500 to 1299

c. ad 500: Dál Riada

After several centuries of gradual cross-Channel settlement, the Dál Riadic[1] kings (probably in the person of Fergus Mór, son of Erc) take up residence in Argyll; late 6^th–early 7^th C sees the first effort of these Scots to conquer the Picts[2] [Kingdom, p. 23; McKerral, p. 2; Gregory, p. 2].

mid-600s: Three groups (or kindreds) are in existence among the Dál Riadans (“although it is possible that the divisions among them [a]re not as clear cut as the sources might suggest”): the Cenél[3] nOengusa (probably in Islay), Cenél nGabáin (occupying Kintyre, Cowal, Bute, and possibly Gigha, Jura, and Arran), and the Cenél Laoirn (Lorn, Ardnamurchan, Mull, Coll, and Tiree). The latter two are competing for supremacy by the beginning of the eighth century [Kingdom, p. 22; McKerral, pp. 2-3].[4]

741:     Chronicles record the “overthrow of Dál Riata” by the Picts [Kingdom, p. 23].

793:     Irish annals mention “a series of Viking incursions into the Hebrides” [Grant/Cheape, p. 12].

c. 800–1100: Viking raids, attacks, and settlement

Raids along the west coast of Scotland become “a seasonal occupation for the Vikings, and the raiders beg[i]n to make permanent settlements” [Grant/Cheape, p. 12]. Norse settlement begins in the mid 9^th century “and appears to have been fairly extensive, especially around the sheltered harbours of the east coast” [McKerral, p. 2] Settlement after 880 is probably led by opponents of Haralt Harfager, who has established himself as king of all Norway and subjected the petty kings there. These Norse settlers in Scotland then begin harassing the Norwegian coast from Scotland as they had been harassing the Scottish coasts from Norway. After this, control of the Western isles goes back and forth between various Norse, and occasionally Irish, overlords [Gregory, p. 4].

c. 843: Scots & Picts merge: Kenneth mac Alpin, king of Dál Riada, becomes king of the Picts as well; this may have been legitimate succession (his mother was Pictish), but probably involved some degree of violence. Dál Riadic centres of power shift eastward, in part because of Viking press-

            ure. However, “[t]he tenacity with which the connexion with Irish civilisation persist[s] in the High- lands [i]s an essential feature in the history of [Highland] culture. . . . . Until the seventeenth cen- tury, this Gaelic civilisation was common to all people between the Butt of Lewis and Cape Clear” [Grant/Cheape, p. 12[5]; Gregory, pp. 2-3].

mid-9th C: emergence of the Gall-Gaidhil, “warriors of mixed blood” whose homeland is “almost certainly” the Hebrides; the Irish sources describe them as “Scots fostered by Norsemen” [King- dom, p. 29; McKerral, p. 2]. “In view of their position as conquerors of alien origin, it is most sig-

            nificant that from the mid-ninth century, the annalists . . . begin to write of the Gall-Ghaidheal”, (‘Stranger Gaels’) [Grant/Cheape, p. 13]. According to McKerral, one Irish writer described their speech as a “broken Gaelic” spoken “in a patois” [p. 2]. “Nevertheless, the Gaelic language with the Gaelic way of life retained its dominance over the Hebrides and the Western Mainland, al- though certain surviving words reveal a Norse influence” [Grant/Cheape, ibid.]. A “medieval Celtic-Scandinavian cultural province” emerges at this time from which “modern Gaelic Scotland is ultimately descended” [Marsden, p. x].

late 9th–10th C: emergence of individuals in the Hebrides and the Isle of Man bearing the title of ‘king’ or ‘lord’ of the Isles: “the extent and nature of this kingship [i]s fluid, and there c[an] be several kings in the region at once” [Kingdom, pp. 30–31; Gregory, p. 17]. Barrow points out that this “regular use of the title ‘king’ for the principal lords” is a “notably non-Scandinavian feature of the hybrid ruling class” of the Hebrides [pp. 131-2].

