IS

!m

S- LIBRARY

<"*

C)/

I.OVE AND MALCOMSON, LIMITED,

PRINTERS,
LONDON AND REDHILL.

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO

CHARLES MACKENZIE MACRAE, ESQ., M.D.,

STORNOWAY,

WHOSE POPULAR TITLE, "THE GRAND OLD MAN OF LEWIS,"

TESTIFIES TO THE AFFECTIONATE REGARD

IN WHICH HE IS HELD BY HIS

FELLOW-ISLESMEN.

Only 150 Copies of this Special Edition
have been printed (with uncut edges), of which
this is

No,

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

ARGYLL, His GRACE THE DUKE OF, Kensington Palace.

ALLAN, MAYOR, Parkstone, Dorset.

ANDERSON, J. P., 184, Stapleton Hall Road, Stroud Green, N.

(3 Copies.)

ATTWOOD-MATHEWS, B. ST. JOHN, Pontrilas Court, Hereford.
BAILEY, WILLIAM, 33, Eglantine Avenue, Belfast.
BAIN, JAMES, Public Library, Toronto.
BAIN, Louis, Lewis Street, Stornoway.
BAIN, WILLIAM, Lochmaddy, North Uist.
BEVERIDGE, ERSKINE, of Vallay, &c, North Uist.
BlGNOLD, A., M.P., of Lochrosque, Ross-shire.
BROWN, WILLIAM, Prince's Street, Edinburgh.
BRUCE, ROBERT, 7, Uplands Road, Hornsey, N.
CAMERON, CAPT. E. D. C., R.G.A., Gesto, Isle of Skye.
CAMPBELL, LORD ARCHIBALD, Coombe Hill Farm, Kingston-on-

Thames.

CAMPBELL, Miss, Isle of Rum.
CAMPBELL, ALEX. R., Campbell's Lane, Stornoway.
CAMPBELL, D., Grimisay, North Uist.
CASIMER, SISTER, Bute Hospital, Dalibrog.
CHISHOLM, ARCHIBALD A., Procurator-Fiscal, Lochmaddy, North

Uist. (6 Copies.)

CHISHOLM, JAMES A., 15, Champion Grove, Denmark Hill, S.E.
CHISHOLM, K. M., M.D., Radcliffe, Lanes.
CHRYSTALL, JAMES, Caledonian Bank, Halkirk.
CLEMENSON, PETER, The School House, Balallan, Stornoway.

COATS, GEORGE, 106, Mount View Road, Stroud Green, N.

COATS, PETER, 5, Garthland Place, Paisley.

COLQUHOUN, SIR JAMES, BART., of Luss. (2 Copies.)

COOK, JAMES, Union Bank House, Ardrossan.

CRAIG, ALLAN, Bayhead Street, Stornoway.

CRAN, JOHN, J.P., Bunchrew, Inverness-shire.

CROMARTIE, THE RIGHT HON. THE COUNTESS OF, Tarbat House,
Kildary, N.B.

DAVIDSON, MAJOR H., of Cantray, Croy, Inverness-shire.

DEWAR, JOHN A., M.P. for Inverness shire.

DOUGLAS & FOULIS, 9, Castle Street, Edinburgh. (3 Copies.)

D'OYLEY, MARCHIONESS, Paris.

ENSELL, C. A., 62, Muswell Road, Muswell Hill, N.

FERGUSON, DONALD, Lochboisdale, South Uist.

FINLAYSON, ANGUS, Dumbarton Road, Glasgow.

FORBES, NORMAN HAY (of Forbes), M.D., F.R.C.S., Edin., J.P.,
Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

FRASER, ALEXANDER, British Linen Bank, Stornoway.

vi LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

FRASER, DONALD, C., 24, King Street, Hammersmith, W.

FRASER-BLACK, T., J.P., 14, Mount View Road, Crouch Hill, N.

FRASER, WILLIAM, The School House, Sandwick, Stornoway.

GARDINER, PATRICK, 56, Coolhurst Road, Crouch End, N.

GIBSON, THOMAS, Duluth, Minn., U.S.A.

GILLESPIE, C. G., Scaliscro Lodge, Uig, Stornoway.

GRANT, LACHLAN, Vallay, North Uist.

HILL, ALEXANDER W., The Bank, Lochboisdale, South Uist.

HlLSON, L., Public Library, Jedburgh.

HOLMES, W. & R. Glasgow. (2 Copies.)

JEUNE, LADY, 79, Harley Street, W.

JOHNSTON, GEORGE P., 33, George Street, Edinburgh.

KERR, JOHN, 208, Market Street, Aberdeen.

LEES, JOHN MACKENZIE, Bank of North Queensland, Brisbane,

Queensland. (12 Copies.)

LEWIS AND HARRIS ASSOCIATION, Glasgow. (50 Copies).
MACAULAY, A. G., Duluth, Minn., U.S.A.
MACAULAY, DONALD, North Beach, Stornoway.
MACAULAY, D. J., M.D., Halifax.
MACCONNAL, JOHN, New Brighton.

MACDONALD, ALEXANDER, 31, Bon- Accord Street, Aberdeen.
MACDONALD, ANGUS M., The School House, Aird, Stornoway.
MACDONALD, REV. D. M., M.A., U.F.C. Manse, Ness, Stornoway.
MACDONALD, H. L., of Dunach, Oban.
MACDONALD, JAMES A. R., of Balranald, North Uist.
MACDONALD, JOHN, Callernish, Stornoway.
MACDONALD, DR. WEIR, The Cottage, Stornoway.
MACDOUGALL, MRS., Creagleor Villa, Stornoway.
MAC ELFRISH, ANDREW, Sheriff Clerk Depute, Lochmaddy, North

Uist.

MACFARLANE, FINLAY, Vernon Street, Eastpark, Glasgow.
MACFARLANE, J. F., Kenneth Street, Stornoway.
MACFARLANE, R., c/o Hudson Bay Company, Winnipeg, Canada.
MAC GREGOR, SURGEON-COLONEL JOHN, M.D., Ardgay, Ross-shire.
MAC GREGOR, THOMAS D., The Bank, Lochmaddy, North Uist.
MACIVER, DONALD, Bayhead Street, Stornoway.
MACIVER, MALCOLM, Knock, Point, Stomoway.
MACIVER, NORMAN, Shamrock Street, Glasgow.
MACKAY, DONALD, Church Street, Stornoway.
MACKAY, REV. GEORGE, James Street, Stomoway.
MACKAY, JOHN, Editor Celtic Monthly •, i, Blythswood Drive,

Glasgow.

MACKAY, WILLIAM, F.S.A., Scot., Solicitor, Inverness.
MACKENZIE, ^NEAS M., J.P., James Street, Stornoway.
MACKENZIE, ALEXANDER, Bath.
MACKENZIE, ANGUS, Cromwell Street, Stornoway.
MACKENZIE, C. G., Procurator-Fiscal, Stornoway. (12 Copies.)
MACKENZIE, DUNCAN, Royal Hotel, Stornoway.
MACKENZIE, G. F., Duluth, Minn., U.S.A.

MACKENZIE,
MACKENZIE,
MACKENZIE,
MACKENZIE, .

OHN, Lloyd's Agent, Stornoway.
A., Lockerbie.
F., Pittsburg, Pa., U.S.A.
F., Garynahine Hotel, Stornoway.

MACKENZIE, SIR KENNETH, BART., of Tarbat, 8, Bramham
Gardens, S.W.

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. vii

MACKENZIE, KENNETH, 6r, Avonmore Road, West Kensington,

MACKENZIE, DR. MURDO, J.P., Francis Street, Stornoway.

(2 Copies.)

MACKENZIE, DR. M. T., Scolpaig, North Uist.
MACKENZIE, NORMAN, Laxdale, Stornoway.
MACKENZIE, WILLIAM, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
MACKENZIE, WILLIAM, Bengairn, Ninian Road, Cardiff.
MACKENZIE, WILLIAM M., M.A., 20, Wilton Gardens, Kelvinside,

Glasgow.

MACKEGGIE, JAMES A., Hon. Sec. Gaelic Society of Glasgow.
MACKINNON, DUNCAN, 16, Hyde Park Square, W.
MACKINTOSH, REV. ALEXANDER, Fort William.
MACKINTOSH, ANGUS, Factor, Askernish.
MACLEAN, SIR FITZROY D. OF DUART, BART., C.B.
MACLEAN, CAPTAIN H. F. YOUNGER OF DUART.
MACLEAN, HECTOR, Lochmaddy, North Uist.
MACLEAN, MURDO, Laxdale, Stornoway.
MACLENNAN, ARCHIBALD, Lochboisdale, South Uist.
MACLENNAN, BAILIE KENNETH, J.P., North Beach, Stornoway.
MACLEOD, REAR-ADMIRAL ANGUS, The Admiralty.
MACLEOD, ANGUS, Greenfield Public School, Govan. (2 Copies.)
MACLEOD, A. S., Manila, Philippine Islands. (2 Copies.)
MACLEOD, Miss CATHERINE, Shawbost, Stornoway.
MACLEOD, MRS., n, Harley Street, W.

MACLEOD, REV. GEORGE, U.F.C. Manse, Garrabost, Stornoway.
MACLEOD, BAILIE JOHN, J.P., Gladstone House, Stornoway.
MACLEOD, REV. KENNETH, U.F.C. Manse, Ardgay, Ross-shire.

MACLEOD, L. W., Crossmount, Surbiton.

MACLEOD, MALCOLM, President Lewis and Harris Association,

Glasgow.
MACLEOD, M. D., M.D., Beverley, Yorks.

MACLEOD, LIEUT.-COL. N., Dalvey, Forres, N.B.

MACLEOD, REV. R. C. OF MACLEOD, Morpeth.

MACMILLAN, DONALD, Snishval, South Uist.

MACMILLAN, J., Walker Street, Glasgow.

MACNEILL, NICOL, Argentine Republic.

MACQUIEN, MALCOLM, Tigharry, North Uist.

MACRAE, REV. A., Clachan, Kintyre.

MACRAE, DR. CHARLES M., Barvas Lodge, Stornoway. (3 Copies.)

MACRAE, WILLIAM A., Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.

MACTAVISH, DUGALD, Lochmaddy, North Uist.

MARTIN, W. A., 24, Beauclerc Road, Hammersmith, W.

MATHESON, MAJOR DUNCAN, Lews Castle, Stornoway.

MATHESON, JOHN, M.D., 14, Gibson Square, N.

MATHIESON, F., Cape Town, South Africa.

MENZIES, JOHN, 66, Crouch Hill, N.

MENZIES, JOHN & Co., Glasgow. (4 Copies.)

MORGAN, ARTHUR, 3, Parliament Square, Edinburgh.

MORISON, DONALD, The School House, Knock, Stornoway.

MORISON, MACDONALD, Cromwell Street, Stornoway.

MORISON, DR. W. M., Annfield Plain, Co. Durham.

MORRISON, DONALD, Duluth, Minn., U.S.A. (2 Copies.)

MORRISON, JOHN, 9, Breadalbane Street, Glasgow.

MORRISON, JOHN, JUNR., Goat Hill Farm, Stornoway.

viii LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

MORRISON, COL. J. C. D., R.B.G., 14, Southwell Gardens, S. Ken-
sington, S.W.

MORRISON, MURDO, M.A., Kenneth Street, Stornoway.
MORRISON, MURDO, "Thule," Cluny Avenue, Edinburgh.
MORRISON, PETER, Sollas, Lochmaddy, North Uist. (2 Copies.)
MUNRO, SIR HECTOR OF FOULIS, BART.
MUNRO, JOHN, 40, Gleneagle Road, Streatham, S.W.
MURRAY, REV. ALEXANDER, U.F.C. Manse, Stornoway.
MURRAY, DR. DONALD, Bayhead Street, Stornoway.
MURRAY, KENNETH, Spokane, Washington, U.S.A.
NAPIER, GEORGE G., 9, Woodside Place, Glasgow. (2 Copies.)
NEWALL, JOHN, Tong Farm, Stornoway.
NICOLSON, JOHN M., Grant Street, Glasgow.
NlCOLSON, K. D., Chrystal Spring, U.S.A.
NiCOLSON, MURDO, Keith Street, Stornoway.
NICOLSON, REV. RODERICK, Kyles of Bute.
NICOLSON, THOMAS, North Beach, Stornoway.
OLIVER AND BOYD, Tweeddale Court, Edinburgh.
ORDE, SIR ARTHUR CAMPBELL, BART., Kilmory, Lochgilphead.
PARRY, SIDNEY, 7, Wimpole Street, W.
PRINGLE, HON. J., C.M.G., Jamaica.
ROBERTSON, J. L., H.M.I.S., Maybank, Inverness.
ROBERTSON, TOM, R.B.A., Marlboro' Studios, Finchley Road, N.W.
ROBERTSON, W. D., Lews House, 63, The Drive, Ilford, Essex.
ROSE, JOHN, 139, The Grove, Denmark Hill, S.E.
Ross, Miss, Houstonfield, Houston, Renfrewshire.
Ross, EBENEZER, J.P., Caledonian Bank, Stornoway.
Ross, DR. RODERICK, J.P., Borve, Stornoway.
Ross, W. A. Solicitor, Stornoway.
SINCLAIR, ROBERT, Harris.
SMITH, HECTOR, Dalmellington.
SQUAIR, SHERIFF, Stornoway.
STEWART, GEORGE, Crawford Street, Glasgow.
STEWART, WILLIAM, Union Street, Aberdeen.
SUTHERLAND, CHARLES J., M.D., South Shields.
WILSON, THOMAS, Solicitor, Lochmaddy, North Uist. (2 Copies.)
WYLLIE & SON, D., 247, Union Street, Aberdeen.

PREFACE.

THE present work has been undertaken at the suggestion
of the Lewis and Harris Association of Glasgow. It is
the first attempt which has yet been made to collect, and
present in book form, existing records of past events in the
Outer Isles. Obvious difficulties surrounded the under-
taking, in consequence of the dearth of known material to
work upon ; but after careful research, these difficulties
were largely overcome. It is not, however, pretended that
the record is complete. The activity in historical research
which marks the present day, may bring to light fresh facts
bearing upon the Outer Hebrides ; and these may fill gaps
left by the present work. But whatever the defects of the
book — in consequence either of insufficient information, or
the drawbacks incidental to the breaking of new ground
by an inexperienced historian — I can at least claim that
an honest attempt has been made to discover all available
material bearing upon the subject, and to ensure accuracy
in its handling. As far as possible, I have gone to
original sources for my information, and the history has
been largely compiled from the national records. The
chief events are given with a fulness of detail which, in
a general history of the Highlands, would be, if not
impossible, at least lacking in proportion ; but, on the
other hand, an effort has been made to avoid insularity of
treatment.

x PREFACE.

In the preparation of this history, I have kept before me
one main object, viz., to get at the truth. In doing so, I
have had, in some instances, to face the highest test of
impartiality to which a Highland historian can be subjected ;
and that is, to criticise the chiefs of his own clan. My
conclusions may in some cases be mistaken, but the facts
from which they are deduced are fairly stated.

To Mr. D. Murray Rose, whose unique knowledge of
Highland historical material has invariably been placed
at my disposal with the utmost willingness, and who has
furnished me with one of the illustrations ; to Mr. John
Parker Anderson, late of the British Museum, for assist-
ance in the collection of material ; to my brother, Mr. C. G.
Mackenzie, Stornoway, and to Mr. Archibald Chisholm,
Lochmaddy, for statistics relating to the Outer Isles, and
to the latter for the use of several excellent photographs ;
to Mr. John Mackay, editor of the Celtic Monthly \ Glasgow,
for information supplied in reference to illustrations and
other matters ; to Messrs. Jack, publishers, Edinburgh, for
permission to reproduce an illustration from Keltic's Scot-
tish Highlands ; to Mr. Eneas Mackay, Stirling, for the
loan of an illustration " block " ; to Major Matheson of
the Lews, for the use of photographs ; and to the Rev.
R. C. Macleod of Macleod, for copies of documents in
Dunvegan Castle ; to all these helpers, I desire to express
my grateful thanks. I wish, also, to acknowledge the
courtesy of Sir Arthur Mitchell, who gave me an oppor-
tunity of examining his volumes of Lewis traditions which
were collected by the late Captain Thomas, R.N. The
more important of these traditions appear in Captain
Thomas's papers on the Macaulays of Uig and the
Morisons of Ness, printed in the Proceedings of the Society
of Antiquaries of Scotland, Vols. XII. and XIV.

PREFACE. xi

My thanks are due, in a special way, to my fellow-
Lewisrnen, the Rev. William Morrison, M.A., Carr-Bridge,
and Mr. Malcolm Macdonald, Glasgow. The one as a
scientist, and the other as an artist, have generously con-
tributed to whatever merits this book may possess. Mr.
Morrison's reputation as a naturalist has travelled beyond
his native island, while Mr. Macdonald is a talented young
artist, whose marine and landscape work is full of promise.

The index, printed at the end of the book, has been
compiled by my wife.

His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to
accept a copy of this history, thus manifesting his interest
in the remote island of his dominions which, with the
Queen, he honoured by a visit last September.

W. C. MACKENZIE.
London, 1903.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

The early inhabitants of the Long Island—History in stones— The Callernish

'ircles — The Brochs — History in place-names — The Dalriads and the Picts

-The Gall-Gaidheil— The Vikings— Origin of the names "Hebrides,"

"Lewis," "Harris," "Uist," " Benbecula," and " Barra "

PACE.

xxi

CHAPTER I.

Early references to the Hebrides — Solinus on the Ebudae — Saint Columba
d the Northern Picts— Ethica — The Northmen and the Christian Church —
ic Fingalls and the Dugalls — The " Islands of the Foreigners" — The Norse
>lonies in the Hebrides— Ketil Flatneb— The Hebrides under the Orcadian
[arldom — The battle of Clontarf— The Manx dynasty — Godred Crovan — The
st expedition of King Magnus of Norway — Ingemund and the Lewismen —
'he second expedition of King Magnus — Magnus and the kilt — Olave the Red
— Olave and Somerled — The division of the Hebrides

CHAPTER II.

The Norse pirates in the Outer Hebrides— Sweyn of Gairsay — The regency
of Reginald Godredson — Reginald and Olave the Black — Olave gets Lewis
from Reginald — The " Dragon of the Isles " devastates Lewis — Is defeated by
Olave and Paul Balkasson — Deposition and death of Reginald — Olave and
the Sudreyan chiefs at the Court of Norway — Tormod of Lewis— Godred Don
is killed in Lewis — The three eldest sons of Olave the Black and their rule —
Ewen of Lome— Rupture between Norway and Scotland — The expedition of
King Hakon — The battle of Largs — The Long Island becomes incorporated
with Scotland — Manners and customs of the Norsemen — The hersir — Thralls
—The title of " King " — Land tenure — Things — The Christianising of the
Norsemen — Their amusements and sports — Their ships — Valhalla and Heaven
—Marriage customs — " Exposing " and fostering children — Burial customs —
Norse morality— An appreciation of the Norsemen — Their descendants at the
Butt of Lewis

29

CHAPTER III.

The clans of the Outer Hebrides and their origins — The Macleods of Lewis
and Harris— The Macnicols or Nicolsons — The Morisons of Ness — The Mac-
aulays of Uig — The Macivers — The Macaskills— The numerical strength of
Lewis families at the present day— The Macneills of Barra

54

xiv CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

PAGE.

The Outer Hebrides under the O'Beolan Earls of Ross — The Macruaries
of Garmoran and the North Isles — The chiefs of the Long Island and the
War of Independence — Lewis is granted to John of the Isles — Ranald Macruari
is slain by the Earl of Ross — The career of John of the Isles — His children
and the disputed succession — Lewis reverts to the Earldom of Ross — The
story of John Roy of Uig— The "ploy" at Tuiteam Tarbhach — The disputed
succession to the Earldom of Ross and the Battle of Harlaw — James I. cages
the chiefs — The career of John Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross — The
revolt of his son Angus Og — The battle of the Bloody Bay — The assassination
of Angus Og — The insurrection of Alexander of Lochalsh — The birth of
Donald Dubh — The Lords of the Isles and their vassals — The raids from
the Outer Hebrides on the Orkneys and Shetlands 67

CHAPTER V.

James IV. and the Hebrides — His grants to the heritors of the Outer
Isles — The insurrection of Donald Dubh — Torquil Macleod of Lewis is
declared a rebel — The King attempts to break up the Hebridean con-
federacy— The progress of the insurrection — The coalition breaks up — Torquil
Macleod holds out — His possessions are forfeited to the Crown — Huntly
invades Lewis and captures Stornoway Castle — Lewis granted to Malcolm
brother of Torquil Macleod — Insurrection of Donald Gallda — John Mac-
Torquil seizes Lewis — His alliance with Donald Gruamach — The Islesmen
and the House of Argyll — Ruari Macleod and Donald Gorm ravage Trotternish
and attack Eilean Donain Castle — The expedition of James V. to the Isles
and its results — Henry VIII. and the Hebrides — Re-appearance of Donald
Dubh — He and his followers transfer their allegiance to England — The re-
bellion ends in a fiasco — Death of Donald Dubh — James Macdonald of
Dunyveg and the succession to the Lordship of the Isles — Attempts to
prevent a recurrence of disorders in the Isles — Macleod of Lewis proves
stublx>rn— Argyll unsuccessfully bombards Stornoway Castle — Argyll and
Macleod come to terms ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 107

CHAPTER VI.

Ruari Macleod of Lewis and his family affairs — Torquil Conanach seizes and
keeps his father in captivity — Father and son are temporarily reconciled —
Ruari repudiates the agreement — Another temporary reconciliation— The
quarrel breaks out afresh — Torquil Conanach captures Stornoway Castle and
leaves his son John in charge — Assassination of John — Disorders in the
Hebrides — The chiefs fined — They are required to find caution for their good
rule— The battle of Glenlivat— Macleod of Harris and Macdonald of North
Uist and the Ulster expedition — The repression of disorder in the Outer
Isles — Torquil Conanach and Torquil Dubh and their partisans — Torquil Dubh
ravages Coigeach and Loch Broom — The conspiracy against Torquil Dubh —
His capture and execution— The impression created by his death 148

CHAPTER VII.

The Acts of 1597— Contract between King James VI. and the Fife Adven-
turers— Analysis of its conditions — Its objects reviewed— Donald Gorm ravages
Lewis— Is defeated by Neil Macleod— The Adventurers sail for Lewis— They
capture the island— Their unenviable situation — Murdoch Macleod captures
Balcomie— Murdoch as a shrewd man of business— Neil Macleod attacks the

CONTENTS. xv

PACK.

colonists — The hostility of Mackenzie of Kintail towards the Lowlanders —
Lennox and Huntly charged to assist the Adventurers — Balcomie's release
and death — Neil betrays his brother Murdoch — Execution of Murdoch at
St. Andrews — Agreement between Kintail and the Adventurers — Macleod of
Harris and the Privy Council — Ratification of the grant of Lewis — The social
framework of the colony in Lewis — The progress of the colonists — Neil Macleod
quarrels with them — Diamond cut diamond — The discomfiture of the colonists
— Tormod Macleod appears upon the scene — The colonists attacked and forced
to surrender — The failure of the first attempt to subdue Lewis — Generous
treatment of Torquil Conanach by Tormod — The Brieve of Lewis killed by
John Macleod — Dispute between Macleod of Harris and Macdonald of North
Uist — Defeat of the Macleods in North Uist — Destitution of the common
people — Donald Gorm invades Macleod's lands in Skye — The Macleods
again defeated — The Privy Council interferes — A reconciliation effected — The
lieutenancies of Lennox and Huntly ... ... ... ... ... ... 171

CHAPTER VIII.

The King devotes his attention to Lewis — Arrangements for a second
invasion of the island — Macleod of Harris and Macdonald of North Uist again
quarrel — Commission appointed to reduce the Outer Hebrides and Skye —
Neil Macleod commits an act of piracy — Second expedition to Lewis —
Tormod Macleod submits — Goes to London — Is imprisoned in Edinburgh
Castle — Enters the service of the Prince of Orange — His character — The
troubles of the Lewis colonists — Macneill of Barra and the Captain of
ClanRanald attack the Lowlanders — Kintail gets a charter of Lewis which is
subsequently annulled — Negotiations with Huntly for conquering the North
Isles — Fresh rising in Lewis — Neil Macleod makes a night attack on the
colonists — Renewal of negotiations with Huntly for extirpating the Hebrideans
— The negotiations are broken off and Huntly is disgraced — Argyll prevents
a rising in the Hebrides — Macleod of Harris captures Stornoway Castle —
Kintail is authorised to invade Lewis — The break-up of the Lowland
colony ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 210

CHAPTER IX.

Charters to Balmerino, Spens and Hay — Preparations to reduce the Hebrides
to good order — The Statutes of Icolmkill — Renewal of Lewis troubles —
Kintail's stratagem — Neil Macleod attacks the colonists— The last of the Fife
Adventurers — Kintail commissioned to seize Neil and his followers — The
Tutor of Kintail reduces Lewis — The island passes into the hands of the
Mackenzies — Neil Macleod and his followers take refuge on Birsay — Neil
and the pirates — He hands them over to justice — Neil and his followers
forced to leave Birsay — Rory Mor delivers Neil up — Neil's trial and execution
— The Macleods continue to resist the Mackenzies — The career of Malcolm
MacRuari Og — His exploits in the Long Island — The last of the Siol
Torquil 236

CHAPTER X.

Disputes between the chiefs of Harris and Uist— The Privy Council and
the chiefs— Rory Mor as a letter writer — His correspondence with the King
and Lord Binning — The Macdonalds of Islay and the Campbells— The clipping
of the eagles' wings— The chiefs and their tenantry — The uprooting of the
Gaelic language— The lack of education in the Isles — The drinking habits of

xvi CONTENTS.

PAGE.

the Islesmen — Clanranald gives trouble — The drinking habits again — Rory
Mor and the Privy Council— Macneill of Barra as a pirate— He is captured by
the Tutor of Kintail— Macneill's joke— Clanranald seizes Boisdale— Piracy on
the Barra coast — Macneill's family feud — Clanranald's lawlessness ... ... 266

CHAPTER XL

Malcolm Macleod disappears from the scene — Lord Kintail created Earl of
Seaforth — Death of Rory Mor — The Justiciaryship of the Isles — Seaforth
endeavours to obtain a charter of erection for Stornoway — The fight between
Seaforth and the Royal burghs — The burghs block the charter — Proposals
for an English fishery in Lewis — The charter is cancelled — The Scottish
fisheries — The inception of the British Fishery Corporation — Negotiations
with the burghs — The charter of the Company of the General Fishery of
Great Britain and Ireland — The Earl of Portland establishes a branch in
Lewis — The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery follows suit — Death and
character of the first Lord Seaforth — His successor and " ground-leaves " in
Lewis — The King claims Lewis — The troubles of the English settlers in the
island — Captain Muir and Lewis — The King feus the island to Seaforth —
Stornoway resigned into the hands of the King — Should Stornoway be recog-
nised as a Royal burgh ? — The end of the fishing venture in the Long Island
— Later Fishery Companies — The second Earl of Seaforth and the Covenant
— The battle of Auldearn — Seaforth compelled to do penance — He joins the
Earl of Lanark with 4,000 men — He retires to the Continent — Defeat and
execution of Montrose — The Long Islanders at the battle of \Yorcester —
Death and character of Seaforth 290

CHAPTER XII.

The Commonwealth and the Highlands — Balcarres proposes to cede Lewis
to the Dutch — The third Earl of Seaforth seizes English sailors in Stornoway —
Lilburn resolves to make an example of him — Preparations for invading
Lewis — Seaforth's plans for resistance — Progress of the insurrection in the
Highlands — Cobbet subdues Lewis — The Outer Hebrides and Skye virtually
annexed to the Commonwealth — Correspondence with Cromwell concerning
Lewis — The King and his promises — The Earldom of Ross — The rising in the
Highlands is nipped in the bud — Cromwell's concern about Lewis — Talisker
gives trouble to the English — Seaforth and Colonel Norman Macleod attempt
to re-capture Lewis — Their failure — The Englishmen and the Macleods of
Lewis massacre Seaforth's adherents — Glencairn and Middleton — Guerilla
tactics — End of the insurrection — Seaforth and the King — Seaforth submits
— The English garrison evacuates Lewis — Seaforth and the Earl of Moray
— Death of Seaforth — The fourth Earl of Seaforth and the Jacobites— Long
Islanders at Killiecrankie — Seaforth crosses from Ireland — The progress of
the Jacobite rising — Seaforth surrenders to General Mackay — A fresh rising
takes place — Viscount Tarbat's proposals — The massacre of Glencoe — Colonel
Hill and the lords of Uist — Tarbat's commission to put down a fresh rising —
Seaforth dies in Paris 340

CHAPTER XIII.

The rising of 1715— The fifth Earl of Seaforth is attainted— He takes up
arms — His march to join Mar — The battle of Sheriffmuir — Seaforth submits
— He again takes up arms — Flies to Lewis — Colonel Cholmondeley reduces
Lewis— Seaforth sorry plight — The inception of the rising of 1719 — The
Councils of War n Stornoway— The Jacobite leaders leave Lewis — The

CONTENTS. xvii

PACE*

fight at Glenshiel — The leaders of the rising and their subsequent careers

Seaforth counsels his tenantry to pay no rent to the Government — Daniel

Murchison outwits the factors — The Mackenzies and the Seaforth Estates —
Seaforth is pardoned — He receives a grant of the arrears of the Lewis feu-
duty — Removal of his disabilities — Sale of the Seaforth Estates — Remarks on
the Seaforths— A review of their Jacobitism— Stornoway and its Custom House

Proposal to remove the Custom House to Loch Broom — Death of William

Earl of Seaforth in Lewis — Is succeeded by his son Kenneth, Lord Fortrose

— The public activity of Lord Fortrose ... ... ... ... ... 394

CHAPTER XIV.

The rising of 1745— Prince Charles Edward lands at Eriskay — He wins
over the chiefs — Duncan Forbes saves the situation for the Government — The
prophecy of Coinneach Odhar — Lord Fortrose prevents his tenantry from rising
•—The attitude of the heritors of Harris, North Uist, and Barra— The Highland
Independent Companies— The flowing tide of success and the ebb tide —
Culloden — The Prince decides to seek refuge in the Long Island — He lands
at Rossinish — Proceeds to Scalpa — The Prince and the Rev. Aulay Macau-
lay—Donald Macleod attempts to hire a vessel in Stornoway — The bargain
falls through — The Prince goes to Arnish — Alarm in Stornoway — The
dilemma of the Stornowegians — The Prince is compelled to leave Arnish — He
lands at lubhard — Proceeds to Scalpa — Benbecula — Coradale — The Prince's
Boswell — How Charles passed his time — Another fruitless attempt to find
a ship— Critical situation of the Prince— Goes to Wiay and Rossinish—
Back to Coradale — Loch Boisdale — Each man for himself — Coradale once
more — Flora Macdonald — The plan of rescue — Back to Rossinish — The pro-
gress of the plan — "Betty Burke" — The Prince sails from the Long
Island — A perilous voyage — The personality of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" —
The fate of his attendants — The Prince sails for France — The later career of
Flora Macdonald 426

CHAPTER XV.

The effects of Culloden — A social upheaval in the Long Island — The
emigration fever — Discontent in Lewis — How the factors made fortunes —
Kidnapping in Lewis — Steps taken to prevent emigration — Emigration from
Uist — Emigration from Barra — The raising of Highland regiments — Lord
Seaforth succeeded by Colonel Mackenzie-Humberston — The last Lord
Seaforth — Captain Macleod of Harris and his improvements — The Lewis and
Harris boundaries — Lord Seaforth as a recruiting officer — A distinguished
proprietor — Lady Hood — Mr. Stewart-Mackenzie — Charter to the Stornoway
feuars — Sale of Lewis, excluding the parish of Stornoway — The island passes
into the hands of the Mathesons — Proprietary changes in Harris — In Barra —
In South Uist and Benbecula — In North Uist 471

CHAPTER XVI.

Descriptions of the Outer Hebrides : John of Fordun — Andrew Wyntoun —
John Major — Hector Boece— Donald Monro — Bishop Leslie — Official accounts
of Lewis — Captain John Dymes — Reports of Lewis to Cromwell — Richard
Blome — John Morison of Bragar — Report by an unknown author — Martin
Martin — John Adair — Matthew Symson — "The Highland of Scotland in
1750" — "A Voyage to Shetland, the Orkney Islands, and the Western
Isles of Scotland '*— Captain Barlow— Dr. John Walker— The S.P.C.K.—
Dr. James Anderson — John Knox — Rev. John Lane Buchanan — " General

xviii CONTENTS.

PACK.

View of the Agriculture of the Central Highlands and Islands " — The Old
Statistical Account — Rev. James Headrick — John Leyden — James Macdonald
— Nicholas Carlisle — Dr. John Macculloch — Lord Teignmouth — Professor
Macgillivray — The New Statistical Account — Sir John Macneill — Sherift"
Nicolson — Casual visitors — The Crofters Commission — Visit of the King and
Queen to Stornoway 497

CHAPTER XVII.

Ecclesiology of the Outer Isles — Religion —Care of the poor — Education —
Trade and commerce — The fishing industry — Stornoway shipping — Privateers
n the Minch — Illicit distilling — The mails — Archaic criminal procedure —
Stornoway at the beginning of the nineteenth century — Celtic feudalism —
The classes and the masses — The tacksmen — The system of agriculture —
The introduction of the potato — Kelp and its vicissitudes — Voluntary emigra-
tion— Compulsory emigration — The present attitude towards emigration —
Statistics of population — The Land Question — Conclusion 517

CHAPTER XVIII.

Notes on the Outer Hebrides: Geology — Physical Features — Botany-
Vertebrate Animals — Birds — Fishes 557

APPENDICES.

Appendix. COPIES OF MSS.

A — The Isles of Scotland (1595) 583

B — Proposed invasion of Lewis (1602) ... 584

C — The Lewis fisheries (undated— James I.) 585

D — Stornoway's charter of incorporation (1629) 586

E —The Lewis fisheries (1629), &c 589

F — Description of Lewis by Captain Dymes (1630) 591

G — Fishing colonies in the Hebrides (1632) 595

H — Papers relating to the "Forty-five" 595

I — Letters, etc., from Captain Barlow, an Officer stationed in the

Long Island (1753) 598

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

To face
page

REMAINS OF OLD STORNOWAY CASTLE (From a drawing by Mr.
Malcolm Macdonald) Stamped on front cover

STORNOWAY IN 1903 Frontispiece

THE CALLERNISH STONES, LEWIS (From a drawing by Mr. Malcolm

Macdonald) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... xxii

PICTISH BROCH AT CARLOWAY, LEWIS (From a drawing by Mr.

Malcolm Macdonald) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... xxviii

EFFIGY IN Ui CHURCH, LEWIS (From a photograph lent by Major

Matheson) 107

TRINITY CHURCH, CARINISH. NORTH UIST (From a photograph

by Mr. Archibald A. Chisholm, Lochmaddy) 206

DUNVEGAN CASTLE, SKYE (From a photograph by the Rev. R. C.

Macleod of Macleod) 263

CASTLEBAY AND KISIMUL CASTLE, BARRA (From a photograph

by Mr. Archibald A. Chisholm) 285

"GATHERING" STONES AT SHERIFFMUIR 400

ElLEAN DONAIN CASTLE, ROSS-SHIRE 412

WILLIAM MACKENZIE, $TH EARL OF SEAFORTH (From a photo-
graph lent by Mr. D. Murray Rose) ... ... ... ... 425

PRINCE CHARLES EDWARD STUART 428

PRINCE CHARLES EDWARD ENTERING EDINBURGH AFTER

PRESTONPANS 437

CULLODEN CAIRN AT MACGILLIVRAY'S WELL 438

" PRINCE CHARLIE'S LAKE," ARNISH, STORNOWAY (From a draw-
ing by Mr. Malcolm Macdonald) 450

CALVAY ISLAND AND CASTLE, SOUTH UIST 457

THE STUART MEMORIAL IN ROME 465

FLORA MACDONALD (By permission of Mr. Eneas Mackay, Stirling) 470

MAJOR DUNCAN MATHESON OF THE LEWS 495

LOCHMADDY, NORTH UIST (From a photograph by Mr. Archibald

A. Chisholm) 510

LEWS CASTLE' ... 516

CHURCH OF ST. COLUMBA, AT Ui, NEAR STORNOWAY (From a

drawing by Mr. Malcolm Macdonald) 518

CHURCH OF ST, CLEMENT, AT RODIL, HARRIS (From a drawing

by Mr. Malcolm Macdonald) 519

STORNOWAY IN 1819 (From an engraving by William Daniell) ... 542

AN UIST CROFTER FAMILY AND THEIR HOME (From a photograph

by Mr. Archibald A. Chisholm) 555

INTRODUCTION.

WHEN Lord Hailes compiled his annals of Scotland, he
commenced with the accession of Malcolm III., declaring
that previous to that period, historical facts were so
involved in obscurity and intermingled with fable, as to
render the process of elucidation and disentanglement a
hopeless task. If this be true of Scotland, it is doubly
true of that outlying portion of the country called the
Western Isles or the Hebrides, and particularly true of
the outer section of the group, known as the Long
Island. The material at the disposal of the historian of
the Outer Hebrides is of the most meagre description,
so far as it concerns early events. When the history
of Scotland emerged from the region of imagination
and was placed upon a basis of solid fact, the Western
Isles still remained a comparatively unknown land to
the honest investigator, and in a large degree, those
islands so remain even at the present day.

Who and what were the earliest inhabitants of the
Hebrides? It is hardly necessary to say that in the
present state of our knowledge, a conclusive answer
to this question cannot be given. Were we able to
state definitely to what race the primitive inhabitants of
the Highlands of Scotland belonged ; what language
they spoke; what their manners and customs were; we
should probably have little difficulty in assigning a similar
race, a similar language, and similar manners and customs
to the pre-historic Hebrides. For satisfactory proofs,
however, of Highland, as of Hebridean origins, we grope
in the dark; history furnishes us with none. Those who
have laboured with so much learning, assiduity, and in

xxii HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

some cases, acrimoniousness, to prove the correctness of
their theories on this subject, appear in most instances
to have reversed the only sound process of reasoning.
Instead of deriving their conclusions from evidence,
direct or indirect, they seem to have formed their con-
clusions first and selected their evidence afterwards.
The result has been a partial statement of their case,
involving a want of candour which fails to carry convic-
tion. After all, an ounce of fact is worth a ton of theory.

In default of historical records, we turn perforce to
tradition. Tradition is not history, but when sifted with
discrimination, it may, and frequently does, bristle with
suggestions which are not without a certain value. But the
traditions of the Hebrides which relate to pre-historic
times are largely composed of myths, and there is little
assistance to be derived from them.

It may be urged that we have in the Outer Hebrides,
memorials of the long past which have existed through
the centuries right down to the present time; books in
stone; monuments which contain more trustworthy records
even than written annals ; relics which render the antiquary
independent of the historian. True; but where antiquaries
disagree, who shall decide? In the standing stones of
Callernish, for example, we have a book which would do
more to enlighten us on the primitive conditions of life in
the Island of Lewis than all other evidences put together,
were it possible to decipher its language. But the book is
almost entirely sealed, and in spite of all efforts to open it,
sealed it remains to the present day. The antiquary, how-
ever, has come to our aid in enabling us in a small measure
to answer the question, "what do these stones mean"? We
know that within the great Callernish circle,* in the year
1858, a circular cairn was discovered; that in the centre of
the cairn was found a chamber, divided into two compart-
ments, with a passage leading to the outside of the cairn ;
that minute fragments of human bones, which had
apparently been subjected to the action of fire, were

* There are two smaller and little known circles in the same vicinity.

INTRODUCTION. xxiii

brought to light; and that these fragments were cont lined
in a black unctuous substance, which expert opinion con-
sidered to be a combination of peaty and animal matter.
These are all the positive facts that are known about this
remarkable structure — the most remarkable, perhaps, of
its kind in Scotland — and Archaeology has nothing further
to say except to draw conclusions which may not be
universally accepted. The discoveries which have been
made clearly show, however, that the Callernish circle
was a grave enclosure, and it is more than probable that
the opinion of archaeologists is correct, in assigning to
this and similar circles a sepulchral origin. The Gaelic
name Tursachan (the place of sadness or sorrow) of the
remains near Loch Bernera appears to offer corroborative
evidence of this view.

Modern antiquaries argue that the Callernish stones
belong either to the Stone or the Bronze Age. Dr. Joseph
Anderson in his Pagan Scotland, affirms that the circle
is in Scotland the most characteristic mark of a Bronze
Age funeral, and that in the case of the Callernish stones,
the idea of the cairn has given way to the idea of the
circle. On the other hand, the chambered grave with the
passage leading to the outside is certainly characteristic
of the Stone Age, to which period have been unhesitatingly
assigned the "giants' chambers" or passage-graves of
Denmark, Sweden and Ireland. These graves are some-
times termed semi-cruciform, and it is conceivable that
the peculiar shape of the Callernish structure may be an
exaggerated representation of this idea; the form of the
grave bears a certain analogy to the form of the stone-
setting. Or, it may be that the cruciform shape is
accidental.* It is generally agreed that it cannot possibly
be a symbol of the Christian religion.

It appears to be well-authenticated that the custom
prevailed among early nations of raising around the
graves of noted warriors, a specific number of stones,

* The author gathers, from a conversation with Dr. Anderson, that he holds
this view.

B 2

xxiv HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

representing, according to some writers, the number of
men whom they had slain in battle during their lifetime.
Wormius mentions this custom as appertaining to
Scandinavia, and according to Olaus Magnus (who was
Archbishop of Upsal about the middle of the seventeenth
century), the shape of the stones, whether long, square,
round, or wedge-shaped, had a signification which differed
with the form. Hector Boece says that Reutha, who,
according to Scottish chronology, lived in the second
century B.C., was the first Scots king to "put nobill men
for their vailyeant dedes in memory" by commanding
that "mony hie stones" be set about the sepulture of
" every nobill man as was slain be him of Britonis." "In
memory hereof," he goes on to say, "sundry of thaim
remain yet in the Hielands that the pepill may know sic
men were vailyeant in thair dayis." He adds that these
sepulchres were consequently held in great reverence by
the people. If the custom to which allusion has just
been made, regulated the number of stones of which the
Callernish remains are composed, the warrior whose bones
were found in the "black unctuous substance" must indeed
have been a mighty man of valour. Lewis traditions con-
nect these standing stones with devotional worship, and
in some instances with magic : " men converted into stone
by an enchanter."

When we go a step further, and try to ascertain — and
this, from the historian's point of view, is really the
important point — what manner of people they were who
built these tombs, with their stone enclosures, we find
ourselves hopelessly nonplussed. Modern research has
endeavoured to identify them with a Finnish or Ugrian
race of the Bronze Age, who preceded the Celts in these
islands. The tombs are just as likely to have been the
work of a neolithic race, whose origin is lost in the depths
of antiquity. The aboriginal inhabitants of Lewis were
almost certainly a pre-Celtic people and spoke a non-
Aryan language. Dr. Beddoe, the well-known ethnologist,
who visited Lewis some years ago, traced three distinct

INTRODUCTION. xxv

types in the island, two of which are easily recognisable as,
respectively, Celtic and Scandinavian. Beddoe (The Races
of Britain, page 240) describes the third type as a "short,
thick-set, snub-nosed, dark-haired, often even dark-eyed,
race, probably aboriginal, possibly Finnish, whose centre
seems to be at Barvas." This ethnologist also discovered
traces of an Iberian type, which suggested to him that the
view held by Professor Rhys, that the Picts were Iberians,
was probably correct. Whether Finnic or Iberic, the
aborigines of the Long Island probably spoke a Turanian
tongue. Tradition supports the view that a race of low
stature — so-called fairies and pigmies — inhabited Lewis in
pre-historic times, and the underground Weems of the
Long Island, like the "Picts' Houses" of Orkney, which
bear a curious resemblance to the Lapp huts of which
travellers tell us, may conceivably have been their dwel-
lings.* The "bee-hive" houses are probably of a later
date.

Stone circles are found in various parts of the world :
Scandinavia, India, and even Australia, all furnishing
examples. In this country, to take the most notable
instances, there are Stonehenge and, coming nearer home,
Stennis in Orkney. The Lewis tradition about enchanted
men finds its counter-part in similar stories about Carnac
in France, the Rollrich stones in Oxfordshire, and the
Dance Maine in Cornwall. But observation of the customs
prevailing at the present day in India, leads to the
irresistible conclusion that the main purpose of all these
circles was inhumation, combined with religious rites, the
latter being a corollary of the former. Ancestor-worship,
in its different phases, is practically universal.

It has been suggested that the Callernish Stones do not
date further back than the Norse occupation of Lewis.
When the excavations were made, it was observed that the
growth of peat-moss over the grave averaged about six

* Train, the Manx historian, states that when Magnus Bareleg invaded
Man in 1098, he found the people living in underground huts ' ' like the
Firbolgs " of Ireland. These " burrows " were obviously hiding-places.

xxvi HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

feet. The rate of the growth of peat-moss is said to be
about one foot in a century, upon which basis, the date of
the structure would be about the thirteenth century. The
name Callernish — if derived from Kjalarr* one of Odin's
many names, and ness, a cape or headland — would seem to
suggest that the circle was used by the Norsemen as a temple
to their supreme warrior-god ; but that it is only six
hundred, or even a thousand years old, is an idea which
antiquaries consider to be untenable. It is likely, however,
that the Norsemen used the structure for religious exercises,
and more than probable that it was their Tingvoll, where
the freemen held their solemn assemblies for judicial and
legislative deliberations. In Scandinavia, similar enclosures
were used for such purposes, and sometimes as duelling-
rings.

Whether or not the Callernish and the other circles in
the Long Island were used by the Druids — if the cult of
Druidism ever flourished in the Hebrides — is a point which
there is no means of deciding. The popular belief which
connects these remains with Druidism, is simply a variant
of the tradition which ascribes the erection of the structures
to enchanters or magicians, for whom the word " Druid "
is a generic term. But even tradition supports the view
that the single menhirs, such as the Thrushel Stone at
Barvas, were erected, like the bautastones of Scandinavia,
as memorials of battles.

The apotheosis of the Callernish stones was reached
when Toland, an Irishman and a Presbyterian, who was
born in 1670 and died in 1722, wrote his History of
tfie Druids^ a famous work in its time, and one which
is still occasionally quoted. Toland had been reading
Martin's account of the Callernish remains, and seized
upon that description as yielding strong proof of his pet
theories about the Druidic cult. He found no difficulty
in believing that the "temple stood astronomically" (a

* This is, perhaps, a more likely derivation than " Keel " Cape, the root of
which is Kjdlr. There was a Kjalarnes Thing in Iceland and a place
of the same name in Greenland. The Greenland headland is derived from
Kjdlr, and was so named in commemoration of a particular incident.

INTRODUCTION. xxvii

view also held by modern antiquarians), "denoting the
twelve signs of the Zodiac, the four principal winds sub-
divided each into four others, by which, and the nineteen
stones on each side the avenue, betokening the cycle of
nineteen years." He goes on to say that he " can prove
it to have been dedicated principally to the sun, but
subordinately to the seasons and elements, particularly to
the sea and the winds, as appears by the rudder in the
middle." The resemblance of the central stone to a
rudder was a fancy of Martin's, who little foresaw that it
would be seized upon by a prophet of the Druids to guide
his reasoning faculties into an abyss of conjecture. If
Toland made so much of the fanciful rudder in the Lewis
circle, one wonders what he would have made of the ship-
form graves in Scandinavia, where in some cases the position
even of the mast is distinctly indicated. But Toland
went further than enumerating mere generalities. He
convinced himself, and probably convinced others, that the
Callernish stones are neither more nor less than the remains
of the Temple of Apollo in the Hyperborean island so
celebrated in Greek literature. He claimed Hecateus as
an authority for this theory, and perhaps had as much
reason on his side as those who have located the Hyper-
borean temple of the ancient Greeks at, respectively,
Anglesea and Stonehenge. According to Toland, then,
the Hyperboreans of the Ancients were Lewismen, and
Apollo's arrow was hidden in the island of Lewis — a legend
which recalls the story of Thor and his lost hammer in
Scandinavian mythology. Was it not in the Hyperborean
island that Apollo's temple made of wings stood ? And
what clearer proof can there be that this temple was at
Callernish, when one considers the number of seabirds that
swarm in the neighbourhood of Loch Bernera ? So Mr.
Toland argued. Lest, however, this application should
appear to the critical somewhat far-fetched, he suggested
that the temple of wings might have meant a " winged "
temple, in which case, the shape of the Callernish structure
would obviously supply the allusion. In the same strain

xxviii HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

of reasoning, Toland did not hesitate to make the Druid
Abaris a Lewisman ; Abaris who paid a visit to Pytha-
goras, by whom he was taught the mysteries of the number
seven. It is unkind of Archaeology, with its contempt for
romantic speculation, to demolish so pretty a theory, but
the honour of appropriating the Callernish remains as the
famous Temple of Apollo ; of adding the name of Abaris
to the list of celebrated Hebrideans ; and of claiming
descent from the Hyperboreans of old, who lived " in a
land of perpetual sunshine, where the swans sang like
nightingales, and life was an unending banquet " must, one
fears, be denied to Lewismen alike by fact and by reason.
Life in Lewis at the present day, far from being an " un-
ending banquet," is too frequently an unending want, and
the sunshine, far from being " perpetual," is too frequently
of a fitful character, both from a climatic and a material
point of view.

No less elusive, from an historical standpoint, than the
Callernish stones are those peculiar erections on the Long
Island which are indifferently called Pictish forts, or
brochs, and Danish burghs. They are a puzzle alike to the
antiquary and to the historian. Who built them, and for
what purpose they were erected still remains a mystery,
and in all probability the problem will never be solved
with absolute certainty. The nurhags of Sardinia, which,
it has been suggested, may have been used by the Phoeni-
cians for sun-worship, bear a certain resemblance to the
Scottish brochs and Irish round towers, but it is suffi-
ciently clear that the brochs were not intended for
religious exercises. The generally accepted theory is
that they were used for defensive purposes ; perhaps as
watch-towers to guard against a surprise, and garrisoned
against attack. It has also been suggested that they may
have been utilised as places in which to keep military
arms, and Dr. Johnson thought that they may have been
used for securing the cattle, when an attack threatened from
the outside. According to the Lewis tradition, Dun Carlo-
way, the principal broch in the island, was built in the fourth

INTRODUCTION. xxix

century by a giant named Darg Mac Nu-Aran. It was
utilised as a fort during a feud at the end of the sixteenth
century between the Morisons of Ness and the Macaulays
of Uig. We know also that Moussa in Shetland, which is
the most notable example of these brochs in Scotland, was
used on two different occasions by Norwegian chiefs, once
about the year 900, and again in 1 153, as a place of refuge.
It is not clear that the brochs could, under any circum-
stances, have been effective fortresses for active hostilities,
but they seem to have been sufficiently well-adapted for
passive resistance, and that, for want of a better explana-
tion, may be accepted as the most plausible theory of their
use. But even assuming the correctness of that sup-
position, we are no nearer a solution of the difficulty of
ascertaining when, and by whom, these brochs were built.
Dr. McCulloch and those who agree with him have con-
tended that they were constructed by the Norsemen, while
others have held, just as confidently, the contrary view.
No such remains have been found in Scandinavia, but
on the other hand, the Scottish brochs are confined to
localities where Scandinavian settlements are known to
have been formed. The necessity for building forts of
this kind did not exist in Northern Europe, but on the
hypothesis that they were built by the Norsemen for pro-
tection against the attacks of the natives, or against the
depredations of their own countrymen, the Norse piratesr
there is something to be said for the Scandinavian theory,
which the traditional giant-origin also supports. The fact,
however, that tradition gives them the name of Pictish, as
well as Danish forts, is suggestive. It is, perhaps, after all,
more reasonable to suppose that the Norsemen were the
aggressors, and the Picts the defenders, than the contrary
view. This likelihood is particularly applicable to the
Long Island, where there is every reason to believe that
the Scandinavians met with little or no resistance in effect-
ing their permanent settlements. In all probability,? the
Outer Hebrides, at the time of the Norse occupation, were
sparsely peopled, if indeed they had not been practically

xxx HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

depopulated by the constant incursions of the Vikings, or
by other causes. An explanation more or less plausible
of the different designations " Pictish " and " Danish" (the
latter word embracing Scandinavians generally), is afforded
by the suggestion that the forts may have been built by
the Picts as a means of repelling, or at least offering passive
resistance to, the hordes of Northern pirates who, there is
evidence to show, must have swarmed in the Hebrides
long before the strong rule of Harold Harfager forced
them, in the ninth century, to form permanent settlements
there. Subsequently, the brochs may have been used by
the settlers as means of defence against the rovers from
the fiords of Norway who, when in search of booty, were
not always accustomed to exercise a nice discrimination
between their own countrymen and foreigners. But all
this is pure conjecture, although the known facts are not
opposed to its acceptance as a working hypothesis.

When we turn to etymology for assistance in groping
our way through the darkness which surrounds early events
in the Long Island, we find ourselves on more solid
ground. Etymology is always an interesting amusement,
but it is also capable of proving a valuable handmaiden of
history, and the place-names of the Outer Hebrides
emphatically belong to the latter category. We find here
a set of circumstances which is perhaps without parallel
elsewhere in the British Isles. The language of the great
bulk of the people is Gaelic, but the place-names are chiefly
Scandinavian. In Lewis, for example, there are about four
times as many Norse names as there are of purely Gaelic
origin, and in Barvas and Uig, the preponderance is over-
whelming.* But this fact, remarkable in itself, is rendered
still more noteworthy by the circumstance that the Scandi-
navian names are not confined to the coast, where they
might reasonably be expected, but extend to the interior,
and embrace rivers and mountains, the names of which —
more particularly of rivers — in accordance with the recog-

* Captain Thomas states, as the result of his investigations, that in Barvas
the proportions are as twenty-seven to one, and in Uig as thirty-five to four.

INTRODUCTION. xxxi

nised rules of etymology, generally afford a clue to the
origin of the primitive inhabitants of a country. What,
then, are we to understand from the conditions which apply
to the place-names of the Long Island ? It is generally
assumed that the Celts of the Outer Hebrides were partially
or entirely extirpated by the Norse invaders, and that a
general re-naming of places thereupon took place. These
assumptions, however, rest upon the further supposition
that there was a pre-existing Celtic race to extirpate, but
the evidence in support of that belief is by no means
conclusive, unless we accept the theory that the Picts
(CruithnigJi) were Celts.

We have the assertions of John of Fordun, reiterated by
later Scottish historians, that the Hebrides were in the
possession of the Scoto-Irish for many centuries before the
Norse settlements took place. Fordun is most emphatic
in his statement that the Hebrides passed into the hands
of the Scots in the time of Ethdacus or Ethacius Rothay,
great grandson of Simon Brek, 500 years before Fergus I.,
son of Feredach, came over from Ireland at the instigation
of the Caledonian Scots. As this Fergus is stated to have
commenced to reign 330 B.C., we are consequently asked to
believe that the Scoto-Irish came into possession of the
Western Isles about 830 B.C. But Fordun's early annals
are admittedly such a mass of fiction as to be perfectly
valueless ; and Hector Boece, and even George Buchanan,
are merely echoes of Fordun in their treatment of this
period. Edward I., of England, the Hammer of Scotland,
had carried off and destroyed the ancient records of Scot-
land, thus paving the way for his subsequent claim to the
Scottish throne. From the fragmentary records which
remained, Fordun, a Scottish priest who lived in the
fourteenth century, strove to construct a chronology of
Scottish kings, which he fondly hoped would establish the
antiquity of the Scottish nation, and enable the patriotic
party to refute the arguments trumped up by the English
king and his successors in support of their preposterous
claim. Fordun is believed to have travelled in Ireland

xxxii HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

for the purpose of consulting the ancient records of that
country, and his chronicles bear ample evidence of the
mythic qualities by which the early history of the sister
island is so flagrantly characterised. To his patriotic zeal
were subordinated all considerations of accuracy, and
modern historians are unanimous in rejecting as baseless
that portion of his chronicles which is now under con-
sideration.

We may, however, accept with a greater degree of con-
fidence, the historical accuracy of the accounts given of the
friendly relations which existed, prior to the third century
of our era, between the Pictish tribes who occupied the
parts of modern Scotland (or Alban as it was then called)
nearest to the coast of Ireland, and the Milesian Scots of
the latter country ; and we may readily believe that this
intercourse led to more or less unimportant emigrations of
the Scots to the Southern islands of the Hebrides, as well
as to the adjacent mainland. Probably these occupations
were accomplished, sometimes by friendly treaty, sometimes
by force, but they do not in any case appear to have been
of long duration ; and the accounts of this early colony
show that the settlers were finally forced, by the jealousy
of their Pictish neighbours, to relinquish their possessions
and return to the parent country. It is related, with what
degree of truth it is impossible to determine, that about
the middle of the third century, a band of Scots under the
leadership of one Cairbre Riada, landed in Argyllshire,.
where they formed a colony which was called Dalriada
after the name of its founder. This colony, if founded,
probably received accessions at various intervals from
Ireland, but once more the enmity of the Picts led to the
disruption and the final abandonment of the settlement.
About the beginning of the sixth century, however, a
determined and successful effort was made by the Scots to
effect a permanent footing in Alban. Under the joint
leadership of Fergus, Lorn, and Angus, the three sons of
Ere, the invaders settled on the coast of the modern
Argyll and the adjacent islands. From Fergus son of

INTRODUCTION. xxxiii

Ere sprang the race of Scottish kings which, in the person
of Kenneth MacAlpin, crushed the Pictish monarchy in the
ninth century, gradually established the predominance of
Scottic power in the whole of Alban, and imposed on the
country its modern name of Scotland.

It may be safely assumed, therefore, that the Southern
Hebrides were in the possession of the Dalriadic Scots
prior to any permanent occupation by the Scandinavian
invaders who subsequently brought those islands, equally
with the Outer Hebrides, under their sway. But the
incidence of the place-names in the Southern section, as
compared with those of the Outer Hebrides, induce the
belief that a different set of conditions existed in the two
groups. In Islay, for example, the proportions of place-
names are as one Norse to two Gaelic, whereas in Lewis,
as we have seen, the proportions are as four Norse to one
Gaelic ; and as Chalmers points out in his Caledonia,
these place-names are of such a character as to indicate
that the Norse settlements in the Northern Hebrides
preceded those in the Southern islands. We may reason-
ably deduce from the fact that in the middle of the
ninth century a mixed Gaelic and Scandinavian race of
pirates (the GaU-Gaidheif) was paramount in the Southern
Hebrides, the conclusion that a considerable period of
time must have elapsed between the first appearance of
the Norse rovers and their piratical coalition with their
Gaelic predecessors. Time alone could weld into this
unholy alliance two peoples so diametrically different in
racial and religious instincts as the pagan Scandinavians
and the Christian Gaels. There is nothing in the Irish
annals, or any other records, to support the belief that the
Gall-Gael, when they first appear in history, exercised
dominion over the Outer Hebrides. The facts seem
to support the conclusion that they were confined to
the Argyllshire coast, together, probably, with Galloway
(which at that time extended from the Solway to the
Clyde) and the islands nearest to Ireland. It is reason-
able to believe that the Norsemen who conquered, and

xxxiv HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

subsequently coalesced with, the Gaels of the Southern
Hebrides worked their way South from the Orkneys and
the Outer Hebrides.

The Sagas distinctly state, that long before the per-
manent settlements of the Norwegians in the Orkneys
and Hebrides were effected, those islands were the
rendez-vous of Vikings, and one account says that prior
to the formation of Norse colonies, the Hebrides were
uninhabited. This statement, if applied to the Outer
section of the group, appears to suggest that the Pictish
population, sparse as it probably was, only existed as the
thralls of the ferocious sea-rovers. We know that there
were in Norway regular slave markets where the captive
Picts and Scots were bought and sold, and it is probable
that a considerable proportion of the Picts in the Outer
Hebrides had been thus disposed of from time to time.
It is tolerably clear that the Saxon confederation which
gave so much trouble to the Roman arms in Britain
included the Scandinavians. According to Boece, the
Danes were in Scotland at the time of Agricola. The
Danish historian, Saxo Grammaticus, tells us of incursions
by the Northmen to these islands long before the eighth
century, which is the period usually assigned to the first
appearance of the Scandinavians on our coasts. Irish
tradition relates, that centuries prior to the commence-
ment of the Christian era, the Hebrides were ruled by
the Fomorians or sea-kings, who are generally believed
to have been Scandinavian rovers, although, from some
accounts, they might have been Phoenicians. We read
of a great expedition to Ireland under the two Fomorian
chiefs, Balor of the Evil Eye, " King of the Islands," and
Tudech son of De-Domnand, who collected all the men
and ships lying from Scandinavia westwards, " so that
they formed an unbroken bridge of ships and boats from
the Hebrides to the northwest coast of Erinn." This
expedition, we are told, ended in the defeat of the
Fomorians at the great battle of Moytura. We may
believe as much or as little of this as we choose, but the

INTRODUCTION. xxxv

tradition tends to confirm the belief that the Hebrides
were overrun by Scandinavian pirates at a period long
anterior to the eighth century. Pinkerton, who wrote his
history of Scotland a hundred years ago, and who was
the great champion of the Teutonic origin of the Picts,
believed that the latter came from Norway about 300 B.C.
and established a monarchy in the Hebrides ; that the
Pictish kings down to 400 A.D. were merely princes of
the Hebrides, Drust being probably the first Sovereign
of all the Picts ; and that the Hebrides were left almost
desert when the Pictish inhabitants moved into the more
fertile parts of the mainland. Without accepting altogether
Pinkerton's arguments as to the origin of the Picts, and
making due allowance for his pro-Gothic and anti-Celtic
prejudices, there is reason to think that his conclusions
as to the scanty nature of the Pictish population, at the
time of the Norse occupation, are in the main correct.

The foregoing considerations, which are strengthened
by the geographical situation of the Outer Hebrides,,
appear to offer a satisfactory explanation of the remark-
able preponderance, and the no less remarkable incidence,
of Scandinavian place-names in those islands. If the
arguments which have been stated are accepted, it will
not be difficult to believe (ist) that the Norsemen found
the Long Island inhabited by a Pictish people, few in
number, whom they speedily reduced to a state of
thraldom ; and (2nd) that the Scottic influx, carrying
with it the Gaelic language, which subsists in many of
the place-names, and in the common tongue of the
majority of the inhabitants of the present day, came
perhaps partly during, but chiefly subsequent to, the
Norse occupation. That the language of the Picts was
not Gaelic is suggested by the fact that St. Columbus
was compelled to employ the services of an interpreter
when seeking to convert the aged Pictish chieftain
Artbranan in the Island of Skye, as well as from other
facts that might be adduced. The few place-names in
the Long Island which are neither Scandinavian, Gaelic,,

xxxvi HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

nor English, may belong to the Pictish vocabulary, but
the nature and classification of that language are still a
puzzle to philologists.

It is unnecessary to enter into a detailed discussion of
place-names in the Outer Hebrides, other than those of the
islands which compose the group. The word " Hebrides "
itself is puzzling, etymologists not being in agreement*
In the best editions of Pliny and the manuscripts of
highest authority, the name appears as " Haebudes " or
" Hebudes," the modern form having, however, been also
used both by Pliny, and in an edition of Solinus. From
" Hebudes " was evolved the form " Ebudae," used by the
writers of the first and second centuries. If one more
guess may be added to the list of origins, it is that the
word " Hebrides " may mean the Islands of Brude, Bruidi,
Bridei, or Buidhe. There are no fewer than thirty Brudes
in the first series of Pictish kings, and six Bruidis or
Brideis in the second. The islands have also been called
Beteoricae, Inchades, Ebonides, and Leucades. They were
known, too, as Iniscead, and Innis Cat, i.e. the Hundred
Isles, and the Islands of the Catani.

" Lewis " is a hard etymological nut to crack. The sur-
mises which have been made about the derivation of the
name are almost as varied as the forms in which, at different
times, it has appeared.! The most satisfactory explanation
appears to be that it is of eponymous origin, a theory
frequently falsified in connexion with other place-names,

* Boece derives the name from Hibernia, or from King Hiber ; Camden,
from Ebeid, signifying without corn ; Dr. Macpherson, from Ey-budh, the
islands of corn, or from Saint Bridget ; Pinkerton and Laing from Ey-Bud
or Ey-Buth, island-habitation.

t John Major derived " Sky and Luys" from "twilight and light" ; Martin,
Captain Thomas, and Sir Herbert Maxwell derived Lewis from " Leog " a
marsh ; Pinkerton, from the " less " or low parts, in contradistinction to Harris,
the "heights " ; Dr. McCulloch, from "Loda the Scandinavian deity" (Odin) ;
Johnstone, from "the residence of Liot " (Enrl of Orkney); Taylor, from
"wharf or landing place"; and Baxter, from " Claunis," meaning an arm-
shaped island. The name has appeared in such varied garbs as Leodus (the
earliest form), Ljodxis and Ljodhus (during the Norse occupation), Lodoux
(1292), and Lewethy (1335). Later it assumed the forms of Leogus, Leoghuis,
Leoghas, Leoghys, Luis, Loise, Loyvis, Looyss, Louiss, Leuissa, Luys, Levisia,
Lewys, and Lewes. In the Chronicles of Man, it appears as Lodhus, Lodws,
and Leodus.

INTRODUCTION. xxxvii

but sometimes, as in the present instance, the only theory
tenable. The earliest known form is " Leodus," which
appears in a Gaelic (Irish) account of the battle of Clon-
tarf (1014) supposed to have been written by a contem-
porary, and the same form appears in an Irish manuscript
of 1150. Camden, dropping the Latin termination, called
the island " Leod." Naturally enough, the Norse form
"Ljodiis" or "Ljodhus," has given rise to the suggestion
that the word means the residence of Leod, the pro-
genitor of the Siol Torquil. Seeing, however, that Lewis
was called " Leodus " about two centuries and a half
before the time of Leod, the eponym must be sought
elsewhere.

In the History of the Picts, written by Henry Maule,
who lived during the reign of Charles I., or by Sir James
Balfour, Lyon King-of-Arms — it is doubtful which — the
existence is mentioned of an account by " ancient monkish
and abbay writers," which declares that the eponymus of
Lewis was one Leutha, the last of three Pictish kings who
ruled in Orkney. Leutha, they state, conquered Lewis
from the Cornani, and named the island " Leuthes " after
himself. The Cornani may be identified with the Car-
nonacae or Carini, the tribe which possessed the west coast
of Ross-shire at the period of the Roman occupation of
Britain. It is probable that there is a basis of fact for this
supposed invasion of Lewis, and that a chief named Leutha
— perhaps Elatha, the Fomorian pirate of Irish tradition
who ruled over the Hebrides — actually gave his name to
the island. "Leutha" and "Leod" are practically iden-
tical, the dental aspirate " th " being the equivalent of " d,"
while " Leodus " is simply the Latin form of " Leod " ;
and the " Lj6dus " of the Norsemen is " Leodus," with the
difference of one letter. The efforts made to derive a
plausible signification, other than that already mentioned,
from the literal meaning of Ljodus or LjodJnis — which
may be translated as " song-house," or " sounding-house,"
or " suffragan house " — have been unsuccessful for the
same reason as it has been impossible to derive any

c

xxxviii HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

sense from the Norse name for Skye, viz., "Skid," which
means, literally, "a piece of board." In both cases, these
forms were obviously the Norse rendering of pre-existing
names.*

The modern " Lewis " is not a corruption of the earliest
form of " Leodus " ; it is, in point of fact, its English (or
Welsh) equivalent. The name of the Pictish King Loth,
who is supposed to have given his name to the Lothians,
appears in the Welsh annals as " Llew," and " Lothus "
is thus " Lewis." Loth or Hlod, Leodus or Leod, Lloyd,
Ludwig, Louis, and Lewis, are all identical names. Is it
possible that Ossian's " streamy Lutha " had an existence
in fact after all, and that the Island of Lewis was the home
of the fair Malvina, Toscar's daughter ? The only other
place-name in Lewis which need be noticed is that of its
capital, Stornoway, and there need be little hesitation in
deriving it from the Icelandic stjbrna = to govern, and
vdgr — a bay, thus denoting that the centre of the Norse
administration lay at Stornoway.

"Harris" is unquestionably of Scandinavian origin. Just
as Birsay and Harray in the Orkneys formed, until modern
times, one parish under the name of Bergisherad (meaning
hunting-territory), and just as the topography of Iceland
furnishes similar examples, so were Lewis and Harris com-
bined during the Norse occupation, and known, probably,
by the appellation of Ljodusherad, the abbreviated form of
Lj6dus comprehending both. "Harris" is therefore a cor-
ruption of Jierad, and herad means a province or terri-
tory ruled by a hersir who was not only the hereditary
head of the community, but its "prophet, priest, and king."
In the charters relating to Harris, it is called " Ardmanach
in herag (a corruption of htrad) de Lewis," and occasionally
" Ardmanach de Lewis," the name " Ardmanach " —
which was also the old name of the Black Isle in Ross-
shire — being probably derived from the monastery at
Rodil. In the Red Book of Clan Ranald, Harris appears

* The Sagas mention a place-name in Sweden named " Ljodus," but it
would be rash to assume that it had a common origin with " Leodus."

INTRODUCTION. xxxix

as "heradh," which is the most correct form of the old
name to be found anywhere.*

" Uist " is either of Pictish or Scandinavian derivation.
The name of Uist or Vist occurs in the first series of
Pictish kings, and may furnish an explanation of the name
of the two Hebridean islands. The Norse and earliest
known name was " Ivist," which may mean Ey-visty the
Island of Vist (the Pictish King), or may be literally trans-
lated as "dwelling-place." Munch, who translated the
Chronicles of Man, took the latter view, and inferred from
it that Uist formed the seat of the Norse government in
the Long Island. Pinkerton and Dr. McCulloch believed
that Uist meant the " West " island, with reference to its
geographical position in the group, and a charter by
David II., where the name appears as "Ywest," would
appear to support that contention. Captain Thomas
thought that the name might have come from Ifheirste,
Uist thus signifying " crossing " island. All these deriva-
tions are more or less plausible, and it is impossible to
say positively which is right ; but the first-named seems,
on the whole, the most likely, f Originally Uist may have
comprehended not only Benbecula, but Barra as well.

The origin of the word " Benbecula " is difficult to deter-
mine with certainty, but it appears to be a hybrid, composed
of Gaelic and Norse roots. The name of the island appears
as "Beanbeacla" (1495) and "Buchagla" (Dean Monro in the
sixteenth century), the latter being probably derived from the
Gaelic beinn-na-faoghail— mountain of the ford. It figures
also in such garbs as Benbekielaw, Benvalgha, Vynvawle,
Bendbagle, Beanweall, and Beandmoyll. The last word
offers some explanation of the origin of the present form.
It is obviously derived from the Gaelic beinn= a mountain
and the Gaelic ?;/#<?/ = bare or bald. A relic of the latter

* Harris appears in the forms of Heradh, Haugh, Herrie, Herries, Herreik,
Herag and Herage, Harrych, Haria, Hary, Haray and Harray, Hareis, and
Harries.

t Bishop Leslie calls Uist "Eusta," Camden " Wust," and Blaeu " Evst."
In the Scottish records and elsewhere, it appears in such forms as Ouyst,
Owiste, Ovyste, Wyoist, Huwyste, Guiste, Wistus, Vistey, Ywist, Ywst, Ewyst,
West, and Ust.

C 2

xl HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

/liable is discoverable in the " ul " of the modern name,
which may thus be a compound of four syllables, Ben-
bec-ul-a, signifying the island of the small bare mountain,
the Norse element in which consists of the last syllable only.
Ruaival is the only hill in the island, and this circumstance
readily suggests the derivation just noticed.

It is probable that Barra is derived from the Icelandic
bara, a wave-billow, or a wave raised by the wind, Barray
thus signifying the " storm-tossed island," a singularly ap-
propriate designation. Giraldus Cambrensis, the Welsh his-
torian, tells us that his family name of de Barre was derived
from the Island of Barra, and thus from its patron saint,
Bishop Finn Barr of Cork, who died in 623. The place-
name is popularly believed to be connected with Saint Barr,
but it is much more likely that Burray in the Orkneys,
Burra in the Shetlands, and Barra in the Outer Hebrides,
have all a common origin, each of them being, in point of
fact, a " storm-tossed " island. This derivation is more
satisfactory than Colonel Robertson's "island of the
extremity " which is from the Gaelic barr^ a point ; and
Canon Taylor's Norse bar-ey, "bare island," is hardly
more convincing. Still less convincing is the derivation
from borgarey, "the island of the burgh or fort." Early
forms of Barra are Barrich, Barreh and Barre ; and Barray
was a very common rendering.

From these excursions into the tangled region of
etymology, the predominance of Norse influences in the
Long Island, a thousand years ago, will be apparent.
Even at the present day, ethnological traces of the Norse
occupation are so obvious as to confirm in no uncertain
way the teaching of etymology. Worsaae, the Danish
antiquarian, states that when he visited Lewis, he was
struck by the difference of racial types represented in the
island. At Ness, he says he could have fancied himself in
Scandinavia, were it not for the language and the dwellings.

THE HISTORY

OF THE

OUTER HEBRIDES.

CHAPTER I.

So Jar as is known, the first Greek writer who gave any
account of the British Islands was Pytheas, who was a con-
temporary of Alexander the Great, and our knowledge of
that account is chiefly derived from the writings of hostile
critics, notably Strabo, who regarded his descriptions as a
mass of fables. Pytheas mentions the Island of Thule,
which subsequently became so fruitful a source of specula-
tion to the geographers and historians of old. This island
has been variously identified with Iceland, the Shetlands,
and the Orkneys, while one topographer and antiquary,
Robert Gordon of Straloch, has stoutly maintained in a
dissertation on the subject, that the ancient Thule was no
other than the Island of Lewis ; an opinion which, Bishop
Leslie states, was held in his time (sixteenth century). The
fact seems to be that the ideas of the Greek and Roman
writers as to the whereabouts of Thule were of the vaguest
description, and that the name was applied indiscriminately
to the most northerly island known to them at different
historical periods. It is conceivable, therefore, that the
Island of Lewis may have been the earliest Thule of the
Greeks, and that with the extension of geographical know-
ledge, the name may have been subsequently applied to
Orkney, to Shetland, and finally to Iceland.

The first to mention the Orcades (the modern Orkneys)
was Pomponius Mela, a Spanish writer who flourished
about the middle of the first century. He also refers to a

2 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

group of seven islands, to which he gave the name of
Haemodae, a corruption, possibly, of Haebudes, the modern
Hebrides, although Pliny the Elder differentiates between
the two. Pliny, who lived about the same period, was the
first to enumerate the Haebudes, consisting, according to
him, of thirty islands. Ptolemy, who wrote a century later,
gave the names of five Ebudae, two bearing the name of
Ebuda, and the others the names of Ricina, Maleus, and
Epidium. Ptolemy also mentions Scetis, which is almost
certainly Skye. The identification of Ptolemy's Ebudae
has led to a difference of opinion. In Dr. William Smith's
Ancient Atlas, Rum is Ricina, Mull is Maleus, I slay is
Epidium, Lewis is Ebuda, and Skye Ebuda Altera, while
Arran appears as Regaina ; but it is only necessary here to
examine the identification of Lewis with Ebuda. Starting
with the assumption that Maleus must stand for Mull,
Dr. Skene proceeds to show, from the relative position of
the islands on Ptolemy's map, that West and East Ebuda
must have been Islay and Jura. The position of the
Hebrides in Ptolemy's map is ludicrously distorted by his
configuration of the North of Scotland, which is placed
much further to the east — the result, it has been suggested,
of an accident — than its true situation. Making allowance
for this error, it will be found that one of the Ebudae of
Ptolemy occupies a position in relation to the other islands,
which would warrant the supposition that Lewis may have
been meant. But it is idle to speculate on the geographical
knowledge of a writer who probably derived his informa-
tion from the Romans who had circumnavigated Britain.
Richard of Cirencester, a monk of the fourteenth century,
mentions five Ebudae, which have been identified with
Lewis, Skye, the two Uists, and Coll, with Tiree. Inciden-
tally, it may be mentioned that Ptolemy described Thule
as an island of not less than 55 geographical miles from
north to south, which approximately agrees with the length
of Lewis-with-H arris. But Bunbury thought that his
description showed that the Shetland group of islands
must have been meant.

PRE-NORSE RECORDS. 3

We have no evidence, direct or indirect, that the Romans
visited the Long Island. We know, however, that in the
first century, a Roman fleet, by the direction of Agricola,
sailed northwards on a voyage of discovery, stopped at the
Orkneys, and proceeded by the Hebrides round the west
coast of Britain, arriving at the point on the east coast —
probably the Firthi of Forth or Firth of Tay — from
which it started. This is the first recorded voyage that
proved Britain to be an island. It is not improbable that
the Long Island was visited during this voyage, but with
that probability we must rest content. We learn from
Bede that the Orkneys were added to the Roman Empire
by Claudius during his expedition to Britain, but there is
nothing said about the Hebrides.

Solinus, who wrote in the third century, gives an interest-
ing account of five Ebudae, which Camden thought were
Lewis, the two Uists, Benbecula, and Barra — the Long
Island in fact. Skene, however, is not of that opinion, but
there appears to be cumulative evidence to bear out the
hypothesis that the name Ebuda may have been applied
to Lewis. According to Solinus, the government of the
Ebudae was a curious mixture of monarchy and com-
munism. " The King," he says, " has no property ; all
things belong to the community ; and there are certain
laws to oblige him to do justice. And that avarice may
not depart from truth, he is taught justice by poverty,
having nothing of his own but living on the public."
It is curious and significant to notice that the King,
according to this historian, practised a degraded form
of polygamy, and was not succeeded by his son, thus
affording an illustration of the peculiarities of the
Pictish form of succession to the throne. Solinus fur-
ther states that the inhabitants of those islands lived
entirely on fish and milk, the use of corn being unknown
to them. From the latter circumstance, Camden derived
his meaning of the word " Hebrides," which has already
been noticed. It is not unlikely that the account given by
Solinus is, in the main, correct, although, as Dr. John

4 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Macpherson points out,* an author who, like Solinus, wrote
about men and women whose feet were like hoofs and
whose ears were big enough to cover their whole bodies, is
hardly entitled to unquestioning belief.

After the time of Solinus, there is a long gap in the
history of the Hebrides which there is no possibility of
filling in ; records of any description are non-existent.
An active imagination can readily enough supply the
missing data, and probably the ancient historians of Ire-
land would have experienced little difficulty in supplying
a list of kings and a chronology of events which would
have enriched our fancy, if they did not enlarge our know-
ledge ; but modern history does not permit of such
excursions into the realms of the fabulous.

One event of surpassing importance took place in the
Hebrides during the sixth and seventh centuries, and that
was the conversion to Christianity of the Northern Picts. In
the year 563, St. Columba (Colum Cille) came from Ireland
to minister to the spiritual wants of his fellow Scots who
were settled in Dalriada. But the great apostle had also a
higher end in view : he determined to be the missionary of
the Northern Picts, as St. Ninian had been of those in the
South. He was not content to be merely the instructor
and the ecclesiastical Superior of Christians ; he aimed at
proselytising Pagans. In the monastery which he set up
in lona, he gathered around him a band of devoted
missionaries, who were destined to plant the banner of the
Cross throughout the length and breadth of the Pictish
territories in the North.

The monastic order which he instituted was better fitted
for that object than the diocesan authority which ultimately
superseded it. The Columbans were simple, earnest men,
whose aims were not shackled by ecclesiastical fetters, and
whose missions were not marred by priestly pretensions.
Abbas and Presbyter — such were the titles of St. Columba
and his successors. Disclaiming equality with episcopal
rank, the Abbot of lona nevertheless exercised an influence

* Dissertation on the Ancient Caledonians.

PRE-NORSE RECORDS. 5

to which no Bishop could lay claim. Ordained by episcopal
authority, the monks rendered conventual obedience to the
Abbot, to whose jurisdiction the Bishop himself was sub-
ject. From this monastic society in the lonely Hebridean
island, there streamed forth a purer flow of religion, a
clearer radiance of primitive Christianity, than was possible
in the Anglo-Saxon Church, with its pretentious hierarchy
and its subserviency to Rome. While the Church in Eng-
land laboured over tneological subtleties, the monks of lona
erected huts and built wooden churches ; while the Anglo-
Saxon priesthood received instruction on trifling and even
immodest subjects, the Columbans taught the heathen the
Word of Life. Puerilities were far removed from these
earnest men — their work was too pressing, their aims too
important, to admit of them. Their tonsure was not
orthodox, neither was their observance of Easter — yet they
converted the Picts. Their methods were unobtrusive,
their mode of living was simplicity itself — yet their names
are held in veneration to this day.

St. Columba himself struck at the roots — the fast
withering roots — of Druidism, the religion of magic, by
proceeding boldly to the Court of Brude, the Pictish King,
on the banks of the Ness. His mission was entirely
successful. The power of Paganism was broken, and the
Picts became a Christian nation. Planting a monastery
here and another there with judicious care, St. Columba
left behind him schools of Christian instruction, from
which issued missioners filled with apostolic fervour, who
carried the Gospel to the remotest parts of the Highlands
and Isles. We need not stop to discuss the point whether
it was Conall, the King of Dalriada, or Brude, the Pictish
monarch, who gifted lona to St. Columba. Bede is our
authority for the latter statement, and we must assume
that the Picts laid claim to the sovereignty of the South,
as well as the North, Hebrides.

There is sufficient evidence to suggest that either St.
Columba himself, or his immediate disciples, established
churches in the Outer Hebrides. In Lewis, there were

6 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

no less than three churches called after him, the walls
of one of which, at Eye (originally Ui, a peninsula), are
standing at the present day. In Bernera, close to North
Uist, and in North Uist itself ; in South Uist, and in St.
Kilda, were chapels similarly named ; and in Benbecula
there are strong evidences of a close connexion with the
central monastery in lona.

In Adamnan's Life of St. Columba, which was written
in the seventh century, there are frequent references to
an island named " Ethica," which appears as an adjective,
coupled with the substantive insula or terra. It is de-
scribed as being at a considerable distance from lona, and
accessible by the open sea, or by a course along the lesser
islands. It had a monastery at a harbour called Campus
Lujtge, over which Baithene, St. Columba's chief eccle-
siastic, and subsequently his successor, presided, and
to which penitential cases were sent from the mother
church. Besides this monastery, the island contained
several other religious communities under various presi-
dents, and one in particular called Artchain, which was
founded by a follower of St. Columba, named Findchan.
It resembled the Columban model in having a Presbyter
as Superior, who, in that capacity, exercised jurisdiction
over a Bishop, although incapable of performing episcopal
functions. By Colman and Innes, this description was
held to apply to Shetland, but Pinkerton states that Ethica
was probably Lewis, and this view has been adopted
in Black's County Atlas of Scotland. Skene, however,
endeavoured to prove that the island meant by Adamnan
was Tiree, and Reeves in his translation of Adamnan,
agrees with this opinion.

It may be safely assumed from the known character of
the pagan Northmen, that they made short work of the
religious communities which they found in the Outer
Hebrides. The men who plundered the mother church
in lona, and ruthlessly slaughtered her monks, were not
likely to spare the daughter churches wherever they found
them. It has been suggested with a good deal of reason,

PRE-NORSE RECORDS. 7

that the merciless ferocity with which the Norsemen
pursued the ecclesiastical establishments of Britain and
Ireland, was of a retaliatory character. It has been shown
that they never interfered with the Christian religion until
the persecution by Charlemagne of the pagan Saxons, and
the destruction of their temples and idols, had aroused
within the breasts of Odin's followers a feeling of implac-
able hatred towards the Christian name. The " great and
good prince " Charlemagne had ordained that the Saxons
should choose between Christianity and death — a form
of conversion, which, in subsequent years, was imitated
by the Northmen themselves in dealing with their pagan
countrymen. In pursuance of this militant spirit, the
Royal missionary is stated to have beheaded no less than
4,500 recalcitrant Saxons in one day, thinking, perhaps,
to obtain the favour of Heaven by so meritorious an act.
Such was Christianity as exemplified by this pious
Emperor of the West, and such was the spirit in which
" conversions " were effected in those days. The smoking
ruins of many a sacred building ; the expiring groans of
many a devoted monk ; the despairing shrieks of many a
violated nun ; these were the prices paid for the summary
methods of converting the heathen which Charlemagne,
the pillar of Christianity, adopted. And it is not too
much to assume that the Outer Hebrides paid a portion
of the prices in the destruction of the Columban churches,
and the slaughter of the officiating clergy. But the
probable disposal of the native Christians, some to the
slave marts of Norway, and others to the condition of
thraldom which their conquerors doubtless imposed upon
them, may have led to the seeds of their religion being
planted in new soil. In process of time, these seeds may
have brought forth part of the fruit which so abundantly
ripened towards the close of the tenth century.

About the end of the eighth century, the Scandinavians
made their first recorded appearance on the coast of
Ireland. The Irish Annals indicate that immediately
before this event, which marked an epoch of great impor-

8 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

tance in the history oflreland, the Northmen had devastated
" all the islands of Britain." From this we may conclude
that the tide of invasion proceeded from the Orkneys along
the line of the Hebrides, and perhaps the Isle of Man, until
finally it reached the shores of that fertile country which
was the goal of the Northmen's desires. In the year 794,
Sci, or Skye, was pillaged and wasted, and it is highly pro-
bable that at the same period, stirring events were taking
place in the Outer Hebrides. It is almost certain that
previous to the eighth century, the Long Island was a
resort of Vikings, but whether or not before that period any
permanent settlement by Scandinavians had been effected
can only be conjectured. It is reasonable, however, to sup-
pose that the Northmen who first appeared on the Irish
coast were bands of piratical adventurers from the
Orkneys, and, perhaps, from the Long Island, bent on
finding richer booty than those lands afforded.

The Irish Annals are full of records of the mischief
wrought, during the ninth century, by the Scandinavians,
who are indifferently styled " Gentiles," and " Galls," or
foreigners. We find a distinction made in the year 850
between these Gentiles and Galls. The Annals of Ulster
record " the coming of the Dub-gennti to Ath-cliath
(Dublin) who made great slaughter of the Finn-gallaib."
And in the following year, according to the same authority,
" eight score ships of Find-gentib came to fight against the
Dub-gennti at Snamh-aigneach," when a great battle took
place, which lasted for three days and three nights, result-
ing in the ultimate victory of the Dub-gennti. These
opposing bands are usually described as " Dubhghoill " or
" Dugalls," and " Finnghoil " or " Fingalls " : the dark and the
fair foreigners. The Norsemen have been identified with the
Fingalls, and the Danes with the Dugalls. It is difficult to
see on what grounds this distinction has been made. If
we assume that "Fingall" really means " fair foreigner," and
Dugall " dark foreigner," we must discover satisfactory
reasons for associating the idea of fairness with the Nor-
wegians, and that of darkness with the Danes. Various

THE NORSE OCCUPATION.

explanations have been hazarded to account for the dis-
tinction, but they are all purely conjectural, and therefore,
as proofs, valueless. The suggestion that the Norwegians
were a fair race — which we know — and the Danes a dark
race — which we do not know — will hardly be accepted.
We read of Northmen called " Gorm-glasa " who fought at
the battle of Clontarf. If the same argument be applied to
them that is sought to be applied to the Fingalls and
Dugalls, we must believe that the Gorm-glasa were a race
whose distinguishing characteristic was the possession of
greenish-blue hair, a colour which finds no counterpart in
these days. Equally unsatisfactory are the suggestions
that the distinguishing marks of the Norwegians and
Danes lay in the colour of their clothing, their shields, or
the sails of their ships. Pinkerton states that Mr. Thorkelin,
"a learned native of Iceland," informed him that the
old dress of the Norwegians, and especially of the pirates
and mariners, was black, as in Iceland. But this statement
is in direct opposition to the generally accepted theory,
which makes the Danes the black foreigners, and the
Norwegians the fair foreigners. In later Irish history, we
find frequent references to the Danes and Norwegians, and
Keating writes of " the Normans," as distinct from both,
but gradually all sections of the Scandinavians became
merged in the generic name of " Danes," which probably
denoted, in process of time, any foreigners hailing originally
from the North of Europe.

The seanachies tell us that Somerled defeated " a large
army of Lochlans and Fingalls, and cleared the whole west
side of Alban from the Lochlans, except the islands of the
Finnlochlans called Innsegall." But in the Red Book of
Clan Ranald, the Lord of the Isles is termed Rigk
Fiongall, or King of the Fingalls ; a statement which
implies the subjection of the Fingalls to his rule. The
term " Lochlannaigh," or "Lochlans" (sea-warriors), origin-
ally applied to the Scandinavian rovers, appears to have
received a wider signification in later years. The Dugalls
figure on several subsequent occasions in the Irish Annals

io HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

and always as piratical adventurers ; now at York, where
they defeated the North Saxons, again in Alban, where
they slaughtered the Picts, and — later than either event —
in Ireland, once more battling with their old enemies, the
Fingalls. We read of one Ragnall, or Reginald, who,
early in the tenth century, was King of the Dugalls ; after
which, Dubgall, and later, Dugall, appear only as the names
of persons ; and in the tenth century, Fiongall also appears
as a personal name.* The modern names of Dugald,
MacDougal, and MacDowell, are probably derived from
Dubgall. Similarly, the Lochlans of the past re-appear
in the modern garb of MacLauchlan in Scotland, and
McLoughlin in Ireland. On the whole, it seems probable
that the Fingalls and Dugalls were rival tribes of Norsemen
who had a standing feud. Their names appear to have
been originally derived from the Celtic appellatives of their
chiefs.

The Rev. J. Johnstone, who was Chaplain to H.M.
Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Denmark in 1782,
gives us a rehearsal by a Scandinavian pirate (seventh
century) during his dying moments, of his maraud-
ing exploits in the Hebrides. This warrior describes how
he and his comrades went " spoil to seek," but apparently
they were disappointed in the extent of the resistance with
which they met, " until in Skye, soldiers we found, brothers
in valour, and wrought their doom " ; a generous tribute to
foemen worthy of their steel, notwithstanding the pithy
allusion to the outcome of the encounter. The death-song
of the semi-mythic Regnar Lodbroc also refers to the
" delightful " strife of Scaia (Skye).

The first King of the Isles of whom there is mention was
one Godfrey MacFergus, whose name suggests a Norse-
Celtic origin. His death occurred in 853. Two years
afterwards, there was a great war between the " Gentiles,"
and Maelsechnall, an Irish king " with whom were the

* In the Annals of Ulster, Dungall (Donngal) and Gormgal appear as
personal names as early as the eighth century. The name " Donald " is pro-
bably derived from the former.

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. n

Gall-gaidel," the mixed race of Norwegians and Celts who
inhabited the South Hebrides. The Irish called the
Hebrides " Innsigall," or Islands of the Foreigners, thus
indicating the predominance of the Norsemen. Up to this
period, the Northmen had come to the Hebrides chiefly, if
not entirely, as roving bands in search of plunder, but we
find them soon afterwards as exiles from the Mother-land,
seeking permanent settlements in a new country.

The Battle of Hafursfiord, which was fought in the year
885 (or according to some historians in 872), was fraught
with important issues. The results of that great sea-fight
were the invasion of Russia and Normandy, the depreda-
tions on the coast of Britain, Ireland, and Spain, and the
colonisation of Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the Shetlands,
the Orkneys, and the Hebrides, by Norwegian adventurers.
By the victory which he gained over the coalition of petty
kings who had rebelled against his absolutism, Harald
Harfager consolidated his sovereignty over the whole of
Norway, and established a monarchy which brooked no
rivals. The piratical-patriarchal era in Norway was for
ever past ; the iron hand of the conqueror pressed heavily
on ancient institutions ; the system of government was
revolutionised ; the independence of the jFy/to'-kings was
for ever broken ; and the reins of supreme power were
grasped by a man whom, if tradition is to be believed, the
sneer of a woman launched upon a career of ambition and
despotism, which had previously no parallel in Norwegian
history. A strong man was this fair-haired Harald ; but
so were the piratical princes whom he dispossessed of their
ancient privileges. Disdaining to lick the hand that had
smitten them, they preferred, like the Pilgrim Fathers — if
the irony of the comparison be permitted — to leave the
land of their forbears, and carve out for themselves fresh
fortunes in the land of the stranger, where their intense
love of liberty — and, it may be added, their predatory
instincts — were to receive freer play than was possible
under the new monarchy. And so it came to pass that
the rebellion against Harald, which culminated in the

E:

12

HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

decisive sea-fight of Hafursfiord, gave an impetus to Norse
colonisation which marked a new era in the history of the
Hebrides. These islands were admirably adapted for the
purposes of the colonists, whose means of livelihood during
the summer months was of a character which, in those
days, was considered to be not merely eminently respect-
able, but the only fitting occupation for him who aspired
to the name of warrior. The whole of the islands extend-
ing from the Shetlands to the Isle of Man were dominated
by the Scandinavians, and the Celtic inhabitants of the
Hebrides appear to have proved apt pupils in the Norse
school of piracy.

The successive immigrations of the Norsemen to the
islands soon constituted a source of annoyance, if not of
danger, to the monarch whose iron rule had forced them
from the mother-country. Gaining confidence with their
increased numbers, they openly harassed the coasts of
Norway and, eluding pursuit, retired to the Scottish islands,
which afforded them ample security and protection from
attack. It was in vain that King Harald searched among
the isles and outskerries of the Norwegian coasts for
his tormentors ; the wary Vikings managed to escape his
vengeance by putting out to sea on his approach. The
King at length determined to extirpate these pests once
for all. Fitting out a powerful expedition, he set sail for
their haunts. The Shetlands were the first objective of his
attack. There, according to the terse phraseology of one
of the Sagas, he " slew all the Vikings who might not flee
from him." Proceeding to the Orkneys, he " cleared them
utterly of Vikings." Thereafter, the same account goes
on to say, " he sailed to the South Isles (Hebrides) and
harried there, and slew many Vikings who were captains
of bands there. There had he many battles, and ever
gained the day." After his clearance of the Hebrides,
Harald appears to have done some freebooting on his own
account, for we are told that before proceeding to the Isle
of Man, where the expedition terminated, " he harried in
Scotland." From this expedition of Harald Fairhair (or

THE NORSE OCCUPATION.

[airfair) arose the assumption of sovereignty, by his
successors on the throne of Norway, to the Shetlands,
the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man. The
exact date of the expedition has not been clearly estab-
lished, but it was probably about 888.

Among the Norwegian kinglets who became the im-
placable foes of Harald, was one Ketil, son of Bjorn Buna,
called in the Sagas Ketil Flatneb or Flatnose, who was a
famous hersir in Norway. The Sagas disagree in describing
the circumstances under which Ketil left his native country.
According to one account, he was despatched with an army
by Harald to suppress the unruly Vikings of the Scottish
islands, and having established his authority, he formed
alliances with " the mightiest chiefs in the West," sent back
the army to Norway, and threw off his allegiance to the
Norwegian King. The other, and the more probable version,
is that he was one of those whom the high-handed pro-
ceedings of Harald drove into voluntary exile. It is
stated that he summoned a Thing of his kinsmen and
took counsel with them, placing before them the choice of
resistance to the yoke of Harald, or of leaving the country.
His sons, Bjorn and Helgi, wished to go to Iceland, as
they had heard that the land was good, " with plenty of
game and fish." Ketil was opposed to this suggestion,
preferring to go westward, " where he knew many places,
as he had ravaged widely there." Westward accordingly
he went.

It is not difficult to identify Ketil Bjornson with Caitill
Find, or Cathal Finn, chief of the Gall-gael, who was
defeated in Munster in 857 by Olaf the White. The author
of the War of the Gaedhill with the Gaill, an ancient
and apparently authentic Irish tract translated by Dr. Todd,
states that Caitill Find was killed at the Munster fight,
which would at once dispose of any attempt to identify
the leader of the Gall-Gael with the Norwegian Ketil.
The Annals of Ulster offer no corroboration of the state-
ment in the tract, and the evidences of identification are
too strong to be ignored. Ketil's daughter, Aude, or

D

i4 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Autha " the deep-minded," was married to Olaf the White.
Here we have a clear intimation that the former rivals
had patched up their quarrel in the usual way, matrimony
being a convenient means of reconciliation and the seal of
an alliance. When forced to exile, the aged pirate looked
back with a pathetic interest on his adventures in the West,
where he had " ravaged widely " in his younger days, and
in establishing an independent monarchy over the chain of
islands extending from the Shetlands to Man, he doubtless
received both the countenance and assistance of his powerful
son-in-law, the King of Dublin. Ketil's sovereignty, how-
ever, was of short duration, for he appears to have died
soon after its establishment.

He was succeeded by his son Helgi, whose dominions
afforded a welcome refuge to his sister Aude and her son
Thorstein the Red, after the death of Olaf the White.
Helgi the Lean, who had married Ketil's daughter Thorun,
also found, with his wife, a safe asylum there. The
Eyrbyggia Saga states that Helgi's brother Bjorn, whose
lands had been forfeited by Harald Fairhair in retaliation
for the revolt of Ketil Flatnose, came " west-over-the-sea "
for protection, and was warmly welcomed by Helgi." The
latter, with some of his relatives, appears to have been
converted to Christianity. Seeing that they had cast off
the faith of their fathers, Bjorn " had no heart to dwell "
with them, and stayed the winter with his sister Aude and
Thorstein, her son, who had probably not come under the
same Christianising influences amongst the Dublin Ostmen
as had her brother Helgi in the Hebrides. From the
Hebrides Bjorn proceeded to Iceland, where he was fol-
lowed by Helgi the Lean with his wife and family. This
Helgi had been fostered for two winters in the Hebrides,
where he seems to have been half-starved (whence his
soubriquet), and had to be taken to Ireland to complete
his fosterage. He is described as a Christian settler in
Iceland, but his creed was a mixed one : nominally a
believer in the Founder of Christianity, he nevertheless
invoked Thor for aid in sea voyages and difficulties ;

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 15

a hybrid creed which was very common among the
Norwegians in the early days of their Christianity. Aude,
the widow of Olaf the White, was another emigrant to
Iceland ; it is clear, indeed, that Iceland was colonised by
its first settlers chiefly from the Hebrides, rather than from
Norway. The emigrations of Ketil Flatneb's descendants
show that the sovereignty established by that powerful
Viking fell to pieces soon after his death. It is probable
that his son Helgi and all his relatives were chased out
of the Hebrides by Harald Harfager during his punitive
expedition ; and thus the dynasty of the flatnosed warrior,
which he set up in opposition to the despot of Norway,
ended abruptly in the person of his son.

One of King Harald's principal commanders in his
expedition was Rognevald (Ranald) Jarl of Moeri, a man
remarkable for bravery and wisdom, and a staunch adherent
of the King, who trusted him implicitly. It was one thing
to conquer the islands : it was another thing to secure the
conquests and maintain the authority of Norway. Ivar,
son of Rognevald, having fallen in one of the fights which
occurred during the expedition, Harald decided to recom-
pense Rognevald for his loss, and at the same time secure
his newly acquired dominions, by offering to appoint the
trusty Jarl as his Viceroy over the islands. Rognevald,
however, declined the offer, preferring his Norwegian
Jarldom, but he recommended his brother Sigurd to the
King as a fitting substitute. To this Harald agreed, and
Sigurd was appointed first Jarl, or Earl, of the Orkneys.

There is reason to believe that this Jarldom carried with
it supreme authority over the whole of the islands from
the Shetlands to Man, and that lieutenants were appointed
to govern the Hebrides, who acknowledged Sigurd as their
Superior, and paid him tribute as representing their Royal
master. One Jarl Tryggvi was appointed governor of
the Western Islands, and after him, Asbjorn Skerjablesi,
both of whom were killed by the Vikings, who swarmed
back to their old haunts as soon as King Harald returned
to Norway. Asbjorn was attacked and slain by two

D 2

1 6 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

relatives of Ketil Flatneb, who captured the governor's
wife, and daughter, and sold the latter as a slave. It is
highly probable that after their expulsion from the Hebrides,
the adherents of Ketil betook themselves to a life of piracy,
possibly under the leadership of Ketil's son-in-law, Thor-
stein the Red, a man of commanding abilities, who was
destined to cut an important figure in the history of
Scotland.

The Outer Hebrides must have lain under the domi-
nation of Thorstein the Red until his death about 900,
when the ties which bound them to the Orcadian Jarldom
began to weaken, and the overlordship of Norway was suf-
fered, temporarily, to fall into abeyance. The Irish Annals
relate incursions during the tenth century of a powerful
tribe of Norwegians from the islands whom they call
"Lagmans"; in other words, the followers of the lawmen,
the chief judges of the islands, and the presidents of the
General Assemblies. These Lagmans are referred to as
allies of Magnus, son of Harald, a leader of the Danes of
Limerick, who ultimately became King of Man 'and the
Hebrides. About the end of the tenth century, Sigurd,
Jarl of Orkney, successfully re-asserted the claims of the
Jarldom over the Hebrides, and appointed his brother-
in-law, Gilli, his lieutenant in the South Isles. The
Orcadian domination, however, was of short duration, and
the Hebrides, or their southern portion, once more became
linked to the sovereignty of Man, Gilli being defeated
by Kenneth, brother of Reginald of Man. Kenneth's son,
Suibne, described in the Irish Annals as " son of Cinaedh,
King of the Gallgaidhel," succeeded Reginald in the govern-
ment of Man and its appendages.

Both Sigurd and Suibne took part in the battle of
Clontarf (1014), which broke the Scandinavian power in
Ireland. Clontarf was the culminating point of a racial
contest for supremacy between the subject Celts and the
dominant Teutons in that country. It was the Bannock-
burn of Ireland, and, like the great battle which sealed the
independence of Scotland, victory lay with the patriots.

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 17

The Scandinavians throughout the British Isles flocked tc
the assistance of their countrymen. According to an Irish
annalist, who is thought to have been a contemporary of
Brian Boroimhe, Sigurd, " Earl of the Ore islands and of
other islands," was among the first to lead in person to
the field of battle, " an assembled army of ignorant, bar-
barous, thoughtless, irreclaimable, unsociable foreigners of
the Ore islands, and of the Cat (Caithness) islands ; from
Manann (Man), and from Sci (Skye), and from Leodus
(Lewis), from Cenn Tire (Kintyre), and from Airir-gaidhel
(Argyll)." There was also "an immense army from the
Innsi-gall"; a distinction which seems to imply that the
North and South Hebrides were under separate lordships,
the North Isles being still, apparently, subject to the
Orcadian Jarldom. Both Sigurd of Orkney and the patriot
King, Brian Boroimhe, were killed at Clontarf ; and among
the slain was also one Amlaff (Olaf)" King of the Hebrides,"
who was apparently Suibne's lieutenant in the South Isles.

In 1034, the whole of the Hebrides again came under
Orcadian supremacy, Thorfinn, son of Sigurd, the most
powerful of the series of Jarls, having wrested Suibne's
Scottish possessions from him. In the contest between the
rivals, Suibne was probably slain, for his death coincides
with the acquisition of the Isles by Thorfinn, who is
generally supposed to have made himself master of Scot-
land as far south as the Firth of Tay.* Upon his death, in
1064, Norse domination on the Scottish mainland was
dissipated, and Thorfinn's possessions reverted to their
original owners.

The dynasty of Godred Crovan, King of Man and the
Hebrides, was established between 1075 and 1080. This
adventurer, who was a son of Harald the Black of Iceland,
repaid the hospitality of Fingal, the reigning King of Man,
by wresting the island from his possession. Turning his
attention to Ireland, he subdued Dublin and forced a great
part of the province of Leinster to submission. The

* Dr. MacBain, however, believes that his conquests did not extend beyond
Beauly Valley.

i8 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

conquest of the Hebrides followed. From Arran to Lewis
the whole of the islands fell under his power, and his
conquests may have extended to the Orkneys and Shet-
lands. He is described by Torfseus, the Norwegian his-
torian, as " King of the Nordereys," from which we are to
understand either the Orkney and Shetland groups, or the
northern islands of the Hebrides. It is not easy to dis-
cover whether the name " Nordereys," or North Islands,
was originally applied to the Orkneys and Shetlands, and
the word " Sudreys " (Sudreyyar\ or South Islands, to the
whole of the Hebrides. Torfaeus makes a clear distinction
between Orkney, the North Isles, and the Western Isles,
and refers in a certain passage to the " North Isles such as
Lewis." The truth seems to be that the name "Nordereys"
was applied originally to the Orkney and Shetland
Islands, and later, to the Northern Hebrides ; while the
name " Sudreys " was, by the Sagas, used to denote the
whole of the Hebrides. As we shall see later, a division
of the Hebrides took place in the twelfth century, and from
that period there can be no doubt that the designation
" Nordereys," or North Isles, was generally applied to the
northern section of the Hebrides, including the Long
Island, Skye, and the other islands which were in-
cluded in the northern division ; while the " Sudreys," or
South Isles, embraced the section lying to the south of
Ardn?murchan. We shall adopt this distinction for the
sake of convenience. But to return to the conquest of the
Hebrides by Godred Crovan.

That conquest was no half-hearted affair : it was
thorough. The governorship of the Northern Hebrides
was entrusted to his eldest son, Lagman, who had his
seat in the Long Island, for he is called by the Sagas
11 Ivistar Gramr," or Prince of Uist. He was Godred's
lawman, and it is probable that the name by which he is
known to history was his official title, not his personal
name. The Scots of the West appear to have harassed
Godred's territories, for he was obliged to equip a fleet for
the purpose of chastising them. So thoroughly cowed

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 19

were they by his onslaught, that they were forced to
submit to his decree which, if the Manx tradition is to
be believed, provided that no Scot should build a boat
above three streaks high ; or, according to Camden's
version, should drive more than three nails in any boat.
By this means, the islands were secured against the attacks
of the mainlanders.

In the year 1093 occurred the first of the three ex-
peditions of Magnus Bareleg, King of Norway, to the
Hebrides and Man. The confusion in the accounts
of the first two expeditions (the second of which took
place in 1098) and of the events which succeeded them,
is so great as to render almost hopeless any attempt to
reconcile them. But it is possible by a process of selec-
tion to arrive — at least approximately — at the main facts
in their chronological order. The third expedition of
Magnus in 1103, in the course of which he met his death,
was directed against Ireland, and has only an indirect
connexion with the Hebrides. But it was otherwise with
the two which preceded it.

It is evident that Godred Crovan had renounced, if he
had ever acknowledged, the claims of Norway to the
suzerainty of Man and the Hebrides. The time came
for Magnus to enforce his claims, and compel the Isles-
men to submit to his authority. This he did in the usual
drastic manner of the Norse Kings. Proceeding to the
Long Island, he encountered little or no resistance there.
Lagman fled before him, thinking to reach Ireland, where
alone there was a chance of safety. He was caught on the
coast of Skye and loaded with chains. Magnus then pro-
ceeded to the South Isles, bringing them under subjection,
and finally the Isle of Man was reached. But the terror of
his arms had preceded him : the inhabitants had fled to
Galloway ; and when the Norwegians landed, unopposed,
they found the island almost deserted. Godred Crovan
disappears from history at this point. From the Irish
Annals, we learn that he died of the plague, in Islay, in
1095.

20 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

The old Scottish historians, Fordun and his successors,
assert that the Hebrides were given to King Magnus by
Donald Bane, the brother and successor of Malcolm Cean-
more, as a reward for services rendered by Magnus. It
appears certain that during the expedition of 1093, Magnus
assisted Donald in his usurpation of the throne of Scot-
land. The explanation of their friendship may perhaps be
found in the fact that Donald, who had lived among the
Norwegians of the Hebrides for a considerable time, may
have been regarded as being, in a sense, a subject, tem-
porarily, of Norway. To render active assistance to
Donald in seizing the vacant throne of Scotland, would,
under these circumstances, have been an enterprise after
Magnus's own heart. But it is barely credible that his
motives were absolutely disinterested, and that his offer of
help was dictated by friendship alone. What form the
gratitude of Donald Bane took, is not quite clear. For-
dun's explanation is unsatisfactory. His contention that
the Hebrides were at this period, and had been from time
immemorial, under the Scottish Crown, will not bear
examination. We have seen that Magnus entered upon
his expedition with the object of restoring the supremacy
of Norway in the Isles, a supremacy which, since the time
of Harald Fairhair, had at intervals been allowed to
become inoperative, but had never been surrendered.
If the Isles, therefore, were ceded to Magnus by Donald
Bane, the barren nature of the gift must have appealed
to the recipient's sense of humour, if he had any ; for it
was virtually a present to the Norwegian King of what
already belonged to him. Doubtless, however, the con-
tinued friendship of Donald Bane — the King with the anti-
foreign policy — was of importance to Magnus in preserving
the integrity of his island-dominions. There may have
been assurances given on the part of Donald, that the
suzerainty of Norway over the Isles would be respected,
and perhaps actively maintained, by the Scottish Crown.
In any case, it is impossible, from the evidence before
us, to admit the assumption that the Norsemen derived

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 21

their right to the Isles from a grant by the Scottish
King.

The expedition of 1093 was entirely successful in its
results, and Magnus returned to Norway, leaving, ap-
parently, the ex-governor, Lagman, now a vassal of the
Norwegian Crown, to rule in Man and the Isles as his
Viceroy. The Northern Hebrides, being so far removed
from the seat of government, appear to have soon become
troublesome, for we find that Magnus sent from Norway,
in 1097, a governor named Ingemund to rule over them.
He could not have made a worse selection. No sooner
had Ingemund arrived in Lewis, than he sent messengers
to the chief men of the North Isles, commanding them
to appear before him and acknowledge him as their
prince. Clearly, he had not come from Norway to serve
his Royal master, but to enjoy himself. The worst
governor who ever mismanaged a colonial possession
of Great Britain, in the days when England used her
colonies as a dumping ground for convicts, was an
angel of light compared with Ingemund. He and the
kindred spirits who accompanied him from Norway,
behaved like a band of pirates, instead of a company of
duly-accredited law-givers. They gave themselves up to
revelry, robbery, and rape, and respected no law, human or
Divine. But they had inflammable material to deal with,
and the smouldering rage of the dishonoured Levvismen
soon broke out into a fierce flame of terrible vengeance.
The Hebridean chiefs had come to submit, but they
remained to slay. They planned to slaughter the Nor-
wegians during the night, and thus rid themselves of their
oppressors. Ingemund and his retinue were caught like
rats in a trap ; their house was set on fire ; escape there
was none ; the vengeful swords of the islanders despatched
those who fled from the merciless flames ; and not one of
the licentious crew survived. Thus perished ignobly the
governor whom Magnus had sent to attend to his interests
in the Outer Hebrides.

Magnus of Norway was not the man to submit tamely

22 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

to this summary treatment of his representative. Things
had not been going well in his island dominions. Paul
and Erlend, the Jarls of Orkney, had not been giving
satisfaction to their liege lord ; Lagman had apparently
not shown the gratitude which the clemency of Magnus
might have been expected to produce ; and to crown all,
his deputy had been burnt alive by the contumacious
Lewismen. Nothing short of a clean sweep would satisfy
him this time. And so, the great expedition of 1098, con-
sisting of 60 large well-built ships, and manned by trained
warriors, left the shores of Norway on a punitive and
re-organising mission.

Hakon, son of Jarl Paul of Orkney, had visited the Court
of Norway, and urged Magnus to undertake the expedition,
hoping doubtless to reap some material benefits for him-
self, while venting his jealous spite on his uncle, Erlend,
and his sons. But whatever the ulterior motives of Hakon,
it is evident that Magnus needed no extraneous induce-
ment to undertake his great scheme of revenge and
re-conquest.

On arriving at the Orkneys, Magnus deposed the Jarls
Paul and Erlend, and sent them to Norway, appointing in
their stead his own son Sigurd, with a Council of advisers
to assist him in the government of the Orkneys and
Shetlands. From the Orkneys he sailed to Lewis, where
he took a gruesome revenge for the slaughter of Ingemund
and his companions. A skald named Bjorn Cripplehand,
who accompanied Magnus on this expedition, has left the
following account of the devastation wrought by his
master in the Long Island: —

"Fire played in the fig trees of Liodhus (Lewis); it
mounted up to heaven. Far and wide the people were
driven to flight. The fire gushed out of the houses. The
liberal King went with the fire over Ivist (Uist). The
buendar (chief men) lost life and property. The King
gained much gold."*

* This is the version given in the Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis. The
version of Morris and Magnusson is more ornate.

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 23

There is a tragedy in these few terse statements. With
pitiless ferocity, Magnus harried with fire and sword the
unfortunate Long Islanders, leaving a desolated country
and a slaughtered people to tell their silent tale of his
memorable visit. It is not too much to say that the
whole face of the Long Island was changed more com-
pletely by the massacre of 1098 than it had ever been
by any previous event ; and it is certain that no subse-
quent invasion of the Outer Hebrides had such far-
reaching results.*

Magnus pressed southwards, leaving behind him a track
of blood and fire. Skye, Tiree, Mull, Islay, and Kintyre
all felt the weight of his heavy hand, and the deposition
of Lagman formed the culminating act in his campaign
of vengeance and spoliation.

While engaged upon his great expedition of 1098,
Magnus succeeded in obtaining from Edgar, the reigning
King of Scotland, an acknowledgment of his right to
the Hebrides. He had already acquired that right, not
only by virtue of the long subjection of the Isles to
Norway, but by reason of the most cogent argument that
could be advanced, viz., conquest by fire and sword.
Confirmation by the Scottish Crown, however, obviated
the risk of awkward questions subsequently arising, and
sealed the vassalage of the Isles to the Crown of Norway.
King Edgar "ceded" all those Western Isles, between
which and the mainland, the Norwegian King could go
in a boat with a rudder. The story is told, that Magnus
took advantage of this loose stipulation, to add Kintyre
to his dominions; accomplishing that stroke of business
by means of a trick, which savours of a pettifogging
attorney rather than of a warlike King. It is said that,
seating himself at the helm, he caused a boat to be
dragged across the isthmus of Loch Tarbert, thus ful-
filling the letter, but not the spirit, of Edgar's incautious
offer. This story bears a remarkable resemblance to

* The Lewis tradition, which connects the burning of the trees in the island
:th the Norwegians, has reference, doubtless, to this incident.

24 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

one mentioned in the Sagas, where we read of Beiti, a
mythological Sea-King, having acquired certain islands
which lay on the port side of his galley, by means of a
trick identical with that said to have been played by
Magnus on King Edgar. We must believe, therefore, that
the Sagaic account of Beiti's exploit has been transferred
to the credit of Magnus, in order, possibly, to explain the
severance of Kintyre from the possessions of the Scottish
Crown ; or that Magnus, taking a leaf from the book of
the mythic Sea-King, actually emulated his feat and
imposed upon the trustfulness of the amiable Edgar. We
know that Robert Bruce afterwards performed a similar
exploit at the same place; and Tarbert in Harris derives
its name from similar methods of bridging the narrow
neck of land which divides North from South Harris.
What is more to the point, as a matter of history, is the
fact that during his journey of blood and fire in the South
Isles, "men in Cantire bowed beneath the sword edge."
This simple statement is of itself sufficient to account
for the incorporation of Kintyre with the Hebridean
possessions of the Crown of Norway.

But the Scottish Highlanders have at least one reason
for keeping a warm corner in their hearts for this
Norwegian monarch. Having subjugated the Isles, he
passed the winter of 1098 in the Southern Hebrides,
where he and his men adopted the native dress. Thus
did Magnus gain the name of "Barefod" (Bareleg or
Barefoot), by which he is known in Norse history.
Highlanders may forgive much to the man who discarded
his accustomed attire in favour of the so-called "garb of
old Gaul." It is a practice which has been followed in
modern times by visitors to the Highlands, with more or
less striking effects ; but this is the first, and perhaps the
only instance on record, of a foreign King having worn
the Highland dress while sojourning in the Scottish
islands. Who, with this august example before him,
shall deny either the antiquity or the picturesqueness of
the kilt ? It is easy to retort that Magnus was, after all,

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 25

a semi-barbarian. But as his martial feats proclaim the
warrior, so his sartorial instincts proclaim the artist.
Magnus introduced the use of the kilt to Norway, where
it appears to have been worn for a century afterwards.
Holinshed, who lived in the sixteenth century, informs
us that during the great expedition of Magnus, he
ordained laws and constitutions which were used by the
inhabitants " unto these days " — an interesting statement
alike to the historian and the jurist.

On the death of Magnus, the feeble Lagman seems
to have once more (in 1103) resumed the sovereignty of
Man and the Isles. But his brother Harald proved a
thorn in his side. Suspecting Harald of plotting against
him, Lagman seized his brother, put out his eyes, and
otherwise mutilated him in accordance with the barbarous
practice of those times. Repenting of his cruelty, he
resigned the Crown and proceeded to Jerusalem to
expiate his offence. On arrival there, or, according to
some accounts, while on his way to the Holy Land, he
died in the year 1 1 10, after an inglorious reign of seven
years.

Godred Crovan's youngest son, Olaf or Olave, who is
known by the name of " the Red," also as " Kleining," and
" Bitlingr " from his small stature, was a minor in 1 1 1 1
when his dominions fell, either by conquest or popular
choice,* into the power of Donald, son of Taidg, an
Irishman who proved a despot, and was soon deposed.
In 1114, Olave assumed the reins of government, after a
useful training in the field and at the Courts of William
Rufus and Henry I. of England. For forty years he
governed his possessions wisely and well, his diplomatic
relations, not only with his Superior of Norway, but with
the neighbouring countries of England, Scotland, and
Ireland, being of the friendliest character. He was
treacherously murdered in 1154 by his nephew Reginald,

* The Manx historians say he was selected by King Murtough of Ireland
at the request of the people of Man. The Annals of Innisfallen state that
he " acquired the kingdom of Insegall by force."

26 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

who, with his two brothers, took possession of Man,
massacred Olave's adherents, and divided the island
among their own followers. From this state of anarchy,
deliverance came by means of Godred, Olave's son, who '
was called from the Court of Norway by the chiefs of
the Hebrides and his maternal grandfather, the lord of
Galloway, to take possession of his inheritance. The
usurpers were deposed and punished, and Godred com-
menced his career with everything in his favour.

Godred's influence and power gradually increased, and
with them, his vanity. He began to be overbearing in his
manner and despotic in his rule. He made enemies of
some of his most powerful supporters in Man, by turning
them out of their estates, and he estranged the affection
of the common people by the harshness of his rule. A
spirit of deep discontent was the inevitable result, and
his enemies, headed by Thorfinn son of Ottar, an old
competitor of Godred for the throne of Dublin, carefully
fanned the flame of resentment. In order to enlist the
sympathy and the active assistance of Somerled of
Argyll, Thorfinn paid a visit to that ambitious chief. By
a cunning appeal to Somerled's cupidity, he induced him
to support the conspiracy against Godred. The fatuous
policy pursued by the latter gave a handle to his enemies,
which they were not slow to seize ; the toils were now
gradually closing around him. Somerled appears to have
already been in possession of Bute and Arran. Dr. Skene
states that these islands were conquered by David I. of
Scotland in 1135, and were added to the dominions
of Somerled, who, according to the seanachies, had
previously expelled the Norwegians from Morvern, Locha-
ber, and Argyll. Once Somerled had obtained a footing
in the Isles, he determined that the whole of the Hebrides
should be his. But he lacked the power to defy the King
of the Isles, and had to bide his time. His marriage
with Ragnhilda, daughter of Olave the Red, was a part of
the diplomatic means by which he sought to strengthen
his preparations. But his ambition in another direction

:

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 27

temporarily interfered with his designs on the Hebrides.
Setting up a claim, into the merits of which we need not
enter, to the Earldom of Moray, on behalf of his grand-
sons, his plans were frustrated, and he himself was obliged
to take refuge for a time in Ireland. Peace was at length
(in 1153) concluded between him and Malcolm IV. of
Scotland, an event which was considered to be of so much
importance as to form an epoch in the dating of Scottish
charters. And now came Somerled's great opportunity for
seizing the whole of the Hebrides. It was arranged that
his fellow-conspirator, Thorfinn, should conduct Somerled's
son, Dugall, throughout the Isles, proclaim the latter
King, and call upon the people to acknowledge his
authority and to give hostages for their allegiance. But
the majority of the Hebridean chiefs remained faithful to
Godred, and among the faithful, was one Paul Balkasson,
described as "Sheriff" of Skye, who, as events showed,
was Godred's best friend. Well was he named Balk — the
beam or supporter — for he proved a veritable tower of
strength in the time of need. This is perhaps the earliest
reference in Scottish history to the existence of the office
of Sheriff. The first notices on record are contained in
the Acts of David I., about the middle of the twelfth
century, the period now under review. The Sheriffdom
of Inverness appears to have at that time included the
whole country north of the Grampians, and it might be
inferred that the Sheriffdom of Skye was then, as it is at
the present day, subsidiary to that of Inverness. But as
this assumption would imply that Skye was, at the middle
of the twelfth century, subject to the jurisdiction of the
Scottish Crown — which we know was not the case — we
must conclude that the office of Sheriff, as held by Paul
Balkasson, was different from that to which the modern
name attaches. In all probability, Balkasson was the
military, as well as the civil governor of Skye, holding
is office as the representative of Godred.
On his refusal to swear allegiance to Dugall, Balkasson
fled to the Isle of Man, where he acquainted Godred with

28 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

the alarming nature of the plot which had been formed to
undermine his authority. Godred immediately set sail for
the Hebrides, determined to crush Somerled and nip the
conspiracy in the bud. Somerled, with a fleet of eighty
galleys, was ready for him. When the fleets met, a battle
was fought which was maintained with dogged deter-
mination by both sides. Godred, conscious that he was
fighting for his very life, refused to acknowledge defeat ;
Somerled, with the Hebrides at stake, offered an equally
stubborn resistance. Night fell on the exhausted com-
batants with victory still hanging in the balance. Morning
brought reflection and terms of peace. Sturdy fighters
both, Godred and Somerled had learned in that hard-
fought battle to respect one another ; and mutual respect
paved the way to mutual concessions. By a treaty which
constituted a landmark in the history of the Isles, the rival
leaders, who had many common characteristics, agreed to
divide the Hebrides, Somerled's share comprising the
islands south of Ardnamurchan, while Godred retained
those north of that point. This notable agreement was
made in 1156, from which date, the South Isles passed
permanently from the dominion of the Kings of Man.*

* The Highland seanachies relate that Aula Ruadh (Olave the Red)
invaded the West Highlands, and was repulsed by the natives under their
leader, Somerled, who received the Western Isles as a reward for his great
services. The tales of the seanachies, however, cannot always be accepted
as history. Somerled met defeat and death at Renfrew in 1164.

29

CHAPTER II.

ON the death of Somerled, the sovereignty of Man and
the Nordereys — from this period the application of the
latter word to the Northern Hebrides is indisputable — was
seized, during Godred's absence in Norway, by Reginald, a
natural son of Olave the Red, the Sudreys falling to the
share of Dugall, Somerled's son. Godred hastened from
Norway, and deposed and punished, with the usual cruel
accessories, the usurper. Before his death, which occurred
in 1187, Godred made a tour through his Hebridean
possessions — where his presence was much needed — and
was absent from Man for about two years. That the
Long Island was at that time a nest of pirates seems to be
suggested by the fact that Ljotolf, a powerful chief in
Lewis, was the bosom friend of Sweyn Asleifsson of
Gairsay, one of the last, and certainly one of the most
famous, of the Vikings. Sweyn's brother, Gunni, took
refuge with Ljotolf, after a quarrel with Harald, Jarl of
Orkney, and we find the rover himself at a later period
enjoying the hospitality of his friend in Lewis, where he
stayed "a long time." He repaid this hospitality by
seizing a vessel belonging to Fogl, Ljotolf s son, who was
on his way from Lewis to join the retinue of the Jarl of
Orkney. Sweyn of Gairsay was a remarkable personality.
He was a warrior and a seer ; a pirate and a courtier ; a
powerful friend and a dangerous foe. Notwithstanding
his reputation, he was warmly welcomed at the Court
of the pious King David I., who compensated the rover's
victims, and offered to bestow upon Sweyn himself what-
ever honours he might desire. But according to Sweyn's
philosophy, it was better to reign at sea than serve on

30 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

land. About 1160, this famous freebooter, with all his
men, was killed in an ambuscade at Dublin, which he had
captured and looted.

Before his death, Godred of Man nominated as his
successor, his son Olave, who is known as Olave the Black.
But the Manxmen elected Olave's natural brother,
Reginald, to act as Regent during his minority. The
first campaign of the Regent, undertaken in 1205 on
behalf of his patron, John de Courcy, against his enemy,
Hugh de Lacy, Earl of Ulster, ended in disaster. About
100 vessels, most of them from the Hebrides, sailed for
Strandford Haven, where the invaders landed and be-
sieged Rath Castle, but being attacked in the rear by
Walter de Lacy, with an army of Gallow-glasses (Gillean-
glasa) they were forced to retire with heavy loss. Five
years after this defeat, Angus, the third son of Somerled
the Great, made a bold attempt to snatch the Nordereys
from Reginald's rule, but was repulsed in Skye, and was
afterwards defeated and killed in Man.*

The looseness of the ties that bound Norway to the
Isles is exemplified by the fact that Reginald had become
a vassal of the English King, whether for the Hebrides as
well as for Irish fiefs which he probably held, is not quite
clear. In recognition of his homage, he was to receive an
annual knight's fee, payable at Drogheda, of two tuns of
wine and 120 quarters of corn. He was also appointed
" Admiral of the Seas " — which may mean the Irish
Channel — and on the principle of setting a thief to catch a
thief, probably no better choice could have been made for
the suppression of piracy. In 1219 he surrendered the
overlordship of Man to the Pope, agreeing to pay as the
reward of his protection by the all-powerful See of Rome,
the sum of 12 merks annually to Furness Abbey, an
institution of which Olave the Red had been a liberal
benefactor. This submission to the Papacy may have
been a temporary expedient, but it served its purpose of

* According to some accounts he was killed in Skye.

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 31

securing safety at the expense of independence.* In 1211
King John of England sent Fulko de Cantelupe to Man
for the purpose of punishing Reginald for his share in
the rebellion of De Courcy. Reginald fled to Lewis for
safety, returning to Man after De Cantelupe's departure.

We now return to Olave, the rightful heir to Man and
the Nordereys. Youth was a fault which time removed,
and Reginald had not occupied the throne many years
before he realised that his half-brother — who is described
by Sacheverell as "a master of refined qualities, mild, just,
sedate, pious, liberal, and handsome — the darling of the
ladies " — would soon prove a thorn in his side, if not put
out of the way. A man of all the virtues and all the
talents, such as Olave was pictured by the historian of the
seventeenth century, was indeed a formidable rival in any
case, and was doubly dangerous by reason of his un-
doubted right to the throne. Not daring to take the
shortest, the most obvious, and from his standpoint, the
most desirable means, of ridding himself of his brother,
Reginald determined to get him as far away from Man
as possible. With that object, he made him a present of
Lewis, and sent him north to govern the island. That
Olave did not appreciate the Island of Lewis is clear from
the Chronicles of Man. Camden describes the gift and its
reception in the following terms, viz. : —

" Reginald gave to his brother Olave the Isle of Lodhus,
which is counted larger than any of the other islands, but
thinly peopled, because it is mountainous and stony, and
almost unfit for tillage in all parts. The inhabitants live
generally by hunting and fishing. Olave thereupon went
to take possession of this island and dwelt there in a poor

* The following extracts from the Syllabus of Rymer^s Foedera illustrate
the subserviency of Reginald to the King of England and the Pope.

Feb. 8, 1205. The King (of England) takes into his protection Reginald,
lung of Man, his lands, and men.

May 16, 1212. Reginald, King of the Isles, notifies that he has become
the King's liegeman.

Sept. 21, 1219. Reginald, King of the Isles, surrenders the Isle of Man to
the Pope to be held by him in fee.

Sept. 24, 1219. Letters of protection for Reginald, he having done homage
to the King,

E 2

33 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

condition. But finding it too little to maintain him and
his army, he went boldly to his brother Reginald, who then
lived on the islands, and addressed him thus to him : ' My
brother and my sovereign, you know very well that the
Kingdom of the Isles was mine by right of inheritance, but
since God hath made you King over it, I neither will envy
your happiness nor grudge to see the crown upon your
head. I only beg of you so much land in these islands as
may honourably maintain me ; for I am not able to live
upon the island Lodhus which you gave me.'"

Reginald's reply to this touching appeal was charac-
teristic of the man. Promising to consult his Council
and give an answer on the following day, he quickly
made arrangements to dispose of his troublesome brother
permanently. If Olave found Lewis too small for him,
he would find him a still more confined abode. Besides
being a vassal of the English Crown, Reginald appears to
have cultivated friendly relations with William the Lion
of Scotland. Believing in the principle of making use of
one's friends, he bethought himself of utilising the good
offices of the Scottish King, in connexion with his designs
upon Olave's liberty. And so it came to pass that the
unhappy younger brother found himself immured as a
prisoner in Marchmont Castle, that being Reginald's form
of reply to his complaint. For seven years (1207-1214)
Olave was kept in chains in his Scottish prison. His
release coincided with the death of William the Lion and
the accession of Alexander II., who, to celebrate his
coronation, ordered that all prisoners in his kingdom
should be set at liberty. On gaining his freedom, Olave
paid a visit to the shrine of St. James of Compostella,
where he offered up thanks for his deliverance ; he then
proceeded to the Isle of Man. Once more, therefore,
Reginald found himself confronted by his brother and
a recrudescence of his old fears.

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, and readily
lies the tongue that claims it unlawfully. Reginald dis-
sembled his fears and professed his love. The ingenuous

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 33

Olave, untaught by experience, accepted his contrition,
and for a short time the brothers lived on terms of affec-
tion, apparently real in Olave's case, certainly assumed in
the case of Reginald. That crafty ruler soon devised a
fresh plan for ridding himself of his incubus. Olave was
a mere child in the hands of Reginald, and it was without
much difficulty that his consent to marry Lavon (or Lauon,
or Joan), sister of Reginald's wife, was obtained. Accord-
ing to Sacheverell, the father of the sisters was the lord
of Kintyre, from which statement it may be inferred that
they were daughters of Somerled, grandson of Somerled
the Great. Reginald's wedding present to Olave was a
fresh grant of the Island of Lewis, with the empty title
of King to glorify his possession. Olave had learned by
this time that life in Lewis was preferable to confinement
in a prison, and had no desire to re-awaken his brother's
resentment. To Lewis, therefore, he repaired with his
bride, reserving the accomplishment of whatever larger
aspirations he may have entertained until a more con-
venient season.

Soon after his arrival in Lewis, he received a visit from
his sister's son, Ranald, Bishop of the Sudreys, who was
then engaged on an episcopal supervision of the churches
in the Isles.* Olave received his relative in a manner
befitting a king, and invited him to a sumptuous banquet
which he had prepared. But the Bishop declined his
hospitality, on the ground that his marriage was illicit and
could not be recognised by the Church. " Art thou not
sensible," he asked, "that thou wast formerly wedded to
the cousin of the woman who is now thy consort ? " Olave
confessed that previous to his marriage with Lavon, he had
formed an irregular union with her cousin, but he was now
ready to make full submission to the ruling of the Church.
Bishop Ranald thereupon promptly annulled his marriage
with Lavon. The readiness with which he listened to the
representations of the Bishop, arouses the suspicion that

* While the Bishop was with Olave, the latter exacted a tax from two
Icelanders who were driven ashore at Sandera. This suggests that Olave
was master of the whole of the Outer Hebrides.

34 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Olave was glad to have an excuse for getting rid of the
wife whom his brother had chosen for him ; and if her
character resembled that of her sister, Reginald's wife, the
desire is intelligible. On the other hand, the scruples of
Bishop Ranald were probably based on political considera-
tions rather than on ecclesiastical law, or on moral rectitude.
Being a nephew of Olave, he may conceivably have had
visions of a future crown — an earthly one — for himself, in
the event of his uncle dying without issue. Still more
probable is it that the hand of the crafty Reginald pulled
the strings of a carefully laid plot, of which the divorce,
like the marriage, of Lavon was one of the foreseen and
pre-arranged incidents. For the treatment by Olave of
his wife's sister now gave him a handle to accomplish the
destruction of that unwary youth, who, soon after his
abandonment of Lavon, married Christina, daughter of
Ferchard O'Beolan, otherwise Mac-an-t'sagairt, or, son of
the priest (of Applecross), Earl of Ross.

Burning to avenge her sister's dishonour, Reginald's wife
sent a message to her son Godred, who was then in Skye,
to proceed to Lewis and kill Olave. It is not difficult to
surmise at whose instigation this bloodthirsty mission was
resolved upon ; if successful, Reginald would be freed once
for all from the bugbear of his existence. The popularity
of Olave had been increasing as that of his brother had
been diminishing ; but here at length were alike the
pretext and the opportunity of removing for ever his rival
from his path. Godred, whose name, the " Dragon of the
Isles," appears to have been not inappropriate, gathered
together his followers, and in obedience to the command
of his amiable parent, sailed for Lewis. But he was just
too late to effect his murderous purpose, for Olave, who
had become aware of his danger, probably through the
instrumentality of his friend Balkasson (who must have
been the son of King Godred's supporter), embarked in an
open boat, crossed the Minch,* and reached the castle of

* Manche, i.e., channel or strait. The Minch appears to have been the
Skottland Fjord of the Sagas.

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 35

lis father-in-law, the Earl of Ross, in safety. Baulked of
his prey, the disappointed Dragon of the Isles vented his
rage on the inhabitants of Lewis, who must have been
few in number, seeing they were unable to protect their
idolised master from his would-be murderer. Godred
pillaged the island and slaughtered the principal adherents
of his uncle, thus showing that there was something more
than private revenge at the root of the whole undertaking.

Meanwhile, Paul Balkasson had discreetly left Skye and
taken refuge with the Earl of Ross, arriving — probably
according to arrangement — about the same time as Olave
A consultation took place, at which the Earl of Ross and
Balkasson urged Olave to throw off his allegiance to
Reginald, and make a bold bid for the crown which
rightfully belonged to him. The promised support of his
powerful father-in-law, added to the conviction that his
life was no longer safe from his brother's malevolence,
decided Olave to put his fortune to the touch. The first
offensive movement in the projected campaign was
directed against Godred Don, who was then (1223) in
St. Colum's isle, or Trodda, in the north of Skye, near
which Olave and his friends remained in concealment
for some days. They then proceeded with five ships to
Trodda, and drew a cordon of vessels around the island
to prevent the escape of Godred. Although taken by
surprise, the latter made a stubborn resistance against
the invaders, but, surrounded on all sides, he was obliged
to give way ; the defeat of his followers became a rout ;
and the rout became a general slaughter. Those who
could, escaped to the church, whose sacred walls gave
them protection. Failing to reach the sanctuary, Godred
fell into the hands of Paul Balkasson, who, without Olave's
knowledge or consent, mutilated him and is said to have
put out his eyes. But the blinding must have been only
partial, for Godred appears later in the character of a
particularly alert, if short-sighted, individual. It is pro-
bable that this act of retribution was as much a political
move on the part of Balkasson, as an act of private

36 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

vengeance. Fearing, perhaps, that Olaye's courage might
fail him at the last moment, and determined to make the
breach between him and Reginald irreparable, he took
the most effective means of accomplishing that end.

Olave had burnt his boats with a vengeance, and there
was nothing for it but to take the next step, which was
obviously the invasion of Man. He therefore matured
his plans with the greatest expedition, and, to ensure the
fidelity of the Hebrideans, took hostages from all their
leaders. In 1224, he sailed for Man with thirty galleys,
but his hostility was disarmed by the smooth tongue of
Reginald, who offered him half of the Isles as a basis
of peace, an offer which Olave accepted. But Reginald
having deceived the Manxmen by preparing, with the
assistance of Allan, lord of Galloway, to annul the agree-
ment, the islanders threw off their allegiance, and sent
for Olave, who was installed in his brother's place.
Reginald invaded Man with his ally of Galloway, and
after patching up an illusory peace with his brother,
remained in the island for the purpose of fomenting a
conspiracy against him. He was ultimately killed in a
fight between Olave's party and the faction which he
had succeeded in forming to support his own claims.
According to the Qrkneyinga Saga, Reginald was one
of the most famous warriors in the West of Europe.
Emulating the example of the Vikings, he once passed
three successive years on board his ship without entering a
house. He conquered, or purchased, Caithness from Harald,
Jarl of Orkney. He was an able man, but his ambition
was limitless, and he was destitute of scruples or honour.

After the death of Reginald, Olave deemed it politic
to pay a visit to the Court of Norway, at Bergen, to do
homage to his Superior, and to seek his help against
the growing power of Allan of Galloway. He was well
received by Hakon, and entertained right royally.
Evidently affairs in the Hebrides generally were getting
into a critical state. According to the account which
has been preserved of Olave's mission to Bergen, he

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 37

informed his Royal master that the lord of Galloway had
openly avowed his intention, not only of subduing the
whole of the Hebrides, but of attacking Norway herself.
At the Norwegian Court, Olave found three Sudreyan
chiefs — described as " kings " — who, having failed to pay
tribute to Hakon for their possessions in the Hebrides, had
apparently been summoned to his Court to answer for
their contumacy. These were Dugall Scrag or Shrill-
voice, and Duncan (sons of Dugall, son of Somerled the
Great), and Somerled their cousin, son of Gillecolum who
was killed during his father's attempted conquest of
Scotland. The submission of the Sudreyan chiefs
appears to have come too late, for Hakon had already
appointed one Uspak — whom he honoured by conferring
his own name upon him — to act as his Viceroy in the
Sudreys, and the disappointed Somerledians had to
return home empty-handed. But they were not prepared
to submit tamely to being ousted by Uspak-Hakon, and
they resolved to fight. Anticipating their resentment and
their resistance, the King of Norway got ready a powerful
fleet to enforce the rule of his favourite. Olave the
Black was commanded to co-operate with Uspak, and
with that object, sailed from Norway with Paul Bal-
kasson, who had probably accompanied him to the
Norwegian Court. Reinforcements were obtained in the
Orkneys, and probably also in the Nordereys, and the
combined fleets, under the joint command of Uspak and
Olave, proceeded to the Sudreys to attack the trio of
Somerledians who awaited them in the Sound of Islay.
In the meantime, Balka, a son of Balkasson, and a loyal
Sudreyan chief named Ottar Snaekollsson (Snowball)
went to Skye, where they attacked a Lewis chief named
Torquil, son of Tormod (Munch calls him " Torquil
MacDermot " ), and killed him with two of his sons. The
third son, Tormod, managed to escape by jumping into
a cask floating in the water, which drifted across to the
mainland, whence he reached Lewis in safety.

The campaign against the Somerledian chiefs was

38 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

entirely successful, the latter sustaining a severe defeat
in the Sound of Islay, whence the Norsemen, under Olave
and Uspak — the latter of whom turned out to be the
long-lost brother of Dugall and Duncan — sailed to Bute,
where they stormed a castle garrisoned by Scots. From
Bute, where Uspak was killed, Olave returned to Man,
and his men passed the winter in the island. On the
return voyage to Norway, they made a descent on Kintyre,
and on reaching Lewis, they attacked Tormod, whose
father Torquil fell in Skye, and chased him out of the
island, capturing his wife and all his possessions. We
are left in doubt as to the identity of Torquil and Tormod.
That Torquil's possessions lay in Lewis is evident ; that
Tormod's home was in that island is also clear ; but
what their offence was against the Norwegian Crown, or
against the authority of its vassals, is not specifically
stated. Munch suggests that they may have been op-
posed to the rule of Godred Don, Reginald's son, into
whose possession his uncle gave the Nordereys on his
resumption of the sovereignty of Man. This is not an
improbable view, but it does not explain the attack on
Torquil in Skye, unless we suppose that the latter, taking
advantage of the absence of Paul Balkasson, had been
raiding his property ; the fact that Balka the younger
went out of his way to fight Torquil in Skye, seems to
lend colour to that suggestion.

Whatever the cause of the attack by the Norwegians
on Lewis, it is certain that shortly after their departure,
Godred proceeded to take revenge on his old enemy,
Paul Balkasson, who had years before mutilated him.
Godred's headquarters appear to have been in Lewis, and
the inference is that no sooner had his authority been
established in the Long Island by the Norwegian force,
than he attacked Balkasson in Skye. The simple fact
known to us is that he killed Balkasson. A few days
afterwards, Brown Godred was himself slain in Lewis.
On the death of his nephew, Olave resumed the direct
rule of the Nordereys.

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 39

Olave the Black was in some respects the best ruler that
Man and the Hebrides ever possessed. His was not a
virile nor an ambitious character; yet when duty called,
he showed that he could wield the sword as well as offer
the olive branch. One would suppose that this easy-
going, gentlemanly kinglet was hardly the sort of ruler
required for his turbulent subjects ; yet he retained their
allegiance to the last. He died in 1237, and his throne
was successively filled by his three eldest sons, Harald,
Reginald, and Magnus.

In the first year of his rule, Harald paid a visit to
his Hebridean possessions, leaving his cousin, Lauchlan,
to govern Man during his absence. Lauchlan proved
unfaithful to his trust, and Harald hurried back to
assert his authority. His deputy fled from the island,
accompanied by Godred, his foster son — who is said to
have been a son of Olave the Black — and with about
forty adherents, both were drowned off the coast of
Wales.

In 1240, Harald refused to do homage to his suzerain.
A force sent from Norway invaded Man and reduced its
ruler to obedience, the revenues of the island being appro-
priated to the Norwegian Crown. The quarrel was made
up by Harald marrying Cecilia, King Hakon's daughter,
but the ill-fated couple were drowned on the voyage from
Bergen to Man.

The next King of Man and the Nordereys was Harald's
brother, Reginald, who, only a few days after his accession
in 1250, was killed by Harald, son of Godred Don, and his
supposed natural brother, a knight named Ivar. The heir
was Reginald's brother, Magnus, who was then in Lewis
with his father-in-law, Ewen of Lome, or John, King of
the Isles, as he is sometimes called. Harald MacGodred
seized the reins of government but was summoned to
Norway by King Hakon, who threw him into prison.
Ewen of Lome was in the difficult position of being a
vassal of the Scottish Crown for his possessions in Argyll,
while owing allegiance to Hakon for his possessions in the

40 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Hebrides. Alexander II. of Scotland, who had designs on
Man and the Hebrides, and was vainly endeavouring to
negotiate their cession by Hakon, was particularly anxious
to detach Ewen from the Norwegian interest. But all his
efforts proved unavailing ; neither threats nor promises
would induce Ewen to throw off his allegiance to Hakon.
The King determined to use compulsion, and Ewen in
alarm fled to Lewis for safety. Alexander pursued him,
but died of a fever in the Sound of Kerrera, near Oban.
Such was the position when Ewen, in his capacity of
Administrator of the Hebrides during an interregnum,
found himself called upon to repair from Lewis to Man
to prepare for the accession of his son-in-law. The Manx-
men, suspecting his motives, and resenting his assumption
of the regency, drove him from the island. Magnus was
in 1252 unanimously elected by the islanders as their ruler,
and in 1254, his title of " King of the Isles " was confirmed
by his suzerain.

In pursuance of his father's policy in respect of the
Hebrides, Alexander III. of Scotland re-opened negotia-
tions with Norway, but Hakon remained obdurate, and a
rupture between the two Kings was only avoided by the
friendly mediation of England. In 1262, matters reached
a crisis, which was brought about by the depredations of
William, Earl of Ross, son of Ferchard Mac-an-t'sagairt,
and other chiefs of the West, with the connivance, prob-
ably, of the Scottish King. Skye was ravaged, and the
invaders were accused of committing such barbarities as
child-spearing, thus rivalling the atrocities of the Norse
pirates, with whom the tossing of infants from spear to
spear was a common practice. The complaints which
reached Hakon, and the well-grounded belief that further
depredations were contemplated, left him no recourse but
to organise an expedition for the purpose of re-asserting
the authority of Norway, and protecting her subjects in the
Hebrides. The time had come for a final trial of strength
between Norway and Scotland.

In the spring of 1263, Hakon commenced his prepara-

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 41

tions, and on the ?th July, the fleet sailed from Bergen.
A good deal of time was wasted in the Shetlands and
Orkneys, due partly to a difference of opinion between
Hakon and his lieutenants as to the disposition of his
forces. The fleet reached Lewis in August, and at Skye,
Magnus of Man was waiting with reinforcements, which
probably comprised a levy from the Long Island. At
Gigha, King Hakon had an interview with Ewen of Lome,
who had in the interval renounced his allegiance to the
Norwegian Crown, and desired to be relieved of the fiefs
which he held from it. Recognising the probity of E wen's
sentiments, Hakon treated him with consideration, and
later, the noble lord of Lome, whose honourable character
remained unimpaired throughout, endeavoured to perform
useful services as a peace-maker. The most active and
influential of the Hebridean chiefs who joined the Nor-
wegian forces was Dugall, son of Ruari, son of Reginald,
son of Somerled the Great ; with his father and his brother,
Allan, he represented the Bute family, which was subse-
quently known as the Macruaries of Garmoran and the
North Isles. Old Ruari was particularly embittered against
the Scottish Crown, which had deprived him of Bute and
driven him to a life of piracy. His alliance with the Nor-
wegians is therefore intelligible, inasmuch as it afforded
him the means of revenge, of which, it may be added,
he amply availed himself.

The battle of Largs was preceded by a series of pour-
parlers which proved fruitless, except in gaining time for
the Scots, a result which was altogether in their favour, for
the summer was drawing to a close and bad weather was
imminent. The indecision of Hakon proved fatal, for at
the critical juncture, a great storm arose which shattered
his fleet, and so crippled his resources as to compel him to
seek the safety of Lamlash Harbour. The battle, if it
deserves that name, consisted of a series of skirmishes
between detached bodies of Norwegians who managed to
effect a landing, and overwhelming numbers of Scots ; and
the Norsemen showed to advantage equally with the Scots.

42 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

It is probable that from first to last, the number of
Norwegians engaged in these skirmishes did not exceed
1,500, and the loss of 24,000 men, which, according to some
Scottish historians, they suffered, is a wild exaggeration.
But the political results of the conflict were far-reaching, for
the Hebrides were finally severed from the Norwegian
Crown, and incorporated with the Kingdom of Scotland.
The aged King Hakon reached Kirk wall, where a fever,
supervening upon his crushing misfortune, carried him off,
on 1 5th December, 1263. His remains found a final
resting place in the Cathedral of Bergen.

Alexander III. followed up his success with energy.
He brought Magnus of Man to his knees, and in 1264
sent a force to the Hebrides to reduce them to submission.
Some of the chiefs were hanged, others sought safety in
flight, and bribes secured the allegiance of the remainder.
In the following year, Magnus of Norway, Hakon's son
and successor, opened negotiations with the Scottish King
for the final settlement of the Hebridean question. He
offered to resign Bute and Arran, while retaining possession
of the other islands, but this offer was naturally rejected.
Finally, 'in 1266, the whole of the islands (excluding the
Orkneys and Shetlands)with the patronage of the Bishopric
of the Isles, were ceded to Scotland, in consideration of
4,000 merks of silver, to be paid in annual instalments,
each of 1,000 merks, and thereafter an annual quit-rent of
loo merks. A note to the treaty stipulated that the pre-
vailing custom of enthralling a conquered people should
not be observed in this instance. By this provision, Magnus
secured the Norsemen in the Isles against a state of servi-
tude which, to their proud spirits, would have been the
most galling feature of what probably seemed to them
a disgraceful surrender.

The Perth Treaty was sealed by the betrothal of Erik,
son of Magnus, to Margaret, daughter of Alexander. The
marriage dower, however, was apparently not paid, for in
1299-1300, Hakon V. of Norway claimed the arrears, and
with them, the resumption of Norway's sovereignty over

!

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 43

the Sudreys. Application was made to England to aid the
Norwegians in expelling the Scots from the islands, but
the appeal fell upon deaf ears. In 1312, the treaty was
ratified by Hakon and Robert Bruce, and finally, in 1426,
by James I. of Scotland and Erik VIII. of Pomerania,
King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. But the annual
tribute of 100 merks — known as the " Annual of Norway " —
was not punctually paid, and in course of time, the arrears,
with fines, amounted to a large sum. Finally, the marriage
of James III. with Margaret, daughter of Christian I., King
of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, was utilised to settle
the account between the two countries. In return for the
dowry settled by James on his wife, his father-in-law agreed
to relinquish all claims, both past and prospective, in
respect of the tribute ; pledged the Orkneys for the sum of
50,000 florins ; and agreed to pay a further sum of 10,000
florins before the departure of his daughter for Scotland.
But the impecunious King was able to find only 2,000
florins towards payment of the stipulated sum, and for the
balance of 8,000 florins, was obliged to pledge the Shet-
lands as he had mortgaged the Orkneys. These pledges
have never been redeemed, and if, as was held in 1668, the
right of redemption is imprescribable, it is conceivable that
it may be put in force some day in the very dim future,
when the British Empire begins to break up !

The accounts of the contemporary manners and customs
of the Norsemen in the Mother country, in Iceland, and in
the Orkneys and Shetlands, as derived from unimpeachable
sources, form a sure basis for ascertaining the conditions of
life, as they prevailed in the Outer Hebrides during the
Norse occupation.

Each district or herad was governed by a hirsiry whose
office was at once patriarchal, military, pontifical, and
hereditary. By Harold Fairhair, the power and indepen-
dence of the hersir in Norway were for ever destroyed, and
the exodus which took place, as the outcome of his strong
rule, marked the extinction of the privileges of the htrad
and the litrsir in the Mother country, and their introduction

44 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

to her colonies. The boendr were the independent land-
owners in the community, where all were classed as " free "
or " unfree." They formed the backbone of the colonies ;
their voices carried greatest weight at the Things and in
the election of their rulers ; and they were trained for
service in war alike on land and sea. The thralls were, of
course, the lowest grade of society, and it may be safely
assumed that a large proportion of this class in the Outer
Hebrides consisted of the natives whom the Norsemen
found and overcame. The slave trade was a recognised
institution among the Norwegians ; they bought and sold
their captives like so many cattle. Thralls were frequently
employed by their masters to do their morally dirty work,
such as cutting throats and " exposing " children. Under
certain conditions, such as specific work or marked bravery
in the field, it was possible for the thrall to acquire his
freedom.

We have seen that the title of " King " was held not only
by the Viceroys of Man, but by certain of the Sudreyan
chiefs. The regal title borne by the governors of Man
found its justification in the power which was actually
vested in them ; but notwithstanding the various attempts
made by these kinglets to assert their independence, it is
clear that their very existence was bound up with the
overlordship of Norway, which implied protection from
absorption by their powerful neighbours. The assumption
of the kingly dignity by the Hebridean chiefs rested upon
a different basis. In Norway, there were different classes
of " kings " : Sea-kings who never slept beneath a " sooty
rafter," and never drank at the " hearth- corner " ; Fylki an<
Herad-kings who were territorial magnates ; Host-kings
who, as the name denotes, were leaders of warriors — the
term being frequently interchangeable with Sea-kings ;
and Skatt or Tax-kings. The lords of the Hebrides were
Skatt-kings, the term implying their tributary relationship
to Norway. Skatt * was a land tax originated by Harald

* The words " skate " and sgadatt (the Gaelic name for herring) may possibly
be related to the fish tax.

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 45

rairhair ; and teinds were exacted after the introduction of
Christianity. Although nominally valued in money, taxes
were paid in produce, fish, &c. It is perhaps unnecessary
to say that the word Vik-ings, or " men of the bays," has
no connexion with kingship. The Vikings followed the
profession of piracy, which was considered no less honour-
able an occupation than cattle-lifting during the clan
period in the Highlands.

The allodial system of land-tenure (Icelandic bdal=
ancestral possessions) which prevailed was the antithesis
of feudalism ; it was based upon entire independence of
Superiors and was completed by undisturbed possession of
the land. The odallers were peasant nobles who possessed
their lands simply by primal occupancy. Their title was
absolute and inalienable, and their rights were transmitted
to their children and jealously guarded from infringement.
A man might take service with another and even sink to
the position of a thrall, without forfeiting his right to the
possession of his odal. The only " rent " known to the
odaller was an assessment for public services.

The odalsjord comprised the tun or township with its bol
or chief farm (hence Eribol, &c.) enclosed by its hill dyke
which separated its inner field from its soettur or common
outpasture (hence Shader, Sheshader, Linshader and other
similar names in Lewis). The rights of the community in
respect of these commons were carefully preserved by the
herad. Every settler had the right to make use of the
wood and water on them, to fish in them, to hunt and trap
animals, to cut timber and mow grass, and to build smithies
and hunting huts. The rights of previous users of the
common land had to be observed by new-comers. The
settler was expected to fence his property within twelve
months. Outside his homefield, he owned as out-grounds
all the surrounding land as far as he could throw his
knife. Deer enclosures could be made on common land,
and here again the hunting privileges of previous settlers
had to be respected. Fishing-grounds were common pro-
perty, but there were probably certain restrictions imposed

46 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

in respect both of fishing and seal catching, which were
intended for the general good. A close time was doubtless
observed ; we know, at any rate, that the law of seal-
catching contained this provision.

In modern times, the question of " commons " has again
and again formed in the Outer Hebrides a bone of con-
tention between the people and their proprietors. Believing
that, from time immemorial, their forefathers possessed
inalienable rights in those lands, the crofters have resented
any attempts to encroach upon their privileges. It would
not be difficult to produce strong presumptive evidence
in support of these traditional claims. That the rights
existed during the Norse occupation is more than likely,
and that they were subsequently respected by their feudal
Superiors is suggested by the persistence of the tradition.

The judicial and legislative functions exercised by
the Things of Norway were of a thoroughly democratic
character. Representative government was dear to the
hearts of the Norsemen. In its essence, the system of
representation bears a striking analogy to the Presbyterian
method of Church government, and its similarity to the
legislative system of the United States of America is still
more remarkable. The principle of local government was
much in favour with the Norse colonists : the District and
Parish Councils and Parochial Boards of the present day
had their prototypes in the Norse colonies a thousand years
ago. Meetings for settling local affairs were known by
different names, according to the nature of the business to
be transacted. Thus, the Hof-Thing dealt with religious
matters ; the Hus-Thing with domestic affairs ; the Log-
Thing was a Court of Law ; the Leidar-Thing a War
Council ; the Hreppa-mot an assemblage of the skatt breth-
ren of ^hrepp or skathald', and a Her ads-Things, meeting of
the inhabitants of a Jierad* The functions of the Al- Thing,
or Allsherjar-Thing (Thing of all the hosts) were the most

* The union of several townships formed a hrepp, the community sharing
the pasture (moar or moor) and the skatt exacted from strangers. A combina-
tion of hrepps formed a htrad.

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 47

important of all. As its name denotes, it was an assembly
of all the freemen met together at stated intervals for
deliberative, legislative, and judicial purposes. At the
Al-Thing, only the land-owning boendr had a right to
be heard, but the voting was equal ; one man one vote,
rather than one value one vote, was the principle that
prevailed.

Originally, the A I- Thing enacted and administered the
laws, and regulated taxation ; in the latter respect, by
voting or withholding supplies, it occupied an analogous
position to that of the British House of Commons, and
its power in determining peace or war was by this means
paramount. But its legislative functions were subsequently
rendered to a large extent unnecessary by the compilation
of a Book of the Laws, and in later times, its duties were
mainly restricted to matters of finance, administration, and
justice. The name Al-Thing itself seems to have given
place to the less imposing one of Log (or Law) Thing.
The people were summoned to the Things and to war by
an arrow, and subsequently by a cross, and were accom-
modated in booths (whence the Hebridean " bothies ").

Christianity was legally established in Iceland in the
year 1000 A.D., but long before that date the Norsemen
in the Outer Hebrides had become Christians, though
there is evidence to show that the change of form was
frequently unaccompanied by a change of belief. The
Christianity of the converted Norsemen was at first a
curious amalgam : they professed the new faith but clung
to their pagan superstitions. They were good Christians
when everything was going well, but in times of danger,
especially at sea, they invoked the aid of Thor. The
Christian priests sought to engraft their religion on the
old beliefs, trusting in the efficacy of the former to destroy,
in course of time, the traces of Paganism which remained.
Curious relics of this grafting process are seen in the princi-
pal Christian festivals, the names of the days of the week,
and in other forms. And some of the superstitions of the
Northmen, such as the belief in witchcraft, the working of

F 2

48 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

spells, and the faith in omens and dreams, are far from
being extinct in the Long Island even at the present day.

