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Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail, who, as has already been mentioned, had his eye on events in Isles and was doing his best to obstruct any other scheme except one that would ultimately give him the rights to it, now made his move. He managed to get the Adventurers to transfer their rights over to him, and the Chancellor of Scotland to pass an Act under the Great Seal confirming in him those rights.
The means by which he was able to accomplish this was that he was able to produce charters and deeds supporting his claims. It is ironic that if he had produced those documents when the King issued his proclamation demanding them back in 1597 over ten years of murder and mayhem could have been avoided.
Anyway, after an enquiry the decision to give him the rights to Lewis were reversed.
It might be convenient at this point to give a brief outline of the events which led up to the state of affairs in Lewis at this time.
Tradition has it that one Leod, a son of Olaf the Black, King of Mann and the Isles back when it was a part of the Norse Kingdom, had two sons Torquil and Tormod and they were given possession of lands in the Western Isles, Skye and parts of Wester Ross on the mainland.
From the 14th century to the beginning of the 17th century there were two branches of the Macleod Clan in the Isles.
(1) Macleods of Lewis known as Sìol Thorcaill ("Seed of Torquil").
(2) The MacLeods of Harris and Dunvegan known as Sìol Thormoid ("Seed of Tormod" or Norman).
In the years prior to the one being related here, up to 1595, the Macleod Chief was one Roderick Macleod. He was married three times:
(1) Janet Mackenzie, sister of John Mackenzie of Kintail. They had a son, Torquil, (Torcuil Connanach), who was raised among his mother’s family the Mackenzies. Janet eloped with a man from Raasay and Roderick disowned and disinherited Torquil.
(2) Barbara Stewart, daughter of Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Avondale and Margaret Hamilton, a daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran. This Lord Avondale later became 1st Lord Ochiltree. Barbara’s niece Margaret married John Knox. Roderick and Barbara had a son which was also named Torquil. He became the legitimate heir. Sadly this son was drowned along with sixty of his followers while crossing from Lewis to Skye. (Was this an accident? There is no confirmation, one way or the other).
The disinherited Torcuil Connanach, with the aid of the Mackenzies, took up arms against his father, captured him and had him locked up in Stornoway Castle for four years until he agreed to recognise his first born as his legitimate heir. Roderick was later called before the Privy Council in Edinburgh and was forced to resign his lands to the Crown. The Crown then granted them to Torcuil. When Roderick returned to Lewis he revoked all he had agreed to on the grounds that he had been forced into agreeing. Later on, after their quarrels had been reconciled, Roderick again made Torcuil Connanach his heir.
(3) Jeannette Maclean, daughter of Hector Maclean of Duart. They had two sons, yes you’ve guessed it, yet another Torquil, (Torcuil Dubh) and Tormod. Roderick then made this Torcuil Dubh his heir.
Torcuil Connanach again attacked his father, again captured him and confined him in Stornoway Castle. All the charters and title deeds of Lewis were handed over to the Mackenzies, probably for safekeeping. Roderick was freed during an attack on the castle and he ruled Lewis in comparative peace for the remainder of his life. During this attack Torcuil Connanach’s son was killed.
In addition to the above Roderick had five illegitimate sons, Tormod, Murdoch, Donald, Ruairi Og and Neil. It was Ruairi Og who freed his father from Stornoway Castle and killed Torcuil Connanach’s son.
With all that lot and all the illustrious relations, the Harris Macleods, the Skye Macleods, the Macleods from the mainland, the Mackenzies, the Macleans, Morrisons, Mackays, Camerons and Macneils, keen to get their hands on the inheritance, one can easily see that Lewis wasn’t big enough for all of them. This, then, is the cause of all the feuding and squabbling among the family and the relations which ultimately led to them losing everything. While Roderick was alive he had the authority and the presence to avoid too much involvement by the Crown, but on his death in 1595 things got out of hand altogether and the Macleods, too busy murdering each other, began to lose their grip.
