326 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. 11745.
-the identical vehicle in which the deputies had returned
from Gray?s Mill, and the driver of which
wanted to pass out at that critical juncture. ?Open
the port,? he cried, ?for I behove to get out.? ?You
cannot,? yeplied the sentinel, ?without an order from
Provost Stewart.? ?Let the coach out instantly,?
said James Gillespie, under-keeper of the gate,
?:for I have an order to that effect.? ?Oh, sir, ?tis
very well; you have the keys of the port and must
answer for it,? replied the soldier,. as he pulled
back the ponderous gate in the arch between its
two massive towers.
At that moment a Highlander sprang in and
wrested his musket from him ; it was the chief of
Lochiel; and immediately the whole clan Cameron
advanced up the street, with swords drawn and
colours flying, their pipes playing
? We?ll awa to Shirramuir,
And haud the Whigs ip order.?
Other noise there was none, and no bloodshed;
not an armed man was to be seen on the streets, to
the astonishment of the Highlanders, who saw only
the people in their nightdresses, at the windows,
by the light of the early dawn.
They seized the Guard-house, disarmed the
Guard, captured the cannon and arsenal, placed
pickets at the eight principal gates with the
utmost order and regularity, while the magistrates
retired to their houses, aware that their authority
was ended. .
Generals Guest and Preston hoisted the royal
standard on the Castle, and fired a few cannon to
warn all to keep from its vicinity, and, meanwhile,
after two hours? sleep, Charles prepared to take
possession of the palace of his forefathers. Making
a tour to the south, to avoid the fire of the Castle
till he reached Braidsburn, he turned towards the
city as far as the Hare Stone, a mass of granite
on the turnpike road near Morningside-the old
banner stone of the Burghmuir. He then wheeled
to the east by the beech-shaded Grange Loan (now
bordered by villas, sequestered and grassy then),
which leads by the old house of the Grange to the
Causeway side
Near Priestfield he entered the royal parks by
a breach that had been made in the wall, and
traversed the Hunter?s Bog, that had echoed so
often .to the bugles of his ancestors. Leaving his
troops to take up their camp, about noon he rode
-with what emotions we may imagine-towards
old Holyrood, of a thousand stirring memories,
attended by the Duke of Perth and Lord Elcho,
with a train of gentlemen and the veterans of his
Highland guard-veterans of Sherriffmuir and Glenshiel-
eighty in number, at the very time that Sir
John Cope?s armament was disembarking at Dunbar.
On reaching the eminence below St. Anthony?s
chapel and well, when for the first time he came
in sight of the old palace, he alighted from his
horse, and paused to survey the beautiful scene.
Then descending to the Duke?s Walk (so called
because it had been a favourite resort of his grandfather,
to whose flagrant misgovernment he owed
his exile) he halted for a few minutes to show himself
to the people, who now flocked around him in
great numbers with mingled feelings of ccriosity
and admiration. Loud huzzas came from the
crowd, and many of the enthusiastic Jacobites
knelt down and kissed his hand. He then
mounted his horse-a fine bay gelding, presented
to him by the Duke of Perth-and rode slowly
towards the palace. On arriving in front of Holyrood
he alighted, and was about to enter the royal
dwelling, when a cannon ball fired from the Castle
struck the front of Jarnes V.?s tower, and brought
down a quantity of rubbish into the court-yard.
No injury was done, however, by this gratuitous
act of annoyance, and the Prince, passing in at the
outer gate, and proceeding along the piazza, and
the quadrangle, was about to enter the porch of
what are called the Duke of Hamilton?s apartments,
when James Hepburn of Keith, who had takeii
part in the rising of 1715, ?a model of ancient
simplicity, manliness, and honour,? stepped from
the crowd, bent his knee in token of homage, and
then drawing his sword, raised it aloft, and marshalled
the way before Charles up-stairs.?
On this day Charles wore a short tartan coat, with
the star of St- Andrew, a blue velvet bonnet, and
white cockade, a blue ribbon over his shoulder,
scarlet breeches, and military boots, Tall, handsome,
fair, and noble in aspect, he excited the
admiration of all those fearless Jacobites, the ladies
especially. ?All were charmed with his appearance,?
says Home; ?they compared him to
Robert Bruce, whom he resembled, they said, in
his figure and fortune. The Whigs looked upon
him with other eyes; they acknowledged that he
was a goodly person, but observed that even in
that triumphant hour, when about to enter the
palace of his fathers, the air of his countenance was
languid and melancholy; that he looked like a
gentleman and man of fashion, but not like a hero
or conqueror.? He adds, however, that he was
greeted with acclaim by the peasantry, who, whenever
he went abroad, sought to kiss his hand3 and
even to touch his clothes.
At one o?clock on the same day a body of the
Cameron clansmen was drawn up around the
