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MISS FLORA MACDONALD.

Engraval by Mr. Sage

FROM A PAINTING BY HUDSON

Published by Blackie Fullarton & Glasgow

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The dress which the ladies e tender, was such as they which he was to assume-( tion of a servant. It consist: lef quilted petticoat, and a mar after the Irish fashion, with a hecned to it. Lady Clanronald after having dressed Charles in his new attire, took her leave of him, as did all his companions, committing him to the care of

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the centre of the country. They immediately repaired to the top of a hill in South Uist, called Beinil-koinish, whence they had an extensive prospect, and could not be come upon without perceiving the approach of their enemies. This situation, however, they soon found to be untenable; and after many extraordinary escapes, bent all their endeavours to have Charles conveyed off the island, which, with all their ingenuity and hardihood, so powerful were their enemies, and so completely had they taken their measures, they found it impossible to effect by any ordinary means. As a last resource they made application to a young lady, Miss Flora Macdonald, a distant relation to the Clanronald family, who at that time kept house with her only brother at Milnton, in the Island of South Uist. Her father, Macdonald of Milnton, had been long dead; and her mother was married to Hugh Macdonald of Armadale, in the Island of Skye, who was at this time in Uist pursuing Charles, and was the oldest captain among the Macdonald companies employed in this service. Having been fixed upon by the pretender's friends, who contrived to have a meeting at a sheeling called Ashary, within a mile of Milnton, this young lady was introduced to Charles, and it was proposed that she should take him under her protection, dressed in female apparel, as her servant, and, procuring a passport from her stepfather, carry him to the Island of Skye. The boldness of the proposal startled her at first, but after hearing the circumstances of the case stated, pity, the characteristic of womankind, prevailed, and she consented to make the attempt. She accordingly hastened to old lady Clanronald, who provided whatever was necessary for the disguise, and accompanied her to Lochniskava in Benbecula, where Charles and his few attendants waited for them, with a small boat ready for sea.

The dress which the ladies had provided to disguise the pretender, was such as they supposed suitable to the character which he was to assume-that of an Irish woman, in the situation of a servant. It consisted of a calico gown, a light coloured quilted petticoat, and a mantle of dun coloured camlet, made after the Irish fashion, with a hood joined to it. Lady Clanronald after having dressed Charles in his new attire, took her leave of him, as did all his companions, committing him to the care of

Miss Macdonald, who had a pass for herself, a servant man who attended her, and for Charles, under the name of Betty Burk. Necessity had separated him, some days previous to this, from all his more particular friends, and now, June the twenty-eighth, he set sail from Benbecula for the Island of Skye, having his sails filled with a fair and a gentle breeze, about one o'clock in the afternoon. Next day they were surrounded with a thick fog, which made them drop their oars lest they should mistake their course, or come upon the island unawares. The fog, however, soon cleared away, and mistaking the point of Snod for that of Waternish, the wind, in the meantime, blowing fresh from the land, they were obliged to row in shore, where they were observed by some of the Macleods, who called out to them to land, which, considering the way in which they were provided, they might, one would suppose, have done without any danger; they, however, did not venture, but, though some shots were fired after them, pulled on with all their might, and doubling the point of Waternish, proceeded to Kilbride in Skye, where they landed on the twenty-ninth of June near Mugstot, the seat of Sir Alexander Macdonald, upon whom Charles seems to have been resolved to impose himself at this time, which, had he done, his history had been at least shorter, and his character had stood fairer with posterity. Sir Alexander himself was then with the duke of Cumberland, and a number of his majesty's officers were inmates of his house, with whom, coming into contact in such circumstances, it is scarcely possible the wouldbe monarch could have escaped. Unaware of these circumstances, Miss Macdonald dismissed the boat, with orders to return to Uist, conducted her charge to a sequestered spot in the fields, where she left him, and repaired to the house of Sir Alexander Macdonald. Here she met with Macdonald of Kingsborough, Sir Alexander's factor, who had been invited to meet with Charles upon the shore at Mugstot, and to whose charge, seeing he could not be admitted into Mugstot, he was now given up. Kingsborough went immediately into the fields to seek him, carrying a bottle of wine and other refreshments along with him, while Miss Macdonald, to save appearances, dined at Mugstot with lady Macdonald, and immediately set out on horseback after Charles and Kingsborough, followed by her

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