James MacDonald is shown in ,Historical and biographical annals of Columbia and Montour counties ... - Page 669 Columbia County (Pa.) - 1915 to be the son of Donald MacDonald and "Fair" Janet Mackezie, as does, The History and Genealogy of the Habersham Family, by Joseph Bulloch
James McDonald-Sarah Ferguson, their progenitors and their posterity - Page 4
by Ila May Fisher Maughan -1964 Shows Sir James Mor MacDonald, second Baronet, having two wifes, Margaret Mackenzie and Mary MacLeod
A family memoir of the Macdonalds of Keppoch, ed. by C.R. Markham, with ... - Page 18
by Angus Macdonald – 1885
Sir James MacDonald, ninth Baron of Slate, and second Baronet. Like his father, he wa a steady loyalist, suffering many hardships on account of his attachment to his much beloved sovereign.
He was with the Marquis of Montrose at the siege of Inverness, A.D. 1645, and sent a body of men to the Royal army before the battle of Worcester, 1651. When the loyalists were suppressed, and the King had submitted to his fate, he retired into the Isle of Skye, where he lived with that circumspection which was necessary in such times. When Lord Broghill was in Scotland, during the usurpation, in a letter to Secretary Thurloe he writes that he had conversed with Sir James MacDonald, representing him as a man of great abilities, of great interest with his people, and of good intelligence abroad. On King Charles II's restoration he was fined to a large amount, at the instigation of the Earl of Middleton, then Secretary of State, who had a grant of his fine; a practice which he successfully used against many families who incurred his displeasure.
The Privy Council sent Sir James a commission to pursue and punish the murdereres of his kinsman, MacDonald of Keppoch, who had usurped his possessions. This afflicting event arose from a feud with the Macdougals; but non e of those immediately concerned escaped punishment. Sir James sent their heads to Edinburgh, and received the thanks of the Lords of the Council by letter from the Earl, afterwards Duke of Rothes, signifying that he had done most acceptable service to His Majesty.
Sir James married, first, Margaret, daughter of Sir Roderick Mackenzie of Tarbat, ancestor of the Earl of Cromarty, by whom he had two sons and two daughters---
1.Sir Donald, his heir
2.Hugh of Glenmore, progenitor of the MacDonalds of Serlie, Sortle, etc.
3.3. Catherine, married to Sir Norman MacLeod of Bernary
4.Florence, married daughter of Roderick MacLeod
He married, secondly, Mary, daughter of Roderick MacLeod and had son:
1.John MacDonald of Blackney.
Sir James died in December 1678
The peerage of Ireland: or, A genealogical history of the present nobility ... - Page 116
by John Lodge, Mervyn Archdall – 1789 agrees with this account.
Showing posts with label Scottish Clans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scottish Clans. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Archibald MacDonald
According to Thee Complete Barontetage by George Edward Cokayne, and Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, by Charles Mosley, Archibald MacDonald was the son of Donald Gormeson MacDonald and Mary MacLean. He married Margaret MacDonald, the daughter of another Archibald MacDonald.
They had a son named Sir Donald MacDonald 8th of Sleat.
The following is from The History and Traditions of the Isle of Skye
By Alexander Cameron:
In the time of Donald Gormeson of Sleat a fierce feud existed between the MacDonalds of Skye and the Mackenzie of Kintail. A variety of causes contributed to aggravate this feud, such as the opposition of the Mackenzies to the pretensions of the chiefs of the MacDonalds to the forfeited titles and estates of the Earldom of Ross, and the Lordship of the Isles; the death of Donald Gorme of Sleat at the siege of Elandonnan Castle; and the two clans having taken opposite sides in the bloody disputes between Roderick MacLeod, Baron of Lewis, and his reputed son Torquil Connaldagh of Cogeach, whose mother was daughter of John Mackenzie of Kintail, and the first wife of Roderick Macleod, but whom he divorced on her eloping with John Macgilliechallum of Raasay, as before stated. It then transpired that the Breitheamh, or Judge of the Lewis, was suspected to be the father of Torquil Connaldagh, and Roderick consequently disowned and disinherited him. The Mackenzies took up the cause of Torquil,their kinswoman's son, who had married a daughter of MacDonald of Glengarry and became a powerful warrior. Donald Gormeson MacDonald of Sleat (whose mother was daughter and heiress of John Mactorquil MacLeod, the cousin and predecessor of Roderick MacLeod, as Baron of the Lewis, gave his assistance to Roderick. Several conflicts ensued between Roderick and Torquil, and their dissensions were carried on for a series of years. In the meantime (1541) Roderick MacLeod married Barbara Stewart, daughter of Andrew Lord Avandale, by whom he had a son also named Torquil, but surnamed Oighre, or the Heir, to distinguish him from Torquil Connalldagh, or Connanach, as he was sometimes styled. Torquil Oighre grew up to be a brave warrior, but at the early age of twenty-four, his war like career was suddenly terminated, he having, about the year 1566, with two hunded of his followers, perished at sea, “by ane extraordinarie great storme and tempest,' while on their way from the Lewis to Troternish in Skye. Upon this event Donald Gormeson MacDonald of Sleat took steps to have himself recognized a the next heir of the Lewis, after Roderick MacLeod, on the ground of the alleged confession of Hugh or Uisdeen, the Breitheamh of the Lewis, that he was the father of Torquil Connanach. This appears from a protest taken by Donald MacDonald Gorme, preserved in the charter chest of Dunvegan, dated 22d August 1566. Roderick MacLeod of Lewis, however, afterwards married a sister of Lachlan MacLean of Duart, by whom he had two sons, Torquil Dubh and Tormod, who afterwards contended with Torquil Connaldagh for possession of the Lewis. Torquil Dubh married a daughter of Tormod MacLeod of Dunvegan. In August 1569 Donald Gormeson MacDonald of Sleat and Colin Mackenzie of Kintail were obliged in presence of the Regent and Privy Council at Perth, to settle the quarrels in which they and their clans had been engaged. The families thereafter continued on friendly terms, the son and heir of Donald Gormeson (Donald Gorme Mor), having married a daughter of Colin Mackenzie of Kintail. The following incident relative to the friendly terms existing between the MacDonald family and Christopher Macrae, a dependant of the Mackenzies of Kintail, and a son of Macrae who shot Donald Gorme at Elandonnan, is related in a MS. History of the Macraes, written in the seventeenth century:---”Christopher was a great favourite of MacDonald, and did him a piece of service which he could not forget, which was thus—Donald Gorme Mor who was married to Mackenzie's daughter, having gone with his lady south, and staying longer than he expected, was necessitated to borrow money which he promised to pay on a certain day, and being obliged to go home in order to get the money, left his lady at Perth till his return. Meantime Christopher (who was a drover), having sold his drove and hearing that his master's daughter, Lady MacDonald, was in Perth, he went to visit her, and being informed of the cause of her stay and that of MacDonald's going home, told her he had money to answer all her demands, and men sufficient to convey her home, and advised her to clear all and set out immediately; not doubting but she might overtake MacDonald at home, and prevent his having the trouble and risque of getting south. And so it happened, for she gladly accepted the compliment. They early next day went homewards, and having arrived the second day after MacDonald, he was greatly surprised, till the lady informed him what Christopher had done. MacDonald and his lady insisted on his staying some days, and entertained himvery kindly, and on the day they were to part, Christopher being still warm with drink, called for a large cupful of strong waters, proposing, as a compliment, to drink it all to Sir Donald's health. MacDonald, thinking himself bound to return the compliment by drinking so much to Christopher, said:---'I trust you don't mean to kill me by taking such a quantity of the liquor;' to which Christopher answered, 'Sir and is it not natural, since it was my father that killed your father' [should be grandfather.] While MacDonald only smiled, and said it was true, some of the bystanders, his attendants, drew their dirks, threatening to be at Christopher, and would have undoubtedly killed him, had not Sir Donald interfered, and convoyed him safe to his boat. Christopher was afterwards ashamed of what he said, but MacDonald and he continued fast friends.”{
A few pages further along, it says that “A yearly pension of 1000 marks, Scots, out of the fruits of the Bishoprick of Aberdeen, then vacant, was conferred by the King in the same year on Donald Gormeson of Sleat, for his good and faithful service.” And then, “Donald Gormeson of Sleat died in 1585, and was succeeded by his son Donald Gorme Mor, a powerful warrior, and no mean diplomatist. He entered into a treasonable correspondence with Queen Elizabeth of England. In a letter to her dated March 1598, preserved in the State Paper Office, he styles himself “Lord of the Isles of Scotland, and chief of the Clandonald Irishmen;” and offers upon certain “reasonable motives and considerations” to inform her of the movements of her enemies in Scotland, to persuade the Isles to throw off all allegiance to the Scottish Crown, and to raise an insurrection to fasche King James. He would also disclose Scottish practices, and how the Northern Jesuits and priests pushed forward their diabolical, pestiferous, and anti-christian courses. His services were not, however, accepted. He had scarcely assumed the chieftainship of Clan Donald, when, through the treachery of two of his kinsmen, Huisdean Macghilleasbuig Clerach and Macdhomnull Herrach, he was plunged into one of those bloody feuds so common at the period, and which at length became so widespread and serious as to call for the interferrence of Government. …..This disastrous feud was only put an end to on Donald Gorme Mor MacDonald of Sleat, Angus MacDonald of Islay, and Sir Lachlan MacLean, while in Edinburgh on the invitation of the King and Council, being seized and imprisoned in the Castle, wher they were detained until they paid fines imposed by the King, and procured sureties for their future peaceful conduct. This happened in the year 1591. The fine imposed on Donald Gorme Mor was L4000/
This same book refers to a brother of Donald Gorm MacDonald, son of Donald Gormeson, having a brother named Hugh or Huisean Macgilleasbuig Chlerach. It says that he was a man of great personal strength, to which he added cruelty and deceit. “He at first possessed the confidence of his kinsman, Donald Gorme, who sent him as factor to North Uist.” When he arrived there he took the land of a clan called MacVicar, because he believed it should be in the possession of his family.
The book says that Donald Gorme discovered that Hugh Huisdean intended to overthrow him. When Hugh discovered that his plot had been discovered, he left in his galley to North Uist, to escape. While he was there, he wrote two letter, one was to his brother claiming loyalty to him, and the other was to a tenant of his brother asking for his assistance in plotting against his brother. The letters got mixed up and the wrong one got sent to his brother. So his brother sent a large party of men to capture his brother Hugh. They took him prisoner to Skye. He was imprisoned in a vaulted dungeon in the castle of Duntulm, and allowed to die of thirst. In his agony, it is said that he crunched a pewter jug, left in his cell, to powder.
Since the books mentioned previously on the peerage, name Donald Gormeson's son as Archibald, I am assuming that this story referring to Hugh Uisdeen, means Archibald is the same person.
According to a DAR lineage book, from 1926 Archibald MacDonald married Margaret MacDonald. The Celtic Magazine: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to the Literature, History ... - Page 427
by Alexander Mackenzie, Alexander Macgregor - 1881 says that a Ranald, son of Allan or Clanranald, married Maria, daughter of Archibald MacDonald, brother of Donald Gorm Mor, and sister of Sir Donald MacDonald 8th of Sleat. It says that she was forcibly seized and ravished by Sir Lachlan Mackinnon of Strathardale.
The last Macdonalds of Isla By Charles Fraser-Mackintosh says that Margaret MacDonald, daughter of Angus MacDonald, married Archibald MacDonald, younger son of Sleat, with issue Donald who succeeded his uncle in 1616.
They had a son named Sir Donald MacDonald 8th of Sleat.
The following is from The History and Traditions of the Isle of Skye
By Alexander Cameron:
In the time of Donald Gormeson of Sleat a fierce feud existed between the MacDonalds of Skye and the Mackenzie of Kintail. A variety of causes contributed to aggravate this feud, such as the opposition of the Mackenzies to the pretensions of the chiefs of the MacDonalds to the forfeited titles and estates of the Earldom of Ross, and the Lordship of the Isles; the death of Donald Gorme of Sleat at the siege of Elandonnan Castle; and the two clans having taken opposite sides in the bloody disputes between Roderick MacLeod, Baron of Lewis, and his reputed son Torquil Connaldagh of Cogeach, whose mother was daughter of John Mackenzie of Kintail, and the first wife of Roderick Macleod, but whom he divorced on her eloping with John Macgilliechallum of Raasay, as before stated. It then transpired that the Breitheamh, or Judge of the Lewis, was suspected to be the father of Torquil Connaldagh, and Roderick consequently disowned and disinherited him. The Mackenzies took up the cause of Torquil,their kinswoman's son, who had married a daughter of MacDonald of Glengarry and became a powerful warrior. Donald Gormeson MacDonald of Sleat (whose mother was daughter and heiress of John Mactorquil MacLeod, the cousin and predecessor of Roderick MacLeod, as Baron of the Lewis, gave his assistance to Roderick. Several conflicts ensued between Roderick and Torquil, and their dissensions were carried on for a series of years. In the meantime (1541) Roderick MacLeod married Barbara Stewart, daughter of Andrew Lord Avandale, by whom he had a son also named Torquil, but surnamed Oighre, or the Heir, to distinguish him from Torquil Connalldagh, or Connanach, as he was sometimes styled. Torquil Oighre grew up to be a brave warrior, but at the early age of twenty-four, his war like career was suddenly terminated, he having, about the year 1566, with two hunded of his followers, perished at sea, “by ane extraordinarie great storme and tempest,' while on their way from the Lewis to Troternish in Skye. Upon this event Donald Gormeson MacDonald of Sleat took steps to have himself recognized a the next heir of the Lewis, after Roderick MacLeod, on the ground of the alleged confession of Hugh or Uisdeen, the Breitheamh of the Lewis, that he was the father of Torquil Connanach. This appears from a protest taken by Donald MacDonald Gorme, preserved in the charter chest of Dunvegan, dated 22d August 1566. Roderick MacLeod of Lewis, however, afterwards married a sister of Lachlan MacLean of Duart, by whom he had two sons, Torquil Dubh and Tormod, who afterwards contended with Torquil Connaldagh for possession of the Lewis. Torquil Dubh married a daughter of Tormod MacLeod of Dunvegan. In August 1569 Donald Gormeson MacDonald of Sleat and Colin Mackenzie of Kintail were obliged in presence of the Regent and Privy Council at Perth, to settle the quarrels in which they and their clans had been engaged. The families thereafter continued on friendly terms, the son and heir of Donald Gormeson (Donald Gorme Mor), having married a daughter of Colin Mackenzie of Kintail. The following incident relative to the friendly terms existing between the MacDonald family and Christopher Macrae, a dependant of the Mackenzies of Kintail, and a son of Macrae who shot Donald Gorme at Elandonnan, is related in a MS. History of the Macraes, written in the seventeenth century:---”Christopher was a great favourite of MacDonald, and did him a piece of service which he could not forget, which was thus—Donald Gorme Mor who was married to Mackenzie's daughter, having gone with his lady south, and staying longer than he expected, was necessitated to borrow money which he promised to pay on a certain day, and being obliged to go home in order to get the money, left his lady at Perth till his return. Meantime Christopher (who was a drover), having sold his drove and hearing that his master's daughter, Lady MacDonald, was in Perth, he went to visit her, and being informed of the cause of her stay and that of MacDonald's going home, told her he had money to answer all her demands, and men sufficient to convey her home, and advised her to clear all and set out immediately; not doubting but she might overtake MacDonald at home, and prevent his having the trouble and risque of getting south. And so it happened, for she gladly accepted the compliment. They early next day went homewards, and having arrived the second day after MacDonald, he was greatly surprised, till the lady informed him what Christopher had done. MacDonald and his lady insisted on his staying some days, and entertained himvery kindly, and on the day they were to part, Christopher being still warm with drink, called for a large cupful of strong waters, proposing, as a compliment, to drink it all to Sir Donald's health. MacDonald, thinking himself bound to return the compliment by drinking so much to Christopher, said:---'I trust you don't mean to kill me by taking such a quantity of the liquor;' to which Christopher answered, 'Sir and is it not natural, since it was my father that killed your father' [should be grandfather.] While MacDonald only smiled, and said it was true, some of the bystanders, his attendants, drew their dirks, threatening to be at Christopher, and would have undoubtedly killed him, had not Sir Donald interfered, and convoyed him safe to his boat. Christopher was afterwards ashamed of what he said, but MacDonald and he continued fast friends.”{
A few pages further along, it says that “A yearly pension of 1000 marks, Scots, out of the fruits of the Bishoprick of Aberdeen, then vacant, was conferred by the King in the same year on Donald Gormeson of Sleat, for his good and faithful service.” And then, “Donald Gormeson of Sleat died in 1585, and was succeeded by his son Donald Gorme Mor, a powerful warrior, and no mean diplomatist. He entered into a treasonable correspondence with Queen Elizabeth of England. In a letter to her dated March 1598, preserved in the State Paper Office, he styles himself “Lord of the Isles of Scotland, and chief of the Clandonald Irishmen;” and offers upon certain “reasonable motives and considerations” to inform her of the movements of her enemies in Scotland, to persuade the Isles to throw off all allegiance to the Scottish Crown, and to raise an insurrection to fasche King James. He would also disclose Scottish practices, and how the Northern Jesuits and priests pushed forward their diabolical, pestiferous, and anti-christian courses. His services were not, however, accepted. He had scarcely assumed the chieftainship of Clan Donald, when, through the treachery of two of his kinsmen, Huisdean Macghilleasbuig Clerach and Macdhomnull Herrach, he was plunged into one of those bloody feuds so common at the period, and which at length became so widespread and serious as to call for the interferrence of Government. …..This disastrous feud was only put an end to on Donald Gorme Mor MacDonald of Sleat, Angus MacDonald of Islay, and Sir Lachlan MacLean, while in Edinburgh on the invitation of the King and Council, being seized and imprisoned in the Castle, wher they were detained until they paid fines imposed by the King, and procured sureties for their future peaceful conduct. This happened in the year 1591. The fine imposed on Donald Gorme Mor was L4000/
This same book refers to a brother of Donald Gorm MacDonald, son of Donald Gormeson, having a brother named Hugh or Huisean Macgilleasbuig Chlerach. It says that he was a man of great personal strength, to which he added cruelty and deceit. “He at first possessed the confidence of his kinsman, Donald Gorme, who sent him as factor to North Uist.” When he arrived there he took the land of a clan called MacVicar, because he believed it should be in the possession of his family.
The book says that Donald Gorme discovered that Hugh Huisdean intended to overthrow him. When Hugh discovered that his plot had been discovered, he left in his galley to North Uist, to escape. While he was there, he wrote two letter, one was to his brother claiming loyalty to him, and the other was to a tenant of his brother asking for his assistance in plotting against his brother. The letters got mixed up and the wrong one got sent to his brother. So his brother sent a large party of men to capture his brother Hugh. They took him prisoner to Skye. He was imprisoned in a vaulted dungeon in the castle of Duntulm, and allowed to die of thirst. In his agony, it is said that he crunched a pewter jug, left in his cell, to powder.
Since the books mentioned previously on the peerage, name Donald Gormeson's son as Archibald, I am assuming that this story referring to Hugh Uisdeen, means Archibald is the same person.
According to a DAR lineage book, from 1926 Archibald MacDonald married Margaret MacDonald. The Celtic Magazine: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to the Literature, History ... - Page 427
by Alexander Mackenzie, Alexander Macgregor - 1881 says that a Ranald, son of Allan or Clanranald, married Maria, daughter of Archibald MacDonald, brother of Donald Gorm Mor, and sister of Sir Donald MacDonald 8th of Sleat. It says that she was forcibly seized and ravished by Sir Lachlan Mackinnon of Strathardale.
