Next meeting is on 3rd September 2019 at 7.30 pm in the Fairweather Hall.
"Flora MacDonald" presented by Barbara Graham. Flora MacDonald's claim to fame is a brief encounter with the Bonnie Prince as immortalised in the Skye Boat Song but there is more to her than you might think. After her imprisonment for her part in the rescue of Bonnie Prince Charlie she married Allan MacDonald. With her fame spreading she was visited by the celebrated poet and critic Samuel Johnson. However with the family falling into debt they emigrated to North Carolina but got caught up in the American Civil War where they took the side of the British. Allan was captured, Flora was forced into hiding, American rebels destroyed the family plantation and she lost everything. On returning to Scotland the ship she was sailing in was attacked by French privateers and when Flora refused to go below during the fighting she was wounded in the arm. Eleven years later she died aged 68. Her memorial is engraved, "Flora Macdonald. Preserver of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Her name will be remembered in history and if courage and fidelity be virtues, mentioned with honour."