The Gallgael, or Western Clans--Fiongall and Dubhgall--Lords of the
Isles--Somerled--Suibne--Gillebride Mac Gille Adomnan--Somerled
in the West--Defeat and death--His children--Dugall and
his descendants--Ranald’s three sons, Ruari, Donald,
Dugall--Roderick--Ranald--The Clan Donald--Origin--Angus Og--His
son John--His sons Godfrey and Donald--Donald marries Mary, sister
of Earl of Ross--Battle of Harlaw--Policy of James I.--Alexander
of the Isles--Donald Balloch--John of the Isles--Angus Og
declares himself Lord of the Isles--Seizes Earl and Countess
of Athole--Intrigues with England--Battle of Lagebread--Battle
of Bloody Bay--Alexander of Lochalsh--Expedition of James
IV.--Donald _Dubh_--Donald _Galda_--Donald Gorme--Donald _Dubh_
reappears--Somerled’s descendants fail--The various Island
Clans--The Chiefship--Lord Macdonald and Macdonald of Clan
Ranald--Donald Gorme Mor--Feuds with the Macleans and Macleods--Sir
Donald, fourth Baronet--Sir Alexander’s wife befriends Prince
Charles--Sir James, eighth Baronet--Sir Alexander, ninth Baronet,
created a peer of Ireland--Present Lord Macdonald--Macdonalds
of Islay and Kintyre--Alexander of Islay’s rebellions--Angus
Macdonald--Feud with Macleans--Sir James imprisoned--His lands
pass to the Campbells--Macdonalds of Keppoch, or Clanranald
of Lochaber--Disputes with the Mackintoshes--The Macdonalds
at Culloden--Clanranald Macdonalds of Garmoran and their
offshoots--Battle of Kinloch-lochy or Blar-nan-leine--Macdonalds
of Benbecula, Boisdale, Kinlochmoidart, Glenaladale--Marshal
Macdonald, Duke of Tarentum--Macdonalds of Glencoe--Macdonnells
of Glengarry--Feud between the Glengarry Macdonalds and Mackenzie
of Kintail--General Sir James Macdonnell--Colonel Alexander
Ranaldson Macdonnell, last specimen of a Highland Chief--Families
descended from the Macdonnells of Glengarry--Strength of the
Macdonalds--Characteristic in the arms of the Coast-Gael.
The clans that come first in order in Mr Skene’s classification are
those whose progenitor is said by the genealogists to have been the
fabulous Irish King Conn “of the hundred battles.” They are mostly
all located in the Western Islands and Highlands, and are said by Mr
Skene to have been descended from the _Gallgael_, or Gaelic pirates
or rovers, who are said to have been so called to distinguish them
from the Norwegian and Danish _Fingall_ and _Dugall_, or white and
black strangers or rovers. Mr Skene advocates strongly the unmixed
Gaelic descent of these clans, as indeed he does of almost all the
other clans. He endeavours to maintain that the whole of these
western clans are of purely Pictish descent, not being mixed with
even that of the Dalriadic Scots. We are inclined, however, to agree
with Mr Smibert in thinking that the founders of these clans were to
a large extent of Irish extraction, though clearly distinguishable
from the primitive or Dalriadic Scots, and that from the time of
the Scottish conquest they formed intimate relationships with the
Northern Picts. “From whatever race,” to quote the judicious remarks
of Mr Gregory, “whether Pictish or Scottish, the inhabitants of the
Isles, in the reign of Kenneth MacAlpin, were derived, it is clear
that the settlements and wars of the Scandinavians in the Hebrides,
from the time of Harald Harfager to that of Olave the Red, a period
of upwards of two centuries, must have produced a very considerable
change in the population. As in all cases of conquest, this change
must have been most perceptible in the higher ranks, owing to the
natural tendency of invaders to secure their new possessions, where
practicable, by matrimonial alliances with the natives. That in the
Hebrides a mixture of the Celtic and Scandinavian blood was thus
effected at an early period seems highly probable, and by no means
inconsistent with the ultimate prevalence of the Celtic language
in the mixed race, as all history sufficiently demonstrates. These
remarks regarding the population of the Isles apply equally to that
of the adjacent mainland districts, which, being so accessible by
numerous arms of the sea, could hardly be expected to preserve the
blood of their inhabitants unmixed. The extent to which this mixture
was carried is a more difficult question, and one which must be left
in a great measure to conjecture; but, on the whole, the Celtic
race appears to have predominated. It is of more importance to know
which of the Scandinavian tribes it was that infused the greatest
portion of northern blood into the population of the Isles. The
Irish annalists divide the piratical bands, which, in the ninth and
following centuries infested Ireland, into two great tribes, styled
by these writers _Fiongall_, or white foreigners, and _Dubhgall_, or
black foreigners. These are believed to represent, the former the
Norwegians, the latter the Danes; and the distinction in the names
given to them is supposed to have arisen from a diversity, either in
their clothing or in the sails of their vessels. These tribes had
generally separate leaders; but they were occasionally united under
one king; and although both bent first on ravaging the Irish shores,
and afterwards on seizing portions of the Irish territories, they
frequently turned their arms against each other. The Gaelic title
of _Righ Fhiongall_, or King of the Fiongall, so frequently applied
to the Lords of the Isles, seems to prove that Olave the Red, from
whom they were descended in the female line, was so styled, and that,
consequently, his subjects in the Isles, in so far as they were not
Celtic, were Fiongall or Norwegians. It has been remarked by one
writer, whose opinion is entitled to weight,[136] that the names of
places in the exterior Hebrides, or the Long Island, derived from
the Scandinavian tongue, resemble the names of places in Orkney,
Shetland, and Caithness. On the other hand, the corresponding names
in the interior Hebrides are in a different dialect, resembling that
of which the traces are to be found in the topography of Sutherland;
and appear to have been imposed at a later period than the first
mentioned names. The probability is, however, that the difference
alluded to is not greater than might be expected in the language of
two branches of the same race, after a certain interval; and that the
Scandinavian population of the Hebrides was, therefore, derived from
two successive Norwegian colonies. This view is further confirmed by
the fact that the Hebrides, although long subject to Norway, do not
appear to have ever formed part of the possessions of the Danes.”[137]
As by far the most important, and at one time most extensive and
powerful, of these western clans, is that of the Macdonalds, and as
this, as well as many other clans, according to some authorities, can
clearly trace their ancestry back to Somerled, the progenitor of the
once powerful Lords of the Isles, it may not be out of place to give
here a short summary of the history of these magnates.
