her of Carolina Oliphant had
attended Prince Charles Edward as aid-de-camp during his disastrous
campaign of 1745-6, and his spouse had indicated her sympathy in his
cause by cutting out a lock of his hair on the occasion of his accepting
the hospitality of the family mansion. The portion of hair is preserved
at Gask; and Carolina Oliphant, in her song, "The Auld House," has thus
celebrated the gentle deed of her progenitor:--

"The Leddy too, sae genty,
There shelter'd Scotland's heir,
An' clipt a lock wi' her ain hand
Frae his lang yellow hair."

The estate of Gask escaped forfeiture, but the father of Carolina did
not renounce the Jacobite sentiments of his ancestors. He named the
subject of this memoir Carolina, in honour of Prince Charles Edward; and
his prevailing topic of conversation was the reiterated expression of
his hope that "the king would get his ain." He would not permit the
names of the reigning monarch and his queen to be mentioned in his
presence; and when impaired eyesight compelled him to seek the
assistance of his family in reading the newspapers, he angrily reproved
the reader if the "German lairdie and his leddy" were designated
otherwise than by the initial letters, "K. and Q." This extreme
Jacobitism at a period when the crime was scarcely to be dreaded, was
reported to George III., who is related to have confessed his respect
for a man who had so consistently maintained his political sentiments.

In her youth, Carolina Oliphant was singularly beautiful, and was known
in her native district by the poetical designation of "The Flower of
Strathearn." She was as remarkable for the precocity of her intellect,
as she was celebrated for the elegance of her person. Descended by her
mother from a family which, in one instance,[44] at least, had afforded
some evidence of poetical talents, and possessed of a correct musical
ear, she very early composed verses for her favourite melodies. To the
development of her native genius, her juvenile condition abundantly
contributed: the locality of her birthplace, rich in landscape scenery,
and associated with family traditions and legends of curious and
chivalric adventure, might have been sufficient to promote, in a mind
less fertile than her own, sentiments of poesy. In the application of
her talents she was influenced by another incentive. A loose ribaldry
tainted the songs and ballads which circulated among the peasantry, and
she was c