CHAPTER XXX.

A.D. 1745.

BRITISH SOVEREIGN:--George II., 1727-1760.

Conduct of the Government--Intelligence of the Prince’s arrival reaches Edinburgh--Contradictory reports--Preparations of Sir John Cope--Marches to the North--Resolves to march to Inverness --Prince Charles issues a proclamation--Leaves Glenfinnan and crosses Corriearrick--Flight of Cope to Inverness--The Prince marches South--Arrives at Perth--Joined by Lord George Murray and others--Preparations made by the Prince--Alarm in Edinburgh --Association of Volunteers formed--Municipal intrigues.

No event was less expected on the part of the government than the landing of Charles Edward. A flying report had, indeed, been spread in the Highlands in the beginning of summer, that the prince was to come over in the course of that season; but no person, not in the secret of his design, could have imagined that Charles had any intention to risk his person without being accompanied by a sufficient body of troops, and no disposition appeared on the part of France to assist him.

The report alluded to was first communicated in a letter from “a gentleman of consideration in the Highlands” to Lord President Forbes, who, on the 2d of July, showed it to Sir John Cope, the commander-in-chief in Scotland. Little credit was, however, attached to the report, either by the writer of the letter or by the president. Cope, though equally incredulous, considered it his duty to communicate the report to the Marquis of Tweeddale, the secretary of state for Scotland; and to provide against any contingency that might occur, he proposed that the forts of Scotland should be well provided, and that arms should be transmitted for the use of the well-affected clans. In an answer which the marquis wrote upon the 9th, he ordered Cope to keep a strict watch upon the north, but informed him, that, as the measures he proposed were considered by the lords of the regency acting in behalf of the king during his majesty’s absence in Hanover, as likely to create alarm, they had declined to enter into them.[843]

But the lords of the regency were soon aroused from their supineness by advices from abroad that the French court was meditating an invasion of Great Britain, and that the eldest son of the Pretender had left Nantes in a French man-of-war, and, according to some accounts, was actually landed in Scotland. On the 30th of July, the Marquis of Tweeddale wrote to Sir John Cope, communicating to him the news which had just been received, and despatched letters of the same date to Lord Milton, the Justice Clerk,[844] and to the Lord Advocate, with similar intelligence, and enjoining them to keep a strict look out,--to concert what was proper to be done in the event of a landing,--to give the necessary orders for making the strictest inquiry into the truth of the intelligence,--and to transmit to the marquis, from time to time, such information as they were able to collect. The Lords Justices, however, without waiting for a return to these letters, issued, on the 6th of August, a proclamation, commanding all his majesty’s officers, civil and military, and all other loving subjects of his majesty, to use their utmost endeavours to seize and secure the son of the Pretender, promising at the same time a reward of £30,000 to any one who should seize Prince Charles, and “bring him to justice.”

The express sent by the Marquis of Tweeddale reached Edinburgh on the 3d of August, but the advices which had been received in London had preceded it. The Lord President, in a letter written the day before to Mr. Pelham,[845] mentions the alarm which, in a state of profound tranquillity, these advices had created. The report, however, of the prince’s intended visit was discredited by the President, who considered the “young gentleman’s game” to be then “very desperate” in Scotland, the President believing that there was not “the least apparatus for his reception, even amongst the few Highlanders who were expected to be in his interest.” As, however, where there was so much at stake, the President wisely judged that no report respecting the prince’s movements, however improbable, was to be disregarded, he resolved to make his accustomed journey to the north a little earlier than usual, to the end that, though, as he himself observes, his “fighting days” were over, he might give countenance to the friends of government, and prevent the seduction of the unwary, should the report turn out well-founded. On the 8th of August, Forbes wrote the Marquis of Tweeddale, stating that the Lord Advocate and Sir John Cope had informed him of the advices which had been received from abroad, but expressing his disbelief of the report, which he considered “highly improbable.” “I consider the report as improbable,” he observes, “because I am confident that young man cannot with reason expect to be joined by any considerable force in the Highlands. Some loose lawless men of desperate fortunes may indeed resort to him; but I am persuaded that none of the Highland gentlemen, who have ought to lose, will, after the experience with which the year 1715 furnished them, think proper to risque their fortunes on an attempt which to them must appear desperate; especially as so many considerable families amongst themselves have lately uttered their sentiments; unless the undertaking is supported by an arm’d power from abroad, or seconded by an invasion on some other part of his majesty’s dominions.”[846] To provide against any emergency which might arise in the north, his lordship proposed first, that a sufficient number of arms should be lodged in the forts in the Highlands, with directions by whom, and to whom they might be delivered out,--a proposal the same in substance as that made by Sir John Cope; and secondly, that money or credit should be lodged in the hands of confidential persons in the north, for the use of the public service. This last-mentioned measure he considered the more necessary, as it could not be expected, as he observed, that private individuals would come forward with money, when they recollected that several gentlemen, who, in the year 1715, had advanced large sums out of their pockets for the public service, had not even been repaid, far less rewarded by the government.

