On the 29th of January, 1719, a Scottish gentleman, named Alexander Jaffray, Laird of Kingswells, was riding across a piece of wide and waste moorland to the westward of Aberdeen, when, about eight o'clock in the morning, he beheld--to his great alaom and bewilderment, as he states in a letter to his friend, Sir Archibald Grant, of Monymusk (printed by the Spaulding Club)--a body of about seven thousand soldiers drawn up in front of him, all under arms, with colors uncased and waving and, the drums slung on the drummers backs. A clear morning sun was shining; so he saw them distinctly, and also a commander, who rode along the line, mounted on a white charger.
Dubious whether to advance or retire, and sorely perplexed as to what mysterious army this was... [full story]
