Now, to say I blamed His Royal Highness might be taking it a bit far, my good man. I have merely defended myself from some of the more pernicious and awful lies directed at me in the wake of the horrific battle at Culloden. It is true the Highland Army and His Royal Highness's men were badly beaten there, but I lay that squarely at the feet of the Irishman Hays, whom our Prince had placed in charge of provisions. I had argued against the appointment, but I'm sure you are aware of the falling out between me and His Highness before the march on England. Our frosty relations made further cooperation challenging, but the Prince is a stubborn man, as befits someone of his stature preparing to one day lead Scotland to freedom.

But, mistakes were made. As I said before, I lay the blame mainly at the feet of Hays, who neglected to provision the men adequately in the days before the battle, leaving them hungry and weak. As it was also near to seed-time, many had crept away to their homes and, in the want of pay for the prior month, it was difficult to fetch them back. For his part, our Prince was rather too convinced of his men's valour and loyalty and believed they would return to him when the time came.

The grounds, as well, were poor for Highlanders, being so plain a field, but the terrain on the other side of Nairn was both hilly and boggy; no service to the enemy's horse or cannon, yet objections were made and plans moved to a night attack. I was all in favour of such a manœuvre, as was the Prince himself, but the roads were in such rough condition we were forced to turn back after six long miles, another factor into the poor state of the Highland army on that fateful day.