about three thousand. Upwards of six thousand had previously been captured by the country people, and the few who had the good fortune to escape joined Munro and returned to Scotland. These prisoners were sold as slaves, and sent to the plantations,-a striking instance of the horrors of civil war.

The duke, abandoning Baillie to his fate, carried off the whole cavalry; but he had not proceeded far when his rear was attacked by the parliamentary army. Middleton made a gallant defence, and was taken prisoner; but the duke escaped, and fled to Uttoxeter, followed by his horse, where he surrendered himself to general Lambert and the lord Grey of Groby, who sent him prisoner to Windsor. The earl of Callander having effected his escape, went over to Holland, disgusted at the conduct of the duke.

As soon as the news of the defeat of Hamilton reached Scotland, the covenanters of the west began to bestir themselves, and a party of them, under the command of Robert Montgomery, son of the earl of Eglinton, attacked a troop of Lanark's horse, quartered in Ayrshire, killed some and routed the rest. The committee of estates, apprehensive that the spirit of insurrection would speedily spread, immediately ordered out all the fencible men in the kingdom to put down the rising in the west. A difference, however, arose in the committee in the choice of a commander. The earl of Lanark and the earl marischal were proposed by their respective friends. His chief opponent was the earl of Roxburghe, who, (says Wishart,)" in a grave and modest speech, earnestly entreated him, for the sake of their dear sovereign and their distressed country, not to insist in demanding that dignity, which was extremely unseasonable and ill-judged at that time. He told him, that, even before the late defeat, many were much offended at the expedition into England, and reckoned that it presaged no good, chiefly because his brother the duke was appointed general; whose fidelity in the management of the king's affairs not a few suspected, though he believed without any good ground, however, it could not be denied that he had always been unfortunate; and people's judgments, with respect to the conduct or misconduct of generals, are known to depend in a great measure, though indeed wrongously, upon their success. Though, for his own part, he said, he was ready to ascribe the loss of that gallant army under his brother, which was attended with such a disgrace to the nation, to the cowardice of others, or to inevitable misfortunes; yet it was sufficiently known, that most of the populace, whose good affections ought by all means to be obtained in this critical juncture, spoke and thought very differently concerning that affair from what it was proper for him to do. And if the earl of Lanark should succeed his brother the duke in that station, as they were already highly inflamed and exasperated, they would immediately exclaim, that the king and country were now utterly undone ; that both the brothers were of the same mind; that they were swayed by the same motives; that they pursued the same courses; and all their

WESTERN INSURGENTS ENTER EDINBURGH.

15

enterprises would undoubtedly terminate in the same unlucky manner, that we wanted not many other persons of quality, wise and brave men, and proper for action, whose ancestors have had the command of the king's armies, and in that post acquired no small honour and renown. It was, therefore, his opinion, that some of these should be invited, even against their own inclinations, to take upon them the command of the army; and, if it pleased the honourable meeting, he thought the first offer ought to be made to the earl marischal, whose family may be ranked among the first of Scotland, as having often distinguished itself by its loyalty and bravery; one who has a plentiful estate, in the flower of his age, not in the least suspected of faction and disloyalty; and, which is of itself no small recommendation in the present case, one who is not courting this preferment."* This significant speech had no effect upon Lanark, who, on a vote being taken, was found to have the majority, and so anxious was he to obtain the command of the army that he actually voted for himself. He had even the indiscretion to declare, that he would not permit any other person to command in his brother's absence. This rash and imprudent behaviour on the part of Lanark so exasperated Roxburghe and his friends, who justly dreaded the utter ruin of the king's affairs, that they henceforth withdrew altogether from public affairs.

As soon as Lanarl. had been appointed to the command of the new levy, he set about raising it with great expedition. For this purpose he sent circulars, plausibly written, to every part of Scotland, calling upon all classes to join him without delay. These circulars had the desired effect. The people beyond the Forth, and even the men of Fife, showed a disposition to obey the call. The earl of Seaforth raised four thousand men in the western islands and in Ross-shire, which he brought south, and the earl of Morton also brought into Lothian twelve hundred men from the Orkneys. In short, with the exception of Argyle, there were few places in Scotland from which considerable bodies of men might not have been expected.

