3FJL(D)]RA
London.- Eicitard Bentley.1846.
MEMOIRS
OF
THE JACOBITES
OF 1715 AND 1745.
BY MRS. THOMSON,
AUTHOR OF
MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF HENRY THE EIGHTH,"
MEMOIRS OF SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH," ETC.
VOLUME III.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
jtt m rtJutari) to f^e
1846.
i/f
LON'DON :
Printed by S. & J. HENTLEY, WILSON, and FLEY,
Hangor House, vShoe Lane.
PREFACE.
IN completing this work, I have to repeat my
acknowledgments to those friends and correspondents
to whom I expressed my obligations in the Preface to
the first volume ; and I have the additional pleasure
of recording similar obligations from other channels.
I beg to testify my gratitude to Sir William Max-
well, Bart., of Montreith, for some information regard-
ing the Mthsdale family ; which, I hope, at some
future time, to interweave with my biography of
the Earl of Nithsdale ; and also to Miss Charlotte
Maxwell, the sister of Sir William Maxwell, whose
enthusiasm for the subject of the Jacobites is proved
by the interesting collection of Jacobite airs which
she is forming, and which will be very acceptable
to all who can appreciate poetry and song.
iv PREFACE.
To Sir John Maxwell, Bart., of Pollock, and to
Lady Matilda Maxwell, I offer my best thanks for
their prompt and valued suggestions on the same
subject.
I owe much to the courtesy and great intelli-
gence of Mrs. Howison Craufurd, of Craufurdland
Castle, Ayrshire : I have derived considerable assist-
ance from that lady in the life of the Earl of Kilmar-
nock, and have, through her aid, been enabled to give
to the public several letters never before published.
For original information regarding the Derwent-
water family, and for a degree of zeal, combined
with accurate knowledge, I must here express my
cordial thanks to the Hon. Mrs. Douglass, to whose
assistance much of the interest which will be found
in the life of Charles Eadcliffe is justly due.
I have also to acknowledge the kindness of Mons.
Amede'e Pichot, from whose interesting work I have
derived great pleasure and profit; and to Madame
Colmache, for her inquiries in the Biblotheque du Koi,
for original papers relating to the subject. To W.
E. Aytoun, Esq., of Edinburgh, I beg also to express
my acknowledgments for his aid in supplying me
with some curious information regarding the Duke
of Perth. The kindness with which my researches,
in every direction, have been met, has added to my
PREFACE. V
task a degree of gratification, which now causes its
close to be regarded with something almost like
regret.
One advantage to be gained by the late publication
of this third volume, is the criticism of friends on the
two former ones. Amid many errors, I have been
admonished, by my kind adviser and critic, Charles
Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Esq., of having erred in accept-
ing the common authorities in regard to the cele-
brated and unfortunate Lady Grange. Whatever
were the sorrows of that lady, her faults and the
provocation she gave to her irritated husband, were,
it appears, fully equal to her misfortunes. Since the
story of Lady Grange is not strictly connected with
my subject, I have only referred to it incidentally.
At some future time, the singular narrative of her
fate may afford me a subject of further investiga-
tion.
I beg to correct a mistake into which I had fallen,
in the first volume, respecting those letters relating
to the Earl of Mar, for which I am indebted, to
Alexander Macdonald, Esq. These, a distinct collec-
tion from that with which I was favoured by James
Gibson Craig, Esq., were copied about twelve years
ago, from the papers then in the possession of Lady
Frances Erskine. They have since passed into the
possession of the present Earl of Mar.
vi PREFACE.
An interesting letter in the Appendix of this work,
will be found relative to the social state of the Cheva-
lier St. George, at Eome. For permission to publish
this I am indebted to the valued friendship of my
brother-in-law, Samuel Coltman, Esq., in whose pos-
session it is, having been bequeathed, with other
MSS. to his mother, by the well-known Joseph Spence,
author of the " Anecdotes," and of other works.
LONDON,
28th Marc/i, 1846.
CONTENTS
OF
THE THIRD VOLUME.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY
JAMES DRUMMOND, DUKE OF PERTH
FLORA MACDONALD
WILLIAM BOYD, EARL OP KILMARNOCK
CHARLES RADCLIFFE
1
226
294
381
480
With Portraits of Flora Macdonald, Prince Charles, and
Lord Balmerino.
MEMOIRS OF THE JACOBITES.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
THIS celebrated adherent of the Chevalier was born
in the year 1705. He was the fifth son of John Duke
of Atholl, and the younger brother of that Marquis of
Tullibardine, whose biography has been already given.
The family of Atholl had attained a degree of
power and influence in Scotland, which almost raised
them out of the character of subjects. It was by con-
summate prudence, not unattended with a certain
portion of time-serving, that, until the period 1715,
the high position which these great nobles held had
been in seasons of political difficulty preserved. Their
/ political principles were those of indefeasible right arid
/ hereditary monarchy. John, first Marquis of Atholl,
the father of Lord George Murray, married Amelia
Stanley, daughter of Charlotte De la Tremouille,
Countess of Derby, whose princely extraction, to
borrow a phrase of high value in genealogical his-
tories, was the least of her merits. This celebrated
woman was remarkable for the virtue and piety of
her ordinary life ; and, when the season of trial
VOL. III. B
2 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
and adversity called it forth, she displayed the
heroism which becomes the hour of adversity. Her
well-known defence of Latham House in 1644 from
the assaults of the Parliamentarian forces, and her
protracted maintenance of the Isle of Man, the last
place in the English dominions that submitted to
the Parliament, were followed by a long and patient
endurance of penury and imprisonment.
The Marquis of Atholl was consistent in that ad-
herence to the Stuarts which the family of his wife had
professed. He advocated the succession of James the
Second, and was rewarded with the royal confidence.
Indeed, such was the partiality of the King towards
him, that had the Marquis " in this sale of favour," as
an old writer expresses it, " not been firm and inflex-
ible in the point of his religion, which he could not
sacrifice to the pleasure of any mortal, he might have
been the first minister for Scotland." After the
Kevolution, the Marquis retired into the country, and
relinquished all public business; thus signifying his
opinion of that event.
He bequeathed to his son, John second Marquis of
Atholl, and the father of Lord George Murray, as
great a share of prosperity and as many sources of
self-exultation as ordinarily fall to the lot of one
man. To the blood of the Murrays, the marriage
with Lady Amelia Stanley had added a connection
in kindred with the Houses of Bourbon and Austria,
with the Kings of Spain and Duke of Savoy, the
Prince of Orange, and most of the crowned heads
in Europe. Upon the extinction of the descend-
* Nisbet's Heraldry, part iii. p. 205.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 3
ants of John the seventh Earl of Derby, commonly
called the loyal Earl of Derby, and of his wife Charlotte
De La Tremouille, " all that great and uncommon
race of royal and illustrious blood," as it has been
entitled, centred in the descendants of the Marquis
of Atholl. In 1726, the barony of Strange devolved
upon the Duke of Atholl; and the principality of the
Isle of Man was also bequeathed to the same House by
William ninth Earl of Derby. This was the accession
of a later period, but was the consequence of that
great and honourable alliance of which the family of
Atholl might justly boast.
The father of Lord George Murray adopted every
precaution, as we have seen,* to preserve the acquisi-
tions of dignity and fortune which the lapse of years
had added to his patrimonial possessions. Sixteen
coats of arms, eight on the paternal side, and eight
on the maternal side, had composed the escutcheon of
his father, John Marquis of Atholl. Among those
great names on the maternal side, which graced a fune-
ral escutcheon, which has been deemed the pattern
and model of perfect dignity, and the perfection of
ducal grandeur, was the name of the Prince of Orange.f
This plea of kindred was not thrown away upon the
Marquis of Atholl ; he declared himself for .King Wil-
liam, and entered early into the Revolution. For
this service he was rewarded with the office of High
Commissioner to represent his Majesty in the Scottish
parliament. But subsequent events broke up this
compact, and destroyed all the cordiality which sub-
* In the Life of the Marquis of Tullibardine, vol. i.
t See Nisbet's Heraldry.
B 2
4 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
sisted between William and the head of the House of
Atholl. The refusal of the King to own the African
Company was, it is said, the reason why the Marquis
withdrew himself from Court, and remained at a dis-
tance from it during the lifetime of William.
The accession of Anne brought, at first, fresh
honours to this powerful Scottish nobleman He was
created in 1704 a Duke, and was made Privy Seal:
but the politics of the Court party changed ; the Duke
of Atholl was dismissed from the Ministry, and he
became henceforth a warm opponent of all the Govern-
ment measures. He spoke with boldness, yet discre-
tion, against the Union; and protested against a
measure which, as he conceived, gave up all the dig-
nity and antiquity of the kingdom.
During his proud career, a marriage with Kathe-
rine, the daughter of William Duke of Hamilton, a
lady of great prudence, and of eminent piety and
virtue, added to the high consideration of the Duke of
Atholl. Of this nobleman, certain historians have left
the highest character. " He was," says Nisbet, "of great
parts, but far greater virtues ; of a lively apprehen-
sion, a clear and ready judgment, a copious eloquence,
and of a very considerable degree of good understand-
ing/'* It is difficult to reconcile this description
with the intrigues and bitterness which characterise
the Duke of Atholl, in Lovat's narrative of their
rivalry ; nor would it be easy to reconcile the public
report of many men with the details of their pri-
vate failings. That, however, which has impugned
the consistency and sincerity of the Duke of Atholl
* Nisbet's Heraldry, part iii. p. 206.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 5
far more than the representations of Lovat, is the
belief that, whilst his feelings were engaged in one
cause, his professions were loud in upholding the other ;
that he was double and self-interested; and that he
saved his vast estates from forfeiture by an act of
policy which might, in some bearings, be regarded as
duplicity, in proof of which it is asserted, that, whilst
he pretended to condemn the conduct of his eldest son
in joining the Rebellion of 1715, he was the chief in-
stigator of that step.* Such was the father to whom
Lord George Murray owed his birth.
During the unbroken prosperity of his House, the
future General of the Jacobite army was born. He
was the fifth son of eight children, borne by the first
Duchess of Atholl, and was born in the year 1705.
Of these, John the eldest, and presumptive heir to the
dukedom, had been killed at the battle of Mons, or
Malplaquet, in 1709. He was a youth of great pro-
mise, and his death was a source of deep lamentation
to his father; a sorrow which subsequent events did
not, perhaps, tend to alleviate. William, Marquis of
Tullibardine, was therefore regarded as the next heir
to all the vast possessions and ancestral dignities of
his House. His faithful adherence to the Chevalier
St. George, and the part which he adopted in the Re-
bellion of 1715, produced a revolution in the affairs of
his family, which, one may suppose, could not be ef-
fected without some delicacy, and considerable distress.
In 1716 the Marquis of Tullibardine was attainted
by an act passed in the first year of George the First ;
* See a MS. Account of the Highlands of Scotland, British Museum,
King's Library.
6 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
and by a bill, which was passed in the House of Com-
mons relating to the forfeited estates, all these estates
were vested in his Majesty from and after the twenty-
fourth of January 1715.* Upon this bill being passed,
the Duke of Atholl, who had been residing for many
years with the splendour and state of a prince at his
Castle at Blair Atholl, journeyed to London, and, be-
ing graciously received by George the First, he laid
his case before that monarch, representing the un-
happy circumstances of his son, and pointing out what
effect and influence this might have, in the event of his
own death, on the succession of his family, if his estate
and honour were not vested in law upon his second son,
Lord James Murray, who had performed very signal
service to his Majesty in the late rebellion. This peti-
tion was received, and a bill was brought into par-
liament for vesting the honours of John Duke of Atholl
in James Murray, Esq., commonly called Lord James
Murray ; and, as a reward of his steady loyalty, a law
was passed, enacting that the act of attainder against
William Marquis of Tullibardine should not be con-
strued to extend to Lord James Murray or his issue.
In consequence of this bill, on the death of the Duke of
Atholl, in 1724, Lord James Murray succeeded to all
those honours and estates, which had thus been pre-
served through the prudence of his father, and the
clemency or policy of the King.
In this divided House was Lord George Murray
reared. It soon appeared that he possessed the deci-
sion and lofty courage of his ancestry ; and that his
* " Case of the Forfeited Estates, in a letter to a certain noble Lord.
London, 1718."
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 7
early predilections, in which probably his father se-
cretly coincided, were all in favour of the Stuarts, and
that no considerations of self-interest could draw him
from that adherence.
The events of 1715 occurring when Lord George
Murray was only ten years of age, his first active ex-
ertions in the cause of the Stuarts did not take place
until a later period. In the interim, the youth, who
afterwards distinguished himself so greatly, served his
first apprenticeship to arms in the British forces in
Flanders. In 1719, when only fourteen years of age,
a fresh plan of invasion being formed by Spain, and
the Marquis of Tullibardine having again ventured to
join in the enterprise, Lord George showed plainly his
attachment to the Jacobite cause. He came over with
the Marquis, with a small handful of Spaniards, and
was wounded at the battle of Glenshiels on the tenth
of June. Of his fate after that event, the following
account has been given by Wodrow,* who prefaces his
statement with a congratulatory remark that several of
the Jacobites were by their sufferings converted from
their error. " At Glenshiels," he writes, referring to
Lord George Murray, " he escaped, and with a servant
got away among the Highland mountains, and lurked
in a hut made for themselves for some months, and
saw nobody. It was a happy Providence that either
he or his servant had a Bible, and no other books.
For want of other business, he carefully read that neg-
lected book, and the Lord blessed it with his present
hard circumstances to him. Now he begins to appear
abroad, and it is said is soon to be pardoned ; and he
* Wodrow's Analecta, vol. iii. p. 232.
8 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
is highly commended not only for a serious convert
from Jacobitism, but for a good Christian, and a
youth of excellent parts, hopes, and expectations."
It appears, however, that Lord George, however he
might be changed in his opinions, did not consider
himself safe in Scotland. He fled to the Continent,
and entered the service of Sardinia, then, in con-
sequence of the quadruple alliance, allotted to the pos-
sessions of the Duke of Savoy.
Meantime, through the influence of his family, and,
perhaps, on the plea of his extreme youth when he
had engaged in the battle of Glenshiels, a pardon was
obtained for the young soldier. His father, as is re-
lated in the manuscript account of the Highlands be-
fore quoted, "had found it his interest to change
sides at the accession of George the First." His second
brother, as he was now called, James Murray, or Mar-
quis of Tullibardine, was a zealous supporter of the
Hanoverian Government, although it proved no easy
matter to engage his Clan in the same cause.
During many succeeding years, while Lord George
Murray was serving abroad, cultivating those military
acquirements which afterwards, whilst they failed to
redeem his party from ruin, extorted the admiration of
every competent judge, the progress of events was
gradually working its way towards a second great at-
tempt to restore the Stuarts.
Notwithstanding the apparent tranquillity of the
Chevalier St. George, he had been continually though
cautiously maintaining, during his residence at Albano,
as friendly an intercourse with the English visitors to
Rome as circumstances would permit. Most young
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 9
men of family and condition travelled, during the time
of peace, in Italy ; many were thus the opportunities
which occurred of conciliating these youthful scions
of great and influential families. As one instance of
this fact, the account given by Joseph Spence, the
author of the " Anecdotes" and of " Polymetis," affords
a curious picture of the eagerness evinced by James
and his wife, during the infancy of their son, to in-
graft his infant image on the memory, and affections
of the English. Mr. Spence visited Rome while
Charles Edward was yet in his cradle. He was ex-
pressly enjoined by his father, before his departure
from England, on no account to be introduced to the
Chevalier. Yet such were the advances made to him,
as his own letter* will show, that it was almost im-
possible for him to resist the overture : and similar
overtures were made to almost every Englishman of
family or note who visited Rome at that period.
In addition to these efforts, a continual correspond-
ence was maintained between James and his Scottish
adherents. The Chevalier's greatest accomplishment
was his art of writing letters ; and he appears emi-
nently to have excelled in that power of conciliation
which was so essential in his circumstance.
Meantime Charles grew up, justifying, as he in-
creased in stature, and as his disposition revealed
itself, the most ardent expectations of those who
wished well to his cause. One failing he very early
evinced ; that remarkable devotion to certain fa-
* See Appendix, No. I. for a curious original letter from Mr. Spence ;
for this document I am indebted to my brother-in-law, Samuel Coltman,
Esq. It was in the possession of his mother.
10 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
vourites which marked the conduct of his ancestors ;
and the partiality was more commonly built upon the
adulation bestowed by those favourites than founded
in reason.
It was in the year 1741 that the royal youth,
then scarcely nineteen years of age, became acquainted
with a man whose qualities of mind, and attractions
of manner, exercised a very considerable influence over
his destiny ; and whose character, pliant, yet bitter,
intriguing and perfidious, came afterwards into a pain-
ful collision with the haughty overbearing temper, and
manly sincerity, of Lord George Murray.
It was in consequence of the practice adopted by
some of the hangers-on of the Chevalier's court,
of luring young English or Scottish strangers to its
circles, that John Murray of Broughton, afterwards
Secretary to Prince Charles, was first introduced to
the young Chevalier. Murray was the son of Sir
David Murray, Bart., by his second wife, a daughter
of Sir David Scott of Ancrum : he was at this time
only twenty-three years of age, and he had lately
completed his studies at Edinburgh, where he had
gone through a course of philosophy, and studied the
civil and municipal laws. The report which pre-
vailed that Mr. Murray had been educated with the
young Chevalier was untrue ; it was by the desire of
his mother, Lady Murray, that he first, in 1741,
visited both France and Italy, and perfected himself
in the language of those countries, then by no means
generally attained by Scotchmen.
Mr. Murray had been brought up in the principles
of the Episcopal Church, and therefore there was
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 11
less reason, than there would have been in the case of
a Eoman Catholic, to apprehend his being beguiled
into an intimate connection with the exiled Stuarts.
He had not, however, been long in Rome before he
was asked by an acquaintance whether he had seen
the Santi Apostoli, as the palace of the Chevalier was
called. On answering in the negative, he was assured
that, through a knowledge of some of the servants,
a sight might be obtained of the palace; and also of
the Protestant chapel, in which, as Mr. Murray heard
with great surprise, the Chevalier allowed service to be
performed for such of the retinue of the young Prince
as were of the Protestant persuasion. It was also al-
leged that this indulgence was with the cognizance of
the Pope, who, in order to remove the barrier which
prevented the Stuarts from enjoying the crown of Eng-
land, was willing to allow Charles Edward to be brought
up as a Protestant. This assertion was further con-
firmed by the fact, that the noblemen, Lord Inverness
and Lord Dunbar, who had the charge of Charles
Edward, were both Protestants ; a choice on the part of
James which had produced all that contention between
himself and the Princess Clementina, with the details
of which the Courts of Europe were entertained.
The family and retinue of the Chevalier St. George
being then at Albano, Mr. Murray was able to
gratify his curiosity, and to inspect the chapel, which
had neither crucifix, confessional, nor picture in it,
only an altar, and was not to be distinguished from
an English chapel ; and here English divines officiated.
Here, it is said, whilst at his devotions, a slight
accident occurred, which nourished a belief in presages
12 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
in the mind of Charles Edward. A small piece of the
ceiling, ornamented with flowers in fretwork, fell into
his lap ; it was discovered to be a thistle : soon after-
wards, another of these ornaments became detached,
and fell also into his lap ; this proved to be a rose.
Such omens, coupled with the star of great magni-
tude which astronomers asserted to have appeared
at his nativity, were, it was thought, not without their
effect on the hopes and conduct of the young Prince.
One can hardly, however, do him so much injustice
as to suppose that such could be the case.
Mr. Murray expressed, it is affirmed, a considerable
degree of curiosity to see the Chevalier and his two sons,
who were both highly extolled for their natural gifts
and graces ; the wish was communicated, and, acting
upon the principle of attracting all comers to the Court,
was soon realised : a page was sent, intimating that
Mr. Murray's attendance would be well received, and
he was, by an order from the Chevalier, graciously ad-
mitted to kiss hands. Such was the commencement
of that acquaintance which afterwards proved so fatal
to the interests of Prince Charles, and so disgraceful
to the cause of the Jacobites. Such was the intro-
duction of the young Prince to the man who subse-
quently betrayed his companions in misfortune. This
step was shortly followed by an intimacy which, proba-
bly in the commencement, was grounded upon mutual
good- will. Men become perfidious by slow degrees ;
and perform actions, as they advance in life, which
they would blush to reflect on in the day-dawn of
their honest youth.
This account is, however, derived from the state-
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 13
ments of an anonymous writer, evidently an apologist
for the errors of Mr. Murray,* and is contradicted so
far as the sudden conversion of the young Scotchman
to the cause of the Stuarts, by the fact that he had
all his life been a violent Jacobite.f On the other
hand, it is alleged by Mr. Murray's champion, that
his feelings and affections, rather than his reason, were
quickly engaged in the cause of the Chevalier, from
his opportunities of knowing intimately the personal
qualities of the two royal brothers, Charles Edward
and Henry Benedict. He was, moreover, independent
of circumstances ; being in the enjoyment of a fortune
of three or four hundred a year, which was considered
a sufficient independence for a younger brother, and
therefore interest, it is alleged, could not have been an
inducement to his actions.
Whether from real admiration, or from a wish to
disseminate in Scotland a favourable impression of the
Stuart Princes, it is difficult to decide ; but Mr.
Murray, in 1742, dispatched to a lady in Scotland,
who had requested him to describe personages of so
great interest to the Jacobites, the following, perhaps,
not exaggerated portrait of what Charles Edward was
in the days of his youth, and before he had left the
mild influence of his father's house.
" Charles Edward, the eldest son of the Chevalier de
St. George is tall, above the common stature; his
limbs are cast in the exact mould, his complexion has
in it somewhat of an uncommon delicacy; all his
features are perfectly regular, well turned, and his
* "Genuine Memoirs of John Murray, Esq. London, 1746."
t " Maxwell of Kirkconnel's Narrative," p. 4.
14 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
eyes the finest I ever saw ; but that which shines most
in him, and renders him without exception the most
surprisingly handsome person of the age, is the dig-
nity that accompanies his every gesture; there is, in-
deed, such an unspeakable majesty diffused throughout
his whole mien and air, as it is impossible to have any
idea of without seeing, and strikes those that do with
such an awe, as will not suffer them to look upon him
for any time, unless he emboldens them to it by his
excessive affability.
" Thus much, madam, as to the person of this Prince.
His mind, by all I can judge of it, is no less worthy of
admiration; he seems to me, and I find to all who
know him, to have all the good nature of the Stuart
family blended with the spirit of the Sobieskys. He
is, at least as far as I am capable of seeing into men,
equally qualified to preside in peace and war. As for
his learning, it is extensive beyond what could be
expected from double the number of his years. He
speaks most of the European languages with the same
ease and fluency as if each of them were the only one
he knew; is a perfect master of all the different kinds
of Latin, understands Greek very well, and is not al-
together ignorant of Hebrew ; history and philosophy
are his darling entertainments, in both which he is
well versed ; the one he says will instruct him how to
govern others, and the other how to govern himself ,
whether in prosperous or adverse fortune. Then for
his courage, that was sufficiently proved at the siege
of Gaita, where though scarcely arrived at the age of
fifteen, he performed such things as in attempting
made his friends and his enemies alike tremble, though
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 15
for different motives. What he is ordained for, we
must leave to the Almighty, who alone disposes all ;
but he appears to be born and endowed for something
very extraordinary."" 5
It was not long before Mr. Murray perceived that,
although James Stuart had given up all hopes of the
English crown for himself, he still cherished a desire
of regaining it for his son. Scotland was of course
the object of all future attempts, according to the old
proverb :
" He that would England win,
Must with Scotland first begin."
The project of an invasion, if not suggested by Mur-
ray, as has been stated, was soon communicated to
him; and his credit attained to such an extent, that
he was appointed by the Chevalier, at the request of
Prince Charles, to be secretary for Scottish affairs. At
the latter end of the year 1742 he was sent to Paris,
where he found an emissary of the Stuarts, Mr. Kelly,
who was negotiating in their behalf at the Court of
France. Here Murray communicated with Cardinal
Tencin, the successor of Cardinal Fleury, in the manage-
ment of the affairs of the Chevalier, and here he met the
exiled Marquis of Tullibardine, who, notwithstanding
his losses and misfortunes in the year 1715, was still
sanguine of ultimate success. Here, too, was the unfor-
tunate Charles Eadcliffe, who, with others once opu-
lent, once independent, were now forced to submit to
receive, with many indignities in the payment, pen-
sions from the French Government. It was easy to
inflame the minds of persons so situated with false
* Life of James Murray, Esq.
16 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
hopes ; and Murray is said to have been indefatigable
in the prosecution of his scheme. After a delay of
three weeks in Paris, he set off on that memorable un-
dertaking to engage the Clans, which ultimately ended
in the insurrection of 1745.
Lord George Murray, meantime, had returned to his
native country, where he was presented to George the
Second, and solicited, but ineffectually, a commission
in the British army. This was refused, and the ar-
dour in the Stuart cause, which we may presume to
have wavered, again revived in its original vigour.
Previous to the Insurrection of 1745, Lord George
Murray married Amelia, the only surviving child and
heiress of James Murray of Glencarse and Strowan,
a lady who appears, both from the terms of affection
and respect expressed towards her by the Marquis of
Tullibardine, and from the tenour of her own letters,
to have coincided warmly in the efforts of her husband
for the restoration of the Stuarts.* Five children were
the issue of this marriage.
The course which public affairs were now taking
checked, however, completely all hopes of domestic fe-
licity. After several unsuccessful negotiations in Paris
attempted by the agents of James Stuart, and in Lon-
don by Lord Elcho, the scheme of invasion languished
for some time. Whilst all was apparently secure, how-
ever, the metropolis was the scene of secret cabals and
meetings of the Jacobites, sometimes at one place, some-
times at another ; but unhappily for their cause, the
party generally wanted compactness and discretion.
" The little Jacobites," as those who were not in the
* See Atholl Correspondence. Printed for the Abbotsford Club.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 17
secret of these manoeuvres were called, began to flatter
themselves that a large army would land in England
from France that summer. Nor was it the policy of Go-
vernment to check these reports, which strengthened
the hands of the ministry, and procured a grant of the
supplies with alacrity. The Jacobites, meantime, ran
from house to house, intoxicated with their anticipated
triumphs; and such chance of success as there might
be was thus rendered abortive.
The year 1743 ended, however; and the visions of
the Jacobites vanished into air. Donald Cameron of
Lochiel, the elder, who visited Paris for the purpose of
ascertaining what were the real intentions of the French
cabinet, found that even the Cardinal Tencin did not
think it yet time for the attempt, and he returned to
Scotland disheartened. The death of the Cardinal
Fleury in 1743 added to the discomfiture of his hopes. *
Above all, the reluctance of the English Jacobites to
pledge themselves to the same assurances that had been
given by the Scotch, and their shyness in conversing
with the people who were sent from France or Scotland
on the subject, perplexed the emissaries who arrived
in this country, and offered but a faint hope of their
assistance from England.
But, in the ensuing year, the affairs of the Jaco-
bites brightened; France, which had suspended her
favours, once more encouraged and flattered the
party. A messenger was dispatched to the palace of
Albano, to acquaint the Chevalier that the day was
now arrived when his views might be expected to
prosper; whilst at the same time the utmost pains
* Home, p. 31.
VOL. III. C
18 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
were taken by the French Government to appear to
the English averse to the pretensions of James Stuart.
It affords, indeed, another trait of the unfortunate
tendency of the Stuart family to repose a misplaced
confidence, that they should have relied on professions
so hollow and so vague as those of France. But the
dependent and desolate situation of that Prince may
well be supposed to have blinded a judgment not
ripened by any active participation in the general
business of life, and narrowed within his little Court.
Besides, there remained some who, after the conflict at
Culloden was over, could even view the enterprise as
having been by no means unauspicious. " Upon the
whole/' writes Maxwell of Kirkconnel, " the conjunc-
ture seemed favourable ; and it is not to be wondered
that a young Prince, naturally brave, should readily lay
hold of it. There was a prospect of recalling his father
from an exile nearly as long as his life, saving his
country from impending ruin, and restoring both to
the enjoyment of their rights." *
Great preparations were in fact actually made by
the French Government for the invasion of Great
Britain. The young Prince, who was forthwith sum-
moned from Eome, was to land in the Highlands
and head the Clans; Lord John Drummond, it was
arranged, should make a descent on the southern part
of the island, and endeavour to join the young Cheva-
lier, and march towards Edinburgh. Twelve thousand
French were to pour into Wales at the same time,
under the command of a general who was never named,
and to join such English insurgents as should rally to
their assistance.
* Narrative, p. 1.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 19
This scheme, had it been executed with promptness,
might perhaps have prospered better than, in these
later times, in the security of an undisturbed succes-
sion, we are inclined to allow. General discontents
prevailed in England. The partiality which had been
shown to the Hanoverian troops in preference to the
English at the battle of Dettingen had irritated, if
not alienated, the affections of the army. The King
and the Duke of Cumberland were abroad, and a small
number of ships only guarded the coast. Parliament
was not sitting ; and most of the members both of the
Lords and Commons, and of the Privy Council, were
at their country-seats. But the proper moment for
the enterprise was lost by delays, and the same op-
portunity never again occurred.
Meantime, the young Prince who was to influence the
destiny of so many brave men, accompanied by his bro-
ther, left Rome furtively, under pretext of going to hunt
at Cisterna. A tender affection,cemented by their ad-
versities, existed between James Stuart and his sons.
As they parted from each other with tears and em-
bracings, the gallant Charles Edward exclaimed, " I go
to claim your right to three crowns : If I fail," he added
earnestly, " your next sight of me, sir, shall be in my
coffin !" " My son," exclaimed the Chevalier, "Heaven
forbid that all the crowns in the world should rob me
of my child !""* Mr. Murray of Broughton was pre-
sent at this interview; the prelude to disasters and
dangers to the ardent young man, and of anxieties
and disappointments to his father, feelingly depicted
in the Chevalier's touching letters to his children. f
* Life of John Murray, Esq., p. 22.
f See Stuart Papers, in Dr. Brown's History of the Highlands.
20 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
By a stratagem the young Prince effected his jour-
ney from Rome without its Jbecoming known, and
eleven days after his departure from that city elapsed
before it was made public. He was accompanied by
Henry Benedict, who was at this time a youth of great
promise. He is described as having had, as well as his
brother, a very fine person, though somewhat shorter
in stature than that ill-fated young man, and of a less
delicate complexion. He seems to have been, perhaps,
better constituted for the career of difficulty which
Charles Edward encountered. He was of a robust
form, with an unusual fire in his eyes. Whilst his
brother united the different qualities of the Stuart
and the Sobieski, Henry Benedict is said to have
been more entirely actuated by the spirit of his great
ancestor, King John of Poland; by whom, and the
handful of Christians whom he headed, a hundred
and fifty thousand Turks were defeated. Even when
only nine years of age, the high-spirited boy, whose
martial qualities were afterwards subdued beneath
the taming influence of a Cardinal's hat, resented the
refusal of his father to allow him to accompany his
brother to assist the young King of Naples in the
recovery of his dominions ; and could only be pacified
by the threat of having his garter, the beloved in-
signia of English knighthood, taken from him as well
as his sword.""
* Life of J. Murray, Esq., p. 11.
* This disposition, observes a modern Historian, was inherited both
by Charles Edward and his brother from their mother, the Princess
Clementina, who devoted herself, during the years of their infancy, to
their welfare with unceasing care. Histoire de Charles Edouard, par
Amede'e Pichot ; tome premiere, p. 265.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 21
It soon became evident that the designs of France
were not unknown at St. James's. The celebrated
Chauvelin, Secretary of State to Louis the Fifteenth,
had long been employing his influence over the Car-
dinal Fleury to counteract the wishes of the English.
By a slight accident his designs were disclosed to Queen
Caroline. Chauvelin had, unintentionally, among
other papers, put into the hands of the Earl of
Waldegrave, then ambassador in France, a letter
from the Chevalier. Lord Waldegrave immediately
sent it to Queen Caroline. This involved a long
correspondence between Sir Kobert Walpole and
Waldegrave on the subject. " Jacobitism," to bor-
row the language of Dr. Cox, " at this time pro-
duced a tremor through every nerve of Govern-
ment; and the slightest incident that discovered
any intercourse between the Pretender and France
occasioned the most serious apprehensions." * The
spirit of insurrection and discontent had long pervaded
not only the capital, which was disturbed by frequent
tumults, but the country; and the murder of Por-
teous in Edinburgh, in 1736, was proved only to
be the result of a regular systematic plan of resistance
to the Government.!
The death of Queen Caroline deprived the op-
pressed Jacobites in both kingdoms of their only
friend at Court. The unfortunate of all modes of
faith met, indeed, with protection and beneficence from
that excellent Princess. Those Eoman Catholics,
whose zeal for the Stuart cause had exposed them to
the rigour of the law, were succoured by her bounty ;
* Life of Sir Robert Walpole, vol. ii. p. 490. f Ibid. p. 492.
22 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
large sums were sent by her to the indigent and ruined
Jacobite families ; and Sir Eobert Walpole, who was
greatly disturbed at this show of mercy to the delin-
quent party, truly exclaimed, "that the Jacobites had
a ready access to the Queen by the backstairs, and that
all attempts to suppress them would be ineffectual."'""
The last efforts of Walpole, then Lord Orford, were
exerted to warn the country of the danger to be feared
in that second invasion, for prognosticating which he
had so often been severely ridiculed. He alluded to
" the greatest power in Europe, which was setting up
a Pretender to the throne; the winds alone having
hindered an invasion and protected Britain." He
warned the Lords, that the rebellion which he antici-
pated would be "fought on British ground." The
memorable oration in which he unfolded these sen-
timents, which were delivered with great emotion,
touched the heart of Frederic Prince of Wales;
who arose, quitted his seat, and, taking Lord Orford
by the hand, expressed his acknowledgments.! That
warning was the last effort of one sinking under
an excruciating disease, and to whose memory the
tragedy of 1715 must still have been present.
Charles Edward, to whose ill-omened attempts to
sail from Dunkirk, Walpole had thus alluded, had
borne that disastrous endeavour with a fortitude
which augured well for his future powers of endur-
ance. Mr. Max well J thus describes his commence-
* Life of Sir Robert Walpole, vol. ii. p. 550.
+ The Prince took off at the same time the interdict which had
passed against any of Lord Orford's family appearing at his Court.
Maxwell's Narrative, p. 13.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 23
ment of the voyage. " Most of the troops," he says,
" were already embarked, when a furious storm dis-
persed the ships of war, and drove the transports
on the coast : the troops already embarked were
glad to gain the shore, having lost some of their
number. It is hardly possible to conceive a greater
disappointment than that which the Prince met
with on this occasion. How severely soever he
might feel it, he did not seem dejected; on the
contrary, he was in appearance cheerful and easy;
encouraged such of his friends as seemed most deeply
aifected, telling them Providence would furnish him
with other occasions of delivering his father's subjects,
and making them happy. Immediately after this dis-
aster the expedition was given up, and the Prince re-
turned to Paris, where he lived incognito till he set
out for Scotland. Not long after his return to Paris,
war was declared betwixt France and England, which
gave him fresh hopes that something would be un-
dertaken. But after several months, seeing no ap-
pearance, he grew very impatient, and began to think
of trying his fortune with such friends as would follow
him : he was sick of the obscure way he was in ; he
thought himself neglected by the court of France, but
could not bear the thoughts of returning to Rome.
He had heard much of the loyalty and bravery of the
Scotch Highlanders ; but the number of those Clans
he could depend upon was too inconsiderable to do any-
thing effectual. While he was thus perplexed and
fluctuating, John Murray of Broughton arrived from
Scotland/'
In this emergency, the flattering representations of
24 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Murray of Broughton found a ready response in the
young Prince's heart. Notwithstanding the assertions
of that individual in his evidence at Lovat's trial,
that he had used every means to dissuade the Prince
from going to Scotland,* it is expressly stated by Mr.
Maxwell,! that he "advised the Prince, in his own
name, to come to Scotland at any rate; it was his
opinion that the Prince should come as well provided
and attended as possible, but rather come alone than
delay coming ; that those who had invited the Prince,
and promised to join him if he came at the head of
four or five thousand regular troops, would do the
same if he came without any troops at all ; in fine,
that he had a very strong party in Scotland, and
would have a very good chance of succeeding. This
was more than enough to determine the Prince. The
expedition was resolved upon, and Murray despatched
to Scotland with such orders and instructions as were
thought proper at that juncture."
Mr. Murray may therefore be considered as in a
great measure responsible for the event of that pro-
ceeding, which he afterwards denounced as a
" desperate undertaking." He found, unhappily,
ready instruments in the unfortunate Marquis of
Tullibardine, in Mr. EadclifFe, and others, whose fate
he may thus be considered to have hastened by his
alluring representations of the prospects of success.
When it was decided that Charles Edward should
throw himself on the loyalty of the Clans, and intima-
tion was given of the whole scheme, Lord George
Murray prepared for action. The landing of the
* Sec State Trials hy Howell, vol. xviii. p. 661. t Maxwell, p. 14.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 25
Prince, the erection of a standard at Glenfinnin, the
march through Lochiel, and the encampment between
Glengarry and Fort Augustus, were events which he
did not personally aid by his presence. He was, indeed,
busily employed in assembling his father's tenantry ;
and it was not until the Prince arrived at Perth that
Lord George Murray was presented to him; he was
almost immediately created a Lieutenant-General in
the Prince's service. His power in the Highlands
was, indeed, of a far greater extent than that mili-
tary rank would seem to imply; for, although the
Marquis of Tullibardine was the nominal commander
in the North, to Lord George Murray was entrusted
the actual management of affairs; an arrangement
with which the modest and conscientious Tullibardine
willingly complied.
The character of Lord George might be considered
as partly sobered by time; since, at the commence-
ment of the Rebellion of 1745, he was forty years
of age. He was in the full vigour, therefore, of
his great natural and intellectual powers, which, when
at that period of life they have been ripened by ex-
ercise and experience, are perhaps at their zenith.
The person of Lord George was tall and robust ; he
had the self-denial and energy of his countrymen.
He slept little, and entered into every description of
detail ; he was persevering in everything which he
undertook; he was vigilant, active, and diligent. To
these qualities he united a natural genius for military
operations; and his powers were such, that it was
justly thought, that, had he been well instructed in
military tactics, he would have formed one of the
26 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
ablest generals of the day. As it was, the retreat
from Derby, ill-advised as it may be deemed, is said
to have sufficiently manifested his skill as a com-
mander.
In addition to these attributes, Lord George was
brave to the highest degree ; and, in all engagements,
was always the first to rush sword in hand into
danger. As he advanced to the charge, and looked
round upon the Highlanders, whose character he well
understood, it was his practice to say, " I do not ask
you, my lads, to go before ; but only to follow me. 7 '* It
cannot be a matter of surprise, that, with this bold and
resolute spirit, Lord George was the darling of the
Highland soldiers ; and that his strong influence over
their minds should have enabled him to obviate, in some
measure, the deficiencies of discipline. "Taking them,"
as a contemporary writer asserts, " merely as they
came from the plough, he made them perform pro-
digies of valour against English armies, always greatly
superior in number to that of the Prince Charles
Edward, although the English troops are allowed to
be the best in Europe." Thus endowed, Lord George
Murray showed how feeble are the advantages of
birth, compared with those of nature's gift. In rank,
if not in family connections, and in an hereditary hold
upon the affections of his countrymen, the Duke of
Perth might be esteemed superior ; but, brave and
honourable as he was, that amiable nobleman could
never obtain the confidence of the army as a general.
It is not, however, to be supposed that any com-
mander would ever have obtained an influence over a
* Memoirs of the Chevalier Johnstone, p. 19.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 27
Highland army, if he had not added high birth to his
other requisites. The Clansmen were especially aristo-
cratic in their notions ; and the names which they
had honoured and loved from their birth, were alone
those to which they would eagerly respond.
To counterbalance the fine, soldierly characteristics
which graced the lofty and heroic Lord George Mur-
ray, some defects, of too stern a nature to be called
weaknesses, but yet indicative of narrowness of mind,
clouded his excellent qualities. Unlike most great
men, he was not open to conviction. That noble
candour, which can bear counsels, or receive even ad-
monition with gratitude, was not a part of his
haughty nature. A sense of superiority over every
human being rendered him impatient of the slightest
controul, and greedy of exclusive power. He was
imperious and determined; and was deficient in the
courtesy which forms, combined with honesty, so fine
an attribute in a soldier's bearing. " He wanted,"
says one who knew him well, " the sole ordering of
everything."*
At Perth, Lord George Murray met with the
famous Chevalier Johnstone, whom he soon adopted
into his service. This young soldier, whose pen
has supplied memoirs of the Rebellion of 1745, and
upon whose statements much of the reported merits
of Lord George . Murray rests, was the only son of
a merchant in Edinburgh, and the descendant
of an ancient and well-connected family. By the
marriage of his sister he was nearly related to the
House of Eollo ; and, from these and other circum-
* Chevalier Johnstone's Memoirs. Translated from the French,
p. 121.
28 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
stances, he mingled with the best society in his
native city.
Having been educated in Jacobite and Episco-
palian principles, young Johnstone hailed with delight
the arrival of Prince Charles : he resolved instantly
to join his standard. Escaping from Edinburgh, he
hastened to Duncrub, the seat of Lord Kollo, near
Perth. Here he awaited the arrival of the young
Chevalier ; and here he was introduced by his cousins,
the daughters of Lord Rollo, to the Duke of Perth
and to Lord George Murray. The Chevalier John-
stone was one of the first Low-countrymen that joined
the standard of Charles Edward.
Lord George Murray very soon discovered that the
requisites for forming a good soldier and an active
partizan were centred in young Johnstone. For the
former he was qualified by an open and impetuous
character, generally combined with a desperate cou-
rage. The jollity and licence of the Cavalier school,
which characterized Johnstone, did not materially
detract from, but added rather to the popularity of
his character. As a partizan, he has proved his zeal
by his Memoirs, which afford a sample of much heat
and prejudice, and which have, in upholding Lord
George Murray, done an injury to the memory of
Charles Edward, of which the adversaries of his
cause have not failed to take advantage. To many
errors of character, and to some egotism, the Che-
valier Johnstone, as he came to be called in after-
life, united a kind heart and an enthusiastic dispo-
sition. He acted for a considerable time as aide-de-
camp to Lord George Murray, and afterwards in the
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 29
same capacity with the Prince. But his liveliest ad-
miration appears to have been directed towards the
general who has been classed with Montrose and Dun-
dee, * and no subsequent service under other masters
ever effaced his impression of respect and confidence to
Lord George Murray. After the battle of Preston-
Pans, Johnstone received a captain's commission from
the Prince : and, exhausted with his duties as aide-de-
camp, he formed a company, with which he joined the
Duke of Perth's regiment. His history, mingled up
as it is with that of the General under whom he first
served, must necessarily be incorporated with the fol-
lowing narrative.
Lord George Murray continued, for some time, busily
engaged in rallying around him his brother's vassals.
The Duke of Atholl is partly proprietor, partly su-
perior, of the country which bears his name. That
region is inhabited by Stuarts and Eobinsons, none
of the Duke's name living upon his estates. Of
these, several have fiefs or mortgages of the Atholl
family, and command the common people of their re-
spective Clans; but, like other Highlanders, they be-
lieve that they are bound to rise in arms when the
chief of their whole Clan requires it. The vassals on
the Atholl territory were well-affected to the Stuarts,
great pains having been taken by the father of Lord
George Murray, notwithstanding his efforts to appear
loyal to the Government, to infuse the spirit of
Jacobitism among them.f
Of the events which succeeded his joining the
* See Introduction to the Chevalier Johnstone's Memoirs.
t The Highlands of Scotland Described, MS. British Museum, 1748.
30 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Prince's standard at Perth, until the commencement
of the retreat from Derby, Lord George Murray has
left a succinct relation. It is written, as are his let-
ters, in a plain, free, manly style, which dispels all
doubt as to the sincerity of the narrator.
" I joined the standard at Perth,"* he begins, " the
day his Royal Highness arrived there. As I had for-
merly known something of a Highland army, the first
thing I did was to advise the Prince to endeavour to
get proper people for provisors and commissaries, for
otherwise there would be no keeping the men together,
and they would straggle through the whole country
upon their marches if it was left to themselves to find
provisions; which, beside the inconveniency of irre-
gular marches, and much time lost, great abuses
would be committed, which, above all things, we were
to avoid. I got many of the men to make small knap-
sacks of sacking before we left Perth, to carry a peck
of meal each upon occasion ; and I caused take as many
threepenny loaves there as would be three days' bread
to our small army, which was carried in carts. I sent
about a thousand of these knapsacks to Crieff, to meet
the men who were coming from Atholl."
The difficulties which Lord George encountered
were, it is evident, considerable. Upon the arrival of
Charles Edward at Perth, his army amounted only to
two thousand men,f until he was joined by Lord
George Murray, by the Duke of Perth, and by Lord
* See Forbes's Jacobite Memoirs, p. 30.
t One thousand is mentioned by the Chevalier Johnstone ; two
thousand, in other authorities. The Prince himself wrote to his father
(Sept. 10th, from Perth), I have got together 1300 men." Forbes,
note, p. 32.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 31
Nairn, and other persons of distinction.'"" There
were few persons in that army who were capable, by
being versed in military affairs, of giving Lord George
Murray any advice or assistance. The Highland chiefs
possessed the most heroic courage ; but they knew no
other manoeuvre but that of rushing, sword in hand,
upon an enemy. The Irish officers were equally defi-
cient in experience and knowledge ; and, with the excep-
tion of Mr. Sullivan, are stated " to have had no more
knowledge than the whole stock of subalterns, namely,
the knowing how to mount and quit guard." Such is
the description given of the collected forces by John-
stone. But, although not trained as regular soldiers, and
accustomed chiefly to the care of herds of black cattle,
whom they wandered after in the mountains, the High-
landers had a discipline of their own. Their chiefs usu-
ally kept about them several retainers experienced in
the use of arms ; and a meeting of two or three gentlemen
was sure to bring together a little army, for the habits
of the clansmen were essentially military. It was, some
considered, a circumstance favourable to Lord George
Murray, that, being unprepared by an early military
education, he was unfettered by its formal rules, and
therefore was more calculated to lead an undisciplined
army of Highlanders, whose native energies he knew
how to direct better than a skilful tactician would
have ventured to do.f During his stay at Perth, the
Highlanders, so prone to irregularities when not in
active service, were tranquil under the strictest mili-
tary rule.J
* Johnstone's Memoirs, note, p. 11.
f Tales of a Grandfather, 3rd Series, vol. ii, p. 284. t Forbes, p. 31.
32 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
It was here, however, that the first seeds of dissen-
sion were sown between Charles Edward and Lord
George. Sir Thomas Sheridan, the tutor of the
Prince, who was allowed to " have lived and died a
man of honour," but who was manifestly incapable of
the great charge intrusted to him, both in the educa-
tion of the young Princes and as their adviser in after-
life, added to his other deficiencies a total ignorance
of the British constitution and habits of thinking.
The Prince, of course, was equally ill-informed. They
were therefore in the practice, in conversation, of
espousing sentiments of arbitrary power, which were
equally impolitic and unbecoming. Sincere and
shrewd, Lord George Murray lost no time in expressing
to Charles Edward his decided disapproval of this tone
of discourse. His motives in these expostulations
were excellent, but his overbearing manner nullified
all the good that might have been effected. He of-
fended the Prince, who repressed indeed his secret
indignation, but whose pride, fostered by circum-
stances, could ill brook the assumption of his
General/""
It was not until the Prince reached Edinburgh that
a regular Council was formed ; consisting of the Duke
of Perth, Lord George Murray, Lord Elcho, Secretary
Murray, Sir Thomas Sheridan, and Mr. Sullivan, the
Highland chiefs, and afterwards of all the colonels
in the army. But, among the advisers of the Prince,
an " ill-timed emulation," as Mr. Maxwell calls it,
now crept in, and bred great dissension and ani-
mosities. " The dissensions," he states, "began at
* Lord Mahon.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 33
Edinburgh :" according to Sir Walter Scott, they had
an earlier origin, and originated at Perth.
They were aggravated, as in the Council at Perth
in the time of Lord Mar, by the base passions of an
individual. Detesting the weak and crooked policy of
Mar, and viewing from his calm position as an in-
ferior actor, with a fiendish pleasure, the embarrass-
ments and mistakes of him whom he hated, stood the
Master of Sinclair. Blinded by a selfish jealousy of
power over the mind of him whom he afterwards be-
trayed to the ruin which he was working, and " aim-
ing at nothing less than the sole direction and
management of everything, the Secretary Murray
sacrificed to this evil passion, this thirst for ascen-
dancy, all the hopes of prosperity to Charles Edward
all present peace to the harassed and perplexed
young man whom his counsels had brought to Scot-
land. It was he," strongly, and perhaps bitterly,
writes Mr. Maxwell, " that had engaged the Prince to
make this attempt upon so slight a foundation, and
the wonderful success that had hitherto attended it
was placed to his account."
By some the sincerity of Murray's loyalty and good-
faith were even credited. The Duke of Perth, among a
few others, judged of Murray's heart by his own, went
readily into all his schemes, and confirmed the Prince
in the opinion which he had imbibed of his favourite.
After Kelly had left the Prince, Murray contrived to
gain over Sullivan and Sir Thomas Sheridan, and by
that means effectually governed Charles Edward.
The fearless, lofty, honest character of Lord George
Murray alone offered an obstacle to the efforts of the
VOL. III. D
34 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Secretary to obtain, for his own purposes, an entire
controul ; he cherished towards the General that aver-
sion which a mean and servile nature ever feels to
one whose dealings are free from fraiid or deceit. He
also feared him as a rival, and it became his aim to
undermine him, and to lay a plot for the chief stay
and prop of the undertaking. It was naturally to
be supposed that Lord George Murray's age, his high
birth, his experience and influence, and his great
capacity, would have given him an advantage over
his dastardly rival, and have gained the first con-
sideration with the Prince. But Murray of Brough-
ton, unhappily, had acquired an early influence over
the credulous mind of the young adventurer. His
acquaintance beneath the roof of the Santi Apostoli
had secured an unhappy confidence in his fidelity
and worth. He shortly took advantage of the senti-
ments which ought to have ensured the nicest honour,
the most scrupulous truth, in return, to deceive and
to mislead his young master.*
Unfortunately there was one point upon which the
honour of Lord George Murray was to be suspected.
He " was said" to have solicited a commission in the
English army.f Upon this supposed early defection
of Lord George to the Hanoverian party, Murray
grounded his accusations.
" He began by representing Lord George as a
traitor to the Prince; he assured him that he had
* Maxwell, pp. 56, 57; also Tales of a Grandfather, 3rd Series,
vol. ii. p. 285.
f I adopt this expression of Sir Walter Scott in the Tales of a Grand-
father (vol. ii. 3rd Series, p. 205), which seems to imply some doubt on
the subject.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 35
joined on purpose to have an opportunity of delivering
him up to Government. It was hardly possible to
guard against this imposture. The Prince had the
highest opinion of his Secretary's integrity, and knew
little of Lord George Murray. So the calumny had
its full effect. Lord George soon came to know the
suspicion the Prince had of him, and was affected, as
one may easily imagine ; to be sure, nothing could be
more shocking to a man of honour, and one that was
now for the third time venturing his life and fortune
for the royal cause. The Prince was partly unde-
ceived by Lord George's gallant behaviour at the
battle ; and, had Lord George improved that oppor-
tunity, he might perhaps have gained the Prince's
favour, and got the better of the Secretary : but his
haughty and overbearing manner prevented a tho-
rough reconciliation, and seconded the malicious in-
sinuations of his rival."
Another anecdote is related, on the authority of
Murray of Broughton : On the tenth of October the
Chevalier issued a manifesto, dated from Holyrood
House. This document is acknowledged, even by the
opposite party, to have been remarkably well written :*
but it was not completed without some heart-burn-
ings, arising from the distrust of many members of the
Kirk, who conceived that it did not contain assurances
for the security of their manner of Divine worship.
A grand council was therefore held, concerning the
alterations which were necessary to conciliate the good
opinion of the Presbyterians. Mr. Kelly, who had
drawn up the manifesto, was very tenacious of his
* History of the Rebellion. Taken from the Scots Magazine, p. 36.
D 2
36 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
performance ; but the majority of those who were
present were of opinion that the manifesto would
prosper better if a promise of putting the penal laws
against Papists into effect were added to it. Upon
this proposition the young Chevalier was observed to
change countenance, doubtless reflecting that it would
be ungrateful to depress those who had been such
real friends to his father. He had, however, the pru-
dence to say but little, and to maintain a neutral
position during the debate, which was carried on with
much bitterness on both sides of the question. It is
remarkable that the Duke of Perth, Sullivan, and
O'Neil, who were all Papists, voted for the addition;
whilst many who were of the Reformed Church op-
posed it. Amongst these was Lord George Murray,
who, starting up and turning to Charles Edward,
exclaimed, with an oath, " Sir, if you permit
this article to be inserted, you will lose five
hundred thousand friends ;" meaning that there were
that number of Papists in England. On this, the
Prince arose from his chair and withdrew, offended, as
it was thought, by the vehemence and overbearing
advice of Lord George. As he left the room, he said,
" I will have it decided by a majority." But the
freedom with which he had been treated appears to
have rankled in his mind. The additional clause was
negatived, and the manifesto remained in the same
state as when it came from Mr. Kelly's hands.*
There were, indeed, times when Lord George en-
deavoured to retrieve mistakes of which he was con-
scious, and upon some occasions he subdued his lofty
* Life of Murray of Broughton, p. 31.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 37
temper so far as to be " very obsequious and respect-
ful, but had not temper to go through with it." " He
now and then broke into such violent sallies as the
Prince could not digest, though the situation of his
affairs forced him to bear with them."* The Secretary's
station and favour had attached to him such as were
confident of success, and had nothing in view bat
making their fortunes. Nevertheless, Lord George
had greater weight and influence in the Council, and
generally brought the majority over to his opinion;
which so irritated the ambitious Secretary, that he
endeavoured to give the Prince a bad impression of
the Council itself, and engaged to lay it entirely
aside."
It was not only in regard to Lord George Murray
that the influence of the Secretary was prejudicial to
the Prince's interests; neither was Lord George the
only person whom he dreaded as a rival. Having
access to the most intimate communication with Charles
Edward, he abused the youth and inexperience of
the ill-fated man to inspire him with a distrust of
many gentlemen of good family and of integrity,
whose fidelity he contrived to whisper away. All
employments were filled up at the Secretary's nomi-
nation; and he contrived to bestow them upon his
own creatures, who would never thwart his measures.
Hence it followed that places of trust were bestowed
on " insignificant little fellows," while there were
abundance of gentlemen of merit who might have been
of great use, had they met with the confidence of their
Prince. u Those that Murray had thus placed," con-
* Maxwell's Narrative, p. 56.
38 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
tinues Mr. Maxwell, " seconded his dirty little views;
and it was their interest, too, to keep their betters at
a distance from the Prince's person and acquaint-
ance."
Until a very short time before Charles Edward left
Perth, he appears to have felt the most unqualified
admiration for the Highland character, which he had
carefully studied.* He thus expressed himself to
his father: " I have occasion every day to re-
flect on your Majesty's last words to me, that I
should find power, if tempered with justice and
clemency, an easy thing to myself, and not grievous
to those under me. 'Tis owing to the observance of
this rule, and to my conformity to the customs of
these people, that I have got their hearts, to a degree
not easy to be conceived by those who do not see it.
One who observes the discipline which I have esta-
blished, would take my little army to be a body of
picked veterans; and, to see the love and harmony
that reigns amongst us, he would be apt to look upon
it as a large well-ordered family, in which every one
loves another better than himself/'
He even applauded the rude climate of Scotland.
" I keep my health better in these wild mountains
than I used to do in the Campagna Felice ; and sleep
sounder, lying on the ground, than I used to do in
the palaces at Rome."
In this happy temper the Prince set out on his
march from Perth to Edinburgh. The march was made
in the most perfect good order, and the strictest dis-
cipline prevented any depredations. As the in-
* Forbes. Note, p. 32.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 39
surgent army passed by Stirling, the standard of
the Chevalier was saluted by some shot from the
castle. Nevertheless, Lord George Murray sent into
the town, and the gates were opened; and bread,
cheese, and butter sent out to sell, near to Bannock-
burn, where the army halted. On the seventeenth of
September the city of Edinburgh was taken.
In the description of the courtly scenes of Holy-
rood, it does not appear that Lord George Murray
took any conspicuous part. His sphere was the
council-room, or the camp, or the battle-field; and of
his proceedings in these different occupations he has
left a very particular account, written with the same
manly spirit and fearless tone which he displayed in
ordinary life.
When the Prince's Council had received accounts of
Sir John Cope's landing at Dunbar, they left Edin-
burgh and lay Upon their arms at Duddingstone, and on
the twentieth marched to meet the enemy. Lord George
commanded the van, and, whilst passing the south
side of Pinkie Gardens, he heard that Cope was at or
near Preston, and that he would probably gain the
high ground at Fawside. There was no time to deli-
berate or to wait for orders. Well acquainted with the
ground, Lord George struck off through the fields,
without keeping to any road. He went without being
even preceded by the usual escort to choose the ground
where to halt. In less than half an hour, by marching
quickly, he gained the eminence ; he slackened his
pace and waited for the rear, still proceeding slowly
towards Tranent, always fronting the enemy. General
Cope's army was drawn up on the plain between Pres-
40 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
ton Grange and Tranent, with deep broad ditches be-
tween them. After much reconnoitring and some
firing, on the part of the enemy, from these ditches, at
the Highlanders, who they thought had never seen
cannon, and would therefore be intimidated, the Eng-
lish army was drawn up on the east side of the village
of Tranent, where, on a dry stubble-field, with a small
rising in front to shelter them, they lay down to re-
pose in rank and file.
" It was now night," writes Lord George Murray ;"*
" and when all the principal officers were called together,
I proposed the attacking the enemy at break of day.
I assured them that it was not only practicable, but
that it would, in all probability, be attended with
success. I told them I knew the ground myself, and
had a gentleman or two with me who knew every part
thereabouts: there was indeed a small defile at the
east end of the ditches, but, once that was past, there
would be no stop; and though we should be long on
our march, yet, when the whole line was past the
defile, they had nothing to do but to face to the
left, and in a moment the whole was formed, and then
to attack. The Prince was highly pleased with the
proposal, as indeed the whole officers were ; so, after
placing a few pickuets, everybody lay down at their
posts ; and supped upon what they had with them. At
midnight the principal officers were called again, arid
all was ordered as was at first proposed. Word was
sent to the Atholl brigade to come off their post at
two in the morning, and not to make the least noise."
Before four in the morning the army began to march,
* Lord George Murray's Narrative. Forbes, p. 39.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 41
and an arrangement of the first line, which had been
previously agreed upon, was now put into execution.
Those who had had the right the day before, were to
have the rear and the left; and this alteration was
made without the least noise or confusion. The Duke
of Perth therefore went into the front, Lord George
giving up his guides to him. No horse marched
at that time, for fear of being discovered. When the
army had advanced within a hundred paces of the
ditches, they marched on to the attack, Lord George
calling on Cameron of Lochiel to incline to the left.
As the enemy discovered their approach, the noise of
the cannon announced that the engagement had begun.
Notwithstanding that Lord George Murray's regiment
was the last to pass the defile towards the enemy, it
was the first to fire. " Our whole first line," writes the
gallant soldier, " broke through the enemy. Some of
them were rallying behind us ; but when they saw our
second line coming up, they then made the best of
their way."
Lord George pursued the enemy to the walls of
Bankton House, the residence of Colonel Gardiner; and
here a party of the enemy got over the ditch, and fired
at the Highland foe. This little company, brave as
it was, was composed of only fourteen men, headed by
a Lieutenant-Colonel. " I got before a hundred of our
men," writes Lord George, " who had their guns pre-
sented to fire upon them, and at my desire they kept
up their fire, so that those officers and soldiers sur-
rendered themselves prisoners ; and nothing gave me
more pleasure that day than having it in my power to
save those men, as well as several others." This de-
42 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
claration was perhaps necessary, to rescue the memory
of Lord George from the opprobrium of cruelty ; since
it has been asserted, that at the battle of Culloden he
issued orders to give no quarter, and that such a
document to that effect, in the handwriting of Lord
George, was in the possession of the Duke of Cumber-
land.* This stigma on the fame of Lord George
Murray may have originated from the desperate
character of that last effort : his haughty temper may
have been exasperated in the course of the fatal con-
test. It is a charge which can now only be repelled by
the previous character of the individual against whom
it is made, since it was never fairly made out, nor
satisfactorily contradicted.
After the action was partially over, Lord George
Murray perceived that a number of people were
gathered together on the height near to Tranent.
Mistaking them for the enemy, the General marched
with his regiment, accompanied by Lochiel, who hadkept
his men together in good order, back to the narrow
causeway that led up to Tranent. Here he found
that the supposed enemy were only country-people
and servants. From them, however, he learned that
the enemy were at Cokenny, only a mile and a half
distant; and he instantly determined on pursuing
them. His energy and valour in thus doing so, after
the events of that harassing and exhausting day, can-
not but be admired. He found on arriving at Cokenny,
a force of about three hundred Highlanders, a volunteer
company recently embodied at Inverness by President
Forbes. These soon surrendered; between sixteen
* British Chronologist, vol. ii. p. 397.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 43
and seventeen hundred prisoners were taken that
day, among whom were seventy officers.* " His Royal
Highness," adds Lord George Murray in giving
this his personal narrative, " took the same care of
their wounded as of his own. I do not mention the
behaviour of all our officers and men that day; their
actions shewed it. I only take notice of those two
that were immediately under my eye, which was
Lochiel's regiment and the Stewarts of Appin." As
the enemy's foot-soldiers had made little or no resist-
ance during the battle of Preston-Pans, they might
have been all cut to pieces had it not been for the
interposition of Prince Charles and his officers, who
gained that day as much honour by their humanity as
by their bravery. The Prince, when the rout began,
mounted his horse, galloped all over the field, and
his voice was heard amid that scene of horror, calling
on his men to spare the lives of his enemies, " whom
he no longer looked upon as such." Far from being
elated with the victory, which was considered as com-
plete, the care of the kind-hearted and calumniated
young man was directed to assist the wounded. Owing
to his exertions, eighty-three of the officers were
saved, besides hundreds of soldiers. " The Prince,"
writes Mr. Maxwell, u had a livelier sense of other
people's misfortunes than of his own good-fortune."
This spirit of humanity was extended to the two
Lieutenants-General. The conduct of the Duke of Perth
was ever consistent with his mild character. On that
occasion, at all events, Lord George participated in
the noble clemency which usually characterized the
Jacobites.
* Forbes, p. 41.
44 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
" In the evening/' he writes,* " I went with the
officer prisoners to a house in Musselburgh that was
allotted for them. Those who were worst wounded
were left at Colonel Gardiner's house, where surgeons
attended them ; the others walked, as I did, along with
them without a guard (as they had given me their
parole) ; and to some, who were not able to walk, I
gave my own horses. It was a new-finished house
that was got for them, where there was neither table,
bed, chair, nor chimney grate. I caused buy some
new-thrashed straw, and had by good-fortune as much
cold provisions and liquor of my own as made a tole-
rable meal to them all ; and when I was going to re-
tire, they entreated me not to leave them ; for, as they
had no guard, they were afraid that some of the
Highlanders, who had got liquor, might come in upon
them and insult or plunder them."
Beside these suffering men Lord George lay on a floor
all night, having given up the minister's house in Mus-
selburgh, which had been destined as his quarters, to
those who were valetudinary. On the following day
those officers who were tolerably well were removed to
Pinkie House, where Prince Charles was staying.
Lord George then returned to the field of battle, to
give directions about the cannon, and to see about the
other wounded prisoners. He afterwards repaired to
Pinkie House, the gardens of which were thronged
that night with the prisoners, privates, to whom pro-
visions were sent; "and the night before," as Lord
George relates, "I got some of their own provisions car-
ried from Cokenny to Colonel Gardiner's courts and gar-
* Forbes, p. 42.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 45
dens for their use. In these things I ever laid it
down as a maxim, to do by others as I would wish
they would do by me, had I been in their place, and
they in mine." Such is the spirit in which the un-
fortunate were regarded by the victors of that day ;
and these two accounts, that of Lord George Murray
and that of Maxwell of Kirkconnel, written without
any mutual compact, and at different times, and even
in different countries, disprove the following gross and
improbable statement of Henderson's of that which
occurred after the day at Preston was fought and
won.
According to his account, professedly that of an
eye-witness, the conduct of the young Chevalier (who,
he acknowledges, had, by the advice of the Duke of
Perth, sent to Edinburgh for surgeons,) was, in the
highest degree, unfeeling and indecent. He stood by
the road-side, his horse near him, " with his armour
of tin, which resembled a woman's stays, affixed to
the saddle ; he was on foot, clad as an ordinary cap-
tain, in a coarse plaid, and large blue bonnet, a scar-
let waistcoat with a narrow plain lace about it; his
boots and knees were much dirtied (the effect of his
having fallen into a ditch, as I afterwards under-
stood); he was exceeding merry, and twice said,
' My Highlanders have lost their plaids,' at which he
laughed very heartily, being in no way affected when
speaking of the dead or wounded. Nor would his
jollity have been interrupted, if he had not looked
upon seven standards that had been taken from the
dragoons; on which he said, in French, (a language
he frequently spoke in,) ' We have missed some of
46 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
them.' After this, he refreshed himself upon the
field, and, with the utmost composure, ate a piece of
cold beef and drank a glass of wine, amidst the deep
and piercing groans of the poor men .who had fallen
victims to his ambition."*
After this flippant and hard-hearted conduct, as it
is described, the Prince is said to have ridden off to
Pinkie House, leaving the bulk of the wounded on
the field that day, to be brought in carts to Edin-
burgh. " Few," he says, " recovered; and those who
did, went begging through the streets, their heads tied
about with bandages, but obtaining no relief from
their conquerors. The property of the prisoners, the
fine linen of the officers, their gold and silver hilted
swords, their watches and rings, were worn by the
lowest among the soldiery almost before their eyes."f
The battle of Preston, which was magnified by
Lord Lovat as a " glorious victory not to be paral-
leled in history," although not meriting such extra-
vagant remarks, produced the most important con-
sequences to the Jacobite cause. Among not the least
important was the acquisition of all the arms of the
whole body of foot, and even of the volunteers. These
went to supply the recruits whom the Marquis of
Tullibardine and others were sending daily to the
camp. No enemy was left in the field to oppose the
progress of Charles Edward's victorious troops. J
When, having, as the Chevalier Johnstone asserts,
escaped from the field of battle by placing a white
cockade on his head, Cope arrived at Coldstream with
* Henderson's History of the Rebellion, p. 88. t Ibid.
| Henderson. Maxwell of Kirkconnel.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 47
his troops in great disorder, he was greeted by Lord
Mark Ker, one of a family who had long had heredi-
tary claims to wit as well as courage, with the bitter
remark, that " he believed he was the first general in
Europe that had brought tidings of his own defeat."
" The Prince," writes Maxwell of Kirkconnel,
" was now, properly speaking, master of .Scotland."
The militia, which had been raised in some parts of
Scotland for the service of Government, was dismissed ;
and the Chevalier's orders were obeyed in many places
far from his army. These advantages were, how-
ever, rather glaring than solid and permanent.
After the battle of Preston, it became a serious
and important question what step was to be taken.
It was the Prince's earnest desire to push the
advantages thus gained by an immediate invasion of
England, before the Hanoverians had time to recover
from their surprise. But this spirited and, as the
event proved, sagacious opinion was objected to on
the score of the smallness of the forces, and the pro-
bability of an accession of strength before marching
southwards. Lastly, the fatal hope of aid from France,
that ignis fatuus which had misled the Jacobite
party before, and on which it was their misfortune to
depend, was adduced as an argument. The Prince
yielded to his counsellors, and consented to remain
some time in Edinburgh. Upon this decision Lord
George Murray offers no opinion.
The castle of Edinburgh remained still unsubdued ;
and the Prince, upon his return to that city, resolved
on blockading the fortress. This was a very unpopu-
lar step, but Charles had no alternative ; since it was
48 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
of vital importance to reduce a place of so great
strength and consequence. Accordingly a proclama-
tion was issued, forbidding, under pain of death, that
any provisions should be sent up to the castle ; and the
management of this blockade was entrusted to Lord
George Murray.*
This able General now proposed to place guards
in such a manner as should prevent the garrison in
the castle marching out to surprise him, but his
exertions were baffled by the want of judgment
and incompetency of those beneath him in com-
mand. The guard was placed near the weigh-
house at the foot of the Castle-rock, so that
the battery of the half-moon, as it was termed,
near the Castle-gate, bore upon it, and many of the
guard within would have perished upon the first
firing. This was not the only mistake. Mr. 0' Sulli-
van, one of Prince Charles's officers, one day placed a
small guard near the West Kirk, which was not only
exposed to the enemy's fire, but conveniently situated
near the sally-port, whence the besieged might issue
and take the party there prisoners ; for no relief could
be sent to them in less than two hours' time, owing
to its being necessary to pass round the whole circum-
ference of the castle to arrive at that point. " I
never," says Lord George Murray, " knew of that
guard's being placed there, until they were taken pri-
soners." So severe a service was this blockade, that
it was found necessary to relieve the guards, which
were thus placed, by different corps who could not
know the risk which they encountered. Desertions
Forbes, p. 43.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 49
from the Jacobite army were among the most formid-
able evils with which Lord George had to contend.
It was therefore important not to discourage the
soldiery. In the midst of difficulty the high-minded
Cameron of Lochiel came forward to offer his own
person, and to risk his own regiment in this service.
He agreed to take all the guards, and to relieve
them with the soldiers of his own regiment, who were
quartered for that purpose in the outer Parliament
House. " I was with him," writes Lord George,*
" when the guards were relieved, and the men did
their duty exceedingly, especially when there was
danger; and, when the fire was hottest from the
castle, they kept their post with much resolution and
bravery. Lochiel and I being much with them, gave
them a heartiness that hindered them from complain-
ing of a duty which was so hard, and which the rest
of the army had not in their turns. We even placed
new guards to keep the castle from sallying, as they
seemed disposed ; and Keppoch's regiment was brought
into town to take some of the guards and support
them. I lay in town for some nights, and was con-
stantly visiting the guards and sentinels."
The castle, nevertheless, seated on the precipitous
rocks, which, steep as they are, have yet been " scaled
by love and ambition," f defied the blockaders.
The Highlanders continued to keep guard in the
weigh-house, and, stationing themselves in the Grass-
market, the Smithfield as well as the Hay-mar-
ket of Edinburgh, lying on the south side of the
Forbes, p. 46.
t Border Antiquities, by Sir Walter Scott. No. iv. vol. i.
VOL. III. E
50 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Castle-hill, awaited there the proceedings of the
enemy.
On the twenty-ninth of September, a letter was
sent to the Provost of Edinburgh by General Guest,
intimating, that, unless a communication were kept
up between the city and the castle, he should be
under the necessity of using cannon to dislodge the
Highlanders. It was said that Guest had an order
from the Government, signed by the Marquis of
Tweedale, empowering him to lay the city in ashes if
the citizens did not remove the Highlanders from
their quarters. A message was dispatched from the
Provost to General Guest obtaining a respite for that
night ; but, meantime, the utmost consternation pre-
vailed in the town. Twelve o'clock at night was
the hour fixed upon for the execution of this threat
of the enemy ; and, although many who reasoned
did not believe in the existence of the order, the lower
classes were seized with a panic, and the streets were
crowded with women and children running towards
the gates, and with people removing their property
to more secure quarters. When the clocks struck
twelve, the hour fixed in General Guest's message, the
noise of the cannon was heard firing upon the principal
streets; but the Highlanders were all under shelter,
and only a few poor inhabitants were injured. No-
thing was heard except imprecations on that Govern-
ment which had issued so cruel an order, since it was
quite out of the power of the citizens to dislodge the
Highlanders from their quarters. But the firing was
soon intermitted; and whether the garrison had pri-
vate orders only to threaten, or whether they found it
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 51
impossible to execute so barbarous an order, is un-
known. They spared the city generally, and only
directed their fire to any place where they fancied
that they saw a Highlander.
On the following morning a deputation of citizens
waited on the Chevalier, and showed him General
Guesfs letter. He immediately replied, that he was
surprised and concerned at the barbarity of the order,
but that if, out of compassion for the city, he were to
remove his guards, the castle might with equal rea-
son summon him to quit the town, and abandon all
the advantages of which he was possessed. A respite
of a day was afterwards obtained; and subsequently
for six days, in case the Highlanders would abstain
from firing at the castle; and a dispatch to London
was sent to obtain a mitigation of the order in council.
Meantime, on the first of October, the Highlanders
fired; whether at some people who were carrying pro-
visions to the castle, or at the castle itself, is uncer-
tain. Keprisals were instantly made by a heavy can-
nonading and small shot. The firing continued for
some days, bringing terror to the hearts of those who
lived remote from the scene of danger ; whilst the aged
and infirm were carried out of that noble city, thus
threatened with destruction. Sir Walter Scott ob-
serves, that the generation of his own time alone
can remember Edinburgh in peace, undisturbed by
civil commotion. The fathers of that generation re-
membered the days of 1745 their fathers the dis-
turbances of 1715. The fathers of those who had
witnessed the rebellion of 1715 could remember the
revolution of 1688.
E 2
52 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
The merciful temper of the young Chevalier saved
the city of Edinburgh. At first he resolved to continue
the blockade ; and he renewed his former orders, pro-
hibiting any person from going to the castle without
a pass from his secretary, and threatening any one
who was disobedient to this proclamation with instant
death. But, when he beheld the distress to which the
firing had already reduced the city, then, let it be
remembered, comprised within boundaries of very
moderate extent, he issued another proclamation, ex-
pressing his deep concern for the many murders which
were committed upon the innocent inhabitants of the
city, so contrary to the laws of war, to the truce grant-
ed to the city, and even exceeding the powers given.
His humanity had, therefore, yielded to the barbarity
of his enemy; the blockade of the castle was
taken off, and the threatened punishment suspended. *
The army of Charles Edward was now increasing
daily ; and, in consequence of the reports which were
circulated in the metropolis, a panic spread there, of
which no estimate can be made without consulting
the newspapers of that time. Among other writers
who employed their talents in inveighing against the
cause of James Stuart, was the celebrated Henry
Fielding, whose papers in the True Patriot upon the
subject present a curious insight into those transient
states of public feeling, which perished almost as soon
as expressed. The rapidity of the progress made by
the insurgents is declared by his powerful pen to have
been unprecedented. " Can History," he writes, " pro-
duce an instance parallel to this, of six or seven
* History of the Rebellion, from the Scots Magazine, p. 35.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 53
men landing in a powerful nation, in opposition to
the inclination of the people, in defiance of a vast
and mighty army? (For, though the greater part
of this army was not then in the kingdom, it was
so nearly within call, that every man of them might,
within the compass of a few days, or weeks at
farthest, have been brought home and landed in
any part of it.) If we consider, I say, this handful
of men landing in the most desolate corner, among
a set of poor, naked, hungry, disarmed slaves, abiding
there with impunity till they had, as it were, in
the face of a large body of his Majesty's troops col-
lected a kind of army, or rather rabble, together, it
will be extremely difficult to assign any adequate cause
whatsoever, for this unexampled success, without
recurring to one, of whose great efficacy we have
frequent instances in sacred history: I mean, the
just judgment of God against an offending people.'*
The state of public morals, Fielding considers, to
have drawn down upon society this signal visitation
of Providence. "Indeed, such monstrous impieties
and iniquities have I both seen and heard of, within
these last three years, during my sojourning in what
is called the world, particularly the last winter, while
I tarried in the great city, that, while I verily be-
lieve we are the silliest people under Heaven in every
other light, we are wiser than Sodom in wickedness."'"
The consternation of the sister kingdom had now, in-
deed, become general; on the slightest report of
foreign ships being seen in the Downs, the dismay of
the London citizens was extreme : and such was the
* True Patriot, a weekly periodical, December 17, 1745.
54 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
liberality, or such were the fears of the inhabitants of
the county of York, the capital of which may almost
have been deemed, in those days, a northern metro-
polis, that forty thousand pounds were subscribed for
its defence, after a grave and mournful address of the
archbishop of that diocese. *
When the Prince had determined to take off the
blockade, and indeed had actually resolved to eva-
cuate Edinburgh and to march southwards, he sent
orders to Lord George Murray to nail the cannon upon
the city walls, and to retire to Musselburgh and Dal-
keith. But the sagacious Lord George, apprehending
no further cannonading from the castle, begged per-
mission not to make a precipitate retreat, and obtained
leave to continue three weeks longer in Edinburgh,
during which time the town remained in a much
quieter state than it had been heretofore.
Whilst Lord George Murray was quartered in Edin-
burgh, he communicated frequently with his wife, the
Lady Emilia, who remained with her children at Tulli-
bardine. That lady seems to have taken a deep interest
in the events which so deeply concerned her family.
She was the first to communicate to the Marquis of
Tullibardine the intelligence of the victory of Preston-
Pans. " I pray God," she says in her postscript, " to
prosper his Koyal Highness's arms, and congratulate
your Grace upon his happy success." A gentleman,
who had seen her husband after the battle, had
brought to the anxious wife the tidings of his success.
Towards the end of October the Prince resolved to
march into England, without waiting any longer for
* General Advertiser, 1745.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 55
the landing of French auxiliaries, or even for the
arrival of the friendly Clans of Frasers and Mackin-
toshes, who were ready to march from the north to
join Charles Edward. By some of the Chevalier's
advisers he was recommended to go to Berwick; but
this was a scheme counteracted by the counsels of
Lord George Murray, who, in the presence of the
principal officers, represented it as (i a thing at least
of great difficulty, and of not so great use as to lose
time, which is precious." Lord George therefore
proposed marching into England by the other road ;
but, to conceal their design, he advised that the army
should be divided into three columns ; one to go by
Kelso, the second by Moffat, and a third by Gala-
shiels, Selkirk, and Hawick; so that all the columns
should join on an appointed day near Carlisle.
The plan was approved; and, the secret being very
well kept, on the thirty-first of October the army
prepared to march.* It is remarkable, that, during
the whole period of their stay in Edinburgh, no gene-
ral review of the Jacobite forces had taken place.
The consequent uncertainty of what was really the
amount of those forces, which existed in England,
fostered the general panic. " Abundance of people/'
writes Mr. Maxwell, "friends as well as enemies, had
made it their business to find out the number of the
Prince's army, but to no purpose. Great pains had been
taken to conceal its weakness."f
In order to conceal the design upon England, a
scheme was formed, allowing three days to elapse be-
tween the marching of the two great divisions of the
* Forbes, p. 47. t Maxwell, p. 53.
56 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
army ; and accordingly the Prince, attended by Lord
George Murray, took up his abode at the palace of
Dalkeith, and here he remained until the third of No-
vember. In this princely abode the young represen-
tative of the Stuart line may have remembered the
adverse fortunes of Queen Mary, and the bold charac-
ter of the Eegent Morton, to whom the castle of
Dalkeith belonged, when it had acquired from the cha-
racter of its owner the name of the " Lion's Den."
After the death of Morton, the barony of Dalkeith
was included in the attainder ; and the castle had been
considered, during many years, as public property,
and was inhabited by General Monk during the usurpa-
tion of Cromwell.
But, long before Charles Edward made it his tem-
porary residence, Dalkeith had been repaired and
beautified by Anne Duchess of Buccleugh and Mon-
mouth, the widow of the unfortunate Duke of Mon-
mouth. It was, as it is now, an appropriate residence
for royalty. The more ancient part of the building
has, it is true, lost its castellated appearance ; but the
beautiful site on the steep banks of the Eske, and the
thickness of the walls, are still proofs of former
strength and great importance, to which the con-
tiguity of Dalkeith to Edinburgh conduce ; whilst the
junction of the north and south Esk in the park add
to the beauties of this noble demesne.
The Chevalier Johnstone was still aide-de-camp to
Lord George Murray, and remained to accompany the
General on his march. Among those with whom the
exertions of Lord George were frequently united was
Mr. O'Sullivan, an Irish officer, and the object of
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 57
Charles Edward's partiality and confidence, and he
was a man of considerable abilities. Having received
his education in a Romish college abroad, 0' Sullivan
had originally entered into priest's orders. It was his
lot to be recommended as a tutor to the son of Marshal
Maillebois, who, perceiving in the young ecclesiastic
proofs of a genius better adapted to the use of the
sword than to the gravity of the gown, encouraged
him to apply himself to the profession of arms. There
were not wanting in those days opportunities of cul-
tivating a military turn, and Corsica was the scene of
Mr. 0' Sullivan's first exploits. Here he acted as
secretary to Marshal Villebois ; an office of no slight
responsibility, for the Marshal was tainted with the pre-
valent vice of the day, and scarcely ever left the din-
ner-table in a state fit for public business. 0' Sullivan,
therefore, in the course of those oppressions which the
French inflicted on the inhabitants of Corsica, ac-
quired not only great experience in business, but also
in military affairs; as well as knowledge in what is
termed the art of making irregular war. To this ac-
quirement he afterwards added another; for, having
served a campaign on the Rhine, it was said by a
French General, under whom he fought, that his
knowledge of the regular art of war was equal to that
of any General in Europe. To his abilities were
attributed much of the rapid success of those whom it
was the fashion of the newspapers of the day to
describe as " a handful of savages," but whom the
loungers about the English court soon learned to
dread.*
* The True Patriot, December 10, 1745.
58 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
It is now necessary, before entering into details of
fresh operations, to review the proceedings of Lord
George Murray during the last few weeks, and to
give some notion how he exercised the functions of
his generalship. His chief sources of annoyance, be-
sides the intrigues in the Prince's council, were the
deserters from the Jacobite army. Before leaving Edin-
burgh, Lord George Murray had despatched a number
of prisoners to Logierait : and the following letter shows
how rigid were the instructions which he peremptorily
sent to his brother, the Marquis of Tullibardine, at
Perth. The correspondence of Lord George Mur-
ray proves him to have been a man of a stern, hard
nature; and effaces much of the impression produced
by his united valour and clemency in the field of
battle.
" DEAR BROTHER,
" Things vary so much from time to time that I
can say nothing certain as yet, but refer you to the
enclosed letter ; but depend upon having nothing ex-
press from me with you before Monday night. But, in
the mean time, you must resolve to be ready to
march on Tuesday morning, by Keinacan and Tay
Bridge, so as to be at Crieff on Wednesday ; and even
that way, if you do your best, you will be half a
march behind: but you will be able to make up
that on Thursday, when I reckon we may meet at
Dunblane or Doun: but of this more fully in my
next. It is believed for certain that Cope will em-
bark at Aberdeen.
" I hope the meal was with you before this thirty-
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 59
five bolls for it was at Inuar last night. It shall be
my study to have more meal with you on Monday night,
for you must distribute a peck a man ; and, cost what
it will, there must be pocks to each man, to contain
a peck or two for the men to have always with them.
Buy linen, yarn, or anything ; for these pocks are of ab-
solute necessity nothing can be done without them.
His Eoyal Highness desires you to acquaint Glen-
moriston and Glencoe, if they come your way, of
this intended march, so that they may go by Tay
Bridge (if you please, with you) ; and what meal you
can spare, let them have. You may please tell your
own people that there is a project to get arms for
them. u Yours, adieu !
"GEORGE MURRAY."
" Saturday, nine at night."
" For God's sake ! " he adds in another part of his
letter, " cause some effectual measures to be taken
about the deserters : I would have their houses and
crops destroyed, for an example to others, and them-
selves punished in a most rigorous manner."
Another source of anxiety was connected with the
prisoners of war. It was difficult to know how to
dispose of them. The island in the Loch of Clunie,
not far from Dunkeld, was afterwards considered
by the Marquis as the most suitable place for
the reception of the prisoners; and was conceded
by Lady Ogilvy, the daughter of Lord Airlie, for
that purpose, in her father's absence. In a letter
addressed by Tullibardine to the Earl of Airlie, to
whom the Loch of Clunie belonged, a spirit of kind-
60 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
ness and consideration is shown, very different to
the stern mandates of Lord George Murray. "I
presume," writes the Marquis, " your Lor'ship will
not only cheerfully make everything be carefully
prepared for their reception, but also contribute
what 's possible to prevent any dangerous mutiny or
escape among them." Although describing these
prisoners as a " troublesome and dangerous set of
people," he recommends no harsh measures, except
precautionary vigilance.* Beef, mutton, and meal
were provided and paid for by the Marquis, who, ulti-
mately, was obliged to quarter a considerable number
of the prisoners in barns and other outhouses near
Logierait. This charge appears to have been very
unwelcome to the good old Tullibardine, who talks to
his sister in law, Lady Emilia Murray, of " ane un-
worthy pack of prisoners that is sent us."f
Meantime, the want of money for the supply of the
garrison at Perth was another source of uneasiness
to Lord George Murray. Many disappointments, on
this score, occurred. " I told you/' Lord George
writes to his brother, " that some gentlemen had pro-
mised to his Royal Highness some money in loan, more
besides what they already gave; but it is to their
ladies you will please to write, as they appear to do
the thing, and not the husbands. "; " I have been
as pressing," he says in another letter to the Mar-
quis, " about money to be sent to you, both formerly
and now, as if my life depended upon it. There is
three hundred pounds sent at present, mostly in
specie. You are desired to write to people in the
* Jacobite Correspondence, p. 3. t Ibid. p. 41. J Ibid. p. 30.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 61
country to advance money, particularly to Lady
Methven ; which if they do not immediately, their
corn and other effects will be seized."*
Previously to his march southwards, Prince Charles
appointed Viscount Strathallan Governor, and Deputy
Governor of Perth, and Commander-in-chief during
the absence of the Marquis of Tullibardine, whom
Lord George Murray now summoned to join him, con-
sidering that the addition of the Marquis's tenantry
to the army was of the utmost importance. " I am
extremely anxious," he writes, " to have our men
here, at least as many as would make Lord Nairn's
battalion, and mine, five hundred each ; for at present
I could get them supply'd with guns, targets, tents,
and, those who want them, shoes also : but if they be
not here soon, them that come first, will be first
serv'd."
These directions were reiterated, and were also re-
peated by the pen of Lady Emilia Murray, to whom
her lord sent immediate accounts of all that occurred.
This spirited and indefatigable help -meet resided
generally at Tullibardine. " These," she writes,
" were his words, i I entreat, for God's sake, that the
Duke of Atholl send off the men here immediately, or
they will be too late for arms, targets, tents, &c. ;
nay, for our march, which begins on Thursday." All
this haste and impetuosity was meekly but decidedly
resisted by the slow Marquis of Tullibardine. He
thus writes in reply to one of his brother's most ur-
gent entreaties :
" About ten o'clock in the afternoon I received your
* Jacobite Correspondence, p. 48.
62 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
express, dated the fourth, four o'clock, afternoon, and
am very much concerned to find that it is morally
impossible for me, or any of the men in these parts, to
be up with you against Thursday night, the day you
say it is resolved, in a Council of War, to march
southward. Did any of us endeavour to make too
much haste to join the Prince, I am afraid we should
be like a good milk cow, that gives a great pail of
milk, and after, kicks it down with her foot. Forgive
the comparison."*
Other apprehensions also increased the desire of
Lord George to begin his march. " I am desired to
let you know," he writes to the Marquis of Tullibar-
dine, " that there is one Kimber, an anabaptist, who
came from London with a design to assassinate the
Prince; he is about twenty-seven years old, black
hair, of a middling stature, and talks fluently and
bluntly about his travels in the West Indies." This
man, it was suspected, afterwards changed his
name to Geffreys. He was supposed to have even been
received by the Marquis of Tullibardine at his table,
and to have obtained a pass from him ; but nothing
more was disclosed, as far as the correspondence in-
forms us, touching this attempt.
Lord George continued in a fever of vexation and
anxiety at the delay of his brother, upon whose arrival
at the camp, the march to England was to begin.
Public affairs in England favoured, as he justly
thought, the most decisive measures. " Everything,"
he writes to his brother, a is in great confusion in
* Jacobite Correspondence, p. 67. Duke of Atholl to Lord George
Murray.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 63
England, particularly in London, where credite is at
a stand. The greatest banquiers have stopt payment ;
all would go to our wish, if we could but march in-
stantly. If you delay longer," Lord George adds,
" it will be the utter ruine of the cause. You should
wait for nobody but your own men." The arrival of
supplies from France, of arms and ammunition,
though they were represented as being very inferior
in quantity to what had been expected, gave en-
couragement to the hopes of the sanguine; and re-
assured in some degree, even the anxioua mind of
Lord George Murray.
Before finally quitting Perth, the Marquis of Tulli-
bardine received a compliment from the gentlemen
prisoners of war there, which proved how soldierlike
and courteous his conduct towards them had been.
They inquired whether he would have morning levees,
since they wished " to wait upon him." To this the
Marquis replied, with his thanks, that, although not
fond of ceremonious visits, he would always be " glad
to cultivate an acquaintance with gentlemen whose
actions show they are true Britons, by standing up for
and supporting the ancient constitution and liberties
of well-born subjects, whose honour is engaged to
shake off the slavery of a foreign yoke."*
Notwithstanding all the remonstrances of Lord
George, who had reiterated his entreaties during the
whole of the month of October, the winter was far ad-
vanced before the Marquis left his castle of Blair to
proceed south wards, f
On the thirty-first of October, a considerable force
* Jacobite Correspondence, p. 114. t See Correspondence.
64 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
took the road to Duddingstone, a small village at the
foot of Arthur's Seat ; presenting, before the Highland
army poured in upon its serene precincts, a scene of
repose and quiet beauty, finely contrasted with the
clamour of the city, and the grandeur of the rugged
hill.
Foremost rode Lord Elcho, commanding the first
troop of horse-guards, consisting of sixty-two
gentlemen, and their servants, under five officers,
forming altogether a troop of a hundred and twenty
horse. A smaller troop, not amounting to more
than forty horse, followed under the command of
Arthur Elphinstone, afterwards Lord Balmerino.
Then came a little squadron of horse grenadiers,
with whom were incorporated the Perthshire gentle-
men, in the absence of their own commander, Lord
Strathallan, who was left Governor of Perth. The
whole of this squadron did not amount to a hundred.
It was commanded by William Earl of Kilrnarnock, the
representative of an ancient and noble family, which,
as an historian remarks, " sometimes matched with
the blood-royal." " He was," adds the same writer,
" in the flower of his age, being about forty years
old. The elegance of his person, and comeliness of
his features, which were every way handsome, bespake
internal beauties."* It is remarkable, that, at this
very time, the young Lord Boyd, Lord Kilmarnock's
son, held a commission in the British army and fought
against the Jacobites.
The Aberdeen and BamfFshire gentlemen, amount-
ing with their servants to a hundred and twenty, with
* Henderson's Hist. Rebellion, p. 129.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 65
seventy or eighty hussars, were commanded by Lord
Pitsligo ; but Mr. Murray, " who would have a share
at least of everything," was their colonel/' 5 '
The infantry consisted of thirteen little battalions,
for the Highlanders would not be commanded by any
but their own chiefs ; and it was necessary therefore to
have as many regiments as there were Clans.
On the third of November, the Prince marched from
Dalkeith on foot, at the head of the Clans, who were
commanded under him by Lord George Murray. The
acclamations of the people of Edinburgh, who flocked
in crowds to witness the departure of the army, were
loud and friendly. Yet it is remarkable, that in spite
of his long residence in that city, in spite of his here-
ditary claims on its inhabitants, and of the popularity
of his manners, the party of the Prince in that capital
never increased in proportion to his expectations.
