CHAPTER XVII: A Baffled Plot.
Utterly disheartened and dispirited the army commenced its march north.The prince himself was even more disappointed than his soldiers, andshowed by his manner how bitterly he resented the decision at which hisofficers had arrived. It had seemed to him that success was within hisgrasp, and that he had but to march to London to overthrow the Hanoveriandynasty. And it is by no means improbable that his instincts were morecorrect than the calculations of his advisers. The news of his rapidmarch south had sent a thrill through the country; and although so farthe number of those who had joined him was exceedingly small, at thatmoment numbers of gentlemen in Wales and other parts of the country werearming their tenants, and preparing to take the field.
There was no hostile force between himself and London, for the force atFinchley was not yet organized, and could have offered no effectualopposition. A panic reigned in the metropolis, and the king was preparingto take ship and leave the country. Had the little army marched forwardthere is small doubt that James would have been proclaimed king inLondon. But it may be doubted whether Prince Charles could havemaintained the advantage he had gained. Two armies, both superior to hisown, were pressing on his rear, and would have arrived in London but afew days after himself; and although the Londoners might have acceptedhim, they would hardly have risen in arms to aid him against Cumberland'sarmy. Had this halted at a distance, the reinforcements which might havejoined the prince would have been more than counterbalanced by theregiments of English and Hanoverian troops which the king could have sentover, and although the strife might have been lengthened the result wouldin all probability have been the same.
Prince Charles had no ability in governing. His notions of the absolutepower of kings were as strong as those of his ancestors, and, surroundedas he was by hotheaded Highlanders, he would speedily have causeddiscontent and disgust even among those most favourably inclined byhereditary tradition to the cause of the Stuarts. But of all this he wasignorant, and in the retreat from Derby he saw the destruction of hishopes.
Hitherto he had marched on foot with the Highlanders, chatting gaily ashe went. Now he rode in rear of the column, and scarce exchanged a wordwith even his most intimate advisers. The Highlanders no longer preservedthe discipline which had characterized their southward march. Villageswere plundered and in some cases burned, and in retaliation the peasantrykilled or took prisoners stragglers and those left behind. Even atManchester, where the reception of the army had been so warm a few daysbefore, its passage was opposed by a violent mob, and the prince was sooffended at the conduct of the townspeople that he imposed a fine of fivethousand pounds upon the city.
The next morning the march was continued. The Highlanders laid hands onevery horse they could find, and so all pressed on at the top of theirspeed for the border. The Duke of Cumberland, who had fallen back in allhaste for the protection of London, was close to Coventry when he heardthat the Scotch had retreated northward. With all his cavalry, and athousand foot whom he mounted on horses supplied by the neighbouringgentry, he set out in pursuit. At Preston he was joined by another bodyof horse, sent across the country from the army of Marshal Wade; but itwas not until he entered Westmoreland that he came up with the rear guardof the insurgents, which was commanded by Lord George Murray.
Defeating some local volunteers who molested him, Lord George learnedfrom the prisoners that the duke with four thousand men was close athand, and he sent on the news to the prince, who despatched tworegiments, the Stuarts of Appin and the Macphersons of Cluny, toreinforce him. It was nearly dark when by the light of the moon LordGeorge saw the English infantry, who had now dismounted, advancing. He atonce charged them at the head of the Macphersons and Stuarts, and in afew minutes the English were completely defeated, their commander,Colonel Honeywood, being left severely wounded on the field, with ahundred killed or disabled men, while the loss of the Scotch was buttwelve.
It was with great difficulty that the Highlanders could be recalled fromthe pursuit, and Lord George himself sent an urgent message to the princebegging for a further reinforcement, in order that he might maintain hisground and defeat the whole force of the duke. As usual his wishes weredisregarded, and he was ordered to fall back and join the main body atPenrith. The check, however, was so effective that the duke made nofurther attempt to harass the retreat of the Highlanders.
