22 A HUNDRED YEARS 



seawards. By this time only two of their number were 

 left alive. In their hurry to escape they left all the 

 bodies of their slain companions unburied on the island ! 

 A rumour of the arrival of the Macleods had during the 

 night spread through the district, and other warriors, 

 such as Fionnlaidh Dubh na Saigheada and Fear 

 Shieldaig, were soon at the scene of action, but all they 

 had to do on their arrival was to assist in the burial of 

 the dead Macleods. Pits were dug, into each of which 

 a number of bodies were thrown, and mounds were 

 raised over them which remain to this day, as anyone 

 landing on the island may observe." 



Almost the last fight with the Macleods was when 

 Murdoch Mackenzie, second surviving son of John Roy 

 Mackenzie, fourth of Gairloch, accompanied by Alexander 

 Bayne, heir-apparent of TuUoch, and several brave men 

 from Gairloch, sailed to the Isle of Skye in a vessel loaded 

 with wine and provisions. It is said by some that Mur- 

 doch's intention was to secure in marriage the daughter 

 and heir of line of Domhnall Dubh MacRuairidh 

 (Donald Macleod). It is the unbroken tradition in 

 Gairloch that John Macleod was a prisoner there, and 

 was unmarried, and easily secured where he was. In the 

 event of this marriage taking place — failing issue by 

 John, then in the power of John Roy — the ancient rights 

 of the Macleods would revert to the Gairloch family 

 and a troublesome dispute would be finally settled. 

 Whatever the real object of the trip to Skye, it proved 

 disastrous. The ship found its way, whether inten- 

 tionally on the part of the crew or forced by a great 