The last Macdonalds of Isla By Charles Fraser-Mackintosh says that Margaret MacDonald, daughter of Angus MacDonald, married Archibald MacDonald, younger son of Sleat, with issue Donald who succeeded his uncle in 1616.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Harold the Black King of Iceland
Harold the Black King of Iceland?
Chronica regum Manniæ et insularum. The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys, ed ... - Page 51
edited by Peder Andreas Munch - 1860
"Harold, the father of Godred Crowan, is called Haraldus niger de Ysland, in the Chronicle. This name, Ysland, has been construed by some interpreters as being a blunder for Ireland, which however is not very probable, Ireland, being throughout the whole book always styled Ybernia. We will not utterly deny the possibility of perhaps Iceland being meant, as it would in itself be not at all unlikely, that Harold the black, after his father's death, might have retired to Iceland, as so many other Norwegian warriors from those parts did, and that his son Godred, watching every opportunity for regaining the lands of his ancestors, stepped forth to follow King Harold on his expedition. However, seeing that the epitheton, de Ysland, stands here evidently a territorial designation, but not as a mere indication of the country from whence Harold or Godred came, we are rather inclined to think, that it means neither Ireland nor Iceland, but the island of isla, which other places of the book is called Yle, but might for once, through a blunder or inconsequence of the writer, have been called, Ysland. It is not to be overlooked that Godred died in the island of Isla, which may seem to involve, that he generally resideded there, and that it was his paternal domain."
In another place it says, "There can, however, be very little doubt, that in aspiring subsequently to the crown of Man, and really making himself king of the Island with its appendages, he vindicated only what he regarded as his hereditary right. If he had not belonged to a royal line, or if his ancestors had not enjoyed the title of King, it would have been almost impossible, according to the feelings or opinions of those days, that he should have ventured to assume it. The title of King, amont the northern, nay, generally among the German tribes, was in itself strictly hereditary; "
"Taking it, consequently, for granted, that Godred descended from a royal family, and that his ancestors were kings, we think it very probably, nay, almost certain, that hsi grandfather was no other than the above mentioned Godred son of Harold, who was killed in 989." It then states that it was the custom to name a son after his grandfather.
Speaking of this Godred, son of Harold, it says he had two sons, Donald, who was killed in 989, and was probably a bastard, because of his Gaelic name; and Harold the father of Godred Crowan, the heir to the estates and his title.
Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters as translated into Englis by Owen.... by Michael O'Clery 2003, says that Harold the Black of Iceland, was a descendant of the kings of Norway.
Thus we have a Harold, followed by his son Godred, another Harold who in turn was the father of Godred Crovan.
Sources:
Critical Dissertations on the Origin, Antiquities, Language, Government ... - Page 230
by John Macpherson - Celts - 1768 -
Chronica regum Manniæ et insularum. The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys, ed ... - Page 51
edited by Peder Andreas Munch - 1860
"Harold, the father of Godred Crowan, is called Haraldus niger de Ysland, in the Chronicle. This name, Ysland, has been construed by some interpreters as being a blunder for Ireland, which however is not very probable, Ireland, being throughout the whole book always styled Ybernia. We will not utterly deny the possibility of perhaps Iceland being meant, as it would in itself be not at all unlikely, that Harold the black, after his father's death, might have retired to Iceland, as so many other Norwegian warriors from those parts did, and that his son Godred, watching every opportunity for regaining the lands of his ancestors, stepped forth to follow King Harold on his expedition. However, seeing that the epitheton, de Ysland, stands here evidently a territorial designation, but not as a mere indication of the country from whence Harold or Godred came, we are rather inclined to think, that it means neither Ireland nor Iceland, but the island of isla, which other places of the book is called Yle, but might for once, through a blunder or inconsequence of the writer, have been called, Ysland. It is not to be overlooked that Godred died in the island of Isla, which may seem to involve, that he generally resideded there, and that it was his paternal domain."
In another place it says, "There can, however, be very little doubt, that in aspiring subsequently to the crown of Man, and really making himself king of the Island with its appendages, he vindicated only what he regarded as his hereditary right. If he had not belonged to a royal line, or if his ancestors had not enjoyed the title of King, it would have been almost impossible, according to the feelings or opinions of those days, that he should have ventured to assume it. The title of King, amont the northern, nay, generally among the German tribes, was in itself strictly hereditary; "
"Taking it, consequently, for granted, that Godred descended from a royal family, and that his ancestors were kings, we think it very probably, nay, almost certain, that hsi grandfather was no other than the above mentioned Godred son of Harold, who was killed in 989." It then states that it was the custom to name a son after his grandfather.
Speaking of this Godred, son of Harold, it says he had two sons, Donald, who was killed in 989, and was probably a bastard, because of his Gaelic name; and Harold the father of Godred Crowan, the heir to the estates and his title.
Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters as translated into Englis by Owen.... by Michael O'Clery 2003, says that Harold the Black of Iceland, was a descendant of the kings of Norway.
Thus we have a Harold, followed by his son Godred, another Harold who in turn was the father of Godred Crovan.
Sources:
Critical Dissertations on the Origin, Antiquities, Language, Government ... - Page 230
by John Macpherson - Celts - 1768 -
Godred Crovan
Godred Crovan, Gofraid mac meic Arailt, Gofraid Merenech, was a Norwegian king of Dublin and King of Mann and the Isles. Crovan means white hand. In folk lore he is called King Orry. He was the son of King Harold the Black of Iceland.
An Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Mann, from the Earliest Times to the Present Date, by Joseph Train 1845, calling him Goddard Crovan or Chrouban, says that Chrouban in Icelandic means White Handed. The surnames of Scandinavia were not inheritable, but were distinctive to each man. Iceland was divied into shires or prefectures, called Goddard, and the prefect or magistrate of each shire was called Godi. The term Goddard denoted both the dignity and also the district over which the authority extended, in other words, the Godi-ship and the Godi-ric. From this it may be inferred that Crowman had either been a Godi in his own country or assumed that title on his arrival in Mann, in addition to that of king, being perhaps more honourable. Crowman, signifying the Slaughter, was perhaps conferred on him, being a Viking.
He is referred to as Gofraid mac meic in the Annals of Tigernach. He was the son of Harold The Black. The Chronicle of Mann say he was one of the survivors of Harold Hardrada's defeat at the Battle of Stamford Bride in 1066. He then took refuge with Godred Sigtryggson, King of Mann.
The Irish Annals say that he was a vassal of Murchad, King of Dublin. When Godred Sigtryggson died in 1070, his son Fingal succeeded as King of Mann.
In 1079 Godred Crovan gathered ships and sailed to Mann and tried to take control of the island but was defeated and forced to leave. He returned a second time and was again defeated. The third time he returned at night. He concealed 300 men behind what he knew would be the position of Fingal's men. During the battle these men revealed themselves from their hidden position behind the Manxmen and this caused them to lose their formation and they ran.
After taking the Isle of Mann, Godred Crovan took Dublin. He was driven out of Dublin in 1094 by Murdach Ua Briain. He died the next year according to the Annals of the Four Masters. on Islay.
He had sons Lagmann, Olaf and Harold. Lagmann blinded his brother Harold. Olaf and Lagmann's descendants ruled Mann. When Magnus died in 1095, Lagmann regained possession of his father's kingdom. He only ruled for seven years and was expelled by his subjects for his tyranny and cruelty. He went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and died there. Olave the youngest son, was appointed a regent to rule for him, because he was under age. But in 1114, Olaf or Olave was placed on the throne.
An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, from the First Introduction ... - Google Books Result
by John Lanigan - 1829 - Ireland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godred_Crovan
Publications - Page 87
by Manx Society - 1864
An Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Mann, from the Earliest Times to the Present Date, by Joseph Train 1845, calling him Goddard Crovan or Chrouban, says that Chrouban in Icelandic means White Handed. The surnames of Scandinavia were not inheritable, but were distinctive to each man. Iceland was divied into shires or prefectures, called Goddard, and the prefect or magistrate of each shire was called Godi. The term Goddard denoted both the dignity and also the district over which the authority extended, in other words, the Godi-ship and the Godi-ric. From this it may be inferred that Crowman had either been a Godi in his own country or assumed that title on his arrival in Mann, in addition to that of king, being perhaps more honourable. Crowman, signifying the Slaughter, was perhaps conferred on him, being a Viking.
He is referred to as Gofraid mac meic in the Annals of Tigernach. He was the son of Harold The Black. The Chronicle of Mann say he was one of the survivors of Harold Hardrada's defeat at the Battle of Stamford Bride in 1066. He then took refuge with Godred Sigtryggson, King of Mann.
The Irish Annals say that he was a vassal of Murchad, King of Dublin. When Godred Sigtryggson died in 1070, his son Fingal succeeded as King of Mann.
In 1079 Godred Crovan gathered ships and sailed to Mann and tried to take control of the island but was defeated and forced to leave. He returned a second time and was again defeated. The third time he returned at night. He concealed 300 men behind what he knew would be the position of Fingal's men. During the battle these men revealed themselves from their hidden position behind the Manxmen and this caused them to lose their formation and they ran.
After taking the Isle of Mann, Godred Crovan took Dublin. He was driven out of Dublin in 1094 by Murdach Ua Briain. He died the next year according to the Annals of the Four Masters. on Islay.
He had sons Lagmann, Olaf and Harold. Lagmann blinded his brother Harold. Olaf and Lagmann's descendants ruled Mann. When Magnus died in 1095, Lagmann regained possession of his father's kingdom. He only ruled for seven years and was expelled by his subjects for his tyranny and cruelty. He went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and died there. Olave the youngest son, was appointed a regent to rule for him, because he was under age. But in 1114, Olaf or Olave was placed on the throne.
An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, from the First Introduction ... - Google Books Result
by John Lanigan - 1829 - Ireland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godred_Crovan
Publications - Page 87
by Manx Society - 1864
Olaf I the Red Godredsson
Olaf I the Red Godredsson (Olaus the Swarthy) succeeded in 1104. He was also called Morsel and sometimes, Olave Kleining, meaning the Dwarf. He was the son of Godred Crovan. He either succeeded at the same time as his brothers or after.
King Magnus Barefoot annexed the Kingdom of Mann and this disrupted the succession. Olaf was appointed viceroy by King Magnus of Norway and called King of Mann. According to the Chroncicles of Mann, he maintained a close relationship with the kings of Scotland and Ireland.
In the 1130's the church sent a mission to establish a bishopric on Mann. Wimund was appointed bishop. He gave up his church work and became a murderer. He and his band murdered and looted throughout Scotland and the Isles.
The Kingdom of Mann remained under the authority of Norway, but this authority was seldom put into action.
He married Ingibiorg, daughter of Earl Hakon of Orkney and his mistress Helga Moddansdottir. This Earl Hakon of Orkney is said to have been responsible for the death of St. Magnus.
Olaf married second Elfrica of Galloway. His first wife bore him a daughter Ragnhildis, who married Sumarlidhi Hold. They are the progenitors of Clan Donald. Different accounts disagree as to which wife was first. Elfrica or Aufrica was the mother of his successor Godred Olafsson. She was the daughter of Fergus of Galloway and a daughter of Henry I of England, although I do not know which one. This is stated in Saga-book of the Viking Club - Page 359 by Viking Society for Northern Research - Vikings - 1902. This is further verified by Roger Howden in Robert the Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland vol.4-p430. He says that Fergus' son Uchtred was the first cousin of Henry II. Some accounts also give him other sons named Reginald, Lagmann, and Harold.
In 1140 there was a rebellion and Olaf was killed by nephews, sons of his brother Harold.
The Story of Egil Skallagrimsson has this to say about Olaf:
OLAF THE RED was the name of the king in Scotland. He was Scotch on his father's side, but Danish on his mother's side, and came of the family of Ragnar Hairy-breeks. He was a powerful prince. Scotland, as compared with England, was reckoned a third of the realm ; Northumberland was reckoned a fifth part of England; it was the northernmost county, marching with Scotland on the eastern side of the island. Formerly the Danish kings had held it. Its chief town is York. It was in Athelstan's dominions; he had set over it two earls, the one named Alfgeir, the other Gudrek. They were set there as defenders of the land against the inroads of Scots, Danes, and Norsemen, who harried the land much, and thought they had a strong claim on the land there, because in Northumberland nearly all the inhabitants were Danish by the father's or mother's side, and many by both.
Bretland was governed by two brothers, Hring and Adils ; they were tributaries under king Athelstan, and withal had this right, that when they were with the king in the field, they and their force should be in the van of the battle before the royal standard. These brothers were right good warriors, but not young men.
Alfred the Great had deprived all tributary kings of name and power; they were now called earls, who had before been kings or princes. This was maintained throughout his lifetime and his son Edward's. But Athelstan came young to the kingdom, and of him they stood less in awe. Wherefore many now were disloyal who had before been faithful subjects.
OLAF king of Scots, drew together a mighty host, and marched upon England. When he came to Northumberland, he advanced with shield of war. On learning this, the earls who ruled there mustered their force and went against the king. And when they met there was a great battle, whereof the issue was that king Olaf won the victory, but earl Gudrek fell, and Alfgeir fled away, as did the greater part of the force that had followed them and escaped from the field. And now king Olaf found no further resistance, but subdued all Northumberland.
Alfgeir went to king Athelstan, and told him of his defeat. But as soon as king Athelstan heard that so mighty a host was come into his land, he despatched men and summoned forces, sending word to his earls and other nobles. And with such force as he had he at once turned him and marched against the Scots. But when it was bruited about that Olaf king of Scots had won a victory and subdued under him a large part of England, he soon had a much larger army than Athelstan, for many nobles joined him. And on learning this, Hring and Adils, who had gathered much people, turned to swell king OlaPs army. Thus their numbers became exceeding great.
All this when Athelstan learned, he summoned to conference his captains and his counsellors ; he inquired of them what were best to do ; he told the whole council point by point what he had ascertained about the doings of the Scots' king and his numbers. All present were agreed on this, that Alfgeir was most to blame, and thought it were but his due to lose his earldom. But the plan resolved on was this, that king Athelstan should go back to the south of England, and then for himself hold a levy of troops, coming northwards through the whole land ; for they saw that the only way for the needful numbers to be levied in time was for the king himself to gather the force.
As for the army already assembled, the king set over it as commanders Thorolf and Egil. They were also to lead that force which the freebooters had brought to the king. But Alfgeir still held command over his own troops. Further, the king appointed such captains of companies as he thought fit.
When Egil returned from the council to his fellows, they asked him what tidings he could tell them of the Scots' king. He sang :
' Olaf one earl by furious
Onslaught in flight hath driven,
The other slain : a sovereign
Stubborn in fight is he.
Upon the field fared Gudrek
False path to his undoing.
He holds, this foe of England,
Northumbria's humbled soil."
After this they sent messengers to king Olaf, giving out this as their errand, that king Athelstan would fain enhazel him a field and offer battle on Vin-heath by Vin-wood; meanwhile he would have them forbear to harry his land; but of the twain he should rule England who should conquer in the battle. He appointed a week hence for the conflict, and whichever first came on the ground should wait a week for the other. Now this was then the custom, that so soon as a king had enhazelled a field, it was a shameful act to harry before the battle was ended. Accordingly King Olaf halted and harried not, but waited till the appointed day, when he moved his army to Vin-heath.
North of the heath stood a town. There in the town king Olaf quartered him, and there he had the greatest part of his force, because there was a wide district around which seemed to him convenient for the bringing in of such provisions as the army needed. But he sent men of his own up to the heath where the battlefield was appointed ; these were to take camping-ground, and make all ready before the army came. But when the men came to the place where the field was enhazelled, there were all the hazel-poles set up to mark the ground where the battle should be.
The place ought to be chosen level, and whereon a large host might be set in array. And such was this ; for in the place where the battle was to be the heath was level, with a river flowing on one side, on the other a large wood. But where the distance between the wood and the river was least (though this was a good long stretch), there king Athelstan's men had pitched, and their tents quite filled the space between wood and river. They had so pitched that in every third tent there were no men at all, and in one of every three but few. Yet when king Olaf's men came to them, they had then numbers swarming before all the tents, and the others could not get to go inside. Athelstan's men said that their tents were all full, so full that their people had not nearly enough room. But the front line of tents stood so high that it could not be seen over them whether they stood many or few in depth. Olaf's men imagined a vast host must be there. King Olaf's men pitched north of the hazel-poles, toward which side the ground sloped a little.
From day to day Athelstan's men said that the king would come, or was come, to the town that lay south of the heath. Meanwhile forces flocked to them both day and night.
But when the appointed time had expired, then Athelstan's men sent envoys to king Olaf with these words : ' King Athelstan is ready for battle, and has a mighty host. But he sends to king Olaf these words, that he would fain they should not cause so much bloodshed as now looks likely; he begs Olaf rather to go home to Scotland, and Athelstan will give him as a friendly gift one shilling of silver from every plough through all his realm, and he wishes that they should become friends.'
When the messengers came to Olaf he was just beginning to make ready his army, and purposing to attack. But on the messengers declaring their errand, he forebore to advance for that day. Then he and his captains sate in council. Wherein opinions were much divided. Some strongly desired that these terms should be taken ; they said that this journey had already won them great honour, if they should go home after receiving so much money from Athelstan. But some were against it, saying that Athelstan would offer much more the second time, were this refused. And this latter counsel prevailed. Then the messengers begged king Olaf to give them time to go back to king Athelstan, and try if he would pay yet more money to ensure peace. They asked a truce of one day for their /. ; journey home, another for deliberation, a third to return to Olaf. The king granted them this.
The messengers went home, and came back on the third day according to promise ; they now said to king Olaf that Athelstan would give all that he offered before, and over and above, for distribution among king Olaf's soldiers, a shilling to every freeborn man, a silver mark to every officer of a company of twelve men or more, a gold mark to every captain of the king's guard, and five gold marks to every earl. Then the king laid this offer before his forces. It was again as before; some opposed this, some desired it. In the end the king gave a decision : he said he would accept these terms, if this too were added, that king Athelstan let him have all Northumberland with the tributes and dues thereto belonging. Again the messengers ask armistice of three days, with this further, that king Olaf should send his men to hear Athelstan's answer, whether he would take these terms or no; they say that to their thinking Athelstan will hardly refuse anything to ensure peace. King Olaf agreed to this and sent his men to king Athelstan.
Then the messengers ride all together, and find king Athelstan in the town that was close to the heath on the south. King Olaf's messengers declare before Athelstan their errand and the proposals for peace. King Athelstan's men told also with what offers they had gone to king Olaf, adding that this had been the counsel of wise men, thus to delay the battle so long as the king had not come.
But king Athelstan made a quick decision on this matter,
and thus bespake the messengers: ' Bear ye these my words to king Olaf, that I will give him leave for this, to go home to Scotland with his forces ; only let him restore all the property that he has wrongfully taken here in the land. Then make we peace between our lands, neither harrying the other. Further be it provided that king Olaf shall become my vassal, and hold Scotland for me, and be my under-king. Go now back,' said he, 'and tell him this.'
