Applecross and the 1745 Jacobite rebellion

Flora MacDonald, the famous heroine of the ill-fated Jacobite uprising of 1745, had a close connection with Applecross. In fact, much of the romantic story of what happened to Bonnie Prince Charlie in his escape ‘over the sea to Skye’ after Culloden, dressed in women’s clothes and using the pseudonym Betty Burke, comes from a declaration made by Flora MacDonald while she was held prisoner on the British navy frigate HMS Furnace. Her declaration was made on the 12th July 1746 on board the ship as it lay at anchor in Applecross Bay. She outlined the plan to escape and the route that had been taken.

Even though the Mackenzies of Applecross did not join the 1745 rebellion, government soldiers and forces were in and around Applecross for much of July 1746 and raided a cave– possibly the large Uamh na h-Armachd near today’s settlement of Lonbain– where rebels were said to be hiding. No rebels were found but a 'ten-oared boat’ was confiscated. Uamh na h-Armachd translates to English as ‘cave of the armoury’, but some people think it may mean Uamh na h-ar-a-mach, the ‘cave of the rebellion’.