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Kingdom of Man and the Isles   Lords of Islay   Lordship of the Isles
 

Kingdom of Man and the Isles

Godred IV Crovan d.1095
In the Rhinns of Islay a Norse nobleman by the name of Godred Crovan,  nurtured the growing notion amongst the Hebridean population that they were Islesmen more so than Scots or Norse.  He espoused the view that the Isles should break away from Scotland and Norway and become an independent state.

Magnus Berfodd (Barelegs) d.1104
Godred Crovan was deposed by the new ruler of Norway, Magnus Berfodd, but  during an attempt to invade Ireland, at least partly to avenge the Norse defeat inflicted by Brian Boru, Magnus was ambushed and slain in 1104. 

Olaf I Bitling (the Red) 1088-1153
Godred's third son Olaf later ascended to the throne as King of Man, which also included kingship of the Isles,  and reigned over the whole of the west coast from his capital on the Isle of Man. 
There is a story told that Olaf came to Islay every year to collect the rents.  His galley would anchor at what is now North Bay, Port Ellen and those paying cash went to the rock, opposite where the Ramsay Hall stands, which is called 'Creag an Airgid' (G.) - money rock. Those paying in produce went to another called 'Creag nan Nithean' (G.) - rock of the articles, where the distillery now stands. 
Olaf brought a long period of peace to the Isles by keeping on good terms with the Kings of Norway, Scotland, England and Ireland, but on his return from a trip to Norway to pay his fealty dues in 1153, he was murdered with an axe by Reginald, a son of his deceased brother Harold.

Godred V (the Black) d.1187
On Olaf's death his son Godred came over from Norway to take over the kingship of the Isles, but he seems to have been of entirely different mettle and proceeded to undo much of his father's good work by deeds of tyranny. 
The nobility amongst the Islesmen realised the danger of allowing Godred to continue, and approached Godred's brother-in-law, Somerled, with a proposal that Godred be replaced by Somerled's son, Dughall. 
Word of this reached Godred who sailed north with his fleet in 1156, but after a sea battle off Colonsay, Godred was forced to concede territory.  Somerled got everything south of Ardnamurchan, except Man, but including Islay, Jura and Mull, while Godred retained the remainder.

Somerled 1113-1164
(Click on the family tree below to enlarge)
Somerled made his headquarters at Dunyvaig, Islay (near Lagavulin), 'the fort of the small ships'.  He quarrelled again with Godred in 1158, this time tackling him on his home ground at Man and chasing Godred out of his own kingdom.  Now Somerled had control of Man and all the Isles and took the title 'Rex Insularum' (King of the Isles) as well as King of Man. 
Some accounts have construed this event as 'ridding Scotland of the Vikings'.  This is improbable for a number of reasons.  By this stage intermarriage had greatly blurred the blood lines of those involved and Somerled himself was Celtic on his father's side and Norse on his mother's.  He had married the daughter of King Olaf, hardly permissible if he was anti-Norse, and was much more interested in preserving the sea kingdom of the Isles than becoming subject to the troubled Scots monarchy of the time.  It is more likely that his consolidation of power brought an end to the sporadic summer raids of the Vikings.  These predations were conducted by bands of men who were no more than freebooters or gangsters.  It is hardly credible that the Norwegian hierarchy would sanction attacks on territory it considered belonged to Norway.
Somerled died near Renfrew in 1164 as a result of betrayal during a planned raid on King Malcolm IV of Scotland and his kingdom was again divided between three of his sons, Dughall (from whom the McDougalls descended), Ragnald (whose son Donald gave his name to the McDonalds) and Aonghus (who started the McRuari line).
 

Kingdom of the Isles

Ragnald 1141-1207
Right up until the Treaty of Perth in 1266, when Haakon IV of Norway sold back his title to the Hebrides and Man, the Islesmen continued to claim they were not subject to the Scottish crown but to Norway.  Even after 1266, however the Scottish crown was still in turmoil and so the independence of the Isles was little changed except for the disappearance of the title 'King of Man and the Isles'.  Ragnald seems to have been keen to secure his place in the afterlife by making substantial donations to the church, including the endowment of an Abbey at Saddell, north of present day Cambeltown on the Kintyre peninsula.

