THE arrival of girls at St Mary's Hall Preparatory School, Stonyhurst College, has made history in more ways than one.

For their uniform skirt is made from a tartan worn by Bonnie Prince Charlie, a fragment of which is in the college archives.

The tartan was recently authenticated and has been put into production under licence from the college.

Two fragments of the Borrodale tartan cloth, worn by Bonnie Prince Charlie while a fugitive after the Battle of Culloden, are known to have survived. One is in the West Highland Museum, Fort William, and the other among a collection of Stuart relics at Stonyhurst.

The tartan was given to the prince as a disguise by Angus and Catriona MacDonald of Borrodale who gave him refuge after the battle.

The remaining pieces used by handloom weaver Peter MacDonald, of Crieff, to reconstruct the tartan with the original indigo blue and cochineal red.

Borrodale tartan, known as Lady Borrodale's gift, is one of the earliest from the Clanranald lands of the west coast.

And the arrival of the 25 girl pupils takes the roll at St Mary's Hall to more than 200 for the first time in its history.

Head teacher Rory O'Brien said: "One thing can be sure, the tartan is certainly in better condition than the rain-soaked garment worn by Charles Stuart as he fled his pursuers!"

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