The Lord President, though a man of sound judgment, and gifted with a considerable portion of political foresight, was in this instance deceived in his speculations; and Lord Tweeddale, perhaps misled by the President, on whose personal knowledge of the state of the Highlands he placed great reliance, adopted the same views. In an answer to the President’s letter, which the marquis wrote on the 17th of August, he thus expresses himself: “I own I have never been alarmed with the reports of the Pretender’s son’s landing in Scotland. I consider it as a rash and desperate attempt, that can have no other consequence than the ruin of those concerned in it.”[847]

On the same day, however, on which the President’s letter to Lord Tweeddale was written, all doubts of the arrival and landing of the prince were removed at Edinburgh. An express came from Lord Milton, the Justice Clerk, then at Roseneath, to Sir John Cope, with a letter dated the 5th, which he had received from Mr. Campbell of Stonefield, sheriff of Argyle, in which was contained a copy of a letter received by the latter from Mr. Campbell of Aird, factor to the Duke of Argyle in Mull and Morvern, announcing the landing of the prince in Arisaig, and stating that some of the Macdonalds were already up in arms, and that other Highlanders were preparing to follow their example. This news was confirmed next day, by another express from the laird of Macleod to the Lord President, dated the 3d of August.[848]

This intelligence, which at first was withheld from the public, was shortly followed by the arrival of the Gazette, containing the proclamation for the apprehension of the prince. Nothing was now talked of at Edinburgh but the threatened invasion. In the state of ignorance in which the public was still kept, the most contradictory reports were circulated. A rumour of the departure of Charles from France had indeed been inserted in the Edinburgh Courant a few days before, and the same paper had also, on the back of this report, stated, upon the alleged information of a foreign journal, that the prince had actually landed in the Highlands, and was to be supported by 30,000 men and 10 ships of war; but neither of these statements appears to have excited any sensation, being generally discredited.[849] Now, however, every person firmly believed that the prince had arrived. One day it was confidently asserted that he had landed in the western Highlands with 10,000 French troops. Next day it was affirmed with equal confidence that he had landed without troops; but that wherever he came the Highlanders to a man had joined him. On the other hand, the Jacobites, who were in the secret of the arrival, anxious to conceal the fact till Charles should be ready to take the field, industriously circulated a report that he was still in France, and had not the least intention of coming over. To divert the public attention, they had recourse to the weapons of ridicule. In their conversation they represented the preparations of the commander-in-chief in a ludicrous light; and to make him contemptible in the eyes of the public, sent him anonymous letters containing most absurd articles of intelligence, which they afterwards circulated with scurrilous comments.[850]

In the present crisis Sir John Cope acted with more wisdom than has been usually ascribed to him, and certainly with more energy than his superiors. Not wishing, however, to trust entirely to his own judgment, he consulted Lord President Forbes, and the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General, the law-officers of the crown, upon the course to be adopted under existing circumstances. No man was better acquainted with every thing appertaining to the Highlands than Forbes; and in fixing upon him as an adviser, Cope showed a laudable desire to avail himself of the best advice and information within his reach. At the period now in question, the insurrection was in a merely inceptive state; and, according to the opinions of those best qualified to judge, there was little probability that it would assume a formidable character. At all events, sound policy dictated that the threatened insurrection should be checked in its bud, and as its progress could only be stopped by the presence of a body of troops, Cope proposed, and his proposal received the approbation of the three public functionaries before named, to march to the Highlands with such troops as he could collect. The number of regular troops in Scotland did not, it is true, amount to 3,000 men, and some of them were newly raised; but there can be little doubt that, by a timely and judicious disposition of about two-thirds of this force in the disaffected districts, the embers of rebellion might have been extinguished. The unfortunate result of Cope’s expedition detracts in no respect from the design he thus formed, though the propriety of his subsequent measures may well indeed be questioned.

Having formed his resolution, the commander-in-chief sent expresses to the Secretary of State for Scotland on the 9th and 10th of August, announcing his intention of marching to the Highlands. In pursuance of this resolution he ordered a camp to be formed at Stirling, and required all the officers who were absent from their regiments, to repair to their respective posts. About the same time he directed the Lord President to take the command of the companies raised in the north for Lord Loudon’s Highland regiment, and notified the appointment to the officers of the regiment commanding in that quarter. As there was no bread in the country through which he intended to march, he bought up all the biscuit which the bakers of Edinburgh and Leith had on hand, and set all the bakers there, as well as those of Perth and Stirling, to work night and day to prepare a quantity of bread sufficient to support his army for twenty-one days.[851]

On receipt of Cope’s letters, the Marquis of Tweeddale laid them before the Lords of the Treasury, who approved of the conduct of the commander-in-chief, and particularly of his resolution to march into the Highlands with such troops as he could assemble. The secretary notified the approbation of their lordships in a letter to Cope; and so satisfied were they with his plan, that when they understood that the march had been delayed only for a day or two, they sent down an express to him, with positive orders to begin his march to the north instantly. Their lordships seem not to have been aware of the causes which retarded his march, not the least of which was the want of money, a credit for which did not arrive till the 17th of August. The order to march reached Edinburgh on the 19th of August, on which day Cope, accompanied by the Earl of Loudon and several officers, set off for Stirling, where he arrived in the evening. Thus, by a singular coincidence, Charles and his opponent placed themselves at the head of their respective armies on the same day.

The force which Cope found upon his arrival at Stirling consisted of twenty-five companies of foot, amounting altogether to 1,400 men, and some of Gardiner’s dragoons. Leaving the dragoons, which could be of no use in a campaign among the mountains, behind him, Cope began his march towards the north on the 20th, carrying along with him four small field-pieces, as many cohorns, and 1,000 stand of spare arms for the use of such of the well-affected Highlanders as might join him. He carried also with him a considerable number of black cattle for the use of the army. Only a part, however, of the bread which had been ordered had arrived; but so anxious was Cope to obey his instructions, that he began his march with the limited supply he had received, after giving orders to forward the remainder as soon as it should arrive at Stirling.

