A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE
AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND
EDINBURGH : Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE
FOR
DAVID DOUGLAS.
LONDON . . . SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT AND CO., LTD.
CAMBRIDGE . . MACMILLAN AND BOWES.
GLASGOW . . . JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS.
All rights reserved.
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE
AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND
IN THE YEARS 1744, 1745, 1746
BY DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Printed from the Original Manuscript at Gosford
WITH A MEMOIR AND ANNOTATIONS
BY THE HON. EVAN CHARTERIS
EDINBURGH 'A.V
PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS
MDCCCCVII
PREFATORY NOTE
DAVID, LORD ELCHO, left two manuscripts,
(i) A Journal written in French, which covers
the principal years of his life ; (2) A narrative of
events in 1745-46, which is now for the first
time printed in this volume. With the exception
of the Narrative, all Papers relating to the
Wemyss family are in the possession of Mr.
Wemyss, of Wemyss Castle, Fife.
Mr. Wemyss has kindly allowed me to make
use of a copy l of the Journal, and it is therefore
owing to his generosity and courtesy that it
has been possible to collect the facts of Elcho's
life as set forth in the accompanying Memoir.
The Narrative, on the other hand, was originally
in the possession of Sir James Steuart Denham,
the nephew of David, Lord Elcho. In the early
part of the nineteenth century it was transferred
by Sir James to Admiral Wemyss, of Wemyss
1 Translated by the Rev. Thomson Grant.
vi PREFATORY NOTE
Castle, who, in 1832, presented it to the family
of the then Earl of Wemyss, in whose possession
it has since remained.
Elcho's Narrative was evidently intended to
be a complete and faithful account of what
transpired during the ill-fated campaign of Prince
Charles. Nor after a perusal of its contents can
it be denied that its object has been attained.
It is effectively, if drily written. It throws
light on the characters of the principal actors,
and discloses with much perspicuity the con-
ditions which rendered so mad an attempt to
recover a throne possible, and at the same time
brought it within measurable distance of success.
As regards its accuracy, it is sufficient to say
that it is in close agreement with Mr. Blaikie's
Itinerary of Prince Charles Edward. The Nar-
rative has often been referred to by Jacobite
historians, but no one, with the exception of Sir
Walter Scott, appears to have been given the
opportunity of citing its contents. To compare
it with the Tales of a Grandfather shows not only
that Scott was given such opportunity, but that
he adopted the Narrative as the principal authority
for his history of the '45. This alone may be con-
sidered to justify the publication of a document
PREFATORY NOTE vii
connected with a period already overloaded with
literature. In printing the manuscript, the
original spelling has been preserved, the punctua-
tion has alone been altered.
To His Majesty the King I beg leave to record
my humble gratitude for permission to inspect
the Stuart and Cumberland MSS. at Windsor, and
to print those extracts which appear in the
Appendix to this volume. The State Papers in
the Record Office have also been consulted.
I owe much to Lord Rosebery for the encour-
agement he has given me in the work connected
with the editing of the Narrative. My thanks are
also due to Mr. Edmund Gosse for kindly
reading proofs of the Memoir ; to Mr. W. B.
Blaikie for valuable suggestions in the preparation
of the Notes, and for the loan of many books and
manuscripts, including copies of papers in the
French Foreign Office, MS. of Daniel's Progress,
a MS. of Events in Aberdeenshire, and a
MS. volume of the General Orders of the
Duke of Cumberland, General Wade, General
Hawley and other commanders ; also the rare
work of the Jesuit Cordara, of which the trans-
lation of a passage is printed in the Appendix.
I have also to thank Mr. Robert O. Cunningham,
LIST OF
PLANS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
DISTANT VIEW FROM THE SEA OF WEMYSS
CASTLE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Adapted by WILLIAM HOLE, R.S.A.,yro* a Drawing by SLEZER.
Vignette in Title-page.
DAVID, LORD ELCHO, 1741, . . . To face page i
From a Painting at Gosford.
CHARLES EDWARD, 1745-6, 227
From a Painting at Gosford.
BATTLE OF GLADSMUIR OR PRESTON-
PANS, FOUGHT ON SATURDAY, THE 2isT
SEPTEMBER 1745, 272
By the Author.
THE PRINCE'S ARMY THAT MARCHED TO
DERBY, 324
By the Author.
BATTLE OF FALKIRK, FOUGHT ON
FRIDAY, THE i7TH JANUARY 1746, . 372
By the Author.
BATTLE OF CULLODEN, FOUGHT ON
WEDNESDAY, THE i6TH APRIL 1746, . 432
By the Author.
( >/r/tc ,
// if.
MEMOIR
OF
DAVID, LORD ELCHO
I
UPON a page of a Bible which for generations has
been in the possession of the Wemyss family at
Wemyss Castle there is written, * My son David
was born at 3 A.M. Aug. 2ist 1721.' This
David was Lord Elcho, writer of the Narrative
which follows. Born a year later than Prince
Charles, with whom his destiny was to be so
closely linked, he was the eldest son of James,
4th Earl of Wemyss (1699-1756), his mother
being Janet Charteris, daughter of Colonel
Charteris of Amisfield. Of the Charteris
family, Elcho says in the pages of his Journal
that 'it had been renowned among the nobility
of Scotland since the year 1320.' Whatever
degree of truth this statement may contain,
certain it is that the notoriety of the family
name was immensely heightened by the indecorous
excesses of the colonel. The marriage of Elcho's
2 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
parents, effected with romantic secrecy, and in the
face of much opposition, brought considerable
wealth into the family, but it was destined to turn
out badly, ending in separation and unseemly
squabbles over the monetary dispositions of the
owner of Amisfield.
But the early years were unclouded, and these
were spent by young Elcho with his parents at
Wemyss Castle. The family from which he
was descended had given, through the storm
and stress of the seventeenth century, what was
on the whole a decided, although an intermittent,
adherence to the House of Stuart. When the
occasion demanded, they had shown that belief
in divine right and kingly authority was com-
patible with political judgment and independent
action. At one time they were to be found on
the side of the Crown, at another resisting en-
croachments which they considered an abuse of
the royal prerogative. Thus John Wemyss was
one of those who carried the * crimson pall ' at
the coronation of Charles i. at Holyrood in
1633 ; in the same year he was created earl,
and in 1641 he was appointed by Charles to act
as Commissioner to the General Assembly.
These favours, however, did not deter him
ANCESTRY 3
from active opposition to the episcopal policy
of the King in Scotland, and in the successful
resistance to the imposition of the service-book
there were few more uncompromising Presby-
terians than the first Earl of Wemyss and his
son. The second earl, David, sided openly with
the Covenanters, and though ' not reputed an
extraordinary soldier,' he rose to prominence
among the military party. At Tippermuir he
was in command of the forces opposed to Mont-
rose and suffered a disastrous defeat, but the
Covenanting committee did not abate their con-
fidence in his capacity, and he continued to hold
his place in the counsels of the Kirk.
In 1650, when the Kirk party had determined
to support Charles u. on his taking the Covenant,
the second earl was appointed by Parliament
one of the Commissioners to welcome Charles
in Scotland, and though he had taken no part
either at the battle of Dunbar or in the march
into England, he actively promoted the restora-
tion of the King. Together with his wife,
the Countess of Buccleuch, he was present on
the occasion of Charles's entry into London,
and, in a journal which he kept, this fact is noted
in the following terms : ' Charles Secund King
4 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
of Scotland, Ingland, France & Eirland did
returne to his crownes. One 29 May 1660 he
entered London and with His Majestic his two
brothers James Duke of York and Hendrie Duke
of Gloster. I was ther.' The third earl, David,
* a fine personage and very beautiful,' l ' succeed-
ing in 1705, was in 1707 chosen as a representative
peer for Scotland. Migration to London at this
period was an event of the first importance in
the annals of a Scots family. Lord Wemyss
bore the change uneasily, and fretted for the
north ; but with the thrifty mind of his race
he discovered solace in his house in Soho Square,
which he describes in a letter to a friend * as one
of the greatest pennyworths ever I see.' In the
same letter he continues : * As for the rattle and
pleasures of London, noebody is or can be
less affected with these then I am, & my wife
hes as little taste of them as one could wish. . . .
Playes & operas & park are places either of us
are very seldom seen in & baiting vissits which
we have noe fondness for, but must just keep up
mannerly with the world, we live as retird as if
we were in the Highlands of Scotland.'
The dull visit is a bye-product of our social
1 John Macky's Memoirs, 1733, p. 250.
1715 5
system common to all periods and countries, but
at that time the lot of a purely Scots family can
hardly have been enviable, and the earl's frugal
satisfaction in his * great pennyworth ' must have
ill concealed the asperities to which his family
were subjected. On the accession of the House
of Hanover, Lord Wemyss retired to his home.
He was suspected of Jacobite leanings, but the
rising of 1715 found him disinclined to take an
active part, and though the tide of rebellion rose
high in his native county, he maintained an out-
ward neutrality and gave no support to the Earl
of Mar and his followers.
His son, the fourth earl, and father of David,
Lord Elcho, succeeded to the title and estates in
1720. He lived for several years in retirement
at Wemyss, taking no share in public affairs, but
proving himself so far a Jacobite in sentiment as
steadfastly to decline taking the oath of allegiance.
Subsequently, from letters among the Stuart
papers, 1 he appears to have corresponded with
James at Rome, and to have acted at least on one
occasion as emissary to Paris on behalf of the
Scottish Jacobites. We find his name included in
1 745 by Lord George Murray in his list of those
1 Browne's History of the Highlands, vol. ii. pp. 444-5 .
6 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
who were or might be of the Council of Prince
Charles at Holyrood, and at the time of the
siege of the Castle of Edinburgh, reprisals were
threatened against Wemyss Castle by General
George Preston, the commander of the besieged
garrison.
If further bias towards Jacobitism were needed
to ensure the political training of Elcho, it was
only necessary to turn to the house where he first
saw the light. Within the walls of Wemyss
Castle there lingered a crowd of memories to
recall to his mind the cause of the Stuarts. It
was at this castle that in 1548 the Dowager
Queen Mary of Guise had stayed on her way
from St. Andrews to Edinburgh. A sculptured
medallion existed, and indeed still exists, on the
castle wall to commemorate the visit of Mary
Queen of Scots and her first meeting with her
future husband, Henry, Lord Darnley. There
also in 1591 James vi. had been a guest, and on
two occasions, in 1650 and 1651, Charles n. had
sought shelter and hospitality. Originally built
in the twelfth century, it must at this time still
have shown traces of its former strength and
importance as a fortress for repelling attack from
the sea. For it was by virtue of its eminence in
WEMYSS CASTLE 7
this respect that the office of Admiral-Depute of
the Firth of Forth had been conferred by James
vi. on John Wemyss, and had been continued
by successive monarchs to subsequent owners
of the property.
Wemyss Castle stands on a rocky point of the
eastern coast, and, rising high above the shore, a
grey outline against the wooded hills of Fife, it
is one of the first features of the mainland sighted
by vessels as they skirt the May, or, rounding
the Bass, beat up to Leith and the harbours of
the Forth. It was here then that Elcho spent
his early years, and it was among these Stuart
traditions that he imbibed those principles which
were to shatter his fortunes and condemn him
to a death in exile. History hardly offers a case
more typical than his of persistence in an out-
worn monarchical tradition. In the pages of
Elcho's Journal we can trace, step by step, the
whole process of the evolution of a Jacobite.
From his earliest childhood it would seem that
his father regarded espousal of the Stuart cause
as an essential feature in his son's curriculum.
In these years, 1720-30, the restoration ot
the Stuarts might still be considered within the
sphere of practical politics. The marriage of the
8 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Chevalier de St. George had revived and the birth of
his son had encouraged the hopes of his supporters.
The disillusions which had followed the events of
1715 had been forgotten. Hatred of the Union,
the disarming of the clans, and the imposition of
the malt-tax had served to keep alive the embers
of disaffection in the north. Jacobitism was an
element of which the politics of Europe continued
to take cognisance, while in England it was a force
which, though largely veiled under intrigue, was
sufficiently evident to influence statesmen and
parties. It was therefore towards something
tangible, and not the pursuit of a forlorn hope,
that Elcho's education was directed. Before the
age of nine he had been taught by a non-juring
minister of the English Church that allegiance
was due not to the usurper at St. James's, but to
the King over the water, and that the Episcopalian
ritual in no way suffered by the omission of the
prayers for the House of Hanover. 1
Thus initiated and prepared, he set out in
1734 for Winchester, in the company of his
father. In those days, if all went well, such a
journey occupied from twelve to sixteen days,
1 There is at Wemyss Castle a Prayer Book wherein the names
of the Stuarts are pasted over the names of the Georges.
AT WINCHESTER 9
and was performed by persons of wealth and
position in a coach drawn either by six or four
horses. North of the Border the roads were
perilous and precarious, often difficult to trace, and
dangerous to traverse. Tedious and costly, the
expedition was only undertaken upon grave pro-
vocation, and persons of thrifty habit travelled to
London either by the coach which left Edinburgh
once a month, or more commonly by riding the
entire distance. Choosing the western route,
they passed through Carlisle, Penrith, Kendal,
Lancaster, and Preston, and so, as a lad, from
the window of the great coach as it creaked and
lumbered on its way, Elcho must have caught
glimpses of the very towns which, eleven years
later, he was to enter in a brief hour of conquest
at the head of Prince Charles's life guards.
At Winchester, where he was placed under
the care of a Jacobite tutor, Elcho found that the
school, like the rest of the world, was divided into
Hanoverians (or ' Georgites,' as he calls them)
and supporters of the Stuarts. Thus the head-
master, Burton, was a Jacobite, the second master
a Georgite, and on one occasion, when Elcho
himself was in difficulty over a set of verses and
sought assistance from a fellow-pupil, he was
io DAVID, LORD ELCHO
met by the question : * Are you Georgite or
Jacobite ? ' The answer proving satisfactory, the
help was rendered, accompanied by the threat
that if he was ever seen making friends with any
of the Hanoverians, he would have to go else-
where for his verses. Partisanship indeed seems
to have played a larger part than education in
the school world of that day. Learning was
mainly restricted to the seventy scholars resident
at the college ; the wealthier boys boarded in the
town with their tutors, and by gambling, cock-
fighting, and tavern life acquired a * polite taste
for pleasurable vice/ No wonder that Elcho
became one of that mob of gentlemen who spelt
with difficulty in the eighteenth century. But if
books were neglected, no pains were spared to
bring home to the boys a due sense of their
earthly prerogatives and temporal distinctions.
At church on Sundays peers and the sons of
peers were conspicuous in robes of blue, red,
or green, baronets and knights in black, while
the c untitled gentlemen ' sat apart in the ordi-
nary dress of the time.
The everyday life of the school was marked
less by titular than by racial differences, and
young Elcho, with nationality aflame in his blood,
THE SCOTS IN LONDON n
was driven to a course of boxing as the best
means of combating the charge that his origin
was Scottish. Here again the school was a re-
flection of the greater world without a reflec-
tion multiplied by youth and the ardours of
personal conflict. For the Scots were still outer
barbarians, Scotland but a mean and tributary
state. To hate the Scots, to despise them for
their manners and speech, and to sneer at them
for their poverty were the commonplaces of a
well-ordered Englishman. The immigrants from
the north were regarded in London with as much
suspicion as if they were aliens from some remote
and barbarous continent. They were ridiculed
at court, satirised on the stage, and lampooned
in the streets. So late as 1775 Garrick declined
to wear tartan dress when acting Macbeth lest he
should be * hissed ofF the stage/ l In the pages
of his diary Hugh, Lord Marchmont, tells how
their loyalty was questioned and their offers of
assistance at the time of the rebellion rejected.
At Winchester the common taunt was that in
Scotland they grew no wheat. Not many years
later Dr. Johnson, giving point to the popular
prejudices, wrote in his Dictionary : ' Oats, a
1 Doran, London in the Jacobite 'Times, vol. ii. p. 350.
12 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
grain which in England is generally given to
horses, but in Scotland supports the people.'
1 Pray, sir/ asked Boswell on one occasion,
' can you trace the cause of your antipathy to
the Scotch ? ' ' I cannot, sir/ was Johnson's
reply. This inability in the eighteenth century
may have been widely shared, but the antipathy
was there, pronounced, aggressive, and corroding.
Sir Joshua Reynolds regarded it as a duty * for
Englishmen to oppose a party against them (the
Scots)/ and it was many years before trade and the
free play of commerce were able to break down
those barriers which the Union had called into evi-
dence. In the early years of the century the Scots
had no art with which to win sympathy, and no
literature with which to compel toleration. The
result was a bitter conflict of ideas, a prolonged
period of misunderstanding, and an atmosphere
in which an ardent temper, already opposed to
the reigning house, could speedily acquire a deep-
seated hostility to the Union. Hatred of the
Union was to supply the solitary political motive
for the rebellion of '45, and as in the case of
others, so with Elcho, contact with the southern
world consolidated all preconceived antagonism
to the Act which had made the kingdoms one.
COUNTRY HOUSE LIFE 13
As Ulysses said of Ithaca, so might a Scots-
man have said of England, that it was ' rough,
but a good nurse for youth/ and certainly it
formed an exemplary training-ground for a future
rebel. From home and parents Elcho was as
isolated as though they had been in India, and
such must have been the case with all Scots
boys educated in the south at this period. Be-
tween 1733 and 1741 he had sight of his father
but once on the occasion of the latter's visit to
Winchester in 1735. The holidays were passed
in the company of a tutor, during the winter in
London, during the summer in visiting towns
and viewing the * grand country houses of the
nobility and gentry/ occasionally as guests, more
often as tourists. What a contrast he must have
discovered here with the habits of his native
land ! Ramsay l tells us that in Scotland it was
still customary in the early part of the eighteenth
century for the whole company in a country
house to eat broth out of one large plate ; that
guests arrived without notice on the chance of
finding accommodation, and that ' nothing was
more common than to lay two gentlemen or two
ladies that were not acquainted in the same bed.'
1 Ramsay, Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century, vol. ii. p. 66.
i 4 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
In London Elcho gave himself up to enjoy-
ment ; for him the * rattle and pleasure ' of the
city possessed no terrors. He studied music,
frequented the opera, and witnessed gladiatorial
combats in which * two men would inflict terrible
wounds on each other with sabres to gain a sum
of money.' He had indeed a precocious relish
for combats of all kinds, and at Winchester, when
not vindicating his accent with his fists, was a
constant spectator at cock-fights or encounters
between rustics c for a hat presented by the lord
of the village.' In London the vigilance of his
tutor seems to have been lax, and with other
Winchester schoolfellows he would visit ' taverns
where women were called for as publicly as a
dinner or a bottle of wine.' In 1738, in accord-
ance with the fashion of the time, * the young
u^Eneas ' set out for France with his tutor, exactly
in the manner which Pope was just then satirising
in the fourth book of the Dunciad. Like the
poet's hero, Elcho
* sauntered Europe round,
And gather'd every vice on Christian ground,
Saw every court, heard every King declare
His royal sense of Operas or the Fair.'
In spite, however, of its obvious dangers, the
SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIES 15
practice was justified by the elegance of manners
which it encouraged. University education in
Scotland was at a low ebb. Principals and pro-
fessors were in receipt of salaries less in amount
than the wages of a mechanic of the present day.
Learning was mediaeval and scholastic. Teaching
and lectures were carried on in Latin, a language
which the student was presumed, more often
erroneously than not, to have mastered before
entering the University. Religious zeal and the
orthodoxy of the day were showing more care for
a pious habit of mind than for sound instruction. 1
A minute and harassing system of superintendence
was in vogue. By their sharp and vigilant solici-
tude, surreptitious censors ensured that moral
backsliding should synchronise with detection,
and sought by a series of fines to stimulate im-
poverished students in their struggles with
temptation. For law, for medicine and surgery,
for divinity, or for the acquisition of polite learn-
ing, those able to afford to travel were driven
abroad, to Utrecht, to Leyden, to Paris, and the
universities and academies with which more
enlightened ideas had endowed the Continent.
1 This subject is discussed, with interesting details, in chap,
xii. of Mr. H. G. Graham's valuable Social Life of Scotland in the
Eighteenth Century. 1899.
16 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Elcho was taken first to Rheims, where he spent
ten months in a French family, learning the
language and taking lessons in fencing and
dancing. * Following the usages of the French,
he attached himself/ he tells us, ' to Madame the
Baroness de Foulie, who took great pains to teach
him the language and make him understand the
manners of the French/ With the assistance of
the Baroness, he entered freely into the provincial
life of Rheims, paying visits during the morning,
at five o'clock attending the assembly, where
* mediator,' piquet, and backgammon were the
diversions, and at seven visiting the theatre, con-
cluding with supper and games of hazard. Later
in the same year (1739), the poet Gray and
Horace Walpole spent several months at Rheims,
in the very same society, of which Gray has left a
full and picturesque account.
From Rheims Elcho was, in February 1739,
transferred to the Academy of Angers. Ten
months' residence in the animated seclusion of
Rheims had sufficed to dim his political orthodoxy,
but in Angers he found a colony of English,
Scots, and Irish ; he was quickly drawn into the
vortex of party feeling and national prejudice,
and enlisted himself with all his former vehemence
ANGERS 17
on the side of the supporters of the Stuarts. At
the head of the ' Georgites ' was the Earl of
Fitzwilliam, at the head of the Jacobites the
Chevalier Cotton; and enrolled under their
standards were Lord Charles Manners, Viscount
Quarendon, eldest son of the Earl of Lichfield,
the Chevalier Newdigate, Messrs. Talbot, Stuart,
Barlow, Pitt, Castleton, Dashwood, Macormic,
etc. all students at the Academy. The course of
study inclined to the lighter side of education.
It is not without interest to read what was then
thought necessary to round off and complete a
man of the world. Let us take a day at Angers
in the summer. At five o'clock A.M. the day's
work began with riding. This was followed by
instruction in fencing, the rest of the morning
being taken up with lessons in mathematics,
design, and music. Dinner concluded, there was
an adjournment to the dancing saloon, where
steps and figures and the intricacies of deport-
ment occupied the afternoon till it was time to
dress for the assemblies in the town. At the
assemblies, concerts and comedies were given, and
the weary student, late in the evening, returned
to supper and games of hazard. After a year of
this inspiriting substitute for an university train-
i8 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
ing, he left Angers, and with three brother
academicians and a tutor, all of the same political
persuasion, started on the usual grand tour of
eldest sons. After visiting the principal towns of
southern France, mixing with French society,
consorting with Jacobites, and acquiring a liking
for the country and the people, which was to be of
service to Elcho later when in exile, they resolved
to prolong their tour by a journey to Rome
then the Mecca of the fervent Jacobite. Crossing
the Mont Cenis, where their postchaises were taken
to pieces and conveyed over the pass like a
mountain battery on the backs of mules, they
travelled to Milan by Turin and Genoa and the
northern towns of Italy. Here again their progress
may be illuminated by reference to the letters of
Gray and Walpole, who had made precisely the
same journey a month or two earlier. At Milan they
were spectators of an execution, a scene which in
the eighteenth century was considered an ordinary
feature of an educational tour. In this instance the
effect was heightened by the presence of a hundred
masked noblemen, to one of whom, after drawing
lots, there fell the sorry office of executioner. From
Milan they passed on to Florence. In Florence
he dined with Sir Horace Mann, and on another
ITALY 19
occasion with Prince Craon, governor of the
city for the Emperor Francis i. Prince Craon
gave as a toast the Chevalier de St. George.
Here was evidence that they were nearing the
shrine of Rome, the refuge of the Stuarts, where
the sun of Jacobitism was casting its setting rays,
and devout worshippers were swinging censers in
rivalry if not acute opposition to each other. In
Florence at length he caught up Horace Walpole.
In one of his letters written after '45, Walpole,
describing the appearance of the Prince of Hesse
to Sir Horace Mann, says of him, ' He is tall, lusty,
and handsome, extremely like Elcho in person.'
Other references in his letters are less flattering,
and we shall see later that Walpole is one of the
authorities for the accusation of cruelty brought
against Elcho after the campaign.
On October 25th, 1740, the party reached
Rome. The arrival of Elcho, a fresh recruit, was
a matter of moment; the members of the
Chevalier's Court hastened to * call/ Edgar the
secretary, Irwin the physician, Hay the chamber-
lain, Fletcher and Archer, gentlemen of the
chamber, the Earls of Winton, Nithsdale, and
Dunbar, gentlemen of the Court, all vied with
each other in their attention to the newcomer
20 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
from the promised land. Lord Winton was for
the moment in disgrace ; a blow struck in the
presence of the Chevalier had condemned him to
exclusion from the Palace, and he was living no
longer under James's roof in the Piazza di Santi
Apostoli, but in a * little boarding house ' which
the Chevalier had secured for him.
Dunbar, brother of Lord Stormont, and raised
to the peerage by James, was acting as tutor
to the young Princes. Also about the Court
were Sir Thomas Sheridan, an Irishman and
a Roman Catholic, and Strickland, both of
whom were to play their part in the '45. It
was customary, in accordance alike with loyalty
and etiquette, to seek an audience with James.
Writing many years after the event, Elcho says
he was prompted to the step by his tutor. Calm
and cool-headed observer as in later life he
proved to be, it is difficult to account for his
want of enthusiasm at such a moment. His
whole education had been directed and success-
fully directed to inspiring him with Jacobite
ideas ; he had been taught not merely to sym-
pathise with James as his lawful king in exile,
but to regard him as the sovereign by divine
right, who would sooner or later be re-established
THE STUARTS IN ROME 21
on the throne of his ancestors. And divine
right was not at that time the politic claim of
decadent kingship, but an active and living prin-
ciple animating those who held it with the zeal
and the tenacity of a religious doctrine.
Nor were these the only attributes of James
in the eyes of his adherents. He represented to
them the sole channel of redress and the only
instrument by which the grievances and injustice,
that in the opinion of so many had resulted
from the Union, could be alleviated Holding
these convictions, and believing that he would
one day be called on to maintain them with his
sword, Elcho must surely have been sensible of
the dramatic significance of the moment which
brought him for the first time into the presence
of the representative of the Stuarts. And unless
we are to charge him with a radical lack of
imagination, in reading the restricted phrases in
which he describes the interview, allowance must
be made for the passage of years during which
bitter enmity had taken the place of enthusiastic
loyalty, during which hopes had been frustrated
and illusions had been lost.
Through the agency of John Hay a meeting
with the Chevalier was arranged. What followed
22 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
is best described in the words of the Journal :
' Mr. Hay came for me, and about seven o'clock
in the evening we found ourselves in a little
street which approaches the side of the palace.
There was a cellar door at the place where we
entered. He pointed out a staircase to me, bade
me ascend it, and said farewell. I did so and
found Mr. Edgar : this ladder or secret staircase
led into his chamber. He opened a door for me,
pointed out a suite of rooms, and told me that
I would find the Chevalier in the fourth chamber.
And, indeed, I found the Chevalier St. George
standing there. I kissed his hand and he made
me sit beside him, near the fire. He was a tall
man and spare with large features, and exactly
resembled the portraits of his father, King James
ii., and his uncle, King Charles n. He said
to me that he knew my father to be very loyal
to him, and that, if ever he ascended the throne
of Great Britain, he would reward him for it.
He asked me many questions about my travels
and my relations, and appeared to know well
about Scotland and Scottish families, particularly
those that had been raised to peerages since the
Revolution of 1688, whereby his father had lost
his Crown. He spoke of these last as " gentle-
INTERVIEW WITH JAMES 23
men," and not by the title of " my lord.'* He
rang a little bell and the two Princes, his sons,
who were in the side chamber, entered : I kissed
their hands and called them " Your Royal
Highnesses " as I had styled their father " Your
Majesty." The Chevalier made his eldest son
and me stand back to back to see which of us
was the taller. This Prince Prince Edward-
was a year older than I was and was much taller.
After having overwhelmed me with politeness
he bade me adieu : and I returned to Mr.
Edgar's room, where I supped with him tete a
fete. On parting from him he said to me that
the Duke of Bedford l was the man of all Great
Britain who had most often ascended the staircase/
James had some excuse for holding out hopes
of reward to those who should assist him. In
October 1740 events were assuming an aspect
favourable to the Stuart cause. Fate, which had
been so fickle, which had doomed so many hopes
to disappointment, and had pointed along so many
vain and deluding avenues to success, was at
last offering promise of a fairer future. As
children fling pebbles on the surface of a pond
and watch the ripples as they spread and die
1 John Russell, fourth Duke of Bedford, 1710-1771.
24 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
away, so had the Jacobite party from time to
time cast upon the calm of Europe plots and
schemes. Again and again had they seen the
ripples fade and vanish into nothing. But
now it seemed as if Jacobitism really were
about to take its place with positive issues. Sir
Robert Walpole had been reluctantly forced into
hostilities with Spain ; Charles vi. was dead ; and
the succession to the Austrian monarchy was on
the eve of rending the countries of Europe with
war ; while in Paris had already commenced those
negotiations between James and Cardinal Fleury
which were to culminate in the attempted invasion
of England by the forces of France in 1 744.
These weighty considerations, however, did
not hamper the gaiety of the hour. Life in
Rome was conducted in the spirit of Capua,
and, save for lessons in music and Italian from
an Abbe Dubois, it was wholly given over to
amusement. Daily, after dinner, Elcho would
go to the Villa Borghese, where Prince Charles
and the Duke of York sought exercise and
recreation. Charles, as became a future hero of
romance, kept apart and spoke little with those
who came to pay him court. In the gardens
of the villa he diverted himself with the killing
LIFE IN ROME 25
of blackbirds and thrushes, and in playing a
4 Scotch game called goff.' The Duke of York
was friendly and a talker, and showed more
promise than his elder brother so writes Elcho.
Charles's skill with the gun was well known.
Mr. Lang, in his charming and vivid account
of the Prince's boyhood, 1 quotes a letter from
the Due de Liria, son of the Duke of Berwick,
written 1727, about the Prince : 'The Prince of
Wales was now six and a half, and besides his
great beauty was remarkable for dexterity, grace,
and almost supernatural address ... he could
ride, could fire a gun, and, more surprising still,
I have seen him take a crossbow and kill birds
on the roof and split a rolling ball with a bolt
ten times in succession.'
James himself divided his time between Mass
and the opera. He was devout and musical.
State and circumstance attended his visits to the
opera, which never commenced before his arrival.
He supped during the performance, in the royal
box, and was visited every evening by the French
ambassador, the Due de St. Aignan. Elcho says
that there were no women vocalists, the female
characters were sung by men dressed as women,
1 Andrew Lang, Prince Charles Ednvard, p. 27.
26 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
and practically trained from their earlier youth
for the purpose. English society was gregarious
and insular ; daily it would gather either at Lady
Pomfret's or at Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's,
and at conversazioni in the town the English
would, true to the traditions of their race, collect
in groups and remain separate from the Italians.
On one occasion Prince Charles, invited by the
Prince of Caserta to a shooting-party, chose Elcho
to accompany him. This was better sport than
killing blackbirds and thrushes in the Borghese
gardens. The first day they killed two hundred
and fifty woodcock, the second day twenty-five
deer, and the third six hundred wild duck. In
the evenings there were concerts and dancing.
Ordinarily Prince Charles would lead in the minuet,
or if English country dances were given, the
leadership was confided to Mr. Roy Stewart, a
gentleman of the Prince's train. Did Charles
look forward ? Did he see in dreams the day of
momentary splendour when he would be leading
minuets in the palace of Holyrood, in the rooms
haunted by the sombre tragedies of his race ?
Italian society was gay and heedless. Byron,
writing in 1820 from Ravenna, says: * It is a
dreadfully moral place, for you must not look
ITALIAN MORALS 27
at anybody's wife except your neighbour's.' The
cynicism of the description would apply to the
Rome of which Elcho wrote, would apply, indeed,
to Italy generally ; for whether at Rome, or
Venice, or Ravenna, the moral code was the
same. Wherever there was a coterie of rank
or a concourse of fashion, there the cicisbeo was
an accepted institution and a stereotyped feature
of social life. In the morning he would call
for his lady, accompany her on her round of
shops or visits, share her amusements of the
afternoon, and frequent her box at the opera
in the evening. Italian husbands, Elcho tells us,
were guided by a kind of rule-of-thumb morality.
They considered it better that their wives should
' limit themselves to one lover ' than that they
should exercise a wider licence, 'as in Paris
and other cities,' where * cicisbeism ' was not
recognised.
II
DURING Elcho's residence in Rome, the Car-
nival took place, filling the streets with its
processions and lively confusion, 'all mime and
masque and Christian fools with varnished faces.'
He entered into it with zest, buffooning, as the
custom was, during the day, and in the evening
attending balls or giving concerts. Seeing that
at these concerts the first violin received ten
sous and the other members of the orchestra only
five sous, it was possible alike for the indigent
and the thrifty to give entertainments without
financial embarrassment.
I can find no certain mention of him at this
time in the letters from Walpole's spies. John
Walton, that indefatigable chronicler of the
small-talk of espionage, writing in December
1740, says: c Un Ecossais nomme Eicx est fort
entre dans les bonnes graces du fils aine du
Pretendant.' * Eicx ' may stand for Elcho.
Walton was residing himself in Florence, and had
ENGLISH SPIES 29
to decipher the news sent him by his agents in
Rome ; this gave scope enough for error in the
interpretation of names, and what is here stated
of * Eicx ' would accord with the facts relating
to Elcho. Of Prince Charles a few days later
Walton wrote : * On observe dans le fils aine du
Pretendant une tres forte inclination pour les
Femmes et la Danse. On 1'eleve dans une mol-
lesse extreme.' As will be seen later, this differs
from the information which Elcho has to give.
It was common knowledge in Stuart circles
in Rome that they lived under the observation of
persons in the pay of England, but singularly little
news of importance was suffered to escape from
the Palace in the Via di Santi Apostoli. Elcho
suspected, and rightly suspected, the Abbe Grant
of playing the spy. Grant insinuated himself
into their society, and was all things to all men,
a Jacobite to Jacobites, a Georgite to Georgites,
and an agreeable companion to every one ; he
may indeed at this time have been one of
Walton's agents, cardinals and lacqueys being
alike the correspondents of Walpole's informer.
Elcho was now deeply committed to the cause.
His education had borne fruit, and familiarity
with the Court in Rome had ratified and sealed
30 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
his allegiance. Thenceforward he must be re-
garded as an active and militant Jacobite.
Before his final departure from Rome in April
1741, he was admitted to a farewell interview
with the Chevalier. In a concluding estimate of
the principal figures of the little Court, he says
of James that * he appeared to be a Prince most
affable, most well informed and most sensible.
Bigotry was his worst fault.' Of Charles he
writes, 'he appeared to have no tastes except for
hunting and music, and had no conversational
power ' ; and, emphasising his preference for the
Duke of York, he adds that the Duke * was
suave, loved conversation, and pleased people
more than his brother.' And yet it was by the
grace of his person and the charm of his manner
that Charles was to gather about him the loyalty
and devotion of his followers, and gain for his
memory an abiding place in the heart of a
nation.
From Rome Elcho travelled to Bologna, where
he again fell in with Horace Walpole. Walpole's
society, the pictures, the palaces, the enchantment
of the manifold arcades and the excellence of the
opera, caused him to tarry here several days, and it
was not till the first week in May that he reached
VENICE 31
Venice. The fetes of the Ascension had attracted
thither many English travellers, among them
Lady Pomfret and her two beautiful daughters,
Lady Charlotte Perm or, afterwards governess
to the children of George in., and Lady Sophia ;
Lord Lincoln, subsequently second Duke of
Newcastle ; Sir Francis Dashwood, a future
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and known to
fame as President of the Hell Fire Club ; Mr.
Jackson, the Consul at Genoa ; and others.
There were shows and pageants, the flutter of
flags and the echo of salutes, the Marriage of
the Adriatic, with its gorgeous ceremonial, ex-
cursions to Murano and the islands, the opera,
and the evening muster of the fashionable world
on the Piazza di S. Marco, in all of which the
English travellers took a delighted part. Save,
indeed, that the Venetians were masked, and
that over the sparkle and vivacity of their free-
dom there hung the constant menace of the
Council of Ten, the life of the eighteenth century
differed little from the life of to-day. Such
difference as existed was to be found mainly in
the palaces, where the families of the Venetian
nobility still resided. In these the father, mother,
brother, sister, with the younger branches, formed
32 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
a co-operative household under a single roof,
presided over and administered by a member
of the group. Each individual had his own
table, his own gondola and servants, while his
expenses and his monthly allowance were paid
from the common fund. Marriage of a member
of the nobility with one not noble involved
exclusion of the children from the ranks of the
caste. The members of the order, with their
title of Excellence, their lines of ancestry extending
into a remote past, and their high and picturesque
offices of state, were haughty in the extreme,
and deemed their rank to exceed that of all other
men save sovereign princes. In their relations
with foreigners they were subject to jealous rules
of government. Under no circumstances were
they permitted to address an ambassador, and in
the event of an ambassador entering a cafe, it was
the custom for all the nobles present to leave
immediately. Service in the land forces of the
Republic was generally considered below their
dignity, and their preference inclining to the sea,
the ships of the Venetian fleet were in all cases
officered by nobles. As to the ways and manners
of the social world, the rapacity of the gondoliers,
the importunity of the beggars, and the enjoy-
PARIS 33
ments of the populace, on these the passage of a
century and a half has left but slender traces.
In Venice Elcho mentions that he was intro-
duced to an Earl of Wemyss. It appears that
in the sixteenth century a member of the family,
forsaking Scotland, had entered the service of
the House of Austria as a soldier of fortune,
had fought with distinction, and been raised to
the title. Subsequently he had joined the forces
of the Venetian Republic, under whose banner
his descendants had lived and served. The Earl
of Wemyss of whom Elcho writes was the aged
and sole survivor of this branch of his family.
Quitting Venice at the end of May and
travelling by Innspruck, Munich, and Strasburg,
June finds Elcho once again in Paris at the
Hotel d'Orleans in the Rue des Petits Augustins.
Here he quickly adopted the mode of life preva-
lent among young Englishmen, became possessor
of a carriage, formed an attachment to a lady
at the opera, and engaged masters for music,
dancing, fencing, and mathematics. In dancing he
received instruction from one Marseille, a famous
teacher, who would arrive at the hotel in a coach,
attended by four lacqueys. The lessons were of
an abstruse and complex character, including,
34 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
besides the various dances of the epoch, such sub-
jects as marching, saluting, presenting oneself in a
reception-room, sitting down and serving at table.
On the 1 3th of October, the day of his
departure, he found the gateway of his hotel
blockaded by the lady of the opera to whom
his attentions had been paid ; a crowd having
collected, whose sympathies were with the com-
plainant, he was compelled, with scant chivalry,
to escape by the back door. But at St. Denis,
where the postchaise was awaiting him, the lady
was beforehand, and Mr. tineas Macdonald, the
Scottish banker and Jacobite, had to be called
in to adjust matters before Elcho could proceed
on his journey to England.
Thus, after an absence of three years, he found
himself once more about to revisit his native
country. He was now a finished product of
the grand tour, not merely a virtuoso
' half cur'd, and perfectly well bred,
With nothing but a solo in his head,' l
and, as the custom was, with a trunk full of
spurious old masters from Italy, and a lumber
of bric-a-brac from Paris, but a man having a
cultured acquaintance with music and languages,
1 The Dunciad, Bk. iv. 11. 323-4.
JOURNEY TO LONDON 35
and instructed in all that the Continent had to
teach of the elegances and graces. He was thus
in a very different position for dealing with the
contumely to which his Scottish tongue and his
uncouth manner had formerly exposed him. He
was in the full plumage of a * fine gentleman.'
The fashions of France and the refinements of
Italy might be counted on to secure him respect
in the society of London, where, according to
Walpole, manners * had dwindled to rusticity.'
With some consciousness of the change in his
worldly equipment, on an October day in 1741 he
started from Dover to ride post to London.
Wearing high boots after the French manner, his
hair arranged in a plait, with a Parisian whip and
cocked hat, the very glass of fashion, and a
macaroni to the tips of his fingers, he approached
the outskirts of Rochester. Passers-by detected
in the cavalier the figure of a Frenchman. On
the instant a hue and cry was raised,
' And all and each that passed that way
Did join in the pursuit/
Ignorant of the cause of the commotion, he
suddenly found himself assailed with angry cries
of * Down with the French dog ! ' Pelted with
stones by a rapidly increasing crowd, he was
3 6 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
forced to fly, and putting spurs to his horse, only
succeeded in reaching safety in the open country
beyond. Whether he appeared as a Scotsman
unadorned and plain, or transfigured by his
Parisian graces, England seemed equally deter-
mined to refuse him either sympathy or welcome ;
and the remainder of his journey was given over
to reflections on the irony of the adventure.
In London, moreover, a not less disconcerting
experience awaited him. Together with Lord
StrafFord, 1 who had lived much in Paris, and who,
after the habit of France, carried a muff and a
cocked hat, Elcho paid a visit to the theatre at
Drury Lane, where Garrick was just then begin-
ning to delight the fashionable world. Hardly
were Elcho and his companion seated, when pit
and gallery were thrown into an uproar. On all
sides shouts were raised of c French dogs/ and
* Down with the muff/ and as the objects of the
demonstration refused to withdraw, the more
turbulent portion of the audience betook them-
selves to spitting and flinging apples and candles.
As the violence showed no sign of abating, the
1 William Wentworth (1722-1791), second Earl of StrafFord (of
that creation), married 1740 Lady Anne Campbell, second daughter
of the Duke of Argyll.
LORD SINCLAIR 37
only course open was to retreat. These episodes
did little to reconcile Elcho to England and the
English, and his former antipathies, which foreign
travel had tended to obliterate, rapidly revived.
In London he found his brother, Francis
Charteris. Being now in a proselytising spirit,
Elcho determined to make him a Jacobite.
The guardian of Charteris was the Duke of
Argyll, who was opposed to any attempt to bring
the lad under Jacobite influence. But Elcho
gained his point, and Charteris was packed off to
the Continent with a Jacobite tutor, and eventually
became a supporter of the House of Stuart.
From London Elcho travelled north to rejoin
his father at Wemyss Castle. Here he found
Lord Leven and Lord Sinclair. Lord Sinclair
had taken part in 1715, but had been pardoned
while in exile. He counselled Elcho to enter
the service of King George, and to turn his back
on the Jacobite cause. The Stuarts, he said,
were an ungrateful race, and regarded everything
done for them simply as the fulfilment of a
duty ; and it would, he added, be madness to risk
life and fortune for so weak a dynasty. These
arguments of expediency caused Elcho to hesitate,
and at one moment he appears to have thought
38 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
of applying for a post under the Crown ; but a
deciding influence in the shape of Sir James
Steuart, 1 who shortly afterwards came as a guest
to the Castle, determined him to adhere to the
path of loyalty and adventure.
His home at this time offered little to restrain
his wandering disposition. His father and mother
were now finally separated, while between his
father and himself a quarrel had arisen over the
management of the estates. Attempts to arrange
matters proving unsuccessful, Lord Wemyss took
his departure for England, while Elcho, remaining
in the north, spent the winter (1742-1743) visiting
in Scotland. In the course of his wanderings he
was a guest at Dunrobin, at Alloa, at the house
of Forbes of Culloden, and enjoyed the hospitality
of John Murray of Broughton and the Earl of
Traquair, through whom he was made more
closely acquainted with the party intrigues. In
the early part of 1743, the marriage of his sister
Frances with Sir James Steuart at Dunrobin Castle
bound him in relationship to one of the most
extreme and ardent Jacobites of the time.
The summer of 1743 found him again in
London. He frequented society but little,
1 Sir James Steuart Denham, 1712-1780, political economist.
PROGRESS OF THE CAUSE 39
spending most of his leisure at Vauxhall, or
among the noisy pleasures of the recently insti-
tuted Ranelagh Gardens, c into which everybody
that loved eating, drinking, staring, or crowding
was admitted for twelvepence.' l The English,
with whom he had been friends while abroad, he
now found were less demonstrative and cordial,
and the Cocoa Tree Club, where Jacobites
resorted, and the house of the Duchess of
Hamilton,' 2 where he met persons of his own
nationality, offered the only social atmosphere
congenial to his tastes.
Events of importance had meanwhile occurred
which were not without significance for the
Jacobite party. In January 1742 Sir Robert
Walpole had been driven from office. Party
vicissitudes in England were watched with un-
remitting vigilance and hope by the followers of
James, but the change of ministry had led to
disappointingly little increase of strength in their
political influence. A faint and sluggish support
was always to be found in the political world, but
1 Walpole, Letters.
2 There were two Duchesses of Hamilton living: (i) Anne,
daughter and co-heir of Edward Spencer of Rendlesham, and
widow of Jarnes, fifth Duke ; (2) Elizabeth, daughter and sole
heir of Digby, Lord Gearard, widow of James, fourth Duke.
40 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
it was difficult to locate, and doubly difficult to
measure. At no time, however, after the early
part of the century, in spite of the inflated
gasconades of Sempil 1 and Bohaldie, 1 could the
movement in favour of the Stuarts claim in Eng-
land either the vitality or the cohesion necessary
to bring it to a successful issue. Every month
as it passed diminished the prevailing discontent,
and every year saw the natural tendency to come
to terms with an accomplished fact, promoting a
reconciliation between the people and * the elderly
German ' who occupied the throne.
In France alone did the cause in those days
seem to be advancing. To the Court of France,
through the medium of Sempil and Bohaldie,
came accounts from first to last favourable to the
interests they were promoting. To Fleury it was
represented that the city of London, the heart of
the Empire, was on the side of James, that in
the country a numerous and powerful aristocracy
were only waiting for the moment to declare
themselves in a similar sense, and that provided
France would despatch a force to the shores of
England, a successful rising would most certainly
follow. Summarising the situation in a letter to
1 The Jacobite agents in Paris.
CARDINAL FLEURY 41
M. Amelot, 1 dated January 28, 1744 (when it
had been finally determined to send troops to
England), Sempil wrote : *Le succes est infaillible :
rien ne peut s'opposer au transport des troupes,
et le concours de la nation sera unanime des
qu'elles auront mis pied a terre.' But during
the earlier years of negotiation the sceptical and
cautious Fleury dallied and delayed, raising hopes
which it is now tolerably certain he had no inten-
tion of fulfilling, and promising assistance he had
very little idea of affording.
In Scotland, since 1740, John Murray of
Broughton, that active and sinister figure on the
Jacobite stage, had been busy as agent for the
party : to him while in Edinburgh had come
Bohaldie from Paris with positive assurance that
the French were preparing to help, and that a
landing might be looked for in the autumn of
1742. But the autumn passed without further
sign of activity on the part of France. Suspicion
arose among the Scottish Jacobites as to the exac-
titude of Bohaldie's information. John Murray
was deputed to visit Paris and investigate the
situation. Before his arrival in that city Cardinal
Fleury was dead (January 29, 1743).
1 Amelot de Chaillon, Foreign Minister, 1737-1744.
42 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
It was a commonly held belief that with the
Cardinal the Stuart cause lost its most willing
and powerful friend, but Captain Colin 1 has
shown conclusively that it was only after the
death of Fleury that Louis xv. and Amelot,
his Minister for Foreign Affairs, began seriously
to entertain the idea of an invasion of England.
To Fleury the Stuarts had been no more than
pawns on the political chessboard, which he
might move or not, as suited the purpose of
the moment. But with his death an alteration
took place in the uses to which the Jacobites
could be put.
The defeat of the French at Dettingen (June
27, 1743) rendered a diversion which would
have the effect of withdrawing British troops
from the battlefields of Germany a political
move of primary importance. But before com-
mitting themselves to a policy of active aggression
the Court of France desired more certain intelli-
gence as to the position of affairs in England.
The means chosen for obtaining it were curiously
inadequate. Nothing, perhaps, is more striking
throughout these preliminaries than the worth-
lessness of the persons in whom confidence was
1 Louis XV. et les Jacobites.
MUTUAL MISTRUST 43
placed, and the insufficiency of the facts upon
which policy was determined. In this case
Amelot, not altogether trusting the information
retailed to him by Sempil and Bohaldie,
despatched one Butler, an equerry of Louis, to
visit England during the summer, and report
upon the strength and efficiency of the Jacobite
party in that country.
Thus in 1743, while the Scots through Murray
were testing the sincerity of France, France
through Butler was endeavouring to inform her-
self of the capabilities of the English Jacobites.
The mission of Butler terminated in October ;
towards the middle of that month he returned
to Versailles with a report chiefly founded on the
gossip of a few reputed Jacobite peers, with whom
he had caroused in London and consorted at
Lichfield races. In spite of its precarious founda-
tion the report was considered entirely satisfac-
tory. Murray in the meanwhile had returned
with the news that France was conditionally
planning a descent on the coast of England. 1
Everything, therefore, was pointing to the oc-
currence of events of high importance when,
1 State Papers, Domestic, George //., B. 86, No. 69. This, how-
ever, differs from Memorials, p. 42.
44 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
in September 1743, Elcho again set out for
France.
Landing at Boulogne he paid a visit to Earl
Marischal, then residing at his country seat, some
two leagues from the town. He found Mari-
schal in the midst of his ' menagerie of young
heathens ' l Mademoiselle Emette, a child of
Turkish origin, whom his brother 2 had taken
captive at the siege of Oczakow (1737), Stepan
a Tartar, Ibrahim a Turk, and a third male
attendant reputed to be a Thibetan and re-
lated to the Grand Lama. Marischal had
adopted Emette as his daughter, just as, earlier
in the century, Baron d'Argental had adopted
a Turkish child, Mademoiselle AYsee ; 3 but
whereas Aisee won for herself a place in the
literature of France and enjoyed the friendship
of Madame du Deffand and other celebrities of
the day, Emette lived unnoted save for her
relationship to Marischal. Here Elcho learned
that his father, Lord Wemyss, had passed
through Boulogne in the spring of '43, on his
way to Versailles. Lord Wemyss had been sent
1 Andrew Lang, The Companions of Pickle, p. 31.
2 Marshal Keith (1696-1758).
3 See Edmund Gosse, French Profiles, p. 35.
LORD WEMYSS AT VERSAILLES 45
by the English supporters of the Chevalier to
solicit from the French Court some demonstra-
tion in favour of the House of Stuart. The
English Jacobites steadily declined to put signa^
tures to incriminating documents. 1 They re-
membered that owing to want of such a pre-
caution, James n. was apprised of the names of
those who were favouring the Prince of Orange
in 1688. Their negotiations were conducted
with the French Court by word of mouth. It
was necessary, therefore, from time to time to
send representatives, of whom Lord Wemyss was
one, to further their cause at Versailles. This
was typical of their procedure, for not only were
they circumspect when plotting, but when the
moment for action arrived they proved that they
had neither daring nor spirit.
While engaged on this mission in Paris, Lord
Wemyss received a letter from James containing
a reference to Elcho. * When you see your son/
he wrote, 'with whom I am acquainted, and
whom I esteem, make him very kind compliments
from me. I hope the time is not far off in which
I may be able to give you and your family dis-
tinguished marks of my favour/ But owing to
1 Colin, Louis XV. et les Jacobites, p. 13.
46 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
the breach between father and son, this message
was never delivered.
In Paris Elcho found Lord John Drummond,
who had lately received a commission from Louis
to raise the regiment of Royal Scots, the com-
panies of which were to be commanded by High-
land chiefs attached to the House of Stuart. 1
Here also he made the acquaintance of Lord
Sempil and Bohaldie, who gave encouraging
reports of the dispositions then being made by
the French Court ; but his Stuart loyalty was for
a moment in jeopardy. Profound dissatisfaction
with the treatment he had received from his father
suggested service under the Hanoverian Crown as
a safe and easy form of revenge. The advice,
however, of his younger brother, then in Paris,
and already a full-fledged Jacobite, prevailed ; and
he was saved from a step so much at variance with
the habitual firmness of his character.
In the month of December 1743 was celebrated
the marriage of Louis Philippe, Due d'Orleans
(1723-1785), and Louise Henriette de Bourbon
Conti. On the evening of the ceremony Elcho
and his brother, in * magnificent dresses,' which
1 In the Stuart Papers may be seen the names of the various
captains of companies to whom authority was given.
A NARROW ESCAPE 47
had been made for the occasion, attended at
Versailles. Here they enjoyed the privilege of
looking on while Louis played lansquenet, and
later in the evening they were permitted to stake
and lose twenty-five louis d'or at the King's table.
Though but twenty-two years of age, Elcho had
now seen much of the world and much of what
a life of pleasure had to offer, and there is already
a note of sedateness and fatigue in his references
to the diversions of Paris, to its theatres, its public
baths, its gaming-houses and suppers, and its
parties to Versailles and the neighbourhood. On
the occasion of a supper-party given by himself
he had a narrow escape from an appalling disaster.
He had invited a cosmopolitan gathering of
4 actresses, a Hanoverian Baron, a few Swedes
and Danes, and other strangers. 1 Illness pre-
vented the host from being present. In the
middle of the festivity an alarm of fire was raised,
and before the guests had time to escape the
floor gave way, precipitating the party into the
room below, where all, to the number of sixteen,
perished in the flames. Elcho expresses artless
horror that his guests should thus have lost their
lives at a moment when they were * thinking only
of pleasure/
48 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
This winter he was a frequent visitor at the
house of ^neas Macdonald, the Jacobite banker.
He observed one day in December that a Mr,
Buchanan, who habitually resided there, had left.
He made inquiries of Macdonald, who replied in
confidence that Buchanan, together with Bohaldie,
had gone on a secret mission to Rome, but that
Elcho would shortly learn the object of their
journey. This in fact betokened the commence-
ment of a new phase in the drama. On
November 13, 1743, Amelot had definitely
announced to Lord Sempil that Louis xv. had
determined to despatch to England those forces
which the English Jacobites had stated to be
requisite for the success of the rebellion. On
December loth Louis communicated the project
in a letter to his uncle the King of Spain. And
it was in accordance with this policy of the
French Court that Bohaldie had been sent to
Rome in order to summon the Prince to France.
The weary years of waiting, of espionage,
of eavesdropping and intrigue were at last to
give place to action. A brighter stage of that
romantic endeavour and impossible aspiration,,
to be brought to nought in the last tragedy of
Culloden, had now been reached. At dawn on
CHARLES LEAVES ROME 49
January 9, 1744, Prince Charles Edward, after
saying farewell to his father, whom he was never
to see again, took his departure from Rome.
As has been often stated, it was given out that
Charles and Henry his brother had left the city
on a hunting expedition. Outside Rome, Charles
assumed the disguise of a Spanish courier, and,
provided with passports by Cardinal Aquaviva,
posted through the snow to Massa, while Henry,
remaining at the hunting lodge, continued to send
baskets of wild geese and other game, stated to
have been killed by Charles, to friends in Rome,
So successful was the plot that even on
January 2fth Walton was writing still under
the impression that Cisterna was the goal, and
hunting the object of the Prince's journey, though
he notes the fact that more luggage had been
prepared than usually accompanied him on such
expeditions. Only on January 28th did Walton
despatch to Newcastle certain intelligence of what
had occurred. Writing again on February 4th,
he apologises for the tardiness of his information ;
his principal correspondent in Rome had chosen
this critical moment to die. Congratulations, he
adds, had poured in upon James, and the most
accomplished writers of the day were busy inditing
50 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
poems on the subject of Charles's enterprise. 1
History and mythology were being ransacked for
parallels, and in the flight of Demetrius from
Rome to regain the kingdom of Syria pedantry
had discovered what was considered a most pro-
pitious and appropriate precedent.
Bohaldie returned to Paris. Charles pursued
his journey in the company of Buchanan and the
Maitre d'hotel of the Bailly de Tencin, a man
' fort usite a voyager par mer et par terre ' 5 At
Genoa he was joined by Sir John Graeme or
Graham, a son of Mr. James Graham, solicitor
to the late King James, and, travelling under
Bohaldie's cipher name of Mallock, he reached
Paris in the first week of February. A few days
later Elcho was taken to see Charles at the house
of Lord Sempil, where he was lodged. c I found
the Prince,' he says, 'all alone in his chamber,
drinking tea. He opened the door for me and
shut it himself, and seemed very uneasy. He
told me that the King of France had made him
come, and had promised to send into England an
army of ten thousand men, commanded by Mare-
chal Saxe, who was to assemble and embark them
at Dunkirk. He delivered to me on behalf of
1 State Papers^ Tuscany, February 1744. 2 Ibid,
AT DUNKIRK 51
his father the commission of a colonel of dragoons,
and directed me to appear at Dunkirk towards
the end of the month of February 1744.' To
Marischal Charles gave a patent to command in
Scotland.
