sides being of a haughty and passionate temper,
averse to deference and subordination, soon placed himself in opposition
to the general, whom he seems to have at once detested and
despised."[232]

The unfortunate result of the siege of Preston, soon brought to light
the discontents which the Master had nourished among the followers of
Mar. Parties had, indeed, for some time agitated the camp. When the
disasters in England gave them a fresh impulse, and Lord Mar feelingly,
and perhaps not too severely, described the influence of Sinclair when
he bitterly describes him as "a devil in the camp, known in his true
colours when calamity had befallen those with whom he was in
conjunction." It was henceforth in vain that Mar, to use his own
expression, "endeavoured to keep people from breaking among themselves
until the long-expected arrival of the Chevalier should, it was hoped,
check the growing jealousies in the camp;" a party arose, headed by Lord
Huntley, Lord Seaforth, and the Master of Sinclair, who soon obtained
the name of the Grumbler's Club, and who rendered themselves odious to
the sincere and zealous Jacobites.

Lord Huntley appears from Lord Mar's representations, "to have been
completely under the influence of the Master." "Lord Huntley," writes
Lord Mar, "is still very much out of humour, and nothing can make him
yet believe that the King is coming. He intends to go north, under the
pretext of reducing Lord Sutherland, and his leaving us at this time, I
think, might have very bad effects, which makes me do all I can to keep
him. The Master of Sinclair is a very bad instrument about him, and has
been most to blame for all the differences amongst us. I am plagued out
of my life with them, but must do the best I can."[233]

Lord Huntley, however, continued to manifest the greatest disgust and
suspicion of Lord Mar, often refusing to see him, and, though still
lingering at Perth, threatening continually to leave the camp and go
northward.

Lord Sinclair, meantime, having heard of these factions, and being
sincerely affected to the cause of the Stuarts, wrote to his son "a
sharp letter about his behaviour," and a visit of explanation from the
Master instantly followed. During his absence there was a revulsion of
feeling among the Grumblers, and some contrition was expressed by them
for the part that they had acted; but the fiend returned, and the
malcontents quietly relapsed.[234]

The news of James's certain a