Blair Collection > Celtic magazine > Volume 5

172 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
knowing full well that lie would own the true heir's cause against him. i i
The Lord of the Isles told the Governor he would either lose all he had ^ r
or gain the Earldom of Eoss, to which he had such a good title. The Duke :i
replied — he wished Donald would he so forward as to stick to what he said. ' ,'
Donald immediately raised the hest of his men, to the number of 1 0,000, i h
and chose out of them 6600, turning the rest of them to their homes, t
They thought first they would fight near to Inverness ; but, because thei f
Duke and his army came not, Donald's army marched through Murray, ! ;'
and over the Spey. The Governor, Alexander Stewart^ Earl of Murray,' i
and John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, the Governor's son, having gatheredi ■
an army of 9700 men, desired the Lord of the Isles to stay, and that they! I
would meet him near Inverness and give him battle ; but he would not i i
leave his own men foraging in his own county of Eoss. Therefore he; ;
marched forward, resolving to take his hazard near their doors, assuring! ij
himself of victory. Huntly, who was Macdonald's friend, sent him aj i
private message, desiring him to commit no hostilities in his country, by; ;
the way of assuring him, he would not own the Governor's quarrels, andj i
wishing Macdonald good success, and desiring him to be of good courage, j ,i
The Lord of the Isles went forward till both armies met at Harlaw, a place! i
in Garioch, in the Braes of Buchan. There came several in the Governor's! i
army out of curiosity to see Macdonald and his Highlanders routed, as; |
they imagined ; others came to be rewarded by the Governor, as they did| f;
not expect to see any other king, in all appearance, but he and his offspring jj i!
others came through fear of the Duke's great authority. Macdonald seti i
his men in order of battle as follows. He commanded himself the mainH
battle, where he kept most of the Islanders, and with the Macleods, Johnj i
of Harris and Eoderick of the Lewis. He ordered the rest to the wings,! i
the right commanded by Hector Eoy Maclean, and the left by Galium! i
Beg Mackintosh, who that day received from Macdonald a right of the^ i
lands of Glengarry in Lochaber, by way of pleasing him for yielding] i
father, Sir Adam Muir, being the fifth in descent from David de Moore, the founder of j i
that house early in the thirtetiith century. There had formerly existed considerable j t
doubt as to the reality of the marriage between Robert II. and Elizabeth Muir, and all( .
the earlier Scottish historians down even to Buchanan, supposed that their union hadj I
not been legalised by marriage. The author of the Bistorie of James the Sexth, however,] <
after quoting from a pedigree of the Muirs of Kowallao, says that " Kobert, great, '
Steward of Scotland, having taken away the said Elizabeth, drew to Sir Adame, herj i
father, ane instrument that he should take her to his lawful wyfe, which myself hath] •■
scene, said the collector (of the Pedigree, Mr John Lermouth), as also ane testiraonie.I i
written in Latine by Roger M'Adame, priest of our Ladie Marie's Cliapell." A charterj :
granted by Robert II., in 1364, proves that Elizabeth Muir was the j^rsi wife of that] i
King, and refers to a dispensation granted by the Pope for the marriage. This charter ^ i
was published in 1694, by one Mr Lewis Junes, Principal of the Scots' College at Paris, i i
The dispensation from Rome referred to in the charter of 1364, was long sought for j
after the lady's deiith, and was not found until the year 1789, when it, and a dispensa-j <
tioB for the King's marriage with Euphemia Ross, his last wife, were discovered to-j
gether. There exists also another charter, by David II., "to Robert, great Steward of! '
Scotland, of the lands of Kiutyre ; and to John Stewart his son, gotten betwixt him andi i
Elizabeth Moore, daughter of Adam More, knight, and failzeing of him, to Walter, his \
Becond brother." Elizabeth Muir is said to have been a very beautiful woman, and to ' I
have captivated the High Steward during the unquiet times of Edward Baliol, when thei
former was often obliged to seek safety in concealment. It is supposed that Dundonaldj i
Castle was the "scene of King Robert's early attachment and nuptials with the fair, ;
Elizabeth." From this union are descended, through their daughter, Margaret Stewart, i i
the Macdonnells of Antrim ; and through their sons, not only the race of our British] I
Bovereigns, but also of several crowned heads in Europe. For an account of the Muirs j i
of Bowallan, gee Paterson'g Parishes and Families of Ayrshire, vol. ii., pp. 182-194. !