EARLS OF ROSS AND LORDS OF THE ISLES. 101 



Isles. After his release by the Mackenzies, Alexander 

 revived his claims, and in 1497 again organised a rising, 

 which was terminated by his death in the Island of Oron- 

 say, by the instrumentality of Macian of Ardnamurchan. 



But Angus Og left a son, known in Highland history 

 as Donald Dubh ; who, as will be related, was the next 

 claimant to the Lordship of the Isles, and with whose 

 fortunes Torquil Macleod of Lewis became closely identi- 

 fied. The facts connected with the birth and early days 

 j of Donald Dubh are not clear. Here again Highland 

 I historians have floundered in the bog of uncertainty, and 

 I have so far not succeeded in finding a sure footing. The 

 I facts are of importance, inasmuch as if correctly known, 

 they would tend to throw light upon events which remain 

 obscure. The official records furnish no data to go upon, 

 and recourse has consequently been had to the seanachies. 

 The Sleat and Clan Ranald historians are at variance in 

 their accounts, but the version of Hugh Macdonald has 

 hitherto been accepted, while that of MacVurich has been 

 ignored. And yet it can be proved that the version of 

 the latter is, in part at least, confirmed by a letter from 

 Donald Dubh himself. The Sleat seanachie states that 

 Donald, when an infant, was carried off by the Earl of 

 Atholl at the instigation of the Earl of Argyll, into whose 

 charge the child was committed ; and that Argyll kept him 

 as a captive in his Castle of Inchconnel in Lochawe until 

 his escape (in 1501). This is the account adopted by Mr. 

 Gregory, who has been followed by all succeeding High- 

 land historians. The Clan Ranald seanachie, on the other 

 hand, states that " the daughter of MacCailin (Colin first 

 Earl of Argyll) the wife of Angus, was pregnant at the 

 time he was killed, and she was kept in custody until she 

 was confined, and she bore a son, and Donald was given, 

 as a name to him. He was kept in custody until he 

 arrived at the age of thirty years, when the men of Glen- 

 coe brought him out by a Fenian exploit." Confirming 

 the principal point in this account are the words of Donald 

 Dubh himself. In a letter to King Henry VIII. dated 



