The small boat bounced up the coast of South Uist, spray-battered, through a world of grey. Rock-scarred mountains towered to our left and, 30 miles away across the steely depths of the Minch, the cliffs of Skye fenced the horizon.
We were on a quest to find the cave at Corodale, where 276 years ago Bonnie Prince Charlie — the last serious Stuart claimant to the British throne — spent three weeks in hiding. He was the target of the largest manhunt Britain had ever seen, dodging nine British men-of-war scouring the Minch and hundreds of Redcoat government troops on land.
In the footsteps of . . .
This is the latest in a series in which writers are guided by a notable earlier traveller. Next time: across the Pyrenees on the trail of secret agent Anne-Marie Walters