The Marquis of Montrose . cavalry ;^5^^ a seasoned force, for all werehard fighting men, and the thousand Irish were prob-ably the best foot in Britain at the time. Most ofthe troops had, under his leadership, been present atseveral victories, and all had wrongs to avenge onsome section or other of the Covenanters. It wasthe first time that he had commanded an army com-parable in the strength of all arms to its opponents. Meanwhile Baillie in Perth was in a gloomy frameof mind. He thought little of his new levies, andhe was distracted by his Committee of Advice. Onceagain he resigned, and once
The Marquis of Montrose . cavalry ;^5^^ a seasoned force, for all werehard fighting men, and the thousand Irish were prob-ably the best foot in Britain at the time. Most ofthe troops had, under his leadership, been present atseveral victories, and all had wrongs to avenge onsome section or other of the Covenanters. It wasthe first time that he had commanded an army com-parable in the strength of all arms to its opponents. Meanwhile Baillie in Perth was in a gloomy frameof mind. He thought little of his new levies, andhe was distracted by his Committee of Advice. Onceagain he resigned, and once again he was induced towithdraw his resignation. Montrose marched uponMethven to have a look at the enemy, and the Coven-anters promptly retired to their fortified camp of Kil-graston on the Earn. As Montrose followed at hisleisure he had news which determined his Covenant was making a desperate bid for , Cassilis, and Glencairn were raising theCovenanting westlands ; Lanark had collected the. Campai5;n ofKILSYTH Montroses Marc/i — Sea If or Ml If: KILSYTH. 163 Hamilton tenantry, and with 1,000 foot and 500 horsewas hastening from Clydesdale. Baillies army wasalready superior in numbers to his own, and Montrosedid not wish the odds to be too great, for he realizedas well as the Covenant that on the coming fight mustdepend the future of the kings cause in Scotland. Heresolved, therefore, to fling himself between Baillieand Lanark. Baillie was lying at Kilgraston waitingon his Fife levies. If he fought him now, he wouldstill have the men of Fife to deal with, not to speakof Lanark. If he cut off the Fife m^en, he wouldstill have Baillie, and during these manoeuvres Lanarkwould have arrived. The wiser game was to letBaillie get his Fife recruits, and then cut him off fromthe west. Besides, the further he could draw the Fifelevies from their country the less stomach would thesehome-keeping souls have for fighting. Lanark heknew of old, and he may wel
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