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The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

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CHAP. IX] OF SCOTLAND 353<br />

the tradition <strong>of</strong> their being descended from the Norwegian<br />

kines <strong>of</strong> the Isles. Malcolm was succeeded b\' his son<br />

William, who, although from his having been a younger son,<br />

he had been brought up for the church, appears to have<br />

involved himself in nnmberless feuds with the neighbouring<br />

clans, and to have become one <strong>of</strong> the most noted and daring<br />

<strong>of</strong> the restless chiefs <strong>of</strong> that period.<br />

Among the first <strong>of</strong> his plundering incursions he ravaged the<br />

estates <strong>of</strong> Lovat in the Aird, in order to avenge an insult which<br />

he had received in that country in his youth. He afterwards on<br />

some occasion called down upon himself the resentment <strong>of</strong> the<br />

lord <strong>of</strong> the Isles, who invaded his estates with a considerable<br />

<strong>of</strong> Macdonalds William Macleod, however, possessed no<br />

body ;<br />

small portion <strong>of</strong> military skill, and having a perfect knowledge<br />

<strong>of</strong> the country, he succeeded in surprising the Macdonalds at a<br />

place called Lochsligichan, where he defeated them with great<br />

slaughter. But notwithstanding this feud with the Macdonalds,<br />

John Macleod, his successor, is said to have followed the banner<br />

<strong>of</strong> Donald <strong>of</strong> the Isles in his invasion <strong>of</strong> <strong>Scotland</strong> in 1411, and<br />

to have taken a part in the battle <strong>of</strong> Harlaw.<br />

From the accession <strong>of</strong> the Macdonalds to the earldom <strong>of</strong><br />

Ross, the Macleods seem to have acknowledged them as their<br />

lords, and to have followed them on all occasions. On the<br />

unfortunate dissension occurring between John, the last lord <strong>of</strong><br />

the Isles, and hi.*? son Angus Ogg, when both parties at length<br />

took to arms, the one to reduce a rebellious son, and the other<br />

to depose a person whom he considered incapable <strong>of</strong> governing<br />

his extensive territories, Macleod <strong>of</strong> Glenelg embraced the<br />

cause <strong>of</strong> the injured father, and took an active share in the<br />

civil war which thus divided the Macdonalds and finally caused<br />

their ruin. He was present at the battle <strong>of</strong> the Bloody Bay<br />

and lost his life in that unnatural engagement.<br />

On the forfeiture <strong>of</strong> the last lord, the Macleods, as well as<br />

the other clans connected with the Macdonalds, assumed inde-<br />

pendence, and in consequence Alexander Macleod received<br />

from king James IV. a crown charter <strong>of</strong> all his lands, which<br />

included those <strong>of</strong> Harris and his extensive possessions in Sky ;<br />

which charter narrates that these lands were held <strong>of</strong> the<br />

earls <strong>of</strong> Ross and lords <strong>of</strong> the Isles before their forfeiture,<br />

Z

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