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During the reign of James V. some respect aid in
the Highlands to the laws; but the divisions which fell out amongst the nobility, the
unquiet state of the nation during the minority of the infant queen, and the wars with
England, relaxed the springs of government, and the consequence was that the usual scenes
of turbulence and oppression soon displayed themselves in the Highlands, accompanied with
all those circumstances of ferocity which rendered them so revolting to humanity. The
Clanranald was particularly active in these lawless proceedings. This clan bore great
enmity to Hugh, Lord Lovat; and because Ranald, son of Allan Macruari of Moidart, was
sister’s son of Lovat, they conceived a prejudice against him, dispossessed him of
his lands, and put John Macranald, his cousin, in possession of the estate. Lovat took up
the cause of his nephew, and restored him to the possession of his property; but the
restless clan dispossessed Ranald again, and laid waste part of Lovat’s lands in
Glenelg. These disorders did not escape the notice of the Earl of Arran, the governor of
the kingdom, who, by advice of his council, granted a special commission to the Earl of
Huntly, making him lieutenant-general of all the Highlands, and of Orkney and Zetland. He
also appointed the Earl of Argyle lieutenant of Argyle and the Isles. The Earl of Huntly
lost no time in raising a large army in the north, with which he marched, in May, 1544,
attended by the Macintoshes, Grants, and Frasers, against the clan Cameron and the clan
Ranald, and the people of Moydart and Knoydart, whose principal captains were Ewen
Mlenson, Ronald M’Coneilglas, and John Moydart. These had wasted and plundered the
whole country of Urqubart and Glenmorriston, belonging to the Laird of Grant, and the
country of Abertarf, Strathglass, and others, the property of Lord Lovat. They had also
taken absolute possession of these different territories as their own properties, which
they intended to possess and enjoy in all time coming. But, by the mediation of the Earl
of Argyle, they immediately dislodged themselves upon the Earl of Huntly’s
appearance, and retired to their own territories in the west.
In returning to his own country, Lovat was accompanied by the Grants and
Macintoshes as far as Gloy, afterwards called the Nine-Mile-Water, and they even offered
to escort him home in case of danger; but, having no apprehensions he declined, and they
returned home by Badenoch. This was a fatal error on the part of Lovat, for, as soon as he
arrived at Letterfinlay, he was informed that the Clanranald were at hand, in full march,
to intercept him. To secure an important pass, he despatched Iain-Cleireach, one of his
principal officers, with 50 men; but, from some cause or other, Iain-Cleireach did not
accomplish his object; and, as soon as Lovat came to the north end of Loch Lochy, he
perceived the Clanranald descending the hill from the west, to the number of about 500,
divided into seven companies. Lovat was thus placed in a position in which he could
neither refuse nor avoid battle. The day (3d July) being extremely hot, Lovat’s men,
who amounted to about 300, stript to the shirts, from which circumstance the battle was
called Blar-Nan-Leine, i.e., the Field of Shirts. A sort of skirmish at first took place,
first with bows and arrows, which lasted a considerable time, until both sides had
expended their shafts. The combatants then drew their swords, and rushed in tine Highland
fashion on each other, with fierce and deadly intent. The slaughter was tremendous, and
few escaped on either side. Lord Lovat, with 300 of the surname of Fraser, and other
followers, were left dead on the field. Lovat’s eldest son, a youth of great
accomplishments, who had received his education in France, whence he had lately arrived,
was mortally wounded, and taken prisoner. He died within three days. Great as was the loss
on the side of the Frasers, that on the opposite side was comparitively still greater.
According to a tradition handed down, only four of the Frasers and ten of the Clanranald
remained alive. The darkness of the night alone put an end to the combat. This was an
unfortunate blow to the clan Fraser, which, tradition says, would have been almost
entirely annihilated but for the happy circumstance that the wives of eighty of the
Frasers who were slain were pregnant at the time, and were each of them afterwards
delivered of a male child.