The origin of Somerled, the undoubted founder of the noble race
of the Island Lords, is, according to Mr Gregory, involved in
considerable obscurity. Assuming that the clan governed by Somerled
formed part of the great tribe of Gallgael, it follows that the
independent kings of the latter must in all probability have been
his ancestors, and should therefore be found in the old genealogies
of his family. But this scarcely appears to be the case. The last
king of the Gallgael was Suibne, the son of Kenneth, who died in the
year 1034; and, according to the manuscript of 1450, an ancestor of
Somerled, contemporary with this petty monarch, bore the same name,
from which it may be presumed that the person referred to in the
genealogy and the manuscript is one and the same individual. The
latter, however, calls Suibne’s father Nialgusa; and in the genealogy
there is no mention whatever of a Kenneth. But from the old Scottish
writers we learn that at this time there was a Kenneth, whom they
call Thane of the Isles, and that one of the northern mormaors also
bore the same name, although it is not very easy to say what precise
claim either had to be considered as the father of Suibne. There is
also a further discrepancy observable in the earlier part of the
Macdonald genealogies, as compared with the manuscript; and besides,
the latter, without making any mention of these supposed kings,
deviates into the misty region of Irish heroic fable and romance.
At this point, indeed, there is a complete divergence, if not
contrariety, between the history as contained in the Irish Annals,
and the genealogy developed in the manuscript; for, whilst the latter
mentions the Gallgael under their leaders as far back as the year
856, the former connect Suibne, by a different genealogy, with the
kings of Ireland. The fables of the Highland and Irish Sennachies
now became connected with the genuine history. The real descent of
the chiefs was obscured or perplexed by the Irish genealogies, and
previously to the eleventh century neither these genealogies nor even
that of the manuscript of 1450 can be considered as of any authority
whatsoever. It seems somewhat rash, however, to conclude, as Mr Skene
has done, that the Siol-Cuinn, or descendants of Conn, were of native
origin. This exceeds the warrant of the premises, which merely carry
the difficulty a few removes backwards into the obscurity of time,
and there leave the question in greater darkness than ever.
From the death of Suibne till the accession of Gillebride Mac Gille
Adomnan, the father of Somerled, nothing whatever is known of the
history of the clan. The latter, having been expelled from his
possessions by the Lochlans and the Fingalls, took refuge in Ireland,
where he persuaded the descendants of Colla to espouse his quarrel
and assist him in an attempt to recover his possessions. Accordingly,
four or five hundred persons put themselves under his command, and
at their head he returned to Alban, where he effected a landing; but
the expedition, it would seem, proved unsuccessful. Somerled, the
son of Gillebride, was, however, a man of a very different stamp. At
first he lived retired, musing in solitude upon the ruined fortunes
of his house. But when the time for action arrived, he boldly put
himself at the head of the inhabitants of Morven; attacked the
Norwegians, whom, after a considerable struggle, he expelled; made
himself master of the whole of Morven, Lochaber, and northern Argyle;
and not long afterwards added to his other possessions the southern
districts of that country. In the year 1135, when David I. expelled
the Norwegians from Man, Arran, and Bute, Somerled appears to have
obtained a grant of those Islands from the king. But finding himself
still unable to contend with the Norwegians of the Isles, whose power
remained unbroken, he resolved to recover by policy what he despaired
of acquiring by force of arms; and, with this view, he succeeded in
obtaining (about 1140) the hand of Ragnhildis, the daughter of Olaf,
surnamed the Red, who was then the Norwegian king of the Isles. This
lady brought him three sons, namely, Dugall, Reginald, and Angus;
and, by a previous marriage, he had one named Gillecallum.
The prosperous fortunes of Somerled at length inflamed his ambition.
He had already attained to great power in the Highlands, and success
inspired him with the desire of extending it. His grandsons having
formerly claimed the earldom of Moray, their pretensions were now
renewed, and this was followed by an attempt to put them in actual
possession of their alleged inheritance. The attempt, however,
failed. It had brought the _regulus_ of Argyll into open rebellion
against the king, and the war appears to have excited great alarm
amongst the inhabitants of Scotland; but Somerled, having encountered
a more vigorous opposition than he had anticipated, found it
necessary to return to the Isles, where the tyrannical conduct of
his brother-in-law, Godred, had irritated his vassals and thrown
everything into confusion. His presence gave confidence to the party
opposed to the tyrant, and Thorfinn, one of the most powerful of the
Norwegian nobles, resolved to depose Godred, and place another prince
on the throne of the Isles. Somerled readily entered into the views
of Thorfinn, and it was arranged that Dugall, the eldest son of the
former, should occupy the throne from which his maternal uncle was
to be displaced. But the result of the projected deposition did not
answer the expectations of either party. Dugall was committed to the
care of Thorfinn, who undertook to conduct him through the Isles,
and compel the chiefs not only to acknowledge him as their sovereign,
but also to give hostages for their fidelity and allegiance. The Lord
of Skye, however, refused to comply with this demand, and, having
fled to the Isle of Man, apprised Godred of the intended revolution.
Somerled followed with eight galleys; and Godred having commanded his
ships to be got ready, a bloody but indecisive battle ensued. It was
fought on the night of the Epiphany; and as neither party prevailed,
the rival chiefs next morning entered into a sort of compromise or
convention, by which the sovereignty of the Isles was divided, and
two distinct principalities established. By this treaty Somerled
acquired all the islands lying to the southward of the promontory
of Ardnamurchan, whilst these to the northward remained in the
possession of Godred.
But no sooner had he made this acquisition than he became involved
in hostilities with the government. Having joined the powerful party
in Scotland, which had resolved to depose Malcolm IV., and place
the boy of Egremont on the throne, he began to infest various parts
of the coast, and for some time carried on a vexatious predatory
warfare. The project, however, failed; and Malcolm, convinced
that the existence of an independent chief was incompatible with
the interests of his government and the maintenance of public
tranquillity, required of Somerled to resign his lands into the
hands of the sovereign, and to hold them in future as a vassal of
the crown. Somerled, however, was little disposed to comply with
this demand, although the king was now preparing to enforce it by
means of a powerful army. Emboldened by his previous successes, he
resolved to anticipate the attack, and having appeared in the Clyde
with a considerable force, he landed at Renfrew, where being met by
the royal army under the command of the High Steward of Scotland,
a battle ensued which ended in his defeat and death (1164). This
celebrated chief has been traditionally described as “a well-tempered
man, in body shapely, of a fair piercing eye, of middle stature, and
of quick discernment.” He appears, indeed, to have been equally brave
and sagacious, tempering courage with prudence, and, excepting in
the last act of his life, distinguished for the happy talent, rare
at any period, of profiting by circumstances, and making the most of
success. In the battle of Renfrew his son Gillecallum perished by
his side. Tradition says that Gillecallum left a son Somerled, who
succeeded to his grandfather’s possessions in the mainland, which
he held for upwards of half a century after the latter’s death. The
existence of this second Somerled, however, seems very doubtful
although Mr Gregory believes that, besides the three sons of his
marriage with Olave the Red, Somerled had other sons, who seem to
have shared with their brothers, according to the then prevalent
custom of gavelkind, the mainland possessions held by the Lord of
Argyle; whilst the sons descended of the House of Moray divided
amongst them the South Isles ceded by Godred in 1156. Dugall, the
eldest of these, got for his share, Mull, Coll, Tiree, and Jura;
Reginald, the second son, obtained Isla and Kintyre; and Angus, the
third son, Bute. Arran is supposed to have been divided between the
two latter. The Chronicle of Man mentions a battle, in 1192, between
Reginald and Angus, in which the latter obtained the victory. He was
killed, in 1210, with his three sons, by the men of Skye, leaving
no male issue. One of his sons, James, left a daughter and heiress,
Jane, afterwards married to Alexander, son and heir of Walter, High
Steward of Scotland, who, in her right, claimed the isle of Bute.
