8 COLONSAY 



Donald M'Duffie, abbot in Oransay when Dean Monro 

 made his tour of the Western Isles in 1549. Monro 

 wrote that "the He is brucket by ane gentle capitane 

 callit M'Duffyhe, and pertained of auld to clan Donald 

 of Kintyre." 



The last of the M'Phees of Colonsay, Malcolm M'Phee, 

 was killed at Eilean-nan-Kon, south of Oransay, by Coll 

 Ciotach in February 1623. Earlier in the century he, 

 according to Gregory, had been compelled for a time to hold 

 his lands from Argyll, instead of M 'Don aid of Islay. This 

 circumstance, however, did not prevent him from joining 

 Sir James M'Donald when the latter escaped from Edinburgh 

 Castle in 1615. The rising was unsuccessful, and at its 

 close M'Phee was delivered into the hands of Argyll by 

 Coll Ciotach, one of his associates in the recent revolt. 



After being detained for some time as a prisoner in 

 Edinburgh, M'Phee was allowed to return to Colonsay. 

 Places of concealment in various parts of the island, named 

 after him (leab' fhalaich Mhic-a-Phl), indicate that he had 

 been hunted about from place to place for some time before 

 his death. He was finally followed to the south-western 

 extremity of Eilean-nan-R6n, an-t-Eilean-Iarach, but would 

 have still remained undiscovered had not his whereabouts 

 been made known to his pursuers in a curious manner. Coll 

 and his men were returning to Oransay after a fruitless search 

 when the cry of a gull hovering over a particular spot 

 attracted their attention, and on reaching the place they 

 found M'Phee crouching on a very narrow ledge of rock at 

 the edge of the sea. "Fabhar, a Thamhais," pleaded the 

 fugitive. " Fabhar no fabhar," answered Tamhas Mac 'Hie 

 Mhoirche, the person who first saw him, "is beag fabhair a 

 gheibhteadh o t' fheusaig ruaidh mu'n am so 'n deV' In 

 June 1623 Coll and his son Gilleasbuig, with four followers, 

 were summoned to Edinburgh on the charge of murdering 

 Malcolm M'Phee of Colonsay, Donald (Og) M'Phee, Dugald 



