reign of Alexander II. (1214-1249) Haco, King of Norway, invaded
Scotland, and captured the most important of the Isles of the Hebrides.
The Scottish King was more of a diplomatist than a soldier, but as he
found that politics were ineffectual with Haco, his ambition tempted
him to lead an army against the invaders; leaving Dunoon as a defensive
fort, he went forth to the conflict. As his fleet sailed through the
Sound of Mull, King Alexander was attacked by a malignant fever, and
death laid an icy hand upon him. He died on 8th July 1249, on the
island of Kerrera, near Oban.
Haco of Norway, having heard of this expedition, hastened to oppose.
Leaving Orkney with his fleet he sailed down through the isles which he
called his own, and, with a kind of poetic irony, he chose Kerrera as
the meeting-place of the Scottish fleet, to which many of the insurgent
Norwegian nobles had joined themselves. The death of Alexander II. had
discouraged the Scots, and deprived them of a leader. They retired from
the contest, and Haco resumed his sway over the Hebrides, and reigned
without interruption for the succeeding thirteen years. Meanwhile the
new King of Scotland, Alexander III., though but a youth, decided to
take up the policy of his father, and to support it by the sword, and
thus win back the Hebrides. He incited the neighbouring lords on the
islands and mainland who were well-affected towards him, to invade the
Norwegian territory, and to sack, burn, and destroy every village whose
inhabitants refused allegiance to him. The commission was faithfully
fulfilled. From Jura to the Lewes these islands were filled with
lamentations, the voice of the western Rachel weeping for her children.
This outrage could not be endured by the proud Norwegian spirit. Haco
at once assembled a magnificent fleet, and set sail from Herlover on
7th July 1263, determined to avenge the blood of his subjects. As he
proceeded his Armada received many augmentations, and when he reached
Sanda Isle, at the south of the Mull of Kintyre, his fleet numbered a
hundred sail, fully manned and equipped. Disposing of this powerful
force he began operations against the coast of Argyll. One portion of
the squadron attacked the Mull of Kintyre, whilst another beset and
captured the Island of Bute, and the King himself entered the Firth of
Clyde and sailed up unopposed to the shores of Arran, anchoring his
fleet in Kilbrannan Sound.
The Scottish leaders, terrified at this prompt and successful invasion,
endeavoured to secure peace by negotiation. They limited their demands,
which had formerly included the whole of the Hebrides, to the cession
of Arran, Bute and the Cumbraes, which barred the entrance to the
Clyde. But Haco doubted their faith, and would have none of their
treaties. Hoisting sail upon sixty of his ships, he penetrated to the
head of Loch Long, throwing off as he proceeded marauding parties to
ravage the coasts. The Cowal shore from Toward Point to Holy Loch was
laid waste; and the Castles of Rothesay and Dunoon were captured by
the bold invaders. The hardy Norse sailors, undeterred by difficulty,
landed at the north-eastern point of Loch Long (where Arrochar now
stands), and making a “portage” they conveyed their boats over the hill
to the waters of Loch Lomond, intending to seize upon Dumbarton Castle,
and carrying fire and sword into these territories.
The Scots, thoroughly alarmed at the magnitude and success of the
expedition, had assembled their forces on the southern and eastern
shores of Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, from Kempoch Point to the Bay
of Largs on the south bank of the Clyde; and the country was closely
patrolled by the Scottish army so as to make a landing ineffectual.
They feared to attack the Norwegian sailors upon the waters. But
the God of the Winds benevolently interposed, and delivered the
invaders into their hands. The portion of the fleet commanded by
Haco was anchored in the channel between the Isle of Cumbrae and the
mainland, but a fierce storm swept down from Loch Goil and drove the
helpless vessels on the shore at Largs. The northern warriors, unable
to maintain a position on the land, were hopelessly defeated. The
discomfitted King, spiritless and heartbroken, recalled the shattered
remnant of his fleet, and retired, downcast and overthrown, from the
scene of his disgrace. And thus the reconquest of the Hebrides from
Norway, which neither fraud nor force could accomplish, was effected
by the adverse October gales which sweep down the Clyde from the
lofty Argyllshire mountains. The unfortunate King of Norway retired
into seclusion, and in 1266, the Battle of Largs, after three years,
brought about the formal cession of the Hebrides and the Isle of Man
to Alexander III., and drove the Norsemen from Scotland. It has been
stated that Haco died on board his vessel, and was carried a corpse
to his kingdom, but this has not been confirmed. The Battle of Largs
is commemorated in a pathetic poem by the late Professor John Stuart
Blackie, in which the following verses occur:--
“And at early burst of spring, Haco,
When the birds sang on the tree,
They took the body of Haco
In a ship across the sea.
