and dry his clothes, and then, (12th of July) left the island on which two women had been his guardian angels.* That same day he arrived at

* According to Power (p. 231) Charles had only been four days in Lady Margaret's house, when his enemies sent a detachment thither in search of him. Lady Margaret, Flora, and the Prince, were together in a room, the latter not having had time to get out of the way. When the soldiers knocked at the door, Charles, we are told, opened the door, when his delicate features, and the softness of his voice, harmonised so well with his feminine garments, that the soldiers were completely imposed on, and retired in a very ill-humour at having found nothing but three women. Sevelinges has copied this anecdote, and various other inaccuracies, into the Biographie Universelle. In none of the authentic Jacobite records is any allusion made to such an occurrence; which is the less entitled to belief, as it happens that Charles never set foot in Lady Margaret's house. Many other anecdotes respecting this period of Charles's life, have obtained currency, without resting upon much better authority. In the European Magazine (October, 1785), we are told that, when Charles was changing his clothes, his worn-out shoes were taken possession of by Kingsburgh, who said they should serve him one day to obtain an audience at St. James's; whereupon Charles smiled, and bade Kingsburgh not forget to keep his word. Kingsburgh, it is added, kept these shoes most carefully, and after his death they were bought by a zealous Jacobite for twenty guineas. The European Magazine goes on to say, that Mrs. Macdonald of Kingsburgh kept the sheets in which the Prince had slept, ordered that they might never again be washed, but that when dead she might be buried in them: an injunction which, eventually, was strictly fulfilled. Pichot repeats these anecdotes, with a few embellishments. According to his version, the shoes were cut up and the fragments distributed among a number of Jacobite ladies, and the sheets equally divided between Mrs. Macdonald and Flora. Pichot also relates, that while these two ladies were busy adjusting the Prince's cap, they expressed a wish to have a lock of his hair;

Rasay, in company with his new friends, whose respect was quickly changed into the most devoted

whereupon Charles made Flora sit down, brought her a pair of scissors, and laid his head in her lap while she cut off a lock, which she divided with her friend. Pichot tells us, moreover, that, when Charles took leave of Flora, she bestowed a sisterly kiss upon him, and that he gave her his picture, bidding her keep it for his sake. No trace of any of these anecdotes is to be found, either in the Jacobite Memoirs or in Flora Macdonald's own brief narrative, which is given in the Appendix to Home, and it is difficult to believe, after what Charles had gone through, that he should have kept his own picture about him. Pichot copies from the European Magazine two other anecdotes, in which there is nothing improbable, but which rest on no better authority than the preceding. When preparations were making for Charles's passage to Rasay, great difficulty, we are told, was experienced in finding a suitable boat. It was not thought prudent to trust the boatmen of Portree, and at Rasay most of the boats had been destroyed or carried away by the English soldiers. At last a small boat was found at Rasay, so small as to be scarcely fitted for the voyage. This boat, however, was on a lake, and to launch it on the sea it required to be carried a good Scottish mile over bog and mountain. The faithful Jacobites undertook and performed the laborious office, but, in the mean time, Malcolm MacLeod had found a boat much better suited for their purpose. Malcolm then sought to persuade young MacLeod of Rasay to remain at home, since, as he had taken no active part in the struggle so far, it would be better not to entangle himself in any unnecessary responsibility. The young man, however, spurned all such considerations, declaring himself perfectly ready to sacrifice life and fortune in the Prince's service. When they were about to start for Portree to fetch the Prince, it became necessary to let the boatmen into their confidence, but the honest fellows kept the secret faithfully. When the Prince was about to leave the inn at Portree, to embark for Rasay, we are farther told, the landlord was unable to give change for a guinea which Charles tendered in pay

attachment.

He was to pass for their servant, under the name of Lewis Caw, the name of a young surgeon who had lately been attached to his service. Many of the preservers of Charles were afterwards exposed to persecution in consequence of their participation in his escape. Both Kingsburgh and Flora Macdonald were arrested, and conveyed, the former to Edinburgh, the latter to London. The conduct of Lady Margaret also was censured at court: but once, when the Princess of Wales had been speaking with some harshness on the subject to her husband, Frederick asked, " And would not you, madam, in like circumstances have done the same? I hope, I am sure, you would.” It is said to have been at the intercession of Frederick that Flora was released from prison, after a confinement of twelve months. A collection was made for her among the Jacobite ladies in London,

ment for his entertainment. Charles would have let the man keep the difference, but Kingsburgh prevented so imprudent a display of liberality, which was calculated to excite suspicions, and found another way of satisfying his host. This last anecdote has found a place likewise in the Jacobite Memoirs, from which it appears that, notwithstanding Kingsburgh's caution, the landlord had a shrewd suspicion of the rank of his guest. "The landlord said he had entertained a strong notion that the gentleman might happen to be the Prince in disguise, for that he had something about him that ooked very noble."

to the amount of nearly 1500l. She then married Kingsburgh's son, with whom she afterwards went to America; but both returned during the civil war, and died in their native Isle of Skye.*

*

Tales of a Grandfather. Chambers' History.

CHAPTER XXIV.

CHARLES IN RASAY RETURNS TO SKYE-WRETCHED

STATE TO WHICH HE IS REDUCED-ESCAPES TO THE

MAIN LAND.

CHARLES enjoyed greater security in Rasay than he could have hoped for in Skye, but his new abode was calculated to awaken the most painful sentiments. The Laird of MacKinnon had taken an active part in the insurrection, and, when the war was over, a party of soldiers had been sent to Rasay, with orders to lay the island waste, to burn the houses, and to carry away the cattle. These orders had been but too well executed, and when Charles arrived on the island, he found it plunged in the deepest misery. The personal privations which he had, in consequence, to endure, were cheerfully borne, but the wretchedness to which he saw so many of his faithful adherents reduced