EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 89 



most of the burgesses of Aberdeen who had accompanied 

 the Lowland army ; while the Lord of the Isles lost the 

 chiefs of the Macleans and the Mackintoshes. 



Harlaw is usually described as a drawn battle, and so 

 indeed it was, if gauged by its results. The seanachies 

 claim a victory for the Lord of the Isles, and in this they 

 are borne out by Irish records. There is some obscurity 

 about the events which immediately followed the battle. 

 By at least one Lowland historian,* it is stated that " both 

 sides claimed the victory, but Donald kept the field and 

 made great slaughter that day." The commonly accepted 

 version, however, is that the Lord of the Isles retreated 

 before daybreak, leaving Mar with the remnant of his 

 army in possession of the field. If the Highland army 

 really consisted of 10,000 men (a number which is probably 

 in excess of the entire fighting strength at that period of 

 the Highlands and Isles), it is clear that after a loss of less 

 than a tenth of its strength, it cannot have been incapaci- 

 tated from renewing the conflict, while it is obvious that 

 Mar's forces were almost annihilated. It is probable that 

 in accordance with their usual custom, the Highlanders 

 were eager to return home with their booty, and that even 

 the influence of the Lord of the Isles was not sufficiently 

 strong to keep them together and pursue his forward 

 movement. However, the fact remains that Donald did 

 not burn Aberdeen, and the resistance offered by Mar at 

 least defeated that project. That the Highland army was 

 severely handled is evident ; that it received a check is 

 also clear from the result ; but that it suffered a defeat in 

 the ordinary acceptance of the word, is not borne out by 

 the evidence, which supports the contrary view. The Lord 

 of the Isles, in short, was crippled, while his antagonist 

 was incapacitated from further attack, if not indeed from 

 further resistance. 



The memory of Harlaw lingered for many a day in the 

 music and poetry of the Scottish people. To this fact 



* Douglas, (" An Impartial Hand"), p. 43. 



