"Glenmoriston of the Past"

The four separate kingdoms which make up present-day Scotland became united under King Malcolm II but internal strife and the wars with England continued, off and on, for another five centuries. In those days the kings had no standing army and therefore had to depend upon friends, who often became their enemies, and near relatives, who sometimes attempted to seize their crowns, to provide the armed forces, to both quell internal uprisings and oppose the national enemy across the Border.

Charters covering large areas of land were granted to the nobility for services rendered to the King but such titles were of little value unless the holder had sufficient forces to keep other claimants at bay. Glenmoriston was part of the Earldom of Ross, a bone of contention amongst the war-lords for several centuries, although there is no written record, it is said that Glenmoriston was known for its horses, presumably ponies, from which it could be seen that the population was largely pastoral around the fourteenth century.

David the 1st, one of the better Scottish Kings, had been brought up in England and on succeeding to the throne, in the year 1124, he took the lands held by certain of his most troublesome subjects, not without considerable bloodshed, and bestowed them on his Norman friends from the South whom he considered more dependable. Among those newcomers, was Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray who was one of Robert Bruce's most skilful leaders during the War of Independence and became Regent of Scotland on the death of the national hero in 1329. In the year 1313, Randolph had been granted the lands of the Earldom of Ross, which included Glenmoriston but soon afterwards he died of poisoning, said to have been administered by an infamous friar. His eldest son, also a Thomas, was killed shortly afterwards at the battle of Dupplin Moor and so the Moray Estates then went to John, the second son.    

In the year 1345 he made over certain lands to Robert Chisholm including "one half davach (a davach was a measure of land, the extent of which varied in different areas according to the estimated yield) of Innermorchen and a quarter davach of Blare". Spelling in those days was very haphazard particularly when Gaelic names were written in English. Even on modern maps we find Bhlaraidh, Blairy or Blairie; Incidentally Mhoreasdain, "of the waterfalls" appears to be the correct name of our Glen. It is perhaps significant that the Chisholms who came up from Roxburgh, were also of Norman stock but on the other hand the Earl of Moray may have had ulterior motives in making over these small and isolated parcels of land in an area over which he had little or no control.

Only a year after their deal of 1345 both Moray and Chisholm were in the army of that disastrous King David II, which invaded England and was defeated at Neville' s Cross, near Durham. Moray was slain in the battle and Chisholm taken along with King David for whom the English demanded a ransom money of 100,000 marks most of which was eventually paid up, with considerable reluctance by the Scottish people. Chisholm was released some eleven years later but as both the sons of Thomas Randolph of Moray had been killed, leaving no issue, their lands, including Glenmoriston, reverted to the crown. Furthermore Sir Robert Chisholm who had been appointed Constable of Urquhart Castle relinquished, in his declining years, the parcels of land in Glenmoriston and elsewhere which had been bestowed on him by Thomas Randolph,

These lands were then made over by King Robert II to his son Alexander, Earl of Buchan, better known as the "Wolf of Badenoch" whose misdeeds included the burning of Elgin town and its Cathedral, following his excommunication by the Bishop of Moray.

The Wolf calmed down in his old age and he performed "abject penance" at the church of Blackfriars in Perth in front of his brother King Robert III, and many of the nobility. When he died in the year 1394 hell was let loose again, his two natural sons seizing parts of his extensive property while Donald, Lord of the Isles, laid claim to the barony of Urquhart in the name of his wife. At the same time the Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, lodged a counter-claim to Urquhart on behalf of his son. By this time the clan fabric was well established and the Macdonalds were in virtual possession of most of the disputed territory. Donald therefore felt that he could take the law into his own hands and with the help of his brother Alisdair Carrach, a renowned warrior, over-ran the valley of the Ness. Albany persisted with his claim and Donald, infuriated by the impertinence of this "Sassenach", set out from Inverness with a large force of Highlanders bent on seizing the Scottish Throne.

His first step was to be Aberdeen where he promised there would be considerable booty for his men, but short of his destination he was confronted by a force led by Alexander, one of the Wolf's natural sons who, incidentally, by forcibly marrying the widowed Countess of Mar, had become a power in the land. The battle that ensued, ever since known as the Red Harlaw, is said to have been one of the bloodiest in the history of Scotland. Although Donald's force was much superior in numbers, many of their opponents were clad in armour and so withstood the Highland onslaught. When darkness came Donald withdrew and returned to his Isles, somewhat disconsolate. Alexander, now Earl of Mar, went on to seize the disputed lands and refused to hand them over to Regent Albany, his uncle. It should perhaps be mentioned that Albany had been made Regent because the Prince, later to become King of Scotland had, on his way to France, been captured by English pirates. The Scots had to pay £40,000 to get him back, but this time the English did not call it ransom, money but settlement of their "expenses account" in keeping and educating the Prince. When he was released after eighteen years in the year 1424 he very soon started to put his home affairs in order.