Shortly afterwards Charles and Bohaldie started
for Gravelines, there to await the setting forth of
the army to England. Within a few days Earl
Marischal left for Dunkirk, with Lord Louis
Drummond and Macdonald of Glengarry 1 as
aides-de-camp. Elcho joined them on March ist.
At this point the Narrative appended to this
Memoir takes up the story, and it is only
necessary briefly to supplement the facts therein
stated. The details which Elcho gives of the
measures adopted by the French Government are
substantially correct. He was, however, unaware
that even while the preparations were being
pushed forward with so much apparent energy
at Dunkirk, doubt and hesitation had already
crept into the counsels of the Ministers in Paris.
Trustworthy reports had been received at Ver-
sailles, which gave a different colour to the
promised reception of the French in England. 2
1 Identified by Mr. Lang with Pickle the Spy.
2 Colin, Louis XV. et les Jacobites.
52 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
The regular troops quartered in that country were
more numerous than was supposed, the City
authorities had renewed their oaths of allegiance
to the House of Hanover, a powerful fleet had
assembled in the Channel, and it was now certain
that none of the English ships would join the
rebels ; while at Dover, Rochester, and neighbour-
ing towns the inhabitants could be seen at their
doors preparing such weapons as they possessed
for use against the foreigner. 1 As to the Jacobites
themselves, report said they were few in number
and of little account. They had neither organi-
sation nor plan. Wintry weather prevailed in
England, and they were averse to take saddle in
it. They were only venting that loyalty which
their claret inspired. 2 In fact, fear of the fleur-
de-lis was damping enthusiasm for the White
Cockade, and it was pointed out that the proposed
action by the French would be more likely to
strengthen than to weaken the authority of the
House of Hanover.
On March 7th a tempest burst upon the ship-
ping assembled at Dunkirk. The havoc and
1 The Swiss waiters in the metropolis offered to form a battalion
for the defence of London. Doran, Jacobites in London, vol. ii. p. 106.
2 Fitzroy Bell, Memorials of John Murray of Broug/tton, p. 49.
ABANDONED BY FRANCE 53
destruction which followed gave a plausible ex-
cuse for abandoning a project which the French
Government had already resolved not to proceed
with.
Charles was inconsolable. On March 6th he
had written to his father, ' I hope in a few days
to date my letters from a place which will show
of itself that all is finished.' 1 But it was not to
be. The news of the abandonment had been
broken to him by Marechal Saxe. He appealed
against the decision; he urged that Scotland
should be made the objective, and foreshadowed,
failing the aid of France, his own desperate call
to the loyalty of the Highlanders. * Ne me
convient-il pas mieux d'aller perir, s'il le faut, a
la tete de ces braves gens, que de trainer une
vie languissante dans 1'exil et la dependance ? ' 2
Marischal went to Gravelines to see him.
Charles proposed that they should hire a boat
and proceed to Scotland. Marischal was too
practical for such visionary romance, and declined.
But this was the Prince Charles of the Highlands,
gallant and adventurous, the Charles of ballad and
song and of sentiment tender and undying.
1 Andrew Lang, Prince Charles Edward, p. 65.
2 Prince Charles to Lord Sempil, March 15, 1744.
54 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Elcho loitered with the ships. On April
he embarked at Boulogne, and on April 7th he
landed on the coast of East Lothian and went
to the house of his brother-in-law, Sir James
Steuart of Goodtrees. But he had no idea of
skulking undiscovered. He was determined to dis-
arm suspicion by a policy of frankness. Having
stayed one night at Goodtrees, he left for
Edinburgh, and at once called on the Lord
Justice-Clerk Milton. 1 Elcho was asked many
questions about the affair at Dunkirk. He gave
out that after spending the winter in Paris he
had arrived on the coast and found an embargo
laid on all ships, that he had been compelled to
wait till the embargo was removed, and thus had
been an involuntary spectator of the preparations
for invasion, but that at the first opportunity he
had escaped from a country which was meditating
hostilities against England. The Lord Justice-
Clerk was delighted with the youthful traveller ,
and invited him to remain for supper. They
spent a convivial evening. Elcho was quite un-
suspected, while the Lord Justice-Clerk was
thoroughly satisfied with the information he had
extracted.
1 Andrew Fletcher, Lord Milton.
Ill
HAVING safely weathered the inquiries of the
Lord Justice-Clerk, Elcho remained in Scotland
till July, much of the time a guest at Goodtrees,
where his brother-in-law, Sir James Steuart,
kept open house for Jacobites, and where many
conversions to the cause were effected. Here
too a reconciliation was arranged between Elcho
and his father. On July i8th he started for
London, and riding with speed accomplished the
journey in five days, reaching Berwick on the
1 8th, and Durham, Bawtry, Stilton, and London
respectively on the I9th, 2Oth, 2ist, and 22nd.
In London he found Murray of Broughton on
the point of setting out for the Low Countries
and France to concert plans with Bohaldie and
Charles for future action. Elcho was athirst for
adventure, and it was agreed that he should join
in the expedition. On August 21, 1744, the
friends landed at Ostend, which was then held
by British troops. Departing thence for the
purpose of visiting the army of the allies, they
55
56 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
reached the plains of Lille, where they found the
English, Hanoverian, Dutch, and Austrian armies
encamped, on August 24th. The combined
forces had recently crossed the Scheldt, but
jealousies and dissensions between the leaders had
led to helpless inaction, and the march south to
their then position fronting the fortresses of
France had been rendered useless by the absence
of a siege train, which the Austrians and Dutch
had undertaken to provide. 1 It was at this life-
less moment of the tangled continental war, which
since the death of Charles vi. in 1740 had kept
Europe under arms, that Murray and Elcho
joined the allied army. Here Elcho was to
form a brief acquaintance with military service.
General Campbell, 2 Colonel of the Scots Greys,
having provided him with two horses, he was
able to take part in cavalry exercises, and in a
general foraging expedition. He was thus able
to qualify himself in some degree for the com-
mission he already held as colonel of dragoons
in Prince Charles's unrecruited army. But if
in military affairs there was observable a certain
1 J. Fortescue, History of the Army, vol. ii. p. 107.
2 Lieut.-General Hon. Sir James Campbell, K.B. (1667-1745),
third son of second Earl of Loudoun, killed at Fontenoy.
MURRAY OF BROUGHTON 57
inertness, nothing of the kind could be charged
against the hospitality of the regiments in camp.
Every evening there was a banquet at which
they were welcome guests, their hosts as a rule
being the Scottish officers, between whom and
the English they observed that there was little
or no association. Ten days of feasting and
inactivity were, however, sufficient, and on Sep-
tember 3rd they quitted the camp and travelled
to Brussels.
Here Murray parted from Elcho in order to
keep a secret assignation with Bohaldie. Murray's
own account of what followed is given in the
Memorials. There he narrates how, contrary to
every rule of intrigue, he found Bohaldie in the
taproom of the Sun Inn, the favourite resort of the
British in Rotterdam, playing cards * in a promis-
cuous company ' ; how he journeyed with him to
Paris ; how he there met Charles * at the back
of the great stables of the Tuileries/ and how
they took counsel together upon the subject of a
possible descent upon Scotland. The impression
conveyed is that Murray used his best endeavour to
persuade Charles of the folly of such an enterprise.
But in the Memorials, which were written with the
double purpose of vindicating the author and of
58 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
vilifying Bohaldie, it was essential that Murray
should exonerate himself from the responsibility
of having induced Charles to hazard his fortunes
in '45. He states, therefore, that on this occasion
(September, '44) when Charles said 'that at all
events he was determined to come the following
summer to Scotland, though with a single foot-
man,' he himself pointed out to the Prince that
such a scheme could only be attended with
disaster. Elcho admits that Murray, when he
rejoined him at Rotterdam, repeated the purport
of this conversation. But how little value he
subsequently attached to the statement is shown
in the Journal and the Narrative, in both of which
Elcho consistently charges Murray with having
incited Charles to come to Scotland. c Faithful
are the wounds of a friend/ But can it be
doubted that if Murray had been sincere in his
endeavour he could have dissuaded Charles and
arrested the undertaking ?
One of the minor paradoxes of history is the
process by which dubious reputations are accident-
ally renovated. It is assumed that accusations
are made against an informer such as Murray, not
on the cogency of evidence, but because the
general trend of his character marks him out as
Ml
URRAY OF BROUGHTON 59
a convenient scapegoat. The instinct of every one
concerned, it is said, would naturally be to lay
the blame of failure on the most despicable figure
of the drama, and so it comes about that the
removal of extraneous mud leads to a complete
process of cleansing. In course of time we are
made to see, not any longer the lean and furtive
figure of a traitor or informer, whose actual faults
have been exaggerated, but a respectable citizen,
whose innocence has been groaning beneath a
burden of cruel accusation. The limit of his
capacity for guilt becomes, in fact, his salvation.
This to some extent has been the case with Murray
the tendency now is to acquit him of responsi-
bility in the matter. His apologists say that
Charles was headstrong, sanguine, and ambitious,
that he was mortified and goaded by the failure of
1744, and that in the defeat of the English at
Fontenoy (May 1745) he found the final motive
for action. Moreover it is said 'that Charles
himself always accepted full responsibility for the
step, and never sought to screen himself at the
expense of any of his followers.' 1 All this is
doubtless true. But does it affect the view that
Murray, who alone was completely aware of the
1 Murray, Memorials, preface, p. xvii.
60 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
state of affairs in Scotland, who was the sole and
trusted intermediary between Charles and the
Jacobites of the north, and who, in 1745, con-
ducted the correspondence which preceded the
arrival of Charles, could, had he chosen to do so,
have made Charles realise that his proposal was
mere midsummer madness ? To hold such a
power and to fail to use it, to be given such
opportunity and to suffer it to pass unemployed
- surely such dereliction justifies the accusations
of Elcho and the censures of Maxwell. 1
While Murray was thus gulling Charles with
false advice in Paris, Elcho gratified his restless
love of travel by a tour through Holland, in the
course of which he visited the principal towns and
gardens of that country. In Leyden he met the
Comte de St. Germain, c who passed as a maker of
gold, pretended to have a secret for prolonging
life, and played very well on the violin.' This
gives but a feeble measure of this * conte pour
rire.' 2 The precursor of Cagliostro, he was
famous throughout Europe. Paris, however, was
the headquarters of his mystifications ; and here
through many years he successfully played on the
1 Maxwell of Kirkconnell's Narrative, pp. 55-77.
3 Frederick n., king of Prussia, to Voltaire, May i, 1760.
THE COMTE DE ST. GERMAIN 61
credulity of the French. Louis xv. gave him
rooms in the Castle of Chambord, Madame de
Pompadour consulted him, and even in an age
when the philosophes were kindling doubt and
inquiry, there were not found wanting numbers
of persons to believe that he was possessed of
the elixir of life, that he could increase the size
of pearls, and remove flaws from diamonds with-
out diminishing their weight. Although he was
then only in his thirty-seventh year, a popular
superstition credited him with having survived
through twenty centuries, in the course of which
he was said to have been acquainted with Jesus
Christ and to have been a guest at the feast of
Cana in Galilee. Neither his origin nor his name
nor the sources of his wealth were known, and it
was not till his death in 1784 that the superstitions
he had been able to inspire were finally dissolved.
On September 24th Elcho met Murray at
Rotterdam. Murray was the bearer of letters and
despatches to Charles's supporters in Scotland, and
of commissions appointing Lord Wemyss governor
of the county of Fife and the Duke of Hamilton 1
a lieutenant-general of the forces in Scotland.
As these documents if discovered would be fatally
1 James, sixth duke (1724-1758), succeeded his father 1743.
62 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
compromising, the travellers purchased pistols,
intending, if searched, to place the papers on the
muzzles and blow them into the air. Fortu-
nately no occasion arose for testing the merits
of this precautionary scheme, and on October
2nd Elcho arrived unmolested in London. In
November he was once more in Scotland at Colt-
ness with his brother-in-law, Steuart ; together
they visited the Duke of Hamilton, who declared
his active partisanship for the Jacobite cause.
The duke subsequently contributed fifteen hundred
pounds to the fund which was being formed in
Edinburgh for Charles, but he took no part in the
rising itself.
Returning to Edinburgh in December, Elcho
joined with Murray in founding the 'Buck Club/
to bring together such persons as were supporters
of the Stuarts. The scheme of the club was to
meet once a week for supper, and by social
gatherings, association, and loyal toasts to pro-
mote the harmony and progress of the cause. At
one of the first meetings of the club Murray told
the members the purport of his interviews with
Charles in Paris. According to his account,
Charles intended to come to Scotland, with or
without French support, in the course of the follow-
THE BUCK CLUB 63
ing summer, and throw himself on the loyalty of
his friends. What, said Murray, is to be done ?
The majority of the members voted for a despatch
to Charles insisting that unless he could bring
with him six thousand regular troops, arms for
ten thousand more, and thirty thousand louis
d'or, it would mean ruin to himself, to the cause,
and to his supporters. A document was accord-
ingly drawn up by Murray embodying this view,
'and at a meeting in the tavern under the
Piazzas of the Parliament Close ' it was handed,
in the presence of Lochiel, Glengarry, Elcho,
and the Duke of Perth, l to Lord Traquair, who
was to convey it to London and thence trans-
mit it to Charles in Paris. Elcho gives a list
of those members of the club who stated that
they would join Charles in any event. 2 All
of these subsequently took part in the rising
except the Duke of Hamilton, Lord Traquair,
Macleod of Macleod, Macdonald of Lorn, and
Viscount Kenmure.
1 Murray, Memorials, p. 117.
2 It is as follows : Dukes Hamilton, Perth ; Earls Nithsdale,
Traquair ; Viscount Kenmure $ Lord Nairne ; Viscount Strathallan ;
Mr. Murray, father of the Earl of Dunmore ; Lochiel $ Glengarry ;
Clanronald ; Keppoch ; Macleod of Macleod ; Macdonald of
Glencoe ; Stuart of Ardshiel j Oliphant of Cask ; Hepburn of
Keith 5 Hamilton ; Lord Pitsligo ; Carnegie ; Macdo-pald of Lorn.'
3
64 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
The club, however, was divided against itself :
some said they would join though Charles came
alone, others said that they would join only if he
came with French assistance. But if the Buck
Club failed to effect much for the cause, it at any
rate served as a greatly needed social meeting-place
during the winter. Amusements and diversions
in Edinburgh were fitful and rare. Recreations
and the simplest pleasures were still frowned on
by the Church and denounced from the pulpit,
and the gloom of the Sabbath still cast its shadow
over the remaining days of the week. But in
spite of the admonitions against ' promiscuous
dancing ' and against the playhouse, which the
writings of popular divines represented as the
actual temple of the devil, 1 there were not want-
ing signs that the reign of austerity imposed by
the Church was drawing to a close. Formerly
everything which could promote animation or
lessen dejection on a Scottish Sabbath had been
condemned without compromise, but now the
spirit of enjoyment was beginning to assert itself,
To walk through the fields or venture into the
country, to loiter in the streets between the hours
of worship, to look idly from the window, or
1 Arnot, History of Edinburgh, 4th ed., 1818, p. 281.
THE ASSEMBLIES 65
even to bathe in the sea or swim in rivers, on the
Sabbath these were practices no longer univers-
ally censured by public opinion.
In the matter of the playhouse and the assembly,
the ministers, to their great mortification, were
losing ground, and * the most part of the ladies
were turning rebels to their remonstrances, not-
withstanding the frightful danger.' 1 In this case
Elcho, we cannot doubt, was staunchly on the
side of the rebels, and he tells us indeed that he
attended regularly at the theatre and at dances.
The plays were given at this time in the Tailors'
Hall in the Cowgate, where pit and boxes cost
2s. 6d., gallery is. 6d. 2 Attempts to set up an
independent playhouse had been attended with
rioting ; the Edinburgh Presbytery had invoked
the law to restrain the performances, and the
enterprise had perforce to be abandoned. Even
at the Tailors' Hall the drama was but a smuggled
pleasure, carried on, contrary to the letter of the
law, * under the evasion of a concert of music
with a play between the Acts.' 3 Edinburgh, in
fact, had advanced exactly to the point which
1 Burt, Letters from a Gentleman in Scotland, vol. i. p. 193.
2 Arnot, p. 281.
3 Arnot, p. 281 5 J. Ramsay, vol. ii. 547.
E
66 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
London had reached ninety years before, when
Sir W. Davenant introduced his first dramatic
performances under the guise of musical enter-
tainments.
The assemblies, which received more counten-
ance than the plays, were held weekly in the old
Assembly Rooms. Dancing began at five and
continued till ten or eleven at night, the
tickets of admission costing 2s. 6d. At the head
of the room some lady of fashion would be seated
as president, wearing her badge of office a gold
medal with motto and device, emblematical of
charity and parental tenderness. The arrange-
ments were primitive and uncomfortable, and
before the entertainment was half over the room
was often filled with smoke from the flam-
beaux of the footmen, who were allowed to stand
in the entry. 1 On nights when there was no
assembly, Elcho and other young men combined to
give a dance. Edmund Burt, 2 in one of his letters,
writes that ' he never saw so many pretty women
of distinction together as at the Assembly.' Elcho
writes to the same effect, and it was not many
weeks before he proposed to and was accepted by
Miss Graham of Airth. Difficulties arose over
1 Arnot, p. 293. 2 Letters, 1754, vol. i. p. 193.
LORD TRAQUAIR 67
the settlements, and as no further reference to
Miss Graham occurs in the yournal, it is to be
presumed that the engagement was broken off.
Having exhausted the sober gaieties of Edin-
burgh, and desirous of raising money for his
intended marriage, in April 1745 Elcho started
on his final journey to London. The necessary
money was not forthcoming, but he remained in
London till June. His life there was a repetition
of the previous year Ranelagh, Vauxhall, the
theatre, tavern dinners with his countrymen from
the north, Lords Lauderdale, Home, Traquair,
Cranston, Balcarres, and the * Chevaliers Douglas
and de Stuart,' members of Parliament, and both
avowedly attached to the Jacobite cause. Often,
too, he attended in the mornings at the House of
Commons, which was then investigating the con-
duct of Admirals Mathews and Lestock in the
Battle of Toulon ; here he was introduced to
Speaker Onslow by Mr. Stewart, Provost of Edin-
burgh, who was subsequently tried for his remiss-
ness in the defence of Edinburgh against Prince
Charles.
In June, together with his brother, Mr.
Charteris, he left London. Thus closed his last
visit to the city ; within twelve months he was
68 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
an exile, never to be pardoned, and never to
revisit his native country.
Meanwhile, between Charles in France and
Murray in Scotland communication had been
meagre and vague. Charles was collecting his
energies for the venture, but the prospect held
no tinge of encouragement. France was apathetic.
Louis xv., indeed, afforded a pension, but the
Stuart cause had ceased to be a factor in the
politics of Europe. The events of 1744 had
proved its poverty of resource, and no real help
was to be expected from Versailles. The English
Jacobites were inert. Charles could only centre
dim hopes on the loyalty of Scotland. His
advisers were quarrelling among themselves ;
accusations and counter-accusations were darken-
ing counsel. On all sides confidence seemed to
be ebbing, and the calls on Charles's self-reliance
were constant and extreme.
He must have been imperfectly informed of
what was passing in Edinburgh. The Memorial
of the Buck Club confided to Traquair was never
despatched. It was the ultimatum of the Stuart
supporters, the document upon which the fate of
a kingdom might depend ; yet Traquair, having
arrived in London, was unable to procure a
CHARLES LANDS IN SCOTLAND 69
messenger cheap enough for his penuriousness.
Twenty-five pounds, the lowest offer, was not low
enough for this indifferent nobleman, and, rather
than expend more money, he kept the letter in
his pocket. After four months he had the
effrontery to return it to Murray.
In May, Charles, prompted rather by his
rising ambition and growing impatience than by
any reform in his circumstances, despatched Sir
Hector Maclean to Edinburgh with information
of his pending arrival in Scotland. Sir Hector's
papers were not to be opened till he found him-
self in the presence of the Duke of Perth. The
Duke was absent from Edinburgh. Murray
begged Sir Hector to await the Duke's return
in the country ; but Sir Hector had boots and
shoes to be tried on and refused to leave the
town. The authorities were vigilant and sus-
picious, and before the dilatory Baronet could
deliver his despatch, he was arrested and his
papers confiscated. He had, however, delivered
a verbal message, and when Elcho returned to
Edinburgh it was known in the inner circle of
the faithful that Charles was to be expected
but when or in what manner or with what
support no man could tell. The Narrative, it
70 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
will be seen, mentions a further letter to
Charles sent off in charge of young Glengarry
on receipt of Lord Traquair's belated news.
This letter, Murray says in the Memorials,
was to restrain Charles from setting out, but
it also carried a plan of campaign, a map of
Scotland, and a suggestion for the seizure of
Edinburgh Castle, not forgetting a request that
Murray might be made aide-de-camp. Murray
was at least ready to exploit the inevitable. But
the messenger lingered until it was too late.
When Glengarry arrived in France, the fatal
step had been taken. Charles, with his little
band of followers, was on the high seas, bound
for Scotland. His adventures after leaving
France will be found summarised in the succeed-
ing Narrative.
On August 2nd Elcho was in Edinburgh. On
that day a brother of Mr. Buchanan of Arnprior
brought him a letter from Murray. It stated
that Charles had landed on the coast of Lochaber.
Elcho at once sought an interview with Murray,
and implored him to persuade Charles to return,
unless he was accompanied by troops from
France. Quitting Murray, Elcho set out for
Wemyss Castle. Crossing from Leith to King-
CHARLES LANDS IN SCOTLAND 71
horn, he found himself a fellow-passenger with
the Lord President, 1 who was on his way to the
north to prevent as far as he could the clans
from joining Charles. He told Elcho that
Charles had landed in Scotland, and spoke with
compassion of the future and of the many
honourable gentlemen doomed to ruin, for the
rebellion would be but a flash in the pan, a flame
kindled among straws, and would bring evil days
for Scotland. He stated that Cope had sufficient
troops with which to repress the rising. Did
he know that in his young companion he was
addressing a supporter of the Stuarts and a
possible rebel ? It is more than probable ; but
the covert warning was thrown away upon his
hearer.
1 Duncan Forbes of Culloden, 1685-1747.
IV
THE last weeks that Elcho ever spent at his home
were disturbed only by uncertainty and suspense
as to what was occurring in the north. The
long August days were passed in feverishly wait-
ing for word of victory or defeat, for news which
would decide his fate, summon him to throw in
his lot with the rebels, or leave him to possess
his future in peace with its promise of bounty
and content.
Would Charles return to France ? Would he
raise the clans, or would he be crushed at the
outset by the soldiers of Cope ? Rumour was
busy through the land, and amid the conflict of
reports Elcho and his father were debating on
action. It is easy to reconstruct the arguments
they must have exchanged as they sat in that rude
hall, where portraits of ancestors faithful to the
Stuarts seemed to smile their approval, or as they
paced the terrace slanting seaward and waited
impatiently for the message. Such discussions
must have been held in many a score of homes
72
ELCHO JOINS CHARLES 73
in Scotland at this time. From Durrisdeer it
will be remembered that the Master of Ballantrae
set forth with his dozen men ' the white cockade
in every hat' only on the toss of a coin.
Chance as blind, and reason as precarious, must
have determined many who were not unreservedly
either for adventurous loyalty to the Stuarts or
passive obedience to the Sovereign. But, Jacobite
as he was, Elcho needed some assurance that it
was no will-o'-the-wisp for which he was to
hazard all. Accordingly, when word came in
the early days of September that Charles had
arrived at Perth, a messenger was sent from
Wemyss to inquire of Murray to what point
the forces of Charles were furnished for war.
Murray's answer was decisive : the Prince's
followers already numbered six thousand. 1 A
like number were expected immediately to join,
while with the army were the Spanish General
Macdonald and the French General O'Sullivan.
4 It was with fictions such as these,' writes Elcho
many years later, ' that the Secretary Murray
deceived everybody into embarking on this enter-
prise.' But at the moment no place was left for
1 Charles's troops at this time comprised approximately two
thousand men.
74 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
hesitation, and on September nth Elcho said
farewell to his father and, attended by a servant, 1
rode away from the Castle to join the Prince.
Staying one night in Edinburgh, he left on the
1 2th for Preston Hall, a house belonging to the
Dowager Duchess of Gordon. Here on the
following day he was present at the marriage of
his brother, Francis Charteris, with Lady Frances
Gordon, sister to the Duke. He informed his
brother of the step he was about to take. Francis
thought it no moment to make so desperate a
course himself, but gave Elcho leave to take
what money he could find in his bureau. Elcho
had already in his possession one thousand
guineas ; this additional sum, therefore, amount-
ing to fifteen hundred guineas, which was to
give rise to so much dispute between him and
Charles in after years, made him a wealthy recruit
for the cause.
On the night of September i6th he joined the
army at Gray's Mill, in the neighbourhood of
Edinburgh. The Prince was quartered in a small
room of the miller's house, and here he had his
first interview with Charles since the disaster of
1 Tiddeman, who remained with him throughout the campaign
and accompanied him to France.
INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES 75
Dunkirk. They were nearly matched in age ;
they had been familiar friends in Rome ; Elcho
had already given active evidence of his loyalty
in 1744. Charles received him cordially, ap-
pointed him first aide-de-camp, and held a long
conversation with him. Nothing that Elcho has
to narrate is more surprising than what passed at
this interview. Hardly were they seated when
Charles began to speak of Lord George Murray. 1
He told Elcho that he knew Lord George had
joined him only to betray him, and he warned
Elcho to be on his guard, and never to talk of
his (Charles's) affairs in Lord George's presence.
Elcho attributes this violent suspicion entirely to
Secretary Murray's influence ; he holds that in
Lord George the Secretary saw a rival too over-
shadowing and powerful, and that it therefore
became his policy to undermine Lord George
in the Prince's esteem. In this view he is
amply corroborated by Maxwell. 2 Unfortunately
Murray had weapons wherewith to play upon
Charles's credulity. Lord George had shortly
before this date been appointed Sheriff-
depute for Perthshire. He had been in com-
1 Lord George had joined the army at Perth about September yth.
2 Maxwell's Narrative, p. 56.
76 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
munication with Cope, and his son was fighting
for King George. These facts were sufficient.
They gave Secretary Murray his opportunity, and
the distrust which marred the relations of Charles
and Lord George is one of the evils to be placed
to his dark account.
Charles and Elcho talked far into the night;
their meeting was interrupted only by the advent
of a deputation from the municipal authority of
Edinburgh, petitioning for delay pending terms
of surrender. Then occurred an incident not
recorded in the Journal, but noticed by Mr.
Lang, and detailed in the trial of the Lord
Provost Stewart, which strangely confirms the
statement as to the suspicion which had been
planted in Charles's mind.
It appears that one John Coutts, late Lord
Provost of Edinburgh, was one of the deputies.
He states that they met Lord George Murray,
who interviewed Charles, proffered their request,
and was refused ; that they prevailed upon
Lord George to try again, and that then * the
deponent (Coutts) could hear the Prince say
" My Lord Elcho, Lord George has not spirit to
put this order (the dismissal of the deputation)
in execution : you must go and do it for him."
EDINBURGH 77
Upon which the late Lord Elcho came out of
the room from the Pretender's Son, and bid the
deponent and the rest of the Deputies to get
them gone. That the said Lord George Murray
followed the Deputies out, and whispered to the
Deponent, " I know your pinch ; you want to
have the consent of your principal inhabitants.
Make haste to town : you '11 have an hour or two
to obtain it." ' l
This evidence, given on oath, has the appear-
ance of truth ; only part of it would have come
within Elcho's immediate observation, and that
part he may well have forgotten, or thought it
not worth while to mention.
Coutts and his party dismissed, and on their
road back to Edinburgh in their hackney coach,
Charles and Elcho were once more alone. Charles
thereupon confided to his companion that he was
in the greatest distress for want of money,
according to the Narrative that his funds
were reduced to fifty guineas, and added, with
prophetic insight, that he stood in dire need of
fifteen hundred guineas. Elcho made a ready
response by producing his purse and counting
out the required sum. Almost before their
1 Trial of Archibald Stewart for neglect of Duty, p. 171.
78 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
interview was ended, in the * sleepy grey of
dawn,* Lochiel and five hundred men had
taken possession of the city. The same day
(September lyth) at noon, Charles made his
entry into Edinburgh. On his left rode
Elcho, on his right the Duke of Perth. In
describing the scene, of which he was a witness,
Henderson notes that as the procession passed
through the King's Park, and drew near to the
Palace of Holyrood, ' Charles seemed very
thoughtful, notwithstanding his endeavours to
disguise ; was very attentive to those about him,
and so observing of Lord Elcho, that for above
five minutes he fixed his left eye sideways upon
him.' 1 The enthusiasm that greeted them, the
huzzas of the mob, the cries for the House of
Stuart, the entry into Holyrood, that moment
so dramatic in its triumph and so fatal in its
sequel, these are spoken of in the Narrative.
Maxwell says, c The joy seemed universal. " God
save the King " was echoed back from all quarters
of the town/ But making ' holiday to see Cassar,
and to rejoice in his triumph/ was one thing,
unsheathing the sword another, and howsoever
1 Andrew Henderson, History of the Rebellion, 1745-1746, fifth
edition, p. 50.
PRESTONPANS 79
ready the mob were to shout for King James,
but a slender handful of the citizens were found
to fight for Prince Charles. Edinburgh indeed
played an inglorious part in '45. She breathed
forth fire and slaughter, and when the enemy
were at her gates she acclaimed them with re-
joicing. She was neither Jacobite nor Hano-
verian ; she strove to get the best out of both
worlds, and throughout the fluctuating fortunes
of the campaign maintained an attitude of
mathematical neutrality.
' What conquest brings he home ?
What tributaries follow him to Rome,
To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels ? '
might have been the inquiry addressed by the
inhabitants to successive commanders as they swept
through the streets of the capital.
The halt in Edinburgh was brief. Cope,
having avoided battle in the north, had taken
ship at Aberdeen and brought his forces round
to Dunbar, disembarking them on the iyth
September. News came to Edinburgh that Cope
was advancing through the county of Hadding-
ton. Charles at once determined to march and
encounter the enemy. At the battle of Preston-
pans which followed Elcho was mounted, but
8o DAVID, LORD ELCHO
whether acting as aide-de-camp to Charles, or
attached to the small body of forty cavalry com-
manded by Lord Strathallan, there is no mention
in contemporary accounts. But that he played
his part, whatever it may have been, with dis-
tinction, is attested by the fact that Charles
conferred upon him, on the field of battle, a
commission as colonel of his own Horse Guards.
In the autobiography of Dr. Alexander Carlyle we
get a lurid and theatrical glimpse of Elcho at the
close of the fight. Like Priam from the Scaean
Towers, the Doctor had been watching the tide
of battle from a coign of vantage in Prestonpans.
In the street of the village he was accosted
by Elcho. * By and by/ he writes, ' a Highland
officer, whom I knew to be Lord Elcho, passed
with his train, and had an air of savage ferocity
that disgusted and alarmed. He inquired fiercely
of me where a public house was to be found : I
answered him very meekly, not doubting but
that, if I had displeased him with my tone, his
reply would have been with a pistol bullet.' But
Carlyle was new to war. His fancy and his fears
were inflamed by the spectacle he had witnessed,
and the youth of twenty-four, with the smoke of
battle still about him, asking for the nearest
HOLYROOD 81
public-house, may readily have figured to the
worthy doctor as the living presentment of a
swashbuckler menacing to all and sundry.
Elcho admits that Charles acted with courage
and address at the head of the second line in the
battle, and was afterwards humane and con-
siderate in victory ; yet he entertained but a low
opinion of him when it came to playing the role
of a statesman, as sufficiently appears in the
Narrative.
On the return of the victorious army to Edin-
burgh a further mark of confidence was bestowed
upon Elcho, and he was appointed to the council
which met every day in the Prince's chamber at
Holyrood, and also made president of a com-
mittee for providing the army with forage. The
Narrative, it will be found, gives an unusually full
description of the life in Edinburgh ; and though
the writer was familiar with the courts and fes-
tivities of foreign capitals, he states that the
Prince lived with great splendour and magni-
ficence. Waverley, we know, was c dazzled at
the liveliness and elegance ' of the scene in the
long-deserted halls of the Scottish palace. But
contemporary records of what occurred are slender
and untrustworthy. Carlyle and Henderson
82 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
deny that there was either gaiety or magnificence,
so much did Whig prejudice grudge even this
little day of rejoicing and success. Tradition relates
that Lady Wemyss, who was at this time living
separated from her husband in Edinburgh, gave
a ball which was attended by the Prince, who
with his hostess is said to have led the
minuet.
While the Highland army lay encamped at
Duddingston, and Charles, now master for the
moment of Scotland, was waiting at Holyrood
for reinforcements and the development of events,
Elcho was engaged in raising a troop of gentle-
men over whom he could exercise the authority
of his commission. He obtained some seventy
recruits, for whom he appointed as uniform a
blue coat with a red vest and red cuffs. Murray l
says of them that * they were all gentlemen of
familly and fortune, & tho they did not amount
to above a hundred yett I may say there never
was a troop of better men in any service, their
uniform blew and reed & all extreamly well
mounted/ Murray himself was made colonel
of a troop of hussars, ' most of them young men
dressed in close Plaid- Waistcoats and large Fur
1 Memorials, p. 226.
PRESTON 83
Caps.' 1 Other commanders of horse were Kil-
marnock, Balmerino, and Pitsligo. Maxwell of
Kirkconnel acted as major of Elcho's troop, and
in the ranks was Hamilton of Bangour, the
Jacobite poet.
Before setting out for England, the Prince
invited Elcho to go on a diplomatic mission to
Paris to represent his interest at the Court of
France. But the arts of peace offered little en-
ticement to a youth who had so recently assumed
his command, and who seemed destined for so
much distinction in the adventurous campaign
about to commence, and he unhesitatingly de-
clined. The task was therefore confided to Sir
James Steuart, to whom the Prince gave a thou-
sand louis d'or for his expenses.
On October 3ist the army in two divisions
commenced their march into England. Nothing
in the campaign was more adroit and effective
than the work done by the mounted portion of
the force. For the most part without experi-
ence of warfare, acting for the first time in
concert and traversing an unknown country, the
cavalry never failed to bring timely information of
the whereabouts of the enemy, nor, when occasion
1 James Ray, A Compleat History of the Rebellion, p. 119.
84 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
required, to act as an efficient screen to the
manoeuvres of the Highland army. Of personal
exploit and individual experience, Elcho is be-
comingly reticent alike in the Journal and
Narrative. But on the march into England it
can be incidentally gathered that at the head of
his squadron of Guards he was the first of the
Prince's army to enter the towns which lay on
the line of march.
The actual disposition of the troops in the
advance to Derby was as follows. The first
division, commanded by Lord George Murray,
consisted of the low country regiments. At
the head of this division marched Elcho with
his Guards. The second division, also preceded
by cavalry and commanded by the Prince, com-
prised the clan regiments ; while at the rear of
the whole army marched the remainder of the
horse. 1 Of the part played by individuals in the
campaign, if we except those immediately sur-
rounding the Prince, there is singularly little to
be gleaned from the mass of literature relating to
the period. It was only when authority had
gripped rebellion by the throat, that we find in
the staid pages of law reports and in the dying
1 Maxwell of Kirkconnel, p. 81.
DAVID MORGAN 85
speeches uttered on the scaffold records which
are in any sense intimate and personal. Thus
at the trial of David Morgan of Monmouth for
high treason we catch a glimpse of Elcho on a
November night in Preston. One Tew, giving
evidence for the Crown, stated that he lived in
Preston next door to the Joiners' Arms, and that
on the evening of the day on which the troops
entered the town he assisted his neighbour to
wait at dinner on some officers belonging to the
Highland army. Morgan and Lord Elcho dined
together. Asked by the Solicitor-General if he
remembered c any discourse that passed,' Tew
deposed that he heard the prisoner ask Lord
Elcho what religion the Pretender professed. c My
Lord Elcho shook his head, and said he could not
very well tell ; but he believed his religion was to
seek.' 1 Whether he was hoodwinking a Lord
Justice-Clerk, or fencing with a Lord President,
or gaining a recruit during the campaign, Elcho
could certainly show an admirable discretion.
The entry into Preston must have been an
episode of sunshine on that astonishing march.
Here, in contrast to the cloudy disfavour manifest
at other points, there were caps in the air and
1 A Complete Collection of State Trials, vol. xviii. p. 371.
86 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
huzzas for Prince Charles as the Life Guards gaily
clattered through the town ; and it was here that
Mr. Townley, Mr. Vaughan, Mr. Morgan, and
a few others were enlisted as adherents. Later,
when the retreat from Derby had begun, this
same Morgan rode up to Mr. Vaughan and said :
' Damn me, Vaughan, they are going to Scot-
land.' Mr. Vaughan replied : ' Wherever they
go, I am determined, now I have joined them,
to go along with them.' Upon which Mr.
Morgan, who must have shared the prevailing
Anglican view of Scotland, said : ' By God, I had
rather be hanged than go to Scotland, to starve.'
The unfortunate Morgan's preference was realised,
for he was subsequently convicted, and executed
or July 30, 1746.
At Derby Elcho was one of the almost unani-
mous council who voted against a further advance
towards London. And with two hostile armies
well-nigh within striking distance, with a third
army forming between Prince Charles and the
capital, 1 with the whole country population
alienated and menacing, and scarce a man to be
recruited or a proffer of aid to be come by, the
argument for retiring on Scotland and there
1 The three armies formed a total of some 30,000 men.
THE RETREAT 87
uniting with the forces landed from France l and
those which were holding the country for Prince
Charles, was overwhelming. Yet the chances of
war are still weighed in the balance, and the
possibilities of a successful march upon London
still considered open to discussion. 2 For Charles
it was the crowning anguish : thenceforward he
must have known that the throne of Britain was
not for him. Ultimate defeat might be delayed,
but in the sullen defiance of the populace lay the
answer to those vain ideas of prerogative, of
facile conquest, and of general loyalty to his
cause with which his mind had been nourished
from his earliest years.
At no time was the gallant spirit of the High-
land army displayed to greater advantage than on
the return to Scotland. Daily confronted with the
disheartening spectacle of retreat, marching
through a hostile country in midwinter, and
opposed to an enemy from whom no mercy was
to be expected, they effected an orderly retire-
1 In the Narrative Elcho says that news of the landing of Lord
J. Drummond with French troops reached them at Derby.
2 'During the whole time of their being in England they received
no application or message from any persons in England, which
surprised and disappointed them extremely.' State Papers, Domestic,
George II., Examination of John Murray, August 13, 1746.
88 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
ment and crossed the Border with a total loss of
less than 100 men. Their conduct, it is true,
was less exemplary than on the occasion of the
advance ; but during the retreat the inhabitants
were closing in on them like an angry tide, and
if excesses were committed, there was provocation
enough in the brutal treatment meted out to
stragglers and to the wounded and sick.
To Elcho with his cavalry was again allotted
the task of reconnoitring in advance of the army.
On crossing the Border he was despatched to
Dumfries with orders to disarm that town and
tax it to the amount of 2000 and 1000 pair of
shoes. The militia, numbering some 700 men,
retreated on his approach, and he finally succeeded
in levying the greater portion of the tax. A few
weeks later he had a narrow escape from being
captured during the operations connected with
the siege of Stirling. He was in charge of a
battery of cannon near the river Forth, designed
to protect the passage of guns and munitions for
the investment of the town. One night the
enemy slipped unobserved past the battery in
boats, and having landed, surrounded and searched
the house in which Elcho lodged ; but he had
gone to the battery a few moments before the
BEFORE CULLODEN 89
search-party arrived, and thus escaped capture
and certain death. Before the action of Falkirk
Elcho and his cavalry rendered valuable service,
but in the battle itself, stationed in rear of the
right of the Highland line, they were not called
on to act. Nor do we hear of their playing a
prominent part until the eve of Culloden.
On April I4th Elcho had supper with Charles
at Culloden. The Prince was in a sanguine and
exalted frame of mind, and said that he had no
doubts as to the issue of the approaching conflict
with the Duke of Cumberland ; he believed that
the English soldiers would with difficulty be got to
attack him. He refused to listen to any sugges-
tion of retreating and awaiting reinforcements,
and when a rendezvous in the event of defeat
was spoken of, he replied that only those who
were afraid could doubt his coming victory. 1 ' In
short,' says Elcho, ' he indulged that evening in
boastings unworthy of a prince. As he had con-
sulted only his favourites, everything was in the
greatest disorder. The persons capable of serv-
ing him were suspected or neglected, and those in
1 CTNeil in his Journal says that the Prince, previous to the
battle, ordered the chieftains in case of defeat to assemble near Fort
Augustus. Lyon in Mourning, vol. i. p. 103.
9 o DAVID, LORD ELCHO
whom he had placed his trust had not the ability
to be useful to him/ About ten o'clock on the
morning of April 1 5th Elcho was despatched with
a body of cavalry to reconnoitre the forces of
Cumberland, then stationed at Nairn, about eight
miles from the army of the Prince. He remained
for three hours in a position whence he could
observe what was taking place, and failing to
detect any signs of movement in the camp, he
returned and reported accordingly. Thereupon
was held the council at which it was agreed, upon
the proposal of Lord George Murray, to march at
nightfall and attack Cumberland's position. How
the march miscarried, and how the column found
itself at the approach of dawn in baffled confusion,
is detailed in the Narrative. The Journal says
that when the Prince in the early twilight re-
cognised that Lord George, who was in command
of the leading column, was falling back, he at
once believed himself to be betrayed, and it was
later the same morning that he gave instructions
to two Irish officers to watch Lord George, and,
if they perceived any treasonable design on his
part, to assassinate him. Elcho says that this
was told him by one of the Irish officers, ' a
very honourable man in other respects, but one
CHARLES'S SUSPICIONS 91
that believed that the Prince's charge against
Lord George was true.' Elcho alone is respon-
sible for this story. On the other hand, there
is not wanting evidence to show that Charles
believed that he was betrayed. 1 From such a
belief to the order referred to by Elcho was no
great step. The Prince's suspicions, moreover,
had recently received a fresh impetus. Two
charges had been trumped up by the enemies of
Lord George. They had represented to Charles
that his commander had deliberately neglected an
opportunity of capturing Blair Castle when held
by the enemy, and they had asserted that a letter 2
sent to the Prince of Hesse by Lord George was
of a character treasonable to the cause.
At the battle of Culloden, aided by Fitzjames's
horse and Avuchies' battalion, Elcho successfully
repelled an attempt to envelop the right wing of
the Prince's army. When the left flank of the
Highlanders had been finally driven back and
the day was lost, Elcho quitted the field of battle
with Lord Balmerino. Balmerino said he in-
tended to surrender, though he well knew the
1 Hay of Restalrig, <v. Home's History of the Rebellion, App. No. 43,
p. 371 j Chevalier Johnstone, pp. 104, 105 ; Maxwell of Kirkconnel,
p. 140 ; Lyon in Mourning, vol. ii. p. 276.
2 See Appendices A and B.
92 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
fate which awaited him. He was too old to
survive the disgrace which had fallen upon him,
whether he remained in hiding in Scotland or
sought refuge in France. Death had no terror
for him ; he knew he could meet it with forti-
tude. It was in vain that Elcho endeavoured to
dissuade him. The following day he surrendered,
and to the hour of his death on Tower Hill (Aug. 5,
1746) Balmerino bore himself with dauntless and
unaffected courage. It is indeed the existence of
such a spirit among the followers of the Prince
that has raised his venture to the realm of
enduring romance.
Charles himself, so soon as the left wing
of his army had been forced back, retired with
some cavalry of the piquet of Fitzjames. No
question connected with the campaign has been
so much debated, and none has been left so in-
completely answered, as that which concerns the
conduct of Charles on this occasion. The origin
of much of the discussion is to be found in an
anecdote recorded by Sir Walter Scott. Writing
in his Journal on February 10, 1826, he makes
the following entry :
4 After the left wing of the Highlanders was
repulsed and broken at Culloden, Elcho rode up
SIR WALTER SCOTT 93
to the Chevalier and told him all was lost, and
that nothing remained except to charge at the
head of two thousand men, who were still un-
broken, and either turn the fate of the day or die
sword in hand, as became his pretensions. The
Chevalier gave him some evasive answer, and,
turning his horse's head, rode off the field. Lord
Elcho called after him (I write the very words),
"There you go for a damned, cowardly Italian,"
and never would see him again, though he lost
his property and remained an exile in the cause.'
That no word of this appears in Elcho's Nar-
rative does not by itself negative the truth of the
story. It is abundantly clear that the writer
intended his Narrative as a sober and considered
contribution to the history of the time. He has
avoided the mention of any exploit or event
personal to himself, and in such a category would
undoubtedly fall the occurrence narrated by Scott.
But in the "Journal he has exercised no such
restraint, and here we find the germ of the anec-
dote a germ which hearsay and tradition, ever
mindful of the picturesque, would readily develop
into the story we are dealing with. His descrip-
tion of what took place is as follows :
* The Prince, so soon as he saw the left of his
94 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
army yielding and in retreat, lost his head, fled
with the utmost speed, and without even trying to
rally any of his scattered host. . . . The Prince
made a halt 4 miles from the field of battle, and
I found him in a deplorable state. As he had
ever been flattered with false hopes that the
army of the Duke would fly before him like
those of Cope and Hawley, he believed that all
his disaster was caused by treason, and appeared
to be afraid of the Scotch as a whole, thinking
that they would be capable of giving him up to
the Duke to obtain peace, and the 30,000^
sterling that the King had offered for his
head. . . . He appeared to be concerned only
about the lot of the Irish and not at all about:
that of the Scots, and seeing the number of
Scotch officers around him increase, he ordered
them to go away to a village a mile's distance
from where he was, and he would send his orders
thither. I remained after their departure and
asked if he had any orders for me. He told me
that I might go anywhere I liked ; as for himself,
he was about to leave for France. I told him
that I was surprised at a resolution so little
worthy a Prince of his birth, that it was unworthy
to have engaged all this people to sacrifice itself
CHARLES AND ELCHO 95
for him, and to abandon it because he had pos-
sibly lost a thousand men in battle ; that he ought
to remain and put himself at the head of the 9000
men that remained to him, and live and die with
them. . . . But all these reasons made no im-
pression upon him. He told me that he was
determined to seek safety in France : whereupon
I left him, thoroughly resolved never to have any
more to do with him.' Here surely is foundation
enough for Scott's anecdote. It is not within the
scope of this memoir to array the authorities who
may be quoted as being for or against the general
truth of the suggestions contained in the above-
cited passage. No independent witness was
present when the conversation so circumstantially
and so convincingly described by Elcho took
place, and if his account is to be discredited, one
may well despair of coming at the truth. Scott
believed the story when he heard it ; this is
evidence at least of the temper of a time some
eighty years after the event ; it is evidence also
of the direction in which the credulity and the
best opinion of the day were then trending.
Further, it can be shown that Scott adhered to
his belief in some such story. The entry in his
Journal, as we have seen, was dated February
96 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
10, 1826. In the year 1830 he published The
Tales of a Grandfather? Now the Tales were
largely based on Lord Elcho's Narrative, in
which, as already pointed out, there is no
mention of what we have been discussing. It
might have been expected that Scott, finding
no further confirmation of the story, would have
discarded it when writing his history ; but far
from doing this, he merely modifies it as follows :
f Lord Elcho rode up to the Prince and eagerly
exhorted him to put himself at the head of those
troops who yet remained, make a last exertion to
recover the day, and at least die like one worthy
of having contended for a Crown. Receiving a
doubtful or hesitating answer, Lord Elcho turned
from him with a bitter execration, and declared
he would never see his face again.' 2
After parting from Charles, Elcho, accompanied
by his servant, who had attended him throughout
the campaign, and by Maxwell of Kirkconnel,
continued his flight westward. Passing by Fort
1 3rd series.
2 Mr. Blaikie has called my attention to an Italian book which
confirms Elcho's story. The book, written in 1751, was no
doubt largely founded on the narratives of refugees who succeeded
in escaping to Italy. In Appendix C will be found the writer's
version of the altercation between Charles and Elcho. La Spedizione
di Carlo Odoardo Stuart Dal Gesuita Giulio Cordara,
AFTER CULLODEN 97
Augustus and Loch Arkaig, the fugitives eventu-
ally arrived at Kinlochmoidart, the house of
Macdonald.
Cumberland meanwhile remained in the vicinity
of Culloden, busy with fire and sword, and the
brutalities of a pitiless revenge. Charles himself,
with O'Sullivan, Allan Macdonald, and Edward
Burke, pursuing almost the same route as Elcho and
his companions, finally reached Borrodale, a village
on the shore of Loch-na-Nuagh, where on April
26th he embarked for the islands. The rebellion
was at an end ; with the smoke that arose from
the battlefield of * pale red ' Culloden had vanished
the last hope of the Stuart cause. Before Charles,
now a hunted fugitive, there lay months of
wandering, hiding, and bitter privation. But in
the extreme decline of his fortunes he was to
show the qualities which, far more than any
moment of triumph or success, have made him
a figure of romance in the traditions of Scotland.
The ' bright face of danger/ the storm and sun-
shine on the mountain, the sheltering loyalty of
those he was at last driven to trust these roused
in him a courage and excelling constancy ; and it
is to the period of his wanderings that sentiment
reverts when contemplating the stricken years
98 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
which followed. ( What has your family done,
Sir, thus to draw down the vengeance of Heaven
on every branch of it through so many ages ? '
That poignant question, addressed to Charles in
exile, recurs inevitably to the mind when con-
sidering the vicissitudes of his career. At one
time the central figure of the armaments pledged
by France to secure the Stuart restoration then
a mere suppliant soliciting aid from the Court of
Versailles later, in defiance of probability, master
of Scotland, acclaimed at Holyrood, marching at
the head of an undefeated force into the heart of
England ; at Derby, debating the time and the
mode of his entry into London ; then the sudden
retreat, the gleam of victory at Falkirk, followed
by the waning of hope and the last day of tragedy
at Culloden.
Elcho's own estimate of the Prince is singularly
unfavourable. That Charles had uncommon
powers of endurance and * a body made for war,'
and that at Prestonpans he showed courage and
humanity, exhausts all that Elcho has to say in
his favour. On the other hand his comments
1 King, Anecdotes, and ed., p. 207, quoted by Lord Rosebery in
his admirable review of the rebellion written as an Introduction to
A List of Persons concerned in the Rebellion, Scottish History Society.
(CHARACTER OF CHARLES 99
show that Charles was unfitted to govern or com-
mand, was obstinate where he should have been
pliant, suspicious where he should have trusted,
and he continues to maintain that Charles dis-
played neither gratitude for the sacrifices, nor
sorrow for the sufferings of his followers. Such
failings as these had been aggravated by his educa-
tion, which had served to narrow his sympathies
and restrict his outlook. Taught to regard des-
potism, not necessarily of the enlightened class, as
the form of government best adapted to the
kingdom of his predecessors, and passive obedi-
ence as the natural duty of the people he believed
himself destined to rule, he had formed arrogant
expectations of what awaited him in England.
Thwarted in these hopes, he conceived himself
betrayed ; he withdrew his confidence from those
upon whose support he had depended, and he
secluded himself within a circle of subservient and
incompetent advisers. Furthermore, according to
Elcho, the failing which disfigured his years of
exile had already begun to manifest itself during
the march to Derby. * The Prince,' he writes,
' had marched from Edinburgh to Derby on foot,
dressed as a Highlander, at the head of his in-
fantry. He was very strong, supped liberally,
ioo DAVID, LORD ELCHO
was often drunk, would throw himself on a couch
at eleven o'clock at night without undressing, and
was up again at three o'clock in the morning/
It has been generally believed that this * fondness
for wine/ though observable when he was a youth
in Italy, did not develop till after the campaign.
But if Charles showed sympathy with the habit
of the time, if he occasionally availed himself of
the congenial company of the quartermaster of his
army, Sullivan, who would sit at night over his
4 favourite mountain malaga ' instead of issuing
the order of the next day's march, 1 it is still
possible to accept the prevailing belief without
discrediting the allegation of Elcho. But the
gravest accusation to be brought against Charles
is that which relates to the letter written to his
principal followers after Culloden.
Elcho himself received one of these letters,
which named a rendezvous for the scattered
Highland army. According to ^neas Macdonald,
who had been to visit Charles on April 2Oth
at Glenbeasdale, the design was to create an ob-
jective for Cumberland's pursuit, and thereby
facilitate the escape of Charles. This view Elcho
accepts.
1 Jacobite Memoirs, p. 61.
BORRODALE 101
While in concealment at Kinlochmoidart, news
came that search parties of * red-coats ' were pur-
suing the rebels westward. Elcho and Maxwell
were therefore forced to take to the mountain
and heather. On the morning of April 28th,
when spying through their telescopes, they saw
two ships of war approaching the Bay of Loch-
na-Nuagh. Slowly the vessels bore up to their
anchorage. For the fugitives it was a period of
anxiety and suspense. No flag indicated the
nationality of the ships, and it was only when
communication had been established with the
shore, and the crews could be seen fraternising
with the Highlanders, that the watchers could
determine that they were French. Then with all
speed they struck across the hills to Borrodale, off
which the vessels were riding to anchor. Here
they found many survivors of Culloden : the
Duke of Perth, Lord John Drummond, Secretary
Murray, Hay of Restalrig, Sheridan, Lockhart of
Carnwath, and some Highland officers. All, says
Elcho, were loud in their condemnation of Charles,
who it was now known had abandoned his followers
and sought an invidious safety. The vessels
proved to be the Bellona, 34 guns, and the Mars,
32 guns, despatched by Louis to the assistance of
102 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Charles with arms and 36,000 louis d'or. It was
another illustration of the dilatory and undecided
policy of Louis. Throughout the autumn and
winter of '45 divided counsels had prevailed in
the French Ministry. Tencin and D'Argenson
had favoured, Noailles had opposed, active inter-
vention. 1 In October, however, it had been
decided to despatch to the shores of England an
expedition commanded by the Due de Richelieu
and accompanied by Henry, Duke of York.
Troops and stores were assembled at Dunkirk,
but, as in the case of the ill-fated scheme of 1 744,
when it became known that a British fleet had
been formed for the defence of the Channel, the
idea of invasion was abandoned. 2 ' France,* writes
Elcho in his Journal, i will never risk sending an
army to England without having a fleet at sea
superior to that of England, and,' he continues,
' in all cases where troops and boats have been
collected on the coast, this has been done with
the knowledge that these preparations alone would
suffice to restrain the English from sending their
troops out of the kingdom, and would compel
them to keep them at home for the defence of
1 Luynes, Memoires, vol. vii. p. 127.
2 Memoires du Marquis D'Argenson, vol. iv. p. 319.
THE TREASURE OF ARKAIG 103
the island, while all the time a squadron in the
Channel would have been sufficient to prevent the
French from thinking of such an expedition/
From the moment that the expedition was relin-
quished, the succour afforded by Louis was
insufficient to affect the fortunes of the campaign.
A force of 900 men under the command of Lord
John Drummond, and occasional gifts of money,
alone bore witness to the specious promises of
France. No discouragement, however, deterred
the Jacobite agents from pleading their cause and
soliciting the fulfilment of the pledges which had
been given by Louis and his ministers. In the
Mars and Bellona with their treasure there came
a tardy response to the appeals. But it is now
clear that the Court of Versailles cared little
for the House of Stuart. The rebellion em-
barrassed England and hampered the movement
of British troops, therefore it was politic to keep
the rebellion alive, but to its ultimate issue, to
the fate of the throne, France was discreetly
indifferent.
The money, stowed in six casks, was in charge
of an Irishman, Brown, under orders to hand it
over only on the sign-manual of Charles. Lord
John Drummond and Elcho determined that
io 4 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Charles or no Charles, the money should remain
in Scotland. Brown, who had incautiously landed,
was accordingly threatened with arrest unless he
gave an order for the surrender of the casks.
