Skye heroine series!

Halo a h-uile duine!

I’ve spent much of the last few weeks taking a much-needed staycation! Started off with a trip to Stirling and the surrounding area, and then spent this weekend on the Isle of Skye! It reminded me of how much of my own country I still have left to discover, and what a rich history is lost amongst the Outlander and Braveheart mythologies! While I was away I did some research and decided to dedicate 5 days to sharing some stories of the heroines of Skye! I have a personal investment because my paternal grandmother was a McLeod and their history (and herstory) is everywhere on the Misty Isle (nowhere more so than Dunvegan Castle). I didn’t have time to explore inside, but it felt like coming home and I would now like to be known only as Lady McLeod! Here, I will combine all posts for clarity but they are 5 separate and very much independent ladies and I love them all!

1. Flora MacDonald (Fionnghal nic Dhòmhnaill)

“Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep; Ocean's a royal bed. Rocked in the deep, flora will keep Watch  by your weary head.”

Let’s start with arguably the most famous Flora MacDonald! She is one of the most important figures in Bonnie Prince Charlie’s life! And DYK: the Outlander theme tune is a remix of the traditional Scottish folksong The Skye Boat Song – based on Flora and Charlie’s escape to Skye!

Flora MacDonald (1722 – 1790) was a member of the Macdonalds of Sleat and the MacDonalds of Clanranald, who helped Charles Edward Stuart evade government troops after the Battle of Culloden in April 1746.

Flora was born in 1722 at Milton on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, third and last child of Ranald MacDonald (d. 1723) and his second wife Marion. Her father was a member of the minor gentry.

Her father died soon after her birth and in 1728, her mother remarried Hugh MacDonald of Armadale, Skye. Flora was brought up by her father's cousin, Sir Alexander MacDonald. While some MacDonalds remained Catholic, particularly in the Islands, her family was Presbyterian – so her assistance to the Catholic Prince cannot be attributed to religious duty. 

Flora was visiting Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides when Prince Charles and his small entourage took refuge there after their defeat at the Battle of Culloden in June 1746. One of his companions, Captain Conn O'Neill, was distantly related to Flora and asked for her help. Benbecula was controlled by a pro-government militia commanded by Flora's step-father, Hugh MacDonald. This connection allowed her to obtain the necessary permits to allow the group to leave the mainland. Despite her reluctance to put her family at risk, she agreed to assist the young Prince.  

Passes were issued allowing passage to the mainland for Flora, a boat's crew of six men and two personal servants, including a maid “Betty Burke” (who was actually Charles in disguise!) On 27 June, they landed near Sir Alexander's house at Monkstadt, near Kilbride, Skye. In his absence, his wife Lady Margaret arranged lodging. Charles was advised to remove his disguise which they said made him more conspicuous (can’t think why!). The next day, Charles was taken from Portree to the island of Raasay; Flora remained on Skye and they never met again. 

"a woman of soft features, gentle manners, kind soul and elegant presence"– Dr Samuel Johnson on Flora MacDonald in 1775.

Two weeks after Charles’ escape, the boatmen were detained and confessed; Flora was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. After Lady Margaret interceded on her behalf with the chief Scottish legal officer, she was allowed to live outside the Tower under the supervision of a "King's Messenger" and released after the June 1747 Act of Indemnity. Aristocratic sympathisers collected over £1,500 for her, one of the contributors being Frederick, Prince of Wales, heir to the throne. When he questioned why she had risked everything for a stranger, she said that she acted out of charity rather than Jacobite politics, and that she would have done the same for him. Her charms worked, and she was free.

On 6 November 1750, at the age of 28, she married Allen MacDonald, a captain in the British Army and Kingsburgh's eldest son. The couple first lived at Flodigarry, Skye and inherited the family estate after Kingsburgh died in 1772.

Allan MacDonald served during the 1756–1763 Seven Years' War but was a poor businessman. After quarrelling with his clan chief over rent, he and Flora emigrated to Anson County, North Carolina in 1774. When the American War of Independence began in 1775, Allan fought for the government side. En route to the coast for collection by British transports, they were attacked by an American force at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge on 28 February 1776 and Allan was taken prisoner.

In April 1777, the North Carolina Provincial Congress confiscated Loyalist-owned property and Flora was evicted, with the loss of all her possessions. After 18 months in captivity, Allan was released in September 1777; he was posted as commander to Fort Edward, Nova Scotia - Flora joined him in August 1778.

After a harsh winter in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in September 1779 Flora took passage for London in the Dunmore, a British privateer; during the voyage, she broke her arm and ill-health delayed her return to Scotland until spring 1780.

