A.D. 1602-1613.
KING OF SCOTLAND:--
James VI., 1567-1603.
KING OF GREAT BRITAIN:--
James I., 1603-1625.
Feud between the Colquhouns and Macgregors--Macgregors
outlawed--Execution of their Chief--Quarrel between the clan
Kenzie and Glengarry--Alister Mac-Uilleam-Mhoir beheaded--Lawless
proceedings in Sutherland--Deadly quarrel in Dornoch--Meeting
between the Earls of Caithness and Sutherland--Feud between the
Murrays and some of the Siol-Thomais--Dissension in Moray among
the Dunbars--Quarrel between the Earl of Caithness and the chief
of the Mackays--Commotions in Lewis among the Macleods--Invasion
of Lewis by Fife adventurers--Compelled to abandon it--Lord
Kintail obtains possession of Lewis--Expulsion of Neill
Macleod--Quarrel between the Laird of Rasay and Mackenzie of
Gairloch--Disturbances in Caithness--Tumults in Caithness on the
apprehension of Arthur Smith, a false coiner--Earl of Caithness
prosecutes Donald Mackay and others--Dissensions among the clan
Cameron.
In the early part of the year 1602 the west of Scotland was thrown
into a state of great disorder, in consequence of the renewal of some
old quarrels between Colquhoun of Luss, the chief of that surname,
and Alexander Macgregor, chief of the clan Gregor. To put an end to
these dissensions, Alexander Macgregor left Rannoch, accompanied by
about 200 of his kinsmen and friends, entered Lennox, and took up
his quarters on the confines of Luss’s territory, where he expected,
by the mediation of his friends, to bring matters to an amicable
adjustment. As the laird of Luss was suspicious of Macgregor’s
real intentions, he assembled all his vassals, with the Buchanans
and others, to the number of 300 horse and 500 foot, designing,
if the result of the meeting should not turn out according to his
expectations and wishes, to cut off Macgregor and his party. But
Macgregor, anticipating Colquhon’s intention, was upon his guard,
and, by his precautions, defeated the design upon him. A conference
was held for the purpose of terminating all differences, but the
meeting broke up without any adjustment: Macgregor then proceeded
homewards. The laird of Luss, in pursuance of his plan, immediately
followed Macgregor with great haste through Glenfreon, in the
expectation of coming upon him unawares, and defeating him; but
Macgregor, who was on the alert, observed, in due time, the approach
of his pursuers, and made his preparations accordingly. He divided
his company into two parts, the largest of which he kept under his
own command, and placed the other part under the command of John
Macgregor, his brother, whom he despatched by a circuitous route,
for the purpose of attacking Luss’s party in the rear, when they
should least expect to be assailed. This stratagem succeeded, and the
result was, that after a keen contest, Luss’s party was completely
overthrown, with the loss of 200 men, besides several gentlemen and
burgesses of the town of Dumbarton. It is remarkable that of the
Macgregors, John, the brother of Alexander, and another person, were
the only killed, though some of the party were wounded.
The laird of Luss and his friends sent early notice of their disaster
to the king, and by misrepresenting the whole affair to him, and
exhibiting to his majesty eleven score bloody shirts, belonging
to those of their party who were slain, the king grew exceedingly
incensed at the clan Gregor, who had no person about the king to
plead their cause, proclaimed them rebels, and interdicted all the
lieges from harbouring or having any communication with them. The
Earl of Argyle, with the Campbells, was afterwards sent against the
proscribed clan, and hunted them through the country. About 60 of
the clan made a brave stand at Bentoik against a party of 200 chosen
men belonging to the clan Cameron, clan Nab, and clan Ronald, under
the command of Robert Campbell, son of the laird of Glenorchy, when
Duncan Aberigh, one of the chieftains of the clan Gregor, and his
son Duncan, and seven gentlemen of Campbell’s party were killed.
But although they made a brave resistance, and killed many of their
pursuers, the Macgregors, after many skirmishes and great losses,
were at last overcome. Commissions were thereafter sent through the
kingdom, for fining those who had harboured any of the clan, and for
punishing all persons who had kept up any communication with them,
and the fines so levied were given by the king to the Earl of Argyle,
as a recompense for his services against the unfortunate Macgregors.
Alexander Macgregor, the chief, after suffering many vicissitudes
of fortune, at last surrendered himself to the Earl of Argyle, on
condition that he should grant him a safe conduct into England to
King James, that he might lay before his majesty a true state of the
whole affair from the commencement, and crave the royal mercy; and
as a security for his return to Scotland, he delivered up to Argyle
thirty of his choicest men as hostages. But no sooner had Macgregor
arrived at Berwick on his way to London, than he was basely arrested,
brought back by the earl to Edinburgh, and, by his influence,
executed along with the thirty hostages. Argyle hoped, by these
means, ultimately to annihilate the whole clan; but in this cruel
design he was quite disappointed, for the clan speedily increased,
and became almost as powerful as before.[193]
While the Highland borders were thus disturbed by the warfare
between the Macgregors and the Colquhouns, a commotion happened in
the interior of the Highlands, in consequence of a quarrel between
the clan Kenzie and the laird of Glengarry, who, according to Sir
Robert Gordon, was “unexpert and unskilfull in the lawes of the
realme.” From his want of knowledge of the law, the clan Kenzie are
said by the same writer to have “easalie intrapped him within the
compas thereof,” certainly by no means a difficult matter in those
lawless times; they then procured a warrant for citing him to appear
before the justiciary court at Edinburgh, which they took good
care should not be served upon him personally. Either not knowing
of these legal proceedings, or neglecting the summons, Glengarry
did not appear at Edinburgh on the day appointed, but went about
revenging the slaughter of two of his kinsmen, whom the clan Kenzie
had killed after the summons for Glengarry’s appearance had been
issued. The consequence was that Glengarry and some of his followers
were outlawed. Through the interest of the Earl of Dunfermline, lord
chancellor of Scotland, Kenneth Mackenzie, afterwards created Lord
Kintail, obtained a commission against Glengarry and his people,
which occasioned great trouble and much slaughter. Being assisted by
many followers from the neighbouring country, Mackenzie, by virtue of
his commission, invaded Glengarry’s territories, which he mercilessly
wasted and destroyed with fire and sword. On his return, Mackenzie
besieged the castle of Strome, which ultimately surrendered to him.
To assist Mackenzie in this expedition, the Earl of Sutherland, in
token of the ancient friendship which had subsisted between his
family and the Mackenzies, sent 240 well equipped and able men,
under the command of John Gordon of Embo. Mackenzie again returned
into Glengarry, where he had a skirmish with a party commanded by
Glengarry’s eldest son, in which the latter and 60 of his followers
were slain. The Mackenzies also suffered some loss on this occasion.
