Eriskay

Eriskay

The island of Eriskay is located in the Outer Hebrides, between South Uist and Barra. It is a beautiful and hilly island which is only 3 miles long by 1.5 miles wide.

Many people still think of Glenfinnan as being the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie landed in Scotland, that is not actually the case. His first steps on Scottish soil were in fact on the 23rd July 1745 on the island of Eriskay. It was from here that he made his journey across from the islands to Loch Nam Uamh on the mainland before moving on to Glenfinnan.

The area is known as The Prince’s Beach, or Coilleag a’Phrionnsa, which is Gaelic for ‘the Prince’s cockleshell strand’ and it is located on the west side of the Isle of Eriskay. Charles Edward Stuart arrived here on the French warship Du Teillay, and was accompanied by only seven supporters. 

The chief of the MacDonalds of Clanranald was absent at the time of his arrival, so Bonnie Prince Charlie instead summoned his half-brother, Alisdair MacDonald of Boisdale to meet him on Eriskay. Alisdair told him that the local clans would not support him and advised him to go back home. On the 25th July the prince and his followers left Eriskay and sailed for mainland Scotland, where he did manage to raise an army and enjoy some military success before his defeat at the Battle of Culloden on 16th April 1746. 

Interestingly, it was also here in the Outer Hebrides that the Young Pretender hid and managed to evade his enemies a whole 9 months later.

Today this pretty stretch of beach is home to a wealth of wildflowers, and visitors can view a commemorative cairn standing above it for the Prince’s landing.