 Claret, packed in an hodd, which I entreat you dispose 
 to the best acctt. you can, and buy for my use two silk 
 plaids such as you bought for my wife, and 16 yeards of 
 silk damask of ane ash culor or a straw cullor, not too 
 light ; and call at William Cuming, and tell him to give 
 you the ps. worsted camlet he got from Mrs. McKenzie, 
 Josephs wife, to be dyed blew and w T atred, which was 
 cairried up last year by James funlay, and pay the expence 
 of dying of it ; and pr. first post He send you a letter of 
 credit on Mr. George Udny for what mony you may want 
 for these particulars more than proceeds of sd. wine ; so, 
 being to write pr. post, I shall only add that I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 12 August 1734. 
 
 Messrs. William McDouall, Malcom MackLean and William 
 Park, Mariebrugh [Fort William]. 
 
 Gentlemen, — In answer to my last pr. express I 
 received yours of 9th curt., with Mr. Alexr. Muirs bill on 
 James Cockburn of London for twentie pounds, and £30 
 sterlin in Mony and noats, makeing in all fiftie pounds 
 sterlin, which, reckoning the 20,000 slait shiped in Charles 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 385 
 
 Greig at £10 Scots pr. mill., and 3sh. ster. for Brandie, 
 makes sixtie six pounds sixteen shillings and four pence 
 sterlin ; so the ballance due me on your bill of £122 sterlin 
 will stand £55 : 3 : 8 sterlin, for which I must and depend on 
 Captain Philips bill on the Major again the end of this month, 
 haveing verie pressing use for mony at that time, etc. 
 
 I have recepted £66 : 16 : 4d. sterlin on the back of your 
 first bill. 
 
 Inv., Seber. 4, 1734. 
 
 Captain Edward Phillips [Fort William]. 
 
 Sir, — I spoke this day to Major Hay here, and by his 
 advice I have drawen on Willm. McDouell, Willm. Park, 
 and Malcom McLean, Merchts. in Compy. at Maribrogh, 
 for £35 : 3 : 8 sterlin, pay 11. to you or order ten days after 
 dait, which I doubt not will be accepted and carefully 
 paid ; so will accept your bill on Major Hays here for the 
 equivelent sum, which he promised to pay att sight. I 
 say I expect the same in return of this pr. Bearer ; and I 
 am etc. 
 
 Inverness, 25 7ber 1734. 
 
 To Normand McLeod, older of Drynoch [at Glenelg]. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I received yours of 15 currtt. only the 22d. 
 instant in the evening, so that the bearer was 8 days 
 comming here, and I received from him 37 moedores and 
 a half, 30 guenes, and elven Banck noats of 20 shillings 
 each, and your Bill on Ebost for ten guenies, payable 
 att Creef, and a porteguise ps., and seven shillings ster. ; 
 so that it answers to Alexr. Watts recept except six 
 shillings sterling which the Bearer says he made use of ; 
 so if you think fit to give him more may doe it and He 
 allow of it. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 25 7ber 1734. 
 
 To AEneas McDonald, of Scot as. 
 
 Sir, — Being informed yt. you was going to Crief market, 
 I 've thought proper to send you the melancholy acct. 
 of your Grandchild funell. charges ; and I gave anoyr 
 
 2 B 
 
386 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 double of the same to his uncle Alan when here, to which 
 he seemed very well pleased, except that the funerall 
 expence too litle. Now, as this acct. is all ready money 
 out of my pocket, I 've prsumed to Draw on you for the 
 same to Alexr. McGillivray, Drover and tennent in Petty, 
 to which I hope youll give complyance. And if you 
 cannot att the market, I presume to entreat the favour 
 of you to lodge the money for me wt. my ffreind Rodrick 
 McLeod, Writer to the Signet in Edr., your nefue, and 
 take his recept in my name for the same, being £17, two 
 shilling, 4 pence Sterlin, as youll see by the accompt. 
 
 Ins., 25 7ber 1734. 
 
 To Willm. McLeod of Ebost. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I hope this will find you hearty at Crief, and 
 that you have gott or will gett a good market for your 
 catle, and plenty of ready money. I have sent the Bearer 
 Express to my freind Alexander McGillivray, and have 
 sent him Drynochs Bill on you for ten Guines, payll. the 
 first next moneth. Ive sent likewise to him Alexr. Watt 
 in Glenelg his accepted Bill for £8 : 11 : 6 ster. payle. 
 20 currt. ; and he wrot me last week was to send me Bill 
 on you for the same, which I have not gott. However, 
 as I 've endorsed the Bill blank to you, I think youll not 
 scruple to pay it, since certainly the honest man will pay 
 it you at your return, or Drynoch will ; and it serves you 
 the trouble of bringing back so much money. I expected 
 yt. my Father in law would have given you orders to 
 retire his accepted Bill to me for £59 sterling, as also 
 Normand McLeod 1 the Scholmaster's Bill drawen on 
 Rodrick McLeod, writer, for £21 : 5 : 6 Sterling, which 
 was given me for ready money. . . . 
 
 Inverness, 25 7ber 1734. 
 
 To Alexr. McGillivray, Drover [and Farmer in Petty]. 
 
 Sir, — I thought to have seen you before you sett off 
 for Creif, having severall affairs to entrust to your care 
 
 Schoolmaster in Glenelg. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 387 
 
 att that markett. But, as I had the misfortune to miss 
 you, I 've sent you this pr. Express, with the inclosed 
 Letters and Bills. The first I desire you may peruse 
 carefully, seal and deliver, by which youll the better 
 understand what I mean, and so can the better manage 
 what I trouble you wt. You have inclosed Bill Normand 
 McLeod of Drynoch upon Willm. McLeod of Ebost for 
 £10 : 10 : Sterling ; also accepted Bill Alexr. Watt in 
 Glenelg for £8 : 11 : 6 Sterling, which I expect the said 
 Willm. McLeod will likewise pay. And I have indorsed 
 both these Bills blanck for that purpose that you may 
 upon payt. indorse the one and fill up a discharge in the 
 oyr. I send you likewise inclosed an acct. of Funerall 
 Charges for Scotas Grandchild, who dyed here lately, as 
 my letter to him will informe you ; which seal and deliver. 
 The said Account extends to £17 : 2 : 4 Ster., for which 
 I 've drawen on him to your order at three days sight of 
 this date, and which I doubt not that worthie Gentlman 
 will complie with. And I send you inclosed an open letter 
 to Duncan Mcintosh of Esich, 1 desirng him to give you 
 twentie Pound Ster., and to take your Bill on me for the 
 same payle. twentie days after dait, which I asure you 
 will be punctually paid. And I desire that you will add 
 to this money ten pounds more of your own. And, if you 
 are not to goe to Dunibrustle, I desire that you forrward 
 the same to James Maul by the Bearer, and gett his recept 
 for it, which will be good to me, being in all £66 : 3 : 10 
 sterling. But if you think of going to Dunibrustle your 
 self it would doe better, and deliver the money to 
 Mr. Maul out of your own hand upon his recept, which 
 will be made good to me ; and so may return the Bearer 
 from Creif, with a full acct. of which you gett done for 
 me, after you have keept him as long as you think neces- 
 sary. I earnestly intreat that you be very pressing wt. 
 my Brother in Law Ebost to retire from Mr. James Stuart 
 my ffather in Laws accepted Bill for £59 : - : - Sterling, 
 and his son Mr. Alexr. acceptance for £7 odd money 
 
 Essich near Inverness. 
 
388 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 sterling, since I asured said Gentleman that both these 
 Bills would answer this market, and received value for 
 them ; and his disapointment will be an affront on me. 
 So wishing you a good market, etc. 
 
 Capt. John Reid, Commander of the Adventure of Cromarty. 
 
 Dr. Sr., — I have shiped on board of your shipe, the 
 Adventure, for London 32 barrells salmon and grilses, 
 marked jp, of which there is one barrell on account of my 
 Daughter Marion, to purchess her a gown ; and the 
 remaining Thirty Tearces you are to dispose of for my 
 account, as you doe your own. But as I have lairge 
 Demands to come one me this Martimass I incline, if 
 possible, you can dispose of them all att London. And 
 from the proceeds, after the freight and charges is dis- 
 counted, you are to retain Eleven pound Nine shilling 
 and Ten pence 2 thirds Sterling, the ballance of the acct. 
 curt, of this dait, and remitt the rest to my freind Mr. 
 James Steuart, merchant in Edinburgh, or send me Mr. 
 Joseph Fakenie receipt for the same. And notice that 
 the fraight hence to London is Three shilling and four 
 pence Sterling p. Tearce. When, please God, you came 
 to any port in the Mediteranian, pray buy me a barrell of 
 rice, about 200 wight, and a dozen flaskes of fine eating 
 oyle. So, wishing you a good safe Voyage, etc. 
 
 [Fragment of letter without name of addressee, but 
 written in April 1735, shows Donald Macdonell of Scotas's 
 Bill for £28 : 2 : 8d still due.] 
 
 For Coll McDonald of Barastall. 
 
 Inverness, 28 Aprile 1735. 
 
 Dr. Sir,— I received yours of 20th curt, desireing sixtie 
 bolls oat Meall. I can not positively promise you 60 
 bolls, but I can furnish 50 bolls ; but it must be payed 
 precisely the 15 of July nixt at our Merket, and at Creif 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 389 
 
 market, by equall halves. So may send for the meal 
 when you please ; and send two Bills for the price at 
 lOsh. sterl. pr. Boll — that is, for £12 : 10 shillings pr. 
 Bill — and He grant my obligation for delivery of the meal ; 
 that is, what is not delivered of it when the Bills come. 
 And nota, I deliver the meal by weight att Eight and § 
 Stones pr. Boll, which is better to you than measure the 
 meal, being small ground. . . . 
 
 Ins., 10 May 1735. 
 
 Mr. Francis Russall. 
 
 Sir, — I am much concerned for my unluckie son, that 
 he should be so much indebted to you. I know nothing 
 of any fund he has in this Country, in my hands or any 
 others, to answer near the sum you mention. If I am 
 due him any money, it is not half the sum you mention ; 
 nor is it due till after my death. 
 
 Inverness, 16 May 1735. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Steuart. 
 
 Sir, — I received your very acceptable favour of 29th 
 last past pr. the bark Christian, John Baillie master, and 
 also the parcells of Tea you shipt for me in good order ; 
 the price and charges as pr. invoyce ammountingto £178 : 17 
 hollands, which sume will take care to remitt you very 
 soon. I have trayed the severall quallities of the severall 
 kinds of tea sent. The Bohea and Soatihan are exceeding 
 good, and the green tea is pritty good ; for which I thank 
 you. And, if I can, He see to gett some good Chaps 1 from 
 this place to call for goods from you ; and if youll deall 
 only with such as He recomend, or otherways well recom- 
 mended or known to you, youll be safe. I wish the finest 
 behea and green tea had been in pound canasters, such 
 being hardly to be found here. He be glad to hear from 
 you some times of the course markets for all sorts of 
 goods ; and, I am, etc. 
 
 1 See footnote, p. 374. 
 
390 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 6 August 1735. 
 
 Mr. John Faiknie [London] from Mrs. Reid [the Bailie's 
 Daughter, and wife of Captain John Reid of the 
 Adventure of Cromarty]. 
 
 I received your favours of the 17 June and 19 Jullie 
 last. The last brought me accot. of goods sent me pr. 
 George Anderson, extending to £8:7:7 Sterling, which 
 goods are come to hand. But I must complain that the 
 shipmaster did not take the proper care of the Silk Stuff, 
 both the green Damistz and the Satine, by being keept in 
 some damp place. I observe what you write annent 
 Insureance made of £500 sterling for my husbands Accot., 
 from Cette to Amsterdame, which is weell, and of remitting 
 me any money. May complay with my Fathers orders 
 to you from Edr. to retire his accepted bill from George 
 Achterlonie ; I say, his accepted bill drawn by George 
 McLeod for twenty seven pounds Sterling ; and draw on 
 him to me for like value, when you send his acceptance 
 retired ; and send me pr. David Rose, who is ready to saile 
 for London, three and \ yards scarlet Cloath for Cloakes, 
 and a Black velvet Cape for rideing, of the Laitest fasation 
 for my proper use, and one quarter of hundred double 
 refind suggar, and a noat of Leather which I have given 
 to David Rose, which please buy and ship, and charge 
 all to my husbands accot. ; which is all from, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 6 August 1735. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Carmichaell [Edinburgh]. 
 
 I have in g gott a sudain Call over the water to the Earle 
 of Morray, 1 1 found it convenient to return home. I find 
 my Lord Lovat hase gott about 120 Barrells Salmon, and 
 I have bespock as many more as youll want. I belive 
 theyll come some cheapper then what you gott from Lord 
 Lovat, so may dispatch your ship as soon as you please. 
 And, if you please to allow Wm. Lesslie in Leith to ship 
 some Spanish salt for my accot., He pay the fraight as he 
 agrees. If you please to send me the hogshead mountain 
 
 1 That is, from Edinburgh to Donibristle. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 391 
 
 wine [whisky] you was talking to me of, if realy good, at 
 £12 sterling, payable in 6 moneth, may doe as you please. 
 If it come He take it ; which is all from, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 6th August 1735. 
 
 Mr. James Steuart [Merchant, Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I wrot from Kingshorn to those to whom I am 
 Creditor, and desired Rodrick McLeod [W.S., Edinburgh] 
 to call for your assistance in bringing these gentlemen to 
 Comply with my request. So I long impatiently to know 
 what is done ; and I entreat your best endeavours for 
 me. I am looking over your Accot., and I observe you 
 charge £l : 5 sterling for 50 lb. pouthered Sugar, in which 
 Grant hase Imposed much on you, as I can buy a single 
 pound here at the same price ; and a groat pr. pound had 
 been enough. I spoke to John Coutts and partners 
 annent the bounty of the relanded Coalls pr. the Cabistoar, 
 John Mackenzie master, of which I sent you a Certificate 
 amounting to £5 sterling, and said Messrs. Coutts and 
 Company promised to give you a Letter on Demand to the 
 Collr. of Kirkaldie, to make good the said Certificate to 
 you, which pray notice to recover ; and mind my affairs 
 with David Greig of Dundee. I noat from James Suther- 
 land in Leith of what slait he sold, being 14000, for which 
 he sayd he gott £22 Scots pr. mille, and says he could sell 
 all at that price, but would not allow him, and mad ane 
 offer of 30 shillings to me pr. mill of what is on hand ; 
 so pray lett this pairt of our acct. be endend as soon as 
 possible ; and I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 30 August 1735. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Mackintosh of Kelachie [in London]. 
 
 Sir, — I find among the effects disponed to me by my 
 Father ane obligation from your Father to him for about 
 twenty pounds Scots, of which I forgott to speake to you 
 when in this Country, about which youll please give 
 
392 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 orders to your Doer here. Your Brother Lachlan was 
 apprised of this small Debt and promised me payment, 
 which I made no doubt hade been done or now if God 
 hade spared him some longer time ; but you may order 
 it with your convenience. Meantime may send me by 
 David Rose, who I suppose is with you ere now, as much 
 of a Drab Cloak, about ten Shillings pr. yaird, not too 
 light cullored, as will make me a big Coat. I suppose 
 three yairds and half or three quarters will doe, and I 
 shall account to you for the value* or pay the same to your 
 order, as you please ; and, I am, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 6 Septr. 1735. 
 
 To The Laird of McKinnon, younger. 
 
 I have seen your Letter of 31 past to my son Johnie, 
 who hase been very 111 since he came home, and is now 
 in the Country with his mother. I fear he hase blundered 
 as to your orders annent James Glass ; but Simon Mac- 
 kenzie assured him that your order on Gruinard was good 
 as to his salmon, he being fully paid for them. I mind 
 Glass absolutely denyed having any Salmon in the South 
 Highlands undisposed off. So Baron Taylor prevailed 
 with the boy to give up your Bond, as did Simon Mackenzie ; 
 and I shall be very vexed if you Incur any loss by this 
 step. Mean time I send you inclosed Mr. Glasess Back 
 Bond, and a letter open for yourself ; and I have sent by 
 the Express a Sherrive warrant of arestment to John 
 Mackleod at Achnacarie, cost 18d. ; which will be as valid 
 for securing Glass effects in this shipe as ane admirall 
 precept. But in case there be of his effects without this 
 Shy re I have sent pr*. this post for ane admirall precept. 
 Alexander Watt would not allow my draught on you for 
 33 shillings Sterling I paid the Taylor on your accot. 
 two years past. However, we will adjust that at meeting, 
 which I hope will be nixt week at Glainelge. I have 
 something to tell you will be very agreeable that I heard 
 from a freind laitly, etc. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 393 
 
 Inverness, 13 Septr. 1735. 
 
 For James Steuart [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — . . . Please advise me what proportion the sack 
 of Corn or white [wheat] at Leghorn bears to the Inglish 
 Bussell, being advised last post from thence that Corn 
 was risen to 16 Livers pr. sack. Now I want to know how 
 much that will be the Inglish Bussell of Sterling money. 
 Pray send me pr. David Rose a Watlin Cradle for a child, 
 of the best kind, and place the value to my accot. ; and 
 advise if a parcell of 200 barrells of fine Leuie [Lewis 
 herrings ?] will sell with you, or at what rate ; or if will 
 sell for horn consums., cured with home salt, etc. 
 
 Inverness, ISth Septr. 1735. 
 
 Mr. John Baillie [Master of the Christian]. 
 
 I have shipt on board the sloop Christian, of which you 
 are master, fourteen Last herring cask, in which is packed 
 fiftie bolls Spanish salt, that is, in four last, 2 barrells 
 herring. You have likways one thousand hoops. Three 
 bolls meall backen in bread, three barrells Beef, and a boll 
 oat meall in a cask, 21 pounds Candles, a half stone butter, 
 four pecks peese, thirty six pound Roll Tobacco, and five 
 Gallon whisky ; with all which you are to make the best 
 of your way to Lochbroom in order to make a full loadning 
 of herring. And at your arrivell you are to write me pr. 
 Express that I may dispatch Alexander Layon the Coupar, 
 and to apply yourself to Alexander Mackenzie, younger 
 of Coull, and deliver him my letter. And, if he will under- 
 take to furnish me wt. herring in the terms of my letter, 
 in that case you are to deliver him what salt and cask 
 he calls for, and take his receipt for the same. You will 
 likways deliver him ane anker of the whisky, the Tobacco 
 and hoops. And in case you be straitned for meall its 
 fitt you buy a boll or two more meall in the Orknies. In 
 short, if Coule make your herrings, youll give out of the 
 stores what Alexr. Layon will advise, on his receipt, and 
 according as he makes herrings and is customary in such 
 
394 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 cases. If you return with the bark here you are to have 
 six pounds Sterling Wages. If you goe to the Sound, 
 you are to have Nine pounds Sterling. And Duncan 
 Mackenzie is to have three pounds here, and Baine thirty 
 shillings. I give you two Guineas in hand to account , 
 and what further necessarys will be sent by Dougald and 
 Alexander Layon or either of them. So, wishing you a 
 speedy voyage, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 13 Septr. 1735. 
 
 Alexander McKenzie, younger of Coull [at Lochbroom]. 
 
 Since I had the pleasure of seeing you here I informd 
 my self by Andrew Munro of the terms that was promised 
 for makeing of herrings at Lochbroom for his Account ; 
 and, after haveing considered seriously of that affair, I 
 agree to give you three pounds Sterling for every last of 
 herring you make for my account, and will furnish you 
 salt, cask, and hoops here for that purpose, likways any 
 other stores such as Bread, meall, Tobacco, Whisky, at 
 the same rate they cost me. And likways you are to pay 
 the Couper, and to have the cask well packed, fitt for 
 shipping at a convenient fourland for that purpose, and 
 that with outmost dispatch. If you agree to this pro- 
 posall youll accquaint me, how soon this comes to hand,, 
 and deliver your letter to John Baillie, by whom this goes, 
 and who is to send me ane Express. And, whether you 
 agree to this proposall or not, I hope youll order Boats 
 to Mr. Baillie, who pay them as well as any others doe. 
 Nota that I am to allow three boll salt to each last of 
 herring, being strong Spanish salt ; which at present is 
 from, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 19 9b er 17 35. 
 
 Dougald Stuart [the Bailie's ' Servant ']. 
 
 I received your letter pr. Express, without dait, which 
 gives much surprise ; but I find you have been much 
 impos'd upon, or surly you are not the honest Servant 
 I took you to be. For why, I pray you, did you adven- 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 395 
 
 ture to transact any affair of mine but in the shape I 
 order'd you ? For, as to McKinnons obligatory Letter, 
 promising to make good £100 Ster. when the ship returns, 
 is only a Conditionell Security, and will never doe me any 
 service with the principall Cr., Mr. Russell, who, by a 
 
 letter this day sent me with D . But, above all things, 
 
 how could you venture to give up John McLeod's obliga- 
 tion to me annent the salmon without my special order, 
 which was equally good to me as this Letter with John's 
 other Letter's since sent me ? And, abouve all, how cou'd 
 you leave your service without liberty and clearing for 
 all your intromissions ? But, as you are engaged, I wish 
 you good success, and that you give satisfaction to your 
 employers. Ive sent you a letter to Mr. Charles Smith, 
 of Bulogne, 1 my good freind ; and if you goe to St. Valerie 
 or Deep [Dieppe] he will advise to whom youll adress ; 
 but, if to Haver de Grace, you may adress to Jacob Ferrie. 
 But take care that whosoever you medle with undertake 
 to furnish you credit at Burdeaux or St. Mertins, where, 
 I suppose you will take in your homeward cargoe for the 
 full proceeds of the salmon. For, if you leave your salmon 
 in the factors hands unsold, it may be long enough before 
 your Employers see these or money. So you must be 
 very cautious what you do, and Mr. Smith will give his 
 best advice, who is a very honest man. When you come 
 to Orcany you are to call for Sir James Stuart, 2 and he 
 will gett some trustie to exped your Debentures ; but be 
 sure to clear with the Collector, and leave money to Sir 
 James to pay the fees when the Debentures are exped. 
 
 Ins., 19 Nov. 1735. 
 
 Mr. Charles Smith, Bulogne. 
 
 This will be delivered you by Dougald Stuart, my 
 freind and lait Sert., hes sent by the Laird of Mckinnon 
 and some near freinds of mine with a parcell of Salmon 
 to be sold in your nighbourhead, or att your port. I begg 
 
 1 A noted Jacobite. His wife, nie Paterson of Bannockburn, was aunt to 
 Clementina Walkinshaw. 
 
 2 Of Buiray,.Bart. 
 
396 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 you give this young man your best advice about the 
 disposall of his cargoe to the purpose for his Employers 
 Accts. 
 
 Ins., 13 lObr. 1735. 
 
 The Laird of McLeod. 
 
 Honle. Sir, — I received your last favour, and, as I 
 wanted money to pay Mr. John Clark for your Broyrs. 
 Board, and as Baillie Gordon coud furnish none, I was 
 obliged to take £10 ster. from Robert Chiviz, for which 
 I gave him a bill on you of this dait payll. eight days after 
 sight ; and He bring you Mr. John Clerks recept and proper 
 vouchers next week, when I hop to see you ; and then 
 will satisfy you on evry point. I had a letter last post 
 from the Doctor, which I 've sent to Annie. He writes 
 the money is reddy att Lon: ; and I hope in consequence 
 of my last letter to him there will be orders with Rod: 
 McLeod for me to draw against I come to Edr. I much 
 lament Sir Alexr. McDonalds loss of his good, virtouous 
 Lady. 
 
 Inverness, 30 August 1736. 
 
 Mr. George Udnie [London]. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 14th curt., which gives me 
 but verie bad encouragement as to the seall of my iron ; 
 but I hope youll make better of it in some short time, 
 which shall be glad to hear off. This serves cheefly to 
 advise that how soon this comes to hand you inshure 
 on my sloop the Cristian of this pleace, John Bailie, 
 Master, and her cargoe of salmon from Lochduich to this 
 pleace, and Muntrose if needfull, £300 sterlin ; and I 
 hope youll doe it as frugally as possible. And I am 
 expecting your punctuall complyance, and answer in 
 course, Sir, Your most humble servant. 
 
 This bark was at Lochduich in Kintail the midle of last 
 week, but know not if has sailed as yet or not. You did 
 not mark the price of cornes in your last Letter. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 397 
 
 11th September 1736. 
 
 Mr. Patrick McHattie [London]. 
 
 Sir, — I hope James Reay will be with you long or this 
 comes to hand. I spoke to Baillie Gordon about that money 
 you wrot me he was due you and received for your Accot. ; 
 but he says he received no such money, and that he had 
 wrot you to that purpose, so that I was oblidged to draw 
 derectly on Mr. Backshell for the freight of the goods pr. 
 Hugh Inglis to Baillie John Hossack and Co. ; but I hope 
 again next post to send you a bill for what I am due you ; 
 but nota that Mr. Reay paid me no money for your Accot. 
 Pray, dear freind, enquire what my son John is adoeing, 
 and if there is any probability of his getting soon into 
 bussness. If not, I have taken a resolution, for certain 
 reasons, that he come by James Reay, who, I hear, is to 
 come down very soon to this firth ; or by the ship that 
 Mr. Backshell is sending down to take in passengers for 
 Carolina. So pleas introduce my son to Mr. Backshell, 
 to whom I wrot this post, that he may recommend him for 
 his passage down if better cannot be, or perhaps find some 
 good busness for him. Advise of your corn marcat, and 
 how you think they will turn out again Spring. Barly is 
 good and plentifull in this country, but the oats scrimp 
 in Morray ; but the price will depend on the demand, 
 which, I belive, will be very great from the south of this 
 country, the cropt being very bad, and I don't know how- 
 it is with you. Give my humble service to Mrs. McKattie. 
 
 I have a parcell of fine Salmond to sell, about 115 
 Tearces, and, if I gett them not sold, I am thinking to 
 send them to north France or Bilboa. I could sell them 
 at £2 : 10 ster. pr. Tearce ; and, if James Reay come 
 down, perhaps may freight him ; and, if you please to 
 hold a share, youll be welcome. 
 
 Inverness, 18 September 1736. 
 Mr. John McLean, of London. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I received your kind oblidgeing letter of 
 7th August last, which I coud have answered long ere 
 
398 
 
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 now, but that I waited some franks I expected from the 
 country, being loath to put you to the expence of postage 
 without recite of any advantage to you. The caracter 
 you give of my son [John] is very agreeable, and I give 
 you hearty thanks for the kind concern you take about 
 him. I shall for my part be very thankfull to any that 
 will help to put him some busness by which he may gett 
 bread, and qualifie himself creditable. He wants a small 
 triffle of cloaths — I think britches and a vest. If you 
 please to help him that way, may draw on me for value, 
 and will take care to pay the same ; and wherein I can 
 serve you you may always command. 
 
 Inverness, 18 Septr. 1736. 
 
 Mr. Patrick Mackattie. 
 
 I wrot you last post to which referrs, I now send you 
 my freind John Stewart, 1 quarter master of the Royal 
 Dragoons, his bill of this date on Captain John Wilkinson 
 of said Regiment, and agent to the same at London, for 
 £20 ster., payle. the 10th nixt month ; but my freind, 
 being to goe for London nixt week, begs that you may 
 not apply to said Mr. Wilkinson till he come, and that 
 then he will see to gett it paid, which I doubt not, having 
 a good sume of money in his hands at present ; so that 
 I doubt not this bill will be paid. However, if my freind 
 John shoud not appear with you before this bill fall due, 
 it will be necessary that you present it in order to doe the 
 needfull, which I hope will not be the case, but that it 
 will be honourably paid, which I heartily wish for your 
 sake and my. I will say nothing as to the ballance. 
 
 Inverness, 23 Oct 1736. 
 
 Mr. Patrick MacKattie [London.] 
 
 I have your acceptable favour of 21 last month, and 
 give you most hearty thanks for your kind concern about 
 
 John Roy Stewart, afterwards Prince Charles's famous officer. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 399 
 
 my son John, and I shall rejoice to hear from you that 
 he behaves well, and give any content to his new master. 
 I know he is a good humoured honest lad, and does not 
 want a good capacity ; so I hope patience with him 
 may make him ane agreeable servant. I sent about a 
 moneth agoe a bill drawn by John Steuart, the quarter- 
 master, on his Agent at London, for £20 Sterling, payable 
 the 10 of this moneth, and I long much to hear if it be 
 paid. If it is, you may apply the ballance will be due me 
 towards paying some money my son John is due to his 
 laite master, with whom he was at school ; of whom he 
 will Inform you. But, if the bill is not paid, I hope my 
 cousine Mr. Steuart, who is now at London, and of whom 
 my Johnie will gett you notice, will retire the bill, as he 
 faithfully promised. If not, I must say he used me very 
 ill, and cannot expect any forbearance, being now much in 
 cash to my knowledge. I observe both your ships are 
 comeing this way. You may depend He doe all the service 
 in my power to their Commanders, and will provide two 
 barrells of good pork for the Hope as you desire. And I 
 belive James Reay may have a chance of a loadning of 
 Barly very soon for London, if not of something else for 
 London or France. May advise me of corn markets 
 frequently with you. Deliver the inclosed to John, and 
 lett him pay half postage. I hear Salmond sells well 
 just now in Holland and Flanders, and I am just about 
 to send my parcell to Campheer. Advise if you woud take 
 a concern. 
 
 Inverness, 28th Octr. 1736. 
 
 Mr. John Mackleod [Glenelg, the Bailie's brother-in-law]. 
 
 Dear Brother, — I received yours of the 23 instant, 
 which gave your Sister and me a great deall of pleasure, 
 in that it advised of your being in a way of recovering. 
 But then a shock so terible ought to guard you how to 
 keep a sober regular dyet hereafter ; and above all things 
 that you forbear drinking that poisonous drink, I mean 
 
400 
 
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 drams of brandie and whisky ; for certainly your lait 
 maladie hase been fostered that way, and by cold mixed 
 with it. I have caused repack most of the salmond p. 
 John Baillie, and must all of it, as your Coupar has, I 
 find mixed salmond and grilsess together, which will not 
 doe in the northern markets, as it would condemn the 
 whole cargo for grilses, the last being commonly sold a 
 fifth part or more cheaper than the salmond. And, when 
 yours are all repacked, youll find but very fue salmond 
 among them, not I suppose the third part, which is the 
 reason I cannot get them sold at home, where, had they 
 all been salmond, I coud have fetched 50 shillings p. 
 barrell including the bounty ; but, as they are mostly 
 grilses, will not draw 40 shillings at home ; so that its 
 a greater loss to you that the bark was stopt so long in the 
 Highlands and Orknies, for, if they had arrived about 
 20 days soonner, all had gone of at 50 sh: p. barrell for the 
 Mediteranian market ; but, as that is over, must now goe 
 Camphier, where I hear that salmond is in demand at 
 present, which I hope may bring a tolerable price for your 
 grilsess. But, if can sell some at home, shall rather doe 
 it then run the risque of an uncertain market. And the 
 bark will saile nixt week, and I will advise fully pr. nixt 
 what is done. Mean time, I most earnest and pressing 
 with Mackinnon about his accepted bills ; for, if that 
 shoud faile, you be ruined with my Lord Seaforth, since 
 I cannot promise to raise money for your salmond to pay 
 my bill of £72 sterling to him, which will fall due soon. 
 Receive inclosed Accot. of cloaths and stockins sent you 
 in one bundle p. bearer, amounting to £3 : 15 : 10 sterling. 
 The furniture are in the bundle. And I sent 3 dozn. 
 buttons for your coat formerly sent, and the note of 
 drogs from Duncan Munro, which will amount to, as p. 
 Accot. sent you, £l : 5 : 2 J ster., which is put to the 
 debit in account. The bearer refuses to carrie the 
 wine, but he shall have as much as he can carry, and 
 your shoes and black buttons ; for the vest shall be 
 sent p. first occasion, since could not be got readie this 
 time. . . . 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 401 
 
 Inverness, 28 October 1736. 
 Mr. John Somervell [Renfrew]. 
 
 I had laitly a proposall made one of getting a large 
 quantity of Roll Tobacco from your pairts to be entered 
 for exportation, and landed in a certain Island inby, 
 which my freind tells me ther might be 50 p. ct. gott. 
 I am utterly a stranger to such matters, and would by no 
 means medle unless such a friend as yourself woud a third 
 concern in it. The gentleman, my freind that writes me, 
 says he would get Gentlemen of very good credit woud 
 take it at a tollerable good price, suppose it were delivered 
 them in February nixt, and grant ther bills, payable for 
 the same at Michaellmass market of Creef thereafter. I 
 am well aware that dealling in this manner is a much 
 greater risque than formerly, and therefor I submit to 
 you how farr such a project is practicable or not, or if you 
 woud incline to be concerned, and furnish the goods on our 
 joined security ; as to which I entreat your answer in 
 course. I would not venture to write on this subject but 
 to a shure freind like yourself, and therefor I beg you 
 preserve this from being exposed. And please advise of 
 the price of meall and bear with you and in Irland ; and 
 please know that wee have here an excellent well ripen'd 
 cropt, and particularly of Barly, and no scarcity of oat 
 meall ; so that if thers no foreigne demand, of which I 
 find little appearance, if will be prittie cheap. If the 
 Tobacco affairs woud doe I woud send a freind, a young 
 man, to goe along the ship, and take in about 150 bolls 
 foreigne salt, to be entered likways for exportation in the 
 same bark. I mean our boll of 4 bushells. But all this I 
 submit to your better judgment. Mean time, let me 
 know how the Tobacco and salt would be purchased for 
 this purpose with you ; and I am. 
 
 I am determin'd not to medle in the above project but 
 according as youl advise me. 
 
 2 c 
 
402 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 6th of November 1736. 
 
 Mr. Patrick Mackattie [London]. 
 
 I received your favour of the 16 last past, and doe 
 observe your orders annent delivering the cargo of goods 
 on board James Reay, who, I hear, is at Portsoy, this 
 10 days past ; and how [soon] he arrives here shall doe him 
 all the service in my power. I am glad to find that you 
 have gott payment of John Stewarts bill of £20 ster. on 
 Captain Wilkinson, and desire you give up my accept- 
 ance for £15 : 10 Str. to my son John, which he is to 
 forward to me here. And give you most hearty thanks 
 for the kindness you show, and pray furnish him with your 
 best advice, and lett me know he behaves with his new 
 master, and how you think that service may answer his 
 expectation. I desired him apply the ballance of Mr. 
 Steuarts bill in your hands towards payment of his school- 
 master, and quarters where he stayed ; and beg you 
 notice he doe. Whatever money James Reay pays me 
 a riseing from his fraight shall be immediatly remitted 
 you. I have got most of my parcell of Salmond sold here, 
 and now is dispatching my sloop with them to Camphier 
 in Zeland, where, I understand, they 'le sell prittie well 
 for the Flanders market, there being few or non gone from 
 Scotland for that Country or Holland this year, all being 
 sent to France and the Mediteranian. As I advised you 
 in my last, we have a very plentifull cropt well win, but 
 the proprietors are very upish, and expect great matter, 
 at least 8 merks pr. boll. However, may have me advised 
 how it rules from time to time with you. I give you the 
 trouble of the inclosed bill and Indenture. The bill is 
 for £l : 15 ster., and, as it is protested, and a horning 
 raised and execut on it, the interest and charges will 
 amount to 20 shillings more, in all £2 : 15 str. I hear 
 Charles Peip, the drawer, is now in London ; he is laitly 
 come home from the East Indies, where he served as a 
 midshipman. He is a near Cousine to Doctor Ross, who 
 frequents the Rainbow Coffee house near St. Martain's 
 Church ; and no doubt youll be inform'd from said Doctor 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 403 
 
 where to find him ; but need not let the doctor know what 
 you want him for. I have indors'd the bill for your 
 recovering the payment, but woud not willingly put the 
 poor man in Gaol, he being a near relation of mine ; but 
 may threaten hard and areast his wages. The Indenture 
 is from one Donald Mackenzie, a fellow was very ungrait 
 to me, he being only my footman, and I out of favour 
 sent him to sea without any consideration of reward, in 
 order to serve him. If can get notice of this blade, which 
 probable youll get from this towns lads, pray try what 
 can be made of him. You see the penalty in the Indenture 
 is £20 ster., but would compound for the half of it, besides 
 the penalty of a shilling p. day during the time he was 
 to serve, which, if I am not mistaken, is at least 18 moneths. 
 So may inform yourself in these matters, and advise me. 
 Pray, how soon this comes hand, insure on the sloop 
 Christain of this place, John Baillie master, and her cargo 
 of Salmond from this to the harbour of Camphier in 
 Zeland, £160 str., and advise of your complyance in course. 
 The said sloop will saile in 8 days ; and place the premium 
 to my Acct. 
 
 Inverness, 4 Febry. 1737. 
 
 Letter to John MackLeod [Glenelg]. 
 
