THE MACLEODS OF LEWIS. 155 



on Murdoch by seizing and delivering him to old Ruari, 

 who imprisoned him in Stornoway Castle. Feeling that 

 he was in honour bound to release his supporter, and 

 resolved to bring matters to a definite issue, Torquil 

 collected a force, with which he attacked the castle, 

 captured it after a short siege, liberated Murdoch, and 

 imprisoned the old chief, after killing a number of his 

 men. He then left his son John as Constable of the castle 

 and as his representative in Lewis, and returned to the 

 mainland, carrying with him all the charters and other 

 documents of the family which, later, he deposited with 

 Mackenzie of Kintail. What has become of these papers 

 it is difficult to say; all attempts to trace them have so far 

 failed. 



That John MacTorquil received legal recognition of his 



position is evident from a letter, dated 2oth September, 



1585, relating to the gift to John Macleod ("oy of Roderick 



Macleod ") of the escheat and life rent of all goods, &c., 



which had pertained to Ruari. The document sets forth 



the circumstances under which the old chief had forfeited 



his rights to the Crown. It appears that on 22nd May, 



1583, he was denounced as a rebel and put to the horn, for 



failing to find surety that he would appear before the 



Justice and his deputes to answer charges against him of 



pursuing Torquil Macleod, his son and apparent heir, as 



! well as of " diverse slaughters and crimes." Old Ruari 



was obviously regarded at Edinburgh as a notorious 



ruffian, while his son Torquil Conanach, whose record is 



{anything but blameless, was looked upon as an injured 



! son, who had the misfortune to be cursed with an unnatural 



j parent. But Torquil Conanach had probably powerful 



friends at Court, while at this time, there was possibly no 



I one to say a good word for the quarrelsome old chief, his 



father. 



John MacTorquil, who is described as " a brave young 

 gentleman," seems to have proved a lenient jailer to his 

 igrandfather. He tried to make things as easy as possible 

 for the old man, and succeeded so well that the two lived 



