Blair Collection > Celtic magazine > Volume 5

210 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
ment ^7as assembled, each of these haughty nobles was immediately
arrested, aud placed ia irons in ditt'ereut parts of the building, not one of ■
them being jierniittcd to communicate witli any of the others. Among . jy
the prisoners were Alexander of the Isles ; his mother, the Countess of . t
Eoss ; Alexander of Garmoran, and several of the most powerful chiefs in ; i
the Highlands. It is said that the King exhibited marks of great joy as ' i
he saw those powerful Highland Lords marching into the toils which he '■ i
had so treacherously prepared for them. Alexander of Garmoran, as well ; *
as several others, was tried, convicted, and adjudged to be decapitated on i ]
the spot, and his whole possessions forfeited to tbe crown, while most of ■ ,
the others were sent to ditferent castles and strongholds throughout the kmg- . ti
dom, untn the majority of them were afterwards condemned to various i {
kiads of death; while a few were set at liberty after various terms of; ii
imprisonment. Among the latter was Alexander of the Isles. No ; "
one can defend this mean act of treachery by the King, however brave or j -i
otherwise distinguished, though Hdl Burton tries to excuse him ; but j i
whUe telling us that " It is useless to denounce such acts," he makes the ; i
admission, which is not altogether inapplicable even to the present day, ! ;1
namely : — That at that time " there was no more notion of keeping faith J a
with the ' Irishry,' whether of Ireland or Scotland, than Avith tbe beast of! d
prey lured to his trap ;" after which he proceeds to say that those whom j ij
it was deemed fitting to get rid of were put to death, and that nothing ; i
remains to show that there was even the ceremonial of a trial* {
The Earldom of Eoss, which had been procui'ed by Eobert, Duke of; (
Albany, for his son, John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, on its resignation at \ i
Port-Gilp by Donald of Harlaw, fell to the Crown by the death, in 1-124, 1 ;
of the Earl of Buchan, who was killed in that year at the battle of! i
Verneuil in France ; whereupon the King at once restored it to the ( i
heiress of line, the mother of Alexander of the Isles. In 1425 Alexander! i
of the Isles and "Master of the Earldom of Eoss," sat upon the jury >:|
which condemned to death the enemy of his family, Murdoch, Duke of ^ i
Albany, his two sons, and the Earl of Lennox, for the murder of young j i
Eothesay. Ho does not, however, seem from the above to have long : fl
continued in favour at Court, and it may be interesting to have Gregory's i l
views of the reasons and influences which led Alexander at that time intoj s
opposition to the King. It has been mentioned, he says, that Godfrey, i /'
Lord of Uist, on the death of his younger brother, Eanald, asserted suc-
cessfully his claim to the North Isles and Garmoran^ from which he had
been unjustly excluded by his father. Both Godfrey and Eanald left
male issue who must naturally have been opposed to each other, like their
fathers ; but the meagre notices we possess of the domestic feuds in thej i
Highlands and Isles at this period, do not enable us to trace the progress j 1
of these dissensions. It may be readily conceived, however, that where i i
such a prize was in dispute, much blood would be shed and many atrocities I J
committed. The issue of Godfrey, or the Siol Gorrie, as they Ai'cre called, <. ;:
must for a time have acquii'ed a superiority over the Clanranald or the
descendants of Eanald ; for in the year 1427 we find mention made by a
contemporary writer of an Alexander MacGorrie of Garmoran, then de-
scribed as a leader of two thousand men. In addition to the disturbances j i
* History of ScoUaud, vol, ii,, 402 ; Blackwood & Sons, 1876.