the possession of Sir David Dundas,
and the descendant of its former owner, and the Duke's standard-bearer
is reduced to be the landlord of the village inn. See Letters of James
Duke of Perth, Chancellor of Scotland. Printed for the Camden Society,
and edited by Wm. Jerdan, Esq.

[261] The battle, according to the newspapers of the day, lasted about
half an hour.

[262] Maxwell, p. 154.

[263] See Lord Elcho's MS. Narrative; which, however, since it is
written in a bitter spirit, and varies in many details and in most
opinions from Maxwell's, I am not disposed wholly to trust.

[264] The traditionary accounts have been collected, in the case of
Thos. Drummond, a claimant of the honours and estates of the Earldom of
Perth. Newcastle upon Tyne, 1831. I do not vouch for the truth of these
anecdotes, but they have an air of probability.

[265] Case of Thomas Drummond, p. 18.

[266] See case of Thomas Drummond, p. 26.

[267] Case, p. 34. Dr. Malcolm had in his book made a different
statement; but had contemplated re-publishing his work, with
corrections, among which the existence (after 1747) of James Drummond,
was to be asserted.

[268] For this information, and also for a copy of the case of Thomas
Drummond, I am indebted to the kindness of W. E. Aytoun, Esq.

[269] In 1816, another appeal, and a fresh claim to the Drummond
estates, and to the Earldom of Perth, were brought forward by the
descendant of John Drummond, the great-uncle of James, Duke of Perth.
The said John Drummond was raised to the dignity of the English peerage
in 1685, by James the Second, by the title of Viscount Melfort; in 1686
he was raised to the dignity of Earl of Melfort; and afterwards,
following the monarch to St. Germains, was created Duke of Melfort.

The great-grandson of the Duke of Melfort was a Roman Catholic priest,
who officiated some years back at the chapel in Moorfields; he was
living in 1831 in France, at a very advanced age.

The pamphlet in which, in 1816, he asserted his claim, and which was
laid before the House of Lords, was professedly written "by an
unfortunate nobleman;" with the appeal of Charles Edward (Drummond),
Duke of Melfort, heir male, and chief representative of the House of
Drummond of Perth, submitted to the United Kingdom of Great Britain,
&c., 8vo., London, 1816.

[270] Lord Elcho's MS.

[271] For the copies of these epitaphs I am indebted to Robert Chambers,
Esq. This is that gentleman's account