Mackintosh of Borlum intercepted post that granted a commission from the Government for Munro of Foulis to be made commandant of Inverness.
The leader of the Jacobite rising was John Erskine, Earl of Mar who dispatched a force of 2500 men under the command of Brigadier Mackintosh of Borlum.
Mackintosh of Borlum came close to capturing Edinburgh but it was too well defended and so he instead took possession of Leith, where he entrenched himself in a fort that had been built by Oliver Cromwell.
The Duke of Argyll who supported the Government made an approach on the fort but withdrew after seeing that an assault would be useless without cannons and that the occupants were defiant.
While he was there he received orders on the 18th from Mar to march into England and join forces with Lord Kenmure and the English Jacobite, Thomas Forster.
He returned with a small force of 6,000 Scots and Spaniards during the Jacobite rising of 1719 who had landed on the Isle of Lewis under the command of William Murray, Marquess of Tullibardine but who were subsequently defeated at the Battle of Glen Shiel.
[5] William Mackintosh, 4th of Borlum had married Mary Reade, and they had two sons Lachlan and Shaw who both emigrated to the Colony of Georgia with the Highland Rangers, a regiment in the British Army that was recruited by James Oglethorpe.
And in lieu of the big quaigh with strong ale and toast, and after a dram of good wholesome Scots spirits, there is now the tea-kettle put to the fire, the tea-table and silver and china equipage brought in, and marmalade and cream".