in the parish of Glencairn, Dumfriesshire, 14 Sept. 1664. Notwithstanding the persecutions to which the father was subject, the son, after receiving from him the rudiments of classical learning, attended the courses of humanity and philosophy in the university of Edinburgh. Accustomed from infancy to frequent conventicles and communions, he acquired at an early period strong Calvinistic convictions and strict and stern views of conduct and duty. When the regiment raised by the covenanting Cameronians (now the 26th of the line) was embodied by the Earl of Angus in 1689, he volunteered into it as a cadet at the pay of sixpence a day. Probably through his intimacy with the commander, Colonel Cleland, who was an old college acquaintance, he was in a few months promoted lieutenant. The regiment, by the remarkable stand it made against the Highlanders at Dunkeld, did service of the highest importance in quelling the rebellion. After the reduction of the Highlands he embarked with the regiment for Flanders, and took part in the principal sieges and battles in the campaigns of the Prince of Orange until the peace of Ryswick in 1697. On the resumption of the war in 1702, Blackadder, who had previously obtained his captain's commission, served with his old regiment in the campaigns of Marlborough. In December 1705 he was promoted major, and in October 1709 raised to the command of the regiment. Shortly before the peace of Utrecht he sold his commission, and taking up his residence at Edinburgh, and afterwards at Stirling, he occupied much of his attention with ecclesiastical affairs, becoming a member of the Society for Propagating Christianity, and also of the general assembly of the church of Scotland. Upon the news of a rising in the north in 1715 in behalf of the Pretender, he was appointed colonel of the regiment raised by the city of Glasgow, which he posted at the bridge of Stirling to guard against an attack of the highlanders, who, however, were defeated at the battle of Sheriffmuir. In consideration of his services during the rebellion he was, in March 1717, appointed deputy governor of Stirling Castle. He died 31 Aug. 1729, and was buried in the West church of Stirling, where a marble tablet was erected to his memory.
[Life and Diary of Lieut.-col. J. Blackader. ed. Crichton, 1824.]
BLACKADDER, WILLIAM, M.D. (1647–1704), physician to William III, the eldest son of the elder John Blackadder [q. v.], was born in 1647. He was sent to the university of Edinburgh in 1665, and he graduated in medicine at Leyden in 1680. Having in Holland made the acquaintance of some of the principal political refugees of England, he was frequently employed by them in important negotiations. He accompanied the Earl of Argyle in his expedition to Scotland in 1685, and having, along with Spence, the earl's secretary, put ashore at Orkney to obtain information regarding the sentiments of the people, he was apprehended and sent for examination to Edinburgh. After landing at Leith he succeeded by signs in communicating to his sister, who had joined the crowd, the necessity of burning some papers amongst the luggage forwarded to his lodgings. A search therefore revealed nothing of a compromising character: but he was retained in prison for more than a year until, through a clever device of his brother, he obtained writing materials, and sent a letter to Fagel, the pensioner of Holland, who represented the case to the British envoy in such a way that King James ordered his liberation. Thereupon he went to Holland, whence, in 1688, he was sent to Edinburgh to carry on secret negotiations on behalf of the Prince of Orange. Having imprudently ventured into the castle, he was seized by order of the governor and committed for trial; but on the news of the landing of the Prince of Orange he was set at liberty. After the revolution he was, in reward of his services, appointed physician to King William. He died about 1704.
[Crichton's Memoirs of Rev. John Blackadder. 2nd ed. pp. 295–301, and Life and Diary of Lieut.-col. J. Blackader. pp. 28-31 ; Wodrow's History of the Church of Scotland, ed. Burns, iv. 231, 285, 313.]
BLACKADER, CUTHBERT (d. 1485), a chieftain of the Scottish border, received his surname and estate from James II in 1452 for his success in repelling the English marauders on the Scottish frontier. By his prowess he earned for himself the title of the 'chieftain of the south.' He and his seven sons who accompanied him on his expeditions were also named, from the darkness of their complexions, the 'Black band of the Blackaders.' When the kingdom was placed in a posture of defence against Edward IV, the Blackaders raised a force of two hundred and seventeen men, and also planted their castle with artillery, and left in it a strong garrison. During the wars of York and Lancaster Cuthbert and his sons took service in England, and fought under the banner of the red rose. In the fatal battle of Bosworth, 22 Aug. 1485, he and three of his sons were slain.
[Crichton's Memoirs of the Rev. John Blackadder (2nd ed. 1826), pp. 2-4.]
