company of Lee's regiment, commanded by Captain
Cochrane. Besides the regular troops there were
some volunteers, consisting principally of small
parties of the neighbouring tenantry, headed by their
respective landlords. Some Seceders, actuated by
religious zeal, had also placed themselves under the
royal standard. Pursuant to the orders he had re-
ceived. Lord Nairne left the position he had occu-
pied during the night at the appointed hour, and re-
joined the main body about three o'clock in the
morning. Instead of continuing the order of march
of the preceding night, it had been determined by
the council of war to reverse it. The charge of this
movement was intrusted to Colonel Ker. The
Duke of Perth, who was to command the right
wing, was at the head of the inverted column. He
was attended by Hepburn of Keith, and by Robert
Anderson, son of Anderson of Whitburgh, who, from
his intimate knowledge of the morass, was sent for-
ward to lead the way. A little in advance of the
van, was a select party of 60 men doubly armed, un-
der the command of Macdonald of Glenalladale, ma-
PRESTONPANS.
569
jor of the regiment of Clanranald, whose appointed
duty it was to seize the enemy's bag-gage. The army
proceeded in an easterly direction till near the farm
of Ringan-head, when, turning to the left, they
marched in a northerly direction through a small
valley which intersects the farm. During the march
the utmost silence was observed, not even a whis-
per being heard ; and lest the trampling of horses
might discover their advance, the few that were in
the army were left behind. The ford or path across
the morass was so narrow that the column — which
marched three men abreast — had scarcely sufficient
standing room ; and the ground along it was so soft
that many of the men were almost at every step up
to the knees in mud. The path in question — which
was about 200 paces to the west of the stone-bridge
afterwards built across Seaton mill-dam — led to a
small wooden-bridge thrown over the large ditch
which ran through the morass from east to west.
This bridge, and the continuation of the path on
the north of it, were a little to the east of Cope's
left. From ignorance of the existence of this bridge,
— from oversight, or from a supposition that the
marsh was not passable in that quarter, — Cope had
placed no guards in that direction, and the conse-
quence was, that the Highland army, whose march
across could here have been effectually stopped by
a handful of men, passed the bridge and cleared the
marsh without interruption. The Prince's army was
divided into two columns or lines, with an interval
between them. After the first line had got out of
the marsh. Lord George Murray sent the Chevalier
Johnstone to hasten the march of the second, which
was conducted by the Prince in person. At the re-
mote end of the marsh there was a deep ditch, three
or four feet broad, over which the men had to leap.
In jumping across this ditch, Charles fell upon his
knees on the other side, and was immediately raised
by the Chevalier Johnstone, who says, that Charles
looked as if he considered the accident a bad omen.
As the column cleared the marsh, it continued its
course towards the sea ; but after the whole army
had passed, it was ascertained that the Duke of
Perth had inadvertently — not being able, from the
darkness, to see the whole line — advanced too far
with the front, and that a considerable gap had, in
consequence, been left in the centre. The Duke
being informed of this error, halted his men till
joined by the rear. Hitherto the darkness had con-
cealed the march of the Highlanders; but the morn-
ing was now about to dawn, and at the time the
order to halt was given, some of Cope's piquets sta-
tioned on his left, for the first time heard the tramp
of the Highlanders. The Highlanders heard dis-
tinctly these advanced guards repeatedly call out,
" Who is there?" No answer having been returned,
the piquets gave the alarm, and the cry of " Can-
nons, cannons ! Get ready the cannons, cannoniersl"
resounded on Cope's left wing. Charles instantly
gave directions for attacking Cope before he should
have time to change his position by opposing his
front to that of the Highland army. It was not in
compliance with any rule in military science that the
order of march of the Highland army had been re-
versed ; but in accordance with an established punc-
tilio among the clans, which, for upwards of seven
centuries had assigned the right wing, regarded as
the post of honour, to the Macdonalds. As arranged
at the council-of-war on the preceding evening, the
army was drawn up in two lines. The first consisted
of the regiments of Clanranald, Keppoch, Glengary,
and Glencoe, under their respective chiefs. These
regiments formed the right wing, which was com-
manded by the Duke of Perth. The Duke of Perth's
men and the Macgregors composed the centre; while
I the left wing, commanded by Lord George Murray,
was formed of the Camerons under Lochiel, their
chief, and the Stewarts of Appin commanded by
Stewart of Ardshiel. The second line, which was
to serve as a reserve, consisted of the Athole-men,
the Robertsons of Strovvan, and the Maclauchlans.