Fear prevailed, and the treasure was brought to
shore.
Thus on this wild coast, fit scene for the
business of buccaneers, there was added a master-
touch of melodrama to the ' affair of '45.' Mr.
Lang has depicted the deplorable circumstances
which marked the subsequent history of the
treasure. 1 Buried, dug up, transported by many
hands to many places, it eventually ' set clan
against clan and brother against brother/ 2 and
became the familiar quarry of informers and spies.
For Murray, says Elcho, the sight of this money,
the proximity to so much wealth, proved too strong
a temptation, and yielding to the * opum furiosa
cupido,' he decided to linger on in Scotland,
to his utter undoing and the ruin of his fame.
Acting on instructions from the commander of
1 The Journal states that Cameron received 6000 louis, Macdonald
6000, Kennedy 6000, Murray 3000, while the remainder was
intrusted to Macpherson of Cluny. See, however, Andrew Lang,
Companions of Pickle, p. 129, and Murray, Memorials, p. 273. Both
authorities differ from Elcho.
2 Companions of Pickle, p. 129.
ESCAPE 105
the French vessels, the little band of refugees
assembled on the seashore at midnight, on May 2.
But their dangers were not yet at an end. The
first glimmer of dawn revealed three English
frigates, cleared for action, entering the Bay in
which the French ships were at anchor. In the
engagement which followed the issue was long in
doubt. To those on shore every chance and change
of the battle was clearly defined, and at times the
vessels would draw so near to land, that the eager
watchers could hear the cries of the wounded, the
shrill piping of the whistles, and the words of
command. But at midday victory declared itself for
the French, and the English were finally driven ofF.
The French had suffered severely, losing one
hundred killed ; but the same evening their ships
were sufficiently refitted to set sail for France
with the fugitives 1 on board.
So ended Elcho's share in the rebellion, and so
closed his last association with his country. The
drama which, for so many months, had agitated
the attention of Europe, and engrossed the military
power of England, had now run its fated course
1 Sheridan and Hay on the Bellona , Perth, Drummond, Maxwell,
Lockhart, and Elcho on the Mars. The gallant Perth died during
the voyage, and was buried at sea.
io6 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
to irreparable disaster. No wonder if contem-
plating in his own troubled mind the riotous
procession of events, the vain alarms, the scatter-
ing of disbanded energies the greatest lyrical
poet of the age was fain to see at work mysterious,
and even supernatural agencies, and to attribute
the result to spirits of Gaelic malignity,
* that brew the stormful day
And, heartless, oft like moody madness, stare
To see the phantom train their secret work prepare.' 1
1 W. Collins, Ode on the Popular Superstitions of the Highlands,
ON June 6th the Mars and Eellona arrived off
the mouth of the Loire : on June loth Elcho was
once again in Paris. There he freely expressed
his contempt for Charles, and being now alienated
from his attachment to the House of Stuart, wrote
letters in July to Lord Lincoln, and to the Lord
Justice-Clerk, Lord Milton, asking for a pardon,
and that his name might be removed from the
Bill of Attainder.
The petition was unfavourably received. Horace
Walpole, in a letter to Mann (June 20, 1740)
says : * Lord Elcho has written from Paris to Lord
Lincoln, to solicit his pardon : but as he has
distinguished himself beyond all the rebel com-
manders by brutality and insults, and cruelty to
our prisoners, I think he is likely to remain where
he is.' The charge of cruelty is reiterated in some
manuscript notes, 1 probably written by Alexander
Henderson, wherein it is alleged that EJcho pro-
posed to cut off the right arm of every officer who
1 In the possession of Mr. David Douglas.
107
io8 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
was a prisoner. And again, in A List of Persons
concerned in the Rebellion, 1745- 1746, among the
facts stated as * engrossing the present conversa-
tion : May 1746,' is the threat made by Lord
Elcho to hang Mr. Maitland, and * his proposal to
maim the officers' prisoners.' I have been unable
to find any evidence to support the charge. Such
accusations were lightly made. Walpole alleges it
equally against Cromartie and Kilmarnock, and in
his letters he transcribes every flying rumour.
For instance, writing of Culloden, 1 he says : * Lord
Elcho was in a salivation, and not there/ Pro-
bably the story was one of those circulated in
order to justify harsh measures and excesses.
Elcho himself attributes it to Cumberland. But
true or not, the story answered its purpose. Elcho
was never pardoned. On the other hand, those
who served with him had formed a very different
judgment. Murray says : 2 * I am persuaded he is
as void of that fickleness of temper in matters of
moment, of which he is accused by some of his
party, as he is of the cruelty and brutality laid
to his charge by the other. He has very good
natural parts, and is far from deficient in acquired
knowledge ; has a very quick, lively apprehension,
1 April 25, 1746. 2 Memorials, p. 122.
THE VERSAILLES LEGEND 109
and not ready to be led away by any airy, super-
ficial scheme/ And Johnstone, who was not given
to lavishing praise, says : ' He was a nobleman,
equally distinguished by his birth as by his rare
merits.'
In the month of October Charles arrived at
Roscoffin a French vessel named UHeureux* and
posted straight to Fontainebleau, where he was
received by Louis, entertained by the Ministers,
and supped with Madame de Pompadour. 2 Elcho
was averse from having further dealings with him,
but he was persuaded later by John Drummond,
then Duke of Perth, to call on the Prince in his
country house at Clichy. Charles refused to see
him. Elcho's plea for pardon had appeared in the
Gazette of Utrecht, his open comments on the
campaign had been repeated, there were threats
of the Bastille, and on December 7, 1746, with
Hunter of Burnside, he quitted Paris.
In 1749 was published An Account of what
befel the Prince in France. The description there
given of Charles's state entry into Versailles has
been often quoted. 3 Elcho is said to have been of
1 Luynes, Memoires, vol. vii. p. 460.
3 Ibid., p. 462.
3 See Jesse, The Pretenders, ed. 1 890, p. 348 ; Ewald, Life of Prince
Charles Edward, ed. 1904, p. 308; Lord Mahon, The Forty-Five,
no DAVID, LORD ELCHO
the party with Glenbucket, Ogilvie, and Kelly :
the Young Chevalier is said ' to have glittered all
over like the star which they tell you appeared at
his Nativity' ; but he must have glittered unseen
by Elcho. Elcho was never in the company of
Charles after the day of Culloden.
Personal relations with the Stuarts were now
at an end. Henceforward in the Jacobite world
Elcho figures rather as a suitor for services
rendered than as a volunteer for further ad-
venture. The divine right of kings yields in his
imagination to the ordinary right of a citizen
to obtain repayment of his debts. We shall
see him not, indeed, altogether as Mr. Lang
depicts him c an infuriated and persistent dun*
but from time to time urging his claim for
the restitution of the 1500 guineas advanced to
Charles in '45, and repeatedly soliciting a com-
mission in the French service. For the moment,
however, his only anxiety was to be quit of
Charles. Elcho was too impetuous to remain
the pottering adherent of a lost cause, and for
the squabbles and intrigues which boiled and
p. 121 ; Lang, Prince Charles Edward, p. 325; Pichot, Histoire de
Charles Edouard, ed. 1 8 3 3, vol. ii. p. 3 52. It should also be noted that
the Court was at Fontainebleau and not at Versailles during Nov-
ember. See Luynes, Memoires, vol. vii. p. 460 et seq.
INGRATITUDE OF CHARLES in
bubbled in the Jacobite ranks he had neither
sympathy nor aptitude. Disgust, too, at the
accusations which he says Charles was flinging
against Lord George Murray for betraying him,
and against JEneas Macdonald for aiding the
Duke of Argyll to discover his places of retreat,
was driving him further from the Jacobite fold.
In the Journal, in order to justify his apostasy,
he dwells on every fault which resentment can
discover in his former chief. Thus we find him
indignantly recording that on the day on which
the French Gazette announced that many of
those concerned in the rebellion had perished
on the scaffold, Charles visited the Opera. Nor
does the favouritism shown to the Irish, nor the
ingratitude shown to the Scots, escape his angry
censure. It is indeed a respite from weariness
to follow him in his travels once more to Italy,
the country to which his affections seem always
to have turned. Leaving Paris on December yth,
the travellers alighted at the Ecu de France, on
the Grand Canal, on December 26th. In Venice
they found Earl Marischal. A friendship at
once began between the young outlaw and the
' sagacious veteran/ which every year was to
become more intimate.
ii2 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
To earn the friendship of Earl Marischal was
a sign-manual of sound qualities. For forty years
he stood for integrity, and, what was even rarer
among the partisans of the Stuarts, common
sense. He had fought for them in 1715 and
1719. He had been the hope of every plan
subsequently contrived. In 1744, as we have
seen, he was appointed to command the forces
to be sent to Scotland. In '45 he had spent
the winter vainly urging forward the succours of
France, none recognising so clearly as he the
futility of an unaided attempt. At this time
he had withdrawn from active counsels, but for
many years his advice was to be sought and his
authority invoked by the Jacobites. Rousseau
described him as republican in sentiment ; and it is
probable that, like Lord Pitsligo, he looked on a
change of dynasty as a means of repealing the Union
and regaining the former liberties of Scotland.
He was no enthusiast for the Stuarts. He
regarded Charles with disfavour, and in his
correspondence with him never scrupled to use
plain words and wholesome admonition. He
mistrusted Sempil, and despised the mediocrity
by which Charles was surrounded, and he had
'suckt in such Notions of liberty and inde-
EARL MARISCHAL 113
pendence, and of ye meaness of Servile sub-
mission and flattery/ l that the service of
Frederick n., in which he was shortly to be
enrolled, made a more congruous world for his
honesty than the vapid formalities of an exiled
Court.
From the whirl of intrigue, treachery, and
recrimination which followed in the wake of
the rebellion Earl Marischal stands forth serene,
humorous, and admirable in his wisdom. A
courtier of ( his good friend the Sun,' 2 a ' Knight
Errant sin' Amor,' 3 in his long exile he consoled
himself with the discourse of companions and
the study of books ; and if his thoughts re-
verted to his home, to the scenes of his youth,
to * the hoarse sea winds and caverns of
Dunottar,' it was without bitterness or an
utterance of regret. ' A man of sense and
honour is always at home everywhere/ he said.
Driven from Paris by threats of the Bastille for
impugning the sincerity of France in her inten-
tions towards Charles, forbidden by the Empress
Elizabeth to remain in Russia by reason of the
1 Earl Marischal to Hamilton (1737), Hist. MSS. Commission,
x. i. 473.
2 Memoir of Marshal Keith (Spalding Club), p. xi.
3 Earl Marischal to Hamilton, Hist. MSS. Commission, x. i. 473.
H
ii 4 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
urgent requests of the English Ambassador, he had
settled, a true citizen of all countries, contentedly
in Venice, dividing his time between the city and
Treviso, where he had purchased an estate.
So soon as the arrival of the fugitives was
known, the British Resident (Sir James Gray) 1
requested the Republic to expel them from its
borders, citing as precedent the compliance of
Elizabeth ; but the Government, with a haughti-
ness worthy of its greater days, replied that
the hospitality of the State was open to all who
did not meditate evil against its security. Gray
then endeavoured to deter the English inhabi-
tants from consorting with the ' rebels/ and
partially succeeded. But they were well received
by the Venetians, among whom their political
disabilities were ignored.
Venice was at the height of the Carnival. The
Ridotto, as was usual during the continuance of
the festival, was opening its doors to all who
wished to try their fortune at the 'tables.' It
was natural that those who had been gambling
for a throne, staking their lives and losing their
estates, should be allured across the threshold.
Elcho enjoyed a dazzling hour, during which his
1 See Appendix D.
VENICE 115
slender capital rose, fell, rose again, and finally
dwindled to a sequin. A last fortunate effort
converted the one sequin into six hundred. But
when Earl Marischal heard of the proceeding he
obliged Elcho to surrender his purse, and during
the remainder of the Carnival he doled out the
bare sufficiency for the needs of the day. He
had known the seamy side of exile himself, and
was determined to save his young companion
from the risk of a self-incurred poverty.
But another experience of a more romantic
kind was to give Earl Marischal further oppor-
tunity for exercising his wise and kindly guardian-
ship. The attention of Elcho had been arrested
and his curiosity excited by the beauty of a young
Venetian lady, the daughter of a patrician, whose
palace was not far from the residence of the Earl.
In the early eighteenth century the prosecution
of a romance was a dangerous pursuit. There
were daggers and dark canals and methods
sudden and mysterious for dealing with undesirable
suitors. Like Haidee, Mademoiselle Canale, for
that was the lady's name, had a father, and
' violent things will sooner bear assuaging
Than the stern, single, deep and wordless ire
Of a strong human heart, and in a sire.'
n6 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
It was necessary to act with caution. During
the absence of the Earl at Treviso, Elcho hit
upon the stratagem of disguising the German
maid, who was a member of his host's household,
as the wife of a patrician, and sending her to call
on Mademoiselle Canale, in the hope that the
visit would be returned. Whether the disguise
defied detection or whether Mademoiselle Canale
was willingly blind, Elcho does not say. But the
ruse was successful and the visit duly returned at
Earl MarischaFs house. In the meanwhile, another
servant, less compliant than Elcho's accomplice,
despatched to Treviso information of the intrigue
which was in progress. The Earl posted back
hot speed, held an inquiry, dismissed the German
maid, which was scant justice, but forebore with
something more than paternal delicacy from re-
ferring to the subject with Elcho. The reproof
seems to have made a deep and lasting impression
on the young adventurer, while his solicitude for
youth throws a pleasing light on Earl Marischal.
The Continent at this time was every day seeing
the arrival of fresh fugitives from Scotland. One
evening, in the pit of the theatre of St. John
Chrysostom, among the motley and eager audience
gathered to watch a Commedia dell' Arte, a masked
LORD GEORGE MURRAY 117
figure turned and addressed Elcho by name. In
a moment he realised that there stood before him
the soldier who had fought for James by the side
of Earl Marischal in the Fifteen and at Glenshiel,
the commander of Charles's army to whom he
had last spoken on the fatal morning of Culloden.
Little is known of Lord George Murray's escape,
and there is nothing to be gathered from the
Journal. He had paused in Venice on his way
to see the Chevalier at Rome, and after a few
days spent with his friends he set out for the goal
of his journey. In Rome James received him
with the distinction to which his services had
entitled him. But Charles in Paris was still
nursing his dark hatred and suspicion. From
there he wrote to his father a letter which must
for ever remain a blot upon his name. Speaking
of Lord George, he said : 'It wou'd be of ye most
Dangerous Consequences iff such a Divill was not
secured immediately in sum Castle where he might
be at his ease, but without being able to escape,
or have ye Liberty of Pen or papers.' 1
A few days later Charles wrote again, alleging
that Lord George was in league with Secretary
1 April 3, 1747. Printed by Mr. Blaikie from the Stuart Papers
(Itinerary, p. 81).
u8 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Murray the informer. 1 Be it remembered that
Lord George had done as much for the cause as
any man then living. He had led the Highland
army to its victories ; he had organised its forces,
evolved its strategy, provided for its administra-
tion, and he it was who had supplied the mind
and energy which brought it within sight of its
goal. Nothing can justify or excuse the letter.
But the poison instilled into the mind of Charles
by evil counsellors had suffused his whole nature.
Obstinacy had blinded him to the truth.
It was in vain that James, with the gentle
wisdom that hovers through the pages of his
letters, counselled a more generous frame of mind
and dwelt on the services which Lord George
had rendered. Charles was obdurate, and de-
signed himself to have the person of Lord George
secured on his return from Rome. * I hope to
God you will not think of getting Lord George
secured after all I have writ to you about him,
but that you will receive him at least civilly,'
wrote the distracted King in June I747. 2 In July
Lord George returned. On the nth of that
1 ' I have good reason to suspect by circumstances together that
Murray he was in a click with L George, tho 1 he pretended and
appeared to be otherwise * (Stuart Papers, April 10, 1747).
2 Stuart Papers, Browne, iv. 5.
PADUA 119
month he received a message from Charles de-
clining to see him, at the same time informing
him that he would do well to leave Paris at
once. 1
This show of base ingratitude may be regarded
as a misleading expression of character, a break
in continuity, or it may be held to conform with
what is known of Charles, with his temperament,
with the tendencies which in later years made
him a prey to the powers of darkness. Faith
must determine. But, in either case, it surely
enables us to sympathise with the vehemence of
Elcho's criticisms. Elcho remained in Venice
till June 1747 much in the company of Earl
Marischal and Lord George Murray, who re-
visited them on his way back from Rome.
Venice appears no more than other towns to
have been free of social tedium, and the dulness
of the nobles' houses drove the younger refugees
towards a Bohemian world in which there
figures a Mademoiselle Vigano, who eventually
became Elcho's companion in his wanderings
over Europe. From Venice they moved to
Padua for the feast of St. Antonio. Here
'singing, fiddling, and piping,' so abhorred by
1 Stuart Papers, Browne, iv. 13.
120 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Lord Chesterfield, 1 claimed a large measure of
their time. The morning began with music in
the Church of St. Antonio, where the famous
Tartini was first violin ; later in the day the
ladies drove out, arrayed in a splendour fashioned
for the particular festival ; in the evening there
was the opera or a musical party at one of the
noble's palaces ; while in the intervals they inter-
polated games of chance or excursions, each lady
with her cicisbeo, to the surrounding country. It
is not a picture to exhilarate the . imagination, but
the actors faced their pleasures gaily and made
the best of a frivolous world.
Marischal meanwhile v/as ill at Treviso. In
August of this year, 1747, he received from
Charles a request that he would once more become
a militant leader in the Cause. The fortunes of
the party were at a low ebb. In January James
had written to Charles : c I have also really
seen some odd things amongst our people of late
. . . and if you dont care I am afraid their
politics and passions will soon put your affairs
in a desperate situation.' 2 The prediction had
been realised. Affairs were indeed desperate.
1 Letters to his Son, xcv.
2 Stuart Papers, Browne, iii. 4.76.
DUKE OF YORK 121
Through the winter of 1746-1747 there had
been talk of another expedition. The English
Jacobites were again brought to the front. But
they were kites that had been flown too often,
and there was the usual absence of definite
assurance. Charles had cast loose from the
recognised Jacobite agents in Paris. He had
his own party, his own plans. In March he
was trying the Court of Spain : l at Guadalaxara
he was granted a midnight interview with the
Royal Family, presented with 3000 pistoles for
the expenses of his journey, a diamond ring, and
a sword, but requested to leave. There were
projects of marriage : James talked of a daughter
of the Duke of Modena ; Charles, more ambitious,
idly aspired to the Czarina.
Before the end of March he was back in Paris.
At the beginning of April his brother Henry,
* toujours porte a la Piete des son enfance,' 2 had
slipped stealthily away from Paris to James, and
a cardinal's hat, in Rome. A second Culloden
to the cause, 3 and a grievous wound to the pride
and affection of Charles. France was delaying
1 Stuart Papers: also S. P., Venice, April 19, 1747.
2 James to Louis xv., Stuart Papers, Browne, iv. 6.
3 T. Hay to Edgar, ibid. iv. 1 5.
122 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
4 the gratifications of his distressed countrymen/
< Happy would I be to have happier orders and
chierfull spirits which to my misfortune my friends
hinder as well as my enemys,' wrote Charles. 1
Every courier from Rome was carrying evidence
of the deepening difference with his father. They
no longer saw eye to eye. James had got back
his Henry, a son to sympathise with him in his
piety and devotions. To Charles he was writing :
c All I have left to do is to pray for you.' The
breach was wide enough.
Earl Marischal declined to play a part in this
gloomy confusion. * I did not retire from all
affairs without a certainty how useless I was, and
allways must be, and that my broken health
required quiet for the rest of my days,' 2 he wrote
from Treviso ; and receiving an invitation from
his brother, Marshal Keith, who had recently
entered the service of the Prussian monarch, to
join him in Berlin, he set out during the course
of the winter for the Court of Frederick.
On September iyth Elcho, together with
Mademoiselle Vigano and Hunter of Burnside,
left Padua in a vetturino, which they had hired
1 Charles to Edgar, Stuart Papers , Browne, iv. 14..
2 Earl Marischal to Charles, ibid. iv. 17.
LADY WEMYSS 123
at the cost of three sequins 1 a day, to saunter
across Europe northwards to Cleves. Arriving
there on October 3ist, they found Gordon of
Cowbairdie, Gumming of Pitully, Lord George
Murray, and other Jacobites. Later, Lady
Wemyss, who had not seen her son for sixteen
years, and who, as we shall see, was to meet with
stormy experiences on the Continent, passed
through the town on her way to Basle. In
February (1748) Lord George left for Cracow.
He desired to secure the descent of the family
estates to his son, and to prevent forfeiture he
proposed to assume a false name, spread a report
of his death, and live retired in Poland. But
the plan was not carried out. 2
From Cleves Elcho wrote to Charles under
flying seal to Kelly, now acting as secretary,
asking for a commission in the French service.
No notice was taken of his application. Favours
were scarcely to be looked for by a follower who
had applied for pardon, and the explanation which
follows, that Kelly was Irish, and therefore opposed
to the Scots, scarcely carries conviction. Next
1 A sequin was approximately 95. ad. The bargain included
meals for the three travellers.
2 Lord George died 1760 : his eldest son John became third Duke
of Atholl, January 8, 1764.
i2 4 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
we hear of him at Liege with officers of the Scots
regiments, at Lisle with Lord Clancarty, at Sedan,
at Brussels, at country houses, or at wayside inns
where robbers in league with landlords dispose of
unwary guests, or at the grim sequel the finding
of victims buried in the courtyard, the putting to
death of the culprits by breaking on the wheel.
Through such scenes he drifts, without purpose,
during the winter and summer of 1748, denied
every outlet to his activity. The zest of battle
and the valour of the days when the white cock-
ades were glancing in the sun was now a * dim-
remembered story/ His heart was possessed by
an exile's longing for home, by a restless wish to
see again the distant hills and broken headlands
of the Firth, and hear once more the cry of sea-
birds round the Castle walls. But it was not for
him that summer was bringing beauty to those
northern shores, and weary at length of wander-
ing, he settled in November at Florentun, a
country house which he had taken in the neigh-
bourhood of Boulogne.
Meanwhile the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle had
been signed, and hostilities between France and
England had ceased. In breach of previous
undertakings, Louis had bound himself to expel
CHARLES EXPELLED FROM PARIS 125
Charles from his territory. Charles had pub-
lished a high-sounding protest, and had forwarded
it to Montesquieu, claiming that he himself was
now an author. ' Were you not so great a Prince,
Madame la Duchesse d'Aiguillon and I would pro-
cure your election to the French Academy,' 1 was
Montesquieu's flattering rejoinder. But the protest
was unavailing. In spite of warning, Charles refused
to depart. Louis therefore sent his Minister, de
Puisieux, 2 who, through the influence of Madame
de Pompadour, had been appointed Minister
for Foreign Affairs in succession to D'Argenson,
to beg Charles to leave, and at the same time to
offer him as inducements to do so a mansion in
the canton of Fribourg, a pension, a miniature
army, and not a few of the minor emblems of
royalty. But Charles was bidding for popular
applause. Already acclaimed by the mob in Paris,
he believed that a rebuff to the Ministers of
France would echo his fame through England.
He declined to be lured out of France by pacific
means. He seized the Minister by the arm and
for answer turned him from the room. On being
1 Stuart Papers, Browne, iv. 38.
2 Other contemporary memoirs say De Gesvres, Governor of
Paris, was sent.
126 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
told what had occurred, Louis said : ' Since the
Prince plays the madman, he must be treated
like a madman.' There followed the famous
scene of December loth. Charles, on arriving as
usual at the opera in the evening, was arrested by
the sergeants of the guard : after being searched,
he was bound like ' a roll of tobacco ' with silk
cords, thrust into a carriage, and driven through
the night to the fortress of Vincennes. He sub-
mitted with dignity to these insults. ' Vous faites
la un vilain metier,' he said to Vaudreuil, who had
been intrusted with the execution of the order,
4 est-ce la ce pays si poli ! Je n'eprouverais pas ceci
au Maroc ; j'avais meilleure opinion de la nation
franchise.' From Vincennes, where he was detained
for several days, he was escorted to Avignon.
No treaty obligation could have been more
scrupulously observed. Three of his followers
were confined in the Bastille ; his house was ran-
sacked ; even the lacquey of his mistress, the
Princesse de Talmond, 1 was arrested, while the
Princess herself was banished to Lorraine. Deep
was the resentment shown when this breach of
hospitality became known. The Dauphin, it was
1 A Polish lady, related to the queen. She was forty years of
age when Charles met her.
PRINCESSE DE TALMOND 127
reported, shed tears on hearing the news ; in Paris
there appeared scurrilous lampoons and satires
against Louis, his ministers 1 and his mistress. 2
The Princesse de Talmond wrote to Maurepas :
4 Now indeed is the fame of the King at its
zenith, but as the imprisonment of my footman
can in no way add to it, I beg he may be released.' 3
In every rank of society there were murmurs and
menacing discontent. But it is no part of this
Memoir to trace the fortunes of Charles. By the
light of the Stuart Papers chinks have been
revealed in the masterly incognito which he
assumed after his expulsion from Paris. But
the disguises, the false noses, the corked eye-
brows, the stage properties by means of which he
mystified Europe, 4 baffled the diplomatists and
agents of England, and veiled his movements
during a number of years, effectually screened
him from Elcho's view.
The Journal states that after visiting Venice
and Spain Charles settled in the Low Countries.
We know that he visited Venice ; it is not
1 'Them vermin ministers,' Charles calls them in a letter to
Waters (Stuart Papers, August 12, 1753).
2 D'Argenson, vol. v. pp. 339, 343.
* Ibid., p. 320.
4 See Information of Pickle : Lang, Pickle the Spy, p. 288.
128 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
unlikely that he travelled to Spain. But he never
settled ; he was perpetually on the wing : now in
Paris hiding in the Convent of St. Joseph, Rue
St. Dominique, where the Princesse de Talmond
had rooms, and quarrels and reconciliations en-
livened his retreat ; now in Lorraine with his
Princess, or in the Low Countries, moving from
place to place as evasion required ; or in Sep-
tember 1750 drinking tea with Dr. King in
London, 1 conferring with the Duke of Beaufort
and the Earl of Westmoreland in a lodging in
Pall Mall, sauntering, a curious sightseer, through
the streets, visiting the Tower of London, gazing
at the palaces he still hoped to occupy ; 2 then
as mysteriously disappearing again from view.
Walpole relates that the Duchess of Aiguillon
wore a picture of Charles in a bracelet, with
Jesus Christ for the reverse. 3 * Mon royaume n'est
pas de ce monde,' was the motto, said Madame
Rochefort, which explained the conjunction.
But if Charles was to reign in no temporal
1 King, Anecdotes, p. 199. The present knowledge of Charles's
movements is due to the researches of Mr. Lang, set forth in Pickle
the Spy and his Life of Charles Edward.
2 See letter of Horace Mann to Charles James Fox, Foreign
Office, Tuscany, December 6, 1783.
3 Walpole, Letter -s, August 12, 1765.
JACOBITES AT BOULOGNE 129
kingdom, he was at least supreme in that world
of mystification which he had set himself to
occupy, and in which the Journal for the present
leaves him.
Elcho was now established at Florentun.
Boulogne itself had become a Jacobite centre,
and here Lords Clancarty, Barry more, Strathallan,
Lewis Gordon, Messrs. Gordon of Glenbucket,
Gordon of Halhead, Gordon of Cowbairdie,
Hunter of Burnside, Hepburn of Keith, all names
familiar to readers of later Stuart history, were
visitors or residents. We know from the Stuart
Papers that Elcho had written several letters to
Charles at this time asking for his 1500 guineas,
also to James, who replied through Edgar : 'H.M.
thinks that the money which you say you advanced
. . . having been on account of the then public
service, that it can never be claimed as a personal
debt either from the Prince or himself.' The
letters to Charles remained unanswered. Shortly
after, he caused an appeal to be sent to Lord
Holland, begging that he would agitate for a
pardon. Lord Holland merely replied that the
moment was not propitious.
Early in the year Mademoiselle Vigano bore
Elcho a daughter. Later, in December 1749,
1 30 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
squabbles over a rival friendship of Elcho's led
to Mademoiselle Vigano's departure for London,
while Elcho himself left for Paris. Here, during
the month of February 1750, he lodged at the
house of Briel, a bagnio keeper, in the Rue
Richelieu, at the rate of half a crown a day,
dining every evening at the Hotel de Notre
Dame, Rue du Jardinet, with Lord Nairne, the
' Chevalier Maclean, young Glengarry, and Loch-
garry.
In 1749 the two Macdonalds had revisited
Scotland. Glengarry had soiled his hands with
the buried treasure of Arkaig, then in the keeping
of Cluny Macpherson, and with Lochgarry had
returned to France, bringing, Elcho writes, 1200
louis d'or. Elcho also states that Dr. Cameron,
after a similar expedition to Scotland, was in
possession of 1000 louis. The part played by
those two loyal Jacobites, Lochgarry and Archi-
bald Cameron, is obscure. Cameron, we know,
received 6000 pounds out of the treasure ' for
the behoof of the Lochiel family,' 1 and the i ooo
louis here referred to by Elcho may have been
the residue of that amount not yet disbursed.
1 Home Office, Scotland, Bundle 44, No. 28. Cameron of
Glennevis to General Churchill, May 1753. See also ante, p. 104.
ARCHIBALD CAMERON 131
Nothing is to be ascertained as to Lochgarry's
connection with the treasure. Glengarry, on the
other hand, is said to have obtained his share of
the spoil by an order bearing a forged signature
of James. 1 Later, Glengarry writes (January
1 6, 1750) to James accusing Cameron of having
received 6000 louis d'or and converted it to his
own use. But the accusation carried little weight,
and Cameron, the last to perish on the scaffold
for the Stuart cause, was afterwards trusted by
Charles at the time of the Elibank Plot. Glen-
garry himself at this time may already have been
in receipt of English pay, though the correspond-
ence of Pickle, whom those who have read Mr.
Lang's volume will identify with Glengarry, does
not begin till 1752. Thus while the chief actor
is masquerading in obscurity, we see Jacobitism
' paling its ineffectual fires ' in an atmosphere
heavy with sordid quarrel, low intrigue, and
squalid accusation.
Many of the Scots at this time were receiv-
ing pensions from the Court of France, but
Elcho's claim to be included among his more
fortunate compatriots had hitherto been ignored.
1 Stuart Papers, Browne, iv. 93 ; Home Office, Scotland,
1753, Bundle 42, No. 4.7.
132 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Introduced this year to Tencin, he took the
opportunity of renewing his demands. The
Cardinal sympathised with Elcho, expressed
agreement with his adverse views of Charles,
and subsequently induced M. Puisieux to grant
him an annual allowance of 1200 livres. This
raised Elcho's income to a total of 16,600 livres.
The summer and winter of 1 750 were spent at
the country seat of his brother-in-law, Sir James
Steuart, in the county of Angouleme. Sir James
kept open house, and there was much interchange
of hospitality with the nobility of the town.
Living was cheap and luxurious. No district
provided such abundance of game and of truffles.
None was so famous for its sport. Nowhere in
the provinces was society so brilliant and dis-
tinguished. The great houses of the Prince of
Chalais, of the Dukes of Rochefoucauld and St.
Simon, and of the Comte de Jarnac, were lavish
in their welcome. The mornings spent in visit-
ing were succeeded by a banquet at one of the
town houses ; games of hazard occupied the
evenings, while the nights were given to dancing,
to concerts, and to suppers. But Elcho was
appalled by the poverty of the peasantry. Miser-
ably clothed, subsisting on black bread, sleeping
POVERTY IN ANGOULEME 133
on straw thrown loosely on the floor of rude and
ill-roofed hovels, they presented an ominous
contrast to the life of the chateau, with its rustle
of silk and brocade, and its heedless air of
profusion.
It was in conditions such as these that the
clouds were already gathering, and the forces of
the whirlwind collecting their strength, and it was,
in fact, of these very seigneurs of Angouleme that
Arthur Young wrote in 1787 : c Oh, if I were
legislator of France, I would make such great
lords skip again/ l
1 Ed. 1890, p. 71.
VI
IT can hardly cause astonishment that after a
year at Angouleme, Elcho should have found
it necessary to visit Aix-la-Chapelle. In the
eighteenth century the excesses which seem
to have led inevitably to a health resort were
treated by a cure of exceptional rigour and
duration. Thus we find him, after three weeks
at Aix, spending a corresponding period at Spa,
and finishing up with a fortnight at the baths of
Chaudefontaine. On the Continent the tyranny
of the English visitor was already making itself
felt. At the assemblies of Aix-la-Chapelle all
the dances were English, 1 and in the local pas-
times and diversions, fashions of the same origin
prevailed. At each of the resorts there was the
usual watering-place gaiety, but at Spa Elcho
found himself the victim of a Hanoverian demon-
stration, the English guests at the inn declining
to take part in the table d'hote with so notorious
a Jacobite. An alderman, Alsop, alone placed
1 Marmontel, Memoires.
134
SPA 135
common-sense and the pleasures of the table
above the exigencies of dynastic politics, and
proved himself staunch enough to consort with
the outlaw. Doubtless it was this experience
which provoked a letter to James in October
1751. 'I was last summer at Aix-la-Chapelle
and Spa for my health,' writes Elcho, ' and in
those places, and wherever any of the present
Government of England's Ministers or Agents
are, I find their spite and malice so great against
me ... that it might be of very bad con-
sequences least an accident should happen to me
where they are, and have influence. As I have
nobody to apply to for protection and looked
upon as belonging to no country, it is therefore
I most earnestly entreat your Majesty to procure
for me a Spanish or a Neapolitan Colonel's com-
mission,' 1 signing himself ' Your Majesty's most
faithful subject.'
In response to this appeal Elcho was at last
(May 3, 1752) appointed to the French service
as a captain without salary in the cavalry of
Fitzjames.
From a letter among the Stuart Papers, full of
dark innuendo, and written by tineas Macdonald,
1 Stuart Papers, October 18, 1751.
136 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
we know that Elcho was back again in Boulogne
in August. ' He has just left this place after
being here with me two months/ writes Mac-
donald in October (1751). ' Nothing can excuse
his conduct ; but still most of the wrong steps
he took were ambuscades dressed for him by
his enemies. He wants much, and I think with
reason, to have a Colonel's brevet without pay in
the service of France.' What were the wrong
steps ? Who were the enemies ? It can only be
surmised that reference is intended to the rela-
tions of Elcho with Charles. James, at any rate,
paid little heed to the evil-speaking of Macdonald,
and did all in his power to support the claim to
a commission in the French army.
At this time a Miss Mynshull, a lady of great
beauty and reputed to be an heiress, was excit-
ing the admiration of Boulogne society. Elcho
aspired to her hand, but the aspiration was not
uncontested, and in the progress of his court-
ship Miss Mynshull was indiscreet enough to
show him a letter she had received from his
rival, a Mr. Turner, in which there was a threat
to make short work of the Jacobite exile. Mr.
Turner, however, was less warlike than his letter,
and being called on by Elcho at their first meeting
A DUEL 137
to draw and defend himself, declined to cross
swords with a rebel. A Welsh gentleman
named Gwyn, fearful that an opportunity for
fighting was to be allowed to slip, stepped in and
took up the challenge. In the duel which fol-
lowed the Scotsman was victorious, and Mr.
Gwyn was left wounded on the field. Mr.
Turner took his departure for London the same
evening, but not before, as was afterwards dis-
covered, he had been clandestinely married to
Miss Mynshull.
Notwithstanding these embarrassments a tour
through France was arranged, and Mrs. Mynshull
and her daughter, together with Elcho and a
party of friends, left Boulogne to proceed to
Paris. Breaking their journey at Chantilly, they
found Lord and Lady Ogilvy and Alexander
Murray. Murray had recently (December 1750)
been electioneering in England. Summoned be-
fore the House of Commons to receive admoni-
tion on his knees for his riotous conduct on
behalf of the anti-ministerial candidate at the
Westminster election, he had haughtily replied
to the Speaker, ' Sir, I beg to be excused. I
never kneel but to God.' This attitude of
defiance had been followed by six months'
138 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
imprisonment in Newgate, and he had now
come over to France to instil a new spirit of
activity into the ranks of the Jacobite party.
He had already seen Charles, who was living in
Flanders (1751-1752) with Miss Walkinshaw.
Five years had elapsed since Charles and
Clementina had met at Bannockburn, in the
house of her uncle, Sir Hugh Pater son. There
she had yielded to the grace and charm of the
young Prince, and vowed to follow him where-
soever fate might lead him. These dark years
of Charles's life are suddenly flashed upon by the
revival of this passion. The long separation, the
silence, the carrying out of her vow in the shadow of
evil days seemed to give some promise of stability.
But the romance was not to endure. It was to
perish miserably in the ruin to come. For a few
years she remained the devoted companion of his
wanderings. In October 1753 at Liege she bore
him a daughter, Charlotte, the future Duchess of
Albany. Then in 1760, as we shall hear from
Elcho, her ill-treatment by Charles forced her to
find refuge with her child in a convent in Paris.
With the arrival of Murray on the scene there
commenced preparations for what is known as
the Elibank Plot. The project, as it came to the
THE ELIBANK PLOT 139
knowledge of Elcho, was briefly as follows :
Lochgarry and the ill-fated Dr. Cameron, having
gone to Scotland to organise the Jacobite forces
in that country Murray, with some officers of
the regiment of Ogilvy, was to proceed to
London, where he professed he would find
friends enough to form a company of a hundred
persons. Charles himself was to follow and
remain in concealment in the house of Lady
Primrose. On a given day Murray and his
company were to present themselves, armed with
pistols and swords, at the palace of St. James :
the royal family were to be struck down ;
Charles was to show himself to the people ; the
Restoration was to be an accomplished fact.
Murray asserted that amongst others supporting
the plot were Earl Marischal, 1 now Ambassador to
Frederick at the Court of Louis, and the Earls
of Westmoreland and Denbigh. The scheme
ended as might have been expected. Murray
ventured as far as London : there his courage
ebbing or his perspicacity prevailing, he returned
to France : the officers rejoined their regiment :
Charles, after hovering on the coast, retired to
1 See Lang, Pickle the Spy, p. 173. Walpole, Letters, April 27,
1753, alleges the plot was supported by Frederick.
1 40 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Paris, while Cameron was arrested and executed
in the following year.
In Pickle's information 1 it is stated that other
persons concerned were Hepburn of Keith and
Elcho's brother, Mr. Charteris. Charteris, how-
ever, is not mentioned in the Journal. Elcho
himself considered the plot a travesty of sense,
and it is unlikely that he would have counten-
anced the adhesion of his brother. Murray
came in for much opprobrious mockery on his
return, and Earl Marischal, whom he claimed as
a co-conspirator, refused him admission to his
house.
In December Elcho was again at Angouleme
staying with his mother and two sisters, Lady
Helen and Lady Walpole. Lady Walpole be-
came engaged to, and the following year married
in Scotland, a captain in the French cavalry, M.
de Chastel de la Barthe. Mademoiselle Vigano
had meanwhile reappeared, and a second daughter
had been born to Elcho in 1751. On the return
of his sisters to Scotland in the spring of 1753
they took charge of his two daughters, and seem
to have relieved him of further responsibility
with regard to them. Autres temps autres mcsurs,
1 Cited Lang, Pickle the %>, p. 178.
VERSAILLES 141
and allowance has to be made for the freedom
of an age which could produce a situation so
singular.
In April (1753) Elcho was once more in Paris,
a constant guest at the house of Earl Marischal.
Here he met the various diplomatists accredited
to the Court of France, and notes that the
representatives most frequently entertained by
Frederick's ambassador were those of Spain,
Venice, and Wiirtemburg. Every Tuesday the
Corps Diplomatique, headed by the Papal
Nuncio, attended at Versailles, and on these
occasions Earl Marischal selected Elcho to
accompany him. In the Salle des Ambassadeurs
they would wait till the moment arrived for them
to be summoned to witness the concluding offices
of the King's toilet. From the presence of
Louis they would pass to the apartments of the
Queen, and subsequently visit those of all the
Princes of the Royal House. Nor were the
formalities of the day at an end until the same
ceremonious courtesy had been paid in the salon
of Madame de Pompadour, but here the diplo-
matists were without the leadership of the Papal
Nuncio, his instructions compelling him to with-
draw on the threshold of this prohibited territory.
i 4 2 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
At the audience with the King the questions
asked by Louis gave Elcho the impression that
he possessed a consummate knowledge of geo-
graphy and history, while in the region of
genealogy he showed himself familiar with the
names of all the titled persons in every Court
of Europe, a department of knowledge which
appears to have been largely drawn on at these
diplomatic audiences. But in spite of the
gracious manner and distinguished air of the
King, ennui and disenchantment were becoming
more and more apparent. The boredom of the
monarch brooded continually over the gaiety of
Versailles. The expedients of Madame de
Pompadour and her followers were sorely tried.
It was to combat the insidious foe that the
favourite had prescribed a change of scene and
organised an expedition to Havre, which had cost
the nation one million francs. 1 It was to the
same end that operas and plays were given at
her theatre ; that buildings and gardens were
planned ; that the service of the arts was re-
quisitioned ; and that constant journeys were
made between the familiar residences which her
1 D'Argenson, vol. vi. p. 418 ; Cumberland Papers, Colonel Yorke
to the Duke of Cumberland.
LOUIS XV 143
genius had devised in the neighbourhood of
Paris.
At the same time the interest of Louis in
public affairs was visibly waning. At Councils
of State, while ministers were debating the
destinies of the nation, the scratching of the
King's pen only meant that he was busy writ-
ing the names of the hounds to be hunted next
day in the forest. 1 In all branches of government
it was the same, and authority and the direction
of recognised policy were passing from his hands
into those of the favourite. Such was the situa-
tion at Versailles. 2
In Paris no such cares prevailed. There the
natural levity and cheerfulness of society had not
yet been supplanted by free-thinking, metaphysics,
and the sentimentalism inspired by Rousseau.
Laughter had not grown unfashionable. 3 Gam-
bling had not made way for the irresponsible
chatter of subversive criticism, nor had the
volumes of the Encyclopaedists as yet found a
place on the shelves of the Trianon. Religion
1 Cumberland Papers, ibid.
2 It must, however, be remembered that Louis had recently in-
augurated his famous secret policy, unknown both to his ministers
and Madame de Pompadour. See Broglie, Le Secret du Roi.
3 See Walpole, Letter? (from Paris), 1765.
i 4 4 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
and royal authority were assailed, but their
supremacy was intact, and only in February of
this year had the banishment of the Parliament
shown that the main levee remained an effective
instrument of government. But on listening
ears there already fell
* . . . through the silence of the cold, dull night
The hum of armies gathering rank on rank,'
and to observers such as D'Argenson there was
not wanting abundant evidence that the forces of
change were gaining irresistible strength. The
accommodation, however, between the spectacle
of poverty and the enjoyment of wealth was
lightly adjusted, and the splendour of the enter-
tainments which Elcho attended surpassed expec-
tation. The most brilliant were those of the
Spanish Ambassador. At one of these, a ball,
Elcho notes that the dancing was postponed till
the arrival of Madame de Pompadour. Received
by the Ambassador as she stepped from her
carriage, she was conducted to the ball-room,
and when the music commenced she took her
place in the first minuet with her host as partner.
She was at the zenith of her power. She had just
emerged victorious from one of those struggles
by which alone she maintained the supremacy
PARIS SOCIETY 145
of her position. A rival crushed, 1 a minister
defeated, 2 a fresh access of the King's favour,
were triumphs which had recently enhanced her
prestige, and evoked an outburst of judicious
homage from the followers of the Court.
Other houses which he frequented were those
of the Marquises de Grammont and Berville, the
Comtesses de Vogue, d'Estillac, and Monastrole.
At all of these the normal course of amusement
was a supper-party, followed by faro, biribi or
cavagnol. Guests were at liberty to arrive and
to leave at what hour they pleased, and neither
fashion nor constraint was exercised as to the
amount which they staked at the games of
hazard. But the contrast between wealth and
poverty in Paris was sharper even than that
observed in the country. Side by side with social
displays costing five hundred louis a night,
misery and starvation clamoured shrilly for relief.
The year 1753 had been a year of acute distress,
and it was calculated that in one quarter of Paris
alone eight hundred persons perished of want in
the space of a single month. Society, passing to
its round of brilliant gaiety, threaded its way
through narrow streets, noisome with refuse and
1 Madame de Choiseul-Romanet. 2 Comte d'Argenson.
146 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
filth. But the dirt and poverty were ignored,
and the fine world lulled its senses by the use
of abundance of musk. To such an extent was
this device carried that we find James, in thank-
ing Charles for the portrait of himself sent from
Paris, writing (1747), 'it smells so strong of
musk that I believe I must get it put in another
frame when I return to Rome.' c At Paris
everything smells of musk, down to the very
trees in the Tuilleries gardens, against which
ladies may have leant for a moment/ 1 was the
information given twenty years later to Carlo
Gozzi by the actress Ricci on her return to
Venice, and the complaint is reiterated in the
Journal. To Elcho the prevalence of the dis-
tress was brought directly home by the ruin of
his banker, M. Wolff; but his own losses were
partially met by a successful speculation in the
shares of the Compagnie des Indes.
This year (1754) Charles was a visitor to Paris.
The fact was made known to Earl Marischal by
a * certain gentleman ' whose name is not divulged
in the Journal. The Earl's informant happened
to be in a low tavern when a man and woman
drove up in a cab, and engaged a table by his
1 J. A. Symonds, Memoirs of Carlo Gozxi, vol. ii. p. 257.
MISS WALKINSHAW 147
side. Before they had been long seated a quarrel
broke out, and high words ensued. The man
addressed his companion as c coquine.' The lady
replied : ' Although a prince, you are unworthy
to be called a gentleman.' Blows were struck,
nor had this scene of degradation terminated
when the witness left. The Earl, when told the
story, surmised that the actors were Charles and
Miss Walkinshaw. A few days later, Goring,
the near friend of Charles, who had accompanied
him in his wanderings, confirmed the surmise of
Earl Marischal. Not often may adversity have
brought a character of so much promise to a pass
so pitiable in shame. The legendary Charles, the
Charles of Holyrood, the idol of loyal hearts, the
comely youth whose name had been ' one with
knightliness,' for him, at any rate, there was no
c coming back.' The song might be sung in vain.
He was irrevocably lost. Even the faithful
Goring, he too, at last, had been driven to break
with Charles. On parting, he writes a long
review of all that had occurred, and concludes
in despairing words : ' For God's sake, sir, have
compassion on yourself.' l In 1 746 Goring had
1 Stouf (Goring) to Charles, Stuart Papers, printed Lang,
Pickle the Spy, p. 261.
148 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
reproached Elcho with speaking ill of the fallen
prince. * I knew the Prince well at that time/
says Elcho, c and Mr. Goring came to know him
too, and spoke more evil about him than ever I
had done.' Earl Marischal at this time (May
1754) writes a bitter rebuke to Charles for his
conduct to Goring. ' My heart is broke enough
without that you should finish it,' replied Charles,
and to a fine spirit so broken and * discovered '
by adversity the world cannot easily deny its
sympathy.
The final stroke to his fortunes fell this same
year, and is thus described in the Journal : * The
partisans of the Prince in England at that time
granted him a pension of 5000 pounds sterling
a year. One gentleman, Dawkins by name, gave
a thousand of the five. All of this money was
this year taken away from him for ever, and all
these gentlemen became his enemies and par-
ticularly this same Dawkins. They had sent one
of their friends x to persuade the Prince to part
with his mistress, because her sister had a place
in the service of the Princess of Wales at the
Court in London, and they feared a corre-
1 Daniel Macnamara. See King, Anecdotes, p. 205, for an
account of this episode.
THE ENGLISH JACOBITES 149
spondence between the two sisters. The Prince
replied that he would not put away one of his
dogs to please them, and ended by demanding
more money, stating that what they gave him
was not sufficient. The messenger said to him
that these gentlemen were not his bankers, that
what they gave him was given out of pure
generosity, and that he ought to be more than
content. The Prince retorted that he knew the
names of all those that had sent him the money,
and that if they would not continue to do so,
he would send a list of their names to the
King of England. All these gentlemen were so
indignant at these threats that from that time
the Prince never received a halfpenny from
England.'
In July 1754 Earl Marischal, at his own
request, was recalled by Frederick, and appointed
Governor of the Principality of Neufchatel in
Switzerland. Before his departure he caused
Elcho to be made a naturalised subject of
Frederick in his suzerainty of Neufchatel, and
requested for his young friend that he might
be made Chamberlain in the Prussian kingdom ;
but the fact that Elcho was in the service of
France proved a bar to this preferment. The
1 50 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
friends parted with many protestations of affec-
tion and an undertaking by Elcho that he would
soon visit the retiring ambassador in his new
kingdom.
Elcho remained in Paris, continuing his social
life, and lightly fulfilling his unpaid military
duties. He was joined by his sister, Lady
Steuart, and they occupied rooms together in
the Rue Crenelle, Faubourg St. Germain, at a
rental of six hundred livres a year. In the
course of the winter he made the acquaintance
of Montesquieu and Maupertuis, who, he
patronisingly writes, were * savants who did
honour to France,' and was presented to the
Comte D'Argenson, Minister of War. The
Minister laughingly inquired of Elcho if he
remembered how nearly he had been interned
in the Bastille for speaking ill of Prince Charles
in 1746. * In those days/ he continued, 'we
would not allow any one to speak ill of him,
but now that we know him to be an obstinate
fool, you may say of him whatever you please.'
He concluded by asking Elcho his age, and on
being told, remarked that it was time that he
had made his fortune. The exile may well have
reflected that the ministers of Louis were in a
MANDRIN 151
more favourable position for making fortunes
than a homeless outlaw.
Slight as his military duties were, he was
obliged to obtain permission from D'Argenson
at the beginning of the year 1755, in order
that he might visit Earl Marischal and absent
himself from France for a year. In April, then,
he is travelling to Switzerland ; on the frontier he
finds King's troops concentrated in pursuit of
Mandrin, the famous smuggler. At the head of
some hundreds of mounted men Mandrin, during
the winter 1754-55, had overrun Auvergne and
Burgundy. Report said he was supported by the
nobility, whose hospitality he had from time to
time enjoyed. 1 The ordinary authorities were
powerless to deal with him. In March he had
withdrawn to Switzerland, and at the head of his
irregular cavalry was now carrying on a huge
contraband trade across the frontier ; but a force
of regular troops was closing in on him, and
before long held him prisoner, conveying him to
Valence, where he and several of his followers
were broken alive on the wheel. 2 Such in France
1 D'Argenson, vol. viii. p. 353.
2 For an account of this remarkable man, see ibid. vols. viii. and
ix. 5 Luynes, xiv. p. 1545 also Saint-Edme, Repertoire des causes
celebres, vol. iv. p. 311.
152 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
was the fate reserved for all high crime, and the
continental smuggler had reason to regard with
envy the treatment accorded to his kindred con-
temporary, the c gentleman highwayman 1 in
England. In Newgate, the famous Maclean, a
few years earlier, had been visited by thousands ;
in the fashionable world tears had been shed for
his fate ; in the streets every one had been
buying his portrait and reading leaflets on his
exploits. But horsemanship has a peculiar
tendency to make crime picturesque, if not
respectable, and Mandrin, too, seems to have
enjoyed a measure of this poor popularity before
meeting his fate.
In May Elcho is once more with Earl Marischal
at Neufchatel, living in the Governor's castle
overlooking the town and the beautiful lake.
Here he makes the acquaintance of the principal
personages of the district, and studies the con-
stitution with its quaint forms and liberal ideas,
and admires the traditions of freedom and toler-
ance which made it the refuge of the persecuted.
The office of Governor he finds is no sinecure,
and he observes that the Earl's skill as a diplo-
matist was already requisitioned to control the
contending factions of Protestantism. Here, too,
CHARLES IN SWITZERLAND 153
he hears news of Charles. At Basle there were
living a Doctor and Mrs. Thompson, reputed to
be on bad terms, and often attracting public
attention by their disagreements. One day a
printseller exposes in his window a portrait of
Prince Charles ; gossip is at once busy ; the
rumour flies about that Dr. Thompson and
Prince Charles are one and the same : soon
there is no room for doubt. The English
physician is revealed as the Stuart Prince, the
wife with whom he quarrels is proved to be Miss
Walkinshaw. It was at this juncture, we learn
from the Journal, that Charles suggested a visit
to Lord Marischal ; but the Earl declined, and
from the State Papers it is to be gathered that he
was now entirely alienated from Charles, and
* never mentioned him but with the utmost
horror and detestation, and in the most oppro-
brious terms.' 1
It is to the period of this residence at Basle
that Elcho assigns the formal admission of
Charles to the Anglican Communion, 2 but we
1 State Papers, Switzerland, May 28, 1756, letter from English
envoy at Berne. Printed by Mr. Ewald.
2 See D'Argenson, vol. ix. p. 60. ' Le Prince Edouard s'est declare
hautement protestant et anglican la ou il est refugie/ August 1755 :
on information supplied by the agent of Charles.
i 5 4 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
have Charles's own declaration 1 that he became
a member of the Church of England in 1750
on his visit to London. Hume, in his well-
known letter to Sir John Pringle, says that it
was in the New Church in the Strand in 1753.
Thus there is question of a second visit to
London, but it is unsupported by trustworthy
evidence.
Great activity was visible at this time in the
dockyards and arsenals of France. Colonial
expansion and the struggle for territorial
supremacy outside the theatre of Europe were
leading to constant collision between the English
and French in India and North America. Both
nations were now preparing for the war which was
imminent. It seemed again to be an occasion for
the renewal of Jacobite hopes. In May 1755
Charles appealed to the Due de Richelieu ; 2
but the Ministers of France in their present
schemes had no place for a Stuart Restoration.
In the dissolute wanderer they no longer recog-
nised an instrument serviceable for their policy.
None the less do we find D'Argenson recording,
with apparent approval, a conversation with * one
1 Cited Lang, Charles Edward, p. 451.
2 Browne, Stuart Papers, vol. iv. p. 1 24.
ENCOUNTER WITH BANDITS 155
of the principal agents of Prince Edward/ in
which it was pointed out, * que la nation anglaise
n'est plus militaire, qu'elle est amollie par le
commerce, 1'avarice et le luxe/ and that the
landing of eight thousand troops would cause
a revolution, of which advantage favourable to
France could be taken by James or Charles.
But the scheme received no support, and ' our
dear wild man/ as Edgar calls Charles, slipped
back again into his strange and wine-solaced
obscurity.
On June loth Elcho set out from Neufchatel
to post to Venice : in his desultory travels he
had acquired the habit of leisurely progress, and
it was not till July the 28th that he reached
Padua. On the borders of the Venetian State
he was warned by the host of the inn where
he dined that on the previous day a traveller and
his servant had been murdered by robbers in the
neighbouring forest. The bandits, he was told, who
were five in number, were roaming the country dis-
guised as hunters. Here was promise of congenial
adventure. Arms were distributed to the two
servants and the party set forth. The heat was
intense. The travellers were proceeding slowly
through the forest when Elcho, who had fallen
156 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
asleep in his vetturino, was roused by one of the
servants crying out that he could see five horsemen
hard by among the trees. Elcho sprang to the
ground, and ordering his followers to do the
same, he covered the marauders with his musket,
calling out that he would fire if they advanced.
Alarmed at their reception, they retreated, and
the travellers had the satisfaction of seeing the
so-called hunters flit swiftly into the distant
shadow of the forest.
At Padua he was among familiar surroundings,
living at the Stella D'Oro, paying six paolPfor
his board, six for his lodging, and three for each
of his servants. The principal entertainers were
Madame Morosini, Count Algarotti, 2 and the
patrician Priuli, who later gave offence to the
Republican Government and was confined for ten
years in the Sotto Piombi. Elcho saw him after
his release, when he told him that in the summer
he had often been in danger of being roasted
by the heat of the sun, and that during his
imprisonment he had lost the use of his limbs,
his cell being of a size barely sufficient to hold
the ' uneasy pallet ' which did duty for a bed.