Passing through Carlisle, some men of a Lowland regiment, and ColonelTwonley with his regiment raised at Manchester, were left there as agarrison, so that the road should be kept open for another and, as theprince hoped, not far distant invasion. The step was, however, a cruelone, for the Duke of Cumberland at once laid siege to the place, battereda breach in its ancient wall, and the garrison were forced to surrender.Many of them were afterwards executed and imprisoned, and ruin fell uponall.
Charles with his army marched north to Glasgow, where they remained eightdays, requisitioning supplies from the town. During their stay Ronald andMalcolm put up at the house of Andrew Anderson.
"What think you of the chances now, Malcolm?" Andrew asked his brother,after hearing what had taken place since he had last seen him.
"I think no better and no worse of it than I did before, brother. Theyhave had more success than I looked for. I did not think they would everhave got as far south as Derby. Who would have thought that a fewthousand Highlanders could have marched half through England? But I seeno prospect of success. The prince is badly advised. He has but onereally good soldier with him, and he is set against him by the intriguesand spite of Secretary Murray and his friends, and partly, it may be, byLord George's own frankness of speech. He has at his back but half theHighlands, for the other portion stand aloof from him. In the Lowlands hehas found scarce an adherent, and but a handful in England. TheHighlanders are brave; but it is surely beyond human expectation thatfive or six thousand Highlanders can vanquish a kingdom with a brave andwell trained army with abundant artillery. Ronald and I mean to fight itout to the end; but I do not think the end will be very far off."
"I am sorry for the young prince," Andrew said. "He is a fine fellow,certainly--handsome and brave and courteous, and assuredly clement. Forthree times his life has been attempted, and each time he has releasedthose who did it without punishment. I could not but think, as I saw himride down the street today, that it was sad that so fine a young manshould be doomed either to the block or to a lifelong imprisonment, andthat for fighting for what he has been doubtless taught to consider hisright. There are many here who are bitter against him; but I am not oneof them, and I am sorry for him, sorry for all these brave gentlemen andclansmen, for I fear that there will be a terrible vengeance for all thathas been done. They have frightened the English king and his ministerstoo sorely to be ever forgiven, and we shall have sad times in Scotlandwhen this is all over."
Two evenings later Ronald noticed that Andrew, who had been absent forsome time, and had only returned just in time for supper, looked worriedand abstracted, and replied almost at random to any questions put to him.
"It is of no use," he said suddenly when his wife had left the room afterthe conclusion of the meal. "I am a loyal subject of King George, and Iwish him every success in battle, and am confident that he will crush outthis rebellion without difficulty, but I cannot go as far as some. Icannot stand by and see murder done on a poor lad who, whatever hisfaults, is merciful and generous to his enemies. Malcolm, I will tell youall I know, only bidding you keep secret as to how you got the news, forit would cost me my life were it known that the matter had leaked outthrough me."
"This evening five of the council, knowing that I am a staunch king'sman, took me aside after the meeting was over, and told me that there wasa plan on foot to put an end to all the trouble by the carrying off orslaying of Prince Charles. I was about to protest against it, when I sawthat by so doing I should, in the first place, do no good; in thesecond, be looked upon as a Jacobite; and in the third, be unable tolearn the details of what they were proposing.
So I said that doubtlessit was a good thing to lay by the heels the author of all these troubles,and that the life of one man was as nought in the balance compared to theprosperity of the whole country. Whereupon they revealed to me theirplan, asking me for a subscription of a hundred pounds to carry it out,and saying truly that I should get back the money and great honour fromthe king when he learned I had done him such service. After somebargaining I agreed for fifty pounds."
"But what is the plot, Andrew?" Malcolm said anxiously.
