CHAPTER XIIL

The Clan-Cameron disturb Lochaber-Invaded by Lord Gordon-Threats of the Earl of Caithness to invade Sutherland and Strathnaver-Earl of Sutherland prepares to oppose him-Sir Donald Mackay and others pardoned—Earl of Sutherland imprisoned as a suspected Catholic-Liberated-Returns to prison-Liberated again-Fresh attempts of the Earl of Caithness-William Mack-Kames settles in Strathnaver-Apprehended stealing in the Glen of Loth-Oppressions of the Earl of Caithness-Firing of the corns of Sanset-Discovery of the Fire-raisers-Legal proceedings against the Guns-Earl of Caithness refuses to deliver them up-Agreement between the Earl of Caithness, Sir Robert Gordon, and Lord Forbes-Apprehension and imprisonment of Lord Berridale-Released-Imprisoned again for debt-Alliance between the Earl of Caithness and Sir Donald Mackay-Sir Robert Gordon protects the ClanGun-Mackay's attempts against the Clan-Dispute between the Earl of Caithness and Sir Alexander Gordon of Navidale-Meeting on the marches of Rimbisdale Mackay and Sir R. Gordon reconciled-Quarrel between the Earl of Enzie and the Clan-Chattan-The Chief committed to prison-Is reconciled with the Earl-Dispute between the Laird of Duffus and Gordon, younger of Embo-Slaughter of Thomas Lindsay-Hostile preparations against the Earl of Caithness-Liberation of Lord Berridale-Expedition into Caithness-Flight of the Earl-Reduction and Pacification of Caithness.

DURING the years sixteen hundred and twelve and thirteen, the peace of Lochaber was disturbed by the Clan-Cameron, who put the whole of that country into an uproar. George, Lord Gordon, eldest son of the Marquis of Huntly, raised a force to put them down, and wrote to Sir Robert Gordon and Donald Mackay to meet him at Inverness, for the purpose of accompanying him into Lochaber. Having collected a body of three hundred men, well armed and appointed, they went to Inverness at the time appointed; but on arriving there, in the month of August, they were informed that the proposed ex pedition had, in the meantime, been postponed. In the course of the following year, however, the enterprize was entered upon, and the earl of Sutherland, who had just returned from his travels, sent Donald Mackay and John Gordon, younger of Embo, with three hundred able and resolute men, and one hundred and forty servants, to assist Lord Gordon in his expedition. Immediately on their arrival in Lochaber, the Sutherland men accidentally fell in with Alain-Mac-Dhonnil-Duibh, captain of the Clan-Cameron, and his party, whom they proposed immediately to attack; but they were dissuaded from engaging by some of Lord Gordon's men, who assured them that a truce, for two days, had been entered into between the clan and his lordship. Lord Gordon having pursued these disturbers of the peace, and restored

Lochaber to quiet in the meantime, returned home; but he was soon again despatched thither by the privy council, in consequence of fresh disturbances on the part of Alain-Mac-Dhonnil-Duibh, who had killed thirteen of his clan whom he suspected of treachery. Order was again restored, for a time, by the submission of Alain-Mac-Dhonnil-Duibh, who surrendered himself to Lord Gordon in the latter end of sixteen hundred and fourteen. Alain was imprisoned at Inverness, but was released from confinement on giving sufficient surety to keep the king's peace in time coming.*

As the privy council showed no inclination to decide the questions submitted to them by the earl of Caithness and his adversaries, the earl sent his brother, Sir John Sinclair of Greenland, to Edinburgh, to complain of the delay which had taken place, and desired him to throw out hints, that if the earl did not obtain satisfaction for his supposed injuries, he would take redress at his own hands. The earl thought that he would succeed by such a threat in concussing the council to decide in his favour, for he was well aware that he was unable to carry it into execution. To give some appearance of an intention to enforce it, he, in the month of October, sixteen hundred and thirteen, while the earl of Sutherland, his brothers and nephews, were absent from the country, made a demonstration of invading Sutherland or Strathnaver, by collecting his forces at a particular point, and bringing thither some pieces of ordnance from Castle Sinclair. The earl of Sutherland, having arrived in Sutherland while the earl of Caithness was thus employed, immediately assembled some of his countrymen, and along with his brother Sir Alexander, went to the marches between Sutherland and Caithness, near the height of Strathully, where they waited the approach of the earl of Caithness. Here they were joined by Mackay who had given notice of the earl of Caithness's movements to the lairds of Foulis, Balnagown, and Assint, and the sheriff of Cromarty, and the tutor of Kintail, all of whom prepared themselves to assist the earl of Sutherland on receiving notice that their services were wanted.