1 The paolo was approximately of the value of fivepence.
2 The friend of Frederick the Great.
LIFE IN PADUA 157
The English resident at Venice, now John
Murray, soon hears that there is a Jacobite at
Padua ; on August 6th he is writing to the
Foreign Minister in London, c I have just had
intelligence that the late Lord Elcho has been at
Padua for some days. ... If he should come to
this Town, I shall certainly make an application to
have him sent away ; but if he stays at Padua,
to be out of the way of Bustle, and means no
mischief I dont think he can possibly be in a
more inoffensive place.' Two days later he writes
that his spy has returned from Padua and states
that * the late Lord Elcho takes the name of
D'Arcourt, and tells his particular friends at
Padua that he is Sopra Intendente del Campo del Re
Giacomo. He has cloathed his servants in expen-
sive new Liveries/ Such is the unaccountable
gossip of the spy. 1 But the 'late Lord Elcho'
was far from wishing to be c out of the way of
Bustle ' ; and he plunges with all his former zest
into the social life of Padua, the ceremonious
visits, the picnics and supper-parties in the
gardens of country-inns, the drives back through
the vineyards in the fragrant starlit night, the
dances, the theatres, or the comedies played in
1 State Papers, Venice, August 8, 1755.
158 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
some patrician palace, the nocturnal assignations,
that whole world of exquisite manner and refine-
ment which the delicate realism of Guardi and
Longhi has so minutely recorded.
It was a life that differed widely from that of
France. Far more was sacrificed to form, to an
outward sense of observance. Nobles would
starve their tables and deny themselves all costly
amusements for the sake of their equipages, the
liveries of their servants, or the quality of the
flowered silks in which they themselves were
clothed. Much, too, was surrendered in order
that the ladies of the * bel monde,' when visiting
in their carriages might be accompanied by four
lacqueys on foot, resplendent in livery with
swords at their side. So much indeed did sense
of the appropriate insist on this courtly ritual,
that sometimes a lad from the tailor or shoe-
maker would be hired and dressed up for the
function, yielding up his sword and his livery
and retiring to his needle or last when the visit
had been paid. Moreover the attendance of the
lacqueys was not an altogether obsolete survival.
Elcho observes that it was still dangerous to move
unarmed through the streets, that attacks were
frequent, and that it was customary at night,
ITALIAN JEALOUSY 159
when secrecy did not require other methods, to
be accompanied by an armed retainer.
In December he moved on to Venice and took
up his quarters at Lo Scudo di Francia on the
Grand Canal, where the charges made were the
same as at Padua. From his friend Doctor Rigo-
lini he learned that the * English resident often
had the goodness to ask news about him ' ; but we
may judge from the letters of Murray that this
solicitude was less amiable than Elcho supposed.
He made many new friends, but he laments the
jealousy of Italian husbands, which in many cases
prevented a stranger from even seeing the lady of
the house. For instance, the noble Priuli, who
had been much in France, inquired if Elcho saw
anything of the Italian left in him. * Yes,' was
the reply, c I still observe in you a good deal of
the jealousy of that nation.' * My friend,' said
Priuli, c you have rightly judged ; but it arises
from the intimate knowledge that I have of the
women of this country : they are incapable of
resisting the advances of a suitor, and as I love
my wife, it is my care to guard her from
danger.' And though Elcho was a constant
guest at Priuli's house, he was never permitted
to see the lady. It was not only in the archi-
160 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
tecture of Venice that the influence of the Crescent
was visible.
Summarising his impressions of Venice, Elcho
writes : * It is an excellent place for a man that
can content himself with amusements and public
spectacles. Everything is cheap, and one finds
here all the commodities necessary for good
living, fish, game, fowl, and fruit in great abund-
ance ; excellent wine from Cyprus and the isles
of Greece ; and Maraschino, the finest liqueur in
the world, from Corfu and from Zara.' The
nobles, he complains, are unsociable, while the
unfailing presence of the cicisbeo renders the
society of the ladies formal and constrained. In
the casini 1 alone was ceremony permitted to
abate its rigour. In these, which were small
apartments surrounding the Square of St. Mark
and owned by the wealthier ladies of Venice,
suppers were given after the opera or an evening
of gambling at the Ridotto. Here were centres
of freedom and intrigue, here assignations were
fulfilled, and here it was possible to escape from
the jostling multitude without, from the mounte-
banks, the musicians, the quack doctors, the
1 John Moore, View of Society and Manners in Italy, vol. ii.
p. 99 ; Voyage (Tun Francois en Italie, 1769, vol. viii. p. 278.
VENETIAN FORMALITY 161
vendors of provisions, the fortune-tellers, the
courtesans, from that crowd so various in texture
and form which made up the seething life of
the Piazza. But it was a mere oasis in a
wilderness of formality, where Venetian and
foreigner could meet for a moment with ease.
For the rest the visitor was a stranger within
the gates, and the barriers between himself and
Venetian society remained insurmountable.
VII
IN March 1756 Elcho was again on the move,
journeying back to Neufchatel to rejoin Earl
Marischal. At Fuessen in the Tyrol he is seized
with fever. The local physician is summoned.
Elcho observes that he is intoxicated and resists
a proposal to be bled by him. But he is over-
persuaded by the innkeeper, who assures him that
the doctor works better in that condition than
when sober. The operation then is performed
with a hammer and lancet, as c if the patient had
been a horse,' and after fifteen days Elcho was
able to resume his journey. On arriving at
Neufchatel the news was broken to him by Earl
Marischal that his father, whom he had not seen
since the September day in 1745 when he rode
away from Wemyss Castle to join Prince Charles
at Gray's Mill, had died this winter in Scotland.
By his will Lord Wemyss bequeathed all his
property to his third son, James Wemyss : 1 the
1 Owing to the debts contracted by Lord Wemyss, the inheritance
did not exceed 2000 per annum.
162
HIS FATHER'S WILL 163
second son, Francis Charteris, who in due course
became Earl of Wemyss, having already inherited
the wealth of his maternal grandfather, Colonel
Charteris. Under his father's will Elcho received
no addition to his fortunes, but he adopted the
designation of Earl of Wemyss a title to which
his legal right was barred by the attainder.
Hitherto he had been in receipt of an allowance
of ^500 paid by Francis Charteris. It was now
arranged that this allowance should be paid half
by Francis and half by James. At the same time
Elcho persuaded his mother to resign in his
favour her dowry of ^500 a year. 1 Lady Wemyss
had an independent fortune of her own ; it seemed
reasonable, therefore, that her claim on the
Wemyss estate should pass to Elcho.
These transactions, which he considered were
devoid of generosity towards himself, gave him
at this time an income of 25,500 livres. By this
slight improvement in his financial position he was
enabled to live in a manner more congenial to his
tastes. On his return to Paris in 1756 he in-
creased his establishment, taking into his service
a valet, a lacquey, a coachman, and a cook, with
1 In 1776 Lady Wemyss endeavoured unsuccessfully to obtain in
the Scottish Courts a revocation of this gift.
164 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
two carriage horses and one saddle horse. At
the same time he continued to reside in the Rue
Crenelle, Faubourg St. Germain. His intimate
friends were the Comte de Lubersac, commandant
of the recently instituted military school of the
1 chevaux-legers de la garde,' l Peglioni, a general
in the Bavarian service, the Abbe Perdigou, the
Abbe Colbert, and Mr. Macdonald. At the
house of the Comte d'Argenson Elcho was a
frequent guest, and during the course of the
winter he was formally presented to Louis by the
Due de Fleury.
His attention, however, was much occupied
with a personal matter relating to his mother.
The faculties of Lady Wemyss had for some
time past shown signs of weakening, and in her
own interests Elcho had persuaded her in the
early part of 1756 to take up her residence in the
Convent of St. Denis. While here, Elcho dis-
covered that her riches had excited the cupidity
of Mr. Alexander Murray, the hero of the
Elibank plot. Murray, it was soon ascertained,
in conjunction with a Doctor Cantwell and a
Mr. Fitzgerald, was conspiring to abduct Lady
Wemyss and possess himself of her wealth.
1 Luynes, Memoires, xv.
LADY WEMYSiS 165
Elcho considered that more drastic measures for
Lady Wemyss's security were desirable, and
believing that there was no other way to pro-
tect her, he obtained an order from the Secretary
of State for her transfer to a convent at Chartres.
In this new residence she enjoyed the spiritual
ministrations of the Bishop, but far greater
vigilance appears to have been exercised in
curtailing her freedom. Here she resided un-
molested till 1758. In that year Charles Leslie,
brother of the Earl of Rothes, appeared on the
scene. Mr. Leslie, a colonel in the army of
Holland and a needy adventurer, had fallen into
the debt of Mr. Crawford, the banker at Rotter-
dam. With the aid of Mr. Crawford, who saw in
a union, legal or otherwise, between Leslie and
Lady Wemyss a prospect of the repayment of his
debts, a permit was obtained for Lady Wemyss
to quit the convent at Chartres and leave France.
She appears to have been fully aware of what was
passing, and lent herself readily to the scheme.
By means of the permit she was given her liberty.
Shaking the dust of Chartres from her feet, she
posted to the frontier and thence proceeded to
Brussels, the rendezvous agreed on. Here, how-
ever, her plans and those of Mr. Leslie diverged.
166 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
She had no idea of abetting his nefarious project,
and to his infinite discomfiture Lady Wemyss
immediately placed herself under the protection
of Mr. Murray, with whom she left for London.
Later in 1766, to finish this discreditable story,
she returned with Mr. Murray to France. In-
formation was brought to Elcho, then at Paris,
that she was being kept under restraint in Mr.
Murray's hotel. Elcho appealed to M. de
Sartine, Chief of the Paris Police. A lettre de
cachet was obtained, and the unfortunate Lady
Wemyss was removed from the care of Mr.
Murray and placed in a convent at Charenton.
Here to all intents and purposes she was as
strictly a prisoner as though she had been trans-
ferred to the Bastille. Murray was indignant at
being thus baffled in his schemes. He appealed
to Lord George Lennox, then Charge d' Affaires.
To Lord George it was merely a case of a British
subject incarcerated without any charge having
been established against her. 1 He therefore
applied to the Due de Choiseul, and an order
was at once obtained for the release of Lady
1 There is a despatch from Lord George Lennox setting out the
facts as above stated. State Papers, France, vol. cclxx., Aug. 2,
1766.
ALEXANDER MURRAY 167
Wemyss, it being stipulated that she should
immediately leave France.
On the day fixed for the order to take effect
Elcho and Murray met outside the walls of the
convent. Elcho, who appears to have been at
all times ready with his sword, there and then
invited Murray to fight. Murray declined the
combat, and as they waited for the convent doors
to open Elcho was forced to content himself with
addressing Murray in opprobrious terms. Lady
Wemyss chose her own moment for departure,
and when some days later she emerged from her
residence, it was only to rejoin Murray and set
forth to England in his company. Whether
Elcho was moved by filial forethought or some
more sordid motive in thus attempting to coerce
his mother, it is impossible to say. He was,
however, supported by his nephew, Captain
Steuart, a man of the highest honour, while Lady
Wemyss, in trusting herself to Murray, had
certainly shown that her conduct needed some
measure of supervision.
On Wednesday, January 5, 1757, while Elcho
was in Paris, Damiens inflicted a slight wound
on the King as he was stepping into his
carriage at Versailles on his return to the
168 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Trianon. On Thursday it was known in Paris
that no cause whatever existed for anxiety.
Rejoicings throughout the city were prescribed.
The Church, that Church which Louis had
recently been supporting in her conflict with
the Parliament, was foremost in thanksgiving.
Special prayers and services were ordained, and
in Notre Dame the majestic echoes of the Fac
salvum regem were stifled in the sobs of the
officiating clergy. 1 In the streets the inhabitants
shook one another by the hand with tears of
rejoicing in their eyes ; 2 while among the poor
of Paris gratitude for this singular manifestation
of Divine mercy was stimulated by the distribu-
tion of 300,000 francs in charity. But it was at
the Palace of Versailles that interest was focused.
There consternation reigned, and the fate of
Madame de Pompadour hung from hour to
hour in the balance. Was it, every one was
asking, to be a repetition of the fate of Madame
de Chateauroux in 1744 ? Would this second
reminder to the King that he was mortal lead
again to the dismissal of a mistress ? The King's
confessor, the Pere Desmarets, was summoned ;
1 Barbier, Journal du regne de Louis XP., vol. iv. p. 173.
2 Ibid.
COMTE D'ARGENSON DISMISSED 169
the hopes of the enemies of the Marquise rose
high. Machault, the Keeper of the Seals, visited
Madame de Pompadour. When he left she was
bathed in tears. Orders were given for her
trunks to be packed : the end of her reign was
surely at hand. But the Marechale de Mirepoix
arrives. The scene changes. c Qui quitte la
partie la perd, madame,' she says, and, clinging to
a forlorn hope, Madame de Pompadour remains.
As the recollection of the danger fades, Louis
resumes his visits to the favourite ; the confessor
is dismissed, Madame de Pompadour is once
more supreme in power. Early in February
Machault is deprived of his office, and the Comte
d'Argenson, the most powerful member of the
Government, the minister intrusted with the
conduct of the war, receives a letter banishing
him to the provinces. Such was the penalty for
unsuccessful opposition to the de facto Queen of
France.
Of the atrocious manner in which Damiens was
put to death the Journal contains every detail.
On March 28th all Paris assembled in and about
the Place de la Greve. The watching of torture
was a form of vice for which the opportunities
were limited. This was no occasion to be lost.
170 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
* In reading the journals of the day,' says a Catholic
writer, * we are amazed at the place taken in
popular life by the scenes of the Greve. It was
the theatre of Paris.' 1 Madame du Hausset re-
lates 2 that the wife of a farmer-general, a woman
of great beauty, hired two places at a window for
twelve louis, and beguiled the period of waiting
for the execution by playing at cards. Nor was
the instance cited exceptional. When the moment
arrived, Damiens, who had been put to the ques-
tion ordinary and extraordinary, was conveyed to
the scaffold in a sheet. The hideous narrative
has often been told, and is only repeated here
because Elcho was a veritable eyewitness, and
supplies one detail at least not found elsewhere.
The wretched man was fastened with ligatures of
steel to a table around which were gathered execu-
tioners summoned from the provinces, and the
surgeons whose scientific knowledge had been
invoked to make the torments more prolonged.
At four o'clock his right hand was burnt ; then
his flesh was torn with red-hot pincers ; molten
lead, boiling oil and fat were poured into the
1 Carne, Monarchic fran$aise au igieme Siecle : cited J. Morley,
Diderot, vol. i. p. 62.
2 Memoires.
DAMIENS 171
wounds. In his agony the miserable man
grappled hold of the nearest executioner, and
only by means of a lever was it possible to
relax the grip of Damiens's fingers. Towards
six o'clock a horse was fastened to each of his
limbs. The horses were young ; they were un-
able to overcome the resistance of the victim.
A message was despatched to the Parliament
that unless the sinews of Damiens were cut
the sentence could not be carried out. The
answer came back that the torture was not to
be curtailed. Thereupon two more horses were
harnessed. Still the strength of the unhappy
man held out, and it was not till evening was
closing in that the necessary order arrived. Then
the sinews were severed and one by one the limbs
of Damiens were torn from his body. Thus was
the sanctity of the King's person vindicated, and
thus, in this scene of unparalleled horror, was con-
summated the most infamous act of an ignoble
reign.
Perhaps the most repulsive feature of the loath-
some scene is the fact stated from observation by
Elcho and confirmed by Barbier, that while from
the vast multitude that thronged the streets, filled
the windows, and swarmed over the roofs, many
172 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
men withdrew, unable to endure the spectacle,
every woman remained at her post till the last.
Indeed the part played by women at executions
in France was not always limited to that of
mere spectators. Philip Thicknesse l relates in
his memoirs the extraordinary circumstance that
at Dijon, where he witnessed the execution of a
youth by breaking on the wheel, the executioner
was assisted in every detail of his ghastly office by
his aged mother, who appeared to take a tremu-
lous pleasure in tying the cords and arranging
the posture of the wretched culprit. Nor did
the incongruity in the scene inspire the least
protest or surprise among the onlookers. That
such repulsive exhibitions should have been toler-
ated in these years may go far to explain the
worst barbarities of the French Revolution.
In order to appreciate Elcho's military em-
ployment at this period it is necessary to take
a brief glance at the political situation in Europe.
In May 1756 war had been formally declared
between England and France. The first blow
of the struggle had been struck in April, when
the French despatched an expedition for the
1 Philip Thicknesse, A Year's Journey through France, vol. i.
p. 4-0.
OUTBREAK OF WAR 173
capture of Minorca. In June, Minorca had
succumbed to the victorious arms of the Due
de Richelieu. This catastrophe was rapidly fol-
lowed by reverses in North America and India.
But a new era was dawning for the fortunes of
England. ' The wide weltering chaos of plati-
tudes regulating the country ' was passing away,
and in November 1756 the destinies of the nation
were transferred to the guidance of William Pitt.
France meanwhile, breaking loose from her
traditional policy and guided by the hand of
Madame de Pompadour, had formed an alliance
with Maria Theresa. To crush Frederick the
Great was now the motive of French statesman-
ship. France, Austria, Saxony, and Russia were
united for the purpose. In March 1757 a French
army of 100,000 men crossed the Rhine. The
Duke of Cumberland at the head of the Hano-
verian and Hessian troops was defeated at
Hastenbeck and forced to evacuate the Elector-
ate. France for the moment was successful,
and rejoicings in the capital acclaimed the policy
of Madame de Pompadour. But retribution was
swift. At Rossbach in November 1757 Frederick
defeated Marshal Belle-Isle and compelled the
French to retire once more behind the Rhine.
i 7 4 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
They were pursued by Prince Ferdinand of Bruns-
wick, and at Crefeld, on June 23, 1758, they were
completely routed. England in the meantime
was contenting herself with a more vigorous
pursuit of the campaign in North America, with
the payment of subsidies to Frederick, 1 and
desultory raids on the French coast at Cherbourg,
St. Malo, and Dunkirk (1757-1758).
Before his downfall D'Argenson had nomi-
nated Elcho as Colonel of the Royal Scots. In
June 1757 the corps was in garrison at Grave-
lines with the regiment of Ogilvy, and here Elcho
was received as commander of the battalion. He
remained with them till September, superintend-
ing their manoeuvres and commanding them on
two minor expeditions to Dunkirk and Bourg-
Bourg. But he was still without reward for
his services, and on his return to Paris he
renewed his application for pay to the Due de
Belle-Isle, who had succeeded D'Argenson. Re-
ceiving no reply, and considering himself grossly
ill-used, he addressed a letter to William Pitt,
now minister in England, begging again for a
pardon, and stating that if employment were given
to him in the English service he would accept
1 The total paid was 2,680,000.
LETTER TO PITT 175
it rather than remain attached to a country
where he was expected to serve without salary.
This naive declaration of mercenary patriotism
received no answer. Elcho indeed had reason
later to suspect that the letter fell into the hands
of the French ministers.
The following year he was again serving with
his regiment at Dunkirk, resisting the descents
of English troops on the French coast, when
Colonel de Roth, Lieutenant-General, came as
Inspector to review the garrison. The Marquis
du Barail, Commandant of Dunkirk, entertained
the General to dinner, and pointedly omitted an
invitation to the Colonel of the Royal Scots.
On other occasions also, when Elcho and de Roth
were thrown together, the official representative
of the military authorities ignored Elcho' s pre-
sence. But Elcho was not a person to be easily
rebuffed. At the first opportunity he approached
de Roth and demanded why, after serving in two
campaigns, he should still be without a salary.
De Roth drily replied, 'The King is master of
his own gifts/ It was this conduct of de Roth
which led Elcho to believe that his letter to Pitt
had been intercepted.
Thus we have seen the exile bartering his
176 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
sword and his services alternately to France and
to England, and seeking a post under Frederick
of Prussia, while from a letter of the English
Resident at Venice we know that at one time he
proposed joining the forces of the Republic. 1 As
a soldier of fortune, thus frowned on by the
goddess whose service he was continually seeking,
he must have experienced no common degree of
bitterness at the enforced neutrality of his career.
It is easy to conceive with what pleasure he must
have heard from Earl Marischal that he had found
for him a country place, La Prise, in the vicinity
of his own chateau at Colombier in the canton of
Neufchatel. To his new property at the con-
clusion of his military duties in 1758 he set out.
On the way he was the victim of an adventure
which illustrates the manners of the day. The
postillion whom he had hired for the journey was
of an indolent disposition and absolutely refused
to move at a smarter pace than was convenient to
himself. Exasperated at the continual delay,
Elcho dismounted from the chaise to give the
offender, as he says, a few strokes with his cane.
No sooner had he alighted than the postillion,
realising what was in prospect, struck spurs into
1 John Murray to Newcastle, State Papers, Tuscany, August 1755.
MARSHAL KEITH 177
his horse and in a moment was bowling down the
road, leaving Elcho a mere impotent cypher in the
landscape. The carriage and luggage were finally
recovered, but the postillion, as his promptitude
deserved, succeeded in effecting his escape.
Shortly after Elcho' s arrival at Colombier Lord
Marischal received the news that his brother, the
celebrated marshal of Frederick, had been killed
at the battle of Hochkirchen (October 14, 1758).
' Quelle triste nouvelle et pour vous et pour moi ! '
wrote Frederick. There could be no sadder news
for Lord Marischal. The brothers had been
comrades from boyhood and loyal friends through-
out a chequered life of wandering and exile. It
was the end of a faithful devotion, and left the
survivor lonely and bereaved. But Lord Mari-
schal allowed no place for vain lamentation. He
displayed, Elcho says, the philosophy and fine
courage habitual to his character. ' Probus vixit,
fortis obiit/ he said of his brother, and in a well-
known letter to Madame Geoffrin he wrote of
him in a strain of no less homage : 'My brother
leaves me a noble legacy : last year he had Bohemia
under ransom ; and his personal estate is seventy
ducats.* The body of the Marshal was transferred
to Dresden. There it was interred in the Garni-
M
178 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
son-Kirche, while a notable inscription 1 was en-
graved on the monument erected to his memory.
In January of the following year Earl Marischal
was c called out of his Neufchatel stagnancy and
launched into the diplomatic field again/ Frede-
rick was anxious for peace ; he believed that Spain
might act as mediator, 2 and it was in order that
he might watch the development of events at the
Court of Madrid that Lord Marischal in response
to Frederick's request set out in the early part
of the year for Spain. Carlyle states that Earl
Marischal passed through London on his way to
Madrid. But from the Journal we learn for the
first time that he travelled by Sardinia, where he
held several conferences with the King, afterwards
embarking at Genoa for Barcelona. It was not,
in fact, till his pardon was obtained from the King
of England at the earnest solicitation of Frederick 8
that the Earl in 1761 visited London. In Spain
there was small scope for his diplomacy, but he
was able to render service to the country which
1 'An inscription not easily surpassable in the lapidary way:
" Dum in proelio non Procul hinc | Inclinatam suorum Aciem | Mente
Manu Voce et Exemplo | Restituebat | Pugnans ut Heroas Decet |
Occubuit | D XIV Octobris." These words go through you like
the clang of steel. 1 Carlyle, frledrich //., ed. 1865, vol. v. p. 273.
2 (Euvres de Frederic le Grand, vol. xx. p. 273.
3 Ibid., Frederic au Roi d'Angleterre, vol. xx. p. 278.
LORD MARISCHAL IN SPAIN 179
had at last condoned his espousal of the Jacobite
cause. And in the warning transmitted to Pitt
of the family compact made between King Carlos
of Spain and Louis xv., he paid tribute to the
generosity with which George u. had admitted
him once more as a citizen of his native country. 1
What, if anything, Lord Marischal effected on
behalf of Frederick at the Court of Madrid is not
clear. But that the mission was of importance
may be gathered from the fact that Lord Mari-
schal returned to Spain after his visit to London
in April 1761? The published correspondence
between the King and his minister is chiefly con-
cerned with melon seeds and tobacco. Frederick
was much taken up with the cultivation of melons
at Potsdam, and the seeds were a common offer-
ing from friends travelling in the south. 3 In two
feet of snow, with the Austrians facing him in
Silesia, the King could turn aside to discuss the
matter with Lord Marischal, and dwell on the
excellence of the tobacco.
1 It has been commonly suggested that the pardon was granted
in recognition of this information. See KEITH, Dictionary of National
Biography. But the King's patent was granted May 29, 1759.
The compact was not signed till August 15, 1761.
2 (Euvres de Frederic le Grand, vol. xx. p. 282.
3 Ibid., Frederic au Comte Algarotti, vol. xviii. p. 94.
180 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
March 1762 1 found Lord Marischal once more
in his Principality endeavouring to compose the
differences between the Protestant factions of the
Canton, and soothe the seared sensibilities of the
fugitive Rousseau.
In the meanwhile, pending a final adjustment
of accounts between Elcho and his family, Mr.
Wemyss had ceased paying his share of Elcho's
allowance ; at the same time there had occurred a
fall in the value of the dividends which Elcho
received from his French investments. This
narrowing of his circumstances compelled him to
pass many uneventful months in Switzerland and
turned his thoughts to the quest of an heiress.
In this he was so far successful that negotiations
were entered into with a widow, Madame de May,
the only daughter of M. Herivart, a wealthy
landed proprietor in Switzerland. The courtship
proceeded with such briskness that four days after
his introduction to the widow Elcho wrote invit-
ing her hand in marriage. The lady returned an
ambiguous answer 'asking time for reflection.'
Thereupon ensued a correspondence in which
Elcho pressed his claims while Madame de May
maintained an attitude of hesitation. In one of
1 (Euvres de Frederic le Grand, vol. xx. p. 285.
THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 181
her letters the last, it may be presumed, that
she wrote she stated that she had difficulty in
resolving to marry a rebel. This was a point of
honour upon which the suitor was sensitive. He
despatched his valet to demand back his letters,
at the same time writing that, * rebel as he was,
he had done her too much honour in dreaming of
her, and that the affair must end.' A week or
two later Madame de May sought consolation in
a marriage with the Chevalier Wynn, and a sus-
picious commentator may possibly detect the
influence of the Chevalier in the final letter of
the widow.
The year 1759 had been an eventful year for
the arms of England. The fall of Quebec had
concluded the first stage of the conquest of
Canada ; in India the siege of Madras had been
raised, and the victorious advance of the British
troops in other portions of the peninsula had
unerringly progressed. In Europe British and
German troops, under the command of Prince
Ferdinand, had defeated the French at Minden ;
while on sea the victories achieved by Boscawen
and Hawke had shattered the fleets of France,
commanded respectively by M. de la Clue off the
Portuguese coast and by the Marechal de Conflans
i8a DAVID, LORD ELCHO
in Quiberon Bay. In the operations of the French
we once more become aware of the faint and fitful
political survival of Charles. From the Journal
we learn that from time to time he had been
residing at Bouillon, the castle of his relative, with
Miss Walkinshaw, whom rumour asserted he con-
tinued to maltreat. It was from Bouillon that he
paid visits to Paris, where he passed much time
in the society of Alexander Murray. Nor, as we
learn from his correspondence with Antony Walsh, 1
had he ever ceased to entertain a belief in his
ultimate support by France. It is at this time,
also, that his bemused and clouded thoughts turn
once more to the disasters of '45^46, and that in
a letter to his father we find him breaking forth
again into a savage attack on Lord George
Murray. 2
In 1759 he was in negotiation with the French
Government, sending messages to Louis and his
ministers, and even approaching Madame de
Pompadour, whom he formerly ignored, and
whose cypher name in the Stuart Papers is now
La Brillante Etoile. France was meditating a
1 Printed by the Due de la Tremoi'lle, Une Famille Royaliste
Irlandaise et ficossaise.
2 See Appendix B.
MR. O'DUN 183
descent upon Ireland. Her fleets were being
gathered for the convoy of the Due d'Aiguillon
with 1 8,000 troops. It was suggested that Charles
should accompany them. But in the time of
Tencin Charles had declared * Point de partage :
tout ou rien.' In September 1758 he had written
to Walsh : ' There cannot and never will be a
question of Mr. Burton [Charles himself] ceding
or entering into any accommodation about the
little lands of Vernon [Scotland] and Stanley
[Ireland].' 1 His sentiment was still the same.
He would be no party to retrieving a portion
only of the kingdom. St. James's remained his
goal ; he refused to embark unless the descent
was made upon the English coast. Thereupon,
writes Elcho, a Mr. O'Dun was convened to act
the part of Prince Charles. Mr. O'Dun was an
Irishman, and in feature appears to have borne a
close resemblance to Charles. It was proposed
that upon the moment of the landing of the troops
in Ireland Mr. O'Dun should be proclaimed as
the representative of the Stuarts. Mr. Lang has
published a letter 2 of Alexander Murray to Charles,
1 Printed by the Due de la Tremoille in Une Famille Royaliste
Irlandaise et ficossaise.
2 Pickle the Spy, p. 409.
184 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
which fits in with this statement of Elcho's.
Murray writes (December 10, 1759) of an inter-
view with the Due de Choiseul. ' He [Choiseul]
then told me that in case you did not chuse to go
with Mr. de Guillon [d'Aiguillon] that it would
be necessary to send one with a declaration in
your name/ Here we have confirmation that the
role of Mr. O'Dun was contemplated, if nothing
more. Hawke's victory, however, rendered this
imposition on the credulity of the Irish unneces-
sary, and defeated for the third time in sixteen
years the design of a French landing in England.
Mr. O'Dun was later appointed French Minister
to the Elector Palatine.
In 1761 Elcho was still at La Prise, awaiting
with anxiety the return of Earl Marischal. The
presence of the Governor was urgently needed.
During his absence the quiet of Neufchatel had
been rudely broken by doctrinal differences in the
Protestant congregation. In 1760 the Pastor
Petitpierre had been deprived of his cure by the
ecclesiastical authority on account of the views
he entertained on the non-eternity of punishment.
The friends of Petitpierre rallied to his support ;
they persuaded the President of the Council to
reject the nomination of a new minister appointed
PETITPIERRE 185
to the living ; a deadlock was created, and it was
in the heat of the crisis which followed that Earl
Marischal returned to his Principality (March
1762). The Earl, a philosopher himself and a
friend of the Encyclopaedists, had no difficulty
in determining to uphold the deposed Petitpierre. 1
His decision raised a storm in the Principality
and evoked all the intolerant spirit of the fol-
lowers of Calvin. Elcho, with more insight or
from a more intimate acquaintance with the feel-
ing in the country, advised the Earl to accept
the new minister. ' I informed him/ he writes
in the Journal \ ' that if he would not take this
course, the Council of State would do it in spite
of him. He replied that they would not dare
to do so, was irritated with me, and asked why
I meddled in the matter. I answered that my
interest led me to do so, that I had come to
reside in the country from love of him, and
that my happiness, my interest, and my pleasure
made me wish that he would pass the remainder
of his days there. But knowing him as I did,
1 Lord Marischal appointed the brother of the pastor to act as
spiritual adviser to Mademoiselle Emettee, who desired to adopt the
Christian faith. Ch. Berthoud, Les Quatre Petitpierre. Neuf-
chatel, 1875.
i86 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
I knew well that if the Council of State received
the Minister without his consent, he would take
it to heart and quit the country.'
The crisis dragged on, but the Council acted
as Elcho predicted, 1 and in 1763 Earl Marischal
tendered his resignation to Frederick, and left
Neufchatel to visit Scotland. Before this con-
troversy had brought his rule to an end Lord
Marischal had come into unlooked-for association
with Rousseau. Fleeing from persecution, that
wayward philosopher had sought refuge under
the aegis of Frederick and his Governor in
Neufchatel. With theatrical brusqueness he
had announced to the King his arrival in a
letter beginning, * I have spoken much evil of
you ; I shall probably speak more.' For answer
Frederick directed Lord Marischal to provide
1 The following account is from the pen of Voltaire : * II n'y a pas
longtemps qu'un theologien calviniste, nomme Petitpierre, precha et
ecrivit que les damnes auraient un jour leur grace. Les autres
ministres lui dircnt qu'ils n'en voulaient point. La dispute s'echauffa j
on pretend que le roi leur souverain leur manda que puisqu'ils vou-
laient etre damnes sans retour, il le trouvait tres bon qu'il y donnait
les mains. Les damnes de 1'Eglise de Neufchatel deposerent le pauvre
Petitpierre qui avait pris 1'enfer pour le purgatoire. On a ecrit que
Tun d'eux lui dit : mon ami, je ne crois pas plus a Tenfer eternel que
vous, mais sachez qu'il est bon que votre servante, votre tailleur, et
surtout votre procureur y croient.' See Dictionnaire Philosophique
(Enfer).
ROUSSEAU 187
the refugee with one hundred crowns, afford him
protection, and deter him if possible from writ-
ing, or c he will turn the heads of your subjects.'
Utterly opposed as Frederick, the student of
Locke, of Marcus Aurelius, and of Lucretius,
might be to the theories of Rousseau, he was
too enlightened to tolerate the persecution of
eccentric opinions. 'II ne me persuaderait jamais
a brouter 1'herbe et a marcher a quatres pattes,'
he wrote to Lord Marischal. ' La veritable
philosophic, ce me semble, est celle qui, sans inter-
dire 1'usage, se contente a condamner Tabus : il
faut savoir se passer de tout, mais ne renoncer,
de rien.' ' But,' he continues, ' ... si nous
n'avions pas la guerre, si nous n'etions pas mines,
je lui ferais batir un ermitage avec un jardin.' 1
Lord Marischal received the philosopher at Colom-
bier. On seeing the venerable old man, Rousseau
says his first instinct was to weep at the sight of
that attenuated frame, so wasted by old age, but,
lifting his eyes, he beheld a countenance so open,
so noble, so animated, that his affliction gave
way to respect mingled with confidence. In
his Confessions he sheds abundance of tears over
the virtues of Lord Marischal, over his hospi-
1 (Euvres de Frederic le Grand, vol. xx. p. 289.
i88 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
tality, his fatherly kindness, and concludes in
a mawkish rhapsody which would have diverted
the Earl ' O bon mylord ! o mon digne pere !
que mon coeur s'emeut encore en pensant a vous ! '
With the conclusion of Lord Marischal's reign
in Neufchatel there ended at the same time the long
and faithful friendship which he had extended to
Elcho. Whether their relations were embittered
by the warmth with which Elcho had advocated
a particular course of conduct in the Petitpierre
controversy does not appear, but I have been
unable to discover any trace of the friends meeting
or corresponding after this date. It is preferable,
however, to presume that only circumstances com-
pelled them into diverging channels of life, and
that the affection and esteem which had played a
controlling part through so many years survived
the change.
Forty years had passed since Earl Marischal
had set foot in Scotland. He found that the ties
with his country were no longer binding : his
brother lay in his soldier's grave in the Garnison-
Kirche, his home had passed into other hands,
the aspect of many things seemed strange, and
King George's pardon may well have cooled the
welcome extended to the old Jacobite leader in
DEATH OF LORD MARISCHAL 189
the north. Frederick, too, was writing ardent
reasons for his return to Prussia. * While yet
alive/ he wrote, 'you are enjoying the lot of
Homer after his death : towns disputed the
honour of being his birthplace : I would dispute
with Edinburgh the honour of claiming you. If
I had a fleet I should contemplate sending it to
carry off my dear Lord Marischal and bring him
here.' Such affectionate importunity was not to
be resisted. In 1764 he retired to Prussia. He
was welcomed by Frederick. Within a mile of
the Palace of Potsdam a cottage was built for him
by the King. There with his garden, his favourite
authors, his still vital touch with the thought and
movement of the day, and his correspondence
with the celebrated men of the time, he passed
his declining years. ' Sa douce philosophic ne
1'occupe que du bien,' wrote Frederick to Vol-
taire. 1 * II loge vis a vis de Sans Souci, aime et
estime de tout le monde. Voila une heureuse
vieillesse.' On May 25, 1778, Lord Marischal
died in the home which Frederick had created
for him.
1 (Eu<vres de Voltaire , vol. xliv. p. 353.
VIII
IT cannot be said that at this juncture the
Wemyss family acted with munificence towards
Elcho. The ties of relationship had never been
strong, and the brothers in Scotland seem in
their own interests to have made the most of the
attainder which had broken the natural course of
the inheritance. In the beginning of 1760 it
really looked as if further supplies were to be cut
off altogether : the regular allowance was being
dribbled through to the Continent in diminishing
quantities at irregular intervals. Elcho realised
that he could no longer rely on the punctual
payment of his income. Anxious therefore to
forestall a complete breakdown of his resources,
he proposed in 1760 that he should be paid off
with a lump sum of ten thousand pounds. The
brothers acceded to the proposition. James
Wemyss handed over six, and Francis Charteris
four thousand pounds. Thenceforward Elcho
was independent of his relatives.
November 1762 saw the close of the Seven
190
END OF THE WAR 191
Years' War ; saw, too, England in possession of
Canada, Cape Breton, French America, India
(except Pondicherry and Chandernagore), the
islands of Tobago, Dominica, and St. Vincent ;
while Havanna, which England had wrested from
Spain, was exchanged for Florida. In every
quarter of the globe the genius of Pitt and the
prowess of British arms had altered the balance
of power. On the Continent the renown and
authority of Prussia were assured by the retention
by Frederick of the territory he had conquered
in Silesia. Peace was once more established
among the nations of Europe. Elcho, who was
never slow to ask for what he conceived to be his
proper reward, thought this a fitting moment to
petition the Due de Choiseul for the Cross of
Military Merit. The answer was that Elcho's
service had not been of sufficient length, and
that he must await his turn in the ordinary
course of seniority.
Elcho's regiment, the Royal Scots, also the
regiments of Ogilvy, Lally, and Fitzjames, had
been disbanded at the close of the war. Many
officers were thus cast adrift without prospect of
further service in the armies of France. Elcho,
finding himself in Paris in 1763 together with
192 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
General Groeme, the commander-in-chief of the
land forces of Venice, formed a plan for con-
structing two battalions from the disbanded
regiments, and tendering their services to the
Republic. The Venetian Ambassador in Paris,
Tiepolo, cordially welcomed the scheme. Officers
were nominated, recruits obtained, and a memorial
forwarded to the Republic containing details of
the proposal. There, however, the matter ended.
No notice was taken of the memorial, and nothing
more was heard of the scheme. Never, surely,
was an exile so hampered in his attempts to mark
out a career for himself. Events frustrated him
at every point. Active service abroad, pardon at
home, seemed equally beyond his compass, nor, as
we have seen, had his schemes for improving his
financial position been attended with any greater
degree of success. On the other hand he appears
never to have relaxed his efforts or abandoned
hope. If he was bewildered, he concealed it under
an imperturbable mask of resolution ; if he was
discouraged, he took refuge in a fresh pursuit
of his purpose. He recognised no defeat ; he
accepted no rebuff; and in one at least of his
objects, as we shall see, he finally succeeded.
The years immediately preceding and following
IN SWITZERLAND 193
the peace were without personal incident. We
hear of him immersed in the parochial politics of
Neufchatel, admitted as a burgess, entertained by
the magistrates at a civic banquet, taking part in
the provincial pleasures of the town, its suppers
and dances, and acquiring a local status of some
celebrity. If he sighed for the greater glories of
Paris, he must have remembered that in Switzer-
land he was at any rate a landed proprietor in the
country of his adoption, enjoying the honour and
appreciation of his neighbours. At other times
he is travelling in Germany, or staying at the
Court of Baden, flying falcons among the hills
with the Margrave, receiving from his host his
Order 4 de la Fidelite ' (for what particular fidelity
is not stated), or paying brief visits to Paris,
meeting his brother Francis Charteris, whom he
had not seen for nineteen years, and who it is
satisfactory to learn supplemented the halting
stipend he had doled out in past years by the
gift of a thousand pounds. Or again, we hear of
him careering over France, staying with Jacobite
friends in provincial towns ; or back in Paris,
wrestling with Alexander Murray for the safe
custody of Lady Wemyss delighting with all
his old fervour in the gaieties and dissipations
i 9 4 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
of the city, and the hospitality of the financiers,
those accessories of power, who during the sway
of Madame de Pompadour had acquired such a
dominant social position. But never in this life
of feverish haste, so full of the infinitely unim-
portant, is there absent from his mind the desire
to return to his own land. Every change at the
British Embassy in Paris, every alteration in the
Cabinet in London is the occasion of a fresh
appeal. But the Government was relentless.
The death of George u. brought his pardon no
nearer. He was the marked man of the Jacobite
rising, and was not to expect mercy or mitiga-
tion.
In 1765 he is again negotiating for the hand in
marriage of a French heiress. The trenches are
opened ; Captain Steuart, his nephew, arranges that
Elcho and Mademoiselle Truite shall have sight of
each other c without speaking, in a box at a sacred
concert ' : they are mutually gratified. The siege
advances ; the lady proves a willing accomplice ;
nothing is needed but the sanction of the father.
But there is ' reflection in their delirium,' and
Elcho is warned by the young lady to ask for an
allowance of 16,000 livres. The father, a wealthy
proprietor from St. Domingo, proves a hard
DEATH OF JAMES 195
bargainer, and stands firm on an offer of 12,000
livres. Both parties seem to have imported into
their discussion the methods of the slave-market
of St. Domingo. The negotiations collapse and
Elcho takes his departure. A little while and
his commercial instincts are overpowered by his
affections, and he returns with more humble views
as to income. As usual he is too late. The
Comte de Boulainvilliers has in the meanwhile
carried off the lady at the lower figure of 12,000
livres a year. The transaction is typical of the
period, and from the principal actor it receives
neither comment nor apology.
On the morning of January i, 1766, James
died in Rome. For long he had been imploring
Charles to visit him. But Charles was determined
to keep clear of Rome and things Romish : it
was part of a puerile policy, the motive of which,
so far as it had any motive at all, was his desire
to appear to the world as a sound Protestant,
divorced from sympathy alike with his father's
relations with the Vatican, and the position of his
brother in the Roman Catholic Church.
When the news reached Paris that James was
sinking, Charles did at last set forth. Leaving
Paris on December 30, 1765, he travelled by
196 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Strasburg and the Tyrol to Rome. What were
the thoughts in his mind on that journey ? What
were the memories awakened as he looked out
once more on the Eternal City ? Twenty-two
years had passed since at the bidding of France
he had said farewell to his father and quitted the
palace in the Via di Santi Apostoli. The dreams
of youth had been brought to nothing. The
hopes which gathered about him as he went had
been scattered into outer darkness. He had
passed through dazzling scenes : had reigned as
a Regent in Edinburgh, had known victory and
triumph, and then had been overwhelmed. Later
there came to him the memorable experience of
a long concealment amid a race of impregnable
devotion, an experience which might well have
raised his character to the sublime. Finally, he
had been hustled out of France like a pick-
pocket. And all adventure, splendour, and
disaster had ended in obliteration. Now he was
returning, a lonely and discredited exile, un-
welcomed and unrecognised, to reign only in
a kingdom of hollow tradition and desolate echoes.
But even now the grace which had once prevailed
could make itself felt. Lumisden, 1 who became
1 Cited Lang, Charles Edward, p. 401.
CHARLES IN ROME 197
his secretary at Rome, writes (January 23) that
Charles c charms every one that approaches him,'
and there were still to be found some who would
not forsake him.
Charles at once assumed the pomp and title of
kingship. But it was a game which could not be
profitably played without accomplices. English
diplomacy was busy in the courts of Europe, in
Austria, in France, in Spain, and above all at the
Vatican, representing that the recognition of
Charles as king would not be considered as con-
sistent with friendly intentions towards George in.
Diplomacy was successful. The powers consulted
acceded to the representations. Pope Clement
xin., it is true, continued the allowance of 12,000
Roman crowns which had been made to James ;
but even in the sacred city Charles was denied all
claim to the title of king.
Elcho considered that Charles was now in a
position to repay the famous 1500 guineas. With
this idea he drew a bill for that amount, payable
to the order of M. Barrazi, banker at Rome. As
might have been expected, M. Barrazi shortly
wrote back that he had presented the bill, but
that Charles refused to accept it. This put the
creditor on his mettle. He determined to make
198 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
a pilgrimage in person to Rome and obtain a
decree of the courts, or, if need be, invoke
the authority of the Pope. Like the celebrated
animal in the romance of Apuleius, who wandered
over the world in search of the rose-leaves which
were to restore to him his former shape and glory,
the exile seems to have set his heart on the re-
covery of this much-debated sum. But from what
is known of his character it may be assumed that
his determination proceeded quite as much from a
sense of fair-play and a natural repugnance to
acknowledging defeat as from a hankering after
the immediate fruits of success.
Leaving Paris on September 7, 1766, he entered
Rome on November 7. The cost of the journey,
which was performed in a carriage drawn by three
horses, it is interesting to note, amounted to 2600
livres. Everywhere, he says, he was taken for a
French officer. By this mistake he was able to
profit, paying four paoli for a meal, for which an
Englishman would have had to pay twelve. * The
Italians/ he adds, c always charge much, but there
is no nation so reasonable when they see that they
have not to deal with fools/ On his arrival he
took apartments in the Trinita di Monti. Here
he had eight rooms, a kitchen, a stable and coach-
ROMAN SOCIETY 199
house for six sequins a month. Like all strangers,
he was driven to provide himself with meals at a
restaurant at the rate of six paoli a head. It was
rarely that guests were invited to partake of dinner
or supper in the private houses of Rome. An Ital-
ian nobleman who had money to spend preferred
to lay it out on the construction of a palace, the
designing of a garden, or the purchase of works
of art. It had, in fact, become the ambition of
the members of the wealthier classes to have their
names identified with the lasting records of art. 1
Building galleries, founding collections, promoting
excavations in search of antiques, these were the
serious diversions of the day. At the same time,
numbers of the nobility spent large sums on their
establishments, their horses and carnages, the
liveries of their servants, the personnel of their
retinue, and economised by giving no costly enter-
tainments, and by even dispensing with the services
of a cook. In such a case the needs of the house
would be supplied from a neighbouring inn. A
few of the nobles entertained, but it was the
exception, and that open hospitality which pre-
vailed in Paris was practically unknown in Italy.
Concerts there were and parties for cards, and
1 Voyage en Italie, vol. v. p. 137.
200 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
conversazioni, but music was cheap, and the other
forms of sociability involved no expenditure at all.
Elcho at once directed his attention to attaining
the object of his journey. Charles was living in
the palace of his late father. In attendance, and
forming an exceedingly modest Court, were Mr.
Urquhart, a captain in the French army, Stafford,
an Irishman who had been in his service so early
as 1740, the secretary Mr. Lumisden, and Mr.
Hay of Restalrig. Later, Charles's old devotion
to sport revived, and he would make expeditions
into the country in pursuit of game. But for the
moment, as he writes to his brother, his * situation '
could not ( be amused with quels [quails] or any
diversion whatsoever.' 1 He was living in melan-
choly isolation, parading a pomp which every one
affected to ignore, and claiming a position which
no one was permitted to acknowledge. Daily he
showed himself, accompanied by Mr. Hay, in a
coach drawn by six horses, with Messrs. Urquhart,
Lumisden, and Stafford following in another
carriage. Every afternoon a dismal progress was
described through the streets of the city ; every
evening it terminated with the same spectral
formalities at the palace in the Via di Santi
1 Stuart Papers, February 1766.
THE COURT OF CHARLES III 201
Apostoli. Nowhere was he greeted by the popu-
lace, and as if this mute denial of his title was not
sufficient, the royal arms above the doorway of
his palace, which had hitherto reminded the passer-
by that there was still a * king across the water,'
were secretly removed by order of the Pope.
Mr. Urquhart, who came to visit Elcho, told
him that Charles was now sunk in the last stages
of degradation, that not a day passed without some
scene of quarrelsome drunkenness, and it was a
common occurrence for Charles on these occasions
to become violent, and even beat Mr. Hay. ' I
have at last seen ... in his own house,' wrote
William Hamilton, 1 in May 1767. 'As for his
person, it is rather handsome, his face ruddy and
full of pimples .... I cannot answer for his
cleverness, for he appeared to me to be sunk in
melancholy thoughts, a good deal of distraction
in his conversation and frequent brown studies.
. . . He has all the reason in the world to be
melancholy, for there is not a soul goes near him,
not knowing what to call him. He told me time
lay heavy upon him. I said I supposed he read
a good deal. He made no answer.' To such a
1 The English Envoy at Naples. Lansdowne MSS., cited by Mr.
Ewald, p. 376.
202 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
point had dwindled he whose medal had once been
struck with the motto, * Spes Britanniae.'
The first step towards the recovery of the
money was the preparation of a memorial. The
document completed, Elcho placed it in the hands
of the Secretary of State, Cardinal Torrigiani.
The Secretary said that he would ascertain from
Cardinal York whether Charles admitted the debt.
The Journal gives the following account of what
then occurred. c I returned on the appointed day
to the house of Cardinal Torrigiani, who informed
me that the Prince had admitted the receipt of the
sum of 1500 guineas from me in Scotland on Sep-
tember 1 6, 1745, but that he would not repay me
till he was seated on the throne of Great Britain.
I remarked to the Cardinal that I considered that
event to be very far off, and that I wished to be
paid now. The Cardinal asked why I had not
raised the question sooner. I answered that the
Prince had always been living incognito, that he
had not had any fixed residence, and that so soon
as he had taken up his abode in Rome I had come
thither to reclaim my money. The Cardinal asked
if I wished to raise an action against my sovereign.
I replied that I did not recognise him as such,
and that I would sue him if I were not prevented
ELCHO AND THE CARDINAL 203
from doing so. The Cardinal answered that I
must not be surprised to find that the Prince was
protected in their country, as being zealous for
their religion. I said that he had not been a
zealot long, for he had abjured their religion in
Switzerland. " I know it," replied the Cardinal,
" but he is a good Catholic now." Seeing that I
could make nothing of his Eminence, I said fare-
well to him/ The prospects of the creditor were
little improved by a promise to pay on the Restora-
tion. He now plunged into the thick of the
ecclesiastical world : he made the round of the
Cardinals. He called on the Bishops. He left
no stone unturned to gain his point. From
Cardinal Negroni alone did he receive practical
advice. * Do not talk of levying a distress or
arresting the debtor/ said the Cardinal, 'but
obtain an audience of the Pope, and invite His
Holiness to detain, until your debt is paid, a
portion of the 12,000 crowns which he gives to
the Prince/ In due course Elcho was admitted
to an audience with the Pope. Wearing his
sword and hat, which he was allowed to do in
consideration of his position as a titular Scottish
peer, he was introduced to the presence of His
Holiness by Cardinal Borghese. The Pope
204 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
asked many questions about Elcho's travels, and
patiently read the memorial, in which he was
asked to withhold two thousand crowns a year
until Charles had discharged his debt to the
memorialist. If we are to believe the suitor, the
Pope was moved to tears by the recital of the
wrongs which Elcho had suffered, but he said
that in refusing to recognise Charles by the title
of King he had already given him grievous
offence, and he was not prepared to interfere
further in his affairs. The interview with the
Pope gave the coup de grace to Elcho's present
aspirations after his ^1500.
Nothing but his invincible optimism could have
led Elcho to seriously expect repayment of this
money. Unsuccessful claimants to thrones, if
they have enjoyed no other prerogative, have
usually exercised the privilege of ignoring their
debts. Charles was the last man in the world to
forgo this licence. And in his refusal he did
not even think it necessary to propound the plea
put forward by his father, that the money was
advanced to the cause and not lent to the indi-
vidual. That was a contention for lawyers and
casuists. Charles more warily took refuge in
mortifying silence. But the story gives point to
ROBERT SHEE 205
the view of Dr. King. * The most odious part of
his (Charles's) character,' wrote the Doctor in his
Anecdotes, e is his love of money . . . the certain
index of a base and little mind. . . . His most
faithful servants, who had closely attended him in
all his difficulties, were ill rewarded.' Nor was
Elcho the only person at this time who was seek-
ing recognition of his services or repayment of his
debts. Sempil, the brother of the late lord, craves
in straitened circumstances for repayment of the
disbursements made by his brother on behalf of
the cause ; 1 while in a letter of Robert Shee,
formerly colonel in Fitzjames's Horse, we find
a case analogous to that of Elcho. Shee writes
from Metz, November 9, 1766 : 2 c to put your
Majesty in mind that the night after Culloden,
in my Ld. Lovat's house, I gave your Majesty
into his own hands a hundred and fifty guineas
out of my private purse. I blush to be forced to
this extremity.'
Though he had failed in the purpose of his
mission, Elcho lingered in Rome through the
summer. There was little enough to detain him.
The city was almost deserted. Such few British
visitors as were to be found there, with the excep-
1 Stuart Papers. 2 Ibid.
206 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
tion of Lord Glenorchy, banned him from their
society. He was a Jacobite outcast, exiled by an
irony of fate for his devotion to a cause he had
long ceased to support, and ostracised for a leader
he had long learned to despise. His case justified
pessimism. But he lived contentedly through the
burning summer days, the tedium of his visit
allayed by friendship with the French ambassador,
the Marquis d'Aubeterre, and his mind diverted
by the sights of the city, its churches, palaces, and
works of art, for all of which he showed a ripening
appreciation. He resisted the prevalent tempta-
tion of visitors, that of being painted by Pompeio
Battoni, who at the rate of fifty sequins for a
' head ' and a hundred for a ' full length,' had for
many years been amassing considerable riches,
mainly from the pockets of the English. Music,
on the other hand, a taste for which at this epoch
could be more easily gratified at Rome than in any
other city, was his constant solace.
He took interest also in the frequent ecclesias-
tical functions, and narrates that on one occasion
he attended as a spectator the tribunal summoned
to decide upon the canonisation of a saint.
Cardinals, bishops, and other functionaries sat
in judgment, while learned theologians were
NAPLES 207
present in a consultative capacity as technical
assessors in the cause. It was necessary to prove
the performance of some miracle by the proposed
saint. Doctors and surgeons were called to give
their opinion as to how far the alleged miracle
might be accounted for by natural and physical
causes. The consistory advocate, popularly known
as the ' Devil's Advocate,' was there to test the
validity of the claim. 1 In the case which Elcho
heard, witnesses were called who gravely stated
that they had seen the saint under discussion fly
like a bird out of the window. He does not,
however, state what view was taken by the medical
experts, nor how far the consistory advocate
thought it desirable to press his investigations.
On another occasion, when less juggling with
the supernatural was involved, he was present at
a service held by the Jesuits. The sermon con-
cluded, whips were handed to the congregation
consisting of men, the lights were extinguished,
and during a quarter of an hour of total darkness
the more devout worshippers scourged themselves
without mercy.
Naples, to which he migrated in September,
proved a welcome contrast to the lethargy of
1 Voyage en Ilalie, vol. v. p. 50.
208 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Roman life. The presence of the Court gave
distinction to society. The riches of the nobility
were spent in entertaining. The attitude of the
social world to foreigners was marked by none
of the aloofness observable in the other towns
of Italy. Living was cheap. Music, dancing, and
the opera Elcho's favourite diversions could be
enjoyed to the best advantage. The gaiety of the
inhabitants, the charm and beauty of the surround-
ings, made him declare his preference for Naples
over all the towns he had visited. He dined
frequently with the French ambassador, M. de
Choiseul. On one occasion he referred to Prince
Charles. M. de Choiseul said he had never for-
given the Prince for visiting the Opera in 1746
when his adherents were perishing on the scaffolds
of England, a circumstance which, it may be
remembered, had excited angry protest at the
time from Elcho himself.
In November the exile was once more on the
move, posting across Italy to Venice. There he
arrived in time for the last days of the Carnival.
He saw the concluding festivities held in the
presence of the Doge Moncenigo on the Piazza ;
the head of an ox severed at a single blow ; a man
raised by a cord from a gondola to the top of the
CARNIVAL AT VENICE 209
Campanile, and thence lowered to the feet of the
Doge, to whom he presented a bouquet of
flowers ; a pyramid formed by gondoliers stand-
ing in five tiers on each other's shoulders, which,
though a mild acrobatic feat to the modern world,
was one that excited the plaudits and astonish-
ment of contemporary onlookers. At Venice he
met many former friends : the patrician Priuli,
recently liberated from the piombi ; Madame
Morosini, now Madame Zenobio ; Madame
Cornaro and her husband ; and the doctor
Rigolini. There were the usual amusements :
the opera, the theatre, and gambling at the
Ridotto, pleasures for which he continued to
show unflagging zeal. Since his last visit,
theatrical performances had reverted or retro-
graded to their former character ; Goldoni had
withdrawn to Paris, though keeping himself
before the Venetian public with his Genio buono
e cattivo ; Chiari had been beaten from the field ;
for the moment the Commedia dell ' Arte had
revived, and Gozzi with his Fiabe was drawing
crowded and enthusiastic audiences. 1
In 1769, after uneventful wanderings over the
1 Memoires of Carlo Gozzi j Vernon Lee, Italy in the Eighteenth
Century ; Memoires of Goldoni.