Across the sea to Norway,
Where the sires make moan for thee--
That the last of his race was Haco,
Who ruled the Western Sea.
And they laid thee, Haco, Haco,
With thy sires on the Norway shore,
And far from the Isles of the Sea, Haco,
That know thy name no more.”
The peculiar circumstances whereby Dunoon Castle became a royal
residence are worthy of notice. Malcolm III. (called _Ceannmor_, or
Great Head, because he was the “Great Chief,” not from any abnormal
development of his skull), was the eldest son of Duncan I., and began
his reign in 1057-8, on the death of his father. He found the kingdom
in a turbulent and agitated condition. Fortunately he was surrounded
by a trusty band of warriors upon whom he could depend, and Might
in these days was Right. The mixed population upon the shores of the
Firth of Clyde gave him much trouble, especially in the Island of Bute,
which had been the headquarters of invasions by the Norsemen. The
King deputed Walter, son of Fleance, to subjugate this territory, and
rewarded his success by grants of the lands of Bute, and Cowal, and the
baronies of Kyle and Renfrew. Dunoon Castle thus became one of Walter’s
possessions, and its convenient situation made him select it as the
Seat of Government for the district. Alan, the son of Walter, was
created High Steward of Scotland, and from him descended the race of
Stewart Kings who ruled the kingdom for many years. Walter the sixth,
High Steward, was married in 1315 to Marjorie, only daughter and child
of Robert the Bruce by his first marriage, and their son, Robert, the
then High Stewart, succeeded David II. as King of Scotland in 1370, and
was thus the first of the Stewart Kings, with the title of Robert II.
The death of King Robert the Bruce in 1329 plunged the country, for
which he had fought so nobly, into the extremity of despair. His son,
David was only eight years old, and the dynasty of Bruce had no claim
to superiority but the wisdom and bravery of its founder. The power
with which he had repressed the incursions of the English, and the
discretion whereby he had obviated the claims of others to the throne,
were now alike powerless; and dissension and invasion became the order
of the day. Edward Baliol, eldest son of King John Baliol, in 1332,
made a compact with Edward III. of England, promising to render homage
to that monarch for the Kingdom of Scotland in return for assistance
in its conquest. This wretched agreement was fulfilled despite the
patriotic efforts of the supporters of Bruce; and Baliol landed with an
English army at Kinghorn, on 6th August 1332, and six days afterwards
defeated the Scots at the Battle of Dupplin, near Perth. He was crowned
as King of Scotland at Scone on 24th September in this year; but his
heart failed him and he fled in haste about three months afterwards to
England, where he died in 1363. The English army remained in Scotland
after Dupplin, and were again victorious at Halidon Hill, near Berwick,
in July 1333, where the Scottish nobles were dispersed, and had to
flee for their lives. Amongst them was Robert, the young Stewart of
Scotland, who was now nearest heir to the throne, and had to lurk in
hidance in his ancestral Island of Bute.
Determined to extirpate the race of Bruce, Baliol attacked and captured
Stewart’s Castle of Dunoon, intending from it to menace the fortress of
Dumbarton, which completely commanded the Clyde. But Robert Stewart,
finding that the venality and cowardice of Baliol had alienated many
of his adherents, took course with his relative, Sir Colin Campbell
of Lochow, the nephew of Robert Bruce; and making a hasty descent
upon Dunoon Castle, they surprised its defenders, and easily gained
possession. This was the first reverse that Baliol had suffered and
became the signal for a general revolt against him. The Brandanes of
Bute, Robert’s hereditary vassals, performed prodigies of valour in the
assault, overwhelming Lyle, the governor, it is stated, with showers
of stones. For their services on this occasion the Brandanes obtained
perpetual exemption from the payment of multures; whilst Sir Colin
Campbell was made Hereditary Keeper of the Castle--an office which
remained in the Argyll family as long as the Castle existed, and it
became the frequent resort of the Stewart Kings.
