Debate regarding the the arrival date in Scotland
There is considerable discrepancy between the several narratives regarding the exact date of the landing of the expedition. The principal sources of our information upon this point are four in number:
1 The narrative of Duncan Cameron, a retainer of Lochiel's, sent from France with the Prince to pilot the party on their arrival in the Western Islands. (Lyon in Mourning Vol. i, page 201)
2 The account of ,Aeneas MacDonald, the banker of Paris, and brother of Kinloch Moidart, who also accompanied the Prince from France. (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i, page 201)
3 The MacDonald chronicler of the Lockhart Papers, a member of the Clan Ranaldclan, one of the Prince's, earliest adherents, and the first person to whom he gave a commission in Scotland. (Lockhart Papers, Vol. ii, page 483)
4 Two letters of the Prince himself written to his father, which are printed in Lord Mahon's History, Vol. iii. app. pp, xxiv-v. Cameron says they reached Eriska about July 21st. (Lyon in Mourning Vol. i, page 204)
Aeneas MacDonald says they reached it on the 23rd, and emphasis the date by stating they had been 'eighteen days at sea from July 5th,' the day of leaving France (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i, page 288). Both state, or at least imply, that the ship sailed to Borradale after the interview with Boisdale at Eriska, that the Prince landed there on the 25th July, which Cameron emphasizes by calling it St. James's Day (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i, page 206), a more likely date to be remembered than a mere day of the month. The Lockhart chronicler also states that the actual going ashore took place on that day (Lockhart Papers ii, 482) but he had previously stated that the party had anchored in Lochnauagh Bay on the 18th, and he describes several interviews that took place on board ship. After the landing the material discrepancies in the narratives cease. That Bishop Forbes sifted Cameron's story and believed it correct in the main as supplemented by Aeneas MacDonald's, is evident from his conversation with Alexander MacDonald (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i, pages 352, 353). The dates of Aeneas MacDonald might at first sight be assumed trustworthy, as he was an educated man of business, and one of the Prince's companions, and was returning to his own birth- place and the home of his family; yet some doubt is thrown on his accuracy by his mis-statement of the place of his brother's visit, and he is twice corrected in his facts by Bishop Forbes (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i pages 289 n, 351, 352) though it is quite probable that these were the mistakes not of the banker but of Dr. Burton in reporting him. The Lockhart chronicler states that on landing on the 25th the Doutelle at once weighed anchor and returned to France. (Lockhart Papers, page 482). That this was not the case is evident from the Prince's letter on 4th August, old style, on which day the ship was on the point of leaving. Aeneas MacDonald also states that on the 26th they coasted about the isles between Skye and Mull, and landed some of their passengers (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i page 290), and he quotes the Gazette for corroboration (Scots Magazine, 1756, 396). That the party had not then abandoned the ship is borne out by the Prince himself, whose letters to his father are dated, 'abord du vaisseau le dutellier, a l' ancre dans la Baie de Loughaylort, le 2 aout, V.S.,' and 'Loughaylort, August 4, O.S., 1745.' (The names of the ship and the place seem to have been misread by Lord Mahon's transcriber.) Loch Aylort is not far from Lochnanuagh and Borradale, but this shows that the Prince was not all the time on shore in the early days of August. That the dates in the Lockhart Papers cannot be entirely trusted is shown by the fact that the raising of the standard is dated August 9th, while it undoubtedly took place ten days later.
The probability is that the members of the party were all more or less in a state of excitement. Events moved so quickly, and so much had happened between the time of landing and of writing the narratives, that exact dates and the sequence of events were not accurately remembered. There seems little doubt that the Lockhart chronicler confused July 25th, the date of the Prince's first going on shore, which was the marked day always remembered, with August 4th, the day that he finally abandoned the ship; and that the chronicler counted back from the former date instead of from the latter when arranging his experiences in writing. There seems no doubt that from July 25th to August 4th the Prince was sometimes on shore, and sometimes on board ship. The interviews chronicled in the Lockhart Papers must have taken place after, not before, the 25th of July.
