Sir Alexander Drummond (McGregor) was born on 26 Aug 1660 in Bahlhaldie, Dunblane, Perthshire, Scotland to parents Duncan MacGregor Drummond and Helen Linton. He became the 4th Laird Of Balhaldy (Balhaldie) and 17th Chief of Clan MacGregor. He married Margaret Cameron on 26 Apr 1686 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Children: Margaret, William, Ewen, Patrick, Alexander, Duncan, Helen, Isabel, Jacobina, Donald Henry, all named "MacGregor Drummond." He died on 1 Mar 1749 in Balhaldie, Dunblane, Perthshire, Scotland.
"Alexander, 4th of Balhaldie, succeeded to the lands at Balhaldie in March ,1683. He was described in a contemporary account as a "massy athletic man of extraordinary agility for his weight and a most expert broadsword player, brave but of hasty temper".
He was a dedicated Jacobite who fought, maybe by the side of his father-in-law, Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, at the battle of the Pass of Killicrankie,in July, 1669, where, it is said, Alexander killed 20 men. During the Rising of 1715, he once again fought for the Stewarts. At the battle of Sheriffmuir, which took place just three miles from his estate. he led a large contingent of men in support of the forces led by the Earl of Mar against the government forces under the Duke of Argyll. The battle settled nothing, and the rebellion soon petered out. Alexander barely escaped with his life when the left wing of the Jacobite army collapsed. He was chased by dragoons to his own farm where he cheated death by hiding under a granary.
In July, 1714, a group of MacGregor notables elected Alexander in secret as chief of the Clan Gregor. His position as chief was challenged by other elements of the Clan, frustrating Alexander's efforts to lead them. In 1740, James VIII, the Old Pretender, issued a proclamation from his "court" in Rome naming Alexander as Knight and Baronet, a somewhat empty honour, given James' exile from Scotland!
There is no evidence that Alexander took part in the Rising of 1745, but his Jacobite sympathies were once again recognized when Prince Charles, "Bonnie Prince Charlie", stayed overnight with his retinue at Alexander's town residence upon passing through Dunblane on September 11, 1745. It is said that for some time after, the family "preserved the bed" which the Prince had occupied. .
As noted above, Alexander was a swordman of some repute and and it is said a rivalry developed between him and his cousin, Rob Roy MacGregor as to who was superior. As the Perthshire Heritage genealogy of the MacGregor's records, "Eventually, when both men were past their middle years, they met at Balhaldie House and there fought a duel to which there was to be no witnesses to settle the matter merely to their own satisfaction. The victor is nowadays unknown as neither would ever discuss who had won the day."
Alexander died at Balhaldie House in 1749, with the Stewart's still in exile, as was his eldest son, William."
By John Cameron [1]
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