Journal taken from the Mouths of of Laird of MackInnon, Mr Malcolm Mac-Leod, Lady Clanronald and Miss Flora Mac-Donald, by etc.

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A genuine &and full Account of
the Battle of Culloden, with qtwhat
happened the two preceedingpreceding
Days, together with the young Prince's 126 (126) ~~Prince's~~
Prince’s miraculous Escape at,
from, &and after, the Battle, fought
on April 16th, 1746. to his Re-
turn to the Continent of Scot-
land from the Western Isl-
ands on the 6th of the Suc-
ceeding July. Taken from the
Mouths of the old Laird of
MacKinnon, Mr Malcolm
MacLeod, &c.etc. and of Lady
Clanranald, &and Miss Flora
MacDonald, by John Walk-
ingshaw of London, or Dr John^Burton

Upon April 14th [Afternoon] the
Prince marched from Inverness on Foot,
at the Head of his Guards, to Culloden-
house, where the Clans &and others met
Him, &and stayed thereabouts under Arms.
He himself did not go to Bed. Upon
the 15th, by Day-break, He marched the
Men up to Culloden-muir, about a
Mile S:South E:East of the House, &and review’dreviewed
them drawn up in two Lines of Battle.
About eleven o’Clock He ordered them
to refresh themselves by Sleep or o-
therwise just in the Field; during qchwhich
Time He walked about, cajoling the
different Chiefs, &and proposed to all of
them separately to march off yethe Men
towards the Evening, &and attack yethe Enemy
by Day-break; but, finding the Bulk
of them against tthe Proposal (reckon-
ing it rather too desperate an Attempt, until 127 (127)
until they were joined by Keppoch &and:
his Men wtwith others, that were soon ex-
pected) he drop'ddropped the Project. About
4 Afternoon Keppoch arrived with
200 Men; then it was said, Lord Geo:George
Murray proposed the Night-march, &and
undertook to manage the Attack, qchwhich
was agreed to; &and, when near Dark, the
Men were marched off, the Front of
the 2d Line following the Rear of
the First. About 2 o’Clock of the Morn-
ing of the 16th the D:Duke of Perth came
galloping up from aside to the Front
of the 2d Line, &and ordered the Offi-
cers to wheel about, &and march back to
Culloden. They had not gone above one
hundred ~~Paces~~ Yards back when they
met the Prince, who called out him-
self, —“Where the Devil are the
“Men a going?”— It was answered,
“We are ordered by the Duke of Perth
“to return to Culloden-house.” —“Where
“is the D:Duke of Perth?” says the Prince,
“Call him here”. —Instantly the Duke
came up, &and the Prince, in an angry
Tone, asked, What he meant by order-
ing the Men back?—The Duke an-
swered, that Lord George, with the
first Line, was gone back three quar-
ters of an hour agoeago.— “Good God!
said the Prince, “what can be the
“Matter?—What does he mean?—
“We were equal in Number, &and would
“have blown them to the Devil. Pray, Perth, 128 (128)
“Perth, can’t you call them back yet?—
“Perhaps he is not gone far yet.”— U-
pon which the Duke begg'dbegged to speak
with his Royal Highness. They went
aside a very short Space. The Prince
returned, &and call'dcalled out, “There is no
“Help for it, my Lads; march back to
“Culloden-house”. Back they marched
to Culloden-house, (the Prince bring-
ing up the Rear) where the Bulk of
them arrived about 6 in the Morning.
The Prince, after ordering, &and earnest-
ly recommending to, every Bodyeverybody, to do
their utmost to get Provisions to his
Men, went into the House, threw him-
self upon the Top of a Bed, Boots, &c.etc.
upon him; but in a few Hours being
alarmed with the Approach of the
Enemy, he hurried to the Field, &and
endeavoured to put his Men in Or-
der, by drawing them up in [] two
Lines. But they being, some fatigued,
&and others dispersed about seeking Vic-
tuals, could not be all got together;
so that, when the Cannonading began,
there were not 3000 Men in yethe Field,
&and these not in the best Order. At that
Time the Prince was in the Rear of
all, ordering some Men to replace
some others, that he had sent from
the second Line to the Left of yethe
First. He immediately sent off an Aid 129 (129)
AidAide de Camp with Orders to the Ge-
nerals in the Front to make the At-
tack, and, moving forwards beyond
the second Line, sent off a Second
&and a Third AidAide de Camp with po-
sitive Orders to attack. It seems,
the first AidAide de camp happened to be
killed with a Canon-shot just at
setting out, which, ‘tisit is thought, was yethe
Reason the Attack was not made
soon enough.

