DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

(ae) blood of the Highlanders was fired, and, forgetful of fatigue and hunger, they stood shoulder to shoulder grasping their claymores with eager hands ready for action. The battle was short and decisive. Charles, from the height where he stood, saw the rout of his army and the ruin of his cause. Shedding impassioned tears he gave unavailing orders. ‘ Fair lady, mourn the memory of all our Scottish fame ; Fair lady, mourn the memory even of the Scottish name ! How proud were we of our young Prince, and of his native sway ! But all our hopes are past and gone upon Culloden day. ‘There was no lack of bravery there, no spare of blood or breath, For—one to two—our foes we dared, for freedom or for death. The bitterness of grief is past, of terror and dismay ; The die was risked, and foully cast, upon Culloden day !’ It is said that Lord Elcho urged him to charge at the head of the Macdonald clan and win or perish in the attempt, but Sir Thomas Sheridan, grasping the bridle of his horse, prevailed on him to fly. Whether justly or not some historians have based on this report the assertion that Charles’s cowardice provoked Lord Elcho to swear that he would never look again on the face of a man who did not know how to die. Death certainly would have saved the Prince a long life of humiliation and