In their lighter moments the Norsemen were boon
companions, but refining influences were present which
tempered the grossness of their physical appetites. The
skald recited his poems ; the sagaman told his stories ;
the musician played his harp or his fiddle. Athletic sports
had an important place in the community, the chief
exercises being wrestling, leaping, and swimming, games
of ball, hunting, and falconry. Chess-playing, riddles,
feats of jugglery, and horse fights, were favourite amuse-
ments. The splendid set of chessmen, chiefly made of
walrus-tusk, which were found in 1831 at Uig in Lewis,
and which are now in the British Museum, probably dates
from the Norse occupation. Two of the figures are repre-
sented in the act of biting their shields, a common practice
with Norse champions, when overtaken by a fit of berserk
rage.

As a fighter, the Norseman was unexcelled, either on
land or sea. He loved his sword as his child, sometimes
retaining its genealogy, and giving it a distinctive name.
The axe, the bow, and the sling, were his other weapons
of offence ; the coat of mail, the shield, and the helmet,
constituted his means of defence. His ships varied in size
and shape as in use. The longships— which were some-
times sheathed with iron above the sea level — were the
most powerful ; the skutas (whence the sgoths of the Long
Island) were the swiftest of the war-vessels. The size of
a ship and her fighting strength were gauged by the number
of oars, or the number of benches, which she carried.
Kaupship was the generic name for trading vessels, one
kind of cargo ship being called byrding (burden), of which
name, the "birling" of the Hebrideans, during the clan
days, may be a corruption. The merchant-ships were dis-
tinguished from the war-vessels by the absence of war-
pennants, dragons at the stem and stern, and shields hung
over the side. As a rule, they enjoyed immunity from
the attentions of the Vikings, who considered it unmanly

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 49

to attack a trading vessel at sea. The Norsemen, warriors
though they were, entertained no stupid prejudice against
trade ; on the contrary, they regarded it as an honourable
calling. Harald Fairhair's son, Bjorn, was a famous kaup-
man or merchant.

In their pagan days, the Northmen had a horror of
dying a natural death, a certain entry to Valhalla await-
ing him who died gloriously on the battlefield. The Sagas
are full of their reckless daring and absolute indifference
to danger. It is probable that for some time after their
nominal conversion to Christianity, the influence of the
Valhalla belief was universally present with them, the
name of Heaven being substituted for Valhalla without
any essential change in the association of ideas. The
pagan Valkyrias doubtless became transformed into
Christian angels ; and the twin occupations of drinking
and fighting in Valhalla were perhaps the only ideas
relating to the future world of rewards which were sub-
stantially modified by the teaching of the Christian priests.

The marriage, baptism, and burial customs of the
Norsemen are full of interest. If the standard of civili-
sation to which a community has attained be measured by
the status of its women, these rough warriors must take a
high place. Marriage was usually a business affair, the term
brud-kaup. or bride-buying, being suggestive of its nature.
Certain characteristics of the betrothal bear a similarity to
the custom known as " bundling," which is still practised
in the Long Island. The breaking of a betrothal was
punished by outlawry. Marriage on insufficient means was
strictly forbidden, the punishment being " lesser " outlawry
if any children were born ; nor were marriages of rela-
tions— to the fifth degree — permissible. A wife held
property in her own right, and property acquired after
marriage was shared between husband and wife under
fixed conditions ; after they had been married for twenty
years, they were partners according to law. The strictness
of the marriage tie as a rule was carefully observed, but
Divorce was procurable for infidelity on the part of the

5o HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

wife, or ill-treatment on the part of the husband. Women
who wore breeches — literally — and men who wore any
approach to women's clothing were liable to be divorced ;
and in Iceland, divorce on account of extreme poverty
after marriage was lawful. Separation was conditioned by
well-defined laws, which were based upon the principle that
the agreement must be mutual, otherwise the offending
party was mulcted in the loss of property. Extravagance
on the part of women was checked by a salutary law ; but
a woman who earned her own living — and there were such
in those days — had a right to please herself in such matters.
Polygamy was rare among the Norsemen, being confined
to the great chiefs, who must occasionally have found it to
be a doubtful privilege.

The abandonment of children by exposure was frequently
practised, the causes being deformity, family discord, the
presence of ill-omens, or the poverty of the parents.^ The
Spartans similarly provided for a survival of the fittest and
the elimination of the unfit. The custom of " exposing "
children long prevailed in Lewis, and isolated instances
have been known in comparatively modern times. The
naming of a child by the Norsemen was a matter of great
importance, the chief object being to avoid an unlucky
name, and to choose one calculated to bring good fortune
with it. Hence the prevalence of names prefixed by that
of the god Thor. Fostering children was common among
the Norse chiefs, as it was among the Highland chiefs of
later days, and in both cases, fosterhood formed one of
the strongest possible ties. There is a striking analogy
between the tales in the Sagas and the traditions of the
Highlands, relating to the unselfish love which existed
between foster-brothers. Among the Norsemen, there are
instances of men becoming foster-brothers as the result of
mutual admiration for mutual prowess, the ceremony of
fosterhood taking the form of a pledge, accompanied by a
commingling of blood.

The burial customs of the Norsemen were in some
respects peculiar to them. Fire was regarded as a puri-

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 51

fying agent, by means of which the dead were rendered fit
to be received into the presence of Odin. It was the belief
that the warrior whose body was burned on a funeral pyre
would go to Valhalla, with such of his possessions as were
consumed with him. Hence it was customary for the favour-
ite horses, dogs, falcons, and sometimes the thralls, of the
dead to be burned or " mounded " (buried) with him, in
order to enable him to make an entry into Valhalla befitting
his rank and fame. Burial in ships was practised, so far
as is known, by no people except the Norsemen. In
some instances — for example, the ship found at Gokstad —
the vessel with its mortuary chamber was mounded. The
usual practice, however, was to set fire to the ship and send
her out to sea, a sight calculated to impress even the fierce
Vikings.

The Norse code of morality is set forth in the Hdvdmal
(Song of the High), the authorship of which is attributed
to Odin himself. He who practised the apothegms of the
Hdvdmal must have been a pattern of wisdom, for many
of them are pregnant with the philosophy of life. The
Norse criminal laws contained provisions which might be
copied with advantage in these days. There were no bank-
ruptcy laws to shelter the reckless, the incompetent, or the
dishonest trader. Adulteration of food was placed on the
same footing as robbery and arson ; the punishment in each
case was severe. A wise discrimination was shown in the
treatment of criminals. The swindler was outlawed, but
the man who stole food in order to sustain life escaped
punishment altogether. The crimes visited with the
severest punishment were murder, perjury, seduction, adul-
tery, and the violation of the sanctity of blood-relationship.
Family feuds were frequent, but revenge for injuries com-
mitted was frequently satisfied by the system of fines
which characterised Gothic legislation ; the aggrieved
family having the right to exact compensation (weregild).

Grave misconceptions sometimes exist as to the character
and institutions of the Norsemen of the Viking Age.
Rough, strong men ; quick to resent an insult ; relentless

52 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

foes but staunch friends ; men of action rather than men
of speech ; superstitious to a degree, yet eminently practical ;
glorifying physical prowess, yet not despising mental
attainments ; cruel, remorseless, and domineering, yet
truthful, honourable, and generous ; men of many moods ;
•children of Nature ; such are some of the characteristics
and incongruities presented by a study of the " hardy
Norsemen " of yore. Incomparable sailors, they submitted
to the voice of authority, but resented the hand of tyranny ;
the wide expanse of ocean, canopied by the blue vault of
Heaven, was their home ; and children of such a home
refused to permit the shackling of their liberties. De-
mocracy was the only form of government which they
would tolerate ; government by and for the people was their
political creed ; a love of justice was ingrained in their
nature ; and despotism and oppression were abhorrent to
their souls. Truly there was much to admire in these Sons
of the Sea. They were emphatically men; and if a softening
of their manners, a repression of their passions, a smoothing
of the rough corners of their character, would have served
to present them in a more favourable light to history, they
were at least saved from the enervating luxuries, the
•calculating craftiness, and the blunted sense of honour, so
prevalent among more refined contemporaries. While
their ferocity is to be deplored, their virtues are to be com-
mended. The former is blazoned on the pages of history ;
the latter are too frequently overlooked.

That the present inhabitants of the Long Island have
inherited many of the characteristics of their Norse fore-
fathers goes without saying. Physically, the Lewismen of
the Norse type are the superiors of their fellow-islanders.
It would indeed be difficult to find finer specimens of
manhood anywhere than the Butt of Lewis fishermen and
crofters, who retain in a remarkable degree the Norse phy-
siognomy of their progenitors. That the Norse character
has impressed itself in a marked degree upon the tempera-
ment of the Long Islander admits of no reasonable
doubt. That the fatalistic tendencies, the melancholia,

THE NORSE OCCUPATION. 53

the peculiar outlook upon life, so frequently observed in
the Outer Hebrides, are not attributable to "Celtic
gloom," but to the Norse strain in the blood, is probably
as true as the assertion that many of the prevalent super-
stitions are traceable to the same origin. The hard condi-
tions of life ; the joyless existence of a grinding poverty ;
the melancholy sough of the restless sea which dashes
against their rock-bound coast ; these are influences which,
acting upon a temperament naturally prone to moodiness,
have accentuated the inherited tendency, and produced the
" gloom " which is as little akin to the Celtic nature, as is
the light-hearted Irishman to the grave Hebridean. Dr.
Beddoe, a careful observer, states that " it is curious that
wherever in the North of Scotland Scandinavian blood
abounds, hypochondriasis, hysteria, and other nervous dis-
orders are remarkably frequent," and he mentions an
account of a hysterical epidemic in Shetland (quoted in
Hecker's Epidemics of the Middle Ages). Whatever effect
the Norse blood may have upon the temperament of the
Long Islanders, it is at least certain that their love of
the sea ; their unsurpassed qualities — unlike those of the
Celts — as sailors and fishermen ; their contempt for the
dangers of their calling ; are largely attributable to their
descent from those warriors who, a thousand years ago,
were the undisputed monarchs and the fear-inspiring
scourges of the Atlantic Ocean.*

* The principal works consulted in connexion with the foregoing sections
are : — Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Wilson's Pre-
historic Annals, Dr. Anderson's Pagan Scotland, Nilsson's Primitive
Inhabitants of Scandinavia, Worsa^'s Primitive Antiguitic* of Denmark,
Johnstone's Antiquitates, Bunbury's History of Ancient Geography, the Irish
Annals (Ulster and Four Masters], the Irish historians (Keating, Todd,
O'Curry, D' Alton, and Haliday), Adamnan's Columba, Skene's Celtic Scot-
land, Pinkerton's History of Scotland, Robertson's Early Kings, Chalmers'
Caledonia, Chronicles of Man (Camden and Munch), Torfceus, the Histories
of the Isle of Man by Sacheverell, Train and Moore, the Norse Sagas relating
to the British Islands, and Du Chaillu's Viking Age.

CHAPTER III.

HEBRIDEAN genealogy is a useful handmaiden to Hebri-
dean history : what is wanting in the highways of history,
is sometimes found in the byways of genealogy. The pride
of pedigree had a tendency to become a fetish in the
Hebrides ; he whose family tree did not attain a certain
standard of luxuriance and age was a pariah among the
elect. Precedence at table was regulated by purity of
blood ; the seats of honour were reserved for the men
whose pedigrees were as long as their swords. The
seanachies, endowed with the gift of a fertile imagination,
found no difficulty in supplying links in the genealogical
chain, where these were missing ; and the bards seconded
their efforts by feeding the chiefs upon the same pabulum
of family pride. Unhappy was he who had no ancestors.

A striking proof of the pride of pedigree is contained in
a story told by Hugh Macdonald, the Sleat seanachie. In
the fifteenth century, a great feast was given by John of the
Isles, Earl of Ross, to his vassals, among whom were
Macleocl of Lewis and Macleod of Harris. The guests
were arranged in order of precedence by Macdonald of
Moidart, who concluded his duties by declaring that he
would now sit down, as his was the best and the oldest cf
the surnames represented at the feast. Turning to the
Macleods, the Macleans, and the Macneills, whom he had
left standing, he added : " As for these fellows who have
raised up their heads of late, and are upstarts ; whose
pedigrees we know not, nor even they themselves, let them
sit as they please." The insult cost the speaker dear, for
his lands were ravaged by Macleod of Harris on his way
home. Reprisals followed, and thus a question of genea-
logy became a casus belli between two clans.

THE CLANS OF THE LONG ISLAND. 55

If the origin of the Macleods was a puzzle in the
fifteenth century, it has been equally a puzzle up to the
present day. Who was the mysterious Leod, the pro-
genitor of the clan, and when did he live ? Various in-
vestigators have advanced various theories, but they are all
guess work.* With one exception, they declare that the
clan is of Scandinavian origin ; but the exception is an
important one. Dr. Skene, who pinned his faith to the
Kilbride manuscript (circa 1540) discovered by him,
stoutly maintained that the Macleods are of Celtic origin.
But even in the Kilbride MS., as well as in the MS. of
McFirbis, the Irish genealogist, the Celtic names are inter-
spersed with those of Scandinavian forbears. These
genealogies are apparently at complete variance with one
another, an alternative explanation of which may possibly
be that one is in the male, and the other in the female,
line. Taking the first three names : the Kilbride genealogy
makes Leod the son of Oloig, son of Oib, son of Oilmoir ;
another genealogy quoted by McFirbis (that of the Mac-
leans) makes him the son of Gillemuire, son of Raice, son
of Olbair Snoice (son of Gillemuire). The traditional
account in the Macleod family is that Leod was the son of
Olave the Black, King of Man and the Outer Hebrides, by
Christina, daughter of Farquhar O'Beolan, Earl of Ross.
Which of these versions, if any, is correct ? Can it be,
after all, that Olave the Black, Oloig, and Gillemuire, are
one and the same person ?

It is not difficult to believe that Oloig is simply Olave
Og, or Young Olave, while Oilmoir in the Kilbride MS.
and Olbair in the Irish genealogy may well stand for
Olave Mor, or Olave the Great; in other words, Olave
(Og) the Black, and his grandfather Olave (Mor) the Red.
The names Gillemuire and Raice may conceivably be the
Celtic appellations for Olave the Black, his father, and his

* Johnstone's surmise was Liot Jarl of Orkney ; Pope's (the translator of
Tor&eus), Liot the Niding ; while Captain Thomas endeavoured to identify
Leod with Ljotolf, a Norwegian chief who lived in Lewis and who was a
friend of Sweyn of Gairsay, the famous pirate. All three lived in the twelfth
century.

56 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

great-grandfather. " Muire " appears to be St. Mourie or
Maelrubha (rather than the Virgin Mary) of whose name
Rice (Raice) is known to be a variant. Such compound
names as Gille-Muire, Gille-Colum, Gille-Anrias, Gille-
Bride, and similar appellatives, were of frequent occurrence
among the Celtic Christians during the Norse domination
of the Hebrides ; and after the conversion of the Norsemen
to Christianity, they may have been applied by the Celts to
Norwegians of rank in the Isles, who were distinguished
for their devotion to the saints under whose patronage
they had placed themselves. In heathen times, it was a
common practice among the Norsemen to adopt the name
of the god Thor as a talisman against danger ; for example,
Thor-kall (Torquil i.e. Thor's servant) and Thor-mod
(Tormod t.e. brave like Thor), and the same idea may be
traced in the personal names derived from those of Chris-
tian saints. St. Mourie, who was venerated in the Long
Island, as well as on the west coast of Ross and in
Sutherland, was likely enough the patron saint of Olave
the Black and his predecessors when they sojourned in
the North Isles. The church of St. Maelrubha at Eorra-
pidh, Ness, which is commonly called St. Olafs, was very
probably founded by Olave the Black during his residence
in Lewis. The local tradition is that it was built by a
" Norse King " named Olaf, and the name of its founder is
applied to it even more frequently than that of the saint to
whom it was dedicated.

Whether it is possible to reconcile the apparently con-
flicting genealogies or not, the weight of evidence in
support of a Scandinavian origin of the clan is over-
whelming. Such purely Norse names as Torquil and
Tormod,* which persist among the Macleods to the
present day ; the eponym " Leod " which is the same as
the Norse " Liot," and which appears in the Saxon
Chronicle under the Teutonic forms of Leod-wald and

* It is a curious circumstance that whereas " Torquil '' has no English
or Gaelic equivalent, "Tormod" has been Englished as "Norman" i.e.
Northman or Norwegian.

THE CLANS OF THE LONG ISLAND. 57

Leod-ulf ; the heraldic proofs which exist at Dunvegan, a
stone panel, ascribed to the seventeenth century, bearing
the arms of Man* ; and most important of all, the
unbroken tradition in the family of Macleod of Macleod ;
all bear strongly against the Celtic theory.

The only Leod known to early Scottish history is a
lay abbot of Brechin, whose son, " Gylandrys MacLod,"
a man of some consequence, figures in charters of 1227
and 1232. Unless, however, we suppose that this Leod,
whose estates were forfeited, settled in the Hebrides when
Malcolm IV. dispersed his troublesome subjects in Moray,
there is nothing to connect the abbot of Brechin with
the great clan of Lewis and Harris. On the whole, the
tradition of the Macleods, which attributes their origin to
Olave the Black, affords the only theory that appears to
be tenable.

Paul McTyre, a famous freebooter who lived in the
second half of the fourteenth century, is stated to have
been a great-grandson of Olave the Black and of
Christina, daughter of the Earl of Ross.f The father of
Paul was Leod MacGilleandrais who, from his ferocious
disposition, was appropriately nicknamed " Tyre " or " the
Wolf." Leod was the chief instrument in the execution
at Inverness, in 1346, of Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail
(" Coinneach na Sroine ") whose son Murdoch (" Black
Murdoch of the Cave") fled, when a youth, for refuge,
to his uncle, Macleod of Lewis. Returning some years
afterwards, with 120 Lewismen, Murdoch met and slew
Leod MacGilleandrais at Featha Leoid, or Leod's Bog,
in Kenlochewe. The only member of Leod's party who
escaped was his son Paul, the notorious cateran of later
years. Paul's daughter married Walter Ross of Balna-
gown, and her dowry consisted of the lands of Strath-
carron, Strathoykell, and Westray.

The three legs were — to use an Irishism — the arms of Man as early

5 the fourteenth century. They represented the svastica which the Christian

cross superseded in Scandinavian countries. Previous to the fourteenth

century, the arms of Man were a galley, which figures prominently in the

arms of the Hebridean clans.

t The Earls of Ross, p. 8, by F. N. Reid.

58 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

This brings us to another tradition, the genuineness of
which was accepted by Dr. Skene himself; it dates at
least as far back as the sixteenth century. This tradition
states that three brothers came out of Denmark (or
Norway) Leod, Guin, and Leandris ; that Leod conquered
Lewis, and gave rise to the Clan MacLeod ; and that from
Leandris was descended Paul McTyre, who gave his lands
of Strathoykell, Strathcarron, and Westray, to Walter Ross
of Balnagown. It has been shown that Paul was the son
of Leod " the Wolf," the son of Leandris, the son of Olave
the Black, history thus tallying with tradition. If, there-
fore, this portion of the tradition is confirmed by historical
proof, it may be reasonably assumed that the portion
which affirms that Leod was a brother of Leandris is also
historically correct ; and if that be admitted, it follows
that Leod was a son of Olave the Black.

Lewis tradition offers confirmation of this view. Captain
Dymes (1630) was told that Leod was the son of a
" Danish Kinge." John Morison of Bragar (circa 1680)
states that Torquil Macleod, the first of that name, was
the son of " Claudius the son of Olipheous," said to be a
son of the King of Norway. These are simply variants
of the tradition which makes Leod a son of Olave the
Black.

As far back as 1630, it was supposed that Leod had
given his name to the Island of Lewis, and the mistake,
which was natural enough, seeing that both names are
identical, has been frequently repeated in modern times.
If an opinion may be hazarded, it is that Leod was born
in Lewis during his father's occupancy of the island, and
derived his name from his birth-place. Tradition tells us
that he was fostered by his father's friend, Paul Balkasson,
governor of Skye, who gave him Harris, which Olave the
Black may have ceded to Balkasson ; and that the Earl
of Ross, his maternal grandfather, gave him part of the
barony of Glenelg. Leod is said to have married the
daughter of a Norseman in Skye, MacRaild Armuinn
(Mac Harald the lord) and to have received as his

THE CLANS OF THE LONG ISLAND. 59

wife's dowry, Dunvegan, Minginish, Bracadale, Duirinish,

Lyndale, and part of Trotternish. On his death, his

possessions were divided between his sons Torquil, who

got Lewis, and Tormod, who got Harris and the Skye

property. In the absence of positive proof either way,

it would serve no good purpose to discuss which was

the senior branch of the clan, the Siol Torquil or the Siol

Tormod (" seed " of Torquil and Tormod) ; there are good

arguments on both sides ; but Macleod of Harris was long

recognised as being " of that ilk." The armorial bearings

of the Macleods of Harris are a castle triple-towered, while

the Macleods of Lewis had a mountain in flames.* The

arms of the Siol Torquil, with the three legs of Man,

were quartered with the Mackenzie arms by Sir George

Mackenzie of Tarbat (the descendant of Torquil Conanach

Macleod) ; and the burning mountain formed the crest

of the Seaforth family, and, with the appropriate motto

Luceo non uro, still figures in the armorial bearings of the

Mackenzies.f John Buchanan of Auchmar affirms that

Leod was the Norwegian governor of the Isles in the reign

of William the Lion, and that his sons were permitted by

Alexander III. to remain in possession of their estates as

they were in high favour. Leod could not have been born

before the death of William the Lion (1214), but it is

quite possible that he may have acted as his father's

lieutenant in Lewis during the latter part of the reign

of Alexander II., who died in 1249. A copy of a charter

in the Clan Ranald Charter Chest, dated igth January,

1245, and witnessed by " Macleod of Lewis and Macleod

of Harris," has been quoted in support of the theory that

the origin of the Macleods must be placed further back

than the period we have assigned to it. Undoubtedly

this would be the case if the charter were genuine, or if

* In Stodart's Scottish Arms, there are several drawings of Macleod
arms (both branches) the earliest being circa 1450-5.

\ Sir George Mackenzie (the first Earl of Cromartie) calls himself "a

ittle chief of the only Norwegian family remaining in Scotland, viz., the

race of Olaus, one of the last Royalists of Man, and of his son Leodus who

was heritor of the Island of Lewes." (Eraser's Earls of Cromartie, Vol. I.,

p. clxi.).

60 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

genuine, accurate. But this charter, on the face of it, is
either spurious, or the date is wrong ; and in either case is
valueless, as proof of the antiquity of the Macleods. It
purports to be a document conveying certain lands from
" Donald King of the Isles " to John Bisset of the Aird,
and signed at Donald's " Castle of Dingwall." In the
year 1245, there was no such person as Donald King of
the Isles who had a castle at Dingwall, for this description
cannot apply to the grandson of Somerled. If Donald of
Harlaw is meant, then the charter is pre-dated more than
a century and a half. All the evidence points to the con-
clusion that the progenitor of the Macleods lived about
the middle of the thirteenth century ; a view which was
held by Macfarlane, the genealogist.*

It would be rash to assume that the Macleods are the
oldest clan indigenous to Lewis. On the contrary, John
Morison of Bragar states that the three oldest families
were the Morisons, the Macaulays, and the Macnicols or
Nicolsons. To the Morisons he gives a Norse descent —
their founder Mores (Maurice), according to him, being the
son of Kennan, natural son of a king of Norway. The
Macaulays, he says, were descended from an Irishman,
Iskair (Issachar or Zachary)t Macaulay. The Macnicols,
he affirms, were slaughtered by Torquil, son of Leod, after
he had violently espoused the only daughter of their chief;
and by these means he came into possession of the whole of
Lewis, with the Earl of Ross as his Superior. That Torquil
did not inherit the whole of the island appears to be
probable, for according to another tradition, his grandson,
also named Torquil, acquired sole possession by running
down in the Minch the birling of the chief of the
Macnaughtons, who was drowned, and whose lands in
Lewis Torquil thereupon seized. This tradition states
that the Macnaughtons were in Lewis three centuries

* Contemporary with Shaw, fourth of his name, who died in 1265, were
Gillean and Leod, progenitors of the Macleans and Macleods (Scott. Hist.
Soc., Vol. XXXIII., p. 164).

t The name Zachary is rendered in Gaelic as " Issachari." ' Irskar' is
Icelandic for "Irish."

THE CLANS OF THE LONG ISLAND. 61

before the Macleods, but there is reason to believe that
the Macnaughtons have been confused with the Mac-
nicols (MacNachtans and MacNechtals) and that the
Macnaughtons never had a footing in Lewis. Tradition
supports the view that the old castle of Stornoway was
built by the Macnicols before the days of the Macleods.

Torquil, third chief in descent from Leod, had a charter

from David II. of four davochs of land in Assynt, together

with the fortress therein, and according to tradition, he

came into possession of this property by marrying the

heiress of the Macnicols. All this seems to point to the

fact that the Macnicols or Nicolsons were in the Long

Island and in Assynt at a remote period, and had

important possessions there before the Clan Macleod had

an existence. It is highly probable that they were

descended from a Norse settler named Nicolasson, who

was one of the most influential of the boendr. The

Sleat seanachie tells us that Olave the Red, who lived in

the twelfth century, killed the chief of the Macnicols in

North Uist. A manuscript of 1467 traces the descent of

the Nicolsons from one Gregill, son of Gillemuire, and

states that the traditional progenitor of the clan is a certain

Krycul, who is supposed to have lived in the thirteenth

century ; but the Nicolsons of the Outer Hebrides are, as

we have seen, probably of much more ancient lineage than

this tradition represents them to be.*

It is likely that the Morisons, as suggested by the
Bragar genealogist, are also descended from Norse for-
bears. It is far from improbable, indeed, that they were a
sept of the Macleods. John Morison states the belief
that the progenitor of the Macleods, and the father of the
progenitor of the Morisons, were both sons of the " King
of Noravay," or in other words, the Norse King of Man
and the North Isles. The Gaelic name of the Morisons —
Clan MacGillemhoire or Gillemuire — when taken in con-
junction with the preceding remarks about Saint Mourie

* The Sleat seanachie refers to " the ancient Danes of the Isles, namely
the Macduffies and Macnagills."

G

62 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

and the Kings of Man — appears to support the view that
the relations between the Macleods and the Morisons were
of an intimate nature. The name Morison is an English
rendering of the word Gillemuire — servant or devotee of
Mourie — and the original form survives in the modern
name of Gilmour. Perhaps the strongest argument for the
Macleod-Morison connexion consists in the fact that
during the time the Macleods possessed Lewis, the chiefs
of the Morisons — whose residence was at Habost, Ness —
held the office of Supreme Judge of the island. This office
was analogous to that of the lagmann or lawman in Norse
times, except that it was hereditary, instead of elective,
resembling in that respect the office of the godary the
district judges and priests in the Norse colonies. It can
hardly be supposed that the chiefs of the Siol Torquil
would permit such far-reaching authority to be vested in
any clan whose interests were not thoroughly bound up
with their own. The rupture which took place between
the two families at the end of the sixteenth century — of
which particulars are given elsewhere in this volume — was
the first serious difference between them, of which there is
any record. The Brieve (breitheamh = a judge), according
to Sir Robert Gordon, was " a kind of judge among the
islanders who hath an absolute judicatory, unto whose
authority and censure they willingly submit themselves,
and never do appeal from his sentence when he determines
any debatable question in controversy between party and
party." According to the seanachies, the Lords of the
Isles had a Brieve in every island, the chief Brieve residing
in Islay. The hereditary nature of this office was a serious
flaw in the system. It placed immense power in the
hands of men, whose qualifications as arbitrators must
have been of an unequal nature ; and whose judgments
can hardly have been invariably free from bias. The
chiefs of the Morisons in Lewis — the latter are sometimes
called the Clan na Breitheamh — enjoyed the privileges of
the judgeship for many generations, until their final down-
all early in the seventeenth century. The arms of the

THE CLANS OF THE LONG ISLAND. 63

Morisons of Dersay (or Darcie) in Fife, the Morisons of
Bogney, and the Morisons of Prestongrange, are three
Moors' heads, an obvious pun on the word Morison,
although tradition supplies a version of its own. Whether
or not these Morisons are descended from the Lewis
family it is difficult to say, but tradition seems to support
the suggestion. It is worthy of remark that a son of the
laird of Darcie (Learmont) went to Lewis, at the beginning
of the seventeenth century, to negotiate for the release of
the Fife adventurers who were held as hostages. It is
possible that this circumstance may form a link between
the Morisons of Darcie and the Morisons of Lewis. The
Lewis Morisons are known to have formed colonies in the
North of Scotland, no less than sixty families of them
having, according to tradition, been transported to
Durness and Old Shores by one of their chiefs who
married a daughter of the Bishop of Caithness, receiving
as her dowry the lands in question.

The Macaulays of Uig were a family of Norse extrac-
tion, and had no connexion with the Macaulays of
Ardencaple, Dumbartonshire ; but it is very probable
that the Loch Broom Macaulays and their namesakes
in Lewis were descended from a common progenitor.
The name Macaulay is the equivalent of the Norse
Olafsson. It is impossible to identify the progenitor of
the clan. Sir George Trevelyan tells us that the tradition
in Lord Macaulay's family was that they were descended
from " Olaus Magnus, King of Norway." Captain Thomas
tried to find an ancestor for them in the person of Olvir
Rosta, who lived in the twelfth century. It is curious to
find the tradition of descent from a Norse King applying
alike to the Macleods, the Morisons, and the Macaulays
of Lewis. It suggests a common origin, and that the
Macaulays, like the Morisons, may have been a sept of
the Macleods ; but with that suggestion we must rest
content, for there are no positive facts to go upon.

The feuds between the Macaulays and the Morisons
bulk largely in Lewis tradition. A great battle which

G 2

64 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

was fought between them at Barvas, is traditionally
believed to be commemorated by the Thrushel stone,
the large menhir in that parish, which the Morisons are
said to have erected to mark their victory over their
hereditary foes ; not, it may be added, a very likely
story. Torquil Macleod, grandson of Torquil L, son
of Leod, is believed to have acted as mediator in the
quarrel ; if that be so, the feud between the Morisons
and the Macaulays must date as far back as about the
middle of the fourteenth century. In the fifteenth
century, according to tradition, the Macaulays and a
family of the Macleods who resided at Pabbay, Uig, had
a blood-feud, from which the Macaulays, in the person
of John Roy, ultimately emerged victorious. The story
of John Roy Macaulay is told elsewhere in these pages.

The Macivers, another well-known clan in Lewis, can
hardly be regarded as indigenous to the soil. They are
bracketed with the Morisons and Macaulays by the
author of The Highlands of Scotland in 1750. He
says : " The common inhabitants of Lewis are Morisons,
McAulays and McKivers, but when they go from home,
all who live under Seaforth call themselves Mackenzies."
The Macivers, or most of them, seem to have come
over to the island with the Mackenzies, as did several
families, such as the Macraes and others, whose descen-
dants are to be found there. The Macivers (Mac Ivar)
are of Scandinavian origin* as are also apparently the
Macaskills, a clan or sept whose chief habitat seems to
be Lewis. "Ascall, son of Torcall, King of Ath-cliath"
figures in the Annals of Ulster in 1171. In 1311, one
" Gilbert Macaskil " is mentioned in connexion with
certain lands in the Bishopric of Durham.

In 1890-1, a return was made of the surnames of school
children in three of the parishes of Lewis, from which the
following extract is taken, showing those names whose

* By McFirbis's genealogy, the Macleods are traced back to "Old Ivor
the Great of the Judgments, from whom are descended the Siol-Sin-Iomhair
in Albain and in Erin and in Lochlann."

THE CLANS OF THE LONG ISLAND. 65

numbers exceed a hundred. The Macleods head the list
in each parish ; the Morisons are second in Barvas ; the
Mackenzies in Lochs ; and the Macdonalds in Uig. No
return was made of the parish of Stornoway.

Macleod 585 Maclean 155

Macdonald 364 Smith 132

Morison ... ... 239

Mackenzie 184

Mackay 166

Maciver 127

Macaulay 106

The origin of the Macdonalds of North and South Uist
and Benbecula is too well known to call for discussion
here. The descendants of Somerled found their way in
large numbers to Lewis, as appears from the fact that
they are numerically second among the surnames in the
list given above.

The Macneills of Barra are without doubt of very
ancient lineage. Martin tells us that according to the
genealogists of his day, the chief of the Macneills was
the thirty-fourth of his name who had possessed Barra
in unbroken descent, and Dr. Walker asserts that the
family were in possession of vouchers for about thirty
descents. The Old Statistical Account states that the
Macneills came from Ireland, and were in possession of
Barra "before the Danes"; that "the Danish governor
made alliance with them by marrying a daughter of one
of their chiefs ; that their castle of Kisimul," according
to tradition, " was built upwards of 500 years ago " — *>.,
about the thirteenth century. All this points to their
being in Barra at an early date — as early as the ninth or
tenth century if Dr. Walker's "vouchers" are reliable—
and it may be safely assumed that they were in possession
of their patrimony during the Norse occupation of the
Long Island. It is impossible to trace their progenitor,
but it seems likely that he was a Northman named Njal—
Macneill being the same as Nilsson — perhaps the Njal of
the race of Ketil Flatneb who ruled in the Hebrides
during the tenth century. According to the Old
Statistical Account, the Macneills of Barra were always

66 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

acknowledged as chiefs of the clan in Scotland. Nisbet,
quoting from James Espline, Marchmont-Herald in 1630,
calls Macneill of Barra " of that ilk." The Macneills of
Gigha are said to be descended from Torquil Macneill —
filius Nigelli — who, in the early part of the fifteenth
century, received from the Lord of the Isles a charter of
the lands of Gigha and Taynish, with the constabulary
of Castle Sweyn in Knapdale. The progenitors of the
Macneills of Barra and Gigha, it is alleged, were brothers,
but there is abundant evidence to show that the two
families were distinct from one another, and were not
descended from a common ancestor. The local impor-
tance of the chiefs of the Barra Macneills is humorously
alluded to by James Wilson, in his Voyage Round the
Coasts of Scotland and the Isles, published in 1842. It
is related, says Wilson, that in ancient times it was
customary for a herald to sound a horn from the battle-
ments of the castle, and proclaim aloud in Gaelic: "Hear,
oh ye people, and listen, oh ye nations! The great
Macneill of Barra having finished his meal, the princes
of the earth may dine ! " A good story, which the sceptic
should leave undisturbed. In 1750, according to the
author of the document published by Mr. Lang,* the
pride and the poverty of the Barra Macneills were
alike a byword among their neighbours. During the
clan period, they figure as " part-takers " of the
Macleans of Duart. The close relations which existed
between the two families is perhaps suggested by the
frequency of the name " Gilleonan "t among the Mac-
neills, as well as by the similarity of their armorial
bearings with those of the Macleans.

* The Highlands of Scotland in 1750.

f This name may possibly be related to the Maclennans rather than to the
Macleans.

CHAPTER IV.

WHEN the Norwegian contingent from the Outer
Hebrides joined Hakon s expedition, the Celtic inhabitants,
according to tradition, planned a general massacre of those
who were left. The Lewis Celts, so the tradition runs,
invited the Norwegians to a great feast, the guests being so
arranged that at a given signal, the Celts were able to dirk
them where they sat without resistance. And in Barra, a
heap of bones was in modern times unearthed, which were
said to be the remains of the last "Danes" (Norwegians)
murdered there after Largs.

Whatever truth there may be in this tradition, it is
reasonable to suppose that after the cession of the Isles,
the preponderance of Norsemen in the Long Island disap-
peared, and that they were replaced to a large extent by an
influx of Scottish settlers from the mainland. These Celtic
immigrants, coalescing with whatever kindred elements, if
any, had preceded the advent of the Norsemen, or filtered
into the islands during the Norse occupation, acquired an
ascendancy over the Norwegians who remained which they
have retained to the present day. No trace of the Norse
language, except in place-names and in certain Gaelic
words, now remains to tell of the race that possessed the
Outer Hebrides for centuries. In course of time, a partial
fusion of the two races was consummated. That the blend
was not universal is proved by concrete examples to the.
contrary. The people at the Butt of Lewis, for instance,
were until comparatively recent times, regarded as a foreign
colony by the rest of the islanders ; and at the present
day, the Norse characteristics of the people in the parish of
Ness are peculiarly conspicuous. The language of the

68 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Celts was imposed upon the Norsemen, but ethnology still
tells its tale.

That the Norwegians who elected to remain in the
Hebrides were unwilling subjects of Scotland, appears
from a mandate of 1282, by which the King of Norway
ordered them to do homage to the King of Scotland as
their lord. The disaffection in Lewis and Skye was
quelled by William Earl of Ross, who received a Crown
grant of those islands.*

While Lewis thus became an appanage of the Earldom
of Ross, Uist (North and South Uist, and Benbecula) passed
into the hands of Dugall and Allan, sons of old Ruari
the ex-pirate, who, on swearing allegiance to the Scottish
Crown, and resigning their claims to Bute, were granted
these lands in compensation, with the Earl of Ross as their
Superior.t

On the death of Dugall, his brother Allan (an illegiti-
mate son of Ruari) became the sole possessor of the
property, to which were subsequently added Moiclart,
Morar, Arisaig, and Knoydart in Garmoran. This family
is consequently known in history as the Macruaries of
Garmoran and the North Isles. In 1309, the Island of
Barra was added to their possessions, being a grant from
Robert Bruce in favour of Roderick MacAllan, as a reward
for his patriotic services. In 1344, David Bruce confirmed
the grant to Ranald Mac Roderick.^

It has been generally supposed that Harris passed to the
Macruaries, but apart from the improbability of this sup-
position, the evidence is altogether opposed to it. The
assumption is founded on a charter by Robert Bruce dated
(circa) 1320, which enumerates the properties of the
Macruaries. It includes a grant of the island of " Hug "
(? Hog or Mug, i.e. Muck), which has been held to mean

* Reid's Earls of Ross, p. 8.

f In 1292 the lands of the Earldom in North Argyll, which were formed
into the Sheriffdom of Skye, included Lewis (with Harris), Uist, and Barra.
(Acts of Parliament ', Vol. I., p. 447-)

% Origines Parochiales — Robertson's Index, p. 48. In order to avoid con-
fusion where that might arise, parental names are in the following page.s
differentiated from patronymic designations by the use of capital letters.

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 69

Harris. In the charters of David II. relating to the
Hebrides, there is no mention of this island. In the list
of charters by Robert II., the island of Heryce or Herce
appears, which has also been taken to represent Harris.
In his Index to Missing Charters, Robertson transcribes
this name as Heryte, Hert, and Hyrte, and applies it to
Hirta, or St. Kilda, which is probably correct, as it is known
that St. Kilda belonged to the Macruaries.

The inferential proofs are strong that Harris passed, as a
portion of Lewis, to the Earl of Ross, and that the former
became disjoined from the latter, only when Tormod, son
of Leod, inherited it as part of his patrimony. There is no
proof that the southern part of Lewis, i.e. the modern
Harris, ever belonged to the Macruaries, except as tempo-
rary lessees of the Earl of Ross.

We get a passing glimpse of the doings of the
Macruaries towards the end of the thirteenth century.
Allan MacRuari attended the Scottish Parliament which
in 1284 settled the Crown on the Maid of Norway, daughter
of Erik King of Norway, and of Margaret, daughter of
Alexander III. of Scotland. Soon afterwards (1285-86),
Allan committed an act of piracy on a Spanish ship with
a valuable cargo, which was driven ashore on the Outer
Hebrides. The captain appealed to King Alexander for
justice, with what result we are not informed.

The death of the Maid of Norway, and the subsequent
squabbles between the rival claimants to the throne of
Scotland, were events to which the chiefs of the Hebrides
were not indifferent. During the interregnum, we find
Edward I. of England, in pursuance of his scheme for
annexing Scotland to the English Crown, directing his atten-
tion to the Isles. In 1290, he commissioned the Bishop
of Durham to receive the men of the Isles to his " peace,"
in other words, to detach them from the national cause.
The commission appears to have been successful in the
South Isles, for in 1 292, Alexander of Argyll (de Ergadid),*

* Supposed to be a son of Ewen of Lome, though Skene contradicts that
theory.

70 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Angus Mor, son of the progenitor of the Macdonalds, and
his son Alexander, all entered into engagements with the
King of England to " keep the peace."

During the short and inglorious reign of John Baliol,
King Edward's puppet, there were commotions in the
Outer Hebrides and Skye. The three sons of Allan
MacRuari, Roderick, Ranald, and Lauchlan, refused to
acknowledge the authority of Baliol, and William (II.)
Earl of Ross was commissioned to make war upon them.
The Earl of Ross spent a thousand pounds upon the
campaign — a fact which, subsequently, he was not slow
to emphasise — and ultimately succeeded in capturing
Roderick and Lauchlan, whom he brought as prisoners to
the King. As a reward for this service, he received a grant
of the lands of Dingwall and Ferintosh. In 1296, however,
the Earl detached himself from the English interest, and
led a force against his quondam friends. The Scottish
defeat at Dunbar was followed by the Earl's capture and
imprisonment for seven years in the Tower of London.
He was then released in order to further the English cause
in the Highlands, receiving the office of Warden north of
the Spey, and a grant of the Isles (les terres des ylys).*
Meanwhile, the Hebrides were again thorns in the English
side. From the Ragman Roll, we find that at Elgin, in
July, 1296, Alexander Macdougall (de Ergadia) swore
fealty to Edward of England, and that Ranald MacAllan
submitted at Berwick. In the same year Alexander
Macdonald (de Insulis) was empowered as Edward's
bailiff to seize Kintyre, escheated by John Baliol ; while
Alexander, Earl of Menteith, was commissioned to take
over for the English King the castle, isles, and lands of
Alexander Macdougall and of his son John of Lome. In
the following year, a statement, emanating probably from
Alexander Macdonald, was made to Edward concerning
the lawless doings of Macdougall, who, it was asserted,
after his release from prison and taking the oath of fealty

* Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland Vol. IV., p. 400. This grant
was doubtless confined to Lewis and Skye.

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 71

to England, had wasted the writer's lands and slain his
people. The letter further states that Roderick and
Ranald MacAllan had invaded the King's lands of " Sky "
and " Leogus," and committed great depredations therein.
They killed, so it asserts, " the men living in those islands
and oppressed the women with violence, and caused the
ships in the King's service under immunities of the Church
to be burnt. And the said islands were so devastated by
the aforesaid (Roderick and Ranald) that the King could
get little or nothing from them on his demand."* Edward
was therefore begged by the writer to command the nobles
of Argyll and Ross to aid him in keeping the peace.
Macdougall successfully replied to the charges made against
him, and was again received into favour by the English
King. Roderick MacAllan (" Rodric Mac Rogri") was
captured by Alexander Macdonald, but he subsequently
escaped, or was released.

In 1301, fresh trouble was brewing in the Isles, and an
expedition, commanded by Hugh Bisset, with the co-
operation of Angus Og Macdonald, and John (jilins
Suffne) of Knapdale, was despatched to bring the
islanders under subjection to England. Alexander Mac-
dougall was at that time regarded with suspicion, and
Edward was asked for his advice as to the treatment of
the suspect, and for his help, if Macdougall had to be
proceeded against as an enemy. There are no further
details of this expedition, except that Angus Og, while
awaiting orders for his fleet at Bute or Kintyre, begged
the King's favour for the sons of Roderick MacAllan who
were in his power, stating, as the grounds of his request
for a "native fee," that they had been friendly to the
English cause.

The correspondence between Edward of England and
Pope Boniface, which followed the defeat at Falkirk of the
heroic William Wallace, was concurrent with a remarkable
commission which the English King sent to the Hebrides

* Letter in the Public Record Office (Stevenson, Vol. II., p. 188).

72 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

to pacify the inhabitants. The fleet of the Cinque Torts
sailed for the Isles charged with this mission. The admiral
was empowered to receive into his favour, Alexander Mac-
dougall and his sons, John and Duncan, his son-in-law
Lauchlan MacAllan, and all their servants ; also all the
peasantry and middle class inhabitants of the Isles,
" barons, banerets, and other rich and great lords " being
however excluded.*

It is impossible to refuse to recognise the shrewdness of
the perception which instigated this order. The English
King clearly realised a fact that became increasingly
apparent in the later history of the Hebrides, viz., that the
wars, rebellions, and feuds of the Isles were fomented in
no wise by the common people, but by the " rich and great
lords" to serve their own ends. The lords who on this
occasion resisted the domination of England may have
been actuated by patriotic motives ; but even the best of
the patriots — always excepting such disinterested stalwarts
as the noble Wallace — were found on the side of the
oppressors of their country before they saw fit to embrace
the national cause.

The Earl of Ross was a notable example of these turn-
coats. His new-born zeal as England's warden outran his
sense of decency. Thus, in 1305-6, he violated the sanc-
tuary of St. Duthac at Tain, by seizing and delivering to
the English, the wife of Robert Bruce and Marjory, his
daughter by a former marriage. This outrage was avenged
a year later by the Bruce himself, who invaded and
ravaged Ross-shire, compelled the Earl of Ross to make
his submission, and with characteristic magnanimity,
forgave the man who had injured him so deeply. The
latter, however, continued to be a vassal of England, for
we find him writing a piteous letter to his master, enumerat-
ing his losses at the hands of Bruce, excusing himself for
having arranged a truce with the victor, and whining for
further favours at English hands.

* Cal. of Doc., Vol. II., p. 307.

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 73

In 1307-8, the Earl leased his Hebridean properties to
Lauchlan MacAllan,* who was now a partisan of England,
his allegiance to the national cause having perhaps been
undermined by his father-in-law, Alexander Macdougall ;
or, he may have discovered that it paid better to be on the
winning side. The Earl of Ross required money, hence
his lease of Lewis and Skye to Lauchlan MacAllan. The
latter proved a bad tenant, for he refused to pay any rent.
The Earl appealed to the English King, but Edward II,
was at that time engaged upon far weightier matters than
the settlement of Hebridean disputes : there is no record
of his having taken any steps to punish or oust MacAllan.

It is not unlikely that these events paved the way to the
final submission, in 1309, of the Earl of Ross to Bruce,t
who gave him a fresh grant of his possessions. His recon-
ciliation with King Robert was sealed by the marriage
of his son and successor, Hugh, with Maud, the sister of
Bruce, a marriage which resulted in a series of charters to
Hugh, including a grant of Skye ; Lewis, however, remain-
ing in the possession of the Earl, his father.

The army which, in 1308, was met and defeated by
Edward Bruce at Deer, in Buchan, appears to have been
commanded by Ranald MacAllan, who was taken prisoenr.
There is much obscurity about the matter, some historians
asserting that Bruce's enemies were Galwegians, but from
Highland sources we learn that "Donald or Ronald" of
the Isles raised an army in the Hebrides, and marched
against Robert Bruce, who was about that time conducting
a campaign in Aberdeenshire. This description can apply
to no other than MacAllan. That the Hebrides were
divided in their sympathies during the dark days which
preceded the successes of Bruce admits of no doubt. The
bitter hostility of the Macdougalls, founded as it was on
personal grounds, is well known, while Alexander
Macdonald, who was married to a daughter of Ewen of

* Col. of Doc., Vol. IV., p. 400.

t His deed of submission appears in the Notes to Sir Walter Scott's Lord
of the Isles.

74 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Lome, identified himself with the interests of his wife's
family. His brother, Angus Og (the hero of the Lord of
the Isles), left the pro-English party, and became one of the
most devoted partisans of Bruce. Roderick MacAllan
ranged himself on the same side, while his brother Ranald
and, probably, Lauchlan, seem to have attached themselves
to the English interest. Bruce's defeat at Dalree in 1 306
by the Macdougalls was avenged by the King's expedition
into Argyllshire, where, by his consummate generalship, he
routed his opponents, captured the castle of Dunstaffnage,
and reduced Alexander Macdougall to submission, his son
John of Lome escaping by flight into England. The over-
throw of the Macdougalls effectively crushed the opposition
to Bruce in the Hebrides.

To the great victory of Bannockburn, which was the
crowning blow to the pretensions of England, a powerful
contingent of Highlanders and Islesmen, under the leader-
ship of Angus Og, materially contributed. Scotland was
forced to strain every nerve in order to repel the over-
whelming forces of the invader ; and it cannot be doubted
that the fighting material of the Outer Hebrides was drawn
upon when the call to arms resounded throughout the
length and breadth of the land. That Scott's " Clans of
Wist and all who hear the Minch's roar on the Long Island's
lonely shore,"* did their share of fighting at Bannockburn,
under the leadership of the Earl of Ross and Roderick
MacAllan, may be safely assumed, though there is no
specific mention of them.

To the victors the spoils. Bruce rewarded his supporters
in a right royal fashion. Angus Og received a grant of his
brother's forfeited properties, and shared in the partition
of the lands of the House of Lome, a portion of which also
fell to the lot of Roderick MacAllan, who, as representing
his sister Christina, the legal heiress, became the acknow-
ledged head of the Macruaries of Garmoran and the North
Isles.

From the time that Lewis (with Harris) passed into the

* The Lord of the hies.

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 75

hands of the Earl of Ross, until the reign of David It.,
there is no record of the doings of Leod of Lewis or his im-
mediate successors. The heads, both of the Siol Torquil
and the Siol Tormod, being vassals of the Earls of Ross,
their history is necessarily merged in that of their overlords.
Torquil, son of Leod, who succeeded his father in the
possession of Lewis, married Dorothea, a daughter of
his Superior, William Earl of Ross, and died during the
reign of Robert Bruce. His daughter, Finguala, married
Kenneth Mackenzie »of Kintail. Thus the Macleods of
Lewis were closely connected by marriage with two of the
most notable families in the Highlands. During the reign of
Bruce, the lords of the Outer Hebrides remained faithful to
the Crown, until Ruari Mac Allan,* about 1325, for some
unexplained reason, fomented a conspiracy, which resulted
in the forfeiture of the whole of his possessions. They
were, however, afterwards restored by Edward Baliol to
Ruari's son, Ranald.

The death of the wise and gallant Bruce in 1329 was the
signal for a series of disasters to Scottish arms, Scottish
prestige, and Scottish liberties, which culminated in the
successful re-assertion of England's claim to the Superiority
of her high-spirited neighbour. The humiliating defeat of
a large Scottish army by a handful of English adventurers
at Dupplin Moor placed the Crown of Scotland on the head
of Edward Baliol, a brave son of a timorous father. The
not less humiliating fiasco of Halidon Hill — where Hugh
O'Beolan Earl of Ross was killedt— virtually left Edward
III. of England the Dictator of Scotland. Baliol had been
forced into the arms of England by the bad faith of Sir
Archibald Douglas and other Scottish nobles, and the
English King was only too thankful to have the oppor-
tunity of reviving the old claims of his country to the
over-lordship of the sister kingdom. After Halidon Hill,

* Robertson states in his Early Kings that the forfeited chief was Allan
MacRuari, but this appears to be an inaccurate transposition of names.

t He wore the supposed shirt of St. Duthac as a talisman. It, however,
proved ineffective !

76 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Baliol became the creature of England : nominally King
of Scotland, he was really the Viceroy of Edward III.
Anxious to buttress his throne by securing and cementing
by charters the friendship of the discontented elements
within his realm, he looked for. and found in the Hebrides,
an ally ready to his hand. John of the Isles inherited the
property, but not the loyalty to the Bruce's family, of
his father, Angus Og. A dispute with the Regent about
certain lands left him a ready listener to Baliol's repre-
sentations. He deserted the Nationalists and joined his
fortunes with those of Baliol and the pro-English party.
And he had his reward. By an indenture dated Perth, I2th
September, 133 5, which was subsequently confirmed by the
King of England, certain lands, including the Island of
Lewethy (Lewis) were granted by " Sir Edward King of
Scots " to John of the Isles " for his good service."* From
certain letters which passed relative to a safe conduct for
the Lord of the Isles to the English Court, it is evident
that the Hebridean chief was summoned to England to do
homage to his new master.

Thus it happened that Lewis and Harris passed from the
O'Beolan Earls of Ross into the hands of the Lords of the
Isles.l Mr. Gregory states that the Siol Torquil held
Lewis as vassals of the House of Islay from the year
1344, when the grant of 1335 was confirmed by David II. J
A curious error has crept into Highland histories, which
affirm that David II. conferred upon Alexander, son of
Duncan MacNaughton, lands in Lewis, " being part of the
forfeited possessions of John of the Isles." The forfeited
lands in question were those of John, son of Duncan, son
of Alexander dc Insults, who had no possessions in Lewis.
Torquil Macleod (I.) of Lewis was succeeded by his son
Tormod, who may have been in possession of Lewis when
the cession to the Lord of the Isles took place. Nothing

* Cal. of Doc., Vol. III., p. 213.

t In 1367 the rents of "terre de Lewis" were in the hands of John of the
Isles, and were due to the Exchequer. (Acts of Parliament, Vol. I., pp. 528, 529.)
+ Acts of Parliament, Supp. b. 6.

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 77

whatever is known of the history of Tormod, whose son
Torquil lived in the reigns of David II. and Robert II.

When the short-lived power of Edward Baliol came to
an end, and the rightful sovereign, David II., came to his
own, the cards of the Hebridean lords were shuffled afresh.
The Steward of Scotland and the other nobles of the
National party directed their enmity against the adherents
of Baliol, and John of the Isles trembled for the safety of
his extensive dominions. He was not disposed, however,
to submit tamely to any shearing process, and the resist-
ance which he offered to his opponents was both obstinate
and successful. He was ably seconded by Ranald Mac-
Ruari of the North Isles, whose sister he had married, and
thus the whole of the Long Island, as represented by its
chiefs, was solid against the Crown. Troubles with England
created a diversion in favour of the stubborn Hebrideans,
and King David was compelled to forego his attempt to
reduce them. The support of a powerful vassal like John
of the Isles was at that critical period of surpassing value
to the Scottish King, and he determined to purchase it by
striking a bargain with him. He pardoned both the Lord
of the Isles and Ranald MacRuari, and in 1344 confirmed
them in their possessions. Ranald accompanied the King
in his expedition to England, which terminated at the
disastrous battle of Neville's Cross.

The increased prestige which these incidents conferred
upon the Lord of the Isles stimulated the ambition of that
chief ; he realised his strength, and was not slow to push
his advantage. Securing from the Pope a dispensation of
divorce from his first wife, he sought and obtained in
marriage, the hand of Margaret, daughter of his quondam
enemy, the Steward of Scotland, who afterwards reigned
as Robert II.* His alliance with the Royal House gave a
further impetus to the growing power of John of the Isles,

* A letter from the Pope to the Bishop of St. Andrews dated July, 1 350, grants
a dispensation to John of the Isles and Margaret, daughter of " Robert, called
Steward (Senescallus), to intermarry, they being related in the third and fourth
degrees of affinity." (Papal Letters, Vol. III., p. 381.)

78 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

while the Steward acquired the interest of the turbulent
Hebrideans in furthering his schemes. Secretly encouraged
by his father-in-law, the Lord of the Isles was one of the
foremost of the refractory barons who rebelled against the
King's authority. They refused to pay the tax imposed
upon them for payment of the King's ransom to England ;
they refused to attend the Parliament summoned by their
Sovereign.* The conclusion of hostilities between England
and Scotland gave David the opportunity he desired of
taming the clans. Preparing to invade the Hebrides with
an overwhelming force, which he intended to command in
person, he was dissuaded from his purpose by the influence
of the Steward, who feared his own interests would suffer
by the continuance of the rebellion. His son-in-law was
at the same time persuaded by the Steward to meet the
King at Inverness and submit to his authority. The sub-
mission of the Lord of the Isles was complete ; he not only
took the oath of allegiance, but engaged to act as Policeman
of the Hebrides for his Royal master. Till the end of his
reign, however, the rebellious spirits in the Hebrides were
a source of anxiety to David II.; and one of his latest acts
was to sow among the clans the seeds of dissension, which
he fondly hoped would spring up into noxious weeds,
calculated to choke the vitality of any organised rising
against the authority of the Crown. This was the beginning
of that policy of discord, which was afterwards applied so
frequently to the Highlands and Isles by the Kings of
Scotland. It was easy to foment strife among the quarrel-
some clans ; to perpetuate ancient feuds ; and to reduce
the fighting strength of the Highlands by such a cunningly
devised method of extermination. The policy succeeded
up to a point. Inter-clan warfare was stimulated ; family
feuds were multiplied ; and blood flowed like water. But

* In 1368 the King of Norway ordered payment of the 100 merks due to
him annually for the Isles (the arrears, no doubt), but was asked for his for-
bearance until King David's ransom should be paid. The King of Scotland
was to reduce the islanders to obedience and compel payment of the annual
<luty due by them. The King of Norway was to be told that some of the
islands were in the hands of the English. (Acts of Parliament, Vol. I., p. 507.)

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 79

in after years, this policy recoiled upon the heads of those
who promoted it.

The charters of David II. which affect the Long Island
are three in number. John of the Isles was confirmed in
his possession of Lewis ; Ranald MacRuari in his posses-
sion of Uist and Barra ; while Torquil Macleod received a
grant of Assynt in Sutherlandshire by his marriage (accord-
ing to tradition) with Margaret Macnicol, the heiress of
that property.* The earliest charter to the Macleods of
Harris was granted in this reign (about 1343). It conveyed
to the Siol Tormod two-thirds of Glenelg, a property which
subsequently formed a fruitful source of trouble between
the Macleods and the Erasers. But the right of the
Macleods to Harris was never disputed.

The lord of Uist and Barra was not fated to enjoy his
possessions long. He quarrelled with his Superior, William,
Earl of Ross, and the feud ended with his death at the
hands of the latter. In 1346, David Bruce summoned his
barons to meet him at Perth, preparatory to an invasion of
England. Among others, the Earl of Ross and Ranald
MacRuari obeyed the summons. Ranald, with his followers,
took up his quarters in the monastery of Elcho, and thither
repaired the Earl of Ross in the dead of night, bent on
silencing for ever his troublesome vassal. MacRuari and
seven of his men were slain, and the Earl of Ross forthwith
returned home. Thus perished in the male line the last of
the Macruaries of the North Isles. Ranald was married
to a daughter of Malcolm Macleod of Harris, son of Tormod,
son of Leod, some of whose " rights," according to Hugh
Macdonald, the Sleat historian, he purchased from the
King. According to the same authority, a "brother's son"
of Ranald's grandfather was married to an heiress of the
Morisons of Lewis.

By the death of Ranald, the possessions of the Mac-
ruaries fell to his sister Amy (also called Ann and Algiva),
the wife of John of the Isles. The latter immediately laid

* Robertson's Index, pp. 48, 99 and 100.

H 2

8o HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

claim to the property, but was opposed by the Crown. The
Lord of the Isles overcame all opposition after his accus-
tomed fashion. Although a man of ability and a good
Churchman, he cannot be commended as a pattern either
of chivalry or of loyalty. Now a partisan of Baliol ; now a
pillar of the patriots ; once more a supporter of Baliol ;
yet again a Nationalist : he veered round as the wind of
political aggrandisement directed his sympathies. But his
treatment of his first wife — which appears to be well-
authenticated — was the shabbiest of all his acts. Having
secured her property, he divorced her, as we have seen, for
no apparent reason other than to enable him to marry a
daughter of the Steward of Scotland. The seanachies
endeavour to shield him from obloquy by asserting that
Amy Macruari was his concubine, but this is apparently a
mis-statement ; and the evidence seems to show that his
sons by his first wife were deprived of their just rights, in
order that these might be conferred upon the grandsons of
the King of Scotland.*

By each of his two wives, John of the Isles had three
sons. Amy Macruari bore him John (who pre-deceased
his father), Ranald, and Godfrey ; and a daughter Mary,
who married Maclean of Duart. By the daughter of
Robert II. his sons were : Donald, his successor as Lord
of the Isles; John Mor (the Tanister), from whom descended
the Macdonalds of Dunyveg in Islay and the Glens in
Antrim ; and Alastair Carrach, from whom the Macdonalds
of Keppoch trace their descent. There was another son
Angus, of whose descendants there is no record ; it is
uncertain whether he was the fruit of the first or the second
marriage.t

The children of Amy Macruari being legitimate, his
eldest son by his first marriage was his feudal heir as Lord

* The author relies here, to some extent, upon the accuracy of Gregory and
other writers in respect of the Papal dispensation of divorce, a copy of which
he (the author) has not seen. But the inferential proofs of the legitimacy of
Amy Macruari's sons are strong.

f The seanachies disagree in the number and names of John's sons ; but that
Ranald and Godfrey were his sons by his first wife, and Donald, John, and
Alexander, by his second wife, is undisputed.

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 81

of the Isles. It has been held by Mr. Gregory and others,
that Godfrey was the elder of the two surviving sons by
the heiress of the Macruaries. In this view, they are sup-
ported by the Sleat seanachie, who states that Godfrey, the
elder son, received from his father lands in North Uist
and Benbecula, one half of South Uist, Boisdale, Canna,
Sleat, and Knoydart ; while Ranald was allotted the rest
of South Uist, Eigg, Rum, Moidart, Morar, and Arisaig.
Their mother, a pious woman, built Trinity Church in
North Uist, the castle at Borve in Benbecula, and an
oratory in Grimsay ; all at the expense of her husband,
who mortified eight merklands in North Uist to the church
and two farms in Benbecula. In the next sentence, the
seanachie tells us that " at last he (John of the Isles)
abandoned Algive (his wife) by the advice of his Council
and familiar friends." He adds that Godfrey left four sons,
Ranald, John, Angus, and Archibald, but that Ranald, their
uncle, took hold of all their share of South Uist.

So much for the version of the Sleat historian, to whom
accuracy was of less importance than success in be-littling
the Clan Ranald. The only support, however, which his
account receives from unimpeachable sources is a charter
granted in 1388 to the Monastery of Inchaffray, in which
the donor, Godfrey, is designated Godfridus de Insula,
Dominus de Uist* But this assumption of lordship by
Godfrey is explained by the fact that after the death of
Ranald, his children were dispossessed of Uist by their
uncle.

On the other side, we have the version of MacVurich,
who was as desirous of magnifying the importance of the
Clan Ranald — and, incidentally, of Ranald its progenitor —
as Hugh Macdonald was of humbling its pride. Accord-
ing to MacVurich, as set forth in the Red Book of Clan
Ranald, the " men of the isles " regarded Ranald as the
legitimate heir to the Lordship of the Isles, and therefore
the eldest son of John. When we turn to indisputable

* Registrum de Inchaffery^ p. 51.

82 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

evidence, we find that it is altogether on MacVurich's
side. In 1373, Ranald received a grant of the Macruari
lands, to be held from his father and his heirs ; these lands
having previously been conveyed to John of the Isles by
his father-in-law Robert II., thus confirming his possession
of them through his first wife.* There is, on the other
hand, no official record of any grant of lands to Godfrey.
The obvious inference is that Ranald was the elder, and
Godfrey the younger son, and that the grant was made to
salve the wounded feelings of Ranald for having been
unjustly deprived of his birthright as Lord of the Isles, in
favour of his half-brother Donald.

Mr. Gregory has endeavoured to meet the difficulty
created by the charter to Ranald, by suggesting that
although Godfrey was the elder of the two, he refused to
acquiesce in the unjust proposals of his father, and was
therefore ostracised by the latter, who gave the more pliant
Ranald the lands in question. This explanation, however,
is hardly admissible as an argument, however plausible it
may be as a theory.

For some unexplained reason, Lewis and Harris seem
to have passed temporarily out of the hands of the Lords
of the Isles, and to have again become incorporated with
the Earldom of Ross. This appears from the following
circumstances.

Euphemia, Countess of Ross in her own right, was the
daughter of William, Earl of Ross, Justiciar of Scotland
and brother-in-law of Robert II. who had married his
sister, Euphemia. The first husband of the Countess was
Sir Walter Lesley, who, in right of his wife, became Earl
of Ross. Her second husband was Alexander, Earl of
Buchan, the notorious Wolf of Badenoch, who was the
fourth son of Robert II. By a Crown charter dated 25th
July, 1382, Skye and Lewis became the joint property of
the Earl of Buchan and his wife, the Countess of Ross.f
It is possible that the grant of Lewis to John of the Isles

* Registrum Magni Sigilli (1306-1424), pp. 90, 117 and 125.

t Robertson's lndex> p. 124. Reg. Mag. Sig. (1306-1424), p. 165.

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 83

by Edward Baliol was set aside on the representations of
William, Earl of Ross, whose powerful influence may have
prevailed with the Court in effecting the restoration of the
insular properties of the Earldom. The introduction of
the Lesley and Stewart elements into the affairs of that
Earldom, subsequently led to a dispute concerning the
succession to the title, which culminated at the battle of
Harlaw.

There is little to tell of events in the Outer Hebrides
during the period under review. It is true that there are
traditions extant, which serve to demonstrate the fact that
the Long Island was not exempt from the clan feuds which
kept the other islands of the Hebrides in a state of perpetual
turmoil. One of the traditions of the Macaulays of Lewis
appears to be so well authenticated, that its main features
may be accepted as historical facts. During the second half
of the fourteenth century, a feud existed between the
Macaulays of Uig and the Macleods of the same district,
the head of the latter family being Norman, said to have
been a brother of the chief (? Torquil II. of Lewis). The
latter had given his kinsmen for their support, the whole
rental of Uig, and it may be assumed that this was the
root cause of the feud. The dispute between the two
families at length led to the extermination of the Macaulays,
with the exception of a youth, John Roy, and Malcolm, his
natural brother. John Roy fled to Maclean of Lochbuie,
who undertook his education. When he reached manhood,
he returned to Lewis to take his revenge on the Macleods.
Appearing suddenly in Uig, he killed Norman Macleod,
son of old Norman, before he could " leap the wall of the
sanctuary" to which he ran for protection, and then
proceeded to despatch two of Norman's brothers. Having
thus disposed of the Macleods, he set out for Stornoway
with his brother Malcolm. At Cnoc-na-Croich, opposite
Stornoway, they met the only remaining son of old
Norman Macleod, who fled from the wrathful Macaulays
and attempted to reach his uncle's castle at Stornoway
by swimming across the bay. His uncle, the chief, saw

$4 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

the whole affair from the castle, but refused to give
protection to the poor wretch who, wounded in the head
by an arrow and exhausted though he was, managed to
regain the opposite side of the bay, where he was at
once killed by the merciless Macaulays. These events
are supposed to have occurred at the end of the fourteenth,
or the beginning of the fifteenth century. The tradition
goes on to say that Macleod of Lewis gave John Roy a
lease for life of Crolista and Balnakil ; that John gave
Balnakil to his brother, and that he himself settled at
Crolista ; that soon afterwards he married a daughter of
his patron, Maclean of Lochbuie, by whom he had an
only son, Dugald.* From John Roy was descended
Donald Cam Macaulay, whom we shall meet in the
seventeenth century, and from the same stock came, in
due time, the brilliant historian, essayist, and statesman,
Lord Macaulay.

Soon after the opening of the fifteenth century, the first
recorded conflict of the Macleods of Lewis with a mainland
clan was fought, resulting in the overthrow of the Lewismen.
Torquil Macleod, who married Margaret Macnicol, was
succeeded about the end of the fourteenth century as
chief of the Siol Torquil, by his son Roderick. According
to Douglas, whose Baronage is the principal authority for
the genealogy of the family, Roderick was the only son
of Torquil, but the Earl of Cromartie states that Malcolm
Macleod, who figured in the following events, was a son of
Torquil. Roderick was probably a son of Malcolm.

A sister of Malcolm was married to Angus Mackay of
Strathnaver, by whom the latter had two sons, Angus
Dubh and Rory Gald. On the death of Angus, his
younger brother Houcheon (Hugh) Dubh Mackay became
tutor to his nephews, the tutorship, as was usual in such
cases, including the management of their property. Com-
plaints reached Malcolm Macleod that the widow of Angus
was harshly treated by the tutor, and Malcolm's solicitude

* Traditions of the Macaulays.

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 85

for the welfare of his sister being touched, he left Lewis
with a chosen band of followers to investigate the matter.
Apparently the reports which had reached him were only
too well-founded. Whatever the precise object of his visit
may have been, it proved unsuccessful, for on his way home
he laid waste Strathnaver and a great part of Breachat
in Sutherland, and carried off a quantity of booty.
But he was not suffered to cross the Minch unmolested.
The Earl of Sutherland being apprised of the raid, sent
Alexander Murray of Cubin " with a number of stout
and resolute men " in pursuit of the Macleods. Murray
joined forces with Houcheon Dubh, and the combined com-
panies overtook the Lewismen at Tuiteam Tarbhach on
the borders of Ross and Sutherland. The object of the
pursuers was to recover the goods and cattle which the
Macleods had carried off, but the Lewismen resisting, a
sanguinary battle took place. Both sides fought with
desperate valour, but in the end, the Sutherland men,
who had apparently the advantage in numbers, prevailed.
Malcolm Macleod and the whole of his followers were
killed, with the exception of one man, who only lived long
enough to carry the dire news to Lewis when he died of his
wounds.*

Five years after the conflict of Tuiteam Tarbhach, which
derives its name (field of great slaughter) from the event
just narrated, the battle of Harlaw was fought. To
attempt, as some historians have done, to magnify the im-
portance of Harlaw into a struggle for supremacy between
Highlander and Lowlander, is a misrepresentation of facts.
These may be briefly stated as follows. Euphemia,

The local tradition differs from this account in some essential points. It
relates that Macleod's daughter (not his sister) was married to Ian Caol (not
Angus) Mackay ; that the quarrel arose in lan's liietime, who ill-treated his wife
owing to the insufficiency of her dowry; that Macleod, the bow-legged chief
of Lewis, crossed the Minch to avenge his daughter's injuries ; that he was
defeated and wounded at Tuiteam Tarbhach by Ian Caol, who pursued him
to Leckmelm where Macleod died of his wounds and the Lewismen were
again routed. The tradition also gives one of the Lewismen credit for perform-
ing prodigies of valour ; the usual concomitant of these feuds. The account
in the text is taken from the Conflicts of the Clans. (Miscellanea Scotica^

86 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Countess of Ross in her own right, had by her first husband
two children, the elder being Alexander, afterwards Earl of
Ross, and the younger being Margaret, who became the
wife of Donald, Lord of the Isles. Alexander married a
daughter of the Duke of Albany, and the only issue from
this marriage was Euphemia, who became Countess of
Ross. Following the example of her grandmother, who,
after the death, without issue, of the Wolf of Badenoch, be-
came Abbess of Elcho, the second Euphemia surrendered
the pomps and vanities of the world for the seclusion and
peace of a convent. She became a nun, and by so doing,
effectively extinguished the male succession to the Earldom
of Ross. The crafty Duke of Albany was not slow to take
advantage of the situation thus created. At his instigation,
Euphemia was induced to renounce the Earldom in favour
of her uncle, John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, who afterwards
gained distinction in the service of France, and fell fighting
against the English at the bloody battle of Verneuil in
1425. Donald of the Isles not unnaturally refused to
acquiesce in this arrangement. Conceiving that he had
through his wife a prior right to the Earldom, he
protested against the legality of the proceeding, and
claimed the title and the estate for himself. His argument
that the Countess of Ross had no right to dispose of the
Earldom, and that by her action in taking the veil, she had
forfeited the title and estate and had become legally
" dead," was clearly sound.* After an impartial examina-
tion of the whole facts of the case, it is only possible to
come to one conclusion : that the Lord of the Isles, by his
wife, was the rightful heir to the title and property in dis-
pute. Even George Buchanan, who was certainly not
pre-disposed in favour of Highlanders, is fain to admit that
Donald was the rightful heir, and that Ross was " taken
from him by the Governor under some legal pretext."

The Governor of Scotland was not likely to acknowledge
the claim of the Hebridean chief, after he had succeeded

* Donald was far from being an ignorant barbarian : he had been educated
at Oxford University.

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 87

in gaining his ends. In effect, he told the Lord of the
Isles that if he wanted the Earldom, he would have to
fight for it. The challenge was accepted. Assuring him-
self of the support of an English fleet, superior to anything
Scotland could pit against it, Donald gathered in the
Hebrides an army of warriors armed with bows and arrows,
pole-axes, knives, and swords, and swooped down upon
Ross. His victorious arms carried all before them. An
unsuccessful resistance was offered at Dingwall by Angus
Dubh Mackay of Farr and his brother Rory Gald (the
nephews of Malcolm Macleod of Lewis), who posed as
loyalists, but after a gallant fight, Angus was taken
prisoner, and Rory, with many of his followers, was killed.

Encouraged by his initial success against the Mackays,
Donald determined to carry out a threat he had often
made to burn the town of Aberdeen. Assembling all his
available men at Inverness, and receiving re-inforcements
on the way, he marched unopposed through Moray, and
ravaged Strathbogie and the district of Garioch, striking
terror into the hearts of the Aberdonians, who gave
themselves up for lost. But the Lord of the Isles got
no further than Garioch. A small but well-equipped
army commanded by the Earl of Mar, marched to meet
him and oppose his progress. Mar knew the character
and fighting qualities of his opponents well. In his
younger days, he himself at the head of some of the most
daring and desperate of the Highlanders, had harried,
plundered, and slaughtered inoffensive Lowlanders without
mercy. But the capture of the murdered Earl of Mar's
castle ; the winning of the widowed Countess's hand with
his predecessor's title and lands ; an extended experience
in the French wars and at the French Court ; all these
circumstances combined, had changed the Wolf of Bade-
noch's bastard, the ex-cateran, the ex-soldier of fortune,
into a skilful commander of trained troops, a courtly
pattern of chivalry, a bulwark of the throne, a terror to
evildoers, and an upholder of law and order.

The battle of Harlaw was one of the fiercest encounters

88 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

which even the history of Scotland records, and that is
saying a good deal. The mail-clad knights under Mar's
command, not inferior in courage to their opponents, and
vastly superior in the skilled use of arms, despised the
Highland army as a rabble of savages. The Highlanders,
absolutely without fear, and imbued with a hereditary
hatred of the Sasgtinnacli (Lowlander or Englishman),
repaid the contempt of their foes with interest. The Lord
of the Isles commanded the main body of his army, con-
sisting of the men from the Hebrides, with whom were
Roderick Macleod of Lewis and John Macleod of Harris
with their followers. On the right wing of the army were
the Macleans, and on the left the Mackintoshes, while the
reserve, under John, brother of the Lord of the Isles,
consisted of the Mackenzies and the Camerons.

The battle commenced with the usual torrential rush
of the Highlanders, who threw themselves upon the wall
of steel opposed to them, only to be repelled by the
steadiness of the defence. And then the knights of Mar
took the offensive, and great was the slaughter on both
sides. The Highlanders stood their ground and fell where
they fought. Lowland battle-axes crashed through High-
land skulls, and Highland swords found openings in
Lowland armour. When a Highlander fell, a comrade
took his place ; when a Lowlander was disabled, his loss
was irreparable. Superior numbers and desperate valour
were pitted against superior weapons and grim determina-
tion. The ill-armed Celt opposed his greater agility to
the mail-clad Saxon's greater security. The thundering
charge of the Lowland cavalry hewed a pathway through
the thick ranks of the Highland footmen ; but the daggers
of the Highlanders hamstrung the horses, and then drank
the blood of the fallen riders. The carnage ceased only
with darkness, and when morning broke on the quiet
village of Harlaw, 900 Highlanders and over 500 Lowland
men-at-arms lay dead on the field. The losses of Mar
included many representatives of the leading families in
Angus and the Mearns, together with the Provost and

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 89

most of the burgesses of Aberdeen who had accompanied
the Lowland army ; while the Lord of the Isles lost the
chiefs of the Macleans and the Mackintoshes.

Harlaw is usually described as a drawn battle, and so
indeed it was, if gauged by its results. The seanachies
claim a victory for the Lord of the Isles, and in this they
are borne out by Irish records. There is some obscurity
about the events which immediately followed the battle.
By at least one Lowland historian,* it is stated that " both
sides claimed the victory, but Donald kept the field and
made great slaughter that day." The commonly accepted
version, however, is that the Lord of the Isles retreated
before daybreak, leaving Mar with the remnant of his
army in possession of the field. If the Highland army
really consisted of 10,000 men (a number which is probably
in excess of the entire fighting strength at that period of
the Highlands and Isles), it is clear that after a loss of less
than a tenth of its strength, it cannot have been incapaci-
tated from renewing the conflict, while it is obvious that
Mar's forces were almost annihilated. It is probable that
in accordance with their usual custom, the Highlanders
were eager to return home with their booty, and that even
the influence of the Lord of the Isles was not sufficiently
strong to keep them together and pursue his forward
movement. However, the fact remains that Donald did
not burn Aberdeen, and the resistance offered by Mar at
least defeated that project. That the Highland army was
severely handled is evident ; that it received a check is
also clear from the result ; but that it suffered a defeat in
the ordinary acceptance of the word, is not borne out by
the evidence, which supports the contrary view. The Lord
of the Isles, in short, was crippled, while his antagonist
was incapacitated from further attack, if not indeed from
further resistance.

The memory of Harlaw lingered for many a day in the
music and poetry of the Scottish people. To this fact

* Douglas, (" An Impartial Hand"), p. 43.

90 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

may be attributed the undue importance, from a racial
point of view, which has been assigned to it by Dr. Hill
Burton and even by Dr. Skene. Secondary accessories
have usurped the place of primary causes ; the personnel
of the combatants has over-shadowed the quarrel in which
they fought ; and thus a battle, which originated in a
dispute over a Highland Earldom, has been magnified
into a struggle for supremacy between the Celtic and
Teutonic elements of the Scottish people. It is neverthe-
less a striking commentary on the welding processes
wrought by Time, that the descendants of the men who
fought at Harlaw — men so essentially different in race,
language, sentiment, and civilisation — should at the present
day meet one another on an equal platform in the peaceful
walks of life, and should fight together shoulder to shoulder
as brothers-in-arms in a common cause, in every country,
and in every clime, where the British flag is unfurled.

Whatever the ultimate results of Harlaw, its immediate
effects were for a time fatal to the claims of the Lord of
the Isles. The Duke of Albany, then Regent of Scotland,
was roused to action. He collected an army before which
resistance on Donald's part was futile, and the whole of
Ross was quickly recovered from the possession of the
Lord of the Isles. The Earl of Mar commenced to build
the Castle of Inverness for the defence of the country
against future invasions by his opponent of Harlaw. The
latter took refuge in the Hebrides, where he was safe
during the winter months. In the summer of the follow-
ing year, the contest was renewed with varying successes,
but finally the proud Hebridean was forced to bow his
neck in submission, resign his claim to the Earldom of
Ross, and become a vassal of the Scottish Crown. At
Loch Gilp in Argyllshire, a treaty embodying these con-
ditions was consummated,* and for a short period the

* This treaty is stated by the historians of Clan Donald to be a fiction
of Fordun. The authors doubtless mean Walter Bower, who continued
Fordun's chronicles. Bower, who died in 1449, was presumably conversant
with the circumstances, and there is no reason to doubt his statement.

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 91

Highlands and Isles were at rest. Donald of the Isles
never recovered the Earldom of Ross ; that was reserved
for his son Alexander.

When James I. returned, in 1424, from his captivity in
England to his native country, he found the northern part
of the kingdom in a state of chaos. Might reigned supreme ;
right was relegated to limbo ; law and order hid their
diminished heads. James I. was no coward, but the task
of restoring good government was such as to make even a
strong heart quail before its magnitude; yet the vigorous
mind of the poet-king was equal to the emergency. His
was a chivalrous nature, but chivalry had no place in his
plans for quelling the insubordinate Highlanders. Regard-
ing them as outside the pale of honourable dealings, he
employed the arts of treachery to attain his ends. In
1427 he held a Parliament at Inverness, and summoned
the Highland chiefs to attend. Unsuspicious of danger,
trusting in the honour of their King, the principal chiefs
obeyed the call and assembled at Inverness. But they
soon discovered that James had played them false ; for
they found themselves in a trap. They were all seized,
put in irons and imprisoned, each in a separate compart-
ment, communication with one another, or with their
followers, being thus prevented. Some of the most
troublesome were subjected to a mock trial and imme-
diately executed, among them being Alexander Macruari,
whose properties were forfeited to the Crown, and John
MacArthur of the Campbell family, who had laid claim
to a portion of Garmoran and the North Isles. The
remainder, including Alexander, son of Donald, Lord of
the Isles — who, on the downfall of the Albany family, had
peaceably succeeded to the Earldom of Ross — and his
mother, the Dowager Countess of Ross (described by
Drummond of Hawthornden as " a mannish implacable
woman "), were imprisoned for different periods according
to the alleged nature of their offences. And thus by a
stroke of treachery which does little credit to the memory
of James I., the power of the chiefs was for a time

92 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

effectively broken. The King crowed over the success of
his plot — the penalty of his success came later.

The imprisonment and subsequent release of the Earl
of Ross by James were followed by the insurrection of
that turbulent chief, which had unfortunate results for
himself. He was forced to make a humiliating submission
which saved his life but not his liberty. Scarcely two
years had passed after his confinement in Tantallon
Castle, when his cousin, Donald Balloch, headed a formid-
able rebellion, which spread throughout the length and
breadth of the Hebrides. The energy of the King
again proved more than a match for the Islesmen, who,
after initial successes, finally succumbed to the vigorous
measures which James directed against them. A head,
said to be that of Donald Balloch, was presented to the
King, and the insurrection came to an end ; the real
Donald Balloch, however, proved a very lively corpse in
later years. By a wise act of clemency, James released
the prisoner of Tantallon and restored his titles and pos-
sessions, to which was added the lordship of Lochaber.
Alexander, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, continued,
outwardly at least, a peaceable subject for the remainder
of his life. And thus the policy of the King had its reward.
One of Alexander's sons was Hugh, the founder of the
Sleat branch of the Macdonalds. As that family in after
years professed to have a claim to the possession of
Lewis, and actually owned North Uist, it may be well here
to go back to its inception.

During the lifetime of John of the Isles, his son, Johi
Mor the Tanister, endeavoured to seize the whole of hii
father's estate south of Ardnamurchan, and succeeded ii
obtaining the co-operation of the Macleans and of tl
Macleods of Harris ; Macleod of Lewis, with Macneill of
Barra and several other chiefs, remaining faithful to the
Lord of the Isles. A strong force was sent against John
Mor, who fled in confusion, and the insurrection was easily
put down. He who incited John Mor to rebel against his
father was Finnon (Kinnon), a son of the last O'Beolan Earl

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 93

of Ross, and known as the " Green Abbot " ; he belonged
to the powerful Applecross family of lay abbots, from
whom the O'Beolan Earls of Ross sprang. A grandson
of the " Green Abbot " was Patrick O'Beolan, the " Red
Priest," who had Carloway and the Church lands in Lewis
as part of his possessions. When the Lewismen set out
on the campaign which terminated at the battle of Harlaw,
the "Red Priest" accompanied Torquil and Tormod,
the sons of Roderick Macleod, with one " Lochluinn
MacGillemhaoil"; and these four "went out of the army
before any part of the main force with them." The
Macleods survived Harlaw, but their companions were
killed. A daughter of the " Red Priest " became either
the concubine or the hand-fast wife of Alexander, Earl
of Ross, and their son, Hugh of Sleat (according to
MacVurich), got as a portion of his patrimony the third
part of Lewis. Hugh of Sleat married, as his first wife, a
daughter of Macian of Ardnamurchan, by whom he had a
son, John, who became his heir and successor. His second
wife was a daughter of Macleod of Harris, and his son by
this wife was consequently known as Donald Heroch.
Another son by a daughter of the Coroner of Caithness,
named Gunn, was called Donald Gallich, or the stranger,
from being brought up by his mother's people in Caith-
ness. After the death of Hugh of Sleat, Donald Gallich's
mother married Torquil Macleod of Lewis. Both Donald
Heroch and Donald Gallich were murdered through the
instrumentality of their half-brother Gillespic, or Archibald,
who afterwards suffered for the crime. Donald Gallich
left a son, Donald Gruamach (the grim), whose son by
Catriona of the ClanRanald was the first Donald Gorm
(the illustrious) of Sleat. We shall meet Donald Gruamach
and Donald Gorm later on.

The claims of the Sleat family to Uist were well founded.
By a charter dated 28th June, 1449, John of the Isles con-
veyed a grant of lands in Uist and Benbecula to his brother
Hugh, the names of Ruari Macleod of Lewis and William
Macleod of Glenelg appearing as witnesses. This grant

94 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

was confirmed by a Crown charter dated loth November,
1495. On the death, in 1460, of Alexander, the last promi-
nent representative of the Siol Godfrey, that family dwindled
into insignificance, and the Siol Ranald prospered on its
ruin.

The Earl of Cromartie states that Alexander Lord of
the Isles granted, in 1432, a charter to Torquil (should be
Roderick I.) Macleod of Lewis of his lands, to be held for
homage and service, which lands he had previously resigned
into the hands of the King in favour of Alexander. The
Earl also says that Alexander's successor John, in 1464,
by a precept of dare constat> declared Roderick Macleod
(II.) heir to Torquil (III.) in the possession of Lewis
and Waternish. That the Macleods of Lewis held their
lands as vassals of the Lords of the Isles is beyond dispute.

In the same year as the Inverness Parliament was held
(1427), Gilleonan Roderick Murchard Macneill received
from Alexander, Lord of the Isles, a charter of Barra and
Boisdale in South Uist (confirmed by the Crown in 1495),
one of the conditions of which was that in the event of a
failure of legitimate heirs, the lands were to be divided
between the sons of Roderick, Gilleonan's father, by the
daughter of Ferchard Maclean. For, in the year 1372, the
possession of Barra had passed from the Macruaries to
John of the Isles, through the instrumentality of his father-
in-law Robert II., and was thus at the disposal of the Lords
of the Isles. As we have seen, the Macleans of Duart and
the Macneills of Barra were closely connected by marriage,
but a feud existed between John Garve Maclean of Coll
and Gilleonan Macneill of Barra, which ended in the death
of the latter at the hands of Maclean in Coll. There is a
tradition to the effect that Macneill married, as his second
wife, the widow of Lachlan Maclean of Duart (the daughter
of John Macleod of Harris) and attempted to take posses-
sion of Coll, the inheritance of Lachlan's son, John Garve
by Macleod's daughter. This is given as the origin of the
dispute between Macneill and Maclean of Coll, but it is
elsewhere stated that, on the contrary, the feud arose from

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 95

an attempt on the part of Maclean to deprive Macneill of
the Island of Barra. The former seems to be the more
likely story.

John, the eldest son and successor of Alexander of the
Isles, failed to appreciate the lessons which were so dearly
bought by his father. Early in his career, he proved a
troublesome subject of James III. It is to his credit,
either as a patriot or as a diplomatist, that during the siege
of Roxburgh, he proceeded to the Royal camp with a body
of followers whose services he offered to the King. On the
death of James III. at Roxburgh, Scotland was plunged
into confusion, and the Lord of the Isles seized the oppor-
tunity to return to his old habits of lawlessness. His
illegitimate son, Angus Og, acting as his father's lieutenant,
marched to Inverness, seized the castle, expelled the
garrison, proclaimed his father King of the Isles, and
terrorised the inhabitants of Inverness-shire (comprehend-
ing the modern counties of Inverness, Ross, Caithness, and
Sutherland) into obedience to his rule.* From the Parlia-
mentary records, we learn that in 1475 he was charged
with making his bastard son his lieutenant "in insurrec-
tionary convocations of the lieges," from which it may be
inferred that father and son were steeped to the lips in
treasonable practices. These were obviously the outcome
of a treaty, dated i8th February, 1462, entered into by
Edward IV. of England en the one part, and John of the
Isles, Donald Balloch of Islay, and the Earl of Douglas on
the other. By this remarkable agreement, England secured
powerful allies whose reward was to be nothing less than
the division of Scotland, the North falling to the Mac-
donalds, and the South — or that portion of it which Douglas
had formerly possessed — to their companion in treason.
Moreover, a stipulated sum was to be paid to John of the
Isles, in consideration of his vassalage to England and his
assistance, as a vassal, in the Irish and other wars of that
country. This curious treaty bore no fruit. It was one

* Some authorities say that John headed the expedition, but the evidence
seems to show that Angus was the leader.

96 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

thing for the English King to partition a country which
had yet to be conquered ; it was quite another matter to
provide the means of effecting the conquest. No serious
attempt appears to have ever been made in that
direction, and for some years after the conclusion of the
agreement, there is no record of any overt acts of rebellion
on the part of the Lord of the Isles. In the following
decade, however, he appears to have again attracted the
attention of the Government, and by the year 1476, it is
evident that some knowledge of the treaty with England
had been brought to light. Declared a traitor by a Parlia-
ment held in Edinburgh in 1476, the Earl of Ross had to
pay the price of his treason. His estates were forfeited,
and a force was got ready to give effect to the forfeiture.
These proceedings brought the Lord of the Isles to his
knees, and by the mediation of the Earl of Argyll,* a
pardon was secured for him. With the exception of the
lands of Knapdale, the Sheriffships of Inverness and
Nairn, and — most important of all — the Earldom of Ross,
all of which were retained by the Crown, his titles and
possessions were restored to him, and he himself was made
a Lord of Parliament under the style of "John de Isla, Lord
of the Isles."

Like his father before him, John of the Isles had now
learned his lesson. But his son, Angus Og, having been
brought up in the rebellious school of his father and grand-
father, was now following in their footsteps ; unlike them, he
had not yet felt the iron heel of authority pressing on his
neck. The father was cowed by the vigorous action of the
Crown ; the son defied father and Crown alike. His energy
and daring were rewarded by a series of striking successes.
The Earl of Atholl, who co-operated with the Mackenzies
against him, suffered a severe defeat at Lagabread, the Earl
himself escaping with difficulty from the field. The Earls of
Crawford and Huntly met with no better success. A third
expedition under the Earls of Argyll and Atholl and John

* The Earl of Atholl is by some historians named as his mediator ; by others
the Earl of Huntly.

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 97

of the Isles himself, completely failed in its object : Angus
Og defied them all. By this time his prowess had inspired
such wholesome respect that the two Earls were none too
eager to come to close quarters with him, and they retired
baffled by their active foe, thus virtually acknowledging
defeat. The father of the rebel was now left to cope with
the situation single-handed. It was a novel position foi
John of the Isles to be the representative of law and order,
hunting his own son, Angus the rebel. It is possible that he
wished to impress the Government with his loyalty. It
is possible that he himself was held responsible for the
enormities of his hopeful offspring. But it is clear that the
latter had proved an undutiful son, as well as a recalcitrant
subject. MacVurich relates that a disagreement had arisen
between father and son about a division of territory, and
that John had given Knapdale to "MacCailin" (the Earl of
Argyll) the father-in-law of Angus, for going with him
before the King to complain of his son ;* and it is also sug-
gested that he had been over-liberal to the heads of Hebri-
dean clans other than the Clan Donald. Be that as it may,
it is certain that the Hebridean chiefs became embroiled in
the quarrel, the Macdonalds taking the part of Angus, and
the other clans ranging themselves on the side of their
Superior, the Lord of the Isles. After his desertion by
Argyll and Atholl, John continued the pursuit of Angus
Og. His followers were chiefly Macleans, Macleods, and
Macneills. William Dubh Macleod of Harris led his clans-
men, and with him was his nephew, the son and heir of
Roderick Macleod of Lewis. The men of Barra were led by
Gilleonan Macneill, grandson of the Gilleonan who was
killed in Coll. And thus every section of the Long Island
was represented at the final struggle between John of the
Isles and his son.

The two forces met in a bay south of Ardnamurchan
Point — Mr. Gregory says a bay in Mull — where a stiff

* In 1481, Colin, first Earl of Argyll, received a grant of lands in Knapdale,
along with the keeping of Castle Sweyn, which had previously been held by
he Lord of the Isles.

98 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

fight, known in Highland tradition as the battle of the
Bloody Bay, took place. Both sides were composed of
skilful seamen — descendants largely of those unequalled
sea-warriors, the Vikings — and both were stimulated by
their leadership. The result was a decisive victory for
Angus Og, and a crushing defeat for his father's allies.
Of the latter, William Macleod of Harris was killed ; the
galley of his nephew, with all the Lewismen, was captured,
and the heir of Roderick was himself mortally wounded
by two arrows, succumbing to his injuries soon afterwards
at Dunvegan.

The outcome of this battle was immediate and con-
clusive : the unfortunate John of the Isles was rendered
helpless in the contest with his formidable son. The Clan
Donald, ready to acknowledge the superiority of personal
prowess over less material considerations, acquiesced in
the seizure by Angus of his father's possessions, and in his
assumption of the chiefship of the clan.

It is unnecessary to follow much further the fortunes of
John of the Isles and his masterful offspring. Misfortune
dogged the footsteps of the father to the end. About the
time of his final trial of strength with Angus Og, he ap-
pears to have turned to England for help. Negotiations
were certainly on foot in 1481 to effect an alliance
between the English King and his " cousin " of the Isles ;
but these came to nothing, although it is evident that
his correspondence with England was maintained. In
1493, owing doubtless to the discovery of this relation-
ship, he forfeited his title of Lord of the Isles, and ii
the following year he appeared before the King and mad<
his final submission. Retiring to the Abbey of Paisley,
he died there in 1498 ; a peaceful end to a stormy life.

His son did not long survive his victory at Bloody Bay.
He was assassinated at Inverness by his own harper, one
Art O'Carby or MacCairbre, who — MacVurich tells us
with uncompromising fidelity — cut his throat " with a long
knife." According to the Sleat seanachie, the murder was
committed at the joint instigation of Mackenzie of Kintail

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 99

and the daughter of Rory Dubh Macleod, tutor of the heir
of Lewis. This Rory Dubh, it appears, had seized Lewis
for himself, but was dispossessed by Angus Og, who restored
the island to its rightful owner.

It is difficult to discover on what grounds Mr. Gregory
makes the statement, that Angus Og undertook an ex-
pedition against the Earl of Atholl, in revenge for carry-
ing off his infant son, afterwards known as Donald Dubh.
It is very doubtful if Angus ever saw his son, either as
an infant or an adult. That the raid of Atholl took place
is undisputed ; there is, however, no authority, but the
reverse, for associating it with the kidnapping of Donald
Dubh. Even the accounts of the raid are confused. Accord-
ing to some authorities, the chief actor was not Angus Og
the son, but John of the Isles, the father. The seanachies,
however, are probably correct in stating that Angus was
the leader of this expedition, which may have been under-
taken after the consolidation of the power of that restless
warrior. It is certain that the district of Atholl was actually
ravaged ; that Blair Castle was taken or evacuated by the
Earl of x\tholl ; and that the Earl with his Countess was
forced to take refuge in the sanctuary of St. Bride, which
the wild Hebrideans failed to respect. On their way home,
the marauders encountered a storm, which destroyed most
of the galleys with their rich freight. According to all
accounts, the survivors, seized with the superstitious fear
that the disaster betokened the wrath of St. Bridget, re-
turned as penitents to the scene of their sacrilege, bare-
footed, clad in their shirts, and bearing gifts to mollify
the offended saint. George Buchanan affirms that their
leader— whom he calls* Donald the Islander—" is said tc
have gone distracted from that day, either with grief at
the loss of his army with the plunder, or tortured by a
consciousness of his former crimes and the remembrance
of his sacrilege," whereupon the Earl and Countess of

* Bishop Lesley also calls him " Donald." In both cases the reference is
probably to the patronymic of the clan ; or it may be that Angus has been
confused with the aged Donald Balloch, who appears to have been a passive,
if not an active, participator in some of the events iust recorded.

ioo HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Atholl, with their children, were released, and the pre-
parations at Court for an expedition, apparently to the
Hebrides, were stopped. The Sleat seanachie notices this
report, which was current in the country, and stigmatises
it as a falsehood. The probabilities are that the temper
of Angus, at all times uncertain, became ungovernable in
later years, and from this circumstance arose the story of
his madness.

It is impossible to give a chronological sequence of
events in connexion with the career of Angus Og. The
facts are so obscure that Highland historians have been
obliged to resort to conjecture. The raid of Atholl may
or may not have taken place after the battle of the Bloody
Bay, but it appears likely that it succeeded that event
which seems to have occurred somewhere about 1481.*
It is probable, too, that the murder of Angus took place
not later than 1485. It is fairly certain that he was
dead before 1491, for in that year, Alexander of Lochalsh,
son and successor of Celestine, an illegitimate son of
Alexander Lord of the Isles, assumed, apparently with
the consent of his uncle John, the title of Earl of Ross
and Lord of the Isles : a claim which would hardly
have been made, or, if made, sustained by the Hebrideans
had Angus Og been alive. The insurrection of Alexander
was short-lived. Assisted by the Clan Chattan, he took
the Castle of Inverness, plundered the lands of Sir
Alexander Urquhart, Sheriff of Cromarty, and returning
to the west with a division of his army, ravaged the
lands of Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail, with whom
Alexander had a private feud. Alexander, who was
assisted by the Clan Ranald and the Camerons, was
totally routed by the Mackenzies at the battle of
Blar-na-Pairc, and he himself was taken prisoner. This
reverse temporarily put an end to his aspirations, and
may have contributed to the final forfeiture of John of the

t Scottish historians imply that the raid took place immediately after the
subjugation of Inverness-shire, but the Sleat seanachie states that it occurred
after Bloody Bay.

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 101

Isles. After his release by the Mackenzies, Alexander
revived his claims, and in 1497 again organised a rising,
which was terminated by his death in the Island of Oron-
say, by the instrumentality of Macian of Ardnamurchan.

But Angus Og left a son, known in Highland history
as Donald Dubh; who, as will be related, was the next
claimant to the Lordship of the Isles, and with whose
fortunes Torquil Macleod of Lewis became closely identi-
fied. The facts connected with the birth and early days
j of Donald Dubh are not clear. Here again Highland
I historians have floundered in the bog of uncertainty, and
I have so far not succeeded in finding a sure footing. The
I facts are of importance, inasmuch as if correctly known,
they would tend to throw light upon events which remain
obscure. The official records furnish no data to go upon,
and recourse has consequently been had to the seanachies.
The Sleat and Clan Ranald historians are at variance in
their accounts, but the version of Hugh Macdonald has
hitherto been accepted, while that of MacVurich has been
ignored. And yet it can be proved that the version of
the latter is, in part at least, confirmed by a letter from
Donald Dubh himself. The Sleat seanachie states that
Donald, when an infant, was carried off by the Earl of
Atholl at the instigation of the Earl of Argyll, into whose
charge the child was committed ; and that Argyll kept him
as a captive in his Castle of Inchconnel in Lochawe until
his escape (in 1501). This is the account adopted by Mr.
Gregory, who has been followed by all succeeding High-
land historians. The Clan Ranald seanachie, on the other
hand, states that " the daughter of MacCailin (Colin first
Earl of Argyll) the wife of Angus, was pregnant at the
time he was killed, and she was kept in custody until she
was confined, and she bore a son, and Donald was given,
as a name to him. He was kept in custody until he
arrived at the age of thirty years, when the men of Glen-
coe brought him out by a Fenian exploit." Confirming
the principal point in this account are the words of Donald
Dubh himself. In a letter to King Henry VIII. dated

102 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

5th August, 1545, he describes himself as having been
captured in materno uteris, which is sufficiently conclusive
in bearing out the statement of MacVurich, the only
obvious error in his account being Donald's age on his
escape from captivity, a detail of minor importance. It is
very probable, therefore, that MacVurich is also correct
in stating that Donald Dubh was born after the murder of
his father. Assuming, therefore, that Angus Og was killed
about 1485, Donald Dubh would have been a lad of about
sixteen years of age on his escape from prison in 1501,
a very likely supposition. He died in 1545-6, and thus
would have been about sixty years of age at the time
of his death.

In view of the hypothesis that Donald himself was
captured by the Earl of Atholl and imprisoned by the
Earl of Argyll, it has been found difficult by the supporters
of this theory to assign a likely reason for the abduction.
It is supposed by them that the Earl of Argyll schemed to
secure the Lordship of the Isles for himself, and it is con-
fidently affirmed that the alleged kidnapping of Donald
Dubh was the outcome of a plot to keep him out of his
inheritance. The Earl of Argyll is called hard names for
his supposed greed and treachery, but although he was
probably no better than most of his compeers, the charges
against him in the present instance must be held as " not
proven."

The most reasonable view to take of the matter is, that
on the death of Angus Og, the Earl of Argyll took charge
of his daughter, the widow of Angus ; that on the birth of
her son, the Earl naturally became the child's guardian,
and that he kept him in close confinement, fearing, for
political reasons, lest he should get into the hands of the
Hebridean chiefs. It is idle to speculate what his ultimate
intentions were with respect to his grandson ; his death,
which occurred in 1493, left the boy in the care of his son
Archibald, second Earl of Argyll. That the policy of
Donald's uncle was not favourable to his future assumption
of the Lordship of the Isles, may be inferred from the fact

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 103

that he suffered, if he did not instigate, the Crown to declare
his nephew illegitimate. Here there is surer ground for
the suggestion of sinister scheming, but when an analysis
of motives has to take the place of historical records, a
door is at once opened for inaccuracy of statement. All
we do know and can know is, that from first to last, Donald
Dubh was described in official documents as the bastard
son of Angus of the Isles. There is nothing to show that
the union of Angus with the daughter of Colin, Earl of
Argyll, was of an irregular nature; and it can only be
assumed that by means of some legal jugglery, and for
political reasons which are not obscure, the marriage was
declared invalid and its issue illegitimate. That the men
of the Hebrides acknowledged the legitimacy of Donald,
is clear from subsequent events which will presently be
related.

With the death of the last Earl of Ross and Lord of the
Isles, the connexion between the Macdonalds as Superiors,
and the chiefs of the Macleods of Lewis as vassals, came
to an end.

It may well be doubted whether even at this period, the
inhabitants of the Outer Hebrides were thoroughly Scottish
in feeling and sentiment. The influences of the Norse
occupation had not yet lost their force. The language of
the people was Celtic, but the blood of the Northmen flowed
through their veins. The descendants of those who, two
centuries previously, were forced to submit to Scottish
rule, must have bulked largely in the population of those
islands. Their distance from the central authority ; their
lack of touch with the machinery of government and with
the great political movements which agitated the mainland ;
their want of racial sympathy with the governing classes
of the kingdom ; all these and other causes which might
be named, accentuated the isolation of their geographical
situation, and militated against the development of a truly
national feeling. When to these considerations is added
the fact, that a state of uncompromising hostility existed
between the Gaelic-speaking Islander and the English-

104 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

speaking Lowlander ; between the men of the North who
despised the civilisation of the South, and the men of the
South who sneered at the barbarism of the North ; it is not
surprising that the Hebrideans should have as their per-
manent ideal, the solidarity of their race to resist the
aggression of the Saxon. How often that solidarity was
broken by the clan feuds which desolated the Hebrides is
only too evident. The policy of the Crown was to prevent
cohesion, for it was rightly judged that the strength which
union imparted to the clans, equipped them with so for-
midable a weapon of defence as to be a permanent source
of danger to the State.

As for the Lords of the Isles themselves, their history is
the most eloquent testimony of their character. They were
brave, energetic, and hospitable. But they were ambitious,
ruthless, and not overburdened with scruples. They were
not, however, a whit worse in those respects than the great
barons of the South. And in explanation, if not in defence,
of their treasonable practices with England, it may be
urged that the independent sovereignty over the Isles
which they both assumed and exercised, placed them in a
position of detachment which was occupied by no other
subjects of the Scottish Crown. They probably still re-
garded themselves as the representatives of the Norse
Viceroys, who had ruled the Hebrides in a state of complete
independence, subject only to the benevolent suzerainty
of Norway. As such, and as the acknowledged Kings of
the Isles, there was sufficient temptation for them to throw
off their allegiance from Scotland when it suited their
ambitious purposes to do so.

About the year 1460, a great invasion of Orkney by
Hebrideans took place. That raids to the Orkneys were
of frequent occurrence is undoubted. In the Preface to the
Exchequer Rolls (Vol. 8) it is stated that they must have
taken place annually before the death of James II. From
a letter dated 28th June, 1418, written by William Tulloch,
Bishop of Orkney, to King Christiern of Denmark, and
from a manifesto of an earlier date issued by the Orca-

EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 105

dians, it is evident that these raids were instigated by
the Lords of the Isles. The Earl of Caithness tried to
come to an arrangement with the Lord of the Isles to put
a stop to them, and well he might, for from all accounts
they were of a peculiarly savage character. It is suggested
that the Hebrideans burned, plundered, and ravaged the
country, massacred the inhabitants without respecting age
or sex, and carried off whatever cattle or other property
they could lay hands upon. Hugh Macdonald in his nar-
rative of the raid of 1460, states that John of the Isles
sent his son Hugh of Sleat " with all the young heritors of
land to harass the people of Orkney," thus confirming the
Orcadian accounts as to the complicity of the Earls of
Ross. William Macleod of Harris was one of the " heritors "
who accompanied Hugh of Sleat, and it appears from the
Orcadian tradition, that the invaders were mainly drawn
from the Long Island. According to the Sleat seanachie,
the Orcadians were prepared to give the raiders a warm
reception on landing, but the Hebrideans dis-embarked
elsewhere than expected, and were ready for the attack
when it came. The Orcadians were totally routed, among
the slain being the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by
Murdo MacCotter, one of the followers of Macleod of
Harris. Hugh of Sleat and his party then ravaged the
country, and returned home with the plunder. The " young
heritors " had a profitable and successful hership.

John Bellenden (Jo Ben) writing in 1529, refers to one
of these fights between the Lewismen and the Orcadians,
which took place in a valley of Westray, known as the
" Bloody Tuacks," or the " Place of Tenure." The Lewis-
men were engaged upon one of their usual marauding
expeditions, but the men of Westray offered a stout
resistance, and routed the invaders, killing all of them.
According to Jo Ben, one of the Lewismen had both legs
cut off, but continued to fight on his stumps. The legless
man fighting on his stumps figures in the Chevy Chase
ballad, and in more than one Highland tradition.

That the Long Islanders extended their unwelcome visits

io6 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

to the Shetlands is clear from the Shetland traditions. The
Rev. George Low, who travelled through the Orkneys and
Shetlands in 1774, relates a tradition of Foula, an island at
the southern extremity of the Shetlands, according to which
the Lewismen — as the invaders were invariably called —
pillaged Foula and burnt the wood, lest it should be a
shelter to the natives on future occasions. The Foula
tradition goes on to say that the Lewismen crossed from
that island to Sumburgh Head, at the extreme south of
Mainland, where they were defeated in a great battle. Low
himself, on visiting Sumburgh, dug up remains which con-
firmed the tradition : and he found that the spots where the
sand blew off and revealed human bones, were called by the
natives " the Lewismen's graves."

Dr. Samuel Hibbert, who also wrote a description of the
Shetland Islands, refers to the same tradition, and gives
fuller details. He states that the Lewismen were opposed
by one of the Sinclairs of Brow, who marshalled the men
of Dunrossness on the Plains of Sumburgh, and attacked
the invaders on landing. A stiff fight ensued, which re-
sulted in the total defeat of the Lewismen, all of whom
were killed and buried in the links of Sumburgh. This,
says Dr. Hibbert, was the last of many battles between the
Lewismen and the .Shetlanders. In the parish of Sand-
sting, on the west coast of Mainland, Dr. Hibbert found
the remains of an enclosure on the banks of the coast,
which, according to tradition, was constructed by the Lewis-
men for the purpose of holding their booty previous to their
departure home. A nice piratical reputation these accounts
attach to the Lewismen of old. Verily, the instincts of
their Viking ancestors were strong within them.

on vii (EYE) ,CHURCH' PROBABLY THAT OF RODERICK MAC-

LEOD VII. OF LEWIS (LATTER END OF FIFTEENTH CENTURY) SHOW-

EXAMRPACES °F BASSINET AN° CAMAIL (HEAD AND SHOULDERS) ™D
EXAMPLES OF THE QUILTED TUN!C AND THE ANCIENT CLAYMORE

[To face page 107,

CHAPTER V.

nth century found the Hebrides in

The death of Angus
^Yitic his father left the Hebridea

to unite them in p an

lead them in war. The lion

o Isles paved the way .to a
the Government was powerless to
-,id other " broken parts" of the
1 the attention of Parliament,
/Vor suppressing their disorders
be within sight.

In James IV. Scotland possessed a king who, early in his
ise of great determination of character.
)f the Hebrides was a task which, from
roved attractive to his reforming
>f the intractable Islesmen had
iluble problem to his predecessors ; am
c young rhan to succeed where t:

nad the King attained his i
v i of all grants made

ided upon. By
493, ^gal effect -

r, James initiated his plan for the
y organising an expedition t
e of the chiefs. In the
Htions with

, the West These
-on bore fruit, in the submission of the
,-fs of the Isles. In 1494, R<*
^ on. record in 147"

io8 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

1494 as a witness to charters — submitted to the King's
authority, and in the following year his example was
followed by Allan Macruari of Clan Ranald and Gilleonan
Macneill of Barra, to the latter of whom James confirmed
the grant of Barra and Boisdale in 1427 by Alexander
Lord of the Isles.*

The next steps in the pacification of the Hebrides were
of a drastic character. By an Act of the Lords of Council,
the responsibility for the execution of summonses and
other writs throughout the Isles was thrown upon the
chiefs, who were thus unable to evade the operation of the
civil actions which were in course of preparation. Then
followed, on i6th March, 1497-8, a second revocation of
charters, which seems to have specially affected the grants
to the Hebridean chiefs during the previous five years.
It is difficult to assign a satisfactory reason for this
revocation, unless it was the outcome of the renewed
insurrection under Alexander of Lochalsh. In the
Treasurer's Accounts, there appears an entry dated 2Oth
March, 1497-8, for money paid to "Lord Gordounis man that
passit in His to all the hedis men of the cuntree with the
King's writingis " ; and in the same year, there is a further
item of expenditure for " ane to pass to McLoyd in the
lies." These errands were doubtless connected with the
revocation of charters made at Duchal.

Among those who profited by the revocation, were
Archibald, Earl of Argyll, Alexander, Lord Gordon — the
Marquis of Huntly's eldest son — Duncan Stewart of
Appin, and Macian of Ardnamurchan, who had all posed
as loyal subjects, and had been in frequent communication
with the King on matters relating to the Hebrides.

The King was at Kilkiaran Castle (Campbeltown) in
June, 1498, where he dispensed his favours in the form of
charters to various chiefs, among whom were Torquil
Macleod of Lewis — son and successor of Ruari — and
Alexander Macleod of Harris (Alastair Crotach or the

* Reg. Mag.Sig. (1424-1513), No. 2,287.

THE CHARTERS TO THE CHIEFS. 109

Humpback). Macleod of Harris was a trusted friend of
the King throughout his career, while Torquil of Lewis—
who was married to Catharine, sister of the Earl of Argyll
—had powerful influence at his back to secure for him a
share of the Royal plums. To Alexander Macleod, James
granted by charter dated i$th June, 1498, " Ardmanach in
herag de Lewis " (Harris) also two unciates of the lands of
Trotternish and the Bailliary of that district, these lands
being at the disposal of the Crown by the forfeiture of
John of the Isles.* To Torquil Macleod of Lewis, he
granted by charter dated 28th June, 1498, certain lands in
Skye, including eight merks of Trotternish, together with
the office of Bailie. This grant was made to Torquil and
his heirs by Catharine of Argyll, failing whom they were
to revert to the Crown.* By a charter dated 3rd August,
1498, lands in Uist (inter alia) were granted to Ranald
MacAllan of Moidart, " for services rendered in peace and
war by land and sea " to the King ; and two days after-
wards, Ranald received a further grant of territory in Uist,
resigned in his favour by John, son and heir of Hugh of
Sleat.* On the same date (5th August), the King granted
a charter of lands (inter alia) in Benbecula to Angus
Reochson Macranald.* These properties in Uist and
Benbecula had belonged to Hugh of Sleat, having been
held by him from his brother, John, dim Lord of the
Isles.

And thus the chiefs of the Long Island rose to greatness
on the ruins of the Lordship of the Isles. As subsequent
events show, they failed to appreciate the advantage of
holding from the Crown, preferring the Superiority of their
native kinglets to that of the Sovereign of Scotland. One
of the attempts at pacification made by the King at
Kilkiaran was to settle a long-standing feud between the
Clan Ranald and the Clan Huistein of Sleat over their
properties in Garmoran and the Long Island. In 1495,
Hugh of Sleat was confirmed by the Crown in the posses-

* Reg. Mag. Sig. (1424-1513), Nos. 2,420, 2,424, 2,437-9.

K

no HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

sions which he had previously held from John of the Isles*
— the charter of confirmation was witnessed by Macleod of
Lewis and Macleod of Harris — and his son and heir John
was now either deprived of those lands, or voluntarily
resigned them in order to exclude his brothers from the
succession. But notwithstanding the transfer to the Clan
Ranald, they do not appear to have ever obtained actual
possession of the lands in North Uist from the Sleat family,
thus showing how ineffective a Crown charter sometimes
proved, when applied to the distant and inaccessible islands
across the Minch.

At length the Hebrides appeared to be permanently
pacified, but it was the calm which preceded the storm.
The last year of the fifteenth century was signalised by a
complete change in the policy of James IV. in relation to
the Isles ; a change from wise moderation to revolutionary
severity. His revocation of 1497-8 was, in effect, annulled
by the grants, during the following year, to those of the
chiefs who submitted to his authority. That his original
policy was first to cow the chiefs into obedience, and then
convert them into loyal subjects by timely grants of lands,
cannot well be doubted. But apparently his clemency
failed to have the desired effect. Otherwise, it is impos-
sible to understand the far-reaching measure of 1499. For
in that year, the King granted a commission to the Earl of
Argyll and others, to lease for a period of three years, the
properties embraced in the Lordship of the Isles, Islay,
North Uist, and South Kintyre alone excepted ; and
Argyll was simultaneously invested with a commission of
lieutenancy over the Hebrides.

This proceeding could have but one result. The chiefs
of the Hebrides, recognising their danger, banded together
for their mutual defence, and awaited the blow which
threatened them. No immediate action appears to have
been taken by the King. The measure was that of a hot-
neaded youth, who, irritated by the failure of his clemency,

* Reg. Mag. Sig. (1424-1513), No. 2,286.

THE INSURRECTION OF DONALD DtJBH. m

threw patience to the winds, and with it, all attempts at
conciliation. Perhaps it was hoped that the appointment
of the Commission would cause such dismay in the
Hebrides, as would bring the Islesmen to their knees, beg-
ging for pardon. Whether or not such was the case, it was
not until 1501 that the Commissioners began to get to
work. In that year, the necessary legal steps were taken
for expelling " broken " men from the disaffected districts,
and replacing them with " true," i.e. loyal, men. This was
the most formidable task which the Crown had yet under-
taken, for it virtually meant the expulsion of the most war-
like, the most determined, and the least amenable subjects
within the length and breadth of the Scottish dominions.

And then Donald Dubh escaped from the Castle of
Inchconnel and fled to his uncle, Torquil Macleod of
Lewis. It is impossible to dissociate his liberation from
the preparations then in progress for the foolish war of ex-
termination about to be waged in the Hebrides. The events
synchronise so closely as to suggest that the men of
Glencoe, who effected Donald's release, were acting under
instructions from the confederation of chiefs which had
been formed. The Macians themselves were among the
"broken" men who had been displaced; and it is not un-
likely that their action was part of a plot, hatched by the
malcontents, for taking the offensive as the best means of
defence, and the means which best accorded with their
traditions. The arrival of Donald Dubh in Lewis was the
slogan which sounded the call to arms. Here was their
natural leader for an insurrection, the direct heir of the last
Lord of the Isles, who had died in Paisley Abbey two
years before. For the legitimacy of Donald Dubh was
never doubted by the men of the Hebrides. Whatever
legal quibble may have converted the son of Angus Og
into a bastard received no recognition by the Islesmen
who, with their pride of descent and intimate knowledge of
genealogical intricacies, can hardly have been deceived
into a false belief in the justice of Donald's claims. But
above all, he was the representative of the old order of

K 2

ii2 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

things, that order to which they clung with the conservatism
of their race.

Torquil Macleod was one of the guiding spirits in the
plan which resulted in the liberation of Donald Dubh. He
was the acknowledged leader in the events which followed
the escape. The relationship in which he stood to the
young aspirant gave him a claim to act for Donald and to
direct the policy of the confederation. The remote Island
of Lewis afforded an excellent asylum for the fugitive ; he
was safe with his uncle in the Castle of Stornoway until
plans were matured for the forthcoming campaign.

Meanwhile, the King and his Council had not been idle.
The escape of Donald Dubh and the consequent ripening
of the dangerous situation in the Hebrides called for
energetic action. It was evident that as long as Donald
Dubh remained at large, so long would the growing
disaffection focus around him, and gather in strength if not
promptly checked. Torquil Macleod was charged to
deliver up his guest, and was warned that non-compliance
with the order would lead to his forfeiture. He refused to
violate the laws of hospitality ; he declined to hand over
Donald Dubh. Charged to appear before the Council to
answer for his contumacy, Macleod remained obdurate.
He was consequently denounced as a rebel, and his estates
were forfeited to the Crown. But with nearly the whole
strength of the Hebrides at his back, he could afford to
regard his forfeiture with equanimity, for at that juncture,
against so powerful a combination, the Crown was unable
to enforce its decrees.

In the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer, there are
certain entries which have a bearing upon the steps taken
to bring about the submission of Macleod. On 3rd
November, 1501, one Gillepatrick Cor was sent to Lewis
" with the Kingis writingis." We know from a proclama-
tion of 3rd February, 1 505-6, how, on a subsequent occasion,
this messenger was received. One of Torquil's offences on
the later date is declared to have been " the treasonable
reiving and withholding of his Highness's letters from his

THE INSURRECTION OF DONALD DUBH. 113

Officer of Arms called Gilpatrick Cor who executed the
same on 27 October last." Apparently, as time went on,
both the King's messages and those who carried them,
were received with increasingly scant ceremony at Storno-
way Castle. On 2Oth November, 1501, a messenger was
despatched " with letters " to Macleod of Lewis. On 3rd
December, Donald Mac Vicar was paid a certain sum, in
connexion with the summons issued on Torquil to appear
before the Lords in Council. On i6th December, a
further sum was paid MacVicar for his expenses " to pas in
the Lewis with summondis on Torquhile Macloyd," at
the King's instance. On iQth December, a sum of ten
pounds was paid Macleod of Harris. And there is a
further item, in 1502, for a doublet of fustian and a pair of
hose to MacVicar, " quhen he cam fra the Lewis."

From subsequent entries in the Treasurer's Accounts, it
is evident that MacVicar was an emissary of Macleod of
Harris, and we know that he subsequently received a
substantial reward for his services. It is obvious that
Alastair Crotach chose to remain outside the Hebridean
confederacy.

The significance of the fact that Macleod of Harris
and Torquil of Lewis both received, under the Kilkiaran
charters, possessions in, and the Bailliary of, Trotternish,
will not have escaped notice. It is not impossible that
this was an artful stroke of policy on the part of the King,
who may have wished to foster jealousy between the two
chiefs, and thus prevent a coalition between them. If that
was his purpose, it proved successful, for we find Alastair
Crotach acting for the Crown against the stubborn Torquil.
But neither the threats of the authorities, nor the per-
suasiveness of MacVicar, could shake the lord of Lewis :
he would neither deliver up Donald Dubh nor cross the
Minch to answer for his conduct.

The King now adopted strong measures to break up
the Hebridean confederacy, which was daily growing in
strength. Next to Torquil Macleod, Maclean of Duart
was the principal leader of the insurrection. After the

ii4 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

forfeiture of the Lords of the Isles, the Macneills of Barra
attached themselves to the Duart family, and the detach-
ment of Duart from the cause of Donald Dubh would also
involve that of his " part-taker " Macneill. James made
strong efforts to win Duart over to his cause, and similarly
endeavoured to secure the allegiance of Cameron of Lochiel ;
but the attempt proved unsuccessful in both cases.

Torquil Macleod had by this time delivered Donald
Dubh into the care of Maclean, a circumstance which
increased the importance of securing Duart's detachment
from the coalition. Failing in this attempt, the King
tried another plan. By appealing to the cupidity of the
loyal and quasi-loyal chiefs, he sought to stimulate their
antagonism towards the rebels. It was the old story
of setting Highlander against Highlander — the policy
of despair which his predecessors had so frequently em-
ployed. The King who now occupied the throne had
departed from these traditional lines, but we now find him,
after admittedly great provocation, reverting to the ways
of his predecessors. But on this occasion, the policy failed
to bear the desired fruit. On the contrary, its only effect
appears to have been to consolidate the alliance of the
chiefs.

In the Acts of Parliament, there appears a memorandum
dated igth March, 1503, which is so instructive that it is
here quoted in part, the spelling being modernised.

" Macian (of Ardnamurchan), Maclean of Lochbuie,
4 Grete ' Macleod (of Harris), Ranald Allanson (of Clan
Ranald), Macneill of Barra, ' McKinewin ' (MacKinnon of
Strathswordale), ' McCorrie ' (Macquarrie of Ulva), and —
most surprising of all — Torquil Macleod of Lewis, are
charged to proceed against the forfeited Lachlan Maclean
of Duart and Ewen Allanson (Cameron of Lochiel) to
take and inbring the same and harry, destroy, and burn
their lands. And if they apprehend and take and bring to
our Sovereign lord any of the head men, they shall have
the half of all their lands. And if they take and inbring
any other head man, and other men their accomplices, the

THE INSURRECTION OF DONALD DUBH. 115

takers shall be rewarded therefor, as the person taken is of
value in land and goods. And who assist them, or do
not use their diligence to capture or destroy them, shall be
reputed as partakers with them, and be accused and pur-
sued for treason and forfeited as the rebels, and punished
by our Sovereign lord at his coming to these parts. And
the said persons (shall) certify our Sovereign lord imme-
diately, what way they think most expedient to be done
for the destruction of the said rebels."

A note appended to this memorandum states that pro-
clamation, in accordance with the above, is to be made in
Latin and addressed to those concerned. The Earl of
Huntly undertook to send letters to Clanranald and Mac-
kinnon, the Earl of Argyll to Macian and Maclean of
Lochbuie, and the Bishop of Ross to the Macleods of
Lewis and Harris.

Here we find Torquil Macleod in strange company.
We left him an attainted rebel : he re-appears as a loyalist
charged with police work. What events had led to such
a remarkable change of fortune we are not informed. We
can only assume that the King pardoned Torquil in order
to secure his powerful co-operation against his former
associates. Apparently for a similar reason, Macneill of
Barra was received into the Royal favour, and was ordered
to carry fire and sword into the possessions of his ally of
Duart.

That James and his councillors expected their orders to
be obeyed, under these circumstances, is a curious com-
mentary on Lowland opinion of Highland honour of that
period. It was evidently assumed that Highland cupidity
was not proof against Lowland promises of reward. That
the assumption was entirely ill-founded ; that the units of
the confederacy became more closely knitted together than
ever ; redounds to the credit of the Hebrides in general,
and the Long Island in particular

At the same time as these vigorous measures were
directed against Duart and Lochiel, the Earl of Huntly
undertook, if provided with a ship and artillery, to reduce

n6 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

and garrison Strome and Eilean Donain Castles, affirming
that the capture of these strongholds was necessary for the
" danting of the Isles." From this it is evident that
Mackenzie of Kintail was a supporter, either actively or
passively, of the Hebridean confederation. It is remark-
able that a proposal of this nature should have been made,
at the very time that the King was in friendly relations
with the chiefs of the Long Island. It seems to suggest
that a display of force may have been deemed necessary
to confirm their dubious loyalty. It was not until the end
of the year that Huntly's offer was accepted. A great
naval expedition to the Hebrides was, however, in contem-
plation, for all parts of the realm were ordered to prepare
ships to pass to the Isles.

These proceedings synchronised with an Act of Parlia-
ment, dated nth March, 1503, having as its object the
more effective repression of lawlessness in the Northern
Highlands and Isles — the latter, according to the Statutes,
to be ruled by " the King's own laws and the common
laws of the realm and by no other laws." This suggestive
statement doubtless refers to the administration of rough
and ready justice by the local judges under the Lords
of the Isles. The Sheriffdom of Inverness at this time
included Ross, Caithness, and Sutherland. It was now
proposed to appoint a Sheriff for Ross, and another for
Caithness (including Sutherland) because, as the Act puts
it, there had been " great lacke and fault of justice in the
north parts as Caithness and Ross, for fault of the division
of the Schirefedome of Innerness, quhilk is over greate,
and thay parts are sa far distant from the said burgh of
Innerness." There is nothing to show that the Isles were
included in any mainland Sheriffdoms before this period.
The Sheriffdom of Skye was erected in 1292 and em-
braced the whole of the Long Island. But the dispensa-
tion of justice by the native judges must, in the incessantly
disturbed state of those parts, have necessarily possessed
peculiar features foreign to the spirit of the common law.
It was decided to change all that. Concurrently with the

THE INSURRECTION OF DONALD DUBH. 117

Act relating to Ross and Caithness, another was passed
which commented severely on the great want of justice
in the Hebrides, " wherethrow the people are almost gane
wilde." Accordingly, the Act provided for the appoint-
ment of Justices, those of the North Isles to have their
seat and place of justice in Inverness or Dingwall, " as the
matters occurris to be decerned by the said Justices,"*
while the seats of justice for the South Isles were to be
at Tarbert and Loch Kilkiaran (Campbeltown). The con-
ditions which prevailed at the commencement of the six-
teenth century called for a measure like the Act of 1503,
to provide for the better administration of justice in the
Northern Hebrides. But that Inverness and Dingwall, at
the commencement of the twentieth century, should still
be the centres of wisdom which direct the machinery of
county affairs in Skye and the Long Island, is an obvious
anomaly ; and that the Long Island should still be included,
partly in Ross-shire, and partly in Inverness-shire, is a
proof of the necessity for rectifying so incongruous a state
of matters. Lewis became part of Ross-shire through the
influence of the Earl of Seaforth, who naturally desired
to have all his estates included in one county. And from
1 66 1 to the present day, this division of the Long Island,
with all its inconveniences, has remained unchanged.

The preparations for reducing them to obedience, both
by force of arms and by the terrors of the law, had their
due effect on the Islesmen. They saw that the moment
for action had come. Late in December, 1503, they
assumed the offensive. They sought, but apparently
without avail, assistance both from England and Ireland.
With the youthful Donald Dubh at their head, and Mac-
leod of Lewis as one of their leaders, they spread over
Lochaber — the property of Huntly — like a swarm of

* It was not, however, until 1661 that the bounds of Ross-shire were settled
as they now exist, and that Lewis, owing to its possession by the Seaforths,
was included in that county. After defining the bounds of Ross and Inver-
ness, the Act goes on to say : " And that the shire of Ross comprehend the
ylland of Lewis perteaning to the Earle of Seaforth." The Sheriff- courts of
Ross-shire were to be held at " the burgh of Dingwall, Tayne, or Fforterose,
as the Shirreff shall think fit." (Acts of ParL, Vol. VII., pp. 124-5.)

n8 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

locusts, desolating the whole country in the line of their
march. Bute and Arran were similarly devastated, and
so thorough was the work of destruction in those islands
that the poverty-stricken tenants of the Crown sub-
sequently received a remission of their rents for the three
previous years.

The insurrection had now assumed formidable propor-
tions, and the whole fighting strength at the disposal of
the Crown was drawn upon for its suppression. The pre-
parations for the despatch of ships to the Isles were
pushed forward ; the services of the famous Sir Andrew
Wood and Robert Barton were requisitioned ; and the
King himself reviewed the fleet at Dumbarton. The army
was placed under the leadership of the Earls of Argyll
and Huntly, and Lord Lovat. Huntly took charge of a
division to carry out his project of reducing the Castles
of Strome and Eilean Donain. Apparently he got the
artillery he wanted, for according to the Treasurer's Ac-
counts, a supply of gunpowder was sent to him on ipth
January, 1503-4. There are no details of the siege of the
castles, but from subsequent events, it appears that Huntly
succeeded in obtaining possession of them. Nor are there
particulars of the results of the general campaign against
the Hebrides, but it is inferentially evident that the back
of the rebellion was broken.

During 1504, Macleod of Harris in the North, and the
Earl of Argyll and Macian of Ardnamurchan in the South,
exerted themselves to induce the Hebridean chiefs to
submit ; while the Earl of Arran received two commis-
sions against the Isles.

Notwithstanding Torquil Macleod's re-appearance as a
rebel, the King was apparently still disposed to deal gently
with him. His powerful influence ; his relationship to the
Earl of Argyll ; and possibly his attractive personality
may have swayed a generous monarch like James IV. ;
but above all, it was politic to keep him and Maclean
of Duart on opposite sides. And so we find that in
the autumn of 1504, Alastair Crotach's emissary, Mac-

THE INSURRECTION OF DONALD DUBH. 119

Vicar, was once more engaged in negotiations. At the
end of 1504, and the beginning of 1505, these negotiations
appear to have been of an important nature, judging by
the fact that on his return from Lewis to the King, who
was then in the North, MacVicar remained with James for
three weeks.

Having paved the way for a second invasion of the
Hebrides, the King sent a force in 1505 to complete the
work. These attentions of James to the Isles were getting
too close to be comfortable, and some of the chiefs in
the South Hebrides began to waver. Maclean of Duart
was the first to give in, and his submission was followed
by that of Macneill of Barra, who had twice been out-
lawed, once in 1504 and again in 1505. Maclean of Loch-
buie, Macquarrie, and Donald Macranaldbane of Largie
submitted during the latter year.

The submission of Duart marked the beginning of the
end. Torquil Macleod could now be dealt with more
easily. Feeling himself secure in his Castle of Stornoway,
he continued to defy the authorities. On I5th December,
1505, he was summoned to appear in Edinburgh to answer
for his sins. He treated the command with contempt.
Failing to appear when the time-limit — 2Oth January —
had expired, he was again summoned. When the second
time-limit — 3rd February — had arrived, with the unre-
pentant Torquil still at home in Lewis, the inevitable for-
feiture followed. The certificate of proclamation and the
declaration of forfeiture are such interesting documents
that they deserve to be given in full, the spelling and part
of the wording being modernised. The following is the
certificate* :

" The 23rd day of the month of December, the year of
God 1505, I, John Ogilvy, Sheriff depute of Inverness,
passed with these our Sovereign lord's letters, and sought
Torquil Macleod of the Lewis, and < becaus I cuth nocht
apprehend him personaly nor there was na sur passage to

* Acts ofFarl., Vol. II., p. 263.

120 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

me till his duelling place' (sic) I passed to the market
cross of the burgh of Inverness at eleven a.m. and there
by open proclamation made at the market cross, I sum-
moned warned and charged the said Torquil Macleod of
the Lewis, to appear before our king or his justices in the
Tolbooth of Edinburgh, the 3rd day of February, to
answer to our Sovereign lord or his justice, for taking part
and assisting * Donald Ila,' bastard son of Angus of the
Isles, bastard, taking part with him and invading our
Sovereign lord's lieges of the Isles, and destroying them,
to the effect that the said Donald should be Lord of the
Isles, and upon all points and articles in these our Sovereign
lord's letters, and after the form of the same. And this
I did before these witnesses" (here follow the names of
the burgesses of Inverness who witnessed the proclama-
tion), " and for the further witnessing of this execution,
I have affixed my signet to these presents."

The proof of the summons having been duly executed,
was read in Parliament, and in accordance with the usual
procedure, the Estates were asked by the King's Advocate
whether or not Torquil Macleod had committed treason.
The Estates, being " advisit ripelye," declared that Torquil
had committed "open and manifest tresone" in the follow-
ing manner :

" That is to say, for the treasonable art and part and
assistance given to ' Donald Yla bastard sone of umquhile
Angus of the His, also bastard sone of umquhile John Lord
of the His,' by insurrection, and taking his part, to the
intent that the said Donald should take upon him the
King's property and to be Lord of the Isles. And for
the treasonable delivering of the said Donald to Lauchlan
Maclean of Duart to the intent foresaid, and for the
treasonable withholding him from his Highness and not
delivering of him, contrary to the commands of diverse
letters directed to him thereupon. And for the treasonable
reiving and withholding of his Highness' letters from his
officer of arms called Gilpatrik Cor, who executed the
same on 2/th October last. And for the treasonable

THE INSURRECTION OF DONALD DUBH. 121

.leagues and bands with our Sovereign lord's rebels, in
treasonable wise, as contained in the summons before
expressed. And thereafter it was given for sentence by
the mouth of John Jardine Dempster of Parliament for
the time."

It was therefore decreed by Parliament "that Torquil

Macleod of the Lewis has committed treason against our

•Sovereign lord and his realm according to the summons,

I for which he has forfeited to the King : ' his life, his lands,

this gudes, offices, and all other his possessionis quhat

jsumevir he had within the realme of Scotland or Ylis,

euermar to remane with our Sovereign lord, his aieres and

! successores, for his tressonable offence.' "

In face of so formidable an indictment, it is evident
; that Torquil Macleod had exercised commendable prudence
in declining to answer the summons. But the toils were
now closing around him. The first to defy the Govern-
ment, he appears to have been the last member of the
confederacy to hold out, and he proved the most trouble-
some member to subdue. His obstinacy necessitated a
third campaign in 1506, under the Earl of Huntly. The
preparations for this campaign in Lewis were of a com-
prehensive character. A vessel called the Raven was
chartered from one Thomas Hathowy, and another vessel
belonging to one David Logan, was freighted for the same
employment. Two " craaris " or coasting boats also
formed part of the expedition, their obvious use being
to land soldiers in bays inaccessible to the larger ships.
Guns were requisitioned from Edinburgh Castle, and
skilled gunners accompanied them. Masons and ship-
wrights were also employed, though it is difficult to
conjecture for what purpose the former were sent, unless
it was to construct forts in anticipation of a prolonged
campaign.* Huntly was joined in the North by Aodh
(" Odoni ") Mackay of Strathnaver, whose contingent

* Treasurer's Accounts, Vol. III., pp. 347, 349, 350, and 383-4. In 1506
Torquil Macleod captured a Spanish ship off Lewis, but the captain and crew
were unharmed. (Treas. Accounts, Vol. III., 343, Vol. IV., p. 317.)

122 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

appears to have rendered valuable assistance in the re-
duction of Lewis. On arrival at Stornoway, Huntly
bombarded the castle, which, after a prolonged siege, was
captured. Donald Dubh who, after Maclean's submission,
had again taken refuge in Stornoway, was carried South
in triumph, and imprisoned in Edinburgh and subsequently
in Stirling Castle. Torquil Macleod's fate is uncertain,
but he seems to have escaped and to have lived until
about 1511.

This Torquil was perhaps the most remarkable chief of
the Lewis Macleods. The Dean of Lismore quotes the
eulogy of a contemporary bard, from which, after making
due allowance for the usual extravagance of language, it
is evident that Torquil was a man of whom Lewis was
proud. Thus the bard (who was probably attached to the
chiefs household) : " I say of him and say in truth since I
have come so well to know him, that never was there of
his age better king who ruled in Lewis." And again :
" Not braver of his age was Cuchullin nor hardier was he
than Torquil — him of the ready vigorous arm, who boldly
breaks through any breach." And so on in the same
strain.*

The Earl of Huntly now became the most powerful
nobleman in the North, and the Northern Hebrides were
placed under his jurisdiction, while the South Isles were
handed over to the lieutenancy of the Earl of Argyll.
And thus ended the insurrection of Donald Dubh. It
was not without beneficial results to the Hebrides, for it
convinced the Government that their scheme of displacing
the Islesmen in a wholesale fashion was bound to fail,
and it was accordingly abandoned. A century later, the
plan was re-introduced in a more insidious form, but, as
we shall see, the attempt again proved a disastrous
failure.

Mackay of Strathnaver was rewarded for his services in
Lewis by a charter dated 6th March, 1508, which granted

* The eulogy is given in full in the Dean of Lism ore's book ; it is
interesting specimen of its kind.

THE INSURRECTION OF RONALD DUBH. 123

! him Assynt and Coigeach in life-rent, the forfeited pro-
perties of Torquil Macleod olim de Lewis* On 2Qth
April, 1508, the King having the disposal of Lewis and
Waternish in his hands, instructed Macleod of Harris,
Ranald of Clan Ranald and the Bishop of Caithness to let
those lands for a term of five years to suitable tenants, and
on /th June of the same year, they were ordered to proceed
to Lewis on the same business, and to follow the directions
of the Earl of Huntly in the matter.f These instructions
had no practical result, for on 29th June, 1511, a Crown
charter of Lewis, Waternish, Assynt and Coigeach was
granted to Malcolm Macleod, Torquil's brother, the barony
and lordship of Lewis with the Castle of " Stornochway "
being incorporated in one " liberain."* Torquil Macleod
left by his second wife (the widow of Donald Gallich, and
the mother of Donald Gruamach of Sleat) a son named
John, who was thus excluded from the succession, but who
took forcible possession of Lewis some years afterwards.

The pacification of the Hebrides inspired the Islesmen
with a wholesome respect for King James IV. In view of
the provocation which he had received, it must be admitted
that the King dealt generously with the vanquished rebels.
Generosity has ever appealed to Highlanders, and the
present occasion was no exception to the rule. After the
insurrection was quelled, the King had no more devoted
subjects in his realm than the Hebrideans. Besides his
personal bravery as a man, and his generosity as a monarch,
James possessed a further qualification which went far to
endear him to his Celtico-Norse subjects. According to
the Spanish Ambassador, Don Pedro de Ayala, who had
a warm admiration for the King, the latter spoke "the
language of the savages who live in some parts of Scotland
and on the islands." He was probably the last King of
Scotland or Great Britain who spoke Gaelic. De Ayala
also states that James went in the summer of 1497 "to

* Reg. Mag. Sig. (1424-1513), Nos. 3,202 and 3,578.
t In May, 1508, the King sent his falconer to Lewis for hawks. (Treas.
Accounts, Vol. IV., p. 118.)

i24 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

many of the islands and presided at the Courts of Law," an
interesting statement in view of the Act of Parliament of
1503. It is certain that the King knew his Highlands
well, and particularly the town of Tain ; at one period of
his life, he paid an annual pilgrimage to the shrine of St.
Duthac. The newborn attachment of the Highlanders to
their Sovereign found its chief expression at the fatal field
of Flodden, where they fought side by side with their
former enemies, Argyll and Huntly, both of whom fell
with the King on that dark day which threw the whole of
Scotland into the deepest mourning. According to Mr.
Tytler, the Macleods were among the Highlanders who
fought at Flodden, and from a contemporary writer, we
learn that among the Scots slain was the Bishop of the
Isles. The clans displayed their usual bravery, but their
impetuous onslaught was unavailing against the steadiness
of the English, who routed them with great slaughter.

The disaster at Flodden plunged the country into a
state of anarchy, which offered a tempting opportunity
for another insurrection in the Hebrides. As before, the
Lordship of the Isles formed the ostensible cause, but it is
not necessary to look very far below the surface to perceive
that there were other and deeper reasons. The gathering
of the clans at Flodden was not due to patriotism — for the
Hebrideans openly avowed themselves to be the enemies
of Scotland — but to the personal influence of James IV.
The death of that gallant and chivalrous monarch — whose
exaggerated spirit of chivalry cost him and his country
so dear — released the Hebrideans from their temporary
allegiance, and two months after they charged the English
ranks at Flodden, they were virtually assisting England by
harassing the distracted Government of Scotland.

The leader of the fresh rising in 1513 was Donald, son
of Alexander of Lochalsh by a daughter of the Earl of
Moray ; he is known in Highland history as Donald Gauld
or Gallda (the stranger) from the fact that he was educated
in the Lowlands. He was knighted on the field of Flodden
by his guardian the King. The Sleat seanachie relates

THE INSURRECTION OF DONALD GALLDA. 125

how Donald Gallda went to Lewis, accompanied by Malcolm
Macleod's son — MacGillecolum of Raasay — and enlisted
the support of the chief of the Siol Torquil, who convened
a meeting at Kyleakin of his brother chiefs, to discuss the
question of the succession to the Lordship of the Isles.
The choice lay between Donald Gruamach, grandson of
Hugh of Sleat, and Donald Gallda, grandson of Celestine
of Lochalsh, the latter, like Hugh of Sleat, being either an
illegitimate or a handfast son of Alexander, Earl of Ross
and Lord of the Isles. Donald Gruamach, however, refused
to put forward his claim while Donald Dubh was alive,
and Donald Gallda, who had no such scruples, was ulti-
mately proclaimed Lord of the Isles at Morvern.

The insurrection which was the outcome of the decision
to enforce the claims of Donald Gallda, proceeded un-
checked until 1515, when active steps were taken by John,
Duke of Albany, for its suppression. Colin, third Earl of
Argyll, and Macian of Ardnamurchan were the instruments
chosen for that purpose, and as the result of their joint
efforts, the rising collapsed. A free pardon was given to
all except the leaders, who, however, had enriched them-
selves with sufficient booty to compensate them for the
Regent's displeasure. Donald Gallda and his fellow con-
spirators seem to have escaped punishment ; the former,
who is called " Monsieur de Ylis," was indeed summoned
in 1516 to join the army then about to proceed against
Alexander, Earl of Home, the powerful and refractory
Warden of the Scottish Border, with whom, there is
some reason to suppose, Donald Gallda was acting by
collusion.

Early in 1517, Donald Gallda again headed an insurrec-
tion in the Hebrides, one of his first acts being to gratify
his revenge against Macian of Ardnamurchan, whose castle
was burnt and whose lands were ravaged. A disagreement
with his colleagues resulted in the detachment of Macleod
of Harris, Maclean of Duart, and Gilleonan Macneill of
Barra, all of whom submitted to the Regent. Maclean
was particularly bitter against his former leader, in whose

L

126 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

veins ran " the wicked blood of the Isles," and he urged
the adoption of extreme measures. Argyll was commis-
sioned to pursue the rebels with fire and sword, and expel
them from the Isles, of which on 8th March, 1516, he
obtained the lieutenancy.* The slaughter of the Macians
in 1518-19 at Craig-an-Airgid (Silver Craig)— which, the
seanachie MacVurich states, was the result of a coalition
between Macleod of Lewis and Macdonald of Dunyveg
against them — was the closing incident in this renewed
rising, which terminated with the death of its promoter,
the pseudo-Lord of the Isles, at Tiree (or Mull) a few
weeks after the fight at Silver Craig. Donald Gallda left
no children.

On the death of Malcolm Macleod of Lewis, which
occurred about 1528, his nephew, TorquiPs son, John, took
possession of Lewis with the assistance of Donald Grua-
mach ; Roderick, Malcolm's son, being thus excluded from
the succession, apparently by force. About the same time,
John of Lewis helped his colleague, Donald Gruamach,
to expel the Siol Tormod from Trotternish. A charter of
23rd August, 1505, had conveyed Sleat and other lands in
Skye and North Uist to Ranald, son of Allan MacRuari
of Clan Ranald. Father and son met a mysterious death,
the former at Blair- Atholl in 1509, and the latter at Perth
in 1513. About 1506, Archibald Dubh, the illegitimate son
of Hugh of Sleat, who had murdered his half-brothers
Donald Gallich and Donald Heroch, assumed the headship
of the Sleat family. He was expelled from the North Isles
by Ranald MacAllan and became a pirate ; obtained a free
pardon by betraying his associates ; was Bailie of Trotter-
nish in 1510 ; and was killed a few years later by the sons
of Donald Gallich and Donald Heroch. Such was the posi-
tion of the Clan Ranald and Clan Huistein when, in 1516,
Alastair Crotach of Harris got a tack of the whole of Trot-
ternish, and in 1517 received, as a reward for throwing

* Appendix Report IV., Hist. Mss. Com., p. 487. Bute and Arran were alone
excluded from the lieutenancy. "The land of Malcolm Macleod of Lewis"
is specially mentioned.

THE ISLES AND THE HOUSE OF ARGYLL. 127

over Donald Gallda, a lease of the same lands from the
Regent for a period of eleven years, his subsequent
tenancy to be at the will of the Regent. A later heritable
grant by the Earl of Angus, of Sleat and North Uist,
further increased the power of Alastair Crotach.

It was in these circumstances that Donald Gruamach and
John of Lewis invaded Skye, and drove the Macleods
from Trotternish. On nth March, 1528, summonses were
issued against both, and they were mulcted in a smart fine
of money and stock, payable to Alastair Crotach. Thus the
latter recovered Trotternish, but it does not appear that he
ever attempted to give effect to the charter by which he
acquired Sleat and North Uist The Clan Huistein, in the
person of Donald Gruamach, retained possession, charters
to their rivals notwithstanding.

About this time John MacTorquil paid a hostile visit
to Assynt, where he fought a battle with Donald " Cam,"
chief of the Macleods of Assynt, who were cadets of the
Siol Torquil. The origin of the quarrel is not stated. The
Lewismen got the worst of the fight, their chief being taken
prisoner. Donald Cam was, however, mortally wounded,
and died soon afterwards.

The Act of 1528, which declared the non-availability of
the grants made in the Isles and adjacent mainland by the
Earl of Angus, and which provided that in future only such
infeftments as should receive the approval of Colin Earl of
Argyll and the Lords of Council would be valid, naturally
created much discontent among the grantees. The prestige
of the Earl of Argyll was enhanced by the power conferred
upon him by this Act, and he appears to have pushed his
advantage until the patience of the Hebridean chiefs
reached breaking point. In 1529, the irritation of the
chiefs led to an open rupture between them and Argyll,
the malcontents being led in their opposition to the Camp-
bells by Alexander Macdonald of Dunyveg. The Isles-
men were only too glad to have a pretext for striking a
blow at their hereditary enemies, the House of Argyll, and
Macdonald received their whole-hearted backing. The

L 2

128 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

insurrection was initiated by an attack by Macdonald,
assisted by the Macleans, on the lands of the Campbells,
which they ravaged with fire and sword. Argyll turned to
the Crown for assistance, and a herald was despatched to
Islay for the purpose of ordering the rebels to* lay down
their arms ; but the King (James V.) did not propose to
proceed to extreme measures if they were found amen-
able to reason. In the result, it was found impracticable
to come to terms, and Argyll, who was in high favour
for his services against the House of Douglas, received
the Royal sanction to suppress the rebellion by force.
This was exactly what Argyll wanted. For some reason,
however, the preparations for an expedition were delayed,
and it was not until the spring of the following year
that they approached completion. The Crown launched
its usual summonses against the refractory Islesmen.
On 26th April, "Johane McCloyd de Lewis, Donaldo
Gromych, McDonald Gallich de Dunskawich (Dunscaich),
and Alexro Makcloyd de Dunvegane" were, among others,
thus summoned, and two days afterwards, similar sum-
monses were issued. The ostensible purpose of these pro-
ceedings was apparently harmless enough, for it was
desired that the chiefs should assemble " to commune
with his Majesty for good rule of the Isles." But the
Hebridean lords had a wholesome suspicion of Royal con-
ferences, and in the light of past experience, this is not
surprising. And these suspicions were not removed by
the continued preparations which were on foot for reducing
them to obedience. A levy of men was laid on the loyalist
of certain districts, and a levy of provisions on various Low-
land burghs. These outward signs of the purpose of th<
Crown were not without their effect. On 9th May, nine ol
the leaders, including Macleod of Lewis, Macleod of Harris,
Donald Gruamach, and Macneill of Barra, sent in their sub-
mission through Maclean of Duart* Their submission w;

* Gregory (p. 134) states that nine of the chiefs submitted, but in the note
at the foot of the page, giving their names, only eight are mentioned. Tl
ninth must have been Duart's ally, Macneill of Barra.

THE ISLES AND THE HOUSE OF ARGYLL. 129

accepted, but their presence was still required before 2Oth
June at the King's Court, where they were to remain during
the Royal pleasure. Notwithstanding the safeguarding of
their lives and property under the King's guarantee, for a
period of twenty days after their departure home, the
chiefs were still suspicious. On 26th May, and again on
9th June, John Macleod of Lewis, with two other chiefs,
Maclean of Lochbuie and John Canochson (? John 'of
Keppoch), was once more summoned.

While the preparations for subjugating the Islesmen were
ripening, a set-back occurred by the death of the Earl of
Argyll. His son and successor, Archibald, received the
lieutenancy of the South Hebrides, while the North Isles
and North Highlands were placed under the jurisdiction of
the King's natural brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray.
The outcome of this dual control was a proposal on the
part of Argyll and Moray to compel the Hebridean chiefs
to take their lands on lease from themselves, the lessors
engaging to guarantee the feu-duties payable to the Crown,
and Moray offering to bear the whole expense of the pro-
jected campaign in the North Isles, if unsuccessful. This
unscrupulous scheme for partitioning the Hebrides between
the two ambitious nobles was nullified by the wise decision
of the chiefs to submit to the King, rather than risk a con-
flict with his lieutenants. Foiled in one direction, Argyll
endeavoured, by a series of irritating acts, to goad the chiefs
into rebellion, but again he failed. He then endeavoured
to effect the ruin of Macdonald of Dunyveg, but was unable
to substantiate the charges which he brought against him.
Not only so, but Macdonald's rejoinder placed his opponent
in such an unfavourable light that, as the result of an
inquiry, Argyll was imprisoned for a short period, and
during the remainder of the reign of James V., lay under a
cloud. So ended the Argyll-Moray plan for dominating
the Hebrides. The events of 1530-1 may have had some
bearing upon a grant of Moidart, Arisaig, Eigg and thirty
merksland in Uist, conveyed by charter dated nth
February, 1531-2, to "John MacAlester" for " good ser-

130 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

vices."* The recipient of this grant was the famous John
Moidartach, Captain of Clan Ranald, the illegitimate son of
Alastair, second son of Allan MacRuari. John Moidartach's
father was the uncle of Dougall (son of Ranald MacAllan
who died, or was executed in 1513), whose cruelties so
alienated his clansmen that they put him to death, and
elected Alastair in his stead, to the exclusion of Ranald
Gallda, a son of Allan MacRuari by his second wife, a
daughter of Lord Lovat. The exclusion of Ranald Gallda
led to a bitter feud between the Clan Ranald and the
Frasers, which culminated, in 1 544, in the bloody fight of
Blar-na-leine,f at which the Frasers were almost decimated,
among the slain being Lord Lovat, his son and heir, and
Ranald Gallda himself.

In 1539, Ruari Macleod of Lewis (son of Malcolm) who
succeeded John MacTorquil, joined the head of the Sleat
family in a second attempt to wrest Trotternish from
Macleod of Harris. Donald Gruamach had by this time
been gathered to his fathers, and his son Donald Gorm
succeeded him as chief of the Clan Huistein. Donald Gorm
hankered after the lands in Skye which his father had
seized, but had failed to hold. He found a ready and
powerful ally in Ruari Macleod, who had probably formed
with him an offensive and defensive alliance, in considera-
tion of Donald Gorm resigning his claims to the possession
of Lewis. For he had such a claim, and it was sufficiently
strong to merit compensation for its renunciation. He was
married to Margaret, the only child of John the predecessor
of Ruari, and was thus entitled through his wife to lay
claim to her father's possessions. As we shall see, this
claim, although allowed to remain inoperative during the
lifetime of Ruari, was covertly revived when the question
of his successor came to be considered.

Passing over to the mainland from Trotternish, which
they ravaged, Donald Gorm and Ruari Macleod took

* Reg. Mag. Sig. (1513-1546), No. 1,131.

t The " Field of Shirts, "so-called from the combatants, owing to the sultry
state of the weather, having thrown off their coats and fought in their shirts.

THE EXPEDITION OF JAMES V. 131

advantage of the absence of John Mackenzie of Kintail to
desolate Kenlochewe ; and they then attempted to capture
Mackenzie's Castle of Eilean Donain, which was defended
by only a small garrison.* But the campaign and Donald
Gorm's life were together ended by a barbed arrow, sped
by the hand of an intrepid archer, Duncan Macrae, one of
the defenders of the castle. Donald was wounded in the
foot, and the wound, owing to his own impatience and the
lack of an elementary knowledge of surgery on the part of
his followers, proved fatal. According to the account given
in the History of the Mackenzies (pp. 135-7), the attack on
Eilean Donain Castle was the last of a series of raids made
by Macdonald of Sleat on Mackenzie's country ; Kintail
in retaliation sending his son, Kenneth, to Skye on two
separate occasions, to ravage Donald Gorm's lands of
Sleat. After the death of Donald, his allies burnt the
Mackenzies' boats and returned home — a sorry ending to
a fruitless campaign.

That the King was aware of these disturbances, and
alive to the danger of further trouble in the Hebrides, may
be inferred from the fact that in 1 540, summonses of treason
were issued against Ruari Macleod of Lewis, Alexander
Macleod of Dunvegan, John of Moidart, Cameron of
Lochiel, and Macneill of Barra ; and in the year 1540^
James led in person an expedition to the Isles. Buchanan
tells us that " the King resolved to circumnavigate Scot-
land and reduce the fierce spirit of the islanders to the
obedience of the laws " ; and this statement is borne out by
Bishop Lesley, and by Lindsay of Pitscottie, as well as by
the actual proceedings which took place. On the other
hand, we are informed in a history of Scotland published
in 1749 by " An Impartial Hand," that the object of the
voyage was to enable the King to make himself acquainted

* According to Mackenzie's History of the Macktnzics, the castle was de-
fended by three men only, of whom one— the Governor— was killed.

t Scottish historians appear to be in error in the different dates which
they give to the voyage of James V. to the Western Isles. Extracts from the
Treasurer's Accounts which appear in Pitcairn's Criminal Trials prove that
it took place in 1540.

132 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

with the state of the fishery, " and to enquire fully into the
abuses and violence committed by the English, especially
the merchants of London who carried on a considerable
fishery at the time on these coasts, and in the other northern
parts of the German Ocean." The Lubeckers conducted at
this period, with the help of the English, an illicit trade on
the coast of Scotland, " encroaching upon the property of
the Scots nation by carrying on their fishing upon their
coast, without leave either asked or given " ; and these
proceedings, according to our historian, had formed the
subject of diplomatic correspondence between the Courts
of England and Scotland. This matter may well have
engaged the attention of the Scottish King during his
famous voyage, and we know that a complete survey of
the coasts was made by Alexander Lindsay, a capable
pilot employed for the expedition. That the main
object was to quell the disorders in the Hebrides there
can be no doubt. This was not the first visit of James to
the Isles. In 1536, he left the Forth with five ships on a
mysterious voyage, the destination of which was generally
supposed to be France. The King, however, was out on
one of his adventurous pranks. Instead of steering for
France, he ordered the ships northwards, and " sailed about
Skye and Lewis and the Isles." James V. was a genuine
" sailor-king."

In May, 1540, a fleet of twelve ships, well equipped
with artillery, and manned by picked sailors, left Leith
under the supreme command of James. Six of the ships
were for the " Kyng and hys trayne," three were for the
provisions, while the remaining three carried, respectively,
Cardinal Beaton, the Earl of Huntly, and the Earl of
Arran, a notable absentee being the Earl of Argyll, who
was apparently still in disgrace. The Cardinal had with
him a force of 500 men from Fife and Angus, and Huntly
and Arran had a following of 1,000 men. These numbers
were augmented by the members of the Royal suite,
besides " many barons and gentlemen " with their servants ;
so it is clear that James was well prepared for armed

THE EXPEDITION OF JAMES V. 133

opposition. In point of fact, there was no resistance
offered. The expedition was from first to last a huge
picnic for its participants, who doubtless experienced the
same feelings of curiosity about the remote objective of
their voyage, as might any band of modern excursionists
joining a personally-conducted tour to the islands of the
South Pacific.

The fleet sailed along the east coast to the Orkneys
where provisions were requisitioned, and where the King
was entertained by Robert Maxwell, Bishop of Orkney.
The next stopping-place was the coast of Sutherland,
where Donald Mackay of Strathnaver was seized. The
fleet then crossed the Minch to Stornoway.* Ruari
Macleod, one of the most troublesome chiefs in the
Hebrides, together with " the principallis of his kin," was
compelled willy-nilly to appear before the King, and was
forced to bid farewell to Lewis for a season. Macleod of
Harris was next summoned from Harris (some accounts
say from Dunvegan) to the King's presence, and Macneill
of Barra had to obey a similar command. At Loch
Duich, John Mackenzie of Kintail became an unwilling
passenger, and at Trotternish, the King made quite a haul of
Macdonalds, John Moidartach of Clan Ranald, Alexander
of Glengarry, and others " quha allegit thame to be of the
principalle bluide and lordis of the lies " — doubtless the
Sleat Macdonalds — being the recipients of the Royal
attention. Mr. Gregory suggests that the Macdonalds
hoped to secure the favour of the King by meeting him
half-way, thus accounting for their collective presence in
Skye. If that was their hope, it does not appear to have
been quite realised, for some of them at least were forced
to accompany the expedition southwards/I* In the Southern
Hebrides, Hector Maclean of Duart and James Macdonald

* Stornovvay has been visited by only two reigning Sovereigns : by James V.
in 1540 and by King Edward, with the Queen, on 2nd September, 1902.
The objects of these visits differed as widely as did the nature of the reception
accorded to the two monarchs.

t As is well known, the town of Portree (the King's Port) owes its name to
the visit of James V. to Skye.

