THE

CELTIC MAGAZINE.

Conducted by ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A. Scot.

XV. DONALD MACDONALD, eighth of Glengarry, who has a charter under the Great Seal as "Donaldo MacAngus MacAllister filio et heredi apparenti Angusii MacAllester de Glengarrie-et heredibus suis masculis de corpore suo legitime procreandis," &c.-of the lands of Glengarry, "Drynathane, insula de Sleuchmeine," &c., proceeding upon the resignation of Angus, dated 19th of July 1574.* He was known among the Highlanders as Domhnull Mac Aonghais ic Alastair (Donald, son of Angus, son of Alastair), and styled "of Morar, Knoydart, and Glengarry." He has a Special Retour before the Sheriff-Depute of the County of Inverness, by a Respectable Inquest, dated 5th November 1584, in the following terms: -"Qui Jurati Dicunt quod quondam Margreta Ylis avia Donaldi MacAngus MacAlester de Glengarrie latoris presentium obiit ultimo restitus et saisitus ut de feodo ad pacem Matris supremi Domini nostri de omnibus et singulis terris de dimidietate terrarum de Achiult et dimidietate terrarum de Torrurdane cum piscariis," &c. Et quod dictus Donaldus de Glengarrie est Legitimus et Propinquior hæres quondam Margarete Ylis avie sue, &c.†

He has a General Retour at Edinburgh, under date of 27th April 1629, before the Sheiff-Deputes of the county and a "distinguished" jury, among whom we find the names of the direct male ancestors of the Chiefs of Sleat and of Clanranald of Castletirrim as "principal members," and expressly swearing to the legitimacy of Celestine of the Isles and Lochalsh, and the descent of Glengarry from him, and from John, last Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, through this Donald, and, of course, through Margaret of the Isles and Lochalsh. Yet the modern representatives of Sleat and Clanranald of Moydart maintained, at least for a time, the opposite of this, and by so doing would have us believe that their own ancestors, who lived at a time when they had far better means of knowing than their modern representatives, committed perjury when their own interests were altogether in the opposite direction-against * Reg. Mag. Sig., Lib. 34, No. 110.

Original document in the Registers of Chancery.

T

the establishment of Glengarry's claim to represent, through Margaret of the Isles and Celestine her grandfather, the Earls of Ross and Lords of the Isles. The finding of this distinguished jury and of the Chiefs of Sleat and Clanranald in 1629* is as follows :-"Qui Jurati Dicunt quod quondam Celestine de Ylis de Lochelche Frater quondam Joannis Comitis de Ros Domini de Ylis Abavus Donaldi MacAngus de Glengarrie obiit, &c. Et quod dictus Donaldus MacAngus lator presentium est Legitimus et propinquior Hæres ejusdem quondam Celestini de Ylis de Lochelche sui abavi."+ We have already referred to the charge of licentiousness made by the Clanranald champion, in the controversy of sixty years ago, against this Margaret of the Isles. He has clearly confused her with her aunt, another Margaret of the Isles, a daughter of Celestine, who behaved so badly as to call at the time for the interposition of the Crown. The above-quoted documents, however, conclusively prove to those who required proof that the progenitrix of Glengarry was quite a different person and could not be the Margaret of doubtful character, who is admitted by all parties-even by the Clanranald champion-to have been a daughter of Celestine, while the Margaret who married Glengarry was his grand-daughter.

In his third letter to the editor of the Inverness Journal, dated 27th May 1818, "Also a Fiar Ranuillich," writing in defence of Clanranald of Castletirrim, says :-"I shall refer to the Privy Seal Record, where, on the 8th September 1507, there will be found a letter to the Earl of Huntly, stating that the King had given to Margaret, the sister of Alexander of the Isles of Lochguelch, Knight, certain lands during pleasure-that Margaret had 'applyit and subjectit her persone, lands, and gudes, quhether in lauchful marriage or otherwise, we know not, to Donald Mac Arle Mac Lauchlane Dowe.' Now, the designation of Margaret in this deed points her out, beyond a doubt, to be Celestine's daughter and sister of Alexander, designated of Lochalsh." After quoting other deeds to the same effect, he adds "On perusing the above documents, it must strike every person, 1st, that Margaret, the sister of Alexander, was not married in September 1507, but rather seems to have lived in open adultery, so glaring as to call the particular attention of the Crown; and that this Margaret was afterwards Glengarry's wife cannot be doubted, when her designation is attended to, which is sister of Alexander of the Isles of Lochguelch,' &c." It has been already proved that this woman was not afterwards Glengarry's wife, but her niece, a lady of the same name, was, and no reflection that we can trace was ever cast upon her character. In another letter the Castletirrim champion states that the lady "was the grand-neice of Celestine and the daughter of Angus, the bastard son of John, last Earl of Ross attainted, and this fair lady appears, from a document dated 8th September 1507, by King James to the Earl of Huntly, 'to have subjected her person, land, and gudes quhether in lauchful marriage or otherwayes we know not, to Donald Mack Arle Mack Lauchlane Dowe."" From these two quotations it will be seen that the same writer makes her at one and the same time the daughter and grand-neice of Celestine of Lochalsh; and this is but one specimen of many such extraordinary