One observation that is glaringly apparent is that in even the one generation shown above the Macleods were well connected with the crème de la crème of Scottish society including Royalty. So what are they giving it in Edinburgh with all the ‘uncivilised, Godless barbarians’ stuff?
Back to the plot:
On 18th October 1607 King James made a fresh grant of the rights of the syndicate to James Elphinstone, 1st Lord Balmerino, Secretary of State, Sir James Spens of Wormiston, and Sir George Hay of Netherliffe. ( In 1608/09 Balmerino was arrested, tried and found guilty of treason, thereby precluding him from holding any rights in the syndicate).
By March 1608 plans were under way to send another expedition to the Isles. Here we go again. It was agreed that “a mighty force be put forth that should once and for all tame the wicked blood of the Isles” An army was to be assembled comprising militias from all over the Lowlands, it being decided that Highland militias were not to be trusted to carry out the duties necessary. Orders were issued for the militias of the shires of Dumbarton, Argyll, Tarbert, Ayr, Renfrew and Galloway to assemble at Islay on the 1st June. Regular soldiers and a fleet from Ireland that could be spared were also to join then. (Similar ‘plantations’ were being ‘established’ in Ulster at this time). Enlisting of soldiers for foreign service was suspended for the duration.
An edict was issued by the Commissioners and circulated to Chiefs all over the Highlands and Islands:
(1) Security for the feu-duties payable to the Crown;
(2) Obedience to the laws by the chiefs and their followers;
(3) Delivery of all strongholds, which were to be at the King's disposal;
(4) Renunciation of hereditary and other jurisdictions, and submission to the authority of the Crown officers;
(5)Acceptance of whatever dispositions of their lands the King might make, and whatever conditions of tenure he might impose;
(6) Destruction of all vessels, except such as might be required for the conveyance of the King's
Duties; paid in kind, and for other necessary purposes;
(7) Provision of education for their children, and for those of their clansmen who could afford it, under the directions of the Privy Council;
(8) Abstention from the use of guns, bows, and two-handed swords, the only arms to be allowed being single-handed swords and targes.
An order was issued to all keepers of castles charging them to surrender their fortresses within twenty four hours of the arrival of a bearer of the Crown mandates in their vicinity. This order made it easy for those castles to be subsequently commandeered.
Another order was issued to raise the militias of Stirling, Fife, Kinross, Perth, Clackmannon, Forfar, Edinburgh and surrounding districts. The date for assembling at Islay was put back a month to 1st July to allow time for all this additional mobilisation.
Lieutenancy of the Isles and command of the military forces was given to Andrew Stewart, 3rd Lord of Ochiltree. (Nephew of Barbara, Roderick Macleod’s wife and brother to Margaret who was John Knox’s second wife. In 1619 he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Castle Stuart. His son was created a Baronet in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia in 1628).
A personal bodyguard of five hundred soldiers was ordered for his protection. (Can’t be too careful with these Lewismen on the loose).
Andrew Knox, Bishop of the Isles (don’t know if he was related to John Knox, thereby by marriage to Ochiltree) and Sir James Hay of Beauly were commissioned to assist him. The good Bishop was given a personal bodyguard of thirty; obviously expendable.
Meanwhile Neil Macleod, in Lewis, knowing full well that he could not repel such a force, prepared for retreating out of harm’s way, stocked up and bided his time; a tactic that proved successful the last time.
Ochiltree sailed to Islay where Angus Macdonald’s Dunyvaig Castle was delivered up to him along with the fort of Lochgorm which he demolished. On the 14th August he sailed North with his fleet which had been joined by a fleet from Ireland and two Naval vessels from England. On the 15th he sailed up the Sound of Mull and took Duart Castle, home of Hector Maclean on Mull. It was garrisoned on the 17th. He took Aros Castle where he set up Court and summoned all the Chiefs of the Isles.
Most of the Chiefs turned up but Neil Macleod of Lewis and Macneil of Barra declined the invitation, no apologies were received from them either. The conference did not go according to plan but Ochiltree was determined not to fail. He invited all the Chiefs to go aboard his ship to hear a sermon from the Bishop of the Isles and have a dinner afterwards. They all went aboard except Macleod of Harris, who suspected foul play and was too much of an old dog to be snared so easily.
