Flora MacDonald and America
Flora MacDonald was the girl who entered the history books by helping Bonnie Prince Charlie escape across the sea to Skye after the Scottish clansmen were defeated and the battle of Colloden Moor in 1746. But who really was Flora MacDonald and what happened to her after she helped the Prince escape?
Flora MacDonald was born at Milton on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides in 1722. Flora is the English version of the Gaelic name Fionnghal. Flora was not the poor peasant girl she is sometimes presented as. She came from a middle-class family, was devoutly Presbyterian, and her father was a cousin of the influential chief of the MacDonalds of Clanranald. Her step father, Hugh MacDonald (her mother re-married when Flora was young), was a renowned swordsman and was known as Uisdean Cam, or One-Eyed Hugh, having lost an eye possibly in service with the French army.
Flora was described at the time by people who knew her as "of genteel appearance and uncommonly mild and well bred", a reflection on her families status. She grew into a cultured woman, with a good singing voice, danced well and played the spinet. These are certainly qualities more sought after in gentry than peasantry.
But it was the night of June 28th 1746 for which Flora MacDonald is best remembered. It was on this date that Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora MacDonald set out in a boat rowed by Jacobite supporters. The Prince was disguised as Floras' Irish maid, Betty Burke. On their way to Skye they were reportedly fired upon by government militia but escaped into the darkness and safely reached the Isle of Skye by dawn. Flora and "her maid" then roamed Skye from safe house to safe house for 11 days finally parting after a meal in MacNab's Tavern which still stands today as the Royal Hotel in Portree.
The Bonnie Prince eventually escaped to France but within a short time of returning home Flora was taken in for questioning. She was imprisoned on the HMS Furnace and kept below decks in dire conditions with other prisoners on half rations. Plenty of research exits that details the awful conditions the Jacobite prisoners were subjected to.
Luckily for Flora, King George 2nd declared a general amnesty one year after her capture and Flora was released. She made her way back to Scotland using money raised by Jacobite supporters and was married in Nov 1750 to her kinsman Alan MacDonald and together they were to have seven children. At first the family was very successful, Flora's Jacobite supporters had provided a significant sum of money and her husband held a good position. But within a few years the family had hit harder times and they moved back to Alan's family home on Skye. It was a large stately home for its time and indeed was one of the safe houses the Bonnie Prince had stayed in while a fugitive on Skye. The family remained here for 10 years before eventually leaving for America. The youngest of the children, Fanny, remained in Scotland with friends on Raasay.
Flora and her husband Allan bought a plantation in Anson, Montgomery County, North Carolina. But before the crops were even growing the American War of Independence broke out and Flora was again in the middle of a war involving the red coats. Her husband had military experience and enlisted immediately, but was captured and imprisoned at Smith's Ferry.
By 1778 Allan had secured his release and was re-united with Flora in Nova Scotia (New Scotland) in Canada where they thought they could try and start over. But weakened by illness and depressed by the thought of another Canadian winter they returned to Scotland, but without two of her sons who were killed in the War. At home in Scotland Flora was, however, re-united with her youngest daughter whom she had not seen for eight year.
Flora ended her days back on Skye, living comfortably, thanks to one of her surviving sons, John, who made a fortune through trading in the East. She is buried at Kilmuir on the Isle of Skye alongside her husband.
Speed, bonnie boat, like
A bird on the wing
Onward the sailors cry
Carry the Lad that's
Born to be king
Over the sea to Skye.
—— This article was based on the excellent work by Bowen Pearse which was published in The Highlander Magazine. In our view The Highlander is the primary source for things Scottish in North America.
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