Donald Mor McRanald (Donald I) d.1249
Donald, or Dovenald as he is called in some documents, was an iron warrior.  He perpetrated so many black deeds in defence of his possessions that he feared for his salvation, and went on a pilgrimage to Rome to seek absolution  from the Pope for his sins.  Unlike his father, who seems to have tempered personal valour with a love of peace and culture, Donald perhaps emulated Ragnald only in making substantial donations to the church, and in particular to the monks of Paisley.
 

Lords of Islay

Angus Mor (the Elder) McDonald 1230-1292
The first of many to bear the surname McDonald, Angus succeeded his father and was confirmed Lord of Islay by Haakon of Norway on the latter's journey that led to the Battle of Largs.
When Alexander III of Scotland attempted by diplomatic means to end Norway's now loose hold over the Hebrides, he provoked the launching of King Haakon’s Norwegian fleet.  After gathering reinforcements from the Isles, the war fleet anchored off Largs in 1263.  Alexander, wise beyond his age of 23, stalled and temporised, appearing to wish to negotiate, until the weather he had been waiting for arrived.  A storm drove many of the Norse ships ashore where they were met fiercely by Alexander's men.  After four days a break in the weather allowed Haakon to withdraw and he returned to Orkney, where he died sometime later. 
Angus Mor and his uncle, Ruari, were technically vassals of Haakon, and after Alexander's victory at Largs, and confirmed in the Treaty of Perth in 1266, the king of Scots became their overlord (in name at least).  Strangely, Angus Mor seems not to have been made to suffer unduly from his open support of Haakon.
When Angus Mor died sometime after 1292, his son Alasdair Og inherited Islay and part of Knapdale while Angus Og was left most of Kintyre and a claim to the Isle of Mull..

Alasdair Og (the Younger) b.1272
Alasdair Og married his cousin, the sister of the MacDougall of Lorne, but through this alliance he was obliged to oppose Robert the Bruce in alliance with Clan Dougall whose kinsman the Red Comyn had been murdered by Bruce. 
After Bruce and his allies defeated the MacDougall Lord of Lorne in a battle at the Pass of Brander, by Lochawe, in 1308, he then laid siege to Alasdair Og in Castle Sween.  Alastair gave himself up and was disinherited by Robert Bruce who then granted Islay to Angus Og.

Angus Og (the Younger) 1270-1329
Angus Og (Young) McAngus McDonald, Lord of Islay and Argyll , son of Angus Mor (the Great) McDonald, Lord of Islay, son of Donald Mor McRanald, son of Ragnald (Ranald) of the Isles, son of Somerled, King of Man and the Isles.  Quite a pedigree for the man who led a large contingent of Islesmen at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, an action that was instrumental in giving success to Robert the Bruce against the English King Edward II.
Angus Og had done a deal with Robert the Bruce to keep control of the Isles, and the successful new Scottish king kept his word.  He confiscated the lands of the McDougalls for backing the wrong side, and gave most of it to the McDonalds.
 

Lordship of the Isles
Below right is the Great Seal of Islay.  It reads 'Filii Doanaldi + S.' Engus de Yle' (L.) - sons of Donald and Angus of Islay.

'Good John' of Islay 1328-1380
'Good'John of Islay, Angus Og's son, was the first to formally assume the title 'Lord of the Isles'.  John's wife Amie, was sister to the last chief of the McRuaris and when he died in 1346 leaving no heir except Amie, John added the the coastline and the islands between Ardnamurchan and Skye to his Lordship.  He then cast her aside, disinherited their sons Ranald and Godfrey, and made a strategic marriage with Princess Margaret Stewart, daughter of the man who was to become King Robert II of Scotland.  Margaret produced three sons, Donald, John Mor and Alasdair 'Carragh' (G.) - rock.