Dunoon Castle figured in national history during an incident which need
only here be referred to briefly. After the death of James V. in 1642,
there was a contest between three persons as to the Regency during the
infancy of Queen Mary. The Earl of Arran, as a near relative, became
“Governor,” having been supported by Cardinal Beaton; but Arran was
overthrown by the Queen-Mother, Mary of Guise, and the next opponent
to her was the Earl of Lennox, also a relative. Lennox had spent
some years at the Court of Henry VII. of England, who still longed
to gain possession of Scotland. Accordingly, in August 1544, Henry
sent an invading fleet to the Clyde, who destroyed Arran’s Castle of
Brodick, and ravaged the neighbouring country. The ten English ships,
full-freighted with their panoply of war, reached Dumbarton, then in
charge of Stirling of Glorat, a servitor of Lennox, but to that Earl’s
surprise, Stirling threatened him with the Earl’s own artillery, and
the fleet had to retire discomfitted.
Sir Colin Campbell at Dunoon had word of this defeat, and received
Arran at Dunoon, with a fusilade of guns; but Lennox, landing on the
Cowal shore, with a troop of his followers, attacked Dunoon Castle and
took it at the spear’s point. Unable to leave a party in posession
Lennox was forced to return to the fleet, and sailing down to Kintyre
he ravaged the district of the Campbells, and then went back to England
to tell Henry that their project had failed. Dunoon Castle again fell
to the charge of Sir Colin Campbell and his successors.
A different scene was enacted at Dunoon about twenty years after. In
June 1563, Mary, Queen of Scots, who had sailed from Dumbarton Castle
to France, had been married there, and had become a widow, was now
in her native land, and planned an expedition so that she might make
herself acquainted with her kingdom. Her half-sister (illegitimate
daughter of James V.), was then Countess of Argyll, and she invited the
Queen to visit her at Dunoon Castle, so that she might see life in the
western Highlands. Queen Mary left Edinburgh, visited her birth-place
at Linlithgow Palace, went thence to Glasgow where she remained for
ten days, visiting Hamilton, Paisley, and other notable places in
that neighbourhood. From there she went to Inveraray, where she spent
some time in deer-hunting. As in duty bound, she paid a visit to the
ancient Castle of Dunoon, one of the earliest palaces of her race, and
under the care of her sister she spent the night there in mirth and
banqueting. A ballad of the period thus refers to the Queen’s visit:--
“Now she’s cast off her bonny shoon,
Made o’ the gilded leather;
And she’s put on her Highland brogues
To skip among the heather.
And she’s cast off her bonny gown,
Made of the silk and satin,
And she’s put on a tartan plaid,
To row amang the bracken.”
Leaving Dunoon the Queen crossed the Clyde into Ayrshire, proceeding as
far south as Dumfries before she returned to Edinburgh. And with that
varied journey nearly all the happiness of her life was completed.
There is little to record of the after-history of Dunoon Castle save
the story of an atrocious act of cruelty carried out by the Campbells
of Dunoon. There had long been a feud between the Campbells and the
Lamonts of Lamont and Castle Toward, and in 1646, by direction of the
Marquess of Argyll, the Campbells attacked Castle Toward, which they
plundered and demolished. Among the documents in the custody of the
present (1927) Sir Norman Lamont, Bart., of Knockdow, there is the
complaint against the Marquess lodged by Sir James Lamont, referring
to this incident, in which the following passage occurs:--
“Ten dayes after the capitulations were ended, they carryed the said
Sir James, his friends and vassals to a place called Dunnoone, about
five miles from his principall garison. And there in the Churchyard
they most cruelly murthered (without Assyse or order of law) on one
tree thirty and six at one tyme of the chiefs and speciall gentlemen
of that name, and before they were half-hanged they cut them down and
threw them in by dozens in pitts prepared for the same, and many of
thame striveing to ryse upon their feet were violently holden downe
until that by throwing the earth in great quantity upon them they were
stifled to death. And it is much to be remarked and taken notice of
that the same tree upon which these thirty-six gentlemen were hanged,
being shortly after cutt downe did immediately as it was in cutting
spring forth blood, and notwithstanding the body of the tree was
carryed away, yet did the root thereof continually cast forth blood for
the space it continued in the ground, which was for severall yeares.”
Whether it was the result of the Curse of the Lamonts or from some
other cause, the Castle of Dunoon decayed from this period. It was used
as a residence till 1670, but after that time all record of it ceases.
