Old Photograph Flora MacDonald Cottage Flodigarry Isle Of Skye Scotland

Old photograph of the Flora MacDonald cottage at Flodigarry, Isle Of Skye, Scotland. In 1750 the Jacobite Flora MacDonald and her fiancee Allan MacDonald were married and lived in this cottage in Floddigarry. One of the most romantic characters in Scottish history, Flora Macdonald is famous for helping Bonnie Prince Charlie escape from Scotland after the defeat of the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. After his defeat at the battle of Culloden Moor in 1746, Bonnie Prince Charlie was forced to flee for his life. After two months on the run he arrived at the island of South Uist where he met 24-year-old Flora. As both her step-father and her fiancée Allan MacDonald were in the Hanovarian army of King George II, she would have seemed an unlikely ally. However after some initial hesitation, she agreed to help the Prince escape. She managed to get permission from her step-father, the commander of the local militia, to travel from Uist to the mainland, accompanied by two servants and a crew of six boatmen. The Prince was disguised as Betty Burke, an Irish spinning maid. They set sail in a small boat from Benbecula on 27th June 1746, not to the mainland but to Skye, landing in Kilmuir at what is today called Rudha Phrionnsa. After hiding overnight in a cottage, they made their way overland to Portree where the Prince was able to get a boat to the island of Raasay and from there, passage back to France. Charles is said to have presented Flora with a locket containing his portrait. They never met again. Charles died in Rome on 31 January 1788.



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