Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4
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HEBRIDES
child all through the islands, and compelled the inhabi-
tants to give hostages to him as their true king. When
Godred heard of this proceeding he sailed against the
rebels with a fleet of eighty galleys, but was so gallantly
opposed, that by way of compromise he ceded to the
sons of Somerled the Hebrides S of Ardnamurchan, and
thus in 1156 the kingdom of the Isles was divided into
two portions, and rapidly approached its ruin. In 1158
Somerled, acting nominally for his sons, invaded and
devastated the Isle of Man, drove Godred to seek a
refuge in Norway, and apparently took possession of all
the Isles ; while in 1164, becoming still more ambitious,
he menaced all Scotland, landed a powerful force on the
Clyde near Renfrew, and there perished either in battle
with Malcolm IV., or by assassination in his tent. The
northern isles now returned, with the Isle of Man, to
Godred ; Islay was allotted to Ronald, a son of Somer-
led ; and all the other isles were inherited by Dougall,
in whose name they and the whole Hebrides had been
seized by Somerled. All these chieftains, and some of
their successors, were contemporaneously known as
Kings of the Isles, and were subordinate to the King of
Norway. Ronald was the ancestor of the Lords of the
Isles or Macronalds, and Dougall of the Lords of Lome
or Macdougalls, with their seat at Dunstaffnage. The
Scots were jealous of a foreign power so near their
coasts, and Alexander II. sent ambassadors to King
Haco, ' begging him to give up those lands in the
Hebrides which King Magnus Barefoot had unjustly
taken from King Malcolm.' To this Haco answered
that the matter had been settled, and that besides the
King of Scotland had not formerly had power in the
Hebrides. Alexander next offered to buy the islands,
and when this too was refused he collected an army
and invaded them. "While Alexander was in Kerrera
he had a dream in which St. Olaf, St. Magnus, and St.
Columba appeared, and bade him return, ' but the King
would not, and a little after he fell sick and died.' His
successor, Alexander III., 'a meike prince,' did not
give the matter up, for in 1262 messengers came to
Haco to tell him that the King of Scots would surely
win the Hebrides ; and complaining also of very barbar-
ous cruelties practised by the Earl of Ross and other
Scots. Haco ' made ready swiftly for war, ' and got a
large army together, and himself set sail at the head of
his fleet in a ' great vessel that was built all of oak, and
had twenty banks of oars, and was decked with heads
and necks of dragons beautifully overlaid with gold.'
After visiting Orkney he sailed to Lewis, and then to
Skye, where Magnus, King of Man, met him, and then
on to Kerrera, where he was met by King Dougall and
the other Hebrideans. The other King of the Isles,
John, would not follow Haco, as he held more land of
the King of Scotland than of the King of Norway. The
expedition ended in the battle of Largs and the defeat
of the Norwegians, and Alexander followed this up with
such vigour, that in 1265 he obtained from the suc-
cessor of Haco a cession of all the Isles. Islay, and the
islands adjacent to it, continued in the possession of the
descendants of Ronald, and Skye and Lewis were con-
ferred on the Earl of Ross, all in vassalage to the
Scottish monarch. In the wars of the succession, the
houses of Islay and the North Isles gave hearty support
to Robert Bruce till 1325, when Roderick Macalan of
the North Isles intrigued against the king, and was
stripped of his possessions ; while about the same date
Angus Oig of Islay received accessions to his territories,
and became the most powerful vassal of the Crown in
the Hebrides. John, the successor of Angus, taking a
different course, joined the standard of Edward Baliol,
and when that prince was in possession of power, re-
ceived from him the islands of Skye and Lewis. After
Baliol's fall, David II. allowed John to retain possession
of Islay, Gigha, Jura, Scarba, Colonsay, Mull, Coll,
Tyree, and Lewis ; and granted to Ronald, son of
Roderick Macalan, Uist, Barra, Eigg, and Rum.
