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CHAPTER XIV. 



THE romantic enterprise upon which Prince Charles 

 Edward Stuart embarked in 1745, has formed the theme 

 alike of song and story. It is not proposed to re-tell in 

 these pages, the history of the most splendid failure with 

 which the Highlands are associated. But the inception 

 of the rising, and, especially, the adventures of the Prince 

 after Culloden, are so intimately connected with the Long 

 Island that they call for detailed mention in a work of 

 this kind. 



The failure of the French expedition of 1744 the 

 elements once more proving adverse and the fickleness 

 of France as an ally, decided Charles Edward to throw 

 himself upon the generosity of the Highland Jacobites. It 

 was an undertaking from which the boldest heart might well 

 shrink. The Highlanders were at peace with the Govern- 

 ment. Some of the most powerful of the chiefs were 

 members of the British Parliament. The lessons of the 

 "'15" and "'19 " had not been forgotten. The most ardent 

 of the Jacobites were unwilling to rise unless there were 

 reasonable prospects of success. And their view was, 

 that success was only attainable with the help of French 

 troops. But Fortune favours the brave ; and an enter- 

 prise from which even the most courageous of the Prince's 

 adherents endeavoured in vain to dissuade him, came, as 

 events proved, within a measurable distance of fulfilling 

 the wildest hopes of its promoter. 



Accompanied by the Marquis of Tullibardine whose 

 younger brother, a Whig, had ousted him from the Dukedom 

 of Atholl Sir Thomas Sheridan, Sir John Macdonald 

 an officer in the French army Colonel Strickland, Captain 



