' one small iron gun . .. without a carriage, lying upon
a cart, drawn by a little Highland horse'.
On the morning of the i9th the royal army began its advance
on Edinburgh. Led by Lord John Murray's and Lord London's
High- landers in their dark tartans, the long red column with
its train of artillery and baggage waggons ' extended for
several miles along the road'. Accompanying it were large
numbers of country-people attracted by the unusual spectacle,
and had Hogarth been present he would have found ample material
for a companion-piece to his 'March to Finchley'. Although
many followed the army solely out of curiosity, there were
others who were prompted by less innocent motives, for according
to Carlyle 'many people in East Lothian at that time were
Jacobites, and they were most forward to mix with the soldiers'.
In contrast Cope did his best to improve his troops' morale,
and 'all along on the March, by riding through the Ranks,
and encouraging the Men, he ... raised their Spirits to such
a Degree, that all express'd the strongest Desire for Action;
even the Dragoons breath'd nothing but Revenge, and threaten'd
the Rebels with nothing but Destruction'.
Cope had intended to push on as far as possible, but having
covered the n miles to Haddington by the early afternoon,
and finding that there was an insufficient supply of water
for some con- siderable distance further on, he decided to
remain there until next day. A camp was formed to the west
of the town, and the officers crowded hopefully into the inns
in search of dinner, but before they had time to sit down
to a meal the drums beat to arms, and they had to hurry back
to their regiments. It was soon discovered to be a false alarm,
which, it was alleged, had 'followed' the coach carrying the
Hon. Francis Charteris and his newly-wedded wife to their
home nearby, and this rumour may well have been true. For
not only was his bride a daughter of the dowager Duchess of
Gordon, who had Jacobite sympathies, but his elder brother.
Lord Ekho, was with the Prince, and he himself had subscribed
towards the Cause. In any event the incident can have done
little to increase Cope's confidence in his men, but to gloss
over it he thanked them for their alertness, on which they
returned him 'an huzza'.
Among the 80 or so volunteers who had joined the royal army
were a number of students from the College of Edinburgh, who,
like Carlyle and Home, had belonged to the volunteer company
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