Scotch Prisoners entering the Tower 1742
After the defeat of the Pretender’s forces at Culloden, Tullibardine fled to Mull, but he was too broken in health even to attempt escape from the English troops sent out for his capture, and finally surrendered himself to Buchanan of Drumskill. Taken first to Dumbarton Castle, and then to Edinburgh, he was sent from the latter place to London by sea. On his arrival at the Tower, Tullibardine was in an almost dying state, and Lord Cornwallis, the Governor, was allowed by the following order, to send a Dr Wilmott to attend “the person formerly called Marquis of Tullibardine, a prisoner in your custody, from time to time as he shall desire during his indisposition, provided the same to be in the presence of you or the Lieutenant.” On the 9th of July this staunch Cavalier died in the Tower, thus escaping a public execution; he was only fifty-eight years old. He was buried in St Peter’s Chapel. William, Earl of Kilmarnock, who was head of the family of Errol, had fought at Culloden, and was taken prisoner with Lord Balmerino. These, together with the Earl of Cromarty, who had been captured at the castle of Dunrobin, in Sutherland, were brought to London by sea, the warrant which committed them to the Tower being dated the 28th of July.
The following letter from Mrs Osborn, the famous Dorothy Osborn’s great-niece by marriage, and a daughter of the first Lord Torrington, and wife of John Osborn, of Chicksands, in Bedfordshire, to her son, Sir Danvers Osborn, dated 9th December 1745, gives an interesting picture of the state of public feeling. She writes of the “most shameful panick” which had seized London on the news of the advance of the Scottish army. People were hurrying from their country houses for shelter in the capital, and bringing their plate with them wherever they could. This “panick” lasted for four days, and then came the news of the retreat from Derby northwards, and people went home again. She says: “The Prisoners come to the Tower a fryday, ’tis not yet clear if the Pretender’s brother is there. They have strong suspicion still, but the Ministry don’t choose to talk about it.” In the following June, Mrs Osborn writes from Kensington: “’Tis thought ’twill be August before the Lords can be try’d. After some forms are past, the Peers must have 20 days notice. Lady Cromarty is in town, has been at the Tower to enquire after her lord. She was at Williamson’s, and cryd most bitterly, but no one is suffered so much as to look up at the windows. They were all brought into Williamson’s, and from there one by one conducted to their apartments. No one knows where the other is, and they are kept very strict, since the King of France has ordered a most insolent Letter, and takes himself to be King of England to forbid us punishing the Rebels. Is the Prelates got off or not?” asks Mrs Osborn, adding rather cold-bloodedly: “I wish they could have been beheaded at Edinburgh, and not make such a long piece of work as the forms will do here.”
The trial of these “Rebel Lords” took place at Westminster Hall with much ceremonial. The Lord High Steward, Philip Yorke, Earl of Hardwicke, arrived from Ormond Street, attended by a train of gentlemen-at-arms, Black Rod and Garter King at Arms supporting him. He was received by the guard in Old Palace Yard, “by drums beating as to the Royal family.” The peers were in their robes, and the grand old Hall was filled to its utmost limits with a vast crowd of spectators. Horace Walpole, writing to Mann, says: “I am this moment come from the conclusion of the greatest and most melancholy scene I ever saw; you will easily guess it was the trial of the rebel Lords. As it was the most interesting sight, it was the most solemn and fine. A coronation is a puppet show, and all the splendours of it idle; but this sight at once feasted one’s eyes, and engaged all one’s passions. It began last Monday; the three parts of Westminster Hall were enclosed with galleries, and hung with scarlet; and the whole ceremony was conducted with the most awful solemnity and decency, except in the one point of leaving the prisoners at the bar amidst the idle curiosity of the crowd, and even with the witnesses who had sworn against them, while the Lords adjourned to their own house to consult. No part of the Royal Family was there, which was a proper regard for the unhappy men, who were become their victims. One hundred and thirty-nine Lords were present, and made a noble sight on their benches, frequent and full. The Chancellor was Lord High Steward, but though a most comely personage with a fine voice, his behaviour was mean, curiously searching for occasion to bow to the Minister (Henry Pelham) that is no Peer, and consequently applying to the other Ministers in a manner for their orders: and not even ready at the ceremonial. To the prisoners he was peevish; and instead of keeping to the humane dignity of the law of England, whose character it is to point out favour to the criminal, he crossed them, and almost scolded at any offer they made towards defence. Lord Kilmarnock is past forty, but looks younger. He is tall and slender, with an extremely fine person; his behaviour a most just mixture between dignity and submission; if in anything to be reprehended, a little affected, and his hair too exactly dressed for a man in his situation. But when I say this, it is not to find fault, but to show how little fault there is to be found. For Lord Balmerino, he is the most natural, brave old fellow I ever saw; the lightest intrepidity, even to indifference. At the bar he behaved like a soldier and a man; in the intervals of form with carelessness and humour. He pressed extremely to have his wife, his pretty Peggy, with him in the Tower. When they were brought from the Tower in separate coaches, there was some dispute in which the axe must go, old Balmerino cried, ‘Come, come, put it with me!’ At the bar he played with his fingers upon the axe, while he talked with the gentleman gaoler; and one day, somebody coming up to listen, he took the blade and held it like a fan between their faces. During the trial a little boy was near him, but not tall enough to see, he made room for the child, and placed him near himself. When the trial began, the two Earls (Kilmarnock and Cromarty) pleaded guilty, Balmerino not guilty, saying he would prove his not being at the taking of the Castle of Carlisle, as was said in the indictment. Then the King’s Counsel opened, and Serjeant Skinner pronounced the most absurd speech imaginable. Then some witnesses were examined, whom afterwards the old hero shook cordially by the hand. The Lords withdrew to their house, and returning, demanded of the judges whether, one point not being proved, though all the rest were, the indictment was false? to which they unanimously answered in the negative. Then the Lord Steward asked the Peers severally whether Lord Balmerino was guilty. All said, ‘Guilty upon honour,’ and then adjourned, the prisoner having begged pardon for giving them so much trouble. On Wednesday the prisoners were again brought to Westminster Hall, at about eleven o’clock, to receive sentence; and being asked what they had to say, Lord Kilmarnock, with a fine voice, read a very fine speech, confessing the extent of his crime, but offering his principles as some alleviation.”