At last, after much trouble and bloodshed on both sides, an agreement
was entered into, by which Glengarry renounced in favour of Kenneth
Mackenzie, the castle of Strome and the adjacent lands.[194]
In the year 1605, the peace of the northern Highlands was
somewhat disturbed by one of those atrocious occurrences so
common at that time. The chief of the Mackays had a servant named
Alastair-Mac-Uilleam-Mhoir. This man having some business to
transact in Caithness, went there without the least apprehension
of danger, as the Earls of Sutherland and Caithness had settled
all their differences. No sooner, however, did the latter hear
of Mac-Uilleam-Mhoir’s arrival in Caithness, than he sent Henry
Sinclair, his bastard brother, with a party of men to kill him.
Mac-Uilleam-Mhoir, being a bold and resolute man, was not openly
attacked by Sinclair; but on entering the house where the former
had taken up his residence, Sinclair and his party pretended that
they had come on a friendly visit to him to enjoy themselves in his
company. Not suspecting their hostile intentions, Alister invited
them to sit down and drink with him; but scarcely had they taken
their seats when they seized Mac-Uilleam-Mhoir, and carried him off
prisoner to the Earl of Caithness, who caused him to be beheaded in
his own presence, the following day. The fidelity of this unfortunate
man to Mackay, his master, during the disputes between the Earls
of Sutherland and Caithness, was the cause for which he suffered.
Mackay, resolved upon getting the earl punished, entered a legal
prosecution against him at Edinburgh, but by the mediation of the
Marquis of Huntly the suit was quashed.[195]
In July, 1605, a murder was committed in Strathnaver, by
Robert Gray of Hopsdale or Ospisdell, the victim being Angus
Mac-Kenneth-Mac-Alister, one of the Siol-Mhurchaidh-Rhiabhaich. The
circumstances leading to this will illustrate the utterly lawless
and insecure state of the Highlands at this time. John Gray of Skibo
held the lands of Ardinsh under John, the fifth of that name, Earl
of Sutherland, as superior, which lands the grandfather of Angus
Mac-Kenneth had in possession from John Mackay, son of Y-Roy-Mackay,
who, before the time of this Earl John, possessed some lands in
Breachat. When John Gray obtained the grant of Ardinsh from John
the fifth, he allowed Kenneth Mac-Alister, the father of Angus
Mac-Kenneth, to retain possession thereof, which he continued to
do till about the year 1573. About this period a variance arose
between John Gray and Hugh Murray of Aberscors, in consequence of
some law-suits which they carried on against one another; but they
were reconciled by Alexander, Earl of Sutherland, who became bound
to pay a sum of money to John Gray, for Hugh Murray, who was in the
meantime to get possession of the lands of Ardinsh in security. As
John Gray still retained the property and kept Kenneth Mac-Alister in
the possession thereof at the old rent, the Murrays took umbrage at
him, and prevailed upon the Earl of Sutherland to grant a conveyance
of the wadset or mortgage over Ardinsh in favour of Angus Murray,
formerly bailie of Dornoch. In the meantime, Kenneth Mac-Alister
died, leaving his son, Angus Mac-Kenneth, in possession. Angus Murray
having acquired the mortgage, now endeavoured to raise the rent
of Ardinsh, but Angus Mac-Kenneth refusing to pay more than his
father had paid, was dispossessed, and the lands were let to William
Mac-Iain-Mac-Kenneth, cousin of Angus Mac-Kenneth. This proceeding so
exasperated Angus that he murdered his cousin William Mac-Kenneth,
his wife, and two sons, under cloud of night, and so determined was
he that no other person should possess the lands but himself, that
he killed no less than nine other persons, who had successively
endeavoured to occupy them. No others being disposed to occupy
Ardinsh at the risk of their lives, and Angus Murray getting wearied
of his possession, resigned his right to Gilbert Gray of Skibo, on
the death of John Gray, his father. Gilbert thereafter conveyed the
property to Robert Gray of Ospisdell, his second son; but Robert,
being disinclined to allow Angus Mac-Kenneth, who had again obtained
possession, to continue tenant, he dispossessed him, and let the
land to one Finlay Logan, but this new tenant was murdered by
Mac-Kenneth in the year 1604. Mac-Kenneth then fled into Strathnaver
with a party composed of persons of desperate and reckless passions
like himself, with the intention of annoying Robert Gray by their
incursions. Gray having ascertained that they were in the parish of
Creigh, he immediately attacked them and killed Murdo Mac-Kenneth,
the brother of Angus, who made a narrow escape, and again retired
into Strathnaver. Angus again returned into Sutherland in May 1605,
and, in the absence of Robert Gray, burnt his stable, with some
of his cattle, at Ospisdell. Gray then obtained a warrant against
Mac-Kenneth, and having procured the assistance of a body of men from
John Earl of Sutherland, entered Strathnaver and attacked Mac-Kenneth
at the Cruffs of Hoip, and slew him.[196]
The Earl of Caithness, disliking the unquiet state in which he had
for some time been forced to remain, made another attempt, in the
month of July, 1607, to hunt in Bengrime, without asking permission
from the Earl of Sutherland; but he was prevented from accomplishing
his purpose by the sudden appearance in Strathully of the latter,
attended by his friend Mackay, and a considerable body of their
countrymen. Almost the whole of the inhabitants of Dornoch turned
out on this occasion, and went to Strathully. During their absence
a quarrel ensued in the town between one John Macphaill and three
brothers of the name of Pope, in which one of the latter was killed;
the circumstances leading to and attending which quarrel were
these:--In the year 1585, William Pope, a native of Ross, settled
in Sutherland, and being a man of good education, was appointed
schoolmaster in Dornoch, and afterwards became its resident minister.
He also received another clerical appointment in Caithness, by means
of which, and of his other living, he became, in course of time,
wealthy. This good success induced two younger brothers, Charles
and Thomas, to leave their native country and settle in Sutherland.
Thomas was soon made chancellor of Caithness and minister of
Rogart. Charles became a notary public and a messenger-at-arms; and
having, by his good conduct and agreeable conversation, ingratiated
himself with the Earl of Sutherland, was appointed to the office of
sheriff-clerk of Sutherland. The brothers soon acquired considerable
wealth, which they laid out in the purchase of houses in the town
of Dornoch, where they chiefly resided. Many of the inhabitants
of the town envied their acquisitions, and took every occasion to
insult them as intruders, who had a design, as they supposed, to
drive the ancient inhabitants of the place from their possessions.
On the occasion in question William and Thomas Pope, along with
other ministers, had held a meeting at Dornoch on church affairs,
on dissolving which they went to breakfast at an inn. While at
breakfast, John Macphaill entered the house, and demanded some
liquor from the mistress of the inn, but she refused to give him
any, as she knew him to be a troublesome and quarrelsome person.
