The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

CHAP. IV] OF SCOTLAND 243
expressly contradicted by the manuscript of 1450, in two several
places. That invaluable record of Highland genealogies says
expressly, that from Ranald sprung the clan Rory, clan Donald,
that this was no mere mistake, but the
and clan Dogall ; and
real opinion of the author, is evident, for in another place he
gives the genealogy of the Macdogalls of Dunolly from Dugall
the son of Ranald. This, however, is confirmed by the chartu-
lary of Cupar, for the manuscript makes Alexander de Ergadia,
the son of Duncan, son of Dugall, son of Reginald ; and in
that chartulary Duncan-us de Lornyn witnesses a charter of the
earl of Atholl of the lands of Dunfallandy, dated certainly
between 1253 and 1270, while during that period Ewen was in
possession of the lands of his branch of the family. These facts
seem to leave little room to doubt that this clan were in reality
descended from Ranald, the son of Somerled, and that their
ancestor Dugall was the brother of Donald, the founder of the
clan Donald.
The first appearance of this family is at the convention of
1284, where we find the name of Alexander de Ergadia, and
his attendance on this occasion was probably procured by a
crown charter of his lands ; but from this period we lose sight
of him until the reign of Robert the Bruce, when the opposition
of Alexander de Ergadia, lord of Lorn, and his son John to the
succession of that king, has made his name familiar in Scottish
history. Alaster having married the third daughter of John,
called the Red Comyn, who was slain by Bruce in the Domini-
can church at Dumfries, became, from that circumstance, the
mortal enemy of that prince, and on more than one occasion,
was the means of reducing him to great straits, in the early
period of his reign. After his defeat at Methven, in June 19,
1306, Bruce retreated to the mountainous part of Braidalbane,
and approached the borders of Argyllshire, where, with his
followers, who did not amount to three hundred men, he was
encountered b\' Lorn with about a thousand of his followers,
and repulsed after a very severe engagement. The Bruce with
difficulty escaped, and the greatness of his is danger attested
by the fact, that upon one occasion he was only able to extricate
himself from th^ followers of Lorn by unclasping his mantle ;
and the brooch, which is said to have been lost bv him during