SKETCH XIII
TWO HIGHLAND LADS
When Charles Edward, son of the old Pretender, crossed over from France to Scotland, in 1745, with a handful of adventurers, it was the signal of a bloody civil strife. As was expected, many flocked to his standard. The union between Scotland and England was gall and wormwood, at that time, to many of the Highland clans, and as Charles Edward promised to dissolve it when he secured the crown, they embraced the opportunity of taking up arms against the English king. When this rebellion broke out, the subjects of this sketch were mere lads, whose native heath was on one of the many arms of old Argyleshire which extend out into the sea. Donald was just ten years old, and Rob, his companion, was several years his senior. These lads in common with the Highland peasantry, had been inured to hardships. They attended the flocks on the rugged hillsides, but mutton was not an everyday article of diet in their humble homes. A slice of “bannock” or a bowl of oatmeal gruel was what they were more accustomed to; yet they were hardy and robust. The sons of old Argyleshire are early in life inspired with a roaming spirit. Next to Inverness, it is the largest county in Scotland, yet it is so broken up by the sea that no part is more than twelve miles from either the open sea or an inland loch. The sea extends its numerous arms inland and says “Come,” and the rugged peaks of old Ben Cruschan and Bedan-ambran look down from above with an inspiration of encouragement and whisper “Go,” and thus it is that in every part of the civilized world the sons of “auld Argyleshire” are found.[1]
When Sir John Cope was defeated at Prestonpans by the forces of the young Pretender, a feeling of intense indignation was aroused all over the kingdom. Volunteers offered their services to the king in every county. Argyleshire was loyal from centre to circumference, and a large body of the militia joined the king’s forces. Donald and Rob were too young to go, but their fathers went. The decisive battle was fought on the bleak and dreary moor of Culloden. At a critical moment, when the left wing of the loyal forces were being weakened by a furious rebel onslaught, the Argyleshire militia tore down a park wall that stood in their way, and wildly rushed into the breach with drawn swords, and in thirty minutes the rebel forces were broken and utterly routed. This decided the fate of Charles Edward.
When these loyal militiamen returned to their homes, the story of Culloden was released on the hillsides and in the valleys of Argyleshire, and many a youth was fired with an ambition to go out and measure swords with the king’s enemies. The subjects of this sketch were thus inspired, and when Donald reached his twenty-first year, he and Rob enlisted in a Highland regiment known as the “42nd Highlanders.” This was in 1756, and in 1758 we find them in the army of General Amherst in the expedition sent against Cape Breton. Their regiment was attached to the brigade under the command of Colonel Wolfe, and did noble service at the capture of Louisburg. The following year Wolfe’s rank was raised to that of major-general, and he was sent against Quebec. Our heroes accompanied this expedition and took part in the capture of that strong fortress, thereby breaking the power of France in the New World forever. After the capture of Quebec, they remained with the garrison during the winter. The Highland uniform was not suited to the rigors of a Quebec winter, especially one as severe as this proved to be, and the soldiers suffered so intensely with the cold that the nuns in the convent pitied them and knitted long woollen hose for them. The following summer they were transferred to Philadelphia, where, after three years’ service connected with the Indian troubles, they were now in the prime of manhood, and in the New World. Their army record had exceeded their boyhood’s fondest dreams, and now they would turn their attention to fighting the battles of civil life in securing homes for themselves. The British colony of New Jersey offered many attractions at this time, and the two young Highlanders settled there. When the colonies threw off their allegiance, Donald and Rob each had young families and good, comfortable homes. They were fairly started on the road to prosperity, but their fathers had left their homes and young families to help put down rebellion, and so would they. They joined General Clinton on Long Island; but we cannot follow them through the war of the revolution.[2] Poor Rob did not live to share with his old comrade the misfortunes that fate held in store for the Loyalists. The treaty of peace was signed in 1783, but it did not bring peace to the families of Donald and his fellow Loyalists. It meant contumely, reproach, persecution, confiscation of property and expatriation. They fled into the British provinces down by the sea, where the Old Flag still waved. After Quebec had been divided and the western portion organized into a separate province as Upper Canada, Sir John Graves Simcoe,[3] its first governor, championed the cause of the refugee Loyalists. He obtained authority from the British Parliament to make them grants of land and help them in other ways, by way of remuneration for the losses they had sustained in their unflinching fidelity to the Crown. He visited Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where he addressed the Loyalists at public meetings. He told them of the wonderful advantages awaiting the settler in the new province, and promised them 600 acres of land each as an inducement to settle therein.[4]
Donald looked after his old friend’s family, and after Governor Simcoe’s visit, a party, consisting of himself and family, the family of his old friend and several others, resolved to migrate to the new country.
These two Highland lads were Donald McCall and Robert Monroe,[5] the grand-American ancestors of the two old Norfolk families bearing those names. Is it any wonder their descendants have always been noted for their loyalty to British institutions, or that a warm, friendly feeling has always existed between them?
[1] Donald/Donnell McCall was a possible son of John MacColl of Oskamull, Isle of Mull, Argyleshire, Scotland. It appears that New Jersey clerks gave him the name of “Daniel” under which name he most frequently appeared in colonial records. See “Donald McCall, UE” in The Long Point Settlers Journal, Vol. 4, Number 3.
[2] In New Jersey records, Donald McCall was recorded as “Daniel” McCall. Certificates filed before the Executive Council of Upper Canada attested to Donald McCall’s service during the American Revolution. His own dated on March 9, 1802 stated that he joined the British Standard in Brunswick [New Jersey] in 1776 and that he was frequently in the British lines after that time. He was sent out by order of Lord Cornwallis and General Grant on several occasions and returned with news to the British Commanders every weak. Another certificate of Port Dover, Norfolk County pioneer William Francis stated that in 1776, he saw “Daniel” McCall at Basking Ridge in company with Colonel Harcourt and Captain Hustis, Lord Cornwallis’ first commander, discoursing. Francis later saw McCall at Brunswick in company with General Grant, Sir William Askins, and Commissary Christy two or three different times: “them Gentlemen seemed Very familiar with the Sd Daniel (sic) Mccall and paid much attention to his Discoars”. (Upper Canada Land Petition “J” Bundle 5, Doc. No. 32)
[3] Upper Canada’s first Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe was never knighted and so did not have the title “Sir”.
[4] On at least two occasions, Owen confused Brunswick, New Jersey as meaning New Brunswick, Canada. Donald McCall, recorded as “Daniel” McCall, was in the tax records of Basking Ridge, Somerset County, New Jersey as late as September 1794.
[5] The early generations of this family in Norfolk County, Upper Canada spelled their surname “Monro”.