Dugall, the eldest son of his father by the second marriage, seems to
have possessed not only a share of the Isles, but also the district
of Lorn, which had been allotted as his share of the territories
belonging to his ancestors. On his death, however, the Isles, instead
of descending immediately to his children, were acquired by his
brother Reginald, who in consequence assumed the title of King of
the Isles; but, by the same law of succession, the death of Reginald
restored to his nephews the inheritance of their father. Dugall
left two sons, Dugall Scrag and Duncan, who appear in the northern
Sagas, under the title of the Sudereyan Kings. They appear to have
acknowledged, at least nominally, the authority of the Norwegian
king of the Hebrides; but actually they maintained an almost entire
independence. Haco, the king of Norway, therefore came to the
determination of reducing them to obedience and subjection, a design
in which he proved completely successful. In a night attack the
Norwegians defeated the Sudereyans, and took Dugall prisoner.
Duncan was now the only member of his family who retained any power
in the Sudereys; but nothing is known of his subsequent history
except that he founded the priory of Ardchattan, in Lorn. He was
succeeded by his son Ewen, who appears to have remained more faithful
to the Norwegian kings than his predecessors had shown themselves;
for, when solicited by Alexander II. to join him in an attempt he
meditated to obtain possession of the Western Isles, Ewen resisted
all the promises and entreaties of the king, and on this occasion
preserved inviolate his allegiance to Haco. Alexander, it is well
known, died in Kerreray (1249), when about to commence an attack
upon the Isles, and was succeeded by his son Alexander III. When
the latter had attained majority, he resolved to renew the attempt
which his father had begun, and with this view excited the Earl of
Ross, whose possessions extended along the mainland opposite to
the Northern Isles, to commence hostilities against them. The earl
willingly engaged in the enterprise, and having landed in Skye,
ravaged the country, burned churches and villages, and put to death
numbers of the inhabitants without distinction of age or sex. Haco
soon appeared with a Norwegian force, and was joined by most of the
Highland chiefs. But Ewen having altered his views, excused himself
from taking any part against the force sent by the Scottish king;
and the unfortunate termination of Haco’s expedition justified the
prudence of this timely change. In the year 1263 the Norwegians were
completely defeated by the Scots at the battle of Largs; and the
Isles were, in consequence of this event, finally ceded to the kings
of Scotland. This event, however, rather increased than diminished
the power of Ewen, who profited by his seasonable defection from
the Norwegians, and was favoured by the government to which that
defection had been useful. But he died without any male issue to
succeed him, leaving only two daughters, one of whom married the
Norwegian king of Man, and the other, Alexander of the Isles, a
descendant of Reginald.
The conquest and partition of Argyle by Alexander II., and the
subsequent annexation of the Western Islands to the kingdom of
Scotland, under the reign of his successor, annihilated the power of
the race of Conn as an independent tribe; and, from the failure of
the male descendants of Dugall in the person of Ewen, had the effect
of dividing the clan into three distinct branches, the heads of which
held their lands of the crown. These were the clan Ruari or Rory, the
clan Donald, and the clan Dugall, so called from three sons of Ranald
or Reginald, the son of Somerled by Ragnhildis, daughter of Olave.
Of this Ranald or Reginald, but little comparatively is known.
According to the Highland custom of gavel, Somerled’s property was
divided amongst all his sons; and in this division the portion which
fell to the share of Reginald appears to have consisted of the
island of Islay, with Kintyre, and part of Lorn on the mainland.
Contemporary with Reginald there was a Norwegian king of Man and the
Isles, who, being called by the same name, is liable to be confounded
with the head of the Siol Conn. Reginald, after the death of his
brother Dugall, was designated as Lord, and sometimes even as King,
of the Isles;[138] and he had likewise the title of Lord of Argyle
and Kintyre, in which last capacity he granted certain lands to an
abbey that had been founded by himself at Saddel in Kintyre. But
these titles did not descend to his children. He was succeeded by
his eldest son Roderick,[139] who, on the conquest of Argyle, agreed
to hold his lands of Rory, or the crown, and afterwards was commonly
styled Lord of Kintyre. In this Roderick the blood of the Norwegian
rovers seems to have revived in all its pristine purity. Preferring
“the good old way, the simple plan” to more peaceful and honest
pursuits, he became one of the most noted pirates of his day, and
the annals of the period are filled with accounts of his predatory
expeditions. But his sons, Dugall and Allan, had the grace not to
follow the vocation of their father, for which they do not seem to
have evinced any predilection. Dugall having given important aid
to Haco in his expedition against the Western Isles, obtained in
consequence a considerable increase of territory, and died without
descendants. Allan succeeded to the possessions of this branch of the
race of Conn, and, upon the annexation of the Isles to the crown of
Scotland, transferred his allegiance to Alexander III., along with
the other chiefs of the Hebrides.[140]
Allan left one son, Roderick, of whom almost nothing is known,
except that he was not considered as legitimate by the feudal law,
and in consequence was succeeded in his lordship of Garmoran by
his daughter Christina. Yet the custom or law of the Highlands,
according to which his legitimacy could ‘moult no feather,’ had
still sufficient force amongst the people to induce the daughter to
legalise her father’s possession of the lands by a formal resignation
and reconveyance; a circumstance which shows how deeply it had
taken root in the habits and the opinions of the people. Roderick,
however, incurred the penalty of forfeiture during the reign of
Robert Bruce, “probably,” as Mr Skene thinks, “from some connection
with the Soulis conspiracy of 1320;” but his lands were restored to
his son Ranald by David II. Ranald, however, did not long enjoy his
extensive possessions. Holding of the Earl of Ross some lands in
North Argyle, he unhappily became embroiled with that powerful chief,
and a bitter feud, engendered by proximity, arose between them. In
that age the spirit of hostility seldom remained long inactive. In
1346, David II. having summoned the barons of Scotland to meet him
at Perth, Ranald, like the others, obeyed the call, and having made
his appearance, attended by a considerable body of men, took up his
quarters at the monastery of Elcho, a few miles distant from the
Fair City. To the Earl of Ross, who was also with the army, this
seemed a favourable opportunity for revenging himself on his enemy;
and accordingly having surprised and entered the monastery in the
middle of the night, he slew Ranald and seven of his followers. By
the death of Ranald, the male descendants of Roderick became extinct;
and John of the Isles, the chief of the Clan Donald, who had married
Amy, the only sister of Ranald, now claimed the succession to that
principality.
