Battle of Harlaw

The Battle of Harlaw () was a Scottish clan battle fought on 24 July 1411 just north of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. It was one of a series of battles fought during the Middle Ages between the barons of northeast Scotland and those from the west coast.

The battle was part of a series of battles fought to resolve competing claims to the Earldom of Ross, a large region of northern Scotland. Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, had taken control of the earldom ostensibly as guardian of his granddaughter Euphemia Leslie, but in truth, though Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles, had the superior claim, Albany wanted Ross for his younger son, John. Donald, Lord of the Isles, had married Euphemia's aunt Mariota. Donald therefore invaded Ross with the intention of seizing the earldom by force and preventing Albany from taking all of Scotland.

The nearest contemporary record of the battle is found in the Irish Annals of Connacht, where under the year 1411, it is stated, "Mac Domnaill of Scotland won a great victory over the Galls of Scotland". The 2011 article by Iain G. MacDonald, "Donald of the Isles and the Earldom of Ross: West-Highland Perspectives on the Battle of Harlaw", also cites sources recording the victory.

Background

During the Early Middle Ages, the territory of what later became Scotland was divided between the Gaelic kingdoms of Dál Riata on the western seaboard and Alba in the south-east, and Pictish kingdoms in the northeast of which Fortriu was the most important. Besides these there were the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Bernicia, later part of Northumbria, and the Brythonic Kingdom of Cumbria. Viking influence increased in the west, with the Norse-Gaels that became Lords of the Isles taking control of much of Dál Riata in 1156. The Gaels of Alba acquired Brythonic elements from the conquest of the Kingdom of Strathclyde in the 11th century and increasingly absorbed Norman-French and Anglo-Saxon culture, influences which also spread to the Pictish areas of the northeast. The lands of Fortriu became part of the Province of Moray, which was conquered by Alba in 1130 and fragmented into territories that were semi-independent of the king in Edinburgh.

There was a long history of conflicts between the Moray gentry and the clans of the West Coast, but some historians present Harlaw as a clash between the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands, or between Celt and Teuton. John Hill Burton (1809–1881) claimed that in Lowland Scotland Harlaw "was felt as a more memorable deliverance even than that of Bannockburn. What it was to be subject to England the country knew and disliked; to be subdued by their savage enemies of the mountains opened to them sources of terror of unknown character and extent". However Sir Robert Rait (1874–1936) detected no racial antipathy in the two contemporary accounts of the Scotichronicon and the Book of Pluscarden, and viewed Harlaw not as a conflict between races, but between two groups of Scots of which one spoke Scots and the other Gaelic. Rait mentions Buchanan's view that it was a raid for plunder.

thumb|center|Map showing the approximate areas of the kingdom of [[Fortriu and neighbours c. 800, and the kingdom of Alba c. 900]]

Claims on the Earldom of Ross

The Earldom of Ross was a vast territory reaching from Skye to Ross and Inverness-shire, with superiority over the outlying lands of Nairn and Aberdeenshire. In 1370 Uilleam (William), Earl of Ross received a charter from King David II, confirming his right to the title and directing that in the absence of male heirs, the entirety of the earldom, titles and lands would fall to "the elder daughter always" without division. Uilleam died in 1372 without a male heir, and the title passed to his daughter Euphemia. By her first husband Sir Walter Leslie, Euphemia had two children – Alexander Leslie and Mariota (anglicised as Margaret or Mary). After Walter's death, Euphemia married Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan (the "Wolf of Badenoch") in 1382, giving the Stewarts control of the earldom. However, in 1392 the Pope annulled the marriage and Ross was returned to Euphemia as Countess of Ross. The Wolf of Badenoch had long been living with his mistress Mairead inghean Eachainn with whom he had a number of children, including Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar. Euphemia died in 1394 and her son Alexander Leslie inherited the title.

Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany had taken effective control of mainland Scotland towards the end of the reign of his father Robert II; his power increased during the reign (1390–1406) of his ineffective elder brother Robert III. Albany's daughter Isabel Stewart married Alexander Leslie before 1398 and their only child was a sickly daughter, also called Euphemia. whilst his daughter was still a minor. in April 1406, Albany was confirmed as regent; Albany continued to govern Scotland until his death in September 1420.

According to Skene, Euphemia became a nun before the battle.