At once that same evening the messengers turned back on their way, and came to king Olaf about midnight; they then waked up the king, and told him straightway the words of king Athelstan. The king instantly summoned his earls and other captains; he then caused the messengers to come and declare the issue of their errand and the words of Athelstan. But when this was made known before the soldiers, all with one mouth said that this was now before them, to prepare for battle. The messengers said this too, that Athelstan had a numerous force, but he had come into the town on that same day when the messengers came there. ^
Then spoke earl Adils, ' Now, metfiinks, that has come to pass, O king, which I said, that ye would find tricksters in the English. We have sat here long time and waited while they have gathered to them all their forces, whereas their king can have been nowhere near when we came here. They will have been assembling a multitude while we were sitting still. Now this is my counsel, O king, that we two brothers ride at once forward this very night with our troop. It may be they will have no fear for themselves, now they know that their king is near with a large army. So we shall make a dash upon them. But if they turn and fly, they will lose some of their men, and be less bold afterwards for conflict with us.'
The king thought this good counsel. 'We will here make ready our army,' said he, 'as soon as it is light, and move to support you.'
This plan they fixed upon, and so ended the council.
EARL HRING and Adils his brother made ready their army, and at once in the night moved southwards for the heath. But when day dawned, Thorolf's sentries saw the army approaching. Then was a war-blast blown, and men donned their arms. After that they began to draw up the force, and they had two divisions. Earl Alfgeir commanded one division, and the standard was borne before him. In that division were his own followers, and also what force had been gathered from the countryside. It was a much larger force than that which followed Thorolf and Egil.
Thorolf was thus armed. He had a shield ample and stout, a right strong helmet on his head ; he was girded with the sword that he called Long, a weapon large and good. In his hand he had a halberd, whereof the feather- formed blade was two ells long, ending in a four-edged spike; the blade was broad above, the socket both long and thick. The shaft stood just high enough for the hand to grasp the socket, and was remarkably thick. The socket fitted with iron prong on the shaft, which was also wound round with iron. Such weapons were called mail-piercers.
Egil was armed in the same way as Thorolf. He was girded with the sword that he called Adder; this he had gotten in Courland ; it was a right good weapon. Neither of the two had shirt of mail.
They set up their standard, which was borne by Thorfid the Strong. All their men had Norwegian shields and Norwegian armour in every point; and in their division were all the Norsemen who were present. Thorolfs force was drawn up near the wood, Alfgeir's moved along the river.
Earl Adils and his brother saw that they would not come upon Thorolf unawares, so they began to draw up their force. They also made two divisions, and had two standards. Adils was opposed to earl Alfgeir, Hring to the freebooters. The battle now began ; both charged with spirit. Earl Adils pressed on hard and fast till Alfgeir gave ground; then Adils' men pressed on twice as boldly. Nor was it long before Alfgeir fled. And this is to be told of him, that he rode away south over the heath, and a company of men with him. He rode till he came near the town, where sate the king.
Then spake the earl: ' I deem it not safe for us to enter the town. We got sharp words of late when we came to the king after defeat by king Olaf; and he will not think our case bettered by this coming. No need to expect honour where he is.'
Then he rode to the south country, and of his travel 'tis to be told that he rode night and day till he and his came westwards to Earls-ness. Then the earl got a ship to take him southwards over the sea ; and he came to France, where half of his kin were. He never after returned to England.
Adils at first pursued the flying foe, but not far; then he turned back to where the battle was, and made an onset there. This when Thorolf saw, he said that Egil should turn and encounter him, and bade the standard be borne that way; his men he bade hold well together and stand close.
' Move we to the wood,' said he, ' and let it cover our back, so that they may not come at us from all sides.'
They did so; they followed along the wood. Fierce was the battle there. Egil charged against Adils, and they had a hard fight of it. The odds of numbers were great, yet more of Adils' men fell than of Egil's.
Then Thorolf became so furious that he cast his shield on his back, and, grasping his halberd with both hands, bounded forward dealing cut and thrust on either side. Men sprang away from him both ways, but he slew many. Thus he cleared the way forward to earl Hring's standard, and then nothing could stop him. He slew the man who bore the earl's standard, and cut down the standard-pole. After that he lunged with his halberd at the earl's breast, driving it right through mail-coat and body, so that it came out at the shoulders; and he lifted him up on the halberd over his head, and planted the butt-end in the ground. There on the weapon the earl breathed out his life in sight of all, both friends and foes. Then Thorolf drew his sword and dealt blows on either side, his men also charging. Many Britons and Scots fell, but some turned and fled.
But Earl Adils seeing his brother's fall, and the slaughter of many of his force, and the flight of some, while himself was in hard stress, turned to fly, and ran to the wood. Into the wood fled he and his company; and then all the force that had followed the earl took to flight. Thorolf .and Egil pursued the flying foe. Great was then the slaughter; the fugitives were scattered far and wide over the heath. Earl Adils had lowered his standard; so none could know his company from others.
And soon the darkness of night began to close in. Thorolf and Egil returned to their camp; and just then king Athelstan came up with the main army, and they pitched their tents and made their arrangements. A little after came king Olaf with his army; they, too, encamped and made their arrangements where their men had before placed their tents. Then it was told king Olaf that both his earls Hring and Adils were fallen, and a multitude of his men likewise.
KING ATHELSTAN had passed the night before in the town whereof mention was made above, and there he heard rumour that there had been fighting on the heath. At once he and all the host made ready and marched northwards to the heath. There they learnt all the tidings clearly, how that battle had gone. Then the brothers Thorolf and Egil came to meet the king. He thanked them much for their brave advance, and the victory they had won ; he promised them his hearty friendship. They all remained together for the night.
No sooner did day dawn than Athelstan waked up his army. He held conference with his captains, and tola them how his forces should be arranged. His own division he first arranged, and in the van thereof he set those companies that were the smartest.
Then he said that Egil should command these: ' But
Thorolf,' said he, 'shall be with his own men and such others as I add thereto. This force shall be opposed to that part of the enemy which is loose and not in set array, for the Scots are ever loose in array; they run to and fro, and dash forward here and there. Often they prove dangerous if men be not wary, but they are unsteady in the field if boldly faced.'
Egil answered the king: ' I will not that I and Thorolf be parted in the battle; rather to me it seems well that we two be placed there where is like to be most need and hardest fighting.'
Thorolf said, ' Leave we the king to rule where he will place us, serve we him as he likes best. I will, if you wish it, change places with you.'
Egil said, ' Brother, you will have your way; but this separation I shall often rue.'
After this they formed in the divisions as the king had arranged, and the standards were raised. The king's division stood on the plain towards the river; Thorolfs division moved on the higher ground, beside the wood. King Olaf drew up his forces when he saw king Athelstan had done so. He also made two divisions ; and his own standard, and the division that himself commanded, he opposed to king Athelstan and his division. Either had a large army, there was no difference on the score of numbers. But king Olaf s second division moved near the wood against the force under Thorolf. The commanders thereof were Scotch earls, the men mostly Scots; and it was a great multitude.
And now the armies closed, and soon the battle waxed fierce. Thorolf pressed eagerly forward, causing his standard to be borne onwards along the woodside; he thought to go so far forward as to turn upon the Scotch king's division behind their shields. His own men held their shields before them ; they trusted to the wood which was on their right to cover that side. So far in advance went Thorolf that few of his men were before him. But just when he was least on his guard, out leapt from the wood earl Adils and his followers. They thrust at Thorolf at once with many halberds, and there by the wood he fell. But Thorfid, who bore the standard, drew back to where the men stood thicker. Adils now attacked them, and a fierce contest was there. The Scots shouted a shout of victory, as having slain the enemy's chieftain.
This shout when Egil heard, and saw Thorolfs standard going back, he felt sure that Thorolf himself would not be with it. So he bounded thither over the space between the two divisiqns. Full soon learnt he the tidings of what was done, when he came to his men. Then did he keenly spur them on to the charge, himself foremost in the van. He had in his hand his sword Adder. Forward Egil pressed, and hewed on either hand of him, felling many men. Thorfid bore the standard close after him, behind the standard followed the rest. Right sharp was the conflict there. Egil went forward till he met earl Adils. Few blows did they exchange ere earl Adils fell, and many men around him. But after the earl's death his followers fled. Egil and his force pursued, and slew all whom they overtook ; no need there to beg quarter. Nor stood those Scotch earls long, when they saw the others their fellows fly ; but at once they took to their heels.
Whereupon Egil and his men made for where king Olaf s division was, and coming on them behind their shields soon wrought great havoc. The division wavered, and broke up. Many of king Olaf's men then fled, and the Norsemen shouted a shout of victory.
But when king Athelstan perceived king Olaf's division beginning to break, he then spurred on his force, and bade his standard advance. A fierce onset was made, so that king Olaf's force recoiled, and there was a great slaughter. King Olaf fell there, and the greater part of the force which he had had, for of those who turned to fly all who were overtaken were slain. Thus king Athelstan gained a signal victory.
WHILE his men still pursued the fugitives, king Athelstan left the battle-field, and rode back to the town, nor stayed he for the night before he came thither. But Egil pursued the flying foe, and followed them far, slaying every man whom he overtook. At length, sated with pursuit, he with his followers turned back, and came where the battle had been, and found there the dead body of his brother Thorolf. He took it up, washed it, and performed such other offices as were the wont of the time. They dug a grave there, and laid Thorolf therein with all his weapons and raiment. Then Egil clasped a gold bracelet on either wrist before he parted from him ; this done they heaped on stones and cast in mould. Then Egil sang a stave:
' Dauntless the doughty champion
Dashed on, the earl's bold slayer :
In stormy stress of battle
Stout-hearted Thorolf fell.
Green grows on soil of Vin-heath
Grass o'er my noble brother :
But we our woe—a sorrow
Worse than death-pang—must bear.'
And again he further sang:
' With warriors slain round standard
The western field I burdened ;
Adils with my blue Adder
Assailed mid snow of war.
Olaf, young prince, encountered
England in battle thunder :
Hring stood not stour of weapons,
Starved not the ravens' maw.'
The Saga of King Olaf Tryggwason who Reigned Over Norway A.D. 995 to A.D. 1000 - Page 167
by Oddr Snorrason, John Sephton - 1895
Encyclopædia Britannica: a new survey of universal knowledge - Page 759
by Franklin Henry Hooper, Walter Yust - Juvenile Nonfiction - 1956
Scandinavian Britain - Page 134
by William Gershom Collingwood, Frederick York Powell - History - 1908
The Story of Egil Skallagrimsson: Being an Icelandic Family History of the ... - Page 91
by Snorri Sturluson, William Charles Green - 1893
King Magnus Barefoot annexed the Kingdom of Mann and this disrupted the succession. Olaf was appointed viceroy by King Magnus of Norway and called King of Mann. According to the Chroncicles of Mann, he maintained a close relationship with the kings of Scotland and Ireland.
In the 1130's the church sent a mission to establish a bishopric on Mann. Wimund was appointed bishop. He gave up his church work and became a murderer. He and his band murdered and looted throughout Scotland and the Isles.
The Kingdom of Mann remained under the authority of Norway, but this authority was seldom put into action.
He married Ingibiorg, daughter of Earl Hakon of Orkney and his mistress Helga Moddansdottir. This Earl Hakon of Orkney is said to have been responsible for the death of St. Magnus.
Olaf married second Elfrica of Galloway. His first wife bore him a daughter Ragnhildis, who married Sumarlidhi Hold. They are the progenitors of Clan Donald. Different accounts disagree as to which wife was first. Elfrica or Aufrica was the mother of his successor Godred Olafsson. She was the daughter of Fergus of Galloway and a daughter of Henry I of England, although I do not know which one. This is stated in Saga-book of the Viking Club - Page 359 by Viking Society for Northern Research - Vikings - 1902. This is further verified by Roger Howden in Robert the Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland vol.4-p430. He says that Fergus' son Uchtred was the first cousin of Henry II. Some accounts also give him other sons named Reginald, Lagmann, and Harold.
In 1140 there was a rebellion and Olaf was killed by nephews, sons of his brother Harold.
The Story of Egil Skallagrimsson has this to say about Olaf:
OLAF THE RED was the name of the king in Scotland. He was Scotch on his father's side, but Danish on his mother's side, and came of the family of Ragnar Hairy-breeks. He was a powerful prince. Scotland, as compared with England, was reckoned a third of the realm ; Northumberland was reckoned a fifth part of England; it was the northernmost county, marching with Scotland on the eastern side of the island. Formerly the Danish kings had held it. Its chief town is York. It was in Athelstan's dominions; he had set over it two earls, the one named Alfgeir, the other Gudrek. They were set there as defenders of the land against the inroads of Scots, Danes, and Norsemen, who harried the land much, and thought they had a strong claim on the land there, because in Northumberland nearly all the inhabitants were Danish by the father's or mother's side, and many by both.
Bretland was governed by two brothers, Hring and Adils ; they were tributaries under king Athelstan, and withal had this right, that when they were with the king in the field, they and their force should be in the van of the battle before the royal standard. These brothers were right good warriors, but not young men.
Alfred the Great had deprived all tributary kings of name and power; they were now called earls, who had before been kings or princes. This was maintained throughout his lifetime and his son Edward's. But Athelstan came young to the kingdom, and of him they stood less in awe. Wherefore many now were disloyal who had before been faithful subjects.
OLAF king of Scots, drew together a mighty host, and marched upon England. When he came to Northumberland, he advanced with shield of war. On learning this, the earls who ruled there mustered their force and went against the king. And when they met there was a great battle, whereof the issue was that king Olaf won the victory, but earl Gudrek fell, and Alfgeir fled away, as did the greater part of the force that had followed them and escaped from the field. And now king Olaf found no further resistance, but subdued all Northumberland.
Alfgeir went to king Athelstan, and told him of his defeat. But as soon as king Athelstan heard that so mighty a host was come into his land, he despatched men and summoned forces, sending word to his earls and other nobles. And with such force as he had he at once turned him and marched against the Scots. But when it was bruited about that Olaf king of Scots had won a victory and subdued under him a large part of England, he soon had a much larger army than Athelstan, for many nobles joined him. And on learning this, Hring and Adils, who had gathered much people, turned to swell king OlaPs army. Thus their numbers became exceeding great.
All this when Athelstan learned, he summoned to conference his captains and his counsellors ; he inquired of them what were best to do ; he told the whole council point by point what he had ascertained about the doings of the Scots' king and his numbers. All present were agreed on this, that Alfgeir was most to blame, and thought it were but his due to lose his earldom. But the plan resolved on was this, that king Athelstan should go back to the south of England, and then for himself hold a levy of troops, coming northwards through the whole land ; for they saw that the only way for the needful numbers to be levied in time was for the king himself to gather the force.
As for the army already assembled, the king set over it as commanders Thorolf and Egil. They were also to lead that force which the freebooters had brought to the king. But Alfgeir still held command over his own troops. Further, the king appointed such captains of companies as he thought fit.
When Egil returned from the council to his fellows, they asked him what tidings he could tell them of the Scots' king. He sang :
' Olaf one earl by furious
Onslaught in flight hath driven,
The other slain : a sovereign
Stubborn in fight is he.
Upon the field fared Gudrek
False path to his undoing.
He holds, this foe of England,
Northumbria's humbled soil."
After this they sent messengers to king Olaf, giving out this as their errand, that king Athelstan would fain enhazel him a field and offer battle on Vin-heath by Vin-wood; meanwhile he would have them forbear to harry his land; but of the twain he should rule England who should conquer in the battle. He appointed a week hence for the conflict, and whichever first came on the ground should wait a week for the other. Now this was then the custom, that so soon as a king had enhazelled a field, it was a shameful act to harry before the battle was ended. Accordingly King Olaf halted and harried not, but waited till the appointed day, when he moved his army to Vin-heath.
North of the heath stood a town. There in the town king Olaf quartered him, and there he had the greatest part of his force, because there was a wide district around which seemed to him convenient for the bringing in of such provisions as the army needed. But he sent men of his own up to the heath where the battlefield was appointed ; these were to take camping-ground, and make all ready before the army came. But when the men came to the place where the field was enhazelled, there were all the hazel-poles set up to mark the ground where the battle should be.
The place ought to be chosen level, and whereon a large host might be set in array. And such was this ; for in the place where the battle was to be the heath was level, with a river flowing on one side, on the other a large wood. But where the distance between the wood and the river was least (though this was a good long stretch), there king Athelstan's men had pitched, and their tents quite filled the space between wood and river. They had so pitched that in every third tent there were no men at all, and in one of every three but few. Yet when king Olaf's men came to them, they had then numbers swarming before all the tents, and the others could not get to go inside. Athelstan's men said that their tents were all full, so full that their people had not nearly enough room. But the front line of tents stood so high that it could not be seen over them whether they stood many or few in depth. Olaf's men imagined a vast host must be there. King Olaf's men pitched north of the hazel-poles, toward which side the ground sloped a little.
From day to day Athelstan's men said that the king would come, or was come, to the town that lay south of the heath. Meanwhile forces flocked to them both day and night.
But when the appointed time had expired, then Athelstan's men sent envoys to king Olaf with these words : ' King Athelstan is ready for battle, and has a mighty host. But he sends to king Olaf these words, that he would fain they should not cause so much bloodshed as now looks likely; he begs Olaf rather to go home to Scotland, and Athelstan will give him as a friendly gift one shilling of silver from every plough through all his realm, and he wishes that they should become friends.'
When the messengers came to Olaf he was just beginning to make ready his army, and purposing to attack. But on the messengers declaring their errand, he forebore to advance for that day. Then he and his captains sate in council. Wherein opinions were much divided. Some strongly desired that these terms should be taken ; they said that this journey had already won them great honour, if they should go home after receiving so much money from Athelstan. But some were against it, saying that Athelstan would offer much more the second time, were this refused. And this latter counsel prevailed. Then the messengers begged king Olaf to give them time to go back to king Athelstan, and try if he would pay yet more money to ensure peace. They asked a truce of one day for their /. ; journey home, another for deliberation, a third to return to Olaf. The king granted them this.
The messengers went home, and came back on the third day according to promise ; they now said to king Olaf that Athelstan would give all that he offered before, and over and above, for distribution among king Olaf's soldiers, a shilling to every freeborn man, a silver mark to every officer of a company of twelve men or more, a gold mark to every captain of the king's guard, and five gold marks to every earl. Then the king laid this offer before his forces. It was again as before; some opposed this, some desired it. In the end the king gave a decision : he said he would accept these terms, if this too were added, that king Athelstan let him have all Northumberland with the tributes and dues thereto belonging. Again the messengers ask armistice of three days, with this further, that king Olaf should send his men to hear Athelstan's answer, whether he would take these terms or no; they say that to their thinking Athelstan will hardly refuse anything to ensure peace. King Olaf agreed to this and sent his men to king Athelstan.
Then the messengers ride all together, and find king Athelstan in the town that was close to the heath on the south. King Olaf's messengers declare before Athelstan their errand and the proposals for peace. King Athelstan's men told also with what offers they had gone to king Olaf, adding that this had been the counsel of wise men, thus to delay the battle so long as the king had not come.
But king Athelstan made a quick decision on this matter,
and thus bespake the messengers: ' Bear ye these my words to king Olaf, that I will give him leave for this, to go home to Scotland with his forces ; only let him restore all the property that he has wrongfully taken here in the land. Then make we peace between our lands, neither harrying the other. Further be it provided that king Olaf shall become my vassal, and hold Scotland for me, and be my under-king. Go now back,' said he, 'and tell him this.'
