Lachlann Mac Ruaidhrí

Clann Ruaidhrí

Lachlann was an illegitimate son of Ailéan mac Ruaidhrí (died ×1296), a son of Ruaidhrí mac Raghnaill, Lord of Kintyre (died 1247?), eponym of Clann Ruaidhrí. Ailéan had another illegitimate son, Ruaidhrí (died 1318?), and a legitimate daughter, Cairistíona (fl. 1290–1318). It was Lachlann's generation—the second generation in descent from Ruaidhrí mac Raghnaill—that members of Clann Ruaidhrí are first identified with a family name derived from this eponymous ancestor. For example, the sons of Ailéan are called "filiis Rodrici" in one record, and Lachlann himself is called "Laclan Magrogri" in another. Clann Ruaidhrí was a branch of Clann Somhairle. Other branches of this overarching kindred included Clann Dubhghaill and Clann Domhnaill. Lachlann was married to a daughter of Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill, Lord of Argyll (died 1310). Lachlann was therefore not only a brother-in-law of Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill's succeeding son, Eóin Mac Dubhghaill (died 1316), but also the brother-in-law of the eponymous ancestor of Clann Laghmainn, Maol Muire mac Laghmainn (fl. 1290), and likely also brother-in-law of the chief of Clann Domhnaill, Alasdair Óg Mac Domhnaill, Lord of Islay (died 1299?).

In opposition to English adherents

Lachlann is first attested in contemporary sources in 1292. In July of that year, he is mentioned in proceedings conducted at Berwick between Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill and Edward I, King of England (died 1307), in which Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill personally promised to keep peace in the Hebrides, amicably settle his dispute with his Clann Domhnaill namesake and rival, Alasdair Óg, and bring the unruly Clann Ruaidhrí under the king's authority. The fact that Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill vowed to have no dealings with his son Donnchadh and Lachlann—as these men were unwilling to submit to Edward I—suggests that Lachlann had earlier allied himself with Clann Dubhghaill in disputes with Clann Domhnaill. The following year, in an effort to maintain peace in the western reaches of his realm, John, King of Scotland (died 1314) established the shrievalties of Skye and Lorn. The former region—consisting of Wester Ross, Glenelg, Skye, Lewis and Harris, Uist, Barra, Eigg, Rhum, and the Small Isles—was given to William II, Earl of Ross (died 1323), whilst the latter region—consisting of Argyll (except Cowal and Kintyre), Mull, Jura and Islay—was given to Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill. Despite the king's intentions, his new sheriffs seem to have used their positions to exploit royal power against local rivals. Whilst Clann Domhnaill was forced to deal with their powerful Clann Dubhghaill rivals, Clann Ruaidhrí appears to have fallen afoul of the Earl of Ross over control of Kintail, Skye, and Uist. Evidence of the earl's actions against Clann Ruaidhrí is revealed in correspondence between him and the English Crown in 1304. In this particular communiqué, William II recalled a costly military campaign which he had conducted in the 1290s against rebellious Hebridean chieftains—including Lachlann himself—at the behest of the then-reigning John (reigned 1292–1296).

In 1296, Edward I invaded and easily conquered the Scottish realm. Amongst the Scots imprisoned by the English were many of the Ross elite, including William II himself. The earl remained in captivity from 1296 to 1303, a lengthy span of years in which the sons of Ailéan capitalised upon the resulting power vacuum. Like most other Scottish landholders, Lachlann rendered homage to the triumphant king later that year. One of the Scottish king's most ardent supporters had been Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill, a fact which appears to have led Edward I to use the former's chief rival, Alasdair Óg, as his principal agent in the maritime west. In this capacity, the this Clann Domhnaill chief attempted to contain the Clann Dubhghaill revolt against English authority.

The struggle between the two Clann Somhairle namesakes seems to be attested not long after Alasdair Óg's appointment in April 1297, and is documented in two undated letters from the latter to Edward I. In the first, Alasdair Óg complained to the king that Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill had ravaged his lands. Although Alasdair Óg further noted that he had overcome Ruaidhrí and thereby brought him to heel, Lachlann then attacked him, and both Clann Ruaidhrí brothers proceeded to ravage Skye and Lewis and Harris. At the end of the letter, the Clann Domhnaill chief implored upon Edward I to instruct the other noblemen of Argyll and Ross to aid him in his struggle against the king's enemies.

In the second letter, Alasdair Óg again appealed to the English Crown, complaining that he faced a united front from Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill, Donnchadh, (Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill's brother-in-law) John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died c. 1302), and Lachlann himself. According Alasdair Óg, the men of Lochaber had sworn allegiance to Lachlann and Donnchadh. Alasdair Óg further reported that he had battled against Lachlann and Ruaidhrí, and related a specific expedition in which he pursued his opponents to the Comyn stronghold of Inverlochy Castle, but was unable to capture two massive galleys which he described as the largest warships in the Western Isles. Much like in the first letter, Alasdair Óg called upon the English king for financial support in combating his mounting opponents.