The village which was growing up round it would doubtless be largely
composed of the stones of the Castle; for when once the cold finger
of Time brings decay upon such an erection its demolition is speedy
and complete. Now there are not so many stones remaining as to give an
adequate idea of either the form or extent of this stronghold; and the
green grass waves luxuriantly over the foundations of Dunoon Castle,
telling silently, but eloquently, its message of mutability to this
generation.
XIII
ERCHLESS CASTLE
The district of Beauly possesses a peculiar charm for the Scottish
tourist whose experience of the scenery of Scotland has been confined
to the Lowlands. The northern portion of the kingdom is so radically
different in character from the southern that one might readily imagine
that the Grampian Mountains formed the boundary of a new State, or were
the natural demarcation coinciding with the artificial dividing line
between two zones. The fertile vales of Tweeddale and Clydesdale, with
their inconsiderable mounts and hills, give place, first of all to the
varied uplands and elevated plains of Perthshire, which are preparatory
for the cloud-daring peaks of west Aberdeenshire, and the rugged and
barren mountains of Caithness and Sutherland. Betwixt these extremes of
verdant slopes and heath-clad hills the district of Beauly lies; and
whilst partaking of the nature of each, it forms the connecting link
between the two dissimilar aspects of nature.
The varied country is here decidedly mountainous, and the waters which
flow down the sides of the hills are so concentrated and diverted
into the gloomy glens which lie between that they assume the dignity
of rivers. The inland lochs which lie embossed among the hills find
their outlet to the sea through the straths formed by the overhanging
mountains; and though it is difficult to trace a consecutive range of
these, the phenomena which they display are similar to those of the
Grampians. The water-shed of the locality is east by north, and many of
the rivers join themselves together ere debouching into the North Sea,
the inward sweep of whose waters has hollowed out the vast bay of the
Moray Firth.
Three inland lochs at different altitudes are driven by the set of
the land to seek the same outlet. Loch Affrick, after gathering the
drainage of Glen Grivie, flows into Loch Benevian through the romantic
Strath Affrick. Issuing from the latter loch, the overflow takes the
name of River Glass, and assumes the proportion of a considerable
stream. Further north Loch Lingard becomes tributary by pouring its
waters through Strath Cannich into the Glass; and beyond Scuir na
Lappish, Loch Morar’s stream, rushing through the depths of Strath
Farrar, hastens also to join the swiftly-flowing Glass, which becomes
known as the Beauly river after receiving this accession. From Struan
Inn, the point of confluence of the Glass and Farrar, the traveller
may wander in any direction with the assurance of meeting with lovely
and picturesque scenery. He may pursue the precarious path which
leads westward to the shores of Loch Morar, following the devious
course of the Farrar, whose waters roll turbulently downwards to
the ocean over rock and fell, forming myriad cascades of silvery
brightness which sparkle in the summer sun, or dash impetuously down
the strath, o’erladen with the spate of winter snows; or, journeying
south-westward, he may retrace the Glass through all its windings until
he reaches the point where Cannich joins its stream. The road to the
right will carry him to the still and silent shores of Loch Lingard,
whose waters lie enclosed by mighty mountains and over-shadowed by
lofty trees. But if he pursue the way which stretches before him he
will ere long reach the hidden recesses where Loch Benevian and Loch
Affrick form natural reservoirs to feed these rapid and overflowing
rivers. Despite the volume of water which flows through the channel
of the Affrick, the inequalities of the rocky way which it follows
break it up into innumerable waterfalls of little altitude, but of
great force and energy. And when Mamsoul and Beinattow, the presiding
mountains which rule the Cannich and the Affrick, are capped with snow,
and the wintry torrents are rushing down their precipitous sides,
the picturesque effect which these rivers present is striking and
impressive.
The fringe of the great Caledonian Forest, which once stretched from
the Firth of Forth to the Banks o’ Dee, here still retains a portion of
its primeval grandeur, and gigantic birch trees and towering, pyramidal
firs cast their sombre shadows over the restless stream which brawls
below.
[Illustration: ERCHLESS CASTLE _Valentine & Sons, Ltd._]
“From the sources which well
In the tarn or the fell,
From its fountains
In the mountains,
Its rills and its gills,
Through moss and through brake
It runs and it creeps
For a while till it sleeps
In its own little lake.