X
Upon the Right the Attack was made
with great Bravery by the Athol-Bri-
gade, Stewards, Camerons, &and Part of
the MacDonalds; but the Left was
so soon flanked by a great Body
of the Enemy’s Horse, that, from the
Centre to the Left, they never got
up to give their Fire. The Right
broke in upon the Enemy, Sword in
Hand, &and did great Execution; but
were likewise soon flanked, &and very
much gall'dgalled by the Grape-shot, &and Lochi-
el &and Keppoch, being both soon wounded
in the advancing, were carried off, qchwhich
their Men observing, immediately they
fled, which so alarmed all the Corps
to the Left, that they gave Way
in Confusion.

Just at this Time the Prince called
out to stop, &and he would light from
his Horse, &and return to the Charge at yrtheir Head 130 (130)
Head; but a Number of his Officers got
about him, &and assured him, that it was im-
probable for them to do any good at
present; for since the Clans had tur-
ned their Backs, they would not rally;
&and it was but exposing his Person wt-
outwithout any Probability of Success; &and
therefore intreatedentreated, he would retire,
&and really forced him out of yethe Field.

The Retreat was made with the
utmost Regularity. Not above 500 of
the Low-Country-men, having de-
tached themselves from the main
Body, kept together, till they receiv-
ed the Prince’s Orders to shift for
themselves.

N: B: There was a Battery of Canon,
that played very smartly, for a con-
siderable Time, just upon the Place
where the Prince was; &and one of his
Grooms was killed about two hundred
Yards straight in his Rear.

After the Forces were entirely defeat-
ed, He retired to a House of a Factor
or Steward of Lord Lovat, about ten
Miles from Inverness, where meeting
with that Lord, he stayed Supper.

After Supper was over, He set out for
Fort Augustus, ^where a Musket Bullet was taken out of the Counter of his Horse, &and pursued his Journey for
Invergary 1 where he proposed to have
dined; but finding no Victuals, he set
a Boy a fishing, who caught two Sal-
mon, on which he made a Dinner, &and continued 131 (131)
continued waiting there for some of
his Troops, who had promised to ren-
dezvous at that Place; &and being dis-
appointed, he resolved to proceed to
Locharkaig. He arrived there on yethe
18th, at two in the Morning; &and went
to sleep, which he had not ^done for five
Days &and Nights; his Forces having been
under Arms, marching &and counter-march-
ing without Meat for 48 Hours be-
fore the Battle. He remained yrethere
till 5 o’Clock in the Afternoon, in
Hopes of obtaining some Intelligence,
but gaining none, he set out from
thence on Foot, &and travell’dtravelled to the
Glens of Morar over almost inac-
cessible Mountains, where he ar-
rived on the 19th at 4 in the Morn-
ing. He set ôut about Noon, the same Day,
for Arrisaig through as bad Ways
as before, where he arrived at 4
in the Afternoon.

He remained there seven Days, wait-
ing for CapnCaptain O Neil, who joined him
on the 27th, &and informed Him, as did
many others from all Quarters, that
there were not any Hopes of draw-
ing his Troops together again in a
Body; upon which he resolved to
go to Stornway, in the Island of Lewis,
a Town at the Head of a Loch of ytthat
Name, in order to hire a Ship to go to 132 (132)
to France. The Person, employed for ysthis
Purpose, was one Donald MacLeod, who
had an Interest there.