These dispatches seem to reveal that Lachlann and Ruaidhrí were focused upon seizing control of Skye and Lewis and Harris from the absentee Earl of Ross. Whilst the first communiqué reveals that the first assault upon the islands concerned pillage, the second letter seems to indicate that the islands were subjected to further invasions by Clann Ruaidhrí, suggesting that the acquisition of these islands was their goal. The bitter strife between Clann Ruaidhrí and Clann Domhnaill depicted by these letters seems to indicate that both kindreds sought to capitalise on the earl's absence, and that both sought to incorporate the islands into their own lordships. In specific regard to Clann Ruaidhrí, it is likely that their campaigning was an extension of the conflict originating from the creation of the shrievalty of Ross in 1293. The correspondence also reveals that the Lachlann and Ruaidhrí were able to split their forces and operate somewhat independently of each other. Although Alasdair Óg was evidently able to overcome one of them at a time, he was nevertheless vulnerable to a counterattack from the other. Another aspect of the strife between the two kindreds is the possibility that it coincided with the anti-English campaign waged by Andrew Murray (died 1297) and Alexander Pilche against the embattled Countess of Ross in eastern Ross. If so, it is conceivable that there was some sort of coordination between Clann Ruaidhrí and the Murray/Pilche coalition. Lachlann's marital alliance with Clann Dubhghaill clearly benefited his kindred, linking it with the Clann Dubhghaill/Comyn pact in a coalition that encircled the Earldom of Ross.

In opposition to Scottish patriots

Little else is known of Lachlann's activities until 1299. A report of an English spy at an important council of the Guardians of Scotland in August of this year reveals that news of devastations beyond the Firth of Forth committed by Lachlann and Alexander Comyn, younger brother of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan (died 1308), was brought before leading Scottish magnates. According to the English informant, the severity of this news immediately quelled a heated quarrel that threatened the assembly itself.

Alasdair Óg seems to have been killed in battle against Clann Dubhghaill in 1299, after which his brother Aonghus Óg (died 1314×1318/c.1330) appears to have succeeded him as chief of Clann Domhnaill. In 1301, whilst in the service of the English Crown, Aonghus Óg entreated the king on behalf of Lachlann and Ruaidhrí—who were then aiding the English-aligned military forces of Aonghus Óg and Hugh Bisset (fl. 1301)—asking the king to grant the brothers feu of their ancestral lands. Another letter, this one from Hugh to Edward I, reveals that Aonghus Óg, Eóin Mac Suibhne (fl. 1261–1301), and Hugh himself, were engaged in maritime operations against Clann Dubhghaill that year.

In June 1301, Edward I instructed the Admiral of the Cinque Ports, Gervase Alard, to take into the king's peace Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill, the latter's sons Eóin and Donnchadh, Lachlann himself, and Lachlann's wife and their followers. Although no evidence of the admiral's activities off Scotland's western seaboard survive for that year, it is apparent that this impending submission of Clann Dubhghaill was regarded by the English as significant enough to divert the fleet. Clann Dubhghaill's conciliation with the English Crown may have been undertaken merely as a means to improve the family's own position, or possibly conducted on account of the apparent success of Clann Domhnaill's actions against them.

In 1304, correspondence from John Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl (died 1306) to Edward I suggests that Lachlann was still working in concert with Alexander Comyn. John Strathbogie, evidently resentful of Alexander's appointment as Sheriff of Aberdeen, besought the English Crown not to allow him possession of Aboyne Castle as Alexander had not only two of the strongest castles in the north—Urquhart and Tarradale—but was working in league in Lachlann, who was then attempting boost his maritime forces by way of raising one galley of twenty oars per davoch of land. John Strathbogie's source of this information was William II and Thomas Dundee, Bishop of Ross (died 1325). Although the earl did not identify the said lands, they would appear to have been Clann Ruaidhrí territories, and perhaps Skye as well.

In February 1306, Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick (died 1329), a claimant to the Scottish throne, killed his chief rival to the kingship, John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch. Although the former seized the throne (as Robert I) by March, the English Crown immediately struck back, defeating his forces in June. By September, Robert I was a fugitive, and appears to have escaped into the Hebrides. According to the fourteenth-century Gesta Annalia II, Lachlann's sister, Cairistíona, played an instrumental part in Robert I's survival at this low point in his career, sheltering him along Scotland's western seaboard. Later the next year, at about the time of Edward I's death in July 1307, Robert I mounted his remarkable return to power, first consolidating control of Carrick. In contrast to the assistance Cairistíona lent to the Scottish king, Lachlann sided himself closer with the English, as he appears to have personally sworn fealty to Edward I at Ebchester in August 1306, and petitioned for certain lands of Patrick Graham, a landholder forfeited from his estate for lending support to the Bruce cause. The document that preserves this petition records Lachlann's name as "Loughlā Mac Lochery des Isles".

