Lady Grange

Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange, was the wife of Lord Erskine - a lawyer and Jacobite sympathiser.

After an acrimonious separation following their long marriage, she threatened to denounce him and his colleagues. Lord Erskine had her kidnapped, and she was eventually banished to St Kilda, where she lived for eight years as a prisoner. She lived in isolation as she didn’t speak Gaelic like the rest of the islanders.

In an attempt to be rescued, Lady Grange tried to smuggle notes of help to Edinburgh and she did eventually manage, with the crown being notified of her plea. However, she was moved to Skye by her kidnappers where she later died, and her grave is in Trumpan churchyard on Skye. It is believed she may in fact have three graves - one in Edinburgh and two on Skye. Several books have now been written about Lady Grange, giving details of her violent kidnap, including that she had her teeth knocked out.

Now, at Hirta on the St Kilda archipelago, a pile of rocks are the only remains of Rachel’s house - a cleit (stone storage hut) - ‘twenty feet by ten’. In the winter she would likely have been scooping the snow out of her bed with her hands.

More information on visiting the area can be found here.