Cope halted on the 21st at Crieff. He was here visited by the Duke of Athole, and his younger brother, Lord George Murray, the latter of whom, doubtless, little imagined he was to act the conspicuous part he afterwards did, as commander of the prince’s army. The duke attended in consequence of a notice which Cope had sent to him and the other leading adherents of the government, through, or in the neighbourhood of whose territories he meant to pass, requiring them to raise their men; but neither the duke nor the other chiefs who had been applied to seem to have been disposed to obey the call. Lord Glenorchy, who arrived shortly after the duke and his brother, excused himself on the ground that he had not had sufficient time. As Cope had calculated upon the junction of a considerable body of Highlanders on his route, he was exceedingly disappointed that his expectations were not likely to be realized, and would have instantly retraced his steps had the orders of government allowed him a discretionary power; but his instructions were too peremptory to admit of a return to Stirling. Seeing, therefore, no use for the large quantity of spare arms, he sent 700 of them back to Stirling castle. This was a judicious step, as from the want of carriages he could not have got them transported to Inverness.[852]

On the 22d the army advanced to Amulree, where it stopped for a supply of bread. Next day it proceeded to Tay bridge, on the 24th to Trinifuir, reaching Dalnacardoch on the 25th of August. Here Cope was met by Captain Sweetenham,--the officer who had been taken prisoner when on his way to Fort William from Ruthven, and who had been released on his parole. This officer informed Sir John that he was carried to Glenfinnan, where he saw the rebels erect their standard, and that when he left them on the 21st they amounted to 1,400 men,--that on the road to Dalwhinnie he had met several parties of Highlanders hastening to join them,--and that on arriving at Dalwhinnie he had been informed that they were 3,000 strong, and were in full march towards Corriearrick, where they intended to meet him and give him battle. Notwithstanding this alarming intelligence, Cope proceeded on his march, and arrived at Dalwhinnie next day. Here he received a letter from Lord President Forbes, written at his seat of Culloden near Inverness, corroborating the intelligence received from Sweetenham of the advance of the rebels, and of their intention to meet him upon Corriearrick.

Corriearrick, of which the royal army had now come within sight, and over which it was Cope’s intention to march into Lochaber, is, as we have already seen, a lofty mountain of immense extent, occupying no less than nine miles out of the eighteen that form the last day’s march from Garviemore to Fort Augustus. It is extremely steep on the south side, and appears at a distance to rise almost as perpendicularly as a wall. Wade, we have seen, carried his road up this steep ascent by a series of many traverses, the descent on the north side being accomplished in much the same manner. As there are several gullies and brooks on the south side, bridges have been thrown across, over which the road is carried. These tortuosities, rendered absolutely necessary from the nature of the ground, almost quadruple the real distance, which, from base to base, does not exceed five miles. As the mountain was peculiarly fitted for the operations of Highlanders, it is evident that in attempting to cross Corriearrick, Cope, if attacked, would labour under every disadvantage; for while his men could not leave the road in pursuit of their assailants, the latter could keep a running fire from numerous positions, from which it would be impossible to dislodge them. Cope was warned by the President of the dangers he would run, and his fears were not a little increased by a report that, on arriving at the bridge of Snugborough, a dangerous pass on the north side of the mountain, he was to be opposed by a body of Highlanders; and that, while this party kept him employed, he was to be attacked in his rear by another body, which was to be sent round the west end of the hill.[853]

Alarmed at the intelligence he had received,--distracted by a variety of reports as to the strength of the enemy, and disgusted with the apathy of those on whose support he had relied, Cope called a council of war at Dalwhinnie, on the morning of the 27th of August, to which he summoned every field officer, and the commanders of the different corps of his little army. He would have acted more judiciously had he convened a council at Dalnacardoch, when he first received intelligence of the advance of the Highlanders. At this meeting, Cope laid before his officers the orders he had received from the secretary of state to march to the north, which were too positive to be departed from without the most urgent necessity. After some deliberation, the council were unanimously of opinion, that the general’s original design of marching to Fort Augustus over Corriearrick, was, under existing circumstances, quite impracticable. Having abandoned the design of crossing Corriearrick, the council next considered what other course should be adopted. The wisest course certainly, if practicable, would have been to march back to Stirling, and guard the passes of the Forth; but against this proposal it was urged, that the rebels, by marching down the side of Loch Rannoch, would be able to reach Stirling before the king’s troops, and that, by breaking down the bridges, they would intercept them in their retreat. As it was impossible to remain at Dalwhinnie, no other course therefore remained, in the opinion of the council, but to march to Inverness. This opinion, which was reduced to writing, and signed by all the members of the council, was delivered to Sir John Cope, who, acquiescing in its propriety, immediately issued an order to march. We must now advert to the proceedings of the prince and his friends.

Charles remained only one night at Glenfinnan. On the 20th of August he marched to the head of Loch Lochy, where he encamped. At this place, a copy of the proclamation for his apprehension was brought him, which exasperated the Highlanders to such a degree that they insisted on a counter one being issued, offering a reward for the apprehension of “the Elector of Hanover.” Charles remonstrated against such a step, but he was forced to yield, and accordingly put forth the following answer:[854]

“Charles, Prince of Wales, &c., Regent of the Kingdoms of Scotland, England, France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging:

“Whereas we have seen a certain scandalous and malicious paper published in the style and form of a proclamation, bearing date the 6th instant, wherein, under pretence of bringing to justice, like our royal ancestor King Charles the I. of blessed memory, there is a reward of thirty thousand pounds sterling promised to those who shall deliver us into the hands of our enemies, we could not but be moved with a just indignation at so insolent an attempt. And though, from our nature and principles, we abhor and detest a practice so unusual among Christian princes, we cannot but, out of a just regard to the dignity of our person, promise the like reward of thirty thousand pounds sterling to him, or those, who shall seize and secure till our farther orders, the person of the Elector of Hanover, whether landed or attempting to land in any part of his majesty’s dominions. Should any fatal accident happen from hence, let the blame be entirely at the door of those who first set the infamous example.” This proclamation, which was dated from the “camp at Kinlocheill,” was countersigned by Murray of Broughton, who had lately joined the prince, and had been appointed his secretary.