THE MACDONALDS OR CLAN DONALD.
[Illustration: BADGE.--Heath.]
The Clan Donald derive their origin from a son of Reginald, who
appears to have inherited South Kintyre, and the island of Islay;
but little is known of their history until the annexation of the
Isles to the crown in the year 1266. According to Highland tradition,
Donald made a pilgrimage to Rome to do penance, and obtain absolution
for the various enormities of his former life; and, on his return,
evinced his gratitude and piety by making grants of land to the
monastery of Saddel, and other religious houses in Scotland. He was
succeeded by his son, Angus Mor, who, on the arrival of Haco with
his fleet, immediately joined the Norwegian king, and assisted him
during the whole of the expedition; yet, when a treaty of peace was
afterwards concluded between the kings of Norway and Scotland, he
does not appear to have suffered in consequence of the part which
he took in that enterprise. In the year 1284 he appeared at the
convention, by which the Maid of Norway was declared heiress of the
crown, and obtained as the price of his support on that occasion
a grant of Ardnamurchan, a part of the earldom of Garmoran,[141]
and the confirmation of his father’s and grandfather’s grants to
the monastery of Saddel. Angus left two sons, Alexander and Angus
Og (_i.e._, the younger). Alexander, by a marriage with one of the
daughters of Ewen of Ergadia, acquired a considerable addition to his
possessions; but having joined the Lord of Lorn in his opposition
to the claims of Robert Bruce, he became involved in the ruin of
that chief; and being obliged to surrender to the king, he was
imprisoned in Dundonald Castle, where he died. His whole possessions
were forfeited, and given to his brother, Angus Og, who, having
attached himself to the party of Bruce, and remained faithful in
the hour of adversity, now received the reward of his fidelity and
devotion. Angus assisted in the attack upon Carrick, when the king
recovered “his father’s hall;” and he was present at Bannockburn,
where, at the head of his clan, he formed the reserve, and did battle
“stalwart and stout,” on that never-to-be-forgotten day. Bruce,
having at length reaped the reward of all his toils and dangers, and
secured the independence of Scotland, was not unmindful of those
who had participated in the struggle thus victoriously consummated.
Accordingly, he bestowed upon Angus the lordship of Lochaber, which
had belonged to the Comyns, together with the lands of Durrour and
Glencoe, and the islands of Mull, Tyree, &c., which had formed
part of the possessions of the family of Lorn. Prudence might have
restrained the royal bounty. The family of the Isles were already
too powerful for subjects; but the king, secure of the attachment
and fidelity of Angus, contented himself with making the permission
to erect a castle or fort at Tarbet in Kintyre, a condition of the
grants which he had made. This distinguished chief died early in the
fourteenth century, leaving two sons, John his successor, and John
Og, the ancestor of the Macdonalds of Glencoe.
[Illustration: MACDONALD. (Tartan)]
Angus, as we have already seen, had all his life been a steady friend
to the crown, and had profited by his fidelity. But his son John
does not seem to have inherited the loyalty along with the power,
dignities, and possessions of his father. Having had some dispute
with the Regent concerning certain lands which had been granted by
Bruce, he joined the party of Edward Baliol and the English king;
and, by a formal treaty concluded on the 12th of December 1335, and
confirmed by Edward III. on the 5th October 1336, engaged to support
the pretensions of the former, in consideration of a grant of the
lands and islands claimed by the Earl of Moray, besides certain
other advantages. But all the intrigues of Edward were baffled;
Scotland was entirely freed from the dominion of the English; and,
in the year 1341, David II. was recalled from France to assume the
undisputed sovereignty of his native country. Upon his accession to
the throne, David, anxious to attach to his party the most powerful
of the Scottish barons, concluded a treaty with John of the Isles,
who, in consequence, pledged himself to support his government. But
a circumstance soon afterwards occurred which threw him once more
into the interest of Baliol and the English party. In 1346, Ranald
of the Isles having been slain at Perth by the Earl of Ross, as
already mentioned, John, who had married his sister Amy, immediately
laid claim to the succession. The government, however, unwilling
to aggrandise a chief already too powerful, determined to oppose
indirectly his pretensions, and evade the recognition of his claim.
It is unnecessary to detail the pretexts employed, or the obstacles
which were raised by the government. Their effect was to restore to
the party of Baliol one of its most powerful adherents, and to enable
John in the meanwhile to concentrate in his own person nearly all the
possessions of his ancestor Somerled.
But ere long a most remarkable change took place in the character
and position of the different parties or factions, which at that
time divided Scotland. The king of Scotland now appeared in the
extraordinary and unnatural character of a mere tool or partisan of
Edward, and even seconded covertly the endeavours of the English
king to overturn the independence of Scotland. Its effect was to
throw into active opposition the party which had hitherto supported
the throne and the cause of independence; and, on the other hand,
to secure to the enemies of both the favour and countenance of the
king. But as soon as by this interchange the English party became
identified with the royal faction, John of the Isles abandoned it,
and formed a connection with that party to which he had for many
years been openly opposed. At the head of the national party was the
Steward of Scotland, who, being desirous of strengthening himself
by alliances with the more powerful barons, hailed the accession of
John to his interests as an extraordinary piece of good fortune,
and cemented their union by giving to the Lord of the Isles his
own daughter in marriage. The real aim of this policy was not for
a moment misunderstood; but any open manifestation of force was
at first cautiously avoided. At length, in 1366, when the heavy
burdens imposed upon the people to raise the ransom of the king had
produced general discontent, and David’s jealousy of the Steward had
displayed itself by throwing into prison the acknowledged successor
to the throne, the northern barons broke out into open rebellion, and
refused either to pay the tax imposed, or to obey the king’s summons
to attend the parliament.
In this state matters remained for some time, when David applied
to the Steward, as the only person capable of restoring peace to
the country, and, at the same time, commissioned him to put down
the rebellion. The latter, satisfied that his objects would be more
effectually forwarded by steady opposition to the court than by
avowedly taking part with the insurgents, accepted the commission,
and employed every means in his power to reduce the refractory barons
to obedience. His efforts, however, were only partially successful.
