Manuscripts and Special Collections
Ne C 1839 : Letter from Morpheus Landlowper, Edinburgh [Scotland], to Henry Pelham; 10 Dec. 1746.
Letters while others are asleep. He is capable of any Fatigue and
is the first to wade thro' a River and go wet shoe'd all the Day.
As he had no Tents he often lay all night in the open Feilds with
no other Covering but the Canopy of the Heavens, and often
methought I have seen him of a morning when others had
scarce rak'd up their Eyes, set his shoulders to an Oatmeal sack
to help it on the Horses Back such being the only Food they had
for many Days. As for the Men they were temperate and sober.
I never saw nor heard any of them being drunk and they lived
upon Oatmeal, Potatoes, Onions and Apples. Neither was it known
that a Robbery or Theft was committed during the whole course
of that tedious March from the H-l-ds to E-nb-g. Methought
I saw one day some of the Men gathering a few Turnips off a Feild
by the Wayside and that they were severely rebuk'd for it by
their P-ce. Methought I saw them another time as they were
in a Corn Countrey and no Grass Feilds in the Neighbourhood
obligd thro' necessity to lie all Night in a feild of Pease but th[a]t next
Morning their P-ce paid Double the Dammage. These Circumstances
methought were so good and mild that notwithstanding of my
violent Principles I could almost have wished th[a]t I had been
bred and born a I-c-b-te [Jacobite]. But then again when I began to
reflect th[a]t all publick Money and the Revenue of the Customes and
Excise were uplifted by unhallowed Hands my softness and
Moderation gave Place to the Transports of Fury and Revenge.
In short when we got to E-nb-g methought I mix'd among
the Croud and made my Excape to my old Freinds and former
Princoples which by the by led me as I thought into a most
confounded scrape a few Days after. For the very same Devils th[a]t
had run away South from our Army when they had but taken
a trip to Inverness came upon us of a Saturday (I shall never
forget the Day of the Week as it was before the sun rose in the
Morning which I had not seen for seven Years before) and had
the Rudeness to salute us with a Volley from the very Musketts
we had had the Complaisance to leave for them at Creif, a sorry Reward
for the favour conferr'd and a Specimen of what we may expect
from the Pope and his Adherents. We had indeed the Ammunition
as I told you before, But it seems they had got enough to do our