1093:   Kintyre, along with the Hebrides, ceded to Norway

1098:   Magnus Bareleg, the Norse king, “invade[s] the West Highlands, and successfully consolidate[s] all the scattered Norse possessions under his rule”. Among the Gall-gaidhil chiefs expelled by the Norse king is one named Gillebride [McKerral, p. 4; Kingdom, p. 47], though it is possible that Gillebride’s lands were lost a few years earlier as a result of his support for Donald Bane in the struggle for succession which followed the death of Malcolm Canmore (1093) [Kingdom, ibid.; Gregory, pp. 11-12]. Of Gillebride we know little, “nor are we informed of the extent of his poss-

            essions, or where they lay, but they are believed to have been on the mainland of Argyle” [Gregory, p. 12]. A treaty in this year between Edgar, king of Scotland, and Magnus Bareleg “confirm[s] Norwegian suzerainty over Man and all the islands of Scotland west of Kintyre and thence north-

            ward to Lewis” but the treaty “could only be important if the Norwegian crown had been able to enforce its authority”. However, for most of the late 11^th and early 12^th century, Norway is “torn by civil war and distracted by revolts (involving the northern isles)” [Barrow, p. 130].

1100s: In the early 12^th century, “long-term changes . . . taking place on the western seaboard . . . cal[l] imperatively for the intervention of Scottish kings. . . . Norse political power in the western isles and Man weaken[s] steadily from the earlier decades of [this] century. . . . Instead of the earls exercising strong rule in the name of the king of Norway, a turbulence verging on anarchy pre-        vail[s] in the Hebrides and affect[s] the adjacent mainland. A warrior aristocracy quarrel[s] for ascendency not simply over the islands but also over broad tracts of territory that even the 1098 treaty would have allowed to be Scottish” [Barrow, pp. 130-1]. At this time, too, evidence indicates “a resurgence of Gaelic culture and an intensification of the old links with Ireland, a process con- trasting sharply with what was happening in the east and in lowland Scotland” [ibid., p. 131]. Closely linked to both trends is the rise to prominence of Gillebride’s son Somerled.

            1. Somerled: “The history of the west from the mid twelfth century to the first war of independence is largely the history of the House of Somerled. . . . His ancestors had somehow acquired, then lost and then, in his grandfather’s generation, regained a far-flung lordship of islands and mount-ainous mainland. . . . It is by no means certainly, however, that Somerled held all this wide territory unconditionally, as an unfettered vassal of the king of Norway for whatever was insular and of the king of Scots for the rest”. Evidence of this can be seen in the occasional attempts by Scottish kings to wrest some of the land from Somerled’s family by force. “In the isles, Somerled profited from Norwegian weakness but found himself at loggerheads with the rival royal line of Man” [Barrow, p. 133].

—“Somerled steps onto the stage . . . in the first half of the twelfth century . . . already a ruler of note in Argyll and the Isles. His early life, and rise to power, remain shrouded in mystery. . . .” [Kingdom, p. 47].  Indeed, “[i]t is from tradition alone . . . that any particulars of the early life of Somerled can be gathered; and it is obvious, that information derived from a source so liable to error, must be received with very great caution” [Gregory, pp. 9-11].

—”Although many claim he was of Scoto-Irish descent, others “have asserted that he was un-

doubtedly a Scandinavian by descent in the male line. His name is certainly a Norse one; but on the other hand, the names of his father and grandfather are purely Celtic. . . . Somerled is men-

tioned more than once in the Norse Sagas, but never in such a way as to enable us to affirm, with certainty, what the opinion of the Scandinavian writers was as to his origin. . . . [T]he impression produced by the passages in which he is mentioned, is rather against his being considered a Norseman. It is possible, however” [Gregory, pp. 10-11].  Many historians have concluded that the pedigree that traces his descent back nine generations to Godfrey, son of Fergus, “a chief of a tribe in Northern Ireland who came to Scotland to reinforce Kenneth mac Alpin” has been “proved to be substantially correct” [Grant/Cheape, p. 60; Gregory, p. 11; Thomson, p. 270]. David Caldwell argues that DNA testing of the current chiefs of the Clan Donald, Clan Alasdair, and Clan Dougall, all direct descendants of Somerled, has turned up a paternal genetic marker that is almost certainly Norse [p. 34].  But DNA testing has also traced Somerled’s ancestry to Colla Uais, a high king of Ireland historically tied to Dál Riada [MacDonald Genetic Project;

