The Kingdom of the Isles: Scotland's Western Seaboard c.1100-1336

400 Pages·2008·5.373 MB·English

by  Andrew McDonald

THE KINGDOM OF THE ISLES
S W S , c.1100–c.1336
COTLAND’S ESTERN EABOARD

SCOTTISH HISTORICAL REVIEW
MONOGRAPHS SERIES
NO. 4
Scottish Historical Review Monographs are major works of scholarly
research covering all aspects of Scottish history. They are selected
and sponsored by the Scottish Historical Review Trust, in
conjunction with Tuckwell Press
EDITORIAL BOARD
Stewart J. Brown, Alexander Grant, Alison E. Grant, I. G. C.
Hutchison and Hector L. MacQueen, with the Trustees of the SHR
Trust
CURRENT AND FORTHCOMING VOLUMES
1 Helen M. Physicians, Surgeons and Apothecaries:
Dingwall Medicine in Seventeenth-Century Edinburgh
2 Ewen A. Land for the People? The British Government
Cameron and the Scottish Highlands, c.1880–1925
3 Richard Herds and Hinds: Farm Labour in Lowland
Anthony Scotland, 1900–1939
4 R. Andrew The Kingdom of the Isles: Scotland’s Western
McDonald Seaboard, c.1100–c.1336
5 John Church and Theology in Enlightenment Scotland:
McIntosh The Evangelical Party, 1740–1800
6 Graeme Unionist-Nationalism: Governing Urban Scotland,
Morton 1830–1860
R. Andrew McDonald
THE KINGDOM
OF THE ISLES
Scotland’s Western Seaboard
c.1100–c. 1336
This eBook was published in Great Britain in 2022 by John Donald,
an imprint of Birlinn Ltd
Birlinn Ltd
West Newington House
10 Newington Road
Edinburgh
EH9 1QS
First published in Great Britain in 2008 by John Donald
Copyright © R. Andrew McDonald, 2008
eBook ISBN 978 1 78885 412 2
The right of R. Andrew McDonald to be identified as the author of this book has
been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or
transmitted in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical or photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher.
The publishers gratefully acknowledge the support of the Strathmartine Trust
towards the publication of this book
for
MY FATHER AND MOTHER
Contents
Illustrations
Abbreviations
Preface
Map: The Western Seaboard
Introduction
1 Celts, Norsemen, and Gall-Gaedhil in the Isles: The Historical
Background to 1100
2 The Age of Somerled, 1100–1164
3 ‘A Good Family’: The MacSorleys, 1164–1249
4 1266 And All That: The MacSorleys and the Dilemma of Divided
Allegiances, 1249–1266
5 From Kings to Barons: Autonomy and Assimilation, 1264–1293
6 MacDougalls, MacDonalds and MacRuairis in the Wars of
Independence, c. 1293–1329
7 The Western Seaboard meets Western Christendom: The
Church and Monasticism, c. 1100–1300
8 A Golden Age? The Monuments of the Western Seaboard
9 Conclusion: In Search of the Kingdom of the Isles
Appendix: Genealogical Trees
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations
between pp. 144 and 145
Plate 1 Grave slab from Kilmory Knap, Argyll
Plate 2 Dunvegan Castle, Skye
Plate 3 Mingary Castle, Ardnamurchan
Plate 4 Castle Tioram, Ardnamurchan
Plate 5 Skipness Castle, Kintyre
Plate 6 Castle Sween, Knapdale
Plate 7 Rothesay Castle, Bute
Plate 8 Dunstaffnage Castle, Argyll
Plate 9 Dunstaffnage Chapel
Plate 10 Iona Abbey
Plate 11 Iona Nunnery
Plate 12 St Blane’s Chapel, Bute
Plate 13 Archway, St Blane’s Chapel
Plate 14 Chapel at Kilmory Knap, Knapdale
Plate 15 Interior of chapel at Kilmory Knap
Plate 16 Teampull Mholuidh, Lewis
Plate 17 St German’s Cathedral, Isle of Man
Abbreviations
Ann. Conn. Annála Connacht: the Annals of Connacht, AD
1224–1544, ed. A. M. Freeman (Dublin, 1944;
repr. 1970)
Ann. Four The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four
Masters Masters, ed. J. O’Donovan (2nd edn, Dublin,
1856)
Ann. Inisf. The Annals of Inisfallen (MS Rawlinson B 503),
ed. S. Mac Airt (Dublin, 1951; repr. 1977)
Ann. Loch Cé The Annals of Loch Cé, ed. W. M. Hennessy
(Rolls Ser., 1871)
Ann. The Annals of Tigernach, ed. W. Stokes, in Revue
Tigernach Celtique, xvi–xviii (1895–7)
Ann. Ulster Annals of Ulster, ed. W. M. Hennessy and B.
McCarthy (Dublin, 1887–1901)
APS The Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ed. T.
Thomson and C. Innes (Edinburgh, 1814–75)
Barbour, [John Barbour], Barbour’s Bruce, ed. M. P.
Bruce McDiarmid and J. A. C. Stevenson (STS, 1980–5)
Beauly Chrs. The Charters of the Priory of Beauly with Notices
of the Priories of Pluscardine and Ardchattan, ed.
E. C. Batten (Grampian Club, 1877)
Book of Dean Scottish Verse from the Book of the Dean of
of Lismore Lismore, ed. W. J. Watson (Scottish Gaelic Texts
Soc., 1937)
CDS Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, ed. J.
Bain et al. (Edinburgh, 1881–1986)
Chron. Walter Bower, Scotichronicon, ed. D. E. R. Watt
Bower (Aberdeen, 1987- )
Chron. Joannis de Fordun Scotichronicon cum
Bower Supplementis et Continuatione Walteri Boweri, ed.
(Goodall) W. Goodall (Edinburgh, 1759)
Chron. John of Fordun, Chronica Gentis Scotorum, ed. W.
Fordun F. Skene (Edinburgh, 1871–2)
Chron. A Scottish Chronicle known as the Chronicle of
Holyrood Holyrood, ed. M. O. Anderson (SHS, 1938)
Chron. The Chronicle of Lanercost, 1272–1346, trans. H.
Lanercost Maxwell (Glasgow, 1913)
(Maxwell)
Chron. Man The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys, ed. P. A.
Munch and Rev. Dr Goss (Manx Soc., 1874)
Chron. The Chronicle of Melrose (facsimile edn), ed. A.
Melrose O. Anderson et al. (London, 1936)
Chron. Andrew Wyntoun, The Orygnale Cronykil of
Wyntoun Scotland, ed. D. Laing (Edinburgh, 1872–9)
(Laing)
Clanranald The Book of Clanranald, in A. Cameron, Reliquiae
Bk. Celticae: Texts, Papers and Studies in Gaelic
Literature and Philosophy, ed. A. MacBain and J.
Kennedy (Inverness, 1894)
CPL Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers relating
to Great Britain and Ireland: Papal Letters, ed. W.
H. Bliss et al. (London, 1893– )
Diplom. Norv. Diplomatarium Norvegicum, ed. G. R. Unger and
H.J. Huitfeldt (Kristiana, 1849–1919)
Donaldson, Scottish Historical Documents, ed. G. Donaldson
Scot. Hist. (Edinburgh, 1970)
Docs.
Durham Liber Liber Vitae Ecclesiae Dunelmensis, ed. J.
Vitae Stevenson (Surtees Soc., 1841)
ER The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, ed. J. Stuart et