On the 28th he went on Board in an
Eight-oar’dEight-oared Boat, in Company, with
O Sullivan, O Neil&and some others,
ordering the People, to whom the Boat
belonged, to make the best Haste they
could to Stornway. The Night proved
very tempestuous, &and they all begg’dbegged
of him to go back; which he would
not do, but seeing the People timor-
ous, He, to keep up their Spirits,
sung them a Highland Song. The
Weather proving worse &and worse, on
the 29th, about 7 in the Morning, they
were driven ashore on a Point of Land,
called Rushness, in the N:North E:East part of
the Island of Benbicula, which lies
betwixt the Islands of North and
South Ost or Uist, being about 5
Miles long from East to West, &and 3
Miles broad from North to South,
where, as soon as they had got on
Shore, the Prince helped to make a
Fire to warm the Crew, who were
almost starved to Death wtwith Cold.

On the 30th, at 6 in the Evening,
they set Sail again for Stornway, but
meeting with another Storm, were o-
bliged to put into the Island Selpa
in the Harris. This Island is about
one Mile long &and half a mile broad. There 133 (133)
There they all went ashore to a Far-
mer’s House, passing for Merchants,
that were shipwreck’dshipwrecked in their Voyage
to the Orkneys, the Prince and O Sul-
livan going by the Name of Sinclair,
the latter passing for the Father,
the former for the Son.

Thence they thought proper to send
Donald MacLeod (who had been wtwith
them all the Time) to Stornway, wtwith
Instructions to freight a Ship for the
Orkneys.

On the third of May they received a
Message from him, that a Ship was
ready. On the 4th they made the main
Land, &and set out on Foot for that Place,
&and arrived on the 5th, about Noon, at
the Point of Arynish, two Miles S:South
E:East from Stornway, having travelled
18 Hours on the Hills without any Kind
of Refreshment, &and were misled by their
Guide, either thro’through Ignorance or Design.
There a Messenger from Stornway met
Him, &and told him, that Donald MacLeod
having got drunk, had told One of his
Acquaintances for whom he hired the
Ship; upon which there were soon 200
People in Arms at Stornway upon a
Report that the Prince was landed
wtwith 500 Men, &and was coming to burn the
Town; so that He &and his Company were
obliged to lie all Night on the Muir
with no other Refreshment than BisketBiscuit
and Brandy. On 134 (134)
On the Sixth they resolved to go in yethe
Eight-oar’dEight-oared Boat to the Orkneys, but yethe
Crew refused to venture, so that they
were obliged to steer South along the
Coast-side; where they met with two
English Ships, which compell'dcompelled them to
put to a DesartDesert Island, called ~~Isshort~~^Seafort or Iffurt,
~~or Iffort~~, being about half a Mile long
&and near as much broad. There they re-
mained till the 10th, &and must have
famished, had they not providently
found some salt Fish upon yethe Island.

About ten o’Clock in yethe Morning,
that Day, they embarked for the Har-
ris, &and at Break of Day, on the 11th, they
were chased by an English Ship, but
made their Escape among the Rocks.
About 4 in the Afternoon they arrived
at Benbicula, where they stayed till
the 14th, &and then set out on Foot for yethe
Mountain of Corradell, in South
Ost or Uist, being about 16 Miles
distant. There they stayed till about
the 8th of June, living upon Fish
&and other Kind of Game, which the
Prince daily killed himself, and
had no other Kind of Drink than
the Water they found there.

The Militia at this Time, coming to yethe
Island of Irsky, (which lies betwixt the
Island of Barra &and South Ost or Uist,
is about three Miles long &and one broad, &and 135 (135)
&and is the very first British Ground the
Prince landed upon at his coming
on the late Expedition); the Militia,
I say, coming to the Island, obliged
the Prince &and his Company to dis-
perse; &and He, with two or three o-
thers, sailed for the Island Uia, or
Ouaya, lying betwixt South Uist &and
Benbicula. There he remained three
Nights, till having Intelligence
that the Militia were coming to-
wards Benbicula, He immediately
got into the Boat, &and sailed for
Loch-Boysdale, but being met by
some Ships of War he was obliged
to return to Loch-Karnon, which
is about a League &and an Half W:WestS:South
W:West from the Island Uia.

There He remained all Day, &and at
Night sailed for Loch-Boysdale,
which is about 30 Miles South of Loch-
Karnon, &and belongs to the MacDonalds.
There he arrived safe &and stayed 8
Days upon a Rock, making a Tent
of the Sail of the Boat, &and lived
upon Fish &and Fowl of his own killing.

