Leith, Saturday, NovrNovember 7th 1747, I
dined in the House of Mrs Seaman,
at the Foot of the Kirk-gate, with
John Hay, Captain of the Custom-
house Yacht at Air, when the Con-
versation turned much upon the
Dangers &and Distresses the Prince behoved
to undergoeundergo in his skulking, &and wander-
ing from Place to Place, after the
Battle of Culloden.

Captain Hay asked, if it was not one
of the Name of MacLeod, that went
to Stornway in the Lewis upon the Busi-
ness of engaging a Ship, with a Design
to take off the Prince &and the Few that
were then with him? — I told him,
it was Donald MacLeod, an old Man
of sixty eight Years of Age, &and who
had been along with the Prince for
nine or ten Weeks after the Battle
of Culloden. — “That Project (said
the Captain) happened to miscarry
by being discovered, &and I have Reason
to think, that the Discovery was owing ^to
an Information given by a Presbyterian
Minister.”1— Upon this I gave the CapnCaptain
an Account of this Affair (to the best
of my Remembrance) as I had got it from 480 (480)
from the Mouth of Donald MacLeod,
viz, that a Presbyterian ^Preacher in one of the
Uists had writ a Letter to a Friend in
the Harris, who then writ a Letter to
a Presbyterian Preacher in the Lewis,
upon which the People of the Lewis
conveenedconvened at Stornway to the Num-
ber of some Hundreds, &cetc. See Vol:
2d, Pag. 288, 289. — To this the
Captain replied, that he had good
Reason to assure me, that that in-
deed was the Matter of Fact, “for
“(added he) as I was cruizingcruising along
“with the rest at that Time, I had
“an Opportunity of knowing how the
“different Informations came about.”
— I told him, I was exceedingly
glad to have his Account of the
Matter, to support &and confirm Donald
MacLeod's own Representation of it
because that Donald had been re-
proached by severals for having got
✝drunk, and, in his Cups, for having
discovered to some one Acquaintance
or other the real Design, for which
he had hired the Ship, &and this Ac-
quaintance was said to have blown
the whole Project. — Captain Hay
said, he did not believe one Word
of all that; but that the true State
of the Case was as above represented &and 481 (481)
&and that the Prince would certainly
have been on Board, with his few
Attendants, that very Night, when
the Discovery was made, had he
not met with that unexpected
Disappointment.

Captain Hay asked, if I could inform
him of the Day when the Prince set
out from the Isle of Sky to the
main Land. I told him, it was
July ✝5th, &and likewise remarked to
him what Difficulty I had with
CapnCaptain Malcolm MacLeod to adjust
this Matter of a precise Date. See
Vol: 2d, Pag: 247, 262, 263.—
“Surely then (said the Captain) we
“behoved to be very near the Prince
“in his crossing the Ferry to the
“main Land.”— I told him, I did
not doubt that at all; &and then I
gave him an Account (as exactly
as I could) of that Narrative, given
me by Mrs. MacDonald of Kingsburgh,
see Vol: 2d, Pag: 215, and after-
wards confirmed to me by Malcolm
MacLeod himself, see Vol: 2d, Pag:
249, anent the Prince's desiring
Malcolm MacLeod to have no
Fear, for that the Wind would
soon change, &and make the Ships of War, 482 (482)
War, then in View upon the Coast of
Sky, steer a direct contrary Course,
so that it would not be in their
Power to come near him at that
Time. — At this Captain Hay,
with an Asseveration, assured the
Company, that that was literally
true; for that, when they were sail-
ing along the Coast of Sky with a
pretty brisk Gale, all on a sudden
the Wind changed upon them, &and
forced them to sail a direct
contrary Course. He said, he re-
membredremembered Nothing better.

Here I remarked, that some would
be ready to attribute this in the
Prince to the Second Sight, or
some such uncommon supernatu-
ral Cause; but, that, for my own
Part, I believed, there were some,
who could tell, a little Time be-
fore, that the Wind would blow
from this or the other Point of the
Compass, being in Use of making
Observations in that Way. CapnCaptain
Hay replied, that Sailors, &and others
who dealt in Observations of that
Kind, could exactly enough tell,
from the Motion of a Cloud or the like 483 (483)
like, when the Wind would veer
about to this or the other Quar-
ter; and, from what had been said,
he remarked, that the Prince be-
hoved to have Skill in that
Way. — I then told the Compa-
ny, that Malcolm MacLeod had
said, that he never knew a Man,
in all his Life, that had such
firm &and steady Trust in the Pro-
vidence of God, as the Prince
was remarkably blessed with. See
Vol: 2d, Pag: 216.