www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macdonald_genetic.htm, accessed 7 June 2009]. “[E]vi- dently he belonged to the Gall-Ghaidheal, the mixed population of the Hebrides” [Grant/ Cheape, p. 60]. Indeed, “Somerled’s Celtic-Norse extraction . . . is now widely accepted” [MacDonald, Alba, p. 174; Sellar, p. 189]. John Marsden goes farther, saying “virtually everything that is known of or has been claimed for Somerled, even the most obviously apocryphal anecdotes found in the most doubtful sources, reflects some aspect of the characteristic fusion of Norse and Celt which binds the cultural roots of Gaeldom” [p. x].

—Whatever his ancestry, Somerled is credited with “dr[iving] out [the Norse] from Kintyre and other parts of Argyllshire” [McKerral, p. 4; Sykes, p. 213]: By 1130 he has retaken much of the western Highlands, and eventually he establishes a kingdom larger than that lost by his father [“Somerled, King of the Isles”, V. McAlister; McKerral, p. 4]. Somerled is therefore at least partly responsible for the resurgence of Gaelic, which, having long before “superseded Pictish . . . [now] replaced Norse as the language of . . . the greater part of the Western Isles and a considerable portion of the Mainland”[6] [Grant/Cheape, p. 11; Barrow, p. 131].

            2. Development of the Highland clans

—“[B]y the twelfth century, the nuclei were forming in the Highlands of a wide type of organisation that was to develop gradually into what we now recognise as the Highland clan. The subject of the clans and their origins abounds with acute controversy. . . . However, . . . there comes a point about this time or during the succeeding two centuries, when the ancestor, a man of some posi-

tion who can often be identified, was able to found a family which had the power to survive. As the family grew over time, the degree of kinship to succeeding chiefs lessened and ties of adherence or dependence tended to take its place” [Grant/Cheape, p. 59].

—“The system was aristocratic in many respects. Certain family lines were highly esteemed, and there was a royal class. But it was not feudal. A clan claimed common ancestry and kinship with the chief. Land belonged to no individual – certainly not to the chief – but to the whole clan. . . . All enmities, as well as all friendships, were collective” [Macleod, pp. 43-4].

1140s:  At some point in this decade Somerled marries Ragnhilde, daughter of Olaf, King of Man. (Al-

            though 1140 is the date often cited, there is no firm contemporary evidence for it) [Kingdom, p. 45; Stat. Acct.: Campbelton, p. 528; Barrow, p. 134]. Gregory suggests that Somerled’s rising power, and perhaps his interest in securing for himself at least some of the Hebrides, concerned Olaf, who may have hoped that the marriage would neutralise this threat. R. A. MacDonald argues instead that Somerled’s choice of wife reveals an intentional alliance on his part with other dyna-

            sties along the Irish Sea instead of with the house of Canmore or any of the Anglo-Norman fam- ilies [Alba, p. 176]. In any case, this marriage is the first event in the life of Somerled for which we have authentic evidence [Gregory, p. 12]. From this union come the progenitors of several impor- tant western clans, including the Clan Donald (and thence the MacAlasdairs).[7]

1143:   birth of Ranald mac Somhairle [i.e., son of Somerled][8], according to some MacDonald gene-

            alogies. Ranald, or Reginald, is the second son of Somerled by Ragnhilde; at his father’s death he inherits Islay and Kintyre [Grant/Cheape, p. 61]. He is the only one of Somerled’s descendants known to have styled himself rex insularum. (Although it is possible Somerled himself used the title, none of his charters survives) [Sellar, p. 198]. Ranald’s descendants base themselves on Islay and are called the Lords of Islay [McKerral, p. 3][9].

