Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Lord Balmerinoch

Who was Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Lord Balmerinoch?

Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Lord Balmerino was a Scottish nobleman and an officer in the Jacobite army.

Elphinstone was the son of John Elphinstone, 4th Lord Balmerino and 3rd Lord Coupar, and of his second wife, Anne Ross. Following the accession of the House of Hanover to the throne of Britain in 1714, he resigned his commission to join the Jacobite cause in the uprising of 1715. Escaping after the Battle of Sheriffmuir, he joined the French army. In 1733, his father obtained a pardon from the English crown, and Elphinstone returned to Scotland. In 1744, he joined with Prince Charles. Succeeding meanwhile to the title of Lord Balmerinoch, he was taken prisoner at the Battle of Culloden. He was tried before Parliament, along with William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock and George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie. Being found guilty, he was attainted and beheaded on the same day as the Earl of Kilmarnock. Balmerinoch went to his execution unrepentant reading out a speech: "If I had a thousand lives, I would lay them all down in the same cause". The execution of Lord Balmerino is reported to have taken three blows.