After dinner the Chiefs were told that they were prisoners by the King’s orders. Ochiltree ordered the captain to weigh anchor and make for Ayr. From Ayr the prisoners were transported to Edinburgh from where they were sent to the prisons at Dunbarton, Blackness and Stirling Castles.
Ochiltree’s treachery can only be matched by his cowardice. He blamed the lateness of the season and the weather for not proceeding against Macleod of Lewis and Macneil of Barra.
For the rest of 1608 and most of 1609 negotiations between the imprisoned Island Chiefs and the mainland Chiefs continued apace. Guarantees of good behaviour and securities for keeping the peace in the region was demanded and eventually given. As the negotiations appeared to be yielding results the forces that had been amassed were stood down. During those negotiations the Bishop of the Isles managed to secure agreement on that most infamous of documents, the Statutes of Iona. They were:
(1) Churches were to be repaired, a parochial ministry was to be established, and temporary marriages were declared illegal;
(2) Inns were to be set up in convenient places, at once for the accommodation of travellers and for the relief of private persons who had hitherto been at the mercy of "idle men without any calling or vocation to win their living";
(3) Masterless vagabonds were to be cleared out of the islands;
(4) Beggars and sorners were to be dealt with as thieves and oppressors;
(5) The importation of wine and aqua vitae was forbidden on the ground that the excessive drinking of these was the main cause of the poverty and barbarity of the islands;
(6) Every yeoman or gentleman was to send his eldest son (or daughter if he had no sons) to school in the Lowlands, where he was to remain till he could speak, read, and write English;
(7) the carrying of fire-arms, even for the shooting of game, was strictly proscribed;
(8) Vagabonds and bards; who had been one of the abuses that had “defylit the haill lies” were first to be placed in the stocks, and thereafter "with all guidly expeditioun" expelled from the country;
(9) To ensure the execution of the Statutes, every chief was to possess the power of apprehending such as broke them and of proceeding against the offenders by due course of law.
The following year (1610) a further arrangement was made to ensure the operation of these Statutes. The principal Chieftains became bound to appear before the Council at stated intervals, and Bishop Knox received a life-commission as Steward and Justice of all the North and West Isles of Scotland.
By 15th November 1609 the Adventurers were ready to have another go a colonising Lewis. On 17th Kenneth Mackenzie was created Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, having given assurances that he would protect and provision the colonists. He openly gave them assistance and supplies, making them dependent upon him. He then secretly gave Neil Macleod details of the shipments and help to way-lay them. He was still intent on scuppering the project by fair means or foul.
Sir James Spens and Sir George Hay finally decided to disband their allies and set off for Fife themselves with a view to securing more supplies and reinforcements. A small garrison was left behind to protect the colony.
Neil Macleod at once seized the opportunity to strike another blow. He got his compatriots together and attacked the colonists, killed many of them, took the rest prisoners, and sent them safely home. They never came back; by February 1610 the Island of Lewis was back in Macleod hands. This is where the story of the Honourable Gentlemen Adventurers of Fife ends, as far as Lewis is concerned anyway.
Mackenzie prevailed upon the Adventurers to sell their titles deeds for Lewis to him. He also acquired the forfeited shares of Balmerino. This time there were no official objections, he was the undisputed owner of all rights to Lewis. He landed on Lewis at the head of 700 men, he meant business and soon a semblance of order was imposed. Lord Mackenzie died in 1611, (after all that eh?) and the title passed to his son Colin who was created the 1st Earl of Seaforth in 1623. Lewis remained in the Seaforth family for nearly 250 years, until 1844.
King James had redirected his obsession with planting colonies to Ireland. Ochiltree was transferred there to do his worst. The effects of their efforts are felt in Ulster to this day. Where would we be if they had succeeded in the Western Isles?