There He found himself in
the most terrible Situation; for having
Intelligence on June 18th, that Captain
Caroline Scott had landed at Kill-bride,136(136)
bride, within less than two Miles of
them, He was obliged to dismiss the
Boat’s Crew, &and, taking only O Neil wtwith
him, He went to the Mountains,
where He remained all Night, and
soon after was informed, that Ge-
neral Campbell was at Barnare
(an Island lying between North Uist
&and Harris) being about two Miles
long &and one broad. It belongs to the
MacLeods. So that now he had For-
ces not far from him on both Sides,
&and was absolutely at a Loss to know
which Way to move, having Forces
on both the Land Sides of Him, &and yethe
Sea on the other, without any Vessel
to venture into securely.

In this perplexity Captain O Neil
accidentally met with Miss Funivel-
la or Flora MacDonald, to whom
he proposed assisting the Prince to
make his Escape, which She at last
consented to, on Condition the Prince
would put on WomensWomen's CloathsClothes, qchwhich
he complied with. She then desired,
they would goego to the Mountain
of Corradale, &and stay there till they
heard from Her, which should be
soon.

There they ârrived, and accordingly remained two
Days in great Distress, &and then, hearing
Nothing from the young Lady, yethe Prince concluded 137 (137)
concluded, She would not keep her
Word, but, about 5 o’Clock in the E-
vening, a Message came from Her,
desiring to meet Her at Rushness,
being afraid to pass the Ford, which
was the shortest Passage, because of
the Militia. They luckily found a Boat,
which carried them to the other Side
Uia, where they remained Part of
the Day, afraid of being seen of
the Country People.

In the Evening they set out in the
same Boat for Rushness, &and arrived
there at 12 o’Clock at Night; but,
not finding the young Lady, &and be-
ing alarmed by a Boat full of Mi-
litia, they were obliged to re-
turn back two Miles, where the Prince
remained on a Muir, till O Neil
went to the young Lady, &and brought
her with Him to the Place appoint-
ted about Sun-Set next Evening.

About an Hour after they had got to
the Prince, they got an Account of Ge-
neral Campbell’s Arrival at Benbi-
cula, which obliged them to move to
another Part of the Island; where,
as the Day broke, they discovered
four Vessels full of armed Men
clossclose on the Shore; they, having seen
the Fire on the Land, made direct-
ly up to the Place where they were;
so that there was Nothing left for ymthem
to do but to ✝ throw themselves among the

✝
Vol: 3. pag: 528.

138 (138)
the Heath, by which Means they escap-
ed being found.

When the Wherries were gone, they re-
solved to go to Clanronald’s House; but
when they were within a Mile of it, they
heard, that General Campbell was there,
which obliged them to retreat again to
Rushness, from whence they set out
in a little Yawl or Boat for the Isle of
Sky, about the End of June, &and were at
Sea all Night. The next Day, as they
were passing the ✝Point of Watternish
in the West Corner of Sky, the Wind
being Contrary &and the Female frighted
at turning back, they thought to have
landed there; but found it possess’dpossessed
by a Body of Forces, which obliged ymthem
immediately to put to Sea again, af-
ter having received several Shots
from the Land. X

☂From hence they went, &and landed at
Killbride in Troternish in Sky, about
twelve Miles North from the above
mentioned Point. There they also
found a Body of Troops within less
than two Miles of them, whose com-
manding Officer rode as far as
Moystod or Mougestot,2 not far from
SrSir AlexrAlexander MacDonald’s Seat, near qchwhich
Place they landed. He there enquir-
ed of Miss Flora MacDonald who
She was, &and who was with her, which
She answered as She thought proper.Τ The
✝X
Vol: 3. 530.
☂ Τ
Vol: 3. 531, 533.

139 (139)
not fact3

The Officer however would not be
Satisfied, untilluntil he had searched
the Boat. In the mean timemeantime the
Prince was hid on Shore so near
as to hear what passed.