 Afft. Brother, — I Receved yours of 31 past, but hade 
 the sad news of young McKinons Death before it came 
 to hand. I am truely much consernd for this sad event, 
 which is a great loss to all his freinds, and your Brother 
 Sanders in particalur. I am assured you will be sufferer 
 by his death, as to his accepted bills in my hands ; and, 
 in the meantime a vast Dissapintment to me with respect 
 to his bill of £50 sterlin to Lord Seaforth, who, I find, is 
 realy intended to put you from the salmon fishing of 
 Kinteal. And this day your Nairn fishermen are sent for 
 to ingadge with him, tho I assured them you would have 
 bussiness for them tho you gott not that fishing. But it 
 sems they are of a piece with all of there kind, unsensible 
 of good usage, and ungratfull. Since my last I hade 
 
404 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 advice of John Bailies arival at Camphere the 15 Decer. 
 last, and yet not one word have I from the Master nor the 
 factor ; so I can not tell how matters will goe as to the 
 salmon. The letter come here is from a boy to his Master 
 David Rose. The news growes better everie post, as you 
 will see by the unclosed prints came the tuo last posts. 
 I belive honest McKinon thats dead will be much missed 
 when ever your freind has to doe, and I supose that will 
 be verie soon. I send not you the pownd of snuffe you 
 wanted in your last, since you asked but for one pownd, 
 and I sent it and asked no more. I have sent you the 
 quair of paper, the stockins, Medicinsens, etc. as p. anexed 
 account ; but Duncan Munro and Docter Cuthbert are 
 surprised much what you doe with all the Medicins sent 
 you of leat. They say it would serve six men ; so I 
 suppose you are imposed on. I saw your bill on me to 
 John McKilvray, payable at ten days sight, and accepetd 
 the same ; but must take care to draw no more on me for 
 your accts. I am dificuled much to gett clear of Lord 
 seaforth, who duns me every day, as he does all Mortalls. 
 The reason why I have not heard from John Baillie is that 
 my letters have been in on of the several paket boats 
 have been lost this winter ; so that I realy belive my 
 letters from this Country have never come to hand. 
 
 Inverness, 25 March 1737. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to Peter MacKattie of London, 
 adviseing that George Urqhart in the Hope sailed this day 
 with 70 passingers and servants aboord, and that I hade 
 shipt for our joynt Acct. on boord the ship Adventure, 
 John Reid, Comander, 503 bolls 2 firlots bear of Cromarty 
 Farmes [ferms], and desireing him to inshure £250 sterlin 
 on our sd. Cargoe joyntly from Cromarty to London, or 
 £125 sterlin on my proper Account, and that I drew on 
 him for £25 sterlin to the order of William Hogg, Junior, 
 of Eder., payable 20 days after dait, which I sent to 
 Andrew Munroe to be forwarded to Mr. Hogg on granting 
 recept for the same pr. J. S. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 405 
 
 Inverness, 9 Aprile 1737. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to Mr. William Back shell, of London, 
 adviseing that his shipp, the Hope, sailed the 25 Last 
 Month, and was at Carsetown in Orknie the 28, and would 
 sail nixt day with a fair wind ; advised likeways that 
 would send him my Acct. of Debursements pr. nixt post, 
 and draw on him for the ballance ; and likeways sent a 
 list of the Passengers and servants gone for Carolina 
 aboord the sd. shipp ; and Mr. Keneth McKenzie obliga- 
 tion relating to the fraight of the Passingers and Declara- 
 tion annent the indented servants. 
 
 Cromarty, 15 Aprile 1737. 
 
 I wrot to Peter Mackattie adviseing of my Draught 
 on him of 12th Curt, to James Kinaird for £50 sterlin, 14 
 days after sight, which is in pairt of my accepted bill to 
 Lord Seaforth on John McLeods Accts. ; also wrot to 
 him to speake to Mr. Backshell on my son Sanders his 
 account, to be imployed in South Carolina. 
 
 23 Aprile 1737. 
 
 I wrot to Mr. Backshell [London] adviseing that his 
 shipp the Hope saled from Kerstown [Orkney], and Capt. 
 Avorie went alongs the end of last month, and I hope is 
 now gott near to Carolina, and adviseing to pay Keneth 
 Mackenzies bill on him to William Davidson, £2 : 12 sh. 
 ster., for maintaing some servants some weeks at his house 
 in Cromarty. 
 
 23 Aprile 1737. 
 
 I wrot to Petter Mackattie desireing advice about 
 Esdale slait, and adviseing that Capt. Avorie went along 
 with his ship the end of last month. 
 
 Inverness, 30th Aprile 1737. 
 
 Mr. William Backshell [London]. 
 
 Sir, — I wrot you of the 9th and 23 Currt. since which I 
 had non from you. In the first I sent you an account of 
 
406 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 the passingers and servants went aboard of your ship the 
 Hoye, with Mr. Kenneth Mackenzie Obligation relative 
 to the same ; and in my last I told you that Capt. Avorie 
 went along with your ship from the Orknie about the end 
 of last moneth with a fair wind, which continued about 24 
 days, and I hoped the said ship was gott near her port [in 
 Carolina]. Now I send you inclosed my accot. of Deburs- 
 ments for your accot., in which is included Mr. Mackenzies 
 accot., which is likwise sent you, as is Capt. George Urquhart, 
 the masters, receipt for £5 sterling of stock purse I gave 
 him at sailing from Cromarty, and his bill on me to the 
 pilot went with him to the Orknies for twenty-five shillings 
 sterling, for which I have taken credit in the inclosed 
 accot. curt. So you '1 see the ballance due me is £5 : 1 : 8 
 sterling, for which have valued on you of this date to 
 Mr. Duncan Munro of this place, at three days sight, to 
 which no doubt you will comply. I have likways sent 
 you a Notariall Coppie of Mr. Avorie' s power to his broyr 
 in Law Kenneth Mackenzie to act in his absence as his 
 Agent, which will subject Mr. Avory to account to you 
 for any thing said Mr. Mackenzie has transacted in his 
 absence, and for what money he hase received of yours. 
 And now I have no more to say on this subject, but that 
 the money I have drawn on you was fairly debursed for 
 your accot., and I have not charged a pennie for my 
 trouble I was put to about your affairs, nor for the time I 
 spent about them, and shall be mightie glad to know you 
 are satisfied with my conduct. I Confess your ship was 
 long detain'd in this Country after parting from London, 
 and I belive your charges are come very heavy, but is all 
 owing partly to accidents of contrary winds, and partly 
 to the blundering of your Manadger befor I had any thing 
 to doe with your affairs. Thers a large copper still and a 
 big tub of wood belonging to it left here, which I suppose 
 must be returnd to London ; or, if you please, it may be 
 sent with the first ship that goes to Georgia from hence ; 
 as to which may advise. Capt. Urquhart had no room 
 in his ship for the machine. He expect to hear from you 
 in course acknowledging receipt of the acct. and voutchers 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 407 
 
 now sent you. With all submission I think Kenneth 
 Mackenzie bill for £12 sterling in favour of Alex. Davidson 
 shoud be paid. The poor man paid that for his passage 
 tho left behind, and its hard he should lose it. Mr. Avory 
 will be lyable to you for it. 
 
 Inverness, 30 May 1737. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to Sir James Steuart of Burray, 
 adviseing that the Meall he hade bought for his Brother 
 from Mr. Francis Sinklair could not be bartered for Lead 
 at Strontian, but that, if the same was purchased at 4£ 
 10 sh. scots pr. boll of 8j ston, I would take the half of it 
 for my proper Acct. and send my sloop to load the same, 
 being 450 or 500 bolls ; and wrot likeways of same dait 
 to Mr. Francis Sinklair desireing to be advised of the price 
 of sd. meall, and desireing to forward my letter under his 
 covert to Sir James Steuart pr. express, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 28 June 1737. 
 
 To the Honble. Mr. Francis Sincklair, Brother to the Earle 
 of Cathness. 1 
 
 Honble. Sir, — I Received your favours of 6th and 21 
 curt., and doe observe that Sir James Steuart of Burray 
 has actually bargained with you for four hundred and 
 sixtie bolls oat Meal of last cropt, to be delivered^ to my 
 order. I gott a letter from him about a month past, 
 desireing I might send a shipp for sd. meall, but I wrot 
 back of something occured was like to dissapoint the 
 project then in wiew, and beged his answer pr. first ; to 
 which haveing no return, and fearing much that the Meall 
 might ly on hand in case it was not now shipped off, the 
 season being far spent, I have sent the bearer, Donald 
 Urquhart, in my bark the Christian of this pleace to load 
 sd. meall for account of Sir James ; so I beg you may give 
 him outmost dispatch, good Meall, and good Weight, for 
 
 1 Brother of Alexander, ninth earl of Caithness, and son of John Sinclair of 
 Murkle, the eighth Earl. He died issueless in 1762. 
 
408 
 
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 the season is now far spent, and merkats are low, and can 
 not wait longer for Sir James his answer, as it might prove 
 of verie bad consequence to him and his freind ; besides, 
 have waited his answer verie long. Howsoon I gott your 
 last I dispatched the bark without waiting anie timber 
 that could be shipped from hence. May take the ship- 
 master Donald Urquharts recept or bill of loadning in Sir 
 James name for the Meall, deliverable to me or order at 
 Glainelg and Fortwilliam, ffreights according to Agree- 
 ment, and mention that each boll weighs eight and half 
 stones ; and may take tuo bills of loadning of the same 
 tenor, and send one of them to me pr. post howsoon the 
 Meall is loaded, f forward the inclosed immediatly to Sir 
 James, which is to acquaint him that the vessall is sent to 
 receive the meall, since he writes me he would send one 
 to see it shiped ; but as the passage is uncertain the bark 
 can not wait his return but must be immediatly dis- 
 patched ; which at present is all from, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 24 7ber 1737. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to Normand McLeod of Drynach, 
 my Father in Law, by Thomas Yeoman, and sent him the 
 following bills to procure me payment viz., bill accepted 
 by Donald McLeod, per Balamainach, payable 1 8ber at 
 
 Ster. 
 
 Alexr. Cues [?] house in Creef . . . £21 : 19 : 6 
 
 Do. Accepted bill Rodrick McKenzie of 
 Achavanie [Lochcarron] payble 4 8ber. 
 at Muirhead's Coffee house in Eder. for . 17 : 10 : - 
 
 Do. Bill accepted be Andrew McFarlan pay- 
 able at sd. Coffehouse . . . . 7 : - : - 
 
 Do. bill Alexr. McLeod on sd. Andrew 
 
 McFarlan for 6 : - : - 
 
 £52 : 9:6 
 
 and I Desired Drynach to remitt by the bearer the value 
 of the sd. bill, or to return them, etc. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 409 
 
 24 7ber 1737. 
 
 I wrot to Alexr. Wederburn, my son in Law, and sent 
 him bill of loadning for 18 barells tarr, which was all I 
 could procure clearance for, and promised to send him the 
 other 5 barells by next occasion. 
 
 1st Sber 1737. 
 
 I wrot to George McLeod, of Burdeaux, desireing he 
 might writ to George Ochterlounie, of London, to super- 
 ceed the payment of his bill on me to sd. Ochterlounie for 
 £47 : 14 : 4 ster. till Candlemas nixt, tho it fell due the 6 
 of nixt month, haveing only given commission to ship the 
 goods payable in six month, I mean the tuo tunes of wine 
 by George Smith of Aberdeen. 
 
 1st Sber 1737. 
 
 I wrot to my son John a long full Letter to St. Lucar, 
 and promised to send ample recomendations in his favour 
 to Mark Pringle, the Consull there, etc. 
 
 15/ Sber 1737. 
 
 I wrot Likeways of this dait to John Reid, my son in 
 Law, to the care of Mr. Thomas Kay at Ostend, adviseing 
 him of his wife and children's health, and of my own 
 family and Marian, and thanking for his kindness to my 
 son John. 
 
 1st Sber 1737. 
 
 I wrot David Gregorie of Campveer, begging him to 
 send me acct. of sealls of 26 barells salmon consigned last 
 winter by John Bailie in the sloop Cristian, and to send my 
 account Curt. 
 
 1st Sber 1737. 
 
 I wrot to Petter Mackattie, of London, adviseing of my 
 barks arivall here, and that I was pleased no insureance 
 was made as pr. his letter of 3d Septer., and sent the above 
 letters inclosed to be forwarded under his covert and his 
 letter under covert to the Laird of Grant. As also advised 
 
410 
 
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 sd. Mr. Mackattie to put a new Miror in the Miror frame 
 I sent him last Aprile by Hugh Ingles of this pleace, and 
 that the lose glass of it was intire, and to return the same 
 by Hugh Ingles or Charles Steuart. 
 
 8 Sber 1737. 
 
 I wrot of this Dait to My son Alexr. Steuart, and sent 
 him Bailie William Mcintosh his accepted bill for £6 : 17 : 
 6d. sterlin indorsed by me, being for salt sold sd. Bailie 
 Mcintosh on his account. I Likeway sent him John 
 Clerk, mercht. here, his obligation for £4 : sterlin on Acct. 
 of on Adam Taylor in Cateness, etc. 
 
 Inverness j 17 Octer. 1737. 
 
 For the Leard of Mckinon. 
 
 I receved your favour of 10th Curt., and I am sorie to 
 find that your Uncle and you are so averse in setteling ane 
 affair that in it self just equal, since I ame persuaded, as 
 were all your freinds met in July last at Dunvegan, that 
 John McLeod hade a verey just cleame to £100 sterling ; 
 so that after alowing the Salmon, being but five full Barels 
 after repacking, and McKinon your sons bill of £34 sterling 
 in my hands, their is only fortie pounds due, for which I 
 desird no more than a reasonable security in consequance 
 of your own and Uncles obligation to that purpose ; which, 
 being refus'd, I must for my own releef from the debts I 
 stand bound for John McLeod put all the bills and the 
 Documents I have realeatin to that affair in the hands of 
 Creditors at Edbr. imediatly, who I bleive will look out 
 wtout delay to secure themselves. I ame sorrie it should 
 come to this, but I canot healp it, being much pressed at 
 present. — I am, Honourable Sir, your humble Servt. 
 
 PS. — Pay my Humbe respects to Lady McKinon. 
 
 Inverness, 17 October 1737. 
 
 For Mr. John Mckinon of Mishish. 
 
 Sir, — I recieved your favour of 29th last month, and I 
 am sorie to find that the setleing the Just Ballance Due 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 411 
 
 me on John McLeod's account is put to such time as I 
 cannot determine : I made out an exact Acot. of John 
 McLeods account with the late McKinon annent the 
 Hundred pounds sterlin found to be due him by the freinds 
 met at Dunvegan July last, and for which you have 
 given your obligation in my neame to grant a reasonable 
 security for the same ; and as the Ballance due still of the 
 sd. Hundred pounds appears to be but fortie pounds, after 
 alowing all the payments made by the leate McKinon anie 
 maner of way, I only asked a reasonable security for that 
 sum, but, being refus'd, and I much pressd for Debts for 
 which I stand engaged to the sd. John McLeod, I canot 
 help giving up such bills as I have of the leate McKinons 
 and your obligation and other Documents imediatly to 
 John McLeods Creditors at Eder. for my releefe, which 
 measure I would not purshue but that nessesity has no 
 Law, so that I cannot be blamed if this affair should in the 
 event be attended with a heavie charge, which, with my 
 Humble Duety to your son and Ladie, is all from Your 
 most Humble servant. 
 
 Inverness, 22d Sber 1737. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to Rodrick McLeod, Writer in Eder., 
 and sent him inclosed a letter to the Laird of Mcintosh, 
 and ordered him to read, seall, and deliver it, and sent 
 him likeways a bond granted be Lachlan Mcintosh of 
 Daviot, the sd. Mcintosh his Father, for 50 Merks to 
 Bailie Robert Rose, My Father in Law, with anual rent 
 on the same since Candlemass 1707, which extends in all 
 now to about 7£ sterlin, which I ordered Mcintosh to pay 
 to or transact with sd. Rodrick McLeod, and sent like- 
 ways with sd. Bond sd. Daviots letter to me promiseing 
 payment. I likeways desired Rodrick to send me the 
 Inverlochie mens account, and to insist in ane admirall 
 process against Tarn Robertson. 
 
 22 Sber 1737. 
 
 I wrot to Alexr. Gordon of Burdiaux, and promised 
 McKinons bills by David Munroe, and sent him tuo bills 
 
412 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 with protests drawn by Old Borlim 1 on his brother Lach- 
 lain, 1724, payable to Charles Gordon for value received, 
 from sd. Alexr. Gordon with his Letter of Advice relaiting 
 to Do., and send inclosed a Letter for Doctor Couts at 
 Buloigne, and, if gone, to be forwarded pr. post to the 
 care of Charles Smith there. 
 
 12 Nover. 1737. 
 
 I wrot this dait to Leonard Urquhart [Writer, Edin- 
 burgh] annent my affair with [Urquhart of] Brealanguall 
 [Ross-shire] and Likeways to Bailie James Steuart of 
 Eder., desireing the Acct. of seall of my ten barells salmon 
 sent him last year, and of 20500 slait consigned him in 
 Anno 1734. 
 
 12 Nover. 1737. 
 
 I wrot to Petter Mackivar, perwigmaker in London, 
 bid him call for John Roy Steuart, to whom I hade given 
 orders to pay my son's bill on me for £3 : 10 sterlin. 
 
 12 Nover. 1737. 
 
 I wrot to Mark Pringle, the British Consul, thanking 
 him for his Civilitys to my son, and desireing advice of 
 Merkets at San Lucar, and desireing to inform my son 
 John that I would writ him nixt post, and his mother was 
 to provid him the cumlet he wanted, and I received his 
 letter of 30 7ber last. 
 
 Inverness, 16 Decer., 1737. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Gordon, at Boulloigne. 
 
 Sir, — My Last to you was of 10th curt., to which I 
 referr, since which I received your verie acceptable favour 
 of 12 Do. N:S: ; and, as it verie kind and wrot like a 
 freind, it must certainly ty me down by all the tys of 
 Gratitude to doe you justice among the first of my 
 Creditors, and to doe you by my advice and influence all 
 
 1 Brigadier Mackintosh of Borlum, near Inverness, the hero of the Rising of 
 1715. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 413 
 
 the good offices lys in my power. I must in the mean 
 time complain again of your Agent Mr. Chalmers, who 
 has certainly, by aresting that pitifull sloop of mine at 
 Lieth, given my credit the most mortall blow that ever 
 it gott, whereas, hade he wrot me to yeeld that sloop by 
 way of vendition in a privat way in pairt payment of the 
 debt I am due you, I would have certainly done it, and 
 endeavoured to fforward the seall all I could. But, far 
 from useing me in that civil maner, he sumondsed me to 
 the Admirall Court at Eder., in order to roup her ther, 
 where I don't believe she would yeeld £30 sterlin, being 
 quit run out and old. The bark happened to be fraighted 
 with a few goods for this pleace when arested, which im- 
 barassed him so much that he lett her come to this pleace 
 and took the masters obligation to deliver her here and 
 her aparell to a brother writer of his here, which was done ; 
 but, as you have been so good as to writ him of your dislike 
 of this step, I suppose by nixt post he '11 send orders to 
 pass from his arestment, as truly she may rot here befor 
 she can be sold for your account, and will not be worth 
 the while to carie back to Lieth. However, as I have sent 
 some bills of McKinons as will pay the gross of what I 
 am bound for the MackLeods, I will next doe my out most 
 to clear a pairt of my own particular debt. But I most 
 earnestly entreat that you order my bills out of Mr. 
 Chalmers his hands unto anie other honest gentlemans 
 hands, for the writers Agents take generaly a pleasure 
 in harassing, and considers generaly ther own interest 
 more than there imployers. And He willingly transact 
 matters by bonds, and pay at certain termes as I am able. 
 And, as I have now no prospect of ever recovering a 
 shilling from the MackLeods, I expect a composition of 
 that debt, which I must Leave to your self, and a com- 
 pitent time to pay my own, as to which He expect to hear 
 from you in course. Andrew Munroe did speake to me 
 about that affair belonging to John Dunbar, and I told 
 him I was willing, after that affair was examined and it 
 was known how it stood, I would most willingly accept a 
 bill for my proportion of the compounded sum, and concur 
 
414 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 all in my power to forward your interest. If Captain 
 John Steuart, lait of the Gray Dragoons, 1 be with you, 
 pray give him my service, and tell I much wonder I never 
 heard from him in answer to what I wrot him in 8ber last 
 to London under covert of Sir James Grant. 
 
 Inverness, 20 Decer. 1737. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Fraser, Bishop of Cathness. 
 
 Sir, — I presume on our old acquaintance to give you 
 the truble of the inclosed noat writ by Mr. Francis Sinklair, 
 that is, that you call for Alexr. Keith, mentioned in the 
 within noat, and inquir if he has sold the barell of pitch 
 and the barell of tarr which was left with him in the 
 Moneth of July last by Donald Urquhart, master of my 
 sloop ; or, if he has, you will please call for the price, 
 which is 18 sh. for the pitch and 12 sh. for the tar at least ; 
 but, if these barells be not sold, youll please call for them 
 and sell them as above. But if can fetch more its the 
 better, and remitt the Mony to me pr. first by the post ; 
 and I am, etc. 
 
 20 Decer. 1737. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to the Laird of McLeod, and sent him 
 severall letters inclosed, and sent a patern of his new found 
 out Lead mine in Glainelg to Rodrick McLeod, and desired 
 McLeod [the Laird] to advise me annent the expence of 
 working Sir Alexr. McDonald Coall Mines, and about Mr. 
 Alexr. McLeods bill of 17£ sterlin in my hands, etc. 
 
 20 Decer. 1737. 
 
 I wrot likeways of this dait to Mr. James Stuart, Dunerns 
 son, Mercht. in Eder., in answer to his of 25 Janry., and 
 sent him inclosed his bill on me, payable at his shop at 
 Whitsunday next, for £9 sterlin, accepted ; I say 
 £9 : - : 6 sterlin in full of my account to him. 
 
 John Roy Stewart. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 415 
 
 Inverness, 7 Febry. 1738. 
 
 To Mr. Alexr. Fraser at Scrabster near Thursoe [Bishop 
 of Caithness]. 
 
 I wrot to him of this dait in answer to his letter of 
 31 Janry. last, ordering to sell my barell of Tar and one 
 of Pitch left at Thursoe by Donald Urquhart in July last, 
 at the curt, price in that pleace, if could not fetch the price 
 sett on these goods, that is 18 sh. sterlin for the barell 
 pitch and 12 for the tar ; and to remitt the price to me 
 pr. post. etc. 
 
 8 May 1738. 
 
 I wrot to Messrs. William and John Davidsons, Merchts. 
 in Rotterdam, and sent them pr. Donald McKenzie in the 
 sloop Christian of this pleace, a patern of the Laird of 
 McLeods Minerall of black tinn in Glainelg, and desired to 
 be informed of the value of the same, and desired them 
 send me a piece of 16 yairds of the broadest and finest 
 white Caligoe for womens use, and to call for payment 
 from sd. Donald McKenzie, etc. 
 
 8 May 1738. 
 
 I wrot to them likeways by sd. Mackenzie the 8 of May 
 curt., and ane other lairger piece of sd. Minerall, with 
 advice about it, and desired Donald McKenzie give them 
 what mony of mine remained of my share of the fraight 
 over and above what payed mens wages, etc. 
 
 8 May 1738. 
 
 I wrot to Alexr. Steuart, mercht. in Amsterdam, 1 and 
 desired Messrs. Davidson to send him a piece of sd. Minerall, 
 and desired him advise me of the value of the same, advise- 
 ing him what was told me of the severall uses to which it 
 was applyed. 
 
 1 Probably Alexander, brother of Sir James Stewart of Burray, Bart. His 
 testament, as merchant in Amsterdam, is recorded at Edinburgh 23rd January 
 1744. He was, like his brother, implicated in the murder of Moodie of Melsetter 
 in 1725. 
 
416 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 15 July 1738. 
 
 To Mr. Rodrick McLeod, Writer [Edinburgh]. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour of 6 curt, and doe return 
 you inclosed my Discharge to the Laird of Mcintosh for 
 fiftie merks, by which I find I have lost my interest for 
 32 years past, whereas, if I hade not been too tender of the 
 Laird befor he was Laird, I needed not lose a farthing ; 
 and so much for my simplicity. I wish you woud send 
 me back the pappers relaiting to Andrew McFarlin, I mean 
 his accepted bill and diligence on it, with his letter to me 
 relaiting to that affair, since I may chance to see him soon. 
 I pray mind my affair with Harrie Rose, I mean the bond 
 granted by his Father to Janet Carr my wife's Grand 
 Mother, and to which my wife has made title for herself 
 and brother and sisters, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 8 August 1738. 
 
 Coppie of Instructions to Donald McKenzie, master. 
 
 Donald, — You are to proceed with all possible Diligence 
 to Thursoe in Cathness, and, when you arive there, you 
 are to deliver my letter to Mr. Francis Sink! air, and show 
 him the other letter from Loduick Brodie, writer in Eder., 
 ordering to deliver me four hunder bolls meall at eight 
 and half ston pr. boll, which meall you are to receive and 
 is to be put free aboard in the River of Thurso ; and my 
 Cousin Mr. Alexr. Pope, Minister of Rea, 1 is to assist you 
 to receive the same, so send my letter howsoon you arive, 
 And when you receive the Meall, make the best of your 
 way for Portree in the Isle of Sky, and adress to Alexr. 
 McDonald of Kingsborrow, and give him what meall he 
 calls for, and to Sr. Alexr. McDonald at eight ston pr. boll, 
 and the price at ten shilling, and sell all you can for reddie 
 Mony. And, after you have stayed tuo days there, you 
 are to proceed to the Kyle to Glainelg, and sell there all 
 you can for reddie Mony, and give to the order of Drynach 
 
 1 Mr. Pope was related to the poet Pope, whom he visited at Twickenham in 
 1732 — riding his pony from Caithness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 417 
 
 what meall he calls for, and take recept for the same ; and 
 give Sr. Alexr. McDonald and Kingsborow, and take 
 there recepts if you gett not Mony. And, if you put in 
 to Stornway, sell what you can for redie Mony, but trust 
 non there. So pray make all possible dispatch, and I 
 hope to meet you in Glainelg. You are to receive from 
 Mr. Francis Sinklair a barrell of tar and one of pitch, the 
 tar to be sold at 12 shillings, and the pitch at 18 shillings. 
 And, if can not gett that price, carie the same to the 
 Highlands. I have sent with you ane iron balk, with brod, 
 barell and weights, to weigh out the Meall, viz. two 52ths 
 of lead, tuo iron ston weights, half ston of iron, and a 
 4th and 2th of brass, which must be carfully returned. 
 And keep ane exact acct. of the Meall, and take care that 
 non be stoln nor imbasled. You are to grant recepts for 
 the meall, when shipped, to Mr. Francis Sinklair ; and my 
 Cousin, Mr. Alexr. Pope, will supply you with anie Mony 
 you want. The mens wages as folios : — to Will: Munroe 
 25 sh. ster. pr. month, and to David Miller 22 sh. pr. 
 month, and to Alexr. McLeod 20 sh. pr. month, and your 
 own wages as Master is six pounds sterlin for the whole 
 woyage ; and I have given you at this Dait half a Guenie 
 to account, and seven shilling ster. more. I have shipt of 
 provisions tuo bulks Mutton and a syde of young beef 
 salted, tuo lairge cheeses, and half ston butter, and half 
 boll meall baked, and tuo pocks groats, and 12 lbs. candles; 
 and have ordered Mr. Francis Sinklair to provid you with 
 tuo barells beef. And I have shipped a gallon of Whiskie, 
 and given five shillings to David Millar in pairt of his 
 wages, and given Donald McKenzie 17 shil. sterlin to 
 account to pay the Whiskie, etc. 
 
 Inverness, l\th August 1738. 
 
 For Mr. John McLean, Mercht. in London. 
 
 Sir, — It is a long time since I had the pleasure to hear 
 from you, but I am mightie glad to hear you are verie 
 well. This serves cheefly to advise that howsoon. this 
 comes to your hands you '11 please inshure for my Account 
 
 2 D 
 
418 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 in the bark Christian of this pleace, Donald McKenzie, 
 master, from the Harbour of Thursoe in Cathness, with her 
 cargoe of oatmeall aboord, £240 sterlin : I say on sd. 
 bark and cargoe of oat meall, with liberty to call in the 
 Isle of Sky to dispose of pairt of sd. cargoe. The sd. sloop 
 is not yet sailed from Thursoe in Cathness. I earnestly 
 beg your care in this, that this inshurance be made howsoon 
 this letter comes to your hands, and that you draw on me 
 for the premium to your Father, which will be punctualy 
 honoured, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 8 May 1739. 
 Mr. Alexander Andrew [Rotterdam]. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of 7 Aprile last only last night, 
 which is pretti harsh and so gives me very much Pain. 
 In the first pleace, I must tell you sincerely that I take 
 God to witness I never meant to defraud you nor any man 
 of what I am justly resting, and, however you may judge 
 of my conduct with respect to yourself, yet I assure you it 
 is my missfortune more than my fault that I am so long and 
 so much in your debt. And, as to what you insinuat of 
 having it in my power on a certain occasion to do you 
 justice, you are certainly misinformed in that matter ; 
 for, though I own there was £500 sterlin appointed to me 
 of that mony by the Gentleman that gave it, yet such was 
 my situation at that time that it was attached at Edbr., 
 and torn away by some creditors there before I could touch 
 a pennie of it ; and than I firmly purposed to have mead a 
 devision of it amongst my creditors, and to have mead you 
 principaly easie. But that was not in my power ; but 
 still I have the Pleasure to think you are better situat in 
 your claim than anie perhaps I am in debted to, as you have 
 a gentleman bound with me in a bond of coroboration for 
 what is oweing, whose effects I hope will answer near your 
 claim very soon, if your agents follow my advice. And, 
 as this is the case, I can see no advantage can arise to you 
 by chassing me from my habitation, or throwing me into 
 a nesti gaol, which last, as I am now old and prettie infirm, 
 I must avoid as much as I can. I wrote you twice on this 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 419 
 
 subject before, to which you did not favour me with anie 
 answer, or, if you did, it did not come to my hands. And 
 now I am to tell you ingeniously and upon the faith of a 
 Christian I am not able to pay you, but by the effects of 
 Mr. Rose, who you have bound with me and owes me more 
 mony than that. 1 wrote to your agent Mr. Taylor 
 begging he would not push me at the rigorous rate he did, 
 but that he would alow me to gett that affair with Mr. Rose 
 so to bear as that your mony might be recovered, and to be 
 at freedom to look after my affairs ; which he absolutly 
 refused without your orders, so that realy, Sir, as the 
 case stands, it will be your interest that application be 
 mead by Mr. Taylor in the legall way imediatly to recover 
 your mony from Mr. Roses funds rather than distress me 
 further ; and it will not take long time to bring that affair 
 to a period, as ajudications are now carreing on against 
 him and his esteat sequesterat and put into the hands of a 
 Factor for the behalf of his creditors untill the same be 
 put to seal, which I hope will be very soon ; and I am 
 much mistaken if it does not come out to pay all the 
 principal sumes he owes. In which case youll be prittie 
 safe. I wrote last post to Mr. William Taylor, your agent, 
 upon this subject, and have offered such documents of 
 my debt as I am posessed of to be lodged in his hands, so 
 as he may go on in diligence as others do ; to which I 
 expect no right answer untill this reach you and you send 
 your orders. And if he will not medle with those obliga- 
 tions, I mean Bonds and bills I have, then let him adjudge 
 on the Bond of Coroboration he has in my behalf, but I 
 am no Lawier, and Mr. Taylor is best judge what is proper 
 for him to do ; and I '11 concur chearfully with anie thing 
 lys in my power, and, as I told you above, I solemly declare 
 this all I can do at present. As to my retiring to strong 
 holds you mention, you have not got that storie right ; 
 but it was so, I am sorrie to tell you, that others, in con- 
 sequence of the example your Agent gave, are now verie 
 heavie upon me, to whom alass I can make no satisfaction 
 comparable to what I do you. 
 
420 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 29 June 1739. 
 
 I wrot to Leonard Urquhart, Writer to the Signet, in 
 Eder. and have sent my acct. against Tom Robertson and 
 all the vouchers relaiting to the same as pr. Inventorie, 
 of which I have the coppie, of this dait ; as soe I advised 
 that James Morrays willing to buy Hendrie Roses house, 
 and that Mr. Rose should be oblidged to send orders 
 annent the seall of the same to Baron Taylar or Brea 
 Languall, 1 etc. 
 
 Inverness, 5 lObr 1739. 
 
 To William Fraser, Writer to the signet. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I received yours of 29 Last November, 
 acknowledging the reset of my assignation in favour of 
 Alexr. McGilivray of the debt due me by Thundertowns 
 exequiters, and now I send you inclosed Translation in 
 favours of Mr. John Shaw of the debt due me by the late 
 Drumuir 2 and others, and which I payed to John Baillie, 
 writer to the Signet ; and I wish success in it for our 
 mutual benefits. It was by mistake that my last to you 
 was sent in the bag by the Post Office, which cost so much 
 postage, but shall herafter take care to avoid such expence. 
 I observed what you write me annent the debt I am due 
 to David Deas ; but I 'm sorry to tell you that its not 
 in my power at present to pay or find security for the 
 Bal lance due him, and must therefore treat your good 
 offices for me in getting him to superced payment of the 
 ballance till Whitesunday next. I have a prospect 
 against then to be able to pay him, which indeed I cannot 
 do at presente. But that which pinches me cheefly at 
 present is the debt I was due George McLeod, Cadbols 
 brother, 3 who refuses to meddel with that assignment I 
 offered him of the debt due me by Termit, 4 tho the Laird 
 of McLeod, my good freind, interposed with him in the 
 
 1 Urquhart of Braelangwell, Ross-shire. 2 Duff of Drummuir. 
 
 3 George, second son of Eneas Macleod of CadbolJ, and brother of Roderick, 
 second laird ; died s.p. 
 
 4 Mackintosh of Termit. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 421 
 
 most earnest maner in my behalf to no purpose ; for he 
 has given the strickest orders to his trustie here to execut 
 the Captian against me, so that I am not in safety to walk 
 the streets, so that last shift I can think on is that you and 
 my other freinds apply Cadbols brother, and agent, Mr. 
 Davit Scot at Edinborough, and try if can prevail with 
 them to advise Cadbol to take an assignment to the debt 
 due me by Termit. 
 
 Fragment of Letter 
 
 . . . and is a find sprightly virtuous Ladie. I have got 
 lately into the acquaintance of her sister the Countess of 
 Sutherland, who is a charming fine Lady and a mightie 
 honest woman ; and my daughter Annie, who is very 
 much in her esteem, goes over next week to Dunrobin to 
 stay with her some time, and the Earle of Murray and 
 the Countess are to be North the end of June next, and 
 then I beleive these two Ladies will be much together, 
 and I hope will produce some good effect as to me. 
 
 I hear there is no setlement as yet made with our friend 
 John the Earle' s brother, and his conduct is generaly 
 blaimed in assuming his Ladie before that setlement was 
 made. He was offered before then £6000 Sterlin, but how 
 maters will goe now I can not determin ; only I must tell 
 you I expect no friendship from that quarter, but I forgive 
 all mine Enemies, and trust in God while I Live. My 
 Brother in Law, James Russell, died about 14 days past 
 of a high fever and Pleurecie, and of 4 days ilness, without 
 time to setle his Affairs. He has left about £3000 sterlin, 
 of which my Nephews will fall the largest share. I beleive 
 his son James, who is a good prettie lad, will succeed In 
 his business with the Earle. This a seekly mortall time 
 here. McBain of Faily and honest Dummaglass died last 
 week (two honest prettie fellows) of the same as Russel 
 did. There is in this Country at present the greatest 
 scarcity of Corn and bread has been for 40 years past, all 
 being bought and carried to the South of this Country, 
 and to London, where it was much wanted ; but we have 
 
422 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 fine weather, and a fine appearance of a cropt on the 
 ground, and our Highlands are much better provided in 
 bread this year than the Low Country s. All in my 
 Family do salute you ; and your friend James is doing 
 finely, the most assiduous student I ever knew of his age ; 
 and John is doing well at London, who no doubt writes 
 you. I beg to hear frequently from you ; and, with all 
 becoming respects to be remembered to my most dear 
 friends Messrs. Munro, Edwards and Carrick, and honest 
 Mr. Sinclair. May God Almightie bless and prosper you 
 all and grant me good and comfortable accounts of you. 
 This being holy day I have only time to add that I am, 
 etc. No Doubt you have heard of the death of our friend 
 old Apine. 1 I wish he may be well represented. 
 
 Inverness, 28 June 1740. 
 
 I wrot of this Dait to Mr. William Steuart, member of 
 Parliament, to my son John, and to John Roy. 
 
 Inverness, the 12 July 1740. 
 
