 Separated by distance and weather , the natives knew little of mainland and international politics . After the Battle of Culloden in 1746 , it was rumoured that Prince Charles Edward Stuart and some of his senior Jacobite aides had escaped to St Kilda . An expedition was launched , and in due course British soldiers were ferried ashore to Hirta . They found a deserted village , as the St Kildans , fearing pirates , had fled to caves to the west . When the St Kildans were persuaded to come down , the soldiers discovered that the isolated natives knew nothing of the prince and had never heard of King George II either . 
