The Sun Shines on Scalpay (6)
Scalpay has just acquired a new minister, the Rev Kenneth Stewart, a younger colleague for another Rev Kenneth Stewart in South Harris. The Rev Stewart (the Scalpay one) lives in a fine manse, though in almost complete lack of privacy amid this warm but inquisitive people. Formerly the house of the Scalpay tacksman, the manse is the oldest dwelling on the island and sits on the site of a previous house where Bonnie Prince Charlie took refuge for the night in 1746.
There is a stubbornly held myth that Charles Edward Stuart spent months on the run around the highlands without a single attempt made to betray him to the authorities. In fact he was very nearly captured on Scalpay by a clerical double-act. The Rev John Aulay MacAulay of Harris joined forces with his son, the Rev John MacAulay of Uist, and rounded up a posse to raid Scalpay and capture the royal fugitive for the pleasure of George II. But the Scalpay tacksman, John Campbell [ Mr. Macleod is mistaken here as it was Donald Campbell who was the tacksman who helped Charlie - Ed.], flatly refused to hand over the Prince. The MacAulays did not dare to risk a fight and Charlie was swiftly on his way.
In fairness, all evidence indicates that the MacAulays were motivated by Hanoverian loyalty rather than greed for the huge bounty on the Prince's head. They were able people, these MacAulays; old Aulay's great grandson was the famous historian, and a later descendant was Tory Chancellor of the Exchquer Iain MacLeod. But perhaps they had the last laugh. For many years there was an inscription on the lintel of the Scalpay manse recording the Pretender's stay. It was harled over in the 1950's.