 To David Munroe, writer in Eder. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I bleive you '11 remember that amongst the 
 severall Gifts left by Mr. Robert Jamieson, laet Episcopall 
 Minister here, by his Legacie, there was £100 Scots left 
 to my son James, who goes now sixteen years, and has 
 made good proficencie in the Latin and Greek, and in- 
 clyns very much to prosecut his studies. And for that 
 purpose he and I want very to gett that little sum payed. 
 And, as you imployed in asertaining the Legaties titles 
 to the Defuncts effects, Baron Taylor told me laitly you 
 was ordered to pershue in this session a Decreet of furth- 
 coming against the person in whose hands the money is 
 arested ; therfor I beg you advise me in course what steps 
 are taken to gett that money recovered, and whow soon 
 you think it may answer, as my young man wants it very 
 much, and it were a pitie he were not supported, for he 
 
 1 Stewart of Appin. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 423 
 
 promises well. I want much to know if you gave 
 Mackinons Bills due me to William Chalmers, Alexr. 
 Gordon of Burdiaux his agent, and what Voucher he has 
 given in exchange of these bills. If William Forbes refuse 
 to asigne McKinon's Bill, accepted to Lord Seaforth order, 
 or to him as his Doer, to him who payed the same, or to 
 Mr. Chambers for my Account, lett him indorse it to James 
 Kinaird, to whom I payed the same, and he promises to 
 assigne the same to me or order ; as to which I beg like- 
 ways to hear from you, and verie much oblidge. 
 
 Inverness, 18 August 1740. 
 
 For the Laird of Appin. 
 
 Dr. Sir,— I happen to be resting your freind Dougall 
 Stuart, my old servant, £20 ster., pr. bill accepted, which 
 indeed I am not able at present to pay, but I am hopefull 
 that in some time after this I will. I find Dougall has 
 fallen in debt to his lait Master, Andrew Munroe, about 
 £16 ster., which, it seems, he cannot now pay him but by 
 indorseing my bill, which Mr. Munroe refuses to accept ; 
 so that to make all matters easie I take the freedom to 
 propose to you what I would acknowledge as a verie great 
 favour, and by which you would be no looser in the event, 
 that is, that you would grant your own bill to Mr. Munroe, 
 payable about 12 Months after dait, and take ane indorsa- 
 tion to my accepted in pleace of it, which I hope I will be 
 able to pay befor your bill to Mr. Munroe fall due. I am 
 much ashamed to make this proposeall, but it is in con- 
 fidence of your freindship, and that at long run youll be 
 no loser by agreeing to it. He be mightie glad to hear 
 from you. 
 
 Inverness, 10 Sber 1740. 
 
 To Mr. James Paterson, Surveyor of the Customs at Keith. 
 
 Sir, — I received your favour of 2d instant, with the 
 inclosed afidavit, which I herewith return ; and for clear- 
 ing what difficulties occur about the foraigne salt bought 
 by the lait McKinnon from Lachlain McLain of Glascow, 
 
424 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 I send you inclosed a certificat for 120 barrells Salmon 
 exported and entered outwards at the Customhouse of 
 Kirkwall in Orkny in Septbr. 173G, which makes out 240 
 Bushells of said salt ; and I bought from John McLeod 
 and exported from hence in the Bark Christian of this 
 place, John Baillie master, in the month of 8br. 1737, an 
 100 Barrells more, which will make out more than the 
 whole quantity for which McKinnon was engadged, and, 
 if needfull, I can get you a voutcher from this place to that 
 purpose ; but I judge you can be as well furnished in that 
 from the quarterly accts. at Edr. ; but wherein I can serve 
 you or McKinnon command, Sr. 
 
 Inverness, 25 Sber 1740. 
 
 I wrot of this Dait to Bailie Robertson at London 
 open under covert of my freind, Mr. John MackLean, in 
 which I have acquainted sd. Bailie that I have demanded 
 from Lord President 1 payment of a hogshead Claret wine 
 at 15£ sterlin, price due by the deceast Laird of Culoden, 
 his Lops. Brother, 2 and which the sd. Bailie Robertson 
 uplifted on pretence I keped him mony, without anie 
 Mandat from me, and that now I wanted he should writ 
 me declareing I gott no payment, nor gott he anie Mandat 
 from me for uplifting that mony, that and so I may 
 recover the same of the Lord President, which his Lop 
 has agreed to. 
 
 27 Decer. 1740. 
 
 I wrot to my cousin the Captain, 3 and acquainted him 
 with the situation of affaires in this Country, and of 
 Mclntoshes 4 death, and of other particulars as to Anne, 
 and sent his letter under cover of same dait to Charles 
 Smith at Buloigne, which went under cover to John 
 McLean at London, to whom I wrot annent the Black 
 Lead Myne in Glainelg, and desired him call for Thomas 
 Avre at Peter Mchatties house in Waping, who would 
 bring him to Merchts. wer willing to buy a quantity of it. 
 
 1 Forbes of Culloden. 2 Known as Bumper John. 3 John Roy Stewart. 
 4 William Mackintosh of Mackintosh, died 24th September 1740. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 425 
 
 13 Febry 1741. 
 
 I wrot of this Dait to my cousin the Captain, and 
 advised of Mcintosh his Marriage with Innercauls 
 Daughter, 1 and that Mr. Jameson and Messrs. Cambell and 
 Forbes longed to see him ; as alsoe of fine wather, and 
 the prices of Victual were begining to fall, etc. etc. This 
 letter went under cover to Mr. Charles Smith [Boulogne] 
 and under covert to John MackLean in London, for- 
 warded by his Father, all of this dait. 
 
 Inverness, 11 Apr He 1741. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to Mr. John McLean, Mercht. in 
 London, and sent him Hugh Ingles, Master of the Pledger, 
 his recept for a barell, marcked I. S., containing 270 lb. 
 weight of black Lead to be sold to the best advantage for 
 my account ; and in case the same was sold I desired him 
 send me a box of pouthered white sugar, to contain 50 lb. 
 weght, and a hyde of best bend leather and four dressed 
 calves skins, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 27 June 1741. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to Mr. John MackLean, mercht. in 
 London, adviseing that I wrot to him the 1st May last, 
 which went to Eder. by James Burn and put in the post 
 office, in which was one inclosed for my cusin J: Roy, 2 and 
 now desired to know what merket he found for the barell 
 wt. 270 lb. black lead sent by Hugh Ingles. As wrot to 
 George Strachan, bookseller in Cornhill, under his covert, 
 desireing to send me a Description of the Kingdoms of 
 Chili and Peru in America done by Monseiur Frezier, 
 Ingenier [Engineer] to the French King, in annis 1712: 
 13 : 14. As also to send the sermon called the Crisis, 
 inscribed to the Right Reverend the Bench of Bishops. 
 
 1 Angus Mackintosh of Mackintosh married Anne, daughter of Farquharson 
 of Invercauld. She was the noted ' Captain Anne ' of the 'Forty-five. 
 
 2 John Roy Stewart. 
 
426 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 27 June 1741. 
 
 I wrot likeways of this dait to David Munroe, writer to 
 the Signet, desireing to advise me in course what was yet 
 done about the Legacies left by Mr. Robert Jameson to 
 my son James, etc. ; as also to send me the lait McKinons 
 tuo bills in his hands. 
 
 Inverness, 31 August 1741. 
 
 John McLeod, son to Drynach. 
 
 Dr. Brother, — I received yours of 24 curt., which came 
 so late on Staturdy to my hands and requires so much 
 time and attention to answer every paragraph of it that I 
 must delay writing fully till next post ; only it appears by 
 the inclosed acct. that you labour under mistakes, of which 
 I am persuaded I '11 convince you clearly ; and, if not you, 
 I am certain I will any other reasonable man. I only take 
 notice of the surcharge you make on your Salmon of five 
 shillings p. barrel more than they were sold for, as to 
 which I can show you that you have aggreed under your own 
 hand to every step I made in disposing of said Salmon, 
 and the account of seals of what were sent abroad, and 
 my account with John Lesslie for what was sold here. 
 So I see no room for a surcharge on that head. It is true 
 that I might have wrot that I expected fiftie shillings p. 
 barrel, and its possible I might had they come here sooner 
 than they did, and if the quality had proved equally good 
 with those of this Country ; but it was otherways, as the 
 Salmon and Grilses were all packed together promiscuously, 
 and several barrels spoild, and all forced to be repacked 
 and washed with clean salt, as I can instruct by severals 
 here. And, to tell you the truth, both Couppers and 
 Merchants here that saw the fish thought they were well 
 sold, and I think so to this day. And, as for McKinnon's 
 five and an half barrels salmon, it was by your own advice 
 that I gave credit in his account for them when we made 
 up his account at Shandeik, when I 'm certain you propos'd 
 the ballance then due should be pay'd to me, as your 
 brother Alexr. can inform you. However, poor as I am. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 427 
 
 the dispencing with it is not what sticks to me just now, 
 but how to bring about matters so as to preserve my 
 character with Mr. Alexander Gordon for the reason I 
 told you in my last ; for I take God to witness I would do 
 any thing in my power to forward your interest, and there- 
 fore I think you ought to be more guarded against passion 
 when you write your letters, and not to treat me with 
 insinuations, as if I had ruin'd you and done you the out- 
 most unjustice, which God knows I never meant. As I 
 am to write you fully in my next I shall only add, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 11 Septbr. 1741. 
 Baillie William Mcintosh, senr. 
 
 Dr. Sr., — There have of late come such a run of demands 
 on me that I am quite out ; therefore I must entreat your 
 help. I have got from you before now eleven pound 
 sterlin, so, if possible, send me thirty shillings more, which 
 will make twelve pounds ten shillings, and the same will 
 be accounted for, and you '11 oblidge yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 18th Sept. 1741. 
 Dr. Comisare, — I have writ you some letters in these last 
 two years, but I doe not renember that I was favoured 
 with a return to anie of them ; and yet I have the charity 
 to think that this neglect is not the effect of contempt 
 of me in my present Low Circumstances, nor can I think 
 it proceeds from anie just cause of disoblidgement I have 
 given you, as I am not conscious to my self that I have ever 
 made anie wrong step that way. And theirfor I must 
 give you with freedom, as your friend and Cusin German, 
 ane Account of what your frends in this country doe 
 generaly say of you with regraite, that is, that they are 
 extreamly surprised that a man of your sense and under- 
 standing should be so long absent from your Family in 
 this Country, as they are positive you could live here with 
 much less expens then at Edinborow. And, if you enclyn 
 to follow your business of writing, you would ingross the 
 most of all in this Country, which alone might enable you 
 to live verie comfortably, besides the Perquisits of your 
 
428 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 office as Comissar, which, I am assured by some people 
 of the quil here that know that affair, would yeeld you at 
 least from £40 to £50 sterlin yearly. And I was told and 
 assured by some of our Magistrats that they long much for 
 your coming to reside here, and would willingly setle a 
 handsome Anuity on you for your advice and derection 
 when they asked the same. So that I think I dare venture 
 on verie just and resonable grounds to conjure you not to 
 slight and neglect so fair a prospect, but that you '11 
 immediatly resolve to come hither to your virtuous wife 
 and Family, and contribut to make the remainder of your 
 days easie and happie, and at some time vindicat your 
 conduct from the generall censure you have incured for 
 being so long absent from this place, where your expence 
 hade been Less and your business much better then it 
 has been for some time past at Eder. 
 
 When my son in law, John Reid, went to Eder. in spring 
 last I gave him orders to speak to you about some particu- 
 lars, particularly about the ballance of reversion on David 
 Stuart our Cousins Esteat may be due. Jam. Stuart, the 
 President principall servant and trustee here, says that the 
 ballance due on the seall of the house is still in the Presi- 
 dents hands, so that I bleeve, if you were here, wee could 
 easily persuad Evan Baillie 1 to yeeld up his pretensions 
 that way ; and, besides, that I fancie ther are other funds 
 resting of our sd. Cousin effects to which wee have just 
 title ; and God knows I for my part want very much at 
 present help and support of that kind. But He forbear 
 thease particulars till meeting, which I hope and wish 
 may be very soon. Wy wife and Anne give you their best 
 wishes, and I am, Your most affectionat Cousin and 
 Servant. 
 
 Inverness, 22 September 1741. 
 
 John McLeod, son to Drynach. 
 
 Dr. Brother, — I received yours of 19 Currt., and it 
 vexes me much that you are about to leave the Country 
 
 Evan Baillie of Abriachan, lawyer in Inverness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 429 
 
 without seeing me, as it likewase your sister and niece 
 Annie vexed. However, I pray God bless and prosper 
 you. I send you inclosed a letter to David Munro, writer 
 to the Signet in Edr., desiring him to give you up your 
 accepted bill drawn by the late McKinnon for fiftie pounds 
 ster. However, I think in justice you ought to send your 
 accepted bill to me for this ballance of the accot. currt. 
 which is about £40 pd. ster., payable in a year after this, as 
 I realy think it is due me ; and, if you cannot pay me a year 
 after this, I hope you will when you can. I have an appre- 
 hension about me that my letter may miss David Munro 
 at Edr., as I hear he is coming north. In that case I send 
 you the Declaration you wanted relating to McKinnon 
 discharging him of your bill drawn by the deceast John, 
 which I hope will do your business and procure you pay- 
 ment ; and if David Munro be come off or my letter reach 
 him 111 get up your bill and send it to your father. This 
 step will expose me much to the anger of Alexr. Gordon, 
 but 111 run annie rusque rather than be an impediment to 
 you at present. 
 
 I wish I had seen you and known a little of your project ; 
 and my advice is you come North from Criefe, since my 
 son in law, John Reid, will in ten or twelve days be ready 
 to sail from this to Dunkirk with a loadning of salmon, 
 which would be a noble occasion for you and save you a 
 deal of money, and you could stay with Lord Lovat until 
 the ship was clear to sail, and not the worse for you that 
 you saw him and me before you went, and then your sister 
 and Niece would see you if you come North. Tell no 
 mortal of your design, and 111 keep all whist for my part. — I 
 ever am Yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 26 October 1741. 
 
 Mr. Rodrick Mackleod, writer at Edr. 
 
 Dr Sir, — This letter will be delivered you by Charles 
 Urquhart of Brealanguel, to whom I am indebted, and who 
 has accepted bills of mine to the extent of about £70 ster. 
 And, as I have no way at present to satisfy him for the 
 same, I have made a proposal to give him that bond resting 
 
430 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 by Baillie Robert Rose, Father to Henry Rose, to Janet 
 Carr, my present wife's grandmother, to which she made 
 title by your manadgment. But, as the expence of making 
 title is not payd, I suppose Brealanguel will pay the same ; 
 and on such payment you '11 please give him up the bond 
 on getting his obligatory recept promising to account to 
 me for what he recovers by the said bond in part payment 
 of my bills in his hands, the dait of the bills and sums in 
 them to be mentioned, as I suppose he is to indorse them 
 to others, being due to him as trustee and factor for Sir 
 George Mackenzie's creditors, 1 for a part of whose rents 
 these bills were granted. So I must depend on you to 
 order this affair as you find most safe for my interest ; 
 but I think it will be proper this bond be put in such hands 
 as will do the meedful on it lest longer delay occasion the 
 loss of the whole subject ; which at present is all from, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 26 Oct. 1741. 
 
 Mr. John Mackinnon of Seal pay. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I take the freedom to give you the trouble 
 of this letter to request that howsoon it comes to hand 
 you speak to the second Laird of Mackinnon, I mean your 
 mother's Cousin Muchernish, and give him my most 
 humble service, and tell him that, as I am at present 
 prettie much in straits, he will much oblidge me by order- 
 ing payment against Martimass next of one of his Cousin's 
 bills, I mean the defunct John Mackinnon of that Ilk, 
 particularly of his acceptance to me for thirty four pounds 
 three shillings and four pence Ster., which was payable at 
 Martimass 1736, and which was regularly protested, so 
 that next Martimass the principal and Interest amounts 
 to £42 : 17 : 8d ster. Notwithstanding my straits I 
 shunn'd all along, from the great regard I bear to that 
 family, to put these bills unto hands might raise diligence 
 and accumulate expences on that Gentleman, to whom 
 my wife has the honour to be so nearly related ; but now 
 my own necessity requires a supply from anie friend to 
 
 Sir George Mackenzie of Rosebaugh, Lord Advocate. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 431 
 
 which I have a just title, and therefore I hope my friend 
 will comply with my just demand. And if the presure 
 of the family debts be such that he cannot pay the full 
 extent of within mentioned bill, in that case I will content 
 myself at present with the one half at this Martimass, 
 being £21 : 8 : lOster. and grant my receipt for the same, 
 or take his accepted bill payable against Candlemass or 
 Whitsunday for the other half, and give him up his Cousin 
 the late Mackinnon's bill ; as to which I beg your answer 
 as soon as possible, and that you persuad the Laird to 
 comply with this just demand, as it will be his real interest 
 so to do ; for, if these bills be once assigned to any of my 
 creditors, he may depend there will be real diligence 
 immediately. 
 
 Mr. Roderick M'Leod, Writer, Edinr. 
 
 20 Novr. 1741. 
 
 You forgot in the acct. anent my bill to give me credit 
 for 50 Merks Scots that was paid you by the late Laird 
 of Mcintosh's Agent about two years ago, being the prin- 
 cipal sum in a bond of his father's I sent you, and which 
 you advised me was paid. ... I trouble you with the 
 inclosed summons given me before the Lords at the in- 
 stance of James Wemys, late postmaster, for news papers, 
 and your friend, Kenneth McKenzie, Mercht. here, has 
 got such another charge, and tells me has sent the same 
 up to you. I believe neither he nor I can be justly liable 
 for any money on that head, as I am positive neither of 
 us ever called for any such papers, and I know not to this 
 hour by whose order they were addressed to me for a year's 
 time tho very oft they were taken out of the post office 
 by the Lady Assin's friends and never came to my hands. 
 So I hope you '11 notice to prevent trouble to me in this 
 affair, as you do to Kenneth McKenzie. 
 
 Inverness, 6 March 1742. 
 
 I wrot of this Dait to Mr. John McLean, of London, 
 under cover to MackLeod [of Macleod], and sent him in- 
 
432 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 closed to be delivered and forwarded a letter to William 
 Steuart, Esqr., 1 and other to Doctor Coult at Buloigne in 
 France, and advised that my son James was to go with 
 John Reid for London, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 21 May 1742. 
 
 I wrot of this Dait to my son James under covert John 
 Mackay, addressed to Master John Stuart, member of 
 Parliament, 2 and desired him call for a letter I sent him 
 under covert to Sir James Grant [of Grant] about the 
 22 of Aprile last, in which was a letter to Miss Manet 
 Delamer, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 19 June 1742. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to William Fraser, writer to the 
 signet, and sent him Decreet of Adjudication and Decreet 
 of Mealls and Duetys against Cumings houses in the East 
 street, 3 and my conjunct bond with Termitt, and Dis- 
 charge and assignation by Mr. Donald Taylar to me as 
 ground of sd. debt, in order to discuss the suspension 
 raised on my diligence against the tenants of sd. houses. 
 I likeways sent him letter John Ingles, writer in Eder., 
 to Lord Lovat annent his Lops, engadgement for me to 
 Cadboll, with my last bond of presentation on the Caption 
 at sd. Cadbolls instance, and his letter to me on the subject, 
 and his memoriall by Alexr. Rose relaiting to the security 
 he agreed to take, and my pretestation against Alexr. 
 Clerk, his Agent, at getting up my last bond of Presenta- 
 tion, with orders to oppose anie process against Lord 
 Lovat, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 2d July 1742. 
 
 To Mr. John McLean [London]. 
 
 Dr. Sr., — I received your much esteemed favour of 19 
 last month, and you may beleive that the good Caracter 
 you gave my son James gives me very great pleasure and 
 joy, as it does to his Mother and all in my Family, who 
 
 1 See footnote p. 10. 
 
 3 Now High Street, Inverness. 
 
 Brother of the Earl of Moray. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 433 
 
 are all, as well as I, much oblidged and indebted for your 
 Great and Undeserved kindness to My Children John and 
 James. I hope, if God spare their Lives, they will most 
 gratefully acknowledge the freindship you doe them. 
 And when you [get] particulare acounts of John pray let 
 me know. As to James going to Giberalter, I leave that 
 intirly to yourselfe and Mr. Gordon, to whom I have wrot 
 of this dait ; but, if any business would be found out for 
 him in London could bring him tollerable subsistance for 
 some time, I would choose it, as I trust in Almighty God 
 his brother John may come home in some months to 
 England in safty, in which case he may be of use to James. 1 
 But, notwithstanding this prospect, I would by noe means 
 have James dissoblidge or disapoint his good freind Mr. 
 Gordon, but conduct himself conformed to his orders and 
 direction. I gave your comendation to Mistris Newton, 2 
 who gives you her humble service. Her husband, 
 Ruchard Newton of Newton, Esqr., accepted two bills 
 laitly, the 18 of last month, payable at your house in 
 London 40 days after dait for £34 ster. in all, the one for 
 £12 payable to my order and indorsed to Robert Che viz, 3 
 Mercht. of this place, and I understand is indorsed to 
 yourself ; the other for £22 is drawn payable to John 
 Fraser, writer in Edr. So I beg you '11 suffer no affront 
 on these bills, as Mr. Newton assures me he will order the 
 money to your hands much about the time the bills fall 
 due, and will give orders by this post about it. John 
 Gray, of Rogart, who came with Mr. Newton here, wrot 
 you last post under William Fraser, Junior, Mercht., his 
 cover, about the payment of these bills. He is the person 
 got your bill for £100 sterlin on you Father and Company 
 in favour of Mr. Newton when he came here, which duely 
 
 1 John was purser on Lord Anson's Centurion, at this time on her famous 
 voyage round the world. She did not return to England till June 1744. John 
 subsequently settled in Carolina. Sir John Stuart, Count of Maida, was his 
 son. 
 
 2 The Bailie's daughter Anne married Richard Hay Newton of Newton, East 
 Lothian. 
 
 3 Robert Chevis of Muirtown, near Inverness, a witness in Lord Lovat's trial 
 for high treason. 
 
 2 E 
 
434 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 accepted. I am sorie my Daughters Indian sewings are 
 not like to sell to anie purpose. It is a loss to me, as, if 
 that fund hade answered, she was to pay the things you 
 sent me last year. However, I trust in kind providence 
 you '11 not want the same long. I heartly salut you, and 
 wish health and happiness ; and I ever am, Dr. Sir. 
 
 Inverness, 25th August 1742. 
 
 For Comissar Stuart. 
 
 This will be delivered you by your Daughter Marjorie 
 (who is a fine sensible prudent Girl). In it you have my 
 Daughter Anne's Contract of Mariage with Mr. Newton, 
 which I send you that how r soon it comes to hand you may 
 exped ane infeftment in her name and for her behoofe on 
 the said Mr. Newton's Esteat of Newton in East Lothian, 
 and that you doe every thing els necesarie. Newton will 
 thankfully pay you for your truble and Expence, as is 
 usuale in such cases, either here or when he returns south, 
 which he proposes to doe in October next. But I hope 
 we shall all have the pleasure to see you here befor then. 
 Mean time, let the Contract and the sesin be return'd to 
 me howsoon the infeftment is exped, by our post, your- 
 self coming not soon, which at present is all from, etc. 
 
 PS. — If you think fitt lett the inclosed Contract be 
 Registrat, and ane extract of it, with the infeftment, be 
 sent me. 
 
 Inverness, the 2d Novbr. 1742. 
 
 For the Laird of Mackinon, Junior. 
 
 I was advised last month that you and the Old Laird of 
 Mackinon hade given orders to the Laird of Macleod to 
 setle with me about the Bills due me by your predecessor 
 John Mackinon younger of that Ilk ; which gave me plea- 
 sure untill such time as McLeod came to this Country and 
 I discoursed with him on this subject, when he told me 
 to my verey great surprise that you hade only given orders 
 to him to setle with me for the Mackinon' s bill of £34 : 3 :4 
 str. principle, providing I would discharge all the rest, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 435 
 
 and that you insinuat to him as if you hade payed his 
 other Accepted Bill of £50 str. principal^ which was in- 
 dorsed to Lord Seaforth (and which I payed to sd. Sea- 
 forth on your Cousin's behalf) to John Mcleod who hade 
 no maner of title to that money. But I am certain in 
 this you are mistaken, because John Macleod could not 
 in justice ask payment of that Bill, which he knew I payed, 
 and it would be a verie great blunder to pay such a Bill 
 without getting it up discharged. But I am certain you 
 have not payed a shilling of this bill, and I doe supose 
 you mean another Bill which your Cousin drew on John 
 Macleod for £50 str., and which I passed from, and you 
 payed him the value last year, which bill is not now In 
 the question, as you will see by the annexed Account ; 
 so that I only charge you with the two bills you are realy 
 due, which with intrest and charges amount now to one 
 hundred and near fifteen pound ster. And it is verie 
 strange if you fancied or imagined I was to quit such a 
 sume for payment of about a third part of it. Now, Dear 
 Sir, I beg you think better what your doeing, for delaying 
 my payment is but to heap interest and Expences on your 
 self to no purpose ; for, if you payed John Macleod money 
 by no means due, you was in the wrong to yourself in 
 doeing so. But I am perswaded that is not the case, and 
 therefor I expect your orders in return of this to Macleod 
 to setle with me, which, if you doe, He give a discount of 
 the interest due on the Bill payable to my self, and perhaps 
 a part of that due on Seaforth's bill likways, tho God 
 knows my present situation will verie ill spare anie dis- 
 count on any debts justly due me ; and therefore, as I 
 have said, He expect that, immediatly on return of this, 
 you '11 send your orders to the Laird of Macleod to trans- 
 act this affair with me under my covert ; which most 
 reasonable demand if you refuse I think fitt to tell you 
 that I have a freind in Argile-shyre, in your nighbouhead 
 in Mull, will take this debt of my hands by assignation ; 
 and if that is the case, which I shall be sorrie for, you will 
 have yourself to blaim if expose yourself to all reall and 
 personal Diligence, and after all not gett a happenie dis- 
 
436 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 count, so, Dr. Sir, I intreat you prevent such truble and 
 unconveniency to yourself by doeing what I require, 
 which flows from my great regard for you and Family ; 
 and you '11 extreamly oblige, Dr. Sir, Yours, etc. 
 
 Account of Bills Due to and Excepted [accepted] by 
 John McKinon of that Ilk, Junior, Deceast, to John Stuart, 
 Mercht. in Inverness, October, 1736, etc. 
 
 To his accepted bill, payable the 11 of Novr. 
 
 1736, and daited at Glainelg the 5th £ s d 
 
 October, 1736 34 : 3 : 4 
 
 To interest on the same from Martimass, 
 
 1736, to Martimass 1742, being six years. . 10 : 4 : - 
 
 To protesting, regestrating, and postage . - : 3:4 
 To Charging Mackinon at Kilmarie to the 
 
 sherive Court there, in May last 1742 . - : 7 : - 
 
 To Expence of Decreet of Constituion . 1:18:4 
 
 £46 : 16 : 2 
 
 To accepted bill to John Macleod and in 
 dorsed to William Forbas, writer in Edr., 
 for account of My Lord Seaforth, and 
 payed by me, which bill was payable the 
 1 of Janry. . . . . 50 : - : 
 
 To interest of the same from 1st January, 
 1736, to Mert. 1742, being 5 years 10 
 Months 14 : 13 : 8 
 
 To protesting, registrating and horning, etc . - : 8 : - 
 
 To Murdoch Mackay, Messr., for excuting 
 horning agaist the Deceast Mackinon at 
 Scalpay . . . . . . 3 : - : 
 
 To postages . . . . . . - : 1 : 4 
 
 £114 : 19 : 2 
 
 PS. — It were fitt that in the letter you writ me in 
 answer to this you acknowledge yourself to be Debtor 
 for the £50 sterlin bill accepted by your predecessor to 
 Lord Seaforths Agent, which will prevent a Decreet of 
 Constitution against you, which will fall verie Dear. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 437 
 
 Inverness, 3d November 1742. 
 
 For the Laird of Macleod. 
 
 I hope this will find you safe at Edr., and serves to advise 
 you that I have wrote to Mackinon in the strongest meaner, 
 and made out ane Account to him in such a light as that I 
 beleive he '11 be convinced that he was mistaken as to his 
 thoughts of haveing cleared with John Macleod annent the 
 £50 bill his predecessor accepted to Lord Seaforths Agent, 
 William Forbes, which I payed, and the sd. William Forbes 
 has or will asign to me, as the accepted bill, with the Dili- 
 gence and Recepts for payment, lie now in the hands of 
 Rodrick Macleod, writer, our freind. I have told Mackinon 
 the hazerd he will run if I should be obliged to asigned these 
 bills of his to freind of mine in Argiles-shyre, who certainly 
 will use all real and personal Diligence against him and 
 Esteat in Mull, and not discount him a halfpenie at long 
 run, wheras, if he but doe me justice by giveing his orders 
 to you to transact with me, He abate a great pairt of the 
 Anual rents due, which are very donsiderable, and so he 
 may gett easily free of a debt which, by being transferred 
 to a strangers hands, may prove of very bad consequence 
 at least to him and his family ; so that I flater myself he 
 will now at last find it his interest to comply with my 
 reasonable and Just Request. 
 
 Sir, I told you of my verey great streats, and that my 
 dependance of the payment of at least the smallest bill 
 at this time has run me into a good deall of truble and 
 dificulty, and therfor you was so kind as to alow me to 
 draw on you for ten pounds sterline on the credit of this 
 debt due me by the family of Mackinon. I have sent to my 
 Brother in Law, Alexr. Rose, your acquantance, a Recept 
 for sd. ten pounds sterlin in part payment of the bill of 
 £34 : 4 : 4 sterlin principle accepted to me by the leat 
 Mackinon, payable at Mertimass 1736, and I earnestly 
 intreat give him that sume to be sent me in consequance 
 of recept, which will in all events be good to you for this 
 sum, and be a great relif to me in my present situation. I 
 have now to aquant you that my Brother in Law, poor 
 
438 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Sanders Macleod, dyed the week before last and is buried. 
 I am sorie for him, and my wife is in great greef for him, but 
 for my part I thought him a gone man of a long time. I 
 belive his affairs will turn out very poorly. My son James 
 wrot me last post that he has a good offer from James 
 Fraser, Reelicks son, 1 to goe with him as his clark to Surat 
 in India, where he goes soon with on of the Company ships 
 as Factor to the East India Comp: at that important 
 place. Every body tells me that it is a verey handsome 
 offer for my young man, and therefor I have advised him to 
 accept of it, and so will beg your recomendation of him to 
 Mr. Frasers care and freendship when you come to London, 
 as no doubt he is your acquantance. So, wishing you 
 prosperous happie jorny and safe return, I ever am Yours, 
 etc. 
 
 Inverness, Novem. Sd, 1742. 
 
 For Mr. Alexr. Rose. 
 
 I give the trouble of the inclosed letter to the Laird of 
 McLeoad (who will be with you befor this comes to hand), 
 which reed, seal with black wax, and deliver ; and I likewise 
 send inclosed a recept which you are to give up to the Laird 
 on paying you ten pounds sterling in my name, which sum 
 you '11 please send me under your cover in small noats by 
 the very first Post ; only notice, if you shipped the barell 
 of flour I told you in my last Mistris Newton desired you 
 send us from Lieth, may stop the payment of that, and send 
 by the post one Pound of the finest Duram Mustard, which 
 is sold by Archibalde Eagale in Smiths Lands. If the 
 Laird of McLeod should seem to shift the payment of this 
 small sum, you may use your own discreet way to persuade 
 him to it, and conceal not my very great straites, and let 
 him know that the want of this litle money will be a 
 grievous disapointment. Which at present is all that I 
 will say on this head ; only that I depend youll not fail to 
 send me this money pr. first post, if you get it ; if not, 
 return me the recept for 10£ sterlin. I refer you to 
 McLeod' s letter for News. 
 
 Son of Alexander Fraser, of Reelig, near Inverness. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 439 
 
 Inverness, 25 June 1743. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to Mr. John McLean, Mercht. in 
 London, in which I sent him coppie of my son's letter of 
 3 Decer. last from Macoa in China, 1 for his perusall, and 
 sent him likeways inclosed under a frank cover a letter to 
 Jo. Roy at Buloigne, to be sent by shipp ; and a letter 
 likeways inclosed for my daughter Marian, liveing near the 
 Hermitage Dock. 
 
 Inverness, 27 June 1743. 
 
 For the Laird of MackLeod. 
 
 Honble. Sir, — Your freind Mistris Newton, who is 
 now prettie well recovered, gives you her humble service, 
 and begs that again the 15 of nixt Month, or sooner if 
 possible, you remitt her one hundered pounds sterlin of 
 her mony, and the state of the last clearance with her, 
 which may transmitt to the hands of Baron Taylar, who 
 will take her discharge or bill for the same, or may send 
 a new bond for the ballance will be due her, and that in 
 her hands will be given up. Mr. Newton, her spouse, 
 purposes to goe from this home to his own house about 
 the 20th of nixt Month, and his wife gett this money to 
 pay her pressing debts here and at Eder. She thinks she'll 
 be much affronted and exposed to censure, which she 
 earnestly wishes to avoid, and depends much on your 
 freindship. 
 
 I am sorie to tell you that my straites are verie great, 
 in so much that I have been oblidged to impignorat some 
 of most usefull husold goods for supplying my pressing 
 wants, and therfor I have sent William Tolme your accept- 
 ance for £25 sterlin, payable the 25 of 7ber nixt, with a 
 new bill for £20 sterlin payable at that time for your 
 acceptance, and beg you '11 send me the £5 sterlin differ- 
 ence in course of the post, as my wants are pressing and 
 great ; otherways, I doe asure you, I would not take the 
 freedom or confidence to ask this favour, and therfor I 
 
 1 See footnote, p. 433. 
 
440 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 hope you '11 forgive. On second thoughts I send you your 
 acceptance inclosed, and the new bill to be accepted for 
 £20 sterlin, which I beg you send me accepted with the £5 
 sterlin in mony by the first post after this comes to your 
 hands. I offer my humble duety to all freinds, and have 
 only now to put you in mind to send me with the new bill 
 and cash my recept and bill for the ten pounds sterlin I 
 drew on you at London, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 2d July 1743. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to Alexr. Rose, and sent him inclosed 
 a sumonds execut against the persons under written to be 
 purshued and decreeted befor the Lords of Session, and 
 desired that Rodrick McLeod may be imployed in the 
 affair, or Comisar Stuart, or John Fraser. 1 
 
 The Claim is Against 
 
 Alexr. Berkly, mercht. in Cromarty, by his 
 
 accepted bill payable in Novr. 1722 . . £3 : 13 : 4 
 
 John Clerk, Cupper, Deceast, his widow Ann 
 Smith for his accepted bill, payable 1721, 
 for principall . . . . . 4 : 15 : - 
 
 Charles McCullach, Gunsmith, for a pair of 
 brass pistolls I gave him to dress, which 
 he disposed off ; cost me . . . . 4 : - : - 
 
 James Ross and crew, fishers in Pettie, for 
 
 boat rent since Anno 1735. . . . 1 : 10 : - 
 
 £16 : 4 : - 
 
 I sent the sundrie documents along with the sumonds. 
 
 Inverness, 2d Septr. 1743. 
 
 To Pro vest John Coutts, Mercht. at Edr. 
 
 I give you the truble of this to advise you that, being 
 indebted to Will: Cuming, mercht. of this place, I sent up 
 to Mr. Allexr. Rose, of this, a Bill accepted by the Laird 
 
 1 Writer, Edinburgh. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 441 
 
 of Mackleod, for £20 str., payable the 25th instant at the 
 Exchange Cooffee house, to be negotiat for money on some 
 reasonable disscount, and drew on Mr. Rose for £7 str., 
 payable to sd. Cuming, which I understand is indorsed to 
 your order ; but, as Mr. Rose did not get my Bill negotiat, 
 he could not accept my Bill for the £7 str. Will: Cuming 
 informs me that owes you about eleven pounds ; so, if you 
 please to take this Bill of Mackleods and pay the ballance 
 to Mr. Rose, it will be a favour done me, and I can asure 
 you wt. certainty that it will be pay'd in a month after 
 this. And for your advance I 'm willing to make a reason- 
 able discount. So, if you please to agree to this proposal, 
 it will be very oblidging ; and may give up Will : Cumings 
 bill to Mr. Rose, to be sent me pr. post. Yours. 
 
 Inverness, 5 Nover. 1743. 
 
 I wrot of this dait a verie long letter to My Cousin 
 John R., 1 which went under covert to Sr. Hector Macklean, 
 to whom I likeway wrot a short letter. And I wrot them 
 by post tuo letter in 8ber last, in answer to one I hade 
 from John of 9 Septer. last. I wrot like ways of this [date] 
 a letter to Alexr. Gordon, of London, desireing to send me 
 by Hugh Ingles shipp 6 yds. Yorkshyre broad Cloath, to 
 be tuo coats to Normand and myself, and 3 hatts at 4 or 5 
 shillings each for Normand, Frank, and Allan : 2 and 
 . desired to send 4 duzan mettall Buttons for mounting these 
 coats. 
 
 Inverness, 7 Nover. 1743. 
 
 I wrot another letter of this Dait to my Cousin John 
 R[oy], desiring him shipp for me 5 or six ankers of Brandy 
 on boord the Helen and Margret, Donald Urquhart, Master, 
 at Dunkirk, to be marked thus $, and adressed to John 
 Reid at Cromarty, and promised to allow the value in pairt 
 of his accepted bill in my custodie. 
 
 1 John Roy Stewart. 
 
 2 Sons of the Bailie. 
 
442 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 12 9b er 1743. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to Mr. John McLean, of London, in 
 which I entreated him to enquir about my son John at 
 the captains of shipps come laitly from China, and sent him 
 inclosed a letter for William Steuart, Esqr., lait Member of 
 Parliment, without adress, to be backed by him with a 
 proper adress, and forwarded to Twitinham, where he lives. 
 I wrot likeways a letter of this dait to my Cousin John 
 under covert of Sir Hector Macklean, in which I desired 
 him shipp for me 10 ankers Brandy in the Helen and 
 Margret, Donald Urquhart, Master, to be shipt at Dunkirk. 
 
