Blair Collection > Celtic magazine > Volume 5

HISTORY OF THE MACDONALDS. 213
could. He was ultimately driven to despair hj the energy and vigilance
of his pursuers, and determined to throw himself on the mercy of the
King, which he did by presenting himself before him, his Queen, and
Court, while assembled, on Easter Sunday, at a solemn festival in the
Church of Holyrood, engaged in their devotions before the High Altar.
The haughty chief, with bonnet in hand, his legs and arms quite bare,
his body covered only with a plaid, in his shirt and drawers, with a
naked sword in his hand held by the point, which, in token of submission,
he offered to the King on bended knees, imploring his forgiveness. " His
appearance, with the solicitations of the affected Queen and all the nobles,
made such an impression on his majesty that he completely submitted to
the promptings of his heart, against the wiser and more prudent dictates
of his better judgment. He accepted the sword offered to him, and
spared the life of his captive, but immediately committed him to TantaUon
Castle, under the charge of William Douglas, Earl of Angus. The spirit
of his followers, however, could not brook this mortal offence, and the
whole strength of the Clan was mustered under Donald Balloch, a cousin
of the Lord of the Isles. They were led to Lochaber, where they met the
King's forces, under the Earls of Mar and Caithness, killed the latter,
gained a complete victory over the Eoyal forces, and returned to the Isles
in triumph with a great quantity of spoil. James again came north in
person as far as Dunstaffnage ; Donald BaUoch fled to Ireland ; and after
several encounters Avith the Highlanders, the King received the submis-
sion of most of the chiefs who were engaged in the rebellion ; others were
apprehended and executed, to the number of about three hundred, after
which he released the Earl from Tantallon Castle, and granted him a free
pardon for all his rebellious acts, confirmed him in all his titles and poS'
sessions, and conferred upon him the Lordship of Lochaber, which had
previously, on its forfeiture, been granted to the Earl of Mar,"*
Skene has been led into the error of saying that Donald Balloch was
the son of Reginald, and the Chief of Clanranald ; Avhereas he was the
son of John Mor Tannister, elder brother of Donald of Harlaw, and
ancestor of the Macdonnells and Earls of Antrim. He also fell into the
mistake of believing in the ruse played upon the King, when a head, said
to be that of Donald BaUoch, was sent to him by Conn O'Neil, an Irish
chief; for he informs us that King James, seeing that the absence of
their chief, so far from rendering the Clan more disposed to become
amenable to his will, rather roused them to acts of rebellion and revenge,
and that it was better to have at their head a chief who had become bound
to him from acts of clemency, than to expose them to the influences of
the other branches of the family, who were now irritated by the indignity
offered to their legitimate chief ; he therefore proceeded in person to the
north, for the purpose of quelling the remains of the rebellion. His ex-
pedition was attended with his usual success by the submission of all the
chiefs who had been engaged in it. " Donald BaUoch was soon after this
betrayed, and his head sent to the King, upon which he at once restored
the Lord of the Isles to liberty, granted him a free pardon for all the
various acts of rebellion he had been guilty of, and also confirmed him
not only all his titles and possessions, but even granted him the Lordship
* History and Ganealogies of the Clan Mackenzie, by tbe same author, 1879, pp. 49-50.