The Macleods continued to harass the new owners for several more years, but that’s another story. Neil himself was finally captured, taken to Edinburgh and executed in the Market Cross in April 1613. “Very Christianly”, according to witnesses. Nice to know he didn’t suffer.
The means by which he was able to accomplish this was that he was able to produce charters and deeds supporting his claims. It is ironic that if he had produced those documents when the King issued his proclamation demanding them back in 1597 over ten years of murder and mayhem could have been avoided.
Anyway, after an enquiry the decision to give him the rights to Lewis were reversed.
It might be convenient at this point to give a brief outline of the events which led up to the state of affairs in Lewis at this time.
Tradition has it that one Leod, a son of Olaf the Black, King of Mann and the Isles back when it was a part of the Norse Kingdom, had two sons Torquil and Tormod and they were given possession of lands in the Western Isles, Skye and parts of Wester Ross on the mainland.
From the 14th century to the beginning of the 17th century there were two branches of the Macleod Clan in the Isles.
(1) Macleods of Lewis known as Sìol Thorcaill ("Seed of Torquil").
(2) The MacLeods of Harris and Dunvegan known as Sìol Thormoid ("Seed of Tormod" or Norman).
In the years prior to the one being related here, up to 1595, the Macleod Chief was one Roderick Macleod. He was married three times:
(1) Janet Mackenzie, sister of John Mackenzie of Kintail. They had a son, Torquil, (Torcuil Connanach), who was raised among his mother’s family the Mackenzies. Janet eloped with a man from Raasay and Roderick disowned and disinherited Torquil.
(2) Barbara Stewart, daughter of Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Avondale and Margaret Hamilton, a daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran. This Lord Avondale later became 1st Lord Ochiltree. Barbara’s niece Margaret married John Knox. Roderick and Barbara had a son which was also named Torquil. He became the legitimate heir. Sadly this son was drowned along with sixty of his followers while crossing from Lewis to Skye. (Was this an accident? There is no confirmation, one way or the other).
The disinherited Torcuil Connanach, with the aid of the Mackenzies, took up arms against his father, captured him and had him locked up in Stornoway Castle for four years until he agreed to recognise his first born as his legitimate heir. Roderick was later called before the Privy Council in Edinburgh and was forced to resign his lands to the Crown. The Crown then granted them to Torcuil. When Roderick returned to Lewis he revoked all he had agreed to on the grounds that he had been forced into agreeing. Later on, after their quarrels had been reconciled, Roderick again made Torcuil Connanach his heir.
(3) Jeannette Maclean, daughter of Hector Maclean of Duart. They had two sons, yes you’ve guessed it, yet another Torquil, (Torcuil Dubh) and Tormod. Roderick then made this Torcuil Dubh his heir.
Torcuil Connanach again attacked his father, again captured him and confined him in Stornoway Castle. All the charters and title deeds of Lewis were handed over to the Mackenzies, probably for safekeeping. Roderick was freed during an attack on the castle and he ruled Lewis in comparative peace for the remainder of his life. During this attack Torcuil Connanach’s son was killed.
In addition to the above Roderick had five illegitimate sons, Tormod, Murdoch, Donald, Ruairi Og and Neil. It was Ruairi Og who freed his father from Stornoway Castle and killed Torcuil Connanach’s son.
With all that lot and all the illustrious relations, the Harris Macleods, the Skye Macleods, the Macleods from the mainland, the Mackenzies, the Macleans, Morrisons, Mackays, Camerons and Macneils, keen to get their hands on the inheritance, one can easily see that Lewis wasn’t big enough for all of them. This, then, is the cause of all the feuding and squabbling among the family and the relations which ultimately led to them losing everything. While Roderick was alive he had the authority and the presence to avoid too much involvement by the Crown, but on his death in 1595 things got out of hand altogether and the Macleods, too busy murdering each other, began to lose their grip.
One observation that is glaringly apparent is that in even the one generation shown above the Macleods were well connected with the crème de la crème of Scottish society including Royalty. So what are they giving it in Edinburgh with all the ‘uncivilised, Godless barbarians’ stuff?
