The Osceola times., 1886-01-30


And where was that your Prince lay down
Whose hame should be a palace7
He row d him in n Highland plaid.
Which covered him but sparely
And slept beneath bush o'broom-
Oh, waes me for Prince Charlie!
at strs my old blood now," said
grandma. "Wcll, it happened when
Flora was on visit in the neighborhood
of one of his hiding-places. 1t was
proposed, all other ways having failed,
that the Prince should put on the clothes
of some woman, and be passed off as
her waiting maid-he had already
played the part of servant to MalcoB
Mcleod.
at was a daring undertaking, with
all the scrutiny the British watch-dogs
never dropped a minute. The officer
from whom Flora had to obtain apass-
port was Flora's father-in-law. He
had no idea what he was doing when
he gave her a safe conveyance for her
self, her young escort, Neil Macdonald,
Betty Burke, stout Irishwoman, and
some others.
Betty Burke was the Prince. And
it must have been great trial
to a modest and timid young
girl to carry out such an imposition.
But she was rewarded by the love of
whole people. They sailed for the Isle
of Skye one bright June day.
"When they landed, they went to the
house of the Laird Sleite, which was
full Of hostile soldiers eager in the
search for the royal prize, and Flora
told her secret to the kind lady of the
house, who straightway helped her
along on her way home to Kingsburg
"And she at last saw the Prince safely
through, and his last words to her were:
Farewell, gentle, faithful maiden; may
we meet again in the Palace RoyalH
Young Neil Macdonald followed
him to France. and his son became by
and by one of Napoleon's Marshals.
But great was the anger of the British
Government, said grandma, as if she
quite enjoyed that anger, ''when it was
found that Charles Edward had es-
capped.
They knew the thing could only
have been managed by woman; sus-
picion fell on Flora and she was ar
rested. together with Malcolm Mcleod
and others, carried on board of a man
oi-war and changed from one vessel to
another, until she had been nearly a
year on shipboard, before being taken to
London and thrown into prison to stand
a trial for high treason.
"How cruel for the brave, sweet girl!
But her youth, her beauty, her courage,
began TO create what you might call a
reaction in her favor, especially as she
had not previously been on the Princes
side, either in respect to his claims TO
the throne or his religion.
''The King himself-it was George
the Second-asked her how she dared
save the enemy of his crown and king
dom, and she replied: Il only did what
would do for your Majesty in the same
condition. relieved distress
"And it all ended by their sending
her home with Malcolm Mcleod. 1t
was about four years afterwards that
she married Allan MacDonald-it seems
when you hear her story, as if half Scot
land was MacDonalds.
"In 1775, being in some trouble for
money, and hearing how well his coun.
try-people who had emigrated were get
ting along there, Allan Macdonald fol
lowed them to North Carolina, and there
| he settled with his wife at Fayetteville,
where the ruins Of their house may yet
be seen, believe, unless recently re-
moved.
"The vast difference between the
chils and mists of the Scotch Highlands,
and the balmy air in which she found
herself, | should think must have been
very striking to Flora; she must have
enjoyed the wonderful fruits and
| flowers, at what seemed to her untime-
| w seasons; and, in the coolest months,
| the great wood-iires furnished by the
pitchy forests that still seem inexhausti-
Bile, | am told.
They only lived little while in Fay
etteville, before they moved to Cameron
Hill, twenty miles distant. They had
no sooner established themselves there
than the Revolution began. 1t must
have seemed TO Flora as if state of re-
bellion and warfare were the natural
state of man, or as II she were fatal
never to escape it.
"The chief of the Macdonald clan
among the North Carolina emgrants
had been given, whether through policy
| or not, commission as General in the
British Kings army. The Stuart busi-
ness being over and done with, there
probably appeared TO him no reason
why he shouldno take it. He summoned
all loyal Highlanders to meet under his
standard and march with him to join
General Clinton.
They did so, fifteen hundred strong,
but were met by the rebels against
King George-and in no State was the
feeling that led to our independence
more ardent than in North Carolina
and Caswell and Moore routed them in
desperate fight, and among those
taken prisoners was Flora's husband.
"When Captain Macdonald was at
last released. his land was confiscated,
his property gone, his hopes shattered,
and he took his wife and shipped for
Scotland. 1t was on the way home in
this British ship, that they encountered
French frigate; and of course there
was a sea-hght.
"But Flora Macdonald did not go be.
low then. and spend her time between
screaming and praying, as some women
might have done. She stayed on deck
through the whole action, binding up
wounds, encouraging and helping, and
presently she had her arm broken for
her pains.
~ have hazardeo my life, she sa'sA
FOR the House of Stuart and for the
House of Hanover; and / do not see
that | am great gamer by either of
| them
'.But she was satisfied in having the
French frigate beaten, and she reached
Scotland at length in safety. She