Macphaill, irritated at the refusal, spoke harshly to the woman, and
the ministers having made some excuse for her, Macphaill vented his
abuse upon them. Being threatened by Thomas Pope, for his insolence,
he pushed an arrow with a barbed head, which he held in his hand,
into one of Pope’s arms. The parties then separated, but the two
Popes being observed walking in the churchyard in the evening, with
their swords girt about them, by Macphaill, who looked upon their so
arming themselves as a threat, he immediately made the circumstance
known to Houcheon Macphaill, his nephew, and one William Murray, all
of whom entered the churchyard and assailed the two brothers with
the most vituperative abuse. Charles Pope, learning the danger his
brothers were in, immediately hastened to the spot, where he found
the two parties engaged. Charles attacked Murray, whom he wounded in
the face, whereupon Murray instantly killed him. William and Thomas
were grievously wounded by Macphaill and his nephew, and left for
dead, but they ultimately recovered. Macphaill and his nephew fled
to Holland, where they ended their days. After this occurrence, the
surviving brothers left Sutherland and went back into their own
country. It is only by recording such comparatively unimportant
incidents as this, apparently somewhat beneath the dignity of
history, that a knowledge of the real state of the Highlands at this
time can be conveyed.
[Illustration: Dornoch, showing the Cathedral and the remaining tower
of the old Castle.]
By the mediation of the Marquis of Huntly, the Earls of Caithness
and Sutherland again met at Elgin with their mutual friends, and
once more adjusted their differences. On this occasion the Earl
of Sutherland was accompanied by large parties of the Gordons,
the Frasers, the Dunbars, the clan Kenzie, the Monroes, the
clan Chattan, and other friends, which so displeased the Earl of
Caithness, who was grieved to see his rival so honourably attended,
that he could never afterwards be induced to meet again with the Earl
of Sutherland or any of his family.
During the year 1608 a quarrel occurred in Sutherland between Iver
Mac-Donald-Mac-Alister, one of the Siol-Thomais, and Alexander Murray
in Auchindough. Iver and his eldest son, John, meeting one day with
Alexander Murray and his son, Thomas, an altercation took place on
some questions in dispute. From words they proceeded to blows, and
the result was that John, the son of Iver, and Alexander Murray were
killed. Iver then fled into Strathnaver, whither he was followed
by Thomas Murray, accompanied by a party of 24 men, to revenge
the death of his father. Iver, however, avoided them, and having
assembled some friends, he attacked Murray unawares, at the hill of
Binchlibrig, and compelled him to flee, after taking five of his
men prisoners, whom he released after a captivity of five days. As
the chief of the Mackays protected Iver, George Murray of Pulrossie
took up the quarrel, and annoyed Iver and his party; but the matter
was compromised by Mackay, who paid a sum of money to Pulrossie and
Thomas Murray, as a reparation for divers losses they had sustained
at Iver’s hands during his outlawry. This compromise was the more
readily entered into by Pulrossie, as the Earl of Sutherland was
rather favourable to Iver, and was by no means displeased at him for
the injuries he did to Pulrossie, who had not acted dutifully towards
him. Besides having lost his own son in the quarrel, who was killed
by Thomas Murray, Iver was unjustly dealt with in being made the sole
object of persecution.[197]
A civil dissension occurred about this time in Moray among the
Dunbars, which nearly proved fatal to that family. To understand the
origin of this dispute it is necessary to state the circumstances
which led to it, and to go back to the period when Patrick
Dunbar, sheriff of Moray, and tutor and uncle of Alexander Dunbar
of Westfield, was killed, along with the Earl of Murray, at
Donnibristle. Alexander did not enjoy his inheritance long, having
died at Dunkeld, shortly after the death of his uncle, under
circumstances which led to a suspicion that he had been poisoned.
As he died without leaving any issue, he was succeeded by Alexander
Dunbar, son of the above-mentioned Patrick, by a sister of Robert
Dunbar of Burgy. This Alexander was a young man of great promise,
and was directed in all his proceedings by his uncle Robert Dunbar
of Burgy. Patrick Dunbar of Blery and Kilbuyack and his family,
imagining that Robert Dunbar, to whom they bore a grudge, was giving
advice to his nephew to their prejudice, conceived a deadly enmity
at both, and seized every occasion to annoy the sheriff of Moray and
his uncle. An accidental meeting having taken place between Robert
Dunbar, brother of Alexander, and William Dunbar, son of Blery, high
words were exchanged, and a scuffle ensued, in which William Dunbar
received considerable injury in his person. Patrick Dunbar and his
sons were so incensed at this occurrence that they took up arms and
attacked their chief, Alexander Dunbar, sheriff of Moray, in the town
of Forres, where he was shot dead by Robert Dunbar, son of Blery.
John Dunbar, sheriff of Moray, who succeeded his brother Alexander,
and his brother, Robert Dunbar of Burgy, endeavoured to bring the
murderers of his brother to justice; but they failed in consequence
of Alexander Dunbar being, at the time of his death, a rebel to
the king, having been denounced at the horn for a civil cause. By
negotiation, however, this deadly feud was stayed, and a sort of
reconciliation effected by the friendly mediation of the Earl of
Dunfermline, then Lord Chancellor of Scotland.[198]
In the year 1610 the Earl of Caithness and Houcheon Mackay, chief
of the Mackays, had a difference in consequence of the protection
given by the latter to a gentleman named John Sutherland, the son
of Mackay’s sister. Sutherland lived in Berridale, under the Earl
of Caithness, but he was so molested by the earl that he lost all
patience, and went about avenging the injuries he had sustained.
The earl, therefore, cited him to appear at Edinburgh to answer
to certain charges made against him; but not obeying the summons,
he was denounced and proclaimed a rebel to the king. Reduced, in
consequence, to great extremities, and seeing no remedy by which he
could retrieve himself, he became an outlaw, wasted and destroyed the
earl’s country, and carried off herds of cattle, which he transported
into Strathnaver, the country of his kinsman. The earl thereupon sent
a party of the Siol-Mhic-Imheair to attack him, and, after a long
search, they found him encamped near the water of Shin in Sutherland.
He, however, was aware of their approach before they perceived him,
and, taking advantage of this circumstance, attacked them in the act
of crossing the water. They were in consequence defeated, leaving
several of their party dead on the field.
