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Attempt of the Young
Pretender,—His advance to Derby.— Retreat to Scotland.—Battle of
Culloden.—Present appearance of the Field of Battle.
And now "Pretender" No. II.,
The son of No. I.;
Whatever we can do for you
Shall here be quickly done.
In the king's speech at the
meeting of parliament, George I. told his people that he believed James
Stuart had again landed in Scotland: an assertion, howbeit, wherein was no
truth ; yet the discarded scion of royalty was not idle, but was beating up
for rescues and reinforcements in the south of Europe, and more especially
in Spain.
The Cardinal Alberoni hatched
a scheme in his favour, the purport of which was, to invade Britain with a
powerful force; so that, encouraged by these offices, the Chevalier de St.
George took an opportunity of quitting Urbino, his place of residence by
stealth, of embarking at Nettuno, and of sailing to Cagliari, where he
landed.
Hence he made his way to
Madrid, where he was hailed Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, with all fitting reverence, dignity, and honour. Ten ships of
war, and six thousand regular troops were devoted to his service, and sailed
from Cadiz accordingly; but a storm dispersed them off Cape Fin'isterre, and
only two frigates reached their destination. The Spaniards gained a few
inconsiderable successes in the highlands ; but being pursued by the English
commander they were forced to surrender, and three hundred of the invaders
were made prisoners.
But we need not dilate on all
the other acts and deeds of the Chevalier or his partizans; how he continued
to promote conspiracies without intermission ; how he candidly avowed in a
certain declaration, at the bottom of which his own name appeared, and which
was laid before the House of Lords by George I., that if the said King
George would only relinquish the kingdom of Great Britain to himself, the
Chevalier, he would, in consideration thereof, bestow upon him the title of
monarch of his own dominions; and further, that he would secure George's
future succession to Britain, if, in time to come, his own issue and heirs
apparent, and all other issue and heirs apparent,- should absolutely
fail;—how Mr. Robert Walpole frightened this nation out of its wits by
detailing in the Commons' House the particulars of a horrid and atrocious
conspiracy, purposing to seize the Bank of England and the Exchequer, and to
proclaim the Pretender on the Royal Exchange.
Those were stirring times, of
a truth, and the demon of ambition was prowling about, seeking whom he might
devour. Ambition, however, is only a demon when wrongly directed ; for
ambition that is directed in the right path, is a fair and honourable
passion. He who is ambitious, seeks to better himself; and if he can rise
higher in the scale of reputation or of fortune, without doing so to the
detriment or prejudice of his fellow-labourers, he only calls into
praiseworthy action his faculties, his natural powers, and his talents, (all
which were given him to employ properly,) and he is achieving that which is
commendable in the sight of God, as well as in the sight of men. We think
that the word Ambition is a very much abused word,—in so far, that,
according to its usual acceptation, it is held to signify inordinate,
unjust, or criminal thirst after advancement. But, ambition in a man, ought
to mean, and strictly does mean, nothing more or less or otherwise, than
what we term emulation in a schoolboy, — that spirit of activity within him,
which urges him to fag and to climb to the top of his class.
The Young Pretender, so
called, the son of James, the Chevalier de St. George, now started up into
action, and resolved to make a bold dash for the crown of Great Britain. His
first essay was a failure. With the aid of Louis of France, he collected a
fleet and a powerful land force at Dunkirk and Boulogne, and actually
embarked seven thousand troops. Monsieur de Roquefeuille sailed up the
Channel, and cast anchor off Dungeness, to wait for Monsieur de Barreil,
whom he had despatched to hasten the embarkation with five ships of war. As
he lay here, he was surprised to see the British fleet under Sir John
Norris, doubling the South Foreland, and beating down upon him as fast as
the westerly wind, then blowing, would allow. To the chagrin of the English
Admiral, however, the tide ran so hard against him, added to the wind, which
was dead a-head, that he could not approach Monsieur de Roquefeuille by two
leagues; and here also he was obliged to drop his anchor.
Thus, lying within sight of
each other, the French commander called a council of war, and it was deemed
advisable in their present condition, not to seek an engagement,—but" quite
the contrary. As if to favour their escape, the wind now suddenly chopped
round to the north-east, coming on to blow hard, and they ran before it down
Channel like the very-anything you please.
