Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Jacobite minstrelsy

MINSTRELSY. 231
" The Prince has come to claim his ain,
A stem o' Stuart's glorious name ;
What Highlander his sword wad hain,
For Charlie's cause this morning,
" O, Duncan, &c."
On yonder hills our clans appear,
The sun back frae their spears shines clear ;
The Southron trumps fall on my ear,
'Twill be an awfu' morning.
" O, Duncan, &c."
The royal army, -which was much more numerous, the duke imme-
diately formed into three lines, disposed in excellent order, and about
one o'clock in the afternoon the cannonading began. The Prince's
artillery was ill served, and did very little execution ; but that of the
Duke made dreadful havoc in the ranks of the Highlanders. The
latter showed great impatience of this fire, and their first line was
therefore ordered to advance. Five hundred of the clans then charged
the Duke's left wing with their native impetuosity, and, as usual,
were carrying every thing before them, when the English dragoons
under Hawley, and the Argyleshire militia, by pulling down a park
wall, were enabled to attack them in flank, and immediately the
column was broken and thrown into irretrievable confusion. In less
than thirty minutes this portion of the Highland army was totally
defeated and the field was covered with the slain. The right wing
retired towards the river Nairn in good order, with their pipes play-
ing and the prince's standard displayed, and were not molested in their
retreat. The fugitives of the left were not so fortunate. They were
hotly pursued by the English cavalry, and the road, as far as Inver-
ness, was strewed with dead bodies. A great number of people also,
who, from motives of curiosity had come to see the battle, were
sacrificed to the undistinguishing vengeance of the victors. The
most shocking barbarities were committed with impunity by the
soldiery, and the glory which the Duke of Cumberland might have
acquired by this victory, was lost or sullied by the cruelties with which
it was followed up. Twelve hundred of the Highlanders were slain
in the heat of battle and in the pursuit. But not contented with the
blood thus profusely shed, the English traversed the field after the
action, and massacred those miserable wretches who lay maimed
and expiring ; nay, even some officers acted a part in this cruel scene
of deliberate assassination, the triumph of low illiberal minds, unin-
spired by sentiment, untinctured by humanity. And, to crown all, the
Duke himself ordered a barn, which contained many of the wounded
Highlanders, to be set on fire ; and, having stationed soldiers
around it, they, with fixed bayonets, drove back the unfortunate