MYSTERIOUS FRENCHWOMAN

Evening Star, Issue 25698, 23 January 1946, Page 7

MYSTERIOUS FRENCHWOMAN

WHO WAS SHE ? A RIDDLE OF CAMPBELL ISLAND The return yesterday of the auxiliary (ketch Ranui from the ' Campbell Island, after relieving several of the personnel of the meteorological station there, brings to mind a mysterious legend associated with that bleak group of islands.- i In a secluded spot on the main island stand the ruined remains of a sod hut, a path of white pebbles leading to. the door, and on the hillside at the back. is a mass of Scottish heather. Of the origin of these romantic clues several explanations have been advanced, some of which are feasible, while others have been tinged with romance. But what the true story actually was no one can.be sure. One of the theories is that the hut, the heather, and the path are a legacy of an illegitimate daughter of Bonnie Prince Charlie, abducted from Europe by a Jacobite agent. How or why she went to the Campbell Island is a matter for conjecture. However, the story is that before she died the woman planted Scottish heather * around her hut. and made a path of white pebbles leading up from the beach. Whether the story is true or not, on the shores of Garden Cove, on Perseverance Harbour, there are the remains of an earthen hut. The hillside at the back is clothed with a growth of Scottish heather, and in front a white pebble path leads down to the beach.

Another story, and perhaps a truer one, is told in the book ' Marie Levant,' which can now be found mainly on the shelves of second-hand book shops. This tale also links with Royalty. A child, said to be a potential King of France, was smuggled away to England by his nurse during the revolution. He later went to sea, and eventually he commanded his own vessel, named Princess Marie. While she was lying at the Camphells a mutiny broke out, and the only survivors were the writer of the book, which is in the form of a confession, and Marie, the daughter of the captain. Later the ship was wrecked and burned at Perseverance Harbour, according to the story, Marie, one of the mutineers, and the-writer of the book, being the only survivors. For some time they lived with a sealer there, but the girl is reported- to have contracted pneumonia and died. People who have read this account and who have also seen the island and the spot where the hut once stood state that the surroundings are described with detailed accuracy, and thy work was obviously that of one who had known them intimately.