 Inverness, 23 Decer. 1743. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to John Roy, and gave him ane 
 account of the state of my Family, and in answer to his 
 letter of 4 Nover. last N: S: from Buloigne, which was 
 sent under covert to the Laird of McLeod at London, with 
 my request to put the same in the post office. In Jo. 
 Roy's letter was a letter inclosed from his nephew James 
 in Kinchardin to his brother Donald in France. 
 
 Inverness, 13 January 1744. 
 
 To Mr. Allexr. Gordon, Mercht. in London. 
 
 Sr., — I received your acceptable letter of 30 Novr. last, 
 wt. the envoy ce of the cloth and hatts sent me by the 
 Pledger, ammounting to £2 : 13 : 5 str. ; and I have now 
 the pleasure to advise you that sd. goods are come to hand 
 in safety, and I return you my hearty thanks for your 
 complyance wt. my little comission, and hope that in a 
 short time you '1 be honestly payed. I wish six yeards 
 cloath had been sent, as I desired. I am afraid the five 
 yeards will not make two coats for me and Normand, as I 
 proposed ; but must now doe the best we can. I thank 
 you for enquiring for my son John. I had laitly a letter 
 from Mr. Tassel, who, I beleave, knows as much about 
 Commodore Anson as any bodie, and he says he expects 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 443 
 
 the ship Centurion in England by the end of Aprile or early 
 in May next, and its not to be imagened that she can goe 
 on any new Expedition, as she is not half maned, there 
 being no more then 200 men now remaining in sd. ship. 
 But its possable there may be some men of Warr to go out 
 to meet them as far as St. Helena in case of a French warr, 
 as she happens to be a very Rich Ship and very weakly 
 maned. 1 I wrot latly to Mr. John Macklean, and sent him 
 inclosed a letter for my son James, to goe wt. the first 
 ship going to Bombay, and to be adressed as he thought 
 most proper. Give my service to him, and tell him I receved 
 his letters by two last posts ; and, as expect to hear from 
 him next week, I propose to delay writting till next post. 
 I heartly wish you all a happy new year, and I am with 
 much esteem, Sr., etc. 
 
 Inverness, 2d March 1744. 
 
 To Mr. Patrick Urquhart. 
 
 Sir, — I received by the bearer, Andrew Ritchie, your 
 favour of 27th Decer. last, desiring me accot. wt. him for 
 your three half chists Glass and 4 lb. Tea. For answere, 
 know that the Glass is sold to a Gentleman in this place, 
 but not payable before the end of June next ; the two half 
 chists Crown Glass at £3 : 10 sh. str., and the half chist 
 ordinar at 17/, in all £4 : 7 sh. str. As to the Tea, no body 
 here would look on it at your price, besides, I think your 
 hoysong is much decayed in the flavour, so have returned 
 that two pounds per bearer. And for the other two pounds 
 of Congoe Tea, it was used in my Family, but I doe not 
 think it worth above 6/ sh. pr. Lb. ; and I can buy as good 
 Tea any day I please for less money, as there is great 
 quantityes to be had here of exceeding good bohea Tea 
 under 5/ sh. per Lb. This is the best accot. I could make 
 of this Glass and Tea, and I hope your money will answere 
 punctualy again it fall due ; so, wishing you all happiness, 
 I remain Yours, etc. 
 
 1 Anson brought home treasure, taken from the Spaniards, to the value of 
 £500,000. 
 
444 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 17 th March 1744. 
 
 To Mr. Alexr. Gordon, Mercht. in London. 
 
 Sir, — I wrote you the 10th instant under a frank covert 
 to the Laird of Mackleod, and inclosed was a letter for 
 Mrs. Richard, 1 which I intreated might be soon delivered. 
 And, if you would procure me soon ane answere to the 
 same, as I told you the import of it, and I flater myself you 
 will notice my request, and may tell Mrs. Richard, if she 
 procure me my demand in that letter, that it will be 
 doeing me a seasonable favour and such as will be ex- 
 treamly obliging. I have a letter from on John Pope, a 
 Cousin of mine, laitly, dated the 27th of January last from 
 on board the Buekingam Man of War then in Admiral 
 Mathews fleet, lying at the Island of Hieres near Touloun. 
 In this letter my freind, forseeing that immediatly ane 
 engagement would happen with the French and Spainish 
 Squadrions in sd. Harbour, apoints me his Exiquitor, and 
 impowers me to uplift and receive what wages is due him 
 on board the sd. ship in case of his Death, which, he says, 
 will amount to £80 str., haveing received non for 4 or 5 
 years past. He says the Capts. name of sd. ship 
 Buekingam is John Towerie, who will, on presenting his 
 letter, assist and deret me how to receive his wages in 
 case of his Death. Now the favour I am to request of you 
 is to enquir if my sd. freind and Cousin, John Pope, has 
 survived the sd. bloody battle, which I heartly wish he 
 may have done. But, if it has hapened otherways, that 
 you '1 stop at the Navie pay office any wages due to my 
 sd. freind, which may happen to be falsly claim'd by any 
 acquentance of his at London or any other. And I will, 
 when ever you advise, send you his letter, with power to 
 me only to uplift his money, with a power from me to you 
 negotiate the same. I am in hopes to hear soon of my 
 son John's arrival wt. Comonder Anson in England. 
 Meantime pray let me hear from you in course wt. any 
 accots. you can pick up anent the sd. Comodore and how 
 
 1 The Bailie's god-daughter. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 445 
 
 soon he is expected home, and if any Ships of Warr are 
 gone to escoort home the ship Centurian and other ships 
 from India in case of a French warr, which I look on to be 
 declared on both sides or now. May likeways let me know 
 any acots. of my son James. 
 
 Inverness, March 23d 1744. 
 To Mr. George Udnie [London]. 
 
 Sir, — You '11 no doubt be surprised that I take the 
 freedom write you, as I am your debtor, and unable at 
 present to doe you justice, as I sincerly wish I could, and 
 purpose to doe howsoon Providence puts it in my power, 
 and this you may firmly depend on. 
 
 My designe now is once more to intreat your freindship 
 in a point that nearly consirns me, and the execution of 
 wh. I hope will secure your money due, and what further 
 may be due beyont dispute. You know, Sir, that my 
 son John went in Commodore Ansons ship, and on his 
 Expedition to the South Sea, and I have letters from him 
 and Mr. Tassel, the Gentleman that imployed him to goe 
 that uglie Voyage, advising that he was well, and in health 
 on board the Ship Centurion in the month of Febr. 1743, 
 and expected to be in Brittain next month, or May next 
 at futhest. Unluckie as this Voyage has proved, I find 
 my son, if please God he come safe, will be intituled to a 
 good deal of Money ; so that, as the times look cloudie, 
 and that it is probable a French War may commence soon, 
 I think it is reasonable for me, in case the worst event 
 should happen, to see and secure for my said son or his 
 nearest heirs some part of his money ; and therefor I send 
 this to desire the favour of you to ensure on the sd. ship 
 Centurion, a 60 Gun Ship, Capt. Anson, Commander, 
 either for my accot. or my sons, as you '1 judge most 
 expidient, against all hazards from Maccao on the coast 
 of China to some port in the Brittish Chanel, two hundered 
 pounds sterlin ; and place the premium to my sons accot., 
 who, I am certain, will pay the same thankfully, or I will 
 in failure of him. I rely on your complyance, and beg to 
 
446 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 hear from you in course ; and I am, wt. much sincere 
 respect, Sir, Yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 6th Aprile 1744. 
 
 To Mrs. Richard. 
 
 I received your very kind and acceptable letter of 
 24th last month, in which you inform me that you could 
 not prevail wt. Mr. Tassel to advance the small sum on 
 my bill to him on my son John, which I want very much 
 at present, which sum I am absolutly certain my son 
 would pay wt. pleasure and thankfullness. And I am 
 likewise certain it will be no strait on him to doe it, not- 
 withstanding the missfortunes attending the Voyage, as 
 I supose he will be entituled to some share of prize money, 
 besides what wages may be due him by Mr. Tassel ; so 
 that I realy cannot see how the payment of that money 
 I want could fail to answere at his arrivall except in the 
 case of the ships being taken by the Enemie, of which I 
 think there is no great hazard. But, in case that or any 
 other missfortune should happen, I wrote to a freind at 
 London some time agoe to insure for his acct. on the Cen- 
 turion man of Warr against all hazards from Maccao on 
 the Coast of China to England, £200 str., which I hope is 
 but a small pairt of his intrest in that ship. So that, if 
 any freind could but procure me at present the sum I 
 want, or but £20 str., on my bill on my sd. son, I would 
 willingly pay five pr. cent of intrest for the use of the 
 money ; that is, I would make my bill for twentie Guinies 
 for the £20 to be advanced, and I don't think it possable 
 that the money can fail. So, my Dr. God Daughter, I 
 beg you try if you can get me accomodat in this matter 
 by any freind, and advise me of your success as soon as 
 possible, as, to tell you the truth, if I had this money I 
 have some thoughts of going to London about the begin- 
 ning or midle of next month, and I am incumbered with 
 so many little small debts that I cannot offer to go from 
 this without I get some money to pay poor people I rest 
 trifles to. My wife, and Daughter Meg, and Normand 
 join wt. me in our best respects to your Mama, sister, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 447 
 
 yourself, and Mr. Richard And, I must tell you, old as 
 I am, I have yet a prospect to be able some time or other, 
 and perhaps ere long, to serve a freind, and to acknow- 
 ledge wt. gratetude that I am, Yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 2 June 1744. 
 
 Mr. George Udnie of London. 
 
 Sir, — I received but verie laitly your favour of 14 
 Aprile last, and I observe in it your kind wishes towards 
 me, for which I thank you. I alsoe observe what you say 
 with regard to the proposall I made of makeing insurance 
 for my son Johns account on the Centurion Man of Warr, 
 from Macao on the Coast of China to London, for £200 
 sterlin. And on serious thoughts I agree to your judge- 
 ment in that mater, as I doe supose such a shipp of force, 
 and such others as may come in company with her, which 
 wee may beleeve will be ships of Force, will not easily be 
 made prises to anie Enemie ; besides, that I am told there 
 are ships of Warr sent out to St. Helena to atend the trade 
 from India homeward. Mean time, you forgott to mark 
 what premium the insurance I proposed would cost. I 
 beleeve your observation anent the devision of prise mony 
 may be just ; and, by my son's letter to me from Macao, 
 there were no more than 400 Men in life when the prises 
 were taken betuixt the tuo shipps of the squadron, one 
 of which, the Glocester man of Warr, of 50 Guns, was 
 sunk for lake of Men to naviget her in ther passage of 
 19 weeks over the great otian from America to China. 
 So that when the Centurion arived at China ther were 
 only 220 alive of all the men went in to the South Sea, so 
 that as I find by a letter I hade laitly from Mr. Tassell, who 
 is returned to England, and who engadged my son to 
 goe that voyadge, that he was of great use to that Expedi- 
 tion, and in great esteem with the Comodore by his 
 knowledge in the Spanish Language etc. ; so that I 
 flatter myself he will have title to a good deall of prise 
 mony. Besides, you '11 observe he '11 have 4 years wages 
 due him now at £100 sterlin yearly, from the Gentlemen 
 
448 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 engadged him to goe that voyage as ther Clark and Lin- 
 guist, besides a small adventure in goods. But what 
 that last affair will turn to I can not determin, but I hope 
 it will not be lost. 
 
 I wish you would take notice to me in your nixt how 
 much the ballance I am due you will amount to after 
 discounting the mony payed you by Mr. John Steuart, 
 the Earle of Morrays brother, now Member of Parli- 
 ment, which from your last acct. sent me I take to be 
 16 to 18 £ sterlin. Now, Dr. Sir, my intention by this, 
 is, as I am at present straitned, to propose to you to 
 furnish me credit on yourself for as much mony more as 
 will make £30 sterlin, or £32, and He draw bill on my son 
 to pay you that sum soon after his ariveall in England, 
 which I hope may be soon after this Letter reaches your 
 hands, as Mr. Tassell wrot me he expected sd. ship in the 
 last month or this at furthest. 1 And I am absolutly sure 
 my son will honour my bill at his ariveall thankfully, if in 
 life ; if otherways (which God forbid) I will have title to 
 his effects. I beg your answer to this in course, and I 
 have some hopes you will grant me this favour, and writ 
 me howsoon this comes hand. And in that event I will 
 draw on my son to your order, and writ him in the strongest 
 maner under your covert. I have been still sensible of 
 your honour and freindship, and I much regrat that I 
 ever hade the missfortune to dissapoint you in a half- 
 penie. But, then, I can not accuse myself of anie base 
 unjust designe ; for, if the cargoe of Iron I ordered to 
 your hands from Hamburg hade not come much short 
 of what I expected, I hade not falen a halfpenie indebted 
 to you. But now in the schem here laid down I hope 
 you '11 find full justice and all odds even ; which is the 
 ardent wish of, Dr. Sir, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 5th July 1744. 
 
 To Mr. George Udny, Mercht. in London. 
 
 Sir, — I have your very acceptable favour of the 19th 
 last month, which is very kind and oblidging, and do 
 
 1 The Centurion arrived at Spithead on 15 June. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 449 
 
 return you my hearty thanks for the same. And like- 
 wise I observe your postscript annent my son John, whom 
 you have seen at Portsmouth, which gives me very great 
 joy and pleasure. As I am to writ you fully by this post, 
 under Andrew Munros frank covert, I only advise you 
 in this that I have drawn on you of this dait to the order 
 of Mr. Andrew Murray, of this place, for twentie pounds 
 sterlin, payable ten days after sight, to which I doubt not 
 you will give due honour, and place the same to accot. 
 as pr. the above mentioned advice. 
 
 Inverness, 6th July 1744. 
 
 Mr. George Udny, Mercht. in London. 
 
 I received wt. pleasure your acceptable favour of 
 16th last month, and doe observe the contents, and in 
 consequence of it send you the inclosed bill on my son John 
 for £30 str. at a month after dait, which, I am absolutly 
 persuaded, will find due honour, as I have advised by the 
 inclosed letter in the strongest manner to comply wt. 
 it, and you may rest asured he '11 do it. And yesterday 
 drew on you to Mr. Andrew Morry, mercht. of this place, 
 for twentie pounds sterlin, payable ten days after sight, 
 and gave wt. it a letter of advice of the same dait. And I 
 make no question but you will honour my Draught ; and, 
 then you will have by this bill on my son, only ten pounds 
 str. of the Ballance I am due you, so ther will remain 
 due you still a balance of £4 : 14 : 9d sterlin conform to 
 your letter to me, which ballance I will advise my son to pay 
 likeways how soon I have a return to the inclosed Letter, 
 which pray forward to him if he is not come to Town, and, 
 if he is, you will then have an opportunity to deliver it out 
 of your own hand, and no doubt tender him your best 
 advice about the manadgement of his affairs, as I have 
 recomended him to depend on you, a man of honour. The 
 postscript to your letter advising me you saw my son 
 gave my wife and I unexpressable joy, for which we bless 
 and adore the mercy of God to us in preserving and re- 
 storing our Child in health and prosperity after passing 
 
 2 F 
 
450 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 throw so many Dangers, and so great a schen [skein ?] 
 of Mortality and Distress. I have a short letter from him- 
 self, by which I find he was much imployed and busied in 
 the affairs of the ship Centurion, but promises to send me 
 a full acct. of his affairs when more at lesure, and come 
 down soon to see his freinds, where he '11 find heartie 
 welcome. I am, wt. much esteem, Yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 6 July 1744. 
 
 I wrot of this dait a long letter to my son John under 
 covert of Mr. George Udnie, adviseing that I hade valued 
 on him of said date, payable one month after dait, to sd. 
 Mr. Udnie, for £30 sterlin, and at same advis'd him fully 
 of the situation of our Family, and that under £100 sterlin 
 could not [make] me tolerably easie in this pleace towards 
 paying my verie pressing litle debts, and therfor desired 
 liberty to draw for some more money, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 15 7ber. 1744. 
 
 I wrot of this dait a letter to Alexr. Rose at Eder., in 
 which I desired him stop the peice of linen of 20 yairds 
 I wanted be shirts at J a crown pr. yeard ; and desired 
 that the four table cloaths of Inverkeething Manufacture 
 I wanted might be still forwarded as much wanted. And 
 desired likeways that he would end my accounts with 
 Rodrick McLeod, and remitt me the ballance. And I then 
 sent him Andrew McFarlans bill of £7 ster., with diligence 
 on it in name of John Fraser, with his assignation to Donald 
 Shawe, Drover, and begd he would doe all in his power to 
 procure me payment in pairt or whole, etc. I wrot like 
 ways to My Daughter, Mrs. Newton, of this dait, adviseing 
 her of the letter I hade from her brother James, and the 
 contents. 
 
 Inverness, 25 January 1745. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John under covert to Alexr. 
 Gordon, Mercht. in London, in which I acknowledged 
 recept of his letters of 5 and 12 Janry Curt., and told him I 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 451 
 
 aproved of his conduct as to McLeod and Messrs. Tassell 
 and Hutchison, and was glad he secured his interest with 
 the lats. 
 
 Invr. 2 Febr. 1745. 
 
 Mr. Alexr. Couts [London]. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I drew on my son John the 26 Curt, a Bill 
 payable to Hugh Fraser, of this pleace, for £12 sterlin, 
 which he told me he was to indorse to your Cousin, Provost 
 Coutts, for value ; so that I suppose it is come to your 
 hands. Now, I writ you this to intreat that, as I fear my 
 son may make some scruple to accept my sd. Bill, that you 
 will use your good offices to perswade him to it, as it was a 
 case of Absolute Necessity made me venture to draw the 
 same. And, for old Acquaintance, I depend so much on 
 your freindship as that you '1 use your Best Endeavours 
 not to let the Bill return, as he is in no strait to pay it, and 
 his not complying will do me much mischeif on sundry 
 respects ; and your care in this will extreamly oblidge, 
 Yours, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 23 Febry. 1745 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John, in which I acknow- 
 ledged recept of his letter of 12 instant, and in it a letter 
 from my son James, daited 2 Aprile last. I like ways 
 advised of his brother Patricks goeing from hence the 17 
 instant by the sloop Marie of Peterhead, John Brodie, 
 Master, and sent him inclosed a long letter to my son 
 James, in which I acquainted him with all the occurances 
 of my Family, and that his brother Patrick was as at his 
 brothers desire dispatched to London in order to be shiped 
 with a freind of his brother John in a ship bound to China, 
 and was to call at Bombay. In my letter to John was a 
 letter from John Reid relateing to me, to be answered in 
 course, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 24 June 1745. 
 
 For John McLeod of Bay. 
 
 Dr. Sr., — I send this to acquaint you that there is a 
 Gentleman, a freind of mine, that has some fine Moray 
 
452 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Barlie on hand, that woud send it to your Country immedi- 
 atly, providing he found anie reasonable encouragement of 
 Profit, and that he would promise payment again Michael- 
 mas markets at Creef. There is a part of this Barlie of 
 cropt 1743, and the Gentleman will undertake that if it is 
 skillfully milled, that it will give at least six firlots of Meal 
 each Boll. Now, my opinion is that if your Country wants 
 such a parcel of Barlie as 400 or 500 bolls (which is all my 
 freind intends to send) that yourself, and anie two or 
 three freinds you would incline to be concerned with you, 
 wou'd immediatly on return of this make anie offer for 
 such Barlie, payable at Michaelmas next, except what 
 readie money will be necessary to pay the ships freight, 
 which might be about £50 sterlin ; the said Barlie 
 deliverable at Lochbrakdal or Dunvegan Loch once in 
 the month of July next. And, if you thought it not fit 
 to engage in this manner, that you would advise, immedi- 
 atly on recept of this, pr. Express, if such a parcel of 
 Barley could be retailed out to the Countrie people for 
 reddie money, and at what rate, or given out on the order 
 and security of the Gentilmen of Credit in the Country till 
 Michaelmas. I earnestly beg you write me fully and 
 particularly on this subject pr. Express, whom my freind 
 will pay, if any immediate occasion offer not, and if anie 
 Express come, advise me how much you have promised 
 him, and it will be payed ; but he must go 15 or 16 miles 
 estward of this towards Moray ; and the sooner he come 
 the better for all concerned, as the sending the ship to your 
 Countrie or not depends upon your answer, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 29 June 1745. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John, and to Bailie Gordon 
 at London, and I advised my son that I hade drawn of 
 him of this dait for £5 sterlin to Jonathan Anderson of this 
 pleace, payable 20 days after dait, which bill was sent to 
 Bailie Gordon by Anderson ; and I wrot earnestly to Bailie 
 not to lett the bill return, but to use his best influence to 
 persuad my son to pay it, etc., etc. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 453 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my Lord Strechen, begging his Lops, 
 kind intercession with Sir Alexr. Ramsay of Balmain to 
 grant one of his Philosophie Burses to my son Francis in the 
 Colledge of Aberdeen or St. Andrew ; as to which I begged 
 his Lops attention and speedie answer. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to Master Newton, 1 my son in Law, 
 congratulating with on the good Newes of his Ladie's 
 being safely delivered of a son the 18 instant : wish him 
 much joy of him. 
 
 Inverness, 27 July 1745. 
 
 I wrot of this dait and 6 instant to my son John. In the 
 letter of 6 instant I advised him of his brothers 2 death, 
 and that John Reid was to undertake for the funerall 
 charges, which I hopt he would see payed. In my letter 
 of this dait I took notice of his letter to me and his brother 
 Normand of 12 instant, and advised him that Mr. Reid 
 refused to pay me the 4£ sterlin he ordered his brother 
 Normand, tho he left litle debts due be him, and for his 
 account of near that sum, of which I sent a coppie this day 
 to London. As alsoe sent him John Roys accepted bill 
 daited in 8ber 1739, for £17 : 14 sh. sterlin, with orders 
 to enquir of Captain Wilkinson if sd. John left anie mony 
 due him in London, and to arest the value of my bill. I 
 likeway wrot to my son about Sir James Stuart of Burray 
 his proposall that he should come and setle in Orkny for 
 some time, where he might make £50 pr. ct. of his mony 
 yearly etc., etc. 
 
 Invrs., 6th August 1745. 
 
 Dr. Son [John], — This will be delivered you by your 
 Brother iri Law, John Reid, who has been very kind and 
 generous to me and family on sundrie occasions when we 
 were in outmost straits. He has payed your worthie 
 Broyr. Normand's Funeral Charges, of which he has the 
 accompt to shew you, and which amounts to about £15 
 ster. ; and, besides, he has my accompt and receipt 
 
 1 Richard Hay-Newton of Newton ; died 29 June 1776, husband of Anne 
 Steuart. 2 Norman. 
 
454 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 for £4 ster: due on Normand's account, and which you 
 ordered him to pay to Normand, if he had been in life 
 when your order came here. Ther is likewise a bill of 
 mine he has for £4 : 5 sterl. he gave at sundry times last 
 spring, when the family was sorlie pinched for fewel and 
 oyr. necessaries of life. And, besides, he has given us 
 lately, for our Winter firing, fourty barrels of coals, at two 
 shillings pr. barrel, makes £4 ster. more, which makes in 
 all about £27 ster., which I earnestly pray may be made 
 good to him, and I am persuaded he will do all in his 
 power not to straiten you annent the payment if you will 
 be so good as to give him your security, as I earnestly 
 wish you may. And I still hope, old as I am, I may yet 
 be able to relieve you of this heavy burden I lay on your 
 shoulders ; and, if I cannot, no doubt God, in — 
 [Remainder torn out.] 
 
 To the Bailie's son John — [Beginning torn out]. 
 
 . . . There was a letter came here last post from Liutenant 
 Menzies, of the Highland Regiment abroad, to his Broyr. 
 Niel, who is a doctor here, in which he advises that his 
 Lady being in Gehent [Ghent] when it was taken by the 
 French laitly, and being attacked in her Lodging by some 
 ffrench soldiers who wanted to plunder her, had the good 
 fortune to light by accident on our accquaintance John 
 Roy St . . . who got her immediatly rid of the Plum- 
 derers, showed her great civilities, and procured her 
 letters of safe conduct to go to England, or where she 
 pleased. John was in Highland Dress when this happened. 
 The Lady is Daughter to Campbell of Munie [Monzie], a 
 Lord of Session, so you may return me his accepted Bill 
 in your next. So I believe the story we had of his being 
 killed with old Locheil was designedly given out, etc. 
 
 Invr., 13 7ber. 1745. 
 
 Dr. Son [John], — I was extreamly supprised that, not- 
 withstanding I wrote you several letters of lait, that I 
 have had no return from you till last post, that your 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 455 
 
 Broyr. 1 John Reid wrot me that you was at Portsmouth, 
 and was footing out to goe Purser of a 40 gun man of 
 war, but that he expected you soon in London. I wish 
 the Pursership had been let alone for some time untill 
 some impending clouds 2 were dispelled. In my letter 
 of 15th last month I told you I had laid down a project 
 by which I and family must in a little time recieve great 
 benefit, for the prosecution of which I would want about 
 30 pieces or Pounds, and begged you to remitt me that 
 summ on sight of my letter and in course of post ; and 
 I was much troubled I heard not from you last post 
 untill I got Mr. Reid's letter. But I flatter myself I will 
 by the post expected next week, and, if you knew of what 
 consequence it must prove to me to have this money at 
 present, you would remitt it with as great pleasure as 
 ever you payed money. In the mean time I am under 
 the most pressing necessity of going immediatly south- 
 ward as far as Eder. and Newtoun, and therefore could 
 not avoid borrowing a little money from Alexr. Fraser, 
 Mercht. of this place, in part of which I have drawn on 
 you of this dait for £2 : 14 : 6 ster. to Mr. George Udny, at 
 3 days' sight, and have drawn on him for like value to 
 sd. Fraser ; to which I will not doubt your complyance. 
 
 Cousin John I have laitly seen, now extreamly busy 
 and in very good credit and esteem. 3 He was like to cut 
 my throat for not paying a certain debt I was due long or 
 now, but I told him it was my missfortune and not my 
 fault I hade not payed it ; to which he told me that I 
 must make all possible shift to do it before the middle of 
 next week, or suffer extreamly in my intrest, as my 
 creditor wonders much at my backwardness ; of which I 
 beg you may think seriously. My wife and I begin to 
 be extreamly uneasie we don't hear by the last East India 
 ships from your Broyr. James. God grant he may be 
 well and in life. And, if any letters be come, it 's cruel 
 not to forward them, as such letters would much aleviate 
 your Mother's Excess of Greif for the Death of your 
 
 1 Brother-in-law. 2 The troubles of the 'Forty-five. 
 
 3 John Roy Stewart was now one of the leaders in Prince Charles's army. 
 
456 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Broyr. Normand. I reffer you to the News Prints for 
 news, 1 as I care to write you none. May Godd bless and 
 derect us and all our dear freinds ; which at present is all 
 from Yours, etc. 
 
 [No letter booked after this till 14 October. 1748.] 
 
 Inverness, 14 Sber. 1748. 
 
 I wrot of this dait a letter to John Fraser, writer in 
 Eder., beging he would, without loss of time, extract the 
 Decreet he obtained in my name in anno 1743 against 
 John Clerk, Cuper, deceast, his Widow, Alexr. Berkly, 
 Charles McCullach, smith, and James Ross, fisher in 
 Pettie, for £13 : 18 : 4d., principall sum. 2 I also gave him 
 a letter to Mr. Patrick Cuming, Minister in Eder., open, 
 as also ane obligation granted by sd. Ministers Father 
 Robert Cuming of Relugas, for £10 sterlin principall, 
 daited anno 1700, to Alexr. Stuart, my Father, with 
 instruction to sd. John Fraser to give up sd. oblidgement, 
 and take anie thing for it he could gett. 
 
 Coppie Letter to my son John, at London, 1 7ber 1749. 
 
 Dr. Son, — .1 received yours which came to hand only 
 last post, tho daited the 19 of July last, which I find to be 
 a mistake, as I find it marked On the back by the London 
 stamp the 19 of August ; and in it I am surprised you 
 take no notice of a verie long letter I wrot you under a 
 frank cover the 21 of July last. I wrot like ways the 19 
 August, in which was inclosed a letter for your sister, 
 Mrs. Wederburn, and another for my old servant Dougall 
 Stuart in Jamaica, which I hope came safe to your hands ; 
 and in it I advised you of my draught on you, at 3 day's 
 sight, to Hugh Fraser, Junior, of this pleace, for £2 sterlin 
 for value given, mostly to your brother Allan, which I 
 wuld not pay and for which the poor Lad was strongly 
 dun'd. 
 
 1 News of the Rising. The Bailie was an ardent but cautious Jacobite. 
 
 2 See letter to Alexander Rose, 2nd July 1743. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 457 
 
 In your last I observe you impower me to draw on you 
 for eight pounds sterlin, and I have accordingly drawen 
 on you for that sum of this dait, payable to the order of 
 our freind Mr. Andrew Munroe, one month after dait, 
 which no doubt you '11 punctualy pay, it being some little 
 releefe to me in my great necessity, as I formarly advised 
 you. 
 
 I am due Andrew Munroe the ballance of a bill I drew 
 or accepted to him above 2 years agoe for £5 : 16 : 6 
 sterlin, and I have the outmost anxiety it should be payed, 
 and I beg you would take course with it befor you return 
 to Carolina. Mind to return me William McKullach his 
 bill, with the protest, etc., on it, which I sent you in May 
 1745, as he is now in good business, and I may recover 
 my mony, etc. 
 
 8 7ber. 1749. 
 
 To my son John. 
 
 Dr. Son, — My last to you was of 1st instant in answer 
 to yours of 19 July. In it I advised that I hade drawn on 
 you of that dait in conformity to your order for eight 
 pounds sterling to the order of Andrew Munroe, payable 
 one month after dait at the house of Alexr. Gordon. I 
 tryed severalls of our London Traders befor I applyed 
 Mr. Munro to lett me have mony for my bill on you, but 
 could find non here to take my bill ; and the reason why 
 I did not apply directly to him was that I forsaw he would 
 make stopage of that small sum in pairt of what I was 
 formarly due him, which accordingly happened, for, as I 
 told you in my last, he retained 40 shillings in his own 
 hands ; so that I only gott £6, which I was oblidged 
 to give out immediatly among my litle poor creditors, 
 as I hade swarmes on my back how soon they smeled I 
 hade gott a litle mony. So that just now I am not 
 master of 6 shillings, nor, when that is done, doe know 
 anie bodie here will give me a shilling. It is true my 
 freind John Reid is now here repairing his ship ; but then 
 I know he is prettie much stratned for mony at present, 
 and I have run verie laitly so much in debt to him that 
 
458 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 I am ashamed to truble him anie more, especialy as realy 
 he has been verie kind and generous towards the man- 
 tainance of my house of lait years, besides the lending 
 a litle mony at some times. So that, comparing this 
 letter with the long one I wrot you the 21 of July last 
 (which I hope came safe to yours hands), you must have 
 a full view of my present situation. But, as I observe in 
 your last that by some great dissappointments you laitly 
 met with you labour under some dificultys at present, 
 it gives me the outmost pain that my strait condition 
 oblidges me to apply to you for your assistance to help 
 me in some measure out of my present dificultys. I 
 asure you it is the effect of verie great necessity ; so that, 
 if possible, I must entreat that on recept of this letter you 
 make me some small remittance as you can spare. But, 
 then, I rather wish it may be by bill on some person here 
 or at Edinburgh than by ane order to draw. And pray 
 let the bill, if drawn on Andrew Munroe, be payable to 
 some other than me, with a blank indorsation. Your 
 Mother is in some better health than ordinar at present, 
 but in very great anxiety and fears that she will not have 
 the pleasure to see you ere you return to America. And 
 I must own I wish I could for manie reasons have the 
 pleasure to see you once before my death, which I must 
 now look for verie soon, as I was 73 years of age the 
 2d instant, and my Father was not 3 years older than 
 I am now when he dyed, and keept health verie well 
 all his life untill the time of his disolution came. And 
 I realy can not complain of want of health, nor of anie 
 failure in my senses ; but have strugled under many 
 trubles and dificultys that my Father never knew ; and 
 yet I have verie great reason to bless and adore my God 
 for manie mercies I have enjoyed beyont thousands 
 better and more deserving than I am ; in particular that 
 I am blessed with a good virtuous wife and verie good 
 dutiefull and hopefull children. Yesterday the Gramar 
 School here was indulged the harvast vacance, when the 
 boys haranged as useall, and among them your tuo 
 Brothers William and Henrie, who perform'd exceeding 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 459 
 
 well. Your Mother has been for severall days most 
 anxtiously busied about getting decent cloaths to our 
 tuo boys again there appearance at this exercise, which 
 with much to doe wee gott effected ; only that they 
 wanted hatts, and are now so grown up that there bonets 
 doe not well become them. So that, as ther is one David 
 Alan gone now for London with a ship belonging to Andrew 
 Munroe, the young men hope you '11 suply them that way. 
 I think such hatts as they '11 need may be purchased at 
 4 or 5 shillings a piece. Your acquaintance and schooll 
 fellow, Mr. Alexr. Colbert, Castlehills son, 1 is now here, 
 and is a verie polit, fine, learned Gentleman, and is ane abot 
 in France, and is come over to look in to the state of his 
 Family with a wiew in some time to pay the debts of it, 
 which are verie large. He has been so kind as to call at 
 my house to see your mother and me, and I designe to 
 have a conference with him about one of your young 
 Brothers, as I would willing have one of them educat in 
 France, at the Scots Colledge there, providing I find it 
 can be done without goeing in to the religion professed 
 generaly in that Countrie — I mean to what is rekoned 
 corupt of it ; but of this He acquaint you more fully here- 
 after. I have no more to say at present ; but give my 
 best wishes to your spouse, who is due me the answer of 
 tuo letters. 
 
 To Son John— [First Part Missing.]. 
 
 . . . Poor Mistris Wederburn 2 was laitly delivered of a 
 child that is since dead, and that she is on the way of 
 recovery (for which I bless God), and that she hade a 
 letter laitly from her husband from Newfoundland, daited 
 the 30 of July last, when he was reddie to sail with a 
 loading of fish for Naples, and that he and your brother 
 
 1 Members of the family of Cuthbert of Castlehill, near Inverness, settled in 
 France where they changed their name to Colbert. Colbert, the famous 
 minister of Louis xiv., was descended from the Castlehill family. 
 
 2 The Bailie's daughter, Marion, married to Alexander Wedderburn, a sea 
 captain. 
 
460 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Patrick were in good health. But I hope you have seen 
 your sister, and had this good newes from herself. Mr. 
 James Fraser of Relick was laitly here, and is the other 
 day gone from hence for London. I beg that when he 
 arives there you wait of him and thank him for the kind- 
 ness shown your brother James. 1 Mr. Munro of Culkairn, 2 
 your sd. brother's great freind, who was laitly here, 
 advised that I and all concerned in James should wait of 
 Mr. Fraser and thank him for some lait great favours 
 done James, as sd. Mr. Fraser has payed him the half of 
 the mony he furnished to outrig James for India. Marion 
 your sister advises that a letter I sent under your covert 
 for her the 1st of 7ber last is not come to hand ; which 
 surprises. Your mother, who is in low spirits, gives you 
 and spouse her blessing, as does Your etc. 
 
 P:S: — On second thoughts, as your mother lives mostly 
 on Tea, may send by David Allan, now in London, half a 
 hundered wght. white pouthered sugar in a box. 
 
 Inverness, 25 8ber 1749. 
 
 For William Mackullach, barackmaster at Fort Augustus. 
 
 Sir, — I hope you remember you are due me since the 
 year 1728 a ballance of your accepted bill indorsed to me 
 by Mr. John Coutts of Eder. for value, £11 : 15 : 10 sterlin, 
 of which you payed and which is marked on the bill £6 
 sterlin ; so remained due 21 of March 1728. £ 5 : 15 : 10 
 To Registrat protest . . . . - : 2 : 6 
 To interest for 21 years and half to this dait . 6:7:4 
 
 £12 : 5 : 8 
 
 So you see there is now due me tuixt principals and interest 
 £12 : 5 : 8 sterlin at this dait. I have severall letters of 
 yours now befor me entreating my patience, and not to 
 raise a diligence, and promiseing me payment verie soon. 
 And no doubt you must be sensible that I complyed with 
 your request, and have not in the least distressed you, 
 
 1 In India. 
 
 Culcairn in Ross-shire. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 461 
 
 tho' God knowes great and manie have been my strates 
 and trubles since your bill became due. And therfor, as 
 I beleive you are ane honest man and my freind, I hope 
 you will, in return of this letter and by your next post 
 who comes hither, remitt me a pairt of this mony, four 
 or three pounds sterlin at least, as I am extreamly stratned 
 at present, and He send you my recept for the same. And 
 lett me know when you can pay the ballance, and He 
 transact with you and take your bill payable some time 
 after this. Therfor, I hope you will in return of this show 
 your willingness to doe me justice. In which, if you fail, 
 I am sorie to tell you I must assigne your bill to some one 
 or other of my creditors who, I am affrayed, will be more 
 peremptor than I enclyn to be, as am I, Your well wisher, 
 etc. 
 