"It is just this. The prince, as you know, goes about with scantattendance, and though there are guards in front of his house, there arebut two or three beside himself who sleep there. There is a back entranceto which no attention is paid, and it will be easy for those who know thehouse to enter by that door, to make their way silently to his chamber,and either to kill or carry him off. I threw my voice in against killing,pointing out that the king would rather have him alive than dead, so thathe might be tried and executed in due form. This was also their opinion,for they had already hired a vessel which is lying in the stream. Theplan is to seize and gag him and tie his arms. There will be nodifficulty in getting him along through the streets. There are few folksabroad after ten o'clock, and should they meet anyone he will concludethat it is but a drunken Highlander being carried home. You see, Malcolm,there is not only honour to be gained from the king, but the thirtythousand pounds offered for the prince's person. I pretended to fall inwith the plan, and gave them the fifty pounds which they lacked for thehire of the vessel, the captain refusing to let them have it save formoney paid down. Now, Malcolm, I have told you and Ronald all I knowabout the matter, and it is for you to see how a stop may be put to it."
"The scoundrels!" Malcolm said. "Their loyalty to the king is but a veilto hide their covetousness for the reward. When is it to take place, andhow many men are likely to be engaged in it?"
"Six trusty men of the city watch and their five selves. I said I wouldsubscribe the money, but would have no active share in the business. Theymight have all the honour, I would be content with my share of the rewardoffered. Two of them with four of the guards will enter the house andcarry off the prince. The rest will wait outside and follow closely onthe way down to the port ready to give aid if the others should meet withany obstruction. The whole will embark and sail to London with him."
"And when is this plot to be carried out?" Malcolm asked.
"Tomorrow at midnight. Tide will be high half an hour later; they willdrop down the river as soon as it turns, and will be well out to sea bythe morning. And now I have told you all, I will only ask you to act sothat as little trouble as possible may arise. Do not bring my name intothe matter if you can avoid doing so; but in any case I would rather runthe risk of the ruin and death which would alight upon me when thisrebellion is over than have such a foul deed of treachery carried out.There is not a Scotchman but to this day curses the name of the traitorMenteith, who betrayed Wallace. My name is a humble one, but I would nothave it go down to all ages as that of a man who betrayed Charles Stuartfor English gold."
"Make yourself easy, brother; Ronald and I will see to that. When oncetreachery is known it is easy to defeat, and Ronald and I will see thatyour name does not appear in the matter."
"Thank God that is off my mind!" Andrew said. "And I will off to bed, orJanet will wonder what I am talking about so long. I will leave you twoto settle how you can best manage the affair, which you can do without myhelp, for matters of this kind are far more in your way than in mine."
"This is a villainous business, Ronald," Malcolm said when they werealone; "and yet I am not surprised. Thirty thousand pounds would nottempt a Highlander who has naught in the world save the plaid in which hestands up; but these money grubbing citizens of Glasgow would sell theirsouls for gain. And now what do you think had best be done in the matter,so that the plot may be put a stop to, and that without suspicion fallingupon Andrew? It would be easy to have a dozen men hiding in the yardbehind the house and cut down the fellows as they enter."
"I do not think that would do, Malcolm; it would cause a tumult, and thefact could not be hidden. And besides, you know what these Highlandersare; they already loathe and despise the citizens of Glasgow, and didthey know that there had been a plot on foot to capture and slay theprince, nothing could prevent their laying the town in ashes."
"That is true enough. What do you propose then, Ronald?"
"I think it best that if there should be any fighting it should be onboard the ship, but possibly we may avoid even that. I should say thatwith eight or ten men we can easily seize the vessel, and then when theboat comes alongside capture the fellows as they step on to the deckwithout trouble, and leave it to the prince to settle what is to be donewith them."
"That is certainly the best plan, Ronald. I will get together tomorrowhalf a dozen trusty lads who will ask no questions as to what I want themto do, and will be silent about the matter afterwards. We must get fromAndrew tomorrow morning the name of the vessel, and see where she islying in the stream, and where the boat will be waiting for the prince."
The next night Ronald and Malcolm with six men made their way one by onethrough the streets so as not to attract the attention of the watch, andassembled near the strand. Not until the clock struck twelve did theyapproach the stairs at the foot of which the boat was lying. There weretwo men in it.
"You are earlier than we expected," one said as they descended the steps."The captain said a quarter past twelve."
"Yes, we are a little early," Malcolm replied as he stepped into theboat; "we are ready earlier than we expected."