1156–8: Somerled ousts the King of Man [Kingdom, p. 41; Keay, p. 890; Gregory, p. 14]. “The allegiance of all the Isles to Norway seems still to have been preserved” [Gregory, ibid.]. However, R. Andrew MacDonald suggests that all of Somerled’s behaviour “must be placed firmly within an Irish Sea context, emphasising fundamental dichotomies between the world in which [he] moved and the ‘new world order’ being introduced by the kings of Scots in the twelfth century.” Like Fergus of Galloway, he had “close connexions with the dynasty of Man and the Isles” and seems “to have followed a deliberate policy of forging links outside the Scottish kingdom with little or no regard for the kings of Scots”, who at this time are “aligning themselves with European cultural models, which, among other things, emphasised a hierarchy with room for only one king at its head” [MacDonald, Alba,  pp. 170, 174, 184-5]. But “Argyll and the Hebrides consistently refus[e] to be governed by the kings of Scotland” [Sykes, p. 183]. 

1164:   1. death of Somerled and one of his sons (Gillebrigte) at the Battle of Renfrew: Somerled in-

             vades mainland Scotland [McKerral, p. 3; Sellar, p. 189]. Though modern scholars have tended to see this as a grab for power on Somerled’s part, R. Andrew MacDonald demonstrates that all of the peripheral regions of Scotland were slowly being encroached upon by the feudal lordships erected by the Scottish kings; Fergus of Galloway had been defeated and, although not impris- oned, required to live out his life in Edinburgh where the king could keep an eye on him. In this context, Somerled’s move appears more likely to have been defensive in nature. (The writers of the Scottish chronicles, from whom we take much of what we know about this period, were under the patronage of the Scottish king and church; the fact that they considered Somerled et al. to be rebelling against their rightful loyalties to the Scottish king does not necessarily mean that this was the truth of the situation.) [MacDonald, Alba, pp. 181-2]. He takes with him “a numerous army from Argyle, Ireland, and the Isles” and sails up the Clyde with 160 galleys [Gregory, p. 15; MacDonald, Alba, p. 169]. Somerled and his followers are, it is usually held, easily defeated. (The tradition that Somerled was assassinated before the battle, though now widely accepted, dates to the seven-

            teenth century and may have no basis in fact [MacDonald, Alba, p. 169; Marsden, pp. 107, 110-1].) Somerled’s descendants “still ke[ep] the possession [of the Isles and Kintyre], exercis[e] the power, and often assum[e] the title of kings” [Stat. Acct.: Campbelton, p. 529; NSA: Saddell & Skipness, p. 442].

2. On the death of Somerled “his four surviving sons divid[e] the estate between them” [Barrow, p. 133]. “Precise evidence is lacking as to who got what, and there is no reason to think that the initial division remained static as the brothers fought among themselves” for the territories left by their father [Caldwell, p. 35; Sellar, p. 195].

c. 1190: Birth of Dòmhnall [Donald] mac Ranald, may have occurred in this year. Donald and his heirs h[o]ld the lordship of Islay [Barrow, p. 134]. About him little is actually known; some of the detail given in Hugh MacDonald’s history is “evidently wrong. . . . Of the rest . . . there is nothing in early accounts to offer support” [Caldwell, p. 40]. Barrow calls him “an obscure individual” but one who “must hold an undisputed place in Scottish hearts and in the story of Scots the world over” because of his role as founder of the Clan Donald, one of the two oldest Highland clans [p. 134; Grant/Cheape, p. 37] and certainly one of the most important.[10]

1192:   “[T]he Chronicle of Man mentions a battle between Reginald [Ranald] and Angus, in which the latter obtained victory” [Gregory, p. 17; Caldwell, p. 37; Sellar, p. 195].