This disaster exasperated the earl, who resolved to prosecute Mackay
and his son, Donald Mackay, for giving succour and protection within
their country to John Sutherland, an outlaw. Accordingly, he served
both of them with a notice to appear before the Privy Council to
answer to the charges he had preferred against them. Mackay at
once obeyed the summons, and went to Edinburgh, where he met Sir
Robert Gordon, who had come from England for the express purpose
of assisting Mackay on the present occasion. The earl, who had
grown tired of the troubles which John Sutherland had occasioned
in his country, was induced, by the entreaties of friends, to
settle matters on the following conditions:--That he should forgive
John Sutherland all past injuries, and restore him to his former
possessions; that John Sutherland and his brother Donald should be
delivered, the one after the other, into the hands of the earl, to be
kept prisoners for a certain time; and that Donald Mac-Thomais-Mhoir,
one of the Sliochd-Iain-Abaraich, and a follower of John Sutherland
in his depredations, should be also delivered up to the earl to be
dealt with as to him should seem meet; all of which stipulations were
complied with. The earl hanged Donald Mac-Thomais as soon as he was
delivered up. John Sutherland was kept a prisoner at Girnigo about
twelve months, during which time Donald Mackay made several visits to
Earl George for the purpose of getting him released, in which he at
last succeeded, besides procuring a discharge to Donald Sutherland,
who, in his turn, should have surrendered himself as prisoner on
the release of his brother John, but upon the condition that he
and his father, Houcheon Mackay, should pass the next following
Christmas with the earl at Girnigo. Mackay and his brother William,
accordingly, spent their Christmas at Girnigo, but Donald Mackay
was prevented by business from attending. The design of the Earl of
Caithness in thus favouring Mackay, was to separate him from the
interests of the Earl of Sutherland, but he was unsuccessful.
Some years before the events we have just related, a commotion took
place in Lewis, occasioned by the pretensions of Torquill Connaldagh
of the Cogigh to the possessions of Roderick Macleod of Lewis, his
reputed father. Roderick had first married Barbara Stuart, daughter
of Lord Methven, by whom he had a son named Torquill-Ire, who, on
arriving at manhood, gave proofs of a warlike disposition. Upon the
death of Barbara Stuart, Macleod married a daughter of Mackenzie,
lord of Kintail, whom he afterwards divorced for adultery with
the Breve of Lewis, a sort of judge among the islanders, to whose
authority they submitted themselves. Macleod next married a daughter
of Maclean, by whom he had two sons, Torquill Dubh and Tormaid.
In sailing from Lewis to Skye, Torquill-Ire, eldest son of Macleod,
and 200 men, perished in a great tempest. Torquill Connaldagh,
above mentioned, was the fruit of the adulterous connexion between
Macleod’s second wife and the Breve, at least Macleod would never
acknowledge him as his son. This Torquill being now of age, and
having married a sister of Glengarry, took up arms against Macleod,
his reputed father, to vindicate his supposed rights as Macleod’s
son, being assisted by Tormaid, Ougigh, and Murthow, three of the
bastard sons of Macleod. The old man was apprehended and detained
four years in captivity, when he was released on condition that he
should acknowledge Torquill Connaldagh as his lawful son. Tormaid
Ougigh having been slain by Donald Macleod, his brother, another
natural son of old Macleod, Torquill Connaldagh, assisted by
Murthow Macleod, his reputed bastard brother, took Donald prisoner
and carried him to Cogigh, but he escaped and fled to his father
in Lewis, who was highly offended at Torquill for seizing his son
Donald. Macleod then caused Donald to apprehend Murthow, and having
delivered him to his father, he was imprisoned in the castle of
Stornoway. As soon as Torquill heard of this occurrence, he went to
Stornoway and attacked the fort, which he took, after a short siege,
and released Murthow. He then apprehended Roderick Macleod, killed
a number of his men, and carried off all the charters and other
title-deeds of Lewis, which he gave in custody to the Mackenzies.
Torquill had a son named John Macleod, who was in the service of the
Marquis of Huntly; he now sent for him, and on his arrival committed
to him the charge of the castle of Stornoway in which old Macleod was
imprisoned. John Macleod being now master of Lewis, and acknowledged
superior thereof, proceeded to expel Rorie-Og and Donald, two of
Roderick Macleod’s bastard sons, from the island; but Rorie-Og
attacked him in Stornoway, and after killing him, released Roderick
Macleod, his father, who possessed the island in peace during the
remainder of his life. Torquill Connaldagh, by the assistance of the
clan Kenzie, got Donald Macleod into his possession, and executed him
at Dingwall.
[Illustration: Stornoway Castle.--From a photograph taken specially
for this work.]
Upon the death of Roderick Macleod, his son Torquill Dubh
succeeded him in Lewis. Taking a grudge at Rorie-Og, his brother, he
apprehended him, and sent him to Maclean to be detained in prison;
but he escaped out of Maclean’s hands, and afterwards perished in
a snow-storm. As Torquill Dubh excluded Torquill Connaldagh from
the succession of Lewis, as a bastard, the clan Kenzie formed a
design to purchase and conquer Lewis, which they calculated on
accomplishing on account of the simplicity of Torquill Connaldagh,
who had now no friend to advise with, and from the dissensions which
unfortunately existed among the race of the Siol-Torquill. This
scheme, moreover, received the aid of a matrimonial alliance between
Torquill Connaldagh and the clan, by a marriage between his eldest
daughter and Roderick Mackenzie, the lord of Kintail’s brother.
The clan did not avow their design openly, but they advanced their
enterprise under the pretence of assisting Torquill Connaldagh,
who was a descendant of the Kintail family, and they ultimately
succeeded in destroying the family of Macleod of Lewis, together
with his tribe, the Siol-Torquill, and by the ruin of that family
and some neighbouring clans, this ambitious clan made themselves
complete masters of Lewis and other places. As Torquill Dubh was the
chief obstacle in their way, they formed a conspiracy against his
life, which, by the assistance of the Breve, they were enabled to
carry out successfully. The Breve, by stratagem, managed to obtain
possession of Torquill Dubh and some of his friends, and deliver them
to the lord of Kintail, who ordered them to be beheaded, which they
accordingly were in July, 1597.
Some gentlemen belonging to Fife, hearing of these disturbances
in Lewis, obtained from the king, in 1598, a gift of the island,
their professed object being to civilize the inhabitants, their
real design, however, being, by means of a colony, to supplant the
inhabitants, and drive them from the island. A body of soldiers and
artificers of all sorts were sent, with every thing necessary for a
plantation, into Lewis, where, on their arrival, they began to erect
houses in a convenient situation, and soon completed a small but
neat town, in which they took up their quarters. The new settlers
were, however, much annoyed in their operations by Neill and Murthow
Macleod, the only sons of Roderick Macleod who remained in the
island. The speculation proved ruinous to many of the adventurers,
who, in consequence of the disasters they met with, lost their
estates, and were in the end obliged to quit the island.