As soon as intelligence of this disaster was brought to the
Earl of Huntly, he again returned with an army, entered Lochaber, which he laid waste, and
apprehended many of the leading men of the hostile tribes, whom he put to death.
The great power conferred on the Earl of
Huntly, as lieutenant-general in the north of Scotland, and the promptitude and severity
with which he put down the insurrections of some of the chiefs alluded to, raised up many
enemies against him. As he in company with the Earl of Sutherland was about to proceed to
France for the purpose of conveying the queen regent to that country, in the year 1550, a
conspiracy was formed against him, at the head of which was Macintosh, chief of the clan
Chattan. This conspiracy being discovered to the earl, he ordered Macintosh to be
immediately apprehended and brought to Strathbogie, where he was beheaded in the month of
August of that year. His lands were also forfeited at the same time. This summary
proceeding excited the sympathy and roused the indignation of the friends of the deceased
chief, particularly of the Earl of Cassills. A commotion was about to ensue, but matters
were adjusted for a time, by the prudence of the queen regent, who recalled the act of
forfeiture and restored Macintosh’s heir to all his father’s lands. But the clan
Chattan were determined to avail themselves of the first favourable opportunity of being
revenged upon the earl, which they, therefore, anxiously looked for. As Lauchlan
Macintosh, a near kinsman of the chief, was suspected of having betrayed his chief to the
earl, the clan entered his castle of Pettie by stealth, slew him, and banished all his
dependants from the country of the clan.
About the same time the province of
Sutherland again became the scene of some commotions. The earl having occasion to leave
home, intrusted the government of the country to Alexander Gordon, his brother, who ruled
it with great justice and severity; but the people, disliking the restraints put upon them
by Alexander, created a tumult, and placed John Sutherland, son of Alexander Sutherland,
the bastard, at their head. Seizing the favourable opportunity, as it appeared to them,
when Alexander Gordon was attending divine service in the church at Golspikirktoun, they
proceeded to attack him, but receiving notice of their intentions, he collected the little
company he had about him, and went out of church resolutely to meet them. Alarmed at
seeing him and his party approach, the people immediately dispersed and returned every man
to his own house. But William Murray, son of Caen Murray, one of the family of Pulrossie,
indignant at the affront offered to Alexander Gordon, shortly afterwards killed John
Sutherland upon the Nether Green of Dunrobin, in revenge for which murder William Murray
was himself thereafter slain by the Laird of Clyne.
The Mackays also took advantage of the Earl
of Sutherland’s absence, to plunder and lay waste the country. Y-Mackay, son of
Donald, assembled the Strathnaver men and entered Sutherland, but Alexander Gordon forced
him back into Strathnaver, and not content with acting on the defensive, he entered
Mackay’s country, which he wasted, and carried off a large booty in goods and cattle,
in the year 1551. Mackay, in his turn, retaliated, and this system of mutual aggression
and spoliation continued for several years.
During the absence of the Earl of Huntly in France, John of
Moydart, chief of the Clanranald, returned from the isles and recommenced his usual course
of rapine. The queen regent, on her return from France, being invested with full
authority, sent the Earl of Huntly on an expedition to the north, for the purpose of
apprehending Clanranald and putting an end to his outrages. The earl having mustered a
considerable force, chiefly Highlanders of the clan Chattan, passed into Moydart and
Knoydart, but his operations were paralyzed by disputes in his camp. The chief and his men
having abandoned their own country, the earl proposed to pursue them in their retreats
among the fastnesses of the Highlands; but his principal officers, who were chiefly from
the Lowlands, unaccustomed to such a mode of warfare in such a country, demurred; and as
the earl was afraid to entrust himself with the clan Chattan, who owed him a deep grudge
on account of the execution of their last chief, he abandoned the enterprise and returned
to the low country. Sir Robert Gordon says that the failure of the expedition was owing to
a tumult raised in the earl’s camp by the clan Chattan, who returned home; but we are
rather disposed to consider Bishop Lesley’s account, which we have followed, as the
more correct.
