Battle of the North Inch

[Lachlan09]

Myth or reality ?

Being a Perthshire Gow, whose progenitor was a certain 14th Century Perthshire blacksmith called Henry (aka Hal O’ The Wynd acc to Sir Walter Scott), I am still after many years intrigued by said blacksmith’s involvement in a clan battle said to have taken place in 1396.

Not to go into too much detail here (I’m lying of course !), which can readily be googled, my numero uno ancestor took part in a judicial battle, 30-a-side, at a specially prepared arena at Perth’s North Inch. It was a popular event, witnessed by people from miles around, plus the Scottish king and entourage, distinguished guests from near and far. My ancestor was a late addition to one participating side, who had lost a combatant due to Swine Flu, broken leg or even a late case of common-sense. He was basically bribed to join in and played his part. His side won – yeay me !! That meant I could be born – thanks Henry ! Can you imagine an event like that on telly today ? Super-team WWE !!!

The question is – which clans ?

There are at least 3 versions :-

1) Clan Chattan versus Clan Kay or MacKay
2) Clan Mackintosh versus Clan Cameron
3) Clan MacPherson v Clan Davidson

Version 1) I read about in an adventure “annual” as a child. The causes weren’t explained, but it was a victory for Clan Chattan and Henry was mentioned. It also doesn’t explain why the MacKays and Clan Chattan were fighting in the first place and why the MacKays came all the way from Sutherland to fight with the Perthshire Chattan clan.

Version 2) harks back to an ongoing feud between Clan Chattan and their larger, hostile neighbours, Clan Cameron. There had been a sort-out between the clans when the Chattans intercepted a Cameron war/raiding force on Chattan lands near Inverhahavon (accounts vary as to which year – anywhere between 1370 and 1386). Clan Chattan was victorious but it created a new chapter in hostility between the clans. This running-sore of a dispute came to a head in 1396, when it was decided to settle it the old-fashioned way, hence the trial by battle at the North Inch. Clan Chattan was represented by its senior clan, Clan Mackintosh.

Version 3) which I believe fits events better and suits the Highland temperament, was an in-fight within Clan Chattan. The Mackintoshes were the senior clan in the confederation, whilst the MacPhersons claimed a senior position due to historic ties. Therefore they had hereditary right to take up the “right of the line” in any battle they took part in for Clan Chattan. The other senior clan, Clan Davidson, were 3rd in rank. So a battle line with these three clan would be:- MacPhersons (right), Mackintoshes (centre), Davidsons (left).

When the marauding Clan Cameron invaded Clan Chattan lands to raid cattle etc, word spread quickly of the violation and the MacPhersons, Mackintoshes and Davidsons assembled and set off to intercept the Camerons. This they did at Invernahavon. As they appeared, Clan Chattan outnumbered the Camerons. However, the Mackintosh chief made a bad decision when, for quickness on the spot on the day, put the Davidsons on the right of the line, as they were nearest that position. The MacPhersons were ordered to take the left. Outraged, the MacPhersons left the field and took up position on a nearby hill to watch and sulk. This left Clan Chattan outnumbered by the Camerons. Battle was joined and the Camerons and Chattans fought fiercely. Chattan were at a disadvantage and their lack of numbers told, especially among the beleagured Davidsons who were suffering the most casualties. Eventually, the impetus of battle slowed among the fatigued warriors and a lull in fighting took over. Meanwhile, the Mackintosh chief sent his bard among the MacPhersons, pretending to be the Cameron bard, to insult them. Calling them women and other insults, the MacPhersons got all worked up and seeing red, charged down the hill and into the tired Camerons. The result was a resounding Chattan victory. It was also a huge source of grudge from the Davidsons who had suffered so much. Over the years, in-fighting and disputes between Davidson and MacPherson kept weakening the Clan Chattan resolve, so in 1396, the latest cause of dispute was put to Trial By Battle. It was the MacPhersons who recruited Henry the Blacksmith. After the battle, Henry (as well as the payment for his participation) was given the honour to start his own clan (sept) with MacPherson protection. That is why Gow is today a sept of Clan MacPherson and also has membership of Clan Chattan.

