r; and besides, the new
king had listened and believed the stories to his discredit brought by
men whose fortunes had been ruined in their own country, and who sought
to build them up in Holland! Charles soon found for himself how untrue
were these tales, and though the two never could become friends, he
recognised Montrose's loyalty and ability and appointed him
commander-in-chief of the royal forces and lieutenant-governor of
Scotland, and gave him leave to get what mercenaries he could from
Sweden and Denmark.

Full of hope, Montrose at once set off on his recruiting journey, and
sent off some troops to the Orkneys to be drilled under the earls of
Kinnoull and Morton; but Morton in a very short time caught fever and
died. Meanwhile his friend, Elizabeth of Bohemia, looked on with
distrust and alarm at her nephew's proceedings, for well she knew--as
did Charles himself--that the surrender of Montrose would be the first
article of any treaty made by the covenant. She even wrote to put
Montrose on his guard; but he, judging the king by himself, believed the
assurances of help and support given in Charles' own letters,
accompanied by the gift of the garter, as a pledge of their fulfilment.
He was bidden to lose no time in opening the campaign, but one thousand
out of the one thousand two hundred men whom he despatched went down in
a great gale, and only two hundred reached the shore. So April had come
before the general had collected sufficient soldiers to march
southwards, and by that time the forces of the enemy were ready to meet
him.

It was on April 27 that Montrose's last battle was fought at Carbisdale,
near the Kyle, where the rivers Shin and Oykel reach the sea. The earl
of Sutherland secured the passes of the hills, while colonel Strachan
and a large body of cavalry approached from the south. When they arrived
within a few miles of the royalist camp at the head of the Kyle,
Strachan ordered two divisions of his cavalry to proceed under cover of
some woods and broken ground, and only suffered a few horse, led by
himself, to remain visible. These were seen, as they were meant to be,
by Montrose's scouts, who, as at Philiphaugh, were either careless or
treacherous or very stupid, and they brought back the report that the
covenanting force was weak. Montrose, taking for granted the truth of
their report, disposed of his foot on a flat stretch of ground, and
ordered his horse to advance. Then the trees and the hil