he army, he repaired, after a short visit to Edinburgh, to his
castle of Inverary, where he reposed in security, aware, indeed, of the
hostile projects of Montrose, but trusting to the wide barrier of snows
and mountains which separated him from his enemy. But the royal leader
penetrated through this Alpine wilderness,[b] compelled Argyle to save
himself in an open boat on Loch Tyne, and during six weeks wreaked his
revenge on the domains and the clansmen of the fugitive. At the approach of
Argyle with eleven hundred regular troops, he retired; but suddenly turning
to the left, crossed the mountains, and issuing from Glennevis, surprised
his pursuers at Inverlochy in Lochabar.[c] From his galley in the Frith
Argyle beheld the assault of the enemy, the shock of the combatants, and
the slaughter of at least one half of his whole force.[d] This victory
placed the north of Scotland at the mercy of the conquerors.

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1644. Oct. 28.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1644. Dec. 13.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1645. Jan. 28.]
[Sidenote d: A.D. 1645. Feb. 2.]

From Inverlochy they marched to Elgin, and from Elgin to Aberdeen,
ravaging, as they passed, the lands, and burning the houses of the
Covenanters. But at Brechin, Baillie opposed their progress with a[a]
numerous and regular force. Montrose turned in the direction of Dunkeld;
Baillie marched to Perth. The former surprised the opulent town of Dundee;
the latter arrived in time to expel the plunderers. But[b] he pursued in
vain. They regained the Grampian hills, where in security they once more
bade defiance to the whole power of the enemy. Such was the short and
eventful campaign of Montrose. His victories, exaggerated by report, and
embellished by the fancy of the hearers, cast a faint and deceitful lustre
over the declining cause of royalty. But they rendered no other service.
His passage was that of a meteor, scorching every thing in its course.
Wherever he appeared, he inflicted the severest injuries; but he made no
permanent conquest; he taught the Covenanters to tremble at his name,
but he did nothing to arrest that ruin which menaced the throne and its
adherents.[1]

England, however, was the real arena on which the conflict was to be
decided, and in England the king soon found himself unable to cope with his
enemies. He still possessed about one-third of the kingdom. From Oxford he
extended his sway almost without interruption to the extremity of Cornwall:
North and So