The Macleods of Dunvegan

M-'{\c V\>"V j\^: Ihv^^ THE MACLEODS OF DUNVEGAN Photo, by Moffat, Bdhibur.-h. Norman, Twenty-third Chief of MacLeod. Frontispiece. THE MACLEODS OF DUNVEGAN From the Time of Leod to the End of the Seventeenth Century BASED UPON THE BANNATYNE MS. AND ON THE PAPERS PRESERVED IN THE DUNVEGAN CHARTER CHEST BY THE REV. CANON R. C. MACLEOD OF MACLEOD PRIVATELY PRINTED FOR THE CLAN MACLEOD SOCIETY 1927 o^ ^ B -'l')^"> [Art DEDICATED TO MY FELLOW CLANSMEN AND CLANSWOMEN IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD FOREWORD By Sir JOHN LORNE MACLEOD. G.B.E., LL.D. I HAVE the honour to make a few preHminary remarks upon the issue of the present volume. I presume to say forthwith that this result of the labours and investigation of the learned writer concerning the origin and history of our Clan will be welcomed by every one of the name, and associated with the name, both at home and overseas. We are all under a deep debt of gratitude to Canon R. C. MacLeod of MacLeod for yield- ing to our solicitations, and thus making available in permanent form his great store of knowledge upon a subject which inspires our pride and patriotism, and reanimates our spirit of continuing clanship. We express our high loyalty to our revered and honoured Chief—MacLeod of MacLeod—and to the House of Dunvegan. This volume, though particularly relating to ' The MacLeods of Dunvegan ' —and so limited in its title, as is properly the case, having regard to the special sources of information founded on—is not, however, thus exclusive in its scope. On the contrary, it embraces much matter of a general character relating to the Clan as a whole, and of equal interest and importance to other branches viii THE MACLEODS OF DUNVEGAN of the Clan, in regard to which the same particular information, for a variety of reasons, probably cannot now be ' ascertained. The fall of ' the MacLeods of Lewis in the latter part of the sixteenth century has left many blank pages in the history of the Clan. The general matter referred to relates to our common origin, and also to various events and affairs in Highland history, and in the larger sphere of Scottish history. Indeed, while no sort of pretension of the kind is made, the volume is a marked contribution in the latter respect, apart from its special interest to members of the Clan. The separate kingdom of Man and the Isles, the re- absorption of the western islands into geographical Scotland and, under the Scottish Crown, the rise of the clans, their inter-relations, and their common relationship to the central government, are aspects which are touched upon, and in regard to which a convincing and satisfac- tory view has still to be stated in our national history. The present volume will be helpful in this direction. The references to the social and political conditions in the Highlands during the last two preceding centuries are perhaps only too brief. The House of Dunvegan has a noble record as regards its military service and the welfare of the Clan. The achievements of the original Highland regiments, and the emigration from the High- lands, both of which subjects are also touched upon, had an effect upon the growth and development of the Dominions overseas of capital importance in the history of British expansion. FOREWORD ix It is not wasted effort to preserve our sense of kinship, and our background of clan history and tradition. These things are still a unifying actuahty, which we more fully realise through the present volume, and I again express our appreciation of the devoted study and research which its preparation has involved, and our gratitude for its publication. J. LORNE MACLEOD. 72 Great King Street, Edinburgh, is/ January 1927. PREFACE A LARGE amount of manuscript has been preserved in the Glendale branch of the MacLeod family, now known as the Bannatyne MacLeods. The most important part of this is a history of the MacLeods of Dunvegan from the time of Leod up to the time of Tormod, eleventh Chief, who died in 1585. It contains the fullest history of the Clan I have ever seen during this period. It covers 142 sheets of foolscap paper, and must have been written at some period before 1857, when the gentleman who was probably the author died. No author's name appears in the manuscript. The fact that it is known as the Bannatyne MS., coupled with what we know of Sir William MacLeod Bannatyne of Kames, would lead one to suppose that it was his work. This gentleman was born in 1749, and died in 1838. He was a son of Roderick MacLeod, and a great-grandson of Sir Norman MacLeod of Bemera. His mother was a daughter of Bannatyne of Kames, and