moriston having made a hasty march to join Charles, at the head of
his clan, rushed into the Prince's presence at Holyrood with
unceremonious haste, without having attended to the duties of the toilet.
The Prince received him kindly, but not without a hint that a previous
interview with the barber might not have been wholly unnecessary. 'It is
not beardless boys,' answered the displeased Chief, 'who are to do your
Royal Highness's turn.' The Chevalier took the rebuke in good part.

On the whole, if Prince Charles had concluded his life soon after his
miraculous escape, his character in history must have stood very high. As
it was, his station is amongst those a certain brilliant portion of whose
life forms a remarkable contrast to all which precedes and all which
follows it.

NOTE 38

The following account of the skirmish at Clifton is extracted from the
manuscript Memoirs of Evan Macpherson of Cluny, Chief of the clan
Macpherson, who had the merit of supporting the principal brunt of that
spirited affair. The Memoirs appear to have been composed about 1755,
only ten years after the action had taken place. They were written in
France, where that gallant chief resided in exile, which accounts for
some Gallicisms which occur in the narrative.

'In the Prince's return from Derby back towards Scotland, my Lord George
Murray, Lieutenant-General, cheerfully charg'd himself with the command
of the rear, a post which, altho' honourable, was attended with great
danger, many difficulties, and no small fatigue; for the Prince, being
apprehensive that his retreat to Scotland might be cut off by Marischall
Wade, who lay to the northward of him with an armie much superior to what
H.R.H. had, while the Duke of Comberland with his whole cavalrie followed
hard in the rear, was obliged to hasten his marches. It was not,
therefore, possible for the artilirie to march so fast as the Prince's
army, in the depth of winter, extremely bad weather, and the worst roads
in England; so Lord George Murray was obliged often to continue his
marches long after it was dark almost every night, while at the same time
he had frequent alarms and disturbances from the Duke of Comberland's
advanc'd parties.

'Towards the evening of the twentie-eight December 1745 the Prince
entered the town of Penrith, in the Province of Comberland. But as Lord
George Murray could not bring up the artilirie so fast as he wou'd have
wish'd, he was oblig'd to pass the nig