The Lyon in Mourning, Vol. 1: or a collection of speeches, letters, journals, etc. relative to the affairs of Prince Charles Edward StuartForbes, Robert
History
The Lyon in Mourning, Vol. 1: or a collection of speeches, letters, journals, etc. relative to the affairs of Prince Charles Edward Stuart
Forbes, Robert
Charles Edward, Prince, grandson of James II, King of England, 1720-1788; Jacobite Rebellion, 1745-1746 -- Sources
Here I asked if the boatmen did eat in common with the Prince and the
gentlemen? 'Na, good faith, they!' said Donald, 'set them up wi' that
indeed, the fallows! to eat wi' the Prince and the shentlemen! We
even kept up the port of the Prince upon the desart island itself and
kept twa tables, one for the Prince and the shentlemen, and the other
for the boatmen. We sat upon the bare ground, having a big stone in
the middle of us for a table, and sometimes we ate off our knee or
the bare ground as it happened.'
Upon this uninhabited island they remained four days and four nights
in a low, pityful hut, which the fishers had made up for themselves;
but it was so ill-roofed that they were obliged to spread the sail of
the boat over the top of it. They found heath and turf enough to make
a fire of; but had nothing but the bare ground to lie along upon when
disposed to take a nap, without any covering upon them at all.
When they were consulting about taking their departure from this
barren island, the Prince ordered two dozen of the fish to be put
on board the boat whatever might happen to [Sidenote: _fol._ 297.]
them, and said he would leave money for them, placing the cash upon
a fish, that so the people, when they missed of the number of their
fish might find the value of what they wanted. But O'Sullivan or
O'Neil told him it was needless to leave any money, lest vagrants
should happen to land upon the island and take the money which did
not belong to them. These two prevailed upon him to allow the money
to be taken up again.
[Sidenote: 10 May]
May 10th. They set sail from the uninhabited island, when the Prince
told his retinue he was determined to return to Scalpay or the Island
Glass, in order to pay his respects to honest Donald Campbell for the
remarkable civilities he had shown him; and then he ordered to steer
the course directly to that island. When they arrived at Scalpay,
Donald Campbell was not at home, having gone a skulking for fear
of being laid up, an account or rumour having passed from hand to
hand that the Prince had been in his house, and that the landlord
had entertained him kindly. The Prince was sorry at missing his
hospitable friend, and set sail directly from Scalpa the same day,
May 10th. Here Donald said the Prince would not part with Campbell's
boat, because it was such a fine, light, swift-sailing thing. In
coursing along they happened to spy a ship at Finisbery, in the
Harris, within two musket-shot, before they observed her. They were
on the windward of the ship at the mouth of the said bay, and made
[Sidenote: _fol._ 298.] all the haste they could along the coast to
Benbicula. In this course they spied another ship in Lochmaddy, in
North Uist, which occasioned them to make all the sail and rowing
they could to get free of the mouth of the loch and out of sight of
the ship.
[Sidenote: 11 May]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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