O
210 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
Continent, Elcho returned to Paris. In May 1770
he witnessed the arrival of Marie Antoinette
before her marriage to the Dauphin, and attended
the fetes by which the event was celebrated. The
most magnificent was, as usual, that given by the
Spanish ambassador in the ' Vauxhall de Boulvart.'
A supper was followed by a masked ball, to which
eight thousand guests were invited. Four battal-
ions of Swiss acted as waiters, and halls were
set apart for faro, biribi, and trente-et-quarante.
Elcho saw six thousand louis d'or staked on a
single deal of trente-et-quarante, and eight hun-
dred appears to have been a common venture.
But gambling in Paris was carried to the verge of
eccentricity. Goldoni relates the case of a lady at
Versailles who remained at her post for thirty-six
hours, eating her meals at the card-table, and in
the case of the Spanish ambassador's party the
play was continued till eight o'clock the following
evening.
In July 1770 Elcho was presented by Louis xv.
with the Order of Military Merit. In the same
month Miss Walkinshaw, who was inclined to
claim an enemy of Charles as a friend of her own,
sent a message to Elcho, begging him to come
and see her in a convent at Meaux, where she was
MISS WALKINSHAW 211
living with her daughter. Elcho went. She nar-
rated her history, and told Elcho what she had
suffered in her life with Charles. She said that
she had received as many as fifty blows from him
in a day, and that he was so jealous that he would
surround the bed in which she slept with chairs
placed on tables, while on the chairs he would put
little bells which would sound if any one approached
during the night. He had refused subsistence for
her and her daughter, had even refused to write
the letter to the Due de Choiseul which would
have secured for her support from the French
Court. He had driven her away by maltreatment,
and his vengeance had pursued her in her mis-
fortunes. She appealed to Elcho to assist her,
and begged him especially to find a husband for
her daughter. He responded in a few weeks by
producing an Englishman, possessed of sufficient
wealth, who duly accepted the position of suitor
to the daughter of Prince Charles. 1 The marriage
was on the point of being arranged, but the young
lady's over partiality for the Jesuits led to a rup-
ture of the negotiations. The Journal does not
1 In 1784 Charles summoned his daughter to Italy. He created
her Duchess of Albany, and she remained with him till his death in
1788.
212 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
give the name of the hypersensitive Protestant
lover, but it is evident that his admiration must
have been lukewarm.
In 1771 great festivities, to which Elcho was
invited, were organised at Louisberg to celebrate
the birthday of Charles Eugene, Duke of Wurtem-
berg( 1 737-93). This licentious and capable Prince
held a Court beside which the ostentation of Ver-
sailles was a thing of shadow and pretence. He was
a specialist in festivals ; he had la manie des altitudes
in shows and fetes ; and though a more enlightened
age would have deposed him as a monomaniac,
in the epoch which he startled and adorned he was
able to devote the revenues of the State and his
entire income to fabulous entertainments. At ten
in the morning he held a review of the flower of
his army, after which the troops and the populace
were admitted to the courtyard of the Castle,
where the fountains were spouting wine, and bread
and meat were distributed, and showers of silver
coin were thrown among the crowd. In the
meanwhile the numerous guests would be pursu-
ing a more exact ceremonial, each being arrayed
in robes of gold or silver silk, preparatory to
dining with the Duke. At the dinner a row of
pages 'all Counts or Barons' were stationed
DUKE OF WURTEMBERG 213
behind the guests, while hussars and chasseurs
formed a second, and the lacqueys of the Duke
a third line of attendants. The waiting was
carried on to a continual playing of trumpets,
timbrels, drums, hautboys, bassoons, hunting-
horns, and clarionettes.' Small wonder if in the
Royal Palace the art of conversation was on the
decline. After dinner the guests issued on to
the Place St. Marc, an accurate reproduction of
the Piazza of Venice, and promenaded in masks.
The shops, the cafes, the casini, the diversions,
and the whole turmoil of the Carnival were in
full swing. In this way the Duke, who had been
much in Venice, was enabled to gratify a whim
and show his appreciation of the Queen of Cities.
These, however, were not the only distractions
provided for the guests. At his country house,
La Solitude, the roof of which was a vast expanse
of slates gilt at all the joinings, the Duke was able
to develop the art of surprising to the greatest
perfection. At dinner, says Elcho, ' the roof of
the hall was suddenly thrown back, disclosing an
orchestra of musicians dressed like gods and
goddesses.' During supper 'the side of the hall
opened, revealing an illuminated lake, into which
the chasseurs had driven a number of big game,
2i 4 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
which they proceeded to shoot down before the
spectators.' Movable roofs and walls indeed
appear to have been one of the Duke's main
resources. At the Opera the back of the theatre
was unexpectedly withdrawn, exposing to view an
illuminated country and the spacious spectacle of
the royal troops engaged in a sham fight.
Frcm these exhausting entertainments Elcho
retreated to La Prise, where he resided inter-
mittently for the next two years. In 1773 he
is again attempting marriage, proposing for the
hand of the daughter of the Vice-President of
Neufchatel, * but,' he frankly says, ( as I wished
a dowry of 200,000 livres, and the Vice-President
would only give 50,000, I abandoned my suit, and
the young lady some time afterwards was married
to Baron de Bulach, to whom the Vice-President
gave 40,000 livres.' Once more we find him
pressing his claim for a pardon. His cause in
this case was warmly taken up by the Margravine
of Baden Dourlach, whose niece had married
Prince Charles of Mecklenburg, brother of the
English Queen. 1 But it was in vain. The
English Ministry were relentless.
The remaining years of his life may be briefly
1 See Appendix E.
MARRIAGE 215
dealt with. In 1776 he was at last successful in
his matrimonial aspirations, and on September 9th,
at the age of fifty-five, he was married at Beutal
to a daughter of the Baron and Baroness d'Uxhull.
With his wife he received a dowry of three thou-
sand imperial florins. But financial considerations
appear to have played a small part in the marriage,
and a new era of peace and content seemed about
to bring consolation to the later years of the exile.
But it was short lived. In November 1777 Lady
Elcho gave birth to a son. The child died within
a few hours, the mother survived only a day.
Elcho was once more alone and a wanderer. He
was inconsolable. Their year of married life at
his home in Switzerland had been attended with
complete happiness. Lady Elcho had won the
affection and goodwill of the neighbourhood, and
on her demise there were public and genuine
manifestations of sorrow. On the monument
erected to her memory in the little church of
Bole there may still be read the following inscrip-
tion
' . . . epouse cherie du tres-haut et
tres-puissant seigneur Milord Comte de
Wemyss . . . nee le 18 Aout 1756,
morte en couches le 26 Novembre
216 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
1777 et enterree le 29 avec son fils
Milord Vicomte d'Elcho ; plus respec-
table par sa piete que par sa naissance
Elle faisait le bonheur de son epoux
qu'elle a plonge par sa mort prematuree
dans une douleur profonde . . .'
Elcho himself resumed his former life of travel,
with occasional residence at his home, where, as
the municipal archives show, he continued to gain
the respect and esteem of the authorities and the
inhabitants among whom his estranging lot was
cast. He died in Paris in 1787 ; but in the town
of Bole his memory is perpetuated by the bells
of the parish church, which before his death he
presented to the town in recognition of the
welcome extended to him by the Swiss.
It has often been said that Adam Smith thought
there was a Scotsman inside every man. In Elcho
there was little else. The political character of
his training made escape from the bond of nation-
ality impossible. His fights as a boy at Win-
chester, his treatment as a young man in London,
the open hatred of the Union which he was
taught to develop in Scotland, all combined to
establish in him a deep-seated aversion to the
prevailing system of Anglicised government and
CHARACTER 217
the dominance of what he considered a hectoring
nationality. He was not one of the * master spirits
who have got the start of this majestic world.'
In politics and the larger movement of national
interests he was always at sea, and his soundings,
when he took them, were invariably wrong. He
was blind to the true significance of the Union.
He totally miscalculated the forces opposed to a
Stuart restoration. In war, when the watch-fires
were kindling through Europe, he was unable to
see beyond the clash of arms and the incidents
of the campaign. In peace he never doubted of
the permanence of the existing order of things.
To the pent-up energy below and the liberating
tendency of opinion above he was equally dead.
Cast in a feudal mould, he carried into a new
world of change and progress the outfit of a
generation for whom there was no longer foothold.
He had the bitterness of knowing that the
supreme sacrifice of his life had been made on
behalf of a lost cause and a worthless Prince ; but
to his credit he never repined. He had courage
and resolution, and in the hand-to-mouth exist-
ence which he was forced to lead on the Continent
he kept up a spirit of fortitude and a lively power
of enjoyment. He was practical, and perhaps
2i8 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
sordid so were his contemporaries. He was not
fired by any stirring aspiration neither was the
generation to which he belonged. He took no
thought for the things of the mind. It is not on
record that once away from school he ever read a
book. It is true also that in his constant negoti-
ations for marriage he displayed those practical
instincts which are conventionally said to be
Scottish characteristics. On the other hand, he
was candid and sincere. He was gifted with
soldierly qualities ; he played a distinguished part
in '45-^46, and he favourably impressed not a few
of those with whom he served. If his observation
of passing events was superficial, it was at least
accurate, and no more trustworthy account of
Charles's campaign is to be found than that con-
tained in the Narrative. The sense of banishment
from the land to which his strongly marked
nationality was always drawing him was never
absent from his mind. This it was which pro-
duced the amazing restlessness of his disposition,
and made his postchaise an almost familiar object
on the great roads of France. The embassies
abroad, the Government offices at home, were the
unresponsive receptacles of his appeals for redress.
The liberty to return to his country was the real
OPINION OF THE ENGLISH 219
object to which his life was dedicated. He failed,
as we know, and with the one reflective outburst
to which he gave utterance this sketch of his
career may fittingly conclude. c In the month of
March 1778,' he writes, 'seeing that the English
ministers were endeavouring to arrange terms of
peace with the American rebels, I wrote a letter
to Lord North, in which I remarked to him that
since the government had come to treat with the
rebels in America, they ought to extend a little of
their clemency to me, a rebel Scot, and permit me
to return to my native land and see my relatives
after an exile of thirty-two years. The English
are the most inconsistent and the most stern
nation in the world when they have their enemies
in their power. For thirty-two years I have
vainly solicited leave to return to my native land.
They have steadfastly refused it, although they
know that I have neither seen Prince Charles nor
held the least intercourse with him since my exile,
and that he is despised by all those that have
formerly acted under him. To-day they see that
they cannot conquer the American rebels, who
defeat them on every occasion. Thereupon they
humble themselves before them and offer all sorts
of terms of accommodation even to baseness, while
220 DAVID, LORD ELCHO
they treat their Scottish rebels with the utmost
haughtiness, hardship and cruelty after having
vanquished them. What difference is there be-
tween the Americans who wish to form them-
selves into a republic and renounce the sovereignty
of George in., and the Scots who renounced the
sovereignty of George n. and wished to recognise
a Prince of the Scottish house of Stuart in place
of the house of Hanover, which is German and
foreign ? The Scots love liberty as much as the
English, and would not have endured arbitrary
power under a Prince of the house of Stuart. . . .
A generous Prince and people would have
pardoned the Scots for having shown attachment
for the race of their ancient Kings, seeing that
they were ready to abandon them on becoming
convinced of their incapacity to govern. . . . But
ferocious in prosperity and abject in adversity
that is the national character of the English. . . .
Their hatred towards all nations of Europe is well
known. They cannot even tolerate their subjects
the Irish. Their conduct towards their subjects
in America brought upon them a civil war. Their
animosity against their own compatriots in Scot-
land is such that a turmoil arises when the King
appoints a Scotsman to be his Minister ; yet with-
THE SCOTS IN AMERICA 221
out Scotland what would they do ? The Scots are
their mainstay in all their wars. Take three years
of the war in America and see how the brave
Frazer, Agnew, Campbell, Abercrombie and
Pitcairn, all officers of rank and Scotsmen, have
laid down their lives, but not an Englishman
of rank has done so. Their Howe and their
Clinton did nothing with their numerous troops,
and their Burgoyne with all his host laid down
their arms.'
With these embittered words the Narrative of
the lifelong wanderer and exile may well terminate.
Of those Jacobites who were saved from the
scaffold few lived a more unhappy existence than
Elcho.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES
THE following is a list of the Authorities most
frequently cited in the Notes to the Nar-
rative, and the Abbreviations by which they
are indicated.
A. C. Atholl Correspondence : Jacobite Correspondence of the Atholl
Family during the Rebellion. 410. Abbotsford Club,
1840.
A. P. The Albemarle Papers : being the Correspondence of William
Anne, second Earl of Albemarle. Edited with Intro-
duction and Notes by Charles Sanford Terry. 2 vols.
New Spalding Club, Aberdeen, 1901-2.
B. H. Browne's History of the Highlands and of the Highland
Clans, including an Index of Stuart Papers. 4 vols.
Glasgow, 1836.
Blaikie. Itinerary of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, by Walter
Biggar Blaikie. Scottish History Society, Edin-
burgh, 1897.
C. D. The Clan Donald, by the Rev. A. Macdonald, Minister of
Killearnan, and the Rev. A. Macdonald, Minister of
Kiltarlity. 3 vols. Inverness, 1896.
C. G. History of the Clan Gregor from Public Records and Private
Collections, by Amelia Murray MacGregor of Mac-
Gregor. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1901.
G. C. T. General Cope's Trial: Report of the Proceedings of the
Board of General Officers on . . . Lieut. -General Sir
John Cope, etc. 4to. London, 1749.
G. E. C. Cokayne. Complete Peerage.
H. B. A. A History of the British Army, by the Hon. J. W. Fortescue.
2nd vol. London, 1899.
H. H. Home's History. The History of the Rebellion in the Tear
Z745' 4 to> London, 1802.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES 223
H. P. Historical Papers relating to the Jacobite Period. Edited
by Colonel James Allardyce. 2 vols. 410. New
Spalding Club, Aberdeen, 1895-6.
H. R. The History of the Rebellion, by Andrew Henderson.
5th ed. 1753.
J. M. Jacobite Memoirs. Edited by Robert Chambers. Edin-
burgh, 1834.
L. M. The Lyon in Mourning, etc., by the Rev. Robert Forbes,
1746-75. Edited from his MSS. by Henry Paton,
M.A. 3 vols. Scottish History Society, Edinburgh,
1894-6.
L. P. Lockhart Papers, 2nd vol. 410. London, 1817.
L. P. R. List of Persons concerned in the Rebellion. Edited by Lord
Rosebery and the Rev. Walter Macleod. Scottish
History Society, Edinburgh, 1890.
Michel. Les Ecossais en France, les Fran^ais en Ecosse, par Fran-
cisque-Michel. 2 vols. London, 1862.
M. J. Memoirs of the Chevalier de Johnstone. Translated from
the French by Charles Winchester. Aberdeen, 1870.
M. K. Maxwell of Kirkconnel's Narrative of Charles, Prince of
Wahs^s Expedition to Scotland. 4to. Maitland Club,
1841.
M. M. Memorials of John Murray of Broughton. Edited by Robert
Fitzroy Bell. Scottish History Society, Edinburgh,
1898.
M. R. The History of the Present Rebellion, by John Marchant.
London, 1746.
S. M. Scots Magazine.
T. G. Tales of a Grandfather. Ed. 1893.
References are also made to
S. P. Dom., i.e. ' Scotland, State Papers, Domestic, George u.,' from
the Record Office, London.
F. F. O. Documents in the French Foreign Office, of which Mr.
Blaikie has kindly lent me copies.
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE
AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND
IN THE YEARS 1744, 1745, 1746
(>///r/7/'.> C V///V//X/ ,
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE
AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND
IN THE YEARS 1744, 1745,
1746
IN the Year 1743 there were two Gentlemen at
Paris who's names were Lord Semple 1 and M r
Macgregor, 2 alias Drummond of Bakaldie. They
1 Francis Lord Sempil (described as the second Baron of the
Junior Branch), grandson of the Hon. Archibald Sempil, and son and
heir of Robert Sempil, created a Peer of Scotland by James in. and
vin. The first lord lived in Paris, where he died in 1737. Francis
Lord Sempil continued to make his headquarters in France : probably
the Francis Sempil who married the widow of the Hon. John Caryll.
He died Dec. 9, 1748 : buried at St. Andrews, Chartres.
2 William Macgregor or Drummond of Bohaldie or Balhaldies,
son of Sir Alexander Macgregor of Bohaldie, a Jacobite baronet,
his mother being a daughter of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel ;
b. 1698 ; fought at Sheriffmuir 1715; escaped to France ; married
a daughter of Oliphant of Gask ; first appears as agent to James
in 1740. Murray of Broughton speaks of him thus : 'the descendant
of a cobbler, himself a broken butter and cheese merchant, a
stickt doctor, a Jack of all trades, a bankrupt indebted to all the
world, the awkwardest Porter-like fellow alive, allways in a passion,
a mere bully, the most forbidding air imaginable, and master of as
much bad French as to procure himself a w and a dinner'
(M. M. 330). According to Murray, Elcho described Bohaldie as
'a low lifed fellow void of truth 1 (Ibid. 51). Throughout his
career he was the object of mistrust. Murray accuses him of
plundering the baggage at Sheriffmuir. In September 1744 Earl
Marischal writing to James says : ' Can you desire that either the
Duke of Perth or I undertake ever anything on the word of
228 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
were known to be ministers of the Chevalier de
S* Georges, and by most people suspected to be
pensioners of the court of France. M r Mac-
gregor made frequent journeys to England,
Scotland, and to Rome, and they both gave out
they were trusted and employed by the friends
of the Family of Stuart in Great Britain. They
certainly were employ'd by the Court of France,
for Lord Semple went often to Versailles and
was always well received by the French Ministers.
In the Winter 1743 M r Macgregor left Paris and
took with him one M r Buchanan. 1 They went
Lord Sempil and Balhaldy?* (Stitart Papers-, B. H. ii. 476). In
Feb. 1 743 Lord John Drumraond, writing to Edgar, says : c Most
of the King's friends I meet within Scotland speak against him
[Bohaldie] and desired most positively that I should inform the
King from them that Bohaldy having alwise been in low life,
he trayed several different trades without success and obliged to
flay the country in danger of being taken up for a Fifty Pound
note, he had now for a recourse taken the management of the
Kings affairs' (Ibid, 446). In March 1745 Charles was writ
his father, * I take the liberty to advertise you that there is no
believing anything they [Sempil and Bohaldie] say." On the
other hand James considered him ' an honest and sensible man/ and
trusted him throughout the protracted negotiations with the French
Court. Readers of Stevenson will remember that it was Bohaldie
who received Catriona in Paris,
1 Buchanan lived in the house of .neas Macdonald in Paris,
and acted as Jacobite messenger between France and England.
He accompanied Charles to Scotland. In a manifesto issued at
Horyrood Charles speaks of his companions as numbering seven.
This would exclude Buchanan, but in L. M. i. 282 there is the
following note : ' Perhaps Mr. Buchanan (as I have heard suggested
by several persons) was reckoned amongst the Prince's domesticks.
Robert Forbes, A.M.* See ante, p. 4-.
TH-E AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 229
by Switzerland to Rome, and soon after the
Prince, the Chevaliers Eldest son, left Rome
incognito and came to Geneva. From thence he
embark'd aboard of a filucque for Antibes, and in
his passage pass'd through Admiral Mathews's 1
fleet, which was then in those seas. From Antibes
he came to Paris, & Lodged at Lord Semples, in
the month of January 1744. He was a fortnight
at Lord Semples before it was known. At the
end of that time Lord Semple Came & invited
the Earl Marischall 2 & Lord Elcho, who were
then at Paris, to Come and see him. They went
seperately. He told them that the King of France
was to send him over to England from Dunkirk
at the head of 12000 men, that there was to be a
fleet to Sail from Brest to support that Embarka-
tion, and that he was to land in the river Thames
as near London as they Could. He told the Earl
Marischall, who had the Chevaliers commission to
Command in cheif in Scotland, that he was to be
sent to Scotland with the Irish Brigade. He
desired the Earl Marischall and Lord Elcho to get
1 Admiral Matthews (b. 1676, d. 1751), 'H Furibondo." In
1746 tried by court-martial for his conduct of the action against the
French and Spaniards off Hyeres, Feb. 17445 dismissed the service
in 1747. See ante, p. 67.
2 See Index for references to Lord Monachal
3 Batt s:
2
230 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
ready and told them that he was to sett out for the
sea coast in a Short time. He Seemed very desir-
ous his being at Paris Should be kept as secret as
possible ; Lord Caryle l came to him to Paris
from England and it
was given out he was
sent by the Party in
England who were to
join the French upon
their Landing. The
Prince left Paris in the
Beginning of Febrewary
1744 and went to
Graveline, where he re-
mained incognito with
his secretary Bakaldie
untill the Embarkation
list of the troops
destined for the
embarkation
Monaco
D'Eu
Diesbach
la cour au chantre
Beauffremont
Royal Corse
Royal la marine
Soissonois
Languedoc
Navarre
Gondrin
Mailly Cavalerie
Dauphin Dragons
was laid aside. About the End of the same
month the troops who were to Embark assembled
at Dunkirk, and the Comte de Saxe, 2 who was to
1 John Baptist Caryll, 3rd Baron Caryll of Durford, Sussex
(b. 1713, d. 1788); son of Hon. John Caryll ; s. his grandfather 1736;
became a member of Charles's household ; escorted Princess Louisa
of Stolberg from Loretto to Macerata, where she was married to
Charles, April 17, 1772 (L. M. iii. 265)5 subsequently quarrelled
with and dismissed by Charles. The Baronage was a creation by
James, 1699.
2 Maurice (b. 1696, d. 1750), natural son of Augustus n., King
of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and Aurore de Koenigsmarck $
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 231
Command them, arrived with the General officers
under his Command. There were large Ships
gott together in the road into which the troops
were to be putt, by means of Bilanders which lay
in y e harbour. About the Beginning of March
they Embarked the Duke D'Antin and the
Prince of Monaco with their Regiments. Mons r
de Roqufeuille, 1 who Commanded the Brest
Squadron, Came into the Channel & sent Mons r
de Barailh 2 with four men of war to protect the
Embarkation, and Sir John Norris 3 Came with a
large English Squadron into the downs. The
Embarkation went on but Slowly upon account of
the distance of the Ships from the harbour ; and
when their was about 6000 men embark'd, their
came on a violent Storm which putt a stop to
the Embarkation, and as the Storm continued for
15 days it drove most of the ships with the
troops Ashoare and a great Many men were
began military service at the age of twelve; present at Malplaquet ;
entered French service 1720; Marshal of France 1743; commanded
at Fontenoy 1745.
1 de Roquefeuille (b. 1665, d. 1744), Admiral 1728. Bohaldie
was afterwards responsible for a totally unsupported assertion that the
Admiral had been bribed by the English Government (M. M. 73).
2 Barailh, Jean Andre, Marquis de (b. 1671, d. 1762), present
at the battle of the Hague, where he greatly distinguished himself;
Vice-admiral 1753 (Larousse, i. 722).
3 Sir John Norris (b. 1660, d. 1749), known as 'foul weather
Jack'; Admiral and Commander-in-chief 1733 ; resigned 1744.
232 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
drownded. During the Storm Monsieur de Roc-
quefeuille came into Dungeness Bay : Sir John
Norris Stood into the Bay to him, but the Badness
of the weather prevented their engadging, and
Seperated them. Mons r de Rocquefieulle died in
Dungeness Bay of an Apoplecthick fitt, & his
Squadron returned to Brest. Sir John Norris
return'd to the Downs, and the French gave up
their Embarkation. The Earl Marischall was all
the time at Dunkirk, but was not at all Consulted ;
and whenever he Ask'd about the embarkation
for Scotland, he was told it would take place after
the other was over. The Prince sent for Lord
Marischall to come & see him at Graveline, and
proposed to him to hire a Boat 1 and to Go to
Scotland, where he Said he was sure he had many
friends who would join him ; but Lord Marashall
desauded him from thinking of it, and the Prince
return'd back to Paris, where he lived untill y e
1745, not much frequented by French people of
Fashion but much by the Irish & Scots then
there. My Lord Semple and Balkady had for-
gott to advertise the Duke of Ormond 2 of the
1 * II dit dans sa lettre que s'il savait que sa presence seule fut
utile en Angleterre, II s'y rendroit dans un canot ' (F. F. O. Minute ;
March 25, 1744).
2 James, 2nd Duke (b. 1665, d. 1745). In 1715 vote for his
impeachment carried in the House of Commons ; fled to France ;
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 233
Embarkation, but being told by some English
Gentlemen that the Party in England had a
great value for him & would take his not being
with them amiss, they Sent for him. His Grace
sett out for Dunkirk, but having heard of the
affairs being over upon the road, he return'd back
to Avignon. So soon as the Embarkation was
over, y e French declared War 1 Against The King
of England, Elector of Hanover, (as they termed
it). The Embarkation Finish'd in y e End of
March 1744. In the Month of August 1744
M r Murray of Broughton 2 (who was the Cheva-
liers agent in Scotland) went to Paris, where he
same year landed at Plymouth to take part with the English
Jacobites, but, finding no support, returned to France ; commanded
the troops despatched from Spain 1719 to promote the restoration of
James , escaped to the Continent.
1 France declared war March 20, 1744. This was followed on
the 3ist by a similar declaration on the part of England. Although
Dettingen had been fought, England had hitherto been acting only
as the ally of Austria.
2 John Murray of Broughton (b. 1715, d. 1777), son of Sir David
Murray of Stanhope, 2nd Bart.; matriculated at Leyden 1735; in
1739 appointed to succeed Colonel Urquhart as agent for James in
Scotland ; after the campaign of 1745-6 taken prisoner and conveyed
to the Tower of London, where he turned King's evidence and
obtained his pardon and a pension of 200 per annum in 1748
(S. M. x. 245). In the Journal Elcho says : ' Mr. Murray was a very
well educated man, had travelled widely, and had spent a great part
of his capital. As his affairs were disordered, he had good reason to
encourage the Prince in his project of coming to Scotland, that he
might have the chance of fishing in the troubled waters.' ' A well
looking, little man, of a fair complexion ' (H. P. ii. 351). See ante,
p. 40 et seq.
234 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Saw the Prince, and informed him that if he
could prevail upon the French to give him 6000
men and 30000 lewis d'ors and ten thousand
Stand of arms, that he was charged to tell him
he would be join'd upon his landing by a great
number of his friends, but if he Could not obtain
these Succours it was impossible for them to
do anything for him. M r Murray returned from
France in October 1744, and gave out, 1 in all the
meetings he had with the Princes friends, that the
Prince told him he would certainly be in Scotland
next Summer whither the King of France assisted
him or not. Most of the Gentlemen of that party
look'd upon it as a mad project and were utterly
against it. M r Murray & some others who were
in desperate circumstances certainly encouradged
the Prince underhand ; others such as the Duke
of Perth, 2 out of Zeal. There were likewise some
gentlemen, who were against his Coming, used in
their Conversations to Say that they would do all
they could to prevent his Coming, but if he did
1 See ante, p. 62.
2 James Drummond, grandson of James, ^.th Earl of Perth,
created Duke by James II. at St. Germains. He was brought up in
France, but had, Murray says, ' an over fondness of speaking broad
Scots.' Elcho says of him, * He was a very brave and gallant man, and
devotedly attached to the house of Stuart ' (Journal}. Escaped after
Culloden, but died on the voyage to France, May 1746.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 235
come & persisted in Staying, they believed they
could not hinder themselves from joining in his
fortune. M r Murray in the beginning of the
year 1745 sent over Young Glengary 1 to the
Prince with a State of his Affairs in Scotland, in
which it is believed he represented every body
that had ever spoke warmly of the Stuart family
as people that would certainly join him if he
came. In the Beginning of this year the Prince
had sent several Commissions to M r Murray to
be distributed amongst his friends in Scotland,
which were all signed by himself, as his Father
had made him Regent of the three Kingdoms ;
and in June Sir Hector Maclean 2 arrived with
letters from the Prince, wherin he told he would
be in Scotland in June. He beg'd his friends in
1 Alastair Ruadh Macdonell (b. 1725, d. 1760), eldest son of
John, Chief of Glengarry. Mr. Lang has identified him with
Pickle the Spy (ante, p. 51). John Macdonell himself did not join
Charles, but in August 1746 he was committed prisoner to Edin-
burgh Castle in consequence of an information signed by Barrisdale
and six other Macdonells, wherein it was alleged that they had been
forced to take up arms by their chief. Lord Albemarle suggested that
this was * another fetch ' of Barrisdale's ' to save his sweet Bacon.'
(A. P. i. 87 $ ii. 405-)
2 5th Bart, of Duart (b. 1704, d. 1751) ; arrested shortly after
his arrival in Scotland ; conveyed to London ; examined by Lord
Tweeddale ; denied all knowledge of the letters found in his
possession, but said that ' Captain Barclay ' (i.e. Charles) mentioned
in the letters, was a Captain Stewart who had been obliged to leave
Paris on account of matrimonial difficulties (Craigie MSS., Marquis
of Tweeddale to the Lord Advocate, July 27th). See ante, p. 69.
236 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
the Highlands to be in readyness to receive him,
& desired if possible all the Castles & fortresses^
in Scotland might be taken before his arrival.
Every body was vastly alarm'd at this news, &
were determinded when he came to endeavour all
in their power to prevail upon him to go back ;
and the Gentlemen of the party then at Edin-
burgh sent M r Murray to the Highlands to lett
the Prince know their sentiments, but upon his
not Coming all the month of June, M r Murray
returned to the Lowlands.
In the Month of June 1745 The Prince Sett
out from Navare, a Country house of the Due
de Bullions, 1 Attended by the Duke of Athole, 2
Sir Thomas Sheridan, 3 his old Governor, Sir
John Macdonald, 4 a Captain in the Carabineers,
1 Charles-Godefroid de la Tour d'Auvergne (Due de Bouillon)
(b. 1706, d. 1772) j son of Marie-Charlotte Sobieski, Duchess of
Bouillon, and thus cousin of Charles.
2 William Murray, Marquis of Tullibardine, eldest surviving
son of John, ist Duke of Atholl; attainted 17155 escaped to
the Continent ; returned to Scotland with Spanish forces ; present at
Glenshiel, 1719, and again went abroad ; came over with Charles
from France July 1745, and carried his standard at Glenfinnan 5
surrendered, April 27, 174.6, to Buchanan of Drummakill; con-
veyed to the Tower, where he died July 9, 1746. The dukedom
and estates passed to his younger brother James in 1724, by special
Act of Parliament.
3 Tutor to Charles 5 accompanied him to the siege of Gaeta
17345 escaped after Culloden and retired to Rome j died Nov. 1746.
4 An officer in the French service ; surrendered at Culloden ;
' a man of no extraordinary head as a councillor' (L. M. i. 283).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 237
M r O'Sulivan, 1 who was Marechal Maillebois's 2
aid du camp in the wars of Corsica, M r Kelly, 3 who
had been a prisoner in the tower of London, M r
Strickland, 4 who had been about his Father, M r
Macdonald, 5 Banker at Paris, & M r Buchanan,
1 Afterwards quartermaster-general of Charles's army. Both
Elcho and Lord George Murray lay stress on his incompetence and
the inefficient manner in which he carried out his duties.
2 Maillebois, S. B. F. Desmarets, Marquis de (b. 1682, d.
1762), Marshal of France, son of Desmarets, grandson of Colbert;
commanded a division in Italy 1733 ; conquered part of Corsica 1739.
3 Rev. George Kelly (b. 1688), spent fourteen years in the
Tower on suspicion of having been concerned in the Atterbury
Plot; escaped 1736. He was recommended to Charles by Sempil.
In 1748, when recriminations among the Jacobites were general,
Sempil accused Kelly of being 'the ruin of the Cause.' Sub-
sequently Charles dispensed with his services. May n, 1744,
Charles, writing to James, says that . Sempil and Bohaldie had
recommended Kelly as a man of ' tru sence & experience.' Kelly
was then with the Duke of Ormond, and in a postscript Charles
adds : ' I have seen a letter from Kelly in which he ses that my
request for him will be very agreeable to his Duke because that he
was a great constrent to his Amoors' (Stuart Papers'), In Oct. 1745
Charles employed him to carry despatches from Scotland to the
French Court. * C'est tout ce qu'il y a de mieux autour du prince, et
le seul homme apres le Che r - harrington, qui connoisse un peu le
gouvernement et la situation des choses en Angleterre ' (F. F. O.,
1746-7, Stuarts, vol. 79, fo. 235).
4 Formerly companion to Charles in Italy j died in Carlisle
after the surrender to Cumberland. James was suspicious of his
influence. On Oct. 26, 1745, Charles writes to James saying that
he will send Strickland away * in all hest ' (Stuart Papers). Dec.
19, 1746, Charles to James, ' I must own I am now entirely con-
vinced F. S. [Francis Strickland] was an ill man ' (Stuart Papers
printed by Lord Mahon.)
6 ^neas Macdonald, brother of Kinlochmoidart; banker in
Paris, where his house was a centre of Jacobitism. Sept. 10, 1745,
he is found writing to Charles denying a charge brought against
him of discouraging the troops (S. P. Dom. George II., 1745,
238 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
that came with him from Rome. From Navare
he went to Nantes where he met with M r Welch, 1
a rich Irish merchant, who had prepared a little
vessel 2 of 14 Guns for him, & aboard of which
the Prince embark'd at a Villadge call'd la Vrai
Croix, a little below Pleinbeuf at the Embouchure
of The Loire. They say Cardinal Tencin 3 was
the only one of the French Ministers that knew
of this expedition. The Prince had on board
with him 4000 Lewis d'ors, 1000 Guns, and
Eighteen hundred broadswords, which he had
bought with his own money. He was detained by
Contrary winds a week at Bell'isle, where he was
join'd by the Elizabeth, a 60 gun Ship Com-
manded by Captain d'O & fitted out for a Cruize by
B. 67, No. 83); surrendered to General Campbell 1746 ; conveyed
to London; gave evidence before the Duke of Newcastle but
betrayed little of importance ; died in Paris during the Revolution.
Elcho in his Journal says: 'Without Mr. Macdonald he (Charles)
could have done nothing, not one of the Highlanders would have
acknowledged him, and it was Macdonald that persuaded his brother
[Kinlochmoidart] and Mr. Macdonald of Clan Ranald to take
arms for the Prince.'
1 Antony Walsh, descendant of an Irish family for many years
settled in France; b. 1703; created Earl Walsh by James Oct. 20,
1745-
2 This vessel was named the Dutillet or Du Teillay, after Du
Teillay, Commissary of the Marine at Nantes (A Royalist Family
and Charles Edward Stuart, 109).
3 Pierre Guerin de Tencin (b. 1678, d. 1758); French envoy to
the Vatican 1721 ; through the influence of James made a cardinal
1740; succeeded Fleury as minister of France 1743; withdrew to
his diocese of Lyons 1751.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 239
M r Rutlidge, 1 an Irish Merchant at Dunkirk, who
had given the Captain orders to Escort the Prince
to Scotland. They Sail'd from Bellisle y e 8 of
July, 2 & next day they fell in with the Lion man
of war, Captain Brett, who bore down upon the
Elizabeth & engadged her for five hours. In the
Engadgement they were both much damadged &
had a Great many men killed on both sides.
The Elizabeth lost her first & Second Captains
(Brothers) & went back to Brest to Refitt. The
frigate in which the Prince was, & which had Lain
by at a distance during the time of the Action,
Steered away for the north west coast of Scotland,
and about the middle of July made the isles of
Barra. M r Macdonald was sent ashoar upon South
Uist, 3 where he mett M r Macdonald 4 of Buisdale,
1 Walter Rutledge, an Irishman and merchant at Dunkirk. He
and Walsh had advanced the money which Charles had on board
the Doutelle (about 3800).
2 'Thursday, July i5th [July 4th, Old Style]. Raised anchor
from the Roads of Belle Isle in company with the Elisabeth Captain
Deau about 5 in the morning.' Log of La Doutelle. The en-
gagement did not take place till July zoth (oth, O. S.) (A Royalist
Family, 18, 19).
3 The landing-place was on the west side of the Isle of Eriskay.
4 Alexander Macdonald of Boisdale (b. 1698, d. 1768), son by
his second marriage of Donald Macdonald of Benbecula, was the first
of the Macdonalds of Boisdale ; he not only discouraged Charles, but
dissuaded many of his brother Clanranald's followers from joining
(L, M. i, 14.8). In later times of peril, when Charles was a hunted
fugitive, however, he rendered assistance j was carried as a prisoner
to the Tower; regained his liberty July 1747,
2 4 o A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Brother to Clanronald who told him he Came
from Sir Alexander Macdonald 1 and Macleod 2 to
beg that if the Prince was in that Ship he might
go back to France, for that it was a bad project
he came upon, and Could never be Attended with
Success. The Prince came and lay ashoar that
night upon south Uist 3 and held a Council with
the Gentlemen that came along with him what
was to be done ; they were all for Going back
again to France, except Sir Thomas Sheridan.
Even the Prince himself seemed for it, 4 but Sir
Thomas, as he had always a great deal to say with
the Prince, persuaded him to remain. So they
embark'd aboard y e Ship and Steer 'd for the main
Land, and made the bay of Lochnanuagh in Aris-
aig, and they landed at a place call'd Borodale. 5
1 yth Bart, of Sleat (b. 1710, d. 1746); sided with the. Govern-
ment j he from the first had declared that he would only join if
Charles came with adequate support ; yet in Jacobite verse his
memory is thus celebrated
* If heaven be pleased when sinners cease to sin 5
If hell be pleased when sinners enter in ;
If earth be pleased to lose a truckling knave ;
Then all are pleased Macdonald 's in his grave.' C. D. ii. 91.
2 Norman, igth of Macleod (b. 1706, d. 1772), sided with the
Government.
3 i.e. Isle of Eriskay.
* The hesitation of Charles at this point is not spoken of else-
where, and it certainly differs from his attitude at Arisaig, where he
said he would choose ' far rather to sculk among the mountains in
Scotland than to return to France,' and was single in his resolution
to land (Z.. M. iii. 51). 6 On July 25th.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 241
The Arms, Money, and Amunition were Landed
here, and some meal they had found in a Scots
Ship they had taken upon the Coast. The Prince
after having given M r Welch 500 Lewis d'ors &
made him a knight, dismis'd him, and he saild
back to France were The Chevalier made him an
Irish Peer. From Borodale where they were join'd
by Young Clanronald 1 with 300 Macdonalds,
they went to Kienlochmoidart, where a great
many highland Gentlemen Came to visitt him. M r
Murray Came to him from the Lowlands, but it
is believed he did not advise him to Go back as
he was desired to do, but on the Contrary advised
him to remain. It was here the first Guard was
mounted upon him, and the whole Expedition
Concerted ; Glenfinan was the place appointed for
the General rendevous where the Standard was to
be sett up.
About the 2 of August 2 they gott notice at
1 Ranald Macdonald, younger of Clanranald ; educated at St.
Germains in France ; served through the campaign ; escaped after
Culloden ; obtained military employment in France ; returned to
England 17525 kept prisoner in London till 1754; died 1777.
' II est le premier ecossois de nom qui ait joint le prince, et le seul
montagnard qui a derby ait opine de marcher a londres . . . c'est
un fort honete homme, tres doux et point antifrangais comme beau-
coup de ses compatriotes ' (F. F. O. 79, fo. 235). Although pro-
bably written by D'Eguilles, this statement as to Macdonald's
attitude at Derby must be accepted with reserve.
2 See ante, p. 70.
242 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Edinburg from fort William of the Princes being
Landed, and L fc Gen : Sir John Cope, 1 who at that
time commanded the Forces in Scotland, order'd
away arms and amunition to all the forts and
Castles in Scotland, put in two Companys of
Lascelles regiment into the Castle of Edin-
burgh and Stored it with provisions. He sent
Campbell of Inverau's Company away by Argyle-
shire to fort William and they arrived safe,
but two new raised Companys of the Royal
Scots, which he had Sent from Perth to the same
fort, were attack'd on the 16 of August 1745,
betwixt fort Augustus & fort William, by Mac-
donald of Keppoch, 2 and were after some resistance
taken prisoners. Two of the Soldiers were kill'd,
and Cap ts Scot, 3 Tomson, L ts Rose & Fergusson
1 Sir John Cope, died 1760; gazetted to the Cavalry 1707 ; after-
wards colonel of 7th Regiment of Foot $ Commander-in-chief in
Scotland 1745. His conduct was subsequently inquired into by a
council of officers, who exonerated him from blame.
2 Alexander Macdonald of Keppoch ; educated at Glasgow
University 5 took part in the rebellion of 17155 escaped to France 5
served in the French army 5 killed at or immediately after Culloden.
' At the battle of Culloden in the retreat Capt. Roy Macdonald saw
Keppoch fall twice to the ground, and knows no more about him,
but that upon the second fall, looking at Donald Roy Macdonald
he spoke these words : " O God have mercy upon me. Donald,
do the best for yourself, for I am gone' 1 ' (/,. M. ii. 5). The
actual capture of the two companies was effected by Donald
Macdonald of Tiendrish (L. M. i. 36).
3 Afterwards General Scott of Balcomie 5 one of the few
captured officers who kept his parole with the Highlanders. He was
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 243
and the Men were carried to the Prince, and
released upon their paroles of honour not to serve
against him. About the 8 of August a Camp
was form'd at Stirling, Consisting of Lascelles's
Regiment 8 Companys 560, Murrays Regiment
Compleat 700, 5 Companies of Lee's 350,
one Company of the old highland regi-
ment 70 men, Gardners Dragoons 300 men,
and Hamiltons 300, in all 1680 foot and 600
Dragoons, with some field pieces of Cannon and
some Coehorns.
The 19 of August the Prince sett up his
Standard at Glen-finan, Where was present the
Duke of Athole and Major General Gordon of
Glenbuckett, 1 the Gentlemen that Came along with
him, M r Murray, Young Clanronald with 300
Macdonalds, Young Locheil 2 with 600 Camerons,
a member of that limited class of persons who have made a fortune
by gambling. In June 1773 he m. Margaret, 3rd daughter of Lord
President Dundas. His wealth was inherited by his two daughters,
the Duchess of Portland (wife of the 4th Duke) and Lady Canning.
(See Angus Macdonald, Memoirs of the Macdonalds of Keppoch, 63.)
1 Glengarry's father-in-law. He raised 400 men from Banff"
and Aberdeen, and rejoined Charles at Edinburgh, Oct. 4, 1 745 ;
member of Charleses Council ; escaped after Culloden , d. 1750. ' An
old man much crouched.' * He rode on a little gray highland beast '
(H. P. ii. 353). See ante, p. 129.
2 Donald Cameron (b. 1695, d. 1748), son of John Cameron of
Lochiel, who was attainted for his share in the rising of 1715. He
was severely wounded at Culloden j after hiding in the hills he
escaped in the same ship as Charles ; received the command of the
244 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Macdonald of Keppoch with 300 Macdonalds,
Macdonald of Glenco 1 with 150 Macdonalds, and
Stuart of Ardshiel 2 with 250 Stuarts of Appin, in
all 1600 men. Their was a paper drawn up 8
which they all Signed and swore to : the substance
of it was that they would never abandone the
Prince while he Stay'd in Great Britain nor never
lay down their arms untill they had Established the
Family of Stuart, except with his consent. From
Glenfinnan they march 'd to Kien Lochyel [Kin-
lochiel], from thence by the north side of Loch
Lochy to Invergary, where they were join'd by a
regiment of Albany in the French service. In the MacPharie MSS.
there is a curious instance given of Highland discipline. Lochiel
and Glencarnock were inarching with their men to join Charles.
Hearing the sound of firing, Lochiel said, What shooting can be on
the hill ? Glencarnock said, I shall tell you that the Camerons
are shooting sheep on the hill. 'God forbid,' said Lochiel ; 'it is
the Macgregors.' The two then went in the direction of the firing.
' By great good fortune passing the head of the avenue, there was
a Cameron with a sheep on his back ; Lochiel fir'd at the fellow
and shot him through the shoulder ; there he fell ; the two went on
a good way, but they got not a Macgregor yet ' (C. G. 366).
1 Alexander Macdonald of Glencoe took part in 1715; m.
(secondly) Isobel, daughter of John Stewart of Ardsheal ; member
of Charles's Council ; surrendered after Culloden (L. M. i. 80) ;
d. about 1750 (C. D. iii. 214).
2 Charles Stewart, th of Ardsheal ; attainted 1 746 ; remained
in hiding in a cave on his estate till Sept. 1746, when he escaped
to France. ' A big fat man, troubled with a lethargy ' (H. P. ii.
362). In Dec. 1746 Ardsheal House was sacked by Cumberland's
soldiers.
3 Murray says that the paper which he himself * drew up ' at
Glenfinnan was not signed till Aug. 26th at Invergarry (M. M. 172).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 245
Younger son of the family of Glengary 1 with 300
Macdonalds. On the 27 of August they march'd
to the Corierg (Corrieyairack), where they gott
intelligence of Gen: Copes coming to Attack
them. Gen Cope and the Earl of Loudon 2 had
arrived at the Camp at Sterling the 19, and the
General order'd Gardners Dragoons to remain
there, and Hamilton s to march to Edin r , where they
encamp'd first in S* Anes Yard, 3 then in Barefoot
parcks, 4 and lastly on the links of Leith. He on the
20 march'd the rest of the army over the Bridge of
Sterling to Creif, so to Tay Bridge, then to Dalna-
cardoch and to Dalwhiny. He had a thousand
stand of arms to give to the people that would
join him upon the root, but he was join'd by none.
The 27 of August, as his Army had taken the road
to the Corierg, he gott news of the Princes Army
1 Angus or JEneas Macdonald, or Macdonell, of Glengarry,
' a modest brave and advisable lad ' ; accompanied Charles to
Edinburgh ; thence went north to raise men ; he rejoined Charles
at Bannockburn ; was accidentally shot in Falkirk, Jan. 22, 1746,
by a Macdonald of Clanranald's Regiment (C. D. iii 312). His
elder brother was Young Glengarry (Alastair or Alexander, Pickle
the Spy).
2 John Campbell, ^th Earl (b. 1705, d. 1782)5 only son of
Hugh Campbell, 3rd earl; entered the army 1727; s. his father
1731; Commander-in-chief in America 1756; superseded 1758;
General 1770.
3 Now partly enclosed in the gardens of Holyrood Palace.
4 Bearford's Parks occupied the land of which to-day the site of
Charlotte Square is the centre.
246 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
marching to attack him ; upon which he Call'd a
Councill of War, wherin it was determin'd not to
fight the Prince but to go to Inverness, upon which
he order'd his army to file off from the rear, and
after a very quick-march they Arrived the 29 at
Inverness, where he was join'd by four Com-
panies of Lord Loudouns regiment 280 men, and
two Companies of Guises 140 ; and some Mon-
roes, 1 who were the only Highlanders not regulars,
join'd him. The Prince detach'd part of his army
to see & Come up with his rear, & they took some
Bagadge, but could not come up with his army.
He likewise detach'd 500 men 2 to See & gett
before him to the Pass of Slachmuick (Slochd Mor),
but he had passed it before they Arrived. The 28
the Prince halted at Dalwhiny, and his Army as
usual lay in the open air rank and file. He sent off
Major General Gordon of Glenbuckett from hence
to raise men in the Braes of Mar. The 29 he
march'd to Dalnacardich, and the 30 to Blair of
Athole, where he halted two days. He was join'd
1 Two hundred, commanded by Captain George Munro of Cul-
cairn (G. C. "T. 32). In August 1746 Captain Munro was mysteri-
ously shot on the roadside while at the head of his detachment
(A. P. ii. 216).
2 Murray says this move was abandoned. But a small force
was detached to capture the barracks at Ruthven, a venture which
failed (M.M. 178, 184).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 247
here by the Viscount of Strathallan, 1 who was made
a Major General, M r Oliphant of Cask 2 and his son,
M r Murray 3 Brother to the Earl of Dunmore, who
was appointed vice Chamberlain of his household,
and John Roy Steuart, 4 who Came from the French
Camp in Flanders. He brought letters 5 to the
Prince from the Comte de Saxe, the Due de Bullion,
and the Prince Campo Florido, the Spanish Am-
bassador then at Paris. The Due de Bullion said
1 William, 4th Viscount ; killed at Culloden by Colonel Howard
(L. M. iii. 12 j Cumberland to Newcastle, H. O. Scot, xxxi., April
1746).
2 Laurence Oliphant (b. 1691, d. 1767), laird of" Gask ; son of
James Oliphant, laird of Gask, by Janet, daughter of the Rev. Anthony
Murray of Woodend, Perthshire; took part in 1715; s. his father
1732. His son Laurence (b. 1724) also took part in 1745. Both
father and son present at Falkirk and Culloden. Remained in
hiding in Aberdeenshire for six months ; escaped to Sweden Oct.
1746.
3 Hon. William Murray of Taymount(b. 1696, d. 1756); formerly
an officer in the Royal Navy ; present throughout the campaign ;
in April 1 746 he surrendered ; pleaded guilty and was con-
demned to death Dec. 1 746 j reprieved, but kept a prisoner for
life, dying in Lincoln j he succeeded his brother the 2nd Earl 1752.
His eldest son John was page-of-honour to Charles at Holyrood.
4 Formerly British cavalry officer, Quartermaster of Scots Greys 5
later in French service. ' He goes always very gay, sometimes he
had Highland cloathes and other times long cloathes on ' (L. M.
iii. 149). After Culloden he was despatched by Charles to France
with news of the battle (A. P. i. 230). He rejoined Charles Sept.
13, 1746 (L. M. iii. 43).
5 Copies of the letters from Bouillon and Campo Florido were
sent by Cope to London from Aberdeen on Sept. i4th. Sir James
Steuart, writing to Edgar, Aug. i6th, from Ghent, says that the
letters had been given to Mm to transmit to Charles (B. H. iii,
443)-
248 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
his Master was determined to Assist the Prince.
The Spanish Ambassador promised money and
arms from Spain, & the Comte de Saxe said he
would do all in his power to prevent the English
from sending men from Flanders to England.
The 2 of Sep* the Prince march'd from Blair to
Dunkeld, which the Duke of Atholes Brother had
left some days before. Here he was join'd by
Lord Nairn, 1 who was made a Brigadeer General,
and his Brother, M r Mercer of Aldie. 2 The Prince
left the Duke of Athole here to raise the Athole
men. The 3 of Sep* the Prince dinn'd at the
house of Nairn, and at night arrived at Perth,
where he proclaimed his Father and had a new
Provost and Magistrates chosen upon the old
ones refusing to Act. Here he was join'd by
the Duke of Perth with 200 men, & L d George
1 Nairn, Lord (b. 1691, d. 1770), son of Margaret Baroness
Nairn and Lord William Murray, son of ist Marquis of Athollj
took part in 1715 ; taken prisoner at Preston; pardoned ; marched
into England at the head of a Lowland regiment in 1745 j escaped
on a Danish vessel to Sweden, Oct. 1746 (A. P. i. 316). 'C'est un
honnete homme d'environ 60 ans tres borne, un pen grossier, qui
n'a plus rien au monde, que le prince a toujours neglige, et qui
cependant luy est attache au point detre un de ses braves sil en etait
question' (F. f. O. 79, to. 235).
2 i.e. Hon. Robert Nairn, son of the second Lord Nairn ;
assumed the name of Mercer on marrying the heiress of Aldie ;
served in the Prince's army, at first as a colonel in the Atholl
Brigade, afterwards as a volunteer j killed at Culloden.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 249
Murray. 1 (There had been a Warrant out to Seise
his Grace some weeks before this, and he narowly
Escaped being taken at his own house by a Party
and had been oblidged to keep private always
untill he joined the Prince.) Both the Duke and
Lord George were made Lieutenant Generals.
Lord Ogilvy 2 who was made Lord Lieutenant
of Angus and sent there to raise men, Robinson
of Strowan 3 with about 50 men, M r Smith,
Brother to Methven. There happen'd a Circum-
1 5th son of John, 2nd Marquis and ist Duke of Atholl by
Lady Catherine Hamilton, eldest daughter of Anne, Duchess of
Hamilton (b. 1694, d. 1760) ; served in ist Royals 1712-15 ; joined
the Earl of Mar, and commanded a battalion in 1715; wounded at
Glenshiel 1719 ; pardoned 1726. Sir Walter Scott calls him 'the
soul of the undertaking' (Scott, JL i. 115). ' He alone was capable
of conducting our army' (M. J. 18). He figures prominently in
' The Gathering of Atholl ' :
4 Wha will ride wi' gallant Murray ?
Wha will ride wi' Geordie's sel* ?
He's the flower of a' Glenisla,
And the darling o' Dunkell.'
See Index for further references.
2 David, eldest son of 4th Earl of Airlie (b. 1725, d. 1803)5
after Culloden escaped to Norway; became Lieut.-General in the
French service; pardoned 1778.
3 Alexander Robertson (b. 1670, d. 1749), isth Baron of
Strowan; joined Dundee in 1689; took part in 1715 with 500 of his
clan ; escaped to France ; obtained a remission from the Government
1731. In 1745 the Robertsons were not out as a clan ; Robertson
himself joined with a number of his tenants; authorities differ as to
the number of his men: 200 (M. K. 33); 100 (H. H. 117). After
Prestonpans he was driven back to his house in Cope's carriage,
with the general's furred nightgown as a trophy (Ramsay, i. 34).
A volume of his poems was published in 1785.
250 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
stance here at Perth that was ever after very detri-
mental to the Princes affairs and was the chief means
of breading any jealousies that happen'd afterwards
in that army. M r Murray of Broughton, who the
Prince had made his Secretary, 1 had gott a Great
deal of his masters Ear, and it was Supposed he
aim'd at having the chief direction of all that
concerned Military affairs as well, as he had
already the administration of all moneys belong-
ing to the Prince and every thing that con-
cerned private Correspondence. To Effectuate
this Scheme it was necessary to remove a great
obstacle, which was to deprive Lord George
Murray of the Princes favour, which would in
Consequence lessen his Command, as he knew
Lord George would not be directed by him and
in the main had no regard for him, and he
hoped as the Duke of Perth would then Com-
mand to have more to Say with him and Con-
sequently have more the direction of Military
affairs. To bring this about he told the Prince
that Lord George had taken the oaths 2 to the
Government, and that he had been looked upon
1 At Moy on Loch Lochy, Aug. 25th.
* Lord George had visited Cope at Crieff, Aug. 21 at, together
with the Duke of Atholl and Macdonald of Glengarry (G. C. T.
6). He had also written the day before this visit to the Lord
Advocate, giving particulars of what had already occurred in the
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 251
for some time past as no friend to the Cause, and
in Short his Opinion was, that he had join'd only
out of an intent to Betray the Affair. What
M r Murray said to the Prince upon this Sub-
ject had such weight that he ever afterwards
suspected Lord George which did his Affairs
great harm, as Lord George by his behaviour
gained the Esteem and Confidence of the whole
Army. The Prince sent a party 1 from Perth to
proclaim his Father at Dundee. Both at Perth
and Dundee the Manifesto's which he had
brought with him were read : one of them was
a Commission of Regency appointing the Prince
Regent of The three Kingdoms until the arrival
of his Father ; the others were declaring that
both the father and son were willing in a free
parliment to Grant the Nations all the Securities
they Should demand for their rights and privi-
liges & for the Churches at that time Established
by Law. Their was a pardon Granted for all
past Offences to all those that would accept of
it, and the Union was declared Nul, as having
been made to prevent the house of Stuart from
Highlands, finishing his letter in these words : ' It is very leat, so
shall end with my best wishes that these troubles will soon be over '
(Omond's Lord Advocates, ii. 15).
