Flora Macdonald
(1725—1789)

Jacobite heroine

Flora Macdonald gained lasting fame by helping the fugitive Bonnie Prince Charlie evade capture. She took him from Benbecula to Skye, although she was unhappy that he was disguised as a woman. As a gift Charles gave Flora a gold locket with his portrait. Flora was later arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London until the Jacobite amnesty of 1747. She later entertained and favourably impressed Dr Johnson on his Hebridean tour. She returned home after a few years in America. Her shroud was the sheet Prince Charles and Dr Johnson had slept in.