This indifference to the cause of Charles Edward has
with much reason been attributed to the strong and
unalterable distrust entertained by all zealous Presby-
terians of any approach to Popery : the firmness of the
Scottish character to a principle may be plainly read
in the reluctance of the Lowlanders to hazard, even
for a Stuart, the safety of what they esteem to be
their vital interests.!
It was, however, a fine, although a mournful sight,
when the Clans taking the road to London left Dal-
keith. It was indeed only after long and anxious
deliberation, that these brave men had resolved to risk
an advance to England, without any certain expecta-
tion of a rising in that country ; yet there were many
* Maxwell. t Chambers.
VOL. III. F
66 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
among the chiefs who went forth that day, and among
these were some of the bravest and the most determined,
who " trusted in themselves alone."'"" Among those who
were declared secretly to have desponded of success,
and yet to have gone on in the career from a sense
of honour, was Lord George Murray.
The march to England was very judiciously planned
and well executed. " It resembled," observes the
Chevalier Johnstone, " on a small scale, that of Mar-
shal Saxe some years before, when he advanced to lay
siege to Maestricht." The Prince went day after day
on foot, contrary to general expectation ; for it was
thought that he would only have done so at the begin-
ning to encourage the soldiers : but in dirty lanes, and
in deep snow, the youth reared in seclusion and lux-
ury took his chance with the common men, and could
scarcely ever be prevailed upon even to get on horse-
back to ford a river. "It's not to be imagined,"
writes his affectionate partisan and historian Max-
well, "how much this manner of bringing himself
down to a level with the men, and his affable be-
haviour to the meanest of them, endeared him to the
army."f On arriving at Lauder, hearing that some
of the Highlanders had remained behind with a view,
it was thought, of deserting, Charles got on horseback
before it was light, rode back two or three miles, and
brought the stragglers with him. J On the fourth in-
stant he reached Kelso. Such was the success of this
well-contrived march, and such the secresy with which
it was made, that Marshal Wade, who was at New-
castle with eleven thousand men, continued to cover
* Home. t Maxwell's Narrative, p. 61. Ibid.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. t>7
and protect that place, without an idea of advancing
to intercept the Highland troops. Indeed, the secret
was so well kept, that hardly any subordinate officer
in the Prince's service knew where the junction of
the columns was intended to take place.*
Arduous as the Prince's march had been to Kelso,
it was enlivened by some incidents in which the stern
and haughty Lord George Murray must have partici-
pated, as well as the gallant young Chevalier. On
passing through Preston Hall gate, the first morning
of his march, the Prince found breakfast there prepared
for him by order of the Duchess of Gordon, for which
act that lady was deprived of a yearly pension of
one thousand pounds, given to her in consideration
of her Grace's having educated her family in the
Protestant religion, f As he passed Fala Danes, the
ladies of Whitborough, who were the sisters of a
zealous adherent of the Prince, Eobert Anderson,
entertained Charles and his chief officers with a
collation in the open air. The royal guest, being
asked to leave some memorial of his visit, cut
from the hilt of his sword a piece of crimson
velvet, which is still preserved at Whitborough. At
Lauder, Charles took up his abode in Hurlestane
castle, the seat of the Earl of Lauderdale. From
Kelso, Charles dispatched the guards across the Tweed ;
not so much to reconnoitre, as to amuse the enemy :
they went some miles into the country, and, when
they came to any English villages, made inquiries
as to what reception and accommodation the army
* Chevalier Johnstone, p. 42.
t Chambers, Hist. Rebel. People's edition, p.' 49.
F 2
68 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
might meet with on arriving there. The object
of this manoeuvre was to keep General Wade in
suspense as to the movements of the army, and to
prevent his marching towards Carlisle. Such was
the success of these artifices, that Wade, who had de-
cided on a march to Berwick, countermanded that
order. On the sixth of November the Jacobite forces
crossed the Tweed : that river was scarcely fordable ;
but the Highlanders were elated beyond measure, and,
even when bathed in the water, expressed their de-
light by discharging their pieces and uttering cries
of joy. Such was their humour, that they gave the
horses which were taken from the enemy the name
of General Cope, by way of expressing their contempt
for the fugitive Englishman.
Amid indications of homage, especially from the
women of the town of Jedburgh, who ran forth to kiss
the young hero's hand, Charles entered Jedburgh, and
took up his residence at an inn in the centre of the
town, called the Nag's Head. On the following day
he led his troops over the Rule water, famous for the
warriors of old who dwelt near its banks; and over
the Knot o' Gate into Liddiesdale, " noted in former
times for its predatory bands, as in more recent times
for its primitive yeomen and romantic minstrelsy."*
After a march of twenty-five miles, the Prince arrived
at Haggiehaugh, upon Liddel water; here he slept,
the Highlanders finding their quarters for the night
as well as they could in barns, or byres, or houses, as
their fortune might be. On the eighth of November
Charles Edward, proceeding down the Liddel water,
* Chambers, j>. 50.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 60
met the column of horse which had taken the middle
road by Selkirk and Hawick. They joined him at
Gritmill Green upon the banks of the Esk, four miles
below Langholm. Shortly afterwards the first divi-
sion of the Prince's army crossed the river, which here
separates the two kingdoms, as the Tweed does at Ber-
wick, and trod upon English ground. That event was
signalized by a loud shout, whilst the Highlanders un-
sheathed their swords. But soon a general panic was
spread among the soldiery, by the intelligence that
Cameron of Lochiel, in drawing his sword, had drawn
blood from his hand.* This was regarded as an omen
of mournful import. What was of much - more vital
consequence was the incessant desertion of the troops,
especially from the column which the Prince com-
manded. Arms were afterwards found flung away in
the fields, and the roads to Lanarkshire and Stirling-
shire were crowded with these renegades. This cir-
cumstance Lord George Murray accounted for in these
terms, when, upon a subsequent occasion, he wrote to
his brother, complaining of the fact: " We are quite
affronted with the scandalous desertion of our men :
it was the taking money instead of the best men,
which is the occasion of all the evil ; for good men,
once coming out, would have been piqued in honour,
and not deserted us on the point of fighting the
enemy, "f
Such was the skill and secrecy with which the
whole of this march had been planned, chiefly by the
suggestions of Lord George Murray, that the forces
* Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 455. ,
t Jacobite Correspondence of the Atholl Family, p. 141.
70 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
were very much surprised on finding that all the
three columns arrived nearly at the same time, on a
heath in England, about two miles distant from the
city of Carlisle. The plan was executed with such
precision, that there was not an interval of two hours
between the junction of the columns.*
It was now resolved to invest Carlisle. Few cities
in England have been the scenes of more momentous
events than that which was now the object of the
Chevalier's efforts. Long the centre of border hos-
tilities, it was the fate of Carlisle to be at once the
witness of the insurrection of 1745, and the scene of
punishment of those who were concerned in that
movement.
In modern times, the importance of Carlisle as a
fortress has inevitably declined; and it is at present
regarded as a venerable relic of former strength, rather
than as a place of defence. But, in ancient days, the
Warden of the Marches, selected from among the nobles
of tried fidelity and courage, attracted to the castle of
Carlisle a host of youthful aspirants for military re-
nown, who there sought to be trained to arms, amid
contests not depending upon a single achievement,
but requiring watchfulness, patient labour, and skill,
slowly and painfully to be acquired.
Founded by William Rufus, who restored the city
after it had lain two hundred years in ruins, owing
to the depredations of the Danes; and improved and
enlarged successively by Richard the Third and Hen-
ry the Eighth ; the castle had received the unhappy
Mary Stuart: and here she was treated with an in-
* Chevalier Johnstone, p. 43.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 71
sidious respect which soon threw off the mask. In
the time of Queen Elizabeth, the citadel, which was
entirely built by Henry the Eighth, fell into decay;
and, after the prohibition of all incursions on England
on the part of King James the Sixth, Carlisle ceased
to be of so much importance as a military possession ;
and its position, as one of the keys of England, did
not avail to secure any great attention to its dilapi-
dated state. At the time of Charles Edward's arrival
in Cumberland, the fortifications of the City had been
neglected for several centuries; but it still bore the
outward aspect of former strength.
The works, which had thus been left to moulder
away, were in the form of a triangle, and were sepa-
rated from the town by a deep ditch. Upon the east
angle, which is also cut off from the Parade by a
ditch, is seated the Castle, properly so called, though
the whole generally goes by that name. These works
consist of a dungeon, the walls of which are twelve
feet in thickness ; a tower, called the Captain's Tower ;
two gates, one to each ward; there being an inward
and an outward ward. In the castle there is a great
chamber, and a hall, but no storehouse for ammunition.
In the walls of the town, three gateway towers,
a semi-circular bastion called Springeld Tower, and
the citadel, complete the fortifications : unless we com-
prise several square towers with which the city
walls are furnished ; especially one at the west sally-
port, and the Tile Tower, both of considerable
strength.*
* Border Antiquities, by Sir Walter Scott, p. 40 ; also Maxwell's
Narrative, p. 63.
72 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
The foreground of the castle is formed of green
and level meadows washed by the river Eden; and,
in modern days, two fine stone bridges add to the
beauty of the scene. The hanging banks are crowned
with the village and church of Stanwix, and the
mountains of Bewcastle form the distance. " To the
south," to use the words of Hutchinson in his History
of Cumberland, " you command the plains towards
Penrith, shut in on either side with a vast range of
mountains, over which Crossfell and Skiddaw are dis-
tinctly seen greatly eminent. To the east a varied
tract of cultivated country, scattered over with vil-
lages and hamlets, mingle beautifully with woodlands
on the extensive landscape ; the distant horizon
formed by the heights of Northumberland. To the
west, the Solway Frith sparkles out, a shining expanse
of waters, flowing along a cultivated tract of land on
the English coast ; on the other, the bold heights of
Weffel and a chain of mountains extend towards the
sea."*
When Charles Edward spread out his forces before
Carlisle, the garrison within its mouldering walls
was composed of a company of invalids, under the
command of Colonel Durand; but the Cumberland
militia were almost all collected within the city walls.
Colonel Durand, however, as well as the Mayor of the
place, showed a spirit of defence ; and the latter issued
a proclamation informing the' inhabitants that he was
not Paterson, a Scotchman, but Pattieson, a true-born
Englishman, who was determined to hold out the city
to the last. Since Charles had no battering cannon,
* Hutchinson's History of Cumberland.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 73
it appeared impossible to reduce the castle if it were
well-defended; but it was resolved to make the at-
tempt. Whilst he was meditating an attack, the
news that Wade's army was marching from New-
castle drew him for some days from continuing these
operations. The report proved, however, to be ground-
less ; and the Duke of Perth was sent, therefore, with
several regiments to begin the siege.
The Jacobite army had all crossed the river Eden
at Eowcliff, four miles below Carlisle; and next day
they marched to Harraby, Blackball, and Boutcherby,
to the southward of Carlisle. At Harraby Lord
George Murray remained, in order to cover the siege ;
that place being most contiguous to Carlisle, and on the
highway to Penrith : the other troops under his com-
mand lay in the adjoining villages. The Duke of
Perth had the direction of the trenches. It was here
that an event occurred, which shortly afterwards ex-
cited the greatest discontent among the followers of
Charles Edward. *
The attack upon the city was made from Stanwix
Bank; the Marquis of Tullibardine, who had at
length joined the insurgent army, with his tenantry,
assisting the Duke of Perth. As it was market-
day on the ninth, when the Jacobites made their ap-
pearance within a quarter of a mile of Carlisle, the
Highland soldiers were mingled with the market-
people returning home, so that the garrison dared
not fire upon them. On the following day, the city
was attacked in three places ; but the Marquis of Tul-
libardine, who commanded a four-gun battery,
* Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 457.
74 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
planted at the entrance of a lane, was heard to say
to his followers, " Gentlemen, we have not metal for
them; retreat." After three days' attack, however,
the courage of Mr. Pattieson, and the strength of the
garrison, gave way. The valiant Mayor forgot
his English birth so far as to hang out a white flag,
and to request a capitulation for the town. The
garrison and townsmen of Carlisle, in the opinion of
the writers of the day, merited no more credit than
that of Edinburgh, in their defence and capitulation.
In the siege, the Highland army had only one man
killed, and another wounded ; and the reduction of Car-
lisle gave great, but not lasting, lustre to their
arms.
On entering Carlisle, Lord George Murray is said,
in the newspapers of the day, to have encountered
an old friend, who asked him how he could be so
rash as to lend himself to the aid of a hopeless and
futile invasion. To this Lord George is declared
to have replied, that he was well aware that the
cause was hopeless; but that, having once engaged
to maintain it, honour compelled him to continue
his exertions.* It was not, however, long before
those fatal dissensions appeared which effectually de-
feated all that valour or fidelity could effect to save
Charles Edward from defeat.
It was, perhaps, the well-earned popularity of
the Duke of Perth, his forbearance, and the grati-
tude evinced towards him by the inhabitants of
Carlisle, as he rode triumphantly through their city,
that first roused the jealousy of Lord George Mur-
* General Advertiser for 1745.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 75
ray's proud nature. The disinterested conduct of
the Duke of Perth, as soon as he became informed
of the sentiments entertained towards him by Lord
George Murray, was worthy of himself. That brave
and excellent young man modestly withdrew from a ri-
valry which, he justly concluded, must be injurious to
the cause of that Prince whose interests he had espous-
ed; for few men could cope with the natural abilities,
the force of character, and the experience of Lord
George. He was by far the most able general that ap-
peared in either of the two insurrections in the cause of
the Stuarts. " His personal hardihood and bravery,"
remarks Lord Mahon, " might be rivalled by many
others; but none could vie with him in planning a
campaign, providing against disasters, or improv-
ing victory."
Whilst the Jacobite forces lay encamped near
Carlisle, certain differences of opinion arose in the
Council. There were some who had even thought
that it would be desirable, before investing Carlisle,
to return to Scotland to collect a greater force. Lord
George Murray, seconded by the Duke of Perth,
had opposed this cautious proposal; and recom-
mended that part of the army should stay at Bramp-
ton, and the rest go to blockade Carlisle. The
Duke of Perth had seconded this scheme, and it had
accordingly been decided that Lord George should
command the blockade, whilst the Duke conducted
the battery. The result has been seen; and the
Prince was now master of Carlisle.
A few days after he had taken possession of the
town, a council of war was called, to consider what
76 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
was next to be done. Some of the officers proposed
returning to Scotland; others were in favour of en-
camping near Carlisle, and waiting to see whether
there would be any rising in England. Others
advised marching forwards, by the west of England ;
arguing, that having Carlisle, happen what might,
they had a safe retreat. Charles Edward declared
himself to be of the last-mentioned opinion, and his
inclinations were seconded by Lord George to a
certain extent. He stated the advantages and dis-
advantages of both propositions ; but added, that, al-
though he could not venture to advise the Prince
to march into England without more encouragement
than they had hitherto received, yet he was per-
suaded that if his Royal Highness marched south,
his army, though but small, would follow him. Upon
this, Charles immediately said these words, " I will
venture it." " I spoke," adds Lord George, " with the
more caution, since some things had happened about
the time of the blockade of Carlisle, and a little
before, which had made me desirous to serve only
as a volunteer, and not as a general officer ; but, as
all the other officers were very pressing with me, I
soon laid that thought aside."*"
What those circumstances were, Lord George ex-
plains in the following letter to his brother. His
difficulties, owing to the want of arrangements, such
as his skill and experience might have suggested,
had he been first in command, appear to have been
sufficiently trying. Yet, in the extract from a
letter dated Nov. 15, from Harraby, Lord George
* Jacobite Memoirs, p. 49.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 77
does ample justice to the exertions of the Duke of
Perth. This epistle was written whilst the blockade
and battery were going on.
i
" I AM sorry to find that it is impossible to go on
so quick with the battery of cannon as would have
been wished. By the report of those I sent there,
the ground is marshy, and vastly too much exposed;
and, notwithstanding all the pains taken by the
Duke of Perth, who is indefatigable in that service,
and who meets with innumerable difficulties, I suspect
the place pitched upon will not answer. But, if the
thing be prosecuted, I think it my duty to tell you, so
as you may represent it to his Royal Highness, that the
men posted upon the blockade of Carlisle will not
expose themselves, either in trenches, or all night
in the open air, within cannon-shot, or even musket-
shot of the town, except it be in their turn with
the rest of the army, and that it be decided by lot
who is to mount the guard, first night, second, and
so on. The way I would propose, if it be approved
of by a council of war, is as follows : that fifty men
be draughted out of each of the battalions that are
at Brampton, with proper officers, and at least
two majors out of the six battalions, and be sent
to quarter at Butcherby, which, I believe, is within
a mile of the battery; and, as I suppose, one
hundred and fifty men will mount guard at the
battery. These six battalions will furnish two
guards ; your men will furnish one, General Gordon
id Lord Ogilvie's one, which, in the whole, makes
four guards, or reliefs ; and I think, by that time,
78 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
the town will be either taken or the blockade re-
moved. I don't mention the Duke of Perth's regi-
ment, because they have more than their turn of
the duty already, besides furnishing workmen, &c.
And for Colonel Roy Stuart's regiments, I suppose
they have the guard of the equipage, &c. ; and they
will, perhaps, be able to furnish some workmen.
If anything be done of this nature, the sooner I
hear of it the better. I ever am, dear brother,
your most affectionate brother, and faithful humble
servant, " GEORGE MURRAY."*
This advice was disregarded. A court-martial
was held to consider of the plan suggested by Lord
George. By this council the detachments proposed
by Lord George for the relief of the battery were
refused, upon the plea that those corps had lately
encountered all the fatigue of the blockade at
Edinburgh, and that it would not be fair to put
them again upon that service. On the day after
receiving this decision, in the hand-writing of Se-
cretary Murray, Lord George addressed the following
letter to the Prince. His conduct upon this occa-
sion shows the proud and fiery spirit of this able
commander.
" 15th November, 1745.
" SIR,
" I cannot but observe how little my advice as
a General officer has any weight with your Royal
Highness, ever since I had the honour of a com-
mission from your hands. I therefore take leave to
* Forbes's Jacobite Memoirs, p. 49.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 79
give up my commission. But as I ever had a firm
attachment to the royal family, and in particular
to the King my master, I shall go on as a volunteer,
and design to be this night in the trenches as such,
with any others that will please to follow me, though
I own I think there are full few on this post al-
ready. Your Eoyal Highness will please order
whom you think fit to command on this post, and
the other parts of the blockade. I have the honour
to be, sir, your Royal Highness's most faithful and
most humble servant,
(Signed) " GEORGE MURRAY. *
" Lord Elcho has the command till you please to
appoint it otherwise."
To his brother, the Marquis of Tullibardine, Lord
George wrote still more fully. In this letter, after
informing the Marquis that he had given up his com-
mission of Lieu tenant- General, Lord George complains
of a want of confidence on the part of the Prince, in
regard to the terms which were to be accepted or re-
jected in the surrender of Carlisle Touching these,
Charles Edward, who was now almost completely
under the controul of Secretary Murray, acted in a
weak and vacillating manner. When pressed by Lord
George Murray to give him full instructions, he he-
sitated; Lord George entreated him, if he could not
decide during his presence in the camp, that the Prince
would send instructions after him.f "When he
would not come to any fixed resolution before I came
* Forbes's Jacobite Memoirs, p. 50. f Forbes, p. 51.
80 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
away, I begged his Royal Highness would send his
intentions and instructions after me, that I might con-
duct myself by them ; but his secretary told me plainly,
he took that matter to be his province, as he seems
indeed to take everything upon him both as to civil
and military. There are many other things which
have determined me to wish to have no command; and
it is some time past since I observed things must go
into utter confusion. I shall show, as a volunteer, that
no man wishes more success to the cause ; and I can
be of more use charging in the first rank of your
Atholl men than as a general, where I was constantly
at a loss to know what was doing. I am of opinion
you should reduce your men to two battalions; one
for Lord Nairn, the other Mr. Mercer. When you
are quartered anywhere, if you have a hole to spare, I
shall be as often with you as I can ; at other times, I
shall lye with the men in a barn, which I doubt not
will hearten them much. In every thing, as a volun-
teer, I shall do all I can to advance the service ; but
am determined never to act as an officer. I have
several things to say at meeting. If you have occa-
sion for tent or horses, they are at your service, for I
design to keep none, but make presents of them all.
" Adieu ! Yours, GEORGE MURRAY."
" Haroby, 15th Nov. 1745."
Not only were the seeds of disunion thus sown be-
tween the Prince and the Generals, but also between
the Marquis of Tullibardine and Lord George Murray.
" I did expect," writes Lord George to the Mar-
quis, " that you would have upon occasion stood my
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 81
friend ; but I find you are too apt to hearken to design-
ing people, by your being so ready to blame me before
I was heard; and, except you show some regard for
me, how can I expect it of others? I told his Eoyal
Highness that you had acquainted me that he desired
to see me. He said, No, he had nothing particular to
say to me. I told him I should be as ready to serve
in a private station, and as a volunteer, in the first
rank of your men, as ever I could be in any other.
He said I might do so. Nothing else passed. I spoke
a good time to Sir Thomas Sheridan, and told him in
particular, that if anything was taken amiss in my
letter, as having expressed my attachment to the King,
without having mentioned his Royal Highness, it was
very injurious to me ; for having mentioned the King
and royal family, (and designing my letter to be
short,) I thought it needless to be more particular;
for surely, next to the King, I would serve none on
earth before his Royal Highness : which, after what I
have shown, and all my actions since I joined the
standard, could not be called in question. I men-
tioned several particulars, wherein I showed that I
had no authority in the station I was in, and that
others acted as General who had not any call, but used
his Royal Highness's name. That in the drudgery, I
was employed, but anything of moment was done with-
out my participation. That, in short, I had ventured
my all life, fortune, family every thing, my honour ;
which last I had some to lose, but none to gain, in
the way things were managed, and therefore resolved
upon a private station."*
* Forbes, p. 52.
VOL. III. G
82 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
The concluding paragraph of this painful letter is
written with a force and bitterness which show how
deeply this ardent servant of a failing cause was wounded
by what he justly deemed unmerited caprice and dis-
respect. " I wish you would be careful of the Atholl
men, that they be not slighted ; which never should
have happened as long as I had any command. I
find scarce any of them have got even thanks for ven-
turing life and fortune, and even the gallows; and,
which is worse, (I don't know how it is come about,)
they are not thought equally good with other men.
If you would send me the notes, that were made out,
of the way of modelling them into two different regi-
ments, I would do, now that I have time to do it, as
much as possible for the good of the service and gene-
ral comfort. I always am, dear brother, your most
faithful and humble servant and affectionate brother,
" GEORGE MURRAY."*
"Haroby, 16th Nov. 1745."
There was also another source of complaint, which,
though appearing on the surface to have originated
with the Duke of Perth, was clearly traceable to the
Prince, or rather to his adviser, Secretary Murray. A
marked slight had been passed on Lord George Mur-
ray on the very night on which the battery on Car-
lisle was opened. He had gone into the trenches ; and,
seeing the Duke of Perth there, he had desired him,
in case of anything extraordinary happening, to let
him know, and that he would aid him by every means
in his power. "What private orders the Duke had was
not known ; but, far from applying to Lord George for
* Forbes, p. 53.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 83
aid or counsel, he sent to Brampton, seven miles' dis-
tance, whenever any difficulty occurred, and acquainted
the Prince with it, but took no notice of Lord George,
although he was an older officer than himself, and had
been sent to Harroby to cover the siege. Upon this,
Lord George, who thought he was entitled to know
what had passed in the trenches, complained, but re-
ceived no satisfactory answer: and thus aggrieved,
and, as he conceived, insulted, he sent that letter to
the Prince, which has justly been censured as mak-
ing an invidious distinction between the young Che-
valier and his father.*
These acts of indiscretion and intemperance were
followed by another proceeding still less worthy of the
soldier and the man of honour : Lord George Murray
indeed lowered himself, when, at the same time that he
wrote to the Prince, he set on foot a petition praying
Charles that he would dismiss all Roman Catholics
from his councils. This was aimed at the Duke of
Perth and Sir Thomas Sheridan ; nor can we assign to
it any better motive than that it was intended to re-
instate Lord George Murray in the command. Some
allowance may, nevertheless, be made for the preju-
dices of a Presbyterian, acting on the determined and
overbearing nature of a high-spirited man. But the
vital principles of our Christian faith tend to soften
animosities, to humble pride, and to accord to others
the same intention to act rightly as that of which we
ourselves are prone to boast. A sincere, a truly
pious member of the Christian church cannot be an in-
* See Lockhart, vol. ii. p. 456 ; also Lord Mahon, vol. iv. p. 428,
note.
o 2
84 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
tolerant partizan of certain modes of faith. There
dwells within his breast a deeper sentiment than that
which is inspired by the worldly and sublunary dis-
tinctions of sect. And Lord George Murray, seeing his
young and blameless rival, the Duke of Perth, brave,
honourable, and moderate, had shown greater zeal for
true religion had he not availed himself of an un-
worthy plea to base upon it an invidious and covert
insinuation.
He was reproved by the magnanimity of the man
whom he desired to remove from the Prince's coun-
cils. Although the Duke of Perth did not profess to ac-
quiesce in the opinion that it was unreasonable that
he should have the chief command, although he did
not pretend to acknowledge the justice of the claim,
he nobly gave up, for the sake of a Prince whom he
loved, the superiority to Lord George Murray. His
conduct on this occasion recalls the generous senti-
ments of the knight and soldier in ancient times ; un-
happily it failed in producing that unanimity which it
was intended to effect. The rancour between Lord
George Murray and the Secretary still remained, al-
though it did not break out on every occasion, and
sometimes gave way to the common cause when the
interests of all were at stake.*
At Carlisle the forces were reviewed and were
found to amount to above five thousand foot, with five
hundredf on horseback, mostly low-country gentlemen
followed by their servants, under the name of guards,
hussars, &c.J After a few days rest, and after com-
* Maxwell, p. 67.
t Maxwell says 4400 men. Two or three hundred were to be left in
Carlisle, p. 68. Johnstone's Memoirs of the Rebellion, p. 45.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 85
pleting every arrangement for the preservation of Car-
lisle, the army marched to Penrith ; Lord George pre-
ceding the rest of the forces at the head of six regi-
ments and some horse. This was an adventurous
undertaking with so small a force ; for there were now
in England above sixty thousand men in arms includ-
ing the militia and the newly raised regiments; but
the Prince, observes Mr. Maxwell, " had hitherto had
a wonderful run of success." He was still buoyed up
with hopes of a landing of French troops, and of an
insurrection in his favour.*
On the twenty-fourth of November the Prince
marched from Carlisle to Penrith, and thence to Lan-
caster, which he reached on the twenty-fifth, at the
head of the vanguard of his army. He was dressed
in a light plaid belt, with a blue sash, a blue bonnet
on his head, decorated with a white rose, the sound
of the bagpipes, and the drum playing " The King
shall have his own again ;" the banners, on which
were inscribed the words "Liberty and Property,
Church and King," failed, nevertheless, to inspire the
cold spectators who beheld them with a corresponding
enthusiasm.
The army advanced towards Preston, Lord George
Murray commanding the van ; and on the twenty-sixth
of November, the whole force assembled before that
town, the very name of which struck terror into Scot-
tish breasts. Nor were the English Jacobites without
their fears, nor devoid of associations with the name
of a place in which the hopes of their party had been
blighted in 1715, and their banners steeped in blood.
* Baines's History of Lancashire, II. 68.
86 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
The walls of Preston recalled to many of the volun-
teers of Lancashire the prison in which their fathers
had died of fever, or starvation, or of broken hearts.
It is remarkable, as one of the newspapers of the day
observes, that many of those who joined the Chevalier's
ranks were the sons of former insurgents. " Hanging,"
adds the coarse party writer, " is hereditary in some
families."* Lord George Murray, in order to avoid
the " freit," or, in other words, to humour the super-
stition of the Highlanders, who had a notion that they
never should get beyond Preston, crossed the Kibble
bridge, and landed a great many of his men on
the other side of the water, about a mile from the
town, where they halted the next day, waiting for some
intelligence, of which it is presumed, says Lockhart,
" they were disappointed." Here it was necessary to
divide even this little army for the convenience of
quarters.f At Preston the Prince was received with
enthusiastic cheers, but when officers were ordered to
* General Advertiser for 1745-46.
t Maxwell, page 68.
The following is a List of the Chevalier's officers and troops, taken
from the History of the Rebellion, extracted from the Scots' Magazine
for 1745 and 1746, p. 60. This List makes the amount of the forces
considerably greater than the statement given elsewhere.
A LIST OF THE CHEVALIER'S OFFICERS AND TROOPS.
Regiments. Colonels. Men.
Lochyel . Cameron of Loch. . . 740
Appin . Stuart of Ardshiel . . 360
Atholl . Lord G. Murray . . 1000
Clanronald . Clan, of Clan., jun. . . 200
Keppoch . Macdonald of Keppoch . 400
Glenco . Macdonald of Glenco . 200
Carried forward 2900
LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
87
beat up for recruits, no one enlisted. The tents which
had been provided had been left on the road from
Moffat to Edinburgh ; and the season was so severe,
that it was impossible even for Highlanders to sleep in
them ; the town was too small to receive them ; the same
arrangement that had been begun at Carlisle was
still pursued, and the army went in two great divi-
sions, though with scarcely a day's march between
them. Lord George Murray commanded what was
called the low-country regiments; but the greater
part of these was, observes Mr. Maxwell, " High-
landers by their language, and all were in their
dress, for the Highland garb was the uniform of
the whole army."
One can easily conceive what must have been the
effect of this gallant force, unbroken by fatigue or pri-
A LIST OF THE CHEVALIER J S OFFICERS AND TROOPS Continued,
Begiments.
Colonels.
Brought forward
Ogilvie . Lord Ogilvie
Glenbucket . Gordon of Glen.
Perth, . Duke of Perth (and Pitsligo's
foot) .
Robertson . Robertson of Strowan
Maelachan . Mac. of Maclachan
Glencarnick . Macgregor :
Glengary . Macdonald of Glen., jun.
Nairn . Lord Nairn
Edinburgh . John Roy Stuart (and Lord
Kelly's)
In several small corps
( Lord Elcho
( Lord Kilmarnock
Lord Pitsligo's Horse
Horse
Men.
2900
500
427
750
200
260
300
300
200
450
1000
160
140
Total
7587
88 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
vation, and glorying in their enterprise, as they entered
into the friendly county of Lancaster, filled with Ko-
inan Catholic gentry, who gathered around the standard
of the Prince. The colours of the Tartan, which was
worn, as we have seen, by the whole of the army, both
Highlanders and Lowlanders, although denominated
by a writer in the Scots' Magazine as a " vulgar glare,"
never offend the eye, but are, according to a high au-
thority, " beautifully blended and arranged." " Great
art," observed the celebrated Mr. West, (that is to say,
much knowledge of the principles of colouring with
pleasing effect,) has been displayed in the composition
of the tartans of several Clans, regarding them in ge-
neral as specimens of national taste, something analo-
gous to the affecting but artless strains of the native
music of Scotland."
This garb, which excited the attention and admira-
tion of Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo, consisted
of the truis, the kilted plaid, and philibeg. The truis,
be it observed, for the benefit of the dwellers in the
south, were used by gentlemen on horseback, and by
others according to their choice ; but the common garb
of the people was the plaid and kilt ; and this was the
usual dress down to the passing of the act for suppress-
ing the garb. The tartan is said to have been known
in Flanders; and the tartan and kilt to have been
adopted in the Lowlands before their adoption among
the mountains.* Without attempting to meddle in the
dangerous and intricate question of antiquity, it must
* " My grandfather," says General Stuart, " always wore tartans ;
truis, and with the plaid thrown over the shoulder, when on horseback ;
and kilt, when on foot ; and never any other clothes, except when in
mourning." App. XXII.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 89
be acknowledged that the Highland dress is well adapt-
ed to the habits of a pastoral people, as well as being
extremely graceful and picturesque. It is also admi-
rably fitted to oppose the inclemency of those regions in
which, among the other habits which characterise the
peculiar people who wear it, it is still regarded as a
loved and revered badge of national distinction. In
the various campaigns in Holland, the Highlanders
suffered far less than other nations in that damp and
chilly climate ; in the retreat to Corunna, under the
hero Sir John Moore, their plaids bound lightly round
their bodies, they experienced the convenience of that
simple form of dress in a rapid and protracted march.
Light and free, the mountaineer could pursue, without
restraint, the most laborious occupations ; he could tra-
verse the glens, or ascend mountains which offer a hope-
less aspect to the inhabitants of more civilized spheres.
But it was not only as a convenient and durable mode
of apparel that the kilt and philibeg were advan-
tageous. The Highland costume, when it formed a fea-
ture among English or foreign regiments, cemented a
spirit which was felt and feared by foes. It bound
those who wore it in a common bond, not to dishonour
the garb which their chiefs and their forefathers had
worn, by an act of cowardice, or by deeds of cruelty.*
Little did the English Government, or the inha-
bitants of the metropolis, or probably the country in
general, know the character of the brave, ill-fated
band of Highlanders, who were now advancing into
the very heart of the country. It was the custom,
* Sketches of the Highlanders, by General Stuart of Garth. Vol. II.
A. XXII. Also note.
90 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
especially among those who wished to gain preferment
at Court, or who affected to be fashionable, to speak
of the Highlanders as low, ignorant savages; semi-
barbarians, to whom the vulgar qualities of personal
courage and hardihood might be allowed, but who had
neither any urbanity to strangers, nor refined notions
of honour. The word " rebel," was a mild name for
those who were following Prince Charles's standard as
it was borne southwards. The hardened villains, " the
desperadoes, rabble, thieves, banditti !"'* are the terms
usually employed in expressing the sovereign contempt
felt by ignorance for an honourable, religious, and
primitive people. It seems also to have been thought
only necessary for the Duke of Cumberland to show
his face in the north, to put to flight a beggarly hand-
ful of undisciplined men, whose moral character, if we
might credit certain passages in the Magazines of the
day, was as low as their military acquirements. By
other nations besides their own sister country, the
same erroneous notions concerning the Scottish High-
landers prevailed. In Germany it was conceded that
they might be capable of becoming " good and useful
subjects when converted from heathenism." The
French, too, presumed to look upon them with con-
tempt, until they met them, when acting as auxi-
liaries to other powers, so often in battle, and be-
held them so generally in the front, that they verily
believed at last, there were twelve battalions in the
army instead of two; and one of their Generals,
Broglio, in after times remarked, that u he had often
wished to be a man of six feet high, but that he be-
* See the True Patriot, under the head Apocrypha, 1745.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 91
came reconciled to his size after he saw the wonders
performed by the little mountaineers. 1 ' *
It is scarcely now necessary to allude to these
errors at that time prevalent regarding the valour of
the Scottish host. Tributes from every known coun-
try have long elevated this brave and oppressed people
into a proud and honourable position. Instead, how-
ever, of the undisciplined savages who were supposed
to be traversing the country, it was sooner found
than acknowledged, that the intrepidity of the High-
landers was united to humanity, and to upright prin-
ciples. To their noble qualities was added a deep
sense of religion. In after-times it was remarked,
that no trait in the character of the Highlanders was
more remarkable than the respect which was paid by the
different regiments which were eventually employed in
the British service, to their chaplains. The men when
they got into any little scrape were far more anxious,
writes General Stuart, " to conceal it from their chap-
lain than from their commanding officer."
But, however the public prints might revile, and
the polite society at St. James's ridicule, and mis-
understand the Highlanders, the General whose lot
it was to conquer the unfortunate Jacobites knew
well of what materials their forces were composed.
The Duke of Cumberland, at the battle of Fontenoy,
had been so much pleased with the conduct of the
famous Black Watch, that he had offered them any
favour which they chose to ask, or which he could
grant, to mark his approbation. The answer to this
proof of approbation was worthy of those valiant aux-
* Stuart's Sketches, II. 76.
92 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
iliaries, who are described by the French as u High-
land furies, who rushed in upon us with more fury
than ever did a sea driven by a tempest." The High-
landers replied, after thanking the Eoyal Duke for his
courtesy, " that no favour he could bestow on them
would gratify them so much as to pardon a soldier of
their regiment, who lay under a sentence of court
martial, by which he was decreed to incur a heavy
corporal punishment; the infliction of which would,"
they said, " bring dishonour on themselves, their
friends, and their country." The request was granted.
It was, nevertheless, the countrymen of these High-
landers, men as heroic as true, as nice in their sense
of honour as the Black Watch, upon whom the Duke
wreaked the utmost of his vengeance after Culloden,
whom he hunted with bloodhounds, whose honest
hearts he broke by every possible indignity, though
their gallant spirits could never be subdued.
As the army advanced, a great multitude assembled
to gaze upon the singular spectacle. The very arms
borne by the Highlanders were objects of curiosity and
surprise, no less than of alarm, to the populace, who
stood by the way-side expressing their good-will to the
expedition, but who, when asked to join the insurgents,
declined, saying, " they did not understand fighting."*
The formidable weapons with which the Highlanders
contrived to make themselves terrible to their ene-
mies, consisted of a broad- sword, girded on the left
side, and a dirk or short thick dagger on the right, used
only when the combat was so close as to render the
broadsword useless. In ancient times, these fierce
% * Tales of a Grandfather, iii. 398.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 93
warriors brandished a small short-handled hatchet or
axe, for the purpose of a close fight. A gun, a pair
of pistols, and a target, completed their armour, except
when ammunition failed, when they substituted for
the gun, the lochaber axe; this was a species of long
lance, or pike, with a formidable weapon at the end of
it, adapted either for cutting or stabbing. The loch-
aber axe had fallen into disuse since the introduction
of the musket ; but a rude, yet ready substitute had
been found for it, by fixing scythes at the end of a
pole, with which the Highlanders resisted the attacks
of cavalry. Such had been their arms in the early
part of the Insurrection of 1745, and such they con-
tinued until, at the battles of Falkirk and Preston Pans,
they had collected muskets from the slain on the
battle-field. In addition to these weapons, the gentle-
men sometimes wore suits of armour and coats of
mail ; in which, indeed, some of the principal Jaco-
bites have been depicted ; but, with these, the common
men never incumbered themselves, both on account of
the expense, and of the weight, which was ill-adapted
to their long marches and steep hills/"
A distinguishing mark which the Highland Clans
generally adopted, was the badge. This was fre-
quently a piece of evergreen, worn on the bonnet, and
placed, during the insurrection of 1745, beside the
white cockade. When Lord Lovat's men assembled
near the Aird, they wore, according to the evidence
given on the State Trials, sprigs of yew in their
bonnets.f These badges, although generally con-
* General Stuart's Sketches of the Highlanders, p. 67.
t State Trials, vol. xviii. p. 686.
94 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
sidered to have been peculiar to the clans, were, ob-
serves a modern writer,* " like armorial bearings,
common to all countries in the middle ages: and,
shared by the Highlanders among the general dis-
tinctions of chivalry, were only peculiar to them
when disused by others." Thus, the broom worn
by Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count D'Anjou; and the
raspberry by Francis the First of France, were only
discontinued as an ornament to the head when
transferred to the habit, or housings ; but the High-
land Clans, tenacious of their customs, wore the plant
not only upon their caps, but placed them on the head
of the Clan standard. The white cockade was now
regarded as the peculiar badge of the party ; yet it
seems not, at all events among the Clan Fraser,
to have superseded the evergreen. Some few traces
are left, in the present day, to certify, nevertheless,
that they were worn during the contest of 1745.
" Lord Hardwicke's Act, and continual emigration,"
remarks John Sobieski Stuart, " have extirpated
the memory of these distinctions once as familiar as
the names of those who bore them ; and all of whom I
have been able to collect any evidence are, the Mac-
donalds, the Macphersons, the Grants, the Frasers,
the Stuarts, and the Campbells." " The memory
of most," mournfully remarks the same writer, " has
now perished among the people; but, within a re-
cent period, various lists have been composed some
by zealous enthusiasts, who preferred substitution
to loss, and some by the purveyors of the carpet
Highlanders, who once a-year illuminate the splendour
* John Sobieski Stuart.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 95
of a ball-room with the untarnished broadswords and
silken hose, never dimmed in the mist of a hill, or
sullied in the dew of the heather.*
The Macdonalds, until a very short period before
the rebellion of 1715, were known by the hea-
ther bow. " Let every man," said one of their
chiefs of old, looking round on a field of blooming
heather, " put over his head that which is under
his feet." The destined sufferers of Glenco were
marked by their " having a fair busk of heather,
well spread and displayed over the head of a staff."
The Clan Macgregor wore the fir ; and the Clan
Grant assumed a similar badge; whilst the badge
of the Frasers is said to have been supplied for ages
by a yew of vast size, in Glen-dubh, at the head
of Strath Fearg. The badge assigned to the Mac-
phersons was the water lily, which abounds in the
Lochs of Hamkai, upon the margin of which was
the gathering place of the Clan Chattan. Some of
these distinctions appear to have been used during
the year 1745, as we see in the case of the Frasers,
but all to have emerged into the one general dis-
tinction of the Jacobites, the white rose, first worn
by David the Second, at the tournament of Windsor
in 1349, when he carried the " Rose argent" This
badge had been almost forgotten in Scotland, until
the year 1715, when it was worn by the adherents
of James Stuart, on his birthday, the tenth of June.
" By the Irish Catholics," observes the Editor of
the " Vestiarum Scoticum," " it is still worn on the
* Vestiarium Scoticum, p, 100, note. Edited by John Sobieski
Stuart.
96 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
same day; but in Scotland its memory is only now
retained in the ballads of '15, and '45."
The Muses, who, as Burns has remarked, are all
Jacobites, have celebrated this badge in these terms :
" O' a' the days are in the year,
The tenth o' June I lo' maist dear,
When our white roses a' appear,
For the sake o' Jamie the Rover."*
The Highland host, after marching through Pres-
ton, to the sounds of the bagpipes, which played
" The King shall have his own again," took the road
through Wigan, towards Manchester. The Prince
was informed that the English troops had broken
down the bridge at Warrington; and that circum-
stance, which decided him to go through Wigan,
somewhat encouraged his naturally sanguine temper,
as it showed fear on the part of the enemy. During
this march, the kind-hearted young man went on foot,
except occasionally, when we find notice of his riding
a fine horse in the public prints of the day. He usu-
ally, however, gave up his carriage to the vener-
able Lord Pitsligo, and marched at the head of one of
the columns. He never took dinner, but ate a hearty
supper; and then, throwing himself upon a bed,
slept until four in the morning, when he arose, to
prosecute the fatigues of another day, fatigues which
youth, a sound constitution, and, above all, a great
degree of mental energy, enabled him to endure.
Wigan, which the Chevalier's forces now ap-
* These observations are all taken from the Notes to the Vestiarium
Scoticum, a beautiful work, extremely interesting, as being written by the
hand of a Stuart, and full of information.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 97
preached, had been, in the time of Queen Elizabeth,
agitated by religious differences; and the Queen's
Commission for promoting the ordinances of the
Reformed Church had been there met with a vigorous
resistance. During the civil wars, this town, both
from its vicinity to Latham House, and from its
attachment to Charles the First, took a distinguished
part, and obtained the characteristic designation of
the " faithful and loyal town of Wigan." After the
insurrection of 1715, the oaths of supremacy and
allegiance to the reigning family had been, in vain,
strongly urged upon the inhabitants of Lancashire,
and a large mass of landed estates were, in conse-
quence, put in jeopardy; although it does not
appear that the owners were dispossessed of their
estates, or that any other use was made of the register
taken of all the landed properties in the county,
except to assist the magistrates in the suppression of
the insurrection in the north. Nevertheless, the ex-
pectation which Charles might naturally entertain
of a general rising in Lancashire was not realized.
" Nothing," observes Mr. Maxwell, " looked like a
general concurrence until he came to Manchester."*""
This was remarkable, for Manchester had been the
head-quarters of many of the Parliamentary party
in Lancashire during the civil wars ; whilst Preston
and Wigan had both been royalist boroughs. But a
singular alteration had taken place in the people of
Manchester, who had changed from Roundheads to
Jacobites.f
During the whole of the preceding march the
* Maxwell, p. 70. t Baines's History of Lancashire, iv. 69.
VOL. III. H
98 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Highland army had levied the public revenue with
great accuracy; but no extortion, nor any attempts
at plunder, had disgraced their cause, nor reflected
on Lord George Murray as their General/*
At Manchester, the first organized force raised in
England for the Chevalier joined Charles Edward.
It was a regiment of two hundred men, commanded
by Colonel Townley, a gentleman who had been in
the French service; and was called the Manchester
Regiment. It was composed of young men of the
most reputable families in the town, of several
substantial farmers and tradesmen, and of about one
hundred common men. The accession of this troop
gave great encouragement to the Prince; yet there
were still many who thought very badly of the en-
terprise, and the advice afterwards given by Lord
George Murray at Derby, to retreat, was also whisper-
ed at Manchester, Lord George being resolved to
retreat, should there be no insurrection in England,
nor landing from France. " At Manchester, one
of his friends told Lord George," relates Maxwell,
" that he thought they had entered far enough
into England, since neither of these events had
happened." To this Lord George replied that they
might make a farther trial, and proceed to Der-
by; where, if there should be no greater encou-
ragement to go on, he should propose a retreat to the
Prince."f
The reception of Prince Charles at Manchester, was
celebrated with demonstrations of enthusiastic joy.
As he marched on foot into the town, at the head of
* Tales of a Grandfather, iii. p. 98. t Maxwell, p. 71.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 99
the clans, halting to proclaim the Chevalier St.
George, King, the bells rang, and preparations were
made for illuminations and bonfires in the evening.
The Prince was attended by twelve Scottish and
English noblemen: from these he was distinguished
by wearing the white cockade on the top of his cap,
in the centre, instead of on the side, as did his
general officers. Peculiarly formed to grace such
occasions as a triumphal entry into an important and
friendly town, Charles Edward quickly won the good
will of the female part of the community ; and the
beauty and grace of the kingdom were soon, to use a
phrase of a contemporary writer, enlisted in his behalf.
To the personal attributes of the Prince, "joining
the good nature of the Stuarts with the spirit of the
Sobieski," Charles Edward added one accomplishment
which the monarch then on the throne of England
did not possess : he spoke English well, although with
a foreign accent: in this last respect, he resembled
some of those around him, more especially the Duke of
Perth, who, having been long abroad, in vain endea-
voured to conceal the French idiom and pronunciation
by affecting a broad Scottish dialect.*
Still, in spite of these advantages, and notwith-
standing the known predilection of the Lancastrians
for the cause of the Stuarts, the lowest populace alone
joined the standard of Charles. One melancholy,
though admirable exception has been already referred
to in the person of Colonel Francis Townley. This
gentleman was a member of an ancient family, and
the nephew of Mr. Townley, whose seat in Townley
* Tales of a Grandfather.
H 2
100 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Hall, Lancashire, lays claim to high antiquity; and
yet, is modern in comparison with a former residence,
once seated on what is still called the Castle Hill.
Francis Townley was a man of literary acquirements,
which, indeed, eminently distinguished his relative,
the celebrated Charles Townley, who formed at Eome,
and afterwards brought to London, the well-known
collection of marbles which was bought by the Trustees
of the British Museum for twenty thousand pounds ;
(supposed to be a sum far beneath its actual value,)
and which still graces that national structure.
The family of Townley had been remarkable for
their fidelity to the Stuarts long before Colonel
Francis Townley raised a troop for the Chevalier.
The grandfather of this unfortunate man, had been
tried for rebellion, in 1715, but acquitted; it was
therefore very unlikely that when his accomplished
descendant espoused the same ill-starred cause,
there would be any mercy shown to a family so
deeply implicated in Jacobitism. Francis Town-
ley was afterwards taken prisoner, and tried with
other persons, chiefly captains in the Manchester
regiment. Of these the greater number were hung
on Kennington Common. The head of Colonel Town-
ley was severed from his body, according to sen-
tence, after death, and was placed upon Temple
Bar ; but those of most of his brothers in arms were
preserved in spirits, and sent into the country, to
be placed in public situations in Manchester and
Carlisle.*
Prince Charles now prepared to proceed on his
* Baines's Lancashire, ii. p. 71 ; also iii. p. 254.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 101
inarch to Macclesfield, while Lord George Murray was
sent with his division to Congleton. The accompa-
niments of the Jacobite army, if we can venture to
believe a letter inserted in the Gentleman's Magazine
for 1745, and purporting to be written by a lady in
Preston to her friend in London, formed a singular
spectacle. Four ladies of some distinction are stated
in this letter to have marched with the army. These
were Lady Ogilvie, Mrs. Murray of Broughton, a lady
of great beauty and spirit, the celebrated Jenny
Cameron, and another female, unknown, but who is
supposed to have been the mistress of Sir Thomas
Sheridan. The populace, nevertheless, mistook Sheri-
dan for a priest, and assigned to him the nick-name
of the " Archbishop of Canterbury." The first two
ladies went in a chariot by themselves; the others
were in a coach and six with the young Chevalier, to
whose dejection and weariness as he passed through
Preston, Jenny Cameron is said to have administered
cordials. By the same writer the Jacobite army are
described as looking like " hunted hares." Such is a
specimen of one of the ephemeral slanders of the day ;
and the circumstance of the coach and six tends to
disprove the whole letter. The Prince, it is evident
from every isolated account, marched on foot until he
entered Derby.* It was, however, perfectly true that
Mrs. Murray of Broughton and Lady Ogilvie, whose
husbands were both with the army, attended the
movements of the Highland force.
And now were the merits of Lord George Murray
as a General, certain very soon to be called into
* Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xv. p. 644.
102 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
active play; for, on the twenty-sixth of November,
William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, had left Lon-
don at the head of an army, to oppose the insurgents.
On the character of the royal individual who,
in his twenty-fifth year came forward to rescue his
country, as it was said, from the yoke of a foreign
invader ; and whose promising, but immature talents,
backed by a great military force, were effectual in
defeating the skill of an experienced General, some
reflections will naturally arise.
William, Duke of Cumberland, was born in the
year 1 721. He very early demonstrated that predilec-
tion for military affairs which obtained for him from
Walpole the praise of having been " one of the five only
really great men whom he had ever seen." He very
soon, also, betrayed that cruel and remorseless spirit
which was wreaked on the brave and the defence-
less; that indifference to suffering which too aptly
was repaid by an indignant people with the name of
" the Butcher;" that thirst for blood which we
read of in Heathen countries, before the command-
ments of the God of Israel, or the beautiful commen-
tary of a Saviour of Mercy upon those sacred com-
mandments, had chastened and humanized the people.
Those tendencies which, whilst England was elate with
success, and when she gloried in a suppressed rebellion,
raised the Duke of Cumberland to a hero ; and, when
reflection came, sank him to a brute ; were manifested
in the dawn of youth. In after years, (what extreme
of odium could be greater?) even children instinc-
tively feared him. One day, when playing with
his nephew, afterwards George the Third, a child,
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 103
the Duke drew a sword to amuse him. The
incident occurred long after the mouldering bones
upon the field of Culloden were whitened in the
sun; long after the brave Balmerino had suffered,
and vengeance had revelled in the doom of the be-
loved Kilmarnock. But the sins of the remorseless
Cumberland cried to Heaven. They were registered
in the mind of a child. The boy turned pale and
trembled, and acknowledged that he thought his
"uncle Cumberland was going to kill him." The
Duke shocked and deeply hurt, referred to popular
prejudice the impression which was the result of
crime.
Imperious, aspiring, independent, the grasping and
able intellect of the Duke soon imbibed a knowledge of
affairs beyond his years. When scarcely out of the
nursery he loved the council chamber, and delighted
in the recitals of foreign wars. As he reached
manhood, he affected a lofty and philosophical cold-
ness; a dangerous attribute in youth, and one which
either springs from a frigid disposition, or else in-
fallibly contracts the heart. But, in the case of the
Duke of Cumberland, it concealed a proud and sel-
fish spirit, which could ill brook the superiority of
his elder brother, Frederic, Prince of Wales, or
bear with temper the popularity of another. When,
in after years, his brother's death was communicated
to him, those jealous and disdainful feelings broke
forth. " It is a great blow to the country," he said,
sarcastically; " but I hope, in time, it will recover it."
That want of faith in human nature, of reverence for
good motives, that absence of a generous confidence
104 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
which one can suppose strongly characterise the
lost angels, were among the many odious fea-
tures in the character of this truly bad man.
The prevailing feeling of his mind was, contempt
for everything and everybody; a contempt for re-
nown; a contempt, in after life, for politics, which
he conceived were below his attention ; a contempt
for women, whom he lowered by a sort of prefer-
ence consistent with the rest of his coarse character,
but whose modest virtues he mistrusted. With this
affectation of superiority, the Duke combined the
littleness of envy. When he had attained the height
of his popularity, his satisfaction was tarnished by the
reputation of Admiral Yernon, who was the idol of the
public. As a General, his acknowledged and eminent
qualities were sullied by the German puerilities of
an exact attention to military trifles; any defi-
ciency in etiquette was punished like a crime: the
formation of a new pattern of spatterdashes was
treated as an important event. Nor was this all.
He introduced into an army of Englishmen the
German notions of military severity; he fostered a
system which it has taken nearly a century of great
efforts, and good works in the humane, to annul.
" He was," says Horace Walpole, " a Draco in legis-
lation;" adding, " that in the Duke's amended mutiny
bill the word i Death' occurred at every clause."*
Such is the general colouring of his public character.
A strong and sensitive feeling with regard to the na-
tional honour ; a devoted reverence for the sovereign
* I omit Horace Walpole's exact expression, which is more witty
than proper.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 105
authority ; which were the only principles and institu-
tions which he seemed to respect, are the milder traits.
In private, he countenanced, by his own practice, most
of those vices which scarcely existed with greater im-
punity, or with less inconvenience from public opinion,
in the days of Charles the Second, than in those in
which Cumberland 'flourished, and left a finished
model of a character without one redeeming excellence.
As a soldier, however, the merits of the Duke, if
merits those can be called which were the natural
effects of animal courage, and of a strong, remorseless
mind, must be, at all events, acknowledged. He be-
haved with great gallantry in his first campaign with
3iis royal father, and was wounded at the battle of
Dettingen. At too early an age, in 1744, he was
placed at the head of a great army, in order to oppose
Marshal Saxe ; and the event of the battle of Fontenoy
proved the error. But, in that engagement, the valour
of the young General was admitted on all hands. " His
Royal Highness," relates the author of " The Conduct of
the Officers at Fontenoy considered," "was everywhere,
and could not without being on the spot have cheered
that Highlander who with his broad sword killed nine
men, and making a stroke at the tenth, had his arm
shot off, by a promise of something better than the
arm which he, the Duke, saw drop from him."*
It was with the hope of retrieving the lost reputa-
tion of the Duke at Fontenoy, and in order to remedy
the glaring defects of General Hawley, that this young
man, old in hardened feelings, but full of ardour and
* Sketches of the Highlanders, by General Stewart, vol.ii. p. 257 ; also
Georgian Era, pp. 56, 57.
106 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
courage, was sent to repel the forces of the Chevalier.
It was also thought by the Government that the
placing a prince of the blood-royal at the head of the
army would have a powerful influence on the minds
of the people, and neutralize the counter-influence
of Charles Edward.* The Duke therefore assumed
the command of an army ten thousand strong, and
set out from London to intimidate the enemy.
The Duke of Cumberland was by no means so
ignorant of the force which he was now destined to
attack, as were most of the other "good people of
England, who knew as little of their neighbours of the
Scottish mountains, as they did of the inhabitants
of the most remote quarter of the globe." f In the
battle of Fontenoy, the Duke of Cumberland had be-
come acquainted with the peculiar mode of fighting
practised by the Highlanders, in the manoeuvre of
the " Black Watch," or 42nd; and had shown his judg-
ment in allowing them to fight in their own way.
This gallant regiment, in which many of the privates
were gentlemen, were exempted at this time from the
service of crushing the rebellion, only to have a duty,
perhaps more cruel and more unwarrantable, forced
upon them, after the battle of Culloden. By a singu-
lar circumstance, the Black Watch was commanded
by Lord John Murray, a brother of Lord George
Murray's, Sir Robert Munro officiating as acting
colonel.J
At Macclesfield, Prince Charles gained the intelli-
gence that the Duke of Cumberland had taken the
* Brown's Hist, of the Highlanders, vol. iii. p. 197.
t General Stewart, p. 233. Jlbid. p. 246.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 107
command of Ligonier's army, and that he was quar-
tered at Lichfield, Coventry, Stafford, and Newcastle-
under-Line. The Prince then resolved to go direct to
Derby ; and it was to conceal his design, and to in-
duce the Duke to collect his whole army at Lich-
field, that Lord George Murray marched with a divi-
sion of the army to Congleton, which was the road
to Lichfield. Congleton, being on the borders of
Staffordshire, was sufficiently near Newcastle-under-
Line for Lord George to send General Ker to that
place to gain intelligence of the enemy. General
Ker advanced to a village about three miles from
Newcastle, and very nearly surprised a body of
dragoons, who had only time to make off. He took
one prisoner, a man named Weir, who was a noted
spy, and who had been at Edinburgh during the
whole of the Prince's stay there, and had since
always kept within one day's march of the army. It
was proposed to hang him ; but Charles could not be
brought to consent to the measure, arid insisted that
Weir was not, strictly speaking, a spy, since he wore
no disguise. " I cannot tell," observes Mr. Maxwell,
" whether the Prince on this occasion was guided by
his opinion or by his inclination : I suspect the latter,
because it was his constant practice to spare his
enemies when they were in his power. I don't believe
there was an instance to the contrary to be found in
this expedition."*
Upon the third of December, Lord George Murray
with his division of the army marched by Leek to
Ashbourn ; and the Prince, with the rest of the forces,
* Maxwell, p. 71.
108 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
came from Macclesfield to Leek, where, considering
the distance of the two columns of his army, and the
neighbourhood of the enemy, he naturally considered
his situation as somewhat precarious. It was possi-
ble for the enemy, by a night-march, to get betwixt
the two columns; and, contemplating this danger,
the Prince set out at midnight to Ashbourn, where
it was conceived that the forces should proceed in
one body towards Derby. " Thus," remarks a modern
historian, " two armies in succession had been eluded
by the Highlanders; that of Wade at Newcastle, in
consequence of the weather or the old Marshal's in-
activity, and that of Cumberland through the inge-
nuity of their own leaders."*
Charles Edward and his officers slept at Ashbourn
Hall, now in the possession of Sir William Boothby,
Baronet; into whose family the estate passed in the
time of Charles the Second. |
The young Prince had now advanced far into that
county which has no rival in this Island in the beauty
and diversity of its scenery, in the simple, honest
character of its fine peasantry, or in the rank and in-
fluence of its landed proprietors. The history of these
families is connected with the civil, and foreign wars of
* Chambers's Hist, of the Rebellion ; Edition for the People, p. 54.
f Glover's Hist, of Derbyshire, vol. i. p. 32. There is, in Ash-
bourn church, an exquisite monument, sculptured by Banks, and sup-
posed to have given the notion of the figures in Lichfield Cathedral to
Chantry. A young girl, the only child of her parents, Sir Brook and
Lady Boothby, reposes on a cushion, not at rest, but in the uneasy
posture of suffering. On the tablet beneath are these words : " I was
not in safety, neither had I rest, and the trouble came." To which
were added ; " The unfortunate parents ventured their all on the frail
bark, and the wreck was total." A history and an admonition.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 109
the kingdom ; and already had the moors and valleys of
Derbyshire been the scene of contest which had the
Restoration of the Stuarts for their aim and end. In
1644, a battle was fought near Ashbourn, in which
the Royalists were defeated; in 1645, just a century
before Charles Edward entered Ashbourn, Charles the
First had attended service in the beautiful gothic
church of Ashbourn, as he marched his army through
the Peak towards Doncaster.
The inhabitants of the district retained some portion
of their ancient loyalty to the Stuarts. As Prince
Charles ascended the height, from which, leading to-
wards Derby, a view of the town of Ashbourn, seated
in a deep valley, and of the adjacent and romantic
country, may be seen, the roads were lined with peasan-
try, decorated with white cockades, and showing their
sentiments by loud acclamations, bonfires, and other
similar demonstrations. " One would have thought,"
remarks Mr. Maxwell,* " that the Prince was now at
the crisis of his adventure ; that his fate, and the fate
of the three kingdoms, must be decided in a few days."
The Duke of Cumberland was at Lichfield; General
Wade, who was moving up with his army along the
west side of Yorkshire, was about this time at Ferry
Bridge, within two or three days' march. So that
the Prince was, with a handful of brave, indeed, but
undisciplined men, betwixt two armies of regular
troops, one of them above double, the other almost
double, his number." It was owing to the skill and
prudence of Lord George Murray that this gallant
but trifling force was enabled to return to Scotland,
* Maxwell, p. 72.
110 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
for scarcely ever was there a handful of valiant men
placed in a situation of more imminent peril.
Derby, which is fifteen miles from Ashbourn,
was thrown into the utmost confusion and disorder
when the news that the vanguard of the insurgent
army was approaching it became generally known.
" The hurry/' says a contemporary writer, " was
much increased by the number of soldiers, and their
immediate orders to march out of town, and nothing
but distraction was to be read in every countenance.
The best part of the effects and valuables had
been sent away or secreted some days before, and
most of the principal gentlemen and tradesmen,
with their wives and children, were retiring as fast
as possible."'"'
The borough of Derby, although by no means so
opulent when Charles Edward and his friends visited
it as in the present day, presented, perhaps, a far
more appropriate scene for the faint and transient
shadow of a Court, than it now affords. It had,
even within the memory of man, an aspect singularly
dignified, important, and antique in its streets;
and it still possesses many residences which are
adapted for the higher orders, rather than for the
industrious burgesses of a town. These are chiefly
seated on the outside of the town. They were, so
late as 1712, and perhaps much later, " inhabited
by persons of quality, and many coaches were kept
there." To the west, King's Mead, where formerly
there was a monastery of the Benedictine order, is
* Extract from the Derby Mercury. Glover's Hist, of Derbyshire,
vol. ii. p. 1 to 420.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. Ill
now graced by a series of stately detached residences,
which, under the modernized name of Nun's Green,
constitute the court end of Derby. But, inter-
spersed in the streets, there are still many an-
cient tenements in which Prince Charles and his
high-born adherents might find suitable accom-
modation.
Party feeling ran high in Derby, and most of its
leading and principal denizens were Tories, and even
Jacobites. It was in Derby that Henry Sacheverell
preached his famous sermon, on u Communication
of Sin/' This literary firebrand was first thrown out
to the High-Church party in 1709, when the High
Sheriff, George Sacheverell, of Callow, was attended
by Dr. Henry Sacheverell as his chaplain, and the
walls of All Saints Church resounded with the de-
nunciations of that vehement, and ill-judging man.
The seed that was thus sown fell into a land fertile in
High Church propensities ; the Grand Jury intreated
Dr. Sacheverell to print his discourse ; and, eventually,
when they considered that, by the mild sentence
given against their Preacher on his trial, they
had gained a triumph, bonfires proclaimed their joy,
in the market-place of that town, where the war-
fare of Sacheverell had first begun.
On the accession of George the First, and when
the Chevalier landed in Scotland, fresh manifesta-
tions of the Jacobite party broke forth. The Church
of All Saints was again the scene of its display.
Three principal clergymen in the town openly
espoused the Stuart cause. Sturges, the Kector of
All Saints, prayed openly for ** King James" but,
112 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
after a moment's pause, said, " I mean King
George." " The congregation became tumultuous ; the
military gentlemen drew their swords, and ordered
him out of the pulpit, into which he never re-
turned."" 5 Perhaps the event which tended most to
quiet the spirit of Jacobitism among the lower classes
in the town, was the erection of silk mills, in
1717. Nothing tranquillises extreme views in
politics more surely than employment; few things
attach men's minds to a Government more, than
efforts crowned with success. Notwithstanding the
memory of Sacheverell, a Whig member had been
returned, in the last election, for the borough ; the
great merits and influence of the House of Cavendish
overpowering the uproarious Tories, who, in vain,
broke windows, and attacked their enemies. But
discontent again broke forth. The winter of
1745 found the whole nation in a state of suffering
and discontent; and many of the constitutional
securities for liberty and property had been given
up, in order to secure the stability of the throne.
Taxation had been imposed, in the worst and most
unpopular form, that of excise duties, in order to main-
tain an expensive Court, and to pay for Continental
wars, which were maintained to preserve the heredi-
tary German possessions of the King. Yet, in spite of
these crying evils, such is the difficulty of inducing
Englishmen to incur the risk of forfeiture and disas-
ter, that even the town of Derby had diligently pro-
vided itself with a defence against the Chevalier's
divided forces, on hearing of their approach .
* Glover, vol. ii. pt. 415 ; from Mutton's Derby.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 113
During the month of September 1745, in con-
sequence of instructions from London, the Duke
of Devonshire, attended by the greatest appearance
of gentlemen ever seen in the town before, as-
sembled the clergy, in order to consider of such
measures as were necessary for the support of the
Government. An association was entered into, and
sums were liberally contributed, after a splendid
dinner, at that ungrateful inn, the George, which,
during the sojourn of Charles Edward at Derby,
changed its sign, into the safe and ambiguous title
of the King's Head. Two companies of volunteers,
of six hundred men each, were raised by the asso-
ciation. A proposal to call out the county mili-
tia was vehemently negatived, probably from that
spirit of distrust which pervaded the councils of
King George's Government. By an order in
council, passed in the previous September, all Ro-
man Catholics had been prohibited from keeping a
horse of above five pounds in value, and restrained
from going five miles from their dwellings. It was,
therefore, deemed advisable to select the volun-
teer forces from the well-affected, and not to em-
ploy the militia of a county so manifestly disposed
to foster the young adventurer as Derbyshire was
at that time considered. During the month of
November, a great degree of alarm had disturbed
the burgesses of Derby; and from the communica-
tions of the Duke of Devonshire, then Lord-Lieu-
tenant of the county, to the Mayor, it appears that
the young Chevalier completely baffled the Duke of
VOL. in. I
114 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Cumberland and General Wade, by his rapid move-
ment into the very heart of England." 55 "
So late as the twelfth of December, the Duke of
Devonshire and his eldest son, the Marquis of
Hartington, were stationed at the George Inn, to
watch the event of the coming storm, and to concert
means for averting the threatened danger. Some
days previously, the Duke had reviewed a com-
pany of six hundred volunteers, together with one
hundred and twenty men raised at his own expense ;
and those townsmen, who were not Jacobites, were
in high spirits, concluding that the Duke of Cumber-
land must have overtaken and attacked the in-
surgents. On the evening of the twelfth, the soldiers
were summoned to the market-place, where they
stood for some hours ; they were then sent to quar-
ters to refresh themselves; about ten the drums
beat to arms, and, being again drawn out, these
valiant defenders of the Borough marched out of the
town, by torch-light, towards Nottingham, headed
by the Duke of Devonshire.
On the following morning, about eleven, two of
the vanguard of the insurgent army rode into the
town ; and, after seizing a very good horse, belong-
ing to a Mr. Stamford, went to the George Inn,
and there inquiring for the magistrates, they de-
manded billets for nine thousand men, or more.
In a short time afterwards, the vanguard itself rode
into the town ; this detachment consisted of about thirty
men; they are described in the account of a cotem-
porary writer, probably an eye witness, as "likely
* Glover, vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 240.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 115
men," making a good appearance, in blue regimentals
faced with red, with scarlet waistcoats trimmed with
gold lace. They posted themselves in the Market-
place, where they rested for two or three hours; at
the same time bells were rung, and bonfires made upon
the pretext of " preventing any resentment" from the
rebels that might ensue upon a cold reception. About
midday, Lord George Murray, Lord Elcho, and several
other chiefs arrived, with troops to the number of one
hundred and fifty, the flower of the army, who made
" a fine show." Soon afterwards the main body
marched into the town in tolerable order, six or eight
abreast, with about eight standards, most of them hav-
ing a white flag with a red cross. But the appearance
of the main body was totally different to that of the
vanguard, and justified the contemptuous opinion
and expectations formed by the loyal inhabitants of
Derby, of their coming foe. As they marched along,
the sound of their bagpipes was heard, for the first
time, in the crowded and ancient streets of the bo-
rough; but the dress and bearing of these brave,
but ill-accoutred men excited the derision of the
thriving population of an important country town.
They were, says the writer in the Derby Mercury of
the day, " a parcel of shabby, pitiful looking fellows,
mixed up with old men and boys, dressed in dirty
plaids, and as dirty shirts, without breeches, and wore
their stockings, made of plaid, not half way up their
legs, and some without their shoes, or next to none,
and numbers of them so fatigued with their long
march, that they really commanded our pity more
than our fear.*
* Glover, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 421. From the Derby Mercury, the first
i 2
116 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
About five in the evening, when it was nearly dark,
the Prince, with the other column, arrived. He
walked on foot, attended by a great body of men,
to a house appointed for his reception, belonging to
Lord Exeter, and seated in Full-street. Here guards
were placed around the temporary abode of the
Prince ; and here, during his stay at Derby, he held
his councils.
" Every house," adds the writer before quoted, was
pretty well filled (though they kept driving in till
ten or eleven at night), and we thought we should
never have seen the last of them. The Duke of
Atholl had his lodgings at Thomas Gisborne's, Esq. ;
the Duke of Perth at Mr. Bivett's; Lord Elcho at Mr.
Storer's ; Lord Pitsligo at Mr. Meynell's ; Lord George
Murray at Mr. Heathcote's; Old Gordon, of Glen-
bucket, at Mr. Alderman Smith's ; Lord Nairn at Mr.
John Bingham's; Lady Ogilvie, Mrs. Murray, and
some other persons of distinction at Mr. Francey's;
and their chiefs and great officers were lodged in the
best gentlemen's houses."* Many ordinary houses
both public and private, had forty or fifty men each,
and some gentlemen near one hundred/'
The Prince, upon his arrival at Derby, resolved to
halt for one day, and to take the advice of his council
what was to be done at this juncture. His hopes were
high, and his confidence in the good- will of the people
of England to his cause was unabated. He continued
number of which was issued March 23, 1732, by Mr. Samuel Drewry,
Market-place. Appendix to Glover's Hist., 616.
* Probably the house wherein Lord George Murray was lodged, be-
longed to a member of the Heathcote family, of Stoncliffe Hall, Darley
Dale, Derbyshire.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 117
to entertain the notion that George the Second was an
usurper, for whom no man would willingly draw his
sword; that "the people of England, as was their
duty, still nourished that allegiance for the race of
their native Princes which they were bound to hold
sacred, and that if he did but persevere in his daring
attempt, Heaven itself would fight in his cause."
His conversation, when at table, beneath the roof of
Exeter House, turned on the discussion " how he
should enter London, whether on foot, or on horse-
back, or whether in Highland or in Lowland garb."*
Nor was Charles Edward singular in his sanguine state
of mind. It was observed, says Mr. Maxwell, " that
the army never was in better spirits than while at
Derby."f
The judgment which Lord George Murray had
formed at Manchester, remained, however, unaltered
by all these expectations. On the following morn-
ing, when the council met, he represented to the
Prince that they had marched so far into the country,
depending on French succours, or on an insurrec-
tion, neither of which had taken place; that the
Prince's army, by itself, was wholly unprepared to face
the troops which the " Elector of Hanover/' as Lord
George denominated him, had assembled. Besides
General Wade's army, which was coming to oppose
them, and that of the Duke of Cumberland, form-
ing together a force of between seventeen and
eighteen thousand strong, there was a third army, en-
camped on Finchley Common, of which George the
Second was going to take the command in person.
* Tales of a Grandfather, iii. p. 103. t Maxwell, p. 73.
118 LORD GEORGE MURRAY,
Even supposing that the Prince should be successful
in an engagement with one of these armies, " he might
be undone by a victory." The loss of one thousand or
fifteen hundred men would incapacitate the rest of his
small force from another encounter ; and supposing that
he was routed in that country, he and all his friends
must unavoidably be killed. On the whole, including
the army formed at London, there would be a force
of thirty thousand men to oppose an army of five thou-
sand fighting men; that before such a host, pursued
Lord George, * "it could not be supposed one man could
escape ; for the militia, who had not appeared much
against us hitherto, would, upon our defeat, possess
all the roads, and the enemy's horse would surround
us on all hands ; that the whole world would blame
us as being rash and foolish, to venture a thing that
could not succeed, and the Prince's person, should he
escape being killed in the battle, must fall into the
enemy's hands/'
" His Eoyal Highness," continues Lord George
Murray in his narrative, "had no regard to his own
danger, but pressed with all the force of argument to
go forward. He did not doubt but the justness of his
cause would prevail, and he could not think of re-
treating after coming so far ; and he was hopeful there
might be a defection in the enemy's army, and that
several would declare for him. He was so very bent
on putting all to the risk, that the Duke of Perth was
for it, since his Eoyal Highness was. At last, he
proposed going to Wales, instead of returning to
Carlisle, but every other officer declared his opinion
. * Lord George Murray's Narrative, Forbes, p. 55 and 56.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 119
for a retreat, which some thought would be scarce
practicable. I said all that I thought of to persuade
the retreat, and, indeed, the arguments to me seemed
unanswerable; and for the danger, though I owned an
army upon a retreat did not fight with equal valour
as when they advanced, yet, if the thing were agreed
to, I offered to make the retreat, and be always in the
rear myself; and that each regiment would take it by
turns till we came to Carlisle; and that the army
should march in such order, that if I were attacked, I
might be supported as occasion required, and without
stopping the army (except a very great body of the
enemy should be upon me), I would send aide-de-
camps to desire such assistance as I should judge the
occasion would require; but that I really believed
there would be no great danger ; for, as we were in-
formed, the Duke of Cumberland was at Stafford,
and would in all appearance, that night or next morn-
ing, be drawing near London to intercept us, so that
if our design were not mentioned till next morning
that it should be put in execution, we would be got
to Ashbourn before he could have certain information
of our design to retreat."
The Prince, who was naturally bold and enterpris-
ing, and who had been hitherto successful in every
thing, was indignant at this. Since he had set out
from Edinburgh, he had never had a thought but of
going on, and fighting everything in his way to Lon-
don. He had the highest idea of the bravery of his
own men, and a despicable opinion of his enemies, and
hitherto with good reason; and he was confirmed in
these notions by some of those that were nearest his
120 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
person; these sycophants, more intent upon securing
his favour than promoting his interest, " were eter-
nally saying whatever they thought would please, and
never hazarded a disagreeable truth."*
A connected narrative of the proceedings in council
has been given by Lord Elcho; and, at the risk of
some recapitulations, it is here inserted, not having
been previously published entire.
" The fifth, in the morning, Lord George Murray,
and all the commanders of battalions and squadrons,
waited on the Prince, and Lord George told him that
it was the opinion of every body present that the
Scots had now done all that could be expected of
them. That they had marched into the heart of Eng-
land, ready to join any party that would declare for
him. That none had done so, and that the counties
through which the army had passed had seemed much
more enemies, than friends, to his cause. That there
were no French landed in England ; and that if there
was any party in England for him, it was very odd
that they had never so much as either sent him
money or intelligence, or the least advice what to do.
But if he could produce any letter from any person of
distinction, in which there was an invitation for the
army to go to London, or to any other part of Eng-
land, that they were ready to go ; but if nobody had
either invited them, or meddled in the least in their
affairs, it was to be supposed that there was either no
party at all, or, if there was, they did not choose to
act with them, or else they would ere now have let
him know it. Suppose even the army marched on
* Maxwell of Kirkconnell, p. 74.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 121
and beat the Duke of Cumberland, yet, in the battle
they must lose some men; and they had, after that,
the king's own army, consisting of seven hundred men,
near London to deal with. On the contrary, if either
of these armies beat them, there would not a man
escape ; as the militia, although they durst never face
the army while in a body, yet they would have
courage enough to put an end to them if ever they
were routed; and so the people that were in armies
in Scotland would fall an easy sacrifice to the fury of
the Government. Again, suppose the army was to
slip the King's and Duke's army, and get into Lon-
don, the success of the affair would entirely depend
on the mob's declaring for or against it ; and that if
the mob had been much inclined to his cause since his
march into England, to be sure some of his friends in
London would have fallen upon some method to let
him know it ; but if the mob was against the affair,
four thousand five hundred men would not make
a great figure in London. Lord George concluded by
saying, that the Scots army had done their part ; that
they came into England at the Prince's request, to
join his English friends, and to give them courage
by their appearance to take arms and declare for him
publicly, as they had done, or to join the French if
they had landed. But as none of these things had
happened, that certainly four thousand five hundred
Scots had never thought of putting a king on the
English throne by themselves. So he said his opinion
was, they should go back and join their friends in
Scotland, and live and die with them.
" After Lord George had spoken, all the rest of the
122 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
gentlemen present spoke their sentiments, and they
all agreed with Lord George except two (the Duke
of Perth and Sir William Gordon), who were for
going to Wales to see if the Welch would join.
" The Prince heard all these arguments with the
greatest impatience, fell into a passion, and gave most
of the gentlemen that had spoke very abusive lan-
guage; and said they had a mind to betray him.
The case was, he knew nothing about the country,
nor had the smallest idea of the force that was against
him, nor how they were situated." Fully convinced
that the regular army would never dare to fight
against him, and trusting to the consciences of men
more than to the broad sword of his army, he always
believed that he should enter St. James's with as little
difficulty as he had done Holyrood-house. " He con-
tinued," says Lord Elcho, " all that day positive
he would march to London. The Irish in the army
were always for what he was for, and were heard to
say, that day, ' that they knew if they escaped being
killed, the worst that could happen to them was a few
months imprisonment/ '
The reluctance of the unfortunate and brave
young Chevalier was increased by the evident ardour
which his men, in the expectation of an engagement
with the Duke of Cumberland, were at that very
instant displaying, whilst the arguments which
sealed Charles Edward's fate, resounded within the
walls of Exeter-house. The Highlanders, whose
heroism balanced the inequality of the respective
forces, breathed nothing but a desire for the combat.
They were to be seen, during all that eventful day,
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 123
in crowds before the shops of the cutlers, quarrelling
who should be the first to get their swords sharpen-
ed.* In the very midst of the discussions, a courier
arrived from Lord John Drumrnond, informing the
Prince that he had landed at Montrose with his regi-
ment, the Scottish Brigade, newly raised in France,
and some pickets of the Irish Brigade, the rest of
which would probably be in Scotland before the letter
reached the Prince, f But this favourable intelli-
gence, far from lessening the desire of Lord George
to secure a retreat, rather increased his determina-
tion to uphold that resolution ; and emboldened him
to unfold to Charles Edward a plan for a Scottish
campaign, which, he thought, might be prosecuted
with advantage. In retreating to Scotland, the
Prince, he argued, would have the advantage of
retiring upon his reinforcements, which included the
Highlanders at Perth, and the succours brought by
Lord John Drummond. He concluded his address
by a request, in the name of the persons present, that
they should go back and join their friends in Scot-
land, to live or die with their countrymen.
Two councils were held upon this important
subject, for in the afternoon the Prince convened
another, to consider of the advices which the courier
sent by Lord John Drummond had brought. " The
debates," observes the Chevalier Johnstone, " were
very keen." The Prince obstinately insisted upon
giving battle to the Duke of Cumberland on the
next day, the sixth; but he stood alone in that opi-
nion. The Chiefs of Clans, who, since the council
* Chevalier Johnstone, p ; 51. t Ibid. p. 52.
124 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
held at Perth, had never opposed the Prince in
anything, feeling that they had now advanced too far
to retreat, nevertheless opposed the march to Lon-
don. They pointed to the coldness with which
the insurgent army had hitherto been received;
and asked how, supposing by some miracle the
forces were to reach London, an army of four
thousand men would appear among a population of
a million people? The Prince still insisted upon
marching to London; he even opposed the retreat,
on the ground of the immense risk. The Duke of
Cumberland, he contended, would pursue them hotly,
and be always at their heels. Marshal Wade, he
remarked, would certainly receive orders to intercept
the army, so that they would " be placed be-
tween two fires, and caught as it were, in a net."
This argument was met by the assurances which
have been already stated in Lord George Murray's
own language that he would manage the retreat,
taking always the rear. That he ably and effec-
tually fulfilled that promise, was shown in the re-
sult.
At length the Prince, finding the greater part of
the council was of Lord George's opinion, and de-
serted even by the Duke of Perth, who, after for
long time resting his head on the fire-place in
silence, accorded loudly with the Clans, consented
to the retreat. This assent, wrung from him, was
given with these bitter words, " Eather than go
back," exclaimed the high-spirited young man, " I
would wish to be twenty feet under ground.* Hence-
* Chambers, p. 56, and Lord Elcho's MS.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 125
forth," he added, haughtily, " I will hold no more
Councils, for I am accountable to no one for my
actions, except to my father."
The usual double-dealing, and factious contention
of party, succeeded this painful scene in the council.
" After the council was dismissed," says Mr. Max-
well, * some of those who had voted against the
retreat, and the Secretary, who had spoken warmly
for it in private conversation with the Prince, con-
demned this resolution, and endeavoured to instil
some suspicion of the courage and fidelity of those
who had promoted it. The Prince was easily per-
suaded that he had been too complaisant in consent-
ing to a retreat, but would not retract the consent
he had given, unless he could bring back those
to whom he had given it over to his own sentiments ;
which he hoped he might be able to do, since the
Secretary had altered his opinion. With this view
he called another meeting of the Council, in the
evening, but found all the rest, to a man, firm in
their former sentiments; upon which, the Prince
gave up a second time his own opinion and inclina-
tion, to the advice and desire of his Council."
The character of one individual was, however,
elicited in this affair. "From this time," observes
Mr. Max well, f " the Secretary ceased to be in odour
of sanctity with those that were not highly pre-
judiced in his favour. The little knave appeared
plainly in his conduct on this occasion. He argued
strenuously for the retreat, because he thought it
the only prudent measure, till he found it was carried
* Maxwell, p. 75. t Maxwell, p. 75 76,
126 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
by a great majority, and would certainly take place;
and then he condemned it, to make his court to
the Prince, to whom it was disagreeable, and lay
the odium upon other people, particularly Lord
George, whom he endeavoured to blacken on every
occasion.' 7 Some people will wonder that this bare-
faced conduct did not open the Prince's eyes as to
the baseness of Secretary Murray's heart; "but,"
says Maxwell, "if we consider that Murray was in the
highest degree of favour, the steps by which he rose to
it, and the arts he used to maintain himself and ex-
clude everybody that could come in competition with
him, he will easily conceive how he got the better of
any suspicions his behaviour might have created at
this time."
The question, whether the arguments of Lord
George Murray were guided by wisdom, or whether
they might be better characterised as the result of a
cold, and, in this case, unworthy prudence, has been
very differently canvassed.
" There are not a few," observes Mr. Maxwell, " who
still think the Prince would have carried his point
had he gone on from Derby ; they build much upon
the confusion there was at London, and the panic
which prevailed among the Elector's troops at this
juncture.* It is impossible to decide with any degree
of certainty, whether he would or would not have
succeeded, that depended upon the disposition of the
Army and of the City of London, ready to declare for
the Prince. What could he do with four thousand
four hundred men, suppose he got to London, what-
ever were the dispositions of the Army and the City ?
* Maxwell, p. 76.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 127
It is certain the Prince had no intelligence from
either. This leads me to examine the conduct of
the Prince's friends in England. The cry was
general against them about this time in the Prince's
army, and they are still exclaimed against by
foreigners, who, having but a very superficial
knowledge of these affairs, conclude that either the
English are all become Hanoverians, or, if there
are still some that have an English heart, they must
be strangely degenerated, since they did not lay hold
of this opportunity of shaking off the German yoke.
Though I am convinced the Prince had a great many
well-wishers in England, and though it is my opinion
he would have succeeded had they all declared for
him, nevertheless I cannot join in the cry against
them, no more than I can condemn abundance of his
friends in Scotland who did not join him. I have
told elsewhere upon what a slender foundation this
expedition was undertaken. Murray had imposed
upon the Prince, and hurried him into it, without con-
certing anything with England. The English had
always insisted upon a body of regular troops, not
under seven and not above twelve thousand effective
men. They saw the Prince in England with a handful
of militia, which they could never think a match for
thirty thousand regular troops. It is true the Eng-
lish have, in former times, taken arms upon less
encouragement and less provocation than they had met
with of late; but in those days the common people
were accustomed to arms, and the insurgents were as
good soldiers as any that could be brought against
them."
128 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Such is the reasoning of an eye-witness. One
thing is certain, contemporary writers appear to
have generally acquiesced in the propriety of the
retreat ; and that circumstance constitutes the strongest
evidence in favour of the step. Yet, viewing events
at this distance of time, and taking into account the
panic which seized, not only the public mind, but
which affected the heads of the Government on hear-
ing of the bold and rapid march of the insurgents,
our faith in the wisdom of a retreat is weakened. In
the night when it was announced in the fashionable
circles of St. James's that the Prince had reached
Derby, a general consternation was diffused through-
out society. A lady of the highest rank, who was
in one of the assemblies of the day, related to one of
her descendants that upon the intelligence reaching
the party where she was, the rooms were instantly
cleared, and on the following morning there was not a
carriage to be seen in London.
Nor were these apprehensions confined to any
particular sphere.* The arrival of the troops
at Derby was known in London on the ninth
of December, henceforth called by the English
" Black Monday." Many of the inhabitants fled
in terror from the metropolis, taking their trea-
sures with them; the shops were closed: people
thronged to the bank to obtain payment of its notes,
and it only escaped bankruptcy by the following
stratagem. Those who came first being entitled to
priority of payment, the managers of the bank took
care to be surrounded by agents with notes, to whom
* Chevalier Johnstone, p. 157.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 129
their pretended claims were paid in sixpences to gain
time. These agents went out by one door and came
back by another, so that the bona fide holders of notes
could never get near enough to present them ; and
the bank stood out by these means until the panic had
died away. King George even embarked all his most
precious effects on his yachts, which were stationed
in the Tower-quay, in readiness to convey him away,
should the dreaded Highlanders, as it now began to
be generally expected, march to London in a few days.
The " moneyed corporations," according to Smollett,
were all in the deepest dejection; they reflected that
the Highlanders, of whom they had conceived a most
terrible idea, were within four days' march of the
capital; they anticipated a revolution ruinous to
their own prosperity, and were overwhelmed with
dismay.
u I was assured," writes the Chevalier Johnstone,
(who differed from his General, Lord George,) "on
good authority, when I was in London, some time after
our unfortunate defeat, that the Duke of Newcastle,
then Secretary of State for the War Department,
remained inaccessible in his own house the whole of
the 6th of December, weighing in his mind the part
which it would be most prudent for him to take, and
even uncertain whether he should not instantly declare
himself for the Pretender. It was even said at London,
that fifty thousand men had actually left that city to
meet the Prince and join his army, and every body in
the capital was of opinion, that, if we had beaten the
Duke of Cumberland, the army of Finchley Common
would have dispersed of its own accord, and that by
VOL. in. K
130 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
advancing rapidly to London, we might have taken
possession of that city without the least resistance from
the inhabitants, and without exchanging a single shot
with the soldiers. Thus a revolution would have
been effected in England, so glorious for the few
Scotchmen by whom it was attempted, and altogether
so surprising, that the world would not have com-
prehended it. It is true, the English were alto-
gether ignorant of the number of our army, from the
care we took in our marches to conceal it ; and it was
almost impossible for their spies ever to discover it,
as we generally arrived in the towns at nightfall,
and left them before the break of day. In all the
English newspapers our numbers were uniformly
stated as high as twelve or fifteen thousand men.
Under such circumstances, some temporary advan-
tages might have been gained by marching south-
wards ; for it is now believed that the Jacobite party
in England were much more numerous than we have
generally understood ; and that thousands would have
flocked to the standard of Charles Edward had he been
accompanied by a sufficient force to authorise the ex-
pectation of his success."
The British administration was, it is true, devoid
of men of talent or principle, and discontent and dis-
tress prevailed in the country. In the City of London,
the Jacobite party was very strong ; its member was
Alderman Heathcote, who, with Sir Watkin Williams
Wynn, had announced to Lord Temple his determina-
tion to rise immediately upon a landing of troops from
France.* The prevalence of Jacobite principles among
* Lord Mahon's History of England, vol. iii. p. 445.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 131
the English gentry is supposed to have infected many
officers in the royal army, who might have avowed them
at any crisis in the public affairs : many were, at all
events, suspected of Jacobite principles; " and the mere
suspicion," remarks Lord Mahon, "would have pro-
duced nearly the same effects as the reality, bewilder-
ment, distrust, and vacillation in the chiefs." " Had,
then, the Highlanders combined to push forward,"
observes this able writer, "must not the increasing
terror have palsied all power of resistance? Would
not the little army at Finchley, with so convenient a
place for dispersing as the capital behind it, have
melted away at their approach?"
In confirmation of this surmise may be quoted an
anecdote which is related of a company of the cele-
brated Black Watch, which had been exempted dur-
ing the insurrection of 1745 from serving against
their countrymen; more than three hundred of the
regiment having brothers and relations engaged in
the Jacobite army.* But it was afterwards em-
ployed on a service which might well have been as-
signed to others ; to execute the decrees of burning,
and to lay waste the districts where the forefathers
of these brave men had lived. On marching one
company of this famous regiment out of London, the
Highlanders, on arriving at Hounslow, suddenly be-
came immovable; they halted, and refused to proceed,
or to bear arms against their countrymen. Their com-
manders, in dismay, turned to the chaplain of the regi-
ment, to use his influence. The clergyman then in
office happened to be Ferguson, the celebrated astro-
* General Stewart's Sketches, vol. ii. p. 263.
y K2
132 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
nomer. He mounted on a temporary rostrum or
pulpit, harangued the Highlanders, and, after
an emphatic address, prevailed on them to march
forward.
Such were some of the difficulties which the
English Government encountered. To this may
be added, the defenceless state of the coasts of Kent
and Essex. The French ministers were now in
" the very crisis of decision as to their projected ex-
pedition." The preparations at Dunkirk were com-
pleted; and had Charles Edward, by advancing, shown
that such aid was only a secondary matter in his
favour, their fleet would have set sail. Besides, the
Jacobites in England were by no means in so apa-
thetic and subdued a condition as that which has
been generally represented.*
" I believe then," emphatically remarks Lord Mahon,
" that had Charles marched onward from Derby he
might have gained the British throne ; but I am far
from thinking that he would long have held it."
" Whether he (Charles Edward)," says Sir Walter
Scott, " ought ever to have entered England, at least
without collecting all the forces which he could com-
mand, is a very disputable point; but it was clear,
that whatever influence he might for a time possess,
arose from the boldness of his advance. The charm,
however, was broken the moment he showed, by a
movement in retreat, that he had undertaken an enter-
prise too difficult for him to achieve."*
In the opinion of the Chevalier Johnstone, whose
* Lord Mahon, vol. iii. p. 446.
t Tales of a Grandfather, vol. iii. p. 107.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 133
judgment was formed under the influence of Lord
George Murray, much of the failure of the expedition
was owing to the inactivity of Lord John Drummond,
who ought, according to his statement, to have ad-
vanced by forced marches to the assistance of Prince
Charles. Nor was this the only error of that zealous,
but inexperienced general : through his representa-
tions, the false intelligence that an army often thou-
sand men was awaiting him in Scotland, was conveyed
to the Prince; the disembarkation of this force was
continually and confidently expected. " The first
thing we did in the morning," says Chevalier John-
stone, " was to see whether the wind was favourable;"
and this delusive expectation had a very great influ-
ence in deciding the resolution taken at Derby to re-
treat to Scotland.
Whatever were the reasons which actuated the
council of war, the result was, in the first instance,
both painful to those who promoted the decision of
the question, and highly obnoxious to the army.