This gale of wind,
notwithstanding that it favoured the escape of the line-of-battle ships out
of the reach of Sir John Norris's guns, destroyed so many of the French
transports, that the present scheme of. invasion was obliged to be given up.
The famous Count Saxe, who had been preferred to the army, when it should
have reached England, together with the other generals under his
commandment, returned to Paris; and the young Prince Charles also retiring
to his abode in that city, remained for a space in great privity, and almost
entirely neglected by the court of St. Germain.
In the year 1744 the Commons
of England brought in a bill, denouncing the penalties of high treason
against all those who should hold correspondence with the sons of the old
Pretender ; and in the Upper House, the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke (to whom
Gretna Green is much indebted for its fame, as the reader will fully know in
good time) inserted a clause, extending the crime of high treason, even to
the posterity of the first offenders, during the lives of the Pretender's
sons,—as if the rebellious actions of turbulent men could be controlled by
their offspring, as yet, per-adventure unborn ! This was indeed visiting the
sins of the fathers upon the children. The motion produced a warm debate,
and was most vehemently and pathetically opposed by the Duke of Bedford, the
Earl of Chesterfield, and the Lords Hervey and Talbot, as being contrary to
the dictates-of humanity, the law of nature, the rules of justice in a free
country, and the precepts of religion; and yet, O dii immortales,. the
clause was carried, and the bill was passed!
Albeit Charles Edward had
been residing quietly on the margin of the Seine since his recent check, yet
had he been making inquiry as to the number and strength of his friends,
whether on one side of the Channel or on the other; and had furthermore
employed emissaries, who had been doing the same thing for him up and down
that land, whose crown he so much coveted, and which he piously believed to
be his own.
He embarked for Scotland on
board a small frigate, accompanied by the Marquis of Tullibardine, Sir
Thomas Sheridan, and certain others, and, for the conquest of universal
Britain, he brought an almost incalculable force in troops and
ammunition—the former consisting of seven officers, and the latter of
muskets for two thousand men !
His convoy, a ship of sixty
guns, fell in with an English-man-of-war during the passage; and in an
engagement with her, she received a rebuff so severe, that she was persuaded
to return to Brest, in order to plug up the holes in her hull and to stitch
up the rents in her canvass.
The young prince, howbeit,
held his course ; he steered for the Hebrides, and on the 27th of July 1745,
debarked on the coast of Lochaber, where he was joined by fifteen hundred
highlanders.
We regret that he did not
enter the Firth of Solway, and land upon the sweet shores of Gretna, which
was now on the dawn of celebrity — not that we should desire to see
hostility carried through so amorous a region, and a region which had for
centuries known a great deal too much of the bad spirit of man, as the
records of these pages lamentably testify,—but because, in writing the
veracious history of this parish, we are naturally desirous of discoursing
about any notable events happening therein,—are desirous of declaring how
fertile the soil is in interesting occurrences, — and would especially wish
to confine ourselves closely to the stage of this drama, and not wander
elsewhere to tell of accessaries, however necessarily, though sometimes
remotely, bearing on the main subject.
On the nineteenth of August
the Marquis of Tullibardine erected his standard at Glensinnan, and though
it is true that lie was joined by a considerable number of the lovers of the
old race, still, the heads of many of the neighbouring clans held,, back or
hesitated to enrol themselves in the hazardry of an enterprise so desperate.
After one or two skirmishes,
wherein the new comers triumphed, the government at Westminster became
alarmed, and despatched an army northwards to crush them.
King George at this time was
in Germany, whither he had gone to pay a visit to his ancient friends, and
the Young Pretender's evil genius, the Duke of Cumberland, was hotly at work
in the Netherlands, "tickling the French with the long broad-sword," as the
popular song of the day expressed it. The Regency that governed the nation
during this interim, now issued a proclamation offering the sum of <£30,000,
to any one who should capture the adventurer: and the beauty of the thing
was, that, by way of being in no sort behind the government in courtesy, the
Pretender also issued a proclamation, wherein he promised a like sum for the
apprehension of the Elector of Hanover!
