The beheading of Lords Balmerino and Kilmarnock at Tower Hill, London, in 1746, attended by a large crowd; with portraits of four of the rebel lords. Etching with engraving.

In the Battle of Culloden (6 April 1746), the last battle of the '45 Rebellion, the Jacobites, under Charles Edward, the Young Pretender ("Bonnie Prince Charlie"), were defeated by British forces under William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. After the rebellion, the 6th Lord Balmerino (portrayed upper left) and the 4th Earl of Kilmarnock (portrayed upper right) were beheaded on 18 August 1746, Lovat (as portrayed by Hogarth, lower left) on 9 April 1747. George Mackenzie, 3rd earl of Cromarty (portrayed lower right), was tried with Balmerino and Kilmarnock and was also sentenced to death but was subsequently pardoned and lived on until 1766