Immediately after this Scene was
over, the Prince parted with his
Female Guide, &and took to the Hills,
&and travelled without Rest 15 long
Miles S:South S:South E:East in WomensWomen's CloathsClothes,
till he came to Mr MacDonald
of ✝Kingsburgh’s House, where his
Female Guide met him again,
having gone a nearer Way. There
the Prince got his first Refreshment,
&and stayed []^till next Day ^towards[] the Even-
ing, when he set out from Kingsburgh’s
House; but would not, on any Account,
let the Consequence be what it would,
consent to put on WomensWomen's CloathsClothes a-
gain, having found them so cumber-
some the Day before. He went 15
long Miles to a Place called Portree
or Purtry, where again he met his
Female-Preserver, who had gone
a different Route, &and which was the
last Time they saw each other.

At Portree the Prince met young
MacLeod of Raaza or Raasa, &and with
him went directly to the land of Raa-za
✝
Vol: 1. 145. Vol: 3. 532, 533.

140(140)
za or Raasa, being about ten or 6 Miles,
in a small Yawl or Boat, being the
only one to be got at that Time.
On[] the 1st of July he landed at a
Place, called Glam in Raasa, qrewhere
he remained two Nights in a mise-
rable HuttHut, so low, that he could nei-
ther sit nor stand, but was obliged
to lie on the bare Ground, having
only a Bundle of Heath for his Pillow.

On the 3d of July He proposed go-
ing to Troternish in the Isle of Sky,
notwithstanding it blew very hard, &and
that he had but the small Yawl above
mentioned, scarce capable of carrying
six People. However, He set forward
about 7 o’Clock in the Evening, hav-
ing with him, Mr Malcolm Mac-
Leod. He had not gone far, before
the Wind blew harder, &and the Crew
being timorous begg’dbegged to return back
again; but he refused, and, to en-
courage them, sung a merry High-
land Song. About eleven the same
Night he landed at a Place in the
Island of Sky, called Nicolson’s Rock,
near Scorobry in Troternish, being a-
bout ten Miles from Glam. He re-
mained there all Night without any
Kind of Refreshment, not even so much
as a Fire to dry his CloathsClothes, being quite wet 141 (141)
wet. In this wet Condition He was
for the Space of 48 Hours.
The next Day, about 7 o’Clock in the
Evening, he left this Rock, being ac-
companied by Mr Malcolm MacLeod,
the latter passing for the Master, yethe
former for the Man, who always
carried the little✝ Baggage whenever
they saw any Person or came near
any Place. They marched all Night
through the worst of Roads in Eu-
rope, &and did not halt, till they ar-
rived at Ellagol ôr Ellighuil near Kilvory ôr Killmaree in
Strath, not far from a place, in some
Maps called, Ord ^ or Aird, in the Laird of
~~MacIntosh’s~~^MacKinnon’s4 Country, being full 24
long Miles.

After two Hours Rest &and some little Re-
freshment, the Prince seem'dseemed quite
alert, &and as ready for Fatigue as e-
ver, &and diverted himself wtwith a young
Child in the House, carrying him in
his Arms, &and singing to him; &and said, ytthat
perhaps that Child ^may be a Captain in my Service might live to be
of great Use to him hereafter.

At that Place the old Laird of Mac-
Kinnon came to him, &and they set out
together that Day, being July 5th for the

✝
Two Shirts, one Pair of Stockings, one Pair of
Brogs, a Bottle of Brandy, some ScrapesScraps of moul-
dy Bread &and Cheese, &and a three Pint Stone-Bottle
for Water.

142 (142)
the main Land, in a small Boat, tho’though yethe Night
was very tempestuous &and the Coast very bad.
The next Day, July 6th, they landed safe
in Knoidart, which is 30 Miles from the
place they set out from. At that Place
He left the Laird of MacKinnon, who
was the next Day taken Prisoner. In their
Passage they met with a Boat, in which
were some Militia, with whom they spoke.
As they did not much exceed their own
Number, they were resolved to make all
the Head they could, &and to fight them in
Case they had been attack'dattacked.

What Method the Prince took to con-
ceal himself on the Main Land of Scot-
land, or what Route he took till the
20th of SeptrSeptember, being the Time he embar-
ked for France, will be made publickpublic
at another Time.