Home : The Voice : October 2002 

GLIMPSES OF TWO FAMOUS WOMEN IN SCOTLAND:
QUEEN ELIZABETH II AND FLORA MACDONALD

by Jane Hines

At one of the last official appearances she made around the world during 2002, her Jubilee Year, Queen Elizabeth II came to opening night of the famous Military Tattoo in Edinburgh, Scotland. That night, August 5, 2002, was the very same night that a group of 23 Presbyterians in the Predestination Tour Group went to the Tattoo. About 8000 other people showed up, in addition to 1200 performers from Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Africa, the Netherlands, and the United States.

The first we heard about the Queen being there was when we got on our tour bus in Oban that morning. The bus driver had read the morning newspaper and he announced: “Herself is going to be there tonight.” Who? “Herself, the Queen will be at the Tattoo.”

Our group had good seats in Row 6, but we were at the opposite end of the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade from the spot where the Queen and Prince Phillip emerged from a big shiny black Bentley and began their ascent up the stairs to the Royal Box.

We were impressed that at age 76 she just walked right up all those stairs, unaided, spry as a young princess. Since she was wearing a yellow coat, we were able to keep her in sight easily, all the way up. That night’s performance was more spectacular than usual, and dedicated to the Queen in her 50th year on the British throne. Fireworks, marching bands, singers, dancers, some of the world’s most accomplished performers, were there for all to see. Even the 7,998 of us who are not royalty, saw a royal performance and got quite a good glimpse of “Herself ”, the Queen.

We did not get a real glimpse of Flora MacDonald, Herself, because she died in 1790, but we saw much evidence of her story, especially in the islands off the western coast of Scotland. That’s where the drama surrounding her daring rescue of Bonnie Prince Charlie took place. Fleeing the English, who had defeated him and his cause at the Battle of Culloden and who were pursuing him relentlessly, the Jacobite hero dressed up as Flora MacDonald’s Irish maid and accompanied her “Over the Sea to Skye” and from there to safety. Although Flora was arrested and imprisoned, even the English could not find it in their hearts to hang this brave young woman. Our Predestination Tour group saw the castle where Flora was imprisoned briefly and read the plaque on the wall of the Royal Hotel in Portree, where she said goodbye to the prince. Since there are so many MacDonalds still in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, we even saw women with a family resemblance to Flora, in the shops and on the ferry. Although Flora was not a queen, she was the heroine of a high adventure involving a Scottish Pretender to the British throne.

Reading the tribute to Flora MacDonald at her grave site on Skye, Clara and Art Olson from Selma, Alabama, and Fred Griffie, Predestination Tour leader, reflect on the long-lived popularity of this brave woman, even among people who did not support the Jacobite cause.