Arrangements were, however, made to keep the pro-
posed retreat as secret as possible, both in order
to baffle the Duke of Cumberland and not to irri-
tate the Highlanders. Yet the design was soon
penetrated by those who were intent upon every
movement of their superiors. Lord George Murray,
in his journal, describes the sensation which the pro-
jected retreat occasioned, in the following terms.*
" Our resolution was to be kept secret, as it was of
great consequence the enemy should have the intelli-
gence of our march as late as possible. Yet, in the
* Jacobite Memoirs, p. 57.
134 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
afternoon, one Sir John Macdonald, an Irish officer
in the French service who had come over with the
Prince, came where Lochiel, and Keppoch and I were
talking together, and railed a great deal about our
retreat. 'What! 7 says he to Keppoch, 'a Mac-
donald turn his back?' and to Lochiel, Tor shame;
a Cameron run away from the enemy! Go for-
ward, and I'll lead you/ This gentleman was old,
and had dined heartily, for he was much subject
to his bottle: we endeavoured to persuade him that
he was mistaken, but he still insisted, and said he
had certain information of it. To tell the truth,
I believe he liked his quarters and entertainment
better in England than in Scotland, and would rather
have been taken than return ; for he thought, as he
was in the French service, he did not run the same
risk as others did. Some people, seeing the Prince
so much cast down about -the retreat, to ingratiate
themselves, blamed the resolution; and though they
had in the morning, as much as any body, given their
hearty concurrence in the measure, and had exprest
themselves so ; yet, as they saw the retreat would cer-
tainly be put in execution, though they appeared
against it, they thought proper to say that their reason
for agreeing to it was because they knew the army
would never fight well when the officers were against
it. Sir Thomas Sheridan and his Eoyal Highness's
secretary acted this part. And the Duke of Atholl,
who had not been present in the morning, when the
Prince sent for him in the afternoon, and spoke to
him, seemed much for going forwards. In the evening,
when this was understood by the rest of the officers,
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 135
they told his Royal Highness that they valued their
lives as little as brave men ought to do ; and if he in-
clined to go forward they would do their duty to the
last, but desired that those that advised his Royal
Highness to go forward would sign their opinion,
which would be a satisfaction to them. This put a
stop to all underhand dealings, and the Duke of Atholl
when he heard others upon the same subject, was fully
satisfied as to the necessity of the measure."
The town of Derby presented, during its occu-
pation by the Jacobites, a singular scene. The
Highlanders, hitherto maintaining a character for
good order, now broke loose upon the townsmen of
a city, which they, perhaps, began to consider as
their own. They took the opportunity of replenish-
ing themselves with gloves, buckles, powder-flasks,
handkerchiefs, &c., which they demanded from the
tradespeople, whose shops they entered. Being
refreshed with a good night's rest, they ran about
from house to house, until the town looked as if it
were the resort of some Highland fair. " If they
liked a person's shoes better than their own," relates
a contemporary writer, " nothing was more common
for them than to demand them off their feet, and
not to give them anything, or what they asked for
them." This insolence grew upon the forbearance
of the townsmen, who dared not to resist martial
law. Even the medical profession did not escape an
unwilling participation in the concerns of the Jaco-
bites. Dr. Hope, a physician residing in the town,
and a member of the highly-respectable family there,
was summoned to attend one of the sojourners in
136 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Exeter-house. The tradition which has preserved
this anecdote among the descendants of Dr. Hope,
has not specified the name of the invalid. The phy-
sician was told that he must go instantly : he was
blindfolded, and led by armed men into the presence
of his patient, without knowing whither he was con-
ducted ; a precaution, it may be presumed, adopted to
prevent a refusal.
The church of All Saints witnessed what its
Protestant ministers must have viewed with indigna-
tion and sorrow. Prayers were ordered to be said
at six o'clock in the evening, when a Eoman Catho-
lic clergyman entered the sacred edifice, and per-
formed the service according to the ritual of his
church.*
In addition to these impolitic acts of a short-lived
power, proclamations were made by the Town Crier,
levying the excise duties; and a demand of one
hundred pounds was made upon the post-office. In
other quarters, even these forms were omitted, and
plunder and outrage, which, says the author of
the Derby Mercury, " were they to be stated would
fill our paper," were mercilessly committed. Never-
theless, such was the tendency of the town of Derby
to Jacobite principles, that, among the higher orders,
the brief appearance of the young arid unfortunate
adventurer was long remembered with interest, and
his fate recalled with regret. The ladies of Derby
vied with each other in making white cockades, of
* Such is the account of a writer in the Derby Mercury, see Glover's
History of Derby ; but this statement is at variance with Lord George
Murray's Journal.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 137
delicate and costly workmanship, to present to the
hero of the day. To some of these admiring votaries
he presented his picture, a dangerous gift in after-
times, when a strict system of scrutiny prevailed;
and when even to be suspected of Jacobite principles
was an effectual barrier to all promotion in offices,
and a severe injury to those in trade. One of these
Jacobite ladies* is known by her family to have kept
the portrait of the Prince behind the door of her
bedchamber, carefully veiled from any but friendly
inspection.
Early on the morning of Friday, the sixth of De-
cember, the drums beat to arms, and the bagpipes
were heard playing in different parts of the town :
the forces, it was expected by the townsmen, were
thus summoned to continue their march to Lough-
borough, a town full of Jacobites, who were known
to have been pledging the young adventurer's health
on their bare and bended knees.f The retreat
was begun in such haste, and attended with such con-
fusion, that many of the Highlanders left their arms
behind them, where they were quartered.
At nine o'clock, Prince Charles, in deep dejection,
was seen mounted on a black horse, which had be-
longed to the brave Colonel Gardiner ; to quit Exeter-
house, and, crossing the market-place, to proceed
to Broken-row; he then turned through Sadler
Gate, towards Ashbourn ; he was followed by the main
body of his army. Before eleven o'clock, Derby, so
lately resembling, in its busy streets, the animated
scene of a Highland fair, was totally cleared of all the
* The Grandmother of the Author. f Tradition.
138 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Highland troops. But the consternation of the in-
habitants paralyzed them. On that day no market
was held, as usual; nor did the bells toll to church
on the next Sunday; nor was divine service per-
formed in any of the numerous and fine churches
which grace the town.*
The retreat, thus begun under such inauspicious
circumstances, was left solely to the guidance of the
General who had so earnestly recommended it; and
Lord George Murray took the sole management
of it. In the dawn of the morning, when some
of the troops had begun their march, the High-
landers did not perceive in which direction they
were marching; they believed that they were going
to give the Duke of Cumberland battle. When
they discovered that they were in retreat, a murmur
of lamentation ran through the ranks. " The in-
ferior officers/ 5 Lord Elcho relates,f u were much
surprised when they found the army moving back,
and imagined some bad news had been received;
but, when they were told everything, and found the
army had marched so far into England without the
least invitation from any Englishman of distinction,
they blamed their superiors much for carrying them
so far, and approved much of going back to Scot-
land. They had all along imagined they were march-
ing to join the English, and were acting in concert
with them. To the common men it was given
out the army was going to meet their friends from
Scotland, and to prevent Marshal Wade from getting
in between them, whose army was at Wetherby and
Doncaster."
* Glover, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 422. t Lord Elcho's MS.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 139
The influence, however, of these contradictory
reports upon the common men was soon conspicuous.
The march was at first regular enough; but the
whole bearing of the Highlanders was changed.
Dispirited and indignant, they became reckless in
their conduct : they lingered on the way, and com-
mitted outrages of which but few instances had been
heard during their march southwards. Lord George
Murray found it difficult to keep his army to-
gether. " In the advance," observes Sir Walter
Scott, " they showed the sentiments of brave men,
come, in their opinion, to liberate their fellow-citizens ;
in the retreat, they were caterans, returning from a
creagh." The cause which they had adopted, had
lost, from this moment, all hope, though the mourn-
ful interest attached to it still remained, perhaps,
with increasing force.
In order to conceal the retreat as long from the
enemy as possible, a party of horse was ordered to ad-
vance some miles in the direction of Lichfield, where
the Duke of Cumberland was posted ; and, to keep up
the delusion, powder was distributed among the army.
It was also insinuated that Wade was at hand, and
that they were going to fight him; but when the
soldiers found themselves on the road to Ashbourn
they suspected the truth, and became still more sullen
and dejected. Another artifice adopted to raise their
spirits was a report, circulated purposely among them,
that the reinforcements expected from Scotland were
on their road, and that having met these, near Pres-
ton the army would resume its march southwards.
This project, nowever distasteful to Lord George
140 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Murray, was, it seems, seriously entertained by the
Prince.
And now commenced the difficulties of that under-
taking in which Lord George had pledged himself to
conduct an army of little more than six thousand
men, in the depth of winter, in safety to Scotland,
although in the neighbourhood of two great armies.
The management of this retreat has been a subject of
admiration to all competent judges of military affairs;
it has conferred lasting honour on the capacity of
Lord George Murray as a General.
It was of the greatest importance, under his circum-
stances, that Lord George should know of the move-
ments and intentions of the enemy ; and such was his
system, such his address, in employing spies and emis-
saries, that he was always informed of what .took
place in the armies of the Duke and General Wade.
One of his principal agents was Hewett, a butcher in
Derby ; who, from his local knowledge, could tell many
particulars of the country-gentlemen, as well as of the
movements of the Duke and his formidable forces. *
The Highland army arrived on the night of the
sixth at Ashbourn, on the following day they reached
Leek, on the ninth they arrived at Manchester,
where a great revulsion of feeling had taken place.
The u Hanoverian mob," to use the expression of Mr.
Maxwell, were determined to dispute the Prince's
entrance; but when his vanguard appeared, these
noisy heroes were instantly silenced, f From Man-
chester the Prince proceeded to Wigan, and thence
to Preston, where he halted on the twelfth. Here the
* Glover, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 422. t Maxwell, p. 80.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 141
disappointed young man recurred to his cherished pro-
ject, that of having reinforcements sent from Scotland,
under Viscount Strathallan, who had been left in
command at Perth, and those also under Lord John
Drummond. Upon his arrival at Preston, he sent the
Duke of Perth into Scotland to bring them with the
utmost expedition. He was resolved to retire no
further until he met them, and then to march directly
for London, casting his whole chance of success upon
the event of that step.
Among the generals and chiefs of this army a dif-
ferent sentiment had now arisen. A safe retreat
was their object, and the subject of universal atten-
tion. Hitherto there had been little or no danger ;
it was impossible for the enemy to overtake the army
before it had reached Preston ; but between Preston
and Carlisle it was practicable for the enemy's cavalry
to come up with the Prince's army during that march.
There was even a greater danger to be apprehended
than the pursuit of the Duke. Marshal Wade had
left his position at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, having been
ordered by the Duke to place himself between the in-
surgent forces and Scotland, in order to cut off the
retreat. There were in those days but few roads, or
even passes in the mountainous regions of Cumber-
land and Westmoreland, by which a regular army could
march. There was, however, an excellent road from
Newcastle to Penrith, a town through which Wade
might march his army, and where he could arrive
a day or two before the Prince, and intercept his
retreat.
On the fifteenth the Prince arrived at Kendal, and
142 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
here Lord George Murray, taking a body of life-guards,
went in person to reconnoitre the position of the
enemy. He brought back several prisoners, who gave
him all the information of which he was desirous.
From what was thus gathered, Lord George perceived
that the whole cavalry of Wade's army might possibly
overtake the Highland forces before they could reach
Carlisle; he therefore represented to the Prince the
propriety of sacrificing the cannon and heavy baggage
to the safety of the men; since the mountainous
journey from Kendal to Penrith rendered the transit
of such carriages very difficult. But the Prince was
determined that his retreat should have the air of
retiring, not of flying; he was resolved not to leave a
single piece of his cannon ; he would rather fight both
armies than give such a proof of weakness. He issued
peremptory orders that the march should be continued
as before, and that not a single carriage should be left
at Kendal.
The dissensions between Charles Edward and Lord
George Murray had now ripened into reproaches
on the one hand, answered by something not unlike
taunts on the other. The former had cherished a
predilection for battles ever since his victory at Glands-
muir, and he often broke out into expressions of anger
towards his General, for his having prevented his
fighting the Duke of Cumberland at Derby. As they
quitted Kendal, Lord George observed to Charles,
" Since your Royal Highness is always for battles, be
the circumstances what they may; I now offer you
one, in three hours from this time, with the army of
Marshal Wade, who is only three miles distant from
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 143
this place." The Prince made no reply, but mounted
into his carriage. All his ardour in marching at the
head of the Clans was gone; he had become listless,
careless, and dejected since the retreat. The army
were dispirited by his gloomy and mournful aspect;
and a still greater degree of difficulty and respon-
sibility devolved therefore upon their General. On
the sixteenth of December the army slept at Shap,
and on the seventeenth the Prince arrived at Pen-
rith; but the artillery, and the regiment of the
Macdonalds of Glengarry, could only reach Shap by
nightfall.
On the following morning Lord George proceeded
towards Penrith. Scarcely had he begun his march
when he saw a number of the enemy's light horse
hovering about, but not venturing within musket-
shot. About midday, as the Highland army began to
ascend an eminence about half-way between Shap and
Penrith, they discovered cavalry riding two and two
abreast on the top of the hill. These instantly dis-
appeared, but the noise of the kettle-drums and trum-
pets announced that they were only on the other side
of the hill, and that they were probably forming in
order of battle. Lord George was in the rear of the
Highland army.
The advanced guard stopped at the foot of the
hill, when suddenly they formed a resolution to ad-
vance sword in hand on the enemy, without informing
Lord George of their resolution. On arriving at the
summit of the hill, the party whose kettle-drums and
trumpets had caused such an alarm, were found to be
only three hundred light horse and chasseurs, who in-
144 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
stantly fled. One prisoner only was made, a man who
fell from his horse. It was desirable, on all ac-
counts, to have preserved the life of this person, but
the fury of the Highlanders was such that he was
instantly cut to pieces.
After this alarm, this detachment of the Highland
army resumed their march: the appearance of the
light horse had, however, begotten an impression that
Wade's forces were not far distant. The Chevalier
Johnstone, more especially, had strong misgivings on
the subject; his fears were confirmed by his serjeant
Dickson, who called his attention to something black
on a hill about three miles distant. This appearance,
which every one else regarded as bushes, was soon
found to be the English army, slowly but surely ad-
vancing. Before the vanguard could recover the sur-
prise, the Duke of Cumberland, who had pursued them
with forced marches, fell upon the Macdonalds, who
were in the rear, with fury. Fortunately the road
running between thorn hedges and ditches, the Eng-
lish cavalry could not act in such a manner as to sur-
round the army, nor present a larger front than the
breadth of the road.
The Highlanders instantly ran to the enclosures in
which the English were, fell on their knees, and began
to cut down the hedges with their dirks. This
precaution was necessary, for their limbs were un-
protected by anything lower than their kilts. Dur-
ing this operation, they sustained the fire of the
English with admirable firmness. As soon as the
hedges were cut down, they jumped into the en-
closures sword in hand, and broke the English batta-
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 145
lions. A fierce and deadly contest ensued. The
English were nearly cut to pieces without quitting
their ground. Platoons might, indeed, be seen,
composed of forty or fifty men falling beneath the
Highlanders, yet they remained firm, closing up
their ranks, as fast as an opening was made by the
broad-swords of the Highlanders. This remarkable
attack was made in person by Lord George Murray,
at the head of the Macphersons, whom he ordered to
charge. At length the English dragoons were driven
from their posts, and closely pursued until they ar-
rived at the moor where their main body was planted.
In this "scuffle" the Macphersons lost only twelve
men ; about one hundred of the English were killed or
wounded. A footman in the service of the Duke of
Cumberland was the only prisoner made by the High-
landers. This man declared that his royal master
would have been killed, if the pistol, with which a
Highlander took aim at his head, had not missed fire.
Prince Charles, with much courtesy, sent him back
instantly to the Duke.*
Such is a brief account of the engagement which
Lord George Murray calls a "little skirmish," but
which must have afforded, at all events, some notion of
Highland valour to the Duke of Cumberland and his
dragoons. But, independent of the dauntless bravery of
the Macphersons, to the skill of Lord George Murray
may be attributed much of the success of the action.
Before the firing began, he contrived, by rolling up his
colours, and causing them to be carried half open to
* This account is taken from Maxwell's narrative, p. 84 and 85 ; and
from the Chevalier Johnstone's Memoirs, p. 60 and 61.
VOL. III. L
146 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
different places, to deceive the enemy with regard to
the numbers of the Highland force ; and to make them
conclude that the whole of the army was posted in
the village of Clifton. With about a thousand men
in all, he contrived to defeat five hundred dragoons,
backed by a great body of cavalry, all well disci-
plined troops. The moon, which was in its second
quarter, appeared at intervals during the close of the
action, and gave but a fitful light, being often over-
clouded, so that the combatants fought almost in
gloom, except for a few minutes at a time. The
English, being all on horseback, were just visible to
their foes, but the " little Highlanders " were in dark-
ness. " We had the advantage," observes Lord George,
" of seeing their disposition, but they could not see
ours."* This encounter had the effect of saving the
Prince and the whole army. " It was lucky," calmly
remarks Lord George Murray, " that I made that stand
at Clifton, for otherwise the enemy would have been at
our heels, and come straight to Penrith, where, after
refreshing two or three hours, they might have come
up with us before we got to Carlisle."f
Lord George was in imminent danger during the
action at Clifton. Fortunately, an old man, Glen-
bucket, who was very infirm, remained at the end of
the village on horseback. He entreated Lord George
to be very careful, " for if any accident happened, he
would be blamed." " He gave me," relates Lord
George, "his targe; it was convex, and covered with a
plate of metal, which was painted; the paint was
* Jacobite Mem. p. 71.
f The Hussars, under the command of Lord Pitsligo, had gone off to
Penrith.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 147
cleared in two or three places, with the enemy's bul-
lets ; and, indeed, they were so thick about me, that I
felt them hot about my head, and I thought some of
them went through my hair, which was about two
inches long, my bonnet having fallen off." *
In this skirmish Lord George commanded the
Glengarry regiment, who had remained, at the Ge-
neral's request, in the rear, to guard the baggage.
The officers, observes Lord George, " behaved to my
wish, and punctually obeyed the orders they received.
That very morning, however, the Glengarry regiment
had told Lord George that they would not have stayed
three days behind the rest of the army to guard the
baggage for any man but himself." The Stewarts, of
Appin, were also among the most valiant of the com-
batants ; but the most signal instances of courage were
shown by Macpherson of Clunie, and his fierce band.
This unfortunate chief was engaged in the insurrec-
tion of 1715; that circumstance had been overlooked
by Government ; and, in the very year 1745, he had
been appointed to a company in Lord London's regi-
ment, and had taken the oaths to Government. His
clan were, however, anxious to espouse the cause of
Charles Edward. Whilst Clunie wavered, his honour
requiring the fulfilment of his oaths, his affections,
and his hereditary principles leading him to follow
Charles, his wife, although a stanch Jacobite, and a
daughter of Lord Lovat, entreated him not to break
his oaths, and represented that nothing would end
well which began with perjury. She was overruled by
the friends of Clunie, and he hastened to his ruin.f
* Jacobite Mem. p. 72. t Note to General Stewart's Sketches, vol. i. p. 58 .
L 2
148 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
The victorious General remained at Clifton half an
hour after all the other officers had proceeded to Pen-
rith. This circumstance disproved a statement given
in the English newspapers, which intimated that the
Highlanders had been beaten from their post at Clifton.
On the contrary, " I heard," observed Lord George,
" that the enemy went a good many miles for quarters,
and I am persuaded they were as weary of that day's
fatigue as we could be."
Upon arriving at Penrith, Lord George found the
Prince much pleased with what had occurred. He
was, however, just taking horse for Carlisle. On the
next day, after staying a very short time at Penrith
to refresh, Lord George joined Charles Edward in that
city, which had yielded so short a time previously to
his arms; and here various circumstances occurred
which sufficiently show the discord which prevailed in
the councils of the young Chevalier.
During the march, the young Prince had mani-
fested a lofty sense of his own honour; but it was
combined with a great degree of obstinacy in some
respects, almost accompanied by puerility. Disgusted
with the retreat, indignant with the promoter of that
step, bent upon returning to England, unhappy, dis-
couraged, and distracted by evil counsels, the Prince
had plainly shown, that he would controvert the
opinions of Lord George in every possible instance.
He had lingered so late in the morning before leav-
ing his quarters, as to detain the rear, which that
General cuinmanded, long after the van. This was
a great inconvenience, and difficult for an impetuous
temper to tolerate. The Prince not only refused to
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 149
allow the army to be eased of any of the ammu-
nition, being resolved " rather to fight both their
armies than to give such a proof of his weakness ;"*
but he carried that order to an extreme, behaving
as a petulant young man, who exerts power more
in anger than from reflection. The march thus
encumbered had been made with a degree of diffi-
culty and fatigue which tried the patience of the
soldiers, who were obliged, in one instance, to drag,
like horses, the heavy waggons, in order to get them
through a stream of water where there was a narrow
pass, and a steep ascent.f
No enemy had molested the troops after they left
Penrith; and it appeared evident that, at that time,
the Duke of Cumberland had no intention of coming
to a pitched battle, but intended only to take ad-
vantage of the disorder which he might suppose
would have attended the retreat of an army of
militia.
On arriving at Carlisle, a council of war was held.
Lord George Murray was in favour of evacuating Car-
lisle, but his influence was overruled. " I had been so
much fatigued," he remarks, " for some days before,
that I was very little at the Prince's quarters that day."
It was, however, determined to leave a garrison in
Carlisle, for Prince Charles had set his heart upon
returning to England. He, therefore, placed in the
castle Mr. Hamilton, whilst the unfortunate Mr.
Townley commanded the town.
" This," remarks Mr Maxwell, ^ " was perhaps the
* Maxwell. t Jacobite Mem. p. 62.
J Maxwell, p. 88.
150 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
worst resolution that the Prince had taken hitherto.
I cannot help condemning it, though there were
specious pretexts for it." It would, indeed, have
been highly advantageous for the Prince to have re-
tained one of the keys of England; and he might
have hoped to return before the place could be re-
taken. Of this, however, he could not be certain;
and he was undoubtedly wrong in exposing the lives
of the garrison without an indispensable necessity,
which, according to Maxwell, did not exist; for
" blowing up the castle, and the gates of the town
might equally have given him an entry into Eng-
land/'
The day after the Prince had arrived in Carlisle,
he left it, and proceeded northwards. One cause of
this, apparently, needless haste was, the state of the
river Esk, about seven miles from Carlisle; it
was, by a nearer road, impassable. This stream, it
was argued, might be swollen by a few hours rain,
and then it could not be forded. The Prince might
thus be detained at Carlisle; and he had now be-
come extremely impatient to know the exact state
of his affairs in Scotland ; to collect his forces, in order
to return to England. Letters from Lord John
Drummond had re-assured him of the good will of
the Court of France that delusive hope was not
even then extinct. Advice from Viscount Strath-
allan had imparted excellent accounts of the army
in Scotland. Under these circumstances, Charles
hastened forward, and encountered the difficult pas-
sage over the Esk. Hope again gladdened the
heart of one for whose errors, when we consider the
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 151
stake for which he fought, and the cherished wishes
of his youth, too little allowance has been made. But,
in the eyes of others, the prospect of the young Che-
valier's return to England was regarded as wholly
visionary ; and the planting a garrison in the dilapi-
dated fortress of Carlisle, was deemed indifference to
the fate of his adherents who remained, unwillingly,
and certain of their doom. " The retreat from
Derby was considered throughout England,' 1 observes
Sir Walter Scott, "as the close of the rebellion:
as a physician regards a distemper to be nearly
overcome, when he can drive it from the stomach
and nobler parts, into the extremities of the body/'*
The army, after marching from three o'clock in
the morning until two in the afternoon, arrived on the
borders of the Esk. This river, which is usually
shallow, had already been swollen by an incessant
rain of several days, to the depth of four feet. It
was, therefore, necessary to cross it instantly, for
fear of a continuation of the rain, and an increase of
the danger. The passage over the Esk was ad-
mirably contrived; it could only have been effected
by Highlanders. The cavalry formed in the river,
to break the force of the current, about twenty-
five paces above the ford where the infantry were
to pass. Then the Highlanders plunged into the
water, arranging themselves into ranks of ten or
twelve a-breast, with their arms locked in such a
manner as to support one another against the ra-
pidity of the river, leaving sufficient intervals between
their ranks for the passage of the water. lt We were
* Tales of a Grandfather, vol. iii. p. 125.
152 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
nearly a hundred men a-breast," writes Lord George
Murray ;* u arid it was a very fine show. The water
was big, and most of the men breast-high. When
I was near across the river, I believe there were two
thousand men in the water at once: there was
nothing seen but their heads and shoulders ; but there
was no danger, for we had crossed many waters,
and the ford was good; and Highlanders will pass a
water where horses will not, which I have often seen.
They hold by one another, by the neck of the coat,
so that if one should fall, he is in no danger, being
supported by the others, so all went down, or none."
The scene must have been extremely singular.
" The interval between the cavalry," remarks an
eyewitness, " appeared like a paved street through the
river, the heads of the Highlanders being generally
all that was seen above the water. Cavalry were also
placed beneath the ford, to pick up all those who
might be carried away by the current. In an hour's
time the whole army had passed the river Esk;
and the boundary between England and Scotland was
again passed. "f
Lord George Murray had, on this occasion, assumed
the national dress. " I was this day," he says " in
my philibeg." Well might he, in after times, when
reviewing the events of the memorable campaign of
1745, dwell with pride on the hardihood of those
countrymen from whom he was for ever an exile when
he composed his journal. " All the bridges that were
thrown down in England," he remarks, " to prevent
their advancing in their march forwards, never
* Jacobite Mem. p. 74. t Johnstone, p. 75.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 153
retarded them a moment." Nor was the philibeg
assumed merely for the convenience of the passage
over the Esk. " I did not know," writes Lord George,
" but the enemy might have come from Penrith
by Brampton, so shunned the water of Eden, to have
attacked us in passing this water of Esk ; and nothing
encouraged the men more, than seeing their officers
dressed like themselves, and ready to share their
fate."
Some ladies had forded the river on horseback im-
mediately before the Highland regiments. These fair,
and bold equestrians might have given intelligence;
but luckily they did not. The General who had pro-
vided so carefully and admirably for the safety of his
troops, knew well how to temper discipline with in-
dulgence. Fires were instantly kindled to dry the
men as they quitted the water. The poor High-
landers, when they found themselves on Scottish
ground, forgot all the vexation of their retreat, and
broke out into expressions of joy ; of short lived con-
tinuance among a slaughtered and hunted people.
It was near night ; yet the bagpipes struck up a na-
tional air as the last of the Highland host passed
the river : and the Highlanders began dancing reels,
"which," relates Lord George, " in a moment dried
them, for they had held up the tails of their short
coats in passing the river; so when their legs were
dry, all was right." This day, forming an epoch in
the sorrowful narrative of the insurrection of 1745,
was the birthday of Prince Charles, who then attained
his twenty -fifth year. Many mercies had marked the
expedition into England, fruitless as it had proved.
154 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
After six weeks' march, and sojourn, in England, amid
innumerable enemies, threatened by two formidable
armies in different directions, the Jacobite forces,
entering England on the eighth of November, and
quitting it on the twentieth of December, had re-
turned without losing more than forty men, including
the twelve killed at Clifton Wall. They had traversed
a country well-peopled with English peasantry, with-
out any attacks except upon such marauders as
strayed from their main body.
As soon as the army had passed the river, the Prince
formed it into two columns, which separated ; the one,
conducted by Charles Edward, took the road to Eccle-
fechan ; the other, under the command of Lord George
Murray, marched to Annan. In the disposition of
these routes, the principal object was to keep the Eng-
lish in a state of uncertainty as to the direction in
which the Jacobite army intended to go, and the
towns which they purposed to occupy : and the end
was answered; for no just notion was given of the
movements of the Highlanders until after the subse-
quent junction of the two columns; and time was
thus gained.
There being no town within eight or ten miles
from the river Esk, the army were obliged to march
nearly all night. The column conducted by the
Prince had to cross mossy ground, under a pouring
rain, which had continued ever since the skirmish
at Clifton Wall. The guides who conducted Lord
George's division led them off the road; this was,
however, a necessary precaution in order to shun
houses, the lights from which might have tempted
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 155
the drenched and hungry soldiers to stray, and take
shelter. Then the hardy and energetic general of his
matchless forces first felt the effects of this laborious
march in unusual debility, and fever.
At Moffat, this column halted; and divine service
was performed in different parts of the town, all the
men attending. "Our people." remarks Lord George,
"were very regular that way; and I remember, at
Derby, the day we halted, as a battle was soon ex-
pected, many of our officers and people took the
sacrament."*
On the twenty-fifth of December, Lord George ar-
rived at Glasgow, having passed through the towns of
Hamilton and Douglas, and here, on the following day,
Charles Edward also arrived, with the other column.
Lord Elcho, who had conducted the cavalry through
Dumfries, preceded the two great divisions. It was
resolved to give the army some days' rest after the
excessive fatigue which the men had uncomplainingly
sustained. The spirits of Charles Edward were now
recruited, and his example contributed not a little to
the alacrity and energy of his force. Small, indeed,
did it appear, when he reviewed it on Glasgow-green,
and found how little he had suffered during his expe-
dition into England. Hitherto Charles had carefuly
concealed his weakness; but now, hoping in a few
days to double his army, he was not unwilling to show
with what a handful of men he had penetrated into
England, and conducted an enterprise, bold in its
conception, and admirable in its performance.
* This statement tends somewhat to disprove the assertion that
Roman Catholic priests occupied the pulpits at Derby, made in the
papers of the time. See p. 136.
156 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
At Glasgow, the melancholy fate of the brave gar-
rison in Carlisle became known to the Jacobite army.
Two days after the Prince had left, the Duke of
Cumberland invested it, and began to batter that part
of the wall which is towards the Irish gate. The
governor of the Castle, Mr. Hamilton, determined to
capitulate even before a breach had been made in the
walls; and his proposal was vainly resisted by the
brave Francis Townley and others, who were resolved to
defend themselves to the last extremity. u They were
in the right." * They might have held out for several
days, and perhaps obtained better terms; but the
governor persisted in surrendering to the clemency
of King George, promised by his inhuman and dis-
honourable son. Assurances of intercession were
given by the Duke of Cumberland, and the garrison of
three hundred men surrendered. On the Duke's re-
turn to London, it was decided by the British govern-
ment that he was not bound to observe a capitulation
with rebels. The brave, arid confiding prisoners perish-
ed, twelve of the officers by the common hangman, at
Kennington ; others, at Carlisle many died in prison.
Their fate reflected strongly upon the conduct of Charles
Edward; but the general character of that young Prince,
his hatred of blood, his love of his adherents, prove
that it was not indifference to their safety which
actuated him in the sacrifice of the garrison of Car-
lisle. He was possessed with an infatuation, believing
that he should one day, and that day not distant, re-
enter England ; he was surrounded by favourites, who
all encouraged his predilections, and fostered the here-
* Maxwell.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 157
ditary self-will of his ill-starred race. The blood of
Townley, and of his brave fellow- sufferers, rests not as
a stain on the memory of Lord George Murray; and
the Prince alone must bear the odium of that needless
sacrifice to a visionary future. " We must draw a
veil," says the Chevalier Johnstone, " over this piece
of cruelty, being altogether unable either to discover
the motive for leaving this three hundred men at
Carlisle, or to find an excuse for it."*
On arriving at Glasgow, the Prince sent a gentleman
to Perth to procure a particular account of the state
of affairs in that part of the country ; and on finding
that his forces were so widely scattered that a con-
siderable time must elapse before they could reas-
semble, he gave up the hope of returning to England,
and determined upon the sieges of Edinburgh and Stir-
ling. On the fourth of January he marched from Glas-
gow to Bannockburn, where he took up his quarters; and
Lord George Murray, with the clans, occupied Falkirk.
Before the twelfth of the same month, General Hawley,
who had now formed a considerable army in Edin-
burgh, resolved upon raising the siege of Stirling, before
which the trenches were opened.
Lord George Murray was, however, resolved to make
a strong effort to prevent this scheme of General Haw-
ley's from taking effect. Hearing that there was a
provision made of bread and forage at Linlithgow for
General Hawley 's troops, he resolved to surprise the town
and to carry off the provisions. He set out at four o'clock
in the morning ; was joined by Lord Elcho and Lord
Pitsligo, with their several bodies of horse, and before
* Johnstone, p. 82.
158 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
sunrise Linlithgow was invested. The Jacobites were
disturbed, however, in their quarters by a party of
General Hawley's dragoons ; and a report which pre-
vailed that another body of horse and foot were also
approaching, induced Lord George to return to Falkirk.
On the following day he returned to Stirling ; and
the clans were quartered in the adjacent villages.
The reinforcements which had been so long expected
from the north were now near at hand ; so that they
could scarcely fail to arrive before an engagement
began. The clans were augmented in number, and
what was almost of equal importance, they had re-
gained confidence and health on returning to their
native land. All were in high spirits at the prospect
of an engagement.
The Prince employed the fifteenth day of the month
in choosing a field of battle ; on the sixteenth he review-
ed the army. The plan of the engagement was drawn
out by Lord George Murray, according to his usual prac-
tice. The army of the insurgents amounted to nine
thousand men. On that evening he learned that Gen-
eral Hawley had encamped on the plain between that
town and the river Carron : upon which a council was
called, and it was resolved the next day to attack the
enemy.
The sympathies of the modern reader can scarcely
fail to be enlisted in the cause of the Jacobites, who
appear henceforth in the character of the valiant de-
fenders of their hills and homes, their hereditary
monarchy, their national honour and rights. Whatever
an Englishman may have felt on beholding the incur-
sions of a Highland force in his own country, the sen-
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 159
timent is altered into one of respect and of compassion
when he views the scene of the contest changed, and
sees the hopeless struggle fought on Scottish ground.
Never were two parties more strongly contrasted
than the Hanoverians and the Jacobites. The very
expressions which each party used towards the other,
as well as their conduct in the strife, are characteristic
of the coarse insolence of possession, and the gallant
contest for restoration. Nothing could present a more
revolting contrast than that between the individuals
who headed the armies of Government, and the unfor-
tunate Prince Charles and his brave adherents. In op-
position to his generosity and forbearance stood the
remorseless vengeance of the Duke of Cumberland. In
comparison with the lofty, honest, fearless Lord George
Murray, was the low instrument of Cumberland, the de-
testable Hawley. One blushes to write his name an
English word. Succeeding General Wade, whose feeble
powers had become nearly extinct in the decline of age,
General Hawley was the beloved officer, the congenial
associate of the young and royal commander-in-chief,
who even at his early age could select a man without
love to man, or reverence to God, for his General. These
two were kindred spirits, worthy of an union in the
task of breaking the noblest hearts, and crushing
and enslaving the finest people that ever blessed a land
of sublime beauty. Perhaps, if one may venture to
make so strong an assertion, the General was more odious
than his patron. It is, indeed, no easy point to decide
towards which of these two notorious, for I will not call
them distinguished men, the disgust of all good minds
must be excited in the greater degree. In contempt
160 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
for their fellow men, in suspicion and distrust, they
were alike. In the directions for Hawley's funeral, he
wrote in his will : " The priest, I conclude, will have
his fee : let the puppy take it. I have written all this
with my own hand ; and this I did because I hate
priests of all professions, and have the worst opinion
of all members of the law."
To this low and ignorant contempt for the members
of two learned professions, Hawley added an utter dis-
regard of every tie of honour ; he was wholly uncon-
scious of the slightest emotion of humanity ; he re-
velled in the terrors of power. The citizens beheld, with
disgust, gibbets erected on his arrival there, to hang
up any rebels who might fall into his hands : the very
soldiers detested the General who had executioners to
attend the army. The generous nature of Englishmen
turned against the man, who, as it has been well
remarked, " deserved not the name of soldier." They
gave him the nick-name of the "Chief Justice ;" and
hated him as a man unworthy to cope with brave
and honourable foes.
General Hawley had all the contempt, fashionable in
those days, for Highland valour. " Give me but two regi-
ments of horse," he said, " and I will soon ride over
the whole Highland army." He quickly, however,
learned his mistake ; his contempt was, therefore,
changed into a fiendish abhorrence, exhibited in the
most horrible forms of unmitigated revenge.
It was decided by Charles and his Generals, in a
council held on the evening preceding the battle of
Falkirk, to attack the Hanoverian troops by break of
day. The Tor Wood, formerly an extensive forest, but
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 161
much decayed, lay between the two armies. The high
road from Stirling to Falkirk, through Bannockburn,
passes through what was once the middle of the wood.
About eleven in the morning the Jacobite army was
seen, marching in two columns, and advancing to the
rising ground. Scarcely had they begun their march
than the sky was overcast, and a violent storm blinded
their enemy, who were, on the other hand, marching
with their bayonets fixed ; the fury of the tempest was
such, that they could hardly secure their pieces from
the rain.
Lord George Murray, with his drawn sword in his
hand, and his target on his arm, conducted the Mac-
donalds of Keppoch. This clan regiment advanced
very slowly that they might keep their ranks until
they had gained possession of the ground they wanted ;
they then turned their backs to the wind, and formed
into the line of battle. The field which they in-
tended to occupy was skirted by a deep morass as
they came foot by foot, within pistol shot of the
enemy.
Meantime, General Ligonier, with three regiments of
dragoons, began to move towards the Highlanders:
whilst Lord George Murray, riding along the ranks
of the Macdonalds, was forbidding them to fire until
he gave orders. The English came at last, on full
trot, almost close up to the line : then Lord George
Murray gave the word of command to fire ; the dra-
goons were instantly repulsed and fled back ; upon
which Lord George commanded the Macdonalds to keep
within ranks, and stand firm. A total rout of the
King's troops ensued ; and the field of battle presented
VOL. III. M
162 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
a strange spectacle. The English troops were, during
the whole of the battle, severely incommoded by the
storm of wind and rain, ; which almost blinded the
enemy ; but, independent of this accidental cause,
their usual valour was, on this day, called into ques-
tion. They fled in every direction. This famous bat-
tle did not last more than twenty minutes from the
first fire of the Macdonalds to the retreat of the last
regiment of dragoons. Before it grew dark General
Hawley gave orders that his tents should be burned ;
he then retreated to Linlithgow.
Many brave English officers fell in this ill-con-
ducted engagement, and their defeat was attributed
at once to the arrogant confidence of Hawley, and to
the courage and discipline of the Macdonalds of
Keppoch, who, under the skilful command of Lord
George Murray, are considered to have won the day.
" If the bravery of the Macdonald regiments were put
out of view," observes Mr. Chambers, " it might be said
that the storm had gained the Jacobites the battle."
But the rain, which lasted during the whole of
the battle, prevented a full advantage of the defeat
being taken. The Highlanders, who do not use car-
tridges, were unable to load again, but were forced to
have recourse to their broadswords; they were, how-
ever, out-lined by one-half of the enemy's infantry,
and one of the battalions wheeling about, they were
thrown into disorder by the force of a flank fire. They
retreated up the hill, and before they could be rallied,
the English, who could not be prevailed upon to stand
a second attack of the Highland broadswords, had
begun an orderly retreat. Had the whole of the
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 163
Jacobite army been at hand, to rush headlong upon
the enemy the moment they turned their backs, few
of their infantry would have escaped being killed or
taken.*
Lord George Murray, advancing with the Atholl men,
who had kept the line in perfect order, pursued the re-
treating army towards Falkirk. He had arrived at
the foot of the hill just as the English troops entered
the town, which was at the distance of a musket-shot
from the place where he stood. It was then proposed
by most of the officers to retire towards Dunnipace, in
order to shelter the men from the incessant rain ; but
Lord George opposed this proposition. He had ob-
served the disorder of the English : " Let them not have
time," he remarked, " to rally, and to line the houses,
and clean their guns, so as to defend the town of Fal-
kirk ; there is not a moment to be lost." He con-
cluded with the expression of Count Mercy at the bat-
tle of Parma "I will either lie in the town, or in
Paradise."
Prince Charles coming up at the instant, approved of
the resolution. A singular difficulty now occurred ; there
were no bag-pipes to inspirit the men with a warlike
air ; the pipers, as soon as a battle began, were in the
practice of giving their pipes into the keeping of boys,
who had to take care of themselves, and often disap-
peared with the instruments. "The pipers, who," as Lord
George remarks, " were commonly as good men as any,"
then charged with the rest. This circumstance, which
might appear trifling, was in fact the cause why the
Macdonalds and other Clans had not rallied from the
* Maxwell p. 103.
M 2
164 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
first.* Such was the importance of the national music
at this critical moment. In ancient days the bards
shared the office of encouragement to the Clans. It
was their part to stimulate valour, and, before the bat-
tle began they passed from tribe to tribe, giving ex-
hortations, and expatiating on the dishonour of retreat.
They familiarized the people with a notion of death,
and took from it, in one sense, its sting. When their
voices could no longer be heard, they were succeeded
by the pipes, whose wailing and powerful strains kept
alive the enthusiasm which languished when those
notes ceased to be heard.f
Lochiel, Lord Ogilvy, Colonel Roy Stewart, and
several other chiefs, followed Lord George Murray into
the town. On the ensuing day Charles and most of the
army entered it. All were disappointed not to over-
take the enemy ; and Lord George Murray has left on
record proofs of his bitter disappointment at the fruit-
less issue of this gallant encounter, much of which he at-
tributes to want of decision and arrangement. Early on
the morning of the battle, he had given the Prince a
scroll of the line of battle, which was approved ; he had
requested that it might be filled in with the names of
officers appointed to command. " I never," he ob-
serves, " heard that there was any appointment made
that day. 77 When it was agreed to march towards the
enemy between twelve and one, he asked the Prince
whether, since there was no other Lieutenant- General
there, he should march at the head of the army?
He was answered in the affirmative, after which he never
* Lord Murray's Narrative, Forbes, p. 88.
t General Stuart, I., p. 78.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 165
received any other instructions until the action was over.
The difficulties which Lord George had, therefore, to en-
counter, without knowing who were to command in the
different stations ; with only two aides-de-camp, both
on foot, whilst his personal enemies were near the
Prince in the time of the action, and did little to
advise or suggest, are strongly insisted upon in his nar-
rative. " I believe/' he adds, after firmly but dispas-
sionately stating all these unhappy mistakes, " that my
conduct was unexceptionable, and that in the advan-
tages we gained I had a considerable share." *
The day succeeding the victory of Falkirk was passed
by the insurgents in burying the slain, and in collect-
ing the spoils. A deep pit was dug by the country peo-
ple, into which the English soldiers and the Highland
clansmen were precipitated into one common grave.
The former were easily distinguished by the frightful
gashes of the broad-swords on their breasts and limbs.
The tomb contained a heap of human bodies ; and long
after the event the spot of this rude sepulchre might
be traced by a deep hollow in the field.f
Charles Edward had now arrived at another crisis of
his singular destiny. The fate of a single day had once
more rendered him victorious, but it requires a supe-
rior and matured judgment to profit by success.
" One thing is certain," remarks an eye-witness of this
contest, and that is, " that the vanquished will always
have great resources in the negligence of the victorious
party."
The battle of Falkirk struck terror into every Eng-
lish heart, and the panic of the Black Monday again
* Forbes ; note, p. 94. t Chambers's Hist, of the Rebellion, p. 70.
166 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
spread like a contagion throughout the country. After
the retreat from Derby, the higher ranks of society in
England, who had betrayed an unwonted degree of
alarm, concluded that they had nothing more to fear
even from " a band of men so desperately brave who
had done so much with such little means." The victory
at Falkirk was, therefore, received with redoubled
alarm ; and at court, during a ball which was held in-
stantly after the event, only two persons appeared with
calm and cheerful countenances. These were the King,
whose personal courage was undoubted, and General
Cope, who rejoiced that Hawley's failure might in some
measure excuse his own.*
Under these circumstances, and being assured that
the panic in Edinburgh equalled that in London,
Prince Charles was strongly advised to repair to Edin-
burgh, and to resume the possession of the capital.
He hesitated, and the delay proved fatal to his inter-
ests. There was no time to be lost ; the conduct of
Hawley had inspired universal contempt not only for
his abilities, but for his cowardice. " General Hawley,"
wrote General Wightman to Duncan Forbes, " is much
in the same situation as General Cope, and was never
seen in the field during the battle ; and everything
would have gone to wreck in a worse manner than at
Preston, if General Huske had not acted with judg-
ment and courage, and appeared everywhere."
Lord George Murray remained at Falkirk with the
Clans until apprised, through the secretary Murray, that
the Duke of Cumberland was expected at Edinburgh
on the twenty -eighth of the month ; and that it was
* Tales of a Grandfather, iii. 166.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 167
Charles's intention to attack him as soon as he arrived
at Falkirk. At the first news of the project, Lord
George seemed to approve of it ; he drew up a plan of
the battle, which he submitted to the ardent young
Chevalier, who was delighted to think that he was to
have to oppose the Duke of Cumberland in person.
But this hope was transient; for on the very same
evening, a representation, signed at Falkirk, by Lord
George Murray and all the commanders of Clans,
begging him to retreat, was presented to the disap-
pointed and indignant Charles Edward. The great de-
sertions which were daily taking place since the battle,
was made the chief plea of this unexpected address ;
two thousand men, it was alleged, had gone off since
that action, whilst the army of the enemy was rein-
forced. Some of the battalions were said to be one-
third weaker than before the engagement at Falkirk.
The Prince received this address with a dissatisfac-
tion even more apparent than that which he had shown
at Derby, when persuaded to retreat. He dashed his
head against the wall with violence, exclaiming, " Good
God ! have I lived to see this \ " As the event showed,
it had perhaps been wiser to have risked the event of
an action at that time, than to have awaited the mourn-
ful catastrophe of Culloden. At length, although he
never could be brought to approve of the step, Charles
gave a reluctant and sorrowful consent to that which all
his chieftains called upon him to adopt. The burden
of the censure which was afterwards cast upon this de-
cision, was thrown upon the Lieutenant-General. "I was
told," writes Lord George, " that I was much blamed
for it. I really cannot tell who was the first that spoke
168 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
of it, but this I am sure, every one of us were unani-
mously of the same opinion." The siege of Stirling had
proved, indeed, wholly unsuccessful ; that very morning
the battery, although it had been long in preparation,
was silenced in a few hours after it began to play. It
was therefore determined to abandon it ; and it was de-
cided that the time of the army would be more profit-
ably employed in driving Lord Loudon from Inverness,
and in taking the forts in the north, than in a rash
engagement, or a hopeless siege. The spirit of the
enterprise was, indeed, gone ; otherwise such a retreat
could never have been proposed and entertained. It
was, however, fully determined on. The deepest de-
jection prevailed among the army when it was an-
nounced.
The Prince still remained at Bannockburn. On the
thirty-first of the month it was determined to have a
general review of the troops ; the retreat was not to begin
until ten o'clock. Early in the morning Charles Ed-
ward, still hoping that the desertions were not so nu-
merous as had been represented, and that the " odious
retreat" might be prevented, came out to view his
troops. There was hardly the appearance of an army
to receive him. On hearing the decision of the Prince,
the men had risen at day-break and had gone off
to the Frews, many of them having arrived by that
time at that ford. There was nothing to be done ; Lord
George Murray, who had now joined the Prince from
Falkirk, and who was quartered with some troops in
the town of Stirling, was summoned. The Prince
marched off with some of the chiefs and the few troops
he had with him. and Lord George brought up the rear.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 169
A great portion of the artillery was left behind ; the
heaviest pieces being nailed up and abandoned. The
retreat was thus precipitately commenced, and pre-
sented a very different aspect to the withdrawal of the
Prince's troops from Derby.
Of this disorderly and disreputable march, Lord
George Murray knew nothing until it was begun. The
very morning on which it took place, the church
of St. Ninian's, where the powder was lodged, was
blown up. Lord George Murray was in his quarters
when he heard the great noise of the explosion, and
thought it was a firing from the Castle. " My sur-
prise," he thus writes, "is not to be expressed.* I
knew no enemy was even come the length of Falkirk ;
so that, except the garrison of Stirling Castle, nothing
could hurt us. I imagined they had sallied, and made
the confusion I observed. I shall say no more about
this ; a particular account of it is wrote. I believe
the like of it never was heard of."
The destruction of St. Ninian's tower is attributed
by most historians to the awkwardness of the High-
landers, in attempting to destroy their ammunition.
" I am apt to think it was an accident/' observes
Maxwell, " or, at least, the design of some very pri-
vate person, for there was no warning given to any
body to get out of the way. Nine or ten country
people, and five of the Jacobite soldiers, perished from
the explosion ; and the Prince, over whose existence a
special Providence appeared to have watched, was
within being hurt when the explosion took place.f"
* Forbes, p. 100. Maxwell, p. 115. Sec, also, for the references to
the last eight pages, Lord Mahon, Henderson, Chambers, and Home.
t Scots' Magazine, p. 138.
170 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
The Highland army was quartered on the first night
of their march at Doune and Dumblain ; and assembled
the next day at Crieff. Here Charles Edward again
reviewed them, and to his surprise found that they
had mostly re-assembled, and that scarcely a thousand
of the troops were wanting. The young Prince, who
had reluctantly consented to the retreat upon the
supposition that he had lost one half of his army,
reproached Lord George Murray with having advised
that step. Many were the censures heaped upon
the General for his councils ; and it must be acknow-
ledged, that the caution apparent in his character was,
in this instance, carried to an extreme. He excused
himself on the plea of his opinion having been that of
the whole army ; but exonerated himself from any par-
ticipation in the sudden departure, or, as he calls it,
u the flight " from Stirling. At the council which was
then called, heats and animosities rose to a height
which had never before been witnessed, even among
the vehement and discordant advisers of the Prince.
After many fierce altercations, it was determined that
Prince Charles should march to Inverness by the High-
land road ; and that Lord George Murray, with his
horse, and the low country regiments, should proceed
along the coast road, by Montrose and Aberdeen to the
same place.
During the last few months the Marquis of Tulli-
bardine had been stationary, employing himself in the
fruitless endeavour to stimulate the tenantry and the
neighbourhood to join the army of Charles Edward.
After leaving Bannockburn he remained at Polmaise, a
small village in Stirlingshire, until urged by Lord
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 171
George to repair to Blair Castle, to garrison that
place ; for which purpose, according to his opinion,
a body of fifty men would be sufficient. In his letters
to his brother, Lord George recommends a degree of
severity towards deserters which was not consonant
with the mild temper of Tullibardine : " Those who
have gone home without a special licence on furlough,
must be exemplarily punished, either in their persons
or effects, or in both ; for when our all depends, lenity
would be folly." After urging the Marquis to send off
the men to Blair by dozens, he adds, " If rewards and
punishments do not, I know not what will. By the
laws of God and man you have both in your power
and your person :" thus alluding to the Marquis's posi-
tion as a chief.
But these decisive measures were impracticable. " I
was ordered by the Duke of Atholl," writes David Ro-
bertson from Blair, to his brother, an officer in Lord
George's regiment, " to take up and imprison all de-
serters ; but I might as well attempt to move a moun-
tain, being left here without money, or men capable of
being made officers." Nor was the Marquis's power
more effectual. The most sincere desire to comply
with every wish or counsel of Lord George Murray's,
actuated, indeed, this estimable man. He seems,
from his letters, to have felt the most unbounded and
affectionate admiration for his brother; a sentiment
only inferior to his devotion to the Prince ; yet we can
perceive a covert allusion in some of his injunctions to
those frequent disagreements with Charles, of which
the Marquis was probably not ignorant, " Pray, take
care of our young master's glory as well as your own,
172 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
and the King's service, which ought to be dear to all
honest men who are above selfish views. Excuse me,"
adds the aged nobleman, whose anxieties and sufferings
were soon to close in a prison, " for not writing with
my own hand ; since seeing you, excessive rheumatick
pains has rendered it almost impossible."
By Robertson of Strowan, a man noted for his eccen-
tricities, a very gloomy view was taken of the proceed-
ings of the generals and courtiers who surrounded
Charles. He was ordered by the Prince to stay at
home, and to stop all the deserters who came in his
way. He obeyed the command ; but obeyed with the
observation, that "all were running to the devil, ex-
cept the Duke of Atholl and the Laird of Strowan."
He hinted in his letters, that he could disclose much
to the " Duke," respecting his nearest relations, both
as to their dislike to himself, and their disrespect to his
Grace. The friendly intercourse between Lord George
and his brother continued, nevertheless, unabated. The
former on one occasion congratulates his brother on the
valour of the "Atholl men," at the battle of Falkirk. The
encomium was answered by the Marquis's complaints of
the sad change in the spirit and loyalty of the Clan
since the defection of their " unnatural brother James "
from the Stuart cause. Nothing but vexations and dis-
appointments occurred to the Marquis on his return to
Blair. His rents were refused by his tenants on account
of their expenditure in the Prince's service, and the
country around Perth was left exposed to the enemy.
For some time entreaties from Lord George to his bro-
ther, that he would send men to replace those who were
killed at Falkirk of the Atholl men, were met by excuses
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 173
too well grounded in reason. All the " corners of the
country" were searched by the Marquis's agent, to raise
the men in an "amicable way," but without avail. The
exertions of poor Tullibardine, nevertheless, continued
indefatigable, notwithstanding the truly Scottish com-
plaints, sciatica and rheumatic pains. " I omit," he
writes, " nothing that lies in my power that can contri-
bute towards the public service. God knows what dil-
atory and imposing evasions one has to struggle with
amid a multitude of refractory people in these parts."
At length the sum of three hundred pounds was sent
to him by Secretary Murray in order to maintain the
recruits whom he had raised on his own estates.
Eventually the seeds of dissension were sown be-
tween Lord George Murray and his brother. Nor can
we wonder, however we may grieve, at such an event.
The aim of the one was personal glory, fame. The
whole heart of the other was centred in the success of
the cause. When he suspected that the intentions of
that brother, of whom he was so proud, were less dis-
interested than his own, a mild, but earnest and
mournful reproof was wrung from his kind and trust-
ing heart.*
Until, however, the seat of war was transferred to
the paternal home of Lord George Murray whilst
his immediate interests were spared the Marquis of
Tullibardine evinced the most sincere confidence in
his intentions, and admiration for his talents. After-
wards, suspicions, which have been in a great measure
Lissipated by the testimony of brave and honourable
ten, might disturb the repose, but could not, eventu-
* Atholl Correspondence, p. 163. et passim.
174 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
ally, sully the fame of Lord George Murray. In thus re-
verting to the domestic concerns of this celebrated man,
the position of his lady and children naturally recur.
Lady George Murray had resided during the troubles
of 1745 at Tullibardine, in the parish of Blackford,
in Perthshire. The castle of Tullibardine had been
fortified by a portion of the Earl of Mar's army in 1 715 :
but was taken by the Earl of Argyle. Until after the
close of the last insurrection it was inhabited by Lady
George Murray ; but when the fate of her husband was
involved in the general wreck, the old building was
suffered to fall to ruin. From this residence, such of
Lady George Murray's letters to her husband as are
preserved in the Atholl correspondence are dated.
They are chiefly addressed to the Marquis of Tulli-
bardine, and form the medium of correspondence
between him and his brother. Here, too, she gave
birth, after the battle of Falkirk, to a daughter named
Katherine; and during the confinement which fol-
lowed this event, her Ladyship's office as correspon-
dent was fulfilled by her young daughter, who bore
the name of Amelia. To the letter of this child,
Lord Tullibardine replies with his accustomed courtesy
and kindly feeling. " With extreme satisfaction I re-
ceived," he says, " a mighty well wrote letter from you,
which could not but charm me with your endearing
merit. I rejoice in being able to congratulate your
mother and you on the glorious share my brother George
has again had in the fresh victory which Providence has
given the Prince Regent over his proud Hanoverian
enemies ! Dear child, I thank you kindly for enquir-
ing after my health." To these near, and, as it ap-
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 175
pears, cherished ties, Lord George was probably re-
united during the march to Crieff. But whatever of
domestic happiness he may have enjoyed, its duration
was transient ; and he passed on to a service full of the
hardships of war, but in ! which he was doomed never
more to possess the laurels of victory.
From Crieff, Lord George Murray marched to Perth,
and thence by Montrose and Aberdeen to Inver-
ness. During the inclemency of the winter many of
the cavalry lost their horses ; but the troopers being,
as Sir Walter relates, " chiefly gentlemen, continued
to adhere with fidelity to their ill-omened standards."*
A storm of snow rendered the march from Aber-
deen both dangerous and tedious. Lord George had
above three hundred carriages of artillery to convey,
although a great portion of the artillery was sunk
in the river Tay, at Perth. In forming a junction
at Inverness, the Prince had three objects in view
to reduce Fort-William and Fort-Augustus, on
one side ; on the other to disperse the army with
which Lord Loudon had opposed him in the north ;
lastly, to keep possession of the east coast, from which
quarter reinforcements and supplies were expected
to arrive from France. It was, therefore, decided
that Lord George Murray should continue along the
eastern coast, in order to intercept Lord London's
army, in case it came that way. On the sixteenth of
February he crossed the river Spey, and proceeded by
Elgin, Forres, and Nairn, to Culloden, where he arrived
the day before the castle of Inverness surrendered to
Charles. Lord George Murray then gave the Prince an
* Tales of a Grandfather, vol. iii. p. 176.
176 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
account of his march, of which even this hardy General
speaks as of a journey of inconceivable trouble and fa-
tigue. Here discussions took place, in which, as usual,
the Prince differed in some important points from his
Lieutenant-General. The plan which Lord George pro-
posed was, to procure five thousand bolls of meal in
Bamff, Murray, and Nairn, laying a tax in an equal
manner on these several shires, and to send this sup-
ply to the Highlands ; so that in case the Duke of
Cumberland, who was now proceeding northwards,
should follow them thither, they could have sub-
sistence. To this scheme Charles objected ; and the
meal was lodged in Inverness. His confidence in
his General, notwithstanding the incessant displays
of his ability, was now wholly undermined. Charles's
affairs were indeed rapidly declining; money, the
principal sinew of war, was wanting. "His little
stock might have held out a little longer," observes
Mr. Maxwell, " had it been well managed ; but it is
more than probable that his principal steward was a
thief from the beginning." The Secretary Murray,
against whom this charge is levelled, was not, perhaps,
more faithless when he appropriated to himself the
funds of his unfortunate master, than when he planted
in the breast of Charles, misgivings of his friends, and
abused his influence to mislead a confiding nature.
There was, however, no proof against Murray of Brough-
ton of dishonesty, " but there were very strong
presumptions ; and his underlings, who suspected that
their opportunity would not last long, made the best
of it, and filled their pockets with the public money ."*
* Maxwell, p. 131 ; also Forbes, p. 193.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 177
By the officers and soldiers at Culloden, Lord
George was received with joy. They regretted his
absence, and were pleased to say that had he been
with them they should have " given a good account
of Lord Loudon and his troops, whom they had been
prevented from pursuing at Inverness." Lord George
soon found that these professions were sincere. The
Prince was induced to send him to Dingwall, that
he might assist the Earl of Cromartie in pursuing
Lord Loudon, who had passed up to Tain. This
scheme having proved impracticable, he returned to
Inverness.
Meantime the county of Atholl suffered under
the unparalleled cruelties of the English soldiery.
The Duke of Cumberland had visited that interesting
district ; and it requires little more to be said, to
comprehend that beauty was turned to desolation ; that
crimes hitherto unheard of among a British army re-
flected dishonour on the conquerors, and brought
misery to the conquered. On the sixth of February,
1746, the Duke had arrived at Perth. His first orders
were to seize the Duchess of Perth, the mother of the
Duke, and the Viscountess Strathallan, and to carry
them to a small, wretched prison in Edinburgh, where
they remained nearly a year. The Duke of Cum-
berland was succeeded at Edinburgh by his brother-
in-law, the Prince of Hesse, who had landed at Leith
with five thousand infantry and five hundred huzzars
in the pay of England. These were stationed in the
capital, ready to swarm into the country to subdue its
brave inhabitants.
Whilst Lord George Murray was still at Inverness,
VOL. in. x
178 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
he heard that his cherished home, the territory of his
proud forefathers, the scenes of his youth, were ravaged
by a detachment of Cumberland's army. The houses
of such gentlemen as had assisted Prince Charles were
burned ; and their families, after receiving every
species of indignity that could palliate the guilt of a
future revenge, and that could break honest hearts,
were turned out to perish on the hills with cold and
hunger. The very nature of Englishmen appears to
have been changed during this most mournful, most
disgraceful warfare ; and never did the British army
sink so low in morals, in humanity, as during the
German yoke of a Prince whom one rejects as a
countryman."*
Lord George was instantly ordered to go to Atholl.
Little could he suspect the construction afterwards
placed on his conduct, and the snare which was laid
for him by his enemies, in the events of the next
few weeks.
Lord George marched with unheard of dispatch to-
wards Atholl. Already had the Duke of Cumberland
placed at different parts, in that district, bands of the
Argyleshire Campbells, to the amount of three hundred
in number. A thousand more, it was reported, were
coming from the same quarter ; and it was Lord
George's aim to intercept this reinforcement. He set
off, followed by his brave " Atholl-men," con-
ducting his march through byeways across the moun-
tains ; and in one march, day and night, he traversed
a tract of thirty miles. It was, however, impossible
* Lord George Murray's Journal. Forbes, p. 166. Johnstone's
Memoirs, p. 116. Maxwell, p. 133.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 179
to transport cannon through these almost impassable
solitudes ; yet, with a force not exceeding seven hun-
dred men, Lord George contrived to surprise the
enemy at these posts. He entered Atholl in the early
part of the night ; his detachment then separated, and,
dividing itself into small parties, each gentleman
whose home had been invaded took the shortest road
to his own house. The English soldiers were surprised
in their sleep, and, according to the Chevalier Johnstone,
lay murdered in their beds ; but this is contradicted
by many authorities.* These Highland gentlemen
attacked, during that night, thirty of the posts in
question, and all of them were carried. Few of the
Government troops were put to the sword ; about
three hundred were taken prisoners, and between two
and three hundred barricaded themselves in the Castle
ofBlair.f
The Marquis of Tullibardine had, it appears, been
driven from that fortress some time previously. Mis-
fortune was not new to one who had joined in the
insurrection of 1715.
" As the late Rothiemurcus,^ your father," he writes
to a friend, in a letter to which he dared not even
state his place of residence, " showed me particular
friendship and kindness on just such an unfortunate
occasion as the present, makes me hope you will have
no less regard for me in taking care of some small con-
cerns of mine ; which consists in taking care of two of
* According to Lord Elcho's account (MS.), ten or twelve only were
killed, and the rest taken prisoners.
t Forbes' Johnstone. $ Grant of Rothiemurcus.
Atholl Correspondence, p. 211.
N 2
180 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
three of my servants and some baggage, which I send
you, rather than it should fall into enemies' hands ; so
that if you cannot keep it, and get it sent me in time
and place convenient, it may be of some use to your-
self, whom I esteem on your family and father's ac-
count ; though we have not had the occasion of a per-
sonal acquaintance, which I hope may yet agreeably
happen, in whatever bad situation our affairs may at
present appear; then I may agreeably be able to re-
turn you suitable thanks for such an obligation as will
for ever oblige,
" Sir,
" Your affectionate humble servant and cousin,
" ATHOLL."
14t.h March, 1746.
The Clan of Atholl was the largest that engaged in
Prince Charles's service, and numbered nearly fifteen
hundred men. Lord George now collected three hun-
dred more of these vassals, and invested Blair Castle.
One difficulty he had in the deficiency of cannon ; he
obtained, however, some field-pieces from Inverness,
but his artillery was too light to make an impression
on the walls. There was an alternative, which was,
to reduce the castle by famine. Blair, as it happened,
was defended by a stout and sturdy veteran, Sir An-
drew Agnew, who was resolved only to yield upon
extreme necessity his important charge. During the
siege, Lord George wrote on the subject of the en-
terprise to his brother the Marquis of Tullibardine.
The letter was answered in a manner which shows
that some want of candour had been evinced towards
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 181
the Marquis, who was regarded by all the Jacobites as
the legitimate owner of Blair. The epistle breathes
the tone of mournful resentment. "Since, contrary
to the rules of right reason, you have been pleased to
tell me a sham story about the expedition to Blair,"
such are the expressions used by the Marquis of
Tullibardine, "you may now do what the gentlemen
of that country wish with the castle."* With the true
value of a high-born man for the memorials of his
ancestors, the Marquis grieved most for the loss of his
great-great-grandfather's grandfather's, and father's pic-
tures. " They will be ane irreparable loss." But every
thing that could promote the public service was to be
resigned cheerfully and willingly for that cause. Not
only did he proffer the sacrifice of his castle, but he
pointed out to his brother a gate which had formerly
been a portcullis, leading into it. This was at that
time half-built up, and boarded, with a hollow large
enough to hold a horse at rack and manger ; and the
Marquis suggested that this place might be more easily
penetrated than any other part of the wall, so as
to make an entrance into the vaulted room called " the
Servants' Hall."
Whether or not Lord George decided to take
advantage of this hint is unknown. The attack
made upon the Castle of Blair was conducted by him
in person, and was begun simultaneously with those
headed by his followers upon the various posts at
Blairfitty, Kinachie side, and several places near Blair.
Upon the persons of the prisoners were found copies
of their orders from the Duke of Cumberland, and these
* See vol. i. Life of the Marquis of Tullibardine.
182 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
were signed by Colonel Campbell, and contained in-
structions to attack the rebels wherever they should
meet them ; and in case of resistance, it was the
Duke's orders that they should get no quarter.* Sti-
mulated by these intercepted documents, Lord George,
early on the morning of the eighteenth of March,
began the siege of Blair.
Many have been the accounts given, and various are
the surmises upon the motives of Lord George in not
reducing the castle ; but in estimating the real diffi-
culties of his undertaking, the testimony of a soldier
and a contemporary must be taken in evidence.
Blair was defended by a man of no ordinary
character, Sir Andrew Agnew, Lieutenant-Colonel of
the Royal North British Fusiliers, who had been sent
with a detachment from Perth by the route of Dun-
keld, through the pass of Killicrankie, to take posses-
sion of the Castle.
When Sir Andrew first posted himself in Blair
no apprehensions of a blockade were entertained ; and
no fear of a supply of provisions being cut off was sug-
gested. The quantity of garrison provisions sent into
it was therefore extremely small, as was also the store
of ammunition. In regard to water, the garrison were
in a better condition. A draw-well in the castle sup-
plied them after the blockade : previously, the inhabi-
tants had usually fetched the water they required
from a neighbouring barn or brook, which formed itself
into a pool in front of the house.f
* Lord Elcho's MS.
t See a very curious account of the Siege of Blair Castle, written by a
subaltern officer in the King's Service. Scots' Magazine for 1808.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 183
Blair Castle was then an irregular and very high
building, with walls of great thickness, having a great
tower, called Cumming's Tower, projecting from the west
end of the front of the house, which faces the north.
This tower could be defended by musket shot from its
windows.
Adjoining to the eastern gavel of the old house a new
building had been begun, but had only been carried
up a few feet at the time of the siege. Since the
year 1745, great alterations have been made in this
building, which has been lowered and modernized, and
the Cumming's Tower wholly taken away.
It was between nine and ten in the morning when
Lord George Murray appeared before Blair Castle, and
planted his men so as to prevent the garrison from
sallying out, or from getting in provisions/' 5 " The cas-
tle was soon so completely invested by the advanced
guard of the Jacobites, that they fired from behind the
nearest walls and enclosures at the picket guard of the
besieged. Some horses were hurriedly taken into the
Castle with a small quantity of provender ; and in
such haste, that one of these animals was put into
the lower part of Cumming's Tower without forage or
water.
There was a great entrance and staircase on the east
side of the Castle ; this was now barricaded, and a small
guard placed near it ; the garrison, consisting of two
hundred and seventy men, were then parcelled out into
different chambers, with a charge not to fire until
actually attacked. A sort of platform was laid over
the new building of the Castle, and an ensign with
* Forbes, p. 108.
184 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
a guard of twenty-five soldiers placed on this to defend
that part from serving as a lodgement to the besiegers.
There was also a guard placed over the draw-well, to
prevent the water being drawn up except at a certain
hour in the morning. Besides the garrison, there were
within the Castle, about seven servants of the Duke of
AtholFs ; namely, a land steward, a female housekeeper,
three maid servants, a gardener, and a gamekeeper.
Lord George Murray having established his quarters
in the village of Blair, about a quarter of a mile from
the north of the castle, soon sent down a summons to
Sir Andrew Agnew, Bart, to surrender, intimating that
" he should answer to the contrary at his peril/'
Now Sir Andrew was reputed to be a man of an
outrageous temper ; and the Highlanders, who could
face the Duke of Cumberland's dragoons, shrank from
encountering the sturdy, imperious old soldier. The
only person, therefore, who could be prevailed upon to
carry the summons, was a maid-servant from the inn at
Blair, who being a comely Highland girl, and ac-
quainted with some of the soldiers, conceived herself to
be on so friendly a footing with them that she might
encounter the risk. The summons was written on a
very dirty piece of paper ; and corresponded well with
the appearance of the herald who conveyed it. Pro-
vided with this, the young woman set out ; as she
approached the Castle, she waived, the summons over
her head several times, and drawing near one of the
windows on the basement story, made herself heard.
She was received by the officers with boisterous mirth ;
they assured her that they should soon visit the village,
and her master's house, again, and drive away the
I
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 185
Highlanders. But, when entreated by the girl to take
her into Sir Andrew's presence, they all at first refused ;
at last the summons was reluctantly conveyed to the
commandant by a lieutenant more venturesome than the
rest. This emissary soon, however, fled from the pre-
sence of the baronet, who broke out with the most
vehement expressions of rage on reading the contents
of the paper ; uttered strong epithets against Lord
George Murray, and threatened to shoot any mes-
senger who might dare to convey any future com-
munication.
The young girl returned to Blair. As she drew
near the village, she perceived Lord George Mur-
ray, Lord Nairn, Clunie Macpherson and other
officers standing in the churchyard of Blair ; and
observed that they were evidently diverted by her
errand, and its result. *
From that time Lord George Murray made no at-
tempt to hold any parley with the garrison, but con-
tinued to blockade the Castle. His men were even
posted close up against the walls, wherever they could
not be annoyed with the musketry ; particularly at
that part on which the scaffold guard was placed,
where they stood, heaving up stones from time to
time, and uttering their jokes against the veteran,
Sir Andrew Agriew.f
" The cannon," as Lord George Murray observes in
his narrative, " were not only small, but bad. One of
them seldom hit the Castle, though not half-musket
shot from it."
Various schemes were formed by Lord George
* Scots' Magazine, p. 33. t Ibid.
186 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
during this siege, but many obstacles concurred to
check them. It had indeed been proposed before
Lord George left Inverness, to blow up Blair Castle ;
but not only had Lord George no orders to attempt
that, but there seemed also to be a difficulty from
the situation of the place.
It appeared at one time his intention, also, to have set
the building on fire. " On the eighteenth/' writes Lord
Elcho, " Lord George began to fire against the Castle
with two four pounders ; and as he had a furnace along
with him, finding his bullets were too small to damage
the walls, he endeavoured by firing red hot balls to set
the house on fire, and several times set the roof on
fire, but by the care of the besieged it was always
extinguished. A constant fire of small arms was kept
against the windows, and the besieged kept a close fire
from the castle with their small arms." " As the castle,"
continues the same writer, "is situated upon rocky
ground, there was no blowing it up ; so the only chance
Lord George had to get possession of it was to starve
it, which he had some hopes of, as there were so many
mouths in it." From this opinion, the judgment of Lord
George Murray, in some measure, differed. " It might,
I believe," he says, " have been entered by the old
stables, under protection of which the wall could have
been undermined, if I had been furnished with proper
workmen." But all his efforts, in both these schemes,
proved ineffectual. The red hot balls lodging in the
solid timbers of the roof, only charred, and did not ig-
nite the beams ; and falling down, were caught up in
iron ladles brought out of the Duke of Atholl's kitchen,
and thrown into water. Disappointed in this attempt,
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 187
Lord George removed his few field-pieces to a nearer po-
sition on the south side of the Castle, where, however,
his firing produced no better effect than heretofore.
Never was there an officer more insensible to fear
than the defender of Blair. Whilst Lord George was
thus ineffectually battering the walls of the house,
Sir Andrew Agnew looked out over the battlements ;
and seeing the little impression that was made on the
walls, he exclaimed, " Hout ! I daresay the man 's mad,
knocking down his own brother's house."
Meantime the siege lasted nearly a fortnight, and the
garrison were reduced to the greatest extremity for
provisions. One hope, however, the commandant had,
and that was of sallying forth, and escaping. The Cas-
tle of Menzies was then occupied by Colonel Webster,
who was posted there in order to secure the passage of
the river Tay ; and, as an alternative to starvation,
a scheme was suggested for stealing out from Blair
in the night time, and marching through a moun-
tainous part of country to join the king's troops at
Castle Menzies.
Whilst this project was in contemplation, the
brave garrison were threatened with a new dan-
ger. During the blockade, there was heard a noise
of knocking, seemingly beneath the floor of the Cas-
tle, as if miners were at work in its deep vaults, to
blow it up. All the inmates of Blair thought such
must indeed be the case : for Lord George had now
gained possession of a bowling-green near the Castle,
and also of a house in which the bowls were kept :
from this bowl-house a subterranean passage might
easily have been dug to the very centre of the ground
188 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
underneath the building, and a chamber or mine formed
there for holding barrels of gunpowder, sufficient to
complete the work of destruction. This scheme must
have occurred to the mind of Lord George Murray,
who was born at Blair, and well acquainted with
its construction. His objections to pursue it appear,
as has been stated, to have been perceived and contro-
verted by the Marquis of Tullibardine. They arose, as
he has himself declared, and as the English also ap-
pear to have considered, from his want of workmen
to perform the attempt. The plan of undermining
was not thought practicable ; and the noise which so
greatly alarmed the garrison was proved to be only the
reverberation of strokes of an axe with which a soldier
was cutting a block of wood which lay on the floor of
one of the uppermost rooms. The most unfavourable
suspicions were, however, eventually affixed to Lord
George's neglect of this mode of attack. Whether such
conduct proceeded, on his part, from an aversion to de-
stroy the home of his youth, and his birthplace ; whether
he had still hopes' of reducing Sir Andrew to capitulate ;
or whether, as it has been often vaguely asserted, a
secret agreement existed between himself and James,
Duke of Atholl, that the Castle should be saved, can
only be determined by a far closer insight into motives
than human power can obtain. We may accord to
Lord George Murray, without a blemish on his fidelity,
a pardonable reluctance to level to the dust the pride
of his family ; that every effort was made to subdue
Blair, except the last, is evident from the testimony of
all contemporary historians.
Meantime the garrison had one source of confidence
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 189
in their extremity, on which sailors are more apt to
reckon than landsmen. They trusted to the luck of
their commandant. Never had the stout veteran who
had fought, in 1706, at Kamilies, been either sick, or
wounded. He had never been in any battle that the
English did not win. Yet it was deemed prudent
not to allow any means of aid to be neglected, in so
pressing a danger as the state of the siege presented.
The Earl of Crawford was then supposed to be at
Dunkeld, having the command both of the British
troops and of a body of Hessians who had lately been
marched from Edinburgh. It was resolved to send to
that nobleman for aid. The Duke of AtholTs gar-
dener, a man named Wilson, undertook that dangerous
embassy ; he was charged with a letter from Sir
Andrew to the Earl, and was allowed to take his choice
of any horse in the Castle.*
Before Sir Andrew and his starving garrison could
gain intelligence of the fate of Wilson, or could have
heard the result of his enterprise, a strange reverse in
their affairs took place. On the morning of the first of
April, not a single Highlander was to be seen by any of
the guards on duty. All had vanished ; and a visit
from the young woman from the inn at Blair shortly
followed their disappearance. From her, the garrison
heard that Lord George had, in fear of the arrival of
troops from Dunkeld, suddenly withdrawn with all his
* There was one horse which seemed endowed with supernatural
strength, for when, eventually, the Castle was relieved, the horse, which
had been shut up without forage, was found, after eight or ten days of
abstinence, alive, and " wildly staggering about" in its confinement. It
was afterwards sent as a present by Captain Wentworth, to whom it
belonged, to his sister in England.
190 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
followers. The old Sir Andrew, nevertheless, fearful
of some stratagem, would not allow his garrison to
sally out : they were shut up until the following day,
when the Earl of Crawford appeared before the castle,
and relieved all fears. The officers and soldiers were
then drawn out, with Sir Andrew at the head of it.
" My Lord/' cried the old soldier, " I am very glad to
see you ; but, by all that's good, you are come too late,
and we have nothing to give you to eat !" To which
Lord Crawford answered courteously; and laughing,
begged of Sir Andrew to partake of such provisions as
he had brought with him. That day Sir Andrew and
the Earl, and their officers, dined in the summer-house
of the garden at Blair, in high spirits at the result of
the siege.
The disappearance of Lord George Murray was
soon explained ; nor can the statement of those
reasons which induced him to abandon the siege
of Blair be given in a more satisfactory manner than
as they were stated by Lord Elcho ; to whom they
must have appeared satisfactory, otherwise he would
not have left so clear and decisive a testimony in
favour of Lord George Murray's motives. It is worthy
of remark, that Lord Elcho's statement agrees in every
particular with that addressed some years afterwards
by Lord George to Mr. Murray of Abercairney, and
now preserved in the Jacobite Memoirs by Forbes.*
" On the twenty-fourth of March, the Hessians from
Perth and Crieff moved to its relief. They encamped the
first night at Nairn House, and next night at Dunkeld,
and there was some firing betwixt them and a party
* See Forbes, p. 108, 109.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 191
of Lord George's across the river. Those that marched
from Crieff encamped at Tay Bridge on the twenty-
seventh. Upon this motion of the Hessians, Lord
George sent an express to the Prince, to tell him that
if he would send twelve hundred men, he would pitch
upon an advantageous ground and fight them. The
Prince sent him word he could not send him them in
the way his army was then situated. On the thirty-
first the Earl of Crawford marched with St. George's
Dragoons, five hundred Hessians, and sixty Hussars, and
encamped at Dawallie, four miles north of Dunkeld, and
next day they advanced to Pittachrie. Both these days
Lord George had several skirmishes with the hussars;
but although he laid several snares for them, he never
could catch but one of them, who was an officer and a
Swede, who had his horse shot under him. Lord George
used him very civilly, and sent him back with a letter
of compliment which he wrote to the Prince of Hesse.
On the first of April Lord George Murray drew his men
up in battle opposite to Lord Crawford at Pittachrie,
and then retreated before him, in order to draw him
into the pass of Killicrankie ; but Lord Crawford never
moved, but sent for reinforcements to the Prince of
Hesse. Lord George, upon hearing of the march of
that reinforcement to sustain Lord Crawford, and that
the body of Hessians from Lay Bridge were marching
to Blair by Kinachin, quitted the country and marched
his men to Strathspan, and from thence to Speyside.
He himself went to Inverness, where he found his ene-
mies had persuaded the Prince that he might have
taken Blair Castle if he had had a mind, but that
he had spared it because it was his brother's house ;
192 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
and in short they made the Prince believe, that
in the letter he had wrote to the Prince of Hesse, he
had engaged to betray him the first opportunity; and
that by the Prince of Hesse and his brother's means, he
was entirely reconciled to the government. What Mr.
Murray had insinuated to the Prince about Lord George,
on his first coming to Perth had made such an impres-
sion, that the Prince always believed it, notwithstanding
Lord George's behaviour was such (especially in action)
as to convince the whole army of the falsity of such
accusations. However it opened his mind upon the
matter of the Irish officers, so far as to make some
of them promise to watch Lord George's motions, par-
ticularly in case of a battle, and they promised the
Prince to shoot him, if they could find he intended to
betray him."
From the following letter addressed by Lord George
Murray to his brother the Marquis of Tullibardine, it
is evident that he had had it in contemplation during
some time, to abandon the siege of Blair, and that the
sudden appearance of the body of Hessians six thou-
sand strong, within a day's march of Blair, was not the
only cause of his raising a siege which every one ac-
knowledges must have terminated in favour of the be-
siegers within a few days.
" Blair, 29th of March, 1746.
" DEAR BROTHER,*
" I received your letter of the 26th ; I am sorry
you seem to think I told you a sham story (as you ex-
press it) about our expedition here. I told you we
* Jacobite Correspondence, p. 217.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 193
were to endeavour to take possession of Castle Grant,
and try to hinder that Clan taking party against us ;
this was done so far as in our power. I also told you
if we could contrive to surprise any of the parties in
this country we might attempt it ; but that depended
so much upon incidents, that my very hopes could
not reach so far as we performed. Secrecy and expe-
dition was our main point, once we resolved upon the
thing, which was not till I met Clunie and Sheen in
Badenoch. If the greatest fatigues, dangers, and hard
duties deserve approbation, I think some thanks are
due to us, and from none more than yourself; for my
own part, I was once seventy hours without three of
sleep ; but we undergo all hardships for the good of
common cause. You will ever find me, dear brother,
your most affectionate brother and faithful servant,
" GEORGE MURRAY."
" I am so ill supported with men, money, and every
thing else, our people here have no pay, that after all
our endeavours, I 'm afraid we must abandon this
country without the Castle."
This letter brought the following characteristic
reply. It is dated from Inverness, whither the Marquis
had repaired.*
"BROTHER GEORGE.
" This evening I had yours of yesterday's date.
As to any difference betwixt you and I, without pre-
judice to passed expedition and secrecy mentioned, at
* Jacobite Correspondence, p. 218.
VOL. III.
194 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
meeting it must be discussed the best way we can,
since lately behaving according to dutiful sentiments,
nobody is more satisfied than I am of your indefatigable
activity for the public service. Had you sent me your
letters to the Secretary, who I am very sorry to say is
at Elgin dangerously ill, or any other of the Ministry to
whom expresses were addressed, I should have directly
endeavoured getting the most satisfactory answers
could be sent your pressing reale demands, which are
not well understood if much regarded by everybody
here ; I am informed by Mr. Hay and Cruben, who were
just now with me, that all the men who were with you
have been fully paid till Wednesday last ; and that with
some necessary foresight and pains, you might have
had a good deal of provisions from below the Pass,
whilst that expedient was practicable ; since you might
have naturally known that money cannot be soon sent
from hence, but on an absolute necessity ; you know
that meal can be still brought you from Kiliwhimen.
With that I wrote to you the twenty-sixth, in case the
enemy could not be otherwise forced out of my house,
I gave Sir Thomas Sheridan an account to be sent to
you of a secret passage into it, which is here again
transmitted, in case of making any advantageous use of
it has been hitherto neglected ; was it not hoped by
this time you have near got the better of these obstinate
intruders into the Castle, at any rate I should go myself
and try if I could not usefully help towards reducing
them to a speedy surrendering of such unfortified,
though thick old walls as it is composed of. Pray con-
tinue your accustomed vigilance on such a valuable
occasion as will render you dear to all honest men, as
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 195
well as particularly giving me an opportunity of show-
ing with what esteem I am, dear brother,
Your most affectionate brother,
And most humble servant."
" Inverness, 30th of March, 1746." [No Signature.]
In addition to the testimony of Lord Elcho, that
of Maxwell of Kirkconnel, has considerable weight in
Lord George Murray's favour.
" He was censured," observes this excellent writer,
" by his enemies as being too tender of a family seat.*
As I do not know the situation of this Castle, I cannot
determine whether it was in his power to blow it up,
or whether he had time to do it after he was informed
of the march of the Hessians. But he has been so calum-
niated by the Secretary and his creatures, that nothing
less than a direct proof ought to have any weight
against him. In this case it is absurd to suspect him,
because the family seat could never be in danger. If
it was in his power to blow it up, he had only to Ac-
quaint the Governor when the mine was ready, and let
him send one of his officers to view it ; the Governor
would certainly have prevented the effecting it and
saved the Castle."
About the same time that the siege of Blair was
abandoned, that of Fort William was also raised. It
was found, indeed, difficult to make the Highlanders
perform the regular duties of a siege ; extremely brave
in an attack, when allowed to fight in their own way,
they were not possessed of that steady valour which is
necessary to maintain a post ; and it was not easy
* Maxwell, p. 13.
o2
196 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
to keep them long in their quarters, or even at their
posts, without action."*
The loss of Blair, and the failure of the siege of Fort
William, were followed by other misfortunes. Fatal
mistakes in the vain endeavour to retrieve a sinking
cause ensued. In the midst of his adversity, the young
and gallant adventurer, for whom so much blood was
shed, supported his spirits in a wonderful manner, and
acted, with a heavy heart, the part of the gay and
prosperous. He gave balls at Inverness, and even
danced himself, which he had declined doing when in
the midst of his prosperity at Edinburgh. Those who
looked only on the surface of affairs were deceived by
his appearance of happiness; but the well informed
knew too well that the crisis which was to end the
struggle was rapidly approaching. To complete the
sad summary of disappointments and misfortunes, it
was now ascertained that the expedition from Boulogne,
and that from Dunkirk, with which the false-hearted
French had so long amused the unfortunate Jacobites,
were entirely and perfidiously relinquished.
Lord George Murray, meantime, was ordered to
march to Inverness. He was now worn with fatigues,
and by the protracted anxieties of his situation. Fore-
seeing, as he must have done, many of the dangers
and difficulties of the contest ; observing, on the one
hand, his eldest brother, the Marquis of Tullibardine,
the adherent of the Stuarts, proscribed, impoverished,
a nominal proprietor of his patrimonial estates; on
the other, beholding his second brother, the actual
Duke of Atholl, cherished by Government, prosper-
* Maxwell, p. 134,
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 197
ous, honours showered down upon him ; what impulses
less strong than that of a generous, and fixed prin-
ciple of fidelity could have maintained his exertions
in a service so desperate as that in which he had
engaged I
The great deficiency in Lord George Murray's charac-
ter was the absence of hope ; but, independent of that
vital defect, his attributes as a soldier and a general
cannot fail to excite admiration. His exertions were
unparalleled ; besides the marching and fatigue that
others had to undergo, he had the vast responsibility
of command. " Though others were relieved and
took their turns/' he remarks, " I had none to relieve."
On first assuming the command, he received and
despatched every express himself ; and saw the guards
and sentinels settled. In gaining intelligence he was
indefatigable ; and his discipline was such that the
country suffered but little from the visitations of his
well-governed forces. But the time was fast approach-
ing when his great abilities, which never ceased to
be acknowledged by the whole army, his fortitude,
and personal valour were to be put to the severest
test.
On the third of April, Lord George Murray joined
Charles Edward at Inverness. On the eleventh intel-
ligence was received that the Duke of Cumberland,
who had been stationed for some time at Aberdeen,
was marching towards Inverness. At first the intelli-
gence of the Duke's approach was received with ac-
clamations of joy ; but the circumstances under which
the battle of Culloden was eventually fought, and the
fatigues and impediments by which it was prefaced,
198 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
changed that sentiment into one of distrust and de-
spondency.*
Upon receiving intelligence of the Duke's approach,
expresses were sent in all directions in order to re-
assemble the Jacobite forces. Those troops which had
been at the siege of Fort William were on their march
to Inverness ; but Lord Cromartie and his detachment
were still at a great distance ; the Duke of Perth and
Lord John Drummond were at Spey-side, with a con-
siderable body of men and all the horse. These were
ordered to retire as Cumberland's army approached.
Unhappily, many of the Highlanders, it being now seed
time, had slipped away to their homes, and it was, in-
deed, no easy task to allure them back. The influ-
ence of Lord George Murray over the forces continued,
nevertheless, unabated. His mode of managing this
fine, but rude people, was well adapted to his purpose,
and proceeded from an intimate knowledge of their
character. "Fear" he considered as necessary as
" love." " I was told," he remarks, " that all the High-
landers were gentlemen, and never to be beaten, but
I was well acquainted with their tempers/' Their
chiefs even inflicted personal chastisement upon them,
which they received without murmurs when conscious
of an offence. But they would only receive correction
from their own officers, and never would the chief of
one Clan correct even the lowest soldier of another.
" But I," observes Lord George, " had as much autho-
rity over them all as each had amongst his own
men ; and I will venture to say that never an officer
* These circumstances will be fully detailed in the Life of the Duke
of Perth.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 199
was more beloved of the whole, without exception,
than I was." At any time when there was a post of
more danger than another, Lord George, possessing as
he did this unbounded influence over the minds of his
countrymen, found it more difficult to restrain those
who were too forward, than in finding those who were
willing to rush into peril.
On Sunday morning, the thirteenth of April, it be-
came a matter of certainty among the Jacobite forces
that the enemy had passed the Spey. On the following
day, Lochiel joined the army ; the Duke of Perth also
returned, and the Prince and his forces assembled on an
open moor, near Culloden. Many of the officers sug-
gested that it would be desirable to retire to a stronger
position than this exposed plain, until the army were
all collected, but the baggage being at Inverness, this
scheme was rejected. The experienced eye of Lord
George Murray soon perceived that the ground which
had been chosen was ill-adapted for the Highland mode
of warfare, and he proposed that the other side of
the water of Nairn should be reconnoitred. But
objections were made to any change of position ;
and, situated as Lord George now was, distrusted
by the Prince, and, perhaps, in some measure by
others, since the failure at Blair, he was in no con-
dition to contest so important a point. It was af-
terwards attempted to venture an attack by night.
To this proposition not only the Prince, but Lord
George and most of the other officers were at first fa-
vourable : but, in the evening, it being generally un-
derstood that there was no provision for the subsist-
ence of the men the next day, a circumstance attri-
200 LOUD GEORGE MURRAY.
butable to the negligence of the persons employed for
the purpose at Inverness, a number of men dispersed
in search of food. The forces being thus reduced,
Lord George objected, in concert with others, to the
projected night march ; but Charles Edward, trusting
to the bravery of his army, and being for fighting on
all occasions, was determined on the attempt. " What
he had seen them do, and the justice of his cause, made
him too venturous."* The attack was, therefore, agreed
upon, and Lord George commanding the rear, after
marching nearly six miles, found that it would be im-
possible to attack the enemy before day-break, and,
therefore, gave it up, and returned to Culloden about
five in the morning.
Fatigued and hungry, the army awaited the approach
of the English forces. It was between ten and eleven
in the morning when they drew up on the moor, and
were placed in order of battle by 0' Sullivan. Again
Lord George observed to that officer, that the ground
was unfavourable : the reply was, that the moor was so
interspersed with moss and deep earth, that the enemy's
horse and cannon could be of little service to them ;
and that it was therefore well selected. By this
time the young and unfortunate Master of Lovat
had joined the forces, but Lord Cromartie was still,
by a fatal mistake, absent ; and Macpherson, of Clunie,
was at three or four miles distance, marching with
all possible expedition towards Culloden. The strag-
glers and others were also collecting, so that, as
Lord George conjectured, the army would have been
increased by two or three thousand more men that
* Maxwell.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 201
night, or the next day. Stimulated by this reflection,
he again looked wistfully to the position beyond the
water, and considered that if they passed there, they
would probably leave the moors to the enemy, and
occupy a better post. But he was overruled.
" I shall say little," writes Lord George Murray, in
his journal, " of this battle, which was so fatal/' In a
memoir, written by Colonel Ker, of Gradyne, an officer
of distinguished military reputation, a minute and
animated account is, however, given of all the incidents
of the eventful fifteenth of April.
Charles Edward having with some difficulty pro-
cured some bread and whiskey at Culloden, reposed
for a short time after marching all night. In the
morning intelligence was brought him that the enemy
were in sight. Whilst the army was forming, Colonel
Ker was sent to reconnoitre the enemy. On returning,
he informed the Prince and Lord George Murray, who
was then with him, that the enemy were marching in
three columns, with their cavalry on the left, so that
they would form their line of battle in an instant.
