Clan Gillean

i go The Clan Gillean.
his fidelity. The Irishmen were all, except per-
haps one, put to death by Leslie.
Sir James Turner, a major-general who served
under Leslie, blames Sir Lachlan Maclean for
delivering' the Irishmen to Leslie. He tells us
that " Maclean saved his lands with the loss of his
reputation." The simple truth is that Sir Lachlan
was utterly unable to protect either himself or the
Irishmen. Sir Donald Campbell of Ardnamurchan
and other Campbells were exceedingly anxious to
have an opportunity of slaying the inhabitants of
Mull. Turner tells us "that with all imaginable
violence Sir Donald pressed that the whole Clan
Maclean should be put to the edge of the sword."
Leslie had 5,000 men in Mull. He could easily
capture Duart and Aros in a few days. If he had
been compelled to take these castles by storm, he
would have put all the defenders to the sword.
Besides, the Campbells would have laid Mull
waste and butchered the defenceless inhabitants
while the sieg^e was g-oinp - on.
We are told by the Maclean historians that
Argyll seized Sir Lachlan's heir at Dumbarton,
where he was going to school ; that he took him
with him to Mull ; and that he threatened to put
him to death, unless Sir Lachlan would surrender
his castle to Leslie. There is evidently no truth
in this story. Hector Roy was probably about
twenty years of age in 1647. Argyll was greedy
and crafty, but he was not a murderer. Then, the
likelihood is that he really desired that Sir Lachlan