216 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 



stopped all preparations for the intended invasion of 

 the island. Queen Elizabeth died on 24th March, and 

 James VI. of Scotland became James I. of Great Britain 

 and Ireland. 



During 1602-3, the feud between the Mackenzies of 

 Kintail and the Macdonnells of Glengarry over their lands 

 in Wester Ross, reached its height. The bitter enmity 

 between the two clans was intensified by acts of a retalia- 

 tory character, which were marked by more than usual 

 barbarity. In the result, the Mackenzies acquired the 

 disputed lands; the Castle of Strome, the last stronghold 

 of the Macdonnells in Wester Ross, was blown up ; and 

 the influence of Clan Kenneth became paramount in the 

 North. That the increased power of the Mackenzies had 

 a direct bearing upon the affairs of Lewis, is evident from 

 the events which we are now about to relate. 



In 1603, the enmity between Macleod of Harris and 

 Donald Gorm of Sleat seems to have broken out afresh, 

 but there are no details of what actually happened. Lord 

 Fyvie, writing to the King on 29th April, soon after the 

 departure of the latter for England, makes a passing refer- 

 ence to the matter. He writes : " Since your Highness' 

 departure from us (thanks to God) all is in reasonable good 

 quietness, nor we have heard of no break as yet of any 

 consequence, except in the far Highlands, some trouble 

 among themselves between Donald Gorm and Macleod 

 Harris which does not trouble the Lowlands."* The 

 words in parenthesis in this letter are deliciously, although 

 unintentionally, ambiguous. Doubtless, not a few Scotsmen 

 thanked God when James VI. left his native country to 

 become James I. of Great Britain and Ireland. 



The burden of three kingdoms pressed too heavily on 

 the shoulders of James to admit of his paying immediate 

 attention to the distant island in the Hebrides, which had 

 in the past proved a veritable nightmare to him. But 



* Abbotsford Club Collection, pp. 46-7. On 2Oth October, 1603, the Earl 

 of Argyll was commissioned to restore order in the Isles. Hist. MSS. Cow., 

 Report IV., p. 489. 