Ronald died in 1346 without heirs, and Arnie his sister,
wife of John, became his heir, and John, consolidating
his possessions with his own, assumed the title of Lord
HEBRIDES
of the Isles. In revenge for some fancied slight of the
government he rebelled, but was subdued, and in 1369
reconciled to King David. Having divorced his first
wife, he married Margaret, daughter of Robert, high
steward of Scotland; and in 1370, when Robert suc-
ceeded to the throne, altered the destination of the
lordship of the Isles so as to make it descend to his off-
spring by his second wife, the grandchildren of the
king. John died in 13S0, and was succeeded as Lord
of the Isles by Donald, his eldest son by the second
marriage. He married Mary Leslie, who afterwards
became Countess of Ross, and was thus involved in the
well-known contest with the Regent Albany, which
resulted in the battle of Harlaw. He had a great repu-
tation in the Hebrides for many good qualities. He
died in 1420 in Islay, and was pompously buried beside
his father at Iona.
Alexander, the third Lord of the Isles, was formally
declared by James I. to be undoubted Earl of Ross, and
in 1425 he was one of the jury which sat in judgment
on Albany and his sons, as well as the old Earl of
Lennox. Having become embroiled with his kinsmen,
the descendants of the first Lord of the Isles by his
first marriage, and having shared in those conflicts
which disturbed the Hebrides so much during the early
part of the 15th century, he was, in 1427, summoned
to Inverness with other Highland and Island chieftains,
and was arrested and imprisoned. So much did this
irritate him, that after regaining his freedom he, in
1429, made a levy throughout the Isles and Ross, and
at the head of 10,000 men devastated the Crown lands
in the vicinity of Inverness, and bumed the town itself.
In his retreat he was overtaken by the King and the
royal forces in Lochaber, and was so hard pressed that
he resolved to cast himself on the royal clemency ; and
on the eve of a solemn festival, clothed in the garb of
poverty and wretchedness, he rushed into the King's
presence amid his assembled Court at Holyrood, and,
surrendering his sword, abjectly sued for pardon. He
was imprisoned for two years at Tantallon, and after
his release he conducted himself peaceably, and even
rose into favour. During the minority of James II. he
held the responsible and honourable office of Justiciary
of Scotland N of the Forth. In 1445 he returned to
his evil ways, and joined in a treasonable league with
the Earls of Douglas and Crawford against the infant
King, but before the plot had fairly developed he died
at Dingwall in 1449.
John, the fourth Lord of the Isles and the third Earl
of Ross, having joined the Douglas cause, made a foray
on the mainland, and did a considerable amount of
mischief, but he very shortly after made his submission,
and was received into favour, for in 1457 he filled the
very important and responsible office of one of the
Wardens of the Marches, and in 1460, previous to the
siege of Roxburgh Castle, he offered, at the head of
3000 armed vassals, to march in the van of the royal
army, so as to hear the first brunt of an expected Eng-
lish invasion ; and his loyalty was so trusted that he
was ordered to remain as a sort of bodyguard near the
King's person. On the accession of James III., how-
ever, he became again troublesome, and after sending
deputies to England to offer his assistance in case of an
invasion, he poured an army into the northern counties
of Scotland, and assumed a regal style. It was not till
1 475 that he was denounced as a rebel, and summoned
to appear before parliament at Edinburgh. He did not
appear, and incurred sentence of forfeiture : but when
a large force was gathered to enforce the sentence, he
came to Edinburgh and threw himself on the King's
mercy. With great moderation on the part of the
King, he was restored to his forfeited possessions, and,
making a voluntary surrender to the Crown of the
Earldom of Ross and some other possessions, he was
created a baron and a peer of parliament, with the title
of Lord of the Isles. He could not, however, keep his
rebellious family in order, and in 1493 he was deprived