The failure of this expedition gave great
offence to the queen, who, instigated it is supposed by Huntly’s enemies, attributed
it to negligence on his part. The consequence was, that the earl was committed a prisoner
to the castle of Edinburgh in the month of October, where he remained till the month of
March following. He was compelled to renounce the earldom of Moray and the lordship of
Abernethy, with his tacks and possessions in Orkney and Zetland, and the tacks of the
lands of the earldom of Mar and of the lordship of Strathdie, of which he was bailie and
steward, and he was moreover condemned to a banishnient of five years in France. Bat as he
was about to leave the kingdom, the queen, taking a more favourible view of his conduct,
recalled the sentence of banishment, and restored him to the office of chancellor, of
which he had been deprived; and to make this act of leniecy somewhat palatable to the
earl’s enemies, queen exacted a heavy pecuniary fine from the earl.
The great disorders which prevailed in the
Highlands at this time, induced the queen-regent to undertake a journey thither in order
to punish these breaches of the law, and to repress existing tumults. She accordingly
arrived at Inverness in the month of July, 1555, where she was met by John, Earl of
Sutherland, and George, Earl of Caithness. Although the latter nobleman was requested to
bring his countrymen along with him to the court, he neglected or declined to do so, and
he was therefore committed to prison at Inverness, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, successively,
and he was not restored to liberty till he paid a considerable sum of money. Y-Mackay of
Far was also summoned to appear before the queen at Inverness, to answer for his
spoilations committed in the country of Sutherland during the absence of Earl John in
France; but he refused to appear. Whereupon the queen granted a commission to the Earl of
Sutherland, to bring Mackay to justice. The earl accordingly entered Strathnaver with a
great force, sacking and spoiling every thing in his way, and possessing himself of all
the principal positions to prevent Mackay’s escape. Mackay, however, avoided the
earl, and as he declined to fight, the earl laid siege to the castle of Borwe, the
principal strength in Strathnaver, scarcely two miles distant from Far, which he took
after a short siege, and hanged Ruaridh-Mac-Iain-Mhoir, the commander. This fort the earl
completely demolished.
While the Earl of Sutherland was engaged in the siege, Mackay
entered Sutherland secretly, and burnt the church of Loth. He thereafter went to the
village of Knockartol, where he met Mackenzie and his countrymen in Strathbroray. A slight
skirmish took place between them; but Mackay and his men fled after he had lost
Angus-Mackeanvoir, one of his commanders and several of his followers. Mackenzie was
thereupon appointed by the earl to protect Sutherland from the incursions of Mackay during
his stay in Strathnaver. Having been defeated again by Mackenzie, and seeing no chance of
escape, Mackay surrendered himself, and was carried south, and committed a prisoner to the
castle of Edinburg, in which he remained a considerable time. During the queen’s stay
in the north many notorious delinquents were brought to trial, condemned and executed.
During Mackay’s detention in Edinburgh, John Mor-Mackay,
who took charge of his kinsman’s estate, seizing the opportunity of the Earl of
Sutherland’s absence in the south of Scotland, entered Sutherland at the head of a
determined body of Strathnaver men, and spoiled and wasted the east corner of that
province, and burnt the chapel of St. Ninian. Mac-Mhic-Sheumais, chief of the Clan-Gun,
the Laird of Clyne, the Terrell of the Doill, and James Mac-William, having collected a
body of Sutherland men, pursued the Strathnaver men, whom they overtook at the foot of the
hill called Ben-Moir, in Berridell. Here they laid an ambush for them, and having, by
favour of a fog, passed their sentinels, they unexpectedly surprised Mackay’s men,
and attacked them with great fury. The Strathnaver men made an obstinate resistance, but
were at length overpowered. Many of them were killed, and others drowned in the water of
Garwary. Mackay himself escaped with great difficulty. This was one of the severest
defeats the Strathnaver men ever experienced, except at the battle of Knoken-dow-Reywird. |
