The cavalry were drawn up in two lines across
the stream, one to break the current and the other to prevent any of the
foot-soldiers being washed away as they crossed the river between the
two lines of cavalry. Lower down the river still were Prince Charlie and
his officers, who were better mounted than the others. The foot-soldiers
walked arm-in-arm, with their heads barely above the water, making the
space between the cavalry lines to look as if it were set with
paving-stones. One poor soldier lost his hold on his comrade and was
washed down the river, and would certainly have been drowned had not the
Prince seized him by the hair, and, shouting in Gaelic for help, held on
until both of them were rescued. After being hunted in the Highland
glens for months with a ransom of L30,000 placed on his head--not a Celt
betraying his whereabouts--by the help of Flora Macdonald Prince Charlie
escaped to Brittany, and finally died at Rome in the arms of the Master
of Nairn in 1788. In 1794 the Beds of Esk, a large sandbank where the
tide meets the stream, presented an unusual spectacle, and a striking
tribute to the dangerous character of the river especially when in
flood.
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