At once that same evening the messengers turned back on their way, and came to king Olaf about midnight; they then waked up the king, and told him straightway the words of king Athelstan. The king instantly summoned his earls and other captains; he then caused the messengers to come and declare the issue of their errand and the words of Athelstan. But when this was made known before the soldiers, all with one mouth said that this was now before them, to prepare for battle. The messengers said this too, that Athelstan had a numerous force, but he had come into the town on that same day when the messengers came there. ^
Then spoke earl Adils, ' Now, metfiinks, that has come to pass, O king, which I said, that ye would find tricksters in the English. We have sat here long time and waited while they have gathered to them all their forces, whereas their king can have been nowhere near when we came here. They will have been assembling a multitude while we were sitting still. Now this is my counsel, O king, that we two brothers ride at once forward this very night with our troop. It may be they will have no fear for themselves, now they know that their king is near with a large army. So we shall make a dash upon them. But if they turn and fly, they will lose some of their men, and be less bold afterwards for conflict with us.'
The king thought this good counsel. 'We will here make ready our army,' said he, 'as soon as it is light, and move to support you.'
This plan they fixed upon, and so ended the council.
EARL HRING and Adils his brother made ready their army, and at once in the night moved southwards for the heath. But when day dawned, Thorolf's sentries saw the army approaching. Then was a war-blast blown, and men donned their arms. After that they began to draw up the force, and they had two divisions. Earl Alfgeir commanded one division, and the standard was borne before him. In that division were his own followers, and also what force had been gathered from the countryside. It was a much larger force than that which followed Thorolf and Egil.
Thorolf was thus armed. He had a shield ample and stout, a right strong helmet on his head ; he was girded with the sword that he called Long, a weapon large and good. In his hand he had a halberd, whereof the feather- formed blade was two ells long, ending in a four-edged spike; the blade was broad above, the socket both long and thick. The shaft stood just high enough for the hand to grasp the socket, and was remarkably thick. The socket fitted with iron prong on the shaft, which was also wound round with iron. Such weapons were called mail-piercers.
Egil was armed in the same way as Thorolf. He was girded with the sword that he called Adder; this he had gotten in Courland ; it was a right good weapon. Neither of the two had shirt of mail.
They set up their standard, which was borne by Thorfid the Strong. All their men had Norwegian shields and Norwegian armour in every point; and in their division were all the Norsemen who were present. Thorolfs force was drawn up near the wood, Alfgeir's moved along the river.
Earl Adils and his brother saw that they would not come upon Thorolf unawares, so they began to draw up their force. They also made two divisions, and had two standards. Adils was opposed to earl Alfgeir, Hring to the freebooters. The battle now began ; both charged with spirit. Earl Adils pressed on hard and fast till Alfgeir gave ground; then Adils' men pressed on twice as boldly. Nor was it long before Alfgeir fled. And this is to be told of him, that he rode away south over the heath, and a company of men with him. He rode till he came near the town, where sate the king.
Then spake the earl: ' I deem it not safe for us to enter the town. We got sharp words of late when we came to the king after defeat by king Olaf; and he will not think our case bettered by this coming. No need to expect honour where he is.'
Then he rode to the south country, and of his travel 'tis to be told that he rode night and day till he and his came westwards to Earls-ness. Then the earl got a ship to take him southwards over the sea ; and he came to France, where half of his kin were. He never after returned to England.
Adils at first pursued the flying foe, but not far; then he turned back to where the battle was, and made an onset there. This when Thorolf saw, he said that Egil should turn and encounter him, and bade the standard be borne that way; his men he bade hold well together and stand close.
' Move we to the wood,' said he, ' and let it cover our back, so that they may not come at us from all sides.'
They did so; they followed along the wood. Fierce was the battle there. Egil charged against Adils, and they had a hard fight of it. The odds of numbers were great, yet more of Adils' men fell than of Egil's.
Then Thorolf became so furious that he cast his shield on his back, and, grasping his halberd with both hands, bounded forward dealing cut and thrust on either side. Men sprang away from him both ways, but he slew many. Thus he cleared the way forward to earl Hring's standard, and then nothing could stop him. He slew the man who bore the earl's standard, and cut down the standard-pole. After that he lunged with his halberd at the earl's breast, driving it right through mail-coat and body, so that it came out at the shoulders; and he lifted him up on the halberd over his head, and planted the butt-end in the ground. There on the weapon the earl breathed out his life in sight of all, both friends and foes. Then Thorolf drew his sword and dealt blows on either side, his men also charging. Many Britons and Scots fell, but some turned and fled.
But Earl Adils seeing his brother's fall, and the slaughter of many of his force, and the flight of some, while himself was in hard stress, turned to fly, and ran to the wood. Into the wood fled he and his company; and then all the force that had followed the earl took to flight. Thorolf .and Egil pursued the flying foe. Great was then the slaughter; the fugitives were scattered far and wide over the heath. Earl Adils had lowered his standard; so none could know his company from others.
And soon the darkness of night began to close in. Thorolf and Egil returned to their camp; and just then king Athelstan came up with the main army, and they pitched their tents and made their arrangements. A little after came king Olaf with his army; they, too, encamped and made their arrangements where their men had before placed their tents. Then it was told king Olaf that both his earls Hring and Adils were fallen, and a multitude of his men likewise.
KING ATHELSTAN had passed the night before in the town whereof mention was made above, and there he heard rumour that there had been fighting on the heath. At once he and all the host made ready and marched northwards to the heath. There they learnt all the tidings clearly, how that battle had gone. Then the brothers Thorolf and Egil came to meet the king. He thanked them much for their brave advance, and the victory they had won ; he promised them his hearty friendship. They all remained together for the night.
No sooner did day dawn than Athelstan waked up his army. He held conference with his captains, and tola them how his forces should be arranged. His own division he first arranged, and in the van thereof he set those companies that were the smartest.
Then he said that Egil should command these: ' But
Thorolf,' said he, 'shall be with his own men and such others as I add thereto. This force shall be opposed to that part of the enemy which is loose and not in set array, for the Scots are ever loose in array; they run to and fro, and dash forward here and there. Often they prove dangerous if men be not wary, but they are unsteady in the field if boldly faced.'
Egil answered the king: ' I will not that I and Thorolf be parted in the battle; rather to me it seems well that we two be placed there where is like to be most need and hardest fighting.'
Thorolf said, ' Leave we the king to rule where he will place us, serve we him as he likes best. I will, if you wish it, change places with you.'
Egil said, ' Brother, you will have your way; but this separation I shall often rue.'
After this they formed in the divisions as the king had arranged, and the standards were raised. The king's division stood on the plain towards the river; Thorolfs division moved on the higher ground, beside the wood. King Olaf drew up his forces when he saw king Athelstan had done so. He also made two divisions ; and his own standard, and the division that himself commanded, he opposed to king Athelstan and his division. Either had a large army, there was no difference on the score of numbers. But king Olaf s second division moved near the wood against the force under Thorolf. The commanders thereof were Scotch earls, the men mostly Scots; and it was a great multitude.
And now the armies closed, and soon the battle waxed fierce. Thorolf pressed eagerly forward, causing his standard to be borne onwards along the woodside; he thought to go so far forward as to turn upon the Scotch king's division behind their shields. His own men held their shields before them ; they trusted to the wood which was on their right to cover that side. So far in advance went Thorolf that few of his men were before him. But just when he was least on his guard, out leapt from the wood earl Adils and his followers. They thrust at Thorolf at once with many halberds, and there by the wood he fell. But Thorfid, who bore the standard, drew back to where the men stood thicker. Adils now attacked them, and a fierce contest was there. The Scots shouted a shout of victory, as having slain the enemy's chieftain.
This shout when Egil heard, and saw Thorolfs standard going back, he felt sure that Thorolf himself would not be with it. So he bounded thither over the space between the two divisiqns. Full soon learnt he the tidings of what was done, when he came to his men. Then did he keenly spur them on to the charge, himself foremost in the van. He had in his hand his sword Adder. Forward Egil pressed, and hewed on either hand of him, felling many men. Thorfid bore the standard close after him, behind the standard followed the rest. Right sharp was the conflict there. Egil went forward till he met earl Adils. Few blows did they exchange ere earl Adils fell, and many men around him. But after the earl's death his followers fled. Egil and his force pursued, and slew all whom they overtook ; no need there to beg quarter. Nor stood those Scotch earls long, when they saw the others their fellows fly ; but at once they took to their heels.
Whereupon Egil and his men made for where king Olaf s division was, and coming on them behind their shields soon wrought great havoc. The division wavered, and broke up. Many of king Olaf's men then fled, and the Norsemen shouted a shout of victory.
But when king Athelstan perceived king Olaf's division beginning to break, he then spurred on his force, and bade his standard advance. A fierce onset was made, so that king Olaf's force recoiled, and there was a great slaughter. King Olaf fell there, and the greater part of the force which he had had, for of those who turned to fly all who were overtaken were slain. Thus king Athelstan gained a signal victory.
WHILE his men still pursued the fugitives, king Athelstan left the battle-field, and rode back to the town, nor stayed he for the night before he came thither. But Egil pursued the flying foe, and followed them far, slaying every man whom he overtook. At length, sated with pursuit, he with his followers turned back, and came where the battle had been, and found there the dead body of his brother Thorolf. He took it up, washed it, and performed such other offices as were the wont of the time. They dug a grave there, and laid Thorolf therein with all his weapons and raiment. Then Egil clasped a gold bracelet on either wrist before he parted from him ; this done they heaped on stones and cast in mould. Then Egil sang a stave:
' Dauntless the doughty champion
Dashed on, the earl's bold slayer :
In stormy stress of battle
Stout-hearted Thorolf fell.
Green grows on soil of Vin-heath
Grass o'er my noble brother :
But we our woe—a sorrow
Worse than death-pang—must bear.'
And again he further sang:
' With warriors slain round standard
The western field I burdened ;
Adils with my blue Adder
Assailed mid snow of war.
Olaf, young prince, encountered
England in battle thunder :
Hring stood not stour of weapons,
Starved not the ravens' maw.'
The Saga of King Olaf Tryggwason who Reigned Over Norway A.D. 995 to A.D. 1000 - Page 167
by Oddr Snorrason, John Sephton - 1895
Encyclopædia Britannica: a new survey of universal knowledge - Page 759
by Franklin Henry Hooper, Walter Yust - Juvenile Nonfiction - 1956
Scandinavian Britain - Page 134
by William Gershom Collingwood, Frederick York Powell - History - 1908
The Story of Egil Skallagrimsson: Being an Icelandic Family History of the ... - Page 91
by Snorri Sturluson, William Charles Green - 1893
Godred The Black Olafsson
Godred The Black Olafsson also known as Godredd II and Gofraidh mac Amhlaibh, King of Mann, succeeded in 1143, the son of Olaf and Elfrica or Aufrica of Galloway.
He married Phingola or Fionghuala MacLochlan.
In 1156 Doughal mac Somerled, Godred's sister's son, intended to take the throne as King of the Isles. His brother in law Sumarlidhi Hold defeated him in a sea battle. They divided the Isles between them. Godred took the islands north of Ardnamurchand and Somerled took the rest. Somerled died and Godred returned to his lands. In 1158, Somerled returned and attacked the Isle of Mann again, defeating Godred, who was forced to flee to Norway.
Somerled succeeded Godred as King of the Isles.
About 1164, Reginald II, who was Godred's younger brother took the throne of Mann, but not managing to take the other isles from Somerled. Then Godred took the throne of Man from his brother and ruled Mann and the Northern Hebrides. His lands were called the Dudreys or south isles.
Godred the Black Olafsson died November 10, 1187. He was succeeded by his son Reginald IV, despite his having designated his son Olaf as his heir.
He married Phingola or Fionghuala MacLochlan.
In 1156 Doughal mac Somerled, Godred's sister's son, intended to take the throne as King of the Isles. His brother in law Sumarlidhi Hold defeated him in a sea battle. They divided the Isles between them. Godred took the islands north of Ardnamurchand and Somerled took the rest. Somerled died and Godred returned to his lands. In 1158, Somerled returned and attacked the Isle of Mann again, defeating Godred, who was forced to flee to Norway.
Somerled succeeded Godred as King of the Isles.
About 1164, Reginald II, who was Godred's younger brother took the throne of Mann, but not managing to take the other isles from Somerled. Then Godred took the throne of Man from his brother and ruled Mann and the Northern Hebrides. His lands were called the Dudreys or south isles.
Godred the Black Olafsson died November 10, 1187. He was succeeded by his son Reginald IV, despite his having designated his son Olaf as his heir.
Olaf the Black Godredsson, King of Mann and the Northern Isles, born about 1173-1177, the son of Godred the Black Olafsson. His younger brother Ragnald IV usurped his succession. Olaf fought with him for years. After he killed him, Olaf took the throne in the year 1229.
Olaf was driven out of Man in the following year, by Alan of Galloway. He was forced to flee to Norway for assistance.. Early in 1230 he sailed from Norway with his nephew Godred Dunn. Different accounts say he had a fleet of between 20 and 80 ships He invaded the Isle of Bute and captured Rothesay Castle, which the Stewart dynasty held. They then sailed to Mann and took it back. He married a Lady from Kintyre. He married second Joan Unknown and as his third wife he married Christina Ross, daughter of Farquar, Earl of Ross.
Olaf died 1237 at Peel Castle, on the Isle of St. Patrick.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaf_II_of_the_Isle_of_Man
Olaf was driven out of Man in the following year, by Alan of Galloway. He was forced to flee to Norway for assistance.. Early in 1230 he sailed from Norway with his nephew Godred Dunn. Different accounts say he had a fleet of between 20 and 80 ships He invaded the Isle of Bute and captured Rothesay Castle, which the Stewart dynasty held. They then sailed to Mann and took it back. He married a Lady from Kintyre. He married second Joan Unknown and as his third wife he married Christina Ross, daughter of Farquar, Earl of Ross.
Olaf died 1237 at Peel Castle, on the Isle of St. Patrick.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaf_II_of_the_Isle_of_Man
Leod Olafsson
In the year 1237 Leod Olafson or Olafsson became the last king of the Isles, from his name came the family name of MacLeod. He was born about 1200, the son of Olaf the Black,King of Man and the Northern Isles. His mother was Christina Ross.
His ancestry goes back to a Norwegian King of Mann. He married the heiress of Gofra Macrilt Armuinn (Godrey MacHarold the tax gatherer). By this marriage he gained Dun Bheagan. He had two sons Tormod and Torquil In order to keep them from fighting, Leod decided to give them land before his death. Tormod received part of their homeland known as Harris and Skye, or Siol Tormod.
Torquil received Lewis, or Siol Torquil. Tormod did not like the division, because Tormod's land was greater in size. Leod felt that Tormod's land was superior in quality, since it had good farming land, He also told his son that Torquil would have to ask to pass over his brother's land in order to get to Uist.
Tormod based his holdings at Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye. It was said to have been built by Norwegians in the 9th century. Skye was the most easily defended island and Dunvegan castle allowed him to do this.
When Leod died, about 1280, he was buried at Iona. Tormod became his heir as oldest son, and Chief of Clan MacLeod.
Torquil married the heiress of the MacNicols, and by this marriage gained Assynt and other land in Wester Ross and was given a charter by David II, and became an independent chieftain. His descendants were known as MacLeod of Raasay.
Sources:
Am Bratach Sith of Dunvegan - Page 87
by Duncan Hamilton - Non-Classifiable - 2008 -
His ancestry goes back to a Norwegian King of Mann. He married the heiress of Gofra Macrilt Armuinn (Godrey MacHarold the tax gatherer). By this marriage he gained Dun Bheagan. He had two sons Tormod and Torquil In order to keep them from fighting, Leod decided to give them land before his death. Tormod received part of their homeland known as Harris and Skye, or Siol Tormod.
Torquil received Lewis, or Siol Torquil. Tormod did not like the division, because Tormod's land was greater in size. Leod felt that Tormod's land was superior in quality, since it had good farming land, He also told his son that Torquil would have to ask to pass over his brother's land in order to get to Uist.
Tormod based his holdings at Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye. It was said to have been built by Norwegians in the 9th century. Skye was the most easily defended island and Dunvegan castle allowed him to do this.
When Leod died, about 1280, he was buried at Iona. Tormod became his heir as oldest son, and Chief of Clan MacLeod.
Torquil married the heiress of the MacNicols, and by this marriage gained Assynt and other land in Wester Ross and was given a charter by David II, and became an independent chieftain. His descendants were known as MacLeod of Raasay.
Sources:
Am Bratach Sith of Dunvegan - Page 87
by Duncan Hamilton - Non-Classifiable - 2008 -
Malcolm Gillecaluim Macleod
Malcolm Gillecaluim Macleod
Callum, Mac-callum, Malcolmson.---"Mac-Gille-Chaluim," or Mac-Callum, is the designation borne by MacLeod of Raasay, the senior cadet of the MacLeods of Lewis, (now, owing to the failure of the main branch, the representatives of the Lewis MacLeods.It indiactes their descent from Malcolm Garve, son of Malcolm, eighth Baron of Lewis.
Malcolm Gillecaluim MacLeod was the son of Tormod Norman MacLeod. He was born about 1296 and died 1370 in Stornoway Castle.
Callum, Mac-callum, Malcolmson.---"Mac-Gille-Chaluim," or Mac-Callum, is the designation borne by MacLeod of Raasay, the senior cadet of the MacLeods of Lewis, (now, owing to the failure of the main branch, the representatives of the Lewis MacLeods.It indiactes their descent from Malcolm Garve, son of Malcolm, eighth Baron of Lewis.
Malcolm Gillecaluim MacLeod was the son of Tormod Norman MacLeod. He was born about 1296 and died 1370 in Stornoway Castle.
William Cleireach Macleod
William Cleireach Macleod , the fifth Chief of Macleod, succeeded his father, John Ian Ciar MacLeod. He was much beloved by his clan for his valour and for his sense of justice; he was remarkably handsome, of talents and information far beyond his age, and made a great figure among his countrymen.
He married Janet, daughter of Ogilvie (?), and had issue— 1, John, his heir; 2, Tormoid, who had a son-—1, William, from whom are descended the sept called Clann Mac Mhic Uilleam, of whom were the family of Borline, a member of which was Captain William Macleod, of the 73rd Regiment, who died at Tranguebar, and whose son was the late General William Com- perno Macleod, and another member of which was General Norman Macleod, of the 1st (Royal Scots) Regiment, who was lost in the wreck of a steamer in 1840, and who was first cousin of Captain William Macleod. 2, Alexander, whose daughter was the famous poetess, " Mairi Nighean Alastair Ruaidh," and of whom were descended the sept called Clann Mac Mhic Alastair Ruaidh, of whom were the family of Balh'more and of St Kilda, a member of which was Dr John Macleod, who was Inspector-General of Army Hospitals in Madras, and of which several members settled in America, while many were to be found in Waternish. William Macleod died suddenly at the Castle of Camus, in Sleat, in 1405, and was buried in lona.
He married Janet, daughter of Ogilvie (?), and had issue— 1, John, his heir; 2, Tormoid, who had a son-—1, William, from whom are descended the sept called Clann Mac Mhic Uilleam, of whom were the family of Borline, a member of which was Captain William Macleod, of the 73rd Regiment, who died at Tranguebar, and whose son was the late General William Com- perno Macleod, and another member of which was General Norman Macleod, of the 1st (Royal Scots) Regiment, who was lost in the wreck of a steamer in 1840, and who was first cousin of Captain William Macleod. 2, Alexander, whose daughter was the famous poetess, " Mairi Nighean Alastair Ruaidh," and of whom were descended the sept called Clann Mac Mhic Alastair Ruaidh, of whom were the family of Balh'more and of St Kilda, a member of which was Dr John Macleod, who was Inspector-General of Army Hospitals in Madras, and of which several members settled in America, while many were to be found in Waternish. William Macleod died suddenly at the Castle of Camus, in Sleat, in 1405, and was buried in lona.
