Cadell's 1898 Book on Sir John Cope back as reprint .. buy here!

Bringing Old Works Back into Print

There have been many excellent books and monographs written over the past 263 years on the topic since Battle was waged in The Pans. Many of them are now extremely hard to come by and very often have become fragile in their advanced years. As such, the Trust resolved to re-print some of the best even adding a just a little extra on the occasion as may be possible.

How Good or Bad was Johnnie Cope?

For the first re-print title, the Trust has choosen to address the conflicting perceptions of the role that Cope played on September 20th and 21st 1745. In The Pans and probably widely across Scotland, Colonel Gardiner was seen as the heroic redcoat Hanoverian figure and General Sir John Cope as an incompetent. We lampoon Cope as we sing Hey Johnnie Cope and we have a grand obelisk to the Colonel here.

Gardiner was of course a local land owner and his home at Bankton House has lately been carefully restored. Everyone hereabouts has a thorntree taken as a cutting from the one beneath which the Colonel was mortally wounded! Incidentally, the Trust has bold plans for the cultural restitution of that portion of the remaining stump of the original thorntree placed in the care of the Military Museum in 1932 but now care-lessly locked in a warehouse in Leith.

But most of us had no idea that a local boy from the Cadell dynasty in Cockenzie, who made good in the Crimea and the Madras artillery becoming General Sir Robert Cadell, had made a substantial effort to get public justice for Cope. Nor that although he died before it was published in 1898 his brother Thomas, who incidentally won the VC in the Indian Mutiny, saw the work to its conclusion under the title Sir John Cope and the Rebellion of 1745.

Better still than this powerful local link, since the Cadell's were long connected as industrialists with both the waggonway and the potteries, and he lived in Cockenzie House where Cope had kept his money baggage which the Prince was subsequently to capture ..... the book is a compelling and engaging read. It's very well written.

When the Trust resolved it should be reprinted, all that was needed was a copy of the book which since none seemed to be available on the internet meant finding someone who had a private copy. And even when that was solved in the person of Martin Margulies, the author of the recent title Battle of Prestonpans 1745, Tempus Books 2007, it was found that the insert map of the battle lines was missing. So a second private source in Stephen Lord, webmaster of the 1745 Association, was traced where the map was still with his copy.

... and then we found a portrait of Sir Robert Cadell

At this moment, purely by chance because of the interest aroused by the Trust's website here, it was mooted that a portrait of Sir Robert Cadell was to be found in the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland. Alas it was not but a web search revealed that an American, Mark Ocepek living in Florida who collected military portraits, had been gifted just such a work by his father who had served in the UK. That portrait with Mark's permission now graces the rear cover of the reprint whilst the map itself acts as the main cover design and of course takes a place of honour inside the rear cover.



Finally, it seemed appropriate to ask Martin Margulies for a new Introduction to the book which could give him the opportunity to correct any errors there might be in the light of research since 1898.

Finally ... we had W Simpson's painting too

All thus seemed ready for the printer when into the door of The Gothenburg in Prestonpans where the Battle Trust is housed came an anonymous gift of a copy of Horsburgh's engraving of W Simpson's painting of the Prince at Holyrood reading Cope's Proclamation that his head was worth £30,000 and then throwing his own gauntlet to the ground. That image was destined for the frontispiece.



Turning this into the finished reprint was accomplished from France, of which one can be sure The Prince would have approved, by John Unwin, printer to Burke's Peerage & Gentry which has hosted the Prestoungrange University Press series of publications since 2006.

TO BUY CADELL'S BOOK HERE ON THE WEB JUST CLICK HERE

If you would prefer, you can mail a cheque or banker's draft for £19.95 plus postage and packing of £3 = £22.95 [overseas alas it's + £9 airmail or £5 by sea] payable to The Battle Trust to The Prestoungrange Gothenburg, 227 High Street, Prestonpans EH32 9BE, Scotland. Or simply walk in off the High Street during Opening Hours which exclude wintertime Mondays.

P.S. Next Stop Colonel Gardiner ...

Next stop for the Trustees is to get an equally accomplished appraisal of the true Colonel Gardiner, pace Dr Doddrige. The task is in hand with playright Andrew Dallmeyer.