In the meantime, Neill Macleod quarrelled with his brother Murthow,
for harbouring and maintaining the Breve and such of his tribe as
were still alive, who had been the chief instruments in the murder
of Torquill Dubh. Neill thereupon apprehended his brother, and some
of the clan Mhic-Ghille-Mhoir, all of whom he killed, reserving his
brother only alive. When the Fife speculators were informed that
Neill had taken Murthow, his brother, prisoner, they sent him a
message offering to give him a share of the island, and to assist him
in revenging the death of Torquill Dubh, provided he would deliver
Murthow into their hands. Neill agreed to this proposal, and having
gone thereafter to Edinburgh, he received a pardon from the king for
all his past offences.
These proceedings frustrated for a time the designs of the Mackenzies
upon the island, and the lord of Kintail almost despaired of
obtaining possession by any means. As the new settlers now stood in
his way, he resolved to desist from persecuting the Siol-Torquill,
and to cross the former in their undertakings, by all the means
in his power. He had for some time kept Tormaid Macleod, the
lawful brother of Torquill Dubh, a prisoner; but he now released
him, thinking that upon his appearance in the Lewis all the
islanders would rise in his favour; and he was not deceived in
his expectations, for, as Sir Robert Gordon observes, “all these
islanders, (and lykwayes the Hielanders,) are, by nature, most bent
and prone to adventure themselves, their lyffs, and all they have,
for their masters and lords, yea beyond all other people.”[199] In
the meantime Murthow Macleod was carried to St. Andrews, and there
executed. Having at his execution revealed the designs of the lord
of Kintail, the latter was committed, by order of the king, to the
castle of Edinburgh, from which, however, he contrived to escape
without trial, by means, as is supposed, of the then Lord-Chancellor
of Scotland.
On receiving pardon Neill Macleod returned into Lewis with the
Fife adventurers; but he had not been long in the island when he
quarrelled with them on account of an injury he had received from Sir
James Spence of Wormistoun. He therefore abandoned them, and watched
a favourable opportunity for attacking them. They then attempted to
apprehend him by a stratagem, but only succeeded in bringing disaster
upon themselves. Upon hearing of this, the lord of Kintail thought
the time was now suitable for him to stir, and accordingly he sent
Tormaid Macleod into Lewis, as he had intended, promising him all the
assistance in his power if he would attack the Fife settlers.
As soon as Tormaid arrived in the island, his brother Neill and
all the natives assembled and acknowledged him as their lord and
master. He immediately attacked the camp of the adventurers, which
he forced, burnt the fort, killed the greater part of their men,
took the commanders prisoners, whom he released, after a captivity
of eight months, on their solemn promise not to return again to the
island, and on their giving a pledge that they should obtain a pardon
from the king for Tormaid and his followers for all past offences.
After Tormaid had thus obtained possession of the island, John
Mac-Donald-Mac-Houcheon apprehended Torquill Connaldagh, and carried
him into Lewis to his brother, Tormaid Macleod. Tormaid inflicted no
punishment upon Connaldagh, but merely required from him delivery of
the title-deeds of Lewis, and the other papers which he had carried
off when he apprehended his father Roderick Macleod. Connaldagh
informed him that he had it not in his power to give them up, as
he had delivered them to the clan Kenzie, in whose possession they
still were. Knowing this to be the fact, Tormaid released Torquill
Connaldagh, and allowed him to leave the island, contrary to the
advice of all his followers and friends, who were for inflicting the
punishment of death upon Torquill, as he had been the occasion of all
the miseries and troubles which had befallen them.
The Breve of Lewis soon met with a just punishment for the crime he
had committed in betraying and murdering his master, Torquill Dubh
Macleod. The Breve and some of his relations had taken refuge in the
country of Assynt. John Mac-Donald-Mac-Houcheon, accompanied by four
persons, having accidentally entered the house where the Breve and
six of his kindred lodged, found themselves unexpectedly in the same
room with them. Being of opposite factions, a fight immediately
ensued, in the course of which the Breve and his party fled out of
the house, but were pursued by John and his men, and the Breve and
five of his friends killed.
Although the Fife settlers had engaged not to return again into
Lewis, they nevertheless made preparations for invading it, having
obtained the king’s commission against Tormaid Macleod and his
tribe, the Siol-Torquill. They were aided in this expedition by
forces from all the neighbouring counties, and particularly by the
Earl of Sutherland, who sent a party of men under the command of
William Mac-Mhic-Sheumais, chief of the clan Gun in Sutherland, to
assist in subduing Tormaid Macleod. As soon as they had effected a
landing in the island with all their forces, they sent a message to
Macleod, acquainting him that if he would surrender himself to them,
in name of the king, they would transport him safely to London,
where his majesty then was; and that, upon his arrival there, they
would not only obtain his pardon, but also allow him to deal with
the king in behalf of his friends, and for the means of supporting
himself. Macleod, afraid to risk his fortune against the numerous
forces brought against him, agreed to the terms proposed, contrary
to the advice of his brother Neill, who refused to yield. Tormaid
was thereupon sent to London, where he took care to give the king
full information concerning all the circumstances of his case; he
showed his majesty that Lewis was his just inheritance, and that
his majesty had been deceived by the Fife adventurers in making him
believe that the island was at his disposal, which act of deception
had occasioned much trouble and a great loss of blood. He concluded
by imploring his majesty to do him justice by restoring him to his
rights. Understanding that Macleod’s representations were favourably
received by his majesty, the adventurers used all their influence at
court to thwart him; and as some of them were the king’s own domestic
servants, they at last succeeded so far as to get him to be sent home
to Scotland a prisoner in 1605. He remained a captive at Edinburgh
till the month of March, 1615, when the king granted him permission
to pass into Holland, to Maurice, Prince of Orange, where he ended
his days. The settlers soon grew wearied of their new possession,
and as all of them had declined in their circumstances in this
luckless speculation, and as they were continually annoyed by Neill
Macleod, they finally abandoned the island, and returned to Fife to
bewail their loss.
Lord Kintail, now no longer disguising his intentions, obtained,
through means of the Lord Chancellor, a gift of Lewis, under the
great seal, for his own use, in virtue of the old right which
Torquill Connaldagh had long before resigned in his favour. Some of
the adventurers having complained to the king of this proceeding,
his majesty became highly displeased at Kintail, and made him resign
his right into his majesty’s hands by means of Lord Balmerino, then
Secretary of Scotland, and Lord President of the session; which right
his majesty now (1608) vested in the persons of Lord Balmerino, Sir
George Hay, afterwards Chancellor of Scotland, and Sir James Spence
of Wormistoun. Balmerino, on being convicted of high treason in
1609, lost his share, but Hay and Spence undertook the colonization
of Lewis, and accordingly made great preparations for accomplishing
their purpose. Being assisted by most of the neighbouring countries,
they invaded Lewis for the double object of planting a colony, and of
subduing and apprehending Neill Macleod, who now alone defended the
island.