of his title and estate, and, after being for some time a
pensioner on the King's household, he sought a retreat
263
child all through the islands, and compelled the inhabi-
tants to give hostages to him as their true king. When
Godred heard of this proceeding he sailed against the
rebels with a fleet of eighty galleys, but was so gallantly
opposed, that by way of compromise he ceded to the
sons of Somerled the Hebrides S of Ardnamurchan, and
thus in 1156 the kingdom of the Isles was divided into
two portions, and rapidly approached its ruin. In 1158
Somerled, acting nominally for his sons, invaded and
devastated the Isle of Man, drove Godred to seek a
refuge in Norway, and apparently took possession of all
the Isles ; while in 1164, becoming still more ambitious,
he menaced all Scotland, landed a powerful force on the
Clyde near Renfrew, and there perished either in battle
with Malcolm IV., or by assassination in his tent. The
northern isles now returned, with the Isle of Man, to
Godred ; Islay was allotted to Ronald, a son of Somer-
led ; and all the other isles were inherited by Dougall,
in whose name they and the whole Hebrides had been
seized by Somerled. All these chieftains, and some of
their successors, were contemporaneously known as
Kings of the Isles, and were subordinate to the King of
Norway. Ronald was the ancestor of the Lords of the
Isles or Macronalds, and Dougall of the Lords of Lome
or Macdougalls, with their seat at Dunstaffnage. The
Scots were jealous of a foreign power so near their
coasts, and Alexander II. sent ambassadors to King
Haco, ' begging him to give up those lands in the
Hebrides which King Magnus Barefoot had unjustly
taken from King Malcolm.' To this Haco answered
that the matter had been settled, and that besides the
King of Scotland had not formerly had power in the
Hebrides. Alexander next offered to buy the islands,
and when this too was refused he collected an army
and invaded them. "While Alexander was in Kerrera
he had a dream in which St. Olaf, St. Magnus, and St.
Columba appeared, and bade him return, ' but the King
would not, and a little after he fell sick and died.' His
successor, Alexander III., 'a meike prince,' did not
give the matter up, for in 1262 messengers came to
Haco to tell him that the King of Scots would surely
win the Hebrides ; and complaining also of very barbar-
ous cruelties practised by the Earl of Ross and other
Scots. Haco ' made ready swiftly for war, ' and got a
large army together, and himself set sail at the head of
his fleet in a ' great vessel that was built all of oak, and
had twenty banks of oars, and was decked with heads
and necks of dragons beautifully overlaid with gold.'
After visiting Orkney he sailed to Lewis, and then to
Skye, where Magnus, King of Man, met him, and then
on to Kerrera, where he was met by King Dougall and
the other Hebrideans. The other King of the Isles,
John, would not follow Haco, as he held more land of
the King of Scotland than of the King of Norway. The
expedition ended in the battle of Largs and the defeat
of the Norwegians, and Alexander followed this up with
such vigour, that in 1265 he obtained from the suc-
cessor of Haco a cession of all the Isles. Islay, and the
islands adjacent to it, continued in the possession of the
descendants of Ronald, and Skye and Lewis were con-
ferred on the Earl of Ross, all in vassalage to the
Scottish monarch. In the wars of the succession, the
houses of Islay and the North Isles gave hearty support
to Robert Bruce till 1325, when Roderick Macalan of
the North Isles intrigued against the king, and was
stripped of his possessions ; while about the same date
Angus Oig of Islay received accessions to his territories,
and became the most powerful vassal of the Crown in
the Hebrides. John, the successor of Angus, taking a
different course, joined the standard of Edward Baliol,
and when that prince was in possession of power, re-
ceived from him the islands of Skye and Lewis. After
Baliol's fall, David II. allowed John to retain possession
of Islay, Gigha, Jura, Scarba, Colonsay, Mull, Coll,
Tyree, and Lewis ; and granted to Ronald, son of
Roderick Macalan, Uist, Barra, Eigg, and Rum.
