The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-11-24
FLORA MACDONALD.
The Heroine of a Scotch His
t~Orfcal Romance.
London Telegraph.

London Telegraph.
Flora Macdonald plays so prominent a
part In the romance of prince Charlie"
that II is surprising to find that she is only
now about to obtain the cheap distinction of
a memorial" Possibly. her countrymen at
the time of her death were too near the
10" and the pains and penalties attaching
to that untoward rising, TO consider 1t pru-
dent to make too much OF a lady who had
her share in ii. At a later date, when TO
have been out in the As was a claim to re-
spect, there was no such necessity for dis
erection. But by that time a merely senti-
mental interest attached TO Flora Macdon-
aid. and possibly the Scots OF 1870 had come
TO the conclusion that the woman who re-
quires a monument of stone to keep her
fame alive had better be permitted TO drop
into the modified oblivion of a Biographical
young pretender was laid TO rest in kilmuir
kirkyard, wrapped in a plaid that had been
'the Princes" her grave marked by an
Iona cross of Aberdeen granite, reared as
late as 1880. This might. perhaps, have been
sufficient monument. But one OF her many
descendants has now ordered a stained glass
window to be erected in a church In the
Isle of Skye, 'the home of the Macdonalds,"
as We are somewhat grandiloquently told
In reality, Flora was not OF gentle blood,
except in so far that every member of a
Highland clan is. or was. the chiefs cousin.
saa; ' fsmiI9r : Fer Tem fatser me Mas q ntac tne
man." or tenant farmer, at Milton, in South
Uist. where she was born in 1722.
Her childhood was unhappy. For at two
she lost her father. and four years later
her mother either deserted her. or was alb
Quoted to Skye by. Hugh Macdonald, of
Armadale. Flora, however, remained in
Uist with her brother. and at thirteen found
a good friend in Lady C~lanranald, the wife
OF her chief. BY this excellent woman the
brought up in a manner to which the tacks-
mans daughter could not otherwise have
aspired. a Celtic woman is, however, so
naturally a lady. that it does not take long
for her to acquire the coaventionalities Of
society, so that when Flora returned to
her place as the cbiefs adopted daughter.
A few months later the Highlands were set
on fire by the rebellion of las. 1t is said
rising. But as the inmate of a Jacobite
house, and the friend Of hundreds who had
lost all at culloden, it Is, at least, probable
Of the Hanoverian King. AT all events.
when Bonnie Prince Charlie arrived at
Drmlclade. ten weeks after his rout on Gull
Butcher Cumberland" and with a price
on his head. Flora was as much Jacobite
as any one.
She is affirmed not to have been 'in love-
With the prince; and certainly, though all
scotland was charmed with the young
chevalier," no breath OF scandal has ever
Burke" she conveyed him, during three
perilous days, from Ormiclade, in Benbe-
Qua. TO Monkstadt. in Skye. and thence,
Dy way Of Kingsburg, to Portree, almost
hourly in peril of capture. Then she re-
turned home. having performed what she
regarded as a duty to a hunted refugee.
II was but one incident out of many in
five months hiding and wanderings. But
when, In due time. Flora was arrested for
her share in what she never concealed.
after the Prince was safe. she became q
heroine, and in Leith Roads and at London
was feted on board the troop ship even by
people whose loyalty. was ~undoubted. so
Disguised were all classes with the vim
dictiveness of the Duke OF Cumber-
land. After. a few months imprison-
ment she was set free without being
brought to a formal trial, and returned
to her Hebridean home. In 1850 she mar
ried a son Of Macdonald OF Kingxburgh.
and in 1774, with her husband. emfgrated
to North Carolina On the outbreak OF
the war Of Independence Macdonald became