96 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 



thing for the English King to partition a country which 

 had yet to be conquered ; it was quite another matter to 

 provide the means of effecting the conquest. No serious 

 attempt appears to have ever been made in that 

 direction, and for some years after the conclusion of the 

 agreement, there is no record of any overt acts of rebellion 

 on the part of the Lord of the Isles. In the following 

 decade, however, he appears to have again attracted the 

 attention of the Government, and by the year 1476, it is 

 evident that some knowledge of the treaty with England 

 had been brought to light. Declared a traitor by a Parlia- 

 ment held in Edinburgh in 1476, the Earl of Ross had to 

 pay the price of his treason. His estates were forfeited, 

 and a force was got ready to give effect to the forfeiture. 

 These proceedings brought the Lord of the Isles to his 

 knees, and by the mediation of the Earl of Argyll,* a 

 pardon was secured for him. With the exception of the 

 lands of Knapdale, the Sheriffships of Inverness and 

 Nairn, and most important of all the Earldom of Ross, 

 all of which were retained by the Crown, his titles and 

 possessions were restored to him, and he himself was made 

 a Lord of Parliament under the style of "John de Isla, Lord 

 of the Isles." 



Like his father before him, John of the Isles had now 

 learned his lesson. But his son, Angus Og, having been 

 brought up in the rebellious school of his father and grand- 

 father, was now following in their footsteps ; unlike them, he 

 had not yet felt the iron heel of authority pressing on his 

 neck. The father was cowed by the vigorous action of the 

 Crown ; the son defied father and Crown alike. His energy 

 and daring were rewarded by a series of striking successes. 

 The Earl of Atholl, who co-operated with the Mackenzies 

 against him, suffered a severe defeat at Lagabread, the Earl 

 himself escaping with difficulty from the field. The Earls of 

 Crawford and Huntly met with no better success. A third 

 expedition under the Earls of Argyll and Atholl and John 



* The Earl of Atholl is by some historians named as his mediator ; by others 

 the Earl of Huntly. 



