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Thursday, January 12, 2012

Be Vigilant



Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:--1 Peter 5:8



"When in 1745 Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, marched southward after the capture of Edinburgh, an army under Sir John Cope advanced from Dunbar to stop his progress. This force had reached the neighbourhood of Haddington without having encounted the Prince and his Highlanders, and as Sir John became impatient to learn their whereabouts, he sent forward two scouts from the Edinburgh Volunteers. But these two faithless warriors never returned. Afterwards it was reported that they entered a tavern, where they became oblivious to their military duties over some sherry and oysters, and while they were in a drunken condition the scouts were captured by a mere lad, an attorney's clerk (emphasis his)."--A History of the Scottish People, volume 6, by Rev. Thomas Thompson.

2 comments:

  1. I've never heard this story! Did it take place just before Cope camped out at the castle at Prestonpans?

    Also, Do you know what ever became of these ever-vigilent "eyes and ears" of Cope's army??? ;-)

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    1. This incident took place on the 19th of September, just one day before the Battle of Prestonpans. I do not know what became of the two scouts after their capture.

      Non Nobis Domini,
      Jordan

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