A moment later Malcolm suddenly seized one of the sailors by the throatand dragged him down to the bottom of the boat, a handkerchief wasstuffed into his mouth, and his hands and feet tied. The other was at thesame time similarly secured.
So suddenly and unexpected had been the attack that the sailors had hadno time to cry out or to offer any resistance, and their capture waseffected without the slightest sound being heard. The oars were at oncegot out and the boat was rowed out towards the vessel lying out in themiddle of the stream with a light burning at her peak. As they approachedthe side the captain appeared at the gangway.
"All is well, I hope?" he asked.
"Could not be better," Malcolm replied as he seized the rope and mountedthe gangway, the others closely following him. As he sprang upon the deckhe presented a pistol at the captain's head.
"Speak a word and you die," he said sternly.
Taken by surprise, the captain offered no resistance, but sufferedhimself to be bound. Two or three sailors on deck were similarly seizedand secured, the hatchway was fastened to prevent the rest of the crewfrom coming on deck, and the ship being thus in their possession two ofthe men at once took their places in the boat and rowed back to thestairs.
A quarter of an hour later those on board heard a murmur of voices onshore, and two or three minutes later the splash of oars as the boatrowed back to the ship. Ronald put on the captain's cap and stood at thegangway with a lantern.
"All right, I hope?" he asked as the boat came alongside.
"All right, captain! You can get up your anchor as soon as you like."
Two men mounted on to the deck, and then four others carried up a figureand were followed by the rest. As the last one touched the deck Ronaldlifted the lantern above his head, and, to the astonishment of thenewcomers, they saw themselves confronted by eight armed men.
The six men of the watch, furious at the prospect of losing the rewardupon which they had reckoned, drew their swords and rushed forward; butthey were struck down with handspikes and swords, for Ronald hadimpressed upon his men the importance of not using their pistols, save inthe last extremity. In two minutes the fight was over. The five citizenshad taken little part in it, save as the recipients of blows; forMalcolm, furious at their treachery, had bade the men make no distinctionbetween them and the watch, and had himself dealt them one or two heavyblows with his handsp
ike after he had seen that the guard wasoverpowered.
The whole of them were then bound, and warned that their throats would becut if they made the least noise. The prince was released from his bonds,and he was at once conducted by Malcolm and Ronald to the cabin, where alight was burning.
The prince was so much bewildered by the events that had occurred that hedid not yet understand the state of the case. He had been awoke by a gagbeing roughly forced into his mouth, while at the same moment his handswere tightly bound. Then he was lifted from his bed, some clothes werethrown on to him, a man took his place on either side, and, thrustingtheir arms into his, threatened him with instant death if he did not comealong with them without resistance. Then he had been hurried down stairsand along the streets, two men keeping a little ahead and othersfollowing behind. He had been forced into a boat and rowed up to a ship,and on reaching the deck a desperate combat had suddenly commenced allround him. Then the gag had been removed and the bonds cut. Bewilderedand amazed he gazed at the two men who had accompanied him to the cabin.
"Why, Captain Leslie!" he exclaimed. "Is it you? What means all thisscene through which I have passed?"
"It means, your royal highness," Ronald said respectfully, "that I and myfriend Malcolm obtained information of a plot on the part of some of thecitizens to carry you off and sell you to the English. We could havestopped it by attacking them as they entered the house to seize you; buthad we done so an alarm must have been raised, and we feared that theHighlanders, when they knew of the treachery that had been attemptedagainst you, might have fallen upon the citizens, and that a terribleuproar would have taken place. Therefore we carried out another plan. Wefirst of all obtained possession of the ship in which you were to havebeen taken away, and then overcame your captors as they brought you onboard. All this has been done without any alarm having been given, and itnow rests with you to determine what shall be done with these wretches."