The Earls of Mar and Ross, and other northern barons, whose object
was now attained, at once laid down their arms; John of Lorn and
Gillespie Campbell likewise gave in their submission; but the Lord
of the Isles, secure in the distance and inaccessible nature of his
territories, refused to yield, and, in fact, set the royal power
at defiance. The course of events, however, soon enabled David to
bring this refractory subject to terms. Edward, finding that France
required his undivided attention, was not in a condition to prosecute
his ambitious projects against Scotland; a peace was accordingly
concluded between the rival countries; and David thus found himself
at liberty to turn his whole force against the Isles. With this view
he commanded the attendance of the Steward and other barons of the
realm, and resolved to proceed in person against the rebels. But
the Steward, perceiving that the continuance of the rebellion might
prove fatal to his party, prevailed with his son-in-law to meet the
king at Inverness, where an agreement was entered into, by which the
Lord of the Isles not only engaged to submit to the royal authority,
and pay his share of all public burdens, but further promised to put
down all others who should attempt to resist either; and, besides
his own oath, he gave hostages to the king for the fulfilment of
this obligation. The accession of Robert Steward or Stewart to the
throne of Scotland, which took place in 1371, shortly after this act
of submission, brought the Lord of the Isles into close connection
with the court; and during the whole of this reign he remained in as
perfect tranquillity, and gave as loyal support to the government as
his father Angus had done under that of King Robert Bruce.[142] In
those barbarous and unsettled times, the government was not always
in a condition to reduce its refractory vassals by force; and, from
the frequent changes and revolutions to which it was exposed, joined
to its general weakness, the penalty of forfeiture was but little
dreaded. Its true policy, therefore, was to endeavour to bind to its
interests, by the ties of friendship and alliance, those turbulent
chiefs whom it was always difficult and often impossible to reduce to
obedience by the means commonly employed for that purpose.
The advice which King Robert Bruce had left for the guidance of
his successors, in regard to the Lords of the Isles, was certainly
dictated by sound political wisdom. He foresaw the danger which
would result to the crown were the extensive territories and
consequent influence of these insular chiefs ever again to be
concentrated in the person of one individual; and he earnestly
recommended to those who should come after him never, under any
circumstances, to permit or to sanction such aggrandisement.
But, in the present instance, the claims of John were too great
to be overlooked; and though Robert Stewart could scarcely have
been insensible of the eventual danger which might result from
disregarding the admonition of Bruce, yet he had not been more than
a year on the throne when he granted to his son-in-law a feudal
title to all those lands which had formerly belonged to Ranald the
son of Roderick, and thus conferred on him a boon which had often
been demanded in vain by his predecessors. King Robert, however,
since he could not with propriety obstruct the accumulation of so
much property in one house, attempted to sow the seeds of future
discord by bringing about a division of the property amongst the
different branches of the family. With this view he persuaded John,
who had been twice married, not only to gavel the lands amongst his
offspring, which was the usual practice of his family, but also to
render the children of both marriages feudally independent of one
another. Accordingly King Robert, in the third year of his reign,
confirmed a charter granted by John to Reginald, the second son of
the first marriage, by which the lands of Garmoran, forming the dowry
of Reginald’s mother, were to be held of John’s heirs; that is, of
the descendants of the eldest son of the first marriage, who would,
of course, succeed to all his possessions that had not been feudally
destined or devised to other parties. Nor was this all. A short time
afterwards John resigned into the king’s hands nearly the whole of
the western portion of his territories, and received from Robert
charters of these lands in favour of himself and the issue of his
marriage with the king’s daughter; so that the children of the second
marriage were rendered feudally independent of those of the first,
and the seeds of future discord and contention effectually sown
between them. After this period little is known of the history of
John, who is supposed to have died about the year 1380.
During the remainder of this king’s reign, and the greater part
of that of his successor, Robert III., no collision seems to have
taken place between the insular chiefs and the general government;
and hence little or nothing is known of their proceedings. But when
the dissensions of the Scottish barons, occasioned by the marriage
of the Duke of Rothesay, and the subsequent departure of the Earl
of March to the English court, led to a renewal of the wars between
the two countries, and the invasion of Scotland by an English army,
the insular chiefs appear to have renewed their intercourse with
England; being more swayed by considerations of interest or policy,
than by the ties of relationship to the royal family of Scotland. At
this time the clan was divided into two branches, the heads of which
seemed to have possessed co-ordinate rank and authority. Godfrey, the
eldest surviving son of the first marriage, ruled on the mainland, as
lord of Garmoran and Lochaber; Donald, the eldest son of the second
marriage, held a considerable territory of the crown, then known
as the feudal lordship of the Isles; whilst the younger brothers,
having received the provisions usually allotted by the law of gavel,
held these as vassals either of Godfrey or of Donald. This temporary
equipoise was, however, soon disturbed by the marriage of Donald
with Mary, the sister of Alexander Earl of Ross, in consequence
of which alliance he ultimately succeeded in obtaining possession
of the earldom. Euphemia, only child of Alexander, Earl of Ross,
entered a convent and became a nun, having previously committed the
charge of the earldom to her grandfather, Albany. Donald, however,
lost no time in preferring his claim to the succession in right of
his wife, the consequences of which have already been narrated in
detail.[143] Donald, with a considerable force, invaded Ross, and
met with little or no resistance from the people till he reached
Dingwall, where he was encountered by Angus Dhu Mackay, at the head
of a considerable body of men from Sutherland, whom, after a fierce
conflict, he completely defeated and made their leader prisoner.
Leaving the district of Ross, which now acknowledged his authority,
he advanced at the head of his army, through Moray, and penetrated
into Aberdeenshire. Here, however, a decisive check awaited him.
On the 24th of July, 1411, he was met at the village of Harlaw by
the Earl of Mar, at the head of an army inferior in numbers, but
composed of better materials; and a battle ensued, upon the event
of which seemed to depend the decision of the question, whether the
Celtic or the Sassenach part of the population of Scotland were in
future to possess the supremacy. The immediate issue of the conflict
was doubtful, and, as is usual in such cases, both parties claimed
the victory. But the superior numbers and irregular valour of the
Highland followers of Donald had received a severe check from the
steady discipline and more effective arms of the Lowland gentry; they
had been too roughly handled to think of renewing the combat, for
which their opponents seem to have been quite prepared; and, as in
such circumstances a drawn battle was equivalent to a defeat, Donald
was compelled, as the Americans say, “to advance backwards.” The
Duke of Albany, having obtained reinforcements, marched in person
to Dingwall; but Donald, having no desire to try again the fate of
arms, retired with his followers to the Isles, leaving Albany in
possession of the whole of Ross, where he remained during the winter.
