Blair Collection > Celtic magazine > Volume 5

290 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the life of Angus, who died during his father's lifetime, about 1485, aj'^
Inverness, in the manner already described. A few years after this thi j
Lord of the Isles is again in antagonism to the Crown, and enters into ; j
treaty with Edward IV. of England, who was preparing another expeditioi I
against the Scots ; and for the remainder of the reign of James III. tb! i
vassals of the Island Chief appear to have been in a state of open resist: l
ance to the Crown. Angus Og having, according to some authorities: i
died without legitimate issue, and John, Lord of the Isles, being now adi ■
vanced in years, his nephew, Alexander of Lochalsh, son of Celestine, hi; ,
Lordship's brother, held, according to Gregory and other authorities, th 1 ;
rank of heir to the Lordship of the Isles, while others maintain that hji
jnerely commanded the clan as guardian to Angus Og's youthful sor! i
Donald Dubh, who was still a prisoner at InchconneU ; but the latter view; i
it is held, is inconsistent with several known facts, one of which is, a chartei ■ (
dated in 1492, in favour of John Maclean of Lochbuy of the office of Bailliarj j
of the south half of the Island of Tiree, granted by John, Lord of the Isles', i
and AJexander de Inmlis, Lord of Lochalsli, an office which could not havi {
been given by Alexander of Lochalsh in any other capacity than as hi: i
father's heir to the Lordship of the Isles, for it formed no part of his owi, j
patrimony of Lochalsh. In 1488 Alexander invaded the mainland at th: i
head of his vassals with the view of wresting the ancient possessions oil
his house in the Earldom of Eoss from those who now held them h;'
charters from the Crown, especially the Mackenzies, apparently witli the ful; ,
consent and approval of his aged uncle of the Isles. A full account of hii '
proceedings and the causes Avhich were the more immediate cause of then;;:
is given in "The History of the Mackenzies,"* pp. 59-74, and at pp. 161; I
170, No. xxix. (vol, iii.) of the Celtic Magazine. It is therefore uiir
necessary to reproduce it here, but we may give the following summarjl
from Gregory: — "As the districts of Lochalsh, Lochcarron, and Lochj!
broom, which Alexander inlierited from his father, and which he novjj
held as a Crown fief, lay in the Earldom of Eoss, his intiuence there wa'-^
greater than that of Angus of the Isles had been. Yet the only Crowi;:
vassal of the Earldom who joined him was Hugh Rose, younger of!
Ivilravock, whose father at this time was keeper, under the Earl of Huntlj! ;
of the castle of Ardmanach, in Eoss. In the year 1491,t a large body o; (
Western Highlanders, composed of the Clanranald of Garmoran, the Clani i
ranald of Lochaber, and the Clanchameron, under Alexander of LochalshjJ
advanced from Lochaber into Badenoch, where they were joined by tbj i
Clanchattan. The latter tribe, which possessed lands both under tht ■
Lord of tlie Isles and the Earl of Huntly, was led by Farquhar Mackin j i
tosh, the son and heir of the captain of the Clanchattan. From Badenoclji
the confederates marched to Inverness, where Farquhar Mackintoslj I
stormed and took the royal castle, in which he established a garrison ; anc i i
where the forces of the Highlanders were probably increased by tbi
arrival of the young Baron of Kilravock and his followers. Proceeding' i
to the north-east, the fertile lands belonging to Sir Alexander Urquhartl'j
the Sheriff of Cromarty, were plundered, and a vast booty carried oif bjj '
the Islanders and their associates. It is probable that at this time Lochj;
* By the same author. Published by A. & W. Mackenzie, Inverness : ] 879. '■■
t There is some confusion hero as to the dates, for there is no doubt at all that tb*! j
battli of Park was fought as early aa 1488. 1 '