The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1886-01-30


ia hundred and fifty thousand dol
lars was the price set upon the head of
the Prince by the British Government.
Five months he wandered in the wild
passes of the Highlands, hiding in cav
erns, under crags, among the gorse and
heather, slipping in skiff from island
to island, starving, perishing with cold,
in rags, hunted everywhere, and every
pass guarded by the Duke of Cumber-
lands troops!
at was only the love of the people, Of
the common people, which saved him.
How they used to sing songs about
him! And a generation later how l
used to sing them myself" said
grandma.
"That kiss of Flora MacDonald's
made me staunch Jacobite. Charlie
is my Darling, the Young Chevalier',
and What's a the steer, Kimmerp' and
Come DER the Stream, Charlie, and
'Whan be King but Charlie, and Flora
MacDonald's Lament and all the rest"
And then grandma began singing, in
her little quavering voice:
ozark night cam on, the tempest howled
Loud DER the hills and valleys,
And where was that your Prince lay down
Whose hame should be palace2
He row'd him in q Highland plaid,
Which covered him but sparely
And slept beneath bush o'broom-
Oh, waes me for Prince Charller
ut stirs my old blood now" said
grandma. "Well, 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 Malcolm
Mcleod.
ut was 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 safe conveyance for her.
self, her young escort, Neil Macdonald,
Betty Burke, a 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 q
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 Royalr
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.
of-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
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 q
reaction in her favor, especially as she
had not previously been on the Princes
side, either in respect to his claims tC
the throne or his religion.
"The King bimself-it was George
the Second-askcd her how she dare(
save the enemy of his crown and king
dom, and she replied: i only did wha
l would do for your Majesty in the same
condition. relieved listress.
'And it all ended by their sending
her home with Malcolm Mcleod. i
was about four years afterwards tina
she married Allan MacDonald-it seems
when you hear her story, asif half Scot
land was MacDonalds.
''In 1875, being in some trouble TO
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 We
! be seen, believe, unless recently re
moved.
t 1.-The vast difference between tn
Q chills and mists of the Scotch Highlands
l and the balmy air in which she fount
9 herself l should think must have beef
s very striking to Flora; she must hav
9 enjoyed the wonderful fruits an,
4 flowers, at what seemed to her untime
ly seasons; and, in the coolest months
, the great wood-fres furnished by tn
9 pitchy forests that still seem inexhausti
{ bic, am told.
"They only lived little while in Fay
a etteville, before they moved to Camero
7 Hill, twenty miles distant. They ha
no sooner established themselves Their
e than the Revolution began. 1t mus
have seemed to Flora as if state of re
bellion and warfare were the naturs