"You have done well, indeed, Captain Leslie, and I thank you and yourfriend not only for the great service you have rendered me, but for themanner in which you have done it. I ought to have foreseen this. Did notthe Lowlanders sell King Charles to the English? I might have expectedthat some at least would be tempted by the reward offered me. As forpunishment for these men, they are beneath me. And, moreover, if I cantrust my eyes and my ears, the knocks which you gave them will bepunishment enough even did I wish to punish them, which I do not. I couldnot do so without the story of the attempt being known, and in that casethere would be no keeping my Highlanders within bounds. As it is they arecontinually reproaching me with what they call my mistaken clemency, andthere would be no restraining them did they know of this. No, we had bestleave them to themselves. We will order the captain to put to sea withthem at once, and tell him he had best not return to Glasgow until I haveleft it. They will have time to reflect there at leisure, and as,doubtless, they have each of them given reasons at home for an absence ofsome duration there will be no anxiety respecting them. And now,gentlemen, will you fetch in those who have aided in my rescue. I wouldthank every one of them for the service they have rendered, and impressupon them my urgent desire that they should say nothing to anyone of thisnight's work."
While the prince was speaking to the men, Malcolm went out, and havingunbound the captain, ordered him to deliver up the sum which he hadreceived for the conveyance of the prince and his captors to England.
The captain did as he was ordered.
"How much is there here?" Malcolm asked.
"Three hundred pounds."
Malcolm counted out fifty of it and placed them in his pocket, saying toRonald:
"There is no reason Andrew should be a loser by the transaction. Thatwill leave two hundred and fifty, which I will divide among our men whenwe get ashore."
Malcolm then gave the prince's orders to the captain; that he must,immediately they left the ship, get up his anchor as before intended, andmake out to sea; and that under pain of being tried and executed for hisshare in this treacherous business, he was not to return to Glasgow withhis eleven passengers for the space of a week.
The prince and his rescuers then entered the boats and rowed to shore,and the prince regained his apartment without anyone in the house beingaware that he had been absent from it. The next day the prince sent forRonald and Malcolm, and in a private interview again expressed to themhis gratitude for his rescue from the hands of his enemies.
"I have none but empty honour to bestow now," he said; "but believe me,if I ever mount the throne of England you shall see that Charles EdwardStuart is not ungrateful."
The incident was kept a close secret, only two or three of the prince'smost intimate advisers ever informed of it. These were unanimous inurging that an absolute silence should be maintained on the subject, forthe fact that the attempt would have certainly been crowned with successhad it not been for the measures Ronald had taken, might encourage othersto attempt a repetition of it.
Having rested his army by a stay of eight days at Glasgow, Prince Charlesset out on the 3rd of January, 1746, for Stirling, where he was joined byLords John Drummond, Lewis Gordon, and Strathallan, the first named ofwhom had brought some battering guns and engineers from France. Theirfollowing raised the force to nearly nine thousand men--the largestarmy that Charles mustered during the course of the campaign. The siegeof Stirling was at once commenced; but the castle was strong and welldefended, and the siege made but little progress.
In the meantime the Duke of Cumberland had been recalled with the greaterpart of his force to guard the southern coasts of England, which werethreatened by an invasion by a French force now assembled at Dunkirk, andwhich, had it sailed before the Highlanders commenced their retreat fromDerby, might have altogether altered the situation of affairs. Thecommand of the English army in the north was handed by the duke toGeneral Hawley, a man after his own heart, violent in temper, brutal andcruel in conduct.
He collected at Edinburgh an army of nearly the same strength as that ofPrince Charles, and with these he matched out as far as Falkirk to raisethe siege of Stirling, and, as he confidently boasted, to drive therebels before him. Prince Charles, leaving a few hundred men to continuethe siege, matched out to Bannockburn. The English did not move out fromFalkirk, and the prince, after waiting for a day, determined to take theinitiative.
Hawley himself was stopping at Callendar House at some distance from hisarmy and General Huske remained in command of the camp. To occupy hisattention the prince despatched Lord John Drummond, with all the cavalry,by the straight road by Stirling to Falkirk, which ran north of theEnglish camp. They displayed, as they marched, the royal standard andother colours, which had the desired effect of impressing Huske with theidea that the prince with all his army was moving that way. In themeantime Charles with his main force had crossed the river Carron to thesouth and was only separated from the English by Falkirk Muir, a ruggedand rigid upland covered with heath.
