Barr, N. 2002 The Killing Time: Killiecrankie and Glen Coe. Tempus, London.
Barrington, M. 1911 Grahame of Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee. Secker, London.
McBane, D. 1728 The Expert Sword-man's Companion; or the True Art of Self-Defence; with an Account of the Author's Life, and his Transactions in the Wars with France; to which is annexed, the Art of Gunnerie. James Duncan, Glasgow.
Mackay, H. 1833 Memoirs of the War carried on in Scotland and Ireland, 1689 to 1691. The Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh
Millar, A. H. 1906 'Killiecrankie described by an eye-witness', Scott Hist Rev, 4 (1906), 63-70.
Pollard, T. & Oliver, N. 2003 Two Men in a Trench II: uncovering the secrets of British battlefields. Michael Joseph, London.
Terry, C. S. 1905 John Graham of Claverhouse. Archibald Constable & Co., London.
Information on Sources & Publication
It is fortunate at Killiecrankie that there are at least two eyewitness accounts of the battle. Both of these accounts are from the Government side; one of them is by Major-General Mackay himself. Although these accounts are necessarily one-sided, Mackay's in particular does appear to be a fairly thorough and even-handed report, especially so when one considers the magnitude of his defeat and the temptation to shift blame. There are obviously some exaggerations in his favour ' for instance, his speech to his men before the battle which paints such a ferocious picture of the Highlander, and in which he warns them that if they do not stand they are doomed, comes across a little like a retrospective 'I told you so'. He also reports that Jacobite losses were six times greater than his own, which seems highly unlikely given the limited amount of musketry that seems to have taken place. Issues of bias aside, these written accounts, especially in their description of deployment, location and landscape are important given a total lack of any maps drawn in the immediate aftermath of the battle. The work undertaken at Killiecrankie for Two Men in a Trench in 2003 indicated that Mackay's account is mainly accurate in terms of the events, if not the interpretation of them. MacBane is reasonably accurate, having no political axe to grind, and gives the perspective of a man who fled the battlefield and is not ashamed to have done so.
The one Jacobite account is the official Cameron clan history, based upon the account of Cameron of Lochiel but also using accounts from various other Jacobite soldiers. This account matches the general thrust of the other two, but there are some differences. The main difference is that the Lochiel account denies that the Jacobites ceased pursuit because of looting the baggage train; the Cameron account says that they only knew about the baggage train the next day when it got light. The account claims that the pursuit petered out because the Jacobites were exhausted with all of the marching during the day, followed by the charge.
The secondary sources are of limited value. Most use Mackay fairly uncritically, although one decided to ignore the evidence of the landscape and Mackay's account, and place the battle lines at 90º to the correct alignment (Terry 1905); in this, he was followed by other, later secondary accounts (e.g. Smurthwaite 1984). The 2003 fieldwork indicated that the information provided by Mackay is reasonably accurate, and there is no substance to the alternative deployment.
Primary Sources
Unpublished
Aberdeen University Special Libraries and Archives
[Latin verse account of the Battle of Killiecrankie]. Shelfmark: MS 943. [typed transcript from Advocates' Library 33.2.36].
[Macquair and House of Gordon manuscripts]. Shelfmark: MS 947-948. [includes Account of the Battle of Killiecrankie (copy of Macquair manuscript, Advocates' Library 33.2.36); same as above].
National Archives, Kew
[Notes concerning the affairs of Lochiel and other prominent Scots; also on the actions of Viscount Dundee, and the events leading to the battle of Killiecrankie (1682-1689)]. Shelfmark: SP 54/26/197.
National Library of Scotland
[Dyson Perrins Collection]. Shelfmark: MS.3738-3742. [includes: letters of Lieut.-General Hugh Mackay and other officers, chiefly to William Blathwayt as Secretary at War, on the campaign of Killiecrankie and on the despatch of troops from Scotland to Ireland and Holland, 1689-90 (f 80); and MS.3741 Miscellaneous
Orders and letters of Lieut.-General Hugh Mackay to Captain Robert Menzies, Younger of Weem (also known as Younger of Menzies and Fiar of Menzies ) 1689-90, relating to the Killiecrankie campaign].
British Library
Anon. [1800?] An Account of the Battle of Killiecrankie fought on the 17th of July, 1689. Newton Stewart. Shelfmark: 11621.b.29.(1.).
National Library of Scotland
Graham, John, Viscount Dundee 1689 The Lord of Dundee's speech to his soldiers before the late battle in Scotland, and his letter to King James after the victory. Published: Scotland. Shelfmark: MS.3421 f.65. [also contains The Lord of Dundee's letter to King James after the victory; also available on microfilm at shelfmark MS.3421 f.65].
Published
Drummond, J. 1842 Memoirs of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, Chief of the Clan Cameron; with an Introductory Account of the History and Antiquities of that Family and Neighbouring Clans (ed James McKnight). Maitland Club, Edinburgh.
McBane, D. 1728 The Expert Sword-man's Companion; or the True Art of Self-Defence; with an Account of the Author's Life, and his Transactions in the Wars with France; to which is annexed, the Art of Gunnerie. Glasgow.
Mackay, H. 1833 Memoirs of the War carried on in Scotland and Ireland, 1689 to 1691. The Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh
Philip, J. (of Amerlie Close) 1691 The Grameid. (trans & ed Murdoch, A, 1888). Scott Hist Soc, 3 (1888), 201-2.
Cartographic & Illustrative Sources
Roy Map 17/2b: Area around Pitlochry, in Perthshire
There are no contemporary maps of the battlefield. The area appears on Roy's map nearly a century later, which reveals a largely open landscape, with a couple of tree stands and two fermtouns. There are very few field walls marked, all of which are on the right flank of the government troops. On the left flank, the ground is shown as being rig fields.
Secondary Sources
Atholl, Duke of 1908 Chronicles of the Atholl and Tullibardine Families. Edinburgh.
Barr, N. 2002 The Killing Time: Killiecrankie and Glen Coe.
Barrington, M. 1911 Grahame of Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee. Secker, London.
Brander, M. & Macgregor, J. 1975 Scottish and Border Battles and Ballads. 180-181.
Millar, A. H. 1906 'Killiecrankie described by an eye-witness', Scott Hist Rev, 4 (1906), 63-70.
Pollard, T. & Oliver, N. 2003 Two Men in a Trench II: uncovering the secrets of British battlefields. Michael Joseph, London.
Smurthwaite, D. 1984 The Complete Guide to the Battlefields of Britain. Mermaid Books, Penguin, Harmondsworth.
Stevenson, D. 2002 'Scotland's Leather Guns', History Scotland, Nov/Dec 2002, 11-18.
Terry, C. S. 1905 John Graham of Claverhouse. London.
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