Back to the plot:
On 18th October 1607 King James made a fresh grant of the rights of the syndicate to James Elphinstone, 1st Lord Balmerino, Secretary of State, Sir James Spens of Wormiston, and Sir George Hay of Netherliffe. ( In 1608/09 Balmerino was arrested, tried and found guilty of treason, thereby precluding him from holding any rights in the syndicate).
By March 1608 plans were under way to send another expedition to the Isles. Here we go again. It was agreed that “a mighty force be put forth that should once and for all tame the wicked blood of the Isles” An army was to be assembled comprising militias from all over the Lowlands, it being decided that Highland militias were not to be trusted to carry out the duties necessary. Orders were issued for the militias of the shires of Dumbarton, Argyll, Tarbert, Ayr, Renfrew and Galloway to assemble at Islay on the 1st June. Regular soldiers and a fleet from Ireland that could be spared were also to join then. (Similar ‘plantations’ were being ‘established’ in Ulster at this time). Enlisting of soldiers for foreign service was suspended for the duration.
An edict was issued by the Commissioners and circulated to Chiefs all over the Highlands and Islands:
(1) Security for the feu-duties payable to the Crown;
(2) Obedience to the laws by the chiefs and their followers;
(3) Delivery of all strongholds, which were to be at the King's disposal;
(4) Renunciation of hereditary and other jurisdictions, and submission to the authority of the Crown officers;
(5)Acceptance of whatever dispositions of their lands the King might make, and whatever conditions of tenure he might impose;
(6) Destruction of all vessels, except such as might be required for the conveyance of the King's
Duties; paid in kind, and for other necessary purposes;
(7) Provision of education for their children, and for those of their clansmen who could afford it, under the directions of the Privy Council;
(8) Abstention from the use of guns, bows, and two-handed swords, the only arms to be allowed being single-handed swords and targes.
An order was issued to all keepers of castles charging them to surrender their fortresses within twenty four hours of the arrival of a bearer of the Crown mandates in their vicinity. This order made it easy for those castles to be subsequently commandeered.
Another order was issued to raise the militias of Stirling, Fife, Kinross, Perth, Clackmannon, Forfar, Edinburgh and surrounding districts. The date for assembling at Islay was put back a month to 1st July to allow time for all this additional mobilisation.
Lieutenancy of the Isles and command of the military forces was given to Andrew Stewart, 3rd Lord of Ochiltree. (Nephew of Barbara, Roderick Macleod’s wife and brother to Margaret who was John Knox’s second wife. In 1619 he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Castle Stuart. His son was created a Baronet in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia in 1628).
A personal bodyguard of five hundred soldiers was ordered for his protection. (Can’t be too careful with these Lewismen on the loose).
Andrew Knox, Bishop of the Isles (don’t know if he was related to John Knox, thereby by marriage to Ochiltree) and Sir James Hay of Beauly were commissioned to assist him. The good Bishop was given a personal bodyguard of thirty; obviously expendable.
Meanwhile Neil Macleod, in Lewis, knowing full well that he could not repel such a force, prepared for retreating out of harm’s way, stocked up and bided his time; a tactic that proved successful the last time.
Ochiltree sailed to Islay where Angus Macdonald’s Dunyvaig Castle was delivered up to him along with the fort of Lochgorm which he demolished. On the 14th August he sailed North with his fleet which had been joined by a fleet from Ireland and two Naval vessels from England. On the 15th he sailed up the Sound of Mull and took Duart Castle, home of Hector Maclean on Mull. It was garrisoned on the 17th. He took Aros Castle where he set up Court and summoned all the Chiefs of the Isles.
Most of the Chiefs turned up but Neil Macleod of Lewis and Macneil of Barra declined the invitation, no apologies were received from them either. The conference did not go according to plan but Ochiltree was determined not to fail. He invited all the Chiefs to go aboard his ship to hear a sermon from the Bishop of the Isles and have a dinner afterwards. They all went aboard except Macleod of Harris, who suspected foul play and was too much of an old dog to be snared so easily.