1207:   death of Ranald mac Somhairle, according to MacDonald genealogies; in fact, however, he seems to have outlived his brother Angus (see 1210), whose lands were divided between Ranald and Dugall [Grant & Cheape, p. 61; Gregory, p. 17; Caldwell, p. 38]. It appears that 1207 may be a misreading of 1200& (i.e., some years after 1200), though “MacEwen’s suggested date of c. 1227 seems too late” [Sellar, p. 196].

1209:   Annals of Ulster report the defeat of “unnamed sons” of Ranald mac Somhairle by men of Skye [Sellar, p. 200]. Caldwell also mentions the battle, but has the sons of Ranald victorious [Caldwell, p. 39]. As Sellar is a respected historian and Caldwell an archaeologist, my inclination is to go with Sellar’s understanding of the written sources.

1210:   death of Angus mac Somhairle and some of his sons “in unknown circumstances” [Grant & Cheape, p. 61; Gregory, p. 17; Caldwell,  p. 39; Sellar, p. 195].

1212:   Annals of Ulster report a “great naval assault” on Derry and Inishowen (Ireland) by Thomas of Galloway, in which again-unnamed sons of Ranald are involved [Sellar, p. 200].

1214:   Derry is plundered in another naval assault by Thomas of Galloway; in this case Ruairi, son of Ranald, is named as one of Thomas’s associates. (Donald, the other known son of Ranald, also may have taken part.) [Sellar, p. 200]

1222:   Dòmhnall mac Ranald, progenitor of the Clan Donald, acquires Islay and Kintyre [Feud, p. x]. His son, Angus Mòr, is the first of Somerled’s descendants to acknowledge the superiority of the Scottish king [McKerral, p. 5]. He is also the first chief of the Clan Donald, although the MacDonald surname “was not adopted by any of the main branches of the family until the sixteenth century” [Caldwell, p. 41]. Sellar tells us that “Alexander II is known to have mounted an expedition against Argyll in 1221 or 1222, or both, resulting in some reallocation of territory. Duncan and Brown suggest that land in Kintyre may have changed hands, as does Cowan, who conjectures that Donald son of Ranald may have replaced his brother Ruairi there”, though Sellar himself holds that Donald could have been the loser [Sellar, p. 201].

1228:   “Norwegian sources record a punitive expedition launched against kings of Somerled’s race, who are said to have been unfaithful to King Hakon”, though these kings were probably of the Mac-

            Dougall line, which was most prominent at this point [Sellar, p. 202].

1230:   expedition of King Hakon IV to the Hebrides, apparently “intended to bring the MacSorleys to heel” [Caldwell, p. 40]. Note: this could be the same expedition as above.

1247:   Ruairi macRanald “is, I would suggest, the descendant of Somerled, styled simply Mac Somurli, who met his death at the battle of Ballyshannon in the west of Ireland” [Sellar, pp. 200-1].

1249:   first record of Alasdair Mòr, progenitor of the future Clan Alasdair

“Alastair first appears as a witness to a charter[11] granted by his brother Angus, Lord of the Isles” for the church of Kilkerran in Kintyre to the Abbey of Paisley, “ ‘for the salvation of the soul of my lord Alexander, illustrious king of Scots’ ” [Clan, p. 204, but editors put it at 1253; Kingdom, p. 109; McKerral, p. 5].