 Inverness, 27 Sber 1749. 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John adviseing that I 
 have drawn on him of this dait to the order of Hugh 
 Fraser, Junior, Mercht. of this pleace, for £2 : 10 sterlin, 
 at 8 days sight, and sent him my bill of this dait on John 
 Dallas of this pleace, now Mercht. in London, for £l : 14 
 ster., at 3 days sight, being half years sellar rent at the 
 shoar due me since Whitsunday 1735 ; and sent a letter 
 open, inclosed to my son, to be delivered to sd. John 
 Dallas, importing the ground of debt for which have 
 drawn on him, and the sd. Dallas his letter to me of 
 4 Aprile 1735, giveing up possession of sd. sellar, and a 
 document to instruct the debt. I have likeways advised 
 my son to compromise with him the interest on the 20 
 sh. rent, if he should scruple to pay it. I have also advised 
 the reason has induced me to draw for this mony, which 
 [is] to provid some necessarys for ane officer [who] is to 
 take a pairt of my house at 8 shillings pr. week ; and re- 
 questing his Complyance. And have likeways sent him 
 inclosed a letter from Mrs. Mackgilvrays, William McGil- 
 vrays widow, to her son Alexr., to be forwarded to Carolina 
 pr. first ship ; and have acknowledged recept of William 
 McKullach's bill, etc., that lay in his custodie since Anno 
 1745. 
 
462 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 4 Ober 1749. 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John, acquainting him 
 of my strates, and sent him inclosed a letter to my Cousin 
 John Roys widow at Buloigne in France, on which I 
 desired him forward with a proper adress. I sent him 
 likeways inclosed a letter of the 2d instant from John 
 Gollan in Pettie to his son James Gollan, Taylar in 
 Barbados, being one of those transported for appear- 
 ing for the P. . . - 1 This letter is adressed to the care 
 of Mr. Mackay, Tavern keeper on the Wharfe at Barbadoes, 
 and beged him to forward it pr. first. 
 
 Inverness, 6 9ber 1749. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to William McKullach, Barack- 
 master at ffortaugustus, by the post, entreating him to 
 send me part of the money due me pr. bill by ane express, 
 howson my letter came to his hands, on my charges. 
 
 Inverness, 25 Never. 1749. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John, acquainting him 
 of my indisposition, and of my dissapointments sundrie 
 ways, and great strates, etc. 
 
 I likeways wrot of this dait a long letter to my Daughter, 
 Mistris Newton. 
 
 Inverness, 30 Nover. 1749. 
 
 I wrot of this dait a long letter to my son James, which 
 was to goe to India with my Grandson, William Stuart, 2 
 who goes Surgeons Mate of the ship Norfolk, Capt. Hen- 
 caupt, Comander. In this Letter I have advised my son 
 James of all occurances relating to my self and family, 
 and of the death of my son in law Alexr. Wederburn ; 
 that I hade laitly seen his freind, Mr. Munroe of Culkairn, 
 and thanked him and Mr. Fraser of Releck for there kind- 
 
 1 Prince Charles. 
 
 2 Son of the Bailie's son Alexander, merchant in Leith, who was married to 
 a daughter of William dimming, merchant, Edinburgh. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 463 
 
 ness to him. I likeways advised of his Brothers John, 
 Francis, Alan, and Patrick, of what accounts I hade of 
 them. I Likeways advised of his Mother health, and my 
 own health and cituation, and begged to hear from him 
 by everie ship comeing from Bombay to England, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 30 November 1749. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my grandson, Will: Stuart, and 
 sent him inclosed a long letter for my son James at 
 Bombay, and a letter to my Daughter, Mrs. Wederburn, 
 condoling the death of her husband, and tender her my 
 best advice on such a sad event. 
 
 Inverness, 8 Decer. 1749. 
 
 I wrot of this dait a long letter to my son John, in 
 which I have given a full account of my present situation ; 
 as alsoe that the reason given him by John Dallas for not 
 accepting my bill of 34 shillings is a sham, for that he 
 has no obligation of mine to his father in law, Murdoch 
 Fowler, for £4 sterlin, as he pretends, the sd. Murdoch 
 being dead near 40 years ; and sd. Dallas his wife says 
 she knowes of no such obligation. I wrot him like ways 
 of the death of Mr. Wederburn, requesting he might 
 writ me fully ane acct. of that sad event, and see his 
 poor sister frequently and render her all the assistance 
 in his power ; and to let us know pr. first what accounts 
 he hade of his Brother Patrick, etc. ; and entreated his 
 assistance to pay some poor people were helpfull to my 
 Family in our necessity. And likeways desired him 
 enquir of Alexr. Mcintosh, Kelachie, about a debt Hugh 
 Crawford his agent at Eder. has laitly wrot off to me, as 
 due to sd. Mcintosh and Walington in Compy., about £5 
 ster., of which I am not sensible, as he hade wrot me befor 
 he went to the S: Sea that he hade satisfyed Mr. Mcintosh 
 for anie debt for aparell due be him or me ; and that I hade 
 no dealling with him ever since. I desired him likeways to 
 make my compliment to Mr. James Fraser of Releck, and 
 to thank him for his civility to his Brother James, etc., etc. 
 
464 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 Inverness, 16 Decer. 1749. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John, in which I advised 
 that I have drawn on him the 12 instant for 40 shillings 
 sterlin, to the order of Francis Knowles, of this pleace, 
 payable 20 days after dait, which I requested him to pay, 
 as I was necessitat by my great straits to draw the same, 
 and for suplying necessars for Crissmass, etc. I like ways 
 wrot him annent William Mackullachs bill, that he told 
 me he hade surrendered all his effects to pay his creditors 
 in London, among which he named him as haveing right 
 to my bill by indorsation, and beged his thoughts on this 
 subject ; as alsoe to be advised pr. first of what lait 
 accounts he hade of his Brothers Frank and Patrick, and 
 what related to Alexr. Wederburns death, and his sister 
 Marians situation, etc. 
 
 29 Decer. 1749. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John, and sent him in- 
 closed a letter to William Stuart, Esqr., Late Member of 
 Parliment, at Twitenham, in which I desire the lend of 
 20 £ sterlin for 18 months. And I have sent my son in- 
 closed my bill on himself to sd. Mr. Stuart, of this dait, 
 for £21: 10 ster., being principall and interest for sd. 18 
 months, and Mr. Stuart letter, open, to be forwarded 
 under his own covert pr. express to Twitenham, so as I 
 may have his answer. And desired my son to remitt 
 me sd. mony, if payed him. I sent Mr. Stuart inclosed a 
 strong letter of freindship he wrot me in anno 1721, to 
 remember him of his strong professions then. I acknow- 
 ledged recept of his letter 16 instant, with the inclosed 
 from my son Francis ; and sent him of this dait a letter 
 inclosed to his sister Marian which I desired [remainder 
 amissing]. 
 
 Inverness, 27 J amy. 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John, acknowledgeing 
 recept of the goods he sent me by David Alan, and sent 
 him inclosed a letter to my Cousin, Captn. Donald Stuart 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 465 
 
 of Ld. Lewes Drummonds Regiment, and of 19 instant 
 dait another letter of yesterdays dait to his brother James 
 at Bombay, both which I begged he would forward care- 
 fully ; and told him my anxtiety about the success of 
 my letter to Will: Stuart, Esqr., at Twitenham, of 29 
 December last. I gave him a hint of a storie talkt off 
 here annent the imbazlement of a great deall of housold 
 goods belonging to the lait Bailie Dunbar were loked up 
 in his house in tuo roomes, now found open and emptie, 
 to be communicat to Captn. Dunbar. 
 
 I wrot likeways of this dait to Henrie Rose, Merkinch, 
 at Eder., by Donald Jack, post, and sent him inclosed 
 Munroe of Leamlaers 1 bill on his brother for £10 sterlin 
 to his order, and desired Henrie to send pr. post a coper 
 plate coppie book for asisting my boys in ther writing, 
 value of which I promised to send next post. 
 
 Inverness, 3 Febry. 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John adviseing that John 
 Reid, his Brother in Law, was come here to fitt out his 
 ship for London, and would sail once in this month, and 
 entreated him to speake to Mr. Fraser, Relick, to secure 
 all his housold goods, etc., comeing to this pleace to be 
 shiped in Mr. Reid's ship ; and alsoe beged of him to send 
 us anie lait accts. of his Brother Patrick, and the maner 
 of Alexr. Wederburn's death, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 23 Febry. 1750. 
 
 Coppie Letter 
 
 For John Stuart My son. 
 
 Dr. Son, — My Last to you was of 3d instant, since 
 which I have non of yours, nor anie answer to my letters 
 of 8, 16, and 29 December, nor of my letters of 6 and 27 
 Janry. last, in all six, which gives your Mother and me 
 great uneasiness, as wee now suppose you either are not 
 well in health, or that you have some verie weighty reason 
 
 1 Lemlair in Ross-shire. 
 
 2 G 
 
466 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 for so long a silence, as some of the letters writ you were 
 of such import to me that ane answer befor this time 
 would have prevented manie anxtious perplexing thoughts 
 I have felt since some of them became due. But I hope 
 that by nixt post I shall have such a letter from you 
 as will dissipat my fears, and clear up matters fully. 
 Referring you to my letters abovewriten, I have now 
 cheefly to advise you that your Brother in Law, John 
 Reid, is just now here, and getting his ship reddie to goe 
 with the first tolerable weather to Cromarty to load Corn 
 etc. for London. Wee have hade here of lait the most 
 blowing tempestuous wather I ever remember, tho hardly 
 anie frost or snow all the last winter or what is come of 
 the spring. Your Mother and all in this house are prettie 
 well at present, but the first so run out of linin for her 
 own person and other necessars, that for her releef, as 
 well as others in my house, I have been oblidged to draw 
 on you of yesterdays dait tuo pounds sterlin, payable 
 20 days after dait, to the order of Hugh Fraser, Mercht. 
 of this pleace ; to which I must still beg you complyance, 
 as this draught is the effect of extream necessity ; and, 
 if the mony I expected from Mr. Stuart answer, may stop 
 it of that, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 3 March 1750. 
 
 I wrot a long letter to my son John, in answer to his 
 of 16 Febry. last, and owning recept of Mr. Forbes his 
 bill on William Mcintosh, Lienwielg, 1 for £12: 12 sterlin, 
 which is accepted ; and adviseing of my bill on him of 
 this dait to Hugh Fraser, Mercht., for £5: 8 ster., payable 
 20 days after dait, which, with my former bill of £2 to 
 sd. Hugh Fraser, is in full of the £20 sterlin he received 
 on my acct. from William Steuart Esqr., Remembrancer 
 of Exchequer for Scotland ; and wrot to sd. Mr. Steuart 
 of this dait under a frank covert to my son, giveing him 
 thanks. 
 
 1 Lynwilg in Badenoch. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 467 
 
 Inverness, 10 March 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my Daughter Marian with my 
 advice about her future conduct, and, under her covert, 
 a long letter to my son Francis, in answer to his of 26 
 Decer. last, in which I advise him of all occurances here, 
 and that I expected to see my son John here befor he 
 returned to America, which would not happen befor the 
 month of July nixt. 
 
 I wrot Likeways to my son Allan at Perth, in which I 
 desired him speake to his Master annent the mony due 
 his sister Marian for dying his bed curtins, and pay the 
 same to Mr. Wederburn's sister at Perth. 
 
 Inverness, 16 March 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait a long letter to my son Allan at Perth, 
 by James Gilmar, post, and sent by him a pair of new 
 britches made for myself of fine Drab ; and gave my advice 
 about writing to his Brother John ; as alsoe of Mrs. 
 Munroes present condition, etc., etc. 
 
 Inverness, 24 March 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait a letter to my Daughter Mrs. Newton, 
 in answer to her last to my wife. 
 
 And I wrot likeways a letter of this dait to William 
 Stuart at Fort William annent my bill to Dugall Steuart, 
 my old servant, now in Jamaica, adviseing of sd. Dugals 
 order to give me up sd. bill, and likeways adviseing him 
 that I wrot a letter to him about six weeks past annent 
 the sd. bill, and wanted much his answer. 
 
 Inverness, 31 March 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John, in which I entreat 
 he may alow me to draw on him for £12 sterlin again the 
 first of May nixt, and entreating his answer to the letter 
 I wrot him about his Mothers proposeall to have ane 
 interview with him in some pleace of Scotland befor his 
 return to America, etc., etc. 
 
468 
 
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 I wrot like way of this dait to my daughter Mrs. Weder- 
 burn, adviseing her to come down with her child and 
 effects with her Brother in Law John Reid, in order to 
 reside here ; and desired she should advise me of her 
 resolution, if she was to come down, that I might look out 
 for a proper house for her in this pleace ; and gave my 
 reasons for adviseing her comeing down, etc. etc. 
 
 Inverness, 7 Aprile 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John, in which I have 
 advised him that as his Mother has this last winter and 
 spring been prettie much imployed in Linin Manufacture, 
 which our house greatly wanted, and that weavers and 
 others have pressing demands on her on that acct., I 
 was oblidged to draw on him of this dait for £2: 5 sterlin 
 to the order of Hugh Fraser, Mercht. in this pleace, at 6 
 days sight ; to which I requested his complyance, etc. 
 
 7 Aprile 1750. 
 
 I wrot likeways to John Reid inclosed in which I re- 
 quested him to bring 12 piece of painted paper for 2 rooms 
 in my house, and to procure from John some sugar, flour, 
 and cheese, etc. 
 
 I wrot likeways of this dait to my Daughter Marian, 
 and desired her come down with John Reid, and to bring 
 down a quantity of lump sugar, a chist bitter oranges, 
 J du. Lemons, 200 lb. rasins for making wine. 
 
 Inverness, 14 Aprile 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John in answer to his 
 letter of 31 March last, and desired he might send his 
 Mother by John Reid from 20 to 30 lb. of cotton wool of 
 the longest and best kind, and some pounds of fine cotton 
 yairn ; and that she promised to pay the same again anie 
 time he appointed and to the person he ordered it, and 
 begged he would advise us timeously when he was to be 
 at Newton, because his Mother purposed to see him there ; 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 469 
 
 and put him in mind of that letter I wrot him the 31 of 
 last month, and begged his attention to it, etc. etc. 
 
 Inverness, 28 Aprile 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my Daughter Mrs. Newton, 
 adviseing her that I hade advice of her Brother Patricks 
 arival in Holland, and that I hoped he was or now arived 
 in London ; and likeways that her Brother John hade 
 advised me that sometime in June nixt he proposed to 
 come with his wife to Yorkshyre, and from thence to 
 Newton, where he would expect his Mother and me, etc. etc. 
 
 Inverness, 1 May 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son Alan by Robert Calach, 
 Carier, and sent by him tuo boxes of sea shells for Mrs. 
 Menzies, one of which I gott from Andrew Morray, sent 
 by Ladie Mackleod, directed for sd. Mrs. Menzies, etc. I 
 advised him of Brother Patricks ariveall in Holland, and 
 of Johns desyne to come to Newton sometime in June 
 nixt, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 5 M ay 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait a verie long letter to my son John 
 in answer to his of 14 Aprile last, in which I sent him a 
 full account of my present situation, with a full account 
 of all my debts, and what would be necessar at least to 
 support myself and family in time comeing, and desired 
 him send me 3 comon prayer books by John Reid, etc. etc. 
 
 I wrot likeways of this dait to William Fraser, Balinain, 1 
 at Eder., and to Andrew Stivenson, perwigmaker ther ; to 
 the first annent my papers relating to Cumings houses in 
 this pleace, and to the last relating to the debt I am due 
 George Duncan and children ; which tuo letters I have 
 sent under covert to Henrie Rose, with full orders to 
 compromise for my debt to Duncan with sd. Stivinson ; 
 
 1 William Fraser of Balnain, Stratherrick, W. S. in Edinburgh. His 
 daughter Anne married Alexander Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee, and one of her 
 sons was Patrick Fraser Tytler, the historian. 
 
470 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 and to advise pr. first what he does. As likeways to gett 
 my papers from William Fraser, and send them me pr. first. 
 
 Inverness, 23 June 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my son John congratulating his 
 wifes safe delivery of a hopefull Daughter, and desiring 
 him to give my blessing to his Brothers Francis and 
 Patrick ; and likeways wrot him at lairge annent his 
 Uncle John [Macleod], his entering to the possession of 
 Drynach ; of getting his letter, etc. 
 
 Inverness, 13 July 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to James Steuart, 1 writer in 
 Edinburgh, in which I complained that I wanted a return 
 to tuo letters I wrot him in relation to the setleing my 
 accounts with James Steuart, lait Bailie of Eder., and 
 beged he would let me know in cours if he was to doe anie 
 thing in that affair, as I was much trubled about it, as was 
 my freind Andrew Munroe, whose bill and mine is now 
 indorsed to Alexr. McGilvray, Carolina, for £50 sterlin, 
 tho the half of that mony is not realy due. I likeways 
 lett him know my acquaintance and freindship with his 
 Father, Charles Stuart, and his Cousin, William Steuart, 
 Esqr., to whom I have done service, and would thank 
 him for anie service he did me. I mean the last named 
 Gentleman would. 
 
 Inverness, 14 July 1750. 
 
 I wrot of this dait to my daughter Marian to the care of 
 William McLean, under a frank covert, and sent her in- 
 closed a Declaration made be Robert Gordon in Cromarty 
 befor Urquhart of Brealanguall, as being witness to her 
 Mariage with Alexr. Wederburn in Aprile 1737, which I 
 hope will, with Andrew Munroes Declaration annent her 
 
 1 Eldest son of Charles Steuart, Stewart Clerk of Orkney, and Marjorie 
 Traill of Westness (1718-1802); married 1747, Alison, daughter and heiress 
 of Mr. Thomas Ruddiman. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 471 
 
 mariage, sent her the 7 instant, doe her business ; and in 
 her letter is one inclosed for my son Patrick. 
 
 Inverness, 11 August 1750. 
 
 I wrot of dait to my son John at Newton, adviseing 
 that I hade drawn on him for 25 shillings sterlin, payable 
 to the order of David Gordon, 14 days after dait, at the 
 shop of David Brown, Mercht. in Eder., and that I designed 
 to sett out the middle of nixt week, etc. And like ways I 
 wrot of this dait to William Macklean, Mercht. in London, 
 adviseing that by order of my son John I hade drawn on 
 him for £6 : 6 sh. sterlin, payable 20 days after sight, to 
 the order of Mr. William Mcintosh, mercht. of this town, 
 and desireing him to advise me pr. first if anie ship was 
 goeing soon to Bombay, etc. etc. 
 
 Inverness, 8 Nover. 1751. 
 
 For Mr. James Steuart, Writer in Eder. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I only received this week your verie kind 
 acceptable letter of 24 Septer. last, which came under cover 
 from London, which pleace I left much about the time your 
 letter came there. I saw your cousin Mr. Steuart 1 soon 
 after my ariveal from France, who received me verie kindly 
 in his useual way, and hade a prettie long conversation 
 together on various subjects, but no particular relating my 
 son William, as I hade been frequently on that subject 
 with him before I went to France, and was loath to teise 
 him about it after he once told me he would take care of 
 the Lad. However, as his Family was then in the Country, 
 and he verie seldom and only by starts in London, I did 
 not see him a 2d time while I was there ; but, at my 
 comeing away from thence, or about 8 days befor, I wrot 
 him a strong letter, in which I expressed fully my anxtiety 
 to have his Godson William setled for some time with you at 
 Eder., and that I was certain that a recomendation from 
 
 1 See footnote I, p. 10, 
 
472 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 him to you in behalfe of my sd. son would effectualy bring 
 that project to bear as I wished, and beg'd his answer, 
 which is not yet come to my hands ; but yet I don't 
 dispair of success that way ; and by this verie post I doe 
 designe to refresh his memorie on this subject by a letter : 
 and, if anie answer come to it, He acquaint you, and in anie 
 event I doe not dispair but kind providence will provid 
 for me and my children. I received the bill of £4 ster. I 
 drew on my son John to your order last 8ber, which did 
 not overtake him, and for which I sent you 1st and 2d 
 bills on him in S. Carolina for £4 : 4 sh. sterlin, which I 
 dare promise will be punctualy payed, and advice of 
 which will give me great pleasure. As to Stivenson, the 
 Perwigmaker, I observe what you say about him and noe 
 doubt his offer is advantageous for me, but, alass, its not 
 in my power to grant what he desires, as I happen at 
 present to be prettie much stratned, nor have I anie other 
 security to offer him but that I left with you on William 
 Cumings houses in this brught [burgh], which is certainly 
 worth the mony Mr. Stivenson desires of me. And if I 
 live some time I hope to make much more of it, as Mcintosh 
 of Holme the present posessor is secured or payed alibie [?], 
 which can be proved. And, if you hapen to see him, may 
 endeavour to persuad him that it will be needless to distress 
 me at present, as I offer him the best security in my power. 
 And, if I live a year longer, I doubt not it will be in my 
 power to pay him more mony than he demands at present. 
 But mind to talk to Stivenson as if I was still abroad. 
 Meantime, I must entreat you speake to William Fraser, 
 Balinain, to gett and give up the Adjudication I sent him 
 relating to my claim of the sd. houses in this brugh, for 
 which I have his recept, and were sent him in a Debat tuixt 
 the lait Lord Lovat and McLeod of Cadboll, to be presented 
 in Process. I am sorie you never could yet recover my 
 Daughters papers from Walker in Lieth. I am aff rayed 
 he has played the Rogue, and given them up to her rivals 
 about the subject in Debat ; about which I beg you enquir 
 and advise the poor Widow, my Daughter, who depends 
 much on your freindship, and is a verie honest woman, etc. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 473 
 
 9ber SOih, 1751. 
 
 To Mr. William Stuart, Esqr. 
 
 I presume to give you the trouble of this letter to let 
 you know that I have got home safe to my house and 
 family, and had a verry agreable passage from London 
 hither, and that I do and will ever retain a just sense of 
 your generous kind favours done me in my necessity, and 
 will ever pray that Heaven may reward you for the same. 
 I had laitly a letter from your freind, James Stuart, vriter, 
 in which he makes mention of my son William, and says he 
 expected or then to hear what I hinted to him last year 
 about him, that is, about going to serve as a prentice. I 
 am sory to tell you that it is not in my power to forward 
 my son in this service, nor even to equip him in a decent 
 way without dificulty. But I [cannot] find the obligation 
 for prentice fee, and yet I am greatly ashamed to incist 
 on your doing me this favour after the experience I have 
 laitly had of your generosity ; but what urges me to write 
 in this manner at present is that my young man, having 
 got, while I was abroad, some reason to hope he would be 
 dispos'd of in this manner, gave up his gramatical learning 
 and aplayed himself wholly to writing and figures, in which 
 he has made good proficiencie. Sir, if you please to honour 
 me with any answer to this letter, send it to Charles 
 Mcintosh, Mercht. in London (who is every day on change), 
 and who will forward it to me under his covert, or may 
 send it by the post office ; and this will determin me about 
 the disposall of my son. Greatly oblige, etc. 
 
 lOber 7ih, 1751. 
 
 To Mr. Charles Mcintosh [London]. 
 
 I wrote to you the 30th past under covert to my 
 Daughter, Mrs. Waderburn, and in your letter was one 
 inclosed for Mr. William Steuart in Cavendish Square, 
 which I hop you caus'd deliver carefully, as it related to 
 ane affair of importance, and desired the answere might 
 be returned to you, who woud forward it hither. In my 
 last to you I exposed fully my very strate condition at 
 
474 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 present, and desird to know what lait advices you had 
 from my son John, as I am extreamly anxious to know 
 that he has reimbursd you the little money you generously 
 pay'd by his order to me and my wife, which I hope he 
 has done, as by last post my wife had a letter of the 21 7b er 
 last, in which he gives a very agreable accout of himself and 
 Brother Francis, and promises to remit a little money in a 
 few weeks after that dait. But, alass, that is only releif 
 at present and in the mean time our necessitys are very 
 great. Verly, I have been raking my invention about 
 finding a little money for our present necessitys, and one 
 of the expedients I have thought of is to try if any of the 
 Captains, our Countrymen, that are engaged by the India 
 Company to go soon to Bombay, where my son James now 
 resides in good business, would give me £5 ster : for my 
 Bil on him for the same and the useual exchange. These 
 Captain George Cumming of the Ship Royal Duke, and 
 Capt. Lindsay of the Ship Pellam, which Bil I am absolutly 
 sure my son will pay with pleasure and thankfullness. 
 Capt. Cumming is my Daughter Mrs. Waderburns acquen- 
 tance, and I sent her 2 bills on my son, payable to him some 
 weeks past, but she writes me he is not dispos'd to grant 
 me this favour. But, as she has not return'd my Bills, 
 I flatter myself she has some hopes of success, in which I 
 beg you enquire, and give her your best advice and assist- 
 ance in the affair. And if the money should answer, you'I 
 remit me the same by a bill on your Brother, John Mcintosh, 
 but not on Hugh English. As for Capt. Layon, he is not 
 my acquantance, but has the character of an honest 
 pretty fellow, and, if you know any gentelman of my 
 acquentance and his would speak to him, I think he wou'd 
 grant the favour. I bleive David Falconer or Capt. 
 Krighton, who are both my good acquentances, and are 
 daily on exchange, would be the proper persons : I say, 
 either of them, without leading them into my urgent 
 necessitys, but that this mony is designd for my son James 
 use in this Country ; and if this last project suceeds I will 
 send you my bills on my son, payable to the sd. Capt. 
 Lyon on first notice, as youl advise. Dr. Cousin, I beg 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 475 
 
 pardon for this too great unprofitable trouble given you, 
 which, with my best respects to my Cousins Keluchy 1 and 
 John Mcintosh, Dalmigavie, 2 is at present all from, Your 
 much obliged humble servant. 
 
 PS. — Your getting the affair recommended above exped 
 will be a singular act of freindship. On second thoughts, 
 if any mony can be got from the scheme mention'd in this 
 letter, may draw on any good man here, payable to my 
 freind, Mr. John Shaw, which bill send. 
 
 [Undated, and not addressed.] 
 
 Last post there came a caption here at the instance 
 of Andrew Stevenson, perwigmaker, against me, with 
 positive orders to execute the same, but it is directed to a 
 discreet man here who allows me time till the return of a 
 letter from Edr. that goes by this post ; so must intreat the 
 favour of you to try if can prevail with this Stivenson to 
 stop any execution against me for 2 months, as it is possible 
 in that time I may find some method to secure him the 
 compound sum he is willing to take, which in his letter to 
 Messr. he name £16 sterlin, if I mistake not him. However, 
 I beg you enquir and let me know in course his minimum. 
 
 Inverness, 17 January 1752. 
 
 To my son James [in India]. 
 
 My last to you was of 3d January 1751. I do not re- 
 member the ships name it went by, but Mr. John Layon, 
 an intimat acquaintance of your Brother John, was first 
 mate of the said ship, and it was writ from London, where 
 I then was, and in it I acquainted you fully with my 
 project in comming thither, and the schem I was to pro- 
 ject. And now I have to advise, in prosecution of my son 
 Johns propossall that I and family should goe over to 
 France and resid at Bulloigne, and that he was to afford 
 
 Alexander Mackintosh of Kyllachy, merchant in London. 
 Dalmigavie in Strathdearn. 
 
476 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 £20 sterling yearly for that purpose, which, with what 
 might arise from our house rents, would do much to 
 mantine us in a low way there. In consequence of this 
 consert I went over to Bulloigne in the month of March 
 last, where I was most kindly received by severall freinds 
 and acquaintances, and lodged with my freind and towns- 
 man, Robert Rose, who lives now there, and I lived at 
 little expence, having eat mostly at the houses of my 
 freinds there, such as my Cusine, Capt. Donald Stuart, and 
 Mrs. Stuart, his unkles widow, and my verie kind freind 
 Capt. Baillie, etc. I was not long there when I was advised 
 to aply a certain freind of high caracter in Italy for a proper 
 recommendation to get a share of the pention setled by 
 the Court of France for certain Gentlemen in distress, to 
 which I got a verie kind answere in the course of 6 weeks, 
 but found my request could [not] be comply'd with, as I 
 wanted certain qualifications without which my project 
 could not doe, 1 but at the same time assurance that at a 
 proper time I wold be provided for, and that I was in great 
 esteem with my freind. Upon receipt of these answere, 
 not only to my own letter but to letters of Gentelmen of 
 caracter and in great esteem with my freind, wrot in the 
 strongest manner in my favour, I found it was not practic- 
 able for me to think of bringing my family into that 
 Country, as I found, upon due inquiry, I could not subsist 
 myself and family in that place under 50 or 60 £ ster. 
 yearly. And besides, as I found any sum promis by my 
 son John would be precarious and not to be depended 
 upon, as his affairs in England, I mean his credid, was at 
 a verie low pass, I determind to return home and rather 
 undergo hardships in my own Country than be exposed in 
 a strange Country, the language of which I could not speak 
 nor understand, with the bad prospect of being in that case 
 despised by Gentlemen with whom I was then in very good 
 esteem. I stay in France till the midle of Agust, and then 
 returned to London, where I have stayed with my poor 
 kind Daughter Mrs. Waderburn the winter and half of the 
 
 The Bailie, although a Jacobite, had not actively supported Prince Charles. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 477 
 
 spring befor, and stay'd till I got a proper occasion of a 
 ship to Inverness, which did not hapen till the beginning 
 of 8ber last. Whil I was at London the ship Ilchestester 
 arived from Bombay, by which I was in great hopes to 
 have had the pleasure of a letter from you, but to my 
 great surprise I found there was non but had the pleasure 
 to see your letter to William Mclean, who has last sumar 
 stopt payments, and bank-routed, which I much regrate ; 
 but think fit to let you know so much for your government. 
 I saw likewise your letter to your sister Marian, and yours 
 to Hugh Ross, which gave him and me great pleasure, as 
 in it you advise of som preferment you have gott to 
 pleaces of profit and great trust. This letter goes by the 
 Royal Duke, Capt. George Cumming, Commander, who in 
 my very great strates I applyed before I left Lond. and 
 since to know if he would do me the favour to let me have 
 £5 sterling for my Bill on you, payable 14 days after sight, 
 as did likeways my Daughter Maria apply him on the same 
 score ; but he refused to grant the favour, which was 
 unkind. I suppose this letter will be delivered by your 
 nephew William Stuart, 1 who arrived from India while I 
 was at London, where he had been out a surgeons mate, 
 and now goes out surgeon with his Uncle, Captain Cuming. 
 While I was with him at London he cam very seldom to 
 see me, the reason of which I take to be he fear'd I was to 
 ask money of him ; but I rather think that it was because 
 he was then taken up with some rakish companions. I 
 pray God direct him aright. When I came to London in 
 8ber last year I found your brother Patrick then at Hector 
 Fraser's boording school, where he had been for some 
 months ; but his brother John, being obliged to leave 
 London hastily, left him without money or credit, and re- 
 commended him to sd. Mr. John Lyon to carie him out 
 with him to India, which I found he could not doe ; so that 
 I was oblig'd to do all in my power to get him into some 
 good business, which I got at last very well effected, 
 getting him out 2d mate with Capt. Tolme, our country - 
 
 1 See footnote, p. 462. 
 
478 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 man, in the ship Avant gellie to Italie and Turky at 40 
 shillings per month, from which voage he lately return'd 
 to England, and the ship is now laying quarentine. And I 
 had a letter from poor Patrik, good write and good sens, in 
 which he informs me distinctly of all the occurances of his 
 voage, and many dangers by Sheerness and otherways he 
 escaped, and that the Capt. was exceeding kind and civil 
 to him, indeed, as he promiss me he would. So I hope 
 honest Patrick will doe well, and Mr. Tolme, who has a 
 great deal to say with the Italian and Turky merchts., 
 says he hopes to get him a ship soon. I pray God bless 
 him. He is a fine, solid lad. Your brother Alan is at the 
 Colledges at Edinburgh, after serving 4 years as aprentice 
 to Mr. Neil Menzie. 1 He has been help'd to Edinburgh 
 education by his brother and Mcleod, but principaly by his 
 worthie sister Mrs. Newton, who lives now in Edinbr., and 
 mantains him, which is a great article. Alan is a fine, 
 virtous, handsom young man, about 6 foot high, and will 
 now be looking out to get into business. I pray God bless 
 and direct him. Your sister Mrs. Newton was laitly 
 delivered of ane untimely child. The child dyed, but she 
 is recovered, bless be God, as are three of her children of 
 the small pox. But the eldest child, Christie, a verie fine 
 girle dyed in Nover. last of that Fatal Disease, to the great 
 greef of your Mother, who was greatly anamourd with that 
 fine Child. I hade laitly a very agreeable letter from your 
 brother Francis in Carolina. His brother and partner have 
 sett him up in a warhouse at a pleace called Port Royal, 
 80 miles south of Charlestown, where he has had great 
 success, and sold in 12 months goods to the extent of £1500 
 sterling value, and write he was to be asumed a copartinar 
 for that branch of bread, as does his brother John to his 
 mother, who writs her a long letter in answer to one she 
 wrot him from Newton when laitly there, in which she 
 took him strongly to task about any misunderstanding 
 seemed to subsist betwixt you and him. In his letter he 
 declares it was all over with him, and that he had wrot 
 
 Niel Menzies, doctor in Inverness. See p. 454. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 479 
 
 you so by a letter he sent to William McLean to be for- 
 warded to you, which Mr. Mclean told me he did forward ; 
 so I hope we shall never more hear of any quarall subsisting 
 betwixt you. Your brother Franck has a most charming 
 character in Carolina, and greatly esteemed as a young man 
 of fine parts, good sens, and strick vertue. May God, I 
 pray, bless him, his brother, and all their concerns. John 
 had a most dangerous, tedious, and expensive passage with 
 his spouse and daughter to Carolina, where he only arived 
 in Aprile 1751, where, I hope, he will still do well, as he is 
 well esteemed in that Country. Now I come to advise you 
 of my own and familys present situation. I bless God 
 wee enjoy a pretty good share of health, and the full 
 exercise of our reason and senses, but greatly pinchd for 
 the necessarys of life, and oblig'd to have recourse — I say, 
 to have recourse — for assistance to freinds and nighbours 
 for little trifles untill it please God to enable us to pay 
 them ; and even that method has now allmos quit faild, as 
 we have so long troden in that way. What gives most 
 pain at present is that your two youngest brother, William 
 and Henry, are still with us, tho grown up to be allmost 
 men, and have a good genious for anie bussiness, but at 
 present cannot stir out of doors to attend any school for 
 want of nessesary apperal. And what I had in view for 
 both, of which I wrote you last year from London, has 
 faild ; but ane offer I had in France to send them both 
 over to be educat at the Scots Colledge of Dowie, in which 
 case might be temped to goe in to the religion of that 
 pleace, which I do not love ; but still I have some hopes 
 it may please God to open a door for them soon. They 
 both write well and have a great genious for drawing and 
 painting, and some of their works in our house are verie 
 prittie and well esteemed, particularly Land skips. Your 
 brother in law, John Reid, spouse, and family are all 
 tolerably well and in health ; but honest John is much 
 concerned at present about some losses he has laitly sus- 
 tained in the way of trade ; which is a loss to my family, 
 as he has been kind on sindrie occasions. All I think now 
 proper to add is to inform you that severall of your 
 
480 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 acquaintances have laitly dyed, viz., my Cousin, Comissar 
 Stuart ; Doctor McLean and Ladie, my kind neighbours ; 
 as also Baillie William Mcintosh, Coach, and Baillie Gilbert 
 Gordon, Archibald Geddes, and severall others. Your 
 freind Miss Pegie Mcintosh asks frequently for you. Your 
 Mother, sister Meg, and brothers joyn me in their prayrs 
 to God for your health and prosperity ; and wee all beg 
 that after this you omit no occasion for writing to us ; and 
 I ever am, my Dear Son, your most affect. Father, 
 
 Inverness, 11 July 1752. 
 Mr. Charles Mackintosh, Mercht. in London. 
 
 Dr. Sir, — I received yours of the 20th last month, as I 
 did at the time a letter from my son Francis from Port- 
 royal in S. Carolina, in which he advises me he had remitted 
 you £10 sterling pr. bill of exchange, to be remitted me 
 here. I expected to heave heard from you about this 
 mony by last post, for I wanted it extreamly, as this week 
 we have hade a merket here which has given me a great 
 deal of truble by the dunnes of poor people to whom I 
 am due litle trifleing sumes for the support of my Family, 
 which has oblidged me to draw on you the 9th instant for 
 thirtie shillings sterline, to the order of Hugh Fraser, mercht. 
 in this place, payable 20 days after date, to which I entreat 
 your complyance. And, if by nixt post or before this 
 letter comes to your hands, the money you are to remitt 
 me come to my hands, I faithfully promise to remitt this 
 30 shillings, for which I have now drawn to your brother 
 in law Baillie John Mckintosh, and send you his recept for 
 the same pr. post. And you may bleive it was great 
 necessity made me draw for the same ; so I hope you will 
 pardon this freedom. 
 
 Inverness, Uh 7ber 1752. 
 
