"Glenmoriston of the Past"

Sad to say this brief period of peace came to an end with the death of Cromwell in September 1658. His son was not of the same calibre and when King Charles the second was restored to the throne of his fathers in 1660 hell was let loose again in the Highlands. Incidentally this Charles did not visit Scotland once during his 25 years on the throne, leaving the affairs across the border to a Privy Council largely consisting of his own chosen friends. The Secretary of the Council always stayed in London, close by the King. One Donald Bain with his gang from Invergarry started the trouble again, lifting cattle from Glen Urquhart. Another notorious cateran of the clan Maclean was caught by the Chisholm and hanged as a result at which the dead man's relations from Badenoch retaliated lifting forty cows belonging to the chief and his tenants driving them through Glenmoriston and across the Corriearrack. Chisholm gave chase and recovered twenty of his beasts, but in 1664 the same avengers made two more raids burning down houses and barns, containing precious livestock and cruelly wounding the inmates. This destruction took place on the Chisholm Glen Urquhart property of Buntait.

The offenders were sited by the Lord Advocate shortly afterwards to appear in Edinburgh but as might be expected they did not show up. A commission was then issued in the King's name charging Lord Lovat and other prominent persons in the area, including John Grant of Glenmoriston to apprehend the rebels and pursue them to death. A rider in the royal command exonerated these commissioners from any liability should this mission necessitate any "fire raising, mutilation, slaughter" etc. Unfortunately perhaps -the Chisholm who was naturally expected to lead this force against these outlaws, was heavily in debt and had to confess that he could not venture beyond the bounds of his estate without running the risk of incarceration by his creditors. As a result it appears that the burners of Buntait got off "Scot free",

Chisholm was not however the only laird with financial problems. John Grant of Glenmoriston's father Patrick, 4th Laird, had died in the year 1643, owing "great sums of money" to John Robertson of Inshes whose family appear to have been experienced in the loan business. Inshes, no doubt following the correct legal procedure, laid claim to Glenmoriston's estates and actually took possession of the Culcabock lands, which it will be remembered, had been in the family since the time of Iain Mor. Grant of Carron and other friends of Glenmoriston then devastated the lands of Inshes but when John Robertson died, around 1661, his son William persisted in his presumably rightful claim. Iain Doun, the young Glenmoriston, now tried to compromise, seeing the danger of losing all his estates, but Robertson refused to do so.

As a result on the night of the 4th of January 1664, the citizens of Inverness saw a great glare in the sky when the barns of Culcabock went up in flames. Inshes, who was a scholarly youth, unlike most of his contemporaries, wrote to the Bishop of Moray suggesting that a collection should be made in the parish churches on behalf of his injured tenants but the prelate although most sympathetic could not help. A second case of arson took place at Culcabock a few months later. Glenmoriston's grievance seems to have been that Inches would not even meet him to discuss the question of his debt but this was no excuse for what was to follow. Through an intermediary a meeting between the two parties was arranged in Inverness, Inshes being accompanied by "three civil gentlemen" to wit the Provost, ex-Provost and Forbes of Culloden. It seems that although the negotiations were carried out in a peaceful atmos phere no progress was made towards a settlement and when those present were about to disperse, Glenmoriston called his men called his men who had been concealed in a nearby ale house.

Inches was pulled off his horse and carried away. Forbes, who had been asked to take a hand in the proceedings of settlement by Brodie of Brodie was naturally very shocked by Glenmoriston's violent behaviour and wrote his account of the affair to Sir Hugh Campbell of Cawdor. Glenmoriston was in due course arrested by order of the Privy Council and taken to Edinburgh by the Robertson of Struan. In the year 1666 settlement was reached whereby Glenmoriston was obliged to relinquish whatever right he had to Culcabock while Inshes gave up all claim to the barony of Glenmoriston.

Mention should be made, briefly, of a notorious character of those times who might be described as a second Robin Hood. His name, in brief, was Donald Donn who was an expert in cattle stealing, operating over a wide area from Caithness to Bredalbane. He was a son of Macdonald of Bohuntin in Lochaber and had the reputation of never hurting "the small man" by word or deed. This did not however prevent him falling in love with Mary, daughter of the Laird of Grant, at that time residing in Urquhart Castle. Donald came of good family but the Laird, quite understandably, took a poor view of his mode of life and forbade all intercourse between the couple. However as is generally the case, they found opportunities of meeting secretly but Donald stretched his luck too far when he left some cattle that he had just lifted in Ross-shire at Borlum adjacent to the Castle. While he was fulfilling his secret date with his ladylove the owners of the stolen cattle appeared on the scene, a white cow making identification easy. The Laird was of course most angry when asked to explain the presence of the stolen cattle on his doorstep. "The devil may take me out of my shoes if Donald Donn is not hanged" was said to be his comment.     

Donald, pursued by soldiers from the Castle took refuge in a cave on the steep face on the Fast side of the Ault-Saigh burn. The writer has never attempted to locate the hide-out but perhaps some energetic and agile young member of the family would like to do so. The tale ends when Donald was deceived by a false message from his beloved Mary and after a desperate fight at his betrayer's rendez-vous was captured and sentenced to death for cattle stealing . He asked that, as a gentleman, he should be executed and not hanged. The story is that this last request had been met, Donald exclaimed "The Devil will take the Laird of Grant out of his shoes and Donald Donn shall not be hanged". He was a poet in his leisure hours and some of his verses are still preserved.

Chapter 5