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Flora
MacDonald

Flora
MacDonald: The Jacobite Heroine in... Scotland and North
America. Drawing on previously unpublished material from Scotland
and North America, this is a biography of Flora Macdonald, one
of the most romantic figures in Scottish history. Flora was
not a shy young girl, but a resolute woman of 24 who played
a courageous part in rescuing the Prince from his enemies. When
arrested, she did all she could to protect others who helped
the Prince escape, and displayed a maturity that astonished
her admirers and won her many friends. She was imprisoned on
a ship for five months, taken to London and placed under house
arrest. She was never brought to trial and, on her release,
her admirers subscribed over #1500 for her. Freed in July 1747,
Flora returned to Edinburgh and travelled widely in Scotland,
returning twice to London, before settling in Skye and marrying
Allan MacDonald of Kingsburgh. Allan was not a good businessman
and was ruined by his cattle dealing. Antagonistic towards his
clan chief, he decided to emigrate. In 1774, Allan and Flora
crossed the Atlantic and purchased a plantation in Anson, now
Montgomery County in an area surrounded by relations and friends.
When the American Revolution broke out, Allan remained loyal
to King George and raised a regiment of Highlanders. Flora actively
participated in recruiting the men, displaying once more resolute
courage. The Loyalists were defeated at Moore's Creek and Allan
was captured. His plantation was ravaged and Flora spent two
miserable years in hiding. Allan was exchanged in 1777, and
Flora was brought out of North Carolina, having lost all her
possessions. They lived in New York and then moved to Nova Scotia,
where Allan served with the Royal Highland Emigrants for five
years. Flora, weakened by sickness, could bear the cold winters
no longer and returned to Skye where she lived with her daughter
at Dunvegan Castle. Four of her sons and a son-in-law fought
for King George. In 1784, Allan followed her. She died on Skye
in 1790.

Flora
MacDonald: The Most Loyal Rebel Flora MacDonald's voyage
over the sea to Skye with the fugitive Bonnie Prince Charlie
dressed as her maid made her into an instant heroine and the
subject of legend and song. The world admired her bravery, but
after she returned to Skye, she and her new husband, Allan,
met with evby and financial disaster. They emigrated to Carolina,
but hardly settled there when the American War of Independence
broke out - and again they found themselves on the losing side.
Allan was taken prisoner and Flora had to defend herself alone
against a hostile community. On Allan's release, he and Flora
were reunited in New York and made their way to Nova Scotia
where they survived a bitter winter before returning to Scotland.
This biography, based on research in Scotland, North Carolina
and Nova Scotia, and from other sources aims to offer a rounded
picture of this indomitable woman who was much more than the
young woman who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie "over the
sea to Skye".
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