SOME CLOSE CALLS

      The most celebrated folk memory of Ensign Munro's mission to capture Cluny comes from a letter written by Ewan's son, Lt. Col. Duncan to Colonel Stewart of Garth in 1817. It is the one illustrated in the drawing above and in the form of the silver candelabrum to be seen in the next room --
            "On another occasion when my father was at Cluny, in a small house inhabited by the family after the castle [sic] was burnt, the house was suddenly surrounded by a party of soldiers commanded by Ensign Munro, whose information was so correct, and managed matters so secretly, that there was no possibility of my father making his escape; but on the emergency his presence of mind did not forsake him, and he stood firm and collected in himself, and although he saw himself on the brink of destruction and ready to fall into the hands of his persecutors, by which he must suffer an ignominious death, he deliberately stepped into the kitchen, where a servant man was sitting, and exchanged clothes with him, all of which was the work of a moment; and when the officer in command of the party rode up to the door, he without any hesitation ran out and held the stirrup while dismounting, walked the horse about while the officer was in the house, and when he came out again held the stirrup to him to mount, on which the officer asked him if he knew where Cluny was; he answered he did not, and if he did he would not tell him; the officer replied, I believe you would not; you are a good fellow, here is a shilling for you."

      Duncan tells us that this and other of these stories were obtained from "a person who was well known to possess a strong memory of undoubted veracity, and who was himself an eye-witness to many of the circumstances".

      Another of the stories related by Duncan is the following --
            "Munro had suspicion or intelligence that Cluny would be at the christening of a child of Hugh Macphersons of Uvie. He accordingly surrounded the house with a strong party before daylight, and such was his courage that he forced himself in through a window into a room where he supposed the Chief would be in bed. Fortunately for himself he only found the visiting minister before him, for Cluny was always well armed and fully resolved never to be taken alive."

      Yet another tale with an authentic basis to it concerns a tenant of Cluny--
            "James Leslie was met by a party of soldiers as he returned from one of Cluny's caves, and as he had a tablecloth and some dishes, they rightly concluded he had been with some victuals to him, and threatened him with instant death if they did not lead them to his hiding-place. Leslie declared he knew nothing about him, and had not seen Cluny for twelve months. They desired him to make oath to that effect, and he accordingly swore point blank on a drawn sword (a mode of swearing held most sacred in the Highlands at that time), that he did not know where he was, and that he did not see him for twelve months back. Being asked what he had been doing with the dishes, he declared he had been with the breakfast for people casting peats."

      It's of interest to know that, according to Duncan, his father was more likely to take the Leslies into his confidence as to his location believing that they would be less likely to be suspected or susceptible to coercion than his Macpherson clansmen.