for he durst say he knew better than any in the company when to give them, and thought it was their duty to wait. On this, another, whose name I purposely conceal, said, that his grace was gone into the wood in close conference with his nephew the duke of Berwick, and wished it was not to sell the army of the allies: Lord Orkney, with some warmth, answered, that it was ungenerous as unjust to harbour a thought so injurious to the duke's honour, and so contrary to his nature; that he would be bound body for body, that he was incapable of anything which could cast a blemish on his exalted character, than which no man breathing could, with justice, boast a greater, nay, he knew none that could equal him. The duke of Argyle joined the company, and soon after, went open-breasted among the men to encourage them to behave as became Englishmen; you see, brothers, said he, I have no concealed armour, I am equally exposed with you, and I require none to go where I shall refuse to venture: remember you fight for the liberties of all Europe, and the glory of your nation, which shall never suffer by my behaviour; and I hope the character of a Briton is as dear to every one of you. To do him justice, he always fought were the danger was greatest, and encouraged the soldiers more by his actions than by his words. The duke of Marlborough had indeed a conference with the duke of Berwick, which gave him an opportunity to view the enemy's batteries, which was of signal service to us. At his return, he gave orders for the cutting fascines, which were to fill up a morass between us and the French; after which, a battery was raised, and our guns playing upon the French battery soon dismounted the cannon which the duke had noted, and was covered by the wood, by which the intrenchment was more accessible. I have already given an account of this battle, wherefore I shall only observe, that the English guards first entered the wood, and,

though they behaved gallantly, were repulsed with prodigious loss; our regiment seconded their attack, and was as roughly handled.

I entered the wood with small beer for my husband; though the shot and bark of trees flew thicker than my reader, if he has not seen action, can well imagine; not a few pieces of the latter fell on my neck, and gave me no small uneasiness by getting down my stays. My dog, which I have before mentioned, at the entrance of the wood, howled in a pitiful manner, which surprised me, as it was unusual. A man near me, who was easing nature, said, Poor creature, he would fain tell you that his master is dead. How, said I, is he dead! I know not, replied he, if he is dead or not, but I am sure he is very much wounded. This brought into my mind his foreboding that he should be killed in this battle. I was almost out of my wits; but though I feared the worst, my hopes of finding him alive supported me. I ran among the dead, and turned over near two hundred, among whom I found brigadier Lalo, sir Thomas Pendergrass, and a great number more of my best friends, before I found my husband's body, which a man, who was a stranger to me, though I was not unknown to him, was stripping. At my approach he went off, and left his booty, fearing the effects of the rage I was in at the sight of my dead husband; and I certainly had killed him, could I have laid my hands on him; for I was in so great a fury, that I bit out a great piece out of my right arm, tore my hair, threw myself on his corpse, and should have put a period to my life had I had any instrument of death. Here I lay some time before my tears flowed, which at length gushed forth in such abundance, that I believe the stream saved my life, at least my senses. While I was deploring my loss, captain Ross came by, who, seeing my agony, could not forbear sympathising with me, and dropped some tears, protesting that the poor woman's grief touched him nearer than the

loss of so many brave men. This compassion from the captain gave me the nickname of Mother Ross; by which I became better known than by that of my husband. After my tears had a little relieved me, I took my husband's body, laid it across my mare, which I led into the ground, dug a grave, buried him, and would have thrown myself into the same pit, had not some of his comrades, who were at hand, prevented me. Seeing I was prevented, I mounted my mare, though almost naked, for I had in my distraction torn off great part of my clothes, and pushed into the wood, notwithstanding I had no arms, to wreak my vengeance on the French, of whom our army was then in pursuit, resolving to tear in pieces whoever fell into my hands: nay, had I had strength and opportunity, I would have given no quarter to any man in the French army. I was running full speed after them, and was near Mambeuge when captain Usher laid hold of my mare and forced me back, or I had infallibly been either killed or taken. The former I did not think a misfortune; but mine did not end with my pursuit, for my distraction rendered me incapable of looking after my business, giving myself up to my grief and tears, which employed my whole time for seven days, in transports running to my husband's grave and endeavouring to remove the earth with my hands, that I might have another view of the dear man, whom I loved with greater tenderness than I did myself, and for whose safety I would not have hesitated at sacrificing my own life. I always found my poor dog lying on his master's grave; but at my drawing near, he ran to the rear of the regiment, where my poor husband used to be while living. The poor creature's gratitude was so great, that for eight days I could not get him to eat anything: our removal from the place, and time, mitigated his visible grief. I myself, though often importuned, touched nothing of sustenance for a whole week. The prince of Orange, near whose quarters my tent was pitched, and who heard