Ronald died in 1346 without heirs, and Arnie his sister,
wife of John, became his heir, and John, consolidating
his possessions with his own, assumed the title of Lord
HEBRIDES
of the Isles. In revenge for some fancied slight of the
government he rebelled, but was subdued, and in 1369
reconciled to King David. Having divorced his first
wife, he married Margaret, daughter of Robert, high
steward of Scotland; and in 1370, when Robert suc-
ceeded to the throne, altered the destination of the
lordship of the Isles so as to make it descend to his off-
spring by his second wife, the grandchildren of the
king. John died in 13S0, and was succeeded as Lord
of the Isles by Donald, his eldest son by the second
marriage. He married Mary Leslie, who afterwards
became Countess of Ross, and was thus involved in the
well-known contest with the Regent Albany, which
resulted in the battle of Harlaw. He had a great repu-
tation in the Hebrides for many good qualities. He
died in 1420 in Islay, and was pompously buried beside
his father at Iona.
Alexander, the third Lord of the Isles, was formally
declared by James I. to be undoubted Earl of Ross, and
in 1425 he was one of the jury which sat in judgment
on Albany and his sons, as well as the old Earl of
Lennox. Having become embroiled with his kinsmen,
the descendants of the first Lord of the Isles by his
first marriage, and having shared in those conflicts
which disturbed the Hebrides so much during the early
part of the 15th century, he was, in 1427, summoned
to Inverness with other Highland and Island chieftains,
and was arrested and imprisoned. So much did this
irritate him, that after regaining his freedom he, in
1429, made a levy throughout the Isles and Ross, and
at the head of 10,000 men devastated the Crown lands
in the vicinity of Inverness, and bumed the town itself.
In his retreat he was overtaken by the King and the
royal forces in Lochaber, and was so hard pressed that
he resolved to cast himself on the royal clemency ; and
on the eve of a solemn festival, clothed in the garb of
poverty and wretchedness, he rushed into the King's
presence amid his assembled Court at Holyrood, and,
surrendering his sword, abjectly sued for pardon. He
was imprisoned for two years at Tantallon, and after
his release he conducted himself peaceably, and even
rose into favour. During the minority of James II. he
held the responsible and honourable office of Justiciary
of Scotland N of the Forth. In 1445 he returned to
his evil ways, and joined in a treasonable league with
the Earls of Douglas and Crawford against the infant
King, but before the plot had fairly developed he died
at Dingwall in 1449.
John, the fourth Lord of the Isles and the third Earl
of Ross, having joined the Douglas cause, made a foray
on the mainland, and did a considerable amount of
mischief, but he very shortly after made his submission,
and was received into favour, for in 1457 he filled the
very important and responsible office of one of the
Wardens of the Marches, and in 1460, previous to the
siege of Roxburgh Castle, he offered, at the head of
3000 armed vassals, to march in the van of the royal
army, so as to hear the first brunt of an expected Eng-
lish invasion ; and his loyalty was so trusted that he
was ordered to remain as a sort of bodyguard near the
King's person. On the accession of James III., how-
ever, he became again troublesome, and after sending
deputies to England to offer his assistance in case of an
invasion, he poured an army into the northern counties
of Scotland, and assumed a regal style. It was not till
1 475 that he was denounced as a rebel, and summoned
to appear before parliament at Edinburgh. He did not
appear, and incurred sentence of forfeiture : but when
a large force was gathered to enforce the sentence, he
came to Edinburgh and threw himself on the King's
mercy. With great moderation on the part of the
King, he was restored to his forfeited possessions, and,
making a voluntary surrender to the Crown of the
Earldom of Ross and some other possessions, he was
created a baron and a peer of parliament, with the title
of Lord of the Isles. He could not, however, keep his
rebellious family in order, and in 1493 he was deprived
of his title and estate, and, after being for some time a
pensioner on the King's household, he sought a retreat
263
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