mid-13th C: The clan Alasdair originates as a branch of the mighty Clan Donald

—There has long been debate about the progenitor of this clan, “chiefly because of the existence of two Alexanders, uncle and nephew, to whom its posterity has variously been ascribed”, but examination of all the available evidence has led historians to conclude that “there is no reason to doubt that the Clan Allister are the descendants of Alastair Mòr[12], son of Donald de Ile, the younger brother of Angus Mòr” [Castleton, p. 163]. In 1886, Dugald Mitchell wrote, “According to Mackenzie’s History of the MacDonalds, the M’Alisters claim their descent from Alexander, eldest son of Angus Mor, Lord of the Isles, but their real descent seems to have been from Alexander, second son of Donald of the Isles, and younger brother of Angus Mor” [p. 72; the Scotsman, 17 April 2007]. Five years earlier, Donald Gregory, who has been called “the most level-headed of clan historians”[13] wrote: “The Clan Allaster derived its descent from Alexander, or Allaster, son of Donald of Isla, the grand son of Somerled” [p. 68]. And in 1895, Charles Fraser-Mackintosh states that "the Clan Allister of Kintyre [are] descended of Allister, son of Donald, grandson of Somerled" [p. 35]. Indeed, “there is no record of a family of importance being founded by [the descendants of Alasdair Og] in Scotland” [Castleton, p. 163]

            —Modern historians agree:

            *“[I]t is now accepted they are the descendants of Alastair Mòr, son of Donald of the Isles"            

            [Clan, p. 204].

* “[T]he MacAlisters are descended from Alexander (Alasdair), son of Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles and great-grandson of the mighty Somerled” [Keay, p. 643].

* “Alasdair Og, the MacDonald chief who . . . opposed the Bruce during the Wars of Indepen-dence, . . . is not, as was formerly claimed, the ancestor of the MacAlasdairs, but rather his nephew, the son of Angus Mòr” [Beaton, p. 14].

[Note: According to a Clan Donald website, this was an intentional deception perpetrated by the Lord Lyon "perhaps because of the MacAlasdairs' loyalty to Clan Donald. . . . Lyon Court finally admitted their libel and reversed their position in 1846, apparently satisfied that the MacAlasdairs now considered them- selves independent and were no longer a threat to be claimants to the title" of Clan Donald chief (http://macdonnellofleinster.org/page_7x_macalister_of_loup.htm). However, in the late 1800s, the Mac- Alasdair chief himself was claiming descent from Alasdair Og for the opposite reason - because he be- lieved it *did* give him claim to the chieftainship of Clan Donald (I am trying to find the article in which this claim was made - I've got it somewhere, just not sure where). Whether he actually believed this or not is impossible to say, though it seems fairly obvious that descent from a chief forfeited for treason isn't a ter-

ribly strong claim to anything. In any case, it is interesting that at no time does this incorrect version of the clan's descent seem to have been accepted by scholars with no political interest in the matter.]

1249:   Death of Dòmhnall mac Ranald may have occurred in this year; some sources put it at 1269;

Caldwell says he was most likely dead by 1248 [p. 41, but he may be assuming that the Mac Sumarli killed at Ballyshannon in 1247 was Donald].

mid-1200s: Tarbert Castle built

However, “[m]ost of the early references to the keepership [see 1511, 1526] contain the words ‘when it is built’ as though there were still additions being made to Tarbert Castle at the time of James IV” (late 1400s) [CMS, p. 19; DMM; Mitchell, p. 20]. Note: probably repairs, not additions —see 1499–1500, #1. Mitchell puts the castle’s construction at 1325, qv., but notes that some believe an earlier structure existed. Barrow suggests it was “possibly built by Alexander II”, who died in 1249 [p. 137].

1253:   see 1240s

1255:   “Angus, the son of Donald and Lord of Isla, [i]s closely pursued by [Alexander III of Scotland], because he w[ill] not consent to become a vassal of Scotland for the lands he h[olds] of Norway” [Gregory, p. 20].

1256:   Contemporary sources suggest that Angus Mòr is probably involved with the uprising in Ireland of Brian O Neill against the English in this year [Caldwell, p. 41].

1260:   Clan Alasdair in Ulster:

1. “After a devastating defeat . . . at the Battle of Downpatrick[14], the Irish s[eek] aid from their northern cousins. These mercenary forces, called Galloglach, or galloglass, revolution[ise] the Irish military structure. . . .” [“News”, no. 35, pp.1–2]. Many—perhaps most—Irish MacAlasdairs descend from galloglass families [MacLysacht, Surnames, p. 4; Irish Families, p. 23].