Next summer the war was renewed, and carried on with various success,
until at length the insular chief found it necessary to come to terms
with the duke, and a treaty was concluded by which Donald agreed to
abandon his claim to the earldom of Ross, and to become a vassal of
the crown of Scotland.
The vigour of Albany restored peace to the kingdom, and the remainder
of his regency was not disturbed by any hostile attempt upon the
part of Donald of the Isles. But when the revenge of James I. had
consummated the ruin of the family of Albany, Alexander, the son of
Donald, succeeded, without any opposition, to the earldom of Ross,
and thus realised one grand object of his father’s ambition. At
almost any other period the acquisition of such extensive territories
would have given a decided and dangerous preponderance to the
family of the Isles. The government of Scotland, however, was then
in the hands of a man who, by his ability, energy, and courage,
proved himself fully competent to control his turbulent nobles, and,
if necessary, to destroy their power and influence. Distrustful,
however, of his ability to reduce the northern barons to obedience
by force of arms, he had recourse to stratagem; and having summoned
them to attend a parliament at Inverness, whither he proceeded,
attended by his principal nobility and a considerable body of troops,
he there caused forty of them to be arrested as soon as they made
their appearance. Alexander, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, his
mother the Countess of Ross, and Alexander MacGodfrey, of Garmoran,
were amongst the number of those arrested on this occasion. Along
with several others, MacGodfrey was immediately executed, and his
whole possessions forfeited to the crown, and the remainder were
detained in captivity. By this bold stroke, James conceived that
he had effectually subdued the Highland chiefs; and, under this
impression, he soon afterwards liberated Alexander of the Isles. But
he seems to have forgotten that “vows made in pain,” or at least in
durance, “are violent and void.” The submission of the captive was
merely feigned. As soon as he had recovered his liberty, the Lord
of the Isles flew to arms, with what disastrous results to himself
has already been told.[144] So vigorously did the king’s officers
follow up the victory, that the insular chief, finding concealment
or escape equally impossible, was compelled to throw himself upon
the royal clemency. He went to Edinburgh, and, on the occasion of
a solemn festival celebrated in the chapel of Holyrood, on Easter
Sunday 1429, the unfortunate chief, whose ancestors had treated with
the crown on the footing of independent princes, appeared before the
assembled court in his shirt and drawers, and implored on his knees,
with a naked sword held by the point in his hand, the forgiveness
of his offended monarch. Satisfied with this extraordinary act of
humiliation, James granted the suppliant his life, and directed him
to be forthwith imprisoned in Tantallon castle.
The spirit of clanship could not brook such a mortal affront. The cry
for vengeance was raised; the strength of the clan was mustered; and
Alexander had scarcely been two years in captivity when the Isles
once more broke out into open insurrection. Under the command of
Donald Balloch, the cousin of Alexander and chief of clan Ranald,
the Islanders burst into Lochaber, where, having encountered an army
which had been stationed in that country for the purpose of overawing
the Highlanders, they gained a complete victory. The king’s troops
were commanded by the Earls of Mar and Caithness, the latter of whom
fell in the action, whilst the former saved with difficulty the
remains of the discomfited force. Donald Balloch, however, did not
follow up his victory, but having ravaged the adjacent districts,
withdrew first to the Isles, and afterwards to Ireland. In this
emergency James displayed his usual energy and activity. To repair
the reverse sustained by his lieutenants, he proceeded in person to
the North; his expedition was attended with complete success; and he
soon received the submission of all the chiefs who had been engaged
in the rebellion. Not long afterwards he was presented with what was
believed to be the head of Donald Balloch; “but,” says Mr Gregory,
“as Donald Balloch certainly survived king James many years, it is
obvious that the sending of the head to Edinburgh was a stratagem
devised by the crafty islander, in order to check further pursuit.”
The king, being thus successful, listened to the voice of clemency.
He restored to liberty the prisoner of Tantallon, granted him a free
pardon for his various acts of rebellion, confirmed to him all his
titles and possessions, and further conferred upon him the lordship
of Lochaber, which, on its forfeiture, had been given to the Earl of
Mar. The wisdom of this proceeding soon became apparent. Alexander
could scarcely forget the humiliation he had undergone, and the
imprisonment he had endured; and, in point of fact, he appears to
have joined the Earls of Crawford and Douglas, who at that time
headed the opposition to the court; but during the remainder of
his life the peace of the country was not again disturbed by any
rebellious proceedings on his part, and thus far the king reaped the
reward of his clemency. Alexander died about 1447, leaving three
sons, John, Hugh, and Celestine.
The opposition of Crawford, Douglas, and their associates had
hitherto been chronic; but, on the death of Alexander, it broke
out into active insurrection; and the new Lord of the Isles, as
determined an opponent of the royal party as his father had been,
seized the royal castles of Inverness, Urquhart, and Ruthven in
Badenoch, at the same time declaring himself independent. In thus
raising the standard of rebellion, John of the Isles was secretly
supported by the Earl of Douglas, and openly by the barons, who
were attached to his party. But a series of fatalities soon
extinguished this insurrection. Douglas was murdered in Edinburgh
Castle; Crawford was entirely defeated by Huntly; and John, by
the rebellion of his son Angus, was doomed to experience, in his
own territories, the same opposition which he had himself offered
to the general government. Submission was, therefore, inevitable.
Having for several years maintained a species of independence, he
was compelled to resign his lands into the hands of the king, and to
consent to hold them as a vassal of the crown. This, however, was
but a trifling matter compared with the rebellion of his son, which,
fomented probably by the court, proved eventually the ruin of the
principality of the Isles, after it had existed so long in a state
of partial independence. Various circumstances are stated as having
given rise to this extraordinary contest, although in none of these,
probably, is the true cause to be found. It appears, however, that
Angus Og,[145] having been appointed his father’s lieutenant and
representative in all his possessions, took advantage of the station
or office which was thus conferred on him, deprived his father of
all authority, and got himself declared Lord of the Isles. How this
was effected we know not; but scarcely had he attained the object
of his ambition, when he resolved to take signal vengeance upon the
Earl of Athole, an inveterate enemy of his house, and, at the same
time, to declare himself altogether independent of the crown. With
this view, having collected a numerous army, he suddenly appeared
before the castle of Inverness, and having been admitted by the
governor, who had no suspicion whatever of his design, immediately
proclaimed himself king of the Isles. He then invaded the district
of Athole; stormed and took Blair Castle; and having seized the earl
and countess, carried them prisoners to Islay. The reason given by Mr
Gregory for Angus’s enmity against the Earl and Countess of Athole
is, that the former having crossed over privately to Islay, carried
off the infant son of Angus, called Donald _Dubh_, or the Black, and
committed him to the care of Argyle, his maternal grandfather, who
placed him in the Castle of Inchconnely, where he was detained for
many years. Mr Gregory places this event after the Battle of Bloody
Bay. On his return to the Isles with the booty he had obtained, the
marauder was overtaken by a violent tempest, in which the greater
part of his galleys foundered. Heaven seemed to declare against
the spoiler, who had added sacrilege to rapine by plundering and
attempting to burn the chapel of St Bridget in Athole. Stricken with
remorse for the crime he had committed, he released the earl and
countess, and then sought to expiate his guilt by doing penance on
the spot where it had been incurred.
