THE INSURRECTION OF RONALD DUBH. 123 



! him Assynt and Coigeach in life-rent, the forfeited pro- 

 perties of Torquil Macleod olim de Lewis* On 2Qth 

 April, 1508, the King having the disposal of Lewis and 

 Waternish in his hands, instructed Macleod of Harris, 

 Ranald of Clan Ranald and the Bishop of Caithness to let 

 those lands for a term of five years to suitable tenants, and 

 on /th June of the same year, they were ordered to proceed 

 to Lewis on the same business, and to follow the directions 

 of the Earl of Huntly in the matter.f These instructions 

 had no practical result, for on 29th June, 1511, a Crown 

 charter of Lewis, Waternish, Assynt and Coigeach was 

 granted to Malcolm Macleod, Torquil's brother, the barony 

 and lordship of Lewis with the Castle of " Stornochway " 

 being incorporated in one " liberain."* Torquil Macleod 

 left by his second wife (the widow of Donald Gallich, and 

 the mother of Donald Gruamach of Sleat) a son named 

 John, who was thus excluded from the succession, but who 

 took forcible possession of Lewis some years afterwards. 



The pacification of the Hebrides inspired the Islesmen 

 with a wholesome respect for King James IV. In view of 

 the provocation which he had received, it must be admitted 

 that the King dealt generously with the vanquished rebels. 

 Generosity has ever appealed to Highlanders, and the 

 present occasion was no exception to the rule. After the 

 insurrection was quelled, the King had no more devoted 

 subjects in his realm than the Hebrideans. Besides his 

 personal bravery as a man, and his generosity as a monarch, 

 James possessed a further qualification which went far to 

 endear him to his Celtico-Norse subjects. According to 

 the Spanish Ambassador, Don Pedro de Ayala, who had 

 a warm admiration for the King, the latter spoke "the 

 language of the savages who live in some parts of Scotland 

 and on the islands." He was probably the last King of 

 Scotland or Great Britain who spoke Gaelic. De Ayala 

 also states that James went in the summer of 1497 "to 



* Reg. Mag. Sig. (1424-1513), Nos. 3,202 and 3,578. 

 t In May, 1508, the King sent his falconer to Lewis for hawks. (Treas. 

 Accounts, Vol. IV., p. 118.) 



