army was still small when, in December, 1644, he made his descent upon Argyll, and reached the castle of Inverary.  From Inverary he went northwards, ravaging as he went, till he found, at Loch Ness, that there was an army of 5000 men under the Earl of Seaforth prepared to resist his advance, while Argyll was behind him at Inverlochy.  Although Argyll’s army considerably outnumbered his own, Montrose turned southwards and made a rapid dash at Argyll’s forces as they lay at Inverlochy, and won a complete victory, the news of which dispersed Seaforth’s men and enabled Montrose to invite Charles to a country which lay at his mercy.  At Elgin he was joined by the heir of the Marquis of Huntly, his forces increased, and the excommunication which the Church immediately published against him seemed of but little importance.  On April 4th he seized Dundee, and on May 9th won a fresh victory at Auldearn, which was followed, in rapid succession, by a victory at Alford in July, and in August by the “crowning mercy” of Kilsyth, which made him master of the situation, and forced Leven to raise the siege of Hereford.  From Kilsyth he marched to Glasgow, where both the Highlanders and the Gordons began to desert him.  From England, Leven sent David Leslie to meet Montrose as he marched by the Lothians into the border counties.  On September 13th, 1645, just one year after his victory at Aberdeen, Montrose was completely defeated at Philiphaugh.  He escaped, but his power was broken, and he was unable henceforth to take any important share in the war.

When Charles surrendered himself to the Scots, in May, 1646, his friends in Scotland were helpless, and he had to meet the Presbyterian leaders without any hope beyond that of being able to take advantage of the differences of opinion between Presbyterians and Independents, which were fast assuming critical importance.  The king held at Newcastle a conference with Alexander Henderson, which led to no definite result.  In the end the Scots offered to adopt the king’s cause if he would accept Presbyterianism.  This he declined to do, and his refusal left the Scots no choice except keeping him a prisoner or surrendering him to his English subjects.  They owed him no gratitude, and, while it might be chivalrous, it could scarcely be expedient to retain his person.  While he was unwilling to accede to their conditions they were powerless to give him any help.  He was therefore handed over to the commissioners of the English Parliament, and the Scots, on the 30th January, 1647, returned home, having been paid, as the price of the king’s surrender, the money promised them by the English Parliament when they entered into the struggle in 1644.