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Bonnie Prince CharlieThe Fugitive PrinceFollowing the battle on Culloden Moor, what was left of the Jacobite army, about 1500 men, made their way to Ruthven Barracks to await news. Lord Murray wrote to the prince and his reply was to tell every man to seek safety in the best way he can; so the Jacobites disbanded for the final time. The prince then started life as a fugitive with a £30,000 price on his head! The day after Culloden the prince and the small group he was with stayed in Glen Pean, to the west of Loch Arkaig; the next day they made their way to the Braes of Morar, staying near Arisaig where the prince first stayed on the Scottish mainland, but this time the prince was hiding. On the 25th April, the small group made their way to Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides; the 70 mile crossing took two days in the midst of a storm. In his two months in the Outer Hebrides, the prince travelled as far north as Stornoway on Lewis and as far south as Loch Boisdale on South Uist; the longest he stayed in one place was three weeks in a hut in Glen Corradale on South Uist. On the 28th June, the prince made his legendary voyage over the sea to Skye with Flora Macdonald; they sailed from Benbecula with the prince dressed as an Irish maid, Betty Burke. On Skye the prince parted with Flora Macdonald at Portree and sailed over to Raasay where he spent two nights in a hut. From Raasay he returned to Skye and made his way across the island to Elgol and from there he returned to the mainland, arriving in Mallaig on the 5th July. From Mallaig the prince made his way across country, meeting up with Lochiel once more. The prince then stayed in a cave, which is now known as Cluny's Cage, on the southern side of Ben Alder until 13th September. When word reached the prince that two French ships had entered Loch nan Uamh, he made his way west once more. Travelling the hundred or so miles in a week, the prince boarded l'Heureux at Borrodale on 20th September and sailed for France, leaving Scotland for the last time. During his five months travelling and hiding in the Highlands and islands of Scotland following the defeat at Culloden, and despite the price on his head, Charles had the support of his faithful Highlanders. However, the dream of restoring the Stuart line to the thrones of Britain had more or less ended and the prince spent the remainder of his life in exile. In 1766 his father, James Francis Edward Stuart, who had been proclaimed King James VIII of Scotland and III of England by Louis XIV of France died; despite Pope Clement XIII recognising James as king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he did not recognise Charles in the same way. Charles' only known descendant, Charlotte, was born illegitimately in 1753, but Charles did not acknowledge her until 1783. She looked after her father in his final years when he was seen as nothing more than an aging alcoholic; Charles died in 1788 and when his brother, Henry, died in 1807 the legitimate line of the Stuart dynasty died. However, his time spent in Scotland has gone in to legend as Bliadna Thearlaich, Charlie's Year; in 1815, a monument was erected in Glenfinnan to commemorate the Jacobites who fought and died for the prince's cause; other memorials have also been erected in Falkirk and also at Culloden in memory of the prince and the Jacobites. |
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