He prosecuted his march
across Scotland,— took several towns on his route, and in Perth, Dundee, and
Edinburgh proclaimed the Chevalier de St. George, his father, King of Great
Britain. At Preston-pans he routed Sir John Cope in the space of ten
minutes; and, by the booty, stores, ammunition, and money, which there fell
into his hands, he found himself suddenly rich, and efficiently provided to
carry on his pretensions.
After this victory he rested
on his oars in Holyrood House much longer than an active general ought to
have done, if he would wisely follow up an advantage gained; but being
assured of succours from France, he at last resolved on an invasion of
England.
Now, then, we must march
directly through Gretna Green.
Having deliberated on his
line of progress over the border, he determined on crossing the rubicon by
the Western Marches—and here, for " Rubicon," we intreat ye to read " Sark."
He marched on foot, dressed (or rather un-dressed) in his Highland costume,
at the head of about five thousand men, albeit the weather was cold and the
snow lay thick upon the ground ; and on the sixth of November he led this
host over the tender soil of that amorous parish which lies hard by the blue
waters of the Solway ;—he forded the aforesaid rubicon along with his
naked-kneed followers — crossed the Debateable Land—and then he invested the
city of Carlisle.
After he had set himself down
before its walls, and had been encamped here for the duration of three days,
the citizens either got tired of their own seclusion, shut up as they were,
or else they grew right courteous to all those bare-legged visitors who were
lying outside in the cold ; for certain it is, that at the termination of
this period, the gates were thrown open, the portcullises raised, and the
draw-bridges lowered, even as is the usage at such places whose
fortifications wear the nature or configuration, or appliances, of the
fortifications of the olden time ; and then there issued forth of one of the
gateways the real mayor himself, dressed in his official investments,
together with all the aldermen enrobed in theirs, who walked first under the
portcullis without scratching their heads against the spikes, and then over
the draw-bridge, on towards the Prince Charles Edward Stuart, otherwise
ycleped the Young Pretender. When they came before him they fell down upon
their knees and delivered up to his acceptance the keys of their ancient
city, making many reverend obeisances with much humility, as if to apologise
for their tardiness in coming; and this act will give the reader an idea how
faithful King George's public servants were to him at the very particular
juncture when he most needed their fidelity—to wit, when strangers were
invading his kingdom.
With these keys the royal
juvenal speedily let himself into the city and into the castle, where he
found a plentiful store of acceptable needments; and incontinently he was
proclaimed Regent of Great Britain, and his father King, by the Grace of
God, Defender of the Faith, and so forth; and here again, we see how true to
their duties the magistrates were, in so heartily seconding the mayor and
the aldermen.
Having received goodly
assurances from France, that a diversion in his favour would soon be made on
the southern coast of England, he left Carlisle, and resolved to march
further into the heart of the country; wherefore he proceeded to Penrith,
Lancaster, and Manchester. At this last he established his head quarters :
he was joined by two hundred Englishmen under Colonel Townley, and the
inhabitants greeted his coming with illuminations, bell ringing, and
feasting; and even once more we would call the reader's attention to the
good service they also were doing to their rightful King George, who sat
duly and legally enthroned at St. James's.*
It is a beauteous thing for a
father to have dutiful children; and so, likewise, it must be a glorious
contemplation for a sovereign to behold the stanch fidelity of his people,
when his enemies are plotting dire detriment against him.
This last of the Stuarts
tarried not long here, but again went forward with all expedition, crossing
the Mersey, passing through divers towns, and on the fourth of December
attaining as far as Derby. The house wherein he resided during his brief
sojourn here, is pointed out to the peregrinator at this day.
He was now within one hundred
miles of the metropolis, and all Middlesex was in the greatest uproar and
confusion: a powerful militia was raised and disciplined; volunteers started
up on all sides to defend the common cause of their country; the weavers of
Spitalfields and other communities entered into precautionary associations ;
the practitioners of the law, headed by the judges, enrolled themselves on
the defensive ; and the managers of the theatres offered to raise a body of
their dependents for the service of the Government. Orders were given for
forming a camp on Finchley Common, where his Majesty, accompanied by the
Earl of Stair, field marshal and commander-in-chief of the forces in South
Britain, resolved to appear in person. Hogarth's "March to Finchley Common,"
was painted to celebrate this event.
