"Essentially, the facts presented in the ballad are true; the Scots army was routed at Cromdale and General Montrose did lead an army against the English and defeated them. Unfortunately, the second battle described in the ballad took place 43 years before the first, and General Montrose had been dead for over forty years before the defeat at Cromdale."

Ian's already pointed out that Cromdale and in fact all the battles during the 1689 revolution were Scot against Scot and he is absolutely right. There was no English army in Scotland at that time.

I'm also not sure what battle you are referring to 43 years prior to this though. Montrose did initially campaign against the Royalist English when he was involved in the Scottish Covenanting governement's invasion of northern England. However he later betrayed the Covenanters and became the main Royalist general in Scotland. He could find no support within Scotland until he went north to meet up with an invading Irish army who were joined by various MacDonalds. In between comitting atrocities they won several battles against Scottish government armies until eventually they split up, with some of the Irish and islesmen deciding that killing Campbells in Argyl was their main aim, whilst Montrose rode south with the rest of the army believing many leading Borderers would support him. They didn't and the main Scottish army returned from campaigning in England and routed his army at Philiphaugh massacring the Irish amongst the ranks in the process. Montrose was a fugitive for about a year before fleeing the country. He later tried another invasion this time using German and Dutch troops and was again defeated by the Scottish government army made up of Covenanters and Highlanders, taken back to Edinburgh and executed. I may be mistaken but I know of no battle within Scotland where as a Royalist general Montrose defeated or even faced an English army.

I think it is possible that whover made the original song up mixed up James Graham of Montrose with James Graham of Claverhouse who sparked the 1689 rebellion. Later romanticists nicknamed Claverhouse by the name Bonnie Dundee but in Lowland Scotland at that time he was called Bluidy Clavers (ie Bloody Clavers) because of his position as chief royalist henchman during the Killing Times and general suppression of the Covenanters during the Restoration. When James VII of Scotland was ousted from the English throne the Scottish Estates took advantage of his losing his English power base, named him as a traitor and stripped him off his throne. Claverhouse fled Edinburgh to rally support for James in the Highlands - probably because he knew he was a marked man as soon as James was ousted. The rebel Jacobite army was met by Scottish government troops at Killiecrankie in the first conflict of the 1689 rebellion and although the Jacobites got the better of the battle Claverhouse was killed.