Note 412 — A TRUE ACCOUNT OF MR. JOHN DANIEL’S PROGRESS WITH PRINCE CHARLES

The Rev. John Bisset, one of the ministers of St. Nicholas Church, Aberdeen, from 1728 to 1756. He was a man of strong personality who spoke his mind, and was not very popular with his brethren. Bisset kept a Diary during the Rising of ’45, most of which is printed in the Spalding Club Misc., vol. i. In that volume there is no reference to this sermon, nor do I know when it was preached. It is referred to in general terms by the late Mr. Watt in his County History of Aberdeen and Banff, p. 303. The sermon was probably printed or Daniel could not have quoted it, but Mr. P. J. Anderson, who has kindly searched the Aberdeen University Library, cannot find a copy. Bisset, though uncompromisingly inimical to the Jacobites, declined an official meeting with the Duke of Cumberland as a member of the Aberdeen Synod, but he obtained a private interview as ‘he had reasons for being alone.’ Bisset so deeply offended the duke that he refused ever after to enter a Presbyterian church. (Henderson, Hist. of the Rebellion, 5th ed., p. 307.)