The Prince then ordered his men to draw up in two
lines, and the few horse which he had were disposed
in the rear towards the wings ; the cannon was to be
dispersed in the front ; this was brought up with dif-
ficulty from the want of horses. The ground which
had been occupied the day before was too distant for
the army to reach ; so that they were drawn up a
mile to the westward with a stone enclosure which
ran down to the water of Nairn, on the right of the
first line.
202 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
The Highland soldiers, many of whom had been sum-
moned from their sleep among the woods of Culloden,
were aroused from among the bushes, and came drowsy,
and half-exhausted to the field ; yet they formed them-
selves into order of battle with wonderful dispatch.
Unhappily no council of war was held upon the plain
of Culloden in the hurry of that day. In addition to
the confusion, and want of concert which this omission
produced, was a still more injurious circumstance.
The army, as has been related, was drawn up in two
lines ; Lord George commanded the first, which was
composed of the Atholl brigade, This regiment was
placed by Lord George on the right of the line : un-
fortunately, the Clan Macdonald, proud and fiery,
claimed the precedence. They grounded their assertion
of right to the usage of time immemorial ; and to their
having had it during the two previous battles. Lord
George, on the other hand, uncompromising as usual,
insisted that in those actions even, his Atholl men had
the pre-eminence. The Prince, unable to decide, per-
suaded the chief of the Macdonalds to waive his claim ;
but the pride of the Scotch is never subdued ; and
whilst Macdonald yielded, their men were offended and
disgusted with his compliance.
The Duke of Cumberland formed his line of battle at
a great distance, and marched in battle order until he
came within cannon shot, when he halted, and placed
his artillery in different parts in the front. His army,
to use a military phrase, outwinged that of Charles,
both to the right and left, without his cavalry.*
It is not, as Lord George Murray observes, "an
* Colonel Ker's Narrative, Forbes, p. 140 and 141.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 203
easy task to describe a battle." Most officers are ne-
cessarily taken up with what is near them, and the
confusion, noise, and agitation effectually impede ob-
servation. The commencement of the battle of Cul-
loden was obscured by a thick fall of hail and snow,
and on this occasion the tempestuous climate of Scot-
land favoured her enemies, for the Prince's army faced
the wind, and encountered the snow-storm in their
faces. It was expected that the Duke would begin
the attack ; and a party of his horse were sent
during the interval to reconnoitre the Jacobite army.
When they came within cannon shot, loud hurras were
heard on both sides ; and voices (soon for ever to be
silenced) sent up to Heaven expressions of exultation
and defiance. The young Chevalier, whilst await-
ing that event, rode along the lines to encourage his
men, placing himself in a post of danger, in which one
of his servants was killed by his side. After some few
minutes of solemn expectation, Lord George Murray,
who commanded the right of the army, sent Colonel
Ker to the Prince to know if he should begin the at-
tack 1 an answer in the affirmative was returned. As
the right was farther distant than the left, Colonel Ker
went first to the Duke of Perth who commanded the
left, and ordered him to begin ; he then rode along
the field until he came to the right line, where Lord
George Murray received from him a similar command.
The Prince then placed himself behind the centre
of the army, having the whole of his forces under his
eye, and thus being able to send orders on all exi-
gencies.
The cannon of Prince Charles was first heard. It
204 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
was returned with a firing from the enemy of grape
shot, which did great execution.
The Highlanders, who were forbidden to move until
the word of command was given, suffered that fire very
impatiently. Some of them threw themselves flat
on the ground, and a few gave way and ran oif.* The
artillery of the enemy was very well served ; that
of the Jacobites was managed by common soldiers,
the cannoniers belonging to one battery being absent.
The contest was in every way unequal ; yet the brave
insurgents, although ready to drop with fatigue, seemed
to forget all their weariness and hunger when the
enemy advanced.
At length, after some preliminary manoeuvres, the
Prince sent orders to Lord George Murray to march up
to the enemy. It seemed, indeed, high time to come
to a close engagement ; for the cannonading of the
enemy, which was directed chiefly towards the place
which the Prince occupied among the cavalry, was
very destructive ; yet still Lord George delayed the
attack, judging, as it is supposed, that the adversa-
ries were still at too great a distance, and that the
strength of his men would be exhausted before they
could reach them. There appears also to have been
another reason for the delay ; Lord George had, on his
right, a farm-house, and some old enclosure walls,
which the enemy now occupied ; and he is conjectured
to have been waiting until the Duke of Cumberland's
army came up to these walls, which would prevent him
being flanked by the dragoons, who were, he observed,
mostly on the left. But the Duke did not advance.
* Lord Elcho's MS.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 205
The Highlanders, who were impatient at the delay,
called out loudly to be led on ; and at last he gave
the command to attack.
His orders were obeyed. As his line began to
move, the enemy began a smart fire, which played
chiefly upon the Atholl men, and was kept up by a
detachment of Campbells, who were stationed behind
the enclosure walls. It was the custom of the High-
landers to give a general discharge of their fire-arms,
and then to rush, sword in hand, upon their foes : and
the only chance of a victory for their party that day,
was a general shock of their whole line at once ; for
the fury and valour of these northern warriors pro-
duced results almost incredible. Unhappily, several
circumstances destroyed this advantage. The two
armies were not exactly parallel to each other, the
right of Prince Charles's being nearer to the foe than
the left. The impetuosity of the Highlanders was
such, that they broke their ranks before it was time to
give their fire ; their eagerness to come up with an
enemy that had so greatly the advantage of them at such
a distance, made them rush on with such violence, and
in such a confusion, that their fire-arms were of little
service. * This, it appears, was the disadvantage which
Lord George had apprehended. But there was still ano-
ther inconvenience : the wind, which had favoured the
Jacobites at Falkirk, was now against them. They
were buried in a cloud of smoke, and felt their enemies
without seeing them. In spite of all these obstacles
they went, sword in hand, and broke the first line of
the enemy ; but the second advancing, and firing on
* Maxwell, p. 153.
206 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
them, they gave way, leaving, says one who beheld the
terrific scene, " many brave fellows on the spot." The
rout, which began on the right of the army, soon be-
came general. The right line was, in fact, beaten
before the centre could advance to support it : and the
centre of the army gave way, whilst the Macdonalds,
who were advancing on the left, seeing themselves
abandoned on the right, and exposed to be flanked by
enemies who had nothing to oppose them in front,
retired also."*
Lord George Murray behaved with incomparable
valour, as indeed did the whole of the line which he
commanded, which was received by the enemy with
bayonets. These were the more destructive, as the
Highlanders would never be at the trouble, on a
march, to carry targets. Yet the Duke's line of battle
was broken in several places, and two pieces of cannon
were taken.f The brave troops whom Lord George com-
manded marched up to the very point of the bayonets,
which they could not see until they were upon them,
on account of the smoke which was driven in their
faces. As the first line of the English army was bro-
ken, and as others were brought up to their relief,
some cannon, charged with cartouch shot from their
second line, caused Lord George Murray's horse to
start and plunge so much, that he thought the ani-
mal was wounded: he quitted his stirrups, and was
thrown. " After thus being dismounted, I brought
up," writes Lord George, " two regiments of our
second line, who gave them fire, but nothing could be
* Lord Elcho's MS.
t Colonel Ker's Narrative, p. 142.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 207
done ; all was lost."* The only good effect of the rein-
forcement was to arrest for a while the pursuit of the
cavalry, and thus to save many lives. The field of
battle was soon abandoned to the fury of an enemy,
whose brutal thirst for vengeance increased as the dan-
ger and opposition diminished. Some may consider
that the day of Culloden was a day of disgrace to
the Highlanders ; but to them it was an event of
honour, compared with the discredit which it brought
upon their foes. To England was the disgrace. It
was, at all events, even if we measure the standard of
honour by the degree of military success, an inglorious
victory. Independent of the inequality of numbers,
was the inequality of circumstances ; but greater, in
many senses, on this occasion, were the conquered, than
their conquerors.
The Prince, seeing his army entirely routed, was at
length prevailed upon to retire. Most of his horse
soldiers assembled round his person; and he rode
leisurely, and in good order, for the enemy advanced
very leisurely over the ground. " They made," ob-
serves Maxwell, " no attack where there was any body
of the Prince's men together, but contented themselves
with sabering such unfortunate people as fell in their
way, single and disarmed." " As the Duke's corps,"
Lord Elcho relates, " continued to pursue in order
of battle, always firing their cannon and platoons
in advancing, there were not so many people taken or
killed as there would have been had they detached
corps to pursue ; but every body that fell into their
hands got no quarter, except a few whom they re-
served for public punishment."
* Lord G. Murray's Account, Forbes, p. 124.
208 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
In the flight of the Prince's army, most of the left
wing took the road to Inverness ; the right wing
crossed the water of Nairn, and went to Ruthven of
Badenoch ; the rest, to the number of five hundred,
mostly officers, followed the Prince into Stratherick,
where he had stopped about four miles from the field
of Culloden. Of the Prince's conduct after the bat-
tle, a very painful impression is given by Lord Elcho.
" As he had taken it into his head he had been betray-
ed, and particularly by Lord George Murray, he seemed
very diffident of everybody except the Irish officers ;
and he appeared very anxious to know whether he had
given them all higher commissions than they had at
their arrival, on purpose that they might get them con-
firmed to them upon their return to France. He
neither spoke to any of the Scots' officers present, nor
inquired after any of the absent. Nor, indeed, at any
of the preceding battles did he ever inquire after any
of the wounded officers. He appeared very uneasy as
long as the Scots were about him ; and in a short time
ordered them all to go to Ruthven of Badenoch, where
he would send them orders ; but before they had rode
a mile, he sent Mr. Sheridan after them, to tell them
that they might disperse, and everybody shift for him-
self the best way he could. Lord George Murray and
Lord John Drummond repeated the same orders to all
the body of the army that had assembled at Ruthven.
The Prince kept with him some of Fitzjames's Horse,
and went that night to a house in the head of Strathe-
rick, where he met Lord Lovat and a great many other
Scots' gentlemen, who advised him not to quit the
country, but to stay and gather together his scattered
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 209
forces. But he was so prejudiced against the Scots.
that he was afraid they would give him up to make
their peace with the Government ; for some of the
Irish were at pains to relate to him, in very strong
terms, how the Scots had already sold his great-grand-
father to the English : and, as he was naturally of a
suspicious temper, it was not a difficult matter to per-
suade him of it. And he always believed it until the
fidelity of the Highlanders shown to him during the
long time he was hid in their country, convinced him
and everybody else of the contrary."*
This history of distrust and ingratitude is, how-
ever, to be contrasted with very different statements.
When the Prince heard from Colonel Ker, after the
battle, that Lord George Murray had been thrown
from his horse, but was not wounded, Charles, in the
presence of all the officers who were assembled around
his person, desired Colonel Ker to find out Lord
George, and to " take particular care of him." Nor was
there, among the whole number of those writers who
witnessed the battle of Culloden, a dissentient voice
with regard to the bravery of their Lieutenant-General
and to the admirable disposition of his troops. Had
he, like Lord Strath allan, sought and found his fate
upon the field of battle, his memory would have been
exalted into that of a hero.
Two days after the defeat, the Duke of Perth, the
Marquis of Tullibardine, Lord George Murray, Lord
Ogilvie, Lord Nairn, and several other chieftains and
officers met at Ruthven in Badenoch, and discussed the
events which had ended in the ruin of their cause.
* Lord Elcho's MS.
VOL. III. P
210 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
They were unanimous in concluding that the night
attack, upon which many persons insisted as practi-
cable, could not have been attempted.*
For some time after the battle, hopes were enter-
tained of an effectual rallying of the forces. By a
letter from one of the Prince's aides-de-camp, Alex-
ander Macleod, to Clunie Macpherson, on the very day
of the battle, it appears that his party soon hoped, or
pretended to hope, "to pay Cumberland back in his
own coin." A review of the fragment of the army was
projected at Fort- Augustus, on the seventeenth of April ;
and amends were promised to be made for the " ruffle
at Culloden.f" " For God's sake," wrote Mr. Macleod,
" make haste to join us ; and bring with you all the
people that can possibly be got together. Take care
in particular of Lumisden and Sheridan, as they carry
with them the sinews of war."
To this letter Lord George Murray added some
lines, which prove how hopeless, at that moment, he
considered any project of rallying ; and, indeed, even
before the epistle was dispatched to Clunie, the Prince
had left Gorteleg, and taken refuge in " Clanranald's
country."
Notwithstanding the Prince's flight, Lord George
Murray, presuming that he could still make a stand,
remained at Ruthven, where a force of between two
and three thousand men was assembled. It was found,
however, impossible, from the want of provisions, to
keep such an army together ; and, in a few days, a
message from Charles, ordering his ill-fated adherents
to disperse, decided their fate. At this epoch Lord
* Lockhart, vol. ii. p. 533. t Atholl Correspondence, p. 221 .
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 211
George Murray addressed a letter to Charles, certainly
not calculated to soothe the feelings of the unfortu-
nate young man, nor to conciliate the bitter spirit
which afterwards, during the lapse of years, never
abated towards his former General. The letter began
thus.*
" MAY IT PLEASE YOUR ROYAL HlGHNESS,
" As no person in these Kingdoms ventured more
frankly in the cause than myself, and as I had more at
stake than almost all the others put together, I cannot
but be very deeply affected with our late loss, and
present situation ; and I declare, that were your Royal
Highness' s person in safety, the loss of the cause, and
the unfortunate and unhappy state of my country-
men is the only thing that grieves me ; for I thank
God I have resolution to bear my own family's ruin
without a grudge."
After this preface Lord George, in no softened terms,
pointed out what he conceived to be the causes of
the failure of the enterprise ; the imprudence of
having set up the standard without aid from France ;
the deficiencies and blunders of Mr. 0' Sullivan, whose
business it was to reconnoitre the field of battle, but
who had not so much as viewed it before the affair
of Culloden. He next pointed out the negligence, if
not treachery, of Mr. Hay, who had the charge of the
provisions. To the disgraceful mismanagement of this
important department might, indeed, the ruin of the
army be traced. " For my own part," added Lord
* Brown's History of the Highlands, pt. v, p. 261. ; from the Stuart
Papers.
p 2
212 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
George, " I never had any particular discussion with
either of them ; but I ever thought them incapable
and unfit to serve in the stations they were placed in.'*
After these too just remarks, Lord George formally
resigned his commission into the Princess hands. It
had, it appears, been his intention to have done so after
the failure at Blair ; but he was dissuaded by his
friends. " I hope your Royal Highness will now
accept of my demission. What commands you may
have for me in any other situation, please honour me
with them."
This letter was dated from Ruthven, two days after
the battle of Culloden. The inference which has been
drawn from it was, that Lord George did not con-
template the abandonment of the campaign. It ap-
pears to have been his opinion that the Highlanders
could have made a summer campaign without any
risk, marching, as they could, through places in which
no regular troops could follow them. They could
never starve as long as there were sheep and cattle
in the country; and they might probably have carried
on an offensive, instead of a defensive war. But
Charles, disheartened, as men of over sanguine tem-
pers usually are, in misfortune, to the last degree,
resolved on escaping to France. He addressed a fare-
well letter to the Chiefs, and then commenced that
long and perilous course of wanderings in which his
character rose to heroism, and which presents one of
the most interesting episodes in history of which our
annals can boast.
Lord George Murray was long a fugitive from place
to place in his native country, before he could find
LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
means to escape to the continent. In December
(1746) he visited, in private, his friends in Edinburgh,
and then embarking at Anstruther, in the Frith of
Forth, he set sail for Holland. Whether he ever re-
turned to his native country is doubtful, although it ap-
pears, from a letter among the Stuart papers, that he
had it in contemplation, in order to bring over his wife
and family.
His fate in a foreign land, however embittered by
the ingratitude and hatred of Charles Edward, was
cheered by the presence of his wife and children,
with the exception of his eldest son, who was retained
in Scotland, and educated under the auspices of James
Duke of Atholl. His first movement after reaching
Holland, was to repair to Rome, there to pay his
respects to the Chevalier St. George, and to unfold to
him the motives of his conduct in the foregoing cam-
paign of 1745. The Chevalier, affectionately attached
as he was to his eldest son, was aware of his defects,
and sensible of the pernicious influence which was ex-
ercised over his mind by the enemies of Lord George
Murray ; James, who never appears in a more amiable
light than in his correspondence, endeavoured to
conciliate both parties. His letters to Charles Ed-
ward, treasured among the Stuart papers, display
kindness and great good sense. His mediation in
this instance was, however, wholly ineffectual After
the treacherous conduct of Murray of Broughton,
the Prince began even to suspect that Lord George
was concerned in the baseness of that individual.
This notion was urgently combated by James ; at the
same time he recommended the Prince, not only as a
214 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
matter of right, but of policy, to conciliate Lord
George, who " owned that he had been wrong towards
Charles, but insisted upon his zeal in the Prince's
service." "Persons," adds the politic Chevalier, "like
him may do both good and hurt ; and it is prudent
to manage them, and would manifestly be of prejudice
could they be able to say their former services had been
disregarded." But James addressed himself to one who
could never dissimulate. Whatever Charles's errors
might be, they were not envenomed by any portion of
cunning, and no motive of prudence could soften him
towards one whom he unjustly disliked.
Lord George, who expected no favour from the Eng-
lish Government, was, nevertheless, anxious to be "near
home." He left Rome in May 1747, and after remain-
ing some time at Bologna, proceeded to Paris.* Here
Charles was playing that ill-judged and desperate game,
which was better suited to a rash impostor, than to
the acknowledged descendant of a long line of mo-
narchs. Here he was rapidly effacing the remembrance
of the brave and generous wanderer who trusted to
the honesty of the Highlanders ; who bore his misfor-
tunes as if he had been born in that land of heroes.
The first idea of Charles, upon hearing of Lord
George Murray's arrival in Paris, was to imprison him
as a traitor. " I hope in God," writes his father to the
young Prince, "you will not think of getting Lord
George secured after all I wrote to you about him, and
will at least receive him civilly." But no intercessions
could nullify the indignation of Charles towards his
former general.
* See Stuart Paper?. Brown, passim.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 215
It was far from Lord George Murray's intention, if
we may believe the Chevalier St. George, again to em-
broil himself in public affairs, or even to remain in
Paris. His intention was to live privately in Germany
or Flanders, in the hope of being rejoined by his
wife. Upon reaching Paris, he informed the Prince
of his arrival ; and proposed paying his respects to him
at St. Omer, where Charles was then living. Late on
the evening of the eleventh of July, 1747, a gentleman,
who at first refused to give his name, but who after-
wards announced himself as Mr. Stafford, called on
Lord George to convey to him a message desiring him
not to "go near" the Prince, and ordering him to
leave Paris immediately. An answer was returned,
signifying that the Prince's commands should be obeyed.
Lord George left Paris, and he and the unfortunate
young man whom he had served, met no more. It is
possible that the irritation of Charles was aggravated
by the recent intelligence of his brother's having be-
come a cardinal : upon receiving the news of that
event he shut himself up for some hours alone. The
name of his brother was no longer to be uttered in his
presence nor his health drunk at table.* Charles was
at this time in the power of both the Kellys, who are
described by one of his adherents as " false, ambitious,
and sordidly avaricious."
After visiting Poland, where he was received by
Marshall Belriski as a relation, and where he endea-
voured to negotiate the restitution of some crown
jewels to James, as in right of the Chevalier's wife, the
Princess Sobieski, Lord George settled at Cleves. He
* Stuart Papers ; from Dr. Brown.
216 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
changed his name to that of De Valignie, and here he
remained in obscurity with his family. " My wife,"
he writes to the Chevalier St. George, " came here on
the tenth of September, 1748, but was soon after
seized with an intermitting fever, which has not yet left
her. She begs leave to throw herself at your Majesty's
feet/' In 1750, Lord George removed to Emmerick ;
here he wrote an account of his campaign, which he
addressed to Mr. Hamilton of Bangour ; from this,
repeated extracts have been given in this memoir
of his life. The kindness of James Stuart towards
him continued unabated : he recommended him to
the notice of the court of France ; and consulted
him as to the probable success of a future enter-
prise in Scotland. On such a project Lord George
Murray expressed himself cautiously, yet somewhat
encouragingly ; and declared himself ready to shed the
last drop of his blood in the cause. Happily his zeal
was not again put to the test. Lord George ap-
pears, in his letters, to have cherished in his retirement
at Emmerick, a lingering hope that at some future day
the Stuarts might make another attempt. He was now
in the decline of life, and yearning to behold again
the country which he was destined to see no more.
" How happily," he writes to Mr. Edgar,* " should you
and I be to sit over a bottle in Angus, or Perthshire,
after a restoration, and talk over old services. May
that soon happen ! "
Meantime some members of Lord George's family
suffered the severest distress. His uncle, Lord Nairn,
had, it is true, escaped to France ; but Lady Nairn and
* Secretary to the Chevalier St. George.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 217
her daughter, Lady Clementina, were reduced to the
utmost penury in Scotland. They remained in their
native country, probably with the hope of saving the
wreck of their fortunes, until all that the troops had
spared was sold, and the money which accrued from
the sale was exhausted. Such was the rapacity of the
plunderers, that they took even Lady Nairn's watch
and clothes. The Government, although in possession
of her estate, never gave her one farthing for subsist-
ence, but even made her pay a rent for the garden
of one of Lord Nairn's own houses in which she lived.
But this is only one instance of that catalogue of
cruelties towards the Jacobites, which it would take
volumes to detail.
In 1751, Lord George Murray visited Dresden, where,
owing to the mediation of James Stuart, he was well
received. His letters at this period refer frequently to
the exertions which he made for Lord Macleod, the son
of Lord Cromartie : to this young man a company was
given in Finland, in the Prussian service, and the
Chevalier St. George furnished him with his accoutre-
ments and equipage.
The eldest son of Lord George Murray remained,
as we have seen, in Scotland ; but the second
was, through the favour of the Chevalier, recom-
mended to the especial notice of the court of Prussia.
The visit of Lord George to Dresden seems to have
been chiefly designed to push the interests of this
young man, who was introduced to the Count and
Countess De Bruhl. The youth was to study the
military science and exercises at Dresden, and at
the same time to enjoy, in the house of the Pope's
218 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Nuncio, the advantage of seeing company, and of
forming connections.
Having arranged these affairs, Lord George returned
to Emmerick. His wife had left him for Scotland, in
order to be confined there ; and this event, attended
by so much inconvenience, and prefaced by a voyage
of twelve days, "put her," as Lord George observed,
" somewhat out of countenance, after twenty-three
years' marriage." Her return was delayed for some
time. " I shall be pretty lonely this winter (1751),
writes Lord George to Mr. Edgar, for my wife, who was
brought to bed of a daughter the middle of September,
recovered but very slowly, and now the season of the
year is too far advanced for her to venture so long a
voyage ; besides, she has some thoughts that Lady
Sinclair (his daughter) may come with her in the
spring." In his solitude, anxieties about his patri-
monial property added to the sorrows of the exile.
" I am told,"'''" he writes, " that the Duke of Atholl
is desirous of selling the roialty of the Isle of Man
to the London Government, for which, they say, he
is offered fifteen thousand pounds sterling. Had it
not been for my situation, I believe he could not
have done it without my consent ; but, I 'm sorry
to say it, and it is a truth, that he is full as much
my enemy as any of that Government. He has sent
my eldest son abroad, but, as I understand, with po-
sitive orders not to see nor correspond with me.
All this is the more extraordinary that, thirty years
ago, before he turned courtier, he seemed to have
very different notions. Most people in Britain now
* Stuart Papers. Appendix Brown, p. 95.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 219
regard neither probity nor any other virtue all is
selfish and vainal (venial). But how can I complean
of such hard usage, when my royal master has met
with what is a thousand times more cruel : he bears
it like a Christian hero, and it would ill suit me to
repine. I thank the Almighty I never did, and I
think it my greatest honour and glory to suffer in
so just and upright a cause." Hope, however, of
one day returning to Scotland, was not extinct. He
thus continues : " Upon receipt of the note you sent
me, I have gott the carabin, for which I return you
many thanks. I expect to kill a wild bore with it ;
but I fain hope Providence may still order it that
I may make use of it at home, and, if all succeeds
to our wishes, how happy should I think myself to
send you, when you returned to Angus, a good fatt
stagg, shott in the forest of Atholl with your own
gun."
Until five years before his death, Lord George still
cherished the hope that France would again find it her
interest to support the claims of the Stuarts. He had
always considered that the support of the French would
be decisive of the success of the cause. " Had the
ministers of the court of Versailles, ten years ago, been
persuaded that the supporting of his Royal Highness the
Prince, at the beginning of his attempt, in a proper
manner with the best measures they could take for
the interest of their master as well as that of the King,
our gracious sovereign, I think I do not say too much
if I affirm that his Royal Highness would not have
failed of success. I had at that time opportunities of
knowing the sentiments and way of thinking of most
220 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
people in Great Britain. Many, very many, wished well
to the cause. Great numbers would have looked on,
and would have turned to the side that had success.
But there is no recalling what is passed. I believe
that in France they are convinced now of the error
they were in at the time. If ever they resolve to
espouse the cause of the royal family it must be in
earnest, and their main view must be that. Then there
would be no difficulty in adjusting limits in America.
I have been much longer upon the subject than I
intended. Perhaps zeal has led me too far."
The period was now approaching when Lord George
Murray was to close a life of vicissitude and turmoil.
He died in 1760 at Medenblinck, in Holland, leaving
three sons and two daughters. Upon the death of
James Duke of Atholl in 1764, John, the eldest son of
Lord George Murray, succeeded to the dukedom, and
to the great possessions of the family. He married his
first cousin, Charlotte, only daughter and heiress of
his uncle, the Duke of Atholl; and in 1765 their
Graces sold the sovereignty of the Isle of Man, upon
the disposal of which Lord George Murray had ex-
pressed much solicitude, to the British Government.
The present Duke of Atholl, who succeeded his father
in 1830, is the grandson of John, third Duke of
Atholl, and the great-grandson of Lord George Murray.
The descendants of this justly celebrated man have,
therefore, shared a happier fortune than those of many
of the other attainted noblemen of his party.
The attainder was not, however, set aside in favour
of the son of Lord George Murray without a petition
to the King, upon which the House of Lords gave a
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 221
favourable report, and the objection was overcome.*
Besides his eldest son, Lord George left two others ;
James, of Strowan, in right of his mother ; George, of
Pitkeathly, who became Vice-Admiral of the White
and two daughters ; Amelia, first married to Lord Sin-
clair, and afterwards to James Farquharson, of Inver-
ness ; and Charlotte, who died unmarried.
The mind of Lord George Murray was one of great
original power, and less dependent upon those circum-
stances which usually affect the formation of character,
than that of most men. He was determined and in-
flexible in opinions, yet cautious in action. That
he was sincere and honourable there can now be
little doubt. It was his consciousness of upright
intentions which inspired him with contempt for
the littleness of others; and with his love of superi-
ority, his self-will and ambition, there was wrought a
strong conviction of his own worth, as opposed to the
hollowness of some of his party. Throughout all
his letters, and in his journal, there is a strong evi-
dence of his confidence in his own powers ; of a self-
sufficiency too lofty to be called vanity, but which
sometimes descends to egotism. To his courage, his
energy and perseverance, his military contemporaries
have borne unanimous testimony. They seem entirely
to have comprehended a character which the unfor-
tunate Charles Edward could never appreciate. They
felt the justness of his ascendancy, and discriminated
between the bluntness of an ardent and honest mind,
careless of ordinary forms, and the arrogance of an in-
ferior capacity. As a soldier, indeed, the qualities of
* Chambers. Ed. for the People, p. 141.
222 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
Lord George Murray rose to greatness : so enduring,
and so fearless, so careless of danger to himself, yet so
solicitous for others. As a general, some great defects
may be pointed out in his composition, without detract-
ing from his merits as a private individual.
Let us first turn to the bright side of the picture.
In activity and exertion Lord George Murray has not
been surpassed even by the more fortunate, although,
perhaps, not greater commanders of modern times.
He was indefatigable in business, and any one who de-
sired access to him could see him at any hour, whether
at meals or in bed. " On some occasions," he remarks,
" I have been waked six times a night, and had either
orders to write, or letters to answer every time ; for as
I mostly commanded a separate body of the army, I had
many details that, in a more regular army, would be-
long to different people." Every order, even that
which sent an officer to an out-post, was written by his
own hand, and explained by him ; every contingency
that might occur in the execution was canvassed, and
every objection that was suggested was answered by
himself. The officers, therefore, confiding in their gene-
ral, performed their duties with cheerfulness, and made
their reports with exactness. There was no confusion,
nor misapprehension, wherever Lord George presided.
As a disciplinarian, he was pre-eminent; no army
ever quitted a country with so little odium, nor
left behind them such slight memorials of their
march, as that of Charles Edward when it returned
from Derby. The greatest excess that the High-
landers were known to commit was the seizing horses
to carry their baggage, or to carry their sick ; and
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 223
these it was Lord George's endeavour always to re-
store, even at a great inconvenience to the soldiers.
Even with every precaution it was impossible wholly
to restrain plundering, although the General under-
took in person to control that evil. " How often,"
he writes, " have I gone into houses on our marches
to drive the men out of them, and drubbed them
heartily r
This able man possessed another great requisite as a
commander. He thoroughly understood his materials,
he was perfectly acquainted with the temper and dispo-
sition of his soldiers. It was the attribute which made
Marlborough unconquerable ; and, in an army chiefly of
Highlanders, it was one of the greatest value. By this
Lord George acquired over the members of every re-
spective Clan as much influence as each Chief separately
had. His corrections were well applied, and never
lessened the confidence nor affections of the soldiery.
From the highest to the lowest, the men and officers
had a confidence in him, which induced them to
apply to him for redress in grievances, and to con-
sider him as an umpire in disputes.
But Lord George was not only a disciplinarian ; in
his own person, he set the example of a scrupulous
honesty. " I never," he writes in his explanation of
his conduct, " took the least thing without paying the
full value. I thought that I could not reasonably find
fault with others in that, if I did not show them a
good example."
To the sick and wounded Lord George invariably
paid the utmost attention ; and, under his guidance, the
Highlanders, heretofore so fierce towards each other in
224 LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
their contests, were remarkable for a degree of huma-
nity which was disgracefully contrasted with the bar-
barity of their conquerors. Such were his general
attributes in his military station. Whatever doubts
may have existed in the mind of Charles Edward as
to the fidelity of his General, are silenced by the long
and hopeless exile of Lord George Murray, and by
the continued friendship of the Chevalier St. George.
No overtures, as in the case of the Earl of Mar,
to the British Government, nor efforts on the part
of his prosperous and favoured brother, the Duke
of Atholl, have transpired to show that in saving
Blair, there was a secret understanding that there
should be a future reward, nor that any surmise of
treachery had opened a door to reconciliation. Charles,
be it remembered, was under that daily, hourly in-
fluence, which weakens the judgment, and exasperates
the passions. His opinion of Lord George Murray
must not be accepted as any evidence against one who
had redeemed the inconsistencies of his youth by the
great exertions of his manhood.
Some vital defects there were, nevertheless, in this
General, of powerful intellect, and of earnest and
honourable intentions. His character partook too
largely of that quality which has raised his country
as a nation in all other countries, prudence. For his
peculiar situation he was far too cautious. Persevering
and inflexible, he was destitute of hope. If it be true,
that he entered into the undertaking with a conviction
that the cause could never prosper, he was the last man
that should have been the general of an army whose
ardour, when not engaged in action, he invariably re-
LORD GEORGE MURRAY. 225
strained. All contending opinions seem to hesitate and
to falter when they relate to the retreat from Derby,
the grand error of the enterprise ; the fatal step, when
the tide served, and the wind was propitious, and an
opportunity never to be regained, was for ever lost.
In private society, Lord George Murray is re-
ported to have been overbearing and hasty ; his fine
person, and handsome countenance were lessened in
their agreeableness by a haughty deportment. He
was simple, temperate, and self-denying in his habits.
In his relations of life, he appears to have been re-
spectable. His letters show him to have enjoyed, at
least, the usual means of education offered to a soldier,
who entered upon active service at sixteen, or to have
improved his own acquirements. They are clear
and explicit, and bear the impress of sincerity and
good sense.
Distrusted as he was by Charles Edward, and mis-
represented by others, we may accord to Lord George
Murray the indulgence which he claims from posterity
in these, the last words of his vindication :
" Upon the whole, I shall conclude with saying, if I
did not all the good I would, I am sure I did all I
could/'
VOL. III. Q
226
JAMES DRUMMOND, STYLED DUKE OF PERTH.
IN a history of the House of Drummond, com-
piled in the year 1681, by Lord Strathallan, the au-
thor thus addresses his relative, James, Earl of Perth,
on the subject of their common ancestry :
" Take heire a view of youre noble and renowned
ancestors, of whose blood you are descended in a right
and uninterrupted male line ; as also of so many of the
consanguinities and ancient affinities of youre family
in the infancy thereof, as the penury of our oldest re-
cords and the credit of our best traditions has happily
preserved from the grave of oblivion. The splendor
of your fame," he adds, " needs no commendation,
more than the sune does to a candle ; and even a
little of the truth from me may be obnoxious to the
slander of flattery, or partiality, by reason of my
interest in it. Therefore I '11 say the less ; only this
is generally known for a truth, that justice, loyaltie,
and prudence, which have been but incident virtues
and qualities in others, are all three as inherent or-
naments, and hereditary in yours." *
Such praise far exceeds in value the mere homage to
ancient lineage. With these noble qualities, the race
of Drummond combined the courage to defend their
rights, and the magnanimity to protect the feeble,
* Genealogy of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Drummond.
By a Freind to Vertue and the Family. Unpublished.
DUKE OF PERTH. 227
This last characteristic is beautifully described in the
following words :
" For justice, as a poor stranger, often thrust out
of doors from great houses, where grandeur and utility
are commonly the idolls that 's worshipped, quid non
mortalia pectora cogisf has always found sanctuary
in yours, which has ever been ane encouragement to
the good, a terror to the bad, and free from the op-
pression of either."
To this magnanimous spirit were added loyalty to
the sovereign, and prudence in the management of
private affairs ; a virtue of no small price, for it ren-
dered the House of Drummond independent of Court
favour, and gave to its prosperity a solid basis. " The
chiefs of this family lived," says their historian, " hand-
somely, like themselves ; and still improved or pre-
served their fortunes since the first founder."
The origin of this race is, perhaps, as interesting as
that of any of the Scottish nobility, and has the ad-
ditional merit of being well ascertained.
After the death of Edward the Confessor, the next
claimant to the Crown, Edgar Atheling, alarmed for
his safety after the Norman Conquest, took shipping
with his mother Agatha, and with his two sisters,
Margaret and Christiana, intended to escape to Hun-
gary ; but owing to a violent storm, or, as the noble his-
torian of the Drummonds well expresses it, " through
Divine Providence," he was driven upon the Scottish
coast, and forced to land upon the north side of the
Firth of Forth. He took shelter in a little harbour
west of the Queen's Ferry, ever since called St. Marga-
ret's Hook, from Edgar's sister Margaret, who, for the
Q 2
228 JAMES DRUMMOND,
" rare perfection es of her body and mind/ 7 was after-
wards chosen by Malcolm Canmore, to the great satis-
faction of the nation, for his Queen. Margaret was
therefore married to the Scottish monarch at Dunferm-
line in the year 1066.
This alliance was not the only advantage derived by
the young and exiled English King from his accidental
landing in Scotland. Penetrated with gratitude for
former services conferred upon himself by Edward the
Confessor, Malcolm supported the cause of Edgar,
and received and bestowed upon his adherents lands
and offices, in token of kindness to his royal guest.
Hence some of the most potent families in the king-
dom had their origin.
Amongst the train of Edgar Atheling at Dunferm-
line was an Hungarian, eminent for his faithful ser-
vices, but especially for his skilful and successful con-
duct of the vessel in which the fugitives had sailed
from England. He was highly esteemed by the grate-
ful Queen Margaret, who recommended him to the
King ; and, for his reward, lands, offices, and a coat
of arms suitable to his quality, were conferred on him,
together with the name of Drummond.
It was about this period that surnames were first
introduced, and that patronymicks were found in-
sufficient to designate heroes. Since the new designa-
tions were often derived from some office, as well as
the possession of lands and peculiar attributes, the
Hungarian obtained his name in consequence of his
nautical skill ; Dromont, or Dromond, being, in dif-
ferent nations, the name of a ship, whence the com-
mander was called Dromount, or Dromoner.
DUKE OF PERTH. 229
The first lands bestowed upon the Hungarian were
situated in Dumbartonshire, and in the jurisdiction of
the Lennox ; a county full of rivers, lochs, and moun-
tains, " emblematically expressed," says Lord Strath-
allan, " in the coats of arms then given to him,
wherein hunting, waters, hounds, inhabitants wild and
naked, are represented." To these gifts was added
the office of Thane, Seneschal, or Stuart Heritable of
Lennox, names all meaning the same thing, but al-
tering with the times. *
The Hungarian, whose Christian name is conjectured
to have been Maurice, was then naturalized a Scot ; and
all the parts of his coat-armour were contrived to
indicate his adventures, his name, office, and nation.
He died in an encounter near Alnwick Castle, fighting
valiantly, in order to avenge the surprise of that place
by William Rufus, in 1093.
The records of the family of Drummond were for
several generations defective after the death of Mau-
rice ; but there exists no doubt but that he was the
founder of a family once so prosperous, and after-
wards so unfortunate. The name of Maurice was
preserved, according to the Scottish custom of naming
the eldest son after his father, for many succeeding
generations.
* The office of Thane or Seneschal was, to be the Giusticiare or
guardian of that country ; to lead the men up to the war, according to the
roll or list made out ; and to be collector for the Athbane of the king-
dom for the King's rents in that district, The Athbane was the highest
officer in the kingdom Chief Minister, Treasurer, Steward. The Thanes
were next to the Athbanes, and were the first that King Malcolm ad-
vanced to the new title of Earls. See Lord Strathallan's Genealogy of
the House of Drummond.
230 JAMES DRUMMOND,
The family continued to increase in importance,
and to enjoy the favour of royalty ; and the mar-
riage of the beautiful Annabella Drummond to Robert
the Third, King of Scotland, produced an alliance be-
tween the House of Drummond and the royal families
of Austria and Burgundy. In 1487 James the Third
ennobled the race by making John Drummond, the
twelfth chief in succession, a Lord of Parliament.
As the annals of the race are reviewed, many in-
stances of valour, wisdom, and unchangeable probity
arise ; whilst some events, which have the features of
romance, diversify the chronicle. Among these is the
story of the fair Margaret Drummond, who has been
celebrated by several of our best historians.
Between Margaret and James the Fourth of Scot-
land an attachment existed. They were cousins ; and
a pretext was made by the nobles and council, on
that account, to prevent a marriage which they al-
leged to be within the degrees of consanguinity per-
mitted by the Canon law : nevertheless, under promise
of a marriage, Margaret consented to live with her
royal lover, and the result of that connexion was a
daughter. This happened when James was only in
his sixteenth year, and whilst he was Duke of Roth-
say ; yet the monarch was so much touched in con-
science by the engagement, or betrothal, between him
and the young lady, that he remained unmarried
until the age of thirty, about a year after the death
of Margaret Drummond.
That event, it was surmised, was caused by poison ;
the common tradition being that a potion was pro-
vided for Margaret at breakfast, in order to free the
DUKE OF PERTH. 231
King from his bonds, that he might " match with Eng-
land." " But it so happened," says the narrative,*
" that she called two of her sisters, then with her in
Drummond, to accompany her that morning, to wit,
Lilias, Lady Fleming, and a younger, Sybilla, a maid ;
whereby it fell out all the three were destroyed with
the force of the poyson. They ly burried in a curious
vault covered with three faire blue marble stones,
joyned closs together, about the middle of the queir
of the cathedral church of Dumblane ; for about this
time the burial-place for the familie of Drummond
at Innerpeffrie was not yet built. The monument
which containes the ashes of these three ladyes stands
entire to this day, and confirms the credit of this sad
storie."
The daughter of Margaret Drummond, Lady Marga-
ret Stuart, was well provided for by the King ; and
was married, in the year 1497, to Lord Gordon, the
eldest son of the Earl of Huntley, " a gallant and hand-
some youth." From this union four noble families are
descended ; the Gordons, Earls of Huntley ; the Countess
of Sutherland ; the Countess of Atholl, who was the
mother of Lady Lovat ; and Lady Saltoun. James
the Fourth testified his regret for the death of his be-
loved Margaret, and his solicitude for her soul's benefit,
in a manner characteristic of his age and character.
In the Treasurer's accounts for February 15023, there
occurs this entry, " Item, to the priests that sing in
Dumblane for Margaret Drummond, their quarter fee,
five pounds :" and this item, occurring regularly during
the reign of James the Fourth, " Paid to two priests
* Genealogy of the House of Drummond, 139.
232 JAMES DRUMMOND,
who were appointed to sing masses for Margaret in
the cathedral of Dumblane, where she was buried,"
marks his remembrance of his betrothed wife.
One of the greatest ornaments of the ancient House
of Drummond was William Drummond, a descendant
of the Drummonds of Carnock, son of Sir John Drum-
mond of Hawthornden, and author of the " History
of the Five James's," Kings of Scotland.* The friend of
Drayton, and of Ben Jonson, this man of rare virtues
presents one of the brightest examples of that class
to which he belonged, the Scottish country-gentleman.
True-hearted, like the rest of his race, Drummond was
never called forth from a retirement over which virtue
and letters cast their charms, except by the commo-
tions of his country. His grief at the death of
Charles the First, whom he survived only one year, is
said to have shortened his days.
In 1605, the title of Earl of Perth was added to the
other honours of the family of Drummond,f who derived
a still further accession of honour and repute by the
probity and firmness of its members in the great Rebel-
lion. Like most of the other Scottish families of rank,
they suffered great losses, and fell into embarrassed cir-
cumstances on account of heavy fines exacted by Oliver
* Amongst his other literary efforts, Drummond of Hawthornden left
a MS " Historic of the Family of Perth."
t Lady Willoughby D'Eresby is heiress to the estate of Perth, and
representative in the female line of the Earldom of Perth in Scotland
and of the Dukedom in France. At the same time that the Dukedom of
Perth was created, the last Earl's brother was created Duke de Melfort.
His descendants are, therefore, the male representatives of the Earldom
of Perth, and George Drummond Perth de Melfort in France is now
claiming the title. (Letter from Viscount Strathallan, to whose courtesy
I am indebted for this information.)
DUKE OF PERTH. 233
Cromwell. The house, Castle Drummond, was garri-
soned by the Protector's troops, and the estates were
ravaged and ruined. Yet the valiant and true-hearted
descendants of those who had been thus punished for
their allegiance, were ready again to adopt the same
cause, and to adhere to the same principles that had
guided their forefathers.
In the person of James Drummond, fourth Earl of
Perth, who succeeded his father the third Earl, in
1675, several high honours were centred. He was
made, by Charles the Second, Justice-General, and after-
wards Lord High Chancellor of Scotland. He con-
tinued to be a favourite with James the Second ; and in
1688, when James fled from England, the Earl of
Perth, endeavouring to follow him, was thrown into
prison, first at Kirkaldy, and afterwards at Stirling,
until the privy council, upon his giving security for five
thousand pounds, permitted him to follow his royal mas-
ter. From James, the Earl received the title of Duke,
which his successors adopted, and which was given to
them by the Jacobite party, of which we find repeated
instances in the letters of Lord Mar. His son, Lord
Drummond, succeeded to all the inconveniences which
attend the partisans of the unfortunate. Returning
from France, in 1695, he was obliged to give security
for his good conduct, in a large sum. In consequence
of the assassination plot, the vigilance of Government
was increased, and, in 1696, he was committed to
Edinburgh Castle. During the reign of William, a
system of exaction was carried on with respect to this
family.
" In a word," says the author of LochielFs Memoirs,
234 JAMES DRUMMOND,
himself a Drummond, speaking of James Lord Drum-
mond, "that noble lord was miserably harassed all
this reign. He represented a family which had al-
ways been a blessing to the country where it resided ;
and he himself was possessed of so many amiable
qualities, that he was too generally beloved not
to be suspected by such zealous ministers. He was
humble, magnificent, and generous ; and had a certain
elevation and greatness of soul that gave an air of
dignity and grandeur to all his words and actions. He
had a person well-turned, graceful and genteel, and was
besides the most polite and best bred lord of his age.
His affability, humanity, and goodness gained upon all
with whom he conversed ; and as he had many friends,
so it was not known that he had any personal enemies.
He had too much sincerity and honour for the times.
The crafty and designing are always apt to cover their
vices under the mask of the most noble and sublime
virtues ; and it is natural enough for great souls to
believe that every person of figure truly is what he
ought to be, and that a person of true honour thinks
it even criminal to suspect that any he is conversing
with is capable of debasing* the dignity of his nature
so low as to be guilty of such vile and ignoble prac-
tices. None could be freer of these, or indeed of all
other vices, than the noble person I speak of. The fixed
and unalterable principles of justice and integrity,
which always made the rules of his conduct, were
transmitted to him with his blood, and are virtues in-
herent and hereditary in the constitution of that noble
family. 5? f
* " Reducing." Editor, f Memoirs of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiell.
DUKE OF PERTH. 235
Lord Drummond was afterwards engaged in the in-
surrection of 1715 : he was attainted, but escaped to
France, and, dying in 1730, left the inheritance of
estates which he had saved by a timely precaution,
and the empty title of Duke of Perth,* to his son
James Drummond, the unfortunate subject of this me-
moir.
Such was the character borne by the father of
James, Duke of Perth. This ill-fated adherent of the
Stuarts was born on the eleventh of May 1713; and
three months afterwards, on the twenty-eighth of
August, his father deemed it expedient to execute
a deed conveying the family estates to him, by which
means the property, at that time, escaped forfeiture.
Like many other young men under similar circum-
stances, this young nobleman was educated at the
Scottish College of Douay, consistently with the prin-
ciples of his family, who were at that time Roman
Catholics.
In his twenty-first year, the young Duke of Perth
came over to Scotland, and devoted himself, in the
absence of his father, to the management of his es-
tate. It is probable that his own inclinations might have
* The title of Duke was afterwards assumed by the young chief of
the House of Drummond, and was given to him by the Jacobites gene-
rally ; but, in consequence of his father's attainder, and the forfeiture of
his title, he was, in the eye of the law, simply a commoner. Hence he
is described by Home as " James Drummond, commonly called Duke of
Perth, his father having been so created by James the Second at St.
Germains." The right of the Duke to this dignity was at that time,
and it still is, recognised in France. Without entering into the merits of
the question of right, and to prevent confusion, it is therefore expedient
to designate this Jacobite nobleman by the name usually assigned to
him in his own time.
236 JAMES DRUMMOND,
led him to prefer the occupations of an elegant leisure to
the turmoils of contention ; but, be that as it may, it
was not reserved for the head of the House of Drum-
mond to rest contentedly in his own halls.
The nearest kinsmen of the young nobleman were
active partisans of the Chevalier St. George. His
brother, Lord John Drummond who had been con-
firmed in all his devotion to the cause by his education
at Douay, had entered the service of the King of France,
and had raised a regiment called the Royal Scots,
of which he was the Colonel. He was destined to
take an active share in the events to which all were at
this time looking forward, some with dread, others
with impatience. But his influence was less likely to
be permanent over his brother, than that of the Duke's
mother, whose wishes were all deeply engaged in be-
half of James Stuart.
This lady, styled Duchess of Perth, was the daughter
of George first Duke of Gordon, and of Lady Elizabeth
Howard, Duchess of Gordon, who, in 1711, had aston-
ished the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh by sending
them a silver medal with the head of the Chevalier en-
graved upon it. The Duchess of Perth inherited her
mother's determined character and political principles ;
for her adherence to which she eventually suffered, to-
gether with other ladies of rank, by imprisonment.
These ties were strong inducements to the young Duke
of Perth to take an active part in the affair of 1745,
and it is said to have been chiefly on his mother's per-
suasions that he took his first step. But there was
another individual, whose good-faith to the cause had
been proved by exertion and suffering ; this was the
DUKE OF PERTH. 237
brave "William, Viscount Strathallan, who possessed
higher qualities than those of personal valour and loy-
alty. " His character as a good Christian," writes Bishop
Forbes, " setting aside his other personal qualities and
rank in the world, as it did endear him to all his
acquaintances, so did it make his death universally re-
gretted."*
Lord Strathallan was the eldest surviving son of
Sir John Drummond of Macheany, whom he had suc-
ceeded in his estates; and, in 1711, became Yiscount
Strathallan, Lord Madertie, and Lord Drummond of
Cromlix, in consequence of the death of his cousin.f
He had engaged in the rebellion of 1715, and had
been taken prisoner, as well as his brother, Mr. Thomas
Drummond, at the battle of Sheriff Muir ; but no pro-
ceedings had been instituted against him. His escape
on that occasion, as well as the part which his kins-
man, the Earl of Perth, took on that eventful day, are
thus alluded to in an old ballad entitled the Battle of
the Sheriff Muir.
" To the tune of the ' Horseman's Sport.'
11 Lord Perth stood the storm ; Seaforth, and lukewarm
Kilsyth, and Strathallan, not sla', man,
And Hamilton fled the man was not bred,
For he had no fancy to fa', man.
So we ran, and they ran ; and they ran, and we ran ;
And we ran, and they ran awa', man." $
Lord Strathallan joined the standard of Prince Charles
in 1745, and afterwards acted an important part in
the events of that period. He was not only himself
a zealous supporter of the Stuarts, but was aided in no
* Forbes's Jacobite Memoirs, p. 296. t Wood's Peerage.
Curious Collection of Scottish Songs ; Aberdeen, 1821.
238 JAMES DRUMMOND,
common degree by his wife, the eldest daughter of the
Baroness Nairn and of Lord William Murray, in his
schemes and exertions. Lady Strathallan inherited
from her mother, a woman of undoubted spirit and
energy, the determination to act, and the fortitude to
sustain the consequences of her exertions. But there
was still another individual, not to specify various
members of the same family, whose aid was most im-
portant to the cause of the Jacobites.
This was Andrew Drummond, one of the family of
Macheany, and uncle of Lord Strathallan. He was the
founder of the banking-house of Drummond at Char-
ing Cross, which was formed, as it has been surmised,
for the express purpose of facilitating supplies to the
partisans of the Chevalier. This spirited member of
the family remained unchanged in his principles during
the course of a life protracted until the age of eighty-
one. His part in the great events of the day was well
known, and meanly avenged by Sir Robert Walpole, who,
in the course of the insurrection, caused a run upon the
bank. The concern, backed by its powerful connec-
tions, stood its ground : but the banker forgave not
the minister. When the tumults of 1745 were at an
end, Mr. Drummond so far yielded to the dictates of
prudence as to go to court : he was received by George
the Second, to whom he paid his obeisance. But when
the minister, anxious to conciliate his stern and for-
midable foe, advanced to offer him his hand, Mr. Drum-
mond turned round, folded his hands behind his back,
and walked away. " It was my duty/' he said after-
wards, " to pay my respects to his Majesty, but I am
not obliged to shake hands with his minister ! "
DUKE OF PERTH. 239
On the young James Drummond Duke of Perth, as chief
of the House of Drummond, the eyes of the Jacobites
were turned, with expectations which were, to the ut-
most of the young nobleman's power, fulfilled. It was
by his mother's desire that he had been educated in
France, where he was confirmed in the principles of
the Romish faith. He possessed, indeed, some acquire-
ments, and displayed certain qualities calculated to
inspire hope in those who depended upon his exer-
tions that he would prove a valuable adherent to the
cause. Naturally courageous, his military turn had
been improved by a knowledge of the theory of war :
his disposition united great vivacity to the endearing
qualities of benevolence and liberality ; he had the
every-day virtues of good-nature, mildness, and cour-
tesy. His pursuits were creditable to a nobleman.
He was skilled in mathematics, an elegant draughtsman,
a scholar in various languages, a general lover of litera-
ture, and a patron of the liberal arts. Nor was a fond-
ness for horse-racing, in which he indulged, and in
which his horses frequently bore away the prize, likely
to render him unpopular in the eyes of his countrymen.
But there were some serious drawbacks to the utility of
the young nobleman as a public man.
His health, in the first place, was precarious. When
a child, a barrel had been rolled over him, and a bruise
was received in his lungs, to the effects of which his
friends attributed a weakness and oppression from
which he usually suffered at bed-time ; when " he
usually," as a contemporary relates, "took a little
boiled bread and milk, or some such gentle food."*
* Henderson, History of the Rebellion of '45, p. 19. 1753.
240 JAMES DRUMMOND,
This was an inauspicious commencement of an active
and anxious career. It was afterwards discovered,
that with all his acquirements and accomplishments,
and with his natural gallantry, the Duke was no practi-
cal soldier.
In obtaining an influence over the minds of his
countrymen, the young Duke possessed one great advan-
tage. He was descended from a House noted for the
highest principles of honour.*
"To give the reader an undeniable proof of the
generous maxims of that House," says the author of
LochielFs memoirs, " it will be proper to notice, that,
by the laws of Scotland, no person succeeding to
an estate is, in a legal sense, vested in the pro-
perty until he serves himself heir to the person from
whom he derives his title. The heir often took the
advantage of this when the creditors were negligent,
and passing by his father, and perhaps his grand-
father, served heir to him who was last infefted ; for
unless they were actually seised of the estate accord-
ing to the forms of law, they were no more than simple
possessors, and could not encumber the land with any
deed or debts ; whereby the heir got clear of all that *
intervened betwixt himself and the person whom he
represented by his service. This was an unjustifiable
practice, which the diligence of creditors might always
have prevented ; and which is now wholly prevented
by an act of parliament obliging every one possessing
an estate to pay the debts of his predecessors, as well as
his own, whether representing them by a service or not.
" But the House of Perth was always so firmly at-
* Memoirs of Lochiell, p. 30.
DUKE OF PERTH. 241
tached to honour and justice, that there are no less
than fifteen retours, descending lineally from father to
son, extant among their records.
" Now a retour is a writ returned from the Court of
Attorney, testifying the service of every succeeding
heir ; and is therefore an unexceptionable evidence of
paying his predecessor's debts, and of performing his
obligations and deeds. Such has been, and still is, the
uniform practice of the truly noble Lords of the House
of Montrose and, perhaps, some others of the ancient
nobility have followed the same course, which will not
only entail a blessing upon their family and posterity,
but will likewise be a perpetual memorial of their in-
tegrity, honour, and antiquity."
The young Duke of Perth fully maintained this
high character of honour and liberal dealings, and as a
landholder and a chief, he would, had he been spared,
have proved himself a valuable member of society. He
was, relates an historian, a father to the poor ; and
the interval of ten years between his return to Scot-
land and the Rebellion was engaged in establishing
manufactures for the employment of his tenantry, and
in acts of beneficence. Unhappily, it was not long
before political combinations diverted the attention
which was so well bestowed in the improvement of his
country.
In the beginning of the year 1740, seven persons of
distinction signed the association, engaging themselves
to take arms, and to venture their lives and fortunes
for the Stuarts. Among these was the Duke of Perth.
This association was committed to Drummond of
Bochaldy, who, besides, carried with him a list
VOL. III. R
242 JAMES DRUMMOND,
of those chiefs and chieftains who, the subscribers
thought, were willing to join them, should a body of
troops land from France. This list contained so great
a number of names, that Murray of Broughton, in his
evidence at the trial of Lord Lovat, said he con-
sidered it to be "a general list of the Highlands;"
a palpable refutation of the reasoning of those who
have represented the Jacobite insurrection as a par-
tial and factious movement.
The Duke of Perth had now irrevocably pledged
himself to engage in the cause, which required a very
different character of mind to that which he seems
to have possessed. Like the unfortunate Lord Der-
wentwater, he was calculated to adorn a smooth and
prosperous course ; but not to contend with fiery
spirits, nor to act in concert with overbearing tempers.
Averse to interference, and retiring in his disposition,
the Duke was conceived, by those who mistook arro-
gance for talent, to have been possessed of only limited
abilities. The friend or relative who composed the
epitaph to his memory inscribed on the Duke's tomb
at Antwerp, has borne testimony to the strength of his
understanding. All have coincided in commending
the honour and faith which procured him the respect
of all parties, and the chivalric bravery which won him
the affection of the soldiery.
It is a melancholy task to trace the career of one so
high-minded, so gentle, and so formed to adorn the
peaceful tenour of a country life, through scenes of
turmoil, disaster, and dismay ; and, during the con-
tinuance of arduous exertions, to recal the slow
and certain progress of a fatal disease, which pro-
DUKE OF PERTH. 243
gressed during hardships too severe for the delicate
frame of this amiable young man to sustain without
danger.
The younger brother of the Duke, Lord John
Drummond, was constituted of different materials.
Courteous, honourable, and high-minded, like his
brother, he added to those attributes of the gentleman
a strong capacity for military affairs, to which he had
applied himself from his earliest youth. Intrepid and
resolute, the roughness of the soldier was softened in
this fine martial character by an elegance and ease of
manner which sprang from a kind and gentle temper.
The energy of Lord John Drummond's mind was shown
by the enlistment of the Scottish Legion, under the pro-
tection of Louis the Fifteenth. In him the soldiers
always knew that they had a sure, and firm friend : like
his brother, when on the conquering side, clemency and
humanity were never, even in the heat of victory, for-
gotten by the young general. Individuals like these
lamented, and unfortunate brothers give a mournful
interest to the history of the Jacobites.
The Duke of Perth was one of the most sanguine of
those who desired to see Charles Edward land on the
coast of Scotland. Of the representations which in-
duced the Prince to take that step, and especially of
the part taken in the affair by the well-known Murray
of Broughton, various accounts have been given. From
Mr. Home we learn, that Mr. Murray used every argu-
ment in his power to deter the Prince from invading
Scotland without a regular force to support him. This
account was doubtless the version which the Secretary
himself gave of his part in the business. The state-
R2
244 JAMES DRUMMOND,
ment of Lord Elcho differs greatly from that of Mr.
Home."' 5 "
" Mr. Murray," says Lord Elcho, " in the beginning of
the year 1745, sent one young Glengarry to the Prince
with a state of his affairs in Scotland, in which it
is believed he represented everybody that had ever
spoke warmly of the Stuart family, as people that
would join him if he came."f After Mr. Murray's own
visit to France, he had an interview with all the mem-
bers of the Association, and there detailed to them the
conference he had had with the Prince. The Duke of
Perth was the only person who did not, in that coun-
cil, expressly declare against the Prince's coming to
Scotland without assistance from France.
The battle of Fontenoy. on the eleventh of May 1 745,
in which the British army was cut to pieces, encouraged,
nevertheless, the ardent spirit of Charles to proceed in
his enterprise. The number of regular troops in Scot-
land he well knew, was at that time inconsiderable ;
and he had, as he conceived, from the representations
of Murray, no other opponents than the British army.
He was, probably, wholly ignorant of the powerful ene-
mies who afterwards co-operated against him in the
south-western parts of Scotland. J
The Duke of Perth had already, in the beginning of
the year, received, as well as others, his commission.
He was appointed General of the forces in the north
of Scotland, and was therefore one of the most im-
* History of the Rebellion, p. 35.
t Lord Elcho's Narrative, MS.
J See the History of the Rebellion, by Rae ; and the Cochrane Cor-
respondence,
DUKE OF PERTH. 245
portant personages for Government to seize. The
Duke was at that time at Drummond Castle, a place
only exceeded in beauty and splendour, in the High-
lands, by Dunkeld and Blair. The aspect of this com-
manding edifice is one which recalls the association of
ancient power and princely wealth. Beneath its walls
is an expanse of a magnificent and varied country,
combining all those features which characterize lands
long held in peace by opulent and liberal possessors.
"Noble avenues, profuse woods," thus speaks one of
unerring accuracy, " a waste of lawn and pasture, an
unrestrained scope, everything bespeaks the careless-
ness of liberality and extensive possessions ; while the
ancient castle, its earliest part belonging to the year
1500, stamps on it that air of high and distant opu-
lence which adds so deep a moral interest to the rural
features of baronial Britain."" 55
From the castle it was now attempted to make the
Duke of Perth a prisoner ; but since it would have
been impossible to detain a Chief, prisoner in his own
halls, and among his own retainers, a stratagem, pecu-
liarly revolting to the Highland code of honour, was
adopted to ensnare the young nobleman.
Two Highland officers, Sir Patrick Murray and
Mr. Campbell of Inverary, were employed in this trans-
action, and a warrant was given to them to apprehend
the Duke of Perth. This they knew to be impossible
without a large force ; they therefore condescended to
lower the character of Scotchmen, by violating the
first principles which regulate the intercourse of gen-
tlemen. They were base enough to abuse the hospi-
* Maculloch's Highlands.
246 JAMES DRUMMOND,
tality of the kind and ready host who had often wel-
comed them to Drummond Castle.
One day, these gentlemen sent the Duke word that
they should dine with him ; he returned, in answer,
that he should be proud to see them. On the twenty-
sixth of July, 1745, they went, and were entertained
at dinner with the liberal courtesy which always shone
forth under that roof. One of the Duke's footmen,
meantime, having espied an armed force about the
house, called his Grace to the door of the room, and
begged him to take care of himself. This caution was
even repeated more than once ; but the Duke, trusting
that others were like himself, only smiled, and said he
did not think that any gentleman " could be guilty of
so dirty an action." But he found that he was mistaken.
After dinner, when the officers had drunk a little, they
took courage to inform the Duke of their errand ; and,
to confirm their statement, one of them drew the war-
rant out of his pocket. The Duke behaved with great
presence of mind ; he received their summons calmly,
but begged permission to retire to a closet in the room
where they were sitting, to get himself ready. This
was assented to : the Duke went into the closet, in
which, however, there was a door ; he opened it and,
slipping down a flight of stairs, escaped to a wood adja-
cent to his Castle. This wood was already surrounded
by an armed force, and he was obliged to crawl on
his hands and feet to avoid being observed by the
sentinels. In such a situation he was hindered and
wounded by briers and thorns, and at last was obliged
to hide himself in a dry ditch from his pursuers. They
were, indeed, misled by the servants at the Castle, who,
DUKE OF PERTH. 247
upon their inquiring for the fugitive, declared that
he had gone away on horseback. The officers however
on their return to Crieff, where they were quartered,
passed so near the place where he lay, that he heard
what they were saying. When all the soldiers were
out of sight, he sprang up; and seeing a country-
man with a pony, having no bridle, but only a halter
about its neck, he begged to have the use of it, and
his request was granted. After this, he first rode to
the house of Mr. Murray of Abercairney, and after-
wards to that of Mr. Drummond of Logie. Here he was
saved by one of those presentiments of evil which one
can neither explain nor deny. In the dead of night he
was awakened by his host, who begged the Duke to
take refuge elsewhere; for fears, which he could not
account for, haunted his mind. The fugitive arose
from his bed, and set off elsewhere. Shortly afterwards
the house was invaded by a party of armed men, who
came to search for him, but retired disappointed.
His next meeting with his faithless guest, Sir
Patrick Murray, was on the field of Gladsmuir, when
the treacherous officer was made prisoner. The Duke
then took his revenge with characteristic good-humour ;
for, after saluting the captured officer, he said smil-
ingly, " Sir Patie, I am to dine with you to-day." *
After his escape from Logie, the Duke of Perth
crossed over to Angus, incognito, and, attended only by
one servant, rode through the north country without
molestation, and arrived at the camp of Prince Charles.
Here he met the afterwards celebrated Roy Stuart, then
a captain of Grenadiers in Lord John Drummond's regi-
* Forbes's Jacobite Memoirs, p. 17.
248 JAMES DRUMMOiND,
ment. That officer had embarked at Helvoetsluys for
Harwich, where he had scarcely arrived before the ship
in which he had sailed was searched by authority of a
Government warrant.
Charles Edward was at this time at Castle Mingry,
whence accounts had travelled to the capital of his
arrival and projected hostilities. It was long before
his intentions were even believed ; and, when believed,
they were treated at first with contempt. The Duke of
Argyll, who was then at Roseneath, had an intercepted
letter of the Prince's put into his hands, addressed to
Sir Alexander Macdonald, together with a copy of one
to the Laird of Macleod. The Duke hastened to Edin-
burgh, and laid these papers before Mr. Craigie the ad-
vocate. " What a strange chimera/' said Craigie, laugh-
ing, " is it to suppose a young man with seven persons
capable of overturning a throne !" " His landing with
seven persons only," replied Argyll gravely, " is a
circumstance the more to be feared."*
Sir John Cope, nevertheless, long delayed obeying
the orders of Government to march northwards, al-
though great pains were taken by some of the Whig
party to magnify the danger, and to add to the terrors
of the foe. Reports were even stated, in the presence
of the magistrates, of a camp in Ardnamirchan, which
was a large Scots mile in circumference, of several
ships of war hovering near the coast, of cannon of an
enormous size ; whilst the young Chevalier was de-
scribed as one of the strongest men in Christendom.
All agreed that the invader had chosen the period
of his enterprise judiciously. Scotland contained
but few forces, and those were newly levied men,
* Henderson, p. 30.
DUKE OF PERTH. 249
sufficient in number merely to garrison the forts and to
overawe smugglers.
Never was a country less prepared to receive an
invasion,"* and General Cope's blunders soon encouraged
the hopes of the Jacobites, until they were elated be-
yond measure. The sanguine Charles Edward pledged
the General's health in a glass of brandy : " Here 's a
health to Mr. Cope !" he cried, in the presence of his
forces; "and, if all the Usurper's generals follow his ex-
ample, T shall soon be at St. James's." The toast was
given by the private soldiers, to whom whiskey was
distributed to drink it. Well furnished with artil-
lery, of which the insurgents were destitute, General
Cope might have obtained an easy victory, or at
any rate have dispersed the Jacobite army. Happy
would it have been for Scotland, had the rebel-
lion thus been extinguished, before the brave had
sunk in civil strife, or loyal hearts been broken in
the silent agony of imprisonment ! Many acts of
heroism, numberless traits of fortitude, would indeed
have been lost to the mournful admiration of posterity ;
but the vigorous hand, which crushes a hopeless struggle
in its outset, is ever, in effect, the hand of mercy.
From this time the Duke of Perth shared in the
short-lived triumph of his Prince. He marched with
the army to Dunkeld, where, supping in the house of
James, Duke of Atholl, who retired at their approach,
the unfortunate Charles Edward forced a gaiety which
he was said, at that time, not to feel ; asked for Scottish
dishes ; and, having picked up a few words of Gaelic,
pledged the Highland officers in that tongue. The
Duke of Perth attended in the triumphant entrance
Henderson, p. 30.
250 JAMES DRUMMOND,
into Perth on the fourth of September. This was the
first town of consequence that Charles Edward had
visited ; and his appearance, mounted on a fine horse
presented to him by Major Macdonell, and dressed in a
superb suit of tartan trimmed with gold, produced a
great impression upon the assembled multitude, who
greeted him with loud acclamations. He was con-
ducted in triumph to the house of Viscount Stormont,
the eldest brother of the celebrated Earl of Mansfield.
Lord Stormont, though friendly to the cause, was not
disposed to risk his life and property for the Stuarts.
He withdrew from the dangerous honour of entertain-
ing the Prince, yet left his family to receive him with
all loyalty, and the Chevalier took up his abode at
Lord Stormont's. It was an antique house with a
wooden front, which stood on the spot now occupied
by the Perth Union Bank, near the bottom of the
High-street.* The evening was closed by a ball
given by the Prince to the ladies of the town. The
Prince, probably wearied by the day's proceedings,
danced only one dance, and then withdrew. His
bed, it is said, was prepared by the fair hands of
Lord Stormont's sister.
On the following day a different scene took place,
for all was not compliment that Charles encountered
in the loyal town of Perth. Mass having been cele-
brated publicly, Charles was as publicly rebuked by a
minister of the Kirk, who reminded him of his father's
failure in the last Rebellion, which he attributed to his
adherence to Popery, to " which he had sacrificed his
* Chambers' History of the Rebellion ; Edit, for the People ; p. 19.
DUKE OF PERTH. 251
crown." "I prefer/' replied the young Chevalier
boldly, "a heavenly crown to an earthly one!"*
The Duke of Perth had summoned many of his te-
nants to meet him at Blair, where he required them to
bring all the rent due, under pain of punishment ; and
he now ordered them also to carry arms to the extent
of their power. He is said to have insisted upon his
privilege as Chief, with a degree of rigour which, when
his power was exerted to force his tenants into a course
of certain peril, cannot be justified. Unhappily, the
practice was of too frequent occurrence among some of
the chieftains to permit us entirely to dismiss it as a
calumny. The amiable Lord Derwentwater, the brave
Lord Southesk, as has been remarked elsewhere, and
proved by letters and contemporary statements, were
not free from a similar charge. The following anecdote
is so little in accordance with the forbearance assigned
to the Duke of Perth both by enemies and friends,
that it must, however, be read with distrust. It is
related by James Macpherson : f speaking of the
* " History of the Present Rebellion in Scotland, 1745. From the re-
lation of Mr. James Macpherson, who was first in the service of the
Rebels."
In contradiction to this statement, to which Macpherson adds, that the
Chevalier attended Mass daily, the testimony of one of the daily papers (the
Caledonian Mercury) may be given, as inserted by Mr. Chambers in his
very interesting History of the Rebellion of 1745. The Prince visited
an Episcopal chapel ; the name of the clergyman, Armstrong, and the
text, Isaiah xiv. 12, are specified. It was the first Protestant place of
worship that the Prince had ever attended. Hist, of the Rebellion, p. 21.
t History of the Present Rebellion, p. 19. It is remarkable that two
Histories of the two rebellions were composed by men who had changed
sides. That of 1715 by Patten, who was rewarded for his disclosures,
as King's evidence, by a pension. What reward was bestowed on Mr.
James Macpherson does not yet appear.
252 JAMES DRUMMOND,
compulsory measures adopted, he says, " To this
oppression of the Duke of Perth's likewise several
submitted (such are the terrors of arbitrary power).
Three however resisted, declaring that besides the
inconvenience which the neglect of their affairs
would subject them to, and the danger of the under-
taking, it was against their conscience to assist the
cause of Popery against the true religion of their
country; to which one of them had the boldness to
add, he was sorry to see his Grace embarked in such
a cause. Upon this, the Duke, flying into a rage,
snatched up a pistol which lay in his tent, and im-
mediately shot the poor man through the head. After
which the other two made their escape from him,
and one from the camp, the other being pursued and
killed by one of the rebels, who was witness to the
whole transaction."
Whilst the army remained at Perth, a singular
incident occurred, which seems to prove that the sub-
sequent surrender of Edinburgh was by no means unex-
pected by Prince Charles. *
One evening, when Macpherson was on duty as one
of the Prince's guards, a person came to the camp,
and was by his desire conducted to the presence of the
Chevalier. A long conference ensued, at which the
Duke of Perth and the Marquis of Tullibardine were
present. Soon after the departure of this stranger, it
was rumoured that Edinburgh was to be betrayed to
the Jacobites, and that they were to take possession in
a few days. There must, therefore, have been some
secret communication.
* History of the Present Rebellion, p. 26.
DUKE OF PERTH. 253
In the memorable events which followed this ru-
mour, the Duke of Perth continually shared. He
rode by the side of Charles Edward when the gallant
adventurer, leaving Perth on the eleventh of Sep-
tember, crossed the Firth at the Frew, and passed so
near the walls of Stirling, that the balls fired upon
him and his forces from the castle fell within
twenty yards of the Prince. He proceeded on the
march, commenced by the Chevalier with the sum of
only one guinea in his pocket, until they arrived at
Gray's Hill, a place two miles west of Edinburgh.
Here deputies from the town arrived to treat with
Charles. " I do not treat with subjects," was the Che-
valier's reply ; whilst the Duke of Perth added, " The
King's declaration, and the Prince's manifesto, are such
as every subject ought to accept with joy."
Meantime, a company of volunteers under the com-
mand of Captain Drummond, a gentleman of very
different political sentiments to those of the majority
of this name, had assembled in the College yard, when,
after being addressed by their gallant leader, they
proffered their services to aid the dragoons stationed in
the city, under the command of General Guest, in re-
pelling the Jacobites. On Sunday, the fire-bell sound-
ing in the time of Divine service, emptied all the
churches ; and the people, rushing into the streets, be-
held the volunteers drawn up in the Lawn Market,
awaiting the arrival of the dragoons, with whom they
were prepared to march out of the town to repel the
rebels. But this gallant resolution was not put into
execution ; and a force of two thousand strong, not half
of the soldiery having fire-locks, was suffered to force
254 JAMES DRUMMOND,
their way into a town garrisoned by two thousand
seven hundred soldiers, all well supplied with arms and
ammunition.
That Edinburgh was surrendered by the treachery of
its Provost, seems beyond all doubt. Archibald Stewart,
who held that office at this critical moment, gave many
indications of perfidy or cowardice, which have been
duly related, although with little comment, by histo-
rians. Notwithstanding that the approach of the insur-
gents had been by measured paces, and that they had
advanced so leisurely as to spend some hours lying on
the bank of a rivulet near Linlithgow, no preparations
for defence had been made, although it was the wish
of many of the inhabitants to resist the Jacobite army.
It had been found that all the calms, or moulds for
bullets, had been bought up ; ladies having gone to the
shops where they were made, to purchase them. When
the danger became proximate, the Provost merely re-
marked, that, if the enemy wished to enter, he did not
know how they could be prevented. He viewed the for-
tifications, it is true, and rummaged up some grenades
that had lain in a chest since 1715. But the most
suspicious incident occurred during a meeting of the
Town Council, when a Highland spy, having a letter in
his hand, was apprehended, and brought before the as-
sembly. The letter was given to the Provost, who
hurried it into his pocket, and in great haste broke up
the assembly. 4 ' In all the deliberations for the de-
fence of the city, it was perceived that Mr. Provost
Stewart was a dead-weight upon any measures of
* Notes and Observations taken from MSS. in the possession of
A. Macdonald, Esq., Register Office, Edinburgh.
DUKE OF PERTH. 255
vigour ; and nothing could have been done to preserve
Edinburgh from surrendering, unless he had been abso-
lutely bound in chains. Yet this unworthy magistrate,
so faithless to his trust, so discreditable an instrument
of the Jacobite cause, was afterwards acquitted, after a
trial of four days, by the Lords Justiciary.
The progress of that cause now appeared such as
to promise success to the future exertions of its par-
tisans. On the seventeenth of September, the Prince
received the news that Edinburgh was taken, and a
stand of one thousand arms seized ; a circumstance
which added greatly to the joy of the insurgents, who
stood in need of arms. " When the army came near
town," writes Lord Elcho, "it was met by vast multi-
tudes of people, who by their repeated shouts and huzzas
expressed a great deal of joy to see the Prince. When
they came into the suburbs, the crowd was prodigious,
and all wishing the Prince prosperity ; in short, nobody
doubted but that he would be joined by ten thousand
men at Edinburgh, if he could arm them. The army
took the road to Duddingston : Lord Strathallan march-
ing first, at the head of the horse; the Prince next, on
horseback, with the Duke of Perth on his right, and
Lord Elcho on his left ; then Lord George Murray, on
foot, at the head of the column of infantry. From
Duddingston, the army entered the King's Park, by a
breach made in the wall. Lord George halted some
time in the park, but afterwards marched the foot to
Duddingston ; and the Prince continued on horseback,
always followed by the crowd, who were happy if they
could touch his boots, or his horse furniture. In the
steepest part of the road going down to the Abbey, he
256 JAMES DRUMMOND,
was obliged to alight and walk ; but the mob, out
of curiosity, and some out of fondness, to touch him or
kiss his hand, were like to throw him down : so, as soon
as he was down the hill, he mounted his horse and
rode through St. Anne's Yard into Holyrood House,
amidst the cries of six thousand people, who filled the
air with their acclamations of joy. He dismounted in
the inner court, and went up stairs into the gallery ;
and from thence into the Duke of Hamilton's apart-
ments, which he occupied all the time he was at Edin-
burgh. The crowd continued all night in the outer
court of the Abbey, and huzzaed every time the Prince
appeared at the window. He was joined, upon his
entering the Abbey, by the Earl of Kelly, Lord Balme-
rino, Mr. Hepburn of Keith, Mr. Lockhart younger of
Carnwath, Mr. Graham younger of Airth, Mr. Rollo
younger of Powhouse, Mr. Stirling of Craigbarnet, Mr.
Hamilton of Bangor, Sir David Murray, and several
other gentlemen of distinction : but not one of the
mob, who were so fond of seeing him, were asked to
enlist in his service; and, when he marched to fight
Cope, he had not one of them in his army."*
The Prince, who was thus received with acclamations
into the home of his forefathers, was at this time in
the bloom of youth, being in the twenty-fifth year of
his age. Neither the agitation produced by the events
of that critical day on his sensitive temper, nor the
fatigue of the previous march to a young soldier, could
diminish the grace of his deportment, nor hide the
natural majesty of his carriage. " The figure and pre-
sence of Charles Stuart," even Home remarks, "were
* Lord Elcho's MS.
DUKE OF PERTH. 257
not ill-suited to his lofty pretensions." He was in
height about five feet ten inches, of a slender form ;
his features were aquiline ; his complexion, though
ruddy from the Highland air, was naturally fair. He
had the pointed chin, and small mouth in proportion
to his other features, of Charles the First. The colour
of his eyes has been variously described ; being, accord-
ing to some, "large rolling brown eyes," whilst in
many of his portraits he is depicted as having full blue
eyes.* The hair of Charles Stuart was concealed
under a " pale peruke ;" but, is said to have been red,
or, according to most of his portraits, of a sandy hue.
As he rode, with extreme grace, upon a fine bay geld-
ing presented to him by the Duke of Perth, the by-
standers remarked that an " irregular smile," as one of
them has expressed it, lighted up, by fits, a countenance
which told but too plainly every emotion of the heart.
An anxious, watchful look was, at times, directed to
those around and near him ; and, in particular, rested
on the face of Lord Elcho, who, though a gallant
officer, the Prince may perhaps have too well con-
jectured, was not, even at that early period, a sin-
cere and firm adherent. To the Duke of Perth,
on the contrary, the ill-fated young Chevalier showed
a marked respect, and sat for some moments on
horseback in St. Anne's Yard, whilst the Duke, like
"an intelligent farmer, informed him of the differ-
ent nature and produce of the different parcels of
ground."! Dressed, as he was, in the Highland garb,
* In Exeter House, Derby, there is a portrait of Prince Charles,
painted by Wright of Derby, in which the eyes are hazel. That in the
Earl of Newburgh's possession, at Hassop, has blue eyes.
t Henderson, p. 51. Home, p. 100.
VOL. III. S
258 JAMES DRUMMOND,
a blue sash wrought with gold coining over his
shoulder, a green velvet bonnet with a gold lace round
it on his head, a white cockade, the cross of St. An-
drew on his breast, his hand resting on a silver-hilted
sword, and a pair of pistols on his saddle ; associated
in the minds of all around him with the remembrance
of Scotland in her independence, and of Scottish mo-
narchs in their greatness, the enthusiasm which was in-
spired in a slow, but ardent people cannot be a matter
of surprise. Long did the remembrance of that day
continue to be cherished, in mingled pride and sorrow !
It is true, the opinions of men differed according to
their secret bias. The Jacobites, who looked on the
young Prince, compared him to Robert the Bruce, to
whom he bore, they fancied, a resemblance. The Whigs
beheld in him the gentleman of fashion, but not the
hero and the conqueror. All parties seem to have re-
marked the dejection and languor of his manner as he
prepared to enter the palace of Holyrood.
It was, indeed, impossible, from the deportment of
Charles on his first introduction into Scotland, or from
his conduct whilst his affairs prospered, to comprehend
the strength of his determination, or to calculate
upon his power of endurance. In prosperity he was, it
is true, brave, courteous, often amiable, often generous,
but sometimes betraying the petulance and obstinacy
which historians have been fond of considering as here-
ditary propensities in the heroic young man, but which
are the common attributes of the inexperienced and
the spoiled. In adversity he was meek, grateful, mag-
nanimous ; capable of forgetting his own unparalleled
DUKE OF PERTH. 250
sufferings, in considering those of others ; never breath-
ing an accent of revenge ; rising above fortune. He
resembled Charles the Second more in his hatred of
shedding blood, than in his vices, which were in the
young Chevalier the effect of circumstances, rather
than of a depraved nature. He had the fortitude of Charles
the First : in truth, and right intention he exceeded
both of these his ancestors ; and in this, as in other
respects, he showed more of the Scottish diameter, more
of the true sense of Highland honour, than any of his
immediate predecessors in the Stuart line. Naturally
gay, though variable ; quick and shrewd, rather ^than
deep or strong in intellect ; easily to be flattered, too
easily led by some, too wilful in resisting the counsels
of others, as a Prince, as the head of a Court, he soon
won upon the affections of the people who beheld him ;
but there were vital defects mingled with his great and
good qualities, which well verified the saying of the
Whigs, " that he would prove neither a hero nor a
conqueror."
As the Prince walked along the piazza close to the
apartment of the Duke of Hamilton, a gentleman
stepped out of the crowd, and, drawing his sword,
raised his arm aloft, and walked up stairs before
Charles Edward. The remarkable person who thus
signalized his loyalty was James Hepburn of Keith,
a gentleman of learning and intelligence, whose Jaco-
bitism was of a more enlightened description than
that of the party with whom he thus identified him-
self. Since the insurrection of 1715, in which, when a
very young man, he had been engaged, Mr. Hepburn had
s 2
260 JAMES DRUMMOND,
become a professed Jacobite. Yet he disclaimed the
hereditary, indefeasible right of Kings, and condemned
the measures of James the Second. Cherishing even
these opinions, he had nevertheless kept himself during
twenty years ready to take up arms for Charles
Edward, from a hatred to the Union between England
and Scotland, a measure which he deemed injurious
and humiliating to his country. Idolized by the Ja-
cobites, beloved by some of the Whigs, a " model of
ancient simplicity, manliness and honour,"* the acces-
sion of Hepburn to the Jacobite cause was lamented
by those who esteemed him, and who saw in his
notions of the independence of Scotland only a vision-
ary speculation.
The entrance of Prince Charles had taken place
early in the day : soon after noon he was proclaimed
Regent at the ancient Cross of Edinburgh, and his
father's manifesto was read in the same place. Six
heralds in their robes, with a trumpet, came to the
Cross, which was surrounded by the brave Camerons in
three ranks. The streets and windows were crowded
to excess ; whilst David Beato, a writing-master in
Edinburgh, read the papers to the heralds. The beau-
tiful Mrs. Murray of Broughton sat on horseback with
a drawn sword in her hand beside the Cross, her dress
decorated with the white ribbon which was the token
of adherence to the House of Stuart. Whilst these
events took place, a spectator in the crowd, viewing
clearly that all was the show of power, without the
substantial capacity to perpetuate it, resolved to write
the history of what> he foresaw, would be a short-lived
* Home, 101. Alexander Henderson.
DUKE OF PERTH. 261
though perhaps fierce contest. He was not mis-
taken. This individual was Alexander Henderson.
The following account is given by Lord Elcho of the
Chevalier's court during the short time that he in-
habited Holyrood House.*
" The Prince lived in Edinburgh, from the twenty-
second of September to the thirty -first of October, with
great splendour and magnificence ; had every morning
a numerous court of his officers. After he had held a
council, he dined with his principal officers in public,
where there was always a crowd of all sorts of people to
see him dine. After dinner he rode out, attended by
his life-guards, and reviewed his army ; where there
were always a great number of spectators, in coaches
and on horseback. After the review he came to the
Abbey, where he received the ladies of fashion that
came to his drawing-room. Then he supped in public ;
and generally there was music at supper, and a ball
afterwards. Before he left Edinburgh, he despatched
Sir James Stewart to manage his affairs in the country
and solicit succours."
This remarkable scene was soon followed by the
battle of Preston Pans. The memorable words of
Charles Edward before the victory, "I have flung
away the scabbard !" were followed by a total rout of
the King's troops. The Duke of Perth was appointed
Lieutenant-general of the forces. After the engagement
which ensued, when the heat of the contest was over,
he distinguished himself in a manner in which every
brave and loyal man would wish to imitate his ex-
ample, by saving the lives of the combatants. His
* Lord Elcho's Narrative, MS.
262 JAMES DRUMMOND,
tenantry, commanded by Lord Nairn, were among the
most eager of the combatants on that day. When the
defeat of the King's troops was manifest, a terrible
carnage ensued. Some of the conquered threw down
their arms, and begged for quarter, which was refused
them ; others, who fled into the enclosures, were mur-
dered ; and all who were overtaken were cut in the
most cruel manner by broad-swords and Lochaber
axes.
The kind-hearted Duke of Perth, seeing this slaugh-
ter, made a signal to Cameron of Lochiel to stop the
impetuosity of his men ; and sent his aid-de-camp,
or, as he was then called, his gentleman, for that pur-
pose. No sooner had the Duke done this, than he
sprang himself upon a fleet bay mare, a racer, which
had won the King's plate at Leith some years before ;
and, taking a Major of the King's troops along with
him, "shot like an arrow through the field/' and
saved numbers: as also did his gentleman, Mr. Stuart."""
But these efforts were insufficient to prevent a cruel
and terrible destruction of some of the bravest and
best of the British officers. In the battle of Preston
Pans fell the famous Colonel Gardiner. His fate
was, it is said, envied by General Cope, who, wit-
nessing the destruction of his army, wished to have
died on the field.
Whilst the Highlanders were carried away to the
house of Colonel Gardiner, close by, the young Cheva-
lier stood by the road-side, having sent to Edinburgh
by the advice of the Duke of Perth for surgeons. At
this moment, Henderson, that spectator of the procla-
* Henderson, p. 84,
DUKE OF PERTH. 263
mation who had resolved to write a history of the war,
having slept at Musselburgh, only at two miles' dis-
tance, the night before, stepped forward to take a
survey of the field. " It was one scene of horror,
capable," writes this historian/* " of softening the
hardest heart, being strewed not so much with the
dead as with the wounded : the broken guns, halberts,
pikes, and canteens showing the work of the day. In
the midst of this distressing spectacle, an act of mercy
shone forth, like a light from Heaven. "Major
Bowles," continues Henderson, "of Hamilton's Dra-
goons, being dismounted, the enemy fell upon and
wounded him in eleven different places ; and just as
some inhuman wretch was fetching a stroke, which
perhaps would have proved mortal, Mr. Stuart threw
up his sword and awarded the blow/'
From Preston Pans Charles Edward rode to Pinkie
House, a seat of the Marquis of Tweedale. In the
elation of victory, a consideration which can alone
excuse the disregard of the sufferings of others which
the foregoing narrative states, the Prince is said to have
left the bulk of the wounded upon the field until the
next day, when they were brought in carts to the infir-
mary of Edinburgh. The neighbourhood was afterwards
scattered over with the wounded who recovered, and
who begged throughout the country, where they met
with kindness and humanity from all, except from the
Adventurers, as they were called. Such is the testimony
of one who has not failed to bear witness to acts
of humanity where they really existed ; and it would
be unfair to suppress the statements of contemporaries
Henderson, p. 88.
264 JAMES DRUMMOND,
on either side of the question. At the same time, this
account is wholly at variance with the deep sorrow
afterwards betrayed by Charles when he spoke of the
sufferings of the Scottish people on his account ; nor
is it consistent with the sensibility and humanity
evinced, as the same historian avows, by the Duke of
Perth.*
Upon the return of Prince Charles to Edinburgh, in
order to carry on affairs with every appearance of
royalty, he appointed a council, who met every day at
Holyrood House at ten o'clock for the despatch of busi-
ness. The members of this council were the two Lieu-
tenants-general, the Duke of Perth, and Lord George
Murray, who had been appointed in conjunction with the
former ; Secretary Murray ; Sullivan, Quarter-master-
general ; Lord Pitsligo, Lord Elcho, Sir Thomas Sheri-
dan, and all the Highland chiefs.
The fine characteristics, and powerful mind of Lord
George Murray, and the prominent part which he took in
the insurrection, demand a long and separate account.
Among the rest of this ill-starred council, the prin-
cipal members in point of rank, if not of influence, were
Alexander, Lord Forbes of Pitsligo, who, after the
battle of Preston, joined the Prince's standard with
a troop of a hundred horse. The character of this
nobleman gave his example a great influence among all
who knew him, and who respected the ardent piety,
bordering upon fanaticism, which characterized his
* Henderson differs in this account from Home. " Charles," says
the latter, " remained on the field of battle till mid-day, giving orders for
the relief of the wounded of both armies, for the disposal of his prisoners,
and preserving, both from temper and from judgment, every appearance
of moderation and humanity," p. 122.
DUKE OF PERTH. 265
religious sentiments, and the heartfelt earnestness of
his political opinions. Early in life this venerable
man had sworn allegiance to "William the Third, and
taken his seat in Parliament ; he became, however, an
opponent to the Union, and, from the period of that
measure, his course was a decided system of calm and
steady adherence to Jacobite principles. He engaged
in the rebellion of 1715, yet by the forbearance of
Government was permitted to retain his title and
estate. He now again embarked in the same adven-
turous cause, leaving the study of moral philosophy, on
which he had written several essays, and the security
of a private career, for the sake of conscience. No hope
of gain, no inducement of ambition, lured this adherent
of Charles Edward to the standard of the Stuarts.
Aged, and so infirm that he was compelled by his
bodily weakness to accept the generous proposal of
Charles Edward to travel on all the marches in the
Prince's carriage, whilst the Chevalier walked at the
head of his army, Lord Pitsligo again came forward
at what he conceived to be the dictates of duty. His
example drew many others into the undertaking. Of
course, his subsequent history closed in the usual
melancholy manner : his life was, it is true, spared ; but
his estates were forfeited, and his title extinguished.
He died at Auchiries, in Aberdeenshire.
David, Lord Elcho, who held also a place in the
council, and who was colonel of the first troop of
Horseguards, was the son of James, fourth Earl of
Wemyss, and of Janet the daughter of Colonel Francis
Charteris of Amisfield, whose immense property was
afterwards vested in the Wemyss family. Lord Elcho
266 JAMES DRUMMOND,
was at this time only twenty-four years of age, and
therefore his appointment to the colonelcy of the horse
was a signal compliment to his abilities. Of his per-
sonal character much may be gleaned from his unpub-
lished narrative, written in a dry, caustic, and unin-
spiring style ; and penned by one who seems to have
desired to do justice, but whose personal dislike to the
young Chevalier over-masters his inclination to the
cause. Notwithstanding a plain disapproval of many
measures, and a marked conviction of the wilfulness of
his young leader, Lord Elcho was true to the cause
which he had adopted. His account of the manner in
which the council of the Eegent, as he was styled,
was conducted, is so characteristic, not only of those
to whom he refers, but of his own mind, that I shall
give it in the unvarnished phraseology in which he
composed it.*
" The Prince in his council used always first to
declare what he was for, and then he asked every-
body's opinion in their turn. There was one-third
of the council whose principles were, that Kings and
Princes can never either act, or think wrong; so, in con-
sequence, they always confirmed whatever the Prince
said. The other two-thirds, who thought that Kings
and Princes thought sometimes like other men, and
were not altogether infallible, and that this Prince was
no more so than others, begged leave to differ from
him, when they could give sufficient reasons for their
difference of opinion, which very often was no hard
matter to do ; for as the Prince and his old governor,
Sir Thomas Sheridan, were altogether ignorant of the
* Lord Elcho's MS.
DUKE OF PERTH. 267
ways and customs in Great Britain, and both much for
the doctrine of absolute monarchy, they would very
often, had they not been prevented, have fallen into
blunders which might have hurt the cause. The Prince
could not bear to hear anybody differ in sentiment
from him, and took a dislike to everybody that did ;
for he had a notion of commanding this army, as any
general does a body of mercenaries, and so let them
know only what he pleased, and they obey without
inquiring further about the matter. This might have
done better had his favourites been people of the
country ; but they were Irish, and had nothing at stake.
