Fountaindale Public Library

Flora Macdonald, "pretty young rebel" : her life and story, Flora Fraser

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

individual biography

illustrationsmapsplates

index present

non fiction

Flora Macdonald

bibliography

1334007336

Flora Fraser

"pretty young rebel" : her life and story

A captivating biography of the remarkable young Scotswoman whose bold decision to help "Bonnie" Prince Charlie - the Stuart claimant to the British throne - evade capture and flee the country has become the stuff of legend. After his decisive defeat at the battle of Culloden in 1746, Prince Charles Edward Stuart was a man on the run. Seeking refuge in the Outer Hebrides, hoping to escape to France, he found an unlikely ally in Flora Macdonald, a young woman in her early twenties, loyal to the Stuarts. Disguising the prince as an Irish maid, petticoats and all, Flora conveyed Charles by boat to the Isle of Skye, where he hid safely with her family until his inexpert handling of feminine attire aroused suspicions and he was persuaded to forgo the ruse. After she helped him escape, Flora and the prince never met again. This famous incident led to Flora's enduring appeal as a courageous Scottish heroine, inspiring and influencing countless novels, poems, paintings, and songs - most notably, the classic ballad known as the "Skye Boat Song," adapted from a traditional tune in the late nineteenth century ("Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing . . ."). But her remarkably adventurous life didn't come to a close with her audacious mission to Skye. Betrayed to the English by one of the boatmen, Flora was arrested and taken to London on charges of treason, where, under interrogation, she wittily deflected questions and staunchly defended her motives. She was released under the 1747 Act of Indemnity, but disaster would threaten her yet again: In 1774, with her husband, Allan Macdonald, and their young children, she abandoned the impoverished highlands for a brighter future in Cross Creek, North Carolina - unaware of the burgeoning revolution that would soon upend their lives there, with Allan imprisoned and Flora hurrying, penniless, back home to the Hebrides. In this evocative and stirring portrait of a tumultuous life, master historian Flora Fraser peels away layers of misinformation, legend, and myth to reveal Flora Macdonald in full, presenting a fascinating picture of this headstrong and irrepressible woman. As Samuel Johnson declared after visiting her in Scotland, her name was "a name that will be mentioned in history, and if courage and fidelity be virtues, mentioned with honour."

Prologue: Flora Macdonald; Flora Fraser -- A fugitive prince : 1745-1746 -- Ill met by moonlight : June 1746 -- 'Great fears' : June 1746 -- 'A man in a woman's dress' : June 1746 -- 'Farewell to the lad' : July 1746 -- Prisoner on the furnace : July-August 1746 -- 'The famous Miss Flora Macdonald' : August-December 1746 -- High treason : January-July 1747 -- A Jacobite dowry : August 1747 -April 1751 -- Married life : April 1751- 1770 -- 'We have hardly what will pay our creditors' : 1771-1774 -- Cheek's Creek, North Carolina : 1774-April 1775 -- 'King and country' : April-June 1775 -- 'All killed or taken' : July 1775 -February 1776 -- 'Almost starved with cold to death' : February 1776-December 1779 -- 'All possible speed to the Highlands' : 1780-1785 -- Royal pensioner : 1785-March 1790 -- 'Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing' : the story

adult