by R. W. Hughes
‘Thank you, Surgeon, for your time, and good evening to you, sir,’ said George as the naval officer continued his way along the corridor.
They entered the hold and found both Fiona and Ailie attending to the wounded men.
‘Fiona!’ said an agitated George. ‘You are supposed to be resting, and I must insist you return to your cabin immediately, as there are other women available and quite capable to attend to the wounded. Please!’
He held up his hand as his wife started to object. ‘Ailie will you please take your sister-in-law to her cabin; she is expecting a child and it has been a trying day. Reluctantly both Fiona and Ailie left the hold watched by both George and Douglas.
‘Gentlemen!’ he shouted to attract the attention of the men, many of whom were lying on makeshift bunks laid out in two short rows along the length of the hold. ‘This only concerns the pirates’ ex-oarsmen, and I have to inform you of a proposal made by Captain O’Brian of the English ship, the Sheerness.
‘I am Lieutenant MacKay and you men fought hard for your freedom, the rest of your companions perished in their attempt. The Captain of the Royal Navy ship says he will give you passage to his next safe port of call, which could well be in Scotland. The boson of this ship informs me you may not be allowed to leave the Navy ship, but be forcibly enlisted into the crew of the Sheerness. To put it bluntly gentlemen, you would have escaped one form of slavery to be immediately incarnated in another.’
‘Aye! That is true.’ said Douglas in support of his friend. George looked around the group at the expressions of shock and bewilderment on their faces. He waited a few minutes as the men talked amongst themselves over their situation, feeling the cloud of utter hopelessness settle over the group.
‘There is an alternative!’
Their discussion stopped and all eyes turned in his direction.
‘As you may well have been told, we are travelling to the colony of Georgia in the Americas, and all the men on board have enlisted in the Highland Regiment of Foot, as a protective force for the settlers in that colony. I have the authority to sign you men as volunteers also, if you so wish. By doing so, after a trial period, you will be entitled to a plot of land sufficient to support you, and if it is possible to make contact with them, you could also bring your families to join you. You do not have much time to decide. The Royal Navy captain will be departing this ship shortly.’
‘Can we not stay on your ship until we reach Georgia?’ enquired one of the group.
‘That is not possible, only enlisted men can be transported, that is the condition of the Captain’s charter of his ship by the English Parliament. And I cannot risk jeopardising that position.’
It took only a few more minutes of discussion between the ex-slaves before they arrived at a decision.
‘My name is Josh Wilkins, and I speak on behalf of the rest of these men, Lieutenant MacKay. Yours is by far the better option, and I have persuaded them to except your generous offer. Our group that were fortunate to survive consist of: two men taken from a village on the coast of Ireland, one Cornish man who was fishing off the Cornish coast with his brother, but he sadly died in the recent battle, two men from Northumberland, taken when their village was raided, three more from coastal villages on the east coast, three from the coastal villages of the Highlands and finally, myself and one other who was kidnapped when the transport ship taking us to the Caribbean was boarded.’
‘And what was your reason for going to the Caribbean, Josh Wilkins?’ enquired George out of curiosity.’
‘I had been accepted as the administrator and chief clerk on one of the sugar plantations on one of the islands.’
‘If you decide to enlist, the conditions that apply to the other men in the regiment will also apply to you. You will join in the musket and bayonet practice with the other volunteers, and you will be expected to reach a standard of discharging three shots a minute for when we reach Georgia. Any serious breach of discipline and you will be returned in irons back to England. Do your men still wish to enlist?’
There was another brief discussion amongst the ex-slaves before their spokesman again approached George. ‘We all agree to your terms, Lieutenant MacKay, and all the men thank you for the offer and for giving them back their freedom.’
It was when they left the hold that Douglas reported to George that three of their clansman and five of the recruits brought in the prison waggon by the Redcoats had been killed in the battle, but the new signings of the pirates’ ex-slaves had brought their quota back up to strength again, plus an extra five if they did not lose any of the injured, bearing in mind what the navy surgeon had told them that the badly injured should, with careful nursing, have recovered by the time they reach Georgia.
It was only George that returned to Captain Murphy cabin with the disappointing news for Captain O’Brian that the men had decided to stay on the ship heading for Georgia.
