'Sir,—I thank God I am in good health, and have got off as design'd. Remember me to all friends, and thank them for the trouble they have been at.—I am, Sir, Your humble servant,
James Thomson.
Elliguil, July 4th, 1746.'[117]
The Prince delivered the letter into the Captain's hands, and then asked him if he could light him a pipe, for he wanted [fol. 248.] to smoke in the passage. The Captain desir'd him to have the cutty ready in his cheek, and that he should fall upon a method to light it. Malcolm took some tow out of his pocket, and snapping one of the guns held the tow to the pan and kindled it. Then putting it to the mouth of the pipe he blew and the Prince smok'd. But the cuttie being exceedingly short, Malcolm scarred the Prince's cheek with the tow.
At parting the Prince presented the Captain with a silver stock-buckle, which among all his difficulties he has still got preserv'd; and embracing him in his arms saluted him twice, and bad God bless him, putting ten guineas into his hand. Malcolm positively refused to accept of the gold, because the Prince behoved to have great use for money in his wandering from place to place; and he said he believed he had not much about him at that time. The Prince pressed it upon him and would have no refusal, wishing it had been much more for his sake, and that he could have gone to the continent with him.
July
Captain MacLeod took care to have one of the cutties the Prince had used and carried it to London with him, where meeting with one, Dr. Burton of York, a prisoner, and chancing to tell the story of the cuttie the Doctor begged as a great favour to have the cuttie, which Malcolm gave him. The Doctor has made a fine shagreen case for it, and preserves it as a valuable rarity. This Dr. Burton was made prisoner [fol. 249.] upon a suspicion of his having crossed England with an intention to kiss the Prince's hands. Malcolm in coming down from London made a stop at York for a day or two, and visited the Doctor and his cuttie.
Captain MacLeod,[118] after taking leave of the Prince made the best of his way back again to Raaza, and on his way visited Mrs. MacDonald of Kingsburgh, to whom he told the whole adventure, particularly the story of the motto and carving upon the silver-mill she had given to the Prince; and how the Prince said that the wind would soon change and set the ships of war off from the coast, which Malcolm said accordingly happened.
After Malcolm had returned to Raaza, parties landed upon the island to rummage it. One day a party of red-coats happened to be pretty near him before he spied them. He and a servant he had with him took to their heels and ran for it. The party did not fire but called upon them to stop. Endeavouring to get clear of this party, he had almost run himself into the hands of Captain Caroline Scott, upon the head of fifty or sixty men. Scott ordered his party to fire at Malcolm and his servant, and to run after them.[119] They catched the poor servant, and would have him to tell if yon was the Pretender that had got off from them; and because he would not [fol. 250.] say it was the Pretender, they tortured him so that they left him for dead upon the spot. But whether or not the poor man (Donald Nicolson) recovered was what Malcolm had never yet discovered. Malcolm ran to the clift of a rock upon the sea-shore, where he said no person would ever run but in the greatest necessity, so difficult it was of access. There he remained three days and three nights, having only some crumbs of bread and cheese in his pocket. But being like to starve of hunger and thirst, he left his cliff and came once more upon the island. One day happening to take a nap in a house, an alarm came that a party of MacLeods from Sky was near, and before he could get out at the door the party was hard at hand. Once more he ran to the old clift, the party firing at him and crying after him to stop; but he continued running with all speed, and they endeavoured to outrun him but could not. In his way to the clift he happened to meet with a boy whom he took along with him, lest he should have fallen into the hands of the party, and perhaps have discovered which way he saw him running. He remained in the clift three days more. The boy growing weary of the cold and hungry quarters, frequently pressed to be gone. But the Captain could not well think of that, for fear of a discovery. However, at last he allowed the boy to go, taking his promise that he would fetch him some provisions and intelligence, and that he would not discover where he had left him. The poor [fol. 251.] boy soon fell into the hands of the same party, who by threats forced him to tell what he knew. Malcolm rising up to look about him a little, spied six MacLeods creeping in about to the clift with their muskets cock'd. He had no way left him to escape; but having some gold upon him he offered them every farthing of it, provided they would let him go and shift for himself, which they refused to do, even though they were his own blood-relations, and the party commanded by his friend, John MacLeod of Talisker. They carried him prisoner to a command of fusiliers at Pourtree in Sky. From thence he was guarded by a party to the sloop, commanded by that cruel, barbarous man, John Ferguson of Aberdeenshire.[120]