Tree root stool

Jacobite

This unimposing curved stool made from a tree root has a fascinating history. A label attached to the object states “Stool on which Prince Charlie sat when in hiding in Uist after Culloden.” It was given to the pioneering Victorian folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832-1912) by Rachel MacDonald, the great granddaughter of Morag MacDonald. Legend has it that three sisters living on a croft on Uist provided food to Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1720 - 1788) one evening when his party passed through the area when they were on the run from Hanoverian troops in 1746. When the sisters realised who their visitor was, they quarrelled as to whom should keep the stool. Morag won the fight and the stool became a treasured family heirloom, until it was gifted to Alexander Carmichael. Part of the Carmichael Collection is now in the museum’s care, while his archive is in the care of Edinburgh University.

Material: wood

Size: H 152 mm x W 381 mm

Sources: Carmichael Collection