his conscience", deserted and joined the Jacobites. The rising subsequently collapsed and he fled the country, possibly to Denmark, before joining the French army. In 1733 Elphinstone's father obtained a pardon for him, and he eventually returned to Scotland: about this time he married Margaret Chalmers or Chambers, daughter of a Captain Chalmers of Leith. His half-brother James succeeded to the title of Lord Balmerino on the death of their father in 1736. Elphinstone was one of the first to join Charles Edward Stuart during his 1745 attempt to recover the British throne for the Stuarts. While his history of Jacobite activity was undoubtedly a factor, some contemporaries also suggested that the family's poor financial standing meant he had little to lose. Alongside David Wemyss, Lord Elcho, he was given command of a troop of Charles' "Life Guard"; unlike nearly all other senior Jacobites, he escaped any criticism in the post-rising memoirs by various participants. John Daniel, a colleague in 1745, recorded that Elphinstone's "sole and predominant passion" was "hard drinking", but paid tribute to his loyalty, courage, and gift for languages, noting that "his memory for his years was wonderful". He became the 6th Lord Balmerino on 5 January 1746 following his half-brother James's death, but in April of the same year he was taken prisoner at the Battle of Culloden. Balmerino was tried before Parliament, along with William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock and George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie. Given his history and previous pardon, he represented himself and offered little in the way of a defence, joking that he only pleaded not guilty in order "that so many ladies might not be disappointed of their show". He was found guilty, attainted and beheaded on the same day as the Earl of Kilmarnock. Balmerino went to his execution unrepentant, stating "If I had a thousand lives, I would lay them all down in the same cause". His insouciant attitude at the time of his trial and execution -joking with bystanders and insisting on taking the axe in his carriage so that Kilmarnock would not be bothered by it - was widely reported in the media of the time. Horace Walpole, in a letter, described him as "the most natural brave old fellow I ever saw [...] at the bar he behaved like a soldier and a man: in the intervals of form, with carelessness and humour". Balmerino's