The Conversation happening to turn
upon the Subject of Rorie Mac-
Kenzie's Death, it was said, that
it was certain enough, that Rorie
MacKenzie had been taken by
a Party of Cumberland’s Army
for the Prince, &and that he had
been actually butchered by them;
but as to the particular Circumstan-
ces of the Butchery, that was an
Affair not so easily to be discover-
ed. — Here I told the Compa-
ny that particular Story given me
by Kingsburgh anent the Officer’s
talking to him at Fort-Augustus about the 484 (484) the young Pretender’s Head. See
Vol: 1st, Pag: 146, 147.— Upon
this Captain Hay said, that, in vi-
siting his Friends lately in the
South Country, he had discovered
a Story, well worth the remark-
ing, &and the more so because it had
come from the Duke of Cumber-
land’s own Mouth. The Captain
informed the Company, that he
had met with a Gentleman in
the South, who told him, that, when
the Duke of Cumberland was on
his Way from the North to Berwick,
he had gone to that Town to wait
upon him, that accordingly he paid
his Court to him, and, after he
had done so, he asked his High-
ness, if he had entirely finished
the whole Affair &and ^left the Country in
Peace. The Duke answered, He
had done so. Then the Gentleman
asked, What was become of the
Pretender's eldest Son? The Duke
replied, that he had taken Care
to leave such Orders behind him,
that the Pretender's eldest Son
would never be more heard of. — Captain 485 (485)
Captain Hay said, as he had this
particular Narrative from the Gentle-
man's own Mouth, it deserved the
more Credit; for he could depend
upon the Truth of it; but he did
not chusechoose to name the Gentleman.

I could not fail remarking to Cap-
tain Hay, that Lady Clanranald’s
acquitting her selfherself so exactly and
wisely in the Prince’s preservation,
was Something very singular, &and
the more extraordinary, that (as I
had been informed) She happens
frequently to be not so well in
her Health, &and therefore (one would
be apt to imagine) quite unfit
to manage a Point of so much
Delicacy &and Danger. — The Cap-
tain answered, that Lady Clan-
ranald’s Conduct in that Affair,
all Things considered, was very
extraordinary indeed.

After giving several very remark-
able Instances of the Miseries &and
Dangers the Prince had been ex-
posed to in his Wanderings, I beg-
ged Leave to ask at Captain
Hay, what Notions he would en-tertain487(487)
tertain of those Folks in &and about
EdrEdinburgh (People of no mean Sense &and
Discretion in the common Affairs of
Life) who, when certain Accounts
had come of the Prince's Arrival
in France, were pleased to say,
“O these Jacobites are strange Bo-
“dies, who attribute the Preservation
“of their Prince to the Providence
“of God alone, when Providence
“could have no Hand in it at all,
“seeing the Duke of Cumberland
[“]&and his Army were not willing to
[“]take Him, but, on the contrary, a-
[“]voided the Laying Hands on Him,
[“]when they might have done it!”—
At this Captain Hay held up his
Hands, &and declared his Amaze-
ment, that any such Expression
could ever proceed out of the
Mouth of any Person whatsomever;
&and asked seriously, if there were
any Persons, that could have the
Impudence to talk so? — I assur-
ed him, there were such Persons,
as had actually used the above Ex-
pression, or Words to the same Pur-
pose, &and that they could be named. He 488 (488)
— He said, he was indeed sur-
prizedsurprised to hear the Thing, consider-
ing the strict Searches that had
been made for the Person of the
Prince, &and the many narrow Escapes
he had made, &and moreover, that it
was well known in the Army,
that, ^when any Officers happened to
bring Prisoners into the Camp in
the North, &and after the Report be-
ing made at the Head-quarters,
the Duke of Cumberland used to
be in very bad Humour, &and to ex-
press himself in these Words, —
“These officers don't know their Duty.”