Bonnie Prince Charlie: Charles Edward Stuart (Pimlico) (55 page)

The prince’s new protectors were masters of their immediate environment. When, after three days, they learned that Captain ‘Black’ Campbell’s militia was encamped just four miles away, they moved the prince to another grotto ‘no less romantic than the former’ for the next four days.
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Finally, on 1 August, fearing eventual discovery because of the now dense infestation of the black-coated militia in the surrounding area, they moved north to the Braes of Strathglass, again travelling by night and resting by day. By this time the prince was determined to have another shot at possible French shipping in Poolewe. After three nights in a ‘sheally hut’, he sent two of the Seven Men forward to Poolewe to reconnoitre.
⁸³

The recent long waits, combined with lack of progress towards any specific goal, finally wore down Charles Edward’s patience. While his two envoys were away, the prince’s nerves, which had been stretched taut while dodging through the cordon, snapped. Stress brought with it the usual self-destructive behaviour. Suddenly he ordered his companions to march on, without waiting for news from Poolewe. They refused, both on the grounds that their two absent comrades to whom they had sworn an oath were depending on them, and, more relevantly to the prince, that they could not guarantee his safety without the intelligence the absent pair would bring back.

The prince blustered and threatened. But his royal prerogative cut no ice here. Then he threatened to go on hunger strike. The Glenmoriston men hinted at forced feeding if he would not see reason. At this the prince changed gear at his usual lightning speed and capitulated, exclaiming bitterly: ‘I find kings and princes must be ruled by their privy council, but I believe there is not in all the world a more absolute privy council than what I have at present.’
⁸⁴
Significantly, though, there were no further altercations between him and the Glenmoriston men.

On 5 August they moved on to their rendezvous point. At midday they reached Glencannich and spent the rest of the day in a wood. After getting shelter for the night in a neighbouring village, they made an early (2 a.m.) start on the 6th and climbed Beinn Acharain, north-west of Invercarrich; this was the most northerly point of the prince’s wanderings on the mainland.
⁸⁵
Following another night in a ‘sheally hut’, they were joined by their comrades from Poolewe. These
brought
back news that a French ship had indeed put in there recently, but had departed after landing two of Louis XV’s officers.
⁸⁶
The two Frenchmen were now scouring Lochiel’s country in search of the prince.

This landing at Poolewe was the latest manifestation of a stubborn and determined French effort to rescue the prince, In mid-June Maurepas dispatched two of his most able privateer captains to Scottish waters: Captains Dumont and Anguier, masters respectively of
Le Hardi Mendiant
and
Le Bien Trouvé.
⁸⁷
Le Hardi Mendiant
reached the north-west coast of Scotland early in July and brought back O’Sullivan. Had the prince remained on Raasay, he would have been taken off too.
⁸⁸
Le Bien Trouvé
meanwhile landed the French officers the prince now heard of, before being herself captured by HMS
Glasgow
.
⁸⁹

When the prince heard of the Frenchmen’s presence on Scottish soil, he decided to strike south, hoping to meet them and learn their exact orders from Versailles. On the dark moonless night of 8 August, he and his companions set out for Strathglass and recrossed the Cannich. Once again the prince emerged from a night’s march caked with dirt and mud. He could keep up with the doughtiest clansman in the daytime, but at night, not being used to the rough, plashy going underfoot, he often fell in holes and puddles. Since he was wearing a short kilt this left him with dirty thighs and mud-splashed belly.
⁹⁰

They reached Fasnakyle in the morning. There the prince remained for three days, well hidden in a wood, while the Glenmoriston men scouted ahead.
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Hearing that the troops who had been searching for the prince had all been recalled to Fort Augustus, they pressed on in confident mood to the Braes of Glenmoriston, east of Loch Cluanie. It became increasingly clear that the all-out manhunt for the prince had been abandoned.

