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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.
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