Before the defeat of Hamilton's army, Lanark had raised three regiments of horse, which were now under his command. These, with the accessions of force which were daily arriving from different parts of the kingdom, were quite sufficient to have put down the insurrection in the west; but instead of marching thither, Lanark, to the surprise of every person, proceeded through East Lothian towards the eastern borders to meet Sir George Munro, who was retiring upon Berwick before the army of Cromwell. The people of the west being thus relieved from the apprehensions of a visit, assembled in great numbers, and taking advantage of Lanark's absence, a body of them, to the number of no less than six thousand men, headed by the chancellor, the earl of Eglin

ton, and some ministers, advanced upon the capital, which they entered without opposition, the magistrates and ministers of the city welcoming their approach by going out to meet them. Bishop Wishart describes this body as "a confused rabble, composed of farmers, cowherds, shepherds, coblers, and such like mob, without arms, and without courage," and says, that when they arrived in Edinburgh, "they were provided with arms, which, as they were unaccustomed to, were rather a burden and incumbrance than of any use,"—that "they were mounted upon horses, or jades rather, which had been long used to the drudgery of labour, equipped with pack saddles and halters, in place of saddles and bridles."* This tumultuary body, however, was soon put into proper order by the earl of Leven, who was invested with the chief command, and by David Leslie, as his lieutenant-general, and presented a rather formidable appearance, for on Lanark's return from the south, he did not venture to engage it, though his force amounted to four or five thousand horse and as many foot, many of whom were veterans who had served in Ireland under Munro.

In thus declining, however, to attack Leslie, Lanark acted contrary to the advice of Munro and his other officers. According to Dr Wishart, Lanark's advanced guard, on arriving at Musselburgh, fell in with some of Leslie's outposts, who defended the bridge over the Esk, and Lanark's advanced guard, though inferior in number, immediately put them in great disorder, and killed some of them without sustaining any loss. This success was reported to Lanark, and it was represented to him, that by following it up immediately, while the enemy continued in the state of alarm into which this affair of outposts had thrown them, he might, perhaps, obtain a bloodless victory, and secure possession of the city of Edinburgh and the town of Leith, with all the warlike stores, before sunset. "And, indeed, (says Wishart) nobody doubted, that, had he complied with this advice, Scotland might have been totally recovered and reduced to the king's obedience. But in place of that, he refused to fight, and immediately ordered his troops, who had been hitherto victorious, to be called back, and, leaving the highway which leads to Edinburgh, marched off to the left. Both officers and soldiers, surprised at this unexpected course, began first to murmur, and soon after to exclaim aloud against him for losing this opportunity which, had it been embraced, might very soon have put a period to the war in Scotland."+

Leading his army along the base of the Pentland hills, Lanark proceeded to Linlithgow, which he entered on the evening of the eleventh of September, where he almost surprised the earl of Cassillis, who, at the head of eight hundred horse from Carrick and Galloway, had taken up his quarters there for the night; but a notice having been sent to him of + Ib. p. 317.

• Memoirs, p. 316.

CAPTURE OF STIRLING AND FLIGHT OF ARGYLE.

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the earl of Lanark's approach by some friend, he fled precipitately to the Queensferry, leaving the supper which was cooking for him and his men on the fire, which repast was greedily devoured by Lanark's troops

Ever since Lanark's march to the borders to meet Munro, the marquis of Argyle had been busily employed in raising men in his own territory to assist the insurgents, but it had been so much depopulated by the ravages of Montrose and Macdonald, that he could scarcely muster three hundred men. With these and four hundred more which he had collected in the Lennox and in the western part of Stirlingshire, he advanced to Stirling, which he entered upon the twelfth of September at eleven o'clock forenoon. After assigning to the troops their different posts in the town, and making arrangements with the magistrates for their support, Argyle went to dine with the earl of Mar at his residence in the town. But while the dinner was serving up, Argyle, to his infinite alarm, heard that a part of Lanark's forces had entered the town. This was the advanced guard, commanded by Sir George Munro, who, on hearing that Argyle was in possession of the town when only within two miles of it, had, unknown to Lanark, who was behind with the main body of the army, pushed forward and entered the town before Argyle's men were aware of his approach. Argyle, as usual, looked only to his own personal safety, and, therefore, immediately mounting his horse, galloped across Stirling bridge, and never looked behind till he reached the North Queensferry, where he instantly crossed the Frith in a small boat and proceeded to Edinburgh. Nearly two hundred of Argyle's men were either killed or drowned, and the remainder were taken prisoners.

