A raid on the MacLarens in 1558 - from the Dewar MSS

G42. Clann Labhrainn agus Clann Ghriogair. The MacLarens and MacGregors. D7.573–82.
This traditional account from the Gaelic tales collected in the 19th century by John Dewar may be the only corroboration of the raid on the MacLarens by a band of MacGregors in 1558. Although one MacGregor was charged with this crime in 1604, he was acquitted of it. The raid is not been mentioned in any other printed sources.

So does this tale confirm the beliefs of the MacLarens? I'm not sure. However, please read this translation, as it was supplied to me, before my comments at the end.

[573] There was one time when MacGregor married a daughter of MacLaren of Auchleskine in Balquhidder, and the agreement they reached was that MacGregor was to have no tocher with his wife at all until there was an heir, upon which he was to have twenty cows and a bull. When MacGregor had been married for about a year, his wife went into labour and produced a son and heir. MacGregor went to Balquhidder to ask for his wife’s tocher, and when he arrived he claimed it. The MacLarens didn’t refuse to pay it, nor did they say they would pay it; but when he left for home, his brothers-in-law came with him. They took the Lochearnhead road, and when they reached Taigh-Òsta na Croite (‘the Croft Inn’) they went in to drink ale. They kept on drinking until they were starting to get tipsy, and MacGregor began to feel pretty annoyed that [575] his brothers-in-law weren’t saying anything at all about paying him the tocher, so he went on to claim it in earnest. One of the brothers-in-law said, “I’ve got a good sharp dirk here, myself.” One of the others said, “Well, I’ve got a good sharp dirk here, too.”

MacGregor began to be afraid that his brothers-in-law were ganging up against him, so he said, “I believe my own dirk is as sharp as any of yours.” Then he jumped to his feet and ran off. He went up through Glen Ogle, and his brothers-in-law got up and pursued him. When they’d gone up the glen to a hollow called Lag an Ruidillidh (‘the Hollow of Riddling’), the MacLaren that was farthest ahead realised he couldn’t catch MacGregor. Having a bow in his hand, he fired an arrow after him which struck [577] MacGregor in the leg, but didn’t wound him so badly that he was unable to run. He immediately plucked it out and fled, succeeding in leaving his brothers-in-law behind.

He got home to his own house, and hadn’t been talking for long before he showed his wife the tear the arrow had made. He said to her, “There’s the first cow of your tocher that I got.”

She asked, “And how did you get that?”

He said, “I got this from your brother.”

She said, “But why?”

He said, “Because, when I was pleading, claiming your tocher, your brothers started saying they had good sharp dirks. I thought they were plotting something evil against me, and I ran away from them. Your brothers chased me, one of them fired [579] an arrow after me, and it made that tear in my leg.”

“Well,” she said, “my beloved brother hit you pretty low. He used to have better aim than that.”

MacGregor fell out with his wife over that remark, and put her out the door with the baby on her arm. When she reached the outside of the door she banged the baby’s head on the doorpost and killed him. “Now you’re without a son and heir,” she said, “and you’re not legally entitled to my tocher.” And she went home to her own people.

A short while after that, MacGregor raised a band of his men and they went through the Làirig Éireannach during the night. They reached the Braes of Balquhidder, burned eighteen houses, and killed the families that were in them. MacGregor took possession of [581] their lands, and settled MacGregors there as farmers. The MacLarens were reduced in numbers by the disaster that had befallen them at Leacadogha, and had no wish to go and fight the MacGregors, so the MacGregors got permission to take over the MacLarens’ land in Balquhidder.

The MacGregors retained possession of the land of Balquhidder until, when many of them were outlawed after the battle of Glen Fruin.

My Comments.
This story "smells" to me like a fabrication dating from the early 19th century.

Tocher, in Scots, comes from the Gaelic noun Tochraidh meaning a marriage portion or dowry. The verb tochair is to give a dowry. This an ancient custom which can be found in the Irish Brehon laws. Twenty cows and a bull would be a substantial tocher suggesting the social status of the contracting parties. So who was this MacGregor? It is unusual in the old tales for no indication to be provided as to his name, or his relationship to others of his clan. Where were the lands on which he would be grazing these cattle? Land was essential for social status and the rearing of a family. The cattle grazing on those lands were a visible measure of one's wealth.

Delayed tocher. While it wasn't unknown for payment of tocher to be delayed until a milestone was reached - such as the first child, this wasn't common practice.

MacLaren of Achleskine - Hilton McLaurin suggests that the original 16th century MacLaren settlement in Balquhidder was in the upper glen at Invernenty, not at Achleskine. The earliest mention of MacLaren tenants at Achleskine is in the late 17th century. From the 1559 Balquidder V’Laurane Bond with Campbell of Glenorchy it looks like an influx of MacLarens in that year or prior, from parts unknown. They are listed below the original M’olchallum family in the bond. The point being, there was no decrease in MacLarens at that time, the opposite was true.

The Croft Inn at Lochearnhead. While most men of the time would be likely to carry a dirk, it appears that MacGregor's brothers-in-law also carried their bows to the inn! Surely a red-warning to him. If MacGregor had suspected he might be treated in this way, where were his own men? Did he go alone to the lands of a rival clan?.

Murder of the baby by its mother. Perhaps husband and wife hadn't been getting on, perhaps she was suffering post-natal depression. Maybe MacGregor had arrived at his home angry as a result of his treatment by his brothers-in-law, but for a mother to murder her new-born in the way described stretches credulity.

Làirig Éireannach during the night.. This is a recognized hill pass from Glen Dochart to the north to the Kirkton of Balquhidder at the eastern end of Loch Voil - close to Achleskine (see my note above). These sentences almost exactly match the claims made by Daniel MacLaurin in the 19th century - "a band of incendiarists from Glen Dochart". Again, who was this MacGregor who could so easily call up "a band of his men" to raid the MacLarens?

Leacadogha Leacadogha was a conflict in the Arrochar between the MacFarlanes and Camerons. The Camerons had raided and stolen cattle from the Lennox, which the MacFarlanes had pledged to recover. There is no evidence that any MacLarens were involved, so how could they have been reduced in numbers by the disaster of Leacadogha?

Permission to take over the MacLarens land in Balquhidder There is much confusion between tribal or clan lands and feudal tenure. In law, all of Scotland, since the time of David I had been held under feudal tenure with written feus or grants of land from the crown or feudal lords. In practice, in many areas of the Highlands, a feudal grant meant little if it was opposed by the people on the ground who regarded the land as their duthchas. Thus, for centuries the Camerons resisted the Mackintoshes. The Battle at the Fords of Arkaig in 1665 was the culmination of a 360 year-long dispute over the lands of Loch Arkaig to which the Mackintosh chief held a feudal grant. This kind of dispute was not uncommon.

However, Balquhidder was close to the Highland line and appears to have come under the control of feudal lords at an early date. The Earls of Argyll had been given powers of lieutenancy from the crown over a wide area including Balquhidder in 1475, Grey Colin Campbell of Glenorchy was a rising power in the area. The Murrays of Tullibardine, later Dukes of Atholl, had grants over large areas of Balquhidder, as did Lord Drummond, Earl of Perth. Written leases were being recorded in Balquhidder as early as 1510. Whatever casual violence may have taken place, these powerful men would not have accepted a wholesale replacement of their tenants following a Highland raid - unless of course, one of them had instigated it.