On this occasion Lord Kintail played a double part, for while he sent
Roderick Mackenzie, his brother, with a party of men openly to assist
the new colonists who acted under the king’s commission,--promising
them at the same time his friendship, and sending them a vessel
from Ross with a supply of provisions,--he privately sent notice
to Neill Macleod to intercept the vessel on her way; so that the
settlers, being disappointed in the provisions to which they trusted,
might abandon the island for want. The case turned out exactly as
Lord Kintail anticipated, as Sir George Hay and Sir James Spence
abandoned the island, leaving a party of men behind to keep the fort,
and disbanded their forces, returning into Fife, intending to have
sent a fresh supply of men, with provisions, into the island. But
Neill Macleod having, with the assistance of his nephew, Malcolm
Macleod, son of Roderick Og, burnt the fort, and apprehended the
men who were left behind in the island, whom he sent safely home,
the Fife gentlemen abandoned every idea of again taking possession
of the island, and sold their right to Lord Kintail. He likewise
obtained from the king a grant of the share of the island forfeited
by Balmerino, and thus at length acquired what he had so long and
anxiously desired.[200]
Lord Kintail lost no time in taking possession of the island,--and
all the inhabitants, shortly after his landing, with the exception
of Neill Macleod and a few others, submitted to him. Neill, along
with his nephews, Malcolm, William, and Roderick, the three sons of
Roderick Og, the four sons of Torquill Blair, and thirty others,
retired to an impregnable rock in the sea called Berrissay, on the
west of Lewis, into which Neill had been accustomed, for some years,
to send provisions and other necessary articles to serve him in case
of necessity. Neill lived on this rock for three years, Lord Kintail
in the meantime dying in 1611. As Macleod could not be attacked
in his impregnable position, and as his proximity was a source of
annoyance, the clan Kenzie fell on the following expedient to get
quit of him. They gathered together the wives and children of those
that were in Berrissay, and also all persons in the island related
to them by consanguinity or affinity, and having placed them on a
rock in the sea, so near Berrissay that they could be heard and seen
by Neill and his party, the clan Kenzie vowed that they would suffer
the sea to overwhelm them, on the return of the flood-tide, if Neill
did not instantly surrender the fort. This appalling spectacle had
such an effect upon Macleod and his companions, that they immediately
yielded up the rock and left Lewis.
Neill Macleod then retired into Harris, where he remained concealed
for a time; but not being able to avoid discovery any longer, he
gave himself up to Sir Roderick Macleod of Harris, and entreated
him to carry him into England to the king, a request with which Sir
Roderick promised to comply. In proceeding on his journey, however,
along with Macleod, he was charged at Glasgow, under pain of treason,
to deliver up Neill to the privy council. Sir Roderick obeyed the
charge, and Neill, with his eldest son Donald, were presented to
the privy council at Edinburgh, where Neill was executed in April
1613. His son Donald was banished from the kingdom of Scotland, and
immediately went to England, where he remained three years with Sir
Robert Gordon, tutor of Sutherland, and from England he afterwards
went to Holland, where he died.
After the death of Neill Macleod, Roderick and William, the sons
of Roderick Og, were apprehended by Roderick Mackenzie, tutor of
Kintail, and executed. Malcolm Macleod, his third son, who was kept
a prisoner by Roderick Mackenzie, escaped, and having associated
himself with the clan Donald in Islay and Kintyre during their
quarrel with the Campbells in 1615-16, he annoyed the clan Kenzie
with frequent incursions. Malcolm, thereafter, went to Flanders and
Spain, where he remained with Sir James Macdonald. Before going to
Spain, he returned from Flanders into Lewis in 1616, where he killed
two gentlemen of the clan Kenzie. He returned from Spain in 1620,
and the last that is heard of him is in 1626, when commissions of
fire and sword were granted to Lord Kintail against “Malcolm Macquari
Macleod.”[201]
From the occurrences in Lewis, we now direct the attention of our
readers to some proceedings in the isle of Rasay, which ended in
bloodshed. The quarrel lay between Gille-Chalum, laird of the island,
and Murdo Mackenzie of Gairloch, and the occasion was as follows. The
lands of Gairloch originally belonged to the clan Mhic-Ghille-Chalum,
the predecessors of the laird of Rasay; and when the Mackenzies began
to prosper and to rise, one of them obtained the third part of these
lands in mortgage or wadset from the clan Mhic-Ghille-Chalum. In
process of time the clan Kenzie, by some means or other, unknown to
the proprietor of Gairloch, obtained a right to the whole of these
lands, but they did not claim possession of the whole till the death
of Torquill Dubh Macleod of Lewis, whom the laird of Rasay and his
tribe followed as their superior. But upon the death of Torquill
Dubh, the laird of Gairloch took possession of the whole of the
lands of Gairloch in virtue of his pretended right, and chased the
clan Mhic-Ghille-Chalum from the lands with fire and sword. The
clan retaliated in their turn by invading the laird of Gairloch,
plundering his lands and committing slaughters. In a skirmish which
took place in the year 1610, in which lives were lost on both sides,
the laird of Gairloch apprehended John Mac-Alain-Mac-Rory, one of the
principal men of the clan; but being desirous to get hold also of
John Holmoch-Mac-Rory, another of the chiefs, he sent his son Murdo
the following year along with Alexander Bane, the son and heir of
Bane of Tulloch in Ross, and some others, to search for and pursue
John Holmoch; and as he understood that John Holmoch was in Skye, he
hired a ship to carry his son and party thither; but instead of going
to Skye, they unfortunately, from some unknown cause, landed in Rasay.
On their arrival in Rasay in August 1611, Gille-Chalum, laird of
Rasay, with some of his followers, went on board, and unexpectedly
found Murdo Mackenzie in the vessel. After consulting with his men,
he resolved to take Mackenzie prisoner, in security for his cousin,
John Mac-Alain-Mac-Rory, whom the laird of Gairloch detained in
captivity. The party then attempted to seize Mackenzie, but he and
his party resisting, a keen conflict took place on board, which
continued a considerable time. At last, Murdo Mackenzie, Alexander
Bane, and the whole of their party, with the exception of three,
were slain. These three fought manfully, killing the laird of Rasay
and the whole men who accompanied him on board, and wounding several
persons that remained in the two boats. Finding themselves seriously
wounded, they took advantage of a favourable wind, and sailed away
from the island, but expired on the voyage homewards. From this time
the Mackenzies appear to have uninterruptedly held possession of
Gairloch.[202]
About the time this occurrence took place, the peace of the north
was almost again disturbed in consequence of the conduct of William
Mac-Angus-Roy, one of the clan Gun, who, though born in Strathnaver,
had become a servant to the Earl of Caithness. This man had done
many injuries to the people of Caithness by command of the earl;
and the mere displeasure of Earl George at any of his people, was
considered by William Mac-Angus as sufficient authority for him
to steal and take away their goods and cattle. William got so
accustomed to this kind of service, that he began also to steal the
cattle and horses of the earl, his master, and, after collecting a
large booty in this way, he took his leave. The earl was extremely
enraged at his _quondam_ servant for so acting; but, as William
Mac-Angus was in possession of a warrant in writing under the earl’s
own hand, authorizing him to act as he had done towards the people
of Caithness, the earl was afraid to adopt any proceedings against
him, or against those who protected and harboured him, before the
Privy Council, lest he might produce the warrant which he held from
the earl. The confidence which the earl had reposed in him served,
however, still more to excite the earl’s indignation.