134 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

of Dunyveg, the two principal chiefs, were detained as
captives on board the fleet. The King disembarked at
Dumbarton, and sent the ships, with their Hebridean
prizes, back to Leith by the way they came.

It cannot be supposed that the sole occupation of the
King during his voyage was to kidnap chiefs and study
the Gaelic language. To many of his followers, the whole
affair may have proved of no greater gravity than a
summer excursion, but James, with all his faults, was a
ruler who had the best interests of all his subjects at heart.
The suggestion about the settlement of questions connected
with the fishing has already been noticed, and according
to Pitscottie, the King " held justice courts and punished
both thief and traitor according to their demerit." If the
pictures of the Hebrides drawn by contemporary travellers
are truthful, his time must have been fully occupied.
Pitscottie also makes the statement that James " caused
great men to show their holdings, and found many of the
said lands in non-entry." These were promptly confiscated
to the Crown.*

There are no definite particulars of the ultimate fate of
the captured chiefs, but we know that some were set at
liberty on giving hostages for their peaceful demeanour.
Contemporary evidence serves to show that the principal
men were kept in confinement until after the King's death,
as pledges for the good behaviour of their clansmen.
Lesley tells us that as the result of the captivity of the
chiefs, great quietness prevailed in the Isles, and that the
rents of the Crown lands were regularly paid to the
Exchequer; a new experience evidently. William Drum-
mond of Hawthornden states that "this voyage bread
great fear in those islanders and savages, and brought long
peace and quietness to those countreys thereafter."

Whether Ruari Macleod was kept in confinement or not,
it is clear that he soon regained the Royal favour. In

* On 2nd April, 1538, Ruari Macleod received a grant of the non-entry
and other dues of the lands and barony of Lewis from 3Oth June, 1511, to
IS39-

ENGLAND AND THE ISLES. 135

1541, James granted him and his affianced spouse, Barbara
Stewart, daughter of the Lord Chancellor (Andrew, Lord
Avondale), the lands, island, and barony of Lewis, with the
: castle and other lands resigned by Ruari for that purpose ;
whereupon the whole was erected anew into the free
: barony of Lewis. It may be convenient to state here that
Ruari's first wife was Janet, an illegitimate daughter of
John Mackenzie of Kintail, her first husband being Mackay
!of Reay. After divorcing Janet Mackenzie under circum-
| stances which will be noticed later on, Ruari married
| Barbara Stewart in 1541.

The premature death of James V. in 1542 placed Scot-
Hand at the mercy of rival parties which, during the minority
of Mary Queen of Scots, kept the country in a perpetual
; state of domestic strife. The real master of Scotland
during the regency of the Earl of Arran was the able but
unscrupulous Cardinal Beaton, who used the great nobles
as puppets to serve his own purposes. As the head of
the Roman Catholic clergy, who were at that time the
dominant party in the State, Beaton possessed sufficient
influence to mould the Church and its adherents to his
resolute will. His natural abilities as a statesman, as well
as a Churchman, left him without a rival in shaping the
policy of the country in foreign affairs. The Earl of
Arran, the next heir to the Crown and the nominal
Regent, was regarded by the Protestant party as their
natural leader against the designs of the Cardinal. A
weak and indolent man, Arran was a mere child in the
hands of the crafty prelate, who took steps to counteract
his influence by bringing over from France, Matthew
Stewart, Earl of Lennox, a rival for the regency, and a
claimant, like Arran, to the succession, through their
common descent from the House of Stewart. The advent
of Lennox upon the scene had important results, both for
himself and for the country.

Henry VIII. of England had been quick to turn the
distracted state of the sister kingdom to his own advan-
tage. The disastrous defeat of the Scots at Solway paved

136 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

the way for pressing his cherished design of adding Scot-
land to his own dominions, by means of a marriage between
his son Edward, and Mary, the infant daughter of James V.
To this end Henry used the arts of diplomacy, and suc-
ceeded in forming a faction, the members of which were
pledged to further his aims. Whatever Cardinal Beaton's
faults may have been — and he was a man to stick at
nothing to accomplish his ends — he was at least consistent
in his enmity to England and his friendship for France.
Recognising that the independence of Scotland, the
ascendancy of the Romish religion, and his own unrivalled
influence and power were equally threatened by the pro-
posed marriage, he resisted strenuously the schemes of the
pro-English party, and looked to France, his early home
and the ancient ally of Scotland, to save his country.
Unhappy Scotland thus became the prey of two opposing
factions, representing, respectively, French and English
interests. Lennox came over to his native country with
strong French proclivities, and was hailed as a powerful
adherent of the French party. But he soon discovered
that he had been used as a mere tool by the astute prelate,
whose purpose he had served by intimidating Arran into
repudiation of his English friends, resistance to the project
of Henry VIII., reconciliation with the Cardinal himself,
and renunciation of the Protestant religion. Having thus
gained his ends, the Cardinal ignored Lennox, whom he
had previously flattered with his attentions, and with a
promise of the hand of the Queen- Dowager in marriage.
The shifty policy of the prelate threw Lennox into the
arms of the English party, and ultimately into the service
of the English King.

The bearing of these events upon the Hebrides will now
be noticed. As early as the year 1 542, the attention of
Henry VIII. had been drawn to the Isles by means of
a letter of extraordinary interest,* written to the King by
one John Elder, a Scotsman who appears to have been an

* The Bannatyne, Miscellany, Vol. I., pp. 7~iS.

ENGLAND AND THE ISLES. 137

xile in England, on account of his politics, or his religion,
or both. Elder, who was a native of Caithness, and had
been a student at St. Andrews, Aberdeen, and Glasgow,
tells the King that he was brought up and educated in the
West Isles, " namede the Sky and the Lewis, where I have
bene often tymes with my friend is in ther longe galies
arrywing to dyvers and syndrie places in Scotland where
they had a do." He strongly counselled Henry to invade
Scotland, assuring him of the support of the Highland
chiefs — " the Yrische lordes of Scotland commonly callit
the Reddshanckes and by historiographouris Pictis " —
who, he states, had been greatly impressed by the King's
magnanimous treatment of the rebels in Ireland. Elder's
letter formed the introduction to a " plotte " or plan of
Scotland which he forwarded to Henry, containing a des-
cription " of all the notable townes, castels and abbeis,"
together with "the situacion of all the principal yles
marched with the same callid Orkney and Schetland, and
of the out yles commonly namede the Sky and the Lewys."
The writer of this remarkable letter, who calls himself a
Redshank — the Highlanders were so called, he states, from
their custom of making buskins of deershide — has a good
word to say for his fellow Redshanks. He asserts that
they surpass the Lowlanders in " faith, honesty, policy and
wit," an ex-parte statement which, however, probably con-
tains more truth than the ignorant and prejudiced opinions
regarding the Highlanders expressed by Lowland writers
of those and later times. Elder was bitterly opposed to
Cardinal Beaton and his party, and whatever may be
thought of his want of patriotism in counselling an invasion
of his native country, he makes clear his desire that the
union of the two kingdoms should be based on the
marriage which Henry was striving so sedulously to bring
about. The Scots generally were not averse from this
marriage : they liked the match, but objected to the
manner of wooing.

The English Ambassador in Scotland, Sir Ralph Sadler,
an astute diplomatist, did not lose sight of the uses to

138 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

which the Islesmen might be put in checkmating the
Cardinal and furthering the plans of the pro-English party.
It may be — we cannot tell — that he was instrumental in
effecting by bribery or otherwise the release of Donald
Dubh from confinement, but certain it is that the escape
of Donald coincided with a remarkable movement in the
Hebrides directed against the National party. Sadler kept
his Royal master well posted in all that went on behind
the scenes in Edinburgh and elsewhere in Scotland, and
his letters are instructive reading, as showing the utter
want of cohesion, the grasping selfishness, the lack of
patriotism, and the mutual distrust which prevailed among
the Scottish nobles of his time. The Earls of Argyll and
Huntly were exceptions among these time-servers. They
at least never forgot that they were Scotsmen first and
partisans afterwards. It is only bare justice to say that
Argyll and Huntly acted the part of true patriots, who
had no axe to grind by acquiescence in, or opposition to,
the ambitious views of Henry VIII. They were therefore
marked men by the English party : dangerous opponents,
whose actions had to be carefully watched, and whose
influence had to be skilfully counteracted.

The re-appearance of Donald Dubh in the Hebrides
once more unsheathed the broadswords. His old sup-
porters again rallied round him, and menaced their old
enemies, the Campbells. A truce, however, was arranged
between Argyll and the self-styled " Earl of the Isles,"
which lasted until May-Day, 1543. But Argyll made
preparations for the inevitable trial of strength. According
to Sadler, the news was current in Edinburgh, that Donald
Dubh had decided to take part with the Earl of Lennox
" against all Scotishmen his enemies," and was getting
ready to attack Argyll and Huntly. In June, 1543, active
hostilities were in progress, Argyll in the South and Huntly
in the North, being fully occupied with the " Irishmen "
(Gaelic-speakers).

Between June and August, the Hebrideans received a
valuable accession to their strength. The Regent, insti-

ENGLAND AND THE ISLES. 139

gated by the Earl of Glencairn — the latter being under the
influence of the English Ambassador — decided to release
the chiefs who had been confined in the Castles of Edin-
burgh and Dunbar since 1 540. We are left in no doubt as
to the object of Arran, who at this period was completely
dominated by the English party. Sadler tells us that " the
Governor hath now let them loose and sent them home
i only of policy to keep the Earl of Argyll occupied. . . .
I So that, as the Governor and others here tell me, the Earl
of Argyll shall have his hands so full, that he shall have
no leisure to look hithervvards." No sooner had the chiefs
reached their homes, than a force of 1,800 Islesmen ravaged
the country of the Campbells and their allies, and reaped
a rich harvest in spoil. Sadler comments on this raid :
" And yet the said Governor took bonds of the said Irish-
men when he put them to liberty, that they shall not make
any stir or breach in their country, but at such time as he
shall appoint them. But how they shall observe these
bonds now since they be at liberty, it is hard to say, for
they be noted such perilous persons as it is thought it
shall not lie in this Earl of Argyll's power to daunt them,
nor yet in the Governor's to set that country again in a
stay and quietness a great while. But once the Earl of
Argyll shall by this means be so matched at home as he
shall not dare nor be able to go from home, he shall have
so much ado to keep his own ; and this is done of policy
as aforesaid."*

The policy proved in the result short-sighted in the
extreme, as far as Arran was concerned, for it ultimately
recoiled on his own head. In a state of society where men
changed their politics as readily as their coats, it was dan-
gerous for these shifty faction-mongers to adopt a course
of action having far-reaching consequences, lest the food of
to-day should prove the poison of to-morrow. The Earl
of Arran changed sides soon afterwards, and reaped the
fruits of his policy. He dug a pit for Argyll, into which the

* Utters and Negotiations of Sir Ralph Sadler, pp. 334-5.

140 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

latter fell, but he himself tumbled in after him. It was in
vain that the Regent tried to win over Donald Dubh and his
followers to his anti-English policy ; the only chief of note
to side with him was James Macdonald of Dunyveg, and,
as subsequent events proved, his adherence was at best
half-hearted, if nothing worse.

Meanwhile, Donald Dubh and his followers, acting in
conjunction with the Earl of Lennox, commenced opera-
tions against Argyll and Huntly, securing by this means
the friendship and support of Henry VIII., until finally,
they listened to his representations, and consented to
transfer their allegiance to the English Crown. It must
be acknowledged that so far at least as their leader is
concerned, English gold was a determining factor in
this decision. But before condemning the Islesmen for
their traitorous conduct, it may be permissible to examine
their attitude from their own standpoint. The claims of
Scotland as their native land had always lain lightly
on their shoulders; so lightly, in fact, as to be scarcely
felt. They regarded the Lowlanders as an alien race,
permanent fusion with whom was distasteful to their
instincts. From every point of view but their own, they
owed loyalty and faithful service to the country of which
the Hebrides had, for nearly three centuries, formed an
integral part. But above their duty to Scotland, they
placed their hereditary attachment to the Lords of the
Isles, who had in the past exercised unquestioned supremacy
over them, a supremacy which they acknowledged in a
way that the Crown had never been able to secure by
favours, or enforce by punishment. How far they were
influenced by the motives attributed to them by Elder —
the hope of reward from a master who showered favours
on his rebellious Celtic subjects — cannot be known. That
they expected generous treatment at the hands of the
English King is not unlikely, but there is nothing to show
that they embarked upon the enterprise for the sake of
what they could get out of it. They were financed by
England, it is true, but it is obvious that the mercenary

ENGLAND AND THE ISLES. 141

spirit was subservient to their loyalty to the pseudo-Lord
of the Isles. As for Donald Dubh himself, he had nothing-
for which to thank Scotland save the walls of a prison, and
his bitterness against her is at least intelligible. That
the clans permitted themselves to be made the instruments
of his revenge may be deplored, but it was neither the first
nor the last time in their history that they suffered in the
cause of loyalty, mistaken though it may have been. But
this much may be said for the Hebrideans : they took
service with England openly, while many of their Lowland
countrymen worked for her secretly, while professing to
be patriotic Scotsmen.

From the records of the Privy Council of England, we
find that Donald Dubh received, in May 1545, a sum of
£250 from the English King, and that in the following
month, in consequence of the reports of Lennox as to the
good services of Donald in the " avauncement of his
Grace's affayres in those parties " (the Hebrides), he was
granted by Henry a further sum of 1,000 ducats, with a
yearly pension of 2,000 ducats. On 28th July, a commis-
sion was granted by Donald Dubh, with the advice and
consent of his barons and Council of the Isles, to two com-
missioners to treat with the English King under the direction
of the Earl of Lennox. The Council consisted of seventeen
members (not one of whom could sign his name), the repre-
sentatives of the Long Island being Ruari Macleod of
Lewis, Alastair Macleod of Harris, John Moidartach of
Clan-Ranald, Archibald Macdonald, Captain of the Clan
Huistein, and Gilliganan (or Gilleonan) Macneill of Barra.
The remarkable document constituting this commission
sets forth, inter alia, that the Lord of the Isles disclaimed
all allegiance to Scotland, of which realm he described
himself and his ancestors as " auld enemies," and that he
entered willingly into the service of England, binding him-
self to assist the Earl of Lennox with 8,000 men. It is
perhaps unfortunate for the reputation of Donald Dubh
that this offer followed, instead of preceding, the payment
of English gold and the gift of a comfortable pension. It

M

i42 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

gives an undoubted opening to the cynic, and especially to
those historians who delight in finding weak joints in the
Celtic armour. The two commissioners, Rory Mac Alastair,
" Bishop Elect of the Isles " (brother of John Moidartach
and Dean of Morvern), and Patrick Maclean, brother of
Duart, were empowered to enter into a treaty with the
Earl of Lennox for the forthcoming campaign. We find
from the English records that on the arrival of the com-
missioners, they conferred on matters of common interest
with the King and Lennox, to the latter of whom they had
brought letters from " sundry gentlemen of the Isles."
All was now in readiness for striking a blow against
Scotland. On 4th September, 1545, letters were addressed
by the English Privy Council to Ireland " signifying the
compact made with the Lord of the Isles of Scotland for
annoyance of the Scots, and for the preparation of 2,000
Irisk kerne to go with Lord Ormond under the Earl of
Lennox, lieutenant for the enterprise. To Chester letters
were written for preparation of ships for the 2,000 men,
and likewise a letter to one Mr. Bulkeley for the prepara-
tion of ' oone sumpter's shippe ' lying at Beaumaris to serve
at the coming of Lennox at Chester." And on I3th
September, there is a " warrant for payments to the Earl
of Lennox, the Bishop Elect of the Isles (' in rewarde ') to
the Lord Maclane's brother, and to Patrick Colquhoun " (a
confidential vassal of Lennox).* If Donald Dubh sinned
as a mercenary, he sinned in good company.

The correspondence with England coming to light, the
Regent and his Council took action. On I7th August,
1545) Macleod of Lewis and Macleod of Harris with forty
others had a remission from that date to ist November,
that they might go to the Regent and Lords of Council on
their affairs. On 9th September, summonses of treason
were issued against the Macleods and their fellow-con-

* On I4th July, 1546, an order was sent to the Justice of Ireland "for
delivery to such person as should be sent by the Earl of Lennox (of) the bodies
of Patrick Maclean, the Bishop Elect of the Isles, and such his servants as
were left in custody in Ireland." (Acts of the Privy Council of England^
p. 483-)

ENGLAND AND THE ISLES. 143

spirators. On 28th September, " Roderick McCloid of
Lewis " and the " remanent of his colleagues " were again
ordered to appear to answer the charges of treason and
Ihe-majeste. The form of this summons is significant : it
distinctly suggests that Ruari of Lewis was the arch-rebel,
the chief supporter of Donald Dubh, as was Torquil of
Lewis forty years previously. On ist October, 1545, 3rd
February, 1545-6, 6th April, 24th May, 1st and 3Oth July
1 546, the summons was repeated, but brought no response.
Meanwhile, Donald Dubh had passed over to
Knockfergus in Ireland with 180 galleys and 4,000 men.
The despatch from the Irish Privy Council announcing
their arrival describes them as " very tall men clothed for
the most part in habergeons of mail, armed with long
swords and longbows but with few guns." It was expected
that the Earl of Lennox, with the 2,000 Irishmen under the
Earl of Ormond, would co-operate at Knockfergus with the
Hebrideans ; but Lennox being summoned to the camp of
the Earl of Hertford, then about to invade Scotland from
the Border, a postponement of the contemplated campaign
became necessary. After waiting some time in vain for
Lennox, Donald Dubh returned to Scotland. This was
the beginning of the end. The campaign, which had been
initiated with such unwonted harmony between clans some
of which were normally hostile to one another, terminated
with a miserable squabble about money. MacVurich
informs us that a ship came to Mull from England, carry-
ing the sinews of war for the prosecution of the campaign.
The money was given to Maclean of Duart for distribution
among the chiefs, but Duart's disbursement of the cash
gave rise to discontent, which led to the disruption of the
army — and to the end of the rebellion, so far as the Islesmen
were concerned. From first to last, there is little in the
incidents of this insurrection which redounds to the credit
of the Hebridean chiefs, except their blind devotion to the
Head of the House of Clan Donald. On the arrival of
Lennox in Ireland, he found that all his plans had been
disarranged and his hopes dissipated, by the action of

M 2

144 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Donald Dubh and his followers. He re-opened negotia-
tions with the Lord of the Isles, but the latter was
apparently powerless to stimulate anew the enthusiasm of
the chiefs, who sulked in their castles. He died soon after-
wards : according to Tytler, he found " an obscure grave
in his own dominions," but according to MacVurich, who
probably knew better, he went to Ireland to raise men,
but died on his way to Dublin, at Drogheda, of a fever.
He left one illegitimate son whom, on his death-bed, he
commended to the care of his patron, Henry of England.
Donald Dubh is one of the most pathetic figures in
Highland history. From his birth to his death, his foot-
steps were dogged by misfortune. The last representative
of the Lords of the Isles, in the main line, spent his declining
years in prison, and died a pensioner of Henry VIII., who
paid £400 for his funeral expenses.*

The succession to the Lordship of the Isles — the in-
alienable annexation of that title to the Crown in 1540
did not weigh with the Islesmen — now devolved upon
James Macdonald of Dunyveg. The male representation
of the forfeited Lordship and the forfeited Earldom of
Ross centred in the Clan Huistein, but its chief, Donald
Gormson, was a minor, and the influence of the family was
less considerable than that of Islay. James Macdonald
had hitherto posed as a partisan of the Regent and the
national cause, but as Mr. Gregory put it, his " patriotism
seems to have evaporated on his perceiving a possibility
of obtaining the pension of 2,000 crowns promised to his
predecessor." He appears to have received the support of
the various branches of Clan Donald, but his pretensions
were opposed by the majority of the other chiefs, par-
ticularly by the Macleods both of Lewis and Harris, and
among the minor clans, by Macneill of Barra. The mal-

* As for Lennox, he continued to have a chequered career in the service of
England. Queen Mary petted him. She sent the Dean of Durham to him on
one occasion when he was ill "to comfort him by godly and learned counsel."
Good Queen Bess sent him to the Tower. He ultimately returned to Scotland,
and his son, Lord Darnley, became the unfortunate husband of Mary Queen of
Scots.

ENGLAND AND THE ISLES. 145

contents endeavoured to make their peace with the Regent,
and their efforts were successful. James Macdonald had
no intention of serving England without receiving valuable
consideration. But his application to be placed on the
pension list of Henry VIII. met with either a chilling
response, or with none at all : he never got his pension.
And so his new-born attachment to England evaporated
as quickly as did his questionable patriotism. The assassi-
nation of Cardinal Beaton and other political events
of great importance which were happening in Scotland,
claimed the attention of King Henry, who was, besides,
probably too disgusted with the result of his previous
dealings with the Hebrides to listen to fresh overtures
from that quarter. No steps were taken by the Regent
and his Council to enforce the processes for treason which
had been instituted against the chiefs concerned in the
recent rebellion — a policy probably dictated more by force
of circumstances than by considerations of leniency. A
state of peace now prevailed in the Hebrides which was
undisturbed for some years. The Islesmen were learning
that friendship with the powers that be had its compen-
sations, and that their normal attitude of worrying the
Government had its disadvantages. It is noteworthy
that this period of comparative quiet in the Hebrides
coincided with the final abandonment of native claims to
the Lordship of the Isles. James Macdonald of Islay
soon dropped an empty title, which brought no profit
and much embarrassment. He was the last Macdonald to
take up arms for the recovery of the forfeited Lordship of
the Isles. Henceforward, the Islesmen found a vent for
their quarrelsome nature in inter-clan feuds, which seem
to have been stimulated by the absence of organised
insurrections. And from this period dates the gradual
diminution in the Highlands and Isles of the once para-
mount influence and power of Clan Donald.

As a sign of the times, it is remarkable that at the
battle of Pinkie in 1547, a number of Islesmen fought
against the Protector Somerset on the same side as their

146 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

hereditary enemy, the Earl of Argyll. Lindsey of Pits-
cottie states that the right wing of the Scottish army was
commanded by the Earl with " West Highlanders," while
on the left were " Macleod, Macgregor, and the Islesmen."
The Macleod here mentioned was the head of the Siol
Tormod — no doubt Alastair Crotach, who died in the
same year, and was buried in the monastery of Rodil in
Harris. We are expressly informed that Ruari Macleod
of Lewis was absent from the battle. This is surprising,
in view of the fact that he and some of his dependents —
among them William, son of Hugh Morison the Brieve
of Lewis — had received a remission for treasonable assis-
tance given to " Mathew formerly Earl of Lennox." About
the same time (1546), Macneill of Barra obtained a remis-
sion for assisting the English in burning the Islands of
Bute and Arran.

In 1551-2, a well-meant attempt was made by the
Regent at the instigation of the Queen-Dowager, to
prevent a recurrence of the disorders which had in the
past periodically broken out in the Highlands and Isles.
With this object in view, the chiefs were invited to meet
the Regent at the Justice Courts which he held at Aber-
deen and Inverness.* Most of the leaders of the recent
rising were quite willing to agree to the conditions laid
down by the Regent, but some proved stubborn. On
2nd June, 1554, a commission was granted to the Earls
of Huntly and Argyll " to pas with fyre and sword to the
utter extermination of the Clanrannald, Donald Gorme,
Macloyde of the Lews and thair complices that sends not
and enters thair pledges as they ar chairged."f Argyll
was provided with a ship and artillery to batter Stornoway
Castle and the strongholds of the Clan Ranald and the Clan
Huistein. The Earl proceeded to Lewis and laid siege to
the castle, but the walls of the old building successfully

* One Patrick Davidson was paid ten pounds by the King's Treasurer on
23rd July, 1551, to go to Lewis "to charge McCleude of the Lewis and
Hucheon of the Lewis (the Brieve) to come to my Lord Governor (the Earl
of Arran) at the aire of Inverness."

t Register of the Privy Council, Vol. XIV., p. 12.

DISORDERS IN THE ISLES. 147

resisted the bombardment, and the attempt to subdue the
Macleods appears to have failed. Beyond the fact that
the artillery proved ineffective against Storrioway Castle,
there are no particulars whatever of Argyll's campaign in
the Hebrides, or of its results.*

In April, 1555, a process of treason — the nature of which
is not specified — was commenced against Ruari Macleod.
In June of the same year, a commission over the Isles was
given to the Earls of Argyll and Atholl. In the same
month, articles were offered " be Macloyde of the Lews
for his obedience and red res of wrangs and the Erie of
Argyll as cautioner for him." This suggests that what
Argyll was unable to effect by force, he accomplished by
diplomacy.

* " The house of Stornava in the Lewes is fallen, albeit it had biddin the
canon be the Erie of Argyle of auld." (Information by James Primrose. —
Register of the Privy Council, Vol. X., p. 821.)

148

CHAPTER VI.

WE now come to what may be termed the prologue of a
tragedy in which the Macleods of Lewis were the actors.
It is a tragedy which for grimness, bloodthirstiness, and
general subversion of the laws alike of Nature and the
Decalogue, has been rarely equalled in history.

Sir Robert Gordon states that Ruari Macleod's first wife
was Barbara Stewart, daughter of Lord Avondale, whom
Ruari married in 1541. This, however, appears to be an
error, for Torquil Conanach, a son of Ruari by Janet
Mackenzie, is mentioned as engaged in active life prior to
1554, and Barbara Stewart — "Lady Lewis" — appears on
record in 1566. It is evident that Janet Mackenzie was
Macleod's first wife. The generally accepted account is
that she eloped with John Macgillecolum of Raasay, but it
is fair to mention the version which states that she fled
from Lewis to Coigeach, to escape from the ill-treatment
of her husband, who had tired of the lady's somewhat
mature charms. According to this account, Ruari sent a
large birling after her, which ran down the boat of the
fugitive, drowning her and all her companions. But there
is no doubt that Janet Mackenzie did actually marry John
of Raasay (" Ian na Tuaighe," or John of the Axe) after she
had been divorced by Ruari of Lewis. Determined that
he would keep Janet's son, Torquil Conanach — so called
from his residence with his mother's relations in Strath-
carron — out of the succession to the estates, Ruari dis-
owned and disinherited him, alleging that he was the son
of Hucheon (or Hugh) Morison, the Brieve of Lewis. The
Dunvegan Charter-Chest contains a document dated 22nd
August, 1566, according to which, a statement was made

THE MACLEODS OF LEWIS. 149

by Hugh Morison, "breoun " (Brehon) " of Lewis," who
was then " in ye poynte of deathe," to his confessor, " Sir
Patrick Makmaister of Barwas," acknowledging the pater-
njty of Torquil Conanach. Deathbed confessions are by
their nature open to suspicion, and it is difficult to say
whether pressure may not have been brought to bear, to
extract a declaration which would prove gratifying to
Ruari Macleod, and still more gratifying to Donald Gorm
Macdonald of Sleat. And for the following reason.

By his second wife, Barbara Stewart, Ruari Macleod
had a son, also named Torquil, who, to distinguish him
from the disinherited brother, Torquil Conanach, was
known as Torquil Oighre, or the heir. This Torquil, who
is described as " a young chief of great promise," was the
subject of a communication from Mary, Queen of Scots,
which deserves to be quoted in full. The Queen's letter is
as follows, the spelling being modernised :

" Torquil Macleod : We greet you well. We are in-
formed that some of the Isles are desirous to have you
allied to them by marriage ; and because you have that
honour to be by the Stewart blood, we thought expedient
to give you advertisement, that it is our will and pleasure
that you ally yourself to no party in marriage without our
advice, and until we declare our opinion to yourself therein.
Subscribed with our hand at Inveraray the 24th of July,

1563."*

Whether Torquil Oighre ever married or not we cannot
tell. About three years after the above letter was addressed
to him, he was drowned in the Minch, with sixty of his
followers, when on his way to Trotternish or Waternish ;
another version being that he was driven by a storm on
the Assynt coast, where he and his followers were slain by
Donald Bayne who had usurped the lands of Assynt. He
left no male issue, and the succession to the estates thus
rested between his brother Torquil Conanach — the dis-
owned and disinherited — and Donald Gorm Macdonald of

* Fraser's Earls of Cromartie> Vol. I., p. xxxiv.

150 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Sleat, whose mother was, as we have seen, the daughter
of John MacTorquil of Lewis. The confession of the
Brieve of Lewis as to the paternity of Torquil Conanach,
appears to have been made immediately after the death of
Torquil Oighre, and it was of paramount importance to
Donald Gorm, who forthwith founded upon it his claim
to the succession. Torquil Conanach and his friends on
the mainland were meanwhile congratulating themselves
on the way being clear by the removal of Torquil Oighre.
Ruari Macleod may have been a truculent ruffian, but he
appears to have possessed a saving sense of grim humour.
He disappointed both parties by marrying, between 1 566
and 1570, for the third time — and with male issue. The
third lady who had the peculiar privilege of being the
partner of his joys and sorrows was Janet, a daughter of
Hector Maclean of Duart, and by her, his sons were two in
number, Torquil and Tormod. Ruari had at least one
fixed idea : that his eldest son by each wife should be
named "Torquil." This third Torquil is distinguished from
the others by the soubriquet " Dubh." In addition to
these lawfully-begotten Torquils and Tormod — we may as
well detail the whole of Ruari's progeny while we are on
the subject — the old chief had a bastard brood of five sons,
to wit, Tormod Uigach (of Uig), Murdoch, Donald, Rory
Og, and Neil. It may be convenient to notice here, that
the first two attached themselves to the cause of Torquil
Conanach, while the other three supported their father, in
the family quarrels which were now about to commence.

Ruari Macleod appears on record in 1565, when, by a
proclamation dated 2Oth September, he was summoned
with others to join the Earl of Atholl in Lome, to take
service against the coalition of nobles, headed by the Earl
of Moray, who opposed the marriage of Queen Mary with
Henry Darnley. The early discomfiture of the protesters,
however, rendered the assistance of the Hebridean clans
unnecessary. Torquil Conanach commenced, soon after
this, to enforce his claims to Lewis, and was backed by
Colin Mackenzie of Kintail. He had married Margaret, a

THE MACLEODS OF LEWIS. 151

daughter of Angus Macdonell of Glengarry,* and by so
doing, had further strengthened his hands. About 1568,
he managed to get his father into his possession, and kept
him in captivity for four years, only releasing him on Ruari
undertaking to acknowledge Torquil as his lawful son and
heir. Ruari complained bitterly of his treatment by Torquil
and his accomplices, asserting that his " lugeing " was
entered by them at night and burnt, and that he himself
was kept in captivity in the hills and in caves, and almost
starved to death by cold and hunger.! On 2ist June,
1569, Torquil's name appears in connexion with an affray
at Loch Carron — Glengarry's, afterwards Mackenzie's,
country — in which the heir, wife and family and principal
kinsmen of "John Mclan Mor " were killed. Colin Mac-
kenzie undertook to cause Torquil Conanach to get a list
of the slain, upon receipt of which, Robert Munro of Foulis
bound himself to deliver to Mackenzie or Torquil, a sum
of 200 merks placed in his hands by certain merchants of
Edinburgh, " as for the assyithment of the slauchteris
committit at Loch Carron." Apparently this somewhat
cryptic entry in the Privy Council records has reference to
a fishing fray at Loch Carron.

On 1st August, 1569, before the Regent (the Earl of
Moray) and the Secret Council, a decreet arbitral was
signed by Colin Mackenzie and Donald Gorm, by which
(inter alia], provision was made for the protection of
Donald Gorm against Torquil Conanach. Failing the
discontinuance of the latter's harassing tactics, Mackenzie
was charged to withdraw his protection from him, and
" pursue, invade, and expel " him from his lands. This
shows that Torquil Conanach was wont to make excursions
over the sea to Skye for the purpose of worrying his
rival ; a dangerous game, in which Torquil had the
decided advantage of being without any land to ravage.
The Mackenzies supported him, not only because his

* She was a widow of one of the Cuthberts of Inverness, by whom she
became the progenitrix of Colbert, the famous minister of Louis XIV. of
France.

t Traditions of the Morisons of Ness.

152 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

mother was a Mackenzie, but on account of the enmity
which existed between them and the Gairloch branch of
the Siol Torquil — an enmity which had recently been
strengthened by the atrocities of Ruari Macleod (" the
Venomous ") of Gairloch, who had murdered, among
others, the sons of Janet Mackenzie by Ian na Tuaighe
of Raasay.

After a captivity of four years, Ruari Macleod was
induced to acknowledge in the most practical manner the
legitimacy of Torquil Conanach. Being brought as a
prisoner before the Earl of Mar, who succeeded the Earl
of Lennox as Regent (the latter having had but a short
tenure of office after the assassination of the Earl of
Moray), he was forced to resign his estates to the Crown.
Torquil Conanach then received by charter dated I4th
February, 1571-2, a grant of the whole property, com-
prising Lewis, Assynt, Coigeach, and Waternish, with
a life rent to Ruari, who formally resigned his interest to
Torquil. The latter is designated his lawful son and heir,
thus setting the Royal seal on his legitimacy, which how-
ever, it is unnecessary to say, was no proof of the correct-
ness of the designation. The charter provided, that failing
legal male heirs of Torquil, the estates were to go to
Malcolm Macleod of Raasay, failing whom, to the nearest
legitimate male heirs of Torquil, bearing the name and
arms of Macleod.* The charter was granted on condition
of Ruari and Torquil remaining good and obedient servants
of the Crown. Thus the quarrel between father and son
appeared to be satisfactorily settled, Mackenzie of Kintail
being probably instrumental in securing so favourable a
settlement for his protege. But the peace thus patched
up proved to be a hollow affair. No sooner was Ruari
released from prison, than by an instrument of revocation,
dated 2nd June, I572,t he withdrew all promises made
during his captivity, on the ground of coercion and the
unfilial conduct of Torquil. The plea of force majeure

* Reg. Mag. Sig. (1546-1580), No. 2,019.

t The document is in the Dunvegan Charter-Chest.

THE MACLEODS OF LEWIS. 153

may not have been good in law, but it was sufficiently
good for Ruari's elastic conscience. The fruit of this
revocation was a recrudescence of the old quarrel.

Ruari Macleod next appears on record in 1573 when,
by an obligation dated 26th April, he bound himself to
John Campbell, Bishop of the Isles, to bring in the Bishop's
fruits, rents, and emoluments, and to cause all others under
his authority to do likewise. He also promised to be
obedient " anent all good ordinances, laws, and constitu-
tions, and corrections concerning the Kirk, as the acts and
constitution of the Reformed Kirk of Scotland bears, and
was used in the last Bishop's time." * The document was
written by Ronald Angusson, parson of Uig, at the com-
mand of " ane honourable man, Roderick McCloid of the
Lewis, becaus he culd not writt himself, his hand led on
the pen." To find Ruari a good Churchman fully com-
pensates for his ignorance of penmanship. The truth,
however, is only too patent ; if his writing was bad, his
morals were worse. Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, in his
History of the Mackenzies, calls him " an unprincipled
villain." This is a little hard on old Ruari ; he may
possibly have been a villain, but he had principles : for,
by the testimony of parson Ronald Angusson, was he
not " ane honourable man ? " And was he not a dutiful
adherent of the Reformed Kirk of Scotland ?

By 1576, the dispute between Ruari and Torquil
Conanach had reached so aggravated a form, that the
Regent (the Earl of Morton, who had succeeded the Earl
of Mar) and the Privy Council summoned both parties
to their presence to answer for their lawlessness. On
26th June, 1576, Ruari and Torquil became "actit and
obleist" for themselves and their kin, friends, servants,
tenants, assistants, and part-takers to " behave thameselffis
as dewtifull and obedient subjectes " ; to keep the King's
peace and good order in the country in future ; to refrain
from molesting his Majesty's subjects in their lawful trade

* Collectanea de Rebus Albanici^ pp. 6-8.

154 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

of fishing in the lochs of the Lewis or others in the
North Isles ; not to raise any " towist " or imposition upon
them, but to treat them as the Sovereign's good subjects ;
and to supply them with meat, drink, and other necessaries,
at reasonable charges.* This document is suggestive : it
serves to show that strangers fishing at Lewis had had an
equivocal reception at the hands of Ruari. The Regent
managed to patch up once more the quarrel between father
and son. But the latter was again recognised as the heir-
apparent, and as such, received from his father, Coigeach
and other lands, for his support during his lifetime. The
Earl of Argyll became surety in the sum of five thousand
pounds for Ruari's appearance, when required, before the
Regent and the Lords of Council. In 1576-7, security had
to be given for Tormod Uigach and Torquil Conanach to
appear before the Regent and Council to answer charges
made against them.

The peaceful relations again established between Ruari
and Torquil Conanach were not of long duration. The
old quarrel was resumed, and about 1585, Lewis was torn
asunder by the family strife, as well as by feuds with main-
landers. Tormod Uigach had figured not long before in a
fight at Carloway, between a force of Assynt men under
Rory Hucheonson, and a body of Lewismen under Tormod's
leadership. There was a stiff contest between the two
parties, but victory ultimately rested with the Lewismen,
who routed the Assynt invaders, and compelled their leader
to fly for his life. The cause of the quarrel is not stated.
Tormod, the hero of this fight, became a violent partisan
of Torquil Conanach, and as such, was killed by his brother
Donald, another of the illegitimate brood, but a supporter
of his father. Murdoch, who was also one of Ruari's
bastards, but an opponent of his father, thereupon seized
Donald, and handed him over to Torquil Conanach at
Coigeach for punishment. He managed, however, to
escape from Coigeach, and returning to Lewis, retaliated j

* Reg. of Privy Council, Vol. II., p. 534.

THE MACLEODS OF LEWIS. 155

on Murdoch by seizing and delivering him to old Ruari,
who imprisoned him in Stornoway Castle. Feeling that
he was in honour bound to release his supporter, and
resolved to bring matters to a definite issue, Torquil
collected a force, with which he attacked the castle,
captured it after a short siege, liberated Murdoch, and
imprisoned the old chief, after killing a number of his
men. He then left his son John as Constable of the castle
and as his representative in Lewis, and returned to the
mainland, carrying with him all the charters and other
documents of the family which, later, he deposited with
Mackenzie of Kintail. What has become of these papers
it is difficult to say; all attempts to trace them have so far
failed.

That John MacTorquil received legal recognition of his

position is evident from a letter, dated 2oth September,

1585, relating to the gift to John Macleod ("oy of Roderick

Macleod ") of the escheat and life rent of all goods, &c.,

which had pertained to Ruari. The document sets forth

the circumstances under which the old chief had forfeited

his rights to the Crown. It appears that on 22nd May,

1583, he was denounced as a rebel and put to the horn, for

failing to find surety that he would appear before the

Justice and his deputes to answer charges against him of

pursuing Torquil Macleod, his son and apparent heir, as

! well as of " diverse slaughters and crimes." Old Ruari

was obviously regarded at Edinburgh as a notorious

ruffian, while his son Torquil Conanach, whose record is

{anything but blameless, was looked upon as an injured

! son, who had the misfortune to be cursed with an unnatural

j parent. But Torquil Conanach had probably powerful

friends at Court, while at this time, there was possibly no

I one to say a good word for the quarrelsome old chief, his

father.

John MacTorquil, who is described as " a brave young
gentleman," seems to have proved a lenient jailer to his
igrandfather. He tried to make things as easy as possible
for the old man, and succeeded so well that the two lived

156 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

together in Stornoway Castle on terms of cordiality, if not,
indeed, of genuine friendship. He strove to pacify the
island, and his methods of pacification were sufficiently
diplomatic to secure a tacit acknowledgment of his authority.
A disturbing factor, however, still existed in the persons of
his natural uncles, Donald and Rory Og, and so long as
they remained as thorns in his side, John recognised that
there would be no permanent peace in Lewis. He there-
fore resolved to banish them from the island. Donald and
Rory Og, on learning his intention, determined to assassi-
nate him. But they were obliged to resort to strategy
in order to give them their opportunity. They revealed
their plot to " one ill race of people who lived there called
Clan Illoyhenan" (Macleans or Maclennans) who entered
into their plans. Having concealed their men, who were
armed with bows and arrows, at seven different points
between the castle and Sandwick, near Stornoway, the con-
spirators sent one of their adherents to John MacTorquil,
with a message that seven swans had been seen on the loch
of Sandwick, and that he was likely to have good sport if
he came out. Being a keen sportsman, John eagerly em-
braced the opportunity, and left the castle, accompanied
only by two men from Kenlochewe. His grandfather,
scenting danger, tried, but in vain, to dissuade him, telling
him that never before had a swan been seen on that loch,
and that he feared there was treachery in the air. This
incident reveals old Ruari in a favourable light. It shows
that he must have been really attached to his grandson,
and that his kindlier feelings were proof against the mani-
fest advantages which would accrue to himself, if the heir
of Torquil Conanach (and his own jailer) were put out of
the way. A wholly " unprincipled villain " would hardly
have allowed his feelings of humanity to overcome his baser
inclinations. The headstrong young man reached Sand-
wick, only to find that his grandfather's forebodings had j
been but too accurate. The men concealed at Sandwick
shot a flight of arrows at John and his companions, where-
upon the latter took to their heels and fled to the castle.

THE MACLEODS OF LEWIS. 157

As they passed the points at which the other assassins lay
hidden, a shower of arrows met them. The Kenlochewe
men were shot dead, but John managed to reach the castle
in an exhausted condition, with several arrows sticking in
his body, " whereof," says our chronicler, " he immediately
died, to the great misfortune of all his friends and the
utter ruin of that whole family." Thus, says Sir Robert
Gordon, " was old Rorie Macleod made againe commander
of that island, which he did possesse dureing the rest of his
troublesome dayes."

The assassination of his son was a serious blow to
Torquil Conanach. Revenge was the first consideration,
and that was duly exacted. Donald MacRuari, one of the
ringleaders of the plot, fell into the hands of Torquil, who
promptly had him executed at Dingwall. Rory Og escaped
his vengeance, but he too fell a victim, later on, to his
quarrelsome disposition. The death of John MacTorquil
was an unfortunate occurrence, for old Ruari liked him,
and was probably reconciled to the succession falling to
him. But between Ruari and the youth's father there
could be no permanent reconciliation. It is obvious that
the old chief cordially detested Janet Mackenzie's son, and
it appears that no sooner did he regain his power in Lewis
than, influenced by his adherents, he appointed Torquil
Dubh to rule with him as his colleague and successor;
thus repudiating his former undertaking to acknowledge
Torquil Conanach as his lawful son and heir. This roused
the latter to action. It was unfortunate for him that the
two great families with which he was connected by ties ol
blood and marriage — i.e. the Mackenzies of Kintail and
the Macdonnells of Glengarry — were at that time at feud
with one another, No material help was therefore obtain-
able from them, but he succeeded in setting up in Lewis
a faction in opposition to Torquil Dubh, and skirmishes
between the two parties were of daily occurrence.

In April, 1585, an order was promulgated by the
Council, charging Maclean of Duart, Donald Gorm of Sleat,
Ruari Macleod of Lewis, and Tormod Macleod of Harris —

N

158 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

who, by the way, was by this time in his grave ! —
" personalie gif thai can be apprehendit," otherwise by
open proclamation at the market crosses of Inverness,
Dumbarton, Inveraray, and other places, to appear before
the Council to answer under the pain of rebellion
" tuicheing the gude reull and quieting of the His and
Hielandis." This invitation is curiously ingenuous : it
arouses the suspicion that the stern Lords of Council were,
after all, not devoid of a sense of humour. How it was
received by the chiefs we are not informed ; but it may
be taken for granted that they treated the proclamation
with derision. That they could be " personalie appre-
hendit " was clearly not anticipated : there is great virtue
in a " gif." And yet, on 29th September, 1585, John
Gordon of Petlurg gave caution in the sum of 5,000 merks
to enter Ruari Macleod of Lewis, " presentlie deliverit to
the said John, to be transported to George Erll of
Huntley" before the Privy Council or the Justice, upon
fifteen days warning. From this it would appear that the
old chief had actually got into the clutches of the law, but
we find no record of the subsequent proceedings, if any,
against him.

In 1586, a complaint was made by the united burghs
against a number of Highland chiefs, for obstructing the
fishings in the northern parts of the kingdom, and for
exacting extortionate dues from the fishermen. Among
the chiefs so charged are found the names of Ruari Macleod
of Lewis, Torquil Macleod of Coigeach (Torquil Conanach),
Macleod of Harris, Donald Gorm of Sleat, and Colin
Mackenzie of Kintail. The culprits were ordered under
pain of rebellion to answer these charges, and to find
caution for their future good behaviour. Having failed to
appear, they were forthwith denounced as rebels.

The order of 1585 was probably the outcome of a
deadly feud between Clan Donald and Maclean of Duart,
into which practically the whole of the chiefs of the
Hebrides had been drawn. It is unnecessary to explain
minutely the origin of this feud. Suffice it to say that

FEUDS IN THE ISLES. 159

Lauchlan Mor Maclean of Duart,* and Angus Macdonald
of Dunyveg — a well- matched pair in the arts of treachery —
came into collision over certain disputed districts, and the
breach was widened by subsequent events. These were
accompanied by acts of perfidy, which showed a savage
disregard alike for the laws of hospitality and the dictates
of humanity. Donald Gorm Mor of Sleat — son and
successor of Donald Gormson — was drawn into the
quarrel, and ranged himself on the side of Macdonald of
Dunyveg, whose partisans also included the Macleods of
Lewis, the Clan Ranald, the Clan Ian of Ardnamurchan,
the Macneills of Gigha, the Macalastairs of Loup, the
Macfies of Colonsay, and other families of lesser note.
The Macleans were supported by the Macleods of Harris,
the Macneills of Barra, the Mackinnons, and the
Macquarries. In a letter dated i8th September, 1585,
addressed by the King to " traist friend," William Macleod
of Harris, the latter is requested to assist his " well belovit
Lauchlane McClayne of Doward " ..." a faithfull
trew and obedient subject " against Clan Donald ; so it is
obvious on which side of the dispute the Royal sympathies
lay. Maclean of Duart was married to a daughter of the
Earl of Glencairn, whose influence was probably exerted
on his behalf.

The disorders in the Hebrides at length reached a point
at which the Government found it imperative to interfere.
The revenues of the Crown were affected, and that fact, to
a monarch whose financial resources were strained by
extravagance, was an unforgivable crime. Accordingly,
on i6th April, 1587, Macdonald of Dunyveg and others were
charged to deliver up certain hostages for Maclean who
were in their possession. Angus Macdonald of Dunyveg,
Lauchlan Maclean of Duart, Donald Gorm of Sleat, Allan
Macdonald of Moidart and Angus his son, John Macian of
Ardnamurchan, Roderick Macneill of Barra, William
Macleod of Harris, Roderick Macleod of Lewis, and

* Maclean was educated on the Continent, where, we are told, he learned
"civility and good manners."

• N 2

160 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Torquil Macleod " his son," and all other chieftains of the
clans were charged " personalie," or at their dwelling
places if they could be apprehended, otherwise by open
proclamation, to " contane " themselves in quietness,
abstain from armed gatherings, and from attempting any-
thing whereby they might offend anew against " his
Hienes." Ultimately, the ringleaders in the quarrel
settled their differences, temporarily, with the Crown,
by a liberal payment of fines, a form of punishment
which strongly appealed to the cupidity of James VI.

In July of the same year, an Act of Parliament was
passed, requiring all landlords and bailies on whose lands
" broken men have dwelt and presently dwell " to find
sufficient sureties, within fifteen days after being charged,
under pain of rebellion, that they and all for whom they are
bound to answer by the general bond shall keep good rule
in the country, and also that they shall make themselves
and other men answerable to justice. In the list of
Highland landlords enumerated under this Act, are found
the names of " McCleud of the Lewes, McCloid of the
Harrich, Torquill McCloyd of Togoyth (Coigeach),
MacNeill of Barrey and the Laird of Knoydert "
(Clanranald). In the roll of clans that have "captains,
chiefs, and chieftains on whom they depend, oft-times
against the will of their landlords, as well on the Borders
as the Highlands, and of some special persons of branches
of the said clans," are found the "Clan Lewid of the Lewis,
Clan Lewd of Harray, Clan Neill and the Clanrannald of
Knoydert, Modert and Glengardy " (Glengarry).* On i$th
December, 1 590, a charge was delivered to a number of
Highland landlords and heads of clans, to find caution for
good rule in their districts, as appointed by Act of Parlia-
ment, and among the names are found those of Torquil
Macleod of Lewisf (ten thousand pounds caution), Ruari

* Acts of Parliament, Vol. III., p. 467.

t It would appear that at this time Ruari Macleod was under the ban
of forfeiture.

THE ISLES AND THE " SPANISH BLANKS." 161

[acleod, Tutor of Harris (ten thousand merks), and
)onald Gorm of Sleat (ten thousand merks).

In March, 1589-90, the names of Donald Gorm of
>leat and Donald (should be William) Macleod of
[arris, appear in company with those of Angus Mac-
maid of Dunyveg and Lauchlan Maclean of Duart, on
ie re-constituted Commission for putting in force the
iCts against the Jesuits and seminary priests. These
chiefs were appointed Commissioners in the Isles. It
reads somewhat oddly to find them posing as representa-
tives of a religious party. Religious feeling at this time
ran high in Scotland. The Protestants were peculiarly
embittered against the Roman Catholics, and the strife
was intensified by the discovery of a supposed plot to
suppress, with the aid of Spanish troops, the Protestant
religion, or obtain full toleration for the Popish faith. The
incident known as the "Spanish Blanks" gave the Presby-
terian ministers a handle against their enemies, which
they worked assiduously. The Earls of Huntly, Angus,
and Errol, the leaders of the Catholics, were, with their
adherents, solemnly excommunicated by the Kirk, and
notwithstanding the shilly-shallying policy of the King,
were ordered to stand their trial for complicity in the
Jesuit plot. On their refusal to do so, they were put to
the horn. But in a list dated i6th March, 1592-3, of
persons released from the horn, we find the names of these
three noblemen, together with certain Hebridean chiefs,
including Ruari Macleod of Lewis, Torquil Macleod of
Coigeach, Ruari Macleod, Tutor of Harris, Donald Gorm
of Sleat, Clanranald, and Macneill of Barra. The Catholic
Earls, however, who were thus received to "the King's
peace," were not suffered to remain long unmolested.
Their enemies proved too powerful for them in spite of
the King's benevolent attitude towards them. Their
continued refusal to stand their trial led to an expedition
being sent against them under the young Earl of Argyll,
with whom were the Macleans, Macneills, Macgregors,
Mackintoshes, and Grants. The Earls of Huntly and

162 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Errol, with a much inferior force, met them near Glenlivat,
where a battle was fought which resulted in the total
discomfiture of Argyll. A son of Macneill of Barra, who
is described as " ane of the most valiant men of the party,"
was killed by a discharge of artillery, which is said to have
" bred a confused tumult " among the Islesmen. Maclean
of Duart, who commanded the van of Argyll's army,
proved, with all his faults, a brave and capable captain.
If properly supported, it is probable that he would have
succeeded in changing the fortunes of the day. As it was,
he stood firm amid the general confusion, and retired from
the field in good order with his Hebrideans. The victory
of Huntly and Errol did not save them from the conse-
quences of their contumacy. Vigorous measures were
directed against them by the Crown, and they were forced
to fly the country. They were soon afterwards permitted
to return to Scotland, and were received into the Royal
favour.

While these events were taking place, Donald Gorm of
Sleat, who was again forfeited in 1594, and Roderick
Macleod of Harris (Rory Mor) were busy in another
direction. These chiefs, each with 500 men at his back,
passed over to Ulster to assist Red Hugh O'Donnell, who
was then in open rebellion against Queen Elizabeth, in
which he was afterwards joined by Hugh, Earl of Tyrone.
On their way to Ireland, the Hebrideans were attacked
and worsted by English ships of war. This defeat so
rankled in the breast of Macleod of Harris, that after the
Macdonalds had returned to Scotland, he remained in
. Ireland to revenge himself on the English for the losses
sustained by him. Throughout this Irish campaign, the
chiefs of the Hebrides were divided by their sympathy
with the Irish, and their readiness to accept English gold
for their services to Queen Elizabeth. Lauchlan Mor
Maclean of Duart was particularly active in the service
of England, his exertions being probably stimulated by
a gift of 1,000 English crowns and the promise of a
pension. In conjunction with Argyll, he was largely

THE ISLESMEN IN ULSTER. 163

instrumental in preventing further accessions of Islesmen
to the ranks of the Irish rebels. Donald Gorm Mor, who
is called in the English records the " Lord of the Isles,"
offered in 1598 to disclose to the Queen of England, for a
consideration, the "secret courses" of Tyrone, and of
the lately restored Earls of Huntly, Angus, and Errol.*
The expedition to Ulster was a fiasco, and brought neither
honour to the Macdonalds and Macleods themselves, nor
material assistance to their Irish allies. The vigorous
policy of England successfully frustrated the object of
the campaign.

It needs no great stretch of the imagination to realise
that Lewis was not at this time the abode of tranquillity.
Ruari Macleod appears to have died about the year 1595,
having reached, according to a Lewis tradition, the great
age of 94.t His son, Torquil Dubh, who seems to have
been, during the last few years of his father's life, the
acting chief of the Siol Torquil, succeeded him with the
consent of the clan. His bastard brother, Rory Og, having
quarrelled with him, was banished from Lewis, and con-
signed to the tender mercies of Torquil's uncle, Maclean
of Duart, from whom, however, he escaped, only to perish
miserably in a snowstorm. Thus did Black Torquil rid
himself of troublesome relatives. The succession of
Torquil Dubh was naturally not regarded with equanimity
by his rival, Torquil Conanach, who, so far as charters
and agreements with his reputed father could legalise his
claims, was the undoubted heir to the estates.

In 1 594, an Act of Parliament was passed, having as its
object, the punishment of "thift, reif, oppressioun, and
sorning." Among the clans concerned are found the

* Donald Gormson, the predecessor of Donald Gorm Mor, had long main-
tained friendly relations with England. On one occasion, when on a visit to
Queen Mary of England, he was presented with some garments which had
belonged to Edward VI. In 1572 (about twenty years later), he told Queen
Elizabeth that he was still wearing them ! He was ready in 1572 to give
his services to England " with all his power." (Cal. of State Papers (Foreign
Series, 1572-4), pp. 48-9.)

t According to an official statement dated 1595, he was alive in that year.
The same statement calls Torquil Dubh (Og) a bastard and usurper. (See
Appendix A.)

1 64 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Macleods of Lewis and Harris, the Clan Ranald, the Clan
Donald, south and north, and the Clan Neill. Notwith-
standing, so the preamble runs, the sundry Acts made by
the King and his predecessors, for punishing theft, reiff,
oppression, and sorning, the clans named still practised
their cruelties and daily "heirschippes."* The Act was
intended to put a stop to such practices, as well as to
end the system of sorning (s£journer\ or commandeering
free quarters, then so prevalent in the Highlands and
Isles. There was evidently a good deal of truth in these
assertions, exaggerated though they may have been. It
is difficult, from the evidence, to resist the conclusion that
the Long Island, at the end of the sixteenth century,
was a hotbed of disorder and oppression.

The chief supporters of Torquil Conanach were the
Morisons of Ness, under their leader John, the Brieve of
Lewis, son of Hugh Morison, whose relations with Ruari
Macleod's wife had been of so compromising a character,
if his own confession is to be believed. Among the most
active partisans of Torquil Dubh were the Macaulays of
Uig, whose leader, Donald Cam (so called because he was
blind of an eye), bulks so largely in Lewis tradition. In
1596, active hostilities between the two Torquils appear to
have taken place, and the Macleods were included in the
list of turbulent chiefs against whom the King proposed to
proceed in person, a task to which, as events proved, his
spirit was unequal. Certain of the chiefs, among whom were
Ruari Macleod of Harris, promptly made their submission,
and upon the rival claimants of Lewis offering to agree to an
increase of duties and other requirements of the Exchequer,
they were also removed from the list of disobedient clans.
Each of the Torquils doubtless hoped, by his ready
acquiescence in these demands, to receive legal recogni-
tion of his claims, but in this hope Torquil Dubh was
disappointed. By a charter dated loth August, 1596,
his rival was infeft in Lewis, the only reservation to the

* Acts of Part., Vol. IV., p. 71. Hership, i.e., cattle-lifting.

THE MACLEODS OF LEWIS. 165

Crown being the Castle of Stornoway with the twenty
merklands adjoining, which, in the grants of the island,
always formed an appanage of the castle.*

Both competitors had strengthened their hands by
powerful alliances. On attaining his majority, Torquil
Dubh married a sister of Rory Mor of Harris, while the
eldest daughter of Torquil Conanach was married to
Roderick, brother of Mackenzie of Kintail. Neil, the
second son of Torquil Conanach, had died of a fever at
Coigeach, and Torquil was thus left without a male heir.
Under these circumstances, he threw himself into the arms
of the Mackenzies, who espoused his quarrel with Torquil
Dubh, and afforded him in secret that support which it
did not then suit their policy to give openly. Torquil
Dubh, for his part, continued to defy his rival, and kept
possession of Lewis, with the consent of his clansmen, with
whom he was very popular. Resolved to carry the war
into the enemy's country, he invaded Coigeach and Loch
Broom with a powerful force, and ravaged these territories
with merciless ferocity.

A complaint to the Privy Council, dated nth February,
1 596-7, by Torquil Conanach (who describes himself as of
" the Lewis ") and by Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail,
against " Torquill Dow McCleude usurpar of the Lewis,"
gives a highly coloured picture of this invasion. The com-
plaint states that, accompanied by a force of " Hieland
brokin men," numbering about seven or eight hundred,
Torquil Dubh had " committit sic barbarous and monstrous
crueltie as the lyk hes not bene hard of, spairing nowther
man wyffe nor barne quhome they micht apprehend," so
that a great number of his Majesty's true subjects are
" cruellie murdreist and slane, the haill boundis foirsaidis
displenneist and layd waist, and the haill bestiall and
guidis thairof goirit and slane." Mackenzie, being himself
a member of the Council, may be presumed to have
emphasised these charges in a way which boded ill for

* Reg. Mag. Sig. (1593-1608), No. 465.

166 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Torquil Dubh. The latter, being summoned to answer the
charges, was, not unnaturally, unwilling to trust himself to
the tender mercies of a Court, where his case had probably
been pre-judged. He therefore disobeyed the summons,
and was consequently declared a rebel. His father-in-law,
Rory Mor, was on 2ist March, 1596-7, compelled to bind
himself in the sum of ten thousand merks, "be the faith
and treuth of his body," to acknowledge the supremacy of
the King, and to make his men obey the King's lieutenant
in " repressing of the insolence " of the inhabitants of the
Isles and Highlands, the hostage for his obedience being
Donald, son of John Macleod of Raasay. It is probable
that Rory Mor had assisted his son-in-law in the raid on
Coigeach and Loch Broom.

Rebel or no rebel, Torquil Dubh retained possession of
Lewis, and the other Torquil was riot a whit nearer the
consummation of his desires. Some decisive step had to be
taken, and a secret meeting was held between Torquil
Conanach, Mackenzie of Kintail, Murdoch, the bastard son
of old Ruari, and the Brieve of Lewis, to concert measures
for ousting the man in possession. It was decided that
there was only one way out of the difficulty, and that was
to get rid once for all of Black Torquil. " Bot," says Sir
Robert Gordon, "ther laiked one to execute the interpryse "
— and considering the nature of the enterprise, this is not
surprising. In consideration, however, of a large reward,
the Brieve was at length induced to undertake the dirty
work of Torquil Conanach, who had neither the means, nor
perhaps the pluck, to enforce his claims in an open and
honourable manner. And this is how the treacherous
plan was carried out.

The Brieve, who seems to have varied his judicial duties
with acts of downright piracy, was one day sailing with his
men in his great galley towards Rona, when he fell in with
a Dutch ship carrying a cargo of wine. We are told with
suggestive simplicity that he " took " the Dutchman. The
ship was brought to Ness, the Brieve's head-quarters being
at Habost. This capture led to important issues. Here

THE MACLEODS OF LEWIS. 167

was an opportunity for John Morison to implement his
agreement with Torquil Conanach and his friends. With
a show of cordial hospitality, he invited Torquil on board
of the prize, and requested him and his party — which
included the redoubtable Donald Cam Macaulay — to
sample the wine. The wine was good, and the guests were
enjoying themselves. Presently, Donald Cam, who had
kept his head tolerably clear, became conscious of the fact
that the ship was moving, and was beginning to roll. He
immediately hastened on deck and discovered that they
were in the open sea. With a warning cry to Torquil
Dubh that they were betrayed, he rushed for his arms,
only to find that they had been removed. Then the plot
was revealed in all its perfidy. The ship's cable had been
secretly cut ; the weapons of Torquil Dubh's party had
been taken away ; and a band of selected and well-armed
warriors, who had been carefully concealed by the Brieve,
now came upon the scene. A gigantic follower of John
Morison, named John Roy Mackay of Bragar, seized
Donald Cam and lashed him to the mast, a number of
bravos meanwhile standing with their swords at his breast.
Another party seized Torquil Dubh and bound him ; and
his fate was sealed. The wine of the Dutchman proved
his ruin, and the strategy of the treacherous Brieve was
crowned with complete success. The ship was steered for
Ullapool, where the prisoners were handed over to Torquil
Conanach. Donald Cam and his son-in-law were fettered
together by a heavy chain, attached to a large block like an
anvil. They were, however, not too closely watched, and
managed to make their escape to Applecross, whence they
reached Skye. From Skye they crossed to Harris, and at
length reached their Uig home in safety. The return of
Donald Cam alarmed his enemies, for they knew the
character of the man. John Mor Mackay fortified Dun
Bragar, and built himself a hut close by as a dwelling-
place. Donald Cam mustered the Uig men, captured
Mackay in bed, and afterwards despatched him without
mercy. A number of Morisons took refuge in Dun

168 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Carloway, but the vengeance of Macaulay followed them.
With the aid of two dirks, Donald Cam climbed to the top
of the broch, threw bundles of heather inside, set fire to
them, and smothered and burnt the inmates. The
Morisons had their revenge subsequently at Brue, Barvas,
where a fight took place between the rival clans, resulting
in the overthrow of the Macaulays.*

Torquil Conanach having his rival in his power, had no
scruples about putting him out of the way. Doubtless, it
would have been more to his liking had the Brieve con-
veniently dropped Torquil Dubh overboard, or otherwise
disposed of him without throwing the responsibility on his
shoulders. Morison shrank from extreme measures, and
wisely left his employer to incur the odium of his rival's
murder. Torquil Conanach had now gone too far to draw
back. It is probable that a sham trial took place, at which
the enormity of the crimes attributed to Torquil Dubh was
duly set forth. All we know is that in July, 1597, Torquil,
by the orders of his competitor, was made " short by the
head," to quote a Mackenzie manuscript. It is not unlikely
that Torquil Conanach justified the execution of Torquil
Dubh, by asserting that it was a fitting punishment for the
ravaging of Coigeach. It is quite obvious that the real
motive was the removal of a rival ; and the act was one
of sheer murder, in which Torquil Conanach, Mackenzie
of Kintail, and the Brieve were all accomplices, directly or
indirectly.t Sir Robert Gordon relates that " at the verie
instant of the execution, ther wes ane earthquak which
much astonished the malefactours, though naturallie
hardened with crueltie and mischeifT." And there is a
Lewis tradition which states that when the murder was
committed, the hands of every milkmaid in the Isles
became bloody.

So great an impression did the execution of the unfor-
tunate Torquil Dubh create among his contemporaries,

* Traditions of the Macaulays of Uig.

t Writing to Queen Elizabeth in 1598, Donald Gorm of Sleat informs her
that Torquil was betrayed and murdered "be ye craft and meyane of
McKeanze of Kyntaill." (Clan Donald, Vol. II., Appendices, pp. 757~8-)

THE MACLEODS OF LEWIS. 169

that a meeting of the chiefs friendly to his interests was
held in Skye, " to consult about the affair," those present
at the conference being Macleod of Harris, Maclean of
Duart, the Captain of Clan Ranald, Macdonald of Dunyveg,
and Donald Gorm of Sleat. It was felt by the chiefs that
Torquil Conanach could only have resorted to such an
extreme measure at the incitement of Mackenzie of Kin-
tail, and they decided to act in concert against Mackenzie
and his tool. Whether the suspicions entertained of
Kintail were justified by facts or not, he was at least a
man whom they could not catch napping. On learning of
the inimical measures about to be directed against him,
he promptly abducted from school in Glasgow, Tormod,
the younger brother of Torquil Dubh, resolved to keep him
as a pledge against any unfriendly acts on the part of his
supporters. At the same time, he took steps to protect
the borders of his territories against hostile attacks. His
men succeeded so well in guarding their charge, that the
first attempt at invasion was repelled, with fatal results to
the aggressors. This was a discouraging beginning. The
members of the coalition, realising at the very outset of
their campaign, that Kintail was a dangerous foe to tackle,
wavered in their resolution ; Maclean was reluctant to
proceed further ; and ultimately the enterprise was aban-
doned, all the more readily, seeing that the immediate
interests of the confederacy were not directly assailed or
threatened.

Meanwhile, Torquil Conanach was as far off as ever
from the attainment of his ends. The execution of Torquil
Dubh, instead of opening the way to Lewis, shut him out of
the succession even more decisively than before. Torquil
Dubh had left three young sons, and the clan, furious with
Torquil Conanach, were determined to support to the death
the offspring of his victim. In Neil Macleod, by far the
most distinguished of old Ruari's bastard sons, they found
a man with a fertile brain and a strong hand, who was
well qualified to lead them. Neil willingly undertook the
guardianship of the orphans, and meanwhile, by virtue of

170 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

his relationship to them and his superior abilities, took
command of Lewis and ruled as their representative. The
Morisons of Ness were the objects of his vengeance, and
tradition has preserved accounts of many sanguinary fights
which took place between that clan and the Macleods.
The Morisons appear to have got the worst of the
encounters, for many of them were forced to take refuge
in Durness and Eddrachillis in Sutherlandshire, where
a branch of the clan was settled. According to the Old
Statistical Account y the inhabitants of those districts in
1793 were, with a few exceptions, all Morisons, Macleods,
and Macleays.

From these local feuds, we now turn to consider a matter
of wider importance, viz., that epoch in Lewis history
which is known as the attempted settlements of the Fife
Adventurers.

CHAPTER VII.

IN December, 1597, two important Acts were passed by
the Scottish Parliament, both of which had a direct bearing
upon the Long Island. One, entitled " The Inhabitants
of the lies and Hielandis suld schaw thair haldingis,"
required that all landlords, chiefs of clans, and other
proprietors of land and fisheries in the Highlands and
Isles, should appear in Edinburgh before I5th May, 1598,
and produce their deeds. The other, entitled " Anent the
bigging of burrowes townes in the lies and Hielandis,"
ordained that for better "civilitie and polecie" in those
parts, there should be erected a burgh in Kintyre, one in
Lochaber, and one in Lewis, each with lands to be granted
by the King, and to be endowed with all the privileges
enjoyed by any other burghs within the realm.*

The preamble of the first Act sets forth that the lords
of the districts concerned had neglected to pay the feu-
duties, or to perform the services due by them to the Crown.
They are called hard names for their barbarity and cruelty,
which, it is affirmed, had resulted in the fertile lands and
rich fisheries in their possession being left undeveloped.
Then follows the charge to produce title-deeds, failure to
do so involving absolute forfeiture of the lands to the
Crown. It is easy to see what lay at the root of this
drastic Act. The impecuniosity of the King, in conse-
quence of his extravagance, was notorious. Money had
to be raised somehow and somewhere. The Act was
plainly devised to replenish the Exchequer at the expense
of the Highlanders and Islesmen. It was the first step
in the policy of confiscation upon which James the Sixth

* Acts of Par!., Vol. IV., p. 139.

172 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

had set his heart. The Act enabled him to initiate his
plan with an imposing show of legality. It was well
known to the King and his advisers that several chiefs
had lost their title-deeds. It was well known that some
of them would find it difficult, if not impossible, to find
the required security for their good behaviour. It was
shrewdly suspected that certain of them, who possessed
title-deeds and could find the necessary bail, would never-
theless fail to put in an appearance at Edinburgh. All
these contingencies were clearly well considered, before
the machinery of the Law was put in motion to grab the
land of ignorant or careless chiefs. This remarkable
Act of Parliament was conceived in guile, drafted with
duplicity, and executed, as we shall see, with violence.

The Act for creating three free burghs in the disaffected
districts was, to all appearance, an innocent measure.
That it was likely to prove beneficial to those districts
may be readily conceded. But that it was part of the
great scheme for swamping the natives with Lowland
colonies, or improving them out of existence, is also
tolerably clear. To this Act, the burghs of Campbeltown
in Kintyre, Fortwilliam in Lochaber, and Stornoway in
Lewis owe their origin, but Campbeltown is the only one
of the three whose claims to the full privileges of a Royal
burgh are undisputed ; and its erection did not take piace
until 1700 — the last creation of the kind previous to the
Union of Parliaments. On 4th May, 1598, a Council was
appointed to consider how the meaning of the Act was to
be effected, the Isles reduced to obedience, and "justice
and quietnes establishit thairin." Of the ten Councillors
thus appointed, two — Sir George Home of Wedderburn,
and Colonel Sir William Stewart, Prior of Pittenweem —
soon afterwards appear as participants in an act of
legalised robbery : the seizure of Lewis by the Fife Adven-
turers. So much for the constitution of this Council, and
the disinterested motives of its members.

There are no records to show what chiefs failed to
present their title-deeds by 15th May, 1598. We know,

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 173

however, that Lewis, Harris, Dunvegan and Glenelg, were
declared to be at the disposal of the Crown. The title of
Rory Mor to his estates was unimpeachable, but whether
his failure to fulfil the requirements of the Act was due to
ignorance and simplicity (as he himself afterwards pled),
or to other unexplained reasons, his estates were, as stated,
declared forfeited ; and it was not until after a lapse of
many years that he succeeded in re-establishing his pro-
prietory rights. There is some reason to believe that the
Act may have been mainly designed to enable the King
to grab Lewis, and dispose of it to good advantage.
Torquil Dubh, the late chief of the Macleods, had been
declared a rebel ; the title-deeds had been carried off
by Torquil Conanach, and subsequently deposited with
Mackenzie of Kintail ; and finally, the island was torn
asunder by family and inter-clan feuds. Truly, this was
a most promising territory to fall like ripe fruit into the
waiting hands of the King. According to the reports
received by James, it was a pleasant land, a land flowing
with milk, yellow with corn, and teeming with fish, within
and around its bounds. What wonder was it, therefore,
that this, his remote Hebridean territory, should strike the
imagination of its most high and mighty prince, and that
its supposed store of wealth should arouse his easily
awakened cupidity?

In the records of the Privy Council, there is an entry

relating to the ratification of a remarkable contract dated

28th June, 1598. The parties to this contract were the

King on the one hand, and on the other, Patrick, Com-

mendator (Prior) of Lindores, James Leirmont of Balcomie,

Sir James Anstruther, younger of that ilk, James Spens

of Wormiston, Sir James Sandilands of Slamannanmure,

i Captain William Murray, John Forret of Fingask, Sir

j William Stewart, Commendator of Pittenweem (one of the

j ten Councillors), Sir George Home of Wedderburn (Comp-

| troller, and another of the Councillors), his son and heir

i David Home, and last but not least, Ludovick (Lewis),

Duke of Lennox, cousin and prime favourite of the King.

o

i74 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

The contract thus ratified bound the undertakers " to
plant policy and civilisation in the hitherto most barbarous
Isle of Lewis, with Rona-Lewis and Trotternish, and to
develop the extraordinarily rich resources of the same for
the public good and the King's profit." The full particulars
of the agreement are to be found in the Parliamentary
records which contain its ratification. An analysis of the
conditions is here given.

The contract, which is a lengthy one, lays stress upon
the difficulties experienced by the King in reducing the
lands to obedience, " be reasoun of the evill dispositioun
and barbaritie " of the inhabitants, who from time to time
have directly opposed the introduction of " ony policie or
civilitie " among them. His Majesty " perfytelie under-
stands" that the lands are "be speciall Providence and
blissing of God inrychit with ane incredibill fertilitie of
cornis and store of fischeingis and utheris necessaris,
surpassing far the plenty of any pairt of the inland. And
yet, nevertheless, the same ar possest be inhabitantis quha
ar voyd of ony knawledge of God or His religioun, and
naturallie abhoiring all kynd of civilitie, quha hes gevin
thameselfis over to all kynd of barbarietie and inhumani-
tie . . . occupying in the meantime and violently
possessing his Hienes proper landis without payment of
maill (feu-duty) or greffum (fine of entry) thairfoir."

Then follows a statement of the undertakings entered
into by the Syndicate of Adventurers. As a definition of
their general attitude, they are most willing, to the utter-
most of their power, to "advance and set fordwart the
glorie of God, the honour of thair native countrey, and
his Majesty's service." They undertake to augment the
yearly rent and revenue of the Crown. They undertake
to plant " kirkes " and other " policie " within the lands in
question, all at their personal expense, besides hazarding
" thair owin bodyis and lyves and the lyves of utheris
thair kyn and freindis." The consideration to be paid to
the King for his grant of the lands is next stated. Until
the year 1600, the Adventurers, in view of their initial

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 175

expenses and expected improvements, are to be free from
any payment of feu duty. Afterwards they are to pay for
Lewis, Rona and " Ilanshand " (the Shiant Isles), with
their pertinents, an annual rent of 140 chalders of beir
(barley), to be delivered annually at any part or most con-
venient port in Lewis between Christmas and Easter. For
the eighty merks Crown lands of Trotternish (which in 1596
had been leased to Donald Gorm of Sleat at an annual
duty of 380 merks), they are to pay a feu duty of 400
merks, in half-yearly instalments, at Whitsuntide and
Martinmas. And certain stipulations are also specified
regarding payments by the heirs of the Adventurers, on
their entry to the lands.

The contract goes on to lay down regulations for the
government of the burghs of barony which the Syndicate
are empowered to erect, and of any ports and havens
which they may create. Provision is made for the building
of four parish churches within the lands of Lewis and
Rona, and two churches in Trotternish, the patronage of
which is to be vested in the Syndicate, being dissolved
from the Bishopric of the Isles. Provision is also made for
the erection of a Stewartry or Justiciary to be independent
of the Sheriffdom of Inverness, and to be endowed with
ample powers for the administration of justice, the nomi-
nations to this office to be in the hands of the Adventurers.
Exemption from service other than in foreign wars, or in
expeditions to conquer the other islands, is granted to the
members of the Syndicate, and even the exceptions are to
be binding only on occasions when they are charged to
accompany the King and his successors in "proper person."
Nor are these exceptions to apply, unless the commissions
ordering them to accompany the King or his lieutenants
have reference to districts north of the Ness.

The Adventurers are also exempted from all taxation,
except special imposts, Lewis to be reckoned as forty
pound lands and Trotternish as eighty merks. But even
this tax is not to be recovered from them by law nor are
any of them to be dispossessed by " violent force."

01

1 76 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

When the Adventurers are infeft in the lands of Lewis,
Rona, and the Shiant Isles, either by resignation of the
lawful proprietors or by lawful recognition of their (the
Adventurers') rights therein, they are to resign Trotternish
into the King's hands ad remanentiain, and are thereupon to
be infeft anew in warrandice, an equal distribution to be
made to them and their heirs male.

And finally a stipulation is made for the ratification of
the contract by the next Parliament*

On 7th July, articles anent Lewis, in favour of the Syndi-
cate, were drawn out by the Privy Council. With reference
to the Act " maid aganis the Hielandmen and Isles " for
non-production of their titles, it was ordained that a
process of forfeiture be prepared against them (for "the
crymes of tressoun following, specialie raising of fyre,
steilling, murtheris ") and a new title made out in favour

of the Adventurers. It was further ordained that a com-

•

mission of lieutenancy be given to the Duke of Lennox,
empowering him to issue proclamations in all parts of the
North for concurrence and assistance — the Duke's house-
hold and companions to be furnished with shipping and
" viveris " (provisions) at the King's expense for at least
two months after the arrival of the party at their destina-
tion. And to obviate the danger of attack by the natives,
a charge was to be given to the principal men of the Isles
to assemble together and " demolische and destroy " the
whole of their birlings and lymphadsf within fifteen days
after being so charged. Likewise, " they upon the main-
land " were to be charged to deliver, within the same time,
their vessels for the use of the Syndicate, the only excep-
tions to these orders, both in the case of the Islesmen and
the mainlanders, to be " all sic boittis as rowis with thrie
airis in the syde." And further, no more vessels were to

* Reg. of P.O., Vol. V., pp. 462-3. Acts of Parly Vol. IV., pp. 160-4.

f A "birling" was a long-oared boat of twelve to eighteen oars. A
"lymphad" (long-bhata=long-boat) was a galley with one mast. Galleys
carried from eighteen to twenty-four oars. The crews of birlings and
lymphads varied in number, according to the number of oars, reckoning
three men to each oar.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 177

be built for the space of three years. It was also ordained
that a dispensation be granted to the Adventurers, freeing
them from all actions against them, and from all taxation,
for at least a year after their arrival in Lewis.

By the same articles, the King granted the Syndicate a
commission for " uplifting of men in quhatsumevir part
within this realme, in burgh or land, be all ordiner meanis
observit in sic caissis," a somewhat cryptic reference which
apparently applies to the levying of assistance for the
enterprise, or the planting of settlers in the new colonies.

The articles further provided for the ratification by the
next Parliament of the securities and infeftments granted
to the Syndicate, with all " neidfull solempnities in ample
forme."*

So far as the natives themselves were concerned, the
sting of the document lay in its tail. For the. last clause
stipulated that no part of the Highlands or Isles should
thereafter at any time be " disponit in few, tak or utherways
bot to Lowland men," or at least to such Highlanders as
could find Lowland cautioners.

By an Act of the Privy Council dated i/th August, an
assignation of the 140 chalders barley appointed to be
paid for Lewis, Rona, and the Shiant Isles, was made to
the Duke of Lennox for a period of five years, beginning
with the crop of 1600, and ending with that of 1604 ; and
the feuars were commanded to pay the Duke their feu-
duties accordingly during that period. The consideration
for this assignment consisted in the forthcoming services
of Lennox as the King's lieutenant in Lewis, with its
pertinents, and Trotternish, " quhilk office will not onlie be
hazartus to the said Lord Duke's persone," but also an
expensive undertaking for him. The arrangements for the
expedition were then in progress, for the Duke, it is stated,
was to " pas schortlie accumpaniet with the gentilmen
aventuraris."t On 25th August, the authority of Lennox
was limited by an instruction to consult the King, or

* Reg. of P.C., Vol. V., pp. 467-8.
T Reg. of P.C., Vol. V., p. 480.

1 78 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

those nominated by him, before showing favour or over-
sight to any of the Islesmen. King James was a little
suspicious of his lieutenant exceeding his authority.

An Act of Parliament during the same year, entitled
"Anent the Lewis Adventurers," refers to a petition by
the members of the Syndicate, craving that the exemption
from actions against them, as granted by the Privy Council
on yth July, be extended to themselves and their followers,
as well for causes to be " intentit " as for those already
" intentit." But Parliament, considering that this extension
might cause the ends of justice to be defeated, referred the
decision to the senators of the College of Justice, who were
to be requested by the King to find a way of granting the
petition of the Adventurers, without prejudicing the interests
of suitors. And the Estates agreed to ratify whatever action
might be taken in the matter.

The preamble of this Act deserves special attention.
The cloven hoof is displayed in the avowed intention of
"ruiting out of the barbarous inhabitants occupiaris of
the same of befoir, void of all religioun and humanitie."*
The Adventurers were to teach the Lewismen religion and
humanity by deporting or exterminating them.

On 3Oth October, the Adventurers, who were then ready
to set out for Lewis, petitioned the Privy Council for
amplification of a supersedere, and exemption from actions,
granted by the Council for one year on 7th July, and re-
mitted to the King and the senators of the College of
Justice. The importance attached by the Adventurers to
this dispensation is significant

The foregoing official records clearly demonstrate the
origin, nature, and objects of the plot laid by the King for
the "ruiting out" of his subjects in the Island of Lewis.
It originated in his impecuniosity ; its character was ruth-
lessness itself ; its purpose was to fill the Exchequer. To
justify a course of action which was wholly indefensible, he
had recourse to hypocrisy ; and James VI. could play the

* Acts ofParl.,\o\. IV., pp. 175-6.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 179

role of hypocrite to perfection. It cannot be denied that
the Lewismen were wild, unruly, and irreligious ; that they
stood sorely in need of civilising influences ; nor that their
code of ethics was laxness itself. But the statements of
the crimes attributed to them by their King — crimes, the
enormity of which grew in a crescendo fashion with each
successive Act of Council or Parliament — are too highly
coloured to be received without the most profound sus-
picion. It is only too obvious that the character of the
Lewismen was purposely limned in the blackest colours,
and the reason for this exaggeration is not obscure. It is
no uncommon circumstance for a man to bolster up a weak
case by damaging the character of his opponent, and that
was precisely the course followed by his most Christian
Majesty. It may be argued that the Lewismen had no
character to lose, and that the extirpation of a set of bar-
barians such as they were held to have been, was justifiable.
But they possessed at least a character for bravery, as the
Fife filibusters discovered to their cost. When King James
and his Council found that the primitive instinct of self-
defence still flourished in Lewis with undiminished vigour,
their language became more abusive than ever. They ex-
hausted their vocabulary of vituperation.

The logical expression of the King's passion for civilising
Lewis would have been the despatch of a band of mis-
sionaries and schoolmasters to the island, instead of an
organisation of land-grabbers, backed by a military force.
The process of civilising a people by " ruiting " them out
of their homes has yet to be discovered. Muskets, not
missionaries ; swords, not schoolmasters, were the weapons
of civilisation chosen by the King. All too tardily it was
discovered by James and his advisers, that force was a
means of permanent subjugation which it was futile to
employ against the warlike Hebrideans, for it frequently
recoiled upon the heads of those who used it. And when
a more enlightened policy was adopted, the beneficent
results were immediately apparent. That the Lewismen
were amenable to genuine methods of civilisation, is proved

i8o HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

by the fact that when, in 1610, Lord Kintail brought the
Rev. Farquhar Macrae to the island, his ministrations
were gladly welcomed, and his own person was treated with
the utmost respect. But the colonising scheme of James
was obviously a brazen attempt to fill his coffers by means
which stultified his professions, and revealed his insincerity.
He appears in the light of a company promoter who places
a concession on the market, puffs it by crafty advertisement,
and disposes of it on the most advantageous terms to
himself. The gentlemen from Fife and the Lothians, impe-
cunious like their Royal master, acquired the concession
with the firm resolve, as business men, of making as much
as possible out of it for themselves. This Syndicate ot
chartered buccaneers was brought into being, with aims
which the most hardened association of money-grubbers of
the twentieth century might hesitate openly to avow. By
their King, they were directly incited to accomplish the
process of " civilisation," much in the same manner as the
early settlers in Australia " civilised " the aboriginal black-
fellows.

While these preparations were proceeding in the South,
fighting was proceeding in the North and West. Taking
advantage of the disturbed state of Lewis, Donald Gorm
revived the pretensions of the Sleat family to the island,
and invaded it with a strong body of followers. Neil
Macleod, the bastard son of Ruari, called out the
Lewismen to defend their homes, and a battle was
fought at the west side of the island, resulting in the
discomfiture of the invaders.* Reports, however, reached
the Lowlands that Donald Gorm had " spoyled and left
the Lewes voyd and bare,"t so he had apparently succeeded
in working much mischief before his defeat. The Southern
Hebrides were also disturbed by a revival of the feud
between the Macdonalds of Dunyveg and the Macleans of
Duart, in which Macleod of Harris and Macneill of Barra
sided with the Macleans, and helped to defeat the Mac-

* Traditions of the Macaulays of Uig.
„ t Anderson's MS. Hist, of Scotland, Vol. III., fol. 295.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 181

donalds at Bern Bige in Islay (1598). These disturbances
roused the King to assert his authority, and a proclamation
was issued in June, 1598, calling out a levy to meet him at
Dumbarton, James avowing his intention of proceeding in
person to Kintyre and other parts of the Highlands and
Isles to reduce the clans to subjection. Two months later,
a further proclamation of a similar but more peremptory
tenor, was issued, and all the shipping at Glasgow, Ayr,
and Irvine was impressed into the King's service. At the
end of August, James actually proceeded to Dumbarton
with a portion of his Court, leaving part of the Council in
Edinburgh under the presidency of Lord Seton. He had
made elaborate arrangements for his personal safety. He
selected for his own use a ship of Ayr, whose owner
was charged to find a crew of the best and ablest
mariners that the town could produce, and to get a loan of
artillery or munition from any burghers who possessed
them. But he never reached Kintyre, much less the
Hebrides. The shires and burghs had gauged his pusil-
lanimity to a nicety ; hence their neglect to obey his first
proclamation. They were convinced that he would hesi-
tate to trust his sacred person in the Hebrides, being a man
of big words but timid action. The expedition was aban-
doned from no known cause save the King's indecision. In
1600, a similar farce was enacted, and with the same result.
One of the proclamations of that year was particularly
concerned with the " suirtie of his Heynes persone," which
it did not accord with his " honnour " to " hasard in thay
pairtis," unless adequately supported. Not thus was
James IV. accustomed to arrange his expeditions to the
Hebrides. But James VI. was,more careful of his person
than of his honour and dignity. The personally-conducted
expedition was once more abandoned, never again to be
proposed.

The exact date of the Adventurers' departure for Lewis
is uncertain, but they appear to have sailed early in
November, 1598, and this is confirmed by a contemporary
diarist (Moncrieff of that ilk): BirreVs Diary and Moysie's

i82 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Memoirs (p. 138) state that they sailed in October, 1598, but,
as we have seen from the official records, they had not taken
their departure by the 3Oth of that month. Mr. Gregory
says (p. 290) they did not leave until October, 1 599, and is
at a loss to account for the delay in setting out on their
voyage. From documents which have recently been pub-
lished, as well as from the evidence already mentioned,
it is now established beyond any doubt that they were
actually in Lewis before the first week of December, 1598.

Under the supreme command of the Duke of Lennox,
the expedition sailed from Leith, and appears to have
reached Stornoway within four days of the date of
departure. The members of the Syndicate were accom-
panied by several gentlemen volunteers, keen on so pro-
mising an adventure, and on the prospects of plunder.
The military force consisted of some five or six hundred
hired soldiers. A number of miscellaneous tradesmen
represented the intended permanency of the settlement,
and the expedition was thoroughly equipped with all the
requisites for an encampment. Contemporary historians
were under no illusion as to the severe measures which
were intended to be taken, nor as to the ultimate object of
the scheme. Archbishop Spotswood declares that the
intention was " to plant Lowlandmen in the Isles and
transport the inhabitants into the mainland, where they
might learn civility," and that the Adventurers " made a
beginning at the Isle of Lewis."*

At the time of the invasion of Lewis, the government of
the island was in the hands of Murdoch and Neil Macleod,
the surviving illegitimate sons of old Ruari. Murdoch was a
man of superior education, who possessed not only the dis-
tinction of being able to sign his name, but could actually
draft legal documents with a precision and shrewdness
which could not be excelled by an Edinburgh lawyer. Neil,
too, could write a good letter, as we shall have occasion to

* The late Dr. Fraser -Mackintosh informed the author that he had in his pos-
session a holograph letter from the King, being one of several addressed to
influential Highland gentlemen, requesting them to aid the Adventurers.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 183

see hereafter ; but he was more at home with the sword
than with the pen. The suggestion, therefore, that these
men were mere savages, who were destitute alike of man-
ners, morals, and education, is not borne out by facts. Mur-
doch, as the elder brother, was in supreme command of
Lewis ; according to Spotswood, he " carried himself as
Lord of the Isle," but used his authority in a tyrannical
manner. The two brothers, who were probably made
aware of the departure of the expedition to Lewis, pre-
pared to resist the Lowlanders. There are no details of
the fighting which took place, but the resistance appears
to have been of an obstinate character. It was, however,
finally broken down ; and in December, the news reached
Edinburgh that Stornoway Castle had been captured.
Murdoch Macleod, who is said to have distrusted the
fidelity of his followers, fled from Lewis, and apparently
took refuge with Torquil Conanach, whose partisan he had
consistently been throughout his career. Neil seems to
have remained in Lewis, with the object of worrying the
colonists by means of guerilla warfare.

Having temporarily overawed the natives, the Low-
landers now commenced preliminary operations for an
effective settlement of the island. Towards the Lewis
people generally, they appear, notwithstanding their blood-
thirsty mandate, to have acted with moderation. Either
the power, or the will, or perhaps both, were wanting to
initiate a policy of extermination. It is not improbable
that they quickly made the discovery, that they had to
deal with a people whose character had been painted in
darker colours than the facts warranted. Their own posi-
tion was not particularly enviable. They found themselves
threatened with a scarcity of provisions, for the natives
had apparently cleared the country of supplies. Their
shelter was inadequate, the encampment they had formed
being insufficient to protect them against the November
gales and the dampness of the climate. Exposure brought
on an epidemic of flux or dysentery, to which many of the
colonists succumbed. It was under these circumstances

184 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

that one of the members of the Syndicate, James Leirmont
of Balcomie, was sent South, probably to apprise the King
of the progress which had been made, to discuss general
matters connected with the settlement, and to obtain a
supply of provisions against the winter months.

Leirmont never reached his destination. On 7th
December, 1598, his ship was attacked off the coast of
Ross-shire (or Sutherlandshire) by Murdoch Macleod,
who commanded a small fleet, consisting of a galley, two
birlings, and one smaller boat. Murdoch had with him,
besides his own men, his brother William — another son of
old Ruari whose name has never before appeared on record
— and his followers ; William MacAllan, and his sons and
servants ; Alexander MacAllan and his men ; and two
sons of the Brieve of Lewis, viz., Angus Mclan " Bref,"
and Ian Dubh " McBrief " ; thirty men in all. Murdoch
Macleod was in command of the galley, and, according to
his own account, took no part in the actual fighting : he
was, he says, without " ony wapin usit be me, bot steiring
the galay." His associates used their " wapins " to some
purpose, for several of the passengers, as well as the crew
of the Syndicate's ship, were killed, the names of the
slain which are known being Arthur Hamilton of Both-
wellhaugh, Joseph Leirmont, and David Short. Two of
the Lowlanders attempting, apparently, to escape in the
ship's boat, were captured by the birling, which was under
the command of William MacAllan, and were killed and
stripped. The laird of Balcomie himself, with those of
his company who were left alive, was kept, for ransom, a
prisoner in the Isle of Ristol (one of the Summer Isles)
from 7th December, the date of his capture, until the 26th
of the following January, that is, for fifty days. On 28th
December, he signed at Ristol a bond in favour of
Murdoch Macleod, for the sum of 300 merks, as ransom
for Thomas Cunningham, a burgess of Crail who had been
captured by Angus Morison and eight comrades. The
person who negotiated most actively for the release of
Balcomie was Donald, son of the bloodstained Neil Mac-

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 185

ieod of Assynt. For some unexplained reason, Assynt
espoused the cause of the Fife Syndicate ; perhaps he
hoped to reap some advantage to himself by being on
what appeared to be the winning side. Murdoch Macleod
fixed Balcomie's ransom at 3,000 merks, and a bond for
that sum was signed by the prisoner, with Assynt and
nine of his friends as cautioners. Assynt also became
cautioner for an additional sum of 500 merks, as ransom
for Thomas Cunningham, the Crail burgess, and one John
Mure, who were fellow-captives with Balcomie. Murdoch
showed considerable shrewdness in drawing up the bond
for the 3,000 merks. In order to keep the principal and
his cautioners strictly to their agreement, he stipulated
that if the whole sum were not forthcoming by Whit-
Sunday, 1600, he was to be paid interest on the unpaid
balance at the rate of ten per cent.* This was not bad for
a simple barbarian, an untutored savage ! The ransoms,
together with the captured ship and the money found in
her (consisting of 200 merks and 40 merks of Spanish
reals), constituted a good haul for one day's work. But
Murdoch did not enjoy his triumph long.

On the news reaching Lewis that the laird of Balcomie
had been captured, the colonists seem to have sent Colonel
Stewart, Spens of Wormiston, and others, to perform the
mission with which Leirmont had been charged. Stewart
was probably the ablest military commander the colonists
possessed. He had been chosen Lieutenant of the Isles in
1 596, and Queen Elizabeth had been solicited to aid him
in subduing the Hebrideans ; but her refusal seems to
have rendered his commission inoperative. Taking ad-
vantage of the absence of Stewart and Spens, Neil
Macleod suddenly attacked the colonists with what an
indictment of i6i3t calls, "200 barbarous, bludie, and
wiket Hielandmen," armed with bows, darlochs (quivers of
arrows), two-handed swords, hackbuts (arquebuses), pistols,
and other weapons ; it is evident that the arms of the

* Keg. of P.C., Vol. XIV., Appendix to Introduction,
f Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, Vol. III., pp. 244-7.

1 86 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Lewismen were well up-to-date. They killed twenty-two
of the colonists, burnt property valued at 20,000 merks,
and carried off horses, cows, oxen, sheep, and other
" bestiall " worth ten thousand pounds.

The news of the raid soon reached the ears of the King.
In a letter dated I5th June, 1599, to the Chancellor and
other Lords of the Privy Council, he commanded them to
" haist " Colonel Stewart and his comrades in concluding
the consideration of matters connected with the Isles
which was then proceeding. " For," added the King, " we
have ressavit letters out of the Lewis " showing that their
" returne is maist ernistlie craved and thocht maist
necessar to be haistned." Four days after the date of
this letter, Stewart, Spens, and Thomas Cunningham,
the Crail burgess, appeared before the Privy Council,
craving for themselves and for the Syndicate, that a day
should be appointed for charging Mackenzie of Kintail
with such " crimes " as they were prepared to advance
against him ; and the 25th September was fixed for the
purpose. It is probable that the worthy burgess of Crail
had discovered, during his imprisonment on the Isle of
Ristol, that Kintail was a secret enemy of the Syndicate,
and knew more about Murdoch Macleod's doings than he
openly professed. No doubt Cunningham was to have
been the chief witness against Mackenzie ; but the appli-
cation, so far as the records show, was fruitless. Kenneth
Mackenzie had a perfect genius for getting himself out of
a tight place.

It is not surprising that there should have existed in the
Highlands and Isles generally, a feeling of great irritation,
not unmixed with profound disquietude, at the intrusion
of the Lowland strangers. The fate of the Lewismen
to-day might be that of their neighbours to-morrow. The
conquest of Lewis was the thin end of the wedge. The
cession of Trotternish was sufficient to stimulate the active
antagonism of Macleod of Harris and Macdonald of Sleat,
both of whom laid claim to that territory. The great
chiefs of the western seaboard viewed with alarm the

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 187

i

planting at their doors of a strong body of vigorous Low-
landers, who in time might spread their tentacles across
the Minch, and grab the fertile territories on the mainland.
The hostility of Mackenzie of Kintail is therefore intelli-
gible on grounds other than his desire to acquire Lewis
for himself. It was bad policy to have aroused the well-
founded suspicion of the powerful clans of the West. It
could only have one effect : that of arraying them in
secret, but none the less active, dangerous, and solid
antagonism towards the schemes of the King and his
Land Syndicate. A man like Mackenzie of Kintail was
a particularly undesirable foe. Of great ability, and of
no greater scrupulosity than the majority of Scotland's
magnates, Lowland and Highland alike, he was sufficiently
powerful to be able to make or to mar the success of the
enterprise.

A commission of lieutenancy to last for a twelvemonth
was, on Qth July, 1599, granted to Lennox and Huntly,
the latter of whom had been pardoned for past offences,
and during this year was created a marquis. The Act of
Council constituting this lieutenancy commences with the
usual recitation of the " frequent villanies and barbarous
cruelteis " of the " wicked and rebellious " inhabitants of the
Isles (the Highlands are this time included in the category),
who are " void of all feir or knauledge of God," destitute of
reverence for prince, law, or justice, and guilty of treason,
murders, and intolerable actions, " very aft every ane of
thame batheing themeselffis in the blude of utheris."
Then comes the old complaint — the crux of the whole
matter — about the loss of revenue to his Majesty, owing
to the shocking state of society in those parts ; and refer-
ence is made to the " daily practice by force and policy "
of disappointing the King's service in Lewis. To remedy
this state of matters, Lennox and Huntly are appointed
Lieutenants and Justices within the whole bounds of the
Highlands and Isles, and full indemnity is given them and
their assistants for any " slauchter, mutilatioun, fyre-raising
or utheris inconvenientis " which they might commit in

1 88 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

the discharge of their duties. They are specially ordered
to assist with their whole forces the Lewis colonists, and
they are charged to expel from Lewis any who refuse to
submit to the Adventurers. They are further charged to
" prosequite with fyre, sword, and all kind of hostilitie " all
open enemies or secret thwarters of the colonists. Full
general powers are conferred upon the lieutenants to do
everything necessary for settling the Isles, and they are em-
powered to convocate, with the counsel and advice of certain
specified landlords, the lieges north of the Dee, as often as
they think expedient in the fulfilment of their commission.
And lastly, the lieges themselves are charged to obey the
lieutenants, who are also empowered to appoint the Lewis
colonists as their lawful deputies. In the instructions to
Lennox and Huntly, they are charged to pacify the Isles,
and to assist the Lewis colonists to enable the King to
receive yearly, " ane thankfull payment of the dewiteis con-
tenit in thairinfeftment, quhairby his Majestei's rentis salbe
greatlie augmente."* And in the performance of this task,
the lieutenants are to be counted worthy of great reward —
as indeed they well deserved to be. The Earl of Enrol,
the Earl Marischal, Lord Forbes and others named, are to
act as counsellors to the lieutenants' in the matter of raising
levies of men for service in the Isles and the disaffected
parts of the Highlands. The hands of the lieutenants
were further strengthened by an Act of Council, dated
I9th November, 1599, making landlords and chieftains of
clans answerable for the conduct of their men. And a year
afterwards (25th November, 1600) a decree in favour of
Lennox was published, transferring to him the rights of
jurisdiction over the western seas hitherto held by the
Argyll family.

The powers thus conferred upon the Duke of Lennox
and the Marquis of Huntly were of a sufficiently compre-
hensive character. In effect, the lives as well as the lands
of the Islesmen were handed over to the tender mercies of

* Reg. ofP.C., Vol. VI., pp. 8-10.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 189

these two noblemen. Lennox might perhaps be trusted
not to abuse the absolute powers with which he was in-
vested, but as subsequent events show, Huntly was quite
willing to undertake the extirpation, root and branch, of
half the population of the Hebrides. That these men
should have received unlimited authority to slaughter the
Islesmen at their will, is a further indication of the policy of
the King. Little recked he of the lives of his Hebridean
subjects, so long as his rents were " greatlie augmente."

On his release from captivity, Leirmont of Balcomie
sailed for home in January, 1599. But the unfortunate
laird never again saw Balcomie. Attacked by a fever, he
was landed at the Orkneys, and enfeebled as he was by
the hardships of his captivity, quickly succumbed to the
disease. The laird of Balcomie must have formed a
striking contrast to the rough islanders. He was on one
occasion denounced from the pulpit by a plain-speaking
minister (Alexander Melville) as a " Frenchiest, Italianest,
jolly gentleman,"* the adjective "jolly," as the context
shows, being a back-handed compliment, implying that
his morals were far from being unimpeachable. The death
of Leirmont infuriated the colonists in Lewis, who were now
determined to get hold of Murdoch Macleod, and punish
him for his outrage on their comrade. But Murdoch was
far too wary to permit himself to fall into their hands. In
their extremity, they resolved to come to terms with Neil,
hoping thus to obtain their revenge on Murdoch, and rid
themselves of Neil's guerilla warfare. They succeeded
almost beyond their expectations. Neil was irritated with
his brother for the friendship which he maintained with
the Brieve and his clan, whom Neil cordially hated. The
complicity of the Morisons in the capture and death of
Torquil Dubh had never been forgotten by Neil, in whose
rugged breast there beat a heart full of loyalty for his
murdered chief. The colonists promised him that if he
would deliver Murdoch into their hands, they would give

* Chambers' s Domestic Annals^ p. 309.

i9o HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

him a grant of land in Lewis, and secure a free pardon
from the King for all his offences. Neil's cupidity thus
aroused proved too much for his fraternal instincts, and he
gave his assent to the proposal. Whatever the means
he adopted for getting his brother into his power, he
succeeded, by an act of base treachery, in capturing
Murdoch, with twelve of his followers. The latter were at
once executed without further ceremony, and their leader
was handed over to the tender mercies of the colonists.*
As Moysie puts it, by means of " ane speciall Hielandman
of that lie" — thus is Neil described — twelve were seized
and beheaded ; their heads were sent in a " pok " to Edin-
burgh and set upon the city gates. A ghastly cargo of
human heads in a sack from the distant Island of Lewis
was an object-lesson to the burgesses of Edinburgh which,
it may be hoped, they took to heart. But it was, after all, a
poor freight for an impecunious King, whose chief concern
was to secure his rents.

Murdoch Macleod — such is the irony of fate — was sent
to Balcomie in Fife, where he was detained as the prisoner
of John Leirmont of Birkhill, brother and successor of the
laird who ended his days in the Orkneys. While at Bal-
comie, he made a written confession, dated 3Oth January,
1600, of the events of 7th December, 1 598. Four days after-
wards, he signed a written discharge of all sums stipulated
as due to him for the ransom of James Leirmont, and a
quitclaim of all right to pursue either the executors of the
late laird, or Donald Macleod of Assynt, for recovery of
the money. The document was drafted by Balcomie's
factor, John Orme, and one of the witnesses was Thomas
Cunningham, the quondam prisoner of Murdoch.

It is fairly evident from these documents that the prospects
of a pardon were held out to Macleod, in consideration of
his renouncing all benefits derived from his capture of
Leirmont. But the very day he signed the quitclaim
at Balcomie (3rd February), a Royal order was despatched

* Spotswood (p. 468), who states that Neil laid an ambush for his brother.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 191

to the Justices of Fife charging them, notwithstanding al1
precepts to the contrary, to proceed to the immediate trial of
Murdoch, who is described as " of Sebuste " (? Shawbost),
and as the brother of Torquil Macleod of Coigeach, no
longer, be it noted, " of Lewis." The trial was ordered to
take place at St. Andrews, and the Justices were com-
manded, if they found the prisoner guilty of the " crimes "
with which he was charged, to sentence him to be hanged,
drawn, and quartered, and his head to be affixed above the
" Nether Bow " of Edinburgh, as a warning to others.*
This letter put an effectual stop to whatever negotiations
may have been set on foot for the pardon of the culprit.
Murdoch was found guilty by the Fifeshire Justices — to
whom his trial was entrusted because his " crimes " were
committed against the Fife Adventurers — and the sentence
prescribed by the King was carried into effect at St.
Andrews. Looking at all the circumstances from an im-
partial standpoint, it cannot be said that the sentence was
a just one. The members of the Syndicate and the dis-
possessed Lewis chief were at open warfare. The resistance
of the Macleods to the invasion of the Adventurers was
wholly justifiable, and indeed patriotic ; while the attack
on Balcomie's ship was a fair stand-up fight ; and whatever
barbarities may have accompanied the victory of the
islanders were, according to Murdoch's statement, com-
mitted without his authority. But it was useless to expect
such considerations to weigh with judges who were
deliberately chosen for their local prejudice against the
prisoner, and who dared not run counter to the plain
wishes of their Sovereign. After all, in their view, the
execution of Murdoch Macleod made one Lewis barbarian
the fewer for their friends, the Syndicate, to cope with.

Murdoch being now disposed of, the Adventurers made
overtures to Mackenzie of Kintail for a compact whereby
they might secure his powerful friendship. Accordingly, a
minute of the heads of an agreement was drafted at Perth

* Reg. ofP.C., Vol. XIV., Appen. to Intro.

P 2

i92 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

on ist April, 1600, by one Patrick Orme, and signed by
Mackenzie and three witnesses. The heads of the agree-
ment are briefly as follow : —

1. The Syndicate having suffered great loss through Murdoch

Macleod and his accomplices, Mackenzie binds himself to call
to account any of his friends, servants, or tenants, who may be
implicated in the theft of goods or gear from the colony ; and
that any such cases shall be adjudicated upon by two arbi-
trators, to be chosen by Kintail and two members of the
Syndicate.

2. In view of the strained relations between Mackenzie and Donald

Macleod of Assynt — due, it is alleged, to Macleod's friendli-
ness to the colonists — it is agreed that if Mackay of Strath naver,
who is acting as umpire in the quarrel, does not succeed in
restoring the friendship of the two chiefs, the matter shall be
referred to four arbitrators as before stated ; and that in the
meantime, Kintail shall not molest Macleod, nor his friends
and servants.

3. It is agreed that Mackenzie shall do his best to arrange a com-

promise between Torquil Macleod and the Syndicate ; and
that in the event of Torquil refusing to accept whatever
reasonable terms may be offered him by a Board of Arbi-
trators, Kintail shall withdraw his protection from him ; with
the reservation, however, that without breach of bond, the
Syndicate shall have power to pursue the Coigeach men for
the theft of boats and ships.

4. In view of certain allegations by Kintail that Neil Macleod had,

since last May, committed " divers wrongs and injuries '' to
Mackenzie's tenants, the Adventurers are willing, in the event
of Neil's refusal to submit to arbitration, to adjudicate upon
the matter and to give Mackenzie satisfaction. They also
agree to Kintail taking any lawful means he pleases, for
punishing Neil in respect of whatever charges may be proved
against him ; but that any wrongs committed by Neil prior to
May shall not be accounted a breach of friendship between
Mackenzie and themselves.

5. That each of the partners of the Syndicate and Mackenzie shall

maintain friendly relations with one another, and shall perform
the mutual duties demanded by law, conscience, and friend-
ship.*

This document serves to explain the general situation.

* Reg. of P.O., Vol. XIV., Appen. to Intro.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 193

The heads of the agreement seem to show (ist) that
Mackenzie had been a party to the worrying tactics of the
natives ; (2nd) that he had bitterly resented the friendly
attitude of Macleod of Assynt towards the Lowlanders ;
(3rd) that he had been backing Torquil Conanach in his
rightful claims to Lewis ; (4th) that Neil Macleod had been
annoying Mackenzie by attacks on the mainland ; that
his compact with the Syndicate was made in May, 1599 ;
and that since that time he had maintained friendly
relations with the colonists. True to their promises, the
Adventurers, or those of them who went South to give
evidence against Murdoch Macleod, had taken Neil with
them and obtained for him a free pardon from the King.
He returned to Lewis with his Lowland friends, the latter,
who were accompanied by the new laird of Balcomie,
rejoicing doubtless in the fact that they had put one of
their two principal enemies out of the way, and secured
the co-operation of the other, and the more dangerous,
foe.

According to Sir Robert Gordon, Murdoch Macleod
revealed certain incriminating facts about Kenneth Mac-
kenzie of Kintail, which placed that clever schemer in a
perilous situation. He was ordered to Edinburgh to answer
these charges — the head and front of his offending being
apparently his secret thwarting of the Adventurers — and
was committed to prison, but escaped trial through the
influence of his friend, the Earl of Montrose, Lord Chan-
cellor of Scotland. In view of these statements, the com-
pact between him and the Syndicate, which must have
immediately followed his release from imprisonment, is
rather curious. We must believe either that he succeeded
in clearing himself from the charges said to have been
made against him, or that the Adventurers, convinced of
his enmity towards them, powerless to crush him, and
dreading his further machinations, resolved to make a deal
with him. It is possible that the evidence of his secret
hostility to the Lowlanders was sufficiently strong to have
secured his conviction, if he was brought to trial, but that the

194 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

King and his Council dreaded at this stage his open enmity.
Hence his escape from trial on the charges of the Syndicate;
and, subsequently, on the charges by Murdoch Macleod.
It is quite conceivable that the King and his Councillors
actually connived at his release from prison, and that the
Syndicate had special instructions to conclude an agree-
ment with him, in order to prevent further trouble through
his instrumentality. There are no records to show whether
or not the agreement between him and the Syndicate was
ever signed. If the bargain was actually carried out, its
conditions did not long remain in operation.

Whether or not as the result of the negotiations between
Mackenzie and the Adventurers with reference to Torquil
Conanach, it is a curious fact that the latter, who was in
February described as " of Coigeach," appears on 2nd April
in the Privy Council records as " of the Lewis." A com-
plaint was on that date lodged with the Council by George
Monro of " Mekle Tarrell " that on I5th June, 1599, certain
persons named, " all household men " of Torquil, had
threatened and " dang " his tenants and " spuilzied " twenty-
one " pece of hors and meris." Torquil and his men, not
appearing to answer to the summons, were ordered to be
denounced as rebels. As showing the intimate relations
between Torquil Conanach — the " poor unable " as a con-
temporary calls him — and the Morisons of Lewis, it may
be mentioned that among the names of his men are to be
found those of" Hucheon Breiff" and " Allane Brieff," who
were probably sons of John Morison, the Brieve of Lewis.
The denunciation of Torquil Conanach as a rebel must
have modified that part of the proposed compact between
Kintail and the Syndicate which related to Mackenzie's
protegti.

In the same month, the name of Tormod Macleod, the
younger brother of Torquil Dubh, whom Kintail had
abducted from school, appears in the Privy Council records.
By one John Davidson, Tormod lodged a complaint with
the Council against his guardian, setting forth that Mac-
kenzie had seized and detained him without just cause.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 195

If Tormod complained at the instigation of Neil Macleod
— which is not improbable — he quickly discovered that he
had made a mistake. Kintail not appearing to answer the
charge, was merely ordered to present Tormod before the
Council, the latter understanding that Tormod " is a chieff
and speciall man of that clan, and that thairfoir it is necessair
that ordour be tane for his deutifull obeidyence and gude
behaviour."* But neither Mackenzie nor Tormod appears
to have complied with the order.

Ruari Macleod of Harris also came in for his share of
attention by the Council during this year. Donald Macleod
of Raasay, whom he had in March, 1 596-7, left as his hostage,
disappeared before 3Oth November (the date by which
Ruari was ordered to attend personally before the Council),
and the lord of Harris stayed at home. Proceedings were
instituted against him in November, 1599, and in May,
1600, a protest was lodged by the Treasurer and the King's
Advocate in the matter of the 10,000 merks which Ruari
had forfeited by his contumacy. The wily chief naturally
enough threw every obstacle in the way, hoping to defer
payment as long as possible if he did not succeed in evad-
ing it altogether. He had requested the Crown officers to
produce before the King and Council the letters charging
him to pay the fine, and had succeeded generally in
wearing out the patience of those officials. In view of the
experimental stage which the King's great colonising
scheme had then reache'd, it was good policy at that junc-
ture to handle so powerful a chief as Ruari Macleod some-
what tenderly, and this fact Ruari was shrewd enough to
perceive. He appears neither to have obeyed the summons
to appear before the Council, nor to have paid the fine of
10,000 merks. The charming nonchalance displayed by
the chiefs, in face of the numerous orders for their appear-
ance before the Privy Council, is the best proof of their
well-grounded belief that the arm of authority was not
long enough to reach them, nor powerful enough to compel
their obedience.

* Keg. of P.O., Vol. VI., p. loi.

196 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Meanwhile, the members of the Syndicate were being
confirmed in their possessions, so far as legal titles could
do so. The Parliament of 1600 ratified an Act of
I4th December, 1599, conveying the infeftment of Lewis
and Trotternish to the Adventurers. The lands specified
in the ratification comprise, besides the two main terri-
tories, Rona, the Shiant Isles, Great and Little Bernera,
the Flannan Islands, and "twa cunying islands."* The
customary strong language is used about the Lewismen.
They are accused of " maist detestabill, damnabill, and
odious murthers,fyiris,reveisching of wemen, witchcraft, and
depredatiounes maid amangis thameselffis, extendit maist
unmercifullie to all sorttis of persounes, without ony pitie
or mercie ather of young or auld," as well as of the usual
" treassonabill practeisses." The document sets forth how
the members of the Syndicate had conquered the lands,
and somewhat naively remarks that they have set an
example which others would do well to follow. In
consideration of their patriotic services, the yearly duty
has been reduced to one thousand pounds in money,
1,000 keling (codling), 1,000 lingfish and 1,000 skates.
A charter of the lands under the Great Seal is to be
prepared by the King for himself, as legal representative
of his son Henry Frederick, " Prince and Stewart of the
realm and Lord of the Isles," by the tenor of which the
Syndicate, consisting of the Duke of Lennox, Patrick of
Lindores, Stewart, Leirmont, Anstruther (the Queen's
Master of the Household), Spens, Sandilands, Murray,
Forret, and David Home, heir of Wedderburn, are to be
confirmed in their possessions in equal shares, including
the fishings, patronage, teinds, &c.

Power is given them to build ten parish churches in
Lewis, and as many in Trotternish as they may think
proper, such churches to be independent of the jurisdiction
of the Bishop of the Isles. They are also empowered to

* Dean Monro calls them Sigrain-na-Goinein (coinein) "wherein there are
many cuninges " (rabbits). Blaeu calls them Sigram-na-geinen, and places
them near Pabaidh in Loch Roag. They are doubtless the islets named
Shiaram Mhor and Shiaram Bheag.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 197

construct harbours and collect for their own use the petty
dues, reserving for the King the " great customs " on all
fish and other goods imported and exported. Encourage-
ment is given them to open taverns, &c., for the accom-
modation of strangers. They are empowered to erect as
many burghs of barony as may be requisite, such burghs
to have all the privileges of "free" burghs of barony,
and to call them by whatever names they please ; to
appoint weekly market days and free annual fairs, to be
held within each burgh so erected, with a special pro-
tection to all people resorting thither ; and to create and
incorporate what is to be called in all time coming the
free Stewartry of Lewis, with all the privileges of a free
Stewartry.

The Act further ordains that Lewis and the other lands
are to be equally divided into ten parts, each part to be
erected into a free barony under a special denomination,
with a principal messuage appertaining thereto ; that the
Adventurers are to be exempt from all military service,
except for foreign wars, for expeditions undertaken for
the conquest of the rest of the Isles, and for the quelling
of disturbances north of the Ness.

Then follow valuations of Lewis and its pertinents
(40 pound lands of old extent) and Trotternish (80 merks)
for taxable purposes ; stipulations as to the nature of the
tenure (feu-farm heritable) ; and the terms for payment of
the rent, that for Trotternish being fixed at one-third of
the money payment for Lewis. Concerning the salaries
of the ministers, " ane ressonabill stepend " is to be pro-
vided from the teinds "for thair sustentatioun and inter-
tenement"*

It will thus be seen that so far as Royal encouragement
could make the enterprise a success, the Adventurers con-
tinued their efforts under the most favourable auspices.
The project set forth in the foregoing Act was an
ambitious one. Its aims were nothing short of revolu-

* Acts of Par!., Vol. IV., pp. 248-250.

198 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

tionary; and on the whole, it may fairly be said that
they were apparently beneficent. But it cannot be too
frequently emphasised, that at the root of these civilising
measures lay the canker of gross injustice, and utter dis-
regard for the rights and liberties of the natives. It is not
too obscurely hinted, that the conquest of Lewis was to be
the first of a series of similar conquests throughout the
length and breadth of the Hebrides. A scheme such as
is here set forth would have been wholly commendable,
had it been undertaken with the object of teaching the
natives the arts of peace, and diverting their turbulent and
warlike habits into channels of industry and progress.
We are bound, however, to examine the motives of the
undertaking : and it is only too plain that these were
dictated by selfishness alone. We are forced to the con-
viction— a conviction which becomes stronger with every
Act and proclamation relating to the plantation of Lewis
— that the intention was to extirpate the natives, and
replace them with strangers from the South. If the
Adventurers adopted a more humane policy, it was in
spite of, rather than in obedience to, the spirit of their
instructions.

As a supplement to the confirmation of the Adventurers
in their possessions, there is an engagement dated at
St. Andrews, 7th October, 1600, by Stewart, Leirmont,
Anstruther, Spens, Forret, and Murray, which ratifies
a contract entered into on the previous June, obliging the
members of the Syndicate, among other things, to plan
a town in Lewis, apportion land for the purpose, build
houses thereon, and divide the whole of the remaining land
among themselves. The signatories to this engagement
state that they are prevented by weighty reasons from
being present in Lewis 'to fulfil their part of the contract,
but they give authority to their associates to carry out,
in their absence, at any time before Michaelmas, 1601,
the arrangements made in respect of the points stated ;
the agreement in all other particulars to remain intact. An
imperfect memorandum has come to light setting forth the

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 199

Contract Articles submitted for the consideration of the
partners in the enterprise. The points so submitted relate
to their minister, their kirk, their schoolmaster and their
school ; to the bounds of the town, its fortifications, its
first houses, and the burgh roads ; to the division of the
lands, people, and goods ; to the salmon fishings, mines,
minerals, whales, teinds, and the duty on fish ; to the social
duties of the colony ; to compensation for those colonists
who suffer most severely from attack ; to shipping matters ;
to the institution of a common fund ; to the debarring of
marriage or friendship with the natives unless by general
consent ; to the protection of the Syndicate against an
increase of partners without the consent of the contractors;
and to the prevention of any individual member attempting
to exercise undue authority to the prejudice of the common
good.*

The framework of the Society is seen from the fore-
going synopsis. The provisions are in the main excel-
lent enough, so far as the internal economy of the colony
is concerned. But it is evident that the colonists were
to form a separate and superior caste in the island. The
natives were to be treated as pariahs. No intercourse
between the two races was to be permissible except in
the relations of masters and serfs. The King was for
extermination ; the colonists preferred segregation ; no one
suggested amalgamation.

Having secured temporary immunity from attack, the
colonists commenced to carry out their programme. They
planned their town and proceeded to build houses, the
material being stone, timber, and "saill" (turf). Finally,
they completed what Sir Robert Gordon calls a " prettie
toun," which they fortified. There is no reason for doubt
that the modern town of Stornoway covers the site of this
village. The remains of some ramparts and fortifications
existed at the point of Holm, a short distance from Stor-
noway, although they are no longer discoverable ; and it

* fieg.ofP.C., Vol. XIV., Appen. to Intro.

200 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

has been supposed that these were relics of the occupation
of the Adventurers, but it will be shown that they belonged
to a later period. That the village of the colonists adjoined
the old Castle of Stornoway — the most natural site for it —
is proved by a charter of 1607, in which the location of
" Villam de Stroneway " is so described.

Everything was now looking bright for the young colony ;
and a peaceful occupation seemed assured. But it was a
delusive peace ; it was the calm which precedes the storm ;
for soon their dreams of security were rudely dispelled.
That stormy petrel, Neil Macleod, was the disturbing
element. The alliance between him and the Lowlanders
never contained the germs of permanency. The incon-
gruity of their friendship is easily apparent. Neil was
with them, but not of them. His proud and restless spirit
could ill brook to see the ancient possessions of the Siol |
Torquil parcelled out among insolent strangers. The re-
straints of civilisation, too, probably became irksome ; he
despised the trading instincts of the Lowlanders ; he longed
for the old life with its ploys and its plunder. His was a
masterful personality, a revengeful disposition, an uncurbed
temper, and a code of ethics that was in many respects
different from the laws which governed the conduct of his
temporary associates. It is probable that his relations
with the Adventurers gradually grew less cordial, and that
the hollow friendship patched up between them became
more and more distasteful, and mutually so. And then
an event occurred which hastened the inevitable severance
of association. Irritated beyond measure by some un-
named injury at the hands of Spens of Wormiston, Neil
suddenly broke off all amicable relations with the colonists,
and being a man who never did things by halves, became
once more the bitter enemy whom they dreaded. This
quarrel, initiated perhaps by some trivial incident, changed
the whole face of Lewis history. Had Neil Macleod con-
tinued to be the friend of the colonists ; had they been
sufficiently politic to avoid giving him offence ; the descen-
dants of the Fife men might to-day be the ruling caste

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 201

in Lewis, and it is difficult to say what the consequences

might have been to the Hebrides generally. And yet it is

I not easy to conceive that a man of Neil's temper could

; have become a permanent ally of the Lowlanders, with

whom he had so little in common ; nor is it easier to

! imagine the turbulent Lewisman playing the part of a

peaceful trader, or a meek agriculturist.

No sooner had he quarrelled with the Adventurers than
j he re-commenced active hostilities against them. The
colonists now determined to get rid of this troublesome foe
once for all. Being unable to seize him by force, they had
recourse to strategy. One very dark night in December,
! 1 60 1, Spens of Wormiston, who was the cause of the
; quarrel, sent a body of men from the camp to capture Neil
j and one Donald Dubh MacRory, " a gentleman of the
i island " who had also incurred the enmity of the colonists.
i But Neil was on his guard, and discovering the plot, turned
I the tables on his would-be captors. He suffered them to
leave the camp some distance behind them, and then burst
upon the surprised Lowlanders like an avalanche. The
! latter, taken completely off their guard, made no stand.
The darkness of the night accentuated the confusion.
Hither and thither ran the colonists seeking in vain to
break their way through the Lewismen, who barred their
retreat to the camp. Their comrades sent a force to the
rescue, and the remains of the punitive force at length
found safety behind their friendly ramparts, leaving, accord-
ing to one authority, sixty, and according to another, fifty
men stark and stiff outside. Neil Macleod now became a
more dangerous antagonist than ever, and the Adventurers
realised that far from their colony being secure, they were
now only on the threshold of their difficulties, and that the
re-conquest of Lewis was imperative.

Watchful eyes were directed from the mainland on
the events transpiring in Lewis. Mackenzie of Kintail,
negotiations with the Syndicate notwithstanding, main-
tained inviolate his purpose of ruining the colony. He
was sufficiently far-seeing to realise that the alliance

202 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

between Neil Macleod and the Lowlanders was bound to
be evanescent. As soon, therefore, as his expectations
were fulfilled, he made a move in carrying out his care-
fully-matured plans. Knowing the attachment of the
Lewismen to Torquil Dubh and his family, he released
Tormod Macleod, and sent him to Lewis, feeling assured
that Neil and the islanders generally would rally round the
brothers of their old chief and rise in revolt against the
colonists. Nor were his hopes disappointed. No sooner
had Tormod reached Lewis, than Neil placed his sword at
his disposal, and the revolt received a fresh impetus.
Commenting on the enthusiasm with which Tormod was
welcomed in Lewis by his clansmen, Sir Robert Gordon
remarks, "for all these ilanders (and lykwayes the Hie-
landers) 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.'' Sir Robert has
here struck the right nail on the head. For the attributes
which he mentions are precisely those which rendered
possible the numerous rebellions in the Highlands and
Isles already noticed, and those which were to follow.

Tormod Macleod lost no time in following up the
success obtained by Neil. Accompanied by the latter
and a strong body of natives, he attacked and stormed the
camp of the colonists and burnt their fort. The Low-
landers, though taken by surprise, defended themselves
stubbornly, and it was not until the greater number of
them were killed that the remainder surrendered uncon-
ditionally. Tormod, a generous conqueror, was not averse
from treating the vanquished colonists with considera-
tion. He agreed to set them at liberty on the following
conditions, viz. : —

ist. That they should "purchase" from the King a
remission for all offences present and past of
himself and his followers.

2nd. That they should resign to him their rights in
Lewis.

:j

!

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 203

3rd. That Spens, with his son-in-law Thomas Monypenny
of Kinkell, should remain in Lewis as pledges,
until the first two conditions were satisfactorily
fulfilled and confirmed.*

The colonists had no option but to accept these conditions,
which they accordingly did, very much against the grain,
as may be imagined. Under the leadership of Sir James
Anstruther, the prisoners made a humiliating departure
from Lewis, the attenuated remnant of the company who
had so blithely undertaken the conquest and colonisation
of the island three years previously. The detention of the
pledges was a prudent move on the part of Tormod, for
the King was forced to grant the desired remission, and
give the required security for the transference of the
colonists' rights to Macleod, in order to obtain the release
of Spens and his son-in-law. Subsequent events show
that the conditions would never have been fulfilled but
for the prisoners in pledge. The King and the Adven-
turers acted with " Punic " faith towards the Lewismen :
according to their code of honour, promises to wild
Hebrideans were made only to be broken at a favourable
opportunity. The rough islanders came out of this trans-
action far more creditably than the civilised Lowlanders.
Eight months elapsed before James Leirmont, son of the
Laird of Darcie, was sent to Lewis to obtain the release
of the pledges, by ratifying the treaty entered into by
Tormod and the colonists. The islanders honourably
performed their part of the agreement, and the last of the
Fife men sailed from Lewis, glad enough, no doubt, to
cross the Minch on their homeward journey. And thus
ended, in miserable failure, the first attempt to make the
subjection of the island a dividend-paying concern.

Tormod Macleod was now in undisputed possession of
the island, with the faithful Neil as his lieutenant. One
of his most active partisans was John MacDonald Mac-

* Spotswood, p. 468.

204 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Hucheon Macleod of Sandey, a short but powerful man,
and a redoubtable fighter. Apparently, he had been
watching for a chance of seizing Torquil Conanach, and
finally succeeded in apprehending and bringing him to
Lewis. And thus the arch-enemy of Tormod's brother
was at length in his power. Tormod demanded from him
the writs and infeftments of Lewis, but Torquil Conanach
truthfully enough replied that they had passed out of his
possession into that of Mackenzie of Kintail. The
question now arose, what should be done with Torquil?
Tormod's followers demanded his blood. But here again
the Macleod chief showed that whatever other lessons
he may have learned from Kintail, inhumanity was not
one of them. With a generosity which contrasts strongly
with the bloodthirsty spirit which actuated the rest of the
Macleods, he refused to butcher his relative, and instead,
set him at liberty, unconditionally so far as we know. This
forbearance is all the more remarkable, in face of the fact
that Torquil Conanach was primarily responsible for the
execution of Torquil Dubh, Tormod's brother. But it is
probable that Tormod regarded Torquil Conanach as being
merely a tool in the hands of Kintail, and such, indeed,
he appears practically to have been.

During Tormod's government of the island, John
Morison, the Brieve of Lewis, met his end in the fol-
lowing manner. The Brieve, who had been compelled to
leave Ness and had taken refuge in Assynt, was in an un-
enviable condition. His act of treachery towards Torquil
Dubh had made him a marked man. John Macleod, the
active fighter, and the captor of Torquil Conanach, was
on his track. Macleod had previously fought against the
Morisons in Lewis, and had suffered defeat at Carloway,
so he had a score to wipe off. He met the Brieve in a
house at Inverkirkaig in Assynt, Morison having six
men with him, and John Macleod only four. As might
be expected, it was not long before the two parties fell
to blows, and a " pretty ploy " ensued. The result of the
fight was, to say the least, surprising. The Brieve and

THE MACLEODS AND THE MORISONS. 205

no fewer than five of his followers were killed, while of their
opponents, not a man fell. Sir Robert Gordon piously
ascribes the remarkable outcome of this fight to the inter-
position of Providence in favour of the Macleods, the
wicked Brieve and his followers being deprived of the
power to resist. Evidently the Morisons had met better
men than themselves ; picked swordsmen, perhaps, who
had come upon them, apparently by accident, but really
with the set purpose of fighting them.

Among the numerous islands on the coast of Eddra-
chillis is one called Eilean na Breitheamh, or the Judge's
Island, which derives its name from the following circum-
stances. The friends of the Brieve, hearing of his death,
came across from Lewis in a galley to bring the corpse
home, but owing to contrary winds, they were driven to
this island ; whereupon they decided to disembowel the
body and bury the intestines, which they did ; and on
the wind changing, they set sail again, and arrived in
safety at Ness. John Morison was succeeded in the
chiefship of his clan by Malcolm Mor Maclan, who was
determined to avenge the death of the Brieve when chance
should throw John of Sandey in his way. They met at
length at Coigeach, when a fight took place, in which
the Morisons were worsted and Malcolm himself was taken
prisoner. His captor handed him over to Tormod Mac-
leod in Lewis, who forthwith made him " short by the
head."* He had no qualms of conscience about despatching
a Morison.

The year 1601 was marked by strife in parts of the
Long Island other than Lewis. The Lowland colony in
Lewis was harassed by the natives ; the two most power-
ful clans in Harris and North Uist were at deadly feud.
Donald Gorm Macdonald — who, on i/th August, 1596, got
a charter of Sleat and North Uist, with lands in South
Uist, and Benbeculat — had married a sister of Ruari Mac-
leod of Harris. The marriage proved an unhappy one.

* Traditions of the Morisons of Ness,
f Reg. J/rt». Sig. (i593-i6o8), No. 472.

206 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

The husband took a violent dislike to the wife, owing
to jealousy or some other cause of displeasure. He there-
upon packed the lady off to her friends, repudiating her
as his wife. This high-handed proceeding roused the ire
of Rory Mor, who sent to Donald Gorm desiring him
to take his wife back. The latter not only refused, but
promptly divorced her, and married a sister of Mackenzie
of Kintail. Macleod thereupon took his revenge by
devastating Trotternish. Donald Gorm retaliated by in-
vading Harris, which he wasted, killing some of the
inhabitants and carrying away much booty. Ruari Mac-
leod then instructed his cousin, Donald Glas, to invade
North Uist, and carry off from Trinity Church, at Carinish,
the goods which the Uist people had placed there for
safety. With forty men, Donald Glas proceeded to obey
these instructions, but was met by John Mac Ian Mac
Sheumais Macdonald, a near relation of Donald Gorm,
with twelve men. Although the Macleods so greatly
outnumbered the Macdonalds, they were utterly routed,
their leader with all his men, except two, being killed.
This repulse disheartened Ruari Macleod, who retired from
Port-na-Long to Rodil, Harris. Donald Macjames, while
on his way to Skye to report the Carinish affair to Donald
Gorm, was driven by a storm to take refuge at Rodil,
where he and his followers were hospitably entertained
by Rory Mor, who was unaware of the identity of his
guests. When it became known who they were, the strict
laws of Highland hospitality were strained almost to
breaking point. They stood the strain, and bloodshed was
averted. But some of the Macleods, thirsting for revenge,
set the Macdonalds' dormitory on fire during the night.
The birds had flown, however, for the Macdonalds had
wisely determined not to trust their hosts too implicitly.

The feud now became more deadly than ever, and the
two clans raided and spoiled one another's territories so
mercilessly that the inhabitants were reduced to the direst
extremities. Food became so scarce that the wretched
clansmen were forced to the necessity of sustaining life by

THE LORDS OF UIST AND HARRIS. 207

eating their horses, their dogs, their cats, " and other filthy
vermin." This is a striking example of the misery inflicted
upon the common people by the vindictive personal quarrels
of their chiefs. The slaughter and starvation of innocent,
but blindly devoted clansmen, was a heavy price to pay for
an unhappy marriage.

Donald Gorm finally decided to bring matters to a
definite issue, and crush the Macleods in a decisive fight.
Collecting his forces, he invaded Macleod's lands in Skye,
while the chief was away seeking the assistance of the Earl
of Argyll against the Macdonalds. Alexander Macleod,
brother of Rory Mor, assembled the whole fighting strength
of the Siol Tormod to repel the assailants, and with him
were some of the Siol Torquil of Lewis, who had been
summoned to help their namesakes. The Macleods posted
themselves on the shoulder of one of the Coolin Hills and
awaited the attack. A fierce and obstinate fight ensued,
lasting nearly the whole day. Both sides realised the
decisive nature of the contest, and each was resolved to
win ; the Macleods were compelled ultimately to acknow-
ledge defeat. Two near kinsmen of Rory Mor, John
MacTormod and Tormod MacTormod, were killed, with
many others of lesser note ; and the chiefs brother, Alex-
ander, with thirty-two of the leading men of the clan, was
taken prisoner.

What the final issue of this bloodthirsty feud would
have been, if the clans had been left to themselves, can only
be conjectured, but the Privy Council now interfered in the
quarrel. Assistance by others to either of the contending
parties was strictly forbidden ; and the chiefs themselves
were ordered to disband their forces and leave Skye
temporarily. Macleod was enjoined to give himself up to
the Earl of Argyll, and Macdonald to the Earl of Huntly ;
and both were charged to remain with these nobles until
their dispute had been adjudicated upon by the King and
the Council. In the end, a reconciliation was effected,,
through the instrumentality of Angus Macdonald of Duny-
veg, Maclean of Coll, and others. Donald Gorm handed

Q 2

208 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

over his prisoners to Ruari Macleod, and thus the feud was
terminated.* But what of the divorced wife, and still more,
what of the starving people? In after years, when a dis-
pute arose between the Macleods and the Macdonalds, they
referred it to the Law Courts, for the arbitration of the sword
was too expensive an operation. When the Highland and
Hebridean chiefs substituted the pen for the sword, they
became as famed for their litigious proclivities as they had
previously been for their prowess in arms. Fighters always,
they found in the Law Courts a safety valve for their pug-
nacity, which in other times had been provided by their
interminable feuds.

The events just narrated may have been the direct cause
of a fresh commission of lieutenancy, to last for a year or
until discharged, which, on i6th June, 1601, was issued to
the Duke of Lennox and the Marquis of Huntly. The
King having already proof of the " guid and happie suc-
ces " which had attended the efforts of Lennox, enlarged
his scope of jurisdiction to include Kintyre, Islay, and
other lands of Angus Macdonald of Dunyveg ; also Mull,
Tiree, lona, Coll, Barra, Rathlin, Morvern, and Ardna-
murchan. Absolute authority over the lives and liberties
of the people was vested in the lieutenant, with an indem-
nity for " slaughter or any other inconvenient " committed
in the execution of his commission.

Similarly, Huntly was granted autocratic sway over Skye,
Harris, Hert (St. Kilda), Uist, Scalpa, Rum, Canna, Raasay,
Eigg, Eilean Tirrim, and Arisaig ; and his commission was
extended to cover any Highlanders on the mainland who
were the avowed partisans of the Islesmen against the
authority of the lieutenant. The earls, lords, barons, and
•" substantious " landed men of Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin,
Forres, Nairn, Inverness, Caithness, Cromarty, and the
burghers of these counties, were charged to assist Huntly
under pain of treason. And a reward was promised to
the Marquis if he were successful in " settling " the Isles.

* Conflicts of the Clans (from MS. written circa 1620).

THE LIEUTENANCY OF THE ISLES. 209

Ruari Macleod of Harris having been charged to appear
before the Council on loth August, a promise was exacted
from Huntly not to put his commission in force against
him or any of his friends until the expiry of that date.

It is evident that suspicions were entertained of Mac-
kenzie of Kintail being an active instigator of the Lewismen
against the Lowland colonists, hence the veiled threat to
Highlanders on the mainland contained in the commission
But all the Acts of Parliament and of Council, all the pro-
clamations, and all the commissions of lieutenancy failed,
and failed utterly, to effect the permanent conquest of
Lewis, much more of the Hebrides generally.

2IO

CHAPTER VIII.

THE failure of the first expedition to Lewis disheartened
the Adventurers and exasperated the King. In spite of the
undertaking given to the Lewismen, no sooner were the
hostages released, than preparations were set on foot for a
fresh attempt to conquer the island. In June, 1602, James
appointed a Convention of the Estates to be held at Perth
on the 26th of that month, for the express purpose of con-
sidering a new scheme for " repossing " Lewis, and for
bringing the Isles generally under subjection to the Crown,
whereby the King's revenue from them might be increased.
These matters were duly discussed by the Estates. It was
proposed to send an army to Lewis to re-conquer the
island, and the King asked for a subsidy of twenty thou-
sand pounds sterling to be raised by the Church and the
burghs, to carry out the project. On i6th July, James
addressed Parliament in a speech lasting half-an-hour
— " after his accustomed manner when his lords meet " —
the major portion of which was occupied with his scheme
for invading Lewis. He represented to the Estates that
it was not consistent with his honour, to submit to the
indignities which he had suffered at the hands of the
" barbarous " Lewismen. He told his hearers that the
people of England were saying, that a King who could
not rule a handful of people like the inhabitants of Lewis,
was not fit to govern them.

To this appeal the Estates turned a deaf ear. The
truth was, they were tired of hearing about Lewis, and
they doubtless realised that it was hopeless to attempt a
permanent settlement there. They were willing to endorse
the King's fulminations against the islanders ; they were

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 211

ready to describe them officially as the vilest wretches that
cumbered the ground ; they would bless the Adventurers
and curse the Lewismen to the heart's content of their
Sovereign. But on the question of supplies they were
adamant ; none of the nation's money, they were resolved,
would be spent on such a wild-cat scheme. The Adven-
turers were welcome to waste the whole of their private
means on the undertaking, if they pleased ; but that was
entirely their concern.

Foiled in his attempt to extort money by lawful means,
King James had the effrontery to propose the coinage of
base money, wherewith to pay the soldiers who were to
serve in Lewis. The English people were laughing at him,
their future Sovereign, and all on account of a few stubborn
islesmen who had set him at defiance. Such a thing was
not to be tolerated. He would crush the rebels and punish
their insolence — while keeping his own sacred person at a
safe distance. But the soldiers had to be paid, and his
Parliament would grant no supplies. What matter ? He
would cheat his soldiers by paying them in false coin, and
would thus revenge himself on the Lewismen at a minimum
of expense, and with a clear conscience, if Parliament
sanctioned the proceeding. To their credit, the Estates
did no such thing. The King who stooped to make such
a proposal could be defied with impunity ; and defy him
they did.*

The matter then passed into the hands of the Privy
Council, the members of which were more pliant than the
stubborn Estates. As the result of the deliberations of the
Council, it was resolved that a proclamation be issued,
calling out the Highlands to assist the Marquis of Huntly
to re-conquer Lewis, and place the Adventurers again in
possession of the island. Mackenzie of Kintail was in
Edinburgh at this time, for the purpose of interviewing the
King, relative, probably, to affairs in Lewis. He appears
to have succeeded in disarming the suspicions which were,

* MSS. in Public Record Office (State Papers, Scotland, Eliz., Vol. LXVIII.,
Nos. 73 and 86). (See Appendix B.)

212 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

not unreasonably, entertained of his fidelity to the cause of
the Adventurers, for on the Qth December, 1602, he was
formally admitted as a member of the Privy Council,
having previously been a nominal member only. As for
the Marquis of Huntly, it is evident that the marks of the
Royal favour conferred upon him, were not universally well
received. The feeling against Roman Catholics was strong
in the country, and the influence of the Presbyterian
ministers was powerful. Huntly, as the most prominent of
the Catholic pseudo-converts, and as a brand plucked from
the burning, was well watched by the suspicious Presby-
terians. James was fond of lecturing people, and his
lieutenant did not escape the infliction. About the time
that Huntly was preparing to undertake the invasion of
Lewis, we find the King exhorting him to conform and
keep himself in " the religion," and to avoid " Papist traf-
fickers " ; promising, if he did so, to be his friend, and
warning him of his enmity if he failed to follow his advice.
Thus exhorted, counselled, and strengthened by his Royal
patron, Huntly proceeded to his task of subduing the
Islesmen, who, for their part, were little concerned whether
their invaders were Papists or Presbyterians. They were
Sasgunnaich ; and that was enough for them.

In accordance with these preparations, a proclamation
was issued on I9th July, calling out an armed force for the
recovery of Lewis. The preamble of this proclamation is
in the strain to which repeated allusion has been made.
But on this occasion, it was apparently found necessary to
travel beyond the bounds of Britain to find wickedness
parallel to that of the Lewismen; a sign that the vocabulary
of epithets was getting exhausted. Obviously, the acme
of vituperation was intended to be reached, when it was
declared that the " monstrous cruelteis " of the Lewismen
were such " as hes not bene hard of amangis Turkis or
Infidellis." Incidentally, the incredible " fertilitie " of the
land and richness of the fishings were again touched upon,
as having a direct bearing on the enterprise which the
Adventurers had undertaken. A resume was given of the

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 213

events which followed the conquest of Lewis : how certain
of the " principals " of the island had taken the colonists
by surprise, and set upon them with fire and sword, and
how they had re-captured Lewis, intending to hold it in
defiance of the King, with the help and concurrence of
" utheris disorderit theiffis and lymmaris of the His." The
King having resolved to " re-take the island and repres the
insolence of the lymmaris," now called upon all his subjects,
between the ages of sixteen and sixty, in Aberdeen, Banff,
Elgin, Forres, Nairn, Inverness, Cromarty, Caithness,
Orkney and Shetland, to assist their Sovereign, or his
lieutenant, in carrying out his purpose. The lieges were
charged to prepare for war, and provide themselves with
sufficient provisions to last for forty days after their arrival
in Lewis. The Orkney and Shetland men were to meet
Huntly in Lewis on loth October. The men of Caithness
and Sutherland were to be in readiness to meet him, at
such days and in such places, as should be appointed by
proclamation or otherwise. The levies from all the other
places were to assemble at Inverness on 2Oth September,
and pass forward with the Marquis as directed. And all,
without exception, were to follow the instructions of
Huntly, under pain of loss of life, lands, and goods.*

It is clear that the prime mover in this fresh enterprise
was the King himself, for there is evidence to show that
most of the Adventurers were utterly disheartened by
their want of success, and were not altogether averse from
washing their hands of the whole affair. Such, at least, is
the inference to be drawn from a charge to Stewart,
Home, Leirmont, and James Forret, son of the late John
Forret, the father not improbably having been killed in
Lewis. These partners of the Syndicate had neglected
to find caution for the rent of the island due to the King,
and were now attempting to "schaik af that yok and
burdyne" altogether. Others of the partners, who had
found caution, were repenting of having done so, and

* Reg. ofP.C., Vol. VI., pp. 420-1.

2i4 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

wished to draw back. Stewart and his colleagues, who
had not found caution, and their comrades who regretted
having done so, were ordered to appear before the Council
on 27th July, the former to be accompanied by their
cautioners. Stewart and his friends were to bind them-
selves to fulfil their undertaking, or forfeit their shares,
while those who wished to be freed from their caution
were to have their wish granted on renouncing all their
rights in Lewis.* The friction between the King and the
Adventurers appears to have been overcome by means of
this order, for the necessary caution was ultimately found.
The members of the Syndicate were very much in the
position of shareholders in a good many modern Com-
panies, who realise that they have made a bad investment,
but, having to choose between forfeiture of their shares and
finding fresh capital for a re-construction scheme elect, after
many misgivings, to do the latter, on the chance of getting
their money back, if nothing more.

On 28th July an order was issued, charging all chief-
tains and heads of clans in the Highlands and Borders to
appear before the Council, and find caution for keeping the
general Bond, and for maintaining the laws against sorners
and broken men ; and in October of the same year, a fresh
bond was entered into by the landlords of those districts
against "thieves, murderers, and oppressors," among the
subscribers to which appear the names of Lennox and
Huntly. So far as the bearing of these measures on the
Outer Hebrides is concerned, they seem to have been
utterly useless in quelling the turbulence of the natives,
or in fitting these islands as a dumping ground for Low-
land colonists.

The muster of men for the invasion of Lewis was an
intolerable hardship for the lieges of the North, who had
no direct interest in the undertaking, and who, not un-
reasonably, must have anathematised the very name of
the island, and with still greater reason, the name of the

* Reg. ofP.C., Vol. VI., p. 421.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 215

Fife Syndicate. They endeavoured to escape service by
representing its great inconvenience, at a time of the year
when the crops had to be gathered, and when the winter
was approaching. These representations prevailed, and
a proclamation was issued on I5th September, delaying
the expedition until the following spring.

Accordingly, on 3rd March, 1603, each of the partners
of the Syndicate was ordered to hire thirty soldiers, well
furnished with "armour, powder and bullet," and sixty
bolls of meal ; to proceed in person with his company to
Lewis "for recoverie of the same" ; and to find sufficient
provisions for a year, under a penalty of a thousand pounds
and forfeiture of his share. Each of the principal share-
holders was instructed to build a "sufficient" house of
stone and lime, or mortar, for his own defence and safety,
within a year from the date of his landing in the island ;
and was to pay the rent due to the King at Whit-Sunday
and Michaelmas — silver at the former, and fish at the
latter term. Failing in the performance of these con-
ditions, he was to forfeit his share to the partners who
fulfilled them. The King on his part agreed, that if by
means of his levies, he failed to succeed in re- instating
the Adventurers in the possession of Lewis by Midsum-
mer, the bond and caution furnished by them should be
null and void.*

It will be seen that the re-organisation of the Syndicate's
affairs involved fresh sacrifices on the part of the members,
which were by no means inconsiderable. It is not sur-
prising that they hesitated, or appeared to hesitate, about
undertaking new liabilities; but the glamour of Lewis and
its undeveloped resources was irresistible. So far, it had
proved a delusive Eldorado ; but with the help of the
King's levies, re-inforced by their personal exertions, they
might hope to make the investment pay, and pay hand-
somely. But an event occurred which drove Lewis and
its affairs clean out of the King's head, and effectually

* Reg. o'T.C., Vol. VI., pp. 545-6.

216 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

stopped all preparations for the intended invasion of
the island. Queen Elizabeth died on 24th March, and
James VI. of Scotland became James I. of Great Britain
and Ireland.

During 1602-3, the feud between the Mackenzies of
Kintail and the Macdonnells of Glengarry over their lands
in Wester Ross, reached its height. The bitter enmity
between the two clans was intensified by acts of a retalia-
tory character, which were marked by more than usual
barbarity. In the result, the Mackenzies acquired the
disputed lands; the Castle of Strome, the last stronghold
of the Macdonnells in Wester Ross, was blown up ; and
the influence of Clan Kenneth became paramount in the
North. That the increased power of the Mackenzies had
a direct bearing upon the affairs of Lewis, is evident from
the events which we are now about to relate.

In 1603, the enmity between Macleod of Harris and
Donald Gorm of Sleat seems to have broken out afresh,
but there are no details of what actually happened. Lord
Fyvie, writing to the King on 29th April, soon after the
departure of the latter for England, makes a passing refer-
ence to the matter. He writes : " Since your Highness'
departure from us (thanks to God) all is in reasonable good
quietness, nor we have heard of no break as yet of any
consequence, except in the far Highlands, some trouble
among themselves between Donald Gorm and Macleod
Harris — which does not trouble the Lowlands."* The
words in parenthesis in this letter are deliciously, although
unintentionally, ambiguous. Doubtless, not a few Scotsmen
thanked God when James VI. left his native country to
become James I. of Great Britain and Ireland.

The burden of three kingdoms pressed too heavily on
the shoulders of James to admit of his paying immediate
attention to the distant island in the Hebrides, which had
in the past proved a veritable nightmare to him. But

* Abbotsford Club Collection, pp. 46-7. On 2Oth October, 1603, the Earl
of Argyll was commissioned to restore order in the Isles. Hist. MSS. Cow.,
Report IV., p. 489.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 217

Lewis was not permanently forgotten by the monarch
whom the islanders, on his own showing, had made the
laughing-stock of England. In July, 1605, an Act for
pacifying the " rebels " in Lewis was noted in the Minute
Book of Processes. On the i8th of that month, a fresh
Commission was appointed. The conventional tirade
against the natives is again in evidence, the "beastlie
crueltie " of the rebellious " theives and lymmers " being
held up to reprobation. The Lewismen are declared to be
the avowed enemies of traffic and of the profitable trade of
fishing, whereby the lieges might be greatly benefited. It
was not in accordance with the King's honour that such a
state of matters should be allowed to continue.

James (now Sir James) Spens of Wormiston, Sir George
Hay of Netherliff, and Sir Thomas Ker of Hirth, were
therefore appointed to act for a year as the King's Justices
and Commissioners in Lewis, with full power to convocate
the lieges in arms, to seize and search any persons in
the island whom they might suspect of crime, and to detain
them pending trial. Courts of Justice were to be con-
stituted in convenient places. Power was given to pursue
fugitives from the law who might take refuge in " strenths
and housses," and to seize them by force, not sparing the
use of fire or any " warlyke ingyne " in reducing the
" strenths " ; and from all consequences of violent measures
used in apprehending the fugitives, full exoneration was
given.

In addition to Lewis, the adjacent islands of the Outer
Hebrides and Skye were now directly threatened. Macleod
of Harris, Donald Gorm of Sleat, Macneill of Barra, and
Mackinnon of Strathswordale were specially charged to
deliver up their castles to those appointed to receive them,
as pledges for the obedience of their people. That this
order was intended to embrace the whole of the castles in
the North Isles, is clear from the context. Among others,
the " havers, keipers, and deteiners of the castell, tour, and
fortalice of Sternoway " were charged as above. The per-
emptory nature of the order is shown by the fact, that the

2i8 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

chiefs were to remove themselves and their servants from
the castles within twenty- four hours after being charged,
otherwise the castles were to be besieged with fire and
sword, and their defenders treated as traitors and rebels.

As with the castles, so with the shipping of the islands.
The King having resolved to employ some of his own
ships and forces in the conquest of Lewis, and the Council
realising that the aggressiveness of the natives and their
sympathisers, and their means of escape from punishment,
were much facilitated by the number of galleys, lymphads,
boats, and birlings at their command, enabling them to
move about freely among the islands, ordered the owners
of these craft to bring them to Loch Broom, and deliver
them to those empowered to receive them. And a strict
charge was given that no help, direct or indirect, was to be
afforded the Lewis " lymmaris " to escape. In case of
refusal to deliver up the castles or the shipping, full power
was vested in the Commissioners already named — with the
additional name of Robert Cunningham of Airdrie — to
compel obedience to the order, with a dispensation for
whatever steps they might take in enforcing it. And the
commanders of the King's ships were charged to assist the
Commissioners, and to employ the King's " ordinance,
powlder, and bullet to that effect."

A further proclamation emphasised the order to ostracise
the people of Lewis. The preamble sets forth how the
Lewismen had " violentlie expellit " the Adventurers, and
" instrusit thaimselfis " in the island, where they live " most
lasciviously and insolentlie." They are declared to be the
avowed enemies of the King's peaceful subjects, and of all
strangers engaged in fishing, or driven to Lewis by stress
of weather. The King deemed it inconsistent with his
honour to suffer " sic a unfamous byke of lawles lymmaris "
(wasp's nest of lawless vagabonds) to remain in any part of
his dominions, seeing he had the power to root them out ;
and he accordingly directed that this expedition be under-
taken. In view of the practice of the natives, when pursued,
to betake themselves, with their goods, to the other islands,

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 219

where they were befriended while they formed fresh plans
for harassing the colonists, the King ordered that no such
assistance be given in future, and commanded the lieges
by proclamation at the market cross of Inverness and at
other needful places, that none of them were to presume to
" resset " or supply any of the inhabitants of Lewis, their
wives or children, nor show them any "comfort, countenance,
or relief." On the contrary, they were to seize any of them
or their goods that came within their bounds, and detain
them until they could be conveniently handed over to the
Commissioners ; failing which, they were to be counted as
part-takers with the Lewismen, and punished severely.*

These elaborate preparations for the re-conquest of the
island appeared to spell disaster for the natives. The toils
seemed at length to be closing around them ; every avenue
of escape was to be closed. We shall see how the uncom-
promising spirit of these proclamations was carried out.
Incidentally, there is light thrown on the methods of war-
fare adopted by the Lewismen. They present a close
analogy to those of the Boers in the South African War,
after their resistance had degenerated into the guerilla
attacks of predatory bands. When pursued, the natives
dispersed, apparently to Harris, the Uists, Barra, and per-
haps to Skye, where they found the same active, though
secret, sympathy as the Boers experienced among their
compatriots, when chased by the British troops. Safe
among their brother Hebrideans, the Lewismen concocted
their plans for fresh raids on the Lowlanders, just as the
" peaceful agriculturists " of the Transvaal and the Orange
Colonies assisted their brother Boers in organising the
means of harassing the foreign invaders anew. And in
respect of elusiveness, the Lewismen had their De Wet in
the person of the redoubtable Neil Macleod. The plan
adopted by James and his Council for effectively stopping
the supplies of the Lewismen and forcing them to surrender,
embodies the precise principle upon which the advocates

* Keg. of P.C., pp. 84-90.

220 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

of extreme measures towards the Boers and their sym-
pathisers founded their claims to be heard.

That service in the Isles was unpopular is shown by a
petition from the nobles in the West, asking to be relieved
from the duty. They urged various reasons for their
unwillingness to serve, one of which was that most of the
Hebrideans already stood forfeited, and the rest were at
the horn ! Exemption, however, was refused, and the peti-
tioners were ordered to perform the service required of
them.

Meanwhile, Tormod Macleod and the " Tutor of the
Lewis" — as Donald Gorm described Neil Macleod in a
letter to Queen Elizabeth — were undisputed masters of
that island. The restless Neil seems to have varied the
monotony of life by occasional piracies on the main-
land. One of these is recorded, for Neil had to answer
for it later on. Crossing to Loch Broom, he attacked and
captured the fishing boat of two peaceful burgesses of
Perth ; put the owners ashore ; murdered the crew, con-
sisting of seven or eight men ; burnt the vessel ; and made
off with the plunder, including the very clothing of the
crew.* This atrocious crime is one of the blackest marks
against the far from blameless record of Neil Macleod.

The second expedition to Lewis sailed in the month of
August, 1605. It is clear that by this time most of the
original shareholders had finally abandoned all hope of the
island proving a lucrative investment, and we learn from
Spotswood, that the lairds of Netherliff and Airdrief
acquired the rights of some of them. Spens of Wormiston
is the only member of the old Syndicate who appears to
have taken an active part in the new enterprise. The
records are strangely silent about the Duke of Lennox, the
leader of the original grantees, and subsequently the King's
lieutenant, jointly with Huntiy, over the Highlands and
Isles. It is probable that his stay in Lewis was as short

* Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, Vol. III., pp. 244-7.

t Spotswood seems to have confused Robert Lumsden of Airdrie with
Robert Cunningham of Airdrie.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 221

as he could decently make it : to a man like Lennox, life
in the Outer Hebrides meant exile in an aggravated form.
After his departure for England with the King, this Duke
of the blood-Royal practically severed his connexion with
Scottish affairs.

The military force which accompanied the expedition
was strengthened in the North by Mackenzie of Kintail,
Donald Gorm of Sleat, and Mackay of Strathnaver. The
Earl of Sutherland sent a body of men under William
Mac-Vic-Sheumais, Chief of the Clan Gunn. Thus were
impressed into the service of the King, the secret enemies
and lukewarm friends of the Adventurers. On their arrival
in Lewis, the leaders sent a message to Tormod Macleod
offering terms. They promised, in the event of his sub-
mission, to send him to the King in London, obtain a
pardon for his attack on their predecessors, and offer no
opposition to any attempts he might make to gain the
favour of James and a means of livelihood. Realising that
resistance was useless against so powerful a force, Tormod
agreed to the terms, against the advice of Neil, the irrecon-
cilable. The invaders then took formal possession of the
island, the stalwarts under Neil retiring to a place of
safety, there to bide their time. Tormod went to London,
and having obtained an audience of the King, laid his
case before him. The generous terms which Tormod had
granted to the defeated colonists, four years previously,
must have prepossessed the King in his favour, and the
personal accounts by the Adventurers of Tormod's
demeanour must have deepened the favourable impres-
sion. Here at last appeared in his presence one of the
wicked Lewismen, who, far from answering the description
which he had so frequently fastened indiscriminately upon
the islanders, was a person of a modest and gallant bearing.
James became interested in the young man, and listened
not without sympathy to his tale of injustice, and to his
request to be re-instated in the possession of his patrimony.
It is not conceivable that the King ever thought seriously
of restoring the status quo in the island ; but that he was

222 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

desirous of bringing about an amicable arrangement
between Tormod and the colonists seems likely. The
Adventurers had their friends at Court — some of them
being the domestic servants of James — who kept them
advised of what was going on. Alarmed at the prospect
of Tormod's supplications prevailing with the King, they
instructed their friends in London to poison the mind of
his Majesty against the young chief. The King's suspicious
nature was not proof against their insinuations. By what-
ever diplomatic arts or downright lies they effected their
purpose, the fact remains that the unfortunate Tormod was
dismissed from Court and sent to Edinburgh, where he was
imprisoned for ten years, his only crime being a not un-
natural desire to get back the land of which he had been
robbed. This is another instance of the " Punic " faith dis-
played by the Honourable Company of Adventurers. We
may as well state here, in a few words, what remains to be
told of Tormod's career. He never saw Lewis again.
Receiving, in 1615, the gracious permission of the King to
enter the service of Maurice, Prince of Orange, he was
released from Edinburgh Castle, and crossed over to
Holland, where he ended his days. Whether he left any
issue is unknown. For aught we can tell, he may have
descendants at the present day, in the persons of stolid
Dutchmen, who may have never as much as heard of the
Island of Lewis.* Tormod Macleod stands out in Lewis
history as a brave and chivalrous man, whose character is
not marred by the acts of cruelty and treachery which
disfigure the lives of most of the members of his family.