through her he succeeded to his uncle's estate, and took the name of. Bannatyne. His hobby is known to have been the study of old High- land history and tradition, and yet, as far as I have been able to ascertain, no fragment of all the notes he must have made remain, if this manuscript is not his work. There was no more distinguished authority on West Highland history than Gregory, the author of the History xii THE MACLEODS OF DUNVEGAN of the Western Highlands of Scotland, and Gregory bears the following testimony to the merits of Sir William MacLeod Bannatyne as an archaeologist. ' The author takes this opportunity to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of that lamented gentleman who, during a public life of seventy years (for he died at the advanced age of ninety-one), was ever distinguished by his zeal in all matters tending to benefit the Highlands and Islands. He early turned his attention to the history of the prin- cipal Highland families, and to the peculiar manners and customs of the Highlanders, in the elucidation of which his progress was so great at a time when, from political causes, these subjects were generally neglected, as to make it a matter of regret that he never thought proper to communicate his knowledge to the world. To him the author of the present work is indebted for much curious information, and for many valuable suggestions.' But there is one fact which militates against the theory that Sir William Bannatyne wrote the manuscript. Both in it and in a separate monograph the author stoutly maintains that Tormod, the ancestor of the branch known as the ' Sliochd Ian Mhic Leoid,' was really the elder son of Ian Borb, the sixth chief, who died about 1440, and that his descendants ought to have been chiefs instead of those who have actually ruled over the Clan since the time of their common ancestor. It is possible that Sir William Bannatyne, who was a scion of the Bernera family, might have become convinced that this theory was the true one, but it is more likely that it should be held by one who himself belonged to the ' Sliochd Ian Mhic Leoid.' Such a one was Dr. Bannatyne William MacLeod, a son of William MacLeod, eighth of Glendale, and a cousin : PREFACE xiii of Sir William Bannatyne, and I incline to the opinion that he was the author of the manuscript for the following reasons : (i) The manuscript is in the possession of his descendants. (2) He belonged to the ' Sliochd Ian Mhic Leoid.' But as Bannatyne MacLeod spent most of his life in India, it seems unlikely that he should himself have been able to collect the mass of information given in the manuscript, and I think that probably Sir William Bannatyne gave or bequeathed to him the notes he had made during his researches, and that from them he com- piled the history we have in the manuscript. If this surmise is correct, we have in the manuscript the results of Sir William's labours, which Gregory wished had been given to the world. Turning from the question of the authorship to the manuscript itself, it is quite certain that it is very largely based on traditions which have been orally handed down from generation to generation in the families of the bards and the seannachies. The question as to what may be the value of tradition is too large a subject to deal with here, but I may quote the author's words on the subject ' Traditions, however apt to be incorrect guides, may be generally relied upon in tracing the history of the families who formerly ruled in the Western Isles. These families prided themselves on their descent, and they distinguished with much honour their bards and seannachies. It was the duty of these men to learn from their fathers the history of past times and the genealogy, of each family, and they, on all occasions of moment and state, had to rehearse their knowledge before an audience of apt critics and jealous rivals, who were as ready as : xiv THE MACLEODS OF DUNVEGAN they were able to correct a mistake, or expose a fabri- cation. This being the case the traditions preserved by the bards are not without value.' The account the author gives of the installation of a Chief bears out this statement in a particularly interesting manner ' After the funeral of the late Chief all the clan present sat down to a funeral feast. At this feast it was the duty of the bards to rehearse the genealogy of the deceased, to praise his achievements, and to lament his loss. It was then their duty to give an exordium on the qualities of his successor, and express the expectations and hopes of the clan as to his valour and other virtues.

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