last insurrection it was inhabited by Lady
George Murray; but when the fate of her husband was involved in the
general wreck, the old building was suffered to fall to ruin. From this
residence, such of Lady George Murray's letters to her husband as are
preserved in the Atholl correspondence are dated. They are chiefly
addressed to the Marquis of Tullibardine, and form the medium of
correspondence between him and his brother. Here, too, she gave birth,
after the battle of Falkirk, to a daughter named Katherine; and during
the confinement which followed this event, her Ladyship's office as
correspondent was fulfilled by her young daughter, who bore the name of
Amelia. To the letter of this child, Lord Tullibardine replies with his
accustomed courtesy and kindly feeling. "With extreme satisfaction I
received," he says, "a mighty well wrote letter from you, which could
not but charm me with your endearing merit. I rejoice in being able to
congratulate your mother and you on the glorious share my brother George
has again had in the fresh victory which Providence has given the Prince
Regent over his proud Hanoverian enemies! Dear child, I thank you kindly
for enquiring after my health." To these near, and, as it appears,
cherished ties, Lord George was probably re-united during the march to
Crieff. But whatever of domestic happiness he may have enjoyed, its
duration was transient; and he passed on to a service full of the
hardships of war, but in which he was doomed never more to possess the
laurels of victory.

From Crieff, Lord George Murray marched to Perth, and thence by Montrose
and Aberdeen to Inverness. During the inclemency of the winter many of
the cavalry lost their horses; but the troopers being, as Sir Walter
relates, "chiefly gentlemen, continued to adhere with fidelity to their
ill-omened standards."[171]

A storm of snow rendered the march from Aberdeen both dangerous and
tedious. Lord George had above three hundred carriages of artillery to
convey, although a great portion of the artillery was sunk in the river
Tay, at Perth. In forming a junction at Inverness, the Prince had three
objects in view--to reduce Fort-William and Fort-Augustus, on one side;
on the other to disperse the army with which Lord Loudon had opposed him
in the north; lastly, to keep possession of the east coast, from which
quarter reinforcements and supplies were expected to arrive from France.
It was, therefore, decided that Lord George