It is known as the Battle of Split Allegiances among the Camerons. This is explained either by the fact that they deserted Alexander when faced with the prospect of supporting him as their feudal lord against their king, or that different factions in the clan lined up on both sides.
Background
Lochaber was part of Princess Margaret's dowry when she married John Macdonald (John of Islay), Lord of the Isles, in the mid 14th century. In turn their eldest son, Donald Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, gave the lordship of Lochaber to his younger brother, Alexander. Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, enemy of the Macdonalds, took effective control of the north of Scotland towards the end of the reign of his father Robert II, in the absence of the young King James I, who was a prisoner of England's kings (first Richard II, then King Henry IV and then King Henry V).
Albany's power increased during the reign (1390–1406) of his ineffective elder brother Robert III. He then became regent whilst James I was held captive in England. After Albany's death in 1420, the Scots paid a ransom to release James. James returned in 1424 determined to bring his kingdom to heel; one of his first acts was to execute most of Albany's heirs and restore the Earldom of Ross to the Macdonalds. Albany's grandson James Mór rebelled, attacking Dumbarton and killing the King's uncle John Stewart of Dundonald, but was driven into exile in Ireland[2] and died in 1429.[3]
Mariota ignored the transfer and claimed that she had inherited the title on Euphemia's death in 1424, whilst Buchan's death the same year gave his first cousin King James a "highly dubious claim"[3] to the title. However, in 1424 James confirmed Mariota as Countess of Ross.[1] In 1437, King James was murdered. After the king’s death, Alexander was recognized as the Earl of Ross, possibly as a result of action by the Regents appointed for the young King James II (then age 6). The lands of Buchan, too, fell to Alexander at this time. In 1440, Alexander's mother Mariota died and her son Alexander, Lord of the Isles officially inherited the title.
In August of 1428, following King James' general council at Perth, he traveled to Inverness with a large royal entourage, calling for a "parliament" at Inverness Castle[4] at which Alexander, Mariota and 'nearly all the notable men of the north' were promptly arrested as they arrived.[5] One theory is that James wanted to replace Alexander with his uncle John Mór as Lord of the Isles, or to use that as a ruse to divide the Lordship, but he was forced to release Alexander either as a result of John's murder[6] or as a precondition set by John before he would negotiate. Some sources say Alexander was imprisoned for a few weeks,[2] others say a few months; still others say for a year. Three other chiefs were executed.[7] In the end the earldom remained with Alexander Macdonald and Clan Donald.
Campaign
This leads to the suggestion that John Mor's son Donald Balloch wanted revenge for his father's murder by the king.[3] Alexander, too, would have wanted revenge for the king's treachery and the killing of his kin at Inverness. His great-nephew's Raid on Ross in 1491 provides a possible template – capture the garrison at Inverness, then head north to ravage the lands of royalist sympathizers in Ross.
In the spring of 1429, Alexander led an army of "upwards of 10,000 men".[8] The events at the Inverness "parliament" appear to have forged an unusual coalition between clans such as the Camerons and the Chattan Confederation (Clan Mackintosh), who had been feuding for over a century. But when the royal standard was unfurled at Lochaber, Clan Chattan and Clan Cameron (or part of it) defected to the royal side, causing Alexander's army to be put to flight. Alexander returned to the Isles.[9]
Battle
The Royalists appear to have caught the clansmen by surprise on a moor[8] or "marshy ground"[10] somewhere in Lochaber, the district around Fort William at the western end of the Great Glen. The exact location is not known, and there is also some uncertainty about the date of the battle. Traditionally it was on 23 June 1429, the "vigil" (i.e. day before) of the feast day of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist[8] but some modern sources say 26 June.[10]
Faced by the Royalist forces, the Camerons under Donald Dubh defected from their feudal overlord to the Crown.[10] Another theory is that the MacMartin Camerons went over to the King but not the Camerons of Lochiel, hence the Camerons know this battle as the "Battle of Split Allegiances".[11] The Mackintoshes also switched sides.[10] History does not record whether these changes of mind required inducements from James. However, soon afterwards the king gave the Mackintoshes lands in Lochaber belonging to Alexander's uncle, Alexander of Lochalsh.[1]
After this loss of manpower, Alexander escaped to the Isles but the king remained in the area, taking Dingwall Castle and Urquhart Castle, Macdonald strongholds.[12]
Alexander escaped to the islands[2] and his first attempt to sue for peace was refused.[13] So he went secretly to Edinburgh and dressed only in his shirt and drawers,[13] he handed over his sword to James in the royal church of Holyrood Abbey on 28 August[14] (or in early 1430[2]). The Queen was impressed by his humility and pleaded for his life so Alexander was imprisoned again, this time in Tantallon Castle.[2]
He was released in November 1431, after the collapse of Donald Balloch's rebellion in that year.[15] After the death of the Earl of Mar in 1435, James accepted Alexander's position as Earl of Ross and allowed him control of Inverness.[3]
One theory holds that the battle of Lochaber was a defining moment in the early history of the Clan Cameron, at that time it was more a confederation than a homogenous clan and the MacMartins' defection reflected this. In this view of history, the MacMartins were punished for their treachery by the Camerons of Lochiel, such that the MacMartin chiefs were driven into exile and the Lochiel faction took control of the clan. Donald Dubh appears to have supported James in his defeat at the Battle of Inverlochy in 1431[16] and the Cameron lands were ravaged afterwards. When Alexander was released, he took further vengeance on the clan he viewed as traitors, driving Donald Dubh into exile and giving the Cameron lands in Lochiel to John Garve Maclean of Coll.[16]
↑ Brown, M. (1994), James I, Edinburgh University Press, pp.97–101 – cited by Barrell (2000), who notes that the traditional timeline has John Mor dead by 1427.
