ake
an attack upon it at Sheriffmuir. Sheriffmuir was not much of a
victory. Each side, in fact, claimed the conqueror's honor. Mar was
not annihilated, nor Argyll driven back. The Duke of Argyll probably
lost more of his men, but, on the other hand, he captured many guns and
standards, and he re-appeared on the same field the next day, while Mar
showed there no more. Tested in the only practical way, it is clear
that the Duke of Argyll had the better of it. Lord Mar wanted to do
something, and was prevented from doing it at a time when to him
everything depended on advance and on success. The Duke of Argyll
successfully interposed between Mar and his object, and therefore was
clearly the victor.

It is on record that no small share of Mar's ill-success was due to the
action, or rather the inaction, of the famous Highland outlaw, Rob Roy.
He and his clan had joined Mar's standard, but his sympathies seem to
have been with Argyll. He had an unusually large body of {126} men
under his command, for many of the clan Macpherson had been committed
to his leadership, in consequence of the old age of their chief; but at
a critical moment he refused to lead his men to the charge, and stood
on a hill with his followers unconcernedly surveying the fight. It is
said that had he kept faith he could have turned the fortunes of the
day.

[Sidenote: 1715--"If he will die like a prince"]

Argyll and the cause he represented could afford to wait, and Mar could
not. The insurrection already began to melt. James Stuart himself
made his appearance in Scotland. He was characteristically late for
Sheriffmuir, and when he did throw himself into the field he seemed
unable to take any decisive step, or even to come to any clear
decision. He did not succeed in making himself popular, even for the
moment, among his followers in Scotland. The occasion was one in which
gallant bearing and kingly demeanor would have gone for much, and
indeed it is not at all impossible that a leader of a different stamp
from James might even then have so inspired the Highland clansmen, and
so made use of his opportunity, as to overwhelm Argyll and the
Hanoverian forces, and turn the whole crisis to his favor. But James
was peculiarly unsuited to an enterprise of the kind. He had graceful
manners, a mild, serene temper, and great power of application to work.
His personal courage was undoubted, and he was willing enough to risk
his own life on any