John Iain Ciar MacLeod
John Macleod, commonly called " Iain Ciar," succeeded his father, Malcolm Gillecaluim MacLeod
as fourth Chief. He received a charter from King Robert II. of Troterness and all his other lands in Skye. The Macleods of Lewis had at this time possessed themselves of the east side of Troterness, which was exchanged by Iain Ciar for Vaternish, a part of Skye, which continued in the possession of the Macleods of Lewis until the ruin of that family in the reign of James VI.
Iain Ciar is said to have been a most tyrannical and bloodthirsty despot, equally feared and hated by all his vassals, and even by the members of his own family. His wife appears to have been as cruel as her husband, for tradition says that she ordered two of her daughters to be buried alive in a dungeon in the Castle of Dunvegan, for having attempted to escape from her tyranny with two lovers of the name of Macqueen, who then possessed Raasay under the Abbots of lona. The two brothers were seized, and after being emasculated were flogged to death, and their bodies were thrown into the sea.
John Macleod, fourth Chief, who married a daughter of O'Neil, had, besides four daughters, 1, idalcolm, who appears to have inherited much of the bad qualities of both his parents. His career was, however, short, for he was slain by the brother of his intended bride in a quarrel at a feast in Lewis, where he had gone to espouse the daughter of his kinsman, Macleod of Lewis. This fact gave rise to various feuds, which lasted for a long time, between the two great families of Macleod.
John Ciar once went to Harris to be present at a deer hunt, and, according to the usage of those times, was accompanied by the chief man of his clan. The " frith," or chase, of Harris had formerly belonged to, and was still partly held by, the Clan Mhic Ceathach, or " Children of the Mist," who paid tribute to Macleod, and the son of their Chief accompanied Macleod to the hunt. When the deer were collected in the valley, within view of the Chief, he missed a favourite white hart, which he valued highly from its singularity of colour, and declared he would be amply revenged upon its destroyer, at the same time offering a large reward to any one who would discover the offender. An enemy of Mac Ceathach pointed to the young man, who was immediately seized by order of the Chief, and at once put to death in a cruel and barbarous manner, by having the antler of a large stag forced into his bowels. The sport, however, continued, and ended as usual, alter which Macleod returned to Rodel, with the view of sailing to Dunvegan, where he then- usually resided.
The galleys were ready to sail, the wind was favourable, and all was prepared, when the Chief, accompanied by his wife and followers moved from his dwelling at Rodel to the place of embarkation. As he was stepping into his ship, an arrow whizzed through the air, pierced his side, and at the same time the war cry of the Mac Ceathachs announced their approach. The Macleods were wholly off their guard, but made a stand round their fallen Chief, and by the heroic valour of William, the Chief's second son, the " Children of the Mist" were driven to the mountains, not, however, before several of the principal men of the Macleods had been slain. Lady Macleod had in the meantime gained one of the galleys, when her women, in their alarm, cut the cables and let the vessel drift out to sea. A storm- followed, in which she, and two of the natural daughters of the Chief, wno had accompanied her, perished, being driven on to some rocks at Idrigill, on the west of Skye, which have ever since been called Macleod's Wife and Maidens. The largest of these rocks is over 200 feet high, and is called " Nic Cleosgeir Mbr;" the others are about 100 feet high. The Chief was carried to the Monastery of Rodel, where he died the same evening, and his body was taken to lona for burial. His eldest daughter married Lachlan Maclean of Duart. His second married Cameron of Lochiel.
Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, laid claim to a part of Macleod's lands in Skye, as a marriage portion of his wife, Margaret Leslie, but their claim William Macleod by no means acknowledged ; so Macdonald invaded his territory. The Macdonalds were commanded by Alastair Carrach (brother of the Lord of the Isles), who was slain in this conflict by Tormoid Caol Macleod, the cousin of William, fifth Chief (being the son of Murdo Macleod, the Chief's uncle). Very few of the Macdonalds escaped, as their galleys were taken in Loch Eynort by Mac- kaskill, who put every soul on board to death, and earned their heads to Dunvegan.
as fourth Chief. He received a charter from King Robert II. of Troterness and all his other lands in Skye. The Macleods of Lewis had at this time possessed themselves of the east side of Troterness, which was exchanged by Iain Ciar for Vaternish, a part of Skye, which continued in the possession of the Macleods of Lewis until the ruin of that family in the reign of James VI.
Iain Ciar is said to have been a most tyrannical and bloodthirsty despot, equally feared and hated by all his vassals, and even by the members of his own family. His wife appears to have been as cruel as her husband, for tradition says that she ordered two of her daughters to be buried alive in a dungeon in the Castle of Dunvegan, for having attempted to escape from her tyranny with two lovers of the name of Macqueen, who then possessed Raasay under the Abbots of lona. The two brothers were seized, and after being emasculated were flogged to death, and their bodies were thrown into the sea.
John Macleod, fourth Chief, who married a daughter of O'Neil, had, besides four daughters, 1, idalcolm, who appears to have inherited much of the bad qualities of both his parents. His career was, however, short, for he was slain by the brother of his intended bride in a quarrel at a feast in Lewis, where he had gone to espouse the daughter of his kinsman, Macleod of Lewis. This fact gave rise to various feuds, which lasted for a long time, between the two great families of Macleod.
John Ciar once went to Harris to be present at a deer hunt, and, according to the usage of those times, was accompanied by the chief man of his clan. The " frith," or chase, of Harris had formerly belonged to, and was still partly held by, the Clan Mhic Ceathach, or " Children of the Mist," who paid tribute to Macleod, and the son of their Chief accompanied Macleod to the hunt. When the deer were collected in the valley, within view of the Chief, he missed a favourite white hart, which he valued highly from its singularity of colour, and declared he would be amply revenged upon its destroyer, at the same time offering a large reward to any one who would discover the offender. An enemy of Mac Ceathach pointed to the young man, who was immediately seized by order of the Chief, and at once put to death in a cruel and barbarous manner, by having the antler of a large stag forced into his bowels. The sport, however, continued, and ended as usual, alter which Macleod returned to Rodel, with the view of sailing to Dunvegan, where he then- usually resided.
The galleys were ready to sail, the wind was favourable, and all was prepared, when the Chief, accompanied by his wife and followers moved from his dwelling at Rodel to the place of embarkation. As he was stepping into his ship, an arrow whizzed through the air, pierced his side, and at the same time the war cry of the Mac Ceathachs announced their approach. The Macleods were wholly off their guard, but made a stand round their fallen Chief, and by the heroic valour of William, the Chief's second son, the " Children of the Mist" were driven to the mountains, not, however, before several of the principal men of the Macleods had been slain. Lady Macleod had in the meantime gained one of the galleys, when her women, in their alarm, cut the cables and let the vessel drift out to sea. A storm- followed, in which she, and two of the natural daughters of the Chief, wno had accompanied her, perished, being driven on to some rocks at Idrigill, on the west of Skye, which have ever since been called Macleod's Wife and Maidens. The largest of these rocks is over 200 feet high, and is called " Nic Cleosgeir Mbr;" the others are about 100 feet high. The Chief was carried to the Monastery of Rodel, where he died the same evening, and his body was taken to lona for burial. His eldest daughter married Lachlan Maclean of Duart. His second married Cameron of Lochiel.
Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, laid claim to a part of Macleod's lands in Skye, as a marriage portion of his wife, Margaret Leslie, but their claim William Macleod by no means acknowledged ; so Macdonald invaded his territory. The Macdonalds were commanded by Alastair Carrach (brother of the Lord of the Isles), who was slain in this conflict by Tormoid Caol Macleod, the cousin of William, fifth Chief (being the son of Murdo Macleod, the Chief's uncle). Very few of the Macdonalds escaped, as their galleys were taken in Loch Eynort by Mac- kaskill, who put every soul on board to death, and earned their heads to Dunvegan.
William Macleod
William Macleod, one of the twin sons of John " Borb," who succeeded his father as seventh Chief, was called " Claidheamh Fada," or " Long-sword." In his time the men of the Highlands and Isles were much divided in opinion between the claims of John, Lord of the Isles, and his son Angus, but William Macleod supported John, while the Macleods of Lewis espoused the other side. William was killed at the battle of the Bloody Bay, in 1480, and after his death the Macleods began to give way and fall into confusion, when, it is said, Callum Cleireach, Macleod's almoner, induced Murcha Breac, the keeper of the Fairy Flag, to unfurl the sacred banner. The Lewis Macleods, at the sight of the emblem of their race, joined the Harris Macleods, who renewed the fight with redoubled fury, but it was then too late. A vast number of Macleods were slain in this engagement, and among them were the twelve heroes who stood round the sacred banner. Murcha Breac was mortally wounded in the side by a lance, and finding himself falling, he thrust the staff of the banner into the wound, and thus kept the flag flying until others came to protect it. William was buried at lona, and was the last Chief of Macleods interred there, and Murcha Breac was placed in the same grave with his Chief, as the greatest honour that could be bestowed on his remains.
Sources:
The Celtic monthly: a magazine for Highlanders - Page 143
Art - 1898
Transactions - Page 62
by Gaelic Society of Inverness - Scottish Gaelic philology - 1900
Sources:
The Celtic monthly: a magazine for Highlanders - Page 143
Art - 1898
Transactions - Page 62
by Gaelic Society of Inverness - Scottish Gaelic philology - 1900
John Iain Borb Macleod
John Macleod, the sixth Chief, son of William Cleireach MacLeod. He was known to the islanders by the name of Iain Borb (fierce). He was scarcely ten years old when his father died, and as a clan in those days could not exist without a Chief being able to lead them to battle, a Regent for the minority was always chosen by the clan, and called " Taoitear," or guardian. This office was conferred on John Macleod (a cousin of the Chief), who, from his imbecility and worthlessness, got the name of " Mi-Shealbhach," or " the Unlucky." He held the office of " Taoitear," or guardian, for six years, and during that period the Macleods of Skye and Harris met with many disasters, and were much reduced.
The election of John " Mi-Shealbhach " as guardian was highly displeasing to many of the clan, who wished to confer the dignity on Tormoid Caol, who slew Alastair Carrach Macdonald at the battle of Sligachan. Tormoid Caol seized the Macleod s portion of Glenelg, and disobeyed the Regent. The Lord of the Isles had given a grant of the lands of Uist, Harris, and a great part of Skye to his eldest son, Reginald, by the daughter of Mac- Ruarie of GarmOran, who was set aside to make way for Donald, his eldest son by Margaret Stewart, daughter of Robert III., King of Scotland, and it was in virtue of these grants that the Macdonalds sought to seize the property of the Macleods during the minority of the Chief. They landed in Sleat, and took possession.of the Castles of Dunskavaig and Camus, and drove out the Macleods. A great part of North Uist,,'which pertained to Harris, was wrested from the clan, and a battle was fought at Caolas Uist between the Macleods and Clan Donald, where the Macleods were totally defeated, their leader slain, and their birlinns taken. Iain Mi-Shealbhach shut himself up in the Castle of Pabbay, where he remained during the greater part of his Regency.
Torquil Macleod of the Lewis, then the most powerful of all the Chiefs in the Isles next to Donald, Lord of the Isles, collected his clan and came to the relief of the widow of William Macleod, fifth Chief, who was besieged in the Castle of Dun- vegan by the Macdonalds. Torquil fought the Macdonalds at Feorlig, where he gained a complete victory over them, and after forcing the enemy to take to their boats, he carried off the widow of the late Chief of Macleod and her family to Lews, where they remained until John Borb attained his sixteenth year, when he was installed, at Rodel, as Chief of his clan, when Torquil Macleod put his father's sword into his hand.
The first act of John's Chiefship was to punish Iain Mi- Shealbhach, who was hanged to the yard-arm of a birlinn at Rodel. His property was confiscated, and his family banished for ever. Torquil Caol gave in his submission, and all the refractory chieftains made their peace with John Macleod. He then sailed with a large fleet of galleys to Isla, and by the intercession of his uncle, Maclean of Duart, made friends with Donald, Lord of the Isles, who, in order to secure the aid of the Macleods, obliged the Macdonalds to give up all the lands which had been seized from the Macleods during John's minority, with the exception of the part of Uist next to Harris, which was given to a bastard brother of the Lord of the Isles, who afterwards married the widow of Tormoid Caol Kacleod, a daughter of Maclean of Lochbuy. The island of St Kilda. which belonged to that part of Uist, was, however, given up to Macleod, and remained afterwards an appanage of Harris. John Macleod was the first Chief who fought under the banners of Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, for he commanded all the Macleods, both Siol Tormoid and Siol Torquil, at the bsttle of Garrioch or Harlaw, but, it is said, refused to draw a sword unless he with his clan got the right of the line, which the Lord of the Isles yielded to him. In this engagement John Macleod behaved most gallantly, and received a severe wound in the forehead, which never healed, but used to burst out bleeding whenever he was excited by passion or violent exercise, and which was ultimately the cause of his death.
In the time of John Borb the Macleods of Harris and Lewis joined Donald Balloch, cousin-german of Alexander, Lord of the Isles, when he fought against King James at Lochaber in 1431. They were commanded by Torquil Macleod of Lewis, as John Borb had sent his forces under his Lieutenant, Allan Mackaskill.
John Borb generally resided at the Castle of Pabbay, which he had enlarged and strengthened. He was still in the prime of life, and, being one of the best swordsmen of the day, he used to fence with some of his family for the purpose of pastime, as well as for keeping up his skill. His foster-brother, Somerled MacCombich, was his most usual antagonist, and was rather the better swordsman of the two. The Chief did not by any means like this superiority, and frequently became angry if the other showed more skill than himself. On one of these occasions Somerled did not yield as much as usual, when the Chief flew into a passion, and cut and thrust with the view of something more serious than pastime. MacCombich could not yield with safety to himself, and would rather have died than injure hig Chief and protector, so he threw himself on the Chief, who fell in the struggle, and was kept down by MacCombich, who called to some of the guards to rescue him. John's wound burst out, bleeding with such violence that it could not be stopped. Galleys were despatched for a leech, but before his arrival John had expired. This happened about 1442.
The election of John " Mi-Shealbhach " as guardian was highly displeasing to many of the clan, who wished to confer the dignity on Tormoid Caol, who slew Alastair Carrach Macdonald at the battle of Sligachan. Tormoid Caol seized the Macleod s portion of Glenelg, and disobeyed the Regent. The Lord of the Isles had given a grant of the lands of Uist, Harris, and a great part of Skye to his eldest son, Reginald, by the daughter of Mac- Ruarie of GarmOran, who was set aside to make way for Donald, his eldest son by Margaret Stewart, daughter of Robert III., King of Scotland, and it was in virtue of these grants that the Macdonalds sought to seize the property of the Macleods during the minority of the Chief. They landed in Sleat, and took possession.of the Castles of Dunskavaig and Camus, and drove out the Macleods. A great part of North Uist,,'which pertained to Harris, was wrested from the clan, and a battle was fought at Caolas Uist between the Macleods and Clan Donald, where the Macleods were totally defeated, their leader slain, and their birlinns taken. Iain Mi-Shealbhach shut himself up in the Castle of Pabbay, where he remained during the greater part of his Regency.
Torquil Macleod of the Lewis, then the most powerful of all the Chiefs in the Isles next to Donald, Lord of the Isles, collected his clan and came to the relief of the widow of William Macleod, fifth Chief, who was besieged in the Castle of Dun- vegan by the Macdonalds. Torquil fought the Macdonalds at Feorlig, where he gained a complete victory over them, and after forcing the enemy to take to their boats, he carried off the widow of the late Chief of Macleod and her family to Lews, where they remained until John Borb attained his sixteenth year, when he was installed, at Rodel, as Chief of his clan, when Torquil Macleod put his father's sword into his hand.
The first act of John's Chiefship was to punish Iain Mi- Shealbhach, who was hanged to the yard-arm of a birlinn at Rodel. His property was confiscated, and his family banished for ever. Torquil Caol gave in his submission, and all the refractory chieftains made their peace with John Macleod. He then sailed with a large fleet of galleys to Isla, and by the intercession of his uncle, Maclean of Duart, made friends with Donald, Lord of the Isles, who, in order to secure the aid of the Macleods, obliged the Macdonalds to give up all the lands which had been seized from the Macleods during John's minority, with the exception of the part of Uist next to Harris, which was given to a bastard brother of the Lord of the Isles, who afterwards married the widow of Tormoid Caol Kacleod, a daughter of Maclean of Lochbuy. The island of St Kilda. which belonged to that part of Uist, was, however, given up to Macleod, and remained afterwards an appanage of Harris. John Macleod was the first Chief who fought under the banners of Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, for he commanded all the Macleods, both Siol Tormoid and Siol Torquil, at the bsttle of Garrioch or Harlaw, but, it is said, refused to draw a sword unless he with his clan got the right of the line, which the Lord of the Isles yielded to him. In this engagement John Macleod behaved most gallantly, and received a severe wound in the forehead, which never healed, but used to burst out bleeding whenever he was excited by passion or violent exercise, and which was ultimately the cause of his death.
In the time of John Borb the Macleods of Harris and Lewis joined Donald Balloch, cousin-german of Alexander, Lord of the Isles, when he fought against King James at Lochaber in 1431. They were commanded by Torquil Macleod of Lewis, as John Borb had sent his forces under his Lieutenant, Allan Mackaskill.
John Borb generally resided at the Castle of Pabbay, which he had enlarged and strengthened. He was still in the prime of life, and, being one of the best swordsmen of the day, he used to fence with some of his family for the purpose of pastime, as well as for keeping up his skill. His foster-brother, Somerled MacCombich, was his most usual antagonist, and was rather the better swordsman of the two. The Chief did not by any means like this superiority, and frequently became angry if the other showed more skill than himself. On one of these occasions Somerled did not yield as much as usual, when the Chief flew into a passion, and cut and thrust with the view of something more serious than pastime. MacCombich could not yield with safety to himself, and would rather have died than injure hig Chief and protector, so he threw himself on the Chief, who fell in the struggle, and was kept down by MacCombich, who called to some of the guards to rescue him. John's wound burst out, bleeding with such violence that it could not be stopped. Galleys were despatched for a leech, but before his arrival John had expired. This happened about 1442.
Dunvegan Castle
Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland: a survey of Scottish topography, staistical ... - Page 450
edited by Francis Hindes Groome - History - 1882
Dunvegan Castle
Dunvegan, a village, a castle, a sea-loch, and a headland in Duirinish parish, Isle of Skye, Inverness-shire. The village lies near the head of the sea-loch, 23 1/2 miles W by N of Portee, and 11NNW of Struan;is a place of call for steamers from Glasgow to Skye and the Outer Hebrides ; and has a post office, with money order, savings' bank, and telegraph departments, under Portree, a good hotel, Duirinish Free church, and a new public school, erected in 1875-76 at a cost of £915.
