Who escaped to the Isle of Skye, assisted by Flora MacDonald?
The Skye Boat Song The Skye Boat Song "The Skye Boat Song" is a modern Scottish song which has entered into the folk canon in recent times. It can be played as a waltz, recalling the escape of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) from Uist to the Isle of Skye after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. The text of the song gives an account of how Bonnie Prince Charlie, disguised as a serving maid, escaped in a small boat after the defeat of his Jacobite rising of 1745, with the aid of Flora MacDonald. The song draws on
Flora MacDonald was a member of the minor gentry, being tacksman and leaseholder of Milton and Balivanich; she had two brothers, Angus, who later inherited the Milton tack and Ronald who died young. Flora's father Ranald died soon after her birth, and in 1728 her mother remarried Hugh MacDonald of Armadale, Skye. She was brought up under the supervision of her father's cousin, Sir Alexander MacDonald of Sleat and while it has been suggested she was educated in Edinburgh, this has not been confirmed; although some MacDonalds remained Catholic, particularly in the Islands, Flora was part of the Presbyterian majority. Flora was