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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-MhicImheair 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, Torquihl Dubli and Tormaid.
In sailing from Lewis to
Skye, Torquil-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 Macheed 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 Maleod. 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, Torquihl
Connaidagh, assisted by Murthow Maleod, his reputed bastard brother, took
Donald prisoner and earned him to Cogigh, but he escaped and fled to his
father in Lewis, who was highly offended at Torquil 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 Torqnihl 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 Rodenick 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 Ronie-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 Connahdagh, by the assistance of the clan
Kenzie, got Donald Macleod into his possession, and executed him at
Dingwall.
Stornaway Castle
Upon the death of Rodenick 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 Torquili 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 Torqulll
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 Torquil] 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. Neil 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." 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 Neil 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 Neili 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 Neil Macleod having, with
the assistance of his nephew, Malcolm Macleod, son of Rederick 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.
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
Kintall 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 Neil and his party, the clan Kenzie
vowed that they would suffer the sea to overwhelm them, on the return of
the flood-tide, if Neil 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 Rodcrick 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 Neil to the privy council. Sir Roderick obeyed the
charge, and Neill, with his eldest son Donald, were presented to the privy
council at Edinburgh, white 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."
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,
baird 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 baird 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 Torqnill Dubh
Maciced of Lewis, whom the baird of Rasay and his tribe followed as their
superior. But upon the death of Torquil Dubh, the baird 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-Main-MacRory, 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.
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 MacAngus was in possession of a
warrant in writin, 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 redelivered 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 Strathnavor, the Earl of Caithness sending his son,
William, Lord Borridale, 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.
Castle Sinclair and Girnigo
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 bedcharnber. 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 son 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 Berrtdale, 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 carl, 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, Buckle, 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. |
