sets the matter beyond all doubt, for in his account of
the battle he mentions that 'every half hour the General who
continu'd in the Line received the Reports of the Patroles'.
By now Cope had little hope of being joined by the gunners
from Edinburgh Castle, although one faint chance remained.
During the afternoon Lieut. Craig, ofWynyard's (i7th) Foot,
and like Porbes a volunteer, had offered to carry a final
message to Guest, requesting the services of 'the chief engineer'
and some of the gunners. On arriving at the Castle at 11 o'clock
that night Craig found the old general in a far from helpful
mood. He asserted that he was unable to spare the chief engineer,
but 'after making some Difficulties' detailed a bombardier
and four gunners. Craig, who was well-known to some of the
Jacobite leaders, 'who would not fail of suspecting his Business',
considered it safer not to accompany them. Instead, having
disguised them 'like Tradesmen', he sent them off under the
guidance of a countryman, but, due either to the man's stupidity
or political views, the party failed to reach the royal army.
Even without their help Cope had hoped to 'annoy' the enemy
by shelling their position during the night, but he was forced
to abandon this plan after a single round fired from one of
the mortars had raised doubts. Once again the 'damnified fuzes'
had been found wanting.
During the earlier part of the evening all remained quiet,
but about 8 o'clock there was 'a pretty smart Firing' near
Bankton House where one of Cope's dragoon patrols was attacked
by men of the Highland reserve, and shortly afterwards the
Highland front line began moving eastwards to join Lochiel's
regiment on the other side of Tranent. This movement was a
far from silent one, for about 9 o'clock 'all the Dogs in
the Village .. . began to bark with the utmost Fury', and
their barking continued for the next hour and a half. It was
correctly interpreted by Cope and his staff as indicating
a large-scale change of position, although the retention of
the Highland reserve to the west of the village made its object
uncertain.
On completion of this movement the Jacobite leaders met to
dis- cuss the final arrangements for attacking the royal army
at day-break, and Lord George Murray outlined his plan. Bold
yet simple, it consisted of marching round the east end of
the morass and falling on the enemy's open flank. He wrote:
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