On the 23d, the prince advanced to Fassefern, the seat of Lochiel’s brother, where he passed the night. While at Fassefern, intelligence was received by the prince of the march of Sir John Cope from Stirling. Having previously sent off his baggage under an escort of 200 Camerons towards Moy, in Lochaber, Charles put his army in motion on the 24th, and arrived at Moy on the following day. On the 26th, the prince crossed the water of Lochy with his army, and proceeded to the castle of Invergary, in which he took up his quarters for the night. During the night, he received an express from Gordon of Glenbucket, acquainting him, that Sir John Cope was considerably advanced in his march to the north, and that he intended to cross Corriearrick. About the same time, he was visited by Fraser of Gortuleg, who came to him in name of Lord Lovat, to assure him of his lordship’s services. Fraser advised him to march north, and raise the Frasers of Stratherrick, and assured him that Sir Alexander Macdonald, the laird of Macleod, and many of the Mackenzies, Grants, and Mackintoshes, would join him; but the proposal was opposed by the Marquis of Tullibardine and secretary Murray, the latter of whom considered the early possession of Edinburgh, where he alleged there were many persons ready to join the ranks of the insurgents, of more importance than any advantages that might be derived by remaining in the Highlands.[855]

This opinion was adopted by Charles, who next morning proceeded to Abertarf in Glengarry. He was joined at Low Bridge by 260 of the Stewarts of Appin, under the command of Stewart of Ardshiel, and at Aberchallader, near the foot of Corriearrick, by 600 of the Macdonells of Glengarry, under the command of Macdonell of Lochgarry; and by a party of the Grants of Glenmoriston. With these accessions the force under Charles amounted to nearly 2,000 men. Charles now held a council of war to deliberate upon the course he should pursue,--whether to advance and give battle to Cope, or postpone an engagement till he should receive additional strength. It was clearly the interest of Charles to meet his adversary with as little delay as possible, and as his forces already outnumbered those opposed to him, he could not doubt but that the result of an engagement would be favourable to his arms. The council, every member of which was animated with an ardent desire to engage Cope, at once resolved to meet him. This resolution corresponded with the inclinations of the clans, all of whom, to use the expression of Fraser of Gortuleg on the occasion, were “in top spirits,”[856] and making sure of victory.

The determination of the council, and the valorous enthusiasm of the clans, acting upon the ardent mind of the prince, created an excitement, to which even he, with all his dreams of glory and ambition, had before been a stranger. The generous and devoted people into whose hands he had committed the destinies of his house, struck with admiration by the condescension, and that easy yet dignified familiarity which never fails to secure attachment, were ready to encounter any danger for his sake. No man knew better than Charles how to improve the advantages he had thus obtained over the minds and affections of these hardy mountaineers. Becoming, as it were, one of themselves, he entered into their views,--showed an anxiety to learn their language, which he daily practised,--and finally resolved to adopt their dress. This line of policy endeared him to the Highlanders, and to it may be ascribed the veneration in which his memory is still held by their descendants, at the distance of more than a century. Having in this way inspired his faithful Highlanders with a portion of his own natural ardour, they in their turn, by the enthusiasm they displayed, raised his expectations of success to the highest possible pitch. A remarkable instance of this was exhibited before commencing the march next morning, when, after putting on his Highland dress, he solemnly declared, when in the act of tying the latchets of his shoes, that he would not unloose them till he came up with Cope’s army.[857]

Desirous of getting possession of the defiles of Corriearrick before Cope should ascend that mountain, Charles began his march from Aberchallader at four o’clock of the morning of the 27th August. His army soon reached the top of the hill, and was beginning to descend on the south side, when intelligence was brought the prince, that Cope had given up his intention of crossing Corriearrick and was in full march for Inverness. Cope had put his army in motion the same morning towards Garviemore; but when his van reached Blarigg Beg, about seven miles and a half from Dalwhinnie, he ordered his troops to halt, to face about, and, in conformity with the opinion of his council, to take the road to Inverness by Ruthven. To deceive Charles, Cope had left behind, on the road to Fort Augustus, part of his baggage, some companies of foot, and his camp colours. The news of Cope’s flight (for it was nothing else) was received by the Highland army with a rapturous shout, which was responded to by the prince, who, taking a glass of brandy, said, with a jeering smile, “Here’s a health to Mr. Cope; he is my friend, and if all the usurper’s generals follow his example, I shall soon be at St. James’s.” Every man, by the prince’s orders, drank this toast in a glass of usquebaugh.[858] The Highlanders immediately put themselves in motion, and marched down the traverses on the south side of the mountain with great celerity, as if in full pursuit of a flying enemy, on whose destruction they were wholly bent.

The Highland army continued the same rapid pace till it reached Garviemore, where it halted. A council of war was then held, at which various proposals were made for pursuing and intercepting the enemy; but none of them were agreed to. The council finally resolved to abandon the pursuit of Cope,--to march to the south, and endeavour to seize Edinburgh; the possession of which was considered, particularly by secretary Murray, as of the highest importance. This determination was by no means relished by the clans, who were eager for pursuing Cope, whose army they expected to have annihilated; but their chiefs having concurred in the resolution, they reluctantly acquiesced. A party of 600 Highlanders, however, volunteered to follow Cope under cloud of night; and undertook to give a good account of his army, but the prince dissuaded them from the enterprise.[859]

From Garviemore, Charles despatched Macdonald of Lochgary with a party of 200 men, to seize the small fort of Ruthven, in which there was a garrison of regular troops; but the vigilance of the commander rendered the attempt abortive, and the Highlanders were repulsed with a trifling loss. A party of Camerons, commanded by Dr. Cameron, was sent to the house of Macpherson of Cluny, the chief of the Macphersons, who commanded a company in the service of government, to apprehend him, and succeeded.[860]

