ABSTRACT
Donald MacLeod of Gualtergill, in Skye, was as fine an island boatman as anyone could find. For most of his seventy years he had made his living by piloting ships and fishing in the Sea of the Hebrides, which runs into the waters of the Minch, separating the Hebridean Islands from the mainland of Scotland. The Prince and his party had very little clothing with them, so Charles hastily had a jacket, vest, and breeches cut in the Highland manner from a long riding coat. The men made a fire with heather to dry out their clothes and cook what food they had been able to carry with them in a chest. The group stayed in Benbecula for two days waiting out the storm, then set off again in the eight-oared boat toward Stornoway. Lewis and Harris combined, known as the Long Island, constitute the largest land mass in the Outer Hebridean archipelago.