After dinner the Chiefs were told that they were prisoners by the King’s orders. Ochiltree ordered the captain to weigh anchor and make for Ayr. From Ayr the prisoners were transported to Edinburgh from where they were sent to the prisons at Dunbarton, Blackness and Stirling Castles.
Ochiltree’s treachery can only be matched by his cowardice. He blamed the lateness of the season and the weather for not proceeding against Macleod of Lewis and Macneil of Barra.
For the rest of 1608 and most of 1609 negotiations between the imprisoned Island Chiefs and the mainland Chiefs continued apace. Guarantees of good behaviour and securities for keeping the peace in the region was demanded and eventually given. As the negotiations appeared to be yielding results the forces that had been amassed were stood down. During those negotiations the Bishop of the Isles managed to secure agreement on that most infamous of documents, the Statutes of Iona. They were:
(1) Churches were to be repaired, a parochial ministry was to be established, and temporary marriages were declared illegal;
(2) Inns were to be set up in convenient places, at once for the accommodation of travellers and for the relief of private persons who had hitherto been at the mercy of "idle men without any calling or vocation to win their living";
(3) Masterless vagabonds were to be cleared out of the islands;
(4) Beggars and sorners were to be dealt with as thieves and oppressors;
(5) The importation of wine and aqua vitae was forbidden on the ground that the excessive drinking of these was the main cause of the poverty and barbarity of the islands;
(6) Every yeoman or gentleman was to send his eldest son (or daughter if he had no sons) to school in the Lowlands, where he was to remain till he could speak, read, and write English;
(7) the carrying of fire-arms, even for the shooting of game, was strictly proscribed;
(8) Vagabonds and bards; who had been one of the abuses that had “defylit the haill lies” were first to be placed in the stocks, and thereafter "with all guidly expeditioun" expelled from the country;
(9) To ensure the execution of the Statutes, every chief was to possess the power of apprehending such as broke them and of proceeding against the offenders by due course of law.
The following year (1610) a further arrangement was made to ensure the operation of these Statutes. The principal Chieftains became bound to appear before the Council at stated intervals, and Bishop Knox received a life-commission as Steward and Justice of all the North and West Isles of Scotland.
By 15th November 1609 the Adventurers were ready to have another go a colonising Lewis. On 17th Kenneth Mackenzie was created Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, having given assurances that he would protect and provision the colonists. He openly gave them assistance and supplies, making them dependent upon him. He then secretly gave Neil Macleod details of the shipments and help to way-lay them. He was still intent on scuppering the project by fair means or foul.
Sir James Spens and Sir George Hay finally decided to disband their allies and set off for Fife themselves with a view to securing more supplies and reinforcements. A small garrison was left behind to protect the colony.
Neil Macleod at once seized the opportunity to strike another blow. He got his compatriots together and attacked the colonists, killed many of them, took the rest prisoners, and sent them safely home. They never came back; by February 1610 the Island of Lewis was back in Macleod hands. This is where the story of the Honourable Gentlemen Adventurers of Fife ends, as far as Lewis is concerned anyway.
Mackenzie prevailed upon the Adventurers to sell their titles deeds for Lewis to him. He also acquired the forfeited shares of Balmerino. This time there were no official objections, he was the undisputed owner of all rights to Lewis. He landed on Lewis at the head of 700 men, he meant business and soon a semblance of order was imposed. Lord Mackenzie died in 1611, (after all that eh?) and the title passed to his son Colin who was created the 1st Earl of Seaforth in 1623. Lewis remained in the Seaforth family for nearly 250 years, until 1844.
King James had redirected his obsession with planting colonies to Ireland. Ochiltree was transferred there to do his worst. The effects of their efforts are felt in Ulster to this day. Where would we be if they had succeeded in the Western Isles?
The Macleods continued to harass the new owners for several more years, but that’s another story. Neil himself was finally captured, taken to Edinburgh and executed in the Market Cross in April 1613. “Very Christianly”, according to witnesses. Nice to know he didn’t suffer.
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