On the 29th of August, the Highland army was again put in motion, and advanced towards Dalnacardoch. At Dalwhinnie, they were rejoined by Dr. Cameron and his party, bringing along with them Macpherson of Cluny, who, after a short interview with the prince, promised to raise his clan for his service. On giving this assurance he was released, and went home to collect his men. Next day, Charles marched to the castle of Blair, which had been abandoned by the Duke of Athole on his approach. The Marquis of Tullibardine took possession of the castle as his own property, and immediately assumed the character of host, by inviting Charles and the Highland chiefs to supper.[861] To make his guests as comfortable as possible, the marquis had written a letter from Dalnacardoch, to Mrs. Robertson of Lude, a daughter of Lord Nairne, desiring her to repair to the castle, to get it put in proper order, and to remain there to do the honours of the house on the prince’s arrival.[862]

At Blair, Charles was joined by Lord Nairne, and several other Perthshire gentlemen; but the greater part of the resident gentry had fled on hearing of the entrance of the Highland army into Athole. Charles reviewed his army the morning after his arrival at the castle, when he found that a considerable number of his men were wanting. Some officers were immediately sent to bring them up, and the only reason they assigned for loitering behind, was that they had been denied the gratification of pursuing Cope.

From Blair, Charles sent forward Lord Nairne, and Lochiel, with 400 men, to take possession of Dunkeld, which they entered on the morning of the 3d of September. In this town they proclaimed the Chevalier. After remaining two days at the castle of Blair, Charles repaired on the 2d of September to the house of Lude, where he spent the night,[863] and next day went to Dunkeld, whence he proceeded to Lord Nairne’s house, on the road to Perth. While at dinner, the conversation turning upon the character of the enterprise, and the peculiarity of the prince’s situation, some of the company took occasion to express their sympathy for the prince’s father, on account of the state of anxiety he would be in, from the consideration of those dangers and difficulties the prince would have to encounter. But Charles, without meaning to depreciate his father’s cares, observed that he did not pity him half so much as his brother; “for,” said he, “the king has been inured to disappointments and distresses, and has learnt to bear up easily under the misfortunes of life; but poor Harry! his young and tender years make him much to be pitied, for few brothers love as we do.”[864]

Charles spent the night at Nairne-house, and proceeded next day to Perth, which had been taken possession of by a party of Camerons the preceding evening. Attired in a superb dress of tartan, trimmed with gold, and mounted on Captain Scott’s charger, Charles entered the “fair city,” attended by several gentlemen on horseback. They immediately repaired to the cross, and proclaimed the Chevalier; after which ceremony Charles was conducted, amid the acclamations of the people, to the house of Viscount Stormont, which had been provided for his residence while in Perth. The magistrates and some of the principal inhabitants, following the example set by many of the landed proprietors of the county, abandoned the city on the appearance of the Highlanders, and fled to Edinburgh. An advanced party under Macdonald of Keppoch, had been sent forward to seize Dundee; but being informed by some of the inhabitants, who met him on the road, that his force was too small for the purpose, Keppoch applied for a reinforcement; which was accordingly sent off from Perth, about midnight, under Clanranald. These detachments entered Dundee at day-break, and captured two vessels with arms and ammunition on board, which were sent up the Tay for the use of the royal army.

At Perth, Charles was joined by the Duke of Perth, Lord Ogilvie and Strathallan, Robertson of Strowan, Oliphant of Gask, and several other gentlemen; but the chief personage who rallied under Charles’s standard at Perth, and was indeed among the first to appear there, was Lord George Murray,[865] immediate younger brother to the Duke of Athole. He was conducted by his eldest brother, the Marquis of Tullibardine, into the presence of the prince. Lord George had taken a share in the insurrection of 1715, and was one of the few persons who joined the Spanish forces, which were defeated at Glenshiel in 1719. He afterwards went abroad, and served several years as an officer in the King of Sardinia’s army; but having obtained a pardon, he returned from exile, and was presented to George I. by his brother the Duke of Athole. Lord George was tall in person, and though now past the meridian of life, retained all the qualities of a robust and vigorous constitution. Besides a natural genius for military operations, in which he had had considerable experience, Lord George was fertile in resources, indefatigable in application, and brave even to a fault. With sword in hand he was always the first to rush forward upon the enemy in the day of battle, often saying to his men, “I do not ask you, my lads, to go before, but to follow me.” The accession therefore of such a man, at such a crisis, was of the highest importance to the Jacobite cause. Charles, when at Glenfinnan, had conferred the post of quarter-master-general of the army on O’Sullivan. Aware of the brilliant qualifications of Lord George, the prince, almost immediately on his arrival at Perth, appointed him lieutenant-general, to the great satisfaction of the clans, to whom he was favourably known.

Lord George appointed the Chevalier Johnstone,[866] who had also joined the prince at Perth, his aide-de-camp, and immediately entered on his duties with alacrity. Though the Highlanders acted in complete subordination to their chiefs when in the field of battle, they had so little idea of military discipline, that they would absent themselves without permission, and roam about the country. This happened more particularly on marches, when there was a scarcity of food, on which occasions they would spread themselves over the whole country, in straggling parties, in quest of provisions. The inconveniences and loss of time, and the great abuses to which such a practice led, had been strongly felt in the former insurrection, and had been witnessed by Lord George himself. To prevent a recurrence of such evils during the present contest, the first thing Lord George did, was to advise the prince to appoint proper persons to fill the commissariat department, by whose exertions an adequate supply of food might be provided for the use of the army, without which, he said, it would be impossible to keep the Highlanders together for any length of time. That no delay might take place in waiting for provisions, in forced marches, or in detached enterprises, which required despatch, he caused a considerable number of small knapsacks to be made, sufficient to contain a peck of meal each, which the men could carry on their backs without any inconvenience. A thousand of these knapsacks were sent to Crieff, for the use of the Athole men, who were to march south in that direction.[867]