· · · · ·
Here it comes sparkling,
And there it lies darkling,
Now smoking and frothing
Its tumult and wrath in,
Till in this rapid race on which it is bent
It reaches the place of its steep descent.”
Amid such scenery thus imperfectly described stands the old Castle
of Erchless, the seat of the head of the old Clan Chisholm. A short
distance from Struy Bridge, on the banks of the Beauly formed by the
conjoined rivers of Farrar and Glass, and pleasantly situated upon a
wooded eminence overlooking the stream, this Castle adds that element
of human interest to the scene without which it would be incomplete.
The many-gabled structure, with its quaint turrets and hidden turnpike
stairs, might well afford to the student of architecture a compendious
history of his art. The original Castle, judging from its plan,
was erected early in the 14th century, though there have been many
alterations on the structure since that time.
The oriel windows, elegant as they may be, formed no portion of the
original building; nor can one believe that the chief who laid the
foundation stone in remote times ever crossed the threshold of his
dwelling beneath a pillared portico. But these adjuncts, since they are
so plainly _additions_ and not _restorations_, add to the piquancy of
the general effect. In any case it would be difficult to find another
site for a Scottish Castle at once so picturesque and so commanding.
The Chisholms belonged originally to the Border Counties, the earliest
noted in history being John de Chisholme, who is named in a Bull of
1254 by Pope Alexander IV. John’s grandson, Sir John de Chisholme of
Berwick, fought at Bannockburn in 1314, on the side of Robert the
Bruce. About 1403, Alexander de Chisholme, of Chisholme, Roxburghshire,
who was the son of Sir Robert, Constable of Urquhart Castle and Sheriff
of Inverness, was married to Margaret, who is described as “the Lady of
Erchless,” and this seems to have been the earliest of the Chisholms of
Erchless Castle. The lands in the possession of the family at this date
were Strathglass and Ard, and later they came into the estate of Comar,
which made them proprietors of a large part of Ross-shire.
In 1685, when the Duke of York became James II. and VII., many of the
Highland Clans adhered to his cause, as they were chiefly adherents
of the Romish Church, and expected the restoration of the ancient
faith. The fatal conflict at the Pass of Killiecrankie, where Viscount
Dundee fell in the hour of victory, forced the Northern Clans to
retire, pursued by the Scottish Whigs and English Army. John Chisholm
garrisoned Erchless Castle to resist the pursuers, but he had at length
to surrender it to General Livingstone (afterwards Viscount Teviot) who
was Commander-in-chief of the Scottish forces of William of Orange.
With that blind devotion to the Stewart Cause which is one of the
problems of Scottish history at the time, Roderick Chisholm, son of
John, took part in the Jacobite Rising of 1715, in support of the
Chevalier de St. George (James VIII.) after his services had been
foolishly refused by George I. The estates of Roderick were forfeited,
but he was afterwards pardoned in 1735, and the lands restored to him.
This did not prevent him from joining Prince Charles Edward in 1745,
and leading eighty of the Chisholms through the campaign till Culloden,
where thirty of them were killed and his son of the same name also
fell. The lands were not alienated at this time, and have remained with
his descendants ever since in undisturbed possession.
Erchless Castle, though thus intimately associated with war, has also a
traditional romance of love, the story of which is still current in the
locality, though dates are lacking. About six miles from the Castle,
on the other side of the Beauly River, stands the Castle of Beaufort,
the ancient seat of the Clan Fraser. It so happened at one time that
Fraser, the Lord of Lovat, had an only daughter whose welfare was
his chief concern. Reared beneath the shelter of Beaufort Castle and
encircled by the unremitting care of her father and brethren, she grew
up to womanhood. The young Chief of the Chisholms had seen the maid and
had fallen captive to her charms; but the two families were then at
feud, and though the lady reciprocated his affection no marriage seemed
possible. At length Chisholm decided to win his bride at the point of
the sword; and one moonlit night, accompanied by a few of his faithful
followers, he waylaid her near some well-known trysting-place and bore
her away to his own territory. With commendable caution he refrained
from carrying her to Erchless Castle, where she would be first sought
for, but rather took her to a lonely isle in Loch Bruirach where he
deemed her safe from discovery.
Meanwhile the Frasers had found out the loss of their young lady, and
the baron rose up in wrath and ordered a speedy pursuit:--
“O fy! gar ride, an’ fy! gar rin,
An’ hasteye, bring these faitours again,
For she’s be brent an’ he’s be slain.”