Having got rid of Tormod, the partners concluded that
their troubles were practically over, and in that belief
returned to the South in November, 1605, leaving a force
of soldiers to protect the young colony from any possible
incursions by the natives. During the winter months, the
colonists were subjected to periodical attacks by Neil

* In Stodart's Scottish Arms (Vol. II., p. 43) it is stated that "many
cadets of Macleod settled on the Continent, and there is at least one
existing branch in Holland."

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 225

Macleod and his companions, but these were successfully
beaten off.

A number of Tormod's adherents had been banished
from Lewis by the Adventurers, and had promised never
to return. They continued, however, to maintain com-
munication with the island by means of their spies, who
watched the colonists closely, and succeeded in conveying
information to their exiled friends. The spies pretended
to be in the service of such of the natives as professed
friendship to the Adventurers, and had thus opportunities,
of which they availed themselves, for stirring up a fresh
insurrection. The plot which was being hatched came to
the ears of the colonists, who forthwith applied to Edin-
burgh for assistance in checkmating the conspirators. To
meet the threatened revolt, the Privy Council issued, on
1 3th March, 1606, a proclamation setting forth the designs of
the Lewismen, charging the whole of the inhabitants of the
Isles, under pain of death, that none of them repair to
Lewis without the permission of the Adventurers ; and for-
bidding such of the " auld " inhabitants of Lewis as were
allowed to remain in the island, to bear, wear, or use any
armour or weapons, save one knife " without ane point to
cute their mait " ; disobedience to this order to incur the
death penalty.* This proclamation seems to have proved
effective in staving off for a time an organised rising in
Lewis ; but there was no cessation .to the harassing tactics
of the natives.

In the spring of 1606, the laird of Airdrie returned to
Lewis with a supply of fresh provisions ; building opera-
tions were vigorously renewed ; and the colonists com-
menced to prepare the land for their crops. But before
long, there was fresh trouble. Money began to run short,
and a number of the artisans left the island. The soldiers,
too, for the same reason, began to desert ; it was a thankless
task for them to be constantly harassed by the natives,
without being well paid for their services. Emboldened

* Reg. of P.O., Vol. VII., pp. 204-5.

R 2

224 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

by these defections, Neil Macleod and his friends became
more troublesome, and by the summer of 1606, the colonists
were in a parlous state. It was under these circumstances
that the Adventurers sent a memorial to the Privy Council,
describing the events connected with the colonisation of
Lewis, and complaining of the aggression of the natives,
which was hampering their work so grievously. The
names of the islanders whom they charge with harassing
them are detailed. The spelling suggests that they were
taken down from dictation by some one unacquainted with
Gaelic, and the phonetic rendering is not a little curious.
The list commences with the names of Neil Macleod and
his nephew, Malcolm.

According to the statement of the colonists, " a number
of the poor inhabitants and labourers of the ground had
submitted themselves to their rule, glad to be rid of the
tyranny and oppression " of the insurgents. The latter not
only remained in Lewis against the will of the complainers,
but molested the "poor country people" who had submittted,
compelling them by threats to join their ranks. The
insurgents were also charged with holding secret communi-
cation with their neighbours in the other islands, urging
them to act in concert with them against the Lowlanders,
and preparing for a general and open rising, to the " heavie
hurt and prejudice " of the colonists.

In reply to these charges, the Council, on 3ist July, 1606,
ordained that letters be sent to the Officers of Arms and
Sheriffs of the district, directing them to denounce the
persons named in the complaint, and put them to the horn.*

Truly, the Island of Lewis proved anything but a bed of
roses to the Lowland colonists, or at best, a bed of roses so
plentifully strewn with thorns as to make their settlement
the reverse of comfortable. It is probable that their
statement about the country people — the agriculturists and
non-fighters — was correct. But that the secret sympathies
of the latter lay with their compatriots there can be little

* Reg. of P.C., Vol VII., pp. 229-30.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 225

doubt, notwithstanding the statement of the colonists to
the contrary. Two points may here be noticed. The first
is, that the policy of exterminating the islanders was
definitely abandoned, if, indeed, it was ever seriously
attempted on a wholesale scale. Either the impossibility
of giving effect to it, or its unnecessary and inhuman
nature, determined the Lowlanders in adopting milder
measures. The second point is, that the elaborate precau-
tions taken against any assistance being given to the
insurgents by their fellow-Islesmen proved ineffective.

That the Lewismen were not only secretly but openly
assisted by their neighbours, is proved by a commission
granted on 3Oth September, 1606, to Mackenzie of Kintail.
Mackenzie was charged by the Council to convocate the
lieges of Inverness and Nairn in the King's name, and
proceed with fire and sword, by sea or land, against certain
chieftains, notably Macneill of Barra and the Captain of
Clan Ranald, who had gathered together their followers,
invaded Lewis, assailed the camp of the colonists, and
" committit barbarous and detestable murthouris and
slauchteris upon thame." Kintail was ordered to "tak
and slay " the invaders, or carry them to Edinburgh for
trial, and was empowered to proceed to Lewis for the
relief of subjects " distressit and grevit " by them, or
prisoners in their hands ; this end to be accomplished by
force or " policie," as he might see fit.*

There is no record of Kintail's doings in connexion with
this commission. Whether he carried it out by force or
by " policie," it is impossible to say, but in view of the fact
that there does not seem to have been a serious outbreak
in Lewis for six months afterwards, it may be assumed
that the powers with which he was invested bore fruit.t

In March, 1607, there occurred a recrudescence of the

* Reg. ofP.C., Vol. VII., p. 255.

t In October, 1606, a minister named John Ross was ordered to be banished
to Lewis, as a punishment for having taken part in the General Assembly held
at Aberdeen on 2nd July, 1605. lie was to exercise the functions of his
ministry in the place of exile. He had plenty of scope there, if his mission
was to the natives.

226 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

troubles in Lewis. On the 2nd of that month, the King
sent a letter to the Privy Council of Scotland, charging the
members with remissness in dealing with matters connected
with the Isles. He greatly marvels that nothing has been
done, the spring having arrived, which was the best season
for making preparations, and seeing that the partners of
Lewis, who had been harassed so much last year, were
fearing that trouble was again brewing. He mentions that
the Marquis of Huntly and the Earl of Argyll, on the
occasion of their last visit to London, had completed
arrangements with him for reducing the Isles to order, and
that nothing now remained but to carry out their plans,
He tells the Council that if Huntly and Argyll were
responsible for the delay, he should have been advised of
their remissness. But if the Council were to blame, he has
just cause to weary of continuing to be their instructor, and
reminding them of his orders, " as tutoris are accustomat to
repeat thair lessonis to thair childrene." He concludes by
hoping that this admonition would save them from further
reproof. This letter, written in the best fatherly style of
King James, is the first clear intimation we have of a
comprehensive scheme for " dealing " with the Hebrides,
the- outcome of which we shall presently notice.

There is a curious charter under the Great Seal to
Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail, dated iyth March, 1607*
In addition to his properties on the mainland, the Island
of Lewis, with Assynt and Waternish, is included in the
grant.* Sir Robert Gordon informs us that the grant of
Lewis was obtained through Kintail's friend, the Chan-
cellor, after the Adventurers had returned to Fife ; and
this statement is probably correct. The fact seems to be
that the leaders of the colony went south to represent to
the King their unenviable position, and that Mackenzie
took advantage of their absence to obtain the charter,
construing, possibly, their departure into an abandonment
of the enterprise. He was in Edinburgh, doubtless on this

* Reg. Mag. Sig. (1593-1608), No. 1,879.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 227

business, about 5th March, for on that date he is charged
before the Council with having pitched Alexander Bane
of Logy downstairs in an Edinburgh house, and broken his
ribs. Mackenzie was not the man to do police duty in Lewis
for nothing, and the grant of the island was apparently
regarded both by him and the Chancellor as a fitting
reward for his services, apart from his claim by virtue of
Torquil Conanach's resignation in his favour. But for
once, the cautious chief over-reached himself, and the grant
of Lewis was not allowed to stand.

The Council, after the lecture by the King for their
dilatoriness, quickly set to work to avoid a fresh rebuke.
Argyll appears to have retired from the business, and it
is much to his credit to have done so, for the Council and
the King on the one hand, and Huntly on the other, now
initiated a series of negotiations which, for sheer rascality,
it would be hard to beat. The Council, in the name of the
King, submitted to Huntly certain proposals for reducing
the North Isles, and ensuring to James a safe annual
revenue therefrom, and Huntly was asked to state his
terms in writing. These embraced the infeftment to him
of Uist, Eigg, Canna, Rum, Barra, Raasay, and St. Kilda,
with the rest of the North Isles, except Skye and Lewis ;
a commission of lieutenancy extending from the Dee
northwards, with power to raise levies within these bounds
to assist him in his enterprise; and the gift of a " pynnage "
for the service. For those islands he offered the feu-duty
that had been paid uat ony timeheirtofoir," with an exemp-
tion for nine years ; and engaged to complete the subjuga-
tion of the natives within that period. He was willing,
however, to modify his terms if they were not agreeable to
the King.

These proposals were considered by the Council, who
decided to forward them to the King with their own
opinion. Briefly, that opinion was altogether unfavourable,
the terms being, in their estimation, unreasonable. The
proposal as to feu-duty they thought unsatisfactory, inas-
much as the islands never having been rented, nor under

228 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

perfect obedience, except the half of Uist (the duty for
which was one hundred and twenty pounds) the total offer
of the Marquis seemed to amount to only 300 merks,
including the duty for Uist. * They held, therefore, that
the rent of the North Isles should be made proportionate
to that of the South Hebrides, and that each island should
be separately valued. The proposed exemption for nine
years they also considered unreasonable, seeing that the
Lewis Adventurers, notwithstanding the more difficult
nature of their services, were exempted for two years only.
Nor did they think it desirable to confer upon the Marquis
the powers of lieutenancy which he desired, as it was mani-
festly unfair to the King's lieges to serve in a private
enterprise of this description. The " gentlemen of Lewis "
never sought such a commission, notwithstanding their
inferiority in means and influence to the Marquis. And
they were further of opinion that the service should be
completed within the space of one year.*

In the following month (April), a fresh rising took place
in Lewis. The plan of campaign adopted by Neil
Macleod on this occasion, was more creditable to his
astuteness than to his bravery. But to a man of his
stamp, the end justified the means, especially when dealing
with Sasgunnaicli. Neil and his friends planned to effect
by treachery what they could not accomplish by force.
He sought and obtained an interview with the leaders of
the colonists, who had by this time made considerable
progress in founding villages, all of them doubtless in the
vicinity of Stornoway. He professed to them that he had
been mistaken in their intentions, which he now perceived
were for the good, and not, as he had supposed, for the ill
of the island. He frankly acknowledged his mistake,
submitted unconditionally for himself and his followers to
their will, promised their obedience, and offered their
services in promoting the prosperity of the colony. Com-
pletely deceived by his plausibility, the Lowlanders

* Reg. of P.O., Vol. VII., pp. 340-2.

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 229

accepted the submission of Neil and his friends, only too
glad to be rid of their troublesome attentions. They
actually gave Neil a post of superintendence, which
enabled that cunning schemer to mature his plans for
their ruin. When these were completed, the storm burst
upon the deluded colonists. In the dead of the night)
Neil, with 300 men armed with swords, dirks, bows,
darlochs, arquebuses, muskets, and pistols, entered the
camp of the sleeping Lowlanders and commenced the
work of destruction. The houses of the lairds of Nether-
liff, Airdrie, and Wormiston, recently erected on the South
Beach of Stornoway, were burnt to the ground; The
servants of these lairds, aroused from their slumbers by
the heat and smoke, rushed for their lives from the burning
houses, only to be met by the Lewismen and mercilessly
put to the sword Several newly-built houses were
similarly reduced to ashes, and the total destruction of
property in the colony amounted to ten thousand pounds.*
The disaster to the Lewis colony infuriated the King,
and was probably responsible for the sudden change which
took place in his policy of bringing the North Isles to a
state of obedience. To no other reason can be attributed
the savage orders with which the Marquis of Huntly was
now charged. We have seen the stage at which the
negotiations with Huntly had arrived in the month of
March. On 3oth April, the Privy Council made definite
proposals for the acceptance of the Marquis. The service
in the Isles was to be completed in a year, and rent was
to be paid on the expiration of that period. The whole of
the North Isles, with the exception of Skye and Lewis,
were to be held by Huntly in feu, as being the King's
property, either by forfeiture of the possessors " or uthir-
wayes." A " reasonable " rent to be fixed by the Comp-
troller, on the basis of the revenue derivable for similar
lands in the South Hebrides, was to be paid. The whole
of the expense connected with the enterprise was to be

* Pitcairn's Crim. Trials, Vol. III., pp. 244-7.

23o HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

undertaken by the Marquis, without the assistance from
others which his appointment as the King's lieutenant
would involve. But the most remarkable of the proposals
was that which provided that the service was to be ended,
" not be aggreement with the countrey people, bot be extir-
patioun of thame"*

That this brutal order was given at the instigation of
the King is clear, for the preliminary negotiations had
been submitted to him, and the definite proposals, as set
forth above, were obviously the result of the correspon-
dence. That the Council would make such a stipulation
on their own initiative is altogether incredible.

Without hesitation, Huntly agreed to extirpate the
whole population of the Isles in question within a year,
and waived his stipulation for a lieutenancy to assist him
in the work. He " craved," however, a commission of
lieutenancy and justiciary over the islands after their
subjugation, with the special object of preventing the
re-setting of the people. But the money question blocked
the way to a final agreement between the parties. The
massacre of hundreds of fellow-Scotsmen was a matter
of little moment, compared with the rent of the lands
of which they were to be robbed. Huntly, a cautious
man of business, tacitly refused to leave the rent to be
fixed by the Comptroller. He offered 400 pounds Scots,
three-fourths of which was to be for Uist, and the balance
for the rest of the islands, with an exemption from pay-
ment for one year.

The Council considered his terms to be very reasonable,
with the exception of the feu-duty, which they thought
was a very " meane " offer. A report of the negotiations
was forthwith prepared for the consideration of the King,
with whom lay the final decision. The letter sent by
the Council to James reported that all the conditions had
been arranged with Huntly, except the rent, which, he
argued, should be low, in view of the expense entailed

Reg. of P.O., Vol. VII., pp. 360-2.

HUNTLY AND THE NORTH ISLES. 231

by the undertaking. It was with difficulty that he was
induced to improve upon his original offer, but, " to draw
him on," the Council offered him the islands— Skye and
Lewis excepted — for a rental of 10,000 pounds,, which
was considered to be about the equivalent of the amount
paid by the Lewis Adventurers. The Council were pre-
pared to reduce this offer — no doubt very considerably —
had Huntly shown any disposition to meet them, but he
refused to budge from his offer of 400 pounds Scots ;*
and there the matter rested. The report concluded with
an ominous reference to proceedings pending against
Huntly, touching his obedience to the Kirk. The dif-
ference between the Council's offer and that of Huntly
is, it will be noticed, so great as to be farcical. Either
the Council asked far too much, or Huntly offered far
too little. Obviously, the Marquis having considered the
expense and trouble of subjugating the islands, and
having weighed the chances of making the enterprise
ultimately a profitable one, deemed himself justified in
offering so small a sum ; whereas the Council based their
valuation on the revenues of the richer and comparatively
loyal islands south of Ardnamurchan Point. Huntly's
offer was doubtless well on the low side, but the Council's
demands were, under all the circumstances, preposterously
high. It is difficult to resist the conclusion, in view of
subsequent events, that the intention of the King and
the Council was to force an unfair bargain on the Marquis,
the alternative being, that if he failed to accede to their
terms, the storm which was then gathering about his head
would be allowed to burst.

On 20th May, James sent his reply. After expressing
surprise that Huntly should have modified his terms so
considerably in such a short time, he protested that his
selection of the Marquis for the work was not dictated
by any personal preference for that nobleman, but by

* Reg. of P.O., Vol. VII., pp. 523-4. Sir Walter Scott states that Huntly's
offer was £400 sterling, but the Privy Council records clearly state that the
amount was 400 pounds "Scottis."

232 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

his desire for a speedy settlement of affairs in connexion
with the islands in question. Huntly was to be instructed
to specially undertake and bind himself to " extirpat and
rute oute the Captane of Clan Rannald with his hole clan
and their followaris within the ilis of Knoydert or Moydert,
and als McNeill Barra with his clan, and the hole Clan
Donnald in the North." The Marquis was to be further
charged to assist the partners of Lewis against all their
enemies, either in Skye, Lewis, or any other part of the
North Isles ; and to plant, within a year, a colony in
those islands of " civile people," Badenoch and Lochaber
men being, however, specially excluded. And James con-
cluded his letter by expressly excepting from the islands
to be thus colonised, Skye, Lewis, " that part of the Lewis
callit the Hereis," and the small isles appertaining to
Skye and Lewis. There is no reference in the King's
letter to the real point at issue, viz., the amount of
rent to be paid, an omission to which, in acknowledging
receipt of the letter, the Council called attention, and
suggested that the matter be left to the decision of James
and the Comptroller, who was shortly due in England.
That the King's reply was deliberately evasive is obvious,
and his rejection of Huntly's offer is tacitly shown by
the proceedings which were soon taken against that un-
principled but harassed nobleman. .

On 23rd June, Huntly was charged by the King's
Advocate with failure to attend the services of the Kirk
" and heiring of the sermone," and with teaching his
family doctrines opposed to the tenets of Presbyte-
rianism. The Marquis confessed that he was not fully
" resolvit " in the doctrines of the Kirk, and did not
desire to communicate until he could more fully accept
the established religion. The Lords of Council therefore
ordained, as a punishment, his confinement within the
burgh of Elgin and a circuit of eighteen miles round
it ; that while in this durance, he must be ready in public
and private to listen to the sermons of Presbyterian
ministers for his instruction in the Reformed faith ; and

HUNTLY AND THE NORTH ISLES. 233

| that he must forbear from trafficking with seminary priests
or excommunicated Papists.

From these proceedings, it may be inferred that having
failed to extort better terms from Huntly for the sub-
jugation of the islands, the King, chagrined by his stub-
bornness, determined to abandon him to the intolerance
I and rancour of the extreme Presbyterians, who were bent
; on the ruin of the Catholic Marquis. The interference
! of the Kirk was as opportune as the deadlock over the
! rent was fortunate, for the latter circumstance led to the
withdrawal of the King's favour, which would otherwise
have protected Huntly against Presbyterian bigotry. It
may be hoped that the Marquis profited by the sermons.
Homilies on the sixth and eighth commandments might
have proved more efficacious than expositions of the
principles of Calvinism, for the Marquis of Huntly was
apparently impervious to the teaching of both command-
ments. As for the King who deliberately consigned
hundreds of his subjects to extermination, like so much
vermin, he has to thank religious intolerance and a sordid
money squabble for saving his memory and the Stuart*
name, from being stained by a crime which would have
horrified the civilised world, caused the Stuart dynasty
to be execrated by Highlanders, and, perhaps, rendered
the risings of 1715 and 1745 impossible.

The following despatch in the Venetian archives, dated
23rd May, 1607, summarises the situation created in the
Highlands by the negotiations between Huntly and the
King and his advisers. It states : " News has come from
Scotland that certain inhabitants that look towards the
islands and Ireland have risen, and opposed armed forces to
the King's officers. The reason is, that as these people
were always turbulent, some of the Scottish gentry offered
to subdue them, and a few months ago obtained leave to do
so. When this was known, the people rose. The rebels do
not exceed 3,000, though their numbers may increase, for

* The popular spelling "Stuart" is here and in the following pages
adopted, instead of the more strictly correct rendering of " Stewart,"

234 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

they have elected chiefs and given other signs of growing
tumult. No steps have been taken here (in England) as
they do not wish to exacerbate that haughty race, especially
as the Earl of Argyll — the greatest person in that king-
dom— who seems destined to the command against the
rebels, promises to reduce them speedily without any
further trouble. All the same, the matter has greatly
disturbed his Majesty." And on 3Oth May, it is stated
that orders were given to Argyll to use " dexterity rather
than force " in warding off the peril.*

No other records are traceable to show how Argyll
accomplished his mission, but it is likely that he used
" dexterity " and thus averted the danger. It might be
inferred from the document quoted above, that the Western
Highlanders were threatened with extermination as well as
the inhabitants of the islands mentioned in the negotiations
with Huntly. It is more likely, however, that the despatch
relates to the latter only, although the islanders in rising to
resist their proposed extirpation, doubtless received assis-
tance from the mainland. It will be remembered that the
inhabitants of Knoydart and Moidart and the " hole Clan
Donnald in the North" were included amongthose sentenced
to destruction. The determined resistance which his in-
tended victims were preparing to make, seems to have
alarmed the timid soul of King James ; hence, doubtless,
the instructions to Argyll to use " dexterity rather than
force." The King perceived that he had aroused a dan-
gerous rebellion in the Highlands, and was anxious to
smooth matters over. He never openly revived his inhuman
scheme : it was too risky an experiment.

We now return to Lewis, where the situation had further
developed. Ruari Macleod of Harris had made common
cause with the Lewismen against the colonists. Landing
in Lewis with a body of his clansmen, he surprised and
captured Stornoway Castle and other " fortalices " belong-
ing to the Lowlanders ; and refused to give them up. An

* Cal. of State Papers (Venetian, £c.), Vol. X., pp. 500-1

THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 235

order of the Council was sent on I3th August, charging him
to deliver the fortresses to the Commissioners nominated by
the colonists, within six hours after being so charged, under
pain of being declared a rebel and being treated accord-
ingly. The result of this peremptory order is not stated ;
it appears, however, to have proved effective. But the
castle was not long in the hands of the colonists before it
was again surprised and captured by the Lewismen, under
Neil Macleod and Donald Cam Macaulay, Angus, a brother
of Donald Cam, being killed on the South Beach by a shot
from the castle during the fray. The natives then pro-
ceeded to demolish some of the houses of the colony,
fortifying others and victualling them against a siege.
The Council now had recourse to one of their own number,
Mackenzie of Kintail, to help them. On 3rd September,
Kintail received a commission of six months' duration to
recover Stornoway Castle and the other fortresses, held by
the " rebellious thevis and lymmaris of Lewis." For this
purpose, he was empowered to convocate the lieges, invade
Lewis, and pursue Neil with fire and sword, using all kinds
of " weirlyke ingyne " for reducing the forts. Incidentally,
the commission declares that those of the Lewismen who
had submitted to the colonists were treated by Neil with
barbarous cruelty ; a statement which may not have been
without foundation.*

Here, again, we are without particulars of Kintail's
doings in Stornoway, but whether or not he succeeded in
reducing the castle and the other fortresses, he failed in
restoring order and re-instating the colonists in quiet
possession of the island. The Lowlanders were ruined ;
the colony was broken up ; the survivors shook the dust
of Lewis off their feet and returned home disillusioned,
disheartened, and discomfited. Thus ended in disaster the
second attempt to colonise the island, and to conquer the
intractable natives.

* Reg. */ />.£., Vol. VII., p. 435.

236

CHAPTER IX.

IT has been shown in the two preceding chapters how,
on two separate occasions, the attempt to plant a colony
of Lowlanders in Lewis failed, and failed utterly. It now
remains to show how the third and last attempt met with
a similar fate, and how the island passed into the hands
of the Mackenzies, who retained undisputed possession of
it for nearly two and a half centuries.

On 1 8th October, 1607, charters under the Great Seal
were executed, conveying in equal shares to James, Master
of Balmerino, Sir James Spens of Wormiston, and Sir
George Hay of Netherliffe, (i) the Harris, Skye, and
Glenelg properties of Ruari Macleod ; (2) Duntulm, which
had previously belonged to Macleod, and was now in the
possession of Donald Gorm ; (3) the Crown lands of
Trotternish, which had so long formed a bone of con-
tention between these two chiefs ; and (4) the Island of
Lewis, resigned by Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail in
favour of the grantees.* Ruari Macleod was now forced
to reap the fruits of his antagonism towards the colonists,
while Donald Gorm, in a smaller degree, had to undergo
similar punishment for past offences. The means by
which Mackenzie had obtained possession of Lewis having
apparently been exposed by the Adventurers, he was
compelled to resign the island to the trio who had now
acquired the rights of the Syndicate. In terms of the
charter, the new proprietors were to erect, for the increase
of "policie," the town of "Stroneway" into a free burgh
of barony, the inhabitants to be free burgesses, and to
have power to elect bailies with the advice of the three

* Reg. Mag. Sig. (1593-1608), Nos. 1,981-2.

THE STATUTES OF ICOLMKILL. 237

grantees.* The new proprietors took no immediate steps
to make good their title to the lands conveyed in the
charters. Early in 1608, preparations on an extensive
scale were set on foot to bring the Hebrides generally to
a state of order, and it is probable that the invasion of
Lewis was deferred pending the outcome of this project.
A commission was granted to Andrew, Lord Stewart of
Ochiltree, and Andrew Knox, Bishop of the Isles (to
which names were subsequently added that of Sir James
Hay of Beauly), for the purpose of conferring with, and
receiving offers from, Angus Macdonald of Dunyveg and
Hector Maclean of Duart. The demands of the Com-
missioners were eight in number, comprising (i) security
for the feu-duties payable to the Crown ; (2) obedience to
the laws by the chiefs and their followers ; (3) delivery of
all strongholds, which were to be at the King's disposal ;
(4) renunciation of hereditary and other jurisdictions, and
submission to the authority of the Crown officers ; (5)
acceptance of whatever dispositions of their lands the
King might make, and whatever conditions of tenure he
might impose ; (6) destruction of all vessels, except such
as might be required for the conveyance of the King's
duties, paid in kind, and for other necessary purposes ;
(7) provision of education for their children, and for those
of their clansmen who could afford it, under the directions
of the Privy Council ; and (8) abstention from the use
of guns, bows, and two-handed swords, the only arms to
be allowed being single-handed swords and targes.

These severe conditions were backed by a display of
force which augured badly for any resistance to their
adoption. Lord Ochiltree was placed in supreme com-
mand of the expedition, and was invested with the title
of Lieutenant of the Isles. The expedition was attended
with more complete success than its promoters could have
dared to hope. The force of regulars and militia which
had been mustered was sufficiently powerful to overawe

* The duties payable by the trio consisted of 180 merks (ward) and 900
merks (marriage).

238 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

the chiefs. The castles of Macdonald and Maclean were
surrendered and garrisoned without opposition, and Ochil-
tree then proceeded to Mull, to carry out that portion of
his commission which related to the destruction of the
islanders' vessels. Having previously proclaimed that in
virtue of his office, he would hold a Court at the Castle
of Aros in Mull, which all the chiefs of the Hebrides were
summoned to attend, he was perhaps agreeably surprised
to find that his invitation met with an unwonted response.
Neither Neil Macleod nor Macneill of Barra came from
the Long Island. The former was too careful of his safety
to do so, and the latter was wisely suspicious of the
summons ; but Macleod of Harris, his brother Alastair,
Donald Gorm of Sleat and North Uist, and Donald
MacAllan, Captain of Clan Ranald, represented the
Outer Hebrides. The conference which took place was
not wholly satisfactory, but Lord Ochiltree was deter-
mined that there should be no half-measures. The chiefs
were invited on board the King's ship, the Moon, to
hear a sermon by the Bishop of the Isles. With the
exception of Ruari Macleod, they accepted the invitation ;
the lord of Harris was much too old a bird to be snared
so easily. After the preaching came dining ; and a dear
sermon and dinner it proved to the chiefs. Their host
outraged the laws both of hospitality and honour by coolly
informing them, after dinner, that they were his prisoners
by the King's command. It was a rare bag for a day's
sport, although there can be only one opinion about the
unsportsmanlike method employed. Lord Ochiltree was
the hero of the hour when he returned south. From Ayr
he took his prisoners to Edinburgh, and presented them
before the Privy Council, by whose directions they were
confined in the castles of Dumbarton, Blackness, and
Stirling. In his report on the expedition, Lord Ochiltree
stated that the lateness of the season prevented him from
going north to the Long Island, and seizing Neil Macleod
in Lewis and Macneill in Barra. Probably he was not
sorry to have a decent excuse for not embarking upon that

THE STATUTES OF ICOLMKILL. 239

difficult enterprise ; and, in any case, Maclean of Duart
was made responsible for his part-taker of Barra. He
also stated that he had destroyed all the vessels he could
find in the parts which he visited ; but it needs no great
perspicuity to see that this part of his mission, at least,
was not carried out with the thoroughness which had been
contemplated.

Never had King James had so favourable an opportunity
of carrying out his cherished scheme for bringing the
Hebrides under complete subjection to the Crown. He
appears to have had a perfect mania for rooting out Celtic
subjects, and re-placing them with settlers of Anglo-Saxon
descent. In pursuance of this fad, he was at this time
actively engaged in expelling the natives of Ulster, and
granting their lands to English and Scottish settlers, whose
descendants are, at the present day, so clearly differentiated
in race, religion, and character, from the Celts of Ireland.
What he had failed to do in the Northern Hebrides, he
accomplished in Ulster, but the means of accomplishment
is to this day a bitter memory in the hearts of the Irish
Celts. It is easy to argue that, as the energy and industry
of the English and Scottish settlers have made Ulster
what it is, so the energy and industry of the Lowland
settlers would have transformed the face of the Hebrides.
But the ethics which bear upon the extirpation of a people
must be judged apart from the ultimate results of the
operation, for the morality and success of an enterprise
are far from being inter-dependent. The plantations in
Ulster were clearly designed by the King to go hand- in -
hand with the reduction of the Hebrides to obedience.
But whereas the brutality of his former intentions in regard
to some of the Scottish islands was now, in a measure,
transferred to the North of Ireland, his policy towards the
Hebrides underwent an important modification. He is no
longer bent on extirpation, but on pacification. In a letter
dated 6th February, 1609, ne gives his views at length on
the matter. He professes himself unwilling to resort to
extermination, or even to transplantation, unless compelled

s 2

240 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

to do so. He divides the inhabitants of the Hebrides into
three classes : the chiefs, who maintained their power by
force of arms ; those of their kinsmen who found fighting
a more profitable occupation than farming ; and the tillers
of the soil, the hewers of wood, and the drawers of water.
He proposes to reduce the power and possessions of the
chiefs ; to make the second class work or quit, at their
option ; and to give the third class the benefits of good
government. This was a vast improvement on his past
projects, and a very commendable plan, but it proved much
more difficult in the execution than the inception.

Donald Gorm and Maclean of Duart had in November,
1608, petitioned the King for their release, submitting them-
selves entirely to his will ; and the other imprisoned Isles-
men were equally tractable in demeanour. James resolved
to pursue his advantage to the uttermost. Commissioners
were appointed to receive the offers of the Islesmen, and
to deliberate upon Hebridean matters generally. Various
communications passed between the Commissioners and
the chiefs, both those in prison and those at large, and
the Bishop of the Isles went to London to submit to
James the suggestions of the deliberative body. The result
of these negotiations was, that in accordance with the
instructions of the King, modified in certain details, the
Bishop of the Isles was sent to visit and survey the
Hebrides. The imprisoned Hebrideans were set at liberty,
upon their finding substantial security to return to Edin-
burgh on a fixed date, and to assist the Bishop in the
service with which he was charged ; while the latter was
invested with full powers to compel the obedience of any
recalcitrant chiefs, by means of his new allies. Donald
Gorm's bond included an obligation to present before the
Council, on 2nd February, 1610, Roderick Macleod, son of
Torquil Dubh, and it is curious to note that his cautioners
— in the sum of ten thousand pounds — were Mackenzie of
Kintail and Sir George Hay of Netherliff, the former of
whom was ordered to keep Macdonald's nephew against
the uncle's appearance. In July, 1609, tne Bishop met in

THE STATUTES OF ICOLMKILL. 241

lona nearly all the principal men in the Hebrides, who
unreservedly submitted themselves to him as the Com-
missioner of the Crown. The representatives of the Long
Island were Macleod of Harris, Donald Gorm, and the
Captain of Clanranald. Then were enacted, with the
consent of the chiefs, the celebrated Statutes of Icolmkill
which form a landmark in Hebridean history, and the
operations of which modified in a remarkable degree the
turbulent habits of the Islesmen. The Statutes are nine
in number, each one of which deserves attention. Mr.
Gregory has given an excellent synopsis of them in his
well-known history.* The nine Statutes deal with : (i)
the maintenance of the clergy and churches ; (2) the
establishment of inns ; (3) a reduction in the number of
idlers attached to the chiefs' households or otherwise ; (4)
the punishment of sorners ; (5) the drinking habits of the
Islesmen ; (6) education ; (7) the prohibition of firearms ;
(8) the discouragement of bards ; (9) enactments for
enforcing obedience to preceding Acts.

The success of Bishop Knox in concluding this epoch-
making agreement with the chiefs of the Hebrides, is
a noteworthy object-lesson in the taming of a warlike
people. What the military expeditions of successive kings
had failed to accomplish in a century, the persuasive argu-
ments of a clergyman brought about in the course of a
single interview. The policy of pacifying the rebellious
Hebrideans had proved fruitless, because the means em-
ployed had been wrong-headed. Conquest by force had
failed ; but the eloquence of the silver-tongued Bishop
proved irresistible. The character of the Islesmen had
been misunderstood by the monarchs of Scotland and their
councillors. It was left to a man who had studied their
characteristics, to show how the habits of a quarrelsome
and lawless people could be diverted into channels of
peaceableness among themselves, and loyalty to constituted
authority. The Bishop of the Isles deserves an enduring

* History of the Western Highland* and Isles of Scotland, pp. 330-33.

242 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

place in the memory of all who love the Hebrides ; for the
Statutes which he framed revolutionised the religious,
social, and economic conditions of his diocese, and im-
planted a new and far healthier spirit throughout the length
and breadth of the Isles. Disorder in the Hebrides was
not permanently stamped out, but its area was restricted,
and its effects considerably modified, by the operation of
the Statutes. One of the first results of the lona agree-
ment is seen in a contract of friendship and mutual for-
giveness of injuries which, on 24th August, 1609, was
entered into between Macleod of Harris and Macdonald of
Sleat ; and on 28th June, 1610, an obligation was entered
into by seven chiefs, viz., Macdonald of Dunyveg, Maclean
of Duart, Donald Gorm, Macleod of Harris, the Captain of
Clanranald, Allan Cameron of Lochaber, and Mackinnon
of Strath, binding themselves to assist, with their whole
forces, the King's representatives in the Hebrides ; to live
together for the future " in peace, love, amytie"; and to
settle any disputes between them by the ordinary course
of law and justice. But the Statutes did more ; for from
their enactment dates the commencement of that re-
markable attachment to the Stuart dynasty, and cohesion
in a common cause which, in after years, characterised the
Highland chiefs. The agreement carried in its train
political and economic results of far-reaching significance.

One island of the Hebrides formed a marked exception
to the general conversion ; and that island was Lewis.
For Neil Macleod and his followers held it against all-
comers. The Privy Council would have acted wisely had
they commissioned Bishop Knox to confer with Neil ; but
instead of the emissary of peace, they sent the wielders of
the sword. Of the three grantees of Lewis, one, viz., Lord
Balmerino, the Secretary for Scotland, had been convicted
of high treason, and after his forfeiture, his share of Lewis,
Trotternish, and the properties of Ruari Mor passed, on
1 5th November, 1609, to his co-partner, Sir George Hay/*

. Mag. Sig. (1609-20), No. 167.

THE LAST OF THE FIFE MEN. 243

The latter, with his colleague, Spens, was now ready to
undertake the re-conquest of Lewis and the capture of
Neil Macleod.

Upon Kenneth Mackenzie — who, on i;th November,
1609, was created Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, chiefly in
acknowledgment of his services in Lewis — devolved the
duty of rendering active assistance to the colonists in
re-conquering the island. This was an unpalatable task
to Kintail, for the success of the Lowlanders meant the
disappearance of his own hopes of securing Lewis for
himself. In the circumstances, he acted a double part, the
particulars of which appear to be well authenticated. He
sent his brother, Roderick Mackenzie of Coigeach, with
400 men to Lewis — and then proceeded secretly to wreck
the whole enterprise. Besides the levy of men, he seems
to have been relied upon to send a supply of provisions
across the Minch, to meet the necessities of the colonists
and their allies. Accordingly, he despatched a cargo of
stores to Lewis, but apprised Neil Macleod of what he was
doing, and advised him to intercept the vessel. Neil was
not slow to follow this advice. The provision ship was
seized, and the colonists perhaps received the sympathy of
Kintail. Their necessities would appear to have been
pressing, for their leaders, Hay and Spens, were compelled
to disband their allies and send them home to the mainland.
They themselves made a hurried departure to Fife, for the
purpose of procuring reinforcements and provisions. A
small garrison was left in Stornoway to keep the colony
intact, pending the arrival of help and stores from the South.

The ever -vigilant Neil Macleod at once seized the
opportunity to strike another blow. Collecting his forces,
which were under the joint leadership of himself and his
nephew, Malcolm, son of Ruari Og, he attacked the
colonists, slew many of them, took the rest prisoners,
and sent them safely home — whence they never returned.*

* At the present day, there is only one Lewis family whose descent is
directly traceable to the Fife Adventurers ; and it is a family of which
Stornoway may well be proud.

244 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

This appears to be the occasion referred to by Sir Walter
Scott in his Tales of a Grandfather, when he states that
some of the old persons in Lewis, who were alive in his
time, talked of a very old woman living in their youth,
who used to say that she had held the light while her
countrymen were cutting the throats of the Fife Adven-
turers. Parenthetically, it may be remarked that the
leisurely process of despatch which the cailleactis story
suggests, hardly tallies with the well-grounded statement
that the prisoners were permitted to return home in
safety. The gruesome picture of a shambles arises before
the mind's eye rather than the deportation of the van-
quished across the Minch. But the old woman's tale
may have been true in isolated instances, or in the
case of those who refused to submit to the terms of the
Lewismen.

Sir Walter also relates a romantic incident in connexion
with the dispersion of the Fife men which should find a
place here. The wife of one of the principal colonists fled
from the scene of violence to a wild desert, called the
Forest of Fannig. In this wilderness, she became a
mother. A native, who happened to be passing, saw
the mother and child, who, through exposure, were at the
point of death. Taking compassion on them, he killed
his pony, cut it open, removed the entrails, and placed
the mother and infant inside, the warmth of this novel
receptacle serving to keep both alive. He then succeeded
in removing them to a place of safety, where the woman
remained until she found her way home. The sequel to
this incident is also told by Scott. The woman who
had undergone the remarkable adventure just described
became, by a second marriage, the wife of a leading
citizen of Edinburgh, her husband being a Judge of the
Court of Session. One evening, while looking out from a
window of her house in the Canongate, just as a storm
was coming on, she overheard a man in Highland dress
say in Gaelic to a companion : " This would be a rough
night for the Forest of Fannig." The latter was a never-

THE LAST OF THE FIFE MEN. 245

to-be-forgotten name in her memory, and her attention
was immediately arrested. A second look revealed the
fact that the Highlander who had made the remark was
no other than her preserver. She called him into the
house, received him, as well she might, in the most cordial
manner, and on learning that he had come to Edinburgh
on law business of importance, used her influence on his
behalf to such good purpose as to secure a satisfactory
settlement for him. The Lewisman returned home, we
are told, laden with presents.*

On 2Oth February, 1610, Lord Kintail and others were
commissioned to seize certain named persons, unrelaxed
from a horning of i8th January, among the number being
Malcolm, Norman, and Ruari Macleod in Lewis. On
I9th July, 1610, the Privy Council granted Kintail a
commission appointing him Justiciary for the space of
two years over the island, with full authority to seize
the " traytour " Neil Macleod and his " infamous byke
of lawles and insolent lymmaris." This commission, in
its scope and general tenor, is of much the same nature
as those previously given to Lennox and Huntly. It is
pointed out that of all the islands, Lewis alone has now
the doubtful distinction of being rebellious and disobedient.
The Lewismen are charged with committing murders and
other crimes, not only among themselves, but on those who
resorted to their island for the fishing, thereby rendering
that industry unprofitable, " to the grite hurte of the Com-
mounwele." In order to facilitate his operations, Kintail
was authorised to take the galleys and other boats of Lewis
and the adjacent islands, returning them to the owners on
the expiration of the service. And authority was given to
impress in the service, levies from the whole of the North
Isles, as well as from Kintail's own lands, persons of the
names of Fraser, Ross, and Munro excepted.

This story, in many of its details, presents so remarkable a resemblance
to a tradition of the Mackenzies relating to the escape of John of Kintail
after Flodden, as to suggest that they have a common origin, a supposition
which is strengthened by the fact that the Forest of Fannig, or Fannich, is
not in Lewis, but near Loch Broom.

246 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

On the same date that this commission was granted,.
Donald Gorm and Ruari Macleod were charged by the
Council to deliver to Kintail, two sons of Torquil Dubh,
Ruari and Torquil, the former being in the keeping of
Donald Gorm, and the latter in that of Macleod. And, on
the 24th July, Macleod was ordered to detain Donald Cam
Macaulay and Malcolm, his brother — both of whom were
then in his custody — until 3ist May, 1611, on which date
they were to be brought before the Council to answer
the charges against them. It would appear, however, that
the Macaulays escaped to Lewis — perhaps with the con-
nivance of Macleod — for tradition ascribes to them an
active share in the stirring events which took place in the
island about this time.

Kintail was not slow in putting his mandate into execu-
tion. He sent his brother Ruari across the Minch with
700 men, who quickly reduced the Lewismen to sub-
mission. Neil Macleod, however, refused to give in.
With Malcolm, William, and Ruari (the three sons of
Ruari Og), Torquil Blair Macleod — whose exact relation-
ship to Neil it is difficult to determine — Torquil's four
sons and thirty others, he retired to the Islet of Birsay
(Bereasaid/i) in Loch Roag, on the west side of Lewis, and
there he was, for the present, safe against attack. With
great foresight, he had for years been provisioning Birsay,
which, to use a modern phrase, he evidently regarded as
his " last ditch " ; and he had also taken the precaution to
provide two boats wherewith to pass to Bernera or Lewis,
and replenish his larder when his stock of provisions began
to run low. That he made a free use of the boats for this
purpose, is proved by the indictment against him when,
three years afterwards, he fell into the hands of the
Privy Council and was tried for his life. He was charged
with having run various forays on the mainland — which
probably means Lewis — and having stolen goods and
cattle from a certain Malcolm Macaulay and Malcolm
Macdonald. According to tradition, Donald Cam Mac-
aulay, another of the leading stalwarts, took refuge from

LEWIS GRANTED TO LORD KINTAIL. 247

the Mackenzies on a rock west of Uig, called " Donald
Cam's stack," which he fortified, and where his wants were
attended to by his daughter. About this time, Lewis
passed into the hands of Lord Kintail in the following
manner.

It has been shown how the third and final attempt to
colonise Lewis turned out a disastrous failure. The leaders
of the colonists, Hay and Spens, were no less disheartened
than their dependents, and were ready to part with their
concessions on the best terms they could obtain. In these
circumstances, Lord Kintail found it easy to negotiate a
deal with them. On 2oth July, 1610, by a charter under
the Great Seal, the terms of which are similar to those
of the charter of 1607, Lewis and Trotternish were granted
to Kintail, on the resignation of Hay and Spens of their
rights in those lands.* The exact consideration for the
transfer is not stated in the official records of the trans-
action. From other sources, however, it appears that
Lord Kintail agreed to give the second parties to the agree-
ment, the sum of 10,000 merks, in substitution for which,
he afterwards granted them the woods of Letterewe for
iron-smelting. Hay seems to have been interested in the
ironworks of Loch Maree as far back as 1607, and it is not
assuming too much to suggest that it was while at Poolewe,
planning the conquest of Lewis, that his attention was first
directed to the possibilities of Letterewe for the smelting of
iron. On 24th July, 1610, Hay acquired by Crown charter
the share of his colleague, Spens, in the properties of
Macleod of Harris,f and he appears for some years after-
wards to have continued his operations in iron-smelting at
Letterewe. Probably his stay at Loch Maree was more or
less against his will, but in 1616, he was appointed Clerk-
Register, and in 1622, became High Chancellor of Scot-
land. In 1627, he was raised to the peerage by the title of
Viscount Duplin and Lord Hay of Kinfauns, and in 1633,
was created the first Earl of Kinnoull. The son of Peter

* Keg. Mag. Sig. (1609-20), No. 341.
t fieg. Mag. Si*. (1609-20), No. 346.

248 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Hay of Melginche was a man of remarkable ability, and
his attempted colonisation of Lewis was perhaps the only
great failure of his life. Sir James Spens of Wormiston
had also a distinguished career after severing his connexion
with Lewis. He was high in favour, not only with King
James, but with Gustavus Adolphus. He entered the ser-
vice of Sweden, and at the time of his death, was General
of the English and Scottish mercenaries attached to the
Swedish army.

Returning, after this digression, to Neil Macleod and his
small band of followers, we find them in an unenviable
plight. It may be readily believed that the transference of
Lewis to the Clan Kenneth stimulated Ruari Mackenzie
to fresh efforts to capture the bold refugees of Birsay, or,
failing that, to prevent any co-operation between them and
their sympathisers in Lewis. The Mackenzies, being of
Gaelic speech and of Celtic blood, like the Lewismen them-
selves (the Norse element may, for the moment, be dis-
regarded), found little difficulty in reconciling the latter,
generally, to their occupation of the island, and the area
of disaffection was reduced to small proportions. The
Macleods and their dependents alone were opposed, and
not unnaturally so, to the domination of Clan Kenneth. Neil
consequently had little prospect of organising a general
insurrection against the new owners of Lewis. His game
was up, and all he could hope for was to secure a pardon
from the King, and come to terms with Kintail. An oppor-
tunity soon presented itself of ingratiating himself with the
authorities.

One day, the anxious eyes of the Birsay stalwarts
observed a strange ship drop anchor close to Kirkibost,
Bernera. The vessel turned out to be the Priam, com-
manded by Captain Peter Love. Not a peaceful merchant-
man was she, but one of the most renowned pirates of the
day, manned by as desperate a set of cut-throats as ever
ordered an unfortunate captive to walk the plank. Neil
Macleod, a fellow-outlaw, and a man who was himself no
novice in the piratical profession, soon struck up a friend-

NEIL MACLEOD AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 249

ship with Captain Love. The story of the latter was
simple enough. He had narrowly escaped capture off
the coast of Ireland, where a number of his comrades in
crime were cut off by a party from the shore. There was
a rich cargo on board the Priam, consisting of cinnamon,
ginger, pepper, cochineal, sugar, 700 Indian hides, and
twenty-nine pieces of silver plate which had been taken
from an English ship ; and a remarkable box, containing
various precious stones of great value, which had been
captured from a Dutchman ; also, according to a con-
temporary writer, a large number of muskets. This valu-
able cargo had to be taken to a safe place of refuge, and
Love chose the Island of Lewis for the purpose. He could
not have made a worse choice. For a time, all went well
with the pirates. They resumed their occupation off the
Lewis coast, and captured the ship of a Lowland Scot,
one Thomas Fleming (Richieson) of Anstruther, whom
they detained as their prisoner, using his vessel as their
guardship. They also seized a Flemish buss, transferring
five of the crew to the Priam to work as slaves, and re-
placing them with a similar number of pirates. The buss
was driven by stress of weather on the coast of Shetland,
where the crew landed — to the detriment, doubtless, of the
Shetlanders.

The accounts given of Neil Macleod's dealings with
Peter Love are conflicting, but the main facts are tolerably
clear. A bond of mutual offence and defence seems to have
been entered into by the two outlaws, and for a time their
friendship remained unimpaired. The intimacy, indeed,
became so great that Love was about to marry a daughter
of Torquil Blair Macleod, who (apparently erroneously) is
described as Neil's aunt.* It is impossible to say what
was the immediate cause of the tragic interruption to the
friendship between the two men ; but an impartial ex-
amination of the facts points to the conclusion, that Neil
deliberately hatched a plot to seize the pirates and hand

* We are not informed who Torquil Blair was ; he may have been another of
old Ruari Macleod's illegitimate offspring.

250 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

them over to justice, in the hope of securing a pardon for
himself. The way in which he effected his purpose was
quite in accordance with the treacherous methods of the
times. " Honour among thieves " was not an axiom to
be found in Neil's ethical code. He had been feasted on
board the Priam, and he gave a return feast at Birsay ;
preliminaries, possibly, to the approaching nuptials of
Captain Love. As events happened, it was Love's last feast ;
Neil's banquet led to a scaffold, and not to a wedding.
For while Neil was entertaining the pirate chief and some
of his ship's company, Torquil Blair was bent on another
errand. While the ardent lover was, mayhap, basking in
the smiles of his future bride, the bride's father was pre-
paring to seize the ship of his intended son-in-law. The
plot succeeded, but not without bloodshed. Captain Love
and his companions found themselves trapped by their
quondam allies ; and the Priam, after a short but desperate
scuffle, in which several of the pirates were killed, became
the prize of Torquil Blair and his followers. Four Dutch-
men, who had been captured and enslaved by the pirates,
were released and sent across to Lewis, and a Scotsman,
who was in a like condition, was detained by Neil, pending
instructions from the Privy Council as to his disposal.
According to tradition, which is probably correct, a large
quantity of money was found on board the Priam, which
was divided among Neil and his followers, Donald Cam's
helmet being used to measure it out.* In the official
records, there is no mention of this money among the
articles found on board the Priam, and the inference is
obvious. Such articles as cochineal and pepper were of
little use to the outlaws, but hard coin was a welcome
addition to their resources. And here we find another
reason for Neil's betrayal of his ally. His cupidity was
probably aroused by the knowledge that this money was
on board the Priam ; so that the capture of the pirate

* The Priam's name is not mentioned in the confused narrative of tradition,
but the episode appears to be connected with the attack on that vessel. In
1613, a pot of gold was dug up near Kirkibost.

NEIL MACLEOD AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 251

served a double purpose, in providing him with ready
cash, and in offering the means of reconciliation with the
Government.*

Having secured his prize, Neil sent a messenger to

inform the Privy Council of his feat, which, he doubted

not, would be highly commended at head-quarters, as

indeed it was. His emissary made out as favourable a

case as possible for his master, asserting that the latter

had merely forestalled the pirate in a plot which Love had

formed to seize Macleod. It was a matter of small concern

to the Council for what reason, or by what means, the

capture was accomplished, but at the first blush, it is

curious to find both Neil and his messenger disclaiming

the credit of a premeditated attack upon the pirates.

Instead of asserting that he had seized the Priam in order

to serve the State, as in the circumstances might have

been expected, Neil strove to excuse himself for the act,

and sought to acquit himself of responsibility. In a letter

to the Council dated i6th October, 1610, he protested that

he was not personally present at the capture, which was

effected by his men. The cause of this excessive modesty

on Neil's part is not too obscure. His letter plainly hints

that in the interval between the seizure of the Priam

and her delivery to himself, his men might have helped

themselves, for which, he suggests, he cannot be held respon-

sible.f Evidently he feared the disclosures of Captain

Love, and not without good reason. It may be taken for

granted, that any articles of the Priam's cargo which

were of use to Neil and his men, were not found on board

when the ship was handed over to the representatives of

the Crown. The Council sent one Patrick Grieve to take

possession of the Priam, and Neil, according to his letter,

delivered the ship with all her appurtenances exactly as

he had received them. Love and nine of his men were

* Analecta Scotica, Vol. II., pp. 282-3 5 Miscellanea Scotica (both MSS.) ;
Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, Vol. III., pp. 99-101.

t Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, Vol. III., p. 102. Neil's letter is superscribed
"Jesus."

252 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

delivered to Grieve, and on 8th December, 1610, the pirates
were tried for their lives at Edinburgh. According to the
indictment, their nationality was a mixture : there were,
besides the captain (who was a native of Lewes, in Sussex),
four Englishmen, two Welshmen, and an Irishman, all of
whom were comprehensively described as " wicket Impes
of the Devill." The remaining two men who were handed
over to Grieve, appear to have died of wounds received in
the fight. The prisoners were all found guilty of piracy,
and were condemned to be hanged on the sands of Leith.*
They went to Loch Bernera to secure their plunder and
escape pursuit, but they discovered to their cost that they
had tumbled into a veritable hornet's nest.

The service rendered to the State by Neil secured for
him a temporary respite, but not a permanent pardon.
On 29th August, 1610, Lord Kintail was informed by the
Council that in view of Neil's successful exploit against
the pirates, and his promise to deliver his captives and
their ship to those appointed by the Council to receive
them, they had given him an assurance of freedom from
molestation until the following Whit-Sunday, if he availed
himself of their invitation to come to Edinburgh to arrange
their mutual grievances. In the meantime, Kintail was
charged to defer, until the expiry of that period, further
hostilities against the fugitives of Birsay. Neil was, how-
ever, too cautious to trust himself in the hands of the
Council. As we have seen, he duly implemented his
promise to deliver the pirates, their ship, and their plunder,
to the bearer of the Council's letter, but he himself gave
Edinburgh a wide berth.

Lord Kintail died in February, 1611, and was succeeded
by his eldest surviving son, Colin (Cailean Ruadh), who
was only fourteen years of age at the time of his father's
death. The management of the Mackenzie estates, during
the minority of the new proprietor, devolved upon his
uncle and guardian, Ruari Mackenzie, the famous Tutor of

* Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, Vol. III., pp. 99-101.

NEIL MACLEOD AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 253

Kintail. It will be remembered that Ruari was married
to Margaret, the elder daughter of Torquil Conanach.
When the marriage took place, in 1605, Kenneth Mac-
kenzie gave his brother a charter of Coigeach, reserving
the life-rent to Torquil Conanach and his wife (Glengarry's
daughter) ; and in 1608, a further charter of Coigeach and
other lands was granted to Ruari by Kintail. The latter
was confirmed by a Crown charter dated I7th November,
1609, perhaps on the death of Torquil Conanach, whose
last recorded appearance occurs in the same year. The
laird of Applecross, in his Genealogy of the Mackenzies,
states that the consideration for Lewis, which island Torquil
Conanach and his son-in-law had made over to Kintail,
consisted of certain lands disponed to Ruari, and of certain
sums of money advanced to Elspeth, the younger daughter
of Torquil. The Tutor thus possessed, through his wife, a
more equitable claim to Lewis than his brother, although
he had surrendered his legal rights to the latter ; and it is
perhaps not surprising to find that after he had subjugated
Lewis, he sought to have these rights recognised.

On nth June, 1611, a commission over Lewis was
granted to Ruari Mackenzie and four other chieftains of
the Clan Kenneth, viz., Colin Mackenzie of Killin (or
Kildun), Murdo Mackenzie of Kernsary, Alexander Mac-
kenzie of Coul, and Kenneth Mackenzie of Davochmaluag ;
and on the same date the Tutor became caution for one
Neil Mac-an-t'sagairt, a member of a clerical family who
appear, from the records, to have been particularly active
participators in the Lewis troubles. On i6th August, a
proclamation was issued, following the commission of June
nth. This proclamation informs us that the Lewis rebels,
taking fresh courage on account of the death of Kenneth,
Lord Kintail, and counting upon the assistance of their
neighbours, had risen in arms against the Tutor, whom the
Council had appointed to the office of Justiciary of Lewis,
rendered vacant by his brother's death. The proclamation
goes on to say, that although it cannot reasonably be
supposed that such assistance will be afforded to the

254 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Lewismen by their loyal neighbours, yet, in order to leave
the latter without any excuse, Donald Gorm of Sleat,
Macleod of Harris, Macneill of Barra, Mackay of Farr, and
his son and heir, are charged, under pain of rebellion, to
abstain from rendering help, direct or indirect, of any kind
whatsoever, to the insurgents. On 28th May, 1612, the
commission of nth June, 1611, was renewed, the terms
being very similar to those of the commission granted to
Lord Kintail on ipth July, 1610.

The Tutor now applied himself to the task of chasing
Neil Macleod and his comrades out of their stronghold on
Birsay. Neil had recently been engaged on a foray in
Lewis, where he was attacked by the Mackenzies and some
Lewismen, but managed to make his escape back to Birsay.
Ultimately, his followers were dispersed by a stratagem, if
Sir Robert Gordon is to be believed. The Tutor despaired
of carrying Birsay at the point of the sword, or of starving
the defenders into submission. He was exasperated, too,
by the loss of two of his men who were stationed on a rock
within gunshot of Birsay, one of them having been killed
outright, and the other wounded, by Neil. He therefore
conceived a plan, by means of which he hoped to compel
the little band to surrender. He gave orders to seize the
wives, children, and other relatives of the insurgents, and
place them at low tide on a rock, sufficiently near Birsay
for the occupants to hear and see the wretched people.
He then informed Neil that unless he and his companions
surrendered immediately, their helpless relatives would be
left to drown on the return of the tide. Fearing that the
stern Tutor would keep his word, if his orders were not
obeyed, Neil and his followers capitulated, on condition
of being allowed to leave Lewis ; a condition to which
Mackenzie acceded. Neil then took refuge with Ruari
Macleod of Harris.

It is difficult to say whether this account is perfectly
reliable, or, if reliable, whether Mackenzie really meant to
carry out his inhuman threat. The earliest MS. dealing
with the troubles in Lewis, which was written apparently

NEIL MACLEOD AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 255

about 1620, makes no reference to the incident. It simply
states that Neil was " wearied " of remaining on Birsay,
and at length abandoned the stronghold and dispersed his
followers, he himself going to Harris.* Gordon's MS-
was not completed until 1630, and his account of the
Lewis troubles appears to be an amplification of the earlier
MS., the author of which is unknown. The fact that the
latter makes no reference to the Birsay episode related
by Gordon, suggests that the story about the wives and
children may be apocryphal. Certain it is, that Neil gave
himself up to Ruari Macleod. As far back as 1610, Mac-
leod had been commanded, in a letter written by the King,
and transmitted to Ruari through the then Earl of Dunbar,
to assist the Earl in effecting the capture of Neil in Lewis ;
and on his own showing, he had undertaken the com-
mission. The delay which had taken place in discharging
this duty was due to the fact — to quote Ruari's own words
— that Neil had " keepit himselff so warlie," although it is
not difficult to conceive that reasons other than the wariness
of Neil had contributed to his want of success. But Neil
was at length actually in his hands. If, as appears to have
been the case, the notorious outlaw sought refuge with his
namesake of Harris, and if, as Sir Robert Gordon affirms,
Macleod undertook to conduct Neil to England, where the
latter apparently had the notion of throwing himself on the
mercy of the King, then an indelible stain rests on the
name of Rory Mor. For, on 2nd March, he appeared
before the Council; and made them the welcome present of
Neil and his son Donald, t both of whom were promptly
lodged in the Tolbooth. On 4th March, Ruari Macleod
presented a petition to the Council, craving for a declaration
by Act of Council that he had fully executed his com-
mission in respect of the capture of Neil. The petition
was readily granted, and Macleod was protected during his

* Miscellanea Scotica, Vol. II., p. 75.

t Donald Macleod was soon set at liberty, but his sentence of banish-
ment seems to have weighed lightly on his shoulders, for he soon re-appeared
in Lewis, as defiant and troublesome as ever.

T 2

256 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

stay in the Capital against arrest for certain undischarged
liabilities.*

In order to appreciate the true inwardness of Rory Mor's

change of attitude, it is necessary to hark back a little.

Macleod had tried rebellion and found himself a landless

outlaw, who dared not show his face in Edinburgh. A

letter of 4th May, 1610, granting him a remission by the

King for all his past offences, marked a change in his

relations with the Crown ; and the commission with which,

in the same year, he was entrusted for the capture of Neil,

points in a similar direction. The reward of loyalty quickly

followed. On 4th April, 1611, by a charter under the

Great Seal, all his lands were restored to him, and he

received, in addition, a grant of Waternish in Skye, a

property which had belonged to the Siol Torquil, and

which had passed with Lewis to the Mackenzies.t Clearly,

loyalty was a more paying game than rebellion, and Rory

Mor was not slow to realise the fact. When, therefore, he

delivered up the confiding Neil to the Council, he was only

fulfilling the commission with which he had been charged

by his Royal master. This argument may serve the

sophist, but will hardly satisfy the upholder of Highland

honour, nor accord with the well-grounded belief in the

sacredness of Highland hospitality. Ruari meant to profit

by his services in capturing the redoubtable rebel. Nothing

short of a visit to London to see the King would satisfy

him. Accordingly, he received permission to proceed to

Court. He left Scotland plain Ruari ; he returned to his

native country, Sir Roderick. The surrender of Neil and

the receipt of the honour of knighthood form an unpleasant

conjunction of events. They may be merely a coincidence ;

but if so, the coincidence is unfortunate. It is impossible

to dissociate them, or to regard them otherwise than as

cause and effect. Whatever Neil's offences — and they

were not few — he had placed his life in the hands of an

old comrade, and had been basely betrayed. It may be

* Reg. ofP.C., Vol. X., p. 3.

f Reg. Mag. Sig. (1609-20), No. 458.

EXECUTION OF NEIL MACLEOD. 257

argued that Ruari had to yield to circumstances, for the
Tutor of Kintail had apprised the Council of the departure
of the pair for the South, and the lord of Harris was
ordered, on his arrival in Glasgow, to hand over his com-
panion. But what are we to make of Ruari's petition to
the Council, claiming that he had fulfilled his commission
by capturing Neil ? Or what of his parade of the service
he had rendered, and of his journey to the King? He
cannot have gone to intercede for Neil, for his acceptance
of a knighthood appears to preclude that idea, and suggests
the real object of his visit to Court. Viewed in the most
favourable light, it is impossible to relieve Macleod of the
odium which attaches to the delivery of the famous outlaw,
to trial and certain death at Edinburgh.

Incidentally, it may be noticed that on i6th September,
1613, Rory Mor was served heir to his uncle in the lands
of Trotternish, Sleat, and North Uist. Ruari was in high
favour with the King in that year : his visit to London
was productive of good results. In the orders, dated
1 5th September, 1613, to the Macers of the Sherififdoms of
Inverness, Tarbat, and Perth, to proceed to the service of
the briefs proclaimed by Roderick Macleod to serve him
heir to his uncle's estates, it is significantly added that the
privilege was granted to him on account of the " guid, trew,
and thankfull service " rendered by him, notwithstanding
the unrelaxed hornings against his predecessors.

The rest of Neil Macleod's story is soon told. On 3Oth
March, 1613, he was tried in Edinburgh on a series of
charges, any one of which was sufficient to hang him.
Neil, who was examined through an interpreter, pled
guilty. The verdict was a foregone conclusion. The
prisoner was condemned to be taken to the market cross
at Edinburgh, and there to be hanged ; his head to be
struck from his body, and placed above the Nether-Bow
Port of the town ; and all his possessions to be forfeited
to the King.* The sentence was carried out accordingly.

* Pitcairn's Criminal Trials^ Vol. III., pp. 244-7.

258 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

In a letter dated ?th April, 1613, written by Sir Thomas
Hamilton to the King, it is stated that Neil died at his
execution " verie Christianlie." And why not, it has been
asked, seeing his only offence was the defence of his
family's property against outside aggression ? If this
argument were true in fact, there would be nothing but
praise for a man who so gallantly and persistently
defended his native island against a gang of land-grabbers.
But no one who examines impartially the record of Neil
Macleod can resist the conclusion that he was a truculent
and treacherous ruffian, the only redeeming feature in his
character being his undoubted bravery, and his deter-
mination, at all costs, to retain unimpaired his own
independence, and that of his fellow Lewismen, from
foreign domination. It may be urged that his actions
were only a reflection of the spirit of the times in which
he lived, and that the circumstances of his environment
furnish a sufficient excuse for his crimes. Judged, how-
ever, even by that low standard, it is impossible to gloss
over the perfidy which betrayed a brother to his enemies
and an ally to his doom, for the sake, in each case, of
material advantages; or the cold-blooded massacre of
inoffensive fishermen ; or other incidents in his career
which have been noticed. It can only be regretted that
the most notable figure in the struggle for independence
against the chartered instruments of King James's ruth-
less scheme of extirpation, should be so bloodstained as
to vitiate any claim to hero-worship, or even to whole-
hearted respect. Otherwise, a monument might well be
erected in Stornoway to the memory of Neil Macleod,
the patriot.

Neil's associates on Birsay seem to have taken refuge
in South Uist with Donald MacAllan, Captain of Clan
Ranald. On 4th March, 1613, a complaint was made at
the instance of Sir William Oliphant of Newton, the
King's Advocate, setting forth that all the chieftains and
principal men of the Isles had made submission to the
Crown, with the exception of Neil Macleod and his

THE LAST OF THE SIOL TORQUIL. 259

comrades, among the latter of whom appear the names of
two of Neil's sons, Donald and Ruari, and of Donald
Maclan Dubh, the Brieve.* We have seen the tragic
result of Neil's attempted submission, and his followers
were now to be hunted out of South Uist, the Captain of
Clan Ranald and eight others being denounced as rebels
and put to the horn for harbouring them. On 28th April,
Macleod of Harris was charged by the Council to deliver
to the Tutor of Kintail, Malcolm and William, sons of
"the late" Neil Macleod, together with Murdo and
Malcolm Mac-an-t'sagairt and one Donald MacAngus
(all of whom are described as ringleaders of the Lewis
insurgents), who had been apprehended by Alexander
Macleod, brother of Rory Mor.

The disappearance of Neil Macleod from the arena of
strife did not prove the finishing blow to the resistance
of the Lewismen. On 24th June, 1613, a fresh commission
was granted to the Tutor of Kintail and his former
colleagues, empowering them to proceed to Lewis and
seize certain natives who had been denounced as rebels
on 2nd February of the same year. In the list of rebels
are the names of Ruari and Donaldf Macleod (sons of
Neil), the Brieve, three sons of the priest ("sagairt") —
including the two whom Macleod of Harris had been
charged to deliver — three sons of Torquil Blair, and
William and Ruari, the sons of Ruari Og.+ The com-
mission of June, 1613, was renewed for one year on 2ist
July, 1614, and a proclamation was issued, charging all
the inhabitants of the North Isles and those within the
bounds of Kintail's properties — Erasers, Rosses, and
Munroes excepted — to assist the Commissioners in

* This complaint seems curiously belated, seeing that Neil and his son
Donald were delivered to the Council on 2nd March. We find the Morisons
here, and later, siding with the Macleods. Tradition has it that they had
quarrelled with the Mackenzies.

t Donald was in prison in Edinburgh on this date ! He was released on
1 3th July, 1613.

t On 3<Dth July, Macleod of Harris and Campbell of Auchinbreck became
cautioners for the good behaviour of the three sons of Torquil Blair, and an
illegitimate son of Neil Macleod who had entered the service of Rory Mor.

260 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

seizing the persons named in the former charge. That
the Tutor's time was fully occupied in the reduction of
Lewis, is evident from the fact that he and his nephew,
Lord Kintail, were specially exempted from the operation
of a commission with which the Marquis of Huntly was
charged to suppress a quarrel which had broken out
between different factions of the Camerons. The circum-
stances of this exemption are stated in a commission from
the King, dated I4th September, 1614, confirming the
authority of Kintail and the Tutor to reduce the Lewis-
men to obedience. The inhabitants of Lewis are charged
with being "godles and laules," being "traynit up from
thair youths in all kynd of impietie and wickednes," and
the Mackenzies were excused from any service which
would disturb them in completing the subjugation of the
island. The conquest of Lewis, the King "asserts, is
necessary alike for his own honour, the peace and quiet-
ness of the Hebrides, and the safety of his subjects who
resort to the fishing. According to this commission,
several of the insurgents had already been executed, and
in February, 1615, others who had been taken south by
Macleod of Harris were handed over to the Mackenzies
by the magistrates of Edinburgh, to be kept in ward
pending their trial.* A week later, Ruari (Neil Macleod's
son), who was one of the Lewismen presented to the
Council by Macleod of Harris, was set at liberty on taking
his oath to leave the country within forty days, and in the
meantime not to show himself north of the Tay, the
penalty for disobedience being death. The unfortunate
Tormod Macleod, the only legitimate representative of
the Siol Torquil then living, who had lain in prison since
1605, was released on the same conditions. The Tutor
of Kintail appeared in Edinburgh as his nephew's repre-
sentative, and gave his consent to the release of the two
Macleods, taking the precaution to secure from the
Council an acknowledgment of his non-liability, and that

* Reg. ofP.C., Vol. X., pp. 270-1.

THE LAST OF THE SIOL TORQUIL. 261

of Lord Kintail, for any further expenses of Tormocl.
Three months after Tormocl was set at liberty, Colin,
Lord Kintail, was served heir to his father in the posses-
sion of Lewis (23rd May, 1615).

That Ruari, Neil's son, broke his word and returned to his
native island, is shown by the fact that his name appears
among a number of disobedient Lewismen, who created
fresh troubles in the following year. The leader of this
rising was Malcolm, son of Ruari Og, and associated with
him were Ruari and Donald, Neil's sons, the latter of
whom had, in 1613, undertaken to leave the kingdom and
never return, or find caution for his good behaviour in the
future, under pain of death. A commission dated 28th
August, 1616, renewing the powers granted in the former
commissions, was delivered to the Tutor and his colleagues
to reduce Lewis to obedience. The expiration of the
Tutor's previous authority had, it appears, given fresh
courage to the Macleods and their allies in the island, and
encouraged them to break anew into open insurrection,
which the Mackenzies were now called upon to quell.
The terror of the Tutor's name was sufficient to nip the
rising in the bud, but Malcolm Macleod managed to effect
his escape.

Next to Neil Macleod, Malcolm MacRuari Og was the
most remarkable of the Siol Torquil of this period. He
had an adventurous career. Chased by the Mackenzies
out of Lewis, he joined the Macdonalds of Dunyveg in
their unsuccessful rebellion. Subsequently, he associated
himself with Coll MacGillespic (alias Coll Keitach, or the
left-handed, father of " Colkitto," the famous lieutenant
of Montrose) and others of the Clan Donald in the
piratical life upon which they embarked. In the year
1615, these marauders were the terror of the West High-
lands and Isles. A commission of fire and sword which
was issued against them broke up the confederacy, but
Malcolm evaded capture, and although a reward of three
thousand merks was placed upon his head, he escaped to
the Antrim estate of Sir James Macdonald. Returning

262 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

from Ireland, he became the leader of a band of pirates
on the west coast of Scotland, and in March, 1616, the
machinery of the law was again put in motion against
him. Campbell of Lundy, brother of the Earl of Argyll,
with Campbell of Auchinbreck and Campbell of Ard-
kinglas, was commissioned to proceed against him and
his associates, but Lundy's refusal to act under the com-
mission enabled Malcolm again to escape capture. In
April, the Tutor of Kintail was charged with the appre-
hension of the pirates should they land in Lewis, a
contingency which, it was shrewdly suspected, should be
guarded against. Malcolm, however, fled to Flanders, but
soon found his way back to the Western Isles. With
a band of desperate men like himself — chiefly Sorley
Macdonald and the adherents of the House of Islay —
he seized a French ship and fitted her out for a fresh
career of piracy. They picked up a crew in the Hebrides,
and then set out to look for their prey, the latter being
the merchants and fishermen frequenting the North Isles,
and especially Lewis. They were assured of active help
from a number of Harrismen, and in that assurance set
sail for the Long Island, landing at Lochmaddy, where
they sent word to Harris of their presence. The con-
federates discussed the feasibility of a descent on Lewis,
and the capture of the merchant ships lying at Stornoway
and elsewhere in the island ; and it was agreed to await
a favourable opportunity of pouncing on their prey. From
Lochmaddy, the pirates went to " Lochchennart " (? Loch
Eynort), where they were soon joined by the Harrismen,
who told them that the ship of one Robert Alexander,
a Burntisland skipper, was lying either in the Bay of
Stornoway, or in Lochfurna (? Thurnabhaigh, Loch Grim-
shader), and offered to pilot them to her on condition of
sharing in the spoil. The pirates gave a ready assent to
this proposal, and a night attack was planned. Malcolm
Macleod, with forty men armed with muskets and targes,
got into the eight-oared boat of the Harrismen and found
the Burntisland vessel in " Loche-sturin " (? Loch Storno-

and several of his crew were wounded, but e
mders were all overpowered and the
lacleod had other business on ha:;
er of profit, but an affair of r

i * twenty IT
nen, to th<~
piper, v
irdered him in

d his he

{ boast! L The Burr

anchorage where

uid her -isting of wine and

was transhipped. The unfortunate ir
man and his crew lost everything, <:
>.s, but their lives appear to have beet
plunder was divided between the pira1

confederates. The latter took their
tn Castle, where they openly sold it.*
Tru.- ts of Malcolm Macleod as a

by an attempt on his part to orga
, in 1616, which, as \v

the Tutor, at whos icleod

1 probably have received short he fallen

a. But Malcolm
his foes - once

aend Sir James M

aed to Scotland in 1620. -tall me

olm on r occasions.

The little that we know of the remaining repr
may be told in a fe\s
US that at the time

son of Torquil Dubh,

264 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

student at the University of Glasgow, and that Torquil,
the third son, who had been bred by his uncle, Macleod
of Harris, was a youth of " great expectations." William,
the second son, appears to have died when a youth. No
trace of the descendants of Ruari or Torquil, if they
left any, can be found. Donald, the eldest son of Neil
Macleod, took refuge in England with Sir Robert Gordon,
with whom he remained for three years. He then seems
to have returned to Lewis, and taken part in the insur-
rection of 1616. Escaping from Lewis, he made his way
to Holland, where he may have joined Tormod Macleod,
who, it will be remembered, took service in 1615 with the
Prince of Orange. Of Ruari, the other surviving son of
Neil, there is no record subsequent to 1616; he may have
shared the fate of the sons of Ruari Og.

Lewis was now in undisputed possession of the Mac-
kenzies, and no further attempt was made to resist their
domination. The Tutor of Kintail made certain repre-
sentations to his nephew and chief, Colin, Lord Kintail,
and offered in exchange for Lewis, to resign his title to
Coigeach and his other possessions on the mainland.
Kintail, however, refused to listen to these representations,
and the refusal resulted in a temporary estrangement
between uncle and nephew. But the Tutor's loyalty to
his chief proved equal to the strain, and friendly relations
were ultimately re-established between them.

Thus ended the drama which was enacted in Lewis at
the close of the sixteenth, and the beginning of the seven-
teenth century. The fall of the Macleods of Lewis from
their high estate, and the extinction of the historic House
of the Siol Torquil, as a force to be reckoned with in
the Highlands, furnish an object-lesson to the moralist.
That retribution followed the misdeeds of the last Mac-
leods who ruled in the island, is in accordance with the
eternal fitness of things, if not in accordance with universal
experience. As they sowed, so they reaped. The hoary,
but not wholly unamiable sinner, Ruari — the last chief
whose claim to Lewis was undisputed — with the trans-

THE LAST OF THE SIOL TORQUIL. 265

gressions of a lifetime on his bowed shoulders ; his sons,
some of them bearing the brand of Cain on their fore-
heads, and wading through a sea of blood to the con-
summation of their ambitions ; his grandsons, living in an
atmosphere of perpetual violence, and striving in vain
against the inexorable Fate, which decrees that the sins of
the father shall be visited upon the children ; what wonder
is it that, with the inevitability of a life drama, the tragic
note persists throughout? The prologue of the tragedy
sounded a note of disaster ; the epilogue voices the wail of
despair. In ringing down the curtain on the unfortunate
Macleods of Lewis, let it be done with a pitying hand. If
they sinned much, they suffered much ; if many were their
faults, heavy was their punishment. Let it at least be
remembered, to their credit, that they bravely saved their
native island from the domination of an alien people, who
came to conquer, and not to coalesce with, the inhabitants
of Lewis. But although the Siol Torquil lost Lewis for
ever, the Macleods have far from disappeared from the
island. On the contrary, not only are they at the present
day, the most numerous clan in their ancient patrimony,
but their influence is felt in every department of activity
which marks the modern life of Lewis. The male line of
the Siol Torquil being extinct, the chiefship passed to the
family of Raasay, the present representative of which is
now in Australia. The female line is represented by the
descendant of the Tutor of Kintail, in the person of the
present Countess of Cromartie.

266

CHAPTER X.

WHILE the Clan Kenneth were engaged in the difficult
task of subjugating the malcontents in Lewis, trouble was
rife in the other sections of the Long Island. The inter-
minable disputes of the chiefs of Clan Donald and the
Siol Tormod over their various properties were again
raging. In former days, these quarrels would have been
decided by the sword, but under the new regime, more
peaceful, if less expeditious, methods of settlement had
to be adopted. First, there arose a question between
Donald Gorm and Donald MacAllan, Captain of Clan
Ranald, touching the thirty merklands of Skeirhow (How-
more) in South Uist, the twelve merklands of Benbecula,
and the pennylands of Gergrimenes, which Clanranald
held from Donald Gorm. These lands, with the twenty-
three merklands of Kandish and the six merklands of
Boisdale, both in South Uist, were, in July, 1610, granted
by Crown charter to Clanranald, with a provision stipu-
lating for the superiority of Donald Gorm over Skeirhow,
Benbecula, and Gergrimenes.* In July, 1614, the latter
received a Crown grant of Sleat, the forty pound lands
of North Uist, and the Clanranald properties of which he
held the superiority.! This charter roused Ruari Macleod
of Harris to take action, for less than a year previously,
he had been served heir to Sleat and North Uist ; and now

* Peg. Mag. Sig. (1609-20), Nos. 342 and 344.

f Reg. Mag. Sig. (1609-20), No. 1,087. 9n 4^ March, 1566, Donald
Macdonald of Sleat entered into a contract with Archibald, Earl of Argyll,
by which the Earl bound himself to obtain an infeftment to him and his heirs
of Trotternish, Sleat and North Uist (of which lands Argyll was Bailie), to
be held of the Queen in feu farm ; and thereafter to infeft Macdonald therein,
to be held of the Earl in feu. The consideration was 1,000 merks Scots and
the vassalage of Macdonald (Appen. to 4th Report Hist. MSS. Coin., p. 482).

THE UISTS AND BARRA. 267

his old rival had triumphed over him. Both chiefs, by
their astuteness, had well earned the soubriquet " Mor," but
if greatness be measured by ultimate results, it must be
conceded that Donald Gorm Mor Macdonald proved himself
to be a more capable man than Sir Ruari Mor Macleod.
The latter, seeing his lands filched from him, appealed to the
King, who had within recent years shown him signal marks
of his favour. In his letter, which is dated /th January,
1615, he states that the King's "worthy goodsir of famous
memory " had heritably infeft the Siol Tormod in their
lands, but that after his death, the Clan Donald, who were
then of "greatest power, force, and friendship in the Isles,"
had driven Ruari's forbears " with great slaughter " out of
them, and retained possession of them by force. Macleod
goes on to state that he had lately been served heir to his
father in the lands now forcibly held by Donald Gorm,.
who, taking advantage of the Act of Parliament requiring
the Islesmen to exhibit their infeftments — an order with
which Ruari had failed to comply — was resolved to fight
him in the Courts. He protests that he never took part
with any of the rebels against the King's authority ; that
he appeared before the Council in 1596 and found the
necessary caution; that never thinking the Act of 1597
could apply to such a law-abiding person as himself, he
had neglected, from ignorance and not from contempt, to
produce his titles ; and that, in point of fact, he could not
produce them, because Donald Gorm had been infeft in the
lands.* He then proceeds to state his conviction that the
King would see justice done between himself and his rival.
The Act of Parliament, he avers, was passed " to draw
brokin Ilismen to obedience, and not to snair simple,
ignorant, and lauthfull (law-abiding) subjectes " ! He con-
cludes his epistle by calling James the " fountain " from
which all distressed subjects received comfort, and beseeches
the King to instruct the Session to do justice between

* Donald Gorm got a grant of the lands by charter dated 1 7th August,
1596. The grant included the lands in South Uist, and Benbecula, con-
cerning which he had come to a friendly arrangement with Clanranald. (See-
P- 205.)

268 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Donald Gorm and others, the Act of Parliament and its
results notwithstanding.*

The " others " referred to by Ruari Macleod probably
included the Tutor of Kintail, whose niece Donald Gorm's
heir had married. The Tutor espoused the cause of Donald
in his dispute with Macleod, and the charter which deprived
the lord of Harris of his lands was secured partially, if not
wholly, through the instrumentality of the Clan Kenneth,
whose influence at Edinburgh was now more powerful than
ever before.

The upshot of the quarrel between Macleod and Mac-
donald dissipated the hopes of the former ; his ingenuous
pleading, his blandishments, and, it may be added, the
justice of his claims, were alike ignored. Donald Gorm
Mor died in 1616, and was succeeded by his nephew,
Donald, afterwards Sir Donald Gorm Macdonald, who by
a charter dated I2th March, 1618, was confirmed in the
possessions of his uncle.f Ruari Macleod was obliged
to resign his claims to Sleat and North Uist, receiving as
compensation a sum of money ; the acceptance of this
arrangement being clearly the only course left open to him.
The Crown lands of Trotternish, too, remained in the
possession of Kintail, whose brother-in-law, Sir Donald
Gorm, was retained in peaceful occupation as Mackenzie's
tenant. Thus ended a dispute of long standing between
Rory Mor and Donald Gorm Mor. The facts of the dispute
explain a good deal of the jealousy between these chiefs,
which is apparent in the incidents hereafter related.

In 1622, the relations between Sir Donald Macdonald of
Sleat and the Captain of Clan Ranald were, to say the
least, strained. Apparently, the feu-duty payable by Clan-
ranald to his Superior in the Long Island was in arrears.
Donald Gorm subsequently sought and obtained decrees
of removal against Clanranald and his people, but the latter
treated the decrees with contempt. They were promptly put
to the horn for their disobedience, but they retained posses-

* Abbot sford Club Collection, pp. 245-7.
f Reg. Mag. Sig. (1609-20), No. 1,795.

THE UISTS AND BARRA. 269

sion of the lands. Donald Gorm petitioned the Privy Council
for redress against Clanranald, who, he says, had greatly

molested " him in his lands of Skeirhow and Benbecula,
and, in defiance of the decrees of removal against him, had
debarred the rightful owner (himself) from taking possession
He therefore begged the Council to remedy this state ot
affairs by causing Clanranald to find caution not to molest
him further, or, failing caution, to commit him to prison
until the required security was found. Clanranald's father-
in-law, Ruari Macleod, here stepped into the breach with
the necessary caution, and the whole dispute was ultimately
referred to arbitration. The arbitrators met at KintaiPs
Castle of Chanonry, and their decision, as might be ex-
pected, was in favour of Donald Gorm. The latter was
empowered to obtain wadsets over the lands in question,
and in satisfaction of his claims against Clanranald, was
awarded the superiority of Kandish and Boisdale.* Follow-
ing the disposal of these lands a little further, it may be
noticed that in 1627, John Moidartach, the son and successor
of Donald MacAllan in the captaincy of Clan Ranald,
received from Donald Gorm, a precept of dare constat for
Skeirhow, Benbecula, &c. In 1633, the Earl of Argyll
acquired, in satisfaction of a debt owing to him by Donald
Gorm, the wadset rights of those lands, and had also
assigned to him the superiority of Clanranald's holdings
from the Crown.f

It may serve a useful purpose, as illustrating the gradual
declension of the independence of the Hebridean chiefs, to
give a summary of the relations which existed between the
Clan Donald of the North and the lord of Harris on the
one hand, and the Privy Council on the other, during the
period under review. The records of the Council here
drawn upon are eloquent in their very baldness.

In June, 1613, Donald Gorm Mor appeared before the
Council, gave caution on a question of rent to be settled,.

* According to the Privy Council records, Donald Gorm and Clanranald
came to an agreement in October and November, 1622, and Ruari Macleod
was relieved of his caution.

T Clan Donald, Vol. II., p. 324.

U

270 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

and was ordered to produce his titles. Twelve days later,
he gave a bond to appear before the Council when required
to do so. In July of the same year, the King granted
three missives in favour of Macleod of Harris, who, on
giving his bond, was permitted to return home. In July,
1614, he was committed to ward in the Castle of Edin-
burgh for not producing certain Lewis rebels, whom he
had been charged to seize. In August, 1614, he and
Donald Gorm appear among the chiefs who ratified the
Statutes of Icolmkill, and entered into a bond (i) for their
future appearance annually before the Council ; (2) for
their obedience in ecclesiastical matters to the regularly-
appointed ministers ; and (3) for their co-operation with
the clergy in the service of the Kirk. The same chiefs
also made declaration that there were no feuds existing
between them, although there were certain civil actions
pending. Donald Gorm advocated arbitration to settle
these disputes, but Macleod wanted legal procedure, and
in this view, he received the support of Maclean and
Mackinnon. For the convenience of the Council, domi-
ciles in Edinburgh were fixed for future citation of the
chiefs, when their presence at the Capital was desired. In
the same month (August, 1614), Donald Gorm was charged
to remain in Glasgow until the Council permitted him to
depart ; and in the following month, he was released, in
order to assist the Bishop of the Isles in his mission
against the Macdonalds in Islay. In August, Macleod
gave a bond engaging to do his utmost to seize the Lewis
insurgents who had slipped through his fingers, and to
appear again before the Council on ist December follow-
ing. On the latter date, he again appeared before the
Council, and bound himself to return on loth July
following, engaging, meanwhile, to do his best to apprehend
the Lewis rebels. In February, 1615, letters were sent to
Donald Gorm and the Captain of Clan Ranald, charging
them not to permit any of the Islay rebels to be " reset "
within their bounds. On the same day, Macleod of
Harris and the Tutor of Kintail appeared before the

THE UISTS AND BARRA. 271

Council, and promised that none of the rebels, especially
Coll MacGillespic and Malcolm MacRuari Macleod
should be " reset " within their territories, and that they
would be hunted down if they put in an appearance. A
proclamation to that effect was delivered to the Tutor, and
a letter was sent through him to Donald Gorm, charging
him to keep his country free from the insurgents. In
March, 1615, leave was given to the Captain of Clan Ranald
to return home, provided he bound himself to pay the
rent due by him, and to appear again on ist November
following. In April, 1615, a commission against the
Islay rebels was given to Macleod, Donald Gorm, and
Donald MacAllan, among others. In June, 1615, letters
were sent to the three chiefs, charging them with the
pursuit of Sir James Macdonald of Islay. In the same
month, a further commission was granted to them against
the Islay rebels, ordering them to provide 200 men each
for the service ; and they were also charged to send
each a contingent to assist Campbell of Lundy in his
expedition.

From these entries in the Council records, it is obvious
that a sharp eye was kept upon the island lords. It was
changed days for those proud warriors to be treated like
naughty schoolboys, who are not permitted to be out of
their master's sight too long, and who have to report
themselves at head-quarters every year under pain of
punishment. Verily, Bishop Knox, by his Statutes, had
revolutionised the spirit of the Hebrides. That the chiefs
of the North Isles were anxious to distinguish themselves
in the police work which the Council had set them to
perform, would appear from an interesting epistle from
that famous letter-writer, Rory Mor. That the true
reason of their emulation was not a love of law and
order, or an overpowering sense of loyalty to the Crown,
but a hope of reward in the shape of charters and other
material benefits, is not too obscurely hinted in Macleod's
letter, which is dated i8th June, 1615, and addressed to
Lord Binning, Secretary for Scotland. Rory Mor relates

U 2

272 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

how he left Edinburgh in the month of April to visit his
" barnes," who were at school in Glasgow. During his
absence, Coll Keitach, with his followers, came to the North
Isles, and passed to Donald Gorm's land in North Uist,
where he was " reset " and supplied with provisions by
Donald Gorm's wife (a daughter of Mackintosh) and by
young Donald Gorm, Lord Kintail's brother-in-law. Coll
was persuaded by Donald Gorm's wife and nephew, and by
the Clan " Neill Vaine, the speciall tenents " of North Uist,
to pay a hostile visit to Macleod's island of St. Kilda ; and
they provided him with two pilots for the purpose. The
attacking force slew all the horses and cattle in St. Kilda,
sparing nothing but the lives of the inhabitants. They
returned to North Uist, where they shared the spoil with
their supporters, and then sailed for I slay. Macleod
goes on to state that after Sir James Macdonald had
escaped from prison in Edinburgh, he went to Lochaber,
Morar, and Knoydart, thence to Sleat, where he got a big
boat and " entercomed " (intercommuned) for some time
with Donald Gorm, some of whose men of the " Clan
Tarlich" (? Maclennans) threw in their lot with him.
From Sleat, Sir James proceeded to Eigg, where he met
Coll Keitach and his followers, the total number of the
rebels being twelve or thirteen score ; but what their
future plans might be, Macleod was unable to say. He
recommends Lord Binning, however, to commission the
Superiors of the Isles to pursue the rebels with fire and
sword in three companies, the first under the command of
Maclean of Duart and Maclean of Lochbuie, the second
under Donald Gorm and the Captain of Clan Ranald, and
the third under the direction of himself (Ruari Macleod),
the lord of Coll and Mackinnon, with Kintail's forces,
co-operating. Let each company do its best, proceeds
Rory Mor, and " he that doeth best therein have the
greatest honour and perferment of his Majestic and
Counsal." He points out that the rebels were of the same
blood as Donald Gorm and Clanranald, but that the
Macleans were deadly enemies of Sir James and his men.

THE UISTS AND BARRA. 273

The next sentence deserves special attention, in view of
the confession it makes. " And as for me, Your Lordship
knowes verie well that I have geven a proof of my
obedience and service to his Majestic and Counsell
alreddye, in taking and apprehending and delyvering my
own name and blood, the rebellis of the Lews, and in
making these lands peaceable to his Majestic." He
protests that his house never rebelled, nor ever will rebel ;
that he will continue to be a good subject of the King to
his " lyves end " ; and will pursue these and all other
rebels to the King's authority, u yea if it wes my father,
brother, or sone."*

There is much that is instructive in this letter. Its
animus towards Donald Gorm and the Captain of Clan
Ranald is conspicuous. It is plainly hinted that the
former sympathised secretly with the rebels, while profess-
ing openly to be a loyal subject of the King ; and an
insidious doubt is thrown upon the zeal of Clanranald. t
That Ruari Macleod's insinuations were coloured by his
personal feelings is suggested by a letter, dated 24th June,
1615, addressed by the Earl of Tullibardine to Lord
Binning, in which it is stated that Clanranald would have
nothing to do with Sir James Macdonald, and refused to
permit him to land within his bounds ; and that Donald
Gorm had adopted the same attitude. Probably, however,
Ruari Macleod knew more about the secret plans of his
fellow chiefs than did Lord Tullibardine ; but his hostile
sentiments towards them detracts from the value of his
evidence. That Sir James Macdonald tried to enlist the
support of the whole Clan Donald is obvious. He sounded
Glengarry, Donald Gorm, and Clanranald, and succeeded
in seizing, and afterwards enlisting the active support of,
young Glengarry, as well as of Keppoch ; also, apparently,
of some of Donald Gorm's men, and some of the Clan
Ranald of Uist. But the chiefs of Clan Donald of the
North were now too much overawed by the Government,

* Metros Papers, Vol. I., pp. 214-7.

t Clanranald married a daughter of Ruari Macleod.

274 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

or too regardful of their own interests, to range themselves
on the side of their harassed clansman, in whatever direc-
tion their secret sympathies may have lain. The artfulness
of Ruari Macleod's proposal to Lord Binning consisted in
its suggestion of separating the wheat from the chaff ; of
making a distinction between the enemies of Clan Donald,
who were the loyal subjects of the King, and the kinsmen
of the rebels who were the lukewarm, or unwilling instru-
ments of the Crown; while the outcome of this separation,
and the subsequent apportionment of rewards, were awaited
with confidence by the astute lord of Harris.

Lord Binning, in his reply dated 3Oth June, commended
Macleod's loyalty, and urged perseverance in the good
cause, assuring his correspondent that the King would not
forget to reward him. He thought Macleod's advice was
sound, and called attention to the fact that the commis-
sion suggested by him had been issued. He promised
that the wrongs complained of by Ruari should be duly
redressed, but in the meantime, the latter was desired
by the Council to avoid retaliation, and if attacked by
his neighbours, to defend himself with all " convenient
moderatioun," lest the King's service should be hindered.
Lord Binning also promised to write the King, letting
him know what a paragon of loyalty Ruari was, and
adjured his correspondent, for their mutual credit, to act
up to his professions.*

The Secretary probably wrote this letter with his tongue
in his cheekj but to him the all-important matter was to
secure the co-operation of the chiefs in capturing the
rebels ; the private feuds of Rory Mor and his neighbours
could afford to wait. The trouble in Islay commenced
with the seizure of Dunyveg Castle by the Macdonalds,
and its subsequent re-capture by Campbell of Calder, the
details of which it is beyond the province of this work to
traverse. But on the very day that Lord Binning wrote
Ruari Macleod, the Privy Council advised the King that

* Mdros Papers ', Vol. I., pp. 224-6.

THE UISTS AND BARRA. 275

the castle had again been seized by the Macdonalds, under
the leadership of Sir James, their chief. It was therefore
politic in the highest degree to keep the Hebridean chiefs
well in hand, in order not only to prevent the disaffection
from spreading, but to unite them in a solid resistance to
the Macdonalds of Islay. Hence the cooing words of the
Secretary to Rory Mor, whose " verie loveing freend " he
signed himself.

Sir James Macdonald became alarmed at his position,
after his open defiance of the Crown by surprising and
re-capturing his ancestral stronghold. On 1st July, 1615,
he wrote a pitiful letter to Lord Binning, beseeching the
Secretary to befriend him against his enemies (the Camp-
bells), so that the King do not permit them to " root him
and his " out of Islay, which they had possessed for five or
six centuries. He pleaded for the restoration of the island
as the King's tenant, promising to find surety for the rent,
and for the obedience of himself and his clan. If, however,
this request were refused, he desired that the island should
become the absolute property of the Crown. " For," he
adds, " that is certane, I will die befoir I sie a Campbell
posses it."* But the petition of the unfortunate Sir James
was unavailing. The Earl of Argyll, who appears to have
found the pleasures of the English Court more congenial
to his tastes than the task of subduing the Macdonalds,
and who was not too anxious to meet his Scottish
creditors, at length waived, under pressure, his plea of
ill-health, and after being appointed Lieutenant over
the whole of the Hebrides, undertook the subjugation of
the Islay rebels, whom he finally dispersed after a short
and successful campaign. Sir James Macdonald was com-
pelled to flee from the island, and Coll Keitach, who held
Dunyveg Castle, finding his courage unequal to facing
Argyll's artillery, made terms for himself, and surrendered
the castle, being subsequently employed by his captor
against his former associates, whom he harried with all
the zeal of a time-serving pervert.

* Metros Papers, Vol. I , pp. 226-8.

276 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

The dispersal of the rebels entailed a renewal of police
duty on the part of the chiefs of the Long Island, who
were enjoined to pursue the fugitives with alacrity. In
view of the ease with which the most daring of the rebels
escaped their vigilance, this duty does not appear to have
been performed with whole-hearted eagerness. Ronald
MacAllan of Benbecula, brother of the Captain of Clan
Ranald, was sufficiently troublesome towards the end of
1615 to occupy the exclusive attention of his relative, who
received a commission to seize him and his accomplices,
who were disturbing the possessions of Clanranald, and
raising disorder in the Isles ; while Ruari Macleod and
Donald Gorm had their own little differences to adjust.
We find Macleod making declaration to the Council,
in March, 1616, that he had left his brother in charge
of his properties, with instructions to prevent any of
the Islay rebels from resorting thither ; and solemnly
promising that no insurgent should receive any counte-
nance within his bounds. The part taken by the Harris
men in the piratical exploits of Malcolm Macleod in the
Long Island, which has been already related, exemplifies the
laxness of the measures employed for the due fulfilment of
this promise. That the Council were not disposed to place
implicit confidence in Ruari, is apparent from the circum-
stance, that in spite of the King's recommendation that he
should be relieved from the necessity of making an annual
appearance in Edinburgh, " my lords " deemed it inadvis-
able to concede the relief. On the contrary, they charged
both Macleod and Clanranald, under forfeiture of their
lands, to remain in Edinburgh during their pleasure, and
compelled them to find the caution which was imposed
upon them. They had decided to clip the wings of these
Highland eagles still further, in order to minimise their
power for mischief. And this is the form the clipping
took.

On 26th July, 1616, six of the Hebridean chiefs, viz.,
Macleod of Harris, the Captain of Clan Ranald, the
Macleans of Duart, Coll, and Lochbuie, and Mackinnon

THE UISTS AND BARRA. 277

of Strath, were obliged to enter into a bond to observe
the following conditions, (ist) That they should appear
annually before the Council on loth July, and that all
necessary measures for the preservation of peace by their
clansmen should be employed by them. (2nd) That they
should produce annually a certain number of their kinsmen
as a further guarantee of good order. Macleod was to ex-
hibit three, and Clanranald two; of their clansmen. Clan-
ranald, it may be remarked, disclaimed responsibility for
his three brothers, who were apparently beyond his control.
(3rd) That the number of gentlemen attached to the house-
hold of each chief was to be strictly limited, Macleod and
Clanranald being each apportioned six gentlemen, while
the number appointed for the other chiefs was three apiece.
(4th) That they were to purge their bounds of sorners and
idle men. (5th) That they were to be permitted to wear
pistols and hackbuts only in the King's service, and that
none of their servants, except the gentlemen of their
households, were to carry any weapons or wear any armour
whatever.* (6th) That they were to reside at fixed places
of abode, Macleod's residence to be at Dunvegan, and Clan-
ranald's at Eilean Tirrim in Moidart, and that they were
to take the mains or home-farms into their own hands, and
cultivate them, with the view of being usefully employed,
instead of leading lives of idleness. There being no home-
farm attached to the Castle of Eilean Tirrim, Clanranald
selected the farm of Hobeg, in Uist, as his mains. (7th) That
at the following Martinmas, they were to let the remainder
of their lands to tacksmen at a clear rent, without the
additional exactions which they had been accustomed
to impose upon their tenants. (8th) That no chief was to
have more than one birling of sixteen or eighteen oars in
his possession ; and that when travelling through the Isles
in their birlings, no sorning on the people was to be
permitted. (9th) That all their children over nine years

* On i8th September, 1616, the King granted a warrant to the Council to
issue to certain of the chiefs and their kinsmen, permits for carrying firearms,
to be used within a mile of their own houses only.

278 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

of age were to be sent to schools in the Lowlands, to learn
to read, write, and spell English ; and that any of their
children who had not been so instructed were to be ex-
cluded from their inheritance. (loth) That the chiefs were
not to use in their houses more than a stated quantity of
wine, Macleod being allowed four, and Clanranald three
tuns ; Maclean of Duart was permitted four tuns, and the
remaining chiefs one tun each. Their tenants were not
to be allowed to buy or to drink any wine whatsoever.
Sureties were found by the chiefs concerned for the due
fulfilment of this remarkable bond, which was a sort of
second edition of the Statutes of Icolmkill.*

Donald Gorm, who was prevented by illness from
appearing in Edinburgh, was compelled to ratify the
agreement ; he found the necessary caution in the month
of August, Clanranald being one of the sureties. He
named Duntulm in Trotternish as his place of residence ;
and the Council permitted him six gentlemen for his
household, and four tuns as his allowance of wine ; while
the number of kinsmen to be exhibited by him annually
was fixed at three. And thus the Council sought to
dragoon the lords of the Hebrides into ways of industry
and sobriety.

An examination of the conditions which have been
enumerated reveals certain features which are of special
interest. The first is, that the chiefs of those days, in
their relations to their tenantry, and the common people
generally, were not the ideal landlords which they are
sometimes supposed to have been. At whatever period of
Highland history the Golden Age of the clan system may
have been — if it ever had a Golden Age — it was obviously
not at the beginning of the seventeenth century. That the
exactions by the chiefs from their tenantry were such as to
merit a stern rebuke from the Privy Council, hardly bears
out the idea of patriarchism with which Highland sentiment
clothes the working of the clan system ; while the necessity

* RegofP.C.* Vol.X., pp. 773-6.

THE UISTS AND BARRA. 279

imposed upon the Council for repressing the practice of
sorning, indicates that oppression of the people by the
chiefs was so rife as to be a matter of common notoriety.
It does not, however, necessarily follow that the heads of
the clans were uniformly tyrannical in their conduct to-
wards their inferiors. The fidelity of the clansmen to their
hereditary leaders, unique though it was, could not have
stood the strain of consistent oppression and unrelieved
despotism. The chiefs had rough and ready methods ;
they were not influenced by the fine distinctions which
prevail in modern communities, where justice between man
and man is a recognised principle ; they were arbitrary in
their dealings with their followers, as they were uncertain
in their relations towards one another. But while they
took from the people with one hand, they gave with
the other ; while they exacted calps from their tenantry,
they feasted the calp-payers right royally ; while they
plundered their clansmen to replenish their wine-cellars,
they let the wine flow in a common carousal. The exac-
tion of calp, it may be explained, consisted in an acknow-
ledgment of dependence on a chief; it took the form of a
death duty represented by the best horse, cow, or ox of
the deceased tenant, which was claimed by the chief as a
matter of right. The practice gave rise to various abuses,
and in 1617, was finally abolished in the Highlands and
Isles.

The uprooting of the Gaelic language and the substitu-
tion of English, as the current tongue in the castles of the
Hebrides, formed part of the policy of the Council for
Anglicising the chiefs. The importance of language as a
vehicle for modifying character, thus received due recogni-
tion at the hands of the Edinburgh statesmen. That the
prevalence of Gaelic was deemed by them to constitute
a stumbling-block in the way of reform, is evident from
an Act of the Council passed in December, 1616. The
provisions of this Act included the establishment of an
English school in every parish of the kingdom, and the
Bishops were charged with the duty of carrying out the

28o HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

scheme. The universal use of English throughout the
length and breadth of Scotland was the aim of the Council,
and this admittedly involved the extirpation of Gaelic.
The desire of " my lords " was that " the Irishe language,
whilk is one of the cheif and principall causis of the con-
tinewance of barbaritie and incivilitie amongis the
inhabitant's of the His and Heylandis, may be abolisheit
and removit." Notwithstanding, however, the establish-
ment of Parish Schools, and, in modern times, of Board
Schools, with all the discouragements to the persistence of
the Gaelic language which the educational machinery of
the present day entails, the ancient tongue still survives,
and if the enthusiasts of the Celtic Renascence have their
wish, it will not only survive, but will have a fresh lease of
life.

An Act passed by the Privy Council, simultaneously with
the signing of the bond by the six chiefs, emphasised the
pressing necessity of imparting instruction to the children
of the leading members of the clans. The Act bears that
the principal cause of the backwardness of the Isles lay
in the neglected education of the children, who, from the
example set them in their youth, grew up in a state of
ignorance and barbarism, from which it was impossible
to reclaim them ; whereas, if sent to the Lowlands to be
educated, they would return home instructed, not only in
English, but in the ways of virtue and obedience to the
laws. The Act, therefore, confirmed the provisions in the
chiefs' bond that in future, they should be compelled to
send their children south to be educated.*

Another Act of the same date, accentuated the clause
in the agreement bearing upon the consumption of wines
in the Isles. . It narrates that great excess prevailed among
the Islesmen, insomuch that not only were the drinking
habits provocative of many of the cruelties and barbarities
practised in those parts, but they were the direct cause of
much of the destitution among the common people, and of

*Reg. of P,C., Vol. X., p. 777.

THE UISTS AND BARRA. 281

the prevalence of theft to relieve their actual necessities.
This striking indictment was therefore the occasion of the
stringent provisions in the bond relating to the consumption
of strong drink, which the Act of Council duly confirmed.*
These Acts throw a strong light upon the social con-
ditions of the Hebrides at this period. Education, even
in its most elementary forms, was at a low ebb, and some
of the chiefs were unable to sign their own names. The
prevalence of the drinking habits mentioned by the Acts,
receives ample confirmation from the testimony of the sean-
achies, who gloried in the flowing bowl, and measured
the popularity of the chiefs by their capacity for wine, and
their generosity in keeping the beakers of their guests well
filled. MacVurich, in a glowing panegyric upon Rory Mor
and his hospitality, refers to the " overflowing cups " of
that chief, and his " generous wine" which would " overcome
the hardiest heroes." Rory Mor's famous drinking horn
in Dunvegan Castle is a standing proof of that chiefs
capacity for his " generous wine." The reduced quantities
permitted to the chiefs by the Council, were sufficiently
large to furnish eloquent testimony to the superabundant
hospitality which preceded the restriction ; the feasts,
which sometimes lasted for days, were conducted on a
scale of magnificence which puts far in the shade the most
lavish of modern banquets. Incidentally, it may be noticed
that whiskey, which at the present day is so frequently
associated with the Highlands, was at this period, if not
unknown, at least not in common use. The prohibition of
the use of wine probably led to the distilling of " aquavity "
from barley and oats, whiskey not being wine " within the
meaning of the Act." Anti-prohibitionists may quote this
as an example of the evasions which follow attempts to
make people sober by Act of Parliament, but the advocates
of temperance reform will deplore the introduction to the
Hebrides of a liquor which, from their point of view, has
wrought so much mischief.

* Xeg.ofP.C.,Vol.X.tp777.

282 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

The importance of the measures which have just been
noticed, in reforming the social condition of the Hebrides,
cannot be over-estimated. Gradually, but surely, the old
days, and in many respects the bad days, were passing
away, and the structure of society in the Isles was shifting
from its ancient foundations. Whatever may be said about
the policy of stamping out the old language, there can be
no doubt that the educational machinery which was set in
motion, widened the mental outlook, and softened the as-
perities, of the Hebridean people. And the steps taken to
convert an aristocracy of fighters into captains of industry ;
to teach the lords of the Hebrides temperance, and their
dependents total abstinence ; while only partially suc-
cessful in their results, paved the way, with the help of
education, to a more enlightened conception of mutual
duties and responsibilities than had hitherto prevailed.

The Bond of 1616 was followed by some years of com-
parative quietness in the Hebrides. When, in July, 1622, the
chiefs paid their annual visit to Edinburgh, they were able
to give a satisfactory account of themselves, although their
remissness in keeping the parish kirks in a good state of
repair was reprimanded by the Council. With the ex-
ception of the land trouble between Macdonald of Sleat
and Clanranald, they were living in an unwonted atmos-
phere of peace among themselves. Clanranald seems to
have been the black sheep of the flock. We find him
ordered to appear before the Council, at the instance of the
burghs, to answer to the charge of molesting and oppressing
fishermen in the Long Island. According to this charge,
he and his men were in the habit of boarding the Lowland
smacks, cutting their nets, and commandeering their fish
and provisions. A specific instance is given of Clanranald
having seized a boat and taken possession of her nets
and herrings, compelling the owner to buy them back
from him.* For the protection of the fishermen who

* There were three lasts of herrings, for which Clanranald demanded a
hundred and twenty pounds per last, and three nets, for each of which he
required forty pounds.

THE UISTS AND BARRA. 283

frequented the Long Island, the Council compelled Donald
Gorm, Ruari Macleod, Clanranald, Ranald MacAllan of
Benbecula, and Sir Lauchlan Mackinnon of Strath, to
enter into a bond ; but the undertaking does not appear to
have carried weight with Clanranald. In 1625, the Council
commanded Ruari Macleod, "all excuissis sett asyde," to
co-operate with them in suppressing the lawlessness of
Clanranald, who had been annoying, not only Scottish sub-
jects, but those of friendly nations. Ruari was threatened
with dire penalties for non-compliance with this order : it
will be hard for him, wrote the Council, to "eshaip the
weyght of his Majesteis arme." Seeing that Macleod two
months previously, had been held responsible, with Clan-
ranald and Maclean of Coll, for encouraging a state of
piracy in the Isles, it would appear that the old distrust
of him by the Council was again uppermost.

The lack of sobriety in the Hebrides again received, in
1622, the attention of the Council, and an Act of great
stringency was passed, forbidding, under severe penalties,
the masters of ships from carrying wines to the Isles.
According to the preamble of this Act, the people were
possessed by such an insatiable love of wine that when
a ship arrived, they spent " bothe dayis and nightis in thair
excesse of drinking," the result of these excesses being to
breed quarrels and lead to bloodshed.* It will thus be
seen that the repressive measure of 1616 had proved
abortive in respect of the prohibition of wines ; evasion of
the law, as might have been expected, followed the attempt
to enforce total abstinence.

There is on record an interesting letter to the Council by
Ruari Macleod, dated 3 1st August, 1622, written on his own
behalf, and that of his son-in-law, Clanranald. He empha-
sises the fact of his family having ever been " trew and
obediant subjectis," and complains that in this "dilectable
tyme of peax," he is forced to appear before the Council
annually. When the chiefs are away from home, he says,

*Reg. of P.O., Vol. XIII., pp. 20-1.

284 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

there is "no vertew hot vaiging (stravaiging) among the
yemans (yeomen), dependaris and servandis." He there-
fore petitioned the Council to be allowed to remain at
home for the next seven years, in order to develop his
estate, and thus enable him to pay his creditors. He asked
for a dispensation from the Act abolishing the imposition
of calps. On behalf of Clanranald, he petitioned for a
supersedere for seven or five years from all civil actions by
Clanranald's creditors.*

Rory Mor's petition met with no direct success, but it is
significant that, by an Act of Council in 1623, the com-
pulsory attendance of the chiefs every year was abolished,
and we find in that year, Maclean of Duart and Maclean
of Morvern making themselves answerable for the appear-
ance of Ruari Macleod, at any time during the succeeding
three years that his presence might be required by the
Council. Rory Mor's letter suggests that both he and his
son-in-law were hard pressed by their creditors. In view
of the extravagance of living which prevailed among the
Highland chiefs of those and later times, it is not sur-
prising to find them in a constant state of debt and
impecuniosity.

Turning now to Barra, we find a condition of domestic
discord which augured badly for the prosperity of that
island. Going back to the end of the sixteenth century, we
read of strange happenings in Barra. Ruari Macneill was
not too scrupulous in his means of adding to his revenue.
In plain English, he was a noted pirate. He was com-
paratively safe so long as he confined his attentions to
Dutch or French ships. Unluckily for him, however, he
pursued his avocation on the coast of Ireland, and spread
such terror there that the news of his exploits came to the
ears of Queen Elizabeth, who complained to King James
of the chiefs depredations upon her subjects, and requested
him to take steps to bring Macneill to justice. Desirous
above all things to avoid giving offence to the Maiden

* Reg. ofP.C., Vol. XIII., pp. 745-6.

cood in wholesome awe cast

>ut him for i likely instrument of capturing the

d rover. The reputation of Roderick Mackenzie, after-
the Tutor of Kintail, as a bold and resolute man, was
lovvn to the King, aad to him he gave the task of seizing
acneill, a task not devoid either of difficulty or danger.
:kenzk iertook the commission, and con-

ed a plar the lord of Barr

by s- himself as a

arrive Castle of Kish

.tnder hatch,

as th the merchantman,

ible stor Macneill. He was a t,

Norway to Ireland. On his way to Barra, he
Vench ship, and had bought from her a quantit
brandy and wines. Would the Chief of the Macneills
to accept his hospitality on board of his ship, and
i his liquor?, The Chief of the Macneills
proof against the temptation, for he liked a cup of
d wine as well as anyone in the Hebrides. Attended
ly by his ordinary body-guard, he accompanied
jeudo-trader on board, and the flowing bowl was s
'lence. On a given signal, the men under hat-
i out and made the whole party prisoners; thr
oighed, and soon the outlines of Barra i

e have one more example
wine and treachery played in th
fecting the capture of desperate men. .
'ue cou ickenzie brt

before the
: James to find

lesperado whom he had expected to
eman, with a ber
.!, -who looked i
i pirate who
•

286 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Queen of England by his piracies, the ready-witted son
of Barra replied that he thought he was doing his Majesty
good service by annoying " a woman who had killed his
mother ! " This reply was too much for James. Turning
to Ruari Mackenzie, who, throughout the interview, had
acted as interpreter, he exclaimed : " The devil take the
carle ! Rory, take him with you again, and dispose of him
and his fortune as you please." Which Rory accordingly
did. He restored the estate of Barra to Macneill, reserving
the superiority to himself, in recognition of which, Macneill
agreed to pay him and his heirs, forty pounds per annum,
provide a hawk when required, and on extraordinary
occasions, assist his Superior with his men, if so desired.*

We find the Captain of Clan Ranald soon afterwards
casting longing eyes on Boisdale in South Uist, which
formed part of the Barra property. By virtue of a charter
of 1427, confirmed in 1495, Ruari Macneill's title to Bois-
dale was undoubted. Clanranald, however, finding him an
inconvenient neighbour, determined, in 1601, to oust him
from South Uist. Attacking Macneill in North Boisdale,
he drove him out of Uist, forcing him to take refuge in one
of the remote islets of Barra. Thus it was that Boisdale
passed into the possession of Clanranald, and was included
in a Crown charter of the Clanranald properties dated 24th
July, i62O.f

On 1 3th June, 1605, Macneill of Barra was charged with
other islesmen to appear before the Comptroller, produce his
titles, and find caution for payment of his rents. On 9th
January, 1610, a commission was issued to seize him, owing
to his refusal to give obedience to the King and Council.
He was charged with committing all " kynd of barbaritie "
on the poor inhabitants of Barra and of the adjacent isles ;

* Eraser's Earls of Cromartie, p. xliii. Genealogy of the Mackenzies, p. 9.

f Clan Donald, Vol. II., pp. 304-5. Hist. MSS. Com., App. to Report IV.,
p. 482 (175). It is a curious fact that Boisdale continued to be comprised in
the estate of Barra after the middle of the seventeenth century. When
Sir John Mackenzie in 1627, and Sir George Mackenzie in 1655, were served
heirs to the properties of the Cromartie family, including Barra and its perti-
nents, the latter embraced Boisdale. In the charters of Boisdale, to the Clan-
ranald family, it is described as " Bowistill " and " Benistill " of North Uist.

I

THE UISTS AND BARRA. 287

from which it would appear that the mild-looking outlaw
was again at his old tricks. The outcome of this commission
is not recorded.

About this time, a piracy occurred on the coast of Barra
which created a considerable stir. A ship belonging to a
certain Abel Dynes, a merchant of Bordeaux, appeared off
the coast, and according to Lewis tradition, the natives
supposed she had been sent to subjugate the Long Island
on behalf of the Scottish Government. The same tradition
relates that the clans in Lewis held a Council of War, set
off for Barra in the Brieve's galley and two other large
" schuyts," boarded the strange ship, and killed the whole
of the crew, with the exception of one man, his wife, and
child. From the boy — so the tradition relates — the Mac-
kinnons of Lewis are descended. Whether or not this
narrative has been erroneously connected with the capture
of Abel Dynes's ship, it is certain that the piracy of the latter
gave rise to a domestic quarrel among the Macneills, which
placed the members of that unhappy family in two opposing
camps, and embittered the declining years of old Ruari.

The latter had contracted a " handfast " marriage with a
sister of Maclean of Duart, by whom he had several sons,
the eldest, named Donald, being the leader of the attack
on the Bordeaux ship. A commission was given to
Clanranald to apprehend him, which the latter carried out
in February, 1610. The prisoner was confined in the Tol-
booth of Edinburgh where he "endit this lyffe." Ruari
Macneill's lawful wife was a sister of Clanranald, and the
action of the latter, in seizing Donald Macneill, aroused the
enmity of Donald's brother, not only against Clanranald,
but against his nephews, Ruari Macneill's sons by Clan-
ranald's sister. This bred bad blood between the brothers-
german; and the sons of the senior family, assisted by their
uncle Maclean, in revenge seized Neil, the elder son by the
second marriage, and sent him to Edinburgh to stand his
trial as a participator in the piracy. Neil, however, was
found innocent of the charge, and through the influence
of Clanranald, was set at liberty. And so the quarrel was

X 2

288 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

perpetuated, the enmity between the brothers-german in-
creasing, instead of diminishing, with time. That the old
chief should be dragged into the feud was inevitable.
Apparently, his leanings towards his junior family were too
pronounced to escape the notice of his eldest sons, who
strongly resented his attitude. Neil Og and Gilliconneill,
who are described as Macneill's " natural sons," at length
decided upon a bold step. With their partisans, they be-
sieged and captured Kisimul Castle, seized their father, and
kept him a prisoner in irons. The old man and Gilleonan
Og, a son by the second marriage, lodged a complaint with
the Council on nth March, 1613, and the Council imme-
diately sent a charge to the King's messenger to denounce
as rebels, Neil Og, his brother, and John MacAllan. A
commission was given to Clanranald to pursue the
rebels, " thair being no uther who wald undirtak suche a
commissioun."* Armed with this commission, Clanranald
succeeded in terminating the quarrel, in a manner which
was satisfactory to himself, his nephews, and the old chief
of Barra. He secured the succession to the chiefship for
the eldest son of the junior family, on the death of Ruari
Macneill, an event which occurred soon afterwards. By
a Crown charter dated i6th July, 1621, the grant of Barra,
with its pertinents, to the Tutor of Kintail, was confirmed,
and his son, Sir John Mackenzie of Tarbat, was, in 1627,
served heir to the estate.f We find the property still in
the possession of the Cromartie family when, in 1655,
Sir George Mackenzie of Tarbat was served heir to his
father, Sir John.f At the commencement of the eighteenth
century, the then chief of the Macneills held the island from
Macdonald of Sleat. According to Dr. George Mackenzie,
Barra was transferred by Sir John Mackenzie of Tarbat to
Sir Donald Gorm Macdonald ; but it is difficult to recon-
cile this statement with the facts already mentioned. In
any case, the Macdonalds obtained the superiority by
marriage, and it still remains, nominally, with them.

* Reg. of P.O., Vol. X., p. 817.

t Inquis. Retor. Abbrev. (Ross and Cromarty, No. 71 ; Inverness, No 78).

THE UISTS AND BARRA. 289

The Macneills of Barra were not the only chiefs of the
Long Island who augmented their incomes by occasional
piracies. John Moidartach, Captain of Clan Ranald, and
great-grandson of his more famous namesake, did not
despise this lucrative occupation. In 1625, a Leith ship,
with a cargo of tea, wines, and general merchandise, was
rounding Barra Head bound northwards, when Clanranald
and some of his men, cruising about in their galleys for
likely prey, fell in with her. The stranger was without
ceremony boarded by the Macdonalds and plundered. It
requires no great stretch of the imagination to assume that
the self-denying ordinance of total abstinence, prescribed
by the Lords of the Privy Council, was on this occasion
more honoured in the breach than in the observance. A
similar exploit on the part of Clanranald occurred in 1636,
when the Susannah, an English barque bound from France
for Limerick, was driven ashore off the coast of Barra. The
vessel sent up signals of distress which were seen by the
Barra men, some of whom went out to her, and with a
remarkable business instinct, arranged with the captain for
salvage. They towed the ship into harbour, but on landing,
were confronted by John Moidartach with 300 of his men,
who seized the Susannah as his lawful prize. Her cargo,
consisting of wine, fruit, corn, &c., was taken possession of
by Clanranald, who, to give some show of legal colour to
the proceedings, compelled a wretched youth who was on
board to call himself the agent for the cargo, and in that
capacity, to sign a document, professing to sell the mer-
chandise for a certain sum, which Clanranald promised, but
failed to pay. The owner of the vessel was similarly dealt
with. The ship was valued at £150, but the owner was
forced to sell her for £8 ; glad enough, no doubt, to escape
with his life.* For these piracies, Clanranald was, on both
occasions, put to the horn, but that was a sentence which
could be lightly borne with such rich hauls in his posses-
sion. The Long Island was a place to be avoided by
peaceful traders, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

* Clan Donald, Vol. II., pp. 325-7.

290

CHAPTER XL

COLIN, Lord Kintail, was now the master of Lewis, but
the embers of disaffection had not yet been completely
stamped out. After the return of Malcolm Macleod from
abroad, he resumed his old game of annoying the Mac-
kenzies, by attempting to stir up a fresh insurrection
against them in the Outer Hebrides. Gathering together
a body of adherents, he became the terror of the Isles,
and more particularly of the fishermen frequenting the
coast of Lewis. In consequence of these depredations,
the Privy Council granted, on I4th November, 1622, a
commission of fire and sword to Lord Kintail, Ruari (now
Sir Roderick) Mackenzie of Coigeach, and others of the
Clan Kenneth, for the pursuit and apprehension of Macleod,
and the suppression of the enterprise upon which he and
his associates were engaged ; and a proclamation, ordering
the concurrence in these proceedings of other inhabitants
of the North Isles, was simultaneously issued. These
measures had the desired effect ; but Malcolm, slippery as
ever, again escaped from his enemies. Four years later,
the resolute outlaw once more appeared on the warpath,
and commissions similar to that of 1622 were, on 2Oth
September and 28th November, 1626, issued by the
Council, the latter commission embracing, besides the
Mackenzies, Macleod of Harris, Macdonald of Sleat, and
Maclean of Duart. With nearly the full power of the
Northern Hebrides thus arrayed against him, Malcolm
was rendered powerless to do further mischief, and this
seems to have been his last descent upon Lewis. Ac-
cording to a MS. history of the Mackenzies, he retired
to Ireland — doubtless to the Antrim estate of Sir James

THE STORNOWAY CHARTER. 291

Macdonald — where he died. His two brothers, Ruari and
William, were afterwards captured by Sir Ruari Mackenzie,
and executed.

On 23rd December, 1623, Lord Kintail was created
Earl of Seaforth and Viscount Fortrose, taking the former
title from Loch Seaforth in Lewis.* In 1625, he took
part with Macleod of Harris, Donald Gorm, and the
Captain of Clanranald, in subduing the rebellion of the
Macians of Ardnamurchan, who, despairing of obtaining
justice against the powerful House of Argyll, were driven
to a career of piracy. Macleod and his son-in-law, Clan-
ranald, were severely reprimanded by the Privy Council
for their want of energy in pursuing the outlaws, but
Macleod subsequently received a handsome apology for
the strictures passed upon him, after he had contributed
to the final defeat and dispersion of the Macians. Soon
afterwards, the chequered career of Rory Mor came to an
end by his death. His public acts were not always credit-
able, but his private character, if judged by the testimony
of MacVurich and the Lament of MacCrimmon, his famous
piper, was that of a hospitable Highland chief, to whom
his clansmen were greatly attached.

In 1625, Colin, Lord Seaforth, received from the Privy
Council a commission of justiciaryship within his own
bounds, but without prejudice to the hereditary rights of
jurisdiction possessed by the Argyll family over the Isles.
In 1628, a spirited controversy took place between Lord
Lome, as representing the House of Argyll, and the chiefs
of the North Isles, headed by Seaforth, touching the
location of the Courts of Justiciary in the Hebrides, these
being kept distinct from the Justice Ayres recently re-
organised in Scotland by Charles I. While the discussion
was proceeding, Lord Lome secured a charter, ratifying
previous grants of the office of Justiciary over the Hebrides ;f
and in 1629, he was authorised to hold his Courts for the

* The original name was "Seafort " (Seafiord), and the chiefs of the Clan
Kenneth so signed their names down to the eighteenth century.

t Hist. MSS. Com., Report IV., pp. 486-7 ; App. to Report VI., pp. 624-5.

292 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

North Isles at Inverness. In March, 1634, a commission
was granted to George, second Earl of Seaforth, to proceed
against the disorderly and "broken" Islesmen who were in
the habit of raiding Ross; but in July of the same year, this
authority was delegated to Lord Lome, who evidently
feared that his rights would be infringed.* And in 1641,
Lord Lome (then the Marquis of Argyll) lodged a formal
protest in Parliament against any infringement of his justi-
ciary privileges, by reason of the infeftment of Seaforth in
the Island of Lewis/f The emoluments, as well as the
influence, flowing from the justiciaryship were not in-
considerable, and the tenacity with which the Campbells
clung to the office is intelligible. In addition to the
sovereign power which the office conveyed to its holder,
half the amount of fines and escheats of the Court went
to the Justiciary, and in the state of society which then
existed in the Isles, that represented an important source
of revenue.

While the Earl of Seaforth was engaged in checkmating
the House of Argyll, he was also busily employed in laying
plans for developing the resources of Lewis. The first hint
we have of these projects is contained in the petition of
James Galloway, Master of Requests, and Nathaniel
Udward of Leith, in August, 1627, relative to a patent for
casting iron, ordnance, and shot. The petitioners had
secured their patent from the King, with a promise of an
advance of £2,000 sterling for the prosecution of the work ;
but the money not having been paid, they had entered into
partnership with Seaforth, who proposed to start ironworks
on his estate for carrying out the objects of the patent.
It was now desired that no payments of any kind should
be exacted by the Crown for the space of five years, the
patentees thereafter, during the life of the patent, to pay
the King the sum of £200 sterling per annum, the exemp-
tion being claimed on the ground that the ordnance to be

* Hist. MSS. Com., Report IV., pp. 486-7 ; App. to Report VI., pp. 624-5.
f The Earl of Sutherland also protested, probably in connexion with the
superiority of Assynt.

THE STORNOWAY CHARTER. 293

cast was intended for the service of the country. The
Privy Council recommended the King to grant the prayer
of the petitioners, and in June, 1628, the latter received a
patent for twenty-one years, empowering them to manu-
facture all sorts of ordnance with bullets, &c., and to erect
the necessary works for the purpose.

In the meantime, Seaforth seems to have gone to London,
with the object of securing from the King a patent for the
erection of Stornoway into a Royal burgh. A few words
of explanation are required to show the importance to
Stornoway of a charter of erection.

As already stated, it had been erected into a " free "
burgh of barony, but this did not confer upon it the trading
privileges of a free burgh Royal. A free burgh of barony
enjoyed certain trading rights in cattle, horses, and sheep,
&c.,but only the freemen of the Royal burghs were entitled
either to import foreign merchandise or — and this was the
important point for Stornoway — to export native com-
modities by sea. The consequence was, that the acknow-
ledged capacity of Stornoway for expansion was denied
any scope, solely on account of its exclusion from the
charmed circle of the Royal burghs. The loch fishings
of Lewis were in the hands of the burghs, and by statute,
they had the sole right to " pack and peil" (pile) ashore.

The theory underlying the constitution of Royal burghs
was, that the feuars should hold direct from the Crown.
In practice, there were important exceptions to this rule.
Both Glasgow and Inverness, for example, held from
Superiors other than the Crown. But the Royal charters
conferring upon such towns the trading privileges of free
burghs, were sometimes loosely interpreted, as also giving
them a title to call themselves " burghs Royal." In course
of time, the fundamental difference between the constitu-
tions of the two kinds of burghs was obscured, if not
obliterated, except where it was raked up to resist en-
croachments upon privileges ; an instance of which will
presently be noticed. The ridiculous monopolies of the
free burghs Royal were curtailed by a statute of 1672,

294 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

initiated by Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh in the
teeth of the free burghs. In 1690, another Act was passed,
expressing the law as it stood in respect of these privileges,
the enforcement of which became increasingly difficult,
until, in 1846, they were abolished for ever.

These, then, were trie circumstances under which Lord
Seaforth set out for London to obtain a charter of erection
for Stornoway. Without the charter, the burgh was useless
as a centre of foreign trade ; for the produce of the island
and of the sea which surrounded it, had to pass through
Inverness, or other Royal burghs, which fattened on Storno-
way's loss. And the import trade of Lewis with foreign
countries, was similarly hampered by the existing system
of monopolies. The Lewis traders could only retail foreign
merchandise, which they had bought from the freemen of
Royal burghs. Seaforth's representations to the King
proved successful ; he secured a charter, and thereupon
petitioned the Convention of Royal burghs to give effect
to it. On 1 3th June, 1628, the Convention of burghs
considered the petition, and after " mature deliberatioun,"
decided against it. The grounds upon which this decision
was based were twofold, material and technical. It was
argued that the proposed erection would prove prejudicial
to a number of adjacent burghs, especially of Tain and
Inverness. It was objected that Stornoway would become
the depot of the Highlands and Isles for articles of export,
such as beef and tallow, forbidden to burghs of barony ;
and lying so remote, would carry on an uncontrolled trade
in those commodities ; that the trade in cattle and fish,
which formed a source of profit to the adjacent Royal
burghs, would be diverted to Stornoway ; and particularly,
that the benefits of the fishing of those parts, " which is the
only fischeing of this countrey," would fall into the hands
of the Hollanders whom Seaforth proposed to import for
the development of the industry.

A technical objection to the charter was founded on the
law and practice of the country, which provided that the
privileges of a Royal burgh could only be conferred upon

THE STORNOWAY CHARTER. 295

such burghs as owned no Superior save the Crown ; whereas
the immediate Superior of Stornoway was the Earl of
Seaforth. It was proposed by the charter that Seaforth
was to hold Stornoway in feu, with the liberties of the
King " allanerlie " (only), but this provision, the Convention
argued, did not remove the legal difficulty.

The fishing at Stornoway, said the Commissioners, was
prosecuted by the West burghs, the rest of the Northern
burghs, and men from the Fifeshire coast. The fishermen
visited Stornoway annually and took their fish home,
supplying, according to law, the kingdom's wants before
exporting any. If Stornoway were made a Royal burgh,
the inhabitants of the town would appropriate the fishing,
and cause the whole of the fish taken by others to come
to the burgh, where the owners would be compelled to
sell them. The Stornowegians would export the fish to
" forraine plaices," and thus Scotland would receive no
benefit from the fishing grounds ; while the free burghs
would be also deprived of the means of exchange with
foreign countries, to the " utter overthrow of all trade and
ruine of the haill schipping of this kingdom." So the
Commissioners argued.

But the chief fear which the burghs professed, lay in the
intrusion of strangers. James I. of England had granted
Hollanders, on certain conditions, the right of fishing in
Scottish seas, keeping themselves always " ane kenning "
(14 miles) from the land, the shore and loch fishing being
reserved for natives. If, said the Commissioners, this
charter were confirmed, Seaforth would have power to give
the Dutchmen these reserves within his bounds, in which
case, the whole fishing of the country would pass into the
hands of the foreigners, who would export the total catch,
leaving the country " cast loose and desolate." And in
course of time, these strangers would get hold of the
plaiding, skin, wool, and yarn trades, which were the only
ones that remained, and so the whole trade of the country
would pass to foreigners, from whom the necessities of the
natives would have to be obtained. The shipping of the

296 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

country, too, would be ruined, for foreign bottoms would
alone be employed in the carrying trade.* They knew by
experience what these Dutchmen were capable of doing,
when once they obtained a footing in the country. Thus
the Commissioners of Royal burghs moaned their com-
plaints.f

An impartial examination of the objections urged by the
Convention, cannot fail to show that they had a weak case.
The legal objection was clearly invalid, for some of the
existing Royal burghs did not hold from the Crown.
While it may be conceded that some of the fears expressed
may have been not altogether baseless, it is clear that the
Convention's arguments were, on the whole, somewhat
fanciful, if not frivolous. Morbidly jealous of their privi-
leges, the burghs felt, not unnaturally, uneasy at the prospect
of their monopolies being invaded by a town which they
regarded with contempt. No suggestion appears to have
been made for providing such safeguards in the charter, as
would prevent the foreign invasion which the Commissioners
professed to dread. The attitude of the Convention was
that of uncompromising hostility to the proposed erection ;
and any objection, however unreasonable or far-fetched,
was considered good enough to bolster their case. The
interests of Tain, Inverness, and the Southern burghs were
considered before those of Stornoway ; and so Stornoway
had to suffer.

A week after the Convention met, the King addressed a
letter to the Privy Council, desiring the erection of Stornoway
into a Royal burgh, provided no material objections were
offered by the free burghs of Scotland. He states that his
" right trustie and weil-belovit cousine, the Earl of Seafort,"
had petitioned him in the matter, and having in view the
promotion of civilisation in these " remote islands/' which

* The burghs themselves were not above chartering Dutch vessels for export-
ing their herring, when it suited their interests to do so. The Dutch merchant-
men being worked more economically than the Scotch vessels, and carrying
outward cargoes of timber, could afford to accept one-third of the freight
demanded for native tonnage. The latter, too, sometimes got ice-bound, and
had to cover that risk in the freight.

f Records of Convention of Royal Burghs* Vol. III., pp. 257-62.

THE STORNOWAY CHARTER. 297

would accrue from the erection, he had signed a charter
giving effect to the petition. He was all the more willing
to grant Seaforth's request, because it was the intention of
the latter to proceed home immediately, to complete his
plans for starting ironworks and casting ordnance.* The
King, therefore, ordered the Council to communicate with
the Provost and Bailies of Edinburgh, desiring them to
convene a meeting of the Royal burghs for 8th July, and
thereafter to state their reasons, if any, against the proposed
erection. If any material objections were made by the
burghs, the matter was to remain in abeyance until such
objections had been laid before his Majesty for his con-
sideration ; but if no injurious results were urged, such as
would tend to the ruin and decay of the other burghs, or
would prejudice the interests of the kingdom generally,
the signature was to hold good, and the charter was to be
" exped."t

It is obvious that the King had an inkling of the atti-
tude adopted by the Convention of burghs : the similarity
between their arguments and the " material '' objections
mentioned in the letter of Charles suggests, indeed, that
means had already been taken by the Commissioners to
acquaint him with their views. On 2nd July, John Hay
Town-Clerk of Edinburgh, reported to the Convention
that the charter had been signed by the King, who had
referred the matter to the consideration of the Lords of
the Exchequer ; and a meeting of the representatives of
the principal burghs was called for 8th July, to consider the
best means of opposing the signature. On nth July, the
burgh of Edinburgh was appointed to represent the Con-
vention at. a meeting of the Privy Council, and was em-
powered to act generally in the interests of the burghs, in
respect of the matter.

* It is not quite clear whether the ironworks were to be started in Lewis,
or whether Stornoway was simply to be the market for the output at Letterewe.
There were copper and lead mines in Lewis at the beginning of the seventeenth
century,. as appears by a patent granted to "Archibald Prymrois " (Reg. of
Privy Council of 'Scotland ', Vol. X., p. 525). Matthew Symson (1738) states
(The Present State of Scotland, p. 18), that there were iron mines in Lewis.

t Reg. of P.C. (2nd series), Vol. II., pp. 336-7.

298 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

During the month of July, the fight for and against the
charter was vigorously contested between Seaforth and
the burghs. The Privy Council listened to the arguments
and counter-arguments on both sides, and then resolved —
to do nothing. From letters addressed by the King to the
Exchequer, Seaforth, and the burgh of Edinburgh, on
1 8th July, it appears that he was in favour of delay, and
the Privy Council were thus enabled to escape, temporarily,
from the necessity of giving an immediate decision. Sea-
forth was made a Privy Councillor on 8th July, an appoint-
ment which, doubtless, strengthened his position ; but the
objections of the burghs were not to be lightly ignored.
In the meantime, the Earl was directly encouraged by the
King to treat with the Dutchmen for settling in Lewis, but
was cautioned against coming to any definite understanding
with them, until the fate of the charter had been finally
decided.

In the following year (1629), the whole matter was re-
opened. The immediate cause seems to have been the
precipitancy of Seaforth, who exceeded the King's autho-
rity by bringing certain Dutchmen to Lewis, while the
question of the charter was still pending. This was an
impolitic act, which had a direct bearing upon the ultimate
defeat of the Earl in his tussle with the burghs. The
latter immediately complained to the Privy Council, and
in March, Seaforth and his opponents were before that
body fighting their battle of words once more. The
burghs triumphantly cited, in support of their complaint,
an Act passed by the Parliament of August, 1621, con-
firming the Acts of previous Parliaments, which ordained
"that no strangers nor other inhabitants within this
kingdome sould packe or peill in anie place of the His
outwith free burrowes, nor transport anie forbiddin goods
furth of the same." Seaforth, instead of furthering these
Acts of Parliament, as " by his birth and place quhilk he
halds in the state," might have been expected of him
had, " to thair great greefe, drawin hither ane nomber of
strangers, who daily resorts to and fra Holland to the

THE STORNOWAY CHARTER. 299

Lewes and continent nixt adjacent, and hes caused thame
be answered of all such commoditeis as these bounds
affoords, as namelie, with fishes and beaves (black cattle),
quhilks, with the hyde and talloun (tallow), with manie
uthers commoditeis, they transport to Holland." Accord-
ing to the burghs, the Earl had been misled by " the
insinuatiouns and projects of strangers, who ar ever bussie
to pry in the secreits and mystereis of nighbouring estats
where the hope of gayne is apparent," and who had " inculcat
in his eares manie great hopes and projects of wealth and
credite by erecting of a burgh in the Lewes and planting of
a colonie of strangers thairin." A doleful picture was
drawn of the injury these strangers had inflicted upon the
trade of the country. Ruin stared the Scottish traders
in the face, their families being left destitute, and their
shipping being about to be sold for want of employment*
Against this weighty indictment, Seaforth simply argued
that the burghs had no standing to pursue him, and that
he was responsible to the King alone for any breach of the
Act. But this objection was overruled, and the Earl was
ordered to observe the Act within his bounds. And the
burghs obtained a letter from the King to the Lords of the
Exchequer, charging them to withhold the charter.

The discomfiture of Seaforth gave rise to unexpected
developments. In July, the Convention of burghs formu-
lated a scheme for confirming them in possession of the
Lewis fisheries, and for securing the necessary powers to
erect a free burgh in the island and improve the fishing
industry. This was an artful move which, if successful,
would at one stroke have frustrated any " open-door "
policy. John Hay was authorised to conduct the negotia-
tions on behalf of the burghs ; and the Convention could
have hardly have made a better selection for the purpose.
While these arrangements were in progress, the King
wrote the Lords of Exchequer, instructing them to endea-
vour to effect an amicable arrangement between Seaforth

* JReg, of P.O., Vol. III. (2nd series), pp. 95-6.

3oo HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

and the burghs, so that the charter might be completed
without further delay. But nothing was further from the
intention of the burghs than to permit the passing of the
patent, on any consideration, and it is not surprising to find
that the well-meant attempt of Charles to settle the matter
was fruitless. Far from adopting a conciliatory attitude,
the burghs again petitioned the Privy Council to redress
their grievance in respect of the Hollanders in Lewis,
towards whom, it is interesting to notice, the inhabitants ol
Stornovvay were favourably disposed. The Council referred
the petition to the King, and suggested that Seaforth's
presence at Court offered a good opportunity for dealing
with the matter, But at this stage, fresh developments
were appearing.

In the month of November, the question of the
Stornoway charter was being considered in London. The
document was then in the hands of Sir William Alexander,
Secretary for Scotland, and certain clauses in it, deemed
specially objectionable, were under discussion. One
Captain John Mason, who appears to have had some
personal knowledge of Lewis, suggested to Secretary
Coke, as a means of settling the difficulty, that the charter
should be cancelled, and that the island should be pur-
chased by the King and those associated with him, in a new
fishing venture which was then in contemplation. Fishing
stations would be established in the island, and a free
burgh erected, with privileges similar to those about to be
granted to the Dutch settlers by Seaforth's charter. The
co-operation of the Scottish burghs was to be obtained, their
existing rights in the Lewis fisheries to remain unimpaired.
The natives of the island were to pay rent to the pur-
chasers, who, it was estimated, would by this means redeem
the purchase price in fifteen years.* Sir William Monson
supplemented these suggestions by formulating a scheme
for working the fisheries of Orkney, Shetland, and Lewis.
Besides the proposed grant of privileges to the Adven-

« MS. in Public Record Office. State Papers (Domestic), Charles I.,
Vol. CLII.,No. 66.

THE STORNOWAY CHARTER. 301

turers, he suggested the institution of a revised system of
government in those islands ; the erection of a principal
town in each of them ; and the instruction of every child
of the islanders in the English or Scottish (Lowland)
language, with other forms of education according to the
ability of the natives. He also deprecated any communica-
tion between the islanders and the people on the mainland,
stating that it was impolitic to allow the former to be too
friendly with the Highlanders, "who are naturally the
most dangerous and worst people living." Monson further
submitted a statement of the advantages derivable by the
Dutch from the possession of Lewis, and enumerated the
benefits which the country would receive from the encour-
agement of the fishing by subjects of the King.* The
representations of Mason and Monson soon bore fruit.

In January, 1630, a letter from the King was read at
a meeting of the Privy Council of Scotland, in which
Charles announced that he had taken another course of
action in reference to Lewis, " whiche, as we doe conceave,
may verie muche import the good of that our kingdome " ;
that, in the meantime, Seaforth's charter was to be stopped
in Exchequer ; and that no more foreigners were to be
allowed to settle in the island. In the same month, Hay
reported to the Convention of burghs that the passing of
the charter had been delayed, but that the matter was to
be further considered in the following March. The Con-
vention instructed Hay to press for the absolute cancelment
of the patent, and to obtain an injunction, restraining
Seaforth from settling any more foreigners in Lewis, thus
retaining in the hands of natives (of Scotland) the fishings
"which God and Nature hes vouchsafed upon them."
He was also empowered to continue the negotiations for
securing to the burghs, the exclusive right to develop the
industry.

At the Privy Council meeting on 26th January, the
matter again came up for discussion. Incidentally, we

* Calendar oj State Papers (1629-31), Vol. CLII., No. 67.

V

302 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

discover that the Dutchmen who had settled in Stornoway
traded in tallow, butter, hides, skins, and plaiding — a
respectable list of exports, which shows the comparative
capabilities of the island in those days as a centre of
export. Charged to appear to answer for his Dutch
dependents, Seaforth informed the Council that there were
only " ten or twelffe men " altogether.* So all this pother
was about a dozen inoffensive Dutchmen, who were doing
useful work by instructing the Stornowegians in the arts
of fishing and trading. But it is fair to the burghs to say,
that the few Dutchmen in Stornoway were evidently the
pioneers of a considerable influx. Furnaces and other
necessaries for making train oil had been imported into
the island, the enterprising foreigners having included a
whale fishery in their projects. The Council ordered
Seaforth not to add to his "ten or twelffe men," and
informed him that he would be answerable for any breach
of the laws committed by the latter.

On Qth March, the discussion was renewed at a meeting
of the Council, the proposals of Seaforth and of Hay
being under consideration. Hay offered, on behalf of the
burghs, to people Stornoway with " natives onelie " ; a
proposal which suggests unpleasant reminiscences of the
Fife Adventurers. Unable to come to any decision, and
having in view the King's hint of an alternative scheme,
the Council, at their meeting, ten days later, determined
to refer the whole matter to the decision of Charles, with
the suggestion that he should pay regard to his own
interests, rather than to those of the contending parties,
neither of whom had substantiated their statements by
proofs. The whole of the arguments on both sides were
accordingly forwarded to London, together with the
famous charter.

Seaforth followed his charter to London in order to

* Capt. Dymes, who visited Lewis in 1630, states that besides seamen,
there were only seven Dutchmen, including the Agent of the Dutch merchants,
residing in Stornoway. They had built there "a pretty dwellinge house"
and a storehouse.

THE STORNOWAY CHARTER. 303

protect his interests, but his attention to business was
interrupted by illness. In May, a meeting between the
Lord Treasurer, Seaforth, Monson, and Mason, was
arranged to discuss the charter. As the result of that
interview, the charter was finally and absolutely cancelled,
doubtless by mutual consent. Mason had previously
proposed that Seaforth should join the company of adven-
turers, to assist them by his influence, and to " keepe the
islanders in awe." It is more than probable that the Earl
agreed to the proposal. He had no special leanings
towards Dutchmen. All he wanted was to develop the
fisheries and the general trade of Lewis, and to break
the monopoly of the Royal burghs by obtaining for
Stornoway the privileges to which it was entitled. Satis-
factory assurances being given to him on these points, he
was not concerned to press further for his charter.

The circumstances concerning the inception of the new
scheme for developing the fisheries of Britain, deserve
attention.

From an early period — as far back as the ninth century
— the fishermen on the east coast of Scotland carried on
an export trade with the Low Countries. By an ordinance
of the Royal burghs in 1429, this trade was restricted to
the surplus catch, after the wants of the Scottish coast
towns had been supplied at a fixed rate : a decree that led
to the emigration of a number of Scottish fishermen to
Holland. This Scottish settlement gave a fillip to the
industry in the Low Countries, where improved methods
of curing had been discovered not many years previously.
The pupils soon became as expert as their teachers, and
surpassed them in enterprise. The Hollanders began to
export fish themselves, and from that time onwards, their
prosecution of the fishing industry was attended with
phenomenal success.

In the reign of James the Fifth, their busses appeared on
the coasts of Scotland, where they had a verbal license to
fish outside a limit of twenty-eight miles. Some of the
Hollanders presumed on this license, by fishing near the

Y 2

304 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

shore in the Firth of Forth. King James being a man who
would stand no nonsense, sent men-of-war after them, and
many of the foreigners were captured. As a warning to
their compatriots, the King decapitated the prisoners, and
sent a barrelful of their heads to Holland, with their names
affixed to their foreheads on cards.* In 1594, the Dutch
appeared on the coast of Lewis for the first time, armed
with a license granted to them by James VI., which
permitted them to fish outside a limit of twenty-eight
miles. In very early times, the Hebridean herring fisheries
were worked by Frenchmen and Spaniards, but it was not
until after 1580, that the wealth surrounding the Lewis
coast was discovered by the fishermen of the Lowlands.
The latter confined their operations to the loch fishings of
the island, where their success was, beyond doubt, the
main factor in instigating the proceedings which led to the
expedition of the Fife Adventurers.

By the beginning of the seventeenth century, the
Hollanders had made great strides in the fishing industry.
According to the testimony of Sir Walter Raleigh and
John Keymer,f the work of the Dutchmen in British waters
gave employment to a huge army of their fishermen,
seamen, and tradesmen ; and the States of Holland derived
from the fisheries alone, a revenue twice as large as that
yielded by the entire Customs of England. As many as
3,000 Dutch busses were sometimes at work on the Scottish
coasts, Shetland, especially, being their favourite ground.
Their encroachments gave rise to various complaints on the
part of the natives, and ultimately to the appointment of a
Commission for the purpose of arranging with the States
to redress the Scottish grievances. The negotiations wjere
fruitless, and the Duke of Lennox was on the point of
forming a Scottish Fisheries Company, when his death
nipped the project in the bud. Meanwhile, certain Dutch

* MS. in Public Record Office, State Papers, Vol. CLIL, No. 63. See
Appendix D.

f In 1674, according to L'Estrange, there were twice as many Dutch
busses as there were in Raleigh's time, and the value of the fish taken by
foreigners in British seas was no less than ^10,000,000.

THE ENGLISH FISHING SETTLEMENTS. 305

merchants who were anxious to obtain a footing in Lewis,
agreed with Seaforth that if he succeeded in obtaining a
charter for Stornoway, they would be willing to form
a settlement there, with the view of developing the fishing
and other resources of the island.* In 1628, in pursuance,
doubtless, of this understanding, Dutch busses re-appeared
on the coast of Lewis, and their success was marked. In
less than three months, four of them made a clear profit of
^7,500. The master of one of these busses stated that
there was fish enough for a thousand busses. .And yet the
local boats numbered only a dozen all told."!" It is not,
therefore, surprising that Seaforth was so anxious to obtain
trading privileges for Stornoway.

It will be seen that there was plenty of scope for a
purely British Corporation, to work the valuable fisheries of
the kingdom. The King resolved upon the formation
of such a Corporation, not merely to prosecute so lucrative
a calling, but — to quote his own words — to serve as
" a nurserie of seamen and to increasse the shipping and
trade in all parts of our dominiouns." In 1630, the articles
of the proposed Corporation were drawn up, and in July of
that year, the King's intentions in the matter were made
public. Sir William Alexander delivered to the Estates a
letter from Charles, setting forth his views in respect of the
Scottish fisheries. A beginning was to be made with an
addition of 200 vessels of thirty and fifty tons each, to the
existing fleet, at a cost of £120 per vessel, the crew to
consist of sixteen men and boys, whose wages were to
be at the rate of 135. 4d. per month. The net profits for
the year, after deducting the cost of construction, equip-
ment, wages, stores, &c., were estimated at rather more
than £827 per vessel. Lewis was to be established as
the seat of a continual fishing along the west coast of
Scotland, and Secretary Coke estimated that the profits

* It was supposed by some that Seaforth sold Stornoway to the Dutchmen,
and then tried for a charter to cover his action. There is, however, nothing
to justify belief in this assumption.

t MS. in Public Record Office (Captain Dymes's Report}. See
Appendix F.

306 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

of the Lewis fisheries would reach, in one year, a sum
of £18,270.

The King stated his intention of inaugurating local
societies in the chief cities or burghs of every district in
England, the supreme direction to be in the hands of a
central Corporation. A similar course, it was suggested,
should be followed in Scotland, each district contributing
its share of the expenses, and receiving its share of the
profits. Captain Mason was employed by Charles to treat
with the Lords of Council in Scotland, and lay his instruc-
tions before them.

The chief hope of Charles lay in the Hebrides, and
especially in Lewis, where the fishing was to be carried on
all the year round. One Captain John Dymes visited
Lewis, and was commissioned to draw up a report on the
island, with special reference to the fishings, and to the
most suitable places for the erection of one or more free
burghs, and the establishment of a market for traffic. The
result of these preliminary arrangements appears in the
King's instructions about the island, as follow :

" And becaus the Lewes is the most proper seate for a
continuall fishing along the Westerne Coasts, yow ar to
lett the lords know that we are resolved to take it into our
awin hand as adherent to our Crowne, yitt purposing to
give suche satisfactioun to the Erie of Seafort as sail be
honnourable and just. To whilk end, the lords sail
demaund the said Erie ane trew particular of the rents he
receaves there, and certifie us how they may be main-
teanned and made good from tyme to tyme. It is also
our purpose, as yow must accquaint the lords, to erect
in that ylland one or moe free burrowes, in suche places
as sail be fittest for advancing of the fishing and for
magazens and stages."*

On 3Oth July, the King's instructions were read to the
Scottish Privy Council, at a meeting held in the Lord

* Acts of Par/., Vol. V., pp. 220-3.

THE ENGLISH FISHING SETTLEMENTS. 307

Chancellor's bedroom, who was lying ill of gout. The
gouty Chancellor was the Earl of Dunfermline, Seaforth's
father-in-law, and we know by letters from Seaforth and
Captain Mason, that Dunfermline did all in his power to
further the views of Charles. John Hay violently opposed
the scheme, and made a bitter attack on Seaforth for
bringing the Dutchmen to Lewis. The King's letter was
laid before Parliament, and a committee was appointed to
consider the proposals.

Meanwhile, pressure was being brought to bear upon the
nobility to interest themselves in the plans of Charles. In
a letter to the Earl of Carlisle, Seaforth commends him
for exerting his influence in this direction, but points out
that the burghs formed the real stumbling-block. They
are disinclined, Seaforth asserts, to associate themselves in
the undertaking either with strangers or natives. " They
like not that noblemen or gentry should understand
matters of industry." They will do what they can to
induce the King to delay giving effect to his scheme. But,
adds Seaforth, if Charles will pay regard to the good of his
kingdom and his own profit, he will carry out his intention
of erecting a free burgh in Lewis.

That the Scottish burghs were inclined to adopt a policy
of obstruction is clear from their proceedings. On pth
August, a set of articles was drafted by the Convention for
the consideration of the burghs. The first matter to be
decided was the expediency, or otherwise, of co-operating
with England in the new scheme, and whether or not the
English should be permitted to establish themselves in any
part of the Hebrides. The desirability, or otherwise, of
accepting as partners in the undertaking, the nobility and
gentry of the country had also to be decided, together with
the conditions of such partnership in respect of capital and
profits. If the decision of the burghs were opposed to a
joint-stock undertaking of this description, it was matter
for further discussion whether the burgesses as a whole
should accept the proposed responsibility, or whether a
Company be formed, and if so, whether the burgesses who

308 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

remained outside the Company should be debarred from
any share in the venture. And if the latter point were
decided in the affirmative, the question of raising capital
had to be considered.*

On the following day, the subject was further discussed
by the Convention. It was pointed out that notwith-
standing the withdrawal of the charter to Seaforth, the
Flemings had not yet left the island — the dozen Dutchmen
in Lewis apparently came from South Holland — and John
Hay was empowered to endeavour to persuade the King to
expel them, and in the meantime to delay granting per-
mission to any more strangers to settle in Lewis.*

The influence of the burghs was, meantime, apparently
brought to bear upon the Committee appointed by the
Estates. In their report, the Committee declared against
any association with England, and stated that the Scottish
burghs were willing to work the loch fishings, and the
fishing ground comprehended within a limit of " twa
kennings " from the coast, provided they were allowed to
plant stations in suitable places. The natives of Scotland,
they said, had always been in possession of this reserved
ground, and the reserves had never been encroached upon
by the Hollanders. But Commissioners were appointed
by Parliament to confer with the Englishmen and exchange
views.

In November, the Earl of Monteith, President of the
Privy Council, presented to Parliament a report on the
proceedings of the Scottish Commissioners, together with
the King's instructions, the Commissioners' observations
thereon, and the reply of the English Commissioners to
the Scottish objections. Commenting on the proposal of
Charles for the erection of one or more free burghs in
Lewis, the Scottish Commissioners reported that no answer
could be given until the next meeting of Parliament, because
it was necessary to consult the Royal burghs on the matter.
The King's letters and instructions, addressed to the Estates

* AV. of Con. of Royal Burghs, Vol. III., pp. 321-3.

THE ENGLISH FISHING SETTLEMENTS. 309

and the Privy Council, showed how dear to his heart was
his pet fishery scheme. The furthering or hindering of his
plans, he declared, would oblige or disoblige him " more
than anie one bussines that lies happened in my tyme."
In order to arrive at a working agreement, Charles ordered
the Estates to delegate representatives, invested with abso-
lute powers, to confer and conclude arrangements, with the
English Commissioners.

The reply of the English Commissioners sounded a note
of impatience. The hardly veiled opposition to the views
of Charles, in respect of Lewis, was received with dis-
approval. The Commissioners declined to interfere between
the King and the Estates, but plainly hinted that it would
be more becoming to fall in heartily with the wishes of
Charles than to cavil at them, and that it would be well
not to strain the King's prerogative unduly.

Finally, the Estates, as commanded, delegated Com-
missioners, including John Hay for the Royal burghs,
invested with full powers, but with definite orders how to
act. On 1 3th November, the Convention of burghs gave
Hay his instructions. He was strictly charged to exercise
due care and diligence, that nothing be done to prejudice
the privileges enjoyed by the Scottish nation, either in
England or Ireland. He was told to do his utmost to
obtain for the burghs a reservation of the fishings claimed
by them ; and in order to secure this condition, was allowed
to give way to the Englishmen, if they insisted upon taking
over the Lewis fishings ; provided they refrained from fish-
ing in the reserved waters, and undertook not to establish
any other stores or plantations in the Hebrides, or north of
Buchan Ness. But Hay was to insist upon the right of
the burghs to establish stations in Lewis being recognised,
as well as any other privileges to which they held them-
selves to be entitled.

He was also charged to petition the King (i) to remove
the Flemings from Lewis, and to approach the Estates of
the Low Countries with the view of arranging that their
fishermen should keep " ane kenning " from the Scottish

3io HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

shores ; (2) to obtain the assistance of Sheriffs and other
officers of the Crown in order to prevent all strangers from
fishing in the reserved waters ; and (3) to expel all foreigners
from Orkney, Shetland, Caithness, and all other places in
Scotland frequented by them, and to restrain the natives
from trading with them. And having regard to the liberties
granted to English fishermen in Scotland, he was further
instructed to endeavour to obtain for the burghs, permission
to prosecute the pilchard fishings of England and Ireland.*

In a letter to Secretary Coke dated I5th December,
Seaforth states that he has received a summons to Court,
with regard, as he conceives, to the fishing, and he promises
to attend as ordered, and will meanwhile do what he can
to hasten the proceedings of the Commissioners. He
recommends that the King hold firm to his intention of
erecting a Royal burgh in Lewis. This was exactly what
the burghs intended to prevent, by any means in their
power. The shelving of the question until the next meet-
ing of Parliament, was plainly a pretext at the instigation
of the burghs, designed to defeat, ultimately, any such
erection. There is no record of the question having ever
been discussed in Parliament, or a committee appointed to
consider it.

The two sets of Commissioners at length got fairly to
work. Asked to describe, specifically, the waters which
they wished to be reserved, the Scottish Commissioners
were at fault, and were compelled to refer home for par-
ticulars. When these arrived, the proposals of the Scotsmen
were put in a tangible form. The fishings of the Outer
Hebrides which they wished to be reserved for the use of
natives, extended from the most easterly point of Lewis
to the most westerly point of Barra, including a limit
of fourteen miles from the coast. The Privy Council of
Scotland suggested certain modifications in respect of the

* Rec. of Con. of R»yal Burghs, Vol. III., pp. 324-6. The Convention
records from 3rd March, 1631, to 3rd July, 1649, being unfortunately missing,
it is impossible to follow, from that source, these interesting negotiations
further. But the Acts of Parliament (Scotland) and the State Papers in th
Public Record Office supply the information which is lacking.

