188

DEATH OF MARY OF GUISE.

[1560. to take part against Argyle; but the latter speedily counteracted the influence of the Regent; and we find that, in October, 1559, "James Macdonald, whom the Regent heretofore stirred against the Earl of Argyle," was actually on his way to join the Lords of the Congregation, with seven hundred foot soldiers.1

In the following year, the Queen Regent A. D. 1560. died in the Castle of Edinburgh, partly of an old complaint, and partly of grief at the opposition which she had latterly encountered, and which, on her deathbed, she had sagacity enough to attribute to the right cause--namely, her following the counsels of foreigners, instead of ruling by the advice of the Privy Council of the realm. This princess was much regretted, and with reason; for we are informed by Bishop Lesley, that, "in the time that she was Regent, she kept good justice, and was well obeyed over all the parts of Scotland; as also in Orkney and the Isles." "

1 Sir R. Sadler's State Papers, I., pp. 431, 517.

2 Lesley's History, p. 289.

CHAP. IV.

FROM THE RETURN OF QUEEN MARY TO SCOTLAND, TO THE ACTUAL ASSUMPTION OF THE GOVERNMENT BY JAMES THE

SIXTH.-1561-1585.

DURING the space of twenty-four years, which elapsed between the return of Queen Mary from France, in 1561, and the actual assumption of the Government by her son, in the nineteenth year of his age, in 1585, the general history of the Highlands and Isles possesses little interest. Repeated failures seem to have made the western clans sensible of the impossibility of re-establishing, in any shape, the old Lordship of the Isles; and they gradually learned to prefer holding their lands under the sovereign directly, to being the vassals of any subject, however powerful. Having now no longer a common object, they became, by degrees, more estranged from each other, whilst each chief laboured either to extend his own possessions, or to defend himself from the aggressions of his more powerful neighbours. It thus happened that, without any insurrection of a general nature, there were yet, during the interval of which we speak, many serious disturbances in the Highlands and Isles, which called for the interference of Government. Taking these disturbances in chronological order, the

190

MACLEANS OF DOWART AND COLL.

[1561.

first that calls for notice is a dispute between Maclean of Dowart and Maclean of Coll, which is chiefly remarkable as indicating the progress of the feudal system in the Isles. Dowart, who was generally acknowledged as chief of his clan, insisted that Coll should follow and serve him in all his private quarrels, like the other gentlemen of the tribe. Coll, however, who held all his lands direct from the Crown, declined to follow this haughty chief, claiming the privileges of a free baron, who owed no service but to the sovereign as his feudal superior. Irritated at the independent tone assumed by Coll, and determined to assert what he conceived to be his just claims, the Lord of Dowart, taking advantage of the other's temporary absence, caused A. D. 1561. his lands to be ravaged and his tenants to be imprisoned. Such, indeed, was the tyranny exercised by Dowart over his weaker neighbour, that the family of Coll, from being in a prosperous condition, was reduced, in a short time, to the brink of ruin. Nor was it till after the lapse of several years, that the sufferer by these violent and illegal proceedings succeeded in drawing the attention of the Privy Council to his situation; so great was the power and influence of his oppressor. The decision of that tribunal was, as might have been expected, adverse to the claims of Dowart; who was ordered to make reparation to Coll for the injuries done to the property and tenants of the latter; and, likewise, to refrain from molesting him or his followers in future. At a later period we shall find that the feud between these families was only suspended, not concluded, by this decision of the Privy Council.

The next dispute worthy of notice which occurred in 1 Record of Privy Council, 1563-1567, fo. 46.

1562-4.1

Cir.

MACDONALDS AND MACLEANS.

191

the Isles, was between the Macleans on the one part, and the Macdonalds of Isla and Kintyre on the other. This affair demands our attention, not so much on account of its origin, which was merely a quarrel as to the right of occupancy of certain Crown lands in Isla, as because it was the commencement of a long and bloody feud between these tribes, in which both suffered severely, and which led eventually to the utter ruin of that powerful branch of the Clandonald. Of the early details of this feud, which was aggravated by previous disputes regarding the island of Gigha, little is found in the usual sources of information. The Isles of Mull, A. D. 1562. Tiree, and Coll, were invaded by the Clandonald of Isla, assisted by its kindred tribe, the Clandonald of Sleat;1 and it may be supposed that the Macleans and their allies were not backward in similar hostilities. It is uncertain which tribe was the original aggressor; but from the tenor of certain A. D. 1564. proceedings before the Privy Council, it appears probable that the Macleans were to blame-a fact which, indeed, is distinctly asserted by a historian, himself a Privy Councillor in the reign of James VI. According to this writer, the Rinns of Isla (the lands in dispute) were actually occupied by the Macleans, who claimed to hold these lands as Crown tenants; but the decision of the Privy Council established that James Macdonald of Isla was really the Crown tenant, and that the Macleans, if they continued to remain on the lands, must hold them of Macdonald, under the same conditions of personal and other services as the rest of Macdonald's vassals in Isla held their lands. Such a

1 Reg. of Privy Seal, XXXI., fo. 48.

2 Sir R. Gordon, p. 188. Record of Privy Council, April, 1564.

192

DEATH OF JAMES OF ISLA.

[1565. decision must have been, no doubt, very galling to a powerful and high-spirited tribe like the Macleans; and we can scarcely be surprised at the deep-rooted hostility which so long prevailed between them and the Clandonald, when we consider the point of honour which was involved in their dispute. Such was the inveteracy with which the rival chiefs pursued their quarrel, even after the matter had been brought before the Privy A. D. 1565. Council, that, in 1565, they were compelled to find sureties each to the amount of ten thousand pounds, for their abstinence from mutual hostilities.1 It deserves to be remarked, that Archibald, fifth Earl of Argyle, was one of the sureties for each chief, he being connected, by marriage, with both; as it proves that this nobleman did not contemplate extending his power and influence in the same unscrupulous manner that some of his successors afterwards did, at the expense both of the Macdonalds and Macleans.

In this year, the Clandonald of Isla and Kintyre suffered a severe blow, by the loss of its chief, James Macdonald of Dunyveg and the Glens, under whose guidance the tribe had become the most powerful and prosperous of any in the Western Isles. As it was in

Ireland that this leader lost his life, the present seems a proper opportunity for noticing the rise and progress of a powerful Hebridean colony in Ulster, connected with and dependent upon the Clandonald of Isla and Kintyre. It has been mentioned in the Introduction (supra, p. 61), that John Mor of Isla, founder of this branch of the family of the Isles, acquired a footing in Ulster, by his marriage with Mary or Marjory Bisset,

1 Record of Privy Council, January and March, 1565.