The levies under the earl of Leven having been reinforced by some additional men from Fife and the southern shires, that general left Edinburgh in pursuit of Lanark, and arrived at Falkirk on the night of the twelfth of September. On intelligence being brought of Leslie's arrival, Munro proposed to Lanark and his friends, the earls of Lindsay and Glencairn, to attack Leslie next morning; but Munro's proposition was overruled, and instead of thanking him for the promptitude which he had displayed in capturing Stirling, they expressed disapprobation of his conduct, and Lindsay not being able to conceal the sorrow he felt at the occurrence, exclaimed, "Woes me! that I should ever have seen this unlucky and mischievous day !" The fact appears to be, that this triumvirate, who concealed all their plans from the open and unsuspecting soldier, had already thought of a treaty with the enemy, and they were afraid lest the unlucky occurrence of the day might so exasperate the parties as to cut off all hope or inclination for the peace which they had projected."* Although Lanark and his committee had negatived Munro's proposal, yet being suspicious that he might himself attack Leslie, they sent all the horse across Stirling bridge, with instructions to

quarter them along the north shore of the Frith of Forth, as far down as Burntisland. A negotiation for peace immediately ensued between the two parties, and on the fifteenth of September a treaty was entered into by which the Hamilton party agreed to refer all civil matters in dispute to a Parliament, to be held before the tenth of January, and all ecclesiastical affairs to an assembly of the kirk. It was also stipulated that both armies should be disbanded before the twenty-ninth of September, or at farthest on the fifth of October, that the adherents of the king should not be disturbed, and that all the prisoners taken in Scotland should be released. Munro perceiving that the king's affairs would be irretrievably ruined by this compromise, objected to the treaty, and would have stood out had he been backed by the other officers; but very few seconding his views, he addressed the troops, who had accompanied him from Ireland, in St Ninian's church, and offered to lead back such as were inclined to Ireland, to serve under their old commander major-general Robert Munro; but having received intelligence at Glasgow that that general had been taken prisoner and sent to London, he disbanded the troops who had followed him thither, and retired to Holland.

According to the treaty the two armies were disbanded on the appointed day, and the "Whigamores," as the insurgents from the west were called, returned immediately home to cut down their corn which was ready for the sickle. Argyle's men, who had been taken prisoners at Stirling, were set at liberty, and conducted home to their own country by one of Argyle's officers.

The marquis of Argyle, Loudon the chancellor, and the earls of Cassillis and Eglinton, and others, now met at Edinburgh, and formed themselves into a body under the title of the Committee of Estates, and having arranged matters for the better securing their own influence, they summoned a parliament to meet on the fourth of January. In the meantime, Oliver Cromwell, who, after the pursuit of Munro, had laid siege to Berwick, was waited upon by Argyle, Lord Elcho, and Sir Charles Erskine, to compliment him upon his success at Preston, and after making Ludovick Leslie deliver up Berwick to him, they invited him and Lambert to Edinburgh. Cromwell took up his residence in the house of Lady Home in the Canongate, where he received frequent visits from Argyle, Loudon, the earl of Lothian, the lords Arbuthnot, Elcho, and Burleigh, and the most noted of the ministers. It is said, that during these conferences, Cromwell communicated to his visitors his intentions with respect to the king, and obtained their consent

About this time a violent struggle took place in the English parliament between the presbyterians and independents about the late seizure of the king by the army. A treaty had been entered into between the king and fifteen commissioners from the parliament at Newport, in the

• Guthry.