ISLE OF SKYE

There are twa bonnie maidens, and three bonnie maidens,
Come owre the Minch, come owre the main,
With the wind for their way and the corry for their hame.
They are dearly welcome back to Skye once again.

CHORUS: Come along, come along wi' your boatie and your song,
My ain bonnie maids, my twa bonnie maids,
For the night it is dark, the Redcoat is gone,
And ye are dearly welcome back to Skye once again.

There is Flora, my honey, sae dear, sae bonnie,
And ane, that's sae tall, sae handsome and all.
Put the one for my king and the other for my queen.
They are dearly welcome back to Skye once again.

CHORUS: Come along...
My ain...
For the Lady Macoulain, she dwelleth all her lane,
And ye....

Her arm it is long and her petticoat is strong,
My ain...
The sea moullit's nest I will watch o'er the main
And ye....

CHORUS: Come along...
My ain...
And saft shall ye rest where the heather grows best,
And ye....

There's a wind in the tree, a ship on the sea,
My ain...
Your cradle I'll rock on the lea of the rock,
And ye....

CHORUS: Come along...
My ain...
Mair sound shall ye sleep as she sail o'er the deep,
And ye....^^

Written by James Hogg (1770-1835), recorded by The Corries on 'A Little of What You Fancy' in 1973

[?:] This Jacobite song narrates the adventures of Prince Charles Edward Stewart [sic!] and Flora MacDonald during the wanderings of the Prince in Skye. (Songs of Scotland I, p 40)

[1972:] [Charles's] flight was a desperate business; he was an embarrassment to the chiefs into whose lands he came; only reluctantly did Flora Macdonald, whose father was with the government forces, convey him to Skye [...]. (Mackie, History of Scotland 275)

[1975:] Charles [...] took leave of his preserver. Flora [...] says nothing of any emotional scene on this occasion - in striking contrast to the accounts given by several of the Prince's male companions on the occasion of their parting with him: we remember, for example, O'Sullivan's loud weeping and long embrace. Flora was a hard-headed and highly competent young woman who managed her part of the affair very successfully. [She] was arrested on her way back to her home in Armadale[,] taken to London and imprisoned in the Tower, but was released under the Act of Indemnity of 1747. She married Allan Macdonald in 1750, and in 1774 they emigrated to North Carolina. But they returned to Skye in 1779, disapproving of the revolt of the American colonies. (David Daiches, Charles Edward Stuart 227)

[1986:] The Twa Bonnie Maidens were Flora McDonald and Bonnie Prince Charlie, who was disguised as her serving woman 'Betty' in order to escape the Redcoats, i.e. soldiers. (Conway, 100 Songs 86)

[1991:] Flora MacDonald was a native of South Uist, the daughter of a leading member of the MacDonald clan. June of 1746 found her at her brother's farm, in charge of the cattle at their summer upland grazing. She was just 24 years old. Her involvement came through her cousin, Neil MacEachern MacDonald, who was with the fugitive, and her stepfather, Hugh MacDonald - who although he was a captain on the government side, had no desire to see the Stuart prince caught. On the night of the 20th of June, Neil came to Flora with a proposal; that she take the prince, disguised as her maidservant, to the island of Skye. Despite the risks, Flora agreed. On the 28th, with Neil, four oarsmen, and Charles Edward Stuart disguised in petticoats as 'Betty Burke', they set out in an open boat from Rossinish on the island of Benbecula to cross the dangerous waters of the Little Minch. As all the world knows, they made it, and the romantic legend of Over The Sea To Skye was born.

Flora's reward for all her courage was a lock of hair from the royal head and a promise that she would be rewarded properly when the Stuarts were once again on the British throne - and with that glib assurance she and her prince parted company. Charles Edward Stuart finally landed on the safe soil of France on the 20th of September that same year - and proceeded to reward those who had risked life and limb for him by spending the rest of his days within easy reach of the brandy bottle. But for Flora it was not so easy; word of the deed got out, and she was arrested. If she had been just another grim highlander, doubtless she would have been given no mercy by the Hanoverian courts, but her youth and beauty catapulted her to instant celebrity. The legends around her grew. King George's son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, is said to have visited her - and to have been told that, had he been in distress like Prince Charles, she would have done the same for him. True or not, the story is indicative of the grip she had on the popular imagination - the government did not dare try her case; when the amnesty came for most of the Jacobites in 1747, Flora was included.

She went home to Scotland and began rebuilding her life. (Brian McNeill on his own song 'Strong Women Rule Us All', Songbook 'The Back o' the North Wind' 5)
'Her arm it is long and her petticoat strong' is, I suppose, a slip of the tongue, and should be the other way round. - Susanne