The Scotch, who ought to be supposed to give the
best advice they were capable of giving, thought they
had a little right to know, and be consulted in what
was for the good of the cause in which they had so
much concern ; and, if it had not been for their insist-
ing strongly upon it, the Prince, when he found that
his sentiments were not always approved of, would
have abolished his council long ere he did. There
was a very good paper sent one day by a gentleman in
Edinburgh, to be perused by this council. The Prince,
when he heard it read, said that it was below his dig-
nity to enter into such a reasoning with subjects, and
ordered the paper to be laid aside. The paper after-
wards was printed under the title of the Prince's Decla-
ration to the People of England, and is esteemed the
best manifesto published in those times ; for the ones
that were printed at Rome and Paris were reckoned
not well calculated for the present age."
Before the Prince had left Edinburgh, intrigues had
begun to distract his councils. " An ill-timed emula-
268 JAMES DRUMMOND,
tion," remarks an eye-witness of the rebellion, "soon
crept in, and bred great dissension and animosities :
the council was insensibly divided into factions, and
came to be of little use, when measures were approved
of, or condemned, not for themselves, but for the sake
of their author/'* Unhappily, the Duke of Perth,
amiable, but inexperienced and unsuspecting, confided
in one whose machinations, guided by an unbounded
love of rule, eventually accelerated the ruin of the
cause.
The very name of Murray of Broughton recalls with
a shudder the remembrance of selfish ambition and
treachery. This unprincipled man, private secretary to
Charles Edward, had a remarkable influence over the
young Chevalier's mind ; an influence acquired during
a long and intimate acquaintance abroad. " He was,"
observes Mr. Maxwell, " the only personal acquaintance
the Prince found in Scotland." To a desire of having the
sole government of the Prince's council he "sacrificed
what chance there was of a restoration, although upon
that all his hopes were built." The expedition to
Scotland and England was, according to the same au-
thority, the entire suggestion of Murray ; and the credit
of that success which had hitherto attended the at-
tempt, was now solely attributed to the secretary's
advice. " The Duke of Perth," adds the same writer,
"judging of Murray's heart by his own, entertained
the highest opinion of his integrity, went readily into
all his schemes, and confirmed the Prince in the esteem
he had already conceived for Murray."
* Maxwell of Kirkconnel's Narrative, p. 55,
DUKE OF PERTH. 2G9
The man whom Murray most dreaded as a rival was
Lord George Murray, the coadjutor with the Duke of
Perth in the command of the army ; and it soon be-
came no difficult task, not only to persuade Prince
Charles, who knew but little personally of Lord
George, that that impetuous but honest man was a
traitor, but also to inspire the amiable Duke of Perth
with suspicions foreign to his generous nature. Few of
the calm spectators of the struggle were very sanguine
as to its result ; but the moderate hopes which they
dared to entertain were all dashed to the ground by
the unbridled love of sway which the secretary in-
dulged, and which filled him with a base and bitter
enmity towards men of talent and influence. Too
truly is the effect of his representations told in these
few and simple words, written by one who was de-
votedly attached to the misled, confiding Charles, upon
whose ignorance of the world Murray condescended
to practise. 4 ' 7
" All those gentlemen that joined the Prince after
Murray, were made known under the character he
thought fit to give them ; and all employments about
the Prince's person, and many in the army, were of his
nomination. These he filled with such as he had rea-
son to think would never thwart his measures, but be
content to be his tools and creatures without aspiring
higher. Thus, some places of the greatest trust were
given to little insignificant fellows ; while there were
abundance of gentlemen of figure and merit that had
no employment at all, and who might have been of
* Maxwell of Kirkconnel's Narrative, p. 57.
270 JAMES DRUMMOND,
great use, had they been properly employed. Those
that Murray had thus placed, seconded his little dirty
views : it was their interest, too, to keep their betters
at a distance from the Prince's person and acquaint-
ance. These were some of the disadvantages the
Prince laboured under during this whole expedition."
As soon as the expedition into England was decided,
a gentleman was dispatched to France to hasten the
assistance expected from that quarter. The first inten-
tion of the insurgents was to march to Newcastle, and
give battle to General Wade ; then to proceed, if the
Prince proved victorious, by the eastern coast to Eng-
land, in order to favour the expected landing of the
French upon that side. This scheme was overruled by
Lord George Murray, with what success history has de-
clared. It was natural, when all was lost, for those
who wished well to the cause, to retrace their steps,
and to desire that any measures had been adopted,
rather than those which had proved so disastrous :
but this is the common feeling of regret, and cannot
be relied on as the sober dictate of judgment.
On his departure from Edinburgh, the young Cheva-
lier was followed by the good will of many who had
viewed his arrival with regret. The people, says Max-
well of Kirkconnel, " were affected with the dangers
they apprehended he might be exposed to, and doubtful
whether they ever should see him again/'* " Everybody
was mightily taken," adds the same writer, " with the
Prince's figure and personal behaviour. There was but
one voice about them." "What was still more import-
* Maxwell's Narrative, p. 59.
DUKE OF PERTH. 271
ant, the short duration of military rule exercised by
Charles Edward had been so conducted as to create no
disgust. The guard of the city had been entrusted
to Cameron of Lochiel, the younger ; and under his
firm and judicious controul, the persons and effects
of the citizens, had been as secure as in time of
peace. "The people had the pleasure of seeing the
whole apparatus of war, without feeling the effects of
it." * Day after day some new and graceful instance
of the humanity and kindness of the young Chevalier's
disposition had transpired. At this period of his life
there was a degree of magnanimity in the sentiments
of one, of whose principles despair, and the desertion of
his friends afterwards made such a wreck. The fol-
lowing trait of this ill-fated young man is too beautiful
it reflects too much credit, through him, upon the
party of whom he was the head to be omitted ; more
especially as the narrative from which it is taken is
not in the hands of general readers.
" But what gave people the highest idea of him was,
the negative he gave to a thing that very nearly con-
cerned his interest, and upon which the success of his
enterprise perhaps depended. It was proposed to send
one of the prisoners to London, to demand of that
court a cartel for the exchange of prisoners taken and
to be taken during this war, and to intimate that a
refusal would be looked upon as a resolution on their
part to give no quarter. It was visible a cartel would
be of great advantage to the Prince's affairs : his
friends would be more ready to declare for him, if they
* Maxwell's Narrative, p. 46.
272 JAMES DRUMMOND,
had nothing to fear but the chance of war in the field ;
and, if the Court of London refused to settle a cartel ?
the Prince was authorised to treat his prisoners in the
same manner that the Elector of Hanover was determined
to treat such of the Prince's friends as might fall into
his hands. It was urged, a few examples would compel
the Court of London to comply. It was to be presumed
that the officers of the English army would make a
point of it. They had never engaged in the service,
but upon such terms as are in use among all civilized
nations, and it would be no stain on their honour to
lay down their commissions if these terms were not ob-
served ; and, that, owing to the obstinacy of their own
Prince. Though this scheme was plausible, and repre-
sented as very important, the Prince could never be
brought into it; it was below him to make empty
threats, and he would never put such as those into ex-
ecution ; he would never, in cold blood, take away
lives which he had saved in heat of action at peril of
his own." *
On the thirty-first of October, the Prince set out from
Holyrood House in the evening, amid a crowd of people
assembled to bid him farewell. On the following day
he joined one column of his army at Dalkeith. The
army marched in two columns, by different roads, to
Carlisle : that which the Prince commanded, and which
was conducted by Lord George Murray, was com-
posed of the Guards, and the Clans ; Charles Edward
marched on foot at the head of the Highlanders, and
the Guards led the van. The other column went by
Peebles and Mofiat, having with them the artillery and
Maxwell of Kirkconnel's Narrative, p. 48.
DUKE OF PERTH. 273
heavy baggage. It was composed of the Atholl bri-
gade, the Duke of Perth's regiment, Lord Ogilvie, of
Glenbucket, and Roy Stuart's regiment. The greater
part of the horse was commanded by the Duke of
Perth. A week afterwards these two columns were
re-united, and the troops were quartered in villages
to the west of Carlisle.
On the thirteenth of October the town of Carlisle was
invested by the Duke of Perth and Lord George Mur-
ray, with the horse and Lowland regiments. The con-
duct of the Duke of Perth, during the siege of five days
which ensued, has been a subject of eulogy for every
writer who has undertaken to relate the affairs of the
period. The siege was attempted in the face of many
difficulties, the Prince having no battering cannon ; so
that, if the town had been well defended, it would have
been found impossible to reduce it : still, being a place
of great strength, and the key to England, he resolved
to make the attempt.
It was in this undertaking that the Duke of Perth
reaped the benefit of his scientific knowledge of the
art of war, and that he showed a degree of skill as well
as of military ardour, which would, had his life been
spared, have rendered him an excellent general. The
castle of Carlisle, built upon the east angle of the
fortifications, was of course the object of his attack.
On Tuesday, the thirteenth of October, after his return
from Brampton, where the Prince remained with the
Clans to cover the siege, the Duke began his operations.
His officers had forced four carpenters to go along with
them in order to assist in erecting the batteries. In
short, all ablebodied men were seized on by the insur-
VOL. III. T
274 JAMES DRUMMOND,
gents, and those who had horses and ladders were con-
strained to carry them to the siege of Carlisle.
The Duke then " broke ground," to use a military
expression, about three hundred yards from the citadel,
at the Spring Garden ; and encountered the fire of the
cannon from the town, approaching so near that the
garrison even threw grenadoes at them. On Wed-
nesday, the trenches were opened, and were con-
ducted by Mr. Grant, chief engineer, whose skill was
greatly commended. On Friday morning, batteries
were erected within forty fathoms of the walls.
During all this time the cannon and small arms from
the castle played furiously, but with so little destruc-
tion to the besiegers, that only two men were killed.
The weather was so intensely cold, that even the
Highlanders could scarcely sustain its inclemency ; yet
the Duke of Perth and the Marquis of Tullibardine, the
one delicate in constitution, the other broken and in
advancing age, worked at the trenches like any common
labourer, in their shirts. On the Friday, when the
cannon began to play, and the scaling-ladders were
brought out for an assault, a white flag was hung out,
and the city offered to surrender. An express was
sent to the Chevalier at Brampton ; whose answer was,
"that he would not do things by halves," and that the
city had no reason to expect terms, unless the castle
surrendered also. That event took place, in conse-
quence, immediately ; and the capitulation was signed by
the Duke of Perth, and by Colonel Durand, who had
been sent from London to defend Carlisle. In the
afternoon of the same day, the Duke of Perth entered
the town, and took possession in the name of James
DUKE OF PERTH. 275
the Third, whose manifesto was read; the mayor and
aldermen attending the Duke, the sword and mace
being carried before them.
The Duke of Perth won many of those who were
enemies to Charles Edward, over to his cause, by
the humanity and civility with which he treated
the conquered citizens, over whom he had the chief
command until Charles arrived. But even the im-
portant advantage thus gained could not still the
animosities which had been kindled in the breasts
of those who ought to have laid aside all private
considerations for the good of their common un-
dertaking. Hitherto Lord George Murray and the
Duke of Perth had had separate commands, and had
not interfered with each other until the siege of Car-
lisle. Here the Duke had acted as the chief in com-
mand; he had directed the attack, signed the capi-
tulation, and given orders in the town until the Prince
arrived. This was a precedent for the whole campaign,
and it ill-suited the fiery temper of Lord George Murray
to brook it tamely. There was, indeed, much to be
said in favour of Lord George's alleged wrongs, in this
preference of one so young and inexperienced as the
Duke of Perth. In the first place, Lord George was an
older Lieutenant-General than his rival ; nor could it
be agreeable to his Lordship to serve under a man so
much his inferior in age and experience. " Lord
George," observes Mr. Maxwell, " thought himself the
fittest man to be at the head of the army ; nor was
he the only person that thought so. Had it been left
to the gentlemen of the army to choose a general, Lord
George would have carried it by vast odds against the
T 2
276 JAMES DRUMMOND,
Duke of Perth." But there was still another pretext,
which was insisted upon as a reason less offensive to
the Duke of Perth, whose gentle and noble qualities had
much endeared him even to those who did not wish to
see him chief in command ; this was his religious per-
suasion. It was argued that, at that time in England,
Roman Catholics were excluded from all employments,
civil and military, by laws anterior to the Revolution ;
it was contended that these laws, whether just or
not, ought to be complied with until they were re-
pealed ; and that a defiance of these laws would con-
firm all that had been heard of old from the press and
from the pulpit, of the Prince's designs to subvert both
Church and State : neither could it be alleged in ex-
cuse for the young Prince, that a superiority of genius
or of experience had won this distinction, in opposition
to custom, for the Duke of Perth.
Whilst these murmurs distracted the camp, im-
mediately after the surrender of Carlisle, Lord George
Murray resigned his commission of Lieutenant-Gene-
ral, and informed the Prince that thenceforth he
would serve as a volunteer. Upon this step, Mr.
Maxwell, who seems to have known intimately the
merits of the case, makes the following temperate
and beautiful reflection. * " It would be rash in me
to pretend to determine whether ambition, or zeal for
the Prince's service, determined Lord George to take
this step ; or, if both had a share in it, which was pre-
dominant: it belongs to the Searcher of hearts to
judge of an action which might have proceeded from
very different motives/'
* Maxwell, p. 65.
(
DUKE OF PERTH. 277
Under these circumstances, violent discussions took
place in the army ; and the result was, the wise reso-
lution on the part of a certain officer, not improbably
Mr. Maxwell himself, to represent the consequences
of these altercations to the Duke of Perth. The un-
dertaking was one of delicacy and difficulty ; but the
individual who undertook it had not miscalculated the
true gentlemanly humility, the real dignity and dis-
interestedness, of the gallant man to whom he ad-
dressed himself. The narrative goes on as follows :
" A gentleman who had been witness to such con-
versation, and dreaded nothing so much as dissension
in a cause which could never succeed but by una-
nimity, resolved to speak to the Duke of Perth upon
this ungrateful subject. He had observed that those
that were loudest in their complaints were least in-
clined to give themselves any trouble in finding out
a remedy."
" The Duke, who at this time was happy, but not
elevated, upon his success, reasoned very coolly on the
matter. He could never be convinced that it was
unreasonable that he should have the principal com-
mand ; but when it was represented to him, that since
that opinion prevailed, whether well or ill founded, the
Prince's affairs might equally suffer, he took his resolu-
tion in a moment ; said he never had anything in view
but the Prince's interest, and would cheerfully sacri-
fice everything to it. And he was as good as his
word ; for he took the first opportunity of acquainting
the Prince with the complaints that were against him,
insisted upon being allowed to give up his command,
and to serve henceforth at the head of his regiment."
278 JAMES DRUMMOND,
After his resignation, the Duke of Perth sank
gracefully into the duties of the post assigned to him.
But his ardour in the cause was unsubdued ; and he
was frequently known, during the march from Car-
lisle to Derby, to ride down three horses a day when
information of the enemy was to be procured.
The short sojourn of the Prince at Derby, and the
inglorious retreat, have been detailed by the various
biographers and historians of that period ; but, amongst
the various accounts which have been given, that which
is contained in a letter from Derby has not hitherto
been presented to the reader, except in a collection
rarely to be met with, and now but little known.*
On Wednesday, the 4th of December (1745), two
of the insurgents entered the town, inquired for the
magistrates, and demanded billets for nine thousand
men, and more. A short time afterwards the van-
guard broke into the town, consisting of about thirty
men, clothed in blue faced with gold, and scarlet
waistcoats with gold lace ; and, being " likely men/ 7
they made a good appearance. They were drawn up
in the market-place, and remained there two hours ;
at the same time the bells were rung, and bonfires
were lighted, in order to do away with the impression
that the Chevalier's vanguard had been received dis-
respectfully. About three o'clock Lord Elcho, on
horseback, arrived at the head of the Life-guards,
about one hundred and fifty men, the flower of the
army, who rode gallantly into the town, dressed like
the vanguard, making a very fine display. The Guards
* History of the Rebellion of 1745 and 1746. Extracted from the
Scots' Magazine, p. 99.
DUKE OF PERTH. 279
were followed by the main body of the army, who
marched in tolerable order, two or three abreast, with
eight standards, mostly having white flags and a red
cross ; the bag-pipers playing as they entered. Whilst
they were in the market-place, they caused the Che-
valier to be proclaimed King, and then asked for the
magistrates. These functionaries appeared without
their gowns of office, having cautiously sent them out
of the town ; a circumstance which was with some
difficulty excused by the insurgents.
In the dusk of the evening Charles Edward arrived :
he walked on foot, attended by many of his men, who
followed him to Exeter House, where the Prince re-
mained until his retreat northwards. Here he had
guards placed all round the house, and here he main-
tained the semblance of a Court, in the very heart of
that country which he so longed to enter.
The temporary abode of Charles Edward still re-
mains in perfect repair, and much in the same state,
with the exception of change of furniture, as when
he held levees there. Exeter House at that time be-
longed to Brownlow, Earl of Exeter, whose connexion
with the town of Derby was owing to his marriage
with a lady of that city. The house stands back from
Full Street, and is situated within a small triangular
court. An air of repose, notwithstanding the noise
of a busy and important town, characterizes this in-
teresting dwelling. It is devoid of pretension ; its
gables and chimneys proclaim the Elizabethan period.
A wide staircase, rising from a small hall, leads to
a square, oak-panelled drawing-room, the presence-
chamber in the days of the ill-fated Charles. On
280 JAMES DRUMMOND,
either side are chambers, retaining, as far as the walls
are concerned, much of the character of former days,,
but furnished recently. One of these served the
Prince as a sleeping-room ; the rest were occupied by
his officers of state, and by such of his retinue as could
be accommodated in a house of moderate size. The
tenement contains many small rooms and closets, well
adapted, had there been need, for concealment and
escape.
The back of Exeter House is picturesque in the
extreme. The character of the building is here more
distinctly ancient ; and its architecture is uniform,
though simple. Beyond the steps by which you de-
scend from a spacious dining-room, is a long lawn,
enclosed between high walls, and extending to the
brink of the river Derwent. A tradition prevails in
Derby, that, after the retreat, one of the Highland
officers who had been left behind, hearing of the ap-
proach of the Duke of Cumberland's army, escaped
through this garden, and, plunging into the river, swam
down its quiet waters for a considerable distance, until
he gained a part of the opposite shore where he
thought he might land without detection. Another
more interesting association connects the spot with
the poet Dr. Darwin, who is said to have planted
some willows which grow on the opposite side of the
river to Exeter House.
Here Charles remained for some days. The Dukes
of Atholl and Perth, and the other noblemen who com-
manded regiments, together with Lady Ogilvie and
Mrs. Murray of Broughton, were lodged in the best
gentlemen's houses. Every house was tolerably well
DUKE OF PERTH. 281
filled ; but the Highlanders continued pouring in till
ten or eleven o'clock, until the burgesses of Derby began
to think they " should never have seen the last of them."
"At their coming in," says the writer of the letter
referred to, " they were generally treated with bread,
cheese, beer and ale, while all hands were aloft getting
supper ready. After supper, being weary with their
long march, they went to rest, most upon straw-beds,
some in beds." On Friday morning, only two days
after the minds of the inhabitants had been agitated
by the arrival of the Jacobites, they heard the drums
beat to arms, and the bag-pipers playing about the
town. It was supposed that this was a summons to a
march to Loughborough, on the way to London ; but a
very different resolution had been adopted.
The Prince's council had, the very morning before,
met to advise their inexperienced leader as to the steps
which he might deem it advisable to take. The memo-
rable decision to return to the north was not arrived at
without a painful scene, such as those who felt deeply
the situation of the Chevalier could never forget. The
sentiments with which the ardent young man listened
to the proposal are thus detailed by Mr. Maxwell.
The statement at once exonerates the Prince of two
faults with which his memory has been taxed, those
of cowardice and obstinacy. To a coward the great
risk of advancing would have appeared in strong
colours. An obstinate man would never have yielded
to the arguments which were proffered. The descrip-
tion which Maxwell gives of the Prince's flatterers is
such as too fatally applies to the generality of those
who have not the courage to be sincere.*
* Maxwell's Narrative, p. 74.
282 JAMES DRUMMOND,
" The Prince, naturally bold and enterprising, and
hitherto successful in everything, was shocked with
the mention of a retreat. Since he set out from Edin-
burgh, he had never a thought but of going on, and
fighting everything he found in his way to London.
He had the highest idea of the bravery of his own men,
and a despicable opinion of his enemies : he had
hitherto had reason for both, and was confirmed in
these notions by some of those who were nearest his
person. These sycophants, more intent upon securing
his favour than promoting his interest, were eternally
saying whatever they thought would please, and never
hazarded a disagreeable truth."*
The Duke of Perth coincided, on this occasion, with
Charles in wishing to advance ; or, to use the words of
Lord George Murray, " the Duke of Perth was for it,
since his Royal Highness was."f It now seems to be ad-
mitted that the judgment of the strong mind of Lord
George Murray was less sound in this instance than the
opinion of those who were more guided by feeling than
by reflection, less cautious than the sagacious General,
less willing and less able to balance the arguments on
either side.|
" There are not a few," remarks Mr. Maxwell, " who
still think the Prince would have carried his point had
he gone on from Derby. They built much upon the
confusion there was at London, and the panic which
prevailed among the Elector's troops at this juncture.
It is impossible to decide with any degree of certainty
* Maxwell, p! 76. t Jacobite Memoirs.
^ Lord Mahon is decidedly of this opinion. See Vol. iv. Hist, of
England, respecting the Jacobites.
DUKE OF PERTH. 283
whether he would or would not have succeeded ; that
depended upon the disposition of the Army, and of the
City of London, ready to declare for the Prince."
Never had the soldiery been in greater spirits than
during their stay at Derby ; but the deepest dejection
prevailed, when, in spite of some manoeuvres to deceive
them, they found themselves on the road to Ashbourn.
The despair and disgust of the Prince were as painful
to behold, as they were natural. He had played for
the highest stake, and lost it. Yet one there was who
could look on the drooping figure of the disconsolate
young man as he followed the van of the army, and
attribute to ill-humour the dejection of that ardent
and generous mind. The following is an extract from
Lord Elcho's narrative.
" Doncaster. The Prince, who had marched all the
way to Derby on foot at the head of a column of in-
fantry, now mounted on horseback, and rode generally
after the van of the army, and appeared to be out of
humour. Upon the army marching out of Derby, Mr.
Morgan, an English gentleman, came up to Mr. Vaughan,
who was riding in the Life-guards, and after saluting
him said, ' D me, Vaughan, they are going to
Scotland !' Mr. Vaughan replied, ' Wherever they go, I
am determined, now I have joined them, to go along
with them.' Upon which Mr. Morgan said with an
oath, * I had rather be hanged than go to Scotland to
starve.' Mr. Morgan was hanged in 1746 ; and Mr.
Vaughan is an officer in Spain."*
In six days afterwards the Jacobite army arrived at
Preston, and from this place, where the Prince halted,
* Lord Elcho's MS.
284 JAMES DRUMMOND,
he sent the Duke of Perth to Scotland to summon his
friends from Perth to join him, in order to renew the at-
tack upon England. The Prince was resolved to retire
only until he met that reinforcement, and then to march
to London, be the consequence what it would. * But
this scheme, so dearly cherished by Charles, was imprac-
ticable. The Duke of Perth, taking with him an escort
of seventy or eighty horse, set out for Kendal. He was
assailed as he passed through that place by a mob,
which he dispersed by firing on them, and resumed his
march ; but near Penrith he was attacked by a far more
formidable force in a band of militia both horse and
foot, greatly superior in numbers to his troops, and was
obliged to retire to Kendal. On the fifteenth he rejoin-
ed the Prince's army, after this fruitless attempt. The
retreat of the Prince's army, managed as it was with
consummate skill by Lord George Murray, continued
without any division of the forces until they had
passed the river Esk. There the army separated ; and
the Duke of Perth commanding one column of the
army took the eastern line to Scotland, while Charles
marched to Annan in Durnfrieshire.
The siege of Stirling is the next event of note
in which we find the Duke of Perth engaged. He
here acted again as Lieutenant-General, and com-
manded the siege. Here, too, the valour and fidelity of
two other members of his family were again proved.
Lord John Drummond, who had landed in Scotland
while the Jacobites were at Derby, with the French
brigade, was slightly wounded in the battle of Falkirk.
He had the honour of being near the Prince in the
* Maxwell, p. 80.
DUKE OF PERTH. 285
centre of the battle with his grenadiers ; and it was on
his artillery and engineers that the Chevalier chiefly
depended for success in reducing Stirling. Lord Strath-
allan had also assembled his men, and joined the
army.
While the Prince's army were flushed with the
victory of Falkirk, the alternative of again marching
to London, or of continuing the siege of Stirling, was
discussed. The last-mentioned plan was unhappily
adopted ; and the Duke of Perth called upon General
Blakeney to surrender. The answer was, that the
General had always hitherto been regarded as a man
of honour, and that he would always behave him-
self as such, and would hold out the place as long as it
was tenable. Upon this, fresh works were erected ; and
Monsieur Mirabel, the chief engineer, gave it as his
opinion that the castle would be reduced in a few days.
The unfortunate result of that ill-advised siege, and the
consequent retreat of the Prince from Stirling, have
been, with every appearance of reason, as much blamed
as the retreat from Derby. It was a fatal resolution,
and one which was not adopted by the Prince without
sincere reluctance, and not until after a strong repre-
sentation, signed at Falkirk by Lord George Murray
and by all the Clans, begging that his Royal High-
ness would consent to retreat, had been presented to
him. The great desertion that had taken place since
the battle was adduced as a reason for this movement ;
and the siege of Stirling, it was also urged, must
necessarily be raised, on account of the inclemency of
the weather, which the soldiers could hardly bear in
their trenches, and the impaired state of the artillery.*
* Maxwell, p. 112.
286 JAMES DRUMMOND,
The winter was passed in a plan of operations, for
which the generalship of Prince Charles, or rather the
able judgment of Lord George Murray, has been eulo-
gized. Making the neighbourhood of Inverness the
centre, from which he could direct all the operations of
his various generals, the Prince employed his army of
eight thousand men extensively and usefully. The siege
of Fort William was carried on by Brigadier Stapleton ;
Lord George Murray had invested Blair Castle ; Lord
John Drummond was making head against General
Bland ; the Duke of Perth was in pursuit of Lord
Loudon. This portion of the operations was attended
with so much difficulty and danger, that Charles must
have entertained a high opinion of him to whom it
was entrusted.
Lord Cromartie had been already sent to disperse, if
possible, Lord London's little army; but that skilful
and estimable nobleman had successfully eluded his
adversary, who found it impossible either to entice him
into an action, or to force him out of the country.
Lord Loudon had taken up his quarters at Dornoch,
on the frith which divides Rosshire from Suther-
land. Here he was secure, as Lord Cromartie had no
boats. It was therefore deemed necessary to have two
detachments ; one to guard the passage of the frith, the
other to go by the head of it. This was a matter
of some difficulty, for the Prince had at that time
hardly as many men at Inverness as were necessary to
guard his person. It was, however, essential to attack
Lord Loudon, whose army cut off all communication
with Caithness, whence the Prince expected provisions
and men. In this dilemma an expedient had been
DUKE OF PERTH.
thought of some time previously, and preparations had
been made for it ; but the execution was extremely
dangerous. Mr. Maxwell gives the following account
of it:*
"All the fishing-boats that could be got on the
coast of Moray had been brought to Findhorn ; the dif-
ficulty was, to cross the frith of Moray unperceived
by the English ships that were continually cruizing
there : if the design was suspected, it could not succeed.
Two or three North-country gentlemen, that were em-
ployed in this affair, had conducted it with great
secrecy and expedition. All was ready at Findhorn
when the orders came from Inverness to make the
attempt, and the enemy had no suspicion. Moir of
Stoneywood set out with this little fleet in the begin-
ning of the night, got safe across the frith of Moray,
and arrived in the morning at Tain, where the Duke of
Perth, whom the Prince had sent to command this
expedition, was ready. The men were embarked with
great despatch, and by means of a thick fog, which
happened very opportunely, got over to Sutherland
without being perceived. " The Duke of Perth marched
directly to the enemies' quarters, and, after some dis-
appointments, owing to his being the dupe of his good
nature and politeness, succeeded in dispersing Lord
London's army : and this era, in the opinion of Mr.
Maxwell, is the finest part of the Prince's expedition."
Henceforth, all was dismay and disaster.
The affairs of Charles Edward had now begun visibly
to decline, for money, the sinews of the war, was not to
be had ; and the military chest, plundered, as it has been
* p. 129.
288 JAMES DRUMMOND,
stated, by villains who robbed the Prince by false
musters, was exhausted. The hopes of the Chevalier
were in the lowest state, when the intelligence reached
Inverness that the Duke of Cumberland was advancing
from Aberdeen to attack his forces. Upon receiving
these tidings, the Prince sent messengers far and wide
to call in his scattered troops, expecting that he should
be strong enough to venture a battle.
The Duke of Perth, who at that time commanded
all the troops that were to the eastward of Inverness,
was planted near the river Spey. When the enemy
approached, he retired to Elgin. On the same day,
the twelfth of April 1746, the Duke of Cumberland
passed the Spey, and encamped within three or four
miles of Elgin.
This retreat of the Duke of Perth has been severely
condemned. It appears, however, that he, and Lord
John Drummond who was with him, could not muster
two thousand five hundred men. The river, which was
very low, was fordable in many places ; so much so,
that the enemy might march a battalion in front. The
Duke had no artillery, whilst the enemy had a very
good train. There was no possibility of sending rein-
forcements from Inverness ; above all, says Mr. Max-
well, " nothing was to be risked that might dishearten
the common soldiers on the eve of a general and
decisive action."
But the same candid and experienced soldier ac-
knowledges that the Duke of Perth remained too long
at Nairn, whither he retired, and where the Duke of
Cumberland advanced within a mile of the town, and
followed the retiring army of Perth for a mile or two,
DUKE OF PERTH. 289
though to no purpose, the foot-soldiers being protected
by Fitzjames's Horse. The delay at Nairn has, it is true,
been excused, on the grounds of a command from Prince
Charles to the Duke of Perth and his brother not to
retire too hastily before Cumberland, but to keep as
near to him as was consistent with their safety. This
message "put them on their mettle, and well-nigh
occasioned their destruction." The Duke of Perth con-
tinued to retreat, until he halted somewhat short of
Culloden, where the Prince arrived that evening, and
took up his quarters at- Culloden House.*
The following day was the fifteenth of April, the
anniversary of that on which the Duke of Cumberland,
the disgrace of his family, the hard-hearted conqueror
of a brave and humane foe, first saw the light. It
was expected that he would choose his birth-day for
the combat, but the fatal engagement of Culloden was
deferred until the following morning.
The battle of Culloden was prefaced by a general
sentiment of despair among those who shared its
perils.
" This/' says Mr. Maxwell,* referring to the morning
of the engagement, " was the first time the Prince
ever thought his affairs desperate. He saw his little
army much reduced, and half-dead with hunger and
fatigue, and found himself under a necessity of fighting
in that miserable condition, for he would not think of
a retreat ; which he had never yielded to but with the
greatest reluctance, and which, on this occasion, he
imagined would disperse the few men he had, and put
an inglorious end to his expedition. He resolved to
* Maxwell, p. 140. f P. 147.
VOL. III. U
290 JAMES DRUMMOND,
wait for the enemy, be the event what it would ; and
he did not wait long, for he had been but a few hours
at Culloden, when his scouts brought him word that
the enemy was within two miles, advancing towards
the moor, where the Prince had drawn up his army
the day before. The men were scattered among the
woods of Culloden, the greatest part fast asleep. As
soon as the alarm was given, the officers ran about on
all sides to rouse them, if I may use the expression,
among the bushes ; and some went to Inverness, to
bring back such of the men as hunger had driven there.
Notwithstanding the pains taken by the officers to
assemble the men, there were several hundreds absent
from the battle, though within a mile of it : some were
quite exhausted, and not able to crawl ; and others
asleep in coverts that had not been beat up. How-
ever, in less time than one could have imagined, the
best part of the army was assembled, and formed on
the moor, where it had been drawn up the day before.
Every corps knew its post, and went straight without
waiting for fresh orders ; the order of battle was as
follows : the army was drawn up in two lines ; the
first was composed of the Atholl brigade, which had
the right; the Camerons, Stuarts of Appin, Frazers,
Macintoshes, Farquharsons, Chisholms, Perths, Roy
Stuart's regiment, and the Macdonalds, who had the
left."
The Highlanders, though faint with fatigue and
want of sleep, forgot all their hardships at the approach
of an enemy ; and, as a shout was sent up from the
Duke of Cumberland's army, they returned it with the
spirit of a valiant and undaunted people.
DUKE OF PERTH. 291
The order of battle was as follows : the right wing
was commanded by Lord George Murray, and the left
by the Duke of Perth ; the centre of the first line by
Lord John Drummond, and the centre of the second
by Brigadier Stapleton. There were five cannon on
the right, and four on the left of the army.*
The Duke of Perth had therefore, from his import-
ant command, the privilege of spending the short
period of existence, which, as the event proved, Provi-
dence allotted to him, in the service of a Prince whom
he loved ; whilst he had the good fortune to escape that
responsibility which fell to the lot of his rival, Lord
George Murray. The influence which that nobleman
had acquired over the council of war had enabled him
far to eclipse the Duke of Perth in importance ; but it
was the fate of Lord George Murray to pay a heavy
penalty for that distinction.
But not only did the amiable and high-minded
Duke of Perth calmly surrender to one, who was
esteemed a better leader than himself, the post of
honour; but he endeavoured to reconcile to the in-
dignity put upon them the fierce spirit of the Mac-
donalds, who were obliged to cede their accustomed
place on the right to the Atholl men. " If," said the
Duke, " you fight with your usual bravery, you will
make the left wing a right wing ; in which case I shall
ever afterwards assume the honourable surname of Mac-
donald."f The Duke's standard was borne, on this
occasion, by the Laird of Comrie, whose descendant
still shows the claymore which his ancestors brandished ;
* Chambers. t Lord Elcho's Narrative.
u 2
292 JAMES DRUMMOND,
whilst the Duke exclaimed aloud, " Claymore I"* Happy
would it have been for Charles, had a similar spirit
purified the motives of all those on whom he was fated
to depend !
The battle was soon ended ! Half-an-hour of slaugh-
ter and despair terminated the final struggle of the
Stuarts for the throne of Britain ! During that fearful
though brief f space, one thousand of the Jacobites were
killed; no quarter being given on either side. Exhausted
by fatigue and want of food, the brave Highlanders fell
thick as autumn leaves upon the blood-stained moor,
near Culloden House. About two hundred only on the
King's side perished in the encounter. During the
whole battle, taking into account the previous cannonad-
ing, the Jacobites lost, as the prisoners afterwards stated,
four thousand men. But it was not until after the
fury of the fight ceased, that the true horrors of war
really began. These may be said to consist, not in the
ardour of a strife in which the passions, madly engaged,
have no check, nor stay ; but in the cold, vindictive,
brutal, and remorseless after-deeds, which stamp for
ever the miseries of a conflict upon the broken hearts
of the survivors.
"Exceeding few," says Mr. Maxwell, "were made
prisoners in the field of battle, which was such a scene
of horror and inhumanity as is rarely to be met with
* The estate of Corarie is now in the possession of Sir David Dundas,
and the descendant of its former owner, and the Duke's standard-
bearer is reduced to be the landlord of the village inn. See Letters
of James Duke of Perth, Chancellor of Scotland. Printed for the Cam-
den Society, and edited by Wm. Jerdan, Esq.
t The battle, according to the newspapers of the day, lasted about
half an hour.
DUKE OF PERTH. 293
among civilized nations. Every circumstance concurs
to heighten the enormity of the cruelties exercised on
this occasion ; the shortness of the action, the cheap-
ness of the victory, and, above all, the moderation the
Prince had shown during his prosperity, the leniency,
and even tenderness, with which he had always treated
his enemies. But that which was done on the field of
Culloden was but a prelude to a long series of mas-
sacres committed in cold blood, which I shall have
occasion to mention afterwards."' 5 '"
The Chevalier, leaving that part of the field upon
which bodies in layers of three or four deep were lying,
rode along the moor in the direction of Fort Augustus,
where he passed the river of Nairn. He halted, and
held a conference with Sir Thomas Sheridan, Sullivan,
and Hay ; and, having taken his resolution, he sent
young Sullivan to the gentlemen who had followed him,
and who were now pretty numerous. Sheridan at first
pretended to conduct them to the place where the
Prince was to re-assemble his army ; but, having rid-
den half a mile towards Ruthven, he there stopped, and
dismissed them all in the Prince's name, telling them
it was the Prince's " pleasure that they should shift for
themselves."
This abrupt and impolitic, not to say ungracious
and unsoldier-like proceeding, has been justified by the
necessity of the moment. There were no magazines
in the Highlands, in which an unusual scarcity pre-
vailed. The Lowlanders, more especially, must have
starved in a country that had not the means of sup-
porting its own inhabitants, and of which they knew
neither the roads nor the language. It is, however,
* Maxwell, p. 154.
294 JAMES DRUMMOND,
but too probable, that various suspicions, which were
afterwards dispelled, of the fidelity of the Scots, in-
duced Charles to throw himself into the hands of his
Irish attendants at this critical juncture.*
The Duke of Perth, with his brother Lord John
Drummond, and Lord George Murray, with the Atholl
men, and almost all the Low-country men who had
been in the Jacobite army, retired to Ruthven, where
they remained a short time with two or three thousand
men, but without a day's subsistence. The leaders of
this band finding it impossible to keep the men toge-
ther, and receiving no orders from the Prince, came to
a resolution of separating. They took a melancholy
farewell of each other, brothers and companions in
arms, and many of them united by ties of relationship.
The chieftains dispersed to seek places of shelter, to
escape the pursuit of Cumberland's " bloodhounds : "
the men went to their homes.
Such is the statement of Maxwell of Kirkconnel,
relative to the Duke of Perth : according to another
account, the course which the Duke pursued was the
following :
He is said to have been wounded in the back and
hands in the battle, and to have fled with great
precipitancy from the field of battle. He obtained,
it is supposed, that shelter which, even under the most
dangerous and disastrous circumstances, was rarely
refused to the poor Jacobites. The exact spot of
his retreat has never been ascertained ; yet persons
* Sec Lord Elcho's MS. Narrative ; which, however, since it is writ-
ten in a bitter spirit, and varies in many details and in most opinions
from Maxwell's, 1 am not disposed wholly to trust.
DUKE OF PERTH. 295
living have been heard to say, that in the houses of
their grandfathers or ancestors, the Duke of Perth took
refuge, until the vigilance of pursuit had abated. The
obscurity into which this and other subjects connected
with 1745 have fallen, may be accounted for by the
apathy which, at the beginning of the present century
existed concerning all subjects connected with the ill-
starred enterprise of the Stuarts ; and the loss of much
interesting information, which the curiosity of modern
times would endeavour in vain to resuscitate, has been
the result.
Tradition, however, often a sure guide, and seldom, at
all events, wholly erroneous, has preserved some trace
of the unfortunate wanderer's adventures after all was
at an end. As it might be expected, and as common
report in the neighbourhood of Drummond Castle
states, the Duke returned to the protection of his own
people. To them, and to his stately home, he was
fondly attached, notwithstanding his foreign education.
On first going from Perth to join the insurrection, as
he lost sight of his Castle, he turned round, and as if
anticipating all the consequences of that step, ex-
claimed, < ! my bonny Drummond Castle, and my
bonny lands !'
The personal appearance of the Duke was well
known over all the country, for he was universally be-
loved, and was in the practice of riding at the head of
his tenantry and friends, called in that neighbourhood
' his guards,' to Michaelmas Market at Crieff, the great-
est fair in those parts ; where thousands assembled to
buy and sell cattle and horses. He was therefore after-
wards easily recognised, although in disguise.
296 JAMES DRUMMOND,
"Sometime after the battle of Culloden," as the
same authority relates, * " the Duke returned to Drum-
mond Castle, where his' mother usually resided ; and
lived there very privately, skulking about the woods and
in disguise ; he was repeatedly seen in a female dress,
barefooted, and bare-headed. Once a party came to
search the castle unexpectedly; he instantly got into
a wall press or closet, or recess of some sort, where a
woman shut him in, and standing before it, remained
motionless till they left that room, to carry on the
search, when he got out at a window and gained the
retreats in the woods. After he had withdrawn from
Scotland, and settled in the north of England, he
occasionally visited Strathearn."
In one of these visits he called, disguised as an old
travelling soldier, at Drummond Castle, and desired the
housekeeper to show him the rooms of the mansion.
She was humming the song of "the Duke of Perth's
Lament,' 1 and having learnt the name of the song he
desired her to sing it no more. When he got into his
own apartment he cried out, " This is the Duke's own
room ;" when, lifting his arm to lay hold of one of the
pictures, she observed he was in tears, and perceived
better dress under his disguise, which convinced her he
was the Duke himself, f
For some time the Duke continued these wander-
ings, stopping now and then to gaze upon his Castle, the
sight of which affected him to tears. " It was now,"
* The traditionary accounts have been collected, in the case of Thos.
Drummond, a claimant of the honours and estates of the Earldom of
Perth. Newcastle upon Tyne, 1831. I do not vouch for the truth of
these anecdotes, but they have an air of probability.
t Case of Thomas Drummond, p. 18.
DUKE OF PERTH. 297
says the writer of the case of Thomas Drummond,
" that for obvious reasons, to elude discovery, the re-
port of his death on shipboard or otherwise, would be
propagated by his friends and encouraged by himself."
It is stated upon the same evidence, that instead of sail-
ing to France, as it has been generally believed, the Duke
fled to England ; that he was conveyed on board a ship
and landed at South Shields, a few miles only distant
from Biddick, a small sequestered village, chiefly in-
habited at that time by banditti, who set all authority
at defiance. Biddick is situated near the river "Wear, a
few miles from Sunderland ; it was, at that time, both
from situation and from the character of its inhabitants,
a likely place for one flying from the power of the law to
find a shelter; it was, indeed, a common retreat for the
unfortunate and the criminal. That the Duke of Perth
actually took refuge there for some time, is an asser-
tion which has gained credence from the following
reasons :
In the first place : " In the History, Directory, and
Gazette of the counties of Northumberland and Dur-
ham, and the town and counties of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, by William Parson and William White, two
volumes, 1827-28, the following passage occurs relat-
ing to Biddick, in the parish of Hough ton-le- Spring:
" It was here that the unfortunate James Drum-
mond, commonly called Duke of Perth, took sanctuary
after the rebellion of 1745-6, under the protection of
Nicholas Lambton, Esq., of South Biddick, where he
died, and was buried at Pain-Shaw."
In the case of Thomas Drummond, (on whom I shall
hereafter make some comments,) letters stated to be
298 JAMES DRUMMOND,
from Lord John Drummond are referred to, and quoted
in part. These are said to have been addressed by
Lord John Drummond from Boulogne, to the Duke at
Houghton-le- Spring. The passage quoted runs thus :
" I think you had better come to France, and you
would be out of danger ; as I find you are living in
obscurity at Houghton-le-Spring. I doubt that it is
a dangerous place ; you say it is reported that you died
on your passage. I hope and trust you will still live in
obscurity." These expressions, which it must be owned
have very much the air of being coined for the pur-
pose, would certainly, were the supposed letters authen-
ticated, establish the fact of the Duke's retreat to
Houghton-le-Spring.
Upon the doubtful nature of the intelligence, which
was alone gleaned by the friends and relatives of the
Duke of Perth, a superstructure of romance, as it cer-
tainly appears to be, was reared. The Duke was never,
as it was believed, married ; and in 1784 the estates
were restored to his kinsman, the Honourable John
Drummond, who was created Baron Perth, and who
died in 1800, leaving the estates, with the honour of
chieftainship, to his daughter Clementina Sarah, now
Lady Willoughby D'Eresby.
In 1831, a claimant to the honours and estates ap-
peared in Thomas Drummond, who declared himself to
be the grandson of James Duke of Perth ; according
to his account, the Duke of Perth on reaching Biddick,
took up his abode with a man named John Armstrong,
a collier or pitman. The occupation of this man was, it
was stated, an inducement for this choice on the part
of the Duke, as in case of pursuit, the abyss at a coal-
DUKE OF PERTH. 299
pit might afford a secure retreat ; since no one would
dare to enter a coal-pit without the permission of the
owners.
The Duke, it is stated in the case of Thomas Drum-
mond, commenced soon after his arrival at Biddick, the
employment of a shoemaker, in order to lull suspicion ;
he lost money by his endeavours, and soon relinquished
his new trade. He is said to have become, in the course
of time, much attached to the daughter of his host,
John Armstrong, and to have married her at the parish
church of Houghton-le- Spring, in 1749. He resided
with his wife's family until his first child was born,
when he removed to the boat-house, a dwelling with the
use and privilege of a ferry-boat attached to it, and
belonging to Nicholas Lambton, Esq. of Biddick ; who,
knowing the rank and misfortunes of the Duke, be-
stowed it on him from compassion. Here he lived, and
with the aid of a small huckster's shop on the pre-
mises, supported a family, which in process of time,
amounted to six or seven children ; two of whom, Mrs.
Atkinson and Mrs. Peters, aged women, but still in full
possession of their intellect, have given their testimony
to the identity of this shoemaker and huckster to the
Duke of Perth.*
The papers, letters, documents and writings, a fa-
vourite diamond ring, and a ducal patent of nobility,
were, however, " all lost in the great flood of the river
Wear in 1771 ;" and the Duke is said to have deeply
lamented this misfortune. It is not, however, very
likely that he would have carried his ducal patent with
him in his flight ; and had he afterwards sent for it from
* See case of Thomas Drumrnond, p. 26.
300 JAMES DRUMMOND,
Drummond Castle, some of his family must have been
apprised of his existence.
It is stated, however, but only on hearsay, that
thirteen years after the year 1745, the Duke visited
his forfeited Castle of Drummond, disguised as an old
beggar, and dressed up in a light coloured wig. This
rumour rests chiefly upon the evidence of the Rev. Dr.
Malcolm, LLD., who, in 1808, published a Genealo-
gical Memoir of the ancient and noble House of Drum-
mond ; and who declared, on being applied to by the
family of Thomas Drummond, that he had been told by
Mrs. Sommers, the daughter-in-law of Patrick Drum-
mond, Esq., of Drummondernock, the intimate friend
of the Duke of Perth, that the Duke survived the
events of the battle of Culloden a long time, and years
afterwards, visited his estates, and was recognised by
many of his " trusty tenants.*" * A similar report was,
at the same time, very prevalent at Strathearn ; and it
has been positively affirmed, that a visit was received
by Mr. Graeme, at Garnock, from the Duke of Perth,
long after he was believed to be dead. At this
time, it is indeed wholly impossible to verify, or even
satisfactorily to refute such statements ; but the exist-
ence of a report in Scotland, that the Duke did not
perish at sea, may be received as an undoubted fact.f
In 1831, when the case of Thomas Drummond was
first agitated, Mrs. Atkinson and Mrs. Elizabeth Peters,
the supposed daughters of James Duke of Perth, were
* Case, p. 34. Dr. Malcolm had in his book made a different state-
ment ; but had contemplated re-publishing his work, with corrections,
among which the existence (after 1747) of James Drummond, was to
be asserted.
t For this information, and also for a copy of the case of Thomas
Drummond, I am indebted to the kindness of W. E. Aytoun, Esq.
DUKE OF PERTH. 301
both alive, and on their evidence much of the stability
of the case depended. The claimant, Thomas Drummond,
who is stated to have been the eldest son of James, son
of James Duke of Perth, was born in 1792, and was
living in 1831 at Houghton-le- Spring, in the occupa-
tion of a pitman. Much doubt is thrown upon the
whole of the case, which was not followed up, by the
length of time which elapsed before any claim was
made on the part of this supposed descendant of the
Duke of Perth. The act for the restoration of the
forfeited estates was not passed, indeed, until two years
after the death (as it is stated) of the Duke of Perth,
that is, in 1784 ; yet one would suppose that he would
have carefully instructed his son in the proper manner
to assert his rights in case of such an event. That son
lived to a mature age, married and died, yet made no
effort to recover what were said to be his just rights.*
Such is the statement of those who seek to establish
the belief that the Duke of Perth lived to a good old
age, married, had children, and left heirs to his title
* In 1816, another appeal, and a fresh claim to the Drummond
estates, and to the Earldom of Perth, were brought forward by the de-
scendant of John Drummond, the great-uncle of James, Duke of Perth.
The said John Drummond was raised to the dignity of the English peer-
age in 1685, by James the Second, by the title of Viscount Melfort ; in
1686 he was raised to the dignity of Earl of Melfort ; and afterwards,
following the monarch to St. Germains, was created Duke of Melfort.
The great-grandson of the Duke of Melfort was a Roman Carholic
priest, who officiated some years back at the chapel in Moorfields ; he
was living in 1831 in France, at a very advanced age.
The pamphlet in which, in 1816, he asserted his claim, and which
was laid before the House of Lords, was professedly written " by an
unfortunate nobleman ; " with the appeal of Charles Edward (Drum-
mond), Duke of Melfort, heir male, and chief representative of the House
of Drummond of Perth, submitted to the United Kingdom of Great
Britain, &c., 8vo., London, 1816.
302 JAMES DRUMMOND.
and estates. On the other hand, it is certain that it
was generally considered certain, at the time of the
insurrection, that the Duke died on his voyage to
France ; and it was even alluded to by one of the
counsel at the trials of Lord Kilmarnock and Lord
Balmerino in August 1746, when the name of the
Duke of Perth being mentioned, " who," said the
Speaker, " I see by the papers, is dead." But it
is certainly remarkable, that neither Maxwell of Kirk-
connel, nor Lord Elcho, the one in his narrative
which has been printed, the other in his manu-
script memoir, mention the death of the Duke of
Perth on the voyage, which, as they both state, they
shared with him. So important and interesting a
circumstance would not, one may suppose, have oc-
curred without their alluding to it. " All the gentle-
men," Lord Elcho relates, " who crossed to Nantes, pro-
ceeded to Paris after their disembarkation ;"* but he
enters into no further particulars of their destination.
His silence, and that of Maxwell of Kirkconnel, re-
garding the Duke of Perth's death, seems, if it really
took place, to have been inexplicable.
All doubt, but that the story of the unfortunate
Duke's death was really true, appears however to be set
at rest by the epitaph which some friendly or kindred
hand has inscribed on a tomb in the chapel of the
English Nuns at Antwerp, commemorating the virtues
and the fate of the Duke, and of his brother Lord
John Drummond. This monumental tribute would
hardly have been inscribed without some degree of cer-
tainty that the remains of the Duke were indeed
interred there.
* Lord Elclio's MS.
DUKE OF PERTH. 303
M. S.*
Fratrum Illustriss. Jac. et Joan. Ducum de Perth,
Antiquiss. Nobiliss. Familiae de Drummond apud Scotos,
Principum.
Jacobus, ad studia humaniora proclivior,
Literis excultus,
Artium bonarum et liberalium fautor eximius ;
* For the copies of these epitaphs I am indebted to Robert Chambers,
Esq. This is that gentleman's account of the inscriptions :
" The within is a correct copy of the inscription, as entered in Bishop
Forbes's MS., vol. 9, dated on title page, 1761. The entry of inscrip-
tions is immediately subsequent to a copied letter or memorandum of
May, 1764, and antecedent to one of November, 1765.
" Fama perennis, lauru porrecta, vetat mori
" Principes immaculatis Proavum honoribus dignos.
" Hoc Elogium,
" D. D. D.
" T. D. L. L. D.
" N.B. The above is engraven, all in capitals, on the tomb at
Antwerp, with the coat armorial of the family on the top of the in-
scription."
The following is the English translation of the originals in Latin,
copied from the papers of Bishop Forbes :
Sacred to the Memory
of
the most illustrious brothers, James and John,
Dukes of Perth,
Chiefs of the House of Drummond,
a very ancient and noble family in Scotland.
James,
the more disposed of the two to the study of Belles Lettres,
excelled in Literature ;
was eminent as a favourer of the Fine
and Liberal arts.
Providing for the common good,
he was always a most worthy citizen in peace.
Characterized by the sweetness of his manners,
and distinguished by the strength of his mind,
He ever shone with unstained faith as a friend of mankind.
Great in peace, he was still greater in war,
304 JAMES DRUMMOND,
In commune consulens,
Semper in otio civis dignissimus.
Mira morum suavitate, et animi fortitudine ornatus,
Intaminata fide splendebat human! generis amicus.
In pace clarus, in bello clarior ;
Appulso enim Carolo P. in Scotiam,
Gladio in causa gentis Stuartorum rearrepto,
Veterorum cura posthabita,
Glorise et virtuti unice prospiciens,
Alacri vultu labores belli spectabat ;
Pericula omnia minima ducebat :
In preelio strenuus, in victoria elemens, heros egregius.
Copiis Caroli tandem dissipatis,
Patria, amicis, re domi amplissima,
Cunctis prseter mentem recti consciam, fortiter desertis,
In Galliam tendens, solum natale fugit.
Verum assiduis laboribus et patrise malis gravibus oppressus,
In mari magno,
Die natale revertente, ob. 13 Maii, 1746 ; set. 33.
Et reliquiae, vends adversis, terra sacrata interclusa?,
In undis sepultse.
For when Prince Charles landed in Scotland,
He drew his sword in the cause of the House of Stuart,
Put all other cares aside,
And uniformly looking forward to glory and worth,
He ever gazed with a cheerful countenance on the toils of war :
He was utterly regardless of all danger,
Without want of energy in battle, he was merciful in victory,
Indeed a man of rare occurrence ;
At length when the forces of Charles were wasted away,
His native land, his friends, and a very ample estate,
Were all, when weighed in estimation with a mind conscious of right,
Bravely deserted :
Turning his steps towards France, he fled his
Native country.
Oppressed by the troubles of his lot, and the
Heavy misfortunes of his country,
He died on the great ocean,
On the 13th of May, in the thirty-third year of his age ;
And his remains, precluded from consecrated ground by adverse winds,
Were given to the deep.
DUKE OF PERTH. 305
Joannes, ingenio felici martiali imbutus,
A prima adolescentia, militise artibus operam dedit.
Fortis, intrepidus, propositi tenax,
Mansuetudine generosa, et facilitate morum, militis asperitate lenita.
Legioni Scoticae regali, ab ipsomet conscriptae,
A Rege Christianiss. Lud. XV. prsepositus.
Flagrante bello civili in Britannia,
Auxilia Gallorum duxit ;
Et post conflictum infaustum Cullodinensem,
In eadera navi cum fratre profugus.
In Flandria, sub Imperatore Com. de Saxe, multum meruit :
Subjectis semper praesidium,
Belli calamitatum (agnoscite Britanni !) insigne levamen.
Ad summos Martis dignitates gradatim assurgens,
Glorise nobilis metae appetens,
In medio cursu, improvisa lethi vi raptus,
28 Septemb. A.D. 1747, Mi. 33.
In Angl.monach. Sacello Antwerpise jacet."
The preceding narrative is given to the reader with-
out any further comment, except upon the general im-
John,
Imbued with a happy turn of mind for military affairs,
From early youth applied himself to the military art.
Brave, intrepid, and firm in purpose,
He was ennobled by gentleness, and softened the asperity of the soldier
by the ease of his manners.
He was placed over the Royal Scotch Legion,
Enlisted by himself,
By the most Christian King,
Louis XV.
Whilst the Civil War was raging in Britain
He led the French Auxiliary Forces,
And after the unfortunate battle of Culloden,
Was a fugitive in the same ship as his brother.
In Flanders, under the General Count Saxe,
He served a long time,
Ever a defence to those under his command,
A remarkable comforter (Learn, Britons !) in the calamities of war ;
Gradually rising to the highest dignities of war,
And seeking to attain the goal of noble glory,
He was carried away by sudden death in the midst of his course,
28th September, A.D. 1747. Aged 33.
VOL. III. X
306 JAMES DRUMMOND,
probability of the story. It might not appear impos-
sible that the Duke may have taken refuge in the
then wild county of Durham for a time, but that two
credible historians, Maxwell of Kirkconnel, and Lord
Elcho, assert positively that he sailed for Nantes in a
vessel which went by the north-west coast of Ireland ;
Lord Elcho and Maxwell being themselves on board,
seems decisive of the entire failure of the case before
quoted. It seems also wholly incredible, that the
Duke of Perth, whose rank was still acknowledged in
France, and whose early education in that country
must have familiarised him with its habits, should
have remained contentedly during the whole of his life,
associating with persons of the lowest grade, in an ob-
scure village in Durham.
At the time of the Duke of Perth's death in 1747,
one brother, Lord John Drummond, was living. This
brave man, whose virtues and whose fate are recorded
in the epitaph, survived his amiable and accomplished
brother only one year, and died suddenly of a fever,
after serving under Marshal Saxe at the siege of Ber-
gen-op-Zoom. His services in the insurrection of
1 745 were considerable ; like his brother, he escaped
to France after the contest was concluded. He died
unmarried ; and two sisters, the Lady Mary, and the
Lady Henrietta Drummond, died also unmarried. The
mother of James Duke of Perth long survived him,
living until 1773. It is said in the case of Thomas
Drummond, that she never forgave her son for what
she considered his lukewarmness in the cause of the
Stuarts, and refused to have any intercourse with him
after the failure of the rebellion ; but those who thus
write, must have formed a very erroneous conception
DUKE OF PERTH. 307
of the Duke's conduct : if he might not escape such a
charge, who could deserve the praise of zeal, sincerity,
and disinterestedness ?
The duchess was one of the most strenuous sup-
porters of the Stuarts, and suffered for her loyalty to
them by an imprisonment in Edinburgh Castle. She
was committed to prison on the eleventh of February,
1 746, and liberated on bail on the seventeenth.
On the forfeiture of the Drummond estates she
retired to Stobhall, where she remained until her
death, at the advanced age of ninety. She was con-
sidered a woman of great spirit, energy, and ability,
and is supposed to have influenced her son in his poli-
tical opinions and actions.
Some idea may be formed of the painful circum-
stances which follow the forfeiture of estates from the
following passage, extracted from the introduction to
the letters of James Earl of Perth, Chancellor of Scot-
land in the time of James the Second, and lately printed
for the Camden Society.*
" When a considerable portion of the Drummond
estates were restored to the heir (no poor boon, though
dilapidated, lopped, and impoverished,) he found
upon them four settlements of cottages, in which the
soldiery had been located after the battle of Cullo-
den, to keep down the rebels. There were thirty near
Drummond Castle, another division at Cullander, a third
at Balibeg, and a fourth at Stobhall. Demolition might
satisfy the abhorrence of the latter three, but what
could reconcile him to the outrage under his very eyes,
as he looked from his chamber or castle terrace ? It
* Edited by W. Jerdan, Esq., M. R.S. L , 1845.
x 2
308 JAMES DRUMMOND,
was intolerable, and that every trace might be oblite-
rated, he caused an embankment to be made, and car-
ried a lake-like sheet of water over the very chimney
tops of the military dwellings. There is now the beau-
tiful lake, gleaming with fish, and haunted by the wild
birds of the Highlands ; and we believe the deepest
diver of them all, could not observe one stone upon
another of the cabins which held the ruthless military
oppressors left by the Duke of Cumberland a cen-
tury ago/'
The usual accounts of the Duke's movements after
the battle of Culloden, state, however, that about a
month subsequent to that event, when the fugitive
Charles Stuart, in the commencement of his wander-
ings, landed by accident upon the little isle of Errifort,
on the east side of Lewis, he saw, from the summit of
a hill which he had climbed, two frigates sailing north-
wards. The Chevalier in vain endeavoured to persuade
the boatmen who had brought him from Lewis, to go
out and reconnoitre these ships. His companions
judged these vessels to be English ; the Prince alone
guessed them to be French. He was right. They
were two frigates from Nantes, which had been sent
with money, arms, and ammunition to succour Charles,
and were now returning to France. On board one of
them was the Duke of Perth, Lord Elcho, Lord John
Drummond, old Lochiel, Sir Thomas Sheridan and his
nephew Mr, Hay, Maxwell of Kirkconnel, and Mr.
Lockhart of Carnwath, and several Low-country gentle-
men, who had been wandering about in these remote
parts when the frigates were setting out on their re-
turn,* and finding that the Prince was gone, and that
* Maxwell, p. 166.
DUKE OF PERTH. 309
nothing was to be done for his service, had determined
to escape. On the tenth of June these frigates reached
Nantes : Lord Elcho affirms that " all arrived safe at
Nantes ; " one only is said never to have gained that
shore. Worn out by fatigues too severe, and, perhaps,
the progress of disease being aided by sorrow, the Duke
of Perth is generally stated to have died on ship-board
on his passage. His malady is understood to have
been consumption.
Another celebrated member of this distinguished
family, Lord Strathallan, was not spared to witness the
total ruin of all his hopes. He fell at the battle of
Culloden. The impression among his descendants is,
that, seeing the defeat certain, he rushed into the thick
of the battle, determined to perish. In 1746 Lord
Strathallan's name was included in the Bill of At-
tainder then passed ; but, in 1824, one of the most
graceful acts of George the Fourth, whose sentiments
of compassion for the Stuarts and their adherents
do credit to his memory, was the restoration of the
present Viscount Strathallan to the peerage by the
title of the sixth Yiscount.
It is with regret that we take leave, amid the
discordant scenes of an historical narrative, of one
whose high purposes and blameless career are the best
tribute to virtue, the noblest ornament of the party
which he espoused. Modest, yet courageous ; moderate,
though in the ardour of youth ; devout, without bigotry ;
and capable of every self-sacrifice for the good of
others, on the memory of the young Duke of Perth
not a shadow rests to attract the attention of the
harsh to defects of intention, unjustly attributed to
the leader of the Jacobite insurrection.
310
FLORA MACDONALD.
THE character of this celebrated woman, heroic, yet
gentle, was formed in the privacy of the strictest
Highland seclusion. She was born in the island of
South Uist, in 1720 : she was the daughter of Mac-
donald of Milton. The Clan of her family was that
of Macdonald of Clanranald ; the Chief of which is
called in Gaelic, Mack-ire- Allein, and in English, the
captain of Clan Ranald. The estate of this Chief,
which is held principally from the Crown, is situated
in Moidart and Arisaig on the continent of Scotland,
and in the islands of Uist, Benbecula, and Rum. His
vassals, capable of military service, amounted in 1745
to five hundred.*
The Hebrides were at that time regarded in the
more civilized parts of Europe somewhat in the same
light as the Arctic regions are now considered by the
inhabitants of England, and other polished nations :
" When I was at Ferney in 1764," Boswell relates,
" I mentioned our design (of going to the Hebrides)
to Voltaire. He looked at me as if I had talked of
going to the North Pole, and said, ' You do not insist
on my accompanying you ? ' ' No, sir.' ' Then I am
very willing you should go/" In this remote, and,
in the circles of London, almost unknown region, Flora
Macdonald was born and educated.
The death of her father, Macdonald of Milton, when
* General Stewart's Sketches of the Highlanders, vol. ii. p. 5. App.
FLORA MACDONALD. 311
she was only a year old, made an important change
in the destiny of the little Highland girl. Her mother
married again, and became the wife of Macdonald of
Armadale in Skye. Flora was, therefore, removed from
the island of South Uist to an island which was nearer
to the means of acquiring information than her native
place.
It was a popular error of the times, more especially
among the English Whigs, to regard the Highlanders
of every grade, as an ignorant, barbarous race. So
far as the lowest classes were concerned, this imputa-
tion might be well-founded, though certainly not so
well as it has much longer been in the same classes in
England. Previously to the reign of George the Third
many of the peasantry could not read, and many could
not understand what they read in English. There were
few books in Gaelic, and the defect was only partially
supplied by the instruction of bards and seneachies.
But, among the middle and higher classes, education
was generally diffused. The excellent grammar-schools
in Inverness, Fortrose, and Dunkeld sent out men well-
informed, excellent classical scholars, and these from
among that order which in England is the most illi-
terate the gentlemen-farmers. The Universities
gave them even a greater extent of advantages.
When the Hessian troops were quartered in Atholl,
the commanding officers, who were accomplished
gentlemen, found a ready communication in Latin
at every inn. Upon the Colonel of the Hessian
cavalry halting at Dunkeld, he was addressed by the
innkeeper in Latin. This class of innkeepers has
wholly, unhappily, disappeared in the Highlands.*
* See General Stewart's Sketches.
312 FLORA MACDONALD.
But it was in the island of Skye that classical
learning was the most general, and there an extra-
ordinary degree of intelligence and acquirement pre-
vailed among the landed gentry. " I believe," observes
General Stewart, " it is rather unique for the gentry of
a remote corner to learn Latin, merely to talk -to each
other ; yet so it was in Skye." The acquisition of
this branch of learning was not, indeed, expensive.
Latin was taught for two shillings and sixpence the
quarter, and English and writing for one shilling.
Indeed it is scarcely more now. The people seldom
quitted their insular homes, except when on service ;
and, to the silence of their wild secluded scenes, the
romance of poetry and the composition of song gave
a relief and a charm.
The education of Flora Macdonald received probably
little aid from the classical teacher ; but her mind
was formed, not among the rude and uncultured, but
among those who appreciated letters ; and the in-
fluence of such an advantage in elevating and strength-
ening the character must be taken into account in
forming a due estimation of her heroic qualities.
Thus situated, Flora passed her life in obscurity,
until, at the age of twenty-four, the events which
succeeded the battle of Culloden brought those ener-
gies, which had been nurtured in retirement, into
active exertion. Indeed, until about a year before
she engaged in that enterprise which has rendered
her name so celebrated, she had never quitted the
islands of South Uist and Skye ; she had, at that
time, passed about nine months in the family of Mac-
donald of Largoe in Argyleshire, and this was the only
FLORA MACDONALD. 313
change of scene, or of sphere, which she had ever wit-
nessed.*
Her step-father was an enemy to the cause which,
from her earliest years, her heart espoused. A com-
pany of militia had been formed to assist the British
Government by Sir Alexander Macdonald, the chief-
tain of one division of the clan, and in this regiment
Macdonald of Armadale held a commission as captain,
at the time when the Duke of Cumberland was " mak-
ing inquisition for blood" throughout the western
Highlands. But the prepossessions of Flora were un-
alienably engaged in favour of the exiled Stuarts ;
and they were not, perhaps, the less likely to glow
from being necessarily suppressed. Her disposition,
notwithstanding all her subsequent display of courage,
was extremely mild ; and her manners corresponded to
her temper. Her complexion was fair ; and her figure,
though small, well-proportioned. In more advanced
life Boswell, who with Dr. Johnson visited her, cha-
racterized her person and deportment as "genteel.''
There was nothing unfeminine, either in her form or
in her manners, to detract from the charm of her great
natural vivacity, or give a tone of hardness to her
strong good sense, calm judgment, and power of deci-
sion. Her voice was sweet and low ; the harsher ac-
cents of the Scottish tongue were not to be detected in
her discourse ; and she spoke, as Bishop Forbes relates,
" English (or rather Scots) easily, and not at all through
the Erse tone/' In all the varied circumstances of her
life, she manifested a perfect modesty and propriety of
behaviour, coupled with that noble simplicity of cha-
* Chambers. Note, p. 106.
314 FLORA MACDONALD.
racter which led her to regard with surprise the
tributes which were afterwards paid to her conduct,
and to express her conviction that far too much
value was placed upon what she deemed merely an act
of common humanity.
In Skye, the " Isle of Mist" of the poet, she could
hear imperfect intelligence of the wanderings of the
Jacobite leaders. She was connected by kindred with
some under whose roof the Prince had taken refuge.
The first movement which the Prince made after
taking leave of Lord Lovat at Gortuleg, was to repair
first to Fort Augustus, and then to Invergarie near Fort
Augustus. Here he took leave of those followers who
had attended him as he quitted the field of Culloden ;
and retained only Mr. O'Sullivan, Captain O'Neil, Cap-
tain Alan Macdonald, and one Burke, a servant. It
was not until he had remained a whole day at Fort
Augustus that the Prince could be persuaded that all
hopes of his troops rejoining him were at an end. On
Friday, the eighteenth of April, he went to Lochnargaig,
where he stayed one night with Dr. Cameron of Glen-
kearn ; and on the following day he proceeded to
Oban, which is situated on a corner of Clanranald's
estate. He was, therefore, under the protection of a
kinsman of Flora Macdonald. He pursued his journey
on the next day to the country of Arisaig, and rested
at a small village called Glenbeisdale, whence he pro-
ceeded to Boradale, the place at which he had first
landed in beginning the enterprise which was now ter-
minated.
It had been the opinion of Clanranald, one of the
Prince's most faithful adherents, that he ought not to
FLORA MACDONALD 315
leave the mainland, but to take shelter in different
small huts, which should be built for his accommoda-
tion ; whilst Clanranald should take a trip to the Isles,
and look out for a vessel to convey the unfortunate
wanderer into France. By the influence of Mr. O'Sulli-
van this counsel was overruled ; and Clanranald, finding
that Charles was determined to sail for Long Island,
provided an eight-oared boat, which belonged to Alex-
ander Macdonald of Boradale ; and, having provided it
with rowers and other requisites for the voyage, the
party set sail from Lochnanuagh for the Isle of Uist on
the twenty-fourth of April. They assumed false names :
the Prince was called Mr. Sinclair ; Mr. O'Sullivan was
old Sinclair, his father ; Captain Alan Macdonald, a
relation of Clanranald, became Mr. Graham. * Donald
Macleod the pilot, and about six men, rowers, also
accompanied the Prince, but did not change their
names ; a clergyman of the Church of Rome at-
tended the party. The design which Charles Edward
had formed, was to reach the Long Island, under
which name are comprehended those Western Islands
which run in a straight line from north to south, and
are at a short distance from each other. From some
part of the Long Island Charles hoped to procure a
vessel in which he could escape to France, or at any
rate to Orkney, and thence to Norway or Sweden. At
this time a proclamation, offering a reward of thirty
thousand pounds for his apprehension, had been issued
by the British Government.
The Prince set sail on the evening of the twenty-
sixth of April, embarking at Boradale, on the very spot
* Lockhart's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 540.
316 FLORA MACDONALD.
where he had landed, with just sufficient daylight to
get clear of Loch Luagh ; for, as the coast had been
guarded by English ships ever since his arrival in
Scotland, it was not safe to go beyond the mouth of
the Loch in open day. Before the voyage was com-
menced, the Prince was warned by his faithful pilot
that there would be a storm that night. "I see
it coming !" But Charles Edward, anxious to leave
the main land, where parties were dispersed in pur-
suit of him, was determined to trust his fate to
the winds. The party, therefore, entered the boat, the
Prince seating himself at the feet of the pilot.
There was also another Macleod in the boat ; this was
Murdoch, the son of the pilot, a boy of fifteen years of
age. The character of this youth was of no common
order. "When he had heard of the battle of Culloden,
he had provided himself with a claymore, a dirk, and
a pistol ; and had run off from school to take his
chance in the field. After the defeat he found means
to trace out the road which the Prince had taken,
and to follow him step by step ; " and this was the
way," related Donald Macleod, "that I met wi' my
poor boy."
Another person who was in the boat, and who after-
wards made a conspicuous figure in that romance of
real life, was Ned Bourke, or Burke. This man had
belonged to a most valuable class, the chairmen of
Edinburgh, whose honesty is proverbial ; their activity
and civility almost incredible to English notions.
Bourke was not, as his name seemed to imply, an
Irishman ; but a native of North Uist. He had been
a servant to Mr. Alexander Macleod, one of Charles
FLORA MACDONALD. 317
Edward's aides-de-camp ; and was the man who had led
the Prince off the field of battle, and guided him all the
way to Boradale : for Ned Bourke knew Scotland, and
indeed a great portion of England, well, having been
servant to several gentlemen. In this, his most im-
portant service, the honest man did not disgrace his
ancient and honourable calling as a chairman. " Ex-
cellent things" were spoken of him to Donald Macleod,
who seems to have made some demur as to his Irish
name, and to have objected to taking him on board.
Thus guided, and thus guarded, Charles Edward
might fear the winds and waves ; but treachery was not
to be dreaded. Not far had the men rowed before a
violent storm arose ; such as even Donald had not,
from his own account, ever been " trysted with before,"
though he had all his life been a seafaring man. The
Prince was now as impatient to return to the land as
he had been to quit it ; " for," he said, " I would rather
face cannons and muskets than be in such a storm as
this !" But Donald was firm in proceeding on the voyage :
" Since we are here," he replied, " we have nothing
for it, but, under God, to set out to sea directly." He
refused to steer for the rock, which runs three miles
along the side of the loch ; observing, " Is it not as
good for us to be drowned in clear water, as to be
dashed to pieces on a rock, and drowned also T
A solemn silence followed this decisive reply. Every
one expected instant destruction. The night was pitch-
dark ; and there was no light in the boat. They
dreaded being landed on some part of the island of
Skye, where the militia were in arms to prevent the
Prince's escape. But, to use the words of the pilot, " As
318 FLORA MACDONALD.
God would have it," that danger was not encountered.
By daybreak the party discovered that they were close
to Ptushness, in the island of Benbecula, having run ac-
cording to the pilot's account, thirty-two leagues in
eight hours. During this perilous voyage the spirits of
Charles never sank ; he encouraged every one around
him, working himself at the oars : " he was," says Mr.
Maxwell, " the only one that seemed void of concern/'
Such were the circumstances under which Charles
Edward landed in the Long Island; the event which
brought him into communication with Flora Macdonald.
She was at that time calmly engaged in the usual duties
of her station ; but the spirit so prevalent in the High-
lands was not extinguished in the Western Islands,
either by the dread of the English militia, or by the de-
feat of the Prince. All the Jacobites of that period, to
adopt the language of President Forbes, " how prudent
soever, became mad ; all doubtful people became Jaco-
bites ; and all bankrupts became heroes, and talked of
nothing but hereditary right and victory. And what
was more grievous to men of gallantry, and, if you be-
lieve me, more mischievous to the public, all the fine
ladies, if you except one or two, became passionately
fond of the young adventurer, and used all their arts
for him in the most intemperate manner."* It was not,
however, an idle, romantic fancy, but a fixed sentiment
of duty, acting upon a kindly heart, which originated
the enthusiasm of Flora.
Whilst the Prince was traversing the Long Island in
poverty and danger, a desolate wanderer wanting the
common necessaries of life, but still patient and cheer-
* Stewart, vol. i. p. 105.
FLORA MACDONALD. 319
ful, ever hoping once more to assemble his faithful
Highlanders, living at one time four days in a desert
island, then putting to sea pursued by ships, Flora
Macdonald had accidentally quitted her usual residence
at Armadale in Skye, for the purpose of visiting her
step-brother at Milton.
During her abode at Milton, Captain O'Neil, who was
loitering about the country for the purpose of gaining
intelligence for Charles Edward, formed an acquaint-
ance with this young lady, and, it is said,
paid his addresses to her. More than two months
had now elapsed since Charles first trusted his hopes to
the chance of finding a vessel on the coast of the Long
Island, to take him to France. During that period his
fortunes had assumed a far more threatening aspect
than at any previous time. Friends had proved faith-
less : Murray of Broughton, whom the Prince then still
regarded as one of the " firmest, honestest men in the
world," had shown to others his real motives, and the
deep selfishness, cowardice, and rapacity, of his heart.
In his utmost need, when the Prince was in want
of food, that wretched man had, in reply to a message
from Charles asking money, answered that he had
none ; having only sixty louis-d'ors for himself, which
were not worth sending. What was perhaps of more
immediate moment was, that, whilst the friends of the
young Chevalier had diminished, the number of his
foes around him had increased. Fifteen ships of war
were to be seen near the coasts of the Long Island, thus
most effectually destroying all hopes of a French vessel
being able to cruize near the shore. To complete his
misfortunes, the Duke of Cumberland, upon learning
320 FLORA MACDONALD.
that his unfortunate kinsman had sheltered himself in
the Western Islands, had sent Captain Caroline Scott,
an officer as infamous as Hawley and Lockhart, to
scour the Long Island.
Such were the circumstances of Charles towards the
latter end of June 1746. He was then coursing along
the shores of the Long Island, until, pursued by French
ships, he was obliged to land, happily for himself, on
the island of Benbecula, between the North and South
Uist. Providence seemed to have conducted him to that
wild and bleak shore. Scarcely had he reached it, than
a storm arose, and drove his pursuers off the coast.
Here the Prince and his starving companions were
overjoyed to find a number of crabs, or, as the Scottish
pilot termed them, partans ; a boon to the famished
wanderers. From a hut, about two miles from the shore?
Charles removed, first to the house of Lady Clanranald ;
and afterwards, by the advice of Clanranald, he went to
South Uist, and took up his abode near the hill of Cora-
dale in the centre of the island, that being thought the
most secure retreat. Here Charles remained until again
driven from this hut by the approach of Captain Scott,
with a detachment of five hundred men, who advanced
close to the place where he was concealed. The unfor-
tunate Prince then determined upon a last and painful
effort to save those who had braved hitherto the seve-
rities of their lot for his sake. He parted with all his
followers except O'Neil. Donald Macleod shed tears on
bidding him farewell. Macleod was taken prisoner a
few days afterwards in Benbecula, by Lieutenant Allan
Macdonald, of Knock, in Slate, in the island of Skye.
He was put on board the Furnace,* and brought down to
* Brown's Highlands, p. 284.
:*J
TUNG JPRET&JfDFJl.
FLORA MACDONALD. 321
the cabin before General Campbell, who examined him
minutely. The General asked him "if he had been
along with the Pretender V " Yes," said Donald, " I
was along with that young gentleman, and I winna
deny it." " Do you know," said the General, " what
money was upon the gentleman's head 1 no less a sum
than four thousand pounds sterling, which would have
made you and your family happy for ever." " What
then/' said Donald, " what could I have gotten by it ?
I could not have enjoyed it for two days, conscience
would have gotten the better of me ; and although I
could have got England and Scotland for my Prince, I
would not have allowed a hair of his head to be hurt."*
After this separation, the Prince, accompanied by
O'Neil, again returned to traverse the mountainous dis-
tricts of South Uist. He walked in the direction of
Benbecula, and about midnight entered a shealing, or
hut, which belonged to Angus Macdonald, the brother
of his future deliverer. The interview which shortly
took place between them, was not, as it may readily be
conceived, unpremeditated.f Repeatedly, before the
meeting, had O'Neil asked Flora whether she would like
to see the Prince ? She answered with emotion that
she would. She had even expressed an earnest desire
to see him ; and had said, if she could be of any use in
aiding him to escape from his enemies, she would do it.
O'Neil had had various opportunities of studying the
real character of Flora Macdonald. He must have
had an extraordinary notion of her energy when he
first proposed to her, whilst they met in Clanranald's
* Donald Macleod's Narrative, in Bishop Forbes's collection,
t Home, App. p. 45.
VOL. III. Y
322 FLORA MACDONALD.
house, to take the Prince with her to Skye, dressed up
in woman's clothes. This proposition appeared to
Flora so "fantastical and dangerous," that she positively
declined it. "A Macdonald, a Macleod, a Campbell
militia were," she observed, " in South Uist in quest of
the Prince : a guard was posted at every ferry ; every
boat was seized ; no person could leave Long Island
without a passport ; and the channel between Uist and
Skye was covered with ships of war." Such was her
resolution whilst she discussed the subject with CTNeil
at the house of her kinsman, Clanranald. Nor does
that sense of the dangers of her undertaking lessen the
heroism of the enterprise. But her woman's heart,
however timid it might be at Clanranald's castle, was
touched, when she beheld the Prince ; and compas-
sion, from which spring the noblest resolves, inspired
her to exertion.
As the Prince, attended by O'Neil, drew near to the
hut belonging to Angus Macdonald, the latter quitted
Charles, and went aside, with a design to inform
himself whether the independent companies of militia
were to pass that way, or not, on the following day, as
he had been informed. Such, at least, was his pre-
text ; but he had an appointment with Flora Macdon-
ald, who was awaiting him near the hut. To his
question, she answered that " they would not pass
until the day after." Then O'Neil ventured to tell
the young lady that he had brought a friend to see
her. She inquired in some agitation "if it was the
Prince 1 " He replied that it was, and he instantly
brought her into the shealing. The kind heart of
Flora was afflicted at the sight. Charles was ex-
FLORA MACDONALD. 323
hausted with fatigue and misery ; he had become
thin and weak, and his health was greatly affected by
the hardships which he had undergone. He and O'Neil
had lost indeed the means of personal comfort ; they
had but two shirts with them, and every article of
wearing apparel was worn out. To a feeble mind,
the depressed state of Prince Charles's affairs, his
broken-down aspect, and the dangers which surrounded
him, would have inspired reluctance to serve one so
desolate. These circumstances, however, only softened
the resistance which Flora had at first made to the
scheme suggested for his escape, and renewed her desire
to aid him.
After her first introduction, the discourse for some
time turned upon his dangerous situation ; the best
remedy for which was, as both the Prince and O'Neil
hinted, for Flora to convey him in disguise to Skye,
where her mother lived. This seemed the more fea-
sible, from the situation which her father-in-law held,
and which would enable him to give a pass for her-
self and her servant.
The Prince assented to the expediency of the pro-
posal, which originated with O'Neil, and immediately
asked Flora if she would undertake to carry the plan
into effect. Flora answered with great respect and
loyalty, but declined, saying that " Sir Alexander Mac-
donald, who commanded the militia in Skye, was too
much her friend for her to be the instrument of his
ruin." O'Neil endeavoured to combat this opinion, re-
presenting that Sir Alexander was not then in the
country, and could not therefore be implicated: he
added, that she might easily convey the Prince to her
Y 2
324 FLORA MACDONALD.
mother's, at Armadale, as she lived close by the water-
side. O'Neil also told her of the honour and immortal
fame which would redound from so glorious an action ;
and the Prince assured her that he should always retain
a deep sense of " so conspicuous a service." The firm-
ness of Flora had resisted the arguments of O'Neil ; but
it was overcome by these few words from the Prince.
She consented to let O'Neil know on the following day
at what time every arrangement would be made for the
plan which had been proposed, and she left the Prince
and his adherent to shelter themselves in the moun-
tains of Coradale.*
On leaving the shealing, Flora at first returned to
Milton ; but, having fully made up her mind to under-
take the enterprise, she set out for Ormaclade, the seat
of Clanranald, on Saturday the twenty-first of June.
Her journey was not without perilous adventures.
On passing a ford, she was taken prisoner by one
of the militia, on account of not having a passport.
She inquired by whom they were commanded ; and, find-
ing that her step-father was their captain, she refused
to give an answer to the questions put to her until she
saw him. She was made a prisoner for that night ;
her captivity being shared by her servant Neil Mac
Kechan, a clansman, who was the father of Marshal
Macdonald, Duke of Tarentum. In the morning, Hugh
Macdonald of Armadale, the step-father of Flora, ar-
rived, and liberated her ; granting a passport for her-
self, her servant, and for another woman whom she
styled Betty Burke, a good spinster, whom Armadale
in the innocency of his heart recommended to his
* O'Neil's Narrative.
FLORA MACDONALD. 325
wife at Armadale, as she had much lint to spin. His
letter has been preserved ; and there is every reason to
believe, that, when writing it, Armadale was wholly un-
conscious of the design of Flora.*
The letter of Armadale to his wife ran as follows :
"I have sent your daughter from this country lest
she should be frightened with the troops lying here.
She has got one Betty Burke, an Irish girl, who, as she
tells me, is a good spinner. If her spinning pleases you,
you may keep her till she spins all your lint : or, if
you have any wool to spin, you may employ her. I
have sent Mac Kechan along with your daughter and
Betty Burke, to take care of them. I am, your dutiful
husband,
"Kuan MACDONALD."
" June 22nd, 1746."
It was late in the afternoon of the Sunday on which
Flora had obtained her passport, before she could
communicate with her friends in the mountains ; about
four o'clock, however, they received a message telling
them that all was ivell. The Prince and his com-
panion, therefore, determined immediately to join their
protectress.
Upon being set at liberty, Flora went immediately
to Ormaclade, where she had, in Lady Clanranald, an
enthusiastic assistant. She remained at Ormaclade
for several days, making arrangements for the com-
plete disguise of the Prince.
The Prince and CTNeil had only waited for the
arrival of Flora's messenger to set out and meet their
heroic friend ; but the trusty individual who had
* Brown's History of the Highlands, p. 285, note, vol. iii.
326 FLORA MACDONALD.
brought them the tidings that all was well, informed
them that they could not pass either of the fords
which separated South Uist from Benbecula, as they
were guarded by militia. In this extremity the Prince
knew not how he should ever reach the place ap-
pointed for his meeting with Flora, which was Kos-
sinish, in Benbecula, from which spot she was to con-
duct him to Skye. An inhabitant of South Uist,
seeing his perplexity, offered him a boat : the prof-
fered aid was accepted ; and Charles, with O'Neil, was
landed on a promontory which the pilot of the boat
assured the Prince was the island of Benbecula.
Charles therefore dismissed the boatmen, with orders
to meet him on the opposite side of the island ; and
began his journey. He had not gone far when he
found himself surrounded with water, and perceived
that the pilot had made a mistake. Neither Charles
nor his companions had ever before been in this part
of Benbecula. They looked around them on the
desolate prospect, and perceived that they were on
a peninsula, perfectly desert, and which at high-
water was separated from Benbecula. At first Charles
hoped, that, when the tide was out, some passage might
be discovered ; but the waves retired and no passage
appeared. The Prince was not disheartened ; for his
courage, never justly questioned, had gained its best
allies, patience and fortitude, during the adversities
of the last few months. He supported the fainting
spirits of his companions; and, to encourage them to
search for a passage, said that he knew of one, al-
though he was in fact as ignorant as they were. At
length he discovered a passage, and the party reached
FLORA MACDONALD. 327
a little hut, which they were assured was in Benbecula.*
He marched on, exhausted as he was, to Rossinish,
and arrived there at midnight, but found not the
deliverer they expected ; on the contrary, he learned
that they were within fifty miles of the enemy.
Hungry as they were, having eaten nothing all day,
the Prince and his fainting companions were obliged
to retreat four miles. Captain O'Neil was then sent
to Ormaclade, to inquire why Flora had not been
true to her appointment. She told him that she
now considered that North Uist would be a safer
place of refuge than Skye, and that she had engaged a
cousin of hers to receive him there. O'Neil remained
at Ormaclade, and sent a boy to inform the Prince,
who was now only at eight miles' distance, of this pro-
posal ; but that scheme was soon abandoned, the gen-
tleman to whom Flora referred refusing to receive
the Prince. In this dilemma, Charles was informed
that his enemies had quitted Rossinish, and he there-
fore hastened to that place. His safe arrival there
was, indeed, almost miraculous. Near him was a
guard of fifty men; the island was full of militia;
and the secret of his being in it was known to many
a poor cotter. But, in these vicissitudes of his event-
ful and unhappy life, the Prince was thrown among a
faithful and honourable people, in whose bosoms the
conviction was planted, that to betray him would bring
down a curse upon themselves and their posterity.
On arriving at Rossinish, Captain O'Neil was again
dispatched to Flora to express the disappointment of
Charles on not seeing her, and to beg her to join him.
* Maxwell of Kirkconnel, p. 178.
328 FLORA MACDONALD.
She promised faithfully to do so on the following day ;
and she kept her word. Having hired a six-oared boat
to convey her to Skye, and appointed it to be at a
certain part of the coast, she set out for Rossinish :
accompanied by Lady Clanranald, whose participation
in the cause was shortly afterwards punished by im-
prisonment; by a Mrs. Macdonald, and by Mac Kechan,
her servant. They entered a hut, where they found
this unfortunate descendant of an ill-fated race pre-
paring his own dinner. It consisted of the heart, liver,
and kidneys of a sheep, which he was turning upon a
wooden spit. The compassion of the ladies was
roused by this sight; but Charles, as he bade them
welcome to the humble repast, moralized on his fate.
He observed, that all kings would be benefited by
such an ordeal as that which he had endured. His
philosophy was seasoned by the hope of attaining what
he ever desired, the hereditary monarchy which he
believed to be his birthright. He observed, that the
wretched to-day, may be happy to-morrow. At the
dinner, Flora Macdonald sat on the right-hand of the
Prince, and Lady Clanranald on the left.
After the meal was ended, Charles was requested by
Flora to assume the female apparel which Lady Clan-
ranald had brought. It was, of course, very homely,
and consisted of a flowered linen gown, a light-co-
loured quilted petticoat, and a mantle of clean cam-
let, made after the Irish fashion, with a hood. Their
dangers, as he put on his dress, did not check the
merriment of the party ; and many jokes were passed
upon the costume of Betty Burke. A small shal-
lop was lying near the shore, and Flora proposed
FLORA MACDONALD. 329
that they should remove near to the place whence
they were to embark, for her fears had been excited
by a message which arrived from Ormaclade, ac-
quainting Lady Clanranald that a party of soldiers,
under the infamous Captain Fergusson, had arrived at
her house, and had taken up their quarters there. Lady
Clanranald hastened home, where she managed to
deceive and perplex both General Campbell, who had
lately arrived in Benbecula, and Captain Fergusson.
And now another trial was at hand : it was neces-
sary for Captain O'Neil and the Prince to separate. The
Irishman would fain have remained with Charles, but
Flora was firm, as well as kind; her opinion on this
point was decided ; and O'Neil was obliged to yield.
This point was not gained without much difficulty, for
Charles even remonstrated. O'Neil took his leave, and
made his way, through a country traversed by troops, to
South Uist, where O'Sullivan had been left. "I could
now," writes Captain O'Neil in his journal, when he re-
lates his departure from the Prince, " only recommend
him to God and his good fortune." This kind-hearted
man was afterwards taken prisoner by Captain Fergus-
son, who had him stripped and threatened not only
with the rack, but also with being whipped by his hang-
man, because he would not disclose where the Prince
was. These cruelties were opposed, however, by a
junior officer, who, coming out with a drawn sword,
threatened Fergusson with a beating, and saved O'Neil
from the punishment which was to have been the re-
quital of his fidelity.
When all were gone, except Flora, the Prince, and
Mac Kechan, the party proceeded to the sea-shore,
330 FLORA MACDONALD.
where they arrived wet and wearied, and passed the
night upon a rock. They made a fire to warm them-
selves, and endeavoured still to maintain hope and
cheerfulness. How picturesque and singular must have
been the group, thus awaiting the moment which should
perhaps only conduct them to fresh perils ! As they
reclined among the heath which grew on the rock, four
wherries, filled with armed men, caused the little party
to extinguish their fire, and to hide themselves in the
heather. The wherries, which made at first for the
shore, sailed by to the southward, within a gun-shot of
the spot where Charles Edward and Flora were con-
cealed. At eight o'clock in the evening of Saturday,
the twenty-eighth of June 1746, the Prince and she
set sail from Benbecula for Skye.
The evening on which they quitted the shores
which had been to them such scenes of peril was
clear ; but, not long after they had embarked, the sea
became rough, and the weather stormy. Prince
Charles resolved never to despond, sang songs to
prevent the spirits of the company from flagging, and
talked gaily and hopefully of the future. Exhausted
by her previous exertions, Flora sank into a sleep ; and
Charles carefully watched her slumbers, being afraid
lest the voices of the boatmen should arouse her, or,
in the dark, that any of the men should step upon her.
She awoke in a surprise at some little bustle in the
boat, and asked hastily " What was the matter V What
must have been her emotions at that moment !