Why did the London government call off the hunt at this stage, after coming so close to success? Largely this was a triumph of Jacobite disinformation. The cell-like structure of the chain of helpers along the prince’s trail preserved secrecy admirably, for very few people knew of his exact whereabouts, and fewer still knew his future intentions. But secrecy was not only preserved in this way. Those taken into custody for abetting Charles Edward played their part: they told plausible stories about his intentions which, however, departed from the truth in significant essentials. Both Flora MacDonald and O’Neill, for example, swore up and down that the
prince
had crossed to the mainland from Portree.
⁹²
On 27 July he was reported at Badenoch, a month before he reached that spot.
⁹³

The most subtle form of disinformation was that which mixed genuine intelligence with false, gave a correct time but incorrect place, or vice versa.
⁹⁴
So, for example, Albemarle was told in September that Charles Edward was hidden underneath the ground in a sort of cave (as he was, in Cluny’s cage), but that this was in Mull.
⁹⁵
A large-scale search party was then sent to Mull, at the very time the prince was departing for France from Loch-nan-Uamh.
⁹⁶

The other Jacobite tactic which worked very well was to pretend that the prince had already made his escape. When O’Sullivan arrived in Paris in August, the marquise de Mezières bruited it about that the prince was with him. This was untrue, but the English accepted the story and virtually abandoned the search in the Highlands.
⁹⁷
Albemarle broke his camp at Fort Augustus and sent the main body of his army south, out of the Highlands.
⁹⁸
Campbell’s Argyllshire militia was marched to Inverary and disbanded. Only Loudoun’s regiment and seventeen companies of militia were left north of the Highland line.
⁹⁹
As to why there was no sign of the prince in France, the usual answer given was French desire to obfuscate.

General Campbell alone disagreed with this analysis. He argued that Charles Edward must still be in Scotland, since it was in the French interest to keep him there as bogeyman as long as possible.
¹⁰⁰
The consequence of these divided counsels was that for a long time the Whigs could not make up their minds whether the ‘Young Pretender’ was still in Scotland.
¹⁰¹
It was 17 September before the authorities had really solid information that the prince was still in the Highlands.
¹⁰²
But by that time the intelligence was three weeks old and the bird had as good as flown.

The worst danger was in fact over, as the Glenmoriston men surmised. But there were still scouting parties in the Braes of Glengarry. It was thought best to wait until the way ahead was completely clear. The prince spent the day on a hilltop, then moved down to a sheally hut at night. His worst foe at this time was lice. Since he changed his shirt just once a fortnight and slept with his clothes on, it was not surprising that he became louse-ridden.
¹⁰³

On the 13th, two of the Glenmoriston men were sent to Loch Arkaig to locate Cameron of Clunes, the pathfinder to the Lochiel country. Next day, finding the Glengarry country apparently clear of troops, the prince and his party strode out well, making excellent progress.
¹⁰⁴
After an afternoon start, they passed through Glenmoriston,
Glenlyne
and Glengarry. The river Garry was engorged with flood water and fording it was difficult. As night came on, the rain intensified. They spent a miserable vigil in the open, on a hillside about a mile from the river.
¹⁰⁵

In the morning it was still raining, but a graver problem afflicted them. They had nothing to eat, and the land round about had been laid waste and depopulated by Cumberland’s marauders. They pressed on six miles to the Braes of Achnasual. They sheltered from the rain in another wretched hovel: ‘it was raining as heavily within as without.’
¹⁰⁶

A message arrived from Cameron of Clunes with instructions to go to a wood two miles away and rendezvous with him there next day. This turned the tide of their fortunes. As they made their way to the wood, hunger pains gnawing at their bellies, they espied a fine red deer stag.
¹⁰⁷
This posed a quandary. If they fired at the deer, the shots might be heard by enemy patrols. For once the prince was decisive: better a quick death than a slow one, he urged. Fortunately, the Glenmoriston men were easily as skilled in woodcraft as they claimed to be. The deer was killed outright with a single shot.
¹⁰⁸

They dragged the carcase to the wood recommended by Cameron of Clunes and found it an excellent hiding place. Convinced that luck was running their way, they dispensed with the normal precautions and built a fire, over which they roasted haunches of venison.
¹⁰⁹