THE ENGLISH FISHING SETTLEMENTS. 311

Commissioners' proposal. It was not until September,
1631, that the Royal burghs emitted a declaration, approv-
ing of the Council's recommendations. The bearing of
these upon the reserved fishings of the Long Island was,
that the latter, as finally agreed upon, covered the Minch
from the Stor of Assynt to the most easterly point of
Lewis, and extended along the east coast of Lewis to Barra,
including the lochs on that coast, with the Broad Bay and
Bayble Head fishings.*

The Earl of Seaforth wrote Secretary Coke in January,
1631, from Edinburgh, explaining that his delay in coming
to Court was caused by the dangerous illness of his wife.
He prophesied that the fishing business would again be
! put off during that year, unless the King exercised his
i authority. That his fears were well-grounded is evident
from the facts already mentioned ; apparently the Scottish
burghs left no stone unturned to hamper the negotiations
as much as they dared. In June, Seaforth, then in London,
was again in communication with the Secretary ; pleading
| illness for not going to Court ; begging Coke to let him
know what plans had been decided upon concerning the
plantation (of Lewis) ; and expressing a hope that his
rights would be respected. Sir William Alexander and
Hay being about to return to Scotland, Seaforth suggested
the desirability of concluding the agreements before their
departure, and of issuing definite orders for erecting
Stornoway into a free burgh. He adds : " Ye shall never
have undertakers till ye know where to fish." We find the
Earl again writing Coke on the subject in January, 1632,
urging haste, as he was a great loser by the delay. The
Scottish Commissioners appear to have made a point of
the existing statutes, which forbade strangers to fish in
Scottish waters, or Scottish fishermen to sell their fish to
strangers ; and to have held that Englishmen were included
in that category. Captain Mason, impatient with the
obstructionist tactics of the Scotsmen, suggested that the

* Acts of Part. , Vol. V., p. 238.

312 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

King should, until the next meeting of the Scottish Parlia-
ment, construe this statute as not applying to natives of
England, and in the meantime, should purchase Lewis and
proclaim a free fishing to all his Scottish subjects, paying
to Seaforth the usual ground-leave to " pack and peel."
The efforts of the Scottish burghs to keep the Englishmen
out of Lewis proved unavailing, and John Hay was obliged
to give way as, in fact, he had been empowered to do, if
necessary.

The Company of the General Fishery of Great Britain
and Ireland received its charter on igth July, 1632, and in
September of the same year, the charter was read before
the Privy Council of Scotland and ordered to be " exped."
It provided for the appointment of twelve Councillors, one
half of whom were to be Scottish, and the other six, English
or Irish. Exclusive jurisdiction in cases relating to the
fishings was granted to the Company, and powers were
given to fish herrings or " sea " fish in all British seas,
salmon fishing being excluded, and the loch fishings being
reserved for the use of the natives. Certain peculiar privi-
leges were conferred upon its members, which included
liberty of exportation, exemption from ordinary taxation,
and from liability to serve the Crown in other capacities,
in order that the fishing might suffer no interruption.

The Corporation being now constituted, and ready to
commence operations, instructions were conveyed to the
Privy Council of Scotland to remove all strangers who
fished in the Isles, especially in Lewis and Shetland.
Attention was directed to the detriment caused by the
foreigners inhabiting Lewis, and fishing and trading there,
contrary to the laws of the country. The Council were
reminded of the complaint which had been made by the
Royal burghs against Seaforth, who had been required to
bring the strangers before the Lords, but had failed to
comply with the order. He was now to be charged to
obey the Council, and the foreigners were to be censured
for transgressing the laws by exporting forbidden goods,
and failing to pay the Customs duties ; and were to find

THE ENGLISH FISHING SETTLEMENTS. 313

surety for abstaining from such courses. The heritors of
the Isles were to be ordered to prevent foreigners from
fishing or trading within their bounds, and to do their
utmost to preserve the fisheries for the use of natives and
the members of the Fishery Company.*

The first branch of the Corporation to establish itself in
Lewis appears to have been one, at the head of which was
the Earl of Portland, the Lord Treasurer of England.
Captain Mason was consulted as to the manner in which
the Association's stock should be employed. He had the
whole scheme mapped out. The partners were to become
naturalised Scotsmen (thus escaping the disabilities under
which the law placed non-Scotsmen) and be made burgesses
of a free burgh to be erected at Stornoway — in pursuance
of the Act of Parliament passed during the reign of King
James VI. — thus enabling them to conduct general trading
as well as fishing. The King was to purchase Lewis from
Seaforth, giving him other lands in lieu thereof, and the
whole island was to be given up to the fishing industry.
A company of soldiers was to be sent to Lewis, and ten
pieces of ordnance were to be supplied by the King for a
fort at Stornoway. Six acres of land near Deptford were
to be set apart for building dwelling-houses and workshops,
for those employed in spinning and making nets. And
detailed suggestions were made for the general conduct of
the Associates' business.f

In February, 1633, the Council of the Corporation had .
the Lewis fisheries under consideration. Captain Mason
was admitted as a Fellow of the Corporation, and was
charged to consult John (now Sir John) Hay, in respect of
the ground-leave to be paid to Seaforth. All the pre-
liminaries having been arranged, the fleet of herring-busses
and trading vessels set sail for Lewis under the command
of Mason. In May, Mason's vessel, the St. Peter, was
appointed flag- ship of the fleet, and power was given to
him as the chief Agent of the Corporation in Lewis, to try,

* Acts of Par!. Vol. V., pp., 244-5.

t MS. in Public Record Office, State Papers, Vol. CCXXIX., No. 95,

3i4 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

and punish offences committed by the fishermen and sailors
of the fleet.

Another Association, headed by the Earl of Pembroke
and Montgomery, received about this time (apparently
against Lord Portland's wish) the sanction of the Cor-
poration for working the Lewis fisheries, and established
a station in the island. We shall see later on how the two
Companies fared there.

Colin, Earl of Seaforth, only lived long enough to see
his efforts for encouraging the development of the fishing
industry in Lewis, crowned with success. He died at
Chanonryon I5th April, 1633, at the early age of thirty-six,
his premature death being probably the result of some
malady, of which there are hints in his letters.

He was a man of conspicuous ability, and his efforts for
developing the resources of Lewis and raising the status
of the town of Stornoway, should be remembered with
gratitude by Lewismen, although primarily, perhaps, his
exertions were instigated by a desire to add to his personal
income. He was a munificent patron of the Church, and
a warm friend of the cause of education. His style of
living was magnificence itself. When he visited Lewis in
state, he was attended by a bodyguard which Royalty
might envy, and a flotilla of boats was required for the
stores of wines and beer which accompanied him. He
built Brahan Castle and made considerable additions to
the Castle of Chanonry. All this magnificence had to be
paid for, and we are not surprised to learn that he imposed
high rents upon his tenants, which they, very naturally,
•considered a most " grievous imposition." He was by far
the most influential landlord in the Western Highlands
and North Isles, and it is with pardonable pride that the
author of the Ardintoul MS. relates how Maclean, Clan-
ranald, Raasay, Mackinnon, and other great chiefs came to
pay their respects to him. His sister, Janet, was married
to Sir Donald Macdonald of Sleat ; and his sister Sybilla
was the wife of Macleod of Harris. Thus, by family influ-
ence, as well as by territorial power and personal ability,

THE ENGLISH FISHING SETTLEMENTS. 315

he exercised an unquestioned authority over the neigh-
bouring chiefs. By his wife, Margaret Seton, daughter of
Alexander, Earl of Dunfermline, Lord High Chancellor of
Scotland, he had a son, Alexander, who died in his youth ;
and two daughters, the elder of whom, Anna, married
Alexander, second Lord Lindsay, who was created Earl of
Balcarres by Charles II. in 1651. We shall meet Lord
Balcarres later on. Anna Mackenzie's second husband
was Archibald, ninth Earl of Argyll, who was beheaded in
1685. Seaforth's younger daughter, Jean, was married to
John, Master of Berridale, their son being George, sixth
Earl of Caithness. Seaforth was succeeded by his brother
George, who was served heir to Lewis on 24th May, 1633.

The new Earl professed as great a friendship for the
fishing venture in Lewis as did his predecessor. Captain
William Buxton, who had been deputed to ascertain his
views, submitted to Secretary Nicholas a report, which
was entirely favourable. Seaforth entertained Buxton at
Chanonry, and promised to do all in his power to assist
the undertaking. The natives of Lewis, and the Lowland
fishermen (the " Highlanders " and the " Scotch ") were
greatly influenced by Seaforth's attitude, and when Buxton
visited " Leeas " (Lewis) in May, 1633, he found that the
general prospects were decidedly rosy. His imagination
pictured great hauls of herring, ling, and cod, sufficiently
large, in his estimation, to supply London with plenty of
fish during the " hard time of winter."

Soon after Buxton's visit, Seaforth was called upon by
the Council of the Corporation to " explain " his interest
in anchorage and ground-leaves in Lewis, and he desired
to be heard thereon at the next Council meeting on
ist July. Thus early, these dues claimed by the heritors
of the Hebrides promised to be a fruitful source of trouble
to the Englishmen. The ancient custom was to exact, for
ground-leave and anchorage, the following dues, viz. : —
From each boat, a barrel of ale or of meal at the owner's
option ; for each anchor laid on shore, six shillings and
eight pence ; a payment of three pounds in money for

3i 6 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

every last (12 barrels) of fish caught; and the benefit of
every Saturday's fishing. About 1620, however, Macleod
of Harris, Macdonald of Sleat, and Clanranald entered
into a contract with certain East Coast burghs, providing
for the payment of thirty-six shillings Scots only, for every
boat engaged in the herring fishing, and twenty merks for
every one employed in the grey and white fishing.

These dues were apparently considered excessive by the
English settlers, for we find that in 1634, on their initiative,
the heritors of the islands where the Englishmen fished,
were called before the Privy Council of Scotland to give
an account of their imposts. Among those who appeared
before the Council, and gave evidence relative to the
history and incidence of the dues, were Macdonald of
Sleat, Macleod of Harris, Clanranald, and Macneill of
Barra.

In the same year, the King wrote the Privy Council with
reference to the accommodation to be provided in Lewis,
for the use of the Fishing Associations. In pursuance of
his determination to resume possession of lands in
Scotland alienated from the Crown by his predecessors,
Charles claimed the ownership of Lewis — perhaps the only
instance in which he gave effect to his resolution. He
was credibly informed, said his Majesty, that he had an
undoubted right to Lewis ; that a great many bygone feu-
duties remained unpaid ; and that from every point of
view, he had a better title to the island than Seaforth.
Unwilling, however, to be too hard upon the brother of
his late favourite, the King announced that he would be
content with so much of the island as might be required
for the use of the Associations, provided that the Earl
took a new grant of the remainder of the property, paying
the old feu-duty. The Council were ordered to settle the
matter accordingly for the good of the new enterprise.*

The deep interest taken by Charles in the scheme is

* Collect, de Reb. Alb., p. 106. Charles does not seem to have troubled
his head about the omission to pay the duties, until the fishing question
brought Lewis prominently to the front.

THE ENGLISH FISHING SETTLEMENTS. 317

shown at every step. He invoked the Bishop of the Isles
to co-operate in furthering the interests of the adven-
turers ; and directed the Privy Council of Scotland to
inquire into the charges levied by the heritors of the Isles,
and to ascertain whether or not foreigners were being
brought to the islands by the proprietors. The Privy
Council appointed Lord Lome and the Bishop of the Isles
to institute the necessary inquiries, and late in 1634,
submitted their report, containing the details of the dues
as noticed above. Seaforth, who had good reasons for
maintaining cordial relations with the King, informed the
Commissioners that he imposed no charges at all on the
Englishmen in Lewis, and that no foreigners were allowed
within his bounds.

We shall now see how it fared with the English settlers
in Lewis. In order, doubtless, to impress the natives with
the fact that the King of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland was the patron-in-chief of the Fishing Corporation
and its off-shoots, the Resident Agent at Stornoway caused
the Royal standard to be unfurled on the walls of Storno-
way Castle. The intrusion of the Englishmen was a
bitter pill to the Lowland fishermen, who had hitherto
monopolised the best fishings of the island. One of the
Lowlanders, a fisherman named Thomas Lindsey from
Crail, Fifeshire, became the ringleader of an organised
opposition to the new-fangled Society and its representa-
tives. When he saw the Royal colours flying at Stornoway
Castle, he ran up the flag of the Duke of Lennox beside
them, and went about Stornoway telling the people that
the Duke had more lands in England, Scotland, and
France, than he who called himself King of France.
" Charles I. has nothing to do with Lewis," he declared.
He was never proclaimed in the island, and had therefore
no authority over it. In January, 1635, Lindsey had a
serious quarrel, over a question of wreckage, with the
Association of the Earl of Arundel and Surrey, Earl
Marshal of England, who, on the death of Lord Portland,
had assumed the direction of the affairs of the Company,

318 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

of which his son, Lord Maltravers, had from the first been
an active member. A ship, laden with a cargo of herrings,
and a fishing buss, both belonging to the Association, were
riding at anchor in Stornoway Harbour when a storm arose
which drove them ashore ; but no damage was done or
loss sustained. Lindsey appeared upon the scene with
a body of armed followers, and pretending to be the
representative of the deputy of Lord Linlithgow, Vice-
Admiral of Scotland, seized the ship and her cargo, and
the buss. The Englishmen produced their certificates
from the Council of the Fishing Corporation, and protested
against the seizure as illegal. Lindsey, who was unable
to show any written authority for his action, treated the
certificates of the Englishmen with contempt. Repeating
his statement that King Charles had nothing to do with
Lewis, he threatened to be the death of every Englishman
in the island.*

The example of Lindsey was contagious. The natives
now began to treat the strangers in a high-handed fashion.
A number of them, fully armed, and drawn apparently
from all parts of the Long Island, surrounded the English-
men's busses while engaged in loch fishing, boarded the
boats and carried away their kettles and provisions, alleging
that they did so in payment of the dues to which their
chiefs were entitled.*

These proceedings resulted in a strong complaint being
forwarded to the Council of the Corporation by their
representatives in Lewis. The latter besought their
directors to request the Privy Council of Scotland to take
cognisance of the matter, so that the cargo of herrings
seized by Lindsey might be returned to them, and he
himself punished for his share in the transaction. It was
suggested, too, that the heritors should be bound by the
Privy Council, to restrain their tenants from committing
any outrage upon the petitioners' fishermen, busses, or
nets, and from disturbing the fishing on account of pre-

* Cal. of State Papers (1635), pp. 130-2.

THE ENGLISH FISHING SETTLEMENTS. 319

tended dues. The directors were also urged to have the
question of ground-leave finally settled on a fair basis, and
to secure that a similar arrangement be made with Seaforth
in respect of packing houses, store-houses, and lodgings,
at Stornoway. A petition couched in similar terms was
addressed to the King himself. A previous statement of
grievances had embodied suggestions, for the appointment
of deputy-judges to administer justice in all matters con-
cerning the fishing ; the exemption of the petitioners'
vessels from all taxation ; the legalising of information
taken on oath ; the ejection of all fishermen from Lewis,
except those holding certificates from the Council of the
Corporation ; and the opening of negotiations in respect
of an import tax recently imposed on herrings shipped
to Flanders.

The directors of the Corporation at once adopted vigorous
measures for the protection of their representatives in Lewis.
Letters were addressed to the Privy Council of Scotland, in
the sense indicated by the petitioners, and the King was
approached to lend his support to the protest. The directors'
proposal for settling all future controversies in respect of
wrecks, or pretended wrecks, in Stornoway Harbour, and in
respect of the fishings generally, was eminently practical.
Four judges were to be appointed to hear and adjudicate
upon all fishing disputes, and the King was requested to
command that in future, the parties were to bring all such
cases before this Court for trial. Charles entered heartily
into the proposal, and declared at a meeting of the Council
of the Corporation, that he would not permit their employes
to be interrupted in their work, by officers of the Scottish
Admiralty questioning them about pending disputes ; he
would only allow them to be questioned by the Council, or
by such judges as the Council might appoint.

The King wrote the Privy Council of Scotland about the
complaints from Lewis, and charged that body to bring
the delinquents to justice, and to restore to the petitioners
their goods, if they had been taken from them unlawfully.
The lords and barons of the lochs of the Western Isles

z 2

320 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

were to be sent for to Edinburgh, and bound over to restrain
their tenants from committing outrages on the King's
subjects. And all questions of ground-leave were also to
be settled by the Council, particularly with the Earl of
Seaforth. In a second letter from Charles to the Privy
Council concerning the now famous case of wreckage in
Stornoway Harbour, then pending in the Admiralty Court,
he ordered the case to be decided in that Court with all
equity and expedition. But all future cases connected
with the Lewis fishings, were to be decided by the judges
who had been appointed by the Council of the Fishery
Corporation. Sir John Hay, Clerk-Register, was at the
same time charged by the King to see that the abuses
complained of were tried and punished, and that the fishing
was to be allowed to proceed without interruption. On
the same date, Charles also wrote Seaforth, commanding
him to protect the Englishmen from being disturbed in a
work in which he (Charles) had taken so much pains, and
a work which promised to be for the public benefit

In response to the representations made by the King,
the Privy Council of Scotland issued a proclamation, the
preamble of which set forth that the King's subjects were
being robbed of their fish and victuals by the Islesmen,
who broke the shoals of herrings, and threatened to break
the heads of the fishermen. Among those who were charged
to put a stop to these proceedings appear the names of
Seaforth and Macleod of Harris, who, with their colleagues,
were forbidden to give warrant to any persons under them,
except those for whose good rule they would be answer-
able. These measures for the protection of the Corpora-
tion's servants in Lewis appear to have had the desired
effect, for we hear no more about the persecution of the
strangers.

One of the petitions presented in 1635 to the Lords
Commissioners for the Fisheries of Great Britain and
Ireland, is of peculiar interest to Lewismen. The peti-
tioner, one Captain Alexander Moure (Muir), stated that
thirty-six years previously, he and his brother belonged to

THE ENGLISH FISHING SETTLEMENTS. 321

the band of Fife Adventurers who attempted to colonise
Lewis. They remained in the island seven years, when,
" on a sudden incursion," the petitioner lost his brother and
the estates of both, valued at £8,000, and was dangerously
wounded as well. Returning home to obtain redress from
King James, he was forced to go abroad to the war, and
after many travels — apparently as a soldier of fortune —
returned to England about 1621. By command of the
King, whose wishes were made known to Muir by the
Duke of Richmond and Sir William Monson, he was
ordered, under promise of a reward, to remain in England
to give information about the Long Island, in connexion
with fishing colonies which it was proposed to plant there.
This is the only intimation we have of any renewed attempt
on the part of James I., to tackle the thorny problem of
planting a colony in Lewis. Whatever plan may have
been suggested, the scheme evidently proved fruitless — it
was probably shelved until a more convenient season.
About the time of the accession of Charles I., Muir was
again approached by Monson on a similar errand, from
which we may conclude that the great fishery scheme of
Charles I. was the outcome of deliberations extending over
a considerable number of years, and was suggested, in the
first instance, by the richness of the scaly spoils of the
Minch. Muir claimed to have spent £1,000 (which he had
earned in the foreign wars) during the time he was then
detained in England, and found himself so much in debt
that he " dare not walk the street.'1 He therefore claimed
compensation, with what result does not appear. The
war-worn veteran certainly deserved some consideration at
the hands of those who had utilised his information.*

The intention of Charles in respect of Lewis proved to
be no empty threat. Whatever arrangement the King had
proposed to make with his favourite, Colin, Earl of Seaforth,
it is clear that George, the second Earl was, notwithstanding
the previous declaration of Charles, treated with scant

* Cal of State Papers (1635), Vol. CCXCL, No. 46.

322 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

ceremony. When he petitioned the King for the ratifica-
tion of his right to Lewis, he received a point-blank refusal.
Again Seaforth made application, and again his petition
was unavailing. In August, 1635, the question was referred
to a joint committee of the Lords of Council and the Lords
of Session. The King's Advocate on the one side, and
Seaforth on the other, having both been heard, the com-
mittee's report was submitted in January, 1636. Seeing
his case was hopeless, the Earl wisely announced his
decision of placing himself unreservedly in the King's
hands. In October, 1636, a contract was accordingly
entered into by Charles and Seaforth, which was followed
by a charter to the latter under the Great Seal, dated
1 3th March, 1637, and ratified by Parliament in 1641. In
terms of this charter, Lewis, with its pertinents, was granted
to Seaforth, to be held in feu from the Crown for an annual
payment of 2,000 pounds Scots. The town and burgh of
barony of Stornoway with its castle, harbour, and as much
land as might be required for the General Society's fishings,
and the accommodation of the fishermen, with pasturage,
fuel, and " foggage " (coarse rank grass) in the adjacent
fields, were, under this charter, resigned absolutely in
favour of the King and his heirs in perpetuity. And
" for reducing of the inhabitants of the said He of Lewis
to civilitie, and for increase of policie within the same
ile," Stornoway was to be erected into a free burgh
Royal.*

When, by a charter dated 3Oth September, 1678, ratified
in 1 68 1, the Seaforth estates were transferred to Sir George
Mackenzie of Tarbat, Sir Alexander Mackenzie of Coul,
and Colin Mackenzie of Redcastle, under circumstances
which will be noticed later on, Stornoway was reserved to
the Crown in terms exactly similar to those embodied in
the charter of 1637, but the stipulation concerning its
erection into a Royal burgh appears in a modified form ;
and the modification is important. In the later charter,

* Acts of Par I. > Vol. V., p. 530. Revenues of the Scottish Crown, pp.
119-20.

THE ENGLISH FISHING SETTLEMENTS. 3*3

ic wording is : " erected or to be erected by his Majesty for
educing the inhabitants of Lewis," &c.* It is inconceiv-
ible that a lawyer like Sir George Mackenzie would be a
ty to this cautious phrasing, unless there was some

mnd for the belief that the erection had actually taken
place. Writing in 1681, Sir William Purves, Solicitor-
General for Scotland, states that in 1637, Charles I. was
very anxious for the reservation of the Burgh, Castle, and
Port of Stornoway, intending to make them " very advan-
tagious" to the kingdom, and to stop the fishing of others
in those parts. " Yet," he goes on to say, " notwithstand-
ing that his Majesti (Charles II.) now hes undoubted ryght
to the same, throw the distractiones of the tymes, his
Majesti's ryght hes not been looked efter."f

The intentions of Charles I. in respect of Stornoway
are quite clear. We have already noticed the proposal
to make the representatives of the Fishery Corporation
burgesses of the free burgh of Stornoway, to be created
under the Act of 1597. That the Englishmen in Lewis
enjoyed, as burgesses of Stornoway, all the trading privi-
leges of freemen, is proved by allusions to the fish which
they exported to foreign markets from that port. That
the town was, therefore, during their occupancy, in posses-
sion of the exclusive trading rights of a free burgh Royal
cannot be doubted. The Act of 1597 authorised the
creation of a burgh possessing those privileges, and the
legal quibble under which the Convention of Royal burghs
took refuge, in objecting to its erection, was demolished by
the action of the King, in assuming the proprietorship of
the burgh, thus constituting it a de facto " King's burgh."
At whatever time, and in whatever manner, the Act of
1 597 was carried out ; whether or not a charter of erection
was ever granted to the community, or to Seaforth, as
representing the community ; it is clear that the weight of
evidence lies on the side of the erection having, in some
manner, become an accomplished fact ; otherwise the

* Acts o/ParL, Vol. VIII., pp. 382-4.

f Revenues of the Scottish Crown, pp. 119-20.

324 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Englishmen must have been trading illegally, an altogether
improbable supposition. Stornoway is certainly entitled
to a patent of arms, with supporters, as a Royal burgh,*
if proof that it actually exercised the privileges, and
occupied the status, of a free burgh Royal, justifies the
grant!

For a time, the fishing operations in Lewis appear to
have been carried on with success, merchants from London,
and even goldsmiths, venturing their lives and their capital
in the far-off island, hoping to reap a golden harvest from
the treasures of the Minch. Then financial difficulties
arose. Some of the shareholders, disappointed by the
results, or finding safer outlets for their capital, failed to
meet the calls on their shares. The Association headed
by the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, had established,
about 1633, a factory in Lewis, which seems to have been
less successful than that owned by the Lord Treasurer's
Company. Captain John Smith, author of Trade and
Fishing of Great Britain, had been sent by the Earl, in
1633, to report upon the Shetland and Lewis fisheries.
Captain Smith's report on the Dutch fishermen is interest-
ing. He tells us that the Hollanders — a people of " constant
labour and unwearied industry " — monopolised the Shetland
fisheries. They had 1,500 herring busses, each of about
80 tons, with about 400 dogger boats of 60 tons and
upwards, for the cod and ling fishing, the whole being con-
voyed by over twenty warships, each carrying thirty guns.
Smith states that the " ' composition ' of the Dutchmen was
an annual rent of ;£ioo,ooo sterling and .£100,000 in hand,"
which had never been paid, the arrears amounting to no
less than two and a half million pounds.! This report was
distinctly discouraging to new-comers, and it doubtless

* In 1898, on the initiative of Provost Anderson, an attempt was made to
assert the claim of Stornoway for recognition as a Royal burgh. The attempt
was based upon the charter to Colin, first Earl of Seaforth, which, as we have
seen, was withdrawn. The Convention of burghs decided to offer no opposi-
tion to the claim, but, owing to constitutional difficulties, no practical result
followed.

t The Dutch gave ^30,000 in 1636 for leave to fish on the coasts of Britain,
hus compounding, apparently, for bygone debts.

THE ENGLISH FISHING SETTLEMENTS. 325

induced the Earl of Pembroke to try Lewis in preference
to the Shetlands. His Lewis representatives managed his
factory so badly, that in two years they had exhausted the
whole of the available capital and were largely in debt.
Some of the Earl's colleagues refused to find any more
capital, but with the assistance of the others, and by con-
fining the work of his factory chiefly to the curing of
herrings, he managed to keep the concern afloat. Accord-
ing to his own showing, the Earl of Pembroke at length
" attained to the true and perfect art " of taking and curing
herrings, making nets and casks, and building busses, and
had also found out the best foreign markets for the fish.
But this state of prosperity was rudely disturbed. The
Dunkirkers and other foreign pirates swooped down upon
a number of the busses, and carried off the crews to captivity,
where some of the men died, and the others had to be
ransomed at a heavy cost. The total loss sustained by the
Earl's Association through the Dunkirkers was estimated
at .£5,000, and in his statement submitted to the Council
of the Corporation in February, 1640, Lord Pembroke
professed his inability to send his boats to sea again with-
out fresh capital. In these circumstances, he left the King
to find some method of continuing the work, suggesting,
however, that a good plan for raising funds would be to
give his Association the power to start a standing lottery,
similar to the grant obtained by the Virginia Company in
1612 ; the management of this lottery to be in the hands
of the most " discreet " members of the Association. Lord
Pembroke also desired that the King should take steps for
the recovery of damages from the Dunkirkers, and subjects
of the King of Spain, and for protection from their depre-
dations in the future. Charles happened himself to be
present at the meeting of the Council when this remon-
strance was under consideration, and at once assented to
the Earl's suggestion of a lottery. His attitude towards
the proposal for obtaining restitution from the Dunkirkers
was, however, more guarded. If Lord Pembroke saw fit,
he could send an agent to demand reparation, and if

326 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

satisfaction were denied, letters of marque or some other
remedy would be granted to the Association.*

We find, from a letter dated 3ist August, 1638, written
by Simon Smith, Agent for the Royal Fisheries, to Sir
John Pennington, that while the general affairs of the
Corporation were represented as being in a flourishing
condition, their station in Lewis was apparently in an
unsatisfactory state, for it was proposed to abandon it.
And in July, 1639, there is a reference in a petition of the
Corporation's creditors, to " sundry provisions and houses
at the Isle of Lewis valued at £1,659 8s. id.," which, it
may be observed, was regarded as a doubtful asset. But
the representatives of the Earl of Pembroke's Association
were, in 1640, still in Lewis, and were preparing fresh plans
for making the station pay. If, therefore, any Lewis
station was given up before 1640, it must have been that
of the Lord Treasurer. There are no further records of
the Englishmen's venture in Lewis, and it may well be
supposed that in the turmoil of the Civil War, the fisheries,
in common with the other industries of the country,
became completely disorganised. There are no traces left
of the English settlement in Lewis ; but half a century
later, Martin discovered in Hermetra, Sound of Harris, the
remains of a store-house used by the strangers ; and they
are believed to have built one, also, on a small island in
Lochmaddy.t

In 1 66 1, Charles II. attempted to revive the project of
his father, by inaugurating a Society on the same lines as
its predecessor. The King invested £5,000 in the under-
taking, and received the support of a number of merchants
and noblemen ; while, to assist the funds, lotteries were
established in England, and voluntary collections were
made in the parish churches. When the old Corporation
was formed, the Dutchmen who were in Lewis were forced
to leave the island. When the Association of Charles II.
came into being, Dutchmen were invited to settle in

* Cat. of State Papers (1639-40), pp. 440-1.

t The charter of the parent Corporation was not annulled until 1690.

THE ENGLISH FISHING SETTLEMENTS. 327

Stornoway in order to assist the undertaking. Surely this
was a signal triumph for the foresight and wisdom of Colin,
Earl of Seaforth. Some Dutch families actually settled
in Stornoway,* and in view of the reputation which the
Hollanders of that period had earned for industry and
frugality, it may well be believed that their presence was
beneficial to the town. But when the rupture between
England and Holland occurred in 1665, the Dutchmen
were compelled to return home. In 1669, stock was again
being raised for the Company, but according to Sir George
Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, many merchants refused to sub-
scribe, fearing to be " overawed " by the noblemen, while
many noblemen held aloof, fearing to be cheated by the
merchants. In these democratic times, when noblemen
are sometimes business men, and merchants sometimes
men of title, no such difficulty could arise; but different
class distinctions and different standards of morality pre-
vailed in the reign of the Merry Monarch. The King
himself, always impecunious, finally withdrew his capital
from the Company, requiring the money for other and
probably less worthy objects ; the merchants followed his
example, and the whole concern collapsed.

In 1677, a new Company was formed under the Royal
auspices, and was endowed with special privileges. Most
of the Company's busses were built in Holland and manned
by Dutchmen ; and a promising commencement was made.
But during the war with France, six out of the seven
vessels were captured by the French, and in 1680, the
Company sold its remaining property. Fresh subscriptions
were raised by a number of merchants to repair these
losses, but the death of the King and the political troubles
which followed that event, rendered the project ineffectual.

Soon after the Revolution, a further attempt was made
to form a Fishery Company, but it proved unsuccessful.
Several similar efforts were put forth after the Union. In

* Symson (The Present State ofScotlami) states they so improved the inhabi-
tants during their short stay, that they still (1738) •' exceed all those of the
neighbouring isles and mainland."

328 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

1749, a Corporation came into being for the promotion of
British fisheries, and a system of bounties was established
which continued until 1830, with unsatisfactory results ;
the bounty being paid on the tonnage, boats were equipped
to catch the grant rather than the fish. In 1786, the
British Society was established for extending the fisheries
of the Highlands and Isles of Scotland. The chief objects
of this Society were to provide employment, and thus stern
the tide of emigration ; and to create a new nursery of sea-
men by the establishment of fishing towns and villages.
Like its predecessors, the Company met with no permanent
success, although several towns, such as Ullapool,
Tobermory, and Pulteney Town owe their origin to its
operations. Only one station was established in the Long
Island. During the nineteenth century, the fishing
industry of Scotland was allowed to develop without
extrinsic aid, except such as was provided by the Fishery
Board. At the present day, the depredations of steam
trawlers on the coast of Lewis exercise the minds of the
community, in much the same way as the encroachments
of the Dutch fishermen disturbed the equanimity of the
Scottish burghs in the seventeenth century.

While Charles I. was employed in fostering the fishing
industry of Scotland, he was still more strenuously
engaged in attempting to wean his unwilling Scottish
subjects from the principles of Presbyterianism, back to the
discipline and ceremonies of Episcopacy. His father had
partially succeeded in stemming the flood of popular and
clerical opposition to prelacy, and Charles, a more devoted
and less politic Episcopalian than his predecessor, had set
his heart on completing the work. But he quickly
discovered that the changes which John Knox and his
followers had wrought in the religious sentiment of the
Lowlanders of Scotland, far from being a passing phase,
had become permanent principles ; the Reformation in
Scotland was, in fact, nothing short of a Revolution. The
revulsion of feeling which followed the overthrow of
Romanism had, it is true, been modified by the insidious

THE ISLES AND THE COVENANT. 329

measures of James, and Episcopacy, linked with Presby-
terianism, was tolerated by the people ; but the insistence
upon outward forms of prelacy, which in the minds of the
populace were associated with the abhorred Church of
Rome, had been suffered to remain in abeyance, until the
time became ripe for the introduction of a measure of
uniformity with the Church of England.

Charles made the mistake of supposing that such a time
had arrived ; his zeal for the Anglican Church outran his
discretion. When, in 1635, he promulgated in Scotland
the canons for establishing ecclesiastical jurisdiction, his
action was viewed with profound suspicion, but did not
excite active opposition, in the land of Knox. The
hierarchical domination and the civil interference in
ecclesiastical matters which these canons entailed, did not
appeal to the prejudices of the people so strongly as to stir
them up to revolt. The case was different when the new
liturgy was introduced. The fears of Scotland revived
under the influence of this outward expression of prelacy.
The aesthetic beauties of the Anglican service and the
literary beauties of the liturgy, met with no appreciation at
the hands of a people steeped, it must be admitted, in
prejudices which were not unnatural, and resolved at all
costs, to reject conformity with any semblance of that
Church which they regarded as Antichrist. The
struggles of the past between Presbyterianism and Episco-
pacy had rooted in their hearts democratic principles,
which rebelled equally against prelatic domination in the
Church, and monarchical absolutism in the State. The
struggle which was about to ensue — a struggle which led
indirectly to the great Civil War in England and the
execution of the King ; to the promotion of democratic
ideas, the ultimate prevalence of which paved the way to the
extinction of the Stuart dynasty — that struggle, although
initiated by the opposition of the Scottish people to a very
harmless and a very excellent book, had its real origin in
far deeper causes. The Presbyterian form of ecclesiastical
government is nothing if not democratic. Parity in the

330 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Church tends to inculcate a belief in parity in the State.
Hence it is that Presbyterian Scotland is democratic in
politics as in religion. And when Charles I. attempted to
place Episcopacy in Scotland on a logical basis, he was
confronted by a wall of democracy, the foundations of
which had been laid so surely by John Knox, that it pre-
sented a solid barrier against the encroachments of the
monarchy, backed by the full force of prelacy. But the
liturgy was the apparently insignificant cause of fanning the
embers of discontent into the fierce flame of open rebellion.
The rigidity and ornateness of the Episcopal service were
alike repugnant to the individuality of the new religious
spirit, with which the elasticity and simplicity of the
Presbyterian forms were more in accord. The gorgeous
ritual of the Church of Rome had shared in the revulsion of
feeling against Romanism, and a ceremonial of extreme
plainness became the ideal of uncompromising Presby-
terianism. The cope had to give way to the gown ; short
prayers to long sermons ; feast days to fast days ; Sunday
recreation to Sabbatarianism ; and, ultimately, the priest to
the presbyter — the common origin of both names notwith-
standing— and the Church of the State to the Kirk of the
People. The attempt of Charles to rivet the chains of
Episcopacy on Scotland resulted in the consolidation of
Presbyterianism, and its final and permanent triumph as
the established form of religion of the Scottish people.
It does not concern us here to follow the incidents of the
great trial of strength between Charles and his Scottish
subjects, except so far as they relate to Lewis and its pro-
prietor. As a matter of religious significance, the contest
was of small importance to the people of the Highlands
and Isles, [t was not until many years afterwards, that
Presbyterianism obtained a permanent foothold among
them, and its final acceptance was preceded by a spirit
of uncompromising hostility to its tenets. Even at the
present day, the inhabitants of certain districts in the
Highlands cling to Episcopacy, as, in certain other dis-
tricts in the Highlands and the Long Island, they cling

THE ISLES AND THE COVENANT. 331

to the Roman Catholic religion ; and it would be a rash
and unfounded statement to assert that in those parts, the
Christian, social, or domestic virtues are less prominent
than in the localities where Presbyterianism is rampant.
It is curious to observe, that Presbyterianism of the most
aggressive, and, it is to be feared, the most uncharitable
type, is now found in remote districts of the Highlands,
which it entered at a period when the asperities of Low-
land Presbyterians had been softened, and their narrow
prejudices modified by the hand of Time. And a similar
modification will probably, in like manner, become apparent
at a later stage of religious development, in those places
which were the last to embrace Presbyterianism.

George, Earl of Seaforth, was a member of the Table of
Nobility which, with the other three Tables of the kingdom,
produced the Covenant ; that famous document which
united Presbyterian Scotland in its opposition to the
innovations of Charles. To say that the Earl was influenced
chiefly by his religious convictions in joining the ranks of
the Covenanters, is an assumption which is hardly sup-
ported by his character, as displayed by his actions. It is
difficult to resist the conclusion, that with Lord Seaforth,
self-interest was the first consideration. Otherwise, it is
impossible to offer any satisfactory explanation of the turn-
coat principles with which contemporary historians have
charged him.

In 1638, he entered into a bond of friendship with Argyll,
and in the following year, figured as the principal leader of
the Covenanters north of the Spey. In 1640, his fidelity to
the Covenant began to be doubted, and for four years
he lay under the ban of suspicion.* The compact with
Argyll was dissolved in 1640, and a quarrel took place
between the two men, which may have been either the
cause, or the result, of a commission given to Argyll by the
Committee of Estates to secure the West, together with
the Central Highlands. So well did Argyll perform his

* Spalding, Vol. II., pp. 46, 55, and 420.

332 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

task that he received in 1641, a pension of ;£i,ooo for his
services ; and, significantly enough, two days later, a com-
mission from the King granted him the power, during
his lifetime, to uplift all the feu-duties, teinds, &c., of the
Bishoprics of Lismore and the Isles. In 1642, he leased,
for a term of nine years, to Donald Mackenzie, Commen-
dator of the Isles, the teinds of " all fishes " in the South-
West and North- West Isles, for a yearly payment of 100
merks.*

In 1644, Alastair Macdonald, alias the famous Mac Coll
Keitach (" Colkitto ") landed in Scotland with 1,500 men
to fight for the King. The far-seeing General Leslie had
endeavoured to effect a reconciliation between him and
Argyll, in whose hands were the persons of Alastair's father
and brothers, as well as their lands. The obduracy of
Argyll frustrated Leslie's design, and Macdonald, swearing
revenge against the Campbells, returned to Ireland to raise
his men for the King, and, incidentally, to fulfil his vow, a
vow which, after again landing in Scotland, he kept only
too faithfully. Alastair had in his possession a letter from
Charles, conferring upon Seaforth, in accordance with his
request, the office of Chief Justice of the Isles. The policy
of playing off Seaforth against Argyll, whose justiciaryship
was, by the appointment, annulled, failed to secure the
open adhesion of the Chief of Clan Kenneth, who, after
temporising with Mac Coll Keitach, finally threw in his
lot with the Covenanting forces which assembled to block
the passage of the Spey against Macdonald. Had Alastair
arrived before the dispersal of the troops of the Marquis of
Huntly, Seaforth's decision, according to his own showing,
would have been different!

The advent of Montrose upon the scene as Commander-
in-Chief of the Royalists, again shook the resolution of the
Earl. His surrender to that general at Elgin ; his promise
to rejoin Montrose with his full fighting strength when so
ordered ; his subsequent double-dealing with both parties ;

* Hist. MSS. Com., App. to Report IV., p. 480 (132).
f Britane's Distemper, p. 68.

THE ISLES AND THE COVENANT. 333

and, ultimately, his open espousal of the Covenanting cause,
display an extraordinary vacillation of mind, or, what is
probably nearer the truth, a desire to keep on the winning
side.

In May, 1645, the battle of Auldearn was fought, in
which a Lewis regiment, commanded by John, son of
Murdoch Mackenzie of Kernsary, took part. The events
which preceded and followed the battle clearly prove that
both Urry, the Covenanting general, and his colleague,
Seaforth, were half-hearted Covenanters. There is
evidence to show that it was in contemplation to disband
Seaforth's forces, if not, indeed, to offer Montrose the
services of some of his men. But circumstances proved
unfavourable to the maturation of this scheme, and Urry
and Montrose ultimately faced one another in the vicinity
of the village of Auldearn. For a time, the issue was
in doubt, when Mac Coll Keitach, Montrose's lieutenant,
showing more valour than discretion, was drawn out of
his entrenchments and then forced to retreat. The mag-
nificent personal courage of Macdonald, and particularly
the strategy of Montrose, saved the situation and the
battle. The Covenanters were totally defeated with heavy
slaughter — accounts of their loss vary from 1,000 to 4,000
men — while the loss of the Royalists was slight The
Lewismen, who fought magnificently, were cut to pieces,
among the killed being the Chamberlain of Lewis (Donald
Bayne, brother of the laird of Tulloch) and Angus Mac-
aulay of Brenish, Donald Cam's son. Tradition states that
only three Lewismen escaped from the battle.

It has been suggested that the result of the battle ot
Auldearn was pre-arranged by Urry, who purposely
ordered his dispositions in such a manner as to give
Montrose the advantage.* This is a most serious charge
to make, but it is not substantiated by facts. Yet, when
we consider all the circumstances : how Drummond was
tried and shot for having betrayed the army, by his flight

* Vide MS. quoted in the History of the Mackenzie*.

A A

334 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

with the horse ; how disproportionate were the losses of
the two armies ; and how Urry joined Montrose in the
following year ; there seems to be a certain basis for the
suggestion that treachery of some sort was at work,
although the facts are obscure. The defeat of the
Covenanters is sufficiently intelligible upon other grounds.
On the one side was Montrose, animated alike by the
cause for which he fought, and by his uninterrupted series
of victories. The disparity in numbers between his army
and Urry's, was counterbalanced by the belief held by his
men in the invincibility of their general. On the other side,
was an army hastily assembled, and, though stiffened by the
regiments of veterans, largely composed of ill-trained troops,
indifferently led by commanders who were Covenanters by
name but Royalists at heart.

After Auldearn, Seaforth hesitated no longer in declaring
for the Royalists. He arranged with Montrose that before
joining him openly, he would endeavour to secure the co-
operation of Lord Reay, Balnagown, Lovat, Sir James
Macdonald of Sleat, and John Macleod of Harris. John of
Moidart, the Captain of Clan Ranald, was already heartily
with the Royalists, having, with Glengarry, joined Mac
Coll Keitach when the latter despatched the fiery cross to
summon the clans to his assistance. Soon afterwards,
Seaforth's " Remonstrance " and his consequent excom-
munication by the General Assembly, placed him definitely
and openly on the side of Montrose. It is at least creditable
to the vacillating Earl, that his public declaration for
Montrose was made after the battle of Philiphaugh, when,
by a rapid change of fortune, the brimming cup of success
was dashed from the lips of that great commander.

With the exception of Macdonald of Sleat, none of
Seaforth's colleagues responded to his call to join Montrose
at Inverness, the siege of which was raised on the approach
of General Middleton. The latter subsequently captured
the Castle of Chanonry, which was obstinately defended by
Seaforth's Countess, who had the responsibility thrown
upon her shoulders of preventing the stores and ammuni-

THE ISLES AND THE COVENANT. 335

tion placed in the castle for the use of Montrose, from falling
into the hands of the enemy. The Countess was treated
with great consideration by her captor, who restored the
castle into her possession, after removing the munitions of
war.

When Montrose was compelled by the King's command

to disband his forces and retire to France, Seaforth found

himself in an embarrassing position, and was forced, as the

price of forgiveness by the Estates, to undergo the ignominy

of doing public penance in sackcloth within the High

Church of Edinburgh. His restoration to favour was

partly, if not wholly, due to the attitude of the " commons "

of his clan, who, in 1648, resolutely refused to follow the

" uther " (who is unnamed) appointed to command them ;

they would fight under no one but their chief.* Shortly

afterwards, Seaforth joined the Earl of Lanark with 4,000

picked and well-armed men, chiefly drawn, apparently,

from Lewis, to suppress the insurrection of the extreme

Covenanters in the West. Lanark achieved some minor

successes, but failed to follow them up with the energy

which his superior strength demanded. Eventually, a

treaty was arranged in 1648, in terms of which the

opposing armies were disbanded ; the insurgent " Whiga-

mores " went home to cut their corn, which was " ready

for the sickle " ; and Seaforth's men returned to the North,

after a campaign which yielded little glory and probably

less loot.

After the execution of Charles I., Seaforth, whose debts
were hanging like a millstone round his neck, announced
his intention of retiring permanently to the Island of
Lewis ; but instead of crossing the Minch, he repaired to
France, where he was cordially received by Charles II.,
who appointed him one of his Secretaries. While in
France, he appears to have instigated the rising of 1649,
which took place in the Highlands under the leadership
of Mackenzie of Pluscardine, a soldier of Continental

* Hist. MSS. Com.y Report II., Ft. I., pp. 125-6.

A A 2

336 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

renown. The insurrection, ill-timed, ill-organised, and ill-
conducted, was soon suppressed by General David Leslie,
who surprised the insurgents at Balveny and dispersed
them. In 1650, Montrose returned to Scotland, and
embarked upon his ill-fated campaign, which, had it
synchronised with Pluscardine's insurrection, would pro-
bably have had a different result. His raw, foreign and
Orcadian troops were overwhelmed at Carbisdale, his
opponent, Lieutenant-Colonel Strachan, having previously
accomplished the great feat of outwitting so incomparable
a strategist as Montrose. His subsequent so-called be-
trayal by Neil Macleod of Assynt (or his wife), and his
trial and execution in Edinburgh, are familiar incidents.
A great soldier ; a commander who inspired the love and
implicit confidence of his followers ; a man capable of
going anywhere and doing anything; his death proved
a serious loss to Scotland in the troublous times which
were close at hand.

When Cromwell had brought Scotland under his iron
heel ; when clerical interference with military matters had
borne fruit in the terrible slaughter at Dunbar ; when the
Protector and Argyll were negotiating for the total sup-
pression of monarchy throughout the length and breadth
of Britain ; the independence of the country, the influence
of the Covenant, and the fortunes of Charles II. appeared
to be equally at their lowest ebb. But it has ever been at
such crises that the spirit of the Scottish nation has shown
itself at its best.

The tocsin of alarm resounded throughout the length
and breadth of the kingdom. " For King and Covenant "
was the rallying cry, which brought fighters alike from
the remote Hebrides and the Border counties. On 23rd
December, 1650, a levy was called out, in which were
included all the chiefs of the Long Island, viz. : — Lord
Kintail (Seaforth's son and heir) ; Sir James Macdonald of
Sleat and North Uist ; Roderick Macleod of Talisker, the
uncle and tutor of Roderick Macleod of Harris (then a
minor by the death of his father, John Macleod); the

THE ISLES AND THE COVENANT. 337

Captain of Clan Ranald ; and Macneill of Barra. Charles 1 1.
was crowned at Scone on 1st January, 1651, and took
command of the army of 20,000 men which was raised
to dispute the pretensions of Cromwell. The successful
tactics of Lambert, and the fight won by him near Inver-
keithing — at which the Highlanders particularly distin-
guished themselves — opened a free passage for Cromwell to
the North of Scotland. The difficult position in which the
Scots found themselves was relieved by the bold resolution
which, on the King's initiative, was taken, to carry the
war into the enemy's country, and to raise the English
Royalists. Cromwell himself, bold strategist though he
was, never anticipated such a daring and skilful move, and
was compelled to follow his opponents with all possible
despatch. The two armies met at Worcester, the Royalist
forces having been reduced by desertions to 14,000 men,
of whom 2,000 were Englishmen ; while Cromwell found
himself at the head of 30,000 troops, two-thirds of whom
had concentrated at Worcester to oppose the advance of
the King. The battle of Worcester, which was fought on
3rd September, 1651 — the anniversary of Dunbar — was as
stiff a fight as even Cromwell had ever seen. The High-
landers fought with great bravery ; but the odds were
too great, the generalship of Cromwell too skilful, and
(according to Clarendon), the influence of the Kirk again
too powerful, to leave the final issue in doubt. The King
was completely defeated and had to seek safety in flight.
The defeat was disastrous to the Highlanders, and more
particularly to the Macleods. Under the leadership of
the Tutor of Macleod and his brother, Lieutenant-Colonel
Norman Macleod of Bernera (Harris), a regiment of no
fewer than 1,000 Macleods marched to the fatal field. The
carnage among them was so great — most of them were
killed, while others were sold as slaves — that by general
agreement of the Highland chiefs, the Macleods were
relieved from further participation in all future risings of
the clans, until they had had time to recuperate from their
terrible losses. And it may here be remarked that the

338 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

general lukewarmness of the clan, and in some cases, their
active opposition, to the Stuart dynasty in the risings of
the eighteenth century, may conceivably be attributable,
in part, to the neglect which they experienced at the hands
of Charles II. after the Restoration. Roderick and his
brother were knighted, but received no other recognition
of their services and the clan's sacrifice. Norman Macleod
was taken prisoner at Worcester and tried for his life, but
he escaped and lived to prove a thorn in Cromwell's side.
The Mackenzies do not appear to have obeyed with
unanimity the summons to arms. The Kintail men refused
to rise under the young laird, who was a mere schoolboy.
Seaforth himself they would follow anywhere — and the
King was censured for not bringing him over from Holland
and placing him at their head — but to commit their
destinies to Lord Kintail, who was " but a child," was not
in accordance with their ideas of the fitness of things.
That doughty fighter, Mackenzie of Pluscardine, with
Alexander, son of the laird of Gairloch, brought, however,
a force of Mackenzies south, who shared in the experience
of Cromwell's "crowning mercy" at Worcester.

There is no satisfactory explanation of Seaforth having
remained abroad, while these stirring events were in pro-
gress. From a letter written by Montrose to the Earl on
1 5th August, 1649, we have a hint that Seaforth's presence
elsewhere — presumably in Scotland — would be desirable ;
but, writing on i8th January, 1651, Elizabeth, Queen of
Bohemia, informed the Earl that " I now finde you have
a great reason not to venture to soone amongst them."
What that reason was we are left to surmise, but from the
Queen's ironical reference to the loyalty of "that brave,
valiant Lord Argille," we may assume that the enmity
of Argyll had something to do with Seaforth's continued
absence from Scotland.* We are told that on receiving
the news of the disaster at Worcester, Seaforth fell into
a deep melancholy and died at Schiedam in 1651. But it

* Wishart's Memoirs, pp. 444-5.

THE ISLES AND THK COVENANT. 339

is barely conceivable that the intelligence of the defeat
would prove fatal to a man in the prime of life — he was
only forty-three — unless he was the victim of some disease
which, as in his brother's case, carried him off prematurely ;
his end possibly being accelerated by the sad tidings from
England. He is described by the Earl of Cromartie —
not an unbiassed critic — as "a nobleman of excellent
qualifications " ; and Montrose himself, in a letter to the
Earl, congratulated him upon his "noble and resolute
carriage towards the King and his kindness to his friends,
which had procured him so much respect among all honour-
able people as it is not to be exchanged for a world "...
and he could " never forget n what he owed to him.* The
importance of this testimony, coming from such a source,
cannot be overlooked, and goes far to mitigate the harsh
judgment which, on account of his feats of political jugglery,
posterity has inevitably passed upon his memory. When
it is recollected that, according to Clarendon, it was " a
very rare virtue in that time " for a man to be " the same
man he pretended to be " ; that Montrose, Urry, Middleton,
and Balcarres were all ardent Covenanters, and no less
ardent Royalists, at different periods of their careers; it
may be admitted that Lord Seaforth's mixed politics were
not peculiar to him, although his was perhaps the most
glaring case of inconsistency. He may have been a
"subtill" man — so he has been described — but he was
undoubtedly both an influential partisan, and in his private
relations, a generous friend, and a chief who was capable
of inspiring the devotion of his clansmen.

* Wishart's Memoirs, pp. 443-4.

340

CHAPTER XII.

WHILE Cromwell was pursuing the Royalists in England,
General Monck was engaged in the task of bringing Scot-
land under the domination of the Commonwealth. So
thoroughly did he perform his mission, that by the end
of 1651, the whole of the Lowlands had submitted, Inver-
ness was in the hands of the English, and the country
became, to all intents and purposes, a province of England.
The Marquis of Huntly had disbanded his men ; the Earl
of Balcarres had followed his example ; and there was no
organised resistance to the victorious arms of the Republic.
A few stalwarts, however, continued to hold out, among
them Kenneth Mor Mackenzie, then a youth of sixteen,
who, on his father's death, became Earl of Seaforth and
Chief of Clan Kenneth. The career of this chief has been
strangely overlooked by Highland historians. Indeed, the
insurrection itself, in which he took so prominent a part,
and in which the Island of Lewis bulked so largely, has
received but the scantiest notice at the hands of all writers
who have dealt with this period. An attempt will be
made in the following pages to supply the omission, to
some extent.

After subjugation came administration. Monck, the
capable general, proved himself a capable governor.
Moderation was the keynote of his policy, and in his
care to avoid exasperating, he succeeded in reconciling
the Scottish people to his rule. The institutions of the
country were re-organised and Anglicised, and inter-
meddling of the clergy with State affairs was put down
with a strong hand. But it cannot be asserted that,
except for the loss of its independence, the country

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 341

suffered by the change ; the contrary, it must be
admitted, was the case. According to Clarendon, Monck
"was fear'd by the nobility and hated by the clergy,
so he was not unlov'd by the common people, who
received more justice and less oppression from him than
they had been accustom'd to under their own lords."
According to the same authority, the clergy had good
reason to regard the English with loathing. "Their
preachers," he says, " who had threaten'd their princes
with their rude thunder of excommunication " were " dis-
puted with, scoffed at, and controlled by artificers, and
corrected by the strokes and blows of a corporal."

To compel the submission of the Highlanders who
still held out, three forces, commanded respectively by
Colonels Lilburn and Overton and General Dean, were
sent in the summer of 1652 to cross the mountains. Their
mission proved to be an utter failure, and they were
obliged to retrace their steps without doing any good;
the Highlanders, in short, outwitted and befooled them.
Clarendon describes in the following words, the methods
pursued by the mountaineers in harassing the unwelcome
English. "The Highlanders, by the advantage of their
situation and the hardness of that people, made frequent
incursions in the night into the English quarters, and
killed many of their soldiers, but stole more of their
horses, and where there was most appearance of peace
and subjection, if the soldiers stragled in the night or went
single in the day, they were usually knock'd on the head,
and no enquiry could discover the malefactors." The
failure of the English to cope with this state of matters
led to an agreement between them and Argyll and Huntly,
in terms of which, and in consideration of a sum of .£50,000
to be divided between the two Marquises, Argyll under-
took to pacify the Western, and Huntly the Northern
Highlands.

The duties of these noblemen as policemen of the
Highlands may have been efficiently performed, but
circumstances proved too strong for them. The outbreak

342 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

of the war between England and Holland, and the
departure of Monck from Scotland to co-operate with
Blake in the command of the English fleet, encouraged
the spirit of insurrection in the Highlands. The oppor-
tunity of driving the English from the country was too
favourable to be neglected. Early in 1653, negotiations
were opened with the exiled King, with the object of
utilising in the Royal service the differences between the
Commonwealth and Holland. Lord Balcarres, who had
submitted to the English, took an active part in these
secret plans. On 23rd February, he wrote Charles con-
cerning a proposed cession of the Hebrides, or some of
them, to the Dutch. Here is his proposal with reference
to Lewis. " As to the offer of the islands contained in
the instructions, I think it may be of some use as to the
engaging of the Hollanders to own your Majesty's
interest; and besides, I conceive that the island of Lewis,
which was most considerable and of greatest use to them
of all the islands in Scotland, may be had, if the offer of
it shall be more acceptable to them; so I am persuaded
that my Lord Seaforth and his friends, out of their
affection to your Majesty's service, shall be easily induced,
upon your Majesty's command, to give them possession
of the chief harbour in it."* Balcarres, who was married
to Seaforth's cousin, no doubt relied upon his influence
over his young relative to persuade him to hand over
Lewis to the Dutch. Balcarres and the King were both
apparently unaware of the fact that Stornovvay Harbour
(as well as the town of Stornoway) was, in point of fact,
the property of the Crown, and as such, was at the King's
absolute disposal. However, Lewis was not ceded to
the Dutchmen, whose support was purchased by other
means.

Whether with the special object of negotiating with
Seaforth for the cession of the island, or in pursuance of
his plans for fomenting a general rising in the Highlands,

* Fragments Relative to Scotish Affairs, p. 53.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 343

Charles sent an Englishman named Crawford — not, by
the way, an aggressively English name — " a black proper
man," to Lewis, where he was received by the Earl. In
May, 1653, while Crawford was with Seaforth, a privateer
belonging to one Captain Brassie, and commanded by
Captain Edwards, arrived from Ayr in Stornoway Harbour.
The arrival of this ship puzzled Seaforth and his friends,
who came to the conclusion that she had been sent by
the King for Crawford. But all doubt was soon set at
i rest by the appearance of a lieutenant with seven or eight
men, who came ashore for provisions, when it was ascer-
tained that the Fortune was employed, not in the King's
service, but in that of the Commonwealth. Seaforth at
once decided on a hazardous course of action. He
seized the lieutenant and his men, and sent a message to
Captain Edwards, summoning him to surrender his ship
for the King's service, and promising him terms. The
letter written by the Earl is a naive document. It
assumed that the captain and crew of the Fortune were
employed in their present service with "greife of heart,"
and that they would willingly embrace the opportunity
of transferring their allegiance to the King. The captain
replied in a blunt, sailor-like fashion. Brushing aside the
ingenuous sophisms of Seaforth, he demanded the instant
delivery of his men, otherwise he would use the power
" which it hath pleased God to putt into my hands." But
the Earl in his own island, and among his own people,
was not so easily intimidated. He made preparations for
seizing the ship, whereupon the captain, recognising the
futility of resistance, and notwithstanding his brave words,
sailed out of the harbour, after discharging a couple of
broadsides at the town.*

This overt act of hostility against the Commonwealth
marked the beginning of Seaforth's undoing. Captain
Brassie lodged a complaint with Colonel Lilburn, who
succeeded Monck as Commander-in-Chief in Scotland ;

* Scottish History Society, Vol. XVIII., pp. 140-1. Mcreurius Foliticus
(Vol. XLIV., pp. 2547 and 2820).

344 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

and Lilburn at once ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Blount
to seize the Tutor of Seaforth (Mackenzie of Pluscardine)
and as many others of the leading Mackenzies in the
neighbourhood of Inverness as he could get secure. In
reporting these occurrences to Cromwell, on i8th June,
Lilburn suggested that Colonels Fitch and Cooper be im-
mediately sent to Lewis with two men-of-war. " I doubt
nott," he adds, "but what wee may bee able to doe
uppon that island will soe startle the whole Highlands
and islands that wee shall nott bee much troubled with
them in such like cases heereafter. Undoubtedly, to make
the Lord Seaford and his island (called the Lewes) ex-
emplary will bee a very great advantage to the peace of
this nation." Three days later, Lilburn reported to Crom-
well that the Tutor of Seaforth and some of the other
chiefs of the clan had been seized as hostages, including
Sir John Mackenzie of Tarbat. He suggested that this
step be followed by more drastic measures, comprising
the sequestration of Seaforth's estates, the seizure of Lewis,
" which is very considerable, and would be of great ad-
vantage to our nation," and the garrisoning of Stornoway
Castle to strike terror into the neighbouring islands.*

On hearing that his kinsmen had been arrested and
imprisoned, Seaforth wrote an indignant letter to Blount,
their captor, stating that before receiving the news, he had
decided to release the men of the Fortune. He was not
to be intimidated by the measures which had been taken :
not " one haire of their head " would he release on that
account*

Meanwhile, Lilburn had received Cromwell's commands
to reduce Lewis, with which he was eager to comply, con-
ceiving it to be " a great opportunity " to punish Seaforth,
from whom he had heard nothing about the men of the
Fortune. The Earl received early intelligence of the pre-
parations for his destruction, and immediately took counsel
with his friends how to avert the storm. He was determined

* Scott. Hist. Soc., Vol. XVIII., pp. 148-9. Idem., pp. 151-2.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 345

to resist the invasion of the English. In order to strengthen
Stornoway, he sent to Kintail for his guns, and constructed
a fort on a small peninsula (Holm) near the town, where
he placed two great guns and four sling pieces. No time
was to be lost. A fleet of men-of-war and merchant ships
i with provisions was getting ready at Leith for the conquest
! of Lewis, the military force being under the command of
Colonel Cobbet. The expedition attracted a considerable
amount of public attention throughout the kingdom, the
i general feeling being that the seizure of the island was a
1 strategic and commercial measure of the first importance ;
I inasmuch as it would strike a deadly blow at the Dutch
j fishing industry, further the trading interests of the Common-
l wealth, and overawe the neighbouring districts.* During
the month of July, Seaforth was occupied in pushing
i forward his preparations for defence ; and Crawford was
I hurried out of Stornoway to France, with the subscriptions
1 which had been collected throughout the Highlands for
j the King. The Earl then left Lewis to consult with his
confederates at Lochaber, taking with him the men of the
Fortune, whom he set at liberty ; Lilburn, notwithstand-
ing, still keeping Pluscardine and Sir John Mackenzie in
! prison pending the reduction of Lewis. A crisis was now
approaching, and the Royalist leaders at Lochaber fully
realised the gravity of the situation. The King's com-
mission was read ; the Earl of Glencairn was appointed
Commander-in-Chief ; and a general rising of the clans
appeared imminent. Middleton, who, taken prisoner at
Worcester, had escaped from the Tower of London, was
in Holland working energetically for the assistance of the
Dutch, his efforts being seconded by Colonel Drummond.
The latter proposed to the States the pawning of Lewis,
Skye, and other fishing centres, if they would send a fleet
to Scotland.-j- But the Hollanders were slow to commit
themselves. The arrival of a ship at Lewis with ammu-

* Whitelocke's Memorials, p. 564 ; Merc. Pol. (Vol. XLV., pp. 2597-8, 2989).
.Seaforth is said to be playing •* Rex " in Lewis.

t Scott. Hist. Sec.tVol. XVIII. , pp. 235-7. Thurke, Vol. I., p. 460.

34^ HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

nition and officers, of whom Lord Forrester was the most
prominent, suggests, however, that the efforts which were
being made on the Continent had not proved altogether
fruitless.

Seaforth, accompanied by Lord Balcarres, left his col-
leagues at Lochaber, and returned to Stornoway to perfect
his defensive measures. To his great chagrin, he failed to
secure the support of his clansmen in the crisis which was
now at hand. They regarded his seizure of the Fortune's
men as a youthful indiscretion which bade fair to involve
them in his own ruin. As their chief, they owed him
respect and sympathy, but they repudiated his precipitate
action and declined to associate themselves with it. From
which circumstance, it may be inferred that even at this
period, the blind attachment which in earlier times bound
the clans to their chiefs, and led them to espouse their per-
sonal quarrels, irrespective of the merits of the dispute,
was showing signs of weakening. Such being the attitude
of Seaforth's clan, -we are prepared for the fact that many
of " the chief inhabitants " of Lewis fled from the island
before the arrival of the English ; and Seaforth himself
again crossed the Minch, leaving his natural brother in
charge of his interests in Lewis.*

The prospect of the English meeting with no resistance
from the Lewismen caused Lilburn to issue fresh instruc-
tions to Cobbet. The latter was ordered to leave one of
his companies at Orkney, and when he had garrisoned j
Stornoway with four or five companies under Major Bird j
(the future governor of Lewis), to make for Kintail and
seize and garrison Eilean Donain Castle ; then to pro-
ceed to the coast of Lochaber, whence he was directed to
sail for Mull, and seize as many as possible of the Macleans,
who were active enemies of the Commonwealth. Two of
Colonel Cooper's companies, one of Major Bird's, and one |
of his own (Cobbet's) were considered by Lilburn to be
sufficient to garrison Lewis. Cobbet was further instructed

* Scott. Hist. Sec., Vol. XVIII., pp. 160, 186, 221.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 347

to call at the islands which lay on his route to Mull, and
summon the chiefs on board to give security for keeping
the peace. To facilitate negotiations, he was told to take
with him from Lewis some of the natives, to serve as in-
struments of his commands to their fellow-Celts. In short,
a complete subjugation of the Hebrides, as far south as Mull,
was now in contemplation. Cobbet was encouraged in his
mission by his superior officer, with the somewhat vague
assurance that its successful accomplishment would carry
with it his wish, that he might be crowned with more than
a " lawrell." On the completion of his errand, Cobbet was
to return to Lewis " to see how things are going on," and
from Lewis he was to sail for Dundee with all possible
despatch. His duties while at Lewis were mapped out.
" Let your men o' war while you stay at Lewis go abroad
two or three days if they may conveniently ; perhaps they
may catch a Dutch East Indiaman." Special instructions
were given to him about Sir James Macdonald of Sleat,
who had refused to join the Highlanders, and had sent to
Lilburn for an order of protection. " Be civil to him,"
ordered the cautious Commander-in-Chief, " but keep him
or some of his friends as hostages till you return to Lewis,
if you dare not trust him, but do it that he may not be
discouraged."* Macdonald, however, a far-seeing man,
and, according to Lord Broghill, a man of very great
abilities, remained faithful to the Commonwealth to the
end. The Captain of Clan Ranald had taken the same
side, and had two months previously asked for a com-
mission to employ as a privateer against the Dutch, a
small frigate which he owned. Armed with the fore-
going instructions, Cobbet sailed from Leith, but before
he arrived at Lewis, the complexion of affairs had some-
what altered.

On 2/th July, a proclamation was issued, calling upon
the chiefs — of whom a lengthy list is given — to come
south, provided with sufficient caution for keeping the

Scott. Hist. Soc., Vol. XVIII., pp. 186-8.

348 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

peace. The reply of the Highlanders was to unfurl, on
the same date, the King's standard at Killin. Early in
August, the Earl of Glencairn had a force of 4,000 men
under his command, Middleton, who had just arrived in
Scotland with some men and a supply of arms and
ammunition, proving a valuable auxiliary.* Seaforth,
having left his brother to make the best defence of Lewis
he could, was now endeavouring to raise his clan to join
the Royalists, and Macleod of Harris, who had hitherto
remained neutral, was engaged on a similar mission. Lord
Lome, the eldest son of the Marquis of Argyll, had also
joined the Royalists, while "the old fox," his father,
ranged himself on the side of the Commonwealth. This
was a convenient arrangement for preserving the estates
of the Campbells from forfeiture, whichever side proved
victorious ; a system of hedging not uncommon in later
insurrections. Seaforth appears to have succeeded in
overcoming the temporary estrangement of his clansmen,
who, seeing their chief irretrievably committed to the cause
of the King, rallied round him, fired by his appeal to their
patriotism and their ties of clanship. He sent the " firdix
crosse " before him, summoning the Mackenzies to arms,
and by I2th August, found himself at the head of 800
men, with whom he marched to the rendez-vous at Inver-
lochy.t Reinforcements had meantime arrived from Ireland
to join the Royalists, who were determined to have 12,000
men in arms by the 2Oth August ; and their determination
appeared to be realisable. The moment seemed pro-
pitious for a concerted onslaught upon the English in the
Highlands, and had Fortune proved kind, the enemy
would probably have been driven south of the Grampians.
But at this juncture, the news reached the Highlanders of
the disastrous defeat, on 2Qth July, of the Dutch fleet by
Monck off the coast of Holland ; a defeat which was
accentuated by the death of the brave Admiral Tromp.

* Middleton's arrival in Scotland in 1653 appears to have been overlooked
by our historians, who deal exclusively with his second appearance in the
following year.

t Merc. Pol (Vol. XLV., p. 2954).

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 349

This news greatly dispirited the Royalists, who had
counted upon the Dutch resistance creating a situation
calculated to favour their projected campaign, if not,
indeed, upon the active assistance of the States. The
want of funds at the disposal of Glencairn also consti-
tuted a serious source of concern, while the tactics of the
enemy in waiting to be attacked, instead of assuming the
offensive, weakened the fighting ardour of the clansmen.
The result was that the army which had lately formed so
formidable a threat to the continued occupation of the
English, melted away, like snow when the rays of the sun
beat upon it.

Meanwhile, Colonel Cobbet was making a long voyage
to Lewis, the weather being unfavourable. The protracted
passage, coupled with the general movement on foot for
driving the English out of the country, gave fresh courage
to the Lewismen, who were afforded ample time to
prepare for resistance. Lilburn reported to Cromwell, on
6th August, that the men in Lewis were up in arms to
fight Cobbet. A fleet of twenty or twenty-five Dutch
warships was reported to be on the north coast of Scot-
land, and it was believed that they were lying in wait for
Cobbet's fleet, in order to obstruct his passage to Lewis ; a
belief which may have been shared by the Lewismen
themselves. Whether these were phantom warships, or
whether Cobbet managed to elude them, he had no
encounter with Dutchmen during his voyage. When, on
1 6th August, the English fleet hove in sight off Storno-
way, it was found that the Lewismen had evacuated
their fort, the strength of the English being probably
greater than they had anticipated. The official report
assigns no reason for the sudden collapse of the antici-
pated resistance. With military terseness, Lilburn
merely states that the defenders quitted the fort and
the town of Stornoway, and fled to the hills. But
supplementary details are supplied in a letter dated at
Stornoway, 7th September, written, apparently, by one of
Cobbet's officers. He informs us that on the advance of

B B

350 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Cobbet, the " Redshanks " fired their beacons, and fled with
their cattle and arms to the hills. Cobbet followed them
in hot pursuit, but the Lewismen poured flight after flight
of arrows on them in the valleys, until at length the
English were " constrained to make face about." Cobbet
then issued a proclamation calling upon the people to
return to their homes, and assuring them of his protection.
The refugees accordingly came in from the hills, but only
some of them gave up their arms. Doubtless, they were
agreeably surprised to experience such unexpected leniency
at the hands of men whose character for ferocity, we may
feel assured, had been represented to them in the blackest
colours.*

Major Bird having died of a fever the day the fleet left
Orkney, Major Crispe was left by Cobbet to govern Lewis
with four companies. Crispe, probably fearing an attack
by the Dutch, immediately proceeded to strengthen the
fortifications of Stornoway and Holm. On Seaforth
receiving the news of the capture of Lewis, he made
preparations to strengthen Eilean Donain Castle, but his
efforts do not seem to have been warmly seconded by his
followers in Kintail. The day after the English landed in
Lewis, a man-of-war was observed taking soundings near
Eilean Donain, but Cobbet appears to have abandoned his
intention of seizing the castle, judging, possibly, that the
garrison at Stornoway would suffice to overawe the men of
Kintail. He sailed from Stornoway on 27th August for
Mull, calling at Skye on his way to secure the submission
of Macleod of Harris (" Rory the Witty "). Receiving no
reply to his summons to the young chief, he landed a
party on the following morning, and found Talisker, the
Tutor of Macleod, ready to resist him. Talisker was
forced to retreat, whereupon Cobbet advanced to Dun-
vegan Castle, which was evacuated on his approach. The
troops of the Commonwealth took possession of the castle,
and on the following day, sent the Skyemen who had fled

• Merc. Pol. (Vol. XLV., pp. 2071, 2719, 2750, 2987). Scott. Hist. S*c.,
Vol. XVIII., p. 221.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 351

to the hills, a summons to surrender. In the meantime,
Sir James Macdonald had been sent for to assist Gobbet
in treating with the Macleods. Macdonald arrived next
day, and succeeded in inducing them to come in. Terms
were arranged, Macleod and his kinsmen binding them-
selves not to act against the Commonwealth on pain of
the forfeiture of their estates ; while Macdonald agreed to
become sponsor for the laird's appearance before Lilburn
to give security. We have seen that Macdonald had
asked Lilburn for protection against possible molestation
by the English. This was granted by a letter from the
Commander-in-Chief, in which he forbade the soldiers to
seize the stock, or to offer any violence to the persons
or property, of Macdonald's tenantry in North Uist, " they
doing nothing prejudiciall to the Commonwealth of
England, and giving obedience to the present Governe-
ment." Sir James secured a similar protection for Clan-
ranald, of whose sympathies Lilburn was evidently in
doubt, and who was granted the order only as a mark
of favour to Macdonald. The latter, as a further stimulus
to his friendship for the Commonwealth, was allowed
an extension of two or three months further time in which
to find security, in common with the rest of the chiefs.*

The Outer Hebrides and Skye being thus virtually
annexed to the Commonwealth, Cobbet sailed to Mull
to complete his mission, arriving there on 3rd September.
After the dispersal of his army, Glencairn went to Mull,
where a safe asylum awaited him with the Macleans, but
he seems to have left the island before the arrival of
Cobbet, who, with the assistance of Argyll, quickly re-
duced the Macleans to submission.

Lilburn was meanwhile corresponding with Cromwell
concerning affairs in Lewis, which, says Lilburn, " seems
to be a considerable place." Cobbet had sent the Com-
mander-in-Chief an account of the island, which Lilburn
had transmitted to head-quarters. The Protector gave

• Merc. Pol. (Vol. XLV., p. 3032).

BBS

352 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

express instructions about fortifying Lewis, stating that
the Dutch had " an eye on it," and that it was necessary
to keep it at all costs from falling into their hands.
Lilburn endeavoured to re-assure him by stating that
they were more likely to prefer Shetland, but promised
to obey Cromwell's commands. Money and ammunition
in the island were both running short, and Lilburn was
forced to send to Edinburgh Castle and Leith for the
requirements of the garrison. In view of the possible
contingency of Middleton and the Dutch agreeing to
capture Stornoway and fortify the harbour (or a harbour
in Orkney), Cromwell was asked to send money and men
in order to make the town secure against attack. Cromwell
immediately ordered Lilburn to hasten the work of forti-
fication, and to reinforce the garrisons in the Hebrides.
The Commander-in-Chief, while anxious to obey the
Protector's orders implicitly, found the resources at his
disposal inadequate to cope with the situation. He dis-
cussed the matter with Cobbet, who had returned from
Mull, and with others " who knew the islands," and in-
formed Cromwell that the men who could be spared were
insufficient to garrison the Hebrides efficiently. Even if
they had 4,000 men, it would be easy for Middleton or
any other enemy to land in twenty different places, unless
the coast could be guarded by a squadron of warships,
the assistance of which was impossible, pending the issue
of the peace negotiations with the Dutch Republic.
Lilburn therefore asked the Protector to re-consider his
instructions, promising to carry them out faithfully if con-
firmed ; he had already ordered the governor of Lewis
to strengthen the fortifications of Stornoway. Lilburn's
representations appear to have prevailed with Cromwell,
for nothing further is heard of the proposed reinforce-
ments, though there can be no doubt that the forts in
Lewis were strengthened.*

That Cromwell, who had his spies everywhere, had

* Scott. Hist. Soc.t Vol. XVIII., pp. 225-7, 230-232.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 353

some ground for his fears of an attack on Stornoway by
the Dutch, may be admitted. Middleton was again busy
negotiating with the States- General on behalf of the
King. He offered, with the assistance of 1,200 infantry
and 200 horse, to put them in possession, twenty-four
hours after their arrival, of whatever islands they might
want for trading and fishing ; to permit them to erect
whatever forts they might deem necessary for the pro-
tection of their interests ; and to place the revenues of
the Orkneys at their disposal. And he represented to
them that they might count upon the sympathies of the
natives, who were ill-disposed towards the English. The
States, fearful of embroiling themselves afresh in a costly
war with the Commonwealth, received his proposals with
the same caution that they had displayed on the former
occasion. They would not supply him with men, but
they would give him money, arms, and ammunition. On
i/th October, they resolved to assist the Highlanders with
a grant of 180,000 guilders, and by an order of 24th
November, Middleton was permitted to convey to Scot-
land a specified quantity of arms and ammunition.

A recrudescence of activity was beginning to be apparent
among the Highland Royalists. Glengarry and others
were hard at work recruiting in the North Isles, and
Seaforth was again moving in the same direction, although
it was hinted in some quarters that he was not indisposed
to come to terms with the English. One thousand men were
to be ready about Martinmas, of which number Seaforth
was to provide 300, Lochiel and Maclean each 200, while
the remaining 300 were to be found by Glengarry and
the Commander-in-Chief, the Earl of Glencairn. A move-
ment of English troops from Inverness was thereupon
ordered to " amuse and discourage some of Seaforth's
confederates," and this measure seems to have gained its
object. Seaforth received about this time a letter from
the King, dated I2th September, in which Charles thanked
him for his affection and courage, and promised never
to forget the good services of himself and his father. He

354 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

would reward the Earl " as soone as wee shall be able."
He encouraged Seaforth to proceed in his good work
against the enemies, not only of his Royal person, " but
of the nobility and auncient gentry of the Kingdom whom
they intend to extirpate if they can." The King con-
cluded his letter by hoping that Middleton would soon
be with Seaforth, bringing him arms, ammunition, and
good officers.* The attempt to show that the war resolved
itself into a struggle between the classes and the masses
will not, of course, hold water. Otherwise, it might have
occurred to the Royal writer that the common people in
the Highlands would, not unreasonably, be tempted to
throw in their lot with the democracy of England, not-
withstanding the ties of clanship which bound them to
their chiefs. But Charles II. was as artful in winning
the support of his friends by appealing to their personal
interests, as he was forgetful in fulfilling his promises after
their services had been secured.

A curious episode occurred in connexion with Glengarry
and the Earldom of Ross, which may here be mentioned.
Glengarry laid claim to the Earldom as the chief, according
to his showing, of Clan Donald. In February, 1653, Lord
Balcarres recommended the King, by letter, to create Glen-
garry Earl of Ross ; and at the same time, by his agent,
verbally advised Charles to do no such thing ! t The King
stoutly denied having ever promised the Earldom to Glen-
garry, but in a letter to the chief himself on the subject,
evaded the difficulty by pretending that the lack of an
official to prepare the necessary patent, was the reason of
his non-compliance with Glengarry's wish. He would not
be forgotten when the King came to his own ; and so forth.
The sequel to the story is not without interest. Charles
actually granted Glengarry several warrants for the
Earldom, but they never took effect. After the Restora-
tion, Glengarry petitioned for the execution of these

• Scott. Hist. Soc., Vol. XVIII., pp. 201-2.

f Fragments Relative to Scottish Affairs, p. 53. Clarendon Papers, Vol.
II., p. 205.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 355

warrants, but was obliged to rest content with the title
of Lord Macdonell of Aros. The reason why he never
secured the Earldom is sufficiently obvious. It was tardily
discovered — or wilfully overlooked — that on the forfeiture
of John, Lord of the Isles, the Earldom of Ross had been
inalienably vested in the person of the second son of the
reigning monarch ; whence the impossibility of conferring
the title upon any other subject Early in the eighteenth
century, Lord Ross of Halkhead made a similar attempt
to obtain the Earldom, but for a like reason, if for no
other, the attempt proved fruitless.

The King plied the Macleods with soft words, just as he
plied Seaforth and Glengarry. Colonel Norman Macleod
of Bernera had joined him — in spite of Macleod's sub-
mission to Cobbet — and had urged him to erect a Royal
burgh in one of the islands ; but in a letter sent by Charles
through the Colonel to Talisker, the Tutor of Macleod,
evasion is again the chief feature. The convenient excuse
that there was no officer to prepare the requisite formalities
was once more employed, but the Tutor was encouraged
to persevere in his project, and to hope for the time when
the King could add " grace and favour " to it.* Thus did
Charles stimulate his Highland adherents with vague pro-
mises, which were not infrequently evaded when their per-
formance was inconveniently pressed. He was thoroughly
conversant with the art of hooking fish with glittering baits
of future rewards — when the King should " come to his
own."

It has been mentioned that Middleton succeeded in
obtaining, in October and November, a grant of money
from the States of Holland, and permission to send a
quantity of arms and ammunition to Scotland. Con-
current with Middleton's attempts to raise the sinews of
war, a gathering of Royalists had taken place during
September, in Stirlingshire, which Colonel Kidd, the
governor of Stirling Castle, attempted to suppress. In

* Scoff. Hist. Soc., Vol. XVIII., p. 255.

HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

the attempt, he was badly beaten, with the loss of sixty
men, by Glencairn, under whom were Lord Kenmure,
Lord Lome, and John Graham of Deuchrie, the author
of Glencairris Expedition in Scotland. This successful
skirmish brought fresh accessions to Glencairn's standard,
Glengarry, Lochiel, Macgregor, Sir Arthur Forbes, and
the Earl of Atholl all bringing contingents. Glencairn
now had the men, and when Middleton had secured the
money and the arms, the insurrection bade fair to become
formidable. But once more misfortune, or the superior
generalship of the English, nipped the rising in the bud.
Morgan, an active officer of the Commonwealth, marched
from Aberdeen to prevent a junction between Glencairn's
army, and a force which was being raised at Cromar by
Farquharson of Inverey. Glencairn was surprised by
Morgan, and was forced to retreat through a glen leading
to the forest of Abernethy, where he was pursued by the
English and narrowly escaped disaster. This check neces-
sitated a supply of additional reinforcements before further
active measures could be taken ; and Glencairn, perforce,
remained inactive for about five weeks at Cromar and
Badenoch, awaiting recruits.

While these events were transpiring, the young Earl of
Seaforth was not idle. In October, or early in November,
he and Glengarry set out with 300 men to Lochaber, where
they hoped to raise a considerable number of recruits, to
fall upon the North and wrest it from the English. Foiled,
apparently, in the attempt, Seaforth joined a band of
Highlanders who were engaged in the congenial employ-
ment of harassing the English. The accession of Seaforth
greatly heartened the Highlanders, whose tactics consisted
in cutting off detached bodies of the enemy, in pursuance
of which system of warfare, they penetrated as far south
as Falkirk.* As the result, probably, of Seaforth's con-
nexion with these " Highland Tories," his estates were
sequestrated, a proceeding which Lilburn had recommended

* G Wynne's Memoirs, p. 213.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 357

to Cromwell some months previously. Pluscardine had
become Seaforth's cautioner, and had acquired an infeft-
ment upon a portion of his nephew's estates as security.
In a letter dated loth December to the Commissioner at
Leith, Lilburn instructed that official to respect Plus-
cardine's rights in the process of sequestration. The laird
being one of the chiefs of " a great clan," it was politic not
to drive him to extremities, and his security was therefore
to be allowed to remain intact.*

The mind of Cromwell being still exercised about the
security of Lewis against attack by the Dutch, he desired
Lilburn to send him certain particulars about the island,
which the Commander-in-Chief, after a conversation with
Cobbet, duly supplied. He took occasion to point out to
the Protector that the bays to the north of Stornoway
were "very convenient places for landing men," and com-
menting upon the absence of a sufficiency of fresh water
for the garrison, stated that he had sunk a well at
Stornoway, " which proved very well."f He again re-
assured Cromwell on the subject of a Dutch invasion,
asserting that the Hollanders rarely touched at Lewis, but
were constantly calling at the Shetlands, from which fact
he inferred that it was more important to have the latter
group fortified during the war with the States.J Soon
afterwards, Lilburn had occasion to feel alarmed for the
safety of Lewis, against an attack from a totally unexpected
quarter.

A man of Seaforth's temperament could hardly view
with equanimity his great island-territory in the hands of
the English, and he only awaited a suitable opportunity for
making an attempt to wrest it from their possession. When
he returned to the North after his adventures in the South,
he set about planning the re-capture of Lewis, with the help
of his sympathetic neighbours. News of these prepara-

* Scott. Hist. Soc., Vol. XVIII., pp. 294-5.

t This well may still be seen ; it is situated near the junction of South
Beach and Kenneth Street,
t Scott. Hist. Soc., Vol. XVIII., p. 275.

358 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

tions reached the ears of Lilburn, who was much exercised I
in his mind how to avert the threatened danger. The *
want of shipping proved an insuperable obstacle in the way }
of preventing a landing in the island. He had asked for I
seven ships of war to patrol the coasts efficiently, but only j
three had been sent, and of these he could not spare one to <
help the Stornoway garrison or give them warning of their
peril. To make matters worse for the English, some Dutch
ships were discovered to be prowling about on the coast,
acting in concert with the Highlanders. Captain Brassie
(the owner of the Fortune}^ who had been trading in Lewis,
came across one of them which had just landed arms at
Lochaber, and exchanged shots with her, but was afraid to
come to close quarters. Next day, the Highlanders put
some men on board the Dutchman, and Brassie sailed away.
The Tutor of Macleod, whose fidelity to the Commonwealth
was not of long duration, was Seaforth's principal associate
in the projected recovery of Lewis, and as a preliminary
measure, passed over to Harris with the object of raising
his tenantry there. But the Harrismen declined to arm, being
overawed by the garrison at Stornoway, whose vengeance
they feared if the attempt were unsuccessful. They took
good care, notwithstanding, to give no hint to the English
of Talisker's presence in Harris until he had safely reached
the mainland. On his way back from Harris, Talisker
tried to surprise some trading vessels belonging to Captain
Brassie, which seem to have been lying at anchor at the
Long Island ; but his intention being discovered, the ships
put out to sea, and managed to escape. What with the risk
of being attacked by the Highlanders, and the danger of
being snapped up by Dutch warships — one of which was
at that time in the Minch, acting in conjunction with
Macleod — the English vessels then trading at the Outer
Hebrides, had experiences which were not devoid of excite-
ment. Talisker's men, it appears, consisted chiefly of Irish-
men who had fled from their native country, and these troops
were expected to be reinforced by Lord Kenmure.*

* Gwynne's Memoirs, p. 223.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 359

In January, 1654, a "very strange report" reached Dal-
keith, that Lord Seaforth had stormed the fort at Stornoway
with 1,400 men, and taken it — a report which the correspon-
dent "cannot believe," as the governor was confident of
holding his own against "thousands." Later, this vague
rumour crystallised into definite information. Colonel Nor-
man Macleod had landed in Lewis (at Loch Shell) with four
or five hundred men and had taken to the hills, where he
remained for three or four days, waiting for a favourable
opportunity to attack the garrison. The landing had been
effected so secretly and expeditiously, that the English
seem to have been totally unprepared. A party of the
garrison were in the town of Stornoway, unsuspicious of
danger, when Colonel Macleod pounced upon them and
killed twelve men, before the soldiers in the castle were
aware of what had happened. Assistance was quickly
forthcoming from the fort, and the Englishmen were
relieved by their comrades. In the fight that ensued,
Macleod was beaten back, and the garrison, after remov-
ing their goods into the castle and burning their houses,
prepared for a siege. Local tradition states that the attack
on the garrison was made at night, jointly by Seaforth
himself and Norman Macleod, the former leading his force
by the lands of Torry, and the latter by Bayhead.
According to Lewis accounts, the Islesmen killed many
of the garrison and attacked the trenches, but were unable
to draw the Englishmen out of the fort, and having no
artillery, Seaforth was compelled to abandon the siege.
Whatever the exact facts may be, it is certain that the
attack failed, and that Lewis remained in possession of the
j English.* It is strange to find a Lewisman who wrote
only thirty years after the event, making the amazing
statement that the garrison was " under Cromwell."
Probably the writer (John Morison of Bragar) merely

* Gwynnc's Memoirs, pp. 238 and 243 (from Merc. Pol\ John Morison's
Account of Lewis (Sfiott. Misc., p. 342). Clarendon Papers, Vol. II,, p. 314.
1 Torry" is obviously Eilean Thorraidh near Marabhig (Lochs), and seeing
Macleod landed at Loch Shell, it is probable that the column from Torry
was led by him, and that from Bayhead by Seaforth.

360 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

meant that it consisted of Cromwell's men, but his state-
ment appears to have given rise to misunderstanding. I
That the Protector himself was popularly believed to
have acted as governor of Lewis, may be inferred from \
the fact that the principal thoroughfare in Stornoway at ]
the present day is named " Cromwell Street," a curious 1
illustration of the inaccuracy of tradition.

The failure of Seaforth's attack led to savage reprisals.
There is no room for doubt, that prior to his attempt, the
Earl had been in close communication with his friends in
the island, and that his plans for storming the fort were
not only made with their connivance, but were carried out
with their active assistance. The garrison, infuriated by
their losses, proceeded to slaughter without mercy those
who had taken part in the plot, and " the old natives " of
Lewis joined them in the butchery. Fighting for their
lives, Seaforth's men made a stout resistance, and
accounted for a number of the Englishmen ; while the
inter-clan war which was re-commenced between the
Lewismen themselves, caused, we are told, "great devasta-
tions in those parts."* The " old natives " can be no other
than the descendants of the Siol Torquil and their sympa-
thisers. The renewed hostilities between the Macleods and
the Mackenzies carry us back nearly half a century, when
similar scenes were being enacted. It is a striking fact
that after fifty years of Mackenzie rule in Lewis, the
Macleods were still unreconciled to it, and were eager to
seize a favourable opportunity of striking a blow at their
ancient enemies. It affords clear proof that there had been
little real fusion between the two clans during a whole
generation, and that the remembrance of the wrongs which
they believed their chiefs to have suffered at the hands
of the Kintail family, had rankled deeply in the hearts of
the Macleods. The history of the past was not to be
eradicated in fifty years, in spite of the undoubted benefits
conferred upon the island by the Mackenzies. But the

* Whitelocke, p. 584. Gwynne, p. 257.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 361

memories of Highlanders are proverbially long ; especially
[for injuries sustained, not only by themselves, but by their
forefathers as well.

We left Glencairn at Badenoch awaiting the arrival of
ireinforcements. These consisted chiefly of 1,000 foot and
150 horse, under the command of Lord Lome, who joined
Glencairn about the middle of December. A fortnight
later, owing probably to some disagreement, he secretly
left the camp, taking with him the whole of his men.
| Glencairn at once gave orders to Glengarry and Lochiel
i to pursue him, and, if necessary, take him back by force,
la proceeding which appears to have been more than just-
ified by the fact that Lome was making his way to Ruthven
I Castle, then garrisoned by an English force. The Camp-
; bells were overtaken, and Lome, with his horse, inconti-
inently fled, leaving his infantry at the mercy of their
'pursuers. There was bad blood between Lome and
(Glengarry — they had on one occasion gone the length
of drawing upon one another — and in view of past feuds
and the incidents of the Montrose campaign, it could
hardly be expected that a chief of Clan Donald would be
disposed to treat the Clan Campbell with lenity, if he had
it in his power to deal them a blow. When, therefore, the
Campbells offered to return to the camp, Glengarry was
for attacking them, but the opportune arrival of Glencairn
prevented bloodshed. The Campbells were persuaded to
deliver up their arms, which were, however, restored to
them, on their promising allegiance to the King and
obedience to Glencairn. The incident thus terminated
peacefully, but the Campbells again deserted in a body
a fortnight afterwards. Lome himself, the prodigal son,
returned to the bosom of his family, and to the paths of
submission and safety.

The defection of Lord Lome and the Campbells was a
serious blow to the Royalists, but it was partially repaired
by accessions from other quarters, among the recruits
being a party of London volunteers under Colonel Vogan,
a gallant officer who was soon afterwards wounded in an

362 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

engagement, and, as the result of unskilful surgical treat-
ment, succumbed to his wounds after an apparent recovery.
Finding himself sufficiently strong to take the offensive,
Glencairn marched into Aberdeenshire to menace the
English and obtain supplies for his army. At White-
lums, near the Earl of Mar's Castle of Kildrummie, where
an English garrison lay, Glencairn remained for a fort-
night, inactive and unmolested. Thence he moved to
Elgin, which he made his head-quarters, and where he
was joined by the Marquis of Montrose (son of the great
Montrose), and by Lord Forrester and others.

In March, 1654, Middleton landed in Scotland with two
vessels from Holland. He was accompanied by Lord
Napier, Sir George Monro, Major-General Dalziel, Colonel
Lewis Drummond, and about 200 men, and was furnished
with a commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Royalists
in Scotland. In that capacity, he sent a communication to
Glencairn at Elgin, desiring him to move north and join
him in Sutherlandshire. At the grand muster of the com-
bined forces which took place at Dornoch, Middleton
found himself in command of 3,500 foot and 1,500 horse.
These included 600 of Seaforth's men under the leadership
of Kenneth Mor, who had marched from Ross-shire to join
Middleton, after having distinguished himself by capturing
with boats, an English vessel laden with a cargo of arms
and ammunition.* The supersession of Glencairn by
Middleton gave rise to considerable ill-feeling among the
partisans of the former, which reached a climax at an
entertainment given by the superseded General to his
successor. An imprudent, not to say impudent, remark
by Sir George Monro about Glencairn's following led to
hot words, followed by two duels, one between Glencairn
and Monro, in which the latter was severely wounded, and
the other between Captain Livingston, a friend of Monro,
and a gentleman named Lindsay, resulting in the death of
Livingston. These disputes were peculiarly unfortunate

* Whitelocke (April, 1654).

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 363

for the Royalist cause. Disunion at this juncture was
'fatal. Glencairn, perhaps, acted a wise part in withdrawing
'himself with 100 horse from the army — Middleton had
placed him under temporary arrest for fighting Monro, and
.Lindsay had been shot for killing Livingston — until these
divisions should be healed. Passing successively through
•Assynt, Kintail, and Lochaber, he reached Killin, where he
was joined by Sir George Maxwell, the Earl of Selkirk,
fand Lord Forrester. His forces being now increased to
1400 men, he sent them to Middleton, while he himself
proceeded to the castle of Colquhoun of Luss, from which
•centre he endeavoured to foment a Royalist rising in the
(Lowlands. Ultimately, he made terms with the English
ion 4th September, 1654. Thus ended Glencairn's con-
nexion with the insurrection, in the conduct of which he
ishowed himself to be a brave soldier, if not an energetic
(leader, and a staunch Royalist, if not a military genius.
If he failed to win decisive victories over the enemy, he
[succeeded in winning the affection of his men ; and his
supersession by Middleton, while it weakened his rival's
authority with the army, elevated Glencairn into the posi-
tion of a popular hero who had received shabby treatment.
Middleton's campaign against the English proved to be
short-lived. He, too, was a gallant soldier, and a com-
pander of greater renown than Glencairn ; but it required
a. Montrose to surmount the difficulties which surrounded
|iim. And Middleton, good general though he was, had
no pretensions to be the lineal descendant of Montrose.
The worst blow that befell the Royalists was the final
arranging of peace between England and Holland, in
April, 1654, after protracted negotiations. The English
lavy was now free to co-operate with the land forces, and
nterrupt the communications of the Royalists. " That
::>cace," as Middleton expressed it at a later date to Hyde,
' did strike all dead."* But in spite of this severe dis-
ippointment, much might yet be done to harass the

* Scott. Hist. Soc.> Vol. XXXI., p. 196.

364 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

English ; a system of guerilla warfare was now, indeed,
the only course open to the Royalists.

After peace had been made with Holland, General Monck
returned to Scotland to resume the chief command of the
Commonwealth troops. One of his first acts was to vest
in trustees the estates of the leading Royalists, including
those of Lord Seaforth; and on the same date (i2th April),
to pass an ordinance for the union of Scotland with the
Commonwealth. The Town Councillors of Edinburgh vied
with one another in showing him every mark of respect.
A feast, which took six days to prepare, was given in
his honour ; and, with disgusting servility, the Bailies of
Edinburgh stood and served at table as amateur waiters.*
By feasts and fireworks, the City of Edinburgh rejoiced in
a humiliation which, from one standpoint, should more
fittingly have been mourned in sackcloth and ashes. The
pride in national independence, which from the earliest
time had been the birthright of every Scotsman, seemed
to have been temporarily forgotten, or was outwardly
suppressed, by the civic authorities of the Capital of
Scotland. That the Highlanders, at least, regarded their
struggle against the Commonwealth in the light of a
patriotic duty, is suggested by a notice which, during one
of their raids, they posted on the market cross of Dum-
barton ; making it clear that their quarrel was with " our
ancient old enemy, the Kingdom of England."

Monck commenced the government of Scotland by
plastering the market cross of Edinburgh with proclama-
tions. By these, he declared Cromwell to be the Protector
of the three kingdoms ; he formally united Scotland to
the Commonwealth ; and forfeited the estates of the leaders
of the so-called " rebels," among whom figured Kenneth
Mor, Lord Seaforth. He endeavoured to end the insurrec-
tion in the Highlands by the same method. A proclama-
tion was issued, imposing fines upon parents whose sons
had joined the insurgents, and upon parishes which had

* Nicoll's Diary ; p. 125.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 365

supplied them with volunteers ; but the fines do not appear
to have ever been exacted. The same proclamation offered
a reward of £200 for the capture, dead or alive, of the
leaders, who are specifically named as Middleton, Seaforth,
Kenmure, and Dalziel. " Such a vile sum," wrote Hyde to
Middleton, "will be contemned in the Highlands"; and
so, in fact, it was, the offer being received with derision.*

The attempt to wage war by proclamation having failed,
Monck had recourse to sterner measures ; fire and sword
were now the weapons to be employed. In concert with
Morgan, he endeavoured to come into touch with the
insurgents in the Highlands, Colonel Brayn, with 2,000
foot from Ireland, co-operating in the attempt to hem the
Royalists in on all sides, and force them to an engagement.
The policy of Middleton was to avoid a pitched battle, and
by constantly harassing the enemy, to tire them out and
force them to retreat. These tactics nearly proved success-
ful, the English troops being reduced to great straits for
want of food ; but by his persistent watchfulness, aided by
good luck, Morgan at length succeeded in getting in touch
with the insurgents, whom he surprised in a defile near
Loch Garry, on iQth July. Middleton was caught at such
a disadvantage, owing to the nature of the ground, that he
was unable to offer battle on equal terms, and an orderly
retreat was the most he could hope to effect. His troops
behaved gallantly, until the pressure of the enemy became
so severe that they were forced to disperse, every man to
shift for himself. The loss of life was small, but the dis-
persal was complete ; and the insurrection was virtually
brought to an end.t

Monck behaved like the statesman that he was, after
Morgan's success at Lochgarry. Instead of inviting a
fresh rising by harsh measures of reprisal, he sought to win
over the leaders of the insurgents, by offering them fair and
reasonable terms. The wisdom of this policy was proved
by its results. The back of the insurrection had been

* Scott. Hist. Soc., Intro., Vol. XXXI. p. 29.
f Heath, pp. 361-2

C C

366 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

broken, but by a series of petty skirmishes, in which the
insurgents met with some success, the spirit of resistance
was still maintained. But the conciliatory attitude of
Monck and his subordinates gradually reconciled the
Royalists to the inevitable, and one by one, most of the
leaders gave in their submission. Middleton and Seaforth
were invited to avail themselves of Monck's clemency, and
seemed disposed to come to terms. But on re-consideration,
Middleton withdrew from the negotiations, on the ground
that his submission might be construed as a cession of
Scotland by him, as the King's representative, to the
Commonwealth ; a punctiliousness which, although honour-
able to Middleton, certainly showed a want of recognition
of existing facts. The negotiations with Seaforth were
also abortive at this stage : he appears to have decided to
stick loyally by Middleton. In a despatch to Cromwell
dated 7th July, Monck described Seaforth, Glengarry, and
the Clan Cameron as the " stubbornest enemies in the
hills," who overawed the other clans. He was yet to
find that their stubbornness was proof even against his
well-meant efforts to bring them in.

In a memorandum to the Earl of Lauderdale, drawn up
by the Earl of Moray in 1662, it is stated, in a series of
charges against Kenneth M6r and his father, that the
former wished to marry Cromwell's daughter, and under-
took, if his desire were consummated, to secure the High-
lands in the Protector's interests. A letter from Seaforth
to the King, dated 2nd June, 1654, contains what is probably
a reference to this rumour. In that letter, Kenneth Mor,
after regretting that his services to Charles had been so
fruitless, and remarking that notwithstanding the desperate
state of his fortunes, he conceived it to be his duty to
continue his work in the Royal interest, expressed his
appreciation of the King's concern for him, "espetially that
mark of kyndnesse your Majesty has been pleased to
expresse concerning my mariege." " I know not," he went
on to say, " that (how) your Majesty may have heard of it,
bot indeed no designe that way hath ever entred in my

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 367

thoughts. And if it had, your Majesty's commands wold
certainly dirrect me from anything might be displeasing to
your Majesty."* If, as there seems reason to believe, the
projected marriage that displeased Charles II. was that
between Kenneth Mor and the daughter of Cromwell, we
have here a categorical denial from Seaforth himself of the
truth of the report. And of course, if there were no founda-
tion for the report of the marriage, its corollary, the intention
of Seaforth to endeavour to bring the Highlands over to
the English, was equally baseless.

The same memorandum makes the statement, that Sea-
forth ultimately capitulated with the English, without the
knowledge of Middleton, who was his guest at the time ;
and Middleton himself charges the Earl with having basely
deserted him.t But the facts of the capitulation and the
events which immediately preceded it, are these. Early in
September, Middleton, with his allies, made preparations
to land his forces in Skye, where he could reckon upon the
assistance of the Macleods, but upon the antagonism of
the Macdonalds. Whether this move was intended to
secure Skye as a base of operations, or whether it was
directed against Sir James Macdonald of Sleat as a puni-
tive measure, we are not informed. But it is certain that
one Captain Monson was sent to Skye, to prevent Middleton
from effecting a landing on the island ; and that Macdonald
of Sleat assembled his men, marched to meet Middleton,
and beat him back, the Royalist forces being compelled to
retire in the direction of Lochaber. Captain Monson
remained at Skye to re-victual, and gave a supply of
ammunition to Macdonald, who is described as being
"very faithful to the Commonwealth." It appears from
a letter dated 26th October, from Monck to Cromwell, that
Seaforth, Glengarry, Lochiel, and Macleod, who seem to
have been co-operating with Middleton, repaired to their
various spheres of influence to recruit their clansmen, and

* Scott. Hist. Soc., Vol. XXXI., pp. 117-8.

t MSS. in Brit.Mus. (Add. 23,117, Fol. 17). Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XL,
Part I., p. 137.

C C 2

368 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

were under engagement to meet Middleton on the following
25th November. We are left in doubt as to the result of
their efforts, but in November, 500 Irishmen landed in
Skye to join Middleton, who was simultaneously reinforced
by Seaforth and his recruits. Judging, however, by the
sequence of events, the attempt to organise a fresh rising
on an important scale, was unsuccessful. In December,
Middleton was in Kintail with Seaforth, and while there,
tried, with the assistance of Colonel Norman Macleod, to
intercept Macdonald of Sleat, who was passing through
the country on his way to Skye. But Macdonald was on
his guard, and succeeded by means of a ruse in eluding his
pursuers. He divided his men into two parties, one party
with the baggage going in a certain direction, while he
himself, with the rest of his men, went another way.
Middleton captured the baggage party, but missed the
laird of Sleat, who crossed to Skye in safety.*

A terrible storm was raging in the West Highlands
during the month of December ; the worst that had been
known for twenty years. To the fugitives in the hills,
this was an additional misfortune. Their sufferings were
so great, that the question of arranging terms with the
English again forced itself to the front. The first to
commence negotiations with Monck was Middleton him-
self, who wrote the English General on the subject, on
1 5th December. Seaforth followed suit, by approaching
Colonel Fitch with a like object. On loth January, 1654,
the treaty with Seaforth was signed. An impartial
examination of the conditions cannot but lead to the
conviction that they were absolutely fair, if not generous,
and were entirely free from the element of vindictiveness.
The clauses of the agreement, briefly stated, are these.

(i.) A general amnesty to be granted, except to those
who had killed men in cold blood, and Seaforth to be
confirmed in possession of his estates.

(2.) For the lands in Kintail and other places, which had

* Scott. Hist. Soc., Vol. XXXI., p. 225.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 369

been wasted and burnt by the English, no cess (land tax)
to be payable by the Earl or his tenants until the following
harvest ; and for the lands which had escaped devastation,
the tax to be remitted till ist January, 1654, from which
date the tax was to be exacted. For the rents payable by
the Earl to the Crown, and now due to the Protector, one
half of the arrears to be remitted till ist January, 1654,
from which date the whole amount was to be payable.

(3.) The Castle of Eilean Donain to be garrisoned by
the English, when so desired, and Seaforth to give security
for its delivery.

(4.) The Earl and his followers to proceed to an
appointed place near Inverness within thirty days, and
there deliver up their arms, after giving twenty-four hours'
notice. All horsemen who embezzled or concealed their
arms, to lose the benefit of the treaty.

(5.) The Earl to give security, amounting to .£6,000,
within thirty days after delivery of the arms, for the
peaceable deportment of himself and his clan ; his tacks-
men and officers also to provide security ; and all others
of the Clan Kenneth to give an undertaking to keep the
peace.

(6.) Seaforth's officers to have permission to retain
possession of their horses and swords, which they were to
sell within three weeks ; and to be provided with passes
to their homes. The Earl and his clan to be allowed to
carry arms, for their defence against broken men and
thieves within their own bounds.

(7.) The money expended on the survey of Seaforth's
properties, by order of the Trustees for Surveying Delin-
quents' Estates in Scotland, to be refunded before the Earl
entered into possession.

(8.) Those concerned (of whom a list is given) in inflicting
damage upon the laird of Foulis to be tried by court-
martial. Seaforth, his uncle Simon Mackenzie of Lochslinn,
Kenneth Mackenzie of Coul, John Mackenzie of Ord, John
Mackenzie of Applecross, and Thomas Mackenzie of
Inverloath, to give satisfaction, according to judgment of

370 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

law or court-martial, to Neil Macleod of Assynt, for such
damage as he had suffered by them ; unless they could
show that Assynt sent supplies to the enemy, in which
case he was to have no reparation.

(9.) The articles of the treaty to be ratified by the
Protector or Parliament, and delivered to the Earl within
two months.*

The treaty was signed by Monck, and, on behalf of
Seaforth, by Sir Thomas Mackenzie of Pluscardine. The
clause which mentions Neil Macleod, relates to the depre-
dation committed by the Mackenzies, in the previous year,
on his estate. The feud between the Seaforths and Neil
is a long story, which need not be told here. It has been
shown how the Macleods of Lewis became possessed of
Assynt, and through them, the estate passed, early in the
fifteenth century, to Tormod, second son of Roderick
Macleod, who thus became the founder of the Assynt
branch of the Siol Torquil. After the Mackenzies had
obtained possession of Lewis, they sought means to enforce
their claims to the superiority of Assynt, the lands and
barony of which had been included in the barony of Lewis.
It is not proposed to enter here into the merits of the
dispute, nor of the persecution which Neil Macleod suffered
at the hands of his powerful opponents, particulars of
which are given in Mr. Alexander Mackenzie's histories of
both clans. Suffice it to say, that Neil was bested by the
Seaforths, not only in the field, but in the Courts of Law ;
his charter-chest was conveyed to Brahan Castle ; the Clan
Kenneth obtained the legal rights to, and the actual pos-
session of, Assynt ; and all the efforts made by Neil and
his friends failed to oust them. The prejudice existing
against Macleod, owing to his supposed complicity in the
delivery of Montrose, operated adversely against him

The negotiations between Middleton and Monck again
fell through, and the Royalist General remained irreconcil-
able, until his departure from Scotland in 1655. Macleod

* Scott Hist. Soc., Vol. XXXI., pp. 234-7.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 371

arranged a treaty of peace with the English on 2Qth May,
and Glengarry, who adhered to Middleton until the latter
left Scotland, accepted, on 8th June, the terms offered him
by the enemy ; he was the last of the chiefs to give in.
Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel was no less stubborn in his
resistance to the Commonwealth. By his daring exploits
and his harassing tactics, as narrated by Pennant, and
fully confirmed by the Public Records of England, Lochiel
created so profound an impression upon the English, that
they were only too pleased to accept his submission on his
own terms. He marched to Inverlochy with pipes playing
and banners flying, and laid down his arms in a manner
more befitting a victor than a suppliant for peace. The
governor of Inverlochy, in admiration of the Highlander
who had twice decisively beaten his soldiers with greatly
inferior forces, paid the respect to his foe which one brave
lan pays to another. He prepared a feast in Lochiel's
mour, and at this unique ceremony, the old enmity
>etween the two was quenched in the flowing bowl. After
the Restoration, Lochiel went to London to arrange for a
mt of land, which, in the apportionment of rewards by
le King, he richly deserved ; but by a " trick " of the Earl
>f Lauderdale, his mission proved unsuccessful.

The insurrection was now a thing of the past. The
Highland chiefs had achieved nothing by their spirited
resistance to foreign domination. Undoubtedly, their
innate loyalty to the monarchy was the chief motive in
icir struggle against the Commonwealth ; but the loss of
national independence, antipathy to the rule of the Saxon,
md, perhaps, the hope of future reward for their services,
fere also factors which were not without weight. What-
ir their motives, it is to their credit that they acted
le part of patriots while the Edinburgh Bailies were
:ting the part of waiters. It may be freely admitted, that
ic English commanders in Scotland conducted the war
against the Highlanders on humane principles. It is true
lat instances are on record, where the exasperated English-
men compelled their prisoners to throw dice, "and the

372 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

tenth man was hanged or shot " ; * and the massacre of
Seaforth's adherents in Lewis does not redound to their
credit ; but their general behaviour, in view of all the
circumstances, appears to have been exemplary. The
discipline of the soldiers, in conjunction with the con-
ciliatory policy of Monck, went far to prevent the insurrec-
tion from assuming more formidable proportions ; and
served effectively to stamp out the embers of rebellion,
which a series of reprisals would have fanned anew into a
conflagration. But the disunion among the insurgents
themselves produced more fatal consequences to them, than
the measures taken by the English to subdue them. In
a letter from the King to Seaforth, dated October, 1654, he
deplored the jealousies existing among his friends ; and in
stating that the Earl's adherence to Middleton should serve
as an example to the other chiefs, he expressed the pathetic
hope that " poor Scotland " might be destroyed by the
malice of her enemies, not by the disunion of her friends.!
John Morison of Bragar tells us that Stornoway Castle
was " broken down by the English garrison in Cromwell's
time." This statement is doubtless correct, for, apart from
Morison's credibility, it is only reasonable to suppose that
prior to their departure from Lewis (in the reign of
Charles II.), the English would have dismantled and
demolished the forts. An undated document which, how-
ever, bears internal evidence of having been written early
in the seventeenth century, states that " the house of
Stornowa in the Lewis is fallen, albeit it had bidden the
canon be the Erie of Argyle of auld, and by the gentilmen
ventourares of lait"+ The latter reference, of course, is
to the Fife Adventurers, so it may be assumed that the
Mackenzies rebuilt, or restored the castle, after they
obtained possession of Lewis. The remains of the fort
were removed in the year 1882, owing to the exigencies
of increased harbour accommodation ; an act of apparent

* Whitelocke. No other historian mentions this practice.
t Scott. Hist. Soc.t Vol. XXXI., pp. 206-7.
£ See supra> p. 147.

THE ISLES AND THE COMMONWEALTH. 373

Vandalism which the circumstances of the case, unfortu-
nately, rendered necessary. A flagstaff now marks the
site of the historic building.

There seems reason to believe that soon after his sub-
mission, Seaforth's fidelity to the Commonwealth became
suspected ; or that the Royalist insurrection in England
in March 1655, which was easily suppressed, may have
induced Monck to adopt extraordinary measures of pre-
caution to prevent trouble in the Highlands. Whatever
the cause, Seaforth was, in that year, lodged in prison in
Inverness. He was obviously not regarded as a dangerous
captive, for he obtained leave, under bail to Governor
Miles Man, to visit Kintail ; and on his way there, organised
a great deer hunt in the forest of Monar, and a programme
of athletic sports for the delectation, apparently, of the
Englishmen who accompanied him.*

In 1656, intelligence reached Cromwell that the King
was preparing for a descent upon Scotland. Monck at
once seized a number of Scottish Royalists, including Lord
Seaforth, who had been actively engaged in the recent
rising. When, owing to the energy of the Protector, or
from other causes, the projected invasion was abandoned,
the King's partisans were set at liberty. But in 1659, after
the resignation and retirement of the gentle Richard
Cromwell, and the restoration of the Rump Parliament, the
Royalists, both in England and Scotland, again bestirred
themselves. The conspiracy in England was dissolved in
July, by means of the treachery of Sir Richard Willis ; and
in the following month, Monck, fearing that the King
might land in Scotland during the commotion in England,
once more seized the Royalist leaders and imprisoned
them, Seaforth being again among the number. There is
nothing to show the nature or extent of the Earl's con-
nexion with these plots for the restoration of the King.
Whether he was actually engaged in any or all of the con-
spiracies, or arrested on suspicion of complicity, or what

* Anderson's Guide to the Highlands^ p. 435.

374 HISTORY OK Till* Ol 1'KR 1 1 KHKll >KS.

is perhaps most likely, merely clet. lined in order to keep
him out ot mischief, the fact remains that he was not set
at liberty until the Restoration opened his prison d
Of his subsequent career little is known. He was Com-
missioner of Excise for Inverness-shire in 1001, and Sheriff
of Ross in iooj, the hounds of that shire having, in the
previous year, been finally delimited. In 1667, he was
appointed, jointly with the Earls of Argyll and Atholl,
Overseer of the Highlands, with comprehensive powers for
the punishment of thieves and the restoration of stolen
goods. In the same year, we find him figuring as Com-
missioner of Supply for Ross-shire. In 1675, the com-
mission of shrievalty was renewed to him and to his
eldest son, Kenneth, jointly. The appointment as Sheriff
was preceded by a dispute between him and the Karl of
Moray, the predecessor of the latter having had a gift from
Charles I., in 1647, of the Sheriffdom of Inverness, of which
Ross, at that time, formed a part.* This dispute led to the
drawing up of the memorandum by Moray to the Earl of
Lauderdale, which has been quoted in the preceding pages ;
a document marked, not unnaturally, by a strong anti-
Seaforth bias. Lord Seaforth, it appears, had presented
two petitions to the King, which based his claim to favour-
able consideration, on the services rendered by his father
and himself to the Crown, and the losses suffered by both
in the promotion of the Royal interests. The petitions also
complained of the rigid dealings of the Earl's cre^
and sought a remission of past feu-duties payable to the
Crown. The Earl of Moray, in reply to Seaforth -
ttons, enumerated the charges against father and son, some
of which have been noticed. The father, accord i
Moray, %% never suffered but by his misgovernment of hi>
private estate. And the sone hes been so farr from a
sufferer that he hes been a gainer ; for these lands his
creditors ought to have been in possession of, accord

* It wvmld appear that the Act of 1503, providing for the division ot the
Sherifidom of Inverness, did not take effect ; or was allowed to become
inoperative j or that the Sherifldoiu <* Ross was at first subsidiary to that c

: .•-. ..-..

SKAKOKTI! AND THE KARL OF MORAY. 375

;ir rights, he raised the rents thereoff, as he did off all
the rest of his estate, he not wanting a farthine of his rent,
notwithstanding some sufferings of his tennants, or such of
his friends as had possession by private rights." The
memorandum denied the rigid dealings complained of by
Seaforth, and sarcastically combated the suggestion that
the arrears of feu-duty should be remitted.*

It is probable that these charges against Seaforth in-
fluenced the King and his advisers in their dealings with
the Karl, for, with the exception of the Sheriffdom of Ross,
and the other offices which have been named, there is no
record of any mark of Royal favour having been shown
him. But he was not alone in this neglect. While
honours were showered upon Middleton, none of his old
Highland comrades — if we except Glengarry who got a
trumpery title — received rewards which were in any way--
adequate to the sacrifices which they had undergone for
Charles II. It may be that loyalty should be its own
reward, but gratitude is a virtue wherever it is found ; and
gratitude was not one of Charles Stuart's strong points.

By an Act of Parliament, a Commissioner was ap-
pointed to report upon the losses of various Royalists
during the " usurpation " ; and Seaforth 's name is found
on the list. If the Earl had hopes of relief from the
creditors of his estates, they were rudely dispelled by an
Act passed in 1663, ratifying certain comprisings led
against the property by virtue of an Act of 1649. The
Acts of the Parliament of 1649 were, after the Restoration,
declared to be null, but an exception was made in this
instance for the protection of the rights of private persons.
In 1678, an arrangement was made with the creditors,
by virtue of which the Seaforth estates were vested in
trustees (Sir George Mackenzie of Tarbat and others) for
behoof of the heir, Kenneth Og.f We shall notice, later,

* MS. in Urit. Mus. (Add. 23,117, Fol. XVII.).

t Seaforth wrote Tarbat on 7th August, 1678, alluding to a current report,
which he refused to believe. He expressed the hope that whatever preferment
Tarbat might receive from the Duke of Lauderdale, would not " interfier "
with him (Seaforth).

376 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

the legal proceedings which arose out of this arrangement.
For the present, it suffices to state that during the lifetime
of the first Earl Kenneth, the Seaforth estates were in the
hands of his father's creditors. Had the Royalist rising
been successful, the Earl would probably have effected the
recovery of his property, but it was not to be. Kenneth
Mor, the big Earl, big both in body and mind, must have
been a disappointed man and a disillusioned Royalist
when he breathed his last in December, 1678. He was
succeeded by his eldest son, Kenneth Og, whose mother
was Isobel, sister of Sir George Mackenzie of Tarbat.

Kenneth Og inherited the political faith of his father,
and, early in his career, he was provided with an oppor-
tunity of striking a blow in the cause of the Stuarts.

The unsuccessful insurrection in Scotland of the Earl of
Argyll, who was brought to the scaffold, like his father the
Marquis, and the equally useless rising in England of the
Duke of Monmouth, were the first signs of the gathering
storm which was soon to sweep the Stuarts for ever from
the British throne. When, in 1688, the storm burst, and
James II. lost, by his tyrannical bigotry, his crown, his
kingdom, and the respect of his subjects, a minority,
influenced by considerations of personal attachment,
religious sympathy, or unswerving loyalty to the name of
Stuart, was left to champion the luckless King. Among
these was the Earl of Seaforth, a co-religionist of the
deposed monarch, and therefore attached to his cause by
the strongest of ties. He accompanied James to France,
or joined him there ; and when the King, in 1689, sailed to
Ireland to head his partisans in that country, Seaforth was
one of the four Earls who attended him. He took part in
the famous siege of Londonderry and other engagements,
and as a reward for his services, James created him
Marquis of Seaforth.*

Meanwhile, the Jacobites in Scotland under John Gra-

* His son was also recognised as a Marquis by the Jacobites. Kenneth
Og was made a Privy Councillor in 1685, and was one of the eight original
Knights of the Thistle on the revival of that order in 1687.

THE ISLES AND WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 377

ham, Viscount Dundee, were stirring. By the Covenanters
in the latter part of the reign of Charles II., the two best
hated men in Scotland were Graham of Claverhouse and
Sir George Mackenzie of Tarbat. The former harried
them in the field, and the latter showed no mercy in the
Courts. Hence the " bloody Claver'se " and the " bloody
Mackenzie" became the bogies of the Convenanting
Whigs. Whether they deserved the obloquy which at-
tached, and in a modified degree still attaches, to their
names, may, conceivably, be a debatable point. That
their measures were harsh, vindictive, even cruel, may be
fairly granted. But their conception of their duties, how-
ever repugnant to modern ideas, if it does not excuse
their severities, at least palliates them. It is certain that
they were neither the monsters which they are sometimes
represented to have been, nor, probably, was Claverhouse
the pattern of chivalry which some of his modern apolo-
gists would have us believe. The truth here, as in so
many other cases, doubtless lies between both extremes.
Graham and Mackenzie were both men of marked ability :
one was probably the greatest soldier, and the other the
greatest lawyer, of the day, in their native country.
Mackenzie was a Lord of Session at the age of thirty-
one, and successively filled the offices of Lord Justice-
General and Clerk-Register of Scotland. He was also a
Privy Councillor, and in the reign of Queen Anne was
appointed Secretary of State for Scotland. He adopted
the judicial title of Lord Tarbat ; was in 1685 made a peer
of the realm, with the titles of Viscount of Tarbat, Lord
Macleod,* and Castlehaven ; and by Queen Anne was
created the first Earl of Cromartie. At the Revolution,
Mackenzie went over to the side of William of Orange,
and rapidly rose to great influence and authority, crowning

* The Cromartie family emphasised their descent from the Macleods of
Lewis in various ways. In 1688, an unnamed person, but who from
internal evidence appears to have been John Mackenzie, son and successor of
the first Earl of Cromartie, threatened to bring an action against Seaforth for
the recovery of the lands of Lewis, which, he asserted, belonged formerly to
one of his predecessors (? Torquil Conanach) by his daughter who was an
heiress. (Hist. MSS. Com., Report II., Part II., page 24).

378 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

his career in the reign of Queen Anne by being one of
the chief promoters of the Union. But his old colleague,
Dundee, remained faithful to King James, and ended his
career at Killiecrankie. This, then, was the man who was
the Jacobite mainstay in Scotland, at the time his Royal
master was fighting for his crown in Ireland.

Opposed to Dundee was General Hugh Mackay of
Scourie, an ex-soldier of fortune, like Graham himself,
both being men who had made their military reputation in
the Dutch wars. Dundee depended entirely on the High-
land clans for the success of his insurrection. Viscount
Tarbat, who, a Highlander himself, understood his fellow-
Highlanders better even than Dundee, endeavoured to
checkmate the latter by detaching the Highland chiefs
from the cause of James. There seems good ground for
believing, that if the negotiations had been left in his hands,
the movement would have been stopped at the outset, and
much useless bloodshed and misery averted. But the
business was bungled, and the differences between the
Jacobites and the Williamites were referred to the arbitra-
tion of the sword. The events of Dundee's campaign are
well known to every student of Highland history ; from the
first hide-and-seek campaign of Mackay, down to the final
encounter at Killiecrankie, on 2/th July, 1689 J when one of
the most complete victories ever gained by an army of
Highlanders was practically nullified by the death of their
leader. When Dundee was in Lochaber, a month before
the battle, he wrote a letter to John Macleod of Harris
(whose harper, by the way, was the famous " Clarsair Dall,"
Roderick Morison, a native of Lewis) reviewing the situa-
tion generally. From that letter, it would appear that
among the chiefs who had mustered their men in obedience
to the summons of the General, were Allan Macdonald, the
youthful Captain of Clan Ranald, attended by his tutor,
Ranald Macdonald of Benbecula, Sir Donald Macdonald
of Sleat and North Uist, and Macneill of Barra ; the whole
of the heritors of the Outer Hebrides being thus engaged
in the Jacobite cause. Macleod, however, for some reason,

THE ISLES AND WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 379

abstained from joining Dundee, while Seaforth, of course,
was fighting in Ireland at the time ; so it may be doubted
if there were either Lewismen or Harrismen at Killie-
crankie, though the Uists and Barra were represented.

In a letter dated 3<Dth November, 1689, addressed by
James to Sir Donald Macdonald of Sleat, the King inti-
mated his intention of sending Seaforth to Scotland to
head his clan ; the Duke of Berwick, the natural son of
James, to follow him as soon as the season permitted the
shipment of horses from Ireland. In this letter, the King
expressed himself as " afflicted " at the news of the death
of Dundee ; but hoped that the work so "happily begun"
by that general would be carried on, since " no less than the
preservation of the hereditary succession of our Crown is at
stake." Above all things, James urged union among his
partisans, and in wishing success to their joint efforts, pro-
mised that he would reward them " out of such forfeitures
as shall come to us by the unnatural rebellion of the rest of
our subjects there."* It may be questioned whether, even
as a matter of policy, Charles II. or James II. helped their
cause much by appealing to the cupidity of their sup-
porters. By taking such low ground, they eliminated the
higher considerations which influenced the most chivalrous
of their friends in drawing the sword for them. An appeal
to the generosity of the Highlanders would have proved a
more powerful incentive to the best of the chiefs. While
winnowing the chaff from the wheat — the mere fortune-
hunters from the men of principle — such an appeal would
have ensured the enthusiasm of a staunch, if reduced band
of adherents, whose support was not to be measured by
material rewards. This system of drawing bills on futurity
was not flattering to the motives of the Highlanders. In
the case of Charles II., few of the bills had been met at
maturity ; and it says much for the credulity, or, as we
prefer to put it, the innate loyalty of the chiefs, that after
their past experience, they continued faithful to the family

* Cat. of State Papers (1689-90), p. 338.

380 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

of large promises but small performances. Prince Charles
Edward avoided the mistake of his ancestors in the rising
of 1745. His appeal was directed to the best part of the
Highlanders' nature, and the result was a passionate
attachment to his person and his cause, to which history
furnishes few parallels. But James II. was of a meaner
spirit, and preferred to secure the allegiance of the High-
land clans by inciting them to break the tenth command-
ment.

In January, 1690, Seaforth was still in Ireland. In that
month, he wrote from Dublin to Macdonald of Sleat,
expressing great satisfaction to hear of the readiness of
himself and his men to serve the King, "which is the
greatest proof you can give of your loyalty." " Nothing,"
he adds, " shall be wanting on my part to do you right and
kindness ; and that I may appear a true gentleman, pray
order some one in your island to have a fine plaid ready
for me."* From the petition of one Sir Thomas South-
well, we find that Seaforth left for Scotland on 1st May.
Southwell, whose life Seaforth had saved after he had been
condemned to death by the Earl of Clanricarde, and who
accompanied Seaforth to Scotland, makes the astonishing
statement that he drew the latter to King James's party,
and thus disappointed the enemy of 3,000 of his clan.f
Whether this was mere braggadocio on Southwell's part, or
whether the Earl was really wobbling between the two
parties, we are left to conjecture ; but the suggestion of dis-
loyalty to James, is strongly at variance with Seaforth's
expressions of aggressive Jacobitism.

The death of Dundee placed the supreme command of
the Highlanders in the hands of Colonel Cannon, who
might have achieved some success with an army of
regulars, but who was totally unfitted to lead the clans.
The fruits of the victory at Killiecrankie, which, had
Dundee lived, would probably have meant the subjugation
of the whole of Scotland, were wholly lost by the incapa-

* Cal. of Treasury Papers, Vol. XL, No. 51, p. 153.
f Cal. of State Papers (Nov. i69l-Dec. 1692), p. 91.

THE ISLES AND WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 381

city or inertness of his successor. Mackay of Scourie was
soon enabled to take the field again, confident of retrieving
the defeat at Killiecrankie, now that the " deil o' Dundee "
no longer led his formidable Highlanders. His anticipa-
tions were realised, for the caution, not to say the timidity,
of Cannon, and his impolicy in restraining the fighting
ardour of the clans, gave Mackay an advantage which
decided the issue in his favour. The repulse of the High-
landers at Dunkeld, where the gallant obstinacy of the
Cameronians saved themselves from annihilation, further
dispirited the clans, and finally led to their voluntary dis-
persal, disgusted with their commander, but steadfast in
their loyalty to King James. Mackay, a generous enemy,
endeavoured at this juncture to induce them to lay down
their arms ; but a spirited letter addressed to him by the
chiefs, in reply, showed that although temporarily dis-
couraged, they were not disposed to admit defeat. " We
scorn your usurper and the indemnity of his Government.
Those of us who live in the islands have already seen and
defied the Prince of Orange his frigates."* Such were the
uncompromising terms in which they answered Mackay 's
well-meant overtures. And among " those of us who live
in the islands " appear the names of Sir Donald Macdonald
of Sleat, Macdonald of Benbecula, and Macneill of Barra.f
! A week later (24th August), a bond was signed by the
insurgent chiefs, obliging themselves to assemble in Sep-
tember for the service of King James, and in the meantime,
to stand by one another in the event of attack. Mac-
donald of Sleat was to bring 200 men, Benbecula, 200, and
Barra, 50. Lochiel was by common consent chosen to
command the clans, Colonel Cannon, in whom the High-
landers had lost all confidence, being now an impossible
leader. Mackay, disgusted with the supineness of the
Government, wished to throw up his command, but failing
to obtain even temporary leave of absence, applied himself,

* Parl Records (Keltic's Highlands, Vol. II., p. 385).

t Colin Mackenzie, afterwards of Kinachulladrum, Seaforth's uncle, was
one of the chiefs who signed the defiant message to Mackay.

D D

382 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

like the good soldier that he was, with additional energy, to
the suppression of disaffection in the Highlands. His plan
was to erect a fort at Inverlochy, of sufficient strength to
overawe the Western Highlands ; and in spite of the want
of Government support, he managed to surmount his diffi-
culties with the help of the citizens of Glasgow. These
preparations were not without their effect upon the insur-
gents. But the arrival of Major-General Buchan from
Ireland, in April, 1690, whence he had been sent by James
to assume supreme command of his supporters, heartened
the Highlanders afresh. A conference took place to decide
upon a course of action, when it was resolved to renew the
contest immediately after the spring. In the meantime,
Buchan was to harass the enemy on the borders of the
Lowlands, while emissaries were sent to the islands, in
particular to Skye, to sound the clans and ascertain the
support upon which the insurgents might count from that
quarter. On ascertaining that Buchan had taken the field,
Mackay ordered Sir Thomas Livingston, who was stationed
at Inverness, to keep a watch on the movements of the
Jacobites. The operations that succeeded — in which
Lieutenant-Colonel Buchan, a brother of the Jacobite
General, was associated with Livingston — were not produc-
tive of any tangible result, until Livingston came in touch
with the insurgents at Cromdale on the Spey. A skirmish
took place, in which Buchan, taken by surprise, was worsted,
and his men were dispersed.

Such, then, was the condition of affairs in Scotland when
Seaforth came over from Ireland, with a body of troops, to
give his powerful support to the Jacobite cause. Mackay
having completed the erection of a fort at Inverlochy — which
he named Fort William in honour of the King — was about
to lead a force to Mull to subdue that island, when he
received orders to proceed south in view of an anticipated
invasion of the French. The insurgents took advantage of
his absence to resume offensive operations, but the promis-
ing commencement of this fresh campaign underwent a
change when Mackay, on the subsidence of the French

THE ISLES AND WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 383

1 1 alarm, returned to the North to lead the Government troops
i in person. Buchan and Cannon, the latter of whom had
jj rejoined the Jacobites as second-in-command, had pushed
I as far north as Inverness, where they waited for Seaforth,
| with whose reinforcements they intended to make a con-
|j certed attack upon the town. But the celerity of Mackay '"s
I movements wholly disconcerted them, that commander
I having wisely determined to disperse the insurgents before
I the rising in the Highlands could become general. The
arrival of the troops in the neighbourhood of Inverness,
|j before the Mackenzies had joined their allies, completed
I the discomfiture of the insurgents. Buchan and Cannon
I turned tail and fled to Lochaber ; and the insurrection was
I at an end.

Seaforth was placed in an awkward situation. Had the
f proposed junction between him and Buchan been effected
in time, the whole course of the campaign might have been
altered, but the flight of Buchan left him exposed to the
| vengeance of Mackay, whom he was too weak to meet
single-handed. There was nothing for it but to make the
best terms he could. He sent his mother and Mackenzie
of Coul to interview Mackay. The latter refused to con-
sider any terms which did not include the personal surrender
of Seaforth. A reluctant consent to this condition was
wrung from the Earl ; but to save his credit, he desired
Mackay to send a body of men by night, who were to effect
his capture in such a way as to create the impression that
he had been surprised by them. But Seaforth failed to
play the game, for on the arrival of the troops sent to
I apprehend him, he declined, on the plea of ill-health, to be
arrested. His unconditional surrender would have placed
his vast estates at the disposal of the Privy Council of
Scotland ; and although his deception may have been inex-
cusable, his strong objection to place himself at the mercy
of an unscrupulous gang, like some of the members of the
Council, is perfectly intelligible. Mackay, annoyed at the
trick played upon him, prepared to proceed to extremities,
and informed the Earl that unless he surrendered at once,

D D 2

384 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

his estates would be ravaged by fire and sword. At the
same time, he instructed the Earl of Sutherland, Lord
Reay, and Ross of Balnagown, all staunch Whigs, to hold
in readiness 1,000 men under Major Wishart to occupy
Lewis, should Seaforth persist in his obstinacy. Notwith-
standing these preparations, Mackay was unwilling to give
effect to them. Seaforth's men were " all Protestants, and
none of the most dangerous enemies," although the Earl
was a Catholic ; and the General, himself a sound Protestant
and, what was better, a man of sound principles, was averse
from making the innocent Mackenzies suffer for the stub-
bornness of their chief. He therefore sent a secret intimation
to Seaforth of his intention, hoping that at the eleventh
hour, the Earl would re-consider his decision.* In the result,
Mackay was relieved from an unpleasant duty. Seaforth
surrendered and was sent to Edinburgh under a strong
guard, but was released on giving security for himself and
his friends. Probably he had to thank his uncle, Lord
Tarbat, for the leniency of the Government.

In June, 1690, after negotiations with the Government,
undertaken with the express sanction of King James, the
Jacobite leaders agreed to a cessation of hostilities until
ist October ; and we find that Seaforth was compelled to
provide further security against taking up arms until the
expiry of that date. The Earl of Breadalbane — a name
of sinister import to Highlanders — conducted the negotia-
tions on behalf of the Government. In order to make the
submission of the Jacobites permanent, he was entrusted
with a sum of .£15,000 or £20,000 to buy up the claims
which the Earl of Argyll and other Superiors exercised over
their feudal vassals. No more unfortunate choice of an
agent could have been made. A contemporary describes
Breadalbane as being " cunning as a fox, wise as a serpent,
but slippery as an eel." Before the Highlanders, he posed
as a friend of theirs and of King James ; before the Govern-
ment, he posed as a zealous partisan of King William. But

* Mackay's Memoirs, pp. 101-2.

THE ISLES AND WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 385

the truth is, that the man for whom he worked was neither
King James nor King William, but John Campbell, Earl of
Breadalbane. How the money which was placed at his
disposal was employed, remains a mystery to this day.
M The money is spent, the Highlands are quiet, and this
is the only way of accounting among friends," was his
answer when required to give an account of his steward-
ship. Wherever the money went, there is nothing to show
that the Highland chiefs received much benefit from
it. As the result, however, of the negotiations between
Breadalbane and the Jacobites, who received the sanction
of James for arranging a treaty, the Government issued a
proclamation, on 2/th August, 1691, promising an in-
demnity to all who had been in arms, and who should take
the oath of allegiance to King William before the ist of
January, 1692. James and his supporters recognised that
their cause was, for the time, hopeless, and that the stern
necessity was forced upon the Highlanders to come to
terms with the Government. But the expectation of the
Government, that at last the trouble was over, proved to
be illusory.

In the autumn of 1691, the Highlands were once more
in a state of political ferment. A fresh rising was being
organised, and a number of Highlanders again unsheathed
their claymores. Among the latter was Seaforth, who was
driven to the hills, and Brahan Castle was occupied by
a garrison under Ross of Balnagown. King William's
Councillors were divided in their opinion as to the best
means of putting down the rising, and preventing a spread
of the conflagration. There was the peace party, the ablest
exponent of whose policy was Lord Tarbat ; and there
was the party whose sole remedy was uncompromising war
to the knife. "Several of your Councillors," wrote Tarbat
to King William, " thought it dishonourable to treat with
them, and all these thought it better to root them out by
war than to give them any favour." The Earl of Argyll
trimmed. Without going the length of the war party, he
"was against such concessions as affected his interests."

386 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

The Earl of Breadalbane proposed a fresh armistice until
the end of November, and offered his services to treat with
the clans. General Mackay, who was then ready to lead
his troops against the insurgents, was opposed to a policy
of conciliation, having, as a soldier, a greater belief in the
efficacy of force than in the negotiations of statecraft. The
firebrands prevailed ; and a force under Major Fergusson
was sent to reduce the West Highlands and Isles to sub-
mission. At this stage of the proceedings, Tarbat inter-
vened to save, if he could, the Highlanders from " ruin,"
and to prevent those who were wavering from being driven
to desperation. But although backed by Colonel Hill, the
brave and humane governor of Fort William, Tarbat's
representations were frustrated by the war party, and the
expedition against the insurgents was set in motion. Major
Fergusson harried the coasts of the Jacobite chiefs, from
Mull to the Long Island ; while the Highlanders on the
mainland discreetly kept out of the way of Mackay, who
" judged it not fit to seek them out." Much credit seems
to be due to Colonel Hill, for his methods of warfare
against the Highlanders. Instead of exasperating them
by seventy, he sought to subdue them by treaty. He suc-
ceeded in detaching Seaforth from the irreconcilables, and
in extracting a promise from him not to rejoin the enemy,
until the result of the pending negotiations should be
declared. In terms of his agreement with the Colonel,
Brahan Castle was to be evacuated by the garrison, and
the Earl suffered to re-occupy it peacefully. Hill com-
municated with Lord Tarbat on the subject, and sent a
report to the King's Commissioners ; but for some unknown
reason, the report never reached its destination, and Sea-
forth was left to nurse his chagrin in the hills. When
General Mackay left the Highlands, Colonel Hill resumed
his negotiations with the chiefs. With the exception of
Seaforth, they had all determined to hang together — which,
although in a totally different sense, was precisely what the
war party wanted them to do — and treat for peace in a
body ; and they had decided to inform King James of

THE ISLES AND WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 387

their resolution. All they required was to have a general
indemnity, security in their possessions, and a small pay-
ment to certain of their number " to put them at ease."
The attitude of the chiefs was well known to Hill, who thus
found an easy basis for negotiations. But, with criminal
recklessness, the Government continued to ignore the advice
of the peacemakers, and to listen to that of the Jingoes.
The Commissioner, though convinced by Hill and Tarbat
of the wisdom of pacific measures, was over-ruled by the
war party, and refused to interfere with the military dis-
positions which were being made for crushing the insurgents.
General Mackay again took the field with so considerable
a body of men, as to render organised resistance on the
part of the Highlanders, impossible.

It was at this stage that Lord Tarbat again addressed
a long and weighty letter to the King, detailing the recent
occurrences, and earnestly pressing for a reversal of the
policy which was being pursued. He pointed out the vast
expense which was being incurred, with such barren results,
and the misery suffered by peaceable subjects, equally from
the " necessary harassing" of the army and the " ravaging
and robbing " of the enemy. " Twenty such campaigns,"
he declared, would not reduce the Highlanders; for, notwith-
standing the utility of the Fort William garrison, it would
never conquer the enemy nor adequately protect the Low-
lands from their incursions. " All their estates will not
recompense a tenth of one year's losses, and giving them
what they desire is less loss than to keep up the army
three months, besides three years." But he had an alter-
native suggestion to offer. " I ventured to tell you that
persuading the Highlanders was a good way to fatigue
your enemy and waste money, but in my opinion was not
so fit a way to reduce the Highlands as by posting the
army so as to block them up within the hills, and mean-
while invest them by sea. But neither way is so easy and
secure as by treaty, which the tenth part of what is already
expended would have done." With reference to Seaforth's
position, Tarbat wrote in the same spirit. The Earl was

388 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

still in the hills, he told the King, but had not joined the
enemy. " Nor do I wish he should, for he would add too
much strength to them." If tolerable conditions were
offered to him, he would probably " come over and be a
peaceable subject to you, and if he should join the enemy,
ten times so much will not reduce him." The " tolerable "
conditions suggested by Tarbat, embraced an indemnity
and protection for his person and estates; a payment of
£1,000 to repair the damage done to Brahan Castle and
estate by the garrison ; and relief from the oath, as bearing
on his religious belief, " because he is a Papist."

There is a notable statement in Tarbat's letter to King
William, which deserves special attention. " One thing,"
he declares, "all the clans desire, which is as much for your
advantage as theirs, which is, that all these superiorities be
bought from the Highland lords, so that they may hold their
estates immediately of you, and having them immediate
vassals." By assuming these superiorities, and by keeping
a small garrison in Lochaber, and a man of ability, " being
no Highlander," as lieutenant-governor there, " you will be
indeed master of the Highlands much as ever King of
Scotland was." Lochiel and Glengarry Lord Tarbat calls
the " activest " of the chiefs, Maclean and Macdonald (of
Sleat) the " most powerful." The distribution of £10,000
among the chiefs would, he thought, be sufficient to satisfy
them ; and he expressed his willingness to go north, pre-
sumably to treat for peace.* Tarbat had considerable
confidence in his own influence with his fellow-Highlanders,
and more particularly with his own clan. Some years
previously, he boasted to Mackay that he would overturn
in eight days, more than Seaforth could advance in six
weeks, in the country of the Mackenzies. But he did
nothing to confirm this boast.

An instructive contrast to Tarbat's pacific views are
those given in a memorial, drawn up, apparently, by an
Englishman, relating to affairs in Scotland at this period.

* Cal. of State Papers (Nov., i69i-Dec., 1692), pp. 60-2.

THE ISLES AND WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 389

The writer entirely gives his case away by the virulence
of his animosity against the Highlanders. They are
" barbares " ; a people " without any principle of religion
or honour " ; always ready to strike a blow " without
; caring what they have promised, if they are not disarmed,"
I " Religion," he declares, " serves here (in Scotland) some-
times as a pretext ; or else they are generally poor, and
I having to fish in troubled waters, gold and silver, or the
hope of obtaining some, is always the principal motive
which moves them." After these unflattering statements,
we are prepared for the policy which is proposed. " The
only way of feeling sure of them" (the Highlanders) "is
by restraining them by means of small garrisons." Three
garrisons, supported by two regiments of foot and two of
dragoons, would be sufficient to subdue them. According
to the memorial now quoted, the chiefs had told Bread-
albane openly, when negotiating with him, that they would
have no compunction about breaking their word in the
event of a rising in Scotland, or an invasion from abroad,
taking place.* But there is reason to believe that their
attitude was secretly encouraged by Breadalbane himself,
who, judging by subsequent events, was quite capable of
luring the unsuspecting Jacobites to their ruin.

The part taken by Breadalbane and the Master of Stain
in effecting the destruction of the Macdonalds of Glencoe,
is well known. The result of the inquiry which was held
on the infamous massacre, is detailed in Somers' Collection
of Tracts (pp. 529-561), and it would be foreign to the
scope of this work to attempt to apportion the blame, or
discuss the painful subject in any way. But recent research
has brought to light the interesting fact, that far from
Macdonald of Glencoe being the only one of the Highland
chiefs who had neglected to take the oath of allegiance
before the ist of January, 1692 (as is generally believed),
we have the authority of King William himself for stating,
that by the nth of January, "all of them" had refused

* Cal. of State Papers (Nov., 1691 -Dec., 1692), p. 62.

390 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

the offers made by the Government, and " several of their
chieftains and many of their clans" had not taken the
preferred indemnity. The truth is, that the Government
knew beforehand that the chiefs would not all come in
by the 3ist December, 1691 ; and a fortnight before that
date, orders were given for taking active measures against
those who remained obstinate. And we find the King
informing the Privy Council of Scotland, on nth January,
1692, that an expedition under Sir Thomas Livingston
was to be sent to the Highlands, to " cut off those obstinate
rebels by all manner of hostility." A war of extermination,
in point of fact, had been decided upon, the expeditionary
force to be empowered " by fire and sword and all manner
of hostility, to burn their houses, seize and burn their
cattle, plenishing, or clothes, and cut off the men." No
terms were to be offered ; but those who surrendered un-
conditionally, as prisoners of war, were to have their lives
spared. If the common people submitted, they were to
receive quarter, but would be required to take fresh tacks
of their property.*

The massacre of Glencoe was the beginning and the
end of the war of extermination. Not only was it a crime
unsurpassed, even in Scottish annals, for treachery and
ferocity, but it was a mistake which might have cost
William of Orange his throne. The thrill of horror which
ran through the length and breadth of the land, gave just
cause for alarm to the Government. With the state of
feeling in the country which the tragedy had aroused, all
further attempts to "cut off " the Highlanders had to be
abandoned. Indeed, the "barbarous" Highlanders were
so horrified by the doings of the emissaries of civilisation,
that, for the moment, they were quelled into submission.
Colonel Hill, in a letter to the Earl of Portland, dated
28th February, declares that the events of the winter
campaign had "put the Highlanders under great con-
sternation," and that they were all "very submissive and

* CaL of State Papers (Nov., i69i-Dec., 1692. Intro.).

THE ISLES AND WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 391

humble." He recommends mercy to the fugitives from
Glencoe, then hiding in " caves and remote places," and
adds, "there are enough killed for an example and to
vindicate public justice." Seaforth, whose Castle of Eilean
Donain was in Hill's hands, had come in,* therefore his
clansmen were likely to remain quiet. Young Sir Donald
Macdonald of Sleat is a "peaceable inclined man," and
his relations in Skye being mostly Protestants, no danger
is to be apprehended from them. Clanranald " who is one
of the prettiest, handsome youths I have seen " had, with
all the chief of his friends, taken the oath, "with the
greatest frankness imaginable." He had gone to his
uncle, Macleod, to get some money to enable him to wait
upon the King in person ; and he (Clanranald) would be
governed by the King's pleasure, but was anxious so to be
disposed of as to " better his education." " It will," adds
Hill, " be an act of great charity to breed him ! " "I have
sent," says the Colonel, "to McNeil of Bara (a remote
island) who I doubt not will come in with the rest, so all
the work is now done but the settlement of a civil juris-
diction," for which, according to the writer, the people
were crying out.t But Colonel Hill's optimism was not
justified by events.

From a fragment of a proclamation by the King in 1692,
we find that Sir Donald Macdonald — Hill's "peaceable
inclined man" — Allan Macdonald of Clan Ranald — the
" pretty handsome youth " — Glengarry, Lochiel, Maclean,
and Colin Mackenzie, the uncle of Seaforth — the latter
being in prison — were again in open rebellion. Lord
Tarbat was now offered an opportunity of putting his pet
theory of pacification into practice. He was empowered
to offer in the King's name, " such honour under that of
earl, and such sums of money not exceeding ^"2,000
sterling, to any one chief or tribe of those above men-

* He had apparently surrendered, and was imprisoned in Edinburgh, but
was released in January, on finding caution to appear when called upon, and
on condition that he should not go ten miles beyond the walls of Edinburgh,

t Cal. of State Papers (Nov., idgi-Dec., 1692), p. 153.

392 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

tioned ; and also to secure them in all that they possess by
law, or were secured in by gifts from our Royal uncle,
King Charles, under the Great Seal of Scotland ; and so
indemnify them and every one of them who shall come in
and submit to us and our laws, in manner aforesaid, against
all accusations, punishments, and dangers, for all crimes
and deeds committed by them preceding their submission."*
Such a complete reversal of the policy of extermination, is
the clearest possible indication of the state of panic into
which the Government had been thrown, by the strong
feeling aroused by the butchery at Glencoe. From extreme
severity they now turned to unexampled leniency. " Bribe
these troublesome Highlanders into submission. Give them
anything they want : make them knights, peers, anything
short of an earldom, to get rid of them " ; such, in effect,
was their cry. And the choice of an agent fell upon the
right man. Had Lord Tarbat's counsel been followed
earlier, the insurgents would have long before given in
their submission ; great loss of life and vast sums of money
would have been saved ; and the massacre of Glencoe
would have been rendered impossible. The precise use
that Tarbat made of his authority is uncertain ; but we
know that the system of pensioning the Highland chiefs
was pursued by King William, and continued by his*
successor.

In July, 1692, King William ordered the Privy Council
of Scotland to cause process of treason to be issued against
the Earl of Seaforth, " for his invasion with forces from
Ireland and his behaviour since."t The Earl appears to
have led an exciting life during the first six months of 1692,
a term of imprisonment alternating with an escape ; that,
in turn, being followed by a fresh surrender. Ultimately,
he was lodged in Inverness Castle, and the Government,
losing patience, decided to proclaim him a traitor. A
lengthened spell of imprisonment broke Seaforth's spirit,
and he threw himself upon the Royal clemency. On ist

* Cal. of State Papers (Nov., i69i-Dec., 1692), p. 547.
t Idcm.t pp. 366-7.

THE ISLES AND WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 393

March, 1697, an order was issued for his release, and for
the desistence of the process of treason. Whether Seaforth
believed that Lord Tarbat was responsible for his troubles,
or had failed to help him out of them, it is certain that the
relations between the two men were strained ; and although
attempts were made by the Mackenzies, on the Earl's
release, to patch up the quarrel, there is nothing to show
that they were successful. Seaforth seems to have passed
the remainder of his life mainly in France, the manage-
ment of his estates being in the hands of his mother and
his brother, Colonel Alexander Mackenzie of Assynt and
Conansbay. He was married to Lady Frances Herbert,
daughter of the titular Marquis of Powis, and was suc-
ceeded in the Earldom of Seaforth — or the Marquisate,
from the Jacobite standpoint — by his son William (Uilleam
Dubh) who, on his father's death in Paris in 1701, was a
mere youth.

394

CHAPTER XIII.

THE Jacobite rising of 1715 had its inception in dis-
appointed ambition on the one hand, and an act of
incivility on the other, although its roots lay deeper than
both. John Erskine, eleventh Earl of Mar, was Secretary
of State for Scotland at the time of Queen Anne's death
in 1714, having succeeded the Earl of Cromartie in that
office. A Whig at the time of the Union, he had found
no difficulty in changing his political views when his
opinions formed a barrier to his advancement. When
King George, on his arrival in England, threw himself
into the arms of the Whigs, Mar was ready to adapt
himself to the altered circumstances. His position, as
dispenser of the late Queen's bounty to the Highland
chiefs, provided him with a means of influence in the
North of Scotland which he sought to turn to good
account. He procured the signature of a number of
the chiefs to a letter, professing loyalty to the person
of George; and endeavoured to deliver to the King an
address by the Highlanders, of like import to that which
his brother, Lord Grange,* had prepared. By thus hint-
ing, not obscurely, that he had the clans at his back, who
were prepared to be the friends or the foes of the new
regime at his dictation, Mar hoped to secure the Royal
favour. But the King refused to receive the address, on
the ground that it had been concocted at the Court of
the "Pretender." Mar's advances were rudely repelled,
and he was unceremoniously dismissed from office. As

* This Lord Grange was the husband of the unfortunate lady who was
abducted from her home and kept concealed in St. Kilda, Uist, and else-
where for a number of years. Her sufferings ultimately affected her reason,
and she died in Waternish in 1745 in a state of poverty and idiocy.

THE RISING OF 1715. 395

a matter of policy, no graver error could have been made
by George I. The King acted like a boor, and had soon
to pay a heavy price for his rudeness. Mar swore
revenge, and the insulted chiefs were heartily with him
in his resentment. No Stuart would have behaved so
ungraciously as this German new-comer had done ; and
their secret attachment to the native House was intensi-
fied by the attitude of the foreigner. They were ripe for
a rising, and the man to lead them was ready to place
himself at their head. But they had yet to learn that
an able statesman is not necessarily a skilful soldier.

The convocation of the Jacobites, held at Braemar, on
27th August, 1715, under cover of a great hunting match,
was the first move in the projected insurrection. Those
of the assembly who hesitated to take the irrevocable step
were won over by the persuasiveness of Mar, who was
more fitted for the council-chamber than for the field.
The youthful Earl of Seaforth was one of the Highland
chiefs present. His adhesion to Mar evidently preceded
the Braemar gathering, for he was attainted for treason
on 24th June, 1715, and his estates were forfeited to the
Crown.* He was suspected of, and arrested for, com-
plicity in the ill-fated French expedition of 1708, and
was probably kept under close surveillance after his
temporary detention. Mar himself, as the great-grandson
of George, second Earl of Seaforth, had Mackenzie blood
in his veins, and, curiously enough, was the vassal of the
head of Clan Kenneth for certain lands which he held in
the Highlands.

The Government attempted to meet the threatening
danger by means of legislation. They passed the Clan
Act, hoping to detach loyal vassals from Jacobite Superiors,
and vice-versa. They passed an Act, calling upon those
noblemen and chiefs who were suspected of Jacobite
proclivities to appear at Edinburgh, within stated periods,

'Appeals to the House of Lords (1719), p. 156. Elsewhere, it is stated
that he was attainted on 7th May, 1716, for the part he took in the rising of
1715. The correct date is given on the Earl's portrait in Brahan Castle.

396 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

to give security for their allegiance. But the time was
past for legislative intimidation. With few exceptions,
the summons to Edinburgh was ignored, and the insur-
rection was begun. Scarcely had the Jacobite chiefs
reached their homes, when they were again summoned
by Mar to meet him at Aboyne, on 3rd September, to
decide upon an immediate plan of campaign.

The attitude of Seaforth, with his powerful following,
was of the utmost importance to the Jacobites. Without
his assistance, their chances of success were greatly
diminished ; upon his help appeared to rest, to no
inconsiderable extent, the issue of the impending struggle.
The young Earl seems to have been largely under the
influence of Brigadier Mackintosh of Borlum, a fervent
Jacobite ; and that influence was exerted with all the
persuasiveness that " old Borlum " possessed. But it is
unlikely that any outside pressure was really necessary
to induce Lord Seaforth to take up arms. A sincere
Jacobite, and an attainted rebel, he was forced both by
sympathy and self-interest into the arms of the Govern-
ment's foes. His young English wife — Mary Kennett
of Coxhoe in the County of Durham — and his mother
entreated him to keep out of the rising. A number of
his clansmen, too, were opposed to the enterprise, and
drew up a remonstrance urging caution, especially until
the active co-operation of Sir Donald Macdonald of Sleat,
of the Tutor of Macleod, and of Mackinnon, could be
assured. To the women his answer was, that they
possessed neither the spirit, courage, nor virtues of the
Spartan mothers ! Possibly not, but they possessed the
quality of prudence, in which the impetuous youth had
shown himself to be conspicuously lacking. Brigadier
Mackintosh opened the ball by marching into Inverness
on 1 5th September, and proclaiming the Chevalier at the
Market Cross. This bold step seems to have decided
Seaforth. He proceeded to give effect to his fine heroics,
and made preparations for assuming the offensive. He
•drew up a list of officers to command his retainers, and

THE RISING OF 1715. 397

the following Lewis names appear among the nomina-
tions.

Captains:— Colin Mackenzie of Kildun, son of George
of Kildun, Seaforth's grand-uncle; Alexander
Mackenzie of Achilty, who was Chamberlain of
Lewis and Assynt in 1735; Norman Macleod;
and Donald Macaulay.

Lieutenants: — J. Macaulay, Bragar; John Macaulay,
Kirkibost ; Kenneth Maciver, and John Macaulay,
Bragar.

Ensigns: — Kenneth Mackenzie, merchant in Stornoway;
Rory Mackenzie, Achilty's brother; S. Maciver,
Callernish ; and George Mackenzie.

"But," writes Seaforth's agent, "notwithstanding of the
above nomination of the Lewes livetenants and ensignes,
my lord referrs to their captaines to have others, if they
think them more proper, and to transmit their names to
his lordship that he may examine whether or not they are
fitt."*

The ardour of Seaforth was damped on finding that the
Earl of Sutherland, with the Mackays, the Rosses, and the
Munroes, was prepared to bar his way. The dispersal of
the Whig clans was necessary before a junction with Mar
could be effected, otherwise the Mackenzie country would
be left exposed to ravage. In this dilemma, Seaforth was
compelled to remain inactive, until the timely arrival of
Sir Donald Macdonald, with 700 of his clansmen, and con-
tingents of Mackinnons, Chisholms, and others, enabled
him to commence a forward movement. Presumably, the
arrival of these reinforcements tended to remove the
objections of those of his clansmen who had endeavoured
to dissuade the Earl from his enterprise ; for he found
himself at the head of a well-equipped body of Mackenzies,
Macraes, and other vassals, the whole consisting of 2,000
foot and 500 horse. His nomination as " Lieutenant-
General and Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Counties

* Seaforth MSS. in Brit. Mus.

F E

398 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

to his Majesty King James VIII." did not tend to diminish
his sense of importance. It was not until 8th of October
that the combined forces marched to give battle to the
Whig clans. They encamped at the Clairs, preparatory to
attacking Sutherland's levies at Alness, where these had
arrived three days previously. On loth October, they
reached Alness, only to find that on the previous day, the
enemy had fled. Sutherland's raw soldiers — inferior in
numbers, and some of them armed with long spear-pointed
poles — were hardly fit to cope with Seaforth's army, and a
panic had seized them, clear evidence of which is afforded
by the fact that they threw away their arms and left their
cannon behind. The Earl of Sutherland and his son, Lord
Strathnaver, with Lord Reay, made good their retreat into
Sutherlandshire, attended by only forty men, the remainder
of their forces being left to shift for themselves. Sutherland
subsequently excused his flight, by stating that he dismissed
his men to enable them to secure their crops. Munro, the
younger, returned home to Castle Foulis, which was gar-
risoned and fortified by his father. Seaforth, puffed up by
his success, endeavoured to turn his bloodless victory to
good account, by summoning the Munroes, the Rosses, and
others, to find security for their peaceable behaviour,
threatening them with his enmity if they failed to obey.
Kenneth Sutherland, Lord Duffus, who accompanied him,
was sent to Tain to proclaim the Chevalier, while the Earl
proceeded to enforce his authority upon the Whig clans.*
At Kincraig, he received the submission of several Rosses,
Macleod of Cadboll, and Macleod of Geanies. He is
charged by Munro of Foulis, and by Rae the historian,
with having abused his triumph by gross acts of cruelty
and oppression. " Goths and Vandalls," says Munro,
" never shewed more barbarity than the Earl of Seafort
practised on my people " ; and he then proceeds to give
particulars of the offences. The truth, however, is to be
found in the report of Munro of Culcairn, who states that

Seaforth MSS. in Brit. Mus.

