Flora MacDonald


Flora Macdonald by Ramsay, Allan (1713-1784)
WA1960.76 © 2006 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum


Flora MacDonald's Introduction to Bonnie Prince Charlie, by Alexander Johnston
© Museums Sheffield

Music

The Lament of Flora MacDonald:

The Skye Boat Song:

On the 21st June 1746, an incident occurred which changed the course of Flora MacDonald's life and turned her into one of the most popular, romantic heroines of Scottish history. Neil MacEachen brought Prince Charles Edward Stuart, defeated in battle at Culloden in April of that year and hunted by Hanoverian troops, from the mainland to the Hebrides to her South Uist home.

Flora, born in 1722, was the daughter of a tacksman, a substantial tenant, of the chief, MacDonald of Clanranald, and therefore a member of a staunchly Jacobite clan. On his death, her mother married a MacDonald of Sleat from Skye, and Lady Clanranald herself effectively adopted Flora. The situation meant that Flora had relatives in both Skye and South Uist and was ideally placed to act as a cover for the Prince's flight back to the former island.

The story of the journey from Benbecula to Portree with Charles disguised as Flora's Irish maid, Betty Burke, is one of the best known tales of the Scottish past. The journey was perilous but brief and Charles eventually left the mainland for France, never to return. Flora, when her part in the escape became known, was arrested but even the vengeance of the Hanoverians was tempered by the popular appeal of the courage and ingenuity shown by the young woman. During imprisonment on board ship and in the Tower of London, she was well treated and even feted.

Release came fairly quickly and by 1750, Flora had returned to the life from which she came with marriage to a relative, Allan MacDonald of Kingsburgh in Skye. She remained, however, an object of curiosity and was in 1773 visited by Dr Johnson and James Boswell during their well-documented tour of the Hebrides.

Like so many Scots at their time and later, Flora and her husband emigrated to the American colonies. In 1774, they were in North Carolina seeking a better fortune than post-Culloden Scotland could offer them and the family's final reconciliation to the British crown was perhaps illustrated by Allan MacDonald's enlistment as a Brigadier-General in the army opposing the 'American War of Independence'. He and their son, Alexander, were captured, and after his release, the family attempted unsuccessfully to settle in Canada.

Flora returned to Scotland in 1779, to be followed by Allan in 1784. All former colonists were able to file claims against the loss of their property in North America but the returns were disappointing for the MacDonalds and they lived a simple existence at Kingsburgh until Flora's death in 1790.

She was buried in the churchyard of Kilmuir at the north end of Skye and her funeral cortege was reported to have been more than a mile in length with people from Skye and adjacent islands.

Born: 1722
Died: 4 March 1790

Father: Ranald MacDonald of Milton
Residence: Benbecula


Flora Macdonald, by Richard Wilson (1747)
NPG 5848 © National Portrait Gallery, London


Flora Macdonald. Jacobite heroine, by Richard Wilson (1747)
PG 1162 © National Galleries of Scotland