COLONEL MacLACHLAN, MONTROSE, & ALFORD

In Britane’s distemper… Patrick Gordon of Ruthven mentions the efforts of “corronell M’Lachlen” during the battle of Alford. I assume this brief reference is the source taken by some chroniclers of Clan MacLachlan to claim, understandably given Gordon’s choice of spelling, the presence of a MacLachlan among the officer corps of Montrose’s army at Alford. This claim has further evolved to include the assertion that “corronell M’Lachlen” “ achieved the rank of colonel while in Montrose’s service and that after capture at Philliphaugh was taken to Edinburgh and hanged.

David Stevenson, in Highland Warrior: Alasdair MacColla and the Civil Wars, identifies Gordon’s “corronell M’Lachlen” as Major Thomas Laghtnan who was in fact captured at Philliphaugh and, along with Manus O’Cahan, subsequently hanged. Laghtnan was not from Scotland, but in fact came over with the three Irish regiments under MacColla’s command. I think support for Stevenson's position can also be found in fact that M'Lachlen is placed in command of a "braue regiment of Irrish foote" by Gordon rather than leading MacLachlan clansman.


Sources:
Gordon, Patrick, fl. 1649. A Short Abridgement of Britane's Distemper, From the Yeare of God M. DC. XXXIX. to M. DC. XLIX. Aberdeen: Printed for the Spalding club, 1844

Stevenson, David. Highland Warrior: Alasdair MacColla and the Civil Wars. Edinburgh: John Donald, 2003.

THE MUSE ELUDES ME

I'm eventually going to actually post something original and relevant on this blog. Preoccupation with life in the 21st century seems to be hampering the creative flow.

TIMELINES: This date in 1643

The King replies to Parliament's terms for a cessation; amongst other measures, he insists that naval commanders and governors of fortified towns be appointed by him.

-from British Civil Wars, Commonwealth & Protectorate, 1639-60

THIS DATE IN 1642...

The House of Lords issues a declaration proclaiming the power of Parliament to act for the good of the nation's defence independently of the King. The Militia Ordinance passed, giving Parliament control of the county Trained Bands

-from British Civil Wars, Commonwealth & Protectorate, 1639-60

THIS DATE IN 1643...

Sir William Waller occupied Winchester.

-from British Civil Wars, Commonwealth & Protectorate 1638-60

I really like this website. It's chock full of information and the timelines for each year from 1638 to 1660 are a nice feature.

TO KILL A KING (2003)-Saw the Trailer

I saw the trailer for To Kill A King (2003) this evening while cruising for something to watch on On Demand. I ended up watching Michael Moore's Sicko, but I'll be going back to catch what looks like a decent flick on events leading to the execution of Charles I. Costuming looked definitely better than 1970's Cromwell.

INTRODUCTION

I don't honestly know if this will fly in the blogosphere, but I figure I couldn't do any worse generating interest than the blog I started regarding issues in my profession. I'd actually have to work at it to do worse. I suffer from an interest in the obscure. If all I do is collect my own thoughts on the matter at hand, well, okay. As this is the first post, I may be editing it over the next few days or deleting it altogether.

I am not a hardcore reenactor. I've been involved to the extent time and money have allowed, but haven't been active the last several years. I still maintain a keen interest in the period and the arts involved in creating historically accurate impressions.

I don't have a clear idea yet what I'll be writing about. I imagine I'll be posting about kit, clothing, historical events and the regiments that took part in them. I intend my main focus to be the seventeenth cenury, but as I have an interest in the Jacobite rebellions culminating in the '45, I'll be writing about those here and there as well.

A note about the links to reenactor groups. It is by no means meant to be exclusive. As it exists at the time of this writing, it is only as complete as my weary head allowed it be the evening I was setting it up. If you have an reenactment organization that's relevant to this blog, give me a shout and I'll include your link. I'll also be updating the link lists as I come across websites I've been previously unaware of or remember the ones I left out.