 A Copie of a letter to my son Allan [Medical Student at 
 Edinburgh University]. 
 
 I received yours of 27 last month and doe noat the 
 contents. I observe your sister and family are gone to 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 481 
 
 the Country in order to stay there. I pray God bless 
 them wherever they are. I fear their removal will not 
 be quit convenient for you ; but keep your courage and 
 patiance. God is all sufficient, and I hope will provide 
 for you. I hade by last post a letter from your Brother 
 James, daited the 9th of December last, in which he gives 
 a verie agreeable account of his present situation, and that 
 by the ship my letter came the Governour and Counsil 
 of Bombay recomended him to the Company in England 
 in very strong terms ; so that I doubt not he '11 be advanced 
 by them to a higher station. He makes kind mention of 
 you, and says that by this ship last arrived he wrote to 
 McLeod a letter of thanks for his kindness and generosity 
 to you, which I hope will have a good effect. He likeways 
 bids me tell you that he was to write you fully by a ship 
 that was to saill next month for England, and to remitt you 
 5 pounds sterlins, which gives joy to your Mother and me. 
 And, if McLeod remitt you the other 5 pounds he is due 
 by promise, I think, with the assistance of other freinds you 
 might be enabled to goe in person over to see your kinsman 
 Generall Stuart 1 with such recommendations as you could 
 purchass, particularly from the phisitians and surgeons of 
 Edr., which I am hopefull will doe your affair, provid- 
 ing the place of surgeon to the Regiment be not fulled 
 up or then, about which you ought to write immediatly 
 to your cousin John McLeod. James, your brother, has 
 made no remittance of any money to me, but has sent two 
 pieces of cotton cloath or linin for his Mother, which I 
 hope will come by Robert Munro, who is daily expected. 
 We are in extream straits and want, which, with the 
 torment of little duns, gives your poor Mother and me 
 great uneasiness ; as does the miserable condition of your 
 poor brothers, who are still confined for want of cloaths 
 and losseing their time and education. I wish you would 
 cast about and try if Rodrick McLeod would take your 
 brother William to his service, for I know not how to 
 dispose of him at present. He 's a fine, good, virtuous 
 
 1 Of the Dutch service. 
 
 See next letter. 
 
 2 H 
 
482 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 lade, and it 's a pittie he were not now put to some buss- 
 ness. As for Henry, I am thinking to send him nixt year 
 over to his brother Frank to Carolina, where I fear not 
 his doing well. Your freind George Munro is verie well, 
 notwithstanding Dr. Munro was plying him hard with 
 various medicins to no purpose. Your Mother perswaded 
 George to give over takeing anything from him, for till 
 then she would not cure him, which at lenth he was per- 
 swaded on to doe ; and then in ten days he came to his 
 culor, and is now quit well. She says shall comunicate 
 this secret to you, which I dare say may be of good use 
 to you. 
 
 I observe what you write about Ld. Lt. I 'm sorie he 's 
 oblidged to take such a cours, and [he] will repent it. If 
 my kind freind, Capt. Donald McDonald, be yet at Ednr., 
 give him my kind respects, and tell 111 be verie glad to 
 see him here ; and I am heartely sory for my kind freind 
 Robert Rose. I pray God help him. Try if you can 
 learn a proper derection for my freind young Glengarie, 1 
 and write to me per first. I send inclosed to you a letter 
 for Dowgal Stuart at Jamaica, which give your acquan- 
 tance, Mr. McDonald, who told me he was to goe soon for 
 Jamaica, and give him my kind respects. Ad vis likewise 
 if any letters for you or me by Mr. Cowan of Lieth from 
 Carolina, with anie news you can learn of your brothers 
 there. 
 
 Inverness, 12th September 1752. 
 
 To My Daughter Mrs. Waderburn [London]. 
 
 Last week I received yours without dait, which was 
 write the last week of the last month, as I observe by the 
 post office mark. I have considered all the particulars 
 of your letter. First, as to the pieces of calico came from 
 your brother James, which he mentions in his letter of 
 9 December last, which is come to hand. I think your 
 
 1 Alexander Macdonell, younger of Glengarry — Mr. Andrew Lang's ' Pickle 
 the Spy.' He was at this time in France, where he had resided for many 
 years. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 48a 
 
 schem of getting the pieces in the lenth of sheets is the 
 best way to gett them ashour by the asistance of the 
 purser of the ship to whom they were recommended, 
 without giveing the extravigant price of 5 Guenies to a 
 waterman, which you know the subject cannot bear. So, 
 my Dear Daughter, I depend on your care in the affair, 
 and will be verie glad you can gett on of the pieces sold 
 to Mr. Keith at £8 sterling, to whome give my humble 
 service. And the other pice may send by Alexander 
 Bain, and take his recept for the same, which send in- 
 closed pr. post. And as this is the only remittance made 
 us by your brother James since he went to India, it will 
 be verie luckie if it come safe to hand, as I assure you we 
 are sore pinched by our little creditors here at present, 
 and the wants of our Family in several respects. So I 
 recommend this affair to your prudent manadgment ; 
 only notice, if you can sell a pice of the caligo, my wife 
 and I entreat you from that fund to buy two second hand 
 cloath coats for your brother's Will: and Hendrie ; I mean 
 of good strong cloath. Let them be so lairge as they woud 
 near fltt me, and put them and the caligo in one box by 
 Sandie Bain or the first occasion of a ship comeing to 
 this pleace ; and cause insure the value, which James 
 Clerk or Charles Mcintosh will doe for you for verie little 
 money, as now the season of the year is turning stormie. 
 And may gett a bill for what mony will remain payable 
 to me here, or send me an order rather to draw on you 
 for the sume, which will doe better. I beg you see to 
 gett the two second hand coats for your brothers as cheap 
 as possible. I know you are no stranger to wher the best 
 penie worth can be found. 
 
 I blive what you write about Mr. Munroes offering to 
 lodge with you to be true ; so need not truble your head 
 about it. I am affrayed your brother Patrick was too 
 rash in quiting Mr. Tolmie and going to Carolina, as I 
 would rather he hade stayed and gone Mr. Tolmies 2d 
 mate. However, I hope God will bless and prosper him, 
 and that he '11 doe verie well in Carolina ; but I wonder 
 he did not writ me at his goeing off. Robert Munro 
 
484 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 arrived here about 5 Days agoe, and gives a fine account 
 of our Patrick. Now as to your proposal about your 
 daughter Nellie, He write verie earnestly to your sister 
 about it by this post, and bid her send an answer directly 
 to yourself by first post. But I fear much your schem 
 will not hold, because I understand Mr. Newton is turned 
 wearied of the town of Ednr. and returned to the country 
 to stay for good. But I blive if you inclyned the child 
 should stay with her aunt in the country, I dare say she '11 
 make her welcom ; but for any bourd I must leave your- 
 self and her to adjust that betwixt you, as I have not 
 confidence to write to her in the shape you propose, as 
 she is of herself verie generous and kind to us all ; and I 
 pray God bless her. Wee have verie good schools of all 
 kinds here, and a vast manie young girles sent here to be 
 educat ; and, failing of your project at Newton, what 
 would you think of sending Nellie down to us here, where 
 she might lodge with her aunt, and be tenderly cared for ? 
 But this I leave to your own better judgement. I am 
 verie glad you corespond with your brother Allan, and 
 that you are endeavouring to gett him in to business. 
 He is a fine sensible lade, and I hope will doe well, and I 
 blive will please you when you see him. I have been 
 useing my poor endeavours for him to gett him surgeon 
 of General Stuarts Regiment in the Dutch Service, but 
 it has failed me as yett. However, I hope God will provide 
 for him. The greatest obsticul that I can think to your 
 daughter Nellie's being setled with your sister Newton 
 is that Mr. Newton has refused to take anie of his own 
 unmaried sisters into his house, notwithstanding his being 
 applyed by all his relations on that head. And yett he 
 proves comonly kinder to his wifes relations than to his 
 own. But your sister will clear that point fully. I am 
 sorie for the misfortune befaln the parat, of which I will 
 writ her pr. first post. Your freind Rodrick Mackullach 
 was maried the 29th of last month to Miss Munro, Culrains' 
 only Daughter, who has only a weak sillie lad to her 
 brother, not like to live ; and in anie event shell prove 
 a rich match, and its said is a prittie young woman. 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 485 
 
 Inverness, 28 7ber N.S. 1752. 
 To my son John [in Carolina]. 
 
 It surprises me very much that I have no letter from 
 you for 12 month past, tho severall from your brother 
 Francis, in which he informed me of some considerable 
 disapointments you met with from your corespondents at 
 London, and that you and partner were resolved to change 
 them, and had fixed on one who I am told is a very rich 
 man, and I hope will use you better than your freinds the 
 Udnies have done. Meantime, I am extreamly pleased 
 to understand that you, your spouse, and daughter con- 
 tinue in health since they went to that country, and that 
 your partner, Mr. Read, is come over to London to nego- 
 tiat your affairs, which I hop will turn out much to your 
 advantage, and will retrive the damp on your credit 
 incurred by the failure of your first corespondents ; and to 
 his care I send this letter. Your brother Francis wrote 
 me of his success in your affairs at Port-royal and that you 
 and partner had assumed him as partner for -Jd of your 
 business at that place, where, I hope, he '11 give you con- 
 tentment in his management. And I pray God grant 
 you and him health and prosperity. I had a letter laitly, 
 daited the 9th lOber, from your brother James at Bombay, 
 which gives me great joy, as he says he has had better 
 success since he went last to that country than he expected, 
 as he was in great favour with the Governour, and trusted 
 with the management of the factory books, and was 
 appointed Comptroller of Accompts, and that the Governer 
 and Counsill had by the same ship his letter came, write 
 in strong terms, to the Company at London, recommend- 
 ing him for preferment. And Marian writs me from 
 London that she understands by Mr. Home, the Director, 
 and Mrs. Cuming's uncle, who is James his great freind, 
 that his character gives great satisfaction to the Company, 
 who will prefer him soon ; so that, blessed be God, he is in 
 a hopefull way of doing well. 
 
 He complains he never had an answer to the last letter 
 he wrote you, nor any since he went last to India, and 
 
486 
 
 THE LETTER-BOOK OF 
 
 untill he had a return from you he would not write any 
 more ; so that your mother fears the last letter you wrote 
 him has misscarried, and that you should renew a coppy of 
 it, and forward the same as soon as possible. The last 
 letters I wrote you dated 25th January and 15th April. 
 The last mention'd I sent under covert to your cousing 
 John Stuart, shipmaster, with my orders to forward the 
 same imediatly, and served to advise that he was so kind 
 as to pay a bill I drew on my daughter Marion, in my 
 extream necessity, for 30 s : as it seems she had not then 
 money to pay the same ; which I entreat'd you might pay 
 him. In these letters I told yow of the very great straits 
 of our family and bad cituation. And nothing gives me 
 greater pain than that your 2 brothers William and Henry 
 have been for almost a year confin'd in the house for want 
 of cloath and linnins, and, which is still worse, quit idle 
 for want of proper education, tho both have good capacities, 
 and have taken a fancy of draughting landskips and 
 pictures to very good purpose. And no doubt you have 
 heard what I projected to them has fail'd. However, I 
 trust that kind providence will soon carve out a way for 
 them. 
 
 Your Brother Allan is still at Edr., labouring under 
 dificulties, as McLeod has only pay'd the half of what he 
 promised for his subsistance at Edr. He is a pretty young 
 man, and has made a good progress in his trade ; but as he 
 
 has laitly writ you by a Leith ship, one Captain C 
 
 Commander, I think I need say no more about him at 
 this time. I understand your brother Patrick has ship'd 
 himself for your Carolina, where I hope this will find him 
 safe and well. He is a very good, vertous young man, and 
 Captain Tolme, with whom he was at sea last voage, gives 
 him a large, good character ; so I hope he '11 prove usefull 
 to you in his way ; and I pray God bless him. Pie has 
 lately escap'd great danger by the most violet storm of 
 wind happen'd of a long time, in which many ships were 
 lost, and abundance of people parished. 
 
 Your sister at Cromerty is well. Her husband Mr. Reid 
 had had considerable losses in the way of trade. His ship, 
 
BAILIE JOHN STEUART OF INVERNESS 487 
 
 the Helen and Margret, was sized at Harwich last winter 
 coming from Dunkirk with a great deal of wine, spirits, 
 and prohibited cash and tea, etc. ; and after a very ex- 
 pensive process at Law the ship was got back, but the 
 cargoe very much damaged ; and the ship sold there for 
 a trifle. However, honest John has got another brigg, 
 about 90 tun, built at Cromarty, and is going now with a 
 loadning of salmon to the Mederanian @ 30 £ pr. month, 
 6 month sure, and got 2 partners to his ship, which coast 
 him 550£ sterlin, being all good oak outsid and inside. He 
 breeds his son John, your nephew, to his oun bussiness, 
 who, I hope, will turn out very well. 
 
 No doubt Allan has writ you fully about Mrs. Newton 
 and family. They are laitly gone from Edr. back to the 
 country, which is a loss to poor Allan. 
 
 This have I given you an Account of all our family, so 
 have only to add that your mother and I have laboured 
 under great troubles of late years, and only subsisted 
 by the bounty of our children, and few or non other of 
 late ; and our schemes have missgiven. May God sanctify 
 every dispensation of his providence to us, and prepare us 
 for death and eternity, which I may dayly look for, as I 
 am now very old, and of late feel the effects of it. Your 
 mother, Meg, and brothers give you their blessing, and to 
 your spouse and child, in which I join. 1 
 
 1 This is the last letter in the Letter-Book. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aberarder. See Mackintosh, Wil- 
 liam. 
 
 Aberchalder, 231 and n. 
 Abercrcmbie, major James, 349. 
 Achindaice, Mr., 95. 
 Achmonie, ix n. 
 Achterdonald, 350. 
 Achterlonie. See Auchterlonie. 
 Acorns, 203. 
 Adam, William, 324. 
 Adventure, xxviii, 388, 390, 404. 
 Agnes, xxvii, xxviii, 41, 45, 262, 277, 
 
 2 79> 379 '■> wrecked in the Orkneys, 
 
 xxxii, 288-9. 
 Aikenhead, David, 181, 
 Aikman & Winter, or Winder, Leghorn, 
 
 1, 163, 198, 202, 365. 
 Aldourie, 85 n. 
 
 laird of. See Barbour, John. 
 
 Alexander, xxvii, xxix, xxx, xlvii, 5, 
 13, 18, 23, 25, 30, 40, 56-8, 64, 
 93 n , 96, 97, 99, 101, 103, 105, 106, 
 in, 113 ; taken by a Swedish priva- 
 teer, xxx, 59, 61-3, 72; released by 
 Swedes but seized by a Danish man- 
 of-war, xxx, 64-65 ; again released, 
 xxx, 67; wrecked off Morocco, xxx. 
 
 Alicant, 241. 
 
 Allan, David, 459, 460, 464. 
 
 Allangrange. See Mackenzie. 
 
 Allardyce, lieut., of the Fusiliers, xlviii. 
 
 Almonds, 265. 
 
 Altyre. See Cumming. 
 
 Alves & Co., 84. 
 
 Thomas, 27, 55, 97, 98, 124, 129, 
 
 147, 155, 164. 
 
 Amsterdam, 1, 15, 33, 63, ill. 
 
 Anchovies, 238. 
 
 Anderson, David, 160. 
 
 George, 390. 
 
 Jonathan, 452. 
 
 Andrew, Alexander, Rotterdam, xvii, 
 xxix, xxx, xxxiv, xxxv, 1, 8, 9, 11-13, 
 15, 17, 18, 20, 23-27, 29, 33, 34, 36, 
 52, 54, 55, 63, 67, 70, 77, 97-99, 
 101, 102, 105-107, III, 112, 121, 
 140, 149, 154, 155, 157, 161, 172, 
 177, 179, 220, 228, 244, 288, 294, 
 33i, 339, 353, 355, 4i8. 
 
 Andrew, Alexander, & Gerard (Robert ) r 
 Rotterdam, 130, 132, 135, 136, 138. 
 
 Anise of Malta, 265. 
 
 seed, 154, 155. 
 
 Ann, xxvii-xxix, 195, 197-8, 202, 214, 
 274 ; founders at sea, xxxii, 242, 
 246. 
 
 Anna, 137. 
 
 Anson, commodore, 433 n, 442-3 and 
 
 n, 444-5- 
 Apple trees, 236, 247. 
 Arbuthnot, Alex., Edinburgh, xlix, 9, 
 
 14, 17, 19, 20, 54, 62, 66, 79, 83, 84, 
 
 92, 220, 234, 254. 
 
 Robert, Rouen, 32, 37, 47, 48, 84. 
 
 Thomas, Peterhead, 77, 78, 87, 
 
 90, 91, 95- 
 Archer, Mr., 8. 
 Ardshiel. See Stewart, John. 
 Argyle, John, duke of, 365. 
 Arrack, 364. 
 
 Arthur, Thomas, of the Jean, 48, 279, 
 282. 
 
 Ath-nam-Muileach, skirmish at, xlviii, 
 279 n. 
 
 Atkins, John, secretary of war for 
 
 North Britain, 332-3. 
 Atterbury, Francis, bishop of Rochester, 
 
 216 and n. 
 Auchterblair, 293. 
 
 Auchterlonie (Ouchterlonie), Alexan- 
 der, London, 2, 5, 7, 28. 
 
 George, London, xlix, 24, 47, 48, 
 
 62, 66, 114, 119, 122, 125, 127, 148- 
 151, 157, 160-1, 164, 171, 174, 176, 
 193, 195, 197, 199, 203-4, 207, 227-8, 
 233, 242, 249, 390, 409. 
 
 James, of the Restoration, 207. 
 
 John, Montrose, 1, 204. 
 
 Auchtertyre, 285. 
 
 Avorie, capt., 405-6. 
 
 Joseph, 285, 340. 
 
 Ayre, Thomas, 424. 
 
 I Bachop, Wm., shipmaster in Leith, 
 35o. 
 
 Backshell, William, London, 397, 405. 
 Baillie (Balie), Alexander, 153, 190-1, 
 360. 
 
 489 
 
490 LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Baillie, Duncan, of the Christian, 
 xxxvi, 335, 34i-3» 34°, 34$, 352, 
 353, 35^-8. 
 
 Evan, of Abriachan, li, 245, 428 
 
 and n. 
 
 Hugh, collector of customs at 
 
 Kirkwall, xxxii, 243, 289, 344. 
 
 John, of the Christian, xix, xxviii, 
 
 379, 380, 389, 393-4, 396, 400, 403-4, 
 409, 424. 
 
 — W.S., 420. 
 
 Bain, Alex., 483. 
 
 ■ Andrew, 56. 
 
 William, shipmaster in Leith, 
 
 91. 
 
 Ballindalloch. See Grant, William. 
 Balnain. See Fraser, William. 
 Banff, lord, 41, 42. 
 
 Barbour, John, of Aldourie, bailie of 
 Inverness, xxxiv, 85 and ;z, 86, 126. 
 
 Barcelona, 195, 197, 199, 207-8, 228, 
 235- 
 
 Barclay (Berkly), Alex., Cromarty, 
 
 158-9, 440, 456. 
 
 David, Hamburg, 1, 44, 45. 
 
 Robert, Hamburg, 51, 62, 65, 67, 
 
 75, 253. 
 
 Barley, 271-2, 298, 304, 315, 452. 
 Barr, Alex., Crieff, 340. 
 Barrack. See Sinclair, John. 
 Barrel hoops, 3, 5, 7, 28, 47, 114, 156, 
 171. 
 
 staves 26, 29, 52, 65, 73, 114, 
 
 121-2, 156, 171, 232. 
 Baynton & Shawe, London, 84, 87. 
 Bear, 39. 43, no, 138, 142, 168, 202-4, 
 
 214, 267-8, 298, 367. 
 Beef, 6, 8, 9, 11, 17. 
 Bees wax, 214. 
 
 Bennet, Mr., commissioner of excise, 
 231. 
 
 Bernera, in Glenelg, 282, 284, 291, 317, 
 349- 
 
 Biggar, Robert, Edinburgh, 382. 
 Bilbao, 1, 18, 20, 25, 30, 141, 146, 220, 
 
 241. 
 Binhall, 241. 
 
 Binnie (Beany, Bennie), James, of the 
 Jean, 317, 328. 
 
 William, xxiv, 122, 129, 332. 
 
 Birch (Birk) bark, 89, 94. 
 
 rails, 74, 89, 276. 
 
 Black, James, of the Margaret, 215. 
 Black lead, 425. 
 soap, 26. 
 
 Blackburn, John, Glasgow, 197. 
 Robert, 359. 
 
 Blair, James, Edinburgh, 208, 225, 
 
 227, 251, 255, 278, 333, 384. 
 Blervie, 260. 
 
 Bloodvvorth or Bludworth, Bartholo- 
 mew, Hamburg, 1, 25, 27, 30, 34, 36. 
 
 Blund, Geoffrey, burgess of Inverness, 
 viii. 
 
 Bolton, capt., of the Welsh Fusiliers, 
 382. 
 
 Bonnum, Samuel, 203. 
 
 Book of Common Prayer, 208. 
 
 Bordeaux, 1, 13, 15, 18, 19, 146, 190, 
 
 243, 295, 344. 
 Bounty debentures. See Debentures. 
 Bourn, Katherine, London, 193. 
 Bowles, Mr., London, 252. 
 Brack pipe staves, 26, 29. 
 Brackly, 175, 186. 
 Braelangwell. See Urquhart. 
 Brae Moray, 201. 
 
 Brandy, 12, 13,80, 84-5, 103, 105, 143, 
 155-6, 196, 205, 280, 283, 302, 341, 
 347,353-4, 358,364-5,441-2; seized 
 by customs officers, 4, 326, 328. 
 
 Bremner, David, 323. 
 
 Bricks, 114. 
 
 Brodie of Brodie, 237, 244. 
 
 of Lethen, 260. 
 
 John, of t he Marie, 451. 
 
 Lodovick, writer in Edinburgh, 
 
 xii, 380, 416. 
 Brown, David, Edinburgh, 471. 
 
 Thomas, Edinburgh, 47. 
 
 Bruges (Brudges), 21, 25, 102. 
 Brymar, lieut. David, 32. 
 Buckie, laird of, 301. 
 Bugdelen, 80 and n. 
 Burgundy wine, 113, 142, 205. 
 Burdyards, 230, 260, 268. 
 Burn, James, 425. 
 
 Burnet, John, Aberdeen, 1, 90, 259, 
 
 261, 304. 
 Burray. See Stewart, sir James. 
 Burt, Edmund, xlv, xlviii, xlix, liii, 
 
 267, 312-3, 316, 324, 333; his 
 
 Letters from the North of Scotland, 
 
 xxiii. 
 
 Bussed [Bisset?], James, 57. 
 Bute, Agnes, countess of, 212 and n., 
 213. 
 
 James, earl of, 23, 212 and n. 
 
 Butter, 88, 104. 
 Buttons, 101. 
 
 Cabistoar, 391. 
 
 Cadboll. See Macleod, Roderick. 
 Cadogan, general, xlviii, 16 and «. 
 Cailleach stone, Kyleakin, 80. 
 Cairstoun harbour, 243. 
 Caithness, Alexander, earl of, xliv, 
 256-7. 
 
 Calach, Robert, carrier, 469. 
 Calder, captain, 7. 
 
INDEX 
 
 491 
 
 Calder, sir Thomas, of Muirtown, xvi, 
 xliii, 220, 235 and n, 240-1, 258-9, 
 263, 267. 
 
 Calf skins, 425. 
 
 Calico, 63. 
 
 Cambridge, Richard, 127. 
 
 Cameron, Donald, of Lochiel, xlv, lii, 
 296 and n, 299, 305, 311, 313. 
 
 Ewen, bailie of Morven, 292. 
 
 Campbell, Gerrard & Dobson, Stock- 
 holm, !. 
 
 captain, governor of Fort William, 
 
 xlviii, 354, 356, 377-8. 
 
 ofGlenurchy, 133-4. 
 
 of Inerushlachan, 311. 
 
 of Ottomore, 313. 
 
 Colin, of Inveresprachen, 292. 
 
 Lesmore, 292. 
 
 Donald, 297. 
 
 factor to Murray of Stan- 
 hope, 308. 
 
 yr. of Airds, 292, 308, 312, 
 
 313- 
 
 Hugh, 333-4. 
 
 James, 292. 
 
 John, 350. 
 
 Patrick, 306, 318. 
 
 Ranald, 212, 213. 
 
 Campvere, 400, 402-4. 
 Candles, 345. 
 
 Caplakan or Capleagen, 27 and n, 29, 
 46, 52, 64, 81, 120, 137, 191, 272, 381. 
 
 Carmichael, Wm., Edinburgh, 1, 352, 
 383, 390. 
 
 Carnousie. See Gordon, Adam, and 
 
 Arthur. 
 Carr, Janet, 416, 430. 
 Carrie, captain, 371. 
 Carsetown or Kerstown, Orkney, 405. 
 Carstares, Alexander, Rotterdam, 
 
 xxxiv, 179, 180. 
 Castledunie, 206 and n. 
 Castlehill. See Cuthbert. 
 Castle Stuart, xxxviii, xxxix, 87, 202, 
 
 209, 231, 326-7 n, 328. 
 Cat skins, 120. 
 
 Centurion, 443, 445-8 and n, 450. 
 Chalmers, Mr., Leith, 413. 
 
 James, 313, 316 and n, 353. 
 
 William, 423. 
 
 Cheese, 88. 
 
 Cherry wine, 63, 208, 218, 240, 251. 
 
 Chevis, Robert, of Muirtown, xxvii, 
 35°, 396, 433 and n. 
 
 Christian, xii, xix, xxvii, xxviii, 
 xxxviii, 142, 149, 155, 335, 338, 
 341-3, 346, 380, 389, 393, 396, 403-4, 
 407, 409, 415-7, 424; seized by 
 sheriff officers and sold for debt, 
 xxxiii. 
 
 Christiansand, 62, 66, 271. 
 Citron, 265. 
 Clapboards, 29. 
 
 Claret, 97, 98, 172, 205, 223, 282,293, 
 
 302, 347, 364, 424. 
 Clayton (Cleaton, Clyton), colonel, 231, 
 
 240, 242, 252. 
 
 John, 90, 94, 95, 100. 
 
 — of the Unicorn, 75, 76, 81, 
 
 Clerk, Alexander, provost of Inverness, 
 
 14, 16, 21, 56, 61, 65. 
 seaman on the Marjorie, 
 
 134. 
 
 James, 58, 77-8, 483. 
 
 Banff, 41. 
 
 John, 396, 409, 440, 456. 
 
 Club, James. &Co., Bo'ness, 213. 
 Coal, xxi, xxiv-xxv, 10, 314-5, 454. 
 Cockburn, Adam, of Ormistoun, lord 
 
 justice clerk, 41. 
 George, of the Christian, 142, 
 
 143, 149- 
 
 W.S.,151, 153- 
 
 James, London, 382, 384. 
 
 Codfish, xvii, 20, 109 and n, 141, 
 
 187-8, 195, 197, 199, 210, 211, 214, 
 
 235, 241. 
 Coffee beans, 238, 264, 267. 
 Coigach, 332. 
 deals, 325. 
 
 Collins (Collans), Mr., Canongate, 
 312. 
 
 Compton, sir Spenser, 251. 
 Conage, 202, 283. 
 
 Contullich. See Macleod, Roderick. 
 Coopers' tools, 67. 
 Copenhagen, 1. 
 Copper, 121, 145. 
 
 tea kettles, 146. . 
 
 Coral (Correll), 265. 
 Corks, 94. 
 
 Cotton wool, 238, 264. 
 
 yarn, 238, 265. 
 
 Coutts, Dr., Boulogne, 412. 
 
 of Auchtercoul, 1 
 
 Alexander, of Redfield, 1 n. 
 
 & Co., Dantzig, 237, 297, 
 
 300. 
 
 & James, London, xlix, 
 
 317, 320, 337, 341, 346, 351-2, 451. 
 See also Marjoribanks & Coutts. 
 
 Concordia, I 
 
 John, provost of Edinburgh, and 
 
 head of the firm of John Coutts & 
 Co., xix, xlix, 204, 217, 225, 229, 
 238-40, 250, 259, 263, 285, 288, 294, 
 298 and n, 310, 314, 315, 330, 333-4, 
 337, 339, 340, 355, 374-5, 44°, 460. 
 
 provost of Montrose, I n. 
 
492 LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Covesea, Morayshire, xxxv, 258. 
 Cowie, James, 54, 55. 
 Craggy, lands of, 200-3, 206, 209, 211; 
 feu rights, 168, 173, 175. 
 
 laird of. See Macpherson, Alex. 
 
 Crawford, Hugh, Edinburgh, 463. 
 John, 234. 
 
 Patrick or Peter, Edinburgh, 50, 
 
 98, 99, 101, 232. 
 Crichton (Krighton), captain, 474. 
 Crieff cattle market, liii. 
 Cromarty, 119, 157-8. 
 George, earl of, xvii, xviii, xliii, 
 
 liii, 325-6, 329, 376-7, 382-4, 
 Crookshanks, Mr., 152. 
 Crosbie, lieut. -governor of Duart 
 
 castle, 292. 
 Cues, Alex., Crieff, 408. 
 Culbin. See Duff, John. 
 Culchaskie, 200, 201. 
 dimming of Altyre, 260. 
 Alexander, Edinburgh, xlix, 14, 
 
 22. 
 
 George, of the Royal Duke, 474, 
 
 477- 
 
 James, Edinburgh, xlix, 13, 14, 
 
 16, 19, 24, 114, 1 17-8, 147, 156-8, 
 169, 176, 182, 185, 192, 218-9, 231-2, 
 
 234, 240, 242, 249, 255, 310. 
 
 Patrick, Edinburgh, liii, 274, 284, 
 
 287, 359, 370, 456. 
 
 Robert, of Relugas, Hi, 456. 
 
 William, Edinburgh, xlix, 87, 92, 
 
 98-101, 108, in, 1 1 5-8, 126, 137, 
 147, 150-1, 222, 225, 229, 231-3, 
 
 235, 237, 239, 242, 245, 251, 254-7, 
 260-2, 265-6, 278-9, 346, 360, 366, 
 374, 384, 440-1, 462 n. 
 
 Cunningham & Alus, Glasgow, 280. 
 Cuthbert, Dr., 404. 
 Mr., 95. 
 
 of Castlehill, Inverness, 85 and n. 
 
 (Colbert), Alexander, son of 
 
 Castlehill, 459 and n. 
 
 David, 42. 
 
 James, & Co., 12, 13. 
 
 of the Ann, 195, 197-8, 202, 
 
 207. 
 
 John, yr. of Castlehill, xxxiv, 
 
 101. 
 
 Dallas, John, 461, 463. 
 
 Dalmigavie. See M'Intosh, John. 
 
 Dalrachnie. See Grant. 
 
 Daniel, major, 333. 
 
 Dantzic, xxi, 1, 4, 9, 11, 12, 15, 17, 37, 
 
 64-5, 68, 73, 121, 158, 161, 163, 165, 
 
 190, 193, 232, 297. 
 
 waters, 122. 
 
 Davidson, Alex., 407. 
 
 Davidson, John, writer in Edinburgh,. 
 
 141, 189. 
 
 William and John, Rotterdam, 
 
 405, 415- 
 Daviot, 208. 
 Dawson, Mr., 127, 198. 
 William, provost of Forres, 1, 
 
 142, 157, 160, 162. 
 Deas, David, 420. 
 Debentures for bear, 14. 
 
 for beef and pork, 6. 
 
 for candles, 215. 
 
 for corn, xix, 16, 19, 53-4, 62, 99,. 
 
 100. 
 
 for fish, xix, 32, 40, 62, 66, 68, 
 
 83, 101, 147, 152, 167, 237, 239,254, 
 
 343, 395- 
 Delamar, Isaac, 45 and n. 
 Manet, 432, 
 
 Delaune, capt., Fort Augustus, 362-3. 
 Delnies, xl, 186. 
 
 Denune, Alex., minister of Petty, 41 
 
 and n, 117. 
 Derur, major, 332. 
 Desobry & Co., Amsterdam, 33, 36. 
 Dingwall, Donald, 338. 
 Dobson & Campbell, Stockholm, 106-7. 
 Donaldson, John, Elgin, 1, 246, 256* 
 
 262, 366. 
 Donibristle, xli-xiiii, 259, 370. 
 Douglas, George, Fort William, 1, 318, 
 
 322, 352, 356, 363-4, 378. 
 
 (Duglass), John, Aberdeen, 180. 
 
 Drummond, provost, 334. 
 
 William, xlvii, 37. 
 
 Drummuir. See Duff, Alexander. 
 Drynoch. See Macleod, John, and 
 
 Norman. 
 Duart, in Mull, xi. 
 
 castle, 223. 
 
 Dubeese, Mr., 363. 
 
 Duel, Mr., of Cregness, Lesmore, 
 292. 
 
 Duff of Braco, xxvii, 219, 304. 
 
 Alex., of Drummuir, xxvii, 18, 23,. 
 
 31, 40, 43, 47, 56, 63, 65, 72-3, 96, 
 
 183, 220, 225, 245, 420. 
 
 James, Banff, 58, 59, 286, 314. 
 
 John, liii, 241-2, 246. 
 
 of Culbin, 253 and n, 258,. 
 
 266, 333. 
 
 Win., 246. 
 
 Dunbar, bailie, 465. 
 
 of Auldourie, xxvii. 
 
 of Burmadan, in Caithness, 46. 
 
 Alexander, of the Good Success, 
 
 2, 5, 11, 13, 18, 25-8, 34, 3 6 , 45, 9i» 
 
 102, 106, 465 ; loss of his ship, xxxi, 
 
 106-9. 
 Archibald, 31. 
 
INDEX 
 
 493 
 
 Dunbar, George, 21 1. 
 
 James, 65, 152, 211. 
 
 John, 413. 
 
 Philip, lieutenant, 362. 
 
 Dunbeath, 276-7. 
 
 See Sinclair, sir James. 
 
 Duncan, George, 469. 
 Dunkirk, II, 12, 102, 429,442. 
 Dunlugas, 78. 
 Dunmaglass, 231 and n. 
 
 (Dunmackglass). See MacGilli- 
 
 vray, Farquhar. 
 Dunrobin, 421. 
 Dunvegan, 348, 410, 411. 
 
 Eagale, Archibald, 438. 
 Easdale slate. See Slate. 
 Eating oil, xxii, 164, 303. 
 Edringtown (Eglinton, Elringtown), 
 
 capt., 291, 296-7, 311, 325. 
 Edwards, capt., 300. 
 Eileanreach, in Glenelg, 222. 
 Elphinston, Alex., Cromarty, 158, 
 
 159- 
 
 English. See Inglis. 
 Erskine, Alex., 21. 
 
 Faichnie, John, London, 390. 
 
 Joseph, London, xxxi, xlix, 84, 87, 
 
 114, 152, 164, 169, 177, 229, 388. 
 Faillie, 231 and n. 
 
 See MacBain, Donald. 
 
 Fairholme, Thomas, 52. 
 Fair Trader, 241. 
 Falconer, Alexander, 61. 
 David, 474. 
 
 (Fawlcner), George, Edinburgh, 
 
 xlix, 56, 72, 98, 129, 138, 141, 151, 
 176, 180, 204, 210. 
 
 Fall, Charles and James, Dunbar, xlix, 
 161. 
 
 Farquhar, col., 212. 
 
 Farquharson, Anne, wife of Mackin- 
 tosh of Mackintosh, 425 and n. 
 
 Charles, 16. 
 
 Farskane. See Gordon, William. 
 
 Ferintosh distillery, 372. 
 
 Feriovens, Sutherland, no and n. 
 
 Ferme meal, 253 and ;z, 255. 
 
 Ferrie or Ferray, Jacob, Havre-de- 
 Grace, 1, 227, 236, 395. 
 
 Feurry, Perrigreen, 233, 
 
 Figs, 179. 
 
 Findhorn, 193, 195, 210, 218, 235. 
 Findlater, James, earl of, xv, 41, 42, 
 
 43, 57-9, 73, 75, 77, 204, 372. 
 Finlay, James, of Portsoy, 374, 384. 
 
 John, 231. 
 
 Fir planks, 189. 
 
 Fish debentures. See Debentures. 
 
 Flanders lint, 21. 
 
 Flax, 11, 26, 59, 121, 143, 161, 241, 
 274. 
 
 Fhchity, 189, 200, 231 and n. 
 
 Flintstones, 12. 
 
 Florence chiante wine, 164. 
 
 oil, 114, 164, 236, 301. 
 
 Forbes & Ogilvie, 169. 
 
 bailie, xxxii, 169, 170. 
 
 Alex., jr., London, 229, 232, 236, 
 
 246-7. 
 David, 218. 
 
 Duncan, of Culloden, lord presi- 
 dent of the court of session, xxxiv, 
 xliv, lii, 35, 112 n, 126, 365, 424. 
 
 John, of Culloden, xxxiii, xliv, 
 
 lii, 112 and n, 148, 182, 192, 218, 
 298, 316, 332, 365, 372, 424- 
 
 writer in Edinburgh, 126, 
 
 311, 313. 
 
 Peter, 243, 283. 
 