While matters stood thus, Sir John Sinclair returned from Edinburgh, who, along with the laird of Murkle, went to his brother's camp, reported what he had done, and advised him not to hazard an appeal to arms, but wait the pleasure of the council, who would undoubtedly give him satisfaction. Earl George, very wisely, took his brother's advice, and returned home with his men, who made a narrow escape from drowning, in consequence of being overtaken in their journey home by a tremendous tempest of wind and rain. The earl of Sutherland sent his brother, Sir Alexander, Donald Mackay, and Gordon, younger of Embo, with a party of men after the earl of Caithness, to watch his movements, who remained in Caithness three days, and having witnessed the dissolution of his force, returned to Sutherland.

Sir R. Gordon, p. 295.

APPREHENSION OF THE EARL OF SUTHERLAND.

259

To prevent the earl of Caithness from attempting any farther inter ference with the privy council, either in the way of intrigue or intimi dation, Sir Robert Gordon obtained a remission and pardon from the king, in the month of December, sixteen hundred and thirteen, to his nephew, Donald Mackay, John Gordon, younger of Embo, John Gordon in Broray, Adam Gordon Georgeson, and their accomplices, for the slaughter of John Sinclair of Stirkage at Thurso. An impediment was thrown in the way of its passing the seals by Sir Gideon Murray, the Deputy Treasurer of Scotland, in consequence of a private warrant from his Majesty, directed to Sir Gideon to pass the signature of the remission gratis; but this impediment was removed by a second warrant from the king to Sir Gideon, who passed the remission through the seals, in the beginning of the year sixteen hundred and sixteen.*

The earl of Caithness, being thus baffled in his designs against the earl of Sutherland and his friends, fell upon a device which never failed to succeed in times of religious intolerance and persecution. Unfortunately for mankind and for the interests of Christianity, the principles of religious toleration, involving the inalienable right of every man to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience, have been, till of late, but little understood, and at the period in question, and for upwards of one hundred and sixty years thereafter, the statute book of Scotland was disgraced by penal enactments against the Catholics, almost unparalleled for their sanguinary atrocity. By an act of the first parliament of James VI., any Catholic who assisted at the offices of his religion, was, "for the first fault," that is, for following the dictates of his conscience, to suffer confiscation of all his goods, moveable and immoveable, personal and real; for the second banishment; and death for the third fault! But the law was not confined to overt acts only-the mere suspicion of being a Catholic placed the suspected person out of the pale and protection of the law, for if, on being warned by the bishops and ministers, he did not recant and give confession of his faith according to the approved form, he was excommunicated and declared infamous and incapable to sit or stand in judgment, pursue or bear office. +

Under this last mentioned law, the earl of Caithness now sought to gratify his vengeance against the earl of Sutherland. Having represented to the archbishop of St Andrews and the clergy of Scotland, that the earl of Sutherland was a Catholic in private, he prevailed upon the bishops, with little difficulty, it is supposed, to acquaint the king thereof. His majesty, thereupon, issued a warrant against the earl of Sutherland, who was, in consequence, apprehended and imprisoned at St Andrews. The earl applied to the bishops for a month's delay, namely, till the fifteenth day of February, sixteen hundred and fourteen, pro

mising that, before that time, he would either give the church satisfaction, or surrender himself; but his application was refused by the High Commission of Scotland. Sir Alexander Gordon, the brother of the earl, being then in Edinburgh, immediately gave notice to his brother, Sir Robert Gordon, who was at the time in London, of the proceedings against their brother, the earl. Sir Robert having applied to his Majesty for the release of the earl for a time, that he might make up his mind on the subject of religion, and look after his affairs in the north, his Majesty granted a warrant for his liberation till the month of August following. On the expiration of the time, he returned to his confinement at St Andrews, from whence he was removed, on his own application, to the abbey of Holyrood house, where he remained till the month of March, sixteen hundred and fifteen, when he obtained leave to go home, “ 'having," says Sir Robert Gordon," in some measure satisfied the church concerning his religion."

