134 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 



of Dunyveg, the two principal chiefs, were detained as 

 captives on board the fleet. The King disembarked at 

 Dumbarton, and sent the ships, with their Hebridean 

 prizes, back to Leith by the way they came. 



It cannot be supposed that the sole occupation of the 

 King during his voyage was to kidnap chiefs and study 

 the Gaelic language. To many of his followers, the whole 

 affair may have proved of no greater gravity than a 

 summer excursion, but James, with all his faults, was a 

 ruler who had the best interests of all his subjects at heart. 

 The suggestion about the settlement of questions connected 

 with the fishing has already been noticed, and according 

 to Pitscottie, the King " held justice courts and punished 

 both thief and traitor according to their demerit." If the 

 pictures of the Hebrides drawn by contemporary travellers 

 are truthful, his time must have been fully occupied. 

 Pitscottie also makes the statement that James " caused 

 great men to show their holdings, and found many of the 

 said lands in non-entry." These were promptly confiscated 

 to the Crown.* 



There are no definite particulars of the ultimate fate of 

 the captured chiefs, but we know that some were set at 

 liberty on giving hostages for their peaceful demeanour. 

 Contemporary evidence serves to show that the principal 

 men were kept in confinement until after the King's death, 

 as pledges for the good behaviour of their clansmen. 

 Lesley tells us that as the result of the captivity of the 

 chiefs, great quietness prevailed in the Isles, and that the 

 rents of the Crown lands were regularly paid to the 

 Exchequer; a new experience evidently. William Drum- 

 mond of Hawthornden states that "this voyage bread 

 great fear in those islanders and savages, and brought long 

 peace and quietness to those countreys thereafter." 



Whether Ruari Macleod was kept in confinement or not, 

 it is clear that he soon regained the Royal favour. In 



* On 2nd April, 1538, Ruari Macleod received a grant of the non-entry 

 and other dues of the lands and barony of Lewis from 3Oth June, 1511, to 

 IS39- 