"Dominum Donaldum McDonald de Slait, Joannem McLaud de Dunnyvagane, Joannem McRanald de Yllantyrim," are the first three on the list of jurors. + Original also in Registers of Chancery.

feats which he performs throughout the long controversy in which he was. engaged for Clanranald against Glengarry. There is a case recorded in Durie's Decisions, under date of 26th February 1650 (Glengarry against Munro of Fowlis), and another dated 4th of February 1531 (Glengarry against Lord Lovat), where Glengarry's title, derived through Celestine of the Isles and Lochalsh, was sustained by the Court of Session expressly as heir to the Lords of the Isles, and the title to pursue in these two actions and sustained by the Court was a transumpt of three charters in favour of Celestine by his brother John, last Earl of Ross. In one of these charters he is called Carissimus Frater, in the second Frater Carnalis, and in the third Frater Legitimus Carnalis. We have already given Gregory's opinion of these terms (page 218, vol. v.), and it is held by those who maintain Celestine's legitimacy that "in those days of Papal influence carnalis was contra-distinguished to spiritualis-brother laymen and brother churchman." A strong point is made by Glengarry of the General Retour already referred to by a jury of which Macdonald of Sleat and Macdonald of Clanranald were principal members, and it is argued, "If Celestino had been a bastard, he could not legally, or in any formal instrument, be designated as the brother of the Earl of Ross, being the character to be proved; and as Earl John was attainted and his estate forfeited, no right personal vested in him could be carried by service or succession. was otherwise with Celestine; he possessed extensive estates, which, though violently usurped by others, were not legally forfeited, and nothing but the plea of proscription and taciturnity prevented the recovery of them, as appears from Lord Durie's collection of adjudged cases, who, sitting as a judge on the bench at a time not very distant from the period of Celestine's succession, could not be ignorant of the circumstances of the case." This is a legal deduction which we do not feel competent to deal with, and only state it for the consideration of those whose training fit them to decide it.

It

There is an agreement entered into between Angus MacAlester of Glengarry and John Grant of Freuchy, dated at Elgin on the 17th of November 1571, by which Glengarry finds and obliges himself to cause our present subject, Donald MacAngus, his son and apparent heir, to solemnize and complete the bond of matrimony in face of Holy kirk with Helen Grant, lawful daughter to the said John Grant of Freuchy, betwixt the date above named and the fast of Saint John the Baptist called Midsummer next immediately thereafter. At the same time he agrees to grant to the laird of Freuchy a bond of manrent. Donald MacAngus, however, failed to enter into the agreement made in his behalf, and he refused to marry Helen Grant. The consequences proved most serious to Glengarry. In 1548 his lands had been apprised for satisfaction of a "spulzie," and sold to James Grant for the sum of £10,770 13s 4d, and in 1554 Queen Mary granted to John Grant, Helen's father, and the son and heir of James Grant of Freuchy, "the relief of various lands including Glengarrie which belonged to him as heir, and the relief of which belonged to the Queen."* The estates had not passed to Grant in virtue of the above-named apprising, but they were again apprised in consequence of Donald's refusal to marry Freuchy's daughter. They are,

Origines Parochiales, vol. ii., part i., p. 185.

however, re-granted by Frenchy to Glengarry by a charter, already quoted, and confirmed by the Crown on the 8th of July 1574. In the contract between himself and Grant, Glengarry, in a bond of manrent which he agreed to give, makes an exception in favour "of ye auctoritie of our soverane and his Chief of Clanranald only." This is held by Clanranald of Moidart as an acknowledgement by Glengarry of the Captain of Clanranald as his chief. It is impossible to argue this away satisfactorily in the manner attempted by the Glengarry champion in the controversy already referred to. John Moydertach was then at the zenith of his power, and was de facto the most powerful and distinguished warrior of the whole Clan Donald. Glengarry's power was at the same time on the wane, and at this period small in comparison with that of his namesake of Clanranald. The necessities of his position might therefore have compelled him as at a later period the same cause obliged Cluny Macpherson to acknowledge Mackintosh-to own the most distinguished and most powerful of his contemporary Macdonald leaders, the Captain of Clanranald, as his chief. In these circumstances, and knowing the man he had to deal with, we are not disposed to attach much weight to this isolated instance of alleged acknowledgment on the part of Glengarry, and especially when it is made in favour of one who could not possibly be Chief even of the Clanranalds of Castletirrim, inasmuch as he was beyond question of illegitimate birth. This point is at once and for ever disposed of by an entry in the original Record of the Privy Seal in the following terms: Preceptum Legitimationis Johannis MacAlestar de Casteltirrim bastardi filii naturalis quondam Alexandri MacAlane de Casteltirrim in communi forma, etc. Apud Striveling xv Januarrii annoj m ve xxxi (1531). -Per Signetum.”*