1 Under Keppoch and Clanranald.
252 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
their right to the Crown. The town of Edin-
burgh, when the Princes army lay at Perth,
were making great preparations to defend them-
selves, least he Should march that way. Their
* of 60, ortrain'd bands, Consisting of 16 Companies,"* were
100 men each. , , , . ^.
armed and mounted guard, their City guard was
Augmented to 180 men, and they were raising
a regiment which was to Consist of 1000 men
to be Commanded by Provost Stuart ; l besides
400 Voluntiers Commanded by George Drum-
mond, and 200 Seceders by M r Bryce of Kennet. 2
They Planted Ship Cannon upon the Walls of
the town, and threw up Entrenchments before
the Gates and in a great many other places.
General Guest 3 retired to the Castle, where
1 Archibald Stewart, the Lord Provost, Elcho says in his
Journal, was a ' zealous supporter of the Prince, 1 and contrived that
the arms in the city should not be sent to the Castle but eventually
fall into the hands of Charles's troops. ' The Provost's conduct cast
a damp upon all, he was slow in his deliberations, bacward in execut-
ing things agreed 1 (Woodhouselee MS. 15). Stewart was tried in Oct.
1747 for neglect of duty, but acquitted after a prolonged trial, and
after being fourteen months in prison. During the trial the jury
represented that ' the Court had now continued upon this Trial with-
out any respite since Tuesday morning at 8 o'clock, being upwards
of forty hours . . . that the assize could not imagine it to be the
Intention, either of Prosecutor or Pannel, to kill or destroy them ;
which behoved to be the consequence, should they insist on finishing
the trial at one sederunt.' The appeal was allowed, and an adjourn-
ment made for eight hours (Trial of Archibald Stewart, 102).
2 Probably Alexander Bruce, seventh of Kennet; d. 1747.
3 Joshua Guest (b. 1660, d. 1747), enlisted 1685 ; cornet in
Colonel Carpenter's Dragoons (now grd Hussars) 1704; served in
Flanders; lieutenant-general 1 745 ; buried in Westminster Abbey.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 253
Lieutenant General Preston 1 commanded, and
the Banks and Some of the inhabitants most
valuable effects were sent there. On the 1 1 of
Sept the Prince marched from Perth to Dumblain
and halted all the next day. On the 13 they
pass'd the Forth at the Frews 2 and halted at
Touch. Gardners dragoons, who were at the
Frews, retired to Falkirk, The Princes Army,
when it pass'd the Forth, Consisted of 2000 foot
the half Compleatly armed, the others with pitch
forks, Scythes, a sword or a pistol, or some only
a Staf or Stick a troop of 36 horse which was
afterwards call'd the Perthshire Squadron, and
one field piece of cannon. The 14, as the army
pass'd by Sterling, the Castle, where General
Blakeny 3 Commanded, fired upon it but hurt
1 George Preston (b. 1659, d. 1748), captain in service of States-
General 16885 accompanied William of" Orange to England;
wounded at Ramilies; colonel of the Cameronian (26th) Regi-
ment 1 706 ; Commander-in-chief of the forces in Scotland 1715;
superseded by General Guest as governor of Edinburgh Castle
1 745, but is said to have prevented surrender of the Castle : ' Every
two hours a party of soldiers wheeled him in an armchair round the
guards that he might personally see if all were on the alert' (Grant's
Edinburgh Castle, 231).
2 The Ford of Frew, a ford in the river Forth, a few miles above
Stirling.
3 William Lord Blakeney (b. 1672, d. 1761), served in Flanders
under Marlborough ; colonel 1737; major-general and lieutenant-
governor of Stirling Castle 1 744 ; Governor of Minorca 1 747 ;
forced to capitulate to the French at the commencement of the
Seven Years' War ; buried in Westminster Abbey.
254 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
nobody. That night they halted at Falkirk, and
Colonel Gardner 1 with his regiment retired to
Linlithgow. The Prince order'd Lord George
Murray to march with 500 chosen men 2 and
attack his Camp in the night, but he gott notice
of it and removed his Camp to Kirkliston. The
15 the Princes army halted three miles south
of Lithgow, and Collonel Gardner retired to
Corstorphin and from thence to the Colt bridge,
where he was joined by Hamiltons Dragoons and
a detachment from the Garison of Edinbourgh ;
and they gave out they were to fight the high-
landers next day.
On the 15 Sir Steuart Threapland 3 joined the
Prince and told him that it was his friend's
opinion at Edn r he should march and attack the
1 James Gardiner (b. 1688, d. 1745), wounded at Blenheim
1704; lieutenant-colonel Inniskilling Dragoons 1730; commanded
Light Dragoons (now ijth Hussars) 1743-5; in youth notorious
for his dissolute life ; when in Paris he was suddenly converted by
a vision, while waiting for an assignation. At Prestonpans he was
killed within sight of his own house.
2 Cf. J. M., Marches of the Highland Army, 31.
3 Sir Stuart Threipland, 3rd Bart, of Fingask (b. 1716, d.
1805) j served through the campaign and ultimately escaped to
France with Charles ; on Nov. 8, 1745, James, writing to Charles,
says : ' With regard to Cluny and Threipland, in those gentlemen
I have entire confidence, and I design to create them barons, the
first Lord Clanchattan and the last Lord Fingask * (Chambers,
The Threiplands of Fingask, 42) ; returned to Scotland under the
amnesty of 1747; President, Royal College of Physicians, Edin-
burgh, 1766. He succeeded to the Baronetcy 1746.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 255
town. On the 16 the Princes army march'd
on the high road to Edinburgh with a designe
to attack the Dragoons, but they, whenever
they perceived the Highlanders, were struck
with such a pannick, that they wheel'd about
and galloped away in the greatest confusion,
pass'd by the town of Edn r , droping their Bagadge
and arms upon the road ; and a great many of
them never stoped untill they gott to Hadding-
ton, which is fourteen miles off. They were
Commanded in this retreat by General Fowkes.
The Princes Army after the Troops fled halted
at Grays mill, where he was joined by Lord
Elcho, who brought the Prince 1500 Guineas,
which was very acceptable as their was not 50 l
remaining of what he had brought with him.
The Prince made him his first aid de Camp.
At Eight of the Clock at Night The Prince
sent a messauge to the Magistrates of Edinburg
to Demand the keys of the Town and to tell
them he intended to Enter it either that night
or next day, and if their was any resistance made,
whoever was found in Arms should be Severely
1 ' When the Prince came to Perth he had but one guinea left,
which he showed to Mr. Kelly and told him it was all he had left in
the world ' (M. K. 31). Murray says that in the early part of 1745
Francis Charteris had contributed a bill for 1500 payable the
following Whitsuntide (M. M. 121.) See ante, p. 77.
256 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
treated ; and besides, he Could not answere but
if the town was taken by Storm his Soldiers
would plunder it. At ten at night, 1 their came
four of the town Councill out to the Princes
quarters to beg he would give them time to
think on his demand. This was a messauge
contrived to gain time, for they expected
General Copes Army every hour to land at
Leith from Aberdeen, and in case he landed time
Enough, they intended to wait the Event of a
Battle. The Prince, after they had kiss'd his
hand, told them that he was going to send of a
detachment to Attack the town and lett them
defend it at their peril ; that if they did the
Consequences would be bad, and if they did not
he intended no harm to the old Metropolis of
his Kingdom. As Soon as they received this
answere the Prince order'd Young Lochiel with
800 men to March & attack the town. Their
Came out sometime after another deputation of
Six Counsellors : Provost Coots was one of them.
They Gott the same Answere as the first, and
the Prince did not See them. The Coach that
they came out in went in at the West port and
sett down the Company, and as they were letting
1 See ante, pp. 76, 77.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 257
out the Coach at the Netherbow 1 Lochiels party
who were arrived their rush'd in, seized all the
Guards of the Town, who made no resistance, and
made themselves masters of Edinburgh whihout
firing a Shot. They Establish'd Gaurds at the
Gates, Guard house Weigh house, 2 and Parliment
house. Notwithstanding of the towns being in
this way taken without any Capitulation, the
Highlanders did no mischief. The Prince Gott
the news of Edn rs being taken the next morning
1 7 of Sept as he was upon his March and of their
having seized 1000 Stand of Arms, which Gave
him & his Army a Great deal of joy as they
Stood in need of them. When the Army Came
near town it was mett by vast Multidudes of
people, who by their repeated Shouts & huzzas
express' d a great deal of joy to See the Prince.
When they Came into the Suburbs the Croud
was prodigious and all wishing the Prince pro-
sperity ; in Short, nobody doubted but that he
would be joined by 10,000 men at Edinburgh
1 i.e. on its way back to the Canongate, where at that time the
hackney coaches used to be kept.
2 The city Weigh House or Tron stood at this time opposite the
West Bow, at the west end of the Lawnmarket, and was chosen by
Charles as a suitable position to menace the Castle. It was the scene
of several contests during the blockade between the Highlanders and
the garrison. Taken down in 1822.
R
258 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
if he Could Arm them. The Army took the road
to Dediston, Lord Strathallan marching first at
the head of the horse, The Prince next on horse-
back l 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 Colum of
Infantry. From Dediston the Army enter'd the
Kings park at a breach made in the wall. Lord
George halted sometime in the Park, but after-
wards march'd the foot to Dediston, and the
Prince Continued on horseback always followed
by the Croud, who were happy if they could
touch his boots or his horse furniture. In the
Steepest part of the park Going down to the
Abey he was oblidged to Alight and walk, but
the Mob out of Curiosity, and some out of
fondness to touch him or kiss his hand, were
1 A bay gelding presented to him by the Duke of Perth (ante,
p. 78 j Henderson, History of the Rebellion, 5th ed., 50). 'He [the
Prince] was a slender young Man, about five feet ten inches high,
of a ruddy complexion, high-nosed, large rolling brown Eyes, long
visage : his chin was pointed and Mouth small, in Proportion to his
Features : his Hair was red, but at that Time he wore a pale Peruke :
he was in Highland Dress, with a blue sash wrought with Gold
coming over his Shoulder, red velvet Breeches, a green velvet Bonnet
with a gold Lace round it, and a white Cockade which was the
Cross of St. Andrew. He likewise had a silver-hilted broad Sword,
was booted, and had a Pair of Pistols before him. His Speech was
shy, but very intelligible,- his Dialect was more upon the English
than the Scottish Accent, seem'd to me pretty like that of the Irish,
some of whom I had known ' (Ibid. 50).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 259
like to throw him down, so, as soon as he was
down the hill, he mounted his horse and road
through S* Anes yards into Holyroodhouse
Amidst the Cries of 60000 l people, who fill'd
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 Hamiltons Apartment, which he
Occupied all the time he was at Edinbourgh.
The Croud Continued all that night in the out-
ward Court of the Abbey and huzza'd Every time
the Prince Appeared at the Window. He was
joined Upon his Entring the Abby by the Earl
of Kelly, 2 Lord Balmerino, 3 M r Hepburn of
1 The population of Edinburgh in 1 747 is estimated by Maitland
in his History of Edinburgh, 1752, p. 220, at 50,120, and in Brown's
Guide to Edinburgh at 82,000 in 1775.
2 Alexander, 5th Earl of Kellie, s. his father Feb. 4, 1 743 ;
d. 1756. The Lord Justice-Clerk, writing (after Lord Kellie had
surrendered) July 10, 1746, to the Duke of Newcastle, says: 'I
have no knowledge of him but by reputation being a Person who,
notwithstanding his quality, lived obscure and little regarded by
any Body, his Fortune small, and his Understanding of an inferior
size, not many removes from the very lowest. 1 ' He had no com-
mand. ... I never heard he was an idiot. ... I can't say how far
he was disordered by drinking ' (Deposition of James Logic, H. P. ii.
339"34)- No proceedings were taken against him beyond including
his name in the Bill of Attainder.
3 Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Lord Balmerino (b. 1688, d. 1746),
colonel of Charles's second troop of Life Guards; succeeded to the
title on the death of his brother, Tan. 5, 1746 ; surrendered after
Culloden ; executed Aug. 18, 1746 (ante, p. 91). 'His memory for
260 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Keith, 1 M r Lockart younger of Carnwath, 2 M r
Graham younger of Airth, 3 M r Rollo Younger
of Powhouse, 4 M r Sterling of Craigbarnet, 5 M r
Hamilton of Bangore 6 and Younger of Kilbrack-
mont, 7 Sir David Murray, 8 and Several other
his years was wonderful, the more so for its not being in the least
impaired by his hard drinking his sole and predominant passion 1
(Daniel's Progress}.
1 An East Lothian gentleman ; took part in 1715; supported
the Stuarts as the only means of repealing the Union. As Charles
was about to enter the Palace, Hepburn stepped out of the crowd,
and, drawing his sword, preceded him to his apartments (H. H.
101). 'He bore the highest character as the model of a true
Scottish gentleman ' (T. G. ch. Ixxi.).
2 George Lockhart (b. 1726, d. 1761), escaped after Culloden ;
died in France without being pardoned. Three generations of the
family had been zealous supporters of the Stuarts.
3 James Graham, younger of Airth, described as * lurking ' in
May 1746 (L, P. R. 56). Elcho had been engaged in marriage to
his sister (ante, p. 66).
4 David and James Rollo of Powhouse, Stirlingshire, sons to the
Laird of Powis; carried arms till Culloden; in May 1747 'lurking 1
(L. P. R. 5 8). The laird himself was arrested Aug. 2 3, 1 745, by warrant
of the Lord Advocate, on suspicion of treason. See post, p. 322 n.
6 James Stirling of Craigbarnet j served in the Prince's Life Guards.
6 William Hamilton of Bangour, Linlithgowshire (b. 1704,
d. 1754); Jacobite poet; contributor to Allan Ramsay's Tea Table
Miscellany 1724-27; was the earliest translator of Homer into
English blank verse ; d. at Lyons ; poems issued by Foulis 1749.
7 Robert Hamilton, younger of Kilbrackmont, Kilconquhar, Fife.
8 David Murray, 4th Baronet of Stanhope, nephew of John Murray
of Broughton, sixteen years of age when he joined ; made aide-de-
camp to Charles and captain of hussars; prisoner in York 1746;
tried there and sentenced to death, but reprieved on condition of
leaving Britain 1748 ; joined the Prince in France, and died there
circa 1769 (G. . C. Hi. 343 ; Macbeth Forbes, Jacobite Gleanings').
1 On ne scauroit trop plaindre et trop louer ce jeune homme qui m'a
paru avoir superieurement toutes les qualites du coeur et de 1'esprit '
(F. F. O. 79, p. 235).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 261
Gentlemen of distinction, but not one of the Mob 1
who were so fond of seeing him Ever ask'd to Enlist
in his Service, and when he marched to fight Cope
he had not one of them in his Army. The Princes
first orders in Edinburgh were to Cause his Father
to be proclaimed and his Manifestos to be read,
which was done by the pursuivants in their habits
from the Cross by Sound of Trumpet and all the
Usual Ceremonies used at a proclamation. There
was a paper likewise given about here which had
been wrote in the highlands Upon the Princes
hearing that the Lords of the regency had put a
reward upon his head of 3OOOO pd . 2 This paper
offer'd the like sum to any body that would
secure the person of the Elector of Hanover
(as his Majesty was at the time of the Princes
Landing Abroad but Arrived at London soon
after). At night their came a Great many Ladies
of Fashion, to Kiss his hand, but his behaviour to
them was very Cool : he had not been much used
to Womens Company, and was always embarrassed
while he was with them. 3 The 18 in the morning
the Prince sent Lord Elcho to the Magistrates
1 In ye afternoon a Drum beat up for volunters when a good
many entered the Duke of Perth's regiment' (M. M. 198).
2 Aug. 3 1 st.
3 Ante, p. 28.
262 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
who were Assembled at provost Steuarts, to
demand under pain of Military execution (if
not Comply'd with) 1000 tents, 2000 targets,
6000 p r of Shoes, and 6000 Cantines. The Magis-
trates Agreed to it, and the workmen were
immediately sett to work. It was imagined when
the Highlanders left Edinburgh to fight Cope
that the Castle would have made a Sally to have
putt a Stop to the peoples working, but all Sallies
from the Castle were prevented by a Common
Soldier of the princes Army getting drunk the
night his Comrades left the town to meet Copes
Army ; for next morning when he Appeared
alone upon the Street, being Ask'd why he was
not with the rest of the highlandmen, the fellow
said that their were 300 more highlanders in
town lurking in cellars to cut of any Sally from
the Castle. The thing was believed, so the Castle
made no Sally, the workmen Continued working,
and the fellow Escaped being taken. The 1 8 Lord
Nairn arrived at Dediston with a thousand Athole
men : * the Laird of Maclauchlan was along with
1 This agrees with the number given by Sir Walter Scott (T. G,
400). It also agrees with a report received by the Government
(S. P. Scot., Oct. 29, 1745). Cf. Lord George Murray: 'I sent
about a thousand of these knapsacks to Crieff, to meet the men
that were coming from Atholl' (J. M. 31). William Duke of
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 263
them. The Prince, attended only by his aid du
Camp, went and pass'd them in reveiw.
General Cope, who had march'd from Inverness
to Nairn, Forres, Elgin, Fochabers, Cullen, Bamf,
Tureff, old Meldrum, and to Aberdeen, where he
embarked his army, had landed at Dunbar the
17 th , where Brigadeer Fowkes join'd him with the
two regiments of Dragoons. A great many from
Edn r went and join'd him, particularly the Earl of
Home, 1 Lord Napier, 2 Lord justice Clerck, 3 the
lords of the Session Drummore, 4 Elchies, 5 &
Atholl, writing to Lord George Murray, Sept. i6th, says: 'I went
to Dumblain with my Lord Nairn and about 1000 men he brings up to
the Prince' (A. C. 19). On the other hand Lord George Murray
writes to the Duke of Atholl, Sept. 25th: 'Nothing vexes me at
present so much as that your men are much fewer in number than
was expected ' (Ibid, 25). But this letter probably refers to the men
from Atholl as distinguished from those belonging to other clans,
but included in the * thousand Atholl men.'
1 William Home, 8th Earl, joined the army in 17355 d. at
Gibraltar in 1761 ; a General in the British army.
2 Francis Scott, 6th Lord Napier of Merchiston; served as a
volunteer in the Allied army 1743 ; d. 1773.
3 Andrew Fletcher, Lord Milton (b. 1692, d. 1766); Lord of
Session 1724; Lord Justice-Clerk 1737,- resigned office 1748, but
' retained the charge of superintending the elections, which he con-
sidered as his masterpiece' (Ramsay's Scotland, i. 89). Tweeddale's
letters to the Lord Advocate show but little confidence in Lord Milton.
Writing June 27, 1745, ne says: 'He [Lord Milton] is not to be
trusted with secrets butt is only to be employed as itt shall be
thought necessary for his Majesty's service ' (Craigie MSS.).
4 Drummore Hon. Sir Hew Dalrymple (b. 1690, d. 1755),
Lord of Session as Lord Drummore 1726 $ Lord of Justiciary 1745.
5 Lord Elchies Patrick Grant (b. 1690, d. 1754); advocate
1712; raised to the Bench 1732; Lore! of Justiciary 1737,
264 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Arniston * the Advocate, and Solicitor, 2 M r James
Lesly, 3 and M r Charles Hope 4 & many more of
less note ; but they did not all remain with him
when the prospect of an Engadgement drew nigh.
The 1 9 General Cope march'd his Army 5 which
Consisted of 2100 regular foot, 300 Volunteers,
600 Dragons, 6 Cannon, and some Coehorns and
Encamp'd in a field west of Haddington. 6 The 1 8
1 Dundas Robert Dundas (b. 1685, d. 1753), son of 2nd Lord
Arniston ; Lord of Session 1737-48, when he s. Duncan Forbes of
Culloden as Lord President.
2 The Lord Advocate at this time was Robert Craigie of Glen-
doick (b. 1685, d. 1760) j Lord President 1754. The Solicitor-
General was Robert Dundas, younger of Arniston (b. 1713,
d. 1787), who resigned this office in 1746 owing to differences with
the Justice-Clerk (Lord Milton).
3 Probably the Hon. James Leslie of Milndeans, son of 7th Earl
of Rothes; passed Advocate 1726 , one of the Commissaries, Edin-
burgh ; Solicitor of the Exchequer, and afterwards, on the abolition
of the Hereditary Jurisdictions, Sheriff of Fife 1748 ; d. 1761
(Douglas, Peerage, ii. 433).
4 Probably Hon. Charles Hope (b. 1710, d. 1791), 3rd son of
ist Earl of Hopetoun. He was elected Member for the County of
Linlithgow 1743 5 and appointed Commissary-General of Musters in
Scotland 1744.
5 ' . . . the army being reinforced by 200 Highland levies under
Lord Loudon, and by the i3th and i4th Dragoons, the force was
raised to a total of 2300 men with 6 guns 1 (H. B. A., iii. 130).
Johnstone gives the number as 4000 men (M. J. 21).
Murray 2700 men (M. M. 200).
Maxwell 2300 foot 600 horse (M. K. 41).
Cope 1400 foot 600 horse + a small
number of the Highland regiment (G. C. T. 43).
6 Dr. Carlyle records a curious circumstance connected with
Lord Elcho's younger brother. He says: 'On Wed. (Sept. i8th)
the army was encamped to the west of Haddington, they (the
dragoons) were thrown into confusion by an alarm. The army,
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 265
the Prince order 'd Lord Nairn after the review
to relieve the Guard of the town with his 1000
men which was the Usual Guard ever after 100
men at the Abby, 50 at the Cannon gate guard, 50
at the City Guard, 100 at the Weigh house, and
25 at the foot of the Bow. The rest were Lodged
in the parliament house and Assembly room.
The 19 the Princes Army Evacuated Edinburgh
and went to Dediston [Duddingston] ; the Army
lay out rank and file in one line and the Prince
and the Principal officers lay in houses and Barns.
The Prince held a Councill of War at Dediston
and sent Officers l beyond Musselburgh to recon-
oitre the Ground, and upon their reports it was
determined to fight Gen Cope about Musselburg
bridge in Case he was near their next morning,
but if not to advance and meet him. Their were
however, was drawn out immediately, and it was found to be a
false alarm. The hon ble Francis Charteris had been married the day
before at Prestonhall to Lady Francis Gordon, the Duchess of
Gordon's daughter, who was supposed to favour the Pretender. . . .
How that might be nobody knew, but it was alleged that the alarm
followed their coach, as they passed to their house at New Amisneld '
(Carlyle, Autobiography, 134).
1 Roy Stewart and George Hamilton. At Musselburgh they
captured Francis Garden (afterwards Lord Gardenstone, a Lord of
Session) and Robert Cunninghame (afterwards a general in the
Government forces). These ' were taken prisoners at Crystals inn,
west of Musselburgh, where they were seated at a regale of white
wine and oysters at an open window when observed by one of the
Prince's lifeguards, who were riding past 1 (Ibid. 136).
266 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
several reports of his being at tranent that night.
The Prince had a pretty just account of his horse
and foot, but none of his Cannon : some people
call'd them 20, others 16, and none under 12.
The Cannon & the Cavalerie were what the high-
landers seemed most to dread, for the foot they
did not mind upon account of their having
Shun'd fighting in the Highlands. On the 20
at six in the morning the Princes army march'd
away 1 from Dediston in one Colum ; at Pinkie
house the horse that were advanced brought
intelligence that they had seen parties of the
dragoons about Tranent, and by what they
Could learn Gen: Copes army was thereabout.
Upon which The Princes army Struck to the
right, and in two Colums, which was the line of
Battle, Gain'd the top of Carberry hill which
goes to Tranent, Where they plainly descried
Gen. Copes Army drawn up in Line of Battle
in the plains below Tranent, his foot in the Centre
and the Dragoons on the Wings with a small
Corps de Reserve, Colonel Gardners park walls
on his right, his bagadge on his left, a broad ditch
1 It was at the moment of moving off from Duddingston that
Charles, drawing his sword, said : c Gentlemen, I have flung away
the scabbard ; with God's assistance I don't doubt of making you a
free and happy people' (Caledonian Mercury, Sept. 23, 1745).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 267
in his front, and the town of Preston pans in his
rear. The Princes Army remained sometime in
View of M r Copes to See what he would do, but
upon his making no motion it was judged he
intended to be upon the defensive, which en-
couradged the highlanders ; for Certainly M r
Cope Ought to have sought them out. As his was
regular troops, he ought to have look'd upon
them as militia and never show'd the least fear
for them, but Attacked them wherever he met
them, and his always Showing an inclination to
decline the combat was the Greatest fault he
Comitted, for every motion he made to Shun
an Engagement added so much courage to the
Princes Army. The Prince after having had
Tranent reconoitred, order'd the army to advance
towards it, & the Church Yard to be taken
possesion of by 300 men, but as it lay Exposed
to M r Copes Cannon which they fired Briskly
upon it, and wounded some men, it was aban-
don'd. Upon General Copes never moving out
of his place, the army Grew so keen to Engage
that they offer'd to Cut fascines to Carry with
them and attack him notwithstanding of the
broad ditch in his front, and upon some of the
Officers alledging he intended to Gett into Edn r
268 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
without fighting, Lord Nairn with the Second line
was order'd to March down Upon his right flank,
leaving Colonel Gardners parks between him and
it. Upon Which M r Cope fiTd of to the left and
drew his right further from the inclosures, and
fronted again as he was ; at this which the High-
landers attributed to fear, Their Spirits rose pro-
digiously, and their Common Conversation was
how to Catch Cope. About eight at night, after
having been in view of M r Cope six hours, Lord
George Murray march'd the first line through
Tranent and halted, and fronted M r Cope, with
Tranent on the left. The Army lay upon Shaves
of Corn every man on his post, rank and file, and
the Prince with the principal officers in the centre
of the line : there were advanced Guards upon the
right and left and all along the front. All that
day people ran great risk of being shot by the
highlandmen, for as they think it Ominous 1 to
lett hogs or hares pass their lines, they kill'd
severals of them to the great risk of Everybody
that was near. General Copes Army, which lay
on their arms all night at half a miles distance
from the Princes with the broad ditch betwixt
1 ' No prosperity could attend a journey at the outset of which a
pig or hare was encountered' (Campbell's Superstitions, 254.).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 269
them, kept great fires, and threw off one Coehorn,
which fell short in a direct line where the Prince
was. About ten o'clock at night Lord Nairns
Colum fired a good deal at some dragoons who
were patrouling and kiled some of them.
As the Conversation amongst the Officers
where the Prince was, run mostly Upon what
was to be done next morning and whow to Gett
at M r Cope, their was one M r Anderson, an
East Lothian Gentleman, said he knew of a road
that was upon the right, but as it was a narrow
defilee, if it was guarded it would be difficult to
pass. Every body immediately agreed to try to
march that way next morning, before day light,
and an aid du camp was sent of to order Lord
Nairn to join the Army which he did, and the
Army march'd of from the left in one Colum
(this was done in order to Give the Macdonalds
who were on the left the right). The Duke of
Perth Commanded the right wing and Lord
George Murray the left. The first line was Com-
posed of the following regiments, viz Clanronald
250, Glengarry 350, Kepoch and Glenco 450,
Perth 200, Appin 250, and Lochyell 500. The
Prince himself Commanded the second line, which
was Composed of three regiments, viz. Lord
270 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
George Murrays 350, Lord Nairnes 350, Menzies
of Shians 1 300, and Lord Strathallan with his
troop of 36 horse was orderd to remain near
Tranent in order to take prisoners in case of a
Victory.
The first line pass'd the defillee before day
without being perceived, for the defillee was not
Guarded. Their was one Embrazure in a wall
but no Cannon at it. As the Second line was
passing, Sir John Cope fired an Alarm Gun and
formed so as to front the Princes Army, the
Broad ditch upon his right, the town of Preston
pans on his left, and Gardners and the house of
Prestons parks in his rear : a Great many breaches
were made in the park walls which were of Great
use to them on the defeat. He sent his Badgage
to a house at Cockeny, where there was a court
with a wall about it, and it was Guarded by all
his highlanders. He formed his army the foot in
i Sir Walter Scott's figures have clearly been taken from Elcho's
Narrative. Elcho's analysis of the second line leads to the sup-
position that the 1000 Atholl men under Lord Nairn included the
men from Atholl brigaded as Lord George's regiment, Lord Nairn's
regiment, which probably comprised the Maclauchlans and Robert-
sons, and thirdly, the Menzies of Shian (cf. M. K. 41). In
favour of the view that the Menzies had joined before the battle,
there is a letter from Lord G. Murray to the Duke of Atholl, Sept.
z6th, in which he says: 'This goes by Sheen Menzies, who, with a
hundred men, guards so many of our prisoners to Lougaret ' (A. C.
30).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 271
the Centre and the dragoons on the right, left,
& corps de reserve ; he placed his Cannon on his
right advanced before Gardners dragoons and
Supported them with 100 foot. His Army Com-
manded by himself & under him by Brigadeer
Fowkes, Consisted of Murrays regiment 700,
Lascelles 560, 5 Companies of Lees, and 2 of
Guises 490, Gardners on the right and Hamil-
tons dragoons on his left : these two last Corps
were 300 men Each. Both Armies were alike
in Number.* When the Two Lines of the * including
. those that
Princes Army were pass d the Denlee they guarded Gen:
wheel'd to the left and fronted General Copes gage.
and marched forwards in line of Battle.
When they Came so near as plainly to Discover
his line, for it was just at the dawn of Day,
they sett up a hideous noise and run in as
fast as they Could. In the running in, the
first line broke in the Middle, but Copes Army
did not perceive it, for the Second line was so
Close to the first it Appeared to them as one.
General Copes Battery fired one round, and as
they were going to Charge Again, Lochyells
Regiment seized it. The Princes first line closed
Again, and Continued running in, when they
Came near enough ; the right & left firr'd upon
272 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
the dragoons, who immediately Broke, turned
their Backs, and run Away ; the Centre firred
upon the foot & received a very regular fire
from them, but as the highlanders (notwithstand-
ing of their fire) Continued to run in upon them
sword in hand (for After firing they threw away
their Guns) they likewise Broke, threw down
their Arms, & run Away. The Highlanders in
running in were pretty much a la Debandade,
some places 10 deep, others one or two. Whoever
their was always the Appearance of a line. As
Soon as the pursuit began all the Principal Officers
Mounted on horseback in order to Save and
proteck Gen. Copes Officers as much as they
Could, and had not they done it, Their would
have been a great many of them kill'd, but as it
happen'd their were very few. The foot Soldiers
run to Gett through the Breackes in the walls
that were behind them, and through which the
Dragoons * had Escaped, but they were either cutt
down or taken by the Highlanders, who in a
pursuit are very nimble, and had it not been for
the breaches in the walls their would not have a
Soul Escaped either horse or foot ; and as it was,
1 With regard to the continuous panic of the dragoons, Tweed-
dale, on Sept. 24th, wrote : * The dragoons have no excuse but that
they are from Ireland ' (Craigie MSS.).
au,
t
Vt
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 273
most of the foot were either kill'd or taken
prisoners. General Cope at some distance from
the field of Battle rallied 400 dragoons and
Marched them by Lauder to Berwick. The
Earls of Home and Loudon were along with
them.
In the pursuit the Princes first line went into
the Greatest Confusion, some pursuing their
Enemy wherever they saw them running, others
were employ'd in pilladging the dead and taking the
locks of the Guns : the Second line kept in order.
Their was a report a little after the deroute that
the Dragoons had rallied and were returning to
the field, upon which Lochyell ordered his pipes
to be played and a good many men Came to
them. The Prince order'd Lord George Murray
to March down with y m , to the house at Cockeny
where their Bagage was, Guarded by five Com-
panies 350 men ; Lord George sent L fc Colonel
Halket (who was a prisoner) to Summon them
to Surrender, which they accordingly did ; by
which means the Prince became master of their
Military Chest, in which their was 25OoP d & all
their Bagage. Their was a great Many Colours
and Standards taken in the battle and some
horses : their would have been a great many more
s
274 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
taken, had it not been for a notion the High-
landers had that the horses fought as well as the
men, which made them kill a great many of them
after their riders were dismounted. The Prince
had killed, Capt s Stuart of Appins and Macdonald
of Keppochs 1 and L* Cameron and Ensigne
Cameron of Lochyells, and about 50 private men
and 80 wounded. Cap* Macgregor 2 of Perths was
much wounded, Sir John Cope lost Collonel
Gardner, Capts. Steuart of Lascelles's, Braimer &
Rogers of Lee's, Holwell of Guises, Bishop and
Ens : Forbes of Murrays, Killed, and the follow-
ing is a list of the officers taken prisoners. A * w '
is at the names of those that were wounded.
1 Archibald Macdonald, third son of Coll.
2 Malcolm Drummond or Macgregor, eldest son of Donald
Murray or Macgregor ; wounded in five places, he died shortly after
the battle ; he commanded a section of Macgregors from the Perth
estates, and has been frequently confused with James Mor, son of
the famous Rob Roy ; being ' whimsical and singular/ says
Johnstone, ' he called out to the Highlanders of his company (after
he had been wounded), ' My lads, I am not dead, and, by God,
I shall see if any of you does not do his duty' (C. G., ii. 373 5
M. J. 24). Elcho makes no mention of the Macgregors, but in
Duncan MacPharie's MSS. it is stated that besides the company
from the Perth estates there was a body of Macgregors under
Glencarnock ; probably, however, the two sections were brigaded
with Perth's battalion and Ardsheal's Stewarts. (Cf. C. G. ii. 3735
Blaikie, 91.)
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 275
Gardners
Guises
Murrays
L* Grafton : w :
Quart 8 Young
Bouroughs: w:
West
Cap* Pointz : w :
L ta Cuming
Paton
E na Wakeman
Irwine
LtCol: Clayton
Maj: Talbot
Capt 8 Reid
Cochran
Scot
Hamiltons
Lees
Leslie : w :
Blake: w :
L* Col : Wright : w :
Major Bowles : w :
Corn 8 Jacob : w :
Nash
Quart Nash
LtCol: Halket
Capt 8 Cochran
Chapman
Tatton
Lts Sandilands : w :
Drummond w
L te SirTho-.Hay:w:
Disney : w :
Wale
Wry
Sims : w :
E 118 Sutherland
L d John Murrays
Kenedy
Lucey
Cap fc Sir Pa: Murray
L fc Farquarson
E" Campbell
E ns Hardwick
Archer
Dunbar
Birnie
L'Estrange
Adj : Spencer
Lascelles's
Loudons
of y e Artilery &
Volunteers
Maj : Severn
Capt 8 Mackay
Maj : Grieffiths
Capt 8 Barlow
Forester
Monro
Stewart
Volun :
Anderson
Corbet
Collier
L ts Macnab
Reed
E ns Grant
LtColWhiteford: w:
L* Carrick
Drummond
Ross
Doctors
L t8 Swiney : w :
Johnston
Dundass
Hewon : w :
E ns Stone
Maclaggan
Trotter
Young
Drummond
Hunter
Cox
Bell
Gordon
Goulton
M r Wilson
quarter master
to Lees
276 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Their were 500 private men kill'd, 900 wounded,
and 1400 taken prisoners, including the wounded ;
which undoubtedly made it one of the most Com-
pleat Victorys l ever was Gained, for all the
artilery, Consisting of six piece of Cannon and
some Coehorns, was also taken. Lord Strathallans
troop took some of the Dragoons. Their was
instances of 16 of them Surrendring to one
person. Whoever Mr Threapland 2 had the mis-
fortune, in Attempting to overtake some that were
running away, to be kill'd, his horse fell, and an
Officer of the dragoons seeing he was alone, turn'd
about and shot him. As most of General Copes
Surgeons had run away, the Prince Sent into Edn r
for Some, and the wounded were taken very good
1 Cope himself reached Coldstream that night, a distance of
forty miles, preceded by Fowkes, Lascelles, and another officer. To
Berwick he is said to have been the first to bring news of his defeat
(see Skirving's ballad, ' Hey, Johnnie Cope.') Writing to Lord
Tweeddale (S. P. Dom., Sept. 21, 1745), the evening of the battle,
Cope said: 'I cannot reproach myself: the manner in which the enemy
came on was quicker than could be described, and (of which the
men have long been warned) possibly was the cause of our men
taking a destructive panic. I cannot give any account of the
numbers killed and wounded, the whole baggage taken, and the
military chest and papers belonging to it. The fatigue and concern
I have had render me incapable of being more particular.'
For Charles's own account of the battle, written on Oct. 7th,
see Lang's Charles Eckward, 167: * Of ye horse only to hundred
escaped like rabets, one by one.' He awards no praise and mentions
no names in describing his victory.
2 David Threipland (b. 1694), 3rd son of Sir David and half-
brother of Sir Stuart Threipland.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 277
care of. This Battle, which the Princes army
call'd Gladsmuir and other people Preston, was
fought on the 21 * of Sep 1 ^ 1745, and was ended * Saturday,
just as the sun gott up : it did not last full a
quarter of an hour. The Prince from this Battle
entertained a mighty notion of the highlanders,
and ever after imagin'd they would beat four
times their number of regular troops. After the
necessary orders were given for Burying the dead,
The Prince marched away to Pinkie house where
he lay all night. He did not Carry many men
with him that night, for they were pretty busy in
picking up what they Could find, and some of
them went home from the field of Battle with
their plunder. The Prince left orders with their
officers to Assemble them at Dediston next day ;
The Officers prisoners were order'd to Mussel-
burgh, and those that were wounded were left at
Colonel Gardners house. The 22 he March'd
into Edinburgh with about 800 foot Carrying the
trophies of the victory, he himself and all his
principall officers on horseback. When he Came
near the town he was mett by a multitude of
people who huza'd him quite into the palace.
Next day The Cannon and Bagage arrived, and
it was putt into a yard by the Abbey, which was
278 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
afterwards call'd the Artilery parck. The rest of
the army that had not gone home came to De-
diston, where they pitch'd tents and form'd a Sort
of Camp ; the Officers prisoners were that night
Confined in the Duke of Queensboroughs l house,
but Gott the liberty of the town next day upon
parole. Lord Strathallan being made governor
of Perth and Oliphant of Cask L 1 Governor,
they were sent to Perth after having given their
paroles of honour not to Go above two miles from
the town without leave, never to take arms
Against the Prince while the affair lasted, and to
deliver themselves to him when Call'd for, all
which they most Scandalously broke sometime
afterwards. Suppose 2 Lord Strathallan had been
so indulgent as to allow all those that were Scots
to go home to their own houses, and the others to
Go to Lesly, Glamis, or in a manner to whatever
place they Chose, the Soldiers that would not
inlist with the Prince were sent to Athole under
1 Queensberry House in the Canongate, now a house of refuge
for the destitute.
2 Elcho uses suppose ' for although ' throughout the Narra-
tive. In Wright's Dialect Dictionary ' suppose' is stated to be an
obsolete conj. signifying 'although.' ' Cf. Suppois. Suppose conj.
although.' ' I believe that the use of this word suppose for though
is still common in Scotland. Tooke's Divers. Purley, i. 188 '
(Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary').
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 279
the Escorte of Colonel Menzies of Shian. The
Highlanders were sent home upon parole not to
take arms Again, but most of them followed the
Example of their officers : those that inlisted
mostly all deserted.
It was thought by most people that had the
Prince immediately after this battle been in a
Situation to have march'd directly up to London
the affair might have Succeeded, and he certainly
Could have done it, had all the people join'd him
at first that he had afterwards at the Battle of
Falkirk, but when he returned to Edinburgh
from Preston he Could not have assembled 1 500
men, which Certainly was not Sufficient for Such
an Enterprise, Considering the Government had
order'd their Troops from Flanders and a Con-
siderable body of them had landed at London,
Newcastle, and Berwick. The Dutch had likewise
sent 6000 Aux-ilaries under the command of
Prince Maurice of Nassau ; but as they were
Friench prisoners of war and Could not act 1 against
the French or perform any military duty whatever
1 By treaty, Jan. 30, 1713, the States-General were bound to
despatch 6000 men, when required, for the defence of His Britannic
Majesty. The troops sent were part of the garrison of Tournay,
and had been released on the surrender of that town (June 20,
1745) to the French, on condition of not bearing arms against Louis
or his allies before January 1747 (Blaikie, Itinerary').
280 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
untill y e 1747, The French Ambassador at the
Hague reclaimed them, and it was thought they
durst not have fought.
The Dutch regiments that came to Britain were
Hersler Swiss 3 Batt : Holstein Gothorp 3 Batt :
Villets 3 Batt : Patot 3 Batt : Brackell i Batt :
and La Rocques.
The Prince issued out Several proclamations
upon his arrival at Edn r , viz. one on the 23 to
prevent any publick demonstrations of joy for the
Victory as it had been obtained over his fathers
Subjects, who's blood he was sorry to have been
oblidged to Spill. Suppose, he said, they were in
Rebellion in Another, he order'd all the Ministers
to Continue their worship in their Ususal way, and
not to Abandone l their kirks as they had done,
and Assured them they Should not be molested.
One was issued dated y e 24, granting protec-
tion to all farmers within five miles of Edn r who
would enact themselves to be ready on twelve
1 Only three ministers were found to obey this direction. One
of them, Mr. M 'Vicar of St. Cuthbert's, delivered himself of the often
quoted prayer, in which, after praying that God would bless the
king, he added, 'Thou knowest what king I mean. May the crown
sit long easy on his head. And for this man [Prince Charles] that
is come amongst us to seek an earthly crown, we beseech thee in
mercy to take him to thyself and give him a crown of glory ' (Ray's
Rebellion, 45).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 281
hours warning to transport the baggage to Ber-
wick or as far on another road. The Same day a
pardon was Granted to all such of the Volunteers
as would appear in twenty days at Secretary
Murrays office and promise never more to take
up arms Against the Prince. On the 25 their
was one issued promising protection to the banks
if they would Come to town and Act as Usual.
Whoever they remained in the castle, but paid all
the notes the army was possess'd of. Their was
a great many proclamations to prevent thefts &
robberies. The Highlanders no doubt committed
some, but a great Many more were done by
people who putt on white Cockades for that end,
and did not at all belong to the Army ; but at last
their was a trusty officer and a party putt into all
the villages about Edn r in order to put a Stop
to it. Letters were Sent to all the Officers of the
publick revenues and to the factors of the for-
feited Estates to Come and pay their money to
Secretary Murray, who in a Short time after
offer'd to Lend out money at 5 per cent, which
was very Suspicious as every one knew he was
not worth ioo pd before this Affair. Their was a
party sent to Glascow to demand io,ooo pd , and
they Compromised the Matter for 55OO pd ; their
282 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
were partys sent as far as Douglass and Hamilton
and all up and down the Country to Search for
horses and arms ; the Goods of the Custom house
at Leith were sold for the Princes use, and Ard-
sheils Battalion was order'd to East Lothian to
facilitate the levying of the publick money in that
County.
The tents, targets, Cantines, &ca, order'd from
y e town of Edn r were deliver'd and distributed to
the different Corps at the Camp at Dediston.
The Prince order'd a great many Officers to the
Highlands to see and recruit more men and bring
back those who had gone home with their plunder.
After the Battle of Preston a great many people
of fashion joyned the army, particularly Lord
Ogilvy and Glenbuckett with 300 men Each ; the
Prince pass'd them in reveiw on the links of Leith
and Sent them to quarter in Leith ; Lord Pitsligo l
1 4th and last Lord Forbes of Pitsligo (b. 1678, d. 1762), took
part in rebellion of 1715; escaped to France ; returned to Scotland
1720. Published Essays: Moral and Philosophical in 1734. He
kept up a correspondence with the Quietists in France. He con-
fessed that he joined without enthusiasm from a considered fidelity
to the House of Stuart. He addressed his troop of horse, ' O Lord,
thou knowest that our cause is just. March, Gentlemen. 1 After
Culloden, was a fugitive in the Highlands. As late as March 1756
he was still an object of search ; had many romantic escapes (Thoughts
Concerning Mans Condition, by Lord Forbes of Pitsligo, 1763, also
Chambers's Eminent Scotsmen, ii. 36-8).
* A little thinn fair man a great schollar and fond of study, of
the primitive Stamp, and fitter to have been a martyr in the days of
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 283
with a Squadron of 180 Aberdeen and Bamffshire
Gentlemen and their servants, They were order'd
to Dalkeith. Lord Lewis Gordon, 1 who was made
Lord leiutenant of Aberdeenshire and sent there
to raise men ; the Earl of Nithsdale,! the Earl
of Kilmarnock, 3 who gott a comission to raise a
troop of horse Grenadieers, but in the mean time
was appointed to Command the Perthshire 120
horse Squadron ; Sir Alexander Bannerman 4 of
Nero than to live in an age of villany and corruption . . . not
beloved but adored' (M. M. 226). 'In his letters on that subject
he usually called the young Pretender by the name of the Amiable
young Stranger ' (MS. in the possession of Mr. Blaikie).
1 Youngest son of the 2nd Duke of Gordon ; lieutenant
in the Royal Navy ; declared for Charles ; defeated the laird of
Macleod near Inverury, Dec. 23, 1745; escaped to the Continent}
attainted 1746,- d. 1754 at Montreuil. 'II est tres brave, tres
etourdi, et fou quelquefois jusqu'a se faire enfermer , il s'est presque
brouille avec le prince qu'il ne voit guere ' (F, F. O. 79, fo. 235).
2 Son of William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale; d. in
London 1776. After visiting Holyrood he retired to the country,
' where nothing but the most dreadful scene of axes, Gibbets,
and halters presented themselves to his weaking and sleeping
thoughts ... he continued crazy for some time ' (M. M. 228).
3 William Boyd, 6th Earl of Kilmarnock (b. 1705, d. 1746).
He surrendered or was taken prisoner after Culloden ; tried at
Westminster, and beheaded on Tower Hill Aug. 18, 1746.
His appearance and speech at the trial, when he pleaded 'guilty,'
moved the spectators to tears (see Walpole's Letters, Aug. i74 6 )-
On the morning of his death he said ' Amen ' to the prayer of the
official, ' God save King George.' On the same occasion Balmerino
added the words, ' God save King James.'
4 srd Bart, of Elsick; m. Isabella, heiress of the Trotters of Horsley,
in Yorkshire ; raised a regiment and commanded it at Culloden on
the left of the second line,- escaped to France ; died in Paris 1747;
his mother was a daughter of Sir Donald Macdonald of Sleat.
284 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Elsick who was made Lord Leiutenant of the
Mearns ; David Fothringham, Esq 1 ", 1 who was
made Governor of Dundee, as Lord Kelly was of
Lochleven; and Macgregor of Glengyle of Down, 2
who had taken for the Prince before the battle the
fort of Inersnaat [Inversnaid] & made the Garison,
Consisting of a Leiutenant and his Command,
prisoners of war. John Roy Steuart was order'd
to raise a regiment, and he inlisted a great many
of Copes Soldiers, but they mostly all left him.
The rest of the Gentlemen that join'd the Prince
were Grant of Glenmorisden with 100 men they
join'd Glengarys, Mackinnin of that ilk 3 with the
1 Merchant of Dundee, ' was governor for the rebels and was
very active, managed in a Tyrannical manner 1 (L. P. R. 213).
2 Gregor Macgregor of Glengyle (b. 1689, d. 1777), after-
wards adopted name of James Graham ; signed the Bond electing
Bohaldie as Chief of the Macgregors 1714; active for the Stuart
cause 1715; towards the end of August 1 745, together with his
cousin James Drummond, he captured the Fort of Inversnaid and
eighty-nine soldiers. * Glengile and sixty men had been placed upon
Castle of Doune as Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, being an old
man. ... I know Glencarnock was a very sensible man, and did
not choose to rise Glengile's corruption as he was sometimes stark
mad' (MacPharie MSS., C. G. ii. 368).
3 Mackinnon of Mackinnon came in response to a summons
conveyed by Alexander Macleod of Muiravonside, which represented
that Charles was expecting immediate succour from France and
Spain. * Mr. M'Kinnon of M'Kinnon joined him from the Isle of
Skey with about 120 men, realy brave and honest, inured to fatigue,
and patient to undergoe any thing that tended to the service of their
Masters, and might according to the litteral Sense of the word, be
called Solgers' (M. M. 223 ; Blaikie, 18).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 285
Like number who join'd Keppochs, Sir William
Gordon of Parck, 1 Sir William Dunbar of Duirn, 2
Gordon of Cowbardie, 3 Gordon of Carnousie, 4
Gordon of Halhead, 5 Gordon of Drumlethie, 6
Irvin of Drum, 7 Hay of Ranas, 8 Rollo of
1 Eldest son of Sir James Gordon by Dame Helen Fraser;
attainted j estates forfeited j abroad 1751. 'Very active in dis-
tressing the country by levying money, using very violent measures *
(L. P. R. 29, 369). He acted as lieut.-colonel of Lord Ogilvy's
regiment (H. P. 352).
2 3rd Bart, of Durn, d. 1786.
3 James Gordon of Coubardie, Banffshire (ante, p. 129).
4 Arthur Gordon of Carnoussie * An officer in the rebel
army ' (L. P. R. 30). Yearly rent of estate 9000 [Scots] (Ibid. 308).
' Carnusy and Cupbairdy's journey was a great surprise. The
latter had no manner of tincture that way but being a rambling
young lad was determined mostly by comradeship and something
too by the high regard he had for Pitsligo. Carnusy was esteemed a
wise, solid man and some one not at all wedded to kingscraft. But
as many debts of his never heard of formerly, are appearing, this some-
what unravels the mystery ' (MS. in the possession of Mr. Blaikie).
Coubardie escaped to France ; pensioned by Louis (Michel, ii. 441).
6 George Gordon of Halhead, son and heir of Robert
Gordon of Halhead by his wife Isabel Byres; secretary to Lord
Pitsligo (L. P. R. i o). He m. Amy Bowdler, an English lady. In
a letter to her sister Mrs. Gordon describes the visit of General
Hawley to her house in Aberdeen, in Feb. 1746. The general, she
says, had packed up her possessions and despatched them by sea to
Edinburgh directed to himself. * The flutes, musick, and my cane
he made presents off' (L. M. iii. 170). Gordon escaped to France ;
pensioned by Louis (Michel, ii. 447); ante, p. 129.
6 Alexander Gordon of Darlathis or Dorlathers (Banff).
(L. P. R. 30, 178, 308).
7 Irvine of Drum carried arms during the whole rebellion
(L. P. R. 12); taken prisoner after Culloden; died of wounds June
1746 (L. M. iii. 60).
8 Andrew Hay, younger of Raness, ' major of horse to Lord
Pitsligo's regiment' (L. P. R. 30) j petitioned the Crown for pardon
after the rebellion (H. P. ii. 489).
286 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Powhouse, 1 Stirling of Keir 2 and Two of his Sons
and two Cousins, Hunter of Burnside, 8 Tomson
of Ffield, 4 Cuming of Pitulie, 5 Halden of Lanerk 6
Father and son, Hay of Restalrig, 7 Hamilton
factor to the Duke of Gordon, Cochran of Fer-
gusslie, 9 Fletcher of Benchie, 10 Fothringham of
1 Rollo. See note 4, p. 260.
2 James Stirling of Keir * A zealous ffriend for the Pretender's
Interest was in the rebellion of 1715. he was closs with the rebels
at Glasgow and prompted them to vex and oppress the inhabitants.'
Taken prisoner with his son Hugh on shipboard while making for
Holland, and lodged in Dumbarton Castle in May 1746. His son
William escaped (L. P. R. 276). James Stirling was mentioned by
Lord George Murray as being a member of Charles's Council (A. C. 2 5).
3 David Hunter of Burnside, captain in the Prince's Life
Guards from Preston to Culloden. 'Prisoner at Bergen' (L. P. R.
218); ante, pp. 109, 129.
4 Alexander Thomson of Feichfield, Aberdeen ; recruited men
for the Prince. Yearly rent of estate, 200 (L. P. R. 99).
6 William Gumming of Pittully, Pitsligo, Aberdeen. Yearly
rent of estate, 300 (L. P. R. 89, 302) j ante p. 123.
8 John Halden of Lanrick and his son Alexander both escaped
to the Continent. John Halden d. in Paris 1765 (L. P. R. 373).
7 Hay of Restalrig during the illness of John Murray acted as
secretary to Prince Charles ; escaped to France after Culloden (ante,
p. 105) ; afterwards knighted at Rome by the Chevalier de St. George
(L. M. iii. 218) 5 ante, p. 200 et seq.
8 John Hamilton, afterwards governor of Carlisle; surrendered
the town, Dec. 30, 1745, to the Duke of Cumberland ; executed
at St. Margaret's Hill, Nov. 15, 1746. 'Hamilton undoubtedly
was a noted Jacobite, but reckoned too selfish to meddle in such
undertakings, so that the reason of his commencing adventures was
generally imagined to be owing to the disorder of his affairs ' (MS.
in the possession of Mr. Blaikie).
9 William Cochran of Ferguslie, Renfrew. Yearly rent of
estate, 100. Escaped after Culloden (L. P. R. 292, 326).
10 Robert Fletcher of Benchy, Jun., major in Lord Ogilvy's
regiment j imprisoned at Bergen (L. P. R. 212).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 287
Banden, 1 Riddle of Lathrick, 2 Auchinleck of Ku-
nucky, 3 Halkston of Rathilet, 4 Maxwell of Kirk-
connel, 5 Hamilton of Red House, 6 and a Great
many others, the viscounts of Kenmore 7 &
Dundee. 8 The Prince formed such as did not
belong to other Corps into two troops one of
Seventy, which he Gave the Command of to Lord
Elcho who he had made Colonel of his Guards
1 Thomas Fotheringham of Bandaine served in the Prince's
Life Guards (L. P. R. 212).
2 Probably Riddle of Grange in Fife 5 escaped to France ;
pensioned by Louis.
3 Andrew Auchenleck. From Preston to Culloden. ' Not
known ' (L. P. R. 62).
4 Heleneas Haxton or Halkeston, gentleman, Rathehills, Kil-
minny, Fife. * Lurking in the country' (L. P. R. 64). Sold the
estate of Rathehill about 1772 (Anderson, Scottish Nation, ii. 394).
6 James Maxwell of Kirkconnel (b. 1708, d. 1762)5 served in
the Prince's Life Guards under Elcho, with whom he escaped to
France. Author of a narrative of the Rebellion. See Index.
6 George Hamilton of Red House 5 tried at York, Aug. 21,
17465 executed Nov. i, 1746. He was Deputy Quartermaster-
General of the Highland army. Seventy prisoners were condemned to
death at the assizes held at York. It was significant of the prevailing
temper that the High Sheriff's chaplain, preaching before the judges
in the Cathedral, chose as his text Numbers xxv. 5 . { And Moses said
unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined
unto Baal-peor.'
7 Second son of Lord Kenmure, who was beheaded in 1716. His
elder brother died in 1741. Like Lord Nithsdale he withdrew to
his home. He subsequently wrote to the Lord Justice-Clerk to
excuse himself for having visited Holyrood (M. M. 229).
8 6th titular Viscount, ' Writer in Edinburgh/ son and heir
of 5th Viscount; was attainted as * James Graham of Duntroon,
taking on himself the title of Viscount of Dundee.' He afterwards
had a company in the French service in Lord Ogilvy's regiment j
d. at Dunkirk 1759.
288 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
upon the field of Battle of Preston, and Since
* Consisting Lord Leiutcnant of Fife ; the other * he Gave
first to Lord Kenmore, and upon his not joining
at Carlisle, to Lord Balmerino, they formed a
Squadron of 150 horse including their Servants,
and the Prince order 'd them to wear Blue turned
up with red and the Squadron to be Under Lord
Elcho's orders. M r Murray the Secretary raised a
troop and had them dress'd like Hussars. The
Command of them was afterwards given to M r
Bagot an Irishman.
The Prince formed a Council which mett
regularly every morning in his drawing room.
The Gentlemen that he Call'd to it Were The
Duke of Perth, Lord Lewis Gordon, Lord
George Murray, Lord Elcho, Lord Ogilvy,
Lord Pitsligo, Lord Nairn Lochyell, Keppoch,
Clanronald, Glenco, Lochgary, 1 Ardshiel, Sir
Thomas Sheridan, Coll, OSulivan, Glenbuckett
& Secretary Murray.
