RIDDELLS OF NORMANDY AND ARDNAMURCHAN.
61
Riddell, who was under some apprehenson of his son's situation, opened
it, and having read it, closed it without taking any notice of its contents
more than providing in consequence of it, the assistance of several surgeons
of the first ability. The meeting was fixed, they were both punctual, Mr.
Riddell attended by Captain Topham, of the Horse Grenadiers, and Mr.
Cunningham by Captain Cunningham, of the Sixty-ninth Regiment of Foot.
Eight paces were first measured by the seconds, and then the contending
parties took their ground. They tossed up for the first fire, and Mr.
Riddell won. He then fired, and shot Mr. Cunningham under the
right breast, the ball passing as is supposed through the ribs, and lodging
on the left side near the back. The moment Cunningham received the
shot, he reeled, but did not fall; he opened his waistcoat and declared he
was mortally wounded. Mr. Riddell still remained on his ground, when
Mr. Cunningham, after a pause of two minutes, declared he would not be
taken off the field, till he had fired at his adversary; he then presented
his pistol, and shot Mr. Riddell in the groin, when he immediately fell and
was carried in a coach to Mr. Topham's, where he lingered until seven
o'clock on Thursday morning, and then expired." After four hours' sit-
ting, the coroner's jury brought in a verdict of manslaughter.
THIRTY-SECOND GENERATION.
Sir James-Milles Riddell (5), eldest son of Thomas¹ (5), succeeded
his grandfather. He was Justice of the Peace, and Doctor of Law for the
County of Argyle. He married Mary, daughter of Sir Richard Brooke,
Bart., of Newton Priory, County of Chester, and had issue, of whom
hereafter. Sir James died at Strontian,* in 1861, and was succeeded by his
son, of whom more hereafter.
Campbell-Drummond Riddell (1), second son of Thomas¹ (5), was
born Jan. 9, 1796; married in Ceylon, in April, 1830, Caroline-Stuart,
daughter of the Hon. John-Rodney Stuart, by his wife, Lady Louisa
Stafford, and had issue, of whom hereafter. He was Colonial Secretary
of New South Wales. Died in Feb. 1859, aged 62 years.
Christiana-Drummond Riddell (1), eldest daughter of Thomas³¹ (5),
of whom no particulars.
Mary-Milles-Geva Riddell (1), second daughter of Thomas³¹ (5), of
whom no particulars.
Sarah-Burden Riddell (1), third daughter of Thomas31 (5), was mar-
ried in 1835, to Maj. J. C. Young, of the Seventy-ninth Regiment.
-
STRONTIAN. The residence of Sir James-Milles Riddell, Baronet of Ardnamur-
chan, is surrounded by dressed and planted groves. The neat slated cottages of
the village, substantialy built of granite, and sometimes adorned with parasitic
plants, contrast strongly with some turf huts, with which they are intermingled,
and indicate the neighborhood of a resident proprietor. These cottages were
erected for the use of the miners employed in the celebrated Strontian Mines, and
the huts previously in existence were purged from their offensiveness, and dressed
into comparative beauty; a complete moral change was introduced into the village
by Sir James Riddell and his lady; they insisted on cleanliness in and out of doors,
and as the hand readily obeys the will, the girls soon caught the spirit of the lesson,
and were not only neat and tidy themselves, but carried the same principle into
their fathers' homes. About the date of the Revolution, the manufacture of straw
plait was introduced by the proprietor, as means of useful employment for the
females, and the improvement of the condition of the whole population. There
are considerable lead mines on the estate, but I believe they are not worked at pres-
ent. Strontian is 25 miles in length, by 10 miles in width, and comprises 40,099
acres, inhabited mostly by shepherds, miners, crofters, and farm hands.
