cdonalds, placed on the left
wing, would not charge. Keppoch's men were discontented because they
were not allowed to have a Catholic chaplain. Crying out, "The children
of my clan have forsaken me," Keppoch charged alone, and died the death
of renown. Beaten and blinded by a storm of snow in their faces, the
Highland right clove the ranks of Monro and Burrell, only to fall, in
layers three or four deep, before the fire of Sempill's regiment in the
second line. The whole English force advanced; Charles rode to his
second line, and offered to charge with them. His officers told him that
it was in vain; Highlanders once beaten would not rally. (MS. "Lyon in
Mourning," and MS. of Stuart Threipland at Abbotsford.) Charles was
hurried off the field by his Irish tutor, and fled to Lord Lovat's, at
Gortuleg. A story of his lack of courage, told by Sir Walter Scott on
the authority of Sir James Stewart Denham's recollections of Lord
Elcho's MS., is erroneous. Lord Elcho's MS. does not contain the
statement. What he objects to is Charles's refusal to meet the fragments
of his army at Ruthven, in Badenoch, whence they hoped to wage a
guerilla warfare. Lord George Murray himself admits that the project was
impossible. Charles, however, should have gone to Ruthven, but he
distrusted Lord George; and his hope of a speedy voyage to France, where
he expected to receive aid in men and money, was frustrated.

It is needless to repeat the tale of Cumberland's almost incredible
butcheries, cruelties, and robberies, or to tell of the executions
accompanied by the torture of disembowelling the living man. The story
of Charles's wanderings and distresses is narrated best in the MS. "Lyon
in Mourning," partly printed by Robert Chambers, in "Jacobite Memoirs."
No words can overpraise the loyalty of the starving Highlanders; neither
English tortures, nor the promise of L30,000, ever moved one man or
woman from their constant faith. Only one hungry boy whom Charles had
fed, attempted to betray him, but was not believed. As for the prince,
he is briefly described by a companion as "the most prudent man not to
be a coward, the most daring not to be foolhardy, whom he had ever
known." He showed a constant gayety, singing and telling tales to
hearten his followers. His resource was endless; he was by far the best
cook and the least fastidious eater of his company. He could cook a dish
of cow's brains, or swallow raw oatmeal and salt-water. Surrounded