In October, there is evidence indicating that a certain Cristin del Ard delivered messages from the English Crown to William II, Lachlann, Ruaidhrí, and a certain Eóin mac Neacail (fl. 1306–1316). The latter appears to be the earliest member of Clann Mhic Neacail on record. At about this time, this clan seems to have been seated on Skye and Lewis and Harris, and it is possible that the comital family of Ross had cultivated Clann Mhic Neacail as an ally against Clann Ruaidhrí shortly after the creation of the shrievalty of Skye in 1293. Cristin was a close associate of William II, and the fact that the English Crown seems to have used the earl as a conduit for communications with Clann Ruaidhrí and Clann Mhic Neacail appears to indicate that the earl had brought the northwestern territories of these families back within his sphere of influence. Whatever the case, William II played a key role in Robert I's misfortunes at about this time, as the earl captured the latter's wife and daughter—Elizabeth (died 1327) and Marjorie (died 1316)—and delivered them into the hands of Edward I. The correspondence could have concerned this particular episode, and may evince an attempt by the English Crown to project pro-English power into the Isles against Robert I and his supporters.

In opposition to the Earl of Ross

In 1303, after seven years if imprisonment, William II was released from captivity in England. It is possible that he had stubbornly refused to swear allegiance to the English until 1303, and that he only did so in a last attempt to safeguard what was left of his embattled earldom. It appears that, upon regaining his domain, William II found himself facing a dangerous alliance between Alexander Comyn and the ever-strengthening Lachlann. This hostile front may account for the earl's part in John Strathbogie's correspondence to Edward I, as well as William II's 1304 communiqué to the king recounting his own part in combating Lachlann and other rebellious Hebrideans years before. Such correspondence suggest that the earl was attempting to instil doubts concerning the value of Lachlann and Alexander Comyn to English interests in the region, whilst highlighting his own usefulness. Certainly by 1306, the English Crown granted Alexander Comyn's former stronghold of Urquhart to William II himself.

Lachlann last appears on record in 1307/1308 in correspondence between William II and Edward II, King of England (died 1327). At the time, the earl appears to have found himself in a perilous position as the Earl of Buchan found himself the target of Robert I's attention late in 1307, and was soundly subdued by him in 1308. This consolidation of power by the Scottish Crown was evidently not William II's only concern, as he reported to Edward II that Lachlann refused to render to him the revenues that Lachlann owed to the English Crown. In the words of William II, Lachlann "is such a high and mighty lord, he'll not answer to anyone except under great force or through fear of you". The earl's letter is clearly a testimonial to the strength of Clann Ruaidhrí at this point in time, evidently comparable to that of the earl. In fact, it is possible that it was due to this kindred's considerable influence in the region that the Bruce cause found any support in Ross—support evidenced by a letter to the English Crown in 1307 relating the unease of the English adherents Duncan Frendraught, Reginald Cheyne, and Gilbert Glencarnie. Certainly, the fourteenth-century Chronicle of Lanercost reveals that Robert I received Hebridean support when he first launched his return from exile in Carrick/Galloway. Having been in conflict with William II for over decade, it appears that Lachlann and his kin capitalised on Robert I's campaign against William II and his confederates. The Scottish king's success against the earl may well have stemmed from leading Islesmen like Lachlann himself. In 1308, the earl submitted to Robert I, and thereby offset aggression from his Clann Ruaidhrí adversaries. Following Lachlann's last appearance on record, perhaps after his own demise, Ruaidhrí seems to have succeeded him in representation of Clann Ruaidhrí.

Succession

Ruaidhrí appears to have only gained control of the lordship after swearing allegiance to Robert I. Specifically, at some during the king's reign, Cairistíona resigned her rights to Ruaidhrí on the condition that, if the latter had no male heir of his own, the lordship would revert to her like-named son, who would in turn marry one of Ruaidhrí's daughters. Although there is uncertainty as to why the king allowed Ruaidhrí consolidate control of the kindred over his own close associate Cairistíona, it is apparent that Ruaidhrí's faithful service to the king ensured the continuation of his kindred.

At about the turn of the twentieth century, partisan historians of Clann Domhnaill portrayed Lachlann and his kin as "Highland rovers", and likened their exploits against Clann Domhnaill to the "piratical tendencies of the ancient Vikings". Later in twentieth-century historical literature, Lachlann was still regarded a "sinister figure", likened to a "buccaneering predator", and described as a "shadowy figure ... always in the background, always a troublemaker". Such summarisations of their lives are nevertheless oversimplifications of their recorded careers as vigorous regional lords.