The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

90 THE HIGHLANDERS [part i
therefore resolved to oppose the claim of the lord of the Isles by
every means in its power, and as a pretext for doing so, a
fictitious claim to the title was raised in the person of the
son of the governor himself. The lord of the Isles flew to
arms in order to vindicate his right, and that struggle was
commenced between the government and these powerful lords,
which in all probability would have been successful on the
part of the Gael, had it not been for the energy and
ot^theZvd military talent of King James I., and which was not
a.d!" H^ys!*' brought to a conclusion till the forfeiture of the last
lord of the Isles in 1493.
From the extinction of this powerful dynasty may be dated
the fall of the Highland clans, who now rapidly declined both
in their political power and internal condition. By the forfeiture
of the last lord of the Isles, and his subsequent death
without lawful issue, the sole remaining family of the great
Highland chiefs became extinct, and the countty, which had
hitherto been in the possession of these few great chiefs, was
now occupied by a number of small clans, of which the more
considerable had become disunited among themselves ; feuds
arose among them everywhere, chiefly on the subject of the
now nominal dignity of chief, and the whole of the Highlands
became a scene of disorder, internal warfare, and bloodshed.
The strict, vigorous, and, considering the state of the people,
the beneficial government of the great chiefs was gone, while
the power of the ro}'al government had not yet extended far
beyond the Highland line, as the boundary between the Highland
and Lowland portions of Scotland was denominated, and
the s\'stem of clanship, which in its perfect state was the only
one at all compatible with the peculiar condition of the High-
landers, and the mode of life which the nature of their country
necessaril}- obliged them to follow, was, when broken in upon
and amalgamated with feudal principles, singularly ill adapted
to improve their condition. What the dissension among the
Highland clans, and the extinction of their great families had
commenced, was by the artful and designing policy of the
Argyll family completed. By good fortune originally, and
subsequently by well-judged policy, the family of Campbell
had gradually arisen from the condition of petty chiefs in Argyll-