That last version seems more logical to me. The Clan Kay/MacKay version seems like a mix up, as the Davidsons had a similar name Clann Dhai which was mis-spelt by anglicized scholars into substitution of “Qu” to make “Quai”, “Querl” and other odd combinations. It’s a short step from that to Kay.

Any thoughts ? Can it be definitely decided who was who or will it be forever lost in the mists of time ?

[ThistleDown]

As a Clan Chattan historian I can best answer you by saying that your number three is not possible, but that both of your numbers one and two are likely one and the same and therefore probably the answer(s) to your question: who were the clankay and the clanquele?

For more precise answers I lead you well away from Scott's "The Fair Maid...." and on to AM Mackintosh "The Clan Mackintosh and Clan Chattan" (1903), RC MacLagan "The Perth Incident of 1396" (1905), Lachlan Mackintosh "the Kinrara MS" c1670 (to be published in 2010), WH Gregg "Controversial Issues in Scottish History" (1910) and to various other works.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Who were the combatants at this famous battle? Two clans "Kay" and "Qwhewyl" are named in the historically reliable sources-- but who are they?

I would venture to suggest that "Clan Kay" is now generally identified as the Davidsons (Wyntoun's account names the clans involved in the battle as "Clachynnhe Qwhewyl, and "Clachinya" [Clann Dhaibhidh]), and Clan Qwhewyl is synonymous with "MacMillan". The original form of MacMillan in Gaelic is MacGhillemhaoil, and in the late 14th and early 15th century the following spellings occur: MacGilveil, MacIllywoul, and MacKevoil. Clan Ghille Mhaoil also appears as Clan Chewill, Clan Kevoil, and Clan Qwhewyl.

At this juncture it may be appropriate to look at the battle, and the motives of the king in having two clans slug it out-- to the death.

Like so many things in the Highlands the lead up to the battle was a feud between rival clans -- the Camerons and the Macintoshes-- over land in the area of Loch Arkaig and Glen Loy. Originally held by the Macintoshes, this land was seized by the chief of the Camerons, and settled on John, son of Malcolm Mor, chief of the MacMillans. The Macintosh demanded rent, Lochiel refused, and things went from bad to bloody. Finally things reached a head and king Robert III decided to resolve matters once and for all by calling on the two feuding clans to settle matters by force of arms. Whether the king actually wanted to resolve the dispute, or merely wanted to see the two clans exterminate each other will probably never be known. In any event neither chief took the bait. Instead each chief sent his own representatives: thirty Davidsons on behalf of the Macintosh, and a like number of MacMillans to fight for Lochiel. Again, according to Wyntoun, a total of fifty men were slain at that battle; Shaw Farquharson, chief of the Davidsons escaped with his life by vaulting the barrier and swimming across the River Tay. Shortly after the battle Lochiel granted charters to a number of MacMillans for the lands previously in possession of the Macintosh (including a charter to John, and his son Gilchrist who led the clan at the Barrier Battle of Perth).

The Reverend Somerled MacMillan, in his book "The MacMillans and Their Septs", K and R Printers, Glasgow, 1952, goes into greater detail, and provides the necessary genealogical and historical references to establish both the Davidsons and MacMillans as the two clans who fought at the Barrier Battle of Perth.

[Lachlan09]

Thank you, I will look further.

I’ve never read The Fair Maid Of Perth, only read about it and realize it is an historic romp with a few seeds of possible fact thrown in. So I never took it as fact.

However, I’m still tantalized by the Gow connection. To start with, even without research, I know I am a Perthshire Gow. I am the “mongrel” of the family, fated to be born below the Highland Line – in Edinburgh. Otherwise, all generations of our direct family were born and bred in Perthshire, around Dalnaspidal, Dalwhinnie, Blair Atholl, Pitlochry. The exception was my father, whose gamekeeper father married a Glendaruel woman and was born in Glen Caladh Castle, Tighnabruaich, Argyll and brought up in Kintyre.