‘Well, I have to admit, George, I had anticipated taking the men aboard the Sheerness, but with your documents from the English Parliament, I am at your disposal and am not at liberty to contest your decision. But now I must leave and thank you for your hospitality and this gift of a bottle of pure nectar is most welcome.’
As Captain O’Brian left he was followed by his Marine officer, who stopped as he drew level with George.
‘It was a pleasure to meet you again Lieutenant MacKay, please pass my compliments to your wife, and I hope all goes well with your wifes pregnancy.’
‘Yes, I thank you, and I will certainly mention you to Fiona and we both thank you for your good wishes, and it was delightful to meet you again, and may I wish you well in your chosen career.’
The Marine officer smiled at George and they shook hands before he followed Captain O’Brian along the corridor and climbed the stairs to the main deck. It was then that Douglas appeared from the shadows at the far end of the corridor and joined George and the rest of the men as George closed the door of the cabin.
‘I think we all need another drink, gentleman,’ he said to the rest of the group of men still in the room.
‘Lady Luck was certainly looking in our direction when Douglas and the Marine officer met,’ said John MacKay to a chorus of ‘aye’s’ from the rest of the Highlanders.
‘While you were out, George, the Marine officer told us he identified his pistol found on one of the three men arrested after the prison ship escape as the one taken from him by the rebels. After a trial by a military court, the men were found guilty and sentenced to hang. Even though an appeal for clemency was made on their behalf by the Earl of Sutherland, the sentence was carried out at midday and the Marines were part of the security force on duty in the event of any unrest by the civil population, their ship left on the late afternoon high tide from Thurso of the same day.’
‘Then, gentlemen’ said George, ‘I propose a toast in memory of my father, my older brother, and also my uncle and your Presbyterian minister, the Honourable Reverend, George Munro, and the young innocent lad, Bailoch Allanson, who all died at the hand of the assassin, Nicolas Duncan. Justice has been achieved for the wrong inflicted on them and their souls can now rest in peace.’
As of one, the men who were in the cabin raised their glasses and shouted the MacKay toast, ‘MANU FORTI.’ [ Strong in Heart.]
It was an hour later before he managed to leave what had turned into a celebration of their victory over the pirates by the newly enlisted men of the Georgia Highland Regiment of Foot. Quietly entering his cabin, he could see the form of Fiona lying asleep on their bunk and the distinctive shape of their unborn child in the profile of her stomach.
What a fortunate man I am, he reflected. Of all the trials and tribulations they had overcome over the last twelve months, a new country beckoned them with untold opportunities, an outstanding woman as his wife, and he was soon to be a father, their future life together was certainly looking
good for them at the moment.
And as he lay down beside Fiona, he kissed her gently on the cheek and she in her sleep turned and placed her hand on his chest, and he in turn placed his hand on the bulge of her stomach, and to the gentle roll of the ship, he fell asleep.
Caisteal Bharraich. Ancestrial home of the clan Mackay.
End Note
Barbary Pirates operated from the ports of North Africa from the 16th until the 18th century, mainly from the ports of Sale’, Rabat, Algiers and Tripoli.
They operated along the Mediterranean and European coast as far as Iceland capturing Christian captives [one and a quarter million] for the Ottoman slave trade and also attacking merchant shipping.
Under President Thomas Jefferson the American navy went to war against the pirates shelling the port of Tripoli in 1801 and again in 1815 forcing the Sultan into a treaty.
Attacks on American shipping stopped at this point. .
HMS Hazard a 14 gun Merlin class sloop launched in 1744, was captured in November 1745 by Jacobite forces in Montrose harbour and was sailed to Dunkirk and re-named ‘Le Prince Charles.’
In March 1746 Le Prince Charles was carrying £13000-00 in gold. Arms and other supplies to Inverness when she was intercepted and chased by HMS Sheerness, which captured the Le Prince Charles in the Kyle of Tongue 26th March 1746.
The prize money for capturing the Le Prince Charles was shared between the officers and crew of HMS Sheerness. A large amount of this French gold was never found, and prospectors still search for this treasure today in and around the Kyle of Tongue.
By the time George and the two ships arrived at their new home in the town of New Inverness (now renamed “Darien”), the recruits for the Highland Regiment of Foot had under the instructions and training of Captain Mclintosh far exceeded of what was expected of them, and were a welcome addition to the existing troops defending the colony.