The next day, Sunday, was one of anxiety. The
boatmen had lost their track, and had no compass ; the
wind had changed, it was then calm. They made, how-
FLORA MACDONALD. 331
ever, towards Waternish, in the west of Skye ; but they
found the place possessed by militia, and three boats
were visible near the shore. A man on board one of
the boats fired at them ; on which they made away
as fast as they could; for, in addition to that danger,
several ships of war were now in sight. The Prince
and his friends took shelter, therefore, in a cleft of a
rock on the shore, and there remained to rest the men,
who had been up all night, and to prepare their pro-
visions for dinner. The party then resumed their
voyage : fortunately it was calm, for otherwise, in
any distress of weather, they must have been over-
taken and have perished, for an alarm had already
been given of the appearance of a strange boat, and
the militia were upon the watch ; the promised reward
set upon Charles having excited all the vigilance of
his enemies. At length, after rowing some time, they
landed at Kilbride in Troternish, in Skye, about
twelve miles to the north of Waternish. But several
parties of militia were in the neighbourhood. Flora now
quitted the boat, and went with Neil Mac Kechan to
Mugstat, the residence of Sir Alexander Macdonald :
here she desired one of the servants to apprise Lady
Macdonald of her arrival. The lady was not unpre-
pared to receive her, for a kinswoman had gone a
short time before to tell her of the enterprise in which
Flora had engaged.
Lady Margaret was well disposed to give the cause
every assistance in her power. She was the daughter
of the celebrated Susanna, Countess of Eglintoune, and of
Alexander, ninth Earl of Eglintoune, who was supposed,
while ostensibly supporting the family on the throne, to
332 FLORA MACDONALD.
be a secret friend of the Stuarts.* Lady Margaret was
one of seven sisters, famed for their loveliness, and
for the " Eglintoune air," a term applied to that family
as a tribute to the lofty grace of their deportment.
" It was a goodly sight," observes Mr. Chambers, " a
century ago, to see the long processions of sedans
containing Lady Eglintoune and her daughters devolve
from the Close,f and proceed to the Assembly Eooms
in the West Bow, where there was usually a con-
siderable crowd of plebeian admirers congregated, to
behold their lofty and graceful figures step from the
chairs on the pavement." Lady Margaret was greatly
beloved in Skye. When she rode through the island,
the people ran before her, and took the stones off the
road, lest her horse should stumble. Her husband
was also very popular. Such was the hospitality of
Mugstat, that every week a hogshead of claret was
drunk at his table4
Lady Margaret had now been married six years to Sir
Alexander Macdonald of Macdonald. She was the mother
of three sons, two of whom were eminently distinguish-
ed. The first, Sir James Macdonald, was a young
man of singular accomplishments, and the friend of
Lord Lyttleton ; he was endowed " with great talents
for business, great propriety of behaviour, great polite-
ness of manners." To these acquirements he added
those amiable qualities, which, united to great erudition,
procured him the title of the " Marcellus of the West-
* Chambers' Traditions of Edinburgh, p. 255.
t Eglintoune House was situated on the west side of the old Stamp-
office Close, High Street. It is now occupied by a vintner. Chambers'
Traditions, p. 256.
I Boswell, p. 320.
FLORA MACDONALD. 333
ern isles." His early death was regarded as a general
calamity ; his tomb was honoured by an inscription
composed by Lyttleton. When Dr. Johnson visited
the isle of Skye, this young man, who died at Rome
in the twenty-fifth year of his age, was still men-
tioned with tears. His brother, Sir Alexander, the
English-bred chieftain, but ill-supplied his loss. He
was no Highlander. " "Were I in your place, sir/ 7
said Johnson to the young chieftain, "in seven years
I would make this an independent island. I would
roast oxen whole, and hang out a flag as a signal to the
Macdonalds to come and get beef and whiskey." Sir
Alexander, of whom Johnson had heard heavy com-
plaints of rents racked, and the islanders driven to
emigration, bore with politeness the rough assaults of
the Doctor : he nevertheless started difficulties. " Nay,
sir," rejoined Johnson, "if you are born to object, I
have done with you, sir. I would have a magazine of
arms." " They would rust," was the meek reply. " Let
there be men to clean them," cried the Doctor, " your
ancestors did not use to let their arms rust !" Such
was Lady Margaret's second son. The third, and
youngest son of Lady Margaret, revived, however, all
the fondly remembered virtues of Sir James. Some
persons may still recall the benignant appearance of
the late venerable Sir Archibald Macdonald, Lord
Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer in England :
there are many who must recollect his virtues and ac-
quirements with respect.
The character of Lady Margaret was not that of
her second son ; but of a spirited generous woman.
She was not one who would allow the arms of her
334 FLORA MACDONALD.
ancestors "to rust." Before the Prince's arrival, her
energies had been employed in contriving the fittest
route for him to take after leaving Mugstat, for she
was as enthusiastic an adherent of Charles Edward,
as any of her female relations. Whilst he was in
North Uist, he had sent Lady Margaret a letter, en-
closed, by Hugh Macdonald of Balishair, to his brother
Donald Roy Macdonald, with orders to deliver it to
Lady Margaret alone ; and, in case of attack while at
sea, to sink it, by tying it to a stone. This letter
revealed the secret of the Prince's intention to quit the
Long Island : it informed Lady Margaret that Charles
wanted almost all necessary habiliments ; and desired
that some shirts and blankets might be provided
for him ; the Prince having hitherto slept only in
his plaid, a custom which he retained almost con-
stantly during his wanderings. Balishair's letter had
also unfolded a plan at that time in contemplation,
that Charles should take refuge on the small grass-
island called Fladdanuach, belonging to Sir Alexander
Macdonald, and having only one tenant upon it.
Thither Lady Margaret was to send Donald Roy Mac-
donald with the articles to be in readiness for the
Prince.
Lady Margaret had instantly complied with these in-
junctions. Eventually the notion of making Fladdanu-
ach the retreat of Charles was given up ; but the zealous
Lady Margaret had made the most careful preparations
for that scheme, and it was not from any negligence on
her part that it was abandoned. The packet sent by
Balishair contained, however, another valuable paper.
This was a letter written in Prince Charles's own hand,
FLORA MACDONALD. 335
chiefly one of compliment, and full of gratitude to
Lady Margaret for sending him newspapers, which
had been delivered to him through Macdonald of Ba-
lishair.
This precious letter had, some time before Flora had
arrived at Mugstat, been delivered to Lady Margaret.
When she received it, she rose from her seat, and
kissing it said, alluding to a precaution which had
been recommended, " I will never burn it ; I will
preserve it for the sake of him who wrote it to me.
Although King George's forces should come to the
house, I shall find means to secure it." Afterwards,
however, her house being searched by the dreaded
Fergusson, she considered it necessary for Charles's
safety to burn it; although, as it proved, there was no
search whatsoever for papers.
Lady Margaret had been aided in her efforts and
plans by a zealous kinsman, Captain Roy Macdonald,
who had been wounded at the battle of Culloden.
This person was still under medical care, and was
living in the house of a surgeon named Maclean, at
Troternish. When Charles landed at Skye, Roy Mac-
donald, wounded as he was, had sailed to Fladdanuach,
at Lady Margaret's bidding, with clothes and money,
and had returned just in time to witness her per-
plexity at the Prince's unexpected arrival.
Upon that event being made known by Flora Mac-
donald to Lady Margaret, she sent a message to Cap-
tain Roy Macdonald, entreating him to come to her
immediately. He complied, and found Lady Margaret
walking in the garden of Mugstat, talking very ear-
nestly to Alexander Macdonald of Kingsburgh, a gen-
336 FLORA MACDONALD.
tleman of the neighbourhood, who acted as factor,
or chamberlain, to Sir Alexander. As Roy Macdonald
approached, Lady Margaret exclaimed, holding up her
hands, "Oh, Donald Roy, we are ruined for ever!"
It was then imparted to him that the Prince was
within a quarter of a mile from Mugstat, in woman's
clothes; that Lieutenant Macleod, who was employed
to guard that part of Skye, and three or four of his
militia-men, were about the house ; a number of
others being not far distant : what was still more
alarming, Flora Macdonald and the Lieutenant were
at that time conversing together in the dining-room.
A consultation immediately ensued as to the plan
the most proper to ensure Charles Edward's safety.
Donald Roy Macdonald declared, that, whatever they
should agree upon, " he would undertake (God willing)
to accomplish at the risk of his life." - Kingsburgh was
first called upon to give his opinion. He proposed
that the Prince should sail by the point of Tro-
ternish to Raasay, because it would be impossible for
him to remain in Skye with safety. This plan was,
however, opposed by Lady Margaret, who said, that, if
the Prince was to sail for Raasay, it were better that he
should remain at Mugstat all night. In short, no
scheme appeared practicable ; and the consultation was
frequently broken off in despair, and renewed only to
start fresh difficulties. At last Donald Roy said, " What
do you think, Kingsburgh, if the Prince should run
the risk of making his way over to Portree by land ? "
Kingsburgh, notwithstanding that he was full of appre-
hension, thought that the plan might be tried, al-
though the distance from Mugstat to Portree was
FLORA MACDONALD. 337
fourteeen long Highland miles. At first it was decided
that Donald Roy should be the bearer of this scheme to
the Prince ; but it was afterwards argued, that, since
the Prince must make " a monstrous figure " in
woman's clothes, there might be some suspicion excited
by Donald Roy's talking to so singular a stranger. It
was therefore determined that no one except Flora
Macdonald should be entrusted with the perilous task
of taking messages to Charles at his station on the
shore. Lady Margaret in the course of this conversa-
tion expressed "that she was in great difficulties, v It
was impossible that she could apply to any of the Clan
for assistance. The general belief was, that Sir Alex-
ander Macdonald was unfriendly to the Prince, and
that no greater favour could be shown by the chief
than seizing the royal fugitive. This increased the
danger of Charles's remaining in Skye, and threw her
entirely upon the good offices of Kingsburgh and Roy
Donald.
During this conference Flora Macdonald was keeping
up what she afterwards described to Bishop Forbes as
" a close chit-chat " with Lieutenant Macleod, who put
to her questions which she answered as " she thought
fit." Lady Margaret, meantime, could not forbear
going in and out in great anxiety ; a circumstance
which Flora observed, and which could not but add to
her embarrassment ; nevertheless, this extraordinary
young woman maintained the utmost composure. She
even dined in company with the Lieutenant without
betraying her perplexity in a single instance : never
was the value of that admirable quality, presence of
mind, more forcibly seen than in this instance. It
VOL. in. z
338 FLORA MACDONALD.
had been the office of the Lieutenant to examine every
boat that had landed, and to investigate into the
motives and destination of every passenger. How
the boat which had conveyed the Prince to Skye
escaped search has not been explained. At all events,
Flora completely baffled every inquiry ; and perhaps
no one could do so better than a Scottish woman.
The ordinary caution in reply, observable in Highland
females, is very striking. The Prince was awaiting
his fate all this time upon the rock at the shore, not
above a gun-shot from the foot of the garden. The
faithful and anxious servant Mac Kechan went to
him repeatedly, but without molestation ; and Mac-
donald of Kingsburgh, who could not controul his
anxiety to see Charles Edward, providing himself with
a bottle of wine and some bread, also repaired to him.
The Prince was then sitting upon the shore, having
startled a flock of sheep, the running of which first at-
tracted Kingsburgh to the place where he was planted.
Charles had removed to a more distant spot than
that which he had at first selected, for he had been
apprised by Neil Mac Kechan of Kingsburgh's intended
visit, and conducted by that faithful servant to the
back of a certain hill, where he was requested to wait
until Kingsburgh should reach him. It was also an-
nounced to Charles by Neil, that he was to go to
Portree, resting by the way at the house of Kingsburgh,
who was a staunch Jacobite.
When Kingsburgh drew near to the place where
Charles awaited him, he saw the Prince approaching
him with a short thick cudgel (not a very feminine
appendage) in his hand. " Are you,"cried Charles, " Mr.
FLORA MACDONALD, 339
Macdonald of Kingsburgh 1 " " Yes, sir," replied
Kingsburgh. " Then," said Charles, " all is well ; come
let us be going." Macdonald, however, first begged
the Prince to partake of some refreshment, which he
did ; the top of a rock serving for a table. This being
done, they proceeded on their journey; Kingsburgh
telling his fellow-traveller with no less admiration than
joy, " that he could recollect no cause either of busi-
ness or duty for his being at Mugstat that day." " I'll
tell you the cause," said the Prince ; "Providence sent
you hither to take care of me."
They were now interrupted by some country-people
coming from the kirk. These sociable rustics were
disposed to favour the Prince and his companion with
their conversation. Kingsburgh could think of no
other way of getting rid of them than saying, " Eh,
sirs ! cannot ye let alone talking o' your worldly affairs
on the sabbath 1 and have patience till another day ? "
The poor people took the pious hint and moved off.*
For some time after the Prince had set out, Flora
remained at Mugstat, where Lady Margaret, who could
only speak to her in presence of the officer, pressed
her much to stay, and feigned a great anxiety to
retain her for a few days, telling her that she had pro-
mised to do so the first time that she came that way.
But Flora excused herself, saying that she wanted to
be at home in these troublesome times, and also to see
her mother. She was at length suffered to depart, ac-
companied by Mrs. Macdonald of Kirkibost, the lady
who had apprised Lady Margaret of her visit, but who
* A Genuine Account of the Prince's escape. Scots' Magazine for
1749.
z 2
340 FLORA MACDONALD.
was not in the secret of the Prince's disguise. This
lady's maid and man servant, and Mac Kechan com-
pleted the party. Lady Margaret during the whole
of this agitating affair never saw the Prince " in any
shape. " *
Flora and her companions soon overtook the Prince
and Kingsburgh. They found the curiosity of her
companion somewhat inconvenient, for Mrs. Macdonald
was very anxious to see the " strange woman's " face ;
but it was always turned away from her inquisitive
gaze. Yet Mrs. Macdonald made her observations
nevertheless. " She never/' she said, " had seen before
such an impudent-looking woman and she must
either be an Irish woman, or a man in woman's
clothes I" Flora, who had the happy and rare art of not
saying too much, replied that " she was an Irishwoman,
for she had seen her before." The maid who attended
Mrs. Macdonald took notice of the supposed Irish wo-
man's awkward way of managing her petticoats, and re-
marked what long strides she took in walking. In par-
ticular, in wading a rivulet, the Prince lifted up his
troublesome garments so high, that Mac Kechan called
out to him " for God's sake to take care, or he would
discover himself." Charles laughed heartily, and thank-
ed him for his cautions : he much feared that they
would be neglected. Flora began to be apprehensive of
the loquacious and observant mistress and maid. She,
as well as Mrs. Macdonald, was now on horseback,
and she proposed that the ladies should go on a little
faster, and leave those on foot to take their time.
There was another object in this arrangement : the
* Captain Roy Macclonald's Narrative. Forbes, p. 419.
FLORA MACDONALD. 341
country was traversed by parties of militia, and it was
necessary for the Prince and Kingsburgh to diverge
by a cross-road over the hills to the place of their
destination. They went therefore by by-paths, south-
south-east, to Kingsburgh's house, which they reached at
midnight ; Flora having arrived there a short time before.
She had parted with her other companions on the road.
During this journey of seven long miles, which
were performed in a drenching rain, there was no
slight risk, owing to the very singular demeanour
of the Prince, and to the awkwardness with which he
performed his part. Betty Burke was regarded by
the gazing passers-by as a very strange woman. When
the country-people greeted him with an obeisance, he
returned it with a bow instead of a curtsey ; and in
all his gestures he forgot the woman, and retained
the man. After the remonstrance upon holding his
skirts too high, he let them fall down into the streams
which often intersected his path. " Your enemies,
sir" remarked Kingsburgh, " call you a Pretender, but
you are the worst at your trade that I ever saw."
"Why," replied Charles laughing, "they do me per-
haps as much injustice in this as in other respects.
I have all my life despised assumed characters, and
am the worst dissembler in the world."
Lady Kingsburgh, not expecting her husband that
night, had retired to rest ; and her house was not at
this time in the best possible condition for receiving
visitors. Kingsburgh, however, introduced Charles into
the hall, and sent a servant up-stairs to desire Lady
Kingsburgh to rise and dress herself. But the lady
was not disposed to comply with her husband's com-
342 FLORA MACDONALD.
mands that night. She sent a message to beg that he
and his guests would help themselves to whatsoever they
found in the house, and excuse her absence. As soon
as she had despatched this answer, her daughter, a child
of seven years of age, ran into the room, and told her,
with much astonishment, that her father had brought
home the most odd " ill-shaken-up wife " that she had
ever seen, and had conducted her into the hall. Kings-
burgh now made his appearance, and entreated his wife
to come down-stairs, her presence being absolutely
requisite. 45 " Lady Kingsburgh was now really aroused.
She could not help suspecting that her husband had
taken into his house some of those proscribed and
wretched fugitives who were skulking about the coun-
try. She could well imagine the distress of many of
the Jacobites, for a paper had been, for some weeks,
read in the kirks, forbidding all persons to give any
sort of sustenance to a rebel, under pain of being de-
prived of it themselves.f
She now dressed herself, sending her little girl into
the hall to fetch her keys. The child went down-
stairs, but returned, saying that she could not go into
the hall, the " strange woman 7 ' was walking back-
wards and forwards in so frightful a manner. Lady
Kingsburgh therefore went herself, but stopped short
at the door on seeing the stranger, whose aspect seems
to have been unusually gaunt and unwomanly. Her
husband, however, bade her go in for her keys, and
at last she found courage to enter.
* Chambers. Edit, for the People, p. 101.
f Note in Scots' Magazine for 1749 ; from a MS. by Colonel
Macalistcr.
FLORA MACDONALD. 343
As she walked into the hall, Charles arose from his
seat and advanced to meet her. According to the cus-
tom of the day, which applied both to ladies and gen-
tlemen, he offered her the compliment of a salute.
Lady Kingsburgh felt the roughness of no woman's
cheek against her own. Alarmed at the discovery, she
nearly fainted ; she spoke not, neither did the stranger.
She went hastily towards Kingsburgh, and told him her
suspicions. No reproaches were uttered on her part
for the introduction, which had evidently some risk
connected with it ; she merely asked, " Does this
strange woman know anything about the Prince V 9 Her
husband, taking her hand, replied, "My dear, this is
the Prince himself." "The Prince!' 1 returned Lady
Kingsburgh; "then we shall all be hanged!" "We
can die but once," answered Kingsburgh ; " could we
die in a better cause 1 We are only doing an act of
humanity."
He then desired her to send in supper. " Let us
have eggs, butter, cheese, or whatever can be procured
in the shortest time." The lady remonstrated. " Eggs,
butter, and cheese for a Prince ! " " he will never look
at such a supper." "Ah, my dear," returned Kings-
burgh, " you little know how this poor Prince has fared
of late. Our supper will be a banquet to him. Besides,
any formal preparation would excite suspicion. Make
haste, and come to supper yourself." Lady Kingsburgh
had now a new source of alarm. " / come to supper ! "
she cried ; " I do not know how to behave before a
Prince." She was reassured by her husband, who told
her that there was no difficulty in behaving before this
Prince, who was so easy and obliging.
344 FLORA MACDONALD.
The party, who had undergone such a clay's journey,
sat up nearly till dawn, and became merry over their
supper. Never was there a more joyous or inspiring
guest at a feast than the unfortunate Charles. He
was now in the house of a trusted adherent ; and his
spirits, which had been unaltered even in huts and ca-
verns, gladdened all present. His favourite toast, was
" To the Black Eye !" by which, as his pilot to the
Long Island, Donald Macleod, relates, he meant the
second daughter of France ; " and I never heard him,"
said Donald, " name any particular health but that
alone. When he spoke of that lady, which he did
frequently, he appeared to be more than ordinarily
well-pleased." *
The Prince ate heartily, and drank a bumper of
brandy to the health of his host and hostess. When
the ladies had retired, he took out a little black piece
of tobacco-pipe which had been his consolation in all
his wanderings, and began to smoke. Like most per-
sons who have recourse to a similar practice, Prince
Charles framed an excuse for it on the plea of health,
telling Kingsburgh, that he had found it essential,
in order to cure the tooth-ache, from which he had
suffered much. His pipe had obtained the name,
among his companions, of the " cutty"
A small china punch -bowl was then produced by
the host, and was twice replenished with the very
popular beverage called toddy, of which the Prince
expressed his unqualified approbation. Conversation,
thus aided and exhilarated, flowed freely ; and the
* Donald Macleod's Narrative. Forbes, p. 391.
FLORA MACDONALD. 345
charm of Charles's gay courtesy was long remembered
by his Highland landlord, who thus, at the risk of all
that was dear to him, welcomed the unfortunate wan-
derer to his home. Morning dawned before either the
Prince or Kingsburgh talked of retiring. At last Kings-
burgh became anxious. He knew that it was necessary
for Charles to proceed to Portree early the next day ;
and he earnestly desired that the Prince should have
some rest. He refused to fill the bowl again, and began
to urge his Highness to retire. Charles eagerly pressed
for another supply of usquebaugh and warm water.
In the contention, the bowl, which Kingsburgh had
brought from Mugstat for the Prince to drink the
wine out of on the shore, was broken. This ended
the altercation, and Charles retired to rest.
The next day was far advanced before the Prince, after
his conviviality of the preceding evening, was aroused ;
and the watchful Flora in vain sent Kingsburgh into
his chamber to persuade him to rise. Kingsburgh
had not the heart to awaken the fugitive from a repose
which he so rarely enjoyed, and, on finding him in a
profound sleep, retired. At last, one o'clock had struck,
and the Prince was summoned to begin another journey.
Kingsburgh, inquiring if he had had a good night, was
answered that he had never enjoyed a better one in
his life. " I had almost forgotten/' said Charles, " what
a good bed was." He then prepared to set out. He
was first to go to Portree ; his destination being, ul-
timately, the island of Eaasay. The choice of this
place as a retreat originated in the ancient league
which subsisted between the families of Macdonald and
346 FLORA MACDONALD.
of Raasay. Whenever the head of either family died,
his sword was given to the head of the other. The
chief of Raasay had joined the Highland army, but
had saved his estate by conveying it to his son, young
Macleod. Sir Alexander Macdonald, on that occasion,
had thus addressed his neighbour and ally : " Don't
be afraid, Raasay ; I'll use my interest to keep you
safe ; and, if your estate should be taken, 111 buy it
for the family. And he would have done it." *
On quitting Kingsburgh, the Prince was determined
to cast off his disguise. Kingsburgh was favourable to
the change, but Flora would not consent to it : it was
necessary, she thought, that the wanderer should leave
the house in the same dress as he had entered it ; so
that, if inquiry were made, the servants would not be
able to describe his appearance. He, therefore, once
more figured in the habiliments of Betty Burke ; and
the only change, which was at the suggestion of Kings-
burgh, was in the article of shoes ; those in which he
had walked being now worn out ; a new pair was there-
fore supplied by Kingsburgh. When the exchange was
made, Kingsburgh hung up the old shoes in a corner
of his room, observing, that they might still do him
some service. Charles inquired, "How?" "Why,"
replied Kingsburgh, " when you are at St. James's, I
shall hold up these shoes before you, and thus remind
you of your night's entertainment and protection under
my roof." Charles, with a smile, desired him to be as
" good as his word." These precious deposits, never
being required to appear at St. James's, were, after
old Kingsburgh 's death, cut into pieces, and kept
* Bos well's Journey to the Hebrides, p. 207.
FLORA MACDONALD. 347
as relics by the Jacobite ladies, and even by the
grave but enthusiastic Bishop Forbes. 4 ' 7
It had been decided that Flora Macdonald should
proceed on horseback to Portree by a different road,
and should meet the Prince there. She therefore
took a temporary leave of Charles ; and Kingsburgh
accompanied him to a wood not far from his house.
When the Prince had departed, Lady Kingsburgh went
up-stairs, and folded up the sheets in which he had
slept, declaring that they should never be washed nor
used till her death, when they should be made into
her winding-sheet. She was afterwards induced to
divide this valuable memorial with Flora Macdonald.
Mac Kechan, and a little herd-boy by way of a
guide, alone accompanied the Prince, as he set out
upon a laborious walk of fourteen miles towards Por-
tree. It would have excited much suspicion, had any
more important persons attended him. At an ap-
pointed place Charles threw off his female attire, and
again "grasped the claymore." His clothes were
concealed in a bush until they could be carried to
Kingsburgh's house, where they were burnt upon the
alarm of a search on the part of the military. The
gown only was retained, by the express desire of
Kingsburgh's daughter, f The Prince now once more
wore the Highland dress, which had been furnished
him by Kingsburgh.
Meantime, Captain Roy Macdonald had gone to seek
the young Macleod of Raasay, or, as he was called,
* Chambers, p. 102, and note.
t It was, (be it known, for the gratification of those curious in
such matters,) " sprigged with blue."
348 FLORA MACDONALD.
Rona, whose very brother-in-law, Archibald Macqueen,
was then in search for the Prince in South Uist.
Young Macleod, though at first indisposed to con-
fide the place where his father had taken refuge to
Roy Macdonald, ended eventually by expressing, both
on his own part and on that of his father, the strong-
est desire to serve the Prince, especially in his
distress. "Then," said Roy Macdonald, "I expect the
Prince this night at Portree ; and as there is no boat
on this side fit to carry him over to Raasay, you must
do your best, Rona, to get one for the purpose to ferry
the Prince over to Raasay, for thither he means to set
out from Portree." Rona undertook this service, but
was unwilling to leave Portree until he should see the
Prince ; for he had not been " out" in the last cam-
paign. But, being repeatedly urged by Roy Macdonald,
he at last embarked in a crazy old boat which filled
perpetually with water, and could only with assistance
be made to convey passengers from Portree to Raasay,
a distance nearly of five miles. Before young Raasay
embarked, Roy Macdonald had received a note from
Kingsburgh, importing that Flora Macdonald was so
fatigued that she could not go to Portree so soon as
she had intended ; and ordering the captain to pro-
vide a boat to ferry her about to Strath, because it
would be easier to her " to make it out" by sea than
overland. Captain Roy Macdonald took the hint, and
judged exactly for whom the boat thus carefully al-
luded to was to be provided. On Monday the thirtieth of
June, young Raasay, and his brothers Murdoch Macleod
and Malcolm Macleod, arrived after a short, but peril-
ous voyage within a mile of Portree. Malcolm went
FLORA MACDONALD. 349
to the shore, leaving Rona in the boat. As he walked
from the beach, he saw three persons approaching. It
is said, that at Raasay nine months of the year are
rainy. This June evening was one of the rainy
periods ; and Malcolm Macleod could not, through the
darkness, discover who these three persons were. The
place of meeting agreed upon was a small public-
house near the shore, about half a mile from the port
of Portree ; to this house Malcolm Macleod sent to
Captain Roy Macdonald, desiring him to come but and
speak to a friend. Roy Macdonald complied with the
summons, taking with him a half mutchkin stoup full
of whiskey. Macleod then informed him that Rona
and his brother Murdoch were on the shore with a
boat, which, with much difficulty and danger they had
brought from Raasay to convey the Prince to that
island ; he begged that they would not delay, as it was
raining very heavily.
Donald Roy Macdonald then told Malcolm that
the three persons whom he had seen going towards
the public-house were the Prince, Mac Kechan, and
the herd-boy. Of their approach he had been apprized
by the energetic Flora, who had arrived at Portree
some hours previously.
Donald Roy Macdonald, who is described as
being the model of " a perfect Highland gentleman,"
shared the enthusiasm of Flora. Although still lame
from the wound in his foot, he had, during the
course of that evening, looked out incessantly for the
Prince, but was unable to see him. He had not, how-
ever, been long in the public-house, before the voice
of the herd-boy calling for the landlord, and desiring
350 FLORA MACDONALD.
to know if one Donald Roy Macdonald were there, drew
his attention. He stepped out, and was told by the
boy that there was a gentleman, a little above the
house, who desired to speak to him. The captain
sent the boy away, and immediately went to the spot
where the Prince stood. Charles embraced him,
putting his head first over one shoulder, and then
over the other ; and telling Donald to use no cere-
mony, for that it was impossible to know who might,
be observing them. When Donald expressed his re-
gret at the darkness of the night, Charles said, " I am
more sorry that our lady" (so he called Flora Mac-
donald) " should be so abused with the rain/'
After they entered the house, a curious scene took
place. " The Prince," relates Donald Roy/" " no
sooner entered the house than he asked if a dram
could be got there, the rain pouring down from his
clothes ; he having on plaid, without breeches, trews,
or even philibeg. Before he sat down, he got his dram ;
and then the company desired him to shift, and put
on a dry shirt, Captain Roy Macdonald giving him
his philibeg. The Prince refused to shift, as Miss Flora
Macdonald was in the room ; but the captain and
Neil MacKechan told him, it was not time to stand
upon ceremonies, and prevailed upon him to put on a
dry shirt. By this time they had brought some meat
into the room, (the Prince having called for it before
he would think of shifting,) which consisted of butter,
cheese, bread, and roasted fish."
The Prince was so hungry and exhausted, after a walk
from Kingsburgh to Portree, "seven good Highland
* Jacobite Memoirs, p. 448.
FLORA MACDONALD. 351
miles," that he began to eat before he put on his coat.
The supply of food which he had brought with him
consisted of a cold hen, a bottle of brandy, and a lump
of sugar in one of his pockets : these, with the addition
of a bottle of whiskey procured at Portree, constituted
his store of provisions until he reached Raasay. On
seeing the Prince eat heartily, whilst only in his shirt
and philibeg, Captain Donald Macdonald could not
forbear smiling. " Sir," he observed, " I believe that
is the English fashion." " What fashion do you
mean V asked the Prince. " They say," replied Do-
nald, " that the English, when they eat heartily, throw
off their clothes." " They are right," answered Charles,
" lest anything should incommode their hands when
they are at work." The Prince then asked, if any
drink could be had. He was told that he could
have nothing but whiskey or water, for no such thing
as beer or ale was to be had in the isle of Skye. Then
Charles asked if he could have some milk, but was in-
formed that there was none in the house. The only
beverage which seemed attainable was water, of which
there was a supply in what Captain Donald Macdonald
called an " ugly cog," which the landlord of the house
used for throwing water out of his boat. This vessel
though coarse, was clean. " The captain," relates Donald
Roy, " had been taking a drink out of the cog, and he
reached it to the Prince,* who took it out of his hand,
and, after looking at the cog, he stared the captain in
the face, who upon this made up to him (the landlord
being in the room), and whispered him softly in the ear
to drink out of it without any ceremony ; for though
* Forbes, p. 449.
352 FLORA MACDONALD.
the cog looked ill, yet it was clean ; and, if he should
show any nicety, it might raise a suspicion about him
in the landlord's mind. The Prince said, 'You are
right,' and took a hearty draught of water out of the
rough cog, and then he put on his coat."
During all this scene, Captain Roy Macdonald could
scarcely disguise his anxiety that the Prince should
leave Portree. But Charles was reluctant to relinquish
shelter and society ; the rain was still heavily pouring
down, and the night on which the unfortunate wan-
derer was again to trust his fate to strangers was very
dark. In vain, therefore, did Macdonald, when the
landlord had left the room, represent to Charles, that
this, being a public-house, was frequented by all " sorts
of folks," and that some curiosity would be excited by
his appearance. There was, indeed, no rest for the
proscribed fugitive. Charles then asked for tobacco,
that he might smoke a pipe "before he went off."
Macdonald answered, that there was no tobacco, except
that which was very coarse ; only " roll tobacco." But
Charles persisted in having it, saying " that it would
serve his horn very well." The landlord therefore was
ordered to bring in a quarter of a pound, which he did
in scales, at four-pence halfpenny. The Prince gave a
sixpence, but the landlord was desired by Captain Mac-
donald to bring in the change. Charles smiled at Donald
Roy's exactness, and said he would not be at the trouble
to pick up the halfpence ; but Donald Roy persuaded
him to do so, saying, that in his Highnesses present
situation he would find " bawbees very useful to him."
A bottle of whiskey having been dispatched between
the Prince, Donald Roy Macdonald, and Neil Mac Kechan,
FLORA MACDONALD. 353
and the pipe being finished, Charles reluctantly began to
talk of his departure. - He had learned to rely upon
the fidelity of the brave Clan, one young and gentle
daughter of which had protected him from South Uist,
and brought him through a country swarming with
militia to Portree. He was unwilling to be separated
from Donald Roy, and entreated him in a low voice to
accompany him. But Donald begged him to remember
that it was not in his power to be useful to him, con-
sidering the open wound in his left foot ; that he should
only prove a burden to him, for it would be out of his
power to skulk from place to place ; and indeed it
would be necessary for him to ride on horseback, so
that any of the parties of militia who were ranging
about would be sure to descry him at a distance, and
that would be ruin to the chance of escape. Charles
then said, that " he had always found himself safe in
the hands of a Macdonald, and that, as long as he could
have a Macdonald with him, he still should think him-
self safe." Again and again he urged this point. It
was affecting to see how confidingly this ill-fated young
man, noble in his nature, leaned upon those whom he
had learned to trust. It is melancholy to reflect that a
temper so kindly should ever have been worked up,
and irritated almost to madness, by those intrigues and
misrepresentations which eventually, combining with
the wreck of his other moral qualities, alienated him
from all who really loved him.
" The Prince," as Donald relates, " could not think of
parting with him at all." This was the first time that
Charles had entrusted himself, without a single familiar
friend or attendant, to strangers. " Are you," he said,
VOL. III. A A
354 FLORA MACDONALD.
again addressing Donald, " afraid to go with me ? So
long as / have, you shall not want." Again Captain
Macdonald referred to his crippled foot : " he behoved
to see, 1 ' he said, " that his going would only expose the
Prince to new dangers, of which he had already too
many to contend with." In the course of the conver-
sation he took occasion to tell the Prince, since he
had honoured the Macdonalds with his regard, that,
although Sir Alexander Macdonald and his followers
did not join his standard, they wished him well. " I
am sensible enough of all that," was the reply of
Charles. Donald also inquired whether the Prince was
well provided with money , as in case of need, Lady
Margaret Macdonald would supply his wants. But
Charles, after expressing his gratitude to Lady Mar-
garet, declined her aid, as he believed that he had suffi-
cient to carry him to the mainland.
This painful and memorable scene came at last to
a conclusion. After being repeatedly urged by Donald
to depart, Charles bade Mac Kechan farewell. He then
turned to Flora Macdonald : " I believe, madam," he
said, " that I owe you a crown of borrowed money." She
answered, in her literal and simple manner, " It was
only half-a-crown." This sum the Prince paid her. He
then saluted her, and said : " Notwithstanding all that
has happened, I hope, madam, we shall meet in St.
James's yet." In this calm, and, apparently laconic
manner, he bade Flora adieu. But, though fate did
not permit Charles to testify his gratitude at St.
James's, he is said never to have mentioned without
a deep sense of his obligations the name of his young-
protectress. In her loyal and simple heart a sense of
FLORA MACDONALD. 355
duty, enthusiastic reverence, and fond regret dwelt,
whilst that heart continued to beat ; and, through the
vicissitudes of her after-life, the service which she had
rendered to the Prince recurred like a ray of sunshine
upon a destiny almost continually clouded and dark-
ened by calamity.
Flora was left alone at Portree, attended still by Mac
Kechan, who afterwards escaped, rejoined the Prince,
and went to France with him. Mac Kechan was a
man of good education, and was conjectured by Bishop
Forbes to have been the author of the " Alexis, or the
Young Adventurer," a romance embodying the prin-
cipal incidents of Charles Edward's life ; but of this
there is no proof.
Meanwhile the Prince proceeded to the shore. He tied
the bottle of whiskey, bought of the landlord, to his belt
on one side, and the brandy, the cold hen, and the four
shirts on the other. As he went, he saw the landlord of
the public-house looking out of a window after him ; on
which he changed his road. He met young Raasay and
his brothers at the appointed place ; and it was there
agreed, that in a few days Donald Macdonald should
follow the Prince to Raasay. At his departure the
Prince took out the lump of sugar from his pocket, and
said, " Pray give this to our lady, for I fear she will
get no sugar where she is going." The captain refused
however to accept of that which seems to have been
considered as a great delicacy. Charles then enjoined
Captain Macdonald to secrecy as to his destination.
"Tell nobody no, not our lady where I am going; for
it is right that my course should not be known."* They
* Forbes, p. 413.
A A 2
356 FLORA MACDONALD.
then parted; and at daybreak, July the first, 1746,
Charles sailed for Raasay. Captain Macdonald then re-
turned to Portree, where he slept a great portion of the
next day. Here he was closely questioned by the land-
lord, who said, that he had a great notion that the gen-
tleman who had supped at his house was the Prince,
for he had something noble about him. Probably the
imprudent liberality of Charles, and his carelessness
about money, may have added to the impression which
his lofty air and fascinating manners generally pro-
duced. On the fourth of July, Charles, after various ad-
ventures in the island of Raasay, escaped to the moun-
tains. This event was announced by a letter sent
mysteriously by Murdoch Macleod to Roy Macdonald,
and delivered to him in the darkness of night. It had
neither address on it, nor place, nor date; but was
written by Charles.
" SIR,
"I have parted as I intended. Make my compli-
ments to all to whom I have given trouble. I am, sir,
your humble servant,
" JAMES HERMION."
This letter was burned by Roy Macdouald, though
with great reluctance, on the day when he subse-
quently learned that Flora Macdonald had been made a
prisoner.
Flora, after parting from the Prince, went to Arma-
dale to her mother, after a very fatiguing journey
across the country. Her emotions on separating from
i
FLORA MACDONALD. 357
Charles have been expressed in a poem entitled " The
Lament of Flora Macdonald," beginning thus :
" Far o'er the hills of the heather so green,
And down by the Corrie that skips in the sea,
The bonny young Flora sat weeping her love
The dew on her plaid, and the tear in her e'e.
She looked at a boat with the breezes that swung,
And ay as it lessened she sighed and she sung,
1 Farewell to the lad I shall ne'er see again !
Farewell to my hero, the gallant and young !
Farewell to the lad I shall ne'er see again.' "*
During eight or ten days Flora remained in her house
at Armadale without imparting to any one, even to her
mother, the events of the last week. To make her
mother a participator in that affair would indeed have
been no act of kindness, at a time when the merest
suspicion of being a Jacobite was regarded as a crime.
At the expiration of ten days Flora received a mes-
sage from a person of her own name, Donald Macdonald
of Castletown, in Skye, about four miles from Arma-
dale, to bid her come to his house in order to meet
there the commanding officer of an independent com-
pany, one Macleod of Taliskar, who had ordered Mac-
donald to surrender. Flora, a little suspicious of what
might happen, thought proper to consult with her
friends as to what step she should take. They unani-
mously agreed that she ought not to go ; but " go she
would." Then they consulted together what she
should say in case of an investigation. But Flora had
made up her mind as to the answers she should give.
She set out to meet her fate. She probably expected
that she should be released after a short examination ;
* Curious Tracts in the British Museum, vol. iv. Scotland,
358 FLORA MACDONALD.
for she knew not then through what channel the part
which she had taken in the Prince's escape had tran-
spired. The fact was, that the boatmen who had
brought her with Charles from Skye had on their
return communicated to Captain Fergusson every par-
ticular of the Prince's appearance, and had even de-
scribed the gown which he had worn.
Flora afterwards remembered, that at Mugstat Lady
Margaret had warned her that this would be the case,
and had pointed out to her the indiscretion of allow-
ing these men to go back to North Uist.
As she went on the road to Castleton, Flora met her
father-in-law, Macdonald of Armadale, who was return-
ing home ; and shortly afterwards she was appre-
hended by Captain Macleod of Taliskar, with a party
of soldiers, who were going to seek for her at her
mother's house. She was not suffered to take leave of
her mother, nor of her other friends ; but was carried
on board the Furnace, a sloop of war, commanded by
Captain John Fergusson, and which lay near Raasay.
Happily for Flora, General Campbell was on board, and
by his orders she was treated with the utmost respect.
At her first examination she merely acknowledged,
that, on leaving Uist, she had been solicited by "a
great lusty woman " to give her a passage, as she was
a soldier's wife. Her request, Flora said, was granted ;
and the woman, upon being landed in Skye, had walked
away, and Flora had seen nothing more of the stranger.
But upon finding that she was mildly treated, and
on hearing that the boatmen had related every circum-
stance of her voyage, she confessed the whole truth
to General Campbell.
FLORA MACDONALD. 359
The vessel was bound for Leith. About three weeks
after she had been apprehended, as the ship cruized
about, it approached the shore of Armadale. Here
Flora was permitted to land, in order to bid adieu to
her parents. She was sent ashore under a guard of
two officers and a party of soldiers, and was forbidden
to say anything in Erse, or anything at all except in
presence of the officers. Here she stayed two hours,
and then returned to the ship. With what emotions
she left the island of Skye and found herself carried as
a prisoner to Leith, it is not perhaps in these tranquil
days easy to conceive.
After her apprehension, her father-in-law, Arma-
dale, to use the phrase of some of the unfortunate
Jacobites, "began a-skulking ;" a report having gone
about that he had given a pass to his daughter, although
aware that she was travelling with "the Pretender"
disguised in woman's clothes. There was also another
source of suspicion against him, which was his having
the Prince's pistols in his keeping. These were given
him by Macdonald of Milton, the brother of Flora;
they had been received either from Charles him-
self, or from O'Sullivan or CTNeil ; but still they
furnished a proof of some communication between
Charles Edward and Armadale. Another sufferer was
Donald Roy Macdonald. Among not the least ener-
getic of those who aided the escape of Charles
Edward from the Long Island, was Donald Roy Mac-
donald. A model of the true Highland gentleman in
deportment, handsome in person, his conduct fully bore
out his character. To this warm-hearted disinterested
young man the Prince quickly attached himself. Crip-
360 FLORA MACDONALD.
pled as he was, he was obliged also to " go a-skulking."
He concealed himself in three different caves, where by
turns he made his abode for eight weeks, wrapping
himself up in his plaid, and making his bed of the
heather ; his subsistence he owed to the care of Lady
Margaret Macdonald, who brought him food, though at
the risk of her own safety. It is consolatory to find
heroic friendship, or compassionate interest, enliven-
ing the melancholy annals of civil contentions, of re-
venge and treachery.
The sufferings of Captain Macdonald during his con-
cealment, although alleviated by Lady Margaret's care,
were nevertheless considerable. During the months
of July and August, which he passed in the caves, the
midges and flies annoyed his frame, sensitive from the
still open wound, and drove him for coolness into the
recesses of the caverns. It was necessary to be very
careful in stepping out, lest the country-people should
discover his retreat. Late at night, or very early
in the morning, he crept out to supply his bottle
with water from some neighbouring burn or rivulet.
At last, the act of indemnity set him free. Until
the month of November 1746, his wound, exasperated
by constant exertion, was very troublesome. His
misery was solaced by the care and skill of a friendly
surgeon, who sent Donald Roy dressings by a proper
hand, even while he remained in the cave, and at last
the wound healed. In an account of the Prince's es-
cape, written by Donald at the request of Bishop Forbes,
he says, " He (Donald Roy) now walks as cleverly as
ever, without any the smallest pain or halt ; and made
his last journey from Skye to Edinburgh in twelve
FLORA MACDONALD. 361
days on foot, and, as he came along, visited several
friends and acquaintances." '*
One cannot help rejoicing that Lady Margaret
Macdonald escaped all inconvenience, except suspicion.
The conduct of her husband, Sir Alexander, had
been prudent. During the progress of the insur-
rection he had written to Keppoch, after the retreat
from Stirling : " Seeing I look upon your affairs as in
a desperate state, I will not join you : but then, I assure
you, I will as little rise against you." Of Sir Alex-
ander's followers, a force amounting to five hundred
men, only two had joined the Prince ; these were
James Macdonald of the isle of Hisker,f and Captain
Donald Eoy Macdonald.J The estates of Sir Alexander,
therefore, remained uninjured, and his family continued
to enjoy them.
The chief sufferers from the visit of Prince Charles
to their house were Macdonald of Kingsburgh and his
wife.
Upon hearing of the Prince's escape, Captain Fergus -
son went first to Mugstat ; where gaining no intelli-
gence, he proceeded to Kingsburgh. He there ex-
amined every person with the utmost exactness, and
inquired into every particular of the accommodation
afforded to one whom he styled " the Pretender."
" Whom you mean by the Pretender, I do not pretend
to guess ! " was the reply of Mrs. Macdonald of Kings-
burgh.
Kingsburgh was made prisoner, and was sent to
* Jacobite Memoirs, p. 447.
t A small isle about eight miles to the westward of South Uist.
+ Forbes. Narrative of Captain Donald Macdonald.
362 FLORA MACDONALD.
Fort Augustus on parole without any guard, by General
Campbell's order. But the clemency shown by Camp-
bell ceased when Kingsburgh reached Fort Augustus.
He was thrown into a dungeon, was plundered of every-
thing, and loaded with irons. Sir Everard Faulkner,
who was employed to examine him, reminded him how
fine an opportunity he had lost of "making himself
and his family for ever." " Had I gold and silver piled
heap upon heap to the bulk of yon huge mountain,"
was the noble reply, "that mass could not afford me half
the satisfaction I find in my own breast from doing
what I have done ! " Whilst he was confined at Fort
Augustus, an officer of distinction came to him, and
asked him if he should know the Prince's head if he
saw it. " I should know the head very well if it were
on the shoulders," was the answer. " But if it were not
on the shoulders 1" said the officer. " In that case I will
not pretend to know anything about it," returned
Kingsburgh. His discrimination was not put to the
test.
Kingsburgh was removed to Edinburgh castle under
a strong guard of Kingston's Light-horse. He was at
first put into a room with several other gentlemen, but
was afterwards removed into solitary confinement, and
not allowed to speak to any one, except to the officer on
guard, and the keeper, who acted as his servant. In
this place he remained for a year, when by the act of
grace he was set at liberty on the fourth of July 1747 ;
"having thus," as an author has observed, "got a
whole year's safe lodging for affording that of one
night!"*
* Scots' Magazine for 1749.
FLORA MACDONALD. 363
Before her farewell to her friends in Armadale, Flora
Macdonald had exchanged the vessel which Captain
Fergusson commanded, for one commanded by Commo-
dore Smith, a gentleman capable of estimating her
character. At Armadale, she procured a change of
clothes, and took as her personal attendant an honest
girl, named Kate Macdonald, who could speak nothing
but Gaelic. This girl offered herself as a servant, find-
ing that Flora could get no one else to attend her
in her calamity.
Among her companions in trouble, she found, on
returning to the ship, Captain O'Neil, who had per-
suaded her to undertake the enterprise which had
produced her present imprisonment. This gentle-
man had also, when he urged her good offices, prof-
fered his hand in marriage, in order that her re-
putation might not suffer by her adventure by " flood
and field." When Flora saw him on board the vessel,
she went up to him, and slapping him on the cheek,
said, " To that black face I owe all my misfortune !"
O'Neil however answered, " that, instead of being her
misfortune, it was her highest honour, and it would
yet redound more to her credit, if she did not pre-
tend to be ashamed of what she had done."* She
was confined for a short time in Dunstaffhage castle.
This now ruinous fortress, once a royal residence, is
situated near the mouth of Loch Etive, a short dis-
tance from Oban, in Argyleshire ; it stands upon a
rocky promontory which juts out into the lake, which
is one of the most secluded and solemn scenes that
* Note in Chambers' Memoirs of the Rebellion.
364 FLORA MACDONALD.
nature, in all the grandeur of those regions, presents.*
Near the castle is a convenient building, which is now,
as probably it was in 1745, inhabited by the factors of
the Duke of Argyle, who is the hereditary keeper of
Dunstaffnage castle, under the Crown. It was probably
in this house that Flora was lodged. The castle is on
three of its sides little else than a shell; but the fourth
is in tolerable repair. The entrance to this sequestered
and solemn abode is from the sea, by a staircase ;
probably in old times a drawbridge, which fell from a
staircase. The ancient grandeur of Dunstaffnage, long
used as one of the earliest residences of the Scottish
kings ; famed also as the place from which the stone
of Dunstaffnage, sometimes called the Stone of Scone,
on which they were crowned, was brought ; had
long passed away before Flora tenanted its chambers.
But the associations which it presented were not likely
to dim the ardour of her loyalty to the last of that
race who had once held their sway over the proud
castle of Dunstaffnage ; nor would the roofless chapel,
of exquisite architectural beauty, near Dunstaffnage,
where many of the Scottish kings repose, be an object
devoid of deep and mournful interest to one who had
lately beheld a singular instance of the mutability of
all human grandeur. Two letters, which show the
mode of Flora MacdonakTs introduction to the keeper
of the castle, Neil Campbell, have been preserved.f
One of them is as follows :
* Preface to the Jacobite Memoirs by Mr. Robert Chambers, to
whom the public owe so much on this and other subjects.
f Brown's Hist, of the Highlands, vol. iii. p. 309.
FLORA MACDONALD. 365
" Horse-Shoe Bay, Aug. 1746.
" DEAR SIR,
" I must desire the favour of you to forward my
letters by an express to Inverary ; and, if any are left
with you, let them be sent by the bearer. I shall
stay here with Commodore Smith till Sunday morn-
ing. If you can't come, I beg to know if you have
any men now in garrison at your house, and how
many ? Make my compliments to your lady, and tell
her I am obliged to desire the favour of her for some
days to receive a very pretty young rebel. Her zeal,
and the persuasion of those who ought to have given
her better advice, has drawn her into a most unhappy
scrape by assisting the young Pretender to make his
escape. I need say nothing further till we meet;
only assure you that I am, dear sir, your sincere friend
and humble servant, " JOHN CAMPBELL."
" I suppose you have heard of Miss Flora Mac-
donald."
Early in September the ship arrived in Leith Roads,
and remained there until November. By this time the
fame of this obscure Highland girl had reached the
well-wishers to Prince Charles in Edinburgh, and many
crowded to see her. Among these was the Rev.
Robert Forbes, who happened at that time to be
Episcopal minister of the port. At this period the
Episcopal Church of Scotland consisted of a few scat-
tered congregations, under the spiritual guidance of a
reduced number of titular bishops. The Church was,
366 FLORA MACDONALD.
however, deeply attached to the Stuarts ; and the pious
and enthusiastic man who now visited Flora in her
adversity, was among the most zealous of the adherents
to that ill-fated cause. He had himself known calamity,
having been apprehended at St. Mnian's in the preced-
ing year, 1745, and imprisoned until the following
May. This circumstance, which had prevented him
from taking any active part in the commotions, pre-
served Mr. Forbes in safety; and his exertions, which
were directed to the purpose of collecting, from such
of the insurgents as fell in his way, narratives of their
several parts in the events of 1745, have been very
effective. Through his efforts a valuable collection
of authentic memoirs, from which extracts have been
published within these last few years, have added a
new light, and consequently a new charm, to the nar-
rative of Prince Charles's adventures, and to the bio-
graphy of his followers.
Mr. Forbes, at the time when he visited Flora,
was residing in the house of Lady Bruce of Kin-
ross, within the walls of Cromwell's citadel at
Leith. It was one part of Mr. Forbes's plan, in the
pursuit of which he contemplated forming an accurate
history of the whole insurrection, to visit the State
prisoners as they were either carried to London, or
passed on their return to the Highlands. Most of his
collection was therefore formed at the close of the last
campaign, when the recollections of the unfortunate
actors in the affair were vivid and accurate. Among
other minor occupations was the acquisition of relics of
Charles Edward, whom the worthy divine almost idol-
ized. " Perhaps," says Mr. Chambers/"" " the most
* Preface to Jacobite Memoirs, xi.
FLORA MACDONALD. 367
curious and characteristic part of the work is a series
of relics which are found attached to the inside of the
boards of certain volumes. In one I find a slip of thick
blue silk cloth, of a texture like sarcenet, beneath
which is written, ' The above is a piece of the Prince's
garter.' Below this is a small square piece of printed
linen, the figures being in lilac on a white ground,
with the following inscription : ' The above is a piece
of the identical gown which the Prince wore for five
or six days, when he was obliged to disguise himself in
a female dress, under the name of Betty Burke. A
swatch of the said gown was sent from Mrs. Macdonald
of Kingsburgh/ Then follows a slip of tape, with the
following note : ' The following is a piece of that
identical apron- string which the Prince wore about
him when in a female dress. The above bit I received
out of Miss Flora Macdonald's own hands, upon Thurs-
day, November 5, 1747.' '
In 1762, this reverend enthusiast was chosen by the
presbyteries of Caithness and Orkney as their bishop,
and was consecrated at Cupar in Fife in the same year.
He was the last bishop whose charge was limited only
to those two districts.
Mr. Forbes was accompanied in his visits to Flora
Macdonald, while at Leith, by Lady Bruce, Lady
Mary Cochrane, Mrs. Clerk, and many other ladies ;
who made valuable presents of clothes to the heroine,
and who listened to her narrative, as she delivered it to
Mr. Forbes, with many expressions of sympathy and
applause. "When she related that part of her voyage
from Uist in which the Prince watched over her
whilst asleep, some of these fair Jacobites cried out,
368 FLORA MACDONALD.
" 0, madam ! what a happy creature you are, to have
that dear Prince to watch over you in your sleep." "I
could/' cried Mrs. Mary Clerk, " wipe your shoes with
pleasure, and think it my honour to do so, when I
reflect that you had the Prince for your hand-
maid V Perhaps not the worst gift sent to Flora,
during her stay at Leith, was a thimble and needles,
with white thread of different sorts, from Lady Bruce.
This act of friendship Flora felt as much as any that she
received, for she had suffered as much from the state of
idleness during her being in custody, as from any
other privation.*
Her time thus passed away almost cheerfully. Her
gentle, prudent, and placid deportment won upon the
esteem of those who were least friendly to her opinions.
The officers who were appointed to guard her, although
they could not permit her to set her foot on shore, were
pleased at the attention which she received from
visitors. Commodore Smith behaved to her with fatherly
regard. Whilst she was in Leith Roads, in the Eltham,
he presented her with a handsome riding-suit, in plain
mounting, and some fine linen for riding-shirts. He
gave her advice how to act in her difficult and perilous
situation, and even allowed the officers to go ashore
to seek for good company for their prisoner ; although
persons who merely came from curiosity were denied
access. Captain Knowles of the Bridgewater, also
in the Leith Roads, was most courteous and consider-
ate to the amiable prisoner. When her friends visited
her, she was allowed to ask for such refreshments
for them as she thought proper ; as if she had been
* Chambers, p. 106. Taken from the Lyon in Mourning 3 MSS.
FLORA MACDONALD. 369
at her own fireside. Easy, modest, and winning,
in the midst of all her anxiety for her friends, and
in the uncertainty of her own fate, she was cheerful ;
yet a subdued and modest gravity gave an interest
to her unpretending character. When solicited to join
in the amusement of dancing, she refused, alleging that
her " dancing-days were over ; and that, at all events,
she could not dance until she should be assured of the
Prince's safety, and until she had the happiness of
seeing him again."
At length, carrying with her the good wishes of all
who had conversed with her, Flora left the harbour of
Leith. After being conveyed from place to place, she
was put on board the Royal Sovereign on the twenty-
seventh of November, the vessel then lying at the Nore,
and conveyed to London. Here she was kept a prisoner
under circumstances of great mitigation, for she
was lodged in a private house. In this situation she
continued for a year ; when the Act of indemnity, passed
in 1747, set her at liberty. She was then discharged,
without a single question being addressed to her on
the subject of her conduct. After being released, at
the instigation, according to a tradition in her family, of
Frederic Prince of Wales, she was domesticated in the
family of the Dowager Lady Primrose, an ardent Jaco-
bite, who afterwards, in 1750, was courageous enough to
receive the young Chevalier during a visit of five days,
which were employed by Charles in the vain endeavour
to form another scheme of invasion. The abode of Lady
Primrose was the resort of the fashionable world ; and
crowds of the higher classes hastened to pay their tribute
to the heroine of the day. It may be readily conjec-
VOL. III. B B
370 FLORA MACDONALD.
tured, how singular an impression the quiet, simple man-
ners of Flora must have made upon the excited minds
of those who looked, perhaps, for high pretensions, for
the presence of an amazon, and the expressions of an
heroine of romance. The compliments which were
offered to Flora, excited in her mind nothing but the
most unequivocal surprise that so simple an act
should produce so extraordinary a sensation. She is
stated to have been presented to Frederic Prince of
Wales, and to have received from him the highest
compliment to her fidelity and heroism. When, in
explanation of her conduct, Flora Macdonald said that
she would perform the same act of humanity to any
person who might be similarly situated, the Prince
remarked, " You would, I hope, madam, do the same,
were the same event to happen over again." The
grace and courtesy of this speech may partly be at-
tributed to the amiable traits which profligate habits
had not wholly obliterated in the Prince ; partly to
his avowed opposition to his royal father, and the bad
terms on which he stood with his brother. It must
still be acknowledged, that Frederic displayed no
ordinary degree of good-feeling in this interview with
Flora. His son George the Third, and his grandson
George the Fourth, both did credit to themselves by
sentiments equally generous towards their ill-fated and
royal kinsman.
After this intoxicating scene, presenting in their
most brilliant colours, to the eye of one who had
never visited either Edinburgh or London, the fas-
cinations of the higher classes of society, Flora re-
turned to Skye. She left the metropolis unchanged in
FLORA MACDONALD. 371
her early affections, unaltered in the simplicity of her
manners. The country, presenting so lately the miser-
able spectacle of civil war, was now calmed into a
mournful tranquillity, as she passed through it on her
journey to Skye ; but in the Highlands, and more
especially in the Western Isles, the love and loyalty
which had of old been devoted to the Stuarts were
unaltered. It was, indeed, long before they were
obliterated ; and, for years after the fatal 1745, the
name of Charles Edward was uttered with tears. Nor
is this sentiment of respect even now extinct ; nor will
it, perhaps, ever be wholly annihilated.
The journey from London to Skye was performed
by Flora in a postchaise, and her expenses were defrayed
by Lady Primrose. Her companion was, by her own
choice, Malcolm Macleod of Eaasay, who had met the
Prince at Portree, and had completed the work begun
by Flora. He too had been imprisoned, but had re-
gained his liberty. " So/' afterwards Malcolm related
to his friends, with a triumphant air, " I went to
London to be hanged, and returned in a postchaise
with Miss Flora Macdonald !" They visited Dr. Burton,
another released prisoner, at York. Here Malcolm was
asked by that gentleman what was his opinion of
Prince Charles. " He is the most cautious man not to
be a coward, and the bravest not to be rash, that I
ever saw," was the reply.
In 1750, Flora Macdonald was married to her
cousin Alexander Macdonald the younger of Kings-
burgh, who appears to have been worthy of his distin-
guished wife. In person, young Kingsburgh had com-
pletely the figure of a gallant Highlander, the graceful
B B 2
372 FLORA MACDONALD.
mien and manly looks which a certain popular Scots'
song has attributed to that character. " When receiving
Dr. Johnson in after-years, Kingsburgh appeared in
true Highland costume, with his plaid thrown about
him, a large blue bonnet with a knot of black ribbon like
a cockade, a brown short coat of a kind of duffil, a tartan
waistcoat with gold buttons and gold button-holes, a
bluish philibeg, and tartan hose. He had jet hair tied
behind ; and was a large stately man, with a steady sen-
sible countenance."* Such was the man to whom, after
a short eventful period of peril and vicissitude, it
was the lot of Flora Macdonald to be united. Kings-
burgh is also declared by Boswell to have had one
virtue of his country in perfection that of hos-
pitality ; and, in this, to have far surpassed the son of
Lady Margaret Macdonald, Sir Alexander Macdonald
of Armadale, an English-bred chieftain, at whose house
Dr. Johnson and his friend " had small company, and
could not boast of their cheer." That gentleman, "an
Eton-bred scholar," had few sympathies with the poor
tenants by whom he was surrounded. So true is Dr-
Johnson's remark, " that the Highland chiefs should not
be allowed to go farther south than Aberdeen."
In her union with young Kingsburgh Flora enjoyed
a source of satisfaction not to be estimated lightly.
She became the daughter-in-law of a man whose vir-
tues were remembered with the deepest respect in
Skye.f When in 1773 Dr. Johnson and Boswell visit-
ed the island, they found Flora and her husband living
in apparent prosperity in the dwelling wherein Charles
* Boswell's Tour to the Hebrides.
t Dr. Johnson's Tour to the Hebrides, p. 319.
FLORA MACDONALD. 373
Edward had been so hospitably entertained. Kings-
burgh the younger, as the head of the house, received
the Doctor at his door, and with respectful attention
supported him into the house. A comfortable parlour
with a good fire was appropriated to the guests, and
the " dram " went round. Presently supper was
served, and then Flora made her appearance. "To
see Dr. Samuel Johnson, the great champion of the
English Tories, salute Miss Flora Macdonald in the
isle of Skye, was," as Boswell observes, "a striking
sight." In their notions Flora and the Doctor were in
many respects congenial ; and Dr. Johnson not only
had imbibed a high opinion of Flora, but found that
opinion confirmed on acquaintance.
Conversation flowed freely. Flora told him that
during a recent visit to the main land she had heard
that Mr. Boswell was coming to Skye ; and that
Mr. Johnson, a young English "buck," was coming
with him. Dr. Johnson was highly entertained with
^this fancy. He retired however early to rest, and
reposed on the very bed on which Charles Edward
had slept so long and so soundly on his way from
Mugstat to Portree. The room was decorated with
a great variety of maps and prints ; among others was
Hogarth's head of Wilkes grinning, with the cap of
Liberty on a pole by him. Boswell appears, as far as
we can guess from his expressions, to have shared the
apartment. "To see Dr. Samuel Johnson," remarks
Boswell, " lying on that bed in the isle of Skye, in the
house of Miss Flora Macdonald, again struck me with
such a group of ideas as it is not easy for words to
express." Upon Boswell giving vent to this burst of
374 FLORA MACDONALD.
rapture, Dr. Johnson smiled and said, " I have had no
ambitious thoughts in it." He afterwards remarked,
that he would have given a great deal rather than not
have lain in that bed.*
On quitting the house, Dr. Johnson and his friend
were rowed by Kingsburgh, across one of the lochs
which flow in upon all the coasts of Skye, to a place
called Grishinish ; and here the Highland host bade
his guests adieu. All seemed smiling and prosperous ;
but even at this time Kingsburgh was embarrassed in
his affairs, and contemplated going to America.
That scheme was eventually accomplished. During
the passion for emigration which prevailed in the High-
lands, Kingsburgh removed to North Carolina, where he
purchased an estate. Scarcely had he settled upon his
property before the American war broke out. Like
most of the Jacobites who were in America at that
time, he sided with the British Government. He even
took up arms in the cause, and became captain of a
regiment called the North Carolina Highlanders. Many
singular adventures occurred both to him and to Flora
in the course of the contest. At length they returned
to Skye, but not together ; she sailed first. In the
voyage home, her ship encountered a French ship of
war. An action ensued. Whilst the ladies among the
passengers were below, Flora stayed on deck, and en-
couraged the sailors with her voice and manner. She
was thrown down in the confusion, and broke her arm.
With her wonted vivacity she afterwards observed, that
she had risked her life both for the House of Stuart
and for that of Brunswick, but had got very little for
* Dr. Johnson's Tour to the Hebrides, p. 217.
FLORA MACDONALD. 375
her pains. Her husband remained in America for
some time after she returned to Scotland, but joined
her at last.
Flora had a numerous family of sons and daugh-
ters. Charles, her eldest son, was a captain in the
Queen's Rangers. He was worthy of bearing his mo-
ther's name. As his kinsman, the late Lord Macdonald,
saw his remains lowered into the grave, he remarked,
" There lies the most finished gentleman of my family
and name!" Alexander, the second son, also in the
King's service, was lost at sea. Eanald, the third, was
a captain of Marines. He was remarkable for his ele-
gant person, and estimable for his high professional
reputation. James, the fourth son, served in Tarlton's
British Legion, and was a brave officer. The late Lieu-
tenant-Colonel John Macdonald, in Exeter, long sur-
vived his brothers. This officer was introduced to King
George the Fourth, who observed, on his presentation,
to those around him, " This gentleman is the son of a
lady to whom my family (thus designating the
'Stuarts) owe a great obligation/' Of two daughters,
one, Mrs. Macleod of Lochbuy, died not many years ago.
The following letters refer to the family who have
been thus enumerated.*
* From the Collection of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Esq. They
were printed, on the occasion of the Queen's visit to Scotland, in the
Edinburgh Advertiser for 1844.
376 FLORA MACDONALD.
FROM MRS. MACDONALD TO MRS. MACKENZIE OF DELVIN,
BY DUNKELL.
" Dun vegan, twenty-fourth July, 1780.
"DEAR MADAM,
" I arrived at Inverness the third day after part-
ing with you, in good health and without any accidents,
which I always dread ; my young 'squire continued
always very obliging and attentive to me. I stayed at
Inverness for three days. I had the good-luck to meet
with a female companion from that to Skye. I was
the fourth day, with great difficulty, at Raasay, for my
hands being so pained with the riding.
" I arrived here a few days ago with my young
daughter, who promises to be a stout Highland dairg,
quite overgrown of her age. Nanny and her small
family are well : her husband was not sailed the last
accounts she had from him.
" I have the pleasure to inform you, upon my arrival
here, that I had two letters from my husband ; the
latter dated tenth May. He was then in very good
health, and informs me that my son Charles has got
the command of a troop of horse in Lord Cathcart's
regiment. But alas I I have heard nothing since I left
you about my son Sandy,* which you may be sure
gives me great uneasiness ; but still hope for the best.
" By public and private news, I hope we will soon
have peace re-established, to our great satisfaction :
which, as it's a thing long expected and wished for, will
be for the utility of the whole nation ; especially to
* So named, in compliment to Sir Alexander Macdonald of Slate, or
rather to his wife, Lady Margaret, the friend of Flora Macdonald.
FLORA MACDONALD. 377
poor me, that has my all engaged, fond to hear news,
and yet afraid to get it.
"I wait here till a favourable opportunity for the
Long Island shall offer itself. As I am upon all occa-
sions under the greatest obligations to you, would you
get a letter from my son Johny sooner than I would
get one from him, you would very much oblige me by
dropping me a few lines communicating to me the
most material part of his letter.
" I hope you and the ladies of your family will al-
ways accept of my kindest respects; and I ever am,
with esteem, dear madam, your affectionate, humble
servant, " FLORA MACDONALD.
" Please direct to me, to Mrs. Macdonald, late of
Kingsborrow, South Uist, by Dunvegan."
Two years, it seems, elapsed, and the summer of
1782 arrived, and the fate of Alexander Macdonald
was still unknown ; yet the mother's heart still clung
to hope, as it proved by the following letter. No
murmurs escape from one who seems to have sustained
unrepiningly the sorrows which reach the heart most
truly ; the wreck of fortune, not for ourselves, but for
our children, and the terrors of suspense. One source
of consolation she possessed : her surviving sons were
brave, honourable, and respected. But " Sandy " never
returned.
378 FLORA MACDONALD.
MRS. MACKENZIE OF DEL VINE, BY DUNKELL.
" Milton, third of July, 1782.
" DEAR MADAM,
" I received your agreeable favour a fortnight ago,
and am happy to find that your health is not worse
than when I left you. I return you my sincere thanks
for your being so mindful of me as to send me the
agreeable news about Johny's arrival, which relieved
me from a great deal of distress, as that was the first
accounts I had of him since he sailed. I think, poor
man ! he has been very lucky, for getting into bread so
soon after landing. I had a letter from John, which, I
suppose, came by the same conveyance with yours. I
am told by others that it will be in his power now
to show his talents, as being in the engineer depart-
ment. He speaks feelingly of the advantages he got in
his youth, and the good example showed him, which I
hope will keep him from doing anything that is either
sinful or shameful.*
" I received a letter from Captain Macdonald, my hus-
band, dated from Halifax, the twelfth of November '82 ;
he was then recovering his health, but had been very
tender for some time before. My son Charles is captain
in the British Legion, and James a lieutenant in the
same : they are both in New York. Ranald is captain
of Marines, and was with Rodney at the taking of St.
Eustatia. As for my son Sandy, who was a-missing,
I had accounts of his being carried to Lisbon, but
* This alludes to the attention paid him when young, and under the
care of Mr. Mackenzie, by that gentleman and his family.
FLORA MACDONALD. 379
nothing certain, which I look upon the whole as a hear-
say ; but the kindness of Providence is still to be
looked upon, as I have no reason to complain, as God
has been pleased to spare his father and the rest. I
am now at my brother's house, on my way to Skye, to
attend my daughter, who is to lie-in in August ; they
are all in health at present. As for my health at present,
it 's tolerable, considering my anxious mind and distress
of times.
" It gives me a great deal of pleasure to hear such
good accounts of young Mr. M'Kinnie :* no doubt he has
a great debt to pay, who represents his worthy and
amiable uncle. I hope you will be so good as remem-
ber me to your female companions. I do not despair
of the pleasure of seeing you once more, if peace was
restored ; and I am, dear madam, with respect and
esteem, your affectionate friend,
" FLORA MACDONALD."
Flora died in 1790, having attained the age of
seventy. Her corpse was interred, wrapt in the sheet
on which Charles Edward had lain at Kingsburgh, and
which she had carried with her to America, intending
that, wherever she should be entombed, it should
serve as her winding-sheet.
The life and character of Flora Macdonald exemplify
how true it is, that, in the performance of daily duties,
and in domestic life, the loftiest qualities of woman
may be formed ; for the hourly practice of self-controul,
the exercise of judgment, the acquisition of fortitude,
tend to the perfection of those virtues which ennobled
* The late Sir Alexander Muir Mackenzie of Delvine, Bart.
380 FLORA MACDONALD,
her career. In all her trials she acted a woman's
part. Her spirit was fortified by a strength that was
ever gentle. She was raised by circumstances above
a private sphere ; when these ceased to actuate her,
she returned cheerfully to what many might deem ob-
scurity, but which she gladdened by a kind and cheer-
ful temper. No vain-glory, no egotism, vulgarized her
one great effort. The simplicity of her character was
inherent and unextinguishable ; and the deep interest
which was attached to her character was never less-
ened by any display. Her enthusiasm for the Stuart
cause ceased only with her life. When any person
thoughtlessly, or cruelly, applied the term " Preten-
der " to the Prince whom she reverenced, her anger
for a moment was aroused. But contention ill ac-
corded with the truly feminine, yet noble and well-
principled, mind of Flora Macdonald. Upon the error
or truth of that belief in hereditary and indefeas-
ible right which she entertained, it is of little moment,
in estimating her virtues, to pass an opinion. Perhaps
we may venture to conclude with Dr. Johnson, " that
being in rebellion, from a notion of another's right,
is not connected with depravity ; and that we had this
proof of it, that all mankind applaud the pardoning
of rebels, which they would not do in the case of mur-
derers and robbers,"
WILLIAM BOYD, EARL OF KILMARNOCK.
THE unfortunate nobleman who is the subject of this
Memoir, could boast of as long line of ancestors as most
families in Europe. Among his forefathers were men
eminent for loyalty, and distinguished for bravery,
and of honour as untainted as their blood ; but when
William, fourth Earl of Kilmarnock, succeeded to his
title, there was little except this high ancestry to elate
him with pride, or to raise him above dependence upon
circumstances.
The Earl of Kilmarnock derived his title from a
royal borough of the same name, in the shire of Cun-
ningham in Ayrshire ; and, in former times when the
chieftainship was in repute in that part of Scotland,
that branch of the family of Boyd, or Boyde, from
whom the Earl was descended, claimed to be chiefs.
The greatness of the Boyd family commenced with
Simon, the brother of Walter, first High Steward of
Scotland, and founder of the Monastery of Paisley,
in 1160. Robert, the son of Simon, is designated
in the foundation church of that monastery, as ne-
phew of Walter, High Steward ; and is distinguished
on account of his fair complexion, by the word Boyt,
or Boyd,"* from the Celtic Boidh, signifying fair, or
* Wood's Peerage.
382 WILLIAM BOYD,
yellow. " He was/' says Nisbet, " doubtless, predecessor
to the Lords Boyd, and Earls of Kilmarnock.*
The family of Boyd continued to flourish until, in
the fifteenth century, it was ennobled by James the
Third, who owed to one of its members, Sir Alexander
Boyd of Duncow, esteemed to be a mirror of chivalry,
an inculcation into the military exercises, which were
deemed, in those days, essential to the education of
royalty. But the sunshine of kingly favour was not
enjoyed by the Boyds without some alloy. Robert
Boyd of Kilmarnock, who was raised to the peerage,
under the title of Lord Boyd, and whose eldest
son was created Earl of Arran, experienced various
vicissitudes. He died in England, in exile ; and
his brother, Sir Alexander, perished in 1469, on
a scaffold, erected on the Castle Hill of Edinburgh.
The fortunes of the family were, however, restored
in the person of Thomas, Earl of Arran, who married
the eldest sister of King James the Third. The
beautiful island of Arran was given as the dower
of this lady : and her husband, who is said in the
Paston Letters to have been a " light, clever, and well-
spoken, fair archer ; devoutest, most perfect, and truest
to his lady, of Knights," enjoyed a short gleam of
royal favour. His vicissitudes, however, befel him
whilst on an embassy in Denmark, his enemies under-
mined him at h&'me : he was driven to wander in
foreign countries, and died at Antwerp, where a mag-
* Who, adds the same authority, carried azure, a fess cheque, argent
and gules : and for their crest, a hand issuing out of a wreath, point-
ing with the thumb and two fingers : motto, confido ; supporters, two
squirrels collared or..
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 383
nificent monument was erected to his memory, by
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. His title was at-
tainted, but his property was restored to his son ; and in
1655, the title of Earl of Kilmarnock was added to that
of Lord Boyd, which alone seems to have been retained
by the family during the intervening generations.
During the reign of Charles the First, his descend-
ants were considered to be steady Royalists ; but, not-
withstanding their claiming descent from the Stuarts,
the views and principles of the family in the troublous
period of the Revolution of 1688, underwent a total
change. William, the third Earl of Kilmarnock, and
the father of the unhappy adherent of Charles Ed-
ward, took the oaths of allegiance to the reigning
family, and supported the Treaty of Union ; joining
at first the party entitled the Squddrone volante ;
but eventually deserting them for the Whigs. When
the Insurrection of 1715 broke out, this nobleman
plainly manifested that the notions which had ac-
tuated his ancestor to join the association at Cumber-
land in favour of Charles the First, were no longer
deemed valid by him. The superiority of the Burgh
of Kilmarnock having been granted in 1672 to his
ancestors, the Earl summoned the inhabitants of the
Burgh to assemble, and to arm themselves in support
of Government. At the general meeting of the fen-
cible corps at Cunningham, Lord Kilmarnock appeared,
followed by five hundred of his men, well armed, and
so admirably trained, that they made the best figure on
that occasion among the forces collected.* In com-
pliance with orders which he received from the Duke
of Argyll, Lord Kilmarnock marched with his volun-
* Reay, 203.
384 WILLIAM BOYD,
teers to garrison the houses of Drummakil, Cardross,
and Gastartan, in order to prevent the rebels from
crossing the Forth. Unhappily for the fortunes of his
family, the Earl died two years afterwards : and
in the year 1717, his son, then a boy of fourteen
years of age, succeeded to his title.
The mother of the young nobleman still survived :
she was the Lady Eupheme, daughter of William,
eleventh Earl of Ross ; and one child only, the Earl of
Kilmarnock, had been the issue of her marriage.
The youth, whose fate afterwards extorted pity from
the most prejudiced spectators of his fate, was educated
in the principles of the Scottish Church. These, as
the chaplain who attended Lord Kilmarnock in the
last days of his existence observes, are far from
" having the least tendency to sedition," and a very
different bias was apparent in the conduct of the Pres-
byterian ministers during the whole course of the in-
surrections of 1745. The young nobleman appears to
have imbibed, with this persuasion, a sincere conviction
of those incontrovertible, and all-important truths
of Christianity which, happily, the contentions of sect
cannot nullify, nor the passions of mankind assail.
' He always believed," such is his own declaration, " in
the great truths of God's Being and Providence, and in
a future state of rewards and punishments for virtue
and vice." He had never, he declared at that solemn
moment when nothing appeared to him of consequence
save truth, " been involved in the fashionable scep-
ticism of the times." As he grew up, a character more
amiable than energetic, and dispositions more calcu-
lated to inspire love than to insure respect, manifested
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 385
themselves in the young nobleman. He was singu-
larly handsome, being tall and slender, and possessing
what was termed by an eyewitness of his trial, " an
extreme fine person ;" he was mild, and well-bred,
humble, and conscientious. It is true, that in his
hours of penitence he recalled, with anguish, " a care-
less and dissolute life," by which, as he affirmed, he
reduced himself to great and perplexing difficulties ;
he repented for his " love of vanity and addictedness
to impurity and sensual pleasure," which had " brought
pollution and guilt upon his soul, and debased his
reason, and, for a time, suspended the exercise of his
social affections, which were, by nature, strong in him,
and, in particular, the love of his country/' Such
was his own account of that youth, which, deprived of
the guidance of a father, with high rank and great
personal attractions to endanger it, was passed,
according to his own confession, in dissipation arid
folly. It appears, nevertheless, that he was greatly
respected by his neighbours and tenantry, who were
not, perhaps, disposed to judge very severely the
errors of a young and popular man.
When only eleven years of age, Lord Kilmarnock,
then Lord Boyd, had appeared in arms for Government
with his father ; on which occasion he conducted him-
self so gracefully as to attract the admiration of all
beholders.* His early prepossessions, granting that
they may have accorded with those of his father, were,
however, soon dissipated when he allied himself with
a family who had been conspicuous in the Jacobite
cause. This was the house of Livingstone, Earl of
* Reay, 203.
VOL. III. C C
38G WILLIAM BOYD,
Linlithgow and Calendar ; George, the fourth Earl,
having, in 1715, been engaged in the insurrection
under Lord Mar, had been attainted, and his estate of
one thousand two hundred arid ninety-six pounds
yearly forfeited to the Crown. Nor has this forfei-
ture ever been reversed ; and the present representa-
tive of the family, Sir Thomas Livingstone, of West-
quarter and Bedlormie, remains, notwithstanding an
appeal in 1784 before Lord Kenyon, then Attorney-
General, a commoner.*
Lady Anne Livingstone, who was the object of the
young Lord Kilmarnock's choice, is reported to have
been a woman of great beauty, and, from her exertions
in her husband's behalf, appears to have possessed a
fine, determined spirit. Although her father's title
was not restored, she had sufficient interest, in 1721,
to obtain from the English Government a lease of the
forfeited estates for fifty-nine years, at the rent of
eight hundred and seventy-two pounds, twelve shil-
lings per annum, f This was, no doubt, a source of
considerable pecuniary benefit to her, and also of assist-
ance, very greatly required by Lord Kilmarnock,
who was in impoverished circumstances. Honours,
indeed, centered in him, but were productive of no
real benefit. By the grandmother of his wife, the Lady
Margaret Hay, sole surviving daughter of Charles the
twelfth Earl of Errol, he had a claim to that Earl-
dom, which, coupling with its dignity that of the
hereditary High Constable of Scotland, descended in
* Wood's Peerage. The defect of the title is the failure of issue
male. The title of Livingstone was considered by the same authority
as untouched. t Ihid.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 387
the female line, and after the death of a brother in
infancy, constituted the Lady Anne Livingstone a
Countess of Errol in her own right. Thus, Lord
Kilmarnock had, to borrow Horace Walpole's ex-
pression, u four earldoms in him," Kilmarnock, Errol,
Linlithgow, and Calendar -" and yet he is said to have
been so poor, as "often to have wanted a dinner/'
But to this mode of expression we must not entirely
trust for accuracy. With the inheritance of the Earl-
doms of Errol, and of Linlithgow, and Calendar, there
came a stock of old Jacobite principles ; Lord Lin-
lithgow had, indeed, suffered what was perhaps worse
than death for his adherence to James Stuart. The
Earl of Errol, the grandfather of Lady Kilmarnock,
had led a more prudent course. Still he was a hearty
Jacobite, and though, as Lockhart declares, he did not
at first make a " great outward appearance," yet he
was much trusted by the party ; his family had
always been favourable to the Stuarts, and he was,
also, generally considered to cherish similar senti-
ments.* He had, nevertheless, taken the oaths to Go-
vernment in 1705; yet on the alarm of an invasion
in 1708, he was deemed so dangerous a person that
he was sent as a prisoner to Edinburgh Castle, where
he died.
The love suit of Lord Kilmarnock was not likely,
under his impoverished circumstances, to prosper un-
interruptedly. When he succeeded to his estate he
had found it much encumbered, and a considerable
portion of the old inheritance alienated. Lord Kilmar-
nock's disposition was not formed for economy ; he was
* Lockhart Papers, i. 138. Note. Calendar.
c c 2
388 WILLIAM BOYD,
generous even to profusion, and, as we have seen, had
not escaped the temptations incident to his age. His
addresses to the Lady Anne Livingstone are said to
have been prompted by his necessities ; her fortune was
deemed considerable ; and her family, we]l knowing
the state of the Earl's affairs, regarded his proposals
of marriage unfavourably. But the young nobleman,
during the course of his courtship, and in opposing
these objections, formed an interest in the heart of
the young lady. He was, indeed, a man born to charm
the imagination of the romantic, if not at that
period of his youth, to rivet affection by esteem. In
his boyhood, although he made some degree of pro-
gress in classical attainments, and even in philosophy
and mathematics, thus proving that natural ability
was not wanting, he was far more successful in at-
taining mere accomplishments, which add a powerful
charm to comeliness and symmetry than in mastering
more solid studies. He became an adept in fencing,
in riding, in drawing, and also in music ; and ac-
quired the distinctive and comprehensive designation,
of being " a polite gentleman."*
Disgusted with the cold discussions on settlements
and rent rolls, and disregarding maternal cautions,
Lady Anne soon followed the dictates of her own
heart. She married the young and handsome noble-
man without her mother's consent, and a tardy sanc-
tion to the union was wrung from Lady Livingstone
only when it was too late to withhold her approval.
The marriage was not, it was said by those who
were disposed to scandalize the Earl of Kilmarnock,
* Memoirs of Lord Kilmarnock. London, 1746, p. 19.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 389
productive of happiness. The young Countess was pos-
sessed, indeed, of beauty, wit, and good sense : but her
husband, if we may accredit the memoirs of his life,
gave her much cause to complain of his conduct. They
lived, however, as the same doubtful authority states,
" if not happily, at least civilly together." Such is the
statement of a contemporary writer ; it must, however,
be adopted with just as much allowance as we give to
similar reports raised by party writers in the present
day : and it will be shown 45 " not to accord with the
dying declarations of Lord Kilmarnock. " I leave be-
hind," he wrote to his agent, " in Lady Kilmarnock,
what is dearest to me."f Subsequently to his mar-
riage, Lord Kilmarnock's necessities and the additional
burden of a family induced him to apply to the Eng-
lish Government for a pension, founded, as it is pro-
bable, on his father's services to Government in 1715.
But this statement, and the conditions upon which the
bounty was given are left in obscurity. " Whether," says
the anonymous biographer of Lord Kilmarnock, " my
Lord Kilmarnock's pension was a ministerial bribe, or
a royal bounty, is a question I cannot determine with
any certainty ; but I have reason to suspect the former,
since few pensions, granted by a certain administration,
that of Sir Robert Walpole, deserved the latter." The
same writer truly observes, that little or no dependance
is to be placed on that loyalty which wants the support
of bribes and pensions. " The practice," he adds, " is
too general, and a defection of this kind of men may
* Memoirs of the Earl of Kilmavnock, p. 20.
f MS. Letter presented to me by Mrs. Howison Craufurd. of Crau-
furdland Castle, Ayrshire.
390 WILLIAM BOYD,
be fatal to the state.""" The pension, as it appears
from Horace Walpole's letters, was taken from Lord
Kilmarnock by Lord Wilmington. " Lord Kilmarnock,"
he writes to Sir Horace Mann, " is a Presbyterian, with
four earldoms in view, but so poor since Lord Wil-
mington's stopping a pension that my father had given
him, that he often wanted a dinner." f
In the last days of his existence the Earl, indeed,
acknowledged that the state of his affairs was, in part,
the reason of his defection from Government. He
attributed it, (though, it must be stated, under the
pressing arguments of a minister of religion who con-
sidered what he termed " rebellion" as the most hein-
ous sin,) to the great and pressing difficulties into
which he had brought himself, by extravagance and
dissipation : and declared, according to the account of
his spiritual guide, that the "exigency of his affairs
was very pressing at the time of the rebellion ; and
that, besides the general hope he had of mending his
fortune by the success of it, he was also tempted by
another prospect, of retrieving his circumstances if he
followed the Pretender's standard.";);
Until the commencement of the insurrection of
1745, Lord Kilmarnock enjoyed the possession of Dean
Castle, a very ancient edifice, situated about half a
mile north east of the town of Kilmarnock, in Ayrshire.
" It is," says Grose in his Antiquities of Scotland, " at
a small distance from the main road leading from Kil-
marnock to Stewarton, and consists of a large vaulted
* Memoirs of Lord Kilmarnock, p. 21.
t Horace Walpole's X-etters, ii. p. 113.
t Foster's Account, p. 11.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 391
square tower, which seems to have been built about the
beginning of the fifteenth century : this is surrounded
by a court and other buildings more modern." 4 " Such
is the description of Dean Castle before the year 1735;
when, to add to Lord Kilmarnock's other necessities, it
was partially destroyed by fire, leaving only a ruin
which he was too much impoverished even to restore
to its former habitable state. In the "great square
tower," referred to by Grose, and of which a view is
preserved in his work on Scotland, the Boyd family
had dwelt in the days of their greatness, when one
of their race was created Earl of Arran. In that tower
had the Earl imprisoned his royal wife, the Lady Mar-
garet, sister of James the Third, who was divorced
from him, pleading, as some say, a prior contract with
the Lord Hamilton, to whom she was afterwards
united, taking to him the Isle of Arran as her dower.
It does not appear that the Earl of Kilmarnock was
originally in the confidence of the Jacobite party : and
their designs were not only matured, but far in full
operation before he took an open or active part in
the Stuart cause. It happened, however, that when
Charles Edward resided at Holyrood, the Countess of
Kilmarnock was living in Edinburgh. Her beauty,
and the gaiety of her manners, attracted the admira-
tion of the young Prince, who bestowed no small por-
tion of attention on the fascinating daughter of one of
his father's adherents. Lady Kilmarnock was as much
attached to pleasure as the young and beautiful usually
are : she delighted in public diversions, and led the
way to all parties of amusement. Her ambition, no
Grose, 214.
392 WILLIAM BOYD,
less than her early prepossessions conspired, it is said,
to make her a Jacobite ; and she hoped, by the favour
of Charles Edward, to obtain the restoration of her
father's title. Her entreaties to the Earl of Kilmar-
nock to join the standard of the Prince were stimu-
lated, therefore, by a double motive ; and, indeed, to
a generous and romantic mind, there required neither
the inducements of ambition, nor of gratified vanity,
to espouse that part which seemed most natural to the
Scotch. After the battle of Preston Pans, Lady Kil-
marnock's persuasions took effect : her husband pre-
sented himself to the young Chevalier, who received him
with every mark of esteem and distinction, declared him
a member of the privy council, raised him to the rank
of a general, and appointed him colonel of his guards.*
Another occurrence is, however, stated to have had
a considerable influence in forming the Earl's decision.
During the course of the conflict, he met, at Linlith-
gow, that incomparable man, and excellent officer,
Colonel Gardiner. This individual, whose character
forms so fine a relief to the party-spirited and debased
condition of the British army in the time of George the
Second, was a native of Linlithgowshire, having been
born at Carriden, in the year of the Revolution, 1688.
His life commencing in that important era, had been
one of events. He had first entered the Dutch service ;
then had served in Marlborough's army at Ramilies.
'Until this incident of his life, the young soldier, then
only nineteen, had run a course of dissolute pleasure,
and had obtained, from the frankness and gaiety of his
disposition, the name of the happy rake. Being in the
* Memoirs of Lord Kilmarnock, p. 23.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 393
Forlorn hope, he was wounded, and left in a state
hovering between life and death, on the field, and in
a state of partial insensibility, from which he was
aroused at times to perfect consciousness.
The ball which had struck Gardiner, had entered his
mouth ; and without breaking a single tooth, or touch-
ing the forepart of his tongue, had passed through his
neck, coming out above an inch and a half on the left
side of the vertebrae. He was abandoned by Marlbo-
rough's troops, who, according to their custom, left the
wounded to their fate, while they pursued their ad-
vantages against the French.
In this state, the first serious emotions of grati-
tude, the first convictions of a peculiar Providence sug-
gested themselves to the mind of the young officer :
and although they did not, for some years, produce an
absolute amendment of life, they laid the foundation of
his future conversion, and of that exemplary piety and
purity which extorted admiration even in a dissolute
age. After being present at every battle that Marlbo-
rough had fought in Flanders, Colonel Gardiner had
signalized his courage in the Insurrection of 1715;
and in 1745 he was again ordered to the north to
meet the Jacobite forces near Edinburgh. *
It was during this, his last campaign, when broken
by ill health and premature age, for this brave and good
man despaired of the restoration of peace to his coun-
try, that he supped in company with Lord Kilmarnock,
at Linlithgow. Colonel Gardiner's prognostications
had long been most gloomy. "I have heard him
say," declared Dr. Doddridge, " many years before the
* Life of Colonel Gardiner, by Dr. Doddridge, passim.
394 WILLIAM BOYD,
Scottish Insurrection, that a few thousands might have
a fair chance for marching from Edinburgh to London,
uncontrolled, and throw the whole kingdom into an
astonishment." This opinion was derived from his
knowledge of the defenceless state of the country, and
the general prevailing disaifection. And the pious,
but somewhat distrustful views of Gardiner led him
to assign yet more solemn reasons for his anticipations
of evil. " For my own part, though I fear nothing for
myself, my apprehensions for the public are very
gloomy, considering the deplorable prevalency of
almost all kinds of wickedness among us ; the natural
consequences of the contempt of the Gospel. I am
daily offering up my prayers to God for this sinful land
of ours, over which His judgments seem to be gather-
ing ; and my strength is sometimes so exhausted with
those strong cries and tears, which I pour out before
God upon this occasion, that I am hardly able to stand
when I arise from my knees.""""
Imbued with these convictions, Colonel Gardiner,
when he was retreating at Linlithgow with the troops
under his command, spoke unguardedly to Lord Kil-
marnock of the prospects of the English army, and
thus confirmed the wavering inclination of that ill-
fated nobleman to follow Charles Edward, f The de-
cisive step was not, it appears, taken until after the
battle of Preston Pans, in which Colonel Gardiner,
who had a mournful presentiment of the event of that
engagement, fell, after a deportment truly worthy of
the British soldier, and of the Christian. This brave
officer, after having received two wounds, fought on, his
* Doddridge. Life of Colonel Gardiner, p. 155. t Henderson, p. 130.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 395
feeble frame animated by the almost supernatural force
of strong determination. As he headed a party of foot
who had lost their leader, and cried out, " Fire on,
my lads, fear nothing ;" his right-arm was cut down by
a Highlander, who advanced with a scythe, fastened to
a pole. He was dragged from his horse ; and the
work of butchery j was completed by another High-
lander, who struck him on the head with a broad-
sword : Gardiner had only power to say to his servant,
" Take care of yourself." The faithful creature has-
tened to an adjoining mill for a cart to convey his
master to a place of safety. It was not until two
hours had elapsed, that he was able to return. The
mangled body, all stripped and plundered, was, even
then, still breathing; and the agony of that gallant
spirit was protracted until the next day, when he ex-
pired in the house of the minister of Tranent.
This digression, introducing as it does, one of the
real heroes of this mournful period, may be pardoned.