;

THE RISING OF 1715. 399

" a few men of disreputable character did damage wantonly,
and their proceedings are said by Seafort's enemies to
have been countenanced by him."* The fact of the Earl
having sent a party in pursuit of the marauders, is sufficient
to show that his hands were clean in connexion with these
deplorable excesses.

At Cromarty, where Seaforth intended to proclaim the
Chevalier, he was resisted by Captain Stewart of the
Royal Ann, who threatened to lay the town in ashes if
a single rebel entered. Stewart made good his threat by
opening fire on the Highlanders, whom he prevented from
obtaining possession of the cannon which lay on the Point
of Cromarty. Seaforth thereupon withdrew his men, and
proceeded on his march to join Mar at Perth. On 1st
November, he passed Blair Castle with 2,000 men, having
previously left 500 with Sir John Mackenzie of Coul to
hold Inverness. That town was invested by Hugh Rose of
Kilravock (Sir John's father-in-law), Duncan Forbes of
Culloden,t and Simon Fraser of Lovat, the latter of whom
had by this time apparently made up his mind that the
Jacobites were likely to prove unsuccessful — and trimmed
his sails accordingly. Sir John Mackenzie sought the
i assistance of Macdonald of Keppoch and the Mackintoshes,
but the activity of his assailants frustrated the attempt,
and Mackenzie was compelled to surrender on terms which
included permission for him to return home.

The Earl of Sutherland, by retarding Seaforth's advance,
rendered an important service to the Government. For, •
had the Mackenzies come up sooner, the Earl of Mar
would, without doubt, have taken the offensive earlier, and
the Duke of Argyll, the Government Commander-in-Chief,
would have been overwhelmed by the disproportionate
strength of the Jacobites. A bolder or more energetic
commander would have struck a decisive blow, without

* Murray Rose's Historical Notes, p. 32.

t When at Inverness, Seaforth sent George Mackenzie of Gruinard and,
after him, Lord Duffus, to summon Duncan Forbes to surrender, but that
staunch loyalist defied them ; and the Jacobites deemed it prudent to leave
alone.

E E 2

400 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

waiting for the Mackenzies, but Mar allowed the precious
time to slip by, until Argyll was joined by reinforcements
from Ireland, which enabled him to take the field with
some degree of confidence.

The trial of strength between the opposing forces took
place at the famous, but indecisive, battle of Sheriffmuir, on
1 4th November, 1715. The men of Uist, under Sir Donald
Macdonald and Allan Macdonald of Clanranald, were on
the right wing of the first line of Mar's foot, commanded
by General Gordon, and the Lewismen, under Seaforth,
formed part of the centre of the second line.* The
memorable charge of the Highlanders on the right wing,
which scattered Argyll's battalions like chaff before the
wind, should have proved decisive, if Mar's generalship had
been equal to that of his antagonist. Mar made no attempt
to utilise the enormous advantage he had gained, whereas
Argyll profited by the steadiness of his right, when charged
by Mar's left, to throw a body of cavalry on the flank of
the Highlanders. This masterly movement disconcerted
the attack, and threw the Highlanders into confusion.
Mar's left wing and the whole of the second line were put
to flight ; and the curious spectacle was thus witnessed of
the left wing of both armies being broken and routed,
while the right wing of both was victorious and in pursuit.
Thus, with only half the number of men opposed to him,
the Duke of Argyll, by his superior skill and experience,
averted defeat and gained what, in effect, was a moral
victory. Had Montrose or Dundee commanded the High-
landers, it is permissible to say that Sheriffmuir would have
been no drawn battle, as it proved to be, but a crushing
defeat for the Government troops. But this supposition
in no way detracts from the conduct of Argyll, who, by his
skilful handling of his troops, and his humane treatment
of his prisoners, added to his reputation as a brilliant
general and a brave man. He saved the Government,
and afterwards got his reward by being deprived of all his

* Macneill of Barra also took part in the rising (Burfs Letters , Vol. II.,
p. 285).

THE RISING OF 1715. 401

employments. He was not sufficiently servile to the
Government ; his influence in Scotland was too great ; the
Duke of Maryborough was jealous of his military repu-
tation ; and so this great descendant of MacCailein Mor
was disgraced by a shameless Administration.

The combined losses sustained by the combatants at
Sheriffmuir were heavy. According to the version of the
Government side, Argyll lost in killed, wounded, and
prisoners, 610 men, and the Jacobites suffered a loss of
about 800 men in killed and wounded. According to the
version of the other side, Argyll's loss in killed and wounded
was between 700 and 800, while Mar's loss in killed
amounted to 60 men only, and in wounded, to a very small
total.

The truth probably lies between both statements, in
which case it will be seen that Argyll's casualties were
much more severe than those of his opponent.

Perhaps the most regrettable loss on the side of the
Jacobites was that of young Clanranald, who fell at the head
of his men when charging the left wing of the Government
army. His fall momentarily checked the ardour of his
followers, who adored their chief. Glengarry, seeing their
hesitation, started from the ranks, waved his bonnet, and
shouted three or four times, " Revenge, revenge ! to-day for
revenge, and to-morrow for mourning," which so animated
the men that they " followed him like furies close up to the
muzells of their muskets, push'd by the bayonets with their
targets, and with their broadswords spread nothing but
Death and Terror wherever they came." Mar, seeing
Clanranald fall out of the ranks, and ignorant of the cause,
is reported to have asked him why he was not at the front.
" I have had my share," said the dying chief, and so saying,
he expired. It will be remembered how anxious young
Clanranald was to have a military education with William
of Orange. He had his wish gratified, but in a different
school. He was trained in the French Guards, and returned
to Scotland a thorough soldier. He espoused the Jacobite
cause with enthusiasm. "My family," he replied to Mar,

402 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

when summoned to join him, " have been on such occasions
ever wont to be the first on the field and the last to leave
it."* His death was a great blow to the Jacobites, and
affected his followers so much, that many of them returned
home and took no further part in the insurrection.

Seaforth does not appear to have played a very dis-
tinguished part at Sheriffmuir. According to one account,
he remained in the rear, surrounded by forty of his mounted
clansmen,-)- who acted as his bodyguard, Lord Duffus
having in vain tried to induce him to lead his men on foot.
It may have been that by Mar's orders, he attached himself
to his own body of horse, instead of leading his infantry ;
a mistake, no doubt, but one for which it is difficult to
say that he was blameable. A Highland chief employed
in cavalry work, does not appeal to the imagination in
the same way as a Highland chief heading his unmounted
clansmen in a desperate charge. And there can be little
doubt that the absence of Lord Seaforth at their head, must
have tended to damp the enthusiasm of the Clan Kenneth
foot. Among the prisoners taken by Argyll was Colin
Mackenzie of Kildun, who was a captain in Fairburn's
regiment, and was one of the Lewis officers nominated by
Seaforth. J

After the battle, Mar sent Seaforth north for the purpose
of re-capturing Inverness. But the Earl soon perceived
that this was a hopeless task, and that his resources would
be sufficiently strained to protect his estates from the
ravages of the Whig clans. Discouraged by the result of
Sheriffmuir, and depressed by the general outlook, the
enthusiasm of Seaforth fell to zero, and he was fain to
submit, the Earl of Sutherland offering to mediate for
him. But the arrival of the Chevalier in Scotland induced

* Before joining Mar, Clanranald destroyed his Castle of Eilean Tirrim to
prevent its falling into the hands of Argyll. Tradition has it that he was shot
at Sheriffmuir by one of his own men, who bore him a grudge, and who in
view of the belief that the young chief bore a charmed life, used a crooked
sixpence to compass his end.

f That arch-grumbler, the Master of Sinclair, calls them in his sarcastic
style, "fortie scrub horse of servants."

£ Patten, and Annals of George I.

THE RISING OF 1715. 403

him again to take up arms, and that sealed his fate with
the Government. Lord Lovat — who had materially reduced
Mar's strength at Sheriffmuir, by detaching the Frasers
under Mackenzie of Fraserdale from the Jacobite standard
— was, with General Wightman, commissioned to bring the
headstrong youth to his senses. The Earl fled to Lewis,
taking with him Brigadier Campbell of Ormidale, an
experienced soldier who had served in the Russian army,
and who had just returned to Scotland. Two detachments
of Government troops were got ready; one, under Colonel
Clayton, to invade Skye, where Sir Donald Macdonald,
with about 1,000 men, still held out ; and the other, under
Colonel Cholmondeley, to operate against Seaforth in
Lewis. Clayton had a short and successful campaign in
Skye, but failed to capture Macdonald, who fled to North
Uist for safety. About that time, three French ships
arrived off Uist with munitions of war for the Jacobites.
A consultation was held by Sir Donald Macdonald and his
colleagues, to decide whether to fight or to fly; and the latter
course was agreed upon. Accordingly, two of the French
ships, instead of discharging their cargoes, sailed for home
with about a hundred Jacobite officers on board, among
the number being George Keith, the Earl Marischal. The
third ship, while riding at anchor off Uist, was captured by
a Government man-of-war, the Lively ', with her cargo of
fifty chests of small arms and 1 50 barrels of gunpowder.*

Meanwhile, Colonel Cholmondeley had sailed for Lewis
with a strong force. Seaforth, recognising his lack of
military experience, had placed his men under the
command of Brigadier Campbell, who was apparently
prepared to offer a stubborn resistance to Cholmondeley.
And now a strange thing happened. According to the
contemporary accounts,t the whole of the Lewismen
abandoned the Brigadier at the critical moment, and left
him to tackle the enemy alone. Disdaining to fly,
Campbell was taken prisoner where he stood " in a charging

* Rae, p. 373.

f Annals of George /., pp. 288-9. Confirmed by Rae.

4o4 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

posture." If this story be true — and the picture of the
gallant Brigadier, emulating Horatius of old by holding his
post single-handed against an army, seems rather too
melodramatic to be altogether convincing — we can only
conclude that the Lewismen had no heart in their work,
and little or no confidence in their Russo-Scottish comman-
der. What part Seaforth himself took in this fiasco is not
clear. The whole affair is involved in some obscurity, but
it may be confidently inferred from subsequent events, that
the rank and file of Seaforth's followers were tired of the
Earl's aggressive Jacobitism, and anxious to be allowed
to resume their peaceful avocations. Little recked the
average Highland retainer whether his king was named
James or George. To the bulk of the clansmen, the
question of the ruling dynasty was immaterial, and the
high politics of the chiefs failed to appeal to their less
instructed followers. Those of them who lived in the
remote Island of Lewis probably knew little, and cared
less, about the merits of the war in which some of them
had shed their blood at Sheriffmuir. Their only master
was Seaforth, and their only politics were his commands.
But even Seaforth's example and influence were powerless
to make them enthusiastic in a cause, which had already
brought disaster on their chief and misery on themselves.
Looking at these facts, their unwillingness to fight becomes
intelligible, if their desertion of Campbell remains in-
excusable. We are not left in doubt as to the issue of
Cholmondeley's campaign. He effectively occupied the
island, and forced Seaforth to fly across the Minch to the
mainland, whence he made his escape to France. With
the young firebrand out of the country, it is unlikely that
Cholmondeley remained in Lewis for any length of time :
in Seaforth's absence, there was no danger to be appre-
hended from that quarter.

Seaforth's clansmen in Ross-shire continued to evade the
Government's orders, being encouraged, no doubt, to do so
by his authority. The patience of General, afterwards
Earl, Cadogan, who was in command of the garrison at

THE RISING OF 1715. 405

Inverness, was severely taxed by their demeanour. While
not daring to resist Cadogan openly, the Mackenzies com-
plied in a very leisurely fashion with his orders to deliver
up their arms. Irritated by their attitude, Cadogan at
length informed the Countess Dowager of Seaforth, who, in
her son's absence, managed the affairs of the estates, that
unless all arms were given up at Brahan and Coul by a
certain date, the agencies of fire and sword would be
employed to punish her stubborn tenantry. According to
Lord Lovat, who wrote the Countess on the same subject,
Cadogan intended to ravage the whole of the Seaforth
country, and to send ships to Lewis to " destroy " it.
These threats alarmed the Countess, materially accelerated
the surrender of arms, and put a stop to what Cadogan
termed " trifling and amusing the Government," which, he
added, "will be more resented in London than open
resistance." The General congratulated the Countess on
the success of her efforts, being persuaded that " very near
all my Lord Seafort's people have come in, and that it is
principally owing to the good advice your Ladyship gave
them.."*

Seaforth's warlike aspirations left both himself and his
people in a sorry plight. In April, 1716, the Countess
Dowager declared to Cadogan that " the tenants and
country are now so impoverished that I can expect nothing
from them." Zachary Macaulay, Donald Cam's great-
grandson, who was then Chamberlain of Lewis, writing, a
year later, to Colonel Alexander Mackenzie, Seaforth's
uncle, told him that the people in Lewis were in a
deplorable condition. The Countess Dowager, for account
of the Seaforth estates, entered into an agreement with
Colonel Mackenzie in January, 1717, in terms of which,
the Countess was to give the Colonel — as the curator of
Kenneth Mackenzie of Assynt — orders on her agents in
Lewis and Leith to pay him the rents of the island, not a
fifth of which was obtainable ; also the profits derived from

* Seaforth MSS. in Brit. Mus.

406 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

the crop of 1716; and "for any goods or cargoes sent to
Leith from said island for the said year." The Colonel, on
his part, obliged himself to pay the Countess an annuity
for life of £1,000, to come out of the rents of Strathconon,
Brahan, and Chanonry, " any deficiency to be made out of
the Lewis revenue."* Towards the end of 1717, trouble
arose with the Church in connexion with the Lewis estate.
Queen Anne had made a gift of the teinds of the island to
the Synod of Argyll, but for ten years ( 1 706- 1 7 1 6) nothing
had been paid, and the Sheriff of Argyll threatened to take
proceedings for the recovery of the arrears, which amounted
to £400. The claim was ultimately compromised for
.£200. t All this time, Seaforth was residing abroad, but
in 1719, he re-appeared in Lewis in a somewhat dramatic
fashion.

One April evening in that year, a Council of War was
held in a room in Stornoway, where a distinguished com-
pany was assembled, to confer upon subjects fraught with
momentous issues. The men who took part in the
conference were men of note. They had already made a
stir in British history, and some of them subsequently
acquired European renown. The Earl of Seaforth ; the
Marquis of Tullibardine ; George Keith, the hereditary
Earl Marshal of Scotland ; his younger brother, James,
who afterwards became the famous Marshal Keith ; a
brother of Kenneth Sutherland, Lord Duffus ; Campbell of .
Glendaruel ; Brigadier Campbell of Ormidale, who had
escaped from his captors, and was now once more on Lewis
soil ; these were the persons who were met together in
Stornoway to deliberate upon matters of high politics.
How they came there ; what their purpose was ; and in
what manner they proposed to effect that purpose, it will
now be our business to state.

In the summer of 1718, the Jacobite cause was in a
parlous condition. The funds of the party were almost
exhausted, and some of the exiles in France, who bore the

* Seaforth MSS. in Brit. Mus.

f Idem. " The Lewis yielded not a fifth part of its rent in 1716."

THE RISING OF 1719. 407

proudest names in Highland history, were almost destitute.
The death of Mary of Modena, the widow of James II.,
deprived the Jacobites of one of their main sources of
supply, her pension from France dying with her. None of
the foreign Powers were disposed to help them. Not a
break was to be seen in the clouds. Such was the state of
matters, when suddenly an unlooked-for change took place,
which once more revived the drooping spirits of the
Jacobites, and quickened their hopes afresh. Cardinal
Giulio Alberoni, the son of an Italian gardener, and an
ex-village curate, was at this time the most powerful
Minister in Europe. By his ability, he had restored to his
adopted country, Spain, some measure of her former great-
ness, and he was the absolute dictator of her policy. In
1718, his relations with England, which had previously
been not unfriendly, became somewhat strained. When,
in August of that year, his attempt to seize Sicily was
frustrated by the intervention of England and the dispersal
of the Spanish fleet by Sir George Byng, an open rupture
became unavoidable. It was in these circumstances that
the Cardinal bethought himself of a plan, whereby he could
strike England in a vital part. He would invade her on
behalf of the Stuarts, and thus add civil war to the external
difficulties of the English Government.

In pursuance of this plan, Alberoni entered into negotia-
tions with the Duke of Ormonde, a brave soldier and a
zealous Jacobite, whose abilities, however, according to
his contemporaries, were not of a commanding nature.
Ormonde was, without difficulty, won over to the views of
the crafty Cardinal. All the more easily was this effected
by reason of Alberoni's assurance, that the famous Charles
XII. of Sweden, who was then on bad terms with England,
had expressed his readiness to enter into an alliance with
Spain against their common enemy. It was arranged that
Ormonde should have the assistance of 5,000 Spaniards,
with a supply of guns and ammunition, and thus provided,
should land in the West of England, obtain recruits, and
march upon London.

408 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

The desirability of a diversion in Scotland, concurrently
with the invasion of England, was pointed out to the Car-
dinal by the Duke, the latter suggesting the name of
George Keith, the young Earl Marischal, who had fought
under Mar, as the best man to raise the Highland clans.
Alberoni agreed to the suggestion, and Keith, who was then
in Paris, was invited to Madrid, but without being told why
his presence was required. Accompanied by his brother,
James, Keith set out for Madrid, and on his arrival sought
an interview with the Cardinal, who unfolded his plans to
him. The enterprise appealed to the adventurous and
chivalrous spirit of the young Earl Marischal, and prepara-
tions were at once set on foot for a descent upon Scotland.
Mar, who was created in 1715 a titular Duke, took no active
part in the movement, his influence being now over-
shadowed by that of his rival, Ormonde.

What the outcome of the insurrection would have been,
had the soldierly King of Sweden carried out his intention
of landing in Britain with 10,000 men, can only be con-
jectured. His death at Frederickshall, on nth December,
1718, again dissipated the hopes of the Jacobites. But the
Cardinal's project was not suffered to drop. Preparations
for the invasion were pushed forward, and, early in 1719,
had reached an advanced stage. The Earl Marischal was
provided with two frigates, 2,000 muskets, money, ammuni-
tion, and a detachment of Spanish troops. He sailed for
Scotland from the port of San Sebastian, accompanied,
among others, by Brigadier Campbell, and bearing letters
from the Duke of Ormonde to the Duke of Gordon, Glen-
garry, Maclean of Brolas, and Donald Macdonald of Ben-
becula, Clanranald's cousin, tutor, and successor in the
chiefship. The whole force, including officers, numbered
307 men. George Keith was followed to Scotland by a
number of officers, including Clanranald and Lochiel, who
sailed from Bordeaux.

James Keith had a special mission entrusted to him. His
duty it was to meet the Scottish Jacobites who were in
France, and persuade them, if persuasion were necessary,

THE RISING OF 1719. 409

to embark upon the enterprise. He found the Marquis of
Tullibardine at Orleans ; he met Seaforth, Campbell of
Glendaruel, and a brother of Lord Duffus* in Paris. Sea-
forth was at first unwilling to take part in such a doubtful
venture, but on pressure being brought to bear upon him,
apparently by the Chevalier's agent, General Dillon, he
yielded. James Keith's party embarked at Havre on 8th
Marcht in a small vessel of twenty-five tons, bound for
Lewis, where they were to meet the Earl Marischal and
his companions. They had a lucky escape from capture
when off Land's End. They passed, unobserved, through
an English fleet, which at first they took to be Ormonde's
ships, but which turned out to be a squadron of King
George's warships, employed in carrying troops from Ire-
land to England to repel the expected invasion. On 24th
March, James Keith and his party arrived at Lewis, landing,
apparently, at Loch Roag. On inquiring about the Earl
Marischal, Keith discovered that his brother's frigates had
not yet arrived, nor could he ascertain any news about
them. After a lapse of some days, intelligence reached
Keith that the frigates had arrived via Barra on the east
side of Lewis. He immediately set out to meet his brother,
only to find, from a " gentleman of the country," that the
ships had gone on to Stornoway, " the only toun, or rather
village, on all the island." The two brothers exchanged
confidences, the younger telling the Earl Marischal that he
had discovered a feeling of dissatisfaction among some of
his associates, on account of the way the Duke of Mar had,
in their opinion, been slighted. James Keith also told his
brother that just before embarking, Tullibardine received
from General Dillon a commission, the nature of which
had not been disclosed to him ; but that the Marquis had
declared to him that he was ready to obey any one who
had a higher commission than his own. This was the first

* Lord Duffus himself, after his release from the Tower, where he was
confined till the passing of the Act of Indemnity, went abroad and died
an Admiral in the Russian service.

t The dates given in connexion with this expedition are " old style "
throughout.

410 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

hint of the friction between the leaders, which was soon to
arise and mar the whole enterprise.

Seaforth and Tullibardine joined the Keiths on the fol-
lowing day at Stornoway, and in the evening, the Council
of War was held to which reference has been made. The
chief question to be decided by the Council was, whether
it was the more advisable course to take up arms at once,
or to wait until advice was received of the landing of the
Duke of Ormonde in England. Tullibardine and Glenda-
ruel were strongly in favour of the latter course, but the
majority were opposed to it. The plan suggested by the
Earl Marischal to Cardinal Alberoni was, to land on
the mainland as quickly as possible, and, with the High-
landers and their Spanish auxiliaries, march straight upon
Inverness, where there was a garrison of only 300 men.
After taking possession of Inverness, it was proposed to
await there the arrival of reinforcements before marching
south. The Council of War ultimately decided to carry
out this plan, and to order the force to sail for the main-
land three days later. The Spanish troops were then told
to come ashore to stretch their legs, after their voyage of
forty-two days.

But on the following morning, Tullibardine called for
another Council of War. After having made a speech,
" which nobody understood but himself," he presented a
commission superior to that held by the Earl Marischal,
who at once resigned the command to him, reserving,
however, the authority with which Cardinal Alberoni
had invested him over the Spanish frigates. Tullibardine
and his supporters then made another attempt to carry
their point about waiting for the news of Ormonde's land-
ing. Seaforth, having in view the difficulty of getting the
Highlanders to rise, with such scanty encouragement of
success, not only supported Tullibardine, but would not
hear of leaving Lewis until news was received of
Ormonde's arrival. It was pointed out to him that the
isolation of Lewis greatly increased the difficulty of
obtaining prompt intelligence ; besides which, there was the

THE RISING OF 1719. 411

danger of blockade by Government warships, if their pre-
sence in the island became known. All except Seaforth
were against remaining in Lewis for an indefinite period ;
and the result of the conference was, that the decision of
the previous day was confirmed, " tho' plainly against the
grain " of Tullibardine and his supporters.

The expedition sailed from Stornoway for Lochalsh on
4th April, but owing to contrary winds, had to put in at
Gairloch, where they heard a false report, which was
credited, that Ormonde had landed in England. Glen-
garry, who had joined the expedition at Gairloch, and
Glendaruel were subsequently sent with letters to known
sympathisers, urging them to rise. Two days later, the
Jacobites sailed for Lochalsh, but again encountered bad
weather, and had to return to Stornoway on the 7th. They
again set out on the nth, but were once more driven back
within four leagues of Stornoway. The wind changing,
they were at length enabled to reach their destination, on
the 1 3th, and on the following day, were re-joined by
Glendaruel, with a "gentleman of no small considera-
tion."* '

And so the Jacobites finally left Stornoway, where
Seaforth's chamberlain, Zachary Macaulay, turned their
visit to good account, by supplying the Spanish ships and
the troops with provisions valued at ;£i53-t

It is unnecessary to detail the events which followed
their arrival on the mainland, culminating in the battle of
Glenshiel and the dispersal of the insurgents.]: Sir Walter
Scott states that Seaforth raised a "few hundred High-
1 landers in Lewis," but there is no contemporary evidence
to show that a single Lewisman accompanied the expedi-
tion. When it was decided to muster Seaforth's men, it

* Memoirs of Marshal Keith. Mar's Distinct Abridgement. Scott. Hist.
Soc., Vol. XIX.

t Hist. MSS. Com., Report X., Part I., p. 123.

t Full particulars of these events and of the battle of Glenshiel are to
be found in Vol. XIX. of the Scottish History Society's publications ; in
Terry's The Chevalier de St. George, compiled from contemporary sources ;
and in Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. X., Pt. I., p. 196. The famous Rob Roy
took part in the fight.

4i2 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

was too late to obtain assistance from Lewis ; for the Minch
was commanded by English warships, three of which had
anchored at Lochalsh and blown up Eilean Donain Castle.
The total number of Seaforth's recruits does not seem to
have exceeded 500, of which number, 400 were Loch
Carron men.

The Glenshiel skirmish — for it hardly merits the name
of battle — lasted three hours, and the loss sustained by
Wightman was considerably greater than that of the High-
landers. The Hanoverian troops had 21 men killed and
121 wounded, including officers, among the latter being
Munro of Culcairn, who was severely wounded. The
Jacobites lost less than ten men killed and wounded,
among the wounded being Seaforth and Lord George
Murray. It is clear that the fight simply resolved itself
into a case of sharpshooting on the part of the High-
landers, who had no desire to come to close quarters with
the enemy ;* and a large number of them were simply
spectators. Seaforth undoubtedly bore himself well during
the skirmish, holding his ground after his followers showed
a disposition to retire ; and the wound which he received
in his arm, when waving his sword to encourage his men,
left a scar of honour. Accompanied by Tullibardine and
the Earl Marischal, he made his escape, it was supposed
to Lewist, but he does not seem to have remained there for
any length of time. Meanwhile, Wightman made a tour
through Kintail, in order to strike terror into the hearts of
the people, by burning the houses of those who had joined
their chief.

The affair of Glenshiel has usually been described as
a drawn action, and Sir Walter Scott states that the
Government troops "were compelled to retreat without
dislodging the enemy " ; but contemporary accounts on
both sides clearly disprove that statement. The High-

* According to the Annals of George I. (Vol. IV., p. 254), "the rebels
skipped off from rock to rock when they had discharged their muskets."
The Historical Register (Vol. IV., p. 285) states they never ventured to come
to a close engagement.

f Hist. Reg., Vol. IV., p. 285.

THE RISING OF 1719. 413

landers failed to hold their positions, and Wightman was
left master of the field. Thus ended one more fruitless
attempt on behalf of the Stuarts. The causes of failure
were various. The death of Charles XII. of Sweden at
Frederickshall ; the dispersal of Ormonde's fleet by the
elements ; the friction between the leaders of the Scottish
expedition ; the lukewarm attitude of the Highlanders
generally ; these causes combined to wreck an enterprise
which, under more favourable auspices, might well have
proved successful. That the wisest course for the Jacobites
at Lochalsh was to have made an immediate dash on
Inverness, as recommended by the Earl Marischal ; or to
defer rising until success was better assured, as Tullibar-
dine and Seaforth wished, is tolerably plain. The com-
promise was fatal, for it extinguished the flame of rebellion,
and left no hope of its being re-kindled. The divided
counsels and the petty jealousies of the leaders were
sources of weakness, which materially contributed to the
utter failure of the insurrection.

Some of the leaders of the rising of 1719 lived to make
history in later years. The Duke of Ormonde, deprived
by the fall from power of Cardinal Alberoni, in December,
1719, of the means of resuscitating the Jacobite attempt,
settled in Spain, where he kept in touch with his confederates.
The Marquis of Tullibardine enjoyed the distinction of un-
furling the standard of Prince Charles Edward Stuart at
Glenfinnan in 1745 ; he died next year in the Tower. His
brother, Lord George Murray, became Prince Charlie's
ablest officer in the '45. George Keith, the Earl Maris-
chal, rose to distinction in the service of Prussia, after a
chequered career, and became Prussian Ambassador at the
Courts of Paris and Madrid, and Governor of Neuchatel.
It is said that Rousseau licked one hand alone in Europe,
that of le bon milord Marechal. George Keith went to
Scotland after the removal of the disabilities affecting
Jacobite exiles, but he ultimately returned to the Conti-
nent. He died at Potsdam in 1778. His younger brother,
James, had the most distinguished career of all the Jacobite

r F

414 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

leaders. He entered the service of Russia, but soon drifted
to the Court of Frederick the Great, and became a Field-
Marshal of Prussia and one of the most renowned generals
of his time. His death was that of a soldier. He was
killed in 1758 at the battle of Hochkirche. To this day,
his memory is cherished, both in the German Empire
and in Banffshire. His statue adorns Berlin ; and in
1889, the German Emperor gave orders that the 22nd
Silesian Regiment should thereafter be called the Keith
Regiment.

The leaders of the ill-starred rising of 1719 were com-
pelled to shift, each man for himself, when their hopes of a
fresh insurrection were finally dissipated. Seaforth fled to
France, after addressing a circular letter to his people, in
which he counselled them not to pay their rents to the
Government.* A copy of this circular was sent to every
parish comprehended in the Seaforth properties, and as
the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates soon discovered,
the advice which it contained was faithfully followed. A
body of Lewismen under Mackenzie of Kildun — who,
according to Burt, had "power over the inhabitants of
Lewis" — co-operated with the Mackenzies on the main-
land, in resisting the soldiers who, on two different occa-
sions in 1720, were sent to 'compel payment to the
Government agents. The determination and strategy of
Daniel Murchison, Seaforth's intrepid factor, baffled the
officers of the Crown, and they were forced to relinquish
the attempt to coerce the refractory tenantry. Murchi-
son collected the rents and remitted them to Seaforth,f
giving the tenants receipts, which protected them from
having to pay the money over again to the Government.
When General Wade, in 1725, received the submission
of the Seaforth tenantry at Brahan Castle, he indemni-
fied them against any proceedings which might be taken
for the rents so remitted (the factors had threatened
to make them pay over again) ; * and agreed to their

* Seaforth MSS. in Brit. Mus.

f Burt's Letters (Full account, pp. 268-284).

THE SEAFORTH ESTATES. 415

stipulation that their chief should be granted a free
pardon.

While Seaforth was in hiding, previous to his departure
for the Continent, his friends were doing all in their power
to keep his estates intact. The story of their clever
jugglery, and of the events which preceded it, is instructive.
Colin, first Earl of Seaforth, contracted large debts by his
extravagant style of living and his legal disputes with
Argyll. George, the second Earl, claimed to have spent
a million of money in the cause of Charles I., and it is an
undoubted fact that his debts were enormous. His credi-
tors sued him, apprized his estates, and in 1649-50, were
infeft in the property. Luckily for the Seaforths, the ablest
lawyer in Scotland and one of the wiliest men of his day,
Sir George Mackenzie of Tarbat (the first Earl of Cromar-
tie) came to the rescue, and found the means of circum-
venting the creditors. Conjointly with Sir Alexander
Mackenzie of Coul and Colin Mackenzie of Redcastle, he
compounded with nine of the creditors who had recovered
the first apprizings, and had their decrees transferred to
him and his associates, and vested in their persons as
trustees for the heir to the estates. We have already seen
how, in virtue of these apprizings, Tarbat and his co-
trustees were infeft in the Lewis property, with the rest of
the Seaforth estates, by a charter dated 3Oth September,
1678. Being thus in virtual possession of the estates, the
Mackenzies were enabled to exclude the other creditors
from their payments. After Sir George Mackenzie and
his friends had re-imbursed themselves for their outlay,
they made over their rights, in 1680, to another trustee of
the family, viz., Kenneth Mackenzie, brother of Sir George
Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, the Lord Advocate. By him
they were, in 1681, transferred to Isobel, widow of Kenneth
Mor, third Earl of Seaforth. The matter was further com-
plicated by the existence of a bond, which the Countess
Isobel was prevailed upon to execute, for payment of an
annuity of £1,000 to Frances, wife of Kenneth Og. In
1685, tne Countess Frances obtained a Crown charter,

F F 2

4i6 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

under which she was infeft in the estates for payment of
her annuity. This annuity, after the death of Kenneth Og,
formed the subject of tedious litigation, but the Countess
Frances ultimately prevailed in her suit. As we have seen,
an amicable arrangement was made in 1717, between the
Countess and Colonel Alexander Mackenzie, in respect of
the annuity.

The Countess Isobel made a disposition, or conveyance,
of the nine apprizings to Kenneth, son of John Mackenzie
of Gruinard — " a Scots gentleman living abroad," who after-
wards married the Countess Frances. Under cover of these
deeds, Kenneth Og, the fourth Earl, kept the creditors out
of the estates till his death in 1701 ; and under the same
cover, his son, William, likewise retained possession until he
was attainted in 1715. The attainder introduced a new
element into the question, and called for renewed ingenuity
on the part of the Mackenzies to keep the property in the
Seaforth family.

Accordingly, advantage was taken of an Act passed by
the Parliament of Scotland in 1700, entitled "An Act for
Preventing the Growth of Popery." By this Act — a pecu-
liarly stupid piece of legislation, which had the effect of
sending the Roman Catholics in a body over to the
Stuarts — it was enacted that no Papist over fifteen years
of age should be capable of succeeding as heir to an estate,
unless and until he renounced his religion. William, Earl
of Seaforth, was a Catholic ; he married a Catholic wife ;
and he remained true to his religious convictions. Here
was an opportunity for making a bold move to prevent the
Government from grabbing the property.

According to an enactment for extending the time to
determine claims to forfeited estates, the date fixed as the
time-limit within which such claims had to be presented to
the Court of Session, was ist August, 1719. Two sets of
claimants appeared for the Seaforth estates. The first
petition, in the names of Kenneth Mackenzie of Assynt
and Colonel Alexander Mackenzie, his guardian, set forth
that the estates belonged to Kenneth, as the nearest Pro-

THE SEAFORTH ESTATES. 417

testant heir of Isobel, late Countess of Seaforth,* in whose
person the deeds of trust had been invested for behoof of
the family ; and that William, Earl of Seaforth, as a pro-
fessed Papist had no title to the property. The other claim
was made on behalf of Kenneth Mackenzie of Gruinard, in
virtue of the deed of conveyance made in his favour by the
Countess Isobel. The Commissioners and Trustees of the
Forfeited Estates opposed both claims. They objected —
and the Court of Session sustained their objection — that
the conveyance to Gruinard was invalid, inasmuch as the
deeds of trust were for behoof of the family, and could not
be assigned to Mackenzie to the prejudice of the family.
They objected to Assynt's claim, that it was founded on
the fact of his being the nearest Protestant heir to the
Countess Isobel, as trustee ; not as being nearest Protestant
heir-of-blood to the family of Seaforth.f Therefore, they
argued that his claim could only apply to the office of
trustee, and could only carry with it the property right
which belonged to Earl William. The one was a trust,
the other a property right ; and the latter not having been
claimed, must remain with the public. To these objections,
Assynt replied that Earl William, being a notorious Papist,
was by the Act of 1700, incapable of succeeding to, or
enjoying, the estates ; and that the succession consequently
devolved upon him. The Commissioners urged that the
plea of notoriety failed to hold good, as Earl William had
it in his power to exclude Assynt by taking the oath of
recantation ; besides which, they said (and rightly), the
present claim was made to deprive the public of the
estates, not to deprive his kinsman of it, otherwise it
would have been heard of before. And so the lawyers
split hairs. In addition to the Seaforth possessions, Assynt

* Kenneth Mackenzie of Assynt was the only son of John, second son of
Kenneth Mor. His uncle (and Seaforth's), Colonel Mackenzie, was the fourth
son of Kenneth Mor. Colonel Mackenzie's two grandsons subsequently suc-
ceeded to the estates.

t Probably the form which Assynt's claim took, arose from the consideration
that, while he desired to be recognised as heir to the estates, he had no wish to
inherit the debts as well ! The debts, as a matter of fact, were considerably in
excess of the value of the estates.

4i8 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

claimed the superiorities of six of Earl William's vassals,
viz., John Earl of Mar, Sir John Mackenzie of Coul, John
Mackenzie of Avoch, Alexander Mackenzie of Applecross,
Alexander Mackenzie of Davochmaluag, and Roderick
Mackenzie of Fairburn, who had all been attainted of high
treason. The Court of Session, on i8th August, 1719, gave
a decree in Assynt's favour on all points. The Commis-
sioners appealed to the House of Lords against the decision,
and the whole question was re-opened. It was stated for
the respondent, that the apprizings on the Seaforth estates,
not having been redeemed within ten years, when the equity
of. redemption expired, the property became absolutely
vested in the creditors ; that the nine apprizings carrying
priority were vested in the Countess of Isobel's person as
trustee for the heir (i.e., Assynt) ; that the trust for the
family was not declared until after he had presented his
claim ; that as soon as Earl William reached the age of
fifteen, and remained a Catholic, his rights passed from
him to the nearest Protestant heir (Assynt) ; that the two
living children of Earl William were debarred by the Act
of 1700 from the succession ; and that he (Assynt) was, on
23rd November, 1716, served heir to the Countess Isobel
(who died in 1715). The House of Lords reversed the
decision of the Court of Session in respect of the Seaforth
estates, and, subsequently, in respect of the six superiorities
claimed by Assynt.*

In spite of their ingenuity, the Mackenzies thus failed to
wrest the estates from the hands of the Commissioners.
Whether or not the decision of the Court of Session was
sound in law — and that is a question entirely for lawyers-
it is at least fairly evident that, in spite of their ingenuous
pleadings, neither Gruinard nor Assynt intended to derive
personal advantage from their claims. It is difficult to
resist the conclusion that both claims were the fruit of a
conspiracy among the Mackenzies, to keep the property
intact for Earl William ; and if either claim had been

* Appeals to the House of Lords (1719). Seaforth MSS. in Brit. Mus.

THE SEAFORTH ESTATES. 419

established, the attainted chief of the clan would have been
the person to reap the solid benefits. The nominal owner
of the Seaforth estates would have been Kenneth Mac-
kenzie of Assynt, or Kenneth Mackenzie of Gruinard, but
the real owner — and the recipient of the rents — would have
been Earl William, the only possible head of the clan,
according to Highland notions, had he been proscribed for
his politics, and disinherited for his religion, a hundred times
over. Frances, Countess of Seaforth (Kenneth Og's widow),
being in doubt whether to oppose, or concur in, Assynt's
claim, was advised by her lawyers that " it may be easier
dealing with the Protestant heir than with the Crown."
And so, in truth, it would have been, had the claim proved
successful.

In 1726, Seaforth, who had returned to Scotland after a
final rupture with the Chevalier, received a pardon, chiefly
through the instrumentality of General Wade. Argyll was
opposed to the pardon, but the bluff General threatened to
throw up his commission, if his promise to the Mackenzies
were not implemented. He added, as a further reason for
the pardon of Seaforth, that it was good policy on the part of
the Government to maintain the balance of power between
the four men who ruled the Highlands, viz., Argyll, Atholl,
Gordon, and Seaforth. His representations prevailed.*

In 1727, the Earl was in Edinburgh attending to business
matters. The Trustees for the Forfeited Estates were
about this time engaged in reducing the debt on the
Seaforth property, by selling parcels of it, and applying the
rents collected by them for the same purpose. Seaforth was
now not in receipt of a farthing from the property, except
a certain income derived from compounding with the
creditors. The Countess Frances, his mother, was engaged
in an unsuccessful lawsuit in respect of her jointure, which
seems to have been in arrears for a considerable time. The
Earl abstained from identifying himself with the interests

* Lockhart Papers, Vol. II., p. 300. In 1667, the Earls of Argyll, Atholl,
and Seaforth were appointed to have the oversight of the Highlands, with the
effects of all thieves and forfeiture of their associates, after restoring stolen
goods to their owners. CaL of State Papers , p. 356. See supra, p. 374.

420 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

of the Countess, which were inimical to those of the creditors,
but he offered an allowance to his mother, which she declined.
It is abundantly clear that he himself was in straitened
circumstances. In 1730, he was compelled to solicit a
Crown pension for his support, which the King, through
Sir Robert Walpole, declined to sanction. Duncan Forbes,
the Lord Advocate, used his good offices on his behalf, and
urged Walpole to give the Earl a grant of the arrears of
the Lewis feu-duty ; the latter, as is elsewhere explained,
not having been collected, owing to the difficulty of setting
legal machinery in motion "in those remote parts." In
1731, the arrears amounted to £3,916 135. 4d. sterling,*
from which it appears that the duty had not been paid for
twenty-three and a half years. We find that the Countess
Frances received from her agent a sum of four thousand
pounds Scots (£333 6s. 8d. sterling), as feu-duty of Lewis
for two years from July, 1706, to July, 1708, and that seems
to have been the last payment made to the Crown. In
May, 1731, Seaforth presented a memorial to the Lords of
Treasury, praying for a grant of the £3,916 135. 4d., "that
he may have something to live on," his estates having been
sold for the use of the public. On 2oth June, 1732, by a
warrant to the Barons of the Exchequer, under Royal sign
manual by the Queen, the Earl's request was granted.f
An Act of Parliament, passed in the following year, removed
the disability which, under his attainder, precluded him from
taking or inheriting any real or personal property that might
descend to him.

The complete history of the Seaforth forfeited estates
will not be known until the papers in the Register House,
Edinburgh, are published.

Shortly before the commission of the Trustees expired,
a Bill was before Parliament for facilitating the collection
of rents on the Seaforth estates, and making it an act of
felony to oppose the proprietors. It was stated that no
one had then appeared to bid for the property, except the

* Treasury Board Papers (275), No. 20 (Feb. 16, 1730-1).
t Idem (North Britain), Book X., p. 266.

THE SEAFORTH ESTATES. 421

friends of the Seaforth family, and that they being the
highest (and only) bidders, must get possession of it, if no
other purchasers appeared before the expiry of the com-
mission. In view, therefore, of the fact that the Bill would
probably have the effect of strengthening the hands of the
Mackenzies, without benefiting the public, it was rejected.

The author of the Highlands of Scotland in 1750 states,
that when Seaforth obtained his pardon in 1726, a " creature
of the Earl's " bought the property for less than three years'
purchase, the remoteness of the estates and the disaffection
of the tenantry deterring others from bidding. The debts
on the property were more than twice the rental value, and
the sale resulted in the ruin of a number of the creditors.

According to the recently published Report by the
Crofters' Commission on Lewis, the Seaforth estates, in-
cluding the island of Lewis, were sold by public auction to
Mr. John Nairn of Greenyards for £16,909 8s. 3^d., under
burden of an annuity of £1,000 (capitalised as £9,000) to
Frances, Countess Dowager of Seaforth.* The transaction
was understood to be in the interest of Seaforth's son,
Kenneth, Lord Fortrose.

During the debate which took place in Parliament on the
above-mentioned Bill, some hard things were said about
the Seaforths. One speaker made a bitter attack upon
them, declaring that they had been a " lawless family for
several generations," and that if they had paid their debts,
they would have been without an estate many years before.
" I don't know," said he, " but it might have been the
desperate circumstances of the family that pushed them on
to the late rebellion." It is impossible to ignore the fact
that the Seaforths, like others of the Highland chiefs, were
playing for high stakes in taking up arms for the Stuarts.
The odds were against them, but were fairly represented
by the ratio which existed between the risks of failure and
the rewards of success. The successors of George, the

* In the Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. II., p. 1126, the death is chronicled,
on 1 5th December, 1732, at Paris, of the "Duchess Dowager of Seaforth."
This would seem to imply that Kenneth Og was created a titular duke before
his death.

422 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

second Earl, were not in legal possession of a foot of
territory. The re-establishment of the Stuart dynasty
would, doubtless, have enabled them to free the estates
from the creditors, and extricate themselves from a hope-
lessly involved financial situation ; while the addition of
further honours were not impossible. But it is hard to
believe, and we do not believe, that they acted contrary
to their convictions. They were loyalists to the core, and
their attachment to the unfortunate Stuarts cannot be
measured by the hopes of material advantages. At all
events, their political sympathies brought them, in the
result, nothing but suffering and an accumulation of trouble.
Earl William, the last of the Jacobite Seaforths, was in
some respects, the most unfortunate. He succeeded to the
Earldom at a period when it required an older and a more
level head than his, to manage his affairs judiciously. He
was the prey of flatterers, and the tool of those who used
him for ulterior purposes. Had there been only himself to
consider, the results of his rashness would have been less
serious. But his people were involved in the disastrous
outcome of his Jacobitism ; and it says much for the spirit
of Highland clanship, that they stood by him faithfully,
although he was responsible for their troubles. It is diffi-
cult to discover in the clan feuds, or the various Stuart
risings, the operation of the patriarchism which, we must
believe, originally formed the basis of the clan system. It
was present in theory, no doubt ; but the spirit of genuine
patriarchism, the desire to act in the best interests of the
clan, as the animating motive of its head, was conspicuous
by its absence. Personal advantage or personal quarrels
swayed the least worthy of the Highland chiefs ; altruistic
loyalty to a dynasty governed the noblest of them. But a
conception of duty, which implied the subordination equally
of personal ambition for themselves, and unselfish loyalty
to the Stuarts, to the happiness and prosperity of the clans
whose welfare was a sacred trust committed to their charge,
does not appear to have presented itself even to the best of
them. Yet, in at least one instance— that of the gallant

THE STORNOWAY CUSTOM HOUSE. 423

Lochiel of the " '45 " — the misery resulting to his clan from
the rising, caused him the most poignant grief.

In the year 1732, an attempt was made to close the
Custom House in Stornoway and transfer it to Glenelg.
The moving spirit seems to have been Norman Macleod of
Harris (grandson of Ian Breac) who, in a letter to John
Forbes of Culloden — " toothless John Forbes " as he calls
him — refers to a conversation which he had with Culloden
on the subject.* The ostensible reason for the proposed
transfer was the prevalence of smuggling on the coast of
Skye and Glenelg ; but, in a memorial presented a few
months later by the Commissioners of Customs in Scotland
to the Treasury, a different cause is assigned. The memorial
in question gives a curious instance of boycotting, as prac-
tised in Stornoway in those days. The Comptroller who
had recently been appointed to Stornoway, had received
instructions to exercise special care, that no debentures (i.e,
the certificates entitling exporters to a drawback on certain
goods which had paid duty) should be issued for greater
sums than the merchants were entitled to receive. Accord-
ingly, he refused to grant a debenture for a parcel of fish,
said to have been exported, because neither he nor any of
his subordinates had seen the fish shipped. The people of
the island " made him so uneasy and intimidated him so
far, as forced him to leave the place after a short stay
there."

The memorial goes on to say that Stornoway was not
entitled to the privileges of a " port," or a " creek " — which
was inferior to a " port " — having never been set out as such
by a commission from the Court of Exchequer. Officers
were stationed there only for the convenience of fish ex-
porters during the fishing season. It was pointed out
that this object would be better met if the officers resided
at Bernera, in Glenelg, opposite Skye, " and adjacent to the
several lakes and creeks where the greatest resort is for
fishing," and where a constant garrison was kept, " which

* Culloden Papers, pp. 128-9.

424 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

may be a help to the officers." Authority was therefore
requested for the proposed change of residence.*

I*1 X737> the question was revived by the Commissioners
of Customs, who again laid stress upon the frequent loss of
revenue, by reason of the debentures issued at Stornovvay.
They drew a picture of commercial immorality which is
not over-flattering to the Stornoway traders. A certain
William Smith, land surveyor at Prestonpans, had been
sent to Lewis during the previous fishing season, to inquire
into the truth of the charges of fraud made against the
merchants. His report was that, in point of fact, greater
quantities of fish were certified than some of the ships could
possibly carry. He adds : " Besides the inconveniency and
detriment to the service, the fair traders are much injured,
for the fishing being in the lakes upon the mainland, they
are first obliged to ship their fish and then proceed to
Stornoway, where there is no quay to land them on, but on
the contrary, a stony beach which cuts the barrels and
damnifies the fish ; under pretence whereof, it appears the
officers have sometimes taken the shipmaster's oath for the
quantity on board, without landing, viewing, examining, and
branding the casks . . . that the ships being thus detained
in proceeding to the Island of Lewis, is often the occasion
of the loss of markets."

The Commissioners conceived that these inconveniences
could only be remedied by removing the Custom House to
the " entry of Loch Broom," as being more central for the
most important fishing lochs, and more suitable than
Bernera, which had formerly been proposed. They there-
fore prayed the Treasury for a commission, whereby the
residence of the officers might be fixed at some convenient
place near Loch Broom. The Treasury, in reply, stated
that they had no objection to the Commissioners applying
for a commission.f The rest of the story is missing, but
Stornoway does not appear to have ever been deprived of
its Custom House. Incidentally, the information given in

* Treasury Board Papers (281), No. 40 (Feb. 27, 1732-3).
f Idem (294), No. 36 (March 25, 1737).

:

WILLIAM MACKENZIE, FIFTH EARL OF SEAFORTH, WHO DIED

IN LEWIS IN 1740. [To /ace page 425 •

wet of the fishing grounds a hundred and seventy years
i without interest at the present

Vriltiam, Earl of Seaforth, died in Lewis ii.

I to have been buried in the Church of Ui, th<

lal-ground of the Macleods.f He was

. Kenneth, who bore, during his lifet.

• of Lord Fortrose, one of the sub

The Act of Attainder of Earl V\

^non of the original title of " Lord '••

<&rs to be doubtful whether the Act afi

1. The question was not raised b

By his intimates, he was called " Lot

illy, even "Seafort," but he,himself, sign
" Kenneth Mackenzie." There is ample
vas a level-headed, prudent man, who et •
iOtions either about himself, or about th<
f kings or chiefs to misgovern their people,
ad he succeeded to the estates than he entered
/lie life. In 1741, he was elected Member of
or the Burgh of Inverness; and in 174
^unty of Ross, being re-elected seven ye,
•erval between his first appearance as a
:it, and his election for Ross-sh
>ortance had taken place in the
v call for notice.

-srved that in 1737, the salary i,<
mowfty er annum. The officers wh -

ce pretty fr? .

•*•-. 1739. *;
^•pn'y /• •;.)

426

CHAPTER XIV.

THE romantic enterprise upon which Prince Charles
Edward Stuart embarked in 1745, has formed the theme
alike of song and story. It is not proposed to re-tell in
these pages, the history of the most splendid failure with
which the Highlands are associated. But the inception
of the rising, and, especially, the adventures of the Prince
after Culloden, are so intimately connected with the Long
Island that they call for detailed mention in a work of
this kind.

The failure of the French expedition of 1744 — the
elements once more proving adverse — and the fickleness
of France as an ally, decided Charles Edward to throw
himself upon the generosity of the Highland Jacobites. It
was an undertaking from which the boldest heart might well
shrink. The Highlanders were at peace with the Govern-
ment. Some of the most powerful of the chiefs were
members of the British Parliament. The lessons of the
"'15" and "'19 " had not been forgotten. The most ardent
of the Jacobites were unwilling to rise unless there were
reasonable prospects of success. And their view was,
that success was only attainable with the help of French
troops. But Fortune favours the brave ; and an enter-
prise from which even the most courageous of the Prince's
adherents endeavoured in vain to dissuade him, came, as
events proved, within a measurable distance of fulfilling
the wildest hopes of its promoter.

Accompanied by the Marquis of Tullibardine — whose
younger brother, a Whig, had ousted him from the Dukedom
of Atholl — Sir Thomas Sheridan, Sir John Macdonald—
an officer in the French army — Colonel Strickland, Captain

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 427

Sullivan or O'Sullivan, George Kelly, a clergyman, ^Eneas
Macdonald — brother of Kinlochmoidart, and a banker in
.paris — and a Mr. Buchanan,* Charles Edward sailed from
Belleisle for Scotland upon his hazardous mission. He had
engaged two ships, La Doutelle, or Du Tellier — a frigate of
sixteen guns, whose owner Walsh was on board — and the
Elizabeth ; and the Prince and his companions embarked
on La Doutelle in July, 1745. His destination was the
Long Island, its remote situation offering the means of
i initiating his plans with the greatest degree of secrecy. A
I retainer of Lochiel's named Duncan Cameron, who was
i brought up in Barra, was chosen to act as pilot in the
Outer Hebrides. A disaster occurred before the Long
! Island was reached. Off the Lizard, an English warship
named the Lion attacked the Elizabeth. Both vessels
were well battered during an engagement which lasted
nearly five hours, the Elizabeth being so severely mauled
that she had to return to France. By this stroke of ill-
luck, Charles Edward was deprived of the assistance of a
hundred able officers, besides a large quantity of arms.
From the deck of La Doutelle, the Prince was an anxious
spectator of the fight, in which the small frigate took no
part, her owner deeming it imprudent to engage the Lion.
La Doutelle was afterwards chased by another warship,
which she outsailed ; and on 22nd July, the coast of
Bernera, off Barra, was sighted. Duncan Cameron's ser-

vices were now requisitioned. The appearance of a large
ship cruising off the island created a scare, and the course
of La Doutelle was altered. Cameron piloted the vessel
along the east coast of Barra, and on 23rd July brought
her to anchor in the strait between South Uist and the
little Island of Eriskay.

Duncan Cameron, who was the only one on board who
had the slightest acquaintance with the country, rowed
ashore to Eriskay to spy the land. Meeting an old
acquaintance, the piper of Macneill of Barra, Cameron

* The first seven of these were afterwards known as the " Seven Men of
Moidart."

428 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

took him on board, where he was closely questioned. It
was decided to land at Eriskay. An eagle was observed
hovering over the vessel. "An excellent omen/' said
Tullibardine.

The landing place of Charles Edward in Scotland is
known to this day as " Coilleag a' Phrionnsa," or the
Prince's Strand, on the west side of Eriskay. A pink
convolvulus with fleshy leaves is found there, and nowhere
else in the Hebrides — thus giving rise to the tradition
that the flower has sprung from seeds which the Prince
planted, to commemorate the occasion. The convolvulus is
commonly known as " the Prince's flower." Charles and
his party had to feel their way cautiously. His followers
told the people of Eriskay that he was a young Irish priest,
and he was taken to the house of the tacksman of the
island, Angus Macdonald, who held his tack from Clan-
ranald. The latter — an elderly man — and his brother,
Alexander Macdonald of Boisdale, were, the party learned,
in South Uist, Boisdale having a house at Kilbride. A
message was sent by the Prince to Boisdale, requesting
him to come and see him, for it was known that his in-
fluence with his brother was considerable. A visit was
paid, probably by the Macdonalds of the party, to Barra ;
but Macneill was not at home. An enemy, whom Duncan
Cameron calls " a devill of a minister who did us a' the
mischief that lay in his power " (doubtless the Rev. John
Macaulay of South Uist), was, however, in Barra, and
seems to have suspected the identity of the strangers
at Eriskay. He conveyed his suspicions to the proper
quarter, but his story was received with incredulity. A
debate which subsequently took place in the House of
Commons on the rebellion, makes it abundantly clear
that the Intelligence Department of the Government was
sadly at fault.

Charles passed the night at the tacksman's house,*
where his host did everything possible for the comfort of

* It is stated that this house has recently been demolished ; an unfortunate
piece of Vandalism.

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 429

his guests. In the morning, he returned to his ship. It

was an anxious time for the Prince when Boisdale arrived.

Old Clanranald was incapacitated by age and infirmities

from taking any active part in the rising, so that the

adhesion of his clan depended largely upon Boisdale's

decision. The Prince entreated Boisdale to accompany

him to the mainland, and induce young Clanranald,

• who was then in Moidart, to take up arms. Boisdale

refused point-blank. He spoke strongly about the folly

of attempting an insurrection without foreign assistance,

! and declared his intention of doing all in his power to

prevent his brother, or his nephew, from having anything

to do with the enterprise. This was not a very promising

! beginning, but Charles persevered in his attempt to win

over the blunt Highlander. Could he depend upon the

support of Macdonald of Sleat and Macleod of Harris?

i Here, again, he got cold comfort. Both chiefs had been

: looking for the arrival of Charles in the Long Island,

1 and had charged Boisdale, if he had opportunity, to tell

i the Prince that unless he came supported by a force of

regular troops, they would hold aloof from the rising.

While Charles and Boisdale were engaged in this dis-
cussion, two ships made their appearance, which caused
Walsh to weigh his anchor and make for Moidart. The
discussion continued, but when Boisdale, obdurate to the
1 last, stepped into his boat, the Prince had abated no jot of
his determination to persevere in his attempt.

On the following morning, La Dotitelle anchored in
the bay of Loch nan Uamh, between Moidart and Arisaig.
The Prince sent a boat ashore with a letter to young
Clanranald. On coming on board with some of his
kinsmen, Clanranald discussed the situation with Charles,
who poured upon him the blandishments which had
proved so fruitless in the case of his uncle, Boisdale.
Accounts vary in their statement of Clanranald's attitude.
Maxwell of Kirkconnel says that the young chief frankly
offered his services, while Home's version is that he
refused to take up arms in such inauspicious circumstances,

G G

430 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

and was only won over by the passionate declaration of
young Ranald Macdonald, brother of Kinlochmoidart, who
offered to draw his sword in the cause of the Prince, if he
were the only man in the Highlands to do so.

Having thus engaged the interest of Clanranald, Charles
sent him to Macdonald of Sleat and Macleod of Harris,
to secure, if possible, the adhesion of those powerful chiefs.
During his absence, Dr. Archibald Cameron, Lochiel's
brother, was among his visitors to the Doutelle, bringing
with him the cheerless intelligence that the assistance of
the Camerons was not to be counted upon, for Lochiel
had decided not to take part in the rising. Dr. Cameron
and Hugh Macdonald, brother of the laird of Morar,
concurred in regarding the proposed insurrection as
hopeless, and in urging the Prince to return to France
and wait for a more opportune time. To these repre-
sentations Charles turned a deaf ear ; nothing, he declared,
would divert him from his purpose. So long as he could
get six trusty men to skulk with him in the mountains,
he proposed to remain in Scotland instead of going back
to France. When Clanranald returned to the Doutelle,
with the tidings that Macdonald of Sleat and Macleod of
Harris absolutely refused to join, the Prince found himself
in a minority of one ; for all his friends, without exception,
were now in favour of the abandonment of the enterprise.
Charles remained obstinate. And his obstinacy prevailed ;
for the chivalry of Clanranald, at least, was not proof
against it. That gallant, if imprudent, young Highlander
determined to throw in his lot with the Prince, the very
hopelessness of the cause appealing to his generous nature.
When Charles reached Borradale, a farm belonging to
Clanranald, the crucial point was reached. For it was at
Borradale that the interview with Lochiel occurred, the
result of which decided more than one chief who was
wavering. There is reason, indeed, to believe that if
Lochiel had remained neutral, the rising would never have
taken place.

Donald Cameron of Lochiel, whose aged father was

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 431

attainted and in exile for the share he had taken in the
risings of 1715 and 1719, was a grandson of the famous
Sir Ewen Cameron — Macaulay's " Ulysses of the High-
lands " — whose prowess against the forces of the Common-
wealth has already been noticed. " The gentle Lochiel "
was the finest specimen of a Highland chief who was
"out "in the " forty-five." His name sheds a lustre over
it which brightens its darkest phases. Brave in the field,
prudent in the council- chamber, generous to his friends,
and magnanimous to his foes, he was a leader who well
deserved to inspire the respect and the whole-hearted
confidence of his fellow-Highlanders. In his chivalrous
character there was not a trace of duplicity or self-seeking.
Loyalty to his friends was with him a passion; and the
Highlanders well knew that once Lochiel espoused a
cause, his high sense of honour would impel him to remain
true to the end. Such was the man whose invaluable
support Prince Charles secured at Borradale. No one
was more alive to the foolhardiness of the insurrection
than Donald Cameron. When he left his home to meet
Charles Edward, he was fully resolved to have nothing to
do with it. But the magnetic personality of " bonnie
Prince Charlie " weakened his resolution ; and his un-
answerable arguments were as naught when weighed in
the balance with an appeal to his feelings. The romantic
figure of the young Prince, who had come to the High-
lands with eight men to overthrow a dynasty, touched his
imagination ; and he exemplified the Celtic nature by
permitting sentiment to conquer prudence. When Lochiel
agreed to draw the sword for the young Chevalier, the die
was cast.

Meanwhile, the famous Duncan Forbes of Culloden, now
Lord President of the Court of Session, was actively
employed on behalf of the Government. Forbes was a
man of ripe judgment, sound commonsense, and sterling
integrity. It is not too much to say that he was the chief
saviour of George II., and the chief obstacle in the path of
Charles Edward. His services to the Government were

G G 2

432 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

never requited ; his sole reward was a good conscience.
The resentment of the Jacobites against him was intense.
It was felt — and with a good deal of reason — that the
accession of the Macleods, the Macdonalds of Sleat, the
Mackenzies, and the Erasers would, in the depleted state
of the country's defences, have rendered the Prince's army
irresistible ; and it was afterwards declared by the Jaco-
bites that with the addition of those clans, they might have
made themselves masters of London.* The attitude
assumed by the chiefs of the clans in question was mainly
due to the influence of Duncan Forbes. This is plain from
contemporary correspondence, and it was admitted by the
Prince himself. Sir Alexander Macdonald, in a letter to
Forbes dated nth August, 1745, was very emphatic in his
opinion of the rising. " That we will have no connection
with these madmen is certain," he declares. " Young
Clanranald," he adds, "is deluded" . . . " and what is
more astonishing, Lochiel's prudence has quite forsaken
him." Norman Macleod stigmatised the insurrection as a
" mad rebellious attempt." And yet, if Murray of Brough-
ton is to be believed — his own record is far from blameless
— Macleod played a double-dealing game, promising his
support to the Prince, while assuring Forbes of his un-
swerving loyalty to the Government. The sympathies
both of Macleod and of Sir Alexander Macdonald were
undoubtedly on the side of the Jacobites, but Macdonald,
at least, never promised to take up arms for the Prince.
As for Lord Fortrose, Forbes himself declared that " he
was extremely zealous for his Majestie's Government."f
Simon Fraser of Lovat temporised as long as he dared,
and when at length, after a series of unparalleled acts of
duplicity, he decided to assist the Prince, the time had
passed for his help to be of any real service. The shifty
conduct of this chief — whose complex character is still a
puzzle — met its reward. In his efforts to keep on good
terms with both sides, he overreached himself, and finally

* Culloden Papers, p. 272.
f Idem, p. 246.

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 433

brought his aged head to the block. He lived as a trickster,
but he died like a philosopher. He was a curious blend of
the fox and the lion, but his vulpine qualities predominated.*
The chiefs of the Mackenzies, Macleods, and Macdonalds
of Sleat did not maintain their neutral attitude long ; they
soon ranged themselves openly on the side of the Govern-
ment. The statement has been made that Lord Fortrose
was a Jacobite at heart, although he declared for the
reigning dynasty. But his actions were opposed to this
hypothesis ; and we have not only his own declarations,
but the testimony of Duncan Forbes, to support the
contrary view. There is nothing, on the other hand, to
suggest that his attitude was inconsistent with his
sympathies. And it must be remembered that he had
good cause to be grateful to the existing Government. A
curious episode is related which has a bearing on this
matter. According to this account, the Rev. Colin
Mackenzie of Glack, minister of Fodderty, was the first in
his district to receive the news of the landing of the Prince.
He immediately went to Brahan Castle to acquaint his
chief with the all-important tidings. It was the dead of
night when he reached the castle, and Lord Fortrose, like
all respectable men, was in bed. The Rev. Colin, it is
said, prevailed upon his chief to keep out of the way and
thus avoid trouble. The two men went west, and remained
in retirement at Poolewe. One day, when Lord Fortrose
was dining off a sheep's jawbone, two boats full of Lewis-
men were observed sailing into Loch Ewe. His lordship at
once signalled to them to return to Stornoway, waving
them back with the jawbone which he was in the act of
picking. And thus, according to the story, was fulfilled
the prophecy of Kenneth Mackenzie (Coinneach Odhar)
the famous Brahan Seer — who was himself a native of
Lewis — " that next time the men of Lewis should go forth
to battle, they would be turned back by a weapon smaller
than the jawbone of an ass." This story, if not embellished

* Lovat promised Seaforth to assist the insurgents in the rising of 1719,
but failed to implement his promise (Seaforth MSS. in Brit. Mus.).

434 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

to give point to the accuracy of the seer's predictions, is at
least wanting in circumstance. There is no information
vouchsafed, from which we may gather for what purpose,
or by whose directions, the Lewismen crossed to the
mainland. If it was their intention to join the Prince, it is
obvious that Lord Fortrose was opposed to the step. But
there is reason to believe that the incident occurred,
not at the commencement of the rising, but early in
1746, when it was in progress. The Lewismen who
crossed the Minch were probably those who composed one
of the eighteen Independent Companies, raised for the
service of the Government. This view is supported by the
fact that the Lewis company took no part in the operations
on the mainland. It was the last company raised, and it
appears to have been immediately disbanded by Lord
Fortrose, its services being found unnecessary. About the
time that the standard was unfurled at Glenfinnan, Lord
Fortrose summoned all his retainers on the mainland to
meet him, for the purpose of acting in defence of the
Government. Writing to President Forbes on i3th
October, he tells him that some " young fellow " of his name
had attempted to raise men for the Prince, but that he had
charged his tenants not to stir without his leave, under
pain of death. His attitude was so much appreciated by
his people that they " blessed " him for protecting them,
and assured him that they would do nothing without his
orders. So determined was Lord Fortrose to keep his
tenantry from rising, that he went among them, threatening
to burn the corn-yards of any whom he found away from
home ; and he actually turned one house into the river on
finding its owner absent.* To some Mackenzies in Argyll-
shire, who asked him for his advice how they should act,
his reply was curt but sensible. " Stay at home and mind

* A booklet called The Wanderer, by an unknown author, which was
published in 1747, declares that Lord Fortrose had great difficulty in keeping
the Mackenzies out of the rising. The same authority states that Lord
Cromartie was seduced from his allegiance by Lord Lovat and Macdonald of
Barisdale. Lady Fortrose was a Jacobite, if her husband was not : she raised
a few Mackenzies for the Prince.

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 435

your own business," was his counsel. When the army of
the Prince, flushed with success, was marching through the
West of England, Lord John Drummond urged him to
change sides and thus "retrieve " his character. It was all
in vain : Mackenzie had definitely chosen to go his own
way ; and that way was the path of prudence and
consistency. The Prince himself, who was not prepared
for a Seaforth acting in opposition to a Stuart, was much
chagrined at Lord Fortrose's opposition. " He, ! Man
Dieu! " he exclaimed, " et Seaforth est aussi contre mot"*
Lord Fortrose had got together a body of men from
Kintail and Lochcarron for duty at Brahan Castle, and
Culloden suggested that he might add to the number. "It
will tend," he said, " to make Caber foyf respectable and to
discourage folly among your neighbours." Norman
Macleod and Sir Alexander Macdonald were no less active
in their antagonism to the Jacobites. But in Macleod's
case, also, there was a minority in opposition to him. A
lawyer named Alexander Macleod of Muiravonside had
been specially selected by Prince Charles, for the purpose
of attempting to detach the clan from the Government
interest ; an attempt which met " with very bad success."
Donald Macleod of Bernera, in answer to his chief's
summons, sent him twenty men, but he himself joined the
Prince. Malcolm Macleod of Raasay, with one hundred
men, likewise donned the white cockade. We have here
an assertion of the independence which the chiefs of
Raasay, as representing the Siol Torquil of Lewis, con-
sistently showed in their dealings with the Macleods of
Harris. The Macleods of Glendale and Brea also joined
the ranks of the Jacobites. Sir Alexander Macdonald,
acting in concert with Norman Macleod, summoned his
retainers, among whom were men from North Uist, to rally
round him for the cause of King George. Macneill of
Barra seems to have remained neutral, being dominated by
his Superior, Sir Alexander Macdonald. Clanranald was

* Fraser's Earls of Cromartiet Vol. II., p. 338.

t i.e., Caberfeidh , or stag's head, the Mackenzie coat of arms.

436 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

thus the only chief of the Long Island with the young
Chevalier. On 26th August — seven days after the standard
was raised at Glenfinnan — Norman Macleod informed
President Forbes that Clanranald's Uist men were un-
willing to "risque," and had not sailed from the island
by the 22nd ; but we know that some of them fought at
Prestonpans.*

In the month of September, President Forbes received
from London twenty commissions, for raising a like number
of Independent Companies in the Highlands, for the service
of the Crown. This suggestion emanated from the Earl of
Stair, who had complete confidence in the President's
discretion, as well he might. Forbes distributed the com-
missions among the well-disposed clans, leaving the
nomination of the officers in the hands of the chiefs. He
sent letters to the Earls of Sutherland and Cromartie, Lords
Fortrose and Reay, Sir Alexander Macdonald, Norman
Macleod, the chiefs of the Grants and other clans, desiring
each of them to raise a company. Want of funds and of
arms created much delay in enrolling these companies, and
it was not until several months afterwards, that the whole
eighteen companies — two of the commissions not being
used — were completed. The officers of the Lewis company
were Captain Colin Mackenzie, Lieutenant Donald
Macaulay and Ensign Kenneth Mackenzie. The Earl of
Cromartie refused the commission which was offered him.
His sympathies were with the Jacobites, but for some time
he temporised. Finally, he joined the Prince, and with 400
or 500 Mackenzies, fought at the battle of Falkirk. His
son, John Mackenzie (Lord Macleod), a youth of eighteen,
was less cautious. He declared himself early in the rising,
and endeavoured to enlist the support of some of the
Mackenzie chieftains on the side of the Prince. With the
exception of Coul and Redcastle (both of whom refused
commissions in the independent companies) and John
Mackenzie of Torridon, "one of the prettiest men in

* See Appendix I.

Scotland,"* who r men, he failed

tthisers among the Mackenzi.es. He was not more
sful with the Macleods of Assynt and Loch Br<
nay have thought that his title, as signifying
it from the Macleods of Lewis, their com
tors, would have had some weight with them, bu
)ot succeed in raising a single man. The

Cromartie, his father, had a narrow escape from the b
Culloden, being saved from cxc
itfn of his wife. Lord Macleod L

career after the le entered th<

to the rank of Major, and he sir
unteer in the Prussian army. He *
Marshal K< acted as his aide

of Prague, and at all the operations
; the campaign of 1759. When he
:nd, he requested permission to enrol a corps of 200

0 Highlanders to serve in Germany. He was
•form a more important service: for he raised

fine regiment, originally named Macleod's Highlan
and numbered -the 73rd, and now known as the
Highlanders. In acknowledgment of his useful i.

1 nment restored to him his father's forfeited <
payment of £19,000, to relieve the property from existing
burd

While President Forbes was quietly a fully"

in the North for the Government -vard-

naking a triumphant prog ih. The

rout of Sir John Cope— the
:al Jacobite ballads — at Pr iie junketin.

>urgh; the march int- ue capture 01

ibmission of the .ngland; an-

oopposed occup

which marked the flowing tide of suce:
: urned a: and the ebb set in when •>

and commenced. The successful skirmi

He led the

438 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

the capture of Stirling ; the defeat of General Hawley at
Falkirk ; and the surrender of Inverness and its castle :
these were as pebbles of little value which were carried off
the shore of fortune by the ebbing tide. Charles Edward
was fated never again to be carried on the crest of the
wave of success. When his army faced the English troops
on Culloden Moor, the crisis in his affairs was reached ;
and the dispersal of the clans on the fateful i6th April, 1746,
sounded the knell alike of his personal hopes, and of the
chances of the House of Stuart ever regaining the British
throne. At the decisive battle of Culloden, the High-
landers saved their honour though they lost the day. By
the barbarities which succeeded the battle, the Duke of
Cumberland lost his honour though he had saved the
Crown. The English soldiers had learned that the so-
called savage Highlanders were not only superb fighters,
but generous victors. When they, themselves, tasted the
sweets of unaccustomed success, their moderation was that
of the hyaena. In the Highlands of Scotland, the name of
" Butcher " Cumberland is still remembered with a degree
of abhorrence equalling, if not surpassing, that in which
the name of Cromwell is held in the South of Ireland.
The specious excuses which have been made for him are
altogether unconvincing. His subordinates, with some
honourable exceptions, displayed a spirit of ferocity in
carrying out his instructions, which suggests that they were
brutalised by the lust of revenge. They had heavy scores
to pay off against the Highlanders, who had disgracefully
beaten in fair fight some of their best troops. They dis-
charged their debt by the barbarous murder of the wounded ;
by the massacre of defenceless men in cold blood ; by abomin-
able outrages on women and infants ; and by remorseless
and wholesale destruction of property. This was the devil's
work by means of which William, Duke of Cumberland,
hoped to plant firmly on the brows of his Royal father,
the Crown which, a few months previously, appeared to be
toppling from his head.

The operations of the Independent Companies of High-

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 439

I landers, which had been raised for the service of the
, Government, were barren of result, although they per-
formed some useful police work. The Earl of Loudoun
was in supreme command of these companies, but his
experience of them was heartbreaking. According to the
Duke of Cumberland, he did everything in his power for
the good of the service, but " he was put at the head of a
i raw militia, of the greatest part of which he dared trust
neither the courage or affections." Certainly their affections
were not engaged in the service of King George ; but their
courage would have proved equal to that of their Jacobite
neighbours, had their chiefs donned the white, instead of
I the black cockade. If, as in some instances was true, they
had in the past been unwilling to rise for the Stuarts, they
were now doubly disinclined to fight for the House of
Hanover. In both cases, they were simply the puppets
of their chiefs and the tacksmen.

Macleod of Harris, with a considerable body of his clans-

; men ; two companies of Macdonalds under Captain James

I Macdonald of Airds and Trotternish ; and Captain John

1 Macdonald of Kirkibost, North Uist, formed the insular

| contingent of the 2,000 men under Lord Loudoun, who were

I posted at Inverness when Prince Charles arrived in the

i North. Macleod had already met a rebuff at the hands of

, Lord Lewis Gordon, who routed his men at Inverurie ; and

another humiliation was in store for him. He commanded

the advance guard of the 1,500 men, whom Loudoun led from

Inverness for the purpose of surprising and capturing the

! Prince at Moy Hall. The incidents of that ludicrous scare

known as the Rout of Moy — when a blacksmith with five

or six men put an army to flight* — furnish an illustration

of the unwillingness of Loudoun's Highlanders to fight

against their feliow-countrymen. A further illustration is

provided by the hasty evacuation of Inverness by Loudoun,

on the approach of the Jacobites ; for he was afraid to trust

* Macleod's famous piper, Donald Ban MacCrimmon, was the only man
tilled. His well known lament " Cha till mi tuilleculh " (we return no more)
was composed when the Macleods were setting out from Dunvegan Castle.

440 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

his men. His subsequent operations were no less in-
glorious, his fugitive army being closely pursued by Lord
George Murray, and afterwards by the Duke of Perth.
The final dispersal of his followers forced Lord Loudoun,
with the Lord President and Norman Macleod, to seek
refuge in Skye, where they hoped to get further assistance
from Sir Alexander Macdonald.

Of the three Mackenzie companies which were raised, only
two — commanded, respectively, by Alexander Mackenzie of
Davochmaluag, and Colin Mackenzie of Hilton — appear on
record in connexion with Lord Loudoun's campaign ; the-1
third — the Lewis company — being, as already suggested,
probably disbanded soon after enrolment. At Beauly, the
two mainland companies left the army and returned home,
but Lord Fortrose re-embodied them, and with 200 addi-
tional men, promised to join Loudoun, with whom he held
tryst at Loch Carron. When Loudoun next appeared
upon the scene, after Culloden, he was no longer a fugitive
general, but an instrument of vengeance, dealing Hano-
verian punishment to the unfortunate Jacobites.

We must now follow the fortunes of Prince Charles after
his flight from Culloden. He was led off the field of battle
by Captain Sullivan, the faithful Irishman who subsequently
accompanied him to the Long Island. Crossing the Nairn
with a few attendants, he visited, in succession, Lord Lovat
— who already anticipated the insecurity of his head — and
the castle of Glengarry. At Invergarry, Charles parted from
his comrades, with the exception of Sullivan and Edward
Burke, an Uist man of Irish origin. Guided by Burke, the
party set out for Loch Arkaig in Lochaber, and passed the
night at the house of Donald Campbell of Glenpean.
The following night was spent at Mewboll, whence they
started for Glenboisdale, where they arrived on 2Oth April.
There Charles was joined by Clanranald, Lockhart younger
of Carnwath, and ^Eneas Macdonald.

At the beginning of April, yEneas Macdonald had occa-
sion to go to Barra to receive a sum of about £380, to be
used in the cause of the Prince. He wanted a skilful pilot

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 441

i and a reliable guide. He found both in the person of Donald
Macleod, a native of Gualtergill in Skye ; a man to whom
Prince Charlie afterwards owed a deep debt of gratitude.
Donald, who was a staunch Jacobite, readily agreed to do
anything in his power to further the interests of the Prince.
i He piloted Macdonald to Barra, and the money was secured.
While the two were at the house of Macdonald of Boisdale,
Captain Ferguson of the sloop-of-war Furnace Bomb sent a
boat ashore, manned by Macleods, with a message to Bois-
dale, desiring to speak to him. The Macleods recognised
; Pilot Donald, and on returning to the Furnace, told the
I Captain that it would be well to keep an eye on their
j Jacobite clansman, whose presence in the island boded no
Igood to the Government. ^Eneas Macdonald and his com-
panions made a timely escape with the money, reaching
Canna after dodging the sloops which were cruising around
the coast of the Long Island. From Canna, they made
their way to Eigg, whence they reached in safety the house
| of Kinlochmoidart, on the mainland. A few days after-
wards, they were on the point of setting out for Inverness,
when the banker received a letter from Prince Charles
giving an account of the battle of Culloden, and asking
; Macdonald to meet him at Borradale.

The conference between Charles and his friends at Borra-
dale resulted in a decision being taken, that the Prince
should cross to the Long Island, and make his way to
Stornoway, where, it was hoped, he would succeed in
chartering a vessel to convey him to France. Those who
jknevv the Outer Hebrides most intimately were opposed to
|this plan, considering that in view of the risk of capture by
the cruisers which were patrolling the coasts of the islands,
Charles would be safer on the mainland. Sullivan, whose
influence over Charles was considerable, supported the
I contrary view, and the Prince, wavering between the con-
flicting counsels of his friends, finally decided to take
Sullivan's advice, which accorded with his original deter-
mination. The next thing was to find a reliable pilot.
Macdonald's recommendation of Donald Macleod

442 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

quickly solved that difficulty. Donald was accordingly
ordered to Borradale, and a proud moment it must have
been for that staunch Jacobite when he was asked to take
charge of his Prince. They met in a wood at Borradale.
"Are you Donald Macleod of Gualtergill ?" asked Charles.
" I am the same man, may it please your Majesty, at your
service," was the reply. "What is your pleasure with me?"
" You see, Donald," said Charles, " I am in distress. I
therefore throw myself into your bosom and let you do
with me what you like. I hear you are an honest man
and fit to be trusted." In these words, we see some expla-
nation of the hold which Prince Charlie possessed over the
affections of the Highlanders with whom he came in con-
tact. A prince who threw himself^ unreservedly on their
protection had no reason to fear the result. Donald
Macleod, from that moment, would have died a hundred
deaths rather than betray his trust.

Charles seems to have clung to the belief that Macleod
of Harris and Macdonald of Sleat were still his friends,
notwithstanding all that had passed. He asked Donald
Macleod to take letters from him to the two chiefs.
Donald's astonishment was profound. " Anything but
that," was his reply. " Is your Majesty not aware that
these very chiefs are at this moment searching for you,
in order to deliver you up to the Government ? " The
Prince was with difficulty dissuaded from his purpose.
He was sure that had it not been for President Forbes,
both chiefs would have drawn the sword for him.

Meanwhile, ships of war were scouring the west coast
in search of the fugitive. It was suspected that the Prince
would make for the Outer Hebrides. What more likely
place of refuge than the remote Island of St. Kilda ? Off
posted Major-General Campbell* with a large body of
men to St. Kilda, feeling sure he was on the right track.
But disappointment awaited him. The poor natives of
the island, appalled by the sight of such a formidable force,

* John Campbell of Mamore, afterwards fourth Duke of Argyl

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 443

fled in terror, and hid themselves in the clefts of the rocks.
When their confidence was restored, they willingly supplied
all the information they possessed — which amounted to
nothing at all. So completely isolated were they from the
outside world, that they had not even a reasonably clear
conception of the events which had recently convulsed the
kingdom. They heard a rumour, they said, that Macleod,
their laird, had been at war with some great king,* and
had got the better of him !

Preparations were at once set on foot by Donald
Macleod for conveying Charles to the Long Island. He
got a strongly-built, eight-oared boat from John, son of
Angus Macdonald of Borradale ; and well was it for all
concerned that her timbers were staunch and sound, for
she was destined to face heavy seas. On the night of
26th April, the Prince embarked, accompanied by Sullivan,
Captain O'Neil, who had joined him at Borradale, a priest
named Allan Macdonald (a relative of Clanranald), and
Pilot Donald Macleod. The eight boatmen were Alex-
ander, John, and Roderick Macdonald, Lachlan MacVurich,
Roderick Macaskill, Duncan Roy, Edward Burke, and
Murdoch Macleod, a boy of fifteen, who was a son of the
pilot. This Murdoch was at the Grammar School at Inver-
ness, where he imbibed the love of fighting, if not the love
of learning. In his Jacobite sympathies he was a chip of
the old block. Just before the battle of Culloden, he pro-
cured a claymore, dirk, and pistol, ran away from school
to Culloden Moor, and fought for the Prince. After the
battle, he found means of tracing the way Charles had
gone, and followed him from place to place until he met
his father at Borradale.

As the boat was leaving Loch nan Uamh, the skilled eye
of the pilot detected the signs of a coming storm. Donald
begged the Prince to postpone his departure, but Charles,
eager to reach his destination, persisted in leaving. Before
they had proceeded very far, he regretted his decision.

* Other accounts say with a " woman."

444 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

The wind grew in strength, and soon a storm was raging,
as a storm can rage in those parts, even in the month of
April. Donald Macleod was at the helm, and the Prince
sat in the bottom of the boat at his feet. The storm
increasing, Charles wanted to turn back. " Impossible,"
said the pilot, " we shall run the risk of being dashed to
pieces against the rocks ; we must go on now." And on
they went into the inky blackness of the night, lit up
occasionally by vivid flashes of lightning. The howling of
the wind and the crashing of peal after peal of thunder
were appalling. Accustomed as he was to the vagaries of
the Minch, even Donald Macleod had never experienced
such a terrible storm. To add to their misfortunes, a
deluge of rain which persisted throughout the night,
soaked the occupants of the boat to the skin. The dark-
ness was such that the pilot, who knew every inch of the
coast, was for most of the time quite unable to make out
his bearings and had to trust to luck. Fortune favoured
them, for at dawn they found themselves off the Long
Island. The boat was at once headed for the nearest land,
which proved to be Rossinish, on the north-west coast of
Benbecula, where they landed, glad to find themselves on
terra firma after such a trying experience. They hauled
the boat up and entered an uninhabited hut, where they
made a fire and dried their clothes. An old sail was
spread on the floor to make a bed for the Prince, on which
he slept soundly. A herd boy of Clanranald's observed
with startled eyes the arrival of the party. He immediately
went off at top speed to inform his master at Nunton.*
The latter was at dinner, one of his guests being the
Rev. John Macaulay, Presbyterian minister of South Uist,
Lord Macaulay 's grandfather, and a descendant of Donald
Cam Macaulay. Clanranald sent one Donald Macdonald
to find all about the strangers at Rossinish. Macaulay,
who, it will be remembered, suspected the identity of

* Ormaclett in South Uist, the former residence of the Clanranald chiefs,
was burnt down on the day Clanranald fell at Sheriffmuir, and has never been
rebuilt. The chiefs afterwards lived at Nunton in Benbecula.

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 445

Charles when he arrived from France at Eriskay, sent a
member of his congregation on a similar errand. Both
messengers returned, brimful of the news that it was the
Prince himself who was at Rossinish. Clanranald at once
set out to pay his respects to the leader under whom his
son had fought so gallantly; and made the party welcome
to one of his cows, which they killed.

The Rev. John Macaulay, on ascertaining that Charles
was really at Rossinish, sent word to his father, the Rev.
Aulay Macaulay, minister of Harris. Father and son
were alike strong anti-Jacobites, as, indeed, were all the
Presbyterian ministers of Scotland. The fear of the Pres-
byterians was that the restoration of the Stuarts would
involve the re-establishment of Roman Catholicism ; while
the fear of the Lowland democracy lay in the danger of a
resurrection of the bogey called " Divine Right."* Such
being their sentiments, the two Macaulays had no scruples
about taking steps to have the Prince seized. The minister
of Harris sent a message to the Rev. Colin Mackenzie,
Presbyterian minister of Lochs, in Lewis, telling him that
the Prince intended making for that island, and suggesting
that arrangements should be made with Lord Fortrose's
factor at Stornoway to seize him on his arrival. We shall
see later the result of this communication.

Charles and his party resumed their journey to Storno-
way on the evening of the 29th April, and in the early
morning, reached Scalpa, off the coast of Harris, where
they landed to take refuge from the severe weather. The
tacksman of Scalpa was Donald Campbell, a brother-
in-law of Hugh Macdonald of Baleshare, North Uist, who
I subsequently figures in the narrative of the Prince's adven-
tures. Campbell proved a friend in need. Caution being
at first essential, a plausible story was got up for his
delectation. Sullivan was an Orkney merchant named

* That the Presbyterian and democratic fears were groundless it would
require some hardihood to assert, although it is certain that Charles Edward
was no bigot. He temporarily embraced Protestantism at a later stage of
his career, when too late to be of any practical service to him.

H H

446 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Sinclair, and the Prince was his son. Their ship, when
homeward bound from Ireland, was wrecked off the Mull
of Kintyre. Their present boat and crew were hired at
Mull to take them to Lewis, where they hoped to find
a vessel to convey them home. The pseudo-merchant's
son made himself very agreeable. He took an interest
in the household arrangements of Mrs. Campbell ; went
cod fishing with her son ; and on his way home from
the fishing, helped to lug a cow out of a bog. But before
he left, his identity became known. A party of armed
men, headed by the Rev. Aulay Macaulay, landed on
the island, and, meeting Donald Campbell, disclosed to
him the rank of his guest. The story is, that they were
bent on securing the reward of ^"30,000 offered by the
Government, and that an effort was made to induce
Campbell to co-operate with them. Campbell indignantly
rejected the bribe, and told them he would defend the
Prince, if necessary. He sent his son to his house to warn
Charles and his followers, who immediately armed them-
selves and prepared to fight. Seeing how their scheme
had failed, Macaulay and his friends sneaked away.*

On 1st May, Donald Macleod was sent to Stornowayf
in a boat lent by Campbell, to endeavour to charter a
vessel, ostensibly for the Orkneys, but really, of course,
to take the Prince to France. He went to work very
cautiously, and ultimately found a suitable ship in a brig
of 40 tons, owned and commanded by a Captain Mac-
aulay. Donald was well known in Stornoway, and his
story that he wanted the vessel to go to the Orkneys,
to take a cargo of meal for Skye, occasioned no surprise ;
for he had on former occasions effected similar charters.
The bargain was struck, the freight being £100. Macleod

* This story, which is given in Buchanan's Hebrides (pp. 66-7), has every
appearance of truth. For the credit of the Macaulays of Lewis, it may be
hoped that the reverend leader of the party was influenced by his political
and religious convictions, rather than by considerations of pelf.

In his Journal^ which is rather an incoherent document, O'Neil says-
that he went to Stornoway with Macleod, but in his declaration made to the
Government authorities soon after his capture, the correct version is given.
(See Appendix H.)

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 447

at once wrote the Prince telling him of his success, and
asking him to come to Stornoway as quickly as possible.
The same evening, whether over-elated with the result
of his mission, or having cracked a bottle too many with
Captain Macaulay, he appears to have been over-com-
municative, and the shrewd skipper became suspicious.
Next morning, he told Donald that he wished to with-
draw from the bargain. And here Macleod's caution
forsook him. Instead of professing indifference, he violated
all the canons which regulate Hebridean chaffering, by
appearing over-anxious. He offered to buy the vessel
for ^300. The owner said he would take ^500. Macleod
jumped at the offer. The skipper's suspicions were now
fully confirmed, and he determined to back out of his
offer. " You can have my mate and my crew," he said,
" but I cannot go myself." The mate and the crew
promptly refused to stir out of Stornoway harbour unless
their captain went with them. And so the bargain fell
through.

In the meantime, the Prince, under the impression that
everything had been satisfactorily settled, prepared to go
to Stornoway without delay. The boatmen were ordered
to return to Borradale and hand the boat back to its
owner. " Captain " Allan Macdonald, the priest, remained
in Scalpa, and afterwards made his way to South Uist.
On 4th May, Charles, attended by Sullivan and O'Neil,
left Scalpa in a boat with four men provided by Camp-
bell ; a guide was also engaged to conduct them to
Stornoway. Instead of crossing the ferry between Scalpa
and Harris, the guide directed the boatmen to make for
Loch Seaforth. They sailed up the loch nearly to the
top, and there landed. The rest of the journey was
performed on foot, and a trying experience it proved. It
was a miserable night, dark, wet, and stormy. There
was neither road nor track of any description. The guide
lost his way in the Lochs district, and under the circum-
stances, there was some excuse for him. Footsore, his
shoes worn out, and tied on his feet with packthread,

H H 2

448 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

cold, hungry, soaked to the skin, and half dead with
fatigue ; such was the condition of the Prince when the
moor of Arnish, opposite Stornoway, was reached at eleven
in the morning. And worse was to follow.

The guide was sent across to Stornoway to tell Donald
Macleod of the arrival of the party, and to bring them
some refreshments. Donald accordingly went to Arnish
with some provisions, and took the Prince and his at-
tendants to the house of Mrs. Mackenzie of Kildun,* a
trusty Jacobite, like most of the wives of the Highlanders
who were on the Government side. Charles was glad
to have the opportunity of drying his shirt, which was
wringing-wet.

When Donald Macleod went back to Stornoway to-
resume negotiations for a ship, he found the town in an
uproar. The minister of Lochs had published the news
that the Prince intended to come to Stornoway. Captain
Macaulay had gone about the town telling people about
Donald Macleod's mysterious negotiations.f The guide
appears to have given a hint of the arrival of Charles
at Arnish. The story passed from mouth to mouth, and
the details were embellished in the telling. Finally, the
accepted version was, that the Prince had actually landed
in Lewis with five hundred men, bent on burning Storno-
way, carrying off the cattle, and seizing a ship by force.
A drum was beat, and two hundred men flew to arms
for the defence of the town. At the time of Donald
Macleod's arrival in Stornoway, a number of self-elected
officers were engaged in holding a Council of War.
Donald immediately went to them and demanded what
all the pother was about. " Here comes the cause of all
our trouble," said the indignant Stornowegians. And
they all, with one consent, abused him heartily. Donald,
according to his own account, met them with a bold

* The site of the house at Arnish is still to be seen.

+ Ned Burke says that Captain Macaulay went off to the Duke of Cum-
berland to lodge information. This is not confirmed by any of the other
narrators, and was probably only a surmise.

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 449

front He pooh-poohed their story and ridiculed their
fears. " Five hundred men ! " he exclaimed. " Has the
devil possessed you altogether ? Where, I pray you,
could the Prince in his present condition get a hundred,
much less five hundred, men together ? " He cursed the
ministers of Harris and South Uist for a couple of mis-
chief-making rascals. And then he opened his heart to
the Stornoway men. " I acknowledge," he said, " that
the Prince is at this moment in Lewis, not with five
hundred men, but with two attendants. And yet, let me
tell you, gentlemen, that if Seaforth himself were here,
by G — ! he durst not put a hand to the Prince's breast."

The Stornowegians were not anti-J acobites. Their
sympathies were obviously with Charles. But their pro-
prietor was working for the Government ; and an English
warship was at that moment not far from the town.* If
they helped the Prince, they exposed themselves to the
vengeance of the Government and the displeasure of Lord
Fortrose, who had given strict orders not to harbour any
of the Jacobites. Here, on the one hand, was an oppor-
tunity of doing signal service to the Government, and of
earning .£30,000. They had only to send a dozen men
across to Arnish to seize the hunted scion of the Stuarts,
and the thing was done. But, on the other hand, Donald
Macleod was right. Lord Fortrose himself would not have
dared to lay a finger on " bonnie Prince Charlie " had he been
present. And there was not a man in Stornoway who
would soil his hands with the dirty work of earning the
blood-money. The person who did so would have been
regarded as a pariah throughout the Highlands.

How, under the circumstances, were the townsmen of
Stornoway to act ? They solved the difficulty by taking a
middle course. They protested to Donald Macleod that
they had not the slightest desire to harm the Prince, nor to
meddle with him in any way. But they would not permit

* Maxwell of Kirkconnel says she was actually in the harbour. This seems
hardly likely, as the uproar in Stornoway would have attracted her attention,
and nothing, in that case, could have saved the Prince.

450 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

him to enter the town ; nor would they give him a ship ;
nor would they provide him with a pilot to take him to
Poolewe, where there was some chance of his finding a
vessel. They did not wish to be mixed up with his affairs
in any shape or form. All they wanted was that he should
depart out of their coasts. That was their last word.

Macleod returned to Arnish and told Charles what had
happened. It was obviously unsafe for them to remain at
Arnish, and preparations were made to depart. It was
proposed to attempt to reach the Orkneys. The boat and
crew lent to Macleod by Donald Campbell were at their
disposal, but two of the sailors, terrified at the commotion
in Stornoway, had fled. The six who were left, refused to
venture to the Orkneys or to Poolewe in their small boat,
in such bad weather. It was decided to spend the night at
Arnish and start early next morning, with the tacit under-
standing that they should return to Scalpa. While they
were at Mrs. Mackenzie's house, a cow was killed for their
consumption, for which their hostess was reluctantly
obliged to accept payment. They put the head and other
parts of the animal in their boat, with a supply of meal,
brandy, and sugar, which Mrs. Mackenzie provided. They
had a wooden plate for making their dough, and could use
stones for making their bannocks. They slept on the moor
that night ; according to tradition, close to a loch which is
known as " Prince Charlie's Lake."* They made a start at
eight o'clock next morning (6th May).

They had not gone far before they saw two frigates off
Kebbuck Head, which they took to be English ; although
Maxwell of Kirkconnel thinks they were the French war-
ships which had landed money, arms, and ammunition, at
Loch nan Uamh, a few days after the Prince had left. The
boatmen were asked to go out to reconnoitre, but they
declined to take the risk. To escape the frigates, they
made for the Islet of lubhard at the entrance to Loch

* Neil MacFachain, who was not present, says that they spent the night at
Mrs. Mackenzie's house. O'Neil, who was present, says they slept on the
moor. MacEachain asserts that a " mob " from Stornoway " made a dreadful
noise about the house " during a great part of the night.

ft

I

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 451

Shell. lubhard was frequently used by the Lewis fisher-
men for drying their white fish on the rocks. There were
some fishermen on the islet as the boat approached, but
they made off on seeing the strangers, whom they took to
be a pressgang. After having a good look at the war-
ships from a hill, the hungry visitors made a hearty meal off
the dried fish left by the fishermen, which was rendered
more palatable by some bread and butter given by Mrs.
Mackenzie to Ned Burke, who acted as cook to the party.
The Prince wished to leave money for the fish, but was
dissuaded from the idea : it was safer to appear to have
been really a pressgang. They had some hot punch, which
they drank out of an earthen pitcher left by the fishermen.
Two large stones served as tables, one for the Prince and
his attendants, and the other for the boatmen ; the bare
ground had to serve for seats. The brains of the cow,
mixed with meal and baked before the fire by Burke,
formed a welcome addition to their bill of fare. They
stayed four clays and nights on lubhard, their sleeping
place being a " low pityful hut " built by the fishermen,
over which they had to spread the sail of the boat to keep
out the rain. Their fuel consisted of heath and turf.
While at lubhard, they saw a Stornoway vessel pass,
bound, they suspected, for Poolewe, which was understood
to be the Prince's destination.

On loth May, they sailed for Scalpa, but here a dis-
appointment awaited them. The hospitality shown to
them by Donald Campbell had become known, and he
was obliged to go into hiding. They left Scalpa bound
south, but had not gone far before a man-of-war saw them
and gave chase. To escape her, they rowed into shallow
water near Rodil Point, where they remained three hours
until the ship had gone. They then resumed their voyage,
keeping inshore towards Benbecula. At Lochmaddy,
another warship was sighted, which they successfully
evaded. They spent the night at sea, cold and hungry.
Their supply of bread ran out, and the Prince tasted
drammach — t\en meal mixed with salt water — for the first

452 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

time. He ate it heartily and professed to enjoy it ; but
hunger is an excellent sauce, and a dram of brandy quali
fied the flavour. Next day (i2th May), they reached
Loch Uskavagh in Benbecula. A gale had sprung up
during the night, and it was raining heavily ; but the
boisterous weather proved a blessing in disguise, for it kept
the pursuing warships out at sea. They landed at
Rossinish and made a meal off a pailful of crabs. From
Rossinish they walked three miles to Bareness, where they
found a grass-keeper's bothy, and received a hospitable
welcome. The hut was a miserable hovel for a Prince.
The entrance was so low that the party could only gain
admittance by crawling on their hands and knees. Burke
dug away part of the ground, and put heather underneath
the Prince's knees, to enable him to make a more seemly
entrance. To Clanranald, who visited him in the hut,
Charles declared that " the devil had left because he had
not room enough in it." Clanranald brought the Prince a
supply of wines, provisions, shoes and stockings. His wife
thoughtfully sent six good shirts, of which he stood much
in need, for his shirt was " as dingy as a dish clout."

Donald Macleod and James Macdonald, a cadet of the
Clanranald family, were sent across to the mainland to get
some money from Secretary Murray. They also carried a
letter from Charles to Lochiel, requesting him to endeavour
to find a vessel to take him to France. On 3rd May, two
French ships landed 40,000 louis d'ors at Borradale, after
beating off three English men-of-war. The treasure was
conveyed to Loch Arkaig, to the care of Murray of
Broughton ; and it is a mystery to this day what became
of it. When Charles left Borradale, he had 1,000 guineas
in his possession, and O'Neil seems to have acted as his
treasurer, for he had 450 guineas hidden away when he was
captured. After Murray had seen the Prince's messengers,
he determined, with Lochiel's concurrence, to go to the
Long Island and bring the Prince over to the mainland.
But it was represented to him that it would be indiscreet
for him, a stranger who could not speak a word of Gaelic,

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 453

to make the attempt. Besides, said the messengers, Mac-
donald of Boisdale was, at the time they left, trying to hire
a meal vessel for the same purpose (this they must have
learned from Clanranald), and she might have sailed before
Murray could reach the Long Island. Murray's proposal
was thus overruled. Nothing appears to have been said
about money when Donald Macleod and his companion
met Murray at Loch Arkaig. When they mentioned the
subject later on, Murray told them he had no money with
him except sixty louis, which he required for his personal
expenses. The messengers, after an absence of eighteen
days, were thus obliged to return to the Prince empty-
handed, with the exception of two ankers of brandy.

In the meantime, on Clanranald's suggestion, Charles
had removed, on I4th May, to Coradale in South Uist,
where he was welcomed to the house of Neil MacEachain
Macdonald ; a palace, he declared, in comparison with the
hovel which he had just left. Neil MacEachain — a de-
scendant of the Macdonalds of Howbeg — was educated in
France for the priesthood, but had not taken orders.
Returning to South Uist, he became parish schoolmaster
and tutor to Clanranald's family. His proficiency as a
linguist rendered him a useful companion for the Prince at
Coradale. His journal is full of Boswellian touches which
do not detract from its interest. Like "Johnson's Boswell,"
he chronicles the foibles, as well as the virtues, of his hero.
He frankly states that the Prince always drank "a vast
deal of brandy." And both he and Hugh Macdonald of
Baleshare give particulars of a carouse, lasting for three
days, in which Charles and his visitors indulged. Hugh
Macdonald was the emissary of Lady Margaret, the
Jacobite wife of Sir Alexander Macdonald of Sleat, the
Government supporter. She sent him to Charles with
newspapers, and with the intelligence that arrangements
were being made to send regulars and militia to the Long
Island, to search for the Prince. He met Boisdale at
Coradale, who brought the disquieting news that two parties
of Macdonalds and Macleods had arrived at Barra to look

454 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

for the fugitive. When the Prince heard that his would-be
captors were Highlanders, he professed indifference. It
was the regulars he feared ; no Highlander, he was con-
vinced, would harm him. Charles pressed Boisdale and
Baleshare to stay the night. Being in such good company
— which included some officers of Clanranald's regiment —
they were not slow to accept the invitation ; and Boisdale
proceeded to get shaved and don a clean shirt in honour of
the occasion. When Neil MacEachain, who had gone to
Loch Boisdale for a boat, returned to Coradalc, he found
the Prince heaping plaids on his far-from-sober companions,
and merrily singing De profundis for the rest of their souls !
An incident like this throws an unpleasant light on the
drinking habits, which formed so painful a feature of the
subsequent career of Charles Edward. It is undoubted
that these habits were first formed during his adventures
in the Outer Hebrides.

A more pleasant side to the picture is the Prince's joyous
temperament, occasionally clouded though it was by fits of
melancholy. He would dance a Highland fling for a whole
hour, whistling the tune to keep him in step. His appetite
was always hearty, and he ate what was placed before him
without grumbling. He was a keen sportsman and a
skilful shot ; and Coradale was provided both with good
shooting and fishing. He showed his ignorance of certain
phases of the Highland character one day, by ordering
Neil MacEachain to swim out to sea for a young whale,
which he thought he had shot from the shore. He did not
consider, says Neil, that " the office was fitter for dogs than
men." But the whale was not hit, and Neil was saved
from the ignominy of retrieving. The Prince was in the
habit of sitting at the door on fine days, with his face to the
sun. It did him good, he said, and he was not afraid of a
headache. Was he not thinking of that land of sunshine
which now formed the goal of his hopes, and did he not
feel that the kiss of the sun was as the embrace of an old
friend whom he longed to meet again ? The leaden skies
and the tempestuous seas of the Hebrides accorded with

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 455

the desperate state of his fortunes. They stood out in
strong contrast to the sunny France and the gay life which,
less than a year ago, he had quitted with a heart full of
high hopes and daring resolve. Small wonder is it that he
had occasional fits of melancholy. And quite intelligible
is it that he took a peculiar pleasure in watching the
English warships pass along the Uist coast, hugging to his
breast the wild hope that they might be French vessels in
search of him. Clanranald and his friends were kindness
itself; but never for one moment did Charles forget that
he was a hunted fugitive, nor did he relax his efforts to
find the precious ship which was to bear him away from
the clutches of his enemies.

He had not yet given up all hope of Stornoway. Pro-
vided with fifty guineas each, to defray expenses, O'Neil
and Captain Donald Macdonald, Clanranald's second son,
set out together for Lewis to try to charter a ship. If it
was found impossible to bring the Prince off, O'Neil was to
go to France without him. He had a letter to the King of
France, to whom he was to give an account of all that had
happened since the arrival of Charles in Scotland. When
they reached Harris, O'Neil, who had a decidedly foreign
appearance, was recognised, and had to flee to Benbecula.
Captain Macdonald went on to Stornoway, where he met
his uncle, Alexander Macleod. But his mission was
equally fruitless, and, with his uncle, he was compelled to
return home without doing anything. It is evident that
his object in going to Stornoway was discovered, for he
had to remain in hiding for a long time afterwards.

The position of the Prince was now becoming critical.
Nine warships were scouring the coast in search of him.
Macleod of Harris had received certain information from
the Rev. Aulay Macaulay, that Charles was in the Long
Island, and he had strictly charged his tenantry not to
harbour him or any of his followers. He sent Alexander
Macleod of Ulinish, with a body of militia, to search the
Outer Hebrides. Sir Alexander Macdonald sent Hugh
Macdonald of Armadale — a man famous for his physical

456 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

strength — with a force of Macdonalds, on the same errand.
Their plan was to search Barra thoroughly, and then go to
South Uist, where they were to stay guarding the fords
until reinforcements arrived. Captain Ferguson of the
Furnace, who was desperately anxious to get the Prince
into his cruel clutches, was ordered to Lewis to keep an
eye upon that island. Captain Mackenzie was sent to
Harris, and the Baltimore was ordered to cruise on the
coast of Uist. Every avenue of escape seemed likely to
be closed, and the Prince was dejected by the outlook.
Boisdale tried to re-assure him, and promised to find him a
hiding-place where he would be safe until he found a ship ;
but soon afterwards, he, himself, was captured by the
Baltimore, Coradale was now getting obviously unsafe ;
the danger of the Prince being hemmed in was daily
becoming more imminent. On 6th June, he left Coradale
at night, and sailed to Wiay, an island off the south-east
coast of Benbecula. To guard against a surprise, Charles
deemed it prudent to select a suitable cave on the sea-shore
in which to hide, should his enemies land. His fears proved
to be only too well-grounded. A party of Macleods came
to Wiay, and Charles and his attendants were once more
forced to move. During their stay at Wiay, Lady Clan-
ranald came from Rossinish with provisions; and to Rossi-
nish, Charles, attended only by O'Neil, who rejoined him
at Wiay, fled for refuge on the loth. But the militia had
now arrived at Benbecula, and their boats were patrolling
the coast. Hearing of this, Donald Macleod and Sullivan
got a boat and took the Prince and O'Neil off Rossinish ;
and they sailed for Coradale on the I2th. A storm arose,
which compelled them to put in for shelter at Usinish
Point, on the east coast of South Uist ; and they spent the
night in a cleft of the rock at Acarseid Falaich * (between
Loch Skiport and Usinish), reaching Coradale on the after-
noon of the 1 3th. From Coradale, they sailed the same
night to the mouth of Loch Eynort, where they arrived at

i.e., the anchorage of concealment.

They had had IK

worn out. A tent was r Prince,

h the oars and sail of the boat, and on
ither, he enjoyed a well-earned sleep. Nc

joined the party at Coradale, acted as sentry
>re the entrance to the tent, and two of the

watch a mile off. The same r
torning, finding the enemy within two
red to Stuley Island, whence
lale in the hope of getting assistan-
:ir dismay, t : overed that 1

hands of the enemy, His wife, ho
needed supply of provisions,
in an old tower on an island (trad it
Chiding in the hills until night. T;
no fewer than fifteen warships cruising o?
narrowly escaped capture by two of them v
loch. They skulked up and down Loch
, ays, sleeping in the open fields at nigh
it's sails as covering. What was the hi:
where was he to go ? While he was dis

.-ith .his friends, a messenger arrived t
nald, with news which threw them
nation. Captain Carolina Scott — a n
had lauded in Barra with a force of
rilliam, and had sent word to Mrs. Ma
Duld arrive at her house next day.

I to the other side of Loch B
g morning, Lieutenant Ruari Ma
em, was sent to ascertain whethe;
•ought back word that the rr,

II her ser k and heel

of the Prince's where and that the sok.

usy ransacking the place and carrying the plu;
> tlv. s hurriedly held, an.

cided t! -uld shift for himseli

[id Neil MacEa remaining with the

458 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Donald Macleod was much affected on parting with the
Prince, whom he never saw again.

At this juncture, when things looked at their blackest,
a ray of light appeared. Captain Hugh Macdonald of
Armadale was in Benbecula in charge of a company of
militia. Although serving the Government, he was a
Jacobite at heart. When Captain Scott landed in Uist,
Hugh Macdonald sent a secret message to the Prince,
" from an enemy in appearance yet a sure friend in heart,'*
advising him to try to reach Skye, where Lady Margaret
Macdonald might be relied upon to protect him. His
proposal was that his step-daughter, Flora Macdonald, who
was then in South Uist, should go to her mother in Skye,
accompanied by the Prince, who was to dress in female
clothing and pass himself off as her maid.* Charles was
greatly pleased with the suggestion, and was impatient to
put it into execution.

On 2 ist June, the Prince and his companions crossed
the mountains and arrived at midnight at a sheiling near
Ormaclett, belonging to Angus Macdonald of Milton
(about three miles from Milton), where they met Flora
Macdonald and proposed the plan to her. At first, she
hesitated for obvious reasons, but she finally agreed to risk
everything for the sake of the Prince. She lost no time in
leaving for Benbecula to consult with her step-father about
making the necessary preparations ; while Charles and his
companions went to a hill three miles from Coradale, there
to await events.

Flora Macdonald, the heroine whose gallant enterprise
and unselfish devotion have won her an abiding place in
the gallery of the world's famous women, was a native of
South Uist, though she is sometimes claimed for Skye.
Her father, Ronald Macdonald of Milton — a cadet of the
Clanranald family — died when she was a year old, leaving,

* This is not the commonly accepted version, but Neil MacEachain's narra-
tive, in which it appears, is worthy of credence ; and it seems to be confirmed
by the fact that Hugh Macdonald was subsequently arrested. O'Neil, in his
Journal, takes credit for proposing the plan, but in his declaration to the Earl
of Albemarle, he naturally enough makes no such claim.

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 459

besides his daughter, a son who succeeded to the Milton
property. Her mother married, as her second husband,
Hugh Macdonald of Ormadale, in Skye, which then became
the daughter's home. Luckily for Charles Edward, she
was on a visit to her brother, Angus, in South Uist, when
he crossed her path. She is described in 1749 as being
"about twenty-four years of age; of a middle stature;
well shaped ; a very pretty, agreeable person ; of great
sprightliness in her looks ; and abounds with good sense,
modesty, good nature, and humanity." We shall now see
how this devoted girl played her part in rescuing the un-
fortunate Prince from the clutches of his enemies.

We left Charles and his two companions on the lonely
hill near Coradale. Neil MacEachain scoured the country
for food, and having succeeded in rinding a supply of pro-
visions, was sent after Miss Macdonald to ascertain how
the plan of escape was progressing. When he reached the
fords between Benbecula and South Uist, he was stopped
by a guard of Skye militia (Macleods), who sent him to their
captain, on the other side of the ford, to be examined. He
was agreeably surprised to find Hugh Macdonald of Orma-
dale in the person of the captain, and with him his step-
daughter, who had been similarly stopped by a party of
Macleods, and sent to the very man whom she wished to
meet. It was arranged that Neil should return to the
Prince and take him to Rossinish, where Miss Macdonald
was to meet them. During MacEachain's absence, Charles
was in an agony of despair, fearing, from her silence, that
Flora Macdonald had deceived him. He was just on the
point of sending O'Neil to General Campbell to arrange
to give himself up, when MacEachain returned. Had Neil
been detained for an hour longer, there might have been
two " Charles the Martyrs," instead of one.

MacEachain, having on 23rd June made his way back to
the Prince and O'Neil, guided them at night to Loch
Skiport, where he hired a boat to take them to Wiay. On
the following morning, they rowed to Benbecula, forded an
arm of the sea, and came upon two sheilings, where they

460 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

met two of Clanranald's tenants, who supplied them with
milk and other food. MacEachain told the men that the
Prince and O'Neil were poor Irish gentlemen who had fled
from Culloden, and were making their way to Rossinish ;
and one of the men consented to act as their guide. They
arrived within three miles of Rossinish on the afternoon of
the 24th. The weather was miserable : it was raining
heavily, and a strong wind was blowing. The Prince,
shivering with cold, lay down in the long heather waiting
until nightfall. When darkness set in, they resumed their
weary tramp to Rossinish, Charles stumbling at every other
step into a bog. He repeatedly lost his shoes in the bogs,
and kept MacEachain busy, fishing them up again. When
they approached the house where they were to meet Flora
Macdonald, MacEachain went ahead of the others to ascer-
tain whether she had arrived. He found the house occupied
only by the caretaker and his wife, who told him that
twenty men of the Skye militia had landed two days before,
and were encamped only a quarter of a mile off. The
Prince, whose temper had been sorely tried by the incidents
of the journey, flew into a passion when he heard the news.
Was he never to throw the bloodhounds off his scent ? The
guide having mentioned that the house of one of Clan-
ranald's " boomen " (chief tenants) was not far off, they
went there and were hospitably received. At the break
of day, the booman's wife told MacEachain that it was
dangerous to stay in the house any longer, as the militia
came every morning for a supply of milk. O'Neil was at
once sent off to Nunton to inform Miss Macdonald of their
arrival. Charles and MacEachain left the house with all
speed, and hid behind a rock near the shore, where the
Prince had a trying experience of midges, those pests of
the Hebrides. A dairy-maid from the farm kept them
posted in all that was going on at the house, where they
returned after the militia had departed. Charles, who was
dripping, hung up his clothes to dry, and sat in his shirt
before the fire, " merry and hearty." He was offered a dish
-of hot curds, and plunged his hand into it, thinking the

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 461

curds were solid ! His astonished hostess then saw, for
once in her life, a prince in a passion, and it required the
tact of Neil MacEachain to smooth matters over. That
humorist offered to take a stick, and beat the unlucky
woman within an inch of her life. Charles, thinking he
was in earnest, begged him to do no such thing — for fear
she would run off and betray them ! Towards evening,
the guide, who had gone to Clanranald's house, returned,
bringing with him a letter from O'Neil and a supply of
food. A good meal and a sound sleep on a bed of heather,
prepared by MacEachain, restored the Prince to his
accustomed good humour.

On the following morning, he sent a letter to O'Neil,
desiring him to return that night, but O'Neil replied that
he was waiting for Flora Macdonald and Lady Clanranald,
who were to arrive at Nunton on the following day. The
fact was that they were busy getting his dress ready, and
making the other necessary arrangements ; matters upon
which, the impatient Prince, man-like, had vague notions.
Flora Macdonald had in the interval been in communica-
tion with Hugh Macdonald of Baleshare, on the subject of
harbouring Charles in North Uist ; but Baleshare, fearing
to give offence to his chief, Sir Alexander Macdonald, had
declined to agree to the proposal. The Prince spent the
next day with his attendant in the booman's house, and on
a hill in the vicinity, from which a good view of the coast
was obtainable. At last, on the morning of the 27th,
Lieutenant Ruari Macdonald and one John Macdonald
arrived to say that the boat and crew were ready. The
four then went to the above mentioned hill, where Mac-
Eachain left the Prince in charge of the Macdonalds, and
set out for Nunton to hurry the ladies. When he arrived
I there, he found them ready to leave. O'Neil went by land
to join the Prince, and Flora Macdonald, Lady Clanranald,
her daughter, Angus Macdonald of Milton, and Neil Mac-
Eachain set out by boat to Rossinish. The Prince was
waiting to receive them, and it was a merry party that sat
down to supper that evening. They had hardly begun

i i

462 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

supper when one of Clanranald's herds came to say that
General Campbell was landing men, three miles away.
This news broke up the supper party, and they hurriedly
crossed Loch Uskavagh, reaching the other side at five
in the morning, when they finished their interrupted meal
at their leisure. Two or three hours later, a servant arrived
with a message from General Campbell to Lady Clan-
ranald, intimating that he and some of his men were at
her house, and desiring her to be there before noon, or her
property would suffer. She hastened to obey the summons,
and on arriving home was subjected to a strict cross-
examination. She was asked where she had been. " To
visit a sick child," was her reply. It is scarcely necessary
to say that General Campbell failed to extract a syllable of
information from this staunch Jacobite.* Soon afterwards,
she and her husband were both made prisoners, andj
strenuous efforts were made by the Government to obtain
local evidence against them. They were, however, with
Boisdale, Clanranald's brother, discharged in June, 1747,
and returned from London to the Long Island, with a
stronger hold on the affections of their people than would
ever have been the case had they rendered only passive
help to the bonnie young Prince. Macneill of Barra was
also taken prisoner, and Donald Macleod, after his arrest,
was to have been one of the witnesses against him. But
from what we know of Macleod, we may be sure that the
old pilot was not the man to give his friends away ; and
the laird of Barra seems to have escaped scot-free. The
precise charge against Macneill is not stated. He was a
Jacobite and was thus liable to arrest on suspicion ; but
there is nothing to show that he rendered active help to
the Prince during his adventures on the Long Island.

The final preparations for the voyage to Skye were
quickly made by the party at Rossinish. The Prince was
to adopt the role of an Irish maid, Betty Burke by name,
whom Hugh Macdonald recommended to his wife as an

* One account states that Captain Ferguson was in charge of the Campbells.

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 463

excellent spinner of flax. The dress selected for " Betty
Burke " was coarse and homely, suited to the station of
the wearer. It consisted of a " callico gown with a light
coulered quilted pettycoat, a mantle of dun camelot made
after the Irish fashion with a hood joined to it." The
gown was thickly stamped with purple sprigs ; and it is
significant of the hold which the Prince's romantic escape
had upon the public mind, that a Leith tradesman after-
wards copied the pattern and found it a paying inspiration.
Neil MacEachain tells us that Charles found the hood
specially troublesome ; he could not keep his hands from
adjusting it, and he "cursed it a thousand times." The
transformation of the Prince into a tall Irish girl having
been satisfactorily accomplished, all was ready for the
journey. O'Neil was left behind, much against his own
will and probably that of the Prince. But Flora Macdonald
was inflexible on this point : O'NeiPs foreign air and ignor-
ance of Gaelic were dangerous factors which could not be
ignored. Possibly, too, she was not sorry to get rid of an
admirer who appears to have pestered her with his atten-
tions. The Irish officer returned to Milton with Angus
Macdonald.

While Charles and his companions were waiting on the
shore for the friendly shades of evening, they were alarmed
at seeing five wherries making towards them. They sup-
posed they were the boats which had landed the Campbells
in Benbecula the night before. The fire which they had
kindled on the beach was at once put out, and they hid
I behind the rocks, awaiting further developments. Luckily
for them, the wherries did not stop, but proceeded on their
way southwards. That was the last glimpse the Prince
caught of his enemies in the Long Island. At eight
o'clock on the evening of 28th June, the hazardous voyage
" over the sea to Skye " was commenced. The boat's crew
consisted of Ruari and John Macdonald, John MacVurich,
Duncan Campbell, and Ruari Macdonald of the Glengarry
family. Neil MacEachain was to appear in the capacity
of servant to Flora Macdonald.

I I 2

464 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

When they started, the sea was calm and they rowed
away at a great rate. About midnight, a gale of westerly
wind sprang up, and to add to their troubles, they entered
a bank of thick mist which fogged the crew. To keep up
their spirits, Charles told them amusing stories and sang
several spirited songs. In the early morning, the weather
being clear, they sighted the coast of Skye. The wind, '•
which had shifted to the north, now blew so strong in j
their teeth that for an hour and a half they appeared to
make no headway. The boatmen were getting exhausted, |
but the Prince encouraged them to stick to their work,
offering to take an oar himself as a relief. At length they
reached Waternish Point, where they landed under the
shelter of a cliff to rest, and eat their frugal breakfast of
bread and butter and water. The journey was then
resumed, the boat keeping close inshore. They had hardly
rounded the Point when they saw two Macleods on sentry
duty, and in order to avoid suspicion, they rowed quietly
out to sea. One of the sentries, however, ordered them to
stop, and as they took no notice of the order, levelled his
musket and fired at them, but without effect. The other
Macleod rushed off to report the occurrence to his com-
manding officer. The boatmen now bent to their oars
with a will, and the Prince stimulated their efforts by his
intrepid bearing. " Don't be afraid of the villains," he
said. On the boatmen assuring him that they were not
concerned for their own safety but for his, he replied
cheerily, " No fear of me." By this time, a body of fifteen
armed men had rushed from the village to the Point, where
the sentry was posted. They had two boats at their
disposal, but the oars were locked in the guardroom, and
before they could get them down to the beach and their
boats launched, the fugitives would be safe from pursuit.
The militia, therefore, contented themselves by firing at the
receding boat until she was out of range.

Having escaped this peril, the fugitives had no further
risks to encounter before arriving at their destination, viz.,
Kilbride in Trotternish. They landed near Monkstadt

lACQKHH

UCQlJ - U • MAGNAI-lfUT-RECIS-HUO
KAROLQ'EDYAROe

IT' HINRJCO • DICA
lAC

HICIAE

* AHN

THE STUART MONUMENT IN ROME.

[To face /<*.;''<

d, and it
Mac-

.ubjected to

i. to the task which she was called upon m, is

ir of history, and need not be i\
:essary to follow the Prince in i
h are equally well-known. After a
•des in Skye, Raasay, and the mai
Loch nan L'amh in a French
ppropri » }, on 1 9th Septcn ,

lly baulked in their efforts t«
d it have be is reputation had

virtually commenced, at Loch nan I
^^•fyears of his life, it could be wished tha1
the veil of silence ; for the pictun
^^Bcf a prince i r either " bonnie

^^He saddest in hist

the dispassionate critic, who judges •>
ze bullocks, and s to be proc

of illusions, the devotion of the Jacob
owards Charles Edward is perhar
It is plain that the attachment cei
che dynasty which Charles represent i the

I the Prince himself. Otherwise, it
^^•rstand the different emotions which
)ld Chevalier aroused when he arr

The father was received wit
.husiasm, if not with posit
bearing depressed, in
Thirty years later, th;
-, qualities than the father, carried t
anders

- to Scotland ir ably

>o much to ; ; aid have be

to chr irt from his h<

his cha: unny di-

ibted braver,
>f victory, C :^

466 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

standing qualities, the possession of which distinguishes the
leaders of men from the men who are led. Many a man
in the ordinary walks of life is equally as charming, good
natured, and brave as the Young Chevalier, and yet by no
conceivable stretch of the imagination, can be considered
a great man, or an inspiration to his fellows. How then
did Charles secure his ascendancy in the hearts of his
Highlanders ; a race peculiarly susceptible, perhaps, to the
influences of a good appearance and fine manners, but not
to the point of the devotion displayed in the "forty- five" ?
The fascination which the personality of Prince Charles
Edward exerts at the present day, is perfectly intelligible.
There is still in our midst a small band of stalwart Jacobites,
who cherish his memory as the last militant representative
of the principles they avow. But for the great majority of
the British race, who neither see visions nor dream dreams
of restoring impossible conditions, the sustained interest in
the Prince is due to the romantic character of the group
of incidents, of which he forms the central figure. The
charming ballads which have perpetuated the Jacobite
sentiment, and the impressionist portraits of Sir Walter
Scott, have, in no small measure, contributed to the same
result. The Highlanders who formed the subsidiary
figures in the group of incidents, were clearly fascinated
by that inscrutable power of personal magnetism, which
Charles possessed in an extraordinary degree. It was an
easy gradation for the impressionable Celts to idealise their
Bayard ; not only to exaggerate the virtues which he
actually possessed, but to endow him with imaginary
qualities in which he was really deficient. The chiefs who
rallied round him can hardly be supposed to have lost their
power of discrimination ; and those of them who primarily
succumbed to his charm, gradually threw some of their
illusions overboard. But with the rank and file of the
Highlanders, it was otherwise. Originally indifferent to
the personality of the Prince, or the House which he
represented ; concerned only with the behests of their
chief, whose will was their law ; they gradually became

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 467

hero-worshippers at the shrine of him whom they venerated
at that distance which saved their reverence from the fatal
effects of familiarity. The impression of the Prince which
they acquired was peculiarly permeable, and spread through-
out the lower orders of the Highland population, affecting
even those whose chiefs remained faithful to the Government.

When the Celt venerates a person or a principle, his
fidelity towards both is unassailable. When he creates an
ideal, he clings to it with the stubborn tenacity of the
Saxon. With the common Highlanders, there was in this
case no question of principle ; the doctrine of hereditary
succession troubled them but little, and the heresy of
Divine Right not at all ; it was at the feet of the man,
Charles Stuart, that they laid their affections. Not £30,000,
nor ten times that amount, would have tempted the poorest
of them to desecrate their self-erected shrine. And thus it
came to pass, that when the Prince was lurking in the Long
Island, the poverty-stricken Hebrideans, to whom a sum
like £30,000 was literally a fabulous fortune, wilfully
permitted it to slip through their grasp, rather than prove
unfaithful to him whom many of them revered and all
respected. When he was at Arnish, the whole population
of Stornoway were aware of the fact, and when he was at
Coradale, more than a hundred people knew of his hiding-
place. Yet, to their lasting honour be it said, not one of
all those people attempted to earn the Government reward.
With a few, the fear of social ostracism may have out-
weighed their love of money ; but there is no room for
doubt that in the majority of cases, the predominant factor
in their fidelity was hero-worship of the purest type. Their
behaviour during the man-hunt in the Long Island is
beyond all praise : it would be difficult to find a parallel
for such chivalrous loyalty to a lost cause.

The fate of the devoted followers who shared the Prince's
dangers and hardships in the Outer Hebrides, merits
description. Donald Macleod, the trusty pilot, was taken
prisoner on 5th July, in Benbecula, by Lieutenant Allan
Macdonald of Knock (Sleat), and was sent on board

468 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Captain Ferguson's ship in Applecross Bay. General
Campbell, who was then with Ferguson, demanded from
Donald whether he had been with Charles, and received a
reply in the affirmative. Asked if he knew that a reward
of £30,000 was on the head of the Prince, which would
have made him and his family happy for ever, the old
sailor protested that if he had got the whole of England
and Scotland for his pains, he would not have permitted a
hair of his head to be touched, if he could have helped it ;
his conscience, he said, would not have allowed him to enjoy
the money for forty-eight hours. The General was fain to
admit that he was right, but he warned Donald that if he did
not tell everything he knew about the Prince, " Barisdale's
machine " (to which he pointed) would wring a confession
from him.* The threat was not put into execution, nor,
we may be sure, did Donald tell more than he could help.
He was sent to London, but was released on loth June, 1747.
In acknowledgment of his faithful services to the Prince, he
was helped by Bishop Forbes ; and in commemoration of
the famous voyage from Borradale to Rossinish, Mr. John
Walkinshaw of London presented him with a silver snuff-
box suitably ornamented and engraved ; a memento which
the old pilot carefully cherished to his dying day.

Ned Burke, after parting from the Prince, skulked in North
Uist for nearly seven weeks, during twenty days of which
period, he had nothing to eat except dulse and shellfish. He
latterly found refuge in a cave, where a friendly shoemaker's
wife brought him food at night. Ultimately, he made hi
escape, and ended his days in Edinburgh as a sedan-carri(

Captain O'Neil, whom we left in the company of Angi
Macdonald of Milton, joined Sullivan, who had remained
in South Uist. About two days after O'Neil had parted
from Charles, a French vessel, with 120 men, arrived at
the island for the Prince. Sullivan immediately went

* This was a machine used by that disreputable blackmailer, Macdonald of
Barisdale, for extorting confessions of theft. It was made of iron and stood
upright. The culprit's head, neck, hands, and feet were put into it, and he
was placed in a sloping position so that he could neither "sit, lie, nor stand."
Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. XVI., p. 429.

PRINCE CHARLES AND THE LONG ISLAND. 469

board, and O'Neil hastened to Rossinish on the bare chance
of Charles not having left. When he returned from his
fruitless errand, he found that the French ship had sailed
three hours before his arrival. Three boats, each with
thirty armed men, had been sent after the Frenchman, and
the captain having a fair wind, and deeming it imprudent
to wait longer, had left the Prince and O'Neil to their fate.
O'Neil then tried to induce the Prince's boatmen — who
had meanwhile returned from Skye — to go back with him,
but they declined to accept the risk. They, themselves,
were soon afterwards seized, and threatened with torture
or death if they refused to disclose all they knew. Captain
Ferguson, having obtained a description of the dress worn
by Charles, followed him to Skye in hot pursuit* O'Neil,
finding it impossible to get away from South Uist, went
to Rossinish, where he took refuge in a sheiling, waiting
for an opportunity to cross to Skye. He was discovered
by Captain Macneill of the Argyllshire militia, and was sent
as a prisoner to Lord Albemarle, who was then at Fort
| Augustus. He states in his Journal that he was brought
; before Ferguson, and on refusing to give any information
i about the Prince, Ferguson had him stripped, and ordered
him to be put into a rack and whipped by his hangman ;
but he was saved from this ignominy by the intervention
of a lieutenant of the Scotch Fusiliers. He was less reticent
when brought before Lord Albemarle, for his declaration on
oatht gives a full account of the Prince's proceedings up to
| the period that he parted from him. O'Neil, being a foreign
i officer, was treated as a prisoner of war. He was taken to
Berwick- on-Tweed, and after some time, set at liberty. J

*The reputation of Ferguson is vividly illustrated by a remark of Mrs.
Macdonald of Kingsburgh. " If Ferguson," she exclaimed, "is to be my
judge, then God have mercy on my soul."
t See Appendix H.

+ In Chambers's History of the Rebellion, it is stated that OWeH's/wro**
news a somewhat confused intellect, but he certainly possessed "a generous
! heart." Adverting to O'Neil's possession of 500 (or 450) guineas at the time he
| was captured, Murray of Broughton caustically remarks : " How that gen-
j tleman (O'Neil) will answer for reserving so large a proportion of his master's
purse for his own use, is more than I shall pretend to divine/' The Govern-
ment appropriated the money.

470 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Neil MacEachain was one of those who embarked with
the Prince on board the privateer L'Heureux at Borradale
— the company consisting of twenty-three gentlemen, with
a hundred and seven followers. On his arrival in France,
Neil joined Ogilvy's Scots regiment. He died in 1788, and
his son, the famous Marshal Macdonald, became one of the
most trusted generals of Napoleon Bonaparte, who created
him Duke of Tarentum. Marshal Macdonald visited, in
1826, his father's old home at Coradale, in South Uist.

The later career of Flora Macdonald may be told in a
few words. She was taken prisoner in Skye, and put on
board Captain Ferguson's sloop, being afterwards trans-
ferred to the Eltham, whose commander, Commodore
Smith, treated her with great courtesy. She was sent to
London, where she remained in confinement until July,
1747, when she was released without a trial. She became a
popular heroine, arid the feeling of admiration for her
conduct was not confined to the Jacobites. She married
young Macdonald of Kingsburgh, and emigrated with him
to North Carolina. At the close of the American War of
Independence, in which her husband fought for the Mother
Country, they both returned to Scotland. On the voyage
home, their ship was attacked by a French privateer.
During the fight, Flora remained on deck encouraging the
sailors, and while so engaged, she was thrown down and
her arm was broken. Kingsburgh and his wife settled
down in Skye for the remainder of their lives. Previous to
their emigration to America, they entertained Dr. Johnson
and Boswell at their house during the memorable journey
of the sage to the Hebrides in 1773, and the heroine of
1746 made a favourable impression upon both. She died
in 1790, aged 68, and was buried in the churchyard of
Kilmuir, where a monument marks her grave. In Inver-
ness, also, a monument has been erected to her memory.

NOTE. — The foregoing account has been compiled from the narratives of
the Prince's companions, and from other contemporary sources. Mr. Blaikie's
Itinerary has been a valuable help.

•

CHAPTER XV.

THE triple-headed weapon which the Government
employed after Culloden, for rendering impossible the
recurrence of rebellion, was designed to deal a crushing
blow at the system of Celtic feudalism which prevailed in
the Highlands. The Disarming Act enforced passive
obedience to the laws ; the Act against the Highland
dress stifled the spirit of nationality ; the abolition of
I hereditary jurisdictions, although these formed no part of
the clan system, struck, nevertheless, at its very roots.
This is not the place to discuss the undoubted advantages
which ultimately accrued to the Highland people from the
I decay of their feudal system, and to weigh them against
I the less obvious disadvantages which are claimed as an
offset. The change was far-reaching. It stripped the
chiefs of powers which had no parallel in Great Britain ;
and it put at the disposal of the people, liberties, immuni-
ties, and a form of justice, through regularly appointed
sheriffs, to which they had previously been total strangers.
On the other side of the account, may be fairly placed the
mutual dependence and the mutual sympathy engendered
by Celtic feudalism, and the intimate relations between
chiefs and commoners which it fostered. But it is pain-
fully clear that in most cases, the paternal care of the
chiefs for their clansmen, and the community of interests
which formerly existed, had been gradually superseded by
an autocratic system of government, which divested the
commoners of the last shred of control over the actions of
their leaders. Yet, the fiction of patriarchism was main-
tained to the end : the cordiality of the chiefs to the
meanest of their dependents covered a multitude of

472 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

oppressions. The ties of clanship were so strong, the
pride of a common ancestry, or an adopted name, so un-
quenchable, that the yoke which was placed upon the
shoulders of the peasantry was borne, not only without a
murmur, but with a consciousness that in implicit obedi-
ence to their superiors, lay their own best security, their
own clearest duty, and their own highest good. Their
lord and master might, as he usually did, discourage the
spread of education among them ; they had no sense of
ignorance from which they desired deliverance. Their
lord and master, or his tacksman, might, as occasionally he
did, banish them to the West Indies, or attempt to sell
them as slaves to the American plantations ; in their blind
allegiance, they offered no resistance to his greed and
cruelty.* Their lord and master might, as he frequently
did, fine them, or even hang them, and confiscate their
property at his pleasure ; it was the chief's will, and his
will was their law. From this pathetic state of submissive-
ness, they were rudely aroused by the vigorous hand of an
alien civilisation, which was now knocking at their doors.
They awakened from their long sleep : but they were as
children groping in the dark, not knowing which way to
turn. The clan system was gone for ever ; and the finger
of the future pointed to a path shrouded with mystery,
strewn with perplexities, and leading to a goal beyond
their ken.

While these were the conditions which applied generally
to the Highlands before, and immediately after,. the "forty-
five," it can hardly be supposed that their application was
universal. The great lords like the Argylls, the Huntlys,
and the Seaforths, pursued a more enlightened policy than
the less important chiefs. While retaining and exercising
the powers which their hereditary jurisdictions conferred
upon them, they encouraged a knowledge of peaceful arts

* See Burt on this subject. In 1739, Norman Macleod of Bernera (Harris)
kidnapped a number of people from Skye and Harris, with the intention c
selling them as slaves to the Southern States of America. The vessel was
wrecked on the coast of the North of Ireland, where some of the islander
settled, the remainder finding their way back to their homes.

EMIGRATION AND ITS CAUSES. 473

among their dependents. In Lewis, where a number of
different clans owned allegiance to the Mackenzies, there
must necessarily have been an absence of that cohesion
which obtained when the dependents were all of the same
blood. A community of interests, differing in kind from
those which influenced the Seaforth tenantry on the
mainland, was required to supply the deficiency. This
fact must have been recognised by the proprietors of
Lewis, and must have influenced their policy in the
government of the island. The encouragement of trade
and agriculture formed the best means of knitting together
the different, and, in some respects, conflicting units, of
which the population of Lewis was composed. But unfor-
tunately for the island, it became soon after the suppression
of the rising of 1745, the haunt of publicans and sinners.
Lord Fortrose found it convenient to farm Lewis to his
factor, Colin Mackenzie, for a payment of ;£i,ooo annually ;
and this unwise delegation of authority resulted in a lucra-
tive source of income for the factors, and a fruitful source
of misery for the people. Captain Barlow, an English
officer who, with a company of troops, arrived in the Long
Island in 1753, on a hunt for arms, priests, and the High-
land dress, describes how the factor ground the faces of
the people. Barlow quarrelled with the Chamberlain (who
was also Sheriff-Substitute) about three pieces of brass
cannon which were found in, and removed from, Storno-
way, and the value of his testimony may possibly be
impaired by personal animus. (See Appendix I. for par-
ticulars.) But that his statements are substantially cor-
rect, is proved by the fact that a later writer (see infra]
brings similar charges against the factor's immediate suc-
cessors.

The Long Island was not exempt from the effects ot
the social upheaval which took place in the Highlands
generally, after Culloden. How to fill the void created by
the abolition of feudalism exercised the mind of the
Government. One of the schemes proposed to them was
to buy out those chiefs whose estates were not already

474 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

forfeited, send them about their business, and parcel out
the Highlands on easy terms among Englishmen and
Lowland Scots.* This drastic proposal was not adopted,
and the chiefs — chiefs no longer now in the old sense —
were left to work out their own salvation. Most of them
faced the problem in the way which was the easiest and
the simplest. Divested of their authority as dictators of
their clans, they sought solace for their diminished power
as chiefs, in increased emoluments as landlords. Rents
were raised, and the old ties commenced to snap one after
the other. The tacksmen were the first to feel the pressure
of the new conditions, and they felt it so keenly that some
of them left the country in disgust and emigrated to
America, carrying with them a number of the peasantry.
The sub-tenants took their place, only to undergo the
same experience. Then came the Lowland sheep farmers,
the glitter of whose gold was beyond the power of the
lairds to resist. But the hardships suffered by the common
people were the severest of all. They had escaped from
one system of tyranny, only to find themselves in the grip
of another. Their fetters lying at their feet seemed to
mock their newly-acquired liberty ; they were free, but
their freedom was a delusion, and their independence a
snare. Bewildered at first by the new regime, which was
a complete reversal of the old, they soon realised that, by
the commercialism which now dominated the Highlands,
the value of money had gone up, and the value of men
had gone down. And then the great wave of emigration
which desolated many a Highland glen swept over the
country.

Lord Fortrose died in London in 1761 and was buried
in Westminster Abbey. He was married to Mary, eldest
daughter of Alexander Stewart, sixth Earl of Galloway,
and was succeeded by his only son, Kenneth, who is
known as the " little lord." In 1763, the latter obtained a
Crown charter, dated loth December, of the Seaforth pro-

* MS. in Public Record Office (proposals for civilising the Highlands of
Scotland, &c.).

EMIGRATION AND ITS CAUSES. 475

parties.* As a reward for his loyalty — or perhaps, more
correctly, that of his father — he was in 1766 raised to the
peerage, with the titles of Baron Ardelve and Viscount of
Fortrose in the County of Wicklow. In 1774, he was
created Earl of Seaforth, also in the Irish peerage.t
While these honours were being showered upon him, his
Lewis tenantry were in a state of ferment ; and for the
following reasons.

In 1772, there was a failure of the crop of oats in Lewis.
The scarcity of oatmeal was such that the people were
obliged to resort to unwholesome food, and an epidemic
of putrid fever broke out, of which an alarming account
reached the South, the current rumour being that the
plague was raging in Stornoway.J In 1773 and 1774, the
emigration fever was at its height. Glowing accounts of
the wonderful riches of America were published throughout
the Highlands. It was an auspicious moment for emigra-
tion on a large scale. The sudden rise in rents, a suc-
cession of bad crops, the high prices of provisions, and the
backward state of manufactures, were all factors which
impelled the people to listen greedily to the stories of the
Eldorado on the other side of the Atlantic. Soldiers who
returned to the Highlands from America,§ inflamed the
imaginations of their compatriots by their accounts of its
wealth. Some of them got tacks of land, but on the pro-
prietors suddenly raising their rents, they declined to pay
the advance, and threatened to return to America, hoping
that the threat would induce the landlords to modify their
terms. Being disappointed in that hope, they did their
best to allure their friends across the sea, frequenting all

* Eraser's Earls of Cromartie, Vol. I., p. XXI. Presumably this charter
waived the rights of the Crown in the Burgh of Stornoway. In 1863, Sir
Tames Matheson obtained a Crown charter of Stornoway Harbour, a grant
which gave rise to the " foreshore " question.

t The Scottish titles were given in the Irish peerage because the Act of
Union rendered it impossible to create a peerage of Scotland.

1 Home Office Papers, 4th- 1 4th November, 1772, p. 574.

§ The Long Island sent out between four and five hundred men to the
war with France in North America, most of whom were killed in action,
including Roderick Macneill of Barra, who fell at Quebec in 1759. Captain
Donald Macdonald of Clanranald was also killed at Quebec.

476 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

public occasions, " with drinks, pipes, and fiddles, to rouse
their spirits to the expedition." Enterprising shipowners
reaped a golden harvest from the emigration craze. The
bone and sinew of the Highlands were in demand in
America, and those who could not pay their passage were
assisted to reach the land of their desire.

The natives of Lewis, despairing of improved conditions
at home, and allured by the glowing accounts from America,
prepared, in 1773, to emigrate in large numbers. In April of
that year, arrangements were commenced for crossing the
Atlantic during the summer. Over 800 men, women, and
children sailed from Stornoway to America, their probable
destination being North Carolina, which was the favourite
settlement of the Long Islanders before the American War
of Independence broke out. Alarmed by this exodus, and
desirous above all things of stemming the tide, Seaforth
(then Lord Fortrose) hastened from London to Lewis and
held a conference with his tenantry. What were their griev-
ances ; what did they want? Their requirements were stated
in a few words. They wanted their land at the old rents ;
they desired a refund of the increased rental paid during
the last three years ; and they demanded the instant dis-
missal of the factor. The feeling in Lewis was so strong,
that it was believed in well-informed quarters, that unless
these requests were granted, the exodus from the island
would become general, and Lord Fortrose would be left
with a deserted property on his hands.* We are left in
doubt as to the outcome of Seaforth's negotiations with his
tenantry ; but he appears, from subsequent events, to have
succeeded in smoothing over the difficulty.

To appreciate the demand of the Lewismen for the dis-
missal of Seaforth's factor, it is necessary to explain the
unique position of that official. He had secured a lease of
the factorship, with its numerous emoluments, for a number
of years ; and the office proved a veritable gold mine to him.
He had a complete monopoly of the trade in black cattle

* Edinburgh Evening Courant, 29th September, 1773.

EMIGRATION AND ITS CAUSES. 477

and of the white fisheries. No tenant was allowed to sell his
cattle (until his rents were paid) to any one not empowered
by the factor to buy ; and if any person attempted to pur-
chase with ready money, the cattle were arrested and were
not permitted to be sent out of the country, until every
penny of the rents had been collected. " This on your
peril I desire may be done immediately, and any person
who dares to sell after these orders are made public, you
are to acquaint me thereof." Such was the manner in
which this autocrat was accustomed to issue his orders.
The tenants of Lewis were bound to keep the factor in
firing, and that official, after supplying his own require-
ments, was in the habit of selling the surplus to the inhabi-
tants of Stornoway, which yielded him an annual revenue
of £40 to .£50. He is said to have left Lewis with a fortune
of £20,000, a portion of which he laid out on an estate,
where he developed into a full-blown Highland laird.* His
son, Alexander Gillanders, succeeded him in the factor-
ship and its emoluments. He paid the fishermen £13 per
ton for their ling fish, and sold at a spot price of £18. His
traffic in cattle, grain, meal, and other articles, brought him
such large profits that he was better off than many High-
land proprietors owning considerable estates. When the
lease of his office expired, which occurred about 1793-4, it is
probable that his reign came to an end ; for the last Lord
Seaforth, who was then proprietor of Lewis, was hardly the
man to perpetuate such an iniquitous system. But, unfor-
tunately, the day of tyrannical factors in Lewis did not
terminate with the end of the eighteenth century.

The climax to the emigration movement was reached,
when the captains of emigrant ships commenced a syste-
matic search for passengers in every remote island and
creek on the west coast, where there was no possibility of

vision over their methods of filling their ships. Kidnap-

Decame a common occurrence ; the ships were loaded
iir maximum capacity ; and the accommodation and

* Knox's Tour, pp. 191-3.

K K

478 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

food provided were of the worst description. The trade
developed some of the bad features of the Kanaka labour
traffic in the South Sea Islands, previous to its purification
by the Queensland Government.

A vessel named the Philadelphia called in at Stornowuy
Harbour, and the master proceeded to kidnap boys off the
beach, and lock them up on board his ship, without the con-
sent of their parents or employers, who were debarred from
access to them. Lord Seaforth's obnoxious factor was help-
less to rescue them. There was neither judge nor magistrate
in the island, the only person having legal authority being
the factor himself. His jurisdiction, as then limited by law,
extended only to levying the rents ; judging in small cases
where the debt or damage did not exceed 405., and in cases
of assault, battery, and other minor offences ; and sentencing
offenders to the stocks. Recently, he had been offered a
seat in the Commission of the Peace ; but, as by the law of
Scotland, one justice of the peace had no power to try an
offence, he was debarred from dealing with a case of kid-
napping, like that in which the captain of the Philadelphia
was engaged. Nor, owing probably to his unpopularity,
was he able to get anybody to assist the civil officers in
seizing the offenders, the inhabitants of Stornoway, in the
state of public feeling which existed, being indisposed to
interfere. He had to content himself, therefore, with lodging
a formal protest against the captain and his owners, and
with reporting the circumstance to Seaforth, who petitioned
the Home Office for a military detachment to be stationed
at Stornoway, to prevent such irregularities in the future.
Strong action was necessary, for no fewer than seven ships
were cruising about Lewis, and the mainland coast, cajoling
the people into emigration and employing, where necessary,
means like those used by the Philadelphia for obtaining
recruits.* But the Government hesitated to send a military
force, fearing that this step would defeat its own object.
Any measures appearing to operate as a forcible check to

* Home Office Papers ', 2nd June, 1774, pp. 219-20.

EMIGRATION AND ITS CAUSES. 479

emigration might, it was thought, only tend to give a fresh

fillip to the movement. Besides this consideration, there

was the further drawback, that no judge or magistrate

" known in the law " resided in Lewis, who could give

the necessary authority for acting in a military capacity.

The only suggestion that could be made for remedying an

admittedly unsatisfactory state of affairs, was for the Sheriff

of Ross-shire, in whose jurisdiction the island lay, to grant

a commission to some "person of character," appointing

him Sheriff-Substitute of Lewis ; from which it appears

that Sheriff-Substitute Colin Mackenzie, " who never held

a Court," was not permitted to bequeath that office to his

successors in the factorship. In 1785 a recommendation

I was made to Parliament by a committee appointed to

| consider the economic conditions of the islands, that

} Skye, Lewis, and Shetland be erected into three new

I and separate sheriffdoms ; but the recommendation never

! took effect.

Although the difficulty of the Government interfering
I with the flow of emigration was felt, it was nevertheless
i considered by the Home Office that some steps should be
taken to regulate the trade. It was therefore proposed,
ostensibly as a check on the abuses of recruiting, and in
order to ensure the comfort of the emigrants on board
; ship, that the masters of vessels be compelled to clear at
known ports of the kingdom under the inspection of
Customs officers, who should have power to refuse clear-
ances in cases where the accommodation and provisions
I for the passengers were insufficient. It was believed that
this supervision would act indirectly as a check on emi-
gration, inasmuch as it would reduce the profits of ship-
owners, who would be compelled to raise the fares. By
thus increasing the cost of emigrating — through the en-
hanced fares, and the expense of reaching the ports of
embarkation — it was hoped that some discouragement
would be given to the movement. But above all, the
proposed supervision would " prevent violence and unfair
seduction," and bring the trade more immediately under

K K 2

480 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

the eye of the Government.* The custom was, for a few of
the leading spirits to club together, and subscribe for the
chartering of an emigrant ship. Those who desired to
emigrate were then called together, and some person of
influence in the community was usually appointed as their
agent to transact the necessary business on their behalf,
at a fixed charge (usually los. or 2os.) for each emigrant.
It may well be imagined that if the agents were more
concerned for their own gain than for the welfare of the
emigrants, a door was left open for abuse of authority.

That the Government were seriously alarmed by the :
progress of the emigration movement is clear. Fears were
openly expressed that the Highlands would become
depopulated, as the mines of Peru and Mexico had de-
populated Spain. The poverty of the people was the
main cause of the outflow, but it was assumed that the
removal of that factor would not necessarily imply the
cessation of emigration. Those emigrants who had a little
money of their own, were prospering in the new country,
but the unfortunate people who had not the wherewithal
even to pay their passage out, were worse off than they
were at home, and would willingly return if they could.f
When the war with America broke out, the Government
were apprehensive of the attitude of the Highland emi-
grants. Would they become inoculated with what were
called "American principles " ? And would the operation
of those principles prove an obstruction to the recruiting of
soldiers in the Highlands for the King's service ? Grave
fears were felt that the Highlanders settled in America
would be found " the best recruits for their (the colonists')
rebellious armies," a view which Washington himself seems
to have held. When left to themselves, the Highlanders,
it was stated, were zealously attached to the Government,
but when exposed to the " insidious wits and falsehoods "
of American agents, they might be enticed from their
duty. Once more, it was (in 1775) proposed to place the

* Home Office Papers, 4th July, 1774, p. 229.
t Idem, 25th April, 1774, and I4th August, 1775.

EMIGRATION AND ITS CAUSES. 481

traffic under the direct control of the Government, in order
to minimise the evil results which were anticipated.* The
fears of the Government as to the attitude of the Highland
emigrants, were not justified by events. In the American
War of Independence, there were Highlanders on both
sides, but the majority remained faithful to the Mother
Country, among them the Royal Highland Emigrant Regi-
ment. The Long Islanders who settled at Cross Creek,
North Carolina, were specially distinguished, alike for their
loyalty and their misfortunes.

Lewis was not the only island of the Outer Hebrides to
be affected by the emigration fever. From North Uist, a
great rush to America occurred between 1769 and 1773.
The old Statistical Account of North Uist says that in
four years — between 1771 and 1775 — several thousands
emigrated from the Western Highlands and Isles alone.
In a pamphlet published in 1784, the statement is made,
that between the years 1763 and 1775, the number of
Highlanders who left their homes to settle in America,
reached a total of 20,000.

A body of emigrants left South Uist under peculiar
circumstances. Alexander Macdonald of Boisdale, who
figured so prominently during Prince Charlie's wanderings
in the Long Island, changed his religion and became a
Protestant. He was essentially a " pre-forty-five " man,
whose relations with his tenantry were little influenced by
the economic changes which were going on around him.
To him, his tenants were still his children, or his serfs,
according to the point of view. With all the zeal of a
new convert, he endeavoured to force them to follow his
example by renouncing their religion. He summoned
them to his presence, and bade them sign a form of
renunciation which was read to them ; the alternative
being eviction from their homes. In the old days, the
example of their chief would have been sufficient justi-
fication for the clansmen to comply with such a demand ;

* Home Office Papers, 25th April, 1774, and I4th August, 1775.

482 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

but if Boisdale was still living in the atmosphere of the
past, clearly his tenants were not. They refused to change
their religion at his bidding, and elected to starve rather
than yield. Thereupon, Boisdale, still posing as a belated
relic of patriarchism, took his yellow staff and drove the
people before him like a flock of sheep to the Protestant
church. From this incident, the Protestant religion became
known in South Uist as the "religion of the yellow stick."*

Hearing of the persecution of his co-religionists, John
Macdonald of Glenaladale came to their relief. He sold
his estate to his cousin, Alexander Macdonald of Borra-
dale, and bought 40,000 acres of land in Prince Edward
Island (then called St. John's Island). In 1772, he brought
out about two hundred of Boisdale's tenantry to this
property, where they settled. Glenaladale afterwards
became a captain in the Royal Highland Emigrants,
and seems, with his Uist men, to have played a useful
part in the War of Independence.

The American War retarded the progress of emigration
from the Long Island in two ways : it raised the price
of kelp, thus giving more employment to the people,
and it caused the intending emigrants to hesitate before
committing their lives and fortunes to America during
its unsettled state. Later in the century, emigration was
again in favour. About 1794, 200 natives of Barra were
induced by the specious promises of an unnamed person, to
sail for Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, to which
places, with Canada, the tide of emigration was now
diverted. When they arrived, they were left entirely to
their own resources, and would have died of starvation had
they not been succoured by the colonists. The disastrous
outcome of this venture induced others, who had sold
their effects and were about to leave Barra for America, to
remain at home ; and the friendly attitude of the pro-
prietor contributed towards the same result. The pros-
perous times which now set in, owing to the increasing

* The same story is told of one of the lairds of Coll, who endeavoured to
coerce his tenants in a similar manner.

EMIGRATION AND ITS CAUSES. 483

value of kelp, put an effective stop to emigration from the
Long Island, both to America and Glasgow. Elsewhere,
we shall notice the circumstances of its renewal in the
nineteenth century.

When the American War broke out, the Government
realised the force of Lord Chatham's eloquent eulogy on
the Highland regiments, when he boasted, in 1766, of
having found in the North, and drawn into the service
of the Crown for service abroad, a race of men who had
conquered for Britain in every quarter of the world. It was
intolerable that the Mother Country should be denuded
of such splendid fighting material, and that the rebellious
colonies should, perhaps, absorb it. A counter-attraction
was imperatively demanded, for diverting the flow of
emigration into a channel which would be of service to
the State, and contribute directly to, instead of impairing,
its strength. How was this end to be attained? The
obvious answer was, by raising additional Highland regi-
ments. And to these regiments, the Long Island con-
tributed its quota.

In 1777, Alexander, first Lord Macdonald of the Isles,
the second son of Sir Alexander Macdonald of the " forty-
five " (and the brother and successor of the celebrated Sir
James Macdonald, " the Scottish Marcellus," who died in
1766), was granted letters of service to raise a regiment
in the Highlands and Isles. He declined the command,
but exerted his influence in the formation of the regiment
which was known as Macdonald's Highlanders, or the
Old 76th. The regiment was disbanded in 1784 after
useful service in America. In 1778, Lord Seaforth em-
bodied the 78th (afterwards the 72nd) Regiment, which
now figures as the 1st battalion of the Seaforth High-
landers. The Earl raised 1,130 men, of whom about 900
were Highlanders, 500 being from the Seaforth estates,
and the remainder from the estates of Scatwell, Kilcoy,
Applecross, and Redcastle. Seaforth himself was ap-
pointed Lieutenant-Colonel, and in the month of August,
the regiment marched to Leith under orders for the East

484 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Indies. While at Leith, the men complained that their
engagements had been infringed, and that part of their
pay and bounty was in arrears. A mutiny broke out,
and Seaforth was temporarily in bad odour with his men.
Refusing to embark, they took up a position on Arthur's
Seat, where they remained for several days, encouraged in
their disaffection by some of the inhabitants of Edinburgh,
who supplied them with provisions. The difficulty was,
after much negotiation, overcome, and the regiment having
served for a time in two divisions in the Channel Islands,
sailed for India from Portsmouth on I2th June, 1781.
But Lord Seaforth was fated never to reach his destina-
tion ; he died on the passage before the regiment reached
St. Helena. The death of their colonel accentuated the
depression caused by an attack of scurvy, to which a
number of the soldiers had fallen victims ; and when the
regiment reached Madras, its strength had been reduced
by no fewer than 247 men.

Lord Seaforth, who left no male issue, was succeeded
by his cousin, Colonel Thomas Frederick Mackenzie-
Humberston, grandson of Colonel Alexander Mackenzie
of Assynt and Cononsbay, fourth son of Kenneth Mor.
Colonel Alexander's only son, Major William Mackenzie,
was married to a daughter of Matthew Humberston,
Lincoln, whose name, in addition to his own, the Major's
son assumed, on succeeding to his mother's property. In
1779 — two years before his death — Lord Seaforth, who
was heavily in debt, and whose estates were in the hands
of trustees, conveyed the property to his heir and cousin,
Colonel Mackenzie-Humberston, in consideration of a pay-
ment of ;£ 1 00,000.

The new laird of Lewis did not enjoy his possessions
long. In 1783, when only twenty-eight years of age, he
was mortally wounded in a naval engagement \vith the
Mahrattas, after a short but distinguished military career
in India. He was succeeded by his brother, Francis
Humberston-Mackenzie, the last Seaforth in the male line
who owned the Island of Lewis.

CHANGES IN THE PROPRIETARY. 485

Meanwhile, a change had taken place in the proprietor-
ship of Harris. Norman Macleod, who was chief of the
Siol Tormod at the time of the " forty-five," had ruined
his estates by his gambling propensities and his general
extravagance. He followed the general example set by the
Highland landlords in raising the rents of their tenantry,
a course of action which, in his case, was necessitated by
his debts. The added burdens placed upon their shoulders
overweighted his impoverished people, and when the great
wave of emigration spread over the Highlands, they felt
its irresistible influence. A wholesale denudation of the
estates was imminent in 1772, and it was only by the tact-
ful influence of the chief's grandson and successor, that the
situation was saved. By the death of Norman Macleod, in
1772, this grandson, afterwards the distinguished General
Norman Macleod, inherited the chiefship and the property,
with its debt of £50,000. For some years, the sale of
a portion of the estates had been in contemplation, and
while the General was abroad, his commissioners sold, in
1779, Harris and St. Kilda to Alexander Macleod,* late
captain of the East Indiaman Mansfield, for the sum of
£15,000 ; a good bargain for the buyer. In 1804, Captain
Macleod 's son sold St. Kilda and the adjoining islands
to Colonel Donald Macleod of Achnagoyle for the sum
°f £l>35°> whose son re-sold it, in 1871, to the present
Macleod of Macleod for the sum of £3,000. But Harris,
which had been in the possession of the chiefs of the Siol
Tormod for 500 years, passed permanently out of their
hands, and soon afterwards, its connexion with the Mac-
leods was finally severed.

Captain Macleod pursued an enlightened policy in his
relations with his Harris tenantry. He determined to do
everything in his power to encourage the fishing industry.
He effected important improvements in the harbour accom-
modation ; built a storehouse for salt, casks, meal, &c. ;

* Captain Macleod was the brother and successor of Norman Macleod of
Bernera, the man who attempted the slave " deal " in 1739, and who lived to be
heartily ashamed of his conduct.