The march of Charles into Athole had been so rapid and unexpected, that his friends in that district had had no time to gather any considerable force to join him on his route to Perth. He was, therefore, under the necessity of remaining a few days at Perth, to give his adherents time to raise their men. In mustering their tenants and vassals, some of them are said to have met with considerable difficulties from the unwillingness of their people to take up arms, and the Duke of Perth has been charged with the crime of shooting one or two of his tenants, who were refractory, but the charge does not appear sufficiently supported.[868]

Another reason for Charles’s stay in Perth was the want of money. His treasury had been completely drained by his liberal advances for the support of his army; and of the few thousand pounds which he brought with him from France, he had only one guinea remaining when he entered Perth. Taking the solitary coin from his pocket, he showed it to Kelly, one of the gentlemen who came over with him, and told him that it was all the money that now remained; but he added with an air of confidence, that the army had received a fortnight’s pay in advance, and that before the expiration of another fortnight he would receive a fresh supply.[869] In order to meet pecuniary demands, Charles had despatched a circular from Kinlochiel on the 22d of August to his friends in different parts of Scotland, soliciting an immediate supply; but up to the time of his arrival at Perth no money appears to have reached him.[870] Shortly thereafter, however, his expectations began to be realized by some private pecuniary contributions sent by persons well affected to his cause, but who were afraid of openly declaring themselves.[871] But Charles did not trust to such uncertain supplies to recruit his exhausted treasury. Besides compelling the city of Perth to contribute £500, he appointed persons in Perth, Dundee, and other towns in the counties of Perth and Angus, to collect the public money, by means of which, and the contributions of his friends, his coffers were speedily replenished.

During his stay at Perth, Charles devoted almost all his time to the disciplining and training of his men, in writing despatches, and in a variety of military details to which he had hitherto been unaccustomed. Though fond of amusement, he never allowed it to occupy much of his time; and if he accepted a convivial invitation, it was more from a wish not to disoblige than from a desire to join in the festivities of his friends. Amid the occupations of the camp he did not, however, neglect the outward observances of religion. For the first time, it is believed, of his life, he attended the Protestant service at Perth, on Sunday the 8th of September, rather, it may be conjectured, to please his Protestant friends, than from any predilection for a form of worship to which he was an entire stranger. The text appropriately chosen on this occasion by the preacher, a Mr. Armstrong, was from Isaiah xiv., verses 1, 2, “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land; and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.”[872] The non-juring Jacobite discourse delivered on the occasion in question, would certainly form an extraordinary contrast with the democratic harangues to which Charles’s great-grandfather, Charles I., and his grand uncle, Charles II., were accustomed to listen from the mouths of the stern Covenanters.

While Charles was thus employed at Perth, Sir John Cope was marching from Inverness to Aberdeen. After leaving the direct road to Fort Augustus, Cope had proceeded by forced marches to Inverness, where he arrived on the 29th of August. Here he met the Lord President, who communicated to him a letter he had received on his arrival in the north, from Sir Alexander Macdonald, informing him of the names of the chiefs who had joined Charles, and requesting directions how to act in the event of the insurgent chiefs being forced to retire to the islands. After consulting with the President, Cope resolved to march back his army to Stirling, provided he could obtain a reinforcement of Highlanders from the Whig clans in the neighbourhood of Inverness. An application was accordingly made to the chiefs; but as it turned out ineffectual, Cope determined to march to Aberdeen and embark his troops for the Frith of Forth. The feelings of alarm and anxiety with which he was agitated on this occasion, are thus described by himself in a letter which he wrote from Inverness, on the 31st of August, to Lord Milton the Justice Clerk:--“I, from the beginning, thought this affair might become serious; and sorry I am that I was not mistaken: indeed, my lord, it is serious. I know your activity and ability in business,--the whole is at stake,--exert your authority,--lengths must be gone,--and rules and common course of business must yield to the necessity of the times, or it may soon be too late. So much fatigue of body and mind I never knew of before; but my health continues good, and my spirits do not flag. Much depends upon the next step we take. In this country the rebels will not let us get at them unless we had some Highlanders with us; and, as yet, not one single man has joined us, though I have lugged along with us 300 stand of arms. No man could have believed that not one man would take arms in our favour, or show countenance to us; but so it is.”[873]

It is rather singular, that on the same day on which the above-mentioned letter was written, the adherents of government at Edinburgh, who had hitherto derided the attempt of the prince, should have been at last aroused to a full sense of the danger they were in. Lulled by a false security, they had never, for a moment, doubted that Cope would be successful on his expedition in the north; but certain intelligence, brought to them by James Drummond or Macgregor, son of the celebrated Rob Roy, who arrived at Edinburgh on the 26th, began to open their eyes. With the object of throwing the government party in the capital off their guard, this man was despatched from the Jacobite camp in Lochaber to Edinburgh, with the necessary instructions. Enjoying in some degree the confidence of the whig party, he was the better fitted to impose upon them by his misrepresentations. When introduced to the public functionaries on his arrival, he stated that the Highland army was not 1,500 strong,--that it was chiefly composed of old men and boys, who were badly armed, and that from what he saw and knew of them he was sure they would fly before Cope’s army. Though unsuccessful, as will be seen, in this branch of his mission, he succeeded in another which he had volunteered to perform, by getting one Drummond, a Jacobite printer, to print the prince’s proclamations and manifestoes, which he took care to distribute throughout the city among the friends of the cause. When apprised of the fact of the publication, the magistrates, without suspecting Macgregor as the importer of these treasonable documents, issued a proclamation, offering a large reward for the discovery of the printer.

