i2 4 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 



many of the islands and presided at the Courts of Law," an 

 interesting statement in view of the Act of Parliament of 

 1503. It is certain that the King knew his Highlands 

 well, and particularly the town of Tain ; at one period of 

 his life, he paid an annual pilgrimage to the shrine of St. 

 Duthac. The newborn attachment of the Highlanders to 

 their Sovereign found its chief expression at the fatal field 

 of Flodden, where they fought side by side with their 

 former enemies, Argyll and Huntly, both of whom fell 

 with the King on that dark day which threw the whole of 

 Scotland into the deepest mourning. According to Mr. 

 Tytler, the Macleods were among the Highlanders who 

 fought at Flodden, and from a contemporary writer, we 

 learn that among the Scots slain was the Bishop of the 

 Isles. The clans displayed their usual bravery, but their 

 impetuous onslaught was unavailing against the steadiness 

 of the English, who routed them with great slaughter. 



The disaster at Flodden plunged the country into a 

 state of anarchy, which offered a tempting opportunity 

 for another insurrection in the Hebrides. As before, the 

 Lordship of the Isles formed the ostensible cause, but it is 

 not necessary to look very far below the surface to perceive 

 that there were other and deeper reasons. The gathering 

 of the clans at Flodden was not due to patriotism for the 

 Hebrideans openly avowed themselves to be the enemies 

 of Scotland but to the personal influence of James IV. 

 The death of that gallant and chivalrous monarch whose 

 exaggerated spirit of chivalry cost him and his country 

 so dear released the Hebrideans from their temporary 

 allegiance, and two months after they charged the English 

 ranks at Flodden, they were virtually assisting England by 

 harassing the distracted Government of Scotland. 



The leader of the fresh rising in 1513 was Donald, son 

 of Alexander of Lochalsh by a daughter of the Earl of 

 Moray ; he is known in Highland history as Donald Gauld 

 or Gallda (the stranger) from the fact that he was educated 

 in the Lowlands. He was knighted on the field of Flodden 

 by his guardian the King. The Sleat seanachie relates 