my cries, was so charitable as to order his servants to fetch me to meals, saying, The poor woman weeps night and day, and will, I fear, kill herself, which would grieve me. They obeyed his highness's compassionate orders, and would set the choicest meats before me, but I could touch nothing; I only enjoyed the comfort of the fire, and the liberty of taking coals to make me one in my tent. The first who prevailed on me to touch meat, was a Scotch Cameronian, who forced me to a tent where he had got a breast of mutton; but I was so weak that I could not support the smell of the meat, but fainted away with the first bit between my teeth; lay a long time as dead, and was brought to my senses by very slow degrees; which colonel Hamilton's lady hearing, she sent for me, and ordered what was more suitable to my condition. After I had eat a little, she endeavoured to divert my melancholy, and frequently would have me to dinner with her, at which time she would chide me in a gay manner for grieving for one man so much, when the battalion afforded a number, out of which I might pick and choose; sometimes, again, she would very gravely represent to me the sin of self-murder, which would be the consequence of indulging to my grief. That it was, beside, disputing the will of God, which we ought to obey with resignation, and not presumptuously to call his will in question. Colonel Hamilton often seconded his lady's charity, and in about six weeks I began to get the better of my grief, though it was long before I could entirely shake it off. In this time my affairs went backward; I had neglected everything, and left my tent to the care of a drummer and his wife, who were so good as to consume my whole substance by sinking the produce of my effects, and their generosity to such as came to sponge under the pretence of visits of condolence. My mares fared better than I did; for one Hugh Jones, a grenadier, whom I have before mentioned, took them under his care, and provided

them every night with forage, which he got from сарtain Hume's stables. He had often solicited me in my husband's time, but finding me entirely averse to even the thoughts of injuring my husband, he gave over his suit, and esteemed me for my honesty. My husband being dead, this esteem was changed to love; he now renewed his suit, and courted me for a wife. His care of my mares, his having ventured his life to save my longing when I was with child at Ghent, and his daily endeavouring to oblige me, together with his threats of putting an end to his life if I continued obstinate, prevailed on me to marry him in the camp, about eleven weeks after my husband's decease, on condition that he should not eat or bed with me till we were in garrison, which he agreed to, and kept his promise, however contrary to his inclinations. My marriage being known, had like to have caused a duel between a sergeant and my new husband, the former saying, The cow that lows most after her calf went soonest to bull; the latter took him up in a very sharp manner, and if others had not interposed, and made them friends, after the sergeant had acknowledged that he was in the wrong to reflect upon me, he might have repented his being witty.

The

After the reduction of Mons, our regiment was garrisoned at Ghent, where we spent the winter without any event worthy of notice; wherefore I shall pass over this winter season, and go on to the operations of the ensuing campaign, after I have taken a short view of affairs in Spain; as this year was fought the battle of Almenara, where we quitted scores with the Spaniards for the loss we sustained in that of Almanza. emperor sent his brother king Charles some troops from Italy, which arrived very opportunely to check the progress of the enemy, who had carried the town and castle of Alicant; defeated the Portuguese in the plain of Guadiana, and lived at discretion in their country. Philip himself took the field, and directed his march to Catalonia; but having intelligence that the French