As William Mac-Angus continued his depredations in other quarters, he
was apprehended in the town of Tain, on a charge of cattle-stealing;
but he was released by the Monroes, who gave security to the
magistrates of the town for his appearance when required, upon due
notice being given that he was wanted for trial. On attempting to
escape he was re-delivered to the provost and bailies of Tain,
by whom he was given up to the Earl of Caithness, who put him in
fetters, and imprisoned him within Castle Sinclair (1612). He soon
again contrived to escape, and fled into Strathnaver, the Earl of
Caithness sending his son, William, Lord Berridale, in pursuit of
him. Missing the fugitive, he, in revenge, apprehended a servant
of Mackay, called Angus Henriach, without any authority from his
majesty, and carried him to Castle Sinclair, where he was put into
fetters and closely imprisoned on the pretence that he had assisted
William Mac-Angus in effecting his escape. When this occurrence
took place, Donald Mackay, son of Houcheon Mackay, the chief,
was at Dunrobin castle, and he, on hearing of the apprehension
and imprisonment of his father’s servant, could scarcely be made
to believe the fact on account of the friendship which had been
contracted between his father and the earl the preceding Christmas.
But being made sensible thereof, and of the cruel usage which the
servant had received, he prevailed on his father to summon the
earl and his son to answer to the charge of having apprehended and
imprisoned Angus Henriach, a free subject of the king, without a
commission. The earl was also charged to present his prisoner before
the privy council at Edinburgh in the month of June next following,
which he accordingly did; and Angus being tried before the lords and
declared innocent, was delivered over to Sir Robert Gordon, who then
acted for Mackay.[203]
[Illustration: Castles Sinclair and Girnigo.--From a photograph taken
specially for this work.]
During the same year (1612) another event occurred in the north,
which created considerable uproar and discord in the northern
Highlands. A person of the name of Arthur Smith, who resided in
Banff, had counterfeited the coin of the realm, in consequence of
which he, and a man who had assisted him, fled from Banff into
Sutherland, where being apprehended in the year 1599, they were sent
by the Countess of Sutherland to the king, who ordered them to be
imprisoned in Edinburgh for trial. They were both accordingly tried
and condemned, and having confessed to crimes even of a deeper dye,
Smith’s accomplice was burnt at the place of execution. Smith himself
was reserved for farther trial. By devising a lock of rare and
curious workmanship, which took the fancy of the king, he ultimately
obtained his release and entered into the service of the Earl of
Caithness. His workshop was under the rock of Castle Sinclair, in a
quiet retired place called the Gote, and to which there was a secret
passage from the earl’s bedchamber. No person was admitted to Smith’s
workshop but the earl; and the circumstance of his being often heard
working during the night, raised suspicions that some secret work was
going on which could not bear the light of day. The mystery was at
last disclosed by an inundation of counterfeit coin in Caithness,
Orkney, Sutherland, and Ross, which was first detected by Sir Robert
Gordon, brother to the Earl of Sutherland, when in Scotland, in the
year 1611, and he, on his return to England, made the king acquainted
therewith. A commission was granted to Sir Robert to apprehend
Smith, and bring him to Edinburgh, but he was so much occupied with
other concerns that he intrusted the commission to Donald Mackay,
his nephew, and to John Gordon, younger of Embo, whose name was
jointly inserted in the commission along with that of Sir Robert.
Accordingly, Mackay and Gordon, accompanied by Adam Gordon Georgeson
John, Gordon in Broray, and some other Sutherland men, went, in May,
1612, to Strathnaver, and assembling some of the inhabitants, they
marched into Caithness next morning, and entered the town of Thurso,
where Smith then resided.
After remaining about three hours in the town, the party went to
Smith’s house and apprehended him. On searching his house they found
a quantity of spurious gold and silver coin. Donald Mackay caused
Smith to be put on horseback, and then rode off with him out of the
town. To prevent any tumult among the inhabitants, Gordon remained
behind with some of his men to show them, if necessary, his Majesty’s
commission for apprehending Smith. Scarcely, however, had Mackay
left the town, when the town-bell was rung and all the inhabitants
assembled. There were present in Thurso at the time, John Sinclair
of Stirkage, son of the Earl of Caithness’s brother, James Sinclair,
brother of the laird of Dun, James Sinclair of Dyrren, and other
friends, on a visit to Lady Berridale. When information was brought
them of the apprehension of Smith, Sinclair of Stirkage, transported
with rage, swore that he would not allow any man, no matter whose
commission he held, to carry away his uncle’s servant in his uncle’s
absence. A furious onset was made upon Gordon, but his men withstood
it bravely, and after a warm contest, the inhabitants were defeated
with some loss, and obliged to retire to the centre of the town.
Donald Mackay hearing of the tumult, returned to the town to aid
Gordon, but the affair was over before he arrived, Sinclair of
Stirkage having been killed. To prevent the possibility of the escape
or rescue of Smith, he was killed by the Strathnaver men as soon as
they heard of the tumult in the town.
The Earl of Caithness resolved to prosecute Donald Mackay, John
Gordon, younger of Embo, with their followers, for the slaughter of
Sinclair of Stirkage, and the mutilation of James Sinclair, brother
of the laird of Dun, and summoned them, accordingly, to appear at
Edinburgh. On the other hand, Sir Robert Gordon and Donald Mackay
prosecuted the Earl of Caithness and his son, Lord Berridale,
with several other of their countrymen, for resisting the king’s
commission, attacking the commissioners, and apprehending Angus
Henriach, without a commission, which was declared treason by the
laws. The Earl of Caithness endeavoured to make the Privy Council
believe that the affair at Thurso arose out of a premeditated design
against him, and that Sir Robert Gordon’s intention in obtaining
a commission against Arthur Smith was, under the cloak of its
authority, to find means to slay him and his brethren; and that, in
pursuance of his plan, Sir Robert had, a little before the skirmish
in Thurso, caused the earl to be denounced and proclaimed as a rebel
to the king, and had lain in wait to kill him; Sir Robert, however,
showed the utter groundlessness of these charges to the Lords of the
Council.
