The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

4IO THE HIGHLANDERS [EXCURSUS
Page 202, line 24. Somcrlcd was slain before any battle occurred by one
of his own men in his tent at night. The Sudreys included all the Scottish
Isles on the West Coast ; the historical expression is " Sudreys and Man,"
still known in the title of the " Bishop of Sodor and Man."
Page 202, line 6 from end. No grandson of the name of Somerled
succeeded Somerled. His power and lands were divided between his three
sons by Ragnhild, daughter of King Olave of the Isles and Man. Dugall,
the eldest, received Lorn, Morvern, and Mull ; Reginald got Kintyre, Cowall,
and Islay while ; Angus, the third son, received lands further north, of which
he and his family were dispossessed by Reginald {Celtic Scoi/and, iii. 293).
Page 205, line 3.
"
Lochabcr held by the chief of Clan Chattan "—this is
pure tradition, and wrong at that. The sheriffship here meant is Balliol's
division in 1292 (GV/Zr Scotland, iii. 88-89).
Page 205, line 20. Reginald never had Lorn or any of Dugall's possession.
See notes on Clan Dugall.
Page 208, line 12. King Ewen of Argyle did not die without issue. See
Celtic Scotland, iii. 294.
Page 209, line 2. The two Reginalds. If historians are careless or partisan,
it is easy to confuse Reginald of Man and the Isles with Reginald of
Islay and Kintyre. Reginald of Man was a great \'iking, and undertook the
government of Caithness for William the Lion, about 1 196. This is distinctly
stated by the Orkney Saga and implied by Roger of Hoveden, who calls
Reginald King of Man, but makes him son of Somerled, which he was not.
Skene, even in Celtic Scotland, is wrong on this point, and so are all the Clan
Donald historians.
Page 209, line i \. Roderick was not the eldest son ; that honour belongs
to Donald, ancestor and name-giver to Clan Donald {Celtic Scotland, iii. 293).
Page 21 [, Chapter III. Clan Donald. Dr. Skene so entirely changed
his views on the Macdonald history and genealogy that Celtic Scotland, iii.
293-300, must be consulted. There he a\-owedly follows Gregory, the most
level-headed of clan historians. The name Donald is Celtic : Dumno-valo-s,
''
World-ruler," the same as the Gaulish Dumnorix. Reginald or Ronald is
"
Norse : Ruler by the Gods" his mother bore a feminine form of the same
;
name still known as Raonaid. Donald was eldest son of Reginald.
Page 219, line 15. John's sons by Amy were John, Reginald, and Godfrey.
John died early and his family failed ; Reginald was the second son and
regent of the Isles in John's old age and Donald's youth. Godfrey appears
with the title "Lord of Uist," but he too disappears. His son was not
Alexander Mac Reury of Garmoran such ; juggling with names might do in
1837, not now.
Page 220. Battle of Harlaw. There is f;ir too much importance
attached to this battle. As Earl of Ross, Donald held estates in Buchan,
which his descendants afterwards held, and it is far more probable that the
attack on Aberdeenshire was largely due to the desire of recovering his position
there, as joint Earl of Buchan.
Page 223, line 6 from bottom. Donald I}alloch was a youth of 18, son of
John Mor of Islay, cousin of Alexander of Ross. Skene here confuses him
with Donald, second son of Reginald ; this Donald, who died about 1420,