Dunvegan Castle stands, near the village, on a rocky headland, washed on three sides by the sea, and on the fourth approached by a bridge over a narrow ravine. Forming three sides of a quadrangle, it presents ' an amorphous mass of masonry of every conceivable style of architecture, in which the nineteenth jostles the ninth century ;' and has, from time immemorial, been the seat of the chiefs of the Macleods, proprietors once of Lewis, Uist, and the greater part of Skye. And still, as says Alexander Smith, ' Macleod retains his old eyrie at Dunvegan, with its drawbridge and dungeons. At night he can hear the sea beating on the base of his rock. His "Maidens"are wet with the sea-foam; his mountain " Tables" are shrouded with the mists of the Atlantic. The rocks and mountains around him wear his name, ever as of old did his clansmen. "Macleod's country," the people yet call all the northern portion of the island. ' The present chief, Norman Macleod of Macleod (b. 1812 ; sue. 1835), holds 141,679 acres in Inverness-shire, valued at £8464 per annum. The oldest portion of Dunvegan, on the seaward side, is described by the Lexicographer as ' the skeleton of a castle of unknown antiquity, supposed to have been a Norwegian fortress, when the Danes were masters of the island. It is so nearly entire, that it might easily have been made habitable, were there not an ominous tradition in the family that the owner shall not outlive the reparation. The grandfather of the present laird, in defiance of prediction, began the work, but desisted in & little time, and applied his money to worse uses.' A lofty tower was added by Alastair Crotach ('Crookback Alexander'), who, dying at a great age in Queen Mary's reign, was buried at Rowardill in Harris. A third part, a long low edifice, was built by Rory More, who was knighted by James VI. ; the rest consists of modern reconstructions and additions ; and the whole forms one of the most interesting castles in the Highlands. Its history is marked, more even than that of most old Highland places, with legends of weird superstition ; and furnished Sir Walter Scott with the subject of the last of his Letters on Demanology. Sir Walter spent a night in its Fairy Room in the summer of 1814, and wrote a description of it more picturesque than true. And forty years earlier, in the autumn of 1773, Dr Samuel Johnson 'tasted lotus here, and was in danger of forgetting that he was ever to depart, till Mr Boswell sagely reproached him with sluggishness and softness.'
Two singular relics are preserved at Dunvegan Castle. One is the 'fairy flag, ' alleged to have been captured at the Crusades by one of the Macleods from a Saracen chief, and consisting of a square piece of very rich silk, enwrought with crosses of gold thread and with elf-spots. The father of Dr Norman Macleod records how strangely a Gaelic prophecy fulfilled itself in 1799, when, as a boy, he was present at the opening of the iron chest in which this flag was stored. The other relic is a curiously-decorated drinking-horn, holding perhaps two quarts, which the heir of Macleod was expected to drain at one draught, as a test of manhood, before he was suffered to bear arms, or could claim a seat among grown-up men. This—' Rory More's horn '—is mentioned in a bacchanalian song of Burns, and was placed in the South Kensington Museum during the International Exhibition of 1862. Dunvegan Loch, known also as Loch Follart, separates the peninsula of Vaternish on the NE from that of Duirinish on the SW ; measures 7 1/2 miles in length, and 2 1/2 miles in mean width ; and affords safe anchorage, in any wind, for vessels of the heaviest burden. Dunvegan Head flanks the SW side of the sea-loch's entrance, or terminates the peninsula of Duirinish. It presents a singularly bold and precipitous appearance, rising to a height of more than 800 feet ; and commands a fine view of the loch, the Minch, and the glens and mountains of Harris. See Samuel Johnson's Tour to the Western Islands (1775); chap. x. of Alexander Smith's Summer in Skye (1865) ; and vol. i., pp. 333-335, of the Memoir of Norman Macieod, D.D. (1876).
Dunvegan Castle is a castle at Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, situated off the west coast of Scotland. It is the seat of the Macleod of MacLeod, chief of the Clan MacLeod. Dunvegan Castle is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland and has been the stronghold of the Chiefs of MacLeod for nearly 800 years. Originally designed to keep people out, it was first opened to visitors in 1933. Since then, Dunvegan has consistently ranked as one of Scotland's premier visitor attractions and underpins the local economy of North West Skye.
The castle houses a number of important clan relics; chief among them is the Fairie Flag of Dunvegan and the Dunvegan Cup. Legends, however fantastic or far-fetched they may appear to be, are rarely without some trace of historical fact. When a relic survives to tell its own story, that at least is one fact it is impossible to ignore. The precious Fairy Flag of Dunvegan, the most treasured possession of the Clan, is just such a relic. The traditional tales about its origin, some of them very old indeed, have two themes - Fairies and Crusaders. Fairy stories are difficult to relate to fact; they often occur as a substitute for forgotten truth. The connection with the Crusades can, however, be linked to the only definite information available as to the origin of the Fairy Flag - the fabric, thought once to have been dyed yellow, is silk from the Middle East (Syria or Rhodes); experts have dated it between the 4th and 7th centuries A.D., in other words, at least 400 years before the First Crusade. So was it the robe of an early christian saint? Or the war banner of Harold Hardrada, King of Norway, killed in 1066, or did it emerge mysteriously from some grassy knoll in Skye?
Currently visitors can enjoy tours of the castle and highland estate, take boat trips on Loch Dunvegan to see the seal colony or fish, stay in one of its estate cottages and browse in one of its four shops. Activities in the area range from walking, fishing and sightseeing to fine local cuisine, retail therapy and camping at the foot of the estate’s Cuillin mountain range.
Over the years, Dunvegan Castle has been visited by Sir Walter Scott, Dr Johnson, Queen Elizabeth II and the Japanese Emperor Akihito.
http://www.dunvegancastle.com/content/default.asphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunvegan_Castle
St. Clements Church, Isle of Harris
St.Clement's Church, Rodel, Isle of Harris, Scotland
St Clement's is considered to be one of the most outstanding church buildings in the Hebrides, the earliest section dating from the 13th century. The church is remarkable for possessing one of the most ambitious and richly-carved tombs of the period in Scotland, that of Alexander Macleod (known in Gaelic as Alasdair Crotach) said to have been the church's founder.
(Photo below of carvings on Alasdair Crotach MacLeod's tomb)
By choosing to be buried in Harris, Alexander Macleod was breaking with tradition, as the previous chiefs of his clan had until then been buried in Iona. The tomb is dated 1528 and its high-quality carved mural panels depict biblical stories, a stylised castle, a hunting scene and a Highland galley.
St. Clement's, 1520s The finest pre-Reformation church in the Western Isles, best known for its astonishingly well preserved funerary monuments. This magnificent group of canopied wall tombs represents the flowering of late medieval carving in the Hebrides.
The church was built, probably in several phases, by Alasdair Crotach (humpbacked) Macleod, 8th Chief of the Macleods of Harris and Dunvegan, who broke with tradition in choosing to spend his final years in Harris and to be buried here. Abandoned after the Reformation, it was ruinous by 1705, repaired twice (owing to an intervening fire) by Capt. Alexander Macleod in the 1780s - the enlarged, square-headed windows and crenellated tower parapet are of this period - but by 1841 was again dilapidated. Alexander Ross restored it for the Dowager Countess of Dunmore in 1873 (the timber arch-braced roof and oak door are his), and further repairs were made in 1913 by W. T. Oldrieve, who stripped off the harling. The church is cruciform in plan, with a continuous nave and aisle, unaligned transepts, and a four-storey tower rising from higher rocky ground at the west end. The pinned rubble is of local gneiss, combined with dressings of greenish Carsaig sandstone and ornamental details in black schist, for polychrome effect. The east end is lit by a traceried late gothic window with three cusped lights and a wheel window, above; other windows are trefoiled lancets. A cabled string course works its way round the tower¿s midrift and round a sculpted panel on each face: on the north, a black bull's head (the Macleod crest); above the door on the west a bishop, probably St. Clement, in a canopied niche supported by another bull's head; on the south wall a shiela na gig fertility symbol, and on the east a panel depicting fishermen in boat. Other carved panels inset in the Irish manner (and possibly earlier than the church) include a kilted figure, formerly mounted on the medieval parapet. Alasdair Crotach's magnificent table tomb, made in 1528, two decades before his death, lies in an arched recess in the south wall of the chancel. Its richly carved mural panels fuse gothic and celtic motifs. Nine voussoirs frame the tomb, with the Trinity at the centre, flanked by figures of the apostles and angels. Inside the recess, three rows of panels carved with religious and secular subjects surround the central figures of the Virgin and Child. The other notable tomb, with a triangular pediment in the nave's south wall, is probably that of Alasdair Crotach's son, William, 9th Chief, who died in 1551 (although the fire damaged inscription probably reads 1539). Other memorials include a cruder effigy at the nave's north end, probably commemorating John Macleod of Minginish (d. c.1557), a series of 15th and early 16th century carved slabs formerly over tombs in the sanctuary, and one dated 1725. Born at Rodel, the poetess Mary Macleod (Mairi Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh, c.1615-1707) is buried in the south transept. In the graveyard, burial place of several Macleod chiefs and poets, some 18th century Caibeals (small burial enclosures/chapels).
St. Clement's is considered to be the most outstanding church building in the Hebrides (A A MacGregor 1949). Muir tentatively suggests a 13th century date (T S Muir 1885) for the original, oblong, single apartment building, which was enlarged in the late 15th or early 16th century (A A MacGregor 1949) The dedication is possibly to Clement, Bishop of Dunblane (E. 13th century). Restorations apparently took place in the years 1784, 1787 and 1873 (A A MacGregor 1946). Easson sees no reason to regard this as other than a parish church, despite allegations that it was once a monastic foundation (D E Easson 1957). The interior of the church is remarkable for possessing one of the finest tombs in Scotland (16th century), in addition to carved slabs and a disc-headed cross (RCAHMS 1928). A brass chalice-shaped cup was found in the churchyard.
Alexander Alisdair Crotach MacLeod
Alexander Alisdair Crotach MacLeod
MacLeod Clan
MacLeod Clan Crest: A bull's head between two flags.
MacLeod Clan Motto: Hold Fast.
History of Clan MacLeod:
Olaf the Black was the Norse King of Man and the Isles who lived in the early 13th century. Leod was his younger son who, around 1220, married the daughter and heiress of MacRaild on Skye. She brought him Dunvegan Castle, and, when his father died, he inherited the islands of Lewis and Harris. Following the defeat of King Haakon of Norway at the Battle of Largs in 1263, Leod found himself virtually in control of the Hebrides.
Leod had four sons. Tormod, the eldest, inherited Dunvegan and Harris, becoming Chief of these lands and adopting the name MacLeod of Dunvegan (“Siol Tormod”). Torquil, Leod's second son, (“Siol Torquil”) inherited Lewis and Raasay, and in due course came into possession of Assynt, Cogeach and Gareloch on the mainland.
The MacLeods of Dunvegan supported Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Independence and followed the Lords of the Isles at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411. Fortunately, MacLeod managed to remain in favour throughout the Crown's attempts to subdue the Highland Chiefs, largely through the efforts of Alasdair Crotach who, in 1542, after a long dispute with the MacDonalds of Sleat, secured the title to Trotternish in the north of Skye.
The MacLeods of Dunvegan fought for the Royalist Cause at the Battle of Worcester in 1651 and over 500 MacLeod Clansmen were killed making it impossible for them to participate effectively in either the 1715 or 1745 Jacobite Uprisings. When Prince Charles Edward Stuart arrived in Scotland, the Dunvegan MacLeods, convinced that he was lacking the necessary resources and men to succeed, refused to join him.
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland - Page 130
by Society of Antiquaries of Scotland - Scotland - 1885
Alexander Maeleod of Dunvegan, better known as Alaster Crotach, or Humpbacked, had in 1498 a charter from King James IV. of the lands commonly called Ardmanach, in Herag of the Lewis, which had belonged hereditarily to his father William Macleod, and had been held by him in capite of John, the late Lord of the Isles, by reason of whose forfeiture they were then in the king's hands. The reddendo of the charter is the ordinary service of ward and relief, together with the attendance of a galley of twenty-six oars and two galleys of sixteen oars when required, the king reserving the eyries or falcons' nests within the said lands. The inscription assigns the erection of the elaborately ornamented tomb to the year 1528, and hence it would appear that it must either have been erected in honour of William Macleod by his son Alexander, or alternatively by Alexander (son of William) in his own lifetime for himself. Alaster Crotach was alive in 1539, for in that year he had a charter of the lands and barony of Glenelg, which Hugh Fraser of Lovat had then resigned. He is mentioned as dead in a document, dated 10th January 1546-7, which conveys to the Earl of Argylo a gift of the ward of the lands which belonged to umquhile Alexander Macleod of Dunvegan. Alaster Crotach was succeeded by his eldest son William, who died without male issue in 1553, leaving an infant daughter Mary, sole heir to the old hereditary possessions of the Seill Tormod or Macleods of Harris. These possessions included the lands of Harris, Dunvegan, Minganish, Bracadale, Duirinish, Lyne- dale, and Glenelg, but he was also the vassal of the Crown in the lands of Trouterness, Sleat, and North Uist, which made these extensive estates a male fief.(Alaster Crotach had obtained a charter of the bailiary of these lands 15th June 1498 ; but a fortnight after, on 28th June, another charter made the same grant to Torquil M'Lcod of Lewis. In 1528 Alexander, the laird of Harris, brought an action before the Lords of Council against John MacTorchill M'Leod and others, for dispossessing them of the bailiary of Trouterness and lands annexed to that office.) The contention which arose over the succession in consequence, and the subsequent fortunes of the heiress Mary Macleod, as one of the four Maries, famous in the Court of Mary Queen of Scots, are matters of history, and need not be further referred to, as we are at present more specially concerned with the history of the fabric itself. Buchanan states that the church of Rowdill was built by Alexander Macleod of Harris—the Alaster Crotach already mentioned, who first appears in possession of Harris in 1498, and was dead in 1546. The " personage of Roidill in Hereis" appears among " the teinds and personages pertaining to the Bishop," in the rental of the Bishopric of the Isles and Abbacy of Icolmkill drawn up in 1561. The writer of the notice in the Old Statistical Account states that the church had fallen into a ruinous condition, and was repaired in 1784 by an Alexander Macleod, then of Harris
I found a book that says the galley ship on Alexander's tomb was a seventeen room galley. (The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain, 660-1649 - Page 167
by N. A. M. Rodger - History - 1999)
An article in The Celtic monthly, says that Alaisdair built one of the towers of Dunvegan castle.
Transactions - Page 62
by Gaelic Society of Inverness - Scottish Gaelic philology - 1900
Alexander Macleod, who was well known as " Alastair Crotach," or " Hump-backed," on the death of his father, was acknowledged by the clan as their Chief. He had already distinguished himself by his valour, and is said to have been learned for the age. During the time of the seventh Chief, a large party of Macdonalds landed at Ardiveg, in Skye, with the view of laying waste the country of the Macleods, and were commanded by Eachainn MacDhomhnuill, son of the Chief of Clan Ranald. William Macleod was absent from home, but his son, Alexander, hastily collected all
the men he could, and went to meet the Macdonalds, who had encamped close to their galleys. A fierce battle ensued, in which Alexander Macleod was wounded in the back by the stroke of the battle-axe wielded by Eachainn MacDomhnuill, who had singled out the young Chief for combat. Alexander fell, but drew his antagonist along with him, and slew him with his dirk, and carried off his head as a trophy of his prowess. The stroke, however, which he had himself received had severed the dorsal muscles, and as his wound was not properly attended to, it caused his back to bend, and hence he obtained the name " Crotach." In this engagement the Macdonalds were completely routed, and lost the greater part ol their men and ten of their lymphads, or galleys. Heaps of their bones and skulls were until lately, and are perhaps still, to be seen on the field where the action took place. At another time, after Alastair Crotach had become Chief, the Macleods, both of Lewis and Harris, collected their forces with a view of invading the lands of the Macdonalds, but the latter, under the command of Donald Gruamach, landed in Skye with a force superior in numbers to any that the Macleods could collect, and laid waste Minginish, Bracadale, and Durinish to the very gates of Dunvegan. Alastair Crotach hastened from Harris, and landed at Glendale, where the Macdonalds met him. The Macleods drew up on the brow of a hill, with a river in front, which made it difficult for the Macdonalds to attack them. There they remained for two days, until the arrival of a great body of the clan, under the command of Donald Mor of Meidle, who was a bastard brother of Alastair Crotach. A fierce engagement ensued, in which the Macleods were sorely pressed. Donald Mor was slain, with several hundreds of the clan ; the rest were dispirited and wavering, when, it is said, the Wizard Flag was displayed in the midst of the Macleods by order of Alastair Crotach's mother, who was present. The combat was renewed with redoubled fury and immense slaughter on both sides. A party of the Macdonalds, under the command of Allan of Moidart, rushed into the midst of the Macleods, and cut off from the rest of the clan the Chief and the select band who guarded the banner. At this moment Muracha or Murdo Mackaskill cut down Donald Gruamach, and, carrying his head on a spear, ordered the pipers of the Macleods to play the Macdonald's Lament. The sound of the ill-omened music struck a panic into the Macdonalds, who gave way on all sides. Allan of Moidart did all he could to rally them, but in vain, and such was the slaughter, says the " Seanachies," .that the ravens which stood on " Creggan na Fitheach" (as a rock on the field of battle was afterwards called) drank the blood and ate the flesh of the Macdonalds, who lay in heaps around, without descending from their elevation. Allan of Moidart engaged Mackaskill single- handed, and killed him, as well as his three brothers, and then retreated with the remnant of his followers to Loch Eynort, where their galleys awaited them.
The most fierce and savage warfare was carried on by the clans against each other, and none more so than those between the Macleods and Macdonalds, especially of Moidart (the Clan Ranald). Every species of revolting cruelty was practised by both parties against the followers and friends of the other, nor was it possible for any of the vassals to meet without coming to blows.
On one occasion a large boat or galley was driven into Loch Stockinish, in Harris, and the crew of twenty-four men were received with apparent hospitality by one Alastair Dubh Macleod, who lived there. Whilst at supper, one of the men happened to reveal their names to be Macdonald, and, as they were of the Clan Ranald, Alastair Dubh left the house unobserved, and set fire to their boat and let it drift out to sea. He then roused out of their beds six other men who lived near him, and returning with them to his house, he told the Macdonalds to depart, for, as a vassal of Macleod, he could not harbour them. They rose to depart, but the door was so low and narrow that only one could pass out at a time, and Alastair Dubh's men, who were stationed on each side of the door outside, despatched with their battle-axes each Macdonald as he left the house. Their heads were cut off, the whole strung on to one rope, and thus carried to Donald Breac Macleod, who was Steward of Harris for Alastair Crotach, and their bodies were thrown under a rock, where their bones long remained exposed to view. Alastair Dubh got the name of " Alastair Dubh nan Ceann" from this barbarous act. Several of his descendants were to be found in Lewis and Harris.
This act was shortly afterwards retaliated by the Macdonalds, who seized a birlinn belonging to Alastair Crotach, in which were a cousin of the Chief, called Donald Glas, together with 36 of his men, and they were taken to Ardvullin, in South Uist, where Donald Glas was put in irons, with a heavy weight attached to a chain round his neck, and was so detained for six years, whereby he was disabled for ever after; the whole of his crew were starved to death in a dungeon, where, it is said, they actually ate one another, casting lots so long as more than one remained alive.
When King James approached Skye, in 1540, Alastair Crotach retired to the Castle of Pabbay, Harris, where he remained until the King's departure.
It is said that Alastair Crotach, several years before his death, resigned nearly all his authority to
his son, William, who was anxious to secure, if possible, the succession to his daughter, Mary, as
and her children, to the prejudice of his two brothers, Donald Glas and Tormod, to both of whom he behaved unkindly. Donald went as an adventurer to Ireland, and Tormoid entered the service of the King of France, where he obtained a distinguished command, and continued to reside with his family for many years, until circumstances, to be related hereafter, induced him to return home.
