Land, according to P. Williamson?s Directory for
1784.
Amid the tumultuom excitement of the Highlanders
entering the city with their trophies, they
repeatedly fired their muskets in the air. One
being loaded with ball, the latter grazed the forehead
of Miss Nairne, a young Jacobite lady, who
was waving her handkerchief from a balcony in
the High Street. ?Thank God!? exclaimed the
THE CASTLE ROAD. (From n Drawing by ranm Drummona, R.S.A.)
the Weigh-house, where the Highland pcket-at
whom was fired the 32 lb. cannon ball still shown,
and referred to in an early chapter-occupied the
residence of a fugitive, the Rev. George Logan, a
popular preacher, famous controversialist, and
author of several learned treatises.
The noise made by the Highlanders in the city,
the din of so many pipes in the lofty streets, and
the acclamations of the Jacobites, had such an
1
?that this accident has happened to me, whose
true principles are known. Had it befallen a
Whig, they would have said it was done on purpose.?
*
This victory annihilated the only regular army
in the kingdom, and made Charles master of it all,
with the exception of the castles of Edinburgh and
Stirling, and a few petty Higliland forts. It caused
the greatest panic in London, and a serious run
upon the Bank of England.
The fugitives who reached the Castle numbered
105. To close it up, guards were now placed at
all the avenues. The strongest of these was near
* Note to chap LI., ? Waverley.?
that he called a council of war, at which he urged
upon the officers, ?that as the fortress was indefensible,
with a garrison so weak, terms for capitulating
to the Scottish prince should at once be
entered into.?
To this proposal every officer present assented,
and it would have been adopted, had not General
Preston, the man whom the authorities had just
superseded, demanded to be heard. Stern,
grim, and tottering under wounds won in King
William?s wars, and inspired by genuine hatred of
the House of Stuart, he declared that if such a
measure was adopted he would resign his cornmission
as a disgrace to him. On this, Guest
handed over to him the command of the fortress,
1745.1 GENERAL- PRESTON, 329
the operations subsequent to his council of war,
though the inscription on his tomb in Westminster
CHARLES EDWARD IN HIS YOUTH,
(Frm t@ Portrait 6y Torque.)
when " besieged by the rebels."
The officers of state had now fled from Edinburgh
to defend which he instantly adopted the most
vigorous measures. He wrote to the Secretary of
State, acquainting him that if not soon relieved he
would be compelled to surrender, as his stock of
provisions was so small. This letter fell into the
hands of the Prince, by whom the Castle was
never formally summoned. Preston had now been
seventy years in the service. He was in his eighty,
seventh year, and was so enfeebled by time and
wounds as to be unable to walk j yet so constant
was his vigilance, that every two hours he was
wheeled round the posts to see that his sentinels
were on the alert, and whenever a Highlander could
be seen, a gun loaded with grape was fired at him
CHAPTER XLI.
EDINBURGH IN 1745 (concluded).
General] Guest's '' Bravery "-Popularity of the Prince-Castle Blockaded-It Fires on the City-kith Bombarded-End of the Blockade-
Departure of the Highland Army for England-Prisoners in the Castle-Macdopald of Teindreich-Duke ofCurnberlan'd in Edinburgh-
Burning of the Standards.