The executions were fixed to take place on the 18th of August, the news being broken to Lord Kilmarnock by his friend, Mr J. Foster, a clergyman. When old Balmerino was told by the Lieutenant of the Tower, General Williamson, of the fatal day, he was at dinner with his wife (Margaret, daughter of Captain Chalmers). “Lady Balmerino,” writes Williamson, “being very much surprised, he desired her not to be concerned at it, his lady seemed very disconsolate, and rose immediately from table, on which he started from his chair, and said ‘Pray, my Lady, sit down, for it shall not spoil your dinner.’ ‘The brave old fellow,’ as Walpole calls Lord Balmerino, and with justice, turned upon the General, ‘Lieutenant,’ he said, ‘with your damned warrant you have spoiled my Lady’s dinner.’”
The following account of the execution of the Jacobite leaders is taken from the Gentleman’s Magazine for the month of August 1745, and appears to have been the most accurate and the most detailed:—
At six o’clock a troop of lifeguards, and 1000 of the footguards—being fifteen men out of each company, marched from the parade in St James’s park thro’ the city to Tower-hill, to attend the execution of the Earl of Kilmarnock and the Lord Balmerino, and being arrived there were posted in lines from the Tower to the scaffold, and all around it. About 8 o’clock the Sheriffs of London, and their under sheriffs and their officers, viz. six sergeants at mace, six yeomen, and the executioner, met at the Mitre Tavern in Fenchurch Street, where they breakfasted, and went from thence to the house, lately the Transport Office, on Tower-hill near Catherine’s Court, hired by them for the reception of the said lords, before they should be conducted to the scaffold which was erected about thirty yards from the said house.
At ten o’clock the block was fixed on the stage and covered with black cloth, and several sacks of sawdust up to strew on it; soon after their coffins were brought, covered with black cloth, ornamented with gilt nails, etc. On the Earl of Kilmarnock’s was a plate with this inscription, “Guliemus Come de Kilmarnock decollatur 18 Augusti 1746. Etat suae 42,” with an Earl’s coronet over it, and six coronets over the six handles; and on Lord Balmerino’s, was a plate with this inscription, “Arthurus Dominus de Balmerino decollatur 18 Augusti 1746. Etat suae 58,” with a baron’s coronet over it, and six others over the six handles. At a quarter after ten the Sheriffs went in procession to the outward gate of the Tower, and after knocking at it some time, a warder within asked, “Who’s there?” The officer without replied, “The sheriffs of London and Middlesex.” The warder then asked, “What do they want?” The officer answered, “The bodies of William, Earl of Kilmarnock, and Arthur, Lord Balmerino,” upon which the warder within said, “I will go and inform the Lieutenant of the Tower,” and in about ten minutes the Lieutenant of the Tower with the Earl of Kilmarnock, and Major White with Lord Balmerino, guarded by several of the warders, came to the gate; the prisoners were then delivered to the Sheriffs who gave proper receipt for their bodies to the Lieutenant, who as usual said, “God bless King George!” to which the Earl of Balmerino assented by a bow, and the Lord Balmerino said, “God bless King J——s.” Lord Kilmarnock had met Lord Balmerino at the foot of the first stairs, he embraced him, who said to him, “My lord, I am heartily sorry to have your company in this expedition.” Soon after the procession, moving in a slow and solemn manner, appeared in the following order:—
- The Constable of the Tower.
- The Knight Marshal’s men and Tipsters.
- The Sheriffs’ Officers.
- The Sheriffs, the prisoners, and their chaplains. Mr Sheriff Blachford walking with the Earl of Kilmarnock, and Mr Sheriff Cockayne with the Lord Balmerino.
- The Tower Warders.
- A guard of musqueteers.
- The two hearses and a mourning coach.