Invasion and the preceding Battle of Dingwall

It took Donald time to ready his assault, but in 1411 he assembled his forces at Ardtornish Castle on the Sound of Mull and invaded Ross. He met no opposition until "a severe conflict" at Dingwall, seat of the Earls of Ross, where, at the Battle of Dingwall, he fought a large body of men of the Clan Mackay from "Strathnaver". Donald then captured and garrisoned Dingwall Castle. not south as it does today. Donald's men committed "great excesses" Finally the Islesmen and their Highlander allies came to Bennachie, the last hill of the Grampians before the coastal plain between Inverurie and Aberdeen. Donald was now within of Aberdeen burgh. On 23 July 1411, he set up camp just north of Inverurie, on high ground 2 km northwest of the bridge over the River Urie. – 24 July 1411. The same source and many others put Donald's army at 10,000 Islanders, Highland clans with marriage bloodlines as well as men of Ross,

thumb|Tombstone of Gilbert de Greenlaw in Kinkell Church

Tradition has it that they faced a force numbering between 1,000 and 2,000 men; with significant numbers of knights. gives an idea of how Mar's knights were equipped. Sir Gilbert carried a hand and a half sword and wore an open-faced bascinet helmet with a mail-reinforced arming doublet beneath plate armour. Mar's men also carried spears, maces, and battle axes. who died in the battle along with most of the city's burgesses. At first, the clansmen launched themselves at Scrymgeour's men, but failed to make much impression on the armoured column and many were slain.

Donald lost 900 men, In the history of the Mackintoshes, chiefs of the Chattan Federation, it is recorded that Mackintosh mourned the loss of so many of his friends and people, especially of Clan Vean (Clan MacBean). By contrast, a MacDonald Seanchaí stated that just "two or three gentlemen of the name Munroe" were killed in the battle and that they were part of the Lord of the Isles' host. The same 17th century manuscript states that the "son of Macquarry of Ulva" and "two gentlemen of the name Cameron" were also killed on the side of Donald, Lord of the Isles. expecting combat to resume in the morning. south of Inverurie. in the same way as heirs of those who died fighting the English. The treaty was signed at Polgilbe/Polgillip (Loch Gilp), an inlet of Loch Fyne in Argyll. He entered into an "uneasy alliance" with his uncle Albany, but the ruin of Albany's heirs left Mar in control of the north. but the papal commission would not have arrived after which she appears to have entered a nunnery. Buchan was killed at the Battle of Verneuil in 1424. In 1424, when James I returned to Scotland from his imprisonment in England, he had all of Albany's heirs, the Albany Stewarts, executed. Mariota claimed the earldom of Ross and the Lordship of the Isles once more, and James I awarded it to her in 1424. The title remained with the family for much of the 15th century. Donald's son Alexander succeeded to the title upon Mariota's death in 1429. He attempted an invasion of Ross in 1429 which led to his defeat and capture by Mar at the Battle of Lochaber.

In turn Mar suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Donald's nephew Donald Balloch, at the Battle of Inverlochy. the fighting was so fierce that the battle went down in history as "Red (Reid) Harlaw". Maidment has a different ballad which apparently shares the same tune, but he is sceptical of its antiquity. Sir Walter Scott mentions Harlaw in his 1816 novel The Antiquary, particularly in Elspeth's ballad in Chapter 40.

Tradition has it that Mar founded Chapel of Garioch after the battle, to celebrate masses for the souls of the fallen. In 1911, There were once several cairns in the area that were traditionally associated with the battle, but little remains of them now – Drum's Cairn, Provost Davidson's Cairn, Donald's Tomb and the Liggars Stane. Twelve human skeletons were uncovered northeast of Harlaw House in 1837. Although there have been several discoveries of prehistoric artefacts, such as stone axeheads and a flint core, no artefacts directly attributable to the battle have been recorded. The battlefield has been inventoried and protected by Historic Scotland under the Historic Environment (Amendment) Act 2011.

Notes and references

Bibliography

– available online as the [ at Google Books (2007 Echo Library reprint and others)], a Gutenberg e-book at Scribd and a poorly OCR'd text file at archive.org. Appendix A (pp. 108–12 of the Echo version) helpfully collects together the descriptions of the battle (in Latin) from Walter Bower (Scotichronicon Lib. xv, ch xxi), the Book of Pluscarden (Liber Pluscardensis Bk. x, ch. xxii), John Major/Mair (Historia Majoris Britanniae Bk. vi, ch. x), Hector Boece (Scotorum Historiae Lib. xvi) and George Buchanan (Rerum Scoticarum Historia Lib. x).

External links

. Shows approximate deployments based on the work of Marren (1990).
– MIDI version of Battle of Harlaw music
Ross Cowan (2011), "Late Medieval Scottish Swords", Medieval Warfare 1.2. Short article about the types of swords used at Harlaw and other late medieval Scottish battles.