This body was placed under the command of Lord
Nairne. As soon as Cope received intelligence of
the advance of the Highlanders, he gave orders to
change his front to the east. Some confusion took
place in carrying these orders into execution, from
the advanced guards belonging to the foot not being
able to find out the regiments to which they be-
longed, and who, in consequence, stationed them-
selves on the right of Lee's five companies, and
thereby prevented the two squadrons of Gardiner's
dragoons, which had been posted on the right of the
line, from forming properly. For want of room, the
squadron under Colonel Gardiner drew up behind
that commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Whitney.
In all other respects the disposition of each regiment
was the same ; but the artillery, which before the
change had been on the left, and close to that wing,
was now on the right somewhat farther from the
line, and in front of Whitney's squadron.
There was now no longer any impediment to pre-
vent the armies from coming into collision ; and if
Cope had had the choice, he could not have selected
ground more favourable for the operations of cavalry
than that which lay between the two armies. It
was a level cultivated field of considerable extent
without bush or tree, and had just been cleared of
its crop of grain. But unfortunately for the English
general, the celerity with which the Highlanders
commenced the attack prevented him from availing
himself of this local advantage. The beams of the
rising sun were just beginning to illuminate the
horizon ; but the mist which still hovered over the
corn-fields prevented the two armies from seeing
each other. Every thing being in readiness for ad-
vancing, the Highlanders took off their bonnets,
and, placing themselves in an attitude of devotion,
with upraised eyes uttered a short prayer. As the
Highlanders had advanced considerably beyond the
main ditch. Lord George Murray was apprehensive
that Cope might turn the left flank, and to guard
against such a contingency, he desired Lochiel, who
was on the extreme left, to order his men in ad-
vancing to incline to the left. Lord George then
ordered the left wing to advance, and sent an aid-
de-camp to the Duke of Perth to request him to put
the right in motion. The Highlanders moved with
such rapidity that their ranks broke ; to recover
which, they halted once or twice before closing with
the enemy. When Cope, at day-break, observed
the first line of the Highland army formed in order
of battle, at the distance of 200 paces from his posi-
tion, he mistook it for bushes ; but before it had
advanced half-way, the rays of the rising sun burst-
ing through the retiring mist showed the armies to
each other.
" Day opened in the orient sky
With wintry aspe'^t, dull and drear ;
On every leaf, while glitteriiii^ly
The rimy hoar-frost did appear.
The ocean was unseen, though near ;
And hazy shadows seem'd to draw,
lu azure, with their mimic floodH,
A line above the Seaton wood^.
And round Nortli Berwick Law."
The army of Cope at this time made a formi
dable appearance ; and some of Charles's officers
were heard afterwards to declare, that when they
first saw it, and compared the gallant appearance
of the horse and foot, with their well-polished arms
glittering in the sunbeams, with their own line
broken into irregular clusters ; they expected that
570
PRESTONPANS.
the H'frhlaiid army would be instantly defeated, and
swept from the field.
The Highlanders continued to advance in pro-
found silence. As the right wing marched straight
forward without attending to the oblique movement
of the Camerons to the left, a gap took place in the
centre of the line. An attempt was made to fill it
up with the second line, which was about fifty paces
behind the first, but before this could be accom-
plished, the left wing, being the first to move, had
advanced beyond the right of the line, and was now
engajjed with the enemy. By inclining to the left,
the Camerons gained half the ground originally be-
tween them and the main ditch ; but this movement
brought them up directly opposite to Cope's cannon.
