Description

Rachel Chiesley married James Erskine, a Scottish lawyer, in the early 1700s and became Lady Grange. She was, by all accounts, a strong woman, described as a ‘wild beauty’ and prone to imperious outbursts that frightened her children. It is perhaps not surprising that their marriage was rumoured to be volatile. They separated in 1730 after 25 years together and nine children. Two years later, after she had produced letters indicating her estranged husband’s Jacobite sympathies, Erskine had her abducted. She was imprisoned in many locations before being taken to St Kilda in 1734, by which time she was 55 years of age. She is thought to have lived in this cleit for 6 years before being whisked away to prevent her discovery. She died in 1745, still in captivity, the year before the Battle of Culloden. Ironically, Erskine never saw justice.