On the birth of Mary's son, Dugald, a fleet of galleys was despatched by William Macleod to Argyleshire to convey her and her child, as well as her husband, to Dunvegan, where they were all received by the whole clan in great state.
He gave the estate of Harris to his daughter and her husband for their maintenance 'during his own life, and made his daughter give up her rights in favour of her son, retaining only Harris as her dower or portion during her own life.
Mary and her husband, Duncan Campbell, went to live in Harris for the remainder of the life of the latter, who, however, died many years before William Macleod.
Alastair Crotach, who was still living, could not tolerate the idea of the succession going to young Campbell, and endeavoured to prevail upon his sons, who were at enmity, to become friends, but without success; so, before his death, he named William his heir, and, failing his heirs, his second son, Donald, and, failing Donald's male heirs, his third son, Tormod, and his heirs. This destination was only verbal, but in those days it was considered of equal validity to a written and formal instrument. Alastair Crotach, in the midst of their dissension, retired to Rodel, where he remained during the rest of his life, and died. This monastery had been founded at a very early period by the monks of lona, but had fallen into decay, and Alastair Crotach largely endowed it with land, in Harris, which it enjoyed until the Reformation, which did not extend to these parts until a century after the time of John Knox. He also repaired and completed the church, which is still extant, and has a tower covered with many ornaments of stone, similar to those found in other parts of Scotland, built in the reigns of James III., IV., and V., and is no bad specimen of the architectural skill of that age. He also built two other beautiful small churches, which are dependent on this monastery, one at Wia and the other at Scarpa, but both are now in ruins. He prepared a code of regulations for the college of pipers in Skye, to which he gave liberal grants of hind, retained by them until the time of the seventeenth Chief.
Alastair Crotach's household was on a scale of great magnificence for the age and country, and he had several harpers, bard, and seanachie, and a bodyguard, whose duty it was to teach each man of the clan how to use the sword or the axe and targe. He was learned enough to translate into Gaelic some of the Psalms of David, which were afterwards published by the Rev. John Morrison, of Ness. On account of his prudence and sagacity, he was often made the arbitrator between the most powerful Chiefs of the Highlands and Isles in their feuds and quarrels. He was a brave soldier, and skilled in all the arms then in vogue. His broadsword or claymore, with which he performed many valiant deeds, few could now wield. He was accounted one of the best swordsmen of his time, and in his leisure hours he used to teach his young kinsmen the most approved modes of fencing, rewarding the best pupils with suits of armour and other prizes. He took great delight in the education of his grandson, who was afterwards the famous Rory Mor, who always resided with him, and into whose mind he instilled his own good sense and many admirable qualities, which were then as rare as they were useful. Indeed, the latter years of Alastair Crotach's life were as useful and exemplary as his early days were turbulent and reckless.
His memory is still revered in the Isles as the friend of the poor, the rewarder of merit, and the best sample of a really great and good Chief.
Alastair Crotach did not marry until he was over 50 year^ of age, because during his mother's life he would not make any other woman mistress of his house. After her death he wanted to marry, but thought himself too old and ugly for any young woman to accept, for although he was tall and strong, he had hard features and a forbidding aspect, and, as already stated, was bent in his back. Cameron of Lochiel, however, told him that he had ten daughters, of whom he might take his choice, but Alastair would not have any woman against her will. When the ladies were questioned, they all, from the first to the ninth, refused him, but the tenth, the handsomest of them all, said she preferred bravery, wisdom, and power to a smooth face without any other recommendation; so she accepted Alastair, and lived happily with him for a long time, and died an old woman long before he did, as he lived to be over 100 years old. Alastair Crotach died at Rodel, when, according to his own wish, he was buried by the side of his wife, whose virtues and good qualities were set out on her tombstone, in Latin, in the church there.
The first act of his successor, William Macleod, after his father's death, was to propose to the clan, who assembled at Rodel at the old Chief's funeral, to acknowledge Dugald Campbell as his heir and successor. Some of the clan agreed, but most of them refused to admit any right of succession through a female, a thing hitherto unknown amongst them. The meeting broke up, after a turbulent discussion, without coming to any definite decision, but William resolved to disinherit his brothers and to secure the succession to his grandson. He- therefore gave the wardenship of Pabbay to Kenneth Campbell, and that of Dunvegan to Torquil Macsween, another of Campbell's adherents. He also put many Campbells into his " luchd- taighe," or bodyguard, and put trust only in those who declared in favour of his grandson. He also entered into an alliance with Donald Gorm Macdonald of Sleat, to whom he made over all his old rights to Sleat and Troterness for a sum of money, and appointed him the Taoitear of his grandson, in case of his own death before young Campbell came of age. He further accumulated a large sum of money, which he remitted before his death to his grandson, in Argyleshire, to enable him the better to secure the succession. These acts so completely alienated the affections of the clan from William that he shut himself up in the Castle of Dunvegan for the short remainder of his life, which he passed in gloom and solitude. He died in 1552-53, a few days after receiving the news of his daughter's death, which occurred at Barra on the very day that she was to embark for Dunvegan, whither her father had invited her on the death of her second husband, Macneil. William Macleod's body was removed by the clan from Dunvegan to Rodel, where it was buried, and a monument was afterwards erected over his remains by his nephew, Sir Roderick (Rory Mor) Macleod.
MacLeod Clan
MacLeod Clan Crest: A bull's head between two flags.
MacLeod Clan Motto: Hold Fast.
History of Clan MacLeod:
Olaf the Black was the Norse King of Man and the Isles who lived in the early 13th century. Leod was his younger son who, around 1220, married the daughter and heiress of MacRaild on Skye. She brought him Dunvegan Castle, and, when his father died, he inherited the islands of Lewis and Harris. Following the defeat of King Haakon of Norway at the Battle of Largs in 1263, Leod found himself virtually in control of the Hebrides.
Leod had four sons. Tormod, the eldest, inherited Dunvegan and Harris, becoming Chief of these lands and adopting the name MacLeod of Dunvegan (“Siol Tormod”). Torquil, Leod's second son, (“Siol Torquil”) inherited Lewis and Raasay, and in due course came into possession of Assynt, Cogeach and Gareloch on the mainland.
The MacLeods of Dunvegan supported Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Independence and followed the Lords of the Isles at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411. Fortunately, MacLeod managed to remain in favour throughout the Crown's attempts to subdue the Highland Chiefs, largely through the efforts of Alasdair Crotach who, in 1542, after a long dispute with the MacDonalds of Sleat, secured the title to Trotternish in the north of Skye.
The MacLeods of Dunvegan fought for the Royalist Cause at the Battle of Worcester in 1651 and over 500 MacLeod Clansmen were killed making it impossible for them to participate effectively in either the 1715 or 1745 Jacobite Uprisings. When Prince Charles Edward Stuart arrived in Scotland, the Dunvegan MacLeods, convinced that he was lacking the necessary resources and men to succeed, refused to join him.
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland - Page 130
by Society of Antiquaries of Scotland - Scotland - 1885
Alexander Maeleod of Dunvegan, better known as Alaster Crotach, or Humpbacked, had in 1498 a charter from King James IV. of the lands commonly called Ardmanach, in Herag of the Lewis, which had belonged hereditarily to his father William Macleod, and had been held by him in capite of John, the late Lord of the Isles, by reason of whose forfeiture they were then in the king's hands. The reddendo of the charter is the ordinary service of ward and relief, together with the attendance of a galley of twenty-six oars and two galleys of sixteen oars when required, the king reserving the eyries or falcons' nests within the said lands. The inscription assigns the erection of the elaborately ornamented tomb to the year 1528, and hence it would appear that it must either have been erected in honour of William Macleod by his son Alexander, or alternatively by Alexander (son of William) in his own lifetime for himself. Alaster Crotach was alive in 1539, for in that year he had a charter of the lands and barony of Glenelg, which Hugh Fraser of Lovat had then resigned. He is mentioned as dead in a document, dated 10th January 1546-7, which conveys to the Earl of Argylo a gift of the ward of the lands which belonged to umquhile Alexander Macleod of Dunvegan. Alaster Crotach was succeeded by his eldest son William, who died without male issue in 1553, leaving an infant daughter Mary, sole heir to the old hereditary possessions of the Seill Tormod or Macleods of Harris. These possessions included the lands of Harris, Dunvegan, Minganish, Bracadale, Duirinish, Lyne- dale, and Glenelg, but he was also the vassal of the Crown in the lands of Trouterness, Sleat, and North Uist, which made these extensive estates a male fief.(Alaster Crotach had obtained a charter of the bailiary of these lands 15th June 1498 ; but a fortnight after, on 28th June, another charter made the same grant to Torquil M'Lcod of Lewis. In 1528 Alexander, the laird of Harris, brought an action before the Lords of Council against John MacTorchill M'Leod and others, for dispossessing them of the bailiary of Trouterness and lands annexed to that office.) The contention which arose over the succession in consequence, and the subsequent fortunes of the heiress Mary Macleod, as one of the four Maries, famous in the Court of Mary Queen of Scots, are matters of history, and need not be further referred to, as we are at present more specially concerned with the history of the fabric itself. Buchanan states that the church of Rowdill was built by Alexander Macleod of Harris—the Alaster Crotach already mentioned, who first appears in possession of Harris in 1498, and was dead in 1546. The " personage of Roidill in Hereis" appears among " the teinds and personages pertaining to the Bishop," in the rental of the Bishopric of the Isles and Abbacy of Icolmkill drawn up in 1561. The writer of the notice in the Old Statistical Account states that the church had fallen into a ruinous condition, and was repaired in 1784 by an Alexander Macleod, then of Harris
I found a book that says the galley ship on Alexander's tomb was a seventeen room galley. (The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain, 660-1649 - Page 167
by N. A. M. Rodger - History - 1999)
An article in The Celtic monthly, says that Alaisdair built one of the towers of Dunvegan castle.
Transactions - Page 62
by Gaelic Society of Inverness - Scottish Gaelic philology - 1900
Alexander Macleod, who was well known as " Alastair Crotach," or " Hump-backed," on the death of his father, was acknowledged by the clan as their Chief. He had already distinguished himself by his valour, and is said to have been learned for the age. During the time of the seventh Chief, a large party of Macdonalds landed at Ardiveg, in Skye, with the view of laying waste the country of the Macleods, and were commanded by Eachainn MacDhomhnuill, son of the Chief of Clan Ranald. William Macleod was absent from home, but his son, Alexander, hastily collected all
the men he could, and went to meet the Macdonalds, who had encamped close to their galleys. A fierce battle ensued, in which Alexander Macleod was wounded in the back by the stroke of the battle-axe wielded by Eachainn MacDomhnuill, who had singled out the young Chief for combat. Alexander fell, but drew his antagonist along with him, and slew him with his dirk, and carried off his head as a trophy of his prowess. The stroke, however, which he had himself received had severed the dorsal muscles, and as his wound was not properly attended to, it caused his back to bend, and hence he obtained the name " Crotach." In this engagement the Macdonalds were completely routed, and lost the greater part ol their men and ten of their lymphads, or galleys. Heaps of their bones and skulls were until lately, and are perhaps still, to be seen on the field where the action took place. At another time, after Alastair Crotach had become Chief, the Macleods, both of Lewis and Harris, collected their forces with a view of invading the lands of the Macdonalds, but the latter, under the command of Donald Gruamach, landed in Skye with a force superior in numbers to any that the Macleods could collect, and laid waste Minginish, Bracadale, and Durinish to the very gates of Dunvegan. Alastair Crotach hastened from Harris, and landed at Glendale, where the Macdonalds met him. The Macleods drew up on the brow of a hill, with a river in front, which made it difficult for the Macdonalds to attack them. There they remained for two days, until the arrival of a great body of the clan, under the command of Donald Mor of Meidle, who was a bastard brother of Alastair Crotach. A fierce engagement ensued, in which the Macleods were sorely pressed. Donald Mor was slain, with several hundreds of the clan ; the rest were dispirited and wavering, when, it is said, the Wizard Flag was displayed in the midst of the Macleods by order of Alastair Crotach's mother, who was present. The combat was renewed with redoubled fury and immense slaughter on both sides. A party of the Macdonalds, under the command of Allan of Moidart, rushed into the midst of the Macleods, and cut off from the rest of the clan the Chief and the select band who guarded the banner. At this moment Muracha or Murdo Mackaskill cut down Donald Gruamach, and, carrying his head on a spear, ordered the pipers of the Macleods to play the Macdonald's Lament. The sound of the ill-omened music struck a panic into the Macdonalds, who gave way on all sides. Allan of Moidart did all he could to rally them, but in vain, and such was the slaughter, says the " Seanachies," .that the ravens which stood on " Creggan na Fitheach" (as a rock on the field of battle was afterwards called) drank the blood and ate the flesh of the Macdonalds, who lay in heaps around, without descending from their elevation. Allan of Moidart engaged Mackaskill single- handed, and killed him, as well as his three brothers, and then retreated with the remnant of his followers to Loch Eynort, where their galleys awaited them.
The most fierce and savage warfare was carried on by the clans against each other, and none more so than those between the Macleods and Macdonalds, especially of Moidart (the Clan Ranald). Every species of revolting cruelty was practised by both parties against the followers and friends of the other, nor was it possible for any of the vassals to meet without coming to blows.
On one occasion a large boat or galley was driven into Loch Stockinish, in Harris, and the crew of twenty-four men were received with apparent hospitality by one Alastair Dubh Macleod, who lived there. Whilst at supper, one of the men happened to reveal their names to be Macdonald, and, as they were of the Clan Ranald, Alastair Dubh left the house unobserved, and set fire to their boat and let it drift out to sea. He then roused out of their beds six other men who lived near him, and returning with them to his house, he told the Macdonalds to depart, for, as a vassal of Macleod, he could not harbour them. They rose to depart, but the door was so low and narrow that only one could pass out at a time, and Alastair Dubh's men, who were stationed on each side of the door outside, despatched with their battle-axes each Macdonald as he left the house. Their heads were cut off, the whole strung on to one rope, and thus carried to Donald Breac Macleod, who was Steward of Harris for Alastair Crotach, and their bodies were thrown under a rock, where their bones long remained exposed to view. Alastair Dubh got the name of " Alastair Dubh nan Ceann" from this barbarous act. Several of his descendants were to be found in Lewis and Harris.
This act was shortly afterwards retaliated by the Macdonalds, who seized a birlinn belonging to Alastair Crotach, in which were a cousin of the Chief, called Donald Glas, together with 36 of his men, and they were taken to Ardvullin, in South Uist, where Donald Glas was put in irons, with a heavy weight attached to a chain round his neck, and was so detained for six years, whereby he was disabled for ever after; the whole of his crew were starved to death in a dungeon, where, it is said, they actually ate one another, casting lots so long as more than one remained alive.
When King James approached Skye, in 1540, Alastair Crotach retired to the Castle of Pabbay, Harris, where he remained until the King's departure.
It is said that Alastair Crotach, several years before his death, resigned nearly all his authority to
his son, William, who was anxious to secure, if possible, the succession to his daughter, Mary, as
and her children, to the prejudice of his two brothers, Donald Glas and Tormod, to both of whom he behaved unkindly. Donald went as an adventurer to Ireland, and Tormoid entered the service of the King of France, where he obtained a distinguished command, and continued to reside with his family for many years, until circumstances, to be related hereafter, induced him to return home.
On the birth of Mary's son, Dugald, a fleet of galleys was despatched by William Macleod to Argyleshire to convey her and her child, as well as her husband, to Dunvegan, where they were all received by the whole clan in great state.
He gave the estate of Harris to his daughter and her husband for their maintenance 'during his own life, and made his daughter give up her rights in favour of her son, retaining only Harris as her dower or portion during her own life.
Mary and her husband, Duncan Campbell, went to live in Harris for the remainder of the life of the latter, who, however, died many years before William Macleod.
Alastair Crotach, who was still living, could not tolerate the idea of the succession going to young Campbell, and endeavoured to prevail upon his sons, who were at enmity, to become friends, but without success; so, before his death, he named William his heir, and, failing his heirs, his second son, Donald, and, failing Donald's male heirs, his third son, Tormod, and his heirs. This destination was only verbal, but in those days it was considered of equal validity to a written and formal instrument. Alastair Crotach, in the midst of their dissension, retired to Rodel, where he remained during the rest of his life, and died. This monastery had been founded at a very early period by the monks of lona, but had fallen into decay, and Alastair Crotach largely endowed it with land, in Harris, which it enjoyed until the Reformation, which did not extend to these parts until a century after the time of John Knox. He also repaired and completed the church, which is still extant, and has a tower covered with many ornaments of stone, similar to those found in other parts of Scotland, built in the reigns of James III., IV., and V., and is no bad specimen of the architectural skill of that age. He also built two other beautiful small churches, which are dependent on this monastery, one at Wia and the other at Scarpa, but both are now in ruins. He prepared a code of regulations for the college of pipers in Skye, to which he gave liberal grants of hind, retained by them until the time of the seventeenth Chief.
Alastair Crotach's household was on a scale of great magnificence for the age and country, and he had several harpers, bard, and seanachie, and a bodyguard, whose duty it was to teach each man of the clan how to use the sword or the axe and targe. He was learned enough to translate into Gaelic some of the Psalms of David, which were afterwards published by the Rev. John Morrison, of Ness. On account of his prudence and sagacity, he was often made the arbitrator between the most powerful Chiefs of the Highlands and Isles in their feuds and quarrels. He was a brave soldier, and skilled in all the arms then in vogue. His broadsword or claymore, with which he performed many valiant deeds, few could now wield. He was accounted one of the best swordsmen of his time, and in his leisure hours he used to teach his young kinsmen the most approved modes of fencing, rewarding the best pupils with suits of armour and other prizes. He took great delight in the education of his grandson, who was afterwards the famous Rory Mor, who always resided with him, and into whose mind he instilled his own good sense and many admirable qualities, which were then as rare as they were useful. Indeed, the latter years of Alastair Crotach's life were as useful and exemplary as his early days were turbulent and reckless.
His memory is still revered in the Isles as the friend of the poor, the rewarder of merit, and the best sample of a really great and good Chief.
Alastair Crotach did not marry until he was over 50 year^ of age, because during his mother's life he would not make any other woman mistress of his house. After her death he wanted to marry, but thought himself too old and ugly for any young woman to accept, for although he was tall and strong, he had hard features and a forbidding aspect, and, as already stated, was bent in his back. Cameron of Lochiel, however, told him that he had ten daughters, of whom he might take his choice, but Alastair would not have any woman against her will. When the ladies were questioned, they all, from the first to the ninth, refused him, but the tenth, the handsomest of them all, said she preferred bravery, wisdom, and power to a smooth face without any other recommendation; so she accepted Alastair, and lived happily with him for a long time, and died an old woman long before he did, as he lived to be over 100 years old. Alastair Crotach died at Rodel, when, according to his own wish, he was buried by the side of his wife, whose virtues and good qualities were set out on her tombstone, in Latin, in the church there.