When the procession had passed through the lines within the area of the circle formed by the guards, the passage was closed, and the troops of horse who were in the rear of the foot in the lines wheeled off, and drew five feet deep behind the foot, on the south side of the hill facing the scaffold. The lords were conducted into separate apartments in the house, facing the steps of the scaffold; their friends being admitted to them. The Earl of Kilmarnock was attended by the Rev. Mr Foster, a dissenting minister, and the Rev. Mr Hume, a near relative of the Earl of Hume; and the chaplain of the Tower, and another clergyman of the Church of England, accompanied Lord Balmerino; who on entering the door of the house, hearing several of the spectators ask eagerly “Which is Lord Balmerino?” answered smiling, “I am Lord Balmerino, gentlemen, at your service.” The parlour and passage of the house, the rails enclosing the way thence to the scaffold, and the rails about it, were all hung with black at the sheriff’s expense. The Lord Kilmarnock in the apartment allotted to him, spent about an hour at his devotions with Mr Foster, who assisted him with prayer and exhortation. After which Lord Balmerino pursuant to his request, being admitted to confer with the Earl, first thank’d him for the favour, and then ask’d, if his lordship knew of any order signed by the Prince (meaning the Pretender’s son) to give no quarter at the battle of Culloden! And the Earl answering No, the Lord Balmerino added, nor I neither, and therefore it seems to be an invention to justify their own murders! The Earl replied he did not think this a fair inference, because he was informed, after he was prisoner at Inverness, by several officers, that such an order, signed by George Murray, was in the Duke’s custody; “George Murray!” said Lord Balmerino, “then they should not charge it on the Prince!” Then he took his leave, embracing Lord Kilmarnock, with the same kind of noble and generous compliments, as he had used before, “My dear Lord Kilmarnock, I am only sorry that I cannot pay the reckoning alone; once more, farewell for ever!” His persone was tall and graceful, his countenance mild, and his complexion pale; and more so as he had been indisposed. He then returned to his own room. The Earl then, with the company kneeling down, join’d in a prayer delivered by Mr Foster; after which having sat a few moments, and taken a second refreshment of a glass of wine, he expressed a desire that Lord Balmerino might go first to the scaffold; but being informed this could not be, as his lordship was named first on the warrant: he appeared satisfied, saluted his friends, saying he would make no speech on the scaffold, but desired the minister to assist him in his last moments, and then accordingly with other friends, proceeded with him to the scaffold. The multitude who had long been expecting to see him on such an awful occasion, on his first appearing upon the scaffold, dressed in black with a countenance and demeanour, testifying great contrition, showed the deepest signs of commiseration and pity; and his lordship at the same time, being struck with such a variety of dreadful objects at once, the multitude, the block, his coffin, the executioner, the instrument of death, turned about to Mr Hume, and said, “Hume, this is terrible,” tho’ without changing his voice or countenance. After putting up a short prayer, concluding with a petition for his Majesty King George, and the royal family, in vindication of his declaration: in his speech, his lordship embraced and took a last leave of his friends. The executioner, who before had something administered to keep him from fainting, was so affected by his lordship’s distress, and the awfulness of the scene that, on asking his forgiveness, he burst into tears. My Lord bade him take courage, giving him at the same time a purse with five guineas, and telling him that he would drop his handkerchief as a signal for the stroke. He proceeded, with the help of his gentlemen, to make ready for the block, by taking off his coat, and the bag from his hair, which was then tucked up under a napkin cap, but this being made up so wide as not to keep up his long hair, the making it less caused a little delay; his neck being laid bare, tucking down the collar of his shirt and waistcoat, he kneeled down on a black cushion at the block, and drew his cap over his eyes, in doing which, as well as in putting up his hair, his hands were observed to shake; but either to support himself, or as a more convenient posture for devotion, he happened to lay both his hands upon the block, which the executioner observing, prayed his lordship to let them fall, lest they should be mangled, or break the blow. He was then told that the neck of his waistcoat was in the way, upon which he rose, and with the help of a friend took it off, and the neck being made bare to the shoulders, he kneeled down as before. In the meantime, when all things were ready for the execution, and the black bays which hung over the rails of the scaffold having, by direction of the Colonel of the Guard, or the Sheriffs, been turned up that the people might see all the circumstances of the execution; in about two minutes (the time he before fixed) after he kneeled down, his lordship dropping his handkerchief, the executioner at once severed the head from the body, except only a small part of the skin, which was immediately divided by a gentle stroke; the head was received in a piece of red baize, and, with the body, immediately put into the coffin. The scaffold was then cleansed from the blood, fresh sawdust strewed, and, that no appearance of a former execution might remain, the executioner changed such of his clothes as appeared bloody.
- The Constable of the Tower.
- The Knight Marshal’s men and Tipsters.
- The Sheriffs’ Officers.
- The Sheriffs, the prisoners, and their chaplains. Mr Sheriff Blachford walking with the Earl of Kilmarnock, and Mr Sheriff Cockayne with the Lord Balmerino.
- The Tower Warders.
- A guard of musqueteers.
- The two hearses and a mourning coach.
J. M. del. et Soulpe
The Governor of ye Tower
delivering the Prisoners to
the Sheriffs of London at
the Barr for Execution