486 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

established a factory for spinning woollen and cotton thread
and twine for herring nets ; brought over some East Coast
fishermen with Orkney yawls to teach the people ; erected
a boathouse capable of containing nine boats with their
tackle ; advanced money for boats ; furnished the fishermen
with necessities at cost price ; provided them with cottages
and potato ground rent-free ; and paid full market value
for their fish. He also restored the church of St. Clements ;
built a school-house and an inn ; constructed roads from
his two quays to the village, and thence to the west side of
the island ; introduced improved mills ; and in other ways,
endeavoured to revolutionise the economic conditions of
Harris. In the face of much ridicule, he successfully
demonstrated the truth of his theory, that the development
of the herring fishery was retarded by the custom of
searching for fish in the lochs only. The high duty on
salt and coal, and the vexatious regulations affecting their
import, troubled him not a little. On one occasion, he
bought a cargo of coals from Greenock, the duty on which
he offered to pay to the Custom House at Greenock, but
the offer was refused. The sloop sprang a leak during the
voyage, and his factor, on her arrival, deemed it advisable
to discharge the cargo, instead of sending her to Stornoway
for Custom-house purposes. He accordingly notified the
Collector of Customs in Stornoway of his intention, and
desired him to send an officer to superintend the discharge.
In the result, however, the cargo had to be re-shipped at
Rodil, sent to Stornoway, where it was again unloaded,
and then re-shipped back to Rodil, and discharged for the
third time.*

This enterprising proprietor was no less energetic in the
Metropolis. He was one of the founders of the Gaelic
Society of London, and was a prominent member of the
Highland Society. Harris was the poorer by his death,
for his son and successor, Alexander Hume, does not
appear to have had the consuming desire for the welfare of
his tenantry which characterised the ex-captain.
* Knox's Tour, pp. 158-163.

CHANGES IN THE PROPRIETARY. 487

In the opening years of the nineteenth century, a law
case was fought between Lord Seaforth and Alexander
Hume concerning the northern boundaries of Harris.
The land in question comprised a tract of 6,000 acres,
together with the Island of Mulaag or Seaforth. As far
back as the seventeenth century, the delimitation of the
bounds of Harris had formed a fruitful source of conten-
tion between the Lewismen and the Harrismen, unti
towards the end of that century, an agreement on the
subject was entered into between Kenneth Og, fourth
Earl of Seaforth, and Macleod of Harris. Notwithstand-
ing this agreement, the controversy continued, the tenants
on each side of the border stoutly maintaining the claims
of their proprietors, and forcibly resisting the encroach-
ments of their neighbours. When the dispute reached
the Court of Session, the evidence of a number of the
oldest inhabitants was taken on both sides to determine
the marches. Lord Stair remarked that a custom once
existed of whipping boys severely when boundaries were
fixed, in order that the circumstances might leave a deep
impression on their minds when they were old men.*
A witness was found on Seaforth's side in the Harris
dispute, whose testimony bore out the efficacy of this
curious custom. He deponed that his father, who died
twenty years previously at the age of eighty, told him
that when he was a boy herding cattle, Donald Macaulay
of Brenish — a descendant of Donald Cam — and Donald
Campbell of Scalpa met for the purpose of fixing and
renewing the march which he (the witness) had described.
They whipped his father soundly, "in order that he
I might remember the circumstances and recite it to
j posterity"; and each gave him a 53. piece to salve his
wounded feelings and his sore body. The father of the
witness also told him that at a former adjustment of the
line of march, there were present, Coinneach Mor (? Og),
Earl of Seaforth, and the lairds of Macleod, Raasay, and
Macdonald. The evidence of the other witnesses afforded

* This custom is mentioned in Goethe's Wilhelm Meister.

438 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

illustrations of the quaint methods adopted in fixing
boundaries, one of which was to bury charcoal at a con-
siderable depth in the line of march ; charcoal being em-
ployed on account of its imperishable properties. Inci-
dentally, the evidence in this case bears out the fact, that
kelp was manufactured in Harris at an earlier period
than in Lewis.*

The lawsuit between the proprietors of Lewis and
Harris dragged on for years, and it was not until the
case went to the House of Lords, after interlocutors of
the Court of Session which failed to satisfy Seaforth, that
the dispute was finally settled.

The last Lord Seaforth was in some respects the most
remarkable man of his race. In early life, he served in
the navy, and during an engagement with the French,
while he was suffering from a fever, the noise of the
cannon totally deprived him of his hearing. In spite of
this serious disability, from which he did not wholly
recover during his lifetime, he was a man of varied
activities. He represented the County of Ross in Parlia-
ment, and for six years was Governor of Barbadoes,
where he distinguished himself by his efforts to put down
the slave trade. In his dealings with his tenantry, he
showed a spirit of patriarchism at its best, which formed
a marked contrast to the commercialism of most of the
Highland landlords. He had an offer for his Loch Carron
property from some Lowland sheep farmers, who were
ready to take the land on lease, at double the existing
rental. Seaforth's reply was, that he would neither let
his lands for sheep pasture, " nor turn out his people
upon any consideration, or for any rent that could be
offered." "A sentimentalist," sneers the political econo-
mist. A few more sentimentalists like this noble chief
would have saved many parts of the Highlands from
being the desolate tracts which they are to-day. In

* "Sixty-one" mentions in his Reminiscences that the question of bounda-
ries between Lewis and Harris was being settled while he was in Lewis
(about 1851).

CHANGES IN THE PROPRIETARY. 489

Lewis, where he resided for two or three months of the
year, Seaforth devoted himself to the welfare of his
tenantry, and was ably seconded in his efforts by his wife.
The last Earl of Seaforth had done much to improve the
town of Stornoway by encouraging building operations,
and by 1786, the importance of the town had so increased
that "no place between the Mull of Cantire and Cape
Wrath contained half its number of inhabitants." But
Francis, Lord Seaforth, pursued a more comprehensive
scheme of reform. He effected improvements in agri-
culture, the fisheries,* and kelp burning ; constructed
roads at great expense ; t encouraged education ; erected
public buildings in Stornoway; and established a standard
of comfort which had never before been reached.

But it was by his successful efforts to raise recruits for
the army that Seaforth acquired a national reputation.
In 1787,116 offered to raise a regiment from his own estates
for the service of the King, and in 1793, after various
discouragements, and on the outbreak of the war with
France, was empowered, as Lieutenant-Colonel Com-
mandant, to embody a battalion in accordance with his
wish. He issued a patriotic notice} which was posted
through the Counties of Ross and Cromarty and the
Island of Lewis, calling upon " all lads of true Highland
blood " to enlist " for a stroke at the Monsieurs." Recruits
were obtainable in most cases without difficulty, and in
four months after the letter of service was granted, the
battalion was inspected at Fort George, and passed by
Lieutenant-General Sir Hector Munro. But this notable
success did not satisfy the Lieut-Colonel Commandant
of the 78th. He offered, in October, 1793, to ra^se a

* He was a director of the British Society, formed in 1786 for extending
the fisheries and improving the sea-coasts of the kingdom.

t He made roads from Stornoway to Barvas and to the Point district, as
well as in the neighbourhood of the town, and pressed the Government to
construct a road from Stornoway to Loch Roag, the cost of which was
estimated at ;£5,OOO ; half of this sum, and any surplus over the estimate, he
j offered to pay himself. He afterwards commenced this road, but did not live
to finish it.

+ A copy of this notice appears in Keltic's History of the Highland Regi-
mtnts, Vol. II., p. 662.

490 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

second battalion, and in the following year, after another
argument with a tape-bound Government, who wished to
make a separate corps of the battalion, he again gained
his point. The second battalion was raised with no less
facility than the first, and the regiment was authorised
to adopt the distinctive title of the Ross-shire Buffs. In
1796, the two battalions were amalgamated, and now
form the second battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders.
The history of the Buffs from that period is one of which
the British nation is deservedly proud.

No fewer than 300 men of the first battalion were
recruited in Lewis. General Stewart of Garth pays a high
tribute to their character. " Several years," he says,
"elapsed before any of these men were charged with
crime deserving severe punishment. In 1799, a man
tried and punished ; this so shocked his comrades thai
he was put out of their society as a degraded man wl
brought shame to their kindred. The unfortunate outc<
felt his own degradation so much that he became unhappy
and desperate, and Colonel Mackenzie (of Fairburn) to
save him from destruction, applied and got him sent to
England, where his disgrace would be unknown and un-
noticed, and it happened, as Colonel Mackenzie expected,
that he quite recovered his character."

In 1804, while Lord Seaforth was in the East Indies,
second battalion of 850 men was raised for the Buffs, of
which number, " 240 men as good soldiers as ever left the
Highlands enlisted in a few days from the Island of
Lewis." It will thus be seen that of the total strength
of the 78th Regiment, a large proportion consisted of
Lewismen, and to this day, the islanders regard the
Seaforths as being, in a special sense, the Lewis regiment.
Seaforth did not accompany the regiment abroad, the
command devolving upon Alexander Mackenzie of
Fairburn ; the originator of the scheme had already
done his work, and had done it well. He was rewarded
for his signal services to the country. In 1797, he was
raised to the peerage of the United Kingdom by the

CHANGES IN THE PROPRIETARY. 491

titles of Lord Seaforth and Baron Mackenzie of Kintail.
He was also appointed Lord-Lieutenant of the County of
Ross, and from 1800 to 1806, he administered the affairs
of Barbadoes, subsequently serving in Demerara and
Berbice. In 1808, he was made a Lieutenant-General.

The closing years of this distinguished man were shrouded
in gloom. One after the other, his four sons were snatched
away from him by the hand of Death. The West India
plantations in which he had sunk a considerable sum were
ruinously mismanaged ; he unfortunately fell a victim to
the gambling propensities of the times ; and he was finally
compelled to dispose, successively, of Lochalsh, Kintail, and
the best portion of Glenshiel. The affectionate regard of
his tenantry for Lord Seaforth was shown both in pros-
perity and adversity. While the Highlanders on other
estates were holding sullenly aloof from the army, filled
with suspicion of their chiefs, Seaforth's tenants flocked
with alacrity to the standard of the man whom they trusted
and loved. When the reverses of fortune overtook their
proprietor, they besought him to " reside amongst us and
we shall pay your debts." All too literally, the prophecies
of Coinneach Odhar, the Lewis seer, were fulfilled.* Poetic
license must be allowed to Sir Walter Scott when he asks,
" And who in the land of the Saxon or Gael, could match
with Mackenzie, High Chief of Kintail ? " The reverse
side of the picture is literally true : " Of the line of Mac-
kenneth remains not a male, to bear the proud name of the
Chief of Kintail."

Lord Seaforth died at Warriston, near Edinburgh, in
1815. Lady Seaforth, who was a daughter of Dr. Baptist
Proby, Dean of Lichfield, survived him until 1829. The
estates, in virtue of an entail executed by Lord Seaforth,
devolved upon his eldest daughter, Mary, the young widow
of Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, M.P. for Westminster,
who died at Madras, in 1814, without issue. In 1817, Lady

* In The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer by the late Mr. Alexander Mac-
kenzie, the Clan historian, will be found full particulars of this remarkable
instance of second sight.

492 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Hood married the Right Hon. James Alexander Stew;
of Glasserton, nephew of the seventh Earl of Galloway,
who assumed the name of Mackenzie, represented the
County of Ross in Parliament, held office under Lord
Grey, and was, in 1838, appointed High Commissioner t<
the Ionian Islands, whence he was transferred to th<
Governorship of Ceylon. Mr. Stewart-Mackenzie proved
an active and enterprising proprietor of Lewis, one of his:
most important acts being the abolition of the tacks-
men as middlemen, and the letting of land to the crofters
direct.

By a charter dated 3Oth September, 1825, "the Hon.
Mary Frederica Elizabeth Stewart-Mackenzie, with th(
special advice and consent of James Alexander Stewart-
Mackenzie, her husband, and the said James Alexand<
Stewart-Mackenzie for his own right and interest," em-
powered the feuars of Stornoway to elect nine of theii
number to be Magistrates and Councillors, two of whom '
were to be Bailies, one to be Treasurer, and the other six to '
be Councillors. The charter defined the powers and duties
of the magistrates, and provided for the Baron-Bailie or
Bailies in the Barony of Lewis to have cumulative jurisdic-
tion over the inhabitants of Stornoway, with the bailies
chosen by the feuars. And a special stipulation was made
that the popular election should be without prejudice to the
powers in respect of the town, which had been conferred by
Royal charters.*

That this charter was held to be valid, is proved by the
fact that in a letter dated 28th February, 1834, from Acting
Chief Magistrate Roderick Morison to the Commissioners
on Municipal Corporations in Scotland, it is stated that
Town Council was created in virtue of the grant. Imme-
diately after the charter was signed, considerable sums were
produced by the fees for the admission of freemen, but for
some years prior to 1834, no entries had taken place.
There were, in 1834, no guilds, corporations, or crafts,

* Report from Commrs. on Municipal Corpus. (1836), Vol. XXIII.,
pp. 190-2.

iers

r

/ere

CHANGES IN THE PROPRIETARY. 493

enjoying exclusive privileges,* but to entitle a person to
trade and manufacture within the burgh, he must become a
burgess. The fees of admission payable to the funds of the
town were £1 133. 4d. The public quay, which was built
by subscription, and was made over to the Town Council
in 1831, produced a rent of £14. t The town customs
yielded £3 35. od. per annum. These amounts formed the
whole revenue of the burgh ; and the expenditure for the
most urgent municipal and police purposes amounted to
£15 173. 6d. The debt due to the burgh, consisting of
arrears, was £17 143. od., and the debt due by the burgh
was £8 33. 2d. From these small beginnings has the civic
importance of Stornoway grown to its present proportions.

The magistrates exercised a civil jurisdiction in small
cases, chiefly actions of debt ; they did not, in practice,
exercise any criminal jurisdiction. During the ten years
ending 1834, the number of cases which came before them
was 104, or an average of a little over ten in each year ; a
fact which says a good deal for the commercial morality of
the burgh. All cases outside the jurisdiction of the magis-
{ trates were dealt with by the Sheriff-Substitute for Lewis,
who resided in Stornoway.

On 2nd March, 1825, the Island of Lewis, with the

exception of the parish of Stornoway, was exposed for

I judicial sale in Edinburgh, to pay the entailer's debts,

: under an Act of Parliament passed during the reign of

George III. The upset price was £137,384 I2s. 4d.,

j being the valuation of the property, but the sale realised

£160,000, the purchaser being Mr. Stewart-Mackenzie.^

'! Nineteen years later, the property finally passed out of the

* In 1772, the crafts of Stornoway applied for, and received, grants of arms,
[sharing with Aberdeen the distinction of being one of the two Scottish burghs
ithat have the right to use trade emblems.

t Knox (1786) states that a sum of £1,200 or £1,500 had been granted
;some years before by the trustees in Edinburgh for building a quay, and for
ierecting fishermen's cottages, but that nothing worthy of the name of a quay
jhad been constructed. In 1816, a pier was built by public subscription, the
iproprietrix contributing £105, and the inhabitants of Stornoway £311, as well
jas gratuitous labour. In 1863, the " foreshore question " arose, out of which
the Harbour Trust Commission came into being.
! + Report on Lewis by the Crofters Commission, p. LXIX.

L L

494 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

hands of the illustrious family, whose connexion with Lewis
had lasted for a period of two hundred and thirty-four years.
During that period, they had exercised unquestioned influ-
ence in the island, and their sway, if despotic, was on the
whole, beneficent. Their great mistake was the delega-
tion of unlimited power to factors whose despotism was
frequently unrelieved by benevolence. The name of Sea-
forth was for over two centuries synonymous in Lewis
with the name of sovereignty. As a newspaper during
the Commonwealth put it, they " played Rex " in the
island, and the deference paid to them was certainly equal
to that paid elsewhere to Royalty.*

In 1844, Lewis was sold to Mr. (afterwards Sir) James
Sutherland Matheson, of the family of Achany and Shiness
in Sutherlandshire, for the sum of ;£ 190,000. The trustees
in Edinburgh exercised a large supervision over the adminis-
tration of its affairs, and it may be readily believed that
they were none too ready in sanctioning grants for im-
provements in the island, although there are instances to the
contrary. Sir James Matheson had therefore a wide field
for philanthropy. In May, 1844, Mrs. Stewart-Mackenzie
brought a Bill before Parliament for " investing in trustees
certain parts of the entailed estates of Seaforth to be sold,
and the price applied in payment of entailer's debts, and
the surplus laid out in the purchase of other lands ; for
enabling the heiress in possession to borrow a sum of
money on the credit of the said entailed estates ; and for
other purposes connected therewith." The Bill passed
both Houses, and on 2Qth July, the Act received the Royal
assent. And thus the Island of Lewis passed out of
the hands of the Seaforths into those of the Mathesons,
with whom it remains to the present day. Sir James
Matheson, who for a number of years represented Ross

* About ten years ago a Lewis crofter, on being questioned as to the owner-
ship of the island before it was acquired by the present proprietors, replied :
" We called the old proprietor Seaforth, but I understand the Prince of Welsh
was his right name ! " (Crofters Commission Report, p. XIV.) In the first
quarter of the nineteenth century, the Lewis estate had its own paper
currency, and a specimen of a pound note, signed by Mr. Stewart-Mackenzie,
is in the possession of the present proprietor.

MAJOR DUNCAN MATHESON OF THE LEWS.

ITo fact page #)5-

RY.

larty in the House of Comrr

of the island in a variety of ways which- .iiliar

to Lewismen. He died, beloved by many and
by all, on the last day of the year 1878, without is
his widow, who had the life-rent of the heritab
survived him until igth March, :
estate devolved, in virtue of the
nephew, Mr. Donald Matheson, w!
over the property to his son,.Maj<
»nt proprietor of the island.
on 1 9th Feb 901.

In the other parts of the Long Island,
laracter were ta!-. during t!

ineteenth centur er Hume

died in 1811, and ied~as propn

by his eldest son, AI< Norman. The

property, estimated at tv re years' pur<:

1830, exceeded by od upon it ; and ;

tors were in poss< :rupt estate. Harr:

rtinents were ui i in 1834 forth-

^60,210, being, in n> less by £26,729

amount of preferable and heritable debts, -
interest, and exclusive of the value of Mr
tingent annuity. The estate was bought :
Dun more, who, about 1868, sold North the

s, the present proprietor of North H
Scalpa and Scarp Islands, and the villa
>amuel Scott. South Harris, i-

and other islands, is c
, V.C., the only son of thr
led ov

the Sou:
irt.

on of Cluny
shed car *

496 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

by the Barra people, both for his own sake and that of the
ancient family whose name he worthily bore. It is believed
that the family is now represented by Roderick Macneill,
Prince Edward Island, great-grandson of Roderick Mac-
neill of Brevaig, who emigrated in 1802. Brevaig was a
son of Gilleonan, younger son of Roderick Macneill, who,
according to the late Dr. Fraser Mackintosh, obtained a
Crown charter of Barra in 1688. At the present day, Barra
is owned by Lady Gordon-Cathcart, who, on the death of
her first husband, Mr. John Gordon, son of Colonel Gordon,
married Sir Reginald Cathcart.

South Uist and Benbecula followed Barra. One after
the other, the estates of Clanranald were disposed of by
Ranald George Macdonald, who succeeded to the property
when a child. In 1839 and 1840, his properties in the Long
Island were sold, and by 1845, the whole of South Uist and
Benbecula had passed into the hands of Colonel Gordon, the
purchase price, including that of Barra, being ;£ 163,799 on a
rental of £8,223. The property bought by Colonel Gordon
is now owned almost entirely by Lady Gordon-Cathcart.

North Uist was the last of the group to change hands.
In 1856, Lord Macdonald sold the island to Sir John
Powlett Orde, whose son, Sir John Campbell Orde, about
1886, sold Rona to Captain Alexander Macdonald of
Waternish ; and in 1894, sold Balranald, Paiblesgarry, and
Peinmore, to Alexander Macdonald of Balranald, who died
in 1901, and was succeeded by his son, Ranald Alexander.
Sir John Campbell Orde died in 1899, and left the greater
part of his North Uist property to his eldest son, Sir Arthur
Campbell Orde, and a smaller part to his second son, Colin
Ridley. The latter, in 1901, sold his portion, comprising
Vallay, Griminish, Scolpaig, and Balelone, to Mr. Erskine
Beveridge of Dunfermline. The Islands of Boreray, Heisker,
and Grimisay are included in Sir Arthur Orde's possessions.

It was not by a mere coincidence that these islands
passed away from the native heritors. The causes of the
various sales had a common root, which will be specified in
the concluding chapter of this history.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE early historians of Scotland obviously knew very
little about the Outer Hebrides, and their information is
consequently the reverse of illuminating. John of Fordun
(circa 1380) merely mentions Lewis by name. Uist, he
tells us, is thirty miles long, and is an island where "whales
and other sea-monsters " abound. He mentions the castle
of " Benwewyl " (Benbecula), and says that " Hirth " (St.
Kilda) was the best stronghold of all the islands. He
states that the Highlanders and Hebrideans were a savage
and untamed nation, rude and independent, given to rapine,
ease-loving, of a docile and warm disposition, comely in
person but unsightly in dress, hostile to the English people
and language (and, owing to diversity of speech, even to
their own nation), and exceeding cruel.

Andrew Wyntoun (1426) merely makes a passing refer-
ence to " the owt ylys in the se."

John Major (1521) has nothing to say about the Long-
Island, except that Lewis has a length of thirty leagues.
One half of Scotland, he tells us, spoke Irish (Gaelic) in
his day, and all these, as well as the Islanders, were
reckoned to belong to the " wild Scots." He makes a
distinction between those of them who followed agricul-
tural and pastoral pursuits, and those who were addicted
to the chase and war, whom he criticises severely for their
indolence. War, he asserts, was their normal condition.
Their weapons were bows and arrows, broadswords, and a
small halbert, with a small dagger in their belts. Their
ordinary dress consisted of a plaid and a saffron-dyed
shirt ; and in war, coats of mail made of iron rings were
worn by all save the common people, who wore a linen

498 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

garment sewed together in patchwork, well daubed with
wax or pitch, with an over-garment of deerskin. The
musical instrument of the " wild Scots " was the harp, the
strings of which were of brass. Major confirms the state-
ment of Fordun as to their hatred of Lowland Scots and
English alike.

Hector Boece (1527) states that Lewis is sixty miles in

length and has one river. The latter is obviously meant

for the Barvas River, for he mentions a superstition which

Martin, writing circa 1700, repeats about that river. " It

is said if any woman wades through this water at the

spring of the year, no salmon will be seen that year in the

river ; otherwise it will abound in salmon." He names only

two churches in Lewis, viz., St. Peter (Swainbost) and St.

Clement (North Dell). He refers to the custom of keeping

a fire constantly burning on the altar — a custom which the

Norsemen followed in their churches — and affirms that

according to current report, the fire, when it went out, was

re-kindled miraculously. The person " haldin of maist

clene and innocent life " laid a wisp of straw on the altar,

and while the people were engaged in prayer, the wisp

kindled in a blaze. In Hirtha, which he says is the

" Irish " for " sheep," there were great numbers of those

animals with wonderful horns and tails. In the month of

July every year, a priest went from Lewis to St. Kilda to

baptise all children born since his previous visit, receiving

in return, the tithes of all the islanders' goods. Boece, with

his talent for the fabulous, found a tit-bit in the sea-geese

(" clakis ") which were self-engendered in the worm-eaten

holes of trees floating in the Hebridean waters. He quotes

the well-worn fable of the fowl-producing barnacles, in

support of the wonderful properties of generation possessed

by those seas.

The first really valuable account of the Long Island
which we have, is from the pen of Donald Monro (i549)>
High Dean of the Isles. He travelled through the
Hebrides in his pastoral capacity, and has left a most
interesting record of his visit, which would have been still

TRAVELLERS' ACCOUNTS. 499

more valuable, had his knowledge of Gaelic been more
extensive than it was. He makes an interesting statement
about Raasay, viz., that it pertained to MacGillecolum by
the sword, and to the Bishop of the Isles by heritage — a
remark pregnant with meaning. The laird of Raasay owed
allegiance to Macleod of Lewis.

He gives a list of the numerous islets of the Outer
Hebrides, and mentions the main products of nearly all of
them, consisting chiefly of corn, cattle, and fish. He is the
first traveller to refer to the Pigmies Isle (Blaeu's Eilean
na Dunibeg} at the Butt of Lewis, and his account is con-
firmed by all subsequent narrators. In the church on the
islet, a number of small bones had been dug up, which
were believed by the natives to have belonged to a race of
pigmies, who lived at Ness in pre-historic times.* The
Dean asserts that he himself had dug up some of these
bones, and that " many men of different countries " had
done the same. An English visitor (Captain Dymes) to
Lewis in 1630 satisfied his curiosity in the same way, and
tells us that the place was a favourite resort of Irishmen,
who came to study archaeology at Ness. The Englishman
could hardly credit the statement that the bones were
human, but gave his version of the phenomenon without
ventilating any theory of his own. Of the two Berneras in
Loch Roag, the Dean says that both were inhabited, the
smaller island being well peopled, and capable of producing
200 bolls of barley with delving only. Bernera Mor was
4< fertile and fruitful," had many cattle, and was good for
fishing and fuel. Pabaidh Mor was also a fertile island,
full of corn and sheep, and contained a kirk where Macleod
of Lewis used to dwell when he wished to be " quyeit," or
was " fearit " — a suggestive statement. St. Kilda, always
a favourite topic of travellers, was inhabited by poor, simple
people, "scarce learnit in aney religion." Macleod (of

* Dr. McCulloch questions the Dean's veracity generally, owing to his
account of the Pigmies Isle, which McCulloch ridicules. Yet, the islet exists
notwithstanding. It is a small peninsula at Aird, Dell, now named Luchruban
(Martin's Lusbirdati), which, according to tradition, received its name from its
having been the burying-place of a race of pigmies.

500 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Harris) sent his steward to the island once a year at Mid-
summer, with a chaplain to baptise the children ; in lieu of
a priest, however, the people sometimes performed the
ceremony themselves. When the steward paid his annual
visit, he used to brew ale, and the people were accustomed
to make themselves drunk by eating the refuse of the malt.
The rents were paid in meal, dried mutton, dried wildfowl,
and seals.

The Flannan Islands are also described. It was
customary for Macleod of Lewis to send men at certain
times of the year, to hunt the ownerless sheep on the
islands. The mutton, according to the Dean, was too fat
for the food of " honest men," with a " wyld " flavour.
Rona, like St. Kilda, was inhabited by a race of simple
people " scant of ony religione." The inhabitants had the
right of keeping as many cows and sheep as the island
could support, and grass was so abundant, that from the
surplus stock, the people were enabled to feed themselves
and pay the greater part of their rent. Sula Sgeir was the
home of the eider-duck, which formed a useful source of
revenue to the Ness men, who used to stay on the island
seven or eight days at a time to collect the down.

The principal islands of the Outer Hebrides are not des-
cribed by Dean Monro so fully as could be desired. Lewis
is called a fertile island, the chief crop grown being barley.
It had four parish kirks — at Ui, Uig, Ness, and Barvas —
and " ane castell callit Steornaway." Its principal salt-
water lochs, including Loch Stornoway, were noted for
their herrings, and it had eight salmon streams. Whales
abounded, twenty-six or twenty-seven of them having in
former times been reserved for the teinds of the priests.
Sheep were plentiful, but there is no special reference to
cattle. At the coast, peats were cut one year, and in the
following year, corn was sown in the same place and
manured by seaweed. The Dean mentions a certain cove
in the island, where it was customary for men, women, and
boys, to fish whitings and haddocks with rods.

Harris is described as being fertile and fruitful for corn,

TRAVELLERS' ACCOUNTS. 501

cattle, and fishing. It had many forests. Deer, otters,
and martins were among its fauna, but no wolves, toads,
nor adders. When the Dean was in Harris, there were
sheep wandering about without owners. He states that
the Church of St. Clement at Rodil, " ane monastery with
ane steipill," was founded and built by Macleod of Harris.
The system of agriculture in Harris was rude : twice as
much delving as tilling was the practice.

North and South Uist, the former with two, and the
latter with five, parish kirks, receive scant notice. South
Uist is called a fertile country, with high hills and forests
on the east or south-east, and well-stocked land on the
north-west. The Dean states that Benbecula belonged to
" Clandonald," and that Boisdale was possessed by Macneill
of Barra.

Barra, like the others, is described as a fertile island,
fruitful in "comes" and abounding in codling, ling, and
all other white fish. The parish church (Kilbar) and
Macneill's castle (Kisimul) are mentioned. There were
no better sands in the world for cockles than the Barra
sands, says the Dean, who may have been a connoisseur
of shellfish.

He is careful to specify those islands that had falcons'
nests. In those days of falconry, the birds possessed a
value of their own, which sometimes found a place in
charters, and the nests were protected by law from robbery.

The Dean gives some interesting particulars about the
state of society in the Hebrides generally. There were
two distinct classes : the fighters and the labourers, the
former being the " gentlemen " who did no work, the class
against whom John Major inveighed. The tillers of the
soil (iiativif were never permitted to leave home : their
sole business was to attend to the crops. The islands
were capable of raising 6,000 men, one third of whom,
according to the prevailing custom, were clad in "attounes"

* It is an interesting question who the nativi were. Were they the dregs
of the Norse-Celtic population, or were they the descendants of the aboriginal
thralU of the Norsemen

502 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

(haquetons), habershons (habergeons, i.e., coats of mail worn
over the haquetons), and iron helmets. Sometimes the
warriors were absent from home for a whole year, especially
when Ireland was their destination.

The descriptions of the Outer Hebrides by Buchanan the
historian, and Monipennie are simply echoes of that " godly
man " Dean Monro ; they had no personal acquaintance
with the islands.

Bishop Leslie (1578) has something to say about Lewis.
The island grew plenty of barley and oats, and had good
grazing and pleasant pastures ; " it moreover abounds in
people." It had one river " welthie in salmont," by which
reference, the Barvas stream must again be understood.
The proprietors of the island " in a manner ar litle kings
heir " ; they " ar called Makleud, that is, in their speich,
the sones of Claudius." The Bishop makes an interesting
statement about the manner of succession to the chiefship.
Formerly, he affirms, the chiefs were elected by their clan,
but that practice had been discontinued, and the Macleods
in his time entered into possession simply " at thair awne
hand " ; a fact which clearly indicates that before the end
of the sixteenth century, the original basis of the clan
system had shifted. Bishop Leslie makes no further refer-
ence to the Long Island, except a casual mention of that
"gret lie whose name is Eusta."

An official account of Lewis was drawn up (circa 1580)
by an unknown author, apparently for the information of
James VI. The writer says that Macleod's principal place
was called the Castle of Stornoway ; that he could raise
700 men in Lewis and Rona, besides the labouring class.
None of the labourers were permitted to serve in war,
thus confirming Dean Monro's statement to that effect.
Lewis was a profitable island for corn — especially barley —
for all kinds of bestial, wildfowl, and fish ; the minimui
yield of barley is given as 16 bolls for each boll sown,
The island was 40 poundsland of old extent, and th(
annual contribution of the tenantry for feasting theii
master when he came among them, consisted of 18 scon

TRAVELLERS' ACCOUNTS. 503

chalders of victual, 58 score of kine, 32 score of wethers
and a great quantity of fish, poultry, and white plaiding.
Thus were the people bled. The salmon were killed in
the shallow burns by sticks, that being the sole method
of salmon fishing known to the natives. References to the
Pigmies Isle, and to the sport afforded by the large number
of deer in Lewis, make up the remainder of this account
of the island.

The next description of the Long Island is dated 1595,

being included in a general account of the fighting strength

i of the Hebrides, which seems to have been prepared for

'the information of Queen Elizabeth; the document being

in the handwriting of a clerk of Bowes, the English

i Ambassador in Scotland. The author of this statement

, apparently drew upon Dean Monro and the writer of

| (circa) 1580 for some of his facts. We learn from his

account that Ruari Macleod, "an old man famous for the

massacring of his own kinsmen," was alive in 1595. The

document is valuable in some respects, but throws little

t light upon the social or economic conditions of the islands.

A most interesting and useful account of Lewis is given

! by an Englishman, Captain John Dymes, who was sent to

khe island in 1630 to make a report upon it, in connexion

with the great fishery scheme of Charles I. He deals with

the climate, the natural features, the agricultural methods,

Ithe language, religion, superstitions, system of land tenure,

i products, and particularly the fisheries, of the island; and

| the value of his account is enhanced by the fact that he

i was an observer who was unprejudiced by pre-conceived

notions. A copy of his valuable report is appended to

this history. (See Appendix F.)

During the Cromwellian period, various communications
relative to Lewis were sent to the Protector, the gist of
which is embodied in the text ; the information which they
convey in respect of the internal economy of the island is
unimportant. The notes to Blaeu's well-known map of
1654* are simply extracts from Dean Monro's description.

* This map incorporates the surveys of Timothy Pont (1609).

504 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

In Richard Blome's Britania, published in 1673, Lewis isj
described as an island " full of steep, craggy and stony!
hills, not overthronged with inhabitants, but hath several
small towns." Uist is mentioned as " an isle or rather isles
of a long but narrow extent, in which are seated several^
small towns. And near unto the southern part of this;'
isle lyeth several small ones, the chief amongst which isj
Barray."

The next important account of Lewis (circa 1680) aft<
that of Captain Dymes, is from the pen of a native, Johi
Morison, who wrote under the pseudonym of " An Ii
dweller " (of Lewis). He appears to have been a son
John Morison of Bragar (grandson of the last Brieve)
famous in his day as a wit and versifier. John Morisc
gives a list of the principal islands of the Outer Hebrid<
with their heritors, and then proceeds to enlarge up(
Lewis, the Flannan Isles, and Rona. He mentions tl
four great lochs on the east coast of Lewis, viz., Lo<
Stornoway, with the "beasts" of Holm on one side,
the "roof" (sheltering rock?) of Arnish on the other
Loch Erisort, Loch Shell, and Loch Seaforth ; and assert
that the fisheries of Lewis were the most important ii
Scotland. Barley and oats were the chief crops ; cattl<
were plentiful ; the forest between Loch Erisort and Sea-
forth was full of deer ; and wildfowl abounded. He
mentions the standing stones to be seen in several place
as well as the current traditions in respect of them
St. Cowstan's Well at Garrabost, with the extraordin;
water which refused to boil over the hottest fire ; am
St. Andrew's Well at Shader, whose miraculous properties
instantly killed or cured the sick. The various kinds of
nuts cast up on the seashore were believed to possess
valuable medicinal properties for different diseases, anc
one species, called St. Mary's Nut, was worn by women
an ornament and a charm. Morison also makes excursions
into Lewis history and the genealogies of the Lewis clans,
which are of decided interest. His statements on these
subjects are noticed elsewhere in this work. The Earl of

TRAVELLERS' ACCOUNTS. 505

Seaforth (Kenneth Og) is praised for his " industrious care
and benevolence " towards the people, who, formerly in-
clined to " rudeness and barbarity," had been civilised and
educated by means of the flourishing school opened in
Stornoway by the ruling family. The Pigmies Isle claims
the attention of John Morison, who scoffs at the tradition
associated with it, and states that the bones must be those
of the small fowls which abounded at Ness.

A contemporary of Morison, whose name is unknown,
gives a short account of Lewis, the accuracy of which is,
however, not very convincing. His statement that the deer
in the great forest had two tails, makes one suspect him
of Munchausen tendencies. He himself had two tales :
a plain unvarnished one, which we may accept, and an
ornamental one which we must reject. In the former
category may be placed his brief account of historic events
connected with the island, and his description of the island
confirmed by other writers ; in the latter, must be placed
his list of the parishes (of which he names no less than
eight), as well as his wonderful deer, and his fish with four
feet like a lizard. His statement that in the year 1585,
3,000 large salmon were taken out of the Barvas River, may
also possibly be classed with the exaggerated number of
his parishes.

The well-known account of the Outer Hebrides (circa
1700) by Martin Martin, a native of Skye, is the next in
chronological order, and in some respects it is the most
valuable of all. He says that Lewis was reputed very
fruitful for corn, until recent years of scarcity and bad
seasons. Barley, oats, and rye, were the crops sown, and
to these are now added, for the first time, flax and hemp.
The ground manured by seaweed yielded the best results.
Soot was also used as a fertiliser, but it was believed that
the bread obtained from the corn so manured gave rise to
jaundice. Five hundred people were employed daily for
some months preparing the soil. Small harrows with
wooden teeth were used, each harrow being drawn by a
man having a strong rope of horse-hair across his breast.

5o6 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

From their oats, the natives distilled their strong drinks.
Usquebaugh was the common liquor, but besides the
ordinary aqua-vita, they made another kind three times
distilled, which was called trestarig. This drink appealed
to those who liked their liquor strong and hot. But the
most fearsome kind of all was called usquebau°h-bauly
which was usquebaugh four times distilled. Presumably
this was the favourite drink of those topers who scorned
the meaner joys of common usquebaugh, and even of
trestarig. Martin tells us that this drink was so strong,
that a dose exceeding two spoonfuls was sufficient to stop
the breath and endanger life itself; which we can well
believe.

Whale hunts formed one of the excitements of the
Levvismen in Martin's time. One large species was known
as the Gallon whale, because it was never seen except off
Gallon Head on the west coast of Lewis. The custom
was to chase the whales into the bays, and there attack
them. When one was wounded mortally, it made for the
shore, whereupon the others, according to the natives,
usually followed the track of its blood and ran themselves
ashore likewise. Martin mentions that five years pre-
viously, fifty young whales had been so killed, and utilised
as food by the common people, who found it very nourish-
ing. They called it " sea-pork" and fattened upon it.

Martin notes the immense quantity of shellfish in the
sands of the Broad Bay. He states that coral was to be
found in the lochs, especially in Loch Seaforth, and that
pearls had often been discovered in black mussels. Trout
and eels abounded in the fresh water lakes. In connexion
with the Barvas River, so famous for salmon, he mentions
the custom of sending a man very early on the first day of
May to cross the stream, in order to prevent a female
having the " first-footing " ; for, in the latter event, no fish
would come into the river all the year round. This
ungallant superstition is first related by Hector Boece ;
it is impossible to trace its origin, which appears to have
gone pretty far back.

TRAVELLERS' ACCOUNTS. 507

The brochs, the Callernish and other stones with the
traditions attached to them, are all mentioned — and it is
here interesting to observe that even in those days, certain
Lewismen held the theory that some of the standing
stones, like the Thrushel at Barvas, were merely monu-
ments erected to persons of note who had been killed in
battle. The caves of the island — the home of the seals
and otters — receive attention, especially the large cave at
Gress. Seal-steaks, as well as whale-steaks, were relished
by the people.

Cows, horses, sheep, goats, and hogs, formed the stock of
the islanders. The beef was small but tender ; the horses
were small but hardy. The horses had to feed on seaware
in spring, and in a hard winter, the deer had to do likewise.
There were no trees in the island, except about a hundred
young birches and hazels on the south-west side of Storno-
way.

Martin waxes almost enthusiastic over the physical per-
fection of the Lewismen ; but he has nothing to say about
the beauty of the women. " Well proportioned ; free from
any bodily imperfections ; of a good stature ; healthful,
strong-bodied, and long-living " ; such is his certificate.
He mentions that Mr. Daniel Morison — father of John
Morison of Bragar — had died lately in his 86th year, not
a superlatively great age from a Lewisman's point of view.
There were no epidemics, except a rare visit of smallpox
which swept away many children. Other diseases of
common occurrence are named, with their respective cures,
the whole forming a pathological study of some interest.
The mental, as well as the physical qualities of the Lewis-
men are favourably commented upon. They were in-
genious and quick, excellent mechanics, and still more
excellent poets, their improvisations having the merit of
being composed " without the assistance of any stronger
liquor than water to raise their fancy " ; a remark which
suggests that other bards with whom Martin had come in
contact, owed their inspiration to usquebaugh rather than
to natural gifts. They were also great lovers of music :

5o8 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

he had heard of eighteen men who could play the violin
very well without being taught. They still retained their
character for hospitality, although recent years of famine
had brought some of them to the verge of destitution,
while many had actually died of starvation. They were
excellent swimmers and archers, and were expert at
vaulting and leaping ; their proficiency in these sports
was inherited from their Norse ancestors. They were
also stout and able seamen, and would tug at an oar all
day long on bread and water and a " snush " of tobacco.

Martin specifies the famous wells mentioned by John
Morison — from whom, indeed, he appears to have derived
a good deal of his information — and states, also, that the
water of Loch Carloway was incapable of making linen
white, as proved by many experiments. He describes
various semi-heathen superstitions and rites still practised,
some of which will be referred to later on. The curious
customs which prevailed in the Flannan Isles and Rona
form interesting reading. And the tradition associated
with the inevitable Isle of Pigmies (Lusbirdan) is faithfully
recorded.

In Rona, there were five families who formed a primitive
community, knowing no vices, and not deficient in positive
virtues. When the minister of Barvas, who owned the
island, visited them, he was hospitably entertained, each
family presenting him with a sheep, which, after being
flayed, was filled with barley meal. When any of these
simple people visited Lewis, they were astonished to see
so many people, and marvelled greatly at the greyhounds
and the horses. One of them hearing a horse neigh,
gravely asked whether it was laughing at him ! The
minister of Barvas was sometimes employed as their
matrimonial agent. On one occasion, he was handed a
shilling by a native of Rona, who had received it from
a sailor. " Buy me a wife in Lewis with this," was the
naive request of the Rona man, whose ideas regarding the
value of the coin, and the marriage market in Lewis, were
equally vague. It is gratifying to observe that in the

TRAVELLERS' ACCOUNTS. 509

following year, a wife was found for him. Martin mentions
that fourteen years previously, a plague of rats had eaten
up all the corn of the Rona people, and a few months
afterwards, their bull was stolen by some sailors. Before
the annual supplies from Lewis arrived, the poor islanders
had all died, and the minister of Barvas sent a new colony
with supplies.

The list of Lewis churches given by Martin is very
complete, no less than twenty-five being named. The
parishes were two in number, Barvas and Ui, both being
parsonages with resident ministers. The festivals observed
throughout the year were Christmas, Good Friday, Easter,
and Michaelmas. At Michaelmas, it was customary to
form a cavalcade, and horse-racing, indulged in by both
sexes, took place on the sands. All the inhabitants of
Lewis were Protestants, except one Roman Catholic
family.

Stornoway is described as follows : — " There is a village
called Storn-Bay at the head of the bay of that name.
It consists of about sixty families. There are some houses
of entertainment in it, as also a church, and a school in
which Latin and English are taught."

The accounts of the other principal islands of the Outer
Hebrides are less circumstantial, but are nevertheless full
of interest. A description is given of Harris, which in-
cludes such widely divergent subjects as its fauna, its
brochs, and its superstitions, to which may be added a
learned dissertation on tides. The Harris people observed
the same festivals as their neighbours in Lewis, and
indulged in similar equestrian performances at Martinmas.
I All the inhabitants were Protestants. The pertinents of
Harris are also described.

The methods of agriculture in North Uist receive some
! attention, special reference being made to the use of a
i small plough drawn by one or two horses. The function
of this plough was to prepare the soil for the ordinary
i plough, which was drawn by four horses. The manure
| employed was seaweed, and the ashes of burnt ware were

M M

5io HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

used as salt in preserving mackerel. Lochmaddy, where
in the memory of living man four hundred sail had been
loaded with herrings, was now deserted by fishing boats ;
and there was not a herring net in the whole of North
Uist. White fish, however, abounded, and herrings were
occasionally caught by handlines. Cloth-waulking was
practised on the Island of Borera, and Martin mentions
that an Englishman, who chanced upon a number of
women so engaged, to the accompaniment of their weird
waulking-songs, thought he had entered a lunatic asylum.
Seals were killed in large numbers, their flesh being used
as food, and their skins, cut into long pieces, for plough
traces. A girdle of sealskin round the waist was believed
to be a cure for sciatica. Shipments of beef were sent to
Glasgow, whence it was exported to India in barrels. The
birds of North Uist, its damp climate, the prevalent dis-
eases and their cures, the hospitality of the natives, their
horse-races at Michaelmas,* with some curious attendant
circumstances ; these are all touched upon with more or
less detail. The inhabitants, with a solitary exception,
were all Protestants.

The accounts of Benbecula and South Uist are less
comprehensive. The natives of South Uist were noted for
the purity of their Gaelic. The old people of the island,
especially the women, still wore the ancient dress, a des-
cription of which, unfortunately, is not given. Seven
churches in South Uist are named. The inhabitants of
Benbecula and South Uist were all Roman Catholics, with
the exception of sixty Protestants in the latter island.
They were a hospitable people, but apparently a certain
amount of religious bitterness disturbed the harmony of
the community.

Some interesting particulars are given about Barra.
The Macneill of Martin's day seems to have retained some
of the best customs of the patriarchal system, for he was
in the habit of making good to his tenantry, milch cows

* Possibly the horse- racing had its origin in the legend which asserts that
Saint Barr swam across the Irish Channel on horseback.

TRAVELLERS' ACCOUNTS. 511

lost through bad seasons ; and he took old and incapaci-
tated tenants into his own family. And yet, we are told
that when he or his steward was in the island, the natives
never went fishing, being afraid of having their rents
raised. The steward of the lesser islands had perquisites
of all produce, fish, &c. In Macneill's castle (Kisimul),
a relic of ancient times survived in the person of the cock-
man, or sentinel. The anniversary of the patron saint of
the island was celebrated on the 2/th September of each
year, and in the church (Kilbar), a wooden image of the
saint, covered with a linen shirt, stood on the altar.
There were no doctors in the island, and the only
medicine used by the natives was " a sort of stone " with
which they rubbed their breasts ; this, they said, kept
them in good health. The Barra people were famed for
their hospitality. When any strangers landed from the
other islands of the Outer Hebrides, they were bound willy-
nilly to take refreshment, the " ocedn-meal " being the
appropriate title given to the repast. An ancient custom
provided that only one person could lodge with a family,
and this custom was followed even in the case of a
married couple. Widowers and widows alike in Barra
were accustomed to apply to Macneill for suitable partners
to share their joys and their sorrows, and the chief was
nothing loth to act in the capacity of match-maker. No
time was wasted in such preliminaries as courtship : the
partners were found, and the wedding ceremony was forth-
with performed, Macneill providing a bottle of " strong
waters " as his contribution to the festivities ; a system
of Arcadian simplicity which apparently worked well in
practice. All the Barra people were Roman Catholics,
with the exception of one Murdoch Macneill. It is of
interest to find that tobacco was grown in Barra, some time
prior to Martin's visit ; but its success seems to have been
doubtful, otherwise its cultivation would hardly have been
discontinued.

Travellers in the Long Island were scarce during the
first half of the eighteenth century; or, at any rate, they

M M 2

5i2 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

have left few records of their visits behind them. John
Adair published in 1703, an unimportant description of the
Outer Isles; and in 1738, Matthew Symson wrote The
Present State of Scotland, in which interesting particulars
are given of Lewis. He states that coral and coraline
were employed as blood-purifiers, as well as being worn
as ornaments. The author of The Highlands of Scotland
in 1750 (the instructive MS. published by Mr. Andrew
Lang) visited the Long Island, of which his impressions
were by no means unfavourable. The inhabitants, he
asserts, were more industrious than the mainlanders, and
" more tractable and honest than one would expect ! " In
A Voyage to Shetland, the Orkney Islands and the Western
Isles of Scotland, published in 1751 by an unknown
traveller, the industry of the natives of Lewis is praised,
particularly in their agricultural pursuits. The light
harrow described by Martin was still in use. The fisheries
were good, although much interrupted by the presence of
whales. The inhabitants were assiduous in killing the
whales, which were still used as food by the poorer classes.
An important account of the Long Island is given by one
Captain Barlow in 1753 (see Appendix I.), which is, on
the whole, entertaining reading. In the year 1764, Dr.
John Walker was commissioned by the General Assembly
of the Church of Scotland to visit the islands, and the
result is given in his well-known Economical History of the
Hebrides. This work is of great scientific interest, but the
introduction to the book — a lengthy description of the
Isles in manuscript, which, curiously enough, is only now
about to be published — is more useful from the historian's
point of view.

In the latter part of the eighteenth century, there was
no lack of travellers in the Outer Hebrides. A report
dated 1774, by the Society in Scotland for the Propagation
of Christian Knowledge, gives some useful statistics of the
state of education in the Long Island. We find Dr. James
Anderson, in his Account of the Hebrides (published 1785)
criticising alike absentee landlordism, the rapacity of tacks-

TRAVELLERS' ACCOUNTS. 513

men-merchants, and the heavy duties on salt in the Outer
Isles. The arbitrary powers of factors are also anim-
adverted upon. In 1786, John Knox visited the Outer
Hebrides on a commission from the Highland Society
of London, and has left a faithful record of his impres-
sions. The Rev. John Lane Buchanan in his Travels in the
Hebrides, which took place from 1782-90, gives a doleful
picture of the oppression of the tacksmen, and the misery of
the sub-tenants, more particularly in Harris, and the immor-
ality of the elders of the Kirk. The General View of the
Agriculture of the Central Highlands and Islands (pub-
lished in 1794), comments favourably on the policy of
Lord Macdonald in North Uist and Macneill in Barra,
which had as its object a reduction of the size of the
tacksmen's holdings, and the introduction of a general
system of tenure direct from the proprietors. But the
most important record of all is that of the Old Statisical
Account (1796), which describes in detail the conditions of
each parish as they existed at the end of the eighteenth
century.

In 1800, Mr. Headrick, a mineralogist, wrote a report on
Lewis, which embodies various suggestions for developing
the resources of the island. He remarks on the great
number of deer and hogs (the latter in Stornoway) and
considers them equally a nuisance. About the same time,
John Leyden wrote his account of the Highlands and
Islands, only recently published by Mr James Sinton. In
1 8 1 1 , A General View of Agriculture in the Hebrides was
published by James Macdonald, and his remarks about
the Long Island are full of information. Stornoway made
a favourable impression upon him, with its neat houses and
its shipping. The fishing was prosecuted with energy, but
towards education, the attitude of the inhabitants was
deplorably apathetic, and even antagonistic. As for the
rest of the island, he says, " so vile indeed are the dwellings
in general that we cannot enter upon a description of
them." Illicit distilling was largely practised in Lewis, the
people clubbing together [to pay the fines levied by the

5i4 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Excise. Successful efforts to reclaim waste land had been
made by Mr. Chapman — Seaforth's factor — near Stornoway,
as well as by Campbell of Ensay in Harris, Lord Mac-
donald's factor in North Uist, Macdonald of Balranald,
and Maclean of Boreray. Land which had been practically
worthless was by these efforts let, on an average, at I5s.
an acre. The two chief causes of the backward condition
of the Uists and Barra, were the non-residence of the
proprietors and the neglect of fishing and agriculture,
consequent upon the manufacture of kelp. The fishermen
of Barra, notwithstanding, are described as the most active
and prosperous in the Hebrides, which is attributed to the
system in vogue of apportioning by lot the fishing banks, at
an annual general meeting of the islanders. The portion
allotted to each man's family was carefully respected by his
neighbours, and an " admiral " was annually elected to
arbitrate upon all matters of dispute. This system of
marine runrig long survived, lots being cast for the fishing
banks on St. Bride's Day. The natives of Barra are des-
cribed by Macdonald as being "among the very best
seamen in the British Empire."

In A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland by Nicholas
Carlisle, published in 1813, there are some useful particulars
about the Outer Hebrides. The absence of roads in Lewis
is commented upon, and Lord Seaforth's exertions to
remove that drawback are described. Information of
economic and antiquarian interest is given about the other
islands of the group. Roderick Macneill of Barra, whom
James Macdonald called " an active improver and a man of
sound sense and great benevolence," is also praised by
Carlisle for his encouragement of agriculture. Kelp-
making did not, after all, monopolise attention.

Dr. John Macculloch's Western Islands is perhaps
the best work on the conditions which prevailed in the
Outer Hebrides, during the first quarter of the nineteenth
century. It comprises a thoughtful, if necessarily hurried,
study of the questions which lay at the root of the poverty
of the people; and if the writer's attitude towards them is

TRAVELLERS' ACCOUNTS. 515

seemingly unsympathetic, his reasoning is, from his point
of view, sound and scientific. He recognised the cold
logic of facts, and sought to apply the remedies suggested
by political economy ; overlooking, as so many of like views
at the present day overlook, that the academic formulae
and shibboleths of the old school of economists are, in
certain cases, incompatible with their practical application.
His geological survey of the islands is the most complete
yet undertaken. His general criticisms are acute, and on
the whole, not unfair.

Lord Teignmouth's account of his visit to the Long
Island in 1827, is alike entertaining and instructive.

Professor William Macgillivray's description of the
Outer Hebrides, published in the Edinburgh Journal of
Natural and Geographical Science for 1830, contains an
eloquent tribute to the wild beauty of their rocky shores.

The New Statistical Account | (1834-6) embodies re-
ports from each parish, on the same lines as the Account
of 1796, and a useful comparison may be made between
the two. In 1851, Sir John Macneill, Chairman of the
Board of Supervision for the Relief of the Poor, submitted
his well-known report, which throws many side-lights upon
the underlying causes of the destitution which prevailed in
the Long Island. And in 1866, Sheriff Nicolson prepared
his report on the state of education in the Hebrides, con-
taining a wealth of statistics, eloquent of the pressing
needs of the community. Besides these, there are on
record various impressions of casual visitors to the Long
Island during the nineteenth century; but as they are of no
historical importance, it is not necessary to mention them
more specifically.* The reports of the Crofters Commis-
sion are the most reliable sources of information, in respect
of the prevailing conditions in the Outer Hebrides at the

* Among these may be named the Reminiscences of "Sixty One";
Anderson Smith's Lewsiana ; Robert Buchanan's Hebrid Isles ; Miss Gordon
Cumming's From the Hebrides to the Himalayas ; and John Bickerdyke's
With Rod and Gun in Lewis. The most widely known book about Lewis
is the late William Black's Princess of Thule, that brilliant novel which won
fame for its author. The most recent work on the Long Island is Miss
Goodrich-Freer's Outer Isles, a sympathetic study displaying much insight.

516 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

present day. Their report on the social conditions in
Lewis during the past twenty years, which has recently
been issued as a Parliamentary Bluebook, forms an
economic treatise of surpassing value.

The most illustrious travellers who have ever landed
on Lewis soil, honoured Stornoway with a visit on 2nd
September, 1902. King Edward and the Queen were
welcomed by the proprietor, Major Duncan Matheson,
and, on behalf of the community, by Provost Anderson.
After driving through the principal streets of the town,
where they received a loyal and enthusiastic greeting, the
Royal visitors were entertained at Lews Castle by Major
and Mrs. Matheson.

CHAPTER XVII.

IT is difficult to assign an exact date to the foundation
of the Bishopric of Sodor, i.e., the Sudreys (Sudr-ey-jar) or
Hebrides. The generally-accepted account is that it was
founded about 838, and was, in 1098, united to Man by King
Magnus, when he descended on the Isles like a wolf on the
fold. Whether this statement is correct or not, it may at
least be asserted, that if such a bishopric existed in 838, it is
not likely to have exercised any practical authority over the
Outer Hebrides. There is no reasonable doubt, that many
years before 838, the Long Island was in the hands of the
Norsemen ; and, as we know, it was not until the beginning
of the eleventh century that they embraced Christianity.
When, in 1154, the metropolitan See of Drontheim, in
Norway, was erected, Man and the Western Islands were
annexed to it as a suffragan diocese. When the Hebrides
were incorporated with the Kingdom of Scotland, the rights
of the metropolitan see were retained in all respects,
except that of patronage, which was withdrawn ; and it was
not until 13 80 that the remaining privileges were abolished.
In 1377, the Sees of Sodor and Man were disjoined. Thence-
forward, Scottish Bishops of the Isles were appointed, who
had a seat in Parliament, and who apparently used lona
Abbey as their cathedral, until the see was formally united
to that abbey by James IV. When the severance between
the Sees of Man and the Hebrides took place, the Bishops
of Man named the island on which the Cathedral of St.
German's stood, " Sodor," in order to keep up the memory
of the old association between the two sees. Hence the
title of " Bishop of Sodor and Man," which is retained to
the present day by the rulers of the Manx diocese.

518 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

There is nothing certain known of the early history of
the pre-Reformation churches in the Outer Hebrides. It
is inferentially clear, from the existence of the different
islets named Pabbay, or Priests' Isle, that prior to, or
during, the Norse occupation, they were chosen by Christian
anchorites as fit places for meditation and prayer ; and it
is not unlikely that, in the conversion of the rough North-
men to Christianity, these lonely hermits, who were held in
high esteem, may have played a part of some importance.
There is good authority for stating, that at the Reformation,
there were two priories in the Long Island, viz., at Ui in
Lewis, and Rodil in Harris. " Skairinche," in the Island
of Lewis (cella Insulce Missarum\ is included in a list of
religious houses given in 1650 by John Adamson, Principal
of Edinburgh College, and, according to his statement,
transcribed from an original manuscript in the College.
These two priories were included in the twenty-eight
monasteries of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, who
established themselves at Scone in 1114, at the desire of
Alexander I.

The Lewis priory was at, or near, Stornoway ; it is said
to have been founded by one of the Macleods, in honour
of St. Catan ; and it depended on Inchaffray, from which it
had its first prior. It is stated to have originally been the
cell of St. Catan himself, who is supposed to have lived
between the sixth and seventh centuries. At Maelista, Uig,
there was a shrine of St. Catan, near which have been
found the remains of a nunnery, locally known as the
" house of the black old women." The Lewis priory was
believed to contain the remains of its founder and other
" illustrious men " ; it acquired a notoriety for miracles ; and
it was so wealthy that it was twice rebuilt after being burnt*
The evidence points to this priory having been attached to
the Church of St. Columba at Ui, near Stornoway, the ruins
of which are more entire than those of any other pre-
Reformation church in Lewis. The word " Skairinche " is

* Origines Parochiales, Vol. II., Part I., pp. 381-2.

insulated rock, and th or peninsula ;

the name thus apparer ing etymological confirmation

of the site of the priory. IP s 561, it appears in a rental of
the Bishopric of the i )ich may

mean " skerry of the bay " (Broa* • mination

of the ruins of the church at Ui re\ it part of

the architecture is apparently Norman, and
may be ascribed to, at least, t\\v
it was regarded by the Macleod-
peculiar sanctity, us from the i-

burying-ground : of the Siol Tor

tradition, we. .* The ren

fifth Earl of S is days i

to lie beneat Church.

The establi: ry Church of

t Rodil, is v to David I.,

f the Mack1' >ry depended on the

bbey of H -';•!•-. was the " Ions

he Siol Tor- " lona " of the

ormod. Rodil by Alexander I

eod of Harri.v it contains his tomb,

laborately carveci tin insc; . The

hurch was R-.
e bought th
y him, after its a
ablet in the chur

ption bean; he con<

f the original st
h was restor
I^e\vis, there are

^re trace . number of

tombstone in th

foyd <U I^c

•

52o HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

tioned by Martin, notably those of St. Columba at Ui,
St. Aula (Olaf) at Gress, Holy Cross at Galson, St. John
the Baptist at Bragar, St. Michael at Cirrabhig (Loch
Carloway), St. Peter at Shader, St. Thomas at Habost,
St. Peter at Swainbost, and St. Bridget at Borve. Of
the church at Stornoway, dedicated to St. Lennan, which
Martin mentions, there is no trace left. The Flannan and
Shiant Isles also contain remains of the same character ;
likewise Rona, Sula Sgeir, and St. Colm's Isle in Loch
Erisort ; all of which are interesting additions to the
ecclesiology of the Long Island. But next to the Priory
Church of Ui, the greatest interest attaches to the teampull-
mdr, or big temple, at Eorrapidh, near the Butt of Lewis,
commonly called St. Olaf, from its founder, who was
apparently Olave the Black. Captain Dymes calls it
" St. Mallonuy " and " St. Mallonvie," and Martin calls it
" St. Mulvay." The saint in question was very probably
St. Maelrubha (pronounced Malruie),* whose name has
appeared in numerous corrupted forms, two of which are
Mulruy and Mulroy.f St. Maelrubha, the patron saint of
the Morisons of Ness, was regarded as the special healer
of lunacy. A belief in the healing virtues of the well in
Inch Maree (Mourie or Maelrubha) probably still lingers
in West Ross-shire ; in former times, it was a common
practice to bring lunatics to Loch Maree to be cured.
Similarly, lunatics were taken from many parts of the
North-West of Scotland to the church at Ness, with
the same object. The patient walked seven times round
the building, was sprinkled with water from St. Ronan's
Well, close at hand, and was then bound and left for the
night on the site of the altar.f We shall notice, later on,
other superstitious rites in connexion with this church,

* The name might also stand for St. Molua or St. Mullins, but Sir Arthur
Mitchell, who is an authority on the subject, informs the author that his
suggestion of St. Maelrubha is probably correct.

t It may be remarked that the letters "n" and "r" are commutable in
Gaelic, which seems to support the belief that Captain Dymes's " Mallonuy"
may be meant for " Mulruy."

£ Sir Arthur Mitchell's Various Superstitions in the North- West Highlands
and Islands, pp. 19-20.

ECCLESIOLOGY. 521

which serve to show the veneration in which the saint
was held.

Some of the other islands of the Outer Hebrides are
also of ecclesiological interest. The remains of greatest
importance in North Uist, are those of the historical
Trinity Church, at Carinish. At Howmore, in South Uist,
traces are left of its former ecclesiastical greatness. At
Balivanich, in Benbecula, there are the remains of a
chapel; and Kilbar, in Barra, commemorates the vene-
ration of St. Barr in that island. In pre- Reformation
times, all the churches and chapels in the Outer Hebrides
were sanctuaries. It can be conceived, without any undue
stretch of the imagination, that they were in frequent use
by criminals, fleeing from the avenging hand of Justice.

We get only a few passing glimpses of the Lewis
churches, in the early ecclesiastical history of Scotland.
In 1506, James IV. presented Sir John Poison,* Precentor
of Caithness, to the rectory of Ui, when it should be vacant
by the irregularity, or inability, of John Macleod. In 1534
and 1536, the Rector of Ui was Sir Magnus Vass, Commis-
sary of Inverness. In the latter year, James V. presented
" Master Roderic Farquhar (Hector's son) " to several
churches vacant by the death of " Master Martin McGil-
martin," including the rectory of the Church of Our Lady
in Barvas. In 1552, the Rector of Ui was Sir Donald
Monro, doubtless the Archdeacon of the Isles. In 1559,
Queen Mary presented Master Lauchlan Maclean to the
rectory of Ness, vacant by the death of Sir John Finlay.
In 1561, the parsonage of Ui belonged to the Bishop of
the Isles. In 1573, Ranald (Angus' son) appears on
record as the parson of Uig, when he subscribed a bond
entered into between Ruari Macleod and the Bishop of the
Isles, Ruari himself being unable to write.t

The abolition of Roman Catholicism in Scotland, in
1 560, necessarily led to a re-modelling of the ecclesiastical

* "Sir" was a title of respect formerly given to clergymen. The prefix
of " Mr." to a name, signified that the bearer of it was a Master of Arts,
t Origins Parochiaks, Vol. II., Part I., p. 381.

522 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

government of the Hebrides. John Carswell, the well-
known translator of Knox's Liturgy into Gaelic, was ap-
pointed first Superintendent of the Isles, a title which
permitted the exercise of episcopal functions, without a
recognition of episcopal consecration. When Episcopacy
of a more decided nature was introduced in 1572, the
Islesmen found their superintendents transformed into
tulchan-bishops. But to them, these nominal changes
had little or no significance. Before the Reformation, the
religion of the Long I slanders, so far as can be ascertained,
was a strange conglomeration of Christian beliefs and
heathen rites. The Christianity of the Celts, and of the
semi-Christianised Norsemen, was superimposed upon the
purely pagan creed of the worshippers of Odin and Thor ;
and gradually, the two became so mixed as to be indistin-
guishable, the one from the other. Christian saints were
substituted for heathen deities ; Christian ceremonies were
mingled with pagan rites ; Christian credence in the super-
natural was intertwined with the beliefs in witchcraft,
spells, and sorcery, which swayed the lives of the Vikings.
The Roman Catholic clergy, following the example of the
Celtic missionaries to the Norsemen, employed this hybrid
creed as an agency in promoting morality ; and there is
evidence to show that it was used with success. When
Romanism was abolished in Scotland, the spiritual needs
of the remote islands were apparently suffered to fall into
total neglect. The restraints of religious exercises being
removed, the morality of the islanders suffered accordingly.
Hence arose the irreligious and immoral condition of Lewis
at the end of the sixteenth century, described, but in
exaggerated language, by the Acts of James VI., when
the raid of the Fife Adventurers was in course of prepara-
tion. That the darkest period of religion and morality in
Lewis was the second half of the sixteenth century, the
events already recorded in these pages serve to show.
King James VI. sought to transform the face of Lewis,
not by the reformation, but by the extirpation, of the
natives, with the results which we know. But it was surely

RELIGION. 523

pitiful to find the Reformed Church of Scotland acquiesc-
ing, apparently, in the proposed scheme of extermination,
instead of hastening to repair its neglect of a community,
whose spiritual needs it had for nearly forty years prac-
tically ignored. The Adventurers brought to Lewis their
own clergyman, Robert Durie, minister of Anstruther, but
there was no intention of giving him missionary work to
perform : his services were to be confined to the elect from
Fife and the Lothians. He escaped from Lewis after the
first abortive attempt of the colonists, and was, in 1601,
again appointed to plant " ane kirk " in the island.

The neglect of the Outer Hebrides by the Reformed
Church is proved by the fact, that when, in 1610, Lord
Kintail brought to Lewis, Mr. Farquhar Macrae, Vicar of
Gairloch, then a young man of thirty, to minister to the
religious wants of the people, that clergyman found it
necessary to baptise all under forty years of age, and to
re-introduce, practically, the institution of marriage. His
ministrations were gladly received, and his presence was
an influential factor in inducing the people — except the
irreconcilables — to submit to Kintail. Farquhar Macrae's
stay in Lewis was short, but the impression he created was
probably durable.

After its struggle with the Crown, Presbyterianism was,
in 1592, fully established in Scotland. But in 1606, bishops
were restored to their temporal estate, and in 1610, Epis-
copacy triumphed by the abolition of the rival organisation.
By the Acts of Assembly in 1638, and of the Scottish
Parliament in 1640, Presbyterianism was re-introduced, only
to be again replaced by Episcopacy at the Restoration. In
1 690, Episcopacy was finally abolished, and Presbyterianism
permanently adopted, being subsequently confirmed in
1707, by the Articles of Union, as the form of church
government in Scotland. These changes had little or no
practical effect upon the Western Highlands and Isles. In
the Western Highlands, the clergy and the people remained
faithful to Episcopacy ; and it was not until the eighteenth
century, that Presbyterianism was unwillingly accepted.

524 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

In the Outer Hebrides, religious observances were doubt-
less stimulated by the Statutes of Icolmkill, drawn up in
1609 f°r the improvement of the Isles ; and subsequently
by the Bond of 1614. The first Earl of Seaforth is
described as " a pious and religious " man. As patron of
the Lewis churches, he provided them with books, no doubt
of a devotional character, and he built a church in Storno-
way. And yet we find Bishop Thomas, in 1626, com-
plaining that the Earl had only paid the Bishop's father,
fifty merks of his dues, and was now refusing to pay any-
thing, denying all liability for Bishops' dues. In 1626,
there were only two ministers in Lewis, their parishes being
Barvas (including Uig), and Ui (including Lochs), the
living, in each case, being worth two thousand merks
yearly. But in spite of the regular payment of clergy-
men's stipends, the repair of " ruinous kirks," the abolition
of handfast marriages, the punishment of open immorality,
and the observance of the Sabbath, which the Statutes of
Icolmkill aimed at achieving, the theological beliefs of the
Long Island remained practically the same as before the
Reformation. In those places where the heritors belonged
to the Reformed Church, the people doubtless became, in
time, nominally Protestants, but there is abundant evidence
to show that down to the eighteenth century, the real
religion of the people was simply saint-worship, strongly
diluted by the pagan rites inherited from their Norse fore-
fathers. To this condition of things, a solitary exception
must be made, in the case of Stornoway, where Christianity
was probably of the orthodox type, Episcopacy and Pres-
byterianism alternately predominating.

The state of religion in Lewis, in 1630, is clearly indicated
by the report of Captain Dymes.* He says that in their
religion, the islanders were " very ignorant, and have been
given to the idolatrous worshipp of divers saints " ; the saint
held in greatest veneration being " Mollonuy " (Maelrubha).
The church at Ness, dedicated to Maelrubha, was kept in

* See Appendix F.

RELIGION. 525

good repair, and was frequented by those suffering from
u wounds and soares," the people having great faith in the
curative efficacy of the saint. When unable to go to the
church in person, they made a copy in wood of the limb
affected, and cut in the wood a faithful representation of
the wound. The wooden arm or leg was then sent to the
church, and laid on the altar ; and, doubtless, in due course,
the quick healing of the wound, which resulted from a
healthy constitution, plus an inordinate amount of faith, was
attributed to the direct intervention of the saint on their
behalf, as a reward for their devotion. At Candlemas and
Hallowtide each year, drunken orgies took place, followed
by dancing, the finale to the proceedings being a visit by
the people, with lights in their hands, to the church, where
they worshipped the saint all night long. Just before
Dymes's visit to the island, a minister from another parish
— probably Farquhar Clerk from Ui — came among them,
as they were preparing at Candlemas for their time-honoured
devotions, and by means of argument, warning, and threats,
induced the more moderate among them to promise to give
up their idolatrous practices.

Seventy years later, in Martin's time, the worship of
saints still prevailed, though all the people in the island
were nominally Protestants, with the exception of one
Roman Catholic family (? Mackenzie of Kildun). When
the Lewismen visited the Flannan Islands every summer
for birds' eggs, down, feathers, and quills, they observed
certain ceremonies which indicate their strict adherence to
set forms. As soon as they landed, they uncovered their
heads and made a turn sunways, thanking God for their
safety. When they came within about twenty paces of the
altar, in the chapel dedicated to St. Flannan, they stripped
themselves of their upper garments, and prayed three times
before fowling operations were commenced ; the first prayer
while advancing towards the chapel on their knees, the
second as they went round the building, and the third close
to, or at the chapel ; and the same form was observed at
vespers. These fowlers considered it unlawful to kill a

N N

526 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

bird with a stone ; it was, they said, a great barbarity, and
contrary to ancient custom.

But the most striking instance given by Martin of the
retention of pagan customs is one connected with the church
at Ness. At Hallowtide, the people came to the church
prepared for the feast, each family providing a peck of
malt which was brewed into ale, and each man having a
supply of provisions with him. Then the ceremony was
observed of propitiating the sea-god, who was presumed to
have the power of yielding, or withholding, a supply of sea-
weed for manuring the fields. A selected person waded
into the sea up to his middle, carrying a cup of ale in his
hand. With a loud voice he cried, " Shony, I give you this
cup of ale, hoping that you'll be so kind as to send us plenty
of seaware for enriching our ground the ensuing year " ;
and so saying, he threw the ale into the sea. This ceremony
was performed at night, and was followed by a visit to the
church, after which, the people repaired to the fields, where
they made merry until the morning. The rite just de-
scribed is probably a survival of the autumnal sacrificial
feast observed by the Norsemen, " Shony," as Captain
Thomas suggests, being doubtless the Icelandic Sjoni, a
nickname derived from son — an atonement or sacrifice.
Probably the invocation of Sjoni originated in the worship
of Niordr, the ruler of the sea in the Scandinavian mythology.
Donald Morison, minister of Barvas (grandson of the last
Brieve), and his son Kenneth, minister of Ui, were instru-
mental in putting down Sjoni- worship ; but the ceremony
survived in another form. The people used, in the spring,
to proceed to the end of a reef, and invoke St. Brianan to
send a strong north wind to drive plenty of seaweed ashore.
Instances of Sjoni-worship are cited, as having been ob-
served in Lewis as recently as the nineteenth century.
Martin relates other superstitions, which show how strongly
impregnated the people were with the beliefs of their
ancestors. The characteristic tenacity with which tradi-
tional customs are retained in Lewis, is proved by the fact,
that even at the present day, the superstitious practices of

5 of

RELIGION. 527

bygone times are not wholly extinct, striking instances of
which occasionally come to light.

The Morisons of Ness were notable figures in the Church
during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ; so, too,
were the Macaulays of Uig. The first Protestant minister
of Barvas (formerly Ness and Cladich) of whom there is
any record, was Murdoch McHuiston, or McHoustoun,who
was inducted in, or before, 1642. He was succeeded by
Donald Morison, who was transferred toUi in 1649, succeed-
ing Farquhar Clerk, who was inducted before 26th May,
1642. Subsequently, Donald Morison appears to have been
re-transferred to Barvas, where he died in 1699 in his
8oth year. Of his seven sons, no fewer than six became
ministers, the seventh being a surgeon. He was succeeded
at Barvas by his son, Allan, formerly of South Uist. Donald
Morison was bred an Episcopalian, but conformed to Presby-
terianism. He was succeeded at Stornoway (parish of Ui)
by his son Kenneth, who also became a Presbyterian. It
may well be believed that the simplicity of the Episcopal
service in Lewis was such, that the change to Presby-
terianism did not involve any radical alteration in the
form of worship. Kenneth Morison was a remarkable man,
well fitted to cope with the difficulties which surrounded
the Protestant clergy at that time. So high did religious
feeling run between the Protestants and the Roman
Catholics, that Morison was accustomed to carry a sword
by his side, when he walked from his manse to the church
in Stornoway ; and the church door was guarded by two
men with drawn swords. The Earl of Seaforth's uncle,
John Mackenzie of Kildun, was the leader of the Catholics,

! and the muscular Christianity of Kenneth Morison so
exasperated him, that he endeavoured to have the minister

I seized at night and carried to his house at Aignish. But
Morison was on his guard, and defeated the plot by the

i simple process of making the messengers drunk, and send-
ing them bound to their master's house, where their pitiful

' plight told its own tale. This practical rebuke by the

, minister had its due effect upon Kildun, who became

N N 2

528 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

reconciled to his enemy, and thereafter lived on good terms
with him, religious differences notwithstanding. Kenneth
had two sons, one of whom, Murdoch, was a merchant in
Stornoway. Kenneth was succeeded at Stornoway by his
cousin, Donald Morison, who died in 1746.

Aulay Macaulay, the minister of Harris who figured in
the history of Prince Charlie's wanderings, was the grand-
son of Angus Macaulay of Brenish, who was killed at
Auldearn in 1645, and great-grandson of Donald Cam, the
old enemy of the Morisons. That the relations between
the two clans had altered considerably, is evident from the
fact that Aulay Macaulay was married to a daughter of
Kenneth Morison, the minister of Stornoway. He had at
least three sons, ^neas, John, and Kenneth. John was
minister, successively of Barra, South Uist, Lismore, and
Inverary, and ended his days as minister of Cardross in
Dumbartonshire. We have already described his attempt,
in conjunction with his father, to have Prince Charles
Edward arrested at Stornoway. His son, Zachary, was the
famous slavery abolitionist, and Zachary's son was the
still more famous Lord Macaulay. Kenneth, the third of
Aulay's sons, was minister of Ardnamurchan, and after-
wards of Cawdor. He wrote a book on St. Kilda, which
Dr. Johnson described as a " well-written book, except
some foppery about liberty and slavery."

The Presbytery of the Long Island embraced by
Synod of Glenelg was, in 1724, disjoined from the Presby-
tery of Skye, and erected by the General Assembly. In
1742, the Presbytery was divided, and erected into two
distinct Presbyteries, viz., Lewis and Uist, the latter in-
cluding Harris, formerly the parish of Kilbride. The
register of the Presbytery of Lewis begins in July, 1742,
and that of Uist in February, 1768, the previous records
having been lost at sea by the upsetting of a boat, when
the crew and the passengers were drowned.* In the parish
of Stornoway, embracing the ancient parish of Ui and a

* Scott's Fasti, Vol. III., Ft. I., p. 138.

RELIGION. 529

large portion of the ancient parish of Ness, is included the
quoad sacra parish of Knock, erected in 1857. In the same
year, the quoad sacra parish of Cross was erected in the
parish of Barvas. The old parishes of Lochs and Uig, after
a lapse of many years, were re-erected by the Lords Com-
missioners of Teinds in 1722. The first minister of Lochs,
after the re- constitution, was Colin Mackenzie, ordained
in 1724, and the first of Uig was John Macleod, ordained
in 1726. The old parish churches were, respectively, St.
Columba (Ui), St. Peter (Barvas), St. Columba, on the
Island of St. Colm (Lochs), and St. Christopher (Uig). At
the disruption, in 1843, several of the Lewis ministers went
over to the Free Church.

The parish of South Uist is formed of the old parishes
of Kilpeter, Howmore, and Benbecula. The first minister
of South Uist on record is Donald Macmillan, who is
described in 1626 by Bishop Knox, as "a very old man."
Martin Macpherson, the minister of South Uist in 1658,
sheltered General Middleton from the troops of the Com-
monwealth, and his services were acknowledged, after
the Restoration, by a gift of .£200. Barra was an old
parish, but had been annexed to South Uist, from which
it was disjoined in 1733, and re-constituted as a separate
parish.

Until the system of poor rates was established by the
Poor Law Act in 1845, the Church was the chief dispenser
of alms in the Long Island. The poor were supported
by church collections, and fines imposed upon " irregular
persons," which were largely supplemented by private
charity, the latter being still exercised in various forms.
The poor were received into the houses of the well-to-do
inhabitants, and invariably received hospitable treatment.
In some parishes, the Kirk Session distributed, every spring,
among the paupers on the roll, a quantity of grain, regu-
larly set aside for their use by those of their neighbours
who could afford it. The wife of the last Lord Seaforth
was distinguished by her care of the poor in Lewis.

In educational matters, the Long Island was, until the

530 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

nineteenth century, immeasurably behind the rest of Scot-
land. Evidence of the lack of education among the
Hebridean chiefs of the sixteenth century has been given
in these pages ; and by that evidence, the ignorance of the
lower orders may well be gauged. But there were, even in
the Long Island, notable exceptions to the general illiteracy,
one of the most striking being that of Malcolm Macleod,
who, as we have seen, drew up, in 1598, a bond with the
precision of a skilled lawyer. The Fife Adventurers
brought a schoolmaster to Lewis, whose services, like those
of the minister, were to be confined to pupils within the
"Pale." In 1633, the system of parochial schools in Scot-
land, first projected in 1616, received legislative sanction.
In 1696, a school was appointed to be settled in every
parish in Scotland, and in 1704 and 1707, Education Acts
were passed, having special reference to the Highlands.
In 1700, there was only one school in the Outer Hebrides,
situated at Stornoway, where, Martin informs us, " Latin
and English " were taught. During the first half of the
eighteenth century, the Society for Propagating Christian
Knowledge, founded in 1704, performed excellent educa-
tional service in the Long Island, as elsewhere. By 1/65,
the Society had established two schools in the parish of
Stornoway, one in Harris, and one in North Uist. Besides
these schools, there was in the town of Stornoway, a school
established by the Committee for managing the Royal
Bounty,* to teach " English, Latin, writing, and arithmetic."
A school for spinning linen yarn was opened in 1763,
and was still in existence in 1813. A parochial school
was, in 1764, opened in the parish of Lochs, but there were
no schools in the parishes of Uig and Barvas. There was
a parochial school in Harris, and a Royal Bounty school
in North Uist. The Roman Catholic Islands of South
Uist and Barra were destitute of schools of any kind. It
is interesting to observe, that in the time of Charles I.,

* The Royal Bounty was an annual grant of ^"1,000 by the King, to provide
the Highlands and Isles with missionaries and schoolmasters. The ministers
had sometimes to be sharply watched, to prevent them from appropriating
to the Church, sums allocated for education.

EDUCATION. 531

the inhabitants of Barra were all Protestants ; they were
proselytised during the reign of Charles II.

About 1796, according to the Old Statistical Account,
there were two schools in the parish of Stornoway — the
parochial and the Society's — besides a spinning school.
In the parish of Barvas, there had been no parochial school
" for many years back," but the proprietor was about to
supply the deficiency, and there was a Society's school at
Ness. There were two spinning schools in the parish. In
Lochs, there were a parochial and a Society's school (both
newly erected), and two spinning schools. In Uig, there
were two schools "lately erected," and three spinning
schools. In Harris, there was a parish school (at Rodil),
and another school was about to be built by the Society,
which had already established a seminary for girls at
Rodil. North Uist and Barra each had a school, the one
in Barra having been erected by the Society.

The people did not take kindly to education, being
suspicious of its results. Some of the teachers had little
to do, but they formed useful substitutes for the ministers,
when the latter were absent from their parishes. Lord Sea-
forth exerted himself in this, as in other directions, for the
improvement of his tenantry, but he found it difficult to
overcome their prejudices. Their argument was, that their
children would leave them as the result of education. It
is curious to find an argument, which was used a hundred
years ago against education, being employed at the present
day in its favour, as forming the chief factor in the future
solution of the problem of congestion.

In the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the Gaelic
School Society of Inverness turned its attention to the
Long Island. The parent Society was founded in Edin-
burgh in 1811, and in 1818, the Inverness Society was
instituted, having as its object, the promotion of education
among the poor of the Highlands and Isles. As an indica-
tion of the vigorous efforts put forth by this Society, it may
be stated that when, in 1825, it published its Moral
Statistics, there were in Lewis nineteen schools, of which

532 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

nine were Gaelic ; and in Harris, nine schools, no fewer
than seven of which were connected with the Society.
About 1825, the General Assembly of the Church of Scot-
land moved in the same direction, and planted schools in
the most necessitous parts. When the Disruption took
place in 1843, the Free Church vied with the parent Church
in educational efforts. A great fillip was thus given to the
establishment of schools in the Outer Hebrides, which, in
Lewis, was facilitated by the hearty co-operation of Sir
James Matheson. When Sheriff Nicolson published, in
1866, his report on the state of education in the Hebrides,
there were the following schools in the Long Island, viz.,
Lewis, 48 ; Harris, 18 ;* the parish of North Uist, 15 ; Ben-
becula, 5 ; South Uist (including Eriskay), 9 ; and Barra, 5.
And yet with all this scholastic machinery, the illiteracy
was astonishing. In Lewis, 26*5 per cent, were unable to
read even in Gaelic, and 86 per cent, were unable to write ;
and the same state of matters prevailed in the rest of the
islands, South Uist and Barra being the most backward of
the group. In the town of Stornoway, as many can now
testify, the schools of that period were turning out pupils,
whose educational equipment has enabled them to hold
their own in all parts of the world, and in some instances,
to make brilliant reputations, more particularly in the
ministerial profession. In earlier generations, they turned
out such distinguished men as Colonel Colin Mackenzie,
Surveyor-General of India, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the
discoverer of that great river which bears his name, and
Kenneth Morison, the founder of the Railway Clearing
House. But in the country schools, education was more
partial, less assimilable, and too readily shed like a super-
fluous coat, to make any real impression upon the great
mass of the people. Probably, too, the adjustment of the
bi-lingual difficulty, a difficulty which still exists, was
defective. The schools were primarily the handmaidens

* The School of the S.P.C.K., in Bernera, Harris, was the oldest house on
the Long Island. It was the birthplace of Sir Roderick Macleod of Talisker
and Sir Norman Macleod of Bernera, who fought at the battle of Worcester.

EDUCATION. 533

of the Church, and clerical domination was, from an educa-
tional standpoint, not altogether an unmixed blessing.
The advent of the School Boards worked a revolution,
both in the methods and the scope of education in the
Long Island. There may be some difference of opinion,
as to whether or not the moral qualities of the pupils have
deteriorated under the present system ; but there can be
none at all as to the immeasurable superiority of its
educational machinery. The system of the Catechism and
the Cane may conceivably have turned out more complete
men, but the system of Grind and Grants is certainly turn-
ing out more finished scholars. At the present day, the
equipment of the schools in the Outer Hebrides will bear
favourable comparison with that of any in the Highlands.
It would be difficult to find a Board School anywhere of
greater efficiency than the Nicolson Institute inStornoway;
a school which owes its inception, and its principal en-
dowments, to the patriotic generosity of the family of
Lewismen whose name it bears.

When we turn to the early trade and commerce of the
Long Island, we grope in the dark. In truth, there was
little of either to find. The lack of a Royal burgh militated
severely against the development of industries. But there
is evidence to show that barter with the mainland was not
of infrequent occurrence. In 1597, some Lewismen were
on their way to Logic Market, when they met and killed
two of the Baynes of Tulloch, who were fleeing from the
fair, pursued by a party of Mackenzies. An isolated
instance like this affords a hint of the trading inter-
communication between the Outer Hebrides and the
mainland in the sixteenth century. The Dutchmen who
were invited to Lewis by Colin, Earl of Seaforth, in the
seventeenth century, exported, during their short stay in
the island, not only fish, but black cattle, hides, tallow,
plaidings, and other unnamed commodities, thus indicating
the commercial possibilities of the island under a system
of free export. In 1630, Captain Dymes reported that
the " commodities " of Lewis, other than fish, consisted of

534 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

cattle, and some •" pladinge and tartan, which is a kind of
woollen cloath wherewith they cloath themselves." Lewis-
men were in the habit of frequenting a large market which
was held for generations near Poolewe. The last of these
markets was held in 1720. Many of the Lewismen who
attended it were drowned in the Minch during a storm,
when returning home in their open boats. But Inverness
was the chief market of the Long Islanders until early in
the eighteenth century, when they began to trade by sea
with Glasgow. The custom was, to land their exports at
Glenelg and elsewhere on the west coast, transporting
them thence to Inverness on horseback ; bringing back
imports in the same manner. The loss of the trade of the
Long Island was a grievous blow to the Capital of the
Highlands.

There is in existence a statement of accounts, prepared
by Zachary Macaulay in 1/17, for Frances, Countess of
Seaforth, which shows the income and the outgo from the
Lewis estate, together with the values of various commo-
dities. The money rent of the crop was, in round figures,
£708 sterling ; the lease of the vicarage of Stornoway*
yielded £ni ; and the rental of Stornoway (crop 1715)
was ,£31. The total income was £1,354, and the total
expenditure £1,366, showing a deficit of £12. A cargo of
beef, tallow, tongues, and hides, shipped "with Skipper
Robertson as per Bill of Lading dated at Stornoway
January 25th, 1716," is valued at £214. Herrings were
valued at 135. 4d. per barrel ; ling at 335. 4d. per 100 ; cod
at 20s. per 100; beef at i6s. 8d. per barrel ; and tallow at
about 45. per stone. It is interesting to compare these
values with those given by Dr. Walker in 1765. The
stipend of Kenneth Morison (crop 1715), was about £56
(£666 135. 4d. Scots), and of Allan Morison, half that sum.
The schoolmaster's salary was £8 6s. 8d. (£100 Scots) ; the
salary of Zachary Macaulay himself was £50 (£600 Scots),
and that of the officer of Stornoway about 255. 6d.

* The glebe and manse were at Stornoway until 1758, after which they were
located at Tong.

TRADE AND COMMERCE. 535

(£1$ 6s. 8d. Scots). An interesting item is, "Watching
the water of Creed " (about 93.), which shows that salmon
poaching in Lewis is not of recent date ; the product of
the Creed, it may be added, was a barrel and a half of
salmon. Another instructive item is that of 5 odd gallons
of " aquavity " (about 68s.), spent upon " butchers, coopers,
seamen, and our workmen," from 1st September, 171 5> till
March, 1716.* "Refreshers" to workmen were obviously
of common practice, and whiskey was relatively an expen-
sive luxury.

It will be seen from these figures, that the money rent
was little more than half the total revenue. The produce
received as rent, was shipped from Stornoway, chiefly to
Leith, where it was sold. If the net result of the year in
question may be taken as a criterion, Lewis cannot have
been a profitable property to the Seaforths at the beginning
of the eighteenth century. The poverty of the people is
confirmed by a letter from Zachary Macaulay in 1721,
which, in view of the general information it affords, is here
given in full. The addressees, William Ross of Easterfearn
and Robert Ross of Tain, were the two stewards acting for
the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates, who were subse-
quently outwitted and beaten back by Donald Murchison,
young Easterfearn being mortally wounded in the skirmish
which took place.

"Stornova, February 22nd, 1721.

" GENTLEMEN,— Yours of the i6th January receaved upon the eight
of February. It's not practicable to conveen the tennents of the
Lewes att such a season as this : but I shall take care that the con-
tents of your letter be communicated to them all att their respective
duellings. I beleive yee know without my information that my Lady
Dowager of Seafort meddled with cropt one thousand seven hundred
and fifteen, and Collonel Alexander McKenzie with cropts one
thousand seven hundered and sixteen seventeen eighteen and nineteen
either by himself or his doers.

" For the ordinary method of payment of the Lewes rents please
know that the rental consists of four branches (whatever mistake
Glenkindy might have been in) viz., money meal butter and mutton.

* Seaforth MSS. in Brit. Mus.

536 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

The last branches were punctually received in their seasons. As for
money branch ther was very little of it payed in cash. But in the
monthes of October and November cowes were raised and slaughtered
and the beefe sent to such mercats as the manadgers thought fit.
Then in January February etc., aquavity was received for a con-
siderable pairt of the money rent. In short there was hardly anything
the ground produced but was received in its season and after all a
Whitsonday clearance even for one crept was never yet gotten in the
Lewes.

" I know no effects now in season (or that can be expected before
May or June) but meal or some aquavity and for the meal being it's a
little dangerous to leave it in the hands of the tennents and that others
more respcnsable may need it I'll make bold to raise as much of it as
the tennents may handsomely spare and be answerable att a day for
it. The aquavity they may delay to your own arrival. The nixt pro-
duct is milk cowes in the month of May. These for the most pairt
may be sold within the island. Thereafter in June and July driveing
cowes. How to dispose of them yee know much better than I.

"As for resistance or disobedience ther is no danger att all ther
being no spot of ground in Great Britain more effectualy disciplined
into passive obedience than the poor Lewes Island. But I can
assure yee shall find one rugged hag that will resist both King and
Government vizt., Poverty.

" It's possible that this account from a person in my circumstances
may seem disingenuous ; but I only intreat that yee intertain no
wrong impression that may but suspend your judgements till time and
your own experience determine the matter and accordinglie pass your
verdicts upon the report of

" Gentlemen, your humble servant

"ZACHARY MCAULAY."

"To Mr. William Ross of Easter Feme and Mr. Robert Ross,
Bayly of Tane."*

Dr. Walker'sf list of exports from the Long Island in
1764-5 shows quite a respectable total. From Lewis, black
cattle (in summer) and herring were the principal items,

* Eraser's Earls of Cromartie, Vol. I., pp. 39-40. Zachary Macaulay is
said to have been educated at St. Andrews University, and there to have met
Seaforth, who appointed him his factor in Lewis. Besides being a good
man of business, he was a gifted bard. He was the author of lorram n<
Truaighe, a poem written in honour of Mackenzie of Kildun ; and ^ of An
gliogram chas, the air of which, under the name of " Liggeram Cosh," was a
favourite with Burns.

t MS. in Brit. Mus. (King's, No. 105).

TRADE AND COMMERCE. 537

with dried ling and cod, dog-fish oil, whiskey — there were
twelve stills in the island — linen, yarn, wool and blanketing,
kelp, salmon, sheepskins, and feathers. Harris exported
kelp, black cattle, a little butter and cheese, some wool,
and the skins of sheep, otters, and seals. North Uist ex-
ported kelp, butter and cheese ; South Uist and Benbecula,
black cattle and kelp ; and South Uist alone, dried ling,
butter and cheese. Barra's exports consisted of black-
cattle, salted beef, hides, ling, and kelp. Lewis neither
exported nor imported grain ; Harris seldom exported or
imported it ; South Uist exported after a wet summer,
and imported after a dry one ; and Barra had usually a
little barley to spare. A large proportion of the total
exports went to the Clyde.

In 1765, labour was cheaper than in any European
country, a labourer's wages in Lewis being 28s. per
annum, while women were employed at the rate of 8s.
a year. In South Uist, the annual wages of a labourer con-
sisted of 135. in money, grain sown to the extent of i6s., and
two pairs of brogues, the whole amounting to about 315.
The cost of maintenance varied in the Long Island, from
£2 to £2 IDS. for a man, and from 255. to 305. for a woman,
per annum. By the end of the eighteenth century, owing
to the " multitudes " recruited for the army and navy, the
price of male labour had gone up to 8d. per day without
food. The labour of women in Lewis was to some extent
utilised for the spinning of linen yarn from flax, linseed
having been grown in the island since the commencement
of the eighteenth century. Captain Barlow tells us that
there was a thriving linen factory in North Uist in 1753,
which had been established by Lady Margaret Macdonald.
A spinning school was opened in Stornoway in 1763, which
proved a great success. At first there was great opposition
to the school, and the women were afraid to come to it,
fearing there was some scheme on foot to send them to the
American plantations. When the prejudice was overcome,
and the groundlessness of their fears exposed, the women
proved apt pupils, showing marked intelligence and quick-

538 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

ness ; and spinning schools were opened all over the island.
Aberdeen merchants sent annually large quantities of flax
to a trustee in Stornoway, who distributed it among the
various parishes in Lewis to be spun. The trustee's salary
was paid by the proprietor and the S.P.C.K. It is probable
that the spinning of linen yarn proved a profitable source
of revenue, until the competition of cotton rendered the
industry unremunerative.* Straw plaiting was introduced
to Lewis by the last Lord Seaforth, and still subsists in
North Uist. From the hemp in Lewis, of which there
appears to have been a large quantity grown, all the nets
required by the fishermen were made, and Dr. Walker
testifies that they were of an excellent quality. The linen
industry has its counterpart to-day in the manufacture of
tweeds in Lewis and Harris, which has been greatly stimu-
lated in recent years by the exertions of the promoters of
home industries, among whom the Duchess of Sutherland
takes chief place. Harris tweeds, the manufacture of which
owes its origin to the Countess of Dunmore, are known all
over the world, and Lewis tweeds are now sharing in their
renown.

The fishing industry has already been dealt with in
detail. In 1765, Lewis had about 100 fishing boats,
employing about 500 men ; Harris did not export a single
barrel of herring ; North Uist had not a herring net in the
island, although in the seventeenth century, 400 boats had
been loaded in Lochmaddy in one season ; South Uist was
noted for its ling, but Macdonald of Boisdale was the only
person who took an active interest in the fishing. Barra,
too, had a valuable ling fishery on the east coast of the
island, but its development was greatly retarded by the
smallness of the boats employed, and the defective nature
of the fishing tackle. For many years before 1720, there
was a great abundance of cod-fish, but after the year 1730,
few or no cod were seen. When the cod disappeared, the

* The Hebrideans appear to have been famous spinners at a very early
period. A skald, describing the dress of a warrior of the seventh century,
remarks: " Sudreyans spun the web."

TRADE AND COMMERCE. 539

ling began to frequent the coast. Mr. Walker attri-
butes the richness of the cod and ling fishing of the
Long Island to the great abundance of shellfish. Loch
Roag, on the west coast of Lewis, was, previous to 1765,
the chief seat of the winter fishing, and herrings were
caught in such abundance that they were sold at the rate
of is. per cran. At the middle of the nineteenth century, it
was the centre of an extensive lobster fishery. A London
company had an agent established there who distributed
;£3,ooo to ^4,000 per annum in wages. As many as 40,000
lobsters are said to have been sent in one week to London.
Loch Roag was also famous for the quality of its kelp. It
was the best in the Highlands, and fetched a guinea a ton
more than any other kelp.

The merchants of Stornoway were a prosperous body in
the first quarter of the nineteenth century. They monopo-
lised the fishing trade by means of the truck system, but
after the failure of kelp, the proprietor assumed the super-
vision of the industry. Mr. Stewart-Mackenzie launched
the first cod smack ever owned in Lewis, and he was the
first to send a cargo of fresh fish from the island to the
London market. In the eighteenth century, an extensive
trade was carried on between Stornoway and the Baltic,
Norway, Sweden, Holland, France, and the North of
Ireland ; and in later times, the town flourished as a port
of call for vessels trading between Liverpool and Ireland,
and the Baltic. In 1827, the chief exports from Storno-
way were cattle and fish, the latter finding its way to
markets as distant as the Mediterranean. During the five
years ending July, 1808, 17,430 barrels of cured herrings,
and 719 tons of ling and cod, were exported, bringing
about £52,000 into the town ; while the oil exported was
1 valued at £10,000.* In 1753, the shipping of the port
! consisted of about thirty vessels " great and small " ; in
; 1786, there were twenty-three decked vessels, employed

* In 1900, the value of herrings landed in Lewis and Harris was £83,547,
! and of white fish £2 1,487. (Report on Lewis by the Crofters Commission,
i Appendix K, p. 34.)

540 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

during summer in the herring bounty trade, and at other
times in the coasting trade; in 1796, the number was
thirty. In 1811, it had risen to forty-four vessels of six-
teen to 127 tons burthen, aggregating 1,612 tons, and
giving employment to 156 men and boys. In 1827, the
number of trading vessels belonging to the port stood at
seven ; but the enterprise of Sir James Matheson, who added
a patent ship to his many improvements, gave a stimulus to
the shipping industry during the succeeding half century.
Until they were gradually eliminated by the victorious
inroads of steam, the sailing vessels of Stornoway were
a lucrative source of revenue to their owners, and to the
town.

At the end of the eighteenth century, inroads of a more
dramatic nature were made upon the shipping of the port.
In 1799, a Stornoway vessel was captured by a French
privateer almost in sight of Stornoway Harbour ; and that
was only one of similar losses during the war with France.
The whole of the shipping in the harbour, and the town
itself, were on one occasion " held up " by two impudent
privateers, which took possession of the Minch for a whole
fortnight, none daring to make them afraid. Mr. Headrick,
writing in 1800 about these occurrences, thought it was
high time for a battery to be established in Stornoway for
the defence of the town. It is now, a century later, one
of the chief stations in the kingdom, of the Royal Naval
Reserve, and possesses one of the most efficient corps of
volunteers in the North of Scotland. Recruits for the
Navy, as well as for the Army, were readily obtainable in
the Long Island in the eighteenth, and during part of the
nineteenth, century ; but when the supply grew scarce, the
pressgang scoured the coast. Many a tale could be told
of the operations in those remote parts, both of the press-
gang and of smugglers. Both systems relieved the mon<
tony of life in the Outer Hebrides ; but while one add<
to the gaiety of the people, the other had a distinct!]
sobering effect. Illicit distilling was carried on openly ii
Lewis as late as 1827. It was no uncommon thing for

THE MAILS. 541

even the Excise officers to be asked, when they were
treated to a glass, which whiskey they preferred, " Coll,"
or " Gress," both of which farms had celebrated stills.
Distilleries were erected in the island to counteract the
illicit trade, which, however, died hard. In 1833, Storno-
way had no less than eighteen licensed houses, some of
them shebeens of the worst description. The changed
sentiment of the community has effectually purged the
town of these moral pests.

As we have seen, Stornoway had a Custom House in
the first half of the eighteenth century. A Post-Office was
erected in 1752, the first, apparently, in the Hebrides.
Communication between Lewis and the mainland, about
the middle of the nineteenth century, was of the most
uncertain character. At the beginning of the eighteenth
century, the isolation of the island during the winter
months was complete. In 1707, a suggestion was made,
in consequence of this isolation, that " a substantial "
inhabitant of Stornoway be appointed to collect the Excise
duties on commission. In 1759, a fortnightly packet
service was established between Stornoway and Poolewe,
and about the end of the century, a new packet was
bought, which sailed once a week, weather permitting,
between the two ports. The cost of the service was £i$ot
of which the Government paid £70, and Lord Seaforth
£60, the latter recouping himself by passengers' fares,
which, it may be observed, were only 2s. 6d. to 45. 6d. each
passenger. In 1823, Mr Stewart-Mackenzie bought the
Glenelg of Glenelg, a smack of about sixty tons, to run
weekly between Stornoway and Poolewe. On a stormy
morning in November, 1824, she was lost with all on
board, soon after leaving Poolewe ; one of the three
passengers being the Rev. Mr. Fraser, minister of Storno-
way, who over-persuaded the master to attempt the
crossing. The packet that succeeded her is described by
Lord Teignmouth, who travelled by her in 1827, as an
ill-found craft, with a cabin which no passenger could
enter ; on the occasion in question, she took seventeen

o o

542 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

hours to cross from Poolewe to Stornoway. The smack
North Britain, Captain Leslie, who is still remembered in
Stornoway, was on the service for eighteen years : and the
Lady Hood, called after Lord Seaforth's daughter, was one
of the last of the old sailers, before steam communication
between Stornoway and Ullapool was, at a heavy cost to
himself, established by Sir James Matheson ; the first of
the steamers being the Ondine. When the railway was
extended to Strome Ferry, the latter took the place of
Ullapool ; and the mainland termini at the present day
are Kyle of Lochalsh and Mallaig, the mail contract being
in the hands of Mr. David MacBrayne.

The rest of the Long Island was served in the eighteenth
century by a packet, which sailed to Dunvegan once a fort-
night. By 1 827, the service had become bi-weekly ; and
daily communication with the mainland is now maintained.
It is a curious commentary on the fiscal arrangements
existing in the Long Island, as recently as seventy years
ago, that a tax, which was facetiously termed " road-money,"
was — in Harris at least — applied to the support of the
packet ; to the payment of part of the schoolmaster's
salary ; to the payment of the salaries of a resident
surgeon, constables, and public shepherds ; and to meet the
assessed taxes on dogs levied on small tenants. " Road-
money " in the Long Island appears to have been a compre-
hensive impost, which covered a multitude of factorial sins.
Criminal procedure in Stornoway was curiously archaic
even in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. A case
of sheep-stealing was punished in 1788, by the culprit
being taken from the Tolbooth, having a rope round his
neck, and a placard placed on his breast, bearing the
words " sheep-stealing " in large characters. He was then
led through the streets of the town by the common
executioner, and received fifty lashes on his bare back, ten
at each of five appointed places.* Banishment from Lewis

* In the case quoted, the five places were : — " Point Street ; on the South
Shore opposite, or to the east of, the house of Mr. Kenneth Morison ; Goathill,
Bayhead, and Cromwell Street."

muni

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE. 543

and the County of Ross usually followed the whipping;
perpetual, or for a term of years, according to the circum-
stances of the offence. In 1818, a prisoner convicted of
theft applied for, and received, in exchange for his liberty,
the office of common executioner for Stornoway, then
vacant, with the fees, perquisites, and emoluments, per-
taining to the office. In 1820, a woman convicted of theft
was condemned to be taken from prison with a rope round
her neck, and a label on her breast, with the words " habit
and repute a thief," inscribed thereon in large characters.
She was then to be put in the pillory for two hours, and
afterwards banished from the Counties of Ross and
Cromarty for a term of seven years.*

It might be inferred from instances like the above, that
Stornoway must have been considerably behind the times
in the early years of the nineteenth century. Yet we find
Dr. McCulloch, a very superior person indeed, paying his
tribute to its modernity. It had its fashions, its tea-parties,
its politics, its scandal, and its gossip ; and the critical
doctor was able to have his rubber of whist. There is a
remarkable consensus of opinion among all the travellers
who visited Stornoway, as to its go-aheadness and its
pleasing appearance, forming then, as now, such a strong
contrast to the rest of the Long Island. This opinion is,
however, qualified by the allusions to the old part of the
town, occupied by sailors and fishermen, which, at the end
of the eighteenth century, consisted of thatched huts.f As
far back as 1796, Stornoway had a Town House and an
Assembly-room. It had also an attorney and a Roman
Catholic priest, the latter of whom, the reverend compiler
of the Old Statistical Account somewhat maliciously adds,
was " without an individual of a flock."

We must now survey, necessarily in a brief summary,
the general conditions, social and economic, which prevailed
in the Long Island after its incorporation with the Kingdom

* Juridical Review, June 1900, pp. 176-183.

t Captain Barlow states that in 1753, the town consisted of "about 100
thatched huts."

O O 2

544 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

of Scotland. It is a subject which, to do it justice, requires
a volume for itself.

The scattered references by contemporary writers enable
us to form a more or less accurate idea of the social structure
of the Isles, during and after the clan period. While
charters and covenants played an important part in the
division of land, the real basis of tenure was that of Celtic
feudalism. And Celtic feudalism was an essentially
different thing from the primitive tribal system, which had
its roots in the vague and shadowy past. The sturdy inde-
pendence of the Norse democracy in the Long Island must
have left its impression ; but that impression was gradually
obliterated by the feudalism which was engrafted upon the
patriarchal system of the Celtic tribes. The fruit of this
grafting process was the clan system, which differed in its
operations both from Anglo-Norman feudalism, and from
the primitive conditions which governed the tribal com-
munities. Certain of its elements had neither the sanction
of Law, as in the one case, nor the sanction of Custom, as
in the other. Partaking of the character of both, it gradu-
ally evolved distinctive features, which it possessed in
common with the Border polity. The tendency of its
development was in the direction of absolutism, which was
not only opposed to the spirit of the patriarchal system,
but was a source of danger to the State. The clansmen
gradually lost their cohesion, and with their cohesion, the
rights of the community in the land ; with the era of Crown
charters, the supreme power passed into the hands of the
chiefs. And how they used that power, the history of the
Highlands and the Hebrides testifies.

In the Long Island, as in the Hebrides generally, there
were two distinct castes, the military class, and the labourers
of the ground. Celtic feudalism drove a wedge between the
two, and there is clear evidence of the thoroughness of the
cleavage. The whole power of the community was vested
in an oligarchy, composed of the chiefs and their relatives ;
while the proletariat were reduced to a condition not far
removed from that of the thralls during the Norse occupa-

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS. 545

tion of the Hebrides. The fighting, the hunting, the feasting
class fought, and hunted, and feasted, at the expense of the
class that stayed at home to till the soil. The sword was a
mightier weapon than the spade ; prowess in arms was of
weightier concern than skill in agriculture. The lusty
young men who followed their chiefs to the field of battle,
looked down with contempt upon the helots who toiled in
the field of corn. The bards flattered the vanity of the
chiefs by fulsome eulogies, and encouraged their predatory
instincts by the glorification of slaughter. And the pro-
letariat sweated at their spades, and reared their cattle,
to support the idle crowd in a state of barbaric splendour.
Such, stripped of its glamour, is an outline of the operation
of the clan system in the Outer Hebrides.

The Church acted as a buffer between the two classes,
and mitigated the sufferings of the one, while it restrained
the tyranny of the other. What it failed to effect by moral
suasion, it succeeded in accomplishing by the terrors of
superstition. It insisted upon the observance of Christian
rites, and employed the weapon of excommunication to
enforce its decrees. But it could not, even if it tried, alter
the fabric of the social system ; and its own polity was in
accord with unquestioning submission to authority. When,
as we have seen, the Reformation subverted the old order
of things, and the Outer Hebrides were temporarily
deprived of religious teaching, the unrestrained evils of the
clan system gathered force until they culminated, at the
end of the sixteenth century, in a state of anarchy.

The reforming agencies at work in the seventeenth
century curbed the power of the chiefs, and stripped them
of a portion of their semi-regal magnificence. The
arbitrary authority which they exercised over their depen-
dents was, in a measure, curtailed ; and a gradual im-
provement in social, religious, and economic conditions was
initiated. The chiefs of the Mackenzies introduced into
Lewis a more enlightened form of civilisation than it had
ever previously enjoyed. But they flooded the island with
their own followers, and granted them land on easy condi-

546 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

tions. To the gentlemen of their clan — the duinewassels —
they gave leases ; and the latter, in turn, sub-let on such
terms as enabled them to sit rent-free. The era of the
tacksmen set in, and in some respects the peasantry were
worse off than ever. The sub-tenants were entirely at the
mercy of the tacksmen, who occasionally exercised their
power in a more oppressive manner than the chiefs had
ever done. Unprejudiced observers in the latter half of the
eighteenth century, give clear testimony of the hardships
entailed by tenure from the tacksmen. These leasehold
lairdlings were undoubtedly under strong temptation to
overstep the bounds of fairness and justice. They were
men of education and experience, while the lower classes
were steeped in ignorance and poverty, and thoroughly op-
posed to change. The conservatism of their character, and
the unparalleled cheapness of labour, facilitated the imposi-
tion of the monstrous " services " which were exacted from
them by right of ancient usage. By these " services," the
people were bled from their birth to their dying day ; and
by these "services," the leaseholders fattened on their
inferiors. The tacksmen who rose superior to the obvious
opportunities of tyranny, afforded by so iniquitous a system,
were worthy of respect ; just as the chiefs who, in spite of
Celtic feudalism, retained the patriarchal regard for their
clansmen which was the basis of the tribal polity, are
also deserving of praise. In each case, it was the system
that was at fault, and it was the system that transformed
otherwise honourable men into the instruments of cruel
injustice and gross despotism. When the tacksmen, as
a class, disappeared from the Long Island — the surplus
produce being found insufficient to support the two sets
of landlords — the evils were greatly mitigated, but not
altogether eradicated. Factors, clothed in a little brief
authority by absentee landlordism, endeavoured in some
instances to revive some of the ancient exactions. Even
as recently as the second half of the nineteenth century,
the autocratic sway of certain factors in the Long Island
— particularly in Lewis — was exercised in a manner which

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS. 547

can only be characterised as mediaeval. But in the
twentieth century, such abuse of power is, fortunately,
no longer possible.

The system of agriculture was practically the same in
the eighteenth as in the sixteenth century, when Dean
Monro visited the islands ; and it was probably the same
in the sixteenth, as it was in the sixth, century. In no part
of the British Islands were conditions so backward, and in
no part was the standard of comfort so low. The cas-
chrom, the crooked spade-plough employed in agriculture,
typified the stage of agricultural development at which the
people had arrived ; and the cas-chrom was in common use
until the nineteenth century, and is not yet wholly extinct.
Not until the second half of the eighteenth century, was
the use of hay known ; and not until the nineteenth
century, was artificial drainage practised. The crofting
system, the principle of which was one man one holding,
was not introduced until the first quarter of the nineteenth
century, when it superseded the run-rig system, the co-
operative principle of which was found to be unconducing
to energy. Barley and oats, with occasional patches of
rye, linseed, and (in Lewis), hempseed, were the only crops
grown until 1743, when Clanranald (or Macdonald of Bois-
dale) introdtced the potato to South Uist from Ireland.
At first, the people would have none of the new root, which
they regardeo with disgust and contempt.* " You made
us plant those worthless things," they said to Clanranald,
" but, Virgin Vlary, will you make us eat them ? " The
potato was introduced to Lewis between 1750 and 1760,
and met with a similar reception. When the prejudice
against it was eventually removed, the pendulum swung to
the other side. The despised tuber became the staff of life
in the Long Island. And when the great famine swept
over the Outer Hebrides between 1846 and 1850, it was the
failure of the potato crops that was mainly responsible for
the terrible destitution which prevailed. Public and private

* They had prevously used the brisgeant the root of the silver weed.

48 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

help was freely given to the islanders to tide over their
misfortunes. The proprietor of Lewis, by the energy and
public spirit which he displayed during that trying period,
well deserved the recognition which his services received at
the hands of the Crown, in 1851, when he was created
a baronet of the United Kingdom. The improvements
effected by Sir James Matheson in Lewis, at a cost of
^240,000, increased the prosperity of the people ; or, to
put it in a negative and more correct form, they served
to decrease their poverty. If the value of the estate was
coincidently appreciated by the improvements, tie result
was a combination of mutual benefit which is onK too rare
in the history of the Hebrides. Had the proprietor's great
scheme of drainage, under the direction of Mr. James Smith
of Deanston, met with the permanent success vhich was
anticipated, the face of Lewis would have been changed.
But although the greatest authority on drainage of his day
failed to make " another Carse of Gowrie " of the bogs he
had undertaken to reclaim, it is not beyond the bounds of
possibility that modern science may yet succeec in making
these wildernesses blossom like the rose.

The advent of kelp to the Outer Hebrides was an event
of the greatest economic importance. A state of fictitious
prosperity was created, which appeared for a lime to have
solved the problem of poverty. As with tie potato, so
with kelp, a knowledge of its manufacture wa* first brought
from Ireland to Uist by Macdonald of Boisdale (or, accord-
ing to other accounts, by Macdonald of Baleshare). Since
1722, kelp had been made in the Orkneys, ind it was first
manufactured in North Uist in 1735, an Irishman named
Roderick Macdonald having been brought over by Bale-
share to instruct the people in its manufacure. In 1748,
it was first made in Harris, on the initiative of Macleod
of Bernera. The date of its introduction to Lewis is
unknown. The vicissitudes of the industry in the Long
Island were remarkable. The high- water mark was
reached at the commencement of the nineteenth century,
when as much as £22 per ton is said to have been paid,

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS. 549

but that must be considered quite an extreme figure. For
this inflation of value, the war with France was chiefly
responsible. For the twenty -two years ending 1822, the
average price was £10 los. A succession of heavy blows
played havoc with kelp. The high duty on the imports of
barilla from Spain was removed ; the duty on salt was
repealed ; and potash salts from Saxony were added to the
list of competitors. In 1831, as low a price as £2 per ton
was reached. The increasing uses of iodine saved the
trade from extinction ; but when, about 1875, iodine was
imported from Chili, and, subsequently, from Peru, the
| manufacture of kelp was again rendered unremunerative.
An effort was made in 1863 to revive the industry in Tiree,
and subsequently in North Uist, on more scientific princi-
ples than had formerly obtained ; but the attempt had to be
abandoned in Uist, and last year, the works in Tiree were
closed.

The revenue derived by the proprietors of the Long
Island from kelp, during its palmy days, was considerable.
To the proprietors of Uist, especially, it proved a veritable
gold mine. In 1812, the net proceeds of kelp in North
Uist exceeded £14,000, and for several years afterwards,
they fell little short of that sum. By 1837, the profits had
dwindled to an insignificant amount. About 1790, the
rental of South Uist was £2,200. As kelp increased in
value, the rental rose rapidly to £15,000. By 1837, it had
fallen to £5,000. In 1.825, tne net proceeds from kelp in
Harris were about £2,180 ; in 1826, about £800; in 1828,
about £280; and in 1829, the balance was on the wrong
side.* While the boom lasted, the people were in a state
of comparative comfort, though their share of the profits
was not commensurate with the terribly arduous labour
which kelp-burning entailed. But the proprietors lived up
to their inflated incomes, and the people saved nothing
jfrom their increased wages. When the bubble burst, ruin
istared proprietors and people alike in the face. General

* During the palmy days, early in the century, Lord Seaforth derived a
venue of about ,£8,000 per annum from the kelp manufactured in Lewis.

"

550 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Macneill had erected expensive chemical works in Barra
for the manufacture of soap from kelp ; the money was
lost. The proprietors of Uist and Harris had made
provision against a fall in revenue ; the chief source ol
revenue was now gone. An increased population had beei
stimulated by the increased standard of comfort in the
islands ; the prosperous times were now over. Emigratioi
had been discouraged to provide a sufficiency of labour
the supply of labour now exceeded the demand. Th<
wages of the kelpers had been over four pounds a ton ;
were now reduced by more than half. Agriculture and th<
fisheries had been neglected in the feverish haste to tun
kelp into money, and the fish had been scared away froi
the coast ; an insufficiency of food was now threatened,
and in Barra, the people had to live chiefly on shellfish
The extravagance of the proprietors could have but on<
result, when the reaction set in. All the estates in th<
Long Island changed hands during the nineteenth century
and to that result, the bursting of the kelp-bubble contri-
buted in no small degree.

When kelp went out, distress came in. The people wen
unable to pay their rents, which do not appear to have
been much, if at all, reduced. By the failure of kelp,
fresh impetus was given to the neglected arts of agricul-
ture and fishing. But the mischief had already been don<
A renewed exodus to America took place. From Lewii
especially from the parish of Lochs — emigrants went t(
Nova Scotia, where their success would have caused many
to follow their example, had it not been for their reluctance
to part with their cattle at the low prices ruling. Six
hundred people went to British America from North Uist
in 1828, and from Barra a constant stream of emigrants
kept pouring into Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. Up to
this time, the policy of the proprietors had been to keep the
peasantry at home, but a reversal of that policy was now
initiated; and when the destitution of 1846-50 occurred,
the expediency of the new policy became increasingly
apparent. Much has been said and written for and against

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS. 551

emigration, but it would be foreign to our purpose to enter
into a discussion of the merits of the question. Like most
questions, there is a good deal to be said on both sides,
a view which is frequently overlooked, alike by the in-
temperate advocates, and the intemperate opponents, of
emigration. But one aspect of the question admits of no
discussion ; and that is, the immorality of expatriation, or
compulsory emigration. Colonel Gordon of Cluny, the new
proprietor of South Uist and Barra, earned an unenviable
notoriety in that respect. It may be assumed, from the
fact that he offered to sell the Island of Barra to the
Government as a convict station, that he was not a man
who could be charged with sentimental weakness. He
was confronted with the perplexing problem of dealing
with a surplus population ; and he attempted to solve it in
his own way. It appears to be only too well authenticated
that his ultimate method of meeting the difficulty was the
simple one of expatriation to Canada, where the immigrants
were to be left to shift for themselves.* For the deceitful
promises by which the people were induced to assemble at
Loch Boisdale ; for the scenes which occurred when the
disillusioned peasants fled to the mountains, and were
dragged on board the transports by main force; for such
acts as these, which were the counterpart of the worst
abuses of the slave trade, Colonel Gordon must share the
responsibility with his agents, the chief of whom was a
minister, who seems to have been a disgrace to his
cloth. At the present day, descendants of the peasants
from Barra and South Uist, who were left starving in
Upper Canada in 1851-2, must marvel that only half
a century ago, such things could happen in a civilised
country.

The problem of disposing of a surplus population
awaited solution in the other parts of the Long Island,
equally with South Uist and Barra. Early and improvi-
dent marriages, and the prevalence of the squatting system,

* Contemporary Quebec Times, quoted in Donald Macleod's Gloomy
Memories, pp. 139-141.

552 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

were the chief causes assigned by the proprietors for the
poverty and congestion ; the gradual attenuation of their
holdings, to increase the area of deer forests and farms, was
the chief cause from the tenants' standpoint. Proprietors
and people were both right in their assumptions : each
half of the truth formed the complement of the other half.
In Lewis, the congestion, consequent upon the gradual
increase of landless cottars, was a more pressing questioitj
than in any other island of the Hebrides. Sir Jame
Matheson was fully alive to the obvious outlet for th
surplus population, which emigration provided. But he wa
a humane, as well as a practical man, and emigratio
from Lewis has always been free from the stain of an
compulsion, except that of circumstances. In 1851, 185:
and 1855, 1,772 persons emigrated from Lewis, chiefly t
Canada, at the proprietor's expense. Since then, a revu
sion of feeling has set in, and a wholesale exodus from th
Outer Hebrides is now a thing of the past, although th
congestion, particularly in Lewis, is greater than ever. A
one time, the difficulty was to keep the people from em
grating ; now the conditions are exactly reversed. Govern
ment aid has been freely offered to stimulate emigratioi
but all to no purpose. Discouraging reports from UP
successful settlers ; the indoctrination of the people wit
modern ideas of property, its rights, and its duties ; their
acquisition of political power ; the relief afforded by the
Crofters Act and by Treasury grants for developing the
fishing industry ; all these elements have combined to
render emigration distasteful and impossible. The Long
Islander clings like his native limpet to the rocky shore
that is his home ; the possibilities across the seas are, in
his view, a poor off-set against the wrench from early
associations.

The fluctuations in the population of the islands are
curiously illustrative of the results we have been noticing.
The earliest record of the population and rental of Lewis
we possess, are those given in 1630. In that year, the
population was about 4,000, and the rental 12,000 merks

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS. 553

Scots which, with the two deer forests* and other casual-
ties, valued at 6,000 merks Scots, made a total rental
equivalent to about £1,000 sterling. In 1755, tne popula-
tion was 6,386 ; in 1763 it stood at 6,938, and the rental at
£1,200. In 1 79 1, the population was 8,311 ; in 1801,9,168 ;
and in 181 1, 10,522, the rental in the last-named year being
i £4,697. In 1841, the population was 17,037 ; and in 1844,
, when the property changed hands, the rental was £9,800.
j In 1851, the population stood at 19,695, of which number,
in the previous year, there were no fewer than 11,000
persons in receipt of relief from the Destitution Fund,
exclusive of paupers on the roll. In 1861 and 1871, the
census figures were 21,056 and 23,483 respectively ; and
in 1865 the rental was £12,670. During the last thirty
years, the increase in the population has been consistently
maintained, the figures for 1901 being 28,949. The present
rental is £32,768, about one-half of which pertains to the
Burgh of Stornoway. It will be seen from these figures,
that at no period did the outflow of the population from
Lewis overtake the natural increment.

Harris, including its pertinents, had in 1755, a population
of 1,965 ; and in 1765, the number stood at 1,093, wn^h a
rental of £600, which had increased to £3,589 by 1832. In
1792, the population was 2,536; in 1824, it was 3,551 ; in
1 84 1, over 4,000; and in 1 86 1, the figures were 4, 183, a large
emigration to Canada having taken place during the twenty
years after 1841. The population in 1901 was 5,253, in-
cluding Bernera and St. Kilda, and the rental now stands
at £5,145.

In 1755, North Uist had a population of 1,909 ; and in
1765, 2,465, with a rental (including kelp) of £1,300, which,
about 1796, was £2,100; in 1851, £3,327; and in 1865,
£4,155. The population was 3,218 about 1796; 3,010 in
1801 ; 3,863 in 1811 ; 4,971 in 1821 ; 4,603 in 1831; about
4,418 in 1841 ; 3,918 in 1851 ; and 3,959 in 1861. The

* The strict preservation of game at that period (1630) is shown by a con-
tract entered into in 1628 by the heritors of Lewis, Harris, North and South
Uist, Raasay, and Strathordill. (Collectanea de Rebus Alfanicis, pp. 190-3.)

554 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

steady declension between 1821 and 1851 is remarkable, the
largest fall, which occurred during the decennial period of
1841-51, pointing to a considerable exodus of the people.
At the last census, the population was 3,862, and the rental f
now stands at £5,301.

In Benbecula, the number of inhabitants was 600 in
1765, and the rental (including kelp) was £458. In 186;
the population was 1,544. South Uist had, in 1765,
population of 1,580, and the rental was about £500. The
population was 4,595 in 1801 ; 4,825 in 1811 ; 6,038 ii
1824; 7,333 in 1841; and 5,358 in 1861, the last tw<
numbers including the inhabitants of Benbecula. In 1864,
the rental of South Uist alone was £5,635. A decreai
of nearly 2,000 persons, or about 27 per cent, of the
population in twenty years, is clear evidence of what
occurred after the famine, when the proprietor adopted
the policy of wholesale expatriation. The population of
the parish of South Uist in 1901 was 5,489, and the rental
is £6,096.

The inhabitants of Barra and its pertinents numbered
1,150 in 1755; I>2^5 in 1764, when the rental was £298.
The number of inhabitants was 1,604 'in I79l \ I,925 'm
1801 ; 1,969 in 1811 ; 2,303 in 1821 ; 2,097 m I^3I 5 anc^
1,853 m ^i. Here we see the effects of the kelp debacle
in the first period of decline, and of Colonel Gordon's
" crowning mercy " in the second. The rental of the estate
amounted to £1,692 in 1865. In 1901, the population of
the parish of Barra was 2,542, and the rental stands at
£2,492.

It will thus be seen that during the period embraced
between 1770 and 1860, the number of emigrants from
the Long Island reached a very large total. Their
descendants are to-day to be found in Canada, Nova
Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, forming colonies where
Gaelic is still a spoken language, and where the people still
" behold in dreams the distant Hebrides."

It need hardly be said that deeper causes than any of
those mentioned, lay at the root of the misery which pre-

>f

:

:d in the

.

'

i and insecurity
•he inertia of the people, and f

which they were con ten'
proken by the oppressions of the p
vere paralysed by the uncertaintir-.
Irtnd problem in the Long Island is <
tion, and may } <bly> present

histoi

will form

e Bernera

It will d-
ed the p,
able cone

-
unanimous in m

'Holdings,
iency of
e for

• '.: ,

enet

>le. It will
performed b;
ilties, dis<

imorous n

ic Congested

Outer Hebri'

k of this Board if,
Whethr

land for land

Dm and state
E) the Hie.
of surpa

;.nd the
Hebrici

of the system \
in 1886, an
iial legislatic
..kcord of the
:\ mission
/quy. I

rgemerir
n, the ultin
ler its c

'duct ion

e, all u
sland, a.
ties, an c;

pier and m<

wish succ and to all

556 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

of melioration. Meanwhile, it is highly satisfactory t(
observe the cordial relations which exist at the present
between nearly all the proprietors of the Long Island an<
their tenantry : it augurs well for the friendly solution oi
any problems which may, and probably will, arise in th<
future.

THE GEOLOGY, PHYSICAL FEATURES,
BOTANY, AND VERTEBRATES OF

THE OUTER HEBRIDES.
BY THE REV. WILLIAM MORRISON, M.A., CARR BRIDGE.

" THE LONG ISLAND," as this chain of islands forming the
Outer Hebrides is named, extends from Barra Head to the
Butt of Lewis. Geologically it is interesting, as it forms a
huge breakwater to the Atlantic, which otherwise would
have long ago swept away the later formations which com-
pose the Inner Hebrides, and would have made serious
I inroads on the western seaboard of the mainland. The
! rock formation of the Outer Hebrides stands out as a
| solid wall of Archaean age, breasting the billows of the
! ocean in their ceaseless assault upon our islands. True,
the upper tiers of that wall have gone by marine erosion
I when the " Long Island " was submerged under the waters
i of the Atlantic, but as these tiers of later rocks were removed,
| the basement rose as a bulwark against the breaching action
of the sea. This accounts for the general flatness of those
islands. On the mainland of Sutherlandshire the same
rock formation is seen levelled down with almost mathe-
matical precision, and on this level platform the huge
masses of the Torridon Sandstone formation rises to
thousands of feet into the air. These Torridon Sandstones
— in vast sheets — run from near Cape Wrath to the
Lochcarron, and give an impressive idea of the appalling
i antiquity of the underlying rock formation of the Archaean
rocks of the Outer Hebrides. Standing on these Archaean
rocks, we really stand on the basement of the geological
[staircase of the globe. This basement rises nowhere to
;hills of over 3,000 feet. The "outliers" or peaks of the
formation may be seen in North Rona, the north part of
jRaasay, Coll, Tiree and lona, but in their greatest extent
;in the islands of the Outer Hebrides. St. Kilda is geologi-

p P

558 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

cally of a different formation from the rest of the Outer
Hebrides. The prevalent " strike " or direction of
ridges, where the rock rises above the general slope, is fr
north-west to south-east. This direction, as seen best ii
the Harris hills, is at right angles to the general directi<
of the mountain chains of later formation on the mainlam
Indeed, this " strike " or direction is characteristic of tl
most ancient formation. As the strata, however, is
turning round arches of gentle curve, the " strike " in man]
places is from north-east to south-west. According to tl
late Professor Nicol of Aberdeen, the whole of the Central
and North- West Highlands is composed of these Archaean
rocks. The Gneiss, as this rock is named, is composed of
the following minerals : felspar, mica, hornblende an<
quartz. In the Outer Hebrides the hornblende prevail
over the mica as a constituent of the Gneiss. The struc-
ture varies from granitic, where the lines of foliation nearly
disappear, to the coarse schistose or flaggy, where the lines
are distinctly visible. These lines are no indication of the
gneiss having been laid down in water as sedimentary
rocks, though in all probability they were so formed. The
lines of " foliation " are rather indications of the rock havii
been changed by heat and pressure, so that the segregation
of the minerals which form these lines took place by the
relative cooling into the crystalline form of the separate
minerals which compose the gneiss. The gneiss passes, as
it has been above said, from the foliated state to the
amorphous — or shapeless granitic state. This is well seen
in Lewis, where the flaky gneiss of the east side of the
island passes into the compact gneiss or granite of Beinn
Bhragair. With the exception of this granite, which, by
the way, compares well with the best Aberdeen grey granite,
the gneiss of Lewis weathers rapidly, and hence is not
durable as a building stone. Lewis Castle, at Stornoway,
is built of the Bragar Granite. The stone used in the best
class of houses in Stornoway is taken from the Torridon
Sandstone of Isle of Martin at the entrance of Loch Broom
across the Minch.

GEOLOGY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 559

The Lewisian gneiss is known to geologists as the
' Laurentian " gneiss or as the " Fundamental " gneiss, on
account of its peculiar character, or its having been related
to the gneiss of Labrador and that of the Coasts of the
Mouth of the St. Lawrence. The reappearance of this
gneiss on the Eastern shore of the North Atlantic basin
suggests the belief in a submerged continent — " the lost
Atlantis " — that once extended across this basin. The
" Telegraph Plateau " extending across to Newfoundland
probably is a higher ridge of this sunk continent.

THE CONGLOMERATE FORMATION.

On the east of Lewis, skirting part of Broad Bay and
Loch Stornoway, is a peculiar red or chocolate coloured
conglomerate which Sir Roderick Murchison, on a cursory
view, referred to the Torridon Sandstone formation on the
other side of the Minch. A closer examination of this
rock shows that it is wholly of local origin — and of an un-
certain age. Huge boulders of the adjacent gneiss are to
be seen embedded in this conglomerate. Indeed, the
minerals peculiar to the Lewisian gneiss form the " rubble "
or matrix in which these gneiss blocks are found.

The writer made a detailed examination of this singular
conglomerate which he communicated to the Edinburgh
Geological Society several years ago, of which paper the
following extract may be interesting to Lewismen.

THE CONGLOMERATES OF LEWIS.

On the east of Lewis, and wholly within the parish of
Stornoway, is an extensive area of Conglomerate, formerly
believed to have been Old Red Sandstone. Macculloch,
in his Geology of the Western Islands of Scotland, thus
refers to it : — " It would be concluded, from its general
character, to be analogous to the Old Red Sandstone; and
therefore, like the rock to which I have compared it, to be
the first of the secondary strata. Yet this opinion is
subject to serious doubts." Notwithstanding this caveat of

p p t

560 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Macculloch's, this deposit had been put down on Knipe's
Geological Map as Old Red, with a note, however, that
Murchison had called in question this belief, and had
stated, at a meeting of the British Association, held at
Leeds on September 28th, 1858, that his opinion was that
the whole of the sedimentary rocks in the north-west, from
Cape Wrath to Sleat in Skye, were Cambrian. That
opinion has been accepted by Geikie ; but in these days of
" obstinate questionings, blank misgivings," that opinion is
itself called in question.

Whatever opinion he held regarding the age of the
Torridon Sandstone — whether it be of Cambrian or of
Precambrian Age — my proposition is that the Lewis
Conglomerate has been connected with that sandstone on
inadequate grounds.

Heddle, in his Geognosy of Scotland, Part I
41 Sutherland," conclusively shows that the Torrid
Sandstone grits or Conglomerates are not, as Murchi
supposed they were, " made up exclusively of the gneiss
on which they rest." Heddle shows that the marked
absence of hornblende from the Torridon formation — an
absence remarked also by Macculloch, Cunningham,
Nicol, and Professor Bonney — is a difficulty not to
be surmounted by Murchison's view. True, as Heddle
admits, that he is not in a position to deny that
this many-bedded formation is in some part formed
of the ruins of the underlying gneiss ; yet the total
absence, or almost total absence of hornblende, and the
presence, on the other hand, of the very " large amount of
fine-grained porphyries, and especially of colloidal silica —
as seen in jaspers, cherts, and vein-hornstones — which goes
to form its pebbles," point to some other than the presently
remaining Archaean rocks as the parent source of these
sandstones, grits, and conglomerates. Dr. Hicks, quoted
by Heddle, points out that the presence of bits of greenish,
purplish, and reddish slates, jasper, &c., in these Con-
glomerates, makes it quite possible that in some other
area, not far distant, representatives of these Precambrian

GEOLOGY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 561

rocks may be found, as the derivative source of the com-
ponents of the Conglomerates of Torridon.

The main conclusion here is, that the Torridon Con-
glomerates are not, as a whole, made up of fragments 01
the Archaean rocks on which they rest. Murchison's des-
cription of the origin of the Torridon formation is wholly
true, however, of the Lewis Conglomerates ; and on that
ground alone it is a legitimate inference that the Lewis
and Torridon Conglomerates have had neither a com-
munity of origin nor a contemporaneity of formation.

The main deposit lies on the east of Lewis, and covers an
area of about twenty square miles. A glance at the map
of the island shows the east coast, southwards from Storno-
way to Harris, deeply indented by sea-lochs. The peculiar
character of the Archaean rock in this region doubtless
determined this indentation. Here the gneiss is seen pass-
ing into soft and fissile argillaceous schists. Sometimes the
one predominates, sometimes the other. The high cliffs
formed by this compound structure, especially in the Lochs
district, are very much contorted and broken into arches
formed by the crossing and recrossing of dip joints. Weather
and marine agency have thus admirable conditions for their
destructive action on this line of coast. The shores of the
more sheltered sea-lochs in the district of Park, for instance,
at present show an example of littoral deposit which may
be paralleled with that which forms the coarse littoral
deposit at Stornoway forming the Conglomerate in ques-
tion. This Conglomerate lies within a rough right-angled
triangular area, having its basal line of four miles from the
neck of Arnish to a point (Bostadh) near Chicken Head,
the line running due east from Arnish. From this latter
point at Chicken Head the line runs for ten miles due north
to a point a short distance east of Gress across the Broad
Bay, and from thence the western line sweeps outwards
with a gentle curve to Lewis Castle in the neighbourhood
of Stornoway. This town is built on a cap of clay (boulder)
and gravel covering the Conglomerate. The fine natural
harbour of Stornoway has been formed by denudation of

562 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

the Conglomerate, leaving only a small island in the harbour
as an outlier. The sea has fretted the base of the cliffs
into arches and caves, especially on the north-west shore of
the Broad Bay, where the exposure to the north-east is
open sea. Macculloch, who had the fine eye of an artist
well as the keen glance of a scientific observer, notes th;
" caves of various dimensions are found in these cli]
offering subjects of considerable beauty to the pencil of
artist"

The cliffs of the Conglomerate, when seen from the south-
east, show rude lines of stratification dipping at angles
the south-west from 30 degrees to 40 degrees. As the dip
the adjacent gneiss is north-east, we have the Conglomeral
thus lying unconformably upon it. The dip of the gneiss
in the immediate neighbourhood is almost vertical ; at the
junctions at Chicken Head, Garrabost, and Gress, I found
the angle to be about 80 degrees. At the Chicken Head
junction the Conglomerate is seen for a short distance, and
at low-water, resting on a pediment of the gneiss formed
by the truncated edges of the strata, and sloping to the
south-west, parallel to the stratification lines of the Con-
glomerate above. A glimpse is thus given of the shelving
shore upon which the Conglomerate accumulated as a
beach. The steep cliffs at the junctions at Garrabost and
Gress, the high angle 60 degrees at the junction near Lewis
Castle, and the south-west dip of the stratification, seem to
indicate that the conditions which still hold good in the
far-reaching sea-lochs of Lewis, as to the deposition of
coarse boulder beaches, held good in Archaean ages, if the
Conglomerate goes that far back. If the same relative
levels existed then as now, the sea which breached those
ancient cliffs to form the Conglomerate at their bases, must
have submerged almost all the tract of open land to the
south-west, lying between Loch Roag and the hills of Uig
and Harris. This "if" with its consequent is however
altogether irrelevant to the main point of interest in this
subject.

A cursory examination of the Lewis Conglomerate shows

GEOLOGY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 563

it to be an exceedingly rough deposit of boulders and
smaller blocks imbedded in a coarse, compacted gravel, and
all deeply coloured reddish-brown by a staining of iron-
peroxide. This external appearance naturally suggests
that this Conglomerate is identical with the Red Sandstones
and Conglomerates on the opposite side of the Minch. A
careful examination, however, shows that the component
blocks, pebbles and cementing matrix are but fragments,
great and small, from the adjacent crystalline and schistose
rocks, in situ. Blocks of gneiss of all sizes up to three feet,
variously coloured : grey, dark, and orange as the pre-
dominance of felspar or hornblende shows in the block, are
imbedded in large numbers throughout the deposit. Blocks
are to be seen at Aignish at high-water mark at the foot
of cliffs of a loosely coherent sandstone and of a deep
chocolate-brown. No other blocks are seen in or near this
mass of sandstone. These blocks ring to the hammer, but
when broken show an intensely compacted agglomerate of
the same ingredients as the general mass of the Conglome-
rate. Associated with the fragments of gneiss are granules
of calcite and a greenish mineral pronounced to be pinite,
and rare. The calcite is coarsely granular, and largely
prevails in the Conglomerate, as may be seen by testing
any chance fragment of it by hydrochloric acid. The
calcite fills crevices, forms the cementing matrix largely,
and appears in horizontal bands along the faces of the cliffs.
The beach at Holm is strewn with gneissic pebbles washed
out of the cliffs. These pebbles are composed of quartz,
hornblende, and that melange of epidote with quartz and
felspar to which Heddle has given the name " Epidosite."
The cliffs in this district are full of these peculiar pebbles
and blocks. Besides these prevailing rocks and minerals,
there are to be found bits of greenish, argillaceous schists
fastened in the calcite matrix of some fragments. At Coll,
on the north of Broad Bay, there are blocks of gneiss in the
cliffs in which mica is found, in addition to the ordinary
constituents, quartz, felspar, and hornblende. The large
amount of haematite flakes, or scales rather, closely resem-

564 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

bling mica scales, in the Conglomerate, is a peculiarity I
have nowhere else seen.

The presence of a mineral such as pinite, in rocks in situ,
in the neighbourhood — at the very junction, I should have
said — and the same mineral with its associated scales of
haematite and granules of calcite, found also in the Con-
glomerate, leave no doubt whatever as to the local character
of this Conglomerate. At the same time, this very special
character is such as to leave little in common between it
and its alleged Torridon congener, except the quartz, felspar
perhaps, and the iron oxides, unless, indeed, much may be
made of the fact that both rest on the same Archaean plat-
form. In this last alternative, I should have added, that
though they both rest on the same platform, it was under
different conditions they did so, — the one as a thoroughly
attrited Conglomerate, the other as a Breccia; the one
formed by marine agency, the other by subaerial. In fine,
the Lewis Conglomerate may or may not be connected
under the Minch with the Torridon sandstones of Ross and
Sutherland, but data for either conclusion are not to be had
by an examination of the Lewis Conglomerate.

It may be of interest to note that the Conglomerate is
cut through its entire length from south-east to north-west
or so by volcanic dykes. Some of these — I counted seven
— are, however, washed out, leaving chasms in the Con-
glomerate, as at Holm, or form trenches in the rocky shore,
as at the Battery Point. One magnificent fragment is seen
near Gress, known as the " King's Dyke." It occupies the
side of a chasm running down over a length of 472 feet,
from a height of 90 feet at the head of the chasm to less
than half that height from the water. Its breadth is 18 feet.
The sea fills the chasm or "geo" at all tides. In the
neighbourhood is an immense sea-cave, known as the
"Pigeons' Cave," 150 yards by 50 yards, and 30 feet high
from the sandy floor to the centre of its dome-like roof.
The entrance of this cave, as also that of the more famous
"Seal Cave" in the neighbourhood, is to the north-east
On account of the divisional planes, and calcareous loose

GEOLOGY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 565

cohesion of the Conglomerate, the winds and waves have
played their fantasies in forming these sea-caves. The
entrance to the " Seal Cave " is evidently a washed-out
dyke. A fragment is seen forming the lintel to this sub-
terranean hall, the approach to which is along a narrow
and dark corridor, and must be made by a boat at all states
of the tide.

TRAP ROCKS.

The Island of Lewis is traversed from south to north
by huge trap or volcanic rocks passing to unknown depths
in the gneiss. The heads of these " dykes " sometimes
show in the Coast sections breadths of from twenty to thirty
feet, and where exposed to the sapping action of the waves
nothing save the lintel of the rock is seen over the door-
way of a sea cave. These trap dykes pass through the
conglomerate formation as well as through the underlying
gneiss. This shows that the conglomerates were laid down
before these " dykes " were formed. A good example of
these dykes and the parts they played in forming " geos "
and caves may be seen in the neighbourhood of Gress.
The "Seal Cave" there is entered through a door-way with
a fragment of the dyke forming the lintel. Owing to the
conglomerate having formed in huge sheets — once this door
was forced — the action of the waves in forcing and then
exhausting the air soon drew down sheets from the roof,
until within one finds himself in a spacious sea cave. The
pendents of carbonate of lime or " stalactites " from the
roof are formed by the water percolating through the
conglomerate.

It is interesting to note that these Trap Dykes belong to
the volcanic rocks of the Secondary Age, and are probably
contemporaneous with the formation of those of the Car-
boniferous Age. The Shiant Isles, Cuchullin Hills of Skye,
the basalts of Mull, Staffa and the Giant's Causeway in
Ireland are all nearly in the same meridian. This line of
weakness on the Earth's crust runs on to the Faroe Isles
and Iceland. The Shiant Isles are, like the Bass Rock and

566 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

other islets in the Firth of Forth on the east, but the
" plugs " up which the molten matter flowed in greater
quantities than it did where the gneiss in remoter parts
cracked into chasms which became moulds for the liquid
rock to fill. The Scuir of Eigg seems to be of later age.
There we have the Cast standing out as a gigantic fragment
of a wall — after the mould had weathered away. Accord-
ing to Geikie the mould was formed by a river canon or
gorge running westwards. The Hysker rocks — according
to the late Professor Heddle — appears to be a continuation
of this " Cast " sloping westwards towards the Atlantic.

THE BOULDER-CLAY.

It is thought to be somewhat singular that no vestiges
of the rock fragments from the mainland or from the
neighbouring island of Skye have been found in the
boulder-clay that so thickly covers the Outer Islands and
forms the sub-soil of them. This is deemed singular only
to those who insist on the ice-sheet — or other glaciation
agency coming from the east across the Minch and from
the mainland. Certainly, if it did so, then it must have swept
up portions of the rocks of Skye, but none such are found
in Lewis at any place. The fragments are from rocks
which have their parent source in the island itself. A
glance at the levels of the Lewis will shew that the surface
slopes by gentle gradients to the north from their base at
the Harris hills. At the foot of the hills in the Park
district morain heaps abound — pointing to local glaciers
which slowly glided down their northern slopes. The
accumulation of boulder-clay is greater as we go north
towards Ness where it is at its greatest. The longer axes
of the multitudinous sheets of water from those of the
size of Loch Langabhat in Uig are on the whole from
south to north. All these features point to the direction
in which the clay-laden agency travelled.

During the Glacial Age, when these Outer Hebrides
in common with all Scotland lay buried under the vertical
pressure of thousands of feet of snow and ice, this vertical

GEOLOGY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 567

pressure caused naturally a translatory movement down
the slope from the Harris hills to Ness. The viscous mass
in its slow movement ground along like a huge plough,
crushing the softer materials of the rocks into a " math "
as the grinding went on, or catching up intractable frag-
ments or blocks, and carrying them from their parent
source left them as perched blocks on hill tops, or as
streams of boulders on the low-lying plains.

Ice passing down the slope of the watershed ot a
district behaves as snow on the roofs of houses does. The
local character of the glaciation of a district is demon-
strably seen in the County of Ross. The watershed there
running north and south through the middle of the
County sent down during glaciation times streams of
boulder-clay and " carried " blocks to the coast on each
side. Their line of march is seen pointing on the east
side of the N.W. and on the west to N.E. Were the
boulders of Lewis of as durable a character as those of
the mainland their longer axes would be seen pointing
north and south.

But the boulders of Lewis are looser in texture, and thus
their forms become detached blocks sooner than the more
compact rocks of the same formation on the mainland.
Hence neither striation nor ice-scratchings are readily
seen in Lewis as on the mainland of the County of Ross.
The boulder-clay of Lewis is however such in its con-
stituents and formation as might have been caused wholly
by local agencies.

Blown sand and marine shells buried under peat as
at Aignish are mixed with a felspathic clay which makes
excellent material for bricks.

MINERALS.

No minerals of commercial importance are found in
these Outer Islands. In the Park district of Lewis —
according to Macculloch in his Geology of the Western
Isles — are to be found valuable veins of serpentine and
of asbestos. The writer has not seen any trace of either

568 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

so far as he has examined the cliff sections in that district.
At Loch Shell whole cliffs of China stone, felspar, may be
seen. Here at Isginn near the head of the loch are to be
seen siliceous cherts — some black as Lydian stone, others
bleached white, in blocks, resembling fossilized stumps of
trees.

THE PHYSICAL FEATURES.

The islands forming the chain of the Outer Hebrides
extend from N. Lat. 58 degrees 31 minutes at the Butt of
Lewis to 56 degrees 48 minutes at Barra Head, which
gives a stretch of 130 miles in length. The coast line is
extremely rugged and indented. The surface is flat and
monotonous, nowhere rising to the 3,000 feet line. The
highest part is that of Harris, which probably is from the
Norse word "har" and its dative feminine form " harri."
In Harris the highest point of 2,622 feet is reached
in the Clisheam. The contour lines shew a steady
descent to the north or Lewis side of summits 1,250
feet, as at Suainabhal in Dig and Mor Mhonadh at
Park. On the south or Harris side we have heights of
over 1,250 feet, as Beinn Dhubh 1,654 feet, An Coileach
1,265, Heilisval 1,257, Bleaval 1,305, and Roneval 1,506
feet. In Lewis the hills are on the average about half
this height, as Eitshal 733 feet, Beinne Bharabhais 800
feet, Monach 800 feet. The levels of these summits
over Lewis from south to north are pretty uniform.
The Park and Uig summits rise to the 1,500 feet level.
Those of Mid Lewis or of the Lochs and Carloway
district shew summits of only 750 feet. The Ness hills
make a further descent to 500 feet, as at Tom Dithabhail
and Beinn Bhail. These three descending terraces are
doubtless the work of the Ice Age. The same general
observation holds good for the islands south of the Harris
group of hills.

The innumerable lochs scattered over this surface are
doubtless due to glacial agency. Their entire number has
been computed at 1,500, covering an area of 50,000 acres.

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 569

These lochs, as might have been expected from the low
"head" of the gouging tool of ice which scooped them out,
are mostly shallow. They seldom reach four fathoms in
depth. The work of the ice is seen also in the innu-
merable islets, reefs and shoals which stud the windings of
the sea-lochs or fiords and straits. Sea-lochs such as Loch
Roag, Loch Resort, Loch Seaforth, Loch Shell and Loch
Erisort are but the deep furrows left by the great ice
plough on its way to the sea from the higher reaches of
these lochs.

Of course the pounding, action of the sea waves com-
pleted the work by sweeping away all the accumulated
debris at the sea ends of these submerged valleys. But
where the Atlantic surges have an open field as on the
west of the Outer Hebrides, the coast line on the whole
presents an unbroken front with open shelving sand
beaches alternating with grim walls of rock forming cliffs
up to 100 feet, and all exposed to the full force of the
Ocean. South of Carloway, the shore line is abrupt
though not of great altitude. In this part of the coast
there are several good harbours as in the fiords above
referred to.

The islands of North and of South Uist with Benbecula
between in reality form one island, as the sea separating
them is fordable between half tide and low water. To the
south of Uist is the group of the islands of Barra. In
the train of the larger islands is a large number of smaller
islands in close neighbourhood to the larger ones. Other
islands and islets belonging to the group of the Outer
Hebrides stand further away as the Shiants off the south-
east of Lewis. The Flannan Isles or Seven Hunters are
some 20 miles west of Uig, Lewis, and 45 miles further off
is St. Kilda. The stack of Rockall, some 180 miles west
of St. Kilda, rises from near the verge of the submerged
platform on which the British Islands rest. A few miles to
the west of it the sounding line goes down abruptly from
100 to 200 fathoms, and thereafter with swift descent
down to the abyssmal depths of the Atlantic.

570 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

THE BOTANY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

In A. C. Watson's classification of plants according to
localities, the chief plants recorded for his Province XVIII.,
which includes with the Outer Hebrides both Orkney and
Shetland, are given in his Cybele Britannica. No exhaus-
tive list has been made of plants in the Outer Hebrides.
Those given here are the flowering plants common to the
Hebrides. In the area of 1,000 square miles of the Outer
Hebrides, 317 species of such plants have been recorded.

Of those that may be said to belong especially to the
Outer Hebrides, we have five representatives of the Natural
Order of Composites, viz. : — Aster Tripolium or the Sea-
starwort ; Crepis vireus or the Smooth Hawksbeard
Hieracium vulgatum or Common Hawksweed ; Senecit
Sylvaticus or Mountain Ragwort, and Tanacetum vulgart
or Common Tansy.

The Crowfoots or Natural Order Ranunculacea^ are
represented by the Ranunculus Sceleratus or Celery-leaved
Crowfoot or buttercup. The Natural Order Haloraginaceae
by Myriophyllum alterniflorum or Alternate-leaved water
Milfoil. The Natural Order Lentibulariaceae by Utricu-
laria Minor or lesser Bladder-wort The Natural Order
Boraginaceae or Borage-worts by Lithospernium arvense 01
Common Gromsell or Bastard Alkanet, and by Echiu\
vulgare or Viper's bugloss. The Geraniums by Eroding
cicutarium or Hemlock stork's bill. The Birches 01
Natural Order Betulaceae by Alnus glutinosa or Commo:
Alder. The Natural Order of the Labiates by Scutellarit
galericulata or Common Skull-cap. The lily or Natural
Order Liliaceae by Hyacinthus^ Non-Scripta^ or Bluebell or
Wild Hyacinth. The Sedges or Natural Order Cyperaceae
by Carex pipulifera or Round-headed Sedge, and the Felices
or Ferns by Asplenium ruta muraria or Well rue fern.

If the floral area up to North Lat. 59 degrees with the
annual mean temperature of 46 degrees be taken, the
number of species will be found to decrease as we go
north. Again the species common to the Northern or
Alpine regions will be found to decrease as we go south

BOTANY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 571

to this Lat. of 59 degrees or as we descend from Alpine
heights to sea level. Within these limits there are very
many plants found in the Outer Hebrides common to the
Inner Hebrides and mainland. These must have spread
to the Outer Hebrides before separation from the Inner
Hebrides and mainland took place in post-glacial times.
Seeds may be carried by birds, by winds and other agencies
across stretches of water such as the Minch, but the uni-
formity of the distribution of these plants over the whole
chain of the Outer Hebrides could only have taken place
when there was continuity of land surface over the whole
archipelago of the Western Isles and the mainland of
Scotland. More than one period of post-glacial depres-
sion is believed by geologists to have occurred which
lowered the levels of the British Isles to at least 150 feet
—thus destroying or altering the flora of the shore lines.
This period was followed by a period of upheaval which
was sufficiently great to form a pathway for a new migra-
tion of species from the mainland. Hence the flora of
the Hebrides is not of the type which is found peculiar to
Oceanic islands.

LIST OF HEBRIDEAN PLANTS FOUND UP TO N. LAT. 59°.

Galium cruciatum Potamogeton pusillus

Epilobium parviflorum „ perfoliat.

Ulmus montana Primula veris

Cardamine sylvatica Epilobium tetragonum

Callitriche peduncul. Potamogeton filiformis

Myosotis repens Erythrea littoralis

Thlaspi arvense luncus compressus

Stachys ambigua Sagina maritima

Hypericum elodes Ruppia „

Pinguicula lusitanica Polygonum Raii

Lastraea Fcenisecti Beta Maritim.

Asplenium Maritim. Eryngium Maritim.

Pyrethrum „ Cerastium tetrandum

Carex extensa Jasione montana

„ distans Osmunda regal is

„ panculata Scolopendrum vulgare

Scirpus fluitans Lamium incisum

Zaunichellia palustris Sonchus Asper

572

HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Anthiscus vulgaris
Avena fatua
Sedum Anglicum
Gymnadenia conopsea
Callitriche platycarpa
Carex CEderi

„ praecox.
Rhyncospora alba
Utricularia vulgaris
Potamogeton heterophyllum
Myosotis collina
Hypericum perforatum
Anagallis tenella
Scilla verna
Atriplex Angustifolia
Rumex conglomerata

Polygonum hydrop.
Zostera marina
Glyceria marit.
Cakile
Silene „
Carex Arenaria
Cochlearia danica
Catabrosa aquatica
Potamogeton pectinat.
Ophioglossum vulgatum
Festuca elatior
Gentiana Amarella
Hippuris vulgaris
Honckenej a peploiae
Lathyrus Maritimus

LIST OF PLANTS FOUND SOUTH TO NORTH LAT. 59°, INCLUDING
ALPINE SPECIES IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Sagina subulata
Elymus arenarius
Polypoidium Phegopteris
Listera Cordata
Thalistrum minus
Gnaphalium diocium
Empetrum nigrum
Allosorus crispus
Hymenophyl. Wilsoni
Gallium pusillum
Lycopodium Alpinum
Carex diocia
Parnassia palustris
Salix ambigua
Pyrola media
Habenaria albida
Scirpus uniglumis
Sparganium natans
Drosera Anglica
Viola lutea
Rubia sexatilis
Trollinus Europasus
Myrrhis odorata
Vaccinium vitis. Idaea
Hieracium pallidum

Lobelia Dortmanna
Hieracium Anglicum
Alchemilla Alpina
Vaccinium uliginosum
Dryas octopetala
Gallium boreale
Salix herbacea
Saxifraga oppositifolia
Lycopodium selaginoides
Draba incana
Lycopodium annotrium
Blysmus rufus
Sedum Rhodolia
Saxifraga stellaris
Thalictrum Alpinum
Polygonum viviparum
Juncus triglumis
Juniperus nana
Circae Alpina
Carex rigida
Hieracium argentum
Mertensia marit.
Saussurea Alpina
Oxyria reniformis
Silene caulis

VERTEBRATES: MAMMALS. 573

Luzula spicata Trientalis Europaea

Arabis petraea Arbutus Uva ursi

Salix phylicifolia Ligusticum Scoticum

Rumex aquaticus Salix Lapponutn

Saxifraga aizoides Lamium intermedium

The above list does by no means exhaust the list of
plants found in this botanical province. They include
only the flowering plants, ferns and club-mosses.

VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.— THE

MAMMALS.

Of the land animals which made the Outer Hebrides
their habitat before the separation of the islands took place
but few species survive. These are —

The Shrew (Sorex minutus).
The Shrew (Sorex tetragonurus).
The Vole (Arvicola agrestis).
The Pole-cat (Martes sylvestris).
The Otter (Lutra vulgaris).
The Weasel (Mustela vulgaris].
The Badger (Meles taxus).

The remains of a small fossil ox, Bos longifrons, is said
by Mr. Harvie Brown to have been found in a " Picts "
House in Harris.

The land animals which probably were introduced by
man were the deer.

The Red Deer (Cerims elaphus).
The Fallow Deer (Cervusdamd).
The Roe Deer (Capreolus capraas).
The Harvest Mouse (Mus minutus}.
The Harvest Mouse (Mus imisculus].
The Black Rat (Mus rattus).
The Black Rat (Mus decumannus].
The Water Vole (Arvicola amphibia}.
The Hare (Lepus Europceus].
The White Hare (Lepus variabilis).

Q Q

574 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Rabbits were but recently introduced and have proved,
as usual, a very scourge.

The vertebrates which have the power of wing or fin
are to be found in great numbers if not of species, at least
of individuals. The first in order are the seals — the
Phocidaea.

The Common Seal (Phoca vttulina).
The Ringed Seal (P/wca hispida).
The Grey Seal (Phoca gryphus).

The Whales or Cetacea come next

The Right Whale (Balana biscayensis).
The Humped-back Whale (Megaptera longimand}.
The Common Rorqual (Balceoptera muscuhis).
The Pilot Whale (Globicephalus melas).

Schools of about 200 of these whales were captured at
Stornoway in 1869 and in 1882.

Akin to the Whale is the Porpoise (Phoccena communis).

THE BIRDS OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

To name the birds which are to be seen in the Outer
Hebrides at all seasons of the year would be to name
almost all British birds. We omit all migratory and
restrict ourselves to indigenous birds, and by following
Macgillivray, the highest authority on the birds of the
Hebrides, we take those found in winter as well as those
found both in winter and in summer, in other words, we
keep to those to be seen all the year round. In winter
Macgillivray found the Brown Ptarmigan, the Grey Ptar-
migan, Snow Bunting, Water Rail, Snipe and Black Snipe.
On the lakes are to be seen during winter, the Swan, Bean-
Goose, Brent Goose, the Golden Eye Goose, and the Dab-
chick. In many of the brooks are to be seen the Wood-
cock and the Dipper.

In pastures are seen the Field Lark, Corn Bunting, Reed
Bunting, Brown Linnet, Twite, Hedge-Chanter, and the
Common Wren. The " Golden Crested " Wren has been

VERTEBRATES: BIRDS, FISHES. 575

seen by the writer in the Castle grounds near Stornoway.
A species of Wren is found in St. Kilda which is peculiar
to that island. The Starling, Rock Pigeon, Common
Thrush, the Fieldfare, and the Redwing are also to be
seen in great numbers.

