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.