13.Strong Women

There we were, granddaughter Shayna and I, looking at the memorial to Flora MacDonald.

She said,thoughtfully, "All these strong women you admire."

Flora Macdonald's Statue at Kilmuir, Skye

Strong?

Peggy, En Route to Her (Second!)Graduation
L to R: Grandpa Len Cleal, Peggy, Shayna, Chirsty Mac (Me)

Well, she should know. In addition to me, the granny from Hades, there is her formidable Aunt Peggy, scourge of the executive boardroom, and Shayna's not so wimpy sisters.

Sisters!
Lto R:Toyah, Grumps, Jolene



But, I digress. On to Flora MacDonald, far more of a heroine than the Bonny Prince was a hero.

After the terrible defeat of Culloden, the prince fled west, convinced he could find transportation to France if he managed to get to the Outer Hebrides, and landed in Scalpay, Harris, with a price of thirty thousand pounds on his head.


There is a family connection here. My grandmother, Chirsty MacLean was born on Scalpay. More anon of her.

Scalpay
Courtesy Christine Walling

Donald Campbell who sheltered the Prince was not a Jacobite, but he took him in and fed him, while the Royal Navy prowled round the coast, and the local minister made it his business to capture the fugitive. Just remember that ministers, in addition to being rabidly anti-Catholic, often were appointed by the local landowner. Obedient to the ancient laws of hospitality, Campbell turned away the party which came for the Prince, who had to escape to Uist, accompanied by his faithful friends, Captain O'Neill, and Neil MacEachain (MacDonald) of Arisaig.

It was here that they met Flora MacDonald aged 24, who was visiting her brother. Descended from both the MacDonald, Clanranald, and MacDonald of Sleat lines, she was no Jacobite, but the atrocities perpetrated by Cumberland's army were well known, so she agreed to help the Prince, assisted by her stepfather, who was in charge of the militia who were trying to capture the Prince!

Dressed in the clothes of a female flax-spinner, and dubbed with the name of Betty Burke, the prince embarked for Skye. What the prince looked like I leave to your imaginations. Flora had a tough time preventing him from hiding a pistol on his person. Imagine if he were searched! Yeah, well, no, fine!!!

Attempting to land at Waternish, they were fired upon by the militia, and eventually landed at Trotternish.

Trotternish, Skye





Waternish

After being fed and given new clothes by Flora's family, the party travelled through Skye, and on 1 July, 1746, the Prince bade Flora Macdonald and the faithful MacEachain goodbye. She had severely endangered both herself and her family, and it was time for her to go home.

After much wandering in the west, the Prince, on 19 September 1746, sailed in a French ship from Loch nan Uamh, where it had all started. He was never to see Scotland again.he sank into alcoholism and died in Rome. His cousin, King George III (the mad king) helped to pay for his memorial.

He never contacted any of the brave souls who helped save his life, though that might be to avoid incriminating them. Let's be charitable!

If there were any heroes in this story, they would be the poverty stricken Highlanders, who were offered a huge sum to turn in the Prince, and never did so. That is why the memorial at Glenfinnan shows not Prince Charles, but a Highlander.

On the island of Raasay, the inhabitants were severely brutalized by the Navy, whose sailors burned their cottages (not before robbing them of their pitiful possessions), stole their livestock and beat them up. Their only crime was that they were around for the sailors to vent their frustrations on.

As for Flora, she turned herself in! By now, a famous figure, she refused to buy her way out of trouble, and landed in the dreaded Tower of London on 20 November 1746.

An embarrassed government did not know what to do with her, especially when the atrocities committed by government troops in the North began to filter through.

She became a celebrity, visited by even the Prince of Wales. She told the Prince she would have done the same for him if he had been in trouble. In July 1747, Parliament passed an Act of Indemnity which set free, not only Flora Macdonald, but also many of those who had assisted the Prince. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Returning to Skye, she married Allan MacDonald in 1750, and in 1874, emigrated to America. 

These were tough times in Britain. For reasons we shall explain later, the population had risen, the land was impoverished, and their cattle, the main source of wealth in those parts were dying from disease and lack of food.

It was just Flora's luck that as soon as they were settled in America, the Revolution erupted, Allan MacDonald landed in jail, and their house was burned down. They were robbed of all their possessions.

Returning to the Hebrides in 1780, they settled near Kingsburgh, where Flora died on 4 March 1790. At least her last two years were peaceful and prosperous. Her funeral was huge. So is the Celtic cross which marks her grave.

The inscription reads:

FLORA MACDONALD

Preserver of Prince Charles Edward Stuart.

Her name will be mentioned in history,

And if courage and fidelity be virtues,

Mentioned with honour.

Born at Milton, South Uist 1722

Died Kingsburgh, Skye 4th March 1790

That was one strong woman!

What amazes me is the number of non-Jacobites who were involved in the escape of the Prince. I put it down to the unnecessary brutality visited upon quite innocent people by Cumberland's conquering heroes. They, as a conquered people, were to suffer exile, forced eviction and humiliation, but they thumbed their noses at the conqueror one last time.

As my husband sagely observes, the wheel always turns. It took a long time.

And here is a picture of Shayna at Edinburgh Castle at St Margaret's Chapel where she got initiated into the life of another: St Margaret. But we'll leave her for another day!

Shayna has had her sojourn in the marshmallow realms of Bimbodom.

Who hasn't? We all discover it doesn't earn one a living- if your name isn't Paris Hilton.

 A footnote.

Before we went to Scotland, Shayna and I spent a day in Paris. Naturally, we visited the Cluny Museum, with its old Scottish associations, and the crowns of the Celtic kings. You did know that the Parisi were a Celtic tribe?

As we passed the Rue Macdonald, I told her it was named after the son of a man who lived in Arisaig, but hailed from Uist. Neil MacEachan had fled to France after his adventures with the Prince, and his son visited Uist in 1825, to find out about his family. The locals were impressed with Etienne Joseph MacDonald. Dukes didn't visit very often!

Life is a funny thing. He had fought for Napoleon, and been made a Marshall of France, and Duke of Taranto. I hope his father was pleased!