On approaching the cannon the Highlan(]ers fired a
few shots at the artillery guard, which alarmed an
old gunner who had charge of the cannon, and his
assistants, to such a degree that they tied, carrying
the powder-flasks along with them. To check the
advance of the Highlanders, Colonel Whiteford fired
off five of the field-pieces witli his own hand ; but
though their left seemed to recoil, they instantly
resumed the rapid pace they had set out with. The
artillery guard next fired a volley with as little
effect. Observing the squadron of dragoons under
Lieutenant-colonel AVhitney advancing to charge
them, the Camerons set up a loud shout, rushed
past the caimon, and, after discharged a few shots
at the dragoons, which killed several men, and
wounded the lieutenant-colonel, flew upon them
sword in hand. When assailed, the squadron was
reeling to and fro from the fire; and the Highlanders
following an order they had received, to strike at
the noses of the horses without minding the riders,
completed the disorder. In a moment the dragoons
wheeled about, rode over the artillery guard, and
fled followed by the guard. The Highlanders con-
tinuing to push forward without stopping to take
prisoners, Colonel Gardiner was ordered to advance
with his squadron, and charge the enemy. He ac-
cordingly went forward, encouraging his men to
stand firm ; but this squadron, before it had ad-
vanced many paces, experienced a similar recep-
tion with its companion, and followed the ex-
ample which the other had just set. After the
flight of the dragoons, the Highlanders advanced
upon the infantry, who opened a fire from right
to left, which went down the line as far as Mur-
ray's regiment. They received this volley with
a loud huzza, and throwing away their muskets,
drew their swords and rushed upon the foot before
they had time to reload their pieces. Confounded
by the flight of the dragoons, and the furious onset
of the Highlanders, the astonished infantry threw
down their arms and took to their heels. Hamilton's
dragoons, who were stationed on Cope's left, dis-
played even greater pusillanimity than their com-
panions ; for no sooner did they observe the squa-
drons on the right give way, than they turned their
backs and fled without firing a single shot or drawing
a sword. Murray's regiment being thus left alone
on the field, fired upon the Macdonalds who were
advancing, and also fled. Thus, within a very few
minutes after the action had commenced, the whole
army of Cope was put to flight. With the excep-
tion of their tire, not the slightest resistance was
made by horse or foot, and not a single bayorret was
stained with blood. Such were the impetuosity and
rapidity with which the first line of the Highlanders
broke through Cope's ranks, that they left numbers
of his men in their rear, who attempted to rally be-
hind them ; but on seeing the second line coming up,
they endeavoured to make their escape. Though the
Bccond line was not more than 50 paces behind the first,
and was always running as fast as it could to over-
take the first line, and near enough never to lose
sight of it, yet such was the rapidity with which the
battle was gained, that, according to the Chevalier
Johnstone, who stood by the side of the Prince in
the second line, he could see no other enemy on the
field of battle than those who were lying on the
ground killed and wounded. Unfortunately for the
royal infantry, the walls of the enclosures about the
village of Preston, which, from the position they
took up on the preceding evening, formed their great
security on their right, now that these park-walls
were in their rear, operated as a barrier to their
flight. Having disencumbered themselves of their
arms to facilitate their escape, they had deprived
themselves of their only means of defence, and driven
as they were upon the walls of the enclosures, they
would have all perished under the swords of the
Highlanders, had not Charles and his officers stre-
nuously exerted themselves to preserve the lives of
their discomfited foes. The impetuosity of the at-
tack, however, and the sudden flight of the royal
army, allowed little leisure for the exercise of hu-
manity ; and before the carnage ceased several hun-
dreds had fallen under the claymores of the High-
landers, and the ruthless scythes of the Macgregors.
Armed with these deadly weapons, which were sharp-
ened and fixed to poles from seven to eight feet long,
to supply the place of other arms, this party mow-
ed down the affrighted enemy, cut off the legs of
the horses, and severed, it is said, the bodies of
their riders in twain. Of the infantry of the royal
army, about 170 only escaped. From a report made
by their own sergeants and corporals, by order of
Lord George Murray, between 1,600 and 1,700
prisoners, foot and cavalry, fell into the hands of
the Highlanders, including about 70 officers. In this
number were comprehended the baggage-guard sta-
tioned at Cockenzie, which amounted to 300 men,
who, on learning the fate of the main body and the
loss of their cannon, surrendered to the Canierons.
