

THE MACLEODS OF LEWIS. 169 



that a meeting of the chiefs friendly to his interests was 

 held in Skye, " to consult about the affair," those present 

 at the conference being Macleod of Harris, Maclean of 

 Duart, the Captain of Clan Ranald, Macdonald of Dunyveg, 

 and Donald Gorm of Sleat. It was felt by the chiefs that 

 Torquil Conanach could only have resorted to such an 

 extreme measure at the incitement of Mackenzie of Kin- 

 tail, and they decided to act in concert against Mackenzie 

 and his tool. Whether the suspicions entertained of 

 Kintail were justified by facts or not, he was at least a 

 man whom they could not catch napping. On learning of 

 the inimical measures about to be directed against him, 

 he promptly abducted from school in Glasgow, Tormod, 

 the younger brother of Torquil Dubh, resolved to keep him 

 as a pledge against any unfriendly acts on the part of his 

 supporters. At the same time, he took steps to protect 

 the borders of his territories against hostile attacks. His 

 men succeeded so well in guarding their charge, that the 

 first attempt at invasion was repelled, with fatal results to 

 the aggressors. This was a discouraging beginning. The 

 members of the coalition, realising at the very outset of 

 their campaign, that Kintail was a dangerous foe to tackle, 

 wavered in their resolution ; Maclean was reluctant to 

 proceed further ; and ultimately the enterprise was aban- 

 doned, all the more readily, seeing that the immediate 

 interests of the confederacy were not directly assailed or 

 threatened. 



Meanwhile, Torquil Conanach was as far off as ever 

 from the attainment of his ends. The execution of Torquil 

 Dubh, instead of opening the way to Lewis, shut him out of 

 the succession even more decisively than before. Torquil 

 Dubh had left three young sons, and the clan, furious with 

 Torquil Conanach, were determined to support to the death 

 the offspring of his victim. In Neil Macleod, by far the 

 most distinguished of old Ruari's bastard sons, they found 

 a man with a fertile brain and a strong hand, who was 

 well qualified to lead them. Neil willingly undertook the 

 guardianship of the orphans, and meanwhile, by virtue of 