The first act of his successor, William Macleod, after his father's death, was to propose to the clan, who assembled at Rodel at the old Chief's funeral, to acknowledge Dugald Campbell as his heir and successor. Some of the clan agreed, but most of them refused to admit any right of succession through a female, a thing hitherto unknown amongst them. The meeting broke up, after a turbulent discussion, without coming to any definite decision, but William resolved to disinherit his brothers and to secure the succession to his grandson. He- therefore gave the wardenship of Pabbay to Kenneth Campbell, and that of Dunvegan to Torquil Macsween, another of Campbell's adherents. He also put many Campbells into his " luchd- taighe," or bodyguard, and put trust only in those who declared in favour of his grandson. He also entered into an alliance with Donald Gorm Macdonald of Sleat, to whom he made over all his old rights to Sleat and Troterness for a sum of money, and appointed him the Taoitear of his grandson, in case of his own death before young Campbell came of age. He further accumulated a large sum of money, which he remitted before his death to his grandson, in Argyleshire, to enable him the better to secure the succession. These acts so completely alienated the affections of the clan from William that he shut himself up in the Castle of Dunvegan for the short remainder of his life, which he passed in gloom and solitude. He died in 1552-53, a few days after receiving the news of his daughter's death, which occurred at Barra on the very day that she was to embark for Dunvegan, whither her father had invited her on the death of her second husband, Macneil. William Macleod's body was removed by the clan from Dunvegan to Rodel, where it was buried, and a monument was afterwards erected over his remains by his nephew, Sir Roderick (Rory Mor) Macleod.
Malcolm MacLeod
In 1511, Lewis and the other estates of the family were given, to the exclusion of the direct male heir, by charter under the great seal, to
IX.—MALCOLM Macleod, brother of the forfeited Torquil, who is described as Malcolmo Makloid filio et hairedi quondam Roderico M'Cloid. He is granted "the lands and castle of Lewis, and Waternish in the Lordship of the Isles, with other lands, erected in his favour into the barony and lordship of Lewis, the place and castle of Stornochway to be the chief messuage."f In 1515, when the Regent Duke of Albany commissioned John Macian of Ardnamurchan to reduce to obedience the inhabitants of parts of the Isles who had taken part with Sir Donald of Lochalsh in his attempt to gain the Lordship of the Isles, and to promise the less violent of them the favour of the Crown and remission for their past crimes, provided they made their submission, promised obedience in future, and made restitution to those who had suffered by their conduct, Malcolm Macleod of the Lewis was one of those specially exempted from the Royal clemency. He is again on record in 1517.
In 1518-19 Sir Donald of Lochalsh, accompanied by the Macleods of Lewis and Raasay, invaded Ardnamurchan, where, by pre-concerted arrangement, they met Alexander Macdonald of Islay, united their forces, and attacked Macian, whom they overtook at Craig-an-Airgid, in Morvern, where he was defeated and slain with two of his sons, John Suaineartach and Angus, and many of his followers. Sir Donald died very soon after this raid, and we can find nothing further regarding Malcolm Macleod, who appears to have died about 15 28.
From the date of the raid to Ardnamurchan till about 1532 the lands and barony of Lewis were taken possession of and held by John, son and direct male representative of Torquil Macleod forfeited in 1506, and nephew of Malcolm. On the death of his uncle, whose son Roderick was a minor, John Mac Torquil, aided by Donald Gruamach of Sleat and his followers, seized the whole Island. The vassals of the barony followed his banner, and, though excluded from the succession by his father's forfeiture, they acknowledged him as their natural leader by right of birth, and he was able to keep possession of the lands and the command of the Siol Torquil during the remainder of his life. In 1538 his name appears among nine of the Highland chiefs who made offers of submission to the King through Hector Maclean of Duart.
John left no male issue, but after his death the claims of his daughter, who afterwards married Donald Gorm Macdonald, fifth of Sleat, were supported by his kindred, and the Clan Donald of Sleat.
Writing of this John Mac-Torquil, under date of 1532-39, Gregory says, " that chief, the representative of an elder, though forfeited branch of the family of Lewis, had obtained possession of the estates and leading of his tribe; and although he did not hold these by any legal title, the claims of his daughter, after his death, were far from contemptible, especially when supported by the influence of the Clandonald. A compromise seems to have been entered into between Donald Gorme and Ruari Macleod, the legal heir of the Lewis, as formerly held by Malcolm Macleod, his father, and the last lawful possessor."*
Malcolm Macleod married Christian, daughter of Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty, with issue—
1. Roderick, his heir.
2. Malcolm Garve, progenitor of the Macleods of Raasay.
3. Norman, from whom the Macleods of Eddrachilles.
In 1532, on the death of his nephew John MacTorquil, who had been in undisturbed possession since Malcolm's death,*
Malcolm was buried in the Churchyard of Ui, in the immediate vicinity of Stornoway, where many of the Lewis chiefs are interred, " and particularly Malcolm, son of Roderick Macleod, Lord of Lewis, who died in the reign of James V. His tomb is still visible, and the inscription is entire, with the exception of the date."— Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis, p. .).
X.—Roderick Macleod succeeded to the lands and command of the Macleods of Lewis, in terms of an arrangement arrived at between him and Donald Gorm Macdonald of Sleat, who had married Margaret, daughter of John Mac Torquil. In terms of this arrangement, Roderick undertook to assist Donald Gorm in driving the Macleods of Dunvegan, who again managed to gain possession of Troternish, from that contested district . It is also alleged that Roderick became bound to support Donald Gorm in his attempts to establish himself in the Lordship of the Isles and Earldom of Ross.
In May, 1539, Macdonald, accompanied by Macleod and his followers, invaded the lands of Troternish and laid them waste, after which, taking advantage of Mackenzie of Kintail's absence from home, they, with a large body of followers, made a raid upon Kinlochewe and Kintail, and attempted to take the Castle of Eilean Donain, on which occasion Donald Gorm was killed by an arrow shot from the walls of the stronghold.
On the 2nd of April, 1538, James V. granted to Roderick Macleod, the son and heir of the deceased Malcolm Macleod of the Lewis, the nonentry and other dues of the lands and barony of the Lewis, from the 3iDth of June, 1511, till a year after the date of the grant.f When the King, on his famous visit to the Isles in 1540, visited the Lewis, Roderick Macleod and his principal kinsmen met him, and they weie commanded to accompany him in his progress southward. In 1541 King James V. granted Roderick and Barbara Stewart, his affianced spouse, the lands, island and barony of Lewis, with the castle and other lands, resigned by Roderick, when the whole was erected anew into the free barony of Lewis.
We find Roderick's name, on the 28th of July, 1545, among the seventeen of the Barons and Council of the Isles appointed as plenipotentiaries for treating, under the directions of the Earl of Lennox, with the English King, to whom, at this time, they had been arranging to transfer their allegiance, and in consequence of which they had shortly before been charged by the Regent Arran with rebellious and treasonable proceedings, and threatened with utter ruin and destruction, from an invasion by " the whole body of the realm of Scotland, with the succours lately come from France," for their attempts to bring the whole Isles and a great part of the mainland under the obedience of the King of England, in contempt of the authority of the Crown of Scotland. On the 5th of August following these Barons were at Knockfergus, in Ireland, with a force of four thousand men and one hundred and eighty galleys, where, in presence of the Commissioners sent by the Earl of Lennox, and of the leading officials of the town, they took the oath of allegiance to the King of England, at the command of the Earl of Lennox, who was acknowledged by them all as the true Regent and second person of the Realm of Scotland. It was in this capacity and for this reason that they agreed to act under his directions in their treasonable and unpatriotic conduct on this and other occasions. On the 17th of August in the same year he had, with Alexander Macleod of Dunvegan and forty others, a remission from that date to the ist of November following, that they might go to the Regent and Lords of the Privy Council for the purpose of arranging as to their affairs.
On the death of Donald Dubh, without lawful male issue, many of the Island chiefs adopted as their leader James Macdonald of Islay, though his pretentions to the Lordship of the Isles were far inferior to those of Donald Gorm Og of Sleat, who was then a minor. Among those who opposed Islay and who soon afterwards succeeded in effecting a reconciliation with the Scottish Regent, we find Roderick Macleod of Lewis, Macleod of Harris, Macneill of Barra, Mackinnon of Strath, and Macquarrie of Ulva. Roderick is, however, in 1547, absent from the battle of Pinkie, though several of the other Island lords responded to the call of the Regent Arran on that disastrous occasion, but Macleod appears to have been forgiven in 1548 on easy terms with several others outlawed along with him for not joining- the Regent's forces in the previous year when commanded to do so. He is, however, again in trouble within a very short interval. In 1551 Archibald Earl of Argyll was commissioned to pursue with his men Roderick Macleod of the Lewis for " obteening " certain persons out of his lands, and in 1552 Arran determined, on the advice of Mary of Guise, the Queen Dowager, to establish order among the Highlanders. With this object he summoned all the chiefs to meet him at Aberdeen on the I7th of June. Most of them submitted to the conditions imposed, either there or in the following July at Inverness, but in consequence of the disputes which occurred at his time between Arran and the Queen Dowager, regarding the Regency, the Highlanders again broke out. The Queen Dowager assumed the Government in June, 1554, when she at once ordered the Earls of Huntly and Argyll to proceed by land and sea to the utter extermination of the Macdonalds of Clanranald and of Sleat, the Macleods of Lewis, and their associates, who had failed to present the hostages demanded of them for good conduct and loyalty in future. The expedition seems, from various causes, to have turned out a complete failure. The Queen Dowager was determined, however, to secure order among the Highlanders, and in April, 1555, a process of treason was commenced against Roderick Macleod of the Lewis. In the following June a commission was granted to the Earls of Argyll and Athole against the islanders, but soon after, in the same year, Macleod submitted and made certain offers to the Privy Council through Argyll, in consequence of which the Queen Regent granted him a remission "for his treasonable intercommuning with various rebels, and for other crimes."
After this he appears to have led a more peaceful life for several years, for we do not again find any trace of him in the public records until he is summoned with several others, by proclamation, on the 2oth of September, 1565, to join the Earl of Athole in Lorn to put down the Earl of Murray's rebellion, arising out of
his opposition to the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to Lord Darnley. This rebellion, however, collapsed, and there was no necessity to send the royal forces to Lorn after all. In 1572, during Roderick's life, James VI. granted to Torquil Conanach Macleod, described in the charter as " the son and apparent heir of Roderick Macleod-of Lewis," and to the heirs male of his body, with remainder to Gillecallum Garbh Macleod of Raasay, and his male heirs, and to Torquil's male heirs whomsoever bearing the Macleod surname and arms, the lands and barony of Lewis, which Roderick had resigned, reserving the life-rent to himself on condition that he.and Torquil should not again commit any crime against the King.*
Sources:
A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and ... - Page 590
by John Burke - Heraldry - 1838
IX.—MALCOLM Macleod, brother of the forfeited Torquil, who is described as Malcolmo Makloid filio et hairedi quondam Roderico M'Cloid. He is granted "the lands and castle of Lewis, and Waternish in the Lordship of the Isles, with other lands, erected in his favour into the barony and lordship of Lewis, the place and castle of Stornochway to be the chief messuage."f In 1515, when the Regent Duke of Albany commissioned John Macian of Ardnamurchan to reduce to obedience the inhabitants of parts of the Isles who had taken part with Sir Donald of Lochalsh in his attempt to gain the Lordship of the Isles, and to promise the less violent of them the favour of the Crown and remission for their past crimes, provided they made their submission, promised obedience in future, and made restitution to those who had suffered by their conduct, Malcolm Macleod of the Lewis was one of those specially exempted from the Royal clemency. He is again on record in 1517.
In 1518-19 Sir Donald of Lochalsh, accompanied by the Macleods of Lewis and Raasay, invaded Ardnamurchan, where, by pre-concerted arrangement, they met Alexander Macdonald of Islay, united their forces, and attacked Macian, whom they overtook at Craig-an-Airgid, in Morvern, where he was defeated and slain with two of his sons, John Suaineartach and Angus, and many of his followers. Sir Donald died very soon after this raid, and we can find nothing further regarding Malcolm Macleod, who appears to have died about 15 28.
From the date of the raid to Ardnamurchan till about 1532 the lands and barony of Lewis were taken possession of and held by John, son and direct male representative of Torquil Macleod forfeited in 1506, and nephew of Malcolm. On the death of his uncle, whose son Roderick was a minor, John Mac Torquil, aided by Donald Gruamach of Sleat and his followers, seized the whole Island. The vassals of the barony followed his banner, and, though excluded from the succession by his father's forfeiture, they acknowledged him as their natural leader by right of birth, and he was able to keep possession of the lands and the command of the Siol Torquil during the remainder of his life. In 1538 his name appears among nine of the Highland chiefs who made offers of submission to the King through Hector Maclean of Duart.
John left no male issue, but after his death the claims of his daughter, who afterwards married Donald Gorm Macdonald, fifth of Sleat, were supported by his kindred, and the Clan Donald of Sleat.
Writing of this John Mac-Torquil, under date of 1532-39, Gregory says, " that chief, the representative of an elder, though forfeited branch of the family of Lewis, had obtained possession of the estates and leading of his tribe; and although he did not hold these by any legal title, the claims of his daughter, after his death, were far from contemptible, especially when supported by the influence of the Clandonald. A compromise seems to have been entered into between Donald Gorme and Ruari Macleod, the legal heir of the Lewis, as formerly held by Malcolm Macleod, his father, and the last lawful possessor."*
Malcolm Macleod married Christian, daughter of Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty, with issue—
1. Roderick, his heir.
2. Malcolm Garve, progenitor of the Macleods of Raasay.
3. Norman, from whom the Macleods of Eddrachilles.
In 1532, on the death of his nephew John MacTorquil, who had been in undisturbed possession since Malcolm's death,*
Malcolm was buried in the Churchyard of Ui, in the immediate vicinity of Stornoway, where many of the Lewis chiefs are interred, " and particularly Malcolm, son of Roderick Macleod, Lord of Lewis, who died in the reign of James V. His tomb is still visible, and the inscription is entire, with the exception of the date."— Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis, p. .).
X.—Roderick Macleod succeeded to the lands and command of the Macleods of Lewis, in terms of an arrangement arrived at between him and Donald Gorm Macdonald of Sleat, who had married Margaret, daughter of John Mac Torquil. In terms of this arrangement, Roderick undertook to assist Donald Gorm in driving the Macleods of Dunvegan, who again managed to gain possession of Troternish, from that contested district . It is also alleged that Roderick became bound to support Donald Gorm in his attempts to establish himself in the Lordship of the Isles and Earldom of Ross.
In May, 1539, Macdonald, accompanied by Macleod and his followers, invaded the lands of Troternish and laid them waste, after which, taking advantage of Mackenzie of Kintail's absence from home, they, with a large body of followers, made a raid upon Kinlochewe and Kintail, and attempted to take the Castle of Eilean Donain, on which occasion Donald Gorm was killed by an arrow shot from the walls of the stronghold.
On the 2nd of April, 1538, James V. granted to Roderick Macleod, the son and heir of the deceased Malcolm Macleod of the Lewis, the nonentry and other dues of the lands and barony of the Lewis, from the 3iDth of June, 1511, till a year after the date of the grant.f When the King, on his famous visit to the Isles in 1540, visited the Lewis, Roderick Macleod and his principal kinsmen met him, and they weie commanded to accompany him in his progress southward. In 1541 King James V. granted Roderick and Barbara Stewart, his affianced spouse, the lands, island and barony of Lewis, with the castle and other lands, resigned by Roderick, when the whole was erected anew into the free barony of Lewis.
We find Roderick's name, on the 28th of July, 1545, among the seventeen of the Barons and Council of the Isles appointed as plenipotentiaries for treating, under the directions of the Earl of Lennox, with the English King, to whom, at this time, they had been arranging to transfer their allegiance, and in consequence of which they had shortly before been charged by the Regent Arran with rebellious and treasonable proceedings, and threatened with utter ruin and destruction, from an invasion by " the whole body of the realm of Scotland, with the succours lately come from France," for their attempts to bring the whole Isles and a great part of the mainland under the obedience of the King of England, in contempt of the authority of the Crown of Scotland. On the 5th of August following these Barons were at Knockfergus, in Ireland, with a force of four thousand men and one hundred and eighty galleys, where, in presence of the Commissioners sent by the Earl of Lennox, and of the leading officials of the town, they took the oath of allegiance to the King of England, at the command of the Earl of Lennox, who was acknowledged by them all as the true Regent and second person of the Realm of Scotland. It was in this capacity and for this reason that they agreed to act under his directions in their treasonable and unpatriotic conduct on this and other occasions. On the 17th of August in the same year he had, with Alexander Macleod of Dunvegan and forty others, a remission from that date to the ist of November following, that they might go to the Regent and Lords of the Privy Council for the purpose of arranging as to their affairs.
On the death of Donald Dubh, without lawful male issue, many of the Island chiefs adopted as their leader James Macdonald of Islay, though his pretentions to the Lordship of the Isles were far inferior to those of Donald Gorm Og of Sleat, who was then a minor. Among those who opposed Islay and who soon afterwards succeeded in effecting a reconciliation with the Scottish Regent, we find Roderick Macleod of Lewis, Macleod of Harris, Macneill of Barra, Mackinnon of Strath, and Macquarrie of Ulva. Roderick is, however, in 1547, absent from the battle of Pinkie, though several of the other Island lords responded to the call of the Regent Arran on that disastrous occasion, but Macleod appears to have been forgiven in 1548 on easy terms with several others outlawed along with him for not joining- the Regent's forces in the previous year when commanded to do so. He is, however, again in trouble within a very short interval. In 1551 Archibald Earl of Argyll was commissioned to pursue with his men Roderick Macleod of the Lewis for " obteening " certain persons out of his lands, and in 1552 Arran determined, on the advice of Mary of Guise, the Queen Dowager, to establish order among the Highlanders. With this object he summoned all the chiefs to meet him at Aberdeen on the I7th of June. Most of them submitted to the conditions imposed, either there or in the following July at Inverness, but in consequence of the disputes which occurred at his time between Arran and the Queen Dowager, regarding the Regency, the Highlanders again broke out. The Queen Dowager assumed the Government in June, 1554, when she at once ordered the Earls of Huntly and Argyll to proceed by land and sea to the utter extermination of the Macdonalds of Clanranald and of Sleat, the Macleods of Lewis, and their associates, who had failed to present the hostages demanded of them for good conduct and loyalty in future. The expedition seems, from various causes, to have turned out a complete failure. The Queen Dowager was determined, however, to secure order among the Highlanders, and in April, 1555, a process of treason was commenced against Roderick Macleod of the Lewis. In the following June a commission was granted to the Earls of Argyll and Athole against the islanders, but soon after, in the same year, Macleod submitted and made certain offers to the Privy Council through Argyll, in consequence of which the Queen Regent granted him a remission "for his treasonable intercommuning with various rebels, and for other crimes."
After this he appears to have led a more peaceful life for several years, for we do not again find any trace of him in the public records until he is summoned with several others, by proclamation, on the 2oth of September, 1565, to join the Earl of Athole in Lorn to put down the Earl of Murray's rebellion, arising out of
his opposition to the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to Lord Darnley. This rebellion, however, collapsed, and there was no necessity to send the royal forces to Lorn after all. In 1572, during Roderick's life, James VI. granted to Torquil Conanach Macleod, described in the charter as " the son and apparent heir of Roderick Macleod-of Lewis," and to the heirs male of his body, with remainder to Gillecallum Garbh Macleod of Raasay, and his male heirs, and to Torquil's male heirs whomsoever bearing the Macleod surname and arms, the lands and barony of Lewis, which Roderick had resigned, reserving the life-rent to himself on condition that he.and Torquil should not again commit any crime against the King.*
Sources:
A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and ... - Page 590
by John Burke - Heraldry - 1838
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