The cannon and all the baggage of the royal army
together with the military chest, containing £4,000,
fell into the hands of the victors. The greater part
of the dragoons escaped by the two roads at the ex-
tremities of the park-wall, one of which passed by
Colonel Gardiner's house in the rear of their right,
and the other on their left, to the north of Preston-
house. In retiring towards these outlets, the dra-
goons, at the entreaties of their officers, halted once
or twice, and faced about to meet the enemy ; but
as soon as the Highlanders came up and fired at
them, they wheeled about and fled. Cope, who was
by no means deficient in personal courage, assisted
by the Earls of Home and Loudon, collected about
450 of the panic-struck dragoons on the west side of
the village of Preston, and attempted to lead them
back to the charge ; but no entreaties could induce
these cowards to advance, and the whistling of a few
bullets discharged by some Highlanders near the vil-
lage, so alarmed them that they instantly scampered
off in a southerly direction, screening their heads
behind their horses' necks to avoid the bullets of the
Highlanders. The general had no alternative but
to gallop off with his men. He reached Coldstream,
a town about 40 miles from the field of battle, that
night ; and entered Berwick next day.
Among six of Cope's officers who were killed was
Colonel Gardiner, a veteran soldier who had served
under the Duke of Marlborough, and whose charac-
ter combined a strong religious feeling with the most
undaunted courage. He had been decidedly opposed
to the defensive system of Cope on the preceding
evening, and had counselled the general not to lose
a moment in attacking the Highlanders; but his ad-
PRESTONPANS.
571
vice was disregarded. Anticipating the fate which
awaited him, he spent the greater part of the night
in devotion, and resolved at all hazards to perform
his duty. He was wounded at the first onset at the
head of his dragoons ; but disdaining to follow them
in their retreat, he joined a small body of foot, which
attempted to rally near the wall of his own garden,
and while fighting at their head was cut down by the
murderous Lochaber axe of a Macgregor, within a
few yards of his own house. He was carried to the
manse of Tranent in almost a lifeless state, where he
expired within a few hours, and was interred in the
north-west corner of the church of Tranent.* Cap-
tain Brymer of Lee's regiment, who appears to have
participated in Gardiner's opinion as to attacking the
Highlanders, met a similar fate. Having been at the
battle of Sheriffinuir, he was satisfied of the capa-
bility of the Higblandprs to contend with regular
troops, and dreaded the result of an encounter if
assailed by the Highlanders. When encamped at
Haddington his brother-officers were in high spirits,
and making light of the enemy ; but Brymer viewed
matters in a very different light. While reading one
night in his tent he was accosted by Mr. Congalton
of Congalton, his brother-in-law, who, observing him
look pensive and grave, when all the other officers
appeared so cheerful, inquired the reason. Brymer
answered that the Highlanders were not to be de-
spised, and that he was afraid his brother-officers
would soon find that they had mistaken the character
of the Highlanders, who would, to a certainty, attack
the royal army, with a boldness which those only who
had witnessed their prowess could have any idea of.
These gloomy forebodings were not the result of an
innate cowardice — for this officer was, as he showed,
a brave man — but from a well-founded conviction
that Cope's men could not stand the onset of such a
body of Highlanders as Charles had assembled.
Brymer was killed, with his face to the enemy, dis-
daining to turn his back when that part of the line
where he was stationed was broke in upon by the
Highlanders. The loss on the side of the High-
landers was trifling. Four officers, and between 30
and 40 privates, were killed ; and 5 or 6 officers,
and between 70 and 80 privates, wounded. After
the termination of the fight, the field of battle pre-
sented an appalling spectacle, rarely exhibited in the
most bloody conflicts. As almost all the slain were
cut down by the broadsword and the scythe, the
ground was strewed with legs, arms, hands, noses,
and mutilated bodies, while, from the deep gashes
inflicted by these dreadful weapons, the field was
literally soaked with gore.
" Alas! that Britisli mi^lit should vvieM
Destruction o'er a British plain,
Tliat hands, ordain'd to bear the shield.
Should bring- the poison'd lance, to drain
The life-blood from a brother's vein.
And steep paternal fields in gore ! —
Yet, Preston, such thy fray began ;
Thy marsh-collected waters ran
Empurpled to the shore."
Prestonpans is in the presbytery of Haddington,
and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale. Patron, Sir
G. G. Suttie, Bart. Stipend £287 18s. ; glebe £25
4s. Unappropriated teiiids £104 10s. The parish-
church was built in 1774. Sittings 750. According
to a census taken by the elders, in 1835, the popula-
tion was then 2,467 ; of whom 2,276 were church-
men, 153 were dissenters, and 38 were nondescripts.
