THE SCOTTISH HISTORICAL REVIEW. (Glasgow : Mac- lehose, Jackson. 4s.
net.)
The Jacobite plot to seize Edinburgh Castle in 1715, on the eve of the rising under Mar, is related in highly interesting detail by Major K. A. Moody-Stuart, who has made use of unpublished State papers. The conspirators had suborned several soldiers of the little garrison, and had arranged for a sentry to lower a rope to which they could attach a rope-ladder, and thus climb the wall. They counted on the sympathy of the lieutenant-governor, Colonel James Steuart, though it is by no means clear that this veteran, with all his Jacobite sympathies, was in any way concerned in the affair ; indeed,
the records suggest that Steuart got wind of the plot and did his best to frustrate it. Late on the night of September 8th, 1715, the conspirators assembled at the foot of the wall, and the sentry let down his rope. But the rope-ladder was delayed, and when at last it came and was drawn up, the alarm was given above and the assailants fled. As usual, the Jacobites, who were always clumsy plotters, had betrayed themselves. The Highlanders among them had spent the day drinking in a tavern and talking openly of what they were going to do, and thus the secret was out. Had the Jacobites gained possession of the castle, and thus of the capital, the rising of 1715 might have been much more serious than it actually proved to be.
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