family was of course Jacobite. In
"Waverley" Sir Walter Scott mentions a Miss Nairne with whom he says he
was acquainted, and this lady appears to have been one of the sisters of
Captain John Nairne. In 1745, as the Highland army rushed into
Edinburgh, Miss Nairne was standing with some ladies on a balcony, when
a shot, discharged by accident from a Highlander's musket, grazed her
forehead. "Thank God," she said, "that the accident happened to me whose
principles are known; had it befallen a Whig [the name then identified
with the anti-Jacobite party] they would have said it was done on
purpose."[4] At Murray Bay there is still a miniature portrait of Prince
Charlie given it is said by himself to Miss Nairne.

Before fighting under Wolfe John Nairne had followed the Dutch flag.
Just before the rising of 1745, when a youth of only 17, he, like a
great many others of his countrymen, is found serving in the well known
"Scots Brigade"; many years later at Malbaie, he tells in his letters,
of old companions in this service with well known Scottish names--Bruce,
Maclean, Seton, Hepburn, Campbell, Dunbar, Dundass, Graham, and so on.
In the pay of Holland Nairne remained for some nine years. He made, he
says, "long voyages" possibly to the Dutch possessions in the far East.
But he was glad of the chance to serve his own land which came when
Britain, embarked upon the Seven Years' War, was anxious to recall her
banished sons and to find soldiers, Scots or of any other nationality,
who would fight her battles. So John Nairne left the Dutch service to
join the 78th Highlanders and henceforth his loyalty to the house of
Hanover was never questioned. From the first, since Scotland offered
only a poor prospect of a career, Nairne may have thought of remaining
in the new world when the war should end. The Highlander of that day,
like the Irishman, found better chances abroad than at home. Unlike
Nairne, Malcolm Fraser, a younger man, had not seen foreign service. The
two met for the first time when, in 1757, they both joined the 78th
Highlanders. Soon they became fast friends and for nearly half a century
they were to live in the closest relations.

Fraser's Highlanders had landed at Halifax in Nova Scotia in June, 1757.
Their dress seemed unsuited to both the severe winters and the hot
summers of North America and a change of costume was proposed; but
officers and men protested vehemently and no change was made. During the
campaign