Origins of the 'Forty-five

by Unknown

THE WANDERINGS OF PRINCE CHARLES IN THE HEBRIDES

This narrative by Neil Maceachain, the guide of Prince Charles and Flora Macdonald over the seas to Skye, appeared in the New Monthly Magazine for 1840. As a magazine article three-quarters of a century old is nearly as inaccessible as a manuscript, the Council of the Society authorised its inclusion in this volume as a fitting addition to the numerous narratives of the ’Forty-five collected by the Society.

In the magazine the article is prefaced with a note by the editor, Theodore Hook, who states that it was purchased from a hairdresser in Paris who claimed to be the son of the writer, and who, as Hook believed, must have been a son of Neil Maceachain. This, however, was impossible, as Neil had but one son who survived infancy—a son who had a far more distinguished career.

The fact is that when Neil died, his son was in garrison at Calais. The father’s papers were made over to the custody of a Mr. Macnab, a Highland exile residing in France. At the Revolution, Macnab was imprisoned, his effects were seized and scattered, and Neil Maceachain’s papers were lost. Probably at that time the vendor had obtained the manuscript.

My attention was drawn to the paper about twenty years ago, and I determined to find out what its claims to authenticity might be. In one of my journeys through the Outer Hebrides, when compiling the Itinerary of Prince Charles,[77] I was accompanied by the late Father Allan Macdonald, priest of Eriska and Dean of the Isles. We took a copy of the article with us, and traced on the spot the wanderings here described. We were much gratified; local tradition as well as topography completely corroborated the narrative. It could only have been written by one thoroughly acquainted with the islands. There could be no doubt of its genuineness, and it must have been written by Neil Maceachain.

In the Itinerary there is a short account of Neil, to which the reader is referred. Briefly, he was one of the Macdonald-Maceachains of Howbeg, in South Uist, a sept of the Clanranald. Neil was educated in France for the priesthood, but abandoned his intention of taking orders, and returned to South Uist, where he acted as parish schoolmaster and tutor in the family of Clanranald, who then resided at Nunton in Benbecula. The old chief attached Neil to Prince Charles when in hiding in the islands, believing that his scholarship, his knowledge of languages, and his accomplishments as a musician might be useful to the Prince.

It must be remembered that the narrative can be accepted as trustworthy only for the occasions on which Neil was actually with the Prince. He met him on his first arrival at Benbecula, but he did not accompany him on his journey to Harris and Lewis; he was, however, again with him on his return to Benbecula and South Uist. Neil’s accounts, therefore, of the Prince’s adventures when away from South Uist are only from hearsay and not to be entirely depended on. In the Itinerary I followed for that part of the Prince’s wanderings the narrative of Donald Macleod of Gualtergil, who was then his companion and guide.

Not the least interesting portion of the narrative is the account of the meeting between Flora Macdonald and Prince Charles. So much fiction mingles with accounts of the incident, in prose, in verse, and in pictures, that it is well to get the simple facts of the story. There were no English soldiers in the Hebrides; the duty of hunting the Prince was entrusted to the independent companies of Highlanders generally referred to as the Macdonald, Macleod, and Campbell militia. It must be remembered, however, that the Navy was relentless in the pursuit. Flora’s stepfather, Hugh Macdonald, was one of the chief men of the Sleat Clan which supported the Government, while Flora herself was a Clanranald.[78] She had been educated in her childhood with Clanranald’s family, and later she had been a good deal with Sir Alexander and Lady Margaret Macdonald in Edinburgh. Flora was dearly loved by both the families, and was a very suitable person to conduct Prince Charles from Clanranald territory to Skye. Moreover, the moment was opportune, for Sir Alexander Macdonald was in attendance on the Duke of Cumberland at Fort Augustus, and Lady Margaret, who had taken the utmost interest in the Prince and had secretly sent him comforts to South Uist, was at home at Monkstat.

Hugh Macdonald has always been suspected of collusion with the Prince,[79] but this is the only narrative in which the fact is stated categorically. Charles declared that he felt safe while he was with the Macdonalds.[80] Flora had but one meeting with Charles Edward in South Uist, on June 21st, when the plan of escape to Skye was arranged (p. 251). They met again on the evening of Saturday, June 28th, at Benbecula, whence Flora, Neil, and the Prince went by boat to Skye. Sunday night was spent at Kingsburgh’s house, and the narrative breaks off at the interesting moment when the party was on the way from Monkstat to Kingsburgh. What happened after that is found in various narratives of The Lyon in Mourning. Briefly, the Prince spent the night at Kingsburgh House. Next day, he walked to Portree, changing his female clothes in a wood on the road. The Prince walked by private paths and Flora rode by the main highway. At Portree the Prince said farewell to Flora for ever.

Such is the story, and it needs no embellishment. Flora’s services to the Prince were matchless; she saved him at the moment when General Campbell with his militia and a naval expedition were on the point of capturing him. She herself was taken prisoner a few days later.[81]

At Portree Neil Maceachain also said farewell to Prince Charles, who with Malcolm and Murdoch Macleod went that night to the island of Raasa. The following day the Prince returned to Skye, and left two days later for the mainland. Thus finished his wanderings in the Hebrides.

Neil evaded capture after the escape of Prince Charles from Skye; in September he rejoined him at Arisaig, and in the ship L’Heureux accompanied the Prince to France. There he joined the French army, at first as a lieutenant in the Regiment d’Albanie, of which the command was given to Lochiel, and afterwards in the Scots regiment of Lord Ogilvy, the Jacobite exile. Ogilvy’s regiment was disbanded after the Peace of Paris in 1763, and Neil passed the rest of his life, first at Sedan and afterwards at Sancerre, in the province of Berry, on a pension of three hundred livres (about £30). He died at Sancerre in 1788. When he left Scotland Neil dropped the name of Maceachain, retaining only that of Macdonald.

His only son became famous as one of Napoleon’s generals—Marshal Macdonald, Duke of Tarentum.