Flora MacDonald, celebrated as a heroine of the Jacobite cause, played a pivotal role in the escape of Prince Charles Edward Stuart - often remembered as "Bonnie Prince Charlie."
She was born in 1722 to a tenant farmer on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Her father died when she was a child, and her mother was abducted and then married by Hugh MacDonald of Skye, leaving Flora to be brought up by the chief of her clan, the MacDonald's of Clanranald. She was later educated in Edinburgh.
After his defeat at Culloden in 1746, Bonnie Prince Charlie fled to the island of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides, where the 24-year old Flora was visiting her brother. On June 28 after a tense journey, they arrived safely and sought shelter for the night in a cottage on Skye. With Flora’s help, the Prince reached Portree, where he found a passage to the island of Raasay. From there, he eventually secured transport back to France. Charles persuaded Flora to help him escape the island undetected, and she was granted, via her step-father, the commander of the local militia, a pass by boat to reach the mainland for herself, two servants and a crew of six. Flora, however, became an unlikely ally. Some suggest that she was motivated by her compassionate nature and a desire to protect her family, though her personal Jacobite loyalties remain somewhat ambiguous.
His escape from the mainland via the Isle of Skye has been immortalised in song, poem and art since the 18th century, however the period where, with Flora MacDonald's help, Charles dressed as her maid Betty Burke to escape detection, is often overlooked for the more romantic idea of the gallant Charles retreating. In a daring escape plan, Flora helped Prince Charles, who assumed the unlikely disguise of an Irish spinning maid named "Betty Burke." They travelled from Uist to the mainland in a small boat, accompanied by two servants and a crew of six boatmen, navigating the perilous waters of the Hebrides.
Before parting ways, Charles gifted Flora with a locket containing his portrait, a token of gratitude and remembrance for her courage. They would never see each other again. Flora continued her life in Scotland, and later, emigrated to North Carolina, enduring further hardships during the American Revolutionary War. Bonnie Prince Charlie, meanwhile, spent his remaining years in exile and passed away in Rome on January 31, 1788.
However upon arriving in Skye, people became suspicious, and although Bonnie Prince Charlie was able to escape, Flora was arrested and sent to the Tower of London. She was allowed to live outwith the confines of the tower for a time under the watch of a gaoler, until her release in 1747.
She later married, and moved with her new husband to North Carolina for a period, before her husband was captured whilst fighting for the Hanoverian forces during the War of Independence. Upon his release they returned to Scotland via a short stay in Nova Scotia. The voyage home was anything but quiet, and after their ship was attacked by privateers, she was injured after refusing to take shelter below deck.
Flora and her husband took up residence on the Isle of Skye and she remained there until her death in 1790. During her time in Skye she met Samuel Johnson, the English essayist who was travelling in Scotland for a period, who recorded that "her name will be mentioned in history, and if courage and fidelity be virtues, mentioned with honour".
Relics and propaganda of Flora MacDonald are scarce, despite the fact that she is considered such a famous supporter of the Jacobite cause to the modern mind. Some confusion has surrounded the imagery of Flora/Betty Burke in the past and a how famous print of Flora was, for a long time, considered to be of Prince Charles as Burke. A small handful of engraved glasses showing Charles dressed as Betty Burke survive, giving an insight into the importance the contemporary Jacobites held for this event, which has almost been forgotten.
