332 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 



task that he received in 1641, a pension of ;i,ooo for his 

 services ; and, significantly enough, two days later, a com- 

 mission from the King granted him the power, during 

 his lifetime, to uplift all the feu-duties, teinds, &c., of the 

 Bishoprics of Lismore and the Isles. In 1642, he leased, 

 for a term of nine years, to Donald Mackenzie, Commen- 

 dator of the Isles, the teinds of " all fishes " in the South- 

 West and North- West Isles, for a yearly payment of 100 

 merks.* 



In 1644, Alastair Macdonald, alias the famous Mac Coll 

 Keitach (" Colkitto ") landed in Scotland with 1,500 men 

 to fight for the King. The far-seeing General Leslie had 

 endeavoured to effect a reconciliation between him and 

 Argyll, in whose hands were the persons of Alastair's father 

 and brothers, as well as their lands. The obduracy of 

 Argyll frustrated Leslie's design, and Macdonald, swearing 

 revenge against the Campbells, returned to Ireland to raise 

 his men for the King, and, incidentally, to fulfil his vow, a 

 vow which, after again landing in Scotland, he kept only 

 too faithfully. Alastair had in his possession a letter from 

 Charles, conferring upon Seaforth, in accordance with his 

 request, the office of Chief Justice of the Isles. The policy 

 of playing off Seaforth against Argyll, whose justiciaryship 

 was, by the appointment, annulled, failed to secure the 

 open adhesion of the Chief of Clan Kenneth, who, after 

 temporising with Mac Coll Keitach, finally threw in his 

 lot with the Covenanting forces which assembled to block 

 the passage of the Spey against Macdonald. Had Alastair 

 arrived before the dispersal of the troops of the Marquis of 

 Huntly, Seaforth's decision, according to his own showing, 

 would have been different! 



The advent of Montrose upon the scene as Commander- 

 in-Chief of the Royalists, again shook the resolution of the 

 Earl. His surrender to that general at Elgin ; his promise 

 to rejoin Montrose with his full fighting strength when so 

 ordered ; his subsequent double-dealing with both parties ; 



* Hist. MSS. Com., App. to Report IV., p. 480 (132). 

 f Britane's Distemper, p. 68. 