But the Duke of Cumberland,
recently returned from the Low Countries, was hurrying northwards to forbid
this young adventurer coming any nearer, as matters had now become serious.
Charles Edward Stuart did not
meet with the encouragement or augmentation of strength during his transit
that he had been given to expect: with the exception of those who joined him
at Manchester, no friends flocked to his standard ; the people seemed to be
totally averse to his cause; the French had failed to assist him as they had
promised; his own generals and companions were disunited among themselves;
and he found himself in the heart of an enemy's country in the depth of
winter, and hemmed in between several armies that were hourly approaching
him to his destruction.
A council of war was held,
and nothing was left but to retreat into Scotland by the route they had
come. Having had one or two skirmishes on the way, they once more reached
Carlisle, and then, reinforcing the garrison of the castle, they paced the
great Moss of Solway, the Debateable Land, and the gentle parish of Gretna
Green.
Divers minor affairs befel
before they met the Duke of Cumberland on the bleak moor of Cul-loden, which
we need not trouble the patient reader with, because, as we are not writing
a history of anything else but Gretna Green, or of such events as are more
or less connected therewith, we will not digress more than is necessary. The
Prince Pretender's army, on this last and decisive occasion amounted to
about four thousand strong ; and that of the royal Duke to somewhat more.
The action was fierce; but in the space of one half-hour the hopes of the
Jacobites were for ever blasted, and many of their heads, subsequently
struck off by the executioner upon the scaffold, for years decorated Temple
Bar and the gates of Carlisle. We paid a visit to this spot not long ago.
The moor itself is flat, dreary, barren, and exposed; the unenclosed part of
it may comprise about nine square miles of brushwood, heath, fern, moss, and
broom; and as it stands high, being the broad summit of a range of country
rising from the Murray Firth, it is cruelly swept over by cutting breezes in
the winter.
A new road from Inverness to
Forres has lately been cut directly across the spot where the hottest of the
fight took place; and nothing now remains to indicate this spot, but the
mounds of earth which were heaped over the buried slain. These consist of
one long ridge where a number were cast into a trench and covered over, and
of a number of scattered heaps, which have the appearance of single graves.
Howbeit, the poor fellows who lie here are not permitted to repose quietly;
for it is a favourite amusement with tourists of the present day, to carry
spades and other delving instruments along with them to the ground, and
there to grub in the sacred soil for the purpose of finding some trophy. The
guide related that he accompanied an Irish gentleman on one of these mining
expeditions only a short space before; and that the said Irish gentleman
actually turned up a soldier's corroded coat button, and he bore it off with
him to the Emerald Island with many triumphs broached in goodly brogue. In
several places there were fresh-made pits of from one to two feet deep, as
if some sacrilegious enthusiast had been at work only the day before our
visit; but the guide did not know whether anything had been found. He said
that, at the making of the new road, when the soil was slightly levelled in
two or three places, divers swords and other relics were brought to the
light of day; and at the Octagon Tower so called, standing some three miles
south-west of the battle-ground, there are still preserved two field-pieces
used on the occasion.
About a quarter of a mile
eastward of this martial cemetery, and close by the road-side, there stands
a large solitary block of stone, measuring near five feet six high, and
covering a basement of one hundred square feet, more or less : it is
reported that the young prince stood upon this stone to overlook the bloody
encounter ; and that from this elevation he saw himself ruined.
"We must not marvel that the
plain of Waterloo should still at times yield military exuviae to the
searches of the curious, when we remember that the fight of Culloden
happened nearly a century ago, and yet is not quite exhausted. The digging
and scrutiny, however, are often vain, and rare is the chance that is
successful. Human bones were at one period not unfrequently discovered, but
these have now entirely merged into the soil by which they were covered; and
little will henceforth recompense the sentimental grave-digger, except,
peradventure, a stray tooth or so, and such a trophy as a button or a
flattened bullet. |
