This spinning wheel used for spinning thread or yarn from fibres was made in the French pattern, and was gifted to the West Highland Museum along with spindles, whorls, and a bobbin. The objects are exceptional because of they are said to have once belonged to Flora MacDonald (1722 – 1790), the heroine of the 1745 Rising and came from her home, Kingsburgh House, on Skye. This was the family home of Allan Macdonald, who married Flora Macdonald in 1750. After a brief emigration to America, the family returned to Kingsburgh House and Flora died there in March 1790. These are among the earliest objects to come into the museum’s collection in 1927.