The families quickly established themselves, building their accommodation and fencing off the land assigned to them. And the livestock brought from Scotland once, they had recovered from their long sea journey, thrived on the 50 acre small-holdings allocated to the new settlers.
As the fledgling colony of Georgia developed and its population increased, Fiona gave birth to a healthy baby boy in their new home on October 1746.
During this period the same could not be said for their previous home of Scotland. Under Martial Law and a series of punitive fines imposed on the civil population, there was a gradual breakdown of the old system of clan and chief loyalty which was encouraged by the English administration. This was followed by a long period of severe depression in food production which enveloped the country.
A combination of all these events encouraged many more of the Highland families to emigrate, many to the new American colonies.
Hanna Snell, Fiona’s maid who had taken the name of her brother-in-law James Grey, and disguised as a man had enlisted in the 6th Regiment of Foot and fought at the battle of Culloden 1746. She later joined the Marines and was wounded eleven times fighting against the French in India.
In 1750 she petitioned the Duke of Cumberland and was successful in obtaining a pension. She later married and had two children; she died in 1792 in Stoke Newington, England.
In 1758 during the French-Indian war, George MacKay led the reformed 42nd Highland Regiment on a charge of the French occupied Fort Ticonderoga, which was situated in the area now known as New York. Over the years, ties with the old country parted and in 1774 Georgia was one of the original members of the Congress that supported Independence for the formation of the United States.
In Scotland in 1814, Elizabeth Countess of Sutherland and her husband, the 1st Duke of Sutherland, purchased the estates of the MacKay clan from Lord Reay. An article in a local paper read.
{‘For what the MacKays held through sunshine and storm for about twenty generations, was at last miserably fritted away by a generate son, who accidently got the power to do so.’}
The new owners then proceeded to remove the tenants from these estates, historically termed the Highland Clearences. A total of fifteen thousand families, who had lived there for generations, were forcibly driven from their homes and their dwellings burnt to stop their return. Any near by relations or friends who offered sanctuary for these destitute families, found that they in turn were evicted and their homes were also burnt.
This action was carried out to make way for the flocks of sheep that were more profitable for the land owners than rents from the crofters. As quoted by the Scottish newspapers of the day. For a period of over a hundred years this social injustice on a massive scale was a legalised form of Genocide, being carried out under the instructions of absentee landlords and a blind eye being turned by the Parliament of the day.
Scottish solders, returning from fighting in the Crimean War, arrived back in their Highland villages to find their homes burnt and their families scattered and driven to the coast where they were living in shanty type shacks. .
There is a plaque amongst the ruins of one of the cleared villages in Sutherland which reads. ‘When recruitment officers appealed for men to enlist for the Boer War they refused. And the recruitment officers were told. ‘To go and get the sheep to do their fighting.’
Many Highland families during this period, if they could raise the funds, travelled to various British colonies around the world. Some Protestant families were offered a roof over their heads around Londonderry Ireland; to eke out a terrible existence on small holdings in that country, which due to the potato famine had been abandoned by the previous Irish tenants.
There is a 100ft statue of George Leveson-Gower the 1st Duke of Sutherland situated on Ben Bhraggie near Golspie, Scotland. [Who at that time was the wealthiest man in Great Britain.] It shows this gentleman overlooking and surveying his vast estates, from where he had evicted the highland population. From the vast profits made off the flocks of sheep the 189 room Dunrobin Castle, situated in the county of Sutherland was modernised in the Baronial Style 1836 and is now open to the general public, a memororial to the untold suffering inflicted on tens of thousands of highland crofting families.
Bonnie Prince Charlie Poem
His claim to the throne was fraught with despair.
He arrived at Glenfinnan but no one was there.
But flocking to his standard the Jacobite Highlanders soon came.
But they were unaware of the forthcoming blood, tears and pain.
Bonnie Prince Charlie led his army to old Derby town.
And while there he was persuaded to turn his forces around.
Back to their homeland of Scotland his army did go.
At the rear followed Prince Charlie, despondent and low.
At Culloden, he took charge of his Highland clans, and made his last stand.
A last desperate throw of the dice to keep his beloved Scotland.
But brave Scottish hearts were not enough against English cannon and shell.
And their final charge was broken in the mud, blood and carnage of Hell.
R.W. Hughes.