The Prince in this Councill used Always first
to declare what he was for, and then he Ask'd
1 Eldest son of John Macdonald of Lochgarryj in June 1745
lieutenant in Lord Loudon's Highland regiment, but joined Charles ;
wounded at Clifton ; commanded the Glengarry regiment ; escaped
to France with Charles ; was concerned in the abortive plot to
restore the Stuarts in 1752 ; m. Isabel, daughter of Gordon of Glen,
bucket ; died in Paris.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 289
Every bodys opinion in their turn. Their was one
third of the Councill who's principals were that
Kings and Princes Can never either act or think
wrong, so in Consequence 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
infallable and that this Prince was no more so
than others, beg'd leave to differ from him, when
they Could give Sufficient reasons for their differ-
ence 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 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 fall'n into Blunders
which might have hurt the Cause. The Prince
Could not bear to hear any body differ in Senti-
ment from him, and took a dislike to Every body
that did, for he had a Notion of Commanding
this army As any General does a body of Mer-
cenaries, and so lett 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 as
2 9 o A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
they were Irish And had nothing at Stake, The
People of Fashion that had their all at Stake,
and Consequently Ought to be Supposed to Give
the best advice they were Capable of, thought
they had a title 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 insisting Strongly upon it, the
Prince, when he found that his Sentiments were
not always approved of, would have Abolish 'd this
Council long ere he did.
Their was a very Good paper sent one day by
a Gentleman in Edn r to be perused by this
Council. The Prince when he heard it read said
it was below his dignity to Enter into such a
reasoning with Subjects, and order'd the paper to
be Laid aside. The Paper afterwards was printed l
under the Title of The Princes declaration to the
people of England and is Esteemed the best
Manifesto was published in those times, for the
ones that were printed at Rome and Paris were
reckoned not well Calculated for the present Age.
The Prince Created a Comittee for providing
the army with forage. It was Composed of Lord
Elcho President, Lord Dundee, Sir Will : Gordon
1 It is dated October 10, 1745, in margin of original.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 291
of Parck Hunter of Burnside, Haldane of Lanerk
and his son, M r Smith and M r Hamilton. They
issued out orders in the Princes name to all the
Gentlemens houses who had employments under
the Government to Send in Certain quanties of
Hay, Straw, and Corn upon such a day under the
penalty of military execution if not Complyed
with, but their orders were very punctually obey'd.
Their were court martials satt every day for
the discipline of the Army, and some delinquents
were punish'd with death.
The Prince having had information that pro-
visions were Scarce in the Castle, and that they
were dayly supplied from the town, issued out a
proclamation making it death for any body to
Carry provisions into them, and on the 29 of Sep*
order'd it to be Block'd up, with orders to fire
upon Every body they Should see going in or
out. Upon which General Preston sent word to
the City that if they did not Send up provisions
to the Castle as Usual he had orders from court
to fire Upon the town. The Citizens sent to the
Prince to beg he would raise the blocade, but
their request was not Granted. General Preston
gave them a rispite for 6 Days to send to
London to See and gett his orders mitigated.
292 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
The I th of October The Castle fired their Great
Guns upon the Weigh house and wherever they
saw any of the Princes Soldiers. There was some
of the towns people kill'd & some houses
damadged. On the 3 a Party Came down by
ropes from the Castle and Surprised a Guard of
the Princes at the West Kirk, kill'd one man &
took Cap 1 Taylor prisoner, and putt the rest to
flight. The 4 at noon their was a terrible fire from
the Castle both of Cannon and small arms, and at
Night a Party Sallied out, took possession of
some houses on the Castle hill & Schirmish'd
with the Princes Gaurd who were about the
reservoir, sett fire to Some houses, and made a
trench across the Castle hill. Their were several
townspeople kill'd this night, and the whole town
was in Such Consternation that poeple began to
Abandon their Effects and run out of it. The
Prince Sent a Message to General Preston that if
he did not discontinue from firing upon the town,
he would Cause burn his house l in Fife. He made
answere that if he did, the fox man of War then
in the road had orders to burn Wemyss Castle,
which as the Earl of Wemyss was not with the
Prince was an odd sort of a reprisal. The next
i Valleyficld.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 293
day the firing Continued, and a great many
houses were much damadged and nobody Could
be seen on the Streets, the bullets going every
where very thick : the Earl of Dundonald 1 coming
in at the West Port had his Servant kill'd, and
Sir Robert Myrton of Gogar 2 his horse shot under
him. Their were some more of the towns people
kill'd, but in the Afternoon upon the Princes
raising the Blocade, the firing ceased, and they
only fired afterwards where they saw any of the
Princes army. The Prince had 5 or 6 men kill'd in
this affair, and found that he Could not think of
Getting possession of the Castle without Batter-
ing Cannon and Bombs. The Parliment of Great
Britain was summon'd to meet on the 17 of
October. The Prince issued out a proclamation
forbiding the Peers and Commoners of Scotland
to pay any obedience to the Summons. About
the same time the Parliment of Ireland ofFer'd a
reward of 5o'ooo pd to any person that would
Seize the Prince dead or alive in Case he landed
in that Kingdom.
1 William Cochrane, 7th Earl of Dundonald, s. his father 17375
officer in the British army 17455 captain in Stewart's Scots Regi-
ment in service of States of Holland 1750; captain in i7th Foot
T757 5 fell at siege of Louisburg, America, July 9, 1758.
2 znd Bart, of Gogar, co. Edinburgh} b. 1720, d. 1774, when
the baronetcy became extinct.
294 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
On the 7 of October their arrived a Ship at
Montross from France which brought 5000 pd
money, and 2500 Stand of Arms. Their Came in
this ship Mons r de Boyer, Marquis D'equilles l son
of a President of the Parliment at Aix, The M r
of Strathallan, 2 Cap 1 Brown, 3 who the Prince after-
wards made a Colonel & his aid du Camp, and
M r Sheridan Sir Thomas's Nephew, who he made
master of his horse. Mons r du Boyer arrived at
Edn r on the 14, was vastly well received by the
Prince and treated by every body with a Great
deal of respect. The Pr. gave out that he
brought letters to him from the King of France,
wherin the King promised him assistance, but
the Prince never show'd these letters 4 to his
1 Alexandra de Boyer, Marquis d'Eguilles. In the secret instruc-
tions which he received from Maurepas, he was told to veil, as far
as possible, his official position, and to occupy himself chiefly with
reporting to the French Court the progress of events and the prospects
of success (M. M. 435; Les Ecossais en France, ii. 430; Pichot,
Histoire de Charles Edouard, ed. 1833, ii. 399). ' In his conversations
with us, however, he gave us to understand that it was all one to
France whether George or James was King of England, but that if
the Scots wished to have a King for themselves, then the King of
France would help them to the utmost of his power ' (Elcho, Journal}.
2 Eldest son of Lord Strathallan.
3 Captain in the regiment of Lally (Michel, ii. 431). Left in
Carlisle, he escaped after the surrender $ later he carried news of
Falkirk to France.
4 According to the secret instructions of the Marquis d'6guilles,
Charles alone was to see the letter written to him by Louis (Pichot,
ii. 399).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 295
Councill. The Prince told likewise that the
King had sent Mons r du Boyer to reside with
him as a Minister, he gave out publickly every
where, that The French were to send over to
England The Duke of York 1 (who had arrived at
Paris) at the head of a number of Troops. This
news gave the princes Army great Spirits as they
expected to hear of a French Landing dayly.
The Prince upon M r du Boyers' arrival, sent of
M r Kelly with dispatches to France. 2 Towards the
End of the month of October their Came three
more Ships to Montross and Stonehive from
France ; their Came Several Irish officers in them
who the Prince Gave all high Comissions to, six
brass Cannon of four pound each, and twelve
Cononeers. The Prince made M r Grant 3 an Irish
officer Colonel of his Train. Each Ship brought
2500 Stand of Arms and 1000 Money. The Arms
and Cannon were first sent to Dunkeld and Then
1 The Duke of York visited Louis at Fontainebleau Oct. 24th.
At an embarrassing interview, Louis gave promises of support
(Luynes, vii. 106). On the same day a treaty had been signed by
d' Argenson on behalf of Louis and by O'Brien on behalf of Charles,
whereby Louis pledged himself to aid Charles in his enterprise
(S. P. Dom. Geo. II., May 10, 1746).
2 Charles's answer is given by Mr. Fitzroy Bell : ' Papers from
French Foreign Office' (M. M. 513) : it is dated Oct. isth.
3 An eminent mathematician who had wrought during a long
time with M. Cassine in the observatory of Paris' (M. J. 35)-
296 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
brought to Dalkeith by Higgins nook, where
their was a battery raised to proteck the Passage.
Rear Admiral Byng 1 hearing of the arrival of these
ships upon the Coast of Scotland came into the
firth and cast anchor in Leith road on the 26 of
Oct r , with the Glocester 50 Guns, Ludlow Castle
40, Fox 20, Happy Janet 20, the Hazard Sloop
of war & some transports. Ever after a Party of
Lord Elcho's Troop was order'd to patrouille at
Nights betwixt Cramond and Musselburgh. The
Men of War fired often asshoar but never kill'd
any body. Mons r du Boyer was always Expect-
ing to have news of an Embarkation, 2 and told the
1 John (b. 1704, d. 1757), 4th son of George Byng, Viscount
Torrington; Rear-Admiral 17455 tr ^ et ^ by court-martial and
sentenced to death for neglect of duty in the defence of Minorca
(1756) ; executed at Portsmouth.
2 See ante, p. 106. In the Record Office there is an abstract of
a letter from the Duke of York to Charles, dated Bagneaux, Nov.
26, 1745 : ' Overjoyed at the good news Kelly and his companions
brought ,- Gordon's arrival has done good j d'Argenson assures that
the troops for the expedition into England shall be ready by the zoth
Dec. ; French King resolved upon it j Ministers come to see the
Duke of York sans fafon ' (Papers found after Culloden, S. P.
Dom. Geo. II., May 1746). Elcho says the embarkation was aban-
doned Jan. 6th. In December the Paris journals were already
writing that the expedition would not be undertaken (Barbier, ii.
478). Many people regarded it merely as a feint to embarrass the
English (Barriere, vol. ii.), and in conjunction with the rebellion it
certainly did cause the British forces in the Low Countries to be
withdrawn for the defence of England (H. B. A. ii. 123). On
Sept. 4th Tweeddale had written to Craigie : ' 10 battalions of our
Troops are ordered to embark for England directly, and now if the
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 297
Prince that it was his master the King of France's
advice not to push things too fast, or to run the
risk of a battle without being oblidged to it, for
that if he kept his Army intire the French would
certainly Assist him, Wheras if he was defeat
before they Landed they certainly would not
Send troops into the Country. Mons r du Boyer
Likewise proposed Sending the Officers that were
prisoners over to France by way of hostages for
those of the Princes that might be taken, but it
was not taken notice of by the Prince, so it dropt.
About the middle of October, as the weather was
cold, the army had Struck their tents and had
gone into Cantoonments to Musselburgh, the
Inch, & other Villages about Edn r . It was
a very irregular sort of a Camp, for the High-
landers chose as soon to Lay without the
tent as within, and never had them Rightly
pitched. The Prince lay always in the Camp &
never Strip'd. He Used to come into town early
and Assemble his Council, after that he dined with
his principal officers in publick. After dinner he
road out with his Guards and review'd his Army,
Came back & sup'd in town, & after Supper went
young Pretender should embark tomorrow he has effectually saved
France and more than repaid her all the expence of the expedition '
(Craigie MSS.).
298 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
& Sleep'd in the Camp. Sometimes he sup'd in
the Camp ; About the End of Otober their were
reports every day 1 in town that Sir Alexander
Macdonald, the Laird of Macleod at the head of
their Clans, and the Frazers, Mackintoshes, and
Mackenzies, were in arms and upon their march
to join the Prince. Sometimes they were brought
the length of Creif, but all these reports proved
false. Suppose it is certain that they all had an
inclination to joyn the Prince. Sir Alex. Mac-
donald, it is Said, promised it upon Conditions the
Prince brought Troops with him, and Macleod
had always expressed himself more warmly for
that cause than Sir Alexander. Their was always
a Great rancour against those two Gentlemen in
the Princes Army, but it was more upon Account
of their taking arms Against him than for not
joining him. It was thought that had Lord Lovat 2
1 These rumours were spread by Murray in order to encourage
others to join (M. M. 216).
2 Simon Fraser, izth Lord Lovat (b. 1667, d. 1747), son of
Thomas Fraser, 3rd son of 8th Lord Lovat ; educated at King's
College, Aberdeen ; one of his earliest exploits was his forcible
marriage with Emilia, widow of the loth lord, after failing to marry
her eldest daughter, who had assumed the title of Baroness Lovat ;
for this he was condemned to death (1698); took refuge in Skye,
defied all attempts to arrest him; obtained a pardon, 1700; with-
drew to France j returned to Scotland and sided with the Govern-
ment in 1715; in 1719 professed friendship and proffered aid to
the Jacobites, but armed his clan for the Government ; in 1 745 he
again intrigued with both parties j on Aug. 24th he wrote to
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 299
taken Arms all these people would have followed
his Example, and if they had joined the Prince
upon his Landing, as their were very few troops
in the Island 1 at that time, they might have
marched Straight to London and might possibly
have Succeeded, but it is not Strange at all that
they did not join the Prince at his Landing, Con-
sidering the Equipage he brought with him. If
he had Solicitated 2 the Court of France for Troops
they would have Given him a few by way of
making a diversion in favour of their arms, &
those few Landing in Scotland would have made
Craigie : I thank God I could bring 1 200 good men into the field
for the King's service, if I had arms and other accoutrements for
them. ... I hear that mad and unaccountable gentleman has set
up a standard at Glenfinnan ' (Craigie MSS.) j to Duncan Forbes
he wrote that he was in despair at his son joining Charles. In June
174.6 he was arrested ; in March 1747 he was sentenced, and on
April gth he was beheaded. His coolness is illustrated by the well-
known story of his drive to the Tower after receiving sentence at
Westminster. His coach being halted for a moment, an ill-favoured
old woman screamed out, ' You '11 get that nasty head of yours
chopped off, you ugly old Scotch dog/ * I believe I shall, you ugly
old English b ,' was his reply (Hill Burton, Life of Lord Lovat,
p. 262).
1 ' On the 6th of September a bounty of no less than six pounds
was offered to every recruit who would join the Guards before the
24th, and of four pounds to any enlisting between the 24th and the
ist of October. . . . The gentlemen of Yorkshire raised a Royal
Regiment of Hunters, first germ of our present Yeomanry, which
served without pay' (H. B. A. ii. 133).
2 Charles had resolved on the expedition without consulting
the Ministers of France, and only informed Louis of his resolution
in a letter written June i2th (printed M. M. 507).
300 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
these Gentlemen in the highlands join, and very
propably The thing might have succeeded. The
President Duncan Forbes l receiving a present of
Twenty Companies of 100 men each to distribute
amongst the Highland chiefs as he pleased, intirely
putt a Stop to most of these Gentlemens balancing,
as a Great many that the Prince Counted upon
accepted of them. They were given to Sir Alex-
ander Macdonald, the Laird of Macleod, Lord
Seaforth, 2 the Earl of Sutherland, 3 Lord Rea, 4 Sir
1 Duncan Forbes of Culloden (b. 1685, d. 1747)5 studied law at
Leyden ; Lord Advocate 1725 j President of the Court of Session 1737.
He was owner of Stoneyhill, near Edinburgh, once the property of
Elcho's grandfather, Colonel Francis Charteris. When the latter was
condemned to death in London for a criminal assault, Forbes was
instrumental in procuring a pardon on the ground of the weakness
of the evidence. He was the first to suggest the formation of
Highland regiments. At the time of the rebellion he did much to
arrest the spread of disaffection, and was opposed to harsh measures
of repression. Cumberland described him as 'that old woman who
talked to me about humanity' (Omond, Lord Advocates, i. 363).
He himself received no recognition from the Government in con-
nection with his services at the time of the rebellion.
2 Kenneth Mackenzie ; styled Lord Fortrose the attainder
of his father had placed the title in abeyance ; M.P. for Inver-
ness 1741, Ross-shire 1747-54; d. 1761; buried in Westminster
Abbey.
3 William, igth Earl of Sutherland (b. 1708, d. 1750); M.P.
for Sutherland 1727; m. 1734 Lady Elizabeth Wemyss, eldest
daughter of David, 3rd Earl of Wemyss, and aunt of David, Lord
Elcho.
4 George Mackay, Lord Reay, son of the Hon. Donald Reay ;
s. to the peerage on the death of his grandfather, and took his
seat 17005 he supported the Government and raised his vassals
1715, 1719, 1745 5 d. at Tongue 1748.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 301
Robert Monro, 1 the Master of Ross, 2 and the
Laird of Grant, 3 to Give to Gentlemen of their
Clans, and about the end of October the Com-
panies assembled at Inverness, and the Earl of
London Arrived to take the Command of them.
The Prince Got news that Marechal Wade 4 had
Assembled an Army of English and the Dutch
auxilaries at Doncaster upon the 19 of October,
and that he intended to march them to Scotland,
and about the end of October he reveiw'd his own
Army at Dediston and found them to be 5000
foot and 500 horse. 5 A day or two after the
review he proposed to his Council to March the
Army into England, where he Said he was sure
all the Country would join him. His reasons for
Thinking so were that in his Youth his Governors
1 B. 1684, d. 1746; served in Flanders; gained distinction
at Fontenoy ; M.P. for Wick Burghs 1710-41 ; Governor of Inver-
ness Castle 17155 killed at the battle of Falkirk Jan. i7th.
2 An officer in the Hanoverian army ; s. his father as i4th
Lord Ross 1754 ; died the same year.
3 Ludovick Grant advocate 1728 ; M.P. for Morayshire 1741-
61 ; d. 1773.
4 George Wade (b. 1673, d. *74-ty> served in Flanders; lieut.-
colonel 1703; M.P., Bath, 1722-48; in 1725 sent north to disarm
the clans ; carried out the construction of 250 miles of road in Scot-
land; Field-Marshal 1743,- Commander of the Forces in Flanders
1744; Commander-in-chief in England 1745; superseded 1746.
George n. said of him that 'he was timid, and had always black
atoms before his eyes ' (Diary of Hugh, Earl Marchmont, i. 9).
5 Corresponds with the estimate of Patullo, Muster Master ot the
Highland Army (cited H. H, 331).
302 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
and Flatterers amongst his Fathers Courtiers had
always talk'd of the Hanover Family as Cruel
Tyrants hated by every body, and only kept
possession of the crown because they had enslaved
the poeple, and that if he or any of his Family
were ever to appear in Britain that they would
flock to him & Look upon him as their deliverer
and help him to chase away the Usurpers family
(as they call'd him). The way he had been re-
ceived upon his Entring Edn r , and the success he
had had against Gen : Cope, not only Confirm'd
him in all the ideas he had when he came into
the country, but he likewise now believed the
regular troops would not fight against him, be-
cause of his being their natural Prince. As these
were the arguments he Generaly used in his dis-
course, it was no wonder his Council * sometimes
differ'd from him in Opinion, and upon his now
proposing Going to England they difFer'd from
him for the following reasons : First, that as the
1 The following information was conveyed to the Lord Justice-
Clerk by a spy : He was also informed that they held a Council of
War on Tuesday the 2 2nd wherein some of them proposed a retreat
to the Highlands: But others were for going forward That it was
put to a Vote and was carried to go forward by two votes viz. Lord
Elcho and Perth. . . . The Informer's Author was told this by one
of the Rebel's Officers who at the same time damned these two
Lords " Because in an action they would be the last to appear " '
(S. P. Scot., Oct. 27, 1745).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 303
army Consisted only of 5500 men, it was not
possible to force the English to accept of him for
their Prince, Therefore it would be time enough
to March into England when his friends in That
Country sent for him, either to join them or to
Favour their rising in arms. Secondly, that as
Marechal Wade was marching most of the troops
in England down to Scotland, it was better to lett
him come because it left England free for The
French to land in, and when they landed, which
Mons r du Boyer expected daily, it was time
enough likewise to march to England to join
them. The Prince proposed that day too to
march and fight Wade, for he Said he was sure he
would run Away. The Answere his Councill gave
to that was that it was his interest at that juncture
(as the King of France had advised him to it) not
to search a battle immediatly, Especialy in Eng-
land, where if his Army was beat, The affair was
Ended, but at the Same time if M r Wade came
to Scotland they were ready to fight him upon
his arrival, because Suppose of a defeat the thing
might be begun again, and the French might
Land. The Prince finish'd this days Councill by
Saying he was sure a great body of English would
join him upon his Entring their Country, that
304 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
the French would be Landed before he could
join them, and that in Short every body in
London was for him and would receive him as
they had already done at Edn r . The Answere to
that was that Every body wish'd it might be so,
and wish'd that he might soon have Authority for
Saying so. The Prince in the Councill next day
told them that he would go to England and was
resolved upon it ; but as he Saw they were not
for it no more than the day before, he then seem'd
to drop it, and proposed marching the Army
from Edinburg to the Borders, because the Army
would be employed and Every body learn their
business better Than in Edn r , where the inaction
of the Army began to Cause a desertion. This
proposition was unanimously agreed to, and the
Prince Gave out orders for the Army to be ready
to march upon Command, and Caused putt about
that he was Going to join his English friends and
The French Landing. Dalkeith was Appointed
to be the first place of Rendezvous.
That night the Prince Assembled a great many
of the Principal Officers of his army in his room,
and proposed again Going up the East road and
fighting Wade. Lord George Murray and the
rest of them were Against it, for the same reasons
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 305
as formerly. The Prince said, I find, Gentlemen
you are for Staying in Scotland and defending
Your Country, and I am resolved to Go to Eng-
land. Lord George Murray and the rest of the
Gentlemen, finding they Could not prevail upon
the Prince to remain & fight Wade in Scotland,
and finding that if they marched on and fought
Wade and were beat and so the Affair Ended,
as their would have been no retreat, Then The
French would have Said, Had these people waited
a little we would have landed, and the English
we would have joined, but their own impatience
ended them. Lord George, to bring a medium
betwixt all these reasonings, proposed to the
Prince Since he would Go to England to go to
Cumberland, where, he Said, he knew the Country,
That the Army would be well Situated to re-
ceive reinforcements from Scotland to join the
French when they Landed, or the English if they
rose, and that it was a Good Country to fight
Wades Army in, because of the Mountanious
Ground in it which is the fittest for the High-
landers, and then his (Wades) Army would be
fatigued after a winters march across a bad
country. The Prince was against the proposal
but Came into it afterwards at Dalketh,
306 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
On the 30 of October King George the seconds
birthday was celebrated by the Castle and the
fleet, with firing of Guns and the other Usual
Ceremonies. At Perth the Mob rose, made bon-
fires and rung the bells, and oblidged M r Oliphant
of Gask, the Deputy Governor, to retire into the
councill house, where they besieged him with fire
arms ; and their was several men kill'd on both
Sides. Upon some highland men Coming from
Athole next day to M r Oliphants Assistance the
quiet of the place was restablish'd. The mob
rose likewise on the same day at Dundee and
oblidged M 1 Fothringham, the Governor, to quit
the town. The Prince before he left Edn r issued
out a proclamation to All Officers in the Govern-
ments service, offering them in Case they would
join him the same if not a higher rank, and to
all soldiers or sailors a reward of a years pay.
Many Gentlemen during the Princes Stay at
Edn r suppose they never joined him, yett sent
him presents of Considerable sums of money,
horses, & other things. The Prince lived in
Edn r from the 22 of Sep* to the 31 of Oct r ,
with Great Splendour and Magnificence, had
Every morning a numerous Court of his Officers.
After he had held a Councill, he dinn'd with his
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 307
principall officers in publick, where their was
always a Crowd of all sorts of people to See him
dine. After dinner he rode out Attended by his
life guards and review'd his Army, where their
was always a great number of Spectators in
Coaches and on horseback. After the review, he
Came to the Abey, where he received the ladies
of fashion that came to his drawing room. Then
he Sup'd in publick, and Generaly their was
musick at Supper, and a ball afterwards. Before
he left Edn r he dispatched Sir James Steuart to
France to manage his Affairs in that Country and
to Solicite Succours. On the 3 1 of October 1 745
y e Prince march'd out of Edn r at Six at night at
y e head of his Guards and Lord Pitsligo's horse,
and Jay that night at Pinckie house. Next
day he went to Dalkeith, where he learnt that
Marechal Wades Army was Arrived at New-
castle. The Greatest part of the army rende-
vous'd at Dalkeith and Newbattle, and The Train
of Artilery arrived, Consisting of 13 piece of
brass Cannon. Clunie Macpherson 1 joined the
1 Evan Macpherson, younger of Cluny, eldest son of Lauchlan
Macpherson ; in 1743 had been in correspondence with James 5 at
the time of Charles's landing held a commission in the army of
King George, and was intrusted with a warrant for the arrest of
Alastair Macdonell (Craigie MSS.) ; it is said that Charles despatched
' 100 Camerons under the silence of the night to apprehend Cluny'
308 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Prince at Dalkeith with 300 as handsome men
as any in his Army. The Dukes of Athole and
Perth were order'd to march part of the army by
Peebles, Moffat, and Ecclefechin, and the whole to
Assemble at Carlisle. That part of the army
Consisted of the Athole Brigade, Perths, Ogilvy's,
Roy Stuarts, Clunies, & Glenbucketts foot, Kil-
marnocks and the Hussars horse, all the bagage
and the arteliry. At Ecclefechin they were
oblidged to leave some of the bagage for want
of horses & Carriages to transport it, Notwith-
standing of the vast number of horses the Prince
had Commanded, for from some parishes their
was 100 horses order'd. The people of Dumfries,
after the army had pass'd, took possession of it ;
after the army left Edn r , the people of the castle
came & took possession of it & insulted &
Abused every body that had appeared the Princes
friends ; & it was said they Used some wounded
men the Prince left behind very inhumanely. 1
(L. P. ii. 443, M. M. 191) ; subsequently he was prevailed upon to
engage, and was sent to raise his clan (ibid.} j in 1 746 took an active
part in the hiding and escape of Charles, and devised a refuge
known as Cluny's cage in Ben Alder ; to him was confided the
distribution of the money sent from France in May 17465 in 1754
Charles summoned him to France ; d. at Dunkirk 1756.
1 ' Some parties came out of the Castle and searched for arms.
Among other places they went to the Infirmary, where, finding a
few arms, they were a little rude to some of the Highlanders, and
took a few trifles from them ' (S. M. vii. 1745).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 309
The 3 of November the Prince march'd the
Colum of the army he and Lord George Murray
commanded to Lauder : it Consisted of Lochyells,
Glengarys, Clanronalds, Keppochs, and Ardshiels
regiments of foot, and Elcho's and Pitsligo's
horse. The 4 th they marched to Kelso, the 5
they halted, & y e 6 the foot pass'd the Tweed and
march'd to Jedburgh, and the horse remained
draw'n up on a hight near Kelso, & Sent out
scouts to Gett intelligence of M r Wades army,
who was reported to be on his march from New-
castle & to have parties at Wooler ; the horse
march'd afterwards to Hawick, where they halted
next day. The 7 the Prince marched the foot to
Holyhaugh. The 8 The foot march'd to Stran-
garside & Redens, and the horse to Longtown.
The 9 the whole army pass'd the Esk l in Two
Seperate bodies, the Princes Colum pass'd the
Water that runs by Carlisle, & quarter 'd at Brugh
and the Villages about. The Duke of Atholes
Colum that had come by Moffat quarter'd in the
1 There appears to be some confusion at this point. The army
crossed the Esk Nov. 8th; the Eden Nov. gth (M. M. 238, M. K.
62, H. H. 141). * It was remarkable that this being the first time
they entered England, the Highlanders, without any orders given,
all drew their swords with one consent upon entering the river, and
every man as he landed on the other side wheeled about to the left and
faced Scotland again ' (M. M. 238). When drawing swords ' Lochiel
cut his hand, which was onlooked as a bad omen' (L. P. 455).
310 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
villages about Rowcliff. The poeple in England
seemed mightily afraid of the army and had
abandon'd all the villages upon its approach.
When any of them was gott & ask'd why they
run away so, they said they had been told that
the army murder'd all the men & children &
ravish'd the women, and when they found them-
selves well used, they seemed mightily surprised.
Their was an old woman remained in a house that
night where some officers were quarter'd. After
they had sup'd, she said to them, Gentlemen, I
Suppose You have done with Your murdering to
day, I should be Glad to know when the ravish-
ing begins. 1 That night the Castle of Carlisle
fired several shot at parties of the army that went
near it. Upon this march both Columns of the
army had a prodigious desertion, and it was com-
puted at 1000 men : for the Army at leaving
Edn r was 5500 & at Carlisle only 4500. The
Common poeple were quite averse to Going to
England, & only carried on by the Princes assur-
ing them every day that the English would join
them & the French would Land. The io th the
town of Carlisle was invested by the Princes
colum on the south and west, and by the Second
1 Cf. Byron, Don Juan, canto vm., cxxxii.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 311
Colum on the north and east, and a written
messuage signed the Prince of Wales sent into
the Mayor l to demand admittance, in answere to
which the army was fir'd upon from all sides of
the town. The army lay that night in the villages
round the town, and next day, upon intelligence
that Marshal Wades army was upon their
march from Newcastle to Carlyle, the Army
march'd to Brampton, which was so far on the
road to meet him. It was a mighty convenient
position in the first place to fight him, then the
road on the right was open for the English to
join, and for the Prince to go & join the French
in case he had had news of their Landing ; and
Again the road on the left was open for the
succours that were daily expected to join the
army from Scotland, for the Frazers, Macken-
toshes, Mackenzies, and Lord Lewis Gordons
men to the number of 2000 men were in arms,
and were daily expected. The Prince was in such
a hurry to leave Scotland he would not wait for
them, for he was fully persauded That the regular
troops would not fight against him, and that all
England was in their hearts Convinced of his just
1 The negotiations were conducted by the Deputy-Mayor,
Thomas Pattinson.
3 i2 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
right, and in consequence for him, so he thought
that he had nothing to do but to appear and
Succeed. The 12 Some horse that were sent
towards Newcastle to gett intelligence of Wades
army brought word 1 that he was not within thirty
miles, and by what they could learn had not
moved, upon which in a councill of war held
before the Prince it was resolved 2 to besiege
Carlisle with part of the army while the Prince
remain'd at Brampton with the rest.
All the Cumberland and Westmoreland militia
were in Carlisle to the number of 2000 foot and
100 light horse, and their was Cannon mounted
upon the Parapet all 'round the town. In the
Castle, which is a very Strong place and cant be
taken without battering cannon, of which the
prince had none, their was 80 invalids Com-
manded by L 13 Colonel Durand, 3 a french man and
20 Canon nine pounders mounted. Whatever the
town might be brought to do by threating to
burn it or Scale the walls, the Castle was impreg-
nable to the Princes army. The Duke of Perth
1 The intelligence was brought by Kerr of Graden (L. P.
455).
2 This plan was proposed by Lord George Murray (J. M. 48).
3 Durand was tried by court-martial for surrendering the town,
and acquitted Sept. 1746.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 313
marched away from Brampton to Command the
Siege the 13 with the following troops under his
command, viz. the Athole Brigade, Ogilvys, Roy
Stuarts, Glenbuckets, and Perths Battalions, and
Elcho's, Pitsligo's, and Kilmarnocks Squadrons.
These troops were that night devided into three
bodies and sent to invest the English, Scots, and
Irish gates, and the trenches were open'd that
night betwixt the Scots and English gate within
less than Muskett shot of the wall : the Besieged
all the time kept a constant fire of Cannon &
Small arms, but their was but one man & an
officer kill'd. All the next day they likewise kept
a close fire, but at five o clock at night, seeing the
trenches pretty near them and the Cannon (which
Consisted only of 2 & 4 pounders) ready to be
mounted upon a battery, they hung out a white
flag, and demanded to Capitulate for the town ;
but the Duke of Perth who was in the trenches,
refused to Capitulate with the town unless the
Castle was to be included. They then demanded a
cessation of arms untill next day to think upon it,
which was agreed upon, and they were told, to
frighten them the more (Suppose their panick
was Sufficient enough), that the battery would fire
red hott bals upon the town next day if they did
3H A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
not Surrender. The 1 5 they agreed to capitulate l
both for the town and Castle, so the troops
marched & took possession of the town, & the
Duke of Perth signed the Capitulation, which was
that the militia should deliver up their horses and
arms and take an oath never to take up arms
again either against the Prince or any of his
Family. Which all they that were in town did,
for a great many of them had gott over the walls
and run away home. The Mayor of the town
was to meet the Prince at the gate, to deliver him
the keys of the town, and to Congratulate him
upon his arrivall. The Duke promised that the
Prince would proteck the liberties and religion
of the inhabitants, and would prevent his troops
from doing any mischief. The Mayor and
Aldermen in their robes were to proclaim the
Princes Father king and read all his manifesto's
at the Cross ; all which was performed. Every
1 The militia passed the following curious resolution : * The militia
of the Countys of" Cumberland and Westmoreland having come
voluntarily into the City of Carlisle, for the defence of the sd Citty
and having for six days and six nights successively been upon duty,
in expectation of relief from His Majestys forces, but it appearing
y fc no such relief is now to be had, and ourselves not able to do
duty or hold out any longer, are determined to capitulate, and do
certify that Colol Durand, Capt Gilpin, and the rest of the Officers
have well and faithfully done their duty. 14 Nov. 1745' (Mounsey,
Carlisle in JfJJ, 89).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 315
thing in the Castle was to be deliver'd to the
Prince ; the Gar i son to march out with their arms
and drums beating, and to Ground their arms
when they were out of the Gate ; Colonel Durand
and the rest of the officers to give their parolles
of honour not to serve against the Prince for a
year ; all which was performed, and the Duke of
Perths regiment took possession of the Castle.
Most of the arms in the Castle were hid, and as the
army had plenty, they were not much sought after.
As for the horses, they were devided amongst
the four corps of horse. The 17 the life Gaurds
went out to meet the Prince, and he Enter'd the
town ; the mayor and aldermen in their robes
mett him at the Gate, and the Mayor made him
a Speech Complimenting him upon his Success.
The Prince rode first to the Castle, where he was
Saluted with a round of all the Cannon ; from
thence he came to his quarters in town. Their
happened a thing at Carlisle which was a
consequence of the false accusation given by
Secretary Murray at Perth against Lord George
Murray. The Prince had always shown a great
shighness for Lord George, and had always Af-
fected to give all sort of Commands to the Duke
of Perth ; and just now again at the Siege of
316 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Carlisle, where people thought it would have been
more proper for Lord George as he was a pro-
testant to have signed the Capitulation in which
their was question of Securing the people in the
enjoyment of their religion, than the Duke of
Perth, 1 who was a R: Catholick, and even the
people of Carlisle talked of it. Lord George
during the time of the siege wrote a letter to the
Prince, wherin he told him he was very sorry to
see that their had been very little confidence put
in him all along, and Suppose he was a Lieu-
tenant General he found he was seldom or never
to be employed, for which reason he believed he
could be of as much service being a Volunteer,
so he beg'd the Prince to Accept of his Comis-
sion. The Prince immediately wrote him back
word that he did, which was precisely what Secre-
tary Murray wanted. The Army when they heard
of this were very much alarmed, as their was
no other Leiutenant General but the Duke, and
as they had a much Greater opinion of Lord
Georges capacity than of the Dukes, Suppose
1 Murray says that this episode 'compleated the dryness that
had almost from the beginning subsisted betwixt them ' (Perth and
Lord George) (M. M. 243).
In the postscript of his letter to Charles, Lord George says, ' Lord
Elcho has the command till you please appoint it otherwise.' The
letter is printed in J. M. 50
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 317
their was nobody Braver or had the cause more
at heart than his Grace. The Principal people of
the army mett, and when the Prince came to
Carlisle deliver'd a petition to the Prince, beging
that he would discharge all Roman Catholicks
from his Councill because it might be a handle
for his enemies to make use of against him, as
they had lately done in news papers where they
said all his Councills were directed by R: Catho-
licks, and Compared Sir Thomas Sheridan to
Father Peter * his Grand Fathers confident. They
likewise beg'd that when their was any question
of Signing Capitulations wherin their was men-
tion made of Securing the Liberties of the church
of England, that Protestants might be employed
to do it preferable to R: Catholicks, and they
Concluded by desiring that Lord George Should
be desired to take back his Comission. The
last article the Prince agreed to, which at present
intirely defeated secretary Murrays Schemes ; to
the other demands he gave no answere. The
Prince gott intelligence 2 at Carlisle that Marechal
1 Edward Petre, an English Jesuit ; Vice-Provincial of the Order ;
favourite of James 11. ; Clerk of the Closet and a member of the
Privy Council. Macaulay says : < Of all the counsellors who had
access to the Royal ear he bore perhaps the largest part in the ruin
of the House of Stuart. 1 Petre preceded James II. in his flight to
France j later became Rector of St. Omer $ d. 1699.
2 On Nov. zznd.
318 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Wade had moved with his army and had been at
Hexham on the 17, but upon finding the roads
extremly bad had returned back to Newcastle.
The Prince gott intelligence likewise before he
left Carlisle That the Justice Clerk, Lords of the
Session, & the Sheriffs of the Lothians had re-
turned back to Edn r attended by a great number
of other gentlemen, that they had reassumed the
goverment of the town, & had order'd the 1000
men formerly agreed upon, to be Levied and to
be under the command of the Commander in
cheif in Scotland. That L* General Handasyde 1
had marched on the 14 into Edn r with Price and
Legoniers foot and Hamiltons and Ligoniers
(Late Gardners) Dragoons, and that the town of
Glasgow was raising their militia to be under the
Command of the Earls of Home and Glencairn. 2
The towns of Sterling, Paisley, & Dumfries were
likewise raising their Militia, and General Camp-
bell 3 was arrived at Invereray in order to raise the
1 General Handasyde succeeded Cope as Commander-in-chief
in Scotland.
2 William Cunningham, Earl of Glencairn, s. 1734; entered
the army 1729; major 5znd Foot 17415 lieut.-colonel 9th Foot
i747j Major-General 1770; d. 1775.
3 John Campbell of Mamore (b. 1693, d. 1770), afterwards
4th Duke of Argyll ; lieut.-colonel at the age of nineteen ; colonel
of Scots Fusiliers 17385 Brigadier-General at Dettingen 1741.
When the rebellion broke out, was appointed to the command of the
troops and garrisons in the west of Scotland 5 arrived at Inveraray
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 319
Argyleshire militia. Lord Loudoun was at In-
verness, so that Scotland was devided in the
Following manner. Lord Loudoun Commanded
all to the north of Inverness together with the
Shires of Nairne & Moray, General Campbell
had Argyleshire, and the Goverment posses'd all
to the south of Forth. Lord Lewis Gordon
commanded in Bamff & Aberdeenshire for the
Prince, and as he was Lord Lieutenant of the
county had raised three battalions by obliging
every body to furnish so many men for so much
valued rent. The three regiments were Abuchies
Gordon 1 of 300 men, Farquharson of Monalterys 2
200, and More of Stony woods 3 300. Sir James
Dec. 21, 17455 joined the Duke of Cumberland at Perth Feb. 9,
1746 j colonel of the Scots Greys 1752 to 1761.
1 John Gordon of Avochy. ' Mr. Gordon of Avochy, Glen-
bucket's Nephew, a very resolute active lad, assisted him consider-
ably in his Levys about Strathboggy, where he had a small estate.
He, Glenbucket, had also two sons joined him, but the eldest having
drunk himself blind, could not attempt to march along, and was of
little use to him at home : the other too, was but an insignificant
creature ' (MS. in the possession of Mr. Blaikie).
2 Francis Farquharson of Monaltrie, second son of Alexander
Farquharson of Monaltrie. The family had supported the Stuarts
in 1689 and again in 1715. Francis joined the Prince's army in
Edinburgh with a few men, then went north to raise more recruits.
He was taken prisoner after Culloden ; tried in London in Sept.
1746 ; condemned to death ; reprieved on the evening preceding the
day fixed for his execution. Not allowed to return to Scotland for
fifteen years.
3 James Moir of Stonywood (b. 1712, d. 1782), 3 rc ^ ki^ f
that name 5 after months of hiding escaped abroad ; lived on the
Continent till 1762, when he was allowed to return.
320 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Kinloch 1 had raised by L d Ogilvys orders in the
same way a regiment of 600 men and posses'd
Angus : the remainder of the Princes Troops lay
at Perth. They raised the publick money in Perth
and Fifeshire as the others did in Angus Merns,
Aberdeen & Bamfshire. They Consisted of the
following men, viz. The Master of Lovat 2 with
300 Frazers, Macgilvray of Drumaglash 3 with
The Earl of 2oo Mackintoshes, Farquharson of
Cromarty and his T, 1^-1 T-.
sonLdMacleod Bamurel with 2oo Farquharsons,
with 200 men Macdonald of Barsdale 5 with 200,
1 3rd Bart, of Kinloch, co. Perth ; taken prisoner with his two
brothers. All three were condemned to death, but reprieved. Sir
James was eventually pardoned on condition of his residing in
appointed places (S. M. x. 353). He commanded the 2nd Battalion
of Lord Ogilvy's Regiment.
2 Simon, eldest son of Simon, nth Lord Lovat 5 he was
pardoned in 17505 in 1757 he raised a regiment of 1800 men for the
Government, the 78th, disbanded in 1763 ; he accompanied them
as their colonel to America, and distinguished himself at Louisbourg
and Quebec; afterwards colonel of the 7 ist Regiment, disbanded
1783 ; Lieut.-General 1777 ; M.P. for Inverness 1761-82 5
d. 1782.
3 Alexander MacGillivray of Dunmaglass, killed at Culloden.
' He was collonell of the Clan Chatton, the Mackintoshes, in this
country. I may add many have not produced a finer youth ' :
Answers of Rev. James Hay, Inverness (L. M. iii. 55). The clan
was raised by Lady Mackintosh, her husband having joined the
Government.
4 James Farquharson of Balmurle (now represented by Bal-
moral) 5 kinsman of the Laird of Monaltrie ; wounded at Falkirk.
6 Coll Macdonald, or Macdonell, of Barisdale, cousin of Glen-
garry. Charles made him a colonel, and gave a major's commission
to his son Archibald.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 321
a son of Glengary with 100 Macdonalds,
Macleod of Raasa 1 with 100, 150 Macdonalds
of Clanronald, Glenco with a 100, Steuart
of Inernoyel 2 with 150 of Appins men, and
Cameron of Torcastle 3 with 300 Camerons, all
which putt together made 3400 men fully as
Coll was present at Prestonpans, and knighted on the field (Suther-
land MSS.)j member of Charles's council; later sent north to raise
men ; on March 20, 1 746, he took possession of Dunrobin Castle,
and detained Lady Sutherland, who was an aunt of David Lord Elcho,
as a not unwilling prisoner ; on leaving he addressed her in a letter
published by Mr. Lang (Companions of Pickle, 112), as 'My Faire
Prisoner.' He arrived with his men too late to take part at Culloden.
On June icth he and his son surrendered to Ensign Small j they
obtained a < pass-port ' on promising, it is said, to deliver up Prince
Charles. In Sept. 1746 he and his son visited Charles on board
L'Heureux ; they were placed in irons ; conveyed to France, and
imprisoned at Morlaix on a charge of treason ; Coll was also accused
of having carried off some of the money sent from France (A. P. ii.
272). In 1749 ne returned to Scotland, and died a prisoner in Edin-
burgh Castle 1750. His son was tried and condemned to death in
1754; respited, he remained a prisoner till 1762, when he was
released. (See Stuart Papers, Warren to James, B. H. iii. 463).
1 Malcolm Macleod of Rasay ; at Falkirk and Culloden the
Macleods were brigaded with Glengarry Macdonalds (cf. L. M.
i. 145 et seq.) ; Malcolm acted as Dr. Johnson's pilot in Skye in
1773. Boswell says that he was the most perfect representative of a
Highland gentleman he had ever seen.
2 Alexander Stewart of Invernahyle ; engaged in the rebellion
of 1715 ; Sir Walter Scott visited him as a boy and 'saw him
in arms and heard him exult in the prospect of drawing his clay-
more once more before he died ' when Paul Jones threatened a descent
on Edinburgh 1779 ; after Culloden was long in hiding in a cave
not far from his own house ; cf. the story of Bradwardine (Life of
Sir Walter Scott, i. 140).
3 Ludovick Cameron of Torcastle ; subsequently agent for
Cluny in the distribution of part of the ' Arkaig Treasure '; escaped
to France ; awarded a pension by Louis (Michel, ii, 447).
322 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
good as the Prince had with him, and it was a
most extrodinary thing not to wait for them.
Whoever at Carlisle the Prince dispatched Colonel
Maclauchlan of that ilk with orders for them to
march and join him. 1 Macgregor of Glengyle
Commanded Doune Castle with 50 Macgregors
and kept that whole Country and the castle of
Sterling in great Awe. The reasons they gave
afterwards for not joining the Prince were that
they wanted money for such a march ; then again,
as the Prince had left Carlisle & was making
forced marches every day, they Could have no
thoughts of overtaking him. Lord John Drum-
1 Lord Macleod's Narrative (385) states that at Derby an
answer was received from Lord John Drummond refusing to comply
with the order conveyed by Maclachlan, on the ground that the
directions given by the French Government did not permit of his
doing so. But the directions printed in the Appendix to Browne's
History contain no such prohibition ; and at the time that Mac-
lachlan was despatched from Carlisle Lord John Drummond's arrival
from France was unknown to Charles. Cf. the more probable
account in L. M. ii. 209: 'He (Maclachlan) attended the Prince at
Gladsmuir, and marched with him to Carlyle, from whence he was
detached by the Prince ... to lead on to England the 3000 men
that lay then at Perth. But my Lord Strathallan (who was Governor
of Perth) refused to comply with the Prince's orders.' The
Highlanders were for marching at once, and hostilities between the
parties seemed imminent when Rollo of Powhouse arrived with an
order from Charles (dated Dumfries) to Lord Strathallan to hold
himself and his forces in readiness to join on receipt of further orders
from Glasgow (H. H. pp. 115, 116). At Culloden Maclachlan com-
manded a regiment of Maclachlans and Macleans, at the head of
whom he was killed.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 323
monds arrival afterwards from France putt an
intire Stop to their thinking of it. Had the
Prince had them with him in England he might
very possibly have beat the Duke of Cumberlands
army and gone on to London.
The Prince held a Councill at Carlisle, wherin
he proposed Going Straight to London. The
answere that was made was that the army came
up to join his English friends or a French Land-
ing, but could not pretend putting him in posses-
sion of the crown of England without either, and
that it was better to wait at Carlyle for the rein-
forcements Colonel Maclauchlan had gone for
then to think of taking any Step before their
arrival. The Prince said he was sure all his
English friends would join him in Lancashire. M r
du Boyer assured every body of a French Landing
daily, and M r Murray, who was tresorer as well
as Secretary, said that it was impossible to stay
longer at Carlisle for want of Money, so every
body agreed to March on. The Prince flatter'd
himself every body would receive him with
joy full hearts, and that he would meet with no
opposition, and the rest of The Gentlemen were
determined to carry him to the utmost bounds of
Lancashire, that people might not say afterwards
3 2 4 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
had the army march'd to Lancashire the English
would certainly have joined, and the French
being sure of meeting friends would have been
encouraged to Land. The Princes army that
marched from Carlisle into the heart of England
consisted of The troops in the opposite plan.
The Government had order'd all the militia in
England to be raised: Wades army was computed
12000 foot & 1200 horse, and the Duke of
Cumberlands lo'ooo men. The 18 of November
the Guards marched to Penrith, and next day to
Lowther hall. The 20 Lord George Murray
marched with the Athole Brigade, Ogilvys, Glen-
bucketts and Roy Stuarts.
The 2 1 the Prince marched to Penrith with the
rest of the army ; Perths Regiment and the artilery
went by Warwick Bridge and arrived at Penrith
the 22. The Prince left a small garison at Car-
lisle and appointed M r Hamilton factor to the
Duke of Gordon Governor both of the town &
Castle. All the People both of that town and
county show'd a great dislike to the Princes
cause. Kilmarnocks horse were sent from Penrith
to gett intelligence of Marechal Wades Army,
and brought back word that they were still at
Newcastle. At Penrith the people did not seem
x
^
*Cs
M
fc
&
^
s^
vf
45
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 325
so much affraid of the army as the poeple in the
neighbourhood of Carlisle had been, for they had
heard they did not either murder or ravish.
The Army did no manner of mischief the whole
march up to Derby; the Soldiers were lodged and
gott their Victuals for nothing, and the Officers
payed for every thing they Gott, and very often
very extravagantly which they did rather than dis-
oblidge the poeple. 1 At Penrith they did not like
the cause more than at Carlisle. Their was one
M r Saunderson from Northumberland joined the
army at Penrith : he was a Roman Catholick
Gentleman. The 21 Lord Elcho's Squadron
march'd to Kendal, Lord George Murray with
one colum the 22, and the Prince with the other
the 23. Perths Regiment with the bagage and
the artilery went by Barrowbridge, as the straight
road was bad and too hilly, so they did not arrive
at Kendal untill the 24. At Kendal the poeple
were civiler than in Cumberland, but none of
them joined. The 23 the Guards and the Athole
brigade marched to Burton, where their was a
report that the poeple of Lancaster intended to
1 'When the Prince happened to be a night or so in any
gentleman's house, the ordinary custom was to give five guineas (at
least) of drink-money to the servants' (L. M. ii. 117).
326 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
hold out the Castle, upon which Lord Elcho
wrote to the Mayor informing him that part of
the army would be their next day, & told him if
their was no resistance made, no harm would be
done to the town. Lord George Murray march'd
the Athole brigade in the morning of the 24 into
Lancaster ; the Guards went about by Hornby
castle and arrived at night at Lancaster. Next
day, 25, Lord George with the Athole Brigade
and the Guards advanced to Garstang, and the
Prince with the rest of the army arrived at Lan-
caster, where his Father was proclaimed and all
the manifesto's read, but the people testify'd no
joy and Seemed all against the cause. It was the
custom, as soon as any of the troops came into a
market town, to proclaim the Princes father and
read all the manifesto's from of the Cross, and it
was done in all the Towns both in England and
Scotland where any of the Princes troops ever
pass'd. Lord George had an acquaintance in
that country who procured him two Spies, who
he dispatch'd, the one into Yorkshire, the other
into Staffordshire, to gett intelligence of Marechal
Wade and the Duke of Cumberlands armies,
and the 26 he march'd and took possession
of Rippel Bridge a mile beyond Preston, and the
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 327
Prince with the rest of the army came the same
night to Preston, 1 only the Baggage with an
Escort halted that night at Garstang and arrived
next day. The poeple of Preston show'd more
joy upon seeing the Prince Than they had done
any where else, and their were for the first time
in England several huzza's, and next day when
the manifesto's were read the people ask'd for them
and seemed keen to read them. M rs . Morgan
and Vaughan, 2 two Welch gentlemen joined
the Prince at Preston ; The Prince gave M rs .
Brown and Goehagan, 3 two Irish Gentlemen and
French Captains, comissions to raise English regi-
ments in this Country, and Upon their drums
beating up for recruits for them in this town a
great many of the officers of the army went to
the Prince and told him that as it was known
1 The furthest limit reached in 1648 and 1715. * Preston, so
fatale to the Scots that they never coud get beyond it, but Lord
George Murray, in order to evade the freet (or superstition which
the Highlanders are full of) crossed the bridge and quartered a great
many of the men on that side of the water 1 (L, P. 457).
2 William Vaughan and David Morgan joined Elcho's troop
of Life Guards. * Morgan was seen very busy amongst the rebels
with a white cockade in his hat ' (H. P. ii. 448). ' He was reputed
to be the Prince's Counsel 1 (Ibid. 451). He had been called to the
bar ; executed July 30, 1746.
3 Probably Sir Francis Geoghegan, a French officer, afterwards
captured at Carlisle ; he was a captain of Lally's regiment (S. M.
vii. 580).
328 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
that these gentlemen were Roman Catholicks (as
they wore the cross of S 1 Lewis), if he had a mind
to raise English regiments, which was quite need-
less as no volunteers offer 'd themselves, that he
had better give them to protestants, because it
would be more suitable to the genious of the
people. So the scheme was laid aside. In Preston
as well as in all the towns the army march'd
through, the Militia, who were all in arms quit
the town upon the Armys approach. The Officers
of the army began here to doubt of being joined,
and to Say they had marched far enough, but
upon the Prince Assuring them they would be
joined by all his English friends at Manchester,
and Mons r de Boyer offering to lay considerable
wagers that the French were either landed or
would land in a week, these discourses were laid
Aside. Lord Georges Spies returned to him here
and brought him word that Marechal Wade had
march'd his army straight south upon the London
Road, to Doncaster, and that their was rumours
of his marching across the country into Lanca-
shire ; the other said that Sir John Legonier 1 was
1 Jean Louis Ligonier, a Frenchman born at Castres (b. 1680,
d. 1770)5 served as a volunteer in Marlborough's army 17025
in 1703 purchased a company in Lord North and Grey's regiment j
in 1720 appointed colonel of the 8th or Black Horse, now the
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 329
forming an army, about Litchfield and Coventry
to Consist of ten Thousand men, and that the
Duke of Cumberland was expected from London
every day to take the Command of it. The 27
the Prince road through the town of Preston with
his guards dress' d in Lowland cloaths in order to
Show himself to the poeple. Usualy he wore the
highland habit, and March'd all the way to Derby
on foot at the head of one of the Colums. He
never dinn'd nor threw of his cloaths at night,
eat much at Supper, used to throw himself upon a
bed at Eleven o clock, & was up by four in the
morning. As he had a prodigious strong constitu-
tion, he bore fatigue most surprisingly well. All
the Prisoners that w r in jails upon suspicion
of Jacobitry were always released, and the
publick money was raised 1 in all the towns
the army was in, and if their had been any Sub-
7th Dragoon Guards; Brigadier-General 1735; at the battle
of Dettingen he was made a Knight Banneret by George n. j
at Fontenoy commanded the British Foot ; commanded the troops
sent home to deal with the rebellion ; Commander-in-chief and
Viscount 1757 ; buried in Westminster Abbey.
1 'They levied all the taxes and all the public money destined
for the Government not only here, but wherever they went in
England, and this money served to pay the army during its sojourn
in England, for the Prince brought back to Scotland all the money
that he had taken with him' (Ekho, Journal). The pay of the
Army was at first as follows : Capt., zs. 6d. ; Lieut., 28. ; Ensign,
is. 6d.; Private, 6d. per day. Latterly the men were paid in meal
(H. H. 138 ; L. P. ii.). See post, p. 398.
330 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
scriptions for money to raise men for the use of
the government as their was in most of the towns,
the very poeple were oblidged to pay to the
Prince the indevidual sum they had subscribed
for, suppose very often they had paid it before
to the government. The 28 of November Pit-
sligo's horse march'd to Manchester, where they
were very well received, and a mob appeared
publickly for the Prince, and Several of them
show'd an inclination to inlist. The Same day
Ogilvys, Roy Stuarts, and Elcho's horse march'd
to Leigh, and the Prince with the rest of the
army to Wigan. The road betwixt Preston and
Wigan was crouded with people standing at their
doors to see the army go by, and they generaly
all that days march profes'd to wish the Princes
army Success, but if arms was offer'd to them
and they were desir'd to Go along with the army
they all declined, and Said they did not Under-
stand fighting. The 29 when the Prince arrived
with his army at Manchester the Mob huzza'd
him to his Lodgings, the town was mostly illu-
minated, and the Bells rung, their were several
substantial people came and kis'd his hand, and
a vast number of people of all sorts came to see
him supp. Their were likewise some Clergymen
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 331
of the Church of England came and waited upon
him, & one of them joined, and ever after in all
the towns or villages where the army was and
where their was a Church he used to Say prayers
and Pray publickly for the Prince and all his
family. After all these proceedings it was natural
enough to imagine that their would be a great
joining, but every body was astonish'd to find
that all that was to join was about 200 Common
fellows who it seems had no subsistance, for they
used to Say by way of showing their military
inclination, that they had for sometime .been re-
solved to inlist with whichever of the two armies
came first to town. Their was one or two
Gentlemen and about 15 or 20 twenty merchants
likewise joined, the Prince formed them into a
Regiment which was Called the Manchester regi-
ment and gave the command of it to M r Townly 1
a Roman Catholick. The Prince was so far de-
ceved with these proceedings at Manchester of
bonfires and ringing of bells (which they used to
own themselves they did out of fear of being ill
1 Francis Towneley (b. 1709, d. 1746), formerly in the service
of Louis xv. ; when the Highland army withdrew to Scotland
he was left at Carlisle; taken prisoner; executed July 30, 1746
(H. P. ii. 373). 'The Manchester Regiment never exceeded 300
men ' (M. J. 44).
