31 December 1720: Charles Edward Stuart – Bonnie Prince Charlie, the “Young Pretender” – was born in Rome. As leader of the Scottish Jacobites, he attempted to depose George II, but was finally defeated at Culloden.

THE BLACKBIRD The first broadside versions of this song date to 1650, obviously referring to Charles II, who was then in exile. It wasn't safe to refer to him by name, so the allegorical "blackbird" was used. It seems also to have been used of James II, and perhaps also to his son James III. However, the title came to be most strongly associated with Bonnie Prince Charlie.

After the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, the same situation arose as in 1650. It was generally not safe to speak of Charlie, so the Jacobites adopted various circumlocutions -- the "blackbird," the "moorhen," or simply "Somebody."

Moira Craig sang FLORA McDONALD’S LAMENT on her 2000 album On ae Bonny Day. She noted: The Steeleye Span version of this, PRINCE CHARLIE STUART, was one of the first songs I sang in public...it was only part of a Jacobite song Flora McDonald's Lament. It was found by John Moulden in the Kidson Collection in the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, not far from where I first sang it.

BONNIE CHARLIE  aka WILL YE NO COME BACK AGAIN?, is a Scots poem by Carolina Oliphant (Lady Nairne), set to a traditional Scottish folk tune. Written well after the events it commemorates, it is not a genuine Jacobite song.

THE SKYE BOAT SONG tells the tale of Bonnie Prince Charlie (Prince Charles Edward Stuart and grandson of James II and VII of Scotland) and his flight from Benbecula to the Isle of Skye, following his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. The words were written by an Englishman, Sir Harold Boulton, in the 1880s. He used a Gaelic song format, a rowing song called an iorram, and the tune is said to come from the Gaelic song Cuachan nan Craobh or The Cuckoo in the Grove.

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The Blackbird -Kenneth McKellar     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wl-DWKVXto
Flora MacDonald's Lament - Kenneth McKellar     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzVyG3VM-UE
Prince Charlie Stuart -Steeleye Span     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWD7cBNOV44
Many recordings of “Will Ye No Come back Again?” on YouTube    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Will+Ye+No+Come+back+Again%3F++song
Many recordings of “The Skye Boat Song” on YouTube    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+Skye+Boat+Song

Link to JACOBITE SONGS posted above