Charlie, Meg and Me by Gregor Ewing sampler

introduction
Having spent a good deal of time in the north-west of Scotland,
the Jacobite Rising of 1745–46 fascinated me greatly. In this area, the
Prince landed and raised the Highland Clans before marching south at
their head. From here, he left in 1746 having survived for five months
as a fugitive after his army was defeated at the battle of Culloden. The
associated monuments, cairns and caves dotted all over the Highlands
made me realise the importance of the Prince to the history of the area,
and it was his escape in the Highlands and Islands after the Rising
failed that interested me most. Charles fought a physical and mental
battle to outwit the forces seeking to apprehend him. This journey is
recorded as his finest hour and consisted of exactly the type of terrain
that I wanted to escape to.
With the Jacobite army soundly defeated at the Battle of Culloden,
the young Prince had to move swiftly to avoid capture by the victorious
troops. Riding away from the battlefield after a failed attempt
to rally the troops, he headed for the west coast to try to find a ship
from which to return to France. Within a couple of days of his defeat,
Charles was on foot, deep in the highlands, moving from glen to glen,
travelling light and living rough with just a few followers. For the
next five months he remained a hunted fugitive with a £30,000 (a six
figure sum in today’s money) price tag on his head. Pursued by the
Duke of Cumberland, the British Army and Highland Militia as well
as by ships from the British Navy, Charles undertook an arduous flight
across land and sea. An incredible journey stretching across the Highlands
and Islands and back again as he sought to avoid capture and
escape to France. Finally, after one of the most gruelling experiences
anyone, never mind a royal prince, has ever had to endure, he escaped
Scotland aboard a French ship from Loch nan Uamh in September
1746, intent on coming back to relieve the Highlanders of the plight in
which he had left them.
This journey seemed to me to have everything I was looking for. A
well-documented historical trail to follow through often remote and
mountainous terrain. Lots of opportunity for wild camping in beauti ful
locations. A physically demanding challenge, requiring a high degree
of self-sufficiency. Following in the footsteps of one of Scotland’s most
renowned characters there would be an opportunity to get to know
the man as well as the myth. There was plenty of reading material to
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