Movements of the “Doutelle”
There is a certain mystery about the Prince's movements between July 25th and August 4th which has never been resolved. Aeneas MacDonald says that the party after the 26th coasted about the isles between Skye and Mull (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i page 290). McLeod of McLeod, writing to the Lord President, mentions a ship hovering on parts of the coast between Ardnamurchan and Glenelg (Culloden Papers, page 203, London 1815); an informer's letter to Cope of August 3rd gives similar news (General Cope's Trial: Report of the Proceedings of the Board of General Officers .. Lieut. General Sir John Cope, etc., page 116, London, 1749). and the London Gazette August is quoted by Aeneas MacDonald, though rather in-consequently, as corroborating his statement.
Mr. Henry Jenner has drawn my attention to a pamphlet in the British Museum entitled:
“A Journal of the Pretender’s Expedition to North Britain. Containing an Exact Narrative of his Transactions from the time of Embarkation in France; including several curious Particulars not hitherto made Public. Now published from a manuscript wrote by an officer accompanying him, which was found amongst his Papers since his Death occasioned by two wounds he received at the Battle near Haddington.” (J. Collyer, London, 1745)
It gives the most circumstantial accounts of the Prince's landing in Skye, Mull and other places on the coast. Its statements are wildly impossible and the print is only one of what Patullo calls ' the injudicious, lying, catchpenny pamphlets,' of which many were written at the time under such titles as 'Ascanius', 'The Young Adventurer,' 'The Wanderer,' and so forth; it shows, however, that there were certain rumours afloat at the time, of the Prince's visiting the islands and harbours of the west coast, which may or may not have been founded on fact, and which formed the foundation of this romantic pamphlet of fifty-six pages.
Taken from Itinerary of Prince Charles Edward Stewart 1745 – 46 compiled from The Lyon in Mourning and supplemented and corrected from contemporary sources by Walter Bigger Balikie, published by The University Press, Edinburgh, 1897, footnotes on page 2, 3, 4 & page 83.
1 The narrative of Duncan Cameron, a retainer of Lochiel's, sent from France with the Prince to pilot the party on their arrival in the Western Islands. (Lyon in Mourning Vol. i, page 201)
2 The account of ,Aeneas MacDonald, the banker of Paris, and brother of Kinloch Moidart, who also accompanied the Prince from France. (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i, page 201)
3 The MacDonald chronicler of the Lockhart Papers, a member of the Clan Ranaldclan, one of the Prince's, earliest adherents, and the first person to whom he gave a commission in Scotland. (Lockhart Papers, Vol. ii, page 483)
4 Two letters of the Prince himself written to his father, which are printed in Lord Mahon's History, Vol. iii. app. pp, xxiv-v. Cameron says they reached Eriska about July 21st. (Lyon in Mourning Vol. i, page 204)
Aeneas MacDonald says they reached it on the 23rd, and emphasis the date by stating they had been 'eighteen days at sea from July 5th,' the day of leaving France (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i, page 288). Both state, or at least imply, that the ship sailed to Borradale after the interview with Boisdale at Eriska, that the Prince landed there on the 25th July, which Cameron emphasizes by calling it St. James's Day (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i, page 206), a more likely date to be remembered than a mere day of the month. The Lockhart chronicler also states that the actual going ashore took place on that day (Lockhart Papers ii, 482) but he had previously stated that the party had anchored in Lochnauagh Bay on the 18th, and he describes several interviews that took place on board ship. After the landing the material discrepancies in the narratives cease. That Bishop Forbes sifted Cameron's story and believed it correct in the main as supplemented by Aeneas MacDonald's, is evident from his conversation with Alexander MacDonald (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i, pages 352, 353). The dates of Aeneas MacDonald might at first sight be assumed trustworthy, as he was an educated man of business, and one of the Prince's companions, and was returning to his own birth- place and the home of his family; yet some doubt is thrown on his accuracy by his mis-statement of the place of his brother's visit, and