Battle in 1745

Letters, speeches, and sermons poured from the press, denouncing the claims of the Popish pretender, and painting lurid pictures of what might be expected under his rule. In the London theatres the national anthem was sung with an additional verse reflecting the feelings of the day:

Although in retrospect it is obvious that much of this patriotic fervour was whipped up by skilful Whig propaganda, underlying it all was the Englishman's deep-rooted aversion to Roman Catholi- cism, and his inherent respect for law and order. Or, as one writer succinctly puts it:' Hanover might be hated, but Papacy and rebellion were hated vastly more.'

In Scotland the outward result of the Prince's victory was that excepting for the castles of Edinburgh, Stirling, and Dumbarton, and the Highland forts and barracks, the whole of the country was in Jacobite hands. Morally, its effect was still more far-reaching, for on paper, at least, a well-equipped regular army had been routed in less than ten minutes by a collection of raw Highland levies. On waverers, such as the wily Lord Lovat, its influence was decisive, and declaring it to be' the greatest victory that had ever been gained', he ordered his eldest son to lead out the Erasers. To the French, the battle, and the resultant withdrawal of the British troops from Flanders, suggested that what had seemed a forlorn hope might turn out to be a profitable side-show.

In Charles's mind Prestonpans implanted the fatal belief that his Highlanders were invincible.