[25] Scott puts the King's forces at
Drumclog at two hundred and fifty men; and, as a detachment had been
left behind in garrison with Ross's men at Glasgow, this is probably not
over the mark, if Macaulay's estimate of a regiment be correct. He also,
in the report Lord Evandale makes to his chief, rates the Covenanters at
near a thousand fighting men, which would probably tally with
Claverhouse's estimate. But, whatever the strength of either side may
have been, it is tolerably certain that the advantage that way was on
the side of the Covenanters.
The description of the fight in "Old Mortality" is an admirable specimen
of the style in which Scott's genius could work the scantiest materials
to his will. All contemporary accounts of the fray are singularly meagre
and confused; and, indeed, the art of describing a battle was then very
much in its infancy. It is difficult, from Claverhouse's own despatch,
to get more than a general idea of the affair, which was probably after
the first few minutes but an indiscriminate _melee_. No doubt it was his
consciousness of some lack of clearness that inspired his apologetic
postscript: "My Lord, I am so wearied and so sleepy that I have written
this very confusedly." The flag of truce, which in the novel Claverhouse
sends down under charge of his nephew Cornet Graham to parley with the
Covenanters, was of Scott's own making, though it seems that a couple
of troopers were despatched in advance to survey the ground.
Pages:
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92