On 28 August 1644 Montrose raised the Royal Standard for King Charles near Blair Castle. Cheering him on were 1,100 poorly armed Irish MacDonalds under the command of his Major General, Alexander Macdonald, often called Colkitto. With them were nearly 800 Robertsons and Stewarts from Athole, and 200 men from Badenoch of whom at least 50 were Macphersons. Ewan Og Macpherson led the Macpherson contingent. He was the son of Andrew Macpherson, the 14th Chief but who was too infirm to lead the clan in battle.
General David Leslie, a Covenanter who we will hear more of, described Ewan as "a gentleman of great worth and honour, as meek as a Lamb and bold as a Lion, and in all things so well qualified for the military employ, that if he had got but half of his education might have passed for a general in any part of Christendom."
Those assembled with Montrose were a pitiful force but it was these few who allowed him to begin his campaign against Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquis of Argyll and the Covenanter rebels. It is doubtful if many of them cared much for either King or Covenant, but many of them shared a bitter hatred of Argyll. An additional factor motivating the Macphersons was their association with the House of Gordon for the Crown even though the Marquis of Huntly himself chose not to participate because the King chose Montrose rather than him to lead the fight.
Four days later Montrose won the first victory at Tippermuir, the first of six that are among the most celebrated of the world's battles. Space doesn't allow the details of these victories to be presented here but the location and dates are shown on the map shown to the left.
Macphersons were present at least four of these battles -- Tippermuir, Auldearn, Alford and Kilsyth. The only ones mentioned by name in contemporary chronicles are Ewan Og of Cluny and William Macpherson of Invereshie, the latter who died of wounds received at Auldearn. However, there is a record of the Macphersons who were called before the Synod of Moray to atone for their "sins", namely fighting with the "outlaw" James Graham, "that viperous brood of satan. . ." as Montrose was then being referred to across Scotland. The main charges were laid against those who were present at the Battle of Auldearn which is just 21 miles from Elgin.
The punishment for the principal "malefactors" was to "make their repentance in Sackcloth in the Kirk of Auldearn". Others had to appear in Sackcloth in other churches. The remainder found "guilty" were ordered to make their repentance at the Kirk of Kingussie. Thus the Macphersons and others who had joined with Montrose were duly punished. Further, they were "ordained to subscryve the Covenant and League" on 6 February 1648.