However, the notion of a bandy-legged blacksmith seems real enough, as the Perthshire Gows are styled “Sliochd na Gobha Chrom” or “Race of the bandy-legged blacksmith” and I don’t think that happened during Walter Scott’s time. Gow is clearly a member family of the Confederation of Clan Chattan. According to “the rules”, Gow is a sept of MacPherson (presumably Cluny) and owes allegiance to the MacPherson chief (whatever that means – handing over my first-born or what ?). Yet in the Clan MacPherson Museum in Newtonmore, I could find no Gow references, even when their curator looked up a list of MacPherson septs, there was no Gow reference and to be honest, I got the impression if you were native-Scottish and weren’t actually called MacPherson, the curator wasn’t interested. Does that mean we were taken over by the Mackintoshes ? Does it mean we went independent in Clan Chattan ?

Maybe I could transfer my allegiance to Clan Diarmid in the style of broken men ! I’ve always felt more at home in Kintyre, Argyll, smelling that Atlantic air, than anywhere else.

[Lachlan09]

Dear MacMillan

Way to go ! With me talking about Kintyre, there are long-time MacMillans there too and an Andrew MacMillan was my dad's childhood/lifetime friend.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Dear MacMillan

Way to go ! With me talking about Kintyre, there are long-time MacMillans there too and an Andrew MacMillan was my dad's childhood/lifetime friend.

Well, had I been Gilchrist Macmillan looking for 29 other men to join with me to fight at the Barrier Battle, the first man I'd have asked would have been-- the smith!

Cheers!

[Lachlan09]

I've always thought the Battle of the North Inch would make a good part in a film, with all those hand-picked Highlanders chopping bits off each other. An item of folklore (really is folklore this time, Ted Crocker  ), which was associated with the battle was that the moment battle was joined, Henry the blacksmith raised his bow and let fly an arrow which felled an enemy. Soon after, all hell let loose and the hard-pressed MacIntosh / MacPherson chief noticed Henry skulking behind the line, sitting and watching the fight. He implored Henry’s help, whereupon Henry stated he had already killed his one of the thirty enemy and was now watching the show. A bit further remonstration saw Henry back in the fight again with his sword.

Nice story (and a happy ending) !

[ThistleDown]

Who were the combatants at this famous battle? Two clans "Kay" and "Qwhewyl" are named in the historically reliable sources-- but who are they?

I would venture to suggest that "Clan Kay" is now generally identified as the Davidsons (Wyntoun's account names the clans involved in the battle as "Clachynnhe Qwhewyl, and "Clachinya" [Clann Dhaibhidh]), and Clan Qwhewyl is synonymous with "MacMillan".

Instead each chief sent his own representatives: thirty Davidsons on behalf of the Macintosh, and a like number of MacMillans to fight for Lochiel. Again, according to Wyntoun, a total of fifty men were slain at that battle; Shaw Farquharson, chief of the Davidsons escaped with his life by vaulting the barrier and swimming across the River Tay. Shortly after the battle Lochiel granted charters to a number of MacMillans for the lands previously in possession of the Macintosh (including a charter to John, and his son Gilchrist who led the clan at the Barrier Battle of Perth).

I am afraid, Rathdown, that there is no belief in the Davidsons as major participants in this battle, no matter the tales of the 19C and the arguments of a writer or two in the mid-20C.

Wyntoun's two clans bear names not recognised today but it is likely that the Clan Qwhewyl was the Lochaber confederation of Macgillonies, Macsorleys, Macmartins and Macmillans (no relationship with the Macmillans of Kintyre). By a major stretch of the 19C imagination the other party to the battle, the Clachinya, was by a few equated with the Clan Dhai and this was picked up by the popular romantics. These same also made the battle into one between two septs of the Clan Chattan -- the Clan Vurrich and the Clan Dhai.