As a proof of the sincerity of his repentance, this Angus Og next
engaged in treason upon a larger scale. At the instigation of
this hopeful son, his father, whom he had already deprived of all
authority, now entered into a compact with the king of England and
the Earl of Douglas, the object of which was nothing less than
the entire subjugation of Scotland, and its partition amongst the
contracting parties. By this treaty, which is dated the 18th of
February 1462, the Lord of the Isles agreed, on the payment of a
stipulated sum, to become the sworn ally of the king of England,
and to assist that monarch, with the whole body of his retainers,
in the wars in Ireland and elsewhere; and it was further provided,
that in the event of the entire subjugation of Scotland, the whole of
that kingdom, to the north of the Firth of Forth, should be equally
divided between Douglas, the Lord of the Isles, and Donald Balloch
of Islay; whilst, on the other hand, Douglas was to be reinstated
in possession of those lands between the Forth and the English
borders, from which he had, at this time, been excluded. Conquest,
partition, and spoliation, were thus the objects contemplated in
this extraordinary compact. Yet no proceeding appears to have been
taken, in consequence of the treaty, until the year 1473, when we
find the Lord of the Isles again in arms against the government. He
continued several years in open rebellion; but having received little
or no support from the other parties to the league, he was declared
a traitor in a parliament held at Edinburgh in 1475, his estates
were also confiscated, and the Earls of Crawford and Athole were
directed to march against him at the head of a considerable force.
The meditated blow was, however, averted by the timely interposition
of his father, the Earl of Ross. By a seasonable grant of the lands
of Knapdale, he secured the influence of the Earl of Argyll, and
through the mediation of that nobleman, received a remission of his
past offences, was reinstated in his hereditary possessions, which
he had resigned into the hands of the crown, and created a peer of
parliament, by the title of the Lord of the Isles. The earldom of
Ross, the lands of Knapdale, and the sheriffships of Inverness and
Nairn were, however, retained by the crown, apparently as the price
of the remission granted to this doubly unfortunate man.
But Angus Og was no party to this arrangement. He continued to defy
the power of the government; and when the Earl of Athole was sent to
the north to reinstate the Earl of Ross in his remaining possessions,
he placed himself at the head of the clan, and prepared to give him
battle. Athole was joined by the Mackenzies, Mackays, Frasers, and
others; but being met by Angus at a place called Lagebread, he was
defeated with great slaughter, and escaped with great difficulty from
the field. The Earls of Crawford and Huntly were then sent against
this desperate rebel, the one by sea and the other by land; but
neither of them prevailed against the victorious insurgent. A third
expedition, under the Earls of Argyll and Athole, accompanied by
the father of the rebel and several families of the Isles, produced
no result; and the two earls, who seem to have had little taste for
an encounter with Angus, returned without effecting anything. John
the father, however, proceeded onwards through the Sound of Mull,
accompanied by the Macleans, Macleods, Macneills, and others, and
having encountered Angus in a bay on the south side of the promontory
of Ardnamurchan,[146] a desperate combat ensued, in which Angus was
again victorious, and his unfortunate parent overthrown. By the
battle of the Bloody Bay, as it is called in the traditions of the
country, Angus obtained possession of the extensive territories of
his clan, and, as “when treason prospers ’tis no longer treason,”
was recognised as its head. Angus, some time before 1490, when
marching to attack Mackenzie of Kintail, was assassinated by an Irish
harper.[147]
The rank of heir to the lordship of the Isles devolved on the nephew
of John, Alexander of Lochalsh, son of his brother, Celestine.
Placing himself at the head of the vassals of the Isles, he
endeavoured, it is said, with John’s consent, to recover possession
of the earldom of Ross, and in 1491, at the head of a large body of
western Highlanders, he advanced from Lochaber into Badenoch, where
he was joined by the clan Chattan. They then marched to Inverness,
where, after taking the royal castle, and placing a garrison in
it, they proceeded to the north-east, and plundered the lands of
Sir Alexander Urquhart, sheriff of Cromarty. They next hastened
to Strathconnan, for the purpose of ravaging the lands of the
Mackenzies. The latter, however, surprised and routed the invaders,
and expelled them from Ross, their leader, Alexander of Lochalsh,
being wounded, and as some say, taken prisoner. In consequence of
this insurrection, at a meeting of the Estates in Edinburgh in
May 1493, the title and possessions of the lord of the Isles were
declared to be forfeited to the crown. In January following the aged
John appeared in the presence of the king, and made a voluntary
surrender of his lordship, after which he appears to have remained
for some time in the king’s household, in the receipt of a pension.
He finally retired to the monastery of Paisley, where he died about
1498; and was interred, at his own request, in the tomb of his royal
ancestor, Robert II.[148]
With the view of reducing the insular chiefs to subjection, and
establishing the royal authority in the Islands, James IV., soon
after the forfeiture in 1493, proceeded in person to the West
Highlands, when Alexander of Lochalsh, the principal cause of the
insurrection which had led to it, and John of Isla, grandson and
representative of Donald Balloch, were among the first to make their
submission. On this occasion they appear to have obtained royal
charters of the lands they had previously held under the Lord of the
Isles, and were both knighted. In the following year the king visited
the Isles twice, and having seized and garrisoned the castle of
Dunaverty in South Kintyre, Sir John of Isla, deeply resenting this
proceeding, collected his followers, stormed the castle, and hung the
governor from the wall, in the sight of the king and his fleet. With
four of his sons, he was soon after apprehended at Isla, by MacIan
of Ardnamurchan, and being conveyed to Edinburgh, they were there
executed for high treason.
In 1495 King James assembled an army at Glasgow, and on the 18th
May, he was at the castle of Mingarry in Ardnamurchan, when several
of the Highland chiefs made their submission to him. In 1497 Sir
Alexander of Lochalsh again rebelled, and invading the more fertile
districts of Ross, was by the Mackenzies and Munroes, at a place
called Drumchatt, again defeated and driven out of Ross. Proceeding
southward among the Isles, he endeavoured to rouse the Islanders to
arms in his behalf, but without success. He was surprised in the
island of Oransay, by MacIan of Ardnamurchan, and put to death.