On the death of the Regent Robert, mentioned above, Murdoch his son had stepped into his shoes. King James suspected the whole Albany family of double-dealing and of being to some extent to blame for his prolonged captivity in England. He first put one of Murdoch's sons in jail and soon afterwards Murdoch himself, his wife and another son. A third son then made the fatal error of putting the town of Dumbarton to the flames by way of retaliation. Murdoch with his two sons in prison also his father-in-law, Earl of Lennox were put on trial, found guilty and executed on the Heading Hill of Stirling. Among the jury at the trial was Alexander, Earl of Mar, the main contestant of the accused for the disputed lands. He no doubt would have been pleased to see them all liquidated.

King James then convoked a Parliament at Inverness to which he summoned the Lord of the Isles, now Alexander, son of Donald of Harlaw and some fifty other clan chiefs. It appears that they all turned up without any forebodings, which seems rather strange as the first item in their King's agenda was to have most of them arrested, chained and thrown into dungeons. Two of their numbers were hanged and one executed after which Alexander and others were released.

He was, however, furious with the manner in which he had been treated and about a year later burnt the town of Inverness to the ground by way of showing his power in the North. He created further trouble and was imprisoned for a time but eventually pardoned. King James was stern but wise enough to realize that the Lord of the isles should be treated with some degree of lenience. The King himself was murdered while spending Christmas at Black Friars Monastery, Perth in the year 1436. Alexander of the Isles died thirteen years later and was succeeded by his son John of 15 years of age. His title Lord of the Isles was then recognised by the Crown but, at the same time, certain of his late father's lands, including the Earldom of Ross, covering Glenmoriston, were placed in the hands of the Earl of Huntly, the King's Chamberlain. In his accounts for the year 1478, Huntly deducted one third from the Glenmoriston rental of £100 "on account of the laying waste of the lands" and for the following year he stated that these lands were, for some reason, unletable.

From earlier times, the people of Glenmoriston, and more so Glen Urquhart, had been frequently plundered of their livestock by raiders from Lochaber, Knoydart, Morar and Keppoch, many of whom were, like their victims, from the branches of clan Macdonald. The Camerons were also involved in the these depredations and it seems that the Lord of the Isles during their tenure, if it can be described as such, had made little or no attempt to put a stop to them. However in the year 1435 one Hector Maclean who acted as Chamberlain to the chief John and whose family had for long enjoyed the patronage of the Lord of the Isles led a force of Urquhart men into the Cameron country while Lochiel was away in Ireland. In revenge they slew and plundered without mercy but must have lingered in Lochaber too long as the Cameron chief had hastened home and caught up with Maclean and his marauders who took refuge in the castle of Bona, situated on the Northern tip of Loch Ness. Maclean had brought back with him a number of captives including Cameron of Glen Nevis. Against this Lochiel had rounded up two of Maclean's sons and other stragglers and therefore proposed an exchange of prisoners. But Maclean would have none of this and preferred to see his sons hanged before his eyes rather than come to terms with Lochiel. Such was the Highland way of life in the fifteenth century.

As previously mentioned, Urquhart and Glenmoriston had reverted to the Crown but were then leased to Hugh Rose of Kilravock. The Macleans of Loch Buy, mentioned above, violently opposed these interlopers from Kilravock and enlisted the aid of Malcolm Mackintosh, chief of the clan whose daughter had married into the Maclean family. However the Mackintosh chief was also related to the Roses and so pulled out of the squabble. Maclean continued his vendetta along with certain dissident Mackintoshs of Gallovie and seems to have achieved his object as Rose of Kilravock gave up his lease and was appointed Keeper of the Royal Fort of Redcastle. The 27th and last Rose of Kilravock was killed in 1942 in the Battle of Alamein serving in the Black Watch. Soon after Kilravock gave up his Crown lease of Urquhart and Glenmoriston, Sir Duncan Grant of Freuchie, chief of his clan, was asked by Huntly, the King's Chamberlain in the North to fill the gap.

Chapter 2