The earl of Caithness, thus again defeated in his views, tried, as a dernier resort, to disjoin the families of Sutherland and Mackay. Sometimes he attempted to prevail upon the marquis of Huntly to persuade the earl of Sutherland and his brothers to come to an arrangement altogether independent of Mackay; and at other times he endeavoured to persuade Mackay, by holding out certain inducements to him, to compromise their differences without including the earl of Sutherland in the arrangement; but he completely failed in these attempts.*

Ever since the death of John Sinclair at Thurso, the earl of Caithness used every means in his power to induce such of his countrymen, individually, as were daring enough, to show their prowess and dexterity to make incursions into Sutherland or Strathnaver, for the purpose of annoying the vassals and dependants of the earl of Sutherland and his ally, Mackay. Amongst others he often communicated on this subject with William Kenneth-son, whose father, Kenneth Buidhe, had always been the principal instrument in the hands of Earl George in oppressing the people of his own country, and for the furtherance of his plans he at last prevailed upon William, who already stood rebel to the king in a criminal cause, to go into voluntary banishment into Strathnaver, and put himself under the protection of Mackay, to whom he was to pretend that he had left Caithness to avoid any solicitations from the earl of Caithness to injure the inhabitants of Strathnaver. To cover their designs they caused a report to be spread that William Mac-Kenneth was to leave Caithness because he would not obey the orders of the earl to execute some designs against Sir Robert Gordon, the tutor of Sutherland, and Mackay, and when this false rumour had been sufficiently spread, Mac-Kenneth, and his brother John, and their dependents, fled into Strathnaver and solicited the favour and protection of Mackay. The

• Sir R. Gordon, p. 299.

APPREHENSION OF WILLIAM MAC-KENNETH.

261

latter received them kindly; but as William and his party had been long addicted to robbery and theft, he strongly advised them to abstain from such practices in all time coming; and that they might not afterwards plead necessity as an excuse for continuing their depredations, he allotted them some lands to dwell on. After staying a month or two in Strathnaver, during which time they stole some cattle and horses out of Caithness, William received a private visit, by night, from Kenneth Buidhe, his father, who had been sent by the earl of Caithness for the purpose of executing a contemplated depredation in Sutherland. Mackay was then in Sutherland on a visit to his uncle, Sir Robert Gordon, which being known to William Mac-Kenneth, he resolved to enter Sutherland with his party, and carry off into Caithness all the booty they could collect. Being observed in the Glen of Loth, by some of the Clan Gun, collecting cattle and horses, they were immediately apprehended, with the exception of Iain-Garbh-Mac-Chonald-Mac-Mhurchidh-Mhoir, who, being a very resolute man, refused to surrender, and was, in consequence, killed. The prisoners were presented to Sir Robert Gordon at Dornoch, who committed William and his brother, John, to the castle of Dornoch for trial. In the meantime, two of the principal men of Mac-Kenneth's party were tried, convicted and executed, and the remainder were allowed to return home on giving surety to keep the peace. This occurrence took place in the month of January, sixteen hundred and sixteen.

The earl of Caithness, whose restless disposition and lawless proceedings have been already so fully noticed, now finished his career of iniquity by the perpetration of a crime, which, though trivial in its consequences, was of so highly a penal nature in itself as to bring his own life into jeopardy. As the circumstances which led to the burning of the corn of William Innes, a servant of Lord Forbes at Sanset in Caithness, and the discovery of the earl of Caithness as the instigator, are somewhat curious, it is thought that a recital of them may not be here out of place.

Among other persons who had suffered at the hands of the earl was his own kinsman, William Sinclair of Dumbaith. After annoying him in a variety of ways, the earl instigated his bastard brother, Henry Sinclair, and Kenneth Buidhe, to destroy and lay waste part of Dumbaith's lands, who, unable to resist, and being in dread of personal risk, locked himself up in his house at Dunray, which they besieged. William Sinclair immediately applied to John, earl of Sutherland, for assistance, who sent his friend Mackay, with a party to rescue Sinclair from his perilous situa tion. Mackay succeeded and carried Sinclair along with him into Sutherland, where he remained for a time, but he afterwards went to reside in Moray where he died. Although thus cruelly persecuted and forced to become an exile from his country, by the earl of Caithness, no entreaties could induce him to apply for redress, choosing rather to suffer himself than to see his relative punished. William Sinclair was succeeded by his grandson, George Sinclair, who married a sister of Lord Forbes. By the persuasion of his wife, who was a mere tool in the hands

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