 William, writer in Edinburgh, 
 
 423, 436-7. 
 Forres presbytery, 260. 
 Fort Augustus, xi, 316. 
 Fort William, xi, xii, 42, 74, 311, 317, 
 
 323, 338, 377-8, 382. 
 Fowler, Murdoch, 463. 
 Fox skins, 120, 121. 
 Franks, Wm., paymaster of col. Kirk's 
 
 regiment, 203. 
 Fraser, in Logie Wester, 82. 
 
 of Culduthell, 316 n. 
 
 of Fairfield, xxvii. 
 
 ofLovat, 182, 183. 
 
 Alex., xxiv, 141, 455. 
 
 bishop of Caithness, 414, 415. 
 
 Anne, wife of lord Woodhouselee, 
 
 469 n. 
 
 Daniel or Donald, of the Marjorie, 
 
 xxvii, 120, 121 ; drowned, xxxi, 
 130-3. 
 
 Hector, London, 477. 
 
 Hugh, 451, 456, 461, 466, 468, 
 
 480. 
 
 James, of Relick, 460, 462-3, 465. 
 
 of Castle Leather, liii. 
 
 son of Fraser of Relick, 438. 
 
 major, 350 and n. 
 
 John, 129, 164, 278. 
 
 writer in Edinburgh, 433, 
 
 440, 450, 456. 
 Michael, minister of Daviot, 31, 
 
 189, 231. 
 
 William, 63, 65, 72-5, 122, 129, 
 
 141, 152, 203, 213-4, 227, 230-2, 
 
 245, 297, 317, 334, 433- 
 
 brother of Dunballoch, 245. 
 
 of Balnain, W.S., li, 185, 
 
 432, 469 and n, 472. 
 
494 LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Fraserburgh, 72, 195, 320, 324. 
 Freight, 27, 28, 79, 91, 100, 120, 129, 
 159, I9i, 197, 214, 256, 272, 318-9, 
 
 330, 388. 
 Freswick. See Sinclair. 
 Frezier's Description of Chili and Peru, 
 
 425- 
 
 Frigg, John, Findhorn, 241, 277. 
 
 Gairloch, xvii, 5, 20, 42, 44? 71, 7 2 , 
 75, 77, 186-7, 210, 211 214, 216, 
 354- 
 
 laird of. See Mackenzie, sir 
 
 Alexander. 
 Gask, 200. 
 
 Geddes, Archibald, 10, 118, 4S0. 
 
 Gerard, Campbell & Dobson, Stock- 
 holm, 91, 109. 
 
 Robert, Rotterdam, 1, 6, 8, 9, 17. 
 
 Gess, capt., 177. 
 
 Gibson, Alex., 172. 
 
 John, xxiv, 187, 188. 
 
 Gilchrist, Mr., 260. 
 
 Gilders, 5 n, 6, 8, 20, 25, 29, 30. 
 
 Gillies, John, of the William and 
 James, 33, 34, 36. 
 
 Gilmar, James, postman, 467. 
 
 Glass, 443. 
 
 James, 196, 290, 392. 
 
 Glastulich, 180. 
 
 Glenelg, 222-4, 256, 307, 320-1, 325, 
 381. 
 
 lead mine, xi, xxi, 414-5, 424. 
 
 Glengarry. See Macdonald. 
 Gloucester, man-of-war, 447. 
 Godfrey & Hudson, Leghorn, I, 262, 
 264. 
 
 Gollan, James, Barbadoes, 462. 
 
 John, Petty, 462. 
 
 Good Fortune, xxviii, 13, 15, 54, 105. 
 Good Success, xxviii, xxix, 3, 11-13, 25, 
 
 27, 30, 45, 52 ; wrecked off the coast 
 
 of Sweden, xxxi, 106-7, 109. 
 Gordon, bailie, Ellon, 220, 235, 397. 
 
 yr. , of Glenbucket, lii, 261. 
 
 Adam, of Carnousie, 224, 253. 
 
 ■ Lindsay, 50 n. 
 
 Alexander, 87, 246. 
 
 duke of, xliii, 200, 309. 
 
 of Ardoch, 225. 
 
 and Co., Bordeaux, 343-4, 
 
 41 1-2, 423, 427, 429. 
 London, 441, 442, 444, 450, 
 
 452, 457- 
 
 St. Martins, France, xxxv, 
 
 i, 50 », 84, 258, 276. 
 
 Arthur, of Carnousie, 221. 
 
 Charles, Edinburgh, 31, 32, 35, 
 
 50 and n, 51, 53, 99, 100, 184-5, 
 
 237, 412. 
 
 Gordon, David, 471. 
 
 G., 114. 
 
 George, W.S., 212. 
 
 Huntly, 56 n. 
 
 Gilbert, 20, 112, 309, 480. 
 
 Harry Panmure, 56 //. 
 
 Henrietta, duchess of, 259. 
 
 James, 34. 
 
 John, of Braes, 262. 
 
 — — Rotterdam, 1, 90, 152, 155,. 
 
 173-4, 182, 185, 203. 
 
 Lodwick, xxvii, 235, 241. 
 
 Patrick, of Hallhead, 50 n. 
 
 Pryce Lockhart, 56. 
 
 Robert, Bordeaux, xvi, xxxv, 1, 
 
 13, 15, 18, 19, 31, 40, 43, 50 and n, 
 51, 56, 68, 84, 96-100, 102, 105, 
 119, 146, 172, 177, 195, 225, 227, 
 241, 244, 246, 258, 294, 302, 339. 
 
 Cromarty, 470. 
 
 major Thomas, Glenelg, xlviii, 
 
 193. . 
 
 William, of Farskane, 1, 42, 56 
 
 and »-59, 73. 
 Gottenburg, 1, 72, 271-2. 
 Gotz, Gotlieb, 1 
 
 Grahame, Henry, Stromness, 1, 46, 
 194. 
 
 Grangehill, 86, 241. 
 
 Grant of Dalrachnie, 252, 291. 
 
 Alex., 34, 35. 
 
 of Grant, brigadier, xlv, 117 
 
 and 11. 
 
 of Shewglie, liii, 292 and n. 
 
 Duncan, 340, 344 n, 346 n, 360. 
 
 Francis, Dantzic, 1, 274. 
 
 James, 229, 235, 238. 
 
 sir James, of Grant, xlv, 16, 252 
 
 n, 291, 306, 344 n, 432. 
 John, factor, Glen Urquhart, 291, 
 
 306. 
 
 seaman on the Marjorie, 
 
 134. 
 
 col. Lewis, 252 and n. 
 
 William, of Ballindalloch, xlv, lii, 
 
 14 and n, 290, 309. 
 Gray, John, of Rogart, 433. 
 
 Patrick, 324. 
 
 Robert, 322, 327, 328. 
 
 Gregory, David, Campvere, 409. 
 Thomas, 73. 
 
 Greig, Charles, shipmaster, Fort 
 William, 378. 
 
 David, Dundee, 391. 
 
 of the Agnes, 379. 
 
 Thomas, of the Good Fortune, 13, 
 
 69; aftw. of the Alexander; Ids 
 ship taken by a Swedish privateer, 
 xxx, 59, 61-3, 72; his ship released 
 by Swedes, but seized by a Danish 
 
 l 
 
INDEX 
 
 495 
 
 man-of-war, 64-5 ; obtains possession I 
 
 of ship and cargo, 67-8. 
 Grove, brigadier, 22S-9. 
 Gruinard, 342. 
 
 laird of. See Mackenzie. 
 
 Guest, col. Joseph, governor of Inver- 
 ness, xxxviii, xlviii, xlix, 250, 252, 
 286, 308, 312, 313, 338, 349, 35 2 - 
 
 Haldane, John, 355. 
 Haldon, collector at Prestonpans, 16. 
 Haliburton, Margaret, wife of sir 
 
 George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, 
 
 212 71. 
 
 Hamar, in Glendale, 234 n. 
 Hamburg, 1, 3, 21, 25, 33, 36, 43, 
 
 238, 240. 
 - — — linen, 26. 
 
 Hamilton, Hugh and Archd., Edin- 
 burgh, xlix, 115, 116, 118. 
 
 Harden of Lendrick, 372. 
 
 Harper, Mr., 301. 
 
 William, Fochabers, 261. 
 
 Havre de Grace, 1, 30, 36, 37, 102, 
 190, 194, 196, 200, 205, 294. 
 
 Hay of Balbithan, 289. 
 
 Alexander, 87, 90-92. 
 
 James, episcopalian minister in 
 
 Inverness, lvii. 
 
 of the Margaret, 300, 302, 
 
 303, 314, 323. 
 
 John, 87. 
 
 Patrick, of the James, 163. 
 
 Helen, xxvii, xxviii, 5, 11, 13, 15, 29, 
 
 30, 144-5, 191, 193,205, 214, 262-3, 
 
 275- 
 
 Helen and Margaret, 441, 442 ; seized 
 
 by the customs officials, 487. 
 Helmsdale, 179. 
 Hemp, 161. 
 
 Hencaupt, capt., of the Norfolk, 462. 
 
 Henderson, Andrew, Edinburgh, xlix, 
 10, 151-2, 159, 162, 165, 167-8, 174, 
 189-90, 195, 204, 206, 213, 215. 
 
 John, 86. 
 
 Hepburn, Robert, writer, 162. 
 
 Herdman, capt. Mungo, xlix, 228, 233, 
 242, 252, 254. 
 
 Patrick, vintner, 242, 254. 
 
 Herring, xvii-xxi, 5, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 
 34, 3 6 > 52, 73, 91, 158-9, 210, 242, 
 267, 287, 294, 297-8, 374, 376-7. 
 
 Higens, Benjamin, of the Hopewell, 
 
 Highland lairds in the fish trade, xvii. 
 Hogg, William, jr., Edinburgh, 404. 
 Holland linen, 67, 105. 
 Hoom, Da. , 129. 
 Hoops. See Barrel hoops. 
 Hope, lix, 399, 404-6. 
 
 I Hopewell, 176, 315. 
 Hopfer & Bachmer, 75. 
 Hops, 195, 208, 223, 228, 233. 
 Hopson, Mr., supervisor of excise, 
 
 xxxviii, 326-7, 329. 
 Hossack, John, & Co., xxvii, 234, 288, 
 
 375, 397- 
 Houston, James, 254. 
 Hunter, Mr., 58, 95. 
 
 Inchcoulter, laird of, 212 and n. 
 Indigo, 70, 105, 143. 
 Indrew. See Andrew. 
 Inglis (English), Hugh, of Kingsmills, 
 capt. of the Pledger, 397, 410, 425, 
 441, 474- 
 
 John, of the John, 232. 
 
 Innes, Alex., 114, 124, 138. 
 
 sir Henry, of Innes, xliii, 226, 
 
 227. 
 
 James, 311, 317-320, 322, 327, 
 
 331. 
 
 John, writer in Edinburgh, xlix, 
 
 14, 55-6, 61, 68, 91, 106-110, 114- 
 115, 235, 432. 
 Insurances, xxix, 2, 11, 13, 15, 17, 25, 
 30, 60, 62, 63, 66, 68, 76, 77, 97, 
 101, 106, 107, in, 121-2, 131, 160-1, 
 164-5, I7i, 176, 193, 203, 220, 
 244, 247, 249, 263, 271, 300, 317, 
 320-1, 346, 396, 404, 418, 445-447- 
 Inverchasley. See Ross, David. 
 Inverkeithing table cloths, 450. 
 Inverlochy, xi, 42, 45, 59, 304, 327, 
 
 329, 346, 411. 
 Inverness, early history of, vii-ix, 
 xxiii-xxiv ; shipbuilding, xxv-xxvii ; 
 its mercantile prosperity, xxvii. 
 Ipecacuanha (Hypococoano), 264. 
 Irish oatmeal, xv, 70, 76, 345, 372-3. 
 Iron, xiii, II, 17, 26, 29, 52, 73, 104, 
 121, 163-4, 166-7, 171, 176, 184, 
 219, 223, 261, 278. 
 Isobella, 317. 
 
 Jack, Donald, postman, 465. 
 Jackson & Bradley, Amsterdam, 1, I, 
 4' 7- 
 
 Jacobite prisoners in Edinburgh castle, 
 1, 23 ; contributions for Jacobite 
 prisoners in Carlisle, 1, 35, 37. 
 Jamaica, 1. 
 James, 163. 
 James and Ann, 241. 
 Jamieson, Robert, episcopal minister 
 in Inverness, lvii, 422. 
 
 Thomas, of the Helen, 11, 12, 
 
 14, 15, 26, 29, 30, 61. 
 Janet, xxvii, xxviii, 1 1 3. 
 Janet Dunbar) xxviii, xxxi, 32, 106. 
 
496 LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Jarvie, James, of the Agnes, 41, 44, 
 45- 
 
 Jean, 48, 316-7. 
 
 Jesse (Gesse), John, London, 130. 
 capt. William, 112, 122-3, I2 5> 
 
 127, 130, 151, 157, 160. 
 Jockie big coat, 101. 
 John, xxvii, xxx, 6, 8, 15, 17, 90, 232. 
 Johnes, major William, 92. 
 Johnston, capt. Alex., paymaster of 
 
 the Welsh Fusileers, 382. 
 Jollie, Mr., 83. 
 
 Joseph, of Pittenweem, xxviii, 84. 
 
 /Catherine, of Leith, xxviii, xxxv, 247, 
 
 258, 271-2. 
 Kay, Thomas, Ostend, 409. 
 Keith, Alex., 314, 414. 
 Kennedie, David, paymaster of Grant's 
 
 regiment, xlviii, 16. 
 Kerr, Edward, 47. 
 
 Thomas, seedsman, 248. 
 
 Kilchumein. See Fort Augustus. 
 Kinchardine, barons of, ix. 
 Kinloch Moidart, 307. 
 (Kain Loch Muidart), lady. 
 
 See Macdonald, Margaret. 
 Kinmundy, lady, 124, 128. 
 Kinmylies, 10 n. 
 
 See Poison, John. 
 
 Kinnaird, James, 213, 405, 423. 
 Kirkwall, 424. 
 Knap wood, 5, II, 73. 
 Knowles, Francis, 464. 
 Knox, Alex. Arbuthnot, 53. 
 Konigsberg, 158. 
 Kurcholm, Thomas, 87. 
 Kyle of Shuna, 358. 
 Kyllachy. See Mackintosh. 
 Kylskow, in Strathnaver, 283. 
 
 Lace, nr. 
 
 Lagon [? Logan], William, 58. 
 
 Laing, John, Cromarty, 55, 61. 
 
 Lamb, 315. 
 
 Lamb skins, 120, 121. 
 
 Lark, xxviii, 237. 
 
 La Rochelle, 9. 
 
 Lead mine in Glenelg, 414-5, 424 ; 
 
 at Suinart, 297 n, 308, 312, 313. 
 Leather, 195. 
 
 Lee or Lie, col., xlviii, xlix, 282, 286, 
 338, 349- 
 
 Leghorn, 1, 28, 48, 163, 197-9, 202-3, 
 
 237, 241, 262-4. 
 Leighton (Lighton), James, of the Jean, 
 
 316. 
 
 ]ohn, Kinghorn, 314. 
 
 Lemlair. See Munro. 
 
 Lemons, i79> 2 ° 2 > 3 o6 » 3°9> 3 6 4> 3 66 - 
 
 Leslie, James, clerk to lord Newhall, 
 279. 
 
 John, 426. 
 
 Wm. , 390. 
 
 Leynand, Mr., 215. 
 
 Lindsay, capt., of the Pelham, 474. 
 
 (Linsay), Thomas, Cromarty, 
 
 197. 
 
 Linen, 274, 450. 
 Ling, 211. 
 Linn, Mr., 344. 
 Lint, 21. 
 
 hackle, 63 and n. 
 
 Lintseed, 55. 
 
 oil, 155. 
 
 Lisbon salt, 154, 179, 194. 
 Livorno. See Leghorn. 
 Lochaline, 350. 
 
 Loch Brackadale, 320, 321, 325, 350. 
 
 Broom, xx, 341-3, 380, 393-4. 
 
 Duich, 396. 
 
 Dunvegan, 222 n. 
 
 Lochend or Inverewe, 81 n. 
 Loch Ewe, 342-3, 374. 
 
 Fallord, 222 and n, 224, 256. 
 
 Gruinard, 323. 
 
 Lochinver, xvii, 282-3, 2 &7, 3 00 ? 34 2 "3> 
 374- 
 
 Lochkinard, 377. 
 Loch Moidart, 323-4. 
 
 Ness, xlix, 316, 318. 
 
 Lochscalpay, 71. 
 
 Logie Wester, Ross-shire, 82 and n. 
 Long, col., liii, 267. 
 Lonie, David, 120. 
 
 Lorimer, William, the earl of Find- 
 later's chamberlain, 74, 114. 
 
 Lovat, lady, death of, 334. 
 
 Simon, lord, x, xxviii, xxxviii, 
 
 xliii, li, 185, 192, 206, 220,230,250, 
 259, 267, 285, 305-6, 308, 334, 352-3, 
 383, 390, 429, 432, 472, 482. 
 
 Lucca oil, 265. 
 
 Lumsdale, Mr., 316, 327, 332. 
 Lyon (Layon), Alex., cooper, xx, 343, 
 393. 
 
 John, 474, 477. 
 
 Macaulay, Zachary, Stornoway, 
 xvii, 1, 118 and n, 188, 343, 376. 
 
 MacBain, Donald, of Faily, 189, 200, 
 201, 421. 
 
 Gillis, 153. 
 
 John, in Altnaskiach, 168, 173, 
 
 175. 
 
 messenger, 350-1. 
 
 M'Culloch, Charles, gunsmith, 440, 
 456. 
 
 Cristian, 21. 
 
 David, of Glastulich, 252. 
 
INDEX 
 
 497 
 
 M'Culloch, Roderick, 484. 
 
 William, barrackmaster a4 Fort 
 
 Augustus, Hi, 457, 460-2, 464. 
 M 'Donald, messenger in Glencoe, 290. 
 
 of Clanranald, 348. 
 
 ^Eneas or Angus, ofScotus, 192-3, 
 
 235, 237, 261, 287, 311, 324, 331-2, 
 
 361-2, 385, 387. 
 Alexander, of Glengarry, xliv, 
 
 192 and 11. 
 yr. of Glengarry, xliv, 482 
 
 and 11. 
 
 of Kingsburgh, xii, xliv, 
 
 416-7. 
 
 ■ of Knockow, 348. 
 
 sir Alexander, of Sleat, xii, xxi, 
 
 xliv, 365, 396, 414, 416-7. 
 
 Allan, son of Kingsburgh, xliv. 
 
 Coll, of Barisdale, xliv, 388. 
 
 Donald, 348. 
 
 ■ captain, 482. 
 
 of Kinloch Moidart, xi, xliv, 
 
 liii, 290 and n, 307, 321, 324. 
 
 > of Scotus, xliv, Hi, 379, 388. 
 
 Mackay. See Mackay. 
 
 sir Donald, of Sleat, xv, 70 and n. 
 
 of Sleat [son], 79 and n, 80. 
 
 Hugh, student, 170. 
 
 John, of Glengarry, Hi, 287, 311, 
 
 3 2 4, 33*> 36o-2, 366. 
 
 in Holland, 1. 
 
 postman, 302. 
 
 Margaret, lady Kinloch Moidart, 
 
 xi, 78 and ». 
 Ronald, of Kinloch Moidart, xi, 
 
 78 », 347- 
 
 Sween, soldier, 293. 
 
 Wm.. tutor of Macdonald, 222. 
 
 M'Dougall, Wm., & Co., Fort 
 
 William, 1, 371, 378, 384-5. 
 M'Dowall, Patrick, W.S., 192. 
 M'Farlane & M 'Carroll, Glasgow, 1, 
 
 192. 
 
 Andrew, 229, 261, 310, 366, 369, 
 
 408, 416, 450. 
 M'Gillewe, John, burgess of Inverness, 
 
 viii. 
 
 M'Gillivray, Alex., drover and farmer 
 
 in Petty, 386, 420, 470. 
 Farquhar, of Dunmaglass, 35, 38, 
 
 39, 40, 50, 53, 119, 189, 268-9, 
 
 421. 
 
 John, 35, 38, 39, 206, 404. 
 
 William, xii, 461. 
 
 M'Hattie or Mackattie, Patrick, Lon- 
 don, xlix, 397-8, 402, 404-5, 409, 
 424. 
 
 M'Hendrik, John, 265. 
 M'Intosh of Holme, 472. 
 of Kyllachy, Hi, 209, 333. 
 
 M'Intosh, laird of, li, 21, 411, 416. 
 ofTermit, 14 and 16, 20, 31, 
 
 49> 55> 85, II0 > "8, 149, 265, 420, 
 
 432. 
 
 Alex, 1, 2, 4, 25, 52, 167. 
 
 of Kyllachy, xlix, Hi, 8, 391, 
 
 463, 475- 
 
 son of Mackintosh of Holme, 
 
 85 and n. 
 
 Termit, 129. 
 
 Angus, 122, 153, 167, 208, 375. 
 
 of Kyllachy, Hi. 
 
 of Mackintosh, xliv ; his 
 
 marriage with Anne Farquharson, 
 
 425 and n. 
 Charles, London, xlix, 473, 480, 
 
 483. 
 
 Duncan, 209. 
 
 drover, 229, 298. 
 
 in Elrig, 19, 22, 23, 32, 34, 
 
 35, 209, 211. 
 
 of Essich, 387. 
 
 vintner, 234. 
 
 James, 5, 7. 
 
 John, 474, 480. 
 
 of Dalmigavie, 475. 
 
 tutor of Piltown, 21. 
 
 Joseph, 235, 241. 
 
 Lachlan, 120, 129, 131, 133, 135, 
 
 140, 145, 182, 339, 375, 392. 
 
 of Daviot, 411. 
 
 of Kyllachy, 211, 212. 
 
 of Mackintosh, 209. 
 
 Malcolm, 316, 317. 
 
 Robert, in Cullblair, 211. 
 
 Wm., 20, 24, 25, 29, 33, 122, 
 
 137, 253, 287, 352, 410, 427, 471 ; 
 
 his death, 480. 
 
 Lynwilg, 466. 
 
 of Aberarder, 182, 212. 
 
 of Borlum, brigadier, xliv, 
 
 Hi, 412 and n. 
 of Mackintosh. 411,416; his 
 
 death, 424 and n. 
 M'Intyre (Mackinteere), Donald, Fort 
 
 William, xiii, xxxviii, 224, 236, 279, 
 
 282, 297, 346, 348, 350-I, 354, 356-7, 
 
 365- 
 
 M'lver (Mackivar), Peter, periwig- 
 maker, London. 1, lv, 412. 
 
 Mackay (Mackie, Macky), Mr., tavern 
 keeper, Barbadoes, 1, 462. 
 
 Daniel or Donald, xlix, I, 263, 
 
 271-2, 298. 
 
 Hugh, of Scourie, 183, 251 and 
 
 James, shipmaster in Elphiston, 
 
 166. 
 
 Portsoy, 366. 
 
 John, 7, 27, 91, 253. 
 
 cooper, 278. 
 
 I 
 
498 LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Mackay, John, of the Marjorie, xxvii, 
 54, 63, 67, 70, 105. 
 
 of Achmonie, ix 1 n. 
 
 Murdoch, messenger, 436. 
 
 Robert, Rotterdam, 1, 249, 272, 
 
 294, 339, 340. 
 William, bailie and merchant in 
 
 Inverness, xvi, xxxv, 84-85, 13 1-5. 
 
 137, 145, 155, 237-8, 250, 258 and 
 300, 340. 
 
 jr., 185. 
 
 M'Kenzie, lieut., 224. 
 
 Mrs., of Assynt, xvii-xviii, 281, 
 
 286, 341, 343. 
 
 of Allangrange, 23. 
 
 of Gruinard, 243, 392. 
 
 of Sand, 336, 343. 
 
 Alexander, Dingwall 
 
 61, 234, 246. 
 
 1, 41, 56, 
 
 col. 
 
 242-3. 
 
 ■ ■ of Ardloch, 228. 
 
 ■ yr. of Coul, xx, 380, 393-4. 
 
 ■ sir Alexander, of Gairloch, 81 and 
 
 n, 187, 217. 
 
 Colin, Dingwall, 1, 91. 
 
 of Killdin, 245. 
 
 sir Colin, of Coul, xvii, 333. 
 
 • Donald, 403. 
 
 ■ of the Christian, xii, 415- 
 
 418. 
 
 > Duncan, 394. 
 
 George, brother of Gairloch, 281, 
 
 283. 
 
 of Rosehaugh, son of sir 
 
 George, 212 and n. 
 of Tarbat. See Cromarty, 
 
 George, earl of. 
 
 ■ sir George, of Rosehaugh, 430. 
 
 James, 200, 204, 231. 
 
 minister of Pettie, 167, 168, 
 
 173- 
 
 John, 44, 100. 
 
 Gairloch, 186. 
 
 of Avoch, 212-3. 
 
 of the Cabistoar, 391. 
 
 ■ of the Margaret, III, 1 13-4. 
 
 tutor to, and uncle of Mac- 
 kenzie of Gairloch, 81 and n, 82, 94- 
 95, 98, 183, 187, 221. 
 
 Kenneth, 6, 27,43, 62, 67, 144-5, 
 
 221, 254, 350, 358, 405-7, 43 r - 
 
 jr., 343-4 346 n. 
 
 of Assynt, 333. 
 
 of Dundonell, 336. 
 
 sir Kenneth, of Cromarty, 184. 
 
 of Scatwell, 128, 266, 278. 
 
 Murdoch, 94. 
 
 ■ Roderick, of Achavanie, 408. 
 
 sir Roderick, lord Prestonhall, 
 
 212 and n. 
 
 395, 4io, 
 
 400, 
 
 M'Kenzie, sir Roderick, of Scatwell, 
 
 Simon, 333, 375, 392. 
 
 in Gairloch, 354, 357. 
 
 son of Gruinard, 351. 
 
 William, 278. 
 
 of Bellmaduthie, 274. 
 
 of Shillack, 44. 
 
 Mackilican, George, apothecarie, 2, 
 5, 7- 
 
 Mackinnon, Charles, of Scalpay, 79, 
 
 80, 92, 103. 
 John, of that ilk, li 
 
 423- 4, 429, 430, 434. 
 yr. of that ilk, 392, 
 
 434-7 ; his death, 403-4. 
 
 of Mishish, 410. 
 
 of Scalpay, 430. 
 
 Malcolm, drover, 310, 366. 
 
 M'Lean & Co., Maryburgh, 1, 269. 
 Alex., 147. 
 
 Charles, town-clerk of Inverness, 
 
 207. 
 
 Donald, Mull, 292. 
 
 sir Hector, 441-2. 
 
 John, London, xlix, 397, 417, 
 
 424- 5, 431-2, 439, 442-3- 
 
 Lachlan, Glasgow, 423. 
 
 of Kingerloch, 292. 
 
 Malcolm, Maryburgh, 384-5. 
 
 ■ William, London, 470-1, 477, 
 
 479- 
 
 M'Leish (Macklish), John, 50. 
 Maclennan, Evan, 88, 89. 
 
 John, in Glenelg, 88-89, 103. 
 
 M'Leod, Mrs., of Assynt, 374-5. 
 
 Alexander, 182, 296, 408. 
 
 advocate, 54, 88. 
 
 seaman, 417. 
 
 son of Norman Macleod of 
 
 Drynoch, 93, 261, 307, 314, 348, 
 
 437-8. 
 
 student in Aberdeen, 70, 75. 
 
 Ann, dau. of Norman Macleod of 
 
 Drynoch and 2nd wife of bailie 
 
 Steuart, x, 70 u, 299. 
 Donald, 88, 103-4, 170, 205, 296, 
 
 348. 
 
 capt., xxviii, 181. 
 
 of Ballamenach, 222, 234, 
 
 236, 261, 331, 337, 340. 
 
 of Epost, 67. 
 
 of Tallscar (Talisker), 261. 
 
 student in Aberdeen, 70, 75. 
 
 George, 183, 390. 
 
 — — Bordeaux, 409. 
 
 son of Cadboll, 420. 
 
 Janet, 299. 
 
 John, i, 54, 155, 216, 311, 
 
 410-11, 435-6. 
 
INDEX 
 
 499 
 
 M "Leodjohn, in Walls, factor for capt. 
 Mudie, 160, 216-7, 22 5, 2 56. 
 
 of Achnacarie, 392. 
 
 of Bay, 451. 
 
 of Muiravonside, advocate, 
 
 1, 88 and 11, 112, 126, 128, 139, 
 141, 151, 176, 182, 185-6, 206, 222 
 
 fly 360. 
 
 nephew of Macleod of Dry- 
 
 noch, 331. 
 
 son of Macleod of Drynoch, 
 
 xxviii, xxxv, 79 and ;/, 94, 160-1, 
 163, 165, 167, 170-1, 174-6, 217, 
 258 », 296, 324-5, 331, 353-4, 364, 
 399, 403, 426, 428, 470. 
 
 Bayne, 367, 373. 
 
 Beck, 373. 
 
 Malcolm, of Raasay, 261. 
 
 Marion, 88. 
 
 Norman, of Drynoch, liii, 70 and 
 
 n, 88, 92-3, 103, 181, 184, 192-3 
 and n, 206-7, 222-4, 22 8, 235-6, 
 260-1, 279, 281, 287, 291, 296, 299, 
 305, 310, 313, 324, 329, 331, 337, 
 348, 357, 361- 2 , 366-9, 381, 385-7, 
 408, 416. 
 
 of Macleod, his monument 
 
 in Inverness, 112 and n, 126, 128, 
 139, 176. 
 
 of Macleod [son], x, xii, xliv, 
 
 70 u, 88 and n., 181, 184, 229, 257, 
 266, 285, 296, 299, 300, 369, 396, 414, 
 420, 431, 434, 437-441, 444; tutor 
 of, 54, 67, 70 and u. 
 
 schoolmaster in Glenelg, 
 
 386. 
 
 Roderick, Glasgow, 1, 373. 
 
 of Cadboll, 93, 252, 432, 
 
 47 2 - 
 
 of Contulich, 127, 222 and 
 
 n, 224, 234-5, 296, 299. 
 
 of Oishnish, 261. 
 
 of Ulanish, 79, 80, 92, 181, 
 
 184, 222, 234, 250, 254, 277, 331, 
 
 337. 
 
 W.S., Edinburgh, 1, 284, 
 
 326, 360, 386, 391, 396, 411, 414, 
 416, 429, 431, 437, 440, 450, 481. 
 
 William, 340. 
 
 of Ebost, 222, 234, 331, 
 
 340, 348, 366, 385-7. 
 of Hamar, liii, 234 and n, 
 
 236. 
 
 M'Neill (M'Kneele), collector of cus- 
 toms at Fort William, xxxvii, 350-2, 
 
 356-7- 
 M'Phail, Angus, 205. 
 Paul, 14, 16. 
 
 Macpherson, Alexander, of Craggie, 
 32, 38, 168, 172-3, 175, 199-201, 206. I 
 
 Macpherson, Donald, xxvii, 353, 355, 
 
 358. 
 
 James, 37. 
 
 John, cooper, 341-3. 
 
 ensign, 323. 
 
 M 'Queen, Donald, of Coribroudi, 
 
 182. b 
 Macrae, John, 181. 
 Madder, 154-5, 162. 
 Malcolm, Robert, Edinburgh, 153. 
 Malt, 270-1. 
 
 Malue, Donald, drover, 94. 
 
 Margaret, xxvii-xxx, 1, 4, 11, 12, 
 15, 17, 21, 25, 27, 30, 52, 62, 66, 
 73, in, 114, 121, 143, 160, 163, 
 165, 175, 186-7, 190, 193, 196, 208, 
 215-6, 220, 242, 300, 302, 323, 348 ; 
 wrecked off Montrose, xxxii, 247. 
 
 Marie, 451. 
 
 Marjoribanks, Andrew (partner of 
 Coutts & Coutts), Dantzic, 1, 2, 5, 
 6, 8, 9, 11, 15, 29, 30, 56, 64, 72, 
 120-1, 129, 143, 160, 190-1. 
 
 Marjorie, xxvii, xxviii, 54, 84, 105, 
 120, 122, 127, 136, 138, 140, 144, 
 149, 154, I55j 160; her captain 
 drowned, xxxi, 130-33, 135. 
 
 Marquwan, Joseph de, 24. 
 
 Marshall, Thomas, Dantzig, 1 n. 
 
 Martin, William, 207. 
 
 Maryburgh (Mairy Brought), 269, 306, 
 320, 327-8, 356, 358, 371. 
 
 Marymas market. 331 n. 
 
 Maule, James, factor to the earl of 
 Moray at Donibristle, xli, 259, 359, 
 368-9, 387. 
 
 Meason, Messon, or Merson, lieut., 
 
 287, 305, 307, .3 2 4- 
 
 Magnus, Kirkwall, 1, 243. 
 
 Mediterranean passes, 2, 5. 
 Menzies, lieut., 454. 
 
 Mrs., xlvi, 454. 
 
 Neil, doctor in Inverness, 454, 
 
 478. 
 
 Middleton, 1 63-4. 
 
 Middleton, Robert, of the Middleton, 
 
 163, 198. 
 Miller, Charles, Glasgow, 1, 189. 
 
 David, seaman, 417. 
 
 Robert, Glasgow, 194. 
 
 Miln, tidewaiter, whipped by the 
 
 hangman, 215 and n. 
 Mingrie castle, 323. 
 Minorca, 2, 5. 
 
 Mitchelson (Muchelson), James, jewel- 
 ler in Edinburgh, 38, 53, 69. 
 
 Mollison, collector, 295. 
 
 Monro. See Munro. 
 
 Montgomerie, Mould & Fenick, Stock- 
 holm, 1, 250. 
 
500 LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Moodie (Mudie), capt., 217. 
 
 James, of Melsester, murder of, 
 
 160 and n, 415 n. 
 Moorish pirates in British waters, 
 
 xxix. 
 
 Moray (Murray), countess of, 93, 153. 
 
 Charles, earl of, xvi, xxxix-xl, 3, 
 
 4, 14, 17, 19, 31, 32, 34, 35, 38, 49, 
 60, 69, 85, 86, 93, 95, 102, 107, 
 113, 117, 119, 124, 128, 138, 141, 
 147, 168, 170, 172, 174, 178, 185, 
 200-3, 206, 208, 211, 214, 225, 230, 
 231-2, 234, 238, 255, 258-9, 260, 
 268, 298, 313, 316, 327-8, 330, 333, 
 34i, 359. 368-9. • 
 
 Francis, earl of, 102 and n, 178, 
 
 302 and n, 371. 
 
 Morrison, Angus, 370. 
 
 James, 217, 340. 
 
 William, 340. 
 
 Mud cod-fish, 5, 109 and 
 
 Mudie. See Moodie. 
 
 Muir, Alexander, surveyor, Fort 
 William, 378, 382. 
 
 Munro of Culcairn, 460, 462. 
 
 of Culrain, 484. 
 
 of Lemlair, 465. 
 
 - — - Alex., 229, 245. 
 
 Andrew, xx, 227, 285, 326, 341, 
 
 382, 384, 394, 404, 413, 423, 449, 
 457-9, 470. 
 
 David, 231-2, 411. 
 
 W.S., in Edinburgh, 422, 
 
 426, 429. 
 
 Duncan, 400, 404, 406. 
 
 chirurgeon, 352. 
 
 George, 482. 
 
 capt., 233. 
 
 ■ of Newmore, 50 and n, 51, 
 
 53, 157- 
 
 Hugh, 50, 51, 59, 72-3, 154. 
 
 John, Inverness, xxiv. 
 
 ■ messenger, 239. 
 
 in Lesmore, 292. 
 
 of Novar, 261, 305. 
 
 Robert, 481, 483. 
 
 ■ Will., seaman, 417. 
 
 Murchison, col. Donald, Seaforth's 
 
 factor, xliii, xlviii, lii, 278, 279 
 
 and n. 
 
 Murdoch, Peter, 278, 333. 
 Murison, James, Amsterdam, 1, 2, 4, 
 5, 7- 
 
 Murray, sir Alex., of Stanhope, 359, 
 362. 
 
 Andrew, merchant in Inverness, 
 
 449. 
 
 lord George, xlvi n. 
 
 Muslin, 17, 105. 
 Mustard, 438. 
 
 Neilson (Nilson), William, agent for 
 the Lead Mine Co., Suinard, 297, 
 308, 312-3, 316. 
 
 Nelletoun & Campbell, Stockholm, 1, 
 
 Nevoy, David, of the Swallow, 365. 
 Newburgh, 81. 
 Newcastle, 171. 
 
 Newmore. See Munro, George. 
 
 News from Parnassus, 208. 
 
 Newton, Richard Hay, of Newton, 
 
 lviii, 433 and «, 434, 439, 484 ; his 
 
 death, 453 n. 
 
 Mrs. See Stewart, Annie. 
 
 Nicholas & Ridley, Newcastle, xlix, 
 
 26. 
 
 Nimo, James, 16. 
 
 Nisbet, David, 355. 
 
 Norcross, commander of a Swedish 
 
 privateer, xxx, 60, 62, 63. 
 Norfolk, 462. 
 Norway staves, 26. 
 Novar. See Munro, John. 
 