According to the evidence on his trial, Lord Kil-
marnock first joined the standard of Charles Edward on
the " banks of the river which divides England from
Scotland ;"* but Maxwell of Kirkconnel mentions that
the Earl marched from Edinburgh on the thirty-first of
October, 1745, at the head of a little squadron of
horse grenadiers, with whom were some Perthshire
gentlemen, who, in the absence of their own com-
mander, were placed under the conduct of Lord Kil-
marnock.f After this decisive step, Lord Kilmarnock
continued to follow Charles during the whole of that
ill-fated campaign, which ended in the battle of Cullo-
* State Trials of George II. t Maxwell, p. 60.
396 WILLIAM BOYD,
den. During the various events of that disastrous
undertaking, his character, like that of many other
commanders in the Chevalier's army, suffered from im-
putations of cruelty. That this vice was not accordant
with his general disposition of mind, the minister who
attended him on his death-bed sufficiently attests.
" For myself," declares Mr. Foster* " I must do this
unhappy criminal the justice to own, that he never
appeared, during the course of my attendance upon
him, to be of any other than a soft, benevolent dispo-
sition. His behaviour was always mild and temperate.
I could discern no resentment, no disturbance or agi-
tation in him."" So gentle a character is not the
growth of a day ; and if ever Lord Kilmarnock were
betrayed into actions of violence, it must have been
under circumstances of a peculiar nature.
Among other charges which were specified against
him, was a participation in the blowing up of the
church of St. Ninian's, in the retreat from Stir-
ling. But when, in the retirement of his prison cham-
ber, the unfortunate nobleman reviewed his conduct,
and confessed the errors of his life, he fully and
satisfactorily cleared himself from the heinous impu-
tation implied in this work of destruction. When the
army of Charles were retiring from Stirling he was
confined to his bed ill of a fever. The first intimation
that he had of the blowing up of the tower of St.
Ninian's was the noise, of which he never could ob-
tain a clear account. By the insurgents it was repre-
sented as accidental : " this can I certainly say, as to
myself that 1 had no knowledge before hand, nor any
* Forbes's Account, p. 20.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 397
concurrence in a designed act of cruelty." Such was
Lord Kilmarnock's declaration to Mr. Foster.
Another instance of barbarity also laid to the
charge of the Earl was, his alleged treatment of
certain prisoners of war who were intrusted to his
care in the church of Inverness. He was accused of
stripping these unfortunate persons of their clothes.
Upon this point he admitted that an order to
deprive the prisoners of their garments for the use
of the Highlanders was issued by Charles Edward :
that the warrant for executing this order was sent
to him. He did not, as he declared, enter the church
in person, but committed the office of execution to
an inferior officer. The prisoners, as might be ex-
pected, refused to submit to this indignity ; upon
which a second order was issued, and their clothes
were taken from them. The well-timed remonstrance
of Boyer, Marquis D'Eguilles, who had been sent by
the court of France in the character of Ambassador to
Charles Edward, arrested, however, the act of cruelty,
which not even extreme necessity can excuse. This
nobleman had arrived some time previously at Mon-
trose, bringing in the ship in which he sailed, arms and
a small sum of money,* and his influence, which was
exerted in behalf of the captives, was happily con-
siderable. He represented to the Earl of Kilmarnock,
that the rules of war did not authorise the outrage which
was contemplated. Lord Kilmarnock, convinced by
his remarks, repaired to Charles Edward, leaving heaps
of the clothes lying in the streets of Inverness, with
sentinels standing to guard them. By the arguments
* Maxwell, p. 50. This Nobleman was at the battle of Culloden.
398 WILLIAM BOYD,
which he addressed to the Prince, these garments were
restored to their unfortunate owners ; and a great
stain on the memory both of Charles and of his ad-
herent was thus partially effaced.
Of such a nature were those imputations which
were charged upon Lord Kilmarnock ; but they ap-
pear to have met with only a transient credence ;
whilst a general impression of his gentleness, and a
prevailing regret for his fate endured as long as the
memory of the dire contest, and of its tragical ter-
mination, dwelt in the recollection of those who wit-
nessed those mournful times.
After the battle of Culloden, the prisoners were im-
mediately set free. The Duke of Cumberland, as
he entered Inverness, taking his road amid the car-
casses of the dead strewed in the way, called for the
keys of the prisons, and with his own hands released
the captives there, and, clapping them on the shoulders
as they came down stairs, exclaimed, "brother soldiers,
you are free."* Unfortunately his compassion was of
a party nature, and was only aroused for his own
adherents.
At Culloden, fatal to so many brave men, Lord
Kilmarnock was spared only to taste much more
deeply of the pangs of death than if he had met
it in battle. His fate had, indeed, been anticipat-
ed by the superstitious ; and it was considered a
rash instance of hardihood in the unfortunate noble-
man to resist an omen which, about a year before
the rebellion had broken out, is said to have hap-
pened in his house.
* Henderson, p. 332.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 399
One day, as the maid who attended usually upon
Lady Kilmarnock was inspecting some linen in an
upper room of Dean Castle, the door of the apartment
suddenly opened of its own accord, and the view
of a bloody head, resembling that of Lord Kilmarnock,
was presented to the affrighted woman. As she gazed
in horror, the head rolled near her. She endeavoured
in vain to repel it with her foot. She became power-
less, but she was still able to scream ; her shrieks
brought Lord Kilmarnock and his Countess to the
chamber. The apparition had vanished ; but she re-
lated succinctly the story " which, at that time," says
the historian who repeats it,* " Lord Kilmarnock too
much ridiculed, though it could have been wished
that he had been forewarned by the omen. Such was
the superstition of the times, in which ignorance and
credulity found such ready supporters."
At Culloden, this ill-fated nobleman occupied a post
not far from the Prince, in the rear of whom was a
line of reserve, consisting of three columns, the first
of which, on the left, was commanded by Lord Kil-
marnock ; the centre column by Lord Lewis Gordon
and Glenbucket ; and the right by the justly-cele-
brated Roy Stewart. In the opposite ranks, an ensign
in the royal regiment, was his son, Lord Boyd. During
the confusion of the fight, when half-blinded by the
smoke, the unhappy Lord Kilmarnock, as if fated to
fulfil the omen, mistook a party of English Dragoons
for FitzJames's Horse, and was accordingly taken
prisoner. He was led along the lines of the British
infantry. The vaunted beauty of his countenance,
* Henderson, p. 130.
400 WILLIAM BO YD,
and the matchless graces of which so much has
been said, were now obliterated by the disorder of
his person, and his humiliating position. His hat
had been lost in the conflict, and his long hair
fell about his face. The soldiers as he was led along
stood in mute compassion at this sight. Among those
who thus looked upon this unfortunate man was his
son, Lord Bojd, who was constrained to witness, with-
out attempting to alleviate, the distress of that mo-
ment. When the Earl passed the place where his son
stood, the youth, unable to bear that his father should
be thus exposed bareheaded to the storm which played
upon the scene of carnage, stepped out of the ranks
and taking his own hat from his head, placed it on
that of his father. It was the work of an instant, and
not a syllable escaped the lips of the agitated young
man.*
Lord Kilmarnock was carried from the moor, which
already, to use the words of an eyewitness among the
Government troops, " was covered with blood ; the
men, what with killing the enemy, dabbling their feet
in the blood, and splashing it about one another,
looked like so many butchers."f Never, did even their
enemies declare, was a field of battle bestrewn with a
finer, perhaps with a nobler race. " Every body allowed,"
writes one of Cumberland's officers, " that men of a
larger size, larger limbs, and better proportioned, could
not be found." The flower of their unhappy country ;
hundreds of these had not yet been blessed with the
repose of death, but were left to languish in agony
* Note in Chambers, p. 89.
t History of the Rebellion, from the Scots' Magazine, p. 198.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 401
until the next day, when they were butchered by
the orders of Cumberland. One of them, John Alex-
ander Fraser, in the Master of Lo vat's regiment, was
rescued by Lord Boyd from destruction. A soldier had
struck him with the butt of his musket, intending, ac-
cording to the orders given, to beat out his brains.
The poor wretch, his nose and cheek-bone broken, and
one of his eyes pierced, still breathed when this young
nobleman passed him. He observed the poor creature,
and ordered his servants to carry him to a neighbouring
kiln, where, in time, his wounds were cured. " He
lived, " observes Mr. Chambers, " many years afterwards,
a dismal memorial of the cruelties of Culloden."*
According to one account, Lord Kilmarnock owed
his escape from the field of battle with his life to the
brave and generous Lord Ancrum, who delivered him
to the Duke of Cumberland ; and the same narrative
adds, that the Duke issued orders that no one should
mention the Earl's imprisonment to his son, but con-
siderately imparted the intelligence to the young man
himself. It is only fair to mention this redeeming
trait in a man who had so many awful, and almost
inexpiable sins to answer for at the last day, when not
our professions of kindness, but our acts of mercy or
of wrong will be placed before a solemn and final
account.
After his surrender at Culloden, the Earl of Kil-
marnock was conveyed to London. That metropolis,
in some of its most attractive features, was well known
to him : he had frequently resided there for several
months during the year, and had associated with the
Chambers, p. 89. Henderson, p. 334.
VOL. III. D D
402 WILLIAM BOYD,
friends of government who were near the court. He
was now to view it under a very different aspect ;
and during the period which elapsed between his sur-
render and his trial, he had ample time to weigh
the respective value of that society which had for-
merly so much delighted him, and in which, it is said,
he " had affected to talk freely of religion ;" and of
those great truths which were now his only source of
support.
Whatever may have been his early errors, the re-
maining days of Lord Kilmarnock were characterized
by gentleness to those who were placed in authority
over him ; forbearance to those who slandered him,
and submission to God. Unable to conquer a natural
intense love of life, he assumed no pretended intre-
pidity : * yet manifested a still greater concern for his
character, than for his fate. Society in general, as
well as the annalists of the times, mourned for him,
and with him ; and many who beheld his doom,
would have sacrificed much of their own personal
safety to avert the close of that tragic scene. But
these were not times when the generous might venture
to interfere with security.f
Two noblemen, differing greatly in character from
Lord Kilmarnock, shared his imprisonment : Arthur,
sixth Earl of Balmerinoch, or, as it is usually spelled
Balmerino, (pronounced Balmerino), and George, Earl
of Cromartie.
Of these individuals, Lord Balmerino, although an
uncultured soldier, has excited by far the greatest
* Observations on the Account of the Behaviour of Lords Kilmar-
nock and Balmerino, 1746. t Ibid.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 403
interest. He was descended, like most of his associates
from an ancient family. It was of German origin,*
first known in Scotland in the reign of Robert Bruce,
to whose sister, a German Knight, sirnamed Elphings-
ton, or Elphinstone, was married. Such was the esteem
in which Robert Bruce held his foreign brother-in-law,
that he gave him lands in Midlothian, which still
bear the name of Elphinstone. f Hence was he called
Elphinstone of that Ilk a mode of expression employed
in Scotland to prevent the repetition of the same
name. In process of time certain estates which a de-
scendant of the German Knight acquired at Arthbeg,
in Stirlingshire, were also endowed with that sur-
name ; and, during several centuries, the mar-
tial and hardy race to whom those lands belonged
continued in the same sphere, that of private gen-
tlemen, chiefs of the House of Elphinstone. They
were remarkable, in successive generations, for that
bold and manly character which eventually distin-
guished their ill-fated descendant, Arthur Balmerino,
and which, in time, extorted applause from the most
prejudiced politicians of the opposite party. Alexander
Elphinstone, in the reign of David the Second, might
have emulated the supposed deeds of Guy Earl of
Warwick ; he rivalled him in gigantic figure, in im-
mense strength, and knightly prowess. His disposition
was not only martial, but chivalric ; for, conscious of
extraordinary power, "he was more able," says a writer
* Nesbitt, Heraldry, vol. i. p. 154.
t " Elphingstone, in the shire of Hadington, and in the parish of
ranent, a village at the distance of three miles S.S.W. from Tranent."
-Edinburgh Gazetteer.
D D 2
404 WILLIAM BOYD,
of the last century, " to overlook aD affront, than men
less capable of resenting it." His son, inferior in
bodily strength, equalled him in military exploits, which
distinguished indeed a succession of the Elphinstones
of that Ilk.* At Flodden, John Elphinstone, who was
created a Lord of Parliament by James the Fourth,
was killed by the side of his royal master, and being
not unlike to that monarch in face and figure, his body
was carried to Berwick by the English, who mistook
it for that of the King.f In the reign of James the
Sixth, James, the second son of the third Lord El-
phinstone, was created a Baron by the name and title
of Lord Balmerino. He rose to high honours in the
State ; but the first disgrace that befell the family
occurred in this reign. This was the marriage of John,
the second Lord Balmerino, to Jane Ker, sister of the
infamous Ker, Earl of Somerset, and favourite of James
the Sixth, who, for his sake, denounced a curse on his
posterity, which seems, says the writer before quoted,
" to have followed them and the nation ever since."
Like most of the noble families in Scotland, the
house of Balmerino became impoverished during the
civil wars ; and when the father of Arthur Elphinstone
succeeded to his title, he found his estates wofully
diminished. He was, however, one of those men who
were capable, by ability and prudence, of redeeming the
fortunes of his family. Circumstances were, indeed,
adverse to the prosperity of any whose loyalty to the
Stuarts was suspected. Lord Balmerino was prudent,
but he was sincere. He was "a man of excellent
* Nesbitt, p, 154.
t Memoirs of Lord Balmerino. London, 1764.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 405
parts, improved by reading, being, perhaps, one of
the very best lawyers in the kingdom, and very expert
in the Scottish constitution; he reasoned much and
pertinently in Parliament, and testifying, on all oc-
casions, an unshaken loyalty to his Prince, and zealous
affection to his country, he gained the esteem and
love of all good men."
Such was the father, of whom this noble character
was drawn, to whom Arthur, Lord Balmerino, owed
his being. Such was the man whom it would have
been the wiser policy of the British Ministry to have
conciliated, on the accession of George the First, but
whose son they drove into an act of imprudence by
their distrust and injustice.
The first wife of John, fourth Lord Balmerino, was
the daughter of Hugh, Earl of Eglintoun, and, conse-
quently, she was connected with some of the most stre-
nuous supporters of the Stuart cause in the kingdom
of Scotland. By her he had two sons, Hugh, who was
killed in 1708, at the siege of Lisle, and James, who
was educated to the profession of the law. Upon the
death of this lady, Lord Balmerino married Anne,
daughter of Ross, the last Archbishop of St. Andrews,
and by her had two sons : Arthur, who became
eventually Lord Balmerino, and Alexander, who died
in 1733, unmarried; and a daughter, Anne, who died
also unmarried. The subject of this memoir may,
therefore, be deemed the last of the House of Bal-
merino.*
Arthur Elphinstone was born in the year 1688.
He had, until late in life, no expectation of succeeding
* Wood's Peerage.
406 WILLIAM BOYD,
to the title of his father after the death of Hugh,
there being still an elder brother, James. The cha-
racteristics of all this branch of the Elphinstone
family appear almost invariably to have been those
of honour and justice, and James resembled his
father in the integrity of his principles. The fol-
lowing character is drawn of him by a contemporary
writer : " He was rather a solid pleader than a refined
orator ; but he understood the law so well, and pre-
served the chastity of his' character so tenderly, by
avoiding being concerned in any scandalous actions,
that he was listened to with great attention by the
bench, at a time when it was filled by the most emi-
nent lawyers that ever appeared in Scotland/'
The abilities of this able and conscientious man
soon raised him to the bench, where he discharged
his duties with that high and nice sense of in-
tegrity which can only be described by the word
honour. He never mixed party -spirit with his judg-
ments : he lent himself to no ministerial purposes.
The dignity of the judge was preserved in his manly
and courageous character : and such was his applica-
tion to business, that his court was thronged with
practitioners when those of other judges were nearly
deserted.
Arthur, his younger brother, possessed not his appli-
cation, but displayed much, nevertheless, of the natu-
ral ability of his family. " He was not much ac-
quainted with books ; and though he was rich in re-
partee, yet he never affected to reason." Such is the
remark of a contemporary writer. Yet who might
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 407
not envy the clear, undisturbed intellect which showed
him, in a moment of peculiar temptation, the value of
plain dealing, and the inestimable price of a good con-
science ?
Some members of a family seem fated to suffer for
the others. Arthur Elphinstone was educated in the
principles which brought him to the scaffold : they
were those of his father and brother, who were both
fortunate enough to preserve them in their own breasts,
and yet not to encounter trouble on that account.
And, during the reign of Queen Anne the family appear
to have been deemed so well affected, as to procure
them promotion, not only in civil but military service.
When very young, Arthur Elphinstone obtained the
command of a company of foot in Lord Shannon's
regiment, on the accession of George the First. His
real opinions were, however, manifested by his resigna-
tion of his commission ; and by his joining the stand-
ard of Lord Mar, under whom he commanded a com-
pany, and served in the battle of Sherriff Muir. By
throwing up his commission, he escaped being punish-
ed as a deserter, and was allowed to retire to the
Continent. According to some accounts, he went
first to Denmark ; by others it is said, that he en-
tered at once into the French service. He remained,
at all events, twenty years in exile from his family ;
but in 1733, an event occurred, which greatly in-
creased the natural desire which his father, declining
in strength, had long cherished of again beholding his
son. Alexander Elphinstone, the younger brother of
Arthur, died at Leith, two years before the Insur-
408 WILLIAM BOYD,
rection broke out. This young man had had the
misfortune in 1730, to fight a duel, shortly after
which his adversary, Lieutenant Swift, had died of
his wounds. The combat took place on the Links of
Leith ; the affair was notorious, and Alexander had
been threatened with a prosecution, which was not,
however, put into execution.
This painful circumstance, coupled with Alexander
Elphinstone's death, may have naturally added to the
wish which Lord Balmerino entertained, to rescue
his exiled son from the sentence of outlawry under
which he stood, and to restore him again to his home.
Probably the desire of perpetuating honours which had
been gained by legitimate exertions, may have been
contemplated by the aged nobleman when he revolved
in his mind how he could compass the safe return of
his younger, and surviving son, to Scotland. James,
the heir to the title, great as was the lustre which his
abilities and integrity shed upon it, was not likely to
perpetuate more honours, having no children by his
wife Elizabeth Carnegie, daughter of David, fourth Earl
of Northesk.
It is one of the innumerable instances of human
short-sightedness, that the very recal of Arthur Elphin-
stone to Scotland was the cause of the extinction of
family honours, and of that line in which they rested.
According to some accounts, he remained abroad until
the general Act of Indemnity, from which he was not
excepted, took effect :* but by others it is stated, that
his father, having made a strong application to Go-
* Life of Lord Balmerino, p. 61. Buchan's Account of the Earls of
Keith, p, 149.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 409
vernment, obtained a free pardon for his son. If such
were the case, there seems a degree of ingratitude in
again joining the enemies of Government, which one
can scarcely reconcile with the generous character of
ihis brave man.
He was in Switzerland when he received a summons
to return to his native country. His conduct upon the
arrival of this intelligence was honest and candid
towards him, to whom, according to his notions, he
owed allegiance. He wrote to the Chevalier (St.
George) and laid open the circumstances of the case
before him ; stating that he should not accept the
proffered pardon without his permission. James an-
swered this explanation with his own hand ; and not
only gave Arthur Elphinstone permission to return
to Scotland, but informed him that he had ordered
his banker at Paris to pay his travelling expenses.
Thus authorized, Arthur returned home, welcomed
by his aged father with a satisfaction which happily
was not destined to be alloyed by any adverse
circumstances during the lifetime of the venerable
nobleman.
Thus was this ill-fated man restored to that land
which probably, although long severed from its glens
and mountains, he had not ceased to love. He was
now of middle age, being in his forty-fifth year ; but
his disposition, in spite of his long residence among
foreigners, was still thoroughly Scotch. He was as
undaunted by danger as any of his valiant ancestors
had been, consequently he had no need to have re-
course to guile ; in short, falsehood would have been
impossible to that frank nature. He was blunt in
410 WILLIAM BOYD,
speech, but endowed with the kindest heart that ever
throbbed in the dungeons of that grim fortress in
which his manly career was closed. He had not, how-
ever, the prudence which is characteristic of his coun-
trymen : and which, once well understood, is as dis-
tinct from selfishness and craft as their martial vehe-
mence has generally been from cruelty. A service in
foreign campaigns had not lessened his ideas of honour ;
which were perhaps more truly cherished among mili-
tary men on the Continent, than at that period in
England. Few British troops, for example, ever proved
themselves more worthy of the name of soldiers than
the Hessians who served in Scotland in 1745. To the
fine and soldierly attributes of Lord Balmerino, to an
intrepidity almost amounting to indifference, to a
warm and generous heart, were united that ready and
careless humour which accord so well with the loftier
qualities of the mind, and certainly rather enhance,
than detract from the charm of graver attributes of
character.
In appearance, Lord Balmerino was strongly con^
trasted with the fellow- sufferer with whom his name
is indelibly associated. " His person/' writes a contem-
porary, ' was very plain, his shape clumsy, but his
make strong : and he had no marks of the polite gen-
tleman about him. He was illiterate in respect of
his birth ; but rather from a total want of application
to letters, than want of ability."* His manners are
said to have been natural, if not courtly ; his coun-
tenance only inferior in its ungainliness to that of
Lovat, but, expressing, we may suppose, a very dif-
* Scots' Magazine for 1746.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 411
ferent temper of mind, harsh as were its features, it
captivated, as well as that of the handsome Kilmar-
nock, female regard. *
According to some statements, Lord Balrnerino mar-
ried in 1711, before the first Insurrection ;f but no dis-
tinct allusion to a connection of so early a period is to
be found in the authenticated narratives of his life. It
was not. it seems evident, until after his return from
Switzerland, that he married Margaret, daughter of Cap-
tain Chalmers " the pretty Peggy," who was at once
his solace and his sorrow when in the Tower of London.
In 1736, the father, whom he had returned to cheer in
his decline, died at his house in Leith, and was buried at
the family seat at Restalrig in Leith. His son James,
succeeded to the title. J
When the intelligence arrived, that Charles Edward
had landed in Scotland, Arthur Elphinstone hastened
to the standard of the Prince. On the thirty-first of
October, 1745, he marched from Edinburgh, on the
expedition to England, having the command of a troop
of horse, not complete, in number about forty. His
military talents were well known, for he had dis-
tinguished himself in several campaigns in Flanders. ||
But, as he took into the field only his menial servants,
no very important posts were entrusted to him ; and
his career appears not to have been signalized by any
remarkable military exploits. In short, it may be
truly said of him as of Dr. Donne by Izaak "Walton,
that " nothing in his life became him like the leav-
ing it."
* Scots' Magazine for 1746. t Georgian Era. J Wood's Peerage.
Maxwell, p. 59. || Georgian Era.
412 WILLIAM BOYD,
After joining the insurgent army, Lord Balmerino
engaged in all the various movement^ of that enter-
prise. After the siege of Carlisle he entered that
city at the head of his troop, with pipes playing,
and colours flying, having been at twelve miles' dis-
tance when the town was taken ; he then proceeded in
the fatal expedition to Derby, and returned a second
time to Carlisle, preceding in his march the main body
of the army towards Scotland. He was present at the
battle of Falkirk, but did not engage in it : some of
the cavalry having been kept as a corps de reserve in
that engagement. His participation in that day's vic-
tory was, however, afterwards imputed to him as an
act of rebellion, although he was merely drawn up in
a field near the field of battle, in company with Lord
Kilmarnock and Lord Pitsligo. The body which he
commanded, went by the name of Arthur Elphinstone's
Life Guards.*
A few weeks before the battle of Culloden, the
elder brother of Arthur Elphinstone, James Lord
Balmerino, died, leaving the title which he had en-
joyed for so short a period, to the brother, who was
then engaged in so perilous a course. This accession of
honour brought with it little increase of fortune, but
rather the responsibility of succeeding to encumbered
estates. Of these most had, indeed, passed into other
families. To the first Lord Balmerino charters of
numerous lands and baronies had been given ; Barn-
toun, Barrie, Balumby, Innerpeffer, Balgregie, Balme-
rino, Dingwall, &c., were among his possessions. In
1605, the barony of Restalrig, in South Leith, was sold
* State Trials, vol. xviii.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK.
413
to Lord Balmerino by the noted and profligate Robert
Logan, Baron of Restalrig, to whose family that now
valuable property, including the grounds lying near the
river, had belonged, until the days of the Queen Regent,
Mary. This estate, on which Lord Balmerino's father
resided, appears to have been almost the only vestige of
the former opulence of this branch of the Elphinstone
family.* His embarrassed circumstances are deemed
by some writers to have had a considerable share in
deciding Lord Balmerino to join in a contest in which
he had so little to lose ; but it appeared, in the hour of
trial, that his principles of allegiance to the Stuarts
had been unaltered since the days of his youth, and
that they were alone sufficient to account for the part
which he adopted. At the battle of Culloden Lord
Balmerino was made prisoner by the Grants, to whom,
as one of the witnesses on his trial affirmed, he sur-
rendered himself. He was conveyed to Castle Grant,
and from thence to London, to the same dreary fortress
in which Lord Kilmarnock was likewise immured.
The fate of these two unfortunate men, hitherto but
little dependant on each other, was henceforth as-
sociated, until the existence of both was closed on
the scaffold.
George, the third Earl of Cromartie, was the only one
of their fellow-prisoners who was arraigned and tried
with Kilmarnock and Balmerino. He had taken even
a more decided part in the insurrection than Balmerino,
having raised four hundred of his clan, who were with
him in the battle of Falkirk. His son, the young Lord
* Edinburgh Gazetteer. Art. " South Leith."
414 WILLIAM BOYD,
Macleod, was also in the Jacobite army, and both
father and son were surprised at Dunrobin, by a party
of the Earl of Sutherland's militia, on the fifteenth of
April, and taken prisoners. Lord Cromartie had, as
well as Lords Kilmarnock and Balmerino, strong ties to
life, strong claims upon his reason to have withheld
him from a hazardous participation in a cause of
peril. He had been married more than twenty years
to Isabel, daughter of Sir William Gordon, and
had by her a numerous family. For this noble-
man, a powerful interest was afterwards successfully
exerted.
These three noblemen were brought to London early
in June. They were shortly afterwards followed by
about eight hundred companions in misfortune. Of
these, who arrived in the Thames on the twenty-first .of
June, about two hundred were left at Tilbury Fort ;
while six hundred were deposited in the various prisons
of the metropolis. From henceforth scenes of distress,
and even of horror, were daily presented to the pris-
oners. The Marquis of Tullibardine expired soon after
his arrival at the Tower ; Lord Macleod, with happier
fate, rejoined his father ; Mr. Murray of Brought on ?
who was treated with a distinction, at that time, unex-
plicable, was also lodged in the same fortress. Those
who were led to expect the severest measures, might
envy the calm departure of the good old Marquis of
Tullibardine ; but all hearts bled when the gallant
Colonel Townley, a Roman Catholic gentleman of dis-
tinction, was dragged on a sledge, along with other
prisoners, to Kennington, his arms pinioned ; insulted
by a brutal multitude, and there hanged. The horrid
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 415
barbarities of this sentence being fulfilled on his body,
which was still breathing, the hangman preparing to
take out the heart and bowels, struck it several times
on the chest, before life (and perhaps consciousness)
was wholly extinct.
Day after day, the awful tragedies were repeated,
exceeding any similar displays of power since the
days of the Tudors. Each of these martyrs, as the
voice of their own party pronounced them, in their
last moments declared, that " they died in a just
cause that they did not repent of what they had
done that they doubted not their deaths would
be avenged." When, after nine executions had taken
place in one morning, the heart of the last sufferer
was thrown into the fire, a savage shout from the
infuriated multitude followed the words " God save
King George ! " The unfortunate man who had just
perished was a young gentleman, named Dawson, a
graduate of St. John's College, Cambridge. He had
for some time been engaged to a young lady of good
family, and great interest had been made to procure
his pardon. The lovers were sanguine in their ex-
pectations, and the day of his release was to have
been that of their marriage.
When all hope was at an end, the young lady, not
deterred by the remonstrances of her kindred, resolved
upon following Mr. Dawson to the place of execution.
Her intention was at length acceded to : she drove in
a hackney-coach after the sledges, accompanied by a
relative, and by one female friend. As the shout of
brutal joy succeeded the silence of the solemn scene,
the words " My love, I follow thee, I follow thee ! "
416 WILLIAM BO YD,
burst from the lips of the broken-hearted girl. She
fell on the neck of her companion, and, whilst she
uttered these words, " Sweet Jesus ! receive our souls
together!" expired.* Recitals of these domestic tra-
gedies, proofs of the unrelenting spirit of government,
tended to break the firmness of some of those who
survived.
Lord Cromartie sank into dejection; Kilmarnock's
fine and gentle nature was gradually purified for
heaven. Balmerino rose to heroism.
The prisons were crowded with captives ; the noble-
men alone were committed to the Tower ; even two of
the Scottish chiefs were sent to Newgate ; the officers
were committed to the new gaol, Southwark ; the
common men to the Marshalsea. Meantime, strong
and prompt measures were determined upon by
Government.
Bills of indictment for high treason were found
against Lord Kilmarnock, the Earl of Cromartie, and
the Lord Balmerino, by the grand jury of the county of
Surrey : a writ of certiorari was issued for removing
the indictments into the House of Peers, on the twenty-
sixth of June, and their trial was appointed to take
place on the twenty-eighth of July following. West-
minster Hall was accordingly prepared for the trials,
and a high steward appointed in the person of the
justly celebrated Lord Hardwicke.
On the petition of Lord Kilmarnock, Mr. George
Ross was engaged as his solicitor, with permission to
have free access to him at all times. On the appointed
* History of the Rebellion from the Scots' Magazine, p. 302.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 417
day the trials commenced. Westminster Hall was
fitted up with unprecedented magnificence ; and tickets
were issued by the Lord Chamberlain to the Peers, to
give access to their friends. At eight o'clock in the
morning, the Judges in their robes, with the Garter-
King-at-Arms, the Usher of the Black Rod, and the
Serjeant-at-Arms waited on the Lord High Steward at
his house in Ormond Street : Garter in his coat of the
king's arms, and Black Rod, having the white staff
attended them. After a short interval the procession
to Westminster Hall began : Lord Hardwicke, desig-
nated during the term of the trial as "his Grace," came
forth to his coach, his train borne, and followed by the
chief judges and judges. His coach was preceded
by his Grace's twenty gentlemen, uncovered, in five
coaches two and two ; by the Serjeant-at-Arms, and
the Black Rod. The heralds occupied the back seats of
his Grace's coach ; the judges in their coaches followed.
As the procession entered the Palace-yard, the soldiers
rested their muskets and the drums beat, as to the
Royal Family.
Meantime, the Peers in their robes were assembled ;
the Lord High Steward having passed to the House,
through the Painted Chamber, prayers were read ; and
the peers were called over by Garter-King-at-Arms.
The Lord Steward, followed first by his four gentlemen
attendants, two and two ; and afterwards by the clerks
of the House of Lords, and the clerks of the Crown ; by
the Peers, and the Peers' sons, proceeded to West-
minster Hall, the Lord Steward being alone uncovered,
and his train borne by a page.
Proclamation for silence having been made by the
VOL. III. E E
418 WILLIAM BOYD,
Lord Steward's serjeant-at-arms, the commission was
read, the lords standing up, uncovered. Then his Grace,
making obeisance to the lords, reseated himself ; and
Garter, and the Black Rod, with their reverences,
jointly presented the white staff, on their knees, to his
Grace. Thus fully invested with his office, the Lord
Steward took his staff in his hand and descended from
the woolsack to a chair prepared for him on an ascent
before the throne.
The three lords had been brought during this time
from the Tower. The Earl of Kilmarnock was con-
veyed in Lord Cornwallis's coach, attended by General
Williamson, Deputy Governor of the Tower ; the Earl
of Cromartie, in General Williamson's coach, attended
by Captain Marshal ; and Lord Balmerino in the third
coach, attended by Mr. Fowler, Gentleman Gaoler, who
had the axe covered by his side. A strong body of
soldiers escorted these carriages.
The three lords being conducted into the Hall, pro-
clamation was made by the Serjeant-at-Arms that the
Lieutenant of the Tower should bring his prisoners to
the bar, the proclamation being made in this form :
" Oyez, oyez, oyez, Lieutenant of the Tower of London,
bring forward your prisoners, William Earl of Kilmar-
nock, George Earl of Cromartie, and Arthur Lord Bal-
merino, together with the copies of their respective
commitments, pursuant to the order of the House of
Lords/'
Then the lords were led to the bar of the House
by the Lieutenant-Governor, the axe being carried
before them with its edge turned from them. The
prisoners, when they approached the bar, made three
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 419
reverences, and fell upon their knees. Then said the
Lord High Steward your " lordships may arise ;" upon
which the three lords arose and bowed to his Grace
the High Steward, and to the House, which compliment
was returned by the Lord High Steward, and by the
Peers.
Thus began the trial ; " the greatest, and the most
melancholy scene," wrote Horace Walpole to Sir Horace
Mann, " that I ever saw. As it was the most interest-
ing sight, it was the most solemn and fine ; a corona-
tion is but a puppet show, and all the splendour of it
idle ; but this sight at once feasted one's eyes, and
engaged one's passions ;" a signal avowal for one
whom a long continuance in the world's business, and,
perhaps, worse, its pleasures, had hardened. A hun-
dred and thirty-nine lords were present, making a
noble sight on their benches, and assisting at a cere-
mony which is said to have been conducted with the
most awful solemnity and decency throughout, with
one or two exceptions.*
The Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, who presided on
this occasion, has been justly deemed one of the
brightest ornaments of the woolsack. The son of an
attorney at Dover, as Philip Yorke, he had risen to
the highest offices of the law, by his immense acquire-
ments, and his incomparable powers of illustration and
arrangement. By his marriage with a niece of the
celebrated Lord Somers, he strengthened his political
interest, which, however, it required few adventitious
circumstances to secure. Three great men have ex-
pressed their admiration of Lord Hardwicke almost in
* Horace Walpole's Letters to Sir Horace Mann, vol. ii. p. 160.
E E 2
420 WILLIAM BOYD,
similar terms : Lord Mansfield, Burke, and Wilkes.
"When his lordship pronounced his decrees, wisdom
herself might be supposed to speak." ~* In manner,
he was usually considered to be dignified, impressive,
and unruflled ; and his intentions were allowed to be
as pure and elevated, as his views were patriotic.
On this eventful day, since we cannot reject the
testimony of an eye-witness of discernment, we must
believe that party spirit, which had usually so little
influence over his sense of justice, swayed the prepos-
sessions of Lord Hardwicke. At all events, it af-
fected his treatment of the unhappy men to whom
he displayed a petulance wholly derogatory to his
character as a judge, and discreditable to his feelings
as a man. " Instead of keeping up the humane dignity
of the law of England, whose character is to point out
any favour to the criminal, he crossed them, and
almost scolded at any offer they made towards de-
fence/' Such is the remark of Horace Walpole.f
Comely in person, and possessing a fine voice, Lord
Hardwicke had every opportunity, on this occasion,
of a graceful display of dignity and courtesy ; yet his
deportment, usually so calm and lofty, was obsequious,
" curiously searching for occasion to bow to the minis-
ter, and, consequently, applying to the other ministers?
in a manner, for their orders ; not even ready at the
ceremonial." Notwithstanding, Lord Hardwicke, on his
death-bed, could with confidence declare " that he had
never wronged any man/' The unhappy Jacobites
seem, indeed, to have been considered exceptions to all
the common rules of clemency. None of the Royal
* Georgian Era. t Ibid.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 421
Family were present at the trial, from a proper regard
for the feelings of the prisoners, and also, perhaps, from
a nice sense of the peculiarity of their own condition.
After the warrants to the Lieutenant of the Tower
were read, the Lord High Steward addressed the pri-
soners, telling them that although their crimes were of
the most heinous nature, they were still open to such
defences as circumstances, and the rules of law and
justice would allow. The indictments for high treason
were then read : to these, Lords Kilmarnock and Cro-
martie pleaded guilty ; but when the question was put
to Lord Balmerino, he demanded boldly, but respect-
fully to be heard, objecting to two clauses in the in-
dictment, in which he was styled "Arthur Lord Balme-
rino, of the town of Carlisle," and also charging him
with being at the taking of Carlisle, when he could
prove " that he was not within twelve miles of it."
Not insisting upon these objections, and the question
being again put to him, he then pleaded, 'not guilty.'
Lord Kilmarnock and Lord Cromartie were removed
from the bar, and the trial of Balmerino began. It was
prefaced by addresses from Sir Richard Loyd, king's
counsel, and from Mr. Serjeant Skinner, who made,
what was justly considered by H. Walpole, " the most
absurd speech imaginable," calling " Rebellion, surely
the sin of witchcraft," and applying to the Duke of
Cumberland the unfortunate appellation of "Scipio."*
The Attorney General followed, and witnesses were
afterwards examined, who fully proved, though ac-
cused by Balmerino of some inconsistencies, his
acts of adherence to the Chevalier ; his being pre-
* State Trials, vol. xviii. p. 466.
422 WILLIAM BOYD,
sent in towns where James Stuart was proclaimed
King ; his wearing the regimentals of Prince Charles's
body guards ; his marching into Carlisle at the head
of his troops, with a white cockade in his cap ; his pre-
sence at the battle of Falkirk, in a field with Lords
Kilmarnock and Pitsligo, who were at the head of a
corps of reserve. Six witnesses were examined, but
there was no cross-examination, except such as Balmerino
himself attempted. The witnesses were chiefly men
who had served in the same cause for which the brave
Balmerino was soon to suffer. After they had delivered
their testimony, the " old hero," as he was well styled,
shook hands cordially with them. In one or two in-
stances, as far as can be judged by the answers, the
evidence seems to have been given with reluctance.
Lord Balmerino being asked if he had any thing to
offer in his defence, he observed that none of the wit-
nesses had agreed upon the same day as that which was
named in the indictment for being at Carlisle ; and ob-
jected to the indictment, that he was not at the taking
of Carlisle as therein specified. His objections were
taken into consideration ; the Lords retired to their
chamber, and there consulted the judges whether
it be necessary that an overt act of high treason should
be proved to have been committed on the particular
day named in the indictment.
The answer being in the negative, every hope of
acquittal was annihilated for Balmerino. He gave
up every further defence, and apologised with his
usual blunt courtesy for giving their Lordships' so
much trouble: he said that his objections had
been the result of advice given by Mr. Ross, his
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 423
solicitor, who had laid the case before counsel. The
question was then put by the Lord High Steward,
standing up, uncovered, to the Lords, beginning with the
youngest peer, Lord Herbert of Cherbury ; " whether
Arthur Lord Balmerino were guilty of high treason, or not
guilty T An unanimous reply was uttered by all those
who were present ; " guilty upon my honour." Lord
Balmerino, who had retired while the question was put,
was then brought back to the bar to hear the decision
of the Lords. It was received with the intrepidity
which had, all throughout the trial, characterised the
soldier and the man. During the intervals of form, his
natural playfulness and humour appeared, and the
kindness of his disposition was manifested. A little
boy being in the course of the trial near him, but not
tall enough to see, he took him up, made room for the
child, and placed him near himself. The axe inspired
him with no associations of fear. He played upon it,
while talking, with his fingers, and some one coming up
to listen to what he was saying, he held it up like a
fan between his face and that of the gentleman-gaoler,
to the great amusement of all beholders. And this
carelessness of the emblem of death was but a prelude
to the calmness with which he met his fate. " All he
troubled himself about," as a writer of the time ob-
served, " was to end as he begun, and to let his sun
set with as full and fair a light as it was possible."*
During the time that the Lords were withdrawn,
the Solicitor-General Murray, and brother of Murray
of Broughton, addressed Balmerino, asking him "how he
could give the Lords so much trouble," when he had
* Observations on the Account, &c., p. 23,
424 WILLIAM BOYD,
been told by his solicitor that the plea could be of no
use to him ? The defection and perfidy of Murray of
Broughton were now generally known ; and the offi-
cious insolence of his inquiry was both revolting and
indiscreet. Balmerino asked who this person was, and
being told, exclaimed, " Oh ! Mr. Murray, I am ex-
tremely glad to see you. I have been with several of
your relations, the poor lady, your mother, was of great
use to us at Perth/'* An admirable and well-merited
rebuke. He afterwards declared humorously that one
of his reasons for not pleading guilty was, "that so many
fine ladies might not be disappointed of their show."
Besides the interest which at such a moment the
grave dignity of Kilmarnock, contrasted with the lofty
indifference of Balmerino, might excite, there was some
diversion among the Peers, owing to the eccentricity of
several of their body. Of these, one, Lord Windsor, af-
fectedly said when asked for his vote," I am sorry I must
say, guilty upon my honour" Another nobleman,
Lord Stamford, refused to answer to the name of
Henry, having been christened Harry. " What a great
way of thinking," remarks Horace Walpole, " on such
an occasion." Lord Foley withdrew, as being a well-
wisher to poor Balmerino ; Lord Stair on the plea of
kindred "uncle," as Horace Walpole sneeringly re-
marks, to his great-grandfather ; and the Earl of Moray
on account of his relationship to Balmerino, his mother,
Jane Elphinstone, being sister to that nobleman, f
But the greatest source of amusement to all who
were present was the celebrated Audrey, or to speak in
more polite phrase, Ethelreda, Lady Townshend, the
* Horace Walpole, vol. ii. p. 163 t Ibid, vol. ii. p. 115.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 425
wife of Charles, third Viscount Townshend, and the
mother of the celebrated wit, Charles Townshend.
Lady Townshend was renowned for her epigrams, to
which, perhaps, in this case, her being separated from
her husband gave additional point. When she heard
her husband vote, " guilty upon my honour" she re-
marked, " I always knew my Lord was guilty, but I
never knew that he would own it upon his honour."
Her sarcastic humour was often exhibited at the ex-
pense of friend or foe. When some one related that
Whitfield had recanted, " No, madam," she replied,
" he has only canted" And when Lord Bath ven-
tured to complain to this audacious leader of fashion,
that he had a pain in his side, she cried out, " Oh ! that
cannot be, you have no side!''
A touch of feminine feeling softened the harshness
of the professed wit, always a dangerous, and scarcely
ever a pleasing character in woman. As Lady Towns-
hend gazed on the prisoners at the bar, and saw the
elegant and melancholy aspect of Lord Kilmarnock, the
heart that was not wholly seared by a worldly career is
said to have been deeply and seriously touched by the
graces of that incomparable person, and the mournful
dignity of his manner. Perhaps, opposition to her hus-
band, whose grandfather was Minister to George the
First, and whose mother was a Walpole, gave the addi-
tional luxury of partisanship ; that passion which lasted
even some weeks after the scene was closed ; and when
the fashionable world were left to enjoy, undisturbed
by any fears of any future rebellion, all the dangerous
attractions of the dissolute Court.
The first day's proceedings being at an end, the pri-
426 WILLIAM BOYD,
soners were remanded to the Tower. On the following
morning the proceedings were resumed, and the Lords
having assembled in the Painted Chamber, took their
places in Westminster Hall. The three lords were then
again brought to the bar, again kneeled down, again were
bidden to arise. The Attorney-General having prayed
for judgment upon the prisoners, they were desired by
the Lord High Steward to say " why judgment of death
should not be passed against them according to law."
The reply of Lord Kilmarnock is described as having
been a " very fine speech, delivered in a very fine voice ;"
his behaviour during the whole of the trial, a " most just
mixture between dignity and submission." Such is the
avowal of one who could not be supposed very favour-
able to the party ; but whose better feelings were, for
once, called into play during this remarkable scene. *
The address of Lord Kilmarnock, however beautiful
and touching in expression, will not, however, satisfy
those who look for consistency in the most solemn mo-
ments of this chequered state of trial ; but in perusing
the summary of it, let it be remembered that he was a
father ; the father of those who had already suffered
deeply for his adherence to Charles Edward ; that he
was the husband of a lady who, whatever may have
been their differences, was at that awful hour still
fondly beloved ; that he dreaded penury for his
children, an apprehension which those who remem-
bered the fate of the Jacobites of 1715 might well re-
call ; a dread, aggravated by his rank ; a dread,
the bitterness of which is indescribable ; the tempta-
tions it offers unspeakably great. These considerations,
* Horace Walpole.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 427
far stronger than the fear of death, actuated Lord
Kilmarnock. He arose, and a deep silence was procured,
whilst he offered no justification of his conduct, "which
had been," he said, "of too heinous a nature to be
vindicated, and which any endeavour to excuse would
rather aggravate than diminish." He declared himself
ready to submit to the sentence which he was con-
scious that he had deserved. fi Covered with confusion
and grief, I throw myself at his Majesty's feet."
He then appealed to the uniform honour of his life,
previous to the insurrection, in evidence of his prin-
ciples. " My sphere of action, indeed, was narrow ;
but as much as I could do in that sphere, it is well
known, I have always exerted myself to the utmost in
every part of his Majesty's service I had an opportunity
to act in, from my first appearance in the world, to the
time I was drawn into the crime, for which I now
appeal before your Lordships."
He referred to his conduct during the civil contest ;
to his endeavours to avert needless injury to his
opponents ; to his care of the prisoners, a plea which
he yet allowed to be no atonement for the " blood he
had been accessary to the spilling of. Neither," he
said, " do I plead it as such, as at all in defence of my
crime."
" I have a son, my lords," he proceeded, " who has
the honour to carry his Majesty's commission ; whose
behaviour, I believe, will sufficiently evince, that he
has been educated in the firmest revolution principles,
and brought up with the warmest attachment to his
Majesty's interests, and the highest zeal for his most
sacred person.
428 WILLIAM BOYD,
" It was my chief care to instruct him in these prin-
ciples from his earliest youth, and to confirm him, as
he grew up, in the justice and necessity of them to the
good and welfare of the nation. And, I thank God,
I have succeeded ; for his father's example did not
shake his loyalty ; the ties of nature yielded to those
of duty ; he adhered to the principles of his family,
and nobly exposed his life at the battle of Culloden,
in defence of his King and the liberties of Great Britain,
in which I, his unfortunate father, was in arms to
destroy."
Lord Kilmarnock next alluded to the services of his
father in 1715, when his zeal and activity in the service
of Government had caused his death : " I had then,"
he added, " the honour to serve under him."
Lord Kilmarnock proceeded to explain his own cir-
cumstances at the time of the insurrection : he de-
clared that he was not one of those dangerous persons
who could raise a number of men when they will, and
command them on any enterprise they will : " my
interests," he said, " lie on the south side of the Forth, in
the well inhabited, and well affected counties of Kil-
marnock and Falkirk, in the shires of Ayr and Stir-
ling/' His influence he declared to be very small.
This portion of his appeal was ill-advised ; for it
seems to have been the policy of Government to have
selected as objects of royal mercy those who had most in
their power, not the feeble and impoverished members
of the Jacobite party. It has been shown what favour
would have been manifested to the chief of the power-
ful clan Cameron, had he deigned to receive it : and
the event proved, that not the decayed branches, but
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 429
the vigorous shoots were spared. Lord Cromartie, who
had taken a far more signal part in the insurrection
than either Kilmarnock or Balmerino, and whose re-
sources were considerable, was eventually pardoned,
probably with the hope of conciliating a numerous
clan.
After appealing to his surrender in extenuation of
his sentence, and beseeching the intercession of the
Lords with his Majesty, Lord Kilmarnock concluded
" It is by Britons only that I pray to be recommended
to a British monarch. But if justice allow not of
mercy, my lords, I will lay down my life with patience
and resignation ; my last breath shall be employed in
the most fervent prayers for the preservation and pros-
perity of his Majesty, and to beg his forgiveness, and
the forgiveness of my country." He concluded, amid
the tears and commiseration of a great majority of
those who heard his address.
The Earl of Cromartie was then called upon to speak
in arrest of judgment. His defence is said to have
been a masterly piece of eloquence. It ended with
a pathetic appeal, which fell powerless on those who
heard him.*
" But, after all, if my safety shall be found incon-
sistent with that of the public, and nothing but my
blood be thought necessary to atone for my unhappy
crimes ; if the sacrifice of my life, my fortune, and family,
are judged indispensable for stopping the loud demands
of public justice ; if, notwithstanding all the allega-
tions that can be urged in my favour, the bitter cup is
not to pass from me, not mine, but thy will, God,
be done."f
* See Scots' Magazine for 1746. t State Trials.
430 WILLIAM BOYD,
Balmerino then arose to answer the accustomed
question. He produced a paper, which was read for
him at the bar, by the clerk of the court. It was a
plea which had been sent by the House of Lords that
morning to the prisoners, and which, it was hoped,
would save all of these unfortunate men. It contained
an objection to the indictments, stating that the act
for regulating the trials of rebels, and empowering his
Majesty to remove such as are taken in arms from one
county to another, where they might be tried by the
common courts of peers, did not take effect till after
the facts, implying treason, had been committed by
the prisoners.* The two Earls had not made use of
this plea, but Lord Balmerino availed himself of it, and
demanded counsel on it. Upon the treatment which
he then encountered, the following remark is made by
one who viewed the scene, and whose commiseration
for the Jacobites forms one of the few amiable traits
of his character, f
" The High Steward/' relates Horace Walpole, " al-
most in a passion, told him, that when he had been
* State Trials.
t Note. The plea was couched in these words : " July 29th, 1746.
It is conceived that the late Act of Parliament, empowering his Majesty
to transport such as are taken in arms from one county to another,
where they may he tried by the course of the common law, did not take
place till after that time, that the facts implying treason, were actually
committed by the accused prisoners, and if so, the Grand Jury of Surrey,
or of any other county whatsoever, where these acts of treason are not
alleged to have been committed, could not, agreeable to law, find bills
against such prisoners ; and it may, on that score, be prayed, That the
indictment be quashed, or that an arrest of judgment be thereupon
granted." What a bitter, though unavailing feeling of regret accom-
panies the reflection that this benevolent attempt to save the lives of these
brave men, was fruitless.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK.
431
offered counsel, he did not accept it ; but do think on
the ridicule of sending them the plea, and then denying
them counsel on it."* A discussion among the Lords
then took place ; and the Duke of Newcastle, who, as
the same writer truly remarks, " never lost an oppor-
tunity of being absurd," took it up as a ministerial
point " in defence of his creature, the Chancellor." Lord
Granville, however, moved, according to order, to re-
turn to the Chamber of Parliament, where the Duke of
Bedford and many others spoke warmly for their
" having counsel," and that privilege was granted. " I
said their" observes Walpole, "because the plea would
have saved them all, and affected nine rebels who had
been hanged that very morning."
The Lords having returned to the Hall, and the pri-
soners being again called to the bar, Lord Balmerino was
desired to choose his counsel. He named Mr. Forester,
and Mr. Wilbraham, the latter being a very able lawyer
in the House of Commons. Lord Hardwicke is said to
have remarked privately, that Wilbraham, he was sure,
would as soon be hanged as plead such a cause." But he
was mistaken : the conclusion of the trial was again de-
ferred until the following day, Friday, August the first,
when Mr. Wilbraham, accompanied by Mr. Forester,
appeared in court as counsel for the prisoners. Pre-
viously, however, to the proceedings of the last day,
Lord Balmerino was informed that his only hope was
ill-founded ; the plea was deemed invalid by the coun-
sel ; and the straw which had, with the kindest and
most laudable intentions, been thrown on the stream
to arrest his fate, was insufficient to save him. He
* Letters to Sir H. Mann, vol. ii. p. 167.
432 WILLIAM BOYD,
bore this disappointment with that fortitude which
has raised the character of his countrymen : when he
appeared on that last day, in Westminster Hall, with
his brother prisoners, he submitted, in the following
brief and simple words, to his destiny. " As your
lordships have been pleased to allow me counsel, I have
advised with them ; and my counsel tell me, there is
nothing in that paper which I delivered in on "Wed-
nesday last, that will be of any use to me ; so I will
not give your lordships any more trouble."
When again asked, according to the usual form, as
well as the other prisoners, whether he had anything
more to say in arrest of judgment, Lord Balmerino
replied ; " No, my Lords, I only desire to be heard for a
moment." Expressing his regret that he should have
taken up so much of their lordships' time, he assured
them that the plea had not been put in to gain time,
but because he had believed there was something in
the objection that would do him good. He afterwards
added these few words, which one might have wished
unsaid : " My lords, I acknowledge my crime, and
I beg your lordships will intercede with his Majesty
for me."
The Serjeant-at-Arms was then distinctly heard pro-
claiming silence ; and the Lord High Steward de-
livered what Horace Walpole has termed, " his very
long, and very poor speech, with only one or two good
passages in it." On this, there may be, doubtless, con-
tending opinions. Those who looked upon the prisoners,
and saw men in the full vigour of life, condemned
to death, for acting upon acknowledged, though mis-
applied principles, could scarcely listen to that pro-
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 433
tracted harangue with an unbiassed judgment. The
tenour of the Lord High Steward's address had,
throughout, one marked feature ; it presented no hope
of mercy ; it left no apology nor plea upon which the
unhappy prisoners might expect it. It amplified every
view of their crime, and pointed out, in strong and
able language, its effect upon every relation of society.
In conclusion, Lord Hardwicke said, " I will add no
more : it has been his Majesty's justice to bring your
lordships to a legal trial ; and it has been his wisdom
to show, that as a small part of his national forces was
sufficient to subdue the rebel army in the field, so the
ordinary course of his law is strong enough to bring
even their chiefs to justice.
" What remains for me, is a very painful, though a
very necessary part. It is to pronounce that sentence
which the law has provided for crimes of this magni-
tude a sentence full of horror ! Such as the wisdom
of our ancestors has ordained, as one guard about the
sacred person of the king, and as a fence about this
excellent constitution, to be a terror to evil doers, and
a security to them that do well."
And then was heard, thrilling every tender heart
with horror, the sentence of hanging, first to be put
into execution, and followed by decapitation. The
horrible particularities were added " of being hanged
by the neck, but not till you are dead for you must
be cut down alive ;" the rest of this sentence, since
it has long ago been suffered to fall into oblivion,
may, for the sake of our English feelings, rest there.
By those to whom it was addressed, it was heard in the
full conviction that it might be carried out on them :
VOL. in. F F
434 WILLIAM BOYD,
since that very morning, nine prisoners of gentle birth
had suffered the extreme penalties of that barbarous
law.*
Of the calm manner in which his doom was heard by
one of the state prisoners, Horace Walpole has left the
following striking anecdote :
" Old Balmerino keeps up his spirits to the same
pitch of gaiety : in the cell at Westminster, he showed
Lord Kilmarnock how he must lay his head ; bid him
not wince, lest the strokes should cut his head or his
shoulders ; and advised him to bite his lips. As they
were to return, he begged they might have another
bottle together, as they should never meet any more
till he pointed to his neck. At getting into his
coach, he said to the gaoler, ( Take care, or you will
break my shins with this d d axe. 1 "f
The English populace could not forbear delighting
in the composure of Balmerino, who, on returning from
Westminster Hall after his sentence, could stop the
coach in which he was about to be conducted to the
Tower to buy gooseberries ; or, as he expressed it in
his national phrase, honey-Uobs.\
That night, not contented with saying publicly at
his levee, that Lord Kilmarnock had proposed murder-
ing the English prisoners, the Duke of Cumberland
proposed giving his mistress a ball ; but the notion
was abandoned, lest it should have been regarded as an
insult to the prisoners, and not because a particle of
highminded regret for the sufferers could ever enter
that hard and depraved heart. Too well did the citi-
* State Trials 18, p. 502. t H. Walpole, p. 31. Letters to G.Montagu.
J Walpole's Letters to Montagu, p. 29. Folio.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK.
435
zens of London understand the Duke of Cumberland's
merits, when, it being proposed to present him with
the freedom of some company, one of the aldermen
cried aloud, " Then let it be of the Butchers' P*
The commission was dissolved in the usual forms :
" all manner of persons here present were desired to
depart in the fear of God, and of our sovereign Lord
the King." The white staff of office was broken by
the Lord High Steward ; the Lords adjourned to the
Chamber of Parliament; the prisoners returned to the
Tower.f
Three weeks elapsed, after the trial, before the execu-
tion of Lord Kilmarnock and Lord Balmerino. Dur-
ing that interval, hope sometimes visited the prisoners
in their cells, great intercession being made for them
by persons of the highest rank. But it was in vain,
for the counsels of the Duke of Cumberland influenced
the heart of his royal father, who it is generally be-
lieved, would otherwise have been disposed to compas-
sion. During this interval, the sorrows of the pri-
soners were aggravated by frequent rumours that their
beloved Prince was taken ; but he was safe among his
Highlanders, and defied the power even of an armed
force to surprise him in his singular and various re-
treats.
The Earl of Cromartie was the only one of the three
prisoners to whom royal mercy was extended. This
nobleman had been considered, before the Insurrec-
tion, as the only branch of the Mackenzies who could
be relied upon. He had been backward in joining the
* Letters to Sir H. Mann, vol. ii. p. 167.
t State Trials, by Hargreaves, pp. 18, 502.
FF2
436 WILLIAM BOYD,
Jacobite army, and had never shared the confidence of
Charles Edward. He had been disgusted with the
preference shown to Murray and to Sullivan, to the
prejudice of more powerful adherents of the cause :
and it was reported, had rather surrendered him-
self to the Earl of Sutherland's followers, than re-
sisted when they apprehended him.*
Amiable in private life, affable in manner, and ex-
exempt from the pride of a Highland chieftain, this
nobleman had been beloved by his neighbours of infe-
rior rank ; to the poor he had been a kind benefactor.
The domestic relations of life he had fulfilled irre-
proachably. Every heart bled for him ; and the case
of his son, Lord Macleod, who had espoused the same
cause, excited universal commiseration.
On the Sunday following the trial, Lady Cromartie
presented her petition to the King : he gave her no
hopes ; and the unhappy woman fainted when he left
her.
It is pleasing to rest upon one action of clemency,
before returning to the horrors of capital punishment.
To the intercession of Frederick Prince of Wales, Lord
Cromartie eventually owed his life ; that intercession
is believed to have been procured by the merits and
the attractions of Lady Cromartie, who was inde-
fatigable in her exertions.
This Lady, the daughter of Sir William Gordon of
Dalfolly, is said to have possessed every quality that
could render a husband happy. Beautiful and intel-
lectual, she manifested a degree of spirit and perseve-
* Memoirs of the Earl of Kilmarnock and Croraartie, and of Lord Bal-
mcrino, 1746.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 437
ranee when called upon to act in behalf of her husband
and children, that raised her character to that of a
heroine. She was then the mother of nine children,
and about to give birth to a tenth. During the period
of suspense, her conduct presented that just medium
between stoicism and excess of feeling, which so few
persons in grief can command.*
At last, a reprieve for Lord Cromartie arrived on
the eleventh of August ; it was not, however, fol-
lowed by a release, nor even by a free pardon. During
two years, Lord Cromartie was detained a prisoner
in the Tower, there, being condemned to witness the
departure of his generous friends, Kilmarnock and Bal-
merino, to the scaffold. On February the eighteenth,
1748, he was permitted to leave his prison, and to
lodge in the house of a messenger. In the following
August he went into Devonshire, where he was desired
to remain. A pardon passed the Great Seal for his
Lordship on the twentieth of October, 1749, with a
condition that he should remain in any place directed
by the King. He died in Poland-street in London, on
the twenty-eighth of September, 1766.f
On Thursday, the seventh of August, the Reverend
James Foster, a Presbyterian minister, was allowed
access to Lord Kilmarnock, to prepare him for a fate
which now seemed inevitable. Great intercession had
been made for the ill-fated prisoner, by his kins-
man, James, sixth Duke of Hamilton, and husband
of the celebrated beauty, Miss Gunning ; but the
friendly efforts of that nobleman were thought rather
* Life of Lord Cromartie, 1746.
t Buchan's Memoirs of the House of Keith, p. 143.
438 WILLIAM BOYD,
to have "hurried him to the block."* When a
report reached him that one of the prisoners would
be spared, Lord Kilmarnock had desired, with the ut-
most nobleness of soul, that Cromartie should be pre-
ferred to himself. Balmerino lamented that he had
not been taken with Lord Lovat ; " for then," he re-
marked, " we might have been sacrificed, and these two
brave men have been spared. " But these regrets were
unavailing, and Lord Kilmarnock and his friend pre-
pared to meet their doom.
Mr. Foster, on conversing with Lord Kilmarnock,
found him humbled, but not crushed by his misfor-
tunes ; contrite for a life characterized by many errors,
but trustful of the Infinite mercy, to which we fondly
turn from the stern justice of unforgiving man. And the
reverend gentleman on whom the solemn responsibility
of preparing a soul for judgment was devolved, appears
to have discharged his task with a due sense of its
delicacy, with fidelity and kindness.
Having introduced himself to Lord Kilmarnock
with the premises that his Lordship would allow him
to deal freely with him ; that he did not expect to be
flattered, nor to have the malignity of his crimes dis-
guised or softened ; Mr. Foster told him, " that in his
opinion, the wound of his mind, occasioned by his pri-
vate and public vices, must be probed and searched to
the bottom, before it could be capable of receiving a
remedy. " If he disapproved of this plan," Mr. Foster
thought " he could be of no use to him, and therefore .
declined attendance." To this Lord Kilmarnock re-
plied that, " whilst he thought it was not Mr. Foster's
* Walpole's Letters to Sir H. Mann, vol ii. p. 171.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 439
province to interfere in things remote from his office,
yet it was now no time to prevaricate with him, nor to
play the hypocrite with God, before whose tribunal he
should shortly appear."
This point being settled, the minister of the Gospel
deemed it necessary to persuade the Earl, that he was
not to be amused with vain delusive hopes of a reprieve ;
that he must view his sentence as inevitable ; other-
wise that his mind might be distracted between hope
and fear ; and that true temper of penitence which
alone could recommend him to Divine mercy would be
unattainable.
The unfortunate Earl touchingly answered, that
indeed, when he consulted his reason, and argued
calmly with himself, he could see no ground of mercy ;
yet still the hope of life would intrude itself. He was
afraid, he said, that buoyed up by this delusive hope,
when the warrant for his execution came down, he
should have not only the terror of his sentence to con-
tend with, but the fond delusions of his own heart :
to overcome the bitter disappointment the impossi-
bility of submission. He therefore assured Mr. Foster,
that he would do all in his own power to repel that
visionary enemy, and to fix his thoughts on the import-
ant task of perfecting his repentance, and of preparing
for death and eternity.
In regard to the part which Lord Kilmarnock had
taken in recent events, there seemed no difficulty in
impressing his mind with a deep sense of the responsi-
bility which he had incurred in helping to diffuse
terror and consternation through the land, in the
depredation and ruin of his country : and in con-
440 WILLIAM BOYD,
vincing him that he ought to consider himself accessory
to innumerable private oppressions and murders.
" Yes," replied Lord Kilmarnock, with deep emotion,
" and murders of the innocent too." And frequently
he acknowledged this charge with tears, and offered up
short petitions to God for mercy.
But when Mr. Foster mentioned to him that the
consequences of the " Rebellion and its natural ten-
dency was to the subversion of our excellent free consti-
tution, to extirpate our holy religion, and to introduce
the monstrous superstitions and cruelties of Popery,"
Lord Kilmarnock hesitated ; and owned, at length,
that he did not contemplate such mischiefs as the
result of the contest ; that he did not believe that the
young Chevalier would run the risk of defeating his
main design by introducing Popery ; nor would so en-
tirely forget the warnings which the history of his
family offered, so far as to make any attacks upon the
liberties and constitution of the country. His enter-
ing into the Rebellion was occasioned, as he then de-
clared, by the errors and vices of his previous life ; and
was a kind of desperate scheme to extricate him from
his difficulties. Humbled and penetrated by the re-
membrance of former levity, Lord Kilmarnock re-
marked, that not only was Providence wise and righte-
ous, but to him, gracious ; and that he regarded it as
an unspeakable mercy to his soul, that he had not
fallen at the battle of Culloden, impenitent and unre-
flecting ; for that, if the Rebellion had been successful,
he should have gone on in his errors, without ever en-
tertaining any serious thought of amendment. " Often,"
added the contrite and chastened man, " have I made
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 441
use of these words of Christ, ' Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from ine : nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou wilt/" But he had checked himself by the
reflection, that it was not for him who had been so
great a sinner, to address himself to God in the same
language with his blessed Saviour, who was perfectly
innocent and holy.
In time, aided by the representations of his spiritual
attendant, the deepest remorse for a life not untainted
by impurity of conduct, was succeeded by religious
peace. It was then that the prisoner turned to that
Bread of Life which Christ hath left for those who hunger
and thirst after righteousness. But the Minister who
led him into the fold of the Great Shepherd, would not
consent to administer to him the Holy Sacrament with-
out a full confession made in the presence of the gen-
tleman gaoler, of his past oflences, and of his contrition
for them. At that solemn moment, when the heart
was laid open to human witnesses, Lord Kilmarnock
professed the deepest penitence for his concurrence in
the Rebellion, and for the irregularities of his private
life : he declared his conviction that the Holy Sacra-
ment would be of no benefit to him whatsoever, if his
remorse and contrition were not sincere. This assur-
ance was, in other words, yet, in substance the same,
emphatically repeated. During the conversations held
with Lord Kilmarnock, Mr. Foster perceived that the
confessions of the penitent were free and ingenuous ;
that he examined his own heart with a searching
and scrupulous care, sternly challenging memory to
the aid of conscience. At last, he declared that he
should rather prefer the speedy execution of his sen-
442 WILLIAM BOYD,
tence to a longer life, if he were sure that he should
again be entangled by the snares and temptations of
the world. This was a few days before his death.
Gradually, but effectually, the spirit that had so
much in it of a heavenly temper ; the heart, so framed
to be beloved, was purified and elevated ; so that,
a beautiful and holy calm, a heavenly disinterestedness,
a patience worthy of him who bore the name of Chris-
tian, were manifested in one whom it were henceforth
wrong to call unhappy. When Lord Cromartie's re-
prieve became known to Mr. Foster, he dreaded, lest
this subdued, yet fortified mind, should be disturbed
by the jealousies to which our worldly condition is
prone : he trembled lest the sorrow of separation from
a world which Lord Kilmarnock had loved too fondly,
should be revived by the pardon of his friend. " There-
fore," relates Mr. Foster, " in the morning before I
waited upon him, I prepared myself to quiet and mol-
lify his mind. But one of the first things he said to
me was, that he was extremely glad that the King's
mercy had been shown to Lord Cromartie." " My
Lord," inquired Mr. Forster, " I hope you do not think
you have any injustice shown you ?" Lord Kilmar-
nock's answer was, " Not in the least ; I have pleaded
guilty : I entirely acquiesce in the justice of my sen-
tence ; and if mercy be extended to another, I can
have no reason to complain, when nothing but justice
is done to me."
With regard to some points upon which the public
odium was directed to the young Chevalier and his party,
Lord Kilmarnock was very explicit in his last conver-
sations with Mr. Foster. We have already seen how
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 443
far he was enabled to clear himself concerning his con-
duct to the prisoners at Inverness. A report having
been industriously circulated, probably with a view to
excuse the barbarities of the Duke of Cumberland, that
an order had been issued in the Pretender's council at
Inverness, to destroy the prisoners who might be taken
at the battle of Culloden, Mr. Foster put the question
to Lord Kilmarnock, Whether that statement were
true ? " I can most sincerely and freely answer, No,"
was the satisfactory reply ; and a similar contradiction
was given by the dying man to every accusation of a
similar tendency." 55 "
On Monday the eleventh of August, General Wil-
liamson desired Mr. Foster, " in the gentlest terms that
he could use, to apprize Lord Kilmarnock, that he had
received the order for his, and for Lord Balmerino's
execution. Mr. Foster at first refused to undertake
this office. " I was so shocked at it," writes the good
man " that I could not think of delivering the message
myself, but would endeavour to prepare the unfortu-
nate Lord for it, by divesting him, as far as I could,
of all hope of life." Such, indeed, had been the con-
tinual aim of all the reverend minister's counsels ; and
he had hoped to entrust the last mournful task of
informing him of the order to other hands. On find-
ing Lord Kilmarnock in a very resigned and calm state
of mind, he ventured, however, to hint to him how
necessary was that diligent and constant preparation
for death which he had endeavoured to impress upon
his mind. This was sufficient : the ill-fated prisoner
immediately inquired, " whether the warrant for his
* Foster's Account, p. 87.
444 WILLIAM BOYD,
execution was come down T "I told him that it
was," relates Mr. Foster, " and that the day fixed upon
was the following Monday/'
Lord Kilmarnock received this intimation with a
solemn consciousness of the awful nature of its import ;
but no signs of terror nor of anxiety added to the sor-
rows of that hour. In the course of conversation, he
observed to Mr. Foster, that " he was chiefly concerned
about the consequences of death, in comparison of
which he considered the ' thing itself a trifle : with
regard to the manner of his death he had, he thought,
no great reason to be terrified, for that the stroke ap-
peared to be scarcely so much as the drawing of a
tooth, or the first shock of a cold bath upon a weak
and fearful temper." At the last hour, nevertheless,
the crowd, the scaffold, the doom, upset that sub-
lime and heavenly resignation, the weakness of the
flesh prevailed, although only for an instant.
In the silence and solitude of his prison, Lord Kil-
rnarnock's recollection reverted to those whom human
nature were shortly to be left to buffet with the storms
of their hard fate. It reverted also to those who might,
in any way, have suffered at his hands. The following
touching epistle, addressed to his factor, Mr. Robert
Paterson, written two days only before his execution,
shows how tender was his affection for his unhappy
wife : in how Christian a spirit towards others he died.
His consideration for the poor shoemakers of Elgin is
one of those beautiful traits of character which mark a
conscientious mind. The original of this letter is still
in existence, and is in the possession of the great-
grandson of him to whom it was addressed. *
* For a copy of this letter I am indebted to the kindness of Mrs. Craufurd
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 445
" SIR,
"I have commended to your care the inclosed
packet, to be delivered to my wife in the manner your
good sense shall dictate to you, will be least shocking
to her. Let her be prepared for it as much by degrees,
and with great tenderness, as the nature of the thing
will admit of. The entire dependance I have all my
life had the most just reason to have on your integrity
and friendship to my wife and family, as well as to
myself, make me desire that the inclosed papers may
come to my wife through your hands, in confidence ;
but you will take all the pains to comfort her, and re-
lieve the grief I know she will be in, that you and her
friends can. She is what I leave dearest behind me in
the world ; and the greatest service you can do to
your dead friend, is to contribute as much as possible
to her happiness in mind, and in her affairs.
" You will peruse the State * before you deliver
it to her, and you will observe that there is a fund of
hers (I don't mention that of five hundred Scots a-
year) ; as the interest of my mother-in-law's portion in
the Countess of Errol's hands, with, I believe, a con-
siderable arrear upon it ; which, as I have ordered a
copy of all these papers to that Countess, I did not care
to put in. There is another thing of a good deal of
moment, which I mention only to you, because if it
could be taken away without noise it would be better;
but if it is pushed it will be necessary to defend it.
of Craufurland Castle, Kilmarnock. The original is in the possession of
Martin Paterson, Esq. of Kilmarnock, and is endorsed " Copy of the last
Instructions of Lord Kilmarnock to his factor, Mr. Robert Paterson."
* Statement.
446 WILLIAM BOYD,
That is, a bond which you know Mr. Kerr, Director to the
Chancery, has of me for a considerable sum of money,
with many years interest on it, which was almost all
play debt. I don't think I ever had fifty pounds, or the
half of it, of Mr. Kerr's money, and I am sure I never
had a hundred; which however I have put it to, in the
inclosed declaration, that my mind may be entirely at
ease. My intention with respect to that sum was to
wait till I had some money, and then buy it off, by a
composition of three hundred pounds, and if that was
not accepted of, to defend it ; in which I neither saw,
nor now see anything unjust ; and now I leave it on
my successors to do what they find most prudent in it.
Beside my personal debt mentioned in general and par-
ticular in the State, * there is one for which I am liable
in justice, if it is not paid, owing to poor people, who
gave their work for it by my orders ; it was at Elgin in
Murray ; the regiment I commanded wanted shoes. I
commissioned something about seventy pair of shoes
and brogues, which might come to about three shillings,
or three and sixpence each, one with another. The
magistrates divided them among the shoemakers of the
town and country, and each shoemaker furnished his
proportion. I drew on the town for the price out of
the composition laid on them, but I was told after-
wards at Inverness, that it was believed the composi-
tion was otherwise applied, and the poor shoemakers
not paid. As these poor people wrought by my orders,
it will be a great ease to my heart to think they are
not to lose by me, as too many have done in the course
of that year ; but had I lived, I might have made some
enquiry after it ; but now it is impossible, as their hard-
* Statement.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 447
ships in loss of horses, and such things which happened
through my soldiers, are so interwoven with what was
done by other people, that it would be very hard, if
not impossible, to separate them. If you will write to
Mr. Jones of Dalkinty, at Elgin, (with whom I was
quartered when I lay there,) he will send you an ac-
count of the shoes, and if they were paid to the shoe-
makers or no ; and if they are not, I beg you'll get my
wife, or my successors, to pay them when they can.
" Receive a letter to me from Mrs. Boyd, my cousin
MalcomVs widow ; I shall desire her to write to you for
an answer.
" Accept of my sincere thanks for your friendship
and good services to me. Continue them to my wife
and children.
" My best wishes are to you and yours, and for the
happiness and prosperity of the good town of Kilmar-
nock, and I am, sir, your humble servant,
" KILMARNOCK."
Tower of London, August 16lh, 1746.
On the Saturday previous to the execution of Lord
Kilmarnock, General Williamson gave his prisoners a
minute account of all the circumstances of solemnity,
and outward terror, which would accompany it. Lord
Kilmarnock heard it much with the same expression
of concern as a man of a compassionate disposition
would read it, in relation to others. After suggesting
a trifling alteration in the arrangements after the ex-
ecution, he expressed his regret that the headsman
should be, as General Williamson informed him, a
" good sort of man ;" remarking, that one of a rougher
448 WILLIAM BOYD,
nature and harder heart, would be more likely to do
his work quickly. He then requested that four persons
might be appointed to receive the head when it was
severed from the body, in a red cloth ; that it might
not, as he had heard was the case at other executions,
" roll about the scaffold and be mangled and disfigured."
" For I would not/' he added, " though it may be but
a trifling matter, that my remains should appear with
any needless indecency after the just sentence of the
law is satisfied." He spoke calmly and easily on all
these particulars, nor did he even shrink when told
that his head would be held up and exhibited to the
multitude as that of a traitor. " He knew," he said,
" that it was usual, and it did not affect him." During
these singular conversations, his spiritual attendant
and the General, could hardly have been more precise
in their descriptions had they been portraying the
festive ceremonials of a coming bridal, than they were
in the fearful minutiae of the approaching execution.
It was thought by them that such recitals would
accustom the mind of the prisoner to the apparatus
and formalities that would attend his death, and that
these would lose their influence over his mind. " He
allowed with me," observes Mr. Foster, " that such cir-
cumstances were not so melancholy as dying after
a lingering disorder, in a darkened room, with weeping
friends around one, and whilst the shattered frame
sank under slow exhaustion." But experience and
human feelings contradict this observation of the re-
signed and unhappy sufferer ; we look to death, under
such an aspect, as the approach of rest : but human na-
ture shrinks from the violent struggle, the momentary
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 449
but fierce convulsion, plunging us, as it were, into the
abyss of the grave.
At this moment of his existence, when it was
certain ruin at Court and in the army, to befriend
the Jacobite prisoner, a friend, the friend of his
youth, came nobly forward to attend Lord Kilmarnock
in his dying moments. This was John Walkinshaw
Craufurd, of Craufurdland in the county of Ayr, be-
tween whose family and that of the House of Boyd, a
long and intimate friendship of several centuries had
existed ; " so much so," observes a member of the
present family of Craufurd,'"" " that a subterranean pas-
sage is said to exist between our old castles, of which
we fancy proofs ; but these are fire-side legends."
* Mrs. Howison Craufurd, the lady of William Howison Craufurd, Esq.,
of Craufurdland Castle, Ayrshire. To this Lady I am indebted for much
of the information (afforded by her admirable letters) which has been in-
troduced into this Memoir of Lord Kilmarnock. To this lady I address-
ed an inquiry respecting an original portrait of Lord Kilmarnock. Her
efforts to obtain any intelligence of one have been wholly unavailing ; and
we have been led to the conclusion that, in the fire at Dean Castle, all the
portraits of Lord Kilmarnock must have been destroyed ; his resemblance,
his name, his honour, and his Castle thus becoming extinct at once. At
Craufurdland Castle there is a fine portrait of Lord Kilmarnock's brother,
his widow and daughter, painted in oils, after a singular fashion, black and
white ; giving it a ghastly hue. This perhaps accounts for the local
tradition near Kilmarnock, u that on hearing of his brother's death, Mr.
Boyd's colour fled, and never returned ; nor was he ever seen to smile
again." A tradition not difficult of belief.
The present Mr. Craufurd, of Craufurdland Castle, represents also the
family of Howison of Brae-head. In Mrs. Howison Craufurd's family an
amusing circumstance relative to Lord Lovat occurred. He was one even-
ing in a ball-room, and was paying court to the great-grandmother ot
that lady. As he was playfully examining, and holding in his hand
her diamond solitaire, a voice whispered in his ear, " that Government
officers were in pursuit of him ; and that he must decamp." Decamp he
did, taking with him, perhaps by accident, the costly jewel. The young
lady was in the greatest trepidation, and her family were resolved to reco-
VOL. III. G G
450 WILLIAM BOYD,
" The family of Craufurd," observes Mr. Burke, " is
one of antiquity and eminence in a part of the empire
where ancestry and exploit have ever been held in
enthusiastic admiration." By marriage, in the thir-
teenth century, it is allied anciently with the existing
house of Loudon ; and its connection and friendship
with the House of Boyd was cemented by the death
of one of its heads, Robert Craufurd, in 1487, in
consequence of a wound received at the Wyllielee,
from attending James Boyd, Earl of Arran, in a duel
with the Earl of Eglintoun. In the days of Charles
the First and Second, the Craufurds had been Cove-
nanters, as appears in the history of that time : and in
the year 1745, they were stanch Whigs ; and Colonel
Walkinshaw Craufurd had, when called upon to pay a
mournful proof of respect to Lord Kilmarnock, attained
the rank of Colonel in the British army. Besides the
ancient friendship of the family, there had been several
intermarriages; and the father of Colonel Craufurd
had espoused, after the death of Miss Walkinshaw,
Elenora, the widow of the Honorable Thomas Boyd,
the brother of Lord Kilmarnock.
Colonel Walkinshaw Craufurd was a fine specimen
of the true Scottish gentleman, and of the British offi-
cer. He was a very handsome, stately man, of high-
bred manners, and portly figure, whom his tenantry
both feared and honoured. He lived almost conti-
nually in the highest circles in London, except when
in service, and also at the Court, visiting his Castle in
ver the ornament. Many years after, on his return from France, Lovat,
whose character, in no respect, rose above suspicion, was taxed with the
robbery, and refunded a sum which gave twenty pounds to each of a host
of granddaughters, then in their girlhood.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 451
Ayrshire only in the hunting season, for he kept a
pack of hounds. To such a man the sacrifice of public
opinion, then all against the Jacobites, the sure loss
of Court favour, the risk of losing all military promo-
tion, were no small considerations ; yet he cast them
all to the winds, and came nobly forward to pay the
last respect to his kinsman and friend.
Already had he distinguished himself at the battle
of Dettingen and Fontenoy ; and he might reasonably ex-
pect the highest military honours : yet he incurred the
risk of attending Lord Kilmarnock on the scaffold, and
performing that office for him which that nobleman
required. I almost blush to write the sequel ; for
this act, Colonel Craufurd was, immediately after the
last scene was over, put down to the very bottom of
the army list.* Such was the petty and vindictive
policy of the British Government, influenced, it may be
presumed, by the same dark mind that visited upon
the faithful Highlanders the horrors of military law, in
punishment of their fidelity and heroism. "The King/'
observes Horace Walpole, referring to these and other
acts, " is much inclined to mercy ; but the Duke of
Cumberland, who has not so much of Caesar after a
victory, as in gaining it, is for the utmost severity."!
Whilst the mind of Lord Kilmarnock was thus
gradually prepared for death, Lord Balmerino passed
cheerfully the hours which were so soon to terminate
in his doom. Fondly attached to his young wife, Bal-
* In a letter from Mrs. Craufurd of Craufurdland to the author, this
fact is stated. It is mentioned as traditionary elsewhere, but is attested
by the family.
t H. Walpole, vol. ii.p. 167.
G G 2
452 WILLIAM BOYD,
merino obtained the boon of her society in his prison.
So much were the people attracted by the hardihood
and humour of this brave old man, that it was found
necessary by the authorities to stop up the windows of
his prison-chamber in the Tower, in order to prevent
his talking to the populace out of the window. One
only was left unclosed, with characteristic cruelty : it
commanded a view of the scaffolding erected for his
execution.* One day the Lieutenant of the Tower
brought in the warrant for his death : Lady Balmerino
fainted. " Lieutenant," said Lord Balmerino, " with
your d d warrant you have spoiled my Lady's
dinner."
Lord Balmerino is said to have written to the Duke
of Cumberland a " very sensible letter," requesting his
intercession with the King ; but this seems to have
been unavailing, from the well-known exclamation
of George the Second, when solicited for the other
prisoners, " Will no one speak a word to me for poor
Balmerino r
The day appointed for the execution was the eight-
eenth of August, at eight in the morning. Mr. Foster
visited Lord Kilmarnock, and found him in a calm and
happy temper, without any disturbance of that serenity
which had of late blessed his days of imprisonment. He
affected not to brave death, but viewed it in the awful
aspect in which even the best of men, and the most
hopeful Christians, must consider that solemn change.
He expressed his belief, that a man who had led a
dissolute life, and who yet believed the consequences of
death, to affect indifference at that hour, showed himself
* H. Walpole's Letters to Mr. Montagu.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 453
either to be very impious, or very stupid. One appre-
hension still clung to his mind, proving how sensitive
had been that conscience which strove in vain to sa-
tisfy itself. He told Mr. Foster <l he could not be sure
that his repentance was sincere, because it had never
been tried by the temptation of returning to society/'
Lord Kilmarnock continued in a composed state
of mind during the whole morning. After a short
prayer, offered up by Mr. Foster, at his desire,
he was informed that the sheriffs waited for the pri-
soners. He heard this announcement calmly ; and
said to General Williamson, with his wonted grace,
" General, I am ready to follow you." He then quit-
ted his prison, and descended the stairs. As he was
going down, he met Lord Balmerino ; and the friends
embraced. "My Lord," said the noble Balmerino,
" I am heartily sorry to have your company in this
expedition."*
The prisoners then proceeded to the outward gate
of the Tower, where the Sheriffs, who had walked
there in procession, received them : this was about ten
o'clock in the morning of the eighteenth of August.
The bodies of the two noblemen having been delivered
with the usual formalities to the Sheriffs, they pro-
ceeded to the late Transport Office, a building near the
scaffold. Two Presbyterian ministers, Mr. Foster and
Mr. Home, accompanied Lord Kilmarnock, whilst the.
Chaplain of the Tower and another clergyman, at-
tended Lord Balmerino. Three rooms, hung with
black, were prepared ; one for each of the condemned
noblemen ; another, fronting the scaffold, for specta-
* Foster's Account, p. 31.
454 WILLIAM BOYD,
tors. Here, those who were so soon to suffer, had a
short conference with each other, chiefly relating to
the order, said to have been issued at Culloden, to
give no quarter. This was a subject, not only of im-
portance to Lord Kilmarnock's memory, but to the
character of the Jacobite party generally.
" Did you, my Lord," said the generous Balmerino,
still anxious, even at the last hour, to justify his
friends, " see or know of any order, signed by the
Prince, to give no quarter at the battle of Culloden T
" No, my Lord," replied Kilmarnock.
" Nor I neither," rejoined Balmerino ; " and there-
fore it seems to be an invention to justify their own
murderous scheme."
To this Lord Kilmarnock answered, " No, my Lord,
I do not think it can be an invention, because, while I
was a prisoner at Inverness, I was told by several
officers that there was such an order, signed * George
Murray, 1 and that it was in the Duke of Cumberland's
custody." To this statement, (which was wholly er-
roneous) Lord Balmerino exclaimed, " Lord George
Murray ! Why then, they should not charge it on the
Prince." After this explanation, he bade Kilmarnock
a last farewell : as he embraced him, he said, in the
same noble spirit, that he had ever shown, " My dear
Lord Kilmarnock, I am only sorry I cannot pay all
this reckoning alone : once more, farewell for ever."
Lord Kilmarnock was then left with the sheriffs,
and his spiritual advisers. In their presence, he
solemnly declared himself to be a Protestant, and said
that he was thoroughly satisfied of the legality of the
King's claim to the throne. He had been educated in
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 455
these principles, and he now thoroughly repented hav-
ing ever engaged in the Rebellion. He afterwards
stated to his friends that he had within this week
taken the sacrament twice in evidence of the truth
of his repentance.
The hour of noon was now fast approaching, when
the last act of relentless justice was to be performed.
Mr. Foster, after permitting the Earl a few moments
to compose himself, suggested that he should engage
with him in prayer, and afterwards proceed to the
scaffold. The minister then addressed himself to all
who were present, urging them to join with him in
this last solemn office, and in recommending the soul
of an unhappy penitent to the mercy of God. Those
who were engaged in this sad scene, sank on their
knees, whilst, after a petition relating to the prisoner,
a prayer was offered up "for King George, for our
holy religion, for our inestimable British liberties."
This prayer, for the royal family, Lord Kilrnarnock
had often protested he would, at the latest moment,
offer up to the throne of God.
After this solemn duty had been performed, Lord
Kilmarnock bade an affectionate farewell to the gentle-
men who had accompanied him, and here Mr. Foster's
office ceased, the Rev. Mr. Home, a young clergyman,
and a personal friend of Lord Kilmarnock, succeeding
him in attendance upon the prisoner. Many reports
prevailed of Lord Kilmarnock's fear of death, and
of the weakness of his resolution ; and Balmerino, it is
said, apprehended that he would not " behave well,"
an expression used, perhaps, in reference to his opinions,
perhaps in anticipation of a failure of courage. As
456 WILLIAM BOYD,
leaning upon the arm of his friend Mr. Home, Lord
Kilmarnock saw, for the first time, that outward ap-
paratus of death to which he had taken such pains to
familiarise himself ; " nature still recurred upon him ;"
for an instant, the home of peace, to which he. was
hastening, was forgotten ; " the multitude, the block,
the coffin, the executioner, the instrument of death,"
appalled one, whose character was amiable, rather
than exalted. He turned to his attendant, and ex-
claimed, "Home, this is terrible!" Yet his counte-
nance, even as he uttered these words, was unchanged,
and in a few moments, he regained the composure
of one whose hope was in the mercy of his Creator.
What else could sustain him in the agonies of that
moment \ " His whole behaviour," writes Mr. Foster,
" was so humble and resigned, that not only his friends,
but every spectator, was deeply moved; the execu-
tioner burst into tears, and was obliged to use arti-
ficial spirits to support and strengthen him." As
the man kneeled down, after the usual custom, to
pray for forgiveness, Lord Kilmarnock desired him to
have courage, and placing a purse of gold in his hand,
told him that the dropping of a handkerchief should
be the signal for the blow.
Mr. Foster having rejoined Lord Kilmarnock on the
scaffold, a long conversation, in a low voice, took place
between them ; for Lord Kilmarnock made no speech.
" I wish/' said Mr. Foster, " I had a voice loud enough
to tell the multitude with what sentiments your
Lordship quits the world." Again, the unfortunate
nobleman embraced his friends ; and bade Mr. Fos-
ter, who quitted the scaffold a few minutes before his
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 457
execution, a last farewell. During all this time, which
was more than half an hour, he took no notice of
the multitude below : except, observing that the green
baize over the wall obstructed the view, he desired
that it might be lifted up that the crowd might see
the spectacle of his execution.
A delay now took place, attributed by some to Lord
Kilmarnock's "unwillingness to depart:"* but owing
to a few trivial circumstances which, as Mr. Foster re-
marks, " are unnecessary to be mentioned in order to
vindicate the noble penitent from the imputation of
fear in the critical moment. " To the last, a scrupulous
attention to decorum, and nicety in dress characterized
Lord Kilmarnock. At his trial, he was described as
having been a little too precise, and his hair " too ex-
actly dressed for a person in his situation." On the
scaffold the same care was manifested. He appeared
in a mourning suit, and his hair, which was un-
powdered, was dressed according to the fashion of the
day, in a bag, which it took some time to undo, in
order to replace the bag by a cap. Even then, the
cap being large, and the hair long, his lordship was
apprehensive that some of the hair might escape, and
intercept the stroke of the axe. He therefore requested
a gentleman near him, to tie the cap round his head,
that he might bind up the hair more closely. As this
office was performed, the person to whom he had ap-
plied, wished his lordship a continuance of his resolu-
tion until he should meet with eternal happiness.
"I thank you," returned Lord Kilmarnock, with his
usual courtesy and sweetness ; " I find myself perfectly
easy and resigned."
* Walpolc.
458 WILLIAM BOYD,
There was also another impediment, the tucking of
his shirt under his waistcoat was next adjusted. Then
Lord Kilmarnock, taking out a paper containing the
heads of his last devotions, advanced to the utmost
stage of the scaffold, and kneeled down at the block,
on which, in praying, he placed his hands, until the
executioner remonstrated, begging of him to let his
hands fall down, lest they should be mangled, or should
intercept the blow. He was also told that the neck of
his waistcoat was in the way ; he therefore arose, and
with the help of Colonel Walkinshaw Craufurd, had it
taken off. Near him were standing those who held
the cloth ready to receive his head ; among these Mr.
Home's servant heard Lord Kilmarnock tell the ex-
ecutioner, that in two minutes he would give the signal.
A few moments were spent in fervent devotion ; then
the sign was given, and the head was severed from the
body by one stroke. It was not exposed to view accord-
ing to custom : but was deposited in a coffin with the
body, and delivered to his Lordship's friends. One
peculiarity attended this execution. It is not re-
quired by law that the head of a person decapitated
should be exposed ; but is a custom adopted in order
to satisfy the multitude that the execution has been
accomplished. Since, by Lord Kilmarnock's dying re-
quest, this practice was omitted, the Sheriffs ordered
that all the attendants on the scaffold should kneel
down, so that the view of the execution might not be
impeded* to those who were below.
The scaffold was immediately cleared, and put in
order for another victim ; and Mr. Ford, the Under-
* Ford's Account in State Trials, p. 18, 522.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 459
Sheriff, who had attended the first execution, went
into the room in the Transport Office where Balmerino
awaited his doom. u I suppose," inquired the un-
daunted Balmerino, " that my Lord Kilmarnock is no
more." And having asked how he died, and being
told the account, he said : " It is well done, and
now, gentlemen, I will no longer detain you, for I de-
sire not to protract my life." He spoke calmly, and
even cheerfully ; Lord Kilmarnock had shed tears as he
bade his friends farewell, but Balmerino, whilst others
wept, was even cheerful, and hastened to the scaffold.
His deportment, when in the room where he awaited
the summons to death, was graceful and yet simple,
without either any ostentation of bravery, or indications
of indifference to his fate. He did not defy the terror,
he rose above it. He conversed freely with his friends,
and refreshed himself twice with wine and bread, de-
siring the company to drink to him, as he expressed it
in his Scottish phrase, " ain degrae ta haiven ;" but
above all, he prayed often and fervently for support,
and support was given.