In 1501, Donald _Dubh_, whom the islanders regarded as their rightful
lord, and who, from his infancy, had been detained in confinement in
the castle of Inchconnell, escaped from prison, and appeared among
his clansmen. They had always maintained that he was the lawful
son of Angus of the Isles, by his wife the Lady Margaret Campbell,
daughter of the first Earl of Argyll, but his legitimacy was denied
by the government when the islanders combined to assert by arms his
claims as their hereditary chief. His liberation he owed to the
gallantry and fidelity of the men of Glencoe. Repairing to the isles
of Lewis, he put himself under the protection of its lord, Torquil
Macleod, who had married Katherine, another daughter of Argyll, and
therefore sister of the lady whom the islanders believed to be his
mother. A strong confederacy was formed in his favour, and about
Christmas 1503 an irruption of the islanders and western clans, under
Donald _Dubh_, was made into Badenoch, which was plundered and wasted
with fire and sword. To put down this formidable rebellion, the
array of the whole kingdom north of Forth and Clyde was called out;
and the Earls of Argyll, Huntly, Crawford, and Marischal, and Lord
Lovat, with other powerful barons, were charged to lead this force
against the islanders. But two years elapsed before the insurrection
was finally quelled. In 1505 the Isles were again invaded from the
south by the king in person, and from the north by Huntly, who took
several prisoners, but none of them of any rank. In these various
expeditions the fleet under the celebrated Sir Andrew Wood and
Robert Barton was employed against the islanders, and at length
the insurgents were dispersed. Carniburg, a strong fort on a small
isolated rock, near the west coast of Mull, in which they had taken
refuge, was reduced; the Macleans and the Macleods submitted to the
king, and Donald _Dubh_, again made a prisoner, was committed to the
castle of Edinburgh, where he remained for nearly forty years. After
this the great power formerly enjoyed by the Lords of the Isles was
transferred to the Earls of Argyll and Huntly, the former having
the chief rule in the south isles and adjacent coasts, while the
influence of the latter prevailed in the north isles and Highlands.
The children of Sir Alexander of Lochalsh, the nephew of John the
fourth and last Lord of the Isles, had fallen into the hands of the
king, and as they were all young, they appear to have been brought
up in the royal household. Donald, the eldest son, called by the
Highlanders, Donald _Galda_, or the foreigner, from his early
residence in the Lowlands, was allowed to inherit his father’s
estates, and was frequently permitted to visit the Isles. He was with
James IV. at the battle of Flodden, and appears to have been knighted
under the royal banner on that disastrous field. Two months after,
in November 1513, he raised another insurrection in the Isles, and
being joined by the Macleods and Macleans, was proclaimed Lord of
the Isles. The numbers of his adherents daily increased. But in the
course of 1515, the Earl of Argyll prevailed upon the insurgents to
submit to the regent. At this time Sir Donald appeared frequently
before the council, relying on a safe-conduct, and his reconciliation
to the regent (John, Duke of Albany) was apparently so cordial that
on 24th September 1516, a summons was despatched to ‘Monsieur de
Ylis,’ to join the royal army, then about to proceed to the borders.
Ere long, however, he was again in open rebellion. Early in 1517 he
razed the castle of Mingarry to the ground, and ravaged the whole
district of Ardnamurchan with fire and sword. His chief leaders now
deserted him, and some of them determined on delivering him up to
the regent. He, however, effected his escape, but his two brothers
were made prisoners by Maclean of Dowart and Macleod of Dunvegan,
who hastened to make their submission to the government. In the
following year, Sir Donald was enabled to revenge the murder of his
father on the MacIans of Ardnamurchan, having defeated and put to
death their chief and two of his sons, with a great number of his
men. He was about to be forfeited for high treason, when his death,
which took place a few weeks after his success against the MacIans,
brought the rebellion, which had lasted for upwards of five years, to
a sudden close. He was the last male of his family, and died without
issue.
In 1539, Donald Gorme of Sleat claimed the lordship of the Isles, as
lawful heir male of John, Earl of Ross. With a considerable force he
passed over into Ross-shire, where, after ravaging the district of
Kinlochewe, he proceeded to Kintail, with the intention of surprising
the castle Eilandonan, at that time almost without a garrison.
Exposing himself rashly under the wall, he received a wound in the
foot from an arrow, which proved fatal.
In 1543, under the regency of the Earl of Arran, Donald _Dubh_,
the grandson of John, last Lord of the Isles, again appeared upon
the scene. Escaping from his long imprisonment, he was received
with enthusiasm by the insular chiefs, and, with their assistance,
he prepared to expel the Earls of Argyll and Huntly from their
acquisitions in the Isles. At the head of 1800 men he invaded
Argyll’s territories, slew many of his vassals, and carried off
a great quantity of cattle, with other plunder. At first he was
supported by the Earl of Lennox, then attached to the English
interest, and thus remained for a time in the undisputed possession
of the Isles. Through the influence of Lennox, the islanders agreed
to transfer their alliance from the Scottish to the English crown,
and in June 1545 a proclamation was issued by the regent Arran and
his privy council against ‘Donald, alleging himself of the Isles,
and other Highland men, his partakers.’ On the 28th July of that
year, a commission was granted by Donald, ‘Lord of the Isles, and
Earl of Ross,’ with the advice and consent of his barons and council
of the Isles, of whom seventeen are named, to two commissioners,
for treating, under the directions of the Earl of Lennox, with
the English king. On the 5th of August, the lord and barons of
the Isles were at Knockfergus, in Ireland, with a force of 4000
men and 180 galleys, when they took the oath of allegiance to the
king of England, at the command of Lennox, while 4000 men in arms
were left to guard and defend the Isles in his absence. Donald’s
plenipotentiaries then proceeded to the English court with letters
from him both to King Henry and his privy council; by one of which
it appears that the Lord of the Isles had already received from the
English monarch the sum of one thousand crowns, and the promise of
an annual pension of two thousand. Soon after the Lord of the Isles
returned with his forces to Scotland, but appears to have returned to
Ireland again with Lennox. There he was attacked with fever, and died
at Drogheda, on his way to Dublin. With him terminated the direct
line of the Lords of the Isles.
All hopes of a descendant of Somerled again governing the Isles
were now at an end; and from this period the race of Conn, unable
to regain their former united power and consequence, were divided
into various branches, the aggregate strength of which was rendered
unavailing for the purpose of general aggrandisement, by the
jealousy, disunion, and rivalry, which prevailed among themselves.