Even as they were gorging themselves, Donald MacDonell of Lochgarry – the same who had commanded the Glengarry regiment throughout most of the ’45 – came in with two of his kinsmen.
¹¹⁰
Lochgarry informed Charles that Lochiel was still alive. He was amazed by the prince’s physical condition. He described him thus:

He was then barefooted, had an old black kilt coat on, a plaid philabeg and waistcoat, a dirty shirt, a long red beard, a gun in his hand and a pistol and dirk by his side. He was very cheerful and in health and in my opinion fatter than when he was in Inverness.
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Next day Cameron of Clunes joined them. With good food inside them, they trudged on to Loch Arkaig. Here they hid in a wood. The prince sent messengers to summon Lochiel.
¹¹²
Lochgarry had been urging on the prince ever since he met him that the Stuart standard should be set up again. Lochgarry guaranteed that his people would be ready to rise at forty-eight hours’ notice; their first objective should be the surprise and capture of Fort Augustus.
¹¹³
The proposal was
not
to the prince’s liking but he stalled, saying he needed first to hear the opinion of Cluny and Lochiel.

Three days later the Cameron chief’s answer arrived. He apologised for not coming himself, but sent his brother Dr Archibald.
¹¹⁴
With Archie Cameron, as well as his kinsman Reverend John, were the three French officers who had been landed from
Le Bien Trouvé
.
¹¹⁵
Next day, in the wood of Torvault opposite Achnacarry House (Lochiel’s seat but now a charred ruin after being gutted by Cumberland’s men), the prince, incognito as ‘Captain Drummond’, interviewed the three Frenchmen.
¹¹⁶
M. de Lancize, spokesman for the three, showed him his orders and described the full-scale French rescue attempt. It was clear that, however much Louis XV had disappointed the prince during the ’45 itself, he was determined to have the last word by whisking Charles Edward from under the Hanoverian noses.
¹¹⁷
The meeting had positive results. It encouraged the prince to go into hiding in a secure frame of mind, confident that the French were doing their best for him.

It was important now to construct a secure chain of communication with the Scottish west coast, so that there was no repeat of the many missed rescue chances in the half dozen French ships that had already made landfall. Lochgarry, Clunes, Archie Cameron, young Glenaladale and young Borrodale were sent off to arrange this.
¹¹⁸

Charles Edward seemed beyond harm’s way. But complacency nearly led to disaster. At the eleventh hour, by a mere fluke, Albemarle’s men came closer to capturing the prince than at any other time.

Two days later, at eight o’clock in the morning, the prince was awakened by one of the Seven Men with news that the enemy was approaching the hut where they lay in Torvault wood.
¹¹⁹
Racing out of the hut, the prince and his eight companions took up position on the hill of Meall-an-Tagraidh above the wood. Charles’s immediate reaction was that he must have been betrayed by one of the party who had departed on the 21st. He was determined to make a last stand and go down fighting. He examined the Glenmoriston men’s guns, pronounced them in good order, and was confident they would do a lot of execution: ‘for his part he was a tolerable marksman and could be sure of one at least.’
¹²⁰

But there was no treachery afoot. What happened was that a party of Loudoun’s regiment under Grant of Knockando came upon the hut accidentally. They saw the signs of recent habitation but could not have dreamed these were traces of the ‘Young Pretender’. There would have been nothing surprising about Highlanders fleeing from
the
advent of soldiers in the summer of 1746. Soon Grant’s men moved on, suspecting nothing. But the prince was shaken by the incident. He spent the night on the hills of Glenkingie Braes.
¹²¹
Next day he slept on a mountain top right through the afternoon in his wet clothes, wrapped in a plaid, even though it was an excessively cold day and the driving rain frequently turned to hail.
¹²²

For the next two days the prince and the Glenmoriston men stayed on the heights of Glenkingie. They killed a cow and roasted its meat over a fire that they kept lit for half-hour periods only. Their ordeal was relieved by the timely arrival at midnight of a party of MacPhersons sent by Cluny. They brought bread and cheese and, more importantly from the prince’s point of view, whisky. ‘We persuaded him to take a hearty dram,’ the Rev. John Cameron recorded laconically.
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