The Prisoner of St. Kilda: The True Story of the Mysterious Disappearance of Lady Grange

Macaulay, Margaret

ISBN 10: 1906817022 / ISBN 13: 9781906817022

Edité par Luath Press Ltd., Edinburgh, 2009

2009. 190pp. B&W illustrations, maps. "Married to a Scottish law lord, Lady Grange threatened to expose her husband's secret connections to the Jacobites in an attempt to force him to leave his London mistress. But the stakes were higher than she could ever have imagined. Her husband's powerful co-conspirators exacted a ruthless revenge. One night in 1732, Lady Grange was dragged from her lodgings in Edinburgh and carried off into exile. She was taken to St Kilda, 100 miles off the west coast of the Scottish mainland, an island so inaccessible that it received virtually no visitors. Life on St Kilda was harsh and Lady Grange endured extreme isolation in this Gaelic-speaking community until she learned to speak Gaelic 'tolerably well'. During her captivity she never ceased in her determination to escape and make her story known to the world. The mysterious arrival of two of her letters in Edinburgh nine years after her abduction prompted a rescue attempt, but in an act of 'extraordinary rendition', her Jacobite captors relocated her to avoid discovery. Through assiduous detective work with contemporary sources, Margaret Macauley lays bare this shocking tale of violence, abduction, hardship and loneliness, and throws light on a shadowy episode in Jacobite history.". Book and unclipped jacket both in excellent condition with no inscriptions. N° de réf. du vendeur StKilda002b

Synopsis :

In the 18th century shotgun weddings were not unusual, but in most cases it wasn t the bride that was holding the gun. So began the stormy marriage between Lord and Lady Grange, a marriage which was to end with Lady Grange s death on the Isle of Skye after 13 years in exile. The daughter of a convicted murderer, Lady Grange s behaviour, such as her fondness for drink, was so outrageous that her sudden disappearance from public life was not considered surprising. But few knew the true story of her disappearance. This book reveals, for the first time, how the unfortunate lady was violently kidnapped and transported to the remote islands off the west coast of Scotland, spending seven years on the island of St. Kilda s. Condemned to a very different lifestyle than she had enjoyed in Edinburgh, and baffled by the strange tongue of the Gaelic West, she still obstinately survived, finally dying in Skye in 1745 (although a funeral had already been held for her years before). More than a history of scandal and infamy, 'The Prisoner of St Kilda' gives a balanced account of both Lord and Lady Grange, their flaws and strengths, and of the role played by the powerful men who saw the unpredictable Lady Grange as a threat.

À propos de l?auteur: MARGARET MACAULAY was born in Campbeltown, Argyll, in 1934 and educated at Campbeltown Grammar School. She graduated from Glasgow University in 1956 with an M.A. Hons. in History. She worked on The Herald, as a freelance journalist, a teacher and as a bookseller. Lady Grange is her first book.

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : The Prisoner of St. Kilda: The True Story of...
Éditeur : Luath Press Ltd., Edinburgh
Date d'édition : 2009
Reliure : Original Blue Hardback
Etat : Near Fine
Etat de la jaquette : Near Fine
Edition : First Edition