Finding Flora

I found myself in Southern Pines, NC today, making a hospital visit (I'm a Presbyterian minister, for those who may not know).  My way home, through western Harnett County, brought me across Cameron Hill, possibly the highest point in the "sandhills" section of North Carolina, and a place that has a direct connection to Flora MacDonald.

Flora MacDonald

Flora is, of course, the great heroine of Scotland (think Joan of Arc without the martyrdom)- credited with saving Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) from capture by the English after his defeat at the hands of the Duke of Cumberland at Culloden Moor in 1745.  The failure of the Uprising of '45 resulted in the further breakdown of the clan system in Scotland and gradual decline of favorable living conditions in the Highlands and the Hebrides.  

Meanwhile, here in America, colonial Governor Gabriel Johnston, himself a Scot, was encouraging his countrymen to come and populate this wealthy new land.  So it was that, some thirty years after her daring exploits with the Bonnie Prince, Flora and her husband Allan MacDonald joined tens of thousands of other Highlanders (including most of my ancestors) in the Cape Fear country of North Carolina.   

After arriving through the newly-established port of Wilmington and traveling upriver to Cross Creek (where banquets were given in her honor), Flora and Allan spent their first winter in America (1774-75) with her half-sister Annabella MacDonald on Cameron Hill, before moving farther West to establish their own plantation on Cheek's Creek (in the edge of modern-day Montgomery County).  During that winter, Flora attended Barbecue Kirk (church) and tradition says that she spent some of those pleasant winter days sitting in the sun by a spring on the side of the hill near the house, where she would sometimes smoke a clay pipe.

Mount Pleasant, as it appeared in the late 1800s.

Little remains of Mount Pleasant today- the site is now overshadowed by a North Carolina Forest Service fire tower and a massive Harnett County water tower.  The land where the house was formerly situated now belongs to the Cameron Hill Presbyterian Church, which is just across the highway, and the tract has just been clear-cut of timber.

After introducing myself to the Forest Service employee and assuring him I was harmless (one of his bosses is actually a member of my congregation in Fayetteville, so I also did a bit of name-dropping), I proceeded to try and get my bearings and locate some remains of the old house.  I didn't have a great deal to go on- the only image I have seen of Mount Pleasant is a drawing that I found in The Celtic Monthly (printed in Glasgow, Scotland) from around 1900 (see above).  The drawing appears to show a large house, most of which is hidden by trees, with a creek or millpond below.  I had been told by Bill Caudill, director of Scottish Heritage Center at St. Andrews University (Laurinburg, NC) that "Flora's spring" was only a few feet from the base of the fire tower.  This was corroborated by my N.C. Forest Service parishioner. 

The location of the spring was immediately obvious.  It isn't flowing anymore, presumably because many rural wells are now pumping ground water out of Cameron Hill, but there was obviously the origin of a stream there at one point in time.

Flora MacDonald's spring, now overgrown

Working downhill from the spring, I tried to find a high bluff that looked like the site of Mount Pleasant, as shown in the rendering above.  That wasn't hard to do.

The Mount Pleasant bluff above the creek, which descends from Flora's spring.

I think it's safe to assume that, at the time this drawing was done, someone had dammed up the creek in order to create a millpond, which explains the water and boats in front of the house in the drawing. 

Once I felt pretty certain that I had approximated the location of the house, I climbed the bluff to see if any remnant could be found of the structure.  Because the logging machinery has recently stirred up the topsoil, I had good hunting.  In a matter of 2-3 minutes I found several granite stones lying right on top of the ground in close proximity to each other. Loose granite rocks do NOT naturally occur on top of sand hills in North Carolina, so clearly these had been brought up here by someone who was building a structure.  Are they part of the foundation or the chimney of Mount Pleasant?  Probably so- but if not they belonged to one of the outbuildings!  I brought the two largest ones home, and will find a place of honor for them here on The Farm. Maybe I'll build a cairn of remembrance here for Flora, Allan, and all those who endured so much hardship in Scotland, as well as here in America.
 

Mount Pleasant stones

 

 

Flora's Statue at Inverness Castle

Scottish Emigrant's Farewell- 
Alexander Hume (1811-1859)

Fareweel, fareweel, my native home,
Thy lanely glens and heath clad mountains,
Fareweel thy fields o' storied fame,
Thy leafy shaws and sparkling fountains,
Nae mair I'll climb the Pentlands steep,
Nor wander by the Esk's clear river,
I seek a hame far o'er the deep,
My native land, Fareweel, forever.


Thou land wi' love an' freedom crown'd,
In ilk wee cot and lordly dwelling
may many hearted youth be found,
And maids in ev'ry grace excelling;
The land where Bruce and Wallace wight,
For freedom fought in days o' danger,
Ne'er crouch'd to proud usurpin' might,
But foremost stood, wrongs' stern avenger.

The old Highlander cemetery at Cameron Hill Presbyterian Church.

Tho' far frae thee, my native shore,
An' toss'd on life's tempestuous ocean,
My heart, aye Scottish to the core,
Shall cling to thee wi' warm devotion,
An' while the waving heather grows,
An' onward rows the winding river,
The toast be 'Scotland's broomy knowes,
Her mountains, rocks, and glens forever!'