Just as the English were about to take their dinner some country peoplebrought in the news of the approach of the Highlanders. Huske at once gothis men under arms, but he had no authority, in the absence of Hawley, toset them in motion. Messengers, however, were sent off on horseback atonce to Callendar House, and the general presently galloped up inbreathless haste, and putting himself at the head of his three regimentsof dragoons, started for Falkirk Muir, which he hoped to gain before theHighlanders could take possession of it. He ordered the infantry tofollow as fast as possible. A storm of wind and rain beat in the face ofthe soldiers, and before they could gain the crest of the muir theHighlanders had obtained possession. The English then halted and drew upon somewhat lower ground.
Between them was a ravine which formed but a small depression oppositethe centre of the English line, but deepened towards the plain on theirright. The English artillery, in the hurry of their advance, had stuckfast in a morass, but as the Highlanders had brought no guns with themthe forces were equal in this respect. Lord John Drummond had from adistance
been watching the movements of the English, and as soon as hesaw that they had taken the alarm and were advancing against the prince,he made a detour, and, riding round the English, joined the Highlandinfantry. The prince's army was divided into two lines: its right wascommanded by Lord George Murray, the left by Lord John Drummond; theprince, as at Preston, took up his station in the centre of the secondline on a conspicuous mound, still known by the name of Charlie's Hill.
The English infantry were also drawn up in two lines, with the Argylemilitia and the Glasgow regiment in reserve behind the second line. Thecavalry were in front under Colonel Ligonier, who, at the death ofColonel Gardiner, had succeeded to the command of his regiment. GeneralHawley commanded the centre and General Huske the right.
The battle commenced by a charge of Ligonier with his cavalry upon theHighland right. Here the Macdonald clansmen were posted, and these, atLord George Murray's order, reserved their fire until the dragoons werewithin ten yards, and then poured in a scathing volley, under whichnumbers of the horsemen went down. The two dragoon regiments, which hadfled so shamefully at Preston and Coltbridge, turned and galloped at oncefrom the field; but Cobham's regiment fought well, and when compelled toretreat rallied behind the right of the line.
Lord George Murray endeavoured to get the victorious Macdonalds into lineagain; but these were beyond control and rushing forward fell upon theflank of Hawley's two lines of foot, which were at the same momentfuriously assailed in front; the Highlanders, after pouring in theirfire, dropped their muskets and charged broadsword in hand.
The English, nearly blinded by the wind and rain, were unable towithstand this combined assault. General Hawley, who at least possessedthe virtue of courage, rode hither and thither in their front, trying toencourage them, but in vain, the whole centre gave way and fled inconfusion. On the right, however, the English were defending themselvessuccessfully. The three regiments placed there, on the edge of theravine, maintained so steady a fire that the Highlanders were unable tocross it, and Cobham's dragoons charged down upon the scattered andvictorious Highlanders in the centre and effectually checked theirpursuit. Prince Charles, seeing the danger, put himself at the head ofthe second line and advanced against the three English regiments whostill stood firm.
Unable to withstand so overwhelming a force these fell back from theground they had held, but did so in steady order, their drums beating,and covering, in their retreat, the mingled mass of fugitives. Had theHighlanders, at this critical moment, flung themselves with their wholeforce upon these regiments the English army would have been whollydestroyed; but night was already setting in, and the Scottish leaderswere ignorant how complete was their victory, and feared an ambuscade.Lord John Drummond, a general officer in the French service, especiallyopposed the pursuit, saying, "These men behaved admirably at Fontenoy;surely this must be a feint."
The Highlanders remained stationary on the field until some detachments,sent forward by the prince, brought back word that the English hadalready retreated from Falkirk. They left behind them on the field fourhundred dead or dying, with a large portion of officers, and a hundredprisoners; all their artillery, ammunition, and baggage fell into thehands of the Highlanders, whose total loss was only about a hundred. TheEnglish, on their retreat, burned to the ground the royal palace atLinlithgow.