he is twice corrected in his facts by Bishop Forbes (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i pages 289 n, 351, 352) though it is quite probable that these were the mistakes not of the banker but of Dr. Burton in reporting him. The Lockhart chronicler states that on landing on the 25th the Doutelle at once weighed anchor and returned to France. (Lockhart Papers, page 482). That this was not the case is evident from the Prince's letter on 4th August, old style, on which day the ship was on the point of leaving. Aeneas MacDonald also states that on the 26th they coasted about the isles between Skye and Mull, and landed some of their passengers (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i page 290), and he quotes the Gazette for corroboration (Scots Magazine, 1756, 396). That the party had not then abandoned the ship is borne out by the Prince himself, whose letters to his father are dated, 'abord du vaisseau le dutellier, a l' ancre dans la Baie de Loughaylort, le 2 aout, V.S.,' and 'Loughaylort, August 4, O.S., 1745.' (The names of the ship and the place seem to have been misread by Lord Mahon's transcriber.) Loch Aylort is not far from Lochnanuagh and Borradale, but this shows that the Prince was not all the time on shore in the early days of August. That the dates in the Lockhart Papers cannot be entirely trusted is shown by the fact that the raising of the standard is dated August 9th, while it undoubtedly took place ten days later.
The probability is that the members of the party were all more or less in a state of excitement. Events moved so quickly, and so much had happened between the time of landing and of writing the narratives, that exact dates and the sequence of events were not accurately remembered. There seems little doubt that the Lockhart chronicler confused July 25th, the date of the Prince's first going on shore, which was the marked day always remembered, with August 4th, the day that he finally abandoned the ship; and that the chronicler counted back from the former date instead of from the latter when arranging his experiences in writing. There seems no doubt that from July 25th to August 4th the Prince was sometimes on shore, and sometimes on board ship. The interviews chronicled in the Lockhart Papers must have taken place after, not before, the 25th of July.
Movements of the “Doutelle”
There is a certain mystery about the Prince's movements between July 25th and August 4th which has never been resolved. Aeneas MacDonald says that the party after the 26th coasted about the isles between Skye and Mull (Lyon in Mourning, Vol. i page 290). McLeod of McLeod, writing to the Lord President, mentions a ship hovering on parts of the coast between Ardnamurchan and Glenelg (Culloden Papers, page 203, London 1815); an informer's letter to Cope of August 3rd gives similar news (General Cope's Trial: Report of the Proceedings of the Board of General Officers .. Lieut. General Sir John Cope, etc., page 116, London, 1749). and the London Gazette August is quoted by Aeneas MacDonald, though rather in-consequently, as corroborating his statement.
Mr. Henry Jenner has drawn my attention to a pamphlet in the British Museum entitled:
“A Journal of the Pretender’s Expedition to North Britain. Containing an Exact Narrative of his Transactions from the time of Embarkation in France; including several curious Particulars not hitherto made Public. Now published from a manuscript wrote by an officer accompanying him, which was found amongst his Papers since his Death occasioned by two wounds he received at the Battle near Haddington.” (J. Collyer, London, 1745)
It gives the most circumstantial accounts of the Prince's landing in Skye, Mull and other places on the coast. Its statements are wildly impossible and the print is only one of what Patullo calls ' the injudicious, lying, catchpenny pamphlets,' of which many were written at the time under such titles as 'Ascanius', 'The Young Adventurer,' 'The Wanderer,' and so forth; it shows, however, that there were certain rumours afloat at the time, of the Prince's visiting the islands and harbours of the west coast, which may or may not have been founded on fact, and which formed the foundation of this romantic pamphlet of fifty-six pages.
Taken from Itinerary of Prince Charles Edward Stewart 1745 – 46 compiled from The Lyon in Mourning and supplemented and corrected from contemporary sources by Walter Bigger Balikie, published by The University Press, Edinburgh, 1897, footnotes on page 2, 3, 4 & page 83.