True to the last to his professions, Lord Balmerino
was dressed in what was called by a contemporary,
" his Rebellious Regimentals," such as he had worn at
Culloden ; they were of blue cloth, turned up with
red ; underneath them was a flannel waistcoat and a
shroud. He ascended the scaffold, " treading/' as an
observer expressed it, " with the air of a General,"
and surveying the spectators, bowed to them ; he
walked round it, and read the inscription on his coffin,
"Arthurus Dominus de Balmerino, decollatus, 18
die August. 1746, setatis suae 58;" observed "that
460 WILLIAM BOYD,
it was right," and with apparent pleasure looked at
the block saying, it was his " pillow of rest." Lord
Balmerino then pulling out his spectacles, read a paper
to those who stood around him, and delivered it to the
Sheriff to do with it as he thought proper. It was
subsequently printed in a garbled form, much of it
being deemed too treasonable for publication, and in
that form is preserved in the State Trials.* It is now
given as it was really spoken.
" I was bred in the anti-revolution principles, which
I have ever persevered in, from a sincere persuasion
* For the original of Lord Balmerino's real speech, which is highly
characteristic of its author, I am indebted to Charles Kirkpatrick
Sharpe, Esq.
" I was brought up in true, loyal, and anti-revolution principles
and I hope the world is convinced that they stuck to me. I must ac-
knowledge I did a very inconsiderate thing, for which I am heartily
sorry, in accepting a company of Foot from the Princess Anne, who I
know had no more right to the Crown than her predecessor the Prince
oi Orange To make amends for what I had done I joined the
.... (Pretender) when he was in Scotland in 1715, and when all was
over I made my escape, and lived abroad till the year 1734.
" In the beginning of that year I got a letter from my father which
very much surprised me ; it was to let me know he had a promise of a
remission for me. I did not know what to do ; I was then, (I think,)
in the canton of Berne, and had nobody to advise with : but next morn-
ing I wrote a letter to the .... (Pretender) who was then at Rome, to
acquaint the .... (Pretender) that this was come without my asking
or knowledge, and that I would not accept of it without his consent. I
had in answer to mine, a letter written with .... (The Pretender's)
own hand, allowing me to go home ; and he told me his banker would
give me money for my travelling charges when I came to Paris, which
accordingly I got. When the .... (the Pretender's son) came to Edin-
burgh I joined him, though I might easily have excused myself from
taking arms on account of my age ; but I never could have had peace
of conscience if I had stayed at home I am at a loss when
I come to speak of the .... (Pretender's son,) I am not a fit hand to
draw his character, I shall leave that to others. (Here he gives a ful-
some character of the Pretender's son.)
EARL OF K1LMARNOCK. 461
that the restoration of the Royal Family, and the good
of my native country, are inseparable. The action of
my life which now stares me most in the face, is
my having accepted a commission in the army from
the late Princess Anne, who I knew had no more
right to the crown than her predecessor, the Prince
of Orange, whom I always considered as an infamous
usurper.
"In the year 1715, as soon as the King landed in
Scotland, I thought it my indispensable duty to join
his standard, though his affairs were then in a des-
perate situation.
"I was in Switzerland in the year 1734, where I
received a letter from my father acquainting me that
he had procured me remission, and desiring me to
return home. Not thinking myself at liberty to com-
ply with my father's desire without the King's appro-
" Pardon me if I say, wherever I had the command, I never suffered
any disorders to be committed, as will appear by the Duke of Buc-
cleugh's servants at East Park ; by the Earl of Findlater's minister, Mr.
Lato, and my Lord's servant, A. Cullen ; by Mr. Rose, minister at Nairn,
(who was pleased to favour me with a visit when I was prisoner at Inver-
ness;) by Mr. Stewart, principal servant to the Lord President at the House
of Culloden ; and by several other people. All this gives me great plea-
sure, now that I am looking upon the block on which I am ready to lay
down my head ; and though it would not have been my own natural in-
clination to protect everybody, it would have been my interest to have
done it for ... (the Pretender's son) abhorred all those who were capable
of doing injustice to any I have heard since I came to this place,
that there has been a most wicked report spread, and mentioned in se-
veral of the newspapers that .... (the Pretender's son) before the
battle of Culloden, had given out orders that no quarter should be given
to the enemy. This is such an unchristian thing, and so unlike ....
(the Pretender's son,) that nobody (the Jacobites) that knows him will
believe it. It is very strange if there had been any such orders, that nei-
ther the Earl of Kilmarnock, who was Colonel of the regiment of the
462 WILLIAM BOYD,
bation, I wrote to Rome to know his Majesty's plea-
sure, and was directed by him to return home ; and at
the same time I received a letter of credit upon his
banker at Paris, who furnished me with money to
defray the expense of my journey, and put me in
repair. I think myself bound, upon this occasion, to
contradict a report which has been industriously
spread, and which I never heard of till I was prisoner ;
that orders were given to the Prince's army to give no
quarter at the battle of Culloden. With my eye upon
the block, which will soon bring me unto the highest
of all tribunals, I do declare that it is without any
manner of foundation, both because it is impossible
it could have escaped the knowledge of me, who was
captain of the Prince's Life Guards, or of Lord Kil-
marnock, who was colonel of his own regiment ; but
still more so, as it is entirely inconsistent with the
mild and generous nature of that brave Prince, whose
Foot Guards, nor I, who was Colonel of the second troop of Life
Guards, should ever have heard anything of it ; especially since we were
both at the head-quarters the morning before the battle ; I am convinced
that it is a malicious report industriously spread to ....
" Ever since my confinement in the Tower, when Major White or Mr.
Fowler did me the honour of a visit, their behaviour was always so
kind and obliging to me that I cannot find words to express it ; but I
am sorry I cannot say the same thing of a General Williamson : he has
treated me barbarously, but not quite so ill as he did the Bishop of Ro-
chester ; and had it not been for a worthy clergyman's advice, I should
have prayed for him in the words of David, Psalm 109, from the 6th
to the 15th verse. I forgive him and all my enemies. I hope you will
have the charity to believe I die in peace with all men ; for yesterday
I received the Holy Eucharist from the hands of a clergyman of the
Church of England, in whose communion I die as in union with the
Episcopal Church of Scotland,
" I shall conclude with a short prayer." (Here a prayer is mentioned
much the same as in Wm. Ford's account.)
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 463
patience, fortitude, intrepidity, and humanity, I must
declare upon this solemn occasion, are qualities in which
he excels all men I ever knew, and which it ever was
his desire to employ for the relief and preservation
of his father's subjects. I believe rather, that this
report was spread to palliate and excuse the murders
they themselves committed in cold blood after the
battle of Culloden.
" I think it my duty to return my sincere acknow-
ledgments to Major White and Mr. Fowler, for their
humane and complaisant behaviour to me during my
confinement. I wish I could pay the same compliment
to General Williamson, who used me with the greatest
inhumanity and cruelty ; but having taken the sacra-
ment this day, I forgive him, as I do all my enemies.
" I die in the religion of the Church of England,
which I look upon as the same with the Episcopal
Church of Scotland, in which I was brought up."
After delivering this speech, Lord Balmerino laid
his head upon the block, and said, " God reward my
friends, and forgive my enemies : bless and restore
the King; preserve the Prince, and the Duke of
York, and receive my soul."
The executioner then being called for, and kneeling
to ask forgiveness, Lord Balmerino interrupted him.
" Friend, you need not ask my forgiveness ; the execu-
tion of your duty is commendable." He then gave the
headsman three guineas, saying, " this is all I have ; I
can only add to it my coat and waistcoat," which,
accordingly, he took off, laying them on the coffin for
the executioner. After putting on a flannel jacket
made for the occasion, and a plaid cap, he went to
4(34 WILLIAM BOYD,
the block in order to show the executioner the signal.
He then returned to his friends. " I am afraid/'
he said, addressing them, "that there are some here
who may think my behaviour bold : remember, sir,"
he added, addressing a gentleman near him, " what I
tell you ; it arises from a just confidence in God, and
a clear conscience/' Memorable, and beautiful words,
distinguishing between the presumption of indif-
ference, and the security of a living faith. When he
laid his head on the block to try it, he said, " if I had
a thousand lives I would lay them all down in the
same cause."
Lord Balmerino then showed the Executioner where
to strike the blow ; he examined the edge of the axe,
and bade the man to strike with resolution ; " for in
that, friend," he said, as he replaced the axe in the
hand of the man, "will consist your mercy." He
asked how many strokes had been given to Lord Kil-
marnock. Two clergymen coming up at that moment,
he said, "no, gentlemen, I believe you have already
done me all the service you can." He called loudly to
the warder, and gave him his perriwig ; and instantly
laid down his head upon the block, but being told that
he was on the wrong side, he vaulted round, and ex-
tending his arms uttered this short prayer : " Lord,
reward my friends, forgive my enemies :" he uttered,
it has been stated, another ejaculation for king James ;
but that petition was suppressed in the printed accounts
of his death : then, pronouncing these words, " receive
my soul," he gave the signal by throwing up his arm,
as if he were giving the signal for battle. His intre-
pidity, and the suddenness of that last sign terrified
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 465
the executioner, whose ami became almost powerless ;
the affrighted man struck the blow on the part direct-
ed, but though, it is hoped, it destroyed all sensation,
the head was not severed, but fell back on the should-
ers, exhibiting a ghastly sight. Two more strokes of
the axe were requisite to complete the work. Then,
the head having been received in a piece of scarlet
cloth, the lifeless remains of the true, and noble
hearted soldier were deposited in a coffin, and delivered
to his friends.
A vast multitude viewed this spectacle, so execrable
in its cruelty, so great in the deportment of the sufferers.
Even on the masts of ships, in the calm river, were the
spectators piled ; all classes of society were interested
in this memorable scene ; and, for a few short weeks,
the fashionable circles were diverted by the humours
of Lady Townshend, and the witticisms of George Sel-
wyn. During the imprisonment of Kilmarnock, it had
been the fancy of the former to station herself under
the window of his chamber in one of the dismal towers
in which he was detained ; to send messages to him,
and to obtain his dog and snuff-box. But even this
show of affected feeling failed to make compassion
fashionable in the regions of St. James's. Calumny was
busy at the grave of the beheaded Jacobites ; and the
accounts of those who attended them in their last
hours were attacked by anonymous pamphleteers. It
was said, among other things, that Balmerino uttered
no prayer at the last moment ; and his behaviour was
contrasted with that of Kilmarnock. On this allegation,
Mr. Ford, the Under-Sheriff, who was on the scaffold,
observes, " the authors of these attacks being concealed
VOL. III. H H
466 WILLIAM BOYD,
are unworthy of other notice, since nothing is easier to
an ingenious and unprejudiced mind, than to distin-
guish between the subject and the man : my Lord
Kilmarnock was happily educated in right principles,
which he deviated from, and repented ; whereas, the
great, though unhappy Balmerino, was unfortunate in
his, but, as he lived, he died."*
The characters of these two noblemen, who, in life,
held a very dissimilar course, until they cooperated in
arms, are strongly contrasted. To Kilmarnoek belonged
the gentle qualities which enhance the pleasures of
society, but often, too, increase its perils : the suscept-
ible, affectionate nature, not fortified by self-controul ;
the compassionate disposition, acting rather from
impulse than principle. Infirm in principle, his rash
alliance with a party who were opposed to all that
he had learned to respect in childhood ; and whom he
joined, from the stimulus of a misdirected ambition,
cannot be justified. To this, it was generally be-
lieved, he was greatly incited by the persuasions of his
mother-in-law, the Countess of Errol.
Whilst we bestow our cordial approbation on those
who engaged in civil strife from a sense of duty, and
* The account which I have given of Lord Kilmarnock's behaviour
and fate, and also of Lord Balmerino's, is taken from the following
works, to which I have not thought it necessary separately to refer.
Foster's Account of the Behaviour of Lord Kilmarnock ; and the Vindica-
tion of Foster's Account from the misrepresentations of some Dissenting
Teachers : London, 1746. Account by T. Ford, Under-Sheriff at the
Execution, in the State Trials, vol. xviii. p. 325. Horace Walpole's
Letters to Geo. Montagu, and to Sir H. M,nn. Scots' Magazine for
1746 ; and Buchan's Life of Marshal Keith ; also a Collection of Tracts
in the British Museum, relating to the Rebellion, 1746, and chiefly pub-
lished during that year.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 467
from notions of allegiance, which had never been exter-
minated from their moral code, we condemn such as,
attaching themselves to the Jacobite party, outraged
their secret convictions, betrayed the trusts of Govern-
ment, and violated the promise of their youth. Such
a course must spring either from selfishness, or weak-
ness, or from a melancholy union of both. In Lord
Kilmarnock it was far more the result of weakness
than of self-interest : his fortunes were desperate, and
his mind was embittered towards the ruling govern-
ment : his admiration was attracted by the gallantry
and resolution of those who adhered to the Chevalier :
his sense of what was due to his rank, and the con-
sciousness of high descent, coupled with empty honours
and real poverty, stimulated him to take that course
which seemed the most likely to regain a position,
without ever enjoying which a man may be happy,
but which few can bear to lose. This was his original
error ; he joined the standard of Charles Edward, but
he was no Jacobite. He fought against his own con-
victions, the hereditary and ineffaceable prepossessions
implanted in the heart by a parent.
From henceforth, until immured in the Tower, all in
the career of Lord Kilmarnock was turbulence ; and,
it must be acknowledged, crime. For nothing can
justify a resistance of sovereign power, save a belief in
its illegality. " I engaged in the rebellion," was Lord
Kilmarnock's confession, " in opposition to my own
principles, and to those of my family ; in contradiction
to the whole tenor of my conduct/' Such were his
expressions at that hour when no earthly considerations
had power to seduce him into falsehood.
H H 2
468 WILLIAM BOYD,
By those historians who espouse the Jacobite cause<
this avowal has been severely censured ; and Lord
Kilmarnock has been regarded as deserting the party
which he had espoused. But, with his conviction, such
a line of conduct as that which he pursued in prison,
could alone be honest, and therefore alone consistent
with his religious hopes, before he quitted life.
Such censure has been well answered in Lord Kil-
marnock's own words, "I am in little pain for the
reflections which the inconsiderate or prejudiced
part of my countrymen, (if there are any such whom
my suffering the just sentence of the law has not molli-
fied,) may cast upon me for this confession. The wiser
or more ingenious will, I hope, approve my conduct,
and allow with me, that next to doing right is to have
the courage and integrity to avow that I have done
wrong." These sentiments were not, be it observed,
made public until after his death.
If, in early life, the career of Lord Kilmarnock were
tainted by dissolute conduct, his deep contrition, his
sincere confession of his errors, his endeavours to
amend them, redeem those very errors in the eyes of
human judgment, as they will probably plead for
him, with One who is more merciful than man. In
his prison, his patience in suspense, his forbearance to
those who had urged on his death, his generous senti-
ments towards his companions in misfortune, his care
for others, his trust in the mercy of his Saviour, present
as instructive a lesson as mortals can glean from the
errors and the penitence of others.
Contrasted with the gentle, unfortunate Kilmarnock,
the gallant bearing of Balmerino rises to heroism.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 469
One cannot, for the sake of his party, help regretting
that he had not taken a more prominent part in the
councils of the young Chevalier, or held a more dis-
tinguished position in the field. His integrity, his
strong sense, and moral courage might have had an ad-
vantageous influence over the wavering, and confirmed
the indecisive. In the field, his would have been the de-
sperate valour which suits a desperate cause ; but his re-
sources were few, and his influence proportionately small.
The soldier of fortune, driven at an early age from
home, sent from country to country, serving, with little
hope of advancement, under various generals, Balme-
rino had learned to view life almost as a matter of
indifference, compared with the honest satisfaction of
preserving consistency. His existence had been one
of trial, and of banishment from all domestic pleasures,
and in the perils of his youthful days, he had learned
to view it as so precarious, that his final doom came
not to him as a surprise, but seemed merely a natural
conclusion of a career of danger and adventure. His
heroism may excite less admiration even than the
resignation of those who had more to lose ; but
his intrepidity, his courageous sincerity, his con-
tempt of all display, his carelessness of himself, and
the tender concern which he evinced for others, are
qualities which we should not be English not to appre-
ciate and venerate. His were the finest attributes of
the soldier and the Jacobite : the firm, unflinching ad-
herence ; the enthusiastic loyalty ; the utter repug-
nance to all compromising ; and the lofty disregard of
opinion, which extorted, even from those who en-
deavoured to ridicule, a reluctant respect.
470 WILLIAM BOYD,
For the relentless pretext of what was called justice,
which sent this brave man to his doom, there is no
possibility of accounting, except in the deep party
hatred of the Government. Lord Kilmarnock is be-
lieved to have owed his death to the false report indus-
triously spread of his having treated the English pri-
soners with cruelty ; but no such plea could injure
Balmerino. One dark influence, at that time all power-
ful at court, all powerful among the people, denied
them mercy ; and the crowds which witnessed the
death of Kilmarnock and of Balmerino, hastened to do
hpmage to the Duke of Cumberland. Nothing can. in
fact, more plainly show the effect of frequent executions
upon the character of a people than the details of the
year 1746. With the inhabitants of London, like the
French at the time of the Revolution, the value of life
was lowered ; the indifference to scenes of horror
formed a shocking feature in their conduct. In the
great world, jests, and witticisms delighted the Satel-
lites of power. It was the barbarous fashion to visit
Temple Bar for the purpose of viewing the heads ex-
hibited there ; spying glasses being let out for the
ghastly spectacle. And the coarse, unfeeling invectives
of the press prove the general state of the public mind,
in those days, more effectually than any other fact
could do : in the present times, the cruelty which pur-
sues its victim to the grave would not be tolerated.
In his latest hours, the chief concern of Lord Kil-
marnock seems to have been for his eldest son, to
whom he addressed the following beautiful letter.
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 471
EXTRACT OF THE LATE EARL OF KILMARNOCK S LETTER TO
HIS SON LORD BOYD.
" Dated, Tower, 17th of August, 1746.
" DEAR BOYD,
" I must take this way to bid you farewell, and I
pray God may ever bless you and guide you in this
world, and bring you to a happy immortality in the
world to come. I must, likewise, give you my last
advice. Seek God in your youth, and when you are
old He will not depart from you. Be at pains to
acquire good habits now, that they may grow up, and
become strong in you. Love mankind, and do justice
to all men. Do good to as many as you can, and
neither shut your ears nor your purse to those in
distress, whom it is in your power to relieve. Believe
me, you will find more joy in one beneficent action ;
and in your cool moments you will be more happy
with the reflection of having made any person so, who
without your assistance would have been miserable,
than in the enjoyment of all the pleasures of sense
(which pall in the using), and of all the pomps and
gaudy show of the world. Live within your circum-
stances, by which means you will have it in your
power to do good to others. Above all things, con-
tinue in your loyalty to his present Majesty, and the
succession to the crown as by law established. Look
on that as the basis of the civil and religious liberty
and property of every individual in the nation. Prefer
the public interests to your own, wherever they in-
terfere. Love your family and your children, when
472 WILLIAM BOYD,
you have any ; but never let your regard to them
drive you on the rock I split upon ; when, on that
account, I departed from my principles, and brought
the guilt of rebellion, and civil and particular desola-
tion on my head, for which I am now under the
sentence justly due to my Prince. Use all your
interest to get your brother pardoned and brought
home as soon as possible, that his circumstances, and
bad influence of those he is among, may not induce
him to accept of foreign service, and lose him both to
his country and his family. If money can be found to
support him, I wish you would advise him to go to
Geneva, where his principles of religion and liberty
will be confirmed, and where he may stay till you see
if a pardon can be procured him. As soon as Commo-
dore Burnet comes home, inquire for your brother
Billie, and take care of him on my account. I must
again recommend your unhappy mother to you. Com-
fort her, and take all the care you can of your bro-
thers : and may God of His infinite mercy, preserve,
guide, and comfort you and them through all the
vicissitudes of this life, and after it bring you to the
habitations of the just, and make you happy in the en-
joyment of Himself to all eternity ! "
TAPER DELIVERED BY THE LATE EARL OF KILMARNOCK TO
MR. FOSTER.
"Sunday, 17th of August, 1746.
" As it would be a vain attempt in me to speak
distinctly to that great concourse of people, who will
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 473
probably be present at my execution, I chose to leave
this behind me, as my last solemn declaration,
appealing for my integrity to God, who knows my
heart.
" I bless God I have little fear of temporal death,
though attended with many outward circumstances of
terror ; the greatest sting I feel in death is that I have
deserved it.
" Lord Balmerino, my fellow-sufferer, to do justice,
dies in a professed adherence to the mistaken princi-
ples he had imbibed from his cradle. But I engaged
in the Rebellion in opposition to my own principles,
and to those of my family ; in contradiction to the
whole tenour of my conduct, till within these few
months that I was wickedly induced to renounce my
allegiance, which ever before I had preserved and held
inviolable. I am in little pain for the reflection which
the inconsiderate or prejudiced part of my countrymen
(if there are any such, whom my suffering the just
sentence of the law has not mollified,) may cast upon
me for this confession.
" The wiser, or more ingenious, will, I hope, approve
my conduct, and allow with me that, next to doing
right, is to have the courage and integrity to own that
I have done wrong.
" Groundless accusations of cruelty have been raised
and propagated concerning me; and charges spread
among the people of my having solicited for, nay, even
actually signed orders of general savage destruction,
seldom issued among the most barbarous nations, arid
which my soul abhors. And that the general temper
of my mind was ever averse from, and shocked at gross
474 WILLIAM BOYD,
instances of inhumanity, I appeal to all my friends
and acquaintance who have known me most intimately,
and even to those prisoners of the King's troops to
whom I had access, and whom I ever had it in my
power to relieve ; I appeal, in particular, for my justi-
fication as to this justly detested and horrid crime of
cruelty, to Captain Master, of Ross, Captain-Lieutenant
Luon, and Lieutenant George Cuming of Alter.
" These gentlemen will, I am persuaded, as far as
relates to themselves, and as far as has fallen within
their knowledge as credible information, do me justice ;
and then, surely my countrymen will not load a per-
son, already too guilty and unfortunate, with un-
deserved infamy, which may not only fix itself on his
own character, but reflect dishonour on his family.
" I have no more to say, but that I am persuaded,
if reasons of state, and the demands of public justice
had permitted his Majesty to follow the dictates of his
own royal heart, my sentence might have been miti-
gated. Had it pleased God to prolong my life, the
remainder of it should have been faithfully employed
in the service of my justly offended sovereign, and in
constant endeavours to wipe away the very remem-
brance of my crime.
I now, with my dying breath, beseech Almighty
God to bless my rightful sovereign, King George, and
preserve him from the attacks of public and private
enemies.
"May his Majesty, and his illustrious descendants,
be so guided by the Divine Providence as ever to
govern with that wisdom, and that care for the public
good, as will preserve to them the love of their sub-
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 475
jects, and secure their right to reign over a free and
happy people to the latest posterity."
That Lord Boyd reciprocated the affection of his father
appears from the following letter, which he addressed, a
few days after the execution of Lord Kilmarnock, to
Colonel Walkinshaw Craufurd, who was then at Scar-
borough.
" MY DEAR JOHN,
" I had yours last post, and I don't know in what
words to express how much I am obliged to you for
doing the last duties to my unfortunate father ; you can
be a judge what a loss I have suffered ; you knew him
perfectly well, that he was the best of friends, the most
affectionate husband, and the tenderest parent. Poor
Lady Kilmarnock bears her loss much better than I
could Jiave imagined ; but it was entirely owing to her
being prepared several days before she got the melan-
choly accounts of it. I shall be here for some time,
as I have a good deal of business to do in this country ;
so I shall be extremely glad to see you as soon as pos-
sible. I am, my dear John, your most sincere friend
and obedient humble servant, BOYD."
" Kilmarnock (House) August 27th, 1746."
Yet the young nobleman did not, it appears, entirely
satisfy the expectations of those who were interested
in his fate, and attached to his father's memory, as the
following extract from a letter written by Mr. George
Rosse, to Colonel Craufurd, shows.*
* For both these letters, hitherto unpublished, I am indebted for the
courtesy of Mrs. Craufurd of Craufurdland Castle.
476 WILLIAM BOYD,
"DEAR SIR,
" I am favoured with yours of the thirteenth from
Scarborough, and had the honour of one letter from
Lord Boyd since his father's execution, and sorry to
tell you, it was not wrote in such terms as I could
show or make any use of. If you had seen him, I dare
say it would have been otherwise. However, I took the
liberty of writing with plainness to him, in hopes of
drawing from him, what may be shown to his honour,
and to his own immediate advantage.
I put him in mind of writing to his cousin, Duke
of Hamilton, and Mr. Home ; an omission, which,
with submission, is unpardonable, as he was apprised
of their goodness to his father ; and I gave him some
hints with relation to himself, by authority of the
ministry, which, if he continue in the army, may be
improved upon. Those things I think proper to
mention to you, as I know your friendship for Boyd,
that you may take an opportunity of mentioning them
to him, when you are with him, which I hope will be
soon. He is appointed deputy Captain-Lieutenant ;
but that I look upon as a step to higher preferment.
I should like to hear from you ; direct to (Crawfurd-
land) Kilmarnock, and I am, dear sir, your most
obedient, humble servant.
" GEO. ROSSE."
Leicesterfield,
September 8th, 1746.
Notwithstanding these seeming acts of negligence,
which may possibly have been explained, Lord Boyd
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 477
became, in every way, worthy of being the representa-
tive of an ancient race. He was an improved resem-
blance of his amiable, unhappy father. Possessing his
father's personal attributes, he added, to the courtesy
and kindliness of his father's character, strength
of principle, a perfect consistency of conduct, and
sincere religious connections, both in the early and
latter period of his life. His deportment is said to
have combined both the sublime and the graceful ; his
form, six feet four inches in height, to have been the
most elegant ; his manners the most polished and
popular of his time. In his domestic relations he was
exemplary, systematic, yet with the due liberality of a
nobleman, in his affairs ; sagacious and conscientious as
a magistrate ; generous to his friends. " He puts me
in mind," said one who knew him, " of an ancient
hero ; and I remember Dr. Johnson was positive that
he resembled Homer's character of Jaspedon."* His
agreeable look and address," observes that adorer of
rank, Boswell, " prevented that restraint, which the
idea of his being Lord High Constable of Scotland might
otherwise have occasioned."-)-
At the time of his father's execution, Lord Boyd was
only twenty years of ago. He claimed and obtained
the maternal estate, and obtained it in 1751. In 1758
he succeeded Mary, Countess of Errol in her own
right, his mother's aunt, as Earl of Errol, and left the
army in which he had continued to serve. He retired
to Slains Castle, where he passed his days in the
exercise of those virtues which become a man who is
* Forbes's Life of Beattie, vol. ii. p. 361.
t Journey to the Hebrides, p. 108
478 WILLIAM BOYD,
conscious, by rank and fortune, of a deep responsibility,
and who regards those rather as trusts, than possessions.
He died at Calendar-house, in 1778, universally
lamented, and honoured.
The Countess of Kilmarnock survived her husband
only one year ; and died at Kilmarnock in 1747. Two
sons were, however, left, in addition to Lord Boyd, to
encounter, for some years, considerable difficulties. Of
these, the second, Charles, who was in the insurrection
of 1745, escaped to the Isle of Arran, where he lay
concealed, in that, the ancient territory of the Boyds,
for a year. He amused himself, having found an old
chest of medical books, with the study of medicine and
surgery, which he afterwards practised with some
degree of skill among the poor. He then escaped to
France, and married there a French lady ; but even-
tually he found a home at Slains Castle, where he was
residing when Dr. Johnson and Boswell visited Scot-
land. He was a man of considerable accomplishment ;
but, as Boswell observed, "with a pompousness or formal
plenitude in his conversation," or as Dr. Johnson expres-
sively remarked, "with too much elaboration in his talk."
" It gave me pleasure," adds Boswell, " to see him, a
steady branch of the family, setting forth all its ad-
vantages with much zeal."
William Boyd, the fourth son of Lord Kilmarnock,
was in the Royal Navy, and on board Commodore Bur-
net's ship at the time of his father's execution. He
was eventually promoted to a company of the 14th
foot, in 1761.
Lord Balmerino left no descendants to recall the re-
membrance of his honest, manly character. His wife,
EARL OF KILMARNOCK. 479
Margaret Chalmers, survived him nearly twenty years,
and died at Restalrig, on the 24th of August, 1765,
aged fifty-six.
The remains of these two unfortunate noblemen
were deposited under the gallery, at the west end
of the chapel in the Tower. Beside them repose
those of Simon, Lord Lovat. " As they were associates
in crime, so they were companions in sepulchre,"
observes a modern writer, " being buried in the same
grave."* But the more discriminative judge of the
human heart will spurn so rash, and undiscerning a re-
mark ; and marvel that, in the course of one contest,
characters so differing in principle, so unlike in every
attribute of the heart, and viewed, even by their
enemies, with sentiments so totally opposite, should thus
be mingled together in their last home.
* Bayley's History of the Tower, p. 122.
480
CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
THE fate of Charles Radcliffe has been regarded as
one of the most severe, and his death as one of the
most unjustifiable acts inflicted on those who suffered
for their adherence to the Stuart cause.
This unfortunate man was the third son of Francis
Earl of Derwentwater, by the Lady Mary Tudor, the
daughter of Charles the Second, and was born in 1693.
He was the younger brother of James Earl of Der-
wentwater, who suffered in 1716, for his adherence to
the Stuart cause. There was also another elder
brother, Francis, who died unmarried, not taking
any apparent interest in the politics of the day.
The family of Radcliffe were not regarded by the
descendants of their common ancestor, Charles the
Second, in the light of kindred whom the rules of
decorum, and the usages of society might induce them
to disclaim, or at all events, to acknowledge with
shame or reluctance; the vitiated notions of the day
attached a very different value to the parentage of
royalty, even when associated with dishonour. The
marriage of Sir Francis Radcliffe to the daughter
of Mary Davis was that event which procured his
elevation to the peerage; and this alliance, was
considered as elevating the dignity of an ancient
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 481
house.* The closest ties of friendship united the
Stuarts and the Eadcliffes, even from their earliest
infancy. Educated, as well as his elder brother,
James, chiefly at St. Germains, and with the Che-
valier James Stuart, and brought up in the Eoman
Catholic faith, Charles EadclifFe, owing to the natural
ardour of his disposition, imbibed much more readily
than his brother the strong party views which cha-
racterized the Jacobites as a body.
In James, Earl of Derwentwater, the convictions
of his faith, grounded as they are upon the belief of
those great truths common to all Christians, worked
healthfully; expanding the benevolence of his heart,
teaching him mercy, moderation, and forbearance.
On Charles, impetuous, zealous, stronger in intellect
than his brother, but devoid of prudence, the same
mode of culture, the same precepts acted differently.
He became, even in early life, violent in his opinions,
until the horror of what he deemed error, amounted to
bigotry. Henceforth his destiny was swayed by those
fierce resentments towards the opposite party by which
not only his brother, but even the Chevalier himself,
seem to have been so rarely actuated ; a remarkable de-
gree of moderation and candour raising the character
of James Stuart, whilst Lord Derwentwater was the
gentlest of opponents, the most honourable of foes.
In early life Charles Eadcliffe appears to have
* " Genuine and Impartial Memoirs of the Life and Character of
Charles Radciiffe, wrote by a Gentleman of the Family, (Mr. Eyre,) to
prevent the public being imposed on by any erroneous or partial ac-
counts, to the prejudice of this unfortunate gentleman." London, printed
for the Proprietor, and sold by E. Cole, 1746.
VOL. III. I I
482 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
been chiefly dependent upon his brother's kindness
and bounty; whilst his pursuits and inclinations,
characterized in a letter by Lord Derwentwater as his
" pleasures," were of an expensive description. But
it was not long before other causes of concern
besides want of money, or a love of dissipation began
to disquiet those who were interested in the wel-
fare of the Radcliffe family. About the year 1710,
the young Earl of Derwentwater returned from the
continent to his patrimonial property at Dilstone, in
Northumberland, accompanied by his brother Francis,
and by Charles who either frequently visited him, or
wholly resided with him at his seat. During this
period of the life of Charles Radcliffe, an insight
into the general state of the family is afforded by
several letters, addressed by the Earl of Derwent-
water to Lady Swinburne of Capheaton, whom he
styles his " cousin." The relationship between these
families originated in the marriage of Mrs. Lawson,
daughter of Sir William Fenwick cf Meldon, after
the death of her first husband, with Francis, first
Earl of Derwentwater, and grandfather of James
Radcliffe, and of his brothers. Mrs. Lawson's daugh-
ter, Isabel, married Sir John Swinburne of Capheaton
who was rescued from a singular fate by one of the
Radcliffe family. When a child, he was sent to a
monastery in France, where a member of that family
accidentally saw him, and observing that he resembled
the Swinburnes in Northumberland, he inquired his
name, and how he came there? To these questions,
the monks answered that they knew not his name ; a
sum of money was sent annually from England to
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 483
defray his expenses ; but of all other particulars they
were wholly ignorant. On investigating the matter,
it was found, however, that the child had been taught
that his name was Swinburne ; and that circumstance,
coupled with the mysterious disappearance of the heir
of that family from Northumberland induced the su-
perior of the convent to permit his return home,
where he identified himself to be the son of John Swin-
burne and of Jane Blount, by the description which
he gave of the marks of a cat, and of a punchbowl,
which were still in the house.* He was afterwards
advanced by Charles the Second to the dignity of a
baronet.
To Mary, the daughter of Anthony Englefield, of
Whiteknights, Berks, and wife of Sir William
Swinburne, of Capheaton, the son of that man
whose childhood has so romantic a story associated
with it, the following letters are addressed. Of these,
the first is written by the celebrated John Badcliffe,
Physician to Queen Anne. Dr. Radcliffe was pro-
bably a distant relation of the family, although no
distinctive trace of that connection appears : he was
a native of Wakefield, near Yorkshire; but when
these letters were written, he had attained the highest
eminence in his profession that could be secured by
one man; and was in the possession of wealth which
he eventually employed in the foundation of the
Radclifte Library, at Oxford.f The " Mr. Madeline "
to whom he refers, and to whose malady his skill was
called upon to administer, was Colonel Thomas Rad-
clifFe, the uncle of Lord Derwentwater : the patient
* Hodgson's Hist, of Northumberland, vol. ii. p. 227, note, t Ibid. p. 233.
i i 2
484 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
was at the time suffering from mental delusion, in
consequence of a fever.
THESE TO SIR WILLIAM SWINBURNE AT CAPHEATON.
Dec. 6, 1709.
SIR,
" Yours I received, and am very glad to heal-
that yourself and my lady is in so good health. I
hope in a short time Mr. Eadcliffe will be so too. He
is recovered; but he had such a severe fever that he
continues weak still. My Lord Derwentwater and
his brother" (Francis) "and Mr. Fenwick, are all come
safe from Holland, and are very well, and we shall
drink xyour health together this night. He intends
to be with you very speedily in the country. I do
not doubt that you will extremely like his conversa-
tion: for he has a great many extraordinary good
qualities, and I do not doubt but he will be as well
beloved as his uncle. My most humble service to
your lady and the rest of the good family, and I wish
you a merry Christmas ; and that I might be so happy
as to take a share of it with you, would be a great
satisfaction to him who is your most obliged and
most faithful, humble servant,
"JOHN RADCLIFFE."
The next letter is from Sir William Swinburne to
his lady ; in this he speaks of the pleasure with
which Lord Derwentwater had returned to Dilstone,
the seat of his ancestors, which he was, in so few
short years, to forfeit.
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 485
TO MY LADY SWINBURNE, AT CAPHEATON.
Beaufort, 7th Feb. 1710.
" DEAR LOVE !
" My Lord " (Derwent water) " is very well
pleased with Dilstone, and says it answers all that he
has heard of it : but is resolved to build a new house,
though Eoger Fenwick told him he thought his lord-
ship need not alter a stone of it. Upon Thursday
my lord dines at Dilstone. Yours for ever,
"WILLIAM SWINBURNE.
" P. S. I understand my lord intends to be at Ca-
pheaton on Saturday, and then upon Tuesday at
Witton, and so for Widdrington. My lord's leg is
a little troublesome ; but he intends to hunt the fox
to-morrow, and it is a rule all to be abed at ten o'clock
the night. Here is old Mr. Bacon and his son, Mr,
Fenwick, of Bywell. My lord killed a squirl, and
Sir Marmaduke a pheasant or two, and myself one,
this morning which is all, &c."
The following letter from Lord Derwentwater, to
Lady Swinburne, shows that the illness which occa-
sioned so much uneasiness was obstinate : it aifords a
curious sample of the medical treatment of Dr. Bad-
cliffe, who kindly, and perhaps wisely, humoured his
patient in the desire to go to Newcastle.
" I HAVE been just now with my dear uncle, and
Jack Thornton was with me. He received us very
well: but is yet unease about those people that
486 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
disturb him, and he says that he must go down
to Newcastle by sea, or else he will never get quitte
of them. This is an ode fancy; but I believe we
shall comply with it, for the doctor dous not sime
very averce to it, and was for sending Joseph back
with him ; but I have taken the horse into my stable,
for I feared it mit hurt the horse to return so soon.
In fin, I fansed Sir William would like the value of
the horse better than to have him sent back. I
have been offered eighteen pound. I would have
Sir William let me know by the next post whether
he will have the horse or the money. I shall have
the honor to whrit to him very soon."
The two following epistles, one from Lady Der-
wentwater, the other from the Earl, speak of married
happiness, alloyed, not only by the distempered fancies
of an invalid uncle, but by the melancholy accounts of
a brother's behaviour. It does not, however, appear
certain which of the brothers, whether Francis or
Charles, was thus alluded to.
FOR THE HONOURABLE LADY SWINEBURNE, JUNIOR,
AT CAPHEATON.
Hadcross, Aug. 17.
li I HAVE manny thanks to returne your ladyship
for the favour of your letter and oblidging congratu-
lations. My Lord Darwenwater's great merit and
agreable temper makes me think I have all the pros-
pect imadgenable of being intierly happy. I de-
sier the favour your ladyship will present my hum-
ble sarvise to Sir William. My father and mother
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 487
joinse with me in this, and dessiers there comple-
ments to your ladyship, I beg you will be assured
that I am, very much madam, your ladyship's most
humble servant.
" A. DARVENWATAR."
FOR MY LADY SWINBURNE, AT THE BLEW BALL, IN ST.
JAMES'S PLACE, NEAR ST. JAMES'S, LONDON.
" Heatherope, Feb. 7.
" MADAM,
" I fear'd the good news Miechal writ Gibson,
might be false ; because I have not heard anything of
it from yourself, nor from my uncle, who, I flatter
myself, would writ a line to give me so much satis-
faction : but I hope all my doubts will vanish if your
ladyship does me the favour to confirm what will be
so great a content to us. If I could but be sure that
my dear uncle avows all his fancys about the men
he thought spoke to him, to be nothing but the un-
lucky effect of his favour,* and that he thinks to come
over to manage his affairs, will be the most credeble
and most kind way of proceeding, both as to himself
and family, then I shall believe he was the same man
he was befor, which, if you confirm, will be one of
the most joy full and the most unexpected good news
that could befall your ladyship's humble, obedient
servant, and affectionate kindsman,
" DARWENT WATER.
" I should have writ to your ladyship sooner, and
really can have no good excuse : for I should have
* Fever.
488 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
write to my dear cousen, though my head was full of
fox-hunting : and though I had a mind to banish out
of a new-married head some melancholic accounts of
my brother's behaviour, which I suppose you have
had intelligence of, or else of my dear wife's second
miscarriage, which has been a great affliction to us,
but I flatter myself with the hope of her having
better luck another time. She presents her humble
service, and so does my Lady Webb. I hope Sir
William was well, and cosen Jacky, when you heard
last. My brother Charles has been at Sir Marme-
duke Constable's, and designs for London. Adieu !
In May 1714, only one year before the fatal in-
surrection of 1715 broke out, the following letter,
referring to different members of his family, was
written by the Earl. What a pleasing picture of an
affectionate nature does this correspondence afford.*
FOR MY LADY SWINBURNE, JUNIOR, AT CAPHEATON.
" Kathcrosse, May, 6, 1714.
" Now I write with pleasure to your ladyship, since
I hope to be so happy as to enjoy your good companie
in a few months, I mean immediately after York
Races, for my two years will be out here the tenth of
July. Indeed Sir John has behaved himself wonder-
* At Thorndon, the seat of Lord Petre, in Norfolk, are other original
letters of Lord Derwentwater, referring to his wife. In most touching
terms he thanks the mother of Lady Derwentwater for having " given her
to him." This, and other interesting documents, are highly prized, and
consequently carefully preserved "by the ancient and noble family to
whom thev have descended.
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 489
fully well to us quite the holl time, really performing
in everything more than I could have expected from
a man of honnor, as indeed I had reason to believe
him. My lady is not of so steady a temper; but
however, we agree very well : and she is mighty fond
of my wife, which I take very kindly, since as yet we
are but one. Never any body could be so desirous to
goe to the North as my wife is, especially just com-
ming from the divertions of London, except your
ladyship or myself, who longs to be established there,
that we may at least be out of the way of such in-
human proceedings as we saw, upon all accounts, this
year at London. My poor dear uncle's case may
serve for one instance. After getting the better in
all the courts, and, that lastly, the Lord Chancellor and
eleven Judges had given there decree in favor of
Will. Constable, and my uncle, a factious party, most
young rakes, have reversed the decree, and given it
for Roper, by a divition of fifty-three against twenty-
three torrys, who were resolute enough to appear in a
good cause, being forsaken by their brethren, who
were afraid to be caled favourers of Poperie. I long
to hear what my uncle will say to this news. If he
be well, it will nettle him in spite of resignation.
Gibson writes word they are at Doway ; but he does
not know when my uncle will sett forwards. I do
not know where to wish him : for I really don't know
how he is. For in one letter Gibson writes, he tells
me my uncle is as well as ever he was in his life;
and at the end of the letter he tells me his honnor is
afraid of being pursude. 'Tis certain my uncle
writes in another stille than usuall : for, in letters of
490 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
business he continually mentions God Almighty, the
Blessed Virgin, and the Saints. All I say is, God
send him over a comfort to his friends, which he must
be if he is well. Brother Frank is recovered, but
is the very same man. Brother Charles is mighty
uneasie : he is no ritcher, though I doe what I can to
help him in his pleasures.
" Pray my duty to my uncle and aunt, to whom
I will write soon, and kind services to all other
relations.
" If your ladyship will tell Tom Errington that
I have executed the leases, and that I wonder
cousin Tom Errington is not in for a quarter part of
Redgroves, and that, supposing there were some such
valuable reason as my cousin Tom's not being willing
to accept of it, or having resigned it to one of those
mentioned in the lease, which by the bye I should
take very ill, then that lease of Eedgrove's may stand
good : but otherways I would have the lease altered,
and my cousin Tom Errington to come in for a quar-
ter part, as I promised him he should. In letting
him know this, your ladyship will oblige your humble
and obedient servant and kinsman,
" DERWENTWATER.
" My dear wife presents her humble service to your
ladyship, and desires the same may be made accept-
able to all with you. We expect Lord Wald and my
lady to make my sister happy, who will do the same
by them."
The felicity which Lord Der went water enjoyed was
of brief duration. According to tradition among
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 491
his descendants, he was urged on to those steps which
ended in his death by the violent counsels of his
brother Charles, whose impetuosity the unfortunate
earl often regretted, expressing, in his private corres-
pondence, how much his rash and intemperate
spirit distressed and alarmed him. Of the pro-
gress, and the principal features of the insurrection
of 1715, and of the part which Lord Derwentwater
took in that event, an account has already been
given. * " Happy," observes the biographer of Charles
Radcliffe, "had it been for him, happy for his lady,
and happy for his family, had the earl staid at home,
and suffered himself to be withheld from that fatal
expedition, "f
Charles Radcliffe was at that time twenty-two years
of age ; he had no experience in military affairs, but
was full of spirit and courage, ready to offer himself
for every daring, and even hopeless enterprise, and
seeming to set no value on his life where honour was
to be won. Such a character soon became popular
with the leaders of the movement in the north; and
Lord Derwentwater gave the conduct of his tenantry
into his brother's hands, Captain Shaftoe commanding
under Mr. Radcliffe.
The behaviour of this young commander through-
out the whole of the expedition was consistent with
this character of intrepidity; but that which sur-
prised many persons in a man who had never before
engaged in war, was the judgment, as well as courage,
which he displayed. And perhaps, had his counsels
been followed, the result of that ill-starred rising, in
* See Life of Lord Derwentwater, vol. . t Ibid 14.
492 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
which so many brave men perished, might have been
less disastrous to the party whom he espoused. When
the insurgents were at Hexham, and intelligence was
brought that General Carpenter was approaching,
Mr. Kadcliffe proposed that the Jacobite troops should
go out and fight the English before they had recovered
from their long march ; but his opinion was overruled.
His was that description of mind which gleans much
from observation; he studied the countenances of
those around him, and formed his own conclusion of
their characters. When any false alarm happened to
be given that the king's troops were near, it was his
practice, undaunted himself, to watch the counten-
ances of his officers, when they were ordered to head
their corps, and march against the enemy. Some of
them, he observed, turned pale, and looked half-dead
with fear; the eyes of others flashed with fire and
fury: on these, he was certain that a dependence
might be placed in the time of action, whilst he
forbore from placing the others in any post of respon-
sibility. Nor were his own party the only subjects of
his curiosity. Until this eventful period of his life,
he had seen but little of the world, " and now,"
observes his biographer, " he fancied himself on his
travels." He therefore passed over no object of
interest cursorily; at every town he visited, he
inquired what were the customs of the place what
monuments of celebrated men, or other objects of
antiquity were to be found there; and of these he
made written notes ; whilst in the council and the
camp, he studied the tempers and passions of men.
When, upon the forces arriving at Hawick, the
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 493
Highlanders mutinied, and going to the top of a
rising ground declared that they would not stir a step
farther, but would march with Lord Wristoun to the
west of Scotland, Mr. Radcliffe thought their views
reasonable, and advocated the endeavour to strike a
bold stroke in Scotland, and to aim at the entire
conquest of that kingdom. His opinion, which events
justified, was overruled, and the leaders of his party
were resolute iri continuing their fatal and rash
project of proceeding to England. Mr. KadclifFe, on
finding that his representations were ineffectual,
begged that he might have an hundred horse given to
him, that with them he might try his fortune with
the Highlanders : this was also denied him, for fear of
weakening the force; and he was constrained to
proceed with his confederates in arms to Preston.
In the action at that place, Mr. Radcliffe behaved
with a heroism that deserved a happier fate. It
was a fine sight to behold him and his brother
Lord Derwentwater, endeavouring to animate their
men, by words and example, and maintaining their
ground with unequalled bravery, obliging the king's
forces to retire. During the action Mr. Radcliffe
encountered the utmost danger, standing in the midst
of the firing, and doing as much duty as the lowest
soldiers in the ranks. But his life was spared only to
encounter a more disastrous termination, after a long
and wearisome exile. When, being invested on all
sides by the enemy, the insurgents proposed a capitu-
lation, the gallant young man exclaimed, " that he
would rather die, with his sword in his hand, like a
man of honour, than be dragged to the gallows, there
494 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
to die like a dog." These exclamations fell unheeded;
and he was obliged to submit with the rest; soon
afterwards, this fine, high-spirited youth, was carried
to Newgate, there to await his trial, in company with
his companions in error and misfortune.
In Newgate, Mr. Radcliffe witnessed a scene of
desperation, accompanied with the ordinary circum-
stances of licentiousness, and reckless misery, which,
unchecked by adequate regulations, the prisons of
that day afforded. Until after the execution of
Lord Derwentwater and of Lord Kenmure had taken
place, hopes of a reprieve sustained the unhappy
prisoners in Newgate, and, " flaunting apparel,
venison pasties," wine, and other luxuries, for which
they paid an enormous price, were the ordinary
indulgences of those who were incarcerated in that
crowded receptacle.*
Contributions- were made from many different quar-
ters for the prisoners ; and the friends of the " rebels"
were observed to be also very generous to the turn-
keys. Numbers of ladies visited the prison, and a
choice of the most expensive viands was daily prof-
fered by the lavish kindness of their fair enthusiasts.
Of course much scandal followed upon the steps of
this dangerous and costly kindness ; and escapes were
facilitated, perhaps, not without connivance on the
part of Government. On the fourteenth of March an
attempt was made by some of these unfortunate
people to get out of the press-yard, by breaking
through a part of the wall, from which they were to
* Secret History of the Rebels in Newgate, 3rd edition, London,
1716.
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 495
be let down by a rope ; but they were discovered,
and, in consequence, heavily ironed. Nevertheless,
on the twenty-third of March almost all of the pri-
soners were released from their fetters, an indulgence
which was a proof of the lenity of the Government,
as the ordinary keepers of the prison would not
have dared to have allowed it."* After this, Mr. Fors-
ter and others amused themselves with the game of
shuttlecock, at which, relates the author of the Secret
History of the Rebels in Newgate, the "valiant Forster
beat every one who engaged him : so that he triumphed
with his feathers in the prison, though he could not do
it in the field." On the tenth of April that gentleman
made his escape: and henceforth, a lieutenant, with
thirty of the Foot Guards, was ordered to do constant
duty at Newgate. Meantime, crowded as the building
was, a spotted fever broke out, and seemed likely to
relieve the civil authorities from no small number of
the unfortunate prisoners.
On the eighth of May, Mr. Radcliffe was arraigned
at the Exchequer Bar, at Westminster, for High
Treason : to this he pleaded not guilty. In a few
days afterwards he was brought there again, and
tried upon the indictment; he had no plea to offer
in his defence, and was found guilty.
He soon afterwards was carried to Westminster,
accompanied by eleven other prisoners, to receive
sentence of death. They were conveyed in six
coaches to the Court. As the coach in which Mr.
Radcliffe was seated, drove into Fleet Street, it
encountered the state carriage in which George the
t Ibid. p. 8.
496 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
First, who was then going to Hanover for the first
time since his accession, was driving. This obliged
Mr. Radcliffe's coach to stop ; and, perceiving that he
was opposite to a distiller's shop, he called for a pint
of aniseed, which he and a fellow-prisoner, with a ser-
vant of Newgate, drank, and then proceeded to West-
minster.
Mr. Radcliffe was several times reprieved ; and it
was thought he might have been pardoned; but af-
frighted, perhaps, by his brother's fate, and probably
weary of imprisonment, he now began to project a
plan of escape, to which he was emboldened by the
great success of several similar attempts. Greater
vigilance was, indeed, resorted to in the prison, after
the flight of Brigadier Mackintosh, who had knocked
down the turnkey, and ran off through the streets :
and all cloaks, riding-hoods, and arms, were pro-
hibited being brought in by the visiters who came
to visit the prisoners. It is amusing to hear, that a
certain form of riding-hoods acquired, at this time,
the name of a Nithsdale, in allusion to the escape of
the Earl of Nithsdale.*
On the day appointed for Mr. Radcliffe's escape, the
prisoners gave a grand entertainment in Newgate : this
took place in a room called the Castle, in the higher
part of the prison. Mr. Radcliffe, when the party
where at the highest of their mirth, observing a little
door open in the corner of the room, passed through it
followed by thirteen of the prisoners ; and succeeded in
finding their way, unmolested, to the debtor's side,
where the turnkey, not knowing them, and supposing
* Secret History.
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 497
them to be visiters to the prisoners, allowed them to
pass on. Mr. Eadcliffe was dressed in mourning, and
had, according to his own subsequent account to a fel-
low prisoner in Newgate, a "brown tye-wig." In this
way, without any disguise, but wearing his ordinary at-
tire, did he escape, leaving within the prison walls, his
friend, Basil Hamilton, nephew of the Duke of Hamil-
ton, who, as it was deposed on his trial, was his chum,
or companion, living with him in a room, the windows
of which looked upon the garden of the College of
Physicians. After remaining concealed for some time,
Mr. Eadcliife took the first opportunity of getting
a passage to France.* He lived, for many years, in
Paris, in great poverty, tantalized with promises of
assistance from the French Court, yet witnessing
the ungenerous treatment of the Chevalier by that
Court. His nephew, John Eadcliffe, who was killed
accidentally, assisted him with remittances in 1730
for some time, and James Stuart gave him a small
pension : his difficulties and privations must have been
considerable ; yet they never lessened his ardour in
the cause for which he had sacrificed every worldly
advantage.
Either to amend his ruined fortunes, or to gratify
a passion long unrequited, Mr. Eadcliffe was resolved
upon marriage. The object of his hopes was Char-
lotte Maria, Countess of Newburgh, the widow of
Hugh, Lord Clifford of Chudleigh, and the mother of
two daughters by that nobleman. This lady was
about a year older than himself, being born in 1694.
It is a tradition in the family of Lord Petre, the lineal
* State Trials.
VOL. III. K K
498 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
descendant of James, Earl of Derwentwater, that
Charles Radcliffe offered his hand twelve times to the
Countess of Newburgh, and was as often refused.
Wearied by his importunity, Lady Newburgh at last
forbade him the house. But the daring character of
Mr. Kadcliffe, and his strong will, suggested an expe-
dient, and he was resolved to obtain an interview. To
compass this end, he actually descended into an apart-
ment in which the Countess was sitting, through the
chimney : and taking her by surprise, obtained her con-
sent to an union. Of the truth of this curious court-
ship, there is tolerably good evidence, not only in the
belief of the Petre family, but from a picture repre-
senting the fact, which is at Thorndon.* The nuptials
took place at Brussels, in the church of the Virgin
Mary, on the twenty -fourth of June, 1724,f and in
1726, James Bartholomew, who became, after the
death of his mother, third Earl of Newburgh, was
born at Vincennes.J
Lady Newburgh had every reason, as far as pru-
dence could be allowed to dictate to the affections, for
her reluctance to a marriage with Mr. Radcliffe. He
was, at this time, an outlawed man, with a sentence of
death passed upon him, and no hope could ever be
revived of his regaining, even after the death of his
nephew, the family honours and estates. Yet, in the
ardour and fearlessness of Charles Kadcliffe's charac-
ter there must have been much to compensate for
those circumstances, and to win the fancy of the young.
* For this anecdote, and also for a considerable portion of the
materials of this Memoir, I am indebted to the great kindness and
intelligence of the Hon. Mrs. Douglas, daughter of the present Lord
Petre. t Wood's Peerage. t MS. Letter.
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 499
There seems no reason to suppose that the union thus
strangely formed was infelicitous; and indeed, from
family documents, it is evident that the family so
marked out by fate for sorrow, were happy in their
mutual affection. Of the two daughters of Lady New-
burgh's first marriage, Anna, the eldest, was married to
the Count deMahony, whose descendants, the Gustiniani
might claim the title of Newburgh, were they not
debarred by being born aliens. Another was Frances,
who died unmarried. This lady is mentioned in a
letter written by Charles Radcliffe, recently before his
death, when he was confined to the Tower, with pe-
culiar affection, as " that other tender mother of my
dear children."*
In the year 1733, Mr. Radcliffe visited England,
and resided several months in Pall Mall; yet the
ministry did not consider it necessary to take any
notice of his return, nor, probably, would they ever
have concerned themselves on that subject, had not a
second insurrection brought the unfortunate man
into notice. In 1 735, he again returned, and endea-
voured by the mediation of friends to procure a par-
don, but was unsuccessful in that atternpt.f
Irritated, perhaps, by that refusal, and still passion-
ately attached to the cause which he had espoused;
undeterred by the execution of his brother, or by the
sufferings of his friends, from mixing himself in the
turmoils of a second contest, Charles Radcliffe, on the
breaking out of the insurrection of 1745, again ven-
* I must again refer to the information supplied by the Hon. Mrs.
Douglas,
t Life of Charles Radcliffe, p. 25.
K K 2
500 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
tared his life on the hazard. He had no lands to lose,
no estates to forfeit; but he had all to gain; for the
death of his nephew made him the head of the unfor-
tunate house of Radcliffe. After that event, he assu-
med the title of Earl of Derwentwater, and it was of
course assigned to him at the court of St. Germains, and
indeed always insisted upon by him; but the estates
were alienated, and there appeared no hope under the
present government of ever recovering those once en-
viable possessions. Under these circumstances, Mr.
Radcliffe was naturally a likely object for the repre-
sentations of the sanguine, or the intrigues of the
designing to work upon ; and in this temper of mind he
met, in the year 1743, with John Murray of Broughton,
at Paris, where that gentleman remained three weeks ;
and became intimately acquainted with Mr. Radcliffe,
who is described among others, as a "wretched depen-
dant on French pensions, with difficulty obtained, and
accompanied with contempt in the payment."
While the fashionable world were diverting them-
selves with epigrams upon the Rebellion, a small
expedition was fitted out, consisting of twenty French
officers, and sixty Scotch and Irish, who embarked at
Dunkirk on board the Esperance privateer; among
these was Charles Radcliffe and his eldest son. At
this time nothing was spoken of in London except the
daring attempt in Scotland, sometimes in derision,
sometimes in serious apprehension : " the Dowager
Strafford," writes Horace Walpole (Sept. 1745), " has
already written cards for my Lady Nithesdale, my Lady
Tullebardine, the Duchess of Perth and Berwick, and
twenty more revived peeresses, to invite them to play
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 501
at whist, Monday three months: for your part, you
will divert yourself with their old taffetys, and tar-
nished slippers, and their awkwardness the first day
they go to Court in clean linen."' * "I shall wonder-
fully dislike," observes the same writer, (i being a
loyal sufferer in a threadbare coat, and shivering in
an attic chamber at Hanover, or reduced to teach
Latin and English to the young princes at Copen-
hagen. Will you ever write to me in my garret at
Herenhausen ? I will give you a faithful account of all
the promising speeches that Prince George and Prince
Edward make whenever they have a new sword, and
intend to reconquer England."
One of the first adverse circumstances that befel
the Jacobites in 1 745, was the capture of the vessel
in which Mr. Radclifle hoped to reach the shores of
Scotland. It was taken during the month of Novem-
ber by the Sheerness man-of-war; and Mr. Eadcliffe
and his son were carried to London and imprisoned in
the Tower.
On the twenty-first of November he was con-
veyed, under a strong guard from the Tower,
to Westminster ; he was brought to the bar,
by virtue of a Habeas Corpus, and the record of his
former conviction and attainder was at the same time
removed there by Certiorari. These being read to
him, the prisoner prayed that counsel might be allowed
him ; and named Mr. Ford and Mr. Jodrel, who were
accordingly assigned to him as counsel. A few days
were granted to prepare the defence, and on the twenty-
* Letter to G. Montagu, p. 18.
502 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
fourth of the month the prisoner was again brought
up ; he pleaded that he was not the person named in
the record, who was described as Charles Radcliffe, but
maintained that he was the Earl of Derwentwater.
He also requested that the trial might be put off, that
two witnesses, one from Brussels, the other from St.
'Germains, might be summoned. This was refused.
The prisoner then challenged one of the jury, but that
challenge was overruled. During these proceedings
the lofty, arrogant manner, and the vehement lan-
guage of Mr. Kadcliffe drew from his counsel the
remark that he was disordered in his senses. The
judge, Mr. Justice Foster, who tried the case, bore his
contemptuous conduct with great forbearance. When
brought into Court, to be arraigned, he would neither
hold up his hand, nor plead, insisting that he was a
subject of France, and appealing to the testimony of
the Neapolitan Minister, who happened to be in Court.
But not one of these objections was allowed, and
the trial proceeded.
No fresh indictment was framed, and the point at
issue related merely to the identity of the prisoner.
The award in Mr. Radcliffe's case was agreeable
to the precedent in the case of Sir Walter Ealeigh,
and execution was awarded on his former offence,
judgment not being again pronounced, having been
given on the former arraignment. This mode of
proceeding might be law, but no one after the lapse
of thirty years, and the frequent communications of
the prisoner with the English Government, can regard
such a proceeding as justice: and, as in the case of Sir
Walter Raleigh, it brought odium upon the memory
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 503
of Jarnes the First, so it excited in the reign of George
the Second almost universal commiseration for the
sufferer, and disgust at the course adopted.
The evidence in this case was far from being such
as would be accepted in the present day.
Two Northumberland men were sworn to the fact
that the prisoner at the bar was the younger brother of
the Earl of Derwentwater, and that they had seen him
march out from Hexham, in Northumberland, at the
head of live hundred of Lord Derwentwater's tenan-
try ; they recognized him, as they declared, by a scar
on his face ; they had been to see him in the Tower,
to refresh their memories, and could swear to him, as
Charles Radcliffe, brother of the Earl of Derwent-
water. After this deposition, Roger Downs, a person
who had acted in the capacity of barber to the State
prisoners, in 1715, was called.
To him Mr. Radcliffe thus addressed himself:* "I
hope, sir, you have some conscience; you are now
sworn, and take heed what you say."
To this Downs replied ; "I shall speak nothing but
the truth. I well remember that I was appointed
close shaver at Newgate, in the year 1715 and 1716,
when the rebels were confined there, and shaved all
those who were close confined."
The Counsel then asked, " Pray, sir, did you shave
Charles Radcliffe, Esquire, the late Earl of Derwent-
water's brother, who was confined in Newgate for being
concerned in the rebellion in the year 1715, or who
else did you shave of the said rebels at that time ?
* State Trials ; quoted from the Impartial History of the late Charles
j written at the time.
504 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
And pray, sir, who was keeper, or who were turnkeys
of the said gaol of Newgate."
The answer of Downs was couched in these words,
" Willian Pitt, Esq. was head keeper, and Mr. Rouse,
and Mr. Revel, were head turnkeys, who appointed
my master to be barber, to shave the prisoners;
and I attended in my master's stead, and used to
go daily to wait on the rebel prisoners, and I par-
ticularly remember that I shaved Basil Hamilton,
a reputed nephew of the late Duke of Hamilton, and
Charles Radcliffe, Esq., brother to the late Earl of
Derwentwater, who I perfectly remember were chums,
or companions, in one room, in the press-yard, in
Newgate, that looked into the garden of the College
of Physicians, and for which service I was always very
well paid."
The Counsel then desired him to look at the pri-
soner and inform the Court if that gentleman were
the very same Charles Radcliffe that he shaved in
Newgate, at the aforesaid time, and who after escaped
out of Newgate.
To this Downs returned the following reply : "I
cannot on my oath say he is."
Then the head keeper of Newgate was called, and
he produced the books belonging to the gaol, wherein
were the names of Charles Radcliffe, and other rebels,
who had been condemned, and were respited several
times. This gentleman said, that the books pro-
duced then in Court were in the same condition that
he found them : but as to the person of the prisoner
he knew nothing, his confinement having taken
place several years before he belonged to the gaol.
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 505
Abraham Mosely, a servant of the head keeper, was
then called, but he was not sworn; another gentleman
was afterwards brought to the bar; as the book was
handed to him to be sworn, Mr. Radcliffe, looking
earnestly at him, inquired what book it was that he was
going to be sworn upon : the officer answered it was the
New Testament. Mr. Radcliffe replied, " He is no
Christian, and believes neither in God nor devil." The
evidence of this witness, whose name is suppressed, was,
however, received, and it seems not to have been in-
consistent with his alleged character. It was the dis-
closure of a confidential conversation on the part of
Mr. Radcliffe, who had imparted to the witness in
what manner he had escaped from Newgate in 1715.
The witness was asked whether the prisoner was
drunk when he made this confession : he answered that
he was. Then being asked if he were drunk himself,
he replied that he never got drunk; upon which
Mr. Radcliffe said hastily, that " some people would
get drunk if at free cost."
The prisoner examining no witnesses, the Chief
Justice summed up the case, and in ten or fifteen
minutes the jury, who had retired, brought in a
verdict of guilty. A Rule was then made for the
proper writ for the execution of the prisoner, on
the eighth of December, and he was remanded to
the Tower. When informed by the Court of the time
fixed for his doom, Mr. Radcliffe said he wished they
had given him a longer time, that so he might have
been able to acquaint some people in France, and
that his brother, the Earl of Morton, and he might
" have set out on their journey together."
506 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
The unhappy Mr. Radcliffe returned to his prison.
Much has been written of the arrogance and intem-
perance of his conduct and language, but much must
be allowed for the subservience of the contemporary
writers, as well as for the irritated feelings of the
man. Considering himself as a nobleman, and meet-
ing with disrespect, and, perhaps, harsh usage, a quick
temper was aggravated almost to madness. To his
inferiors the passion and pride of his character were
so offensive that the warders of the Tower could be
scarcely induced to give him their attendance; and
this inconvenience was the more severely felt as a
man named McDermont, who had been his equerry
for twenty-three years, was sent to Newgate on the
very day when Mr. Radcliffe entered the Tower.
At the hour of his last earthly trial, this man,
whose eventful and singular life was brought to a close
at the age of fifty-three, redeemed the errors of the
last few weeks of anguish, and of bitter disappoint-
ment. He submitted calmly to his doom. The sullen
sorrow, and the intolerable haughtiness of his manner,
were exchanged for a composure, solemn and affecting,
and for a courtesy which well became the brother of
Lord Derwentwater.
Between eight and nine on the morning of the
eighth of December, the Sheriff, driving in a
mourning coach to the east gate of the Tower,
demanded the prisoner. The gate was opened,
and in about ten minutes a landau, in which Mr.
Radcliffe was seated, drove out at the east gate,
towards Little Tower Hill. He was accompanied by
the Under- Sheriffs, and by the officers of the Tower:
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 507
the landau was surrounded by a party of Foot Guards,
with their bayonets fixed. The street was lined with
horse soldiers, from the iron gate of the Tower, to
the scaffold, which was encompassed also with horse
soldiers. At the foot of the stairs of the scaffold
a booth was erected, for the reception of the
prisoner.
Like Lord Balmerino, Mr. Radcliffe wore his regi-
mentals, which were those of the French army; and
consisted of a scarlet coat, with gold buttons, the
sleeves faced with black velvet; a scarlet waistcoat,
trimmed with gold lace ; and white silk stockings.
His hat was encircled with a white feather.
As the prisoner alighted from the landau, he saw
some of his friends standing near the booth; he paid
his compliments to them with the grace of a well-
bred man ; arid, smiling, asked of the sheriffs, who had
preceded him in the mourning-coach, " if he was to
enter the booth ?" He was answered in the affirmative.
"It is well," he replied; and he went in, and there
passed about ten minutes in his devotions.
The scaffold had been provided early that morning
with a block, covered with black, a cushion, and two
sacks of sawdust ; and the coffin of the unhappy pri-
soner, also covered with black, was placed on the stage.
Mr. Radcliffe ascended the scaffold with great
calmness, and asked for the executioner. u I am but
a poor man," said the unfortunate man, " but there
are ten guineas for you : if I had more, I would give
it you; do your execution so as to put me to the
least possible misery." He then kneeled down, and
folding his hands, uttered a short prayer. He arose,
508 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
and was then assisted by two of the warders in the
last preparations for his doom, taking off his coat
and waistcoat, and substituting for his wig a white
cap. Having taken a respectful leave of the sheriffs,
he was about to kneel down, when it was discovered
that it would be necessary to tuck back the collar of
his shirt. That office was performed by the execu-
tioner. Then, after saying a short prayer, and
crossing himself several times, he laid his head upon
the block. In less than half a minute afterwards, he
gave the signal, by spreading out his hands: his
head was severed at one blow, and the body fell upon
the scaffold. The executioner, searching his pockets,
found in them a silver crucifix, his beads, and half-a-
guinea. No friend attended the man who had been
so long exiled from his own country, on the scaffold ;
but four undertakers' men stood, with a piece of red
cloth, to receive the head of the ill-fated Charles
Eadcliffe. His body, being wrapt in a blanket, was
put into the coffin, with his head, and conveyed to
the Nag's Head, in Gray's Inn Lane, and thence, in
the dead of the night, to Mr. Walmsbey's, North
Street, Ked Lion Square, whence it was removed to
be interred in the church-yard of St. Giles's-in-the-
Fields, where a neglected stone alone marks his burial-
place. The following is the inscription on the coffin :
" Carolus Radcliffe, comes de Derwentwater, decol-
latus, die 8vo. Decembris, 1746, getatis 53." To
this were added the words, so appropriate to the close
of an adventurous life, " Eequiescat in pace."
Desolate as these last hours appear to have been,
and uncheered by the presence of a friend, some
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 509
tender care was directed to the remains of the unfor-
tunate sufferer. His head was afterwards sewn on to
the body by a dependant of Lord Petre's family, a
woman of the name of Thretfall, whose grandson, a
carpenter, who lived for many years at Ingatestone
Hall, Essex, a seat of Lord Petre's, used to relate to
the happier children of a later generation (the
descendants of James, Earl of Der went water), the
circumstances, of which he had heard in his child-
hood. The Countess of Newburgh was afterwards
buried by the side of her husband ; and the sexton of
St. Giles's Church, some years since, on the lid of the
coffin giving way, perceived some gold lace in a state
of preservation; so that it seems probable that the
blanket in which the bleeding remains were removed,
was superseded by the costly and military attire
worn by the prisoner.
Previous to his death Mr. Radcliffe wrote to his
family. His letters, and all the memorials of his
brother, and of himself, have been sedulously preser-
ved by the family to whom they have descended.
Lady Anna Maria Radcliffe, the only daughter of
James, Earl of Derwentwater, married in 1732, James,
eighth Baron Petre, of Writtle, county Essex. A
connexion had already subsisted between the families,
a sister of Lord Derwentwater having married a
Petre of the collateral branch, seated at Belhouse, in
Essex, which branch is now extinct.
Lady Anna Radcliffe appears to have entertained
the deepest reverence for her father's memory, and to
have held all that belonged to him, or that related to
his fate, sacred. She caused a large mahogany chest
510 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
to be made to receive the clothes which he wore on the
scaffold, and also the covering of the block ; likewise, a
cast of his face taken after death : and having deposited
these relics in the chest, she added a written paper
with her seal and signature, Anne Petre, authenti-
cating the said apparel and documents, and solemnly
forbidding any of her descendants or other persons to
make use of the chest for any other purpose, but " to
contain her father's clothes, unless some other recep-
tacle more costly be by them provided." This box
is deposited in a room at Thorndon Hall, with let-
ters and papers relating both to James, Lord Der-
wentwater, and to his brother Charles.
The eldest son of Mr. Kadcliffe, called the Lord
Kinnaird, in right of the Barony of Kinnaird, remained
a prisoner in the Tower at the time of his father's exe-
cution ; and the uncertainty of that young man's fate
must greatly have added to the distress of his father.
In the spring of 1746, he was suffered to return
to France, on a cartel, an exchange of prisoners in-
cluding him as a native of France. The circumstance
to which the youth owed his long imprisonment, was a
a report which gained ground that he was the second
son of James Stuart, Henry Benedict, whom the
English political world believed, at that time, to be on
the eve of going to Ireland, and under this impression,
the mob followed the young man as he was conveyed
from the vessel to the Tower with insults. Before re-
turning to France, he was received by the Duke of
Richmond, his mother's relative, with great consider-
ation, and entertained at what Horace Walpole terms
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 511
" a great dinner."* Such was what the same author
calls the Stuartism in some of the highest circles.
Lord Kinnaird afterwards put in a claim for the
reversion of the Derwentwater estate, but without
success, for it had already been sold by the Commis-
sioners. A scene of iniquitous fraud, in the sale of the
forfeited estate belonging to Lord Derwentwater was
afterwards detected by Lord Gage, for which Dennis
Bond, Esquire, and Sergeant Birch, Commissioners of
the sale, were expelled the House, f In 1749, an Act
was passed vesting the several estates of James, Earl of
Derwentwater in trustees, for the benefit of Greenwich
Hospital; but, out of the funds thus arising, 30,000/.
was appropriated to the widowed Countess of New-
burgh, and the interest of the remaining 24,0007.,
was to be paid to James Bartholomew, Lord Kin-
naird, during his life, and after his death the prin-
cipal to revert to his eldest son. J From the Chevalier,
the widowed Countess of Newburgh received, as the
following letter will shew, much kindness and sympa-
thy ; the conduct of James to his fallen and power-
less adherents, appears to have been almost invariably
marked by compassion and generosity. The Coun-
tess of Newburgh survived her husband ten years,
during which time the affection of the Chevalier, and
of his sons, for her husband's memory was evinced
by kindness to his widow, as the following letter
testifies :
* Letter to Sir H. Mann, vol. ii. p. 140.
t A review of the reign of Geo. II. London. 1762.
% Douglas's Peerage, Edit, by Wood.
512 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
LADY DERWENTWATER TO THE CHEVALIER DE ST.
GEORGE.*
SIR,
I RECEIVED the honour of our Majesty's most gra-
cious letter, and beg leave to return mv grate-
ful thanks. Your Majesty is very good in commend-
ing my dear Lord who did but his duty : he gave his
life most willingly for your Majesty's service, and I
am persuaded that your Majesty never had a subject
more attacht to his duty than he was. The Prince of
Wales and the Duke of York have been so good to
show a great concern for my loss, and recommended
most strongly to the King of France my famyly. His
Majesty has been most extremely good and gracious to
them. My son, that was Captain in Dillon's, has now
the Brevet of Colonel reform'd with appointments of
1800 livres a-year; his sisters have 150 livres a-year
each of them, with his royal promis of his protection
of the famyly for ever. The Marquise de Mezire, and
her daughter the Princess de Monteban have been most
extremely friendly to my famyly in this affair.
I am, your Majesty's most duty full subject,
CHARLOTTE DERWENTWATER.
St, Germains,
February, ye 10th, 1747.
Of the Countess's two younger sons, one, James
Clement Radcliffe, an officer in the French service,
survived till 1788, the other, who bore his father's
* Brown's Hist. Highlands, (Stuart Papers, Appendix) page 491.
CHARLES RADCLIFFE. 513
name, Charles, died in 1749. Three of her daugh-
ters died unmarried, but Lady Mary, the fourth,
married Francis Eyre, Esq., of Walworth Castle,
Northamptonshire. On the failure of the issue of
three sons, in 1814 the title of Newburgh passed into
the family of Eyre through the marriage of the above
Mary, and devolved upon Francis Eyre, the grandson
of Charlotte Countess of Newburgh, and of Charles
Radcliffe, father of the present Earl of Newburgh.
By the marriage of Lady Anne Radcliffe, the only
daughter of James, Earl of Derwentwater, in 1732,
to Robert James, eighth Baron Petre, the present
Lord Petre is the rightful representative of that
attainted nobleman, being the third in direct descent
from Lady Anne Radcliffe, whose only brother, John,*
* In my first volume, I have stated that the Earl of Newhurgh was
the direct representative of James Earl of Derwentwater. (See p. 280,
vol. i.) Into this error I was betrayed by an obscure passage in Burke's
Extinct Peerage.
I am indebted to the Hon. Mrs. Douglass, to whom I have before
expressed my obligations, for a correction of this mistake, and also for
the copy of the pedigree in the Appendix. This lady has also explained
the reason why so many accounts have stated that the body of James
Earl of Derwentwater was interred in St. Giles's Church-yard. His
body was privately removed to Dagenham Park, in Essex, a house his
Countess had hired in order to be near London. A report, meanwhile,
was circulated by his friends that he had been buried in St. Giles's ; and,
when no further danger of tumult was to be apprehended, the remains of
the Earl were deposited with his ancestors in the vaults of the chapel at
Dilstone.
The mother of the present Mr. Howard, of Corby Castle, and sister
of Sir Thomas Neave, Bart., has often related to her young relations,
that when she and her sisters were children, they were afraid to pass at
night along the gallery at Dagenham, it being popularly supposed that
Lord Derwentwater still walked there, carrying his head under his arm.
This must have been, at least, seventy years after his death.
VOL. III. L L
514 CHARLES RADCLIFFE.
was killed accidentally abroad, having never been
married. *
In concluding this account of the unfortunate Charles
Kadcliffe, a reflection naturally arises in the mind,
how different would have been the spirit of admin-
istration in the present day to that which the go-
vernment of that period displayed : how great would
have been the horror of shedding the blood of ho-
nourable and valiant men ; how universal the
sentiment of mournful commiseration; and how
strong the conviction, that men, so true to an ill
fated cause, would have been faithful to any engage-
ments which required them to abandon their efforts
in that cause ; had clemency, but too imperfectly un-
derstood in those turbulent and merciless times,
excited their gratitude, and for ever ensured their
fidelity.
* See Appendix, No. 2, also note.
APPENDIX.
No. I.
This letter was addressed by the Rev. Joseph Spence,
author of " Polymetus," and of " Spence's Anecdotes,"" and
prebend of Durham, to his father, who had forbidden him
to enter into the society of the Chevalier, at Rome.
The Rev. Joseph Spence left this letter, with other
MSS. and books, to the late Mrs. Coltman, mother of
Samuel Coltman, Esq., of Darley Dale- It is not dated, but
undoubtedly refers to the Chevalier, James Stuart.
" SIR,
" About a month ago, Mr. and I being in search
of some of the antiquities of your place, we became ac-
quainted with an English gentleman, very knowing in this
kind of learning, and who proved of great use to us ; his
name is Dr. Cooper, a priest of the Church of England,
whom we did not suspect to be of the Pretender's retinue,
but took him to be a curious traveller, which opinion ere-
ated in me a great liking for his conversation. On Eastei-
eve, he made us the compliment, that as he supposed us
bred in the profession of the said Church, he thought it
incumbent on him to invite us to divine service, next day
being Easter Sunday. Such language, at Rome, appeared
to me a jest. I stared at the Doctor, who added that the
Pretender (whom he called king), had prevailed with the
late pope, to grant licence for having divine service ac-
L L 2
APPENDIX.
cording to the rules of the Church of England, performed
in his palace, for the benefit of the Protestant gentlemen of
hig suite, his domestics, and travellers ; and that Dr. Berk-
ley and himself were appointed for the discharge of this
duty ; and that prayers were read as ordinarily here as in
London. I should have remained of St. Thomas's belief,
had I not been a witness that this is a matter of fact, and
as such, have noted it down, as one of the greatest wonders
of Rome. This was the occasion of my first entrance into
the Pretender's house : I became acquainted with both the
Doctors, who are sensible, well-bred men. I put several
questions to them about the Pretender, and, if credit can
be given them, they assure me he is a moral, upright man,
being far from any sort of bigotry, and most averse to dis-
putes and distinctions of religion, whereof not a word is
admitted in his family. They described him in person very
much to the resemblance of King Charles II., which they
say he approaches more and more every day, with a great
application to business, and a head well turned that way,
having only some clerks, to whom he dictates such letters
as he does not write with his own hand. In some days
after, my friend and I went to take the evening air, in the
stately park called Villa Ludovici, there we met, face to
face, on a sudden, with the Pretender, his Princess, and
court ; we were so very close before we understood who
they were, that we could not retreat with decency, com-
mon civility obliged us to stand side-ways in the alley, as
others did, to let them pass by. The Pretender was easily
distinguished by his star and garter, as well as by his air
of greatness, which discovered a majesty superior to the
rest. I felt at that instant of his approach, a strange con-
vulsion in body and mind, such as I never was sensible of
before, whether aversion, awe, or respect occasioned it, I
can't tell : I remarked his eyes fixed on me, which, I con-
fess, I could not bear I was perfectly stunned, and not
aware of myself, when, pursuant to what the standers-by
APPENDIX. 517
did, I made him a salute ; he returned it with a smile,
which changed the sedateness of his first aspect into a very
graceful countenance ; as he passed by I observed him to
be a well-sized, clean-limbed man. I had but one glimpse
of the Princess, which left me a great desire of seeing her
again ; however, my friend and I turned off into another
alley, to reason at leisure on our several observations:
there we met Dr. Cooper, and, after making some turns
with him, the same company came again in our way. I
was grown somewhat bolder, and resolved to let them pass
as before, in order to take a full view of the Princess : she
is of a middling stature, well-shaped, and has lovely fea-
tures: wit, vivacity, and mildness of temper, are painted
in her look. When they came to us, the Pretender stood,
and spoke a word to the Doctor, then looking at us, he
asked him whether we were English gentlemen ; he asked
us how long we had been in town, and whether we had
any acquaintance in it, then told us he had a house, where
English gentlemen would be very welcome. The Princess,
who stood by, addressing herself to the Doctor in the prettiest
English I think I ever heard, said, ' Pray, Doctor, if these
gentlemen be lovers of music, invite them to my concert,
to-night; I charge you with it;' which she accompanied
with a salute in the most gracious manner. It was a very
hard task, sir, to recede from the honour of such an invita-
tion, given by a princess, who, although married to the
Pretender, deserves so much in regard to her person, her
house, and family. However, we argued the case with the
Doctor, and represented the strict orders we had to the
contrary ; he replied, there would be no prohibition to a
traveller against music, even at the ceremonies of the
Roman Catholic Church ; that if we missed this occasion
of seeing this assembly of the Roman nobility, we might
not recover it while we stayed in Rome ; and, that it be-
came persons of our age and degree to act always the part
of gentlemen, without regard to party humours These argu-
518 APPENDIX.
ments were more forcible than ours, so we went, and
saw a bright assembly of the prime Roman nobility,
the concert composed of the best musicians of Rome, a
plentiful and orderly collation served ; but the courteous
and affable manner of our reception was more taking than
all the rest. We had a general invitation given us whilst
we stayed in town, and were desired to use the palace as
our house, we were indispensably obliged to make a visit
next day, in order to return thanks for so many civilities
received; those are things due to a Turk. We were
admitted without ceremony ; the Pretender entertained us
on the subject of our families as knowingly as if he had
been all his life in England : he told me some passages of
myself and father, and of his being against the followers of
King Charles I. and II., and added, "that if you, sir, had
been of age before my grandfather's death, to learn his
principles, there had been little danger of your taking party
against the rights of a Stuart."
He then observed how far the prejudices of education
and wrong notions of infancy are apt to carry people from
the paths of their ancestors : he discoursed as pertinently
on several of our neighbouring families as I could do, upon
which I told him I was surprised at his so perfect know-
ledge of our families in England ; his answer was, that
from his infancy he had made it his business to acquire the
knowledge of the laws, customs, and families of his country,
so that he might not be reported a stranger when the Al-
mighty pleased to call him thither. These and the like dis-
courses held until word was brought that dinner was
served; we endeavoured all we could to withdraw, but
there was no possibility for it after he had made us this
compliment, " I assure you, Gentlemen, I shall never be for
straining man's inclinations; however, our grandfathers, who
were worthy people, dined, and I hope there can be no
fault found that we do the same." There is every day a
regular table of ten or twelve covers well served, unto which
APPENDIX. 519
some of the qualified persons of his court, or travellers, are
invited: it is supplied with English and French cooking,
French and Italian wines ; but I took notice that the Pre-
tender eat only of the English dishes, and made his dinner
of roast-beef, and what we call Devonshire-pie: he also
prefers our March beer, which he has from Leghorn, to
the best wines : at the dessert, he drinks his glass of cham-
pagne very heartily, and to do him justice, he is as free
and cheerful at his table as any man I know ; he spoke
much in favour of our English ladies, and said he was
persuaded he had not many enemies among them ; then he
carried a health to them. The Princess with a smiling
countenance took up the matter, and said, '* I think then,
Sir, it would be but just that I drink to the cavaliers."
Sometime after, the Pretender begun a health to the pros-
perity of all friends in England, which he addressed to me.
I took the freedom to reply, that as I presumed he meant
his own friends, he would not take it ill that I meant mine.
"I assure you, Sir," said he, "that the friends you mean can
have no great share of prosperity till they become mine,
therefore, here's prosperity to yours and mine." After we
had eat and drank very heartily, the Princess told us we
must go see her son, which could not be refused ; he is
really a fine promising child, and is attended by English
women, mostly Protestants, which the Princess observed to
us, saying, that as she believed he was to live and die
among Protestants, she thought fit to have him brought up
by their hands; and that in the country where she was born,
there was no other distinction but that of honour and dis-
honour. These women, and particularly two Londoners,
kept such a racket about us to make us kiss the young
Pretender's hand that to get clear of them as soon as we
could, we were forced to comply : the Princess laughed
very heartily, and told us that she did not question but the
day would come that we should not be sorry to have made
so early an acquaintance with her son. I thought myself
520 APPENDIX.
under a necessity of making her the compliment, that being
hers, he could not miss being good and happy. On the
next post day, we went, as commonly the English gentle-
men here do, to the Pretender's house for news. He had
received a great many letters, and after perusing them he
told us that there was no great prospec.t of amendment in
the affairs of England; that the Secret Committee and
several other honest men were taking abundance of pains
to find out the cause of the nation's destruction, which
knowledge, when attained to, would avail only to give the
more concern to the public without procuring relief; for
that the authors would find means to be above the reach of
the common course of justice : he bemoaned the misfor-
tune of England groaning under a load of debts, and the
severe hardships contracted and imposed to support foreign
interests : he lamented the ill-treatrnent and disregard of
the ancient nobility ; and said it gave him great trouble
to see the interest of the nation abandoned to the direction
of a new set of people, who must at any rate enrich them-
selves by the spoil of their country : "some may imagine,"
continued he, "that these calamities are not displeasing to
me, because they may, in some measure, turn to my ad-
vantage ; I renounce all such unworthy thoughts/'*
* The rest of the letter not being material, is omitted.
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APPENDIX. 523
No. III.
The following address affords a curious specimen of the
subtlety of Lord Lovat, and the mode usually adopted by
him of cajoling his clan. It was copied by Alexander
Macdonald, Esq., from an old process, in which it was
produced before the Court of Session, and it is preserved
in the Register House, Edinburgh ; the signature, date,
and address are, holographs of Lord Lovat.
THE HONOURABLE THE GENTLEMEN OF THE NAME OF
FRASER.
MY DEAR FRIENDS,
SINCE, by all appearances, this is the last time of my
life I shall have occasion to write to you, I being now very
ill of a dangerous fever, I do declare to you before God,
before whom I must apear, and all of us at the great day
of Judgement, that I loved you all, I mean you and all the
rest of my kindred and family who are for the standing of
their chief and name ; and, as I loved you, so I loved all
my faithful Commons in general more than I did my own
life or health, or comfort, or satisfaction ; and God to whom
I must answer, knows that my greatest desire and the
greatest happiness I proposed to myself under heaven was,
to make you all live happy and make my poor Commons
flourish ; and that it was my constant principle to think
myself mutch hapier with a hundred pounds and see you
all live well at your ease about mee than have ten thousand
pounds a year, and see you in want or misery. I did faith-
fully desire and resolve to make up, and put at their ease
Allexander Eraser of Topatry, and James Eraser of Castle
Ladders and their familys; and whatever disputs might
524 APPENDIX.
ever be betwixt them and me which our mutual hot temper
occasioned, joyned with the malice and calomny of both
our ennemies, I take God to witness, I loved those two
brave men as I did my own life for their great zeal and
fidelity they showed for their chief and kindred ; I did
likewise resolve to support the families of Struy Foyers
and Culdithels families, and to the lasting praise of Culdi-
thel and his familie. I never knew himself to sarwe from
his faithfull zeal for his chief and kindred, nor none of his
familie, for which I hope God will bless him and them and
their posterity. I did likewise desyring to make my poor
Commons live at their ease and have them always well
clothed and well armed after the Highland maner, and not
to suffer them to wear low country cloths, but make them
live like their forefathers with the use of their arms, that
they might always be in condition to defend themselves
against their ennemies, and to do service to their friends,
especially to the great Duke of Argile, and to his worthy
brother the Earl of I Hay, and to that glorious and noble
famyly who were always our constant and faithful friends ;
and I conjure you and all honest Frasers to be zealous and
faithfull friends and servants to the family of Argile and
their friends, whilst a Campbell and a Fraser subsists. If it
be God's will that for the punishment of my great and
many sins and the sins of my kindred, I should now de-
part this life before I put these just and good resolutions
in execution ; yet I hope that God in his mercy will inspire
you and all honest Frasers to stand by and be faithfull to
my cousin Inverlahie and the other heirs male of my family,
and to venture your lives and fortunes to put him or my
nearest heirs male named in my Testament written by John
Jacks, in the full possession of the estate and honours of
my forefathers, which is the onely way to preserve you
from the wicked designs of the family of Tarbat and Glen-
gary joyned to the family of Athol : and you may depend
upon it, and you and your posterity will see it and findit,
APPENDIX. 525
that if you do not keep stedfast to your chief, I mean the
heir male of my famyly ; but weakly or falsely for little
private interest and views abandon your duty to your name,
and suffer a pretended heiresse, and her Mackenzie children
to possess your country and the true right of the heirs
male, they will certainly in les than an age chasse you all
by slight and might, as well Gentlemen, as Commons,
out of your native country, which will be possessed by the
Mackenzies and the Mackdonalls, and you will be, like the
miserable unnatural Jews, scattered, and vagabonds through-
out the unhappy kingdom of Scotland, and the poor wifes
and children that remains of the name, without a head or
protection when they are told the traditions of their familie
will be cursing from their hearts the persons and memory
of those unnaturall cowardly knavish men, who sold and
abandoned their chief, their name, their birthright, and their
country, for a false and foolish present gain, even as the
most of Scots 1 people curs this day those who sold them
and their country to the English by the fatal union, which
I hope will not last long.
1 make my earnest and dying prayers to God Almighty,
that he may, in his mercy, thro the merits of Christ
Jesus, save you and all my poor people, whom I always
found honest and zealous to me and their duty, from that
blindness of heart that will inevitably bring those ruing
and disgraces upon you and your posterity ; and I pray
that Almighty and Mercifull God, who has often mira-
culously saved my family and name from utter ruin, may
give you the spirit of courage, of zeal, and of fidelity, that
you owe to your chief, to your name, to your selves, to
your children, and to your country ; and may the most
mercifull, and adorable Trinity, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, three persons, one God, save all your souls eter-
nally, throu the blood of Christ Jesus, our Blessed Lord
and Saviour, to whom I heartily recommende you.
I desire that this letter may be kept in a box, at Beau-
526 APPENDIX.
fort, or Maniack, and read once a-year by the heir male,
or a principale gentleman of the name, to all honest
Frasers that will continue faithfull to the duty I have en-
joined in this above- written letter, to whom, with you and
all honest Frasers, and my other friends, I leave my tender
and affectionat blessing, and bid you my kind, and last
farewell.
LOVAT.
London, the 5 of Aprile, 1718.
Not being able to write myself, I did dictat the above
letter to the little French boy, that's my servant. It
contains the most sincere sentiments of my heart ; and if
it touch my kindred in reading of it, as it did me while I
dictat it, I am sure it will have a good effect, which are
my earnest prayers to God.
APPENDIX. 527
IV.
Allusion having been made often, in the course of these
memoirs, to the process of "serving oneself heir" to an
estate, in Scotland: the following document,* shewing the
form of such a process, may not be deemed uninteresting.
Claim for William Maxwell, Esq. of Carruchan, who
served heir-male in general of Robert, Fourth Earl of
Nithisdale.
" Honourable persons and good men of Inquest : I, Wil-
liam Maxwell, of Carruchan, who was son of Captain
Maxwell of Carruchan, who was son of Alexander Max-
well, of Yark and Terraughty, who was son of the Honour-
able James Maxwell, of Breckonside, immediate younger
brother of John, third Earl of Nithisdale, who was father of
Robert, fourth Earl of Nithisdale, say unto your wisdoms,
that the said Maxwell of Nithisdale, nephews of my great-
great-great-grandfather, died in the faith and peace of our
Sovereign Lord the King then reigning, and that I am
nearest and lawful heir male in general to the said Robert,
fourth Earl of Nithisdale, the nephew of my great-great-
great-grandfather, and that I am of lawful age. Therefore
I beseech your wisdoms to serve and cognesce me nearest
and lawful heir male in general to the said deceased Robert,
fourth Earl of Nithisdale, and cause your clerk of the Court
to return my service to your Majesty's Chancery. Under
my seal,
" According to justice and your wisdom's answer, &c. &c."
* I am indebted for a copy of this process to Sir John Maxwell, Bart.
Pollok.
LONDON:
Printed by S. & J. BENTLEY, WILSOV, and FLEY,
Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
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A1T4
v.3
Thomson, Katherine (Byerley)
Memoirs of the Jacobites of
1715-1745