She spent the next few years living with various family members, including a spell at Dunvegan, home of her son-in-law Major General Alexander Macleod, the largest landowner in Skye after the MacDonalds (see yesterday’s post!). The compensation received for the loss of their North Carolina estates was insufficient to allow them to settle in Nova Scotia and Allan returned to Scotland in 1784. Since Kingsburgh was now occupied by Flora's half-sister and her husband, Flora and Allan settled on the nearby tack of Penduin. 

“A name that will be mentioned in history, and if courage and fidelity be virtues, mentioned with honour” – Dr Samuel Johnson on Flora MacDonald in 1775.

Flora died in 1790 at the age of 68 and was buried in Kilmuir Cemetery, her husband following in September 1792. The above quote was inscribed on her grave. They had seven surviving children, two daughters and five sons, two of whom were lost at sea in 1781 and 1782; a third son John made his fortune in India, enabling his parents to spend their last years in some comfort.

When the Victorians began constructing a romanticized Scottish identity based on tartan and the Highlands, Flora took her place with the publication of an alleged 'Autobiography'; ghost-written by her granddaughter Flora Frances Wylde, this contains so many errors it could not have been written by her. Printed in 1878 and repeated by Charles Ewald in his 1886 book The Life and Times of Prince Charles Edward, it remains the basis for many popular perspectives on her life and motivations.

In 1884, Sir Harold Boulton wrote an adaptation of an existing melody which he named 'The Skye Boat Song'. This was soon followed by the first performance of the Scottish highland dance "Flora MacDonald's Fancy", while a bronze statue was erected at Inverness Castle in 1896.

If you went to school in Scotland, you probably studied the Jacobite Rebellion – but I met Flora was scarcely mentioned! I did the Jacobites at Advanced Higher level (equivalent to first year of university level) and she wasn’t brought into the convo even once! Traditional portrayals of the escape focus on Charles, with being almost forgotten in the narrative despite arranging the whole escape – at great personal risk. 

2. Mary MacPherson (Mairi Mhor nan Oran)

“Remember the hardship you have suffered and keep your banners high, until the wheels turns again for you with fist-blows hard and strong”.

Mary MacPherson (née MacDonald), known as Màiri Mhòr nan Òran (Big Mary of the Songs) or simply Màiri Mhòr (1821 – 1898), was a Scottish Gaelic poet from the Isle of Skye, whose work focused on the Highland Clearances and the land struggle. Some part of the success of the Crofters’ Wars against landlords during the relentless eviction of families during the Highland Clearances.

Mary was born in 1821. Although she composed her poems in gaelic, she could never read her own language and retained her songs and poems in her memory until others wrote them down for publication. Gaelic literarcy was very poor thanks to governmental policies, and thus her work played a crucial part in spreading the word of the Highlanders across Scotland.

Mary’s poetry and activism was inspired by her wrongful imprisonment in 1871, when she was jailed for 41 days following an alleged theft from her deceased mistress following the death of her husband. She was widely believed, at least amongst her Gaelic community, to have been framed and she maintained her innocence all her life – though said that the humiliation she had suffered provided her rich material for her work. The trial brought her together with John Murdoch, editor of The Highlander newspaper, and Charles Fraser-Mackintosh, solicitor and politicion. These proved to be enduring friendships and Mary assisted both in their efforts to legally support the evicted crofters.

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Mary was released from prison at the age of 50, and moved to Glasgow where she learned to read and write in English. This enabled her to qualify as a nurse and midwife. She was a prominent member of Glagow’s Gaelic community, for whom she often performed her songs at ceilidhs and gatherings. She eventually returned to Skye, where she emersed herself in the Crofter’s Wars by producing a number of songs and poems in support of the Crofters and performing these at political meetings. Mary was also a gifted weaver, and designed a tartan for her frend Professor John Stuart Blackie.

Màiri Mhòr died in Portree 1898 and was buried in Chapel Yard Cemetery in Inverness beside her husband. A gravestone was erected by Fraser-Mackintosh. She is one of the few Gaelic-speaking women to be honoured with a blue plaque in her honour – at her last residence in what is now the Rosedale Hotel in Portree.

Despite her personal and political successes, Mary’s greatest legacy lies in her contribution to the gaelic language, which was outlawed and surpressed for centuries following the Jacobite rebellioons. There have been renewed efforts to revive the Gaelic tradition in Scotland, and many schools now teach it to pupils in an effort to bring it in line with Welsh. While it remains a minority language for now, Mary’s story is proof that native languages and traditions can endure despite state-sponsored efforts to erase them.