The centre for administration of the Lordship was at Loch Finlaggan on Islay and was supported by a council of state to advise on policy issues such as defence and land ownership.  This was the beginning of the 'golden age' of McDonald rule.  The Isles prospered, Tiree with it's rich soil became the garden, and the granary, of the Hebrides and Islay is recorded as producing annually '720 merks of silver, 1,420 cows, 5,040 sheep, and 3,960 bolls of malt and meal'.  An unusual but profitable export for the summer months was an annual exodus of Gallowglas mercenaries ('Gall Oglaigh' (G.) - foreign warriors) to fight in Ireland. 

Ranald d.1385
When his father became senile, Ranald, whom John had disowned, stepped in and took charge of the affairs of the Lordship until Donald came of age.  He seems to have been a remarkable man for the times.  Not only did he handle the affairs of the Lordship with skill, he insisted on carrying out his father's wishes in handing over to his half-brother when Donald reached his majority.

Donald II 1359-1423
Donald married Lady Margaret Leslie, daughter of Sir William Leslie and Euphemia, Countess of Ross (the male Ross line having become extinct).  Her brother, Alexander, then married a daughter of the Duke of Albany and had a daughter on whom devolved the Earldom of Ross.  This daughter, another Euphemia, became a nun and was encouraged by her grandfather, the Duke of Albany (then governor of Scotland) to renounce her title and lands in favour of her uncle John Stewart, Earl of Buchan (Albany's second son).  Donald claimed that the title and lands of Ross should have passed to Margaret, but Albany did not uphold the claim.  In 1411 Donald, at the head of an army said to number 10,000, forcefully took possession of Ross and determined to burn the town of Aberdeen.  Although he had greatly superior numbers, the opposing force was led by the Earl of Mar and included some battle-wise leaders and well-equipped troops.  The ensuing Battle of Harlaw was ferocious and passed  into history as 'Red Harlaw'.  Donald withdrew, leaving behind some 900 Highlanders dead, including the chiefs of McLean and McIntosh.

Alexander II d.1449
James I, in an attempt to break the power of his unruly nobles, summoned  them to on the pretext of a parliament to Inverness where he arrested forty of them including Alexander, Lord of the Isles and (by then) Earl of Ross.  Some were executed and the others imprisoned.  Believing he had brought the Highland chiefs to heel, James I liberated Alexander soon after.
Far from being mollified, Alexander collected a force of 10,000 men from Ross and the Isles and set upon crown lands in a frenzy of plunder and devastation.  Not surprisingly, James retaliated with great speed, catching Alexander by surprise in Lochaber.  The sight of the royal standard caused Alexander's allies Clan Chattan and Clan Cameron to defect to the King's side and Alexander's force was routed.  Realising how hopeless his position was, Alexander travelled in secret to Edinburgh where he appeared in the church at Holyrood on Easter Sunday 1429, covered in nothing but a plaid, and, on his knees, offered his sword hilt first to King James.  Alexander's life was spared and after imprisonment in Tantallon Castle for about a year he was released.

John II d.1503
In 1449 when his father died, at the age of only fifteen, John McDonald became the last of the hereditary Lords of the Isles.  In 1493 he  forfeited his titles (including the Earldom of Ross) for treason.  What brought about the forfeiture was that a change for the better in relations between the king of Scots and the English king revealed the existence of the Treaty of Ardtornish.  In 1462 John of the Isles had made a treaty with Edward IV of England to conquer Scotland with him and the Earl of Douglas.  In return MacDonald and Douglas would share Scotland north of the Forth as Edward's vassals.

Note  I started out with the intention of providing a very simple overview of the Norse occupation and the emergence of the Lordship of the Isles (I envisaged a few sentences).  The more I researched the more I found information that was inaccurate, sometimes contradictory, long on romance and short on fact.  I thought it worthwhile to try and set the record a bit straighter. 
But I may not have got it right either!  If you find any factual errors in the above (as opposed to differences of interpretation), I'd be glad to have them corrected.  Kindly send corrections to me here and please include the authority or source to support it.  'Moran taing.'

Jim Baird Oct 2003