 Oatmeal, xii-xiii, 46, 48-9, 57-9, 69- 
 73, 75, 78-80, 82, 87-9, 95, 183, 
 186, 204, 213, 221-3, 2 53, 256, 
 266-7, 269-73, 275-7, 299, 301-6, 
 308, 311, 317-8, 327, 345, 359-60, 
 372-3, 377-8, 380-1, 388-9, 407, 
 416 ; meal from Ireland, xv, 70, 76 ; 
 meal weights, xiii, 417. 
 
 Ochterlonie. See Auchterlonie. 
 
 Ogilvie of Rothiemay, 297. 
 
 capt. James, 151. 
 
 Olive oil, 264. 
 
 Olives, 238. 
 
 Oranges, 202, 366. 
 
 Orkney, James, 235. 
 
 Ormsbie, major, liii, 255. 
 
 Otter skins, 120. 
 
 Pape. See Pope. 
 
 Park, William, Maryburgh, 1, 384-5. 
 
 Paterson, James, surveyor of customs 
 at Leith, 423. 
 
 Robert, Glasgow, 213, 215. 
 
 Pearson (Person), George, of the For- 
 tune, Montrose, 2, 5, 19-20, 57, 105. 
 
 Peddly, Richd., 114. 
 
 Perkin, William, ironmonger, London, 
 148. 
 
 Peterson, Hans, Elsinore, 274. 
 
 Petty, xxxviii-xli, 3, 6 n, 17, 38-40 n f 
 107-8, 117, 124, 173, 178, 186, 200, 
 202-3, 206, 260, 304, 368-9 ; value 
 of the factorship, 109 and n. 
 
 Pewter plates, 236. 
 
 Phillips, Edward, Fort William, 385. 
 
 Philp, John, 20, 25. 
 
INDEX 
 
 501 
 
 Pieces of eight, 18, 24-5, 29, 30, 43. 
 Pipe staves, 73, 165, 170-1, 174, 176, 
 
 189, 190, 218. 
 Pitch, 248, 414-5, 417. 
 Pitkaithly, James, gardener, 248. 
 Pledger, xxviii, 425, 442. 
 Pollock, sir Robert, governor of Fort 
 
 William, xi, xlviii, 42, 45-6, 48-9. 
 Walter, Fort William, 1, 45, 46, 
 
 48, 87, 92, 98. 
 Poison, Mrs., 383. 
 
 John, of Kinmylies, 10 and 11, 
 
 31, 32, 41, 99, 141, 334, 355. 
 
 Lewis, 221, 229, 330, 334, 339. 
 
 William, 374. 
 
 Pope, Alexander, minister of Reay, 
 xii, xiii, xliv, 416 and n, 417. 
 
 (Pape), Charles, 136, 221, 402. 
 
 John, 335, 444. 
 
 Porteous, captain, 17 and n. 
 Porter, Norway, 64, 65. 
 Portree, 416. 
 
 Portsoy, 41, 42, 59, 70, 72, 74, 77-8, 
 
 221, 223, 256, 302, 317. 
 Postal service, liii. 
 Potash, 161. 
 
 Presbyterian clergy, 41 and n. 
 Preston, lieut. John, paymaster of 
 
 Grove's regiment, 227, 251. 
 Prideaux's Connection of the Old and 
 
 Neiv Testaments, 208 and 11. 
 Primrose, Mr., 260. 
 Pringle, Mark, consul at St. Lucar, 
 
 409, 412. 
 Prunes, 12. 
 
 Raisins, 179, 202, 251. 
 Ralph Brown, 14. 
 
 Ramsay & Strachan, Montrose, 1, 
 210-1, 217-9, 225, 230, 232, 235, 
 237-8, 241, 243, 246. 
 
 sir Alex., of Balmain, 453. 
 
 Ranken, Robert, 157, 177. 
 
 Reay, lord, xliv, Hi, 50, 53, 60, 207, 
 277, 397, 399, 402. 
 
 Redcastle, 221. 
 
 Refuge codfish, 18. 
 
 Reid, John, of the Margaret, aftw. 
 of the Adventure, and son-in-law of 
 bailie Steuart, xxviii, xxix, lviii, 208, 
 247, 388, 390, 399, 404, 409, 428-9, 
 441, 453, 455, 457, 465-6, 468, 479, 
 486-7. 
 
 Mrs., letter from, to John Faiknie, 
 
 London, 390. 
 Wm. , 94. 
 
 Renny, David, of the Hopewell, 176. 
 Restoration, of London, xxviii, 207. 
 Rhubarb (Ruburbe), 264. 
 Rice, 265, 388. 
 
 2 
 
 Richards, Mr., London, 24. 
 
 Mrs., 444, 446. 
 
 Ridley (Rydlie), Richard and Nicolas, 
 
 Newcastle, 163, 165, 167, 171, 214. 
 Ritchie (Richie), Alex., 290. 
 
 Andrew, 443. 
 
 Robertson, Gilbert, 7. 
 
 Hugh, 122, 129. 
 
 John, of the Helen, 145. 
 
 paymaster to the troops at 
 
 Bernera, 291, 296, 307, 311, 325. 
 Thomas, & Co., 1, 2, 4-6, 35, 40, 
 
 44-5, 52, 55, no, 411, 420, 424. 
 Rock, Lemuel, 98, 99, 101. 
 Rodgers, George, of the Margaret, and 
 
 aftw. of the Anna and the Lark, 
 
 1, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 21, 25, 27, 34, 36, 
 
 45, 52, 73, 75, 137, 237-8. 
 Rolland, Mr., of the Caledonian Mer- 
 
 ctiry, 226. 
 Rosehaugh, Ross-shire, xxxviii. 
 Ross or Rose, Chelsea pensioner, 375. 
 
 general, 182. 
 
 of Kilravock, 241. 
 
 Alexander, capt. of the Ann, the 
 
 Helen, and the Janet, xxviii. 
 Copenhagen, xxx, xxxii, 
 
 1, 33. 64-5, 69, 130-3, 135-6, 140, 
 
 143-4, 148-9, 157, 161, 197-8, 202, 
 
 234, 237, 253, 280-1, 313, 348, 432, 
 
 437-8, 440-1, 450. 
 
 Andrew, Cromarty, 157-9. 
 
 David, Edinburgh, xlix, 200, 384, 
 
 390, 392, 404. 
 
 of Inverchasley, 375. 
 
 sailor, 26. 
 
 George, 285. 
 
 of the Margaret, 65. 
 
 Henry, 297 and 416, 419-20, 
 
 430, 465, 469. 
 Hugh, Gottenburg, 1, 119, 157, 
 
 271-2, 477. 
 
 in Overcoull, 3. 
 
 James, Petty, 440, 456. 
 
 John, 104. 
 
 Marion, 1st wife of bailie Steuart, 
 
 ix. 
 
 Robert, 185, 190-1,411,430,476, 
 
 482. 
 
 William, Cromarty, 1, 21, 119, 
 
 156, 341. 
 
 in Parkhill, 157. 
 
 paymaster of the Fusiliers, 
 
 53, 69. 
 
 writer, 3. 
 
 Rothiemay. See Ogilvie. 
 
 Rotterdam, 1, 6, 9, 17, 18, 97, 101, 160, 
 
 179, 249, 295, 415. 
 Rouping of goods seized by the excise 
 
 officers, xxxiv, xxxviii, 256, 326. 
 
502 LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Roy, bailie, P'orres, 163. 
 
 Royal Bank of Scotland, 333. 
 
 Oak day, 326 n. 
 
 Ruddiman, Alison, 470 11. 
 
 Ruftown, Thomas. 266. 
 
 Russell, Francis, 389. 
 
 James, Petty, 6 and n, 13, 14, 19, 
 
 3!-2, 39, 55, 68, 83, 96, 100, 102, 
 105, 108, 115, 116, 118, 125-6, 141-2, 
 147-8 «, passim. 
 
 Rutherford, capt. John, 127, 234, 337. 
 
 Sabius, General, xlviii. 
 
 St. Martins, France, 1, 4, 12-15, 84, 
 214, 258. 
 
 Sali, Morocco, 112. 
 
 Salmar, Mr., xv, 345. 
 
 Salmon, xvi, 33, 36, 48, 54, 62, 67, 
 85-6, 93, 96-7> 99, 102, 105, 113, 
 117, 119, 141, 146, 163, 186-7, I93> 
 196, 205, 210, 220, 226-7, 229, 2 3 2 > 
 235, 237, 241, 258, 262-4, 280, 
 352-3, 397, 400, 426. 
 
 debentures, 62, 66, 237, 239, 395. 
 
 Salt, xviii, xix, xxxiv, 10, 13, 54-5, 65, 
 142, 154, 157, 163, 179, 187, 194, 
 202-3, 207, 217, 230, 257, 390, 393, 
 401. 
 
 Sand, Gairloch, 281. 
 
 See M'Kenzie. 
 
 Sandilands (Sandylans), James, 260. 
 Savage (Savoyge), Richard, 32, 181. 
 Sawden, Mr., III. 
 Scalpay, 79, 80, 320. 
 Scatwell. See Mackenzie, sir Kenneth. 
 Scott, Mr., Greenock, 319. 
 Alex., 170. 
 
 Andrew, m3son, 112, 126, 128, 
 
 139, 141, 176. 
 
 David, Edinburgh, 421. 
 
 George, vice-admiral of the Vene- 
 tian fleet, xxvi. 
 
 Scotus. See M 'Donald, ./Eneas and 
 Donald. 
 
 Scrabster, 379, 380. 
 
 Scythes, 362. 
 
 Seaforth, William, earl of, xliii, lv, 
 
 365, 400, 403-5, 423, 435-6. 
 Seal skins, 143. 
 
 Shallet, Windar & Ferrand, Barce- 
 lona, 1, 195, 197, 199, 207. 
 Shaw, Angus, 230. 
 
 Donald, drover, 450. 
 
 John, 87, 206, 208-9, 211, 420, 
 
 475- I 
 
 sir John, xv, 345. 
 
 William, Edinburgh, 151. 
 
 Shewglie. See Grant, Alexander. 
 Shipbuilding in Inverness, xxv-xxviii. 
 Shuson, David, 165. | 
 
 Siburg or Seaburg, Charles, governor 
 of Fort William, xv, xlviii, liii, 232- 
 3, 266-7, 270, 282, 284, 306-7, 309, 
 316-9, 322, 327, 337. 
 
 Silesia linen, 121, 136. 
 
 Silk, 164, 177, 374. 
 
 plaid, 284. 
 
 Simm, James, slater, Edinburgh, 348. 
 Simpson & Sandilands, 84. 
 
 Alex., shipmaster, Portsoy, 256, 
 
 260. 
 
 Daniel, of the Marjorie, 154, 155, 
 
 160. 
 
 William, Aberdeen, xi, xxxii, 1, 
 
 69, 7o, 75" 6 > 78, 80, 87, 89, 90, 94, 
 
 100, 142, 169, 320, 338. 
 Sinclair of Freswick, xliv, 295. 
 Francis, bro. of Alexander, 9th 
 
 earl of Caithness, xii, xiii, xliv, 407, 
 
 414, 416-7. 
 
 sir James, of Dunbeth, 276-7. 
 
 John, of Barrack, xliv, 275-6, 
 
 290, 295-6, 379. 
 
 of Ulbster, xliv, 380. 
 
 Skair, Alex., drover, 94. 
 
 Skene, lieut. George, paymaster of the 
 
 Fusiliers, 160, 173, 203. 
 Skye, 71, 75-77. 
 
 Slate from Easdale, xxiv, 226, 249, 
 256, 277, 279, 329, 330, 348, 356, 
 381, 405; and Irom Mull, 71, 215, 
 221, 223-4. 
 
 Sleigh (Sly), major Samuel, 124-5, 128, 
 138, 141. 
 
 Smith, Ann, wife of John Clerk, 440. 
 
 Archibald, 269, 290. 
 
 Charles, Boulogne, xlv, 395 and 
 
 71, 424-5. 
 
 George, Aberdeen, 409. 
 
 Smuggling, xxxiii-xxxviii, 4, 55, 487 ; 
 
 in the Moray Firth, 229. 
 Smyrna skins, 265. 
 Soap, 11, 26, 121, 144, 274. 
 Soden, Mr., London, 118. 
 Soldiers whipped by the hangman, 
 
 xlviii, 215. 
 Soles, 43. 
 
 Somerville (Summerwale), John, of the 
 
 Lamb, 315. 
 Renfrew, xxxvii, 196, 204, 
 
 280, 353-4, 401. 
 
 Will., Renfrew, 1, 194, 215. 
 
 Spanish salt, 202, 217, 257, 390, 393. 
 Spink, David, Arbroath, 244. 
 Stamfield, Hugh, shipmaster, 367-8, 
 
 37i- 
 
 Staxigoe, 290, 379. 
 
 Stephens (Stivens), William, manager 
 of the York Buildings Co., 344 
 and 
 
INDEX 
 
 503 
 
 Steuart. See Stewart. 
 
 Stevenson, Andrew, periwig-maker in 
 
 Edinburgh, 469, 472, 475. 
 (Steenson), David, of the fanet 
 
 Dunbar and of the Margaret, 
 
 xxxiv, 32, 113, 136, 138, 140, 144, 
 
 149, 160, 163, 167, 171, 179, 244. 
 John, slate quarrier, Easdale, 
 
 224, 249, 277, 357-8, 378, 381. 
 (Stincen), Robert, quarrier at 
 
 Easdale, 330. 
 Stewart (Steuart, Stuart), general, 481, 
 
 484. 
 
 Alex., 24, 43, 227, 389. 
 
 Amsterdam, 415 and n. 
 
 brother of bailie Steuart, 
 
 287. 
 
 father of bailie Steuart, ix, 
 
 xxvii, 6, 63, 65, 68-9, 73, 101, 106; 
 his death, 1 14. 
 
 Leith, son of bailie Steuart, 
 
 xv, xxxv, lviii, 113, 127, 196, 205, 
 258 n, 280, 286, 302, 359, 361, 366, 
 405, 410; letter to, from his father, 
 
 I2 5- 
 
 cousin of bailie Steuart and 
 
 master of the Alexander and of the 
 Helen, xxvii, xxx, xxxi, 13, 25, 93 
 and u, 96, 99, 101, 190- 1, 205, 262-3, 
 284, 297. 
 
 Allan, son of bailie Steuart, 441, 
 
 456, 463, 467, 469, 478, 480, 484, 
 486-7. t 
 
 Annie, dau. of bailie Steuart and 
 
 wife of R. Hay Newton of Newton, 
 lviii, 421, 433 and 434, 439, 450, 
 453, 469, 478. 
 
 Charles, 410. 
 
 Orkney, 470 and n. 
 
 David, collector of excise, 191, 
 
 248, 252, 428. 
 
 Donald, capt. in lord Lewis 
 
 Drummond's regiment, 464-5. 
 
 of the Margaret and of the 
 
 Agnes, xxxvi, 1 86-8, 193, 196, 200, 
 216, 242, 248, 250, 282-3, 287, 323, 
 476 ; wreck of the Agnes, 288-9. 
 
 Dugald, 394-5, 423, 456, 467, 
 
 482. 
 
 Duncan, 363-4. 
 
 in Mingrie, 292. 
 
 bailie of Morven, 292, 309, 
 
 321. 
 
 Francis. See Moray, earl of. 
 
 son of bailie Steuart, lvi, 
 
 lix, 441, 453, 463-4, 467, 474, 478- 
 
 80, 485. 
 
 George, Tanachie, 301. 
 
 Henry, son of bailie Steuart, lix, 
 
 458, 479, 482-3, 486. 
 
 Stewart, James, of Camilla, 302, 371. 
 Edinburgh, 360, 367, 378, 
 
 382, 388, 391, 393, 412, 414. 
 
 Innernahile, 292. 
 
 Maryburgh, 277. 
 
 son of bailie Steuart, lvii, 
 
 lviii, 422, 432, 433, 438, 443, 451, 
 
 455, 460,462, 465, 474-7, 481-3, 485. 
 writer in Edinburgh, 1, 470 
 
 and n, 471, 473. 
 
 bailie in Edinburgh, 470. 
 
 sir James, of Burray, xliv, 160, 
 
 355. 395, 407-8, 415 «. 453- 
 
 John, bailie of Inverness, his 
 
 family connections, ix, lviii-lix ; 
 death of his father, 1 14 ; death of his 
 son Robert, 151, 157 ; illness of his 
 mother, 238 ; her death, 288 ; death 
 of his son Norman, 453 ; nature and 
 extent of his business, x-xxiii ; his 
 smuggling ventures, xxxiii-xxxviii, 
 54-5> 85, 130, 155-6, 179, 258-9, 
 282-3, 314, 326, 328, 347-52, 354, 
 356-8, 364-5 ; factorship of Petty, 
 x, xxxviii-xlii, 108-9, 124, 138, 168, 
 172-5, 178, 186, 200-3, 206, 208, 
 2 98, 333, 368-70 ; a shipowner, 
 xvvii-xxviii ; disasters by sea, xxx- 
 xxxiii, 107, 109, 130-6, 138, 140, 
 149 ; his customers and correspon- 
 dents, xliii-xlvi ; his business agents, 
 xlix-li ; bills and bonds transactions, 
 li-liv ; in sympathy with the Jacobite 
 cause, xlvii-xlviii, lvi ; in straitened 
 circumstances, lv-lvi, 93, 141, 156, 
 367, 369, 418-9, 421, 427, 430, 437-9, 
 448, 45°-5, 45^, 461-2, 464, 466, 
 472-81, 483. 486-7. 
 
 W.S., and commissary of 
 
 Inverness, xxvii, 1, 3 and n, 12, 13, 
 16, 21-23, 30, 32, 34, 35, 38, 39, 41, 
 46, 48, 49, 52, 60, 62, 67, 68, 83, 
 85-87, 92, 108, 116, 123, 152, 166, 
 169, 182, 184 passim ; his death, 
 480. 
 
 M.P., and brother of the 
 
 earl of Moray, 432, 448. 
 
 merchant in Inverness, 343- 
 
 4 », 346 n. 
 
 of Appin, xliv, 280, 422-3. 
 
 of Ardshiel, xi, xliv, liii, 
 
 270-1, 273, 290, 292, 297, 303, 306- 
 7, 311-3, 316, 322, 324, 327-8, 
 330, 346-7, 351, 354, 356-7, 363, 
 367, 371. 
 
 shipmaster, 486. 
 
 son of bailie Steuart, Ivi- 
 
 Iviii, 392, 397-9, 402, 409, 433 and 
 n, 439, 442, 445-54, 456-7, 459, 
 461-72, 474-6, 479, 485. 
 
504 LETTER-BOOK OF BAILIE JOHN STEUART 
 
 Stewart, John Roy, xlv, Hi, 275 and n, 
 398 and n, 399, 412, 414, 422, 424-5, 
 439, 441-2, 453-5, 462 ; his Gaelic 
 songs, xlvi. 
 
 sir John, count of Maida, lix, 
 
 433 n. 
 
 Margaret, dau. of bailie Steuart, 
 
 374- 
 
 Marion, dau. of bailie Steuart, 
 
 and wife of Alex. Wedderburn, 359, 
 388, 439, 459 and n, 460, 462, 467-8, 
 470, 473-4, 476-7, 482, 485-6. 
 
 ■ Marjorie, 434. 
 
 Norman, son of bailie Steuart, 
 
 441 ; his death, 453-4, 456. 
 
 Patrick, 23, 192. 
 
 son of bailie Steuart, lix, 
 
 451, 459-60, 463-5, 469, 471, 477-8, 
 
 483-4, 486. 
 Robert, son of bailie Steuart, 112, 
 
 122-3, 137, 141. H7, ISO \ letter to, 
 
 from his father, 125; his death, 151, 
 
 157. 
 
 Roderick, 371. 
 
 Walter, of Kinchardine, son of the 
 
 Wolf of Badenoch, ix. 
 
 8th baron, ix. 
 
 William, of Weyland, M. P., king's 
 
 remembrancer of the court of ex- j 
 
 chequer, xxxi, 10 and n y 112, 422, ; 
 
 432, 442, 464, 466, 470-1, 473. 
 son of bailie Steuart, 458, | 
 
 473, 479, 48i, 483, 486. 
 grandson of bailie Steuart, 
 
 462 and n, 463, 477. 
 Stockholm, 1, 37, 91, 145, 159, 220, 
 
 231, 240, 297. 
 Stornoway (Starnway), 187-8, 208, 210, 
 
 222, 224, 321, 343, 376, 417. 
 Strachan, Alex., Montrose, 214, 258, 
 
 262, 267, 285, 288, 304, 315, 330, 361. 
 George, bookseller in Cornhill, 47, 
 
 425- 
 
 ■ John, Leith, 1, 337, 340. 
 
 ■ sir Patrick, of Glenkindy, xlviii, 
 
 204-5 an( l 1l ' 
 Strathearn (now Strathdearn), xli, 38, 
 
 178, 206, 370. 
 Stratherrick,' 285. 
 Strathglass (Stragless), xxiii, 80. 
 Strathnairn xli, 178, 370. 
 Strathnaver, 207. 
 
 ■ William, lord, xliv, Hi, 50 and n, 
 
 5 1 , 53, 5°, 60, 62, 1 10; his death, 
 117 and n. 
 
 Strichen, lord, 453. 
 
 Strontian lead mines. See Suinart. 
 
 Sugar, 10, 195, 391. 
 
 Suinart or Srrontian lead mines, xii and 
 n, xlix, 297, 308, 312-3. 
 
 1 Summerwell. See Somerville. 
 j Super or Supper, John, St. Martins, 
 
 France, 1, 4, 5, 12, 14. 
 1 Sutherland, countess of, xliii, 421. 
 
 James, Leith, 391. 
 
 j Swallow, xxviii, 360, 365. 
 Swedish privateers, xxix, xxx, 12, 15, 
 17, 29, 30, 37, 59, 61, 72. 
 
 Tait, Alex., Edinburgh, xlix, 240, 
 
 242, 246, 275, 294-5, 304-5, 361. 
 Tallow, 214. 
 
 Tar, 228, 409, 414-5, 417. 
 Tarbet Ness, 179, 303. 
 Tassel, Mr., 445-8, 451. 
 Taylor, Adam, Caithness, 410. 
 
 baron John, li, lvii, 183, 338, 392, 
 
 420, 422, 439. 
 
 Donald, 61, 83, 85, 432. 
 
 William, 419. 
 
 Tea, 105, 141, 244, 275, 293, 302, 389, 
 443- 
 
 Termit. See Mackintosh. 
 ' Theophilus Insulanus,' liii. 
 Thistle, 221, 224, 226. 
 Thomson, Ezra, 353. 
 
 ■ James, 65, 127, 245. 
 
 John, Glasgow, 252. 
 
 Jonathan, 47, 164. 
 
 William, Cork, xix, xlix, 190, 
 
 194, 299, 320, 325, 329, 331-2, 338. 
 Thundertown, 420. 
 Thurso, 380, 418. 
 Tobacco, 103, 105, 113, 187, 401. 
 Tobermory (Topr Morae), 324. 
 Tod, Alexander, of the Katherine, 247, 
 
 258, 271-2, 275, 297, 299. 
 Tolmie (Tolme), capt., of the Avant, 
 477-8, 483, 486. 
 
 William, 118, 439. 
 
 Towerie, John, capt., of the Bucking- 
 ham man-of-war, 444. 
 Traill, Marjorie, 470 n. 
 Trees and shrubs, 236, 246. 
 Treeton, Petty, 6 n. 
 Trelawney, capt. John, liii. 
 Tucker, Thomas, his report on Scottish 
 
 ports, xxvii. 
 Tulloch, Robt., 266. 
 Turner, John, 148. 
 Turpin, D., in, 113. 
 
 j Udnie, George, London, 384, 396, 
 
 445, 447-5°, 455. 484- 
 I Ullapool, 325, 329. 
 
 Unicom, of Dundee, xxviii, 75, 81, 82. 
 I Urquhart, waiter at Portsoy, 42. 
 
 capt., of Burdyards, 226, 227. 
 
 I Newhall, 148. 
 
 col., of Newhall, 226 and n. 
 
INDEX 
 
 505 
 
 Urquhart, lieut., 25, 33. 
 
 Charles, of Braelanguel, 412,420, 
 
 429, 470. 
 
 ■ Donald, 407-8, 414-5 ; of the 
 
 Helen and Margaret, 441-2. 
 
 George, Cromarty, 1, 3, 13, 62, 
 
 120, 127, 141, 163, 180, 183-4, 196, 
 252, 404, 406. 
 
 James, lieut., 30. 
 
 Leonard, W. S., 412, 420. 
 
 Patrick, 443. 
 
 Van Duffle & Archer, Bilbao, I, 
 
 18, 20, 23, 40, 43, 146. 
 Vanhesshysen, Bartarin, 27, 34, 44-5, 
 
 51- 
 
 Van Hussen, Everad, 106. 
 
 ■ Oste, Jan, xxxii, 131-3, 135. 
 
 Venice, 162. 
 Verdigris, 155. 
 
 Wade, General, xii, xxxviii, xlviii, 
 
 xlix, 250, 252, 286, 308, 312, 338. 
 Wainsburrow, lieut., governor of Duart 
 
 castle, xlviii, 226. 
 Walker, Mr., Leith, 472. 
 (Waker), Robert, of the Agnes, 
 
 277, 279. 
 Walkinshaw, Clementina, xlv. 
 Walls (Ways), Orkney, 216-7. 
 Walnuts, 353. 
 Watson, Andrew, 111, 113. 
 
 John, shipmaster in Leith, 345. 
 
 of the Margaret, 349. 
 
 Watt, Alex., Glenelg, 291, 296, 357, 
 
 381, 385-7, 392. 
 Wedderburn, Alex., lviii, 409, 459 n, 
 
 462-4 ; his death, 465, 470. 
 Mrs. See Stewart, Marion. 
 
 Wedderburn, Nellie, 484. 
 Wemyss (Weems), David, 310. 
 
 James, postmaster, 431. 
 
 [Wimes], Wm., 31, 34. 
 
 West, captain, Fort William, 282. 
 Wester Connage, 6 n. 
 
 Craggie, 168, 175. 
 
 Wheat, capt., Fort William, 322-3. 
 Whisky, li, 391, 393. 
 White lead, 155. 
 
 Whitefall, Richard [or Robert], xlix, 
 242. 
 
 Whitfoord, Alex., 333. 
 
 Allan, 370-1. 
 
 Wightman, general, xlviii, 98 n. 
 
 Archibald, Edinburgh, 311. 
 
 Robert, 98 and n. 
 
 Wilkheaven, 303. 
 
 Wilkinson, capt. John, 398, 402, 453. 
 William and James, of Prestonpans, 
 
 xxviii, 33-4, 36. 
 Willison, John, of the Ann, 214, 220, 
 
 229, 274, 277, 282, 288. 
 Willox, Mr., 206 and n. 
 Wilson, William, writer in Edinburgh, 
 
 372. 
 
 Winder & Aikman, Leghorn, 237, 
 263-4. 
 
 Window glass, 121, 154, 155. 
 
 Wine, 12, 97-8, 102, 105, in, 153, 
 
 155, 179, 282, 293, 382. 
 Wiseman, James, Elgin, 31. 
 Wood, Alexander, of the Thistle, 218- 
 
 19, 221-4, 226. 
 
 David, 285-6. 
 
 Writing paper, 12, 143. 
 
 Yarmouth, 114. 
 Yeoman, Thomas, 408. 
 
 Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty 
 at the Edinburgh University Press 
 
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 32. Papers illustrating the History of the Scots Brigade in 
 the Service of the United Netherlands, 1572-1782. 
 Edited by James Ferguson. Vol. i. 1572-1697. 
 
 33. 34. Macfarlane's Genealogical Collections concerning 
 Families in Scotland ; Manuscripts in the Advocates' Library. 
 2 vols. Edited by J. T. Clark, Keeper of the Library. 
 
 Presented to the Society by the Trustees of the late Sir William Fraser, K.C.B. 
 
 For the year 1899-1900. 
 
 35. Papers on the Scots Brigade in Holland, 1572-1782. 
 Edited by James Ferguson. Vol. n. 1698-1782. 
 
 36. Journal of a Foreign Tour in 1665 and 1666, etc., by Sir John 
 
 Lauder, Lord Fountainhall. Edited by Donald Crawford. 
 
 37. Papal Negotiations with Mary Queen of Scots during her 
 Reign in Scotland. Chiefly from the Vatican Archives. 
 Edited by the Rev. J. Hungerford Pollen, S.J. 
 
 For the year 1900-1901. 
 
 38. Papers on the Scots Brigade in Holland, 1572-1782. 
 Edited by James Ferguson. Vol. hi. 
 
 39- The Diary of Andrew Hay of Craignethan, 1659-60. 
 Edited by A. G. Reid, F.S.A.Scot. 
 
 For the year 1901-1902. 
 
 40. Negotiations for the Union of England and Scotland in 
 
 1651-53. Edited by C. Sanford Terry. 
 
 41. The Loyall Dissuasive. Written in 1703 by Sir jEneas 
 Macpherson. Edited by the Rev. A. D. Murdoch. 
 
PUBLICATIONS 
 
 For the year 1902-1903. 
 
 42. The Chartulary of Lindores, 1195-1479. Edited by the 
 
 Right Rev. John Dowden, D.D., Bishop of Edinburgh. 
 
 43. A Letter from Mary Queen of Scots to the Duke of Guise, 
 Jan. 1562. Reproduced in Facsimile. Edited by the Rev. J. 
 
 HuNGERFORD PoLLEN, S.J. 
 
 Presented to the Society by the family of the late Mr. Scott, of Halkshill. 
 
 44. Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, Second Volume — 
 
 The Scottish King's Household, 14th Century. Edited by Mary 
 Bateson. — The Scottish Nation in the University of Orleans, 
 1336-1538. John Kirkpatrick, LL.D. — The French Garrison 
 at Dunbar, 1563. Roberts. Rait. — De Antiquitate Religionis 
 apud Scotos, 1594. Henry D. G. Law. — Apology for William 
 Maitland of Lethington, 1610. Andrew Lang. — Letters of 
 Bishop George Graeme, 1602-38. L. G. Graeme. — A Scottish 
 Journie, 1641. C. H. Firth. — Narratives illustrating the Duke 
 of Hamilton's Expedition to England, 1648. C. H. Firth. — 
 Burnet-Leighton Papers, 1648-168-. H. C. Foxcroft. — Papers 
 of Robert Erskine, Physician to Peter the Great, 1677-1720. 
 Rev. Robert Paul. — Will of the Duchess of Albany, 1789. 
 A. Francis Steuart. 
 
 45. Letters of John Cockburn of Ormistoun to his Gardener, 
 
 1 727-1 743. Edited by James Colville, D.Sc. 
 
 For the year 1903-1904. 
 
 46. Minute Book of the Managers of the New Mills Cloth 
 Manufactory, 1681-1690. Edited by W. R. Scott. 
 
 47. Chronicles of the Frasers ; being the Wardlaw Manuscript 
 entitled ' Polichronicon seu Policratica Temporum, or, the 
 true Genealogy of the Frasers.' By Master James Fraser. 
 Edited by William Mackay. 
 
 48. Proceedings of the Justiciary Court from l66l to 1678. 
 Vol. l I66I-I669. Edited by Sheriff Scott-Moncrieff. 
 
 For the year 1904-1905. 
 
 49. Proceedings of the Justiciary Court from l66l to 1678. 
 Vol. 11. 1669-1678. Edited by Sheriff Scott-Moncrieff. 
 
 50. Records of the Baron Court of Stitchill, 1655-1 807. Edited 
 by Clement B. Gunn, M.D., Peebles. 
 
 51. Macfarlane's Geographical Collections. Vol. 1. Edited 
 by Sir Arthur Mitchell, K.C.B. 
 
 For the year 1905-1906. 
 
 52. 53. Macfarlane's Geographical Collections. Vols. 11. and in. 
 
 Edited by Sir Arthur Mitchell, K.C.B. 
 54. Statuta Ecclesle Scotican^e, 1225-1559. Translated and 
 edited by David Patrick, LL.D. 
 
PUBLICATIONS 
 
 7 
 
 For the year 1906-1907. 
 
 55. The House Booke of Accomps, Ochtertyre, 1737-39. Edited 
 by James Colville, D.Sc. (Oct. 1907.) 
 
 56. The Charters of the Abbey of Inchaffray. Edited by W. A. 
 Lindsay, K.C., the Right Rev. Bishop Dowden, D.D., and 
 J. Maitland Thomson, LL.D. (Feb. 1908.) 
 
 57. A Selection of the Forfeited Estates Papers preserved in 
 H.M. General Register House and elsewhere. Edited by 
 A. H. Millar, LL.D. (Oct. 1909.) 
 
 For the year 1907-1908. 
 
 58. Records of the Commissions of the General Assemblies {con- 
 tinued), for the years 1650-52. Edited by the Rev. James 
 Christie, D.D. ' (Feb. 1909.) 
 
 59. Papers relating to the Scots in Poland. Edited by Miss 
 Beatrice Baskerville. (Publication delayed.) 
 
 For the year 1908-1909. 
 
 60. Sir Thomas Craig's De Unione Regnorum Britannle Trac- 
 tatus. Edited, with an English Translation, by C. Sanford 
 Terry. (Nov. 1909.) 
 
 61. Johnston of Wariston's Memento Quamdiu Vivas, and Diary 
 
 from 1632 to 1639. Edited by G. M. Paul, LL.D., D.K.S. 
 
 (May 1911.) 
 
 Second Series. 
 For the year 1909-1910. 
 
 1. The Household Book of Lady Grisell Baillie, 1692-1733. 
 Edited by R. Scott-Moncrieff, W.S. (Oct. 191 1.) 
 
 2. Origins of the '45 and other Narratives. Edited by W. B. 
 Blaikie. (Publication delayed.) 
 
 3. Correspondence of James, fourth Earl of Findlater and 
 first Earl of Seafield, Lord Chancellor of Scotland. 
 Edited by James Grant, M.A., LL.B. (March 1912.) 
 
 For the year 1910-1911. 
 
 4. Rentale Sancti Andree; being Chamberlain and Granitar 
 Accounts of the Archbishopric in the time of Cardinal 
 Betoun, 1538-1546. Translated and edited by Robert Kerr 
 Hannay. (February 1913.) 
 
 5. Highland Papers. Vol. 1. Edited by J. R.N. Macphail, K.C. 
 
 (May 1914,) 
 
8 
 
 PUBLICATIONS 
 
 For the year 1911-1912. 
 
 6. Selections from the Records of the Regality of Melrose. 
 Vol. i. Edited by C. S. Romanes, C.A. (November 1914.) 
 
 7. Records of the Earldom of Orkney. Edited by J. S. Clouston. 
 
 (December 1914.) 
 
 For the year 1912-1913. 
 
 8. Selections from the Records of the Regality of Melrose. 
 Vol. ii. Edited by C. S. Romanes, C.A. (January 1915). 
 
 9- Selections from the Letter Books of John Steuart, Bailie 
 of Inverness. Edited by William Mackay, LL.D. 
 
 (April 1915.) 
 
 For the year 1913-1914. 
 
 10. Rentale Dunkeldense; being the Accounts of the Chamber- 
 lain of the Bishopric of Dunkeld, a.d. 1506-1517. Edited 
 by R. K. Hannay. (March 1915.) 
 
 11. Johnston of Wariston's Diary. Vol. n. Edited by D. Hay 
 
 Fleming, LL.D. 
 
 For the year 1914-1915. 
 
 12. Highland Papers. Vol. n. Edited by J. R. N. Macphail, K.C 
 
 13. Letters of the Earl of Seafield and Others, illustrative 
 of the History of Scotland during the Reign of Queen 
 Anne. Edited by Professor Hume Brown. 
 
 In preparation. 
 
 Selections from the Records of the Regality of Melrose. 
 
 Vol. in. Edited by C. S. Romanes,, C.A. 
 Bibliography of Topographical Works relating to Scotland. 
 
 Compiled by the late Sir Arthur Mitchell, and edited by 
 
 C. G. Cash. 
 
 Register of the Consultations of the Ministers of Edinburgh, 
 and some other brethren of the ministry since the 
 interruption of the assembly 1653, with other papers of 
 public concernment, 1 653-1 660. 
 
 A Translation of the Historia Abbatum de Kynlos of 
 Ferrerius. 
 
 Miscellany of the Scottish History Society. Third Volume. 
 
 Analytical Catalogue of the Wodrow Collection of Manu- 
 scripts in the Advocates' Library. Edited by J. T. Clark. 
 
 Charters and Documents relating to the Grey Friars and the 
 Cistercian Nunnery of Haddington. — Register of Inch- 
 colm Monastery. Edited by J. G. Wallace-James, M.B. 
 
 Records relating to the Scottish Armies from 1638 to 1650. 
 Edited by C. Sanford Terry. 
 
 Papers relating to the Rebellions of 1715 and 1745, with other 
 documents from the Municipal Archives of the City of Perth. 
 
 The Balcarres Papers. 
 
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BOSTON COLLEGE 
 
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 750 Scottish history society. 
 
 ,S25 Publications. 
 2nd ser. 
 v. 9 
 
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 Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02167 
 
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