Manuscripts and Special Collections
Ne C 1708/1 : Letter from Brigadier William Blakeney [later 1st Baron Blakeney], Stirling Castle [Scotland], to Henry Pelham; 18 Oct. 1745
Stirling Castle 18th Octo[ber] 1745
Sir,
I received the Honour of your letter Dated the 5th Instant,
and beg leave to return you my most Humble thanks for the
favourable opinion you are pleased to have of me, the Continu
ance of which shall be one of my greatest Studies to deserve.
Inclosed are the best accounts I could get of the Rebells,
which I have compared with the several Informations I have
had from People I have employed to count all the partys
that have passed the River Forth, and by giving allowance
for mistakes, I do not believe that their Number now in
and about Edinburgh can be three Hundred Men more than
is set down in the Calculation.
After having repaired the fortifications of the Castle,
I have Barracadaed all the Avenues to this Town, and obliged
the Inhabitants to stop up all their back doors and Passages,
by which I shall prevent the Town's being Insulted, and
if the Men that I have placed to defend it happen to be
pressed, I have secured a safe retreat for them into the
Castle.
You will see by the inclosed return that our number
is Considerably increased, which has happened by prisoners
making their escapes from the Rebells; I have rewarded them
for their fidelity and entered them into pay; they seem to