3. Sgathach 

“When you are a peerless champion, great peril awaits you, alone against the vast herd. Chosen warriors will be set against you, necks will be broken by you, cows will be carried off from your hill, captives will be forfeited by your people…”

Dun Sgathaich is a castle on the southern tip of Skye, unusually named after a woman! Sgathach (“Shadowy One”) was a legendary warrior. The story goes that Cu Chulainn, an Irish hero, sought to marry his beloved Emer. Emer’s father effused unless Cu Chulainn travelled to Scotland and trained with Sgathach. His logic was that this was an impossible mission because Sghathach’s castle was so difficult to find, and those who did rarely survived her deadly assaults. Cu Chulainn defeated the odds and trained under Sgathach’s guidance for 7 years. She blessed him by teaching him to use her unique weapon her Gae Bulg – a terrifying barbed spear which had to be cut out of her victims. Cu Chulaiin helped Sgathach defeat her enemy, Aoife, and in return she bequeathed him her Gae Bulg.

While it is unlikely that Sgathach’s story is historically accurate, her story is told as early as 1400s and endures today. That buildings are named after her shows the power of this fearsome figure who stands out among traditional male warriors of mythology. 

4. Mary MacLeod (Mairi Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh)

Mary MacLeod (Mairi Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh) (c.1600) was a Gaelic Poet and nursemaid, also associated with Dunvegan castle!

Mary was born in Rodel, Harris around 1600 but spent much of her life in Dunvegan, acting as nursemaid to generations of MacLeod chiefs. She was also a great poet.

Many have noted the social importance of poetry to Gaelic culture – and thus it is unsurprising that it was seen primarily as the purview of men alone (women could only compose silly little balads about love or childbirth…). Mary did not subscribe to this exclusionary sexism, and composed political poems. Her poems praised powerful men such as Normal MacLeod of Berneray. When she was told to stop, and restrict herself to “women’s work”, she refused and continued her political odes.

She was eventually exiled for her poetry and was sent to the small island of Scarba, where she lamented her exile in further poems. She was eventually brought back to Dunvegan where she continued to compose and narrate poems. This did little to improve her reputation, and she was buried according to Norse customs during witch burials – facedown under a pile of stones! As a female writer who has often been chastised for being too outspoken on religion and politics (hard to avoid considering I’m doing a PhD focussing on religious nationalism but ok) I can relate to this woman who was repeatedly punished for daring to show political opinions and make her voice heard. She is also a part of the important legacy of Gaelic poets, alongside Mary MacPherson, who served to keep the language and culture alive centuries after their deaths. 

5. Dame Flora Louisa Cecilia MacLeod 

Dame Flora Louisa Cecilia MacLeod, DBE (1878- 1976). She was the 28th Chief of Clan MacLeod, one of the few female clan chiefs in Scottish history.

Flora MacLeod was the daughter of Sir Reginald MacLeod of MacLeod, 27th Chief of Clan MacLeod. She was born in 10 Downing Street (her father was then Chancellor of the Exchequer) and brought up in London and Edinburgh, and at the family seat at Dunvegan Castle on Skye. In 1901 she married Hubert Walker, a journalist working for the Times newspaper. The couple subsequently had two children. While living in England, Flora worked for a number of charities. From the 1920s she spent an increasing amount of her time at Dunvegan, and when her father died in 1935 she succeeded him, being ratified as the 28th Chief of Clan MacLeod at a meeting of the Clan MacLeod Society held in March 1937.

As Clan Chief, Flora MacLeod took a highly international view, seeing the clan as a community whose members had been scattered worldwide by the Scottish diaspora. After the Second World War she took steps to transform this view into reality, travelling widely and helping establish Clan MacLeod societies in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and in the USA. These initial societies were followed by others in countries as diverse as South Africa, Germany and France.

In 1953, Flora MacLeod was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE), the female equivalent of a knighthood. She spent the next two decades furthering the unity and development of Clan MacLeod. She lived at Dunvegan Castle until 1973 before moving to Ythan Lodge in Aberdeenshire, where she died in 1976. She is buried in the traditional Clan MacLeod burial ground near Dunvegan.

When you picture Clan Chieftains, you probably picture a burly kilted bearded man, but I hope that from now on you picture a benevolent and charitable lady, who used Scottish nationalism to unite the community instead of divide it. She looks a lot like my grandma (also a McLeod), so I guess I have a personal bias, but I can’t help but love her.