Edinburgh, at the period in question, and for many years afterwards, was confined within narrow limits. It had never been properly fortified; and its castle, which majestically overtops the city, and forms the western boundary of that division now called the “Old town,” could afford it little security. On the south and on the east, the ancient city was bounded by a wall varying from ten to twenty feet high. On the north side, a lake, easily fordable, called the North Loch, now drained and converted into beautiful gardens, was its only defence. In several places the old wall had been built upon, so that dwelling houses formed part of the wall, but these erections were overlooked by rows of higher houses without the city. There were no cannon mounted upon the wall, but in some places it was strengthened by bastions and embrasures. The standing force of the city consisted of two bodies, called the Town Guard and the Trained Bands, neither of which now exist. The first, which, at the time we are now treating of, amounted to 126 men, acted in lieu of a police; and though pretty well versed in the manual and platoon exercise, were, from their being generally old men, unfit for military duty. The Trained Bands, or Burgher Guard, which was composed of citizens, and in former times amounted to a considerable number of men, did not at the period in question exceed 1,000. Anciently, the tallest men were armed with pikes, and those of a lower stature with firelocks, and both were provided with defensive armour. The captain of each company, eight in number, instructed his men one day in every week in the exercise of arms;[874] but the pikes and armour were afterwards laid aside, and since the Revolution the Trained Bands had appeared in arms only once in the year, to celebrate the king’s birth-day, on which occasion they were furnished with arms for the service of the day from a magazine belonging to the city.

As it was obvious that, under these circumstances, no effectual resistance could be made to the entrance of an army into the city, the provost and magistrates held a meeting on the 27th of August, at which some of the principal citizens attended, to devise means of defence. At this meeting it was resolved to repair the walls and to raise a regiment of 1,000 men, to be paid by a voluntary contribution of the inhabitants. A standing committee was, at the same time, appointed to carry this resolution into effect, and to advise with the Lord-Justice-Clerk and other judges then in town, and the crown lawyers, as to such other steps as might be considered necessary in the present crisis. To obtain the requisite permission to embody the proposed regiment, an application was sent to London by the Lord Advocate; and leave to that effect was granted on the 4th of September.[875]

Up to the 31st of August, no certain intelligence had been received at Edinburgh of the movements of the Highlanders; but in the evening of that day the inhabitants were thrown into a state of great alarm by receiving intelligence of the march of the Highland army into Athole, and of the ominous departure of Cope for Inverness. Instantly the drum beat to arms, and the town-council having met, they ordained that the keys of the city should be lodged with the captain of the city guard, and ordered sentries to be placed at each of the gates, and the city guard to be augmented. As an additional security, Hamilton’s dragoons, then quartered in the vicinity of the city, were kept under arms that night. The repairs of the city walls were commenced; orders were issued to place cannon on them, and to throw up a ditch on the north side of the castle, and arms were sent from the city magazine to Leith to arm its inhabitants. These preparations, and the hurry and bustle with which it may be supposed they were attended, may appear ludicrous when contrasted with the result; but the public functionaries were bound to put the city in as defensible a state as their means would admit of, and without the least possible delay.

It would have been perhaps fortunate for the honour of the city, if on the present occasion the civic authorities had been allowed, in conjunction with the committee which had been named, to follow out such measures as they might have deemed necessary for defending the city; but, unluckily, there existed a party consisting of ex-magistrates and councillors, who, by the course they adopted, brought dissension among the citizens. This party, at the head of which was ex-provost Drummond, “a zealous loyalist, and one of the most valuable municipal chiefs whom Edinburgh has possessed,”[876] had been succeeded in the town-council by Stewart, the then provost, and his friends, who, for five years, had kept possession of the municipal government, to the entire exclusion of Drummond and his party. Desirous of regaining their lost power, they availed themselves of the present opportunity, the elections being at hand, to instil distrust of the existing magistracy into the minds of the electors, by representing the members of the town-council as Jacobitically inclined, and as indifferent to the preservation of the city from the rebels. And indeed it appears that Stewart showed himself incapable of performing effectually the responsible duties of his office at this important juncture.[877] The opposition party, partly, no doubt, to ingratiate themselves still farther with the electors, the majority of whom were whigs, and warmly attached to the government, really showed greater zeal in organising measures for the defence of the city. They presented, on the 6th of September, a petition to the provost, signed by about 100 citizens, praying that they, the subscribers, might be authorised to form themselves into an association for the defence of the city,--that they might be allowed to name their own officers,--and that an application should be made by the provost to General Guest, for a supply of arms from the castle for their use.[878]

This petition was laid before an extraordinary meeting of the council next day, and the law officers of the crown having given their opinion that the council could legally authorise an arming of the inhabitants for the contemplated purpose, they acceded to its prayer, with the exception of that part which craved that the volunteers should have the nomination of their own officers, a privilege which the provost reserved to himself, in virtue of his office of chief magistrate. To ascertain the names of the citizens who were willing to serve as volunteers, a paper was lodged, on the 9th of September, in the Old-church aisle, and all loyal persons were invited by handbills to subscribe: 418 persons joined this association, and were supplied with arms from the castle. Simultaneously with the formation of the association, the magistrates exerted themselves to raise the regiment they had petitioned for, the warrant for which was received by the provost on the 8th of September; but their efforts were ineffectual, not being able, after a week’s recruiting, to raise 200 men. This paltry force, however, was named the Edinburgh regiment, to distinguish it from the volunteer association.

Hitherto the repairs of the city walls had been steadily progressing, and, to the great scandal of the more religious part of the inhabitants, no cessation took place even upon the Sunday; but although the persons employed upon the walls might plead necessity in justification of their work on the day of rest, they seem to have overlooked that necessity on the 10th of September, the day when the city elections commenced. So great was the anxiety of all classes to ascertain the names of the craftsmen sent up by the different incorporations to the council to represent them, that a total suspension of every business took place, and the magistrates, who felt little difficulty in procuring men to work upon the Sunday, now saw the works almost entirely deserted by the artificers employed upon them.