On the day appointed for appearance, the parties met at Edinburgh,
attended by their respective friends. The Earl of Caithness and his
son, Lord Berridale, were accompanied by the Lord Gray, the laird of
Roslin, the laird of Cowdenknowes, a son of the sister of the Earl
of Caithness, and the lairds of Murkle and Greenland, brothers of
the earl, along with a large retinue of subordinate attendants. Sir
Robert Gordon and Donald Mackay were attended by the Earl of Winton
and his brother, the Earl of Eglinton, with all their followers, the
Earl of Linlithgow, with the Livingstones, Lord Elphinston, with
his friends, Lord Forbes, with his friends, the Drummonds, Sir John
Stuart, captain of Dumbarton, and bastard son of the Duke of Lennox;
Lord Balfour, the laird of Lairg Mackay in Galloway; the laird of
Foulis, with the Monroes, the laird of Duffus, some of the Gordons,
as Sir Alexander Gordon, brother of the Earl of Sutherland, Cluny,
Lesmoir, Buckie, Knokespock, with other gentlemen of respectability.
The absence of the Earl of Sutherland and Houcheon Mackay mortified
the Earl of Caithness, who could not conceal his displeasure at being
so much overmatched in the respectability and number of attendants by
seconds and children, as he was pleased to call his adversaries.
According to the usual practice on such occasions, the parties were
accompanied by their respective friends, from their lodgings, to the
house where the council was sitting; but few were admitted within.
The council spent three days in hearing the parties and deliberating
upon the matters brought before them, but they came to no conclusion,
and adjourned their proceedings till the king’s pleasure should be
known. In the meantime the parties, at the entreaty of the Lords of
the Council, entered into recognizances to keep the peace, in time
coming, towards each other, which extended not only to their kinsmen,
but also to their friends and dependants.
The king, after fully considering the state of affairs between the
rival parties, and judging that if the law were allowed to take its
course the peace of the northern countries might be disturbed by
the earls and their numerous followers, proposed to the Lords of
the Privy Council to endeavour to prevail upon them to submit their
differences to the arbitration of mutual friends. Accordingly, after
a good deal of entreaty and reasoning, the parties were persuaded
to agree to the proposed measure. A deed of submission was then
subscribed by the Earl of Caithness and William, Lord Berridale,
on the one part, and by Sir Robert Gordon and Donald Mackay on the
other part, taking burden on them for the Earl of Sutherland and
Mackay. The arbiters appointed by Sir Robert Gordon were the Earl
of Kinghorn, the Master of Elphinston, the Earl of Haddington,
afterwards Lord Privy Seal of Scotland, and Sir Alexander Drummond
of Meidhop. The Archbishop of Glasgow, Sir John Preston, Lord
President of the Council, Lord Blantyre, and Sir William Oliphant,
Lord Advocate, were named by the Earl of Caithness. The Earl of
Dunfermline, Lord-Chancellor of Scotland, was chosen oversman and
umpire by both parties. As the arbiters had then no time to hear the
parties, or to enter upon the consideration of the matters submitted
to them, they appointed them to return to Edinburgh in the month of
May, 1613.
At the appointed time, the Earl of Caithness and his brother, Sir
John Sinclair of Greenland, came to Edinburgh, Sir Robert Gordon
arriving at the same time from England. The arbiters, however, who
were all members of the Privy Council, being much occupied with
state affairs, did not go into the matter, but made the parties
subscribe a new deed of submission, under which they gave authority
to the Marquis of Huntly, by whose friendly offices the differences
between the two houses had formerly been so often adjusted, to act
in the matter by endeavouring to bring about a fresh reconciliation.
As the marquis was the cousin-german of the Earl of Sutherland, and
brother-in-law of the Earl of Caithness, who had married his sister,
the council thought him the most likely person to be intrusted with
such an important negotiation. The marquis, however, finding the
parties obstinate, and determined not to yield a single point of
their respective claims and pretensions, declined to act farther in
the matter, and remitted the whole affair back to the Privy Council.
During the year 1613 the peace of Lochaber was disturbed by
dissensions among the clan Cameron. The Earl of Argyle, reviving an
old claim acquired in the reign of James V., by Colin, the third
earl, endeavoured to obtain possession of the lands of Lochiel,
mainly to weaken the influence of his rival the Marquis of Huntly,
to whose party the clan Cameron were attached. Legal proceedings
were instituted by the earl against Allan Cameron of Lochiel, who,
hastening to Edinburgh, was there advised by Argyle to submit the
matter to arbiters. The decision was in favour of the earl, from whom
Lochiel consented to hold his lands as a vassal. This, of course,
highly incensed the Marquis of Huntly, who resolved to endeavour to
effect the ruin of his _quondam_ vassal by fomenting dissensions
among the clan Cameron, inducing the Camerons of Erracht, Kinlochiel,
and Glennevis to become his immediate vassals in those lands which
Lochiel had hitherto held from the family of Huntly. Lochiel, failing
to induce his kinsmen to renew their allegiance to him, again went
to Edinburgh to consult his lawyers as to the course which he ought
to pursue. While there, he heard of a conspiracy by the opposite
faction against his life, which induced him to hasten home, sending
word privately to his friends--the Camerons of Callart, Strone,
Letterfinlay, and others--to meet him on the day appointed for the
assembling of his opponents, near the spot where the latter were to
meet.
On arriving at the appointed rendezvous, Lochiel placed in ambush all
his followers but six, with whom he advanced towards his enemies,
informing them that he wished to have a conference with them.
The hostile faction, thinking this a favourable opportunity for
accomplishing their design, pursued the chief, who, when he had led
them fairly into the midst of his ambushed followers, gave the signal
for their slaughter. Twenty of their principal men were killed,
and eight taken prisoners, Lochiel allowing the rest to escape.
Lochiel and his followers were by the Privy Council outlawed, and a
commission of fire and sword granted to the Marquis of Huntly and
the Gordons, for their pursuit and apprehension. The division of the
clan Cameron which supported Lochiel continued for several years in a
state of outlawry, but, through the influence of the Earl of Argyle,
appears not to have suffered extremely.[204]
FOOTNOTES:
[193] Sir R. Gordon, p. 247.
[194] Sir R. Gordon, p. 248.
[195] Sir R. Gordon, p. 253.
[196] Sir R. Gordon, p. 254.
[197] Sir R. Gordon, p. 259.
[198] Sir R. Gordon, p. 261.
[199] _History_, p. 271.
[200] Gordon, p. 274; Gregory’s _Western Highlands_, p. 334.
[201] Gregory, p. 337.
[202] Sir Robert Gordon, p. 278.
[203] Sir R. Gordon, p. 281.
[204] Gregory’s _Western Highlands_, p. 342.