Of the predatory species there are the White-tailed Sea-
eagle, Golden Eagle, Sparrow-hawk, Hen-harrier, Kestrel
Raven, and the Hooded Crow.

The common sea-birds include the great Glaucous Gull,
the Black-backed Gull, the Herring Gull, and the Common
Sea-Gull, the Cormorant, the Crested Cormorant, Great
Northern Diver, the Puffin, Fulmar and others of the
Petrel family.

Along the shores are to be found the Golden Plover
Sanderling, Oyster-catcher, Ring Plover, Turnstone, Lap-
wing, Common Heron, Curlew, Dunlin, Purple Sandpiper,
Red Shank, Rock Pipit, Common Pipit.

It has been observed that the number of land birds in
winter is much larger in the South of Scotland than it is
in the North, whereas shore and sea birds are more numer-
ous in the North than they are in the South of Scotland.

For an exhaustive account of the birds of the Outer
Hebrides the works of Macgillivray and Harvie Brown are
recommended to such as are desirous of following up this
most fascinating part of the fauna of the Outer Hebrides.

THE FISHES OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

As the geographical situation of the Outer Hebrides lies
within the North Atlantic province, the Arctic fauna which
has invaded it diminishes in the number of individuals of
each class the farther the northern invaders have gone
within its area. What the fauna has gained in variety of
classes it has lost in the numbers belonging to each class.
The same remark holds good for the representatives of the
Mediterranean fauna which also are found within this por-
tion of the North Atlantic province, which Forbes rightly
named the Celtic Province — or, rather, Sub-Province.

Q Q 2

576 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Among the Arctic fishes found within the province are
Dog-fishes, Rays (Skates) and various members of the
Great Cod family.

Among those common to the Arctic and Mediterranean
are Lophins (Anglers) ; Mullets ; Halibut, Turbot and others
of the Flounder family, the Pleuroncctidce ; Rock-fish
(Labrus maculatus) ; Conger-eels, Pipe-fish (Syngnathus)
and the Herring-class (Clupea). These are typical fishes
that have spread themselves over this area from those
three great provinces.

Of the fishes that date back to remote geological times
we have representatives within the waters of the Outer
Hebrides. Among these we have Sharks, Rays, Dog-
fishes and Sturgeons. Fossil remains of these fishes are
found in rocks of the Lias, in the rocks of the same age
as the Sandstones underlying the basalts of the Inner
Hebrides.

The Sharks seen in the Minch are the Blue-Shark (Car-
charias Glaticus),\.}\Q Porbeagle (Lamna Cornubica\ the Fox-
Thresher (Alopecias), so named from the splashing it makes
with its tail while feeding. This shark follows the herring
and is quite harmless to man. To the same family belongs
the Basking Shark (Selache), which is also quite harmless.
On the West Coast of Ireland this fish is chased for the sake
of the oil from its liver. An average fish yields from a ton
to a ton and a half of oil. The writer saw one landed in
Stornoway the liver of which filled eight herring barrels.
This was but a poor equivalent for the loss of nearly a
whole " drift " of nets which the monster had destroyed on
becoming entangled in it.

The Dog-fish family, like the Sharks, are of an ancient
lineage, but that is the utmost which can be said of this
most destructive fish. They follow the herring in vast
numbers, and are the plague of the fishermen by destroying
their nets. They make poor eating as human food. The
Larger Dog-fish (Scy Ilium caniculd) and the Spotted Dog-
fish (Scyllium catulus) are known by their respective Gaelic
names Am B wrack and An Dallag.

VERTEBRATES: FISHES. 577

The Rays or Skates are allied to the Sharks and Dog-
fishes, but form a distinct species. They do not descend
to the same depths as the sharks and are for the greater
part coast fishes. Those found in the Outer Hebrides are
the Thornback (Raja clavatd] and the Shagreen Ray (Raja
fullonica).

The Sturgeon, a sub-order under the oldest geological
fishes, is not found in such early rocks as the Sharks are.
The Common Sturgeon (Acipenser sturid) — the living repre-
sentative of these early fishes — is found in rivers where it
passes part of the year for the purpose of spawning.

The great sub-class of Fishes, the Teleostei, which form
the greatest number of living fishes, have numerous repre-
sentatives in Hebridean waters. We can but name these
following the order of Giinther. The Perches (Percida)
both the fresh water perch (Pcrca fluviatilis] and the Bass
(Labrax lupus\ Gaelic Creagag.

The Mullets (Midlus barbatus).

The family of Breams (Sparidce), the Sea- Bream, Gaelic
An Carbhanach.

The Horse- Mackerel (Caranx trac/iurus^and the Mackerel
proper (Scomber Scomber), Gaelic Rionnach.

Lophias (L. piscatorius) known by its English names,
the Fishing-Frog or the Angler, and the Gaelic Cat
Mara.

The Gurnards (Coitus Trigla\ Gaelic Crodan. Several
species of the Gurnard are found and are all good for
food.

The Lump-Sucker (Cyclopterus lumpus), Gaelic Muc-
chraige.

The Stickle-back (Easlrosteus}.

Labrus Maculatus or " Ballan Wrasse," also known in
some districts by the Gaelic name, Muc-chraige, from its
thick lips. This is a Mediterranean fish, and is noted for
its beautiful colours. It gradually becomes scarcer the
farther north we go.

The most important fishes of all are those of the Cod
family (Gadida).

578 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

The Common Cod (Gadus Morrhud], Gaelic Trosg, is
fished largely on the Atlantic side of the Outer Hebrides
— out to the 100 fathom line. Large numbers are caught
around Rockall.

The Haddock (Gadus aglefinus}. Individuals 3 feet
long have been frequently fished in the Broad Bay near
Stornoway. Trawling, we fear, has nearly destroyed these
rich fish banks.

The Whiting (Gadus merlangus}.

The Coal-fish (Gadus vireus], Gaelic Ucus.

The Lythe, a different species from the Coal -fish.

The Hake (Merluccius vulgaris), Gaelic Falamar, belongs
to this family but is of a distinct genus from that of the
Common Cod.

The Ling (Molva vulgaris).

The Tusk (Brosmius Brosme).

The Sand-eels or Launces (Ammodytes lanceolatus), so
named from their appearance and their habit of burying
themselves in the sand, are the only representatives of the
family of the Ophidiidce or fishes without ventral fins, and
whose dorsal fins occupy the greater part of the back.
Gaelic Siolag.

The Flounders, or Flat-fishes, are of the One Great Class
of Pleuronectidce.

The Halibut (Hippoglossis vulgaris), Gaelic Bradan
leathain. Specimens weighing 2 cwt. have been fished off
St. Kilda.

The Turbot (Rhombiis maximus)t Gaelic Turbaid.

Brill (Rhombus Icevis). These are all off-shore fishe
that is, are found as far as the 100 fathom line,
in-shore fishes of this family are : —

The Plaice, Dab, Flounder and Sole.

The Salmon family (Salmonidce} are represented by
the—

Salmo Salar, Salmon, Gaelic Bradan.
Salmo trutta, Sea-Trout, Gaelic Gealag.
Salmo far io^ Common Trout, Gaelic Brea.
Salmo Alpzmts, Alpine Char, Gaelic Tawagheal.

VERTEBRATES: FISHES.

579

The Herring family (Clupeidce], allied to that of the
Salmon, surpasses all others in the vast number of indi-
viduals belonging to it. The herring never goes very far
from the coast. It is not pelagic.

The Herring (Clnpea harcngus), Gaelic Sgadan.

Sprat (Clupea Sprattus], Gaelic Siol.

The Eels (Muraenidce) are represented by the Common
Eel (Anguilla anguilla} and the Conger.

Representatives of the Pipe-fish, Sun-fish and the Glu-
tinus Hag and the Lancelet are said to have been found
in the Outer Hebrides.

APPENDICES.

PAGE

iPPENDix A. — Extracts from MS. "The Isles of Scotland and
the division thereof, with the names of the Chieftains," dated
Edinburgh, 21 March, 1595 583

APPENDIX B.— Extracts from State. papers relating to a pro-
posed invasion of Lewis (1602) 584

>PENDIX C. — Memorandum of the Leu-is fisheries (undated —
James I.) 585

APPENDIX D. — Stornoway's charter of incorporation (1629) ... 586
>PENDIX E.— Proposals concerning the Lewis fisheries (1629) 589
>PENDIX F. — Description of Lewis by Captain Dymes (1630) 591

3ENDix G. — Extract from memorandum relating to the
Hebridean fisheries (1632) 595

>ENDIX H.— Papers relating to the " Forty-five "

595

J.PPENDIX I.— Letters from Captain Barlow, with a report on
the Long Island (1753) 59

APPENDICES.

COPIES OF MSS. IN PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE AND BRITISH

MUSEUM.

APPENDIX A.

EXTRACTS FROM MS. "THE ISLES OF SCOTLAND AND
THE DIVISION THEREOF, WITH THE NAMES OF THE
CHIEFTAINS," DATED EDINBURGH, 21 MARCH, 1595.

State Papers. Scotland. Elizabeth. Vol. 58. No. 41.
(Spelling modernised.)

The West Isles of Scotland are divided in four parts, every part having in it
a principal Isle, with a number of smaller Isles about the same. Two lie
northwards, The Lewis and Skye, and two southward, Islay and Mull.

Lewis hath joined with it by a small grippof 2 or 3 pair of " buttes " length
the Harris. Lewis is 32 miles of length, and Harris 8 miles. Lewis pertains
to Macleod of the Lewis, who being an old man famous for the massacring
of his own kinsmen his bastard son called Torquil Og usurps now the room.
This Isle will make 700 men to the wars, besides them that occupies the ground
which neither in that nor none other of the Isles are charged to the war but
suffers to remain at home for labouring of the ground.

The other part of this Isle called Harris pertains to Macleod of Harris who
is presently a child and has sundry other lands. On this land of Harris he will
raise 140 men able for the war.

Uist is an Isle of 40 miles of length but of small breadth, the north part
; thereof pertains to the Clan Donald in the North, to whom Donald Gormson
is chieftain, who will raise on that part 300 men. The south part to the Clan
Ranald, who will raise thereon 300 men.

Barra pertains to Macneill of Barra who may raise thereon and some little
Isles adjacent 200 men.

Rona pertaining to Macleod of the Lewis 50 men.

Pabbay pertaining to Macleod of Harris 40 men.

Helsker pertaining to the Nunnery of Icolmkill 20 men.

" Colsmon " not inhabited.

" Irt or Hirtha " (St. Kilda) pertains to Macleod of Harris. The inhabi-
1 tants rude and simple send no men to the war

The concords and discords are difficult and almost impossible to declare,
:for since their reconciliation after their barbarous wars the tutor of Harris is
ijoined with Donald Gormson and as some say also Torquil usurper of the
Lewis.

In Strathnaver and the Braes of Caithness and Sutherland Mackay has
[dominion. Torquil the eldest son of Macleod of the Lewis (poor unable and
^oppressed by his bastard brother the usurper) remains in Coigeach in the
mainland.

584 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES

APPENDIX B.

EXTRACTS FROM STATE PAPERS RELATING TO A PROPOSED
INVASION OF LEWIS (1602).

State Papers. Scotland. Eliz. Vol. 68. No. 64.
(Spelling modernised.)

. . . . The 26th hereof the King hath appointed a Convention to be
at St. Johnstone, fora new course to be taken for "repossing" the Lewis,
and for the matter of the Isles, how to raise the King's profits and duties on]
them and settle them in peace

Edinburgh the loth of June 1602.

State Papers. Scotland. Eliz. Vol. 68. No. 73.

. . . . Our Convention of the Estates did hold at Perth this 78 [J/V]-
of this instant which was Monday last, when was chiefly treated matter*
of the Lewis, and how an army might be sent thither, as also the King was*
desirous of a subsidy of twenty thousand pounds sterling, which is an hundred!
thousand pounds Scottish.

Falkland this first of July 1602.

State Papers. Scotland. Eliz. Vol. 68. No. 86.

. . . . The Convention of our Estates did hold upon Friday the
1 6th of this instant wherein the King (after his accustomed manner when his
Lords meet) made there a speech of one half hour long tending all to three
points, of which the first was —

****** -••' *

The second was that since he had received indignities at these savage
people their hands that dwell [dual] in the Lewis, it was against his honour
to forget it and not to see it punished (since it was spoken in England said
he) how shall he rule us that cannot rule an handful, in respect of such a
nation, and to the intent he might send forth some soldiers thither, he required
a subsidy only of the " curchmen " and " boruis " ; this was denied.

The third was that since they would grant no subsidy, that he might com
some base money to pay the soldiers ; that was also denied

Edinburgh this 2ist of July 1602.

State Papers. Scotland. Eliz. Vol. 68. No. 87.

. . . . On Friday afternoon and all Saturday till he departed, he
(the King) was occupied in the Convention, which was but small for the
nobility, and as little done in the matters he intended : for the matter of
the Lewis he made motion to have had a contribution towards the re-
possessing of the partners ; but could get none granted and so left that to
the further deliberation of his Council who yesterday have resolved that
the north parts of this land shall be charged to go under the Earl of
Huntley's commandment to put the partners in possession again of the
Lewis

Edinburgh the 2 1st of July 1602.

State Papers. Scotland. Eliz. Vol. 69. No. 54.
. . . . The next week the King goes to St. Johnstons about a
Convention for the Lewis and Isles matters, and there confers with the

APPENDICES. 585

Commissioners of the General Assembly for preparation for the same to be
iu St. Andrews the 6th of the next, where then the agreement with Huntley
and Murray will be earnest laboured by the King with other "contry"

(country) affairs

Edinburgh, 2O January, 1602/3.

APPENDIX C.

State Papers. Domestic. Jas. I. Vol. 205. No. 31.

A MEMORANDUM OF THE FISSCHINGS OF THE LEWES AND
EYLLANDS OF HIBREDES. WHAT FISSCHIS IS MOST
WENDABILL AND IN WHAT CUNTRIES EYERIE KYNDE
OF FISCH SELLS BEST INTOO (Undated).

If erne inprimis.

Salt cod linge and salmone is wendabill wniversallie througheout all
naiteones and cuntries what sumeuer. Cod linge and salmone dryit is wend-
abill also for all cuntries for wittuallinge of shipis and provisione for houssis.

Greatt seathis callid collmeis drye or salt is wendabill in all cuntries
whaire trafike of schippinge is for wittuallinge of schipis in Speane France and
all the easterne pts and withein the Baltike seais and for cuntrie pipell
thaire.

Dreyit skeatts is wendabill in Ingland Scotland Eyrland, France, Speane,
Holland and in all the easterne pts and withein the Baltike seais.

Dryit dog fische is wendabill in Speane and withein the streatts and hes
beine sould thaire at moire then 6d. a punde.

Barrallid cod is wendabill in all cuntries and greatt geane gottin thaireby,
barrallid or drye haddokis is wendabill in Russia, Norvaye and in all the
Baltike seais within the sound.

Greatt wheyttinges dryeit is wendabill in Ingland Scotland Eyreland France
Holland and in all the easterne pts.

Greatt conger eills saltit or dryeit is wendabill in all cuntries.

Torske saltit or dryeit is wendabill in all cuntries.

Dreyit flunders great and small is wendabill in Russia Norvaye Swaidin
Poille, Garmanye Denmarke Holland Flanders France and wther cuntries.

Turbatt dryeit callid riklinge is wendabill in Russia and in all the easterne
seais and pts within the sound.

Dryeit stoke fische is wendabill in all cuntries whatsumewer.

Mackerelle barrallid or dryeit is wendabill in Russia and in all the easterne
I Pts-

Sealle fische barrallid is wendabill in Speane and througe the straitts. It
doithe produce good treane oeylle ; the skines of thoise fisch is good for sundrey
wsis.

Heringe barrallid or dryeit is wendabill in all naciones whatsumewer.

The Hewers of all the forsaid fischis excepe sallmone produces a greatt
deal! of trean oeylle whiche is a greatt helpe to the fisschers to paye thaire
outrige besydes mony wther kynde of small fisschis not nominal heire whiche
: fisschers sawes to helpe thaire chairgis soe that perfeyt fisscher men doo maike
; the small fisschis withe thaire trean thaye maik of the said lievers paye the
: most pt of their hoille chairges.

For suporttinge and fortifieinge of the fisschings in the Lewes and in wther
eyellands of Hibredes thaire may be good salt in the Leweis and wther
eyllands thaireto aiacent whiche wald be a greatt benifeit for one to thame

586 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

that ar colonaris of a coporacione thaire to be prowydeit withe salt for all occa-
lones of fisschmge ather in sommer or winter. The winter is better nor the
sommer to the residenters thaire beinge prowydit withe salt and wthere
nessesans for greatt fisschis as whaills sealls and abondance of all sortts 01
hsschis whiche flowes in one sands in greatt stormes and sumtymes cheast in
in locghes be whaills wpone drey sands of the bounds of 2 or 7 mylls of
lenthethe breid a paire of butts. Ane greatt dealle of riches (is) lost for vantt
o salt whiche maye be prewenttit by the meanes of maikinge of salt thaire if it
pleas his Ma* to assist that guid worke as he hes royeallie begune the samen
and geiwe wentoreris who ar willinge to goe thaire and remaene sum liberties
conforme to the ordore of wther plantioners will in short tyme import greatt
benifeitt to his Matie and his subiectts, incress of customes schiping
JVamgacome and a pieouse ws for the releiweing of mony poore pipell to bej
sett in vorke whiche now periesis for want of imployement.
Endorsed

W*. kinds of Fish, where vendible.

* This hath
been attempted :
but yeildeth no
proffit. They are
not whales but
Jobarts \v«h are
less and afford
but smale store of
oile, and indure
not the boats to
cu neere them.

t In the time
of K. Teams the
5* the Hol-
landers having
only a verbal
licence to fish at
28 miles distance,
cam neere the
shore into the
mouth of the furth
of Edenborough
and ther fished in

APPENDIX D.

STORNO WAY'S CHARTER OF INCORPORATION (1629).
S.P. Domestic. Chas. I. Vol. 152. No. 63.

1629, Novemrj 30. Uppon conference wth Mr Heye Agent for the Burrc
of Scotland, concerning Lewes Hand.

The Island of Lewis is distant fr5 the continent of Scotland about
miles, is above 40 miles in length and in breadth 16 miles, the east low
the west and southwest suwhat hillie, but hath much tillage and fee
much cattle. It hath divers good harboroughs whereof the principall is
Harborough of Stronway. The town lieth about 2 miles fro the mouth of t
river wch is also called Stronway. The river's mouth is but a bow shoote o
it so as a fort built on either side may make it defensible against al the wor
above the mouth into the land ; the water enlargeth it self in sfi places half a
mile in sumea mile and so til it cumeth to the town of convenient breadth and
depth for al maner of ships to ride safly of what burden soever and to the
nftber of thousands free fr5 al weather. At the town ther is a smale har-
borough about a quarter of a mile in compass, wch lieth drie when the sea
ebs : but at a flood hath depth for anie ship to cu in : and then to bee repared,
calked or trimed. The town of Sternoway is but a smale village and is not
yet a free town ; it hath yet no trafiique. But the town is so situate that it
may bee aisily fortified and the water brought about it to drown the ground
neere it. About this Hand and the other Hands adiacent there is continual
fishing for white fish that is ling and cod and samon, and for herings. And
the fishings here are at al times of the yeare when fisher men can brooke the
seas. This fishing hath been used by the Scots above 40 years, and by them
is esteemed above that of New found Land. Ther is also conveniences for
whale fishing wherof thousands are yearly seen about the lies.* This fishing
was not haunted or known by anie but Scotsmen before the yeare 1594, when
the Hollanders began to fish in those seas uppon p'tence of a patent from King
Jeames whereby they were restrained to cu wthin at least 28 miles of the
shore, nor wthin the loughs that is the baies wthin the Hands .t Since that
year 1594 the Hollanders have cu thither wth al their Fleet of Busyes sutimes
3000 saile.

By the laws of Scotland no stranger may fish wthin their seas uppon paine

APPENDICES.

587

of confiscation of their goods and loss of life, so the Hollanders cu in against
the law. They first procured the Erie Marshal of Scotland called Kyth to
begge of King Jeames leave to sel to the Hollanders a litle Island of his
inheritance lying over against a harborough in Boughan called Peter head :
wch King Jeams absolutely refused wth protestation that no Hollander or
stranger should get footing in his country whilst hee lived. This was
attempted and this answer given since King Jeams aiming into England.
Notwthstanding the King's refusal, the Hollanders cam yearly uppon the
coast along the Hands, and offred manie abuses to the subiects, wheruppon the
1 subiects made complaint to the King by their petition dated 12 March 1618
i wheruppon the Councel of Scotland writt their letters to the King in con-
currence wth this petition to move for a proclamation to inhibit the Hol-
landers and to give order to his Ambassador in the Low Countries to expostu-
late this iniurie. The letters dated 4 April 1618. His M*J' answered the
! Councels letter by his letters dated 7 Novemb 1618 wherby hee signified that
the business was to be tried and that Comissioners were to be sent fr5
jthe States to that end : and requiring a comission to bee sent fro Scotland to
ithe Duke of Lenox and others to treat wth them &c. The Cofnission was
I accordingly sent up. But the Hollanders declined the question of right,
p'tended fr5 former graunts or usages, and fel uppon the general dispute de
;mari Hbero : and therby frustrated the proceeding, and the business so rested
I til An0 1622, when the subiects renued their complaint to the Councel ther
jwho by their letter dated 24 June 1622 signified the same to his Ma1?.
Uppon wch letter nothing was donne only the Duke of Lenox had a purpose
jto have raised a companie in Scotland for fishing but hee dying the yeare
after it cam to no effect. But the Hollanders forseeing what might succeed
mppon theis continued complaints they agreed wth the Erie of Seafort for the
itown of Stronway to planet a colonie ther and to make it a free town : that it
imight be inhabled to have free trade, because by the law in Scotland none
can trade but those that have the libertes of a free town. This Erl's father
:had bought the whole freehold of the Island of Lewes from 14 or 15 gentle-
men to whom in bodie or companie to raise fishing King Teams before his
jcuming into England : though by the laws of Scotland the Hands belong
iinseperably to the Crown : these persons being su killed and the rest dis-
£ouraged at length were drawn by the Erie of Seafort to sel their right to
him, and theruppon his sonne now Erie of Seafort sould Stronway to the
'Hollanders as is conceaved. And to avoid further question moved the King
ror a Patent to erect Stronway into a free town and a Burourie entering their
liberties over the whole yland, wth power to fortifie, to people it with
Grangers, and to grant to all the said strangers protection and pardon for al
[niures past not c5itted in his dominions, wherby the business of Amboina
•vas remitted. And to trade freely in all the world. This patent by the
icdiation of Mr Hey was staied by his Mats comand til the free broughs of
Scotland by whom he was sent to sollicit this cause should bee heard : this
*as donne in May 1628, and afterwards in September when hee finding the
Erie had made a strong partie in Scotland cam again to move the King. So
low it resteth only under the King's hand but staied at the Exchequer in
Gotland. Notwthstanding wch stay the Erie of Seafort hath brought some
-xmilies of Hollanders into Stronway and there planteth them, and per-
nitteth sondrie of their ships above a dozen saile the last yeare to cu and fish
her, and to carie away their fish wthout cocket or custom paid to his Ma1*,
ind not permitting anie Scot to fish wthin those waters except they wil sel
heir fish to the Hollanders : notwthstanding a letter written to the said Erie by
lis Mfcy to the contrarie dated in August 1628 wheruppon complaint being
imdc by the Boroughs to the Councell of Scotland : they by their sentence
nd decree discharged (he said Erie as appeareth by the decree it self dated
7 March 1629, the effect wherof is that the Erie of Seafort should observe the
\ct of Parliament made 1621, that no stranger nor inhabitant wthin Scotland
jhould pack or pil in anie place of the yles out of the free boroughs, nor
jransport forbidden goods out of the same.

despight of the
Kings coraand.
Then the King
set out men of
warre and tooke
so manie of them
that hee sent a
barilful of their
heads into Hol-
land Af* their
names fixed to
their forheads
uppon cards.
This related by
the old Bishop of
Rosse Linsay who
cam in wlt K.
Jeames to Eng-
land.

588 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

Notwthstanding wch decree the Erie continueth to intertain strangers there
contrarie to the law, wheruppon the Boroughs again complained to the
Councel ther : and they by their letters dated in July last cofnend their
petition to his M^, signifying that the Hollanders by this meanes have
ingrossed the whole fishing and al comodites thereof and desire redress. .

State Papers. Domestic. Chas. I. Vol. 152. No. 64.
ILAND OF LEWES.

1. The Erie of Seaforts patent wch is only signed by the King and
yet sealed : being staid here at the instance of the Boroughs, and then by his
Mty sent to the Councel of Scotland and by them returned hither, and now ii
the custodie of Sr Wm. Alexander, may by his Mts comandment
cancelled : wch must bee donne by the King himself to whom the L

his Councel of Scotland have remitted it wthout anie opinion delivered.

2. There remaining ten or 12 Dutchmen in the yland being fisherr
contrarie to the laws of Scotland, it wil bee fit that they being servants tc
great merchants in Hollande and negotiating for them bee al discharged am
sent away by the Councel of Scotlande and the Erie of Seafort comanded t<
see them al avoided : wch hee must obey according to the Decret made ii
Scotland wch is that hee shal bring them before the Councel ther to bee ser
away if the King so thinck fit. That the Erie and Mr Hey may attend tl
King to this effect. This being first performed : the Hand being the Erie
inheritance : yet the fishing belongeth as they say to the Boroughs
Scotland : that is the fishing wthin the land namely at the lowghs amor
the ylands. The sea is the Kings as al the rest but to the sea fishing tl
borowghs pretend not. By acts of parliament none may pack nor pil anie fis
wthin the lowghs but the free borowghs of the contrie. About a dozen to\
of Scotland live by fishing : Edenborough, Burnt Hand, Airgorn, Dysert,
Pitten Ween, Anstruther, Egstey (?) and Werter, Krel, Lieben (?) St. Andrev~
Dondee, Monross, Aberdine, Glasco, Trewin, Are, and other fisher towns
free as Meseleborough, Fisher an (?) and others.

The Hollanders are now suftred to land and pile and pack, wch they
not to do by law. And if the laws were executed : though in calm sez
they may fish, yet storms would make them wearie. They also victual thet

The Lewes hath store of fisher men uppon it.

State Papers. Domestic. Chas. I. Vol. 152. No. 65.

Clauses out of the Earle of Seeforts Patent graunted by his Matie vnder

hand.

With power to the inhabitants of the said Burghe to compasse and fortef
the said Burghe Seaport and Haven of the same wth walls, Fowses, Bulwarks
and other necessary fortificacons, and to keepe and entertaine vpo their owne
charges, a number of their owne inhabitants and fayling of them a number of
others hyred and conduced souldiers and men of warre in Garrison for defence
of the said Burghe and resistance of all forraigne invasion.

Gives full power and comission to deale wth whatsoever farrainers and
strangers beeing of his Maties Confederates, beeing Tradesmen, Artisans,
Merchaunts, Saylors and Shippers, and other psons of whatsoever quality
necessary for planting and peopling the said Burghe, and to bring and
transport] them from the places of their residence of the said Burghe of
Stronway for inhabiting of the same, like as his Matie takes and accepts
whatsoever psons who shall transport themselves wt]l their wives and families
forth of Holland or any other neighbour Country beeing of his Mats Con-
federates to dwell wthin the said Burghe, vnder his Mate safeguard, peace
and proteccon, enduring their dwelling and remayning wthin the same. And
wills and grants that the said psons to bee transported as said is, shalbe free
and vnchallendged by his Matie or by whatsoever Judges and Ministers oJ

APPENDICES. 589

his Mats lawes, for whatsoever crime or offence comitted by them out of his
Maties Dominions, before their transporting to the said Burghe they alwayes
living vnder the obedience of his Maties Lawes, after their reparing to the
same. And also gives and graunts to the inhabitants of the said Burgh,
(having the liberties and pvilidges thereof) and their successors, full power
pvilidge and liberty to sayle and trade wth their shipps and Barkes, and to
have comerce and traffique therewth wthin any part of Christendome in
Barbara, Asia, Affrica, East and West Indies, and Newfound Lands beeing
his Maties Freinde and Confederates and no otherwise.

Signed by Sr WILLIAM ALEXANDER
Secretary for Scotland.

APPENDIX E.

PROPOSALS CONCERNING THE LEWIS FISHERIES (1629).

State Papers. Domestic. Charles I. Vol. 152. No. 66.
Cap11 Mason his Overture concerning the Island of the Lewes.

1. The Earle of Seaford his Patent to be cancelled, and the King and his
Adventurers to purchase the Island. And the Hollanders to be discharged
and sent away by the said Earle.

2. Intimation to be made to the Burrough Townes on the Sea Coasts that
free lybertie shalbe graunted for them to fish as in former tymes about the
Lewes, and to make vse of the shoare for Packing and Pealing in convenient
places to be appointed, paying ground leave. And that they give their con-
sents that the King settle certeine Fisheries for the vse of himself and
Adventurers with him.

3. A Proposition to be likewise made to the Fyshermen of the said Townes,
that such as will become Tennants to landes and live in the Lewes, shalbe
admitted. And all their fish shalbe taken off their hands dayly as they bring
it from the Sea at resonable rates, and payment shalbe made therefore in
money. And yf they want any commodity it shalbe furnished them out of the
Magazins to be erected and at resonable rates.

4. That 12 Magazins and 12 Stages be built in the Broad Lough and Lough
Sternoway.

5. That Salt Caske and men to dresse and packe and peale fyshe shalbe
provided allso for composicSn by the last of fyshe.

6. That competent quantities being gotten togeather to make certeine
shipps ladings, shipps shalbe freighted out of Scotland to transport the fishe,
for soe much p last to the Marketts.

7. That the Island being paid for, by the Company of Adventurers who
ought to be naturalized Scotiishmen, the King is to grant it them in Fee Farm,
paying the same duties that the Earle of Seaford paid to his Matie. And the
Island may be divided into soe many lotts as there are chief Adventurers.
And every Lott to be created a Barony after the manner of Scotland. And
amongst the whole nomber of Baronies, a free Burrough Towne to be erected,
and seated vppon the chief Fyshing harbour, having such priveledges as were
graunted to the Hollanders, the particulers whereof will appeare in that
Signature which is in the custody of Sr William Alexander.

8. It is thought very requisite, that the Earle of Seaford be kept in for an
Adventurer with the rest proporconally, for he may much accommodate the
buisines, and keepe the Islanders in awe.

R R

590 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

9. The Patent being cancelled, let Articles be drawen betwixt the King
and the said Earle conteyning the substance of the whole bargaine, wherein
he is to deliver vpp as well the Fyshings as Lands. And the Exemplificacon
of the whole to be remitted into Scotland and perfected there.

10. A Threasurer to be chosen, and a stocke of money to be put into his
handes for managing of the Fyshings, with Commission to him to proceed
according to the directions of the maior part of the Company.

11. In this course 30 or 40 ii may be gayned in the C.tt for one fyshing.
And three Retournes being made out of the three Fyshings within the
yeare, may drawe vpp ninety in the Cth benefitt at the yeares end. And
noe trouble nor charge, nor adventure of Shipps extraordinary in the nature
of Busses nor fishing Boates.

12. Besides this benefitt of Retourne by the Fyshings, the Island is to
pay rent to the Purchasers, which in fyfteene yeares tyme will redeeme the
purchase thereof.

Yor Honors Humble Servant,

JHON MASON.

State Papers. Domestic. Charles I. Vol. 229. No. 95

Captaine Masons oppinion how the Stocke to be raised by the Associates of
the Right Honorable the Lo : highe Threr of England for the Intended
fishings in the Isle of Lewes ought to be Imployed

1. The Associats ought to be naturalized Scottishmen and made Burgesses
of a free Burrough to be created at Sternoway in Lewis, according to an Act
of Parliament of King James 6th that they may be capeable of any trafficqe
to those parts as well as fishinge.

2. That the King purchase the Isle of Lewis from the Earle of Seafort
in whole or in part. In lewe whereof his Matie may give other Lands of
the Crowne of Scottland according to the vallewe as I shall shew his Matie,
which lye more convenient for the Erie. And soe the Kinge to have the
whole benefitt of the Towles or petty Customes of the fishings of that Island,
or otherwise his Matie to sett downe a rate reasonable for all Adventurers
to pay for the vse of the Harbors and grownd Leave for packhouses and
drying netts.

3. The Harbors and Loughs on the maine Land oposite to the Lewes
must be free for our fishings with ground Leave alsoe as in the Lewes to
which end the Kings Letter must be obtayned to the propriettors of those
places and the Threr to make Composition with them. The fishings of the
Isles of Orknay and Shettland are free being the King's land.

4. The King to bestowe 10 pieces iron ordnance with powder and shott
sufficyent from tyme to tyme for maintenance of a Fort vpon the Island in
Sternoway. The Captaine and Souldiers shall be paid at the charge of the
generall fishers and Inhabitants.

5. Every Adventurer may increase his Adventure yearlye as he pleaseth
but not withdrawe it out of the Stocke without consent of the maior part of
the Associats of his Company.

6. All Codd and Linge to be brought to sale in this Kingdom for a tyme
and Herrings likewise except the Sommer Herrings which are only fitt for
the marketts in Muscovia Poland and other places.

7. All fishers imployed in our Shipping or boats shall goe for shares.
And their shares shall bee bought at a rate by the Threr to the vse and benifitt
of the Associats and his Maties subiects cheifly or all together to be sett on
worke.

8. All such fishers as will sell fish to be delivered fresh at the packhouses
in the Lewes whether they be Inhabitants of the Island or others shall have
a reasonable rate for it, for which cause part of the Stocke in mony and
victualls and some other comodityes in a Magazin must be there.

APPENDICES. 591

9. Every Adventurer shall have a bill of Adventure from the Threr for his
particular, and faire books shall be kept of all buyings and sellings, settings
out and returnes wherby once in the yeare every one shall know how his
monyes are imployed and how his stocke in that particular stands.

10. It will be necessary that the Adventurers or the greater part of them
meet at tymes to conferre of their affaires and to order their Bussinesses
wherein noe man of them shall be excluded from his vote, or to auoyd the
trubling a multitude, a Committee may be chosen out of them and their
meetings to be at the house of Captaine Mason in Fanchurch Street.

11. Seeing that this worke doth tend very much to setting a Morke the
poore of this Kingdom, which for the most part are now idle and vagrants, if
his Matie shalbe pleased to graunt to this Company in favour of this their
Enterprise 6 ackres of Broomfeild Close neer Deptford for building worke-
houses and habitations for the poore that shalbe imployed in spinning and
makeing netts. The Cittye of London may be induced to build the said houses
at their charge, or Sr Henry Martyn out of the mony for Pious vses may
build them in a short tyme and the stocke shall be made to sett the poor on
worke by theise Adventurers.

APPENDIX F.

DESCRIPTION OF LEWIS BY CAPTAIN DYMES (1630).
State Papers. Domestic. Chas. I. Vol. 180. No. 97.

A breife Description of the Isle of the Leweis beinge one of the Islands of ye
Hebrides subiect to his Mate Kingdome of Scotland wherein is contained
the nature of the soyle, yc manners of ye people the severall fishings and
theire seasons alsoe the places most comodious for a free towne or Mart
for traffique, accordinge as it was ordered to bee done by certaine of the
Lords of his Mats most honoble privie Councell and performed in Anno
1630 by Captaine John Dymes.

This Island Leogea soe called from Leogus the sonne of a Danish Kinge
vvch heretofore possessed the same is no we called Leweis. It lyeth in the
Ducalidon sea and is the northermost of all the Hebrides vnder the Lattitude
of 60 degrees, about some 33 Leagues to the west south west of the Isles of
Orkeney. The Climate is somethinge colder then ours here in England, but
the ayre very wholesome as doth appeare by the healthfull bodyes and long
lives of the inhabitants, there beinge divers yet livinge some of an hundred
and some of sixscore yeares of age, wch have lustie and able bodyes, there was
one now yet livinge at my beinge there whom the inhabitants did affirme vnto
mee to bee an hundred and fowerscore yeares of age. In somer when theire
dayes bee at the longest the sunne doth remaine soe short a space beneath
theire Horizon that they have noe night at all and yett theire shortest daie in
Winter is almost as longe as ours here in England.

This Island is in length from north to south about threescore miles and in
breadth in some places 12: some 14: and some places 20: miles. The land is
very mountaineous, woh causeth great store both of fresh and salt water,
Loughes and Bayes wch aboundeth wth all sorts of fish espetially Herring,
Cod, and Ling and great stoare of Whales w011 followes the other Fish for
prey.

The inward part of the land is altogeather like vnto the Highlands of
Scotland full of heath and boggs, and affordeth the inhabitants noe other
thinge then grasse for theire catle in sommer and fewell to burne in winter,

R R 2

592 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

vvch fewell is a stronge kind of peat as good as anie wood or coale for fier.
On the lake sides and about the skoits of the He there are divers peices of
arrable land wcb are manured by the inhabitants, and yealdeth an increase
of above 50 for one of barley and oates as for anie other graine they have
none.

As for the inhabitants theire languadge is a kind of bade Irish. They are

Itogeather in custome, manners and livinge like vnto the Highlanders, wch

the English call Redshanks, but are nowe much more obedient both vnto the

lawes of the Kingdome and to the Lord of the Land to whome they owe great

duetyes.

In theire religion they are very ignorant and have been given to the
idolatrous worshipp of divers Sts. as doth appeare by theire Chappells wch are
yett to bee scene, but they are nowe most espetially devoted to one of theire
Sts. called St. Mallonuy whose Chappell is seated in the north part of the He,
whome they have in great veneration to this daie and keepe the Chappell in
good repaire. This St. was for cure of all theire wounds and soares and
therefore those that were not able to come vnto the Chappell in person they
were wont to cutt out the proporcSn of Iheire lame armes or leggs in wood
wth the forme of theire sores and wounds thereof and send them to the St.
where I have seen them lyinge vpon the Altar in the Chappell. Within the
Chappell there is a Sanctum Sanctorum woh is soe holy in theire estimation
that not anie of their weomen are sufferred to enter therein. Anie woman
wth child dareth not to enter within the doores of the Chappell, but there are
certaine places without where they goe to theire devotions. They had two
genall meetings in the yeare at this Chappell, the one at Candlemas, and the
other at Alhollautide where theire custome was to eat and drincke vntill they
were druncke. And then after much dancinge and dalliance togeather they
entred the chappell at night with lights in their hands where they continued
till next morninge in theire devotions. The last tyme of theire meetinge was
at Candlemas last. They were prevented of theire Idolatrous worpp by a gent,
whoe is a Minister in the Isle, who albeit the place was farr from his aboade
and out of his Cure, hee mett them at theire Assembly in the Chappell where
he begann first to reason wth them, then to admonish them and afterwards to
threaten them both with God His Judgmts and the Lawes of the Realme, in
somuch as divers of the better sort of them promised to forsake that' wonted
Idolatry of theires. Aboute a mile distant from this Chappell lyeth the
Pygmeys Island wch is a round high hill contening about one acre of land.
This He is ioyned to the Leweis by a narrowe necke of land, wch is in length
about halfe the distance of a paire of Butts, wherein there is the walls of a
Chappell to bee scene wch is but 8 foote in length and 6 foote in breadth, the
ground whereof hath bene often tymes digged vpp espetially by the Irish wch
come thither of purpose to gett the bones of those little people wch they say
were buryed there. At my beinge vpon the He I made search in the earth and
found some of those bones, wch are soe little that my beleife is scarce bigg
enough to thinke them to bee the bones humane flesh, [sic.]

This Hand of the Leweis is deuided into twoe parts and accompted as
two Hands, the northermost part wch is the greater part thereof is called the
Leweis, and belongeth to the Earle of Seafort. The other part to the
southward is called the Harris and belongeth to John Mac-Cloud or rather
Mac-Leogus of whome they are deriued.

Theis 2 Lapps are bounded partly with twoe salt-water Loughes and partly
by a Forrest wch reacheth from the one of theis Loughes vnto the other in wcl>
there are great stoare of deere.

The Leweis is deuided into 4 parrishes, in each of wcb parrishes there are
some 20 townes wch townes are some halfe a scoare cottages built togeather
neare some peice of arrable land where they make theire aboade in winter, for
the most part of the comon people in the sorrier they remaine on the hills to
graze theire Cattle.

The nomber of the inhabitants of the Island wilbee about some fowcr
thouzand persons, a great part whereof were brought out of the Continente by

APPENDICES. 593

the Earle of Seafort, wch remaine there vpon small condicons. There are alsoe
divers of the said Inhabitants gentlemen wch are the cheife tennants to the
Lord whoe lett out the land afterwards to the poorer sort at such rates that
they themselves sitt rent free.

The whole rent of the Hand is valued at twelve thouzand Marks Scottish
money per annu besides the twoe Forrests and other Casualties, wctl are valued
at sixe thouzand Markes more, wch makes in all one thousand pounds sterlinge.

The Comodities wch the Island doth affoord is noe other thinge then Cattle
and some Pladinge an Tartan \vch is a kind of woollen cloath wherewith they
cloath themselves.

But the great and rich comoditie woh might bee made of this land is the
Fishinge whereof the inhabitants doe make but small benefitt besides theire
owne food, there beinge in the Island not above a dozen boates wch doe kill
anie fish for sale. But the Dutch wch have fished there theis two last yeares
past have found that great and extraordinary gaine thereof, whoe onely wth 4er
Busses wth 1 6 men and 25 netts in a Busse have within the space of three
monethes killd three hundred last of Herrings wcl1 Herrings by theire factors
and owne confession vnto mee was sold the last year at Danske for 400 gilders
p last wch is about some 38 ii sterlinge at wch rate the 300 last did come to
1 1400 ti of w('h if there bee rebated one third part for all chardges (wch is as
much as needs to bee) it will plainely appeare that those 4or Busses in lesse
then three monethes space did make 7500 ti cleare gaine. The Master of one
of those Busses wch transported me from the Island into the mayne continent
did protest vnto mee that the fish was in such great abundance yfc they were
sometymes constrained to cast it into the sea againe they haveing more in
halfe theire netts then they were able to save, and he was of opinion that if
there had bene a thouzand Busses more there was fish enough for them all.
As for the Cod and Ling the Dutch doth kill none of it themselves, but
buyeth it at easie rates of the Inhabitants ; weh are alsoe so farr from haveinge
the true industry of killinge that fish, that one boate with our Newfoundland
men will kill more in a daie then they doe with one of theire boates in at
yeare.

The Dutch have also made provision of fornaces and other necessaries for
the Whale fish, but they have not yett made any vse thereof, they beinge as
yet scarce settled in theire busines, there beinge noe more of them besides
Seamen yett then sixe servants and a P'actor wch are alwayes resident in
Stornway where they have built a pretty dwellinge house and a Magazine
where they lay vpp theire salt and caske and all other necessaries for theire
fishinge.

The severall seasons for the fishings doe alter accordinge vnto the seasons
of the yeares. The first season for Herrings doth beginne about the be-
ginninge of June, and lasteth vntill the latter end of August. The second
fishinge for Herrings is from August vntill Micftmas, and then the Herrings
will bee shotten and come neare the shoare. And the last season for Herrings
is from Michmas vntill Christmas, and then they come in to the Loughes.
The two later seazons the Dutch cannott as yett make any vse of with their
great Busses, because the nights bee longe, and there is not scope enough for
them to drive within the Bayes and Loughes.

Cod and Ling are taken all the yeare longe vpon the Coast, but the chiefest
season for it is from Christmas vntil Easter, soe that it doth appeare that if
there were vessells fitt for ye purpose the fishinge might bee continued all the
yeare longe either about the Island or in the Loughes over ag* it in the Con-
tinent or else vpon a certaine Banke wch stretcheth on the west side of the
Island from one end thereof to the other about some 5 leagues of from the
shoare where there is abundance of Cod and Ling, and as I have bene cer-
tified by the Inhabitants of the Island that one fish taken there is as bigge as
twoe taken elsewhere, but this side of the Land is very little frequented
espetially by straingers by reason of the manie Rocks wcb are vpon that
Coast, and of the fowle seas wch are brought in by the Westerne Ocean.
This last yeare there came in great stoare of young Whales into one of

594 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

thcire Loughes wch the inhabitants inclosed wth boates, and killd more then
one hundred of them wth their swords and theire bowes and arrowes, for
want of better engines, and made meat of them all, and for want of salt to
save it they tooke the sea Oare (ware) and burned it and then powderd it
with the ashes thereof, wch afterwards beinge dryed in the smoake they eate
it like Bacon.

They have alsoe a yearely fishinge vpon a small He called Causmoun
where they kill great store of Scales wch fishinge may rather bee called an
huntinge then a fishinge, for the inhabitants repaire thither once in the yeare
manie of them togeather well arm'd both for offence and defence where they
find theis fish vpon the Rocks, the weapons wherewith they kill them, are
great batts and swords, and to defend themselves ag1 the teeth of theis fish
(whose nature is not to lett goe theire hold till they feele the bones bruise
betweene theare teeth) they lyne theire Trooses wth Charcoales, soe that when
those fish chance to bite anie of them, when they feele the coals crash within
their teeth they give over theire hold and are the sooner overcome, this fish
alsoe they make meate of as they doe by theire Whales. The great abundance
both of ravenous fishes and fowles wch that Coast doth affoord is an infallable
argumt of that abundance of other fish whereupon they prey.

In this Hand the ayre is soe contrary to venemous creatures, that there
is neither frogge, toade, snake or anie other venemous creature in the whole
Island, except one place wch is a great deepe Cave in the cleft of a rocke neare
the sea side, where there are soe manie serpents and of that monstrous bignes
as the inhabitants did affirme vnto mee that the very ayre of that place
was soe corrupted wth them that a man is not able to endure the smell
therereof.

There are manie Eagles and Hawkes in the He wch breed in the clefts o.
rocks, for this place is soe destitute of wood that there is not one tree growinge
in the whole Island.

And thus haveinge made a breife survey of the whole Island, I have taken
a more perticuler viewe of that place therein wch is most convenient for
the seatinge of a Burrough towne wch I hould to bee in the Lough of
Sternway.

First of al for the comodity of shippinge, this Lough hath a very faire
cominge in to it cleare of all dangers, havinge within it safe rideinge for shipps
with all windes wth places most convenient from whence both Roade an
harboure may bee comaunded for the securinge both of towne and shippinge
from the danger of an Enimy as it doth more plainely appeare by a draught
wch I have made thereof.

As for ye scituation of ye towne, first for the benefitt of a good ayre wch
is cheifely to bee considered. It is vpon a drye peece of levell ground wch doth
enioy the benefitt of the sonne from ye morninge vntill the eveninge, wch is not
easily found againe in this lie because of the hills and boggs. Then for those
two Elem18 of fire and water they are there most conveniently at hand.
Moreover this place lyeth near the midst of the Countrey for the more con-
veniency of all the inhabitants wch must resort thereunto. It beinge alsoe the
place wch hath bene alwayes most frequented both of the inhabitants and
strangers, where there are already some fewe buildings wth a pious worke
of the Earle of Seafort, who doth build a church there wch is a good
foundacon for the rest of the worke.

There are alsoe divers places about the Island very necessary for ye
buildinge of Magazines and Stoarhouses for the layinge vpp of salt, packinge
of fish, and all other necessaryes belonginge vnto the fishings wch will alwayes
shift from place to place, accordinge vnto the seuall seasons of the yeare,
wch places wth theire proprietyes because they cannott bee soe well vnderstood
and conceived of by words I have made a platt of the Island whereby I hope
to give your honora the better satisfaccon both of what I have heere related,
and many other things concerninge the same.

Thus haveinge vsed my best endeavors to dischardge my duety herein
accordinge to the Comission and direccons receaved from Capt. John Mason,

APPENDICES. 595

my humble request is that yor Hono1"5 wilbee pleased to take it into yor
noble considerac5ns that the journey hath been chargeable and very painefull
vnto mee.

Yor hono1"3 s'vant in all obedience

JOHN DYMES.
Endorsed.

Description o y8 Isle of Leweys by Captaine Dimes.

APPENDIX G.

EXTRACT FROM MEMORANDUM RELATING TO THE
HEBRIDEAN FISHERIES (1632).

State Papers. Domestic. Charles I. Vol. 152. No. 71.

If yor Ma*/ shall thinke good to setle Collonyes and plant Corportions
\sic\ in the said Hands of Hibredes or in all yor north and west Hands of
Scotland and Ireland, it will be necessary that the Planters shall have ^portions
of ground appropriated to them on wch they may build dweling houses, and
storehouses, as also Groundes so wel fit for planting as for Tillage and breed-
ing of Cattle for theyr maintainance. They will finde the grounde very fertyle
according to the climet, wch hath been an inducement to yor Predecessors
who were well informed of the state of those Hands, to labour to bring them
to a Civill obedience of theyr Soveraigne who inhabited those Hands yfc they
being brought up in the fear of God might in tyme become both religeous and
industryous. And to this end an Act of Parliament was enacted in the Reigne
of King James the third of happy memory, for setleing and planteing of three
free Townes and Corporations in the Highlands and Isles of Scotland, wch
sayd Act hath been approved by all his successours and more especially
ratefyde in the fifteenthe Parlyament of King James the Sixth of blessed
memory holden at Edenborrough the ninth of December ano 1597, and that
the sayd three towns should bee built in the most convenient parts of the said
Islands, viz., one in Kintyre, the second in Lockohaber, the third in the
Lewes, and the said Townes to enioy the priveliges of Free Borroughs accord-
ing to the meaning of the Statute enacted in the said Parlyament. .

APPENDIX H.

PAPERS RELATING TO THE "FORTY-FIVE."

Declaration of Capt. O'Neille.

Fort Augustus August 7th, 1746.
(Word for word as taken from him.)

Capt O'Neille declares that after the action at Culloden he was sent by the
Pretenders son to Inverness to order what people (belonging to him) who were
then in the town to retire, the battle being lost. He directly passed thro' the
town and told as many he could meet his orders. He saw Lady Ogilvie

596 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

old Lady Mclntosh and others at a window whom he did not give himself
time to speak to tho' they seemed desirous of it. From thence he directly
went towards Moy where the Pretenders son promised to meet him. On the
way he met Lord John Drummond, Major Kennedy and some other officers
who told him that the Pretenders son had taken the road towards the
McPhersons country and sent a quartermaster of Fitz-James's and four troopers
to shew him the road. He lay that night at one Fraziers near a factor's of
Lord Lovats and the next morning by break of day went to the said factors
where he found Lord Lovat Captain Shea Captain Bagott and some other
officers, who told him that the Pretenders son had desired them to surrender
but had left a note with Lord Lovat directing him to go to Fort Augustus
there to pick up what people he could and make a stand. He got there about
eleven o'clock that day and found nobody except five or six people who told
him that the Pretenders son was gone forwards towards Lochgary's house.
At a house a little above Fort Augustus he met the Pretender's son's cook and
one of his footmen and Sullivan's dark who told him he would overtake him
at Glangary's. He went thither and found Monsieur Mirabell a French
engineer an Irish physician and a priest. They told him that the Pretender's
son had left word for him to follow him to Scothouse of Knoidart. From
thence he went to Lochiels where he lay that night. The next morning he
met old Lochiel Mr McLachlan Mr Maxwell and Lord Elcho who accom-
panied him to Kinloch Moidart where they met Eneas McDonald the banker
who brought him a note from the Pretenders son directing him to joyn him at
one Donald Roy McDonald in Aresaig which he did next day along with one
Danil McLeod who served them as a pilot afterwards and is now a prisoner on
board the Furnace. There was with the Pretender's son in Aresaig Sullivan
John Hay and one Allan McDonald a priest and now a prisoner. They staid
there till the next day about six o'clock in the evening when Sullivan the Pre-
tender's son and himself embarked in an open boat for Stornway. The night
proving bad they were obliged to put into Rushnish in Long Island where
they staid some time and made a second attempt for Stornway. But the
weather still continuing bad, they was forced into Scalpa and went under the
name of Sinclair a ship-wrecked merchant ; Sullivan passed for his (the
Prince's) father. There they was five or six days and sent Danil McLeod
their pilot to Stornway to bargain for a ship to carry them to the Orkneys.
They travelled from Scalpa to the Lewis which they crossed on foot twenty
five miles to Stornway where they found that McLeod had got drunk and
discovered them, so that the people of Stornway were riseing in arms appre-
hending they had brought a number of men with them ; which obliged them
to lie in a moor all night two miles short of the town. Then they proposed
going in their open boat to the Orkneys but the sailors who were with them
haveing run such risques some nights before by the badness of the weather
would not venture it ; upon which not knowing what to resolve they em-
barked on board their boat and went southwards. In their passage they met
two English men of war which obliged them to put into an uninhabited
island where they remained four days having no provisions but some dried
fish which they found on the rocks. They went from thence still southwards
and were chased by a sloop of war in amongst the rocks off the Harries where
they remained three hours till she was gone, when they ventured out and went
to Benbicula where they remained at a poor man's house three days. From
thence (by this man's advice) they went to Corridale a mountain in South
Uist where they remained near a month in a shciling of one McGachans
and were subsisted by him and some of the people of the country during that
time. While they was there the Pretender's son sent Capt O'Neille with a
second son of Clanronald's, a Capt in Lord John Drummond's to the Lewis to
endeavour to get a ship in which Capt O'Neille was to go to France with a
letter to the King, and he was directed to give the King a distinct account of
everything that had happened from his arrival in Scotland till the day he left
the Pretender's son and was recommended to the King as a person who would
give an impartial account of everything. He finding it impracticable to get

APPENDICES. 597

a ship on account of the strict examination all persons were obliged to undergo,
returned towards Corridale but was told on the way that the Pretender's son
had left that place on account of the Skye militia being come into South Uist
and was gone to the island of Fuya where he rejoyned him and staid there
two days. From thence they went to Loch Boisdale in South Uist. In their
passage thither they met two English men of war whom they avoided by
getting behind a rock where they remained near two hours and then proceeded
on their voyage to Loch Boisdale. They staid there four or five days but Capt
Scott landing within two miles of them obliged them to part with Sullivan
who they left there with the boat, Capt O'Neille and the Pretender's son
going towards Corridale where they was informed that General Campbell
was at Berneray and there were severall independent companys coming into the
country in search of him, which determined them to go for Benbicula. On
their way thither they met Miss Flora McDonald to whom it was proposed to
go along with the Pretender's son to the Isle of Skye which she at first refused,
but on his offering to dress himself in a woman's habit and to pass for her
servant she consented, desiring them to remain on the North side of Corridale
and she would send him word where to meet her. Their guide went with her
to bring the message. They staid at the place fixt upon all the next day
without hearing from her which made them think she had deceived him.
Having no hopes of escaping he was just going to send Capt O'Neille to Gen11
Campbell to surrender himself when the guide returned with a message from
Ms Flora that she would meet him at the head of Rushnish where they went
that night but did not meet her, on which the guide was sent for her who
brought her the next day about night fall. But hearing there was some ships
engaged off Barra he was determined to stay till they heard what was the
event. After staying some time they had an account that Gen11 Campbell
passed from North Uist to Benbicula which obliged him to change his resolu-
tion. They went from thence at midnight to a point of the island nearer Skye
where they saw two or three small vessels who attended Gen11 Campbell and
were oblidged to hide themselves in the heather. There they could not prevail
upon Miss Flora to take Capt O'Neille along with them as he did not speak the
language of the country and as he had (as she said) a foreign air, upon which
he was obliged to part with them with a promise to joyn them as soon on the
boat which carried them would come back, which it did some days after and
brought a note from the Pretender's son to Capt O'Neille desiring he would
joyn him in the McKinnons country, but he could not prevail on the boatmen
to go back with him as they had run some risques by having shot fired at them
before they landed the Pretender's son. The next day, he, O'Neille, was taken
by Capt McNeil a captain in the independant companys in a sheiling near
Rushnish where he had waited for an oppert unity to get over to Skye.

LIST OF PRISONERS delivered to Commodore Smith by Major Gen11 Campbell,
August 3rd 1746.

1. Ronald Clanronald made prisoner for treasonable practices in visiting
and assisting the Pretender's son while on the islands of Benbicula and
South Uist.

2. Ronald McDonald Bailie of Benbicula made prisoner for treasonable
practices — a materiall evidence against Clanronald, his lady, Buisdale the
Bailie of Canna and Hugh Macdonald of Armadael, an officer of the Skye
militia.

3. John McKinnon of Elgol in Skye made prisoner for having been an
officer in the rebell army — a materiall evidence against the laird of McKinnon.

4. Malcolm McLeod of Teir (?) in Rasa made prisoner for having been
a captain in the rebell army and other treasonable practices — an evidence
against the laird of McKinnon.

5. Ronald McGachan, son to Obeg in South Uist made prisoner for
having assisted the Pretenders son while in South Uist — an evidence against
old Clanronald the Bailie of Benbicula and Buisdale.

598 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

6. Donald McCleod of Gartrigill made prisoner for having been in rebel-
lion and piloting the Pretender's son from the Continent to the Western Isles —
an evidence against old Clanronald McDonald of Buisdale Eneas McDonald
the banker and the laird of Barra.

7. Charles McGachen in Peninurin in South U ist made prisoner for buying
men for the Pretenders son — an evidence against old Clanronald, Ronald
McGachen son to Obeg the bailie of Benbicula McDonald of Buisdale the
bailie of Canna, and Ronald McDonald of Garrifluch.

8. Francis McDonald made prisoner for having raised men in Ireland for
the Pretenders service and for being an officer with the rebels. He was made
prisoner at Couchindier in Ireland for the same but made his escape and it
is reported fifty pounds was promised by those he escaped from for retaking
him for which reason, query, if it would not be right to send him thither to
have him tried as there is no evidence here against him.

9. Lauchlan McVurych made prisoner for having been in rebellion for
assisting the Pretender's son in his escape from the Continent to South Uist —
an evidence against Lady Clanronald.

10 and ii. Angus McCaula and John McDonald two boy servants to the
bailie of Benbicula — evidence against their master.

12. Duncan McKeizig made prisoner for having been in rebellion and
taken with his arms.

13. Roderick McDonald made prisoner for having been in rebellion and
assisting the young Pretender in escaping to the Long Island — an evidence
against Clanronald.

14. John McLean cook to the laird of Clanronald made prisoner for
having been cook to the Pretenders son while on the Long Island but chiefly
to be an evidence against the laird and lady Clanronald.

15. John McDonald brother to the bailie of Benbicula made prisoner
only for an evidence against some persons in the Long Island.

1 6. Duncan McKievre in Benbicula made prisoner for having rowed the
Pretenders son from South Uist to Skye.

17. Alexander McDonald of Garilgole in Benbicula taken up only to be
an evidence against Lady Clanronald and some others in the Long Island.

1 8. Francis Bower a Papist teacher of children in Morer.

19. Alexander McDonald of Buisdale confined prisoner by Captain Scott
for being, aiding and assisting to tke Pretenders son and visiting him while
he was on South Uist.

20. John McKinnon the old laird confined for being in the rebellion.
lie was attainted in the last rebellion and this also. He conducted the Pre-
tender's son from Skye to Morer and was otherwise assisting to him.

Enclosed in the Earl of Albemarle's letter of August 8th 1746 to the
Duke of Newcastle (Fort Augustus).

APPENDIX I.

LETTERS FROM CAPTAIN BARLOW, WITH A REPORT ON
THE LONG ISLAND. (Copies.)

(Additional MSS. 35891 in British Museum.)

Captain Barlow Commanding a Detachment of the Regiment of the Bufts
to Lieut.- General Churchill from Vala (Vallay) in North Uist 30
June 1753.

SIR, — After many difficulties I have at length settled the several Parties
under my Command agreeable to the Disposition which I had the Honour

APPENDICES. 599

to receive from you. As this has took up much time, I think it my Duty
to acquaint you with every Days transaction by which you may understand
how impossible it is for me to Report so often as my Orders directs me
to do.

I arrived at Bernera with my whole Party on the First of June, and
having Quarter'd them in the neighbourhood of that Place, I went to wait
upon Captain Fergussone, who luckily had arrived there a few days before.
After some conversation he told me he intended to sail the next Day if
the Wind was fair, and desired I wou'd have my Party ready to embark
as soon as possible. Accordingly the next morning early, having given out
the Blankets and other Utensils, the Men were soon ship'd on Board the
Ship, Brig and Wherry. About three in the afternoon we set sail with a
good Wind, and that Evening landed the Party for Egg and next morning
for Canna. On the 3d. we arrived at Boisdale in South Uist and anchored
in South Uist the lock of that name, and having disposed of that Party,
Captain Fergussone and I took Eight men and went ashore in order to
Reconoitre the Country. We march'd over Boggs and Mountains of Rock
about four miles for Killbride, and from thence came through the most
Inhabited part of the Island on the Western Coast, where the Country is
very flat, of a sandy soil, and affords tolerable Pasturage for Cattle. The
People were at first under some Apprehension, and wanted to know what
brought us there in time of Peace. We told them we wanted Arms, but
they said they had none, nor indeed did we find any, nor any Person in the
Highland dress. The whole of this Island are Papists. I have got a
List of the Priests and am determined to lay hold of them or make them
Quit the Country. I am told they have already done that, upon the first
coming of the Troops among them. We made a Circuit of about Fifteen
Miles and then returned to the Ship. On the 5th the Wind changing about
we set sail again and passing North Uist we landed the Harrish Party at
Rowdil. Continuing our Course, the Wind veered about and blowing hard,
we were obliged to run into Loch Eianard. The Weather continuing bad
and blowing hard, we continued in that Harbour Two Days. On the 8th
we set sail again with a favourable Wind and Anchored safely the same
Evening in the Harbour of Stornvay and put the Party a shore. The
next Day I put my own Party a shore likewise, in order to refresh them,
and that they might clean their Arms, which were but in a bad Condition.
/ halted there two Days and waited upon Mr. McKenzie who is Factor
to my Lord Fortrose where I observed three Pieces of Brass Cannon,
the largest carrying a Ball of about Four Pounds, the second about
a Pound Shot, and the smallest half a Pound. I spoke to Captain
Fergussone about them, and he told me they belonged to my Lord Fortrose
and that General Campbell saw them in the Year 1745 when he was in the
Country, and as he took no notice of them I had better not, till I had
acquainted you, and received your Directions. If therefore you think it
necessary I shall take them Away, and send them to Fort William.

I now proposed to march with my Party through the whole Country, and
gave orders to the Master of the Brigg, to go round to Rowdil where I should
embark in order to be transported to North Uist. Having therefore took
leave of Captn. Fergussone, to whom I must acknowledge myself under many
obligations for his Assistance, and Civility to me and Party, I began my
March on the nth taking Lieut. Nicolson and Twenty of his Men with me.
We came to Koise (Keose) where I left i Corpl. and 4 men, as People
who Travel that Country must necessarily pass through that Place. It is
about six Miles the nighest way from Stornway. We came afterwards at
Ballanllan (Balallan) where I left a Sergt. and 10 Men. Here is a Ferry,
and the Town stands at the Mouth of Loch which runs up to Koise. The
next Day being the I2th I march'd to Bonnevenitre (Bunaveneader) or the
Ferry House which stands upon the side of Loch Tarbet. I there found a
French Firelock which had been newly oiled and clean'd without a Lock
in a Hut where there were only two old Women. I asked for the Lock

600 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

but they told me it had been took away by one Mr. McLeod Factor to
the Laird of that Name. Not being satisfied with this Answer, I caus'd
the whole House to be search'd, and look'd into every Chest and Cupboard
but could find nothing, so I brought the Firelock away. This Place is about
12 Miles from Ballanllan and 26 from Stornway. The whole country that
we march'd through is one continued Bogg, impassable at all times for
Horses or Cows, and the same in the Winter for any Human Creature ; on
our right Hand were inaccessable Mountains of Rock, of a Stupendious
Height. There are about a Thousand Families in this part of the Country
all Protestants of the Kirk of Scotland ; they are all Vassels to my Lord
Fortrose who is the sole Proprietor of this Island.

Mr. McKenzie told me he could raise three Thousand men in this
Country ; how far this may be true I know not, but I must doubt the
Veracity of his Assertion. They say they are all well affected to His Majesty,
and our happy Constitution ; they have no Arms Nor do they at any time
wear the Highland Dress. What I have seen of them are a poor wretched
People and meer slaves to Violence and Oppression.

From Bonnevenitre I came part by Land and part by Water to Loskiner
(Luskentyre) in the Harris. Ensign Airey the Officer Commanding here,
was upon his rounds. I stay'd here two or three days to see him and to
inform myself of the Country. I was at Mr. McLeods House and was treated
very Hospitably. He is a man extramly well affected to His present Majesty,
and His Goverment, and is in all respects (if I may Judge by his Conver-
sation) a downright honest man. He Commanded a Company of McLeods
against the Rebels in the Year 1745. The Day after I arrived at Loskiner,
I received a Letter from Lieut. Nicolson from Stornway acquainting me he
had sent Torkel McLeod a Papist, Prisoner on Board the Brig for being
guilty of High Treason. The Evidences against him have sign'd the Affidavit
and were sworn before Mr. McKenzie Chief Magistrate of the Place. The
Prisoner was it seems drinking with a Sergeant and three men when he made
use of his Treasonable Expressions, in saying the King was a Rebel and he
would prove him so. I have Two of the Men with me who I think are
sufficient to prove the Fact. I hope to have the Honour of Your Directions
about him.

The whole Herris belongs to the Laird of McLeod, and he has
appointed Donald McLeod, Baillie, or Superintendent over all his
affairs in it. He was in the late Rebellion and the only one that
went out of this Country; the poor People live in great subjection
tinder him and it is said, his Power is as extensive as his Chiefs.
He had a Protection from his Laird to carry a Firelock, but having two
Mr. Airey took one away. He also found an old Firelock and Broad Sword
at Scalpa belonging to John Campbell who had formerly been a Sergeant in
Lord Loudoun's Regiment and an old Pistol at Rowdil very rusty and with-
out a Lock. As to the Highland Dress it is quite abolished, for nothing of
that kind is to be seen through the Long Island. The People of this
Country are all of the Kirk of Scotland not one Person that I can hear of
dissenting from it. There are about one Hundred and fifty or Sixty Families,
and able to bear Arms (taking from Sixteen to Sixty) about Three Hundred
Men.

There are seven Islands comprehended in the Country of Herris, Terrensey,
Scarp, and Scalpa, and for the most part Rocky and Barren. Bernera, Ensay
Pabby and Killigroy are all together tolerably Fertile, particularly Bernera
which is the Place where the Baillie Resides. There are many other smaller
Isles uninhabited. From Loskiner I march'd to Rowdill where I waited
several Days and could hear nothing of the Brigg. At last the Master sent
me a Letter over Land by his Pilot, acquainting me he had done all in his
power to make the Harbour of Rowdil but could not do it, and that he lay
in Fins Bay unable to move untill the Wind chang'd. By this time my
Party began to suffer very much for want of Provisions, Meal particularly,
as none could be got at that Place, and as to my own part I thought I should

APPENDICES. 60 1

have been eat up with Rats and Lice. In this miserable situation I was
obliged to hire an old leakey Boat to Transport myself and Party to the
Ship in Fins Bay and thanks to Providence we got all safe there, which was
a seasonable Relief to the poor Fellows. We continued Wind Bound Four
Days longer before the Wind shifted and we were able to sail, and in that
time had terrible Storms of Wind, Rain, Hail and Snow. It was very
astonishing to me to have such Weather in the Month of June, who had
never seen the like. On the 24th (after having waited Nine Days for the
Ship and a fair Wind) we sail'd, and that Evening Anchored in Loch Maddy.
On the 25th I march'd to Vala going part by Water and part by Land about
14 Miles, halted one Day the 26th. On the 27th I march'd round by the
Coast to Carinish about 12 Miles, from thence to the Island of Ballsher back,
and so over the Moor to Vala.

This Country belongs to Sir James McDonald and to appearance, by
much the best Country of the whole long Island, that I have seen. The West
side of this Country is only inhabited, the soil is sandy, and in a wet season it
produces plenty of Corn and Grass ; it lies very low and flat towards the Sea,
but higher up towards the East are many Boggs and Mountains. The People
are very civil, and hitherto I have had no Complaints. They are all Presby-
terians and very well affected to His Majesty King George and His Family,
for they say, the late Sir Alexr. McDonald, desired them with his last
breath to be faithfull and obedient, to whose Memory I find they pay great
Veneration. He took a way all their Arms in the year 1746, which were
restored to the Government, since which they have had none amongst them.
This Island is reckon'd to be about Twenty computed Miles round, and
contains between two and three Hundred Families. Here is a Linnen Manu-
factory Establish'd among them which at present is but in its Infancy. If it
succeeds, it will be a means to turn the Genious of the People from Arms and
Licentiousness, to Trade and Industry. They yearly make great Sums of
Money by their Kelp. I have hitherto had but a superficial view of this Part
of the Country as I have been but a short time in it, but hope soon to give you
a more satisfactory Account of the whole.

Here follows a List of the several Parties I have made in the parts I have
visited from Stornway to Killbride in South Uist, by which Means I have a
Communication from one Extream part of the long Island to the other, and
by which no ship, Boat or Person can come into any part of the Country, but
I can soon know it.

I left at Stornway, Lieut. Nicolson 2 Sergts. I Corpl. and 26 Men, to be
disposed of as the Situation of that part of the Country, I have not visited,
may require

From Stornway to Koise six mites... ... ... I Corpl. and 4 Men

From Koise to Ballanllan five miles ... ... I Sergt. and 10

From Ballanllan to Bonnevenitre twelve miles ... ... ... 4

From Bonnevenitre to Loskiner nine miles I sub. I Sergt. and 7

Fr«m Loskiner to Rowdil ten miles ... ... I Corpl. and 4

At the Head of Loch Maddy four leagues by Water I Corpl. and 4

From the Head of Loch Maddy to Sollos 8 miles I Do. and 4

From Sollos to Vala I Capt. I Sergt. i Drum, and 2

From Vala to Carinish 8 miles ... .. ... I Corpl. and 6

From Carinish to Benbecula 6 miles ... ... I Corpl. and 4

From Benbecula to Machairmeadhanach seven miles I Corpl. and 3

From Machairmeadhanach to Houghmore 6 miles ... ... 4

From Houghmore to Slaoinabroig 2 miles ... ... ... ... 4

From Slaoinabroig to Gearrabhailteas 4 miles ... ... ... 4

From Gearrabhailteas to Aisgiornish 2 miles ... ... ... 4

From Aisgiornish to Boisdale 3 miles ... ... ... ... 4

From Boisdale to Cillebhride 2 miles ... I Lieut. I Drum, and 3

As I thought the Parties in South Uist were too near each other I have
wrote to Mr. Bulkeley to desire he will take off one or two of these Parties

602 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

and send it or them to Watersey to observe all ships coming into Watersey
Bay, or the Harbour of Flada. I shall likewise make other Alterations as the
Service may require when I am better acquainted with the different parts of
the Country.

^ I have heard nothing about the Parties at Egg and Canna, I shall go
thither as soon as the Wind serves, but at present it is directly against us. I
should likewise visit all the Islands lying in those parts but in order to do
this I ought to have a Wherry, for the Eliz. Brigg which I have now with me is
too large for these Western Seas and by no means fit for the purpose. There
are no Harbours on this Coast fit for a Vessel of her Burthen, so that if a
Squal of Wind should come on (which is often the case even in Summer) she
must Inevitably be lost. Captain Fergussone can best acquaint you with the
advantages that would arise from my having a Wherry, preferably to that
of having a Brigg— who I suppose will see you by the time this reaches
Edinburgh.

I am now waiting for a fair Wind to transport me to Egg and Canna, and
as soon as possibly I can Return I shall do my self the Honour to write to you
again and acquaint you with what I have done further — In the meantime
I am &c. &c.

Sir
Signed Jxo. BARLOW Captn. in the Buffs.

P.S. I forgot to mention that exclusive of those Parties above, I have
caused a Party of a Corporal and four Men to be sent to Scalpa, where there
are two excellent Harbours for large Ships, one on the East side, the other on
the West, which are more frequented with shipping, than any part of the
Harris, I have likewise sent a Corporal and four Men to Terrensey which is
a tolerable large Island, and has three Villages in it. As soon as I have
fix'd the several Parties in the whole long -Island, so as there may be no
occasion to make any alteration, I shall draw out a List in a more regular
Avay, for what I have mention'd above is only in general Terms that you may
know our Situation for the present.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM CAPTAIN BARLOW COM-
MANDING IN THE WESTERN ISLES TO COLONEL
HOLMES. DATED AT VALA, NORTH UIST, OCTOBER 9,
1753-

SIR, — Since I received Mr. Stewart's Letter with the Account of General
Churchill's death, I have been at Dunvegan in Sky for subsistance for my
Party. Upon our return, we were drove as far as Stornway by a violent
Tempest, where we continued wind bound sixteen Days. During the time I
was there, I had many Complaints made to me privately against Mr.
McKenzie, Chamberlain of that Island, who I find is in all respects a
bad man. He greatly regrets the loss of his Cannon, and at first refused
giving them, until the officer who Commands there was going to take them
away by force. His last effort to keep them was by threatening him with a
prosecution, and he has now the Impudence to say it will only put him to the
trouble of applying for them to get them again, tho' they belong'd to the late
Lord Seaforth when he appeare'd in Arms for the Pretender in the year 1715.
I do not know how the present Lord stands affected to the Goverment, but his
representative as he calls himself, hath neither humanity nor Common Honesty.
Among the many Instances that have lately happened, I shall only
mention two or three that have come to my knowledge. The first was
a Fine of Thirteen skill* and four pence he imposed upon several poor
People, for selling their Herrings to the best advantage, and not disposing
•of them to his son'in Law at his own price. The next was an order sigrid
•Collin McKenzie prohibiting any Cattle to be sold but to his Drover,

APPENDICES. 603

under the Penalty of two pounds Scots and the Cattle to be returned. If
he acts in this manner now, what may not the poor People expect when we
leave the Island, and consequently no Body left, for to check such Arbitrary
proceedings. But these I look upon as trifles, when I am informed, that even
Murder has been connived at. He does not yet know that I have inspected
into his conduct, and am acquainted with the abuse of his Power. I am not
in the least surprised he is so uneasy about our going (which he daily shews).
He is Conscious of his Guilt and dreads its being known, and tho' the People
there are so greatly awed by him that they are affraid to speak the truth, yet I
have got it from the Minister who had the courage and Honesty to declare it,
but I am afraid he will find a very powerfull Enemy in the Chamberlain if he
ever knows how this Intelligence comes.

The Priest McLeod's business was as I am informed to see his Friends
and to settle some affairs probably with the Chamberlain, otherwise he would
not have conceal'd him and denied his being there. However he was detected
in a lye by it for he afterwards own'd that he was there, but said he knew
nothing of his being a Priest which I am almost certain is a notorious fasehood.
He is so absolutely Master in that Island and at the same time so great a
tyrant in it that there is no getting any Intelligence but by his means. I am
therefore not at all surprized that they harbour enemies to the Goverment.
There is nobody in the Island woud think it safe to give any Intelligence of
them, for tho' they have nothing to fear whilst we are amongst them yet they
woud most severely suffer for it when we are gone. For such and many other
reasons which I mentioned in my last letter I think it woud be but prudent in
the Goverment to errect Barracks and to have the Troops constantly residing
amongst them.

I have been stop'd in my proceedings of prosecuting Mr. McLeod of
Bernera for having arms contrary to Law by a letter which I received from
the Laird of that name acquainting me that Mr. McLeod only had these Arms
as his Forrester which were of the Thirty stand he is intitled to by Act of
Parliament. As I know nothing of the Law in this case I shall wait your
farther directions how I am to proceed. Indeed I did apply to Mr.
McKenzie in the Lewis, but it seems that part of the Country belongs
to the shire of Ross, but suppose it had not, I do not think it woud have
av atF d anything, for I am informed Mr. McKenzie never held a Court
since he has been appointed Sheriff substitute.

Having had Intelligence that Forrester the Priest had got to a small Island
near to Binbecula, in order to be transported to the Main land, I sent a Corp1
and Five men from Cannish in a boat after him. They had about Seven miles
to Row, but scarcely had they got half way when there came on so dreadfull
a storm as had very near been the Distruction of them all. With some
difficulty however, they got to a Barron Rock when they continued in the wet
Cloaths all night. The fury of the storm abating in the morning they pro-
ceeded to the Island, in which were three poor miserable huts. These they
carefully searched but could find no Priest, so they returned unsuccessfull.
This attempt has mightily inflaiirfd the Papists of Binbecula, against
Mr. McLean of Grienesne, for lending his Boat to the Party. They
have even used Threats. Being under some apprehension, he complained
to me of their behaviour, upon which I immediately sent for an Officer and
six soldiers from Stornoway. These with the Parties of Benbecula and
Carinish, will make up a Body of Eighteen men, a force sufficient to check
any Insolence their presumption may lead them to. I have order'd him to
Ouarter his People in that Island in the most convenient Manner, and to
make all such Prisoners who act in opposition or Defiance of the Laws.

Being inform'd likewise that Clanronald has two or three Firelocks in his
Custody, I have ordered him to search his house. Should any Arms be found,
what must I do with him ? He is a poor Drunken Animal.

We have almost had continual storms in this part of the Country for Nine
weeks together. Should they continue, which often happens about this time
of the Year, I know not what will become of us. The poor men have already

;

604 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES.

had great fatiques and are almost in a total want of necessaries, shoes particu-
larly, and I am told provisions will soon be very scarce. Having no other
Extraordinaries, I have the Honour to be,

Sir, etc.,

Signed JOHN BARLOW.

REPORT FROM CAPTAIN BARLOW OF THE BUFFS, GIVING A
DESCRIPTION OF THE WESTERN ISLES OF SCOTLAND
WHERE THE PARTIES UNDER HIS COMMAND WERE
EMPLOYED ON OUTPOST DUTY. SUMMER 1753.

The situation of the Western Isles, from what Observations I have been
able to make whilst I had the Honour to command in them I shall lay
down in as concise a manner as possible. And first I shall begin with
Lewis and Stornway.

This country belongs to Lord Fortrose, and by the best Computation I
can make, is about Thirty Miles long, and as many in breadth, the greatest
part of which is rocky, Mountainous, and full of Boggs, particularly the
East side of the Country. The Inhabitants are Protestants, and in Number
about Six Thousand. They live mostly on the Western Coast which is
tollerably fertile, and capable of great improvements, but they support them-
selves chiefly by their Fisheries, so that their Lands are much neglected.

Stornway is the Chieff Town and contains about One Hundred Houses
or Huts, misirably built, and the only covering is loose straw or Heather
shook upon them which is bound down with ropes made of the same
materials to prevent the winds blowing it away. They carry on a consider-
able Trade with Norway, France and Holland, having a very safe com-
modious Harbour, and about Thirty vessels great and small belonging to
the Town. There is the Remains of an Old Fort built (strengthened) by
(order of) Oliver Cromwell, which was demolished by the English Garrison
when they were withdrawn from that Country in the Reign of King
Charles 2nd. Several of the Merchants of Stornway are in good Circum-
stances and the place might thrive mightily, were it not, that the Inhabitants
labour under great tyrrany and oppression from the unbounded Authority
of his Lordship's Factor, who is a Sheriff Substitute, but never held a Court,
nor took Cognisance of any one Crime punishable by Law. I have been
lately informed that he is dead ; if so it will be a great relief to those poor
people, unless another of the same Mercinary Disposition should be appointed
in his room.

The Harris joins to the Lewis and seperated from it only by Loch Tarbot
and some high Craigie mountains. This part of the Country belongs to the
Laird of McLeod, and is about Ten Miles long, and in some parts Seven
or Eight broad. The Face of the Country is pretty much the same with
that of the Lewis. The Inhabitants including those of the small Islands
which make part of the Harris, may amount to Eight or nine hundred Souls,
more or less. They are all Protestants of the Kirk of Scotland, not one
Man in the whole Country dissenting from it.

Donald McLeod is Baillie or Factor for McLeod, and was in the last
Rebellion, and the only one that went out of the Harris. I crossed from
Rowdel to Loch Mardy in North Uist, four Leagues by Water. This Island
belongs to Sir James McDonald, and is about Twenty computed Miles in
Circumference, and by much the pleasantest of the whole. The East part of
the Country, indeed is very boggy, and there are a few Mountains, but the
West side of the Country is extremely fertile and pleasant. The Sea gains
greatly upon this part of the Island, for the Inhabitants are at no pains to
stop its progress. The number of Souls in this Island from Seven Years of
age and upwards, as they stand Registered upon the Parish Books, are about
Sixteen Hundred. They seem a friendly, kind People, but Meer slaves to

APPENDICES. 605

the Wills of their Superiours. Lady Margaret McDonald hath established a
Linnen Manufactory, which thrives mightily, and is of infinite use in em-
ploying numbers of poor Children. All the principal Farmers of the Country
are likeways keen Adventurers in this Undertaking.

From North Uist, I cross'd the Strand at low water from Carinish to
Benbicula. This is a very pleasant Fruitfull Island, and is about Seven
Miles in length and five broad. In this Island lives Clanronald, who is the
sole Proprietor of it. The Inhabitants are all bigotted Papists, and frequently
made their Boasts to the Soldiers when quartered there, of what execution
they did against the King's Troops at the Battle of Prestonpans. There is
a Presbyterian Missionary resides in this Island but he has a miserable time
of it. He set some Men to work with an Intention to build himself a House,
but he has never been able to compleat it, for what was built in the Day,
was almost demolished in the Night by People unknown, and the poor man
durst not complain for fear a worse Treatment should ensue.

From Benbicula I cross'd the South Strand to South Uist. This Country
also belongs to Clanronald, and is Twenty four Miles in length and five in
breadth. All the West side of the Country is one continued flatt, and pro-
duces great quantities of Corn. The East side is not Inhabited, it being
very mountainous, full of Rocks and Bogg. There are in this Island and
Benbicula, about Two Thousand five hundred Souls (all Papists) and very
few Protestants. They are such Papists, that when Priests travel through
any part of the Country, it is very common for these poor wretches to fall
flatt upon their Faces before them, paying a sort of Adoration, for they are
taught to believe that they cannot be saved but by their means, which
occasions this extraordinary Reverence. From whence, it may easily be
conceiv'd, what Influence they have over these poor deluded Mortals, and
how far they have it in their power to push them on to any desperate Attempt
against the Goverment.

From South Uist I cross'd a ferry of nine Miles to Barra. This Island
belongs to McNeil, and is about Five Miles in length and three in Breadth ;
at the North end of the Island is Fluda Bey. Some part of this Country is
very pleasant, and capable of great Improvements, but the greatest part of
it is mountainous and Rocky. Watersay is another small Island ; it belongs
to, and is properly speaking a part of Barra, tho' there is a Ferry of about
half a mile between the two Islands. It is two Miles in length and half a
Mile in breadth. There are other small Islands South of this, but not worth
notice. In the Islands of Barra and Watersay, are about Eighteen hundred
Souls, all Papists except about Fifty who are Protestants. The young Laird
is a Protestant, and the only one of that family that hath been so for many
Generations. If he was an active man he might soon make Proselites of the
whole Island. But I am informed he does not concern himself much about
Religious matters. There are great numbers of fine commodious harbours
all along the East side of the whole Long Island, but none on the West, which
is the only fertile part of the Country

NOTE. — It was intended to publish, as an Appendix, Dr. Walker's
valuable manuscript (No. 105, King's, Brit. Mus.) descriptive of the Outer
Hebrides about the middle of the eighteenth century, but a copy is to appear
in Vol. XXIV. of the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness.
Free use of the MS., however, has been made in the text.

S S

INDEX.

Aboyne, Jacobite meeting at, 396.

Acts of Parliament of 1503, 116; of
1528, 127 ; of 1587, 160 ; of 1594,
163; of 1597, bearing upon the
Long Island, 171 ; of 1598, 178 ; of
1599, regarding Lewis, 196.

Acts of Privy Council in 1616, 280.

Adventurers, Fife, contract with James
VI., 174; sail for Lewis, 181 ; com-
manded by the Duke of Lennox,
182 ; reach Stornoway, 182 ; atti-
tude towards the Lewismen, 183 ;
and Mackenzie of Kintail, 191 ;
Act of 1599, conveying Lewis to,
196 ; relations with Neil Macleod,
200 ; negotiations with, 201 ; at-
tacked by Tormod Macleod, 202 ;
leave Lewis, 203 ; reorganisation
of affairs, 215 ; second expedition,
220 ; leaders of the second expedi-
tion, 221 ; take possession of
Lewis, 221 ; conspiracy against,
223 ; and the country people of
Lewis, 224 ; conduct of Neil
Macleod towards, 228 ; leave
Lewis, 235, 243 ; attacked by
Neil Macleod, 243.

Agncola and the Hebrides, 3.

Alastair Carroch, see Macdonald.

Alas air Crotach, see Macleod.

Albany, Duke of, 86, 90.

AlK-roni, Cardinal Giulio, 407.

Alexander II., his designs on Man and
the Hebrides, 40.

Alexander III., 40; expedition to the
Hebrides, 42.

Alexander, Lord of the Isles, see Mac-
donald.

, AILm, Lord of Galloway, 36.
j Allen, great-grandson of Somerled the

Great, 41.

\ AlU'.n, son of Ruari of Bute, 68.
! Al- Thing, or Allsherjar-Thing, the,
46 ; functions of, 47.

America, emigration of Highlanders
to, 475.

| Amlaff (Olaf), " King of the Hebrides,"
17 ; killed at Clontarf, 17.

! Angus, third son of Somerled the
Great, 30.

Angus Og, see Macdonald.

Angusson, Ronald of Uig, 153.

" Annual of Norway," the, 43.

Argyll, islesmen and the House of, 127.

Argyll, Duke of, at Sheriffmuir, 400.

Argyll, Earl of, lieutenancy over the
Hebrides in 1499 and 1516, no,
126 ; besieges Stornoway Castle,
146 ; disperses the Islay rebels,

275-

Arkaig, Loch, treasure carried to, 452.

Arnish, Prince Charles Edward Stuart
at, 448.

Aros, Lord Ochiltree and chiefs at the
Castle of, 238.

Arran devastated, n8.

Arran, Earl of, regency, 135 ; his
policy, 139.

Artchain, founded by Findchan, 6.

"Ascall, son of Torcall, King of Ath-
cliath," 64.

Assynt, 61 ; Torquil Conanach granted,
152.

Atholl, Earl of, at Lagabread, 96 ;
captured by Angus Og, 99 ; com-
mission over the Isles given to,

147-

Aude or Autha, daughter of Ketil

Flatneb, 13, 14.
Auldearn, battle of, 333.

Badenoch, Wolf of (Alexander, Earl of

Buchan), 82.

Baithene, St. Columba's successor, 6.
Balcarres, Lord, proposal to Charles

II. regarding Lewis, 342.
Baliol, Edward, 75, 76.
Balka, the younger, in Skye, 37, 38.
Balkasson, Paul, Sheriff of Skye, 27,

Balmerino, Master of, James, charter

to, 236.

Balveny, dispersal of insurgents at, 336.
Bannockburn, battle of, 74.
Barlow, Captain, in the Long Island,

473-

Barra, derivations of, xl ; bones un-
earthed in, 67 ; Macneills of, 94 ;
discord in, 284 ; emigration from,
in 1794,482; Lt.-Col. John Gordon

S S 2

6o8

INDEX.

of Cluny buys, 495 ; owned by
Lady Gordon-Cathcart , 496 ; de-
scribed, 501 ; particulars given by
Martin of, 510 ; emigration from,
550 ; rentals and population, 554.

Barvas, Place-names mostly Norse, xxx ;
battle at, 64 ; value of living of, in
1626, 524.

Beaton, Cardinal, 132 ; power of, 135.

Beddoe, Dr., on the aboriginal
inhabitants of Lewis, xxiv ; on
Scandinavian influences, 53.

Benbecula, origin of name, xxxix ;
Martin's account of, 510 ; rental
and population, 554.

Bergen, Ilakon buried in the Cathedral
of, 42.

Bern Bige, defeat of the Macdonalds
at, 181.

Bernera, church named after St.
Columba, 6.

Beveridge, Erskine, of Dunfermline,
buys property in North Uist, 496.

Binning, Lord, letter to Ruari Macleod,
274.

Birsay, Islet of, provisioned by Neil
Macleod, 246.

Bisset, Hugh, 71.

Bjorn, son of Ketil Flatneb, 13 ; con-
verted to Christianity, 14.

Bjorn, Cripplehand, a skald, 22.

Blair Castle and the Earl of Atholl, 99.

Blar-na-leine, battle of, 130.

Blar-na-Pairc, battle of, 100.

Bloody Bay, battle of the, 98.

"Bloody Tuacks" or the "Place of
Tchure/' 105.

Boece, Hector, account of Lewis, 498.

Boendr or independent landowners,

Boisdale, Clanranald takes, 286.
Borradale, Charles Edward at, 441.
Borve in Benbecula, Castle of, 81.
Braemar, Convocation of Jacobites at,

395-

Brahan Castle, 385, 388.
Braechat laid waste by Malcolm

Macleod, 85.
Breadalbane, Earl of, see Campbell,

John.

Brian Boroimhe killed at Clontarf, 17.
Brieves of Lewis, the, 62.
British Corporation and Scottish

fisheries, 305.

British Society, formation of, 328.
Brochs on Long Island, xxviii ; theories

concerning, xxix.
Broom, Loch, Donald Dubh invades,

165 ; Neil Macleod at, 220.
Bruce, David, at Perth, 79.

Bruce, Robert, and Hakon V., 43

defeated at Dalree, 74; dealt

of, 75-.

Brude, a Pictish monarch, 5.
Brud-kaup or bride- buying, 49.
Brue, Barvas, Macaulay defeated at

1 68.
Buchan, Alexander, Earl of (Wolf o

Badenoch), 82.
Buchan, Major-General, in commanc

of the Jacobites, 382.
Burghs, Royal, 293.
Burial customs of the Norsemen, 50.
Burke, Edward, and Prince Charles

Edward, 440 ; his escape anc

death, 468.
Bute devastated, 118.
Buxton, Captain William, report 01

Lewis fisheries, 315.

Cadogan, General, and the Mackenzies
404, 405.

Cairbre Riada founds Dalriada, xxxii.

Caithness, Bishop of, 123.

Caitill Find, chief of the Gall-gael, 13.

Callernish Stones, xxii ; belong to th<
stone or bronze age, xxiii ; Lewi
traditions concerning, xxiv-v ; anc
the Norse, xxv ; and the Druidsj
xxvi : Toland's theories concern-
ing, xxvi.

Calp, the exaction of, 279.

Cameron, Donald, of Lochiel, and the
rising of 1745, 430.

Cameron, Sir Ewen, of Lochiel, 371.

Campbell, Brigadier, taken prisoner
in Lewis, 403.

Campbell, Donald, tacksman of
Scalpa, 445.

Campbell, General, at St. Kilda, 442 ;
and Lady Clanranald, 462 ; and
Donald Macleod, 468.

Campbell, John, Bishop of the Isles,

J53-

Campbell, John, Earl of Breadalbane,
negotiations with the Jacobites,

384-

Campbeltown a Royal Burgh, 172.
Campus Lunge, harbour of, 6.
Cannon, Colonel, 380.
Cantelupe, Fulko de, 31.
Carbisdale, Montrose's defeat at, 336.
Carinish, fight between Macdonalds

and Macleods at, 206 ; Trinity

Church at, 521.
Carlo way, fight at, 154.
Carswell, John, first Superintendent of

the Isles, 522.

Cecilia, daughter of King Hnkon, 39-
" Celtic gloom," 53.

INDEX.

609

Chanonry Castle captured by General

Middleton, 334.

Charlemagne and the Saxons, 7.
Charles I. and the Lewis fisheries, 306,
319 ; claims ownership of Lewis,
316 ; and George, second Earl of
Seaforth, 321 ; and Stornoway,
323 ; and Episcopacy in Scotland,
328.

Charles Edward Stuart, Prince, sails
for Scotland, 427 ; arrives in the
Long Island, 427 ; and Alexander
Macdonald of Boisdale, 428, 429 ;
and Clanranald, 429 ; successes in
the South, 437 ; flight from Cullo-
den, 440 ; joined by Clanranald at
Glenboisdale, 440 ; decides to go
to the Long Island, 441 ; sails for
the Long Island, 443 ; lands at
Rossinish, 444 ; neutral attitude
of Stornowegians towards, 449 ;
wanderings in Long Island, 451 ;
at Coradale, 453 ; drinking habits,
454 ; numerous parties searching
for, 455 ; leaves Coradale for
Wiay, 456 ; wanderings in South
Uist, 456 ; meets Flora Macdonald
at Ormaclett, 458 ; at Rossinish,
460; disguised as Betty Burke,
462 ; lands in Skye, 464 ; devotion
of the Jacobites for, 465 ; escapes
in a French privateer, 465 ; his
fascinating personality, 466 ; fate
of his devoted followers in his
flight, 467.

[Charles II., Fishing Association of,
326 ; defeated at Worcester, 337 ;
and Earl of Seaforth, 353 ; and
the Macleods, 355.
I Chessmen found at Uig, 48.
j Chiefs ordered before the Council, 157;

complaint against, 158.
)lmondeley, Colonel, occupies

Lewis, 403.

iristianity, conversion of Northern
Picts to, 4 ; of the Norsemen in
the Outer Hebrides, 47.
iristina, daughter of Ferchard
O'Beolan, 34.
Donald, see Macdonalds.
Ranald, see Macdonalds.
I" Clarsair Dall," harper to John Mac-

leod, of Harris, 378.
lyton, Colonel, invades Skye, 403.
;rk, Farquhar, minister of Barvas,527.

itarf, battle of, 16.

>bbett, Colonel, instructions regard-
ing Lewis, 346 ; voyage to Lewis,
349 ; and the Lewismen, 350 ;
takes Dunvegan Castle, 350.

Coigeach, Torquil Conanach granted,

152.

Coigeach, Donald Dubh invades, 165.
Coilleag a' Phrionnsa, landing place of

Prince Charles Edward Stuart,

428.

Columba, St., see St. Columba.
Common land, rights to, 45.
Company of the General Fishery of

Great Britain, 312.
Conall, King of Dalriada, 5.
Convention of Royal burghs and

Stornoway, 294.
Cope, Sir John, defeated at Preston,

437-
Coradale, Prince Charles Edward at,

453-

Courcy, John de, 30.

Covenanters defeated at Auldearn, 333.

Craig-an-Airgid (Silver Craig), Slaugh-
ter of the Macians at, 126.

Crawford, emissary of Charles II. to
Lewis, 343.

Crispe, Major, in Lewis, 350.

Cromartie, Earl of, see Mackenzie.

Cromwell, Oliver, defeats Charles II.
at Worcester, 337 ; and the fortifi-
cation of the Hebrides, 352 ; and
the security of Lewis, 357.

Cromwell Street, Stornoway, 360.

Culloden, battle of, 438.

Cumberland, Duke of, barbarities at
Culloden, 438.

Dalree, Bruce's defeat at, 74.

Dalriada, 4; founded by Cairbre
Riada, xxxii.

Danes, the, 8.

" Danish," the designation, xxx.

David II. Charters relating to Long
Island, 79.

Dean, General, in the Highlands, 341.

Donald Balloch, see Macdonald.

Donald Bane, brother of Malcolm
Ceanmore, 20.

Donald Cam, see Macau lay.

Donald Dubh, see Macdonald.

Donald Gallda, see Macdonald.

Donald Gallich, see Macdonald.

Donald Gorm, see Macdonald.

Donald Gorm Mor, see Macdonald.

Donald Gorm, Sir, see Macdonald.

Donald Gruamach, see Macdonald.

Donald, Lord of the Isles, see Mac-
donald.

Donald, son of Taidg, 25.

Dorothea, daughter of William, Earl
of Ross, 75.

Drummond, William, on James V.'s
visit to the Isles, 134.

6io

INDEX.

Drinking habits in the Hebrides, 281,

283.

Duart, Macleans of, 94, 113.
Dub-gennti, the, 8.
Dugall, son of Somerled, 27, 29.
Dugall, great grandson of Somerled

the Great, 41.

Dugall, Scrag or Shrill-voice, 37.
Dugall, son of Ruari, 68.
Dugalls, The, or Danes, 8 ; piratical

adventurers, 10.
Dun Carloway, xxviii.
Duncan, grandson of Somerled the

Great, 37.
Dundee, John Graham, Viscount, 377,

378.

Dunmore, Earl of, buys Harris, 495.
Dunstaffnage, Castle of, 74.
Dunvegan Castle, evacuation of, 350.
Dupplin Moor, Scottish defeat at, 75.
Durie, Robert, minister of Anstruther,

523.
Dymes, Abel, merchant of Bordeaux,

287.
Dymes, Captain John, and the fishing at

Lewis, 306 ; account of Lewis, 503.

Ebuda (Lewis), 2.

Ebudae( Hebrides), xxxvi; Ptolemy and

the, 2 ; mentioned by Richard of

Cirencester, 2 ; Solinus on the, 3.
Edgar, King of Scotland, 23.
Edward, King, at Stornoway, 516.
Edwards, Captain of the Fortune, 343.
Eilean Donain Castle, 116, 118; at-
tack on, 131 ; blown up, 412.
Eilean na Breitheamh, derivation of

name, 205.

Elcho, Monastery of, 79.
Elder, John, and his letter to Henry

VIII., 136,137-

Emigration and the Government, 479.
Eorrapidh, Church of St. Olaf at, 56,

520.

Epidium or Islay, 2.
Episcopacy in the Western Highlands

and Isles, 523.

Erik, son of King Magnus, 42.
Erik VIII. of Pomerania, 43.
Erland, Jarl of Orkney, 22.
Erskine, John, Earl of Mar, and the

Highland chiefs, 394.
" Ethica," Island of, probably Lewis

or Tiree, 6.
Euphemia, Countess of Ross, 86 ;

marriages of, 82.
Ewen of Lome, or John, King of the

Isles, 39 ; goes to Lewis, 40.
Eye (or Ui), Church named after St.

Columba at, 6.

Farquhar, Master Roderic, 521.
Fauna of the Outer Hebrides, 573-579.
Fergusson, Major, sent to reduce the

West Highlands, 386.
Fife Adventurers, see Adventurers Fife.
Fincastle, Viscount, V.C., 495.
Findchan, founder of Artchain, 6.
Fingal, King of Man, 17.
Fingalls or Norsemen, 8.
Finguala, daughter ot Torquil, son of

Leod, 75.

Finn-gallaib, the, 8.
Fiongall, 10.
Fishery Companies formed, 327.
Fishing-grounds common property, 45.
Flannan Isles, 500 ; rites of fowlers at,

525.

Flodden, battle of, 124.
Flora of the Outer Hebrides, 570.
Fogl, son of Ljotoft, 29.
Forbes, Duncan, of Culloden, acts fo

the Government, 431 ; and tl

rising of 1745, 436.
Fordun, John of, and his early annc

xxxi ; and Uist, 497.
Fort William erected, 382.
Fraser, Simon of Lovat, attitude

wards Jacobites, 432.
Frasers, feud between Clan Ran£

and the, 130.
Furness Abbey, 30.
Fylki-kings, 44.
Fyvie, Lord, letter to King James VI.,

216.

Gaelic language and the Privy Council

279.
Gaelic School Society of Inverness

the Long Island, 531.
Gall-gaidel, the, n.
Galloway, James, Petition of, 292.
Garioch ravaged by Donald of the

Isles, 87.
Garmoran, Macruaries of, 41 ; and the

Long Island, dispute over pro-
perties in, 109.
Garry, Loch, fight at, 365.
Geology of the Outer Hebrides, 557-568.
Gillanders, Alex., factor in Lewis, 477.
Gillemuire, the name, 55.
Gillepatrick Cor sent to Lewis, 112.
Gilli of the South Isles, 16.
Glencoe, massacre of, 390.
Glengarry, see Macdonalds.
Glenlivat, battle of, 162.
Glenshiel, battle of, 412.
Godfrey, son of John of the Isles, 80;

possessions, 81.
Godred, son of Olavc the Red, 26 ; in

the Hebrides, 29.

INDEX.

611

Godred Crovan, King of Man and the
Hebrides, 17 ; his conquest of the
Hebrides, 18 ; his death in Islay,
19.

Godred Don, pillages Lewis, 35 ; cam-
paign against, 35 ; mutilated, 35 ;
killed in Lewis, 38.

Gbkstad, Viking-ship found at, 51.

Gordon, Alex., Lord, 108.

Gordon, Colonel, of Cluny, and emi-
grations, 551.

Gordon Lewis, Lord, at Inverurie, 439.

Gordon, Lt.-Col. John, of Cluny, buys
Barra, 495.

Gordon, Sir Robert, on the death of
Torquil Dubh, 168.

Gordon Cathcart, Lady, 496.

Gorm-glasa, the, at the battle of Clon-
tarf, 9.

Graham, John, Viscount Dundee, 377,
378.

Grimsay, Oratory in, 81.

Guin, brother of Leod, 58.

Gunni, brother of Sweyn of Gairsay,
29.

Haebudes (Hebrides), xxxvi ; Pliny and
the, 2.

Haemodae — a group of seven islands, 2.

Hafursfiord, battle of, II.

Hakon, son of Jarl Paul of Orkney, 22.

Hakon, King of Norway, 36, 37 ; his
expedition to the Isles, 40, 41 ;
interview with Ewen of Lome at
Gigha, 41 ; his fleet shattered, 41.

Hakon V. and Robert Bruce, 42 ;
death of, 42.

Halidon Hill, 75.

Harald the Black of Iceland, 17.

Harald, brother of Lagman, mutilation
of, 25

Harald, son of Olave the Black, 39.

Harald Ilarfager, n ; expedition to
the Hebrides, 12.

Harald Mac Godred, 39.

Harlaw, battle of, 88.

Harris, 68; derivation of name, xxxviii;
Macleod of, 54; armorial bearings
of the Macleods of, 59 ; invaded
by Donald Gorm, 206 ; improve-
ments made by Capt. Alex.
Macleod, 485 ; and the Siol
Tor mod, 485 ; law case concern-
ing northern boundaries, 487 ;
bought by the Earl of Dunmore,
495 ; described by Dean Monro,
500 ; Martin's description of, 509 ;
population, 553 ; rentals, 553.

Harris, North, bought by the Scotts,
495-

Harris, South, owned by Viscount
Fincastle, V.C.,495.

Hay, Sir George, of Netherliff, com-
mission, 217 ; charter to, 236 ;
and the ironworks at Loch Maree,
247 ; made Viscount Duplin and
Lord Hay of Kinfauns, 247 ;
created first Earl of Kinnoull, 247.

Hay, John, and the Scottish fisheries,

309.

Headrick's report upon Lewis, 513.

Hebrides, the, earliest inhabitants, xxi,
xxxvi ; Fordun's early annals con-
cerning, xxxi ; Irish traditions
concerning, xxxiv; origins of name,
xxxvi ; lack of records, 4 ; Chris-
tianity in, 4, 5 ; and Harald
Ilarfager, 12 ; Norsemen in, 12 ;
Orcadian supremacy over, 17 ;
conquest of, by Godred Crovan,.
18 ; expeditions of Magnus Bare-
leg to, 19 ; supremacy of Norway
in, 20 ; expedition of 1098, 22 ;
right of Magnus to, 23 ; divided
between Godred and Somerled,
28 ; the skatt-kings of, 44 ; pride
of pedigree in, 54 ; and Edward I. ,.
71 ; rebellion in, 92 ; pacification
of, by James IV., 108 ; lieutenancy
of Earl of Argyll over, 1 10 ; policy
of James IV. in, no; insurrec-
tion in, 118; second invasion of,.
119; and James IV., 123; insur-
rections of Donald Gallda inr
125 ; expeditions of James V. to,
131 ; summonses issued against
chiefs, 131 ; Donald Dubh in, 138 ;
insurrection of chiefs, 143 ; dis-
orders, 159 ; feuds in Southern,
180; James VI. on the state of,
226 ; proposed extermination of
inhabitants, 230 ; and the policy
of James VI., 239; and the
statutes of Icolmkill, 241 ; gradual
declension of the independence of
chiefs in, 269 ; chiefs enter into a
bond, and its conditions, 277 ;
education at a low ebb in, 281 ;
social conditions in 1600, 281 ;
wine drinking in, 281, 283 ;
herring fisheries, 304 ; ecclesias-
tical government, 522 ; John
Carswell, first Superintendent of,
522 ; Cromwell's instructions to
fortify, 352.

Hebrides, Outer, place names, xxxvi ;
and Thorstein the Red, 16 ; con-
ditions of life in, during Norse
occupation, 43-47 ; question of
" commons," 46 ; Christianity of

6l2

INDEX.

the Norsemen in, 47; state of,
83 ; chiefs to hand over their
castles and shipping, 217, 218;
annexed to the Commonwealth,
351 ; Dean Monro's account of,
498 ; Martin Martin's account
°f» 505 ; works upon, 512-515 ;
Dr. John Macculloch on, 514 ;
Nicholas Carlisle's account of,
514 remains of churches in,
521 and the advent of kelp,
548 geology, 557-568 ; physical
features, 568; fauna and flora,
570-579-

Hebudes (Hebrides), xxxvi.

Helgi, son of Ketil Flatneb, 13 ; suc-
ceeds Ketil Flatneb, 14.

Helgi the Lean, 14.

Herad or District, xxxviii, 43, 45 ;
Kings, 44.

Herads-Thing, the, 46.

Herbert, Lady Francis, daughter of the
Marquis of Powis, 393.

Hermetra, store-house found at, 326.

Hersir, the, 43.

Highlanders, 7ist Regiment of, origin,
437-

Highlands, chieftains to appear before
Council, 214 ; rising of 1649, 335 ;
activity among Royalists, 353 ;
political ferment in, 385 ; Major
Fergusson sent to reduce, 386 ;
chiefs pensioned by King William,
392 ; condition before and after
1745, 471 ; emigration from, to
America, 475 ; regiments raised in,
483.

Highlands and Isles, works upon, 512-

5!5-

Hill, Colonel, leniency to High-
landers, 386.

Hof- Thing, the, 46.

Holland, States of, revenue from fish-
eries, 304.

Hollanders and the Scottish fisheries,
303 ; and James V. , 304.

Holm, fortifications at, 199 ; fort con-
structed at, 345 ; fortifications
strengthened, 350.

Home, Alex., Earl of, 125.

Host- Kings, 44.

Hreppa-mot, the, 46.

Huntly, Earl of, captures Strome and
Eilean Donain Castles, 118, 132;
besieges Stornoway Castle, 122 ;
expedition to Isles, 132 ; ap-
pointed Lieutenant and Justice of
Highlands and Isles, 187 ; powers
conferred upon, 188.

Huntly, Marquis of, commission of

lieutenancy granted to, 208 ; his
terms for subduing the North
Isles, 227 ; proposed extermination
of the Islesmen by, 230 ; and
Presbyterianism, 232.
Hus-Thing, the, 46.

Iceland, and its early colonisation, 15.

Icolmkill, Statutes of, a landmark in
Hebridean history, 241.

Ingemund, governor of the Northern
Hebrides, 21 ; his death, 21.

Innsegall or Hebrides, n.

Inverkeithing, Lambert at, 337.

Inverness, Sheriffdom of, 27, 116 ;
Earl of Mar builds Castle of,
90 ; James I. holds a Parlia-
ment at, 91 j John of the Isles at,
78.

lona, monastery founded by St.
Columba, 4 ; influence of the Abbot
of, 4 ; plundered by the Norsemen,
6 ; Hebridean chiefs meet Bishop
Knox at, 241.

Ireland, Scandinavians appear in, 7.

Irish Annals, the, 7, 8.

Islands ceded to Scotland, 42.

Islay, trouble in, 274 ; rebels dispersed
by the Earl of Argyll, 275.

Isles, see Hebrides.

Isles, Lords of the, see Macdonald.

lubhard, Islet of, Prince Charles
Edward on, 450.

Ivor, son of the Jarl of Moeri, 15.

Jacobite rising of 1715, 394; convoca-
tion at Braemar, 395 ; meeting at
Aboyne, 396 ; cause in 1718, 406 ;
expedition of 1719, 41 1 ; departure
from, 411 ; devotion to Prince
Charles, 465.

James I. of Scotland, 43 ; returns to
Scotland, 91 ; holds a Parliament
at Inverness, 91 ; seizes the High-
land chiefs, 91.

James II. of England and the Earl of
Seaforth, 376.

James IV. and the Hebrides,

James V. — Expedition
131 ; at Stornoway, 1

James VI. and the Island of Lewis,
178, 211 ; and the Marquis of
Huntly, 212; on the state of the
Isles, 226 ; and the disaster to the
Adventurers, 229 ; negotiations
with the Marquis of Huntly,
229-233 ; and the Hebrides and
Ulster, 239.

John Mor the Tanister, see Macdonald.

Judge's Island. 205.

brides, 107, 123.
ti to the Isles,
v. m

INDEX.

613

Kaupship, 48.

Keith, George, and Cardinal Alberoni,

408 ; sails for Scotland, 408 ;

career, 413.
Keith, James, arrives at Lewis, 409 ;

career, 413, 414.
Kelp industry, 482 ; manufacture of, in

Outer Hebrides, 548 ; revenue

derived from, 549.
Kenlochewe ravaged, 131.
Kennett, Mary, of Coxhoe, wife of

William, Earl of Seaforth, 396.
Ker, Sir Thomas, of Hirth, Commis-
sioner, 217.
Kerrera, Sound of, Alexander II. dies

there, 40.

Ketil Flatneb, son of Bjorn Buna, 13.
Kidd, Colonel, defeated by Royalists

in Stirlingshire, 355.
Kilt adopted by Magnus of Norway,

24.

Kintail, see Mackenzie.
Kintyre added by Magnus of Norway

to his dominions, 23.
Kiikwall, death of King Hakon at,

42.

Knockfergus, Donald Dubh at, 143.
Knox, Bishop, and the Hebridean

chiefs. 241.
Kyleakin, meeting of chiefs at, 125.

Lacy, Hugh de, Earl of Ulster, cam-
paign against, 30.

Lacy, Walter de, 30.

Lagabread, victory of Angus Og at,
96.

Lagman, eldest son of Ciodred Crovan,
1 8 ; taken prisoner in Skye, 19 ;
resumes sovereignty of Man and
the Isles, 25 ; resigns the Crown
and dies in the Holy Land, 25.

" Lagmans", a Norwegian tribe, 16.

La ml ash Harbour, King Hakon seeks
safety in, 41.

Land-tenure, system of, 45.

Largs, battle of, 41.

Lauchlan, cousin to Harald of Alan and
the Isles, 39.

Lavon, wife of Olave the Black, 33 ;
divorce, 34.

Leandris, brother of Leod, 58.

Learmont and the Fife Adventurers,

63-

Leidar-Thing, the, 46.

Leirmont, James, of Balcomie, taken
prisoner, 184 ; death of, 189.

Lennox, Duke of, Fife Adventurers
commanded by, 182 ; appointed
Lieutenant and Justice of High-
lands and Isles, 187 ; powers

conferred upon, 188 ; commission
of lieutenancy granted to, 2o8.

Lennox, Matthew Stewart, Earl of,
135 ; sent to the Tower, 144 n.

Leod (Lewis), xxxvii.

Leod, progenitor of the Macleods, 59 ;
traditional account of, 55 ; and
conquest of Lewis, 58; marriage
and issue of, 58, 59.

Leod, Abbot of Brechin, 57.

Leod MacGilleandrais, father of Paul
McTyre, 57.

Leodus (Lewis), xxxvu.

Lesley, Sir Walter, Earl of Ross, 82.

Lesley or Leslie, Bishop, and the
Island of Lewis, I, 502.

Leslie, General David, at Balveny, 336.

Letterewe, iron-smelting at, 247.

Leutha (Lewis), xxxvii.

Lewis, aboriginal inhabitants of, xxiv
place-names mostly Norse, xxx
derivation of name, xxxvi-xxxviii
Ingemund in, 21 ; Magnus, King
of Norway, in, 22; Olave the Black
and, 31 ; Olave the Black returns
to> 33 5 pillaged by Godred Don,
35; Godred killed in, 38; at-
tacked by the Norwegians, 38 ;
Macleod of, 54 ; Leod and the
Island of, 58 ; armorial bearings
of Macleods of, 59 ; return of
surnames of school children in
(1890-1), 65 ; Norse characteristics
of people at Butt of, 67 ; leased to
Lauchlan MacAllan, 73 ; becomes
the property of the Lords of
the Isles, 76 ; and Harris and
the Earldom of Ross, 82 ; and
the Shetlands, 106 ; part of Ross-
shire, 117 ; a third campaign
to, 121 ; taken possession of by
John Macleod, 126 ; grant of, to
Ruari Macleod, 135 ; Earl of
Argyll in, 146 ; Torquil Conanach
granted, 152 ; Fife Adventurers
and, 178 ; King James VI. and
the Island of, 178; Donald Gorm
invades, 180.; position of Adven-
turers in, 183 ; Act of 1599
regarding, 196 ; in the possession
of Tormod Macleod, 203 ;
proposals to re-conquer, 210 ;
preparations for re-conquest of,

217 ; ostracised by proclamation,

218 ; second expedition of Fife
Adventurers to, 220 ; taken
possession of by the Adventurers,
221 ; Adventurers and country
people, 224 ; Kenneth Mackenzie
of Kintail granted, 226 ; troubles

6i4

INDEX.

in, 226 ; rising headed by Neil
Macleod in, 228"; Adventurers leave
disheartened, 235 ; Lord Kintail
and its re-conquest, 243 ; alone
rebellious of all the islands, 245 ;
passes into the possession of Lord
Mackenzie of Kintail, 247 ; Earl
of Seaforth ard its resources, 292 ;
Sir William Monson's scheme for
working fisheries of, 300 ; Dutch
fishermen on coast of, 304, 305 ;
fisheries and Charles I., 306 ;
branch of Fishery Company estab-
lished in, 313 ; development of
fishery industry in, 314; claimed
by Charles I., 316 ; English set-
tlers in, 317 ; Charles I. and the
fisheries of, 319 ; success of fishing
operations in, 324 ; fishery factory
established by the Earl of
Pembroke, 324, 325 ; no remains
of the English settlement in, 326 ;
men at the battle of Auldearn,
333 ; Lord Balcarres' proposal to
Charles II. regarding, 342 ; pro-
posed invasion of, 344 ; arrival of
English fleet under Col. Cobbet,
349 ; Major Crispe in, 350 ; Crom-
well and the security of, 357 ;
Col. Norman Macleod lands in,
359 ; Mackenzies and Macleods,
360 ; list of officers in the rising
of 1715 from, 397 ; men at Sheriff -
muir, 400 ; men abandon Brigadier
Campbell, 403 ; the Church and
the estate of, 406 ; James Keith
lands in, 409 ; charges of fraud
against its traders, 424 ; officers
in the rising of 1745, 436 ; con-
ditions of, after 1745, 473 ; farmed
to Colin Mackenzie, 473 ; emi-
gration from, in 1773-4, 475, 481 ;
emigration of natives to America,
476 ; men in the Ross-shire Buffs
from, 490 ; judicial sale of Island
°f> 493 '•> passes out of the hands
of the Seaforths, 494 ; sold to
Sir James Sutherland Matheson,
494 ; account of, by Hector Boece,
498 ; described by Dean Monro,
500 ; and Bishop Leslie, 502 ; an
official account of (circa 1580), 502 ;
Captain John Dymes's account,
503 ; John Morison's account, 504 ;
Martin Martin's account, 505 ;
Mr. Headrick's report upon,
513; priory in, 518; remains of
churches, 520; ecclesiastical history
of, 521 ; Captain Dymes's report
upon religion in, 524 ; worship

of saints in, 525 ; Sjoni- worship
in, 526 ; price of labour in 1765,
537 ; spinning schools in, 538 ;
illicit distilling in, 540 ; potato
introduced into, 547 ; emigration
to Nova Scotia, 550 ; population,
552 ; rentals, 552.
Lilburn, Colonel, in the Highlands,

341.

Lindsay, Alex., survey of coasts by,
132.

Lindsay, Thomas, and English settlers
in Lewis, 317.

Ljotolf, a chief of Lewis, 29.

Lochaber devastated, 117.

Lochlans, the (sea-warriors), 9.

Lochmaddy, Malcolm MacRuari Og
Macleod at, 262 ; and the English
fishermen, 326 ; Prince Charles
Edward at, 451 ; deserted by fish-
ing boats, 510 ; fisheries at, 538.

Lodhus, Lewis, 31.

Log-Thing, the, 46.

Long Island, set also Outer Hebrides,
underground weems of, xxv ;
Pictish forts in, xxviii ; and the
Scandinavian place-names in,
xxx ; Norse influences in, xxx ;
and the Romans, 3 ; a resort of the
Vikings, 8 ; invaded by Magnus
Bareleg, 19 ; massacre by Magnus,
22 ; a nest of pirates, 29 ; super-
stitions, 48 ; attitude towards the
Crown, 77; in the sixteenth century,
164; Acts bearing upon, 171;
strife in the, 205 ; piracies in,
289 ; chiefs and Charles II.,
336 ; Prince Charles Edward
Stuart decides to go there, 441 ;
wanderings of Prince Charles, 451 ;
Government schemes regarding,
473 ; Donald Monro's account,
498 ; James Macdonald's account,
513 ; priories in, 518; presbyteries,
528 ; education, 529 ; treatment
of poor in, 529 ; schools, 530-533 ;
Gaelic School Society and the,
531 ; early trade and commerce,
533 ; exports, 536 ; fishing in-
dustry, 538-540 ; industries, 538 ;
spinning schools, 538 ; "road-
money " in, 542 ; social and
economic conditions, 543-556 ;
the two castes, 544 ; tacksmen,
546 ; system of agriculture, 547 ;
emigrants from, 554 ; land problem

in> 555-

Long Islanders and Norse character-
istics, 52 ; at Cross Creek, North
Carolina, 481.

INDEX.

6'S

Lome, John of, escapes into England,

74-
Lome, Lord, charter to, 291 ; and the

chiefs of the North Isles, 291 ;

commission to, 292 ; and the

Campbells desert the Royalists,

361-
Loudoun, Earl of, chiefs under, 439 ;

evacuation of Inverness, 439 ;

takes refuge in Skye, 440.
Lovat, Lord, 118.
Love, Captain Peter, pirate, 248 ;

hanged at Leith, 252.
Lubeckers, the, and the Hebrides, 132.

MacAllan, Lauchlan, lease of Lewis
and Skye to, 73.

MacAllan, Ranald, submits at Lerwick,
70.

MacAllan, Ruari, forfeiture of his
possessions, 75.

MacArthur, John, of the Campbell
family, executed, 91.

Macaskil, Gilbert, 64.

Macaskills, the, 64.

Macaulay, Rev. Aulay, minister of
Harris, 445, 528.

Macaulay, Donald Cam, 84, 164, 167.

Macaulay, Dugald, son of John Roy,
84.

Macaulay, John Roy, 83 ; marriage
and issue, 84.

Macaulay, Rev. John, 444, 528.

Macaulay, Kenneth, minister of Ardna-
murchan, 528.

Macaulay, Lord, 84, 528.

Macaulay, Zachary, on the con-
dition of the Lewis people, 405 ;
letter of, to Commissioners of
forfeited estates, 535 ; account of,
536.

Macaulays, descent of the, 60 : feuds
between Morisons and, 63 ; of Loch
Broom, 63 ; of Ardencaple, 63 ; of
Uig, 63, 164 ; feud between
Macleods and Macaulays of Uig,
83 ; defeated at Brue, Barvas, 168.

Macculloch, Dr. John, and Stornoway,

543-
Macdonald, Alastair Carrach, son of

John of the Isles, 80.
Macdonald, Alastair (" Colkitto "),

J32-
onald, Alexander of Boisdale,
and the " Forty-five," 428 ; and
his tenants, 481 .
Macdonald, Alexander of Dunyveg,

and the House of Argyll, 127.
Macdonald, Alexander of Lochalsh,
and the Lordship of the Isles, ico.

Macdonald, Alexander, Lord of the
Isles, imprisonment of, 91 ; grants
a charter of Barra and Boisdale to
Macneill, 94.

Macdonald, Sir Alexander of Sleat, and
the " Forty-five," 435.

Macdonald, Angus Og (son of John of
the Isles), terrorises Inverness, 95 ;
victories of, at Lagabread, 96 ;
at the Bloody Bay, 98 ; death of,
98.

Macdonald, Archibald Dubh, and the
Sleat family, 126.

Macdonald, Donald Balloch, rebellion
of, 92.

Macdonald, Donald Dubh (son of
Angus Og), 101 ; escape of, ill ;
leads the Islesmen, 117; captured
at Stornoway, 122 ; re-appearance
in the Isles, 138 ; operations
against Argyll and Huntly, 140 ;
at Knockfergus, 143 ; dies a
pensioner of England, 144.

Macdonald, Donald Gallda, 124; in-
surrections of, 125.

Macdonald, Donald Gallich (son of
Hugh of Sleat), 93.

Macdonald, Donald Gorm (son of
Donald Gruamach), 130 ; is killed,

!3i-

Macdonald, Donald Gorm Mor (son of
Donald Gormson),assistsO'Donneli
in Ulster, 162 ; invades Lewis,
1 80 ; invades Harris, 206.

Macdonald, Sir Donald Gorm (nephew
of Donald Gorm Mor), 268.

Macdonald, Donald Gruamach (grand-
son of Hugh of Sleat), 125 ; and
the possession of Lewis, 126 ;
invades Skye, 127 ; submission of,
128.

Macdonald, Donald, Lord of the Isles,
and the Earldom of Ross, 86 ;
fights at Hatlaw, 87 ; submits,
90.

Macdonald, Donald MacAllan, of
Clan Ranald, lawlessness of, 282.

Macdonald, Donald Maclan Mhic
Sheumais defeats the Macleods in
North Uist, 206.

Macdonald, Flora, meets Prince Charles
Edward, 458 ; her career after the
escape of the Prince, 470.

Macdonald, Captain Hugh, of Arma-
dale, 458.

Macdonald, Hugh of Baleshare, and
Prince Charles Edward, 453.

Macdonald, Hugh of Sleat (brother of
John of the Isles), grant of lands
to, 93 ; ravages Orkney, 105.

6i6

INDEX.

Macdonald, James of Dunyveg, and
the Lordship of the Isles, 144.

Macdonald, Sir James of Sleat, and
the Commonwealth, 347.

Macdonald, John of Glenaladale, and
Boisdale's tenantry, 482.

Macdonald, John of the Isles (son of
Angus Og), grant of Lewis to,
76 ; his marriages, 77 ; submits to
David II., 78 ; his issue, 80.

Macdonald, John of the Isles (son of
Alexander of the Isles), 95 ; is
declared a traitor, 96 ; and his son,
Angus Og, 97 ; death of, 98.

Macdonald, John Moidartach of Clan
Ranald, grant to, 129 ; summons
against, 131 ; is taken prisoner,

!33-

Macdonald, John Moidartach (great-
grandson of above), his piracies,
289.

Macdonald, John Mor, the Tanister,
80, 92.

Macdonald, Lady Margaret, and Prince
Charles Edward, 453 ; linen fac-
tory established in North Uist by,
537-

Macdonald, Marshal (son of Neil Mac-
Eachain), visits Coradale, 470.

Macdonald, Neil MacEachain, and
Prince Charles Edward, 453 ; dies
in France, 470.

Macdonald, Ranald (son of John I. of
the Isles), 80 ; his possessions, 8l ;
grant to, 82.

Macdonald, Ranald, of Clan Ranald,
and Lewis, 123.

Macdonalds of Ardnamurchan (Clan

Ian), 108, 118; lands ravaged,

125 ; defeat and dispersion of, 291.

Dunyveg (or Islay), feud with the

Macleans, 158.
Glencoe, massacre of, 389.
Glengarry (Macdonnells), feud with
the Mackenzies, 216 ; claims to the
Farldom of Ross, 354.
Moidart and South Uist(Clan Ranald),
charters to, 109, 126 ; feud
with the Frasers, 130 ; their
land disputes in the Long Island,
266 ; at Sheriffmuir, 401 ; their
connexion with the "Forty-five,"
428-430.

Sleat and North Uist, feud with the
Macleods, 206 ; their land disputes
in the Long Island. 266 ; their
attitude towards the Rising of 1745,

433-

Seizure of chiefs by James V., 133.
Macdougall, derivation of name, 10.

Macdougall, Alexander, submission of,
74-

MacFergus, Godfrey, first King of the
Isles, 10.

McHuiston, Murdoch, Protestant minis-
ter of Barvas, 527.

Macians, see Macdonalds.

Macivers, the, 64.

Mackay, Angus Dubh, of Farr, 84, 87.

Mackay, Angus of Strathnaver, marriage
and issue, 84.

Mackay of Strathnaver, charter to, 122.

Mackay, Houcheon Dubh, 84.

Mackay, General Hugh, of Scourie,
378,38i.

Mackay, Rory Galcl, 84, 87.

Mackenzie, Alexander, of Coul, com-
mission over Lewis, 253.

Mackenzie, Sir Alexander, of Coul,
charter to, 322.

Mackenzie, Anna, daughter of Colin,
Earl of Seaforth, 315.

Mackenzie, Colin, eldest son of Lord
Kintail, 252.

Mackenzie, Colin, factor to Lord
Fortrose, 473.

Mackenzie, Rev. Colin, minister of
Lochs, 445, 529.

Mackenzie, Rev. Colin, of Glack, 433.

Mackenzie, Colin, of Killin, commis-
sion over Lewis, 253.

Mackenzie, Colin, of Kintail, 150, 151.

Mackenzie, Colin, of Redcastle, charter
to, 322.

Mackenzie, Colin, Lord Kintail, and
first Earl of Seaforth, and Malcolm
Macleod, 290 ; created Earl of
Seaforth and Viscount Fortrose,
291 ; commission of Justiciaryship
to, 291 ; and Stornoway, 293,
et seq. ; death, 314 ; marriage and
issue, 315.

Mackenzie, Frances, wife of Kenneth
Og, Earl of Seaforth, 415.

Mackenzie, Frances, Countess of Sea-
forth, statement of accounts pre-
pared for, 534.

Mackenzie, Francis Humberston, Lord
Seaforth, 484 ; and Alex. Hume,
487 ; career, 488 ; death, 491.

Mackenzie, George, second Earl of Sea-
forth, 315 ; commission to, 292;
and charter of erection for Storno-
woy, 294 ; and Charles I., 321 ;
charters to, 322 ; and the Cove-
nanters, 331 ; joins Montrose, 334 ;
joins Earl of Lanark, 335 ; death
of, 338 ; character of, 339.

Mackenzie, Sir George, of Tarbat, first
Earl of Cromartie, 59 n., 415 ; heir

INDEX.

617

to Barra, 288 ; charter to, 322 ;
career, 377 ; created Earl of Cro-
martie, 377.

Mackenzie, Isobel, wife of third Earl of
Seaforth, 415.

Mackenzie, John, Lord Kintail's piper,
murdered, 263.

Mackenzie, John, of Kintail, taken
prisoner, 133.

Mackenzie, John, Lord Macleod, son
of Earl of Cromartie, and the rising
of 1745, 436; career, 437.

Mackenzie, Sir John, of Coul, surrenders
at Inverness, 399.

Mackenzie, Sir John, of Tarbat, heir to
Barra, 288 ; seized as hostage, 344.

Mackenzie, Kenneth, Lord Fortrose,
425 ; and his tenantry, 434 ; and
the rising of 1745, 432, 433, 435 ;
marriage and death of, 474.

Mackenzie, Kenneth, son and successor
to Lord Fortrose, 474 ; created
Earl of Seaforth, 475 ; and emigra-
tion of Lewismen, 476 ; power of
his factor, 476 ; raises a regiment,
483 ; mutiny in his regiment, 484;
death of, on a voyage to the East
Indies, 484.

Mackenzie, Kenneth, Lord Kintail, 57,
169 ; marriage, 75 ; lands ravaged,
loo ; and the Fife Adventurers,
191, 201 ; ordered to Edinburgh,
193 ; commission granted to, 225 ;
charters granted to, 226, 247 ;
created Lord Mackenzie of Kintail,
243 ; and the reconquest of Lewis,
243 ; Lewis passes into his posses-
sion, 247 ; death of, 252.

Mackenzie,Kenneth(CoinneachOdhar),
prophecy of the seer, 433.

Mackenzie, Kenneth (Ensign), com-
mission, 436.

Mackenzie, Kenneth, of Davochmaluag,
commission over Lewis to, 253.

Mackenzie, Kenneth Mor, third Earl of
Seaforth, 340 ; and invasion of
Lewis, 344 ; at Lochaber, 345 ;
and his clansmen, 346 ; summons
his clansmen to arms, 348 ; and
Charles II., 353 ; estates seques-
trated, 356 ; and Glengarry, 356 ;
attempts to re-capture Lewis, 359;
and Cromwell's daughter, 366 ;
letter of, to Charles II., 366 ;
and treaty of 1654, 368 ; lodged in
Inverness prison, 373 ; released
from prison, 374 ; estates vested
in trustees, 375 ; his death,

378.
:ke

Mackenzie, Kenneth Og, fourth Earl of

Seaforth, 375 ; created Marquis of
Seaforth by James II., 376; sup-
ports Jacobite cause, 382 ; and
Mackay of Scourie, 383 ; surrenders
to Mackay of Scourie, 384; process
of treason against, 392 ; marriage
and issue, 393.

Mackenzie, Mrs., of Kildun, shelters
Prince Charles Edward, 448.

Mackenzie, Murdo, of Kernsary, com-
mission over Lewis to, 253.

Mackenzie, Murdoch, son of Kenneth
Mackenzie of Kintail, 57.

Mackenzie, of Pluscardine, 335 ; seized
as hostage, 344.

Mackenzie, Ruari, Tutor of Kintail,
sent to Lewis, 243 ; commission
over Lewis to, 253 ; and Neil
Macleod, 254 ; sent to subdue the
Lewismen, 246 ; seizes Macneill
of Barra, 285.

Mackenzie, Stewart, buys Island of
Lewis, 493.

Mackenzie, William, fifth Earl of Sea-
forth, 393 ; and the Jacobites,
396 ; commands Lewismen at
Sherriffmuir, 400, 402 ; escapes
to Lewis, 403 ; escapes to France,
403 ; at battle of Glenshiel, 412 ;
his tenants refuse payment of rents
to Government, 414 ; and General
Wade, 419 ; death, 425.

Mackenzies, armorial bearings of, 59 ;
at the battle of Harlaw, 88 ; of
Kintail, feud with Macdonells of
Glengarry, 216 ; and Lewis,
264 ; at the battle of Worcester,.
338.

Mackintosh, Brigadier, of Borlum, 396.

Maclean, Hector of Duart, seized by
James V., 133 ; his daughter^
Janet, marries Ruari Macleod of
Lewis, 150.

Maclean, John Garve of Coll, feud with
Macneill of Barra, 94.

Maclean, Lachlan (or Lauchlan), of
Duart, and the insurrection of
Donald Dubh, 113-115; submits,.
119.

Maclean, Lachlan (or Lauchlan) Mor,.
of Duart, and the Macdonalds,
159; at the battle of Glenlivat,
162.

Maclean, Master Lauchlan, Rector of
Ness, 521.

Macleod, Alastair Crotach, charters to,
109, 126, 127 ; summons of treason
issued against, 131 ; seized by
James V., 133; buried at Rodil,.
Harris, 146.

6i8

INDEX.

Macleod, Alexander, brother of Rory

Mor, defeated by the Macdonalds,

207.
Macleod, Captain Alexander, buys

Harris and St. Kilda, 485 ; and

his Harris tenantry, 485.
Macleod, Alexander Hume, and the

boundaries of Harris, 487.
Macleod, Alexander Norman, 495.
Macleod, Colonel Donald, St. Kilda

sold to, 485.
Macleod, Donald of Bernera, and the

rising of 1745, 435.

Macleod, Donald, Prince Charles Ed-
ward's pilot, 440 ; in Stornoway,

446 ; taken prisoner, 467 ; and

General Campbell, 468.
Macleod, Donald, uncle to John

MacTorquil of Lewis, 156 ;

executed, 157.
Macleod, Donald Glas, 206.
Macleod, Gylandrys, son of Leod, 57.
Macleod, John of Harris,at Harlaw, 88.
Macleod, John, son of Torquil of Lewis,

123 ; takes possession of Lewis,

126.
Macleod , John, son of Torquil Conanach ,

Constable of Stornoway Castle,

155 ; assassination of, 156.
Macleod, John, first minister of Uig,

539-
Macleod, John MacDonald Mac

Hucheon, of Sandey, captures

Torquil Conanach, 203.
Macleod, John Macgillecolum, of

Raasay, 148.
Macleod of Macleod, St. Kilda sold to,

485-

Macleod, Malcolm, son of Torquil of
Lewis, 84 ; his death, 85.

Macleod, Malcolm, of Lewis, charter
granted to, 123.

Macleod, Malcolm MacRuari Og, his
career, 261-263; troubles Lewis,
290 ; death of, 290.

Macleod, Malcolm, of Raasay, and the
rising of 1745, 435.

Macleod, Murdoch, son of Ruari of
Lewis, 182 ; attacks Leirmont's
ship, 184; trial and execution, 191.

Macleod, Neil, son of Ruari of Lewis,
169; defends Lewis, 180; attacks
the Fife Adventurers, 185, 200,
243 ; and the colonists, 189 ; plot
to capture, 201 ; at Loch Broom,
220 ; becomes troublesome, 224 ;
deceives the Adventurers, 228 ;
captures Stornoway Castle, 235 ;
and Lord Mackenzie of Kintail,
243 ; retires to Islet of Birsay, 246 ;

and Captain Peter Love, 248-250 ;
and the Privy Council, 251 ; and
the Tutor of Kintail, 254; takes
refuge with Ruari Macleod of
Harris, 254 ; lodged in the Tol-
booth, 255 ; trial and death of,
257-

Macleod, Norman, and the rising of
1745, 432.

Macleod, Colonel Norman, and Lewis,
359-

Macleod, General Norman, 485.

Macleod, Roderick of Lewis at
Harlaw, 88.

Macleod, Roderick, son of Torquil
Dubh, 240, 263.

Macleod, Rory Og, uncle to John
MacTorquil of Lewis, 156 ; banish-
ment and death, 163.

Macleod, Ruari, of Harris, in Ulster,
162 ; and the Privy Council, 195 ;
captures Stornoway Castle, 234 ;
knighted, 256 ; letter to Lord
Binning, 271 ; letter to Privy
Council, 283.

Macleod, Ruari, of Lewis, 130 ; seized
by James V., 133 ; grant of Lewis
to, 135 ; marriages and issue, 135,
148, 149, 150 ; treatment by
Torquil Conanach, 151 ; resigns
his estates to the Crown, 152 ;
quarrels with Torquil Conanach,
154 ; death of, 163.

Macleod, Tormod, son of Torquil
Macleod of Lewis, 76.

Macleod, Tormod, younger brother of
Torquil Dubh of Lewis, 169 ; and
Mackenzie of Kintail, 195 ; and
the Fife Adventurers, 202 ; takes
possession of Lewis, 203 ; goes to
London, 221 ; imprisoned in Edin-
burgh, 222 ; dies in Holland, 222.

Macleod, Torquil II. of Lewis, granted
Assynt, 79.

Macleod, Torquil III. of Lewis, charter
to, 109; and Donald Dubh, in ;
takes part in the insurrection, 117;
certificate of proclamation against,
119; indictment of, 121; his fate
and character, 122.

Macleod, Torquil, third son of Torquil
Dubh, 264.

Macleod, Torquil Conanach, 148 ;
legitimacy acknowledged, 152 ;
grant of property to, 152 ; dispute
with his father Ruari, 153 ; com-
plains to Privy Council, 165 ;
captured and released, 204.

Macleod, Torquil Dubh, 150, 163 ;
succeeds his father Ruari, 163 ;

INDEX.

619

marriage of, 165 ; plot against,
1 66 ; betrayal of, 167 ; murder of,
168.

Macleod, Torquil Oighre, drowned in
the Minch, 149.

Macleod, William, of Harris, killed at
the Bloody Bay, 98.

Macleod, William, second son of
Torquil Dubh, 264.

Macleods, origin, 55, 59 : at Pabbay,
Uig, 64 ; earliest charter to, 79 ;
feud with the Macaulays of Uig,
83 ; at Flodden, 124 ; summonses
of treason issued against, 142 ;
and M orisons of Ness, 170 ; fight
between Macdonalds and, in North
Uist, 206 ; defeated by the Mac-
donalds in Skye, 207 ; at the
battle of Worcester, 337 ; sub-
mission to Col. Gobbet, 351 ; and
Charles II., 355.

Macleods of Brea join the Jacobites,

Macleods of Glendale join the Jacobites,

435-
Macleods of Harris, armorial bearings,

59-

Macleods of Lewis, 75 ; armorial bear-
ings* 59 J defeat at Tuiteam Tar-
bhach" 85 ; vassals of the Isles, 94.

Macmillan, Donald, first minister of
South Uist, 529.

Macnaughtons, the, 60.

Macneill, Donald, son of Ruari, 287.

Macneill, General, 495.

Macneill, Gilleonan, feud between
Maclean of Coll and, 94 ; con-
firmation of grant to, 108.

Macneill, Gilleonan Roderick Mur-
chard, charter to, 94.

Macneill, Neil Og, son of Ruari, 288.

Macneill, Ruari, before the King at
Holyrood, 285 ; and Clanranald,
286 ; charged with committing
barbarities, 286 ; enmity in family,
287 ; marriage and issue, 287 ;
taken prisoner by his sons, 288.

Macneills of Barra, lineage of, 65 ; and
Macleans of Duart, 94.

Macneills of Gigha, descent of, 66.

Macnicols or Nicolsons, 60.

Macpherson, Martin, minister of South
Uist, 529.

Macquarrie (of Ulva), 114 ; submission
of, 119.

Macrae, Mr. Farquhar, Vicar of Gair-
loch, 523.

Macraes, the, 64.

Macruari, Alexander, executed, 91.

Macruari, Allan, 69.

Macruari, Amy, wife of John of the
Isles, 79.

Macruari, Lauchlan, 79.

Macruari, Ranald, 70 ; accompanies
King David to England, 77 ; of
Uist and Barra, 79 ; wife of, 79 ;
feud with the Earl of Ross, 79 ;
death of, 79.

Macruari, Roderick, 70.

Macruaries of Garmoran and the North
Isles, 41, 68, 69, 74.

McTyre, Paul, freebooter, 57, 58.

Mac Vicar, Donald, 113.

Maelrubha or St. Mourie, 56.

Maelsechnall, Irish King, 10.

Magnus, King of Man and the He-
brides, 16.

Magnus, King of Norway, 21 ; expe-
ditions of, 19 ; in Lewis, 22 ; right
of, to the Hebrides, 23 ; adds
Kintyre to his dominions, 23 ;
adopts the kilt, 24 ; gains the
name of *' Bareleg," 24.

Magnus, son of Olave the Black, 39 ;
elected King of the Isles, 40.

Magnus, King of Norway, son or
Hakon, negotiates with Alexander
III., 42.

Maid of Norway, daughter of King
Erik, 69.

Major, John, description of Scottish
nation, 497.

Maleus or Mull, 2.

Man and the Hebrides, see Hebrides.

Mar, Earl of, at Harlaw, 89.

Mar, Earl of, and the rising of 1715,
395 ; at Sheriffmuir, 400.

Marchmont Castle, Olave the Black in,

32-
Maree, Loch, Sir George Hay and the

ironworks at, 247.
Margaret, daughter of Alexander III.,

42.

Margaret, daughter of Christian I., 43.
Margaret, daughter of Euphemia,

Countess of Ross, 86.
Margaret, daughter of Robert II., 77.
Marriage among the Norsemen, 49.
Martin Martin, account of the Outer

Hebrides by, 505.

Mary, daughter of John of the Isles, So.
Mary, Queen of Scots, letter to Torquil

Oighre Macleod from, 149.
Matheson, Donald, of the Lews, 495.
Matheson, Major Duncan, of the Lews,

495-
Matheson, Sir James, Lewis sold to,

494 ; and the people of Lewis, 548.
Middleton, General, arrives in Scotland,

348 ; grant of money from States

620

INDEX.

of Holland, 353 ; Royalist Com-
mander-in- Chief in Scotland, 362.

Minch, the, 34 n.

Monck, General, and the Scots, 340 ;
festivities in his honour in Edin-
burgh, 364 ; policy towards the
insurgents, 365.

Monro, Donald, account of the Long
Island and Isles, 498 ; Rector of
Ui, 521.

Monson, Sir William, scheme for
working fisheries of Lewis, 300.

Montrose and the battle of Auldearn,
333 ; retires to France, 335 ;
defeated at Carbisdale, 336 ; trial
and execution, 336.

Moray, Earldom of, Somerled and the,
27.

Moray, James Stewart, Earl of, juris-
diction over the North Isles, 129.

Mores (Maurice), son of Kennan, King
of Norway, 60.

Morison, Allan, minister at Barvas,

527-
Morison, Donald, minister of Barvas,

527-

Morison, John, account of Lewis, 504.
Morison, John, the Brieve of Lewis,

164 ; death of, 204.
Morison, Kenneth, minister at Storno-

way, 527.
Morison, Malcolm Mor Maclan, made

prisoner, 205.
Morison, Roderick, " Clarsair Dall."

378.
Morisons, of Bogney, Darcie, and

Prestongrange, 63 ; of Ness, 61-3 ;

their feuds with the Macaulays,

63-4, and with the Macleods, 164,

170 ; revenge of Donald Cam

Macaulay upon, at Dun Carloway,

168.

Moussa in Shetland, xxix.
Moy, Rout of, 439.
Murray, Alexander, of Cubin, 85 .
Murray, of Broughton, 452.
Murray, Lord George, 413.

Nairn, John, of Greenyards, buys
Seaforth estates for Lord Fortrose,
421.

Nicolasson, a Norse settler, 6l.

Nicolsons or Macnicols, 60 ; descent of
the, 61.

Nordereys, the, 18.

Normans, the, 9.

Norsemen and religious communities,
6 ; appear in Ireland, 7 ; and the
Long Island, 8 ; domination of, in
the Isles, 12 ; immigrations of,

12 ; Christianity of, in Outer
Hebrides, 47 ; as fighters, 48 ;
recreations, 48 ; ships, 48 ; manners
and customs, 49 ; and Valhalla,
49 ; character and institutions, 51 ;
morality, 51 ; influence upon the
Long Islanders, 52.

Norwegians, massacre of, by Lewis
Celts, 67.

O'Beoian, Alexander, Earl of Ross,

marriage and issue, 86.
O'Beoian, Hugh, Earl of Ross, killed

at Halidon Hill, 75.
O'Beoian, William, Earl of Ross, Crown

grant to, of Lewis and Skye, 68 ; u

vassal of England, 72 ; submits to

Bruce, 73.
O'Beoian, William, Earl of Ross, feud

with Ranald MacRuari, 79.
O'Beoian, Finnon, the Green Abbot,

93-

O'Beoian, Patrick, the Red Priest, 93.
Ochiltree, Lord, expedition to the Isles,

237 ; takes the chiefs prisoners,

238.

Odallers or peasant nobles, 45.
Odalsjord, the, 45.
O'Donnell, Red Hugh, 162.
Olave the Black, son of Godred of Man,

30 ; sent to govern Lewis, 31 ;

immured in Marchmont Castle, 32 ;

his marriages, 33-34 ; in Norway,

36 ; invades Man, 36 ; his character

and death, 39.
Olave the Red, youngest son of Godred

Crovan, 25.
Olave the White, 13.
O'Neil, Captain, taken prisoner, 468.
Orcades, Pomponius Mela and the, I.
Orcadian supremacy over the Hebrides,

17-
Orde, Sir Arthur Campbell, and North

Uist, 496.
Orde, Colin Ridley, sells property in

North Uist, 496.
Orde, Sir John Campbell, sells Ron

496.
Orde, Sir John Powlett, buys No

Uist, 496.
Orkney, Earl of, killed by Murclo

MacCotter, 105.

Orkney, Sigurd, first Earl of, 15.
Orkneys and Harald Harfager, 12 ;

Jarldom of the, 15 ; invasion by

Hebrideans, 104; James V. in, 133.
Ormaclett, Prince Charles meets Flora

Macdonald at, 458.
Ormonde, Duke of, 413 ; and Cardinal

Alberoni, 407.

INDEX.

621

Ottar, Snaekollson, in Skye, 37.
Overton, Colonel, in the Highlands,
341.

Pabbay or Priests' Isle, 518.

Paul, Jarl of Orkney, 22.

Perth, Barons summoned to, 79.

Perth Treaty, the, 42, 43.

" Pictish," the designation, xxx.

Pinkie, Islesmen at the battle of, 145.

Pliny and the Haebudes, 2.

Pomponius Mela and the Orcades, I.

Poolewe, market at, 534.

Presbyterianism in the Western High-
lands and Isles, 523.

Priam, a pirate ship, 248.

" Prince Charlie's Lake," 450.

Prince Edward Island and Alex.
Macdonald of Glenaladale, 482.

" Prince's Flower," the, 428.

Prince's Strand, the, landing place of
Charles Edward, 428.

Ptolemy and the Ebudae, 2.

Pulteney Town, origin of, 328.

Pytheas and the Island of Thule, i.

Ragnall, King of the Dugalls, 10.

Ragnhilda, daughter of Olave the Red,
26.

Raice, the name of, 55.

Ranald, Bishop of the Sudreys, 33.

Rath Castle, 30.

Redshank, origin of name, 137.

Regaina or Arran, 2.

Reginald, nephew of Olave the Red, 25.

Reginald, son of Olave the Red, 29.

Reginald, son of Godred of Man, Re-
gent of Man, 30 ; becomes a vassal
of the English King, 30 ; submits
to the Papacy, 30 ; escapes to
Lewis, 31 ; subserviency to the
King of England and the Pope,
31 n. ; invades Man, 36 ; his
death, 36.

Reginald, son of Olave the Black, 39.

Ricina, ancient name of Rum, 2.

" Road-money " in the Long Island,
542.

Rodil, Priory Church of St. Clement
at, 519.

Rognevald (Ranald) Jarl of Moeri, 15.

Rona, Capt. Alex. Macdonald buys,
496.

Ross, Earls of, see Lesley, Macdonald,
and O'Beolan.

Ross, Earldom of, Lewis and Harris
and the, 82 ; claim of Glengarry
to, 354-

Ross, Walter, of Balnagown, 57.

Rossinish, Prince Charles Edward at,

460.
Ross-shire Buffs, formation of the, 489

Lewismen in, 490.

Sadler, Sir Ralph, English Ambassador
in Scotland, 137 ; and the release
of chiefs, 139.

Saint Catan and Lewis, 518.

Saint Clement, Priory Church of, at
Rodil, 519.

Saint Columba, 4, 5, 6 ; and Druidism,
5; Life of, by Adamnan, 6; churches
named after him, 6 ; Church of, at
Ui, 518.

Saint Duthac, James IV. and the shrine
of, 124.

Saint Kilda, 499 ; church named after
St. Columba at, 6 ; sold to Macleod
of Macleod, 485 ; sold to Colonel
Donald Macleod of Achnagoyle,

485-
Saint Maelrubha, 56, 520 ; Church of,

at Ness, 525 ; pagan customs, 526.
Saint Olaf, Church of, at Eorrapidh,

Ness, 520.

Saint Ronan's Well, patients at, 520.
Saints, worship of, in Lewis, 525.
Sandsting, remains of an enclosure at,

106.
Scalpa, Prince Charles Edward at, 445,

446.

Scandinavians, see Norsemen.
Scotland, religious feeling in, 161 ;

fishing industry, 303 ; memorials

relating to affairs in, 388.
Scott, Sir Samuel and North Harris,

495-

Scott, Sir Walter, and the Fife Adven-
turers, 244.

Seaforth, Earls of, debts of, 415.

Seaforth, Earls of, see Mackenzie.

Seaforth Estates, 405 ; payment of rents,
414 ; claimants to, 416 ; statements
of accounts, 447, 534.

Seaforth Loch, Prince Charles Edward
Stuart lands at, 447.

Seaforths and Stuarts, 421.

Sea-kings, 44.

Seton, Margaret, daughter of Alexan-
der, Earl of Dunfermline, 315.

Sheriffmuir, battle of, 400.

Shetlands and Harald Harfager, 13.

Ships of the Norsemen, 48.

Sigurd, first Earl of Orkney, 15, 16 ;
killed at Clontarf, 17.

6/0;«-worship at Ness, 526.

Skatt, a land tax, 44.

Skatt or Tax -kings, 44.

T T

612

INDEX.

Skene, Dr., on the Ebudae, 2 ; and the
Kilbride MS., 55.

Skerjablesi, Asbjorn, governor of the
Western Islands, 15.

Skid, the Norse name for Skye, xxxviii.

Skye, pillaged by the Norsemen, 8 ;
Sheriffdom of, 27, 116; ravaged,
40 ; granted to Hugh, son of Earl
of Ross, 73 ; leased to Lauchlan
MacAllan, 73 ; becomes the pro-
perty of the Lcrds of the Isles,
76 ; annexed to the Common-
wealth, 351 ; invaded by Colonel
Clayton, 403 ; Prince Charles
lands in, 464.

Sleat family, claims to Lewis and Uist
of the, 92, 93.

Smith, Capt. John, report on the
Dutch fishermen, 324.

Smith, William, report concerning
charges of fraud in Lewis, 424.

Snamh-aigneach, fight at, 8.

Sodor and Man, Bishopric of, founda-
tion, 517.

Soettur or common out-pasture. 45.

Solinus and the Ebudae, 3.

Somerled the Great, defeats the Loch-
lans and Fingalls, 9 ; marriage of,

26 ; and the Earldom of Moray,

27 ; fights for the Hebrides, 28.
Somerled, son of Gillecolum, 37.
Somerledian chiefs, campaign against,

Southwell, Sir Thomas, 380.

Spens, Sir James, of Wormiston, 217,
248 ; charter to, 236.

Stewart, Barbara, daughter of Lord
Avondale, 135, 148.

Stewart, Duncan, of Appin, 108.

Stewart, Capt. William, 495.

Stone circles in various parts of the
world, xxv.

Stornoway, 172 ; derivation of, xxxviii ;
John Roy and Malcolm at, 83 ;
besieged, 122 ; James V. at, 133 ;
Royal visits to, 133 n. ; Fife
Adventurers reach, 182 ; a free
burgh of barony, 293 ; charter
of erection for, 294 ; Commis-
sioners' objections to making it a
Royal burgh, 295 ; Dutchmen at,
302 ; reserved to the Crown, 322 ;
a free burgh, 323 ; Captain
Brassie's ship Fortune at, 343 ;
garrison attacked, 359 ; Jacobite
Council of War held in, 406 ;
Custom House, 423 ; neutral
attitude of townsmen towards
Prince Charles Edward, 449 ; boys
kidnapped at, 478 ; improved by

the last Lord Seaforth, 489 ; Town
Council created by a grant in 1825,
492 ; Martin's description of, 509 ;
visited by King Edward, 516 ;
religious feeling between Protes-
tants and Roman Catholics, 527 ;
schools in the parish of, 530, 531 ;
spinning school in, 537 ; shipping
at, in the eighteenth and nine-
teenth centuries, 539, 540 ; packet-
service in 1759, 541 ; Post Office,
541 ; criminal procedure in the
nineteenth century, 542 ; Dr.
McCulloch on, 543.

Stornoway Castle, 61, 119; sieges of,
146, 155 ; reserved to the Crown,
165 ; captured by Ruari Macleod
of Harris, 234 ; captured by Neil
Macleod, 235 ; dismantled, 372.

Strachan, Lieut. -Colonel, 336.

Strandford Haven, 30.

Strathbogie ravaged by Donald of the
Isles, 87.

Strathnaver laid waste by Malcolm
Macleod, 85.

Strome Castle, 116, 118; blown up,
216.

Stuart, Charles Edward, Prince, see
Charles Edward Stuart, Prince.

Sudreys, the, 18 ; Ranald, Bishop of
the, 33.

Suibne, son of Kenneth, 16.

Sullivan, Captain, and Prince Charles
Edward, 440.

Susannah, the affair of the ship, 289.

Sutherland, Earl of, at Alness, 398.

Sweyn Asleifsson, of Gairsay, a farm
Viking, 29 ; killed at Dublin,

Talisker, tutor of Macleod, and Coloi

Cobbet, 350.
Tarbat, Lord, and the peace party,

385 ; letter to King William, 387 ;

and the pacification of chiefs, 391.
Tarbert in Harris, derivation, 24.
Tarbert, Loch, Magnus and the

isthmus of, 23.
Things of Norway, 46.
Thorfinn, son of Sigurd of Orkney, 17.
Thorfinn, son of Ottar, 26.
Thorstein the Red, son of Olaf the

White, 14.

Thorun, wife of Helgi the Lean, 14.
Thralls, the, 44.
Thrushel stone, origin of, 64.
Thule, Island of, 1,2; Robert Gordon

of Straloch on, I ; mentioned by

Pytheas, I.
Tobermory, 328.
Toland and the Callernish stones, xxvi.

INDEX.

623

Tormod, son of Torquil, 37 ; attacked

by Norsemen, 38.
Torquil, son of Tormod, 37 ; killed in

Skye, 38.

Trinity Church in North Uist, 81, 206.
Trotternish, the Siol Tormod expelled

from, 126; ravaged, 130 ; James V.

at, 133 ; and the Fife Adventurers,

175 ; devastated by Ruari Macleod,

206.
Tryggvi, Jarl, governor of the Western

Islands, 15.

Tuiteam Tarbhach, battle of, 85.
Tullibardine, Marquis of, 413.
Tyrone, Hugh, Earl of, 162.

Udward, Nathaniel, of Leith, petition,
292.

Ui (or Eye, which see), the ancient
burial-place of the Macleods, 425 ;
Church of St. Columba at, 519;
Rectors of, 521 ; value of living in
1625, 524.

Uig, place-names mostly Norse xxx ;
chessmen found at, 48.

Uist, derivation of, xxxix ; passes to
the Macruaries, 68 ; confirmed to
Ranald MacRuari, 79 ; and the
Marquis of Pluntly, 230 ; men at
Killiecrankie, 379 ; French ship
captured off, 403 ; mentioned in
Blome's Britania, 504 ; Presbytery
of, 528.

Uist North, dispute over lands in, 266 ;
• and Coll Keitach, 272 ; men of,
and the rising of 1745, 435 »
emigrations from, 481, 550; sold
by Lord Macdonald, 496 ; Martin's
account of, 509-510 ; ecclesiology
of, 521 ; schools in, 530-532 ; ex
ports, 537 ; linen factory in, 537 ;

manufacture of kelp in, 548-549 ;
rental and population, 553.

Uist, South, disputes over lands in,
266 ; search for Prince Charles
Edward in, 456 ; Macneill of
Barra driven out of, 286 ;
emigrations from, and Macdonald
of Boisdale, 481 ; bought by Colonel
Gordon, 496 ; described by Dean
Monro, 501 ; Martin's account of,
510 ; ecclesiology of, 521 ; parish of,
529 ; exports, 537 ; price of labour
m 1765, 537 ; introduction of the
potato, 547 ; rentals and popula-
tion, 554.

Ullapool, origin of, 328.

Ulster, expedition of Hebrideans to,
162 ; and James VI., 209.

Urquhart, Sir Alex., lands plundered,

100.

Uspak, Viceroy in the Sudreys, 37 ;
killed in Bute, 38.

Valhalla and the Norsemen, 49.
Vass, Sir Magnus, Rector of Ui, 521.
Vikings, or " men of the bays," 45.

Wade, General, and the Seaforth

tenantry, 414 ; and William, Earl

of Seaforth, 419.
War of the Qaedhill with the Gaill, an

Irish tract, 13.
Waternish, 123 ; Torquil Conanach

granted, 152 ; Kenneth Mackenzie

of Kintail granted, 226.
Weems of the Long Island, xxv.
William III., King, pensions Highland

chiefs, 392.

Wood, Sir Andrew, 118.
Worcester, battle of, Highlanders at,

337-

ERRATA.

Page 105, line II :

For "son" of John of the Isles read "brother.

Page 206, line 16 :

For "John Maclan MacSheumais," read
"Donald Maclan Mhic Sheumais" (Donald, son
of John, son of James), which also read for
" Donald Macjames," line 22.

Trygg

Tuite
Tullil
Tyro)

Udw

Ui .

Uig
UL-

Mackenzie, William Cook DA

880
History of the outer Hebrides .Ek

M3