A few days after receipt of the intelligence of the march of the Highlanders into the low country, Captain Rogers, an aide-de-camp of Sir John Cope, arrived at Edinburgh from Inverness, with instructions to General Guest to send down a number of transports to Aberdeen to carry his men to the southern shores of the Frith of Forth. These vessels sailed from Leith roads on the 10th, under convoy of a ship of war, and their return was expected with the greatest anxiety by the inhabitants of Edinburgh, who were continually looking up to the weather-cocks to ascertain the direction of the wind.

The volunteers being officered and organised, were regularly drilled twice every day. Cannon were brought up from Leith and mounted on the walls, and the defensive works were proceeded with under the superintendence of Maclaurin, the celebrated mathematician, who had furnished the designs.

FOOTNOTES:

[843] Cope’s Trial, p 105. Home, p. 51.

[844] Appendix to Home’s works, No. V.

[845] _Culloden Papers_, p. 203.

[846] Idem, p. 204.

[847] Idem, p. 203.

[848] _Culloden Papers_, p. 203.

[849] Chambers’s _Rebellion_, p. 46.

[850] Home, p. 54.

[851] Cope’s Trial.

[852] Idem.

[853] Cope’s Trial, p. 24. Chambers’s _Rebellion_, p. 50.

[854] The prince thus relates the circumstances attending this affair in a letter to his father, dated from Perth, 10th September, 1745. “There is one thing, and but one, in which I had any difference with my faithful Highlanders. It was about the price upon my kinsman’s head, which, knowing your Majesty’s generous humanity, I am sure, will shock you, as it did me, when I was shown the proclamation, setting a price upon my head. I smiled, and treated it with the disdain I thought it deserved; upon which they flew into a violent rage, and insisted upon my doing the same by him. As this flowed solely from the poor men’s love and concern for me, I did not know how to be angry with them for it, and tried to bring them to temper by representing that it was a mean barbarous principle among princes, and must dishonour them in the eyes of all men of honour; that I did not see how my cousin’s having set me the example, would justify me in imitating that which I blame so much in him. But nothing I could say would pacify them. Some went even so far as to say,--‘Shall we venture our lives for a man who seems so indifferent of his own?’ Thus have I been drawn in to do a thing for which I condemn myself.”--_Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 32.

[855] Lockhart _Papers_, vol. ii. pp. 442-484.

[856] _Culloden Papers_, p. 216.

[857] _Culloden Papers_, p. 216.

[858] Henderson’s _History of the Rebellion_, p. 34.

[859] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 25.

[860] Lockhart _Papers_, vol. ii. pp. 443-485.

[861] Henderson’s _History of the Rebellion_, p. 36.

[862] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 26.

[863] At Lude Charles “was very cheerful, and took his share in several dances, such as minuets, Highland reels, &c. The first reel the prince called for was ‘This is no mine ain house,’ &c., and a strathspey minuet.”--_Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 26.

[864] _Lockhart Papers_, vol. ii. p. 468.

[865] See portrait at p. 672.

[866] The author of the _Memoirs of the Rebellion in 1745-6_. He was descended, it is believed, from an ancient and powerful family, the Johnstones of Wamphray. When the news of the prince’s landing was confirmed at Edinburgh, where he lived with his father, Johnstone repaired to Duncrub, the seat of Lord Rollo, whose son was married to Johnstone’s sister; and on the 6th of September, went from Duncrub to Perth, accompanied by two of Lord Rollo’s daughters, who presented him to their relations the Duke of Perth and Lord George Murray.--_Quarterly Review_, No. lxxi. p. 211. _Memoirs_, 2d edit. p. 16.

[867] Lord George Murray’s Narrative. Jacobite Memoirs, p. 29. Some idea may be formed of the lieutenant-general’s activity, from the following extract from a letter written on 7th September, by him to his brother the marquis, who was then busily employed raising the men on his brother’s estates. “I hope the meal was with you this day--35 bolls--for it was at Inwar last night: It shall be my study to have more meal with you on Monday night, for you must distribute a peck a man: and, cost what it will, there must be pocks, (small sacks,) made to each man, to contain a peck or two for the men, to have always with them. Buy linen, harn, or any thing; for these pocks are of absolute necessity, nothing can be done without them.... You may please tell your own people, that there is a project to get arms for them.”--_Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 31.

[868] “In the interior of the Highlands absolute submission seems to have been easily exacted; but in the outskirts, where, perhaps, there was a slight mingling of Lowland population, and where the people were not too blind to see that their leaders alone had an interest in the rising, considerable opposition was offered to the commands of the chief. This was conspicuously visible in the Athole territory. The chivalrous Tullibardine was much provoked by the obstinacy of the retainers of his house in the valleys round Dunkeld. They had to be repeatedly threatened with coercive measures, and appear to have been literally forced into the service by press-gangs from the other clans. He had been absent from the country during the whole interval between the rebellions, and his brother, who adopted the interest of the government, enjoyed his estate. He could not see that this affected his divine right as chief any more than it affected that of his royal master; but the clan appear to have imperfectly participated in such a principle, and to have abandoned, as he expressed it, the virtues of their ancestors.”--Burton’s _Scotland after Revolution_, vol. ii. p. 414.

[869] _Kirkconnel MS._

[870] Lord Elcho afterwards lent the prince 1,500 guineas. A curious correspondence on the subject of repayment will be found in the _Stuart Papers_.

[871] _Kirkconnel MS._

[872] Caledonian Mercury, as referred to by Dr. Chambers.

[873] Home, p. 318.

[874] Maitland’s _History of Edinburgh_, p. 285. Home, p. 67.

[875] Home, p. 67.

[876] Burton.

[877] Burton, vol. ii. p. 451.

[878] Home, p. 69.