* The church has been rebuilt; and the grave of Colonel
Gardiner is now without the walls of the edifice. An American
tourist^who, with an enthusiasm unknown to Scotsmen, re-
cently made a pilgrimage to the grave of Gardiner — exclaims:
" Most true it is, that no monument, not even a stone, marks
the ground where sleeps this extraordinary man, — a man
whom Caledonia may well be proud to have enrolled among
ner best and bravest sons !"
A district, with about 50 or 60 inhabitants, is in-
cluded in the quoad sacra parish of Cockenzie.
There is in the parish a small Wesleyan Methodist
place of worship ; and there are Sabbath schools, at-
tended by about 280 children. There are five schools ;
one parochial and four private; one of the latter con-
ducted by a female. Parochial schoolmaster's salary
£34 4s. 4^d., with £50 fees. Education is at a low
ebb The original but very ancient name of the par-
ish was Aldhammer ; this early gave way to Priests-
toun, which was gradually abbreviated into Preston :
and that, after the erection of salt-works, and some
changes in the parochial tenure, was, in its turn,
superseded by successively Salt-Preston and Preston-
pans. The ancient church was situated at Preston,
and was a vicarage of the monks of Holyrood ; and,
in 1544, it was burned, in common with the town and
castle of Preston, by the Earl of Hertford, aiul not
afterwards repaired. The inhabitants of the two
baronies, the east and the west, or Preston and
Preston-Grange, into which the parish was distri-
buted, seem to have tacitly attached themselves to
Tranent ; but were quite unduly provided for, and
could obtain access, in but limited numbers, to the
interior of the church. Mr. John Davidson, the
confessor, at length built, at his own expense, a
church and a manse in the village of Prestonpans, to
which a glebe, garden, and stipends were attached,
by George Hamilton of Preston ; and the same
worthy minister founded there a school for the teach-
ing of the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, and
endowed it with all his property, free, moveable, and
heritable. In consideration of what was thus done,
the General Assembly, in 1595, declared Preston-
pans to be a parish quoad sacra, and the parliament
of Perth, in 1G06, "erected the said newly built
kirk into a parish-kirk, which was to be called the
parish-kirk of Preston."
Prestonpans, a large village and a burgh-of-
barony, lies along the shore of the frith on the Edin-
burgh and North Berwick road, 2h miles east of
Musselburgh, 8 east of Edinburgh, y| west of Had-
dington, and 14 south-west of North Berwick.
Saltpans are supposed to have been erected on its
site, and to have occasioned it to become a seat of
population, so early as the Pith century. The monks
of Newbattle, who pushed out their trading enter-
prises in all directions from their property of Preston-
Grange, appear to have adopted and cherished Pres-
tonpans as the scene of their salt-making operations ;
and they probably secured it a rude but abounding
prosperity so long as it was under their influence.
Even for generations after the Reformation it con-
firmed to thrive, and to be a flourishing seat of
various sorts of the hardier orders of manufacture.
Its present character and appearance are such as
might indicate that Romish monks, sinking away
into degeneracy, had contirmed, to a large degree, to
direct its destiny. It is considerably more like a
Spanish or an Irish village than a Scottish one, being
chiefly a straggling single street, drawn out to about a
mile in length, — narrow, ill-paved, filthy, and broken
in its roadway, and utterly irregular, generally dull
and somewhat antiquated, and often mean and almost
hut-like in its houses, — the bulky amorphous mass
of a salt-pan or some kindred work squatting among
the other tenements at intervals, and producing a
tout-ensemble peculiarly rude and rueful. A rill
runs across the roadway, and cuts off from the wast
end of the continuous street an ugly suburb called
Cuittle or Cuthill. Not a building, either public or
private, of any intrinsic interest, exists. Even the
parish-church pleases only by its associations, and
has a thing doing service as a steeple, which is too
much in keeping with the prevailing architecture of
PRE
572
PR I
the village. The salt-pans were formerly ten in
number; but they have been nearly all abandoned.
They at one time produced between 8U0 and 900
bushels of salt per week ; and, along with those of
Cockenzie, yielded government a revenue of £17,000
or i 18,000 per annum. A race of females known
as salt-wives and second in notoriety only to the
tish-wives of Fisher-row and Newhaven, used to
carry the salt in ' creels' to Edinburgh, and dispose
of it in the city and its subin-bs; but they were rob-
bed of their occupation by the reduction of the duty.