But at eighteen the boy broke loose from the authority of his guardian, and fought bravely both for Charles the First and for Charles the Second.

He was therefore considered by the English as a Cavalier, was well received at Whitehall after the Restoration, and was knighted by the hand of James.

The compliment, however, which was paid to him, on one of his appearances at the English Court, would not have seemed very flattering to a Saxon.

"Take care of your pockets, my lords," cried his Majesty; "here comes the king of the thieves." The loyalty of Lochiel is almost proverbial: but it was very unlike what was called loyalty in England.

In the Records of the Scottish Parliament he was, in the days of Charles the Second, described as a lawless and rebellious man, who held lands masterfully and in high contempt of the royal authority, [330] On one occasion the Sheriff of Invernessshire was directed by King James to hold a court in Lochaber.
Lochiel, jealous of this interference with his own patriarchal despotism, came to the tribunal at the head of four hundred armed Camerons.