2. “The evidence that Alisdair [Mòr] was a leader of galloglass forces is persuasive. Other than the rather uneventful role as witness to a grant of land from his brother to the Monastery of Paisley, we have no record of his activities. . . . The Irish Annalist refers to him as ‘of Antrim’. . . . It is very possible that, as Angus became [more] involved in the Isles, his younger brother took over the family affairs in [I]reland. . . .” [“News”, no. 35, pp. 1–2]. Certainly later Clan Alasdair chiefs led galloglass forces in Northern Ireland (see 1360; 1493ff., #3; 1500s, #2).

1263/4: 1. (30 Sept./1 Oct.) Battle of Largs: King Haakon of Norway invades Scotland; Clan Donald supports him [Feud, p. x]. According to R. Andrew MacDonald, Angus Mòr submits to Haakon reluctantly, possibly because of blackmail, and his allegiance of choice seems to be Scotland [Kingdom, p. 130; Sellar, p. 207]. Caldwell agrees, saying that Angus and his brother Murchaid only joined Haakon when that king sent a force of fifty ships to “ravage their lands in Kintyre” [p. 42], and Barrow says that his loyalty to Haakon was so “doubtful” that even though he joins the Norse, they require him to surrender hostages [p. 142]. Tytler conversely argues that Angus withstood considerable pressure from the Scots king to renounce his allegiance to Haakon [Tytler, pp. 7-8], and Gregory reports that Haakon invaded to begin with as a direct response to com-

            plaints brought to him by his subjects in the Isles that the Scottish king was becoming too aggres-

            sive in pressing them to acknowledge him as their sole overlord [p. 20]. In fact, “most, if not all of the descendants of Somerled, had, for a century after his death, a divided allegiance, holding part of their lands, those in the Isles, from the King of Norway; their mainland domains being, at the same time, held of the King of Scotland” [Gregory, pp. 18-19; Caldwell, p. 38]. In addition to re-

            claiming the Isles, however, the Norsemen also ravage the adjacent parts of Scotland, leading to their defeat at Largs as they attempt a landing in Ayrshire. They then find themselves trapped by storms, and Haakon himself dies in Orkney on the way home [Gregory, p. 20; Caldwell, p. 40; Sellar, p. 205].

            2. Campbells first appear in Argyll [Feud, p. x]

1266:   (2 July) Treaty of Perth: Alexander III takes advantage of his victory over the Norse “and re- sume[s] his projects against the Isles with such success, that, on the death of Magnus, King of Man . . . Magnus of Norway, the successor of Haco [i.e., Haakon], [i]s induced to cede all the Western Isles to Scotland” [Gregory, pp. 20-21]; the Northern Isles remain Norse. The treaty in- cludes a condition to protect the Islesmen from retribution for “misdeeds or injuries and damage which they have committed hitherto while they adhered to” the king of Norway [Kingdom, p. 120; Gregory, ibid.]; the Scottish Crown, thus forbidden to forfeit[15] the western chiefs, begins a policy of using “their most prominent number as agents of royal authority” [Kingdom, p. 132]. “Angus of Isla . . . bec[omes], according to the treaty, a vassal of Scotland for his lands there, and [i]s al- lowed to retain, under a single king, all that he . . . formerly held under two” [Gregory, p. 22]; how- ever, hostages, including Alasdair Og, son of Angus Mòr mac Dòmhnall (MacDonald), are sent to Edinburgh to insure the good behaviour of the western chiefs[16] [personal correspondence with Capt. Ian MacDonald; Feud, p. 12; Gregory, p. 22]. Caldwell in fact claims that “Angus Mor is known to have been in trouble, threatened with military action by the rest of the barons of Argyll if he did not enter into Alexander III’s goodwill” [p. 43]. Although three of Somerled’s descendants, including Angus Mòr, are now major landholders in the Isles under Alexander III, the wording of the treaty makes clear that none of them “at this time, . . . bore the title of Lord of the Isles, or could have been properly so considered” [Gregory, p. 23].

1269:   see 1249