\
332 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Used) that he thought himself sure of Success,
and his Conversation that night at Table was, in
what manner he should enter London, on horse-
back or a foot, and in what dress. The reason he
thought himself so sure of Success was, he him-
self knew nothing of the Country, or the Strength
that was Against him, and as he Could not bear
to hear that the Goverment had any friends, his
favorites, who were mostly the Irish, and who
knew that at the worst as they were French officers
they would be quit for a month or two's im-
prisonment, Used to represent the King as a
hated Usurper who would be deserted by every
body upon the Princes appearing ; and as for his
armies, they made the Prince believe they were
small, dissaffected, and ill provided with every
thing. The Principal officers of the army who
thought otherwise upon these topicks, mett at
Manchester and were of Opinion l that now they
had marched far enough into England, and as
they had received not the least Encouragement
from any person of distinction, the French not
landed, and only joined by 200 vagabonds, they
had done their part ; and as they did not pretend
1 ' I have been very well informed that a retreat was talked of
at Manchester 1 (M. K. 70).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 333
to put a King upon the throne of England with-
out their consent, that it was time to represent
to the Prince to go back to Scotland. But after
talking a great deal about it, it was determin'd
to March to Derby, that so neither the French
nor the English might have it to Say, the army
had not marched far Enough into England to
give the one Encouragement to Land and the
other to join. On the 30 S fc Andrews day, 1 the
Prince road through the town with his life Guards,
and that day the people of the Country were
employed in making and repairing bridges over
the rivers which the Government had order'd to
be broke down. The i of December Elcho's
& Pitsligo's horse march'd to Altringham, and
the rest of the army to Maclesfield : 2 at both of
1 { Saturday 3Oth : St. Andrew's day ; more crosses making till
twelve o'clock ; then I dressed me up in my white gown and went
up to my aunt Brearcliffe's, and an officer called on us to go see the
Prince, we went to Mr. Fletcher's and saw him get a-horseback, and
a noble sight it is, I would not have missed it for a great deal of
money ; his horse had stood an hour in the court without stirring,
and as soon as he gat on he began a-dancing and capering as if he
was proud of the burden, and when he rid out of the court he was
received with as much joy and shouting almost as if he had been
king without any dispute, indeed I think scarce anybody that saw
him could dispute it ' (John Byrom's Remains').
2 At Macclesfield they learnt that Cumberland, who had taken
the command of Ligonier's army, was on the march, and that his
forces were quartered at Lichfield, Coventry, Stafford, and Newcastle-
under-Line. Lord George Murray moved westward to Congleton ,
this forced Cumberland to fall back on Stone, thus leaving the road
clear for Charles's advance.
334 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
these places their was parties of Dragoons who
retir'd upon aproach of the Army ; at Macles-
field the people seemed mightily against the Prince
and vast numbers of people had run away from
their houses. At one o clock next morning the
body at Altringham was order'd to join the army,
and that day the Prince halted at Maclesfield and
Lord George Murray march'd to Congleton with
the Athole Brigade and Elcho's & Kilmarnocks
horse. The Duke of Kingston 1 upon Lord
George's coming near the town left it with his regi-
ment of horse, and Lord George gott the dinner
that was prepared for his Grace. Lord George
Sent on the Earl of Kilmarnock with the Perthshire
Squadron and fifty foot to Ashbury (a village
betwixt Congleton and Newcastle) to Gett intelli-
gence of the Duke of Cumberlands army. Their
was Sixty Dragoons in the Village, who retir'd to
Newcastle, but they took one Weir, a famous Spie ;
and the party might Likewise have been taken
had the foot march'd in before the horse, for it
was the noise of the horses feet that first gave
the alarm. This Weir had from the time of the
Princes Landing always kept within ten miles of
1 Evelyn Pierrepont (1711-73), 2nd Duke of Kingston. He
married his mistress, Elizabeth Chudleigh, who in 1776 was con-
victed of bigamy.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 335
his army and had given the goverment the best
accounts of his motions. Weir informed Lord
George that the Dukes Cavalery with two regi-
ments of foot were at Newcastle, nine miles from
Congleton, some of the army at Stone, and the
rest with the Duke at Stafford. But that night
the Corps that was at Newcastle retired to Stone,
and the Duke march'd to it, & Assembled the
army their next day. Weir gave Lord George a
list of the Dukes army which he had with him
and which was, viz.
General officers. The Duke
Sir John Ligonier
L*GenS: Duke of Richmond
S* Claire
Major Gen 3 : Howard
Skelton
Bland
Brigadeer Gen s Lord Sempill
Bligh
Douglass
30 piece of
Cannon 68 3
pounders
Horse
Ligoniers
Montagu's : new
Kingston's : new
Dragoons
Elands
Cobhams
Foot
3 Batt 8 : of y e guards
Howards
Sowles's
Johnstons's
Douglass's
Sempills's
Bligh'a
Skeltons
New Foot
Gowers
Montagu's
Halifax's
Granby's
Cholmondeleys
total
8250 foot
2200 horse
10450
336 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
The 3 Lord George march'd from Congleton
by Leek to Ashburn. The Prince march'd to
Leek, but as the Duke of Cumberland had
moved from Stone towards Newcastle, and their
was a cross road so that the Duke might have
march'd in betwixt Leek & Ashburn and so
seperated the two colums of the army, the Prince
march'd from Leek at Night & joined the Colum
at Ashburn early in the morning of the 4th : the
Princes Army was by that march nearer London
by a good many miles than the Dukes. All be-
twixt Maclesfield and Ashburn the people seemed
much afraid of the Princes army, and the tops of
the hills were crouded with men on horseback,
who were often pursued but never came up with
as they were well mounted. The 4 of December
the whole Army marched into Darby. The Duke
of Devonshire l had left the town with his regi-
ment the day before ; the Dukes army were that
night at Stafford and the next at Litchfield. 2 The
1 William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire (b. 1698,
d. 1755);
2 While Cumberland's army of five regiments of cavalry and
eleven battalions of infantry had reached Lichfield Dec. 5th, Wade's,
comprising seven regiments of cavalry and eleven battalions of in-
fantry, was on the same day at Wetherby, and moved the following
day to Ferrybridge (Blaikie, 95, citing newspapers and official
histories of regiments ; MS. General Orders oi Marshal Wade's
Army).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 337
5 in the morning Lord George Murray and all
the Commanders of Battalions and Squadrons
waited upon 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 England ready to join
any party that would declare for him, that none
had, and that the Counties through which the
Army had pass'd had Seemed much more
Enemies than friends to his Cause, that their
was no French Landed in England, and that if
their 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 their was
an invitation for the army to go to London, or to
any other part of England, 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 their was either no party at all, or
if their was they did not chuse to act with them,
or else they would ere now have lett them know
it. Suppose even the Army march'd on and beat
the Duke of Cumberland yett in the Battle they
Y
338 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
must Lose some men, and they had after that the
Kings own army consisting of 7000 men near
London l to deal with. On the contrary, if either
of these armies beat them, their would not a man
Escape, as the militia, altho they durst never face
the army while in a body, yett they would have
courage enough to putt an end to them if ever
they were routed. And so the people that were
in arms in Scotland would fall an Easy Sacrifice to
the fury of the Government Again, Suppose the
Army was to Slip the Kings & Dukes army and
gett into London, the success of the Affair would
intirely depend upon the mobs declaring for or
against it, and that if the Mob had been much in-
clined to his Cause, since his march into England,
that to be sure some of his friends in London would
1 An exact estimate of the troops concentrated on Finchley
Common is difficult to arrive at. Mr. Blaikie quotes the following
entry from the Gentleman's Magazine, joth Dec. : 'The guards and
other regiments sent on yth to Highgate, Enfield, and Barnet in order
to form a camp at Finchley Common were countermanded ' (p. 96).
* Orders were issued Dec. 4th for the regiment of Scots Highlanders
and some other Regiments of Foot and Horse, that were quartered
about Deptford in Kent, to march to Finchley Common to encamp
there. A few days after, a Train of 32 Pieces of Cannon with
Powder, Carriages, Waggons, etc., were drawn out of the Tower '
(M. R. 237).
'The gentlemen of the law formed themselves into a regiment
under the command of the Lord Chief-Justice Willes to be denomin-
ated The associated regiment of the law, for the defence of the
Royal family, and the preservation of the constitution in church and
state' (S. M. vii. 581).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 339
have fall'n upon some method to have lett him
Know'n it, but if the Mob was against the Affair
4500 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 Princes request, to join
his English friends, and to give them Courage by
their appearance to take arms and declare for him
publickly as they had done, or to join the French
if they had Landed ; but as none of these things
had happened, that certainly 4500 Scots had
never thought of putting a King upon 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,
and the French (who at Derby the Army Learned
had landed in Scotland with Lord John Drum-
mond but did not know their numbers but be-
lieved 4000 men). After Lord George had spoke
he desired all the rest of the Gentlemen present
to Speak their sentiments, and they all agreed
with Lord George except two,* who were for * Duke of
Perth Sir Will:
going to Wales to see if the Welch would join. Gordon.
It was urged too that Wades Army, who was
following, must likewise be fought with as the
other two armies would certainly Stop the
340 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Princes by fighting or other Methods, which
would give Wade time enough to come up.
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 Language, and said that they had a
mind to betray him. 1 The Case was he knew
nothing about the country nor had not the
Smallest Idea of the force that was against him,
nor where they were Situated. His Irish favour-
ites to pay court to him had always represented
the whole nation as his friends, had diminished
much all the force that was Against him, & he
himself believed firmly That the Soldiers of the
Regulars would never dare fight against him, as
he was Their true prince. For all the Success he
1 Charles's own account of what occurred states that all the
members of the Council except himself were of opinion that the
retreat was absolutely necessary (H. H. Appendix, 340), but cf.
Examination of John Murray.
' Lord George Murray, Lord Elcho, and everybody present, except
Lord Perth, declared their opinion for marching back to Scotland '
(M. M. 432).
Of John Murray's conduct on this occasion, Maxwell says
(Af.*.75)'
' 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 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 very disagreeable, and lay the
odium upon other people, particularly Lord George, whom he
endeavoured to blacken on every occasion. 1
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 341
had had as yett he attributed more to the mens
Consciences not Allowing them to fight against
him, than to The power of the Broad Sword, and
he always believed he Should enter S* James's
with as little difficulty as he had done Holyrood
house. He Continued 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 some months imprisonment. The Scots were
all against it ; so at Night the Prince Sent for
them and told them he consented to go to Scot-
land, And at the same time he told them that for
the future he would have no more Councills, for
he would neither ask nor take their Advice, that
he was Accountable to nobody for his Actions but
to his Father ; and he was as good as his word, for
he never after advised with any body but the Irish
Officers, M rs Murray & Hay, and never more
summons'd a Councill. 1 The 6 the army march'd
back to Ashburn ; that morning the Dukes
march'd to Meriden common near Coventry, so
1 ' I think there was but one council of war call'd aftir they
return'd to Scotland and that was near Crief the day after the retreat
from Stirling' (Z,. P. ii. 534).
342 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
if the Prince had march'd forward the two armies
would have mett at Northampton. The inferior
officers of the Princes army were much Surprised
when they found the army moving back and
imagined some bad news had been received, but
when they were told every thing, & found the
army had marched so far into England without
the least invitation from any English man of
Distinction, they blamed their Superiors much for
Carrying them so far, and Approved much of
Going back to Scotland ; they had all along
imagined they were marching 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 Marechal Wade from getting in between
them (who's army was at Wetherby and Don-
caster). The Prince, who had march'd all the
way to Darby on foot at the head of a Column of
Infantry, now mounted on horseback, 1 and road
generally after the van of the Army and appear 'd
to be out of humour. Upon the Armies march-
ing out of Darby M r Morgan an English Gentle-
1 Charles, who had marched afoot at the head of the men all
the way, was obliged to get on horseback, for he could not walk, and
hardly stand (as was always the case with him when he was cruelly
used) (John Hay's account of the Retreat, H. H. 339).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 343
man came up to M r Vaughan who was riding in
the life Guards, and after saluting him said Damn
me, Vaughan, they are going to Scotland. M r
Vaughan replied, Wherever they go I am deter-
mined now I have joined them to go along with
them.'" Upon which M r Morgan Said, By God *M* Morgan
I had rather be hanged than go to Scotland, ^^M"
to Starve. The army march'd on the 7 from Vau s han is an
officer in Spain.
Ashburn to Leek, and Elcho's & Pitsligo's horse,
Ogilvys & Roy Stuarts foot advanced that night
to Maclesfield where the people were every
moment expecting Marechal Wades army. The
8 the troops in Maclesfield advanced to Stockport
and the rest of the army came to Maclesfield.
All the Country people were arm'd, and at Stock-
port they fir'd from a Village in the night upon
the patrouilles and killd some of them : the rest
sett fire to the Villadge. They were quite pre-
pared in case the army had been beat to have
knock'd on the head all that would have Escaped
from the Battle. Whenever any of the men
Stragled or Stay'd behind they either murder'd
them, or sent them to the Duke, and all the way
from Carlisle to Darby all the men that were left
sick f upon the road were either kill'd or after t in towns
very much abused sent to jails off the great road.
344 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
The 9 the army marched for Manchester. The
quartermasters were sent on before with a party
of horse to prepare quarters for the Army, but as
the whole town was in an Uproar & show'd an
inclination to attack them, they were oblidged to
return to the army, and their was two Battalions
and two Squadrons order'd in to Support them,
upon which the mob dispersed and the whole
army arrived at night. The town was taxed 2500^ l
which they paid next day. The Prince was for
halting here, but upon its being represented to
him that Wades army (which was reported not
far off) might gett before to Rippel Bridge, and
so Stop the army in front untill the Dukes came
in the rear, he consented to move next day, and
the Army march'd to Wigan. Roy Stuarts and
Ogilvys regiments, who made the rear guard
coming out of Manchester, were fir'd upon by the
mob, who follow'd them, but whenever they faced
about the mob always run away. They quarter'd
that night at Leigh.
The Duke of Cumberland when he heard of
the Princes retreat had put himself the 8, at the
head of all his horse and Dragoons and 1000 foot
1 The sum first demanded was 5000. This was reduced by
Charles to 2500 (M. R. 203).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 345
which he had mounted on horseback, to pursue
the Prince, with orders for Sir John Ligonier to
follow with the rest of the army. He marched by
Uttoxeter & Cheadle and came into Maclesfield
the io th . Marechal Wades army was at Wake-
field on the io th in order to Gett into Lancashire
before the Princes ; he detached Major General
Oglethorpe with Wades & Montagus horse, S*
George's dragoons, & the Yorkshire rangers to
see & gett to Preston before the Prince, but he
only arrived at Wigan the 1 2 th . The 1 1 the Prince
Marched into Preston, and the rear guard to
Charly, & next day they arrived at Preston.
The Dukes troops were at Manchester on the
II th . The Prince halted the 12 at Preston and
the Guards were order'd to guard Ripple Bridge.
He would absolutely remain here, and sent of the
Duke of Perth with the Hussars with orders to
bring up the army in Scotland. It was represented
here to him likewise that Wades Army might
gett to Lancaster, so putt him betwixt two fires.
Upon which he Agreed to Go to Lancaster, and
the Army march'd their the next day. An hour
after the rear of the army left the town General
Oglethorp took possession of it, and the Duke of
Cumberland came to Wigan. At Supper at
346 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Lancaster the Prince talk'd much about retiring
so fast, and said it was a Shame for to go so fast
before the son of an Usurper, and that he Would
stay at Lancaster. The principal Officers, who
were not at all against fighting when it was
reasonable, mett and Agreed, since Wades army
could not now gett in betwixt them and Scotland
that they would remain and fight the Duke at
Lancaster, which at the Same time would Show
them whither it was great Stoutness or Contra-
diction that made the Prince & his Irish favourites
for Stoping in Every town. And Accordingly Lord
George Murray went & ask'd the Princes leave to
Go next morning and reconnoitre a field of Battle,
which he consented to. Lord George went next
morning with a party of the Guards to Chuse
the Ground, and they made some of the York-
shire rangers prisoners, who informed them that
General Oglethorp was at Garstang. He sent
them in with an escort to the Prince, who after
he had examined them, order'd the Baggage to
march, and the rest of the army to move early
next morning towards Kendal, which they accord-
ingly did. As soon as the rear left the town their
was some Dragoons pursued them, but upon a
disposition being made to receive them they
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 347
retired. The army arrived that night at Kendall,
where they learnt that the Duke of Perth had
been oblidged to fight his way through the town
and that two or three people had been kill'd on
both sides. His Grace had pursued his journey on
to Penrith, but finding the Country people all in
arms to oppose his passage he was oblidged to
return and join the army at Kendal. The 16 the
prince marched to Shap and the villages about it,
but Lord George Murray who commanded the
rear guard, by reason of the badness of the
weather and the roads that the country people
had on purpose spoilt, could gett no further
Than a place half way, and next day he arrived
at Shap after having had much difficulty in get-
ting all the Cannon and Waggons over the Steep
hills in that country. The same day the Prince
went on to Penrith and sent of the Guards and
The Perthshire Squadron to Carlisle. Their had
been a 100 Swiss and a great many militia in
Penrith, but they left it upon the news of the
Princes approach. The Country militia who were
armed and on horseback had endeavour'd to
harass Lord George Upon his March all the
way from Kendal, and would sometimes draw up
in Battle as if they intended to attack him, but
348 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
whenever he order'd any troops to march up
against them they always turned their backs &
made of. The 1 8 as Lord George was passing by
Lother hall the seat of the Viscount of Lonsdale
Lord Leiutenant of the County, he sent in some
men in order to Catch some of them, but in place
of Militia they found two footmen of the Duke
of Cumberlands, who informed them that the
Duke was very near with about 5000 horse. Lord
George had just time to march to a village call'd
Clifton (in a hollow) and dispose of his men in
the inclosures behind hedges, when the Duke
appeared and drew up his horse in battle on a
hill half Cannon shot above the village. Lord G rge
sent of an aid de Camp to The Prince (who was
reviewing his men on a hill to the north of
Penrith) to inform him of what had happen'd and
to tell him that now was a good opportunity to
fight The Duke, for that numbers were pretty
near equal, and that the Ground was advantageous
for foot to fight in. As their was formerly a
Contradiction to make the army halt when
it was necessary to march, so now their was
one to march and shun fighting when their
Could never be a better opportunity gott for
it, so the Prince sent a detachment to Succour
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 349
Lord George (which arrived after the affair) l and
march'd of the rest of the army to Carlisle and
left orders for Lord George to follow. The
Duke of Cumberland, after having reconoitred L d
Georges position, order'd some of his Dragoons
to dismount and line the hedges opposite to the
highlandmen, which they did about an hour after
sun sett, and their was a very smart fire on both
sides for more than half an hour, when Lord
George order'd Clunie Macphersons battalion to
draw their swords and follow him, which they did
and 'drove the Dragoons first from the hedges and
then to their main body on the hill after killing
40 or 50 of them, after which Lord George made
his retreat first into Penrith and then to Car-
lisle without being molested. Lord George had
twelve men kill'd, and Mr Hamilton Captain of
Hussars was wounded & taken prisoner. The
Duke did not come to Penrith that night. All
the Princes army was in Carlisle early on the 19,
and the Dukes advanced guard came that day
to Heskett : he himself came only to Penrith,
where he halted all the 2oth. The Prince
1 i.e. the Atholl brigade (J. M. 71).
Lord George says that at this time 'there was above eight miles
from our van to our rear, and mostly an open country, full of
commons' (J. M. 72).
350 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
march'd out of Carlisle the 20, but left M r
Hamilton in the town with the Manchester
regiment and a Small detachment out of the
Lowland regiments. This was done against the
opinion almost of Everybody 1 but the Prince said
he would have a town in England and he was
sure the Duke could gett no Cannon to take it
with. The army cross'd the Esk near Longtown
without the Loss of a man, notwithstanding the
water was so high as to take the men up to their
breasts. All the Country people upon the borders
were in arms, for they had gott news from Edn r
that the Duke of Cumberland had overtaken the
army near Lancaster and had given them a total
defeat, and that the Prince and the few that had
escaped were flying to Scotland, so they had gott
themselves prepared in Case it had been so, to
have knock'd all Stragglers on the head, and they
were only deceived when they saw the army ford
the water of Esk. 2 After the army had pass'd, the
1 The resolution of Charles to leave a garrison at Carlisle was
generally condemned, and illustrates the autocratic authority which he
exercised. Lord George Murray and Maxwell agree that the town
was not tenable (J. M. 73 ; M. K. 88).
2 ' We were a hxmdred men abreast, and it was a very fine show ;
the water was big, and took 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. Some ladies had passed the water on horse-
back just before us ; but had they looked back they could have seen
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 351
Prince divided it into three bodies. The first,
which consisted of the Clans, Perths regiment,
the Bagage and three piece of Cannon (for the
other ten were left in the castle of Carlisle), he
march'd himself to Annan ; Lord George Murray
with the Athole Brigade, Ogilvys, Roy Steuarts,
& Glenbucketts march'd to Ecclefichen, and next
day to Moffat. Lord Elcho with all the horse
march'd to Dumfries, with orders to disarm the
town and to tax it in 2OooP ds and 1000 pair
of shoes. Upon his arrival the militia* quit the* about 7
men.
town, the tax was partly paid, and two hostages
taken for the remainder untill it was also paid.
The 2 1 the Prince arrived at Dumfries and halted
their all the 22 d , as Lord George did at Moffat.
The Princes army in their march into England
lost very few men, and they brought just the
same sum of money out of the country they had
carried into it, so the Army just maintained itself.
The Common Soldiers did little or no damage in
going up to Darby, but in coming back they
plunder'd a little, particularly at Penrith ; and
the reason was that M r Boyd and some gentlemen
nothing, the water was so big. The pipes began to play so soon as
we passed, and the men all danced reels, which in a moment dried
them. ... I was this day in my philibeg 1 (J. M. 75).
352 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
that had been left at Carlisle wanting to join the
army had taken up their first nights quarters at
Lowther hall. The Penrith people attacked them
kill'd one or two, took some and sent them to
Marechal Wade ; the others that made their escape
returned back to Carlisle. The principal people
of the Princes army paid very minutely for every-
thing they had in England. Upon the armies
arriving in Scotland they gott certain intelligence
of Lord John Drummonds * being landed at Mon-
tross with troops, arms, Cannon, and all sorts
of military stores : the numbers were not known
but it was given out all over this country that
their was 4000 French. The 23 Lord George
Murray march'd from Moffat to Douglass, and
the Prince from Dumfries to Drumlanrig. The 24
Lord George pass'd the water of Douglass, which
was very high, and march'd to Hamilton, and
the Prince arrived that night at Douglass. The
Duke of Douglass had refused Lord George
admittance into the Castle, but as the Prince had
Cannon with him his Grace was oblidged to open
his Gates and receive him. Lord George gott
1 Lord John Drummond landed Nov. aznd : 'he brought about 800
men, composed of his own regiment of Royal Scots, and a piquet of
50 men from each of the six (French) Irish regiments under Brigadier
Stapleton 1 (Blailcie, 27, citing Lord Macleod and London Gazette).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 353
intelligence at Hamilton that the Earls of Hume
and Glencairn had march'd away from Glascow
to Edn r with the Glascow & west country militia,
and that Price & Ligoniers foot and Ligoniers
(late Gardners) and Hamiltons dragoons, had
likewise retired from Sterling to Edn r ; Lord
George march'd to Glascow the 25 and the Prince
came to Hamilton. The highlanders of the princes
column plunder'd the town of Lesmahago because
they had taken prisoner and sent to Edn r M r
Macdonald of Kinlochmoidart, 1 who was going
from the north to join the army at Carlisle. The
Prince had sent him from Edn r to the Highlands
to see & persaude Sir Alex Macdonald and
Macleod to join him. The Prince halted all the
26, and went a shooting in Duke Hamiltons
Parcks, and the 27 he made his Entry into
Glascow at the head of a body of foot ; the Streets
were crouded with people to see him, but they
were all much against his Cause. We shall now
leave the Prince at Glascow & return to Carlisle
1 Donald Macdonald : he had been sent north at the end of
October; executed at Carlisle Oct. 18, 1746 (S. M. vii. 497). In
the letter found on him and signed ' C ' there was the following :
'. . . desire you to give it out wherever you come that Sir Alexander
Macdonald and the Macleods are actually on their march, notwith-
standing you may have received contrary information ' (Ibid. vii.
540).
Z
354 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
where The Duke of Cumberland arrived the 21
and took up his quarters at Blacklehall and invested
the town on all sides. He was joined by 1000 foot
of M r Wades Army, who had marched from
Rippon back to Newcastle, where he had arrived
the 2oth. The Duke sent for some battering
Cannon from Whitehaven, and the 24 th he gott
4 1 8 pounders & the 26 th 6 more. From the
Dukes first appearance near the town M r Hamil-
ton kept a close fire wherever he saw troops. The
28 the Besiegers raised a battery and Battered
the walls of the town with six guns ; the 29 th they
did the same, the 3O th the Besiegers had three
more eighteen pounders mounted, but upon the
first platoon of the Battery that morning M r
Hamilton hung out the white flag, and sent to
the Duke to know what terms he would gett
if he Surrendered the town. The Duke returned
for answere that the Garison should not be putt
to the sword, but receved prisoners at discre-
tion. Upon which M r Hamilton surrendered the
town, and General Bligh that same day 3O th of
December took possession of it ; all the prisoners
were confined in the Cathedral and were very
ill Used. The Duke of Cumberland made his
entry into Carlisle and sometime afterwards
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 355
returned to London. 1 M rs Maxwell and Brown
made their escape out of Carlisle during the
time of the Capitulation and brought the news
of its surrender to the Prince at Kilsyth. Their
was a sort of a breach made in the wall
but not sufficient to enter by ; the batterys
were raised opposite to the Irish and Scots
gate.
The Prince sometime after his arrival at
Glascow road through the town dress'd in the
French dress 2 attended by his Guards and made
a General review of all his army that had been
in England, and the loss the army had sustained
by its march into England was very inconsider-
able. As this town had been very active in raising
men and had made great rejoicings upon the
news of the pretended defeat at Lancaster the
Prince taxed it in 12000 Shirts, 6000 bonnets,
6000 p r of Shoes, 6000 p r of Stockings, & 6000
waistecoats amounting to near the value of lo'ooo
p ds , and took hostages for the payment of it ;
the Prince Supp'd every night in publick and
1 The Duke was summoned south to command the forces
destined to oppose a French landing ; he left Carlisle Jan. 2nd, and
reached St. James's Jan. 4th (M. R. 257).
2 'The Prince dressed more elegantly when in Glasgow than
he did in any other place whatsomever ' (James Gib, L. M. ii. 125).
356 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
their was always a great deal of Company came
to See him. He received letters here from L d
John Drummond, wherin Lord John Acquainted
him that he had sailed from Dunkirk and had
arrived with six Ships in the harbours of Mon-
tross, Aberdeen, Stonehive, and Peterhead, that
in these Ships was eleven companies of his own
regiment about 550 men, a piquet of Dillons 50
men, one of Rooths 50, & one of Lallys 50, that
he had 6000 Lewis d'ors in money, great plenty
of small arms and military Stores, besides two
brass Cannon of i S 1 ^, two of 1 2 pd , & two of cp d
and some Voluntiers. That the Milford man
of War l had oblidged a French frigate of 30 guns
to run Ashoare, but that they had saved every
thing that was aboard of her, that the Hazard
Sloop of War 2 had enter 'd the harbour of Mon-
tross, and that they had planted Batteries of
Cannon upon the shoar and had taken her, that
in Short what he brought with h m was but the
advanced gaurd of what was to follow. Lord
John published a declaration in French and in
1 Commanded by Captain Hanway j the French frigate was named
Louis XV. (M. R. 233).
2 The Hazard, after doing valuable service for Charles, was
eventually retaken at Tongue in Sutherland, March 25, 1746, by
the Sheer ness, Captain O'Brien (S. M. viii. 145).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 357
English and sent a drum to the Commander
of the Dutch Troops with Marechal Wade to
lett him know that their was French Coulours
in the Princes army, and required him to return
home, which they did soon after. The Declara-
tion he published was, viz. :
Nous Lord Jean Drummond commandant en
Chef des forces de S.M: T.C. en Ecosse de-
clarons par les presentes, que nous sommes venus
dans ce royaume avec des ordres par ecrit de
S.M.T.C. pour faire la guerre au Roy d'Angle-
terre Electeur D'Hannover et a tous ses adherens :
les ordres portent positivement d'attaquer tous
ses ennemis dans ce Royaume, et elle declare
qu'on doit regarder comme tells ceux qui ne se
rendront pas aussi tot qu'il leur sera possible
aupres du Prince de Galles Regent D'Ecosse
son Allie que S.M.T.C. a resolu de concert avec
L'Espagne de maintenir et d'aider a prendre
possession des Royaumes D'Ecosse, D'Angleterre,
et D'Irlande, et d'employer en cas de besoin pour
cet effet, toutes les troupes et L'argent qui sont
en son pouvoir, les pretentions de la maison de
Stuart sur ces Royaumes etant justes et indisput-
ables. Les ordres positives de S.M.T.C. sont
aussi que ses ennemis seront traites suivant le
358 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
tort qu'ils feront ou pretendront faire a la cause
de S.A.R. Sign& J. Drummond.
Fait a Montross
le 2 Dec: 1745.
Lord John sailed from Dunkirk in November
with 8 Ships, but two of them were taken by the
road with two Companies of his own regiment, a
piquet of Bulkelys, one of Clares and one of
Berwicks 250 men. Lord John likewise wrote
a letter to Mons r du Boyer and directed it, A
Son Excellence Monsieur le Marquis D'Equilles,
Ambassadeur de sa majeste tres Cretien aupres
son altesse Royal le Prince de Galles. Monsieur
D'Equilles ever after took upon him the title
of Ambassadeur de France, and every body
call'd him his excellency, he declared the
Prince, as well as Lord John had done, the King
his masters Ally, but Lord Johns declaration
and every puff Mons r D'Equille made was only
to encourage the people to join and to keep up
the Spirits of those that had joined, for they had
not the least authority for it from the Court of
France. Lord John brought letters from France
which give an account of what was doing their.
The Duke of York the Princes Brother had arrived
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 359
in that country in the month of August 1745, and
the first scheme the French had proposed was to
send over the Irish Brigade in fishing boats with
orders to join the Prince wherever they could in
England. This was laid aside, and a much grander
embarkation 1 formed which was to be Commanded
by The Due de Richelieu and to Consist of the
Irish six regiments, two Battalions of the Royal
Grenadiers, two of Beauvosis, two of Biron, six
other Battalions, Fitzjames's Regiment of Horse
and Sept [illegible in MS.] Dragoons, in all 9000
foot and 1350 horse. The embarkation was first
to have been from Dunkirk, then from Boulogne
& Calais, and vast numbers of small vessels were
gott together in the harbours of Boulogne & Calais
for that purpose, but as the French took a great time
in Getting together a prodigious quantity of Stores
and Cannon to Carry with them, the Goverment
of England had notice of it, and sent Admiral
Vernon 2 with a Strong fleet into the Channel and
1 * L'embarquement devait etre de onze mille hommes, un train
d'artillerie, quelques chevaux de trait . . . et des declarations dans
les deux langues toutes pretes a publier 1 (D'Argenson, Journal et
Memoires, vii. 318). The Declaration referred to was composed by
Voltaire (QLu'vres, ed. Beuchot, xxxviii. 543).
2 Edward Vernon (b. 1684, d. 1757), son of James Vernon,
principal Secretary of State (1698-1702); entered the Navy 1700;
Admiral 1745; later he attacked the Admiralty in anonymous
pamphlets, and was cashiered 1746. He sailed out of the Downs
3 6o A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
order'd an army of 7000 foot & 2500 horse to
the Coasts of Kent & Essex. Upon which the
French gave it over the 6 of Jan r 1746, and the
Dukes of York & Richelieu returned back to
Paris. The French proposed Landing in Dunge-
ness. The Prince did not learn of That em-
barkations being given over untill he was at
Inverness. The news the Prince gott at Glascow
from the north was that their was a Spanish Ship
Landed at Barra 1 with 2500 Stand of arms and
4000 pd in money ; that Lord Loudoun, who
Commanded for the Goverment in the north, had
made two marches from Inverness, one to Supply
the garison of fort Augustus with provisions, and
another to Lord Lovats house of castle Dounie.
He brought Lord Lovat to Inverness along with
him as a sort of prisoner, but he sometime after-
on Dec. 21, 1745 ; the French expedition was appointed to start
on Christmas Eve (D'Argenson, iv. 318). Vernon was recalled at
the beginning of January and struck his flag on the 2nd (S. M.
viii. 48).
1 The Spanish officer in charge of the arms was a prisoner at
Inverness in Feb. 1746. 'Ther was also a gentleman in the
Spainish servise, one collenel Hendela, one of the best men I ever
was acquaint with. It was he that cam to the Islland of Bara,
in the North Hylands, and landed the arms that were found
ther ' (Letter of Mrs. Leith, L. M. ii. 286). In April 1746 there
was still Spanish money lying at Barra, 'about 380 sterling/
and it was this sum that ./Eneas Macdonald went in search of
and brought to Charles after Culloden (L. M. i. 1605 Elcho,
Journal).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 361
wards made his escape. About the 10 of December
Lord Loudoun sent the Laird of Macleod and
M r Monro of Culcairn to Aberdeenshire with
700 men to see and prevent the people of that
country from taking arms for the Prince. The
Laird of Grant joined them upon the road with
500 men, but Seperated from them at Strathbogie
and returned to his own country. Macleod and
Culcairn arrived at Inverury the 20, and the 23
Lord Lewis Gordon march'd from Aberdeen with
700 men and attacked them at Inverury. 1 He beat
and putt them to flight, took all their Baggage
kill'd about 60 & took 100 prisoners ;* but as it* MacLeod
was dark did not pursue them ; besides Macleods f a j\ t ut j
men never Stop'd untill they gott to Forress.
Lord Lewis Lost 40 men in this action. The
Prince Learned also at Glascow that General
Campbell and his son were in Argyleshire and
had raised 2000 men for the Goverment.
Their was a great many people of the army
were for marching from Glascow to take posses-
1 Lovat was taken prisoner Dec. nth 5 on Dec. 2oth he
escaped, upon which the Clan Eraser marched to join Charles's army
(Lord Lovafs Trial, 45 ; L. M. ii. 284). The troops accom-
panying Lord Lewis Gordon were Moir of Stoneywood's, Farquhar-
son of Monaltrie's, Bannerman of Elsick's, two of Lord John
Drummond's companies, a few men raised by Mr. Crichton,
and Gordon of Avochy's men. ' The action lasted but a few
minutes after the men were formed ' (L. M. ii. 344).
362 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
sion a second time of Edn r or else to go to East
Lothian to oblidge General Hawley l who was
marching the army Wade commanded down to
Scotland to Encamp every night and to keep in
a body ; which as the weather was very bad and
cold, could not miss to have done his army a
great deal of harm, but The Prince resolved to
Besiege Sterling Castle and sent an Express from
Glascow to Lord John Drummond with orders
for him to Assemble the troops under his com-
mand and to march and Assist at the Siege.
While the Prince was at Glascow he expected every
day to hear of his Brothers Landing in England,
and the Goverment expected it so much that all
1 Henry Hawley (b. i679(?), d - J 7S9)> served with the present
4th Hussars 1706-1717 ; colonel of 33rd Foot 1717, of i3th
Dragoons 1730; Lieut.-General 17445 present at Dettingen and
Fontenoy ; appointed to the command in Scotland in succession to
Handasyde 1746 ; at Culloden he commanded the cavalry ; he was
a harsh disciplinarian, and known in the army as chief-justice or
' hangman.' Popular rumour alleged that he was a son of King
George, and that on this account his brutalities were condoned. He
left characteristic directions in his will : ' But, first I direct and
order, that, as there is now a peace, and I may die the common way,
my carcase may be put any where. . . . The priest, I conclude, will
have his fee : let the puppy have it. Pay the carpenter for the
carcase box.' He arrived in Edinburgh Jan. 6th ; twelve battalions
and four regiments of dragoons constituted his command (H. B. A.
ii. 138 ; S. M. viii. 34).
To whom compared an Alva's name is sweet,
Brave in the field tho' cruel in the State.
(L. M. i. 243.)
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 363
the troops the Duke of Cumberland Commanded
at Carlisle were order'd to the South in order to
oppose it. The town of Edn r upon hearing the
Prince intended soon to leave Glascow was making
great preparations for a defence and had gott a
great many militia into town for that purpose, and
upon the 2 d of January 1746 the first division of
General Hawleys army arrived at Edn r , and he
himself with the rest of the army some days
afterwards. On the 3 d of January the Princes
army evacuated Glascow and formed the Blocade
of Sterling. He himself marched the first day to
Kilsyth and next day to Bannockburn, 1 where he
establish'd his head quarters. The Athole brigade
was cantooned at Bannockburn, and Ogilvys, Roy
Steuarts, Glenbucketts, & Perths with the Bag-
gage at S 1 Ninians. Lord George Murray march'd
the first day to Cumbernald and next day took
post at Falkirk with Lochyels, Appins, Clunies,
Glengarys, Clanronalds, and Keppochs regiments.
1 Sir Hugh Paterson's. 'The Prince who lived in the Castle
of the Chevalier Paterson a league's distance from Stirling made
the acquaintance of Miss Walkinshaw, who forthwith became his
mistress 1 (Elcho, Journal], It was here that Sir John Douglas,
M.P., visited Charles with a message from the English Jacobites to
the effect that 10,000 had been collected for him in London.
Sheridan's comment on this was ' Since they have collected Money,
why the Devil did they not send it?' (S. P. Dom., George II.,
Examination of John Murray of Broughton, Aug. 13, i74 6 )-
364 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Elcho's Troop of Guards was quarter'd at Elph-
ingston, Lord Balmerino's at Glorat, Pitsligo's
Squadron at Airth, Kilmarnocks troop of Horse
grenadiers at Callendar, the Perthshire Squadron
at Leckie, and the Hussars at a Village near
Glorat. The Prince upon his arrival at Bannock-
burn sent to Summons the town of Sterling (in
which their was 400 militia) to surrender, which
they refused, but the 7 upon a batterys being
raised and firing some shot, they gave up the
town and the Athole Brigadge, Ogilvys, Roy
Steuarts, Glenbuckets, and Perths regiments took
possession of it ; some of the militia dispersed
and went home ; the rest with their officers retired
into the Castle. The Castle firr'd upon the
Princes troops as they were marching into town
but kill'd nobody ; during the whole time of the
Siege they always firr'd wherever they saw any of
the Princes Troops and very often at single people.
Lochyels Regiment replaced the Athole brigadge
at Bannockburn.
Lord John Drummond according to the Princes
orders had putt all the troops under his command
in motion. Lord John arrived himself y e 8 with
four piece of Battering Cannon and a great deal
of amunition at Aloa, under the Escort of the
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 365
Earl of Cromarties regiment, in order to embark
all aboard of a Ship at Aloa and send it up the
river as far as it would go. All the rest of the
troops and the lighter cannon march'd about by
the frews, 1 the Cannon was escorted into Sterling
by the three Irish piquets, and the rest of the
troops that had pass'd the Frews, marched to
Falkirk, where they were incorporated in The
following manner, viz., Barisdale 1 with 200 men,
young Glengary with 100, Raasa[y] with 100 into
Glengarys regiment, 150 men into Clanronalds,
Glenco with 100, & Glengyle with 50 into
Keppocks, 150 into Ardsheils, 300 men with old
Lochyel 2 into Lochyels, which made Lochyels
regiment 800 men, Glengarys 800, Keppochs
600, Clanronalds 400, Appins or Ardshiels 300.
The Master of Lovat with 300 Frazers was left
at S* Ninians, and The 400 Mackintoshes and
Farquarsons were sent to quarter in the villages
1 Lochgarry in his Narrative, addressed to young Glengarry,
printed in Mr. Blaikie's Itinerary, p. 1 18, says: * Your brother joined
us here (Bannockburn) with a strong reinforcement to your
regm fc : we then made two battalions your people of Urquhart and
Glenmorison having likewise joined us. We muster'd then directly
twixt nine hundred and a thousand men, which being devided,
your brother commanded the first and I the second battalion.
Barrisdale likewise join'd us on the battle-day with 300 clever
fellows from the north, which made us compleat 1200 on the day of
battle/
2 See post, p. 443 note.
366 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
in the Carse. Their was a great many Irish
officers voluntiers came along with the piquets ;
they were all much caress'd by the Prince, were
much about his person, and he gave them all
much higher commissions than they had in France,
which was of great service to them Upon their
return to France as that Court confirm'd most of
them in their service.
As the Battering cannon and most all the stores
that was necessary for making the siege of Ster-
ling castle was at Alloa and the scheme was to
embark them aboard of a ship Laying there, & so
send them up the river, the Prince had sent
Colonel Grant the 9 th with three 4 pounders in
order to erect a battary to gaurd the passage of
the river as well as possible, for the Pearl & Vulture
sloops of war were laying in the river and had
sent their boats the night before and had burnt
two ships at Airth which they imagin'd the people
at Alloa might have occasion for. Colonel Grant
open'd a battery at Airth, and there was several
Canon shot exchanged betwixt it & the Sloops,
but Colonel Grant finding the river too broad at
that place removed the battery to Elphingston
pans where the Guards of 1 50 foot were quarter 'd
under the command of L d Elcho. That night the
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 367
Sloops boats well man'd sail'd up the river above
Aloa to a place call'd Keiny in order as it was sup-
posed to seize L d Elcho, who used to Lodge there
at nights. They searched the house, but as he was
that night at the battery they miss'd their aim,
and as they return'd they were firr'd at from the
battery, and two of their men were kill'd. The
io th General Hawley sent a Battalion (under the
command of Coll: Leighton) in 9 arm'd sloops
up the river in order to attack Alloa & seize upon
the Cannon and amunition there ; he landed the
troops at Clackmanan "* but upon hearing that *. or Ki
Lochyels regiment had pass'd the river, in order
to defend Alloa he reimbark'd them and the two
sloops of war, & the nine arm'd vessels came to
an anchor opposite to Airth in Kincardin road.
The i I th at the making of the tide they all weigh'd
anchor and stood for the battery at Elphingston
pans, and the two Sloops of war & another vessel
cast anchor very near it and the other eight stood
of and on & firr'd wherever they saw any troops.
Lord Elcho disposed of his men so as to support
the battery in case the troops aboard had landed
to attack it, and Colonel Grant kept a close fire
upon the ships, but as the Cannon were too small
it was impossible to do them much mischeif. Who-
368 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
ever he kill'd them about ten men, and Suppose
they kept a close fire upon the battery during the
whole time of the flowing of the tide they neither
kill'd any body nor dismounted a gun ; when the
tide began to Ebb Colonel Grant cutt the Sloops
of war's Cables with his Shott, & the tide carried
them down y e river and all the rest of the vessels
followed them. The very same tide the Ship with
the Cannon & all the Stores aboard sail'd up
the river from Alloa to Polmais; Lord Cromarties
regiment went thither to gaurd it, the Cannon at
Elphingston pans was removed to Bannockburn
and the Guards were order 'd to West quarter.
The 13 of Jan r Lord George Murray having
gott intelligence that the people of Linlithgow
had gott orders from Edn r to prepare provisions
and forage for the army, march'd from Falkirk
in order to consume part of it & bring the rest
away in carts which he carried with him for that
purpose. He had along with him for this expedi-
tion, Glengarys, Clanronalds, Keppocks, Appins,
and Clunies foot, and Elcho's & Pitsligo's horse ;
he arrived at Lithgow early in the morning and
order'd out parties to patroille upon the road to
Edn r . About twelve o clock the officer that
Commanded the patrouille sent word to Lord
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 369
George that he perceived a Small party of Dra-
goons advancing towards the town, upon which
L d George order'd the horse to mount and pur-
sue them while he drew the foot up in Battle
out of town. L d Elcho pursued the dragoons
untill they were joined by 60 more ; he pursued
them likewise untill they Gott to a Village where
their was a great body of horse and foot. He
sent to acquaint L d George of what had happen'd,
& L d George order'd him to leave an officer with
a party to watch their motions, and order'd all
the rest of the horse & foot into town. About two
hours after that, the officer that was left to watch
their motions sent word into L d George that
their was a very large body of horse & foot
advancing as fast as they could on the road to
Falkirk, upon which L d George call'd a councill
of war, wherin it was determined to wait untill
they arrived very near the town of Lithgow and
then to retreat in Good order before them ; for
as their numbers were not know'n it was not
thought proper to engage them, especially as a
Generall battle was dayly expected. Whenever
L d George heard that the body of troops were
very near Linlithgow, he order'd all his men to
be ready to march, and when the regular troops
2 A
370 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
began to form on the south side of the town, he
orderd his men to pass the bridge and before his
rear had pass'd the bridge the dragoons who was
in the front of the regulars drew up close by the
Bridge, and very abusive language pass'd betwixt
both sides, but L d George's rear made so Good
an appearance & retreated in such order that the
dragoons never offer'd to attack them, nor did
any of them pass the bridge that night. L d
George halted that night at Falkirk, and next
day he marched to the villages in the neighbour-
hood of Bannockburn, where he gott intelligence
that the troops he had seen was Major General
Huske 1 with half the army, and that L* General
Hawley had arrived at Linlithgow on the 14
with the other half. The 15 of Jan r 1746 The
Prince drew up all his army in battle upon a plain
a mile to the East of Bannockburn, and sent of a
large body of horse to reconnoitre Falkirk, who
brought back intelligence that they had perceived
a large body of horse near that town but no foot,
upon which the Prince order'd his army back to
their quarters and a body of horse to patrouille
all that night as near Falkirk as they could with
1 John Huske (b. 1692, d. 1761) ; Major-General for services
at Dettingen 1743 ; led second line at Culloden ; Governor of
Jersey 1760.
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 371
safety. Next day 16 that party sent word to the
Prince that all the foot of Hawleys army were
arrived at Falkirk, that they had been joined by
1000 Highlanders under the command of Colonel
Campbell, and that they had pitch'd their Camp a
little to the north of Falkirk & had the town on
their left, and their horse advanced in their front
at the brige of Carron. The Prince drew his
army up in battle in y e same place as the day
before and waited upon the field untill three
o clock, but upon hearing that their was no ap-
pearance of their moving that day, he order'd his
army to their quarters, which were so dispersed
that if Gen: Hawley had marched his army that
night forward to Bannockburn where the Prince
lay, it would have been impossible to have As-
sembled 3000 men together in any one place all
night. Lord Lewis Gordon this day joined the
army with 800 men as did Sir James Kinloch
with 600 and Lord John Drummonds regiment
350 men, So that at this period the Prince had
an army of 8000 men and all in very good
Spirits. This day also the Trenches were open'd
before the Castle of Sterling under the Command
of Le Comte Mirabel de Gourdon l knight of S*
1 M. Mirabelle de Gordon had arrived from France with Lord
John Drummond, Johnstone says that ' he had not the shadow
372 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
Lewis, a French Engineer. The Duke of Perth
Commanded in the Town all the time of the
battle and had 1300 men with him. On the 17
the Prince drew up his army upon the same field
he had done the day before, and sent of a body
of horse to see if their was any motion in General
Hawleys Camp at Falkirk, and upon report that
their was none, he held a councill of war upon the
field wherin it was determined to march forward
and fight Hawley, and the march was so order'd
that Lord John Drummond should go forward
upon the Straight road to Falkirk as far as
the Torwood with his own Regiment, the Irish
Piquets, and all the horse, in order to Cover Lord
George Murrays march, who with the rest of the
army went about by the south side of Dunipace
and was beginning to Gain the top of the hill to
the South of Falkirk, where the Battle was fought,
before General Hawley 1 knew any thing of his
of judgment, discernment, or good sense ; his figure being as
ridiculous as his spirits the Highlanders changed his name of
Mirabelle and called him always M. Admirable ' (M. J. 70).
' He was so volatile, that he could not be depended upon ' (Lord
George Murray, J. M. 96). Lord Macleod in his Narrative says
that M. Mirabelle was always drunk (p. 384).
1 General Hawley had taken up his quarters at Callander
House, the seat of Lord Kilmarnock, who was serving in the High-
land army. It was said that his delay in appearing on the field
of battle was due 'to the influence of the wit and gaiety of his
hostess' (T. G. ch. Ixxxi.), suggesting a comparison with the deterj-
l . ^^
s
^^<^^y /x^/"
^ / /
<^/
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 373
march. The Appearance Lord John Drummonds
Corps made upon the hill at Torwood made
General Hawley & his army believe the Princes
whole army was marching that way, and they
were only undeceived when they saw The High-
landers upon the Hill by Falkirk, and Then
General Hawley order'd his Dragoons to mount
and endeavour to prevent Lord George from
Gaining the top of the Hill until his foot Should
Come up. At the same time Lord John Drum-
mond march'd & form'd the Third line of the
Princes army. The Clans made the first, & the
Lowland foot the second, and the whole army
Consisted of 6000 foot and 360 horse drawn up
in the Following manner as in the plan of The
Battle : Generall Hawleys army Consisted of
twelve battalions of foot which made about 6000
01 r T\ * under the
men, three regiments or six Squadrons of Dra- command of
goons 900 men, i coo hundred Glascow & Paisly the Eatls of
3 J Hume & Glen-
militia,' 3 ''' and 1000 Highlanders with Colonell caime.
Campbell, in all about 9400 f men Commanded by t & 600 vol-
untiers in all
L l Generall Hawley, Major General Huske, and a b ou t 10000
Brigadeer Generals Cholmondely & Mordaunt. men '
They had ten piece of Brass Cannon from six to
tion of James iv. at Ford Castle before the battle of Flodden. For
General Hawley's orders preceding the battle of Falkirk, see
Appendix F.
374 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
one pound & some Coehorns. The Prince Com-
manded the Corps de reserve of his army, Lord
George Murray the right wing, & Lord John
Drummond the left ; and the Princes army had no
Cannon. Lord George Murray notwithstanding
of the Dragoons appearing marched up the hill
with the front of the Colums to the East : mean
while General Hawleys foot was marching up on
the other side of the hill with Their front to the
west, & the top of the hill prevented the two
armies from seeing one another. The Dragoons
made several motions towards the front of L d
Georges Colum, and by coming very near often
Endeavour'd to draw of the highlanders fire
but to no purpose, for they marched on untill
they came to a bog, and then the whole army
wheel' d to the left, which made them front
the north ; in marching up, the second &
third line march'd too fast which made them
Cover only the right wing & not all the first line
as was design'd. As the Princes army in order to
gain the top of the hill march'd East and General
Hawleys for the same reason west, when the two
armies came to be form'd, the Princes outflanked
Gen: Hawleys on the right as much as his did
the Princes left, so the Princes left was opposite
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 375
to Hawleys centre. The Dragoons drew up in
Battle opposite to the Princes right wing, and
after having made several motions to intimidate
the Highlanders, at last came down in a line at a
full trott & attacked them sword in hand. The
highlanders march'd up to them very Slowly,
with their pieces presented, every man taking
his aim, and when the dragoons came within half
pistol Shot of them, gave them a full discharge,
which kill'd a great many of them, & broke the
rest, who in their flight run down all along the
Princes first line and gott the fire of the whole
line, by which means their was about 400 of them
kill'd. Major M c donald of Keppock's having
taken one of their horses & mounted him, the
horse run away with him after his companions,
and he was the only man of the Princes army
taken prisoner. It was past four when the dra-
goons made their attack, & just as the attack
began their came on a most violent Storm of
wind & rain that blew directly in their faces
which did them a great deal of mischief. Most
part of the highlanders as usual Threw down
their Guns and advanced very quick sword in
hand ; some of the right wing fell in upon the
Glascow militia and beat them, but most of the
376 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
right wing finding no Enemy before them and it
beginning to grow dark made a Stop and went
into the greatest confusion. The left wing in
advancing fell in with the centre & left wing of
General Hawleys, attacked them sword in hand, &
beat & putt them to flight, but as Hawleys right
wing Stood firm, and had given them several
flank fires they were oblidged to retire back again
up the hill. Had the people upon the right been
led down the hill at that juncture, 1 it is not to be
doubted but most of Hawleys foot in the Con-
fusion they were in would have been cutt to
pieces, especially as the Highlanders would have
gott in betwixt them and Falkirk, but the
badness & darkness of the weather prevented
the Princes right from seeing what had past
on the left, and then all the Generals & their aid
de Camps were on foot, whereas they ought to
have been on horseback, for Generals business in
a battle is more to command Than to fight as
common Soldiers. Whoever it is certain the High-
1 Lord George in his own account says he advanced with the
Atholl men towards the foot of the hill, and that he there dis-
covered three or four regiments of the enemy still in good order :
not having a sufficient force with him, he refrained from an imme-
diate attack (J. M. 86). He blames Sullivan for not having brought
up men from the second line to extend the Highland left, and thus
prevent the overlapping and outflanking by Hawley's right
(Ibid. 91).
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 377
landers must have Example shown them and that
was the reason for it. While Hawleys right had
made the Princes left retire, The right remain'd
upon the top of the hill, all the Corps mixed to-
gether in Great confusion and not knowing what
was become of the left or Hawleys foot, who
were all at that time marching to their Camp in
Great Confusion, for his right finding themselves
abandoned by their left as soon as they had made
the Princes left retire, for fear of The Princes
right coming down upon them went of very
quickly & followed Their left. A little before
They went away, a Squadron of Cobhams dra-
goons that had rallied by them, came in the
rear of the Princes army as was Supposed to
seek for himself, but upon the piquets marching
up to them, they went of and followed the rest
of their army, who went first to their Camp
which they sett fire to, & then in great Confusion
went to Linlithgow ; whoever a great many of
them left their corps & hid themselves in the
farm houses in y e neighbourhood, where they were
taken prisoners by The horse next day.
The Princes army, who remained upon the hill
in great disorder, some in houses, and the rest
That remained all mixed together (for some of
378 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
the left upon retiring had run away to Sterling),
observing the Camp sett fire to, & hearing no
noise about it, sent in some parties to Falkirk to
gett intelligence, who brought back word that
The rear of Hawleys army was marched out of
Falkirk and that their was nobody in the Camp,
upon which Lord George Murray with what men
he could gett together marched in at one end of
Falkirk & Lord John Drummond at The other.
L d John received a wound in the arm from a
soldier who he was going to take prisoner as he
was going out of town ; Lord George immedi-
ately dispatched a party & took possession of their
Camp & all their Baggage, but as the troops had
greatly Suffer'd by the badness of the weather it
was not possible to pursue them to Lithgow ;
whoever a body of horse was order'd to go upon
the Lithgow road to pick up Stragglers. The
Compleatness of the victory was only known to
that half of the army that was at Falkirk that
night, for the other half that took up their
quarters in the villages betwixt the field of battle
& Sterling knew nothing of the matter untill
next morning. General Hawleys army had be-
tween 500 & 600 kill'd and 600 taken prisoners
few of them upon the field. Amongst the Slain
THE AFFAIRS OF SCOTLAND 379
were 30 officers. Collonells Sir Robert Monro l
& Ligonier 2 L* Coll: 8 Whitny, Biggar, & Powel
were of the number of the dead, & their was
8 or 9 officers taken prisoners. They lost seven
piece of Cannon which were never fired, and three
Standards and some Colours, all their Camp &
Baggage, for the fire had done it little damage.
The Princes army had about fifty kill'd & Sixty
wounded, five or six officers kill'd, but none above
the rank of a Captain ; Lochyel & his brother
were Slightly wounded. Had the Princes army
been able to have followed them the same night
to Linlithgow their is no doubt he would have
destroy'd them. They halted at Linlithgow all
the 17 th , and next day they went into Edn r , where 
