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]
[Illustration: Autograph of Sir John Cope, from an Original
Manuscript in the possession of W. F. Watson, Esq.]
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.