314 
Kilmarnock and the accomplished Balmerino, two of the noble 
captives of Culloden—that fatal and sanguinary contest which, in 
the previous April, while Charles Radcliffe was a prisoner in the 
Tower, had ended for ever the hopes of the House of Stuart. The 
scaffold on which the brave and devoted adherent, Charles Rad- 
cliffe, was now to suffer, was covered with black serge, as was the 
fatal block ;* and upon the scaffold was placed the coffin to receive 
his remains. It was covered with black velvet, and had costly gilt 
handles and nails, but bore no inscription. In the meantime the 
Sheriffs proceeded in their chariots from the Mitre Tavern, 
Finchurch-street, to the lower end of the Minories, from whence, 
preceded by their officers, they went to the victualling office, 
where the Sheriffs remained; the under sheriffs proceeding with 
a party of the foot guards to the east gate of the Tower, next the 
iron gate, to demand from General Williamson, deputy-governor, 
the surrender of the prisoner. He was brought, riding in a landau, 
through the east gate of the Tower, whence a procession moved 
slowly in the following order :—First, the officers, then a mourning 
coach, conveying the under sheriffs with their wands, then the 
prisoner, whose carriage was surrounded by a detachment of foot 
guards, and followed by the officers of the Tower. Proceeding 
thus up Little Tower Hill, Mr. Radcliffe alighted opposite the 
victualling office, and happening to see among the crowd some 
gentlemen whom he knew, he saluted them with cheerful courtesy, 
and, coming to the side of the mourning coach, he asked whether 
he was to go in that vehicle, and on being answered in the 
affirmative, said, “It is well,” and stepped in directly. A little 
booth, lined with black cloth, was erected at the foot of the stairs 
leading to the scaffold, wherein he spent a short time at his 
devotions, speaking but few words to any person. He then, with 
great composure, ascended the scaffold, attended by a priest and 
a few friends, and by the sheriffs. 
The gallant Radcliffe was attired in a scarlet regimental suit ; 
the coat made with short tight sleeves and long wide cuffs, with 
* Probably the one now exhibited in the Tower. I was told by the 
Warder in 1846, that Kilmarnock and Balmerino were beheaded on it. 