What we know for fact today is that the Clan Dhai would have been unable to field the required thirty, that the Shaw son of Farquhar you mention was Shaw Mor, a Macintosh not a Davidson, and that he was assigned leadership by an aging Clan Chattan chief, Lachlan Mackintosh, and is buried at Doune in Rothiemurchus. We also know that before the battle Shaw was called macgillichrist mac Ian.

What we do not know -- because the several early writers are inconsistent -- is which of the two was the victor. But we can surmise it was the Clan Chattan because Shaw was rewarded with the lands of Rothiemurchus for his role. A gift of that enormous size and importance would certainly not have been made were he the loser. And, of course, he had to be alive to receive it. As further proof of victory, the fact is that the lands of Glen Loy and Loch Arkaig remained in the ownership of the Mackintosh until they were sold to Lochiel in the 17C.

There is a possibility that the small tribes of Lochaber were also of the old Clan Chattan, as were those who moved to Badenoch and became known as Clan Vurrich (Macpherson), Cattanach, Macdhai (Davidson), Macphail and Macbean. The Lochaber bunch remained on the old lands, but owed rent to Mackintosh, who had inherited the charters (both the Royal charter and that of the Lord of the Isles) through marriage to the Clan Chattan heiress. The conflict between those who left and those who remained behind began in the mid-13C, but continued for a further 300 years.

To quote Kinrara in translation from his MS of 1670: "After this conflict, all the Clanchattans (because of their good fortune in that fight under the leadership of Shaw Mackintosh) most strictly bound themselves and their posterity (an oath being added) by a new bond of service and subjection to...Lauchlan Mackintosh their chief...."

Of course, there is the story of Henry Wynd of Perth who was received into the arms of the Clan Chattan after the battle -- which means that he, too, was alive at the end of the conflict.

Lachlan09, the existence in Badenoch of the Gow descendants of the Perth blacksmith is well-known not as a sept of any clan, but as tenants of the early Macphersons. They were referred to as ghow Chruim as early as the late 15C.

[ThistleDown]

I've always thought the Battle of the North Inch would make a good part in a film, with all those hand-picked Highlanders chopping bits off each other. An item of folklore (really is folklore this time, Ted Crocker  ), which was associated with the battle was that the moment battle was joined, Henry the blacksmith raised his bow and let fly an arrow which felled an enemy. Soon after, all hell let loose and the hard-pressed MacIntosh / MacPherson chief noticed Henry skulking behind the line, sitting and watching the fight. He implored Henry’s help, whereupon Henry stated he had already killed his one of the thirty enemy and was now watching the show. A bit further remonstration saw Henry back in the fight again with his sword.

Nice story (and a happy ending) !

You really must read The Fair Maid of Perth, Lachlan, because your story here comes from the pen of Walter Scott. There was talk a good few years ago about building a film around the story of the battle. I was present when the late Mackintosh was interviewed and I understand the producers also talked with Lochiel and Shaw of Clan Ay, but nothing came of the idea.

[Bugbear]

I've always thought the Battle of the North Inch would make a good part in a film, with all those hand-picked Highlanders chopping bits off each other. An item of folklore (really is folklore this time, Ted Crocker  ), which was associated with the battle was that the moment battle was joined, Henry the blacksmith raised his bow and let fly an arrow which felled an enemy. Soon after, all hell let loose and the hard-pressed MacIntosh / MacPherson chief noticed Henry skulking behind the line, sitting and watching the fight. He implored Henry’s help, whereupon Henry stated he had already killed his one of the thirty enemy and was now watching the show. A bit further remonstration saw Henry back in the fight again with his sword.

Nice story (and a happy ending) !

All right, I looked through all my books by Sir Walter Scott, and I do have, The Fair Maid of Perth.
I've also looked through some of the books on Scottish history.

I'm not qualified to give an oppinion.

However, folklore does not always equal made up stories. It can be expressing a cultural point of view. I doubt it is possible to record every exact detail of a historical event in complete sensual, and holografic perfection etc, so things still get left out, and that is open to cultural points of view, as well.