Private and local clan battles (Many of these also had links at national level, including the feuds between Clan Donald and the Crown, Clan Douglas and the Crown and the Mary, Queen of Scots civil war)
The Battle of Harlaw was a Scottish clan battle fought on 24 July 1411 just north of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. It was one of a series of battles fought during the Middle Ages between the barons of northeast Scotland against those from the west coast.
Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald, is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of coats of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, recognises under Scottish law the High Chief of Clan Donald. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs also held the title of Earl of Ross until 1476. Queen Mary of Denmark is member of Clan Donald.
Clan Mackintosh is a Scottish clan from Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. The chiefs of the clan are the Mackintoshes of Mackintosh. Another branch of the clan, the Mackintoshes of Torcastle, are the chiefs of Clan Chattan, a historic confederation of clans.
Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, also known as Clan Ranald of Knoydart & Glengarry is a Scottish clan and is a branch of the larger Clan Donald. The clan takes its name from River Garry where the river Garry runs eastwards through Loch Garry to join the Great Glen about 16 miles (25 km) north of Fort William, Highland. The progenitor of the MacDonells of Glengarry is Reginald, 4th great-grandson of the warrior Somerled. The clan chief is traditionally designated as the "Son of Alexander's son".
The Lord-Lieutenant of Inverness is the British monarch's personal representative in an area which has been defined since 1975 as consisting of the local government districts of Inverness, Badenoch and Strathspey, and Lochaber, in Scotland, and this definition was renewed by the Lord-Lieutenants (Scotland) Order 1996. The area of the lieutenancy used to be the county of Inverness, which was abolished as a local government area by Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The districts were created, by the 1973 act, as districts of the two-tier Highland region and abolished as local government areas under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which turned the Highland region into a unitary council area.
Clan Cameron is a West Highland Scottish clan, with one main branch Lochiel, and numerous cadet branches. The Clan Cameron lands are in Lochaber and within their lands lies Ben Nevis which is the highest mountain in the British Isles. The Chief of the clan is customarily referred to as simply "Lochiel".
The Battle of Mulroy was a Scottish clan battle fought in August 1688 in the Lochaber district of Scotland. It was fought between the Clan Mackintosh who were supported by government troops under Kenneth Mackenzie of Suddie against the Clan MacDonald of Keppoch who were supported by the Clan Cameron over disputed lands in the Braes of Lochaber. The battlefield has been inventoried and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009.
Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, also known as Clan Ranald, is a Highland Scottish clan and a branch of Clan Donald, one of the largest Scottish clans. The founder of the Macdonalds of Clanranald is Reginald, 4th great-grandson of Somerled. The Macdonalds of Clanranald descend from Reginald's elder son Allan and the MacDonells of Glengarry descend from his younger son Donald. The clan chief of the MacDonalds of Clanranald is traditionally designated as The Captain of Clanranald and today both the chief and clan are recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the heraldic judge in Scotland.
Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, also known as Clan MacDonellof Keppoch or Clan Ranald of Lochaber, is a Highland Scottish clan and a branch of Clan Donald. The progenitor of the clan is Alistair Carrach MacDonald, 4th great-grandson of the warrior Somerled. The clan chief is traditionally designated as the "Son of Ranald's son".
The Clan MacDonald of Lochalsh was a Scottish family and a branch of the larger Clan Donald.
Donald, Lord of the Isles, was the son and successor of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles and chief of Clan Donald. The Lordship of the Isles was based in and around the Scottish west-coast island of Islay, but under Donald's father had come to include most of the isles and the lands of Somerled, the King of the Isles in the 12th century, Donald's predecessor, including Morvern, Garmoran, Lochaber, Kintyre and Knapdale on the mainland.
Alexander of Islay or Alexander MacDonald was a medieval Scottish nobleman who succeeded his father Domhnall of Islay as Lord of the Isles (1423–1449), later rising to the rank of Earl of Ross (1437–49). His lively career, especially before he attained the earldom of Ross, led Hugh MacDonald, the 17th century author of History of the MacDonalds, to commemorate him as "a man born to much trouble all his lifetime". Alexander allied himself with King James I of Scotland against the power of the Albany Stewarts in 1425 but, once the Albany Stewarts were out of the way, Alexander quickly found himself at odds with the new king. War with King James would initially prove Alexander's undoing, and would see the King's power in Scotland greatly increased, but at the Battle of Inverlochy Alexander's army prevailed against the forces of the King. Alexander died in 1449, having greatly extended his family's landed wealth and power. He was buried, not in the Isles of his ancestors, but at Fortrose Cathedral in his mainland Earldom of Ross.
The Battle of Achnashellach was a Scottish clan battle said to have taken place in the year 1505, in the Scottish Highlands at Achnashellach. It was fought by the Clan Cameron against the Clan Mackay and the Clan Munro.
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