On the margin is an entry "xs" showing that the usual fee of ten shillings had been paid by the grantee, and it is clear from the docquet, "Per Signetem," that it passed the Signet as well as the Privy Seal,

The reign of this Chief of Glengarry was an exceedingly turbulent one. From 1580 to 1603 incessant feuds were carried on between the family and the Mackenzies, with the usual depredations and slaughters on both sides. These originally arose out of the disputes between the two families regarding Strome Castle and the other property in Lochcarron and Lochalsh brought to the family of Glengarry by the marriage of the VIth Baron to Margaret of Lochalsh and the Isles. These lands adjoined those of the Mackenzies in Kintail, Lochalsh, and Lochcarron, and in the then state of society, and the feelings of jealousy which almost invariably existed between the clans, it was easy to find means of disagreement, heated disputes, and quarrels. Angus Og of Glengarry was a desperate and brave warrior, and he made numerous incursions into the country of the Mackenzies, committing with his followers wholesale outrages and murders, which were in their turn revenged by the Kintail men. All these proceedings have been already very minutely described from old family MSS, and other sources, in vol. iv. of the Celtic Magazine, pp. 340-345 and 361-369,† and it is therefore unnecessary to repeat details here. They will, however, be given in the separate work. We may meanwhile Reg. Sec. Sig., lib. 9, fo. 72 b.

*

+ Also at much greater length in "The History of the Mackenzies, by the same author, pp. 122-127 and 140-169.

quote Gregory's excellent and very concise account of these quarrels, and the result. He says that :-A serious feud broke out between Donald MacAngus of Glengarry and Colin Mackenzie of Kintail. The former chief had inherited one-half of the district of Lochalsh, Lochcarron, and Lochbroom, from his grandmother, Margaret, one of the sisters and co-heiresses of Sir Donald Macdonald of Lochalsh, who died about the year 1518. The predecessors of Kintail had acquired the other half of these districts, by purchase from Dingwall of Kildun, the son of the other co-heiress of Sir Donald. The vicinity of these lands to the other possessions of the Mackenzies had probably tempted some of that tribe to make aggressions on Glengarry's portion. Their intrusion was fiercely resented by that chief, who, in order the better to maintain his rights, took up his residence, for a time, in Lochcarron, and placed a garrison of his followers in the castle of Strone, in that district. The breach between the two clans gradually became wider; and, in the course of their dissensions, Glengarry himself, and many of his followers, fell into the hands of a party of the Mackenzies, headed by Ruari Mackenzie of Redcastle, brother to the Lord of Kintail. Glengarry's life was spared, but he was detained in captivity for a considerable time, and only procured his release by yielding the castle of Lochcarron to the Mackenzies. The others prisoners, however, including some of Glengarry's relations, were put to death in 1582, with many circumstances of cruelty and indignities. After his liberation Glengarry complained to the Privy Council, who investigated the matter, caused the castle of Strone to be placed under the temporary custody of the Earl of Argyle, and detained Mackenzie in Edinburgh, in what was called open ward, to answer to such charges as might be brought against him.* In 1596 Donald MacAngus of Glengarry is among those chiefs who, with Maclean of Duart, Macdonald of Sleat, and Roderick Macleod of Lewis, made their submission to the Council.†

The feud between him and Mackenzie regarding their lands in Wester Ross was now (1602) renewed with great violence. On this occasion Glengarry appears, according to Gregory, to have been the aggressor, a position in which he was placed, partly by the craft of his opponents, and partly by his own ignorance of the laws. The result was that the Lord of Kintail procurred a commission of fire and sword against Glengarry, whose lands he devastated in the cruel manner then practised, and carried off all the cattle. The Macdonalds did not fail to retaliate by predatory excursions, in one of which they plundered the district of Applecross, which had always before been considered as a sanctuary. On another occasion a large body of Macdonalds had landed on the coast of Lochalsh, vowing to burn and destroy all Mackenzie's lands as far as Easter Ross; but their leader, Allaster MacGorrie, in whom they had great confidence, having separated himself with but few attendants from his main body, was surprised by some of Mackenzie's followers and killed.

This loss so disheartened the Macdonalds that they returned home without performing any action of consequence. Meantime, the Lord of

Record of Privy Council, 10th August and 2d December 1582; 11th January and 8th March 1582-3. In connection with this feud Colin Mackenzie of Kintail was confined in the castle of Blackness in May 1586, as appears from the same Records and from the Treasurer's Accounts of June 1586.

Ibid., 15th June 1596.